"Did you know that Radio Trista is planning on doing a special about this town and school?"

"Huh?" Laura was forced to tear her gaze away from the odd spectacle of Ferris, her brother, and their maid all heading down to the academy field with weapons in hand. Was a fight going on down there? "I-Is that so?"

Either Monica failed to notice her distracted state or was simply too kind to comment on it, "Uh huh! Rean came to me earlier looking for a quote for the radio station. Wouldn't it be so cool if it ends up on the air!"

"Rean did? Really?" Laura couldn't help but pause before letting out a rueful chuckle, "...Of course he did."

It was the final free day of the year, just a few short days before graduation. Rean spending his day helping out the student council and town was entirely expected and admirable of him.

Expected and admirable, but no less exasperating. She would think her fellow swordsman would rather be spending time with departing friends, but Rean would keep being Rean.

"Wait, you didn't know that?" Monica asked in confusion, "Huh. Honestly I'm surprised the two of you aren't attached at the hip today. I mean I'm glad to hang out with you, but you'll be gone in just a few days so..."

Oh, right. Monica didn't know. In fairness neither Fie nor she had told anyone save for their classmates about their sudden reversal. It wasn't out of any desire to keep a secret from her friends, naturally, but it wasn't something that they had had the chance to bring up before.

Well, now was as good a time as any, "I've decided against graduating early, actually. I'll be spending another year here."

"Wait, really?!" Monica's eyes lit up excitedly, "That's great! I'm so happy!" Her fellow swimmer proved that point as she quickly wrapped Laura up in a quick hug, "I wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye to my friend, and now I won't! Thank you so much!"

Laura couldn't help but smile affectionately at the girl, "Nor was I. Instead it appears that you will be stuck with me for quite some time."

Her club mate's eyes widened in realization, "Wait, does that mean you're gonna remain part of the Swimming Club too?"

The Arseid furrowed her brow in confusion, "...Yes? Why?"

"Oh thank the Goddess! Caspar and I have been arguing about who'll replace Klein as the club captain. Neither of us want the position, but someone has to fill his shoes. You'll accept the position, won't you?"

"You want me to be captain?" She couldn't help but repeat back, at Monica's nod she considered the words, "I suppose I wouldn't be adverse to it, but why don't you want it? I think both of you are more than qualified to handle the club."

"The only reason I can swim the length of the pool is because you taught me." Monica replied dryly, "While I'd like to think I could pass on what you taught me, having those lessons come directly from the source would be a lot better."

Against that argument Laura had no rebuttal. Instead she nodded to her friend, "Very well. If you and Caspar are both fine with that than I shall gladly take on the mantle of club captain."

"Awesome!" The Class III girl cheered quickly before settling down and leveling a serious look towards Laura, "...But just so you know I'm not gonna stop training. You still owe me that race, after all, and if you aren't careful I might just end up surpassing you."

"Haha... I'm quite looking forward to that." As much as she would have loved to settle things there and now she grudgingly accepted that a lot of people didn't enjoy swimming in the cooler weather, unlike her. Her Legram upbringing was not the Empire's norm, unfortunately. It was a shame, too, as a swim sounded pretty good this day.

"I'm gonna go find Caspar and let him know the good news!" Monica began to run off before stopping and turning back towards Laura with a wide grin on the shorter girl's face, "I'll see you later!"

Such a simple phrase, but one that held great significance in light of recent decisions. In turn Laura sent her friend a genuine smile and a wave.

It was a reminder that even if the rest of Class VII and her second year friends were leaving that there were still plenty of friends here. There was even a real chance that there were new friends waiting for her with the upcoming batch of new students, just waiting to be met!

Now alone the Arseid heiress began to walk aimlessly around the campus. Perhaps she should seek out Alisa or Emma to hang out with? Or maybe she should see if Rean needed help in any of his student council tasks?

…

Why were Principal Vandyck and Instructor Beatrix heading down to the academy field with weapons in hand?

Her curiosity almost got the better of her, but outside of a few other surprised students nobody around seemed to be reacting in any way that implied an actual crisis of some kind. Instead she found her focus drawn to one of the nearby benches where someone she knew was sleeping peacefully. It wasn't Fie, but the person was almost as catlike, "Hello, Celine."

A tail began swishing as one eye opened to gaze at her, "...What do you want?" The cat asked with a yawn.

The words were rude, but Laura knew she meant nothing bad with them. After all Fie was pretty much the exact same way when she was woken up.

Laura couldn't help but grin to herself. Wasn't that definitive proof that the silver-haired girl was at least part cat?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you from your catnap." Laura found herself giggling a little at her choice of words, which naturally caused the cat to glare up at her, "I, uh, was hoping we could chat. We haven't ever conversed in a one on one manner like this, and with you leaving with Emma soon I thought this would be a good time to do so."

"Really? I have no idea why you would think I wanted to chat with you, but I suppose it's better than having to listen to your weird human mating rituals again."

"T-That was only the one time!" She protested hotly, causing more than a few glances to be sent her way. Not wanting to be seen as a total oddball who got embarrassed while talking to a cat she lowered her voice while desperately seeking out anything to move the conversation along, "...Do you think Rean and Valimar will be alright with you being gone?"

The little feline harrumphed at the question, "That guy? He's a mess at the best of times, but I'll grudgingly admit he has some skill at piloting Valimar. Unless another Divine Knight appears I can't imagine anything will give him trouble."

It was a reassuring answer... mostly, "Do you think any other Divine Knights will appear?" Just how many of them were there anyways?

"Doubt it. Seemed like the meeting between Ashen and Azure was all orchestrated by Vita for some reason. I doubt she has a backup plan, as even if she knew where another Divine Knight was sleeping it'll take some time to find and train its Awakener. Only a select few individuals have the capability of becoming one in the first place."

"I see... In that case I would like to offer my gratitude. I am quite certain things would not have turned out nearly as well as they did were it not for you being there to offer Rean your guidance."

"I only did it because it was part of Emma's mission." The magic feline answered with a huff before turning her face away. Was she embarrassed? "Still... I'm glad at least someone around here appreciates the work I did."

Laura couldn't resist the urge to reach out and begin rubbing Celine's ear. The familiar initially protested the move, but like most cats her resistance faded as soon as the pleasure set in and she began purring, "I'm sure the others appreciate what you've done just as much as I do. You're pretty much a member of Class VII at this point."

"But I don't wanna be a... Mreow! Why is this so gooooood?!"

She couldn't help but laugh at the blissful expression on the little feline's face. If only it was this easy to please everyone. Still, as nice as scratching the cat's ear was she was kinda wishing she could do something a little more for someone who had become such an invaluable part of their group-

Oh.

The cat turned back to glare at her once her hands stopped moving, "How would you like a fresh fish?"

Celine narrowed her eyes, "Just because I'm a cat doesn't mean I like the same things a normal cat does!" Laura merely arched an eyebrow as her smile widened slightly. Hadn't the last few seconds proven otherwise? Celine must have realized that too as she looked away sheepishly, "...What kind of fish are we talking?"

"The biggest one I can catch, naturally." If Laura had to hazard a guess as to what the expression on Celine's face meant, it was probably 'dubious', "I'm serious! It's been a while, but Rean taught me how to fish. I'm quite certain given enough time I should be able to reel in something good!"

"Hmm... Alright." Celine finally rose from her seat before giving a very catty stretch, "But I swear, if this ends up being a waste of time then I shall make sure you live to regret it."

Seeing the cat wave its paw in front of her face would have been adorable were it not for the exposed claws. Hopefully Laura would not have to experience that punishment.

The pair must have made an odd spectacle as they exited campus side by side, but if Laura was going to catch a fish then she needed her rod, which was currently tucked away in her dorm room. With that detour finished the two made their way to the closest body of water – the river that ran through the town.

With Celine wagging her tail impatiently the Arseid was quick to cast her line into the water. There. Now all that was to was to wait until the inevitable bites started rolling in.

"So..." She made small talk awkwardly as a few minutes passed with nary a bite to be felt, "Where's Emma, anyways?"

"That girl..." The black cat shook her head tiredly, "She ran off to gush about smut with that girl in her club. Honestly, all humans are gross."

"Oh. M-Maybe the book they're reading isn't about sex?"

The look Celine gave her was about as skeptical as Laura felt. While she held absolutely no interest in the books Dorothee was writing, the same could not be said about Fie. And that girl just loved chatting about some of the contents of said books to the entire class, much to their embarrassment and the troublemaker's amusement. It was painfully clear that everything their fellow student wrote was explicit in nature.

The Arseid could only pray that Fie's interest in smut would wane soon, as she wasn't sure she could put up with it for an entire year.

"What's sex?" Laura froze. That curious voice did not belong to Celine. In fact it didn't belong to any of her friends. Or any of Trista's adults, either.

Mechanically the girl turned her gaze away from the river and towards the small group of children standing behind her. What little part of her brain that wasn't completely frozen in horror recognized them as the town's youth. Almost all of them. Standing there. As she talked about sex to a cat.

"W-W-Well. Um..." She shot a panicked glance towards Celine, but the familiar was playing the role of normal cat as she casually licked her paw. Despite that the smirk on the little feline's face was entirely too human, "I-It's... It's something you'll learn when you get older."

"Aww! That's lame! One of the young boy's exclaimed, "I know! Let's go ask Sister Rosine! She'll know!"

"N-No!" There was absolutely no way she could let that come to pass! Instead the neophyte angler decided to take a page out of Fie's playbook and change the subject, "Is there something I can help you kids with?"

"Um... Are you trying to catch a fish for the pretty kitty?" One of the girls asked.

Laura chanced a glance at her feline companion. Naturally Celine did not appear at all happy to be called a 'pretty kitty', but the aloof familiar had no option but to sit there silently and take it. It was almost comical. So naturally Laura had to play her part as well, "Yes. I promised her I would catch her something, but the fish don't seem to be biting right now..."

"That's probably 'cause of the fishing duel that just took place."

"Fishing... duel?"

The boy nodded his head, "Yeah! I saw the whole thing from my house. Kenneth and Rean won a fishing contest against two funny looking guys. They caught so many fish! I think they were competing for the girl that was with them."

"Do you think they're gonna get married now?" The little girl asked, eyes sparkling at the prospect.

Laura fought down the swell of irritation that bubbled inside her. Kenneth maybe, but Rean definitely wasn't marrying some random girl. Still, why did that idiot have to go fight a duel over some girl knowing that people would be getting the wrong message!

At least the information she had just gleaned explained why she was struggling so much to catch something. Already she could tell that Celine was getting antsy as she glared a baleful gaze up to her, as if she was expecting Laura to back down from her commitment. Well that was too bad because Laura S. Arseid was not someone to break a promise like that!

...Not unless something more important arose, naturally.

Which was why she couldn't help but cringe terribly when her ARCUS began to ring. She had a bad feeling about the next few seconds.

"I'm starting to think you're a sham." Fie told one of the pink-haired girls in front of her, "You try to act like the responsible one, and yet you keep doing these things. I think that deep down you enjoy being Vivi's little patsy."

"T-That's not it at all!" Said twin responded nervously, "I mean I know I'm just enabling her, but sometimes it's nice to spend time out here."

"Sis is the best!" Vivi's compliment seemed less than genuine given the teasing grin on her face, "Still, I'm surprised you saw through her so easy. How'd you know she wasn't me?"

That was an easy answer, "I don't think I've ever seen you caring for the flowers like that. Wasn't hard to figure out. Plus you look slightly different."

"Oho!" Vivi's eyes lit up brilliantly, "Not many people can spot any differences between us. You must be checking me out a lot if you're able to notice these things."

That her friend was trying to tease her was obvious, but Fie wasn't Rean, she could play the game just as well, "Sure. Can't deny it. Hard not to whenever I see you bent over the flowers."

"Nice! You like what you see?" The prankster gave a spirited twirl for good measure.

But if she was expecting a positive answer she would be sorely disappointed as Fie gave a so-so gesture with her hand, "Eh... Maybe a six out of ten? Nah. Six and a half."

Vivi's enthusiasm died. Even Linde looked pretty offended, "Six and a half!? Are you an idiot? How can you look at my sexy bod and say it's just a six and a half!?"

"It's the whole twin thing. You lose some points 'cause of your sister. Nobody's gonna want to be with you when they know you have an identical copy floating about. It would be weird if someone got together with your sister. Kinda like sharing the same person."

"Ironic coming from you."

That Linde was the one to comment on that drew a smile to the former jaeger. More like her sister than she ever cared to admit, "Sure. Can't deny that. That was by design, though. But you two do have one thing going for you. Pretty sure everyone's had the twin fantasy at least once in their life. If you both worked together you'd be an easy eleven out of ten."

Vivi slid up to Fie, "So you're saying that if Linde and I worked together we'd be irresistible? If 'we're an eleven does that mean we could get you to cheat on Rean and Laura with us?"

"Vivi!"

Fie hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe? I'd probably be more inclined to convince them to join in too."

"Fie!"

Both gardeners shared a laugh at the more meek sister's discomfort, "Alas!" Vivi lamented dramatically, "I don't think my poor sis would be up for such a fun time. I guess I'll just have to settle for being the six and a half... You sure you can't give me an eight at least?"

"Alright you two. That's enough." Linde sighed tiredly, "I should get back to the art room. I want to spend what little time we have left with Gaius and Clara while I can." With a wave one half of the identical duo made her departure.

"I wonder..." The silver-haired girl muttered as she watched Linde enter the building, "Starting to think a six and a half might be enough for someone like Gaius?"

"I've been thinking the same thing..." Vivi muttered in agreement, "Maybe I should try and corner him while pretending to be Linde? See if I can get some answers that way."

Their conversation was interrupted by soft giggling, "What I think you should be doing..." Edel stated as she appeared, causing the pink-haired girl to jump, "is taking care of your flowers. Everything else can wait."

"Yeah, yeah." The chastised girl agreed petulantly as she looked down at her plants, "You know how much it's gonna suck doing this alone next year?"

"I don't believe that is going to be an issue." Edel replied before sending a sly glance towards Fie.

Said girl blinked in surprise, "...You knew?" It wasn't as if she meant to keep it a secret from them, but bringing up her decision had slipped her mind.

"I didn't know for certain, but I had a hunch given how peaceful you've been looking these past few days. Nothing like the conflict that's been marring you this last month."

Huh. Fie thought she had been able to mask her inner turmoil rather well. Guess Edel was the exception, but that didn't actually surprise her at all. The older girl was surprisingly good at reading her like few others could. Like an actual caring big sister and not whatever it was Sara was trying to be.

"Huh? Wait... Are you saying...?" Credit where it was due as Vivi seemed to put the clues together awfully fast.

"Yep. I'm here for another-"

"Yes!" Before Fie could finish she found herself completely smothered by pink, unknowingly emulating a similar scene elsewhere, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! There was no way I could handle everything on my own, but now I won't need to! Have fun, cap'n!"

Fie returned the hug awkwardly. Vivi's excitement was understandable as Fie wasn't sure if she would have nearly as much fun in the club if the prankster also left alongside Edel. But now at least they would be together as the new students arrived and-

Wait a sec, "...What was that last bit?"

"You're the club captain now." Vivi repeated without a curim of shame.

The silver-haired girl opened her mouth to vehemently protest the decision- "I think that's a lovely idea."

...But was interrupted instead, "Edel!?"

"As a gardener one must love all their creations equally, but it's undeniable that some will grow better than the others. It is only natural that the one that grows the tallest will also shine the brightest. I think the role will suit you well."

"You could have just agreed with me," Vivi added with a pout, "Why'd you have to compare me to a dead shriveled plant?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I was simply making an analogy for Fie."

"You said that she was the tallest and brightest flower! That makes me the weed in your analogy!"

The amused jaeger watched her friends banter back and forth. She would never be Edel, nor could she be Rean, Sara, the Boss, or any other leader she had known. She was and would always simply be Fie.

But maybe... that was enough?

"Alright. I guess I can give it a shot. Can't be any worse than Vivi."

"Hey! Why are you all ganging up on me today!?"

"I dunno? Maybe it's 'cause you still haven't figured out which end of the plant goes in the ground?"

Vivi probably said something in retort, but Fie was no longer paying attention to her friend. Instead something very interesting crossed her vision. Something she had seen once before...

Continuing to ignore Vivi she pulled out her ARCUS and quickly placed a call, "Hey, Sara? I just saw Instructor Neithardt lead the boys into the gym again. I think they're going swimming."

"What!?" Came the shrill cry from the other end, causing the girl to wince, "That son of a bitch is trying to steal my kids again! I'm on my way! Let the other girls know, will ya?"

"Ja!"

After ending Sara's call she placed a new call. Naturally the first girl she contacted was Laura. After a surprisingly long wait the call was answered, "What is it?" Came the surprisingly terse reply from the normally placid girl.

With a raised eyebrow Fie continued, "Sara wants us all to meet at the gym. We're going to beat the boys at swimming again."

"..." After a few long seconds of silence she heard a tired sigh from the other end, "...Understood. I am on my way- Yeowch!"

"...What was that?" It definitely sounded like Laura had been attacked for some reason, but given the other girl hadn't asked for help or anything Fie assumed she wasn't in actual danger.

"It's... nothing." A resigned Laura replied, "Just paying the price for a broken promise. I shall see you soon."

Well that was interesting. Curiosity was brimming inside Fie, but given Laura was on her way she could get her answers easier by waiting. Instead she busied herself by contacting Alisa, Emma, and Millium. All three of them accepted the orders, although Alisa sounded pretty tired when she did so.

Luckily for her it was Laura who arrived first, but with her was Celine. Fie barely noticed the cat at first, however, as her gaze was drawn to the painful looking scratch marks on her legs. Scratch marks that could only come from a cat.

Now Celine's presence made a lot more sense, "A broken promise, huh?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Hmph!"

"Looks like you aren't the only one put through the ringer." Fie noted as she ignored the fuming cat to watch their other classmates approach, with one in particular looking exhausted, "What happened to you?"

"Ugh..." Alisa groaned tiredly, "Rean asked me to help him and Gaius in a fight against Ferris and her family. It went well enough, but then the Principal and Instructor Beatrix showed up after. Those two are monsters!"

Laura made an understanding noise, "So that's what that was all about! I wish I could have partaken in the fight myself..."

"It was so much fun! For a pair of old coots they could fight super well!" Millium cheered.

Although she tried to keep her voice level, it was clear the Arseid was at least somewhat miffed by the situation, and Fie couldn't blame her either. While getting into a fight on their last free day didn't sound all that great, a chance to see Beatrix's skills firsthand would have been cool. Instead he picked Gaius, Alisa, and Millium to fight against them?

What the hell, Rean?

"Good job, kiddos. You beat up a pair of senior citizens." On one hand Sara definitely knew those two weren't just any old people, but a comment like that was definitely designed to get under Alisa's skin. And it worked wonders as the blonde girl let out an unladylike growl, "But now we need to beat up the boys. Let's hurry inside and get changed!"

They did as the teacher told, with the sounds of splashing and Instructor Neithardt's barked orders masking their actions. Alisa grumbled about swimming in March, but Fie didn't mind the cold too much. Laura too seemed pretty excited, which didn't surprise Fie given how obsessed she was with swimming, but the Arseid's joy seemed tempered slightly as she gazed down at the scratch marks on her bare legs.

Heh. Maybe she should challenge her again? As minor of an injury as it was, Fie was confident she could pull off the win with it slowing Laura down the tiniest bit.

Once everyone was finished Sara led them to the pool. As expected all of the boys were surprised by their presence, a surprise that only grew when the teacher challenged them to a team battle. Instructor Neithardt accepted and put Rean forth as the men's first challenger. A race against him actually sounded pretty good since he was probably the fastest of the guys and could give her a good challenge. Fie was just a fraction of a second ahead of Laura in stepping forward to put her name into the ring-

Sara seemed to find something awfully funny as she laughed, "Looks like you're on deck, Emma."

...Wait, what?

"I just let Rean's wandering gaze pick for me. Wasn't expecting him to pick you, but the eyes don't lie."

"B-But I wasn't...!"

There was a very real chance that Sara was lying. This seemed like the kind of chaos the older woman would delight in. Or maybe Rean hadn't been staring and had simply been caught while his eyes were roving about.

And it wasn't as if Fie could deny that she stared at Emma's chest either. Emma outing herself as a witch finally provided an explanation as to why it was so big – definitely a magic spell of some kind – but the agile girl still found herself wondering how her friend was able to accomplish anything with a chest like that.

So there were plenty of reasons why Fie shouldn't be angry at Rean.

Sadly for him none of those reasons mattered in that moment as she glared at him angrily. She didn't even need to look to confirm Laura was also of a similar mindset as the boy seemed to shrink pitifully before their eyes.

It was a shame she wouldn't get the chance to crush him in the swimming race, but that was fine. For now she and Laura would content themselves with using the other guys as targets for their frustration. Those future races were gonna be massacres.

As for Rean? The only way the pitiful swordsman would survive their combined wrath was if some random monumental event happened in the next few minutes to distract them from their righteous fury.

...But what were the odds of that?