January 12, Year 777

A peaceful tune could be heard in the forests around Oak Town amidst the morning birds and dawn-laced sky. It was gentle, pleasant, and a fantastic way for the sleepy residents to begin their morning. A slight tune to wake them from their dreams or nightmares, a gentle melody that woke the town along with the forests of near-naked oak trees and freshly melted snow.

"Shade Magic: Shade Troopers"

For those few residents on the edge of town, that melody had been replaced about a year ago with the sounds of harsh training and haunting cackles. The gentle song that used to greet the residents of Oak Town when they opened their eyes was replaced with distant shouts and magic-fueled destruction. The only difference this time was that the cackle cacophony seemed to have converged into a sole, quiet hiss of laughter.

"Shade Magic: Shade Balloon"

Jose watched with slight interest as his shade punched the ground where Vera had once stood. The dust cloud was pluming in the air and leaving a small crater in its wake, with the shade's red eyes narrowing at the nothingness it had hit.

Not bad...

Jose tilted his head with a smirk, letting his shade balloon look for the bear. Vera, meanwhile, hid in his shadow that had blended into a tree's shade. His view tinted the same blackish tint as always while he calmly held his breath, waiting for the shade to float down to the ground and hover past him. The view of the clueless creature painted a smile across Vera's face as he waited for the shade to inch past him, and the second the being's red eyes turned away, Vera jumped out of Sho's world.

"Finally!" Vera grinned gleefully as he pulled his arm back, feeling the trail of his shadow pool on his knuckles. Vera was timing it perfectly, so as soon as his fist fell, Sho's shadowed one shot out of his knuckles like a delayed jab. The resounding bang of their fists staggered the shade balloon and pushed it into the nearby foliage. Its angry red eyes turned back to Vera with a hiss; all the while, Vera landed on the ground and immediately shot away.

"Come and catch me!"

Vera was fully intent on using his makeshift speed and losing his pursuer in the forest, which was only possible thanks to the extra power Sho gave him through the small boosts from his feet. That way, he could keep the hit-and-run tactic going for as long as possible. Eventually, that thing would break; Vera had to be patient enough to make it happen.

Unfortunately, an amused snort sounded above him, killing his fun and dispelling the shade balloon in one fell swoop, "Alright, brat, that's enough for today. I'd rather not waste my days watching you whittle away at my magic."

Although he'd probably be successful...

Jose glanced appraisingly at his student as he floated towards the forest floor. His eyes lingered on the lean muscles the boy had gained over the past years and an extra inch or two in height. Vera was growing, and without the apparent malnutrition the boy had been subjected to in his upbringing, it was only a matter of time before he reached his physical peak. It's the same with the other one, although Siegrain would take a little longer since he was a bit younger.

He's at the level where I can start focusing on combat...

Jose had only focused on evasion and endurance training. For two reasons, Jose hadn't taught the boy a lick of combat, no matter how much the brat whined. First off, since the boy had a decent natural pulse for violence, Jose didn't want to hamper that by putting him in a box and ruining the unpredictability of his fighting style. He only gave the boy the essential tools, like Totamaru's sword lessons and a test dummy in his shades.

After that, Jose only had to watch as the brat figured out the rest independently.

It should be possible now.

Secondly, he wanted to wait until the boy's body balanced out, and after months of actual food and endurance training, it now seemed to be as good a time as any. Nothing stopped the boy from growing normally now since malnutrition had been staved off, and he had grown healthy enough.

"Alright, brat..."

Jose was now confident Vera's body was strong enough to survive his training.

"Let's begin the real training."

Jose smirked as he saw Vera's eyes widen in surprise, the boy's mind catching up to what he had said and making sure he hadn't misheard it.

The real training?

Vera's head spun at the thought, his nerves lighting on fire as he blinked and Jose's boot was buried in his stomach. A single second was enough for Jose to cover the distance, an extremely skilled feat from mastery over his floating magic. Vera could only gasp as he was launched back into the trees and forestry, his body moving on its own as he recovered mid-flight. His feet cracked the bark of a mighty tree trunk as he crouched and flicked his head up; his eyes narrowed as he saw Jose standing in the clearing with a mocking smile.

"What's a wrong brat? Is that all you have?"

Vera grits his teeth as Jose tilts his head, holding out a hand tauntingly, "Come on, you complained before that you wanted me to teach you something, right?"

Jose sneered as he watched Vera grit his teeth, the boy's red eyes burning a hole through him as Jose stood calmly, a single hand in front of him as he smirked with a final jab at the kid's psyche, "I'm going to teach you how to take a beating."

That was all Jose had to say to get the kid to charge at him, furious yet still tactical. Jose could appreciate that the boy used his shadow to propel himself most of the distance before letting go of his speed. His shadow took life and charged at Jose from the front, while the boy grabbed a wooden sword from the depths of his shadow closet, becoming the second wave Jose would have to deal with once he dispatched Sho.

Glad being angry doesn't make him a total idiot.

Jose hummed at the thought, slapping the shadow's first attack away with the barest hint of dead magic. Jose patiently played with the shadow's punches and claws until he saw the boy's sword barrel towards his head. Jose dodged it, letting himself stay between the two's onslaught as he judged how difficult it was to fight the two halves simultaneously.

Their coordination is passable.

Every time he focused on one, the other would attack viciously. There also seemed to be an understanding where the shadow only defended when Vera needed to recover or rest. Otherwise, the shadow attacked relentlessly with its endless stamina, and Vera picked at any weak points that popped up in the onslaught. Vera's sword was ready to turn to a defensive weapon the second Jose focused on him, utilizing the bits and pieces of Totamaru's swordsmanship the boy had been able to grasp so far.

He's gotten better...

Fighting them at the same time wasn't painfully easy.

But that was to be expected.

However, it wasn't anywhere close to challenging for someone of Jose's caliber, "You choose to fight with your shadow, which makes you a liability."

Jose kicked the shadow away quickly with a burst of magic, blocking a strike from the wooden sword with the back of his hand. Dead energy flowed to his other hand, not enough to break the sword but enough to hurt, as he punched the blade right out of the boy's grip. Vera winced as he felt his thinly healed blisters from an earlier practice tear before he put his arms up and blocked a kick that sent him tumbling.

Vera recovered mid-roll and slid to a stop with his heels digging into the ground. Vera glanced up grimly as he saw Jose standing there, unfazed and unblemished, the only sign of his magic being the dead energy he used on his hand to make it stronger and, by extension, deadlier. Jose's expression bored as he walked over to the sword that had fallen on the ground, ignoring the focused gaze from Vera and, by extension, Sho, who was still tangible and ready to dash at Jose at a moment's notice.

The two were waiting to see what Jose would do next.

"You've gotten better," Jose muttered, surprising Ver and Sho since that was the last thing they expected him to do. Vera, in particular, froze, returning to his senses as he caught the wooden sword Jose had kicked into his open hand. Vera blinked in surprise as he began to latch on to Jose's bland words, "Your improvements have mostly come upon magic you've already learned. You were making the shadow appear from your body instead of the ground, going into your shadow, and your coordination with your shadow. Everything has gotten better, but that's it. How you use your shadow is similar to when you got here."

Vera watched with interest as Jose stood in the center of the makeshift training field they had made. A small clearing in the middle of the forest with broken trees and craters strewn about resulted from Jose's liberal use of Shades in training and a few dead pulses he had used early on so they could have more space to work with. It was a good arena, and usually, they would start and end their day somewhere near it.

"That is inexcusable."

This time, it seemed that Jose wanted to end their training session right in the center of it since that's where he stood. Unmoving and unbending, like a tall pillar, taunting Vera to try and push past him, "Mages like us have to improve continuously. Continuously develop, which is even more essential for you, who only has one type of magic to work with. There should never be a day without you thinking of how you could use your shadow differently and more effectively."

Vera cringed as he saw Jose grin evilly, his eyes alight with a purple hue as shades appeared around him. Converging into a shade balloon above him, the balloon's beady red eyes opened and glared daggers at Vera. Vera thought it would target him immediately, so he put up his guard and braced himself. His eyes widened as the shade balloon shot a wide fist at a different target instead. It ignored Vera completely and collided with the shadow that had rushed over to protect Vera from an attack.

It targeted Sho?

Vera watched with wide eyes as Sho was launched into the surrounding forestry. The attack caught them both by surprise as Vera watched the balloon float past him and into the forest, fully intent on fighting Sho alone. Vera was tempted to tell Sho to return to his world before Jose stopped him with a strict order, "From now on, you will spend half of the training battling with your shadow by your side and half without."

Vera turned back to Jose; his muscles tensed as he watched Jose bathe his hands in purple magic, extending his arms out lightly. His stance was narrow and tight as if it had been practiced long ago, and he was starting to drag it out again. Jose ignored Vera's curious expression and spoke with a slight smirk, "Whenever your shadow gets destroyed, summon it again and have it go back to fighting my shade."

Vera clenched his wooden sword in a death grip; his eyes narrowed at Jose, who merely grinned cruelly, "Training ends when one of you breaks."

The hellish sounds of Oak Town's morning went on much longer than usual that day.

Siegrain woke up pretty soundly, his shared apartment with Vera quiet as he got up from a beautiful night's rest.

So much better than the mattress...

Siegrain smiled into his pillow, eventually yawning as he got up and rubbed his eyes. Siegrain grabbed a few clothes from the drawer and went to the bathroom to change. Once he was done, he went to make breakfast, passing the convertible couch bed they had gotten to replace the one Siegrain had destroyed early on. Vera's blankets were scattered about hastily, with Vera himself nowhere in sight, meaning he was still training with Jose.

Strange... usually he's done by the time I wake up.

Siegrain didn't sleep in late per se, but it wasn't early. It wasn't around dawn like when Vera woke up, so the fact that his roommate wasn't back already was odd. Siegrain debated skipping breakfast to look for Vera before the door clicked open and saved him the trouble.

"Oh, I was just wondering where you were, Vera..." Siegrain's words trailed off as he saw Vera limp into the room. His body was covered in dirt and bruises, with cuts on his face that might as well spelled out, 'I was punched here.' An exhausted look crossed Vera's face as he turned to Siegrain with a chuckle and a slight, pained wince, "Hey Siegrain, what's up? You save me any cereal?"

Vera watched as Siegrain's eyes widened before narrowing in an icy stare. A cold silence followed as he shot through Vera's attempts to break the ice, "Why do you look like that?"

Most people would assume Siegrain was talking about Vera's appearance. They would believe Siegrain was wondering why Vera looked like he got hit by a magic truck or fallen off a bloody mountain range.

"It was just training..."

Vera didn't assume any of that.

"He said we'll only do it once a week now that my body's filled out. Nothing daily, except for sword lessons with Totamaru if we can catch him when he's not on any missions," Vera muttered tiredly as he saw Siegrain's icy expression fall away and shoulders sag with relief. The silent understanding softened the atmosphere as Vera walked over to the couch bed and fell face-first on it. Siegrain meanwhile poured some cereal for him and Vera, making small talk over the sound of his preparations, "What did you guys do? Isn't it usually a game of tag or something?"

Siegrain needed to pay more attention to what Vera did for training with Jose. He still asked occasionally, though, and usually, the answer was a mix of Vera running from Jose's shades and Vera getting pissed and attacking said shades anyways.

That didn't happen today, so Siegrain wondered what Jose had cooked up. A curiosity which Vera answered with a loud groan as he flipped onto his back and glared at the wooden ceiling, "Don't even get me started, that asshole beat me up for hours... I didn't even land a hit."

"Isn't he a wizard saint? I don't think you're supposed to land a hit on him." Siegrain asked honestly; his head tilted as he walked with the two bowls and handed one to Vera, who spoke between annoyed mouthfuls of lucky charms, "That's the thing! He didn't even use his magic! Not his good magic anyway!"

Vera clicked his tongue as he ate his bowl clean, drinking the milk before giving a refreshed sigh and wiping his milk mustache into his dirt-covered sleeves, "Seriously, all he did was coat his hands or feet in magic and punch me or kick me. Jose let his shade ball-of-bullshit fight Sho alone."

Vera only knew some of Jose's arsenal as a wizard saint, but he had a decent idea of his strengths. In the story, Jose's strengths revolved around long-range shooting and minions that would fight for him at close range. None of which he used in his 'training' or, for better terms, the one-sided beatings of Vera. Vera might as well have gotten his ass kicked by Jose wearing a blindfold and hopping around on one leg.

"It was humiliating..." Vera muttered sadly as he stood up with a wince and tossed his bowl into the sink. Going to shower since this was Siegrain's week for chores, and Vera planned to take full advantage of that, "Imma take a shower and reconsider my life choices. What do you want to do when I'm done?"

Siegrian shrugged, tilting his head as he went to the sink and called over his shoulder, "Pause wanted to meet up at the library since Doronbo's busy. He said something about finally opening the presents we got him for last week's birthday."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those," Vera said with a chuckle, remembering the small, hilarious, very not useful gift he got Pause for his birthday. The image of Pause's reaction was enough to get Vera on board with the plans for the day, "Sweet. I'll be out in a minute or two."

Siegrain only nodded as he heard Vera chuckle, the words 'can't wait' and 'next year' drifting away as Vera disappeared into the bathroom. Running water echoed across the room as Siegrian started washing the dishes. His head tilted midway as a stray thought crossed his mind, "Oh yeah..."

Siegrain had never thought about it before, but this would be the first time, wouldn't it...

"It's almost been a year since we got here."

It would be the first time he looked forward to staying somewhere for another year.

Pause had been having fun since he got to Oak Town; his 14th birthday last week cemented it. There wasn't a party or anything, but he had a good time in the library, and Doronbo gave him a birthday gift. A book, one he had already read, but the thought was still there, and a promise not to wear his pajamas on the next mission. Something Pause desperately wanted since he was tired of explaining to clients that Doronbo wasn't homeless or threatening him; he was a friend and also the only reason Pause could go on missions outside of Oak Town in the first place.

"So..."

Pause liked Oak Town...

"What'd you think?"

Vera could be a little shit sometimes, though.

"You're the worst..." Pause said with a downward sigh, his hands holding the comically large, comically stupid swirly glasses that were Vera's gift. Pause shooting a slight glare Vera's way while the black-haired boy with a busted lip shamelessly smiled in response. Pause huffing as he threw the glasses in his backpack, his ears perked as he heard an elbow shove into Vera's gut, and Siegrain spoke with a bland tone, "He's just being an idiot."

"I prefer the words 'having a good time."

"Regardless, that isn't our actual gift," Siegrain snipped, holding out his hand and letting Sho pop out the book that was their gift to Pause. A book that was Vera's idea to get and only possible to get since they had gotten Jose's permission first.

Vera was the one who got it last week before they went on their mission out of town. That was why they gave their present late; they missed Pause's actual birthday, "Here, this is our gift. Hope you like it."

Siegrain placed the dirt-ridden, barely readable, leather back book on the table. It was a book that should have been destroyed, but there was magic on it to make it durable. This was good because once Vera got Jose's permission to dig it out of the wreckage, they could claim an ancient, very boring, very antique, very much up Pause's alley book.

MONSTER ENCYCLOPEDIA

- MK

"So, what do you think?" Vera asked as he rubbed his ribs, a smirk on his face as he saw Pause's eyes go wide and rub over the old cover. Pause opened it with a light hand as the pages crinkled in response, his face nearly glued to the paper as he muttered, "This is incredible. It must be at least thirty, maybe forty years old. The pages are laced with magic to help protect them from damage. It's a high-level spell as well, and the notes on the monsters are different from the usual ones..."

Vera rolled his eyes as Pause delved into a muttering about the book and its supposed history. Vera glanced at Siegrain, who seemed to be fighting off a yawn, the two having hung out with Pause enough to know that he could go on tangents about books. Whether it be their physical characteristics or the stories in them didn't matter; he was a bookworm through and through.

"This is incredible. Do you guys know who wrote it?" Pause asked with a gleam in his eyes, watching as Siegrain turned a questioning look to Vera, who shrugged in response, "No idea. When I asked Jose, he just said it was a 'family heirloom' of the third guild master and left it at that."

Vera tilted his head as he put his hands behind his neck, stretching as he leaned back in his wooden chair, "You could ask him about it, but I doubt he'll say anything. Jose doesn't care about anything when it comes to something not guild, not beating my ass related."

Pause only chuckled nervously in response, still getting used to Vera's willingness to talk about their guild master so flippantly. If anyone else said that, Pause would have thought they had a death wish.

Vera must have no fear or sense of self-preservation whatsoever...

In Vera's case, he was only half sure he had a death wish.

Although I guess he is learning from the guild master.

Getting scouted by a wizard saint to join a guild is a big deal, but getting trained personally by a wizard saint is a huge deal. It rarely happens, and the fact that it happened to Vera meant he was unique in some way. Pause figured that made Vera like an investment in Jose's eyes, which was why Vera could get away with saying things that would usually have other guild members six feet under, "Well, thanks. I like this a lot; I'll get you guys something cool for your birthdays, too."

Pause smiled as he put his new book in his backpack, getting up and ready to leave since he had a few things left to do. Pause waved goodbye to Vera and Siegrain as he left them in the library, "See you later!"

Pause left the two in the library, going through the guild hall with his present in grasp. Unaware that he had left Vera and Siegrain with their eyes wide and jaws agape, they glanced at each other before speaking simultaneously, "We don't have birthdays."

Just like that, they suddenly had a new mission for the day.

Aria wasn't expecting to be ordered to gather Vera for the guild master; he hadn't been in charge of that in a while. Unfortunately, it was an urgent matter, so Aria was tasked with getting Jose's apprentice since his eyes could find him quickly.

Aria found them in the library, and that wasn't strange. That was usually where they were, sometimes with the two others, sometimes without. There was even a time when Aria saw Totamaru checking in with them since the newly crowned S class wizard had taken a liking to his newest students.

Aria wasn't surprised by them being in the library...

He didn't expect to find the two on either side of a table with frowns. Their battling glares pierced through the air as a scroll with a calendar was fully unfurled between them. The two practically growled at each other as they yelled like two generals about to go to war. Vera threw the first missile with questionable effectiveness, "I'm telling you, March 7th is too boring!"

"Well, October 13th is too stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Yeah!"

Aria frowned as he saw Siegrain slip a thread underneath Vera's chair and yank it away. Vera fell to the ground with a yelp before his shadow did the same thing to Siegrain. The two jumped up and looked like they would launch at each other, table be damned, before Aria appeared with a gust of wind and hovered in the air between them, "What's going on?"

Aria watched as the two boys turned to him with a new sparkle in their eyes that he hadn't expected. He thought they might be a little panicked by his appearance or even remorseful at almost starting a fight in the library.

"Hey, Aria, tell Siegrain that an October birthday is way better than a March one."

Instead, they seemed to have a silent agreement to try and win him over to their respective sides.

"Tell Vera that it's stupid to wait months for a birthday. We'll lose a year of presents, and the weather is so much nicer early in the year." Siegrain said with a huff, narrowing his eyes at Vera, who clicked his tongue and pointed at October with a vengeance, "Well, some things are worth the wait. October is Halloween, and won't it be awesome to get presents and candy in the same month? It's a win-win."

"It's bad distribution of resources."

"You're a bad distribution of resources," Vera muttered under his breath, dodging a thrown baseball of string on instinct. Vera narrowed his eyes at Siegrain, ready to try and hammer his friend into the ground before Aria descended and pulled up a chair with a sigh, "Can you please tell me why you're arguing about birthdays?"

Aria wasn't one to dilly-dally on an order from Jose, but this issue must be resolved first. Especially since he doubted Vera would be in the most agreeable mood to whatever Jose had planned if he was coming off an argument with Siegrain.

"We're deciding what day to make our birthday."

The fact that the argument was of questionable importance was a... minor detail.

"Your birthday?" Aria asked with furrowed brows, his blindfolded gaze aimed curiously at Vera, who nodded. Vera shrugged as he pointed to the calendar. "We don't have birthdays yet."

Vera didn't mean that literally, but neither he nor Siegrain knew when they were born. Vera because of memory loss and Siegrain because of his questionable upbringing. That's why they had to pick new birthdays, and the options were plentiful. The problem was that they needed help to agree since Vera wanted one in the fall, and Siegrain wanted one earlier.

This would be so much easier if I knew Jellal's birthday...

Sadly, Vera didn't know that very obscure detail of Jellal's life. Even if he did, he doubted he could dig it up through the fog-laced story, at least not without an excruciating headache afterward.

"What do you think Aria?" Vera asked, turning to Aria, who seemed still surprised. The gentle giant gave a slight back and forth between Vera and Siegrain before offering a little advice they had overlooked in their quest to snatch a birthday, "Um... do you two have to have the same birthday?"

Aria watched as Vera and Siegrain blinked, their eyes wide and faces red as they looked at the ground like they were hoping it would swallow them. Aria, unable to hold back the booming laugh that left him as he shook his head fondly, "Well, it seems that was settled quickly. Now, before I forget," Aria flicked his hand and sent a whisk of air to Vera, the boy yelping as he was carried towards the door with a parting order from Aria, "The guild master wants to see you."

Aria turned back to the calendar; his blindfold tilted curiously as he motioned for Siegrain to focus on the paper. Aria figured he would help the young one choose his birthday while Vera settled whatever the guild master needed of him, "You know my birthday is in June. That's not a bad month if you want to consider it in your selection."

He figured it would be an excellent way to pass the time until Vera returned.

Vera did not return.

"I hate you," Vera said flatly as he glared at Jose, who merely chuckled from his side of the train booth. The two were waiting on the train that was going to be heading to shitty, bone cold; Vera nearly died trying to escape, Isvan. Unfazed by Vera's ire, Jose leaned against the window of the first-class train cabin with a smirk, "Oh, relax, brat. I'm not shipping you back to the ice caps. Too much paperwork."

"Gee, thanks."

"Hmph! How rude, and here I am going out of my way to get you a weapon." Jose said with a mocking shake of his head, his lips tilting upwards as he saw Vera stiffen and look at him with wide, eager eyes, "A weapon? Really? Like an actual sword?"

Vera had been using the wooden sword since training started with Totamaru. He honestly couldn't count the number of times he had broken it, sparring against Siegrian or Jose's stupid shade. Having an actual sword, one that wasn't made of wood and wouldn't break whenever he got a little too reckless, was precisely what he needed.

"It could be a sword, although I'd suggest you try out other magic tools just to be safe," Jose said with a shrug, ignoring the greed-filled eyes that Vera now sported. Jose only gave a mirthful chuckle as he took out a communication lacrimal (CL) and quickly called Aria, telling his ace of the news. After that, he put it away and took out a book from his requip space, deciding to read a bit since the train was finally starting to move.

Meanwhile, Vera was debating his new to-be-determined birthday. Turning to his shadow for advice as the train departed and they were firmly on their way to Isvan, land of snow and shitty memories, "Hey Sho, what should my birthday be? I know it's got to be fall, but I'm not sure when..."

Vera watched as Sho stretched on the booth next to him, shrugging and giving a vague shadow puppet explanation that only Vera could infer, "September? No, that feels like a waste. Nothing cool happens in September."

"My birthday is in September, brat."

"Exactly, my point stands," Vera said with a shrug, smirking as Jose rolled his eyes and looked back to his book. The guild master commented with a halfhearted concentration from behind the pages, "Why are you even delving into such a burdensome topic? This should be the least of your worries."

"What, right under getting deported and thrown into a prison in Isvan?" Vera replied sarcastically, to which Jose shrugged as if to say, 'Yeah, pretty much,' without so much as a glance upwards. Vera gave a small huff and crossed his arms in petty response, "Well, I think it's important. I don't want to keep changing my birthday on a whim, so I only have one chance at this."

"It's just going to be a day."

"Yeah, but it's going to be my day; that makes it important," Vera said firmly, watching Jose's finger stiffen mid-page flip before instantly continuing their movements. Vera was about to return to his shadow before Jose spoke blandly, "October has Halloween, and it's better not to cross celebrations. My birthday is in September, and I'd rather not share it with you, so August would be your best bet. Unless you want to wait till December snowfall to have it?"

Jose took a sparing glance over his book, watching the boy's expression shift from genuine surprise to a slight shake before his lips took a self-murmuring reflection, "Yeah, okay. That would work right at the start of fall: not too cold or hot. Plus, it's close enough to October to hold me over until Halloween. It's perfect," Vera tapped his finger on the desk, looking over to Sho for approval. His shadow gave a nod that sealed the deal, "Awesome. That settles it then; my birthday will be August 13th."

Vera grinned at the date, rolling it around in his head with a growing fondness for it. Vera took a moment's reprieve to spare a glance at Jose and mutter under his breath, "Thanks," before immediately turning to his shadow and pretending he hadn't said anything.

"Whatever, brat," Jose said with a slight twitch of his lips, slightly surprised that the stubborn little shit was willing to concede something that wasn't a barb or jab. The oddity of his student's behavior was answered as Vera immediately followed up with a selfish question, "By the way, can I borrow the CL? I wanna tell Siegrain my birthday."

Vera smiled pleadingly as Jose seemed to barely hold back a groan from behind his book, taking the lacrimal from his requip space and tossing it to Vera with a haphazard drawl, "Don't be too loud. Don't bug me anymore either; it's a long way to Black Voxx."

Vera only hummed in response, ignoring Jose's words as he called Aria, who put him on the line with Siegrain. The two discussed their choices: August 13th and May 7th, respectively. All the while, Jose tuned out their childish banter with the lines of his old book and the thrum of the train engine.

What a way to spend my vacation...

Jose could only hope Torch would be able to watch the runt so Jose didn't go insane on this trip.