Date - Part 3

Vivi was no stranger to stalkers. It's one of the many woes of being beautiful. She also maybe, possibly threatened a couple or so when they started stalking her sister instead.

Even so, she felt a huge icy chill up her spine. "Gross…"

"Yeah. Been following us around since lunch. Don't know who it is, just that he's got a camera."

That was probably Rex.

"You know him?" Fie asked, relaxing on the bench. The sun had already set, meaning the school would be closed soon. It was just their luck when Vice-Principal Stick-up-his-butt came and shooed them from the rooftop. Neither in the mood to go home, they decided to take a break by the gardens.

"Ugh… unfortunately so. That creep."

She'd known Rex since they were in Sunday School. He's always been obsessed with pictures, so it came as no surprise that he joined the Photography Club when he -somehow- got into Thors.

His habit of taking pictures of girls without permission hadn't changed though. Vivi cringed. "Pervert. Disgusting. I'll make sure he gets a piece of my mind later."

Tilting her head, Fie cooed. Why, of course she can come too.

"Wait. Is that what you wanted to tell me earlier?" Vivi asked. "And why you did all those stuff before?"

A nod.

Fie first noticed him while they were eating their ice cream. Being spoon-fed seemed like a compromising position, so she diverted it at the last minute, to save themselves some embarrassment. The commotion at the diner might have been him, too.

The stalker also had a camera, so when Vivi went into the changing rooms with lingerie, it was the perfect opportunity for him to snapshot a lewd photo. Fie grabbed whatever clothes were nearby and used them as a cover.

"And the bug?" Vivi asked, cautious. Was the bug on her shoulder also a ruse?

Fie shook her head. "...No. There really was a bug on your shoulder."

…

Migraine. Vivi felt her face pale. "Th-thanks for telling me…"

"You're not mad?"

Mad? She was— at Rex. Not fuming, though; no reason to be. While kids might joke about her 'telling on the authorities,' stalking and taking photos without consent is a criminal offense. She'll ask the student council to look into it, have them suspend him, confiscate the photos or whatever, and then that was it— no fuss involved.

Heartless, yes, but he got what was coming to him. Wouldn't surprise her if he had an entire magazine full of girl's photos too.

Was that why Fie couldn't tell her about the stalker? She was afraid that it'll completely ruin their date?

She didn't respond.

"I'm not mad, Fie. Really. Don't worry about it."

She'd offer a hug, but she's a couple of friendship coupons short. Vivi offered a calming smile instead.

It was met with a Fie-rce glare. "Why are you so nice?" Fie asked.

Despite the tone, Vivi swayed from side-to-side as she thought of how to answer. The day's events made her numb to the bite. "I'm nice to everybody," she said in all honesty.

"Even to a bloodthirsty jaeger-tot?"

"Jaeger-tot? Who called you that?"

"Some high-and-mighty idiot in Class I. Patrick, or something"

Oh, that Hyarms kid. No wonder it was lame. Patrick had been lame ever since Sunday school. Some things never change. "I hoped you punched him in the face for that," Vivi said with a laugh.

"Almost did," Fie said, tittering as well. The glare on her face was gone. "Gaius beat me to it."

"He's the one in the art club, right?" That manly-man, crazy hot foreign student with the physique of a bronzed god? Yeah, Vivi remembered. He's one of the few males her baby Linde had taken an instant liking to— without her intervention. "Did you thank him for it?"

"No… Should I?"

"He stood up for you, to a NOBLE no less." That took massive guts, let alone from someone outside of Erebonia.

"...It doesn't bother you? That I'm a jaeger?"

"Not really," was her curt reply. Talk about switching roles.

"I was born and raised on a battlefield. I kill for a living. Even now, I might be getting close to you so that I can threaten you down the line. You're fine with that?" Fie asked in what was possibly the longest sentence Vivi heard her say.

"Well… Are you?"

"No."

This cute, meek girl threatening her? Vivi wanted to see that. It was prime teasing material. "You're a lot nicer than you think, Fie." Nice enough to worry about her and her stalker, for example.

"To be fair," she continued, "your jaeger parents did an excellent job at raising you."

"Dad did?"

"Definitely," Vivi said. "Makes me want to go and meet him."

"Oh…" Fie said, trailing off.

"But I can't, can I?"

A quiet nod. That was a given, Vivi guessed. He was probably out there somewhere, shooting stuff or murdering people for the highest bidder. Didn't change how she felt, though.

"You can't choose your family," she said loud enough to echo in the empty courtyard. "Why would I discriminate against you because of THAT?"

That was because Vivi knew it more than anyone. "Family is family. You learn to live with them, and you grow to love them. Even if they get on your nerves or they end up nagging at you… at the end of the day, your family will always be a part of who you are."

She smirked with a wink. "I kinda like jaegers. They're so badass~."

So long as they didn't kill her, she supposed. Jaegers were scary. Fie more so when she went silent.

The pitching of cicadas undoubtedly heralded the start of summer. That meant pools and festivals, but also sweltering heat. Just for today, however, that heat was gone thanks to overcast skies and monsoon winds. Using basic forecasting techniques Edel had drilled into them, Vivi determined that the day was a cool one all throughout. It was why she had been so eager to invite Fie on a date.

She considered it a success when the devil-may-care girl accepted the invitation. Her poor, young, naive self. What followed was one of the wackiest times in her life yet.

From awkward ice cream spoon-feeding to almost getting crushed by a mountain of clothes— to dying a little inside when a bug crawled up her skin, it's been one blundering failure after the other.

But, here they were, talking and talking, and then not talking while enjoying each other's company, as if the bestest of friends. She could get used to that.

"There's this girl in my class…" Fie said, hesitating the tiniest bit.

"Oh? A friend?"

"The opposite. She hates my guts."

"Is it because you're a jaeger?"

"I guess." Cradling her knees, Fie buried her face into it, muffling her soft voice. "I keep telling her that I'm just as normal as the others, but she won't ever listen."

"Do you hate her?" Vivi asked. She brushed away a stray leaf that fell on top of Fie's hair. If she hadn't, Fie might've ignored it completely.

She saw her eyes— lime green. Fie was an inexpressive person. What little she wanted to communicate, she did so with short and blunt statements… but her eyes were always sincere. Whether it be a bored stare or a piercing glare, they had always been that window to her honest thoughts and feelings.

It's why Vivi loved them so much. Right now, those eyes said more than Fie would have ever thought:

She didn't hate anyone. Not her classmates, not those bullies. No one—

— apart from herself. Then Vivi realized.

Why was she a jaeger? Why did the people she grew up with dump her here and leave her behind? Was it because she was a burden? Did they hate her? Had she been too much to handle? Did they think that she was too weak to be one of them?

Too weak to be a savage, merciless killer that is a 'jaeger'?

And even if she wasn't, why did people assume that she was? Why did they look at her like she was a monster deserving of their scorn?

Was she really a monster?

If she accepted that as true, wouldn't that mean she was doing them a service? If she was a monster, she could take their insults in stride— maybe even be proud of them. Then they can go on with their lives, knowing that they were right all along. Wouldn't that make life much simpler? Much easier?

So... how come? Why was she still here, blissfully living out a school life she never deserved, not as a 'jaeger', but as a 'girl'?

How come she enjoyed that life, and wanted more?

...

Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Vivi stood up and kneeled in front of this sulking 'girl.'

Girl or jaeger— it didn't matter. What mattered was that she was here, at this very moment, one horrible insult away from breaking down.

She gave Fie the biggest hug in the history of girl hugs, friendship coupons be damned.

"We're not in the same class, but we ARE in the same club." And she was the senior member, no less. If the cute junior-slash-younger sister couldn't say it, it was up to the older, more mature one to say it for them.

"I like you, Fie."

She liked their conversations, as terse as they were. Fie never used many words, but not once did she tell her to shut up or leave her alone. She kept talking in the best way she knew how. Their topics had been weird, but she liked how goofy and militaristic Fie's thought processes were.

She liked how curious she was. Fie was usually so bored that when she started asking questions non-stop about flowers, it was captivating. She'd asked so many that Vivi wanted to read up more just so that she could keep answering them.

She liked the way Fie didn't give a damn about things that bother her. She liked how she would pretend to not care about someone, but deep down, she worried about them more than she would worry about herself. She liked how protective she was, and how Fie wanted to make her feel safe.

She liked her. A lot.

"What are you— " Fie didn't return the hug. That was fine. Their soft, rhythmic breathing harmonizing with each other was enough.

"I like you, Fie. And... I want to be your friend. From what I can tell, you want to be liked by that girl, too."

"...I-I don't know..."

Her arms wrapped around her back tighter. It was small, like a little girl's. Silver hair smelled of flowers and shampoo as she stroked it gently.

"Tell her," Vivi said. "How you feel, what you think. Everything. And when she asks, answer her honestly."

Idly, she patted Fie on the head. "You're a good girl, Fie. I'm sure she'll come to like you too, soon enough."

"..."

She lost track of how long she held her in her arms. A minute or so, give or take.

"I… like you too, Vivi."

That was good to hear.

"I should say it like that?" Fie asked.

Life worked in strange ways. This was Fie's first date, yet here she was being tutored on how to confess. Vivi laughed. Hopefully, that was the least weird thing that'll happen to her for a while.

Still, it was…

"Perfect~."

Vivi felt like wearing pigtails today, that's all. It's complete coincidence she looked a lot like Linde. She wasn't planning on skipping the club meeting, no-no.

It just so happens Crow would be hosting a racket later and she needed to make a quick mira thanks to her little 'accident' yesterday.

"Oh my. You're here early, Vivi," Edel said, both hands watering the flowers like a gardening machine.

Bowing, 'Linde' greeted the club president with a polite smile. "Good afternoon, Edel. Vivi isn't feeling well today, may I ask if she may be excused from her club activities?"

"There are some trowels in the storage shed. Can you please get them for me, Vivi? Unpleasant weeds are feeding off of our dear plants and they deserve to be punished~."

"N-no, I'm Linde, Vivi's sister. I'm telling you that— "

Edel gasped "Oh, we may need to ask the student council for more rain covers too! I'll write a letter, can you deliver it to them, Vivi?"

Vivi clicked her tongue. "Fine."

How was Edel so perceptive at times? She always thought that the woman had her head in the flowers 24/7, but ten tries out of ten, Edel would foil her pranks before they could even happen.

Oh well. She'll just badger Rean into treating her to dinner. The guy was loaded.

Right, trowels. Then weeds.

Shoveling out the offending parasites by the roots, Vivi's eyes drifted to a far corner of their garden. She should weed out Fie's portion too— it didn't seem like she'll be visiting them today.

"How was your date?" Edel asked cheerfully.

"Meh. Screwed it up. Things didn't go the way I wanted. But overall…" She huffed as she pulled out a particularly troublesome weed. "It was fun."

Awkward conversations, being mistaken of buying sexy underwear, getting insect germs in her hair, and finding out she had a stalker. If new Vivi told that story to old Vivi, she would have never believed it.

"My, insects are becoming a problem lately," Edel remarked. Of course she would latch on to the least pleasant subject matter so long as it involved gardening.

Vivi heard an oozy squish, like a grape being popped. Then another, but with an incredibly succinct crunch.

Edel crushed a fist-sized beetle in her hand— her bare hand. She then lay its corpse to rest beneath the very flower it was munching on so that it may feed on the dead nutrients as an act of ironic cruelty.

…

"Hm?" Edel blinked when she was held by the shoulders. "What's the matter, Vivi?"

"Teach me, Master."

Edel was hot. Ranked high in the second year's list of hottest girls with an amazing bod. She should have plenty of date experiences, right? Also, please stop squishing bugs that's so gross and disgusting, she can't even—

"Hey," a voice greeted them. It was Fie's.

"Good afternoon, Fie," Edel greeted back with a bow. "Care to join us?"

"Not today," Fie said, surveying the garden. She sighed in visible relief when she saw her flowers still hale and healthy. "There's just something I wanted to give to you, Vivi."

Vivi?

"Oh, sure Fie. I'll go tell my sister you were looking for her," 'Linde' said.

Fie tilted her head with a half-lid eye. "What are you talking about?"

The disguise didn't work.

"Anyway… here." Pulling something out of her pocket, Fie handed her a small photograph. "Sara gave this to me. There's only one, so I want you to have it."

She hadn't even seen its contents before Fie dashed away. "I got stuff to do. See ya." Vaulting over the fence of their garden, the nimble jaeger quickly disappeared from view.

Vivi could only gawk.

Leaning over her shoulder, Edel giggled in delight. "Are you sure things didn't go the way you wanted?"

Not so sure anymore. After all, everything she had ever wanted was right there, etched in that small photograph.

The image was off and overly zoomed in; it had obviously been taken a floor below them while they were on the roof. Pretty low quality too— the orange sunset made everything a bit blurry.

But they could still see it there, as bright as day.

Fie's smiling face.

Earlier…

"...Here's everything I have, Instructor," Rex said, dejection clear in his tone. He messed up.

"Good boy." Sara patted him on the head and grinned. She accepted— or rather— 'confiscated' the envelope Rex had begrudgingly given. Along with it was a small photo quartz, no doubt filled with the fruits of labor from the young boy.

Putting on her best instructor face, she addressed the wayward child with a stern scolding. "I'll look away this time as payment. Just don't let me catch you taking photos of girls again without their permission, got it?"

"Yes, Instructor."

"Good. Now scram."

She could have confiscated his camera as well, but she felt that a bit heartless. Who was she to snuff out the loving passion of his youth?

The shutting of old wooden doors echoed in the empty schoolhouse. Alone now, Sara opened the envelope. As expected, they were filled with photos of one particular silver-haired ex-jaeger out on her very first date.

To say that these were priceless gems was an understatement. They were quite good too, and also quite varied. Rex did have the talent. The way he captured the fleeting moments when Fie smiled definitely earned him some kudos.

She smiled too. Her little baby was growing up alright after all. Sara was getting worried, what with all that tension Laura and Fie had going on. She should do something about that. Maybe some swimming could cool off their heads?

While she was lost in thought, a pair of light sneakers plopped on the ground behind her. They sounded familiar.

If it wasn't for her bracer instincts kicking in, Sara would have cursed out loud.

Cuz shit.

"H-Hey there, Fie…" she said. Sara wasn't religious, but she prayed that the heavens would have mercy on her poor soul. "Did you see all that?"

Fie glared. Intensely. "I did."

"Look… I can explain."

"You'd better."

"Let's not be rash now~." Sara reasoned, cold sweat beading down everywhere. "I'm technically your Instructor and you legally can't kill me~."

Her argument was retorted with a deathly silence.

She gulped. When had laws ever mattered to a jaeger? It was almost perfect. They were alone in a secluded location where nobody would hear the screaming. The lower floors of the Old Schoolhouse also made it a great place to dump bodies.

Yep. She was dead. All she had left was one last gambit to appeal to Fie's humanity.

"...Filly?" Sara squeaked out.

Fie growled.

Tagged as both an End-of-Summer Special and also to mini-celebrate 100k words between all my fics. Hope you enjoyed the holidays!

Reviews, favs and follows are appreciated.

See ya.