Chapter 1 - Acceptance
8.15.1204 - Sunday (Free Day)
It was like any other afternoon in Trista. The children were playing in the park, some students were up to their club activities, while others were slacking in their dorm rooms or the Student Union building's cafeteria, and Rean Schwarzer was going around town doing the requests assigned for him to do by the Student Council President herself: Towa Herschel.
Meanwhile, Towa herself was busy in the Student Council room, although uncharacteristically not busy with the paperwork she was supposed to do, but by her own thoughts. Said thoughts about a certain black-haired first-year who was outside doing all the requests she assigned for him. She was starting to worry if her feelings for him were more than just an upperclassman looking out for their underclassman.
They only just met a few months ago, yet Rean had already cemented his place in Towa's mind. She remembered how back in march being told by Instructor Sara that one of her students was interested in helping the Student Council. She was initially surprised that anyone would want to help the Student Council, but then the next day Rean walked into the Student Council room to ask about helping them. She was so glad Instructor Sara wasn't pulling her leg. Although she quickly noticed Rean's confusion, and started to suspect that maybe Instructor Sara had set them up. Luckily, Rean cleared everything up and continued to help the Student Council with the requests she would drop off at his mailbox each Free Day.
So why was she starting to feel different about him? She liked to think they were good friends at least, but when she thought about him it was different from how she thought about Angelica, George, and Crow.
She started to remember how difficult it was for her to focus on the Student Council meeting that Rean substituted their normal note-taker for. Angelica and Crow's constant teasing certainly wasn't helping, how in the world did they get the idea that she liked Rean anyway? She was grateful Angelica waited until after Rean left the Student Council room to tease her for helping him study for his exams. Even George was starting to take part in the teasing when he swapped her Arcus' cover with a picture of Rean without telling her. To say she was embarrassed when Rean brought up her new Arcus cover was an understatement. She was also horrified at the thought of Crow getting certain ideas into Rean's head.
As if on queue, her friends walked into the Student Council room. She only then realized they all had made plans to celebrate Crow's surprise transfer into Class VII.
"Oh my, is my little Towa still buried in her Student Council work?" Angelica said as she eyed Towa's workload.
"You know we could always reschedule the party if you're too busy." George brought up.
"Oh my, has our little Student Council President been daydreaming about a certain first-year who's caught her eye?" Crow asked with a smug grin on his face. Clearly reading her like a book.
Towa quickly realized what Crow was alluding to and stood up from her seat to object to his claim. "H-Hold on a minute! I wasn't daydreaming about Rean, honest!"
She then realized that none of them brought up Rean and sat back in her seat a defeated blushing mess.
Towa's friends were eventually able to calm her down and convinced her to join them for lunch at Kirsche's Cafe & Inn. Crow volunteered to stay behind in the Student Council room to inform the other Student Council members that Towa wouldn't be able to finish the paperwork she was supposed to get done that day.
Angelica got them a table outside, and they took their seats silently.
Angelica broke the awkward silence with a blunt question for Towa. "So, do you have a crush on Rean?"
While it was true that they all had been teasing Towa for a while now about her possibly having a soft spot for their underclassman, none of them genuinely thought that there was any real validity to it until now.
Towa took in the question and tried to answer it to the best of her ability without becoming a blushing mess, especially in public. "W-Well... I mean I like him, but not like that. He's a great help with Student Council sure and we hang out from time to time, but only as friends I swear!" Towa answered as she trembled in her seat.
Suddenly Crow arrived out of nowhere and took the empty seat and aired out his thoughts on the matter. "Let me guess you also think he's handsome and is probably already taken by one of the Class VII chicks?"
Towa sat still in her seat, confused by how Crow of all people could read her like a book not once, but twice in one day.
Angelica pondered what to say next as George ordered each of them a sandwich.
While waiting for their order to arrive, Angelica revived the conversation. "Alright, so hypothetically if you did like someone, not going to say specifically who, how do you plan to tell them how you feel? It's not like he'll always be available after all."
With that Towa started to think, Angelica was right. Rean probably wouldn't be single forever, especially with how popular he unknowingly is with the girls in his class. It was safe to say that almost all the girls in Class VII had a thing for Rean. And if the rumors she read in the tabloids were to be believed, even Princess Alfin Reise Arnor herself requested Rean to dance with her. But those thoughts she was having would mean she liked Rean more than just a friend, which she did not. She was his Big Sister Towa, just a normal upperclassman looking out for their underclassman. She treated him the same she treated all the other first-years, sure she served him her favorite tea frequently and went out of her way to help him study for his exams. She would have done either of those things for anyone if she'd been asked. So why was she so happy it was always Rean that was coming to visit the Student Council room so frequently?
There was nothing to read any deeper into. Sure, spending time with Rean during their Free Days from time to time was usually the highlight of her day. Sure, he went out his way to help her with requests since the beginning of the school year. But that didn't mean she liked him like that. It was clear to her that she didn't have a crush on Rean.
Once their orders arrived, they ate in silence.
George was the first to finish and asked Crow something Towa and Angelica had forgotten about. "Wait Crow, weren't you supposed to stay behind in the Student Council room and wait for one of the other Student Council members to get there and tell them Towa wasn't able to finish all the paperwork today?"
Crow leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin on his face. "Actually you wouldn't believe who visited the Student Council room immediately after you guys left."
Towa suddenly realized who Crow was alluding to. She'd forgotten that Rean always visited the Student Council room to report his completion of the requests she assigned him for that day when he finished them and usually stayed to spend time with her.
Crow continued. "While I was waiting in the Student Council room Rean came to report his completed requests and asked where Towa was. I told him that Towa here got sick after one too many all-nighters and that we decided to go buy her medicine and take her back to her dorm room to rest. Pretty sure he fell for it. Of course, there was still that stack of paperwork left on Towa's desk so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and told him that Towa would really appreciate it if he worked on the paperwork for her. Now that I think about it, he should be halfway done by now."
"You what!?" Towa screamed while slamming her hands on the table.
"There's no way Rean would be able to get all that paperwork done by himself by the end of the day, he shouldn't even be doing my tasks for me! This is all my fault, I need to hurry back and explain to him that I'm fine and can finish the work on my own!" Towa continued to yell loudly while hurrying out of her seat and running back to the Student Union building.
Angelica and George stood up to chase after Towa, but before they could pay for the meal Crow stopped them and explained his plan. "Guys relax, do you really think I'd let Rean have a sneak peek at his Field Studies? Plus, my transfer documents were in that pile. I don't want to ruin any of those surprises. I just told him that Towa was feeling under the weather and couldn't finish the paperwork herself so he should deliver the paperwork to Instructor Sara for her to complete instead."
Towa ran as fast as she could back to the Student Union building. Here she was eating with friends, and all the while making poor Rean do all her work. How was she even going to explain to Rean what happened?
"Oh I'm so sorry Rean, I was just daydreaming about you all day and my friends took me to lunch to tease me about it and made you do all my work!" Towa thought to herself.
Towa wasn't sure if she had it in her heart to be completely honest for once. She was considering saving face and going along with Crow's lie about being sick, she could say she's gotten better now or that Crow exaggerated her condition. But before she could finish her thoughts, she crashed into someone resulting in both of them falling down to the floor. When she opened her eyes to see who she fell on top of to apologize to them, she realized Aidios must be punishing her for something wrong she did because it was Rean.
Rean lifted his head and greeted Towa. He then put his hand on Towa's forehead to check her temperature (unknowingly making her face heat up). "Oh good looks like the medicine Angelica and George got you is working! Your fever isn't as hot as Crow said it was anymore, but President Towa you still look feverish. You should go back to your dorm room."
Before she could respond, Rean got up from under her and effortlessly lifted her off the ground. If her face was hot before then her face was burning now.
Rean continued to carry Towa in his arms as he walked her to her room in the Lower-Class Dorm. Rean noticed that Towa was being quiet, so he decided to fill up the time by talking to her about how the requests went, along with how he delivered her paperwork to Instructor Sara like Crow told him to do. But Towa was not listening to him, she stopped caring about the paperwork she needed to do, she forgot about Crow's lies, she wasn't listening to his report. All she could focus on was the fact that Rean was carrying her. It was beyond embarrassing. Not only because as his upperclassman she was supposed to set an example for him, but because despite her hands covering her face trying to hide her blushing face from Rean she could still sense all their classmates staring at them.
Walking from the Student Union building to the Lower-Class Dorm wasn't supposed to be that long of a walk, but for Towa it was starting to feel like an eternity. She knew her classmates wouldn't be letting her live this down anytime soon. But despite the complete embarrassment she was feeling she couldn't bring herself to hate it, a part of her was strangely enjoying it. She felt surprisingly safe in Rean's arms, his chest felt so warm, and the special treatment he was giving her was certainly nice. She finally decided to open her eyes, unsurprisingly she was right about their classmates staring at them. But when she looked up at Rean all her worries about the situation faded. After what felt like forever, Rean finally made it outside her dorm room and gently put her back on the ground. Towa was both glad that the embarrassment was over, but also sad that Rean was no longer carrying her.
One look at Rean though made it clear he was still worried. "Oh no you still look feverish, don't worry I'll go tell Angelica and see if she can get you more medicine. In the meantime, try to get some rest. I'm sure Instructor Sara can do the paperwork herself. Please try not to do too many all-nighters for the seeable future alright President Towa?"
Suddenly he started giving Towa a head rub. Towa just stood there not sure how to react. She heard that he gave head rubs to his sister Elise frequently, but why was he giving her a head rub? Was he making fun of her? She was his upperclassman, and he was giving her head rubs? If anything, she should be the one giving him head rubs. She felt so many conflicting feelings, so why was she enjoying it?
Suddenly Rean stopped rubbing Towa's head and immediately started to apologize. "I'm so sorry President Towa, I usually do it to my sister. She says it's a bit of a bad habit of mine."
Towa could have sworn she saw Rean's face begin to blush.
Before she could respond Rean spoke up again. "Well, I should probably head back to the Class VII Dorm, the others might start to worry where I am. Have a good evening President Towa, I hope you get better soon!"
Rean quickly started to walk away while waving, the most Towa could do in response was wave back.
Once Rean was out of sight, Towa entered her dorm room and laid on her bed. She was exhausted, not physically but emotionally. Her friends were right, she did have a crush on Rean.