The soft early morning light peeked in through the thin cloth curtains, casting speckled golden patterns over the beige birch nightstand. An early autumn breeze drifted in from the partially opened window and disrupted the sunlight's placement, instead casting it on the scrunched up face of the room's inhabitant.
Robin stirred, squinting her eyes and raising her hand to protect herself from the intruding rays of the sun, and caught sight of the digital clock next to her. The girl froze mid-movement, making an exaggerated 'O' with her mouth, then leapt out from under her dragon-patterned bedsheets already fully dressed in her casual school attire.
"I'm gonna be late!" The girl exclaimed rather loudly, shoving on a pair of ragged converse before stumbling out her sticker-plastered bedroom door. Despite the carpeted floor of the landing, her heavy adrenaline filled footsteps shook the house until she eventually got to the stairway. For a couple of steps she attempted to slide down the bannister, though tripped a fifth of the way down so decided to continue the descent pretending nothing had happened.
She burst into the tiled kitchen, instantly wrenching a slice of bread from the nearby open loaf and dropping it in the toaster. She began to stare at the appliance with baited breath.
Jay, who was sat on the edge of the kitchen table, stared at her.
"This is the second time you've 'gotten up' this morning," Her brother mused. Despite being born a year apart, the two had an almost striking resemblance: same silver coloured hair, same scrawny build, and same ghostly pale skin – heck, even the same obnoxious smile that crinkled up at the one side of their mouth. The only things that separated their appearances at the moment were the squared glasses Jay wore and the upturned eyebrow he held on her.
Robin turned away from the toasty prison and pouted at her sibling. He pulled out his phone, nodding to himself before turning his gaze on her again. "That, and you're still nowhere near late. School starts at nine and it's not even twenty past eight yet." At that, Robin sighed overdramatically and leaned on the doorframe, hands on her hips.
"I've told you this, Jay, the first day of school will only be successful if I adhere to the following rules," She held up her hand with her fingers outstretched, beginning to count them down. "First, I have to be 'late', rush out of bed in a hurry and run downstairs. Secondly, I have to wear clothes that are cute, but not too girly. There has to be a hint of tomboyish charm to my appearance," Robin gestured down at her simple clothing. Jay simply stared at her with a small smirk playing across his lips. "Thirdly, I must have a piece of toast. But not only that, I must burst out of the house with the slice of warmed bread in my mouth after some words from an encouraging family member, something like 'Go get 'em tiger!' and – with enough luck – I shall collide into the love of my life."
Her brother, the one wearing the shirt plastered with the image of the Millennium Falcon and a backpack covered in the various expressions of Spock, laughed at her. Robin stared indignantly at him, watching a tear leak out from one of his eyes as he hysterically pounded his hand on the kitchen table. After a few moments of Robin's cheeks getting superheated in embarrassment, he gathered himself and took off his glasses to rub his eyes.
"Oh my gods, Robin, you crack me up," He grinned, slipping off the granite table top and walking over to her. He only stood a couple of inches taller than her, so in an effort to regain her lost pride Robin crossed her arms and stood on her tip toes. "Besides that, you've already had breakfast this morning," Jay quickly snatched the toast that popped up next to them, taking a bite out of it as he walked away. "One of those chocolate croissants."
"It's called a pain au chocolat," Robin mumbled abashedly in reply, licking the taste of chocolate off the back of her teeth. "But you must understand that you're getting in the way of your little sister's big shot at romance! Don't you feel guilty?" She whined, following Jay around the side of the kitchen to pick up his bag. He paused for a moment, turning to face her and placing a hand on his chin in thought.
"Hm. Nope, not really." He grinned, ruffling her hair and slinging his dark hoodie over his head. After seeing that it had the Batman symbol sprawled across the chest, Robin resisted the urge to collide her hand with her forehead.
"This is my new chance at a new school; an untainted land of opportunity, teeming to the brim with various hot guys and… Other things," Jay continued to walk around the kitchen with an unimpressed expression. He'd obviously heard this speech before. "Don't you know that a girl's late teens is the prime opportunity t-"
"To explore the boundaries of romance and find a man who will whisk her off her feet, show her the joys of the world and who she'll live happily forever after with, blah blah blah, etcetera etcetera," He turned back to her, already half-finished the slice of toast he'd so heinously stolen. "You're just saying that as an excuse to let your grades slip. You'll get over it as soon as you get back into writing again." Robin grumbled to herself at his reply, hefting her pastel purple messenger bag over one shoulder.
"Whatever. With skills like these you can bet that I'll be the chief editor of your mangy school's newspaper in no time, but boys are a whole other beast that require far more of my faculties," Robin looked at her feet as she waited for her brother to eat the remaining dregs of his breakfast. The sound of the doorbell drew her attention as she began to walk to the front door. "Ugh, saying that, since this is the school you go to there probably aren't even any hot guys to speak of." Jay raised his eyebrows at her, a few crumbs plastered to his chin as she reached out a pale hand to open the door.
In front of her, stood in the doorway to their house, was a boy who may as well have been the incarnation of Adonis himself. His well-toned arm muscles were exposed by the rolled up sleeves of his undone jacket, his short, neatly trimmed and styled navy hair perfectly framing the rugged, sharp features of his face, and he wore a friendly smile that caused shivers to run up Robin's spine and butterflies to flap violently in her stomach. He cleared his throat.
"You're Robin, right? It nice to meet you! I'm Chrom, one of your brother's friends." This demi-god, 'Chrom', offered an open hand to her. The blood had rushed to Robin's face so quickly that she felt a bit dizzy, though it did not stunt the euphoria she felt when she reached out to shake his hand. Despite his hand being quite a bit bigger than her own, they made a perfect fit, and when they parted Robin could not help but stare at the palm of the limb that just touched her sure to be future husband.
"N-nice to meet you too." She practically whispered, unable to look up at his dazzling cerulean eyes. Jay put an arm on one of her shoulders, giving her a strained smile that suggested he was just about able to hold back another bout of laughter.
"Let's get going then, shall we?"
The school's sports hall was surprisingly large, easily seating the somewhat small populace that made up the student body. The clean, grey brick walls were covered with gold and green banners depicting encouraging messages for the 'Ylisse Bears', along with drawings of the giant bumbling mascot itself. Robin sat next to her brother on the wooden bleachers, the sound of hushed conversations from their fellow classmates emanating from all around them. Jay looked exasperated.
"Look, I'm not opposed to you taking an interest in guys – heck, even if he is one of my closest friends – but are you sure that it's okay for you to be crushing this badly on someone given your track record?" The pale boy pinched the bridge of his nose. Robin simply sat up straighter, holding her nose in the air.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I have no 'track record' to speak of." She took a sideways glance at him to see the unconvinced expression on his face.
"Oh, you don't remember? Allow me to refresh your memory: two years ago in your old school, the boy you took gardening club for – Yarne." Robin scoffed at the mention of the name.
"That was just a long-haired guy phase," She explained, though paused to bite her lip in uncertainty. "…He just ran off screaming and crying from me that one time because I accidentally pressure hosed his prized carrot patch into a muddy unsalvageable mess. No big deal." In her defence, the labels on the head of the hose were very vague. Not only that, it was very hard to control a raging garden hose when put on its highest setting.
"Okay then, a few months later. That quiet boy who liked sewing. Gerome. The one you accidentally burned the hand of to the point he had to wear a plaster on it for the next few weeks." Robin winced slightly at the mention of that one.
"He was just showing me how to applique, and… Well, his hand brushed mine and I got a little overexcited. That hot iron was placed rather precariously in the first place, it's just that… In my enthusiasm, I er… y'know, happened to knock it over. I didn't mean it or anything." Jay stared at her pointedly, arms crossed now.
"And Inig-"
"DON'T. Mention. His name," Robin sighed, slumping forward and rubbing her face with a hand in resignation. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I am destined to be a lonely old hag with twenty billion cats." Jay mirrored her sigh, putting his hand on her back and slowly patting it.
"Hey, now I'm not saying that. Just… Be careful, yeah? Can the excitement a little and keep your priorities in check," She looked up at her brother's face and found one of his goofy encouraging smiles. Robin couldn't help but turn up the corner of her lip in response. "Y'know what you should look forward to? Clubs are open for application this afternoon. I bet they'd let you into the Newspaper Club no questions asked." Robin laughed lightly at his compliment, sitting up again and playfully punching his arm.
"You bet. I'm a legend, and even the hicks of this town are sure to realise that." She made a wide, victorious smirk. Her brother smiled back in response, and just as he was about to open his mouth the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed throughout the hall. Everyone turned to the front of the bleachers where three figures stood awaiting their attention.
One of the standing figures she'd recognised straight away: the boy in blue himself, Chrom, stood next to a blonde woman she could only assume was their headmistress. She was surprisingly young, as the rumours said, and had a very kind, soft expression. Her long golden hair tumbled down her shoulders, its middle parting exposing a rather curious looking birthmark on her forehead.
On her other side stood a rather tall girl with long red hair that fell down her back. She had very sharp features and weirdly perfect poise, a confident smile plastered across her unnaturally beautiful face. The trio stood together looked like the apex of physical perfection, ready to jump out of a fashion magazine right at them.
The woman surveyed the group of students quietly with her jade eyes, waiting a few seconds before finally announcing anything to them. Despite such a gentle voice, her every word carried easily around the hall.
"Today marks the start of a new year at Ylisse, and we welcome everyone – old and new – to our wonderful school. I am Miss Emmeryn Exalt and am pleased to say that I shall be your headmistress for the coming months," A small bout of polite clapping spread across the students. "I don't want to keep you from your fun much longer, so I just want to say that I wish everyone well for this year and if you may ever need assistance, you are more than welcome to ask." The clapping resurged again as Emmeryn took a step back, nodding to Chrom and the red headed girl.
"Right, this morning you'll all be helping set the clubs up for this afternoon's sign up process. New students, stay behind so that I can show you around the campus." At Chrom's words, everyone began to stand up and grab their bags.
Robin looked around from her spot, frowning as she noticed that practically everyone was leaving. She grabbed her brother's sleeve.
"Shouldn't my year be staying behind for the campus tour since we're all new to the school?" Jay blinked and chuckled lightly, that tell-tale obnoxious smile of the Finch family beginning to appear.
"The vast majority of people here are from the affiliated school, so they've already been given the ins-and-outs of our fine establishment," His smile was beginning to grow more Cheshire-cat like by the second. "Which means you get a personal sightseeing journey with none other than our head boy himself." Robin whipped her head around to the front to find that Chrom was the only one there waiting.
Her face was starting to feel a bit warm again at the prospect of spending some one-on-one time with him. She heard Jay chuckle as he stood up, patting her shoulder as he began to walk off. "Go get 'em, tiger." Robin rose to her feet and quickly grabbed her bag, beginning to step her way down off the bleachers. She cast one final look to her brother who was walking out the door, mouthing to her 'try not to kill him'.
The large, heavy door of the sports hall closed with a loud thud. Robin darted her head back around to the front as she stepped out onto the shiny wooden floor, seeing the friendly smile of Chrom as she fought the urge to be a total idiot.
Maybe the next hour or so of this alone time would be the start of their beautiful life together. Yes, after realising how they are made for eachother, Chrom would then come to accept Robin as his one true love and disregard all other pretences for the sake of proposing to her right here right now. Then after she became a world renowned journalist the two would finally settle down in a humble shack near the Feroxi woodlands and have two kids that, when asked how they fell in love, they would regale the tale of their mother's first day in school with their father.
"So, guess you're the only new girl here then, huh?" Robin was shaken out of her daydreams by the baritone of the blue haired boy in front of her. He flashed a couple of his pearly white teeth at her, which was enough to almost turn her knees into jelly.
"Y-yeah! Looks l-like it!" Robin tittered, her voice an octave higher than usual. She cast her eyes to him, trying to hold back a huge grin as he started to step towards the door further down the hall.
"Okay then, let's get goi-" Chrom was interrupted by a huge crash from behind them, his half open mouth pulled back into a mildly startled expression. Robin turned to look back and saw the big doors wrenched open, with a mess of purple and pink collapsed on the side of the bleachers in front of them. The mass of colour suddenly picked itself up and began to run over to them.
"O-oh gods I'm s-so sorry! I'm l-late aren't I? I got distracted b-by a puppy th-then I followed the s-signs in the wr-wrong direction and… And…" The face of the girl stood in front of them was a darker shade of pink than her hair, though it was mostly obscured by a white woolly scarf. Her violet eyes flicked up momentarily at Robin and Chrom before quickly returning to them to her feet, bowing her head in shame. "I-I'm Olivia… I'm n-new so I was t-told to come here…?"
Robin stared at her with a mix of pity and frustration, the latter mostly because her morning date with Chrom just became a party for three. Although it was hard to stay mad at the girl when her shoulders started to wrack occasionally with the sound of muffled sniffling as she remained entranced with her shoes. Chrom looked at her for a moment before snapping his fingers in realisation, his usual friendly grin returning.
"You're the Feroxi transfer, right? Basilio said you'd be joining us today. Looks like you made it just in time!" Olivia finally looked up at that, though focused more on his chin rather than his face. "I was just about to start the tour. Our new transfer from Plegia is new to us today as well." He gestured to Robin. Olivia's gaze followed and she managed to meet Robin's dark golden eyes.
Upon closer inspection, Olivia was absolutely undeniably adorable. Her slightly glossy, red rimmed eyes only seemed to accentuate the soft beauty of her face and she managed a small, mousy smile. Robin's own mouth seemed to tighten at the edges curtly in return.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Robin." She held out her hand. A flash of terror crossed Olivia's face for a moment, though still managed to meet her challenge and shook her hand. As Robin expected, her hand was shaking harder than the last leaf in winter. In that moment she seemed so ridiculously fragile; if Robin held her too roughly she feared she'd pull Olivia's porcelain appendage right from her shoulder.
Chrom looked between the two with a sunny expression as they turned to face him. He resumed his march back to the door.
"Alright! Let's go then!"
While there was no sign of Chrom falling madly in love with her, Robin supposed that the first half hour of their campus tour went alright. Despite being on the edge of the capital city, the local neighbourhood was pretty unpopulated, leaving this sprawling mass of fields mostly untouched. It didn't seem like a bad thing though: it left plenty of room for the various sporting associations to claim their own patches of grass and allowed for an uninterrupted view of the bright Ylissean scenery.
The school's buildings and facilities themselves were all built of light brick, with gold and green draped everywhere. They were pretty old but seemed to hold up well, the insides decked out with a mix of chalk boards and wooden chairs that tied together the rather rustic aesthetic that the establishment seemed to exude. It didn't seem like a bad place by all means.
As they were walking past a single story block to the side of their cobblestone path, Chrom turned around and gave the two girls his usual charming smile.
"…And this is the canteen! As expected, it's the place you can go to get some food or drinks and is generally just a cosy hang-out area if you're not a big fan of the outside," Olivia and Robin glanced to the building. It actually seemed slightly more modern than the others they passed, complete with a pair of swanky glass sliding doors and a covered cork board hanging on the wall. "It's also where the bulletin board is. It's good to check there to see if anything interesting's going on… And, well, there's always at least something happening at any given time." Robin made a mental note of that. After she joined the Newspaper Club she imagined that's where she'd get the details of all the events they had to cover.
The three continued on walking for a few seconds but then had their attention pulled by the field over to their right. A good amount of people were walking across the grass further down, leading what seemed to be a few horses to the other side of the campus. One of the boys helping lead a particularly big stallion turned to look at the three. He had tanned skin mostly exposed by his vest top and khaki shorts, his pulled back blonde hair moving to the side as he squinted at the trio from a distance. As soon as he noticed Chrom he began waving energetically.
Chrom cracked a grin and began waving back, the only real communication the two could have at this distance. The blonde boy stopped and gave Chrom what appeared to be a thumbs up, then turned back to the horse and pulled back his hand preparing to give the lumbering stallion a bit of a push. Chrom's smile faded when he realised what he was about to do. Panic flashed in his eyes and he quickly cupped his hands to his mouth, shouting across the field.
"WAIT! Vaike, don't! That's Sully's-" But it was too late. As soon as the last syllable on 'don't' rang out, the boy slapped the back of the stallion, causing it to rear up and give a terrifying, world-ending whinny. The reins pulled out from the hands of those that were holding it as the horse began cantering away from their grasp. The situation only seemed to devolve as the ferocious beast scared the handlers of the other horses that were being led. This eventually ended up with not one, but about four horses running free across the grassy plains. All the nearby students leaped into action, including Chrom who quickly sprinted away from Robin and Olivia to try and control the chaos.
Robin looked on as she saw a stocky girl with a pixie cut walk over to scold the guy who she assumed was Vaike. Her face was almost as red as her hair and her features were pulled back in what could only be described as a mask of infinite fury. By now, pretty much the entire school were running after the fugitives, reducing the surrounding ambience to a mess of horse hooves, screaming and, she presumed, distant explosions.
She turned back to Olivia whose face looked as bewildered as she felt. The girl glanced over to meet her eyes, and Robin was beginning to think that Olivia may have been better off just spending the morning with that puppy she found. Still, the shy Feroxi was the only thing Robin had for the moment.
"Wanna go get some coffee?"
It was a short walk to the completely abandoned canteen. Even from inside the bricked building, the distant cries of their fellow students drifted in. The only other human being that they met on the way there had seemed to take the form of a giant pile of cake. The two stopped next to the large amalgamate dessert with legs, Robin's face scrunched up with a look of pained dissatisfaction.
This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder.
"Uh, excuse me. You did pay for those cakes, right?" A face shot out from the side of the shortcake. It was a boy, his surprised leafy eyes framed by short ginger hair, with a mouth and chin that were covered in a mess of jam and icing. He went to say something, exposing his cat-like canines.
"Well, you see, the thing about that is…" He paused and looked between Robin and Olivia. Then promptly ran off towards the front door of the canteen. A trail of crumbs and half-eaten muffins were left in the wake of the ginger haired cake thief, the only proof that the two girls hadn't just hallucinated. They said nothing and just kept on walking.
A few minutes later, the two girls were sat on one of the chic round tables of the canteen, warm cups of coffee in their hands. They ended up having to make it themselves as the kitchen staff had run off to help in the battle with the horses, though the only thing that really bothered Robin about the whole situation was the completely empty cake display next to the cash register. She took a sip of the beverage and sighed, turning to Olivia. Robin figured she may as well try to make the best out of the ordeal.
"So, why'd you transfer from Feroxi?" Olivia jumped at the sound of her voice, turning to look at her, then the coffee, then her again, until finally settling her gaze on the table as she deflated into her seat. During the entirety of the tour Robin hadn't heard Olivia speak once, apart from her breathless introduction. She figured that someone didn't get that painfully shy unless they had some sort of Dark and Brooding Background. Maybe Robin could write a piece on the quiet gal to try and get her to come out of her shell… Actually no, scratch that, given her state she'd probably cry and never come to school again out of embarrassment.
"I…" Olivia began, biting her lip and pulling her scarf up to cover more of her face. "…Wasn't good at… Speaking, o-or… Making friends," She tried her best not to stumble over her words, going over them carefully. "So… My unc-I mean, er, old head teacher said I may be better off starting somewhere new. Somewhere a lot brighter a-and livelier than Feroxi… T-to try and get some more confidence." Olivia trailed off, lightly tapping her pink fingernail against the edge of her coffee cup. Robin nodded thoughtfully, smiling slightly to herself. It wasn't exactly as Dark and Brooding as she expected, but it was sweet nonetheless.
In that moment, Olivia seemed far more vulnerable than usual. Her soft, pale features darkened slightly at the memory. She rubbed her eyes as discreetly as she could possibly manage. "That's why I… Have to try my b-best not to mess up again," She sniffed. Robin's nonchalant expression froze as she looked over to her. The look of sadness on her face was enough to make Robin's heart break. "I d-don't want people to think that I'm… That I'm a u-useless, b-blithering idiot."
A small silence passed filled only with faraway screams and the sob that Olivia was trying to desperately choke in her throat.
"…Being unable to make any friends, huh…?" Robin looked over to the girl, trying to keep a soft expression. "Yeah… Yeah, I know that feeling." Olivia perked up a little at that, glancing at Robin with those glistening, violet eyes. Robin turned to look down at the coffee she held in her hands, steeling her resolve. That's right, this time it was going to be different. And this is as good a start as any.
The pale haired girl placed her cup down and stood up, causing Olivia to jump a little at the unexpected movement. Despite having ruined her one-on-one date with Chrom that morning, Robin couldn't help but feel a certain kinship with the pink haired girl. Maybe it was because of how they were both new, or those beseeching kicked puppy eyes Olivia produced, but Robin decided she liked this girl. Or, at least, she couldn't stand to see her cry.
Robin turned to her with the accidentally obnoxious Finch grin, putting out her hand to the flustered Feroxi in a fashion similar to that morning.
"But that doesn't matter anymore! Because I, Robin Finch, hereby declare myself as your new friend!" Olivia's jaw went lax in surprise and her eyes went wide, dispelling any tears that happened to be forming there. She looked from her pale hand then to her face. It looked like she was trying to decide whether Robin was trying to trick her or not.
Cautiously, and ever so slowly, Olivia reached out her hand to hers. At the contact, Robin pulled her up, and she could see now that Olivia was beaming.
"Thank you." She murmured, staring up at her as a light dusting of pink began to spread across the bridge of her nose. It'd been a long time since Robin had made anyone smile like that – well, anyone that wasn't her brother. She felt a warm feeling pool up inside her chest at the sight of Olivia's happy expression.
Robin's grin suddenly faltered as Olivia burst into immediate, uncontrollable bawling. She froze, glancing around the room desperately trying to find what had suddenly caused this change in mood.
"Uh, Olivia, are you o-" The pink haired girl sniffed, rubbing the tears from her face with one hand and slapping herself on the cheek with the other.
"I'm fine, I'm fine! I'm j-just… Happy, is all…!" Olivia inhaled then exhaled deeply, calming herself down and managing to stop Niagara Falls from tumbling down her face. The two girls looked at eachother and burst into fits of laughter.
"Y-you cry if you're happy? W-what the heck's w-wrong with you?" Robin gasped out between chuckles.
"I-I don't know! I just get r-really emotional!" Olivia returned, trying to cover her mouth to stop herself from smiling. It took about three minutes for them to actually calm down from their joint hysteria. The two sat on the edge of the table and glanced around the still empty canteen.
"What should we do now then, uh, n-new friend?" The perky smile Olivia now wore was infectious, and Robin's own mouth ended up twitching at the sides.
"Well, I think-" A large smack sounded from the other side of the room. The two turned to see a semi-conscious ginger individual sliding down the outside of the window, a horse running past outside and bringing hell in its wake. They instantly recognised him as the perp from earlier, his hoard of desserts splattered across the remainder of the window. "…Maybe we should go help with the horses."
All in all, it took the entirety of the school's residents and about two hours to round up the unruly equines that plagued the grounds. Surprisingly, there were only two injuries – the ginger guy (who Jay later told Robin was called Gaius, another one of his friends) and Vaike, who had been kicked in the face so hard by the red-headed girl that he got a minor concussion. Luckily, despite the major interruption, everyone banded together to set up the clubrooms (except the Equestrian Club who were exhausted) while Chrom finished showing Olivia and Robin around the school.
At this point only about an hour was left for the day, so the pre-planned activities that they'd all set up had to be cancelled. Not that anybody really cared; the horse happenings had taken the energy out of everyone.
"What club are you joining, Robin?" Olivia chirped as the two stood in front of the sign showing which rooms they were all in. Robin frowned at the listings. They were vast, that was for sure: Cooking Club, Track and Field Club, Basketball Club, Orchestra Club… Occult Club? She shook her head, scanning them again trying to find the one she was looking for.
"Newspaper. You?" The pink haired girl seemed to be looking for something amongst the clubs as well, though she just shrugged to herself and turned back to Robin.
"Not sure yet! I think I'll just go have a look at a few…" She glanced around at the signs pointing to all the different directions the clubs were located in. "I'll see you tomorrow then! Good luck getting accepted!" Robin smiled in response and waved at the girl as she began to walk off in the direction of the Crochet Club.
"You too!" She waited until Olivia was out of sight to sigh deeply in exasperation, banging her head against the wall. "Where the hell is it?" A hand materialised out of nowhere, appearing on her shoulder. Robin jumped a mile and swung around to find the grinning face of her brother.
"So. You made a new friend." It was a statement, not a question. Jay's voice had an oddly cheerful sing-song tune to it. Robin's face went slightly red, not expecting to have her sibling appear out of the ether just to tell her about things she already knew.
"…Yes," She said cautiously, looking to her feet in an attempt to act casual about it. "I-It's no big deal Jay, honestly. People make friends all the time. Well, not me usually, but still. It's not weird. Humans like other humans. It's biology, Jay, biology. Pack nature and all that. And another thi- gods could you please stop grinning like that?!" Her brother laughed in response.
"It's just good to see you getting on with someone else so well." Robin's cheeks inflated.
"I didn't come here to make friends, you know!"
"No, that's right. You came here to meet the love of your life, yeah?" The girl's face had gone completely crimson at this point. Crossing her arms and tossing her nose in the air was the only thing she could do to try and regain the last dregs of dignity she had. The whole Chrom thing didn't really pan out too well in the end, but hey, it was only the first day of school – maybe it takes someone more than a few hours to fall in love with you.
Robin exhaled, calming herself down and looking at her brother.
"Har har, very funny. Now, could you tell me where the Newspaper Club room is? It's not on the list." Jay's smile didn't fade, instead he pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in her hand. Robin looked down at the scrap and unfurled it.
"It's over in the first building by the entrance. Third floor, last room on your right," Jay patted her one last time on the shoulder and began to walk off. "I'll meet you at the front gate after school, alright?" Robin looked up from the paper and nodded at him.
"Right. See you then." Now left on her own, Robin popped the slip in her bag and started to walk along the cobblestone path to the front of the school. Unlike the chaos of a few hours earlier, the campus seemed calm – even serene – with only the odd few people walking about here and there.
The excitement only really hit her when she started walking up the first flight of stairs. Robin ran her spindly fingers along the rail, twitching slightly in anticipation. This was going to be her first step into the world of professional journalism, she knew. It'd only be a short leap from the Chief Editor of the school newspaper to Chief Editor of the 'Ylisstol Weekly' bulletin with her skills. The thought of having one of those offices on the top floor of a huge skyscraper sent tingles of impatience down to her legs, which had begun to quickly skip up the dark wooden steps.
She'd had some setbacks the last few years, sure, especially with the whole Plegia Newspaper debacle. Though that was more due to some unforeseen circumstances rather than her own ability. Robin hoped, anyway. Regardless, she was sure she could get her career back on track – this school was bound to be full of nothing but pure journalist amateurs, ready to be moulded by Robin's own expert hands. Yes, this was definitely her big chance.
Her heart started pounding loudly by the time she finally reached the third floor. The nerves were causing her feet to wobble more and more, step by step, as she got closer to the last door on the right. She stopped in front of it.
This was it.
Robin took another deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then exhaled. She grinned confidently to herself, finally taking the step forward and pushed open the large mahogany double-doors with both her hands to see…
…A room empty save for one large oak desk, a computer, and a guy who looked over at her with a surprised expression.
Robin's heart plummeted.
She took another slow step forward, her brow wrinkling as she whipped her head around to look at the entirety of the room. It was a very nice room, for sure, but it was so empty. There were no extra desks for all the columnists, no whiteboard covered in red string and gossip obtained from around the campus, and no piles of previous, successful issues. In fact, the only thing that even resembled a newspaper that she could see was a single, sad pile of stapled paper on the desk.
Robin was expecting it to be bad, but she didn't even dream that it'd be this bad.
The boy stood next to the desk cleared his throat, drawing her attention. He was tall and slightly stocky, sporting a mess of olive coloured bed hair and a pair of lazy, hazel eyes. When Robin just stared at him with her crestfallen expression, he awkwardly glanced around and rubbed his slightly freckled nose.
"Can I help you?" His friendly voice snapped Robin out of her stupor. She took another look around, trying to gather herself, then turned back to him. She opened and closed her mouth for a few moments until she finally managed to formulate a question.
"Where's the Newspaper Club?" The boy raised his eyebrows at the question, a look of innocent joy flushing his face, causing a big friendly grin to grow across his features.
"I'm the Newspaper Club!"
Author's Notes:
Hey! This is my first time writing a proper fanfic, so comments and critiques would be very much appreciated! This is going to be the first part of (hopefully) a series focusing on the drama of Robin trying to set up a functional newspaper club. I hope you'll enjoy it!
I'd also like to say that this story is heavily inspired by the wonderful Blinkingbrave, most notably their story 'Ylissian North'
Please don't sue me xD
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (Nintendo does) and the title cover was done by hasuyawn on deviantart