Chapter 18 - May I Have This Dance?

10.24.1204 - Sunday (Academy Festival - Day 2)

The final day of the festival was here.

While everyone was in bed however, a loud ringing had led Class VII and a few allies to the old schoolhouse. It had started glowing, and fearing it could cause harm if left unchecked Class VII entered to see what was going on. For most of the night, Class VII explored the Realm of the Great Shadow and fought Loa Erebonius. No one was sure what exactly it was, but they knew they had to put a stop to it before morning. After a long arduous battle, Class VII defeated the shadowy beast and the old schoolhouse returned to its normal run down self. Not before Rean saw a word appear before him: VALIMAR. Not that he had much time to think about it, as Class VII and a few allies watching from the sidelines immediately returned to bed.

Rean was still able to wake up early to meet with Towa. Although, this time he didn't put his Arcus in silent mode in case of anything happening.

Despite the recent news from Crossbell, Rean and Towa did their best to enjoy their time together. Since they used up all their tickets the previous day, they mostly walked around the festival together before Class VII's performance.


After walking around for most of the day, Rean and Towa decided to relax on the rooftop of the main building.

"Wow, the view is so nice from up here." Rean commented.

"Yeah, you can see the whole schoolground from up here." Towa responded.

After what happened last night the two simply wanted to rest. Towa could tell the battle the previous night had left Rean drained.

"Rean, are you feeling alright? You look a bit tired. It might be a good idea to get a quick nap before your class' concert." Towa told Rean.

"I suppose I could use a nap, but there's no way I'd make it to and from my dorm room in time." Rean answered.

"Who said you had to go to your room for a nap? From what I see there's no one else up here but us, so what's wrong with you taking a short nap up here?" Towa refuted.

Rean immediately got flustered when he realized what Towa was implying. "President T-Towa, I couldn't possibly do that here."

"Why not? You let me nap when we tested Angie's orbal bike and in the computer room, so why don't I repay you the favor? If I hear anyone come up to the roof I'll wake you up before anyone sees you." Towa offered.

Knowing full well he needed a quick rest he agreed to Towa's offer. With that, he leaned back on the bench they were sitting on and closed his eyes.

Within a few minutes, Rean was sound asleep.

Towa wanted to give Rean more space to nap, but before she could stand up Rean's head fell on her shoulder. Unless she wanted to wake up Rean sooner than expected, she would need to stay like that. If she wasn't on high alert for visitors before, she definitely was now.

"W-Well I suppose I did lean on you back when we took a break after testing Angie's orbal bike." Towa told Rean.

Towa then realized Rean was too asleep to talk back to her.

Towa decided to speak her mind, it wasn't as if Rean would be able to hear her anyway. "I guess you can't hear me huh? That's fine, you need as much sleep as you can get after last night. I wish I could've done more to help you guys to explore the Realm of the Great Shadow, but I know I would've caused more trouble for you guys. Even back in my Field Studies last year I was the only one that didn't do any combat. Angie had her martial arts, George had his hammer, Crow had his guns, but I didn't have anything. All I ever did was stand behind them and give them orders. What type of leader am I? I just give orders from the sidelines. Compared to you I'm a horrible leader. You're always on the front lines, fighting alongside everyone in Class VII. You don't let any possible fears stop you from fighting. Meanwhile, I get too scared at the idea of holding a weapon. I'm too scared to even tell you how I feel." Towa said aloud.

It was only after her rant finished that Towa realized just how close Rean's face was to hers. He looked rather cute when he was asleep. Granted, she thought he was already cute before.

Towa's thoughts about Rean's appearance got interrupted when she heard one of their Arcus units ringing. She quickly checked hers, but there were no calls. She soon realized that it was Rean's Arcus that was ringing, and it didn't seem to be waking Rean up. She didn't want to wake him up yet, as there was a chance it was just something like a prank call. Without much of a choice, Towa decided to reach into the pocket she heard Rean's Arcus ringing from and take it out.

"Hello, Towa Herschel speaking." Towa answered.

"P-President Towa!? W-Wait, why do you have Rean's Arcus?" Alisa asked.

"Oh Alisa, what happened was-" Towa started to explain before stopping herself.

Maybe saying that Rean was asleep next to her wasn't the best thing to say.

Towa quickly came up with a believable lie to the best of her ability. "What happened was that Rean went to the washroom and he left his Arcus here next to me."

"Oh that's right, you two are spending the whole festival together. Just tell Rean when he gets back that we all need to meet up in the Auditorium to set up our performance in five minutes." Alisa responded before hanging up.

Towa wasn't sure why, but she sensed some sort of bitterness coming from Alisa.

Before Towa could put back Rean's Arcus in his pocket he started to wake up.

"That nap was just what I needed. Thank you for the suggestion President Towa." Rean yawned.

"See I told you that you needed one." Towa greeted him.

Rean suddenly noticed that Towa was holding his Arcus. "Um… President Towa, is that my Arcus?"

"Oh yeah, Alisa called. She said you need to go to the Auditorium to set up your class' performance in five minutes." Towa explained.

"I should probably head there right now. Sorry to cut our time short, I promise to find you after our performance." Rean said as he stood up.

"Don't worry about it. I can't wait to see it. Since I'm the announcer I'll be able to watch from the second floor, so keep your eyes peeled because I'll be cheering you… a-and the rest of Class VII on." Towa said as she stood up to give Rean back his Arcus.

"Thank you President Towa. Please enjoy the show." Rean said before he made his way to the stairs.


Towa started to wonder what she should do. She didn't need to get to the Auditorium for another ten minutes, so she still had time to herself.

Not before long a voice came from the stairs. "Aw, you two are so cute together. So, when's the wedding?"

"Wait, Angie!?" Towa yelled in surprise.

"The one and only." Angelica said.

Before Angelica knew it Towa ran up to her and gave her the tightest hug she'd gotten in a long time.

"Angie I'm so glad you made it! I was getting worried that you weren't going to show up." Towa said before letting go of Angelica.

"Did you really think I'd miss an opportunity to see the Class VII girls strut their stuff? After Crow sent me pictures of the girls in costume, I just had to come. Luckily, I was able to convince my old man to let me come here. All I had to do was wear this dress." Angelica explained.

"It really suits you." Towa complimented.

"Thank you. If you'd like, I can take you shopping to find some outfits for you. I'm sure your boyfriend would love to see you in an outfit that showed off your womanly charms." Angelica teased.

"B-Boyfriend? Where in the world did you get the idea that I had a boyfriend?" Towa asked as she got flustered.

"Come on, you don't need to hide it. Crow and George already told me about your little festival long date that you're having with Rean. Imagine my shock when they told me that you two were having a two-day long date together. If you two were trying to keep your relationship a secret then you guys failed. So, who confessed first?" Angelica continued to tease.

"What!? We aren't on a date I swear! I just wanted to cheer him up, so I asked him to walk me around the festival." Towa explained.

"So you haven't told him how you feel yet? You don't have much time with Rean left you know. Once we graduate from Thors I doubt you'll have enough excuses to come to Trista to spend time with him." Angelica warned.

"I-I'm not sure if I can. I don't want to make things awkward between us if I confess and he doesn't feel the same way. He probably only views me as just one of his upperclassmen." Towa said.

Angelica could only laugh in response to Towa's worries.

"Hey I'm being serious! Not all of us have as much confidence as you do! I've never felt like this before, so excuse me if I'm scared!" Towa ranted as she felt her face getting hotter.

"Come on, let's take a seat Towa." Angelica told Towa as she walked her over to the bench she saw her and Rean sitting together earlier.

"Towa, if you really like Rean like that then you're going to have to tell him before the school year ends." Angelica explained as she finally stopped laughing.

"You say that as if the thought has never entered my mind. He's so oblivious, I can't think of a situation where I can just tell him." Towa ranted.

An idea suddenly clicked in Angelica's mind. "Say Towa, according to George and Crow your little date with Rean doesn't end until the festival ends tonight right?"

"For the last time it isn't a date, but George and Crow are correct." Towa explained.

"You do realize what's going to happen once Class VII's concert ends, right?" Angelica asked.

"Honestly, despite being in charge of planning all of this I sort of forgot what's going to happen. I might have zoned out during the meeting where we looked over all the booths." Towa admitted.

Angelica then explained her plan. "So that means you forgot that the festival ends with a big dance by a fire. That sounds like the perfect situation to confess to him how you feel. I can picture it now. He'll nervously ask you to dance with him, and you'll accept equally as nervous as he is. You'll let him take the lead as he probably has some experience. I can confirm that most nobles have their kids practice ballroom dancing. You'll both enjoy being so close to each other, and as you both stare into each other's eyes you two can't help but blush. Once all the dancing is done you two will sit by the sidelines for some awkward small talk. After two whole days together, dancing together, and simply relaxing together all by yourselves: that's when you confess. The stage has been set for you to tell him how you feel. Who knows, you might even be able to sneak him into your dorm room afterwards and also show him how you feel."

Towa started to get flustered in response to everything Angelica was insinuating. "A-Angie! P-Please don't make R-Rean and I-I sound like characters from those weird romance novels my Aunt gave me."

George suddenly joined them up on the roof to tell them they needed to get to the Auditorium to surprise Class VII before their performance started.


After wishing Class VII the best of luck. Angelica and George went to take their seats. Meanwhile, Towa got prepared to be the announcer.

The concert went off without a hitch. Towa could tell the whole class put their all into the concert. It was clear they were the best booth of this year's school festival.

After their performance, Class VII retreated to their classroom. Even with his nap before the concert Rean was still tired. He could only imagine how tired everyone else was.

After a few minutes Towa, Angelica, George, and Patrick came into the room to congratulate them on the concert. Patrick also (begrudgingly) informed all of them that Class VII's booth was the fan favorite, but Class VII was too tired to celebrate their victory.

Towa, Angelica, George, and Patrick soon left to give Class VII more time to rest.


After a few more minutes of resting, Class VII made their way to the Academy Field for the final part of the school festival: the dance.

Once Class VII made it to the field they all went their separate ways.

Rean wasn't sure what to do. He had promised Towa to spend the whole festival at her side until the end, but he wasn't sure if he had the heart to be with her during the dance portion of the festival.

As if on queue, Crow put his arm around Rean. "Well? You've been standing by yourself for the past few minutes, I'm sure Towa's waiting for you. Doesn't your date end until after the festival ends? Pretty sure the dance is part of that date."

Rean was taken aback by Crow's sudden appearance. "C-Crow where did you come from? Also we aren't on a date."

"Me? I'm just waiting for Misty to get here so I can ask her if she wants to dance with a young stud like myself. As for you and Towa, don't you think now's the best time to confess?" Crow answered.

"C-Confess!? C-Crow I can't just do that out of the blue. I need to wait for the right time." Rean responded. He did his best to keep himself from getting too flustered.

"Rean, look me in the eye's and tell me this isn't the right time to confess to her? You two just spent most of yesterday and today at each other's sides, and you think this isn't the best time to confess? If you're waiting for the best time to confess, then Towa practically handed it to you when she requested you to walk her around the festival for two days." Crow pointed out.

"I doubt President Towa intended this dance to be a part of her request." Rean said.

"So? Take advantage of the situation. I can see Towa from here, and from the looks of things she's all by herself. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was sneaking a few glances at you. She's probably waiting for her date to ask her to dance." Crow countered with a smug smile.

"Wait, what?" Rean said as started to look for where Towa was.

Crow started to laugh in response to getting a reaction out of Rean. "Ha! You fell for it! Just admit you want to dance with Towa. There's only so many hours in a night, go and spend it with her."

Before Rean could respond, Crow pushed him away and started to walk away. Rean looked back at Crow and saw why he cut their conversation short. Misty had arrived and Crow was racing to ask her to dance with him before Munk or Machias noticed.

After a deep breath, Rean made his way towards where he spotted Towa. Suddenly he heard Crow calling him.

"Almost forgot, here's your stinkin' 50 mira back!" Crow yelled as he threw Rean a 50 mira coin.

Rean caught it with ease. He was surprised that Crow had even bothered to pay him back after so much time had passed. A part of him was hesitant to take it, but it was already in his hand.

"Hey Crow! Thanks for the mira, but don't forget the interest! No one can escape the Bank of Rean!" Rean yelled.

"I'm warning you now kid. You're never getting any of that interest for as long as I live!" Crow yelled before running towards Misty.


Towa wasn't sure what she was doing. Just a minute ago she was talking with Angelica about Rean. Even though Class VII arrived a few minutes ago, Rean had been staying close to the entrance. Was it that their time together ended before the dance or was Rean simply trying to keep distance between them?

Angelica advised her to just approach Rean instead. If he was by himself it probably meant that he was too nervous to ask a girl to dance. Luckily, Crow went up to Rean for her. Although Crow quickly ditched Rean the second Misty arrived.

Towa turned back to Angelica to ask her what to do. "Angie, please you're the only person I trust to ask this. Is now my best chance to tell Rean how I feel?"

All Angelica did was smile and nod before walking away. Towa wasn't sure why Angelica ditched her, but before she could try to follow her she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see who it was. To her surprise it was Rean.

Maybe it was because of the fire being the only source of light, but Towa could swear that Rean's face looked redder than normal.

Rean nervously asked Towa a simple question. "E-Excuse me President T-Towa, m-may I h-have this d-dance?"

Towa answered immediately without much thought. "Whaaaaaat!? Y-Yes!"

Towa was glad that the fire gave everyone a red tint, or else Rean would probably be able to see just how red her face had gotten from his question.

"If it's o-okay with you, do you mind leading? I don't have much e-experience dancing." Towa asked Rean.

"G-Gladly. My parents put me in ballroom dance classes w-when I was younger." Rean answered.


They slowly made their way to a more empty area that was still close to the fire.

Since Rean agreed to lead, he was already holding Towa's hand. Once they found a good spot they readied themselves.

Towa nervously put her free hand on Rean's shoulder.

"I've already seen him in nothing but a towel, so why am I more nervous about making physical contact?" Towa thought to herself.

Rean did his best not to show his nervousness. While it was true that he took classes for ballroom dancing, it was back when he was a little kid. In the years since, he's never actually been given much of an opportunity to use those skills. Towa was actually his official dance partner. The thought alone only made him more nervous.

"No matter. President Towa deserves the best, so I'll give her my best." Rean thought to himself.

Despite his nervousness, he quickly placed his free hand on Towa's side. Perhaps a bit too quickly.

Towa was surprised by Rean's sudden hand placement and gasped, although to Rean it sounded more like a squeak.

The two immediately froze in place, as they felt each other grow warmer in response. They were grateful they chose an emptier area to dance so they could be alone in their awkwardness.

Rean immediately started to apologize. "I-I'm so sorry President Towa. I should've asked you where you would have preferred I place my other hand-"

"No, it's fine. Y-You're leading after all. I-I was just caught by surprise is all." Towa interrupted.

With the awkwardness behind them Rean and Towa began to dance.

Rean did his best to lead the dance. What he lacked in experience, he made up with determination. Although he tried to keep his eyes off of Towa in an attempt to avoid losing focus.

Towa could only stare in awe as Rean led her. "Wow, Rean's really good at this. I shouldn't be surprised though. If Princess Alfin asked him to dance some time ago, then other girls would definitely have been in my place already." She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. It was just her and Rean, she wasn't sure if she'd have this opportunity again. She was determined to enjoy it.

"Alright Rean, you can do this! Left and right, and left and right. Make sure not to step on President Towa's feet. Try not to let President Towa see your fear." Rean kept on thinking to himself. "Why am I even so nervous? I'm just dancing with President Towa. Oh wait, that's exactly why I'm so nervous."

Suddenly Towa accidentally stepped on Rean's left foot and immediately started to apologize. "I-I'm so sorry Rean! I should have been looking where I was stepping."

"No, don't apologize. I should've been more focused. T-This is actually my first time." Rean assured Towa.

"W-Wait, I-I'm Rean's first dance partner?" Towa thought to herself.

The two returned to where they left off, although this time both were more focused than ever. They'd even started to look at each other. Which made them both blush, but they tried to hide it. Although it was difficult with both of them trying their hardest to not let the other see how flustered they were getting the longer they danced together.

After a few more minutes of dancing (and more missteps), Rean and Towa agreed that they had danced enough and decided to look for a spot to sit down and relax.


They found a nice spot where they could overlook the fire and talk privately.

Rean started to get more nervous as he started overthinking the situation he was entering.

The conversation Rean had with Crow started to echo in his mind. "Is this really the right time? I'm sure President Towa is busy with planning her future, and I don't want to add on to her troubles. Should I at least tell her how I feel? She's going to graduate soon and I'll lose whatever chance I have, if I even have one. I need to decide now before it's too late."

Rean was brought back into reality by Towa, who had started to talk to break the silence between them.

Even though Towa was still flustered, she did her best to hide it from Rean. "Heehee. Thanks, Rean. It must've been no small feat for you to lead given how… small I am."

"Haha. Not at all. I had fun. Still, it's hard to believe that the festival is almost over now." Rean commented.

"Yeah, it is… It was a lot of hard work, but I loved every minute of it. Your concert even topped the one we put on last year." Towa continued.

Towa suddenly realized her current position. "So this is how my last academy festival ends? It's nice I suppose, anything beats last year. After our concert, I immediately went back to my dorm room to sleep so I could be ready for a student Council meeting the following day. I didn't even see the fire last year. This year was much more enjoyable than last year thanks to Rean. Wait a minute, everything is going exactly how Angie predicted. That just leaves me telling Rean how I feel, but can I even do that? This is such an easy question, so why can't I figure out what to do? There's only three ways this could end. I tell him how I feel and he (hopefully) lets me down gently. Or he could reject me harshly; by saying something like 'how I'm not his type', 'oh I prefer someone taller', 'I just see you as a big sister', 'I'd prefer someone who didn't put work over everything else' or just straight up laugh at me for even thinking I had a chance. In the unlikely event he felt the same way, then what? There was no way a relationship between us would just be accepted without any objections. Even though I know I'm not using my status as Student council President to pressure Rean to do anything he doesn't want to do, we'd probably still face scrutiny and judgement from our instructors and schoolmates for the remaining few months I'm still here. Then there's the fact that Rean's from a noble family. His parents are probably planning an arranged marriage for Rean right now. There's no way they'd give Rean approval to be with some commoner like me. The best route I can think of is to just not tell him. It's going to be painful, but at least he'd still come to visit the Student Council room and help around. We'll continue to spend time together… even if just as friends."

Rean could tell Towa was deep in thought. He couldn't begin to imagine what would bring Towa such inner turmoil, but he wanted to help her.

"I-Is something wrong?" Rean asked.

"A-Ahaha… Sorry. Just thinking that this is my last academy festival got me all emotional. I'm sorry… I'm supposed to be setting an example for you, and yet here I am… How embarrassing." Towa answered. She wasn't lying to Rean, she just wasn't telling him the whole truth.

Rean could tell Towa was still being bothered by something. Instinctively, one of his hands moved without thinking.

He had begun to gently stroke Towa's head.

Towa wasn't sure how to react. This wasn't the first time Rean gave her a head rub, but it still caught her off guard.

"Oh…" Towa said in response.

Without really thinking Rean began to try to calm Towa down, unaware of the fact that he was giving her a head rub. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Nobody has put more work into this festival than you have. It makes sense to be emotional. And while I'm sure it's hard to leave this behind, I think I speak for everyone when I tell you how grateful we are. Thank you."

"Rean… Heehee. Thank you, too." Towa responded.

Even though Rean had stopped talking, his hand kept on rubbing Towa's head. She wasn't sure what to do. Sure she was enjoying it, but if someone saw them they'd probably get the wrong idea.

"R-Rean… Uh… I might be shorter than you, but I AM a second-year. I don't think it's really appropriate for you to start stroking my head out of nowhere like that." Towa commented as she tried to hide her enjoyment.

Rean immediately stopped once he realized what he had been doing and started to apologize like he usually did. "Gah! I-I'm so sorry. I do it-"

Considering Rean already apologized the first time he rubbed her head, Towa decided to interrupt him.

"Still… I haven't haven't had anyone fawn over me like that since I was a kid. It was kind of nice, to be honest." Towa teased.

"Wait 'fawn over her'? Oh no, am I being that obvious?" Rean started to question in his head.

"There's not a lot of time left until I graduate. But with you here, I'm sure the academy's going to be in good hands once I'm gone." Towa lamented.

"Well, I'll have a lot to live up to. But I'll be sure to make this academy an even better place than it is now." Rean promised Towa.

"Heehee. Then it's a promise!" Towa said with a smile.

Seeing Towa's smile was seemingly the final straw for Rean.

Even though she was in front of him, his thoughts became nothing but Towa. "There President Towa was with that smile again. The same smile she had when she calmed me down on my first day here. The same smile she had when we properly introduced ourselves to each other. The same smile that convinced me to go against my guts and agree to help her with Student Council work. The same smile she has in that picture inside the locket. The same smile she had when she gave me a tour of the Imperial Museum. The same smile I saw when we were stargazing in the hot springs. The same smile she had this whole festival. I… I don't ever want to lose that smile... I… I-I need to get this off my chest."

Even though he had no plan or even an idea what he was doing, Rean decided now was his best opportunity for him to tell Towa how he felt.

"Crow's right. President Towa gave me the perfect scenario to confess to her on a silver platter." Rean thought as he prepared himself.

Despite how nervous he was and how warm his whole body was getting, Rean held Towa's hands and looked her in the eyes.

It took Towa a second for her to process what was going on, but with how warm she felt Rean's hands and how red his face was getting it was clear to her what he was going to do. "W-Wait!? I-Is R-Rean going to… I-I didn't think he was going to be the one to confess to me! N-No he's probably just going to say s-something else." Towa told herself as she started to get just as warm and nervous as Rean. Even her face started to glow a matching shade of red as Rean's face.

Rean nervously tried to talk, but he was sounding more like a stuttering mess. He was regretting never actually thinking about what he was going to say when he confessed.

Rean was finally able to formulate words to express how he felt as he felt Towa's eyes stared deeply into his. "P-President T-T-Towa… I-I… President T-Towa I… I-I love-"

Before Rean could finish, a loud commanding voice pulled them back into reality. Principal Vandyke had arrived to give grim news that left everyone, including Rean and Towa shocked.

In a tone that was a mixture of strictness and worry, Principle Vandyke spoke clearly for everyone to hear. "Students and visitors… I cannot thank you enough for your attendance today. I hereby proclaim the 127th Thors Military Academy festival complete. But I am afraid I must announce this with a heavy heart, as we have just received word from the Imperial government… That this evening, Garrelia Fortress, which rests on the eastern border of the Empire, has been destroyed. No, destruction is an inadequate word. An unknown weapon has erased the fortress in its entirety from existence. I would ask that all of our guests, from that region or otherwise, please try to remain calm."


Author's Note

Apologies for the abrupt ending. Don't worry I'm sure the next chapter will end on a happier note and ties up all loose ends, just like the ending of Cold Steel 1. Oh wait...