The GATE Academy [Please read description]

Chapter 25: Dead On Arrival

"Hehe, I can't say I didn't see something like this coming!" I heard Riku pipe cheerily as I began to wake up.

Around my waist was Faith's arm and around my legs was Faith's right leg. So she ended up doing funny stuff after all.

Iris, who was standing at the door with Falen, Mizu, Koneko, and Ake, pitched in.

"You're right, Riku, I'd say that they need to get a room, but it seems like they already got one," she said, crossing her arms.

I blinked away my sleepiness and looked up at the group of my friends and then down at Faith's arm. Faith stirred in her sleep and adjusted her grip on me.

"I told her not to tr-" I was interrupted by Falen.

"Shh, Shizuo, you wouldn't want to wake up your girlfriend now, would you??" Falen laughed after her rhetorical question.

I slid out of Faith's grip and stood up from the bed. She must've been a light sleeper because she woke up with a start and looked up at me. Wordlessly, she got up from the bed, grabbed my right hand with her left, and kissed me on the cheek.

She stepped away from me and walked towards the door, our friends that were there parting for her. She stopped in the door way and looked back at me.

"C'mon Shizuo, let's go, the plane stopped already, didn't it?" She told me, acting cute by winking after her question.

She turned back around and left the room, Iris, Mizu, and Falen following after her.

I was truly at a loss for words.

Riku came up to me and set a hand on my shoulder, "Well, my friend, I think we both know that she wants you."

"Yeah... Something like that..." I replied slowly, still semi-stuck in a loss-for-words state.

Ake walked further into the room and looked at my, smiling nervously, "Shizuo, I think Faith really likes you..."

Ake's innocence broke my daze and looked down at him, smiling with confidence, "Of course she does."

"Oh, ok..." Was all Ake said in response as I began walking out of the room, the two of my friends following behind. Everybody, including Keita and Satsujin, was already filing out of the plane with their bags in hand so I grabbed my bags and waited for Riku and Ake to grab their things and exit before me.

We had walked out onto a runway at LAX, a huge airport in Los Angeles, California. The scenery surrounding the airport was different than I was used to on the island, but it wasn't the first time I've been to LA. Argus had instructed us that our destination was walking distance away from the airport and gave us the address:

Dead On Arrival Records Shop.

The abandoned records shop on the outskirts of the city seemed to have a fitting name for being an entrance to the Underworld.

After going through the airport, we were greeted by the life of LA, which, in comparison, wasn't too different from Arcadia. Sure, there were more tall buildings, but for the most part, everything seemed strangely familiar.

As we walked down one of the main streets, Faith walked up besides me.

"Oh Shizuo, these bags are really just wea-"

I took Faith's duffel bag from her and placed it on my other shoulder.

"No need to make excuses, Faith."

Behind me, Falen had similarly tried to do the same with Mizu.

"Nu uh," I heard Mizu tell Falen, "You're a big girl, and big girls carry their own things!"