Tuesday, Fitness Center, Morning
If the Iron Temple could be described in merely one word it would be 'burning'; every second spent in that building was pleasure-soaked misery as blood-filled muscles forcibly pulled weight with intentions varying depending on who was pulling the weight.
For Michael the intention was to clear his mind in preparation for the day ahead as grunts raked up his throat, the grip he held on the metal bar above began to falter and begged for release. He didn't relent, forcing himself to pull the bar down again, each repetition burning deep into his back worse than the last.
"Gah..!" Was all Michael could breathe out as he released the bar and returned to his seat, leaning his forearms on the stops that rested on top of his legs to ensure the weight he was using didn't pull him from the chair. It wasn't just his back that was in pain, his arms screamed in joyous fire as well; sweat trickled from his brow to try and cool the deep burning inside.
"Yeesh, you sure you aren't trying to kill yourself dude?" Kyu would ask. After seeing how strained Michael appeared to be she wasn't sure whether to be worried or impressed that he was even capable of pulling the equivalent of her bodyweight.
"No...I'm fine…" Was all Michael's tired breath could carry out. The tattooed man that Kyu had encountered last night was standing beside him when he answered, arching an eyebrow at Michael's supposed one-way conversation with himself.
Putting down his water, Haric leaned down and adjusted the weight that was being used so that it was another five pounds heavier. "This'll be the last one for you. I gotta get going soon, so once this is done you're finished." Was all he said, giving the bar hovering above them a tap. Nodding his head felt like a struggle enough as Michael reached up and grabbed the bar.
Haric was putting him through the wringer today, whipping him mercilessly from exercise to exercise. He wanted to be healthy and this was Haric's answer to that; to make him go through the same stuff that he does on a regular basis.
As Michael was regaining his breath, Haric tapped his shoulder in order to tell him that he needed to get going now before leaving the man alone.
Just before he started his work, someone just outside his periphery stepped into view and was now approaching him with a wave of her hand.
To call her beautiful was an understatement. Michael had seen a decent amount of beautiful women in the past day, and she was definitely higher on the ladder. Her body was flawless in the curves that they carried in all of the right spots, especially in her chest. She looked Hispanic although that wasn't set in stone for the blond man that was staring at her. Her black hair was similar in length to Haric's, a majority of it restricted by a white headband that only allowed her bangs to hang in front of her violet eyes. The blue tank top she wore was darkened slightly, presumably from working up a sweat, her navy shorts clinging to her shapely thighs.
Catching the woman's attention one more time was a young, blond haired woman; it seems the two were talking before the older-looking woman had seen Michael on the machine.
"Having a fun time ogling, Hot Shot?" Kyu teased. Michael didn't have the energy to talk back to the fairy, only mustering up a tired glare.
"Hey, I ain't judging dude; I'd KILL to have tits like her's. Just look at them!" Kyu over exaggerated herself by throwing her arms forward in the direction of the woman's sizable bust. Her comment was met by a tired huff from Michael, rolling his eyes as he took a quick drink of water to rehydrate his throat. Grabbing the bar, he resumed his work with heavy grunts and deep breaths. Every rep he did burned more and more into his muscles, fueling his want to stop but he knew better than to listen to his body; he'll stop when he can't do it anymore.
His body was shaking as he completed the last rep he could, his energy had been officially emptied with the clack of the weights as they were placed down. "God damn…" He was stretching in the seat for the machine as the woman approached him. Kyu stepped back to observe how Michael would act, looking to see what he's learned from his interactions from yesterday.
"S'cuse me, are you almost done with this machine? I have one more set to jam out." Michael has been seeing this woman in the gym every time he and Haric were there, but it was strange that she had approached him, of course it was for the machine but his slight confusion still stood.
Michael lifted up a hand, asking for her to give him a sec as he peeled himself from the machine. "Yeah...I just finished…" He huffed out, clearing his throat to not make himself sound as tired as he actually was.
"Sweet, thanks so much..!" She said as Michael took his rag and wiped away the sweat that he had produced. Upon closer inspection of the woman, a pair of golden heart-shaped earrings hung visibly behind her black bangs.
"Come to think of it...I don't think I've ever met a woman who works out with earrings on." Michael mentioned. The lady turned to him with a look of confusion, arching an eyebrow.
"What..?" Reaching a hand up, she felt the jewelry hanging and her eyes widened slightly. "Oh shit..! I completely forgot about these, thanks for telling me." She pulled her earrings out and stuck them into the pockets of her shorts with a smile.
"No problem. Last thing you'd want is to get hurt." Michael commented. The woman grinned as she returned her eyes to him.
"Wouldn't say it any other way." Her eyes scanned him for a moment, her gaze riddled with curiosity. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." She said, explaining. "I like to think that I know the regulars here on a first name basis."
Michael tilted his head from side to side. "I tend to come here as often as I can, but my friend likes to pull me out and run or workout outside from time to time." He spoke, reaching up to brush some golden strands behind his shoulder. "He says it's to keep my body 'on its toes'." He held his hands up to form quotation marks.
"Really? I might've seen your friend earlier; long hair and tattoos? Haric's his name, right?" She asked. And she would be right, considering Haric had a pretty unmissable appearance with his combination of tattoos and long hair.
"Heh, I guess you weren't kidding about knowing the people here by their first names." Michael chuckled.
"Yeah, you could say that I'm a bit obsessed with this place." She giggled, rubbing the back of her head. Michael couldn't help but admire her passion to stay healthy.
"That's pretty good; during this day and age you don't really meet someone who wants to stay fit." Michael triggered something in the lady to just burst out.
"I know, right..?! People always wonder why they're getting health problems left and right..! Staying active can help those people so much..!" It was clear where her passion was, and Michael agreed with her sentiment. He knew very well what she was talking about considering how inactive his line of work is.
"So are you going to be doing anything else here?" She asked.
"Oh yeah," He answered. "I'm going to be heading to the yoga studio since Beli invited me to a class yesterday."
"Dude, trust me when I say that her classes are amazing; you never feel sore after one of those classes." She explained happily.
"I'll hold your word to it." His lips curled into a smile.
"Oh and by the way, my name's Kyanna." Now Michael had a name to put that beautiful face of her's. "Hope I'll be seeing you more often if Haric doesn't pull you out." She joked.
"I'm Michael." He responded, returning the joking smile that Kyanna had adopted. "And I'm sure that if I tell him that you'll be here, then he'll make an exception." He playfully winked. Kyanna laughed at his comment, smacking his arm.
"Glad to hear! Maybe I can ask you some time to be my workout partner; you could spot me on some of my lifts." Kyanna was extremely outgoing, taking Michael's flirts in stride with her own jokes and flirts. As they spoke, Michael couldn't help but notice Kyanna's mannerisms were rather tomboyish, especially with the way that she talked.
"I grew up the oldest of two brothers and three sisters, I guess that's what would happen, right?" She explained with a laugh, thinking of her family.
"Ohhhh. Makes sense; you gotta make sure your siblings don't get into trouble." Michael couldn't imagine being the oldest out of five; he could barely wrap his head around being the oldest of two.
"Yep. So what about you? You got any siblings?" She asked.
Michael reached back and scratched the back of his head as he remembered his brother, uttering a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I'm the oldest of two. My brother's a twin." He said. "My brother was born a minute after I was, so technically I'm the oldest. Despite that he's already got a wife and kid in Japan." The last sentence was what caught Kyanna's attention the most.
"Oh, you're an uncle..?" She asked. Since he was a twin, his brother was this young and already had a child, let alone a wife.
"Mhmm. Been one for two years now. I've only seen them through video calls though." As he explained, Michael noticed that Kyanna's gaze had softened and she looked more depressed than before.
"Hey, Kyanna. You okay..? You look like you're spacing out." Michael was a little concerned, was it something that he said..?
"Oh- No, I'm fine..! It's just…" She regained that soft stare she had just seconds ago once again. "Was your brother's wife's pregnancy...unexpected..?" She knew how intrusive it was to ask that question considering how they've only just met today, but she wasn't scared to ask. If Michael was uncomfortable he would tell her.
"Uhm...yeah, it was. He met this girl while studying abroad and they had a thing. He didn't want to leave her alone with the kid so he did everything he could to stay with her. Of course he needed a little help from the family and me, but he's doing fine now." His own eyes softened as he remembered how broken and distraught his brother sounded like over the phone.
"Whose choice was it to keep the child..?" Kyanna asked.
"It was the mom's choice. My brother shares the same sentiment as I do; it's the woman's choice whether or not to have the child. He has my respect for staying with her, even marrying her." Michael saw a wave a relief seemingly fly through Kyanna, like she was holding in a breath for ten minutes and now she released it.
"That's good…" She sighed in relief. "And I agree with you one-hundred percent. Strange to say it, but you don't really hear about people that share that outlook." Her smile slowly returned, which was a good sign for Michael.
"There's that smile." He pointed out. "It suits you better than a frown if you ask me." Kyanna laughed once again; she was back to normal. Her cheeks were a slightly brighter tone than regular, making Michael tilt his head.
"Oh, I didn't see that you were here already..!" A soft voice called to them from behind, catching their attention. Kyanna was the first to spot the holder of said voice, her lips curling into a toothy grin.
"Hey Beli..!" She waved. Michael turned around and loe and behold, there was the woman she saw on the beach yesterday, but instead of a yellow bikini she was dressed in a purple top and matching purple mesh pants. Underneath the mesh covering visibly was a small pair of shorts. A gold necklace hung loosely from her neck, along with a matching bracelet on her left wrist.
"Hey..! Almost didn't recognize you." Michael joked. He was almost serious if he didn't instantly recognize the gentle and clear tone her voice had. Aside from her purple clothing and golden accessories, Beli's hair also extended down to hang just above her butt.
"I'm happy to see the both of you." She happily said, closing her eyes with a smile. Turning to Michael, she maintained that smile as she asked "So Michael, are you ready to start? The world of yoga awaits..!"
Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose; better time than never, right?" He was a little nervous about how out of place he thought he would be. Kyanna was there to blow that haze of worry away when she grabbed his arm.
"Yeah we're ready! Let's go Michael, you can be next to me so you don't get lost!" Kyanna dragged the man to the studio as Beli followed close behind considering she was there to teach it.
The next hour Michael was subject to various kinds of stretches. Being an artist for so long, he was familiar with these movements due to using them for reference. His body was used to the traditional stretches like touching his toes and opening his chest, so participating in these movements himself revealed just how inexperienced he was in the world of stretching. Kyanna was beside him to help just in case he lost his balance, which he did a couple of times. Before he knew it they were done and the class had ended.
Michael was exiting the studio with a sigh. The soreness he had from his workout had disappeared halfway through the class since some of the stretches opened up his back, which was a plus for him.
"You did a pretty good job in there, dude..!" Kyanna cheered, giving Michael a slap on the back to congratulate him.
The slap had caught him by surprise as he felt the stinging pulsing mildly in his slightly less-sore back. "Thanks, Kyanna." He winced, reaching back to stroke where she slapped him. The next one to exit the studio was Beli, her bag in tow.
"So what did you think of the class?" She asked Michael. "You looked like you were struggling a little bit; it was good that Kyanna was there." She would comment, Michael returned an embarrassed grin to her.
"Yeah...although I almost ate the floor a few times, I really enjoyed it." He replied.
"I'm glad to hear that." She smiled. "Would that mean you'll be coming to the classes more?" Her question would be answered not by Michael, but by the energetic woman beside him.
"Of course he will!" Kyanna answered as she wrapped an arm around his torso and pulled him against her. "He said that Haric would make an exception if I was working out with him." She turned to Michael with an expectant look in her eye. All Michael did was nod his head, reaffirming what he said earlier.
"That's great to know..!" Beli exclaimed. "I'll be able to teach again the day after tomorrow since I have something to do. If you want I can give you my number to tell you when I'm going to teach." She suggested.
Hearing her say that sparked something in the love-fairy and Kyu popped back up and shouted at Michael to accept her offer. And like the man he was, he took his phone out and held it to Beli so she could add her number to his contacts.
As she was handing his phone back, Kyanna swooped in like a hawk and took it into her hands. "I'll give you mine too! That way I can pull you out whenever you're doing nothing." She told him as she punched her number in. All Michael could've done was just stand there, awkwardly watching as Kyanna punched her number and handed the phone back to him.
"Well, I'm gonna have to get going now. I bet you're busy too with being so popular, Michael." Beli giggled. Michael could feel his cheeks heating up at the tease before he smiled back at her.
"What can I say..? It just happens sometimes." He shrugged. With a wave of her hand, she said her farewells and was on her way to continue her day.
"See ya Beli!" Kyanna waved.
"Buh-bye." Michael waved as well. Now that his workout and yoga had ended, all he needed to do now was take a shower and throw on some different clothes. Stepping out of the locker room after freshening up, he was stopped by Kyanna once again.
"Hey Michael..!" She walked up to him, bottle of water in hand. "You're finished for the day?" She asked.
"Yeah. I'm gonna be going around the city taking some scenic pictures." He responded. Kyanna had a hand on her hip while she nodded, showing interest.
"That's cool, that's cool…" She sounded awkward, as if something had her hooked up. "Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for earlier; I got a little bit too nosy and wanted to apologize."
"I don't see a problem, Kyanna." Michael responded. "Your questions showed that you cared about someone that you don't even know; that alone shows a lot about you." His tone had reassured the woman that was peering at the floor as he spoke.
"Really..? That's good to know." Her smile returned, and in turn her energy. "Alright I won't be keeping you. Better take some good photos for me." She said as she lightly jogged back towards the weight room before turning around like she forgot something.
"And don't forget-" She called out. "I'm serious about pulling you out if you're being lazy!"
"I'm sure you are!" Michael replied. Judging from how she conversed with him he could tell that she was serious about what she said. He already had Haric to worry about unexpectedly pulling him out, he didn't need another one; although Kyanna could very much be an exception…
Tuesday, Scenic Overlook, Afternoon
After dropping his gym clothes and bag at home, Michael grabbed his camera that he kept in a drawer and stepped out. This time he was wearing the appropriate footwear; wanting to avoid hurting his feet again like he did yesterday when he was strolling towards the beach.
His camera was cradled firmly in his hands, a strap wrapped around his neck as a failsafe in the case he were to lose his hold on the device somehow. It was relaxing to just go out and snap some photos, especially in a city as expansive and full of wonder like Glenberry. The city had much to offer from its menagerie of hiking trails to the enchanting displays at the city's botanical garden; there was always something to enjoy. For today, Michael had taken the high-road, literally, as he was standing at one of the highest spots in Glenberry; known to the locals simply as the Overlook.
The Overlook had a path paved with wooden walkways, staircases and metal handrails. It was only the afternoon so Michael had no need for them, but tall lamp-poles stood on either side of each flight of stairs that he climbed, ready to illuminate the night when it inevitably arrived. The walk up towards the top was easy enough for most people, and the view was worth the praise the locals give it.
The entirety of the city could be seen from the peak of the Overlook; everything from the brilliant ocean at Turtle Bay Beach to the bustling University Campus was visible to Michael as he stared through his lens, snapping pictures of the cityscape before him. Thankfully the Sun wasn't low enough to obscure his vision, especially since the Overlook faced the direction where the yellow orb set; enabling people to view a gorgeous sunset at a moment's notice. Those were moments why Michael took up photography as a hobby.
Drawing has always been Michael's passion, but due to how sedentary his career choice was he needed another excuse to go out besides going to the gym, and now going out and getting girl's numbers.
Now that the two were alone, Michael could freely speak to the love-fairy without getting weird looks from passersby. "Hey Kyu?" Michael spoke out as he fiddled with settings on the camera.
The pink-haired fairy popped up on a nearby bench, watching the man play with his camera. "What's up?" She then noticed where they were, her eyes scanned the horizon before letting out an impressed whistle. "Woooow. You can see everything from up here; this a place you're thinking about taking someone?" She teased. The thought did pass his mind a few times as he was up there; what if he were to take someone like Aiko or Beli up there..?
He shook his head, remembering what he wanted to ask the fairy before she brought up the thought of dating. "So you've had multiple clients right? You've talked about turning your average-Joe into a dating god; who was the most awkward?" Taking his focus away from the photo-taking for a moment to look at Kyu, he revealed his curiosity by merely making eye contact with the fairy.
"Mmmmh you know...I haven't really thought about it…" She laid back against the bench, letting the warmth of the wood swim through her skin as she scoured the messy drawer of a mind in search of an answer.
Michael was patient, even going so far as to lower his camera and let her take her time. She bounced her foot whilst she hummed until finally something popped up, a grin appearing on her face. "Oh boy, now I remember someone…" and then her story began. It was interesting for Michael to hear her experiences; since she was of a species he had previously thought were nonexistent he was curious to what kind of stories and interactions she had with other humans.
Kyu continued to talk and talk, her stories slowly pulled Michael's attention away from the photogenic cityscape before them until he was just sitting on the top step of the nearby staircase and listening to her spiel. He was sure by how much she was spouting that none of her other clients wanted to know about her and her past experiences, so he let her keep talking. He was enjoying it.
"-And then the guy wound up getting pepper sprayed; he played his cards so bad with that MILF, and it doesn't help that she was an ex-cop too." She giggled. Michael was enjoying the tangent Kyu had taken the both of them on; each story she told branched into another until an hour had passed them by along with plenty of laughs and inquiries on decisions long since made.
"Which reminds me of this girl that wanted to get with a professor…" and there she went again, branching down another path littered with sex and awkward pickup lines. There was something in her story that reminded him of someone...a professor…
Reaching down to his phone, he scrolled through his contacts and found her name; Aiko. Selecting her name, a window popped up revealing all of her information; it was still something he needed to get used to considering how stalker-ish that made him feel. Her location showed that she was on the University's campus, which made sense since it was a Tuesday. He remembered how much Aiko disliked having to leave for class, so a thought popped into his head that maybe he should swing by the campus and say hey.
Popping up from his seat, Kyu's story-telling had abruptly ended once Michael stood up. "What's up? Gonna go on the hunt?" Kyu joked, noticing the man dusting off his pants of anything that had made its way onto his legs.
"You can say that; I'm heading to the campus to pay Aiko a visit." Michael explained, facing Kyu with a grin for her to come along with him as he returned his vision forward and started bouncing down the stairs. Kyu had no choice but to follow him on his way to the University, but the thought that Michael wanted her to join him spoke something to her. She floated alongside him as normal, sweeping by men and women alike as Michael strolled to the campus, checking his phone now and again to make sure that Aiko was still where he last saw her.
Tuesday, University Campus, Afternoon
The time it took for Michael and Kyu to reach the campus was no different than if he were to be going to the gym, or to the bar. Kyu bantered with the man but didn't get many responses in return; probably due to the fact that he was conscious of her being invisible to everything but him, and that talking to her would make him look strange, if not crazy.
As they approached campus Michael spotted the dark-haired professor speaking with a familiar figure he saw in the gym talking with Kyanna earlier; she was still wearing the same clothing she had on when she was in the gym.
"I guess it's a uniform." Michael said as he strolled onto the campus. This was Michael's first time on the property and now that he was there his guess was proven right as everywhere he looked all the students wore the same clothes; a white top with checkered sleeves, the girls had a ribbon tied around the collar whilst the boys had a red tie. Whilst the girls had to wear a plaid skirt and white thigh highs, the guys wore a pair of plaid pants.
"Yep, and a small one at that-you see how short that skirt is..?! That school-girl uniform is pretty on the nose, don't you think?" Kyu had a point. The skirt was high enough to barely hide the woman's backside, but if a more voluptuous figure were to fill that uniform then the fabric would be as effective as a water pistol in a firestorm.
"You've got a point there; who comes up with these uniforms anyway?" Michael asked, getting a shrug from Kyu in return. Whether the question was serious or to fill empty space, it didn't matter as the love-fairy had her eyes trained on the blond girl.
"With or without the uniform, this girl's pretty cute. And she's a blondie too so that's bonus points right there." Michael arched an eyebrow at her statement, turning his emerald hues on her.
"So you're saying you like blonds?" He asked.
Kyu tilted her head from side to side, "Mmmaybe. You're an exception; I approached you because you looked boring and needed my help, not because you've got blond hair."
"Ah- I didn't ask if you came up to me if I had blond hair; I just asked if you liked blond hair." He smirked, he had her there. Curse him for formulating a question to confuse the lust-driven fairy!
"Oh shut it you!" She smacked his arm rather hard, making him rub it as he chuckled, the stinging quickly disappearing as she crossed her arms and made Michael turn his attention back to the school-girl.
"Anyways- this is your CLASSIC girl-next-door situation. She's nice so don't say anything weird or some shit; just don't scare her off and don't be afraid to take a chance with what you say either!" She nudged Michael forward now, disappearing like before to watch him.
The nudge was enough to get the man moving once more. He only had a limited amount of time before he was in front of her so this was his only chance to cook up something to say to the girl.
"Hey, excuse me miss..!" He called out to the girl and thankfully he was audible enough to get her attention.
"Oh..! Can I help you with something..?" She asked. Her eyes were a deep blue like the ocean's as they gazed up at the significantly taller man's eyes.
"I was wondering, do you know where the staff building is..?" At first he was going to ask where the student union building was, but he had plans to give Aiko a visit in a bit so he figured he might as well get a scope of the area.
"I sure do; I know this place like the back of my hand." She started, her lips quickly curling into a smile that glowed with youthful energy. "So you would need to keep going this way, and once you reach the fountain you take a right; the building should be right there." She explained it clear enough that even a child could find where it was.
"Great..! Thanks a bunch." Michael nodded his head, moving so that he could start making his way towards that direction, seeing Aiko making her way down that path earlier. The girl quickly stopped him with a question, catching his attention once again.
"Hey, I haven't seen you on campus before. Are you starting this semester..?" She asked. Kyu said to not be afraid to take a risk so he might as well come out of the corner swinging.
"Really, you haven't seen me here before..?" Michael asked back, arching an eyebrow in faux curiosity.
"Nope; I'm all over the campus so I'm sure I should've seen your face at least once." She sounded confident in her response.
"Well in actuality, I teach some of the art classes here. I've been hearing word that the girls are referring to me as 'Professor Handsome'." His accent added a slight flare to his flirt.
"C'mon give me a break..!" She giggled. "Stop teasing me..!" She jokingly whined.
"So am I holding you up from getting to class..? I don't want to be much of a bother to you." As soon as Michael's words came out, the girl waved her hand to dismiss his worries.
"Don't worry about it, I'm all done with my classes for now." She spoke, removing any cause for him to worry. Until he focused more on her face as she introduced herself. "My name's Tiffany by the way. It's nice to meet you." Her eyes glittered in the sunlight. "You seem like a pretty cool guy; maybe I'll see you around campus?" She asked.
Michael shook his head when she asked, breaking him from his thoughts for now. "O-Oh, yeah. You might see me around here every now and again…" He couldn't wrap his head around it; why did Tiffany look so familiar to him? It was like he's seen her before, but where..?
His stare didn't go unnoticed, making Tiffany look at him strangely. "Hey, you okay there Mister..? You've got a weird look going on." She tilted her head, Michael quickly shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts.
"What- No..! I-I'm fine…" He was met with a questioning gaze from the student for a moment.
"You know you still haven't given me your name…" She mentioned, urging Michael to introduce himself.
"Sorry about that..! Just had something on my mind." He started, rubbing the back of his head. "My name's Michael. It's nice to meet you as well, Tiffany." He bowed his head a little, his blond vines swaying back and forth as he leaned his head back up.
"Michael...I'll remember that..!" She beamed before going asking him a question. "So I saw that you were looking a little...off a second ago. Do you do any...drugs..?" She asked. Michael couldn't understand where that question sprouted from; was his stare that strange to the girl? Were his eyes wide, or was he biting his nails and he didn't notice..?
"Err, no. At least, not anymore." He started.
"You used to?" She asked. Michael looked like a relatively clean guy; clear skin, fine voice and well-kept hair revealed no signs of substance abuse.
"Yeah. My life was stressful two years ago and I tried out smoking…" He admitted. It looked like that was a bit of a subject for Tiffany as she winced at his response.
"Really..?" Was what she could muster for the moment before he responded.
"Yeah; it was a hard time in my life and I felt I was a bit lost. Luckily it didn't grow on me and I put out my last cigarette after two months. My friend was there to replace that smoking habit with working out and I haven't looked back." Michael's voice had softened for a moment when he told her, her soft gaze falling back to him as he finished.
"Wow, your friend must be pretty happy that you stopped after two months…" She sounded almost jealous of that fact; catching herself, she tilted her voice so it sounded more relaxed. "My friend Audre got me to try some stuff at one point. It wasn't really my thing." She commented, making Michael huff with a grin reforming on his face.
"Yep, the moral of the story is don't do drugs." He joked, waving his finger like a teacher would to a delinquent student. His wagging finger was met with a giggle. Taking his phone out, Michael checked to see where Aiko had gone which still said University Campus.
"Have to go?" Tiffany asked. Michael tucked his phone away and nodded his head.
"Yeah, there's someone I need to talk to around here." He spoke. She saw that his eyes were moving from her and then to the direction towards the staff building, that's when her professor had come to mind.
"Are you going to talk with Ms. Yumi..?" She was sharper than he had thought; not that he thought that she was dumb to begin with, he just didn't think that she'd read that much into him looking in the direction Aiko walked in.
"Oof, sharper than a knife." Michael jokingly pulled his finger up to his mouth. "Yeah, thought I'd swing by and say hey. I figured she might need a little pick-me-up to tackle the rest of the day." He explained, earning a nod of acknowledgement from Tiffany.
"And I just might get some answers to the quiz next week." Michael had completely made that up, but Tiffany's eyes widened immediately after hearing that.
"There's a quiz next week..?! But we just finished an exam earlier..!" She started to panic as she began dragging her index finger around her palm, drafting up a schedule for herself.
"Hey hey..!" Michael grabbed her hand and clutched it in both of his, holding it up and getting her attention. "It was a joke; I don't even know what subject she teaches." Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief as Michael released her hand, her other hand resting on her chest.
"Jeez, don't get me all antsy like that..!" She puffed her cheeks out in a small huff. "Physics is already a little challenging for me as it is…" She said.
"Damn, sorry to hear about that. If I could tutor you I would." He spent most of his time studying art more than he did physics although he needed to take physics class in freshman year of college, so he felt he'd be more of a detriment for her than a help anyway.
"What makes you say that? If you could tutor me you would?" She asked.
"Well, I took a class of it when I was still in college, but I don't know how much knowledge I've kept. If any." He stated.
"Our exam was on the conservation of momentum…" She spoke. That was when a smell well in his mind was opened and he was giving her a small lesson on physics from what he's remembered, which was surprisingly a lot of stuff. It got to the point where Tiffany had taken her phone out and was typing down notes on everything he was explaining, nodding her head as she typed. Not even half an hour had passed and many questions were solved within that time frame.
"Wow...It all feels so much clearer since you explained it like that." Tiffany scrolled through her notes, re-reading everything as Michael chuckled. Out of everything in college that he remembered, how was it that physics was one of the survivors?
"I'm glad that it made things clear for you. Now, I gotta get going. I wanna find Ms. Yumi before classes start again." Michael said as he tried to step away, only to be stopped by Tiffany once again.
"Sorry, just one favor I wanna ask you before you leave..!" She said as he was just about to start walking.
"What's up?" He quickly spoke. She made a gesture that all the other women he's met before did; she held her hand out.
"Could I see your phone? I wanna give you my number in case I have any more questions." She was so polite about asking to give her his number too.
"Wouldn't it be better to just use the books, or the internet..?" He asked in return.
"I would, but I feel they won't explain things as good as you do." The compliment was enough to urge Michael into pulling out his phone, handing it to the college student who quickly tapped in her number.
"Okay, I'll let you get going now. Enjoy the rest of your day..!" She waved her goodbye to Michael as he tucked his phone away, knowing full well that Kyu was fist pumping somewhere he didn't see.
"See you around..!" Michael waved as well before making his way down to the path Tiffany had specified.
Wow...things have been getting rather interesting ever since Kyu had entered his life. First it was meeting and getting Aiko's number, then Beli's, then Jessie...hell, he's gotten more numbers in the last two days than he has in the last year! Things had finally brightened up this man's life of 'wake up, work, eat, and sleep'. And to be frank, he was pleased about it a little bit…
A/N: And so concludes the 4th chapter! I hope that you guys are enjoying the story so far. We're approaching the end of introducing the starting girls, but that doesn't mean I won't include the bonus ones like Celeste and Venus! They'll just come later into the story!
In other news, I'm currently transitioning between jobs so I might be a little late on uploading chapter 5, but I will do my best to get it to you all as soon as I can! Hope you all have a good day/night and be well!
