In this chapter, we deal with the fallout from Donoma's actions last night. What will Giselle see in her room? Did Lukas give in to Donoma's temptations? What will be Ayame's reaction to what she sees? Is it finally time for Donoma to get the snot beaten out of her? Things are definitely tense within the Empress's group, that's for sure!

KedharS: Yeah, we definitely needed some wholesome vibes after everything that's happened so far, that's for sure.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I think that Donoma and Chloe meeting would be very interesting. I don't think it would be good for Chloe, though.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 922

It was a new day in the Orre Region. And Hiromi was starting to doubt whether or not there would ever be a day with this group of students that wasn't marked by an uncomfortable atmosphere and a ton of tension.

Today, her group of students were alone, so the tension wasn't due to any stress that existed with another group, like what had happened yesterday. Hiromi and Rui had learned their lesson, and the idea of their groups spending more time together was unlikely to fly in the future. They were just too incompatible right now.

Still, Hiromi wanted the kids to get along as best as they could. Marion had difficulty blending in with the group herself, but at least she had Celia and Jessie to get along with. And she was a naturally affable person, so that made it easier as well.

It wasn't an outsider that was the source of the tension within the group this morning. That was all because of Donoma's foul mood.

Hiromi had only known these kids for a few days, so she was still getting used to the different personalities that made up the group. From what little she knew of Donoma, she could tell that the girl was the fun-loving, mischievous type; she rebelled against authority and was always doing her own thing, and was rather intent on interrupting the privacy of others. Hiromi had to admit that even though she wasn't supposed to show favoritism, she had a bit of a grudge against the girl for the way she would repeatedly bother her daughter.

And even though Donoma had seemed a little off last night, after being told that she wasn't allowed to hook up with a random stranger on the beach (because of course she couldn't, how irresponsible would Hiromi have been, to let something like that happen?!) Hiromi hadn't anticipated that she would display this level of…

Well, "bitchiness" was a good word for it.

Donoma was still smiling, but it was a lot faker than the smiles she normally wore, like she was forcing it onto her face instead of it developing naturally. And behind that smile, the look in her eye was full of venom, and her words stung just as badly. She was snippy and curt, and where previously she had been showing interest in other people with an almost infectious energy, right now…

"These eggs taste awful," Donoma muttered, shoving her breakfast away in disgust. "Why did we have to come here, again? Couldn't we have gone to that pastry shop like we did yesterday?" She demanded in frustration.

…Right now, she was acting like kind of a jerk.

Hiromi had picked out the restaurant today because she thought it wouldn't be good to stuff themselves on sweets two days in a row, but right now, she was regretting her decision. But not too much. It was pretty clear that Donoma wasn't actually interested in getting pastries. It was more about just being a general pain in everyone's ass, it seemed.

Hiromi didn't know what had happened last night to put Donoma in a mood like this, but it was making everyone uncomfortable. Even Marion, talking about fish with Jessie and Celia as usual, was taking care to keep her eyes off the other girl. Everyone else was just eating in silence, everyone giving Donoma a wide berth.

There was one person, though, who Hiromi caught looking Donoma's way a couple of times, and that was Lukas. He looked like he was the most uncomfortable person there by far, and he'd barely touched his breakfast. His face was pale and he kept giving Donoma awkward glances that she never returned, looking altogether like someone very guilty.

Hiromi was concerned. Had something happened between Donoma and Lukas? Was that the problem here? Had the boy done something? …No, Hiromi shouldn't go down that path of thought without any evidence. And besides, judging by their personalities, it seemed more probable that Donoma would have done something to him instead of the other way around.

The other thing that Hiromi found off was Giselle. The short girl had been shy and reserved her whole time here, but right now it seemed like that attitude had gotten even more severe. She hadn't said a word all morning and she had stayed far away from Donoma, even though the two were roommates. And that look in her eye…

To Hiromi, it looked like Giselle was exhausted. Like she'd stayed up all night. That was how tired her eyes seemed to be. And with that fatigue came something else, as well, a notion of… well, Hiromi could only call it a mixture of shame and embarrassment.

Considering Giselle's general attitude towards Donoma, and the fact that the two girls were sharing a room in the hotel, Hiromi didn't believe that these things were unrelated. She didn't know what was going on between the kids, and she was worried that it was serious- but at the same time, she knew better than to stick her head in the middle of their drama.

She was here to be their chaperone, not their counselor. If she got in the middle of their personal squabble, that could have even more problems.

Hiromi knew how to raise daughters. But she had no idea how to help students with their own personal squabbles.

While Hiromi was worrying about what she should do to ease the tensions within the group, the people in question were dealing with the core of the problem themselves.

Giselle was the most uncomfortable out of everyone here. She had summoned up all of her courage this morning to confront Donoma, even knowing that there was a very real chance that she could walk in on the girl getting up to some horrible things. She really hadn't wanted to see Donoma having sex, or anyone having sex, really. But Ayame was there to support her, and that had given her the courage to confront Donoma about the trick she'd played.

But it turned out that it was an unnecessary consideration.

Because when Giselle opened the door, she didn't see Donoma having sex. Or even the disgusting aftermath that came as a result of it.

Instead, she saw a very, very pissed off Donoma Marama, giving her a look that could freeze a Magcargo solid.

"What is it?" Donoma growled.

Giselle was so surprised by what she was looking at that she didn't have a response at first. She stumbled through her words, mumbling, "I-I… I don't… I… um… I thought…" Giselle was a very calm and analytical person. She would carefully consider things before saying them, and make sure she knew all the facts first.

But what was happening right now had caused her normally-intelligent brain to stop functioning for a little while.

Luckily, Ayame was there, and she was able to take over for Giselle while the confused girl was still trying to process.

Unluckily, Ayame wasn't exactly in the best of moods.

"Where do you get off asking that fucking question?" Ayame snarled. "You were the one who kicked her out of your room last night, after all, and don't think we don't know why you were trying to do something like that!"

Donoma snorted, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. You think she would have rather been here? Seeing what I was getting up to all night? I don't think her delicate sensibilities would have been able to handle it, do you?"

Normally, Donoma was a charming and flirty person. Especially around someone who she wanted to like her. And in spite of the way she ignored Ayame's wishes, she very much wanted the tomboy to like her, because that was the only way she could see Ayame agreeing to be the star of one of her reality television shows.

Right now, though, the amenable Donoma had left the building. She was in a foul mood after last night, and Ayame and Giselle coming in to bug her when she was trying to be alone just made her feel even worse.

Ayame picked up on that herself. "Geez, what's got you all messed up?" She asked, frowning. She wasn't concerned for Donoma, but she was definitely curious what had gotten her to behave like this. It wasn't normal.

Donoma sighed in exasperation, stepping back into her room and waving her arms in a flourish to let the girls inside.

Giselle's room was surprisingly clean. For the aftermath of a tornado, anyway. Blankets were strewn about, as well as clothes flung everywhere. One of the lamps had been knocked over and there was a shoe dangling from the ceiling fan, among countless other misplaced articles of clothing, not the least of which being her coat from last night.

It was like Donoma had gotten into a fight with her luggage, that was the only way Ayame could describe what she was seeing right now. Then her eyes landed on the hotel mini-bar, which had been picked clean. That explained the bottles rolling around the floor, as well as the positively horrid expression on Donoma's face.

Giselle didn't have any experience with sex, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to look anything like this.

"What do you think?" Giselle asked, a sardonic smile spread across her lips. For once, her makeup wasn't perfect. The traces left were smeared, which combined with the absolutely frazzled state of her hair made her look like a crazy homeless person instead of the normally-composed beauty that she usually was.

"I… I don't…" Giselle looked questioningly at Donoma, wondering what the hell had happened in her room last night.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Donoma asked, sinking back into one of the armchairs and crossing one leg over the other. She was still wearing her negligee. "You try so hard, and yet…" She shrugged her shoulders and gestured around the room, as if the warzone they were standing in was a natural result of whatever had happened.

"Donoma… what the hell happened?" Ayame asked, finally finding her voice like Giselle had. "This place is a wreck!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Donoma grumbled, grabbing a bottle off the floor. She gave it a swish to check its contents, and upon finding it was empty she discarded it in frustration. "Go on, give it a laugh. I think even a couple of prudes like you can guess what happened."

"…A party?" Giselle asked. That was the only thing that crossed her mind when she looked at the state the room was in. Then she spotted her own things, which had been kicked off to the side, and quickly rushed over to them.

Donoma rolled her eyes. "Nope. Not a party. Unless a pity party counts. But no, wait, that's not like me… I don't pity myself. I just get even with the people who screw things up."

Seeing the state that Donoma was in had made Ayame reconsider her previous thoughts of violence. But now the look in the girl's eye had brought that idea back into consideration. Ayame felt surprisingly defenseless, standing here in front of Donoma.

Ayame didn't know the girl very well. That was a conscious choice. She knew that Donoma was a flirtatious person, and tried to get into a lot of people's pants. And given Ayame's previous attitude about stuff like that… Well, Donoma had called her a "prude" but that hadn't even begun to describe it. She was downright horrible before she met Blake and fell in love. The girl Ayame was in the past wouldn't have touched Donoma with a ten foot poll.

It wasn't like anything had really changed on that front, either. Donoma was still awful, and Ayame was still not comfortable around her. Only now, instead of it being because of Donoma's lecherous attitude, it was because Donoma wouldn't take "no" for an answer when Ayame told her that she didn't want anything to do with the girl's television projects.

But in spite of that, the Empress had insisted on keeping Donoma around. Maybe it was because she would be less trouble if they kept an eye on her, or maybe it was because Olivia genuinely believed that Donoma would be a good connection to make for the future, Ayame didn't really know. But what she did know was that she was stuck with the other girl whether she liked it or not, and because Olivia wouldn't let Ayame kick her out, and Donoma wouldn't listen to her pleas to stop, Ayame settled for keeping her distance whenever she could.

So no, Ayame and Donoma had never been something that could be considered even close to friends. But that hadn't stopped Donoma from continuing to harass her. Ayame didn't know the first thing about the other girl, or how she really was. Just what Donoma let peek out on the surface. And now she was getting a chance to look at the girl underneath.

It was an unnerving sight, to see someone who was so perky and eccentric like Donoma was show a hidden dark side. It reinforced Ayame's desire to never want to have anything to do with her ever again, while at the same time making her feel a lot less sure about how she would go about rejecting her in the future.

Giselle was too naïve to understand what was going on, but Ayame was actually able to figure it out in the end.

The state of disarray that Donoma was in, the way she was talking, what she had clearly been planning to do last night, it all pointed towards one conclusion.

Donoma had gotten turned down. She had propositioned someone, and they had turned her down. And the resulting backlash from that had led her to trash the room and raid the mini-bar for alcohol to nurse the feelings of rejection.

The only reason Ayame recognized that and Giselle didn't was because Ayame had gotten rejected herself before. When Blake had first turned her down, she had felt destructive impulses herself, but those had mostly been turned inwards. Now, seeing Donoma here like this, Ayame was seeing a dark shadow of what she'd gone through.

But it was still confusing to her. When Ayame had felt miserable, it was because she had genuinely loved Blake, and her heart was broken. But Donoma had always made it clear that things didn't work that way for her, that she didn't have genuine feelings of romantic love or desire for commitment.

Donoma was acting this way because of a one-night stand?

As crazy as it sounded to Ayame, that was exactly what had happened. Donoma didn't have this reaction because of heartbreak. She wasn't secretly in love with Lukas or anything ridiculous like that, and she certainly wasn't feeling the sting of a person she liked turning her down.

She was upset because she had gotten rejected, and it didn't matter by who.

Donoma had gone to Lukas's room last night and turned on the charm, trying every trick in the book to get him into bed with her.

And it should have worked. Everything she saw on his face told her that he had fallen for her completely, that he wanted this nearly as badly as she did, if not more.

But in spite of all of that, in spite of how much she'd tempted him, he'd still turned her down in the end and told her to go back to her room.

He had turned her down.

It was unreal.

Lukas had shut the door in her face, telling her that he wasn't interested.

Donoma was the kind of girl who was used to getting what she wanted. When she set her mind to something, she meant to get it, and she would destroy anything that got in her way in the process. And certainly, she could have tried a different target, maybe sneak around the hotel and find someone else to seduce, but that just seemed even more pathetic.

It wasn't the fact that she would have to go without hooking up for a night that had driven her fury, it was the fact that someone she was CERTAIN she had on the hook had actually told her straight to her face, while she was trying to seduce him, that he wasn't interested.

How was she supposed to take something like that?

It wasn't like she could just kick the door down and force him to go through with it against his will. Even she had some scruples.

So, dumbfounded, she stumbled back to her room all by herself, and let loose her frustration on the mother of all temper tantrums.

And now here she was, ruling over her queendom of chaos and discord with a broken grin on her face and nursing a major hangover.

Ayame was shocked. Seeing the state that Donoma was in, her previous desire to beat some sense into her now seemed like it would be pointless. Why even bother with violence now? Donoma had more than beaten herself up already, and as Ayame already knew, a verbal talking-to about how wrong it was to kick Giselle out of her room would probably have less than no effect on the girl. Donoma didn't let the words of others affect her much.

So not seeing what else there was to do, all Ayame could think of was just to end things here and leave her to her own devices.

Giselle was less convinced. After all, it was her room that was trashed too. And besides, they would be going out for breakfast soon, and she still needed to fix her makeup. So she gathered her things and shuffled into the bathroom, where she realized, much to her frustration, that the mirror was among the casualties of Donoma's temper tantrum.

But she pushed through and made the best of it anyway.

And now here they were, hours later, eating breakfast together and trying not to let the tension of Donoma's bad mood get to them.

But there was someone else who was dealing with the fallout of last night as well, and that was Lukas, who was trying very hard not to look at his handiwork.

Last night, Lukas had summoned up strength that he didn't know he had to turn down Donoma's offer of something that every bone in his body was aching for. He'd managed to stand up to her and tell her where she could shove it, but now he felt like he had made a mistake.

…He hadn't made a mistake, of course, this morning was only confirming for him again that not hooking up with Donoma was the right course of action, given how much of a hot mess she was.

But that didn't mean that Lukas's survival instincts weren't flaring.

Simply put, Donoma was MAD. And she was mad at him in particular due to being the one who turned her down.

Lukas knew that while he had definitely made the right decision for his mental health… Donoma was going to be gunning for him. And it wouldn't be to get him into bed next time, at this point she was going to be after blood.

So he ate his tasteless eggs and kept shooting glances her way, hoping for some glimmer of mercy in her eyes. But she gave him nothing but darkness.

Yikes. Lukas was able to maintain his dignity, but at what cost? Where will things go now between him and Donoma? How will Donoma change her actions and attitude moving forward? What's next on the agenda for Olivia's group?