The Earth After Rebirth

Days came and went, there was a festive kind of mood from Kiro\'s class. Having been made to create their own gaming gear, it made them feel like taking this class and going to this academy wasn\'t a waste of their time.

Most of the kids that went to the academy were after all well off, they most likely wouldn\'t have chosen a career in creating technology for gaming. This was just some kind of business ethics their parents were reinforcing upon them, most of them would just take over their families businesses and live the rest of their lives without worry.

Though that kind of comfort wasn\'t exactly guaranteed now that Kiro and his friends were planning to do away with the current society. A new hope was burning, far enough nobody felt it coming.

"Really Hiro? Do we need all this equipment? Dr. Ramirez said..."

"I know what she said, I\'ll be damned if I construct anything that doesn\'t work."

The girls were perplexed at how seriously he took this. They wanted to argue some more, but caught Kiro shaking his head, telling them to let him be.

He was the only one who knew just how much this meant to Hiro. This was one of the things he did with his father after all, his diligence was that, he didn\'t want to disappoint him. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, he wanted to make him proud.

\'We\'re so much alike. Even I, back then, when my parents died, I wiggled and fought to make them proud. Only to fail miserably at the end though.\' A smile he couldn\'t stop slipped onto his lips.

He couldn\'t help but admire the similarities. Because even in this life, everything he\'d done, everything he will do, all will be for his family. Everything else came second, even if he didn\'t want to admit that to himself. They were his first priority, even if it meant he would be fodder for them.

"Hiro, calm down, this goes here! You know this!" He shouted walking over to their designated workstation.

"I\'m surprised you caught that, but if I really want this to work, then, the placements are just fine." He shot back not looking up once.

They obviously helped him here and there, but he was very strict so he preferred working on it by himself. They had to pull him back to earth, remind him that it was a group assignment. And they promised he could do the final touches.

That\'s why he was basically redoing almost everything up until Dr. Ramirez came in to assess their work.

Although she told them not to worry about making the gear work, nobody would hand in something that couldn\'t be used. Their egos didn\'t quite allow it, everyone had working gear, one way or the other.

"Since you guys are so competitive, I\'ll grade for a working one," she commented walking around amazed at what she was seeing.

\'These kids are something else. I\'ve never had a dedicated class such as this one before.\'

The usual classroom was turned into a workshop. Each ground assigned their own workstation, Dr. Ramirez would go around and they were required to present their work to her.

She was overall happy with the results. But nobody was happier than Hiro in that room. Their little gadget could actually play games, old games, but games nonetheless.

"This very impressive, you guys did all this?"

"Well yes, until Hiro took it apart and fixed it." Kiro wasn\'t trying to be funny.

But that gained fits of laughter in the classroom. He just didn\'t want to take credit for something Hiro clearly did alone. Though Dr. Ramirez simply gave this a knowing smile.

It wasn\'t her first time running into a very passionate student. She understood how stubborn they could be, so she decided against docking marks from their project.

"You did very well, all of you. This one is definitely number one though, full marks. Test on Monday."

It took but a second for that to sink in Kiro\'s head. They would be gone the whole weekend, they absolutely had no time to study or anything. If it were theory he wouldn\'t have a problem, but practicals were a bit tricky.

But looking at his friends faces, they weren\'t the least bit worried. Hiro excelled in practicals so he had nothing to worry about, he doubted Ishaan was any better than him, so it was a wonder to him that he didn\'t appear worried.

"So, why aren\'t you guys not gonna be at the academy on Friday?" Isla held herself from prying until she couldn\'t anymore. Curiosity got the better of her.

"Oh that. We have a meeting with a company Felix and I are a part of, but since last didn\'t go so well our friends here offered to escort us." He lied nonchalantly.

Hiro shook his head jokingly and silently telling him \'already lying to her.\' Kiro decided to pay him no mind, because he\'d have to lie too if Saanvi asked.

"I see, I guess that makes sense. Can I—"

"Absolutely not. Do you want your father to have my head should anything go wrong?" He didn\'t allow her to finish her thoughts. He knew exactly where she was going with this.

"I was only going to ask if we could go to the amusement park some time, when you\'re free. I didn\'t know you felt so strongly against it." She said with a deadpan look.

"Oh, uh, well, I thought..."

She walked away. Kiro was absolutely furious with himself. The misunderstandings between them kept on piling up and he didn\'t really have the time to attend to them, not that he didn\'t think she was important.

"Dammit!"