Everything © their respective owners
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KN: They didn't show us this in the game, soooo…
Warning: Spoilers for Vicky's yearbook entry and classmate event?
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"No, bear!" Vicky prodded the creature with a blunt weapon to steer it towards her school. "Listen to Vicky! Oh! Ver! There!" She needled its side more viciously.
The bear lazily grunted before slowly padding its way towards Lanseal. Vicky grinned wildly, but did not let up on her prodding. The pair made their way towards the school earning some gawks and gasps from some of the supply transports. Well, if they hadn't already run away, at least…
Oh, but Welkin seemed unperturbed when he saw the two, greeting Vicky enthusiastically and chattering on about how she seemed to have tamed a "Eurimperian Brown Bear" that some circus masters unethically used for entertainment in their shows or some such nonsense that Vicky didn't stick around to listen to.
All that lied in her mind was how Cosette would be so impressed with the huge bear she brought!
.-:.:-:.:-.
Honestly…
Who did they think they were kidding?
Brixham locked the door to his office as the Class A students continued to pound on it yelling about how apparently, there was a bear in Lanseal and one of his students was the cause of the problem. Therefore, as their homeroom teacher, he should be the one to take responsibility for it.
A bear.
In Lanseal.
Really?
Sure, Avan wasn't the brightest student in the world (and that was the nicer way of putting it), but there's no way he'd have been stupid enough to bring a live bear to Lanseal. A tiny bird, yes, but not something dangerous.
Unless it wasn't Avan, but it was usually Avan they complained about. That or his Darcsen students. Or Lotte. Or Erik.
Come to think of it, there were a lot of his students that they complained about, but he was pretty confident none of them would ever bring a wild animal to school.
…
WAIT.
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It was approximately nine minutes when Cosette had finished her run around the track.
It was approximately four seconds when Cosette turned her attention to Vicky when the younger engineer called her name.
It didn't even take a second when Cosette fainted upon seeing the bear.
"Cosette, the ground is too hard for sleeping." Vicky simply stated as she tried to shake Cosette awake. "It's bad for your back!" Since Cosette wasn't waking up, Vicky checked her pulse.
There were probably some other students on the track that were screaming about the bear, but Vicky was pretty sure she could handle it before it hurt anyone. The bear was a gift for Cosette anyway.
Speaking of the bear, it was currently moving away from the track towards the mess hall.
"Bear, come back! Listen to me!" the youngest engineer of Class G commanded. She was about to chase after it, but hesitated when she looked back at Cosette's paling complexion. Sure Cosette's pulse was healthy, but it'd be best if she took her to the infirmary sooner rather than later.
If she left the blonde now, the lesson Cosette (and to a minor extent, Avan) taught her about valuing her team mates would be meaningless.
The bear could wait.
.-:.:-:.:-.
Naturally, there was a panic when a bear suddenly showed up in the mess hall, but some of Class G's students seemed to just take in stride. Lotte Netzel is but one shining example.
"Duuuude!" The amateur reporter eagerly snapped shots rapid fire. "This is going to make the front page of the Lotte Insider for sure!"
"Lotte, I don't think you should stand so close." Melissa advised from behind the wall she was peeking out from.
"You can't get the truth if you're just going to stand back from it!" Lotte replied as she continued to take pictures. The bear groaned at all the lights flashing at it.
"Hm…" Chloe stared at the sight for a bit before taking out her easel and some canvas. After setting everything up she glanced back at the bear and her other fellow scout and nodded. "Yes, this'll do." The artist said before she stood back and started painting.
"Um…shouldn't we call a teacher…?" Nichol asked them.
"Yeah yeah, just let me finish writing my article." Lotte said as she quickly scribbled something in her notepad. "Dude, what a scoop!"
"And after I'm done painting." Chloe added, though she didn't look away from her canvas.
"Hmm…" Nichol looked on worriedly. "Maybe I should go get Franca…"
.-:.:-:.:-.
"Did you guys see that bear?"
"Yeah, but what's it doing here?"
"I bet Class G has something to do with it…"
"That weird little girl was chasing it earlier, do you think…?"
"Ugh, why can't they just be normal students?!"
Randy's mask slipped for just a moment as he quietly glared at the gossiping students before smoothly replacing it with the refreshing smile he'd perfected.
Did they always have to blame his class for everything bad that happened to Lanseal?
And a bear?
Really?
Well, whatever it was, Class G wasn't that stupid, and it wasn't his problem.
And that was before he saw the bear padding down the hall.
And then he saw Vicky chase after it yelling, "Come back, bear!"
And then the students in the hallway were panicking and drawing the teachers' attentions to it.
Randy buried his face in his hands and sighed heavily. Looked like it was his problem now. Well, that was fine, he had ways of handling this. Class G (and more importantly, his reputation) wasn't about to have yet another incident on its record. He grinned as he approached the worried crowd.
"What's wrong, professor?" Randy asked, mask in place. "You look awfully troubled."
"There was-! You didn't see the bear?!" his professor gave him an incredulous look.
"Bear?" Randy cocked his head. "I didn't see anything."
"But it was right there!" one of the students protested. "We saw it—you saw it! That little girl was chasing it!"
"Um…I don't have any idea what you're talking about…" Randy gave them a worried once-over.
"Look, we all saw it! Don't pretend you didn't see it too!" one of the students fumed.
"You all look and sound really stressed out." Randy observed. "I suppose in between missions and exams, the mind and body would become exhausted… And there are studies that show you can start seeing things if you're stressed out enough." He nodded. "Why don't I make some tea to help you relax?"
"But the bear-!"
"Isn't there." Randy finished their sentence cheerily. "I'm sure you'll stop seeing it after you've relaxed a bit. Now, I think I still have some chamomile my mother sent me last week. I'll make a tea with that."
"…chamomile sounds nice." The professor agreed.
Randy gave them a reassuring smile as he went to retrieve it before leading them to the kitchen.
'Now, so long as Vicky doesn't let the bear hurt anyone, I can figure out how to cover up the rest of the evidence somehow…'
Well, who was he really kidding? It was Class G. He was doomed.
But if having Avan as a class chair taught anyone anything, it was that you don't accept your doom without fighting back a little.
.-:.:-:.:-.
Coleen walked back from the infirmary to the track. She had just finished checking up on poor Cosette. Apparently her friend had fainted earlier and now she just kept mumbling about a bear in her sleep.
The lancer really hoped Cosette would recover soon.
Stress from all those missions and exams sure weren't anything to sneeze at. Everyone seemed to be talking about a bear for some reason. The poor dears…
Well, she could try to help after finishing her run.
"You can do it, Anisette!" Avan cheered the Idol-to-be on.
"Oh, what are you two doing?" Coleen asked as she approached the class chair.
"Dance practice." Avan answered her brightly.
Coleen stared at him. Then at Anisette as the girl ran around the track with ten tires tied to her. Then back at Avan's unchanged expression. Then at Anisette, who tripped while running around the track with ten tires tied to her. Then back to Avan.
"Dance practice?" Coleen finally echoed.
"Yep." Avan chirped. "I guess being an idol's hard work…"
"I-I guess…" Coleen looked uncertain.
"Oh yeah, there were a bunch of bear tracks earlier, but I think Anisette's gotten rid of them when she started running." Avan remembered.
"Bear tracks?" Coleen asked. Maybe Cosette and the other students weren't crazy?
"Well, yeah, but why would there be a bear in Lanseal?" Avan shrugged. "Zeri's out looking for it in case it hurts anyone, but I don't think he's gonna find anything."
"Hm…" Coleen worried.
"I did promise to help him look after Anisette gives up on dance practice, though." Avan said. "And Anisette's going to give up right about…"
"Ugh, I quit!" Anisette ripped the rope off her and tossed the tires aside.
"Yep, that's Anisette for you!" Avan went over to calm her down.
Coleen watched them talk for a bit and looked down at the track. There was nothing but tire grooves there now. Was there really a bear here before? Though, she supposed if there was one, then, Avan and Zeri could probably take care of it.
Avan was the class chair, after all! And Zeri was really smart too! She sighed in relief.
.-:.:-:.:-.
"Vicky, why did you bring a bear to school?" Rene asked once she realized the bear wasn't interested in hurting anyone. It seemed to have calmed down around Erik, but Vicky kept provoking it.
"Bear is a gift for Cosette!" Vicky explained cheerily.
"That's a terrible gift." Erik responded bluntly.
"But…but a bear is strong!" Vicky protested. "In Vicky's country, a strong animal is the best gift. Eating a strong animal makes you strong, and Cosette should eat the bear to become strong like me!"
"You…wanted Cosette to eat the bear?" Rene shook her head.
"Yes." Vicky saw nothing wrong with this situation.
"And did Cosette like the gift?" Rene asked.
"Cosette fell asleep." Vicky answered.
'She fainted, then. Poor Cosette…' Rene shook her head.
"If she fell asleep, then she probably didn't like the bear." Erik reasoned. "Let's return this girl to the woods, Vicky. She doesn't like it here."
"The bear's a girl?" Rene raised a brow.
"She might even be expecting cubs." Erik noted. "That's only going to make her more agitated."
"Wait, how do you kno-?"
"But Cosette's gift!" Vicky protested.
"We can get Cosette something else together." Rene offered, question forgotten.
"Something that won't make her fall asleep." Erik added.
"Hm…" Vicky gave the bear a disappointed look. "Okay…" She started prodding the bear again. "To your home, bear!"
.-:.:-:.:-.
"Honestly, a bear?" Headmaster Kluivert asked. "Couldn't you have come up with a less incredulous story?"
"But we saw it, sir!" one of the Class A students insisted. "One of Class G's students – that…that wild child – she brought a bear to Lanseal!"
"They've been like this for a while, sir." Randy explained, giving the other students a mock sympathetic look. "I think the stress has gotten to them. Though, they have quite the imagination…"
"Don't play dumb, Randy!" Class A student shouted. "You were with us when we saw it!"
"And I still have no idea what you're talking about…" Randy shrugged. "Maybe I should walk you all down to the infirmary? Some rest would do you a little good."
Class A student grit their teeth. There was no way they were the crazy ones here… If they could just get a staff member to vouch for them…
That was when their lord and savior, Mr. Gunther, walked into their peripheral vision. Surely, their nature freak biology teacher would never lie about seeing a wild animal in an out-of-place location!
"Mr. Gunther!" Class A student called out before running towards him. "You saw a bear, didn't you?"
"A bear?" Welkin cocked his head. "Oh, yes, I did."
FINALLY! Proof they weren't crazy!
"I saw one in the woods on my way here." Welkin smiled brightly at the memory.
And there goes the proof…
"It was a Eurimperian Brown Bear or Ursus arctos imperus." Welkin continued excitedly. "They often get used as entertainment by some circus masters, and it's become a huge ethical problem as of late. Did you know they don't get enough-?!"
"That's fascinating, Mr. Gunther." Randy interrupted his lecture. "You can tell us all about it in class tomorrow."
"Well, I was going to do a lecture on the River Strider…" Welkin looked down in thought, "but I guess we could fit in a discussion about the Eurimperian Brown Bear too!" He smiled at the idea before leaving to gather his lesson plan.
"I suppose it wouldn't be out of place to see bears in the woods, but in Lanseal?" Headmaster Kluivert raised a brow. "Perhaps you should have Randy escort you to the infirmary. Studies are important, but you should be careful not to overdo it if the stress is going to make you see things like this…"
"Y-yes, Headmaster…" the Class A students said dejectedly while Randy simply smiled.
'Tch, too easy…'
.-:.:-:.:-.
"This hallway is filthy!" Franca shouted to no one in particular.
"Well, that's because of the bear." Nichol told her for maybe the one hundred seventy-second time.
"Really, Nichol?" Franca gave him a look. "A bear?"
"It was here." Nichol insisted.
"Honestly, what am I going to do with you?" Franca shook her head. "Grab a mop, Nichol. We won't stop scrubbing until this hallway is pristine again!"
"But what about the bear?" Nichol asked, though he did as he was told.
"The 'bear' can wait." Franca told him, not looking up from her work. "We can look for it after Lanseal is cleansed of its filth."
"Yes, Franca." Nichol mopped a corner of the hallway.
"Wash in a circular motion, Nichol!" the elder Martin commanded.
"Y-yes, Franca!" Nichol did as instructed.
"You're not using enough soap!" Franca nagged.
"I-I'm sorry…" the younger Martin mumbled.
"Here, let me handle it." Franca took the mop from him. "You should probably go rest if you're so stressed out you're seeing huge animals in school."
"Okay…" Nichol left the hallway dejectedly.
Franca cleaned the hall in silence and looked back at where Nichol used to be.
"I hope I wasn't too hard on him…" She worried. "Oh, but he worries me! Stupid Nichol!" She mopped the floor harder.
.-:.:-:.:-.
"Ah…" Chloe leaned back to admire her finished work. "It's done…"
She stared at it contently for a bit before her face squished into a scowl again.
"No, it's not enough." The artist practically jumped at the canvas.
Alexis watched her switch between content and unsatisfied.
"Hm…" Chloe leaned back again. "No!" She furiously mixed colors on her easel. Heinz then entered the room with freshly made tea.
"Has she come closer to completing her painting?" Heinz asked Alexis as he handed her a cup.
"I'm afraid I can't tell." Alexis answered. "She's been doing this for a while."
"Hm, I suppose art is a rather difficult kind of work." Heinz nodded. "Chloe must have it hard."
"Indeed." Alexis agreed. "It seems very complex and frustrating." She took a sip of the tea. "Ah, as I thought. This is chamomile, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Heinz beamed brightly. "Randy was trying to make some earlier, but his method was odd, so I helped him do it correctly. Apparently some of the students and the staff are so stressed out from missions and exams that they're seeing a bear in Lanseal, so he's trying to get them to relax."
"A bear?" Alexis raised a brow. "How bizarre…"
"I don't quite understand it myself." Heinz shook his head. "It's a good thing we have Randy watching out for their well-being."
"He's always been so nice." Alexis smiled.
"So I've heard." Heinz nodded. "I'll have to help him with the tea again later."
"It's a masterpiece!" Chloe announced. Alexis and Heinz waited a few more seconds. "Now what should I title it…?" Chloe cocked her head.
"Ah, she really is finished this time." Heinz observed. The fencer and the engineer got up to take a look at another of Chloe's sure-to-be-famous works.
"…is this a bear in Lanseal's mess hall?" Alexis asked.
"I suppose the stress is affecting more people than I thought." Heinz adjusted his monocle.
"The only thing that's affecting me is apathy…" Chloe sighed. "Why did I think this would be a good idea?" She sat back against her chair heavily. If Chloe was the type to smoke, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine her pulling a cigarette out soon.
"Are you going to leave it untitled?" Heinz asked.
"Feh…" Chloe waved at her work dismissively. "Just call it 'Bear in Lanseal' or something."
"'Bear in Lanseal…'" Alexis echoed, looking at the painting thoughtfully. "That's a fitting title."
"Nobles always eat this kind of thing up…" Chloe muttered harmlessly before sipping her tea. Alexis just chuckled at how much bite her comment lacked while Heinz continued pouring tea.
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"What are you three doing here?" Randy asked Rene, Vicky, and Erik when he saw them in the campus store.
"Oh, Vicky wants to thank Cosette with a gift, so we're shopping for one." Rene explained.
"She keeps insisting on a live bear, though…" Erik rolled his eyes.
"Cosette needs the best gift!" Vicky insisted. "The best gift is a strong animal!"
'So that's what that was about…' Randy's mask slipped slightly at the stupidity of it.
"I have an idea." Randy covered it up with his usual smile as he plucked a stuffed animal off the shelf. "How about this?"
"Oh, that's actually really cute!" Rene's eyes lit up. "Cosette would love it!" Vicky puffed out her cheeks as she held the teddy bear Randy handed to her.
"Cosette can't eat it." The younger engineer protested.
"Eat…?" Randy cocked his head.
"Vicky wants Cosette to be strong, and in her country, eating something strong would make you strong or something like that…" Erik explained.
"Cosette must eat bear!" Vicky exclaimed.
'You just can't make things easy for me, can you?' Randy's mask started to crack a little.
"Well, if it has to be edible, then let's check out Alicia's bakery." He suggested as he grabbed a box of chamomile tea on the way.
"That sounds like a good idea." Rene agreed.
When they got to Alicia's little section of the store, they found her in the middle of a cooking class. Welkin was by her side as usual, but he was… What…?
"Oh, kids!" Welkin waved them over. "Look at the Ursus arctos imperus loaf I made!" He raised it up to show them.
"It's…a perfect likeness, Mr. Gunther…" Randy observed, impressed and slightly terrified.
"That's amazing!" Rene added, looking the model over.
"How did you…?" Erik stared at the bear-shaped bread, utterly bewildered.
"Vicky wants this one!" Vicky exclaimed.
"Huh?" Welkin looked at her blankly.
"Vicky wants to give Cosette a gift, and she insisted on something bear-like and edible." Randy explained. "I believe it has something to do with her country's social conventions…"
"Cosette must eat bear to become strong like me!" Vicky wasn't really helping with the explanation.
"Um…okay…" Welkin wrapped the bear up in a bread box. "That'll be nine ducats, please."
"Thanks, Mr. Gunther." Rene and Randy split the price and left with the group.
"That's your seventh impromptu sale this week, Welkin." Alicia gave him a look. "And all because you were playing around with the dough too…"
"We should do a theme sale some time, Alicia." Welkin beamed. "I bet the beetle breads would fly off the shelves!"
"Welkin, no." Alicia promptly refused.
.-:.:-:.:-.
"We're not crazy, right?"
"There was a bear, wasn't there…?"
"There had to be! We saw it!"
"But what if…?"
"Ugh, this is nuts!"
The Class A students whined. Maybe the rest of the school and the teachers and the headmasters believed Class G to be innocent, but they wouldn't be fooled!
There had to be evidence! There had to be-!
"Lotte Insider Special!" Lotte announced. "Bear in Lanseal! You can read all about the truth in the latest issue!"
Yes, that's it!
"Hey, whoa!" Lotte raised an arm to defend herself. "Easy, dudes, there's enough of the Lotte Insider for everyone! Chill!"
They quickly scanned Lotte's measly article and found several photographs of the bear in the mess hall. Yes, this was the perfect proof!
Who knew Lotte Netzel would be the one to prove they weren't crazy?!
…
Wait, this was Lotte Netzel they were talking about…
They were going to use Lanseal's resident gossipmonger as evidence that they weren't crazy or exhausted from stress?
…maybe they really did need to relax. Hopefully, Randy would be back with more of that chamomile soon…
"Wait, where are you guys all going?! The truth is right here!" Lotte waved one of her issues around. "Come back!"
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"Avan and I must've searched the entire academy grounds, Mr. Brixham." Zeri sounded exasperated. "We couldn't find any trace of it."
"That's odd…" Brixham fixed his tie. "And the Class A students were making such a fuss over it before."
"And there were bear tracks on the field earlier." Zeri noted. "It couldn't have gotten far."
"Unless it was never there in the first place…" Avan muttered.
"Well, what else could've made those tracks?" Zeri adjusted his glasses.
"Well, if a bear did make those tracks, then where did it go?" Avan asked. "It can't just disappear!"
"Ah, Randy!" Brixham stopped the engineer. "This might sound strange, but did you happen to see a bear in Lanseal?"
"Oh you too, Mr. Brixham?" Randy gave him a worried look. "Some of the other students and a few of the staff have also been talking about this 'bear' they saw as well. Everyone must be really stressed out today…"
"I…suppose so…" Brixham yielded. Avan glanced away while Zeri shot Randy a suspicious look. Randy answered with an innocent smile.
"Heinz is helping me make some chamomile tea for the Class A students to help them relax a little. Would you like some too?" The engineer offered, holding up the box he got from the campus store.
"That sounds nice." Brixham accepted.
"I'm more of a coffee person./I have to help Morris train." Zeri and Avan immediately replied respectively before they suddenly left the hall.
"I guess they're not fond of chamomile." Brixham mused while Randy silently glared at their backs.
'As if I'd put anything bad in tea, you idiots…' he rolled his eyes. 'Not that I can with Heinz watching me.'
.-:.:-:.:-.
Cosette groggily woke from her cot in the infirmary. She had had the weirdest dream where Vicky was trying to feed her to this live bea-!
"Cosette, Vicky has a gift for you!" Vicky shoved the bear loaf in her face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Vicky, what did you do this time?" Erik sighed.
"Eh? I just-!"
"BEAR! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Cosette continued panicking.
"C-calm down, Cosette!" Rene stroked her hair. "It's just bread, see!" She took Cosette's hand and placed it on the loaf.
"BEA…!" Cosette stared down at her hand on the loaf. "Bread. O-oh…ohhhh…!"
"It is gift for Cosette!" Vicky smiled cheerily. "I wanted to thank you for saving me…"
"You don't have to thank me for that, Vicky." Cosette patted her on the head. "That's what team mates do! We're supposed to protect each other."
"D-don't expect me to do it, though…" Erik glanced away. He was a lone wolf, after all.
"He'll do it anyway." Rene chirped, discrediting his whole reputation.
"Erik is a good guy!" Vicky agreed, further destroying his image. "He has nice smell!"
The shocktrooper groaned, flushing bright red.
"Wow, thish breaf ish sho goob!" Cosette happily stuffed her face, ignoring their comments.
.-:.:-:.:-.
And so the bear incident comes to a resolution.
Cosette makes a full recovery.
Avan continued mixing up his practice plans with Anisette and Morris. ("Huh, I guess being a man is a lot like being an idol…")
Lotte's newspaper continues to sell poorly.
Erik continues to lie about his animal knowledge.
Franca keeps the school absolutely pristine.
Vicky still goes hunting every now and again.
Welkin is still a nature freak who makes impromptu bread sales.
The students and staff don't appear to remember anything about the bear.
Randy managed to keep his secret and cover the whole thing up, saving both Class G's and (much more importantly) his reputation.
…not that Class G had much of a good reputation in the first place, but at least it wouldn't be the only class in the history of ever stupid enough to bring a bear to school…
Oh, and Chloe's new painting is a surreal commentary on some social convention that became an instant hit with the nobles. ("Tch, nobles…")
Just another day to Class G!
.-:.:-:.:-.
KN: This was supposed to be short. How did this happen? Well, I guess I just really like the VCII characters or something. Anyway, hope you found it somewhat entertaining. Thanks for reading!