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It was just another day at Tracen, classes had ended and the rest of Team Canopus were hanging out in their team room together, Nice Nature had brought over some homemade biscuits for everyone, Twin Turbo was going on and on about something while Matikanetannhauser and Ikuno Dictus listened to her, and Sounds of Earth was practicing her new song, but someone was missing...
"Have any of you guys seen Royce and Royce? She's later than usual again, it's been like that for a couple weeks now..." Nice Nature asked, worried.
Just as she asked, Royce and Royce opened the door to the room, and sat down at the table, putting down the book that was in her hand on the table to study.
Usually she would talk to them about her studies, sometimes she'd talk so much that even Dictus got bored of her lectures, but this time it was just quiet, the dark circles around her eyes were very obvious as well, and they have just gotten worse as the weeks went by...
"Royce, these biscuits that Nature made taste amazing! Would you like some as well?" Turbo wanted to catch her attention for a bit, but she said she wasn't hungry, which was strange, considering she wouldn't usually refuse Nature's homemade treats.
"But why? Don't you usually like Nature's snacks, what happened?"
"Maybe she just had a lot to eat for lunch." Machitan answered.
"Yeah, it's okay Turbo, don't force her to eat if she doesn't want to." Nature replied.
Nature and Machitan were too oblivious, Dictus thought to herself, there's something really wrong with her, isn't there?
She was certaintly overworking herself, cause even though she knew she liked academic related stuff a lot, this was starting to become a bit much even for her.
"Do you need a rest, my dear? I know you're a very hard worker, so is it okay if you take a break for me, please?" Earth isn't really the type for studies, she's more into the arts, and she's quite good with words and persuading people, especially her girlfriend.
Royce reluctantly took a break and had some tea that was on the table, Dictus had brought it over after her roommate, Mejiro McQueen got gifted a comically large amount by Gold Ship because she thought it would be funny.
It relaxed her a bit, but this still didn't put Dictus fully at ease, she would have to talk about it with the rest of Team Canopus tomorrow.
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A 68. Royce stared at the test paper, this was probably the worst score she had ever gotten ever since she enrolled in Tracen. For the past few weeks, her grades have been getting worse and worse, no matter how much she studies, it never seems to be enough. Just yesterday, she studied till 1 a.m at night before falling asleep on her desk in her room, too exhausted to even go to her bed and sleep.
And the worst part, was that this was a maths exam, she had always been good at maths, she could solve even the hardest questions in her head without having to write anything down, but this score was absolutely unacceptable to her. Her teachers have been asking her about what happened to her scores constantly ever since her grades dropped below an 80, and she was just tired of it at this point.
Wasn't her whole motivation as an uma to be the best she could possibly be while being her true self? What happened to that? Yes, she loved studying, but it was slowly becoming a chore for her, and she wasn't sure how long she could keep it up for until she breaks.
Her own expectations of herself have completely taken over her mind, and she wanted to be like who she was before, she wanted that so much, but she couldn't make it at all.
Even her racing career was subpar compared to those such as Kitasan Black or Tokai Teio, heck, even her teammates on Team Canopus were better than her.
She couldn't even focus on what was said in class, when that test paper was right there on her desk, a reminder of her failure.
She didn't want Team Canopus to know either, she doesn't want to burden them, they already have so much on their hands, she'll just make everything worse, but from what happened yesterday, it seems like they're starting to catch on, even Twin Turbo is staring to notice.
Tears stung her eyes, but she was able to get through the last period of the day, without anyone asking her how she was doing.
For now.
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Meanwhile with Team Canopus, they were discussing how to lift the pressure from Royce's shoulders.
"I know! Maybe you should perform a song for her, Earth." Machitan suggested.
"Sounds like a great idea! Who doesn't appreciate a good song every now and then?" Earth seemed very content with the idea, performing for other was one of her favorite things, especially performing for Royce of all people.
"I agree! This is bound to make her feel better!" Turbo exclaimed.
"How about no, she's probably very overwhelmed, and knowing her, that would make things even worse." Dictus disagreed.
"Dictus is right, I would be even more overwhelmed as well if that were me." Nature added.
"Really... Aww... I thought my idea was good... Do you have any ideas, Nature?" Machitan asked.
"I don't know, my ideas probably aren't worth listening to anyways..." Nature is putting herself down again, like always...
"Nature! Don't say that about yourself! You're one of the best people in the world! You're so caring, so helpful, and so pret- Aaaaa! I'm so sorry! I went off-track, please ignore what I said!" Machitan's face went red as a tomato.
Nature smiled a bit at that, Machitan can be really cute...what does she actually think of her? No, she doesn't want to be rejected again, like what happened between her and Tokai Teio, she loved her so much, but that McQueen.... she can't risk that at all...
"I suggest just talking to her about her problems, I already have all the evidence of her overworking. I've been extra observant of her recently." Dictus switched back to the intial conversation, thankfully breaking the tension between Nature and Machitan.
Everyone agreed. This was probably the best option, it gets straight to the point, and it's the most effective one as well.
It seems they came to a conclusion just in the nick of time, since almost as soon as they finished talking, Royce arrived to the team's room.
And it wasn't going to be pretty.
She was shaking, holding the test paper from earlier, looking down at the floor.
"I-I....." she couldn't even talk without her voice immediately cracking as she tried to do so, tears flowing from her eyes dropping onto the floor, as she started sobbing uncontrolably.
Earth hugged her, and sat her down on one of the chairs and sat on the other beside her after, stroking her back for comfort.
"Try taking deep breaths, because you're probably going to hyperventilate at this rate, and that won't be good at all, and after you calm down a bit, drink some water and we can accompany you, so just relax, it's going to be okay."
Royce could only give a weak response back, as she was still overwhelmed with emotion.
After some time, she finally calmed down enough to talk and breathe properly.
"You've been overworking yourself recently, haven't you?" Dictus asked.
"How....how did you know this?"
"It was dead obvious, your dark circles are getting worse, and you don't talk as much as you used to, all you do is study, there were even more signs, but those are enough, but why?"
"It's just that my grades have been getting worse and worse, and I try to study even more, but to no avail... and I feel like a failure..."
"Lemme tell you one thing." Turbo suddenly picked up the test paper and a textbook that were on the table.
"Forget about these, at least for now." She threw them without warning, hitting Machitan in the face, causing her to get yet another nosebleed, as she sat on the floor, crying, while Nature got her some tissues and scolded Turbo for being so reckless.
"Turbo's right, the more you study while you're burnt out, the worse it'll get. Like with racing, when you're all tired out, it's almost impossible to run at your full potential, and when that happens, you need to take a break. After you take a break, you'll get back to normal." Dictus added.
"I'll make dinner for everyone later, and we can just chat and have fun, how does that sound? It's almost dinner time, after all." Nature asked.
Everyone really enjoyed the idea, including Royce.
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Dinner was ready, and this time Machitan helped out with the cooking as well, but Nature still did most of the work, because she worried that Machitan might mess up something.
Everyone got to enjoy themselves, and at least for now, Royce didn't have to worry about her studies, plus the weekend was coming up, so she had extra time to just relax.
"You better not be studying when you go back to your dorm, Royce. That'll be terrible..."
"I know, thanks for calming me down, and you got to sing to your hearts content earlier, didn't you? You know what, you're actually very talented, even though you annoy me with your constant singing sometimes.. I still love you though."
"Awwww! Thank you so much! I love you too!" she kissed her a lot before Royce told her to cut it out, everyone else was here as well, and they didn't sign up for this at all, Earth can be quite dramatic sometimes...
"Nature, can I clean up with you today as well?" Turbo asked.
"Thanks Turbo! Help is always appreciated."
"By the way, I should go back now, even though it's still a bit early now, I think I should get some more sleep, especially after these few weeks.."
"Okay! Remember to rest well! See you tomorrow Royce!"
She walked back to her room, still tired, but feeling better, maybe she doesn't have to push herself so much after all.