After Yuki had left, earlier than Yamato expected, he was left alone in his room. It was quite exhausting, this exam. And it was just a preparation for the actual competitive exam. So Yamato would just rest for the rest of the day and lie down in his bed.
"A bad person… I always thought of myself as one. I hurt, manipulate, lie, deceive, kill, destroy and oppress. Assert myself as superior to everything around me… Yet, I can't feel good or bad about any of it. My actions can't seem to move me emotionally. Everything I do just makes me feel empty inside… It's weird. Being empty inside is often seen or portrayed as a sad thing or even sadness itself. Maybe, from an outsiders perspective it is. But I think that they are mistaken. If it were sad, it wouldn't be emptiness. It would just be sad. The absence of feelings can't be described by using a feeling. So what is it then, one may ask. I doubt there is a word for it. Emptiness really is the best way to describe it. But that probably sounds pretty vague to someone who tries to imagine the concept based on only that. I wonder, how other people experience this world… I can predict and understand their thoughts and actions, even the feelings that come after, just not share them… I guess that is sad. But like I said, sadness is the wrong term to describe emptiness. I think… I would like to talk to Yuki about that some time. That's weird… I usually don't feel the need to share my thoughts with anyone… I wonder why I want to now."
The next morning, Yamato woke up feeling something he didn't feel in quite a while. The last time he felt this was actually when they arrived in this world. So when he opened his eyes, he already knew what he would see based on that feeling alone.
Yuki, who had placed his head on her lap while he slept, had been looking down at his face the whole time since then. Usually, one would expect him to jump up, question her behavior, or even scold her for invading his privacy like that. But "whatever", Yamato thought.
"Good morning, Master~!"
"…Good morning, Yuki."
"I hope you slept well, Master!"
"I did…"
"I'm glad to hear that~ I was wondering if you would mind spending your free day just with me!"
"Sure, we can do that."
"Yay~"
"Did you have anything specific in mind?"
"I was thinking of doing this all day long!"
"…"
All they did right now was lay in bed… Yet she seemed enthusiastic about it.
"Yuki, you are… Really lazy."
"I just find happiness in little things, Master~"
"I was thinking of something that's at least a little bit productive. The actual competitive exam is getting closer and preparing for that wouldn't hurt… Is what I originally wanted to say… But I guess we don't really need to do that… We had this whole exam as preparation, after all… So if all you want to do is lay around all day, that's okay. See it as your reward for what you did at the preparation exam."
"Whaaaat? Lay around all day? I would never even consider that! How lazy and unproductive! We should at least go outside!"
"…There, I give her a chance to do as she pleases, and she decides to throw all her initial intentions away to accommodate for the mild inconvenience it would be for me…"
"Hey, Yuki… Do you think I'm a bad person?"
"You are the greatest person in the universe, Master!"
"That's your opinion of me, I know that. But do you think I'm a bad person?"
"Hmm… No?"
"Stop trying to guess what I want to hear and just answer my question…"
"…Fine. I don't think bad is bad."
"I see…"
"Are you displeased by my cryptic choice of words?"
"No, they were enough as an answer. You aren't as mysterious as you think…"
"Aww, but I wanted to be!"
"That sucks then…"
"Hmph… Anyway, I do think Arina is going to be angry with us."
"Probably."
"That doesn't bother you? I thought bringing the class together was the original idea behind this exercise? I think if that was the goal it backfired completely. Especially to the end, we didn't exactly make friends with the ofher teams before honorably defeating them…"
"Well, that is half true… The goal was that we know about our abilities and can depend on each other more. It may look like our actions caused more harm then good… But how do you think people improve best?"
"How do people improve best… Well, I'd say with motivation to do so?"
"That's right. But motivation isn't that easy to start in someone if they don't have it already… Arina, for example already is very motivated to reach class 1. So much so that I would even call her the one with the most motivation out of all of us."
"More motivated than you?"
"I'm not that motivated… I have no real passion behind it, unlike her. Anyway, you get my point. So what to do with all those that aren't Arina, and how to get them to be more like her?"
"Hm… If you can't have them be like her, it would be most logical to have her be like them? To like, close the gap by lowering Arina?"
"Lowering is the wrong term, but you got the idea. By making Arina and everyone share a trait, by definition, they become more alike. What they all now have in common is… That they all lost to us. Thus, we end up being the catalyst for all their motivation to become stronger."
"Ah, now I get it! So betraying Arina was necessary since the beginning, even if she didn't try to intervene at the end!"
"That's right. By beating everyone, everyone, who otherwise would've had completely different motivations and goals, now has a unanimous target. A goal to strive for. With the motivation being their pride, which we hurt."
"You planned this far ahead… Master, you are amazing~!"
"…Well, I will still have to apologize to Arina… You will have to too. You were the one that ultimately got her disqualified, after all."
"Okay…"
Yamato got out of bed, off from Yuki's lap and walked to his desk when he noticed something.
"…Yuki, did you take that one book we talked about the day before the exam?"
"Whaaat? No… Maybe someone broke in and stole it!"
"…Why did you steal it?"
"I didn't steal anything! I got rid of it for you, since my knowledge proved superior to its contents! Why do you need it anyway?"
"Alright, it's okay… I didn't need it anyway. Just noticed it missing. If you got rid of it, I guess that's okay then. Just tell me beforehand next time."
"Okay… Sorry…"
"Anyway, you said we should go outside at least once, right? Any specific place in mind?"
"The market!"
"…The market? Why the market?"
"Because! I wanna look around there! It will also help your culural understanding of this world!"
"That's… A good idea actually. Let's go to the market."
Yuki jumped up from the bed as well and after they had a late breakfast, they went to the market.
It was a big market, which was to be expected of a big city like Lunis. They didn't really explore the city before, so now was their first time actually just wandering around.
"Look, Master, look!"
Yuki pointed at some, obviously over prized jewelry and pulled him excitedly towards it.
"Buy me some!"
"I don't have any money?"
"Here take this and buy me some!"
She gave him a bag of gold and waited for him to buy her something… With her money.
"Where did you get that?"
"I asked Elara!"
"And she just gave it to you…? And what even is this? You giving me money to buy you something, why don't you just buy it?"
"Urgh, you don't understaaaand!! Just hurry up and pick something you think I'll like! Please."
Yamato sighed in defeat. Them looked at the jewelry, which upon closer inspection seemed to be of high quality. Yuki would probably take and love anything, even if he just gave her a rock from the side of the road. But it couldn't hurt to put a little bit of thought into it. A pair of earrings? A ring? Her would suit anything so it was hard to choose, especially since Yamato didn't know much about those kind of things. Maybe choosing a color first and then the object would help? What color would suit Yuki best, he wondered. Blue, like her eyes? White like her hair? Purple like her school uniform?Something completely different? Even though Yamato seemed to take a while, Yuki seemed very patient, yet excited, which made the decision even harder. Yamato looked away from the jewelry and towards Yuki, who seemed to enjoy this whole thing quite a bit.
Yamato then turned towards a necklace with a pink gem.
"Ah, you have a good eye, sir! This is a gold necklace and the gem in the middle is Kunzite! With its mesmerizing glow and pleochroic nature, kunzite shifts between soft lilac, rose pink, and even deeper violet, depending on the light. Unlike common pink gemstones, kunzite is a rarer find, making it a unique statement piece. Kunzite is as fragile as it is beautiful, much like the purest forms of devotion. It has perfect cleavage, meaning it must be handled with care. A true symbol of love that requires protection and cherishin! But of course that doesn't come cheap… But since I saw you thinking about what to give your girlfriend so thoughtfully, I'll give you a special discount, just for you!"
"Ah, she isn't…"
Yuki looked over with a sad expression.
"…sigh, whatever…"
"A true salesman, that guy… But I don't really care about the price. It isn't my money anyway."
Yamato bought the necklace and gave it Yuki, who was very happy with it. Although she swore to protect it with her life and value it like a sacred artifact, only wearing it for special occasions. It was, without a doubt, priceless to her.