A few days after Goro’s failed confession, the relationship between the four didn’t really change much.

In the morning, Fyr would go to Ava’s room to comb her hair and make her look presentable. During noon, they would gather on the rooftop to eat and talk about anything. After school, Allen and Fyr would go to work while Ava and Goro trained on the roof. The first two would join them later on once they were done. The half-elf, the dragon and the human would spar against each other while the harpy would stand by and treat anyone who got injured.

That was how they went about their lives.

“Urgghh… I’m gonna die.” [Ava]

And it was another peaceful day in Sanctuary Academy for them.

“Um, Ava, does it hurt a lot? Can you go back to class?” [Fyr]

“It hurts like hell and I’d rather skip.” [Ava]

Ava and Fyr were currently in the former’s room. Her face was twisted by pain and the skirt of her dress was stained red.

“This is why I said that it’s important to keep track. But, you never listened…” [Fyr]

“I thought I did. Who knew I’d be off by a day?” [Ava]

“This is very important for a girl.” [Fyr]

“Don’t call me a gir-ouch ouch ouch!” [Ava]

“Geez, it’s really bad this time.” [Fyr]

Fyr rummaged through Ava’s closet to get her a change of clothes. She once more realized that it was filled with nothing but white dresses. The half-elf, who was sitting on a chair, was enduring painful cramps and had a hand below her navel.

“Damn it… It feels like the time I got impaled by that freaking giant rhinoceros.” [Ava]

“You, you were impaled…? Eh? Ehhh?!” [Fyr]

“… I’m joking.” [Ava]

“Really?!” [Fyr]

Fyr looked at her with wide eyes, but then pouted and went back to searching for some underwear.

“Ava sometimes tells lies like that. If you keep doing it, no one will believe you anymore.” [Fyr]

“It’s fine. I just need to mix in some truths occasionally. Like, right now, truthfully speaking, being a girl is a pain in the-ouch!” [Ava]

Ava winced at the pain and grimaced. The small harpy, forgetting her pouting, hurriedly went to her while holding a set of clothes and a few clean pieces of cloth. She helped her change and stuffed the cloths inside her underwear.

“Why are you putting them in there?” [Ava]

“It’s for the bleeding. It’ll be bad if it happens in class, right? Only, I wished we could change your clothes. It’ll be really obvious if you wear a white dress.” [Fyr]

“No. Why do you make it sound like I’m planning on leaving the dorm? I’m staying here for the day.” [Ava]

“Eh? B-but, doesn’t your class have to prepare for the upcoming tests too? It’s a bad time to skip lectures.” [Fyr]

“Hmph. You’re naive, brat. Listen well.” [Ava]

For some reason, Ava was speaking arrogantly.

“I hate studying!” [Ava]

“…” [Fyr]

For a moment, the small harpy was left speechless by her blatant declaration of laziness that was filled with a strange sense of pride.

“… T-t-that’s bad! You need to study properly!” [Fyr]

“No way! Studying is for students!” [Ava]

“But, you are one!” [Fyr]

The half-elf, while enduring her painful cramps, forced herself to smile fearlessly and crossed her arms.

“I’m a slacker student that aims for the glorious position of useless delinquent.  I’m exempt from the rule!” [Ava]

“Ehhhh…” [Fyr]

Fyr once more remembered how eccentric her friend was.

“Then, how do you prepare for exams?” [Fyr]

“I’m a genius that remembers everything from my many past lives, so I don’t need to prepare for something like an exam.” [Ava]

“Ummm… O-ok…? T-then, what’s your grade in math?” [Fyr]

“Almost perfect! See? I’m fine.” [Ava]

“Then, history?” [Fyr]

“Don’t know. It was too horrible to look at.” [Ava]

“You’re not fine at all!” [Fyr]

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m not. I’m bleeding from between the legs. You got any idea how scary this would be if I was a guy?” [Ava]

“That’s not what I meant!” [Fyr]

“I’m joking. I have an Observer, remember? If I don’t get good grades, he’ll give me an earful.” [Ava]

“AVA! YOU THEEERE?!!” [Goro]

Before Fyr could lecture Ava about being a good student, Goro’s voice could be faintly heard from outside. The half-elf opened the window and looked down. She could see the green-haired dragon and Allen. No male students could go inside the girls’ dormitory, so the two of them were shouting at her window from outside.

“AVAAA! ARE YOU ALRIIIGHT?!!” [Allen]

The red-headed human asked, worried about her well-being since she suddenly went back to her room in the middle of the day.

“I’m fine! It just hurts like hell!” [Ava]

She yelled in response, though grimaced because of the cramps.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“WHAAATTT?!!” [Allen]

Allen and Goro didn’t seem to hear her, so she shouted louder.

“I SAID I’M FINE!! IT’S JUST THAT MY PERIOD HURTS LIKE HELL!!” [Ava]

“OH! OKAAAYY!!” [Allen]

Allen, relieved, waved his hand at her. Next to him, Goro had a hand on his forehead and it slowly slid down to cover his face.

“… That girl needs to learn some common sense.” [Goro]

“Huh? What did she do wrong? She just told us that she’s fine.” [Allen]

“… You need to learn some too.” [Goro]

Allen tilted his head, clueless to what he was talking about. The students around him were looking at them and at the half-elf. Some girls were whispering to each other and some guys were blushing. However, oblivious to his surroundings, Allen smiled teasingly at his friend.

“More importantly, aren’t you glad that it was nothing serious? You were really worried about her, right?” [Allen]

“I’ll punch you if you keep looking at me like that!” [Goro]

Their relationship didn’t change much since Goro’s confession to Ava, but from time to time, Allen and Fyr would tease him about it or cheer him on. This resulted in him dropping his fist on the human’s head, leaving a bump. When it was the harpy, he would hold back which caused Allen to complain about the difference in treatment before getting hit again.

“Those two sure get along.” [Ava]

Ava muttered after the two left before going back to sit on her bed. Fyr, who had been quiet, tugged on her sleeve with a red face.

“Um, I think you should learn to be more embarrassed about things…” [Fyr]

“Huh? Why’s that?” [Ava]

“… Shouting like that is… Well…” [Fyr]

“What? I’m pretty sure everyone knows why I had to leave school in the middle of the day. The girl sitting next to me sure looked shocked when she saw the blood on my seat. Ouch!” [Ava]

Ava rubbed her stomach and laid down on her bed. The cramps were still assaulting her.

“Anyway, I’m staying here for the rest of the day. The nurse gave me permission too after examining me.” [Ava]

Fyr couldn’t help but sigh.

“Ava, skipping class is bad.” [Fyr]

“I’m taking a leave of absence. It’s different. Besides, I’ll go back in the afternoon when I’m feeling better. There’s training to do and…” [Ava]

The half-elf stared at the ceiling.

“Today’s the first day on the job.” [Ava]

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

“So I just put these in there?” [Ava]

Ava asked the middle-aged lady that had cat ears and a large physique.

“That’s right. I’ll leave you to it, but are you sure you can handle it?” [Middle-aged lady]

The woman stared at the high school student worriedly.

“You’re the only one working today and you’ve got such skinny arms.” [Middle-aged lady]

“It’s just hard for me to put on muscles. Just wait. In a few years, I’ll have huge arms and legs and some nice abs too.” [Ava]

“Well, if you say you’re fine, then I guess you’re fine. Come see me when you’re done.” [Middle-aged lady]

The middle-aged lady sighed and left Ava to do her work. Right now, the half-elf was outside and in front of four supply wagons that had arrived at Sanctuary Academy. The job that she had found was to bring the wooden boxes of supplies inside the storage house, which was right behind her. She needed to be done before sunset, so she got to work right away.

Lifting one box up, she placed it in the storage house. Lifting another box, she did the same. The movements became repetitive and after a while, her body was moving automatically. Eventually, when she was about half finished unloading the wagons, fatigue had settled in.

“Crap… This is more tiring than I thought.” [Ava]

She murmured as she examined her sore arms. They were slender, slim, skinny even. No matter how many pushups she did, they never gained much muscle. She wondered if this was a trait of the elven race.

“Wow! Are you working alone?!” [???]

Someone broke her out of her thoughts and she turned her head to the source of the voice.

“I did this before with two others. It was super tiring~.” [???]

Leisurely walking towards her with her hands behind her back was a female therianthrope. Her messy bright orange hair was cut short, but the part behind her neck was allowed to grow to below her nape. Her dark green eyes held a playful glint in them and a mischievous smile hung on her lips. Two dog ears were twitching on top of her head as and her tail was wagging about. The high schooler stopped at a short distance from Ava and whistled.

“You actually emptied half of the wagons by yourself? You sure are strong~. But, to let a frail-looking girl like you do this alone, what is the school thinking? They need to revise their job system.” [Student]

“Who are you calling frail? Apologize, damn it.” [Ava]

Ava said, making sure that displeasure was evident in her voice. The visitor noticed it and put a finger on her lips.

“Oh? You didn’t like that? Sorry. You just don’t look like you’re built for heavy labor.” [Student]

“I’ll accept your apology. Next, who are you calling a girl? Apologize, damn it.” [Ava]

The half-elf splendidly ignored her comment and demanded another apology.

“What what? You’re mad about that? What’s with that? You’re weird~.” [Student]

Despite how unreasonable she was, the therianthrope simply laughed it off and skipped over to her. She was a bit taller than Ava and had a better figure as well. She was wearing a simple sleeveless white shirt along with a sleeveless brown leather jacket that tightly covered her upper body. Black pants hid her energetic legs that could barely stay in one place.

“Then, as an apology, I’ll help you out! Then, you can get out of here!” [Student]

“You look more like you can’t wait for me to leave.” [Ava]

“That’s because this particular storage house is my personal spot. Sleeping on the roof feels nice~.” [Student]

The girl with bright orange hair said as she grabbed a box and easily carried it to the storage house.

“I want to take a nap right now~.” [Student]

“Personally, I’d rather sleep somewhere like the school’s rooftop.” [Ava]

“Of course I thought of that too. But, the door’s locked and the teachers won’t lend me the keys. Stingy~.” [Student]

She grinned at the black-haired half-elf, showing her high canines.

“Oh yeah, normally, you can’t open it.” [Ava]

“Hmm~?” [Student]

“No, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself.” [Ava]

So, accepting the help of the orange-haired girl, Ava quickly finished her work and headed for the rooftop.

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

As usual, four students were gathered together after school and training. Fyr had bought water bottles, prepared some sandwiches and had her medical kit out. Allen was sitting next to her, out of breath and rehydrating himself. Only the tough dragon and the resilient half-elf were still sparring.

“You got help from some random stranger during work?” [Goro]

“Yeah. She was strong and had a good sense of balance. Maybe if we fought, I’d lose… Damn that sucks.” [Ava]

The tired Ava told them about the upbeat girl she met while keeping her eyes on her opponent, waiting for a chance to strike.

“Well, she helped you, so I guess it’s fine.” [Goro]

“Um, Goro, are you relieved that Ava wasn’t approached by a guy?” [Fyr]

“Shut it, harpy! You too, human!” [Goro]

“But, I didn’t say anything yet…” [Allen]

Because of Fyr’s question, Goro yelled angrily at her and included Allen as a target too since he was about to open his mouth.

“You two, stop teasing him. I rejected him already. It hurts and is annoying as hell when people keep bringing up your failed love life.” [Ava]

“… A, Ava… you’re merciless.” [Fyr]

“Goro, are you ok? That is… Well… We’re sorry.” [Allen]

“… I don’t need sympathy, so shut the hell up, both of you.” [Goro]

“You’re wide open!” [Ava]

While the dragon was feeling depressed, the half-elf took this chance to charge in and grabbed his right arm. She flipped him over her shoulder and he was lying on his back before he knew it. Next, without letting go of her grip, she quickly got down on the ground, crossed her legs over his chest and squeezed his arm between her thighs. The back of his hand was pressed against her chest and firmly held by her two hands. With his limb locked straight, she applied pressure to bend it backward, straining the muscles and the joints.

However, an arm lock wasn’t enough to stop a dragon. Goro effortlessly got up as if he didn’t feel anything. His arm was raised horizontally and hanging from it was the half-elf.

“… Seriously?” [Ava]

She exerted all of her strength to break it, but it wouldn’t budge. Throwing in the towel, she let go of her grip first and put her hands towards the ground. Then, she unwrapped her legs and flipped back before landing nimbly on her feet.

“I’m gonna need a knife if I want to fight a dragon.” [Ava]

“Hmph, I’m not so easy to beat, girl.” [Goro]

Goro smirked and rotated his shoulder. Allen and Fyr, who were watching the short exchange, whispered to each other.

“Goro looks like he cheered up a bit just now. I wonder why?” [Fyr]

“I can understand it. As a man, I can understand it. Hmm?” [Allen]

Although Allen was nodding to himself, he tilted his head once a sudden thought struck him.

“Goro, you were relieved that a guy didn’t approach Ava while she was working.” [Allen]

“I told you I’m not!” [Goro]

“But, Ava said she was only interested in other girls and it was a girl that approached her. Isn’t that bad?” [Allen]

“Ah, that’s true.” [Fyr]

The harpy lightly clapped her hands and her eyes turned round. It was just like her human friend said. She stared at the half-elf with a questioning gaze.

“Ava, you didn’t f-flirt with her, right?” [Fyr]

Her face was a bit flushed out of a sense of embarrassment.

“Hey, I’m not gonna hit on every cute girl I see… Shorty, don’t look at me like you think you’ll be preyed on.” [Ava]

“Ah! S-s-sorry! T-t-then, you didn’t do anything?” [Fyr]

“Yeah, nothing happened. I was working to get paid.” [Ava]

Ava waved her hand and listlessly stared at the faces of the doubting harpy and human with half-closed eyes. Next to her, Goro made sure that nobody was watching and sighed in relief.