Quelling the Heightened Situation

Drai, Christo, and Auri hurriedly ran over to the unmoving Jian. They knelt down and checked his pulse, which was fortunately still there.

"He's out cold," Auri said, looking at the huge bruise on Jian's swollen cheek.

As Drai looked at Jian's miserable face, he felt really bad for him, since Jian was merely trying to alleviate the heated situation on Drai's behalf. Although Jian's mindless remark was the reason Natalia had lashed out at him, Drai felt that he was partially guilty for Jian's current condition.

"It was very honorable of you to sucker punch an innocent guy, Natalia. As expected of a Skyward," Christo sarcastically remarked. He too was concerned of Jian.

"F**k you," Natalia curtly replied.

Drai felt a headache coming as his two friends seemed ready to clash once more. However, a timid voice suddenly interrupted them.

"C-can I help y-your friend?"

Drai and the others looked toward the voice and saw a short girl standing bashfully near the group. She had a childlike face that was currently a bit red due to her shyness. Her wavy green hair was at shoulder-length. She also sported a leather satchel that looked quite worn. With how the girl was fidgeting nervously, Drai wondered how she even thought of offering help.

Immediately, Auri stood up and walked up to the girl.

"Can you help him?" she asked.

"Y-yes! I have some m-medicine," the girl hurriedly replied.

"Great! We'll be really thankful if you can really help him," Auri said as she led the girl to Jian by her hand. The girl seemed a bit surprised by this but didn't resist. Shortly after, she was already kneeling down beside the fainting Jian.

The girl's face turned serious as she examined Jian's condition. She then proceeded to pull out several herbs and held them between her hands. She began to rub the herbs slowly and her hands were quickly surrounded by a faint green glow.

Drai watched in amazement as the herbs slowly turned into a dark green viscous liquid hovering between her hands. The girl then applied the liquid on the huge swollen bruise, which quickly shrank and returned to a normal color.

Although Jian's face been healed, he was still unconscious. The girl seemed to have expected this as she quickly pulled out a flower branch and plucked one of the tiny yellow flowers on it. Instead of slowly grinding them, this time she merely slapped the flower on her hand before smearing it under Jian's nostrils.

The girl's serious expression suddenly relaxed as Jian showed some movement. Soon, his eyelids trembled before slowly opening. His eyes were looking dazed at first, but they quickly regained focus.

The girl put her hand at Jian's forehead while her thumb slightly rubbed his glabella. This surprised Jian as his eyes immediately turned toward the small lady kneeling beside him.

"It's alright. You're fine now," the girl said smilingly. Her timidity was nowhere to be found, seemingly forgotten due to her focus and concern when she was treating Jian.

Upon hearing these words, Jian stared dazedly at the girl's sweet face before slowly opening his mouth.

"D-Daughter…?"

Hearing this, the girl's face instantly reddened and she quickly covered it with her hands.

Auri, who was standing beside Jian, immediately reached for Jian's ear and tugged at it.

"Ouch! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Jian blurted in pain.

"I'm the one who should be asking that! Who are you calling a daughter!? She's the one who healed your hideous face, you ungrateful twat! Now apologize and thank her!" Auri scolded Jian beratingly.

Jian was baffled as he didn't expect such a harsh response. He then touched his face and felt that it really wasn't hurting anymore. He took a glance at the girl beside him who was still covering her face then sat up facing her.

"Forgive me for being rude. I was a bit dazed before so I couldn't think clearly. And thank you for healing me," Jian said to the girl.

Hearing this, the girl took a peek at Jian before closing up her fingers again. She quietly replied, "I-it's okay."

Jian scratched his head as he didn't know what to do about this situation. However, Auri quickly knelt beside the girl and rested her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Thank you so much for helping us. I'm Auri, and the dimwit you just helped is called Jian. What's your name?"

The girl's body tensed up as she felt Auri's hand on her shoulder. She peeked at Auri and saw the cheerful lady looking at her with a friendly smile. The girl quickly retracted her eyes. She then fell quiet for a short while before she finally lowered her hands slowly, revealing her nervous youthful face.

"I-I'm Flo…"

"What a cute name! Nice to meet you, Flo!" Auri cheerfully said.

Flo timidly nodded before glancing at the other people of the group.

"Thank you, Flo. My name is Christo. It's a pleasure meeting you," Christo introduced himself and offered his hand, which Flo shook hesitantly.

Drai also walked over and said, "I'm Drai. You looked pretty cool earlier. By the way, I want us to be close friends."

Hearing these words, the rest of the group stared at Drai in astonishment. Even Natalia who was standing apart from them couldn't help but gape at her friend.

Meanwhile, Flo was blushing. It wasn't just Drai's daring request that embarrassed her; Drai's casual praise was also echoing in her head.

'Ah! I can't take it anymore! Why is this naïve-looking guy being so frank? But did I really look cool earlier? That's the first time someone ever told me that…' Flo thought to herself amidst her blushing.

Auri was the first one to wake up from her astonishment. She promptly moved closer to Flo and whispered in her ear, "Drai here is a bit special. You have to take his words with a grain of salt, since they don't always mean the same as what we think they do."

Hearing this, Flo's embarrassment seemed to worsen. She felt her face unbearably hot as it was now covered in a deep red shade.

'Is it really obvious that I'm flustered? How can I face these guys after this?? Should I just run away? But what if they catch me?? Auri looks like a clingy type. I bet she won't let me go that easily. God help me…'

As if her prayer were heard, at this moment, the front doors of the building opened, revealing a heavy figure that Drai's group was quite familiar with.

"Sorry for the wait! Come on in, everyone!" Big Bob shouted from the porch, waving at the presumably new members. The few surrounding students promptly marched into the headquarters, leaving Drai's group behind.

"Let's go," Christo said to the others as he headed in. Jian immediately stood up and followed suit. It's unknown whether he had forgotten about Natalia's assault or had chosen to ignore it for the time being.

Auri looked at Drai before glancing at Natalia. She pulled Flo up and said to Drai before heading in, "I'm going in first. I'll let you sort things out, Drai. Let's go, Flo."

Drai watched silently as Auri went ahead with Flo, who took a quick glance at Drai before entering the building.

"Aren't you coming in, Drai?" Big Bob shouted from the porch.

"I'll be there in a bit, Big Bob," Drai replied.

Big Bob seemed to understand the situation, as he shouted, "Just come in when you're done. I'll leave the door open."

Drai gave a thumbs-up, to which Big Bob nodded before heading inside. Drai then turned around and looked at Natalia with a complicated expression.

"Can you tell me what's the matter between you and Christo?" Drai questioned. He had never heard any of them mention the other party before this evening. It was Drai who told Christo about Natalia, and at that time Christo only seemed to be slightly interested. He had even teased Drai about it. Yet, tonight Christo had been particularly confrontational and snarky toward Natalia, far removed from his usual calmness.

Natalia, to Drai's surprise, was actually showing a complicated expression; she looked hesitant, guilty, and frustrated at the same time. She was anxiously twiddling with her fingers and avoided looking directly at Drai.

Seeing her like this, Drai couldn't help but feel bad for his friend. He then walked toward Natalia, and stopped right in front of her before slowly wrapping his hands around her back, hugging her tightly.

"W-what are you doing!?" Natalia blurted as her face turned red, as she hadn't expected this embrace, especially from someone like Drai.

However, Drai didn't flinch and kept hugging Natalia, who finally relented and rested her head on Drai's chest. They both remained in this position for a while. A few passing students grinned upon seeing this scene, but no one actually interrupted them.

After a moment of silence, Drai finally said, "Your face reminded me of that time when I accidentally destroyed parts of my house. I knew it was an accident, but I was so scared of facing my parents. When my mom finally appeared and saw me, the first thing she did was hug me. At that moment, all my worries disappeared and I cried my guilt out in my mom's embrace. I felt that you needed that kind of thing, Natalia. Sorry if it was too sudden."

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Natalia, whose face was still buried in Drai's chest, softly said, "Thank you, Drai."

Following this, the two parted and Drai smiled upon seeing Natalia's brighter expression.

"So, are you ready to tell me what's the problem?" Drai asked.

"Yes but not now. I don't want you to be late. I'll tell you about it after the gathering's over. Don't worry, I'll avoid clashing with Christo. I'll just think of him as air."

"Sure. Let's go in then," Drai said. He was actually doubting whether Natalia could keep herself from tangling with Christo, but there was nothing he could do at the moment unless he were willing to chase away Natalia.

But before the two could even move, they heard rapid footsteps at a distance, heading toward them. They turned around and saw a busty young lady running.

"Excuse me!" the lady shouted as she saw the two people. Soon, she arrived at their spot and stopped.

"Excuse me, is this the headquarters of VV?" the lady asked.

"Yes. You can see their signboard right there," Natalia replied. She couldn't help but glance at the lady's impressive milkers.

"Thank god I've found it. I actually got lost and had to run around for a bit, hehehe," the lady gigglingly said.

"Are you here for the gathering? The others already entered a short while ago," Drai mentioned.

"Really? Whoopsie! I need to get going then. Thanks, you two! Bye!"

Right after, the lady ran toward the entrance and jumped into the opened doors, bypassing the whole porch and front steps with a single leap.

"What an energetic lady," Drai remarked after the lady was gone.

"She has quite a figure too," Natalia added.

"Huh? Does she?" Drai asked, looking a bit confused.

"Never mind. You won't get it," Natalia said helplessly. By now, she was already aware of Drai's aesthetics. "Anyway, let's head in."

As the two walked toward the front doors, Natalia asked, "By the way, you mentioned about destroying parts of your house before. How did that even happen?"

"It's just an accident from my training. At that time, I hadn't started training at the bottom of the hill. It was after that incident that I started thinking of training outside the town. So, there are a few logs in my backyard, since Dad used to bring a few of them home from his workplace. I think he wanted to start some kind of collection or business, but he eventually forgot about it and left them there. Anyway, one day, I was lifting one of these logs as usual when my hands slipped. The log flew and landed on the roof and crashed into the house. Luckily, it didn't hit my mom, otherwise my dad would've probably killed me," Drai explained.

"Did your parents ever teased you for crying back then? I bet you cried really hard, since you destroyed the roof and probably all the furniture below it and thought your parents would disown you," Natalia asked teasingly.

"No, they never teased me about it. Isn't it normal for kids to cry?" Drai replied questioningly.

"It's also quite normal for parents to tease their teenage kid for crying. Parents can be quite insensitive, you know? There's no reason teen boys can't cry too," Natalia said as she tried to explain her point of view.

"But I hadn't been a teenager yet when it happened. There's no reason for my parents to tease me about it unless they're being unreasonably mean," Drai elaborated.

"Not a teenager yet?? Then how old were you back then???"

"Ten."

"…"

Natalia couldn't even respond to Drai's statement. At that age, she was probably still playing house. Even her dad wouldn't force her to train rigorously at such a young age, especially with how the System worked. The best thing the adults could do was giving the children related lessons and useful insights during the Prep, hoping that they would soon identify their interests and train accordingly.

"If you were his son, my dad would probably really love you," Natalia muttered.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"Nothing. Hey look, they're all gathered there. I hope they won't drive us out," Natalia said, pointing at a well-lit area on the first floor.

Drai turned to look and saw an area with a number of small tables filled with snacks and drinks. Each of the tables was surrounded by several chairs, most of which were occupied by VV members. The setup was quite interesting, as it resembled a scene from a rustic diner rather than that of a formal gathering.

Arriving at the area, Drai spotted his friends at a table. He glanced at Natalia, who merely shrugged in response, before heading toward his friends with her. However, before the two could walk any further, a loud voice shouted at them.

"Hey, newcomers! Come up here!"