Hiro sure talked a lot or tried to, because he was awkwardly trying to make conversation as if he was forcing himself to but Kiro didn't hate it.
The train ride wasn't as boring as Kiro remembered, now that he had company he was glad Hiro chose his compartment. He wanted to apologise for ever having an attitude the first time the pale scrawny kid walked in.
He found out that Hiro was being sent off to the academy as well. He was also dirt poor. They talked for the most part. They instantly clicked and became friends. It felt like they've known each other for years.
Kiro unconsciously clenched his chest. 'This isn't a bad feeling. Not at all.' He thought to himself.
They even held a little competition about who was the poorest. Hiro divulge about his personal life, this was how much he felt like he could trust Kiro.
He had a sister, who was two years younger than them and a little brother who was 7 years. His father was a victim of the strings of missing persons that's been happening in the lower district. They haven't seen him in about a year.
Hiro had a sandwich, two slices cut in half. He even gave Kiro the other half without a second thought, which Kiro was grateful for. It was apparent to him that, everybody in the lower district, especially Area 50, was untrustworthy. But Hiro was different.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the middle of the three districts. Eden Academy. To say the view was beautiful would be an understatement. Completely different from his rundown previous school. It was absolutely breath taking. Luckily neither of them had a lot of luggage, in fact you could say they had none at all.
The campus was big, it was divided into 3 parts. First year campus, second year campus, third year campus. The buildings towered, as if they were beasts ready for war. The fields for every sport imaginable were green in good condition, you could tell that they spend millions per week to keep maintenance.
The buildings weren't chipped like the ones in Area 50, the windows were spotless too. They were so clean, if they were big enough Kiro reckoned he'd walk right through them. Eden Academy was akin to a University in this earth, maybe that's why the tuition was so steep.
With their shabby, ragged clothes, they really looked out of place. Kiro stood at 190cm, and Hiro at 188cm. They were pretty tall and lanky guys, so it wasn't hard attracting unwanted attention. Soon people around them started whispering. Only, their whispers were whispered to be heard.
"Look at them, what are they doing here."
"I swear, the academy is getting worse each year, accepting rats like them."
"Maybe they're hired help."
"They smell too. Suddenly my lunch is ruined."
This was followed by a wave of giggles and sneers. Looking at them with the 'what are you going to do about it' looks. It was frustrating. But Kiro didn't wear his heart on his sleeves, he was his parents' son after all. He didn't die and regress just to be hurt by such trivial taunts.
Kiro noticed that Hiro was paying too much attention to these animals. He was usually pale, but his neck up to his face were crimson, anybody who paid enough attention could feel the anger welling up inside of him. Kiro thought at any moment, he was going to explode.
He thought it was too weird that, Hiro had little to no problem sparking a conversation with him as a stranger on the train, but all he could do when he's supposed to be vocal was standing there looking like a red street light.
He didn't want to question him so he decided to turn back and usher him in.
"Don't worry buddy." He said, his voice as loud and unrestrained as theirs, without a care in the world, "they have nothing better to do. Gossiping is all they're good at. Without their family money, they wouldn't amount to anything."
This got a lot of gasps and stares that could kill, maybe if Kiro was made of paper, he'd have shrivelled up and withered away by now. But he didn't care much, he was not going to be bullied and stay silent. Not in this life.
So he turned around and flipped them off. Kiro figured he was paying as much as they were, he wasn't here on a charity scholarship, he'd be damned if he caved to their need to validate their sick insecurities.
They walked to the admin office to register this semester. Even though Hiro's mood improved, he was still exuding a depressing air around him.
"You must have thick skin when you're poor like us. They have nothing better to do, we're here trying to make our lives better, they can't stand to see us strive for more. Maybe, afraid we will surpass them, and they'll have nothing to feel superior about." Kiro exclaimed trying to fix the ruined mood.
Hiro smiled at this, they've known each other for not more than 4 hours but they both felt like they have created a strong bond with each other, a brotherhood that goes far beyond just blood.
Kiro was truly excited having a friend in this life, but he didn't want to show it in fear of driving him away. So he lingered between the state of excitement and indifference. Little did he know, Hiro was just as excited. This was his first friend after all.
"That's a pretty good philosophy kid." A deep voice said behind them.
They were both so startled and the flight instinct instantly kicked in. The man simply smiled and walked away.
"Who the bloody hell was that?" Hiro said with a voice laced with worry.
Kiro simply shrugged, he was as new as he was. But man did that frighten him, it triggered a lot of bad memories from his past life. Which he tried so hard to suppress. He tried to calm his pounding heart, the storm raging in his gut couldn't be calmed though. He was simply too broken to be fixed, he thought.
They got to the admin office, there was a lady sitting at an open window. Even their offices looked like a sort of heaven, the place was spotless. With tiles on the walls.
"We're here to register for the semester." Kiro said.
"You could've done that on your phone." The lady replied, not looking up even once.
Kiro didn't understand why she was telling them this so he simply replied with, "oh."
But they didn't leave, they just assumed that it was customary for them to tell new students this. They were absolutely not trying to be disrespectful.
The lady could feel that they were still standing there. She looked up and saw how they were dressed, in tasteless ragged clothes. Upon seeing this, ever so slightly, her nostrils flared.
Kiro noticed and screamed internally, 'I hate it here.'
"Get in through that door, you can use the computers here. Don't enter with your shoes."
How rude. Both of them thought. As if they didn't know a simple etiquette of not wearing outdoor shoes indoors.
Even the staff were like this, it's no wonder these rich kids were rotten to the core. They didn't only feel power at home, they're given the same power in places like these. Places that were supposed to be for learning and equality.
'Can I hurry up and be filthy rich. For some reason, I'm less tolerant in this life time.' Kiro thought to himself.
They were helped to log onto the schools intranet. Kiro obviously had to pretend he didn't know anything. Which was excruciating to sit through.
There were quite a lot of classes,
Music, Technological Advancements, Virtual Reality Sciences, Theatre, Fashion, Architecture, Finance, Politics, Space Exploration, Archaeology etc…
You had to choose only one major, and you'd study it for 2 or 3 years. Kiro had previously chose Finance, that was truly one of his biggest regrets. Because right after he graduated, a program that could do finances was introduced.
Anyone who did finance, or was already in finance found themselves in the gutter. Literally. No professional job. Nothing. The worst thing about this society is how they invent these AIs to take over human jobs, but still have humans who barely survive starvation.
This time, Kiro chose VR Sciences. Virtual Reality was the future. Even 10 years from now, Asgard was an iconic game. Luckily, his new friend, Hiro, also chose VR Sciences. Kiro wasn't going say anything even if he chose finance, so ruled this out as fate. And took it as a 'make Hiro rich too' sign. And maybe it was because he chose finance previously, that they never met.
Kiro scanned his phones bank app on the screen, and it accepted the payment. 500k creds, that was quite a lot of money. His parents had given him a million, so now he was left with next semester's tuition.
What's good about this school is that, the 500k creds included food, school uniform&supplies and shelter. Otherwise, Kiro doubted his parents could really afford it, even if they didn't sleep at all.
Just like that, they were officially students at EA, they were given student IDs. The IDs didn't have a photo, just a number that could be scanned all over this campus. Kiro was glad for this.
"Don't lose these, they're your money and means to survive at this academy. You pay your lunch with them, you pay your train tickets with them, you buy school supplies with them. Lose these and you'll have to pay 200 creds for them to be remade, understood?" The lady said with scorn.
Kiro thought it was ridiculous that the student IDs weren't virtual. I mean, it'd be harder to lose a virtual ID. Little did he know, the school only did this to limit screen time for them.
They both simply nodded and left. They didn't want to be in the presence of this lady anymore. She was visibly annoyed while she was helping them, as if they weren't going to pay tuition!