"Why are you here Gayatri?" Michael asked her as he is in the Players Association.
"I'm a Player as well you know." Gayatri said to him.
"I know that. What I want to know is why you were following me? Don't think I didn't notice you coming after me from my apartment." Michael said to her with a raised eyebrow.
Gayatri's eyes widened when she heard that before she blushed and looked a bit guilty as he looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"So, what were you doing?" Michael asked her with narrowed eyes.
"I just, wanted to talk to you about you becoming a Player." Gayatri said hesitantly.
"Then why did you sneak behind me?" Michael asked her with a reprimanding look.
"I just didn't know how to approach you okay. After seeing what you did there I was... sorry. I was too nervous and we haven't actually talked much since a long time so I didn't know how to talk to you, other than simple greetings or some small talk." Gayatri said to him with a nervous face.
Michael looked at her before he sighed.
"Look, I know it has been a long time since we last had a long conversation. But that doesn't mean that you have to be like this. You could've just asked me you know." Michael said to her with a sigh.
"Sorry, I was just surprised at how you've grown and didn't know how to address you. I never even visited aunty so I didn't..." Gayatri said as she looked to her side.
"How about we talk now? There's no problem, is there?" Michael asked her.
"No. No there isn't." Gayatri said to him as he smiled.
He then sat at a bench and she joined him as well. They had some distance between them as Gayatri was nervous about it while Michael looked at her.
"So, what did you want to ask me?" Michael asked her as she looked at him.
"Okay so... When did you become a Player?" Gayatri asked him as she looked at him.
"On Friday when I went to see mom. The guy on the other side was strong." Michael said to her as he sighed in relief.
"I see. How strong was he?" Gayatri asked him curiously.
"Very strong. I didn't even stand a chance. I was able to get one punch before I had lost consciousness thereby clearing the condition." Michael said to her as he remembered it.
"I see. I'm glad you didn't die. From your words, it seems that it was serious." Gayatri said to him.
"Yeah me too. Though this does make it easier for me to get money. And what about you? How was your trial?" Michael asked her as he looked at her.
"It was fine I guess. It wasn't life threatening and I managed to become a Silver Player. By the way, which rank are you?" Gayatri said before asking him.
"I'm Silver as well." Michael said with a smile.
"Oh, that's good then. So, how is aunty's treatment going?" Gayatri asked him.
"It's going fine. I just need to get more money to get the doctors and equipment for a higher level of treatment." Michael said to her.
"Oh, then how about I help you. I can get the money you need." Gayatri said to him as she suggested her idea.
"That's kind of you Gayatri but you don't need to do that. We only met after sometime and we haven't talked with each other in a long time so we might as well be strangers. Even if I had asked you to call me big brother it has been a long time so I was grasping on straws there. Sorry about my behaviour at that time." Michael said to her as he chuckled.
Gayatri looked sad at his words as she knew that they had drifted apart since then. After Michael's mother was in the accident he moved away from her family and so they didn't have contact between each other. And when they had met eachother 3 years ago they had already drifted apart from eachother and she and him had kept their distance.
"I guess I subconsciously wanted to go back to the time when I had both my mom and dad and I could live without a care in the world. I guess it just took a lot of time for me to accept that fact." Michael said as he sighed to himself.
"It can't be helped. You wouldn't have known that your parents would be in an accident at that time." Gayatri said to him.
"I know. But now I have to focus on the present and help my mom get better." Michael said as her got a determined look on his face.
Gayatri smiled at his words. Then the sound of his phone ringing is heard as he took it out and took the call.
"Hello? Yeah. I'm in the 3rd floor. Uh, east of the cafe. Great." Michael said as he ended the call.
"Who was that?" Gayatri asked him curiously.
"My friend. We're a party." Michael said to her as he put his phone away.
"You partied with someone else even though you only became a player 3 days ago?" Gayatri asked surprised.
"Well, we both wanted comrades so we decided to team up. She is a good fighter." Michael said with a smile.
"She? You friends a girl?" Gayatri asked surprised at his words.
"Yeah. We hit off right away and managed to complete a Gate as well. I haven't had a friend in a long time so I am happy to have her as a friend." Michael said with a smile.
"I see." Gayatri said as she has a neutral face.
Then they heard the sound of someone running as they turned to the source. The source is Lakshmi as she ran towards them and spotted Michael as she smiled and waved at him.
"Hey Michael! Ready to clear a Gate?" Lakshmi said as she ran to him.
But then she saw the other person sitting beside Michael as she slowly stopped and looked at her surprised. The two girls looked at each other as Michael looked at the two of them a bit nervous at their lack of reactions.