❦

"and so when he tried to attack me, I dodged and aimed my weapon at his feet so that he'd fall over!", yūji exclaimed.

     "and did he?", aelita asked, just as invested in the story as the pink-haired boy.

     fushiguro softly sighed, as he wondered how yūji had managed to get aelita's attention so quickly, and without sukuna's help at all.

     he certainly didn't think that the boy was this reckless.

it was during their lunch break — since aelita claimed that she didn't want to take them away from practice — that the three had gathered together for tea and chocolate biscuits.

"unfortunately not...BUT I'LL WORK HARDER NEXT TIME!!", yūji proclaimed.

aelita nodded with certainty.

"I believe in you", she said.

yūji felt even more fired up after that encouragement, causing him to scarf down more biscuits, as they all finished their lunch already anyways.

     "you should come visit us sometime", yūji said with his mouth full.

     "aelita is a proper lady! she shouldn't step foot anywhere near the battlegrounds, where you sweaty hormonal boys would ogle at her, if she were to show up!", mai interrupted.

"and what about you, fushiguro-kun?", aelita asked, trying to change the subject, as fushiguro certainly did not enjoy the insult of being lumped together with the other boys.

"hm? what about me?"

"do you have any memorable sparring stories to share?", the girl questioned, handing a napkin to yūji, who had crumbs all over the corners of his mouth.

     "no...not really...", fushiguro muttered.

     "huh?! who are you lying to? fushiguro's got a BUNCH of stories!! ya know, when we first met at the exam, he beat up all the guys in his group and placed fir—"

     fushiguro discreetly elbowed the pink-haired boy, causing him to choke, as aelita quickly handed him a cup of oolong tea.

     patting his back, yūji had glared at fushiguro.

     "HEY!! WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?!"

     "it's quite alright. we should respect fushiguro-kun's boundaries. and plus, lunchtime is ending soon, you two should head back", aelita suggested.

"awww, already?", yūji whined.

"yes. our highness has classes to attend, so if you'll just excuse yoursel—"

     "mai!!", aelita whispered, tugging on the girl's sleeve, as she just clicked her tongue.

     "my apologies. we'll be excusing ourselves", mai rudely said, taking leave first, as aelita had promptly stood up, dipping her head in hopes of forgiving mai's brashness.

     yūji and fushiguro hastily stood up too and bowed, as maki had just snorted, leaving the two to return back to training.

     "did we do something wrong?", yūji quietly asked, still dipping his head, just like fushiguro.

"I don't think so", the dark-haired boy answered.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"one, two, three. one, two, three. one, two, three...and stop!"

aelita nearly fumbled over in her heels, as she inhaled a large amount of air.

gojō just watched from the sidelines, slightly displeased.

     the queen had hired a professional dance instructor for aelita's debut, since the white-haired man was already teaching the other subjects.

     however, things weren't exactly looking bright for the young princess.

"your highness, as encouraging as I want to be, it seems that you lack the body coordination to repeat the most basic steps", the man bluntly stated.

mai would've jumped the man, if it weren't for maki holding her back.

but it was indeed true, as aelita wasn't much of a physical person. hence how she always maintained her high grades in school.

aelita embarrassingly adverted her gaze, fiddling with her fingers, as she wasn't sure how she was supposed to combat that.

it wasn't like she could just become a better dancer overnight.

"or perhaps it's because the instructor isn't tedious enough", gojō intervened, causing aelita to snap her glum head upwards.

"mr. gojō, you may be the most talented man ever known to mankind, but need I remind you that there are limits to a person — like us regular people — and their capabilities", the man rebutted.

"oh really? if you'd paid more attention to our highness over there, you would've realized that she misses the same step every time, which causes her to fall into more incorrect movements", gojō stated.

and before the dance instructor could speak, gojō had extended his hand out towards the blonde girl.

"may I?"

"b-but what if I step on your toes?", aelita softly worried, hesitantly taking gojō's hand.

"I assure you that you won't. just follow my lead", gojō whispered, wrapping one arm around aelita's upper waist, as he held her hand with the other.

the girl placed her other hand on gojō's shoulder, immediately noticing the terrible height difference.

"now...right back, left back to the side, and close", gojō instructed.

meanwhile the dance instructor bitterly watched from the sidelines, mai had scooted over towards the male, as aelita was starting to vastly improve.

     "sorry, but what was it that you were saying earlier about our highness not having body coordination?", mai asked, causing the man to scoff, as he stomped out of the ballroom.

     aelita — for once — glanced up from her feet, as she looked at gojō with a very self-accomplished smile.

     "I didn't step on your toes!!", she exclaimed.

     "as expected from our princess", gojō complimented, as he playfully spun her and watched her twirl in happiness.

     "YES AELITA!!! THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!", mai and maki clapped.

     aelita bowed to gojō, as the man had done the same, patting her head in the process.

     "guess I'll be your teacher from now on", gojō shrugged, as a knock on the door was promptly heard.

     "come in!!", aelita yelled.

     "please excuse the intrusion, your highness, but I'm here to talk about the guest list?", getō said.

     "ah suguru!! how're you doing, my friend?", gojō asked, wringing his arm around the man's shoulders.

     "your highness, could you please tell this parasite to get off please? I just know it won't listen to my words", getō smiled.

     gojō loudly gasped, putting a hand against his chest.

     "the audacity!! princess, do you hear this?! you must reprimand him for such cruel behavior!!", gojō whined.

aelita snickered, as she walked over towards the two.

"I'm sorry, but you both are dear to me, so I can't pick sides. however, I'll gladly skim through the list", aelita stated, to which getō had handed the girl a stack of papers.

"all of the dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, barons, along with their wives and children have been invited to this party.

and so has the king, queen, and prince of the zen'in clan", getō reported.

     maki and mai's face instantly scrunched up in disgust, as even gojō felt some sort of distaste for the clan's rulers.

"I see...zen'in naobito, zen'in nakita, and zen'in naoya...", aelita mumbled.

"they only have one kid?", the girl asked.

"yes, he's actually our second cousin. I'm surprised he hasn't wed at the age of twenty-seven yet", maki explained.

"I'm not", mai scoffed.

"his personality's about as shitty as it gets", gojō stated, to which that had earned a glare from getō.

"please refrain from using vulgar language in front of her highness", getō reminded.

"it's alright, mr. getō", aelita smiled, having to have heard enough from misa when the girl would ranting about some piss-hair colored misogynist.

"and anyways, I'm sure we won't talk much. I assume one dance will be the start and end of it", aelita assured.

     "oh, and before I forget!! you both will be accompanying us to where the commoners are", aelita excitedly said, as it's only been a few days, but she's never gone out of the castle before.

     "us?", getō and gojō repeated at the same time.

     aelita nodded.

     "we also need to get maki and mai fitted for their dresses. they are the second princess's ladies-in-waiting after all", the blonde girl stated.

     "if that is your highness's desire, then I shall comply", getō bowed.

     "please, aelita's just fine. I insist", the girl smiled, causing gojō to grin, as getō hesitantly nodded.

     "then please excuse us...aelita...we wish you a splendid dinner and a very good night", getō said, exiting the ballroom alongside gojō.

     before the princess could head to the dining hall, maki had stopped the girl.

     "u-umm...excuse me, aelita..."

     "yes?"

     "I...I was wondering if I could be fitted for a suit instead. I know girls are usually required to wear dresses, but I feel much more comfortable in some pants and a shirt", maki straightforwardly proclaimed.

     aelita just shrugged.

     "okay!"

     "yes, I understand that it's not proper of me, but I—wait, pardon?!"

     "I said okay", aelita repeated, wondering what specials the head chef has prepared for them today.

     "oh...okay...thank you", maki mumbled, slightly confused by the neutral reaction.

"was there a particular color that you wanted?"

"preferably black", maki answered.

"I'll take a black dress though", mai chimed in.

aelita lightly chuckled, as she mentally took note of that.

"but seriously, aelita, thank you. no one ever takes me seriously when I say that", maki muttered.

"no need to thank me, maki. after all, we are friends", aelita smiled.

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• affection meter:
- gojō satoru: 33% + 5% = 38%
- getō suguru: 5% + 2% = 7%
- itadori sukuna: 1%

• romance meter:
- itadori yūji: 15% + 5% = 20%
- fushiguro megumi: 10% + 3% = 13%
- secret target: 0%