Chapter 339 New Year, New Me

The alarm blared as Lee Seng's eyes fluttered open. He reached for his phone and shut it off. He pulled the sheets off of him as he sat up. Manny and another voice groaned as Lee Seng stood up. Lee Seng moved into the bathroom and relieved himself.

He started his morning routine with a shower, brushing his teeth while in the shower as giggles reached his ears.

"Hmm, you're right about him. He didn't wake up or notice me at all." A female voice giggled as she stepped into that bathroom with Manny.

"He is my childhood friend, aha." Manny wrapped his hands around the girl. He gave her a kiss before resting his head on her shoulder. "Let's take a shower together."

Lee Seng ignored Manny and the girl as they entered the other shower stall and turned the water on. He finished this routine and dried himself off. He did his usual face routine and headed out of the bathroom and changed.

The number 11 sat on his right pec as he pulled boxers on and a white t-shirt. He dressed himself in his school uniform and shut the closet door after he finished. He sat on his bed, slipped his socks on and grabbed his things and moved to the door. He slipped on his shoes and turned to the bathroom.

"I'm leaving!" Lee Seng shouted. He didn't bother to wait for a response, leaving the dorm room. Lee Seng made his way to the elevator, hitting the button.

"Hey, Lee Seng!" Ritsuka called out. He turned and smiled.

"Hey, what's up?" Lee Seng asked, giving Ritsuka and Evan a wave.

"You excited? We get to move into the house this weekend!"

"It got finalized?" Lee Seng's eyes widened. Ritsuka and Evan began to nod furiously at him.

"Sure did!"

"I just can't believe it took that long for us to get a house." Evan complained. The door opened and the human Lee Seng with no tail or fox ears stepped into the elevator.

"What do you mean?" Lee Seng asked, leaning against the elevator railing behind him as Evan but the first floor. "We had holidays and are finally out of that."

"Yeah, it would be tough to secure a house around that time." Ritsuka agreed.

"If it got settled, we could've moved in before Christmas break but you were too busy, Lee." Evan nodded at him.

"So it's my fault they took their sweeeeeet time?" Lee Seng scoffed like his was hurt. The doors opened and they all got off.

"Hey, you guys! Over here!" Olivia waved. The boys met up with Liz and Olivia.

? "Is Manny coming?" Liz asked.

"He's still got a friend over." Lee Seng gave her a wink.

"I swear, how do you even handle all of that?" Liz asked as they started to walk to breakfast.

"I chill at Ritsuka's and Evan's lat night until it was time for me to go and then I snuck back into the room like I'm the one at fault. Thankfully, they're done and asleep by the time I come back." Lee Seng shrugged.

"I'm amazed you even let your best friend do that sort of a thing." Olivia shook her head.

"Lee!" A familiar girl's voice called behind them. Lee Seng turned to see Sara running towards him. A strand of hair in her face as she came to a stop. Lee Seng instantly smiled and greeted Sara with a wave.

"Hey, what's up? Why're you here? I thought you weren't coming to have breakfast with me today." Lee Seng kissed Sara and let her wrap a hand around his arm as they followed after his friends.

"Well, I just wanted to see my boyfriend today." She smiled. "How was resting with your dad? Is everything fine? Did they figure out why your power stopped working, yet?"

"Mmmm, they figured something out. Said I had a temporary power block."

"A power block? Doesn't that only occur when people put themselves under a huge amount of stress with their powers?" Sara asked. Lee Seng nodded as they entered the cafeteria.

"Mmmhm. I guess the Field Test in November must've been that bad." Lee Seng shrugged. The two moved to the regular cafeteria line and got in line.

"You still don't remember what happened?" Sara asked, concerned. Lee Seng shook his head. He didn't remember much. All he knew was he woke up in the lab. He was told he couldn't go back because he had been in a tragic accident.

"It's fine though. The memories will eventually come back, right? I just have to focus on getting back into using my powers, again." Lee Seng smiled. Sara smiled at him as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

The two got breakfast. Lee Seng piled a lot of food while Sara got a normal serving of breakfast. She was amazed that Lee Seng had a big appetite. She was worried he would overeat and gain weight but her boyfriend was pretty shredded.

Lee Seng had gained some weight due to not being able to do anything for a while. His body had been heavily injured and he had to go through physical therapy. Luckily for him, he didn't take long to get back to normal.

His dad did tell him he was always sturdy. He spent a lot of time focusing on physical therapy. Sara and Manny visited him lots and he remembered old feelings for Sara that seemingly came back over the break.

He had confessed to her a week before they came back to the Academy. Sara said yes and they made themselves official. His friends found out through social media and congratulated them.

"Come on, slowpoke." Sara motioned.

"I'm coming. I have to hold your tray, too." Lee Seng nodded at her. She giggled and led the way, grabbing their drinks. They moved to sit with the rest of the group.

"Oh, Lee Seng!" Olivia waved to catch his attention.

"Yeah?" Lee Seng looked at her as he set down both trays.

"How was your extended break, though? Are you sure you're fine? Did you do anything other than get with Sara?" Olivia gave a sly smile as the others jokingly giggled and made noises.

"Mmm, getting back into the swing of working out and training." Lee Seng shrugged. He pulled the chair for Sara and scooted her in when she sat. He pulled his backpack off and coat and set it on his chair before sitting down.

"How's the training and working out going?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng had a discomposed face.

"Well… It could be better. My brother and sister are too busy and didn't visit me at all… They were supposed to train with me but they got too busy after Christmas." Lee Seng sighed.

"Don't be sad, babe. It'll be fine. At least you're getting back into the swing of things." Sara tried her best to cheer him up. He slowly nodded and grabbed his fork and started to eat.

"Ah, well you and I could do some training if you want." Ritsuka offered. "I can help you get back into the swing of things."

"Mmm, sounds good."

"Yo, what's up everyone? How was your break?" Manny asked, setting his tray down and pulling off his coat and backpack. He hung them on the chair and pulled it and sat.

"It went well." Ritsuka answered. "My siblings came home so my Mom was excited about the children being together again."

"It was nice." Evan answered.

"My grandma missed me so much. It was so nice to see her again." Olivia smiled. "Wish we could've had another week. She wanted to spend more time."

"Family time was good." Liz agreed. "My folks wanted to see you but you were too busy doing things with Lee Seng, Manny."

"Ahh, sorry. I told you I might be busy." Manny put his hands together close to his nose, begging for forgiveness. Liz rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her food.

"It's whatever. It's the holidays so I didn't expect much."

"Any progress with you?" Manny looked at Lee Seng. Lee Seng gave him a weird look like he didn't know what he was talking about. A couple seconds went by and he began to nod.

"Oh! That!" Lee Seng said loudly. "Yeah, everything's alright. Just gotta take it slow. I informed the Academy about it already."

"You sure you'll be fine doing what you normally do? You just got out of physical therapy not too long ago." Manny asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine." Lee Seng brushed him off. "If I start to overexert myself, I'll let you or Sara know if anything happens."

"Alright." Manny nodded.

"Hurry up, Lee." Sara elbowed him. "You're gonna be late if you don't eat your mountain of food."

"I'm goin, I'm goin." Lee Seng nodded.

"Oh, did you guys know about Field test jobs?" Liz asked the group.

"What?" Evan asked.

"Field test jobs." Liz repeated herself. "Since we're a team now, we could go on jobs for training. They're Guild quests that the Academy has pulled to offer the students to do. It's just like the test in November but not as crazy. It could be good experience for everyone."

"Ooo, that could be fun." Olivia commented.

"We're technically a team now so it could happen." Ritsuka nodded.

"Shouldn't we wait until Lee is fully back to his normal self?" Manny asked.

"Mmm, we don't have to do it now. It's an option I've been wanting to test ever since I heard about it." Liz explained. "Lee Seng should get back into the groove of things and then we can try."