If there was one thing that Laura prided herself in, it was her code of discipline. Delegating time to her training was something that had been drilled into her ever since she first took up the sword long ago, and there was hardly a time since where she skipped a day of practice. Even on her supposed free days, she would always devote some time in her day to bettering herself in some way or another through sheer force of habit.

So when she saw that Klein, the captain of the Swimming Club, had posted a notice on the front of the gymnasium door stating that there wouldn't be a meeting today due to him and several other core members leaving to visit family, Laura paid it no mind and walked right in as if it were a regular day. She entered the girls' locker room, changed into her school-issued swimsuit, and proceeded to walk into the pool area, not at all surprised to find that she was the only one present.

"So the entire pool is mine for the day…" she mused.

Though a part of her was already missing the company of the other club members, Laura didn't mind the current situation at all. Instead, it made her feel nostalgic for her hometown, which was situated on the shores of a lake that both she and her father would frequently swim in. Said lake also happened to be considerably larger in scale, so the prospect of entering a swimming pool alone wasn't something Laura would be fazed by.

Eventually, Laura made her way to the right end of the swimming pool and began her stretching routine. Once her muscles were adequately loosened, she stepped onto one of the starting blocks and got into position, taking a brief moment to look at the still waters in front of her before hunching her back forward so her hands touched her toes. Seeing as there weren't any other people around to help her record her short-distance times, Laura planned to focus primarily on her long-distance endurance for today's session.

Laura breathed in and gracefully dived into the water.

…

'If I remember correctly, aren't swimming lessons supposed to begin next month?'

Her mind had begun to wander as she transitioned to her warm-down laps. 'It is drawing closer to July, so the weather should grow warmer as well. And when that time comes…'

According to the school, July would mark the time when Thors students could start wearing their summer uniforms, which forego the traditional blazer for a simple short-sleeved dress shirt. Additionally, the traditional combat studies class taught by Instructor Sara would instead be replaced by mandatory swimming lessons. Either way, Laura could feel her excitement building; in all her years of swimming, nothing could surpass the refreshing feeling of dipping into cool water on a hot summer day, and partaking in it with her classmates would surely be an enjoyable experience.

Except…

The brief lapse in thought caused her to unconsciously veer off her straight path. She fortunately managed to catch herself before she touched the wall and realigned her course.

This wasn't the first time her concentration had faltered. Just the day before, Rean had commented that there was an uncertainty in her sword swings during their sparring session. He had chalked it up to post-exam nerves and told her to not let it get to her, but Laura had known better than to take his words at face value. She knew the reason why she was having difficulty maintaining her focus. Whenever she would think about her classmates, her thoughts would inevitably direct her to the individual that she, at the moment, couldn't see eye-to-eye with.

As the daughter of one of the most famous warriors of the Empire and having been brought up in the way of the sword from a young age, Laura would have been lying if she said she didn't have some sort of pride in her prowess. In fact, in the darkest parts of her mind, she enjoyed the idea of partaking in a thrilling duel against a worthy opponent. It didn't have to be to the death, she wasn't that much of a battle fanatic, but so long as two blades were able to meet at their full force with nothing else between them, she could emerge from battle with no regrets. If she won, she could see it as proof of how far she has come. If she lost, she would see it as proof of how far she has yet to go and work harder to improve herself. That was the way of the sword that she grew to love: simple and straightforward, yet still filled with depth. It was what inspired her to enroll at a military academy instead of someplace like St. Astraia's Middle School.

This was also why encountering people who only met her half-way bothered her so much. She would engage them with all she had and emerge victorious only to learn later that her opponent was holding back, so her victory would be hollow. Now, there are always exceptions to this rule; people like her father or Instructor Sara, for instance, deliberately hold back on a routinely basis for the sake of mentoring others. The complications start to arise when the person in question is a fellow classmate, someone who Laura would expect to interact with on a daily basis. If a person cannot be honest in the way they fight, how, then, could Laura expect to understand and trust them in a tight situation?

Laura let herself glide through the water until her hands touched the wall. Standing upright in the pool, she breathed in and out to let air fill her lungs. "I believe that shall suffice for now."

Pulling herself out of the water, Laura dried herself off with a towel and returned to the locker room. Once inside, she removed her hair band, allowing her blue hair to cascade past her hips, and dipped into the nearest shower stall so she could take off her swimsuit. Her mind began to drift off into contemplation once more as she turned on the shower and felt the water drip onto her head.

From the moment she saw her in battle, Laura could tell that Fie Claussell was holding back, and considering the younger girl's small build, the fact that Fie was proficient enough to hold her own was almost extraordinary. One could say that such a feat was too far removed from what Laura had come to know through following the way of the sword, but the world is a massive place, so that much can be forgiven. However, the revelation that Fie was once part of a jaeger corps soured Laura's perception of her greatly. Laura never thought of jaegers in a particularly favorable light, and could anyone really blame her? They were a troublesome lot, willing to commit heinous atrocities without any concern for collateral damage so long as they were adequately paid; to them, the ends mattered more than the means. If one defined knighthood as virtuous and honorable, then the path of the jaeger should be corrupt and immoral. How, then, could Laura ever hope to bring herself to trust Fie?

As Laura was pondering her question, the door to the girls' locker room opened, which was then followed by two female voices filling the air with their chatter. Judging from their high pitch and choice of vocabulary, Laura surmised that both of these voices belonged to two upper-class students. This made her want to stay in the shower a little longer; while interacting with others was in no way a weakness of hers, the upper-class students from Classes I and II, particularly the female ones, often had a tendency to overstay their welcome with long, drawn-out conversations. Fortunately, the other students didn't notice Laura's head of signature blue hair sticking above the door as they passed by and occupied the two stalls adjacent to hers. Their conversation continued even as they turned on the showers on their end.

"By the way…" one of the students said. "While we're on the subject of other students, I happened to hear a concerning rumor the other day…"

Laura began to tune out the conversation (yes, she had a firm understanding of the expression now). Gossiping with friends in the shower wasn't an uncommon occurrence. She reached out her hand to turn off the shower-

"Apparently, there is a jaeger roaming about the campus."

Her hand stopped before she could turn the handle.

"You mean those dastardly Grim Reapers?" the other girl gasped. "Here?"

"I'm afraid so," the student replied scathingly. "Just this past Sunday, an acquaintance of mine happened to hear from another student that a 'jaeger tot' has been attending Thors since the first day. This was right before midterms, mind you, so my mind was preoccupied with other obligations, but yesterday I started hearing the other nobles discussing this matter as well."

"W-Wait just a moment. This sounds like a serious matter. How can you be so sure that this isn't just some baseless rumor?"

"The rumor has been floating about for a little over a week now, so I'm almost certain it's true. And furthermore, the student who first spread the word was from one of the Four Great Houses. Supposedly, he received a tip from his servant."

"Ugh, and I thought Thors was supposed to be safe. Why hasn't the academy done something about this yet?"

"As I said before, it's still only conjecture at this point. Regardless, the fact that we've even reached this point speaks volumes about the academy's recruitment process. They really should put more effort into checking students' backgrounds before handing out invitations left and right."

"Truly. It takes all the prestige out of the Thors name."

The two females shared a laugh. Laura took that as her cue to turn off the shower and make her exit. For whatever reason, she couldn't find it in her to continue listening to the conversation any further.

As she hastily dried her body and put on her uniform, Laura tried to organize her thoughts. Putting aside the fact that word had potentially gotten out about Fie's background, which was troubling news on its own, Laura found herself conflicted. Her heart couldn't stand to hear people badmouth her classmate, but her mind refused to overlook said classmate's origins. There was a dissonance between her logic and her emotions, and for once, she couldn't come up with a way to fix it.

"Do we know who the culprit is?"

"There have been a few names floating around, but the most likely candidate seems to be from Class VII…"

Laura stormed out of the locker room with her belongings in tow. Her hair was still untied, so once she was outside, she reached into her bag, retrieved her favorite black ribbon, and began tying her hair back into a ponytail.

Amidst the tempest of thoughts in her mind, there was one thing that was as clear as day: in terms of mentality, Laura, loath as she was to admit, wasn't any better than the other two girls.

"Whew! That was great!" Morgan shouted, stretching her arms. "I can't wait to do something like that again!"

"I know what you mean," Rean agreed. "After getting used to moving at high speeds, it almost feels off to have to slow back down. I can see why Angelica likes riding it so much."

Morgan and Rean had just finished their task with George and Angelica, which, much to their excitement, involved test driving the orbal bike. They each took their turn riding the bike on the highway and gave detailed reports of their experiences when they were finished, particularly about how smooth or rough it was to start the engine, shift gears while riding, and come to a full stop. Using their feedback, George would be able to make the necessary modifications to make the bike as stable as possible in the hopes that it could one day prove functional enough for mass production. Overall, the two of them had a great time and couldn't wait to test it again.

"So what the plan now, Rean?" Morgan queried.

Rean blinked. "Plan?"

"For the old schoolhouse," she clarified. "When do you think you'll be going?"

"Oh, right." Rean retrieved the list of Student Council requests from his blazer pocket. "There's one other request I need to complete, so I'll go and finish that now. Once that's done, I'll probably get some lunch and see what everyone else is up to and then I'll go to the old schoolhouse."

Morgan nodded. "Got it. I'm pretty much free for the entire day, so call me whenever you're ready."

"Actually, about that…" Right as she was about to turn and leave, Rean called out to her. "It's great that you're still offering, but could you maybe sit this month out?"

"What?" Morgan tilted her head. "Is there any reason why I can't go?"

"First off, don't take it the wrong way," he said. "You're a vital part of our expedition team at this point and I'm grateful that you were able to stick it out these past two months, but...how should I put this…" Rean cupped his chin. "I think it'd be best to limit the number of people who go into the old schoolhouse. Anything bigger than the group that went in last month would make keeping track of everyone more difficult, and with the floors changing their layout every time, I don't think it's a risk worth taking. Machias, Jusis, Fie, and Emma haven't been inside the old schoolhouse yet, so I want to bring them along for this month. Meanwhile, you, Elliot, and Gaius have already been inside the old schoolhouse twice now, so…"

"Say no more," Morgan interjected. "I'll admit, I'm a bit bummed out I won't be able to try some new team formations, but if it's so everyone can have their turn, then I'll sit this one out."

Rean breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for being understanding."

"Well, when you have to manage an army, it IS important to switch people out regularly so no one gets left behind," she remarked. "So me, Elliot, and Gaius won't be coming today. What about Alisa and Laura?"

"Yeah, them…" Rean paused for a moment. "Alisa's basically a given, since she knows how to operate the elevator, but as for Laura…"

"That pause tells me you're not thinking of inviting her."

"...Yeah." The tone in Rean's voice hinted it was probably a difficult decision for him to make. "You know how she's been acting lately around Fie. I'm not sure what's going on, but since Fie's going to be coming regardless, I think it's best if they stay apart for now."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Morgan could see the logic in Rean's decision. If the enemies in the schoolhouse ended up becoming more dangerous like they saw last month, then having two people who refused to see eye-to-eye in the same group could lead to disastrous, perhaps even lethal, results; the field study to Bareahard was proof enough of that.

"Which leads me to a favor that I want to ask of you," Rean continued. "Could you keep an eye on Laura for me today? I'm not saying you need to stick by her the whole afternoon, but just...make sure she's holding up okay."

"You're awfully concerned about her well-being," Morgan pointed out. "Could it be that the two of you are…"

"It's not that," Rean flatly cut her off. "We just spar a lot, and when you spar, you start to pick up on some things. If there's one thing I learned from my master, it's that you can tell a lot about a person by how they swing their sword, and lately Laura's been...distracted. I don't know how to explain it, but that's the kind of feeling she gave off."

"Y-You...didn't need to go that far to justify yourself," Morgan said. "I was just kidding. But yeah, I'll be sure to do that."

Rean smiled and bowed slightly. "Thanks, Morgan. I'd ask Elliot or Gaius to help, but they've got their hands full with their clubs. I'll be sure to fill the rest of you in on what happened later."

"You just stay focused on staying safe out there." Morgan returned the gesture, lowering her posture while her left arm made a curtsying motion. "You can count on me!"

"...Or at least, that's what I said, but…" Morgan put her hands on her hips and sighed. "How would I go about asking someone to let me keep an eye on them? Wouldn't that just sound weird?"

Morgan contemplated this very notion after parting ways with Rean. While she was fairly certain that Laura wasn't the sort of person who would be too bothered by this, simply asking her to follow her around would come off as incredibly conspicuous. Maybe she could try stalking her from a distance? No, that'd probably make things worse.

Maybe she was just overthinking things a tad too much; people did tell her that she had a tendency to do that sometimes. Either way, Morgan had wandered around Trista aimlessly for a while trying to figure out how to deal with the current situation. Rean told her that she didn't need to watch over Laura for the entire afternoon, but the sooner she came up with a way to approach her, the better it would be for the both of them.

Which brought her to this moment in time: standing in the middle of a general store turned verbal warzone by two Thors students.

"I didnae expect those exams tae be so hard!" Becky exclaimed, running her hands through her hair. "What can I do?"

Hugo pinched his nose and sighed. "Don't be pushing your worries onto me. I tried to help you study, I really did, but what did you say instead?" He cleared his throat and said in a falsetto, "'Shut it, Hugo! I'm no taking any advice fae you! I can memorize everything in one go the night before!'"

"Nooo! Stop it!" Becky pulled her green hair over her ears.

"Putting aside the fact that that was a pretty good Becky impression…" Morgan interjected. "I'm guessing the midterms went smoothly for you, Hugo?"

"Rather well, all things considered," Hugo replied. "The trick to memorization is to study up just before you go to bed; then, when you wake up, you review everything once more to seal the deal."

Morgan nodded. "Yup, I know about that trick. I'll admit, it does help to reinforce what you already know."

Hugo turned to Becky with his eyes widened and head slanted as if to say "There, you see?"

"With that said…" Morgan continued. "It requires a lot of discipline, and some people don't have that kind of mental fortitude to stay focused. That's why I also went around asking questions to anyone I could find to see if I missed anything, like the professors, my classmates, other students, even some second year students. All that preparation must've paid off, 'cause I wasn't panicking at all during the exams."

"You're rather thorough," said Hugo, sounding impressed. "Tell me, Morgan, have you ever thought about what you're going to be doing after you graduate?"

"After I graduate?" Morgan folded her arms and looked up. "Well, I do want to be a tactician in the army…"

"Really?" Hugo frowned. "A shame. With your dedication, you can easily get a managing position at Kleist & Co. If you want, you can hand me your resume and cover letter and I can put in a good word to the recruiters-"

"Hugo, fae the love of the Goddess, can ye not go about shillin' yer family's company ev'rywhere ye go?"

Hugo turned Becky, offended. "I'm merely presenting another option. I don't see why you're getting so worked up over something so trivial."

As the two students began to quarrel once more, Morgan put her hand to her face and sighed. "Give me a break…"

The door to the general store opened, followed by a young woman's voice. "Oh? Morgan? What a lovely surprise."

At the sound of her name, Morgan turned to find the person she was looking for. "L-Laura?! What are you doing here?"

"I wished to browse this store's wares. Was that not obvious?"

"Well, it's not that. It's just...kind of rare to see you shopping by yourself. What about your club?"

"There was no meeting today," Laura explained. "Klein, the captain of our club, left Trista this morning to visit his mother. The rest of us have the day off."

"Ah…" Morgan squinted her eyes. "Though I'm guessing based on your hair that you still ended up swimming a few laps, didn't you?"

Laura chuckled in acknowledgement. "I can never be too lax on my training, no matter what day it is. With that said, though, my mind kept wandering elsewhere while I was swimming, so I figured a change of scenery would do me some good."

"And so you came here. Makes sense." Morgan folded her arms and put her right index finger to her chin. "Any particular reason or just cause?"

"The general store has a wide variety of items on display, most of which I'm unfamiliar with," the swordswoman explained. "I suppose since you're here as well, I would like to ask a favor of you if you're not too busy."

"A favor?" Morgan leaned in closer to listen. 'Funny how the only reason I'm here is because Rean asked me a favor. Well, it gives me an excuse to keep an eye on her…'

"You come from Heimdallr, yes?" Laura asked. "I presume, then, that you must be familiar with several of the items on display."

Morgan took a moment to look around at the general store before replying, "Well, there are some things that I recognize…what, you looking for something in particular?"

"I wish to know what sorts of goods and accessories girls our age tend to like."

"Oh…" Morgan was taken aback by her friend's desire. "That's a bit…"

Laura exhaled. "I understand if you don't want to. Having to explain everything to a novice like myself is surely-"

"No, no!" Morgan waved her hands wildly. "That's not it at all. But, um… What brought this on?"

Laura pursed her lips. "I've noticed that there's a significant difference between myself and the other girls here. For example, I went shopping with Monica recently, and while she was fawning over cute accessories and the like, I found myself searching for equipment to keep my sword in shape. Doesn't this prove that I'm rather…" She paused, as if she were trying to find the right word. "Strange?"

"You think?" Morgan tilted her head. "I mean, different people have different priorities, as they say. Plus, Monica's from a lower class, right? It makes sense that you'd have different tastes."

The blue-haired swordswoman shook her head. "Even if we were to view it from that perspective, my preferences already tend to clash with those of other nobles."

"Mm…" Morgan couldn't come up with a response. Then again, having someone called the Radiant Blademaster as a father would probably result in a unique childhood by default. Really, the only people in the school who could keep up with Laura's enthusiasm for swordplay were the members of the Fencing Club and Rean. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"Just as I thought…" Laura murmured. "Regardless, that is of no issue; if there's something I lack, then all I need to do is take the opportunity to learn."

"Well, it's not like I'm a fashion expert, either," Morgan admitted. "I mostly buy stuff based on how cheap or practical it is, not on how it looks, so I don't know how much help I can be in that department. But…" She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess the only way to know for sure is to just start looking."

Laura nodded, looking a little more positive than before. "You may be right."

With that, the two of them broke off into separate directions to find anything that caught their eye.

…

"This 'Dogi' character has a rather gallant look to him, doesn't he?"

Laura had handed Morgan a strap with a picture of a blue-haired, muscular man attached to it. Upon taking one look at the character on the strap, she snorted and replied, "You think so? I think he looks more like a wall-punching brute."

"I-Is that so…?" Laura stammered. "This is more challenging than I had expected…"

Morgan handed the strap back to Laura. "Is this 'Dogi' the kind of person you like, Laura?"

"Like?" Laura cupped her chin as she stared at the character. "Truth be told, romance is one of the farthest things from my mind at the moment. I suppose if I did choose a potential suitor, he would have to be strong in body, mind, and spirit. Those were the feelings I attained from looking at this character."

"So you admire strong men…" Morgan mused to herself. She went back to searching the shelves until she found a particular item that made her grin. "Ooh, I think you'll like this one!" She grabbed it off the shelf and showed it to Laura. "Ta-da! A Running Mishy!"

As Morgan had predicted, Laura's eyes lit up. "My, I didn't expect to find that here. I wasn't aware they came in that pose."

"Yup, they come in all sorts of poses. The one you bought in Celdic was the standard issue one called the Sitting Mishy, and the one we got in Bareahard was a Napping Mishy."

Laura smiled fondly as she took the cat plush into her hands. "Ah, yes. Rean gave that one to me."

"If you like them that much, you should become a collector! I think they're making more of them in the future, so if you keep it up, you'll have an entire army of Mishies on your hands!" Morgan smirked as she cleared her throat and spoke, "Arise, O Mishies, and become the foundation of the world!"

Laura couldn't resist the urge to laugh. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves…"

The two girls spent some more time looking at an assortment of products, from ones that they felt would appeal to other female students and others that appealed to Laura's unique tastes. In the end, though, they ended up purchasing the Mishy plush.

"I couldn't be more grateful for your assistance, Morgan," said Laura. "If it weren't for you, I never would have purchased something so nice."

"Glad I could be of service," Morgan replied. "But you know…"

"What is it?"

"...If you wanted to find out what girls your age liked, how come you didn't go over to Le Sage?"

"The boutique?" The blue-haired noble blinked. "I didn't think I would encounter someone else from our class, much less another girl, so I was hesitant on entering…"

"Well, we're here now, so…" A grin crept across Morgan's face. Everything was falling into place. "Hey, you don't happen to have anything planned for the rest of the afternoon, do you?"

"Not anything immediate, no…" Before she could say any more, Laura yelped slightly as Morgan abruptly grabbed her wrists. "M-Morgan?"

"Ever been on a ladies' day out?"

"I believe I'm not familiar with the term…"

"Then I'll show you! Hope you've packed some extra mira, cause we're going to hit all the shops in Trista!"

"N-Now?!"

"Don't 'N-Now?!' me; of course now!" She winked. "You only have one life, right?"

"W-Wait a moment. I still haven't mentally prepared-eh?!"

And thus began Morgan's escapade through Trista, traveling to all the stores the town had to offer with a reluctant Laura in tow. They went to the boutique, where they spent most of their time looking at clothes and trying them on; the bookstore, where Laura gave Morgan some recommendations on books that she particularly enjoyed; and the flower shop, where they enjoyed some light conversation with the florist about the meanings of certain flowers; and the pawn shop, where they inspected some of Micht's curios. Though Laura was the one who did most of the shopping, Morgan found herself purchasing a few items that she wouldn't have considered looking at had she gone alone.

After a few hours of shopping, they made their final stop at Kirsche's Cafe for a short break.

"Hah, I'm exhausted!" Morgan stretched her upper body onto the table they were sitting at. "I haven't done this in a long time…"

Laura took a sip of her tea. "Did you not take a day trip to Ordis yesterday?"

"Yeah, but that was mostly by myself," Morgan reasoned. "Shopping is WAY more fun when you have friends along."

"I suppose having a larger group means more opportunities to engage with different tastes." Laura looked at the few small bags that was sitting by her feet. "Still, I feel that my grasp on what other girls my age like remains tenuous. It seems I have a long and harsh path ahead of me if I'm to ever truly know."

"Maybe you don't have to know."

Laura blinked. "What?"

Her upper body still sprawled on the table, Morgan turned her head to face Laura. "You're your own person, Laura; you shouldn't waste your time striving to be like other people. You can use them as an example of what to do, sure, but that doesn't mean you have to emulate them completely. You have some unique tastes, but that's what makes you endearing."

Laura looked at her with her eyes widened, almost shocked at the bit of life advice Morgan had just given her. "I suppose if you put it that way… You're affirmative that you don't see any issues with who I am?"

"Positive. I'm pretty sure the others in Class VII can attest to that, too. I'd invite the other girls to come along to prove my point, but…" Morgan stopped herself.

Laura furrowed her eyebrows. "I had a feeling this may be the case, but I may as well ask: did Rean tell you to look after me? Answer honestly."

It looks like she couldn't keep things a secret for very long. "Was it that obvious?"

"Firstly, it is already past afternoon and I still haven't received a call on my ARCUS. Given how long our expedition lasted the previous month, we would need as much time as possible. And secondly, I haven't seen a trace of Rean or the others in our class. It would have been understandable if they were simply attending their clubs, but I didn't catch a glimpse of them at the academy campus either."

"You're pretty sharp, no pun intended." Morgan sat upright in her chair. "Well, I'll admit that Rean told me to keep an eye on you, but he didn't explicitly tell me to follow you everywhere. That part was all me."

A moment later, Dolly the waitress came out of the cafe and handed Morgan a pizza with extra meat on it. After thanking her for the food, Morgan happily lifted a slice from her plate and began munching on it.

"Still…" Morgan said between bites. "The fact that you figured out what we're doing out here means that you've probably figured out why, am I right?"

Laura didn't immediately reply, instead only sighing into her tea. When she swallowed and put down her cup, she said, "Tell me, Morgan: do you think ill of me?"

Morgan stared at her dumbfoundedly. "For what?"

"You and Fie are friends, are you not?" she asked. "It is only natural, then, that you would think of me as antagonistic. That you think I am too stubborn, for not being able to accept her."

"Why the heck would I do that?!" Morgan exclaimed without thinking. "You're my friend, too, you know!"

"Then answer me this…" Laura continued. "If you had to choose a side between myself and Fie, who would you choose?"

"Wha…" Morgan did not expect the conversation to be taken in this direction. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Please refrain from answering a question with another question," Laura sternly replied, echoing the phrase Morgan had used during the Celdic field study.

"Ghh…" Morgan hurriedly picked up another slice of pizza to buy herself some time. What should she say? If she had to choose a side, that would essentially be betraying the trust of the other side. At the same time, however, both Laura and Fie were comrades that Morgan couldn't see herself opposing in any way. What if there was another way to fix this where both parties could reconcile? Another way… A third way…

'Unite people from all backgrounds, regardless of status, ability, or even country, to push back the impending darkness…' Morgan remembered. 'But in order to do that…'

She shoved the last of the pizza into her mouth, signaling that her time was up. "Well, for starters, I'd round up the both of you…"

Laura listened intently.

"Then, I'd lock you two in a room where you have no choice but to talk things out amongst yourselves…"

Laura's intent wavered slightly.

"And if that doesn't work, then I'd promote myself from intermediary to interdisciplinary and force you two to make up."

A beat passed by without anyone saying a word. Then, Laura snorted and started laughing.

"H-Hey!" Morgan started pouting. "I had to think REAL hard about that, you know!"

"I-I apologize…" Laura tried to recompose herself by finishing her cup of tea. "That's very much like you, Morgan. I should have expected no less."

Morgan picked up another pizza slice and pointed it at her classmate. "Did you mean that in a good way or a bad way?"

Laura chuckled vaguely as she poured some more tea into her cup. "By the way, Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"That isn't how the word 'interdisciplinary' is used."

"What?"

"It means 'relating to more than one branch of knowledge'," she explained. "In other words, it refers to disciplines of learning, not enforcing obedience."

"Seriously?!" Morgan exclaimed. "And I totally used that in one of my essay questions…" She continued to pout as she finished her pizza slice, prompting Laura to smile in amusement.

"Hey, Laura?"

"What is it, Morgan?"

"Have you talked with anyone else about this? Your problems with Fie, I mean."

The swordswoman frowned. "Only with the other girls in our class. Alisa and Emma have told me that, as Fie's elder, I shouldn't let my emotions get to me so much, and I can certainly see the reasoning in that. However…" Laura closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I find myself failing to do so time after time. I...can't quite put these feelings into words, but I suppose this means I'm more hotheaded than I thought."

"So in other words, if you had a way to explain yourself without talking, you'd be able to get your point across?"

Laura hummed. "If only things were so easy…"

"We just spar a lot, and when you spar, you start to pick up on some things. If there's one thing I learned from my master, it's that you can tell a lot about a person by how they swing their sword…"

"Actually…" Morgan said solemnly. "There might just be a way to do that…"

"Pardon?"

Morgan came up with a lot of crazy ideas, but this may just be her craziest one yet. If everything went according to plan, it could give her some much-needed insight on Laura's perspective, but on the other hand, it would require giving up some secrets of her own if she wanted to stand a chance. Was she willing to take that risk?

Who was it that told her, "If you keep holding on to what you know, you won't change"?

"Morgan?"

She snapped out of her contemplation. "Yeah?"

"You were silent for a while," Laura commented, a look of concern etched onto her face. "Are you feeling well?"

"Oh. Yeah, I am." Morgan closed her eyes. "I just had to think, but I'm fine. I've made up my mind."

"About what…?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Morgan saw Dolly cleaning some tables. "Excuse me, Dolly?" she called out while raising her hand. "Check, please!"

"Of course!" the waitress affirmed. "Please wait one moment!"

As Dolly went into the cafe, Morgan hurriedly finished her last piece of pizza. It had gone cold through all the talking and thinking, but cold pizza was still pizza, and one does not simply let pizza go to waste.

"Morgan, what is it that you're planning?"

"You'll see." Morgan swallowed the last bite as Dolly arrived with the check. "First, let's drop off these bags at the dorm. Then, I want you to come with me."

"And where are you planning on taking me?"

Morgan took a swig from her glass of water and left the money to pay for lunch along with a small tip. "The gymnasium. I want to see if the training hall is available."

She looked at Laura in the eyes. "Laura, I want you to spar with me. Your swordsmanship...against mine."

Author's note: To the readers who have been sticking it out for the past several months, thank you all for being patient with this chapter. I understand that I have slowed the pace of this story with such infrequent uploads and no amount of apologies can make up for the long wait, but I am still trying my hardest to find time to write and keep you entertained. And to the readers who joined in the time span between this chapter and the last, I hope the wait wasn't too long.

In the next chapter, to much anticipation, Morgan will take up the sword. Please look forward to it! o(≧∇≦o)

Last but not least, if you haven't already, please check out the lovely Ramyeon Doodles on Twitter and Tumblr, who drew the new cover photo for this fic!