Chapter Text
A knock on the door awoken all the students in the classroom.
It was Master Henderson, along with the Student Council bringing a big announcement everyone was waiting for. No one knew for certain what the announcement was about, but they assumed it was big, because they were going class by class to communicate it in person.
The teacher opened the door, so the guests could get in and a big smile appeared on Yor’s face as soon as she saw Loid.
Loid looked for her in the classroom and when their eyes met, he smiled and discreetly winked at her. This made Yor giggle.
Yor was usually a quiet girl without many friends, but she had to admit that her school life and days had gotten brighter ever since she and Loid became friends. Before, she would just sit quietly somewhere, feeling invisible. Now she had Loid and Franky to talk, joke around, and laugh.
“May I have your attention?” Master Henderson spoke and the whole classroom quieted down.
Loid and Yor kept looking at each other.
“This year, the Student Council has made an effort to organize a special event for their upper classmates: a ball.”
As soon as the words came out of his mouth there was a big uproar in the whole classroom.
“Settle down!!” the old teacher raised his voice.
Everyone quieted so they could learn more about the upcoming event.
“The ball will take place two weeks from tomorrow,” Loid informed everyone. “And the theme will be ‘Under the Stars’.”
Lots of the girls let out some “awwws”, “ohhhs”, and “that’s so romantic!”
Yor kept looking at Loid, imagining how beautiful the school's gymnasium would look covered in stars. An image of her and Loid slow dancing appeared in her mind and she suddenly blushed.
“Although this is an event after school hours, it’s still inside school property and I expect each and every one of you to behave with elegance,” Master Henderson warned. “Failure to do so will result in a double Tonitrus.”
Yor observed Loid was trying not to laugh, and that only made her want to laugh too.
After discussing additional details and answering a couple of questions, Master Henderson and the Student Council left to go to another classroom.
If this would have happened a year ago, Yor probably wouldn’t have cared about that ball. However, now things were different. Now she had Loid and the possibility of going to a ball with him filled her with happiness already.
***
“So, what do you think about the ball?” Loid asked Yor later that day.
“I think it’s such an amazing idea!” she beamed.
They were washing dishes after dinner at Yor’s place while Yuri and Anya did their homework.
Since they became friends a few months ago, they had dinner together, with Yor’s younger brother and Loid’s little sister.
“I’ve never been to a ball,” Yor declared while scrubbing a pot.
“Me neither,” he said. “It was a good idea.”
In fact, Loid had been the one who suggested and planned the whole thing. He wanted to go to a ball…with Yor.
He’d been attracted to her for quite some time but hadn’t dared to talk to her until a few months ago. And the more he got to know her, the more he liked her. Yor was the most wonderful person he’d ever met, and he wanted to ask her out, but chickened out every time he tried. That’s why he had thought about the ball. He wanted something special, the perfect place and moment to finally confess to Yor that he…
“Yor, you do know that for these kinds of events you can invite someone to come with you, right?” he asked.
Yor nodded and blushed slightly.
This was it. A kitchen sink and a bunch of dirty dishes was probably not the most romantic setting to ask her to go to the ball with him, but he didn’t want to wait anymore. Gathering all his courage, he started speaking:
“Well, I was wondering if you…”
“I need help with my homework!” Anya, Loid's little sister, came into the kitchen with a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other one. “Yuri doesn’t want to help me. He says I’m dumb!”
“YURI!” Yor dropped the sponge she was using to wash the dishes and went out the kitchen to reprimand her 9-year-old brother. “How many times do I have to tell you to be nice to our guests?!”
“Can you help me, please?” the first grader asked Loid.
“Sure. Let me see,” he said grabbing the notebook from his sister.
The moment had passed, and he was kind of disappointed. Nevertheless, he knew he could invite Yor at another moment (without any little kids nearby).
He had plenty of time.
***
A week before the ball, the excitement was at an all-time high among Eden students. So were rumors and predictions about who would be going with who.
Yor still hadn’t been asked out yet, and she was wondering if it would be okay for a girl to ask a boy out. She wanted to ask Loid, of course.
That day, she had P.E. class and the teacher assigned Yor, Camilla, Sharon, and Millie to go take the tennis rackets for the whole class into the P.E. supply closet.
Yor walked calmly listening to the other three girls gush about their dresses and the boys that may ask them to the ball. Although she didn’t say anything, she was just as excited as them and, for once, that made her feel so normal.
“What about you, Yor?” Millie asked her. “Do you have someone in mind?”
Yor blushed. She did have someone in mind.
“I was thinking that maybe…Loid could go with me,” she said shyly.
The three girls were surprised to hear that answer.
“Loid? As in Loid Forger, the most popular guy in school?” Camilla asked.
“Hrmmmm…yes?”
Her classmates looked at each other and Yor couldn’t understand what was going on.
“Don’t you think you’re aiming too high?” Sharon asked her. “I mean, Loid is very popular, and he can choose any girl from school as his date. None of us would even dare to dream about going with him. He’s way out of our league.”
“Well, we’ve become friends, and I was thinking that perhaps…” Yor began.
“Yor, no!” Millie said. “This isn’t the kind of event to go with a friend! This is the kind of event you go with the person you like.”
“I know you are friends with him, but I doubt he sees you that way,” Camilla argued. “You two don’t really match.”
Yor’s heart shrank when she heard those words. Yes, of course, what was she thinking? Loid didn’t like her like that. He was her friend out of pity or maybe because sometimes it was convenient for Yor to pick up his little sister.
Camilla, Sharon, and Millie were right—they didn’t match. He was fantastic at everything he did, smart and handsome too. And she was…plain Yor.
“He’ll probably go with Fiona Frost,” Sharon suggested. “They make such a good couple. They’re both imperial scholars. Plus, she’s just as smart and beautiful as he is.”
“Yeah, she’s liked him for a long time and people expect them to get together any second,” Camilla added. “There’s a bet going around on when it will happen, and a lot of people have their money on the dance.”
“I didn’t know that,” Yor lowered her eyes.
“Hey, no worries! It was an innocent misunderstanding and nothing happened,” Millie cheered.
“Lucky for you, we were able to stop you before you did something stupid,” Camilla added.
“Plus, it’s hard to keep up with all the gossip at school, so it’s okay if you didn’t know,” Sharon reassured her. “Why don’t you try going with someone else. How about that other friend of yours? What’s his name? Frank?”
“Franky,” Yor corrected.
“I bet that boy would be so happy to get a date for the ball!” Millie exclaimed. “You should ask him out!”
Yor thought about it for a second.
“But didn’t you say we should invite the person we like to this ball?” she asked. “I don’t like Franky that way.”
“Yes, but in this case, I think it’s a good idea for you to have a date,” Sharon replied. “You don’t want to go alone and look all pathetic, do you?”
Yor didn’t really care. She was too sad to even think about going to that ball.
“I think I’m just going to stay home,” she mumbled.
“What? No!!” Camilla yelled. “Don’t you know anything about womanhood? If you do that, everyone will think you’re hurt about Loid not inviting you.”
But she was hurt.
“Plus, you don’t want Loid to worry about you and feel like he hurt you for not going with you, right?” Sharon added. “He’s that kind of person.”
Yor thought about it. She didn’t care about what other people said about her, but she didn’t want Loid to feel an obligation towards her just because they were friends.
“You’re right; I need to go to that dance,” she decided.
“Great!” Millie said. “It’ll be fun!”
***
Franky was going to use this free hour in between classes to study. The upcoming Physics test would be tough, and he wanted to get started.
He was right in the middle of it when someone interrupted him.
“Franky, would you go to the ball with me?”
Yor had come out of nowhere to ask him that question.
“What did you say, Yor?” Franky thought he had heard wrong.
“I asked you if you wanted to go to the ball with me,” she repeated.
Franky was aghast. He was 100% sure Yor liked Loid.
“Why me? Wouldn’t you rather go with Loid instead?”
Suddenly, Yor’s face turned very, very sad.
“He’s going with someone else,” she said.
Franky frowned. He didn’t know Loid decided to go with another girl. It didn’t make much sense unless he had chickened out about asking Yor.
“I don’t want to go alone,” she was starting to tear up and Franky panicked. “Would you please go with me?”
“Yes, of course I’ll go with you!” he answered quickly because he didn’t want his friend to cry. “We’ll have a great time!”
“Thank you so much!” she sounded so relieved, and she even smiled a little.
Yor left after that because she didn’t want to interrupt Franky’s study session.
After she left, he couldn’t concentrate. What had just happened? It felt like everything was backwards. Although at least now Franky had a date for that stupid ball.
"Loid is going to kill me."
***
News travelled fast at Eden, especially when it came to couples and the upcoming ball.
Franky went about his day, almost forgetting what had happened, but a couple of hours later, while he was heading towards Biology class, he was ambushed by a crazy young man possessed by the “green eyed monster”.
“How fucking dare you!!!” Loid shoved him against the lockers and lucky for them, there was no one in that old hallway. “I thought you were my friend!! You, treacherous, lowlife, bastard!!”
“HEY! What the hell are you talking about?!” Franky didn’t know what was happening.
“You asked Yor out!!” Loid was boiling, his face was red and his eyes crazy. “You’re going to the ball with her!!”
“Oh, that?”
“So, it’s true?” Loid asked, still furious.
“Yes, but I didn’t ask her, she asked me,” Franky clarified. “I know how much you like her; I only accepted because she said you were going with someone else.”
“What? No!” Loid exclaimed. “I was getting ready to ask her.”
“Oh,” Franky was now realizing all the mess. “Well, somehow, she thought you were going to the ball with someone else. I’m guessing that’s why she asked me.”
“You should have said no!” he reproached him.
Franky rolled his eyes.
“You weren’t there; she was about to cry,” he informed him. “She said she didn’t want to go alone.”
After hearing this, Loid calmed down and let go of Franky.
“Yor…” Loid whispered.
They were quiet after that. Franky could tell Loid was thinking and calculating something.
“Look, I’ll tell her you want to go with her, and I’ll step down,” Franky suggested. “I know how much you like each other, and I really don’t mind.”
Loid shook his head.
“No. If she really wants to go with you, she should,” he said.
“I don’t think she really wants to go with me to that ball,” Franky stated. “She just didn’t want to go alone, so she asked a friend to go with her.”
“That doesn’t matter,” he argued.
Franky frowned. What was up with his asshole friend?
“If I go with her, what are you going to do about the ball?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out,” he said before starting to walk away.
Franky looked at his watch. He was already late for Biology.
And he didn’t have time for his friends’ stupid drama.
Why didn’t just get together already?
***
Loid had a Student Council meeting that day, but he couldn’t concentrate.
He felt like a complete idiot. He should have asked Yor to go to the ball with him the minute the event was announced. Now it was too late.
Why had Yor done that? Didn’t she see how much he liked her?
Loid hadn’t had the courage to tell her yet, but ever since they became friends, he made an effort to show it in every possible manner. They saw each other every day, he tried to spend as much time as possible with her, complimented her, cooked for her, and talked to her like he didn’t talk to anyone else.
Yor didn’t see the perfect student that all Eden admired. She saw him—the best and the worst parts of him and she still hung around. She had a beautiful way of seeing people and life itself, in spite of the difficulties and all the bad things she had gone through. Before her, he did everything automatically; there was no real motivation, and he didn’t care about anything. She’d changed his life. Now he wanted a future…with her.
And, at some point, he even thought she felt the same way. Despite Yor’s signature shyness, she had managed to show interest in him. Or at least that is what he thought.
Had he been wrong?
Maybe she had asked Franky in a desperate attempt to avoid going with him. Maybe she just saw him as a friend and didn’t want to damage the friendship by saying no when Loid finally asked her.
Loid felt so depressed thinking about that.
Everyone knew what happened at these kinds of events—people confessed, and couples got together. He wanted to do that too. He’d imagined how he would finally ask Yor to be his girlfriend during that ball—beautiful decorations all over the place, soft music playing on the background, both dressed in nice clothes, dancing, hugging each other…and then he would just tell her how much he liked her.
“President?” someone called him, and he had to stop daydreaming.
“Yes?” he answered.
“We were reviewing the payment for one of the vendors for the ball,” the finance secretary for the council said. “Would you mind taking a look?”
“Not at all,” he replied, grabbing some papers.
It was a long meeting and his mind kept drifting back to Yor.
Finally, at around 6 p.m. the meeting ended. By then, he was sure Anya wouldn’t be waiting at school for him; she was probably at Yor’s, because that’s what they usually did.
He headed towards Yor’s house, and when he got there, he got in without ringing the doorbell. By then, Yor was getting dinner ready, and Anya was playing in the kitchen. They hadn’t realized he was there and was about to open his mouth to greet them when he heard his sister ask Yor a question:
“Ms. Yor are you going to the ball with my brother?” the little girl asked.
Something compelled him to hide. It was wrong to overhear other people’s conversations, but he needed to know.
“No, Anya, I’m not going with your brother,” Yor responded. “I’m going with Franky.”
“But why? Isn’t my brother your boyfriend?”
While hiding, Loid was lucky enough to see Yor’s face without being seen. Yor smiled sadly and he could see pain in her eyes.
“No, Sweetie, I’ve told you before; we’re not a couple,” she declared. “We’re just good friends.”
Anya frowned.
“But you like him! I know you do,” his little sister argued.
Yor made a pause and let out a big sigh before speaking.
“Yes, I do,” she admitted, and Loid’s heartbeat accelerated. “But that doesn't matter because Loid is out of my league.”
“Out of your leek?” Anya asked. “What does that mean?”
“It means he’s too good for me and that he deserves someone much, much better,” Yor explained.
“I don’t think so,” Anya argued. “My brother doesn’t want someone better. He wants you.”
Anya was right. He didn’t want anyone else. He wanted her, just her.
At least he knew now why things had happened the way they did. Yor thought she wasn’t good enough for him—which was crazy!!
So maybe, Loid needed to find a way to show her that wasn’t the case…