Byleth waits until the class is empty before pulling Bernadetta aside. She had already taken deep breaths before this little meeting, having no doubt that her student will be in much more turmoil than her.
"Professor…" Bernadetta sniffles. "I-I'm so sorry for being such a pain, I swear that from now on, I won't skip another class for as long as I live!" She says it with such confidence it nearly makes Byleth think this is not the real Bernadetta.
"That is wonderful news, Bernadetta," Byleth replies with a smile. "It is good to see you in class again. Tell me...why have you been absconding for days on end? As your professor, I will not take any excuses for this matter. Please, tell me, and I may be able to help you if it is serious."
The girl suppresses her urge to run. Her fight or flight response has been...out of sorts, recently. If she is honest with herself, she, too, has no idea what has been triggering such strange actions. It all seems to have blossomed many months ago. Yet she can not recall exactly what has been the cause.
Bernadetta keeps her eyes to the floor, fingers twirling over each other nervously, tentatively trying to calculate her answer. It almost sounds idiotic when said aloud.
"...Well, um...lately, when I'm in class...I start feeling really...scared, for some reason…"
Byleth tilts her head, "Is there something bothering you?"
"No...not that I can think of. It happens...outside of class, too, l-like in the dining hall, sometimes I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore. It sounds stupid, but, I thought if I didn't go to class, everything would fix itself, but now I just feel worse…! I don't know what's wrong with me, Professor…!"
The tears forming in the girl's eyes are thwarted from release when Byleth eases down the panic. She tells her to calm down, relax, everything will be okay, and finally, takes a moment to come up with an educated diagnosis.
"I am sorry to hear these things are happening to you. The wisest choice would be to tell Manuela about your condition. I am not a professional when it comes to symptoms…"
"S-symptoms?! Am I sick?!"
"Fear not. I highly doubt it is a sickness. My advice is to see Manuela, but if you do not feel as if that is necessary, you are free to ignore it. When did this all start?"
The idea of closing her door and locking it behind her sounds beyond enticing at this point. "Um...about four months ago…"
Byleth props her head on her hand in thought. Bernadetta is against visiting Manuela, but a little voice in her head says that is the only way to be cured. But there is always a 'what if'. What if Manuela is unable to identify the problem? What if it gets worse? What if Caspar wishes to never train with her again…?
…
Wait…
"Bernadetta?"
"HUH?! What happened!? Where am I?!"
Byleth recoils in surprise, eyes wide. The plum haired girl is looking around frantically, trying to recall her thoughts and memories. Collecting herself, Bernadetta faces Byleth with a posture that resembles a stretched rubber band ready to snap.
"I…" says the flummoxed teacher, "I was calling you...are you alright? You suddenly went red as a beet. Are you feverish? Perhaps that has been the issue?"
"F-feverish?!" The cold hand of Professor Byleth pressing against her forehead makes her realize just how hot she felt. "Whaa — no! I don't feel feverish at all!"
"Are you positive?"
"Yes!"
Byleth is not about to interrogate the girl until she yields. If she has learned anything from this place, it would be that everybody does not have to keep, or say, their secrets. Bernadetta is a special case. What secrets lay beyond her dorm room remains an enigma, for now, for she has not even seen that door swing open before. She is truly impressed Caspar had gotten her out with the lack of cake on hand.
...Caspar, huh?
"Professor…"
Bernadetta is twiddling her thumbs, face as red as the greenhouse's roses, "Again, I-I'm so so so so so so so sorry! I-it doesn't mean much in words, I-I know…! But, if I can make it up to you…"
"Oh, Bernadetta, merely attending class will suffice for me. If there was something bothering you, you should have told me sooner. As your professor, I feel beyond guilty knowing one of my beloved students has been suffering behind closed doors."
A sniffle, "Oh...okay...I can do that...I-I promised Ca-" she stops herself there after a sudden, heart-throbbing panic races through her bloodstream. Eyes wide as saucers, she digs her nails into her scalp and squeals out the remainder of her turmoil. "...Aaaaahh! No, no, get out! S-sorry professor, b-but I have to...I have to go! I'll see you tomorrow!"
She sped out of there without a moment to waste.
Leaving Professor Byleth in a cloud of dust. Coughing and swatting away the nuisance, Byleth stares at what was once an occupied spot. Boy, if she tried, Bernadetta could leave fire trails as she ran. She hopes that girl will consider talking to Manuela, at least once.
With all said and done, Byleth returns to her podium...
Ah, piss.
She forgot to give Bernadetta her homework.
Whimpers and shrieks.
Those are all that have escaped her voice at the moment. Since when were the training grounds so stupidly crowded?! Goddess, there were a lot of people! She counted about three, maybe five! Do these people not have lives?!
But she must not be hindered by these faceless nobodies. Bow in hand, lance on her back, Bernadetta peers around the corner, peeking into the room. She set her eyes on about five people — Catherine, a knight, Dimitri, Ferdinand, and most importantly, Caspar. He is discussing something with Catherine and Dimitri, yet his height compared to theirs limits Bernadetta in her ability to refrain from snickering. But that is the least of her worries.
Goddess, she does not want them there…! When she thought of training with Caspar, she thought of it alone! She imagined them both in an empty room with no peering eyes present! Not with them! Goddess, now she does not want to even step foot in there, and it already took all her courage just to come out here—
"Hey, Bernadetta!"
She freezes in place.
Oh, goddess, no.
Three pairs of eyes have set upon her. Expecting eyes, waiting for her to enter. Caspar had somehow caught wind of her presence, because he is the one calling to her. The girl says a prayer or two before screwing her eyes shut and taking a big step forward, entering the training grounds, and preparing to fulfill her promise.
"There she is! See, I told you she'd come!"
Bernadetta peeks open an eye at Caspar. Tentatively she walks forward, approaching the trio with stiff and tense movements. Don't be weird, don't be weird, do NOT be weird.
She must have been too slow for his liking, because, when she least expected it, Caspar went and snatched her arm to drag her closer. The very action itself sent the girl's poor heart into a frantic panic as heat rose to her face — goddess, no, get her out of here! She changed her mind!
She is dragged across the training grounds as Caspar says, "Glad you could make it. I didn't know when you'd be showing up, so I planned to wait here all day, but now that you're here, we can start training!"
"All day…?!"
"Yep! All day!"
How kind…
Bernadetta tries to ignore the peering eyes of Dimitri and Hubert. It is difficult, knowing that without even looking at them, she knows they are staring directly at her.
Don't let it get to you, Bernie…!
It all seems to be working, up until she prepares herself on the battlefield. A few feet away from her is Caspar, wielding a training ax held tight in his hands. Catherine is at his side, showing him the correct grip technique for the weapon. He follows her orders as shown.
…
Catherine is certainly taking her time with this.
"Hold it firmly, and face your palm towards you. For a downward strike, use a grip called the 'continental grip', where you hold it as if you were holding a hammer."
Come on...that's enough already. Why wouldn't he know how to hold an ax?
"Alright! I got it!"
"Stop right there. You just lost your grip."
"Aw…"
Come on, she doesn't have all day.
Meekly, quietly, Bernadetta makes sure to look Catherine in the eye when she says, "Excuse me, um...can we...start training already...please?"
The woman blinks, as if she completely forgot Bernadetta was there. "Hm? Oh! Um, yes! Just a second." She goes right back to Caspar.
…
Something stings, and Bernadetta scowls.
Just let us go...don't grab his hands like that…
Catherine finally finishes after what feels like an eternity. There before Bernadetta is Caspar, face mean and determined with an ax gripped correctly at his side. In Bernadetta's own hands is a simple training lance. She has learned enough to know this weapon front and back during close combat, the only trouble being the way she falters when a sudden bolt of doubt stabs her heart.
But this is Caspar von Bergliez. She asked for this, this is what she wanted, and finally, it is here. Finally, she can train with him! She would laugh and kick until her energy runs dry, but she has to remain serious and save the excitement for later.
"I'm not going easy on you," Caspar says. "Hope cooping yourself up for so long didn't make you rusty."
Ah yes, his pre-battle taunts.
"I won't, either, C-Caspar."
He smirks. "Oh yeah? Let's see what you got, little girl."
Caspar charges with all his might, yelling out a battle cry as he swings at the shorter girl. The frail weapons clash against each other as Bernadetta uses the lance as a shield, barely holding back his might. She grimaces, feeling the weight of the ax coming down before she throws him off balance and to the side.
He does not falter. Caspar fixes his grip and, yelling, takes a wide swing at Bernadetta. This causes her to jump away, shriek, but her to use the opening and jab at him right in the side.
"Nice one, Bernadetta!" calls Catherine.
Please, shut up.
"Huh, you're nimbler than you look," says Caspar, holding his side.
A compliment…!
"Th-thanks."
"Uh-huh. But now," he readies himself like a charging bull, "I'm gonna get serious."
Nothing, absolutely nothing, could prevent the grin forming on Bernadetta's face from blossoming. The determination in his eyes sent her instincts wild, and after days of seeing that face and running away, somehow she feels as if she is facing her fears. She fixes her position into a battle stance, lance in defense while her feet turn outwards.
"I'm ready!"
Along the sidelines of the training grounds, Dorothea and Petra watch as their two classmates go all out on the battlefield. Bernadetta plays defensive against Caspar, using opening to get a hit in. The two girls had been chatting with Catherine when they first entered, stunned at first to see Bernadetta in such a crowded area.
"Caspar said he promised to train with her," Catherine says.
Dorothea gives the woman a strange look, "Promised?"
"Yep. 'In exchange for her to attend class, I promised to train with her.' That's what he told me."
Petra, after observing for a while, says, "I have not seen Bernadetta train with hardness like that before."
Dorothea watches, never missing the smile on Bernadetta's face. Very interesting, to say the least. It may have been an accident, but Dorothea has found something new to talk about with Bernadetta.
Oh yes, this will be fun.