"Good job, everybody. You all did well today and I..." Rean trailed off momentarily, "...What's wrong with her?"
Fie didn't need to look up from her current position of her face buried onto her desk to know the teacher was staring at her, "'Emtied. Lemmeloon."
"Uh...?"
"I believe what Fie just attempted to say was that 'I'm tired. Leave me alone.', but the desk muffled her voice."
"Huh. Thanks, Altina. I didn't know you had gotten so proficient at understanding her like that."
Neither did Fie. She was quite impressed.
"I was not aware of it myself." Altina admitted, making herself the third person, "I am unsure if this is a skill I should be cultivating, but I am glad this unexpected proficiency has proven useful."
"Either way, I just got done talking with Instructor Michael. He was impressed at the unexpectedly high scores you all posted on that quiz."
Fie couldn't help but perk up a bit as she raised her head to look at the teacher, "Does that mean I don't need to take those stupid extra classes?" A nod was his only response, "Yes! Freedom at last! No more late nights studying!"
"Woohoo!" Juna shouted in jubilation. "We did it!"
Rean rolled his eyes, "You do know this was just a practice quiz for the midterms that are next month, right? I can promise you that test will be a lot harder and longer than this one." Suddenly Fie lost her spark of enthusiasm, "...In fact, now that I know the threat of extra classes is such an effective one I think I will keep it in place until those exams are finished. I expect to see you all putting forth a little extra effort until then."
Fie's head made its glorious return to her desk with a resounding thud and accompanying groan, "...Wanacral holndie."
"I believe she just said she wants to crawl into a hole and die."
"...Thank you, Altina."
"Don't worry, Fie! You made it this far so I'm sure with a little more effort you'll make it through the exams!"
The teacher let out a nervous laugh, "You're right, Juna. But please don't forget to heed that advise yourself."
"I believe what our dear instructor is trying to say is that your score was lower than Fie's." Musse added with a giggle.
The silver-hair girl perked up, "Wait, really?" She glanced between the sheepish looking Rean and the horrified Juna. A wide smile adorned her face as she stood from her seat and approached the Crossbellian before giving a gentle pat on the head, "There, there. It'll be alright. With my help I'm sure you can make it through these trying times."
"Stop it!" The irate girl tried to swat Fie's hand away, but it was a simple enough attack to evade. That only served to make Juna madder, much to her amusement.
"Hot damn. Here I was thinking Jaeger was the biggest idiot but it's actually the Wild Filly. Do they even teach you anything in Crossbell?"
Juna muttered something towards Ash, but given it came out almost entirely as a growl it was completely indecipherable.
Fie turned towards Altina. So did Kurt, Musse, and Ash. In fact even Rean was looking at the tiny girl curiously.
For her part she merely blinked before giving a shrug, "...It appears I am not as proficient at understanding Juna."
Fie needed a nap.
After a week of studying under Musse's obnoxious tutelage, playing Tennis with Juna's club, going on errands, and helping friends she was basically at her wit's end. That was far too much activity for someone as laid-back and unmotivated as she was supposed to be. School was supposed to be a time for her to laze around in between all the hectic field exercises. She needed a pause, and bad.
But she had already learned a very painful lesson about taking a nap out in the open. While no place was safe from the force of nature known as Aurelia Le Guin there were a few spots that could afford her at least some level of protection.
It was one of those places she went to now.
"...And that is why I need to lay low in here for a while." She nodded sagely after explaining her situation to the person in charge of her sanctuary.
Tita giggled, "Musse really put you through the ringer, huh?"
"I still don't have a clue how you're able to survive having her as a roommate. Plus with all the stuff you get to do in here... I'm a little jealous, actually."
"Haha..." This time the engineer's laugh was a little more nervous, "I have a lot of help, thankfully. A few other students have been helping out around here lately. And having Mint working here has been an absolute gift from Aidios!"
Fie couldn't help but feel a little skeptical about that statement. The reason why? "You mean the same Mint that's about to fall off that soldat?"
"Eh?" Tita didn't seem to comprehend her words initially, but one glance behind her into the hangar was enough to put all the pieces in place, "Be careful, Mint!"
"Huh?" Mint – who had been balancing dangerously on one of the Drakkhen's legs – turned at the source of the cry. Naturally, between the girl's awkward position and clumsy nature... "W-Woah!?"
Fie watched with quiet amusement as the girl began swaying dangerously. In a panic she tried to right herself, but over-corrected badly and toppled off the machine. The height of the fall wasn't too bad, but given the hard surface of the floor it was a painful landing.
Or at least it would have been had Tita not shown a surprising amount of speed as she crossed the floor in time to halt Mint's fall with her own body. The two girls fell to the ground in a mostly painless but awkward pile of limbs.
"Heehee! Thanks, Tita! You really saved me there!"
Fie nodded even though neither of them could see her. Crisis averted.
...At least she thought that until a tool Mint had left sitting on the soldat decided that all that commotion was enough to jostle it over the edge...
"Owie!" ...Where gravity did the rest. Poor Mint. Some people were just cursed by nature.
"A-Are you alright?" A panicked Tita asked as she hastily freed herself and rose to her feet.
This time Fie chose to intervene as she approached the duo before checking out where the tool had hit the teary Mint, "Hmm... I don't think it's too bad, but you can never be too careful with a head injury. Want me to go get Linde?"
"N-Nah! It's fine!" Surprisingly Mint didn't seem too bothered by her accident as she rose to her feet, although one hand was held protectively over her bruised skull, "These things happen all the time!" The girl seemed to reconsider after taking a pair of shaky steps, "O-Okay. I'm a little dizzy. Sorry Drakky, but I'll finish your check-up later. Gonna go say hi to Linde now..."
Fie and Tita watched in silent confusion as the scatterbrained girl walked out of the hangar at a deliberately slow pace, "S-Should we follow her?" Fie asked nervously.
"I'm... not sure. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but-"
"Fourth Disciple!" Came a cranky old voice from above, "What was that infernal racket!?"
"Uh... It's nothing major, professor! There was just an accident down here."
"Makarov's girl, I assume. I don't get how anyone related to that man can be so..." Schmidt trailed off in exasperation. Fie couldn't help but find that amusing and well deserved, "Never mind that! Get up here, Fourth Disciple! The new soldats will be arriving in a few days! I need a status update from you right now!"
"U-Understood, professor!" Tita turned towards Fie with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about this. I'll be back soon, I promise."
The Class VII girl blinked as her friend departed in a flustered rush, leaving her all alone in the hangar. Now would be the optimal time to find a peaceful place to relax, but curiosity halted her movements before they could even begin. It wasn't often the agile student found herself in a situation like this...
Curious eyes took in the hangar. The place had definitely seen better days with machine parts strewn about haphazardly, but that could easily be explained by the news they were in the midst of preparing for new soldats. That was definitely gonna be fun, but right now those giant machines weren't what caught her interest.
Instead she found herself approaching a much smaller but no less interesting machine near Tita's bench. It still didn't appear to be fully assembled, but it seemed her friend had been progressing on her personal project quite a lot. Unlike the soldats which were large enough to have an encased cockpit Tita's project seemed to serve more as a mechanical suit of armor.
Fie saw no harm in hopping into the cockpit, so she did just that. Considering Tita was designing it for herself it was no surprise she similarly sized girl found it to be a comfortable fit. While running around inside a massive armor like this thing wasn't exactly her style Fie couldn't help but wonder if Tita would let her take it out for a spin sometime.
Abandoning the creation her gaze soon found itself upon an object a lot smaller, but no less interesting. Fie bit her lip. She knew checking out that open letter on Tita's desk without permission would be a breech of privacy, but if the engineer didn't want it to be read she wouldn't have left it sitting out in the open like a beacon for curious students!
With that infallible logic in place she wasted no time in taking a seat at the desk before beginning to read.
It was a long letter and five minutes later she wasn't completely finished- "I'm back!" ...When Tita made her return.
"Um..." Fie couldn't have hidden her crime even if she wanted to, so instead she decided to just roll with it, "... Your mom is interesting."
"O-Oh... You read that?" Tita didn't seem angry, but she did flush in embarrassment, "My mom can be a little overprotective at times."
"Yeah, I can see that." Half the letter was Tita's mom writing about how much she missed the girl and wanted her to return to Liberl as soon as possible. It was a sign of how much her parents cared, but at the same time... "You aren't gonna leave, right?"
Luckily for her Tita shook her head, "I know mom's never agreed with my decision to come to Erebonia, but I won't be going back. Not until I've finished here. I miss her, but I'd also miss all the friends I've made since arriving here."
"Good." Fie nodded as she worked to keep her relief off her face, "If I'm stuck here then you're stuck here. If your mom comes and tries to take you away I'll scare her off."
"Haha... Good luck with that. My mom can be a little... extreme."
"Is that why the entire second half of this letter is her making a bunch of kinda terrifying death threats against Agate?"
The young engineer glanced away nervously, "I-I'm sure she was just joking about that."
"Really?" Fie glanced down at the letter in disbelief, "My dad was – or is still, I guess - one of the most fearless jaegers ever and I'm pretty sure some of these threats would even terrify him."
"Now you're just being dramatic. Mom isn't that bad."
"...I'll grind up his remains before tossing them into the ocean. Fisherman will be finding red in their catches for years to come" Fie read the passage in a completely flat voice.
"That's, um..."
She was still trying to defend the crazy? Fine, she had more ammo to work with, "...If you get even a single scratch I'll find that crimson bastard and-"
Fie was unable to finish reciting the line as a crimson-faced Tita hurriedly snatched the letter out of her hands, "A-Alright! I get it! Mom definitely blames Agate for me coming here. I keep trying to tell her it was my own decision, but she's always had a problem with him for some reason."
"I wonder why." The silver-hair girl drawled dryly, "Still... It's nice that you're getting letters from home."
"Yeah!" Tita nodded happily, "Not just mom, either. Dad and Grandpa send letters every month, too. Even my friends in Liberl have sent me stuff. I've been wanting to send something back, but I'm not sure what to buy..."
"Oh, that's a good idea. Maybe I should do the same? I bet I could find something for Xeno and Leo. Boss too."
The engineer seemed unsure, "Um, aren't they jaegers? How would that even work?"
Fie waved her off, "It's no big deal. I'm sure Jingo knows the arms dealers that Zephyr's been using in Erebonia. Might cost me a good chunk of mira, but I bet she'd deliver something from me to them if I asked."
"I see..." Tita answered unsurely before brightening up, "I know! Why don't we go shopping on our next free day! I bet if we work together we'll find something good!"
"Sure, that sounds good."
"Fourth Disciple!" Came the same annoying voice from above, "Where are you?! It should not have taken you this long to retrieve the required paperwork!"
"S-Sorry, professor! I'll be right there!" The Liberlian looked sheepish, "...Oops."
Once again Fie watched as the energetic girl got to work before running back towards Schmidt's office. This time, however, the jaeger didn't wait around.
Tita's creation might have been unfinished, but the seat was pretty comfortable. Perfect for a late afternoon nap.
"What's up with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I think what Fie is trying to ask is that you've been in a rather pleasant mood all day. Dare I assume it has something to do with the letter you received?"
"How did you-" Juna shook her head. Fie could obviously guess what was going through her head. It was Musse. Of course the girl would somehow know, "Yeah. Ken and Nana wrote me a letter." She let out an awkward laugh, "...Well, I mean mom probably did the actual writing since I could actually read it, but it was definitely in their words if you know what I mean."
Fie rolled her eyes at the rambling girl as the three students continued their walk from the academy into town, "...And?"
"It's just like everyone said. With the crisis resolved things have returned to normal, or at least as normal as they can be. It seems like the Governor-General has relaxed a lot of the restrictions in the city."
"Oh how wonderful!" Musse clapped her hands together cheerfully, "I only wish I had been placed in this class a few weeks prior so I could have met your family. I'm sure they are delightful people!"
"Uh..." Juna sent a pleading look towards Fie. Fie responded with a lazy shrug. She had no desire to deal with Musse in that instance. In fact she wasn't even sure how the three of them ended up together in the first place. The pinkette was on her own here, "...Yeah. Yeah they are."
If Class VII's newest girl noticed the lame response she got she certainly didn't seem to show it, "Next time we visit your home you'll have to introduce me." She let out a gasp, "Or maybe Instructor Rean can introduce me as the future Mrs. Schwarzer!?" The girl let out a giggle, but stopped when she noticed that someone wasn't alongside her anymore, "Fie?"
Even though Musse's response had been terrifying it wasn't what caused the silver-haired girl to halt. That honor belonged to the sight down the road and on the bridge. Although she didn't say anything her gaze was enough for Juna and Musse to follow.
Kurt and Altina were fishing on the bridge.
"Well that's an odd duo..." Juna mused aloud, "Let's go see what's up with them."
The suggestion was a sensible one and so Fie hurried to catch up with the others. Both of their classmates must have noticed their approach, but neither of them seemed inclined to shift their focus away from the water.
"What are you doing?" A curious Juna asked once they reached the bridge.
"Isn't it obvious? We're fishing." Altina answered blandly.
Fie couldn't help but snicker, "Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer." Juna's scowl did nothing to reduce the humor of the scene.
"The reason we're fishing..." Boring old Kurt must have taken pity on the girl as he came to her rescue, "...We were walking back together when I spotted the silhouette of a rather massive fish in the water. She suggested we try and catch it, and I saw no reason to disagree."
"I want us to catch it to impress Instructor Rean."
"Aww. Isn't that adorable?" Musse cooed, causing Altina to color slightly.
Fie meanwhile found herself caught in a silent conversation with Juna. The pinkette was clearly looking to her for a decision to the question that was floating in both of their minds. Fishing did sound pretty fun, but did they have anything better to do that day? After briefly thinking about it she gave a lazy shrug, "Got room for two more?"
"Three, actually."
That surprising announcement drew the attention of all four of Class VII's anglers, "You know how to fish, Musse?"
"Of course I do!" The mint-haired girl answered with a wide smile, "As soon as I discovered that Instructor Rean was a fan of the activity I made sure to teach myself. I am almost confident enough in my skills to suggest the two of us take a private fishing trip to the beaches near my home where we shall-"
Fie knew her... friend? Well enough to know that now was the time to tune out her speech since it was about to get weird. Given how rapidly the color was leaving the faces of Juna and Kurt she could only assume they had yet to build up the same level of Musse tolerance that she had. Altina she was unsure of, but the smallest member of Class VII had already returned her focus to the rod in her hands.
Hmm. Maybe she should seek out a new recipe to try soon? Sandy would definitely know something. Perhaps they could make something together using some of the stuff in the garden? A few of the vegetables were starting to look ripe and-
"Enough!" Oh good, Juna finally had enough of Musse's daydreams, "Can we just go get our rods before your insanity scares away the fish!?"
"Teeheehee. Very well. I will be glad to show you all how I handle a fishing rod, even if I am quite certain my rod cannot compare to Instructor Rean's-"
Fie groaned. Either that girl had the most one-track mind in history or she made a living out of annoying the hell out of her new classmates. Given her many unfortunate interactions with the girl she was fairly sure it was some combination of both.
A quick detour back to the dorms later and the three joined the other two in casting their lines into the water. True to form Musse had a rod of her own, and as much as Fie hated to admit it it was a damn good looking one. It was pretty easy to forget the annoying girl was a noble from a family that was probably stinking rich, but times like this served as a good reminder.
"Of course the one thing she'd splurge on is the chance to impress her 'beloved Instructor Rean.'" Fie muttered to herself as she made her first cast.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
After her near slip the group descended into a companionable silence. For some reason the simple act of fishing together as a class was surprisingly relaxing. Altina and Kurt were on one side of her while Juna and Musse stood opposite them. All five lines spread a fair distance apart in the water.
Having all of Class VII together like this was... nice.
Fie blinked, that wasn't quite true, was it? Even though their little fishing squad was up by one they had gained two members to their class, hadn't they? But it wasn't like she had any intention of inviting Ash to their next excursion-
"Seriously, you guys?!" Speak of the devil and he shall appear at the end of the bridge looking at them like they'd all grown second heads, "The hell are you doing?"
Fie glanced left. Fie glanced right. No words were said but the message was understood by all. The only question remaining was who would provide the answer, "We're fishing, obviously."
Come to find out all of them spoke at once with some variation of the same tired phrase. Well, all except Musse who merely giggled in amusement.
"Wow. You're even answering in sync. How lame can you guys get?" The punk of Class VII deadpanned.
"Yeah, yeah. You're a cool dude. We all know it." Juna muttered sarcastically, "Either go away or join us. We're trying to catch a giant fish."
"Do you even know how to fish?" The only other male asked curiously.
Ash scoffed, "Of course I do. Not all of us come from fancy families like you. When you're living in a shit hole you gotta learn how to survive however possible."
Despite herself Fie couldn't help but nod. Even in Zephyr more than a few veterans knew how to fish, hunt, or forage to get through those lean days. They never let her go with them so she never bothered to pick up those skills, something which the now former jaeger found herself regretting sorely during those years after Boss died.
"If you think you're so good why don't you prove it to us?" She asked at last, "Or are you just full of hot air?"
Was she goading him into joining them despite how annoying it would undoubtedly be? Probably. Even Altina was shooting her a dirty look for that. And yet she didn't feel too bad about it.
Ash was Class VII. Extending the invitation just felt right.
"Heh. Maybe I will?" The punk gave a cocky smirk before turning towards the town square.
"Ask for the Fie discount! I get free junk when people use it!"
Stupid Musse going out and buying her own fishing pole without taking advantage of her deal. Didn't she know what she was missing out on!?
After watching Ash make an obscene gesture before walking off the grumbling jaeger turned her attention back towards her friends, only to blink in confusion as all of them were staring at her, "...What?"
"The free junk you get for referring people..." Kurt answered for the group, "...is that why you pushed us all into buying our own rods?"
She gave a lazy shrug, "Maybe? Does it matter when you got a discount out of it?"
"Yes!" Juna's loud proclamation drew some ire. Sheepishly she quieted down, but her glare remained undeterred, "If I'd known I was taking part in some shady pyramid scheme involving you and the shop owner I'd have told you to shove your stupid discount! It wasn't even that much to begin with!"
Kurt nodded. Altina nodded. Musse just giggled, clearly finding the whole thing amusing.
As for Fie? "Oh well. Too late now. Thanks for providing me with a tuned gear." To prove the point she began to reel in her line needlessly fast just to show she could, which caused Juna to growl angrily.
For a few minutes there was silence as the five students focused their efforts on finding and catching the illusive giant fish of which Altina spoke of. Although Fie didn't spot it, there were a couple instances where the water bubbled up unnaturally that led her to believe her friend hadn't been lying.
There was something in the water and she was more than willing to use her unfair rod advantage to catch it!
"Alright, losers. I'm back!"
She rolled her eyes. Just great. Now the loud one was back. And he had a pole in hand.
"Heh. Can't say I'm not surprised to see that none of you have caught the fish. Move over and let the expert show you how it's done!"
Once again Musse let out a giggle as she did as Ash asked, providing space for the tall boy to get involved. Fie glanced over to Juna before turning her head to lock eyes with Kurt and Altina. The message was clear:
None of them were about to allow the Class VII newbies to show them up. This was a mission they couldn't afford to lose.
Rean found himself resisting the urge to whistle a jaunty tune as he approached his favorite fishing spot in Leeves. Despite being entirely out of character for him it was a hard thing to resist as he was in such a good mood. There had been little work for the teachers to do that day so they were able to leave early, even if Randy did strong-arm both him and Towa into joining him for another drinking session that evening.
While it was something to look forward to he couldn't help but want to relax a little before dealing with his exuberant friend who got even wilder after downing a few drinks. So that meant it was time for Rean to do what he loved the most - fishing the afternoon away! It was summer and that meant some of Erebonia's most prodigious fish species should be in the water just waiting for him to reel them in!
His good mood improved even further when he heard the sound of familiar arguing as he neared the bridge. While arguing in itself wasn't a cause for celebration, he was fairly certain his kids were using the same playful argument that Machias and Jusis would always use after finally making up.
And among those voices was that of Ash and Musse! He was even more thrilled the newcomers were meshing so well with the others!
Sure enough, as soon as he arrived he was greeted by the sight of all six members of Class VII fishing together as one unit. Truly a sigh to behold. He wasn't surprised that Fie was the first to notice him, sharp as she always was, but the girl simply rolled her eyes before returning to the water. It was Kurt who noticed her glance that greeted the teacher, "Instructor Rean."
"What are you..." A few of the students perked up, and he had a suspicion they were waiting for him to finish the question so they could pounce, "...trying to catch?" Yep. The disappointment on their faces after he changed his words was impossible to miss.
"Kurt noticed a really big fish. We're trying to see who can catch it first."
He nodded after hearing Juna's explanation, "Ah. That must be the Mega Arowana. One of the largest freshwater fishes in Erebonia, only really active during the summer."
"The Mega Arowana..." Altina tested the name out loud before giving a small nod of her head, "The database does mention a fish with that name. I believe you are correct."
"And I'm gonna be the one to catch it first!" Ash boasted proudly, causing Juna to groan, Fie to gag, and Musse to giggle.
For his part Rean merely nodded in acknowledgment of his words before taking a spot a few arge away from his students. Even if it was something as simple as fishing seeing them push each other towards loftier goals was a welcome sight indeed. They would go far together.
He cast his line into the water.
Indeed they would, which was why the teacher almost felt bad about what he was about to do. They were fighting so hard as a group, but in the end...
His line gave a sharp tug.
Rean smiled before he began to reel in his prize.
"There's no way! No freaking way!"
"Goddammit!"
"...You can be incredibly vexing, Instructor Rean."
"I'm done. This is stupid. You're all stupid. I need a nap."