A Little Progress

The moment the group had exited the dungeon, they broke apart.

"Hiro, are you going to go home?" [Adam]

"Ah… I still have work to do at school so I'll head back there first." [Hiro]

"What about you Tiffany?" [Adam]

"I'm… going to go home." [Tiffany]

"Then we'll go home too" [Felix]

"See you guys." [Adam]

Walking separate ways, Felix pulled Adam to the side.

"What are you doing?" [Felix]

"...That's what I should be asking." [Adam]

Felix brought a hand to his face and sighed in disappointment.

"Don't go home right away you idiot. Go escort Tiffany home." [Felix]

"Oh, right. That's a good idea. She must be nervous ever since that Orsted incident." [Adam]

"Wrong!" [Felix]

Slapping Adam across the head, Felix looked him dead in the eye.

"Take this as advice from your best friend. Walk. Her. Home." [Felix]

Confused by his actions, Adam agreed without any qualms.

"Okay…" [Adam]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As Tiffany walked down a street, she heard footsteps coming from behind.

"Tiffany!" [Adam]

Recognizing the voice, Tiffany turned around.

"A-Adam?!" [Tiffany]

Panting from exhaustion, Adam put his hands on his knees when he reached her.

"Haah… Haah… I… came to… walk you home…" [Adam]

Catching his breath, Adam straightened himself out.

"O-oh… You didn't need to come all this way…" [Tiffany]

"It's no problem. I wouldn't want to let you walk home all by yourself." [Adam]

("Though it was Felix who pushed me to.") [Adam]

"And you still don't know why." [Krino]

("Shut up.") [Adam]

Ending the conversation with Krino abruptly, Adam directed his attention to Tiffany.

"So, can I come along?" [Adam]

Gazing into Tiffany's eyes, she turned her face away to hide the blushing of her cheeks. Tiffany kept her mouth shut in fear of saying something she didn't mean to, so she nodded in agreement.

("Thank god she didn't refuse… For a second there I thought I might've pushed it too far.") [Adam]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Their stroll was haunted with an awkward silence. Both were too nervous to say anything, much less look at each other. Minutes which felt like hours had passed, and the two finally reached Tiffany's house.

("So this is Tiffany's house…") [Adam]

"It's pretty normal." [Krino]

Before them was a two story house, painted blue and white. It had a small yard on the left side of it, and a driveway on the right. The front door was overshadowed by the second floor overhang, just next to a pillar supporting it.

("She attends the same school as me, what do you expect?") [Adam]

"I expected something different. Not a house that is literally the same as Felix's." [Krino]

("It's a different color pattern.") [Adam]

"Not what I meant." [Krino]

Stopping at the near the entrance, Tiffany turned around to Adam.

"...Thanks for seeing me off." [Tiffany]

"No problem. If you ever need an escort, don't hesitate to call." [Adam]

"She doesn't have your number." [Krino]

The sudden realization hit Adam, and he tried to recover by pulling out his phone.

"That's if you want to exchange numbers." [Adam]

Seemingly cool and collected, he screamed internally.

("I'M SO STUPID!!! PLEASE DON'T TURN ME DOWN!!!") [Adam]

"A-ah please do!" [Tiffany]

Tiffany fumbled around in her pocket, almost dropping her phone when she took it out. From a strange distance, the two managed to exchange cell phone numbers.

("With this…") [Adam]

("This opportunity…") [Tiffany]

("I can progress our relationship!") [Adam] [Tiffany]

The two stood outside the house, occupied by their own thoughts.

"...Earth to Adam. Wake up before you do anything stupid." [Krino]

Snapping back to reality, Adam stepped away from the house.

"I'll be off then. See you at school tomorrow!" [Adam]

Running away without looking back, he covered his embarrassment from before.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The next day at school, Mr. Frank was late. Though the students were glad they were able to delay the class time taken, the absence of Mr. Frank didn't bode well.

"Psst. Adam, you think Mr. Frank is going to announce another tournament?" [Orion]

Leaning over from his desk, Orion attempted to grab Adam's attention.

"Why are you asking me? You would be better off asking Felix or Alex." [Adam]

"Alright. Yo Alex!" [Orion]

Speaking loudly, he alerted not only Alex, but the entire classroom.

"Shut up Orion! Not everyone wants to hear your stupid voice in the morning!" [Katherine]

"What was that?!" [Orion]

Pushing back his chair, Orion stood up.

"Calm down guys. You're scaring Sora." [Alex]

Proving his point, Alex pointed to the back of class. Sora was sitting in the seat next to Adam, panicking from everyone's behavior.

"Hmph." [Orion]

"Tsk." [Katherine]

The two turned their heads away from each other, returning back to their seats with a grumpy attitude.

("That was… something.") [Adam]

"Why are they on such bad terms?" [Krino]

("I think they just don't mix well.") [Adam]

"...I guess there are times like those." [Krino]

After everyone cooled down, Alex brought a chair over to Orion.

"So, you called?" [Alex]

"What?" [Orion]

"Didn't you call my name earlier?" [Alex]

"Oh yeah! I called to ask if you knew any events happening this month." [Orion]

"There's none." [Felix]

Scooting his chair over, Felix joined in on the conversation.

"Did you just check the schedule right now?" [Orion]

"There's no way. He probably just memorized it." [Adam]

"Haha! You and your jokes-" [Orion]

"He's right. I got it all right in here." [Felix]

Interrupting Orion, Felix tapped a finger on his head.

"...How long did it take for you to memorize it? Actually, WHY did you memorize it?" [Orion]

"I don't know if we mentioned it before, but Felix has photographic memory." [Adam]

Orion was stunned. Unsure if he was being pranked, he simply accepted it as fact.

"Felix, you are literally the opposite of god making everyone equal." [Orion]

"I know right." [Adam]

As they spoke, the classroom door slid open. The sound of rustling came from outside, and a familiar figure walked inside.

"Everyone back to your desks!" [Mr. Frank]

Following his instructions, the students scrambled to get into position.

"Phew… That was rough." [Mr. Frank]

Strangely enough, Mr. Frank's coat seemed a bit weighed down. He was breathing heavily and his eyelids were drooping. Adam thought it was just his imagination, but took it as reality when he saw his classmates expressions.

("Is he sick today?") [Adam]

"Good morning everyone. Today, we're going to be suffering." [Mr. Frank]

"..." [Class]

The students glanced around in confusion, then looked back at their teacher for more of an explanation.

"Alright kids, strip." [Mr. Frank]