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The dormitory dining hall is as busy as always, with people scurrying around the kitchen to handle their own cooking (and making whatever dish they are feeling for), before sitting themselves at the table. Wayne located Kurt and the other’s table amidst the occupied tables, waving his hand to the said man (which Kurt replies with the same gesture) before deciding to join the blue-haired man’s table as he placed his own food on the table to join everyone.
“Where’s Juna?” The blonde man asked, scooping omelette to his mouth as he did so, “It’s quite unusual to see everyone but Juna around you.”
“I think she’s still cooking? I haven’t seen her this morning.” Kurt’s brows furrowed in his fellow workout partner’s questions, “It’s not like she has to be beside me all the time, she isn’t my lover.”
Not yet, everyone thought in unison. Seeing the not-official-yet couple’s affections every single day, it’s only a matter of time until one of them gathered enough courage to confess their feelings, or probably the others might just shove them together (as how they are fed up with their actions because, dear Aidios , just become couples already!)
Kurt cleared his throat, opening another conversation to distract them from the current topic, “It looks like some of us received new tasks to be carried out. Any of you guys check the ARCUS? Got any quests?”
“Yeah, I got them. To Crossbell.”
Wayne, Stark, Louise and Jessica unconsciously replied at the very same time, not noticing the other also expressed the same answer—resulting in everyone looking at each other with widened eyes.
Four different voices replied to Kurt, before everyone looked at each other with widened eyes.
“Wait, you—”
“—You too? Holy—”
“This is going to be fun.”
“No, this is going to be chaotic.”
“Calm down, okay?” Stark interrupted to cut off everyone’s reaction, “Does this means all of us are dispatched for the Crossbell quest? Anyone else, or it’s only the five of us?”
“Make it six!”
A distinct cheerful voice answered Stark’s question before Juna appeared behind Kurt’s back, taking breaths as it seemed like she ran all the way after spotting Vander's table. She is about to sit on the outermost seat when Wayne slid to the said place, leaving the seat between him and Kurt unoccupied—which she gladly takes.
“So, all of us are going to Crossbell?” She confirmed once again, and replied with everyone’s nods.
Of course Juna will also get assigned when it comes to Crossbell.
Almost everyone who had been close to her knows how she really loves Crossbell and its entirety, and the girl herself doesn’t show any hesitation on showing her pride in her hometown.
Kurt took his ARCUS out to open the said quest’s notification and started to carefully read up on the details, prompting the others to do the same.
The missions they have to finish are delivering a package from Thors Branch Campus to St. Ursula Medical College, while they have to retrieve some medicinal herbs from a church at Crossbell.
St. Ursula Medical College. The name strikes familiar in their minds, reminding them of an event that happened previously at the said place.
It’s understandable, then. The reason why they decided to dispatch more students (than the usual standards) is because the place had a history of monster attacking cases, which means the numbers are a precaution—just in case something happened in their way. And bringing a Crossbellan into the team would be better—after all, what would be better other than having a local in their team?
Stark closed his ARCUS, finished with both the quest-reading and his food. “You guys better hurry up with the food, okay? The trip will take half a day so we should head to the train station before the sun completely sets.”
“Okay!”
—
“Isn’t it nice~?”
“What are you talking about, Juna?” The blue-haired takes a deep breath and exhales them out, fully relaxed. “Of course this place is nice!”
The remaining student seemed to agree with the blue-haired man as they nodded in unison, resulting in a beaming pride shown in the pink-haired girl’s smile. After all, she takes an immense pride towards the state and the entirety.
The students of Thors Branch Campus had finished their stroll on the sidewalk, choosing to sit in the park as they enjoyed the place’s lively atmosphere. It’s not everyday they can finish their missions faster than the estimated time (oh, thank heavens, none of their worst predictions happen and the whole mission gets carried out smoothly!) and fortunately, that happens for the entire task—so they get to spend the entire day enjoying Crossbell’s atmosphere before boarding on the train back to Trista.
Some of them are already used to exploring all over the continent, carrying out missions to be finished—and having a whole chance to walk around the place (with no obligations to be carried out) is not something they could have all the time (and they had obtained some mira from completing the missions too!) So why not enjoy this rare moment to their heart’s content?
“Hey, Juna.”
A ‘hm?’ escaped out of the said woman’s lips. The group looked at her with excitement, things they want to do are prepared on the tip of their tongue—
“Can we go somewhere to eat? ”, Wayne suddenly asked.
“Can we go somewhere to have fun? ”, Louise also asked almost at the same time.
Huh? A beat of silence as a realization hits. Two different opinions formed with now everyone looking at each other as they have their own priorities.
An imaginary rivalry spark formed between everyone.
“Listen, we can have fun first before going somewhere to eat. Wouldn’t food taste better if you eat them after having fun?”
“Sounds like you want to do lovey dovey with Juna as fast as you could, Kurt!” Stark playfully remarked, laughing as a shade of pink spread in the swordsman’s cheek, “I’d rather get some food first before playing around, though.”
“It’s not what I meant—”
“Oh, are you su— ”
“Hey, let’s cut it off, okay?” Louise’s voice cutting in on the mousy-haired man’s teasing, not wanting to prolong the playful fight even worse. She shook her head, throwing a certain look at Stark before he finally nodded in acceptance, withdrawing from the teasing attempt.
“I don’t really mind either option, to be honest.” There’s the second last opinion, given from the noble lady.
The entire group stared at the last person who hadn't said anything.
“I’m down for anything, as long as I get to do all of them with you guys!“ Aaand that’s the last opinion from Wayne.
Kurt and Stark stared at each other, internally sending signals so the other would back down from the so-called opinion war.
“...Why don’t we just do both of them at the same time, then?”
They immediately looked at Juna, eyebrows raised up from all five of them (with the exception of the Crossbellan) as they waited for the answer. The former simply smiled, eager to show what the third choice is.
“Well, what are you guys waiting for?” Juna raised from the park bench, prompting the others to do the same and following her step, “Follow me, I know a place!”
—
Turns out the place Juna meant isn’t as close as what they thought. It takes around five minutes to walk to the nearest bus station, before taking the bus for another five minutes—maybe it’s around twenty or thirty selges?—to finally reach the place the pink-haired woman wanted.
A tall place with classic Crossbell-architecture type, didn’t really show what kind of establishment with the exception of the lightbox in front of the building.
Juna walked in first, followed by the others as they let their gazes wander in the unexpectedly vast interior. There are several rooms within the first glance, every single of them blocked by walls and leaving only a small pane of glass in the door.
The receptionist smiled at the front, ready to greet the new customers.
“Welcome! Is there something I could help with, ma’am?”
“One room with a three hour package, please.” Juna briefly glanced towards her friends, “For six people.”
And here they are, all six people in a sound-proofed and disco light-lit room, with a couple of mics placed in the center table.
“Really, Juna?” Wayne raised his eyebrow, genuinely questioning. “Why are we in a karaoke establishment, out of all things?”
“But don’t you say you want to have fun and eat? This is definitely the perfect place to do both of them!” Juna took the menu pamphlet, handing them for the blonde man to read. “The food and drinks are quite affordable compared to restaurants, and we could also sing at the same time—isn’t it convenient?”
Oh, true. All of them nodded in unison. Finally reaching an agreement (or more like accepting the current situation) they sat themselves on the squishy sofas.
“Well, I suppose we can start to order some food in advance so it arrives faster.” Louise took one of the pamphlets on the table, carefully examining them as she grabbed the order form as well. “I think we can share the orange juice pitcher together, but what kind of meal or snacks do you guys want?”
“Definitely burger with fries!” Immediately answered with questioning (and surprised) stares he added, “It’s okay, today is a cheat day—I will definitely compensate for these foods with more training later on.”
Louise asked the others in turns, with all of them ordering various dishes from main courses to light snacks and desserts.
“What about you, Juna? And Kurt?”
Juna didn’t even need to take a look at the blue-haired man that is focused at tinkering with the screen and mic settings. “I will get a strawberry parfait, and Kurt will definitely choose this ham sandwich combo so you can order this one.”
A whistle from the mousy-haired man. “Already knowing Kurt inside out, it seems.”
Faint shade of red spreads. “A-ah, it’s not like that, okay—”
“It’s finished!” Kurt’s voice cut to the woman’s words, he wiped his forehead as he finally finished with all the preparations for the karaoke, “Who wants to go first? I’ll queue up my songs after the first ones.”
“Can I?” Wayne proposed, taking the mic and the remote as if he was already preparing himself moments ago, “I want to sing FL○W’s Go!”
The sound of cymbals reverberated through the room’s speaker, followed by the iconic band’s instrumental before Wayne chimed just in time for the vocals. The remote control gets handed to Stark (who seemed like he already has his own setlist inside his mind), while Jessica simply stays still in her place, not doing anything.
“Something wrong, Jessica?” Louise waved her hand in front of the blue-haired girl, worried.
“O-Oh, I’m fine!” Jessica sheepishly looked at her friends, “I-it’s just I don’t know how to do any of this, since it’s my first time…”
Both Louise and Stark stared with widened eyes.
“Can you hand me the remote, Stark? We can let Jessica choose her songs first. Bet you already got yours in your mind,” Louise’s words got answered with the mousy-haired man’s grin, “We better prioritize the newbies first, okay?”
They let Wayne and Kurt belt their voice to their heart’s content for a while (as both of the men are already queuing up their songs since the beginning) while Juna and Louise helped Jessica to find the songs she is familiar with.
The food server comes shortly after Jessica finishes adding her songs—which is quite fast, considering the amount of orders they had applied for. All the dishes (and a big jug of orange juice with empty cups) are placed on the table, with everyone immediately feasting on their own orders.
“Ah, Juna.”
The said woman turned her head, raising her eyebrow in question only for Kurt’s napkin-holding finger gently brushing against her cheek.
“You should be careful, there are cream stains on your cheek.” Kurt showed the traces of whip cream on the napkin to the pink-haired girl.
“It’s okay!” She replied with a big smile, “I know I could always depend on Kurt, after all.”
“—hey, it’s not like I will always be here to notice your clumsiness, okay—”
“I’m not clumsy!”
With the small affection turned into a pseudo-lover’s quarrel, without the couple noticing, the rest of the group are staring at them, spectating the adorable moment.
“Aaand they keep insisting that they are not couples.” Stark remarked, nudging on the blonde woman beside him (as she chuckled).
Both Kurt and Juna looked at Stark at the same time, just realized his remark before declared in unison,
“We are not couples!”
( Oh, sure. Suure. )
—
One of the disadvantages of boarding the night train is that you wouldn’t be able to take a look at the beautiful scenery outside the window, but it’s not any of the student’s place to complain as their utmost priority is to reach Trista safely, and with the most efficient way.
Stark stared at the darkened scenery outside, “It’s a relief that we managed to catch the train just in time, right?”
Louise lets out a long sigh in relief, “Definitely. I couldn’t even think what would happen if we miss this last train—staying overnight in the open and cold train station is definitely not a solid idea.”
Time flies fast—even way too fast, for all six of them.
The three hours of karaoke passed even before they ran out of energy. After coming out of the karaoke establishment with a content heart and full stomach, Juna recommended everyone to walk around the entertainment district of Crossbell (they could also take some pictures in front of Arc en Ciel building!) which takes another short trip using the bus, but none of them are against the enticing idea.
Despite not attending the theatre troupe shows, it is still fun to walk around the area and enjoy the festive atmosphere. There are also some snack stalls and game stands for them to play around…
….only for them to realize when the sun already sets down, with Kurt checking on his ARCUS and seeing a big, shining number showing what time it is currently.
There’s only one and a half hour remaining until the last train to Trista departs.
That was definitely a close call, considering everyone was panicking and running for their lives towards the nearest buses, changing one bus to another until they arrived at the nearest stop to Crossbell Station, once again running for their lives.
But what is life without a little bit of risk, eh?
“I really enjoyed today’s trip, though.” Jessica commented, “It’s not everyday I get to sing to my heart’s content in front of someone else. And the food is definitely good too.”
“The food is good, indeed…” A spark of guilt shown on the bodybuilder’s face, knowing he had to burn off those extra calories and sugar with more training the very next day. Jessica pats the man’s shoulder, feeling a bit of pity.
“It’s finally over, this long and fun day.” Stark smiled. “Everything is because of Juna’s recommendations. I don’t think we could last in this city’s transportations without her help, right?”
They waited for the pink-haired woman’s reply in the frontmost seat amidst the six of them, but there’s no response. Louise rose out of her seat, peeking on the woman’s seat to check on her.
“Oh, she is asleep…” A mischievous smile came out, with the blonde woman pulling Stark’s hands—prodding the man to take a peek as well, “You should take a look at this.”
Pulled by their curiosity, everyone but Kurt and Juna (as both of them are the ones who sat in the frontmost seat) steps out of their seats, peeking at the couple only to see the two of them are soundly asleep, couldn’t overcome their exhaustion after doing quests and walks around the state for the past two days. Kurt’s fingers are wrapping Juna’s, tightly holding her so she is safe with his surroundings, and for her to lean on Kurt’s shoulders as the two of them drift into each other’s dreams.
“Not a couple, they said.” Stark whispered as he didn’t want them to wake up. Louise took the train’s blanket from the couple’s seat compartment, draping it over their body to warm them up.
This couple…
After being affectionate towards each other every single day and at every possible moment, it feels like they’d push the not-officially-couple to the altar to immediately tie up their relationship and have their happy ending.
.
.
.
—We Are Not Couples (yet), END.