CHAPTER 112: THE UNRULY TABLE

Trixtan appeared, grabbing Coleen by the hand, pulling her playfully. "Why do you keep going to the other team, huh, Coco?" His smile was so wide, devoid of self-consciousness, that it gave Eirin the creeps. He was like a human puppy, all boundless energy and no sense of personal space.

Link also grabbed Eirin’s shoulder, his grip gentle but firm, pulling her slightly away from the chaos. "I’m so glad you’re okay," he sighed in relief, his face easing into a rare, genuine smile. "Let’s go. We have to prepare for the next game. We don’t have much time."

Coleen pouted as she watched Link and Eirin walking away, disappearing into the crowd of students. "Why do I have to be in a different team than Ei?" she complained, her voice a whine."

Trix wrapped his arm around Coleen’s shoulder, pulling her close, undeterred by her protests. "Why? You got me anyway. Isn’t that enough?" He rubbed his cheek playfully on Coleen’s cheek, a move that made her cringe.

Coleen pushed him away with her face flushed, trying to create distance. "What are you doing? Get off me!" The way her hand kept pushing Trixtan’s chin away made the young man chuckle, clearly enjoying her annoyance. "I want to be with Eirin."

"Why? You don’t like your big brother anymore?" Trixtan teased.

Coleen frowned, crossing her arms. "You’re not my big brother. And you’re starting to annoy me."

Calixta watched the two from afar, a small, almost imperceptible smile on her lips, her eyes glued on Coleen. Pierre moved closer to Calixta, nudging her arm gently. "You’re not being jealous, are you?" he whispered, a playful glint in his eyes.

"Why would I be jealous?" Calixta retorted, raising a brow, her expression cool and collected.

Pierre smiled. "Because your little sister is closer to another person."

Calixta raised a brow, a slight challenge in her gaze. "I don’t have a sister complex like you do, Pierre." Her words, though calm, held a subtle jab.

Those words caused Pierre to laugh, a clear, melodic sound, as they followed Link and Eirin back to where their remaining teammates were gathering. Link scanned the remaining members of his team and sighed, a faint line of weariness etched on his face.

"Trix did us good," he admitted, referring to Trixtan’s lightning rampage that had thinned the ranks of both teams. "But we’ll survive with this lineup. We have enough core players." Even the senior students, usually dismissive of underclassmen, were following Link’s guidance, knowing that he excelled at strategy. They formed a tight, expectant cluster, awaiting instructions.

Mr. Blade started speaking into the mic again, his voice now filled with enthusiasm. "We’ll be taking a lunch break before we start our next game, everyone’s all-time favorite, the cavalry battle!"

Link sighed, a brief moment of relief washing over him. "We can discuss it while we eat," he said, turning to Eirin with a tired but encouraging smile. "I know you were doing your best training with Shade, so you’ll have to be one of our riders."

Eirin nodded, although she was clueless about how the next game would unfold. She didn’t even know the basic mechanics of a cavalry battle in a flair-enhanced academy setting.

’Please, let me survive through this,’ she thought, a silent plea.

The day was proving to be a whirlwind of unexpected challenges and bewildering alliances, and Eirin could only hope her flair and her luck, would hold out. The festival, far from being a simple school event, was becoming a trial by fire, forcing her to confront not only external threats but also her own growing anxieties and surprising strengths.

Eirin glanced in Coleen’s direction across the field, and saw her playing with Trixtan, or what she initially thought was play. They were engaged in a lively, almost chaotic tussle, Trixtan attempting to tickle Coleen, who shrieked with laughter while trying to swat him away.

"Let’s go eat," Link said, his voice cutting through Eirin’s distant observation. He began to walk towards a shaded area, and Eirin, after a moment’s hesitation, fell in step behind her white team. She wished to eat with Coleen, but being on different teams, she couldn’t suggest it.

Eirin followed them, a nervous knot in her stomach, anxious about what was coming next, both in terms of the game and the team discussion. It turned out, her expectations were off; the whole white team wasn’t going to eat together.

"You guys don’t mind Sapphire joining us, right?" Pierre asked, his younger sister, Sapphire, standing beside him. Sapphire clutched a small notebook and pen, her thick glasses perched on her nose, giving her an air of quiet observation.

Link’s forehead creased. "Wouldn’t that beat the meaning of our discussion while eating? No offense, Sapphire." His competitive nature, usually reserved for the arena, was clearly showing, even during a lunch break.

Sapphire shook her head. "None taken." She was from the blue team, which made Link wary of her presence.

They found themselves sitting in a secluded gazebo in the middle of the garden. Vines draped elegantly from the trellis overhead, offering dappled shade. It was a picturesque spot, taking the best possible location to relax and eat, but of course, it was a place everyone coveted.

The soft rustle of leaves, the distant hum of conversation from other teams, and the scent of freshly cut grass filled the air.

"Hello, dear friends."

It didn’t take long for Trixtan to arrive, his boisterous voice announcing his presence before his figure even fully emerged from the trees. He had both Shade and Coleen on his sides, holding their wrists as if they were prized possessions.

"We would like to join this pleasant luncheon," he declared, his voice a dramatic flourish. The other students around the garden chuckled at his acting, while Eirin tilted her head, confused.

"It’s just lunch," Calixta said, taking a deliberate bite off the chicken leg she was eating, her expression unbothered, her pragmatic nature shining through Trixtan’s exaggerated pronouncements.

Trixtan made haste, pulling Shade and Coleen with him, and plopped down beside Sapphire, nearly dislodging her. He immediately opened up his lunch box with an audible snap, revealing a mountain of food.

"It’s always better to eat with more people, isn’t that right? The more, the merrier!"

Link raised a brow, a long-suffering sigh escaping him. "This was supposed to be a team meeting, Trixtan. A strategy discussion." He gestured to the scattered papers and half-eaten food on the table, indicating their serious intent.

Coleen, ever quick to jump into the fray, pointed a finger at Sapphire. "Then why is she here? She’s not on your team either." Her pout made Link sigh.

"Because she’s my younger sister and she has no friends," Pierre said, and Sapphire couldn’t agree more, nodding her head.

"Then I can be here too!" Coleen declared, her eyes meeting Calixta’s for a fleeting moment before she averted them. "Because I don’t have friends either, and the only friends I have are here," she finished.

Link sighed, a longer, more drawn-out sound this time, acknowledging his defeat. He allowed the three of them to join the lunch. Instead of a focused discussion on their Cavalry Battle tactics, the lunch became chaotic, solely because of Trixtan’s antics.

Amidst this boisterous confusion, Sapphire couldn’t take her eyes off Eirin, her gaze unwavering, a strange intensity in her wide eyes.

"You have a really beautiful face, Eirin," Sapphire blurted out of the blue, causing everyone at the table to stop talking and look at her, taken aback by the sudden, blunt compliment.

Pierre nudged his younger sister. "You’re beautiful too, Sapphire."

Sapphire’s mouth went open in shock, her face flushing crimson. "You can’t say that because I’m your sister!" Her lash out, sharp and unexpected, shocked everyone. She launched into a torrent of self-deprecating remarks, her voice rising with desperate honesty.

"Look at me! I’m wearing thick glasses because my eyes cannot see anything when I don’t wear one. My eyebrows are thick and my face is too round! There’s nothing pretty about me!" Her hands gestured, indicating her perceived flaws.

Everyone blinked multiple times, a collective moment of stunned silence. It certainly did come to their minds that Sapphire and Pierre, despite being siblings, looked nothing alike.

"Don’t say that. You’re cute," Pierre said, his voice soft, and reached out to pinch his sister’s cheek.

Sapphire swatted his hand away, still agitated. "Anyway, I don’t care about me—I want to know what Eirin uses to keep her beautiful appearance like that every single day. What’s your secret?" Her shyness, moments before a defining trait, vanished, replaced by a fierce curiosity as she stared at Eirin with twinkling, expectant eyes, her notebook poised.

Now, everyone’s attention shifted fully to Eirin, all eyes on her, waiting for an answer. She stopped mid-bite, her fork hovering, suddenly self-conscious under the intense atmosphere.

Eirin cleared her throat. "I just use the things provided here at the academy," she answered, her voice soft, feeling a blush creep up her neck. She genuinely had no secret beauty regimen.

Pierre giggled, a light, teasing sound. "You don’t have to hide it, Eirin. We won’t judge," he said. This caused Eirin’s forehead to crease in confusion.

"But I really don’t use anything different," Eirin insisted.

Coleen raised her hand as if in a classroom, then lowered it, her voice firm. "Yes! I can vouch for that. Eirin’s just born pretty. Deal with it." She had her eyebrow raised, arms crossed, a defiant stance. "Why do you even care about it, Sapphire? It’s rude." Her wariness towards Sapphire, a quiet undercurrent, didn’t disperse even after all the time that passed.