Diplomacy...? No Arguing

“Talk, of course.” He responded plainly, taking a quick glance towards the others. “They can’t hear us from here, so we don’t have to speak formally anymore.”

“Finally.” She breathed a sigh of relief, no longer having to worry about appearances during this delicate situation. “Now we can just get to fixing all this so they won’t complain to us about it anymore.”

“Right.” He looked down at the table and realizing they could do with some food and drink, politely requested for a server. Despite everything, this could end up being a sort of mini date. “We’re just agree on some form of punishment to those related to the incident and that should be enough to satisfy the students who are hungry for blood.”

“Great, so you won’t mind those Monta students getting reprimanded for what they did to the Capas.” Her response caused him to raise an eyebrow. This wasn’t how he thought she’d respond. “You know, since they started things by laying a hand on one of them.”

“Uh, no.” He replied firmly, as if his side was the obvious truth. “Your students were the ones breaking the rules first and laid hands on my students. What are you talking about?”

“Look, I already know what you told me.” She answered as they both got served their coffee. “But I was told by one of the Capa students that he was grabbed by one of those Montas. Clearly they were they for a fight before whatever happened, happened.” At this point, neither of them properly knew what had caused all those injuries as the students appeared to have forgotten. Though they both figured this was because there was a fight which broke out that was so hectic that everyone ended up losing.

“Are you suggesting that I was lied to?” He spoke with a level of offense by the insinuation. “Because I’ll have you know that no student of mine would ever dare be dishonest to me.”

“And I can definitely tell you that no one’s lying to someone like me too.” She fired back. “Trust me, I can tell when someone’s being not entirely honest to me. And from the looks on that guys face, I know he wasn’t trying to hide anything.”

“Same here.” The pair got confrontational as they both got close to each other’s face. Both of them glared at the other as if this was some type of contest.

“Look at them, getting right into it.” Said Tenmaro as the others looked on from a distance. “If only we could hear that drama right now.”

“Whoo you got this Jurie!” Sumiwa cheered on as they continued to watch the show. “She’ll put that guy in his place.”

“I think it’s your president who will be put in her place.” Said Benzou as the Montas quietly watched on, staring intently without feeling the need to openly show their support for Ryuo.

“I can’t believe you’d trust some random student over your own boyfriend.” Though at this moment, he didn’t need any support from anyone as his tone shifted closer to how he’d act at school instead of being alone with Jurie.

“I should say the same to you.” He quipped back, crossing her arms in defiance. “You do know boyfriends should be siding with their girlfriends, right? When have I ever lied to you?”

“And when have I ever been dishonest with you?” At this point their arguing seemed to forget the real reason for why they were here in the first place. Instead it now somehow reached the realm of their relationship. It was a miracle no one else could hear them. Though that was not surprising considering the majority of the cafe had been vacated due to fears of a fight brewing.

And it seemed their fears had been true with the two leaders of the rival schools now failing in their ability to provide proper diplomacy. “Okay, let’s recap what happened then. The Capas were loitering, practically trespassing, at that construction site, then the Montas complained about it to them, walking towards them.”

“Exactly, obviously the Montas were the aggressors in that situation. It makes perfect sense that one guy would start the fight.”

“No, it makes much more sense that your kind wouldn’t take kindly to being scolded for their poor actions. So obviously they were going to get upset and start a fight against someone trying to uphold the rules.”

“Last time I checked, it’s not your guy’s job to enforce rules on my students. I can take care of things perfectly myself.” She slammed a fist on the table to establish her commanding presence. Though to the onlooking Capas, they knew it was mostly just an act.

“Hmm, I wonder what dumb thing your president just said.” Said Niiya as she continued to watch the spectacle. “Not pretty often she does the table slam to try and intimidate someone.”

“Probably just throwing a fit to Ryuo telling her the harsh truth.” Said Riyone, sitting back with her arms crossed. Despite how heated things looked to them over there, they all continued to watch.

“While I agree that my students shouldn’t be policing anyone outside of our school.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows down on the table. Ryuo’s took a calm composure against her emotional outburst. A standard tactic his classmates knew too well that he’d use to try and get the upper hand. “There’s nothing morally wrong with them warning those students about the potential risks of breaking laws. I really wish you wouldn’t minimize the wrongdoings of those Capas.”

“I’m not ‘minimizing’ anything.” She made an air quotes gesture with her fingers as she mocked his tone. “We’re here to talk about how those Montas started that fight that got everyone hurt. You’re focusing too much on things that barely matter right now.”

“I would argue that the situation leading to it is very important in proving who truly started the fight.” As they continued to argue, one of the servers cautiously approached them.

“Excuse me, would either of you like something to eat?” She asked.

“No!” The pair, while still riled up from their fight, both responded by taking their anger out on this poor employee.

“Ah, I’m so sorry.” She cowered behind the menu she held, which both brought the pair back down to earth in realizing where they were.

“Wait, I’m so sorry about that.” Jurie was quick to be the first to apologize as she kept the server from leaving.

“Agreed, that was wrong of us to treat you like that.” He backed her up as if they weren’t arguing literal seconds ago. “We’ll order some croissants to calm us down. I promise that won’t happen again.”

“Ooh, can I have mine in one of those cube shapes?” She asked as her eyes lit up from the thought. “And some nice cream filling, if you can.”

“That sounds like some abomination that can hardly be called a croissant.” He commented after the server left to get them their food.

“Hey, I didn’t make fun of your food…” She was about to start arguing again, but Jurie stopped when she realized what had been happening to them. She sighed before speaking again. “Look at what this is doing to us. We’re fighting and it doesn’t even have anything to do with us.”

“I do have to stand up for my students after all. It comes with the territory.” He answered with all the animosity he held before having vanished.

“I have to do the same thing too. Sorry, but that comes before even you.”

“As much as that may hurt my feelings, I can’t be mad at you for doing your job.” He chuckled, the pair now having lost their pent up anger from being interrupted. “But while I was also just doing my job. I should apologize for my harsh words towards you. That’s not how this meeting should be going.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you anymore.” She giggled, but quickly wiped the smirk off her face when she remembered the situation they were in. “But what are we going to do about resolving the incident? It looks like neither of us really know the truth of what went down.”

“You’re right.” He spoke, looking back over at the other students. Now they represented to him a wall, something trapping them until they figured out the impossible. “And to tell you the truth, I have no clue what we’re going to do.”