6

The next day, lunch at Seisen Cross was as chaotic as ever. The cafeteria buzzed with students jostling for seats and chatting over trays piled with questionable food options. Hikaru had followed Ren, who sat at their usual table near the window.

Kaede had already claimed the seat across from them, munching loudly on a bag of chips. “I’m telling you,” she said between bites, “if they don’t fix the vending machine by tomorrow, I’m staging a coup.”

“Dramatic much?” Tsubasa muttered, adjusting his glasses as he scrolled through his tablet. “It’s just a vending machine.”

“Just a vending machine?” Kaede gasped, clutching her chest like he’d personally offended her. “That thing is my lifeline, nerd.”

Ren leaned back in her seat, deadpan. “Maybe this is your chance to start eating real food.”

Kaede narrowed her eyes. “Betrayal from my own teammate. Tragic.”

Hikaru chuckled, snarfing down some rice. “Guess I’ll have to join the coup now. Can’t let Kaede suffer alone.”

Ren sighed dramatically. “And there goes your last shred of dignity.”

“I had dignity?” Hikaru smirked. “That’s news to me.”

Yuna approached the table with her usual quiet grace, setting down her tray neatly before taking a seat. “What’s this about a coup?” she asked calmly, like it was a perfectly normal conversation topic.

“Vending machine politics,” Tsubasa explained dryly without looking up.

Yuna nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense.”

Kaede beamed. “See? Yuna gets it.”

“Yuna just doesn’t care,” Ren corrected.

Yuna took a sip of her drink, unbothered. “Correct.”

As the conversation drifted toward rumors about an upcoming mission announcement, Hikaru glanced out the window, watching the clouds drift lazily across the sky. Despite the chaos around them, moments like this felt oddly peaceful, a strange kind of normalcy amidst the unpredictability of their lives.

"Hey," Kaede suddenly said, snapping him back to reality. "Since when do you zone out like that? Got something on your mind?"

Hikaru shrugged lazily. "Just thinking about how nice it is when things are... quiet."

Kaede blinked. "Quiet? Dude, we’re literally surrounded by chaos."

"Exactly," Hikaru grinned. “It isn’t quiet, so I'm just thinking how nice it would be if it were quiet instead of all this nonsense. Either way, it's pretty fun."

Ren rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the faint smile tugging at her lips. "You're impossible."

"Thank you," Hikaru said smugly.

Kaede clapped her hands together. "Alright, new plan: we skip afternoon classes and go on a mission instead."

Tsubasa sighed, putting down his tablet. "Why am I even friends with you people?"

"Because you love us," Kaede chirped.

"No, I don’t," he deadpanned.

His reply to the banter was so quick, to the point that it was comedic. They cracked up laughing, even Tsubasa had a hint of a smile on his face.

“On a serious note, Kaede, you aren't allowed on missions yet,” Yuna spoke up after the laughter died down.

“Why not?” Kaede whined dramatically, slumping onto the table. “I’m clearly ready. My combat skills are top-tier!”

“You threw a shoe at a practice dummy last week,” Tsubasa reminded her flatly, without looking up from his tablet as always. "It wasn’t even a good throw.”

Kaede gasped, clutching her chest. “You take that back!”

“No,” Tsubasa said without hesitation once again.

Hikaru chuckled. “Sorry, Kaede. Rules are rules. No ability, no missions.” He leaned in teasingly. “Besides, what would you do if things got dangerous? Throw both shoes?”

“I would!” she declared proudly, kicking off one of her shoes for emphasis.

Ren raised a brow. “You’re really leaning into this, huh?”

Kaede grinned mischievously. “Gotta play to my strengths, right?”

Yuna sighed, shaking her head. “You’ll get your chance soon enough. Just... wait until your birthday, okay? No one’s rushing you.”

Kaede pouted but didn’t argue further. “Fine,” she mumbled, resting her chin on her arms. “But it’s so boring just waiting around while you guys do all the cool stuff.”

“Trust me,” Hikaru said dryly, “it’s not all fun and games. You ever get chased by a rogue elemental in the middle of the night? Not exactly a good time.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ren quipped. “I handled that perfectly fine.”

“You fell in a ditch.”

“I tactically retreated into the terrain.”

Hikaru snorted. “Sure you did.” He laughed. Sure, he wasn't there, but he can surely imagine Ren doing that.

Tsubasa spoke up. “You're a fighter, Kanzaki?”

Hikaru leaned back with an easy grin. “Nah, not officially. Just someone who's good at not dying."

Kaede perked up, her curiosity piqued. “Does it have something to do with your mystery ability that you don't want to tell us about because it’s totally and definitely 100% not embarrassing at all?”

He shrugged lazily. He couldn't just tell them he was immortal, could he? "Just means I can hold my own if things get messy. Y'know, lifting heavy stuff, dodging punches... standard survival tactics."

“Standard?” Yuna raised a skeptical brow. "Most people don’t consider fistfights part of their survival plan."

"Clearly, they’re living life wrong," Hikaru said smugly.