Rising Shards

Our fledgling dating advice business (was it really a business yet if we were doing it for free?) had gone from one client that Oka and I didn't really have much in the way of advice for to five clients at once, with Amara, KJ, Rain, Michi, and Tay sitting with us.

Oka's strategy this time was to just talk casually to start, and work from there if we notice any issues we could give advice on.

"It's hard to pinpoint where exactly we became 'official,'" Rain said. "I would say in some respects we were together from the moment we met."

"We never really needed to put a label on it," KJ said. "But being apart from Rain definitely pushed us closer once we were reunited."

"And pushed you and Amara closer while I was away, as well," Rain said, smiling softly.

Tay plopped a big, overstuffed binder on the table, opening it up and turning pages until she reached a section that had pictures of the love trio in it. "Ah, that was when Rain was 'traded' to Wildfire Hearts by Kitty's machinations that didn't really go anywhere."

"Tay, we were there, you don't need to remind us," I said.

I didn't intend for that to come out as rudely as it did, but Tay looked like I just threw a drink in her face, putting a pit in my stomach.

"Or, well, sorry, that's mean. Feel free to chime in whenever you want!" I said.

"You sure?" Tay said. "I've been speculating that my hobby might be impeding my chances at a date, or even friends...oh, sorry, this is the love trio's turn, I don't want to make it about myself."

"No, we're all just talking here," Rain said. "Please, continue."

"I'm...I guess I should ask everyone if my hobby is too offputting for me to stand a chance?" Tay asked.

Sometimes Tay's hobby could be a bit much, keeping track of all the relationships and friendships and history of her classmates. But I knew I could get annoying about my hobbies so I couldn't really judge.

"It's really not so bad," I said. "I know I was just rude about it, but it's cool you have something you're passionate about. Something you're passionate about shouldn't be a dealbreaker, I don't think."

"Very true!" Oka said. "If someone rejects you because of your binders of friend history and such, then that already says they're not the right person for you."

Tay stroked her chin. "That is a logical statement, yes."

Rain reached for the binder, and Tay yelped. "What? Huh? What?"

"I wanted to see what you said about me," Rain said. "I'll give my judgment on your hobby then."

Tay thought about if she should show Rain and the others what she'd written about them or not. "Oh, um, if you'd like you can all look, I suppose."

Rain pulled the book toward her, hunching over it as she read, with KJ and Amara over her shoulders.

"'Though she can have an intimidating personality beneath her beauty,'" Rain read out loud. "'Princess Rain also possesses a softer side, clearly caring greatly for her fellow partners in her trio. When I first encountered the three, I feared that Rain uses her mind control powers on them, but as far as I can tell, those fears are unfounded, as the only times I've seen Rain use her powers are against void monsters and a substitute teacher who Rain managed to convince was allowed to be five minutes later to class. While it is possible that Rain is using her mind powers when I'm not looking, I find it unlikely. Yes, I believe her affection for her companions is genuine, as is theirs for her.'"

Rain sat back, her expression neutral. Tay panicked right away.

"I...apologize if any of that was in error," Tay said. "I am merely an observer, and my conjectures can—"

"Miss Taaaaay!" Rain wailed as she hugged Tay, her eyes welling up with tears. "That is so wonderful!"

"I-it is?" Tay said.

"I haven't even read your entries on me and Amara yet, but you get Rain's appeal," KJ said.

"I-I do?" Tay said.

"It's really lovely!" Rain said.

"You're not mad that I speculated about you potentially using your mind powers to effectively make KJ and Amara your thralls?" Tay asked.

"Oh, no," Rain said. "I understand the fear completely. Even my dear KJ and Amara have worried about that before."

"The Summer of Questioning was a difficult one indeed," Amara said. "But like all the trials we've faced, we came through it stronger."

"Are we in that binder?" Oka asked. "I'm curious what you said about me, too!"

"Um, you two are...not in that one," Tay said. She leaned down to a leather bag she had by her chair, which was filled with even more binders filled with her documentation.

"How many of those are you carrying around?" I asked.

"I usually keep three or four on me at all times," Tay said. "One is just a regular notebook for note taking, of course."

Tay set another binder down on the table, paging through it before she got to one about us. She slid that over to Oka, who eagerly started reading. I wanted to join in on that as well, but with her reading our entry and the love trio excitedly reading theirs, our other guest was in danger of being left out. Michi didn't look upset by this or anything, sketching on their notepad while the rest of us were yapping, but I still wanted them to feel welcome, too.

"Um, so Michi, what...do you...?" I said. "Heh, it's like, Tay has her notebooks, and you also have...notebooks." I was struck with a sudden bout of being a weird dork, an affliction that flared up in social situations from time to time. Or...pretty much every social situation, to be honest.

"Yeah," Michi nodded, not really giving me anything to go off of, but it wasn't like I threw them an easy pitch to swing at conversation wise.

"You seem like you've been close with the love trio lately," I said.

"Yeah," Michi nodded again. I was worried they'd just stop there, but mercifully they continued. "They're looking for someone to practice with, right? Like they couldn't figure out kissing or something like that."

"Pretty much, yeah," KJ said, turning away from reading the love trio section to sheepishly wave in confirmation.

"The passion is there, but the ability...is not," Amara said.

"Which is of course when we had the idea to attempt to meet more people," Rain said. "And Amara is the first to find someone." She teasingly patted and pulled on Amara's cheeks, and Amara just giggled.

"We haven't done anything really yet, we've just hung out a lot," Michi shrugged.

"Are you enjoying it?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's nice," Michi said. "I've...thought Amara was really cool for a while, but I didn't realize that KJ and Rain are pretty cool, too."

That got the love trio to stop their reading to smile with Michi.

"Sounds like you're on the right track, then," I said. "It's different for everyone, obviously, but I think generally speaking becoming friends before you date someone has good results. Oka and I cant attest to that, at least, right?"

I tried to get Oka to similarly turn from reading the binder, but she was entranced. Tay's entry on Oka and I looked like a scrapbook, with photos of us taped by random scribbles. I wasn't sure how Rain read her entry so eloquently, from where I sat I couldn't make out much of Tay's handwriting.

"Right, Oka?"

"Look at this picture of you," Oka said, distracted from the dating advice business she thought up by a photo of me. Thankfully it wasn't anything creepy, just me walking through a hallway.

Well, it was kind of strange that Tay didn't ask if she could take that picture, but I didn't think Tay had any nefarious plans for documenting everyone, so I brushed it off save for a single question.

"When did you take that?" I asked.

Tay laughed nervously and muttered something as she paged through a random binder, which was probably the best answer I was going to get there.

"You look so cool there," Oka said.

"Huh? Really?" I said.

"Yeah! The way your hair is flowing is all...schwoom! You know?" Oka said.

"Not really, but thanks, hehe," I said. I thought about trying to get Oka back on track to give Michi, Tay, and the love trio advice, but she looked like she was having too much fun, so I figured why rush her?

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