"Later, everyone," Waved Zoya, as she left next, teleporting to the West Quadrant.

"Guess we'll head off next," Said Lin, as she and Seila stepped onto the platform.

​​

She instructed the attendant to teleport them to the South Quadrant.

"Um, see you two in class," Remarked Seila with a shy smile and wave...okay, wow, that's pretty cute.

"Mhm, see you later, take care," Replied Suri, putting in a bit of effort to appear polite...now that's pretty cute too.

"Yeah, sure, bye...oh, and try not to trip over on the way home," I joked, almost instantly regretting it...crap, should I have done that?

It must have come off as lame and cringy...I bet my delivery was awful, what was I thinking, I've never told a joke before, what made me think that it was a good idea to start now, huh? I'm such an id-!

"Heh, nice one! And also, good point...but don't worry, I'll make sure she gets home safe," Grinned Lin, ruffling Seila's hair playfully, right before they both got teleported away.

Huh, guess I was just overthinking it...I think I might have had a bit too much to drink and smoke...

With that, the only ones left here were myself and Suri. We then teleported to the Residential District and got onto a bus that'd go by her place.

"So, um...you sure you're okay with coming over?" She asked, as she awkwardly fidgeted.

"Shouldn't that be the other way around? Like, as in I should be the one asking you if you're okay with me coming over."

"Yeah, of course! I, um, want you to come over," She replied, turning away as her face turned a bit red.

Okay, that's just unfair...with a reaction like that, it's impossible for me to stay calm. I haven't been over at her place ever since that first time, and we'd hung out a few times here and there over the recent past, but we never went any further than kissing...but the fact that she's inviting me over when her mother isn't home means that...

"S-so, uh...did you have fun today?" I asked, trying to occupy my thoughts and keep my blood from rushing down.

"Huh? Oh, yeah...I did, I was actually pleasantly surprised since I've never hung out with a big crowd before, I think the biggest group I've gone out with before this was maybe like three or at most, four people, and that was way back in middle school...maybe even elementary school. So yeah, this was a first for me...and it was unexpectedly enjoyable."

"Yeah, I thought so too...I really didn't expect to enjoy myself as much as I did. I mean, logically it makes sense, just because I've had mostly negative experiences with other people doesn't mean that there aren't people out there with whom I can have positive experiences...I doubt I'll stop being cautious when it comes to people, but I might be willing to be more open-minded, I suppose," I summed up with a sigh.

"Exactly, that explains it perfectly!"

"Oh, and weed is pretty nice too."

"Definitely. Maybe we could go back there sometime, just the two of us," She mumbled quietly.

"Yeah...sure, why not?" I replied, averting my gaze before I could stop myself.

"Huh? W-wait, did I just say that out loud!?" She exclaimed, her eyes widening as she turned red.

"Sure did."

Anyway, we soon reached her place, got off the bus and headed into the building. Not gonna lie, I was feeling a little nervous. We got onto the elevator, an awkward silence around us as we ascended. She then grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her as we reached the floor her place was on and the elevator doors opened.

She took out a key and unlocked the door, taking me inside before shutting and locking the front door, leaving the key in the lock, as she then dragged me towards her bedroom...the tension was heavy, I almost felt too nervous to breathe.

"S-so, you-," I began awkwardly in an attempt to break the silence, but she immediately cut me off with a sudden kiss, pushing me down onto her bed and falling on top of me.

"Spend the night, 'kay?" She whispered into my ear in a seductive, and slightly nervous, tone, sending chills down my spine.

I wrapped my leg around her waist and flipped her over so that I was on top, grabbing her wrists and holding them above her head with one hand while my other hand stroked her inner thigh slowly, causing her to arch her back with a slight shiver as I kissed her neck.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," I whispered back, as I nibbled on her earlobe.

"S-stop teasing me...I can't take it anymore...," She moaned, meeting my gaze with a slow blink and adding, "I want you..."

Woah, my heart definitely just skipped a beat...that was so damn sexy, especially because it was unintentionally so...I gulped and then kissed her passionately while my free hand undid the buttons on her jeans and then slipped in, my fingers slowly trailing lower and lower...

She bit my lower lip with a stifled moan as my hand went between her legs, she then squirmed and broke free of my grasp, her hands going under my top and running all over my torso hungrily, before impatiently tugging at my top to try and pull it off.

"Someone's eager, huh?" I remarked with a smirk, as I twirled my fingers around.

"Mm...sh-shut up, just...mm...just take your clothes off already!"

I usually don't like being told what to do, but there's no way I'm disobeying that. As she pulled off my jacket and undershirt, I took off her top as well, while she unbuckled my belt while kissing me, her lips ravenously caressing mine as we tossed our clothes aside and she pulled me on top of her, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she gazed up at me seductively, lit up by the dim artificial moonlight streaming in through the window.

This is gonna be a long, long night, no doubt about that...

...

...

It was the 18th of August, the Monday following the outing with my classmates and my night at Suri's place...yeah, all in all, I had an incredible time a couple of days ago. Anyway, I was at the Academy, and today, we had some special training assignment that we were yet to get the details of.

I was in the classroom, along with most of the others as well...Suri was going to be absent, she'd messaged me earlier and said that she had caught a cold...it was flu season in the North Quadrant, people tended to get sick this time of the year...

Yup, even with the majority of the world getting wiped out during WWIII, the flu virus managed to survive and continue to thrive. I'd only gotten sick a handful of times, I had a pretty good immune system so I don't get sick that easily.

The door to the classroom then opened and Instructor Jin Satou walked in with a stifled yawn, heading for the front of the class and turning around with a sigh, leaning his back on the whiteboard as he tapped his I-Watch a couple of times before turning his gaze towards us...

"Looks like one person's absent, huh...well, whatever. Right, so I'm supposed to tell you guys what today's training assignment is going to entail...what a pain in my ass. Listen up, because I won't repeat a word...this will be the first training exercise with your permanent teammates, and will consist of mock battles between each of the other two teams in this class."

Yeah, that's pretty necessary, we've been working together during combat and teamwork classes, but we haven't actually tested out our combo plays in a fight. I'd still rather work alone, of course, but since I don't really have a choice in the matter, this is gonna be pretty important. Suri's not here, so my team's gonna be incomplete, but since we have one member more than the other two teams, it evens out I guess. Instructor Satou then continued...

"The X-Warrior Zone has finished construction on underground mazes that will be used for training, though the exact locations of the mazes are classified...the mazes are enveloped in Duel Fields that'll teleport anyone out before they can receive fatal damage, so there's no need to hold back. The walls of the maze are also soundproofed, to make it more challenging to navigate. Whichever two teams that are assigned to fight will be teleported into the maze along with a map of the layout."

A maze, huh...that'll work pretty well for me, my abilities are probably better suited to a space like that instead of in wide open areas like the outside of the Sanctuary. Still, given the state of the world outside the Sanctuary, we're unlikely to encounter any maze-like areas, it's all vast, open space out there...

"After being teleported, you're not allowed to leave your position for fifteen minutes, you're supposed to use that time to strategize, and after that time is up, hunt down and eliminate the other team's members...the time limit is thirty minutes, if neither team is fully eliminated by then, the winner will be whoever has more members left in play. And of course, if both sides are even when the time limit is reached, it's a draw. Okay, my explanation is done. Go down to Training Hall 2, there's a Teleportation platform there for you to use for this."

This...should be interesting...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP