The evening sun painted the academy grounds in warm hues as Noah made his way across campus. Despite being a military installation, life flourished here – students lounged on benches, civilians and soldiers mingled, all carrying on with their lives as if alien invasions and beast threats were distant concerns.
He'd never done this before – meeting up with a girl. Sure, he had his fair share of... appreciative glances at women, but this was different.
'A shy pervert with standards,' he mused. 'That's me.'
The east wing emerged ahead, bustling with activity as usual. Each wing of the academy had its specialty, but the east wing was commercial central. Shops, cafes, and vendors lined the streets, creating an almost civilian atmosphere within the military compound.
Noah knew exactly where Lila meant – Starlight Scoops. The ice cream parlor had been his birthday tradition, back when Mrs. Harper would bring him here every year after his parents' messages from the ark above Earth grew less frequent.
'At least some things don't change.'
He spotted the familiar storefront, its retro neon sign glowing softly in the early evening light. The outdoor seating area was packed with people enjoying their treats, and then—
Noah froze.
There was Lila, but she wasn't alone. Standing next to her bench, wearing that irritatingly perfect smile, was Adrian Albright – the vice headmaster's son. Commander Albright's golden boy, specially introduced to their class just a week ago.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
Noah considered turning around, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot. He must have been staring too intensely because Adrian suddenly looked his way, causing Lila to turn as well.
Her face lit up with a smile that made Noah's stomach do an unexpected flip. She shot up from her seat and practically bounded over to him.
"You came!" she beamed. "I was starting to worry. Though I guess an almost-dead guy deserves some leeway on punctuality, right?" She gestured back toward Adrian. "He offered to keep me company, but I had faith you'd show."
Noah barely registered the death joke, too busy taking in her appearance. Gone was the combat gear and academy uniform, replaced by a flowing sundress that caught the evening breeze. She'd done something with her makeup too – subtle changes that somehow made a world of difference.
'Stop staring, you idiot.'
Adrian walked past them, maintaining tense eye contact with Noah, who met his gaze with practiced indifference. Some battles weren't worth fighting. Yet.
"Shall we?" Lila asked, already heading toward the parlor's entrance. "I've been craving their quantum swirl all day."
As they waited in line, Lila chatted about everything and nothing – classes, training, the latest academy gossip. Noah found himself studying her animated expressions, wondering how this was the same person who was an ice queen in that cave.
'People are complicated,' he reminded himself. 'Even the ones who seem simple at first glance.'
Kind of like a certain dragon currently napping in his pocket dimension.
"See this?" Lila rolled up her sleeve slightly, revealing a thin white line along her forearm. "Healing tech is amazing, but some marks stick around. Like little reminders."
She smiled softly, stirring her quantum swirl ice cream. "Though I'll never forget that day anyway. How could I? It's not every day someone sacrifices themselves to save your life."
Noah nearly choked on his ice cream. He stared at her, processing what she'd just said.
'Wait... what?'
"The way you led that beast away," she continued, oblivious to his internal crisis. "It was so brave."
'Brave?' Noah thought incredulously. 'Is that what she thinks happened?'
The reality of the situation hit him like a cold shower. She actually believed he'd played hero. That he'd risked his life specifically to save her.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
Noah remembered his exact thoughts in that cave. The quick calculations, the potential points, the team rankings. He'd assessed that a dead team member would tank their score worse than any other outcome. Pure strategy – nothing more, nothing less.
'And she thinks I was being noble? What am I, some kind of romantic hero?'
He watched her take another bite of ice cream, chattering about bravery and sacrifice. The whole thing was almost laughable. Here she was, probably building up some grand narrative in her head about their shared near-death experience, while he'd been purely focused on competition points.
'Though I guess that plan worked out great,' he thought sarcastically. 'Test got scrapped anyway.'
"You know," Lila said, "not many people would do something like that for someone they barely knew."
'Because I didn't,' Noah wanted to say. 'I did it for the points. For the ranking. For literally any reason except the one you're thinking of.'
But looking at her earnest expression, he kept quiet. She was paying for premium ice cream, after all. The kind he only got once a year on his birthday. If she wanted to believe he was some kind of selfless hero...
'Well, who am I to ruin a good ice cream with the truth?'
He took another spoonful, savoring the taste. Let her have her fantasy about noble sacrifices and brave rescues. He was getting free ice cream out of it, and that was what really mattered. He got to save what little credit Mrs Harper gave him.
'Besides,' he thought, watching her enthusiastically describe what she thought were his heroic actions, 'some illusions are better left intact.'
Though he had to admit, there was something almost painfully ironic about being praised for selflessness by someone who had no idea he was currently harboring a dragon and pilfered beast cores.
'If only you knew,' he thought, hiding his smirk behind another spoonful of ice cream. 'Your brave hero just robbed the academy vault.'
But those were thoughts for another time. Right now, he had premium ice cream to finish, and apparently, a heroic reputation to accidentally maintain.
---
The walk back through campus was quiet at first, the evening air carrying just a hint of autumn's approach. The weather changes post Harbinger incursion was gradually settling but still very unpredictable. Certain things weren't as they used to be any more.
Their footsteps echoed off the stonework as other students hurried past, heading to evening classes or study sessions.
"So," Lila broke the silence, "about that beast core from the berserker in the cavern... did you manage to retrieve it? When you were in there alone?"
"No," he lied smoothly, keeping his expression neutral. "Wasn't exactly my priority at the time."
"Ah, that's too bad," she said, absently touching her scarred arm. "You know, from what I heard, just that single level 3 core we got from the first behemoth would've actually boosted our rankings pretty significantly. If the results had stood, we might've done really well."
'If the results had stood,' Noah mused, fighting back a bitter laugh. According to Kelvin, he'd actually died in there. Really, properly died. And now here he was, walking and talking like nothing happened, while their trial results got tossed out like yesterday's garbage.
He'd noticed the death glares back at the dorm, of course. But surprisingly, no one had actually confronted him about it. 'Guess they're not brave enough to yell at the guy who came back from the dead.'
When they reached the entrance to the boys' dorm building, Lila stopped. She'd claimed she had "something to do" in the area and insisted they walked there together– though Noah suspected that was about as true as his story about the missing core.
"Listen," she started, shifting uncomfortably. "I need to apologize. Before the trial, I was... well, I was a complete bitch. To you, to everyone really." She laughed nervously. "Must have been insufferable, right? And then to end up being rescued by someone I looked down on..."
'Ah, there it is.' Noah thought, remembering her earlier words when they were on the hunt about misfits sticking together. 'So that was just bullshit after all.'
"I hope we can put it all behind us," she continued, extending her hand. "Move forward as friends?"
Noah stared at her offered hand. 'Hmm...' He considered the premium ice cream they'd just shared, and his own rather depleted credit balance. 'She might invite me for more ice cream sometime...'
'Eh, screw it.'
He took her hand, plastering on what he hoped was a convincing smile. 'For the ice cream. Definitely just for the ice cream.'
She returned the smile – a genuine one, unlike his – before turning and walking away into the gathering dusk.
'Well,' he thought, watching her disappear around a corner, 'at least one of us believes in this friendship thing.'
Kelvin was lounging against one of the decorative stone blocks near the dorm entrance, pretending to be deeply absorbed in whatever was on his tablet. But Noah saw right through the act. 'Really? Could you be any more obvious about waiting to ambush me?'
The moment Noah got within earshot, Kelvin's head snapped up with almost comical speed. His eyes were practically gleaming with mischief.
"A handshake?" Kelvin's voice cracked with disbelief. "Just a handshake?! What kind of date did you two go on?!"
Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. "First off, it wasn't a date. Just a friendly get-together between two people who happened to almost die together in a cave thanks to a level 3 beast. Nothing more, nothing less."
He could see Kelvin already twitching with barely contained glee, that particular expression that meant he wasn't going to let this go. 'Great. He's going to milk this handshake thing for all it's worth.'
Noah wasn't in the mood. All he wanted was to get back to his room, activate his system domain, and check on Nyx. Something about having your own pocket dimension with a pet dragon waiting for you was addictively compelling. 'Though try explaining that to someone who thinks a handshake is prime gossip material.'
"Oh wow..." Kelvin's voice suddenly dropped, taking on an odd, stunned quality. "She's here again."
'And here we go with the theatrics.' Noah ignored him, already planning his escape route to his room.
"She's back," Kelvin whispered, his voice now genuinely shaken.
Noah turned around, ready to tell Kelvin to give it up – what was his deal about Lila anyway? – but the words died in his throat.
'Oh damn.'
She really was here. And not just here – she was walking straight toward the boys' dorm with the kind of purposeful stride that suggested she knew exactly where she was going and didn't care who saw her.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Noah's forehead.
Next to him, Kelvin was practically tripping over his own tongue. "Miss... miss... miss Brooks. Good... evening..."
'Well,' Noah thought, watching their homeroom teacher with a strange sense of detachment, 'this should be interesting.'