Chapter 248 - S-soundproofing! Be-better Soundproofing!

Yawn!

woke up late. 

I had about 15 minutes to make it to class. And no one even bothered to wake me up. 

I was about to complain really hard but- it was a Sunday.

Oh!?

I might or might not have forgotten about that. Anyway, Marg wasn't here and my clothes were on the corner of the bed, folded nicely. 

There were some stains on the bed. Last night was really something. 

I looked over at the door, and no one was in sight. 

So, I hurriedly got dressed, put on some pants, and by the time I started to button my shirt- someone came inside with a knock. 

"You didn't stay up too late, did you?" Apparently, it was father, grinning. 

There were plenty of double meanings behind those words and I didn't want to have that conversation but- "UH-huh."

"It's kind of a miracle your mother agreed to let you have more than one you know." And he just casually changed the subject. This guy was really good at this. "When she was going out with me, she clearly said, If I ever cheated, I'd be dead to her." He snorted and then chuckled aloud. "But, she was really loyal, even now. And though I was dead to her, I'd just been revived. Well, I have a feeling she loves you more than anything in this world- at least more than me." He turned around with another chuckle. "Thanks." He started walking. What the hell? "Oh, and by the way," He stopped just outside the door, turning his head this way slightly. "You do realize, your mom and Elsa have the best hearing in our house, right?"

Seriously, what the hell?

He grinned some more and left. 

I sighed, but it was going to be a lie, if I were to say – I didn't like how this turned out to be. 

After fourteen or so whole years, we're finally a family again. 

'Wait, wait, wait… what did he say before leaving? Best hearing?'

It took me a second. It really did. But- my face heated up- it really did. And boy oh boy, did I feel embarrassed. 

I let out a rather large internal scream and blitzed around the room. 'SHIT!'

***

Breakfast was quiet- too quiet. No one said a thing. 

Raea often just tilted her head in confusion but just ate anyway.

I was too afraid to even look at mom and Elsa. Or to be more precise, I was too afraid to have that conversation….

'Why the hell did I ask them to stay here again?'

Time moved on and though I couldn't really eat much, breakfast was over. 

Afterward, I just headed back to my room. Marg followed me soon afterward. 

She took out the bedsheet and was about to leave. 

"Umm… you know… uh-" How the hell was I even supposed to start a conversation.

Marg came over and kissed me on the forehead. "Don't worry they won't pry into our lives." She smiled and left. 

I was glad but this was way too awkward!

I already knew Elsa and mom had really good hearing and sometimes they hear stuff even I couldn't. But this room was soundproof. Even if they had amazing ears, it was still impossible for them to hear- I'd already experimented about a dozen times then-

Then I remembered. At night, even small sounds could be heard from afar. And last night we were going quite rough- so-

Oh.

I almost felt embarrassed again.

I grabbed my head and rolled on the bed. 

Seriously, what the hell! 'B-better soundproofing! Right, I'll get better soundproofing!'

In the end, I just sighed and gave a message to Merin about me going over there to pick up my stuff. I needed something to distract myself and I needed it bad. 

He gave me the okay message.

I guess this was my cue. 

***

I reached the academy an hour later. Marg stayed behind and was helping at home. I had no idea why she didn't feel that it was awkward. 

That woman really knew how to control or rather not show her emotions. 

I had to cross the snowy plains to get here. It was cold but after spending some time in Russia, this was nothing. 

And I had two followers- apparently, Raea and Aria had followed me. Aria stayed quiet and just wandered around while Raea often asked me questions. I didn't want to humor them so I didn't bother to even acknowledge their presence. I just ignored them.

But shouldn't Aria have been with the headmaster and told him stuff about the invasion and all that? Then again Enira was asleep and that headmaster wasn't quite that noble of a man either….

The academy seemed kind of empty. Sundays were always like this. The few students who were passing by ran away in fear. It was more like they avoided eye contact and walked by very fast, looking pale. But to me, it just seemed like they were running away from me. 

This too was normal but usually, I only got glares at best, not students running away just from the mere sight of me. 

I actually didn't know how much the world knew about my exploits in Russia. I never bothered to watch the news and no one told me.

And sadly, my Holo hadn't made it. there wasn't even a trace of it left, so we couldn't claim the warranty either. 'Gotta buy a new one I guess…'

So, I finally had to acknowledge these guys. 

"So, what's the state of affairs here?"

Raea grinned; she was waiting for this. "Everyone knows you defeated Hyora Battlesuin and took over their family as the new head."

"Wait but that's not-"

"True. I know but that's the news that's being spread. News companies these days are really going overboard." She shrugged with a snort.

I sighed. "I think I'll need to go visit one of these news companies."

She giggled but kept on following me.

Meanwhile, Aria just looked around in amazement. 

***

Knock!

Knock!

The door opened a minute later. "Yo." Merin grinned. "Popular as always."

I snorted. "Uh-huh."

I sure didn't want to be though. 

"I sorted your stuff. All's there."

I went inside and found all my stuff on my bed, nicely packed.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem."

"OH, and thanks for helping out and sticking around." I heard he'd saved Marg from an attacker. 

"No problem, dude. That's what friends are for." He chuckled. I was really glad to have a friend like him. "Besides, if you died, I'd have been pretty screwed myself," He mumbled. 

Yeah, I didn't need to know that.

Anyway, I took a seat, had a chat with Merin. Apparently, things were going good for him. His dates were going good and he was getting laid often- I kind of didn't want to hear those though. But he sure loved Nat, that was for sure. And he was having a blast without me. 

He was also going to get a new roommate this month, but since I still had my things here, he requested the dorm manager to hold it off for next week, and strangely the manager listened. I had a feeling it had more to do with him messing around with his girlfriend than actually asking for my sake though. 

Oh well. 

After our chat- I picked up my stuff and headed out. 

"Come back anytime. Room 402 will always be open to you." Merin grinned as he waved. 

Though that made me feel special and welcome and warm, I kind of didn't want to ever come back. After all, I didn't want to lose or even think about losing what I had with Marg. "Thanks, man." Sure didn't mean I was going to be ungrateful though.

"He seems nice," Raea said as we climbed down the stairs. "And you didn't invite me." She sulked. 

"I didn't invite him either and well, I wouldn't have invited you even if I had a choice."

She giggled while containing it. It was weirdly cute. "That doesn't make sense."

***

We had to buy some groceries so, we headed for the snowy plains again. 

"Why don't we take the forest shortcut?" Raea said.

We got out of the academy. There were some good stores here too, but these stores didn't have everything I needed to buy. 

"We could but-" I was carrying a paper list since my poor Holo had passed away. "I don't like bugs so I'd rather go through the snow. Besides, it's not that cold today."

"Oh?" It was almost as though it was a lightbulb moment for Raea. "Don't worry, Aria can ward off bugs. That's how we got to your house so fast the last time."

"Really? Can you?" I asked Aria directly. 

Raea couldn't understand her and I couldn't either. But I could definitely understand a word or two- and I had a feeling if we talked for long enough, we'd be able to converse properly. It was almost as though the language was hardwired into my brain or something.

And I knew Aria probably couldn't understand me all that well either- but I guess I kind of screwed up with that question. 

I had no idea if Aria understood me or not but she just nodded. I hadn't heard say a word for over a day now. 

Oh well.