"So you've been training Bell Cranel", Syr said offhandedly, putting a clean glass away and picking up the next dirty one.
Ryuu froze. Then she resumed scrubbing the frying pan she was trying to clean up.
"Yes, I have. I haven't advertised it, so how do you know?" She was amazed how natural and calm her voice sounded.
"I saw you, once, when I forgot something or other and came back after the Hostess had closed. The tips of your ears are red, by the way", the beautiful human observed.
Ryuu gave her a startled look.
"Oh, don't worry. I know you're too proud to admit offering him your time. And of course Bell is a considerate boy, and doesn't want to draw the Guild's attention to you."
"Right", Ryuu said, without commitment. The fat covering the surface of the frying pan was slowly giving way.
"So tell me, tell me! How is he progressing?" Syr asked.
"Quickly, though it's slowing down now. There were a lot of low hanging fruit to pick up."
"...is that a good thing?"
"It means nobody taught him all the basics."
"Not a good thing, then. Although what is basics for the harsh schoolmistress Ryuu Lion might not be basics to a level two adventurer..." Syr mused. "But I'm glad. If this keeps him alive, that's great."
Ryuu suppressed a sigh.
"Bell-san! Where are you going?" Syr asked as the boy turned away from the counter where he'd paid for his meal.
"You're closing soon, aren't you?" Bell said, grinning. "I don't want to be the sort of customer who doesn't get the hint."
"It's true that we're closing early today, but don't you have a reason to stay past opening hours?" Syr winked.
"Ah..." Bell blushed heavily. "I'm not sure what you have in mind, Syr-san, but while I'd enjoy spending time with you, I do plan on going to the Dungeon soon. It's my job, after all. Can't afford meals here without it."
"Oh, Bell, no need to be like that. I know all about you and Ryuu", she whispered only for the two of them.
She hoped they'd let her watch the training. She'd never had a chance to observe Bell fighting up close.
But Bell's reaction wasn't what she'd expected. His eyes grew distant, his smile disappeared. He glanced towards the exit to the back of the pub, where he expected Ryuu was.
"I see. No, I'm really going to the Dungeon", he said calmly.
"Is something wrong?" Syr asked.
"Nothing in particular. Some things are too good to be true, I guess? I'm just a level two."
"You're confusing me, Bell-san."
"Sorry, Syr-san. I really should be going", he said, giving her a wan smile. "I'll see you."
Syr stood there, wheels turning in her head.
"Ryuu, did I make you feel guilty somehow?"
She could see into Ryuu's heart enough to know this to be true. She just didn't know why.
"What?" The elven woman stopped her sword-forms workout and lowered the tip of her weapon in front of her right foot. Maintaining the combat stance, she turned her head to Syr.
Syr usually didn't interrupt her at this time.
"Why did you stop training Bell-san? Obviously it's not because you were too tired or had no time", Syr said, making a gesture vaguely taking in Ryuu, her outfit, her sword.
Ryuu shrugged. "I didn't want him to depend on me as much as I feared he would come to do."
"I'm sorry, but you're lying", Syr said. "Ryuu, I'm your friend. So is Bell, he's a friend to both of us. What's going on?"
"That's exactly why..." Ryuu whispered.
"What?"
Ryuu shook her head, and resumed her workout. "My time is mine to offer or not. Syr, you've got to let me make my decisions sometimes."
A shield, Syr knew, that's all these lofty words were. She noticed the tips of Ryuu's ears. Why...?
Her breath caught.
"No", she mouthed without thinking.
Ryuu heard her whisper, damned be her elven hearing. She stopped training again, and seemed afraid to look at Syr.
"You have feelings for him?" Syr asked.
Ryuu swallowed, but this time she turned to face Syr. "I do."
"I don't... You tried to... to get close to him behind my back?" Syr said, at first mumbling confusedly, then gaining momentum. "And then when I caught you, you chickened out? I thought we were friends, Ryuu!"
"I'm sorry", Ryuu said.
"You're not even denying it?" Syr's fists were shaking at her sides, from the hurt and anger at this betrayal.
"With what, words?" Ryuu asked with resignation.
That deflated Syr.
It was hopeless. Ryuu's elven pride had survived even waitressing under Mama Mia, enough that getting her to do anything resembling explaining herself would resemble pulling teeth.
Syr scrunched her face hard, trying not to cry. She whirled in place and ran back into the Hostess. She didn't know what to do.
Ryuu closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Inviting Bell to train with her had been a moment of weakness. She had thought she might have pay for it.
She sheathed her sword, and turned away from the area she'd appropriated as training ground. A bit of exercise behind the Hostess of Fertility was no longer going to be enough to clear her head. She wanted to visit the Dungeon.
That this decision meant a chance of encountering Bell Cranel and gaining an opportunity to take this out on him - or to share her troubles with him - or just to see his face again - that thought did not make itself known to conscious deliberation. Her heart knew what her mind preferred not to know.
"We've got companyyy..." the Pallum supporter warned her party in a sing-song voice. The two men finished the last monster, Bell Cranel drawing an attack and dodging out of its way, while his tall friend smashed a rather heavy sword into the beast's skull. As the beast turned to smoke, they turned to face Ryuu.
The elven woman had been watching for a short while, thinking she'd snuck up on the other party successfully. Apparently not. She tried to look nonchalant about it, but Bell's reaction caused a small stab of pain in her heart: when his eyes first took her in he smiled an involuntary, happy smile, but then the boy schooled his features.
"Can we help you?" Welf Crozzo asked. "The floor will be yours soon; we're going home after this."
"No, I was just on my way to the deeper floors." She'd spent a stupid amount of time on levels suitable to small parties of level 2 and 3, until she realized she had just been hoping to run into Bell. Of course as soon as she made the decision to stop being an idiot and actually go somewhere where her strength would be useful, that was when she encountered Bell and his party. Because fate felt like laughing at her. "Farewell. Bye, Cranel-san."
She turned to descend down a path towards the floor boss.
"Do you guys mind going back without me?" Cranel said quietly to his party.
"You're not going after that elven hussy, are you?" The supporter girl asked. "I saw how she was looking at you while you were fighting, Bell-sama!"
She didn't hear the rest of their conversation.
The path ran above a deep chasm, but was wide enough for six or eight people. It wound and twisted, and a rumbling sound came from the walls every minute or so.
Bell came running, and caught up with her soon. "Ryuu-san!"
Ryuu turned towards him. She couldn't speak her heart, and the only alternatives her brain supplied were cold or unpleasant, so she said nothing. That too was the elven way; give nothing away yourself, and the other party will get impatient and hand you the tools you need to handle them.
Bell started to speak, then stopped himself. A hint of a smile appeared in the corner of his mouth, but vanished quickly. "Sorry, didn't actually mean to stop you."
Ryuu was confused, but nodded, then turned to continue down the winding path.
Bell walked next to her, combat-ready, checking if his knife would come out easily. They didn't speak until the boss encounter, and they didn't speak during it, either.
One dead floor-boss later, Ryuu felt a little better. Both adventurers breathed heavily, sitting on the ground, with the rather large magic stone between them. There was also a rare drop item: a metallic-looking bone. This Ryuu attributed to Bell's high luck stat, which she had known about.
Letting Bell fight with her was another indulgence, and felt strangely good. For a level two, he was marvellously useful as an ally in combat, and, for a human, he was just as marvellously trustworthy to her. This feeling of having someone have her back, of knowing that she can trust her companion deeply without needing to keep one eye on him - it made her ache for her long dead friends from her old Familia.
No other adventurer she knew these days would give her this experience.
"What happened?" Bell asked gently, lifting his gaze from the magic stone.
"...what do you mean?" Ryuu replied.
"You're unhappy about something", he said simply.
Ryuu exhaled deeply. The boy had no tact, but the care in his voice made his remark go past her armor like it didn't exist.
"You don't need to bother with me, Cranel-san."
"If Ryuu-san is hurting, I'm not happy either", Bell said quietly. "I know I'm just a foolish young human, but if there's a chance that talking to me might help, please talk to me. Gods know you gave me much more of your time and attention than I ever deserved."
Oh, Astraea. Bell not only didn't resent her for cutting off his training...
"Don't say that, Bell Cranel. I told you not to put yourself down like that. Rather, it is I who should apologise for promising you training and then backing out."
"Was I putting myself down? I just thought you never owed me anything. And you did give me a lot of training, so you've kept your word. What I learnt from you has been of great use to me in the Dungeon, and I'm grateful."
"I'm glad it helped", Ryuu whispered, staring at the ground past Bell's knee.
"So what's weighing you down?"
"Syr is upset with me", Ryuu said. Noticing the look on his face, she added "I've never had her upset with me like this."
"I don't think I've ever seen Syr-san truly upset... Now there's a scary thought", Bell mused.
"Scary? Syr?" Ryuu looked up with disbelief.
"Well, a little. Why is she upset?"
"..." Ryuu couldn't just speak about Syr's feelings to the very man in question. Finally, she settled on something safe. "I reached out my hand for something she very much wanted for herself, when I knew that she wanted it."
"I assume you don't mean a blueberry pie..."
Ryuu just smiled sadly.
"Did you also want the... pie?"
Ryuu sighed. "Even if I wanted the pie, Syr had wanted it before me, and... it fits her better."
"Does Syr-san herself want you to give up on everything you both want? I know you two are friends, and friendship is a two way thing."
Bell blushed at the audacity of giving advice to this strong, older woman, but thanks to the adrenaline of the boss fight still in him, and thanks to the sense of bond he felt with this woman - reinforced lately by having fought together and trained together - he could be brave.
"It sounded like it, this time. She really isn't happy with me, and I don't blame her."
"Hm..." Bell looked conflicted.
"What's on your mind, Cranel-san?"
"You're not being too quick to blame yourself for something that you shouldn't, are you?"
Ryuu lowered her head. "You know a large part of what Syr has done for me."
"I want to believe in Syr-san. I want to believe that she would not want the friendship between you two to be so lop-sided. Not once she's calmed down. Uh... I'm sorry, Ryuu-san. I don't even know what I'm talking about, what happened between you two. I just remember that... I'm not the only one between the two of us that sometimes puts themselves down. You're an amazing person, Ryuu-san, and I wish you thought better of yourself than I often suspect you do."
That was very much a speech, as Bell's conversations went, and Ryuu wasn't sure what to say in response. Twice she opened her mouth, struggling for words, and closed it in failure. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry, Cranel-san. I can't really tell people what the... pie matter really was about, least of all you."
"...least of all me?"
"I'm sorry, that came out wrong." Ryuu sighed. "When I said you are a human I respect, I meant it."
She stood up, and reached to Bell. He took her hand and allowed her to help him up. Still holding his hand, in a fellow-adventurers way, not in a flirty way, she said "It was a pleasure to fight with you at my side, Cranel-san."
"For me as well, Ryuu-san", Bell said, and, blushing a little, blurted out, his courage clearly running out. "Let's do it again some time!"
Ryuu looked down for a moment, then smiled at him. "Perhaps. But for now, farewell. I have a friend to talk to, who has hopefully calmed down by now." She let go of his hand and pulled the hood of her outfit back on.
Bell smiled back. "Good luck."
Watching the hooded figure leave in graceful steps, Bell fell in deep thought, for Ryuu's troubles bothered him more than he'd expect, given that he knew nothing about the details. His mind bubbled in a way he normally only experienced in his most inspired moments of combat.
He wanted to see Ryuu happy.
What was the reason she didn't want to talk to him of all people? Somewhere in his memory there were various incidents of Syr's showing interest in him. Somewhere else there was Lili's voice, suspiciously remarking on how Ryuu had been looking at him. Through the dense fog that clouded Bell's mind whenever women he was attracted to were involved, these and several other relevant memories were slowly working their way to the surface.
Syr had long gone home by the time Ryuu exited the Dungeon, and the next day was her day off. The next time they saw each other was in the morning of the day after. As Ryuu emerged from her room, she found Syr waiting in the corridor.
"Ryuu!" Syr's face brightened.
"Syr, I..."
"Ryuu, I'm so sorry", Syr cut in. "Ah, I apologise for interrupting, but please let me say this, because I'm the one in the wrong here. It was absurd of me to blame you for your feelings. I'm sorry."
Ryuu blinked, surprised.
"Don't look so astonished!" Syr said, and laughed melodiously. "I know I was upset the day before yesterday, but I was just so surprised. You've always been so... accommodating to me, Ryuu."
"I'm still in your debt."
"Even if you were, I don't want it like this! Do you think it would make me happy, to be this kind of person, to do this to you?"
Syr reached to take Ryuu's hands, looking into Ryuu's face earnestly.
"I've told you before, more than once, that you should be true to yourself. This is even more important when it comes to matters of the heart!"
"I don't want to lose your friendship. And I don't want my friend unhappy. And you're closer to his age, better with people, prettier..."
"Not at all. And I don't want to win like this!" Syr stomped stubbornly. "I know I'm not the person who should say this after my childish reaction, but our friendship can withstand an honest rivalry. We both wish each other well, and we both wish Bell-san well. And Bell-san deserves better than to have everything decided for him. Do you disagree?"
"I don't think there's any doubt whom he'll choose between the two of us."
"And will you stop being my friend if he chooses me?"
"No."
"You'll accept his decision, no matter what?"
Ryuu sighed. "I guess I already have, even if I did want to at least spend some time with him before the inevitable."
"That's not an answer, Ryuu."
The elven girl rolled her eyes. "Yes, I will accept his decision."
"So please give me credit enough to believe that so will I, if he chooses you", Syr said, and gave Ryuu a quick embrace. "And I know he will be kind to whichever of us loses. So let's both do our best, all right?" She stepped back and pointed her finger at Ryuu, grinning playfully. "I shall not go easy on you, oh villain!"
"Syr, hold on..." Ryuu tried to stop her discretely.
Syr was too excited, and finished her speech: "May the girl that will make Bell-san happiest win!"
There was a moment of silence, while Ryuu had a pained expression on her face.
"Ah, about that..." came a voice from the stairwell.
"Eep", Syr panicked briefly.
"Sorry", a blushing Bell Cranel said. "I was told I'd find Ryuu-san here." He was dressed as usual, but he had something rectangular and wrapped in his hands, smaller than his fist.
"I tried to warn you. Sorry", whispered Ryuu. Of course she had heard Bell before Syr noticed him.
Syr was blushing as well. "Well... that's all right. If you were looking for Ryuu, she's here. Have a good day! I'll have your lunch ready soon."
She trotted off and went down the stairs.
Bell swallowed nervously, then approached. "I won't take you too much time, but..." He still needed to give Ryuu her share of the sale of the drop item, but when he saw Syr earlier he decided that could wait, since maybe Ryuu didn't want the other girl to know she'd fought a Level 4 boss with just Bell as backup. And now his mind was too focused on finding the courage for what he really came here to do.
"I made this for you", he said, giving Ryuu the rectangular packet.
It smelled good. She unwrapped it, and blinked in surprise.
"You made this? You can bake?"
"Well, how do I say this... I can now!" Bell said, grinning bashfully. A full day and night of repeated attempts - under the instruction and occasional supervision of a friendly baker of Hestia's acquaintance - was bound to produce tolerable results.
"Blueberry pie", Ryuu said, suddenly feeling strangely vulnerable. "I... I don't..."
"It's just a sample. Please try it. I assure you it's edible."
From the lower stairs, Syr eavesdropped, open-mouthed.
Ryuu put the piece of the pie in her mouth, chewed elegantly, and swallowed. "It's quite tasty", she whispered.
"For real? Because like I said, it's just a sample. There's more."
"Yes, it tasted good. Cranel-san, are you sure you don't pref..."
"I'm sure", Bell's response was decisive enough to, for once, cut off all the praise Ryuu was about to heap on her friend and co-worker. "So please, tell me: do you still want that blueberry pie?"
Ryuu closed her eyes. The world was very confusing right now. The story wasn't going how it was supposed to go. But Bell deserved his answer. "I do."
"Then please spend the evening with me. We'll start by going to this nice bakery where I made this."
"Cranel-san..."
"Are we agreed?"
"...All right."
"What time do you get off today?"
In the room below them, a beautiful, ashened-haired girl swept the floor in preparation for opening the pub. A packed lunch waited on a nearby table. "Not five minutes", she whispered to herself. "Our rivalry lasted not five minutes."
Deep in her heart a more calculating persona, one she carefully hid even from herself while disguised as a mere mortal human waitress, wanted to smile with indulgence. To her there was no rivalry to begin with; even now there was no way that Bell Cranel's bout of misguided courage would prevent him from ending up in her arms in the end. Which was good, because she'd find it... distasteful, to be forced to seriously think of Ryuu as an obstacle. But no. Ryuu's personality alone, her elven inhibitions, ensured disaster, before even factoring in Bell's repeatedly proven romantic ineptitude. So it would be petty not to let the elven girl have her moment, however brief it would surely be.
But to the human girl named Syr this was going to be torture. The longest day at work ever.
The mission: get through the day without making Ryuu feel too guilty to actually go through with her date.
She sighed. Sainthood, here I come.