I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Arthur spent the first few hours of the evening in his dorm. He showered, ate something he’d picked up in the market, and wasted time scrolling through his phone on the bed.

Around nine, the phone vibrated against his chest.

Outside.

Arthur grabbed his jacket and headed downstairs.

The courtyard was loud. Late-arriving students dragged heavy trunks across the cobblestones, and the path leading toward the main gates was clogged with rented carriages.

Arthur spotted Emily standing near the entrance with two overstuffed duffel bags.

She saw him at the same time. She left the bags where they were, walked straight up to him, grabbed the front of his jacket, and pulled him down into a hard kiss.

Arthur’s arm wrapped naturally around her waist. Emily squeezed him tight enough that he had to brace his boots against the stones to keep them both from tipping backward.

She pulled back, her eyes bright. "Took you long enough."

Arthur pointed at the luggage sitting on the stones behind her. "You’re the one who just got here."

Emily ignored the logic, grabbed the smaller of the two bags, and started walking toward her dormitory. Arthur picked up the heavier one and followed.

"So what took so long after you left the Thorne estate?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Caravan work. Then Rauk Hollow. Some prospectors damaged something underground, and that turned into a whole mess. There was also a giant wolf."

Emily stopped walking. She turned around. "How giant?"

"Massive."

"I’m going to ride him."

"He’ll bite you."

Emily gave him a wide, highly entertained grin and kept walking.

Her dorm room was exactly the same as last term. She dumped her bag on the floor, unzipped it, and immediately started pulling clothes out with zero organization. Shirts ended up on the bed, armor pieces hit the desk, and a pair of boots rolled under the chair.

Arthur sat on the edge of the mattress and watched the chaos.

Emily dug through the bottom of the bag, sighed, and pointed at a leather strap sitting on the desk. "Hand me that."

Arthur tossed it to her.

She dropped it onto the pile, kicked her empty bag under the bed, and turned to look at him.

She climbed onto the mattress, straddling his lap, and kissed him again. Arthur’s hands slid down her sides, grabbing her ass and pulling her flush against him. They made out quietly in the messy room, hands wandering over familiar places.

Emily shifted her weight and shoved his shoulder, trying to push him back onto the pillows.

Arthur gave more resistance than she expected.

She paused and pushed again, harder this time.

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

Emily’s grin slowly widened.

"Oh, that’s interesting."

Emily looked over at the clothes covering most of her bed and finally climbed off his lap.

"I still need to unpack this shit." She kicked one of the bags with her heel. "And I’m starving."

Arthur stood up. "I’ll see you at breakfast."

Emily threw a rolled-up pair of socks at him as he walked out the door.

Three days remained before classes resumed.

The academy had filled up overnight. When Arthur walked toward the dining hall the next morning, the paths were crowded with students complaining about schedules and catching up on their breaks.

He found Emily already inside. She was carrying a loaded tray toward a table near the windows.

Cedric was already sitting there, eating a bowl of oats and reading something on his phone.

Emily dropped her tray across from him and sat down like she owned the table. Arthur took the seat beside her.

"Morning," Cedric said, not looking up from his screen.

"Morning," Arthur said.

Felix appeared ten minutes later. He dropped a heavy canvas bag onto the floor beside the table and slumped into the empty chair, looking intensely irritated.

"They raised the carriage fares again," Felix complained, stabbing his fork into a piece of sausage he stole from Cedric’s plate. "Thirty percent. The bastard called it a seasonal rate."

"You paid it," Emily pointed out.

"I had three bags," Felix grumbled. He looked around the table. "Good break?"

"Long," Arthur said.

Felix shrugged and reached for another piece of Cedric’s sausage. Cedric quietly pulled the plate farther away. Cedric quietly pulled the plate a few inches out of Felix’s reach.

They finished eating and headed out into the morning sun.

Arthur spotted Leon and Alicia walking out of one of the training buildings.

Leon held out a hand while talking. Alicia passed him her empty water flask without looking, and he clipped it onto his bag.

Leon saw Arthur’s group and waved them over.

"Good to see you all intact," Leon said.

Alicia greeted them with a small nod.

They stood near the steps of the training hall, the conversation drifting between the upcoming practicals and the new instructor assignments.

Elara was crossing the grass from the direction of the library, a leather satchel over one shoulder. She slowed when she spotted the group, her eyes briefly settling on Emily’s arm around Arthur’s shoulders.

"You seem busy."

Arthur looked at her. "You missed me."

Elara’s nose wrinkled. She joined them anyway.

"Where did you disappear to?"

"Caravan job," Arthur said. "Took longer than expected."

The group drifted away from the training halls and ended up near the central courtyard.

Felix and Cedric ended up arguing about the reading list for dungeon tactics. Emily pulled Alicia aside to ask about a blade grip she’d noticed during the exams, while Leon stopped to greet a passing third-year. Elara was halfway through explaining something about the library archives when Felix interrupted her to complain about another book on his schedule.

Arthur leaned against the pillar and listened to them talk over one another.

By late afternoon, people started peeling away to deal with their own things.

Felix was typing aggressively on his phone as he walked toward the supply shops. Cedric headed toward the training halls. Leon and Alicia walked off toward the upper campus together, and Elara turned back toward the archives.

Arthur and Emily headed for the dorms.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"Nothing."

"Good. You’re sparring with me."

Arthur glanced at her, but Emily was already talking about where she wanted to eat.

They continued toward the dorms with the evening crowd.