Where will things go from here? Will the dinner go well? How are things going with Blake and Cynthia and the others? Hopefully, things will be interesting, to say the least, without TOO MUCH conflict. …Yeah, right.

JoshGamerV: Yeah, sorry, I changed up a few earlier things to suit the narrative. That convo was between Blake and Kate, now we're seeing Ayame and Kate.

Aquahaze675: Definitely rough, that's for sure.

Rosealine gold: I found it interesting, but I'll have to think about stuff.

KedharS: I think she might be too frightened for that.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 456

To Ayame's continued frustration, Olivia and Alcea danced around the issue at hand for the majority of the meal. Ayame didn't like these games of etiquette and subtlety. She preferred the more direct approach to speaking with others; Ayame was a hammer, and if she wanted something from someone she would keep hammering at them until they gave in.

When she mentioned this to Olivia on the walk over here, however, she had just responded with "and that's precisely the reason why Blake hasn't had sex with you yet" which had caused her to turn bright red and stop talking.

Olivia had told her that Alcea was the one to contact her first, which wasn't much of a surprise to Ayame. Olivia despised Alcea, just being around the other girl, hell, even thinking about her, it was enough to make the boss drop into a moody, depressed/angry state for an extended period of time. Hence why Ayame had been called in to keep her under control.

Right now, though, Olivia wore her mask perfectly, treating Alcea like a casual acquaintance and not with the animosity she reserved for her private expression of the other girl. And while Alcea's thoughts on the Empress in turn were not nearly as well-known to Ayame, if she had any negative perception of her it wasn't showing.

The two girls played their roles of being casual participants in a meal, and yet Ayame was finding it hard to breathe. Luckily, she didn't have to cook the meal (she was a good cook, sure, but not THAT good, and she wouldn't dare to serve food to either girl, as high-class as their palates were) she just brought it in from the delivery. Because when you were Olivia Himeko, the fanciest Kalosian Restaurant on the island did, in fact, deliver.

"Is it to your taste?" Olivia asked. "I wasn't sure what you would like, so I ordered some cuisine from your homeland."

"Nostalgic, is it?" Alcea murmured, wiping her lips with her napkin and placing it neatly beside her empty plate. "Now, time for discussion, is it?"

Olivia flashed a smile in response.

"I'm glad you agreed to join me for dinner," Olivia said, taking a long sip from her coffee mug to draw things out as long as possible, knowing Alcea would be too polite to take the chance to interrupt her, enjoying watching her squirm, even if only internally (and not technically visible, though Olivia was sure it was happening). She set down the drink and smiled, "we so rarely get the chance to interact, after all, when you said you needed to speak I just had to invite you to dine with me."

"Oui, it was my honor," Alcea smiled back. "I had initially planned for just a brief conversation, but your invite, a surprise, is it? I did not think you were the sort of woman who would enjoy my company. I'm glad my concerns were misplaced."

It was said with such polite deferment that one might be mistaken at first, but no one could deny that Alcea had taken the first real shot of the night, sending out feelers by putting word to the unspoken truth filling the room right now that "Olivia Himeko and Alcea Vermeil do not get along". The question was how Olivia would respond to that.

She responded quite plainly, by taking another sip of coffee before speaking.

"You don't honestly think that, do you? Alcea, I must say, you really are such a cont-" Olivia coughed, miming her coffee going down the wrong pipe. Ayame had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "…Continuous surprise," Olivia finished. "I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth."

Kate was the only person who even had a chance of being convinced of that one, and not even she was believing it at this point. The silence as the girls ate their meal had been suffocating, sending too many bad memories of the times when she was bullied.

"That pleases me to hear," Alcea said. "This evening has certainly been an unforgettable one. Shall we dispense with pleasure and move on to business?"

"So eager to leave?" Olivia asked, holding her hand to her mouth in mock-surprise. "My, is my hospitality not to your liking? Have I done something to offend? If so, believe me, I do apologize, that was never my intention."

"No, not at all," Alcea said, shaking her head. "I have no doubt that you have extended to me all the hospitality that you could!"

…Which wasn't much, they both knew.

Alcea continued, "I was only concerned that, as a senior, you would have much more important things to be concerned with. I'm only a junior, and my workload is immense. I can't imagine what a senior like you is going through, especially when you factor in your… extracurricular obligations, is it? I would hate to waste any more of your valuable time than absolutely necessary, I'm sure you understand. I meant no offense."

"Absolutely," Olivia smiled. "I'm glad. Now! What is it that you wanted to discuss, Alcea? After such a… stimulating dinner, I would certainly be amenable to some light conversation. Now, is there something that the Empress can do for you?"

"Oui," Alcea nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about Gerard Alkwest. And the current state of the Daevas."

Olivia blinked, leaning in intently. "My, now that's a rather interesting set of questions. And what, exactly, am I supposed to inform you about?"

"Gerard Alkwest is a monster," Alcea bluntly declared. The lack of decorum actually caused Olivia's mask to slip for a second, her eyes widening in surprise.

"A monster?" Olivia said, quickly regaining her composure. "My, now that's quite a word to describe one's colleague."

"Colleague in reluctance, is it?" Alcea scowled. She was done with the niceties of conversation now, now she was getting to the heart of the matter. "What do you know of Elaina Bishop?"

"…I've heard of her," Olivia said, still putting on an air of indifference. The concerns Alcea was raising were of no interest to her, her priorities were… elsewhere.

"He's turning her into a weapon," Alcea said. "A tool to hurt others. And I want to find some way to stop him from doing it. So I'm asking for your help."

"My help? With what, exactly?" Olivia asked. "You've told me some very… incendiary rumors, to be sure, but you have not explained how you think I might be able to help you, or what I can do about such things."

Alcea's face darkened, and she glanced down into her lap. Even if Olivia was being intentionally difficult (which, of course, she was) that didn't change the fact that Alcea wasn't exactly providing the girl with a plan of attack.

While Alcea was deliberating, Ayame was trying very, very hard to maintain an image of decorum, which was growing more difficult by the moment. She couldn't help it. She absolutely AGREED with what Alcea was saying, Elaina Bishop was a threat. Ayame knew this better than anyone in the Empress's organization. In the time she had spent watching Elaina work during the two weeks she had spent teamed up with Blake, Ayame had seen Elaina hurt more people than she could count, and very nearly killed Ayame herself! Between that, and what had happened with Kitty, and of course Blake's sister, it was obvious that Elaina was a hand grenade, and Gerard's finger was wrapped around the pin. With only a pull, he could make her blow up. And Ayame couldn't imagine the damage that would result from something like that.

But it wasn't so simple. Ayame wasn't a factor in this conversation. If she interrupted the conversation and spoke up for what she thought that her boss should do, that would not only weaken Olivia's standing with Alcea, it would severely piss her off, as well. So she bit her tongue and let Olivia talk.

Besides, she would be giving her own advice to the boss later on, and encourage the Empress to assist Alcea in getting through to Elaina and separating her from Gerard.

"If you wish, I could see about arranging for Elaina to be expelled," Olivia mused, stroking her chin. "That would certainly reduce the risk on our student body."

Alcea's expression darkened into a scowl, which was just about what Olivia expected. She wasn't actually interested in expelling Elaina, of course, she just wanted to see Alcea squirm. What had come as a surprise was the way Ayame's eye twitched, the way her brow furrowed, cluing Olivia into something that she hadn't anticipated, Ayame's sympathy.

So Aya has gotten a little attached to Elaina Bishop, hmm? Olivia resisted the urge to smirk. Clearly, she's getting more and more involved in her little boyfriend's personal drama. I don't know much about the masked girl, but it's clear that Alcea is worried…

…Hmm, what should I do, then…

While Olivia pondered her next move, she stared pointedly at Alcea, waiting for the uncomfortable girl to follow up her statement.

Finally, Alcea spoke.

"It isn't that I want her to be expelled," she said, shaking her head. "That… that would just make things worse for her."

"Then what do you want?" Olivia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I want to help her!" Alcea exclaimed. "That girl, she's scared and alone, I want to help her! Get her away from Gerard!"

Olivia took gleeful delight in the fact that Alcea had lost her cool first. Just to twist the knife in, she remained the picture of decorum as she began speaking.

"…Well, I will say, it won't be an easy feat to get Gerard expelled," Olivia mused. "I may have some influence, but not even I can pull off something like that."

"Not what I had in mind, is it?" Alcea clarified, shaking her head.

This was starting to become much less fun for Olivia. She had been expecting Alcea to come to her with some desperate plan or ploy that would need Olivia's help in a specific way to be successful. If that had been the case, Olivia could have delighted herself in raking Alcea over the coals, forcing her to do all manner of humiliating things to get Olivia's help.

She hadn't been expecting something as vague as this, however, and the fact that she didn't know what Alcea specifically wanted from her, and thus what Olivia could then deny her, put her in a rather infuriating position.

It was removing all the joy from being in a position of power, really. Would it have killed the damn rose girl to be a little more specific? She was really harshing Olivia's enjoyment of the situation. She wanted Olivia to help her, but she didn't want Olivia to expel Elaina, or expel Gerard, so what exactly was she after?

"So you don't want me to get Elaina expelled, you don't want me to get Gerard expelled, what do you want from me?" Olivia asked. "I'm happy to help any way that I can, but you must tell me how, Alcea, otherwise how can I help?"

"I don't know what sort of help I want," Alcea admitted. "I've been going over this every way I can, and the only thing I can think of is some sort of school legislation to force them to separate, or mandatory counseling, or something like that."

"Well, I don't know what I can do about that," Olivia said, shaking her head. "I don't handle school legislation, I'm sorry to say."

Alcea didn't have a response to that.

"…I'm speaking with the other daevas," Alcea said. "What can you tell me about them?"

"Changing the subject?" Olivia asked, raising her eyebrow. "Not interested in helping poor Elaina anymore? And yet I was just getting worried about her…"

Alcea's eye twitched, to Olivia's delight.

"…The same issue, is it?" Alcea murmured. "I don't believe that Elaina can be helped with just your support."

Now it was Olivia's turn to be bothered. She had to work to keep the wrath off of her face, Alcea's insinuation that her help would not be enough rubbing her just the wrong way.

"…Well, let's talk about the others, then," Olivia said, not letting a note of rage or bitterness seep into her voice as she continued the conversation.

About an hour before Olivia and Alcea began "enjoying" their dinner, Blake was still trying to actually get around to getting his. Cynthia wasn't making it easy.

"Seriously, Cynthia, could you please let go of me?" Blake asked.

"Nuh-uh," Cynthia said, shaking her head. Blake sighed, rubbing his forehead with his palm.

"Cynthia, what would Ayame say if she saw you acting like this?" Blake asked. "This is kind of making things more uncomfortable, you know. And not just in a physical way. Look, I get it, it's been a while since we saw each other, but that doesn't mean, well…"

"What, I can't even hug you now?" Cynthia demanded. She pulled back, slightly, just barely enough to where she was giving him room to breathe, but not actually removing her arms from around his chest. "Come on, Blake, we're best friends you know! I should be allowed to hug my best friend without his girlfriend having anything to say about it."

"You did confess to me a month ago, you know," Blake said, raising his eyebrow.

"…Yeah, duh, a month ago!" Cynthia said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, so you don't have feelings for me anymore?" Blake asked, relaxing slightly. That caused Cynthia to scowl.

"Don't look so happy about it," she snarled. "And, for the record, yes, I'm still madly head-over-heels for you, thank you very much." She tightened her grip to emphasize that.

Blake sighed, shaking his head.

"Look, Cynthia, you're my friend, but Aya… Aya is my girlfriend. She's important to me, and I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable about the fact that you're coming onto me like this and getting more physical," Blake said. "Look, I know you're a hugging person, but at the very least, could you stop when I ask you to-"

"Then I wouldn't be able to get you away in private," Cynthia cut him off, digging her nails into his back to get him to stop talking. Blake winced, his voice trailing off. Cynthia looked back up at him, her eyes surprisingly focused.

"H-Huh?" Blake said, not used to seeing her look like this about anything that didn't involve battling.

"Look, you know full well I'm a glomper, but that's not what this was about," Cynthia said, her voice serious. She looked around, as though she thought that she might be overheard. "Look, I have something to tell you, and I didn't want the others to hear."

"You couldn't have texted?"

"That might lead you to get worried. Or you'd blow me off, thinking I was joking, or thinking that I was just trying to get you alone to do pervy things," Cynthia replied. "This was the best way I could think to get you alone after… you know."

"Come on, Cynthia, you know I wouldn't just blow you off," Blake said softly. "We're friends. If you had just told me that you wanted to talk about something important in private, of course I would have gone to be alone with you."

He considered for a second, and added, "heck, even if it wasn't something that important I still would have been fine with it."

"Really?" Cynthia asked, her eyes shining happily.

"Yeah, of course," Blake said. "You really didn't think that?"

"…No, I did, but I really wanted to hug the guy I like, too," Cynthia giggled, leaning up and planting a kiss on Blake's cheek before finally letting him go.

Blake was less than amused.

"After dinner," Cynthia said, stepping back. Her playful smile shifted in another unusually serious expression. "Let's talk, okay?"

Blake nodded. He could tell that this was important to Cynthia.

"…Sango too," Cynthia added. "She's a part of this, too."

"…What's this about, Cynthia?" Blake asked. He had a bad feeling about this, something in his gut telling him to be worried.

Cynthia shook her head, and gave him a wink, putting her finger up on her lips in a *shush* motion, turning on her heel.

"…If I tell you now, we won't be able to enjoy our dinner," Cynthia said. "Come on, Blake. Just get your food and come back, 'kay?"

"…Yeah, sure," Blake said, nodding, though he wasn't exactly enthused. He was back on campus for all of half an hour and already things were getting off to a stressful start. He turned and picked up a tray, going to get some food while Cynthia skipped back to their table, a lot more cheery than she had reason to be, given the circumstances.

Cynthia plopped down next to Sango, and placed her hand on her arm. Sango glanced at Cynthia, the redhead giving her a pointed look in response.

"…So you told him?" Sango asked.

Cynthia gave a curt nod.

"Oooh? Told him what?" Reiner teased.

"Oh, the usual, just professing my undying love, you know, not a big deal," Cynthia dismissed the issue, her solemn look seamlessly shifting into a coy smile as she turned to Reiner. "Although, it didn't have the same impact as the first time."

By this point, Cynthia's feelings were common knowledge among them, and everyone had their own thoughts on the matter.

"Cynthia, you, um… you aren't trying to break him up with Ayame, right?" Kitty asked, staring nervously at her friend. She resisted the urge to glance at Sango. Kitty knew Sango had feelings for Blake, heck, she was probably the only one there who DID know, Blake included. And while she felt bad for the girl, she was relieved that Sango wasn't throwing herself at Blake and trying to ruin his relationship, respecting the fact that being with Ayame made him happy.

Cynthia, though… Kitty wasn't entirely sure that Cynthia had the same moral compunction to respect Blake's relationship, and her glomping of him earlier wasn't exactly the most reassuring attitude Cynthia could be having, either.

"Come on, Kitty, it's fine," Julia said, placing her hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Cynthia isn't trying to break the two of them up."

She turned to Cynthia, and shot her a cold glare. "Right?"

"I'm just playing around, don't worry!" Cynthia laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm not gonna actually ruin my best friend's happiness over my feelings."

Kitty smiled. She didn't think that Cynthia was that kind of girl, but getting reinforcement as to that fact made her feel a lot better.

"It's just a little bit of skinship, it's not that big of a problem," Cynthia whined, Sango rolling her eyes. Kitty's smile dropped off her face. Julia also wasn't exactly enthusiastic about her, but she wasn't going to say anything, and was willing to give Cynthia the benefit of the doubt.

"Well, it looks like I came in at an interesting point in the conversation."

Everyone turned to see Nikita, and she was holding a tray of food in her hands. She wore a bright smile on her face, her joy at seeing her friends trumping her shyness.

"Nikita! You made it!" Reiner said, his face brightening as he laid eyes on his girlfriend. He patted the empty seat beside him.

"Yep!" Nikita said, nodding, sliding in next to her boyfriend. "Now, what's this I was hearing about, um…"

Her cheery façade slipped away as she blushed, averting her eyes.

"S-Skinship?" She whispered, staring down at her plate as Cynthia burst out laughing.

The conversations are getting interesting. I think we all know what Cynthia and Sango are going to be talking with Blake about…