Chapter 91 Lunch In Early Autumn

Olivia lead the way through the crowd. She carefully kept close to Lee Seng, so the two of them wouldn't split. The two moved through the crowd of people going in and out of the building. He noticed the crowd was growing larger and beginning to stare at him. The collective whispers made his ears twitch, uncomfortably. Olivia popped out of the crowded entrance and turned around to see Lee Seng following. She sighed in relief and waited for Lee Seng to come to her side before the two of them continued.

"Man, I thought lunchtime wouldn't make people crowd the entrance to this place. You'd think they'd be somewhere else by now." Olivia commented. The two moved further into the building together. Lee Seng pulled his phone out to check where the cafeteria was and noticed a straight path.

"At least the cafeteria is a straight shot from the entrance. It would've been bad if we got lost." Lee Seng added.

"There are four entrances to the school. Each place is a different cardinal direction, but depending on where you come from, you'll always end up making it to the cafeteria and office area."

The cafeteria mimicked the First Year's cafeteria. Lee Seng and Olivia stepped into the loud cafeteria room. Students were talking and eating in their small groups. Lee Seng watched students turn to look at them, only to be caught in his appearance. Lee Seng looked around and tapped Olivia and pointed to the right.

"Isn't that Evan and Ritsuka?" Lee Seng asked. Olivia turned to look in the direction he pointed. The two watched two familiar guys walking towards them with a tray of food. The two stared for a while and Lee Seng moved his tail upwards and swayed it side to side. One of them noticed and motioned for the other to look.

"Yup, I think that's them. Anyone would remember you." Olivia said turning to look at him. "You're very memorable because of your tail."

"I guess having a tail has its perks."

The two started over towards Evan and Ritsuka who were closing the distance between the four of them.

"Aye, Olivia! Lee Seng! You're both here!" Evan shouted, waving his arm in the air. Lee Seng gave a small wave to both of them as they all came to a stop in front of each other.

"You two just got lunch?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, they have a variety here. Ritsuka wanted ramen so I just tagged along." Evan answered.

"The ramen's good." Lee Seng nodded.

"You've had it before?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yeah, during the exam while Olivia was resting in a hospital bed, I grabbed some for the both of us."

"Mmm, must be good then."

"It's really good!" Olivia added. "You two gonna find a spot to sit at?"

"We were thinking about going outside since it's nice today," Evan answered. Olivia nodded and turned to look at Lee Seng.

"You wanna eat outside too?" Olivia asked.

"Sure, that's fine with me," Lee Seng answered. He turned to look at Evan and Ritsuka. "Where're y'all gonna go?" Ritsuka nodded to Lee Seng's right.

"We're gonna go to the field we had to pass through to get here," Ritsuka answered.

"Okay, we'll see you over there in a bit, then."

Ritsuka and Evan split from Lee Seng and Olivia. Olivia curiously looked around. The cafeteria seemed to have more variety in the Third Year building. Olivia spotted a pasta place and pointed at it.

"I'll get some pasta," Olivia said. "What do you want to eat?" Lee Seng looked around and ended up pointing at a burger place.

"I'll try that. We'll meet near the hallway going towards the field?"

"Sure!" Olivia and Lee Seng split. Lee Seng wandered over towards the burger place. Students wore similar school outfits as the First Years. The only difference seemed to be the year difference that was shown on their right shoulders. It had three marks in white with green accents. Lee Seng knew this was the way other students recognized what year others were.

A small detail Lee Seng wondered how anyone in this age would recognize the amount of difference in superhuman abilities. Lee Seng noticed there were a couple of people in line ordering. The burger joint seemed to run autonomously for ordering. Lee Seng watched people order on a large screen and then wait at pick-up for their food.

Lee Seng stepped up to the order screen after a couple of minutes and scrolled through their options. Customers could pick a base burger and build off of it. Lee Seng clicked on a double-patty burger with a brioche bun. He started to sift through the different things he wanted on the burger. He ended creating a breakfast burger of sorts.

"Double-patty with a brioche bun. Fried egg, bacon, ketchup, and mayo. Ooo, spicy mayo? Might as well try that." Lee Seng clicked. He turned the order into a meal and decided he would get seasoned fries and fruit punch to go with it. He moved to the pay screen and grabbed his phone and accessed the Academy app. He moved to his Academy Pay Card and lifted it up to the screen.

The screen dinged and the payment screen went to a success screen. Lee Seng's phone pinged with his order receipt and he stepped over towards pick-up. He patiently waited for his food and when his order was called, he glanced at his phone and moved to grab it. He thanked the worker and turned towards the hallway he had come from.

Lee Seng found Olivia waiting on the right side of the hall with a bag in one hand and a large drink in the other. She was sipping on it when Lee Seng waved his hand with his food in the bag. The two made their way out of the school and into the field. They looked around for Ritsuka and Evan.

"Where could they have gone?" Olivia muttered. Lee Seng tapped her and pointed to a shaded area. Ritsuka was waving and the two made their way over.

"That didn't take you guys long," Evan commented.

"Mmhm, they have fast service," Olivia said. "He, on the other hand, took a bit longer than me." Olivia pointed at Lee Seng who was already digging through the bag for his food. He pulled out the wrapped burger and set it on the ground. He pulled the seasoned fries out and took a bite of fries.

"You literally pick a base burger and make it however you want it to be." Lee Seng defended himself. He unwrapped his burger and set his fries on the wrapper. "A breakfast burger with spicy mayo. I haven't tried that yet."

The four started to dig into their food. Lee Seng taking a bite of the burger and debating on whether or not the spicy mayo was worth it or not.

"Oh, are you guys serious about grouping together?" Lee Seng asked with a mouthful of food. He covered his mouth as he swallowed. Lee Seng watched the three nod in agreement.

"As I proposed," Olivia began. "We should test it out before we actually go through with anything."

"Do you know how long it will be until we go on a field group exercise?" Lee Seng asked Ritsuka. Ritsuka thought about it for a while and shook his head.

"Mmm, I'm not sure. It's only been three weeks since the school year began so we might be unlucky and get one soon." Ritsuka guessed. The four continued eating as Lee Seng slowly nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll try to be civil until that happens." Lee Seng quietly spoke.

"Civil about what?" Evan asked. Lee Seng looked up, a bit surprised Evan had caught that.

"You heard me quietly say that?" Lee Seng asked. Evan nodded. "Huh, I guess I'm not the only one with good ears. It's nothing much, though. I just, awkwardly, figured out I'm rooming with someone I grew up with. We kinda drifted apart due to... my situation." Lee Seng took another bite of his burger and stuffed some fries into his mouth. He allowed the awkward silence to fill the space.

"Sorry, didn't mean to pry." Evan apologized.

"It's fine. It's not a big deal. Everyone knows I was powerless for the last three years, so there's bound to be people who have theories that explain what happened." Lee Seng waved. "It's in the past. I just need to not overreact to seeing him every day. Be courteous, that kinda thing. But, enough about me, what room are you two in?"

"Oh, we're in Room 269." Evan quickly answered. Lee Seng could tell Evan felt a bit guilty about bringing up something personal. Lee Seng nodded and motioned at both of them.

"Both of you are together?"

"Yup. Weird how that coincidentally worked. What about you Olivia? What room are you in?"

"I'm in Room 324. I haven't met my roommate, yet. Hopefully, she's nice." Olivia answered. The three boys nodded along to that. It was honestly one of the things they all wished for before learning about their roommates. Evan and Ritsuka did get some luck because of it and Lee Seng got unlucky. Olivia hoped she could somehow be on the lucky side with her roommate.