1.2 | The Reunion Pt. 2: Promise

I could still remember those days when we were still kids in grade school.

In an empty classroom, but not entirely empty. Just the two of us playing with our gaming consoles with all our hearts.

[Hah… I lost again. Why are you so damn good, Clay?]

Hiro Haneda would often ask that question regularly.

[It's because I'm a genius!]

I would often say.

[Maybe so… but if it's a genius, then shouldn't your grades be on the top too, like mine?]

I let out a grunt. He has a point.

[I-I can raise my grades up too, you know! I'm just not giving it my all when it comes to things like school.]

I lied.

[So you say…]

Hiro gives me a mischievous face.

Not that I'm bragging, but I have always beaten Hiro Haneda 98% of the time... when it comes to playing games.

But when it comes to school, Hiro Haneda was considered a genius.

His grades were at the absolute top. Not only the top of the country, but of this planet.

He was a genius unreachable by anyone.

Even famous people come and praise him on TV once in a while. That Wonder Kid.

Why is he so smart and yet bad at playing games at the same time?

Really, I couldn't understand how the wirings in his brain work.

[I could say the same about you!]

Hiro shouted in my face.

[Why are you so good in games!? You've even defeated adult veterans, so why is it that you're dimwitted when it comes to school!?]

A vein popped in my forehead.

[D-dimwitted, you say!?]

We always had rumbles and fights like this, but most of the time we would made up. We made sure that the grudges we have in each other, we would pour it out in battling each other with our game consoles.

I'm his complete opposite when it comes to academics.

[Clay Crassius, I'm afraid you can't go and spend your summer vacation this year. You have to take supplementary lessons and homeworks if you want to advance a grade.]

My teacher regularly says this every year.

[So what if I'm bad in studying? I'm great at games! Even I can beat Hiro Haneda, the genius you all idolize, in games. So that means he's not 100% a genius after all. Wahahaha~!]

My reasoning as a kid was, to say the least, unreasonable.

But if there's one thing that's reasonable, it's my and Hiro's friendship.

We were practically inseparable all throughout the middle school years.

At that time, 70% of my time was absorbed into playing games professionally, 15% was spent into eating, sleeping and spending time with family, and then 15% for studying.

While Hiro is still my Player Two most of the time, it seems that responsibilities have begun to slowly crawl up on his hands.

He's the number one in the planet after all, and he has to meet everybody's expectations of him.

Slowly by slowly, our time playing together also decreased.

It was in first year of high school when it was decided that Hiro was skipping the rest of high school and advancing straight to college. I was happy for him, but at the same time, jealousy also grew in my heart.

After all, due to my poor grades, I'm repeating another year.

My parents also gave me the ultimatum that they wouldn't pay for my school fees from now on since I was now earning a sizable amount of income from my professional gaming career.

It sucks. I'm great in playing games but lousy when it comes to school.

[Hey, why are you still with me?]

I casually asked Hiro one day while we were playing in the classroom while everyone was in biology class. Hiro was exempted from the class, while I am about to fail that class due to my absences.

[Why, you say…hmm…]

Hiro was wearing a deep-in-thought face with his eyebrows becoming too diagonal. I thought this was hilarious.

[Maybe because I feel the most comfortable playing with you?]

He gives his answer with an unsure tone. I thought so.

[Even more comfortable than being with Yumi?]

[Hey, are you implying something weird? Quit joking!]

As soon as Hiro says that, we burst out laughing.

I've never seen Hiro laugh like this with many people. It seems like he's always wearing a serious facade in dealing with people other than me and Yumi.

Yumi is Hiro's girlfriend. They met when we were in middle school. Yumi is also a gamer, but her grades were high. Not as high as Hiro, but it's still worthy of praise.

I would be lying if I said I didn't have a crush on Yumi. After all, who's not gonna fall in love with a beautiful girl with brains and even a gamer on top of that?

But she chose Hiro, and I couldn't be any happier for the two of them.

After all, Hiro looks exhausted these days, and I'm quite worried about him. Yumi is too. He's a genius, but he's a person who is imperfect too.

The days spent playing with Hiro and Yumi continued until that fateful accident that sent my whole life crashing down.

I never saw the two of them again after that. How could I, since I've gone totally blind after that.

I have become alone too. Everyone in my family perished except me. It was a sick joke.

I decided to move to another country. Being in this country invokes bad memories so I disappeared to another country out of grief and worked hard to sustain myself.

It has been years since I last saw Hiro.

Hiro's path was leading upward, but I didn't think that our paths would cross again.

**********

In a harbor somewhere, I was being comforted by a bunch of officers who gave me coffee and medicine as well as compensation money for being dragged into this mess.

In front of me was Hiro Haneda. He was being quiet all of a sudden.

Without my walking cane, I can't get up and go to him.

[I don't remember you going to Police Academy.]

I broke the ice.

I could feel him smiling.

[I'm in disguise after all.]

[Why are you in disguise then?]

[My boss told me to do this. So I have no choice but to participate in this undercover act.]

[So the part when you punched me bloodily was part of the act too?]

[Yes, yes. It was an act too. Sorry, Clay. It couldn't be helped. My cover was on the line!]

[I see! It was an act! That makes perfect sense!]

[That's right! Hahaha-GWWUOH!!!!?]

I gave Hiro a right uppercut. I could hear his body drooping on the ground but he slowly stood back up. The veins in my forehead are beginning to pop one by one.

[Are you dimwitted or sick in the head!? Who would even do that for an act! For a genius, you sure are dimwitted!]

[Ugghh…]

I could hear him groaning and rubbing his jaw, the ground zero of my punch.

Then I heard a fart.

However, it wasn't just a fart. It was a big loud fart.

A familiar big loud fart. Like a seal being tickled.

And the smell… we don't talk about the smell. Everytime that happens, we made sure not to talk about the smell.

Even I could not help it. It was that hilarious.

[Fu…fu~hahahahahaaha!!!]

[Kyahahahahahahaha!!!]

I laughed my hardest, but it seems that I'm not the only one who's found it hilarious.

Man, this is so nostalgic it's making me shed tears and forget his dumb bloody act.

[Your farts still are unbearable, Hiro.]

I reach out my hand, then a familiar hand shakes it.

[You're still the same as always, Clay.]

It felt like a missing part of my soul was healed. Here, in front of me was a person who's been with me most of my life.

He was family to me.

We spent the rest of the night catching up with each other. We talked about almost everything. I found out that Hiro has finally proposed to Yumi, but a wedding is still not in sight. Hiro was as busy as a bee after all, with a new game coming out a few hours from now and such.

After college, he decided to look for a job in the gaming industry due to his love for games. As expected, an extremely famous company scouted him and immediately hired him as vice president as his leadership and managerial skills were among the top.

I also found out that his boss, Ms. Carrol Adkins, ordered him to go undercover as they've been given a tip that uncovered a plan to sabotage the game's opening day a few hours from now. It was a plan to kill at least tens of thousands of gamers in their sleep as soon as activation commences. Thankfully, Hiro as an undercover agent managed to stop this terrorist attack.

I also explained to him about how I've been doing. As expected, he was really sympathetic to my situation. But I wouldn't let him pity me. Even if he threw in my direction a million dollars, I would throw it back at him.

[So, you managed to get a happy end. Congratulations.]

I said with a smile. Really, I was happy for Hiro. He's set out for life.

However, he said something strange at that moment.

[Do you want to get your own happy end too, Clay?]

He said with a melancholy tone in his voice.

[What do you mean?]

[Clay, can you still remember? The promise we made the last time we saw each other?]

He calmly asked.

Remember? Remember what?

Looking back at those days Hiro talked about, it was that time when I thought about killing myself. I felt that there was no purpose living here on this Earth. The wounds brutally inflicted upon me were still fresh and throbbing, that everything that everyone has said to me, I have forgotten it all.

But that was a lie.

I can only remember one thing. One thing that shook me to my core as I felt that those days will never come again.

Hiro's words.

We were on the school rooftop.

It was my first suicide attempt.

I was overcome with pain that I wanted it to be over.

But Hiro was there. He stubbornly restrained me until I collapsed to the ground, exhausted from trying to escape his grip.

That day, Hiro's words were like knives, but looking back on it from today, it was hope.

"Let's have fun playing games together again, Clay."

Those were his exact words

[I remember. After I attempted to kill myself, you said to me these words, right?]

I felt Hiro walking towards me, then he patted me on the shoulder.

[I couldn't stand my best friend wallowing in despair, especially when something tragic like that happened. But you disappeared all of a sudden, so I didn't get the chance.]

I still remember like it was yesterday. It was a test of a lifetime friendship, and Hiro passed with flying colors.

With a confident grin, Hiro declared.

[Well, now that we've reunited, I now have the chance to fulfill that promise.

Clay Crassius,

Come with me.

Let's play .]