Rean hummed thoughtfully as he looked down at the paper in his hands. "Well, I can't say this is entirely unexpected..."

Beside him Towa's face sported a rare frown as she nodded in agreement. "She's going to need a lot of help if she wants to make it through the year."

After that unfortunate debacle of a class outing at the bakery he and the others had gone their separate ways once they got back to the dormitory. Juna had gone into town with some of the girls from the other classes, dragging a reluctant Altina with her. Kurt was currently in the training room, and Fie had vanished without a trace.

He himself had been prepared to return to his room and begin prepping for the first day of actual classes, but found himself pulled aside by his fellow instructor as soon as she spotted him. The other students were kind enough to give the two teachers a wide berth as they sat together in the lobby while Towa went into detail about the mock exam she had administered to Fie before he had arrived.

"Instructor Sara warned me that this was a very real possibility." For a girl with no formal education who was raised almost entirely on the battlefield it was expected that there would be gaps in her knowledge, but not even he had expected the gulf to be quite this vast. It was clear that she needed help.

Pulling his focus away from the test he glanced around while pondering what to do. Doing so, however, enabled him to realize that he could sense a familiar presence not too far away. They had hidden themselves quite well and were it not for his own training there was no chance he could have sensed them, something which gave a huge hint as to the identity of the eavesdropper.

In hindsight it made sense – Even though they had been conversing quietly he and Towa were still in a public space. It wouldn't be impossible for someone with particularly sharp hearing to overhear the conversation and get curious once it was clear that it was about them. Especially if they were confident in their stealth abilities.

But he wasn't at all bothered by this revelation. Let her listen. It would make explaining things to her later on a whole lot simpler.

For now he focused his attention back on Towa. "Don't worry. I will take care of this."

"Huh? Are you sure? I was the one to make her do this test so shouldn't I-"

He let out a laugh, inadvertently cutting her off. Classic Towa. "You've done more than enough for me already. Thank you. But she's my student, so she should be my responsibility."

"Well... okay." She still looked unconvinced. "But if you ever need assistance don't hesitate to come to me, alright?"

"Don't you already have enough to do as is?" She opened her mouth to argue the point, but he continued before she could. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that the principal hasn't already assigned you a bunch of different tasks." She tried to do as he said, but after a second she blushed and looked away, prompting him to laugh again. Towa Herschel might be the kindest person in the world, but that kindness made her completely incapable of lying.

"Well... fine!" Towa tried to make herself look angry. She failed miserably. "Do you at least have a plan in mind?"

He nodded his head. "I do." It wasn't so much a full plan yet, but the more he thought about it the more the pieces fell into place. This... could work. "Could you please come out here, Fie?"

Sure enough the presence confirmed itself to be hers as the silver-haired girl stepped out from her hiding spot and approached the duo. She looked surprised... and possibly even somewhat impressed?

"Huh!? Was she there the entire time?" He felt a little bad that he hadn't informed Towa, but he doubted that she would actually be angered.

"...I'm surprised you noticed me."

"It wasn't that big a deal." The swordsman humbly waved her off. "My training has taught me how to sense the presence of others nearby. The only reason I knew it was you was because I am fairly certain you are the only student stealthy enough to sneak up on us like that."

The girl furrowed her brow in confusion and annoyance. "You detected me... because I'm too good at hiding?"

"Haha..." Yeah, even he could tell how conflicted she felt at that paradox. Better to focus her attention elsewhere. "Anyway, you overheard us, yes?"

Fie quickly schooled her expression and gave a bored shrug. "So I'm dumb. You both knew that already."

"I do not believe that you are dumb at all." He refuted quickly. "I've only known you for two days now and it's clear to me that you have a very quick wit. The only thing you're missing is the same educational foundation that all the others acquired."

The diminutive instructor nodded in support. "He's right! And those combat questions that you were able to answer on the test? Some of the answers were more elaborate than anything I could have given. I think you have the potential to be very smart!"

"If you say so..." She clearly did not agree with the praise. "But I don't see that happening anytime soon."

Rean sighed, but was undeterred. "I understand. Given the life you've live you probably see all these other topics as being pointless, don't you?"

Her shrug was all the response she provided, but it gave him all the answer he needed.

"Thought so. While I would love to explain to you the importance of the stuff this school teaches I doubt it would accomplish anything. Instead, let me ask you a question: It seems like you have been wanting to keep a low profile here, right?" She gave him a confused look, but slowly nodded. "That's gonna be pretty hard to pull off when you're unable to answer any of the most basic questions the teachers ask you in class."

Fie stiffened. It was clear she hadn't considered that. After a second she again relaxed, but there was a morose expression her face. "...Not like I can do anything about that."

Try as he might he couldn't quite keep a knowing grin from appearing on his face. "You can't... but we can." He could see the eyes of both girls widen in realization so he pressed on. "Here's my offer: I am offering to tutor you. Let's say for an hour a night, two days each week." He was unsure if that was a good total or not, but it could always be adjusted later. "As long as you are studying with me I will ask the other teachers to overlook you during class."

"That's a wonderful idea!" He had expected Towa's support, but it was still great to hear. "I can agree to this plan, and I'm sure the other instructors will too." Randolph definitely seemed like the kind of guy to go along with it. Instructor Michael might be a bit more difficult, but despite his prickly exterior Rean did believe that he truly cared about the students.

And plus, Principal Le Guin seemed to have an interest in the former jaeger and if she agreed to Rean's plan he would have no choice but to comply.

Time to really seal the deal. "Of course you're free to refuse the offer and find your own way... Just know that I might start feeling a little biased towards my students. Might start noticing you guys more when I need questions answered." He would never do that, of course, and he suspected that Fie knew it as well, but at the very least it served as a reminder of what could happen.

"...I didn't think teachers were supposed to blackmail their students." Fie didn't actually look all that offended by the concept. She seemed annoyed, naturally, but she also looked grudgingly amused by the entire situation.

"Think of it however you want. I merely see this as a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Fie let out a yawn before turning around. "Whatever. I'm going to bed."

"I expect to hear your answer by the end of the day tomorrow." Fie gave no confirmation that she heard him as she retreated up the stairs, but he knew she heard his words." Letting out a breath he turned towards a concerned looking Towa. "That went well, I think?"

"Really? I think you might have come on a little too strong there..."

"Maybe." He couldn't really refute her. "But we both know that she has no real reason for being here right now. Ideally she would turn to her classmates for help, but I can't see that happening anytime soon. Expecting her to take the initiative herself would be..." Foolhardy, but saying that out loud about his own student felt terrible, so he refrained. It wasn't as if his coworker couldn't finish the thought herself.

Towa looked miserable, but nodded her head reluctantly. "You're right. I cannot even begin to fathom the life she's lived up until now. We've both heard stories from Instructor Sara, but hearing about it and living it are two completely different things." With a determined nod the tiny teacher stood from her seat. "I believe in you, Rean! If anyone can get through to her I know it's you!"

"Haha... Thanks." He didn't quite share her confidence, but it made him feel better to know just how much she believed in him. "Let's both do our best tomorrow!"

"Right!"

As expected, classes were painfully boring. Now that everyone was finally settled in the teachers were starting to actually teach stuff. And naturally that meany she was forced to listen to a bunch of crap she neither understood nor cared to understood.

"The enemy commander has elected to split off into two separate equally sized pincers to attack you." Randy – The teacher of Combat Tactics – paused to point to a map detailing just that. "How do you, as commander, choose to respond?"

The red-haired man's eyes roamed the class while searching for someone to demand an answer from. For a brief moment his gaze locked with hers and she thought she was about to be called to, but instead the older man just gave a sly wink before continuing down the row towards where the mass of Class VIII was sitting. "How 'bout it, Leonora?"

Fie sighed under her breath. Just great. Somehow one of the busybodies had gotten to Randy already. And if that was the case she could only assume that Aurelia and Michael had also been informed.

Her mira was on Towa. She definitely seemed like the type of person to rush around to get everything done as soon as possible.

Still, it was almost a shame, as this was one class that she was actually fairly confident in, not that she would ever want to share that confidence out loud. Defense against a pincer attack? Easy. Overwhelm one formation while leaving behind your specialists to delay the other. Mines, traps, snipers. Everything you have. Once they are sufficiently demoralized and disorganized you hit them with an ambush. Even a small one could devastate an enemy in those situations.

Leonora – A well built girl with green hair – seemed confident as she stood to answer. "You focus all your big guns on one formation and put them to rout while delaying the other one with hit and run strikes and long-ranged barrages. It's quite easy."

The former jaeger blinked. While she still liked her answer better, there was something about the other girl's response that caught her interest. It almost sounded like she had experience with such a tactic. And the terms she used...

Curious.

"Nice. A good answer." Randy nodded affirmatively before returning to the map and detailing things that she only paid attention to with half an ear.

Instead she thought back to the previous night and the annoyance that she now found herself dealing with. Deep down she knew she would accept. It was already painfully awkward dealing with the likes of Juna and Kurt when they barely had any reason to care about her. Having them – and the people in the other classes since they often shared lessons – becoming interested in her would suck. Even without Rean's laughable threat of him focusing more attention on her should she refuse...

Yeah, she was definitely going to capitulate.

Even if she knew that to be true she still had her pride. He had said that she had until the end of the day to give her answer and so she would take him up on that. Smug bastard would have to keep on waiting until the last minute.

"Are you alright?" Her thoughts were interrupted by the quiet voice of the girl sitting next to her. At first she didn't know it was even her who was being referred to, but the unblinking gaze of Altina told her otherwise.

"...Huh?" It was a lame answer, but it was all she could come up with in the moment.

A slight twitch of the lips was the only reaction her classmate gave. "Perhaps it is not my place to pry, but you seem distracted."

"Huh? Really?" Now they had caught the attention of Juna who had been situated on Altina's opposite side. "I dunno about that... She seems just as blank and expressionless as always." The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. "Err... No offense?"

Was she offended? Kinda. Her words weren't wrong, but still. She wasn't one to criticize others for their lack of tact, but come on. "Do you really have time to be staring at others during class?" Fortunately she received an unexpected distraction in the form of their final classmate. "From my point of view it seems that you have been struggling to follow Instructor Randolph's lessons. Perhaps you should pay more attention?"

Despite the snarky remark towards Juna she couldn't help but notice that now even Kurt was sending subtle down the row towards her. Just great.

"Grr... You jerk!" Mount Juna looked ready to erupt. It was funny seeing those two interact. It was like they wanted to be civil with each other, but couldn't resist the urge to take shots whenever possible. She had seen a few instances like that while in the corp. Either they would end up murdering each other at some point or become the best of friends. Or maybe more? They were all teens, after all.

"Ah, Junie. Glad to see you're so excited. Care to answer this one?"

"Ra- Instructor Randy?" The girl in question turned as pink as her hair as she floundered pitifully. "I... uh... I didn't hear the question. Sorry..." Her meek attitude nearly gave way when Kurt gave an amused snort from her side, but she seemed to realize that punching her classmate while the teacher looking at her probably wasn't the best idea.

...Even if that teacher was Randy.

"Heh. Thought so. You were always saying you wanted to be like my partner, but it seems you actually wanna be just like your old pal Randy." The jaeger turned teacher looked amused as his fellow Crossbellian sank into her seat. "How about you, Altina?"

Fie, like Juna, had completely missed the question, so she looked at the newest map to try and puzzle it out. It looked to be detailing some sort of a reconnaissance mission against a fortified position. Another easy one.

"I would use the stealth functionality of Claiomh Solais to fly above the area." Was the curt response.

Randy seemed befuddled. "I... guess that works? Just remember that this question is designed for the average person and not you in particular. Damn cheating archaisms..."

"Please do not refer to Claiomh Solais as a 'damn cheating archaism' in the future."

That caused a small smile to form on Fie's face. Privately she agreed with the teacher. A stealth field was absolutely cheating. Even as a jaeger who prided themselves on having no rules she couldn't help but feel offended that technology was trying to mimic one of her best skills.

She hadn't even noticed that thoughts of that stupid offer had faded from her mind as she sat through the remainder of class.

Late that night a very reluctant Fie found herself gazing up the stairs that would lead her to the third floor of the dorm with great trepidation. Up there was the floor for the teachers. While it wasn't off-limits to the students, it was a place that none of them were all that willing to go and she was no exception.

Staying on the lower floors was easy. Only a few of her fellow students were perceptive enough to spot her when she was keeping a low profile and most of those few seemed inclined to leave her alone. Up there, however, was a different story. The third floor was home to a bunch of dangerous beasts who would likely have little problem noticing her presence.

It was also home to Towa, who definitely didn't fit in with the rest. That was still pretty weird for her.

Climbing those stairs would be akin to informing the whole world that she was accepting this awful offer of tutoring. It bugged her a lot that the freedom of the past two years had been reduced to a bunch of offers that she wasn't allowed to refuse.

She let out a sigh. If being forced to listen while some guy barely older than her lectured her about a bunch of useless crap was the price she needed to pay to continue on her life's mission, then so be it.

...Even if she had no idea what her life's mission actually was anymore.

Bracing herself for the worst the young jaeger forced her reluctant feet to ascend the stairs, one step at a time. Hopefully the others wouldn't notice her absence as they were a curious bunch and that was a question she had no desire to answer.

The third floor wasn't much different from the second. Just a bunch of rooms for all the staff to live in. Given how few teachers there currently were the floor seemed to have a lot of vacant rooms, but as with her own floor each room had a nameplate to guide her towards her destination.

It helped that she had a good feeling of which direction to not go in. Only one person she knew had a presence that was so terrifyingly powerful that she could sense it without even trying. Aurelia Le Guin was in her room and thus that was one room that Fie vowed to never go near.

Before long she found the room with her instructor's name. She could hear the man inside. With a final sigh the girl reluctantly reached out and placed a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in, Fie!"

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Of course that smug bastard was waiting for her. Clenching her fist in anger the student reluctantly opened the door and stepped in.

Rean – who had been sitting at his desk with some paperwork, looked up and gave her a smile. "I take it you're here about the offer?" It was phrased as a question, but the knowing grin on his face told a different story.

"...Why?" It was a question that had been bugging her the past day. "Why do you care about me getting good grades?!"

"Because I am your teacher?" His answer did not mollify her in the slightest, something which he seemed to realize as he let out a sigh before putting down the papers in his hand and turning to give her his undivided attention. "Do you really think that a person needs to have a reason to want to help someone?"

She scoffed. "Of course they do. People do things because they expect something in return. It's the way this world works."

For some reason the instructor let out a short laugh. "Instructor Sara was completely right about you. She told me that not only would you struggle with the classwork, but that you also have serious trust issues and would struggle to get along with others."

"So why?" She repeated her earlier question.

This time Rean adopted a more somber expression. "You may not believe it, but I just enjoy helping others, especially when it's of my own volition. It's why I took up this position in the first place."

Fie narrowed her eyes in confusion. Even if she believed his words – which she still wasn't entirely sure she did – there was a huge problem with that statement. "But couldn't you do that as the 'Ashen Chevalier'?" she didn't even try to hide her mocking tone as she spoke his title. Sure there were people like Juna who genuinely seemed to hate him for his work, but he was famous throughout the entire Empire. Surely he must have done something right.

Something which he ignored, instead letting out a sheepish laugh. "I suppose... I did help out a lot of people like that."

There was something about the way he said that that put it at stark contrast with his earlier stated desire of helping people. He sounded tired. As if none of it had any real meaning to him.

It was a feeling she knew well.

Before she could begin to consider those implications the teacher seemed to school his expression before addressing her again. "So? Does that alleviate your concerns?"

"I guess so." She still wasn't entirely convinced, but fine. She would leave it at that. Of course she knew what he wanted her to say. "...Fine. I'll accept your offer."

It hurt her so much to say that, as if she were damning herself to a lifetime of educational Gehenna.

Rean clapped his hands together happily. "Great! I was hoping you would say that! You remember what I said, yes? I expect to see you at least two hours each week. I know you probably see a lot of what this school teaches as meaningless, but I fully expect you to at least put forth an effort while you're up here."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." She would comply, but only to the most minimum standards she could get away with. Things like taking notes and asking questions? Not gonna happen.

"Well..." The black-haired teacher glanced towards the papers he had been working at before giving a minute shrug. "I suppose I have time, Would you like to start right-"

"Nope."

"H-Huh?" Rean looked baffled in that moment as he stared at her.

It was hard work keeping the grin off her face – Fie wasn't entirely sure she succeeded, either. "Already got plans for tonight." Sleeping, mostly. She knew this was petty, but this was her way of asserting some small amount of power in this annoying arrangement.

"Haha..." For his part Rean looked bemused. "I guess I should have expected that. Alright, Fie, you can go. Just tell me in advance when you want to study and I'll make sure my schedule is clear."

The dismissal was obvious to the young jaeger, not that she was gonna complain about it. And yet even as she turned with full intentions of leaving she found herself rooted to the spot, as something out of her peripheral vision caught her attention. Curious despite herself she found her legs moving closer for a better look.

It was a bunch of framed photographs.

Most were the standard fare: Pictures of family members and other close friends. It seemed that most people had one or two like this. She knew Juna had one of her family, at least.

No, those weren't the ones that caught her eye. It was a picture of a group of uniformed kids around her age, all clustered together and smiling happily. There was Sara, a younger Towa, and a younger Rean among the large group.

"The first Class VII..." Rean muttered fondly from directly behind her. He must have approached sometime during her observation. "We were only together for a year, but it was a year that none of us will ever forget. I hope you can make the same memories with your own classmates."

She let out a snort. "I seriously doubt that. They probably want as little to do with me as I do them, and it doesn't seem like they like each other much either.. There's no way we'll end up like that."

Her harsh words failed to have the desired effect, as the man from the picture gave a knowing smirk. "Five minutes into my own orienteering exercise we already had two classmates hating each other's guts. Compared to that I'd say you guys are off to a great start."

Looking at the group of happy teenagers... "You're lying." She felt a lot less sure of herself when his grin only grew more confident.

"Tell me, Fie. What is it that you want from these next two years?"

"I don't-"

"I know. I know." He cut off her almost instantly. "You don't want to be here. You've made that point quite clear, already. But the hard fact remains that you are here. What is it that's motivating you right now?"

That was an unexpected question, and the student paused as she considered the words. "I want to find Zephyr...?"

"Hm..." Rean didn't sound convinced, and why would he when she wasn't convinced herself? Two years ago that was her answer for certain, but that abandonment stung like a wound that had gone untreated and begun to fester. She still wanted to know why they left her behind like that, but did she really want to see them again after everything...?"

If the teacher noticed her internal turmoil he didn't say anything about it. "Well, if that's the case than perhaps I can help you out. Did you know that I met a couple of Zephyr's commanders during the October War?"

"Wha-!?" For the first time in what felt like ages the ex-jaeger found herself at an utter loss for words. This man had found the people she had been searching for!? And not just the rank and file members, but two officers. Could it be...?

"Uh huh." He confirmed with a nod. "Trapmaster Xeno and Leonidas the Behemoth. Two terrifyingly dangerous individuals."

Well, if she doubted his words before then the way he shivered as he described the two dispelled those doubts. Terrifyingly dangerous was a very apt description for her two 'brothers'. "...What happened?!" She knew her mask of indifference had completely fallen off at this point, but she was too engrossed in his tale to care.

Come to find out, it seemed that while her feelings regarding her old family had become very muddled that didn't change the fact that she still desperately wanted to know about them.

She couldn't help but color slightly as he gave her a warm smile at her blatant enthusiasm, but not even that could dampen her mood. "Well, the first time I met them was shortly before the war started. At the time they were working as the former Duke Cayenne's bodyguards, although I had no idea who they were. Just a pair of very intimidating figures.

After that... It would be during my stay on the Noble Alliance's flagship. I had been captured and Duke Cayenne wanted to recruit me and my Divine Knight onto his side." She arched an eyebrow in interest, causing him to shrug. "His argument was that the Noble Alliance was winning the war so having me on their side would make it go a lot quicker and with less bloodshed."

Given that the Noble Alliance ended up losing the war and the man in front of her became famous as the Ashen Chevalier for his role in that she had a good idea of how that turned out. "And...?"

"During my time on the ship I got to sit down and have a brief chat with them. It surprised me how relaxed they were, but you probably understand it better than I do." Of course. They are jaegers. If Rean wasn't the enemy at the time then there was no point in fighting. "We didn't really have much to chat about, but they were definitely interested in fighting my Divine Knight. That all changed when I made my escape from the ship." He tilted his head in thought. "...Although in hindsight I kinda wonder how serious they and the others actually were at trying to stop me.

The third and final time I saw them was at the end of the war. They stood in the way of Class VII and so we ended up fighting. The two of them were monsters, able to hold off a large part of our class by themselves. I have no idea how the fight would have gone as reinforcements arrived to hold them off for us."

"And where are they now?"

"I can't answer that one, sorry. I know they survived the war, but vanished shortly after." The instructor hesitated, but a sly smirk came to his face that worried her. "I really shouldn't be saying this, but you should talk to Altina. She was working alongside them during the way and her connections with the Intelligence Division might give her additional insight."

"Altina, huh..." It made sense that the younger girl would possibly have the answers, and Fie did find her to be intriguing despite her intentions of remaining distant. Maybe she would heed his advice and talk to her at some point.

But as her body forced out a yawn she knew it wouldn't be that night. Wordlessly the girl turned away from Rean and began her journey out of the room.

"Have a good night, Fie, and remember to tell me when you wish to begin your tutoring sessions."

She rolled her eyes, not that he could see, before exiting the room and closing the door behind her. Her mind was in turmoil as thoughts of her brothers and the rest of her former family plagued her thoughts. She had all but given up hope of ever seeing them again, so to find out that they had been in the area for quite some time gave her a little bit of hope.

There was also one other thing on her mind, although she had no idea why. That picture of such a large assorted group of cheerfully happy characters that from all accounts had played a major role in the war. Rean seemed to think that her class could end up as something similar, as crazy as that sounded. She couldn't help but try and imagine herself in a picture like that...

...But no such image came to her mind. Some things just weren't for her.