55 Just Like That?

The weekend soon passed without any interruptions or disruptions. There were no more missions assigned to me by the Socialization app, and there was no contact from Ralus. The only contact I had with a divine being was with Emilia, who was simply checking in with me.

With the arrival of Monday also came October, which meant that we will be switching to our winter uniforms. Therefore, instead of a simple white shirt, there's a black blazer and tie involved now, which I'm not heavily against since the temperature has been slowly dropping in the past few days.

After readying myself for school and seeing Loriana off, I exited my house, locking the door behind me, and walked over to the elevator. I pressed the button and began waiting. As I waited, the door opposite to my house's opened, revealing Muria. She was also dressed in the winter uniform of our high school.

The two of us waited for the elevator in silence before boarding it and making our way to the ground floor. As we walked to Lumina station, I made sure to be a short distance behind her so that if someone were to see us, they would not mistake that we were together. She kept looking over her shoulders at me, which I did not know the meaning of. However, once we stopped at a red light and were shoulder to shoulder, I finally knew the reason why.

"So," she said without taking her eyes off the light signal. "Were you able to help Irina solve her problem?"

"Yeah," I simply responded, also not taking my eyes off the light.

"Good job. You actually accomplished something."

"That's kinda painful to hear, don't you think?" I responded in an apathetic voice, not caring about that comment from her. I understood that she probably does not mean much offense by it. That's why.

"But really though," she said, this time in a softer voice. "I'm quite impressed."

"By what?"

"By your ability to solve her issue by yourself."

"Oh. Thanks," I simply said, ending our brief conversation right then and there.

The rest of our morning commute was conducted in silence, with the two of us standing at a distance that was just far enough that when people see us, they wouldn't think that we were together. Once at our school though, I allowed Muria to head up the stairs first and I waited for a bit before I followed. This way, there will be a large enough time increment between us that people won't suspect a thing. This will protect both her and my reputation. Man, I'm so smart for thinking of this.

I walked up the stairs and down the hallway towards the door to my classroom, thinking nothing of the chatters of the students around me. Everything was as usual here. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

That's right, I thought as I smirked and continued my walk. Everything will be the same no matter what happens. One's hard work will sometimes end up rewarding them with nothing. Life is just that way. You can't just simply expect a return for something you gave out. It just doesn't work that way, and I have no problem with it because that is the law of the universe.

I slid open the classroom door. Inside the classroom, the majority of the students were present, with the exception to the few that were chatting with friends in the hallway or visiting another classroom. There's also students who haven't even made it to school yet. I gotta take those into account.

With that aside, the classroom appeared the same as always. With Muria sitting there quietly in the seat next to mine, which is by the window at the back, and Loyd engaging in a casual yet friendly conversation with those students that crowded Irina's desk as well as with Irina herself. Upon seeing that sight, I let out a disappointed sigh.

Looks like she's still pretending despite all that I did. Those people are so annoying with the exception of Loyd, who made sure to keep his distance from the girl.

I walked down the aisle and towards my desk, squeezing my way past the large crowd that plugged up the aisle. I didn't look over at Irina, but I felt as if her eyes seemed to follow after my figure as I walked past. As I sat down though, Irina called out to me.

"Good morning, Alevian."

She got up from her chair and walked over to my desk. This elicited an awkward silence from that cancerous tumor of students that crowded her desk as well as from Loyd, Muria, and everyone else in the classroom as well as those who peeked in by the door. However, that silence soon vanished as the situation was processed by their lowly brains.

"Who is he?" I heard someone murmur to the person next to them.

"She said 'hi' to him," another person pointed out.

"Who the hell is that kid?"

Their words did not bother me, for it was as big of a surprise to me as it was to them. I didn't expect anything to occur between us after what happened last week on Friday, so her sudden approach caught me off guard. However, despite that, her demeanor seemed to have changed somewhat from earlier. I no longer see a forced smile, and in those eyes of hers, I saw genuine emotion, not any of those forced imitations. Rather, it was something that seemed to stem from the heart. If it is truly so, then I guess my work wasn't all for nothing.

"Morning," I simply responded as I placed my bag down.

"How was your weekend?" she then proceeded to ask.

Before I answered, I gazed past her and at the crowd that was originally gathered by her desk. Those people, seeing that Irina had abandoned them to speak with me, slowly dispersed. Not only just them. Those people that was peeking in from the front and back entrances of the classroom also left. I initially thought that she was using me to rid herself of those cancerous tumors, but in her eyes I see no such signs. Rather, she was too pure and innocent in my eyes to even think of that.

"It was alright," I responded.

Then, although not completely unwillingly, Irina and I chatted until the bell rang. When Mura entered the classroom, she just so happened to arrive on time to witness the tail end of our conversation. That elicited a smile on her face that she directed towards me accompanied with a simple nod almost as if she was acknowledging my efforts at the issue. Then, class resumed as usual.

Once break came, Irina looked in my direction once again, probably wanting to initiate another conversation. This time, however, Loyd intervened, speaking to her before she was able to me.

"How did you get to know Alev?" he asked.

"That's..." she looked over in my direction, almost as if asking me for consent to tell the story. Why're you even asking me?

"Alev?" Loyd chuckled and then looked over at me, almost as if knowing that this will be able to progress the conversation even faster and gain her trust easier.

"I helped her out on her problem," I answered, intentionally keeping her troubles a secret since I wasn't sure if she was fine if I were to reveal it to them.

"Oh," Loyd nodded. Then he turned towards Irina and smiled. "Let me introduce myself again. I'm Loyd Aksel Genose. I've known Alev since we were in elementary school, and currently, we're in the same club. That's Muria Eis Edel," he then introduced Muria. "She's also in our club."

"What club is it?" Irina then asked after having her interest peaked.

"Umm..." Loyd then turned to look at Muria and I. "What's the name of our club?"

"Don't ask me," I simply replied and looked out the window to escape from further questioning.

"I'm not sure as well," Muria responded honestly.

"And you guys started a club but don't know the club name?" Irina giggled. "What do you guys do regularly for the club?"

"Well..." Loyd began thinking. "Our club, according to Ms. Edel and Ms. Zartlich, is to help out around the school. Our first assignment was to help you, which—" He then looked over his shoulder and at me. "—I guess Alev did on his own."

Irina looked in the same direction Loyd was looking in and stared at me. On her face was a look of awe, but that look was quickly replaced with acceptance.

"Understandable," she whispered with a faint smile.

"Say," Loyd then said. "Have you ever thought about joining a club? If not, wanna join ours?"

What?

"I've never thought of it," Irina replied. "But..." She looked over in my direction and smiled. "It should be fun. Why not?"

And just like that, Irina also succumbed to Loyd's charisma.