The Earth After Rebirth

Jesús looked at Kiro's hand for the longest tie, Kiro was starting to get tired of smiling and so it came out as an awkward tired smile.

The father in front of him looked at his daughter, then the kid wanting to shake his hand then his daughter again. He was clearly thinking about something. It was written on her face as clear as day that she liked the boy.

He didn't like how this kid seemed to be an inch taller than he was too. Now he was making his only daughter act strangely?

He had already done his research on the kid the moment he dropped the phone on his daughter, all those weeks ago. At first he dismissed him completely, a kid from the lower district wasn't good enough for his daughter.

He knew how their society operated, the chances of someone from the boonies to make something out of themselves was very slim. He didn't want anybody to drag down his daughter.

But new data revealed itself as of late. He didn't believe it when he was given the file some days ago, the kid was using his own two hands to claw out of the lower district.

Taking advantage of the game's and his popularity. Making it a profitable business was admirable. The business side of him couldn't help but impressed, the father side on the other hand...

Kiro didn't seem like he was just a slum rat to him anymore. The business he put together from nothing through a game made him see potential in him. Great potential. But he still wasn't that impressed, he needed to see more so he decided to play hard to get.

His daughter deserved only the best after all. Even the Blakeson's weren't enough for him for different reasons. Even with Gilbert always pestering him to marry off his daughter to Isaac, he didn't approve.

"This is the boy, is he?" He looked dead serious all of a sudden.

Kiro broke into a nervous sweat. Isla smiled awkwardly as if to tell her father to stop, that he was embarrassing her to death but he never did.

Kiro held his own and looked him straight in the eye without any implications he was scared, his hand still out to shake his.

'What the hell is up with this old man? Shake it already!'

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Jesús' gaze landed on Kiro's neck, he looked at the necklace he hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Interesting..." He said and walked away. "That's something you'll have to earn, kid." Just like that he left without shaking Kiro's hand.

He slowly withdrew his hand and slid it in his pocket. He suddenly felt like he wasn't hungry anymore.

If it wouldn't have been too embarrassing for him, he'd be on the ground right now, in a fetal position. The whole interaction had drained him, he didn't know why.

"That—was—intense." He said instead.

Hiro pushed him toward the restaurant door. You could see it all over his face that he was, with much difficulty, holding down laughter.

"I'm sorry about my dad, he can be a child sometimes." Isla said looking back seeing her father's back, but her father never looked back, not once.

"Let's try to enjoy the rest of the day, I think Kiro almost soiled his new pants." Saanvi roared with laughter.

"I did not!"

Everyone else started laughing, he smiled a bit, looking back and chuckled nervously and they entered a fancy restaurant they'd never hoped to eat at.

"Ah the lighting here is so good, come let's take some pictures!" Saanvi suggested.

The first ones to take them were of her and Hiro, she insisted on that. She was all close and touchy with him, although the quiet shy boy took over making him look uncomfortable, he didn't hate it.

Next was Kiro and Isla, they stood way too far apart. Saanvi kept telling them to get closer and they would take a small step towards each other and still leave a gap in-between.

They were doing this at a lobby, there was a line before them. They'd still need to be checked in and given a table, so Saanvi saw this as a perfect opportunity to pass time.

"OMG you two, what the actual hell, link arms! Get closer!"

They did as she commanded, Kiro couldn't even look at her at first. So the first picture came out with him just looking at the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing.

As he got more comfortable however, he posed with her properly. Saanvi didn't even need to tell them what to do once they got comfortable.

"Look at you! So cozy with each other all of a sudden!" Saanvi teased.

"This is what you wanted isn't it?" Kiro shot back with a shrug.

She didn't get the chance to answer back as it was their turn to get a table. They reached the front desk, the man's expression went from a friendly smile to wide eyed terror.

"I'm so sorry Miss, I didn't see you there, why did you not come up, you needn't have waited." He said in an apologetic tone.

"That's alright, my friends didn't mind waiting." Saanvi answered, clearly embarrassed that they were giving her preferential treatment.

The others nodded, giving the worker reassurance.

This was a chain restaurant her father owned. So naturally, the employees would know her. Though this man felt like he had committed a grave sin not recognising her right away.

He kept apologising and Saanvi kept reassuring him.

"What the hell do you all do with misbehaving employees, torture? Why's he so on edge?" Kiro whispered to Saanvi.

She didn't answer him, simply shooting him a deadly look. Which caused him to retreat with his hands in the air.

"I don't know what to order, I've only ever seen most these foods on TV." Hiro said looking through the menu, which was helpful because you only needed to click on the meal and it would show you a picture and ingredients used.

Kiro ordered a normal breakfast of sausage, eggs and bacon. He wasn't going to break his bank because of fancy food, and he wasn't quite ready to start new foods, in case he didn't like them.

The others ordered some seafoods. Hiro wanted to properly spoil himself.

"Those eggs look great, can I have a taste?" Isla was seated next to Kiro, she was somehow more bold after the pictures together.

Kiro didn't mind, he didn't think about it much. His sister used to always do this so he'd occasionally feed her from his plate, and he unconsciously did the same thing with Isla.

She was a bit surprised by his willingness to do this, but she obliged nonetheless. Saanvi used this moment to snap some pictures while he was obliviously feeding her.

Her plate laid forgotten on the table, as they finished his food in record time.