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As Elisa finally cald down, Sofia started bickering and parroting as usual.
"Why are you calling stupid, Emily?!" Sofia demanded angrily. "How rude! With friends like these, who even needs enemies!"
"There she goes again, acting like a drama queen," Alma said with a heavy sigh. "Never change, Sofia..."
"Co on, Sofia, don’t argue with our new friends," Maria said. "You promised we’d get along with them."
"I guess..." Sofia muttered, sighing.
Hearing the exchange, Erika smirked with a cocky grin. "Heh~ So Russian girls are all nasty like this? Wow, that doesn’t speak well for your country."
Sofia’s eyes flashed with fury. "Hah?! How dare you talk about it like that—and I’m not Russian, I’m from Ukraine!"
"Sa thing," Erika said with a shrug.
"It’s NOT the sa thing—co here, you damn mutt, I’m going to kill you!" Sofia exploded, but her friends quickly held her back.
"Oh my gosh, please stop it!" Alma cried.
"Why are you so annoying today?" Emily sighed.
"Sofia..." Maria shook her head, arms crossed. "I’m sorry, she’s... temperantal, but still, what you said was a bit too rude..."
"Yeah, Erika, don’t say stuff like that," Matsuo added. "We invited you all here to get along and eat. Sofia even offered to help pay so we could all enjoy ourselves."
"Ough, Matsuo, you’re way too nice sotis," Erika sighed, smiling as she playfully touched his chin with her long, pink-painted nails. "But that makes you so cute too~"
"E-Eh? Ahh... hahaha..." Matsuo laughed awkwardly. Several people present noticed the subtle tension between the two.
Harumi covered her mouth, teasing them. "How sinful. Is a werewolf trying to charm a prestigious young monk of the Amaterasu clan?"
Erika barked back angrily. "Hah?! And you’re with a human despite being a vampire—you’re nobody to talk, Haru-chan~!"
Frank, who had been quietly drinking cold water while listening to everyone, twitched an eyebrow. "C-Can’t we just get along?"
Elena and her friends felt a little overwheld. They had never been part of such a large, diverse friend group before, and they were all in the sa class now—they had to find a way to get along sohow.
From what their teacher had ntioned, a couple more students hadn’t shown up on the first day but were supposedly "just as wild."
Elena decided to use that as a safe topic to ease the tension and help everyone relax.
"Um, so I was wondering, teacher ntioned other students, right, girls?" she asked her friends.
Anna, who had been mostly quiet until now, nodded eagerly. "Oh yeah, yeah! He talked about a couple more who didn’t show up. But why? Isn’t the first day super important? Wouldn’t it be rude to skip it?"
Matsuo and Frank exchanged glances, then looked at Erika and Harumi before nodding.
"Yeah, you’re right," Frank said. "They’re friends we made back at Tokyo High School. They’ve got amazing potential but can be a little rebellious. There are the twins—they’re always getting into trouble. Then Elfina—she’s strong but has a temper like Sofia. Sol’s a really chill guy, though he basically does whatever Elfina asks. Oh, and senpai—she’s always busy. I hope they show up tomorrow."
"Huh, they sound interesting," Anna said. "Have you all known each other for years?"
"Yeah, sort of," Matsuo replied with a nod. "Frank we’ve known for about four years now. But Erika, Harumi, and I—we’ve been friends since we were kids. When our clans signed that peace treaty, we started eting more often. We fought sotis, but in the end we got along."
"Huhu~ You’re really lucky to have two cute childhood friends, aren’t you, Matsuo?" Emily teased with a chuckle.
"A-Ah, it’s not like that! I’ve never seen them romantically..." Matsuo said, cheeks reddening slightly.
"You haven’t?!" Erika snapped, clenching her teeth as though personally offended. She glared off to the side, avoiding his gaze.
Matsuo flinched. "E-Erika? Why are you angry out of nowhere?"
Harumi looked annoyed too. "Idiot."
"Huh?! Harumi too?!" Matsuo stared in shock.
Frank facepald. "I used to think I was the clueless one here, Matsuo, but I guess you beat to it."
"...? Frank too?!" Matsuo looked completely lost.
"Hahaha, you guys have a lot going on..." Anna laughed.
"It’s kind of fun," Elisa said. "We’ve never really had male friends before—outside of the ga, I guess." She quickly covered her mouth. "Oops..."
"Hm? What ga?" Maria asked curiously. "Is it so VR ga? We play them all the ti, right?"
"I love Fantasy Story Online the most!" Alma said excitedly. "Have you played it, Elena? Girls?"
"Fantasy Story Online? No," Elena answered casually, montarily forgetting she was supposed to keep it secret now. "We used to play Brand New Life Online, though."
"Eeeh? The ga that closed last year?" Emily asked, clearly interested. The tanned, tomboyish girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes leaned forward. "I heard it was the best one out there. Why did it even shut down?"
"Uh, no idea," Elisa said with a shrug. "But yeah, it’s really a sha... we had so cool characters there... erm, um, yeah."
"Maybe it didn’t make enough money?" Anna guessed. "An MMO where you buy it once and play forever with no subscription and barely any monetization was probably dood, right?"
"I guess so, haha," Alma chuckled. "I never got to play it, but Fantasy Story Online does have a monthly sub—just ten dollars."
"It’s great—we’ve played it together," Emily added.
"Hmph," Sofia muttered, glaring at everyone without saying a word.
"Ahh, what’s it about?" Monica asked shyly.
"It’s a classic MMORPG but with unique stuff," Alma explained. "You pick a race, a class, and then a positive trait that cos with a drawback—random or chosen. At the start you also pick a Realm, and each one has its own races and classes. The customization is insane."
"She really loves the ga," Emily said with a nod. "We just vibe with her, but we’ve had fun too. I like how you can build your own ho and everything."
"Huh... I used to love VR, but then... well, I stopped," Elena said with a small sigh. "I feel like I don’t have ti for those things anymore."
"It does sound really fun, though," Anna said. "Maybe we could try playing a ga or two soti—just to unwind."
"Eh..." Elena wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. "Well, it does sound fun anyway."
While they chatted about gas, Matsuo quickly ordered yakiniku for the group. Drinks arrived first—mostly soda, tea, or fruit juice—followed by snacks: fried gyoza and fried shrimp with plenty of unagi sauce, which everyone enjoyed.
Elisa, in addition to the yakiniku, ordered the hot pot set. Soon a large pot arrived, broth already boiling, filled with vegetables, fish cake, at, and more. The friends cooked together, laughing and talking as they ate, turning the al into a lively, enjoyable experience.
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