Apex85: That's good then. That's one way for him to go, if a bit impersonal and sudden. Would probably get a few chuckles though, to just see the egomaniac to suddenly be stomped into paste. But, that's not how he's gonna go out, and I'll keep quiet on the matter from here on out.
Not gonna lie, I'm honestly struggling to read whether this line is sarcastic or not...you don't usually go that route, so I'm gonna assume it's sincere. So thanks. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
Nope, no spoilers, end of story. I've already had two huge ones thrown in my face recently, and while they didn't kill my hype any, they did upset me for awhile, as I wanted to go in completely blind. That said, I've already messaged you about the Hamel thing, so we'll leave it at that.
Manu259: Eh, these things take time, ya know? But I get ya.
Ah, remember, the key word in that statement is many. There will be instances of it happening in the next few chapters, just not a bunch, that's all. (Pretty much.)
That's fair. Agreed. That's fine, just as long as it didn't come off as worse, it's all good.
Uphill battle is putting it mildly. As for that being the prerequisite to him having a relationship, well, let's just say that Fie is stubborn and determined, and leave it at that. X)
Thanks. I'd recommend it. As for myself, I'll slog through the Skys, then I'll be playing the PS4 versions of CS 1 and 2 this time around, so that'll be great. Awesome indeed.
Yeah, see ya there.
Ouchanrrul: I figured, considering the context. That's all well and fine, I just figured since you asked, I'd let everyone know the reasons for the M rating, in case anyone else was wondering the same thing you were. Gem? Oh, I don't know about that, but thank you regardless. That's quite the praise!
That's the majority of it, yeah. Probably not, no...the question is, how are they going to arrive at that moment? It won't be easy, that's for sure...
Thank ya. I definitely agree. Oh you know it, it's gonna be off the charts. As for how and why, I'm not telling, you'll see for yourself. Indeed we are, not too much longer now. I can't wait!
I know, right?! Blew my fucking mind! It was so good! Gotcha.
I'll do my best, you have my word. Thanks, I appreciate that. :)
RosyMiranto18: First of all, thank you for the review. Second, okay, go on.
That's quite interesting. But I'm afraid I have no idea who you're talking about, so trust me, it's not the same person. And yes, please no spoilers, I beg of you.
Thank you! Everyone's excited for Nord, me included, so all aboard the hype-train on that one. Well, I mean, at this point, he would be. His main objective at this point is to get at Fie and Rean, so...yeah. And since Bugbear was involved with Nord, a bunch of jaeger dropouts, you'd kind of figure an actual veteran jaeger would come in handy for that operation...and that's all I'll say on the matter for now. As for Rean and Fie...soon enough, soon enough. :P
Cool, thanks, I'll do my best. No, the flashback of the twelve year old noble wasn't Verrat. His name is Verrat, by the way, since you asked. As for Patrick's opinion of him, you'll find out here pretty soon, I assure you. That's not a bad conclusion, nor is it inaccurate. Take that for what you will.
Oh, no problem. We all make mistakes. Don't sweat it. :)
RedBurningDragon: Yep. Yeah. Thanks.
rikotch: Holy shit, you beautiful bastard, you're a life saver! I can't express the gratitude I have for you warning me about the spoiler filled review. You might think I'm over exaggerating, but believe me when I say, I'm not. Thank you ever so much. It's been deleted and, thanks to you, I didn't get a single thing spoiled from it. :)
I don't see any reason not to tell you, no, R is not Rutger. I kinda see why you might guess that, but no. Kinda made me chuckle though, as if that was the case, that would certainly change a lot of things.
So Rean wasn't the only one, ha, no blaming it on his obliviousness now! Probably something along the lines of, 'I probably shouldn't be here for this...' among other things, of course. XD
Oh, I plan to. At least to the best of my ability, anyway. It should be a lovely sequence to write, for sure. I hope it's lovely to read as well. We'll just have to see when it gets here.
You make a valid point. As for the plural to arge and rege, from what I've seen in the game, the word works like fish, as that the word itself is it's plural. I can't remember the specific instance, but I do recall someone saying someone or something was a certain amount of arge tall, and they just used the base arge despite the fact that the plural was required. So...yeah, I do believe it's just arge and rege, whether it's singular or plural.
Yep, I know, you really saved my ass on that one. Once again, you have my utmost gratitude!
Thank you. I plan to do my best.
Jose19: Okay.
Yeah, you have. I understand, to each their own and all that.
I definitely agree on the Alisa part, that's for sure.
Everyone has different opinions. Aside from that, I never made the comparison, so...yeah. That said, yes, Fie is quite beautiful in CS 3 as well, but I don't quite see how that's really relevant...
Raven Armata: I suppose I could. Will I? Eh, not sure, to be honest. I'll consider it though. Because you're right, it would be funny to see. I haven't done any omakes or anything of the like, perhaps I should start doing so...hmm, I'll think on that.
Once more, allow me to thank all those who reviewed, and allow me to thank those who have added this story to their favorites and alerts since the last update as well. Xetsura, skycomv2, mnorsyafig92, RangerFan3173, carnet2012, Railgun10032, Dranyer, Nathrium, Chase Raph Saiduq, XI-Strength, thank you!
Chapter 3 is here! Yes, finally! I gotta bunch good stuff for this one. Also, expect chapter 3 to run a bit longer than the first two, because, well, we've got some major stuff to bring to fruition and conclude. That's all I'll say for now.
UPDATE
Touch-ups, nothing more.
Please read, review, and enjoy.
Irresponsible. "It's just fishing. What's the worst that could happen?" Little Rean responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
With a heave, the little girl was pulled off her feet and right down into the running river, fishing rod and all.
"ELISE!" Child Rean shouted, eyes wide in shock and fear.
Hesitation. As panic and fear struck him, little Fie was already at work, diving head first into the river, her intent to save the girl all too clear. Rean watched, almost rooted the ground, as Fie swam after the other six-year-old.
"REAN! HE-HELP ME!" Elise continued to scream, tears rushing down her face, as she pleaded for her brother to rescue her.
"I'm coming!" He shouted back. "Don't worry you two, I'm coming!" He shouted once more, hoping to reassure the two, even while he was scared and freaking out. Wasting no more time, he jumped in after them.
Failure. Only he couldn't keep his word. He was dragged under along with them, completely incapable of saving either of them.
...
"...your real parents didn't want you."
"They abandoned you."
...
Eyes the color of blood, hair the shade of steel, a young man stood, dark aura flowing all around him. Bathed in life essence, it covered almost every single rege of his form. From his hair matted forehead; sticky with the crimson liquid, to his dripping hands, the substance was everywhere.
...
"I'm sure most people would see these as acts of selflessness and sing your praises for them...but to me, it comes across as...abnormal. Perhaps even twisted."
...
Anger. Rage. Fury. This is all he knew.
Kill. Destroy. Slaughter. This is all he desired to do.
...
'That would never happen.'
'...I think the pity I'd see in her eyes would kill me.'
...
Red...
Muscles twitching in anticipation, fingers popping as his hands waited at the ready, the young man, no, the monster, the demon, prepared to hunt.
...
'...I'm just not good enough for her. She deserves someone far better than me.'
...
The color red...it was everywhere...
...
Monster. "Monster! Demon! Get away from me!" The grown man exclaimed with fright. It was entirely in vain, as Rean paid him no heed, continuing his act of butchery, carving the man's flesh with his own machete.
Monster. Screaming and grunting and panting with effort, the child brought the machete down over and over again, furiously hacking away at the man, wanting nothing more than to end his life. He was erratic, he lacked any sort of finesse or technique, he just hacked and hacked away, like a mindless killing machine. Until finally...he was dead.
Monster. The snow ran red with blood. Drip, drip, drip came the ruby substance, falling off the steel of the blade in thick droplets, the instrument of death stained a deep crimson.
Run. Rean wasn't sure how long he stood there, just staring intently at the gory mess that was the corpse; breathing labored, puffs of mist coming out with every exhale.
From. After an inexplicable amount of time, the red irises of the 'child' finally pulled themselves away from the disfigured carcass and proceeded to scan the isolated, almost desolate landscape, white as far as the eye could see, the land blanketed in snow.
The. Finally, the frightfully colored orbs found something to lock onto. The small girls aside of him, also painted red with blood. Some theirs and some the man's...; they were disturbed by the sight of the brutality, as such they remained almost motionless, rooted in place, a mere three arge or so from his position. Fie and Elise...
MONSTER! The demon in human skin known as Rean...his bloodlust was unabated.
...
Stalking forward, he trudged through blood-soaked snow, on the prowl for his next kill. Legs ever moving, he left the cadaver of his latest victim behind, the mangled corpse of no interest to him now that the life contained within had been drained from it.
The twisted visage of one Rean Schwarzer, his teeth bared, a gaze of pure murderous intent, his body bathed in red; it was quite the sight to behold. One that could inspire terror in even battle-hardened warriors.
...
Not good enough.
Pathetic.
Monster.
Useless.
Worthless.
Demon.
Failure.
Weakling.
Danger to everyone.
No one wants you.
You can't protect her.
Nobody loves you.
You can't protect anyone.
It's all your fault.
...
Machias was the first, knocked straight to the ground, screaming in pain; blood gushed from his wound.
"MACHIAS!"
Jusis was the second, toppling over onto the cold, stone floor, voice gone; blood pouring from his lacerations.
"JUSIS!"
Laura was the third, her body impacting the ground head first; a cry of agony was ripped from her throat; blood pooled around her now still form.
"LAURA!"
Then, finally...
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Fie's shriek of anguish, as Warrick carved deep into her flesh with his machete, seemed to reverberate endlessly throughout Rean's head.
"FIE!"
...
...
...
Not good enough...couldn't protect them...couldn't protect her...
NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
...
...
...
"On the outside...a worthless failure. On the inside...something far worse."
...
The blood was everywhere...
ACT I - CHAPTER III - PART I
...
Septian Calendar 1204
6/6 - Sunday
Rean was startled awake as his body hit the ground, his breath escaping him as he thumped against the floor of his room.
Drenched in sweat, adrenaline was pumping through his veins; his mind was erratic, his vision was blurry, and the near dead silence that filled his ears was almost frightening to him in his addled state. All he could truly hear was his heart racing, as it beat at a breakneck pace; it was almost madness inducing, being isolated with nothing but the thump, thump, thump of one of your own vital organs to keep you company.
Using one of the sleeves of his pajama shirt, the raven-haired boy attempted to wipe away the tears that had built up behind his eyes that had been clouding his vision; he finally managed to reintroduce air into his lungs with a shaky gasp. Rubbing his eyes a little harder to make sure to clear away the evidence that he'd been on the verge of crying, he also began to reign his brain in, forcing it to evaluate the situation rationally. In doing so, he was able to grasp the fact that he was in the waking world now, no longer confined within his torturous nightmare.
He'd been tossing and turning in his sleep, his movements must have grown so wild that he'd fallen out of his bed, that would explain why he was on the floor now, he rationalized.
There had been so much blood...
"Snap out of it. It was just a dream. Just another nightmare." He tried to reason with himself, beginning to calm his heartbeat back to normal levels.
"Pull it together." He tried to command himself, slapping his cheeks in an effort to get himself to focus.
Getting up off the floor, he stood upright, noting the fact that his blanket had made the trip down with him to the floor. Giving a heavy sigh, he looked towards his bed, to notice the sheets and his pillowcase were victims as well, soaked in his sweat.
"The nightmares have never been that bad before. At least not in the sense that I sweat through the bedding and sheets, anyway. Not to mention my pajamas..."
Another sigh.
"Guess I better get them washed before anyone wakes up." He decided then.
"I'd rather not have to explain why they need to be cleaned." He said aloud to himself.
'I have nightmares so bad that I soak the bed through with sweat. I'm normal, I swear.'
Rean rolled his eyes at the ridiculous thought. "Yeah, that'll go over well."
Stripping the mattress and collecting the blanket from the floor, he gathered his school uniform, exited his room and made for the stairs.
"Why's it gotta be so damn early?" He remarked grumpily to himself as he did so.
...
First he showered and changed, after that he filled a basin with water and soap, soaked his pajamas and bedding, grabbed himself the washboard, then began scrubbing away.
It was a monotonous task, to say the least, but he'd grown accustomed to it. He'd been doing his own laundry at Thors for just over two months now, even longer back at home, so it was only natural he wouldn't mind the chore.
'I wouldn't turn down an orbal washing machine if someone offered me one though, those things are fantastic.'
...
Shortly after he finished, he hung the bedding and clothes up to dry.
And since he had time to kill till everyone else was up, let alone before it was time for class, he decided to get a bit of training in. As long as he was quiet, he'd get a decent hour or so out of it.
After that, he'd just go about the day normally. Nightmare pushed to the back of his mind as he focused on his studies and responsibilities. He'd heard every word from the dream thrown his way before, some of them from his own mouth and mind, he'd shove down the hurt and keep going, nothing he hadn't done before.
The only problem he had, was...
'I told Fie I'd tell her the next time I had a nightmare. How am I supposed to do that now? This time is different, it's worse...I don't want her to know...she'd try and comfort me when...I don't deserve it...not this time...'
A new dilemma atop the many others he had in his life, the young swordsman did his best to push it to the back of his mind and go about the day as if nothing was wrong.
In short, the status quo.
Rean sat on a bed in the infirmary once more, shirtless as Instructor Beatrix removed his bandages.
He was just about fully healed, and like the others, he, thankfully, had no scars to show for the ordeal he'd gone through during last month's field study.
He was the last one to be seen for such a thing, as Fie and Laura had gone at different times earlier in the day. Despite that, the nurse and her patient weren't the only ones present in the room.
Both the stoic ex-jaeger and the timid violinist occupied chairs, where they'd set up a makeshift table for their game of blade. They'd come to keep the Schwarzer heir company, as the process would take a bit, as the medical professional would give him a complete check up and reaffirm his state of health.
Watching his friends play, the raven-haired boy couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The reason for that being the absolute look of puzzlement Elliot wore, as he tried to figure out how he'd been beaten yet again.
"That's the ninth time. I just don't get it...how do you manage to win every single game?" The orange-haired sixteen-year-old wondered aloud.
"Skill." The silver-haired maiden supplied a single noun as an answer.
As per usual, her expression was neutral, however, there was amusement shining in her eyes.
Rean smiled at the scene, as the two got along.
'Ever since Fie got her own deck, she's been playing anyone in our class who'd spare a minute. And so far, discounting our games, she's undefeated. It makes her more sociable, even if only a little. It's a small step, but it counts. Makes me happy I got her one.'
The image of how she'd smiled ever so gratefully at him when he'd presented it to her flashed in his mind then.
'Well, happier anyway.' He amended his previous thought. 'I'm gonna have to make sure I thank Crow again for helping me get my hands on another deck.'
"Is there anything I can do?" Fie's voice brought Rean out of his state of thought, to see she had posed this query to the aging woman looking him over.
Instructor Beatrix smiled at that.
"No need. I'm almost finished." The graying woman informed her. "Your enthusiasm is appreciated, though. I'll be sure to cover how to assist in such matters in our next lesson so that you can help in the future."
Fie nodded in acceptance at that.
...
"That is a really nasty scar..." Elliot suddenly breathed out, as if he'd been holding that statement in for some time now.
Looking down at his chest for a moment, Rean acknowledged the severity of the damaged tissue. "Yeah, it is."
"It's really faint, so it's kind of hard to see, but once you take notice of it...it's pretty bad. How did you get something like that? I-If you don't mind me asking, that is..." The soft-spoken musician inquired, revealing his curiosity, while also trying not to offend his friend who was always reticent to talk about himself.
"It's fine, Elliot." Rean assured his younger friend with a laugh; looking back up at him.
"To be honest, I don't know." He went on to confess. "It's some sort of mark. I've had it since I was a kid. Apparently, it was there as far back as when my parents found me. So...your guess is as good as mine as to how I got it, I suppose."
"O-Oh, I see." The orange-haired sixteen-year-old accepted that easily enough, though it was obvious the answer didn't really satisfy his curiosity. "Hmm..."
"Something up, Elliot?" Rean queried, noticing how the younger male's eyes had narrowed then.
"It's nothing. Just...well, now that I look closer at it, it looks more like a bunch of little scars all knit together." He observed.
"It makes you look really tough and manly!" He enthusiastically complimented the older teen; smiling.
Rean smiled back at that. "Thanks, I appreciate that."
He never quite felt comfortable about the mark, scar...whatever it really was.
"You forgot sexy." Fie interpolated with a small grin.
"Fie, no teasing today, alright?" Her childhood friend requested of her.
He just didn't feel like he had it in him to deal with it today, not after this morning, so he hoped she would acquiesce.
"Who's teasing?" Her grin faded, as she looked at him with a deadpan expression.
Rean couldn't help but blush slightly at that.
As Beatrix finished up, she shook her head at the teenagers.
Fie sat with both Machias and Jusis at one of the tables in the back of the cafeteria.
The pair of rivals were debating some sort of topic between their bites of food, while the stoic maiden sat between them silently, not bothering to touch her only half finished meal.
Lime-green eyes stared blankly at the tray across from hers, the meal it held missing barely a few bites from it. The almost untouched lunch, and therefor the tray it rested on, belonged to the absent Rean Schwarzer.
The four classmates had decided to eat lunch together.
They'd only just sat down, engaged in a free-flow conversation, when some random student had come to ask for the Schwarzer heir's assistance, on behalf of the president of the Student Council. Always willing to assist the unparalleled dutifulness that was Towa Herschel, the humble swordsman immediately agreed and went with the other student, apologizing to his friends for having to leave as he did. He also promised to be back soon.
For Machias and Jusis, this was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
For Fie though, it was rather irritating. There were a number of reasons for this, but the biggest one was that without the presence of her best friend, she couldn't help but pick up on all the little whispers and other such hushed communication regarding her.
When he was present, she could block it all as background noise and focus on him, and when he wasn't...
'It's not like I haven't heard this all before.' She thought to herself in an effort to placate the urge she felt to glare at the ones speaking ill of her, as well as assuage the tiniest bit of hurt all their words caused after constant repetition.
This behavior was to be expected after her past as a jaeger became common knowledge, of course. However, ever since she'd returned from her group's field study in Bareahard, she'd noticed a significant spike in the frequency of this activity, as well as the malice behind the words spoken.
'Almost like someone's actively encouraging them to do it.' She mused.
'If that's how it is, I have a pretty good idea who's whispering in their ears about how dreadful and appalling I am.' She concluded, Verrat Cayenne the only person coming to mind.
'Can't know for sure. So no reason to bother thinking about it further.' She decided then.
"Why would they let a miscreant such as her into this academy?" One haughty sounding girl questioned, her tone suggesting she was genuinely somewhat anxious about the reality of the situation.
"Who knows?" A boy, who was sitting beside her, Fie judged by where his voice came from, responded.
"I heard she got in by threatening some of the faculty." Another student whispered conspiratorially.
"That makes sense. There's no way an uneducated barbarian like her could pass the entrance exam on her own merit."
Letting out the faintest hint of a sigh, the silver-haired maiden did her best to ignore the vitriol coming from two tables behind her; taking up her utensils, she continued to eat her meal.
Noticing her silence, Machias attempted to draw her back into the discourse.
"Is something wrong, Fie? If you wish to talk about something else, please feel free to say so. I'm sure neither of us would mind a topic change in the slightest."
The stoic girl simply continued to eat.
Machias' brow raised in a questioning manner, clearly wondering what the problem was.
Jusis had opted not to verbalize, simply looking toward the younger teen and patiently waiting for an answer.
They needn't wait or wonder for long.
"She always seems so...vacant. Almost emotionless, like a doll. It's creepy, really." The boy who'd responded to the first girl stated with unease.
"I'd wager it's because she sees us all as potential targets. It's a disconnect, a disassociation from her place in the academy; if she never looks at us like people, then we aren't. That way if she has to kill one of us, it's no big deal." One of them attempted to psychoanalyze her. "It's a jaeger thing." He summed up for his friends then.
"How atrocious." Another of them spat with disgust.
That one stung a little bit, merely because it implied she viewed her classmates, her friend Laura, and even Rean like that, which she would never.
The ex-jaeger didn't allow this to show, however, even to her classmates in front of her. In fact, she gave no sign of acknowledging the hushed words coming from behind her at all.
Not that it stopped Machias from reacting to them.
"Where do you get off talking about her like that!?" The bespectacled teen demanded indignantly; shooting to his feet, he slammed one of his palms against the surface of the table to get their attention.
The five noble students sitting two tables ahead of them nearly jumped at the sudden outburst, clearly startled by the intensity in his tone and the abrupt slap of skin on wood.
"You should have seen this coming. Everyone knows how Regnitz, the fool he is, thinks of us nobles. If you didn't expect him to react like this, that makes you five, perhaps, the biggest imbeciles on campus." Jusis scoffed.
Flashes of Fie's concern for him and the others during the incident with Warrick in the Bareahard waterway, her words of heartfelt gratitude for speaking out when Warrick had demanded the identity of his brother's killer, of how she'd begun to interact with him and the rest of their class without Rean's prompting, showing she was beginning to warm up to them... All of it ran through Machias' mind.
It served to make him angrier, evidenced by the way he was glaring daggers at the five students wearing white uniforms.
"Do you think yourselves so high above the rest of us that you feel you can speak ill of a girl you hardly know!? Never mind the fact that you're a bunch of entitled, spoiled brats; forget about the reality of how you're all a part of a caste system that is archaic and absurd; what gives you the right to look down on someone you know nothing about, to spout such disrespectful derisive slander about my friend!?" The dark green-haired academic raised his voice, making no attempt to hide the fact that they'd greatly upset him.
All eyes were on Class VII's VP, every student present in the cafeteria gawking at him and the scene he was causing as he chewed the group of nobles out.
Fie was visibly surprised at his rant, eyes noticeably widening as she stared at him with a fair measure of shock.
Said group of nobles could only stare back, stupefied, suddenly without anything to say.
Dignified noble he was, the blond imperial fencer simply shook his head with disapproval, before standing himself. Grabbing his nearly finished plate, he did the same with Fie's, reaching over to do so. Taking possession of the dishes and the unfinished meals upon them, while leaving the trays where they sat, he motioned for the younger girl to follow him.
"If they find your presence so disagreeable, then we shall simply dine somewhere else." He apprised her.
The silver-haired maiden was momentarily stunned; this was was the first time anyone besides Rean had ever stood up for her.
Snapping out of it, she stood, grabbing Rean's bowl off his food tray, before following her classmate to the exit of the Student Union building.
"Come, Regnitz." Jusis bid his rival then, noticing the studious bookworm hadn't moved from his spot; his glare had yet to falter in the slightest. "Before one of the faculty comes to deal with them, and you."
"D-Don't treat me like some sort of dog, Albarea!" Machias complained, his attention finally pried from the group of haughty nobles.
Nevertheless, he quickly grabbed his own food and followed after them.
The three of them proceeded to exit the building then, leaving all the other students silently staring after them.
Even as Ramsay came out from the back and inquired as to what all the ruckus had been about, no one spoke.
...
Once outside, the three members of Class VII immediately began moving away from the Student Union building and toward the front gate. They would simple adjourn to Kirsche's for the rest of lunch period, like they'd done on occasion prior to this little incident.
"We should run into Rean on the way, considering he's yet to return." Jusis stated then.
"He said something about helping a girl find her missing notebook. Considering midterms are fast approaching, I assume they must be full of valuable notes." Machias put forth.
It took a moment, but the rivals soon realized Fie was no longer following behind. Stopping, they turned to see her still a about an arge or so behind them, her gaze locked on the ground.
"Thank you, both of you." The fifteen-year-old vocalized her gratitude with sincerity, as she looked back up at them.
"Don't mention it." Jusis waved her gratitude off as unnecessary.
"Those pompous windbags don't have a clue. Their heads are too far up their own asses." Machias proclaimed irritably. "Don't listen to any of their crap, Fie. They don't know anything." He assured the younger girl.
She gave her classmates, no, her friends, a small smile at that.
Rean, having just returned to the dorms, finished climbing the stairs to the third floor of the Class VII dormitory; when out of his peripheral vision, he noticed that the door to his instructor's room was ajar.
'I've been wanting to talk to her about what happened in Bareahard for awhile now, so that's oddly convenient. Guess I'll go check up on her, and while I'm at it I might as well thank her again for coming to our rescue.'
Not really thinking anything of it, the eighteen-year-old approached.
Reaching the door , he pulled it the rest of the way open, to reveal the room looking as it always did. With two exceptions...
The crate at the foot of Sara's bed was open, revealing a colorful assortment of liquors and wines and other such alcoholic beverages; some open, some not. Additionally, there were at least three empty beer cans on the empty shelf next to her place of sleep.
A fourth can was grasped in the hand of said woman, who sat upon her bed, facing the doorway as her student entered her domicile.
"Well, if it isn't the Rean-Bean-Machine, dutifully roaming the campus as always!" The jovial twenty-something greeted; a pink hue to her cheeks from all the drinking she'd clearly been doing.
"I feel like I'm wasting my breath pointing this out, but you do know it's not even five-thirty, right?" Rean replied flatly, looking none too pleased by her inebriated state.
"You got a problem with me spending my afternoon drinking?" The usually happy-go-lucky woman took on an air of annoyance at that, her expression becoming momentarily straight-faced.
"It's my room, and my beer. I'm not seeing the problem here!" She rationalized her behavior.
'Looks like she's already plastered...'
Rean sweatdropped, frowning slightly at his instructor's unprofessional behavior.
However, one of the reasons he'd stopped by was to thank her for what she'd done back in Bareahard: saving their skins. Thinking on that, he proceeded to recall her words to him and the rest of Group A on the train ride back to Trista...
'You're at the academy to learn. That's all you should be focusing on. While you're there, it's true that you may be forced to acknowledge some of the more unpleasant realities of Erebonia...but I believe there's something special to be gained from that. Something you can only gain now...at this moment in time...so long as you're together with your friends, and classmates. People for whom there is no substitute. Maybe when you graduate and go out into the world, much of what you've learned at Thors will have little meaning...but I still truly believe that sometime, somehow, what you experience as part of Class VII will be an invaluable treasure to you. It may not seem that way now, but I know in my heart that it will.'
His small frown faded, and he shook his head at his own behavior.
'Knowing her, she's probably ready to leap into action if anything serious were to come up. I shouldn't go doubting her, especially since she saved our butts last week.'
"Hey, hey, don't just stand there like you've go nothing to do!" The eccentric adult playfully chastised. "You're a student, so come sit here and keep me company!" She urged him with a small smile.
Sweatdropping once more, the teen in question responded, "I don't see how that has any relation to me being a student..." Shrugging off her zaniness, he agreed. "Oh well. I'm not exactly busy at the moment. I'll go get myself something to drink."
"Oh, be a dear and get me something to snack on while you're downstairs, would you?" The buxom beauty requested sweetly.
"Fine, fine." The diffident swordsman acquiesced.
...
Rean nursed the tea he'd brought up for himself, as the woman across from him finished her snack.
He'd thanked her again, like he'd planned, but she waved him off, assuring him it wasn't necessary, she was his instructor, of course she'd be there to help them. Regardless, he'd made his gratitude known, just as he'd done back when she first took his group to the hospital.
In her current state, the woman across from him would be more likely to give him a straight answer to something he'd had on his mind for a bit. As such, he decided now was a good a time as any to bring it up.
"Speaking of Bareahard..." Rean began.
Sara seemed to sober up a tad at those words, having a feeling she knew where this was going.
"About what Warrick said..." The affable swordsman continued.
"About the fact that I used to be a jaeger?" The red-fuchsia-haired teacher preempted her student.
"Yeah. You seemed really bothered by it. I'll be honest, I've been wanting to check on you and ask you about it, but I didn't really feel it was my place. It would be pretty presumptuous of someone like me to stick my nose in your personal matters; I...I just didn't want to be intrusive." He explained his rationale on the matter. "But since you invited me to keep you company, I figured now would be the only time it didn't feel like I was prying. Not too much, at least."
The jovial instructor chuckled at that. "You don't need to worry about that." She assured him.
"You don't come off as nosy, I promise. You're actually pretty sweet." She let him know with a grin.
Rean didn't give the reaction he usually would've, figuring she was teasing him to relieve some of her uneasiness.
"It did bother me that he ran his mouth and let that slip." Sara admitted. "I didn't want any of you guys to know about that part of me, of my past, not yet, at least." She confessed.
"I wasn't really surprised, if I'm being honest." The raven-haired youth put forth.
"Huh?" Was the twenty-something's eloquent response.
"I asked Fie about you shortly after we started here. She told me about how you used to be a bracer. and about how you found her. She never said anything more about your past than that, however, your mannerisms spoke volumes, at least in regards to how similar they are to her's. That, combined with her stories about her own time as a jaeger, not to mention your incredible combat prowess...and, well, it wasn't too hard to put the pieces together." He divulged his deduction.
"I didn't know for sure, of course, but I figured it was a pretty safe bet." He clarified.
She chuckled even more at that. "Sweet, and sharp to boot. You're gonna make quite the catch when you're older." She complimented.
Rean politely ignored what he perceived as further teasing.
"Let me put your worries to rest: I'm fine." She reassured the teenager.
"I've dealt with far worse than some jackass spilling secrets about me. I appreciate your concern, though." She informed him, as she gave him a small, genuinely appreciative smile.
"That said..." She continued. "While Fie already knew, the others were out cold when the cat was let out the bag." She informed him.
"So, could you do me a favor and keep this between us?" She asked of him sincerely.
"You have my word." He promised to keep this information in the strictest confidence.
"Great!" She chirped with her usual cheer, before proceeding to take a big ol' swig from her can of beer.
The eighteen-year-old had to fight the urge to sigh at not only her turnaround, but the accentuation of her irresponsibility as she downed the rest of her alcoholic beverage.
'Every time I talk to her, I feel like she's playing me...'
...
After getting her buzz-level back to where it had been prior to their serious topic, and some rambling on her part, Sara decided to broach a certain other subject.
"You've been working pretty hard for the Student Council." She suddenly remarked. "That's what I like to see! Building up experience and making memories is exactly what youth's all about!"
Rean stifled the urge to roll his eyes.
"I don't want to hear it. Not from the person that pushed me into it in the first place, anyway..." He trailed off momentarily, averting his eyes, unconsciously shifting his irises in the direction of Fie's room, and by extension, the other girls' as well.
"Especially since I've had a lot on my mind lately." He finished his statement.
"So this is about Fie, huh?" The buxom beauty posited, regarding the young swordsman with a knowing smirk.
At that, the diffident swordsman was visibly caught off guard, eyebrows shooting up as his mouth hung open, slightly agape for a moment.
He recovered quickly, minimizing the signs of his shock, as he shut his mouth and got his brow to return to it's original position, for the most part.
"Was it that obvious...?" He queried, clearly surprised by her inference to his abnormal state of mind.
Her knowing smirk became tinged with mirth, as she apprised him, "I hate to break it to you, but while you may think you're good at hiding these sorts of things, you don't exactly have a poker face."
'Or you're just frighteningly good at reading people.' Rean thought to himself in that moment.
'No one else seems to have figured it out, at least. Not even Fie.'
"I'm not gonna force anything out of you. If you don't wanna talk about it, then we won't." She assured her student.
"That said, it seems to be really getting to you. I've noticed you spacing out at an almost alarming rate over these past few days. When you're helping out the Student Council, in class, even here at the dorms when you're supposed to be taking a load off: you just zone out. That's really unusual for you." She stated.
"You snap yourself out of it and get back to whatever you were doing quickly enough, so you're not letting it affect your studies or responsibilities; I commend you for that: most teenagers in your position wouldn't be able to say the same." She complimented him.
"But still, it's a bad habit that you're better off breaking, sooner rather than later. And you can't do that until you deal with whatever it is that's distracting you so." She imparted some of her drunken wisdom.
Rean would have liked to argue the point, to insist that addressing what it was that divided his attention would only exacerbate things, but he knew that was no excuse.
Dealing with this, with his feelings for Fie, would end with him hurting far worse than he had in a long time. But that was just it, it would make his life worse, however, it would allow him to give his studies and his work with the Student Council his full, undivided attention once more. As such, he knew his instructor was right.
'I'm just being selfish.'
He needed to sort this out so that he could perform to the best of his ability. He felt he owed his family at least that much, to give everything his all, especially since they'd gone out of their way to send him here to Thors.
'But still...I can't bring myself to...to tell her. I don't want...I couldn't bare to see...'
As he closed his eyes, he envisioned Fie in his mind's eye, a look of pity in her eyes, as she tried to let him down gently.
She looked so uncomfortable, almost pained, as if it hurt her in some regard, even though he was the one being rejected.
'Despite her stoic nature, she's really a sweet girl at heart. It really would hurt her to be forced to do that, at least to someone so close to her.' His train of thought ran along the very same tracks it had every day since his revelation.
'It wouldn't be fair to spring something like that on her. It would be just plain wrong.' As if stuck on repeat, he justified his inaction with the same rationale he'd used day in and day out since he'd first come to his realization.
It was a cycle, he recognized that, he just didn't care.
If Sara had known of his thought process, she would have stopped him there and then and explained how self-defeating that position was. However, she had no clue what was going on in his head.
"You're right, I know that." Rean conceded this immediately to his teacher.
"But it's more difficult than you might think. It's...complicated." He tried to explain without revealing why that was.
She regarded him with a large, warm smile at that.
"You have feelings for her."
It wasn't an assumption, inference or conjecture, it was a conclusion. She'd figured him out. Seen right through him, even if it was only in one aspect.
The humble swordsman nodded solemnly at that.
"I do." He confirmed that as truth.
"I just...I don't know how to deal with something like this..." He confessed, a twinge of sadness floating around in his calm tone of voice.
"Rean, are you telling me you've never been interested in someone? Never had a crush on a girl before?" The somewhat still inebriated woman questioned him with dubiety, her expression skeptical.
"No, actually." He disclosed this fact to her. "I've never dealt with anything like this before."
The moment those words left his mouth, the jovial woman's eyes widened considerably, as her mouth hung open in shock; she also lost her grip on her can of beer, which slipped from her grasp and hit the ground with a clank, rolling under her shelf shortly after impact. Thankfully, it'd been empty when this occurred.
'Just how closed off is this kid!?' She wondered incredulously to herself in that moment.
'Never had a crush before?! You're a teenager! How could you not have liked a girl before!? Hormones dictate it should happen at least once...'
Reaching down, she bent at the waist to allow herself to reach the empty can she'd dropped without standing from her seated position, before picking it up and placing it with the others.
'Come to think of it, Fie's the only other person I've ever heard make such an outlandish claim. Considering her upbringing, however, it seems far more plausible in her case.'
"Instructor?" Rean attempted to regain her attention, brow quirked ever so slightly at her odd behavior.
"Sorry about that, you just caught me off guard." She admitted, collecting herself.
"Not having any sort of romantic experience, especially the sort concerning something as harmless as crushes...well...perhaps it's not unhealthy per se, but it is incredibly strange." She spoke on the subject, clearly somewhat off-kilter.
'Especially so considering teenage hormones and all that.'
"I never really had time for anything like that, to be honest. I was too busy training. Honing my skills as a swordsman..." The raven-haired boy trailed off once again.
'Trying to figure out how to suppress my power, reign in my emotions.'
"Okay, so this is your first time with this sort of thing. I get that." She said then, trying to regain composure in her less than sober state.
'If this keeps up, that won't be the case for long.' She thought with annoyance, as she was sobering up due to the metaphorical curve balls her student kept throwing at her.
"You're hesitant to tell her how you feel, whether it's because you don't even really know yourself, or you're simply afraid of rejection. Knowing how levelheaded you can be though, I'm sure it's safe to assume it's the latter, rather than the former." The red-fuchsia-haired woman surmised.
The eighteen year old opted to remain silent, looking rather pensive at this point.
Sara gave a bit of a sigh at that. "You're a smart kid, I'm sure you already know that the only real solution is to tell her how you feel."
Rean lowered his head, his dark-colored bangs hiding his eyes from sight as they overshadowed them; gaze fallen to the floor.
Deciding to preempt whatever response he was going to give, the young teacher continued, "I know, I know, it sounds counterintuitive. But as much as you may seize up at the thought, it's only going to get worse until you tell her."
Her student didn't bother to raise his head.
"Far be it from me to tell you how to live your life. Honestly, I would've let you handle this kind of thing on your own and just watched you play shy, however, since I noticed it having such an effect on your daily life, I thought it prudent to give you some advice on the matter." She apprised him.
"That said, it's your choice. You can keep tiptoeing around it, if you want. Keep in mind though, if you really want to have a relationship with someone, you have to be willing to go for it." She advised him with a mixed tone, half caring, half prodding.
"Besides, your fear is more than likely misplaced; I have a hunch you'll be pleasantly surprised by what her answer will be." She told him encouragingly with a good luck wink.
Resting in his lap, his hands clenched tightly then, balling up the front of his pants into his fists, gripping the material so tightly that his knuckles began to discolor.
"There's more to it than that." The Schwarzer heir suddenly said.
"How so?" She queried, her brow quirked upward in curiosity to what his response would be.
A tense silence seemed to settle between them then, lasting for handful of moments...
"I'm not good enough for her." His tone low, he let these self-deprecating words spill from his mouth with concerning undertones of sorrow and loathing in his voice; so quiet he was, that this was almost inaudible.
Sara thought she'd been shocked by what he'd said before, but this took the cake; she was straight up taken aback.
Eyes widening to their limit, she was struck by the sheer overwhelming self-hatred she had sensed from the young man before her in that instant. She was rendered speechless, as pity flooded her being for this poor boy.
'What kind of life must he have led to feel like this?' Was her immediate thought.
'I know he's had it tough considering his unique situation of adopted nobility, and it's clear over the years he's developed some sort of inferiority complex in part because of it, however, nothing in his file suggested anything this extreme. Of course, a bunch of papers can't truly give you a good read on who a person is.' She acknowledged to herself.
'Still...how didn't I notice how deep this went until now? This isn't normal, there's more to this than a simple inferiority complex.' She concluded.
As her thoughts raced, her student managed to recompose himself.
"I'm sorry about that, Instructor." Rean apologized sincerely in the wake of his words and her silence, his demeanor beginning to reflect his melancholy.
"I was out of line for speaking to you in such a manner."
They both knew she didn't give a damn how her students spoke to her at this point; there was no protocol or sense of etiquette, she gave them free reign so long as they did what they were supposed to. On top of that, they also both knew that his words, as gruff as they'd come out, were far harsher toward himself than they'd been toward her. And yet, the intent was genuine.
Apologizing to her, for speaking ill of himself...that was rather disconcerting to her.
"Pardon me. I think I'll turn in early tonight." Rean said to her; standing from the chair he'd pulled over from her desk, he took it and placed it back where it'd originally been.
'He's clamming up.' She realized.
Sara quickly opened her mouth to try and dissuade him from leaving, but he was already closing her door behind him as she got the first syllable out of her mouth. "Wait-"
Standing to follow, she moved across her room and opened her door once more. Stepping out, she saw he was already across the hall and at the stairs.
As he took his first step down, she released a heavy sigh, and decided she'd address this another time.
'Now probably isn't the best time.'
Shaking her head, Sara retreated back into her room, closing the door once again.
It was then that the twenty-something teacher felt her shoulders sag as disappointment welled up within her for not properly dealing with that situation.
"I'll have to speak with Fie about this." She spoke aloud to herself then.
She was genuinely concerned for the boy.
She also liked him quite a bit, for a number of reasons.
It was because of these two facts that she would spend the rest of the night thinking about how she could have handled that incident better.
END NOTE: The path to Rean and Fie's romantic resolution has begun! Hope you guys like fluff and angst, because you've got a lot of it coming your way, trust me. Just giving you guys fair warning about that. :P