CHAPTER 239: TABLE FOR TROUBLE

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a restaurant with a plate of fried chicken and Schezwan rice in front of me.

Across the table? Professor Lena, Ryen, Leona, Nora... and—wait, Kiera?

Kiera?

What the hell was she doing here?

I had literally just met her twenty minutes ago. She was getting chewed out by my sister and not long after, I caught her stalking me around campus.

And now she was here, seated at our table like she belonged?

She flinched when our eyes met, quickly looking away and pretending to study the soy sauce bottle like it contained the secrets of the universe.

I blinked, still trying to wrap my head around how this bizarre turn of events even happened.

I’m sure anyone watching from the outside would’ve wondered the same thing.

How the hell did this happen?

Did I get brainwashed between bites of rice?

Was there a mind-control spell in the chili oil?

One second I was just walking around campus, the next I was sandwiched between Leona and Professor Lena, watching Kiera quietly nibble on a spring roll like she wasn’t a borderline stranger who had been following me like a lost puppy an hour ago.

Ryen was already halfway through his second plate, Nora was grumbling about the spice level, and Leona kept sneakily pushing pickled radish slices onto my plate with a smug grin.

Everything felt too normal.

Which, ironically, made it even weirder.

And through it all, Kiera avoided my gaze like her life depended on it.

...Something told me this dinner wasn’t going to stay peaceful for long.

Honestly? It was Professor Lena Idea to have lunch with me, since we launched together most of times I nodded my head and headed towards this resturant.

...And on the wa, we met most of freinds and she invited to all of them.

...And that’s how we ended up here.

But damn, Kiera sure has thick skin. Anyone else would not come in front of me for at least two days after caught in stalking.

...But it’s not like I was going to point out.

That would make this atmosphere awkward as hell.

"Cadets... sure do eat a lot."

Professor Lena couldn’t help but mutter under her breath as she glanced at Ryen and Nora—Ryen was still going strong, third plate now, and Nora, despite her constant complaints about the spice, had nearly finished hers.

Ryen raised his head with a mouthful of rice, clearly having heard her.

"We train hard, so we eat hard," he said, spraying a bit of rice onto the table in his enthusiasm.

Leona snorted. "And apparently, we forget table manners just as hard."

"Hey!" Ryen frowned. "It’s called efficient fuel intake."

I sighed and reached for a piece of chicken, only to catch Kiera sneaking a glance at me from behind her spring roll.

She quickly looked away again, this time pretending to be deeply fascinated by the restaurant’s menu stuck under the glass tabletop.

I swear, if she stared any harder, the soy sauce bottle was going to turn into a magical artifact.

Meanwhile, Leona pushing yet another pickled radish onto my plate. I stared down at the growing yellow pile like it was a personal insult.

"Why do you keep doing this?" I asked her, low enough so only she could hear.

She leaned closer with a glint in her eye. "This is revenge. You told me that I would lose both to Ryen and Leo"

"But I also said that you could win—"

"I Don’t care about that. Damage was done. Now eat up."

The moment I opened my mouth to protest again, Professor Lena clapped her hands once.

"Alright, alright, less fighting, more chewing. We’re still in public, cadets."

Everyone quieted down—well, except Ryen, who didn’t even slow down. I’m not sure he heard her through the chewing noises.

Leona backed off with a smug smirk, victorious, while I resigned myself to the fate of yellow radish overload. Kiera, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to melt into her chair.

"Anyway, Rin, you ready for the trip?" Ryen asked, setting his plate down with a satisfied sigh.

"Trip?" I blinked.

"Yeah, the club’s planning a weekend getaway after the ranking match. The seniors said they’ve got a bunch of fun stuff lined up. It’s like a welcome trip for us newbies."

Ah. Right.

That was happening too.

The infamous travel club trip—the one that somehow kept going even when half the academy got wrecked in the original storyline. Back then, the ranking match got delayed, so this event came first. But now, I guess this is how it was always meant to be.

"You’ve been dungeon crawling with Leo, hanging out with Leon like you’re glued together... If you ditch me for this one, I’m taking it personally," Ryen grinned.

"Relax. I’m going."

"Huh?" His eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, seriously?"

"I said I’m going. What, is that so weird?"

"I mean, yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "Usually, you’d scowl like I just asked you to do manual labor and say, ’Ugh, what’s the point of going?’"

"...Fair enough. That does sound like me."

"Pfft," Leona snorted from her seat, doing a perfect imitation of my usual deadpan voice. "’Why are we wasting time when we could be training?’"

Kiera laughed, her shoulders shaking, and even the normally quiet Nora let out a soft giggle behind her hand.

I looked around at all of them, these weirdos I’d somehow ended up stuck with.

"Tch. I’m just going easy on you all because I’m weak."

"Ohhh, scary." Ryen smirked. "Better watch out, guys. Once Rin levels up his stamina stat, he’ll be unstoppable."

"Hey, I’m right here," I muttered, but I couldn’t help the small smile tugging at my lips.

The truth was... this didn’t feel half-bad.

Maybe it was okay to be dragged along sometimes.

Maybe being weak wasn’t so terrible—if you had the right people with you.

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Thanks for reading the Chapter.