The Rumors Spread

"Where's Miku?" Thomas asked as he looked left and right. He didn't see the girl in his line of sight.

"He went to see Flo and Alia. She said they wanted to have a look together around school after class."

The answer instantly stopped him. "Girls time," he commented. He continued his steps beside Carl. Their destination was the canteen. "But she won't forget the class after lunch, will she?" He suddenly remembered something. They had classes after lunch.

"She remembers." Carl chimed in curtly. In fact, Miku was the one who reminded him of his class.

Yes, that was right. Carl might significantly depend on his companion.

Thomas nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that's better than mine. He won't go even if I tell him to." He glanced at Dex to his left. "He had a mental shock after fighting the teacher," he added, describing the gloom on Dex's face. Dex had also been silent for a long time, even though he was not that type of person.

Feeling spoken of, Dex replied, "Julian and Vega are great."

"Sure. Otherwise, they won't be teachers."

"We must learn from them."

"We're doing that. Did you forget? We're at Astrix Academy." Thomas shook his head in disbelief. Sometimes, he wondered what was on Dex's mind.

Dex pursed his lips, displeased to be reminded of that. Thomas seemed to spoil the fun.

He turned around, about to protest against Thomas. But suddenly, an idea crossed his mind when he saw Carl. "Oh, we can have Miku train us. We must get stronger fast." His annoyance was replaced by enthusiasm. His eyes even shone with hope.

Thomas immediately smacked his head. "You forgot what the teachers said? The problem is our cooperation and you acting too rashly." He reminded Dex. "We have to fix it first before we interfere with others' practice time."

Dex held his head that, actually, didn't hurt. "Why do you always do this to me?" he protested, finally.

Thomas stopped and looked at him with his hands on his hips. "Because you never listen to me. I have to repeat it over and over again until you realize all that."

Dex was silent. He knew he was wrong and Thomas was right. And that pissed him off even more.

Without a word, he walked away from Thomas and Carl.

"Hey, Dex," Thomas called after the gap was wide enough. "Where are you going?" he asked, exclaiming because Dex didn't turn around and just drifted further away. "Hey." Finally, he ran after him.

What was left was Carl. He just watched them go in silence.

Then a tiny laugh escaped his lips. He laughed at Thomas and Dex, of course. The bickering, apparently, made him laugh. It was funny at some point.

Indeed, most of his friends had not been on good terms with his companions. However, nothing was as bad as Thomas and Dex, who often argued and had small fights. Since the meeting this morning, he didn't know how many times he had heard and seen that.

One thing to be grateful for. Dex wasn't his companion, or he would end up like Thomas.

--

"Carl!"

The call of his name caught his attention. Apparently, it was Thomas who had arrived at the canteen first.

"Here!" he shouted again as he waved his hand to show his position and invite him to join them. Thomas and Dex, of course.

Carl walked over to them and took an empty seat in front of Thomas.

"Are you serious? Salad?" That was Thomas' first reaction when he saw Carl's food. He seemed in disbelief at his choice.

"I'm not vegan. It's tuna salad." Carl responded quickly. He was used to eating vegetables since childhood. It was fortunate that his mother was a food researcher. So, she would ensure that his nutrition was fulfilled by combining the food she cooked.

Thomas did not continue his sentence. It seemed Carl's short answer had cleared his accusations. "They have a lot of good food." He changed the topic even though it was still about food.

"It's delicious too," said Carl after shoving a spoonful of salad into his mouth. "You want to try it?" he offered.

Thomas put on a look of displeasure and stuck out his tongue as if it didn't taste good at all. "Except salads. I don't like vegetables."

It answered why he reacted that way when he saw the salad.

"Vegetables aren't that bad." Dex, who was sitting next to Thomas, responded.

"Yeah, for you. To me, it's bitter like medicine."

Carl exhaled slowly. Their debate would start again.

"Hey, I have some news."

Suddenly, a voice caught their attention. At first, they thought it was one of their friends. But, as it turned out, it was the table mate beside them.

"What?"

"There's a new student who had a draw when dueling with Julian and Vega." He enthusiastically said it.

"Really?"

"Are you sure?"

Their reactions were equally enthusiastic and surprising.

"I heard the fresh students talk about that. The names are Carl and Miku."

Carl almost choked because they talked about him and Miku and the duel.

"If you're right, they're beyond great. First-year and can draw against teachers. I've never heard of that."

"I heard the companion has a high level."

"I see. It's impossible to win without that."

"But how can he have a high-level companion?"

The first man, the informant, shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just heard that, too."

"I'm curious about them."

"His companion has silver pink hair."

"Silver pink hair?" One of the two girls there spoke. "You mean like her?" She pointed straight ahead.

They followed her direction and found the similar girl he was talking about, just taking food with her.

Yes, that was, indeed, who they were talking about. Miku was with Flo and Alia. The three of them walked in their direction because, yeah, Carl was sitting at the table next to them.

"Carl!" As if that wasn't enough, Flo called out Carl's name, which revealed his presence there.

"You'll be popular gossip this year," Thomas whispered, then turned to greet the girls. "Here, girls."

Somehow, his words were like a curse to Carl's ears. Apparently, having Miku was not as beautiful as it seemed. He had to endure the consequences. Eyes stared in bewilderment at his accomplishment of summoning a high-level companion.

"What's wrong, Carl?" Miku asked worriedly after seeing his silence.

He let out a slow sigh. He knew many eyes were watching him. "No. Nothing," he lied. "How was your tour?"

And they continued their lunch while chatting and laughing as if the chatter at the table next door had never happened. However, the news would spread. So, Carl decided to accept it like he took Miku with him and her future as a fighter.