54 Ranking Battles
Nova woke up to a pile of papers on the floor.
「...What the hell is that?」[Nova]
He picked up one of them, and all that was on it was "I'm sorry." in neat handwriting.
「...Who?」[Nova]
He looked at them and saw that the closer to the door they were, the more crumpled up and ripped they were.
He picked up more of them, and found that they were all the same except for how the handwriting got messier and messier over time.
「...Who?」[Nova]
He promptly cleaned them up and placed them on his desk.
「...Why are they sorry?」[Nova]
He opened up the door and thankfully found no other papers on the floor outside.
「...I need to apologize to Anastasia.」[Nova]
After looking around for a bit, he just went ahead to the cafeteria for his morning breakfast.
He seemed to be early, as nobody was there.
He went over to the window and began to talk to Freyana, since nobody else was there.
『Freyana! Good morning.』[Nova]
She popped up from the window and peered at him.
『...Good morning. Doesn't look like anyone is here...』[Freyana]
Now that he thought about it, she liked hiding from others.
『Hmm? Why do you care so much about others seeing you anyway?』[Nova]
When he asked this, she had a blank look on her face.
『...I guess I don't? It was something dad told me to do, so I never questioned it.』[Freyana]
She nodded her head and continued on.
『Anyways, it looks like you're a little tired. Did you stay up all night again?』[Freyana]
While she was talking, she waved her finger in the air, causing a cup to fill with coffee from a nearby pot.
『Yeah. I was doing some exploring yesterday. It was pretty fun!』[Nova]
She supported her head with her hand while waving the fingers on her other hand, causing foodstuffs to move around.
『Exploring? Where did you go?』[Freyana]
『A forest someplace away.』[Nova]
She smiled and pulled a tray of food and coffee up to the counter.
『Then, take me next time! I want to go on a night time walk with you.』[Freyana]
He thought about it for a moment, before remembering the black flash that attacked him.
『Well.. It's a forest with a bunch of monsters though. Maybe a safer forest?』[Nova]
She gave a big grin and a thumbs up.
『Yes! Let's go sometime. Send me a text!』[Freyana]
Nova took a sip of the coffee before his eyes shot open and he nodded his head violently.
「It's… BITTER!」[Nova]
『Oh! Is it too bitter?!』[Freyana]
She waved her fingers and some creamer and sugar flew into it.
He coughed a few times before stopping.
『...Thank you. I'm more of a sweet person..』[Nova]
When he said this, she giggled at him.
『Hey, what's so funny?』[Nova]
『You're always so quiet when it's with people you barely know!』[Freyana]
He held the coffee and took a sip before responding to her.
『Yeah? And what's wrong with acting like this around my girlfriend?』[Nova]
He gave her a big smile, which caused her to smile too.
『Nothing.』[Freyana]
Afterward, she pick up Nova's coffee and took a sip from it too.
『I like sweet things too.』[Freyana]
Nova saw and became a bit flushed, then looked away quickly.
『Hehe.』[Freyana]
Before long, people started to come in with extremely tired looks on their faces and Freyana went back to making food out of view.
「...Why does everyone look like a zombie?」[Nova]
Nova on the other hand, felt refreshed and claimed his normal seat, while waiting for his friends.
Before long, Rai came in with Leo and sat down.
『Yo! How has it been, bro?』[Rai]
『Eh. Not bad. Didn't get that much sleep last night though.』[Nova]
『Huh? You get a girlfriend or something?』[Rai]
Nova shrugged and gave the same answer whenever he was asked this.
『Yea-』[Nova]
『Hahaha! I'm just kidding. Stop playing around, I know you.』[Rai]
...And as always, was shut down by Rai's same response.
『...You know, Rai, he might be more popular than you think.』[Leo]
Nova looked at Leo with a confused look.
『...Hm?』[Nova]
He pointed behind Nova.
『Look behind you.』[Leo]
When he turned around, he saw a table filled with girls looking in his direction.
『...Huh?』[Nova]
Nova turned back to Leo and found him looking at the table behind Nova with a confused look.
『Wait.. Wasn't there...』[Leo]
Before he could continue, Rai interrupted.
『Hah! Great joke! Look now. They're not looking anymore!』[Rai]
When Nova turned back, he saw that the table was now talking to each other normally.
『Huh. That was weird. Anyway, you're up early today.』[Leo]
Nova shook his head.
『I got here a few minutes ago. Nobody was here, why?』[Nova]
When he said this, Leo gave Nova a weird look.
『...Yesterday was the first day of ranking battles. Did you not do any yet? Everyone else was too tired to come in early.』[Leo]
Suddenly, Nova broke out into a cold sweat.
『...Uh.. I left early yesterday.』[Nova]
Rai stopped eating and dropped his fork with a surprised look on his face.
『...Did you ditch class?』[Rai]
He shook his head while crossing his arms to form an "X".
『...No! I was dismissed early!』[Nova]
Rai picked up his fork again and continued eating.
He talked to Nova while chewing on a piece of pancake.
『...Then, you're probably the last place in the school right now.』[Rai]
Leo brought his hand to his chin as if he was deep in thought.
『So.. What does that mean?』[Nova]
『Means that you're a bit behind in the rank battles. Probably won't be able to get a battle in.』[Rai]
『Why? Can't I just challenge someone?』[Nova]
Leo shook his head.
『No. If you're a top ranker, you fight for ranking points. As such, if you don't have any points you aren't worth challenging versus someone that has more points.』[Leo]
『Then.. I'm screwed?』[Nova]
『Well, we can let you beat us...』[Leo]
Rai suddenly chimed in.
『Oh! I want a rema-...』[Rai]
He suddenly cut himself off.
Suddenly, Nova felt an ice cold hand on his shoulder.
『...Huh?』[Nova]
He turned around to see Anastasia with a white glove.
『...I challenge you to a ranking battle.』[Anastasia]
