“So, what are we doing now?”

The group of six people was once again inside the training room. They were sitting on benches and chairs forming a circle. Akim had been the one to ask the question. His muscles were already sore from the previous fight. Nevertheless, he would still go on if he had to.

However, Talia’s words betrayed his assumptions. She rubbed her head with a troubled face before facing Zesty. “You see, I wanted to take the occasion of what happened today to help Zesty. She needs a training partner for her ability which is mind-oriented, while you will need to have a good mental fortitude. I thought it would be two birds with one stone. We were interrupted by your mother, so I could not say this earlier.”

‘...So, this was the reason.’ Zesty finally understood why Talia had pushed her to a corner. Knowing that her friend had thought this far for her made her blush lightly in happiness. Talia's method might be considered harsh and bad as it was basically hitting the person with hurting facts. If not handled with care, the damages would be greater than the benefits.

Akim grinned and pummeled his chest with his fist. “Leave it to me! I promised to help her and I don’t plan to go back on this. Let’s do our best, Zesty.”

Now, that Zesty’s mind was clear from the things that haunted her for years, she could admire through her bangs the well-defined muscles of the young man before her. Everything that happened earlier kicked back at full brunt, including the bout between Talia and Akim. She could recall the gloriousness and manliness surging from the young man as he was trying his utmost. Nonetheless, she nodded her scarlet face while twirling a strand of hair. “Please, take care of me…”

Talia watched as her initial goal was finally cleared. Suddenly, a familiar hand rose. “...Sanya?”

Sanya timidly raised her hand, bringing her lover’s attention to her. “If Akim will train with Zesty from time to time, then I have a request….Can I also train with you?”

Without saying, Talia was surprised by this sudden request. “...Why?”

Sanya broke the eye contact a bit awkwardly. She scratched her head with red cheeks. “You know I put on weight more easily than most people. But, I find it difficult to exercise by myself. So, I thought it might motivate me if I workout with you...Is it not good?”

Since Talia had come back, along with her otherworldly sweets, this had been one of the things on Sanya's mind. She involuntary looked at Talia with upward eyes. Her cute manners and bashfulness hit Talia right in the heart, making her deepest desires surface. However, she held back with a pure sheer will, otherwise her lips would have already made contact with her significant other’s ones.

She faked a cough and thought of Sanya's request. She didn't mind if Sanya were on the chubby side, but she had known that she had a bit of a complex about this since middle school. Also, exercising could never hurt, especially if it was with someone like Talia who knew what she was doing.

Finally, Talia came up with an idea. She brought everyone’s eyes on her. “I have a proposition. How about we use the Friday's afternoon as our weekly training session. Of course, I would prioritize your training, Akim. But, as this place is spacious the others could train their ability or whatever. Is it fine with you?”

Akim thought only for a second before replying with a big smile. “I would gladly accept this. If they can benefit from this, then I see no problem.”

Talia stood up and clapped her hands. “That settles it. A lot of things happened today, so how about we call it a day?”

It had been a tiring day physically for some and mentally for others. They then proceeded to exchange phone numbers. Now that they planned this weekly training session, communication could be important if an emergency appeared.

Akim and Ashia were at the gate, sending them off. After some time, the group of three girls was no longer in sight. Akim put his hands on his hips and heaved a sigh. His little sister looked up at him. "What?"

He seemed to think for a few seconds while looking at something far away. "...No, it's just that I'm happy. I'm a step closer from my goal."

Ashia remained silent in response. Her environment made her a bit more mature than the other children from her age. So even though she was still too young to fully grasp the importance of her father's company, she still knew that her brother was doing his best partially for her. She caressed the silver strand of dyed hair among her black hair while lowering her head. She whispered. "...Can I also come next time?"

All of sudden, Akim's eyes beamed with delight. He patted the head of the little girl. "You want to train with your brother and his friends? Of course, it's fine!"

"..." Ashia didn't reply. It was true that she was a bit curious about how the training sessions would progress. It was also true that training her ability would also be a good idea, knowing that the others could potentially help her. But, the main reason was utterly something else.

'Letting big brother alone with all those girls is not good. Especially with the shy one. She definitely looks like the type that brother would help with his best. Then, stuff would happen between each other and in the end, I would have to call sister-in-law! I read it in mother's books!' Ashia tightened her tiny fist as her imagination went wild. On the other end, Akim thought that she was trying to gather her courage. He smiled and turned to go back home.

While walking he spoke up. "I know it might be scary at first to be with older strangers, but don't worry. There is Ellen too. The gap with your age is smaller."

Ashia also rotated her body, her face a bit pensive. She recalled the girl who was too young to be a high school girl. The same girl that had returned her husky plushie without letting it drop on the floor. "Ellen...She was quite nice to me."

Without knowing, Ellen had let a definite impression inside Ashia.

--------------------------------------

Talia and Sanya were sitting next to each other inside the bus going home. Ellen had already gone home using her own way of transport, also known as her ability. Meanwhile, one of the stops was only a hundred meters away from Zesty’s home, so she had gotten off before them. Her complexion on the way home had been a lot better than on the first trip. Her smile seemed to be truly from the heart, unlike the times when she had forced a smile.

Sanya thought about it, her expression pensive. She leaned her head against Talia, making her lover shift her attention to her. Their hands intertwined. Sanya’s whisper entered Talia’s left ear. “Say...Why did you suddenly brought forward the problem with Zesty? This felt quite abrupt.”

Talia gasped a bit before closing her mouth. She then looked outside of the windows, making the scenery of the city reflecting inside her eyes. “Akim has to reinforce his mind. So, I thought that it was a good timing for Zesty to move forward and have a comrade to share the burden.”

Sanya narrowed her eyes, the grip of her hand tightening. “And the other reason?”

A thin smile spread on Talia’s face. ‘It seems I can’t hide anything from her.’

“...I thought it would be a waste of time not doing so. She would have to face this wall at some point. Not helping her even after noticing the problem would have made me feel guilty. I know bringing the subject like this was pretty shameless, but I still believe I made the right choice. Now, she knows she has friends that will be here for her and trust her. Progressing alongside friends and not after them is better. At least, this is what I think.”

“I see.” Sanya’s heart felt warm. The pre-Protector of Worlds Talia had been too insecure and shy to make friends. However, the girl beside her was actually trying to create a friendly environment around her. She didn’t know if it was because of all the people that she had met during this period, but she was still happy the one she loved had made personal progress. She still felt slightly disheartened knowing she could not have witnessed it.

The rest of the ride went smoothly. They were currently in front of the bakery. It was already quite late, so they were about to part there.

A bitter expression clouding Talia’s face made Sanya look up in worry. “What is it?”

Instead of answered with words, Talia lightly leaned forward to kiss her beloved on the lips. Sanya closed her eyes as she felt the sweetness of Talia’s lips, surely caused by the earlier pastries.

Talia brought her closer into a hug. “I don’t want to part. I know we will see each other Sunday, but...not seeing you for an entire day will be long.”

Sanya furrowed her eyebrows as she just heard something strange. “Wait, what are you-”

“Woah, you two sure are daring. Making out in public.” A lively voice came from the house. They hurriedly turned to see who was the one that caught their intimate moment.

Cathia was by the doorstep, Fluffy Paw in her arms. A wide grin was on her face as she just interrupted her daughter and her girlfriend.

Naturally, the two girls separated, their face scarlet from embarrassment. Cathia just smirked in a tease. She then looked at Talia while tilting her head. “You don’t have to worry about tomorrow. You have the time to see Sanya a lot. She told me she wanted to make some new recipes, so she will be in the back of the bakery. You might have to take care of the counter, but it will not be too far.”

“Huh?” Talia failed to process what she just heard. However, a helping hand came.

Sanya tugged her uniform to get her attention. Simply to say something that totally had went out of her mind. “You have a shift tomorrow.”

“...Ah.”

She forgot.