I had a stupidly large portion to eat. And since I ordered all this stuff I just chugged it all down. Even the marmite covered bread.

This actually didn't taste that bad.

When I was finished, I felt sick, but at least I was finished.

I took at least three times more time to finish. And yet, there wasn't a single known soul in here. Known to me that is. I'd hoped that if I spent enough time chewing on my food, sooner or later someone will show and save me. Just how naïve was I? And I didn't have any way to contact anyone either.

It was safe to say, I screwed up big time.

I guess people coming to your rescues in the most desperate times only happened in the fairytales. With a sigh and heavy heart, I picked up the empty tray and walked towards the second counter. Apparently, they had separate counters for handing over food and billing.

'Here goes nothing.'

"That'll be fifty coppers." The guy behind the counter was being very generous. And his smile was very user-friendly. His voice was calm and quiet.

By my calculations, it should have been 49.95, but oh well. I didn't have money anyway. "I kind of forgot my wallet. Can I just go and get it?" It took a lot of courage to say it. And only after saying it, did I realize how dumb it sounded.

His smile warped into something inhumane and his voice got amplified at least tenfold. "HUH? THE hell you spouting brat!" His hair spiked up and his skin and hair turned red. This guy had issues.

I was in the wrong here, so I couldn't argue.

Of course, I was getting a lot of attention from the crowd behind me too. But that wasn't a concern at the moment.

"Is something wrong?" A chef walked into the counter from the kitchen. The kitchen was directly behind the counter.

Some of the other staff were eyeballing me too.

"Can you believe sis, this moron thinks we're all fools!" It was like someone had turned up the guy's volume to max.

Honestly, I didn't know whether to feel offended or dumbfounded.

"You seem more sensible, would you mind hearing me out?" I addressed the chef behind the counter.

"I have to get back, so hurry." She was awfully chill and looked kind of familiar.

"I can't pay. This morning I was at the nurse's office. And I took the practical class after I got out from there. I kind of forgot my wallet at the dorm, so I don't think I can pay without it." I tried to be honest. I knew they wouldn't let me go that easily but it didn't hurt to try. Okay, maybe a little.

"You could have paid with your Holo! Do you think we're fools!" The loud guy was being loud and annoying. Well, I guess that was his job.

"Fool? Oh no, I don't think you're a fool. I just think you're blind." I flashed a grin and showed off both of my arms. "Do you see any Holo here?"

The guy was confused for a second as though he couldn't understand me. Something clicked in his brain a minute later and then he just glared. I got the impression he'd have started to beat me senseless if there were fewer customers.

"Your room number? We can ask your roommate to bring your wallet." At least the chef was sensible.

"402."

She was about to use her holo but she stopped and looked at me. "YOU mean Merin Astoroio is your roommate?" The way she chose her words almost made me cautious.

'You didn't do anything stupid in this cafeteria, did you Merin?'

I debated me admitting it and then I realized it was just futile to deny. "Yeah."

"Okay, you can go now. Bring the money before evening." The girl went back to the kitchen.

'Eh? Just like that?'

"But sis!" The guy behind the counter wasn't convinced and still glared at me but he didn't say anything else.

If I wasn't confused before, I sure was now.

'What the hell just happened?'

***

"Oh, that was probably my sister, Samantha."

"Sister? Your sister works there?"

"Yup!" Merin flashed a big grin. "We haven't talked in a month though. She's mad at me for some reason but she never tells me."

I was back at the Dorm. As expected my wallet was sitting pretty at the table.

"I assume that's why you don't go to the cafeteria?"

Merin still smiled but he didn't say anything.

It was past noon and I was stuffed. I didn't need to take any medicine at noon, so I just lied down on the bed.

There was this awkward silence between us.

"By the way, there was a guy at the counter who called your sister, sis. So, is-"

"Most of the workers call her sis. She's pretty popular. Don't worry about it. She's the only one of my family who's here."

My idea of ending the awkward silence ended right there.

"Did she work here from the start or did she move here because of you?"

"She moved here last year. But we always had a terrible relationship, so I don't think she moved here because of me."

I didn't know why but that just felt sad.

The silence was loud.

***

My rest was over, so I headed for the cafeteria. This time, I made sure I still had my wallet.

I felt a lot better. My nose had cleared up a lot too.

The sun was in the western hemisphere. It was barely afternoon. I still had some time before the deadline. Though I didn't really feel all that pressured anymore.

There were a lot more students at the far left corner of the field today. It almost felt like they were circling something.

'Trouble?'

I turned my head in the opposite direction and walked fast.

I did not want to be involved, no sir!

***

"Took you long enough." The guy snatched the money like it was his long-lost treasure or something. "You're missing a little bit of copper?"

I was back at the cafeteria and actually, there were a lot fewer people right now.

I guess he was referring to me paying 49.95 instead of 50 coppers. "I don't know what you're talking about. Or did you forget to count too?"

"You little shi-"

"Brom, we don't talk to our customers that way." Merin's sister poked her head out and educated the guy. She really was sensible.

She was actually in normal clothes now. I guess her shift was over.

"Thank you." I offered my gratitude and I was done here.

"If you're not in a hurry, would you mind chatting with me for a minute? I'm done and-"

"Yeah, sure." She did help me a lot, after all.

'Was she waiting for me?'

She came out of the counter with a plate full of cupcakes. "Let's go sit over there."

As much as I loved free food, I definitely didn't want to eat. For the last hour or so, I felt more bloated than usual. I should have never eaten so much food for lunch.

***

"Thank you for defending Merin." That was the first thing she said to me as we both took our seats.

This wasn't something I was expecting. Merin said stuff like their relationship was bad and all but I got the impression that his sister cared about him. Maybe I was just assuming things.

"I kind of got him into that situation, so I had to bail him out of it." Of course, it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't butted in.

Honestly, though, I didn't regret it.

"Really? How so?"

"Well-" I explained to her, how things happened.

"I'm surprised. I never expected that coward to just run up to to a Battlesuin and try to take back his friend." She smiled. "I'm glad you were with him."

"I was kind of surprised too, honestly. When I heard that the guy was about to be killed, I rushed to him. I really didn't think he'd have done something like that."

She was relieved. "I'm really glad." She sighed. "Well, what's wrong? Not to your liking?"

I actually hadn't even touched the cakes. "I'm actually a bit feverish and I kind of ate too much this noon."

"I see." I'll be right back. She stood up, went straight to the counter, and brought one glass. The glass had some sort of translucent fluid. "Drink this."

From the looks of it, it was probably lemonade with a pink hue to it, and floating black seeds? And after taking a sip, I could confirm: it really was lemonade. But there was dragon fruit in it: dragonnade? It was pretty good. The tartness and the sweetness were both what I wanted and then there was the added aftertaste of salt. It alleviated the uneasiness in my stomach but I still didn't want to eat anything.

"Thank you for the drink. Do you live around here or do you go back home every day?"

"My home is pretty far you know." She giggled. "I live in the residential area."

I actually didn't know much about this academy. "Oh, you mean the other side?" I was basically winging it. Was there even the other side to begin with?

"Yeah. You haven't been there yet? Tell you what, how about next summer vacation you come over with Merin and let's all have fun at the beach?"

I didn't know why but I was glad there was an other side.

That actually didn't sound that bad though. I now had two choices, either spend the entire summer with my weird family in gramma's house along with my weird cousins or live the life with Merin and his beautiful sister at the beach? Honestly, I really preferred the latter, but I knew mom, would have killed me if I agreed now. "Thanks, I'll try to convince my mom."

But then again mom would kill me anyway.

She smiled. I guess she could understand.

I stood up. My time was up. Now that I felt better, I had to head to the club. Yesterday I'd blitzed out, but I had to show up today whether I liked it or not.

"Thank you as well." She was still seated and just smiled.

I felt better.

I didn't know why but she treated me rather nicely. And from the looks of it, she really was a nice person. So how come Merin's relationship with her was so bad?

I actually didn't have the guts to ask.