Chapter 2: Helix

As I looked at my friend apologetically, I said:

"Couldn't you whisper into my ear like last time"?

Leon: "Well, sOrRy for waking you up from your hibernation. Were you dreaming of saving Princess Peach of yours again?"

Me: "Hey! Don't call her that, she's way better than that blonde brat anyway"

He then approached me and ruffled my dark red hair, smiled, and said: "Welp, I'd appreciate if you start wearing your school clothes, or a robot will catch you without a top and fine you...again"

I then noticed that I was only wearing white underpants, basically because I wasn't comfortable wearing clothes while sleeping.

I stretched my muscles, then I grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom. 1 minute later, I came out of the bathroom and stuffed my laptop Into my bag, then me and Leon went outside the room and I locked the door. We went downstairs and walked outside. Me and Leon kept talking about stuff and all that.

"Why can't you just go out often and do something fun instead of living in the library, Axel?"

I sighed deeply. Leon may have been a jerk sometimes, but he was like a mother sometimes.

"For the last time, I don't wanna have more friends or do something outdoors. It's kinda annoying." It was true, because if I have more friends and they knew about....that....I could imagine what would they do. Leon was the first friend I had in my entire life that accepted me for what I've done, so I don't want anyone to abandon me, like what my parents did....

Leon let out a small gasp. I turned to face him, and asked: "What's wrong?", And he responded looking at his watch: "We should hurry! Classes start in 5 minutes!

Five minutes!? But the school is so far from the apartment! Running won't do...

I instantly grabbed his wrist and ran towards the apartment, and we sat on a bicycle. I sat on my bicycle, and Leon sat behind me, then I turned the bike around and rode as fast as I can.

After we kept passing through buildings and shops, 2 minutes later, we arrived at our school, which is called the "Sakura Ward Middle School". I parked my bike, then me and Leon ran to the school doors and we made it to our classroom.

Me: "We finally-"

I was going to say "made it", but i was horrified when I saw my one nightmare standing in class, teaching the other students. Mr. Yoshikawa looked at me in surprise just like the other students, then he smiled darkly, and said: "Why hello, Mr Evergreen. Would you explain why you're late?"

LATE? But how-!?

That's when I saw the school clock: it read 9:10, meaning me and Leon were late by an HOUR. I glared at Leon. He checked his watch, and then he let a sheepish chuckle,

and mumbled: "Oops?".

1 A.M.

"Well, that was exhausting" I said, yawning.

Then Leon replied: "As if an 8-hour sleep wasn't enough. Please stop making me your personal tutor"

"But your lessons are pretty much easier and better than the teacher, Leo-sensei. You'd even make a great wife thanks to your cooking" I teased, laughing, and then he send me a scowling look, telling me to kindly shut up. We passed through a gaming store (called "Gamer's playground"), and there it was, the new VR headset, named "Helix Reality".

After years of hardwork, patience (and a little bit of coffee, I assume), the company, Oculus Co. finally made a new technology, which gives people the ability to fully immerse into a virtual reality world, where we can move our avatar without the need of actually moving our real bodies. Usually, that would be pretty impossible and science fiction, but we're in 2040, so basically, it would make sense that we can just create a full-dive VR game, right?

Anyway, I was just standing there Infront of the store, staring at the headset, wishing to buy it. Leon was talking about making new Gacha mini-movies when he noticed I was admiring the Helix Reality. He then said: "If you really want it that much, can't you just buy it? You've been staring at that thing for almost a week"

Me: "Wha-? Oh. I know, but...." I pointed at the price tag on the box, which read "500 coins".

Leon: "Yikes, that's way too expensive. Wait, you work at that card store part-time, right? How much is your budget?"

I remembered, the excitement behind my eyes lit again. I went through my pocket, opened my wallet, then my excitement deflated like a balloon again.

Leon: "What's wrong?"

Me: "I only have about 350 coins. At my apartment, I usually get a 20 coin increase whenever I clean my room, and with my part-time job, I only get about 40 coins plus with a little tip from the customers. So doing the math, I'll only get about 60 coins, but it won't be enough for both the set AND the update fee..." I kept mumbling and mumbling, and Leon was confused from what I said, even the cashier from inside of the store was confused from all my mumbling.

I kept whispering to myself about my misfortune, until Leon interrupted me: "U-uhm, people are staring-" that's when I noticed the cashier standing near the door, listening to our conversation. I looked at him, then I asked: "Need something?" He replied with a grin: "It's nothing, I was just listening to your little chat" Well, it was more of "eavesdropping", but I couldn't bring myself to saying it. He continued: "I was thinking; how about I shave 200 coins of the headset? That's when me and Leon jerked our heads towards him in disbelief.