Me and Suzune finished our relaxed evening by eating dessert.

"Thanks for today, Yuu-kun. Let's play like this again sometime." Suzune said.

"How about next week?"

My schedule was very flexible and open. I didn't do anything special or make plans with others in my spare time.

"Sure! Same time, same day?"

"That's fine by me. Where do you want to go?"

"We should come here again. Don't worry, I'll sort out the room again."

"Thanks, that'd be great."

Me and Suzune left the room after finishing. The restaurant was nearing it's closing time, so no one was else was here except us. Tsuji, our waitress, was waiting at the door. As we approached her, she opened the door for us and bowed.

"Thank you for dining here. Please come again soon."

"Thank you as well." Suzune said.

"Thanks." I said, nodding at Tsuji.

We left the restaurant, standing outside where it was considerably colder. A chilly breeze went past us, forcing Suzune to hold down the hem of her dress.

"How are you going home?" I asked. I dug my hands into my pockets.

"Brr... I called for a taxi." Suzune said, shivering with her arms crossed.

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah..."

"Want to borrow my jacket?"

"No way. If I do that, then you'll be cold. I know you hate the cold."

"That was me back in elementary school. I'm not that much of a baby now."

"Well, if I go home with it on, Kimi-san and Yui-san will question me on who's jacket it is."

"It's just temporary, until your taxi gets here."

"But what about you? Don't you want to go home now too?"

"I'm not in a rush, since I'm walking back."

"Eh?! You're going to walk all the way from here to Drachma Red?! Yuu-kun, are you insane?!"

"No buses are available this late at night. Plus, I'm fine with walking back since it's free."

"Mu... I wish you could come with me on the taxi."

"You don't want us to be seen together, though."

"Yeah, but... it's too dangerous to walk alone at night! Especially since it's such a great distance... what if something happens to you?"

"Suzune-chan, I'll be fine. I'm not as fragile as you think I am."

"Yuu-kun, you're a very delicate boy. You should take care of your own body more responsibly."

"I'm not eight anymore."

"You still look like a beansprout, though."

"Well, if you're going to worry about me this much, I guess I can take the train instead."

"Yes, you should. Safety should be your number one priority."

Suzune was as thoughtful as ever. I was still planning on walking home regardless.

Before I could reply, a taxi arrived at the sidewalk, where me and her stood, and parked right in front of us.

"Ah... it's here." Suzune said.

"This is where we say goodbye, huh?"

"A temporary goodbye. I'll see you at school, after all."

She entered the taxi and rolled down the window, waving me goodbye.

"Please stay safe, Yuu-kun. Thanks for tonight - I can't wait for next week!"

"See you." I waved goodbye back, and watched the car drive off into the distance.

"Are you really going to walk back?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Tsuji stand behind me. She had changed out of her waitress uniform into her casual clothes. Knotted around her wrist was a green tie. So, she was a D Class student.

"Yeah."

"If you want, you can join the rest of us."

"The rest of you?"

"Mikushicha-san usually drives some of the student waiting staff back home. Right now, it's just me and one other waiter, so there'd be room in the car for you."

Part of me wanted to decline, simply because I'm not good with dealing with other people. But another part wanted to accept, since walking back home seemed like an arduous task anyways, and being able to talk to my aunt, even if it's for a few moments, would be appreciated.

"...sure."

Tsuji smiled. "Follow me to the back. We're closing up shop now anyways."

I followed her to the back of the restaurant, where there was a staff room with lockers. A boy with dark blue hair was sitting at the table, sorting out his bag with wireless earphones in his ears.

"That's Keisaki-san."

"He looks smart."

"He's an A Class student. He usually waits tables for the upper classes. Since I'm from D Class, I don't really mind waiting for anybody, which makes me a more valuable asset."

Tsuji was boastful about her apparent utility as a waitress. I wondered why these two got jobs so early on in their student life.

Considering Keisaki's from A Class, perhaps he's doing work as a way to see if class points will increase from it. If work does increase class points, it would be a solid defence to have A Class students undertake part time jobs and continually raise the bar to reach A Class higher and higher.

For Tsuji, it could be for money, since she's from D Class. However, my theory was that she's trying to work her way up the ranks through individual transfer. As this school measures us on merit, maybe she's doing work as a way to improve her own score on the S System. After all, someone who contributes to the community will be valued more highly than someone who doesn't.

"I don't try to be discriminatory, but you're Takanori-san, aren't you?" Keisaki said, taking out his earphones.

"Yeah."

"You suck at Vanguard."

"Huh?"

"Keisaki-san, let's not be rude..." Tsuji said.

"Tsuji-san, as a cardfighter myself, watching that match was painful. I don't see why everyone was so excited over it. He played so terribly during that."

"Really? I think Takanori-san played just fine."

"Yes, I too think calling cards without second thought and not using Gauntlet Buster's biggest strength to your advantage is playing "fine". Can the guys in E Class even read the cards?" Keisaki laughed.

"I just played what I thought was correct at the time. My opponent being a senpai and the white noise from the visor didn't help." I said.

"I guess I can understand the nerves. But that girl who fought Mikazuchi-senpai before you used Brandt of all things, and demonstrated more skill and basic understanding than you do. Isn't that a little embarrassing?"

"Not really. What's there to be embarrassed about? Shouldn't you be scared that someone from E Class has good Vanguard skills?"

"Just because she's better than you doesn't mean she's a good player. "Guys, I'm so unique for playing Brandt in 2048!" What the hell kind of hippy decks are you guys using in E Class? If you want to see good players, just cardfight me or any other A Class student."

"What our class uses is none of your business. I'd also like for you to stop insulting my classmates."

"Huh, so you do care about them. Here I thought you were one of the big three loners."

"Keisaki-san, you're acting a bit too arrogant."

"Ha ha. Sorry." Keisaki smirked and put his earphones back in.

"I take back what I said earlier." I said.

"Ha ha... I swear, Keisaki-san isn't as bad as you think." Tsuji said.

"I don't want to be in a car ride with him."

"You're seriously going to walk back home?"

"The wind is friendlier than he is."

"I never wanted to share a car ride with an E Class student anyways." Keisaki said.

"You two, cut it out!" Tsuji said.

"I never wanted to share a car ride with an A Class student either." I said.

The door of the staff room clicked open, and my Aunt Rina entered with a refreshing smile, holding a clipboard. Keisaki's arrogant smirk was swept away, replaced by a cheerful facade. Tsuji sighed in relief to herself.

"I think it would best if you took the car ride, Yuu-kun." Rina said. "It's been a long time since we've last seen each other."

"It's been awhile." I said.

"Huh? You two know each other?" Tsuji said, looking back and forth between us. I nodded.

Rina was a person who meant well. Even though she wasn't my actual parent, she took very good care of me, and became somewhat like my main guardian. She was a better parent than him, and sometimes, even my mom.

"He's my nephew." Rina said. Keisaki blinked, taking out his earphones again.

"Excuse me, did I hear that correctly? He's your nephew?"

"Yes. Are you surprised, Keisaki-kun?" Rina walked over, smacking him on the head gently with her clipboard.

"Yes! How the hell is he in E Class?! You kept saying good things about him like if he was your own child! No way, I refuse to believe this!" Keisaki held his head and pointed at me, dramatically flinging his arm up and down.

"See, not all E Class students are bad. A lot of them are just misguided." Rina said. Keisaki shook his head, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Whatever, lets go. I want to take a shower. Tsuji-san, sit with me in the back."

"I think that'd be for the best." Tsuji said. She and Keisaki left the staff room and headed outside.

"You get to sit next to me, then." Rina smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"We have a lot of catching up to do." I said.

"Yes... sorry for not telling you about the move sooner. I got the offer randomly, and it was very sudden, so sorting everything out took priority."

"It's fine now. I did miss going to the restaurant after school, though."

"I guess I took that peaceful safe spot away from you. That reminds me, did you ever made up with your dad?"

"...auntie, you know that I don't like talking about him."

"I'm sorry, Yuu-kun. Curiosity got the better of me." Rina squeezed my shoulder a bit harder, and then patted it.

I couldn't stay mad at her. It's because of her that I managed to get away from him for such long periods of times.

"It's fine... You can make up for it with your cooking."

"Ha ha, I'll see what I can do. Well, let's get to the car. They're waiting for us after all."

"...yeah."

Still, I felt a bit of spite. Even when I came to an island far away from him, he still came up in my daily life. I wish I could get rid of him from my mind entirely.

I followed her outside after she locked up the shop. I sat in the seat at the front, and looked behind me. Tsuji and Keisaki were at the back, but Keisaki was listening to music, and Tsuji was texting on her phone. Aunt Rina sat in the driver seat and started up the car, before driving us back home.

The first place we visited was the Stark White area. Keisaki thanked Rina and left the car. I could finally relax now that my main enemy disappeared. I did want to talk to her, but I couldn't find the courage to start a conversation, and even then I had no idea what to talk about. I felt pretty bored in the car, and I didn't want to go on my phone since it gives me motion sickness.

I messed with the radio a bit, switching through the channels. She didn't seem to mind, and neither did Tsuji. I eventually ended on a radio talk show featuring an interview with Akia, who was one of Japan's best rugby players. My mom and aunt was actually friends with Akia, so I got to meet him in real life a couple of times. We reached the Zoa Green area, and Tsuji left the car next.

Finally, it was just me and her. It was nearly 10:30pm when we drove to the Drachma Red area.

"Are you going to climb up the ranks?" Rina asked.

"Yeah. I don't want to be in E Class forever."

"I think you could go to A Class. You're the silent genius type, after all."

"Silent genius? Auntie, you really overvalue me. I'm strictly average."

"People will always underestimate themselves when talking about their abilities, unless you have an arrogant personality. Being humble about yourself makes you a better person anyways, or something like that."

It was true. People usually overestimate or underestimate their skill level, but I evaluated my skills completely fairly, without doubts or cockiness. I decided I was just "average".

"No, I don't do that."

"Have some more self-confidence. When I was in high school, I was the same as you. A tsundere who was socially awkward."

I wasn't a tsundere who was socially awkward. That was a straight lie.

"Back then, I didn't have many friends. During my 2nd and 3rd Years, your uncle was my only real friend. Everyone else... well, I did consider them friends, but they were quite distant in comparison to him. He made me fall for him so hard..."

Rina looked so lovey-dovey while remembering the details about her past. She was always a bit of a wallflower, but to think she also had difficulties making friends too was quite surprising. Back in Tokyo, she was very lively and could talk to the patronage full of confidence.

"Say, Yuu-kun, in the war, was that Yukina-chan fighting Mikazuchi-san?"

"Yeah. I was going to meet her this evening."

"My, my. I didn't know she was also at this school. So, you're a player now, hmm?"

"Auntie, I'm not like that..."

"I'm just teasing you! Please don't make such a sad face... besides, didn't you have a crush on Yukina-chan?"

I shuddered.

"N-no. She's just a very kind girl who decided to be my friend."

"So you do have a crush on her, even now. Meeting up this late at night too... say, you two aren't going to perform any illicit acts like hand-holding, are you?"

Rina laughed at her own jokes. I didn't find it funny, since she always teased me a lot about my love life. After she noticed the trend of me playing exclusively with girls, she'd always figure out ways to get me into awkward situations with them as a way to "get us closer". Not even my mom was this involved in my love life!

"To be truthful, we're not that close anymore. I was the one who asked if I could meet with her tonight."

"Still, she accepted. I think you two are closer than you think."

Besides being my unwanted Cupid, Rina also became close friends with both Suzune and Yukina to further tease me. Though, Suzune and Yukina did find my aunt quite an enjoyable person to be around, so there's no real harm there, I suppose. It's still annoying though.

"No. We're on completely different social statuses. She's way more popular than me."

"Not really. You're both E Class students, so you're more similar than different. In this school, I don't think popularity matters when you're lumped in with the other "losers"."

"Just how much do you know about the system, auntie?"

"Only the necessary parts. I don't have any information about how the S System actually works. It's a tightly kept secret."

"That's a shame. I'm trying to figure out how this system works, so I'd take any information I'd get."

"My advice would be that trying to solve the system is the wrong way to go about it."

"Why do you think that?"

"Personally, I think the system is way too complex for us, as regular people, to understand. You'd need a super computer for a brain to reverse engineer the mathematics or logic that's involved in it most likely."

"I guess I should approach it from another angle."

"Since this school is based on merit, I'd assume just being an upstanding young adult would be enough to move you out of E Class. Keisaki-san had a theory that those who work part-time jobs would score higher in the S System, thus increasing the chance they'd move up the class. That's how he got Tsuji-san to apply as a waitress anyways."

It seemed that Keisaki was more interested in the individual movement aspect, rather than increasing his own class points. I almost felt bad for Tsuji being his guinea pig, but it was harmless and he would be doing her a favour if it turns out his theory was correct.

"You should apply to become a waiter too, Yuu-kun. I'd accept you on the spot."

"I don't have a need for a job right now, so I'll pass. I might swing by the restaurant more often after school."

"Then you can help me do work in the kitchen."

"I'll chop vegetables. That's the most my current skill level can do."

"I was going to say you can wash the dishes."

"That's egregiously boring."

"Is it? It's quite soothing to me, actually..."

"Auntie, you're such an oddball."

Rina laughed, parking her car just outside the Drachma Red dorms.

"Here we are."

"Thanks for the drive home."

"No problem. Tell Yukina-chan to come by the restaurant for me."

"Yeah, will do. Stay safe, auntie."

"You too. See you soon!"

After those parting words, Rina left the Drachma Red area. I walked into the dorm and signed in using my key card. I went into the elevator, but headed up to the fourth floor instead.