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Part : 564

  She immediately shifted back into pnning mode, the strategist resurfacing. "Okay, logistics. Tomorrow. Park near Dipa's pce."

  "Four PM sharp? That gives us ample time to escape school, ditch our bags, maybe even hydrate. We meet at that little coffee shop with the questionable pastries, three blocks away, 3:45 PM. We execute a casual jog-over."

  She tapped her chin, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Now, about our look… should we go full matching power couple? Like, coordinated neon?"

  "No, Toya. Absolutely not," James replied instantly, his voice ft. "We wear normal workout clothes. Like normal people."

  "Ugh, you're no fun," Toya pouted dramatically for a millisecond before brightening again. "Fine. Normal clothes. But the hand-holding as we 'casually stumble upon' Dipa is absolutely happening."

  "Non-negotiable. It's crucial for establishing the narrative baseline!" she decred with mock gravity.

  "Just for like, five seconds! The initial visual impact!"

  James pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the familiar throb of a Toya-induced headache intensify. Why? Why was this his life? "Fine," he conceded through gritted teeth.

  "Five seconds. Maximum. A brief, non-awkward, 'Oh hey, look who it is' hand-hold. And then we dial the PDA way back."

  "Like, keep it at a one out of ten on the cringe scale. We cannot make Dipa feel weird or suspicious. Remember the mission parameters: Concerned Friend Checking In."

  Toya adopted an expression of angelic innocence, fluttering her eyeshes. It was about as convincing as a fox ciming vegetarianism. The mischievous spark in her eyes was practically setting off fres. "James, darling," she cooed, patting his arm reassuringly.

  "When have I ever been anything less than the soul of discretion and subtlety?" She paused, letting the rhetorical question hang heavy with irony before adding with a sly, knowing smirk, "...when it suits my purposes, obviously." She cpped her hands together with an air of finality. "Excellent!"

  "This is going to be great! High-fives for teamwork!" She held up her hand expectantly.

  James just stared at it.

  "Okay, tough crowd," she shrugged, retracting her hand. "Anyway! It's a solid pn!" She gave him one st, dazzling wink that could probably power a small vilge.

  "Catch you tomorrow… 'boyfriend'." And with a final, jaunty little salute-wave hybrid gesture, she pivoted sharply and plunged back into the dwindling stream of students, disappearing with the suddenness of a glitch in reality.

  James stood there for a solid ten seconds, the residual noise of the hallway washing over him. He slowly shook his head, a small, bewildered smile tugging at the corners of his lips despite everything. How? Just… how?

  How did he constantly end up as the reluctant co-pilot in Toya's increasingly eborate schemes? He briefly entertained the thought of faking a sudden illness tomorrow afternoon, then immediately discarded it. Toya would see right through it.

  Right. Dungeon run. Focus. Pixeted monsters.

  Simple objectives. Clear rewards. So much less complicated than… this. Whatever this was.

  Okay, snap back to reality, folks. We're back in the glorious, slightly-smelly echo chamber that is the Banani High gym. Seriously, does anyone ever clean the lost and found? Anyway, that big tournament, the Liberation Cup?

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