"President."
Although she was supposed to have left and shouldn't be back yet, Heina was in the room watching them. Normally, Liella would stop dancing to greet her, but both of them understood that it was best not to disturb Annaleigh at this special moment.
"What do you mean by her talent being different?"
"While she is gaining enlightenment using the way of dance, her insights are being used to fuel a different skill. While she will improve as a dancer, it'll only be a side-effect."
"I see."
Liella understood Heina's explanation and she could spot the differences between Annaleigh and a pure dancer, but she still couldn't help but admire her. Although everyone called her a genius, gaining enlightenment so simply was something she had never done. While the process was generally spontaneous, enlightenment could only be achieved when there was a mixture of sincerity and opportunity. If Annaleigh had treated dance trivially, then it would never have blessed her like this so Liella knew she was serious, even if Annaleigh's motivation wasn't the purest.
'Such a straightforward adoration, could I ever express the same thing for another?'
By the time Annaleigh finally awoke from her enlightened state, both she and Liella were drenched in sweat. Neither were very tired, but the moment she realized the state that they were in, Annaleigh immediately let go of Liella and bowed her head.
"I am so sorry!"
"Why are you apologizing? Though I got spun around against my will, you didn't do it on purpose, right?"
Annaleigh maintained a sincere apologetic posture until she heard the sound of a chuckle from Liella. She thought she had misheard, so she nervously lifted her head, but that sweet smile wiped out all caution and reservation from her mind. Liella showed a softer side to those she was close to, but she normally still restrained herself from showing too much emotion, so this was the first time Annaleigh had seen her smile like this. It was an expression so beautiful that the restraint that she usually placed on herself was unconsciously released.
"Liella! You're so cute!"
"Woah!"
Annaleigh latched her arms around Liella and began vigorously rubbing their cheeks together. Liella tried to remove her, but her grip was surprisingly strong so she couldn't make her budge.
"I can relate. Liella really is such an adorable girl when she properly expresses herself. She should do it more often."
"No, her smile is too precious for the general public, it must be, wait, President?"
Once she noticed that someone else was in room, Annaleigh showed an opening which allowed Liella to finally push her off. As she vividly remembered what she did and felt even more guilt due to the sharp gaze she was getting from Liella, Annaleigh cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject.
"President, how long have you been here?"
"I never left actually, but if I had I would still be back before you woke up."
"It's been that long?"
"Yes. Normally I would have had dinner by now. It didn't look like you would stop soon so I told Liella that I could substitute for her, but she insisted that she would be fine."
"Really, Leilla?"
"Hmph."
Leilla only snorted, but the light blush on her cheeks told Annaleigh that it was the truth. She took a step forward to embrace her once more, but this time Liella hurriedly retreated so Annaleigh stopped with an awkward smile.
"I'm sure you two would love to keep hugging, but we've stayed for too long already."
Both Annaleigh and Liella nodded in response, one more reluctant than the other. After they finished cleaning up and took a bath (Heina joined them claiming that she didn't want to be left out), they went out for dinner together. Annaleigh thought they would either go to the home-cooking restaurant that they had her welcoming party or Liella's regular restaurant, but instead, Heina invited them to her room. Honestly, Heina was the sort of person who they could admire but feel nervous being alone with, so though they accepted her invite, they exchanged a glance with the meaning that they would have each other's back.
Every student of A class was granted a fairly large room to themselves, but only exceptional students of other classes were given this privilege, and Heina definitely met this criteria. Even among fifth year students, there were few who could be considered more talented or more capable than Heina, so it was odd that she hadn't been promoted to A class, but no one knew the reason behind it.
Heina's room had a light pink shade because of her curtains and custom furniture, but it was lightly decorated as if in between new and well-used. There was also a faint flowery smell coming from a group of flowerpots that were at the window opposite to the entrance. Overall, though not as intimidating, the room wasn't far from what Liella and Annaleigh expected.
"You two can make yourselves comfortable while I start cooking. Would you like anything to drink?"
"A cup of water would be fine."
"Same for me."
After making their requests, the girls sat around a table that seemed suitable for a casual tea party. Liella wasn't much of a talker, but even with Liella across from her Annaleigh felt too much pressure to start a conversation. Heina didn't scare them, but as she was the most impressive senior that they knew, it was hard to relax especially in such a personal setting. Neither thought she would mind if they were more carefree, but their bodies couldn't listen to that logic.
Even after they received the requested cups of water, all they did was take occasional sips and look at the same spot on the wall until dinner was finally ready. Naturally they had high expectations since Heina had a strong air of femininity, but the results were, shocking to say the least. As she looked at the food that didn't appear to have the right colour scheme, Annaleigh glanced at Liella who met her gaze.
'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?'
'I think so. But looks can be deceiving, it smells enticing after all.'
'Smells can be deceiving too. This looks like she found her ingredients from a poisonous land.'
'I know, but we can't refuse at this stage. We might as well be optimistic.'
'Fine, if I die, at least it's with you.'
"Are you two thinking about something rude?"
""No.""
Once they hardened their resolve, Liella and Annaleigh took up their utensils and dived in for a small bite.
"What?"
Caught off guard by the taste, Annaleigh exclaimed and then quickly went for a second bite to verify.
"This is, actually really good!"
"Of course it is, I wouldn't invite you two if I wasn't confident in my cooking. By the way, I used special herbs so you don't have to worry about how much you eat since the rest can be easily absorbed as nature energy."
"Thank you."
Heina then went for her own plate so they could eat together. Dinner time was a bit more relaxed, especially since Heina would lead the conversation so that they could chat in between bites. The three of them had a great time chatting, but during the break between every topic, a certain thought kept coming to the front of their minds.
That such a fun dinner meeting would never happen again.