Altina wasn't one to wear her emotions openly. It was less because she knew how to reign herself in and more because she still didn't quite understand them to begin with. She was only just starting to accept that she might in fact have emotions to begin with.

And yet despite that, she was fairly confident in her understanding of what she was currently feeling: Annoyance. It was an emotion that she was becoming rather accustomed to ever since her awakening as it felt like everything and everyone around her was out to make her feel this emotion. And the way she was currently glaring at the source of her annoyance was almost assuredly the same way her classmates used whenever they were directing their focus at whatever caused them to feel the same emotion.

It was a shame that the target of her ire couldn't suffer like the others could.

Mostly because it was an inanimate object.

"Aww. Don't be like that, Allie. The water doesn't deserve that kind of abuse."

The taciturn girl shifted her gaze away from the swimming pool to the speaker of the voice, Leonora, "Once again I have failed to reach my goal."

Forty arge. All of her other club mates could do it easily. And yet despite this being her third month in the club she had yet to be able to accomplish it.

It was very annoying.

"Sure, but you're getting close." Leonora's reassurances were kind, but they didn't really make her feel much better. Her club captain must have recognized this as she shook her head with a wry smile before elaborating further, "These things don't happen overnight, you know? Remember how when you first started swimming you could barely stay afloat?"

Despite herself Altina couldn't help but feel her face coloring slightly. Embarrassment.

The older girl let out a small laugh at her reaction, once again triggering her feeling of annoyance, "As with most things it takes a little patience. It took a while to get the fundamentals down, but you've been growing leaps and bonds since! You made it around thirty arge this time, right? You barely made twenty that time you tried just before Crossbell."

That was... true. This was definitely her best result, and by a wide margin too. Perhaps her friend was right. It wasn't always easy, but patience was a good thing, especially for an intelligence agent.

Still, if she didn't reach forty soon she was confident these negative emotions would only continue to fester.

"Thank you." Altina said at last. But once again she found her annoyance spiking as she realized that the tall girl wasn't even looking at her anymore. Deciding to channel her ire into something productive the young swimmer followed the gaze to see what was distracting Leonora.

What she saw leaning on the wall of the room... "Fie?"

"Sup?" Her classmate teased before approaching. Just how long had she been standing there!?

"You've been there for a while, haven't you?" Leonora echoed Altina's thoughts, albeit with a hint of wariness.

"Only for a few minutes. Just finished some shooting practice when I saw Altina trying to set the pool on fire with her eyes. What's up with that?"

"It's... not important," While Altina didn't mind being truthful to her friend she was starting to understand her fellow silver-hair. Giving an answer would almost certainly lead to teasing. Teasing was not something she wanted.

If Fie was bothered by the lack of answer she didn't show it. Instead her smile grew a little wider before she turned towards the door, "Heh. I think I have an idea. That's fine. Your secret is safe with me. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Actually..." Both Class VII girls were surprised by Leonora's interruption, "This is as good an opportunity as any. How would you like to have a little race?"

Fie came to a halt before turning back to her, "A race? With me? Huh?" Maybe in a different time the former intelligence agent would take the rare chance to tease her normally unflappable friend for her lackluster response, but right now she was just as surprised, "Why?"

"Why wouldn't I? You're Zephyr, right? Jaegers might not be as attuned to the water as my Silver Whales were, but they're pretty damn close. And given how athletic you are I got a feeling you might be my closest competition in this school, minus the faculty."

"Silver Whales, huh? Had a feeling it was something like that..." Fie trailed off thoughtfully for a few seconds, "Alright, fine. A race sounds like it could be fun."

"Great! Go change up while I get the pool ready for it!"

Altina blinked as her two friends went on their separate ways. Things had escalated surprisingly quickly and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. Regardless, it was a decision made between the two of them and it wasn't as if she had any real say in the matter.

But... Just because she had no say in the matter didn't mean she couldn't say anything at all, right? She was sure there were at least a few people curious about a potential race between two of the most capable students she knew. Decision made she approached her clothes before retrieving her ARCUS II from the pocket.

"Hello, Juna. There's something I think you might be interested in-"

Five minutes later and Altina found herself regretting her decision to be social.

She told Juna. That in itself wasn't the problem.

Juna told her club mates. She also told Kurt and Ash when she encountered them. This was unexpected, but had it stopped there then there would still be no problem.

They in turn told their other friends and any other people they randomly came across while making the trek.

That was a problem.

And so it went on and on and on. By the time Fie exited the changing room in her swimsuit a grand total of half the campus was in the room.

"Leonora's gonna win!"

"You're wrong! Fie has this!"

"Idiot!"

"Oh yeah? If you're so confident why not show it with a little mira?"

"Fine! Fifty mira on Fie!"

"Hundred on Leonora!"

"Ooh! Me too! Hundred on Fie!"

"I'll match that."

...Oops.

"...This is your fault, isn't it?" With all the activity going on few people noticed the approach of a freshly changed but mildly perturbed Fie until said girl was staring down at Altina. The smaller girl couldn't help but wilt slightly under that look.

"Ahaha..." Leonora laughed awkwardly as she approached the duo, "I can't say I was expecting this either. Still, it seems like they're all excited for a good show. Want to give it to them?"

Altina's classmate let out a sigh, "Alright. Let's just get this over with." Despite the lethargic response, from what she knew of Fie she was sure the other girl was at least a little excited for the race, even if she hid it well. The former jaeger had a surprising competitive streak, after all.

"Great! Let's go! Allie, you're the judge." Without waiting for a reply Leonora walked towards the starting point with Fie trailing just behind.

Altina blinked as the parting words set in. She was to judge the outcome of the race? Sure the task itself didn't seem too difficult, but the homunculi couldn't recall ever being placed in such a situation. Being the arbiter of a race with this many spectators – Even Instructors Rean and Randolph were now in the room - left her feeling a little uncomfortable.

Belatedly she realized the emotion she was now feeling was anxiety.

Still, it wasn't as if Leonora gave her the chance to back out, and Altina probably wouldn't have refused even if she had. So she did her best to ignore the many pairs of eyes following her every step as she moved to the far end of the pool, opposite the swimmers. Unlike most of the room who seemed to be divided between one or the other swimmer Altina held no such feelings. One was her classmate and the other a club member. Both were her friends. Victory or defeat mattered little to the girl.

They would be racing one lap of the pool. Forty arge. A length that she was still struggling to clear on her own. And she had no doubt that both of them would make it look entirely too easy.

No she was not bitter about that fact.

Not one bit.

From the end of the swimming pool Altina observed the two racers as they prepared. What she witnessed was... not much, in fact. Being forty arge away from the action meant she couldn't hear anything, and even her vision was limited from such a distance. She couldn't help but pout a little. How come she had to miss out on all the action because they had decided to make her the referee for this event?

Unacceptable.

"Claiomh Solais."

A few of the students made noises of surprise and Instructor Rean facepalmed at the sight of her combat shell, but given neither competitor seemed to care Altina assumed it was fine. Climbing onto her partner she abdicated her position at the end to hover over the pool instead. Perfect. This way she could watch the race while still being in position to declare a winner.

After a few more seconds the two swimmers took their position. Stark must have been elected as the one to start the race as her club mate took up position before beginning a countdown.

Three. Two. One...

Altina observed as both Fie and Leonora immediately dove into the water and began swimming the length of the pool. Once again she couldn't help but feel the slight tinge of a negative emotion as both girls sped through the water like it was no hindrance at all.

In hindsight it should have been expected, but Altina was really starting to realize just how much Leonora really held herself back when providing demonstrations to herself and the other club members. How irksome.

And yet even at full speed the green-haired girl wasn't gaining any advantage as Fie seemed to keep apace. Her classmate truly was a remarkably quick individual, possibly even matching up to what she knew of Duvalie's speed from the few times she worked alongside and against the Stahlritter leader. While Leonora relied on long bounding strokes Fie worked with shorter but quicker motions. Perhaps a disadvantage in a longer swim, but unlike Altina it was obvious Fie had the stamina to finish the pool with energy to spare.

As the two racers passed the spot she was hovering over Altina instructed Claiomh Solais to match their pace. Idly she couldn't help but wonder if she was the only person alive to witness a swimming race from this vantage point. Maybe she should have been recording this for the sake of others?

In a matter of seconds both competitors had cleared the halfway point. This was usually where Altina began to flounder, but neither of the two veterans slowed a bit. Instead it seemed that adrenaline and a competitive spirit was propelling them to greater and greater speeds. As they got closer and closer to the end without either of them taking a noticeable lead the Black Rabbit couldn't help but lower Claiomh Solais to a single arge above the water – Both because she had a feeling she needed to be close to see the end and because she found herself getting more and more excited to see the final result.

As the two had been neck and neck throughout the entire race it stood to reason that their finish would follow suit, and indeed it did. There was a hush from the spectators as the two girls both tagged the end, one which gave way to a confused murmur. Altina understood their bewilderment well – by almost every metric it appeared the two had reached the end at the same instant.

But her vantage point allowed her to see things differently. While it was virtually a tie there was one tiny little difference between the two girls. And that difference that allowed a definitive victor to be proclaimed.

"Leonora won." She calmly announced to the room.

She had won solely because her arms were a little longer.

...For some reason that difference really bugged the little agent.

Altina's declaration caused the flurry of excitement from the audience to both resume and intensify, with many of the assembled group approaching the two swimmers as they got out of the water. For their part the two swimmers seemed to brush off the praise sent their way with ease as both seemed pretty happy with the race they had just completed.

"Haha. Thanks for sucking, Jaeger. Wild Filly owes me a hundred mira now."

"Go away, Ash."

"Screw you."

Altina nodded to herself as she finally allowed her feet to touch ground and dismissed Claiomh Solais. Seeing her two close friends grin at each other after mutually telling off her new classmate was a good sign. All her friends should become friends with each other. It made too much sense to her.

"Fie! Why...?!" Juna complained as she approached the duo, "I was gonna buy the new special at Recette with that mira..."

...A shame some of her friends weren't quite on the same page yet.

"Come on you guys." Instructor Rean chastised as he followed behind Juna, "We just witnessed a wonderful race. Why are you all so focused on the gambling?" Altina could only nod her head approvingly.

Juna looked away sheepishly, but Ash didn't seem to care one bit. Figures.

"Haha. He says that, but Reanie here owes me the first drink tonight."

Altina's approval faded after hearing Instructor Randolph's words.

"T-That's not what we agreed on!" Her teacher protested with a reddened face, causing a few of the students to laugh at the spectacle.

Being surrounded by friends after witnessing such an exciting spectacle... It left Altina feeling a little funny. She knew it was an emotion, but it was one she wasn't as familiar with. She considered everything she had studied and observed up to this point and came up with a word that felt most appropriate.

Contentment. Altina felt content.

Ever since she arrived at Thors Fie had found herself thrown into weirder and weirder situations. In fairness that wasn't much different from the time spent with Zephyr, but there was one major difference between the time spent in the corps and the time spent at school.

Most of the situations she found herself in with Zephyr were because of circumstances out of her control where she needed to act in order to survive.

Meanwhile most of the stuff she had to endure at Thors was because she was an idiot who kept volunteering for things despite knowing how miserable it would be.

Case in point, why else would she be standing there in the middle of school grounds in the dead of night?

The agile girl was still trying to wrap her mind around how such a strange event occurred in the first place. It had all started so innocently, too.

The previous night she had been doing one of her sneaky late night cooking practice missions. While not something she did everyday it was a common enough occurrence in her recent life. And as usual Maya had somehow sniffed out her intentions despite no words being shared and had followed the girl into the kitchen to eat anything and everything Fie made.

...How that girl continued to remain so fit was one of the great mysteries of the universe.

She had spent a few hours that evening trying to reconstruct the bagel she ate in Crossbell from her memories. Overall the results had been pretty solid – It definitely wasn't Morges quality by any stretch of the imagination, but considering how pleased Maya looked after eating half the batch it was good enough for her purposes.

Oh she was so looking forward to the look on Rean's face after that guy had told her it was impossible to do.

Fie was ready to call it a night and go to bed when her food tester stopped her with an unexpected question – Would she be willing to assist Maya in her sniper training. A part of her brain knew it would be a terrible idea to accept it, but the question was so unexpected that her curiosity compelled her to investigate further.

Fie had given one of the best performances against Randy's anti-sniper lesson. More importantly, she herself had been a jaeger. Maya found herself quite interested in learning more about the style of ranged combat commonly used by guns for hire.

Why Maya was turning to Fie for help instead of her own teacher she would never know for sure, but considering Rean was the last person she wanted to turn to if the silver-haired girl wanted help she could make a pretty solid guess.

None of the clarification her friend provided left the former jaeger feeling any ease at all. While someone could shoot at a target all day long, actual sniper training wasn't something that could be accomplished in the comfortable school building or their dorms. It was the kind of thing that required time, energy, and a willingness to go out and get dirty.

Fie knew all this. It was such a terrible idea to even consider.

...Which was why she was still wondering what possessed her to actually accept the request.

Instead the girl simply let out a tired sigh as she continued walking through the empty campus. Her job was to play the role of the wary target – something which was easy to play when that was exactly what she was. Meanwhile Maya was... somewhere. Fie probably wouldn't know where she was until the other girl took her shot.

"Maybe I should learn some regional specialties? Maybe Tita can show me a dish from Liberl if I ask her...? I bet she knows some amazing dessert recipes."

Was she talking to herself? Yes. But she actually had a purpose to it.

Because this was as much a training lesson as it was an exercise, both the sniper and the victim had an active ARCUS call going on. Even if Fie couldn't see Maya she could still talk to her so she could give advice or critique as needed. Right now wasn't the time for advice or critique, but it was a distraction.

Any sniper worth their salt could focus through a little distraction, and while her attempts were relatively juvenile she knew just how distracted the sniper could get from a food discussion...

Bang!

Instinctively she rolled away, avoiding the round by a few rege. It was a good shot, all things considered. Just like during the exercise a few days prior the sharp jaeger immediately sought out where the shot came from, something which didn't take long at all.

It had to have been from the roof of the train platform.

Immediately Fie broke into a sprint, firing a few covering shots in that direction out of reflex. There was little chance she would hit the concealed sniper, but anything that could buy her time was a win in her books. Maya had two options in this scenario – she could relocate, or she could double down and take another shot.

Bang!

Maya chose the latter. While Fie didn't consider it to be the wrong option in a vacuum, given the current circumstance it felt like a mistake to her. Now she was all but certain exactly where Maya was, and the black-haired girl was not going to get the luxury of a third shot.

Crossing the field at a full sprint took a matter of seconds. The sniper probably thought she had more time to work with from her rooftop position as she didn't immediately react. But Fie had a secret weapon to ensure her victory.

Once again it was up to her trusty old grappling hook to save the day.

It boggled her mind that so few people used such a useful tool. It was so handy! Sure some might consider it dangerous to use so hastily in the dead of night, but such trivialities never stopped her before.

In an odd coincidence she landed on the roof mere arge away from her target. Maya could only blink owlishly at her appearance before slowly raising her arms in the universal gesture for surrender. Point to Fie.

"Well..." She spoke even after Maya left her vision, knowing it would transmit through the ARCUS, "Roofs are obviously good spots for snipers, but they also have the drawback of making you predictable and slowing down your ability to relocate. Army snipers can usually minimize that by having a dedicated spotter and a squad of soldiers to intercept the enemy if they get close, but jaegers don't usually have that luxury. When you're playing solo try to stay mobile and keep an avenue of escape available to you at all times."

"...Understood."

With her criticism provided Fie settled down to wait for Maya to find a new position. Sure she could have struck quickly and tested her friend's ability to respond to an unexpected assault, but this was probably the better way for now. In a way it was like the two of them were playing a game of hide and seek across the campus, albeit one with guns.

Guns were the best way to play that children's game, in her honest opinions.

After four more runs of their little game Fie was ready to call it quits. Thankfully Maya seemed to understand that as she put away her rifle, "How was it?" The quiet girl asked at last.

"Not bad at all. Outside of the earlier suggestion at improving your mobility the only other thing I noticed was that your accuracy seems to fall off a lot when I'm moving at full speed."

"Yes. I've noticed that as well." Her friend agreed as the two began the long trek back to the dorms. "Sidney usually manages to score higher than me against moving targets. It's... something I'm struggling to fix."

Yeah. Fie wasn't a sniper, but she remembered listening to Xeno talk about his similar struggles. Moving targets were naturally harder to hit and only the most elite snipers could adjust to a quickly but erratically moving target. Not even Xeno could pull it off completely. Instead he had compensated for that weakness by-

Wait.

Oh, that could work.

Fie paused, causing Maya to do the same. The other girl tilted her head in confusion as she considered her words carefully.

"Tell me... have you considered learning how to use traps?"

Maya could only blink in confusion before adopting an interested look, "Tell me more."

The rest of Class VIII felt chills go down their spines, although none could understand why at the time.

"Take this! Tempest Edge!"

Fie let out a rather uncool yelp as she was forced to abandon her plans of attack in order to dodge out of the way of Kurt's surprising onslaught. The deadly spinning slash he unleashed was an entirely new move from the Vander and would have done some real damage had she been just a little bit slower.

In fact it was a close enough thing that Fie had to resist the urge to look away from her opponent to make sure her uniform hadn't been sliced.

"When'd you learn that?" She asked even as she took the opportunity to lunge at the Vander in an attempt to catch him before he could recover.

Sadly he was just as swift with his recovery as he was his attack, "Just recently. I refuse to allow myself to remain behind you and Instructor Rean."

"Heh? Is that so?" Truth be told, Fie was pretty impressed at how much Kurt had been improving since they started their occasional sparring sessions. The Vander probably didn't notice his own growth, but his strength and agility were a little better and his movements felt a lot more natural. Guy could start a dancing career if he ever got bored of fighting.

In her unbiased opinion Fie was certain that if both of them fought for real she still had a significant edge. Although Kurt did have a couple ranged slashes with his swords he was still primarily a melee fighter. Her edge at range was vast – something which grew even further if she brought some of her nastier tools into play.

But in a straight melee? Honestly she wasn't sure who held the advantage at this point. She was still confident in her speed and reflexes, naturally, but Kurt was no slouch in either of those categories, and more importantly was beginning to take advantage of the longer reach his twin blades held over her gunswords.

Her own pride wouldn't allow her to ever lose to Kurt, naturally, but his declaration was a lot closer than he probably realized.

At least in regards to her. As much as she hated to admit it Rean was still out of their reach – especially if he decided to bring his Spirit Unification into play.

"Well, well. Doesn't this look like a lot of fun?"

Fie rolled her eyes. Just great. Sure the campus training room was open to all, but they usually didn't have to deal with any distractions during their spars, and especially not from an annoyance like Ash.

Kurt looked just as annoyed as he let out a sigh before sheathing his blades. For a moment Fie considered punishing him for lowering his guard in the middle of a fight, but she'd forgive him this time. Ash's presence was enough to make anyone mess up.

Also of note was the fact Ash had his weapon in hand, "You here to train?"

"Hah!" The punk scoffed with a dangerous glint in his eyes, "Train? I'm here to fight."

It didn't take someone as observant as Fie to notice he was staring directly at her when he said that, "Makes sense. Alright, have fun, Kurt."

"Huh?"

"What!?"

"What?" She parroted with an innocent tilt of her head, "You didn't think I'd be the one fighting, did you?" Getting no answer she let out a dramatic sigh before continuing, "Kurt, I've been training with you since Sutherland. You're basically my disciple at this point. Aren't challengers supposed to defeat the disciples before they're allowed to challenge the master?"

The blue-haired boy shot her the flattest stare possible. It was almost an Altina special, "That's not how it works... at all. And I have not, nor will I ever, consider myself to be your disciple. That honor is reserved solely for the masters of the Vander school."

"Hey!" Ash interrupted with an annoyed shout, "We gonna fight or what?"

Truth be told fighting Ash actually sounded like it could be fun. The guy was undoubtedly strong and his unique weapon was more akin to something a jaeger would use. The only thing holder her back was the fact that doing so would mean giving Ash what he wanted.

And that went against all of Fie's morals.

"Did someone say a fight?"

Fie would have mocked Ash and Kurt for the way their faces rapidly paled, but she had a sinking feeling that she was in the same boat. What other reaction was even possible when standing in the door - massive sword held at the ready – was their principal, the Golden Rakshasa herself.

But unlike the two boys she was a little quicker on the uptake, "Y-Yeah. They were looking for a sparring partner 'cause I gotta leave. C-Club activities and all that, you know?"

It was a feeble excuse considering both Tita and Freddy has gone back to town the instant classes ended for the day, but she didn't give anyone the chance to call her out as she used what speed and agility she possessed to quickly slip past the terrifying woman and out of the room. Of course that wasn't nearly far enough to calm her down, so she kept running until she was out of the building completely.

Only then did she take the time to pause to recover her breath and calm her heartbeat. That was too close! She'd already been forced to fight such a hopeless battle once and was more than willing to never do so again.

Much to her surprise a minute later the door to the school opened and out ran a terrified looking Ash. Upon laying eyes on her her classmate altered his course to instead approach her, "What are you doing here?" Fie hissed to him.

"Same thing you're doing, obviously! Gave a bullshit excuse before running the hell away. Not letting that psychopath kick my ass again!"

Alright. That was fair. She could respect that he knew to run away.

But...

"Did we just leave Kurt to die?"

"Eh. Pretty Boy can handle himself... probably?"

Ash seemed pretty doubtful of his own words, and so was she. That being said... "Yeah. He'll be fine."

With that she turned and began walking towards town in an attempt to put some further distance between herself and the spot of the crime they'd just committed, "...Let's never speak of this again."

"Agreed."