1391/Critical Failure at the Waterworks

Critical Failure at the Waterworks
Date of Scene:	08 April 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Dianora darkens Ami's dorm-step with a simple request: get one question wrong on one test so that Hinoiri can be better than her just once. Unfortunately, Ami has boundaries and is good at enforcing them. Dianora tries to deploy the waterworks, but she's no match for the water senshi.
Cast of Characters:	Double Trouble, Ami Mizuno

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Double Trouble has posed:
Prom had been fun, but it could have been so much better if Hinoiri hadn't been so focused on studying all the time. Double Trouble had tried their best to convince the girl that she didn't need to bother, and that her grades didn't actually matter, but the stubborn unicorn just wasn't rational. And so they hatched a plan.

A plan that took them just down the hall a little way to Ami's dorm, knocking on the door, looking their cutest as Dianora. If she couldn't get her Onee-chan to be reasonable directly, maybe she could enlist her rival's help.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno wasn't really expecting company of the cute smol variety. Typically when people visited her dorm it was because they needed help with studying, or were going to drag her out and force her to be social instead of studying. She was getting better at that, at least.

So she's a little surprised to find Dianora there and looks momentarily puzzled. It clicks after a moment. "Oh, are you looking for Hannah-chan? She's out at the moment I'm afraid."

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio smiles and looks up at Ami with her big, green eyes and shakes her head. "Nope! I'm here to see you, Mizuno-senpai"

And then she just starts to skip right into the room, if Ami lets her. "I wanted to talk to you about my Onee-chan. She's obsessed with you, and it's a really big problem for me."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Obsessed with...?" Oh no. This wasn't another one of those weird confession situations was it? Ami had heard there were quite a few of those that had gone on around Prom. She'd certainly had her own instance of it after all with Tadase!

Stepping away from the door she does indeed allow Dianora in with a small gesture toward the little couch area for gathering. The rest of the room was clearly a split between two personalities: One neat tidy and studious. The other also neat and tidy but there was a punching bag for goodness sake.

"Um, come in? Have a seat. Who is your oneechan?" Looking a bit perplexed she adds, "And why are they 'obsessed' with me?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio skipped right in and hopped up onto to the seating, turning around and kicking her feet. She was short. They didn't reach the ground. And besides, kicking her feet was cute, and if Dianora was anything, it was cute.

She looked just a little crestfallen that Ami didn't already know who she was talking about. If she didn't know who Dianora's Onee-chan was, that mean she didn't know who Dianora was. Unacceptable.

"Hinoiri Kirara. She's obsessed with winning, and that means she's obsessed with you. I keep telling her it doesn't matter. I keep telling her she's good enough. But all she ever does is study because until she beats you, she just won't be satisfied," Dianora says, sounding more and more exasperated as she goes.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno ohs softly. It all clicks into place finally. Hinoiri. Of course it was. The crazy one.

Ami moves to sit daintily on the edge of the couch with hands resting lightly in her lap. It's just as practiced a casual posture as one can imagine, somehow. Even if it was oh-so-proper.

"Studying is good though. Maybe you can help her study, too, so that you can spend the time with her? Since she's studying anyway." Here she smiles brightly hoping to offer some wisdom and insight. "It can be fun! Maybe ask her to teach you something so that she focuses less on trying to beat me?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio looks up at the ceiling as she inhales another deep breath and shakes her head. "No no no no, that won't work. She already teaches me things. You don't get it. Life is about more than studying."

She hops down off the couch and starts to step out into the middle of the room. "Life is about having fun and falling in love. It's about pastries and picnics. And most importantly life is about paying attention to me, which Onee-chan doesn't do enough."

Turning around she looks directly at Ami. "She's so smart, but so dumb, Mizuno-senpai. She's going to spend all her free time studying way more than she needs to just because the best she can do is tie with you. But if she could beat you just once, I think she might let this go."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
More than studying? For just a moment, stuck on the topic of studies, Ami blurts out, "Well of course not. There's hands-on labs as well, and experiments--" Oh. OH. This was one of those conversations of friendship and love. Usagi would approve. It was just a thought that she was steering clear of a bit at the moment given certain issues she'd stumbled upon.

At least here she falls silent to watch the pacing girl and listen to what she says. Only she shakes her head a bit with a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry. If she beats me that's up to her. Though really if she manages to tie with me that would be very impressive!" Her lips purse together again thinking on it. "That's not enough for her though?"

"Does she run or do any other sport? She could beat me at that easily enough, probably."

Double Trouble has posed:
"Of course she could beat you easily at things you're not the best at, Mizuno-senpai. Really, I thought you of all people would not need everything spelled out," Dianora snaps, and then immediately brings her hands up to her mouth, and makes big eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she says, those big eyes blinking like she's about to start crying. Instead of sharp and exasperated, she sounds pleading and desperate. "It's just that ever since you challenged her she hasn't been the same. She could get perfect scores on everything and it wouldn't satisfy her because you do too. You challenged her and so she has to win."

She walks right up to Ami and puts her hands together palm to palm, making big, pleading eyes at the older girl. "You and I both know you could get a single question wrong and it would have no impact at all on your academic career."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Yes I just meant I could challenge her to something I'm good at but she might still be likely to win--" Ami cuts off when she's snapped at. Her shoulders roll back squaring as she sits up a bit straighter to outright frown at Dianora. Even the little near-tear eyes and the hands on her shoulders are met with a concrete stare in turn.

"You want me to purposefully fail." Not 'miss a question', but 'fail'. "On purpose."

Lifting her hands from her lap she takes hold of Dianora's hands lightly between her own. At the same time she stands to look down at the shorter girl. And then the hands are released. "Not happening. That's as much cheating as ... cheating!"

A firm shake of her head comes, and she blurts out, "That's insulting to all the hard work we've both put in. I'm sorry she needs a psychiatrist for her 'winning' hang up, but I can't help the way you want me to."

"If she wants a chance to beat me at something else I'm good at, tell her to race me at swimming."

Double Trouble has posed:
Double Trouble never used to be able to cry on command. They used to have to imagine children falling so they could cry tears of laughter. But those days were gone. They had been moved to tears, and not even that long ago. All they had to do was remember what it felt like to have Hinoiri dying in their arms.

Cue the waterworks.

Dianora looks at Ami, her big green eyes so so so sad, just utterly crushed. She didn't say anything, she just started crying. Her eyes shut and her face scrunched up and then she just stepped forward and threw her arms around Ami's waist so she could cry on her. "D-don't you g-get it, M-mizuno-s-senpai?"

She steps back, her face just wet with tears, and looks up at Ami. She doesn't look pleading any more, now she looks indignant. The girl's got range. "If you hadn't challenged her, she wouldn't be like this. It's your fault my Onee-chan doesn't pay me enough attention, and you need to help me fix it."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I never challenged her in the first place! She's the one who said she would beat me, and I wished her 'good luck'!" Of course it wasn't quite exactly like that... but Ami hadn't meant it to be rude. Just. It came out that way at the time. The whole situation had her aggitated a lot.

"I'm not responsible for anyone but myself." And Usagi. Definitely Usagi. That was a more complex situation however, and not really part of this conversation.

"I'm sorry. Maybe you should try to tell her that she needs to focus on your relationship more."

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora just stared at her, those big, green eyes getting as big as saucers. How could her eyes be so big and cute like that? Her face said so much even though all she did was take a few ragged breaths. She was desperate. She was overwhelmed. And she had no options left. Hinoiri would never back down from the challenge, and Ami wasn't going to help her either. This was just going to suck forever.

Well, if Ami wouldn't help her, then she would just have to deal with the consequences.

"You're just as bad as she is," Dianora wailed, her fingers balling up into fists that she holds down straight by her sides as she just falls down into a sobbing heap on the floor.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Oh no. Oh geeze." Ami finally does seem to get flustered when the girl just FALLS on the floor to just sob her eyes out. She stands there a moment uncertain of what to do. A glance is cast to the door, then around the room, as she realizes just LEAVING wouldn't exactly work. This was her dorm.

A little sigh is exhaled as her eyes roll up to the ceiling. This was worse than trying to get the other girls to study.

"Oh stop that. I know you're upset... But this isn't going to help. Maybe try talking to one of the school counselors for advice? I don't know what else to suggest but I don't have the answers for you. Really." A pause, and she mumbles awkwardly, "I'm sorry."

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio just continued to wail on the floor. She was a thespian and this was her stage. If she wasn't going to get what she wanted from Ami, at least she'd get the satisfaction of making Ami very uncomfortable.

But finally, perhaps a minute after Ami said her sorry, the wailing subsided to sobbing, and then the sobbing broke way to words. "D-do you th-think I'd be here b-begging you to d-do s-s-something so out of ch-character if I hadn't exhausted all my other options?"

She pushed herself up off the floor, again moving from maudlin to mad. Her fists balled up down at her sides again, but this time in defiance as she looked up to Ami and tried to meet her gaze. "But you can maintain your precious honor even though it would cost you absolutely nothing to do this. It's fine. I understand. It's soooooo important."

Then she spun on her heels and stormed off to the door, jerking it open and stopping in the doorway to turn and look back. "I'll leave you to your riveting life of studying." A hard pull on the doorknob slammed the door shut as she left.

What teenager has good boundaries like that? Double Trouble could not believe she hadn't even budged. Hinoiri was screwed. Ami really was better.