Birth of Heroes (1)

"Whoa, he's kind of cute." A young girl whispered to her friend that sat next to her. Her friend raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction her friend looked.

Comfortably tucked in the corner next to a large window of a coffee shop sat a young black-haired man, his black hair was medium in length and wavy while parted in the middle where his bangs were. In the glistening sun, his pale skin shone brightly revealing that it was perfectly smooth and unblemished. But the most striking of all was his deep chocolate eyes which were covered by a pair of round glasses one could think he was imitating Harry Potter.

The young girl's friend couldn't help but release a small gasp as if her breath had just been taken away. Leaning toward her friend she replied quietly, "You are so right! He is cute. You should go ask him out because if you don't I will~"

The young girl was about to respond to her friend but she was interrupted by another girl that had joined their table without a care. "His name is Cleo Witler. I wouldn't bother, he's pretty boring."

The girls gasped at the scandalous information about the hot guy in the corner. The three of them broke out into a heated chatter and that was when Cleo completely stopped listening in and focused back on the book in his hand.

He didn't deny that he was boring. It also didn't hurt him to hear such things because Cleo was quite used to it. After all, such things were mild compared to how he thought of himself.

Life started beautifully for Cleo. He wasn't born into a rich family or anyone of influence but his family was happy. In his eyes that truly was the only thing that mattered to him but because it did matter, life took an iron hammer and slammed into it breaking it into little pieces. The happiness that once was his family was now a broken mirror with its pieces scattered far away from each other that Cleo didn't know what to do.

He attempted to pick up the pieces but each time he did his hand gained cuts and he bled. It soon reached a point where he had no blood left to bleed.

So he was forced to drop those pieces in his hands and stare helplessly at them as someone else picked them up for him.

He had given up.

The sound of the chair across from him sliding against the tile floors broke Cleo out of his thoughts. Looking up at the person, his eyes met those that belonged to his little brother Huan. The very person he scheduled to meet with today.

"Hey, Jam Jam!" his brother greeted him enthusiastically with that horrid nickname he has had since they were children.

"Don't call me that Ash," he said with a look that screamed 'I will kill youʼ before they returned to his book.

His brother grinned and leaned over the table slightly as if he had a secret he wanted to share. "Whatever," he waved his hand in dismissal. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" he asked. His eyes met his brothers in slight interest.

"The next big VMMORPG will be released tomorrow at midnight. It's called…" As if to build up hype Huan paused. "Birth of Heroes!"

"Oh."

Taken back by the lack of reaction Ash leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow at his brother. "What? Not impressed? Was my dramatic pause not impressive enough?" he asked incredulously.

Cleo chuckled. Gently shutting the book in his hands after marking where he left off, he placed it on the table in front of him."Ah, it wasn't that. I just already knew about Birth of Heroes. I even pre-ordered two copies for both of us, figuring you'd be interested. That's why I asked to meet you here at the coffee shop."

"...You already got copies?" Ash echoed in shock.

Cleo nodded his head before he bent down to reach under the table. His hand immediately grasped onto his backpack sliding it into his lap. Swiftly he pulled out the two copies and placed them on the table.

Ash was quick to snatch one of them up, holding it in front of his face so he could get a good look at it. As he took in the cover of the game the TV in the coffee shop began to play the advertisement for Birth of Heroes. The main Heroes in the advertisement were on the cover of the case holding the game all positioned dramatically in a V shape. What was presumed the antagonist of the game was at the back holding her two arms up with puppet strings all connected to the Heroes.

"Huh," Ash set down the game and looked at Cleo. His eyes were narrow and his lips were tilted down slightly in a frown. "Seriously, how did you get them, Cleo? You hardly have enough money to buy food for yourself but you managed to get two copies? Cut the bullshit. You didn't do anything dumb, did you?"

Cleo looked down at the table as he felt a small shiver run through his body at his brother's words. He didn't do anything dumb but his brother's words made him uncomfortable.

His brother hardly ever showed so much care for him.

"No, I didn't do anything dumb Ash," Cleo informed him putting a stop to any assumptions he might have.

The worry Ash had outwardly shown was gone in an instant and replaced with familiar giddiness.

Ash had always been someone with high energy and could practically run around all day whilst Cleo was the exact opposite. You could even say Cleo was lazy but he just didn't have enough energy.

"Alright, in that case, I'm out." Ash stood up pushing the chair back. "Gotta go download this and get ready for tomorrow! Hey, you know the username I use for games right? Make sure to add me!"

Before Cleo could respond his brother was out the door and gone. All he could do was shake his head with a fond smile and go back to reading his book until the sun went down and he had to head home.