Here we are, right at the climax, with some major relationship moments. Blake has to confess his love to Andy? What's going to come from this? Will Ayame be okay with it? Hopefully, nothing too devastating will occur, but this is a major chapter, relationship-wise.

Aquahaze675: Should bring some interesting troubles, that's for sure!

KedharS: Gonna have to think about that one and get back to you.

JoshGamerV: Definitely not good.

Thunder Fire: Sarcastically great, maybe.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 484

"Hey, what's going on?" Andy asked, hopping up onto her toes to peek over Blake's shoulder. "There're a buncha people!"

"We're, uh… we're playing a game," Blake said, his mouth dry. "Truth or Dare."

"Oh, sweet! That sounds like a blast!" Andy said. "Now, uh…"

She was shifting from foot to foot, swaying from side to side as she looked past Blake.

"Why are you, uh… standing in front of the stairs?" Andy asked, her green eyes flashing with confusion. Then they narrowed suspiciously, and a frown crossed her plump lips. "Unless! You are here to block my passage!"

Andy jokingly made a stance like a football player, ready to tackle Blake out of the way.

"Did you think that standing before me would be enough to stop my advance? Those cookies are mine!" Andy laughed.

"Uh, oh, sorry," Blake said, stepping aside.

"As expected," Andy said, her tone jokingly haughty as she flipped her curly black hair up with a flick of her wrist, walking past him. "None can stop me!"

With a faux wicked laugh, she ran into the kitchen, exiting a few seconds later clutching a sleeve of cookies in her hands like she was stealing an ancient relic from a temple.

As Andy headed back into the common room, she took notice of who was gathered together for the first time, her face brightening.

"Oh! Nick! Hiyahoo!" Andy listed her hand up in a wave, walking over to them. Her eyes slid past her classmate and landed on Ayame, and that made her smile grow even wider. "Ayame? You're here? Well, duh, of course you are! If Blake's here, then you would be, too!"

Andy skipped over to the couch Ayame was frozen on, plopping down right next to her where Blake had been sitting moments prior. She looked up to Blake, still standing by the stairs, and patted the seat beside her.

"Hey Blake! Whya just standing like that?" Andy asked. "Come, come!"

"Uh… sure," Blake said, walking slowly over to the couch. Everyone else was still trying to process who this curly-haired bundle of joy was. Nick was the only one who knew her, but since she was a first-year some of them must have shared a few classes with her.

Cynthia in particular was miffed. She was supposed to be the hyper girl with curly hair who got Blake flustered, who did this girl think she was, just barging in and stealing her position like this?! It was really annoying. Sango was similarly bugged by another energetic girl, since Cynthia was competition enough, not to mention Marion, but the bigger concern was the look on Ayame's and Blake's faces. There was tension there. Ayame in particular seemed anxious; it was a look she recognized well, because she'd seen it on her own face when she looked in the mirror, in the days after learning that Blake and Ayame were going out.

Ayame was worried about Andy, like she was trying to horn in on her relationship with Blake. That was the impression that Sango got looking at Ayame's face.

"Hiyahoo!" Andy said, holding her hand up and looking at everyone. "I'm Andrea Rollins, but my friends all call me Andy! You guys mind if I sit in while I finish off my midnight snack?"

It was hard to say no to such a bubbly girl, so everyone gave a few tentative nods. Blake sat down next to Andy, glancing at Ayame as he did. He could see the anxiety on her brow, and it made him feel more uncomfortable.

"Ahem."

Startled, Blake glanced over his shoulder to see Sylvia behind him, leaning back in her chair with her hands behind her head, smirking.

"I believe you still have a Dare to complete, Blake," Sylvia reminded him. Blake went pale.

"What? Did I interrupt you guys? Sorry!" Andy laughed, scratching her head sheepishly.

Ayame felt sick to her stomach, even worse than when she'd had a sip of that smoothie Kate had made for her earlier.

Not her. Please, not her. Anyone but her.

But no, it was her. Blake looked at Andy, then past her at Ayame, biting his lip. He had to do it. Or Sylvia would…

"You could always back out and take your… punishment game," Sylvia smirked.

"I-I'll do it," Blake conceded, shaking his head. He looked apologetically at Ayame. He didn't want to hurt her, but it was that, or being Sylvia's servant. Ayame could see the tension on his face, and nodded reluctantly, understanding the situation he was in.

"Andy…" Blake said, his voice shaking.

"Yep? What's up?" Andy asked, her green eyes shining innocently.

"I'm in love with you," Blake said quietly. Ayame felt like her heart was being gouged out of her chest. She couldn't see Andy's face since she was turned towards Blake, and she felt that was a good thing. If the girl looked lovestruck, then…

Andy blinked in surprise, her eyes widening.

"Ha! Come on, Blake, don't joke about that kind of stuff!" Andy laughed, slapping him on the shoulder a few times. "That's just foolly talk! Everyone here knows you and Ayame are just overflowing with the cutesy feel-goods! 'I'm in love with you', come on, tell another!"

Andy doubled over laughing, completely destroying the uncomfortable tension. Blake and Ayame glanced at each other over her, perplexed.

"Well, that was amusing," Sylvia smirked. All things considered, it had gone pretty well. "Your turn, Blake."

Andy sprang up and lifted her hand, bouncing eagerly in her seat, all but saying "me, me, me!"

"Uh… Julia, Truth or Dare?" Blake asked.

"Truth," Julia said, equally pleased to start moving the game along. She let out a long yawn, blinking drearily. The evening was starting to drag for all of them. They weren't sure how many more rounds of Truth or Dare they could get through.

"What's your most embarrassing clothes malfunction story?" Blake asked.

Julia made a sour look. Her cheeks flushed a little and she looked down, embarrassed.

"I, um… well, when I was training Roden… he bit the hem of my skirt once and pulled it down before I could stop him," Julia said, not looking at anyone.

"Is that why you always wear tight pants when you can help it?" Sango asked, her eyes widening with realization. Julia didn't answer her, but the flush of her cheeks made it apparent that the answer was probably yes.

"Anyway!" Julia cut her off, shooting Blake a seething glare. "Madison, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Maddi said, finding Julia to be a fairly safe Truth option. She was also getting a little tired, not sure she had the energy for more Dares.

"Um…" Julia had called Maddi's name because she was the first person she had seen. "Have you ever pulled a school prank before? If so, tell us about it."

Truthfully, Maddi hadn't. She was a rather private person.

"Does convincing someone to be my maid by extorting them into burning their creep shots count?" Maddi asked, Dakota snickering. Cynthia scowled.

"…No," Julia said after a moment's thought.

"Then no." It was Maddi's turn now. She stifled a yawn, taking the opportunity to think of who she wanted to Truth or Dare. Last time it had been Sylvia, and that had gone poorly. But there was someone else she wanted to Truth or Dare, specifically, Truth. "Ayame, Truth or Dare?"

Ayame paused, she had been given Truths and Dares a lot tonight. "Truth."

Maddi opened her mouth, about to interrogate Ayame about the Empress, when she saw the look on Ayame's face. She looked sick and miserable, and as important as this was, even Maddi wasn't cold enough to start demanding that the older girl tell her important secrets about her best friend, not when she was already so bothered.

Maddi sighed, and recollected herself. Something light, to ease the tension, then. "Ayame, what is your most embarrassing secret?"

…She was being nice, but she wasn't going to be THAT nice.

Ayame frowned, her stomach gurgling. She glanced at Blake and blushed, and then glanced down. "Uhum, when… um, when I was younger… I was really gangly and lanky, I couldn't do anything right," she admitted. "The kids in my class made fun of me, and, well… we were doing a school play, and the teacher was asking for people to volunteer and be the princess, and, well…"

She glanced bashfully back up at Blake.

"I-I raised my hand, too, and everybody laughed at me," Ayame said. "It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life."

…Well just make me feel like crap, why don't you? Maddi scowled. She had been hoping that Ayame would say something simple like "I accidentally farted in the middle of a speech" not "I was the target of intense mockery by my peers due to my body image issues".

Blake saw how down Ayame was and reached out to her.

"They're all silly." But it was Andy, of all people, who actually reached out to Ayame and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, surprising the couple.

"H-huh?" Ayame was confused.

"You're totally a princess, right Blake?" Andy asked, looking to Blake for confirmation. Stunned and yet overjoyed, Blake looked to Andy with renewed hope. She seemed like a nice person, he was just afraid of Ayame's pain. But Ayame was brightening up, too.

"Yeah," Blake smiled. "She really is." Ayame went even redder.

"Aww," Andy giggled. "Cookie?"

Andy offered the sleeve of thin mints to Blake, first, then to Ayame.

"Ahem, um…" Ayame cleared her throat, staring at Blake. "Blake, Truth or Dare?"

"Uh… Truth?" Blake asked.

"Do you love me?" Ayame asked. The room went quiet. Sylvia rolled her eyes.

Blake's cheeks turned red as a big dopey smile spread across his face.

"Of-of course I do," he said, his face getting even redder as the words came out of his mouth.

"Of course he does!" Andy scoffed, slapping Ayame in the chest. "He'd be like totally bonkers to not, you know!"

"…Thank you," Ayame said, smiling bashfully.

"Aww, it's just the best, you two being all adorable together!" Andy gushed, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulder and an arm around Ayame's, pulling them both into a hug. "I'm so glad I felt the itching for some snacking tonight, getting a front row seat to something so sweet!"

"…Sure," Blake said, sharing a glance with Ayame. Things were a little awkward still, but a different, confusing kind of awkward.

"You're welcome?" Ayame said, as confused as her boyfriend.

"This is all nice and adorable, but can we move past the love-fest?" Kate scowled. Seeing Blake and Ayame getting all flirty was making her nauseous.

"My turn," Blake said softly. He was still a little embarrassed from earlier. It was his turn again, already? He felt like it had just been on him. "Akira, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Akira decided.

"I want you to tell everyone how much you love Dakota and what you love about her," Blake said, sticking his tongue out at Kate, who scowled in reply.

Akira smirked and Dakota fidgeted in her seat, Serefina brightening. Finally some positivity between the two of them!

"I love how passionate Dakota is about things that are important to her. The way she always puts her heart into whatever it is she's doing is adorable," Akira explained. "She's so feisty. It's almost impossible to get her to back down, I feel like if I don't hold my ground then I'll get swallowed in her wake. But when we're butting heads, I can see the passion in her eyes, the conviction that tells me she isn't going to back down, and to have that for everything, it's admirable. And yes, I wish she directed that passion in more… healthy directions, but if she did, then she wouldn't be her. The stubborn, Tauros-headed girl who runs headfirst thinking she's right, and… yeah, sometimes, she hurts people. But no matter what she'd try to make you think…"

Akira stared wistfully off in the distance.

"She doesn't like hurting people. If she ever really hurt someone, she would feel miserable about it. She lies, she embellishes, but when it comes down to it, when she has to make the choice of whether or not to hurt someone… she won't. Because for all her talk about being a great reporter, she's too nice of a person to be truly cruel. And that's what I love about her. She's just amazing."

"And how much do you love her?" Blake asked.

"An unbelievable amount," Akira explained, turning to Dakota. "I just…"

"Stop. Please just stop," Dakota said, bending over and burying her head in her lap, hiding her face with her hands for good measure. The scarlet flush reached all the way to her ears, she was so embarrassed. "I'm begging you, please."

Akira snickered, reaching over and patting her on the back.

"Serefina, Truth or Dare?" Akira asked, turning to Serefina.

"Truth," Serefina said, resisting the smile curling up on her lips. Seeing Dakota so flustered and embarrassed by Akira's sweet words was just the most adorable thing in the entire world, she couldn't help but smile at her.

"If you had to date someone here, who would you date?" Akira asked, feeling in the mood for some shitstirring, much to Serefina's chagrin.

Serefina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Cynthia leaned forward intently in her seat, and Giselle was also a little interested.

"Well, while I think Kitty is the sweetest one here by far," Serefina said, giving Kitty a smile, which caused her to tilt her head to the side and meow cutely, "I'm not into girls."

"Nya…" Kitty slumped slightly. Cynthia also felt like she was going to cry, petting the shorter girl on the head.

"So just the boys, then," Serefina said, looking at the others. "And I mean… they all have boyfriends, so… I guess, Aidan by default, then?"

Aidan brightened by that, surprised.

"Shinx!" Arion chirped, nodding in agreement with Serefina's decision.

"Come on, you could try giving a girl a chance for once," Cynthia pouted. Serefina rolled her eyes, not wanting to acknowledge the other girl.

"Well, that could have gone a little better," Akira admitted. "I was kind of hoping you'd choose a guy with a girlfriend."

"What kind of girl do you think I am?" Serefina scowled.

"…The kind of girl who dresses up in a stripper nurse's outfit to go visit the hospital room of the guy her roommate is in love with?" Dakota volunteered, Serefina shooting her a dirty look.

"Dakota, that was for your own-" She sighed, cutting herself off. She rubbed her temples and shook her head. "Never mind. It's not worth it. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!" Dakota said, eager to get some excitement. She trusted Serefina, and Serefina wouldn't make her do anything bad or embarrassing.

"Act out your favorite scene from a movie," Serefina instructed.

Dakota considered that for a second, and turned to Akira.

"Aki! Can you act out the scene from that movie we watched last night?"

"Huh? What scene?" Akira asked.

"You know, my favorite one!" Dakota pouted. "My favorite scene from my favorite movie? That I just pointed out to you last night?!"

"Oh, you mean-"

"Yes, that one," Dakota said. She grabbed Akira and hauled him off towards the bathroom so that they could act out the scene.

About a minute later, Dakota came back out, and had Akira sit down on the couch while she stood in front of him.

"Colonel, I just have one more question before I put Airman O'Malley and Airman Rodriguez on the stand," Dakota began. "If you gave the order that Santiago wasn't to be touched, and your orders are always followed, then why would Santiago be in danger? Why was it necessary to transfer him off the base?"

"Santiago was a substandard marine. He was being transferred..." Akira's voice was a lot shakier than Dakota's, and he was reading from a script on his phone since unlike his girlfriend he didn't have the whole speech recorded.

"That's not what you said. You said he was being transferred, because he was in grave danger," Dakota replied.

"That's correct," Akira replied.

"You said he was in danger. I said "grave danger"? You said..." Dakota continued.

"I recall what I said," Akira scowled.

"I could have the court reporter read it back to you," Dakota smirked.

"I know what I said! I don't have to have it read back to me, like I'm..." Akira began to pretend like he was angry.

"Then why the two orders? Colonel?" Dakota asked innocently.

"Sometimes men take matters into their own hands," Akira replied.

Dakota smiled triumphantly. "No, sir. You made it clear just a moment ago that your men never take matters into their own hands. Your men follow orders or people die. So Santiago shouldn't have been in any danger at all, should he have, Colonel?"

"You snotty little bastard," Akira sneered at her.

"I'd like an answer to the question, judge!" Dakota said, turning to Serefina, who had no idea what was happening.

"Uh…" Serefina didn't know what to say, but Dakota could work with that anyway.

"If Lieutenant Kendrick gave an order that Santiago wasn't to be touched, then why did he have to be transferred? Colonel? Lieutenant Kendrick ordered the Code Red, didn't he, because that's what you ordered Lieutenant Kendrick to do," Dakota declared. "And when it went bad, you cut these guys loose! You had Markinson sign a phony transfer order, and you doctored the log book!"

Dakota was on a role now, really hamming it up. "You coerced the doctor! Colonel Jessup, did you order the Code Red?"

"I'll answer the question," Akira growled, straightening up so he and Dakota were practically making out their faces were so close together. "You want answers?"

"I think I'm entitled," Dakota agreed, feeling as she usually did that she was entitled to answers.

"You want answers?!" Akira repeated, more insistently.

"I want the truth!" Dakota exclaimed.

"You can't handle the truth!" Akira shouted, standing up in his seat and standing over her, the two sharing a passionate look for a moment before pulling back, getting out of character.

"What do you think?" Dakota asked, doing a little bow to the stunned audience, who started to applaud. Dakota smiled brightly, returning to her seat as Akira sat back down beside her.

"…So who should I pick next…" Dakota mused.

"Hey, guys, it's getting a little late," Cynthia said, checking her phone. She was clearly disappointed. "I know that I'm having a lot of fun, but… we can't stay up all night. Only a few more, okay?"

If she had expected this to come as a disappointment to anyone, she was mistaken. Most people here were either long done with the game, or too tired to keep playing. Dakota noticed that no one was really getting that into it anymore, and with a yawn, she turned to the only person who was still fully paying attention, Cynthia herself.

"Okay, birthday girl, want the last question of the night?" Dakota asked. "Truth or Dare?"

Cynthia paused. A big Dare to excite everyone, and end things on a high note? Or a Truth? A Truth from Dakota could be risky. But that might be just the perfect way to end the night.

"Truth," Cynthia decided. Dakota smirked.

"What's the biggest secret you've never told anyone?" Dakota asked.

Cynthia flinched, her face darkening. She didn't like serious stuff like his. She let out a long, solemn sigh.

"Sometimes… I'm afraid that someone like me won't ever find love," she said quietly. "I'll spend my life cracking jokes and being perverted, and make so many friends, but… no one will ever look at me as their most precious person. No one will ever see me as the one they want to spend the rest of their life with. That… that's my secret," she finished, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

A tense air fell over the room. What could anyone really say to that? No one really knew how to make her feel better, so Kitty did her best.

"Nya~," Kitty said, reaching up and patting Cynthia on the head. Cynthia perked up, her eyes widening and her face brightening as she turned to Kitty, hugging the smaller girl.

"Thanks, Kitty, you're the best," Cynthia smiled.

"So we done?" Kate yawned, stretching. "I need to get to bed, I stayed up way too late."

Everyone began making moves to go now that things seemed a little more comfortable, but Cynthia stopped everyone.

"Wait, guys," she said, standing up. "Can I just do one more round?"

"Uh, sure?" Dakota shrugged, not really caring that much. Everyone else shrugged and nodded too. Cynthia let out a sigh, and turned to Caelia.

"Okay, Caelia, Truth or Truth?" Cynthia asked.

Caelia blinked.

"Huh?"

"I just want to ask you a Truth," Cynthia said, her voice taking on a pleading tone. "Is that okay?"

Caelia considered it, in what was the longest silent pause Cynthia had had to put up with, before finally answering "yes".

"Did you have fun tonight?" Cynthia asked, staring hopefully at the girl, desperate for her to say yes.

"…Okay," Caelia said, nodding slightly and almost shrugging. It was such a basic movement, and not even really a yes. But it was enough for Cynthia, whose face lit up in response, overjoyed that Caelia had actually not had a terrible time.

How nice. Well, it was a long game, but Truth or Dare is finally over. I had to cut it before people began complaining that it was dragging too long, it already went for WAY longer than I had planned because I had so much fun writing all of it. We return to the main story tomorrow.