"Ah, haahh… fuck."

Leon fastened his pace.

He didn't know how long he could last, but this was draining him inside out.

This was yet another time he wished to have Alice's stamina.

Even with the Drop of Limitless, he wasn't sure if he could reach her level of stamina. And taking the Drop of Limitless again was not something he would do.

"Phew…." His legs finally stopped as he looked ahead.

From here, he could see his club.

[Luntara]

The text of his club was glowing as the sun settled beneath the horizon.

Leon had been running for almost an hour now.

Even though he took another route, he had encountered Tyler again. To avoid him, he had to take yet another route.

"I miss my Bugatti." He muttered to himself.

Approaching the clubhouse, Leon noticed the lights inside were on.

'Must be Alice.'

She said she would pull an all-nighter as well.

This made Leon feel less lonely.

Now he didn't have to suffer alone.

Reaching the door, he quietly opened it.

"Hello…" He whispered softly.

When he opened the door, he was expecting to encounter Esther like last time.

'She's not here.'

But no one was there this time, and most of the room had its lights off. Only the upper floor, where Alice usually sat, had the lights on.

Leon sighed in relief.

If it were Esther, she would have properly roasted him alive.

'I have to finish it anyhow today!' He made a vow to himself.

Removing his boots and hanging his coat on the hanger, right beside Alice's coat, he climbed the stairs leading to the first floor.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

His steps made creaking sounds with every step he took.

After reaching the first floor, he paused for a minute before entering through the door.

On the door, there were three names written in bold letters.

[Alice Nightson]

[Clara Everstone]

[Leon Valentine]

[Henry Willson]

The room was assigned to four students.

Similarly, the other students had their own personal rooms.

It wasn't based on the field of research. This room was just there for them to rest and do their own stuff. The actual meeting rooms, labs, and everything else were on other floors.

As per Professor Esther, Luntara was funded by Ayaka Rudward.

Leon was seeing just how much money she had poured into supporting them.

"Hah.. haah…"

"Hm?" Standing outside the door, Leon noticed something.

There was a strange sound coming from inside the room. It was as if someone was breathing rapidly.

'It must be Alice working hard on her paper.'

Without minding it, Leon just pushed the door open.

"Hello, Alic—"

His own words stuck in his throat as his eyes landed on the floor.

"Haah… one hundred ninety-eight…. Haah… one hundred ninety-nine… two… hundred!"

Alice was on the floor, doing pull-ups. She was in her shirt and skirt. Leon noticed that her shirt was folded upward, exposing her tummy.

Leon's eyes landed on it.

He started counting.

One… two… three… four!!

She had four fricking abs!

"Huup!" She jerked her body up in a fluid motion. As she stood up, her gaze landed on Leon.

"Oh?" She blinked and asked, "When did you come?"

"..."

But strangely, she noticed his eyes were somewhere else.

She filled his line of gaze and found the source of his stunned expression.

"Heh." She sneered, patting her abs. "Jealous?"

This made Leon look away.

Alice noticed his sudden silence.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"…Huh?" She leaned forward a little, peering at him. "What's with that face?"

Leon snapped his gaze upward instantly. "What face?"

She blinked once.

"…Wait." Her eyes shifted down for half a second. Then back up to him.

"Oh." A slow grin crept onto her lips.

She crossed her arms, deliberately pushing her shoulders back.

"Don't tell me," she said. "This is your first time seeing a woman's abs?"

"What? No way. Don't be stupid." Leon jerked his head up slowly. "I've seen abs before."

"Then why are your ears red?"

"…They're not."

"They are."

"They aren't."

Alice took one step closer.

Leon felt it then.

The heat creeped up his cheeks, spreading embarrassingly fast.

Damn it.

This was bad for him.

He had been caught completely off guard. He wasn't even thinking about it consciously. It just… happened.

Puberty once was already annoying enough, and he experienced it in his past life.

But, experiencing it twice?

Absolute hell.

Leon cleared his throat.

"It's not what you think."

"Oh?" Alice tilted her head. "Then enlighten me."

Leon opened his mouth.

"I—"

And then he froze.

Because the excuse he had prepared in his head sounded stupid even before saying it out loud.

Still.

He had no other choice.

'Sister Veronica suddenly visited me, and she pulled my cheeks. That's why they're red.'

This was his excuse.

There was a beat of silence.

Then—

"Also…" Alice smiled sweetly. "Don't even think about saying something like, Lady Veronica suddenly visited me out of the blue without a fucking reason, and she suddenly out of the blue pulled my cheeks!" she continued calmly, "because if you do, I'll call you stupid for the rest of the year."

Leon's mouth dropped open.

"Wow …You read my mind?"

She tapped her temple. "You're just so damn predictable."

"Whaaat? That was a solid excuse."

"My ass. It was terrible."

"It was believable."

"...."

Leon clicked his tongue and turned away. "You're just jealous."

"Of what?"

"My mental resilience. What else?"

He walked past her, and placed his stuff on his desk.

Alice stared at him for a second.

Then she laughed.

Not a loud laugh.

"Wow," she said. "You look exhausted."

Leon exhaled. "You have no idea what I have to go through today."

She glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the pile of papers on her desk.

"…You ran here, didn't you?"

"I almost died doing it."

"That explains it."

She walked past him and tossed a towel at his face. "Here, drink some water. If you faint on my floor, I'm not carrying you."

Leon caught the towel. "Oh…You care?"

"I care about my floor dumbass."

He smirked and pinned an empty paper on the clip beard attached to his desk.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Alice walked behind him, and leaned her head right next to Leon. enough for her to glance at what Leon was writing on it.

She read as Leon wrote the title of his research.

"Mana Frequency Destabilization During Core Phase Transition and Its Role in Secondary Affinity Resonance…?"

She looked at his face. It took her several seconds to understand what this mean.

Her mouth dragged open.

"No way…" She muttered. "A… second awakening?"

Leon was amazed she was able to guess it. Still writing the paper, he informed Alice.

"I will be presenting my research tomorrow."

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