80 Staying with the Moon

Sitting there in the corner of the ballroom with nothing to do except watching the other students as they had fun indulging themselves with alcohol and socializing, I decided that it was time for me to leave. I had no further obligations here and after checking my phone, it was already pretty late at 11 PM.

With nothing else on my mind, I got up from that seat and slowly made my way to the exit of the ballroom. My destination was the changing room where I had borrowed the tuxedo I was wearing from. There, my school uniform was stored in one of the cabinets. I walked down the lonely hallway, and in the background, the muffled noise of the music being played in the ballroom could be heard. I was sluggish from the day, and that muffled music acted like a lullaby as well as an annoyance at the same time; it's soft enough to lull my tired self near a state of drowsiness, but the music being played wasn't fit for sleep.

With a yawn, I slowly made my way to the changing rooms. By coincidence, when I brought my hands to the door handle of the men's changing room, the door to the women's changing room opened. From it emerged the two girls that I was fairly familiar with. Both Muria and Irina had changed back into their school uniforms, and as for Muria, she appeared quite relieved after escaping that revealing evening dress. On their faces was a look of surprise, but that look of surprise soon died down.

"You're heading home?" I asked after seeing that Irina had dressed herself in her school uniform.

"Yeah," Irina responded. "It's getting kinda late for girls to stay out."

"It is nearing midnight," I said after recalling the time. "I'm heading home as well," I then added. "You need someone to walk you home?"

"Sure," Irina answered with a relieved smile. "It'll be a lot safer with a boy with us."

"I mean Palisia is fairly safe," I said.

"It's still much safer if there's a guy with us at night," Irina smiled.

"Are you sure it won't be more dangerous, Irina?" Muria chimed in in her usual, cold manner.

"..." I stared at the girl who had just said that to me, and I then recalled how she had acted earlier. I remembered that shy and defenseless look she had on her face and chuckled. "That's the Muria I know."

"What do you mean?" she said, blushing a bit from being reminded of her state from earlier.

"Come now." Irina turned me around and pushed me into the men's changing room. "Hurry up and get changed."

I was forced into the changing room and the door was soon closed behind me. I stared at the closed dark wood door for a few seconds, dazed and thinking about what had just happened. Then, with a sigh, I walked over to the cabinet where I had kept my school uniform, took my clothes out, and started stripping myself of the tuxedo I had on. I carefully folded them and laid them on top of the cabinet after putting on my own clothes. Then, I exited the changing room.

Outside, Muria and Irina were both waiting for me as promised. After seeing me, they greeted me once again and we started on our way towards the elevators. On our way, we passed by the ballroom entrance, and inside, it would appear that things were slowly becoming wild as the music was now being blasted on the speakers. It's gotten to the point that I was actually glad that I had left before the music had became this ear-rape.

The elevator was located in an opened area near the wide-pane windows at the side of the building. We had arrived at the elevator area from the right side, and there was also a hallway that intersected the one we had arrived in. On both sides of that hallway were doors leading into hotel rooms.

Once we arrived in the elevator area, I saw a familiar figure standing before the wide-pane windows and staring at the nighttime city outside. Her silvery-white hair seemed to sparkle underneath the illuminations in the hotel and her beautiful face was reflected slightly in the window glass before her. This reflection confirmed to me that this was Luna, and she saw us approach due to that reflection as well.

"Luna, you came to the party as well?" Irina sounded surprised when Luna turned around to greet us with a smile. "I'm so surprised!"

"I'm not that rigid of a person," Luna laughed. "Or am I someone like that to you?"

"No," Irina blushed.

Luna surveyed the three of us with her eyes. "Are you three heading home?"

"Yeah," Irina answered.

"How lucky of you," she laughed once again as she made eye contact with me for a second and ended it shortly after. "You have a personal escort."

I wasn't sure if she was talking to Irina and Muria about my presence or talking to me about the two of them. It was probably the first option since if it was the latter, then wouldn't she be implying that Muria and Irina are prostitutes aka escorts?

"Are you leaving as well?" Muria asked after noticing that Luna was dressed in her school uniform.

"I was going to," she said, "but I'm kinda tired so I was resting for a bit before heading home."

"Then how about we head home together?" Irina suggested. "It's safer if it's the four of us."

"Hmm..." Luna gazed out the window as she pondered over the suggestion. Then, with a smile, she declined. "I think I'll be resting for a bit more before I head home," she said after turning around to face us. "You three can go ahead without me. It would be bad if I keep you here any longer than needed."

"But—"

Irina was about to say something but was interrupted by Luna.

"It's fine," Luna said. "I can manage myself."

Her denial led to a frown being formed on Irina's face. She wasn't damaged by the denial, but rather she was worried and concerned for Luna's safety. I know that because Irina is someone who would worry about others. Within her lies a kind and gentle heart, one that had existed even before my efforts of freeing her from her troubles.

"Then how about this," Irina finally said after thinking for a way to guarantee Luna's safety."Alevian, can you stay behind and walk Luna home? If that's fine with Luna..."

Luna looked over at me for a second, and then smiled. "I'm fine with that," she said. "I think heading home later won't bother Alevian as much."

"Then it's decided," Irina smiled happily, knowing that her suggestion had helped.

What about me? I thought. I didn't agree just yet.

However, I kept those thoughts concealed within me, knowing that if I were to talk, that would probably result in a scolding by Irina. Besides, spending some time with Luna isn't as bad as staying behind in that loud ballroom. So, I don't have much reason to decline.

"What about you two then?" I asked. "If the two of you were to walk the other person to their house, the person still not home will have to head home all alone. It's nearing midnight so..."

"It's fine," Irina smiled as she hugged Muria. "Muria said I can stay the night at her place."

"Irina, too close..." Muria had a troubled expression on her face as Irina wrapped her arms around her. However, she made no real effort to push the girl away.

"Then that shouldn't be as bad," I nodded.

"Then see you two tomorrow," Irina said as the elevator arrived at the floor we were on and the two entered it. "Don't do anything weird to Luna!"

"I'm not a pervert," I sighed.

Upon seeing that reaction from me, Irina chuckled. Then, the elevator doors slowly slid to a close and took the two girls down towards the ground floor, leaving only Luna and I standing before the elevator.

"So I'll walk you home," I said to Luna.

"Thank you," Luna smiled and nodded in my direction.

Then, she turned to gaze out the window once again. On her face was that same smile, but in her eyes there were a sort of content admiration as she watched the nighttime city. However, her countenance was also affected by fatigue, and her eyes displayed less vitality and was of a pale color.

I remained silent as I just stood there, accompanying her. Without much to do, I took my phone out from my pant pocket and began surfing the internet. However, that was when I noticed a notification on my phone that I must've missed due to the loud volume in the ballroom.

----------

Continuous Objective:

Spend time with Luna.

----------

What? That's it?

My eyes were wide with shock as I read the mission over and over again from the Socialization app.

Continuous Objective... what's that?

I navigated the app in search of an explanation for this mission, but there seemed to be nothing there. I was confused by this mission since I never had it before, and in addition, there's no SP reward or time limit set.

Continuous Objective... so does that mean it's a mission over a prolonged period of time?

My time to comprehend and think over the mission was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the theater club president, who appeared quite hyped for some reason. There were no signs of fatigue on his face, and from that slight redness, I could tell that he had some to drink.

"Whatcha doing here?" he asked when he saw us. "Alevian, with the President..." A perverted smile then appeared on his face. "I know what's going on... Good job, Alevian!" He patted me on my back, congratulating me for something that I wasn't sure about. "Picking up the President of all girls. Good job."

I looked over my shoulder at Luna and discovered that she was remaining silent, which was quite odd since she usually could handle situations like this. Even though she kept her head low, I could see a slight paleness on her face. Maybe she was tired? But in any case, it would appear that it will be me that's responsible with handling this guy.

So that's what he's talking about.

"You had too much to drink," I said, escaping from him so that he wasn't able to slam me in my back.

"A little," he laughed. Then, he reached a hand into his pocket and took out what appeared to be a key card. "You're gonna need this." He showed me the card.

"What's this for?" I asked him.

"Fun," he said, stepping to the side, turning around in order to gaze at the hallway with hotel rooms, and finally finding an example. "There're about to have fun."

My eyes looked where he was looking, and to my surprise, I saw Loyd being dragged into a hotel room with three girls. His face was red, and I wasn't sure if it was from alcohol or from him blushing. However, when they entered a hotel room, I finally understood what the club president had meant by fun. Then, I suddenly want to curse Loyd.

"We're not that!" I exclaimed. I then glanced over my shoulders, hoping that Luna wouldn't be mad that we were mistakened.

"Oh," the club president ignored me while keeping his eyes down the hallway. "There's another one. Hey, it's Zaksus."

I looked out of curiosity where the club president looked in and discovered Zaksus with three girls. The four entered a hotel room as well, and then I cursed that guy.

What the f*ck... These people are getting laid so easily... And it's more than one person!

"Alevian man." The club president brought his hands to his waists and shook his head in disappointment. "I had high hopes for you when I saw you headed this way with Muria and Irina. When I saw the President, I was like 'Oh man he's a player'. But now... it's only one instead of three..."

"We're not that relationship," I sighed once again and shook my head.

"Anyways," the club president said as he grabbed me and then Luna by our wrists. "Go and have some fun."

He dragged us over to a hotel room with what great strength that I wasn't able to free myself out of. Then, he unlocked the door with the key card, opened the door for us, and pushed us in there. Then, he threw the key card into the room as the door slowly closed.

"Have fun," he said, waving to us as the door closed.

What the hell happened in that last few minutes? I saw Loyd before he's about to have a foursome, Zaksus before he's about to have a foursome, and now I'm mistakened to be ready to have a one-night stand with Luna... Nothing's gonna happen between Luna and I, but Loyd and Zaksus...

I sighed and shook my head, mourning the fact that those two had left this world of virgins. I then looked over my shoulders and at the silent girl who kept her head low.

I am in a hotel room with Luna... This is bad...