He wasn't looking for forgiveness. He did what he had to do, and even with all that, they still treat them as one of their own. Did he agree to do it because he owed them his life? Perhaps. Did he agree to do it because he had some form of obligation to help out? That's another possibility. Underneath the smile he would wear... is a man who could never forgive himself.

He chose to keep his distance. A punishment of sorts if you will.

The man would interact with them daily due to their mission, stopping Chancellor Osborne and Ishmelga. He had no choice in the matter, a careless misplay, and the others would realize that something was wrong with him. Or, more specifically, why he was keeping his distance from the rest of the class. Despite his mask, a pair of eyes would gaze at him, concern apparent in her lime-green orbs.

He won't be able to keep this act for long. His Lady Luck decided to abandon him, forcing him to face the awkward air he had placed upon himself.

During a request to find a flower for the witches in Eryn, Class VII decided to split up in pairs. Roselia informed the group that the flower they needed were randomly located around Erebonia due to their magical properties. The spirit veins made the flowers bloom, but at the same time, it increased the difficulty in retrieving them. Because of this, they decided to go to the various locations that the flower would most likely appear in groups of two.

It was a rather easy task; he could just ask Rean to partner up with him.

But the unexpected happened.

Fie Claussell raised her hand as she requested to partner with the man.

Normally this wouldn't affect the Azure Awakener's mask of coldness, but his instincts were telling him that something is bound to happen that won't be in his favor. As the groups were ready to dispatch, the light-haired duo headed to Bryonia Island to search for the flower. The two would split up to cover more ground. After running into each other for a ridiculous amount of time, heavy rain began pouring down.

The two ran to a nearby cave to take cover from the droplets of water raining down outside. Luckily for Fie, she was fast enough that she avoided getting wet. Unluckily for Crow, the rain drenched his hair and dampened his coat. It was annoying, but he had to deal with the cold breeze coatless. He was thankful that Immortals had a different immune system than normal humans; then again, he despised having to be brought back to life just to be a piece in the damn Rivalry.

Despite the girl having clothing that exposed more of her skin, she was doing well to withstand the cold. Though that did not stop the white-haired Immortal from giving her his coat.

"Huh?"

"It's gonna be cold here for a while. Sorry if it isn't dry."

"I think you need it more than me. The rain got you good, Crow."

The man shook his head as he covered her back with his coat. "Don't be an idiot; I'm wearing more clothes than you. Besides, I'm not exactly human. I won't get sick from getting wet."

She opened her mouth but sighed instead, knowing it was pointless to argue about him not being a human.

"Thanks..."

He nodded as he gave her a good amount of distance. Silence consumed the cave, only the sound of the howling winds filling the cavern. Crow watched the rain raged outside, not bothered by the droplets of water heading his way. Unlike the ex-terrorist, however, the bracer found the silence suffocating, and this was someone who could fall asleep even on a battlefield.

"It looks like the rain won't be stopping any time now..." Fie started as she turned to look at his back. "I guess we'll be stuck here for a while?"

Crow flipped his ARCUS in an attempt to call for assistance, only for him to find no signal. It was to be expected, though. The rain probably made it impossible to contact anyone from a distance. "I can't even call the others to pick us up."

"How about Ordine?"

"No can do. Ordine's recovering his mana after I helped Towa with some errands." He informed, his eyes fixed in the stormy sky. "Unless we finally get some signal here, we'll have to wait until this storm passes."

"I see..." Fie looked down on the ground as she hugged her knees.

Again, silence loomed over the cave as Crow kept his distance.

Fie would glance at the man, trying to read his eyes. It was only a few weeks ago when she noticed that there was something wrong with Crow. She could see the distance he's been giving to each of them. As if he didn't want to interact with them unless necessary. That frustrated her; she did not understand why he was doing such a thing. When he finally returned to their side once again, she felt unbelievable joy. But now, she couldn't understand why he was trying so hard to avoid being close with their friends. With his friends!

She had enough of his bullshit. She took a deep breath as she finally addressed the issue.

"Is something wrong, Crow? You've been acting weird for a few days now..."

He felt as if his eyes were about to fall off as he heard her question. Did he let his guard down without him realizing it? No, that wouldn't be the case since he played the perfect role of his cheery slacker self. He questioned himself on how she noticed his behavior. Sure, he deliberately avoided the people close to him, but he was sure he had interacted with them enough that no one would think he was acting odd.

So how... how did she notice it?

"Why do you ask? Concern for me or somethin'?" He joked as he turned to face her. His eyes would go wide as plates as her answer caught him off guard.

"Yeah, I am." She answered truthfully. "The others might not have noticed, but I know something is bothering you."

Her statement almost broke through his mask. How could she have noticed? That question repeated in his mind; he could only stare at her, dumbfounded at her observation skills as the sound of the wind filled the room. The cold drizzle of the rain landed on his visage, crimson eyes looking deep with the girl's lime-green ones. Despite her cracking the mask he had worn, he still kept his facade.

"If anything is bothering me, then it's probably that debt Rean is nagging me about." A lie slipped out of him; a mock annoyed tone painted his voice.

Unfortunately, Fie broke through his lie.

"That's not true. Rean might have said that, but with everything going on, do you really think he would care about that interest right now?" She stated as she gazed into his optics, not even fazed by his distant look. "And really, Crow? You, caring about a debt? That's a bald-faced lie if I ever heard one."

He underestimated her. No, Crow gave himself away by saying such an obvious lie. He should have known not to use a lie where his old habits and demeanor would be used against him. They were still his friends, after all. Obviously, they would know how he would usually act. And that was his folly.

With a sigh, he looked up to the cave's ceiling as his expression turned darker and colder. An expression Fie hasn't seen since he stopped acting as the Gnome's agent. When his head turned to look at her eyes, the life in them disappeared, only leaving a dull shade of red. Fie felt a shiver down her spine when she saw his optics; a cold sweat ran through her forehead.

She gulped as the air around the slacker changed. However, her face shifted to a determined look. She still needed to find out what was bothering him, giving up now because he seemed colder was not an option.

"You know you can always talk to us if something is bothering you. Heck, you can talk to me right now about it. It's not healthy to keep it to yourself, you know."

"Oh?" The crimson-eyed man started with a neutral tone. "And what will happen after that? Hypothetically, if something was bothering me, what good will it do by telling you about it?"

The girl didn't expect that. She knew he would probably deny it, but for him to say it in such a cold way as if they weren't even friends, it hurt her. But with the way his eyes looked, it wasn't filled with hate directed at her, there was something else. Her expression failed to show what she was feeling in her chest; she didn't want to show that what Crow said hurt her. Keeping her cool visage as she stared into his red marbles, she answered.

"It'll make you feel like a weight has been lifted from your chest. I'm sure everyone from our class has done it, even if I wasn't the one they confided in." She knew that the others would often have a heart-to-heart talk. Emma and Alisa, and surprisingly, Jusis and Machias were willing to listen to each other's worries. "I just want to help, Crow. I want to know what is bothering you so I can help you."

Crow jeered as his face met his palm. It was surprising that she was willing to go that far for him, but he only thought of it as troublesome, blaming Rean for rubbing his busybody attitude to the girl. "If I did have something bothering me, I would deal with it myself." The man waved his hand, trying to dismiss this whole conversation.

'No point in letting others know about my problems.'

Unfortunately for him, Fie was persistent.

She turned her body, still hugging her knees as she looked at him straight in the eye.

"Crow, something is obviously bothering you. I don't know what it is, but I know you're clearly keeping your distance from us! I've been meaning to ask you why, but you keep brushing me off!"

The slacker felt as if his heart dropped, his mask of coldness shattering. His mind went into overdrive as he began thinking of possible excuses. One after another, he realized that his excuses would be useless against her now that she knew he was keeping his distance. Her narrowed eyes were looking at him, his expression remained the same. His cold look of indifference didn't disappear, but he knew he couldn't slip away from this anymore.

"It's because there's no point in getting close to you all again when I'm just a walking corpse!"

The girl backed away, startled by the increased volume of his voice. "W-what do you mean by that?!"

"I might have said that I was gonna follow Rean's lead since he beat me in our Rivalry, but that doesn't mean I need to be chummy with you all again." The heat in his voice was apparent as he glared at her. "Let's face the facts; I'm just a terrorist brought back into this world because I was Ordine's Awakener; if I hadn't broken out of my mask, I'd still be the puppet of Alberich."

Fie could only stare at him with a puzzled expression. Hearing him call himself a walking corpse was painful, and this time she let it show. "What do you mean there's no point in getting close to us because you're a walking corpse!? And what the hell are you saying about being just a terrorist?! You're a member of Class VII, too!" She wasn't going to sit there and listen to his bullshit; she stood up with clenched fists as her anger showed in her countenance.

"I'm just a damn terrorist who started a civil war by shooting an unkillable man, I ruined the lives of a lot of people, Fie. Maybe if I didn't do any of that, my men wouldn't have died in Crossbell, Vulcan wouldn't have to die while still believing in me, and there wouldn't be any more casualties..."

The words that left him were half-truths; the emotions that filled his words made it difficult to know if that was his true feelings. Fie could only watch him, completely baffled how he could say such things. The girl already understood that the man knew the consequences of pursuing his revenge, but there was something underneath those words of regret. Something he wasn't telling her.

"After this is over, it's peace out forever. So don't get too close to me; you all will just end breaking down just like in the Infernal Castle. It's better if you don't get too attached to me so you won't have to shed tears for someone like me. I have too many sins for anyone to care about my well-being."

It was a lie.

A lie that both of them knew.

At the same time, it wasn't a complete lie. There was one sin that Fie didn't know about, a sin that made the man think the way he did. Both of them knew, all of Old Class VII knew. If the sin he keeps talking about is causing the civil way, then they knew. They knew he did not regret doing what he did, nor was he seeking forgiveness. So the girl caught his lie, but she didn't know about the other.

The slacker closed his eyes, the memory that haunted him ever since he reunited with Class VII played. A visible frown appeared as he cringed.

An image of an injured Fie; lying on the ground. A golden pistol pointed at her head, a finger ready to pull the trigger. The girl stared at him, shouting to finish her off. His cold crimson optics stared her back, unfazed by her anger and tears. Crow, who was Siegfried at the time, had only one goal.

To eliminate anyone who stands in the way of his mission.

The bracer tailed him during one of his tasks in the Vermillion Capital. The two fought long and hard, but in the end, Siegfried prevailed. Fie couldn't escape, and unlike Rean, who desperately tried to make him remember his past, she knew it was useless. His former friend said only eight words, but it was enough for him to falter.

"I wanted you to at least remember me..."

As Fie readied herself, the gun started to shake. The hand holding the gun started to shake. The masked man began to shake as his fingers could not pull the trigger. His face twisted in frustration. He didn't understand why he couldn't pull the damn trigger! He could have easily done it earlier, but now, just because she said those words, it made him hesitate. He couldn't end her life; no, it was more like... he didn't want to end her life. His grip tightened, he aimed his pistol on her head, he just needs to pull the trigger, but it never came. It was like something was preventing him from committing the deed, a voice in his head was screaming for him to stop.

The silver-haired bracer looked at him; her concern showed as she noticed his internal struggle.

"Crow..." She got up from the ground despite her injuries. She walked closer to him when he shouted.

"Come any closer, and I'll shoot!" His finger resisted as if it had a mind of its own. "Why... Why can't I pull the trigger?!"

She couldn't watch his suffering any longer. She wanted to hold him, so much. But just as she got close...

"AHHHHHHHH!"

After struggling for so long, he was able to pull the trigger. As he shot the gun, his eyes widen. His heartbeat went crazy; something inside of him broke. A feeling of regret washed over him as he saw the bullet flying towards her in slow motion. Fie could only watch the bullet; she didn't move at all. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Just before the lead could land, lightning cut the lead in half. Long pink hair covered Fie's vision; a figure appeared to protect her. It was her guardian— Sara Valestein.

"This ends here, Siegfried. I'm not letting you hurt my little girl anymore." The woman glared at the man as she aimed her charged orbal gun at him. "Get the hell out of my sight."

"Sara, wait!"

For some reason, the masked man felt relieved that the Purple Lightning made it in time. He happily obliged as he raised his hand and summoned the Azure Knight.

"Try and follow me again, and you won't be seeing the rest of Class VII. Remember that."

"Crow, please!"

Fie stretched her arm out, but it was useless. He was already gone.

The girl gritted her teeth in frustration.

The masked man gritted his.

The feeling of hatred filled him, a deep hatred towards himself as he disappeared from the capital.

Crow opened his eyes, a look of disgust was stitched on his face as he turned to the girl.

"And if you're gonna say you have the burden of killing people because you used to be a jaeger, save your breath. My problem is not something you'll understand..."

She frowned. It was true she was about to say that, but it wasn't the only thing she wanted to say. "Crow, if you're blaming yourself because you started the civil war, then you should know no one holds a grudge on you anymore! They aren't blaming you for it! The people already for—"

"I didn't ask for their forgiveness!" He cut her off as heat fused with his voice. "It wasn't just the civil war, Fie... I... I almost killed you!"

At that moment, Fie realized what he meant. She saw the hatred in his crimson orbs. A deep hatred not meant for anyone but himself. The girl could feel her heart swell up in pain as she looked at him; she understood now that he was blaming himself from the time he was Siegfried.

"Crow... you weren't yourself that time. I don't hold it against you..."

"That doesn't change the fact I almost killed you with my own hands. Someone like me doesn't deserve to live."

"Crow, that wasn't your—" Fie took a step forward to comfort him, only for her to be cut off again.

"All of you may forgive me, but I will never forgive myself." He got up from the ground as he clenched his fists hard, his knuckles turning white underneath his gloves. The roar of thunder blasted the cave as the storm raged even harder outside. "There's no point in caring about the well-being of a dead man anyway! So stop worrying about me, and put your energy into someone else's well-being!"

As he turned to look at her again, he soon felt a burn sensation on his cheek. The man was taken aback as he stumbled back; his hand moved up to his left cheek to ease the sting. His optics looked at Fie. She was crying; the tears fell like there was no tomorrow. The girl soon tackled him to the ground; beads of water fell on his face as she clenched his shirt.

"Why do you think no one cares about you... why do you want me to care about someone else's when I know you're suffering... Why the hell do you think no one will miss you if you die again?!" The girl shook him wildly as her cool composure crumbled to dust. "Everyone cares about you, dammit! They care about your life! They care about your well-being, but you're too stupid to see all that! Why can't you see that there are people who care and love you?!" She hung her head as she gripped his clothes so tight, her hands started to shake.

Silence filled the room as the rain howled, the droplets of water hitting the two, causing them to be drench. Crow couldn't say a word; he just stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. But... he felt a tingly sensation in his heart as her words rang in his ears. She never raised her voice like this before; he doesn't even remember if she raised it at all. The words "care" and "love" pierced his heart; those words that came from her mouth managed to soften his cold look. Despite his expression now much softer than earlier, doubt still lingered in his mind.

"Tsk... I... don't know about that. I'm not a person someone can love..." Crow averted his gaze, not wanting to look at the girl he almost killed.

The girl released her grip on his shirt as she cupped both of his cheeks with her gloved hand. "Crow, look at me... please." The man slowly turned his head to face her; the bracer stared at his eyes with her teary ones as she leaned closer. "If you want evidence that there is someone who loves you, I'll show it to you."

"H-huh...? What do you mean—"

Crow didn't have time to finish his sentence as he felt his lips being sealed. The girl pressed her lips against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The tingly feeling returned as his face turned red; the cold wind meant nothing to him anymore as he felt warm inside. Fie kissed him deeper, trying to get him to understand that there was someone who loves him. Someone who cares for him deeply. Her kiss was filled with such strong emotions that it completely melted the slacker's cold and hateful eyes.

She pulled away; her eyes looked him dead straight as she sniffled.

"The person who loves you is right in front of you."

The flustered man touched his lips with his hand, completely perplexed by the situation. "Y-you love me...?"

"I do, and you don't know how pissed I am when you said no one cares if you died!" Fie could feel her tears starting to escape her eyes once again. She tightened her grip on her skirt as she hung her head, beads of water dripping onto her. "I don't want to lose you again, Crow..."

His face cringed; he couldn't believe that she loved him, even after what he did to her in the past. He knows it was not really him, but he hated himself for doing something so horrible. "How can you love me when I aimed a gun on your head..."

"Crow," Fie started sternly. "that wasn't you, and that was beyond your control. If you are blaming yourself for what happened back then, stop. That wasn't your fault. Please, don't hate yourself because of it... and please don't say that no one loves you... because I love and care about you so much."

Those last words were the final piece that broke through the mask. The feelings Crow was bottling up inside, the deep hatred he felt about himself, and the desire to let it all out were released. The tears that welled up inside him flow as he wrapped his arms around her; he pulled Fie close for an embrace, not wanting to let go of the warm feeling that was coming from his chest. Fie was startled by the sudden action but quickly reciprocated. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as her teardrops came back, drenching the side of his neck.

Crow pulled away just enough so he could look her in her chartreuse orbs. He met her forehead with his as he cupped her cheek, causing pink hues to color the girl's cheeks.

"I'm sorry for everything I said... and thank you; for loving me."

Fie locked his head with her arms, the blush not dying down. "Of course I do, Crow. Even if you can't see it, everyone cares and loves you. We don't want to lose you again. I don't want to lose you again. So don't say that you're going to disappear after all this is over. Please don't give up; I know we can find a way."

"Fie..."

He was stunned by how much she has grown. To think that the girl he has always seen as a sleepy and laidback powerhouse would have so much love for someone like him. She persisted so hard just so she could snap him out of it; he never felt this way about anyone before. Fie showed him through her actions, and not just with her words: she showed him that someone did love him deeply. And that person was sitting in front of him. His arms made their way around her as he hugged her tight; the girl could feel her back getting damp from the endless tears that came out of him.

"Thank you..."

A smile made its way into her face, wrapping her arms around the sobbing Crow's form. As if the dark clouds disappeared from the slacker, so did the storm that raged outside. Only the gentle breeze remained as it blew inside the cavern, a beam of sunlight shining through the darkness. Fie held Crow like how one would hold a baby, her loving arms wrapped around his form. If he doubts that no one loves or cares about him again, she will remind him that someone does, she will make sure of it.