Liam gulped as he approached the door. He walked as if he were being forced to go to the gallows, instead of just answering the door.
Part of him wanted to deny the possibility that it wasn't the people he was thinking of, that some random stranger was playing a prank on him, or someone was making a delivery to the wrong address.
Unfortunately for Liam, he couldn't deceive logic.
"Who's there?" he called out when he reached the door.
"..."
"Hello?"
"..."
Liam sighed in relief. Wow, it actually was a—
"LIAM! OPEN UP!"
Liam jumped a whole foot in the air, startled. What the hell?! Nanami?!
Liam sighed, controlling his breathing. "If I open the door, I'll have to face the consequences..."
Liam saw the consequences in his mind's eye: Lee and Lisa beating on him, Nanami trolling him endlessly, Po and Jay pretending their clothes were more interesting, and Hannah's teasing. He groaned as whoever was in front of his door began banging on it.
I may not want that, but if I put it off now...
Liam thought of the future where all their feelings were bottled up, giving them plenty of time to stew, and eventually come up with a plan to get him once and for all.
...Am I overthinking this?
....
No. I have to face it now so it doesn't hurt even more later.
Liam took several breaths, momentarily wondered if this was indeed the right choice, then put his hand on the door.
A second later, it slid open, and he was immediately hit by a stampede of people.
"Ugh-OW-no-wait-stop-!"
Liam was ignored for the five seconds his friends charged in, bowled him over, and jumped over his body. Except Lisa. She used his shoulder as a platform to jump inside.
Yeah... it'll hurt now, but it won't later... hopefully.
"Urgh..." he groaned as he sat up. Hurts a bit less than last night, but only because my heart isn't going haywire.
"Yo."
Liam looked up to see a hand reaching out to him. He looked up to see its owner—
"Raidou?" Liam stared, wide-eyed. "What are you doing here?"
Raidou laughed and scratched the back of his head with his other hand. "Well, I got dragged here by the others. Are you okay?"
Liam grabbed his hand, and Raidou pulled him up. Liam stumbled forward a little, then caught a whiff of Raidou's scent. It was smoky, and similar to ash.
Liam stood up straight, and both boys disengaged their hands.
"Um, thanks," Liam nodded as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Don't mention it," Raidou smiled. "May I come in?"
Finally, a civilized person. Liam smiled and tilted his head to the small corridor behind him. "Sure."
As Raidou walked away, Liam began to stretch again.
Looks like my throat's fine. My body still feels sore though. I'll apply some ointment. In at least half a day, the soreness should be gone.
Liam squatted in the small verandah and scratched his hair with both hands. Ugh! What do I do now?!
He took a breath to calm himself down, then tried to think it through.
I can use the Threat Assessment...
Liam gave himself a small list of his current situation:
Threats: Lisa, Lee, Nanami, Hannah, concerned friends in general.
Environment: My own dormitory
Escape routes: None
Adaptation: ...????
He sighed and stood up. "Might as well just face them."
He psyched himself up, then walked to the living room.
****
Twelve minutes later...
"And why exactly do I have to cook for all of you?" Liam said as he glanced to the side.
"Don't you dare look away," Lisa growled.
Liam was currently kneeling on the floor, his coffee table moved to the side so all eight people could judge him. They had forced him to his knees, handed him a bag of fast food, interrogated him about what he'd been doing the whole day, then asked him to cook for them.
Liam sighed and looked at the three people occupying his couch: Lee, Lisa in the middle, and Nanami. Hannah and Raidou flanked it, whilst Po and Jay sat in front of it.
What kind of bizzaro nonsense is this?
Liam had used the excuse that he had slept late reading to escape the "ignoring-early-morning-messages" accusation, and had told them that he had woken up late, done his workout, and cleaned up the place for the rest of the day.
"No," Lisa said with narrowed eyes. "I don't believe you. You claim you fell asleep after cleaning but—"
"You aren't normally too tired even after a strenuous workout," Lee cut in. "Explain yourself properly."
Liam rolled his eyes. "Just... leave me alone. I was doing private stuff, so—"
Lisa cut him off. "We were worried about you, idiot. You didn't answer a single call or text from any of us the entire day. We went out to celebrate the end of our second week and becoming friends, and we wanted you to be there. And you want to explain yourself by saying you were 'asleep'?"
Liam's eyes widened, and he pursed his lips. He hadn't really thought about them, since he had been asleep for half a day. Hearing that they'd been worried about him, especially since he had almost killed himself, touched him.
But since he was being faced with an unnecessary council—
They don't need to know what I feel.
Liam scratched the back of his head. "Let's just say... I was late because of my Venma."
Everyone fell silent. It was an unwritten rule not to pry into another person's Venma without any valid reason, since it was seen as a breach of privacy.
However, there was one person who knew exactly what his Venma was. And she had been wondering if it had something to do with his vanishing act the entire day.
Lisa glared at him. You did something stupid.
Liam's gaze flickered away for a brief moment. Um...
Lisa closed her eyes, signaling: I can't believe you!
Liam looked up as she opened her eyes. I'm sorry!
She frowned fiercely. You promised! And you've broken that promise!
Liam sighed. "Look, all of you, I'm sorry I couldn't come. Some stuff happened... I can't really say, since it's private. How can I make it up to you?"
The others stopped looking from him to Lisa and back, then turned their full attention to him.
"OH?" Nanami grinned widely.
Liam immediately felt cold regret pouring down on him like a tidal wave.
"You can cook for us!" Nanami laughed. As if waiting for him to say that, everyone immediately began listing the food they wanted.
"Fried chicken."
"Curry rice."
"Spaghetti and meatballs."
"Donburi."
"Sushi."
"PIZZA!"
"Everybody, STOP!"
They all fell silent, surprised at the fact that Liam had raised his voice.
"I am not a five-star chef. Not only that, I don't have a single ingredient to make all of that!"
They all exchanged looks, and Lee spoke up: "But if you did, would you be able to make all of those?"
Liam put a hand to his chin. "...Maybe?"
"Then it's settled," Nanami said as he shot to his feet and grabbed Liam. "To the mall!"
"Yeah!" the others laughed as they dragged Liam kicking and screaming to the door.
What a bunch of weirdos, Raidou laughed quietly as he followed after them.
****
Meanwhile, in the Hero Course's classroom block...
A tall boy with wildly styled black hair stood in front of his classmates with a yawn.
"Alright, I assume you all know why we're here, so I'll skip the formalities."
He jerked his thumb to the side, where Sam was sitting near the door. "That idiot led all of you into a pretty hot mess, and now you've all come crawling back with your tails between your legs. Now, you want someone else to take charge, and you think it should be me?"
A boy with slicked-back grey hair stood up and pushed his round glasses up his nose. "Buddha, you're basically the class figurehead. You know how to make rational decisions, you're confident, and charismatic. On top of all that, you're strong—"
"Shut up, Fohl," Buddha sneered. "If you knew all of that, then why not pick me instead of that sly beanpole instead? Because he was more political? Strategic?"
Buddha chuckled and waved at Fohl in dismissal. "I have no interest in leading you. However..."
Buddha grinned at Fohl, and the boy leaned back in surprise.
"You're definitely smart enough to lead them," Buddha smirked. "So why don't you?"
"Buddha has a point Fohl," Lance said as he stood up. "You were the same person that nominated Sam because you were able to notice his capabilities. And now you're doing the same thing with Buddha."
"Personally, I don't like the 'guy-in-the-chair' types. They all act so smug and boring."
Fohl frowned as his gaze turned to Daji. The Fox Muta smiled cheekily at him and continued:
"The Hero Class is one of competition you know, since it's supposed to mimic the actual job. But apart from the political whatnot, Heroes aren't supposed to be jerks who don't give a damn about their surroundings. You've got that kind of awareness about ya, so why don't you take the rep-spot?"
Fohl remained silent, a quiet frown on his face.
I specifically asked different people because they have the qualities I don't. Why don't you people understand that? I am not charismatic. I am not physically strong. My Venma is meant to support. I keep bringing the best people forward so I can aid them—
"Fohl," a sleepy voice cut in, "are you overthinking again?"
Fohl looked at the boy seated behind him: Morty Lag, the only friend he'd made.
Morty yawned. "Really, what's there to think about?"
Fohl sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "I don't have the talent to lead, Morty."
Morty stared at him with droopy eyes. "You don't? Huh..."
Fohl pursed his lips. Why on earth did I make friends with this... person? He's so lazy. It irks me.
Morty shrugged. "If you don't have the talent to lead, you still have the talent to point out talent. Isn't that kind of talent more important for a leader?"
Fohl blinked. Right. Because as lazy as he is, he's surprisingly sharp. He was part of the top ten for the entrance exam. And... he was the only person willing to be my friend.
"Well then," Buddha chuckled. "Looks like we have our nominee. Hey, Sam, wanna recontest?"
Sam clicked his tongue and looked away. "Do whatever you want."
Buddha laughed. "Well then, all those who think Fohl should be class representative, raise your hand."
Everyone apart from Sam and Fohl raised their hand.
Buddha clapped. "Alright then. Looks like the majority has spoken. Fohl, you can cut the acceptance speech and all that. I want you to tell us straight: how do we get out of this little mess?"
Fohl was taken aback by the overwhelming support, and he was equally shocked by Buddha's words. However, he had already thought of a way to solve the problem between them and the Hunter Class, so he quickly gathered his composure and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Ahem, well thank you all," he nodded. "To address the growing hostility between us and them, which is making us look bad, the method is simple..."
Fohl felt a smile pull at his mouth at the sight of everyone's eyes on him.
"We become friends with the Hunter Class."
As his classmates reeled back in surprise, Fohl waved his hand at them.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. Listen carefully..."