Work Text:
It’s a quiet afternoon in the student council office on a completely unremarkable day; the strips of sunlight trickling past the curtains, the drone of pen scratching paper were all routine. The president was at her desk signing off some documents, while Air Groove focused on the forms below her on a separate table close by.
Even the start of the alarm bell was not enough to break it, only serving to signify the end of the final class. Air Groove barely registered the sound, continuing the task at hand. It took her a bit too late to realize that Rudolf had stopped writing.
A gentle creek - as she swiveled her chair over - flexing her cramping arm. Rudolf cleared her voice. “Let’s call it a day then.”
Her ears couldn’t help but prick up, as she turned her head over. It was no secret that the student council was majorly composed of workaholics, people who rarely ever put their own life over work, most of all their president. For her to not work overtime was…well. Air Groove had a list of guesses and they ranged anywhere from “I’ve finally decided to prioritize my own health and wellbeing over paper work that was due in more than a week” to “I’ve decided that I cannot trust any one but myself to lead all uma musume to happiness and must begin self isolating immediately”.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a light tapping sound as Rudolf gathered the remaining stack of paper into her palms. She moved to stand up. “I have a date tonight.”
The pen in her hand comes dangerously close to slipping out of her hand. She blinked several times. “A date?” Air Groove echoed, failing to hide her surprise.
The other uma waved her hand dismissively - honest to the goddesses - dismissively . “I apologize for the suddenness of the announcement, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Would it?”
“Of course not.” Air Groove replied swiftly, attempting to regain her footing into the conversation. “I just…didn’t expect you to seek that kind of companionship.”
As if on cue, Rudolf’s smartphone - her personal one and not the long, old-school telephone in their office - buzzed awake. Upon checking it, whatever Rudolf saw was enough for a smile. Not those ones of contented pride or even raw, aching warmth. Disarmingly, it was something filled with a genuine, almost childish kind of joy. They had been co-workers for years, and not once has Air Groove ever seen that expression.
Then as if that moment never existed, Rudolf nodded, even if her eyes don’t leave the screen. “Naturally, you are welcome to return to the dorms yourself. Under no circumstances are you obligated to stay, especially since I am not as well. Please remind Brian of the same thing once she returns.”
This is where she would usually protest - saying how as important as a role Rudolf played, the student council weren’t just sheep to be herded around and that they were perfectly capable of making their own decisions. And yet her thoughts don’t unscramble fast enough by the time Rudolf is already half way through the door.
The door clicked closed with an odd finality.
Brian emerged from where she had been sorting documents in a side room a second later. It took one perturbed look for Air Groove to know all she had to.
-
The thing is, Air Groove has dreamt of days like this; when Rudolf decided to branch out to other more mundane and less life-long-devotion-required purposes. She rarely ever indulged in anything that didn’t involve the long-term well-being of the academy. It was inevitable, practically speaking.
Romance, Air Groove admitted, has never been out of the picture - she’s just never bothered to entertain it for more than a second at a time. Air Groove had always thought she’d be happy for her, no matter what she was chasing. Not whatever this confused, frustrated, off kilter whirlwind of emotions was.
Rudolf was back in the student council office as she always was, not wanting to miss any students who may have needed her counsel during lunch. And really, nothing major had changed. Except the occasional hallway texting or early (or, more accurately, on time) leaves. And it’s not like Rudolf was getting any less work done as much as she was getting a more healthy amount finished.
“I just don't understand,” She lamented, “why now?” Fuji looked on sympathetically from the other side of the lunch table. They do this sometimes, have the available student council members sit together in the cafeteria. Something about keeping up appearances but secretly for conversations like this.
“We don’t know if it was necessarily a romantic date.” She pointed out with a slight shrug.
Air Groove shook her head, saying, “she made no move to disprove me when I hinted to it-” the same time Brian deadpanned, “she was giggling at her phone.”
Fuji's mouth now formed an ‘o’.
“Not a one off thing then.” She conceded.
Maruzen hummed, slinking into an empty seat with ease, the tray placed with a short thud. Air Groove didn’t see her as often as she thought she would’ve - with Maruzen working more closely with students while she herself focused on admin.
She tilted her head, “well, does she need a reason to start seeing someone?”
“No but this is Rudolf,” Air Groove asserted, “when is there not a reason?”
“Her puns.” Brian said.
“Her puns.” Everyone else chorused. Air Groove groaned.
-
(Rudolf’s hair had been a bit ruffled in the morning after the date; frazzled like it hadn’t been combed through properly, the white streak drooping. From the one time she had roomed with her during the summer camps, Air Groove knew that it took her ages to style it in the morning. Why they hadn't roomed together again? Well, she hoped whoever else it was was having fun with the other uma's bathroom hogging.
Rudolf laughed lightly, in that half-apologetic way, saying that she just hadn’t had enough time that day but could go fix it if it looked truly awful.
There were a lot of things Air Groove could’ve said that morning. She chose, “its not that bad.”)
-
Then eventually, attention shifted from Rudolf to the enigmatic partner themself.
Maruzen looked thoughtful. “Do we reckon it’s another student?”
“I find it unlikely, I don’t think Rudolf talks to anyone on a regular basis - outside of us.” Air Groove made a considering noise, “and ah, Teio of course.” And oh was the younger uma going to have a field day once she heard the news.
“But it’s not like she’s ever taken anyone to the Droite either - if we are to assume that this isn’t a new development.”
It’s not to say that Rudolf had no friends. There were plenty of people more than happy to refer to her by such a term (no matter how much she liked replacing it with “object of interest” instead - as Maruzen had kindly anecdoted). It’s not even that people avoided Rudolf despite her many imposing monikers - sometimes the contrary in fact. Rudolf wasn’t as lone-wolfish as say, Brian, but never as outgoing as someone like Fuji.
So to round up: Rudolf had the student council, the dorm leaders, her “object of interest"s (plural) and what fleeting, casual interactions she could draw out among the student body. Irritatingly perhaps, she never gave any indication to desiring anything more than that.
“So, it’s probably someone outside the academy…”
Brian rubbed the back of her neck. “Jeez isn’t that a thought?”
This was Rudolf after all. There is an ongoing rumor that Rudolf’s wardrobe consisted of three parts uniform and the exact same outfit for going out. There was a second ongoing theory that Rudolf lived in the school, specifically sleeping under her desk.
Reluctantly, Air Groove did not have enough evidence to confirm nor refute either of them.
“Her standards have to be quite high, right?” Hishi Amazon said, as their latest addition into this open secret, meaning it was probably not going to stay that for long. “This is kaichou, after all.”
“I don’t know. When would they have even had a time to meet?” Air Groove fumbled with her phone, where she had just sent Rudolf the results for the latest student survey form.
Rudolf sent a ‘<3’. Someone was having a good day at least.
-
It’s a given that Rudolf is very perceptive. It’s a trait vital to her job as student council president, its a skill any half-decent racer would need to succeed. In hindsight, Air Groove should’ve expected her to catch on sooner rather than later.
They were walking down the hallway together after a short meeting with the Director. Rudolf stopped right before the office door - one hand resting on it as she drew her brows together, “did something happen?”
Air Groove stopped beside her. “I'm not sure what you mean.”
She shifted her foot, “you and the rest of the council have been acting…strange, lately. Excluding me in more things.”
It’s also a given that Air Groove, vice president, empress should be good at words. That doesn’t stop them from failing her this time. How could you explain something like this? At break-neck speed, Air Groove combed through her memories of the week, weighing whether they had been less subtle than they had hoped or if Rudolf had simply been paranoid enough to notice.
Rudolf seemed to take her silence as something else completely, her frown only deepening. Her ears flattened, and her face adopted that kicked puppy look. Oh this could not be good. “Do...you not trust me?”
There it was. The only thing surprising, was how utterly unsurprised Air Groove suddenly felt.
Before she could make any meaningful attempt at pushing back, Rudolf gave her a half-hearted smile. “I understand,” her tail beated against her legs in a tell-tale sign of sadness. “I still have a long way to go, don’t I? I just wish you’d confide in me more about it.”
She pushed the door open, “if you ever wish to discuss it, you know where to find me.”
“President-”
For the second time that week, the door clicked shut in front of her. Fuck.
-
“Do you think,” Brian glanced at her in something akin to pity. It was the very morning after. “Do you think that they also share the same sense of humor as her?”
Air Groove thought of yesterday, conjured up the image of two smiling-too-wide, tail-wagging Rudolfs, and buried her head in her hands.