Little Pilot Academia

Chapter 120

Ursula wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep, but she felt a strange peace. Even with all her worries, she wondered what’d happen if she slept here and allowed Croix to find her. She wished Croix would stop everything to come meet her, but the truth was, she was now far too important to make that a possibility. She was a busy woman and-

Wait, where was the roomba?

Ursula hadn’t noticed, but at some point, the roomba had disappeared, teleported away. Why hadn’t Ursula gone with it? Was it only the center of the room that worked? Damn it, had she missed her chance? She closed her eyes, sighing.

She was about to raise from the bed in a defeated gesture when she heard the rustling of cloth. Suddenly faking to be asleep, she dared crack one eye open, surprised to see Croix standing there, looking towards the door. “Why is the light on?” she mumbled. There was a roomba hovering over her shoulder.

Chariot is nearby, the roomba said. Croix, who had moved towards the panel on the wall, froze. “What?” she asked, turning around towards the roomba. Ursula closed her eye in a panic, and by the sudden quietness of it all, she suspected Croix had finally spotted her. “… Chariot?” she asked with suspicion in her direction.

Ursula didn’t move, but she could start to feel a blush. She was embarrassed to have laid down on Croix’s bed, as if they were still teenagers. She hoped Croix would just move on with her day and then she’d slip away and pretend this hadn’t happened.

Instead, she heard the steps of Croix in her boots. She was dressed in her fancy outfit, so she had clearly been preparing to leave, but she still took her time to approach the bed. “Are you awake?” Croix asked in a low voice, though it was filled with uncertainty. Ursula wondered if she should open her eyes and show Croix the truth. But… well, she should’ve done that from the beginning. Doing so now would be kind of embarrassing, and it would place Ursula in a less than stellar position.

Croix sighed.

“It’s kind of hard to avoid you if you fall asleep in my room, you know,” she said. Her voice had lost all its edge. She had fallen for it? Hopefully she wouldn’t notice that her face was growing redder by the second. But what did she mean, avoiding her? There was a moment of silence. Croix was clearly thinking about something. “… ah damn it,” Croix said. There was a soft sound as she moved around. “Send a message to the other heads, tell them I’ll probably be late. I can’t really leave a potential intruder unattended.”

The roomba made a beeping sound and then everything grew still again.

“… should I wake her or…” Ursula heard Croix mumble. No, just go to your meeting, Ursula wanted to scream. Then again, that would probably – just maybe – give her away.

After a few extra moments of silence, Ursula was surprised to feel the bed sinking next to her. Croix had sat on the edge. Why was her heartbeat spiking? Damn it, she had to focus to keep her breath steady. “You were always a heavy sleeper. Yet the second you woke up you’d spring from bed and start being obnoxious,” Croix said, though there was no recrimination in her voice.

Ursula felt a poke in her shoulder. “God, you’ve only gotten sexier with the years, you know that?” Croix whispered, sounding annoyed. Great, Ursula thought, as if it wasn’t hard enough to keep calm. So it was true that Croix still liked her, at least on some levels.