Chapter 44 - Expectations

Waking up in a good mood, Ethan moved gently Ais' hair from his face.

'Tomorrow... I'll finally make them understand how strong I am'

Kissing Ais' forehead, he placed his hand on her head, stroking her hair in the aftermath.

"Ais..it's morning, we should go training.."

Without reply like always, she kissed him. The contact made his mood improve even more but, for the moment, he tapped on her back with his finger a few times. 'Releasing' his lips, he added

"We'll have the evening to enjoy ourselves even more..for now, you'll go with Lefiya while I'm going to the men's bath"

With a nod, Ais got up from the bed.

"Before this... I want to tell you something.."

Hearing this words, he felt confused but, what she said next shocked him

"Lefiya, I'm...worried about her.."

With his confusion not cleared, he asked

"For me she just needs to get used to the situation..she's insecure and shy but I know she can face her problems..."

Although from his perspective things were fine, Ais saw something he couldn't.

"I still don't understand...this feeling.. But I think she's...the same as me...seeing how indecisive she is makes me feel...as if I wanted to help her, but I don't know how .. I tried but .. "

Understanding she referred to the 'hug', he finally had a mental picture of the situation.

'What should I do..this situation is escalating too quickly...'

Placing a hand on her head, he said

"I believe that in our position we aren't able to help her without creating even more confusion... I said it to Lefiya but it's the same as you, we should live our life and enjoy what we can right now because the future is always uncertain. Personally I want to spend all my life with you.."

Starting to stroke his hair, he thought about what to say next. He was trying to think two things at the same time but, although he potentially could, all his focus was on Ais.

"I don't know how the future of our group will evolve, but for now, the two of us will always be together..."

Placing his forehead against hers, he thought about Lefiya

"I think..she will eventually come out of her shell but...is it okay if things between me and Lefiya will go on like that?"

With a nod, Ais replied

"The only thing I want is that you'll kiss me..hug me...try new things with me.. If you have time for me..then it's fine.."

'I guess I'll find a way to somehow make this friendship continue'

After some minutes, he hadn't even noticed that he stopped to think about a lot of things while Ais was still with her forehead against his.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for some moments"

With a 'smile' on her own, she didn't reply to his 'apology'. Departing from him, she said

"I'll go..to Lefiya's room.."

After her words, Ethan was left alone in the room

'How to make the group work...her hands...cold...'

Arriving at a 'temporary solution', he bought gloves in the shop. Although they didn't even have a name, they had some kind of magic.

'The temperature remains stable depending on how outside the temperature is...'

'I don't know if this will be enough to make her comfortable around me, but I guess I can start like this... I really hope she won't misunderstand something..'

Exiting from the room, Ethan put the gloves in his Inventory. Although he could have bathed in his room, the men's bathroom was better than his own bathtub.

Seeing the blue curtain, he entered the men's bathroom.

'Wait, I think something is different...'

Having a bad feeling, he looked first at the change room. Seeing women's lingerie, he understood someone made a horrible joke to him.

'How did they know I was going to bathe here today? Maybe someone heard from behind the door? no, if this had been the case Ais ..wait.. If it was someone specialized in Assassination maybe...'

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Ethan thought about all kind of theories.

'Maybe someone is watching me even now. It's risky to use my [Phantom's Cloak] in this situation..'

Looking at his surrounding, he decided it was better to exit the bathroom first. Although he was sure someone was watching him, he managed to get out of the bathroom without worries.

'Strange...'

Looking at the blue curtain, he was suspicious but, before he could search for clues, an old man said

"Oh.. I mistakenly inverted them.."

Hearing these words, he didn't believe the old man could be trusted.

'I can't be sure...'

Even though he was staring at him, the old man didn't even flinch. Inverting the two curtains again.

"Sorry If I caused problems to you"

Without even waiting for an answer, the old man returned on his chair. Although the situation was becoming ridiculous, he chose to ignore it for a moment.

'I should just let this matter lay..although I should buy a soundproof barrier when I'll talk about important things...just to be sure..'

Entering the real men's bathroom, he found someone he already knew.

'Oh...Raul. Isn't he one of the commanders?'

Seeing the new 'star' of his familia looking at him, Raul had a smile on his face.

"You must be the new star of the familia.. Ethan, right?"

Sighing, Ethan replied

"I'm not a star, I'm just someone that managed to sign a good contract with Loki-sama, that's all"

Undressing, He looked at him for a moment

"You must be one of the commanders...Raul, right?"

Surprised he knew who he was, he made a smile

"Yes.. I'm one of the commanders in the Familia..."

With another sigh, he felt interact with him will be difficult...

'This Raul..he should act as my superior..'

Shaking his head, Ethan added

"I see. I'll go first if you don't mind"

With a nod, Raul didn't reply before starting to undress as well.

'You aren't a star...are you kidding me? You managed to level up in a week and you are so popular that everyone knows you already.. I guess this is what stronger ones have..'

These thoughts in mind made him even more depressed.

'I guess I'll never be like him..'

Sighing, Raul entered the bath area.

Although everyone was minding their own business, Ethan still felt some of them look at him.

'I'm not popular, it's just that everyone in this room wants to mess up with me, but they can't because they are scared of Loki's punishment... I'm not a star, I'm really just someone that signed a contract in the end'

With the atmosphere in the room becoming increasingly tense, He just minded his own business.

'You won't look at me like that by tomorrow..'

After his bath ended, Ethan simply exited the bath area. Although the stares didn't cease, he just wiped out the remaining water on his body with the towel.

'Doing it with my Boost Magic is much more fun...'

Although Ethan didn't care about their opinions, the crowd of men still wanted to argue.

"Raul, what do you think about that boy? Do you think he's strong?"

Gulping, Raul thought about it for a moment. Remembering how casually he just minded his own business and the attitude Ethan had before, He understood the fact he wasn't just taking girls like nothing.

"I think he's strong, stronger than me too. You just kept staring at him, right? Normally a level 2 would freak out in a room full of level 2 and 3 who wanted to hit him so hard, but I didn't see any fear in him.. I can understand when someone is afraid...but he wasn't..."

With a nod from the man, he looked towards the exit

"I was here when he beat Nels, he was near level 4, but he lost against him..."

Hearing these words, Raul turned his head towards the owner of the voice like everyone else. They knew about this rumour, but it was said that he was expelled because of his bad temper, not because of Ethan..

The owner of the voice, named Hank, was the one that reminded Nels not to do such a stupid thing, so he was the most knowledgeable about Nels' situation and his fight against Ethan.

"That boy just clashed a few blows with him and Nels was knocked out. I didn't understand how it happened because I wasn't strong enough to follow their movements..."

Shocked, the whole bathroom fell in silence

'He's stronger than I thought... That's why he was acting like that...he's really the star of our familia at this point..As a Commander I should be proud of a kohai like him...'

Without adding anything more, Raul wrapped the towel around his lower body while exiting the men's bathroom...

Hank, instead, wanted to relax a bit more in the bathroom.

'... I'm really the useless one in this familia. After completing my job as a supporter, I'll get strong enough to be popular..like him..!"

Finding a new determination in life, Hank laughed in a happy mood

'I can't look at the top of a mountain if I don't reach the proper height first..'

---

Exited the bathroom, Ethan was waiting at the exit of the Twilight Manor. After 20 minutes, Ais and Lefiya were finally in sight.

While they were heading towards him, he felt something missing.

'Where is that guard? I thought he always patrolled this area...'

Hearing the voice of Ais calling him, he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Was it..something important? I'm sorry..."

Shaking his head, Ethan replied

"I was just thinking about the guard that welcomed us last time.. I always saw him patrol this part of the Manor but..."

Looking at the gate, Lefiya said shyly

"T-That guard.. Ronald.. He took h-holidays to take care of his w-wife.."

Understanding, Ethan felt sorry for the poor guard.

'He was kind, I hope his family will be fine..'

He knew that sending a small prayer to Qienta couldn't change anything but, he thought it could still help...somehow.

'I don't know if you can listen to my thoughts, but please, let his wife be fine'

Although you can say they didn't know each other, the fact his wife was in poor health made him think of what he would do in his shoes..

'I would probably buy some expensive medicine on the shop...but he can't..'

Understanding he still had his problems to take care of, he decided to let this matter lay.

"I think we should go.."

Although Lefiya was still really embrassed, she was focused on training. Something that Ethan had in his mind from the start.

"I will train harder then the previous 2 days, so Ais, I'll be in your care"

With a nod from her, the group headed towards one of the narrow streets. Equipping their [Phantom's Cloak], the three headed in their training zone.

"I...I will get stronger...!"

Hearing Lefiya's muttering, he wanted to laugh but, managing to hold it, he didn't reply to her.

'I will try and develop my wind technique...'

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

("Ethan got trolled","Ais, l.e.w.d, innocent? Let's mix!","Raul, you should be the commander...","What!? Where's my guard ojii-san!!! What happened to his wife?","Lefiya, are you sure you're thinking about training..?","Baka1...Finally received a name!? Welcome to the story, Hank!")