Biohuman

Bling!

Lee Seng glanced at his phone in the locker. The noise of the locker room filled his ears. All of the guys were excited about the weekend. They could finally relax. Most of them were talking about a match that was going to happen later today. He hung the towel over his body as he pulled the phone out. His hair was still wet as he unlocked his phone.

Request for Excursion

'Oh, I guess they finally got around to it.' Lee Seng thought as he clicked the email. His eyes skimmed through the email. '...Your request has been accepted. Please keep in mind you must have your student IDs when you're leaving and entering the Academy district. Curfew hours are still in effect. Please come back before 10pm. Failure to comply with the rules will result in punishment and you won't be allowed to leave the district until said otherwise.'

Lee Seng grinned as he clicked his phone off and set it back in the locker. He continued to dry his hair before slipping on the rest of his clothes.

Lee Seng and Liz met up with Ritsuka in the same spot they'd always meet. Since it was getting colder, they'd meet near the entrance/exit they came through in the morning. Lee Seng sprung with each step as he and Liz found Ritsuka in the crowd.

"Why're you so happy?" Ritsuka asked. He had spotted them and made his way to them. Liz looked at Lee Seng and shook her head.

"I've been trying to ask him that the whole way here. He said, 'You should wait until we see Ritsuka.'" Liz turned with her arms folded into each other. They all wore winter coats. Ritsuka had a winter hat on while Liz had a hat and gloves on. Lee Seng stuffed his hands into his coat pockets to keep himself warm, which wasn't the hardest thing to do.

"We can go to the armorer tomorrow!" Lee Seng told them excitedly. Ritsuka and Liz didn't have much of a reaction. Lee Seng didn't like this and shook his friends. "We can go out tomorrow! Why aren't you two excited like I am about this?"

"It's not too hard to get out even with the added restrictions on the Academy after the invasion." Liz pushed Lee Seng's arm off of her. Lee Seng looked for Ritsuka for some kind of positive response but he simply gave a fake smile and Lee Seng quickly removed his hands, fake pouting that his friends didn't seem excited about this.

"I'm glad we can get outta this place." Ritsuka patted Lee Seng. "We've only been here barely a week, so I don't feel the excitement like you do."

"I've only been here a week too!" Lee Seng spoke very loudly. Liz rolled her eyes.

"We aren't as crazy as others are about this. If you think about it, we were in quarantine for a while and coming back to the Academy is way better than being stuck in those four walls for weeks." Liz told them. "But it would be nice to go out tomorrow. Change of scenery would be nice. I think my brain is still rotten from quarantining and learning."

"Fine." Lee Seng nodded. He started to move and his friends turned around and exited the Academic building with him. "Tomorrow will be a good day. I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do."

The Next Day

Lee Seng, Ritsuka, and Liz all met up near the lobby entrance. Liz wasn't available until 11am, so Ritsuka and Lee Seng decided to do their usual routine. They trained together, working on their teamwork against bots. Lee Seng wore a gray sweater and blue jeans with his usual shoes he liked to wear when he wasn't in his Academy school outfit. The puffy green coat over him with his hands stuffed in the pockets.

Ritsuka wore majority black, like usual. A white collar button-up with a black sweater, black pants, black shoes, black winter coat, black winter hat with red stripes on it and black mittens that were stuffed in one of his coat pockets. Ritsuka tapped away on his phone while he waited next to Lee Seng. Lee Seng hummed away to a Kpop tune. He would occasionally quietly start singing, catching Ritsuka's attention.

"You're not a bad singer." Ritsuka complimented him. Lee Seng looked over at him, stopping the tune at Ritsuka's compliment.

"Oh, thanks." Lee Seng smiled.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Liz rushed over. The two boys looked over at her. She was moving out of the hallway that had the staircase in the back. She wore a white turtleneck sweater with a tan lapel overcoat on top. She was in blue jeans and had black boots on. The two black pins stayed in the same spots in her blonde bob hair. She came to a stop, sucking in air as she leaned over.

"S'all good." Lee Seng and Ritsuka both said in unison.

"You aren't even late." Ritsuka commented. "You're on the dot."

"Early is on time, on time is late, and if you're late, why're you even here?" Liz quoted. She stood up, purple mittens in her hand.

"Ahh, that." Lee Seng nodded. "It's fine. We got plenty of time to hit the armorer and get something to eat. Whatever order fits for both of you."

"It is almost noon." Lee Seng glanced at his fancy watch. He had decided to switch his cracked school watch with one of his personal ones. It was a smart watch, so he had decided he would opt for it to be his replacement until he could afford an adventurer-grade smart watch. The blood puppet did a number on his watch and the cracks were getting frustrating. "We could grab lunch before we head to the armorer."

"Speaking of which, y'all feel like eating anything in particular?" Ritsuka asked, slipping his phone into his pocket.

"I'm craving Italian." Liz told them. Lee Seng looked at Ritsuka and shrugged.

"I'm fine with whatever. You're the driver." Ritsuka told him.

"Italian it is then." Lee Seng nodded.

"I know the exact place we're going then! You'll love it!" Liz clapped her hands together. The three walked out together, moving to the far side of the parking lot. Lee Seng had forgotten he had parked so far, but the sun was shining and there wasn't an ice-cold breeze blasting in their faces. Lee Seng unlocked the car and opened the driver's door and swung himself into the car. Liz opted for the shotgun seat and Ritsuka decided to let her have it. She was going to lead them to the Italian restaurant.

"Damn, you got a nice car too." Ritsuka wiped his finger across and noticed it wasn't as dusty as he thought it'd be. Lee Seng had spent some time making sure his car was cleaned and ran. Akali would kill him if she found out he was neglecting his duties as a 'driver.' His eyes immediately went to the front of the car.

The black car roared to life and the tablet systems turned on.

"You wanna pair your phone to the car?" Lee SEng asked.

"Uh, I can if you don't mind." Liz answered. LEe Seng nodded and grabbed the usb cord. She took it and plugged her phone in. The tablet screen lit up as she hit some buttons and inputted the restaurant.

"Giovanni's Italian Restaurant." Lee Seng read aloud.

"They have the best spaghetti ever. I'm already drooling thinking about it." Liz set her phone off to the side.

"Play whatever music you want too." Lee Seng shifted into reverse and slowly pulled out. He quickly shifted gears into first and started following the directions to the South gate.

"Do you drive manuals alot?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng glanced at his rearview mirror and nodded.

"I only drive manual because my sister made me drive manuals when I asked her to teach me how to drive." Lee Seng answered. "But I have another car in storage that's automatic. I usually drive that one, but opted for this car for school."

"Wow, flexin' all that money." Ritsuka leaned back into his chair. Lee Seng shook his head, trying to hide his smile.

"The bad boy from the media tries to keep up his appearances." Liz raised her eyebrows. They had come to a stop. Lee Seng shook his head as the light turned green and clutched into first gear.

"If you're gonna have an image, make it an image worth looking at." Lee Seng grinned. Ritsuka and Liz shuddered in cringe. They quickly made their way to the South gate. To Lee Seng's surprise, there were more cars than he expected. "I didn't think their would be this many people coming and going."

"Most of these people are probably guild students." Liz motioned as she scrolled through her phone. She was scrolling through her playlist for something to play. She wanted it to set the mood for their day out.

"I thought they just teleported." Lee Seng commented as he slowly rolled forward.

"Most of these people are probably going to Astro. Anywhere else, they would have to teleport to it." They slowly rolled to the front. Lee Seng rolled his windows down as he asked for their IDs. Liz collected Ritsuka's ID and handed it to Lee Seng.

"Hello, where are you three going?" The security guard asked.

"We're going to buy some armor and have lunch." Lee Seng told him. He handed the guard the IDs.

"Hold a moment." The guard scanned the IDs and looked at the barely visible screen in front of him. "Chang, Walt, and Yamada. Granted permission for excursion." The guard mumbled and stopped as he continued to read. He handed Lee Seng their IDs back, not even paying attention to Lee Seng as he took them back and divvied the IDs back out to their owners.

"Alright," the guard nodded, looking back at the three. "Have a safe trip. Come back before 10pm or else you'll be punished."

"Will do, sir." Lee Seng nodded. The guard motioned and the divider raised.