Loter skipped up the stone stairs before the training center as Tori effortfully followed. He turned around with excitement from the quilt folding and anticipation about what they were about to do. He said, "We are about to meet Glacia. She is a very nice girl."

"A very nice girl?" Tori asked, panting. She halted and propped her hands on her knees as she finally caught up with Loter. Her wooden sandals and thick blue kimono were certainly not helping.

"Yeah." Loter lowered his voice and whispered into Tori's ear, "And she is actually dating Hiro."

"My cousin." Tori panted. "Have, has a girlfriend? That is so unexpected."

"Yeah, but he has already changed a lot. I think he is much happier than when I first met him," Loter said while walking to the kiosk in the center of the building's first-floor lobby.

"What is this?" Tori pointed at the kiosk as Loter poked and swiped his index finger on the glowing screen.

"This? It's like a big phone on the ground. You use it to control the two rooms there," Loter explained and peeked at the two training rooms several meters behind the kiosk.

"So, this is a landline?" Tori asked. She cocked her head slightly to one side.

"Wait, what? No, a landline is a phone." Loter made a gesture of picking a handset.

"But you said it is a phone on the ground?" Tori's voice was filled with an innocent curiosity.

Loter turned to the screen and looked back at Tori with his expression frozen. "That makes sense. It is a landline. You can even make calls with it." He tapped a finger on his chin while averting his eyes upward to further contemplate the topic.

"How do you use it? Teach me," Tori requested.

"Sure, you just click here, then here, and then there." Loter clicked a few digital buttons, and a ringing sound began to come out of the kiosk.

Tori gazed closely at the machine, slightly reaching her head forward. In no time, Glacia's face appeared on it. Huge drops of sweat were sliding down her forehead. She smiled the moment she saw Loter on the other side of the call.

"Loter, you're back. I already heard from Dowii that you took a girl back with you." Glacia's exuberant voice came out from the kiosk. "Hi~, my name is Glacia Quakeheart. What's your name?"

"I am Tori Kayama," she replied, expanding her chest and lifting her shoulders, displaying the confidence and enthusiasm she had been told to show.

"I'm really looking forward to being on the same squad as you," Glacia said, her smile widening.

"Me too!"

"Great," Glacia replied, "do you two have anything important to tell me? 'Cause I'm in the middle of my training. Dowii has been pretty strict with me since I was the only available one on the squad."

Loter picked up the conversation and said, "Nothing too serious. I'm just giving Tori a campus tour. We are going to the health center to see Key next."

"Key's not in the academy. Ms. Vesp took him."

"What? Why?"

"Dowii said the Coral Cobble police needs help with a case, and Key's ability can assist them in some weird way."

"When will he be back?"

"I don't know. He's been gone for three days."

Loter nodded.

"By the way, is Hiroku not with you?"

"Hiro?" Loter paused for a second to recall the scene in which he last saw Hiroku. "I think he is sleeping in his dorm. He seemed really tired."

"All right, I'll go check on him after my training."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Great!"

"I'll see you at the dinner?"

"Yeah, oh, another thing. I have to tell you!"

"Hm?"

"Hiro has changed quite a bit in Haban. You'll be surprised when you see him." Loter lowered his voice for the vibe.

"What happened?" Glacia raised her brows and volume. Her attention paid to the conversation visibly increased by a full notch.

"I'm not telling you," Loter said with a smug smile and ended the call, cutting off Glacia's loud protest.

As they went upstairs, Tori asked, after some serious hesitation, "How was my cousin like before he went to Haban?"

Going up the stairs without lowering his speed, Loter answered, "He was not very happy." He sighed in light dejection and continued, "He said he was responsible for what other Kayama had done, and I think he got upset whenever he thought about Cho-san Island."

"Is he still like this?"

"I don't know. I think he has improved, but, to be fair, I also get very unhappy when I think of Cho-san Island."

Tori did not say a word back, so Loter proceeded, "It just feels like there is nothing I can do. I can't help people there by defeating a monster, or criminal, or a criminal organization. I can only watch bad things happen. It is depressing seeing people getting all their possibilities shut down at birth—"

"I am the lucky one. I am lucky to meet you, Loter. You can not change my world, but you brought me out of it," Tori abruptly interjected. She grabbed Loter by his white sleeve, stopping him from going upward. Before Loter could turn around, Tori hugged him from behind and buried her face into his white hoodie.

Without a sign, a sudden impulse flooded through Loter's chest. He gasped. Yet, his breath was cut in two by a hiccup. Tears damped Loter's eyes. He had his hands lightly held onto Tori's forearms. He would have been clasping her if she were not behind him.

Feeling Loter's touch, Tori hugged tighter, pressing her encircling arms against Loter's stomach.

The two fell into silence, and it lasted for what felt like an entire day.

Tori's grab eventually lightened. Loter said, "It's okay, Tori. I'm fine already. It's just a part of being a hero. Hiroku had told me this and I've learned it from the hero ethics class. Heroes are not supposed to get involved in social issues. I can understand this rule and follow it. It's just that those things still sadden me when I think about them."

"Then forget them," Tori instantly replied, "Loter, you can forget about those things. You are not a Kayama. You do not need to remember those things for us."

After a short hesitation, Loter answered assertively, "No, I won't forget them. I can not help these people, so the least I can do is remember them. That is all I can do, and that is what I think is right to do." His voice was firm and steady, with no quivering or hiccups.

Still had her face buried in Loter's back, Tori nodded. Her forehead softly scratched against Loter's smooth white hoodie. She gave Loter a smile and a cheerful chort. "Let's get back to the campus tour, you time-waster!" Tori emphasized the last two words with a fake irritation. She immediately giggled afterward.

Struck by the sudden change of tone, Loter also tittered. He held his hands next to his head and said, "Only if you let go of me first."

Tori intentionally strengthened her hug and rubbed her face sideways against Loter's back. "I am not listening to you," she exclaimed in a joyful tone.

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While the two were playing on the staircase, Hiroku was still in a deep sleep in his bedroom. About half an hour later, his phone began to ring, waking him up.

Hiroku raised his head, unearthing his face from the quilt he had been lying on. He turned the alarm off with a simple click on his phone and went straight to the bathroom to wash his face without bothering to close his door.

Murkia Union. HueCam State. Coral Cobble. Mountain Campus. I'm finally back. I can't believe I'm happy to be here.

Hiroku gazed at himself in the mirror. He was not looking for anything on his wet face. It was just a blank look with nothing but hollowness inside. He removed both his hair ties and tied them back onto his double ponytails. Then, he involuntarily recalled that he had to face Glacia within an hour. A layer of frustration was added to his lifeless visage.

Damn.

Leaving the dorm, Hiroku then strolled to the garden. It was supposed to be his hobby, yet neither the walking nor the sight of flowers could stop him from thinking about Glacia. He knew how to break things to her. The biggest struggle was how he could do it without hurting her feelings. The second biggest struggle was how he could avoid depicting himself as an asshole.

Hiroku sat on the pavilion and sighed, looking at the flowers and the setting sun. Unfortunately, none of their beauty could enter his head. Again and again, his brain kept playing out different imaginary scenarios and failing them in various fashions.

Finally, his phone began to ring, knocking Hiroku out of his imagination. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw the contactor's name: Glacia Quakeheart.

Damn.