"Dismissed."

It had been a few weeks since classes started, and Rhajat still wasn't sure what to make of her new teacher. What she did have to admit was that Professor Byleth knew her stuff. She was mostly a sword fighter, but she knew a bit about magic too, much to Rhajat's relief. What shocked Rhajat is that her professor knew nothing about the Seiros religion. It was so widespread that there were even believers in Lethe. From her understanding, it was such a common belief system in Fodlan. The fact that Professor Byleth had never heard of it was hard to believe. She honestly didn't think she was telling the truth at first.

"What is going on here...?"

Rhajat figured sitting in the classroom while the other students left wasn't going to accomplish much. She stood up and walked outside the classroom, leaving the professor to her duties. She wondered if she should get some training in. As much as she hated it, the mock battle was coming up soon. She hated losing. They did have an accomplished mercenary on their side, but they were going up against people with crests.

"Hm... no one in our class has a crest of course. Besides the professor... but we can't expect her to do all the work. That means we'll be at a disadvantage. Ugh, I've never been good at this strategy stuff... If anyone in our house is, it's probably Corrin or Caeldori... and given the latter's feelings on me, I'm probably better off asking Corrin."

With her mind made up, she left to find her. She started her search in the cafeteria. She saw a variety of students there such as Mercedes and Hilda. Corrin was nowhere to be found. While she was there, she figured there was no harm in grabbing a bite to eat. Sometimes students would cook, and she wasn't entirely sure who was doing that today. She picked up a plate and grabbed today's meal, before finding an empty seat. With how many people were at the officers academy, it was a bit difficult to find a table not infested with students. She sat down and took a bite of her food, then started nodding. Noticing a girl who happened to be walking behind her, she got her attention.

"Hey."

"Hm? Yes?" The girl responded.

"Do you know who cooked this?" Rhajat asked.

"Why do you ask?" The girl looked a bit tense.

"I need the recipe. This is disgusting. It'd make a great poison."

"Wh- hey!" The girl put her hands on her hips. "I made it!"

"Oh." Rhajat started staring at her. "You've got a knack for this then. Nice work."

"...Are you messing with me?" The girl looked both irritated and offended.

"No. I'm serious. Unless you weren't trying to make a poison?" Rhajat suggested.

"No! I wasn't!" The girl exclaimed.

"Oh... Well... at least it's good for something." Rhajat said.

The girl started glaring. "Don't make fun of me!"

"I'm not." Rhajat replied genuinely. "I'm just saying it still has a use."

"...Thanks?"

"No problem. Now about that recipe..." Rhajat insisted.

"No." The girl said before walking off.

"Ugh..." Rhajat wasn't entirely sure why she got so defensive. She then realized what she said probably offended her. She wasn't the best at social interaction. "Maybe I should apologize next time I see her..."

Since the food wasn't particularly edible, she decided to trash it. She decided she'd come back and eat something later. For now she still needed to find Corrin. Since she wasn't at the cafeteria, she wondered if she'd be at the training grounds. Before she could decide on where to go next, she realized she was hungrier than she realized. Not wanting to risk finding more inedible food, she started walking towards her dorm to see if she ahd any snacks there. On the way, she took a peek at the garden, where she found Corrin.

"There you are, I've been looking for you."

Corrin looked up and smiled. "Hey Rhajat! Did you need something?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to discuss tactics. The mock battle is coming up soon."

"Oh, good point!" Corrin's eyes widened with realization. "I didn't even think about that."

"By the way, do you like flowers?" Rhajat asked. "Since you're in the garden."

"Oh yeah, I love them! It's just nice to appreciate them, plant them sometimes even." Corrin put her hand out, inside was a flower. "Would you like one Rhajat?"

Rhajat blushed. "...No one's ever given me a flower before... thank you." Rhajat took it. Normally she'd use it for a hex, but she wanted to keep this one. It was rather momentous after all. She almost forgot why she came to the garden. "Right, we should discuss what we're gonna do during the mock battle..."

"Oh right, we should go somewhere private though. So the other classes don't hear us." Corrin suggested.

Rhajat took a thoughtful stance. "What about my room?" She normally didn't invite people to her quarters, but she supposed it'd be fine. Corrin hadn't done anything to get on her bad side yet.

Corrin nodded. "Sure. Lead the way."

Rhajat walked off with Corrin close behind. Their rooms weren't too far apart. Corrin's room was higher than Rhajat's though, since she was a noble. Even if she was from a completely different part of the world, the Officer's Academy didn't want to risk offending the Nohrians. Unbeknownst to them though, Corrin didn't mind either way.

Rhajat opened the door to her room, and held it open for Corrin. Corrin walked in and paused for a few moments. The room was filled with papers thrown about, a vat, many books, it looked a bit like a laboratory. She walked inside regardless.

"Take a seat." Rhajat offered.

Corrin sat down in Rhajat's bed, and Rhajat sat in a chair by her desk.

"Interesting room you have Rhajat..." Corrin said.

"Hehehe..." she giggled. "I know. I love coming up with stuff here. It's perfect, and it keeps people away."

"You don't want people in here?" Corrin wondered aloud.

"Not particularly. Or at least, not unless it's on my own terms." She explained. "I need my privacy, both for my peace of mind, and for my projects."

"Hm, I see." Corrin found that interesting. She was a bit more sociable, so she found it interesting how introverted Rhajat was. "But anyway, where should we start on this strategy meeting?"

"Hm..." Rhajat mumbled. "I believe we can't bring our entire class. Only 4 students and our Professor."

"Good to know. So a smaller group..." Corrin tapped her chin. "At the very least we'd have more mobility. There's 3 other houses to worry about, so we should probably focus on one. Maybe allow the other houses to fight each other. Then we pick off whoever's left?"

"Not a bad idea. You know, we could also mess with the competition. It would be a shame if they were incapacitated before the fight." Rhajat mused.

Corrin looked a bit uncomfortable. "I'd prefer we don't. We should do this fairly. If we win because we sabotaged them, is that really a victory at all?"

Rhajat shrugged. "I guess. You're no fun."

Corrin giggled a bit. "Sorry I just, don't wanna win if that's what it takes."

"I... don't really get it, but whatever." Rhajat couldn't really understand her logic, but didn't see a point in arguing it further. She figured neither of them were going to change their minds. She considered doing it behind their backs, but decided against it. She thought going against her team's wishes may not be the best idea. It could cause more harm than good in the long run. They could lose faith in her if they ever found out, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Corrin tilted her head. "You look lost in thought, Leader."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Rhajat shook her head. "Regardless, do you have any other ideas for strategy?"

"Hm... well admittedly this was more of my uncle's thing. Strategy anyway. But maybe I'll think of more once we're in the heat of battle." Corrin explained. "Plus we also have our professor to fall back on."

"Fair enough." Rhajat conceded. She figured while she was here, she might as well ask for Corrin's thoughts on something. "What is your opinion on our new Professor?"

"Professor Byleth? It's a bit too soon to say much. She seems pretty good at her job."

"You don't find her odd?" Rhajat asked.

"Oh, because of how emotionless they seem?" Corrin asked. "Not really. I've met a lot of strange people in my life. It takes all kinds of people you know?"

"But why would a random mercenary be given such a high position...?" Rhajat wondered aloud.

"I wouldn't know, sorry Rhajat. Maybe you're better off asking Lady Rhea?" Corrin seemed apologetic.

"No, don't apologize." Rhajat was a bit surprised at how sweet Corrin was. Regardless, she felt Rhea wasn't going to just explain her thought process to just anyone, even if she was a house leader. It didn't help that this year, the Officer's Academy contained three of the most important people in Fodlan. Even if Professor Byleth wasn't teaching any of them, to put these people in the hands of a mercenary, Rhajat knew something weird was going on, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She supposed it wasn't that important. It wasn't going to affect her. As long as Byleth could do her job, which so far she seemed competent at, that was most likely all that mattered. At least for the time being.

"I just wish I could be more helpful."

Rhajat looked at Corrin sympathetically. "We haven't even had our first mission yet Corrin. I'm sure you're plenty useful."

"It's less so that I'm worried I'm useless, and more so that I want to be useful to you." Corrin explained. "I just... I can't let anyone shoulder their burdens alone…"

Rhajat smiled softly. "We're not fighting a war here Corrin. We're just trying to get our education. But... I really do appreciate your concern."

"Right. I'd do well to remember that huh..." Corrin smiled back. "I'm just the kind of person who loves to help."

"I'll keep that in mind for the future."

The two began to talk for a bit longer about various topics. Rhajat found Corrin incredibly easy to talk to. There was no tension, no discussion of more serious things. Just two friends having a conversation. Rhajat had hit a point where she did consider Corrin a friend. Besides Asugi, her first real friend in her house at the Officer's Academy. She felt very comfortable around her. Like she could trust her and let her guard down. There weren't many people Rhajat could say that about. Something about Corrin just attracted people to her. Rhajat had to admit that.

"Rhajat." Corrin began.

"Hm?" Rhajat responded.

"I just wanted to say. I won't leave your side. We Gray Dragons have gotta stick together you know? I know people can change classes, just know that I'll always be a dragon. Even if all our other allies change, I'll always be here."

"That's... good to hear. Thank you." Rhajat blushed again. She was happy to find that Corrin knew a thing or two about loyalty. It was true that people, outside of house leaders, could change classes at any point assuming the professor was okay with it. One day, the entire class could be gone, leaving only Professor Byleth and her, hypothetically speaking. No matter what would come up, she'd at least have Corrin at her side. Something about that was very comforting. "Know that I won't be leaving your side either." When Rhajat latched onto someone, she latched hard. And while she hadn't gotten to that point yet with Corrin, she may very well have been on her way to it. It was only a matter of time.