Scenario: Ayato and Azul are attending a Board Game Club meeting.
Opening the door to the club room, Ayato was met with the not-entirely-unpleasant sight of Azul Ashengrotto reclining in a lounge chair. The housewarden's eyes were half-closed, his hair a spill of silvery gray against the black leather of the chair. When Ayato entered, Azul straightened and stretched languorously.
"Where's Idia?" Ayato asked, casting his gaze around the club room for their flame-haired friend. Except for Azul, the room was empty.
"Don't take my word for it, but a little bird told me that Idia is currently grinding an event in one of his games. Supposedly, he said something like, 'I need more Primogems.'" Azul shrugged. "As for what those are, I haven't the faintest idea. Must be some kind of in-game currency."
"Ah, you mean Yelan told you."
Holding a finger to his lips, Azul made a shushing noise. "No need to say it so loudly."
Ayato shook his head at Azul's secrecy. "Since Idia isn't here, I suppose we won't be able to play Monopoly as planned. Shall we play chess instead? That's a two-player game."
Azul smirked. "Chess, eh? I must warn you, I'm a bit of an expert. Don't blame me for not going easy on you."
"Of course," Ayato replied politely, "as long as you promise not to cry when I've soundly beaten you."
A twinkle appeared in Azul's eye. "That's no way to speak to your superior, Kamisato."
"My apologies, Housewarden." Ayato seated himself across from Azul and began arranging the pieces on the board.
"You don't sound too pleased about calling me 'Housewarden,'" Azul observed, adjusting his glasses. "Out of concern for your well-being, let's make a deal, you and I." Ayato looked at him curiously. "How about... the winner of this game gets to call the loser whatever they choose for an entire week."
Ayato considered the offer. "In front of everyone?"
"In front of everyone," said Azul.
"Deal."
After the game began, Azul and Ayato fell into a comfortable silence, broken by the occasional bout of playful banter ("There goes another one of your pawns, Kamisato. Do you value the lives of your servants so little?" "Sacrifice is necessary in politics, Ashengrotto. For example, you may have noticed that I just took your bishop.")
As they neared the end of the game, the piles of fallen pieces at their elbows only grew, yet the outcome of the game still looked unclear. Ayato had plenty of practice playing against his sister Ayaka, while Azul's calculating mind constantly thought of new ways to befuddle his opponent.
Finally, through a series of slow, subtle maneuvers, Ayato managed to surround Azul's king. He only had one piece left to move to win the game. Azul, still reveling in the victory of having defeated Ayato's queen, didn't seem to notice this until the last second. When he did notice, his gaze widened and flicked up to Ayato's face for a brief moment.
In that moment, Ayato leaned forward and kissed Azul, hard. Amid the housewarden's muffled cry of surprise, Ayato moved his last remaining pawn into the space directly next to Azul's king, effectively ending the game.
"Checkmate," he whispered into Azul's ear.
When they pulled apart, surprise and embarrassment warring on Azul's usually-stoic face, Ayato composed himself. He'd enjoyed that kiss a little more than he'd expected, to be honest. As the leader of the Kamisato clan, that was hardly his first kiss, but it was perhaps his boldest.
He looked at Azul, a glint in his eye. "Now, you said I could call you anything I wanted, right?" At Azul's rueful nod, Ayato said, "Hmm... I think I'll go with 'darling.'"
And Azul looked so horrified, so genuinely regretful, that Ayato had to laugh.
So for the next week, and even longer than that, the students in Octavinelle witnessed the most unusual conversations between their housewarden and Kamisato Ayato.
"Good morning, darling. I have the data you requested from Pomefiore."
"G-good morning, Ayato. That will be sufficient, thank you."
"By the way, darling, did you sleep well? Dreamt of me, perhaps?"
"N-no!"
The students kept waiting for Azul to scold Ayato for calling him by such an impudent nickname, but strangely enough, Azul never mentioned it. In the end, they just assumed that the two were dating.
Which, of course, was what Ayato had anticipated all along.
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