A/N: This one is a request from doctor3027 as well as a sort of prequel chapter to chapter 3.

Chapter 24: Crush

"Now, Robin, there's no need to worry. Any friend of mine is a friend of yours, right?" Chrom smiled confidently as he wrapped his arm around tightly Robin's shoulder, walking him forward. Robin, being a recent transfer student to the school, only knew Chrom and Lissa, as their parents were friends with his mother. Though it was better than nothing, it still didn't do much to ease the anxiety brought on by meeting others, but Chrom's help was appreciated nonetheless. "Look, they're all great people. With some, it'll take time to get to know them, but I promise, they're nice people! We all have a study group after school every other day. Silly though it might sound, we all ourselves the Shepherds," Chrom said, trying to reassure and prepare his friend for the encounter ahead of him.

Robin looked over his shoulder to Chrom, not nearly as sure or confident as his escort. "That's an… interesting name, but I don't see why it's an appropriate choice for a study group," he confessed.

Chrom proudly crossed his arms and declared, "We call ourselves the Shepherds because we help to herd each other into the future!"

"Wow. That is… incredibly corny," Robin laughed as Chrom punched him playfully in the shoulder. The two turned a corner and ran into someone, though it was more like that someone quite literally ran into them. The transfer student didn't know what had happened at first, but, as the shock began to wear off, he realized that something or someone must have rammed right into him, sending him sprawling onto the floor with that someone laying right on top of him.

Groaning emerged from the stunned Robin as the figure on top of him sprang up nearly as quickly as it fell. "Oh, gawds, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I was running late to practice and I tripped on a loose tile back there, and I didn't mean to and I'm so sorry!"

Robin rubbed the back of his now-aching head as he propped himself up on a shoulder and stared up at the person who ran into him; a girl, wearing a purple and pink uniform with bushy brown hair and wing clips. Robin smiled, acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation, and stood up, brushing himself off as he did so. "It's no problem. I should have been watching where I was going."

Sensing an opportunity for introductions, Chrom walked between the two. "Speaking of, this is Sumia. She's part of the Shepherds as well." The klutz blushed as she took notice of Chrom being within just feet of her, even more so that he was witness to her falling. "Hey, Sumia, are you okay? Your face looks a little red. You didn't hurt yourself in the fall, did you?" Chrom asked, concern in his tone for her

"No I'm perfectly okay! Just a little clumsy is all. Haha, a shame I can't just go to a mechanic and ask for them to balance me out and make me… less… clumsy," she coughed, with an awkward silence ensuing as neither Chrom nor Robin had a clue as to how to respond. Sensing the atmosphere she had created, Sumia quickly held out her hand to Robin as a means of changing the subject. "N-nice to meet you, I'm Sumia, as Chrom told you."
Robin took Sumia's hand and shook it. "Hi, I'm Robin. Nice to meet you as well."

"So, this is where you've been Sumia. You're late, you know?" a commanding voice boomed from behind Chrom and Robin, which caused them to swiftly turn on their heels. Walking up to them was a girl wearing a white and red athletic uniform, matching her long, crimson hair. She stopped suddenly as she saw just who it was Sumia was talking to. "Oh, h-hello, Chrom. So sorry to intrude." She then turned over to to her query. "Come on, Sumia. Phila will be pissed if we stay any longer."

"Right, sorry, Cordy. Nice to meet you, Robin!" Sumia waved off the two boys as she ran forward to meet halfway with Cordelia, who had turned and started making her way towards her destination, and the two walked off together.

"Well, Sumia got to meet you, at least. She's one of the friendly ones in the group, but I wouldn't push it. She's got a mean right hook." Chrom laughed as he rubbed his jaw in remembrance of a past memory, and he looked over to Robin. However, Robin had barely registered Sumia's farewell or Chrom's comment as his attention was squarely on the spot where the two girls had turned a corner and left his view. "Robin? Helloooooo!" Chrom clapped his hands onto Robin's cheeks, and the white-haired boy shook his head to clear it of his daze.

"Who, uh… who was that? The girl who left with Sumia?" Robin didn't fully realize why he was so curious as to who the mystery girl was, but found himself dying to know all the same.

"Who? Cordelia? She's Sumia's best friend. She's a genius, as I'm told. Excels in academics, music, and the equestrian racing team our school hosts. Not many schools have a horse team, y'know, but ours does. Why do you want to know?" Chrom looked closer at the face of the transfer student and saw a bit of pink on his friend's face, past what his slaps had brought. "Haha, no way! You like her, don't you!"

Robin turned with an incredulous look to Chrom, not entirely sure himself, but not wanting to give his friend the wrong idea."What!? No, that's not it at all! Just wanting to know more people and make more friends, that's all." At this, he looked off to the side, the pink in his face beginning to shine a tad brighter in his embarrassment.
Chrom frowned and grabbed hold of his friend's shoulders. "Alright then, if you want to make a new friend, then let's go down to the track right now. I'll introduce you."

"Wait wait wait wait wait! I haven't even thought of what I'll say! I'm a mess too, I can't talk to her looking like this," Robin blurted out, licking his palm and dragged it over his head, trying to slick back a tuft of hair that was sticking up. His heart was racing in his chest at the thought of talking face to face with a girl he had just met.

Chrom stopped forcing his friends movements, opting to try a new strategy. "Admit it. You have a crush on her. It's written all over your face."
"W-we don't know if that's what it is."
"Oh, it definitely is."

Robin turned his head away again. He wasn't sure, but thinking on it, just her appearance had left him speechless. "I can't be sure about this. I only met her a minute ago and didn't say a thing. What if it's just a passing feeling? Infatuation? What if we share nothing in common, or if she's just repulsed by me in general? I don't know, I can't rush into this… I need time to fully think things through, to process this."
Chrom sighed at this, frustrated with his buddy's reactions but interesting in helping him through it. "My friend, you think too much about the simplest of things. All it takes is one conversation. Friendship and love aren't things you can just learn about in a book. You have to experience them!" Robin kept his head turned away, the red on his face fading, but still apparent. "How about this: I'll give you to the end of the year to make a move. If you don't, then I'll intervene and get you to talk to her, one way or another. Deal?" With this, he shot out a sideways palm before the nervous boy.

Robin donned a look of annoyance and glared at Chrom. "That doesn't sound like a fair deal in the slightest. How about until, college maybe. That'd be a good amount of time for me to thinking up something to say."

Chrom groaned, but kept his hand extended. "You'll just make yourself worry the longer you wait, you know. How about it?"

Robin gave Chrom a conceding smile as he took Chrom's hand in his. "Please, if it takes me to college, and I don't say anything to her, then you can call me an idiot until the end of time."