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Gossip and late-night conversations have a way of flowing together with disturbing ease. It’s like a peanut butter sandwich; if you get rid of the peanut butter (in this case, gossip), then you are left with two slices of very sad-looking white bread.
This very mixture of conversations was happening at the Ritto dormitory. Upcoming races as topic points came and went, but the most particular and interesting topic in the common areas tonight was about a recent URA Finale victor.
While many grumbled at the fact that it wasn’t them, many more bowed in respect to them.
“Opera O-” Meisho Doto’s milquetoast voice had surprisingly interrupted the opera king in the middle of her quite…dramatized observations of campus life.
“Nonsense, my subject!” T.M. Opera O cut back in, “You see, I think, without a doubt, she’s smitten! Surely you must have noticed, as her roommate, Urara!”
Haru Urara’s eyes snapped back to the group from a bag of potato chips she was quite deeply invested in. “Umm-”
Opera O interrupted once more before she could even get a response from her friend. “For I speak nothing but the truth, you hear. ‘Tis a tale all bards of romance speak of.”
“You clown!” Air Shakur groaned out loud and kicked the floor loudly. Opera O roared out a laugh toward her in response.
Silence Suzuka’s cough grabbed the attention of the hangout. “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve only seen her treat them that way. But a trainer and trainee always have a special relationship, right? That doesn’t mean they’re…um.”
A few of them hummed in thought. Matikanefukukitaru broke the silence with a yip as she raised her finger into the air. “Let me consult my divinations!”
Much to the surprise of everyone but Suzuka, the diviner revealed a crystal ball from somewhere behind her back and placed it on the ottoman while murmuring a few commandments.
She studied the glass orb closely as her fingers performed a fine and well-coordinated dance that ghosted along the ball.
“Well?” Air Shakur leaned in.
Matikanefukukitaru snapped back from the ball and placed her hands on the side of her head with an accompanying cry. “Inconclusive! King Halo must have some special charm!”
“Right…” Shakur leaned back in her chair.
“Couldn’t we just…ask her? Where is she anyway?” Meisho Doto wrapped herself up in a blanket.
Opera O gave another great boast of confidence. “Why, she’s asleep right now in her room, dreaming about her dear trainer–– no doubt! She’d never admit it herself, but it’s clear as a well-lit stage. I have put forth the least damnable piece of evidence so forth, and this conversation is already blooming with drama.”
“She must have a dreamcatcher from America! That’s why I couldn’t get anything from my divination!” Fuku yelled out from her momentary grief period over a failed divination.
Air Groove grumbled loudly, which practically drained all the warm blood from the room's occupants who had forgotten the presence of the vice-president lounging on a sofa next to a window, far from the group but within earshot. “Please stop trying to spy on your classmates through the magic arts, Fuku. And-” Air Groove changed her position to sitting upright on the sofa, “-I believe it’s clear that she at least has some feelings for her trainer. They are a good person, and from what I have seen, act as a cornerstone for her emotional health.”
Opera O raised an amused eyebrow at her, the faintest bit of shock across the singer’s face. “Ohoho– I had not expected the vice-president of all people to be acutely aware of King Halo and her little romance!”
The student council member shook her head. “It’s my duty to observe students and ensure their mental needs are met as well. I do not say this as the vice-president, but as Air Groove, I believe she does indeed have a “crush” on her trainer.” She stuck her hand out as if lecturing with them.
Shakur still didn’t believe the matter. “What makes you say that, Air Groove? I refuse to believe a word from this clown's mouth.” She waved her palm toward T.M. Opera O
Air Groove adjusted her collar before she moved to a beanbag next to the group. “There are plenty of private affairs I cannot disclose due to my title, but per my observations personally, it’s hard to ignore the handful of times she’s tried to drag her trainer into the dorm to spend a little more time walking her home and gotten scolded by Fuji. And most nights her trainer walks her all the way to the door. Quite careless, considering she knows what the rules are.” Her brows furrowed at the mere idea of breaking school rules.
Suzuka tapped Urura’s shoulder to grab her attention. “She’s always happier coming home from her time with her trainer, right?”
Haru Uruara nodded. “Yeah! She’s really happy when she comes back from spending time with her trainer!”
Air Shakur leaned back into her seat with a grumble and a roll of her eyes. “Whatever. Why are we even talking about those two again?”
“Well…she did beat all of us as the URA winner; she’s a big deal.” Meisho Doto twiddled her thumbs with a forlorn look.
Vodka scoffed. “Barely.”
“And you still lost!” Daiwa Scarlet snapped from the other side of the couch they shared, quickly dissolving into a bickering contest far removed from the rest of the group.
Special Week walked up to the group and plopped down into a beanbag. “What are we talking about?”
“Why, the famed King Halo and her elopement with her trainer!” Opera O spoke a bit too loudly, considering the hour.
“E-elopment?! Y-you can do that?” Special Week squeaked out with a red face.
“Why of course, I doubt her mother would care for the ordeal! A perfect drama, oh, I wish to act in a play of this magnificence!” Opera O responded with wide eyes and a sinister grin
The sound of a flying book cut through the air, coming from Air Shakur, who plucked the random book from a coffee table. “DON’T PUT IDEAS IN HER HEAD YOU CLOWN!”
“Volume-” Silence Suzuka squeaked.
Opera O intercepted the book with her hand as she looked away from her attacker with disinterest. “Ah, violence against royalty carries a grave offense, but I, of course, am kind and benevolent to all my subjects.”
“The hell are you calling a subject?” Shakur’s voice dripped with barely masked anger.
In the midst of the chaos, the group missed the opening of a door far down the left hall and the shuffle of shoes.
“Enough, you two.” Air Groove leered at the two, her decree putting even Opera O back into line. “And to answer your question, Special Week, they are not 'eloped' nor are they in any significant relationship. We were discussing whether or not King Halo has a crush on her trainer.”
“Oooh, yeah! I can see it!” Special Week seized a bag of potato chips lying off to the side.
“I-I do not have a crush on my trainer!” Someone yelled from the hall, and in that instant, the room froze, caught discussing the drama by the very source of it. “H-how dare you!” The girl of the hour, King Halo, stood behind them with a finger pointed out at them and a face so flushed it betrayed her royalty.
“Ooh~ King Halo, nice of you to drop by!” Opera O called from her couch, kicking her legs over the edge and getting herself comfy. Urara waved at King Halo with an innocent smile.
“This is gonna wake the whole dorm up…” Meisho Doto tucked her knees close. Air Groove sighed, resigned to the fact she couldn’t resolve this easily.
King Halo stomped the ground. “I AM NOT ‘ELOPING’ WITH MY TRAINER! If my mother were to hear those rumors you're spreading–”
Opera O cut her off mid-sentence. “Facts, my dear King, facts.”
Air Groove turned to Opera O with a growing frown. “Quit provoking her-”
“W-what are you, a child?! Spreading schoolyard rumors like facts! A first-rate lady like me would never stoop to such lows, cease at once!”
“Why are you acting like a child right now, then? Getting flustered over the mere mention of a potential relationship between you and your trainer. Just admit what we already know, it would be a great finale to this show.” Opera O continued, getting a second person this night incredibly angry.
“Silence! What’s it to you?!” King Halo admitted subconsiously.
“So you are interested in them! A romance fit for the finest stage!” Opera O smiled at the catch of the day, a slip of the tongue.
King Halo’s hands shook as her face converted from anger to pure embarrassment, “S-shut up! I-I-I- s–so what! Yes, haha! So what?” and then to feigned confidence she so often fell back onto. “Now, if you excuse me, I must return to my dorm, free from these childish pokes.”
And so she scampered back into the hall, out of sight.
Air Shakur let out a long sigh before she packed up the few things she had brought out. “Just so you know, Opera O, if she jumped at you, I woulda’ joined her.”
“Haha, I welcome the drama!”
Air Groove mood DOWN