Chapter 38 - Hidden in Plain Sight

2.1.1206

Rean's early graduation came and went with little fanfare. After saying his farewells to his schoolmates and putting on his backpack, he made his way to the outskirts of Trista, where his orbal bike was waiting for him. He had already sent most of his belongings either to Ymir with his family or to Heimdallr with Towa's family, so he planned to ride his orbal bike to Heimdallr to save on funds. He was still trying to recover from that date with Towa he went on a few months ago.

Rean inspected his orbal bike before someone crept up behind him and gave him a hug.

"Congratulations Rean!" Towa announced as she hugged him tightly.

"Towa? I thought we agreed to meet up at your place?" Rean responded.

"I may have decided to take the train here so we could ride back together." Towa explained. She couldn't help but start to blush over telling Rean her plan.

"I wish you told me sooner. I already sent the sidecar to your place." Rean commented.

"I think I'll be just fine riding behind you." Towa teased as her grip got tighter around Rean to give him a good idea of how well she could grab onto him.

"Alright, let me turn on my orbal bike." Rean replied as he gave Towa a kiss on her forehead.

Rean and Towa carefully got into position. Keeping true to her word, she grabbed onto him for dear life.

"Are you ready?" Rean asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be. So this is what it's like in the rider's seat. I wouldn't mind sitting here more often. Maybe you could teach me how to drive?" Towa teased.

"Absolutely not. I'll gladly be your personal driver though." Rean responded. The thought of Towa driving horrified him.

"Fine, but you better let me sit up here with you." Towa replied as she tightened her grip on Rean as the orbal bike started moving.


The pair soon arrived in Heimdallr, and after some light traffic, they arrived outside Herschel's Shop.

"You said you're folks don't mind if I leave my orbal bike out here right?" Rean asked as he parked his orbal bike.

"Yup, just as long as you don't park in front of the door." Towa informed him.

"We're here everyone!" Towa announced as she led Rean inside.

"Good afternoon you two, oh and congratulations Rean!" Fred and Martha greeted.

"Afternoon, Schwarzer." Kai greeted.

"Don't mind us. We just came to drop off some things in my room." Towa informed her family as she led Rean up to her room.

Fred and Martha couldn't be happier to see their niece back to her cheerful self now that Rean was visiting more often. He'd even agreed to stay with them for a few months to help Towa look for job opportunities.

"Why is Schwarzer even staying in Towa's room?" Kai rudely asked. He had been suspicious of Rean ever since seeing him with Towa almost two years ago, but now he was practically living at their house.

"Kai, don't tell us you want to be roommates with your big brother Rean?" Martha teased.

"B-Big brother!? You two already sold Towa off to Schwarzer!?" Kai yelled.


Rean and Towa listened to chaos going on downstairs as they prepared for their date.

"Are you ready to head out?" Rean asked once he changed out of his Thors uniform and into something far more casual.

"Yup." Towa answered as she put Rean's graduation present in her purse.

The two soon left Herschel's Store to start their date. Much like how Rean took Towa on a date to celebrate her birthday and graduation, it was now her turn to take him out on a date to celebrate his graduation.

"So what did you have in mind?" Rean asked.

"Heehee, let's just walk around a bit. We have more than enough time to kill before we should go to where I want to take you." Towa replied.

"Okay then, lead the way Towa." Rean responded.

"First things first, here you go, Rean. It's your graduation present." Towa announced as she handed him a small wrapped box.

"Towa, you shouldn't have." Rean said as he took the box.

Rean carefully unwrapped the box before opening it. Inside were a pair of glasses.

"I figured you could use a disguise while we're out and about. I also thought that they would look good on you while I was out shopping a few days ago." Towa admitted.

Rean quickly put on his glasses. While his vision was fine with or without them, they were certainly comfortable. Plus Towa got them for him, he just had to wear him.

"How do I look?" Rean asked as he posed for Towa.

"Heehee. Feels like I'm dating a model." Towa teased.

"Are you sure this is going to be enough of a disguise though?" Rean asked as they started walking into the city hand in hand.

"If Prince Olivert can get away with hiding out in Liberl just by letting his hair down, then I'm sure that we'll be fine." Towa answered.

"If you say so." Rean replied.


Before either of them knew it, they were in the Sankt District. While probably one of the safer areas in the city, Rean and Towa couldn't help but get tense as they walked by the area. If things weren't bad already, they seemingly made it just in time for the school day to end. They watched in horror as the St. Astraia girls flooded the street.

"W-We probably should've taken that left turn." Rean commented.

"Y-Yeah, there's a good chance your sister sees us. I'm not sure she'll take the news of us well." Towa responded.

They both froze as they heard a familiar voice making their way towards them.

"Herschel is that you!?" Alfin yelled as she ran up to the pair followed by Elise and another girl with green hair.

Rean and Towa panicked about what to do. They couldn't just run away, Alfin already saw them. Although she only named Towa, so maybe they didn't recognize him.

"G-Good afternoon everyone." Towa nervously greeted Alfin, Elise, and their friend as they walked up to them.

"Good afternoon Herschel. It certainly has been a while since we've last seen each other. I take it this man is your boyfriend?" Elise greeted.

"Y-Yes!" Towa replied as she grabbed on to Rean's arm in case they needed to make a run for it.

"Wow. Elise mentioned you having a thing for her handsome brother, but I suppose this specimen you have here is quite the catch himself." the green haired girl noted.

"T-Thanks." Rean responded.

"I wouldn't go that far. I think he looks just as handsome as Rean. Elise, what do you think?" Alfin teased.

Rean and Towa froze as they realized that Alfin had looked past Rean's disguise. Time slowed down as they felt Elise staring at them, it wouldn't take long for her to realize that they were on a date.

"You do? Frankly I don't see it." Elise answered.

Rean and Towa released a sigh of relief. It seemed the glasses still worked to some extent.

"A-Anyway, we were g-going somewhere. L-Let's hurry dear!" Towa yelled as she ran off with Rean.

"Bye your highness! Bye Elise!" Rean accidentally yelled as Towa dragged him away.

"I don't recall telling him my name?" Elise questioned aloud.

"I-I suppose you just look like an Elise." Alfin said in an attempt to cover for Rean and Towa.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Elise asked which caused their friend to laugh.

Alfin and Elise soon turned to face their friend to see what made her start laughing.

"What's so funny, Mildine? Elise asked.

"Oh nothing. A fun little idea just popped into my head." Mildine replied.

"Mind telling us?" Alfin asked.

"Well, seeing as I'm transferring schools soon. I figured why not ditch school one of these days and take a train to Trista? I'm sure Elise's brother could use some company." Mildine revealed.

"W-What!?" Elise yelled in surprise.

"I mean, you did say he's single at the moment. Did you not?" Mildine asked.

"D-Despite what those darned tabloids write, I can guarantee that my brother is still pure. Not even Herschel was able to corrupt him!" Elise revealed.

"You of all people should know that I like a challenge." Mildine teased as she turned to look at Rean being dragged off by Towa. She saw right past his disguise the second she laid her eyes on him.


Towa and Rean ran all the way from the Garnier District to the Leica District in an attempt to get as far away from St. Astraia as they could.

"T-That… w-was a close one!" Rean panted.

"Y-You're… t-telling me!" Towa panted back.

"Still… I think that we're far enough away now." Rean noted once he caught his breath.

"Yeah…" Towa said in agreement.

Towa quickly realized that they weren't that far from where she wanted to take him.

"Rean, follow me." Towa said as took one of Rean's hands as she led him to their destination.


Kurt was enjoying his after-practice lunch break outside the local cafe, when he noticed the oddest thing.

"W-Wait is that the Ashen Chevalier?" Kurt thought to himself as he saw the national hero walking by a few feet away from him.

Kurt then noticed said national hero getting dragged around by a petite woman.

"I'm guessing he's busy right now. I suppose I'll ask him about his Eight Leaves One Blade style some other time." Kurt concluded.


Rean and Towa soon entered the Imperial Museum.

"I know this isn't the most romantic spot for a date, but I do hope you enjoy it." Towa informed Rean.

"I remember you telling me something similar the last time we were here. And if I recall correctly, I enjoyed it very much." Rean assured Towa.

Towa led Rean across the museum just like the last time they were there, and just like before he enjoyed every second of it. Even if that history textbook he completed a while ago gave him all the same information, he still couldn't deny how much her smile made it even more interesting.

They both recalled how their first time there was a bit before either of them knew that they had feelings for each other.

"You'd think that holding hands the entire time would've been a dead giveaway." Rean teased.

"Heehee. I suppose I was unknowingly really happy to bring you here." Towa admitted.

"I'd be lying if I said that visit didn't pave the road for me pursuing history like I did. Not only did I finish an entire textbook in my free time, but I also got the highest score in that class." Rean revealed.

"Trying to impress the granddaughter of the former director of the Imperial Museum? I'll have you know I set the record for the highest score in that class! My name's on a plaque in the main building." Towa teased.

"I'll have you know, that I tied with your record! So my name is also on that plaque." Rean revealed.

"Don't tell me the reason why you got the record was just to have your name next to mine on the plaque?" Towa teased.

"I enjoyed the subject matter and wanted to best the person who came before me. Having my name next to yours on a plaque back at Thors was a nice bonus." Rean replied.

"First you stole my heart, and now you're trying to steal my record." Towa teased.

"Quite fitting, seeing as you stole my heart." Rean teased back before bending down and Kissing Towa in the middle of the museum.

"Just because people don't recognize you with your glasses, doesn't mean they don't recognize me here." Towa teased as they both separated from each other to catch their breaths before any of the staff saw them.

Rean and Towa decided that it was best to return back to Herschel's Store to make it in time for dinner.


Once inside Herschel's Shop, Rean and Towa joined her family upstairs just in time for dinner.

It was a fairly peaceful dining experience. Martha and Fred asked the pair about how their date went. After telling them about what happened outside St. Astraia, they both couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes. They then told them about their little argument back at the Imperial museum. Rean couldn't help but feel Kai glaring at him. He concluded that he was just annoyed that he tied with Towa's record.

"Oh by the way, you two don't have any plans for tomorrow do you?" Fred asked.

"None." Towa replied as Rean nodded in agreement.

"Good. There was someone who wanted to meet with the both of you tomorrow." Martha noted.

"Someone wants to meet with us?" Rean asked.

"Yeah, they said they had something they wanted to talk about with you two." Martha explained.

"Did the person give you their name?" Towa asked. She tried thinking of all the people that would know about Rean currently staying at her home.

"Her name was Aurelia Le Guin." Fred revealed.


Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed those two certain character's early appearances!

Fun fact - They were both intended to appear all the way back in chapter 8 (Heimdallr Tour) before I scrapped their cameos and saved them for this chapter. Granted, one of them did get name dropped during Chapter 17 (Festival Rendezvous).

Preview - Rean and Towa sat together in the kitchen as they waited for Aurelia to arrive.