"Wow, Rita, you look different than you usually do. You look cute!"
The scratches of pen on paper got harsher and choppier. Again, the scenario from earlier was repeating itself in her mind. Rita glared at the calculations in her book as if that would somehow help her concentration on them. Her handwriting was not sentient, and therefore did not obey her gaze. She let out a frustrated groan and stretched her arms above her head. Her sleeves brushed against the only accessory she left on from that short-lived waitress job. This only frustrated her further.
"Hey, Yuri! You think she looks cute, right? Don't you?"
Of all the people on Terca Lumeries, she had to pull him into the conversation. That long-haired jerk. Rita shook her head to clear his face from her thoughts. Now was the time to formulate that new Arte. Not think about the sudden change in how he held himself after Estelle pulled him over, or that pink that slowly changed to red across his cheeks. And especially not the new way he had looked at her...
"...Just focus already," she mumbled to herself.
Artes. Mathematical conversions. That's what she needed to put on top priority. She scribbled more calculations down.
"Huh? Yeah... I like those cat ears, I guess."
It took her a full minute to realize her final mathematical outcome.
ζ×ψ＝φ - ∫∇＝ Y U R I
Rita slammed her book shut. She could feel a new heat to her face and her heart rate rapidly increasing. Again. Just like it did before. None of it made sense. She got a little offended when Estelle called her cute. But when it came out of his mouth...
Why did that spark this emotion in her? And most importantly, why did she want to know if he thought she was cute?
"Just the ears?"
The man broke into her house, called her a thief and went so far as to pull his sword on her. And even after she cleared her already clean name, he still didn't trust her. There was absolutely nothing likeable about him.
It wasn't even like she cared. Or so she tried to tell herself. Hearing his agreement, however, struck something in her. It made her...happy?
She stopped her line of thought with another irritated groan. This was all stupid. She pulled the headband with the cat ears off her head and stared at it. What if it was only just the ears after all?
"...The ears are the problem."
"This is so stupid. Why should I even care?" she said aloud to herself, opening her workbook once again.
"Yeah, I feel the same about math."
Rita nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around and came face to face with the one person she really did not have to see right now. Worst of all was his stupid face looking like he was attempting to not start laughing. Probably because he startled her. What a jerk!
"You better have a good reason for interrupting my work, Yuri," she said with a glare. Rita semi-consciously shifted her grip on her book, covering that rather embarrassing equation with the palm of her hand. That page needed to be burned.
Yuri took a seat on the grass next to her and held out a plate of Mabo Curry. "Estelle was calling you over for dinner. You never responded, so I brought it to you."
"Thanks, I guess," the mage mumbled, taking the plate from him.
It wasn't one of her favorite dishes, but the sweet spicy smell was enough to remind her stomach of how she hadn't eaten since noon. The resulting growl from her abdomen was enough to make her rapidly blush. Exactly what she needed right now: further embarrassment in front of this jerk. She carefully turned to see if he had noticed. She found him watching her, a look of mild curiosity on his face. Rita felt her blush intensify.
"Wh-what are you looking at me for?" she stuttered.
"I changed the recipe a little. Tell me if you like it," Yuri answered, getting right to the point.
Rita stared at him for a moment before looking at the plate that rested on her book in her lap. "...This isn't like your croquettes, is it?" she asked warily.
"I pack all of my love into every dish I make," he said in a serious tone.
Rita made a noise of disapproval directed at his comment, and decided instead to focus her attention on her still steaming meal. She scooped up a portion too big for her spoon and chomped down on it. She had hoped to distract her brain from connecting her confusing emotions and the slight possibility he wasn't kidding around this time; that maybe, just maybe, he cared enough to put some more effort than usual into this particular meal for her. Rita couldn't help but make a tiny noise of surprise. The dish was much better than the last time she had it.
...Which brought back those previous pesky thoughts after about seven seconds of relief. Great.
"It's alright, I guess," Rita said before taking another bite.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he was still looking at her. She could physically feel herself growing uncomfortable.
"...Aren't you going to go back to the rest of them? You watching me is really weird," she said bluntly.
Yuri laid on his back, using his hands as a pillow. "The old mans telling that story about that nobles missing treasure again." he replied, watching the twilight above them, "Any company is better than hearing that story again."
Rita curled her lip at him momentarily before returning to dinner. "Gee, thanks," she grumbled.
The young mage put her attention into finishing up her plate. She dined in silence next to Yuri, doing her damnedest to let him know... think that his mere presence irritated her. In a way, it did. For entirely different reasons. Annoying, irritating reasons. It didn't take her long to clear her plate and she set the dinnerware down next to her. Rita turned her attention back on her notebook. The damned ears were resting on top of her scrawled notes. She hesitated, contemplating for a moment if she should just throw them as far as she could. In the end, she decided against it, and nestled them behind her goggles back on her head, deciding then and there to not let anyone else know she actually liked wearing them.
"...So, what are you working on?" Yuri asked, sitting up.
Rita rolled her eyes and tapped the nib of her pen on her notebook. "If you really need to know, I'm working out mathematical ways to alter some of my artes," she responded.
The young mage looked up and over to where he had settled and was met with him sitting closer to her, a look of mild curiosity on his face. She could begin to feel her face heat up.
"Wh-what?" she spat out, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady.
"I'm just interested in the math part. I just kinda...do it, you know?" Yuri replied, "I feel the change in the blastia and bam. Then there's fire everywhere."
"The blastia ones are the easy ones. I can just look at the formulas being used." Rita made extra sure to cover his name in her book with her thumb before pointing at her math. "See there, I'm trying to change the formula of Phi to something else. I have a feeling it can be done, I just can't seem to nail it down."
"That stuff doesn't make sense to me. But if anyone can figure it out, it's you, Rita," Yuri said. He backed up and leaned back onto the grass, an honest smile on his face.
And that's what ruined her. The young mage quickly turned back to her book and coughed lightly, hoping to all that was good on the planet that he didn't see her bright red face or her hands begin to tremble. She closed her eyes, trying to look as confident as possible. "O-Of course I can! Who do you think you're talking to anyway?" she said haughtily, "I'm the Rita Mordio. There isn't any formula I can't figure out!"
She felt a weight on her head for a brief moment and opened her eyes to see she had received an assuring head pat. Oh that did not help how she was feeling.
"How about you work that mumbo-jumbo out over by the fire with the rest of us?" Yuri asked, standing up. "The more the merrier."
Rita made a small noise of annoyance. She wasn't really annoyed. But it's not like she could let her guard down or anything. She closed her notebook, grabbed her plate and stood up. "I guess. Only because it's getting too dark to see."
Whatever pride she had was immediately taken from her as she stumbled slightly over a small divot in the ground. Her fall was halted quickly by Yuri darting forward to catch her by her free hand.
"Woah, easy there," he said, pulling her up straight, "Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine! Let's just go!" Rita responded a little too loudly.
It was subtle but she let her fingers fall around Yuri's hand and she noticed exactly how much bigger and rougher they were than her own. She tried to convince herself it was just a typical, subconscious motion. Tried and failed.
About five steps back to the campfire where the party sat around, Yuri glanced over at the mage next to him. "You know, Rita, I know I said I wanted to hold your hand before. But you can let go now," he said with a grin.
Rita allowed herself three seconds before yanking her hand away. "Shut up, idiot," she grumbled.
And to think, none of this would have ever crossed her mind if they didn't stop in Dhangrest that day. If she didn't take up that waitress job. If Estelle never called her cute in the first place, and if she never dragged Yuri into the conversation. Maybe she wouldn't be feeling flustered and frustrated about her emotions and just go on worrying only about Blastia and the Entelexeia. But in the back of her mind, she was happy that even if it was just the ears, she was finally getting some attention from him. The man who changed her life for the good.