Chapter 4: Varied Emotions

As he stood in the back of the classroom Kurasame couldn't help but watch the newer Cadets of Class Three talk and laugh amongst each other freely. 'It's like nothing has changed from a month ago.' He thought.

"Hey, we're going to rent out the Ready Room for a birthday party. You wanna come?" A group of girls asked Miwa. She was sitting solemnly by herself in her old seat. "Sorry, I'll pass." She declined politely; the saddened look on her face hadn't changed at all.

'But things have changed.' Kurasame looked over at Miwa one last time before leaving the room. He left out of Akademia's main hallway and went outside to the court yard. As he passed by the other cadets he could feel their curious stairs watching his back as he walked, their whispers growing louder and more audible as he passed by the groups of people. He paid them no mind and went over to the main gate and saw Guren talking to a middle aged couple and waving goodbye.

"Are you sure you didn't want to go with your parents?" He asked him.

"You'd miss me if I was gone. And hey, they're just moving. It's not like I'm never going to see them again." Guren said, playfully punching Kurasame's shoulder. "Besides, after everything that happened, I can't leave. Not with Miwa like that, for one thing."

'We lost so much a month ago. The crystal may have erased our memories for us, but that doesn't erase the fact that we lost our classmates. Or the sense of loss swirling in my heart.' Kurasame gripped his mantle tightly.

"Hey Kurasame, do you think time can fix this 'blah' feeling I'm having?" Guren asked him. They were walking down the court yard and heading towards the Air Ship landing. "I think so. I'm sure we'll forget it someday."

Guren stopped in front of him suddenly and Kurasame looked over towards the center of the platform. Right there in the center was a small green Cactuar twitching and jumping up in down. Kurasame immediately summoned his sword to his hand and readied himself to attack the small monster. "What's a monster doing here!?" He asked but Guren wasn't paying him any attention and ran over, tackling the Cactuar in a tight hug.

"I told you to forget about me!" He practically shouted. Kurasame looked dumbfounded. "What is he? An ex-girlfriend?"

"The hell it is!" Guren said carrying the small monster in his arms. "He's kind of like a pet." The Cactuar apparently didn't like being called a pet and jerked its head up and starting shooting spikes form his head at Guren's chin angrily.

"Ow ow ow ow! Sorry! I'm kidding, you're my best friend!" He said patting the little guy's head. "I was just teasing. Don't take everything so seriously. I told him to go with my parents, but he shook his head at me."

"Cactuars can do that…?" Kurasame honestly didn't know what to think of the situation.

"Do you want to stay with me that badly?" Guren asked it. It looked at him for a moment before jumping up and down. The raven haired teen swept it back into a hug. "Me too!"

"What is going on here?" The swordsman was completely lost.

"I want him to stay with me!"

"Yeah, okay. Have it your way."

"So help me hide him."

"What? Me!?"

"What are you two so excited about?" Kotetsu asked as he walked over to their side.

"kotetsu! Perfect timing! I was just trying to figure out how to sneak this fella into my room."

"…I see." He didn't even bother asking why. "You couldn't make any friends so now you're trying to make friends with monsters, is that it?"

"That black humor of yours is just not funny." Guren said laughing.

"Says the guy laughing his head off." Kurasame rolled his eyes at him and sighed, it was just like any other day for the three of them.

XxXxXxX

Kurasame stepped off the portal and walked over towards the end of the Terrace's ledge that over looked the whole school. 'After the incident in the cave, the four of us became isolated. Class Three was wiped out, and it was treated like an accident.' His mood turned solemn. 'But the people around us couldn't help but harbor certain suspicions.'

'"How did they survive when everyone else died?" People would whisper behind my back as I walked past them. Rumors gave rise to new rumors, and they started calling us "The Reapers." I had scoffed at the idea of playing friendship. But now, I couldn't imagine my life without the three of them.' Thinking back, he remembered that Guren would always give him a light shove on his shoulder every time the two walked past each other. Even in the midst of walking through a crowed of faces he didn't even know, that small gesture would always bring a small smile to his face and lighten his mood.

'It's ironic. It wasn't until I lost my classmates that I finally felt the peace of mind that comes with having friends. Even without memories of the dead, you can't complete wipe away grief.'

"You look so sad."

Turning around slowly, he saw a girl with wavy brunette hair that was partitioned and half of it was pulled up into a ponytail with brown eyes and light pale skin. She wore the yellow/green mantle of Class Fifth and cadet uniform; she was sitting on the bench off to the side. 'I know this girl…'

"You're Emina, right?" he asked her.

"You know me?"

"Well, you're pretty famous." He said, 'All the cadets talk about her, apparently she's the 'hottest cadet' in Akademeia.'

"Not as famous as you, Kurasame. Sorry, it's just, I envy you so much I couldn't stop myself from talking to you."

"…Envy me?"

"You have friends who share your painful memories, people who support you. And people who need your support. I think you're very blessed." She looked down at herself for a second before snickering lightly. "And there I go talking like I know everything. Sorry about that." She stood up from her seat and walked towards the portal. Before she got too far from him, Kurasame called out to her suddenly.

"Emina! Don't you…Have friends who share your painful memories?" She paused and looked at him from over her shoulder and smiled slightly before resuming. He frowned a little at the response he had gotten, no one deserved to be lonely.

"Be my friend!"

Hearing that made her stop completely and turn fully towards Kurasame with wide surprised eyes. Small tears formed at the edge of her eyes and she wiped them away with her hand. "You're a nice person Kurasame." She said with a sad smile. He watched her back until she had disappeared from sight through the portal.

Now he was even more confused than he was before. 'Was Emina crying? But she was smiling. Is the idea of being my friend so terrible that it makes her cry? But she was smiling so, somehow I feel like she's like us. I could see the solitude in her eyes. They're the eyes of someone working out her troubles alone, like Miwa's.' He was so deep in his own thoughts that he didn't notice that the raven haired girl had walked on the Terrace as well until he heard small footsteps coming his way.

"Miwa!"

"Kurasame," She began. "The Cadet Master wants to see us."

"The Cadet Master?"

XxXxXxX

The four of them stood side-by-side each other in front of the Cadet Master's desk in her office, watching as she shuffled through the papers on her desk. "I have a special mission for the four of you. I want you to go the Dragon Sanctuary and find out why the monsters are going berserk."

"The Dragon Sanctuary?" The swordsman asked. "You mean in Concordia?"

"Yes. There have been reports of the monsters there are going mad and harming civilians. The Royal Family of Concordia has filed a formal request that we conduct an investigation. Normally, we would send Class One. But Class One is on an errand for the military and cannot be spared at this time. You have real battle experience, and I believe that you have the necessary skill, so I would like to assign you specially to this mission."

"A request from the Royal Family…?" Kurasame asked. Guren slammed his hands down forcefully on the desk. "You want us to help those Concordian bastards!?" He yelled angrily. "Us!?" Kotetsu and Miwa stayed silent.

"…If you don't want to do it, then fine. But surely you understand?" She said. "This mission should have gone to Class One. Do you have any idea what it would do to your careers if you succeeded in carrying it out?"

'If we can pull this off, we can get closer to Class One.'

"I will give you one day to think it over. There are bad Concordians, and there are good Concordians. The same can be said of our Dominion. There are bad people here, but there are good people as well. You would not be betraying your lost classmates if you were to help the good Concordians." The elderly woman said, dismissing the four from her office. Kurasame felt himself become conflicted from her words as he followed behind the others.

XxXxXxX

"She can't be serious! She's got a lot of nerve, asking us to do a mission for their Kingdom!" Guren said heatedly.

"But she was right, you know. We can't assume that all Concordians are evil." Kotetsu countered.

"But you can't forgive what you can't forgive."

"Even if it gets you promoted to Class One?"

"Erk…" Kotetsu had got him there.

"What are you going to do, Kurasame? Getting into Class One is your dream, isn't it?" Kotetsu asked him. The swordsman was at odds with himself. The memories of the cave continuously replayed themselves in his head endlessly. "I…" He didn't know what he wanted to do at the moment.

"You don't have to turn it down because you think we want you to, and you don't have to report to us either. We'll all find our own answers individually." Kotetsu said. Miwa hadn't said a word the entire time. Her face contorted into a sad look and she turned and walked away from the three, no one stopped her.

"I will have to find my own answers." The Swordsman decided before breaking away from the remaining group as well.

Kotetsu knocked Guren on his shoulder to gain his attention. "What?" He asked.

"You're going." He stated; Guren looked shocked. "What? You just said we should find our own answers!"

"I was talking to Kurasame. Kurasame is going to decide to go. You need to go with him."

"What? But he looked like he wasn't sure yet."

"The uncertainty is just proof that in his heart, he doesn't want to go. But in his head, he knows he should. Kurasame will choose to go. The Mission should have gone to Class One. There is no way Kurasame can handle it alone. So you're going to go with him."

"…Okay, fine." Guren reluctantly gave in. "And of course you'll be going too?" He asked.

"No, I won't."

"What!? Why not…?" He was confused, but then he understood. "Oh right, Miwa." Kotetsu nodded his head. "Miwa isn't ready to move forward yet; I'll stay behind with her. We can't leave her alone."

"Got it. I'll take care of Kurasame." The raven haired teen said before he roughly slapped Kotetsu's shoulder hard, he smiled at him. "You're a pretty considerate guy."

"It's not easy babysitting you three." He said jokingly.

XxXxXxX

Back inside Akademeia, The Cadet Master watched as the sun began to set from her window, she sighed to herself. She heard a wooden stick hit against the floor along with heave footsteps and moving armor make way into her office.

"Class One can't be spared, eh?" A deep voice said. "As their Commanding Officer, you'd think I would have known that."

"Please just let them think that, Takatsugu."

Takatsugu was a tall and muscular man with dark tanned skin and short white hair with long sideburns. He had a white scar running down his left eye and a black uniform and cape in contrast to Rubrum's red one. His right leg was encased in armor and he had a crutch gripped in his left hand. A deep frown was set on his face.

"This is a perfect opportunity for those four to take a good look at themselves."

"'To overcome their losses and start walking tomorrow.' Eh?" He said. "Reminds me of when I was young."

"I want you to help them get through this."

"It must not be easy being Cadet Master, playing mother to all of the cadets." The woman just smiled. "It's my job."

XxXxXxX

Back up on the Terrace, Kurasame leaned against the railing staring out into the dark sky.

"We meet again, Kurasame."

"Emina." He acknowledged as he turned towards her. She came up beside him and leaned against the railing as well. "I always find myself here, whenever I have something to think about."

"Oh, I know, so do I."

"What's on your mind?" She asked him.

"I'm trying to decide if I should go to Concordia."

"When I'm worried about something, it always helps to visualize."

"'Visualize'?"

"Yes, the best case scenario and the worst case scenario."

"The best…Would be that I accomplish the mission and get promoted to Class One, I guess."

"Hmm. And the worst?"

"Hm, the Concordians get in the way again, like the scum they are."

"But if they get in the way, can't you just fight them?" She turned her back against the rail. "Or maybe you don't want to fight?"

"Oh, I want to fight! I'd welcome the chance! I'll show them exactly what I can do." Emina smiled again. "Then it looks like there aren't a whole lot of cons in that worst case scenario. I think you have your answer."

'She's right.' He thought. 'In the worst case scenario, I end up fighting Concordians. If I think of that as my chance to avenge my class, it's actually…' He was jolted out of his thoughts when he felt a hand grab him on his shoulder.

"Hey there, Kurasame."

"Kazusa!"

"Brooding over something again?" The scientist teased him.

"I'm not brooding!"

It was right then when Kazusa noticed that Emina was there with them. She had her arms crossed in front of her and she looked at him with a curious look and he regarded her with a calculative one.

"Emina, the 'Hottest cadet' in Akademia, I presume?" He asked her mockingly.

"Kazusa, the 'Creepiest Creeper' in Akademia, I presume?" She countered.

"You know me. I'm honored."

"The honor is mine. I've always wanted to talk to you. So you two are friends?"

"We're more than friends, more than lovers," he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and rested his arm on Kurasame's shoulder. "More than…Family, I'd say."

"Wha-!?"

"…Huh…" Emina looked between the two, feeling a little lost until her eyes lit up with sudden realization and a pink blush spread across her face, she brought her hands up to her cheeks.

"No Emina, it's not what you think!" Kurasame tried to stop her but she ignored him. "So that's how it is! That's why neither of you tried to hit on me!" She clapped her hands, the starry look in her eyes and her blush intensified. "Now it makes sense."

'Wait a second!' He thought. "No! We are definitely not like that! Kazusa is less than a stranger to me, we have no relationship!"

"Kurasame is shy. Will you play along?" Kazusa asked Emina.

"I understand. Not many people understand that kind of thing." She said.

"Kurasame is hopeless without me."

"Dammit Kazusa!" Kurasame held him up by his gray mantle, the scientist just smiled cheekily.

"You have to be good friends to fight like that." Emina teased him. "Relax Kurasame. I'll keep this between the three of us." She said with a giggle.

"It's…It's not like that!"

XxXxXxX

Early the next morning Kurasame stood outside of the large doors that led to the Cadet master's office. 'I thought I'd made up my mind. But is this really what I want?' In his hand he held on to the bloody mantle of what was left of his fallen classmate tightly. 'What would my dead classmates say if they saw me helping Concordia?'

"What are you doing?" Someone asked him from behind. He turned and saw the last person he expected to see there for the mission.

"Guren! You came?"

"Yeah." He said. "Getting into Class One has been a dream of mine too."

"But you were so mad yesterday."

"Well, I gotta let it go sometime." He reached up and knocked a few times on the door.

"Come in." A voice said on the other side.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked the Swordsman. Kurasame looked down at the mantle in his hands and brought it up close to his face. "People need our help. And it's a cadet's job to give it."

"Let's go." The double doors began to open up and Kurasame felt a swell of determination rise in his chest, his resolve was stronger than before. He walked with confidence in his step, Guren following right behind him.

"To the Kingdom of Concordia."