"Hey, buddy!" Dominic said the next day as he walked into the hall and saw Loid.
Loid looked up from the book he was trying to frantically memorize formulas from. Turns out spending a whole week's study periods with the girl of your dreams really does cut into a guy's study time. Dominic was always too friendly with everyone. He closed his book knowing that Dominic wasn't going away. "Good morning, Dominic."
"Where's Yor?"
"In the gym sneaking in some training before the Judo Society comes in."
"Shoot. I was hoping to catch you both together."
"Darn, well, it's good to see you…"
Dominic put an arm over Loid's shoulders. "Anyways, I've got great news: the feature is in today's issue of the Eden Herald."
Loid opened his book again flipping back to the page with the relevant formulas. "That's great."
"You, know the Elegant Love Society feature starring you and Yor as a couple?"
The book fumbled out of Loid's hands. 'Oh, that feature.' "Right. Honestly, how bad is it?"
Dominic laughed before picking up the book and returning it. "With how shy you two are, I'd think you hadn't really been dating a whole year. Congrats, by the way, man. Camilla says your anniversary was Saturday. What did you do to celebrate?"
'Oh god. That means that the photos are incredibly couple-y and affectionate. Yor is going to hate me again. We just got past that.' Loid got caught up thinking about the possible outcomes of the feature. 'She's definitely going to kick me into a wall so hard my ribs crack. How do you keep your ribs from cracking?'
"Wow. I was teasing the other day about the dates, but, damn Forger, you've got to at least take her out for your anniversary."
'That does look very un-boyfriend-ly of me if I don't. I'll have to take her on an anniversary date, for the society.' "I haven't taken her out yet, but I will."
"I'm telling Frankie you said that." The bell rang indicating they that 10 minutes to get to class.
"Why would you do that?"
"Accountability!" Dominic bro-clapped Loid's back and took off for his class.
Her bi-weekly morning training sessions always put Yor in a clear, almost transcendent headspace. It was in this headspace that Yor walked right past several girls holding the newest edition of the Herald which a picture of Yor kissing Loid's cheek on the front cover. The freshman girls snickered and pointed when she passed.
It was this same headspace that got her to the meeting spot without noticing the papers all over campus. "Hi, Loid," she smiled.
Loid noticed immediately the restful energy in Yor's movements. 'She hasn't seen it yet.' "How was your training?"
"So good! I was finally able to get that kick I've been working on."
"You did? That's amazing!"
She smiled even wider. "Yeah, I would show you, but," she pulled at her uniform skirt, "I don't think that would be very elegant."
Loid had to take a slow breath to keep from thinking about that inelegance. "I'm proud of you. You've worked on that for a long time."
"Thank you."
He offered her his hand to walk her to class, but she took that hand and draped his arm over her shoulders, weaving her fingers between his on the hand that was hanging loosely from her shoulders. He would never stop being surprised by her.
She began walking pulling Loid along with her. "I just figured that we should progress our affection because of that feature. When is that coming out?"
"About that…"
The pair nearly ran into Housemaster Henderson in the hall. "Ah, just the elegant pupils I was looking for. Congratulations are in order for your front-page feature. I must thank you two for all the interest you have garnered in our society. Truly an elegant performance." He offered a copy of the paper to the pair which Loid reticently accepted, almost dropping it at the sight of Yor kissing his cheek on the cover.
"Thank you, sir." Loid said automatically.
Yor stared at the cover. She couldn't believe that Dominic got that on camera and put it on the cover for everyone to see. Now everyone would see how she felt, including Loid. She stole a glance at him but couldn't interpret the look on his face. 'Oh god. He knows, and now he doesn't want anything to do with me.'
"We should get to class before we're late," he said to Yor with his normal and forced smile. "Thank you for the paper, sir. We'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Are you mad?" she asked.
Loid twisted his face in confusion. "I guess I'm not thrilled Dominic printed that picture, I mean it seems a little too intimate, but I'm not mad. Where'd you get that idea?"
"Um—I don't know. I should go to class," she said and released his hand to walk away.
"Wait up!" He caught up to her. "Are you mad?"
"No! Definitely not mad. I just—I did that without asking you first, and now it's all over the school…"
"That's not a problem. You can kiss me anytime you want." He meant that, but she couldn't know that. "I mean, for the sake of the society, obviously. You wouldn't actually want to kiss me."
She smiled and took his hand again bringing it to her lips for a quick kiss. "For the society," she whispered. But she had to admit, she did want to. Society be damned.