A Liar's Truth [UNDER FINAL REVISION]

Ch 26: After flirting like that?!

Third person point of view 

They crossed the dorm threshold exactly as the clock struck six.

Their lungs were on fire. Their shoes were caked in dust. Their faces—sweaty disasters.

Korosensei blinked at them from the front lobby, sipping a tea. His smile was polite, but his tone was amused. "Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?" 

"We're here on time!" Nakamura declared, hands on her knees as she panted.

"Technically," Korosensei hummed, then gave a little wag of his tentacle. "You're safe. But if I see so much as one second past the clock tomorrow, I'll have to speed-clean your rooms at Mach 20~"

Groans. Actual groans.

Ginka didn't even respond—she just collapsed face-first into the nearest couch in the dorm lobby.

"I'm spent." She mumbled into the cushions. All her stamina depleted from all the activities throughout the way. 

"Perhaps you'd like to wash up before crashing out right here, Asano-san." Kanzaki suggests with a polite giggle. 

"Five minutes.." 

A bottle of cold barley tea suddenly touched her cheek, "Rough day?" 

She caught it and sat up with a sigh, brushing her bangs from her face. "You think? We ran from one end of town back here in five minutes flat. What about you guys?"

Karma plopped down beside her, arms resting on the back of the couch. "Oh, not much. Got into a little fight. Kayano-chan and Kanzaki-san got kidnapped."

Ginka choked on her drink, "I'm sorry, they what—" In a flash, she was off the couch and gripping both girls' shoulders in a vice grip. "Are you serious?! Are you okay?? Are you hurt??"

Kayano and Kanzaki blinked rapidly as Ginka hovered over them like a panicked nurse who just found her patients walking post-surgery.

"We're okay, seriously!" Kanzaki said quickly, hands raised in defense.

"If anything, you look like the one who ran from a kidnapper here." Kayano added, eyeing the exhaustion in Ginka's pale face.

"They got rescued," Karma leaned his chin on one hand, watching her fuss with a crooked little smile. "We're not that useless."

"Yeah," Sugino chimed in from the hallway, wiping sweat from his brow. "Nagisa-kun planned the whole move. Korosensei backed us up. It was messy, but we got 'em out fine."

After dinner and their respective chaotic adventures, the group scattered around the hotel facilities to unwind. Some naturally drifted toward the table tennis room, where things got competitive fast.