Ninjago: Amplified 【 Midnight Masquerade 】

【4】 - The Connectivity Between Oni Intuition and Jealousy: a Continuing Study

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【4】

The Connectivity Between Oni Intuition and Jealousy: A Continuing Study

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Akiri wandered through the crowds of passersby, making her way towards a more barren edge of the ballroom. She stifled a sigh as she studied the strangers around herself, an anxious feeling nagging at her gut.

It had been a few hours into their masquerade mission, and yet they still hadn't made much progress in finding their culprit.

Well... Maybe not all of them.

Gold had told Akiri that Aurora was on a lead about an hour ago. The oni was especially glad that the android had notified her so quickly; had she not been given proper context, the next thing she saw would've confused her beyond belief.

Not long after Gold had given her the update, Akiri ventured onto the second floor, where she'd spotted Aurora from the balcony.

And she was dancing with a complete stranger.

Akiri had stared at the strange interaction for far longer than she'd meant to. Aurora didn't seem like she was enjoying herself in the slightest, but Akiri nevertheless couldn't help but feel upset about it.

How could she not, watching her crush dance with someone else?

Sure, it was just jealousy overcoming her common sense. Aurora obviously wasn't dancing on her own accord, but Akiri's inner doubts outweighed her reality.

She'd only recently realized that Aurora had become much more than just her best friend. She'd had plenty of time to reflect on how that would affect their relationship, in which numerous questions had popped into her thoughts without her control.

Would Aurora even be interested in her that way? Was she even interested in women in general? How would she react if Akiri ever brought it up? How would she even START that conversation to begin with???

Akiri had known Aurora for such a long time, and yet even she was unsure of the answers to those questions. But she did know one thing for certain.

Watching Aurora dance with a stranger only added salt to the wound.

Akiri felt so childish for being jealous, but she couldn't help it. Aurora meant everything to her– she just had to figure out a way to express that to her properly.

Akiri tried repeatedly to refocus on the mission, yet her attempts failed every time. She found herself thinking back to what she'd seen, dredging up more of her insecurity.

Worse yet, that wasn't the only thing weighing her down– something else had her on edge. Akiri couldn't entirely determine why, but an unsettling feeling had pushed its way into her chest a long while ago. She found herself being much more attentive to her surroundings as time drew on, an instinctive tension resting on her shoulders. It was as though her body was warning her of something to come entirely on its own.

Yet the hidden oni only disregarded the feeling, assuming it was the result of her jealousy. What else could it have been?

Quit being so overdramatic.

Akiri scolded herself.

You can worry about what Aura thinks of you later. You're on a mission, so don't disappoint her!