Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 84 - 85 | A Glass Cannon and a Girl Who Lacks Confidence
I hit the showers in the men’s locker room and spent five minutes standing under scalding water trying to remember what a normal Thursday morning used to feel like.
Back when I wasn’t juggling two girlfriends, a quest timer counting down to my death, and an upcoming combat evaluation where I’d have to pretend my adaptive-type Essentia wasn’t just a cover story for stealing powers through sex.
Good times.
I dried off and pulled on my uniform. The white button-up felt restrictive after the gym clothes, and I caught my reflection in the mirror while fixing my tie.
White hair still looked ridiculous. Mismatched eyes still made me look like a character creation screen gone wrong. But the marks on my neck were new.
Two scratches from Cheon’s nails. One bite mark from Mera that I’d completely forgotten about until this exact moment.
Fantastic.
I buttoned my collar higher and hoped nobody looked too closely.
My phone buzzed. Group chat.
Mera: breakfast in 20? shore café?
Hae-Won: I need to review my notes before homeroom.
Mera: boring
Mera: rome tell her to eat
I typed back quickly.
Rome: You heard the woman. Eat.
Hae-Won: I’m not skipping breakfast.
Hae-Won: I’m eating at my desk.
Mera: BORING
Rome: Café. 20 minutes. Don’t make me come get you.
The typing indicator appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Hae-Won: Fine.
Hae-Won: But I’m timing this. We can’t be late.
Mera: yes mom
I pocketed my phone and grabbed my bag. The system interface flickered into view as I left the locker room.
[QUEST ACTIVE: ORCHESTRA OF ANIMOSITY]
Objective: Achieve total victory in Battle Trials (Friday)
Secondary: Obtain Noel Stark’s acknowledgment
Secondary: Unlock Usagi Honjō’s potential
Time Remaining: 36:42:18
Reward: Platinum Gacha Ticket + Team Synergy Unlock
Right. That.
The quest had dropped yesterday after homeroom when Solana announced the teams. I’d barely looked at it because Cheon had been staring at me with her death glare and I’d been too busy planning how to get her alone.
But now it was Thursday morning. Trials were tomorrow afternoon.
And my team consisted of Noel, who hated my guts for reasons I still only half understood, and Usagi, who I’d literally never spoken to.
Perfect setup for total victory.
No pressure.
I met Mera and Cheon outside the gym. Mera had changed back into her uniform and looked completely unbothered by the workout. Cheon looked like she’d ironed herself back into perfection, her hair pulled tight again and her posture rigid.
The only evidence of this morning was the faint pink in her cheeks when she looked at me.
"Ready?" Mera asked.
"Starving," I said.
We walked across campus together. Mera between us, her tail swishing behind her like a metronome. Students stared as we passed, and I caught whispers trailing in our wake.
Not subtle.
At the café, we grabbed a table by the window and ordered. Mera got pancakes. Cheon got yogurt and fruit because of course she did. I got eggs and toast and coffee that tasted like it had been brewed sometime last week.
"So," Mera said, stabbing a pancake with her fork. "Battle Trials tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"You ready?"
"Sure."
She grinned. "Liar."
Cheon looked up from her yogurt. "You should be taking this seriously. Your ranking is abysmal and your team composition is problematic."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Panda."
Her eye twitched. "Don’t call me that in public."
"Why not? It’s cute."
"It’s humiliating."
Mera laughed. "I think it’s perfect."
Cheon shot her a glare that could have melted steel, but Mera just kept eating like nothing had happened.
"Your team," Cheon continued, turning back to me. "Noel Stark and Usagi Honjō. Do you know anything about their abilities?"
"Noel does the ghost thing. Leaves her body behind and goes incorporeal."
"Astral Dive," Cheon corrected. "She’s vulnerable while active, but her astral form can phase through solid objects and deliver significant kinetic force. It’s an S-rank ability with documented weaknesses."
"And Usagi?"
"Pinky Gum. C-rank emitter-type. She generates adhesive material from her body that she can shape and project. Good for crowd control and capture, but her output is inconsistent and she lacks confidence."
I sipped my terrible coffee. "So I’ve got a glass cannon and a support who doesn’t believe in herself."
"Essentially."
"Great."
Mera leaned back in her chair. "What about the other teams?"
Cheon pulled out her tablet. Because of course she had a tablet. "Team One is Nolan, Aurora, and myself. Strong offensive capability, ranged support, and tactical coordination. Team Three is Kaito, Marcus, and Hana. All three are top fifteen in the rankings."
"So we’re fucked," I said.
"Not necessarily." Cheon tapped the screen. "Noel’s ability is one of the strongest in the class. If you can protect her physical body while she’s in astral form, she can handle most opponents without risk. Usagi’s ability has higher potential than her current performance suggests. If you can create opportunities for her to use it effectively, she could be the key to controlling the battlefield."
"Big if."
"I’m aware."
I finished my eggs and pushed the plate away. "Any other advice?"
"Don’t die."
"Helpful."
She smiled. Small and sharp. "That’s all I’ve got."
My phone buzzed. Another system notification.
[REMINDER: New Ability Available]
RUBBER BODY [3-STAR] - Morphological Elasticity
Current Integration: 100%
Right. The ability I’d pulled last night from the platinum ticket. The one that let me stretch like a cartoon character.
I flexed my hand under the table. It felt completely normal. No different than before.
The system had explained it last night while I was lying in bed with Cheon unconscious against my side. The elasticity was selective. I could activate it consciously or it would trigger automatically under impact. My bones, muscles, and skin would stretch and compress without damage, absorbing kinetic energy and redirecting it.
Sounded useful in theory.
In practice, I had no idea how to use it without looking like an idiot.
"You okay?" Mera asked.
"Fine. Just thinking."
"About?"
"Tomorrow."
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "You’ll be fine. You’re annoyingly good at everything."
"Not everything."
"Name one thing."
"Making friends."
She blinked. "What?"
I gestured vaguely. "Male friends. I need male friends. This whole school is like ninety percent women and the only guys I’ve talked to are Nolan, who’s too earnest for his own good, and Kaito, who I’m pretty sure wants to fight me."
Mera laughed so hard she nearly choked on her pancake.
Cheon just stared at me. "You’re complaining about being surrounded by women."
"I’m complaining about not having any bros."
"Bros."
"Yeah. Guys I can just hang out with without worrying about drain compatibility or whether they’re secretly plotting to stab me."
"Nobody is plotting to stab you," Cheon said.
"Noel might be."
"That’s fair."
