Chapter 8: Tier 1 Gate (2)
The Kuroda apartment was quiet, except for the faint hum of the fridge and the occasional bird outside pretending it was a good morning.
Miko shuffled into the kitchen, oversized hoodie hanging off one shoulder, socks slapping softly against the linoleum floor. Her eyes were half-closed, hair a mess, and a juice box already wedged in her mouth like it was her only lifeline.
She opened the fridge.
Stopped, and closed it again.
There was a note, taped to the door in Lanz’s crooked handwriting:
"I’m gonna be gone for 2 days. Don’t worry. Studying with a friend. — L"
She read it twice, then squinted like the fridge had personally insulted her.
’Oh, so he’s with his friends,’ she thought to herself, scratching her hair like there’s no tomorrow.
She opened the fridge again and picked up a juice box. Suddenly, she regained her consciousness, and closed the fridge door shut and read it again. "Since when did he have friends?" she muttered, slurping her juice.
The bedroom door creaked. Their mom emerged, already dressed in café gear, glasses perched low on her nose and a pen stuck in her bun like she’d been fighting off spreadsheets in her sleep. She moved toward the fridge, reading the note without taking it down.
Her brows knit together. "What...?"
"Don’t worry," Miko said, deadpan. "He’s either studying... or he joined a dungeon cult."