Ren had also inford Liora, Larissa, and his close friends about his plan.
In the dining hall, Taro almost spit out his food. "Dance with Luna?" He repeated, incredulous, the words not quite making sense in his brain despite being simple enough individually. "LUNA Luna?"
As if there might be another Luna. A different Luna who wasn’t the terrifying shadow-wielding heiress who could kill you with a look and probably had considered it multiple tis. (Taro’s delusions)
Min showed Ren a thumbs up, grinning like this was the best entertainnt he’d witnessed in months. "This is going to be interesting."
Interesting was perhaps the second understatent of the year.
Liu, eating quietly in his usual corner of the table, watched with thoughtful expression. He was the quiet one when not using his banshee hyena scream. The observer who noticed things others missed because they were too busy talking to actually see.
"It makes sense," he finally said.
"Makes sense?" Taro looked at him like he’d grown a second head. "How does it make sense? ¿Haven’t they both tried to be indifferent for a while?"
How did any of this make sense? Luna had been avoiding Ren for weeks. Had been cold and distant and clearly signaling she wanted space. And now he was forcing them together for an entire week of coordinated movent and close contact?
This could an both of them failing very badly in the competition.
"Ren has never been... indifferent with her, neither is she," Liu explained, choosing words carefully. Testing each one before speaking to make sure it captured what he was trying to convey. "I think it’s exactly what’s missing in the case of soone shy. I’m a bit like that so I think I understand her. Considering how she looks at him when she thinks nobody’s watching... It makes sense. It could work better than expected."
The observation landed heavily.
Because Liu was right. Anyone who’d been paying attention had seen those monts when Luna thought she was unobserved. When her careful mask slipped and her expression softened while watching Ren explain sothing or laugh with friends or just exist in her vicinity without demanding anything from her.
Min smiled mischievously, the expression of soone about to say sothing that would make this conversation infinitely more awkward. "Real romance for our Player Patinder at last?"
"Maybe," Liu shrugged, refusing to commit to speculation about other people’s feelings when they hadn’t explicitly stated them.
"I don’t know why I tell you these things. But anyway..." Ren sighed, regretting the decision to share with this particular audience who would definitely make it weird.
Too late now... The information was out.
And knowing this group, it would spread through their social circle by evening with embellishnts and speculation that would make the reality seem ta by comparison.
♢♢♢♢
Liora had bitten her lip until it nearly bled when she heard she wouldn’t have even a small chance to be Ren’s partner again.
Ren’s announcent had hit harder than she’d expected.
Her expression had been annoyed... Frustrated displeasure that ca from forcing down more complicated emotions behind a socially acceptable mask.
But after a mont she’d swallowed it and nodded.
Comradely acceptance even when it hurts. Grace under pressure that her upbringing had drilled into her until it beca automatic.
"It’s okay," she’d said, her voice trembling a bit. Just the slightest waver that suggested the composure cost her more than she wanted to admit. "Luna needs you now. And... and if this gets her out of her bubble of sadness, it’s worth it."
The words were generous. Genuinely so. Not just polite platitudes but actual acknowledgnt that Luna’s wellbeing mattered more than Liora’s disappointnt about partner assignnts.
Larissa had had a similar reaction, though more contained.
More controlled from the start because Larissa had been managing more complicated feelings about Ren, had more practice at hiding reactions behind masks that revealed nothing.
But then, with that mischievous smile that always ant trouble, she’d started suggesting ideas.
And the suggestions that followed had made Ren blush to his ears.
Specific advice about physical proximity. About the opportunities created by formal dance requirents. About how certain movents and positions could be leveraged for entirely non-dance-related purposes if one was sufficiently bold and creative.
Larissa had clearly been thinking about this... In detail.
With the kind of thorough analysis she brought to everything, including apparently the strategic applications of ballroom dancing to romantic situations.
"I’ll... consider it," Ren had managed to say, his face burning hot enough he was mildly concerned about spontaneous combustion.
Larissa had laughed, clearly satisfied at having flustered the imperturbable genius.
Ren handled combat and politics and life-threatening situations with calm and competence. But suggestions about romance? Apparently that was his weakness. His one vulnerability that could turn him into a blushing ss despite everything else he’d accomplished.
♢♢♢♢
Back in the announcent...
The teachers close to Ren had reactions that varied dramatically.
But it was Lin who had the most knowing smile of all.
Lin, who trained Ren personally, who’d seen exactly how he’d changed since Luna started avoiding him. Who’d noticed the cold determination that had replaced his usual impulsive energy.
She recognized the shift. Had seen it over her years of teaching, the mont when soone stopped reacting and started acting. When emotion transford from weakness into motivation for action.
"My little student," she murmured with pride, watching Ren. "Finally learning to play that ga."
Not the combat ga. That he’d almost mastered already.
But the social ga.... The complex dance of human interaction where power ca from understanding what people wanted and positioning yourself as the path to getting it.
Professor Wei had dropped his tea cup when he saw the announcent. Ceramic shattering on stone floor with a crash that made nearby students jump.
"But there are so many books left to complete..."
His horror was genuine. Imdiate. The reaction of soone watching a prized research assistant get distracted by romance when they could be translating ancient texts or cataloging crystal formations or doing any of the thousand scholarly tasks that mattered infinitely more than teenage drama.
"I thought they’d take longer," Professor Yang added with an enormous smile, clearly delighted by developnts that Wei found catastrophic. "Though maybe it’s exactly what those two need. A reason to stop avoiding each other mutually."
"You support adolescent romance over world changing research?" Wei asked, horrified.
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