Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 98 - 99 | Good Weather After a Long Rain

I left the empty classroom and started walking. No real destination in mind. Just needed to move instead of staring at quest timers that kept counting down like a bomb nobody else could see.

Building B was mostly admin offices and conference rooms. Quiet. The kind of quiet that felt expensive, like the silence itself cost money to maintain. My footsteps echoed off polished floors that probably got cleaned three times a day by people who made more than most provisional heroes.

I turned a corner near the stairwell and walked straight into someone carrying a stack of papers.

Papers went everywhere. Floated down like defeated surrender flags.

"Shit. My bad."

Aurora Fitzgerald sat on the floor surrounded by what looked like committee reports. Her dark hair had those gold highlights catching the overhead lights. Green eyes looked up at me, startled.

"I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going and—"

"You’re apologizing for me walking into you?"

"I should have been paying better attention to—"

"I literally crashed into you. Stop making this your fault."

I offered my hand. She took it. Her palm was warm, her grip solid. The kind of handshake that belonged to someone who actually trained instead of pretending.

She stood up and immediately started gathering papers. I crouched down to help.

"You really don’t have to—"

"It’s my fault they’re on the floor. Just let me help."

We worked in silence for maybe thirty seconds. Her movements were quick, organized. Everything got sorted back into neat stacks without her even looking. Muscle memory from someone who spent a lot of time dealing with paperwork.

"Free period?" I asked.

"Student council prep work. I’m not actually on the council, but Cheon helps coordinate hero club activities and they need someone to deliver these to—" She stopped. "Sorry. That was way more information than you asked for."

"Nah, it’s good. Means you’re not rushing off somewhere."

"I have about forty minutes before my next class."

"Same."

I handed her the last stack. Our fingers touched for a second. The contact sent a small pulse through the drain. Not strong. Just enough to register. Her Essentia felt bright. Clean. Like standing in good weather.

She pulled her hand back and adjusted the papers against her chest. The movement made her uniform shift. The blazer sat open, the white shirt underneath pulled tight across curves that the academy’s tailoring department probably had nightmares about fitting properly.

Not as dramatic as Hae-Won’s proportions. Not as deliberately displayed as Mera’s confidence. Just Aurora being Aurora, which somehow made it worse because she clearly had no idea.

"I got lost on the road of life for a second there. Sorry for the collision."

She laughed. Genuine and surprised. "Did you just quote Katashi?"

"Maybe."

"That’s such a bad line."

"Worked though. You laughed."

"That doesn’t mean it was good."

"Didn’t say it was good. Said it worked."

She shook her head but she was smiling. The kind of smile that probably made Nolan forget his own name on a regular basis.

"I should get these to the office."

"Nolan waiting for you somewhere?"

The smile flickered. Just for a second. "He has Applied Physics this period."

"So you two must be close."

Her cheeks went pink. "No! Nothing like that. We’re just good friends."

"Sure."

"We are!"

"If you say so."

"I’m serious. We’ve known each other since prep year but that’s all it is. Just friends."

She said it too fast. Defended it too hard. The kind of overcorrection that screamed the exact opposite.

Interesting.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. Watched her hold those papers like they were a shield between us.

"Well. If you’ve got nothing to do after dropping those off and I’ve got nothing to do for the next forty minutes, want to grab coffee?"

She blinked. "Coffee?"

"Yeah. That thing people drink when they’re tired or want an excuse to sit somewhere."

"I know what coffee is."

"Then the question stands."

She looked at me. Really looked. Her eyes tracked the marks on my neck, the way I was standing, something in my expression I couldn’t name. Whatever calculation she was running took longer than expected.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to get coffee with me?"

"Because I’m bored and you seem like decent company."

"That’s it?"

"What other reason would there be?"

"I don’t know. You barely know me."

"We’re in the same homeroom. Same Hero Studies class. I’ve seen you shoot photon beams out of your fingers at training dummies. That’s more than I know about half the people here."

"Still."

"Still what?"

"You walk around with Mera and Hae-Won like you own the place. People talk about you constantly. Now you want to get coffee with me and I’m just supposed to assume it’s because you’re bored?"

"You’re overthinking this."

"Am I?"

"It’s coffee. Not a marriage proposal."

"I know that."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"There isn’t a problem."

"Great. Coffee?"

She shifted the papers again. Her nail beds had that faint crystalline quality her Essentia gave them. Permanent modification from her palms. The orbs embedded there probably pulsed when she was nervous.

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But just coffee."

"What else would it be?"

"I’m just clarifying."

"Consider it clarified."

We walked toward the main office. She dropped off the papers with some administrator who looked thrilled to have more paperwork to process. Then we headed toward the campus café that served overpriced drinks to students who thought caffeine could replace sleep.

The walk took maybe five minutes. Aurora kept a careful distance between us. Not hostile. Just aware. Like she was waiting for me to do something that would confirm whatever theory she’d built in her head. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"So," she said finally, "those marks on your neck really from training?"

"That’s what I told Nolan."

"That’s not an answer."

"Sure it is."

"A real answer."

"Training covers a lot of activities."

"Rome."

First time she’d used my name directly. It came out softer than expected. Almost amused.

"What?"

"You know exactly what I’m asking."

"Do I?"

"Yes."

"Then you already know the answer."

She bit her lip. "I shouldn’t have asked. That was rude."

"Wasn’t rude. You’re just direct."

"Is that a compliment or criticism?"

"Haven’t decided yet."

We reached the café. The lunch rush was over but there were still enough students scattered around to make the space feel occupied. Most of them looked up when we walked in together. I heard whispers start immediately.

The coffee here was garbage but it was hot garbage, which made it marginally better than nothing. I ordered black. Aurora got some complicated thing with vanilla and foam that probably cost twice as much.

We found a table near the windows. The afternoon light came through at an angle that turned her hair into actual gold in places. She sat across from me and wrapped both hands around her cup like she needed something to hold onto.

"Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Just did."

"A real question."

"Go ahead."

"What’s your deal?"

"My deal?"

"Yeah. Titan gives you her personal number. You’re walking around with two girlfriends. You’ve got abilities nobody can explain. Everyone’s talking about you constantly. What’s your actual deal?"

I took a sip of terrible coffee. "That’s a big question."

"I’m genuinely curious."

"Why?"

"Because you don’t act like anyone else here."

"That a bad thing?"

"I haven’t decided yet."

Fair.

I leaned back in my chair. "My deal is I’m trying to graduate top five so my father doesn’t give the company to my sister. Everything else is just logistics."

"That’s it?"

"That’s it."

"And the girlfriends?"

"What about them?"

"How does that work exactly?"

"They are my good friends."

"That’s not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

She looked down at her cup. Her thumbs traced the ceramic edge. "Don’t you feel guilty?"

"About what?"

"Having two people at the same time. Doesn’t that feel like you’re cheating on both of them?"

"Only if someone’s getting lied to. Nobody’s getting lied to."

"But you’re still with two people."

"Yeah."

"At the same time."

"That’s generally how it works."

"And they’re okay with that?"

"Ask them yourself if you don’t believe me."

"I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I’m just trying to understand how that’s supposed to work long term."

"Why do you care?"

The question came out sharper than I meant it. She looked up. Those green eyes met mine and held.

"Because I don’t understand people who can just do that without feeling something about it. Without guilt or conflict or anything."

"Who said I don’t feel anything?"

"Do you?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

I took another sip of garbage coffee. "I feel like I’m managing a situation that would’ve exploded in my face if I’d tried to keep it hidden. I feel like I’m being honest with people who deserve honesty. I feel like this is working better than any alternative I could’ve chosen."

"That’s very practical."

"You say that like it’s an insult."

"It’s not. Just different from what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I don’t know. Someone more... predatory, I guess."