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Dɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✦ #FF0059 || Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✧ #462775

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I grinned at his rapid re-assessment of his earlier opinions. Well, I still wasn't going to do mother any favors and force myself to get along with his boy if I didn't want to, but at the very least, I supposed I could tolerate him if he didn't sell my appearance short. Nodding to myself, I gave a theatrical sigh. "And yet, no matter how comfortable, practical, and aesthetically pleasing it is, they still won't give up their stupid plaid uniform and let me dress as I please. Quite the tragedy, that." I shrugged, returning my attention to the matter he'd actually approached me to ask about. Since he already knew that I'd thrown the fight, I suppose it didn't matter if he also knew why I'd done so. And yet... come to think of it, I really didn't want to tell him. After all, how stupid would it have been to just come out and admit that I'd messed up, felt guilty, and decided to meddle in somebody else's business to make up for my own mistakes? But, if not out of that sort of sympathy, why would I have thrown the fight...? I could have said it was just laziness, but... Losing, even deliberately, called my talent into question. It was to be avoided if at all possible, so as not to make light of my natural gifts and power!

"R-regardless, it's not like I let myself lose for any particular reason," I said hastily, trying to dismiss the question without either lying - which would be dishonorable - or giving him a straight answer - which would be embarrassing. "More like... a lot of little things just made me decide that winning wasn't worth it. Like, I'd still be Blue ranked no matter what I did, and... and my opponent was clearly talented, so it would have been insulting to him to not give him the chance to show what he could do... And... and I guess I didn't get much sleep last night either, so I was still kind of tired, and... Augh, whatever!" I ran a hand angrily through my hair, brushing it violently out of my face. "Long story short, winning wasn't worth it, so I decided not to."

There was a momentary silence. I looked away slightly, clearing my throat loudly as I tried to regain my composure. Really, that answer should have satisfied him. I couldn't imagine why it wouldn't have. And, it wasn't like I was lying. I hadn't wanted to make a mockery of Ridley's talents... and the battle really hadn't been one worth fighting... When you got down to it, that was all there was to it, right? All that stuff about seeing him sad... about accidentally hurting his feelings and then trying to make up for it... Right, I'd never do something like that! That would be meddling, and meddling was something I never did. I'd probably just been mistaken, and the real reason was because I'd realized how talented he was right from the get-go! Why else would the one person I chose to challenge end up being capable of blocking Bradamante? Yup, this was definitely just my excellent instincts at work - nothing more, nothing less!

...Damnit. My lies sounded even less convincing than usual when they were directed at myself. I sighed heavily, and simply hoped that I could forget about those feelings of guilt and pity as quickly as possible. Getting so involved in the affairs of others was unsightly for me and insulting for them.

Glancing back to Issei, I decided that the best way to start forgetting would be to force the conversation away from this topic as quickly as possible. "So?" I asked pointedly. "Was that all?"