In the office of the Golden Rakshasa, Rean Schwarzer gave his report about his encounter with the shinobi group, Ikaruga, to Aurelia. He shared all of the information he has learned, as well as telling her about his meeting with Kilika Rouran. He had a feeling the principal was acquainted with her, and it was proven true when she voiced her acquaintanceship.
"Surprisingly, we happen to bump into each other a few times before. I should've known it was her; she really takes drastic measures whenever she is curious about something."
"Seriously?" Aurelia nodded.
"I imagine it is because of her time in the intelligence agency and being the aide of President Rocksmith that her hunger for information has become a habit of hers." She shook her head as a chuckle escaped her lips. "By the way, how are your injuries, Schwarzer? Considering you mostly obtained them from your battle with that Hazy Moon practitioner and that Hime woman, it must have taken quite some time for them to heal."
Aurelia was right. It took a heavy dose of healing arts and rest for most of his wounds to stop aching; this caused his time with Fie to be wasted on his recovery. The bracer took care of the man for three days, and even though she told him that it was okay, he was guilty that he used up their remaining days together being treated like a patient instead of spending time together as a couple. But Rean knew that she would be upset if he started blaming himself again.
For the last two days of their vacation, Rean encouraged Fie that the two of them will do what she wants, to her delight. Even though she told him that she enjoyed their short time together, he couldn't help but think he could have done more for her.
'I really screwed up. I wasted our time together because of my injuries; I hope I can make it up to her during one of my free days...'
"Schwarzer?"
Rean was pulled back from his thoughts by the call of his name. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Your injuries? How are they?" She repeated her query.
"Oh. I'm completely healed." He answered before letting an embarrassed chuckle come out. "...is what I would like to say, but my shoulders still ache a bit when I move them carelessly."
"I see." Aurelia crossed her arms and closed her eyes in thought. "Will it affect your duties as an instructor?"
"Not necessarily. With the exception of doing combat training with the students, I can still perform my duties like normal."
"Zeroth Form, Twin Shadows... to be able to snap your tachi's blade in half certainly brews worry. It seems it was thanks to the Goddess that she didn't deliver any more fatal blows, and if Claussell hadn't arrived in time... Forgive me, I should have never brought up the 'what ifs'." The countess apologized for almost talking about the worst-case scenario.
Rean didn't fault Aurelia for it, she was right. If Fie didn't arrive in time, he would have died.
"It's fine, Principal Le Guin. I would have no doubt meet my end if Fie hadn't saved me back then. It was because I let my emotions took control of me that I got badly injured in the first place..."
Le Guin remained silent.
As much as she wants to speak up about his frustrations with himself, it would do no good. From her conversations with Towa and the other members of Class VII, she knew that even with her help, she would not be able to fix his habit.
The instructor finally got a grip of himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry for bringing the mood down, Principal. Just a bit disappointed in myself."
"You have no reason to apologize. With all the stress that you have built up during that day, it was understandable that you were bound to lose your calm. No one would fault you for that, Schwarzer."
Rean looked down at his feet with a slight frown, clenching his pants. She sighed; she should have known that it would have been useless. Aurelia just hopes that his dilemma won't interfere with his duties as an instructor of the Branch Campus.
"...thank you, Principal."
She nodded as she got up from her seat. "I have some errands I need to do. So for my class later, tell the students that they can use their time during my class for their club activities instead."
"Understood." Rean stood up before bowing to his superior.
The man headed towards the exit but stopped as he remembered something.
"I forgot to bring this up earlier, but I bought you some Eastern alcohol during my trip. Should I leave it on your desk before or after you leave?"
Her eyes widen a tad, not expecting that Rean would give her a souvenir. She grinned at his kindness of buying her a gift. "After. I appreciate your generosity, Schwarzer. Once I return, would you and Herschel accompany me in drinking it later?"
"Ahaha. Of course, Principal."
With that out of the way, he exited out of the room.
Standing beside the door to the Rakshasa's office was Crow Armbrust. After hearing of his fellow Chevalier's injuries, he did not immediately depart from Leeves. He stayed for a while so he could check on Rean before going back to Jurai. Though he also thought it was the perfect excuse to spend some time with Towa. The door opened as the young Schwarzer appeared.
"Yo, Rean."
"Crow? Were you waiting for me or something?" He quirked a brow, surprised to see him still here.
"Kinda. Wanted to see how you were doing." It wasn't completely a lie; he was genuinely concerned for his friend's well-being when he heard about his injuries. "Do you need some help getting around?"
"Thanks, but I can walk properly." He reassured him. To further prove his statement, he began walking around Crow. "Only my shoulders are the ones that still ache."
"Gotcha," Crow said, eyeing Rean from head to toe. Seeing that he is capable of doing his task, he nodded. "what are you going to do about your tachi, though? Can you get it fixed?" He asked, catching Rean off guard by his question.
"I haven't gotten it checked yet." He sighed. "This has never happened to me before; I'm a bit worried it can't be fixed."
Rean's expression shifted into one of gloom at the thought of his weapon being irreparable. Not only will it become an inconvenience with training his students, but also because he had an attachment towards his tachi. After everything they have been through, all the trials and battles they have fought together. It disheartened him, knowing that he might not be able to use it again.
The slacker saw his partner's expression and knew what was going through his head. He patted his shoulder as he smirked. "Give me your tachi."
"...what?"
"I said give me your tachi," Crow repeated, his smirk widening even further. "I'll have it checked for you. I got some connections I could try to see if they can repair it. Having two weapons like me, you gotta have maintenance twenty-four seven."
"Are you sure? I really don't want to bother you after having you fill the role of an instructor for a week." Rean frowned at troubling his friend even further.
Crow's smirk morphed into a sincere smile as he made his counter-argument. "It's no problem, Rean. Teaching your kids was a cakewalk compared to what you've gone through. Besides, what are friends for?"
"Crow... thanks."
The Azure Chevalier chuckled as Rean gave him his tachi. With a quick goodbye, the instructor headed towards his classroom.
As Crow was left alone, he took out his ARCUS as he decided to call someone who might be able to help. His ARCUS began ringing as he waited for his desired help to pick up; after a few more seconds, they did.
"Sorry for bothering you, Your Highness. I got a favor to ask..."
Rean opened the door to the classroom as he was startled by the sudden call of his students.
"Instructor!"
"Whoa!" He stumbled before catching himself by holding onto his desk. "Hey, everyone. How have guys been?"
"Wa-wait! Shouldn't we be asking you that? We heard from Instructor Towa that you got attacked during your break and that you were seriously injured." Juna fretted about their instructor's injuries.
Altina got up from her seat and ran towards Rean for a hug, causing the poor man to wince as he fell on his butt. "Instructor, I-I was so worried that you were in critical condition!" A few tears came out of her; Rean could tell that she was distressed when she heard the news of the sudden attack by the shinobis. "I'm so glad you're alright..."
"Seriously, that little bunny can't contain herself." Ash mused, grinning at the (somewhat) scandalous sight. "I wonder what the little fairy would say if she saw this."
"Oh, I would be furious if I was in her shoes." Musse said with mock anger.
"Allie, take it easy with the hugs. And Musse, could you not jinx us? The last time you said something like that, I felt like Fie's glare could drill a hole into us." The pinkette gently reprimanded her white-haired friend because of Rean's injuries while scolding the mint, remembering how scary the bracer can be when she's provoked.
A notable sigh and facepalm came from Kurt. "I'm getting a sense of déjà vu..."
"D-did they react similarly to this when Crow first came here...?" Kurt nodded for Rean to facepalm himself. "Seriously... Altina, I'm fine. My wounds have pretty much healed; only my shoulders ache now." He stated as he patted her head.
She got up from the instructor as she returned to her seat.
"To follow Juna and Altina's worries, we are glad that you weren't in critical conditions, but didn't you receive several deep slash marks everywhere?" Kurt queried as he placed a hand to his chin.
"I was kinda surprised too, actually. The doctor who treated me said that the adrenaline must have numb some of the pain; that's why I was still conscious despite all of my wounds. Don't get me wrong, though; those shinobis were serious about killing me." Rean frowned as his hand moved to his left shoulder. The feeling of being completely helpless as Hime cut through him was not something he could easily forget. "It's all thanks to Fie and the ones that healed me that I'm still here..."
"Instructor..."
New Class VII was saddened; even Ash frowned for Rean. Being attacked and forced to defend himself; while being completely helpless as he was overpowered by his opponent. It was hard to imagine their instructor to be so disheartened by it all. They could only imagine what Fie felt when she saw her lover's bloody state. They originally planned to scold him for being reckless again, but they understood that it was beyond Rean's control, and he only retaliated back to protect himself.
Noticing that the mood was down again, Rean scolded himself. 'Come on, Rean! Stop being so depressed about this! Everything's settled and you have your duties as their instructor to get back to.' The black-haired man clapped his hands for all eyes to fall to him. "All right, guys. That's enough about my injuries; what's important is that I'm okay. We already wasted enough time so let's start our lesson!"
The five looked at each other and smiled.
"All right! I'm ready for today's class, Instructor Rean!" Juna pumped her fist as she got psyched up.
"Teehee, please be gentle with us, Instructor~" Musse cooed with her usual teasing tone, making Rean sweatdropped. It was refreshing to see though.
"Musse!"
"We'll be in your care once again," Altina said happily, muting Juna's useless attempt in scolding the mint.
"Heh, you better try to make this lecture interesting this time. Armbrust sure as hell made us do some of his weird bullshit, but it wasn't so bad." Ash grinned, placing his arms behind his head.
"Kurt, please tell me that Crow actually did his job..."
"He did. Ash here just phrased it wrong." The delinquent gave the dual wielder a smug look, causing Kurt to sigh again.
"You guys need to tell me what Crow did last week after our class is over..."
Seeing most of his students nod (with Ash giving a smirk instead), Rean started the lesson.
...
After finishing the instructor's lesson, he and his students decided to catch up during lunch at the cafeteria.
He mentally prepared himself for news of Crow's shenanigans, but he was surprised to find out that only two incidents have occurred that his students considered shenanigans, and it was Ash that brought it up. They told their instructor how things were basically normal when the slacker was teaching them; the only real difference is their teaching styles. While Rean's method of teaching was efficient and easy to understand, Crow's method of teaching was somewhat unorthodox.
Telling the black-haired instructor that his fellow Chevalier changed up the format of the usual lecture by turning the class into some sort of activity. Still following the schedule given to him by Aurelia, he taught them what was written while mixing a little bit of fun into the mix.
"I'm surprised the principal allowed it."
"Yeah, no shit. I can't believe I was actually having fun with Armbrust's lectures." Ash confessed.
"You say that Ash, but out of all of us, you were the one who was agreeing to Crow's suggestions without a second thought." Juna brought the truth out in the open for Ash to quickly deny the fact.
"Like hell I did!"
"No, you most certainly did. We couldn't even stop the both of you when you two did that Soldat battle for extra credit. Though, I have a feeling you only did that so you could rub it in Crow's face if you had won." The Vander theorized while looking at the delinquent with half-opened eyes. "So it was a bit ironic when Crow defeated you with ease during your last battle."
"Damnit, Kurt..." The delinquent hung his head, frowning as he remembered his quick defeat.
"Well, Crow has more experience in piloting," Musse said matter-of-factly.
"Agreed, and I would also like to remind you that his Tyrfing's output was only at forty percent," Altina informed the blonde, causing him to groan.
"Oof, that's gotta hurt." The pinkette commented as she faked a wince. "Don't worry, Ash. We believe you can score a win next time!"
"In our upcoming free day, I'll go ask if we could use the Soldats for some extra training."
"I better not owe you anything, pretty boy."
Kurt shook his head. "You don't owe me anything. You're not the only one who wants to have a match with Crow, I may not have been chosen to be his partner during your battle with Principal Le Guin, but as a swordsman, I can't hold myself back upon seeing such a battle.
"Heh. You better do your part as my training dummy then." Ash's mood improved as he slammed his right fist into his open palm.
"Training partner." The Vander corrected him with a deadpan tone.
"Hey, no fair, you two! Let us join in!"
"I wouldn't mind showing off my skills now that Instructor Rean is back~"
Juna and Musse were also eager to join in their Soldat Training.
"Since the Goliath Noa is currently not in the hangar, I shall act as referee and tally up who has the most victories," Altina interjected as the four were already discussing how they should handle their training. "are you also gonna participate in their training, Instructor Rean?"
The other four's eyes moved to the instructor as they waited for his response.
As much as he wants to see how much they improved during his absence, he had other duties to attend to during the upcoming free day.
"Sorry, but I have something to do on that day." He apologized as he scratched his cheeks. The three girls were visibly disappointed, so Rean decided to explain further without spilling his personal reason. "I wouldn't want to risk my shoulders getting any worse, and I also have to go see if my tachi could be repaired."
An audible gasp of understanding came out of his students.
"We understand, Instructor." Kurt was first to understand his situation. "I may not understand the feeling of having my sword broken, but I understand as a swordsman that it's important to deal with it as soon as possible."
"I heard from Instructor Towa that your opponent was able to snap your tachi clean off. In any case, I hope your tachi can be repaired soon too, Instructor." Musse said without her usual tone. She was far serious when she said her statement.
Juna, Altina, and Ash nodded instead of adding more to their friends' kind words. They could tell from the way he was slightly frowning during their lesson that something was bothering him; they hope that his precious blade could be restored to normal during their free day this week.
"Thanks, everyone." Rean thanked them with a smile before changing the subject. "By the way, Ash, how's the Student Council doing? Are you and Tatiana doing alright?"
Heat rose in Ash's cheeks as he shot up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table.
"The Student Council is doing fine! Why the hell are you asking me about Tatiana?!"
"My, my, Ash, is that a blush I see?" Juna chaffed with a grin. "Why are you getting flustered all of a sudden?"
"You know damn well that ain't the case!"
"Sudden outbursts like that clearly make you suspicious, my dear Ash. Do tell us what you and Tatiana have been up to while we were filling our reports~" The mint-haired harpy requested; her smile was anything but genuine right now.
If it wasn't bad enough that Juna and Musse were teasing, Altina decided to join in.
"I suggest that you also share the activities that cause you to return to the dorms later than usual."
"It's because of Student Council business!"
"But the other Student Council members always return to the dorms on time." Musse quickly deflated his excuse. Damn that, Egret...
"Kurt, back me up here..." The exhausted blonde pleaded as he rubbed his temple.
"I would if I could, Ash," Kurt began. "but it doesn't help your case when I saw the two of you alone together two days in a row."
Ash groaned even more as he took his seat, defeated.
"What is this 'Embarrass Ash Day' or something?!" He rhetorically asked before glaring at the instructor. "This is all your fault! Why did you have to talk about that of all things?!"
"E-eh? I was just curious how you guys were doing. You two are pretty close." He simply replied, only making Ash even more flustered.
"Since when did you learn to act like this?! Did that girl of yours taught you how to tease me?" The Hamel survivor had uncharacteristically lost his composure as his face was now beet red with a combination of frustration and embarrassment mixed in.
"It seems Instructor Rean has been influenced by Fie during their time together." Altina deadpanned.
"But he's still as charming as ever~" Musse added with a giggle.
As the three students and instructor continued their little squabble, Kurt and Juna had smiles on their visage.
"It looks like everything is back to normal," Kurt whispered to the pinkette beside him.
"Yeah, graduation is around the corner, and here we are, taking it easy and having fun."
"As it should be. After graduation, we will be walking our own paths. We should enjoy each other's company while we still can."
Pink hues emerged from Juna's face as those words left Kurt's mouth. Sometimes she thought that some of Rean had been rubbing off on Kurt as of late. The way he would casually blurt cheesy yet romantic lines out of the blue always caused her heart to skip a beat. But he said 'enjoy each other's company', that could also mean their class as a whole. Was she overthinking this? No, not at all. Okay, maybe she's just overthinking it a little.
Doing a Rean, Kurt failed to notice the Crossbellian's redden cheeks as he returned his attentions to the bickering group. Juna sighed, thinking she'll just have to find a way to get his attention before the school year ends. She smiled as she joined in the teasing of Ash as the latter continued to deny that there was nothing going on between him and his fellow book club member.
The slacker was ready to depart to the Vermillion Capital but still had some business to take care of just before takes off. Waiting outside of the station of Leeves with his orbal bike, he had his ARCUS II in hand as he sent a few orbal mails to several of his contacts.
He looked up when he heard the door to the station open.
"You sure took your sweet time."
"I had to finish the last batch of requests I was given, so stop complaining." A very familiar girl retorted at the slacker. "Does he know I'm here?"
"Nope. Figured you wanna surprise him."
"You know me well." The girl gave him a cheeky grin.
"Well, you know me, I love doing surprises, especially the ones that'll give me the best reactions~." He returned the grin with his own as he got on his bike. "Too bad I got some stuff to do; I wanted to see the face he'll have when you go see him."
"You're not staying?" She asked.
Crow took out the broken tachi from his coat and showed it to the girl. "Gonna go to meet the prince and help him fix Rean's tachi; surprisingly, he has a shit ton of connections to blacksmiths, so I think we'll be able to get this thing fixed."
"Ah," Her expression had gone down as she remembered how it got broken in the first place. "Please fix it for him... okay?"
Crow smiled as he returned the sword to his coat. "You sound so sincere when it comes to him. Ah, the power of love~" His unnecessary comment earned him a deadly glare. "I'm kidding!"
"You better..."
"Alright, alright." He raised his hands up in defeat before they moved to the handlebars. "I'll make sure it gets fixed. Anything for my favorite couple~"
"Just get going already." A bit of red colored her cheeks as her eyes narrowed. "Is he in his classroom?"
"Nah, I think he's either in the cafeteria catching up with his students or in the faculty room filing some papers. I'm positive he won't be returning to Special Ops during their break, though." She nodded at his answer.
"Say hi to Prince Olivert and Alfin for me."
Crow started the engine. "Sure thing. Good luck with the new job... Instructor Claussell~." Before she could say anything, the slacker went full throttle and drove off to Heimdallr.
Even if Crow did say her name in a slightly mocking way, her lips curled up as she began heading to the Branch Campus to surprise her special someone.
Just like what Crow said, Rean was doing some paperwork in the faculty room with Towa. Organizing a few documents on his desk, he looked over to the other side to see the petite instructor going ham with her own share of files. He had a rough idea why they have so much paperwork today.
"Do you need some help with that, Towa? I'm almost done with mine." Rean offered.
Her hands stopped moving as she looked at the black-haired instructor. "Oh, that's okay, Rean. I'm actually almost finished."
"I don't think so..." He glanced at the pile of documents beside his colleague, not convinced that she's almost finished. "It's fine, Towa. The sooner we finish this, the sooner you can take another break."
"A-ah, okay then." She yielded as she grabbed half of the documents before giving them to Rean. "Thank you, Rean. I hope it isn't too much trouble."
"You know it isn't, Towa."
The two began finishing the rest of the paperwork. With only supplies and club reports to file in, they're able to finish filing the papers with minutes to spare. Looking up at the clock, Towa decided to catch up with her former junior.
"So, how was your break, Rean? I heard that you and Fie went to a bunch of hot springs."
"Yeah, wait, I think I have some pictures with me..."
"Oh! Do you mind showing them to me...?" She timidly asked.
"Not at all." He smiled as took out his ARCUS II.
The two instructors began looking at Rean's pictures from his trip to Longlai. And Towa was right when she heard that they went to several hot springs during their stay; most of the pictures they took were them enjoying and having fun in the springs (obviously with their bathrobes on). She was even more delighted to see when Rean showed her their pictures in the forest; Towa could feel their warm feelings through the photos as she focused on their wide smiles.
Rean swiped to show her another picture, only for both instructors to reddened at the image. Fie, a cheeky smile attached to her visage and her right shoulder exposed with a disheveled Rean on the background, his clothes nowhere on sight. Rean immediately closed his orbment as Towa glanced away with a blush, already having an idea what they did when the bracer took that picture.
"...I'm so sorry you had to see that," Rean mumbled his apology, his face still red as he covered it with his hand.
He seriously can't believe that Fie took their picture after they went at it like rabbits during their last day in Longlai. What's worse is that Towa; poor Towa had to see the instructor's shameful state of his nakedness; the only saving grace was that it did not show all of Rean in the picture.
"I-it's fine! You two are grown adults after all..." Even though she said that she still refused to look at Rean.
Rean groaned as his face got even redder. "Well, now I know what I'm asking her when I see her again..."
'Hehe, that's going to be a lot sooner than you expect, Rean.' Towa happily thought as she tried not to chuckle. "I'll go get something to drink from the cafeteria. Will you be going back to your classroom?"
"In a little bit, I want to take a break here if that's all right." The brown-haired instructor nodded as he exited out of the faculty room to get her drink.
...
"Haha! Your face was so red, Ash!"
"Shut it, pinkhead! This is all Schwarzer's fault; why did he have to bring up Tian— Tatiana into the conversation!" The delinquent ruffled his hair as he expressed his frustration (and embarrassment). "He's lucky that she wasn't in the cafeteria; if she was, oh, I'm gonna spread some scandal that'll get his ass kicked by that little fairy."
"Did you almost let your special pet name for her slip?" Musse taunted.
"That is quite cute considering it is you, Ash." Altina opined, but her focus remained on the hallway.
The two girls earned a glare from the blonde delinquent, which they ignored completely.
"Let's just drop the subject for another day." Kurt saved his friend from further embarrassment, but since he said "for another day", he still earned a slight glare from the blonde. "We're almost at our classroom."
"Remind me why we have to go back during our break?" Juna asked, slightly annoyed that they have to return so soon.
"Did you forget that you were the one who suggested that we return after we finished eating our lunch?" The Vander rebounded her question with his own, his annoyance clearly present in his visage, causing Juna to sweatdrop.
"O-oh yeah. Hahaha..."
"Juna's mind must have been preoccupied with a certain someone since she forgot her own suggestion~" Musse suddenly said for the pinkette to blush. She must have noticed Juna's pink hues at the cafeteria earlier.
"Hmm? Who's on your mind, Juna?" Kurt asked as he raised a brow. "I'm sure it isn't Instructor Rean, right? We all know you had a crush on him, but I have a feeling you already had come to terms with your feelings." He teased as a grin crossed his face.
"Yes, please tell us who's your special person." Altina requested, finally looking at her friends.
"Now this is better!" Ash, who has recovered from his earlier embarrassment, joined in. "Considering you had a thing for Schwarzer, it's either someone close to your age or someone older."
"H-hey, I thought we were messing with Ash!"
"Oh, we can get back to that another time~" The delinquent grumbled at the mint-haired girl. "So who is it? Is it someone from Old Class VII? I'm afraid the others are already taken though unless it's from our—"
Before Musse could finish her sentence, Juna interrupted her as she saw the door to their classroom.
"Well, would you look at that! We're here!" Juna walked-run ahead of the group. She could hear their snickering from behind, making her blush even more. 'How did it end up with me being the one teased...'
As the other four reunited with a flustered Juna, she opened the door as her eyes widened at a familiar face.
"Fi—" But before she could say her name or shout it, which was most likely the latter, Fie placed a finger on her lip as she signaled the rest to not announce her presence.
Ash, who was behind all of them, silently closed the door and waited for Fie to give him the okay. The bracer removed her finger from the pinkette's lips as she gave a thumbs up to Ash, who grinned for his response.
"What are you doing here?" Juna asked with a low voice.
"Do you perhaps have some business with Instructor Rean or at the Branch Campus?" Kurt questioned.
"Both, actually." The sneaky bracer answered as she strolled over to Rean's desk.
"I take it that Instructor Rean doesn't know you are here?" Fie nodded as the mint-haired student headed to her seat. "I wonder what kind of surprise you're up to~."
"Just gonna surprise him. Besides, I have a feeling he wants to talk about the picture I took with his ARCUS..." The silver-haired girl blurted as a mischievous grin appeared on her visage.
The others could only hazard a guess on what she meant by that as they all returned to their seat. Kurt stopped walking midway as he decided to return to the door of the classroom as an idea popped into his mind.
"I'll stand guard here so I can let you know if the instructor is returning."
Fie smiled at Kurt's consideration and nodded. "Thanks."
"So, are you gonna explain your business here at the academy?" The blonde asked rudely.
"You'll find out soon." She smirked as Ash scoffed. "By the way, I heard that you guys were talking about the people you like..."
The two who had been teased immediately knew where she was going with this.
"How about telling me who they are to kill some time before Rean shows up?"
"It's Ash. We were talking about his love life." Juna called him out, pointing her thumb at him for effect.
"Hell no! We were talking about Juna's mystery boy!" Ash countered, which wasn't technically a lie. Juna began stuttering as she tried to defend herself, only for their incoming argument to be ceased with Fie's following statement.
"Why not both of you tell us who your special person is?" And they officially dug their grave.
"Could you also tell us how you are doing? Considering you took a week off of bracer duties, you must have had to deal with numerous requests." Once again, Kurt saved their asses by giving them some time. His concern for the bracer was genuine, though, as he didn't mean to save them from being teased by Fie.
"Telling us if Instructor Rean did anything inappropriate would also be acceptable," Altina said as she took out her ARCUS, ready to take down notes.
"I guarantee that they did the 'deed' once or twice during their trip together~." Musse's statement caused Kurt and Juna to blush, Ash being unsurprised and Altina quirking a brow in confusion.
Fie could only stand there in awe at how accurate her statement was to the truth. 'Well, we did it three times, but damn she's sharp.'
"Sure thing, Kurt. Storytime with my juniors is a good way to pass the time before my surprise attack." She heard a sigh of relief from the Hamel survivor and Crossbellian; she immediately shot their sigh of relief down upon seeing it. "I didn't forget about, you two; you'll be telling everything about that special person~."
Ash clicked his tongue and Juna hung her head as a sigh escaped her.
Fie began telling New Class VII what she was doing prior to her arrival at Leeves.
...
As Fie finished telling them about the crazy request she took, Kurt sensed that Rean was approaching. To make sure he was right, he opened the door just a bit and peered through the small opening. Catching the black-haired instructor walking towards their classroom, he closed the door.
"Instructor Rean is coming."
"Thanks for keeping a lookout. I'll handle the rest." Kurt bowed and returned to his seat as Fie walked over to the door, her presence slowly disappearing, hiding at the corner.
"Is that even gonna work?" Ash had little faith in Fie's plan.
"The chance of success is fairly high," Altina informed to his surprise. "if we weren't looking at Fie right now, we wouldn't be able to detect her presence."
The five looked over at Fie and closed their eyes, and just like what Altina said, they only felt the presence of five in the room.
"Allie's right, it's like the five of us are the only ones here," Juna remarked.
"It looks like everything will go smoothly then." Musse commented.
Rean was looking at a book he grabbed from the library for reference as he made his way towards the Special Ops room. He also went to see Linde so he could check his shoulders' condition; fortunately for him, his recovery was going well. He opened the door to the room and saw all eyes were on him for some reason. He looked around and saw if they were staring at something else; seeing no around, he pointed at his face.
"Uh, guys? Is there something on my face?"
"Only your handsomeness, Instructor~" Musse cooed.
Fie could feel her eye twitch at how the mint complimented her lover. Even though she knew they were dating, she never stopped her teasing to Rean's chagrin and Fie's annoyance. Luckily, she had gotten used to her doing that to her lover, but she never did like it.
"There's nothing in your face, Instructor. We were just expecting you." Altina said as she got her notes ready.
"Oh, well, okay—" As Rean took a step, he turned his head all over as he felt that something was off.
"I-Instructor? Is something wrong?" The pinkette was worried that Fie was gonna be exposed.
Seeing no one around, Rean sighed. "Sorry, must be exhausted already."
"Phew..."
The instructor looked up at Juna and raised a brow, causing her to sweat. Ash decided to butt in, so Juna won't expose that there was indeed someone in the room with them.
"How's that shoulder of yours?"
"Oh, Linde said I'm making a quick recovery. I just hope I can fully recover when we have to do our field study next week."
"That's good to hear." Kurt was relieved by the news.
'Nice save, you two.' The bracer thought as she was still hiding in her corner.
Rean finally closed the door and began walking over to his desk.
'Wait, is he seriously not gonna say anything about the little fairy?'
'The instructor must be preoccupied to notice her presence.'
'Everything is going according to plan.'
Ash, Musse, and Altina thought to themselves.
The bracer smirked, she was afraid that she would be found out rather quickly because of her lover's ability to detect the presence of others, but since his mind is preoccupied, she decided to strike. As Rean was about to start their lecture, Fie's presence was returning as she tackled Rean to the ground.
Of course, Rean was surprised by the sudden tackle as he tried to gather his bearings. He blinked twice as his vision was obscured by a bush of silver hair. But when he saw those eyes that he was so fond of, he quickly recognized who his tackler was.
"Fi-Fie!?"
"Surprise."
"What are you doing here? I thought you had bracer duties today." Fie got off of him so Rean could get up from the floor.
"I finished them as fast as I could so I could see you."
"You did that all for me?" Rean was starting to feel guilty; at the same time, it made him happy that Fie wanted to see him so much that she finished her requests early.
"Yeah, but I also had my responsibilities here." Her eyes gleamed as she gave her boyfriend a heartfelt smile.
"Responsibilities?"
"Yup."
It was time to reveal why she came to the academy. Her smile widened as she gave her lover a peace sign that caused his heart to skip a beat; a flush crossed his face. The students could only speculate on what her responsibilities were on campus that would make her come here. Crossing off that Rean was the reason; since they have no doubt that she would travel here just to see him, they could only guess...
"I'll be your instructor until graduation."
...
...
...
"WHAT?!"
Everyone in the room reacted the same way as their jaw dropped; the only difference was the level of their intensity, mostly Altina and Musse, who had the least dramatic reaction out of all of them.
"You're shittin' me, right?" Ash didn't believe her announcement, thinking it was a prank of hers.
"Nope, I'm serious. Ask Aurelia if you want; she was the one who asked if I could help out."
"The principal did?!" Juan squealed.
"What about your duties as a bracer? Won't it pile up since you took a break already?" Kurt inquired his concern, his shock, and surprise dying down from his person.
"Sara's got it covered. That's the reason why I had a bunch of requests when I got back; I had to finish them so I could join you guys as soon as possible." Fie elucidated how her bracer duties will be in Sara's hands. "Besides, your future field studies will also serve as part of my duties as a bracer."
"I understand now." Musse was the first to catch on. "You will be helping out the academy by being our instructor until we graduate, and you'll fulfill your responsibilities as a bracer while we have our field studies, is that correct?"
'I shouldn't be surprised anymore.' Fie thought, now she won't have to trouble herself with explaining. "A hundred points, you're right in all the parts."
"Hehe, why thank you, Instructor."
"First Armbrust and now the little fairy? Who's next? Mr. Shotgun?" Rean and Fie couldn't help themselves from laughing at the nickname Ash gave to Machias. "Claussell's fine, right?"
"Yeah, sure. Not like I can make you call me an instructor anyway." She stated matter-of-factly.
"You're damn right." Ash grinned as he rested his arms behind his head.
"It was a bit difficult when we first started calling Crow instructor, but it will be easier calling Fie, 'Instructor Fie' since she isn't one for causing trouble." Altina mused, causing the others to sweatdrop. Harsh much?
"T-that's true..." Juna couldn't even defend the poor slacker, even she caught herself calling him casually, not that he minds.
"In any case, we will be in your care, Instructor Claussell." Kurt stood up and bowed.
It was weird being called an instructor by the people she has worked alongside after everything they've been through. She can't say she didn't like being called an instructor though, in fact, she had a wide grin on her face upon being called one. The Schwarzer noticed the petite girl's grin and smiled.
"Likewise." Fie returned the gesture.
"Wait... is that what you and Crow talked about last week?" Rean questioned for her lover to grin even further. "I should have known..."
"Sorry, Rean. Crow said I should keep it a secret from you, and I'm glad I did; your face when I tackled you was priceless."
The instructor facepalmed while Ash snickered.
An idea crossed Rean's mind now that Fie announced that she is an instructor until graduation.
"Are you on duty now, Fie?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
Rean smiled and gave her the book he was holding. "How about we give today's lecture together? It won't be long, so you don't have to worry about it getting boring."
She returned his smile with her own as she took the book from his hand. "Sounds good."
"Don't tell me you two are gonna be like this till graduation?" Ash scoffed as he faked his disgust.
"Now, now, Ash. Are you just perhaps jealous that you can't flirt with your dear Tatiana right now?" Musse started to tease him once more.
"Sooooo, her name is Tatiana, huh~?" Fie teased with a mischievous grin on her countenance. "We're gonna have a lot to talk about later~."
"Damn you, harpy..." The blonde cursed underneath his breath. But he wasn't going down by himself. Even though the pinkette did not join in the teasing, he had a feeling she will eventually. "Let's add Juna's mystery boy in the topics to discuss later then!"
"Ash!" Juna slammed the desk as she protested.
"Even if Ash didn't remind me, you're not off the hook, Juna." The bracer smirked as Juna slouched to her seat with a defeated expression.
"Things will certainly be lively from now on."
"Yes, but I think that is a good thing." Altina agreed with Kurt's words as she showed a warm smile.
"Ohhh, but those two will be all lovey-dovey every day." Musse sighed as she placed a hand on her cheek, watching the couple (mainly Fie) as they teased her two flustered classmates.
Altina and Kurt sweatdropped before watching the four bicker. As their discussion slowly died down, Rean remembered something he needed to ask Fie. And as if a switch has been flipped, he crossed his arms and turned to his lover with a scolding look, one that he would normally show to his students. The conversation stopped as Juna and Ash took note of their instructor's sudden change.
"Fie, why did you took a picture of yourself and me without my robe with my ARCUS?" All eyes darted to the bracer as Rean questioned her sternly.
"Oh, you finally saw it? How did you like my little parting gift?" She answered, not bothered by the stares.
"That was inappropriate! I was naked at—" He forgot that his students were also in the same room. "Shit..."
"Instructor..." Juna and Altina growled.
"Man, how the tables have turned." Ash smugly smirked. "So you got your picture taken after banging her, huh?"
"The instructor must have quite the physique~."
"I suggest you stop talking now, Musse; I can feel um... Instructor Claussell's aura skyrocketing." Kurt advised. He really doesn't want to witness a catfight right now.
"Just tell me later, please..."
"Not my fault you're so hot." Fie defended herself as she placed her arms behind her. "I thought you'd like a picture of me with my bare shoulder?" She asked as she pouted. The others had a blush crept its way to their face.
"FIIIIIIEEEEE!"