Chapter 3

"Aidios, I'm so sorry."

Juna pat Melyssa's shoulder a bit awkwardly, already foreseeing someone winding up with a murder charge. Pairing Ash and Crow together had been ideal, they could actually tolerate each other. Probably because they were practically identical in humor and lewdness.

This was… a potential disaster.

"Well, um, it was fun while it lasted, but I need to go grab my stuff and Crow needs to do the same thing." Monique spoke up, avoiding eye contact with Ash, her new roommate, for the time being. He was hot, no question about it, but this was a military academy and she had to behave herself.

"Sure, I'll help you. Thanks again for telling us, Juna." Melyssa left the cafeteria with Monique to help her gather her things. It was also the perfect escape from Crow, at least for the time being.

Goddess, how was she supposed to share a room with HIM?!

"Are you sure you're all right with this arrangement? Maybe you could talk to…"

"It's fine." Melyssa cut her off, shaking her head. "If this was the real military, there wouldn't be sex-orientated rooms assigned. It would be mixed and that's probably why they changed the rule last year. Probably want us to be used to rooming with the opposite sex before going into the actual military, if we decide to."

Monique didn't think of that way and had to admit, Melyssa made complete sense. "Hmm, good point. Well, if anything unsavory happens…"

"Don't worry, I can handle myself and Crow Armbrust. I'm more concerned with you and Ash. He's…intense." That was putting it mildly. "Watch yourself. I know we barely know each other, but…be careful around him."

"Just like you said, I can handle myself too."

Why did Melyssa feel sad to lose Monique as a roommate suddenly? Granted, she was a chatterbox, but it wasn't to the point of being annoying, unless she gushed about the Ashen Chevalier. "Thanks again for…inviting me to eat with you and talking. It was nice."

Monique waved her off with a grin. "We'll have plenty more times to do that. And I'll try to dial down my gushing on Instructor Schwarzer." She sighed dreamily.

I almost feel sorry for Ash…almost, Melyssa thought, knowing Ash would get the full brunt of the gushing now.

Ash would definitely be getting it. Or maybe not. Monique thought about implications of gushing about her crush on the Ashen Chevalier to Ash of all people… maybe she'd have a lot more practice on 'dialing it down' than she had anticipated.

"Well, on the bright side," She said as she began packing up the very few items she had managed to unpack, glad she had been procrastinating today. "At least… mmm, well Crow's a hero, right? Mostly. That's got to mean something." Not that she anticipated needing a 'Hero' here, but… one never knew.

"Crow is a loud, obnoxious boy in a man's body." Altina said from the open doorway, folding her arms over her chest when the other two women turned to look at her. "He's also on his way here, I figured I'd give you a head's up. It turns out, there were several mix-ups similar to yours."

Of course, because this new 'program' of integration was still being rolled out. She got the mechanics of it, but that didn't make it any less weird. She supposed by the end of the year it would all seem normal and all right, which would mean the program had been a success.

"Altina, right?" She looked like a child compared to the rest of them, but…the Black Rabbit was anything but human. She moved and acted human, but was a robot when all was said and done. Still, Melyssa smiled at her, not judgmental in the slightest and grabbed a bag and a box of Monique's. "Thanks for the head's up."

"No problem. Here." Altina grabbed a box as well, following them out of the room. "The name plates will be changed as well. Instructor Towa is not happy about this mix-up."

"What did you mean Crow is a hero, Monique?"

Both Altina and Monique stopped to look at Melyssa with raised brows. "You DO know he was one of the many who helped stop the end of the world from happening, right?"

"He's also known as the Azure Chevalier while the Instructor is Ashen." Altina added, nodding at the bewildered expression on her classmate's face. "You did not know?"

"Jurai doesn't get all of the news from the Empire, so I only heard of the Ashen Chevalier. Didn't realize there was more than one."

"Crow is from Jurai. Did you know him?" Juna walked up to them, joining the fray and took the box from Melyssa to help out as they arrived outside of Ash and now Monique's room, opening the door.

Melyssa didn't want anyone to know her history with Crow Armbrust, so she had no choice except to lie. "No. Jurai isn't exactly a small place and not everybody knows everybody."

"True."

"Cannot deny that analysis."

"You hadn't even heard of him though? That just seems odd." Altina commented after a long moment before shrugging and dismissing it. Maybe Melyssa didn't know him personally but given the events from not so long ago at the very least Altina would have thought she'd at least know OF him. "Well, I'm going to my room and-"

"Okay ladies, I'm here, the party can start."

Crow had arrived, with a leather bag over his shoulder. Clothes and other items poked out from the unlatched top, he had just sort of crammed everything into it before heading this way. His red eyes swept over the trio, finally landing on Melyssa. Rean had warned him to behave, she already seemed 'nervous' enough being so far from home and overwhelmed from her first day. Crow had told him to stuff it, she obviously wasn't a paper doll who was easily pushed over if she had been accepted into the academy.

Feigning ignorance was the way to go when it came to her classmates, Melyssa decided, leading the way out of the room. Of course, she knew what Crow had done, who he was, including his time in the Noble Alliance and the Imperial Liberation Front's leader, C. He was the Azure Chevalier, who nearly lead the Noble Alliance to victory, but Rean had beaten him and stopped the civil war. That was also where she'd heard Crow had lost his life while trying to save the former Crown Prince Cedric, one of Erebonia's greatest treasures. These days, however, Cedric was an Enforcer of Ouroboros and had denounced his claim to the throne after the Twilight's curse was stopped.

What she DIDN'T know was HOW he was alive if he'd been pronounced dead two years ago.

Sighing, Melyssa still had some unpacking to do and it looked like Crow really needed to organize his belongings as well. Juna and Altina took off to go to their room and Ash had arrived moments before Melyssa and Crow left, both girls sharing a subdued expression on their way. Arriving at their door, Melyssa opened it and went to her side, taking her Cutlass out to set it on the bed. A fellow swordswoman, there were plenty of them in the academy, but she'd been following the path of the sword for several years now. She was still an amateur and hadn't reached her best, but hopefully, this place would help her reach her goals.

In theory, Crow should have graduated quite a while ago, but he had a few personal issues. Being a slacker was one of them, he was prone to avoiding homework and ignoring assignments until the very last minute. There had also been the fighting and wars, the death thing, all very detrimental to a young man's education. He flashed Melyssa what was meant to be a charming smile, knowing this was either going to be a GREAT year or a very awkward, terse one. He wasn't one for any kind of weird situation or feeling like he had to be on tenterhooks, though.

"So, what part of Jurai are you from, Melyssa? It is Melyssa, right?" He had been calling her Brackett, both Juna and Rean had informed him that he needed to attempt going along to get along.

Her eyes slid over to him, seeing absolutely no recognition in his eyes, just pure curiosity. He was trying to make conversation with her, which Melyssa found to be out of his comfort zone. Turning, she sat down on her bed to fully face him and draped her long hair over her shoulder, knowing she would have to humor her new roommate. Avoidance wasn't an option anymore with Crow.

"Yes, it's Melyssa. And the south side. Born, raised, bred…I've never been outside of Jurai until now, so it's been a little overwhelming." There was no point asking him the same thing because anyone who lived in Jurai would know who Crow was. Even if it was only because of his grandfather being the last mayor of Jurai before the Empire annexed it.

"Brackett…." Crow raked his brain, trying to place the name. It was familiar but it was also a common enough surname in a place with a population of around 150,000 people. "Mmm, I know a few Bracketts." Sort of, maybe, it had been years and he had been… angry and dismissive back then. "None as pretty as you, of course. I'd remember a beautiful woman such as yourself." He had gone from cordial to a combination of playful and seductive.

His back was to Melyssa as he unceremoniously dumped his belongings out onto his new bed, eyeballing the contents that seemed to go everywhere. He had crammed more things into the bag than what was probably possible and as a result, a few items went rolling off said bed. He dropped to his hands and knees and gave chase to said items, right beneath her bed and out between her legs.

"Got it." Crow peered up from the floor at her, sliding the rest of his muscular yet sinewy body from beneath her bed, the small ball in hand.

Calling her beautiful made her blush a little because she didn't expect to hear something like that from him. Crow was a sweet talker, it seemed. "Well, this isn't awkward at all."

Melyssa's face felt as if it was on fire, the blush clear as day in her cheeks and instinctively clenched her thighs together. Oh Aidios, she was wearing a skirt! Melyssa immediately grabbed her pillow and planted it on her lap, folding her hands on top of it.

"Next time, just ask and I'll climb under there to get it for you. And if you've heard of the name Brackett, well – my family owns a fishing company in the south part of Jurai." Her entire family were full of fishermen while the women stayed home cleaning and cooking. She definitely didn't go down that road and was determined to be something more in Erebonia.

Fishmongers, her family was a bunch of fishmongers, also not unusual given Jurai's location and he racked his head again while staring up at her. He hadn't bothered getting off the floor, not yet anyway. He was amused with her putting a pillow on top of her lap, as if that did anything to help from this angle, though he was a gentleman and kept his practically glowing red eyes on her flushed face. Deciding to stop tormenting Melyssa, Crow gracefully got up onto his feet, tossing the ball from hand to hand as he now stared down at her, taking in the way her eyelashes practically brushed against her cheek when she blinked up at him with those teal eyes.

"So, Crow Armbrust, and it's a pleasure to meet you." Since his introduction earlier had been a bit… unorthodox, he flashed her a smile and held out a hand.

Clearing her throat, she set the pillow to the side on the bed and stood up, taking his hand to shake it gently and firmly. Those crimson eyes of his made her stomach tighten slightly and a warmth spread throughout her body. Somehow, Melyssa managed to stay composed because even his touch felt familiar to her, no matter how much time had passed since they last saw each other.

"Melyssa Brackett, it's nice to meet you too, Crow." Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Again, she added in thought, slowly pulling her hand out of his. "So, do you have any recommendations on clubs I should check out for our free day tomorrow, fellow Juraian?"

"Oh I don't know… I guess it depends on what you're interested in." Crow went back to finish unpacking. He eyed his clothing and turned towards the dressers, spotting something that looked feminine on top of one and assumed she had picked hers already. "There's cooking club, gardening, uh… photography, if that's your thing." He snorted, beginning to half-heartedly fold his stuff before putting it away. "Swimming, the reading club, there's a chess club…" That one sounded boring personally. "Oh, fencing too." Which she might be interested in, he had spotted her cutlass. "Or…" Crow snorted wickedly, glancing back at Melyssa over his shoulder. "There's also a fishing club."

"Yeeeahhh, you're not funny, Armbrust. And you have a mess on your hands." Melyssa rolled her eyes, wondering if fencing would be up her alley. Then again, she wasn't much of a fencer, more of a slasher. "Cooking – no, gardening – definitely not, photography – uh-uh, swimming – maybe, reading club – no, chess club sounds downright boring. And I'm definitely staying away from fishing. So, what club are YOU going to join? It's mandatory, so you have to pick one unless you plan on helping the Student Council." Without realizing it, she began helping him sort through the mess of clothes on the bed and other items, standing by his side.

"Yeah, there's no way they'll stick me on or anywhere near the Student Council," Crow snorted derisively at that. Hero he might've been hailed as of now- after all the stuff he'd done that was probably not very heroic to the general populace-, Student Council material he was not. "I already know what club I'll be signing up for." She was folding his laundry, Crow raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure how he felt about her sorting through his unmentionables as if it were the most natural thing in the world. At Melyssa's questioning look, he grinned. "Paranormal." Which meant he'd be able to slack off to his heart's delight.

"Paranormal, eh? I didn't take you for someone who believed in the afterlife, but guess you learn something new every day." Melyssa looked down at the shirts she folded and glanced at the dresser, wondering why she started doing this in the first place. "Sorry, you just looked like you needed help sorting through this mess. I can stop if you want." Crow shrugged, telling her it was fine and Melyssa continued doing it, beginning to fold his shirts and buttoned up flannels. "You like games. Of all kinds." Hell, he even had a chess set! "Why don't you join the chess club since you have your own set? Seems you like games."

"I like gambling." He corrected her after a moment. "Chess is all well and fine and most of us know how to play." It was a 'gentleman's game' after all, notwithstanding the logic and patience it taught. In some cases, it was also used to teach tactics for war, that had come in handy he supposed. "Do you play Blade?" He asked, dismissing Melyssa's apology with a wave of his hand. "I have a deck." He loved the game and he had taught several children how to play, both out of amusement at their eagerness to learn the gambling game, on top of he had a bit of a soft spot for kids.

"I've heard of it, but no, never played it. Never really had time." Honestly, Melyssa had played a few games with Crow when they were kids and she stopped all of it when he left Jurai behind to pursue his revenge. Not even a goodbye, he just left, she thought, finishing up his shirts and saw him pluck out the deck of Blade from the semi-organized pile on the bed. "Maybe you can teach me sometime how to play." Taking a chance, she looked up at him the same time he looked down at her, a tentative smile crossing her face. "I don't gamble though, fair warning." Goddess help her, she was gambling right now and didn't even realize it.

Crow wasn't sure what was going on behind those teal eyes of hers, but it made his own light up with something he didn't readily try assessing. "Sure you do, you just don't know it yet." He teased gently, unaware he was sort of reading her subconscious mind.

A knock on the door made him step out of Melyssa's immediate space, turning to glance over his shoulder.