The night sky hung above them, while the warm glow of street lamps bathed the empty road in soft light. Even in the midst of the apocalypse, the lamps still burned brightly, casting a strange calm over the silent street.
Julian walked side by side with Sefi, a girl who had suddenly asked to speak with him in private. She kept her gaze low, and though she said nothing at first, her slight stiffness betrayed her nerves.
Julian glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his thoughts quietly stirring. Why did Sefi suddenly want to talk to him? They had only exchanged words a handful of tis. Could it be, as his girls often said, that he truly was this oblivious?
Finally, Sefi seed to gather her courage. Her fingers clutched the fabric of her shirt as she murmured, "Thank you… for saving ."
Julian blinked, taken aback by her words. He studied her expression, there was no doubt, she was sincerely grateful, but for the life of him, he couldn't recall when he had actually saved her.
"Are you sure… you've got the right person?" he asked carefully.
Sefi's lips parted slightly. "Do you… not rember?"
A faint pang of guilt tugged at Julian's chest. "I'm sorry… I think I might have forgotten."
"It's alright," Sefi replied softly, though a shade of disappointnt colored her voice. "I'm just one of many people you've saved. It makes sense you'd forget… especially a plain girl like ."
Sefi looked at Julian, this ti eting his gaze directly. "I'm one of the people you saved… back when I and four others were kidnapped by zombies."
Julian's eyes widened. The mory returned, Sefi was the one he had rescued, the one from whom he had removed that parasitic creature.
"I rember now… Are you feeling well?" he asked.
A relieved smile appeared on Sefi's face. "Finally… you rember. And yes, I'm doing fine now."
"I'm glad to hear that," Julian replied with a faint nod.
Silence fell between them, the air filled only with the faint hum of the streetlights. Sefi stood awkwardly, unable to think of a good topic to keep the conversation going.
'What should I say now…?' She thought nervously.
Breaking the pause, Julian asked, "Are the others doing well too?"
"They're fine," Sefi replied, "though they're currently on a mission, so they can't be here to help."
Julian nodded again.
Then, lowering her head slightly, Sefi murmured, "I'm sorry… for causing a misunderstanding with your girlfriends earlier."
Julian spoke calmly. "It's alright. They just overreacted, that's all."
They continued walking side by side, letting the cool night breeze brush against them.
"I thought I was going to die…" Sefi admitted softly. "When I was trapped inside that cocoon, I had already given up, there was no hope left for . But… sohow, I survived. So I'm truly grateful."
She hesitated for a mont before adding, "The others wanted to thank you too… for saving their lives. Miss Rei was the one who told us about you."
"I was just doing my job," Julian replied. "If you want to thank soone, thank everyone who worked to save you."
Sefi's lips curved into a small smile. "But you were the one who removed that parasite from us, weren't you? So… we want to thank you for that."
Julian simply nodded, quietly accepting her gratitude.
Sefi looked at Julian, her expression shifting into sothing more serious. "Actually… I didn't call you out here just to thank you."
Julian glanced at her curiously. "Then… do you need sothing?"
With a tone filled with quiet determination, she said, "I want you to teach how to beco strong."
Her words caught him slightly off guard. "You want … to train you?"
Sefi nodded eagerly, almost endearingly. "Please."
Julian studied her for a mont before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't."
The rejection made her blink in surprise. "Why? Am I… not worthy enough?"
"That's not it," Julian replied quickly.
"Then why?" she pressed.
"Because…" he said after a short pause, "this isn't the right ti."
It was then that Sefi realized, they would soon be launching an assault against the Sky Whale. Yet, all she could think about was how badly she wanted to beco stronger, to avoid being a burden… to be soone who could truly help the others.
She looked at Julian again, her eyes unwavering. "Please. I'll follow whatever training you give . I'm ready, and I won't complain, so please."
Julian could see the sincerity in her gaze. He truly didn't have the ti to train her… but the stubborn determination radiating from her made him pause.
After a deep sigh, he finally said, "Alright… I'll train you."
Sefi's face lit up instantly, her excitent impossible to contain. "Really? Yippiee!! Thank you, Master!"
"Don't call Master," Julian replied flatly.
But Sefi didn't seem to hear Julian's remark. She was too busy hopping in place with pure joy, thrilled at the thought of becoming stronger.
Unbeknownst to them, a small crowd had been following from a distance, Julian's group and Luke's group.
Cindy crossed her arms, her voice tinged with disappointnt. "That's it? I thought we were going to get so juicy drama."
Emma exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness. I was half-thinking Julian had gotten Sefi pregnant."
Clarissa's cheeks turned crimson. "Hey, Emma! Don't say things like that!"
"Yeah, Emma, that's too much," Vivi added with a frown.
Emma raised a brow. "Oh, co on. Weren't you all here stalking them because you thought sothing suspicious was going on?"
Celestia hesitated. "Well… yeah, but saying Julian suddenly got Sefi pregnant without us knowing is… kind of extre."
Luke glanced over his shoulder warily. "Ladies, quiet down, or they'll hear us."
Vivi crossed her arms, her expression firm. "If Julian ever lays a hand on our cute little Sefi, we'll make sure he faces the consequences."
Cindy groaned. "Alright, alright, stop with the scary talk, Vivi."
Veronica smirked. "She's right, though. No wonder guys don't want to get close to you."
"What did you just say?!" Vivi snapped, her voice rising.
Before it could escalate, Cindy quickly clamped a hand over Vivi's mouth. "Shh! Keep your voice down."
From the front, Rogan, who had been silently watching Julian and Sefi, glanced back at them. "You all… if you're going to tail soone, at least stay quiet."
Luke sighed. "We've got way too many people to be following them like this…"
Emma shrugged. "What else can we do? We're curious."
Cindy nodded in agreent. "Exactly. We have to follow them, and not get caught."
"Target's moving again," Rogan reported, his tone low.
At once, the group fell silent and resud shadowing the pair.
"By the way," Cindy whispered, "where are Aya and Zoe?"
Clarissa replied softly, "Aya's keeping Zoe company while she sleeps."
Veronica let out a small chuckle. "What a sha… Aya's going to miss this opportunity."
Emma grinned with excitent. "Don't worry, I'll tell her everything once this is all over."
Curious, Celestia turned to Luke's group. "Why does Sefi want to train under Julian? Is her power unstable?"
Luke shook his head. "Not exactly unstable. It's more that she's not very skilled at using her abilities."
"Let explain," Cindy chid in. "Sefi's skill is [Electric], she can generate electrical energy. But since she's not very good at controlling it, whenever she uses her power, it ends up hitting her teammates too. She can't fully direct the electricity, which puts her allies in danger. That's why she feels like she's a burden… even though she's really not."
Emma nodded slowly. "So basically, she just wants to train so she can control her lightning exactly the way she wants?"
"Exactly," Cindy confird.
Clarissa then added, "That's why she went to Julian, because he has the sa type of skill as hers."
But Cindy quickly crossed her fingers into an X and shook her head. "Bzzzt!! wrong~."
Clarissa blinked. "Then why?"
Still keeping her eyes on the front, Vivi spoke up. "Because of you, Veronica."
"Eh? ?" Veronica's eyes widened in surprise.
Vivi turned her head to look back at her and said, "It's because Sefi saw your match. She saw how amazing you were, how, even with just a support skill, you managed to take down opponents much bigger than you. It moved her. It inspired her."
Clarissa smiled warmly at Veronica. "That's incredible, Veronica… you actually inspired soone."
Veronica, now blushing and looking shy, murmured, "I… see…"
'I never expected anyone to admire before.. I was always disliked and compared to others… and now, to think I've beco soone others look up to… it actually feels… nice'
Emma nudged her playfully. "Hey, are you going to cry?"
Veronica quickly denied it. "Who's crying?"
Emma smirked. "You're just quiet, I thought for sure you'd be crying."
Veronica shook her head. "I'm just… surprised, that's all."
Celestia added gently, "It's alright, Veronica. Be proud, you've made a difference for soone."
Cindy nodded in agreent. "Really, I was surprised too when you won."
Luke, observing quietly, comnted, "Looks like skill alone can't be the asure of soone's strength."
Veronica, now feeling happy and a bit proud, tossed her hair back and said with a small smile, "Not bad at all."
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