Lon3ly

Updates will, unfortunately, be slowing down a bit because of school but I'll definitely try to not to go more than 2 weeks without an update!

At dinner, Viktor passed Yue the box with the protective bracelet. Yue silently opened it and looked surprised by the bracelet. He almost wanted to say something about Viktor giving him too many gifts but Viktor explained that it protected against negative energy before he got the chance. 

Yue murmured a 'thank you', wondering if it would work with his eyes. They then ended up back on the subject of the next expedition.

“I doubt we’ll have time to take a break once we get there.” Viktor murmured. They were both bracing themselves for what would happen and what they would see in London.

Just within the past 100 years, millions of people regardless of their core type or whether they’re mages have died because of monsters or other conditions related to ruin. Countries like Belarus have even been ruined to the point where even now that the dungeon has been captured, the mana is too dense for anyone whose core and resistance are too low level. It was scary to think that this could happen to a place like the United Kingdom.

“I should’ve spent some time on physical training…” Yue sighed, he had only been doing some magic training throughout the day. He was focusing on getting his core to peak platinum level or above. After his fight with the younger him who was so much stronger than him, he was riddled with feelings of inadequacy with how bad he had gotten at martial arts and started to wish he could go back to china to relearn his skills but now he felt that heightening his magic power more would allow him to reach his old level much more easily when he chooses to get back into martial arts.

“The uniforms will probably have more defensive capabilities because of how dangerous London is so I think you’ll be fine. It’s not like you’re weak either.”  Viktor said and tried to reassure Yue.  He had personally been doing a lot of physical training so he had no worries in that regard. After studying Yue's swordsmanship and general movements he had felt an itch to actually practice those kinds of skills instead of magic. He had quit practicing swordsmanship regularly when he was a teen as an act of rebellion against his father but it felt a bit embarrassing to get back into it because of someone he liked.

“Don't take that as an excuse to be reckless though,” Viktor added, making Yue flinch a little. 

“T-That wasn’t intentional…” Yue Murmured and looked away, a bit embarrassed. He was very aware that he couldn’t allow himself to get injured and have his wound get affected by negative energy again. The negative energy in London would probably cause even worse effects than the sleepiness he felt in Wolfsstadt.

They went their separate ways after dinner. Viktor went to practice outside and Yue went on his way to his room to get ready for bed. He was stopped by the presence of the head maid in his path.

“Miss Xia, Are there any dresses from the closet that you like in particular?” The head maid asked as she stood in front of Yue’s bedroom doors.

“Hmm? Why?”

“The young master plans on sending them all to your dorm room but I figured that you might feel uncomfortable with that.” The head maid explained.

“Oh... okay…” Yue said and blushed a little and went with the maid to the closet to choose the few that he liked. He struggled a bit to choose things and didn’t really know if it was really alright for him to keep any of them. he did have a few he looked more than others but it was hard to choose out of all of the dresses when he knew they were all incredibly expensive.

“Don’t worry too much. Everyone in the Ivanov family tends to be like this, they express their affection through actions and gifts rather than words.” The maid said and smiled.

“H-Huh?!” Yue blushed bright red. Even the maids knew about their feelings for each other.

“The young master’s father is not the type to express his feelings through words. He proposed to Lady Elena the day they met by giving her an SSS rank dungeon item…” The maid said and chuckled. Yue looked a bit surprised, the maid did not look old enough to have been around when Viktor’s parents met. He was also a bit surprised by her words but she didn't really expect Viktor's father to be very normal in the first place.

“Of course Lady Elena said yes without hesitation so I wouldn’t call either of them experts on romance...The Ivanov family is quite eccentric like that,” The maid said, “I’m surprised the young master has some restraint honestly. He's using gifts instead of actions because he respects your boundaries.”

Yue blushed and looked at the dresses in front of him silently. His face was red all the way to his cheeks He was embarrassed to be hearing this kind of thing. The maid giggled quietly, amused that Yue was so embarrassed. 

—-

Yue turned bright red as he noticed Mai and the curious girls of the dorm standing outside the dorm watching the carriage come up to the entrance. Viktor just chuckled and helped Yue out of the carriage, nodding toward Mai and the girls with a soft smile.

Some of the girls braced themselves and attempted not to flutter at the sight of the smile. Yue would be tough competition, especially since he’s already in the same class as Viktor and they already are very fond of each other.

Yue was embarrassed and took his trunk from the servant who had been holding it. It was a bit heavy because of the extra items he had gotten from the auction and from the dresses, he didn’t show it on his face or in his actions though, Viktor would offer to bring it in if he did and that would only be more embarrassing for him.

“See you tomorrow,” Viktor said and kissed Yue’s hand before getting back on the carriage.

Mai giggled and proceeded to immediately tease Yue whose face was bright red as they watched the carriage leave. Yue immediately tried to rush off to his room but Mai was right on his trail and the other girls were trying to catch up as well, everyone wanted the details but only Mai managed to slip into Yue’s room.

“Oh, so things definitely did happen…” Mai said and hugged Yue whilst teasing him.

“Nope no not at all, you guys are just annoying,” Yue said in a mechanical tone and began to unpack.

“Wait! What happened!” Mai said and looked amused.

“I kissed him while I was drunk!” Yue whined in Vietnamese and covered his face. He didn’t want to hide it from Mai but it was incredibly embarrassing to talk about it.

“Oh my gosh, that’s fantastic!” Mai said and squeezed Yue and twirled around the room a bit.

“It’s not fantastic! I don’t know what to do now! I also didn’t mean to do it!”

“I’m sure part of you meant to do it,” Mai said and giggled, sitting down on Yue's bed and watching sulk as he unpacked.

“Well, you’re co-leaders again so you’ll bond on the battlefield yet again... Except we might all die this time.” Mai murmured.

Yue noticed the hint of fear in her words and looked up from his trunk, looking at her with unwavering eyes to try and give her a sense of security.

“We’re not gonna die. I can’t guarantee that the whole group will be fine but I know the three of us won’t die.” Yue said and then picked up his jewelry and placed it back in the vanity in the room.

“H-How can you be so sure..?” Mai murmured, flustered by how serious Yue was.

“Just trust me,” Yue said after thinking of what he could say that wouldn’t make Mai suspicious of his ability.

Mai wanted to ask or just say something but after remembering how Huy told her to listen to everything Yue said during expeditions and to put her full trust on him, she felt that maybe it made a little sense.

“...Okay. I’ll put all my faith in you!” Mai said after watching Yue for a while. She helped Yue pack a bit and they talked about what to pack for their expedition.

—

Yue and Viktor were called to Mr. Anderson’s office the next day and given their uniforms personally. They got 7, as to avoid having to wear dirty clothes or ripped clothes since they could carry negative energy and lead to issues.

“You won’t get the chance to take a break. Especially since you two are the strongest of the group, the front lines will need you…” Mr.Anderson explained as Yue peeked at the uniform. 

Yue had already prepared himself for this, he was ready to be completely overwhelmed and to probably have to use more magic than he expected. He was prepared for anything that might happen. Since he knew that Viktor and Mai would survive and he assumed that he could also protect the other classmates that he had bonded with, he didn't feel very nervous going into things.

“The 2nd tier group’s remains have grouped together to beg us to allow them to go with your group.”

Yue and Viktor both immediately looked up to Mr. Anderson with shock as they heard this. Yue almost dropped his uniforms as he heard this. He had just convinced himself that he had no reason to feel anxious.

“T-That’s…” Yue murmured.

“We accepted their request.” Mr. Anderson said with a smile.

“They know about the area and can help point out their own mistakes. They said that they had already prepared to die and that they felt too guilty to just take the back seat after letting their classmates die.” Mr. Anderson murmured, seeing the conflicted looks on Yue and Viktor’s faces.

“Go get some rest, after tomorrow you won’t be sleeping.” He said and shooed them out of the office, not leaving room for them to speak.

“Y-You can’t just—!”

“Wait, Sir—!”

Yue and Viktor were both considering kicking the door down in anger and distress. This should’ve been a discussion that included them but the decisions were made without them and now they were stuck having to take responsibility for 7 more people who were definitely bound to do something reckless because they wanted to avenge their classmates or something of the sort. Both of them stood in front of the door with a devastated expression for a while. Teachers who saw them stopped and looked like they were going to ask what was wrong but after remembering whose office they were standing in front of, they rushed off.

“I want to drop out,” Yue said and used his hands to cover his face. He was already beyond stressed out.

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Viktor sighed.

They started walking toward the dorm and talked about what they planned to do.

“Our class should get priority for front lines… The other class should work on nonviolent things…Trauma could cause them could cost them their lives on the battlefield.” Viktor said and sighed.

“...Yeah….” Yue murmured and stared at the leader badge on his uniform.

“Don’t worry too much about it. We’ll do well, I promise.” Viktor said and smiled.

They arrived at the dorm rather quickly and Viktor patted Yue’s head before turning to go on his way.

“See you.” 

“...See you...” Yue murmured, his cheeks bright red as he went to walk away. Viktor seemed to be fond of embarrassing him like this after every conversation/meeting and while Yue secretly liked it a lot, he hoped it would stop during the expedition. It felt impossible to think or act rationally when he did something like that.

—

Yue had wanted to test out just how much the new uniforms could take before tearing or actually allowing him to get injured but he had to help Mai pack appropriately and had to sleep early so he lost the timing to do so. He put on the new uniform and felt quite pleased with it.  The uniform colors had been changed so the leaders would stand out more from the rest of the group. Yue and Viktor’s uniforms were now almost entirely black instead of mostly white like the previous ones.

The blazer was black and other than the gold leader badge and a gold watch fob¹A chain or ribbon that connects to a watch that hangs out of the pocket where the watch is kept.. He wore a white dress shirt with a golden brooch at the center of the collar. His pants were black and the boots were also black but now reached up past his knees.

Mai knocked not he door and heard Yue's soft hum before coming inside and groaning loudly.

“I’m already tired of this…” Mai said as she plopped down on Yue’s bed, not bothering to knock or put down her trunk. 

“I guess it’s a little uncomfortable…” Yue murmured, stretching out his arms a bit before closing his trunk and pulling Mai up.

“What is that?” Mai asked, watching Yue pick up a smaller trunk after pulling her up.

“Sword stuff.” Yue murmured and motioned for  Mai to leave the room first so he could lock it. Mai didn't question it, although she did stop and wonder when the last time she had done maintenance on her own sword was.

They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Anika who would be going with them. The other girls had all left for their expeditions the day before so the dorm was silent as they stood and waited. Yue could feel Mai’s nervousness and silently wished he had a third hand so he could pay her pack or something to calm her down a little but alas he didn’t.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.” Anika murmured as she walked down the stairs, holding her trunk. She was sullen but seemed determined, that only seemed to worry Yue more though.

“Good morning, Miss X—” Anika was about to salute and be very formal with Yue but Yue cut her off immediately.

“There’s no need for formality, especially when we’re not even on the battlefield,” Yue said and smiled softly. 

Mai and Anika’s uniforms were sort of like inverted versions of his own uniform. Yue and Mai had similar hairstyles with their hair up in high ponytails with simple ribbons tying their hair. Anika on the other hand had her long hair in a low bun.

“Ah okay...I just wanted to apologize...My group will be inconveniencing you…” Anika murmured and bowed her head a little.

“It’s alright. I understand how you guys feel.” Yue murmured as the three of them started to go on their way.

Their walk toward the airship base on campus was slow and silent as the three of them were in their own little worlds. Mai was calming herself down, Anika was lamenting the past expedition and Yue was staring forward at their destination ready to get to London.

“It’ll all be alright,” Yue said and brought Anika’s and Mai’s attention to him as he went on ahead to enter the airship base.