153: A Return to the Mundane (Main Story End)

A couple days after leaving the school’s hospital, Nyssa’s life returned back to its normal rhythm. She collected her honors—and promotion—from both the Hero’s Association and the Hunter’s Association, but left before they could schedule an interview. Escaping with Celeste, they walked back towards campus as the sun began to rise.

The crisp morning air tickled their noses as morning dew dripped off the nearby leaves. Nyssa, while yawning, squeezed Celeste’s hand. “... I’m glad we went early. Imagine if we went later and the news crew they had invited was lying in wait.”

“I’m sure you’d be fine,” Celeste chuckled with a gentle smile, staring into the distance as a wistful look appeared in her eyes. “You’ve suddenly become quite important and famous, Nyssa.”

“So?” Nyssa sighed as they walked through the school’s main gate. The scanners reading their student ids beeped before turning green to let them through. “It’s nice to just have you... since you treat me nicely without alternate motives.”

“I do have an alternate motive though,” Celeste leaned towards Nyssa. Seeing her furrow her eyebrows, she pecked Nyssa on the lips. “No one else gets to do this to you after all.”

Nyssa blushed, and tried to take a step back. Celeste, though, kept a firm grip on her hand before motioning to walk towards the side. “Wanna walk? We have another fifteen minutes before class.”

“... Sure,” Nyssa nodded after recomposing herself.

As the leaves crunched under their feet, they walked in a quiet silence, arm in arm as they enjoyed the morning breeze. A couple stray students passed through the area, but whether by luck, or by lack of interest, they left the two alone.

“I hope we can stay together, you make life a lot better,” Nyssa broke the silence after a couple minutes. “You’re very caring, and I know you deal with a lot behind the scenes, but in moments like these, I wish it could last until we’re eighty.”

“I hope we can stay together too,” Celeste murmured. “Our school romance keeps getting punctured by the real world, but... I don’t know, it’s kind of nice to live the life you see in the media.”

“The media doesn’t have the constant drafting by random associations we have though...” Nyssa grumbled as Celeste laughed in agreement. “They just live a normal high school life learning stuff and having tests. We, on the other hand, have constant ‘you’re being sent to the trenches.’”

“We should have a break now, though, shouldn’t we? We can enjoy ourselves,” Celeste detangled herself from Nyssa before turning to face her. Cupping Nyssa’s face, she kneaded her cheeks. “We can live the academy life you always wanted now, hmm?”

“... True, you’re right about that,” Nyssa mustered as her words jumbled together. After a second though, she looked down. “... I thought you were going to kiss me.”

Pausing her kneading, Celeste broke out into a wide smile. She snapped a mental picture of Nyssa’s expression before pulling Nyssa closer and whispering. “I can do that too.”

Together, they kissed under the leaves. Lost in their own world for a brief moment, they embraced, exchanging countless messages of love through their gentle touch alone.

---

In another part of campus, Electra and Ryker sat in a coffee shop’s corner together, studying as a pair of cups sat on the table. Electra’s hand sat on Ryker’s as they caught up on the class they missed during the mission.

With neither in the mood for studying, time seemed to crawl by as sporadic conversation flowed between their murmurs of pain and regret.

“Why did we decide to do a morning study session? Remind me again?” Ryker grumbled as he messed up his blonde hair. “What does this theorem even mean?”

“Because you wanted to catch up on work,” Electra tapped her notebook with her pencil. “Do you want to go workout after class today?”

“The usual?” Ryker answered without looking up. “Sure, your place or mine after?”

“Yours, you have a nicer kitchen, and I have a recipe I want to make with you,” Electra squeezed Ryker’s hand. “I have all the ingredients.”

“Sounds like a plan then,” Ryker moved the hand from under Electra’s. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Is the recipe hard? I feel like my cooking is getting rusty.”

“No, it should be fairly straightforward,” Electra leaned against Ryker. “Oh, we should get going soon, class is going to start.”

“Bless,” Ryker exclaimed. As he packed up his stuff, though, he paused before leaning back into the seat beside Electra. “Oh we have a little bit of time, we can sit for another minute or two.”

“Mn, sure,” Electra closed her notebook as well.

---

“ONE-HUNDRED! I GOTTA LOCK IN,” Conrad shouted in the middle of the training field as sweat poured off his shirtless body. Counting aloud as he continued his push-ups, he closed his eyes and called to his system to monitor his body. “Who needs romance anyway? Who needs friends? They all slow you down on the singular grind for STRENGTH! ONE-HUNDRED-AND-ONE!”

“We’re right here,” Albion deadpanned from nearby. Sat on the ground next to Titus, he turned his hand into ice, then back, over and over again. “I was the one who brought up the idea of training, and Titus was the one who woke you up this morning since you forgot to set an alarm. What are you saying?”

“I’m just saying that strength waits for no one. One... hundred... and TWO!” Conrad pushed himself back up. “Anyway, what time is it?”

“Time for you to take a shower probably,” Titus scooted a little further back. “You have like ten minutes.”

“... Oh it’s already been that long?” Conrad paused, mid-pushup. A second later, he summoned the strength to leap to his feet and run off. “Thanks! See you two in class!”

“This man...” Albion sighed. “What is he on?”

“Who knows,” Titus laughed, sharing a look with Albion. “Who are we to decode him? I think if you could you’d win a prize.”

“‘Highest academic honors,’” Albion pantomimed in the air before standing up. Reaching out, he offered to pull Titus up.

“Thanks,” Titus nodded, grabbing onto Albion’s hand, and for a brief moment, they paused before Titus let go. “Want to just head over early?”

“Sure.”

---

“Good morning... everyone,” Angelica wheeled herself into the room, only to pause as she noticed a certain self-proclaimed protagonist missing. A second later, she heard rapid footsteps sprinting down the hall.

Conrad, noticing a wheelchair blocking the doorway, leapt over it unfazed before sliding into his seat. “I’m not even late. Damn. What are you all talking about? Whew. I’m so on time. They say I'm the most on time person ever.”

“... Sure,” Angelica sighed while wheeling herself to her desk. As she pulled out her lesson plans, she noticed the burning gazes everyone had cast over. “Ah... also, don’t worry, I’m pretty much fine. I have a follow-up appointment in a couple of days. They’ll clear me as fully healthy again, and I won’t have to be wheelchair bound. I’m just staying in it because my wife asked me t-”

“YOUR WIFE?” Electra interrupted, leaning forward in her seat as everyone else seemed to draw in closer as well. “You have a ring on your finger now, Angelica.”

“... Oh is that what you all cared about,” Angelica coughed into her fist—unintentionally showing off the ring once more.

“Yeah, of course,” Ryker pounded a fist against his chest with a righteous expression. “You’ve taught us for so long, of course we care about that type of stuff. It’s good to know our teacher won’t die alone.”

“Of course I’m not dying alone. I have family too,” Angelica rolled her eyes. “... Anyway, I got married recently. Don’t worry about it too much, it won’t impact my teaching. On that note, let’s not talk about your teacher’s love life, and instead, let’s start the lesson plan, shall we?”

The students, though, remained undeterred, and instead of a chorus of agreement, she got peppered with a stream of questions. Even Nyssa joined in, earning a faint glare from Angelica while no one else noticed.

After looking down at her lesson plan and mentally calculating how long it’d take, Angelica closed it. One faint chuckle of exasperation later, she grabbed a pen. “Okay, okay, I’ll answer your questions, can you slow down so I can write them down? I’ll answer them all in one go.”

As the words left her mouth, a shout filled the room as everyone let out a cheer.

“““““““YESSSSSS!!!”””””””

[End of Main Story]