Time for some more Truths and Dares, and someone takes a bite out of something that's rather disgusting. It's a little short, but that's okay, we actually get some developments here and there!

Hellraiserphoenix: Well, Ayame is adorable, so of course her acting cute would be pretty cute, would you expect less?

KedharS: They really are perfect together. Hopefully things can stay that way.

Pokemonking0924: Sango would eat anything once, but it has to actually be food. As you'll see this chapter, there are probably some things that aren't considered food that she definitely would not be eating, or trying.

Aquahaze675: Well yeah, that's the joy of having developed couples, we get to see them being cute together. Hopefully, this chapter has some more cuteness. Or, well, not necessarily cuteness, but awkwardness, maybe.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 482

Ayame was incredibly embarrassed by everything that had happened. She could feel herself turning red, her entire face was warm! And not only that, there was that old familiar gurgle in her stomach that she got whenever she was anxious, threatening to make her start spewing vomit.

She was rather desperate to deflect the embarrassment off of her, and turned to the first person who popped into her mind. "Cynthia, Truth or Dare?"

Cynthia blinked. She considered for a moment, then raised her hand.

"Rules clarification," she decided. She turned to Serefina, who was her de facto second when it came to the rules, since she had come up with several of them. "If I'm currently undergoing a punishment game like I am right now, and someone else asks me as Truth or Dare, can I get out of my punishment game if I agree to do the Dare?"

"That's no fun," Maddi said, scowling. Cynthia scowled right back.

"…I say yes," Serefina agreed after mulling it over for a few seconds. "But if you pass on a Truth or Dare while you're already going through a punishment game, then that means you have to be the maid for BOTH people, is that fair?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Cynthia said, pumping her fist into the air victoriously. "So gimme a Dare, Ayame!"

"Okay, Cynthia, your Dare is that we will blindfold you, and feed you something from the refrigerator here without telling you what it is," Ayame decided after a pause.

"Awesome, sounds like a plan," Cynthia said, giving her a thumbs' up. Ayame picked up the shirt Cynthia had been wearing before changing into her new dress. It was thick and dark, the perfect blindfold, and she tied it over Cynthia's eyes.

"Good, can you see anything?" Ayame asked. Cynthia shook her head, everything was completely black. "Okay, well, it might take some time to prepare your food, so in the meantime, here's a new game we can play: blindfolded Truth or Dare!"

"Huh?" Cynthia tilted her head to the side, not sure what Ayame meant.

"I'm going to spin you around, and then you point at someone. And whoever that person is, you have to give them a Truth or a Dare, sound good?" Ayame asked.

"Why do I have to do this, can't I just do it the normal way?" Cynthia asked, not entirely thrilled that her turn was kind of being skipped.

"Think of it as your punishment game for sneaking out of your punishment game," Ayame said. "And this way we can keep the game going while preparing your… food."

Cynthia grumbled, but she supposed that seemed fair enough. "Okay, fine, let's do it, then!" Ayame began spinning Cynthia around, Cynthia feeling really dizzy even with the blindfold. When she felt Ayame's strong hands release her, she stumbled forward a little, then felt Ayame help her balance, which she appreciated.

"I choose you!" Cynthia declared, sticking her finger out.

"…Cynthia, that's a wall," Ayame replied. Cynthia blushed under her blindfold, feeling a little sheepish. "Don't worry," Ayame continued, "we'll redirect you the right way."

Cynthia felt Ayame spin her, slower this time, and then she stopped.

"That's the closest person to what you were pointing at," Ayame explained. "It's Aidan."

Cynthia's face brightened. Aidan, huh? Oh, she had some Dares she could give that hunk of man.

"Aidan, Truth or Dare?" Cynthia asked.

Aidan swallowed. He'd only been in one round before, and had been grateful that he was staying under the radar. But his luck had just run out. He couldn't say Truth, because then someone might ask who his crush was, and refusing to answer might out him as being into someone here… which would narrow the possibilities down to pretty much just one girl. So his only real option was to go with the Dare. And while he didn't know Cynthia that well yet… he wasn't sure if he would like the Dare she came up with very much.

"Dare." But it wasn't like he had a choice.

Cynthia smirked. Just what she wanted!

"Aidan, I dare you to take your top off, and leave it off for the rest of the game!" Cynthia declared.

"…Oh, is that it?" Aidan asked. He might have been shy, but he wasn't ashamed of showing off his body. He stripped his shirt off, revealing his ripped muscles to everyone in the room. There were a few appreciative whistles from Sylvia, Callie, and Sango (which made him feel better) and even Dakota was studying him intently, much to Akira's annoyance.

The only person who wasn't seeing anything was Cynthia, who was still blindfolded. She reached up to take her blindfold off, but Ayame slapped her hand away.

"No no no, you can't take it off until your Dare is finished," Ayame reminded her.

"What?!" Cynthia exclaimed. "That- that's not fair!"

"Tough," Ayame smirked. Cynthia fumed at her, and muttered something unmentionable, but she nodded in reluctance and let things continue.

"Remember! You can't put it back on!" Cynthia ordered. Getting to drool over Aidan's muscled chest would be her reward for getting through Ayame's dare.

…And if it happened to make Blake jealous, seeing her fawn over another guy? Well, that was just bonus points.

"Okay, so it's your turn, Aidan," Cynthia said, Ayame helping her to her seat. It felt like it had been forever since she had sat on that couch. All she had to do was make it through Ayame's Dare, and she'd be free!

Ayame smirked. She had a great idea for some payback. She walked over to Kate and held her finger to her lips to tell Kate to say nothing. Kate looked up at her, confused. Ayame smiled and gestured for her to stand, and Kate stood up, following after Ayame. Cynthia, of course, could not see any of this, and everyone looked on in confusion.

"What's going on?" Kate asked, when they got into the kitchen.

"We're going to make Cynthia a sandwich," Ayame said, keeping her voice low so Cynthia wouldn't hear her. "Just using stuff that's in the refrigerator. Would you mind?"

"Uh…" Kate looked apprehensively at the refrigerator. Making food had never even once been a good idea. "Are… are you sure?"

Ayame smirked, nodding her head. "Absolutely!" She said, giving Kate a thumbs' up.

Kate was less sure.

Meanwhile, back in the common room, the game was still ongoing.

"Um, okay…" Aidan said, looking around at everyone. He didn't know anyone here particularly well, so he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. It didn't help that he was shirtless, either. Which, while not something that he was embarrassed about, did make him feel a lot more exposed, in more ways than just physical. Everyone was staring at him. Some of it was because it was his turn to ask a question, and some were like the girl with blonde hair in the fancy dress that everyone seemed to hate, who was looking at him with, well…

He had seen that look on girls before, and it had always made him uncomfortable. It was like they wanted to eat him. And this girl was looking at him the same way. It sent a shiver down his spine. He looked away from those shining blue eyes, shivering.

Aidan turned to the only other person he really knew. "Sango, Truth or Dare?"

"Me, huh?" Sango paused. "Truth! Let's go with Truth, Aidan, what do you want to know? I'm an open book, obviously!"

What did Aidan want to know? He had chosen Sango because she was the person he was most comfortable with, but…

Well, there was something he suspected, and… he could get the truth here, right? Part of him was afraid that it would make Sango mad, and it would definitely probably embarrass her, but that was part of the game, right?

"Sango, do you have someone that you have a crush on?" Aidan asked, redirecting her initial question aimed at him back to her.

Sango's mouth fell open and her face went pale. She was so stunned by Aidan's question that she was frozen in place, which was the only thing that kept her from glancing to Blake automatically, which would have doomed her.

So in a way, the unexpectedness of the question had saved her from Sylvia and Dakota's scrutinizing gaze, because neither one of them would have let a glance at Blake in this situation go unnoticed. And then it would all be over. But she managed to regain her composure before that could happen, and focused directly on Aidan, willing herself to not even give Blake a glance. Even as she felt her face heat up, there was no way she would reveal her feelings here.

"Look!" Julia laughed. "She's turning bright red!"

Indeed, Sango was turning red. Put on the spot like this, being asked if she had someone she liked in front of everyone, when that someone she liked had a girlfriend… there was no way that she could keep that feeling of shame down.

"I knew it!" Cynthia crowed, leaping to her feet and pointing at where she assumed Sango was sitting. "I knew you liked someone!"

"That's a lamp, Cynthia, not me," Sango said dryly. "…Hey, what do you mean 'you knew', acting like you sussed it out, I TOLD you that I liked someone already!"

Cynthia's shenanigans had also come in handy for Sango, letting her relax a little bit and draw the attention away from Blake.

"Who is it?"

…She was going to kill him. No, seriously, Blake was fucking DEAD. She loved him, but that wasn't going to save his life. She turned slowly to him, letting her eyes carry the weight of her venomous stare as she leered at him, hoping he could FEEL how much anger was boiling up inside, all of it aimed right at him. And judging by the flinch and the way he scooted back a little, it had worked.

"I-I was just curious," Blake said.

"Why, having second thoughts about Ayame?" Sango smirked. WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL OF A GIRL?! WHY ARE YOU DIGGING YOUR HOLE DEEPER?!

"Huh? N-No, I was just surprised!" Blake said, now getting confused.

"Well, hate to break it to you Blake, but yes, a certain someone has stolen my heart," Sango said, standing from her seat and walking over to him. Now that she was looking down, it felt like she had a lot more power in the exchange. She gave him a casual smile, trying very hard to act like Marion. What would she do in this situation? Well, she would just let it all wash off her and laugh the whole thing off like it wasn't a big deal, so Sango was going to do the same. "Sorry, but I'm not going to be your backup, that's what Cynthia's for."

She chuckled, sitting down next to him and elbowing him in the side, joking around like always. That's right, casual, keep it casual, she told herself, but while the outside was all smiles and playfulness, dismissing the earlier embarrassment, inside the girl was screaming, begging herself to not give anything away.

She really, really hoped that she was pulling this off.

Aidan, meanwhile, was confused. Had he misunderstood everything? No, the look on Sango's face when he asked the question revealed that she did indeed have feelings for SOMEone. The question was who. He had suspected it was Blake, but the way she acted around him right now, now he wasn't so sure. Sango didn't like Blake that way? Maybe they really WERE just very good friends. Maybe he had read too much into the way that she talked about him all the time, maybe that was just how she was. She had said that Blake was probably her best friend, or maybe Cynthia.

But she did like somebody, so… and all her other guy friends, at least the ones he knew about, they were all in relationships, so…

He wondered if, just maybe, Sango might have feelings for him?

Well, then again, she might have feelings for another girl. Aidan wasn't sure about that, if he was being honest. Sango treated everyone like a friend, but she hadn't really favored anyone one way or the other. And tonight, well!

Cynthia had been drooling over Serefina, the girl with the large chest, but she was also proudly declaring she was in love with Blake, and at the same time she was saying she wanted to see him shirtless, so it was clear that boys, girls, it didn't really matter to her.

So with a friend like that, the assumption that Sango was into boys wasn't exactly rock-solid in foundation. Maybe she did like boys. She had short hair and a love of sports, and seemed utterly unfazed by his physical appearance, which was uncommon. All those things were traits he had experienced before, in lesbians. Now that he thought about it, even when she was whistling in approval of his muscles, it had sounded more of a "nice abs and six-pack, dude!" as opposed to actual excitement or desire.

So yeah, maybe he had been completely wrong from the start, and Sango was actually into girls after all. That would get him a little down, but he already knew the chances of her liking him were a long shot. Wait, she was looking at him, now? And she had just said something…

"Uh, what was that?" Aidan asked.

"I said, is that a good answer to your question?" Sango asked.

"O-oh! Yeah, yeah, that's fine," Aidan said, nodding. "Yeah, you did, so I guess it's your turn."

"Right!" Sango said, nodding. "Then-"

"Hold up, Sango, first thing's first!" Ayame interrupted everyone, all eyes (including the blindfolded ones) turning to see her step out of the kitchen, plate in hand, a nice toasted sandwich sitting on it, still steaming.

Kate hung her head and slinked back to her seat, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. This was going to be real bad…

Then again, she didn't care that much about Cynthia, so she didn't feel all that guilty. But the girl had invited Kate to her birthday when they weren't even friends, someone so sweet like that, could she really…

Kate was at a loss of what to do.

"That smells good!" Cynthia said, taking a big whiff of the sandwich. She wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled cheesy, and she could feel the heat wafting off.

Kate perked up. Maybe she'd actually succeeded this time?

"Bon appetit," Ayame said, lifting the sandwich off the plate. Blake suspected that the oven mitts she was wearing weren't just because the sandwich was a little hot.

Naïve, innocent Cynthia opened her mouth wide, and took a big bite of the sandwich. She chewed it for a few seconds. It was a sandwich! And it tasted… it tasted…

Cynthia spat the sandwich onto the floor and clutched her stomach, gagging. Ayame burst out laughing, Kate looking down guiltily.

"What was that?!" Cynthia demanded, tearing her blindfold off, blinking furiously as her eyes adjusted to the light. She spotted Ayame through blurry eyes, and glared at her. "Did you put rat poison in there or something?!"

"That was a sandwich made with perfectly legitimate ingredients," Ayame defended herself. "The chef sends her compliments."

Ayame nodded to Kate, who slumped down in her chair and averted her eyes.

"You fed me a sandwich that Kate made?!" Cynthia exclaimed. "That could have killed me, you jerk!"

Ayame shrugged.

"I mean, I drank that smoothie and I was fine," she replied.

"This is payback!" Cynthia scowled. "You are holding a grudge for my feelings for Blake! You're just being a yandere!"

"…No, I just thought you would have the most amusing reaction," Ayame replied.

"Aya…" Blake glanced at Ayame, and the look on his face… he was disappointed in her?

Ayame's good mood immediately deflated. She had just wanted to have a bit of fun. She turned to Cynthia, contrite. "I'm sorry, Cynthia, it was just a harmless prank."

Cynthia didn't care, she was scrubbing her tongue with her nails, god, she could still TASTE that horrific thing! She felt like she was going to throw up.

"No way that counts, right?!" She begged. "I don't get a punishment for not finishing f*cking poison!"

"Yeah, you're off the hook," Ayame admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

That definitely improved Cynthia's mood. She slumped back down into her seat, sighing with relief.

"Then I'm free!" Cynthia said, feeling invigorated. It had cost her a big bite out of a sandwich that was probably more deadly toxin than edible food, but she had gotten her freedom.

The sandwich remained in Ayame's hands. She walked over and threw it into the trash can, though really she wished she had a hazardous waste disposal container. She then picked up the bit Cynthia had spit out and got rid of that, as well.

Kate was just glad that she didn't end up hurting anybody, and hadn't had to be the one to clean up the mess again.

"Anyway, who's turn is it again?" Cynthia asked, still letting her eyes adjust. "Oh, yeah, right, Sango."

Cynthia had stopped caring, her eyes landing on the chiseled body of Aidan, everything else seeming much less important, including her near-poisoning. She walked across the room over to the chair he was sitting in, licking her lips as she eyed him up. She was hungry for something else, now.

Sango rolled her eyes, of course Cynthia would be like that. For the second time she was about to ask someone Truth or Dare, when she was cut off again by a knock on the front door.

"That must be the pizza," Blake sighed. "I guess I'll be the one to go get it, considering I have to eat the damn thing…"

Blake got up off the couch and walked over to the door, Ayame watching worriedly after him. He opened the door, fumbling for his key card, before pausing, surprised at who it was on the other side, holding the pizza in her hands.

"Hi there! This is Custom Crusts, your one stop shop for custom pizza! That will be $19.80, please! Will you be…" Carrie putting on her practiced speech, but her voice trailed off as her eyes widened, seeing who it was that had answered the door.

"You again?!" They both exclaimed.

Carrie returns. It seems like she couldn't even last the night at her job at Yang's Kitchen. Things are going pretty rough for her.