"Hey, jaeger!"

Fie stopped, causing the rest of Class VII to stop alongside her. Their walk to the academy that morning had been pretty calm until then, but such interruptions weren't exactly uncommon. Still, the name called out to her certainly was. She rolled her eyes as she saw just who it was who yelled out, "What do you want, Ash?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted confirmation on all that shit we saw down at Hamel. Thanks for that, by the way."

Inwardly she winced. By instantly responding to his call she had given him all the answers he had been looking for. That was sloppy on her part and surprisingly crafty on his, once again confirming that the punk was more than he appeared.

Outwardly, however, her usual stoic deadpan expression gave nothing away, "Not like I was hiding it in the first place."

Juna let out a scoff as she glared at the interloper, "Are you just here to bug my friend?"

"Heh. So even after finding out she's a killer for hire you still want to be her friend? I'm sure Schwarzer must be so pleased that his students are a bunch of wusses."

"Her background is irrelevant. Or have you not noticed that our academy is filled with a lot of unique individuals?" Kurt pointed out.

"The so-called trash bin, right?" Ash let out a vicious grin, "But nah. I got no beef with that little girl being a trained killer. In fact it makes me happy knowing there's someone else in this school who can actually fight worth a damn."

Fie raised an eye in interest, "Oh? There's someone else like that? Who is it?" Before Ash could answer she smirked widely before continuing, "...It's definitely not the guy who got instantly taken out by that Aion or got crushed during the spar with Rean despite starting the fight with a cheap shot, right?"

She was rewarded for her comment by the sounds of Juna giggling and Kurt trying – and failing – to conceal his own quiet chuckles. Altina remained stoic, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile which made sense considering how protective she was of their teacher.

"Grr..." For the briefest of moments the punk looked downright hostile, but the moment ended quickly and he let out a short laugh, "Alright, you got me there, but I doubt any of you would have done any better in those fights."

"Sure, but we're not the ones barking loudly in the middle of Leeves."

"Heh. I like you, jaeger. We should fight sometime, and I don't mean those clean little spars you have with the pretty boy, either. A real fight. No holds barred."

The offer was kinda interesting, not that she would allow herself to actually express it, "Sure, I guess. But are you sure you want to actually fight a jaeger like that? Pretty sure it's gonna end poorly for you. Explosives and traps can get pretty messy, after all."

Ash looked startled for a brief moment, but quickly recovered, "Whatever you say, jaeger." The punk made a show of turning and walking down Leeves' side road on a path that wouldn't take him anywhere near the academy, "See you losers later!"

"Grr. That jerk pisses me off!" Juna muttered angrily as she glared death at the retreating blonde.

With the encounter over a curious Altina turned towards Fie, "Why would you accept his offer?"

She grinned, "Nothing's gonna come of it. Seen fresh recruits like him all the time in Zephyr. What's that old saying...? 'All bark and no bite'? He thinks he's the top dog around here, but he isn't. Just stand up to the guy and he'll go away."

The pink-haired girl looked dubious, "Are you sure? He just seems like a punk to me."

To that Fie let out a shrug, "Eh. If he tries something I'll just kick his ass. No biggie."

She and the others watched with amusement as the door to Neinvalli opened and out stepped Randy just as Ash was about to pass that portal. The boy's attempts at talking his way out of the situation ended in abject failure and soon the Red Reaper was marching him back towards where they were standing.

"We can't forget that he did help us in Sutherland, even if I do not understand why he did so..." Kurt mused thoughtfully.

"So, what?" Juna questioned, "Are you saying he's actually a big old softy under that tough guy exterior? I don't see it."

"Heh. That would be pretty funny." Fie agreed with a laugh, "Still, I get the feeling he isn't all bad. Boss would have loved him for sure." That last comment earned her a couple strange looks, but it was what it was. Now that Ash had been forced back into hearing range she shouted to him, "Welcome back, Ash! Ready for school?"

The fuming Class VIII student shot her an angry glare, "Screw you, jaeger!"

She was about to retort when Randy slapped the guy on the back of the head, "Oi. Careful what you're yelling out in public. And if you think her being a former jaeger is bad then I should probably remind you that I'm one too. And I'm also your homeroom teacher. So if you don't want your life to be a living hell you'll shut the hell up."

All of Class VII watched in rapt amusement as the grumbling punk was led away by his instructor. Truly these were the moments that made being at this school worthwhile.

Her amusement lasted until the loud chime of a warning bell sounded out, "Oh, crap!" Juna yelled, "We're gonna be late!"

"Actually..." Fie corrected with a growing smile, "You guys are gonna be late. As for me...?"

Without a second thought Sylphid abandoned her classmates with a burst of speed that left them all hopelessly in the dust. While she didn't actually care about being late she found the entire situation too funny to ignore. How would the others respond?

The answer proved to be pretty great. Altina ended up using Claiomh Solais while even the honorable Kurt ended up taking advantage of his own speed to ensure he made it on time. As for Juna...

The girl was glaring murder at the rest of them for most of the morning after Rean chewed her out for being late.

Shortly after midnight Fie found herself alone on the dorm's first floor. At this hour everyone should be sound asleep since it was a school day. She knew that doing this would make the next day drag, but it wasn't the biggest deal in her opinion.

...She could always catch a quick cat nap while Rean was droning on about some war that happened in some place some years ago.

But it was absolutely imperative that her current activity went unnoticed by the others. Even if she was growing more comfortable around her classmates and the other students she still wanted to maintain her air of aloof coolness. No need for any of them to see her in her current state.

She glanced around the kitchen, making sure everything was assembled. All the ingredients had been prepared in advance by the stealthy girl and she had the instructions on hand. All that was left was for her to begin.

"It's Fie's cooking power hour!" With that little bit of self-encouragement the girl grabbed hold of the nearest knife and got to work.

Half an hour later and she was frowning heavily as she looked at her masterpiece. She had no idea how it would taste, but it definitely didn't look right. Certainly nothing like how it had been shown to her.

It made no sense! Shortcake was not supposed to be that lumpy. She knew how to chop berries! She practically used oversized knives every day in combat!

"...What are you doing?"

The silver-haired student let out a hiss of surprise. Sure she had been distracted with her cooking, but she definitely should have noticed someone sneaking up on her! Even worse was that the voice was female, letting her know it was probably a fellow student as Towa didn't seem very stealthy and the principal definitely wasn't the kind of person to sneak up on someone when she could simply charge in like an angry bull.

Turning about she beheld the one to catch her, "You're... Maya, right?" She had yet to talk to the black-haired girl, but she had been making a better effort at remembering names lately.

The Class VIII student nodded her head slowly, "And you're Fie. That doesn't answer my question."

It was obvious to Fie that the other girl had noticed the dish she had been working on. That left her with three possible options: First she could try and make up an excuse and get away. Second she could dispose of the evidence and ensure zero witnesses. Or third... she could tell the truth.

As much as she had faith in herself she wasn't sure anyone was smart enough to bluff their way out of this situation, causing her to abandon the first option. The second one definitely had some appeal, but any short-term gain would be offset by a lot of problems down the line. Plus, that seemed like something Shirley would do and she definitely didn't want to do anything that Shirley would do.

Regrettably, that just left the most unappealing option of all, "I was trying to practice on my cooking." At Maya's silence she elaborated further, "I'm a member of the Cooking Club but I don't know how to cook anything good. Tita showed me how to make a White Velvet Shortcake and I was trying to mimic her... But I think I messed up somewhere." Again silence filled the room as Maya refused to respond, creating an awkward situation as the two girls stared at each other blankly.

No, wait. Maya wasn't staring at her. She was staring at the shortcake with a gleam in her eyes.

"Um..." Fie wasn't sure what to make of such fervent desire. Had the other girl simply come down here for a midnight snack? "I... can't say it will be any good, but you can have it if you want."

Despite being one of the fastest jaegers alive she nearly missed Maya's movement as the girl crossed the distance between them and snatched up the shortcake in a flash. Wide-eyed she could only stare as the quiet girl scurried off to the nearest seat with her prize.

Fie felt a sudden bout of nervousness as Maya took the first bite of her creation. Was it good? Was it nasty? Was that look on her face a good thing or a bad thing? Eventually the wait became unbearable to her, "...And?"

"You went a little overboard with a couple ingredients, didn't you?"

It was a good thing that the lighting of the room was so low as Fie was sure she was blushing a little. So she might have put a few extra starberries and a little extra honey syrup into her dish. Those were the tastiest ingredients so more was better... right? Even if Maya couldn't see her expression she must have read the silence well enough, "Thought so. Sometimes too much of something isn't a good thing. It messes with the texture too. Still, outside of that this isn't bad."

Being told it wasn't bad was probably as much as she could have hoped for a first effort. Still, maybe Maya was humoring her? Glancing over she watched as the girl sat back contentedly with an empty dish before her. Well at least that meant she must have-

...Wait, what!?

Blinking she confirmed that her eyes hadn't been lying to her. But that made no sense at all! Sure it wasn't the biggest dessert in the world, but that must have been thirty seconds at the most! Maya was about the same size as her! How was it even possible to devour the entire cake so quickly and with so little effort!?

Fie shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had seen plenty of odd things before, so this was just one more for the pile. What was more important, however, was that this girl knew of her secret cooking sessions and had been surprisingly helpful. Perhaps this could be used to her advantage? "If... If I decide to practice on some other dish in the future would you be willing to try it out for me?"

"Like a professional taste tester?" Fie had a feeling that nobody in the school had seen Class VIII's most taciturn student have such an excited gleam in her eyes before, "I accept!"

And so the beginnings of a new bond was formed.

"I cast Blaze on my second Blyx, raising its attack by three before attacking your master!" Fie winced as she took the powerful blow head on, "Hehe. One more turn like that and you're done!"

She glared at her opponent, "I'm not done yet."

By some twist of fate both the Cooking Club and Tennis Clubs had elected to take the same day off, giving Juna the chance to fulfill a promise she had made over a week ago: To teach Fie the game of Vantage Masters.

The first step, naturally, was for Fie to get herself a deck. The obvious solution to that dilemma was for Fie to purchase a starter deck at the book store, but the former jaeger had surprised the pink-haired girl by ignoring that shop in lieu of another. Together, the two made their way over to Neinvalli.

While an awe-struck Juna took the time to wander around the store and take in the assortment of death on display for the first time, Fie immediately made her way to the counter and explained the situation to Jingo. While the shop mostly dealt in illegal goods she knew the Crossbell branch also tended to keep all kinds of assorted junk on hands and if she was lucky...

Yup. She was lucky. According to Jingo someone had pawned off their spare deck for some high explosive gunpowder rounds just a few days prior. While the young weapon dealer had appraised it to be a mediocre deck overall, it was a far cry over the generic starter deck Fie would have been forced to rely upon otherwise.

Jingo left to find where she had stored the cards, which gave Fie free reigns to pile the affection onto an unsuspecting Cerberus. Sure it probably wasn't the best thing to do for a dog in training, but she had done the same thing all the time with the monsters Zephyr trained and it all worked out well. Plus, how could anyone not want to scratch the ears of such a cute puppy?

Although Fie pulled away just as Jingo returned, the glare the young child shot her at the dog's pitiful whines probably gave away the game. Oh well. She had no intention of stopping in the future.

Even though she had intended to use the surprisingly generous stipend that she and the other students got after the debacle in Sutherland, Jingo waved her off. Instead the other girl had presented her with an intriguing offer about a job opportunity that Fie had ended up accepting. It was an interesting mission that Fie found herself looking forward to in the future.

Juna had tried to purchase a funny looking Mishy plush, but the shop keep had firmly rebuffed her, stating that the Mishy merch was not for sale. The Crossbellian was about to press the issue, but found herself dissuaded when the young girl pulled out a heavy rocket launcher for a totally coincidental inspection.

After that they had returned to the dorms and settled in to play a few games together. The first couple were slow and lame as the Crossbellian explained the rules. While that was appreciated, she didn't need the other girl to treat her like a child and play like total garbage. The game wasn't that hard to figure out!

...A lesson Juna learned when Fie trounced her soundly in the second game, causing her to vow to stop holding back.

Thus leading to her current predicament. In terms of natials on the field she held the advantage and knew she had enough to power to sweep Juna's entire front line. The problem was the pinkette's back field. Fie just didn't have enough firepower to take out her two Blyx before they could shoot her with lethal shots!

Her frustration must have been visible as Juna adopted a cocky look, "Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Fie!"

The jaeger narrowed her eyes dangerously, "My deck has no pathetic cards!" That was a lie, actually. There were a lot of cards in it that she just didn't like and really needed to replace once she got the chance. Still, that wasn't something she could fix at the moment. Instead she did what Juna and drew her next card, "But it does contain... what is this?" She narrowed her eyes as she gazed at the card in her hand. It wasn't one she had pulled in either of her previous bouts.

The card had a very succinct description, but it was enough to cause Fie to chuckle darkly, unsettling Juna greatly, "This Disaster card seems pretty cool..." Her words caused Juna to pale rapidly. If she thought the pleading look she was sending Fie's way would earn her any mercy then she was very wrong, "Say bye to your Blyx!"

With her archers wiped out thanks to the magic card, her front completely overrun by Fie's natials, and no cards in her hand Juna slumped down in despair. Her final draw didn't provide any solutions, and instead the girl grumpily conceded the match.

"My, what a fantastic match that was."

Those words startled her out of a victorious gloat. She had been so engrossed in beating Juna that she hadn't noticed the familiar newcomer, and based on the widening eyes of her opponent neither had she, "Musse..."

"W-When did you get here!?"

The green-haired girl giggled at Juna's question, "Only long enough to see those final turns, I assure you. I must admit, watching such a quality match has gotten me in the mood of playing. Would it be alright if I challenged you to a round?"

Fie glanced at Juna, causing the girl to shrug as if saying 'You won the match so you get to decide.' With Musse looking at her so hopefully and Juna being utterly useless she was forced to give an answer, "Uh... sure. I guess that's fine."

"Wonderful!" Musse clapped her hands together gleefully, "How about we raise the stakes on our match a little?"

That comment caused her to glance at her new opponent warily, "...What do you mean?"

"It's nothing troublesome, I assure you. I was simply hoping you might be able to assist me with a club activity later on. Think of it as a wager of future favors, if you will."

Being told it was nothing troublesome did little to reassure the girl when she was being that vague, "Sorry, but even though I kicked Juna's butt..."

"Hey!"

"...I'm still a total beginner. Seems a little unfair of a wager to me."

"Teehee. That is understandable. I wouldn't accept a vague offer like that when I thought myself at a disadvantage, either." For some reason the mint-haired girl didn't seem discouraged at all, "How about I sweeten the offer a bit?"

"We'll play three games. If you can beat me a single time I will concede defeat. You can even have Juna help you out if you wish."

The Zephyr member was wary. Boss had always said that if you got an offer that was too good to be true it probably was. Best to either ignore the deal outright or do a little extra reconnaissance before committing yourself to something potentially hazardous like that. Fie sent a sly glance towards Juna, hoping her classmate would understand her thoughts-

"I don't see how we can't win one game if we're working together. Let's do it, Fie!"

...Dammit, Juna.

Under Musse's expectant and Juna's hopeful the wary girl was forced to capitulate, "...Fine. I'll accept your stupid offer."

"How wonderful!"

...Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad? Despite her reservations maybe Musse was just really overconfident? It was just one win in three, right?

Five minutes later Fie found herself looking proudly at her well-built defense. It was costly, but getting a Neptjuno natial on the field had really stabilized her formation. With that durable creature shielding the rest of her front line Fie was confident that she could endure anything Musse had to offer-

"I cast expel on your Neptjuno!"

She could only watch in despair as without her linchpin in place the rest of her formation crumbled rapidly leading to her swift demise. That sucked, but she still had two more chances, right?

The comfort that thought provided lasted all the way until the sixth turn of their next game. The way Musse giggled aloud after drawing her card was worrisome, but not nearly as worrisome as the cards she placed on the table, "I use both my Vanish cards to deal twelve damage to your master! Add to that the two damage my Guene-Foss can do and I do believe your master has been defeated."

Faced with a second defeat in as many attempts all Fie could do was look hopelessly at Juna. The pink-haired classmate was quick to recover from her own shock before pulling out her own deck and quickly flipping through the cards, "H-Here. Use this card. It's an ultra rare natial I bought a couple days back. It's really strong!"

With reinforcements in her hand she went into the third game with renewed confidence. The first few turns were fairly quiet with both players going back and forth summoning and murdering natials. She knew the battle was about to reach its climax when with a stroke of good fortune she drew Juna's card into her hand, "I summon this Xenofiend." The only monster Musse had on the field was a weak little Requ. Even with its elemental advantage they had no way of stopping the Xenofiend before it started powering up, plus Fie had another monster on the field! And she had no cards except the one she just drew!

Her victory was assured!

"Oh dear..." And yet she couldn't help but notice that her opponent didn't seem all that concerned despite the situation, "What a powerful foe. It seems my options are quite limited. I suppose I have no choice but to attack with my Requ..." Two damage. From seven health. No big deal. It was a little worrisome that sacrificing the weak natial gave her a free card, "Oh my. How useful." Uh oh... "I summon this Greon..." A natial that can attack the turn it's summoned and has five attack. Damnit! At least she would kill it in return before it could use its follow-up and- "...and cast wall on it to block one attack."

"What the hell!?" Juna said what Fie had been thinking. Musse drew the two cards that would allow her to completely destroy her perfect formation. It was absolute insanity! Were it not for the fact that jaegers were experts on spotting cheaters in card games she would have thought that Musse had somehow slipped the card into her hand with the confidence in which she took that turn.

After that debacle of a turn her inevitable defeat arrived without much fanfare. Fie did her best to set Musse's deck alight with her baleful glare, but unfortunately that was one power she lacked, "Tch. You win, I guess. How did you do that anyways?"

Musse let out an innocent giggle that made Fie want to deck her in the face, "Grandfather was always a fan of card games and I suppose it's something I picked up from him. That and a little luck to get me through those tough spots." Considering how confident the mint-haired girl had appeared the entire time Fie had a feeling there was more to it than simple experience and luck. She considered arguing, but the Class IX girl continued speaking before she could, "I'll explain the favor I want from you at a later date. I need to wait for my order to arrive first."

Order? This was all kinds of suspicious. A part of her wanted to blow this whole shady deal off, but she was just starting to get comfortable here and blowing off Tita's roommate would be a really bad look, "Fine. Whatever. Now go away. I'm annoyed."

"Teehee. I will see the two of you later." With a cheerful wave the victor left, leaving the vanquished to wallow in their failure.

"W-Well." Juna scratched her cheek nervously, "That could have turned out better..."

"I blame you for this." A sulky Fie turned her focus to the one girl she could actually bully around.

Her classmate looked confused, "W-What!? Me!?"

"You're the one who pressured me into accepting that awful deal. It's all your fault."

"Ahaha... Sorry. But it's not like anything can be done about-"

Fie picked up the Xenofiend card, "I'm keeping this as compensation."

"H-Hey! No fair!"

Fie glared petulantly at the sheet of paper before her. Normally these late night secret study sessions with Rean involved listening to a dull lecture before he would help her through a pop quiz. This time, however, he had simply sat her down, put a test in front of her, and told her to get it done that evening on her own.

Never did she think she would find herself missing his dull lectures.

Since running away wasn't an option with Rean sitting not far away the young girl sighed before glancing down at the paper. Something about the questions felt familiar to her, but she couldn't place why. Instead she brushed it off before very reluctantly getting started with the first problem.

The required hour had passed by the time she finished, but her feet found themselves planted to the ground while she waited for Rean to look over her work. To her surprise she actually felt a little confident in some of her answers and was kinda interested to see how she did. She huffed in annoyance as her attempts to get closer and see what he was writing was thwarted by an unimpressed look from the teacher.

After what felt like hours - but was probably five minutes tops - the teacher stood up and turned to her, "You probably didn't realize this, but the test I just gave you was almost identical to the one Instructor Towa administered when you first arrived. A test that you failed pretty spectacularly when you took it the first time."

He handed Fie the sheet of paper. On it was a score. It wasn't the prettiest result ever as there were more than a few incorrect answers marked on the sheet, but that wasn't what caught her eyes.

It was the passing grade at the top.

This... was the same test she took a little under two months ago? Sure enough, now that she knew what to look for she recognized some of the questions from the practical sections where she had actually done alright the first time through. Unsurprisingly she had aced that section this time, but what really surprised her was that she managed to get over half of the questions in the obnoxious categories like math and history.

She smiled happily when Boss placed a comforting hand on her head, silently praising her for her accomplishment. This month had been a total pain and at times she wanted to quit, but feeling the proud acknowledgment from the man she most admired as he gently pat her head made it all worthwhile in the end-

Wait. What?

With wide eyes and a furious blush the girl spun around. Instead of the rough but friendly visage of Rutger Claussell she found herself staring into the gentle face of Rean Schwarzer. A Rean Schwarzer with a hand outstretched confirming that it had been him giving her a head pat.

The black-haired swordsman seemed to realize what he had been doing as he pulled his hand back quickly, as if he had placed it on a scalding surface, "Haha... sorry. Bad habit of mine."

She failed to hear his words, even as she stared at him in wide-eyed confusion. This man was not the Boss. Boss was the best friend to his allies, but a nightmare to his enemies. He was a blunt man who always said what was on his mind. He was a notorious chain-smoker who once wiped out a rival company because they destroyed a shipment of his favorite cigars.

Her teacher meanwhile was the complete opposite. Rean seemed the kind of guy to treat everyone with respect, whether they were friends or enemies. He was extremely careful with his words, and it didn't take a genius to see he was holding something back. Fie was pretty sure the guy didn't even know which end of a cigar to stick in his mouth!

And yet... For some reason the Ashen Chevalier reminded her so much of the Jaeger King in that moment. It had nothing to do with their different styles or personalities or vices, but it was there. Fie didn't understand it at all, but it was undeniable to her-

"Fie?" She was brought out of her thoughts by Rean's voice. The concern on his face was palpable, "Are you alright? You were out of it for a minute there. Sorry if my bad habit startled you like that. I'll make sure to never-"

"No!" The girl flushed crimson upon realizing she had yelled out in a rush, "N-No. It's fine. You just startled me." As much as she didn't want to say the next part to him she had to lest he get the wrong idea of the situation, "I-I didn't mind it at all. It was just something Boss used to do." She looked away awkwardly after admitting that.

"I'm glad to hear it." This time she was only half surprised when his hand began to gently pat her head, "I bet he was as proud of you whenever he did it as I am of you right now."

W-What the hell!? Why was he praising her like that!? She was not expecting such genuine praise from this man! "...It was just a stupid mock test."

Rean shook his head, "It's not just a stupid mock test. You probably don't even realize just how much effort you've committed into this role of a student you suddenly found yourself in. Despite your protests you've been diligent with your studies. You've managed to bond with your classmates and the teachers. You've become a familiar figure around Leeves. I was worried about you, especially after what happened in Sutherland, but you've exceeded all of my expectations. I'm very proud of you."

If she didn't look at him he couldn't see the embarrassment on her face. Deep down she knew that was definitely not true, but the thought was enough to keep her sane. That he let out a laugh had absolutely nothing to do with her meek action.

"...I still haven't made my decision, you know." About whether she was gonna stay or leave once Zephyr showed up again.

"I know you haven't, but as I said before, when the time comes I'm confident that you'll make the right decision for you." Gah! Damn him! He just didn't stop talking, did he? "Haha. Sorry. I'll stop now." At least he seemed to notice her total humiliation, "Still, now that I'm confident you can pass in your classes I think it's time we put an end to these extra tutoring sessions. I'm sure you're happy to hear that."

She was. Having to spend some of her time off sitting through lectures and tests was a total pain in the butt. Not having to do it anymore sounded like a miracle.

Fie did her best to quash a tiny rebellious part of her brain that felt a little saddened at the news.

"I know your classmates will be glad to assist you with anything you still need to learn..." He tilted his head thoughtfully, "...And I suppose I should let the other instructors know they can start asking you questions in class now."

The girl made a terrible noise as her brain comprehended that last statement. Dammit! She had completely forgotten about the main reason she accepted this stupid deal in the first place! Her free ride was over!

And yet as her gaze once again returned to the sheet of paper in her hands with the passing score she calmed a little. Tomorrow definitely wasn't gonna be fun, but as crazy as it seemed...

A little part of her was looking forward to it.