CHAPTER 67: 67 - HOMES! [3]

(Raven’s POV)

"Are you sure you wouldn’t wake her up?"

My mom asked me with a rather sad voice.

"She’s exhausted, she needs to sleep well."

I casually replied to her, smiling a bit.

"But she would be very sad when she woke up and discovered you left while she was sleeping."

Mom rebutted.

"Your mother is right."

Then my dad followed, backing her words up.

"She would still be sad even if she’s awake. She might even stop me from leaving."

I said to them.

’I’m afraid that if Nisha did do that, I would want to stay even longer...’

I can’t have that at the moment.

Anyway, I’m currently outside our new house and my parents are seeing me off.

It’s already [9:48 PM], and tomorrow is Monday. So I need to go back to the Lunar tonight.

Nisha isn’t with us as she’s asleep upstairs in her new room.

"..."

Looking at my parents again, they have rather gloomy expressions on their faces.

I smiled bitterly. I actually want to stay a little longer, I want to spend more time with them.

We weren’t even together for a day...

But I know I need to go back now, unfortunately.

"Just tell Nisha that I will come back as soon as I can, and I’ll play with her even longer after that."

I muttered to Mom and Dad.

"That wouldn’t make her happy."

Mom said.

But all I could do is give her a bitter smile again.

’I know... But I have a lot of things to do in Lunar right now.’

In my short stay with my family, I felt warm inside and I felt loved. It’s a new feeling for me.

I didn’t have a family in my past life, so I’m not sure what this is.

But all I know is that I actually like what I’m feeling when I’m with them.

I would love to stay longer and be with them, but I know that now isn’t the right time.

"I’ll tell her, don’t worry... Just be careful and come back quick."

It was then Dad talked, then after a while—

"Fine... You already helped us even though we’re the parents and you’re our child, and it should have been the other way around, so don’t push yourself too much."

Mom said in a worried tone, then she approached and hugged me tightly.

I didn’t shy away and I returned the hug back.

"You guys also helped me a lot. You both got me admitted to the best Hero Course academy even though we don’t have much money."

"I’ll repay you guys again and again. That’s how grateful I am."

I stated.

I already felt attached to them and Nisha even only after meeting them for less than a day—maybe the memories and feelings of the past Raven are included in the reasons for that.

But I also personally like how they trust and love me unconditionally.

Moving on...

After breaking free from Mom’s embrace, I looked at Dad and nodded my head.

He smiled and nodded back as a response.

"Then, I’ll be going now."

I muttered.

"Take care."

"Always eat on time, and come back anytime you want. We are always waiting for you, and you will always be welcomed by us."

Dad and Mom respectively said.

After bidding goodbyes to each other— I left and started heading to the Lunar.

My steps are heavy, the smile on my face faded as I got away from the house.

...

Then, after a while...

"Haaa... I need to get ready for tomorrow."

I let out a tired sigh and mumbled as I sat down. I’m now currently riding a rapid train that is headed to Azeas City.

*****

After a not-so-long time of commuting, I got back to the academy.

There are a lot of students and professors scattered everywhere, though I don’t really care and casually entered through the front gate.

As I mentioned in the past, Lunar is as big as a small city; therefore, there are some transportation vehicles going around the academy.

And most of the vehicles are like a small version of rapid trains; to simplify their looks, they’re like futuristic bullet trains, but they travel in the air and don’t use tracks or railroads.

While the other vehicles are futuristic black cars that still travel on land—just much faster and more comfortable. They act as taxis inside the academy.

They travel back and forth throughout the academy, especially to the Teachers’ Office, Headmaster’s Office, Dormitories, etc.

I didn’t ride any of them yet as I always used my feet to run and travel inside the academy. I considered it as training for myself.

Though right now, I don’t want to run as I’m not in the mood... And so, I rode one mini rapid train that is headed to the dormitory I’m staying in.

There are some students riding the same train too.

But I don’t really know any of them, so I just busied myself on my phone to avoid any interaction with them.

I read novels in silence, waiting for the train to arrive in my destination.

...

...

After a few minutes of completely peaceful novel reading...

The mini train came to stop, indicating that we reached our destination.

I immediately left the mini train, entered the dormitory, then went to my room.

"Ahhh... I’m exhausted..."

I yawned and whispered to myself.

Standing in front of my room’s door, I took out my academy I.D and swiped it through the lock.

Beep—

Swoosh—

The door then opened opened on its own.

Then... A feminine rose-sweet fragrance entered my nose.

"Oh, you’re back!"

Keara, who was cooking, greeted me as soon as she saw me on the door.

She immediately stopped what she was doing and walked toward me.

"You look exhausted, are you alright?"

She asked with a genuinely worried tone and expression.

"Why are you here?"

I asked her in response, tilting my head.

Keara smiled, but it’s not a shy smile like she always shows to others—this time, her smile is made with just pure happiness.

"I was waiting for you."

She answered cheerfully.

"Welcome back..."

Then she added.

Keara’s words and smile made me feel warm inside again, making my mood a bit lighter.

She turned her back to me and went back to cooking.

"You know, I actually have a pretty good intuition... You remember when I suspected you as the novel author [Night], and I was right?"

Keara stated proudly.

"Like last time, my intuition told me that you’re coming back today, so I’m cooking for two people!"

Then she declared with a loud and confident voice.

Seeing Keara caring for me made me feel something good inside again—it’s similar to what I felt when I was with my family.

I walked quietly behind Keara.

She’s still cooking and doesn’t know that I’m behind her.

"I may not be as good as you in cooking, but— Kyak!"

Midway through Keara’s speech, I hugged and embraced her from behind.

"R-Raven?"

She called out to me, clearly startled by my sudden action. Her shyness came back and her face was tomato red again.

I smiled seeing that.

Then with a low voice...

"Let’s be like this for a while..."

I whispered that into her ear.

"O-Okay..."

Keara weakly nodded and continued cooking with a red face and ears.

So like that, we stayed in that position for quite some time.

...

...

...

*****

Somewhere inside the Lunar Academy, in a comfortable and luxurious room...

Three freshmen male students are holding a meeting of their own.

"What is it that you want to say?"

A handsome-looking young man with fierce eyes and well-combed brown hair asked.

He was Sean Dixon, the leader of the group, and ranked 20th among all of the freshmen.

"Raven returned to the academy earlier, Sir..."

Then a suspicious-looking young man with black eyes and hair replied politely to Sean’s question. His name is Barry Leigh, and he’s nervous as fuck at the moment.

"Oh, so he’s back..."

Sean mumbled as a creepy smile emerged on his face.

"He ignored the warning of our group and even knocked out some of our members, including you...!"

Sean, who was completely annoyed, clenched his hands into fists.

Bam!

Then he punched the nearby wall.

Barry flinched in fear, but the other person in the group didn’t even bat an eye.

The room shook because of Sean’s punch, but surprisingly— the wall was unscratched.

"What are we gonna do now, Sean?"

Then finally, the last member of the three spoke. He was Ervin Donovan, the vice leader of the said group and ranked 21st among the freshmen!

Sean looked at Ervin, and with a wolfish grin... He spoke.

"We’re gonna go meet him tomorrow, at lunchtime."

He said with bloodshot eyes.

The group calls themselves [The Followers of the three Goddesses], and they have a lot of members, mostly male freshmen.

Though, Raven is calling their group by a completely different name—he calls them [The Perverted Fans].