𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 | 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶

𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚡.

"I told you I can beat him up whenever you need me to," he said, starting to eat his food.

You chuckled, "Yeah, I know. I don't think that's necessary just yet."

"If you say so."

"How are your classes?" You questioned, glancing at your food as you wondered whether you should've eaten it or not.

"Boring."

"I can't understand how you get good grades when you don't pay attention... Do you cheat?" You queried.

"Nope."

You were 98% sure that was a lie, but you didn't say anything about it and finally dug into your meal. You noticed your friends looking at you from across the room, so you shot them a reassuring smile as a way to let them know you were fine.

"You need to stop eating things like that, or you're gonna get fat."

You weren't sure if you were lying to them, though.

━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━

After both you and Gorou requested him to, Kazuha stayed to watch you work on the play, and he was honestly almost horrified. Almost.

"You need to work on this outside of school," he sighed.

"Finally, someone said something intelligent," Yae said eagerly. "Thank you. He's right, you need extra time to work on your attitudes."

"Seriously? It's bad enough having to see him in school, you expect me to spend my free time with him, too?" You scoffed.

"If you want to be a part of this production, yes," Yae stated sternly.

"I hate this," Gorou grumbled. 

"At least we can agree on something," you smiled bitterly.

"Are you going to do it or not?" Kazuha asked.

"...Fine," you and Gorou responded in sync.

"Wow, it's already working," Yae snickered. "I don't care when or how you practice together, just... fix whatever this is."

"You just gestured to all of us."

"Again with the keen eyesight, Y/n. So smart."

Gorou stifled a laugh and you glared at him, resisting the urge to hit him again. 

"Is this allowed? I don't think teachers are supposed to be bullying their students," you complained.

"I'm not bullying you, dear, I'm praising you."

"That was obviously sarcastic!"

"Hm. So it was."

"I may be losing my mind..." Kazuha muttered before raising his voice so you could hear. "We're going somewhere after practice here. Make sure your parents know."

"Where?" You asked.

"Komore Teahouse."

"...Are you paying?" You queried.

After a few moments, he exhaled in defeat, "Yes, I'll pay."

"Yes!" You whispered victoriously, grabbing your phone and texting your mom. Gorou did the same.

"Okay, run through it again. Then you can take a break while Sara and Yoimiya do their scene," Yae ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━

It was quiet, aside from the sounds of other conversations in the background. You sipped on your beverage until the cup was practically empty, causing a loud slurping sound that hurt Gorou's ears enough for him to flatten them to his head in hopes of blocking the noise.

"Can you stop?" He hissed.

You paused for a few seconds before slurping louder, just to annoy him.

"Y/n, stop, please," Kazuha said.

"...Fine," you mumbled, detaching your lips from the straw and sliding your cup to the side. "Are we gonna get to work or what?"

Gorou reluctantly grabbed his script from his bag and you did the same. You felt awkward, being in such a public place, but you did your best to ignore it.

"Start from the first scene," Kazuha suggested.

"Okay..." You muttered.

The embarrassment overwhelmed your chest so much that you found it a bit hard to breathe.

"Actually, nevermind. Can I leave?"

"No."

Gorou was surprised by that, considering you were always confident and you were fine acting in the auditorium. He wouldn't complain about you feeling embarrassed, though. You noticed the smirk that started to grow on his face.

"Stop smirking like that, it makes you look even more evil than you already are," you said.

"Says you."

"Stop insulting each other," Kazuha commanded.

"Yes, sir..."

You took a breath and, through gritted teeth, said your first line, "General, are you alright?"

He hesitated and you gave him a glare, urging him to get on with his response already. Your embarrassment was looming over you, especially with Kazuha closely observing you as he sat by your side. 

The first scene the two leads shared alone together was set in a tent, where Gorou (Yae decided to name the characters after their actors for some reason) was healing from an injury he acquired in battle. Y/n was supposed to help him, but you could only do dialogue, so you'd have to ignore the pauses where you were meant to be aiding him.

"I could use some help..." He finally said.

"You sound so stiff," you commented immediately.

"You say that like you didn't ask if I was okay while simultaneously wanting to rip my head off."

"Okay, fine. I'll try harder," your frustration was beginning to override your humiliation, so you began speaking overdramatically. "Oh no! General Gorou, my love, are you alright!? You haven't been mortally wounded, have you!?"

"Shh!" He hushed quickly. "You're attracting attention!"

His face had flushed red due to a mix of anger and embarrassment at your actions. You snickered at his reaction, glad you got the response you were hoping for. As far as you were concerned, that was going easy on him. You could've done much worse. His tail swished uncontrollably along with his heart palpitations.

"You are evil."

"Oh, I could've done a lot worse."

"If you two don't stop, I'm leaving you here to pay the bill."

"Sorry!"