The next day soon dawned upon the Hero Academy. On this particular day, the sun shone brighter than normal, yet it was not hot. The skies were clear and devoid of any dark clouds, and there was a soft breeze that blew throughout the Academy District.
It was a picture-perfect day, and one that many people would describe as a perfect day for picnics.
"Wake up, Dignitas…"
"Mmuh… Lorelai? What the hell!?" The half-asleep swordsman suddenly shot up from the couch, almost hitting her.
"It's almost time for school… You missed your alarm."
Now that Dignitas had a good look at her, he noticed Lorelai was wearing a pink apron over her school uniform. The smell of cooking was evident in the air, adding to the already comforting atmosphere that suddenly came upon the dorm rooom.
Dignitas got up and went about his morning routine as soon as he felt ready. It was only when he was seventy percent of the way through that he noticed how much packed his dining table was.
Pancakes, eggs, bacon, even the leftover noodles he had ordered last night were all neatly placed all over. Dignitas counted almost ten different types of breakfast foods that were waiting on the table for him.
Even the noodles themselves had been removed from the packaging and mixed with some other ingredients to make it appear brand new.
"Did you… make all this?"
"I thought… you would be hungry when you woke up. Your stomach was grumbling multiples times throughout the night, and I just couldn't ignore it…"
Looks like listening to the wind also worked to invade other people's privacy, whoa. Dignitas was already shocked to find Lorelai waking him up for school, even moreso when he saw the breakfast platter laid out in front of him.
He knew he couldn't ignore her hard work.
"I guess Professor Shib won't mind if I show up a few minutes late to class." He smiled, before taking a seat.
Lorelai's face seemed to brighten up the moment she saw Dignitas start eating. With an eager look on her face, she sat down in the seat opposite him and started eating too.
"You didn't have to do this, you know. I could've just paid a visit to the convenience store while on my way to school."
"It's the least I could do to repay for your kindness."
Right… kindness. Dignitas still couldn't get over how much different this Lorelai was from the one he was used to. So much less screaming, so much more kindness, to the point it suffocated him.
As he munched on the food Lorelai had prepared, he couldn't help but notice her taking subtle glances at him every few seconds.
When she saw how much he was enjoying the food, she visibly sighed in relief, and continued her eating with a cheery smile on her face.
It was terribly hard to ignore her habit of staring at him, but Dignitas was able to play it off by focusing on the food. Throughout their breakfast, the two didn't talk much, at most they spared a few seconds to ask each other how they slept last night.
Once Dignitas was finished with his food, Lorelai swiftly got up from her seat and began taking his dishes to the kitchen.
"Come to think of it… isn't she acting like how a housewife would?"
Despite the two clearly being pressed for time, they didn't seem to mind staying for a little while longer.
"I'm going to go on ahead. Wouldn't want people seeing us going together. You can walk to school on your own, right?" Dignitas asked, almost like he was speaking to a disabled person.
"Can… can we… walk to school together?"
"No." He replied, perhaps a little too firmly, before shutting the door.
***
"Oh? Look who we have here. Mind explaining to me why you're late, Mister Qwerdan?"
Well, it wasn't like he was actually going to get here early. Enjoying one of the luxuries of life, namely, food, was difficult to do when there wasn't a whole lot of time.
And yet one could simply imagine Dignitas' shock when he noticed Lorelai in her seat right beside his, smiling.
How did she arrive here before he did? Wind Steps, maybe?
"No comment, Professor Shib." Dignitas replied.
"I'll let it pass this time, since your performance in school is outstanding. Can't promise there not being any repercussions next time, mister no-comment."
It seemed the entire class noticed how different the first half of the Class Couple was. The entire first session was filled with most of the students constantly staring (and gossiping) at the almost sickening atmosphere that emanated from the two.
Much like back at the day of the Mountain God's Funeral, Dignitas felt the same unsettling feeling as a result of Lorelai's eyes grazing his back. This time though, it was a different unsettling.
Dignitas couldn't do anything about it, either. The way she stared at him so innocently… it almost hurt him to even bring up the subject. It was like her puppy-eyes were on twenty-four seven.
As soon as the first half of the day had concluded and the students were given lunchtime, Dignitas burst out of the room, dragging Curie and John along with him.
"I can't do this forever, you guys. It's only been a day since I took her in, and its like she's turned into my wife!"
Of course, that was the original plan. But it just didn't feel the same when the person he planned to make his acting like, well, she was already his. It was like a spoiler being spread to a book's unaware reader; once they heard of it, the journey they had embarked on the moment they started reading would be rendered useless.
"We know how uncomfortable it's been, Dignitas," John nodded while sighing. "We're doing our best to figure out what happened to her, but I'm afraid we haven't turned up on any clues."
Curie nodded, supporting John's claim. She placed her hand on Dignitas' shoulder and patted it gently, almost as if she was saying, "you got this!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but please find a way to turn her back to the way she was before. I'm gonna lose it from the niceties."
"You can trust us."
***
"Hey. You look like a wreck, Leader." Andrea greeted Dignitas as she sipped on a cup of coffee.
As of now, the only place Dignitas felt relatively at peace was in their club's room. Here, no one was allowed to enter, aside from the members of the Global Studies Club.
"Oh, tell me about it. Do you mind fixing me a brew? I've never had coffee, but at this point, I feel like I really need it."
"Right away…" She nonchalantly replied as she went to go make a cup.
As Dignitas waited for his coffee to be finished, he rested his head on the couch and opened his Log.
While the Log was mostly centered on John and what he was doing to progress the story, that didn't mean some characters weren't included if they were relared to the plot.
And it just so happened that with how much noise Lorelai was garnering thanks to her new self, there was a big chance the problem they were facing right now was connected to the plot.
"Let's see… it doesn't say much beyond a few small sentences, but it's here, alright."
One of the book's chapters were dedicated specifically towards explaining what was happening with Lorelai. But other than a few surface-level explanations, there wasn't really much to go off on.
"It's blank on the next page, but the chapter hasn't ended yet, based off the wording. That's weird… even the Log's unable to discern the problem."
"Your coffee, Leader."
"Ah, Andrea. Thanks," He said, taking the hot mug from her hands. "Say, your guild's good at finding information, right?"
"You don't have to ask me that, do you? The amount of knowledge you had about me before we even talked was already astonishing. A question like this shouldn't be necessary."
"Well, I was just trying to make conversation, but okay. Anyway, do you think I could make a commission?"
"Hah! A commission, Leader? Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"
The Unseen were a guild that specialized in obtaining information, no matter the kind. It was said that as long as you had the money, they would have whatever knowledge you needed by dawn the next day.
However, the problem here was money. Despite being the best at what they did, The Unseen demanded a lot of money from their clients. And even then, it wasn't guaranteed that they would take on the mission. They received commission requests from even the highest of the highest in society, after all.
Essentially, a commission was the same as asking to skip past the entire "waiting line" and bring theirs to the top.
"Well, you're not going to take honor student credits as a method of payment… are you?"
"Of course not. Beyond the Academy District, honor student credits were virtually useless. They only work inside the Academy, not in the outside world as a currency."
Dignitas wracked his brain on ideas. Honor student credits were out of the question, but surely there was another way to pay Andrea.
"...how about I take care of your end of the deal now? In exchange, I want you put my commission at the very top of the waiting list."
"You mean, you'll get the All-Seeing Eye Implant? Right now? You must be joking…"
"I most definitely am not." Dignitas replied with a serious look on his face. "I'll get it for you within the next three days, count on it. If I don't, you can cancel our deal, and remove yourself as a member of the club. How about it? You have nothing to lose, while I do."
It was certainly a very, very tempting offer. And most certainly one Andrea knew she couldn't refuse. Whatever way she looked at it, it was a win-win.
"Deal." She took Dignitas' hand in hers and shook it.