"Say... what?"
Zoe went red from embarrassment at the attention. "A-anyway! I think I can h-heal Liam! That is, with um... Lisa's... permission..."
Lisa and Liam stared blankly at her for a few seconds.
"Why would you need my permission?" Lisa asked, head tilted in confusion.
The rest looked away in embarrassment, and Liam narrowed his eyes at them. He tapped Lisa on the shoulder, and when she turned to him he raised an eyebrow and nodded in their direction.
"You're right. Pretty suspicious," Lisa said as she narrowed her eyes as well.
How the hell does that mean anything?! the others collectively thought.
"U-u-um," Zoe sputtered. "A-a-aren't the t-t-two of you-"
""""Don't say it!"""" the others cried.
"-D-dating?"
Liam and Lisa stared at them in silence.
The others avoided their gaze in embarrassment.
It's so awkward! Nanami thought, his lips sucked in. He opened his mouth to speak, but-
"I can't believe you people," Lisa sighed. Liam nodded along with her.
"This guy's a total train-wreck." Lisa shook her head, jabbing her thumb in his direction.
Liam froze in surprise.
"He has no social skills, is horribly dense, has a smart mouth, can't get his head out of a book, he's spacey, and mostly self-destructive. Why the hell would I go out with someone like that?"
"...Sure...." Liam sneered. The others suddenly shuddered at the evil smirk on his face.
"How-?!" Nanami tried to say before Rex clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Liam, could you please wipe that creepy look off your face?" Hannah asked with a concerned look on her face. "You're scaring Zoe."
Everyone turned their eyes to Zoe, who was shivering. Then she flinched, realizing she was the center of attention.
"Anyway!" Nanami yelled. "Why are you still standing there, Zoe?"
The girl jumped away from Nanami, visibly spooked.
Zoe jumped again as something touched her shoulder, and she turned to see Liam. He was looking away awkwardly, then nodded for seemingly no reason before finally meeting Zoe's eyes.
"Zoe..." Liam grunted and pointed at his throat. "Can... you...?"
Zoe blinked in confusion, then remembered why she had come in the first place. She pointed at herself. "I c-can heal you?"
Liam gave her a thumbs up.
"O-okay!" Zoe nodded sharply before reaching out and touching his neck.
Liam flinched in surprise, then groaned as a new sensation filled him.
It was painful, but soothing at the same time. The feeling spread out from the tips of Zoe's fingers to the rest of his neck, and flowed up to his head.
"Urgh-!" Liam groaned.
"I'm sorry!" Zoe's expression twisted into one of concentration. "It hurts because I'm energizing and reconstructing your cells! Hold on a bit longer!"
Liam gritted his teeth and endured for a few more seconds before Zoe broke away, breathless.
"It... uses a lot of... stamina..." Zoe panted.
Liam cleared his throat, hummed, then smiled. "...Thanks."
Lisa smiled. "Looks like you got your-"
"-get back? In due time. What I was going to say... was that... Lisa is childish, bossy, violent, irritating, hopelessly naive sometimes, always lacking information, disrespectful-"
"Wait, SHUT UP!" Lisa yelled as she tried to cover his mouth.
"My point... exactly..." Liam coughed into his elbow and slapped her hands away.
The others watched this with perfectly straight expressions, but underneath...
No way that double denial was by chance. They must have practised it, Hannah thought.
This is definitely not the first time this has happened. Lee narrowed his eyes.
That guy has a girlfriend before me?! Nanami stared with wide eyes. And she's so cute too!
For someone so obviously antisocial to have a girlfriend... it's a big world. Rex raised an eyebrow.
What's happening right now?! Are they fighting?! Playing?! I don't understand! Why do I have to witness this?! Zoe blinked repeatedly.
"Also, thank you, Zoe." Liam smiled with a mixture of warmth and nerves, even as he pushed Lisa's face away.
"Ah..." Zoe smiled a little before lowering her head and nodding.
"..." Liam scratched the back of his head, not sure about what to say next.
"..." Zoe scratched her cheek, feeling even more nervous.
"..." Everyone watched the two socially anxious people interact with deadpan expressions
"...!" Liam and Zoe made eye contact and flinched. They noticed each other's reaction, and their eyes widened in surprise. Then they smiled at each other, scratching the back of their heads.
"Ugh..." Lisa facepalmed. "There are two of them now."
****
Exactly thirty minutes later...
"What do you have to say for yourselves?!!"
"I can't believe you started a fight!"
"What on earth was this even about?!"
Both the Hunter and Hero Classes were back in the Crucible, forced to kneel before their respective homeroom teachers and Martial Arts teacher.
Apparently the teaching staff of either course had been called in for an emergency meeting, and news had reached them from the security team that both classes had gotten into a fight.
Those bastards actually waited for the fight to end before contacting us. Zantos sighed deeply and glared down at a particular student.
"Kazumi," Zantos growled. "I understand you instigated this?"
His tone brooked no room for argument, and Kazumi nodded, even though his head remained down.
"That's right, I started it."
"Really Zantos," said the Hero Class's homeroom teacher, "What is wrong with your students?"
"Do not interfere, Aurelia." Zantos rolled his eyes without looking at her.
Aurelia, a sharp-eyed redhead with the looks of a supermodel, shook her head in disappointment.
"Honestly, if you had better teaching methods, this might not have happened."
The Hunter Class shivered as Zantos' hostility became tangible enough to feel.
"Aurelia, do you know the second most important rule every Hunter learns in life?"
"What?" the woman frowned in confusion.
Zantos smirked as he gave her a smug side-eye. "Win. Win by taking as many steps as necessary. Who won this altercation?"
Aurelia clicked her tongue in frustration, and some members of the Hunter Class struggled to hold in their smiles.
"And you." Zantos looked down at his kneeling pupils.
Even Kazumi shivered a little.
"The first rule every Hunter engraves in themselves is to survive."
A few of them rose their heads in surprise, but the next moment they lowered them.
"Will you say you survived, since I'm here?!" Zantos growled.
"Enough," said the last teacher, Leona. "You have corrected them enough. It is time to assign the punishments accordingly."
Every student present sighed in defeat at the statement.
****
As the victors, the Hunter Class was made to clean the entire Crucible, its surroundings, and its adjoining showers after school. The Hero Class was sent to clean the auditorium. Neither job was easy, but the Hunter Class could tell they got the short end of the stick.
"We wouldn't be in this situation if Kazumi hadn't started it..." Nanami groaned as he wiped down a staff from the rack.
"I know, right." Lisa sighed.
"I have no regrets." Lee nodded as he put a pair of rubber hook swords on the rack.
"Ugh! I can't go back to building! I wasn't even a part of the stupid fight!" Hannah clenched her fist, tears at the corners of her eyes.
"Deal with it," Lee replied.
"I'm going to be late for work..." Rex sighed.
"You h-have a job?" Zoe asked in surprise.
What exactly... is going on? Liam thought as he glanced at the group. How are they so close all of a sudden? No wait, my training! I'll be-!
Liam's arm seized up all of a sudden, and he gritted his teeth till the pain subsided. After a few more seconds, he went back to cleaning the blood he had spilled on the mat while fighting Sam. He was using a device similar to a vacuum machine, but it sucked, washed, and dried at the same time. However, Liam was too preoccupied with his thoughts to give an exposition.
Right... I was hoping I could get Zoe to help me, but I guess not since she consumes a lot of stamina doing it. Must be mental strain from willing cells to heal... I'll probably have to wait two to three days for my body to be fully healed-
"Hey, Liam, right?"
Why are so many people talking to me?! Liam thought as he looked up from his work.
Who met his gaze was their class representative, Lloyd Raidou, wearing a warm smile . Or as everyone called him: Raidou.
"...Yes."
I did it! I answered you! That's all right?
"I see you and my cousin have gotten pretty close," Raidou said as he turned to the group rearranging weapons.
Liam followed his gaze. "Y-you mean... Rex?!"
Raidou chuckled. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"I-I m-meant n-n-nothing by it!" Liam snapped to attention.
"Why are you so uptight?" Raidou asked with a raised eyebrow.
Liam flinched as his left leg cramped up, and he smiled nervously. "Oh, w-well... um..."
I don't like talking to new people because I feel like I'm boring them; making friends is scary because you have no idea what they really think, people who smile nicely all the time could be hiding something, and who knows if a person's a potential bully?
Raidou's eyes widened a little. "Ah!"
Liam froze. Did I speak out loud?!
"Is it because of my family?" Raidou asked, a slightly tired look on his face.