Happy with all the support I got with my brief prologue. Decided to make chapter a bit longer. Enjoy!
Rean woke with a yawn. It was still dark outside, but the instructor got up anyways because he knew he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. It was the morning after his cringe-worthy proposal and the excitement still hadn't left his body. He felt fortunate that he had somehow managed to drift off for a few hours.
The two didn't have more than a minute to talk afterwords, but they had made plans to visit Ymir after work this day to inform his family. It meant that he wouldn't be back at Leeves until very late that night, but they understood well enough that this is the kind of news one tells their parents in person.
They also planned on messaging the rest of Class VII to see how many of them would be available for a group chat that evening. Announcing it as a group was preferable to making ten individual calls, while also removing the possibility that certain unruly elements of their class (specifically Millium and Crow) would complain if they weren't the first called or would brag if they were.
The first rays of sunlight were cresting over the horizon when Rean took his first steps out of the dorm. Normally he would have eaten with the students, but due to the fact that none of them were currently up he instead decided to eat out for breakfast. He also planned on spending extra time with his own sword practice to calm his mind before classes were to begin.
As he made his way towards Recette Bakery he noticed something unusual. While not the busiest out at this hour, there were still quite a few people out and about. And a lot of those people were giving him odd looks. Some merely sent him warm smiles, some were giggling about something, and a few groups were clearly gossiping while glancing in his general direction. It reminded Rean of his early days at Leeves when the general populace was just starting to accept that the Ashen Chevalier was living among them, but this felt... different. He did spot a potential clue though, as quite a few of the townspeople had the Imperial Chronicle in their hands.
Deciding to investigate further, Rean took a detour to Carnegie Bookstore. He had already planned on buying the most recent issue as he considered himself a cultured collector of newspapers and books. His friends, students, family, and girlfriend, 'that would be fiancee now,' on the other hand all accused him of being a massive hoarder. They just didn't understand the value of having multiple years worth of Chronicle issues.
In no time at all he found himself entering the bookstore. There were a surprising amount of people in the small shop and all of them immediately stopped what they were doing to gaze at him. He was saved from the awkward moment by the quick arrival of Rachel, holding the item he was seeking in her hands.
"Well if it isn't the lover boy himself. These things have been flying off the shelves today thanks to you. I saved you this one though, on the house."
Normally Rean would have replied in one of many different ways. Perhaps he would have thanked her for the free newspaper. Maybe he would have questioned her about the embarrassing nickname. Maybe he would inquire as to why she was thanking him. Unfortunately, any words that the Schwarzer scion could have said died painful deaths in his throat. Because right in front of his face was a picture that he knew would spell all kinds of trouble for him.
There he was, on one knee. Ring in hand. And there was Fie standing in front of him. In such detail that it was painfully obvious to anyone who saw it what was going on. The only good thing about it is that the picture somehow missed all signs of his nervousness and embarrassing failure.
'The Ashen Chevalier Engaged!' Read the headline, in a size and font that usually signified a great catastrophe or nation changing event.
Rean probably stared at that image for a good five minutes before his brain finally managed to reboot and he began to realize what this all meant. His family was going to know. His friends were going to know. Xeno and Leo were going to know!
The rational part of him knew that there was nothing he could do about it at this point. It was time to adjust plans and run damage control. The most obvious thing to do first was to warn Fie about the headaches that were about to ensue.
Fie Claussell was not a morning person. Nobody adored sleep like she did. Especially in the last few years as she was no longer the bored girl who took naps everywhere because she had nothing better to do.
Fie Claussell was a professional. Between her years as a jaeger and her time as a bracer she understood the importance of being able to be awake and alert at a moment's notice. Very few enemies were kind enough to give you time to prepare on a battlefield.
So when her ARCUS II started ringing at some ungodly hour, it was a very awake and alert, but grumpy and annoyed Fie Claussell that answered the call. "What?" She answered simply.
"Um, good morning Fie?" The voice of Rean replied. His response sounded awfully weak to her, but she was too agitated to give it much thought at the moment.
"Rean Schwarzer I swear to Adios if you don't have a damn good reason for calling me at this hour I am not sleeping with you for the next year." She growled into the phone. It was an obvious lie and they both knew it. The sex was one of the best perks of their relationship and not something she would ever willingly give up.
"Ouch. Please don't. But yeah, we have a big problem actually. Take a look at this." Almost immediately her ARCUS chimed to signal a received image. It only took a brief glance at the picture for the big problem to be made very clear to the bracer.
"Well... shit." She stated with her traditional bluntness.
"Well shit indeed." Rean must have really been thrown for a loop cause he wasn't one to curse normally, "Honestly it is kinda embarrassing that I didn't even notice Vivi standing there." Privately Fie agreed. She always prided herself on being the most observant member of Class VII and to not notice one obnoxious pink haired girl stung her pride a bit.
"We gonna do anything about this?" She asked. On the inside she was already debating how many flashbang grenades she planned on launching into Vivi's apartment.
"Not much we can do about it at this point." He wasn't there physically, but Fie knew that Rean just shrugged right there. "We just have to accept that people are going to be after us today and that it is going to be really annoying."
"Right. I will message our friends and let them know we will be calling tonight. Don't need them bothering us all day. Still planning on going to Ymir?" Fie asked as she finally got herself out of bed to prepare for the day.
"Right. I will head to Heimdallr as soon as classes end." It was impossible to get from Leeves to Ymir without switching trains at the capital, so it was the most obvious spot for the pair to meet up.
"Ja. I will be there. If Sara tries to pawn off any stupid long-term requests to me I will stab her." Fie deadpanned.
"Try not to aim for any vitals? Well, I need to get ready for Class. Ugh, this is going to suck." Fie actually winced at that. She was already dreading how awkward the Guild would be today, but being an instructor at a school filled with teenagers (ignoring the fact that some of them were the same age as her) would be way worse. "I will see you tonight. And I love you Fie."
"Love you too. Bye." With that the call ended and silence returned to Fie's apartment. With that finished she set about with her morning routine. It would be a long and awkward day, but a part of her was looking forward to the crazy that was sure to occur.
The journey to the guild branch on Alto Street was uneventful, but very uncomfortable as she could feel eyes on her the entire way. All of Class VII were relatively well known to the general populace, but Fie had always managed to fly under the radar, at least in comparison to the more popular members like Laura, Jusis, Alisa, and Elliot. Sadly it appeared that her peaceful anonymity was at an end. Was this really what her precious Chevalier had to deal with when he went into public?
"Sup Fie?" Unsurprisingly, it was the voice of Toval Randonneur that greeted the younger Bracer when she entered the guild building. Despite his laid back attitude he was easily the most diligent of the Erebonian bracers and was always the first one present when available. Despite Sara being a higher rank it was obvious to all that Toval was actually the one running the show in Erebonia when the receptionist Miles wasn't around. He really deserved the promotion to A rank and Fie couldn't understand why he constantly declined it.
Fie grunted out something that could have been considered a reply before slumping into one of the seats and rested her head on the table. Just because she could cope with an early morning didn't mean she had to enjoy it! A brief glance around informed her that Toval was the only one present at the moment, which didn't surprise her. Most of the foreign bracers had finally returned home after helping to reestablish the Erebonian guild. Recruitment efforts had provided mixed results, but as far as Fie knew none of the junior bracers were currently stationed in the capital as they were seeking to get approval from all of the other guild offices in Erebonia. The only other person she could expect to see would be Sara, but Fie knew that the odds of her arriving to work early were about the same as the odds of Jusis and Machias getting married.
"So it seems that someone had a good night." Toval stated with a knowing grin. Fie couldn't quite hide her wince at those words. Of course the Zero Artisan would be an avid reader of the newspaper. Just another reminder that she needed to message her friends about a group call as soon as possible before they all started pestering her and Rean.
"Yup. I will tell you about it once Sara arrives." She had absolutely no desire to tell the story more than she had to, especially since she suspected she would have to tell it a lot today. Toval nodded in acceptance, but ruined the goodwill when he decided to pass the time by reading that accursed Chronicle right in front of her.
It was almost two hours later when the Instructor of the original Class VII finally arrived. Fie would readily admit that the pathetic hungover state of her mentor was always extremely entertaining and seeing it never got old. Sara all but collapsed into the nearest chair and let her head hit the table with a satisfying thunk before releasing a pitiful moan.
"You look like shit." Toval greeted as he and Fie shared amused grins. "I take it that hot date you were bragging about didn't go so well?"
"It went perfectly well! I spent the entire evening with a classy older gentleman!" She replied with heat in her voice. Fie and Toval shared another look, this one of confusion. It was Fie who figured it out first.
"Please Sara, we all know the only 'classy older gentleman' you were with was the guy on the label of your favorite beer." Fie could never resist poking fun at her mentor.
"Screw you Fie! Why are you always such an ungrateful brat?" Sara complained. The other bracers merely laughed at her.
"Oh, Sara. Did you happen to read today's issue of the Chronicle yet?" At the negative shake of her head Toval grinned and offered her said issue. "There was a really interesting article in it today. You should take a look."
A curious Sara Valestein took the proffered newspaper and glanced at the front cover with bleary eyes. After a second her eyes widened to almost comical proportions. She looked up to stare at Fie for a moment before sending her gaze back to the article. Back to Fie. Back to the article.
"Oh come on!" Sara said as she finally snapped from her stupor. "This is totally unfair! I remember when I first found you and you were about as expressive as a dead fish. How come you ended up with Erebonia's prized boy toy? I deserve a sexy Chevalier of my own!" Sara never felt as jealous of her ward as she did in that very moment.
"You know I am going to get you back for that dead fish comment, right?" grumbled Fie.
"Still..." Sara got out of her chair and approached the younger girl. Fie was not expecting Sara to capture her in a gentle hug, "I am so happy for you Fie."
"Thanks, Sara." Fie replied as she relaxed in the older woman's embrace.
"So? Have you two made plans yet?" Toval asked after the two finally separated from their touching moment.
"Not yet. It won't be for a while cause Rean wants to settle into his new job fir... Oh, right. I didn't tell you guys did I? Once Class VII graduates Rean is gonna be one of us." It was actually really embarrassing. After getting on Rean's case for forgetting that detail she managed to do the exact same thing. Maybe she should get off Rean's case for that... nah."
"Now that's what I like to hear!" Toval exclaimed excitedly. "I always knew Rean belonged in the Guild." Fie could tell that he truly was happy. The Bracer had always held a soft spot towards Rean, and had been very disappointed when it became obvious that Rean wouldn't be joining them after graduation. "Oh, and he joining will do wonders for recruitment too." He added thoughtfully.
"I missed being able to make Rean do all my work." The A-Rank Bracer muttered aloud. Making Rean and Towa do all of her tasks while she sat in her room and drank beer all day was easily the best part of being an Instructor in Sara's mind.
Before the conversation could continue any further, the guild phone started to ring. As usual, it was Toval who answered it, while the other two looked on in curiosity. They couldn't really hear what he was saying, but the amused smirk and occasional chuckle from the bracer informed them that it was nothing bad. After a few minutes he hung up the phone and turned to the pair.
"We just got a request for a Guild consultation and they specifically asked for you Sylphid." That was a bit of a surprise. While clients requesting specific Bracers wasn't uncommon, they usually asked for the most senior members and not her.
"Kay." The girl answered with a shrug. "What am I doing?" Hopefully the request didn't take too long as she did not want to cancel on her evening plans.
"The client didn't specify. They just asked for you to go to St. Astraia Girls' School. Someone will tell you where to go when you get there."
"Sure. I am going with Rean to Ymir tonight, so I probably won't be back today. See you guys later." With that said the girl left with a cheeky little wave.
"So what was that really about?" Sara asked after waiting long enough to know that Fie wasn't coming back.
"Seems like a lot of people are interested in today's news. Normally I would refuse a request for just gossip, but I think we can make an exception for the Princess of Erebonia."
"Ouch." Sara couldn't hide her amusement. Where there was an Alfin Reise Arnor there would be an Elise Schwarzer and dozens of other gossiping teen girls. Fie was gonna get eaten alive.
'Oh yeah, this is going to suck.' Rean would normally be fairly impressed at how quickly news spread, but as he made his way through the Branch Academy he could only curse gossiping teenagers with every fiber of his being. He winced as he heard yet another group of first year girls start giggling as he passed.
He was Rean Schwarzer, the Ashen Chevalier. He fought Ishmelga without hesitation. He stared down ancient heroes and the most dangerous members of Ouroboros without flinching. He even engaged his lover's overprotective jaeger big brothers in battle with only the tiniest hint of fear. He was not going to run away from a bunch of teen students.
...Although he really wished he could.
After what felt like an eternity, but was actually all of two minutes, Rean arrived at the faculty lounge with a few minutes to spare before the daily morning meeting. He had to remind himself that student's weren't the only ones affected by gossip as he was almost immediately assaulted by a tiny blur. He looked down to see the diminutive Towa Herschel latched onto him in her attempt at a bone-crushing hug.
"Rean! Congratulations! I saw the news and am so happy for you!" The student council president turned instructor exclaimed from her position buried in his chest.
"Thanks Towa. Sorry that it ended up in the newspaper. I was really looking forward to telling you personally." He replied with a somewhat sheepish smile. And he meant it too. The two were surprisingly similar individuals and the girl had always been able to read him like a book and knew when something was wrong. Even when he wasn't willing to talk about his problems directly she would always offer him a cup of tea and an ear to chat with. Add to that the time spent as coworkers at the Branch Campus and Rean couldn't help but see Towa Herschel as a sister to him. Although he often got in trouble with her when he would instinctively treat Towa like a younger sister despite her being a year older.
"Heehee, I bet it was a shock when you saw your face in the news this morning." Towa said with a giggle.
"That would be an understatement." He deadpanned.
"Instructor Schwarzer. I hope you aren't planning on letting this engagement affect your duties?" While stern on the surface, Rean knew that Michael Irving didn't mean anything malicious with his words. The RMP officer was a strict person, but the two had developed a mutual respect for each other over the past year plus. The slightest upturn of his lips let Rean know that the man was actually quite happy, even if he refused to show it.
"Of course Instructor Irving. I remain fully dedicated to this school until graduation." Rean replied.
"But after that is a different story, eh Schwarzer?" Cut in the amused voice of Principal Aurelia Le Guin. "I was surprised when you told me you were leaving the school at the end of the year," the other Instructors looked over in shock when that news was revealed to them so casually, "but now it all makes sense. Let me guess, you plan on traveling the world with Claussell for a few years before settling down and popping out a bunch of little Schwarzers?"
Rean couldn't help but let out a chuckle at such a blunt query, "Well, we haven't planned it out yet, but pretty much yeah." And that was the truth. Both Fie and himself wanted a family of their own some day, but he wasn't ready to settle down yet and he knew for a fact that Fie felt the same way. They both enjoyed traveling to new places and helping people. And while they weren't violent individuals, both were warriors who enjoyed a good battle. Rean wasn't ready to give that all up, especially now that he finally had the freedom that he lacked as the Ashen Chevalier.
"Indeed. I have a bottle of whiskey in my office. It costs more than an Instructor makes in a year. You will be sharing it with me." The way she said it was friendly, but it still sent a shiver down his side. How could one person be that intimidating that constantly?
"Sure, but I am heading to Ymir tonight. Even though I am sure they already know, I really should inform my parents in person. I will gladly join you later though."
"That is fine, Also, I will not let you resign from your position until I get one final duel with you. Bring Claussell along to make it more interesting." Ouch. Rean knew that Fie would be less than thrilled when she received that bit of news, and Rean couldn't say he was looking forward to the inevitable cuts and bruises himself. Still, another chance to duel the Golden Rakshasa was a good opportunity and not something he would willingly pass up. He agreed to it, but with no small hesitation.
Now that the school contained both first year and second year students the staff had expanded to meet the demand. A few of the other Instructors gave their own congratulations to Rean, but none of them really knew him well so they were a lot muted in comparison. Rean wondered if the news would reach Randy, who had returned to Crossbell and the SSS after the first year ended.
The meeting moved onto more mundane topics before eventually coming to an end. Now Rean found himself standing before a door that contained his doom: The homeroom of Class VII. Rean muttered a brief prayer to Aidios before opening the door.
Normally the homeroom for Class VII was a lively place and Rean suspected that it had been until he opened the door, but as he made his way into the room he was greeted by absolute silence. He could feel the five pairs of eyes burning into his soul. The gazes followed him all the way to the center of the class where he awkwardly cleared his throat to begin class.
"Good morning cla-"
"I always knew you were obscene, Instructor Rean," Apparently Altina had no problems with cutting him off, "but it appears that you have exceeded even my worst expectations." While she was never the most expressive of girls, the flat look she gave him made her Civil War self look positively lively.
"Hah, you looked ridiculous in that picture they took. Did you get your dating advice from one of those cheesy romance novels?" Of course Ash would take the chance to fire off a free shot.
"Did that really happen last night Instructor? How did she respond? Why didn't you tell me you were going to propose so I could have been there? Ooooh I can't wait for the wedding. Did you-" At least Juna was responding positively, although Rean was afraid that she might forget to breathe and pass out.
"Well this was a surprise, but don't think I am going to give up on you just because you are engaged." Of course Musse was going to be Musse in this situation. "It will be fun to steal the heart of a married man. Someone of your stature is naturally entitled to a mistress."
Fie Claussell suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to murder a mint as she got off the tram in the Sankt District.
Yeah, this was about what Rean expected. He didn't have a single clue on how to respond to all of the chaos. In desperation he turned his eyes to the final student.
"Uhh... Congratulations Instructor?" Kurt Vander looked just as bewildered and overwhelmed as Rean felt.
"Thank you Kurt." Rean latched onto the most normal response like a lifeline. "I always knew that you were my favorite student." Maybe that last bit was uncalled for, but Rean felt a little payback was in order.
"Hey! That is unfair!" Unsurprisingly it was Juna who took the most offense to that last comment.
Rean shrugged, "I had to shut you guys up somehow. I know you guys won't let me start class until I tell you all what happened, so I would rather get that over with as soon as possible."
"Oh please. Not all of us are interested in that sappy shit." Despite his words they all knew Ash well enough to know that he actually was interested, even if he attempted to hide it.
"I am sure you were a perfect gentleman and swept Fie off her feet." Musse mused with a giggle.
"I am sure he wasn't." Altina replied. Rean couldn't help but privately agree with the Black Rabbit on this one. He considered it a remarkably poor performance on his part, but decided to omit that bit from the story
"To answer your earlier question Juna, yes it was last night. As for what happened..."
Despite having been here many times in the past, Fie found herself wondering what life at St. Astraia would have been like. It all seemed so alien for the Jaeger turned Class VII graduate turned Bracer. For a girl raised simply to survive the things taught at this school all seemed so useless. And yet the school was still seen by so many as critical for girls of the nobility. Even Victor Arseid had wanted his daughter to go there.
'Although I bet Laura would have found a way to bring her sword.' Fie thought with some amusement as she pictured the sword maiden whipping out her over sized weapon while in a class about tea etiquette or something equally frivolous.
Of course just because she thought the school itself was useless didn't mean she disliked the girls who went there. She considered Elise to be a good friend and thought the same about Alfin and Musse when they weren't trying to hit on her man (which unfortunately was quite often). Still, even after all these years she couldn't begin to fathom the life of the average noble girl.
'Wouldn't I technically be a noble once I marry Rean?' That unwelcome thought popped into her mind suddenly. She quickly did her best to forget about that one, deciding instead to revisit that topic... never.
By this point Fie had realized that this commission was almost certainly a request to gossip from the princess of Erebonia. Normally Fie would be annoyed by such a worthless request, but completing a commission that she was asked specifically for, no matter how small, from a member of the royal family was something that would look good on her record down the line when a potential promotion to A-Rank was being considered. It also didn't conflict with her evening plans like a more dangerous mission might have. Plus it meant more work for Sara, and that was always a positive.
What did annoy her, however, was the seemingly never ending giggles from the gaggle of schoolgirls that she passed. She had thought that the morning crowds of Heimdallr were bad, but that was nothing compared to this. One day in the distant future Fie would look back at the memory of all those rich noble girls from important families treating the child-soldier of an unknown family as an idol to be amusing. Today was not that day.
Unsurprisingly, she had been informed that the location of her request was the Student Council room. For someone like Rean this would normally mean an escort. Having reproductive organs on the inside gave Fie the liberty to travel through the school on her own, not that she had any interest in exploring such a weird place. It wasn't long until she reached her destination where she knocked, received confirmation, and entered the door.
"Fie!" Of course it was the ever excitable Alfin Reise Arnor who was the first to greet her. And as usual Elise Schwarzer was beside her. The fact that they were the only two occupants of the room reinforced Fie's theory that this was going to be a long afternoon.
"Hey Alfin. Hey Elise." Sure she wasn't particularly excited to be there at that moment, but she was still happy to see her friends. If she recalled correctly they were both in their fourth and final year at the school.
"Sorry about this Fie." Elise apologized with a slight bow. "I know you had better things to be doing today. I tried to stop Alfin, but she can be pretty unstoppable when she sets her mind to something."
"Aww come on Elise! You can't deny that you are just as excited as I am." Alfin's grin took on a slightly more mischievous tone, "And you shouldn't be so formal with Fie. You two are going to be sisters soon."
Oh, right. In legal terms Fie was going to become related to the Schwarzer family. She had no memories of her birth family, but she never really considered himself unfortunate in that regard. She had a father that taught her how to fight and live. She had a drunk older sister figure who set her on the right course in life. She had two overprotective big brothers who she was probably going to need to stop from murdering Rean at some point. She also had all of Class VII which she saw as family. To know that she was about to legally add the Schwarzers to that list was an odd feeling, but not an unpleasant one.
"Alfin!" The other two girls couldn't help but be amused as the normally composed Elise all but whined for her friend to stop.
"Fine, fine. No more teasing." Alfin abated, but her teasing grin didn't actually go away. "So what caused Rean to pick you anyways? I knew he wouldn't pick me, but some of those girls who were after him are super hot and I thought he would go after them for sure" Here she paused as she realized her words might have been offensive, "Um, no offense, Fie."
"Nah, it is cool. I asked him the same thing myself once."
"There are a lot of reasons.'"He said with a shrug. Seeing that she was not content with that answer he elaborated, "The warrior in me always admired your strength and skill. I couldn't help but be drawn to you from the very first day in the Old School House with the way you handled yourself. I always felt like I could make it through all the crazy fights we went through as long as you were at my side.
Some might have found it off-putting, but I always appreciated your blunt and carefree nature. You know how much of a hot mess I was. And yet every time I started to second guess myself you were there with a blunt comment that cut through my hesitation, or a joke to lighten the mood when I started to doubt myself.
But the main reason? Despite all of our differences we were very similar. Just two lost souls trying to find our places in the world. I don't know when I really noticed it, but I think subconsciously I realized it very early on. I think that is what drew me to you. Just a feeling that if we worked together we could support each other and eventually find our places in this world. And when it came time for me to choose the place I wanted to be I realized that that place was with you.'
His words were cheesy as hell, but Fie couldn't deny that they made her the happiest girl in all of Zemuria. Even now a year later that memory caused her heart to race a little faster. Still, she wasn't about to tell her friends that story...
"He has a fetish for younger girls." She finally answered. The teasing grin she wore let the others know that that wasn't true at all, but it didn't stop Elise from nearly tripping over her own feet.
"Fie!" The youngest Schwarzer complained after she recovered from her near accident.
"Aww. If he wanted a younger girl he should have picked me." Alfin's thoughts went in a much different direction.
"Sorry, but what Rean told me was really cheesy and just thinking about it is embarrassing."
"Fine, fine. But at least tell me if you guys have done it yet?" Ah, ok. Fie understood that the princess was trying to get a reaction out of her. Sadly for her Fie knew the perfect way to counter teasing attempts from someone with no actual experience in the subject matter: by being as blunt as possible.
"Sex? Yeah. We go at it like rabbits whenever we have a chance." The truth, but sadly they didn't have the chance nearly as often as they liked. Thankfully that would be changing soon. Now it was time for her killing blow. "That night at Mishelam we were up almost the whole night. Got lucky to not end up pregnant."
That was no lie either. While her heart knew without any doubt that they had a future together, the rational part of her brain truly believed that Rean's role as the sacrifice meant that that would be their only night together and she knew Rean felt the same way. They completely surrendered themselves to their passion that evening. Future sessions were treated with more responsibly, but were no less enjoyable to the pair.
Alfin sputtered incoherently. She had not expected that kind of response at all! Not even her older brother was that direct on the subject of passion. Still, she recovered quickly and acknowledged her absolute defeat with a courteous bow.
Elise? She looked ready to pass out and was completely out of it. It was almost comical looking, actually.
Fie basked in her total victory. While she wasn't one to tease, she could never pass up a chance to slip in a comment at the right time to cause maximum discomfort for her friends. Rean was actually starting to build up a resistance to her efforts, and she didn't see her friends enough to get the chance very often, so she made sure to strike on those rare moments she had the opportunity.
Eventually Elise rebooted her brain, but she couldn't quite remove the bright blush from her face. "Has Rean told our parents yet?" She managed to ask.
"They probably already know." Fie grumbled with irritation clear on her face, "But we are planning on seeing them tonight. Rean felt it best to tell them in person."
"That makes sense. Would it be alright for me to come with you?" Elise asked as she felt it would be appropriate to be there with her family.
"Suit yourself," Fie shrugged. After that the conversation shifted to lighter topics for the rest of the afternoon. Alfin made sure to keep any teasing comments directed solely towards Elise, much to Fie's amusement. It was a surprisingly enjoyable afternoon for the Bracer, which she appreciated because she knew that that evening would bring forth even more chaos, especially once the rest of Class VII got involved.
It was going to be a long evening.
