"Oh..!" Lance quietly exclaimed, looking a little surprised, and nervous. "Oh..?" Anna thought to herself, looking at the gunner. She followed his gaze, and spotted a high school. A blonde girl turned her look, and seemingly opened her mouth excitedly. "LANCE!" yelled the female student, running quickly towards the group. And in no time at all, she reached her target. "How are you, Lance?" She asked, tackling him into a hug. "Wha-?!" Anna blubbered in shock. Who is this girl that suddenly hugged Lance, And how close can She be to be able to do this? "H-Hikari! Don't jump into people like that!" Lance sweatdropped, turning slightly red. Hikari giggled, and didn't let go. "Ah… Hikari is her name…" Anna mumbled to herself. The blonde student looked to her right, seeing the archer. This seemed to have shocked her a bit. "Oh! Hello, my name is Hikari! Who are you?" She cheerfully asked the green-haired girl. Anna acted a little bashful as she was surprised by the sudden question. "I-I'm Anna, Pleased to meet you..!" She ended with a smile. Hikari smiled too, and looked back at Lance. She let go of him, and looked at the entire group. "So… You're new at the team..?" The student asked Anna. The archer nodded in response. "Yeah, She's been with us for about a month now..!" Lance explained, before smiling. Hikari smiled, hearing his response. "You and Anna must be really close, then, huh..?" She looked at Lance. "Wha- W- Ah, I… I guess so…" The man stuttered, looking at his ranger teammate. "W-We're all friends, so…" Anna looked at away from the others. Hikari sighed, before hugging Lance's arm. "Anyway, nice to meet you, Anna!" She beamed at the girl. Anna rose her eyebow, before smiling.
"Well, what are you guys doing here..?" Hikari asked the others, still keeping hold of the gunner's right hand. "We just came back from a big adventure, and We wanted to rest somewhere. The desert was too hot for us, so we kept walking back to Anna's house. However, the sun already started to set, when We were still just here at Whitefall, so we decided to just stay here. The cold is more tolerable than the intense heat, anyway…" Natalie explained continuously. Matt sweatdropped, realising how long their adventure really was. "Hey, we were going to the pub first, remember?" The pirate looked at the others with shining eyes. "Yeah, we will!" Lance looked at the other two females. Natalie sighed, hearing this. They DID promise to do this, after all. "Fine, we'll go…" Natalie mumbled. The two males looked over at Anna this time. "I guess She's really close to Lance..?" The archer thought to herself, looking at Hikari. "Um… Anna?" Lance called out his friend's name. "A-Ah! Y-yeah..?" She asked, looking at the red-haired boy. "We will go there, right?" Matt asked. Anna looked at the two with a confused face. "Uh… What were we talking about..?" Anna sweatdropped. She wasn't really listening to them. Lance laughed, looking back at Anna. "We were going to the pub" He grinned. "Oh! Yeah, we will" The archer nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "Alright!" Matt cheered.
"Are you sure you're allowed to stay with us, till night?" Anna asked Hikari as the group entered the pub. It was surprisingly not too crowded. "Yeah, I can stay till 10:00 PM, since my house is not too far away from here" The blonde girl explained. The archer nodded and entered the pub. The others followed her inside. "Actually, I wouldn't mind sleeping with Lance…" Hikari squinted her eyes and tightened her hug at Lance's arm. "Wha-?" The gunner exclaimed. "Not gonna happen" Natalie furrowed her eyebrows. "NO WAY!" Anna yelled, getting everybody in the pub's attention. Her teammates seemed the most surprised, including Hikari. Anna's cheek grew red seeing all the attention she's gathered. "Ahem… I mean Lance isn't really trustworthy…" She quietly explained, looking at another direction. The other people went back to doing their own businesses. "That's right…" Natalie nodded in agreement. Lance looked at the two girls with squinted eyes. "I wouldn't mind if he DID do something, though…" Hikari mumbled, but was loud enough for the others to hear. "Alright then you're definitely not gonna sleep with Lance" Natalie crossed her arms, while Anna nodded awkwardly. "ANYWAY! Lance, wanna have a drinking contest?" Matt changed the subject quite effectively. The gunner grinned after hearing his friend. "Let's Go!" Lance said, giving the pirate a thumbs up. "Ah, geez…" the two girls grumbled in union as Hikari laughed.
"ALRIGHT! Are you two ready?!" the barkeeper excitedly yelled. The two males looked at eachother with grins. The team had gathered quite a crowd, as the contest was to begin. "Ready!" Matt and Lance said in unison, before looking back down at their drinks. The barkeeper smirked, looking at the two. "GO!" He shouted, starting the contest. The crowd quickly cheered as they saw how quick the two were. Without even reaching half a minute, Matt and Lance already downed five cans. However, as a minute passed, Matt got a lead of two cans. "Ohh! The blonde guy got a lead of two!" the bartender announced, being followed by the cheers of the crowd. "GO LANCE!" Hikari cheered the gunner on. The other two girls looked with concern. This seemed extremely unhealthy. However, the cheer seemed to have helped, as Lance took a one bottle lead after another minute passed. The score was now already 17-18, even when only a couple of minutes came by. "The soldier took the lead! THESE GUYS ARE MONSTERS!" The barkeeper shouted again, getting followed by another wave of cheers. Natalie sighed at the sight. Anna glanced at the mage, before sighing, herself. "Hey Natalie…" The archer whispered, causing the girl to turn her head. "Yeah?" Natalie asked, crossing her arms. "Well, what is Hikari and Lance's relationship?" She asked, before looking away from her. "Wha..?" Natalie blubbered after hearing the question. "Uh… nothing, really…"
"They're not really in a relationship…" She added. Anna looked back at Natalie, looking a little surprised. "Why did you suddenly ask that?" Natalie laughed, looking at Anna. The archer gulped, before exhaling. "Well… they seemed close… I was just curious…" She explained with mumbles. Natalie rose her eyebrow, before giggling. "Lance is a pervert… but…" Natalie quietly said, looking at her two male teammates. Anna curiously followed her gaze. "He definitely won't just cling to another girl…" She looked back at the girl. "…When he already has someone as close to him as you…" Natalie smiled. "Eh?!" Anna squealed, hearing Natalie's words. "W-Wha… Wha-!" She stuttered around, unable to look at Natalie in the eyes. The mage giggled after seeing her friend's reaction. "It's true… I've noticed that he doesn't really look at other girls anymore, when you two started getting closer…" Natalie explained. "I can easily notice since… Well, he always used to stare at me…" She sweatdropped. Anna palmed her face while still looking on the wooden floor. "He definitely always looks at you now…" Natalie smiled, lifting the girl's chin up. Anna, who still had her eyes closed, sighed. Her face seemed to get even redder, though she opened her eyes. "…Really..?" Anna mumbled, looking Natalie directly in the eyes. Natalie nodded, not removing her smile. "I guess… I was worried…"
"TIME!" The barkeeper yelled, as his clock rang. Five minutes has passed, and the contest is over. "The winner is… THE BLOOONDE!" The barkeeper cheered, lifting Matt's arm. The crowd erupted with screams and cheers. The score stopped at 36-33, with the pirate leading by three. Natalie cheered along with the crowd, walking up to the boy. "Gaaahhh… I tried…" Lance chuckled, falling face-first to the table with a *THUD* "Lance!" Anna and Hikari exclaimed, seeing the gunner. The two rushed to the man's aid. "I-I'm fine… hehe" Lance grinned. "I'm just a bit dizzy…" He rested his head at the table, again. "You guys have fun…" His voice was a little muffled. Natalie sighed, looking at Anna and Hikari. "Lance is fine… He just needs a rest…" She explained at the two, looking back at Matt. "I'm fine!" The pirate smirked, putting his arm around Natalie's arm. "Let's go there!" Matt pointed at a table with four seats. Natalie blushed, feeling the boy's arm holding her waist. "L-let's go, girls…" She signaled the other two to come. Hikari sighed, before going with them. "I-I'll catch up..!" Anna replied, staying near Lance. The crowd slowly quieted down, until everybody disbanded, and went back to doing what they were doing before. "Your friends are insane!" The barkeeper laughed, looking at Anna. She awkwardly smiled, before looking back down at Lance. She seemed quite worried, even with Natalie's explanation. "Hmm? Why are you still here..?" Lance quietly asked after lifting his head. Anna looked at his face, and smiled. He was fine
"Well, sorry for being worried!" She jokingly rolled her eyes, earning a chuckle. "Just enjoy yourself. I'm just gonna rest…" Lance sighed, resting his arm at the table, where he rested his head. Anna frowned, sitting next to him. "I don't mind looking out for you, though…" She put her arm in his back, before slowly patting it. Lance chuckled again. "I'm not a child…" He grinned, then sighed… "…I'm so happy that you're here…" The gunner mumbled very quietly. Anna inaudibly opened her mouth in shock. Her face slowly turned back to being red, again. "W-what was that, Lance..?" The archer gulped before asking her teammate. Lance smirked, hearing her question. "It's nothing…" He looked at Anna with a smug face. Anna hid her pout, returning Lance's look. "Come on! You said something..!" She protested, shaking the gunner a little. After a few more seconds of silence, Lance showed his smirk again. "I know you heard me…" He leaned closer to the ranger, whispering these words. Anna whimpered, feeling a chill go down her spine. She couldn't help, but let out a small exhale of breath. Lance's smirk grew even wider, seeing such a reaction from the girl. Anna showed her pout, looking at the red-haired man with furrowed eyebrows. Her eyes started to shine, as if they were emeralds that glowed in the dark. "…pervert…" She mumbled, lightly pinching his ear. Lance just chuckled at Anna's reaction, and held her cheek. "Whatever" he slyly smiled. Lance caressed Anna's left cheek, which got redder and warmer. The two slowly looked at oneanother with smiles. They enjoyed eachothers' company very much, not wanting to separate. Anna felt her heart skip some beats, as Lance felt butterflies in his stomach. "It's probably the beer…" The gunner laughed to himself, still caressing the girl's cheek.
"So, you two were originally the only members of the team?" Hikari said in a surprised tone. "That's right!" Matt grinned happily at the student. Natalie nodded, sharing an equally happy smile. "Well, how exactly did you two meet..?" Hikari smirked, looking quite sly. "Ah!" Natalie exclaimed at the question. "It's a long story" Matt smiled and clasped, getting ready to narrate. "We met at a tournament called 'Brawl Royale'…"