Chapter 14: Just a get-together

***third person p.o.v.

" *Huff* *haa* " Steve exhaled white vapor on his palms as he kept walking on the path.

His steps were a little slower than usual to make sure that he didn't slip on the wet road.

Streets were filled with people wearing warm clothes and most of them are carrying an umbrella too.

There were clouds in the sky covering the sun from time to time as they move with the chilly winds.

He reached his destination just before the appointed time. As he looked around to find his partners, he saw Emily waving at him.

He nodded to her once indicating that he found her as he walked toward her.

"Good afternoon" He greeted her as he noticed that they were the only ones present right now.

" A very good afternoon to you too." She replied as she fixed her hair before putting her hands back into the pocket.

" So where is everyone else? " Steve asked as he looked at the growing crowd around them.

" Ahh, well..." Emily raised both of her eyebrows as she fidgeted around, " You see, ". She sighed once before retrieving her cell phone and showing it to Steve.

He received it with some confusion before looking at the screen. It was showing a message from Cora that Emily just received a few minutes ago.

( I checked it with others. There are no plans for today. You and Steve are likely tricked by Ethan who wants to play cupid. )

" Soo... What do you think we should do now?" She remarked while whistling and shuttling her legs.

He sighed exhaustedly before returning the phone to her.

" Were there any plans that you had to cancel because of it? " He asked hesitantly as he gave an awkward smile.

" Not really. " She said as she looked at the crowd around them again because she felt better that way.

" Then how about we enjoy ourselves since we are already here? IF you don't mind, that is. " He said as he presented his hand to her while indicating them to step out of the crowd.

She looked at his hand and then at his face once before she joined hands with him while nodding.

They carefully forced their way out of the crowd before Steve remarked, " As you know, I am not that familiar with the place. How about you show me your favorite places?"

" Follow me then, I know a great stroll just around the corner that is famous for their cream buns." She quickly took the lead while Steve enjoyed her company.

**** Steve P.O.V.

" So you mean Cora used to bully you at first? " I paid the vendor before giving the bun to her.

" Yeah, We didn't have a good start. We both were shy in kindergarten but while I mostly stayed an introvert, she chose to appear tough to hide her insecurities. " She shook her head smiling wistfully before taking a small bite like a hamster.

We continued our march as converse. I didn't know that I would enjoy this so much but it is a nice surprise.

" So I couldn't stop myself from crying after she punched me in front of others and her face became so tiny seeing that. " She smiled embarrassedly as she told her, " Oh, and you should have seen her at that time. She kept looking at others trying to find a solution to make me stop crying. Since that time, she completely changed. She became quiet and would look at me with narrow eyes but if anyone tried messing with me, she would deal with them behind my back but I quickly caught on to that. "

" So little Emily had a detective instinct? " I couldn't stop laughing at how much detail she was going into to explain it.

" C'mon, don't be like that. " She hit me lightly on my wrist as we took a turn.

" Anyways, after that, we set our differences aside and become good friends. And" She Quickly took a few steps in front and turned to me while expanding her arms, " This game center is one of the places that we used to visit often. "

It was a brightly lit arcade with lots of people playing inside it. To be honest, I was not surprised that I would find a cliche thing like an arcade center in the town because games like to give tribute to anime tropes by introducing these things.

" Wanna try your hand at it? " She pointed her thump behind her as she looked at me grinning.

" Sure why not? Does it run on a token system? " I took the lead this time as I increased by the pace while raising sleeves of both hands.

She chuckled a little before following me inside.

***

" This is a scam I tell you. " I shuddered as I looked at the little stuffed hamster in my hand while she holds a 4-foot bear in her hands.

" What did you expect to happen? I am a regular visitor of this place, It's obvious that I'm better than you at this. " She checked the time on her watch. We spend a whole hour and a half inside the arcade.

She played like a champ and kept on winning once in a while that she could get another stuffed toy to add to her collection while I only got a keychain in comparison.

" So tell me something about yourself now? " She sat on a bench while inviting me to sit too as she observed the crowd a few kids playing around near the fountain.

" What do you want to know?" I sat by her side and turned to look at her. My hands were having tiny goosebumps while my blood pressure was increasing. I tried to appear as casual as I could so I didn't embarrass myself.

" You know, just basic stuff. What do you like, why do choose tera instead of any other Academy? Something like that. " She raised her eyebrows when a kid fell while running but as soon as he rose back up and started running again without crying, she smiled softly.

" Even though we had a pretty good academy too, tera is still above the norm honestly. I felt that since I got selected anyway, why not try the best of the best. " I still unclear why I would choose to come here when at the end of the day, I would be joining the frontlines anyway.

Tera was no doubt the best but there was not much difference between tera students and other Academy students in terms of performance as a frontline warrior. The difference was in the heroes that graduate because even tera couldn't raise someone above their natural limit.

" Just like that? You seem awfully carefree about it. " She shuffled her legs while looking a the cloudy sky.

" There is not much difference between living here or there since I'm used to living alone being an orphan. Often I stayed alone following orders from my mentor trailing behind disturbing beasts villagers. He liked to say that conviction is something that must be present in warrior than actual skill because even if you know how to wield the weapon if you don't have the guts to fight then it's useless. " I got up before looking at the sky.

She looked at me before standing up too, " I hope that these clouds don't rain just before the eve otherwise we won't be able to see fireworks today. "

" I hope so too," I remarked quietly to myself because if fireworks didn't happen today then I will miss my opportunity to interact with the so-called 'cutest pet' in the game.

" I must be going now ", She told me to which I respectfully nodded since we both forgot to bring umbrellas with us, and if it rained then we would be stuck at a place waiting for it to stop.

I stopped a cab for her before departing for my place to get ready for my next destination.

It was fun enjoying time with her.

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I know I was absent for a few days and we are behind the schedule but I will try to upload daily to get us back on track.

Stay safe and make sure to eat a cup of ice Cream daily.