52 Another New Day

"Ara~ So that was what happened… it must have been a terrible experience."

"Well, we were—how would you say it?—just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It's not something you could just write it off like that, Dan."

"Fufu~ Well, anyways, it's great that the two of you came back safe and sound. That is all that matters."

Currently, the time is now Monday early morning. School has come once again. While there is still quite a bit of time before homeroom starts for all classes, a number of students have already arrived at school. The three of them—Dan, Kate, and Lexie—are all meeting each other once again in the homeroom of both Dan and Kate. Lexi had completely made herself at home in their homeroom as no one tried to question why she is here anymore. Though it does not stop the other homeroom classmates from trying to sneak glances at the group's direction every now and then. There are even a few gawkers standing at the classroom windows trying to look in from other homerooms.

It is no surprise that many of Dan's fellow classmates wish to look at their direction so much. It is not so much that they want to stare at the group, but rather stare at the scene of two of Raeparth's Academy's greatest beauties linking themselves together, arm-in-arm (while also staring at Dan in hostility as a bonus). One of them is considered a 'school celebrity', a charismatic Youtuber whose talent and beauty charmed millions all over the world—Alexis Owens. The other—while not as famous—her beauty and friendly attitude, in addition to her identity as the Tae Kwon Do Club's Ace, put her as one of the most popular girls of all of the 2nd years—Katie Cambell.

However today—compared to before—Kate is the one receiving the most stares out of them all.

Ever since Kate had her entire body healed with Dan's [Healing Touch (H)], her appearance seemed to have received a huge boost.

It was not as if Kate's skin had been bad before by any means. It is true that Kate, as a martial artist, doesn't place that much emphasis on skincare since receiving small superficial wounds is a daily occurrence for her when she does her club activities. However, despite all of that, her skin could be considered soft and supple, a perfect representation of youthfulness. It matches well with her sporty look when she dons her martial art uniform.

Yet, ever since the massage, Kate's skin had reached a new level of perfection. Clean and flawless. Her complexion positively glowing with youthful energy never has been seen before. If her skin had been soft and smooth before, her skin now is on the level of comfy silk.

However, none of that could compare with what would be Kate's biggest change. It would be the change in her demeanor—you could even say a change in her aura.

While Kate might have been considered a beauty before, the aura she exudes was not that impressive. It was the aura of a normal girl. Not that it was bad, but nothing to write home about. On the other hand, Lexi's aura is far more impressive. It was an aura built from her years of experience from becoming and working as a Youtuber. The level of charisma was not something the normal Kate could have compared to.

Then, what about Kate now?

The Kate right now seems to exude an aura of intense womanly charm. Every little movement she makes, every time she opens her mouth to speak, an unexplainable sensation of being mesmerized fills the mind of all that look at her. All the male classmates felt as though they will become infatuated the longer they look. The female classmates that gaze at her feel a sense of awe and respect that is borderline envy. Every single one of them couldn't help but wonder one single thing—how did Kate become this way?

A classmate that had known for over a year now suddenly changed a lot just over the weekend. It's impossible for no one to become curious about it. As such, that is why there is suddenly such a huge crowd gathered around the group today. Although none of them brave enough to get close to them and talk, they stayed a good amount distance away to stare sneakily. While this is going on, the group in question is chatting normally as they ignore what is going around them.

"Fufu~ It seems that Dan-Dan can't catch a break. What is his name? T…T…Tofu? Looks like he's holding quite a grudge against you. How about it? Did he come to mess with you yet?" Lexi said in a teasing tone.

"Hmm… the thing is, it seems that 'that guy' didn't come to school today," Dan shrugged, "Thinking it will get annoying to have to deal with him later, I went to find him myself."

"Is that so? How did you know?"

"Knowing him, if he wasn't going to me, he was going to soccer practice like usual, so I went to check the sports fields," Dan recalled, "but, apparently, he hadn't been coming to practice—let alone school—since the end of last week.".

"Ara~ That is pretty strange," Lexi said with a pondering look, "From what you said, he seemed pretty lively when he called you on Saturday… What's the problem?"

"Who knows?" Dan said as he gave a bigger shrug than before.

"… Probably, though, he is going to be hiding away in his dorm room for the time being." Kate interjected.

"What do you mean, Kate?"

"You probably know Dan, but Tony had become quite the narcissistic guy."

"Become? Wasn't he always like that?"

"Because of that, he particulary hates having his face damaged in any way. He especially hates having anyone see his damaged face."

"That true?" Dan raised his eyebrow, "I can see that, though."

"I can laugh about this now, but there had been one time where Tony canceled a date plan we had together once. The reason? His face had a scratch from soccer practice."

"Eh? Is that true? Just for that?"

"It's true. Since he had a System, that scratch healed quickly and he was able to go to school the next day. But the date had been a bust before it even started."

"Ara~ How awful of him. Were you okay, KC?"

"Thanks, Lexi, I'm okay. That incident is now just a distant memory."

"That's good. It's better for you to keep it like that. But what does it have to do—"

"You don't remember? About what happened to him last week."

"… Oh yeah, I remember now, you kicked him!"

"Yes. Pretty hard if I do say so myself. His face should probably be completely unrecognizable about now. Even with his System, it should take days for him to fully heal."

"Heh. Even if he wasn't such a narcissist, probably anyone wouldn't want to come to school if their face becomes messed up like that. I'm surprised he even had the idea of calling you, the culprit. to fix the relationship, let alone do it."

"Isn't it that? Although he said some nonsense about still loving me, it was probably just his effort to patch up his ripped-up 'pride' he had left. The moment I agree to become his girlfriend again, he was probably planning on making me do 'various things' to make up for him."

"Fufu~ Quite the harsh things you say there, KC. Is it probably safe to say you have no regrets?" Lexi giggled.

"Of course! There is no way I would have any regret for that trash!"

"Fufu~ I see, I see… but it's pretty strange…"

Both Dan and Kate tilted their heads in a questioning manner to Lexi's last words.

"? What do mean, Lexi? What's strange?"

"I mean, from what I understand about 'Tofu' from what you guys said, he is probably the type to do anything for his 'pride', right?"

"I mean…yeah? But what—"

"However, from what you guys have said, 'Tofu' pretty much gave up on trying to take KC as his girlfriend again and is now going to aim at Dan-Dan… from just words alone. Isn't that just strange?"

The moment Lexi had explained her reasoning, Dan and Kate felt cold sweat run down their back. Since they had become friends, the two felt obligated in telling Lexi almost everything that happened during that date. She did give them her blessings after all.

While both of them did tell Lexi almost everything… the keyword is 'almost'. No matter if it was Dan or Kate, they did want to tell Lexi about the time they had sex. For Dan, he felt it would be kind of rude to talk about having sex with a girl to another girl. Kate, on the other hand, just felt embarrassed and didn't wish to say it.

So the entire time they were explaining about Tony, they had skirted over the details of where they had sex so that he could hear. Both of them thought they had avoided the topic pretty well… but it seems it wasn't enough to escape from Lexi's notice.

"Um, well, nothing strange about that! 'That guy' pretty much considered me the enemy just be being with Kate. 'Him' giving up so easily is probably an extension of that hatred. Seems he hated me far more than I had realized."

"Fufu~ Is that so? But KC, you became so beautiful! I almost didn't recognize you."

"… Eh? T-thank you… I heard that kind of thing a lot lately, though I don't feel all that different." Kate, caught off surprised by Lexi's compliment, gave a hasty thank you back.

"Fufu~ You really became so beautiful. Especially your skin… it makes me kind of jealous. The one who did it was Dan-Dan, right?"

"Hm? Y-yeah, it was Dan. I got injured during the attack so he healed me with his Skill."

"Fufu~ As I expected! Though… it seems he did quite a bit of work."

Suddenly, Lexi, who was still snuggling next to Kate, had her hand slowly sneaked under Kate's skirt to touch her inner thigh.

"Hya~ah♥!? W-what are you—"

Caught off surprised once again by Lexi's sneak attack, Kate let out a cute scream. Hearing the cute scream, the onlookers in the background started to become noisier. Preventing from being touched any further, Kate brushed away Lexi's hand.

"To have even reached up until there… Fufu~, tell me the truth. Is the only thing you did with Dan-Dan was 'just' a massage?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Even the 'air' around you had changed. I don't think having 'just' a massage could have changed even that. It is probably something a 'little more'... but wait… you guys also said that 'Tofu' called you at that time… fufu~ how maniac of you guys."

"Uwuu~…"

Lexi's interrogation shows no signs of stopping. Being outplayed, Kate could do nothing but groan. Dan had long since been thrown out of the conversation and is even lost on should he even say anything. Personally, Dan, at this point, feels like he doesn't really mind telling Lexi all about it. He did have an 'intimate' time with her too, after all. But, if Kate doesn't want to talk about it, he should probably intervene.

"Lexi, you see—"

"Fufu~ I'll leave it at that, for now. I pretty much got my answer already."

Seemingly satisfied, Lexi pulled back from grilling Kate any further. While Dan is glad that Lexi had stopped, it looks like she had already reached a conclusion about what had happened on the date so he is feeling kind of complicated. Kate could only just blush.

"A date, huh… how nice… I can't help but feel envious. I wish I could've gone."

"You do?" Dan raised an eyebrow again, "Then why didn't you ask to join? I don't think we would have rejected you at that time. Though, in hindsight, it was probably better that you didn't."

"Fufu~ You can't do that. That would be unfair to KC. I'm not so rude as to interrupt your guy's fun time alone together."

While slightly wagging her finger, Lexi lightly admonished Dan.

"Although, I'm not against being asked on going on a date together with you right now, Dan-Dan."

"Hm? A date? With just you?"

To Lexi's sudden request, Dan could not help but repeat back in confirmation. A date. Not just any date, but a date with probably the most popular girl in their grade. If Dan were to say that he is not happy being asked by such a person to go on a date together with just the two of them, that would be a lie.

However, Dan couldn't help but have Kate pass through his mind. Since that date, the bond between the two of them became stronger than ever before. While they aren't officially dating, if either one of them were to ask to go out, it would happen in a heartbeat. Doing something that would hurt Kate is not a thing Dan would want to do.

Recently, Dan had been getting close to Lexi. But, in the end, it is only a relationship of a few days. They had certainly gone over the edge one time, but that was about it. Compared to Kate, his feelings for Lexi is much more shallow. Kate had only just suffered from a breakup from cheating, her mental wounds should be still fresh. If Dan were to accept Lexi's request here, right in front of Kate, he could possibly reopen her wound once again.

Although he couldn't help but think it is such a waste, Dan thought it was best to reject Lexi's request.

"It's fine right, KC?"

"Lexi, I'm sorry but—"

"Dan, you should go on a date with her."

"Eh?"

Dan could not help but be taken aback by the surprise reinforcement that came out of nowhere. He was shocked to discover that the one prevented him from rejecting Lexi's request… was Kate.

"I too think it was a bit unfair to leave Lexi out of the loop like that. Dan, you should invite her."

"Kate… do you know what you are saying?"

"I know. That's why I said it. Besides… I had promised after all."

"Promised?"

"Fufu~ Thank you, KC."

While Dan remained confused about what Kate had meant by 'promised', Lexi frankly thanked her. Kate's face was unreadably, but she nodded in response towards Lexi's thanks. Left out of the loop, Dan couldn't help but wonder what up with this exchange.

"Fufu~ Though I said date, don't worry, I don't need us to go anywhere extravagant. It's fine if I get to be with you for the rest of the day, Dan-Dan."

"… If it just that, then I don't mind."

"Yay! Thank you, Dan-Dan. I love you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Feeling that what she is saying is a joke, Dan lightly responded to Lexi.

Giving a bright smile, Lexi seemed more beautiful than usual. Despite his dismissive attitude to her 'confession', Dan could feel his heart beat faster.