I am standing against the wall on the far side of the common area in the Hunter’s association. I’ve been waiting here for over an hour, because I want to give Lys her share of the mana cores today. Almost every hunter comes by here daily if they’re in the city. Most of them come by in the morning, so right now, I’m waiting to see Lys walk through the door.

For a city that houses more than 10,000 people, you would think that more of them would come by the association. I mean, the building is full of people, but it’s not crammed past its limit. There should be less than 100 people in the entire building right now. Of course, some of them are working in the back area, and only some of them are in the front area, here, with the counter and the common area.

… I should have had breakfast before leaving my house, but I didn’t think it would take this long for her to show up.

…………………………………………………………………

- Lys’ Perspective -

I look at my bedside clock. Tomorrow turned into today way too fast! I couldn’t even sleep well because of what I planned to do today!

But I won’t back down! The challenge shall be met! I shall be victorious!

...But I am nervous.

I’ve never done anything like this before.

I know that all I have to do is ask him a simple question and get an answer, but this seems like the hardest thing I’ve done in years!

And what if he says no? What if he says yes?!

I’m too conflicted right now to even think about what to do!

...For now, I just have to get dressed for the day… What am I going to wear?!

…………………………………………………………………

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” I say.

She is wearing a small, dark blue shirt with skinny jeans and light blue tennis shoes. Also, her face seems to be red yet again.

“W-w-why have you been looking for me?” Lys stutters.

“Because you left yesterday without taking your share of the goods.” I take out the bag of cores.

“Oh… Thank you!”

“Anytime. By the way, is your face okay? You took quite the spill yesterday, and your face is fairly red right now.” I ask concernedly.

Her face gets even redder. I guess it's not because of bruising. She certainly does that a lot.

“Yes, I’m okay. ...Thank you for asking.” She turns her head away for a moment before gazing back at me. “Do you… possibly… want to go on a… date with me?” Her voice tapers off at the end, but I can hear what she says clearly.

“… What do you mean by that? Go where on what day?”

“What? I mean, do you want to go on a date with me? As in… a romantic date.”

I put on a face of confusion as I ask, “What’s a romantic date?”

“… You seriously don’t know? You aren’t joking with me right now, are you?”

“No. What’s a romantic date?”

“How could you possibly not know what a romantic date is?! It’s not like you lost your memory!” She clenches her fists into tiny balls.

“I did.” I respond.

“… You did... what?” She asks. She seems to be calming herself, as she is curious about what I just said.

“Two years ago, I woke up inside the wall with no memory. I did lose my memory.” I say.

“You woke up inside the wall with no memory?” She pauses. “… Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it. So. What is a romantic date?”

“Umm… It’s when a boy and a girl do an activity together to have fun and/or get to know each other better. Sometimes it leads to having a deeper relationship!” She says that last part a little louder than the rest.

“And you want to go on a date with me?”

“Yes, I do.” She says. “...and I didn’t think it would be this hard to ask you about it.” She says much quieter.

“A date… I don’t see why I should refuse. Yes. I’ll go on a date with you.”

“You will?!” She smiles widely.

“I will. I hope we can have a fun time on our date, while getting to know each other.” I continue. “But will you take these cores first?”

“Oh! Sorry!” She reaches out to receive the cores. As she takes them, she asks another question. “Can we... maybe do it today?”

…………………………………………………………………

“Soo~, what do you wanna do?” Lys asks.

We are currently strolling the streets of the city.

“I haven’t had breakfast yet. Do you want to go eat together?”

“That shounds amazing!” She mispeaks.

Again, her face gets red.

“Why does your face get red sometimes?’

“What?! No! It isn’t red, you’re mistaken.” She hides her face from my sight.

“Okay...? Well, where should we eat? A diner or a cafe sounds nice, but what do you think?”

“A cafe? Ooh! Have you tried Carpe Diem’s hot chocolate? It’s to die for!” She turns back to me.

“It’s to die for? That sounds like something I’ve gotta try. Where’s that cafe?”

“It’s this way!” She points and pulls on my arm. If I didn’t have a constiution nearing 200, it may have been easily ripped off.

…………………………………………………………………

“Two hot chocolates, please.” She asks the waiter.

“Anything else?”

“I’d like a breakfast assortment. Eggs, bacon, toast, the whole shebang.”

“Alright. Will you have anything to eat?” The waiter directs the question to Lys.

“I’ll have a slice of strawberry cake, please.”

“Your order will be out soon.” The waiter states.

He returns to the kitchen to place the order with the chef in the kitchen. A long period of silence occurs between the two of us as the waiter takes the time to prep the hot chocolates himself.

“So… what level are you?” She asks me.

“64. What level are you?”

“43. You’re very strong.”

“It’s only because I take on the Guardians that Squad 1 can’t handle.”

“So that means you work with my team sometimes?”

“Well… It’s more like I take care of what they can’t, and they take care of what they can. There’s barely any cooperation.”

“Why not? It would certainly be helpful to both sides if-”

“I don’t want to work with a team.” I say firmly.

“… Can I ask why?”

I sigh. “Do you know what happened two years ago, with the close of the first dungeon?”

“Uh… I heard that the entire team was wiped out, and the only person who came out was you.”

“If you know the story, then you know why I don’t want to work in a team.”

A longer period of silence ensues before the waiter comes back with two hot chocolates. As he sets them on the table, Lys says a quiet, “Thank you,” before blowing on the surface of the heated drink and taking a small sip.

She looks troubled for a moment before saying, “One bad experience shouldn’t stop a lifetime of good ones from happening.”

I don’t say anything as I ponder her words.

I take a breath. “… I suppose you’re right. Just because one team was wiped out doesn’t mean another will with absolute certainty. I guess I shouldn’t think the way I do about it.”

Lys smiles falteringly as I speak those words. She takes another sip of chocolate beverage. I reach out and take a sip from my own cup.

“It really is good. I’ve never had hot chocolate before.”

“You’ve never had hot chocolate before?!”

…………………………………………………………………

Sunset. The time of day when the activities of people cease and everything just seems to wind down. From late morning to late evening, Lys and I spent the whole day together. She introduced several new foods to me. I really should expand my palate.

Anyway, we’re now on the side of a hill just outside the city, facing the wilderness. We’re watching the sun set together. I’m laying down on the grass with my arm at my side, while Lys is sitting while holding her legs to her chest.

The colors of the sky mixed with the green of the scenery sprawled before the two of us is beautiful.

But I don’t think it’s nearly as pretty as the person sitting next to me.

Without turning, I say, “You know what I think?”

“Hm?”

“I think that this view isn’t nearly as good as what I see when I look at you. You’re so much better than this sunset.”

She doesn’t say anything as she seems to freeze on the spot.

“… Thank… you.”

She seems to be struggling to comprehend what I just said. If I were to look over at her now, she would undoubtedly be as bright red as the sun right now.

We both remain silent for another minute before she says something.

“I like you… I think. A lot. I want to keep dating.”

“Me too. I like you a lot, as well.”

I look at her now. Her smile is beaming even greater than the sun at midday.

I return a smile. As I do, she reaches for my hand. I let her grab it, and when she does, she turns back to the setting sun, still smiling.

We stay like that until the sun falls past the horizon.

…………………………………………………………………

Lys dismounts from my reliable hoverbike.

“I really had a lot of fun today. I want to do this again.”

“Yeah, me too. Someday soon.”

“Yeah. Soon.” She says with a smile.

“Okay. Sleep well.” I say.

“You too.”

She walks toward the entrance to the stone-grey, two-story apartment building. Once her hand is on the door, she smiles and waves at me. I wave back, and she opens the door to enter.

I watch her figure slip behind the door.

Now that she’s gone, I think hard about something for a moment. Something that I’m not quite sure about doing. But with fervor, I speed off towards the Hunter’s Association.

Once I park the bike in the alley, I open the door to the building and see Mr. Kane. It was a while ago that I learned that he was the person with the highest authority in the building.

"Ah. Mr. Hunter? What can I do for you?"

I give a small smile, saying, “I’d like to join Squad 1.”

…………………………………………………………………

- Lys’ Perspective -

I’ve been sitting on my bed for more than half an hour with a smile on my face, just thinking about everything that went on today.

Today, I had the most fun I’ve ever had. I’m sure about that. I smiled the whole day with Hunter. If there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that I don’t ever want to stop being with him…

My phone vibrates. Nobody contacts me with this except for the association, and it’s only for business regarding my squad.

I turn it on and see the text message on the screen.

I read it aloud. “Hunter Hunter has been assigned to Squad 1 at his request.”

He joined my team? Just now?

… Yes! I’ll get to see him every day! This is amazing!

But wait, the way the leader position works is that the strongest person in the team gets it.

The phone rings again.

“Hunter Hunter has abdicated the position of Squad Leader to you.”

And he let me be the leader! He’s awesome!

I fall onto my pillow with the same smile on my face that’s been there the whole day. A smile of pure joy.

I think about something for a moment, before checking something. Hunter's number has been put into my phone automatically since he joined my squad!

“I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, new recruit!” I send him this message.

It takes a while, but the phone rings once more.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” A text from Hunter!

I pull the covers up to my chin and shut my eyes tightly in an effort to make the day come quicker. I can’t wait for tomorrow.