Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Highschool, the peak of almost anyone's youth, depending on who you ask. A time wherein a student has their most memorable moments that could shape the adult they become, the time where they make connections that could lead to future opportunities, and finally, the prime time for youthful love, for passion!

…Or well, that's what it was supposed to be like, but instead, Caelus found himself kneeling in front of a very entertained looking Silverwolf

“Please! Can’t you help me out just this once?” Caelus begged, sounding very desperate

“Hmm, I don’t know, should I~?” Silverwolf said in her usual monotone voice laced with amusement, knowing full well she could do it but just choosing to tease the hunky gray-haired man

Caelus was a part of the baseball club in Star-rail high, being one of their better players, meanwhile, Silverwolf was known as the school loner who was always either playing games or sleeping, yet somehow she always maintained good grades. A lot of people suspected she just changed the gradebook because of her skill in computers

“I don’t just do this for free you know?” Caelus could see the small devilish curve of her lips as she smirked

With a sigh, Caelus stood up, “Fine, I’ll do it,” was the last thing he said before he started unbuttoning his polo

Silverwolf lunged for his shirt, closing it back up immediately, nearly dropping the headphones she had resting on her neck

“What the hell was that for! Who told you to just start stripping!” she screamed as a crimson tint started to envelop her cheeks, reaching up to her ears

“Wait, so you don’t want my body?” He asked almost stupidly. How anybody could have come to that conclusion first was astounding, as expected from Caelus

“Of course I don't want it! I meant money, Mo-Ney” she replied, the red tint in her face starting to recede, turning to nothing more than a faint blush

Had anybody come into the room then and there, with a flushed Silverwolf’s hands on a half undressed Caelus, word would have spread like a wildfire about the lascivious acts happening in that same classroom.

“Ah-... about that…” Caelus nervously scratched his cheek, turning away from Silverwolf’s questioning stare

“...Caelus, you do know that it’s not free right?” She was starting to get mad… no, wait, she already is.

In a last ditch attempt at currying her favor, he grabbed for both of her hands, pulling them close to his chest

“Please, Wolf, just this once? I swear I’ll do anything, just help me change my grade on the upcoming exam!”

Silverwolf stood still for a second, at awe at the man’s audacity and shamelessness. Finally pitying the poor gray-haired boy, she relented with a sigh

“Alright, alright, you win… I’ll see what I can do” she said while pulling her hands away from his “Are you free this weekend then?”

“Hm… I should be free this saturday” said the gray haired man as relief ran through him, thankful that she had accepted his request

Silverwolf went for her backpack, pulling out a notepad before writing on it and giving it to Caelus

“Here, meet up at 11, don't be late or else” She said with a glare shot his way

“Alright, Thanks again Silverwolf, I swear I’ll make it up to you” After his declaration, he ran off, leaving Silverwolf standing, alone

She looked down at her hands, closing and opening them. Remembering the feeling of Caelus’ nearly giant hands on her rather smaller ones, causing her cheeks to be tainted crimson, she shook her head, trying to remove her blush and failing miserably

“I swear, what is with that guy…” she thought to herself silently

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“Oh, hey Caelus, what took you so long?” asked a boy with black hair, his voice monotone but with a hint of curiosity and worry

“Yeah, you really kept us waiting!” said a cheery pink haired girl, poking Caelus at his chest

“That was my bad, I had something to do, March, Dan heng” Caelus scratched his head while apologizing to his long time childhood friends

The trio had always been together for nearly their entire lives. Ever since middle school, they’ve always somehow managed to find each other, so in time, they naturally became closer. Well, some of them did grow closer in other ways, evident in how March and Dan heng held hands

“Oh yeah, Caelus, will you be busy tomorrow saturday? Me and Dan Heng were planning on going out to the mall and doing some shopping!” March said, giddy at the thought of going on another date with Dan heng while bringing Caelus in tow like how they usually did

“Ah-.. about that… I’m gonna be busy on saturday, I have somewhere i need to go” Caelus said somewhat nervously, evidently trying to hide what he was trying to do, Dan heng noticed and respected his wishes but March sadly wasn’t as perceptive

She gasped- “Are you going to go on a date of your own?” she said in faux shock, cupping her own cheek with her hand

“My Caelus, I never knew… oh how they grow up so fast” she said while feigning sadness, wiping an imaginary tear while patting Dan heng’s arm

“So, who’s the lucky girl who stole Mr. Starplayer’s heart?” She grinned while questioning him, clearly curious as to who was able to woo her best friend

“Oi, I never said it was a date” he responded as he bonked her on the head with a Karate chop, an extremely faint blush covering his face. It would’ve been unnoticeable, had he not had a very perceptional black haired friend

“Ow, you meanie! You never know, maybe she thinks it's a date and you just don’t realize it?” she teased

“We barely even know each other, besides, i just needed her help for something, nothing more nothing less” he said seriously, starting to walk again

“Ah- wait! Come on, tell me more!” March continued pestering him all the way home, but he refused to cave, Dan heng was sadly left alone the entire walk, somewhat hurt that his girlfriend payed more attention to love gossip than her actual boyfriend

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After a good night's rest, Saturday finally came. Caelus was already waiting at the meeting location dressed in some jeans, a white shirt with a black top lined with gold, carrying a bag with some notebooks and a pen as requested by Silverwolf. Why she asked for him to bring them? He wasn’t very sure, but his train of thought was cut short as a girls voice called out for him

“Yo, Caelus” Said Silverwolf with a lazy wave of her hand. She was dressed in fishnets with short shorts and some boots, a cropped sweater as a top with a small backpack, her hair being in the its usual drill ponytail

“What, is there something on me?” She waved her hand in front of his face and for the second time in the past hour, he was snapped back to reality

“Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking, you looked really cute” He blurted out with his usual passive smile

Caelus was known as a natural lady killer in school, a chiseled physique mixed and with a good looking face while also having a straight shooter personality made women fawn over him, not to mention his good looking friend Dan heng, because of this, he became a higher place specimen in the social hierarchy, especially when compared to a loner like Silverwolf, which is why it wasn’t much of a surprise when she blushed red at such a straightforward compliment

“Oi, are you trying to score a date with me or something? Just so you know that's not what we're here for” she said looking slightly annoyed… well, she would have if it weren’t for the scarlet hue on her cheeks

“Yeah, of course, sorry” He really did feel sorry, without even knowing what was wrong, that was just the way of the straight shooter, “So… where to now?” he asked while following her

“We’re gonna be going to my place, I just wanted to walk around on my own and you seemed like a good excuse to keep Blade and Kafka off of me, it gets annoying having to deal with them flirt while I’m just trying to have fun” she ranted, a sour look on her face as she remembered the two flirts

Caelus sighed- “Yeah, I get you, March and Dan heng wont stop inviting me to their dates and I always end up just being either a bag holder or a coat hanger” he let out a tired laugh before looking at Silverwolf as they walked

Seeing that she was staring at him as well, they both finally broke out into a shared laugher

“You too huh?” Silverwolf said, sounding amused

“Yep, me too” he said after finally being able to talk right

They continued walking, a comfortable silence between them as they walked through the crowded streets together, until Silverwolf pointed out a boba shop

“Hey, Caelus, I wanna get some boba, you want some to?” she asked, pulling on the cuff of his sleeve

“Hm? Ah sure, why not.” After ordering some boba, they found some nearby chairs and sat down in silence, a silence that was finally broken after Caelus asked a question

“So, why did you need me to be here again today?” he finally asked, the question had nagged at him the entire time they were together

“Hm? We're gonna be studying, was there supposed to be something else?” she said looking confused, looking at him as if he were slow

“Eh?... actually?” Caelus asked, looking confused

“Yeah… what else did you think we were supposed to do?” she asked, looking just as confused as he did

“Well… you had a bit of a reputation for… you know, changing your grades in the gradebook by hacking through the school system?” Only once Caelus said this, he realized just how stupid it sounded

Silverwolf scoffed, looking away and trying not to laugh but failing miserably

“Pfft-... really? You thought I could just casually change the grades of anyone, including me, in class?” she said while looking at Caelus with pity, laughing at just how gullible he was

“Hey, I can’t help it, you know! I’ve never actually talked to you” he retorted, only causing Silverwolf to laugh harder at the weak comeback

“Yeah, yeah, I totally understand” her voice dripped with sarcasm and amusement, only helping in further worsening his embarrassment

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by the vibrating of their buzzer, alerting them of their drinks being ready for pick up and payment

“I’ll go pick those up” he said with a sigh, trying to get out of the embarrassing situation

“Alright, I’ll try to get through the school’s mainframe while your at it-.. pfft-..” she snickered at him, his hunched back going even lower, as if he was trying to fold himself into half

After picking up their drinks and paying for both, he handed Silverwolf her cup as she got off of the chair

“So? How much was it?” She said while pulling out her phone

“Don’t worry about it, it's on me for today” yet again, his usual passive smile came up once more, causing a soft red hue to taint Silverwolf’s cheeks

“Alright Hot stuff, didn’t know we had a gentleman here, at least someone knows how to treat a woman,” she said with a faint chuckle escaping her lips, her fist landing softly on Caelus’ arm

He laughed with her as they walked out, continuing their walk through the crowded and bustling city, eventually, they reached the silent streets of the housing area before finally reaching Silverwolf’s humble abode

It was actually just a nice small apartment made for only 1 or 2 people to live in at the same time. As she unlocked the door, he came into her house

“There’s not a lot but it should be enough for what we need” she said nonchalantly, putting her small bag down on the nearby couch

“Wow, you live alone?” he asked, seeing that the apartment could most likely not sustain a whole family on its own

“Yeah, why do you-” suddenly, a thought intruded her head and spread like a virus.

‘Right now, it's just us… this is the first time I’ve actually invited a guy into my room… alone…’ she thought to herself, the scarlet tint on her cheeks growing larger as her thoughts continued, her legs moving back, trying to put some distance between her and Caelus

“Hm? Something wrong?” he asked as he put down his belongings right beside Silverwolf’s

“Ah-.. nothing, don’t worry about it” she said in a hurry, the soft red hue failing to recede

“Hm… alright then, if you say so.” he said obliviously. Truly, a moron at heart

They both sat down at the small table in front of the couch, setting down their drinks and pulling out their notebooks and textbooks before finally, pen and paper met, marking the beginning of their study session.

It started out with Silverwolf just telling him to study like he usually does, the only difference being she was there for if he ever had any questions

There was a comfortable silence, the only sound filling the room being the scratching of lead on rough paper, the silence being broken every now and then with Caelus asking a question and Silverwolf answering, it was one of the few times Silverwolf had hung out with somebody other than Blade or Kafka, and it was refreshing.

Everything was going along normally, just like what you would expect out of a serious study session

But at the thought of the current situation just being a normal study session, Silverwolf couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment, ‘Why?’ she asked herself. She knew very well why, but she chose to ignore the very obvious answer that was right in front of her, the thought of it causing her face to flush red, then suddenly, her thoughts were cut short by the baritone voice of the man in front of her.

“Are you alright, Silverwolf?” he asked, the concern in his voice obvious, “We can cut this short if you want, I can probably continue the rest at home anyway.”

“No, no, I’m fine, I’ll be fine… just keep studying, don’t mind me” she said trying to assuage his worries

Although his concerns were not fully cleared, he still heeded her word and just continued studying, trying his best to ignore the fidgeting Wolf in front of him

Eventually, after a few minutes of Silverwolf’s fidgeting had gone by, a question arose from Silverwolf’s curiosity

“You know, I was just thinking but… why do you even study in the first place? Your grades should’ve been good enough for that Baseball scholarship you were looking at, even if you didn’t get that good of a score, so why?”

“Hm-?” He put down his pen, tapping the table for a second before looking straight at her,”Do I need to have a reason to want good grades as a student?”

She seemed dumbfounded for a second, of course having good grades is a good thing for every student but did he really need it?

“I don’t want Baseball to be my only future, I also wanted to be an engineer when I was young, you know?” he said with a soft chuckle escaping his lips

To have the dumb muscle head guy in your class actually turn out to be a lot more earnest than what you had originally thought, it gave a bit of guilt to Silverwolf for having misjudged his character, but behind that guilt was a feeling she didn’t want to acknowledge… happiness, at the fact that he trusted her enough to reveal this side of his character

“Hm…” she hummed with a nod, a slight smirk to the corner of her lips, acknowledging his answer before going back to writing

“You should probably try and write as much as you can, its starting to get late and I don’t much like the idea of you staying over” she said in a joking manner, her usual monotone voice having that slight pep it didn’t have earlier

“Hm… sure,” he answered, continuing to write in comfortable silence.

A few more hours later, night was coming and the golden rays of sunset had started to blanket the surrounding apartments, signifying their time to part
Silverwolf was thankfully kind enough to escort Caelus out the door, and with one final wave, he turned his back to her… only to turn back around, facing her yet again

“You wouldn’t mind if we hung out more would you?” he asked with uncertainty, slightly fearing the fact that she might say no

“No… no actually, that’d be fine” she said in a bit of a daze, surprised by his seemingly random question

“Oh, that's good… see you next week then?” the slight tension in his body was released as relief ran through him, thankful that she hadn’t shot him down where he stood

“Yeah… see ya” she said rather awkwardly, the two of them just standing there before finally bursting into a faint chuckle before they waved goodbye with Caelus finally leaving, leaving the last uncertainty in Silverwolf herself

Chapter Text

A few days had gone by, specifically three, and life continued as usual, Silverwolf was at her lonesome while Caelus was at his doing some of his usual practice with the baseball club. The normalized days should have gone on as they usually did… at least, it should have

A thud echoed and quickly faded as Silverwolf’s back crashed against nearby wall, a high school boy with scruffy dark brown hair pinning her against it with his hand on her collar, a few of his goon’s sitting in the back while snickering at the scene unfolding before them

“What the fuck was that?” aggression was clear in his face, the hooligan looking rather big when compared to Silverwolf as he obviously threatened her

“I said it’s not free dumbass, are you as deaf as you are stupid?” she said with a nervous smirk, somehow finding the courage to be cheeky while being in a very unfavorable situation

“Oh you little-” he wound back his fist, ready to knock the lights out of Silverwolf, his face redder than a tomato with a visible vein popping on his forehead, he clearly already had enough of Silverwolf’s antics, and he was about to take it all out on her, fist to face…

At least, he would have, had a hand not held back his arm. The hooligan tried to get his arm out of the hold, but failed miserably, the grip on his arm tightening even further, pressing into the bone and causing a pain to shoot up his arm, and as he was about to shout at the man to let him go, he felt a shiver run up his spine

“What do you think you’re doing?” There was no cussing, no aggressive language, yet malice leaked out of every syllable as the gray haired man seemed ready to kill him if he needed to

Silverwolf looked on in surprise to find Caelus in his usual baseball outfit, staring daggers into man in front of her, pinning her against the wall

“Once I let you go, you have two options. One, you run, two, you stay here and get beaten black and blue, its your choice” as he finished his sentence, he finally let go. The dark brown haired hooligan immediately tried to run only to trip and fall
After a short struggle of getting back up, he finally ran again, his goons already having run off already long ago

“Caelus…” she called his name, unsure of why she did it, she shook her head to regain her mental footing

“Silverwolf, are you alright? Does anything hurt?” Concern was obvious from the way he spoke, he held up her face, checking her for any injuries she may have gotten

“Wha- hey! I’m fine, he didn’t do anything to me” she said quickly, trying to pry his hands off of her face as a blush started quickly taking over her face at their distance

He was extremely close to Silverwolf as of current, so close in fact that she could catch the musky scent radiating off of his sweaty form, the odor putting her in a daze as an uncontrollable emotion started clouding her head, the 2 open buttons on his shirt allowing her a small peek at his pectorals, further clouding her mind

After a few seconds of checking and actually confirming she was alright, he sighed a sigh of relief, seeing and knowing she was alright, he finally let her go

Once she was let go, she suddenly felt a yearning for those large rough hands to hold her once more, the very thought of them enticing, only when she realized what she was thinking did the crimson hue on her face started to intensify, appalled at the lascivious thoughts forming in her head, but the sound of approaching footsteps snapped her out of her daze.

At the sound of quickly approaching footsteps, Caelus looked around to suddenly find a man with dark hair with a slight greenish hue running up to him, his fist wound up and ready to throw a quick punch

Caelus, with his honed reflexes, grabbed the man's arm and redirected the punch to miss his face, moving his head to dodge the upcoming fist from his left and using a hand with his elbow on the back of his palm to block the knee coming up to his chin

While switching his grip, he quickly turned around, putting the man's arm on his shoulder and using the leverage to throw him into the ground with a thud, the air in the man's lungs being forcefully exhaled as he landed

“Hey! Caelus stop! That's Blade!” Silverwolf shouted, bringing Caelus out of his defensive trance as he looked at the man on the ground and back to Silverwolf

“He just tried to punch me” he said while pointing to Blade, the man on the ground frantically tried to get air into his lungs

“Oh I’m sure it was all just a misunderstanding” said a mirthful voice behind him. Turning around, he faced a woman whose hair held a hypnotic purple hue, quickly walking past him, she kneeled in front of Blade, wiping the dirt off of his uniform and wiping his face as he just lay on the ground

“And your Kafka I’m guessing?” asked Caelus as he pointed at the woman with purple hair, still panting

“The one and only.” Sensuality leaked from her every feature, even their usual uniform looked jaw droppingly gorgeous on her, any lesser man would have immediately gotten on all fours and started barking

“And you’re our baseball club's star player, Caelus I assume?” she said as she finally stood up, helping Blade up with her as he dusted off the rest of the dirt staining his white polo

“Yep, that’s me, you were the ones that Silverwolf was talking about last time” he blurted out unconsciously. Silverwolf, who was standing beside him, suddenly pinched his arm from behind, giving him a look that screamed ‘Watch what you're saying!’

“Ah! So you’re the one the little wolf had been talking about, she’s been in a daze since last weekend and I wasn’t so sure as to why, I guess you’ve been taking up a lot of space in her mind” she winked as she finished her sentence, a giggle escaping her as she covered her lips, her voice carrying with it an alluring lilt

“Kafka!” Silverwolf screamed as she ran up to her, lightly pounding on Kafka’s side, another giggle escaping her as she patted Silverwolf's head with a giggle

“But still, it’s not everyday you find a guy who can stand their ground against blade, quite impressive if I do say so myself” she said as she walked up to him, her every action, every word seeming sexual as she closed the distance between them until she was only a short step away from him, her eyes scanning his every feature

She was the ideal woman for most men, beautiful, funny (according to rumors), and stuffed in the perfect places, had Caelus just been any other guy, he most likely would’ve fallen for her then and there yet… he couldn’t find it in him to have his passion aroused by her

“Um… thanks?” he just answered nervously, looking towards Silverwolf only for her huff with an expression of jealousy, turning her head away from him

Suddenly, with a deep huff, Blade put his hand on Kafka’s shoulder, pulling her back slightly, his eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly

“Oh? Sorry, I must have been a little too close there” she said with a faint chuckle, taking a step back as she put a hand on top of Blade’s, his furrowing expression lightening ever so slightly

“Oi, you two, at least flirt when there's nobody else around” the moment between the two was cut short by Silverwolf, and for once since that entire time Caelus had met her, she jumped slightly, turning to Silverwolf with an apologetic look

Caelus had always seen the trio in front of him together on more than one occasion, Kafka more so having shared a class with her, but she always seemed like a kind of unbreakable woman who wore one of many faces whenever she was in class, so to see this mask taken off in front of him was an entirely new experience

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted though as a small hand tugged on his sleeve

“Don’t you still have practice, Caelus?” asked the silver haired girl beside him, not being able to decide whether to stare at him or at the ground as she fidgeted with her fingers, the only words that Caelus could use to describe the scene before him was cute, the thought brought back his usual passive smile

“Yeah, I’ve got to go now, try not to get into anymore trouble alright?” he told Silverwolf, her small nod washing away the rest of his worries

Before leaving, he went for a quick sip on the water fountain, saying short goodbye’s to Blade and Kafka as he passed them by before patting Silverwolf on the head as he passed her

“See ya” he said with a wave as he ran off, going back to the field

“Y-yeah, see ya!” she shouted before he could fully leave, putting her hand on her head where he petted her, a faint smile appearing on her face

“Hm… so he’s the guy huh?” Kafka stood beside Silverwolf with Blade behind her as usual, looking more like a bodyguard with his large physique

“H-huh? What guy?” she tried and failed to act oblivious, failing to stop the grin on her face

“He’s not bad” was the first few words Blade spoke, a sly grin on his lips as he looked on at the field

“That doesn’t mean you can fight him whenever you like, Blade” Silverwolf shot him a glare, clearly telling him to back off

“Well.. me and Blade have got business to tend to, good luck trying to catch that hunka junk, I do hear that he's quite the ladies man. Though i do prefer my men with a little, hm… edge to them” Kafka shot Blade an obvious glance as she started to walk ahead, a faint red tint on Blade’s cheeks as he caught up with her, a slight grin on his lips, more happy than sly

“See you later, Wolfie” she said with a wink as she walked off and disappeared, most likely off to cause whatever kind of mischief she could

“I swear those two…” Silverwolf said with a deep sigh before continuing to walk, the two’s antics never failing to leave her exhausted

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Time had passed since the events on Tuesday, since then, Caelus and Silverwolf had found time to hang out together after school when he didn’t have practice, always just sitting together after class and talking about whatever came to mind

Whenever he hadn’t had practice, Caelus would have usually spent his time following March and Dan heng while Silverwolf followed around Kafka and Blade, both neglected friends finding solace in their relatable experiences.

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“Casual player? Really? Somebodies a wimp” Silverwolf said in a playful but monotone voice as she glanced at the gray haired man beside her, her legs swinging as she sat on the desk

“What can i say? I like to play casually” said the gray haired man with a shrug and a faint chuckle, staring at the girl sitting on his desk as she groaned

“You know, we should play sometime if your free, maybe I can finally show you the difference between the two of us” Silverwolf said with a smug grin, her nose flaring with pride

“Just don’t cry if you lose to badly” said Caelus as he shot her back a cheeky grin

Both shared a fit of laughter at the playful banter, ignoring the people who saw the two of them together, their whispers audible but incomprehensible

And so, as the two of them got closer, rumor began to spread of the two’s relationship, the teenagers were at highschool, where love gossip was one of the top most interesting things to talk about, so of course, the rumor spread like wildfire, reaching the ears of a certain cheery pink haired girl

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“Psst- Miss, have you seen a black haired boy around here? He’s kinda tall, usually broody,” March asked the purple haired beauty, said beauty putting down her book enough to see March in front of her, a mirthful smile plastered on her face

“Dan heng? Oh, he should be near the modern history section by the windowsill, tell him I said hello, kay?”

“Alright Ma’am, thank you!” March said energetically as she speed walked over to Dan heng’s location, homing in on him

“Dan heng!” she shouted, the boy looking up to see his speeding girlfriend “You need to hear this!”

She then proceeded to bombard Dan heng with the latest tea about how Caelus may or may not actually be dating somebody

“Can you believe it! I mean, yeah I did joke to him about having a girlfriend but I never actually expected him to have one! That actually might explain why he doesn’t hang out with us as much anymore”

“If I had to play third wheel with 2 of my friends, I don’t think I’d want to hang out with them as much too, his decision isn’t unjustified” he said calmly as he put back books into their proper places, arranging them alphabetically

“Okay, I do kinda see that,” she said with an embarrassed smile, a faint flush on her face “But still! I wouldn’t have minded if the girl wasn’t a part of THOSE group of people.” After she said that, his interest was immediately piqued, only one group of people could ever come to mind when describing a specific group of people

They were notoriously dubbed the hunters, having hunted people down as a personal grudge or even just for cash, of course, this was all but a rumor, but with such a threatening guy like Blade and a cunning woman such as Kafka, it wouldn’t be impossible. They were an infamous bunch, the type you wouldn’ t really want to be associated with

“Which one of them?” he asked curiously, raising a brow as his hand stopped for a moment

“The one with the silver hair, I think her name was.. W-wolf? Ah, Silverwolf” she finally remembered

Dan heng was surprised, but he was also relieved, out of all the hunters she had the least bad rep, Aeon knows what would have happened if Kafka had gotten a hold of Caelus

“Hm… well, you have to let him love who he loves… he must have a reason, as long as she doesn’t treat him too badly..” Dan heng answered, his hands moving back to autopilot and returning all the books robotically

March sighed- “I guess you're right…” she admitted, deciding to drop the topic and bring it up with their gray-haired friend instead

Little had they both known, a listener was near as a purple blur passed by them, the amused, mirthful smile on her face growing larger by the second