Soon, Liam and the rest of his classmates fell into a simple routine. They all woke up at four-thirty in the morning, and by four-fifty they were downstairs. They ran to the stadium and took the obstacle course. Its layout changed every two days; they finally asked their teachers about it on Wednesday when instead of a tire run, they were met with "The Weaver": A framework of alternating horizontal beams that required them to weave their bodies over and under to get through.
After the morning workout, they all jogged back to their dorms to clean up and get ready by seven-thirty.
On Tuesday, they had Scouting class with Sixteen and Bullseye, and the major lesson the two Hunters had drilled into their heads was:
"Know yourself before knowing your enemy, and know your enemy better than you know yourself."
In Scouting, the students were forced to apply knowledge from both Geography and Mo Biology. It was mostly a theory class, although they were promised that they would experience the practical soon. Apart from finding the enemy's position and reporting it, a Scout had to take note of their surroundings, nearby threats, and possible rest spots; read maps; understand enough basic medicine to provide first aid; and much more.
At the same time, two members of the class were having Tactical Command with Kane: Raidou and Jay. Everyone was surprised when it was revealed that Jay had chosen the leadership subject as his second Major.
"Why'd you pick Tactical Command?" Liam asked one day. "I thought you hated attention."
Jay looked up from the game he was playing on the CID. "I do. I'm just doing it for better gaming skills."
"...Okay?"
After school, the Hunter Class moved to the Crucible, changed into their gym outfits, and began working out under their teachers' guidance. Some were made to focus on lower body strength. Others were made to focus on their upper body. The majority were given the full-body treatment.
After completing their thirty-minute workout, their teachers would dismiss them. Most of the groups met up at one person's dorm, the library, or the mall.
Liam's group was doing the same; gathering in his dorm room on Friday.
Ugh... he thought as he walked out of the shower, threw some clothes on, and walked to the lobby. I was just finalizing my strength buff too.
"Hey," Liam said as the door slid open.
"'Sup."
"Hey."
"Yo."
"Hello."
"...Hi."
Liam walked into the living room, the boys following close behind him.
"Hey, Liam," Nanami jumped excitedly, "are you gonna cook like last time?"
Two days ago, Liam had ended up cooking more food than he could eat in one sitting. He'd planned to eat it one day at a time until the boys found it in his fridge during a raid.
Liam turned and sneered. "Heck no. I am never going to cook—"
"We'll pay you," Lee, Nanami, and Rex chorused.
"Y-yeah!" Caesar nodded. "I'll chip in too!"
Jay shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Liam's food is pretty good."
Liam stared at them in disbelief, then sighed and shook his head.
"I'll take two thousand units," he chuckled as he jumped onto his couch. There's no way they can afford—
"That shouldn't be a problem," Lee replied.
Liam raised his head to glare at him. "Can you stop interrupting me?"
Lee blinked in surprise. "How do you mean?"
Liam sighed. "It's nothing. If you're going to pay me, then fine, I'll cook."
"Yes!" Nanami laughed as he high-fived Caesar.
"Alright Po, you and me, one on one," Nanami said as he dragged Caesar to the TV.
"Hey, at least ask the owner before touching his console," Rex sighed.
"Let them," Liam said as he picked up a College To Killer comic. "And Nanami, I'm doing it for Po, not you."
"Oh come on!"
"Po" was Caesar's nickname. On their second day as a group, Nanami had suggested they start a game as a group. When they were picking usernames, Caesar didn't know what to write, so Nanami had grabbed his wrist and inputted "Po" on his CID.
"Because it just fits you, you know!" Nanami had said. Not knowing what else to do, Caesar had accepted the name.
Even though the others whacked Nanami over the head for it, Caesar had been happy about it.
"I never really...um, liked the name 'Augustus'. I-It's pretty boring, and q-quite the mouthful. 'Caesar' isn't really a-any better."
In light of that, they decided to spare Nanami, and they began to call him "Po" from then on.
"Also, you're a Brit?" Nanami asked, incredulous.
"Um... did my voice not give i-it a-away the f-first time?"
Everyone apart from Lee shook their heads.
"You rarely speak, and whenever you do, you're as quiet as a mouse," Jay replied.
"O-oh..."
"Why do you pronounce some t's, but leave some out?" Liam asked.
Po had blinked in surprise. "Wot do you mean?"
Liam narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't bother hiding it. I know it's there."
Po frowned. "Huh?"
Liam's finger went limp, and a confused look appeared on his face for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes again.
"I'm going to study how you do that till it makes sense."
Lee had punched him on the head. "Don't do that. It's creepy."
"...Fine."
Back in the present, Lee and Rex were going over a page on social media, Jay, Nanami, and Po were gaming on the TV, and Liam was reading a comic.
...Wait a minute.
Liam looked away from the book and observed the others—Lee and Rex poring over their CIDs, Jay crushing the other two—and thought to himself.
How the hell did this become normal in five days?
Liam stared at the others in confusion for a while, until Lee's voice shook him out of it.
"Hey, Liam, what do you think?" Lee said as he shoved the floating panel he and Rex had been looking at into Liam's face.
"Um..." Liam pushed his hand back and observed the screen properly. On it was a picture of an incredibly beautiful woman. She had black hair tinged with red, hooded gold eyes, and a figure most women would kill for. She was wearing a red dress that hugged her body, along with black high heels.
Liam looked up at Lee in confusion. "Why are you of all people showing me this?"
Lee frowned. "Don't misunderstand. I have no interest in this woman. It's just that Rex claims he knows her personally, so I wanted to know if you believe him."
Liam looked at the picture, then gave Rex a wide-eyed stare.
"I'm telling the truth!" Rex yelled.
"Ohh~ What are we looking at?" Nanami asked, approaching with Po and Jay behind him.
Lee showed them the picture, then told them the same thing he had told Liam.
All five gave him the same wide-eyed stare.
"Oh, come on!" Rex yelled, though a small smile played on his lips. "Why don't you believe me?"
No one gave an answer.
"Ugh," he groaned. Then he laughed.
"What's up with him?" Nanami whispered to Lee. Lee shrugged, and Nanami walked up to Rex and knelt beside him.
"Buddy," he said as he put a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Rex stopped laughing and gave Nanami a look of disbelief. "Seriously dude?"
"What? I'm concerned about your well-being. Them too."
The other four gave thumbs-up.
Rex chuckled and shook his head. "I'm fine. I was laughing because it was so funny to see all of you matching your expressions."
The other four exchanged quick glances.
"It's incredible, really," Rex smiled. "To think, four of the biggest loners in class are friends."
"You're right," Nanami chuckled as he turned. "You guys are—"
"Are we friends?" Liam asked.
"Not sure," Lee replied.
Jay shrugged. "A friend is a person you spend time with, talk to, and trust. I think we're there already, though I can't be sure."
"Um... I-I'm c-cool with it," Po mumbled. "I know it's only been five days, but I'd really l-l-like t-t-to be f-friends."
"He's right," Lee stated. "Five days isn't really enough time to be calling ourselves friends."
"Haven't we known each other for almost two weeks?" Liam asked Lee directly.
"Hmm... fair point. We do have similar interests, and you aren't undisciplined. Po and Jay aren't too bad either."
Liam nodded. "I could say the same thing. I guess... that means we're friends?"
"Friends," Lee nodded.
"F-friends?" Po blinked in surprise.
"Friends..." Jay muttered.
Nanami and Rex exchanged a look, then shook their heads quietly.
"They're so weird."
"You're not one to talk, Nanami."
****
"How... what?!"
Lisa was having her group over, and a knock at the door had brought her outside.
And standing at her door was GAIA.
"Hello, Lisa," GAIA grinned as she handed her a woven basket.
Lisa looked down at the basket, her mouth open, then she looked back up at GAIA.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Lisa hissed. "What if somebody sees you!?"
GAIA put a hand to her mouth and chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about me. Even if I'm seen, nobody will make a fuss."
Lisa stared at her, then sighed. "I'm guessing you turned into a student to get here?"
"You got it!" GAIA giggled, patting Lisa's head.
"Get out of here," Lisa said as she pushed GAIA's hand away, "I'm busy."
"Alright," GAIA said as she turned into a pretty black-haired girl, wearing the school's uniform. "Just so you know, there's some medicine and lotion for you, and some supplements for Liam."
"Why am I getting medicine?" Lisa asked, confused and a little suspicious.
"They're vitamins and painkillers," GAIA said as she began to walk away. "By the way, you can put Liam's supplements in food. I actually recommend it. Bye!"
Lisa watched her go, then shook her head and turned inward.
What does D want? Lisa thought as she opened the basket. It was separated into two halves by a wooden divide, and on one side was a small transparent bottle filled with pills and two medium-sized bottles of the lotion version of the liquid GAIA had used in her "Deep Cleaning".
On the other side of the basket were large green, red-veined leaves. Lisa counted ten of them, and she frowned.
Okay, this is just weird. But it might not be a bad thing to give them to him in food. We haven't hung out in a while...
"Lisa! Hannah's cheating!" Ruby cried out.
"I'm coming!" Lisa laughed. She placed the basket in her room, then rushed to join the board-game they had been playing.
****
"See you guys later," Liam said as the other five walked out.
When they were gone, Liam took off his shirt, moved the coffee table off the rug, pulled out one of the couch cushions, and sat on it. He assumed the Burmese posture, and slowly began to focus on his heart.
"Fwoooo..." he exhaled. "Time for attempt number twenty-one."