Ocean Mist (Azul Ashengrotto/Yuu)

12 ~ How Magnifique

Vil clapped his hands together. "Cut!"

Yuu ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. "Was that okay?"

"That was a wonderful take," Vil complimented. "I knew it was the right call to give you this role. You perfectly convey the main villainess' complex duality."

She had to admit, it felt good to get praised by Vil. "When do we get to film the evil part-I mean, she's always evil, but I mean the iconic evil part? Those are always fun to act."

He let out a chuckle, ruffling her hair-though carefully so as to not make it messy. "In due time." He brought a hand to his chin and eyed her up and down, causing her to cross her arms over herself defensively. "What's that for?"

"I was just thinking about how eager you were last year when you first joined the club. The way you acted today reminded me of that." He paused for a moment before turning around to give another actor praise (or criticism). "Keep up the good work."

Yuu felt a pang of guilt for the way she'd started skipping out on club activities for Azul and had basically forgotten that she had a life outside of him. "Yessir," she responded quietly.

"My, whatever could be the cause of such a distraught look gracing your beautiful features?"

Rook stood best to her, offering her a water bottle. "Thanks," she said shortly, taking a long sip of it, watching how he stared at her expectantly with his bright emerald eyes.

She relented. "I feel bad for skipping so much lately. I guess I'd forgotten how much I enjoy being here."

"Regret is such a sorrowfully beautiful emotion, is it not?" He stared off into the distance dramatically, a bittersweet smile on his face. "It causes such distress, yet it shows the true beauty of your passion for acting. And passion is a beautiful thing! How magnifique!"

"...Thank you?"

"Of course, dearest Trickster." He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand before waving his hat to say goodbye, his Pomefiore uniform flapping elegantly behind him in the wind and his hair seemingly glowing from the sunset. "The evolving of your beauty is a breathtaking sight to behold!"

Yuu spent the last few minutes of her break sitting on the bench in the courtyard, thinking about what Rook said. Or rather, trying to dissect meaning from the verbal cursive jargon he spat at her. She concluded that he was trying to comfort her in his very Rook way.

"Break is over! We're going to start from scene 54!" Yuu tried to flip through the script in her head, but failed to recall what scene that was. "Vil?"

"Yes?" He turned to her.

"Sorry, I can't remember... which one was that, again?"

She braced herself to be scolded, but hardly anything came. "Tsk, why haven't you memorized it yet? ...Oh well, no use in scolding you about it. Make sure to have it committed to memory."

His expression then shifted into a small smile. "It's the evil part."

Yuu felt a smile break out on her face. "Thanks!" She was in much better spirits now, rushing to grab a mirror and make sure she was in tip-top condition.

"...When she breaks the tender peel, to taste the apple in my hand, her breath will still, her blood congeal, then... then...." Yuu let out an awkward laugh as she shifted her expression from maniacal to bashful. "Line?"

"Then I'll be fairest in the land," Vil finished, smacking her head with the stack of papers he held. "This is what happens when you don't put in your best effort. You should feel lucky that I'm allowing you to continue in your role despite the lack of commitment you've shown over the last few days!"

"I promise I usually have it memorized! I just... blanked!"

"And since when do you blank?"

"...I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

"That's all I ask," Vil sighed, shuffling through his thick stack of papers. "It's too dark out now to film any of the scenes we're prepared to film, so we'll stop here for today. Thank you for all of your hard work today, everyone!"

It was just as Yuu expected. They'd started the club a little later than usual since they were filming scenes that didn't take place in bright daylight, and the sky was only getting darker. She'd done a bit of her homework before the club convened, but she still had more to do, along with taking a shower and eating dinner...

Leaving her no time to visit Azul.

'I mean, it's not as though I didn't expect this, but it still sucks,' she thought to herself as she carefully dried her hair, making sure to use the products Vil had recommended for her.

She heard her phone begin to vibrate as she pulled on a violet hoodie. She'd taken to wearing the color of her dorm, even when she didn't have to. "Ah!" she gasped, quickly picking up the phone.

"Azul!"

"Is this an alright time to call you?"

"Any time's a good time if it's you~" She flopped backward into her bed before remembering she had to do homework, moving to her desk. "But yeah, my dormmates are out right now and I'm just gonna do homework, so perfect timing!"

Azul let out a sigh. "Sorry, I-I don't really know why I called you, I just..."

"Missed me?" Yuu said teasingly.

"To put it in simple terms, yes," he responded, somewhat shyly. "I'm just finishing up some work in my office right now." A short pause. "Can we video call?"

Yuu let out a laugh as she hit the video call button. "You could've just called me like that to begin with~"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright with it." He adjusted the angle of his phone so that it clearly showed his front profile. Yuu didn't take nearly as much care in making sure she looked alright, the phone propped up on her textbooks and the lighting of her room dim.

She sighed softly, smiling at him. "You look so handsome~"

"...Thank you."

"Where's my compliment?"

"I like your camera's resolution."

"Ha ha. Very funny." She opened her laptop and the two worked in silence, occasionally making remarks that would lead into prolonged distracting conversations, before remembering that they were supposed to be working and returning to the enjoyable silence.

She let out a soft laugh, looking at him on her phone from her work and realizing that he'd fallen asleep at his desk. She ended the call and pulled up her messages with Jade.

'I wish I could be with him to make sure he doesn't overwork himself...' Yuu found herself thinking, packing up all of her schoolwork for the night. She needed sleep just as much as he did.