[b][i] – Kathy[/i][/b]

Kathy gave Crash a playful shove on the shoulder as the colour in her cheeks deepened. “Since when did I ask you to join?” Despite her embarrassment, it was quite easy to tell that she was quite pleased that he would be participating in the game as well. She didn’t know what the game was about either, but she knew she would enjoy any sort of activity a lot more if Crash was around with her.

[i]‘Valentine’s skittles?’[/i] Now she knew the day was a great one for confectionary companies to latch onto, she hadn’t heard of a Valentine’s versions of skittles specifically. However, before she could question Darwin about it he ended up saying something far more ‘interesting’. Code Red was obviously in full and double effect with both Kathy and Crash sporting a very obvious blush on their faces. She caught Crash’s glance for a moment before she quickly turned to Darwin and stammered, “W-We don’t need something like that. Er, wait! I mean… Not to say that we’re already in love or…” She stopped there and buried her face in her hands. [i]‘Stop right there Kathy! Not another word! You’re making things worse!’[/i] She screamed at herself inside her mind. Now that this point she wasn’t even entirely sure which was more embarrassing: saying that they didn’t need it (which could be taken as they didn’t need to increase their affections), or just accepting Darwin’s offer (which was pretty much a self-explanatory trap of its own).

Luckily for her, Mercy decided to give them a chance for a breather instead of letting things spiral into a red feedback loop of embarrassment. Lowering her hands, she quickly nodded back to the female teacher in agreement, grateful for a break in the current conversation. Kathy looked back at Crash with a warm smile, noting that his hand had found its way to the back of his neck again. “Of course.” Reaching to his free hand, her fingers brushed his for a moment before she hesitated and retracted it away. [i]‘There’s a lot of people around.’[/i] She thought nervously. [i]‘But…’[/i] She looked up into Crash’s eyes for a moment before making up her mind. Checking and giving him a moment to retract back if he wanted to, she closed her fingers around his wrist. Though holding onto his wrist probably always gave people a certain impression about them, for Kathy that was an acceptable amount of contact she could easily have between just friends. Before she hesitated she had actually been intending to hold his hand this time. Unfortunately she couldn’t quite muster the courage to take that leap herself, even if Crash had already gotten them to hold hands already.

Kathy guided them over to where Maria was and took a seat. She let go of Crash’s wrist (provided that he had let her take it) once he sat down beside her. Noticing Alex nearby, she called out to him and gave him a welcoming smile. “Alex! It’s good to see you again.” Then remembering how she had ended up neglecting him at the training area she added, “And… Sorry for leaving you alone like that. I’ll make it up to somehow, I promise.” Then trying to find something brighter to talk about, she pointed at her hair. “Oh, and look. My hair colour’s back to normal again.”
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[b][i] – Ara (B)[/i][/b]

“Stupid A… I should’ve checked the map first.” Even though it should have been a very short distance to the lounge area, Ara had accidentally gone off in the wrong direction until she turned around, knowing that it couldn’t have possibly taken her this long to get there if she was really going the right way. And A hadn’t actually done anything worthy of being insulted. She had just thrown that in there because she could.

Finally coming across the crowd of students she let out a small sigh of relief. Whatever they were gathered for, it didn’t seem like she had missed it because of her detour. Going up to a random student she tried asking what was going on. “Apparently the principal called us in for something called the ‘King’s Game’.” The student told her. “King’s Game?” Ara repeated, having absolutely no idea what sort of game that was. It wasn’t surprising really. With her broken up memories she sometimes found she didn’t even know about common card games that everyone should have played at least once by her age. “What’s that about?” However, this time apparently she was not the only one clueless as to what it was about. The student she talked to shrugged and told her that he didn’t know either, and that Maria hadn’t explained much yet. He pointed in the general direction where the principal had gone. “If you want to play you’re supposed to go and sit there.”

After a quick thank-you, Ara made her way through the crowd to go over to where the game would start. Judging from the snippets of conversation she caught on the way there, some people were still debating whether or not to join in. Reaching her destination, quite a few things caught her eyes. First, the sight of principal looking very comfortable sitting around waiting for a game among the young students. Something even she was sure wasn’t exactly a common sight to see in any other educational institute. Next, was the group sitting opposite of Maria and an unfamiliar young man (Brako). “Hmm~!” She hummed, clearly amused to see them. [i]‘Crash, Kathy, and… Don’t know the blue-haired one’s name, but I’m pretty sure he was the one that blocked the balloons aimed at Kathy during the Beach Olympics.’[/i] As tempted as she was to join them over there, instead she chose to sit somewhere else where she could keep an eye on the group. Her voice would travel well-enough if she chose to heckle them at any point, so she was in no rush to try to go directly over to where they were.
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[b][i] – Leroy[/i][/b]

“Just be glad you [i]can[/i] feel something.” Leroy commented back, just before he began the ‘lecture’ and got a surprisingly harsh reaction from her. It had been rather unexpected given his impression of her so far and… [i]‘Interesting.’[/i] He became highly amused by it. Completely unfazed by her biting back, he just smiled at her with a look of delight in his eyes. “What? Did you want me to be concerned for you?” Instead of pulling back as most people would have, he actually leaned in closer himself until their faces were just a few centimetres apart from each other. “Now if I was [i]really[/i] concerned about you, I would stop being one of the suspicious individuals that you should be wary of. So in answer to your question: I’m not. I just offer people grains of advice they can ignore or take in.”

[i]‘I only offer potential victims advice though.’[/i] He thought to himself. [i]‘If any of them had paid enough to the signs they could have easily avoided going crazy at my hands. Perhaps this was why? Did they think I was lecturing them out of concern or something?’[/i] It was an interesting idea. For him it had been a way to warn them that he was probably going to do something bad and see if anyone caught on, but now he could see a potential reason behind by no one had so far. “A blank cheque,” He patiently explained, “Is used in this case to say that you’re giving the other person an advantage in being able to ask anything of you later on.” Though it had been the perfect time for another tease, he decided to let this one slide and focused on the work at hand.

Noting her flush, Leroy couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. Either she was really easy to embarrass, or she was not very used to people of the opposite gender. He would have personally put his money on the latter. Now just because she asked about it, he decided to remain silent the whole time. Looking at her, he just shrugged and continued to paint the lines on her face in silence. Finishing up, he let wiped away any residual ink on the nearby shrubbery before closing the bottles tightly and returning them into his pockets.

Getting up, be brushed away the dirt on his pants before smiling at Little Feather. His latest experiment, and the first one since he arrived at the academy. “Interesting, isn’t it?” He asked her before accepting the hand she held out to him. Leroy allowed her to lead him to the game area, intending to follow wherever she went. He kept his eyes on her, not wanting to miss anything she did after being affected by his ability.

((Good, since the emotions are supposed to get stronger over time anyway. xD))