“Oh, wait, is it… that?” A tree a small distance away from the academy was probably the thing Natalie was referring to. A massive tree about 116 meters tall (380’6), creating a nice round shadow one could use for sitting there and just relaxing. “That tree, we used to always go there after finishing class and played board games, talked, and sometimes we shared a few snacks.”. “Heh, yeah! I’m glad you remember Matt! So I wanted to relieve those times together, what do you say? I got a few things in my pocket dimension. A portable chess board, checkers, and some card games depending on what you’d like.”

“Let’s just sit down first.” I said as I walked towards that nice tree. “Alright, good idea.” She answered as we both made our way.

We sat down, Natalie resting her back against the tree while I just sat down on the floor without anything else. “Geez, if someone spots us like this, they’ll mock us. Two Shielders sitting under a tree like kids, it’d be the headline of the decade.” I said embarrassed, rubbing the back of my head desperately trying to comfort myself. “Don’t worry, it’s late at night and we’re in a distant academy that only responsible adults and teenagers assist. We’ll be fine.” Said Natalie as she summoned a board of checkers from her pocket dimension.

“F-fine, if you say so… Then I trust you.” I looked at the checkers board, it looked very new, or at least very well cared of. “Checkers it is, then? Alright, sure.” Guess she wants something simple for me.

“That’s nice, but I won’t let you win easily, Matt!”

“Heh, alright, let’s go, then.”

In a moment of awkwardness but also odd happiness, Natalie and I had a quick session for us to play checkers, the memories of my teen years where she and I did this every weekday returned to my head. Needless to say, it was very refreshing and filled me with happiness. However, despite all the efforts I put into this, she had won, as if I was no match for her wits. Natalie laughed. A bit more of a healthy laughter this time.. “Heh, looks like I still got it with you.”

“Yeah… I mean, you win most of the time we play anyway, so it’s fine and expected.” I can only imagine how much worse I’d be at chess.

“If you say so.” We looked at each other with nothing else to add, a gentle breeze blowing against us to refresh ourselves, and I just looked to my side and chuckled nervously.

“So… There really isn’t anybody here, then? Nobody studies at night?”. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure the classes are only in the mornings and afternoons.”... “Alright, fair enough.” I couldn’t look to my side for any longer, and I just looked at her. As I could tell from her expression, she was also nervous and feeling a bit awkward regarding all of this.

“Hey, Matt…” “Uhh… Yeah?” Gulp…

“Have you ever had your first kiss?”

“W-w-what? I mean, no… I’m not very social, so of course not. W-why do you ask?”

“I’m just wondering, really… I’ve never had mine either. And we’re in our twenties!”

“Yeah you’re right, we’re a mess huh…”

“Yeah…”

The only sound left now was my heart beating loudly, mixed with the wind blowing well. She started to lean forward and without thinking, I leaned forward as well. ...Are we gonna kiss?

Our faces got really close to each other, we could feel each other’s breath as we did and…

“HEY! YOU’RE SHIELDERS!” Said a kid who appeared out of nowhere, as if on cue, just to ruin the moment… Ugh.

“O-oh… Yeah, hey. We’re Shielders, what are you doing here, kid?”

“What am I doing here, you ask?! Wow you’re really out of touch, old man!”

“...Old man?” Eye twitching in confusion… Natalie chuckled in the background. “The Academy Of Justice has not only opened up classes for minors but also been giving night classes for a while now! They’re speeding them up too, and you know why?” But before I could ask, he answered himself for us. “It’s because of this stupid Emptiness crap! I wish I could stay at home and play with my brother at night, not do some boring classes!”

“Ah… So the academy’s making preparations, then. I guess that explains it.”

Natalie replied, “This whole Emptiness situation really has everyone changing their life, huh?”... “Yeah…”

The kid laughed. “But that doesn’t matter! You two are Shielders, right? Could you give me an autograph? Pretty pleaseee?” Natalie looked a bit confused. “Um, we’re only office workers, it’s nothing special really.”

The kid almost ‘exploded’ emotionally, “I DON’T CARE! You’re Shielders! Shielders are like… the best of the best! I want an autograph! Please! I’ll do anything!” We flinched slightly as he was there with those… outbursts. It was my turn to talk to this kid… “Alright, we’ll sign it. What is it that you want to sign?”

“Really? Thank you so much! And it’s just my notebook, lemme get it out of my backpack real quick…” The kid took off his backpack and held it in his hands, reaching for his belongings in there… Eventually, he showed us his notebook: A childishly yet admirably decorated notebook sketched and colored with planet Meex and all the races smiling. Oddly pleasing to the eyes, this thing. Natalie and I smiled, which I hated to admit. She said to the kid, “Wow! That’s a really great cover drawing! Did you draw it yourself?” “Yeah! Well, actually, my brother helped me a bit… But I did most of the work, I swear!” I chuckled a bit and pulled a pen out of my pocket. “Alright, let me see here…” Holding the notebook with my left hand I wrote my name, more nervous from what he'd think of my handwriting more than anything, since it’s not that amazing, really.

“Alright there you go, Matt Brown at your service.” Natalie signed it after me, but her handwriting was a lot better compared to the messy one that was mine.

The kid smiled and I could’ve sworn I saw bright stars in his eyes. “Matt Brown, and Natalie Rose! Thank you! You two are the best!” …Good. No mentions of my messy handwriting. The kid then ran away, satisfied with our actions. “Well now that that’s over, what do you think of the view we have here?” I asked Natalie, returning to my awkward nervousness. I relaxed and leaned back to appreciate the view and my surroundings, the academy was mixed with a lot of plant life, and there were a bunch of light posts around. The students seemed to be just arriving, both teens and adults. All while we chilled under the massive tree’s shadow.

“You know, this takes me back to those times, Natalie. I’m glad you took me here, I totally forgot…”. “No problem! And I’m glad I could refresh your memory.’” We sat down next to each other, and before I could think of what to do, instinctively, I nuzzled Natalie as we watched the academy thinking about our academy years… and… we exchanged a small kiss, now that the kid was gone...Thank you, Natalie.