Chapter 43 - Library Mishap

4.16.1206 - Sunday (Free Day)

After the briefing in the Tactical Conference Room concluded all the instructors went their separate ways.

With the field exercises in Sutherland not too far away, Towa had decided to head to the library, while Rean volunteered to give Millium a tour of Leeves.


"So, how's the whole instructor job been for you?" Millium asked as she and Rean made their way to the front entrance.

"It's been going well all things considered. Some of the students can be a handful though." Rean answered. Teaching New Class VII had given him a new found respect for Sara.

"My sister hasn't caused you too much trouble has she?" Millium asked.

"Don't worry, Altina's one of the more well behaved students here." Rean answered.

"Good to hear!" Millium replied.

Before they could leave however, Rean couldn't help but look back at the library's entrance.

"What's the matter? Afraid a book is going to attack your girlfriend?" Millium teased.

"It's not that. I just can't help but feel like I should help Towa." Rean admitted.

"Jusis was right, old habits die hard. Why don't we go help her out then?" Millium suggested.

"Huh? But didn't you want to go explore Leeves?" Rean replied.

"I mean yeah, but it won't be fun if my tour guide is gloomy the whole time because he wanted to help his girlfriend." Millium answered.

"If you say so. I'm sure with the three of us working together we'll finish in no time." Rean said as he led Millium to the library.


"Let's see… Sutherland… Sutherland…" Towa said to herself as she inspected the bookshelves.

Towa suddenly noticed Rean and Millium enter the library and offered her their help in searching for the things she needed.

"Are you guys sure? Didn't you want to go explore Leeves Millium?" Towa asked.
"Trust me I want to, but what fun will it be if my tour guide is mopping the whole time?" Millium explained.
"Hey I wasn't getting moppy!" Rean responded.

"Heehee. I suppose it can't be helped." Towa commented.

"So what are you up to?" Millium asked.

"I need to take care of the travel plans, but I also need to prepare as much as I can for the field exercises." Towa explained.

"Yeah… We don't really have a lot of time." Rean noted.

Aurelia really threw everyone a curveball by not telling them about the field studies until the last minute.

"Dang, if only I'd known more beforehand, I coulda warned you guys." Millium lamented.

"Heehee, oh, it'll be fine. Don't worry about it, Millium. Please, go enjoy the town with Rean." Towa assured them. She really didn't want to ruin Millium's stay in Leeves, especially with Altina out and about.

"I still feel bad about leaving this all to Towa." Rean thought to himself.

Millium had already given him the go ahead to help Towa, and now that he fully knew how much work she had to deal with, the more he wanted to help.

"Let me help you put all those documents together, Towa. I mean, if it's for field exercises, I should be pitching in, anyway." Rean responded.

"Aw Rean… But don't you need to show Millium around town?" Towa questioned.

"Sorry Millium, is it okay if we start the tour in a bit?" Rean asked as he turned to Millium.

"Heheh, no problemo! Actually, lemme help out, too! After coming all this way, it's the least I can do for you guys." Millium answered.

"Thanks Millium. There you have it." Rean said as turned back to Towa.

"Teehee, Well, when you put it like that, how can I say no? I have a list of books I need. Can I get you two to find the ones with a check mark by them?" Towa responded.

"Understood." Rean answered.

"Just leave it to me!" Millium added on.


The three of them quickly got to work searching for every item on Towa's list.

Rean made his way to one of the tables with a stack of books that he found. Soon Millium ran up to the table to drop off her stack of books. After reviewing the list that Towa had given them, Rean determined that they were now only missing one document.

"All right, I found everything we needed on this shelf." Rean informed Towa as he made his way to her by the bookshelves in the back.

"I'm done over here, too!" Millium added on as she followed Rean.

"Wow, thanks, you two! You really helped me out a lot!" Towa responded.

"It was all thanks to your neatly-organized list. The only shelves we have left are these." Rean replied.

"All righty, let's show these shelves who's boss!" Millium yelled.

Before they could start however, Millium's Arcus unit started ringing. Millium quickly checked her Arcus unit to see who it was.

"Oh, whoops… It's the Intelligence Agency. Forgot they need me to check in periodically." Millium explained.

"Is everything okay?" Towa asked.

"It's all good! Don't worry about me! Be right back!" Millium assured her before leaving the library.

"There isn't much left, so how about we finish up now?" Rean asked once it was just him and Towa inside the library.

"Okay, sounds good." Towa replied.


Rean and Towa soon began inspecting the remaining bookshelves together.

"I'm surprised at what a good selection this library has. Military textbooks, documents on different regions, back issues of the Imperial Chronicle, even novels. For some reason, it's very satisfying to see a complete set of hard-to-find novels." Rean commented.

"Heehee, feel free to come in here and read all you'd like. I made sure to get you some history books I thought you'd enjoy. Oh, and fishing of course. If people make good use of the library, I'll feel like all my hard work was worth it." Towa revealed.

Rean suddenly got a sinking feeling as to why Towa's list was organized so neatly. She more or less knew the library's catalogue because she was probably in charge of making the library's catalogue herself.

"Wait… Are you saying you gathered all of these books?" Rean asked. He could only begin to worry about just how much extra work Towa agreed to do.

"Haha, no, no, I just wrote up the catalogue. The principal said I must've seen a lot of documents while working with NGOs, so she put me in charge of it." Towa explained.

"Writing up a catalog of everything in this entire library by yourself...? Isn't that a pretty unreasonable thing to ask? That said, I'm even more amazed you were actually able to do it." Rean noted.

"Oh, it's not a big deal, really. But if I'd known we'd be doing field exercises like this, I'd have found more material that covers combat. If we aren't prepared and the students get hurt… or you… Like during the civil war, when…" Towa replied as she turned to face Rean.

Without saying another word they both remembered what had happened to Crow. It was a touchy subject for everyone in Class VII. They grieved together at his funeral, and even visited his grave together when time allowed. Although even with the passage of time, they still couldn't really forget about their friend.

Towa sometimes worried about a similar fate befalling Rean. Although she decided to keep those worries to herself. Even if her nightmares about something happening to Rean while piloting Valimar had started to become more and more frequent.
"Towa…" Rean said as he saw his girlfriend getting lost in her thoughts.

"S-Sorry. There's no time for that right now. We need to focus on getting all these documents. The last one is up here." Towa responded in an attempt to change the subject.

Towa quickly stretched out one of her arms to get the final document, which was inside a binder on one of the high shelves. She made a mental note to request Aurelia to buy a few stools for her so she could reach the top shelves more easily.

"I-I've a-almost got it…" Towa said as she started to stand on her tiptoes in an attempt to reach the high shelf.

"Oh, you can leave the high-up ones to me-" Rean said as Towa tried pulling out the binder from the high shelf.

Unfortunately, it was tucked in tight between two other binders. Although, Towa was sure that she could pull it out with enough force. Luckily, she quickly managed to pull out the binder. Before realizing that she caused an avalanche made out of all the other binders on that shelf, as every binder on the high shelf came down to crush her. Towa could only scream as she saw the binders get closer.

"Towa!" Rean yelled as he ran to protect her.

Instinctively, Rean pulled out his tachi before using his Gale craft to cut all the binders into smaller less dangerous pieces, before kneeling down and wrapping his arms around Towa to shield her from the debris.

Once he was sure that Towa was safe in his arms, Rean hugged her tightly to make sure that she didn't get even a paper cut. Towa could only blush as the space between them became smaller and smaller.

"R-Rean…" Towa said as she realized that her hands began exploring Rean's chest.

"Don't worry. No matter what dangers await us, I'll do everything in my power to bring everyone back home safely. Students and instructors both. I'll protect anyone and everyone within my reach. No matter what." Rean assured Towa as he shielded her.

Towa could only stare at Rean in awe as all the debris fell to the ground around them.
"Teehee… I know you will. I'm counting on you, Rean." Towa replied before she leaned in even closer and started kissing Ren.

"Huh? What's goin' on here?" Millium asked as stepped back inside the library.

Rean and Towa quickly separated their lips once they realized that they weren't alone.

"M-Millium, this isn't what it looks like!" Towa yelled as her and Rean began to blush.

"Oh, yeah? 'Cause it LOOKS like a super-rad hug! I gotta get in on this action! Brace yourselves!" Millium responded as she began running towards them.

"H-Hey, Mil-" Rean yelled before Millium jumped over him and Towa and grabbed onto the rest of the bookshelf.

"Haha, this is fun!" Millium rejoiced before she caused the bookshelf to tip over and fall on top of all of them.

The three of them soon dug themselves out and looked around the floor to see if the final document Towa needed had survived the mayhem that had just unfolded.

Luckily, it was the only item that managed to not get destroyed by Rean's Gale craft.


Towa once again reviewed her list and confirmed that they had found everything she needed.

"All right then. I'll go find the custodian and tell them what happened." Millium informed Rean and Towa before leaving the library.

"Haha… Y'know, today really brought back memories of when we were both students. Like that time when I stood on your shoulders and lost my balance, and you…" Towa noted as she began to recall her and Rean's time together as students.

"Oh, that's right! I didn't dare open my eyes, so I didn't have any time to think but luckily my senses were more than enough to help me catch you." Rean replied.

"I'm still not sure how you caught me. N-Not that I'm complaining, I felt so safe in y-your arms. N-Not that I don't feel safe in your arms now when we hug, or when you shielded me earlier, or when we do other couples stuff. I-I just like it when you carry me." Towa admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Rean responded before picking Towa up and holding her as if she was a princess.

"H-Hey now! M-Millium already caught us kissing earlier, the last thing we need is someone else catching us acting unprofessional." Towa pointed out.

"Don't worry about professionalism. I see the vigorous flame of youth and passion is still radiant between you two." Aurelia commented as she and Millium entered the library.

"P-Principal Le Guin!?" Rean and Towa yelled as they froze in place.

"Don't mind me. I'm just here to clean up the mess you two made." Aurelia teased before making her way to where all the mayhem occurred.

Due to the Branch Campus being understaffed, all the instructors and Aurelia agreed to split the remaining positions like nurse and custodians amongst themselves and switch out every day, and it just so happened to be Aurelia's turn to be the custodian.
"So Rean, are you ready to give me a tour of Leeves, or do you plan to carry around your girlfriend for the rest of the day?" Millium teased.
"Oh that's right, the tour! I'm so sorry Millium!" Rean said as he gently placed Towa back on the ground.
"Don't sweat it. We helped Towa after all." Millium assured him.

"I seriously can't thank you two enough for helping me find everything on my list." Towa responded.

"You're welcome! C'mon Rean, let's go!" Millium replied before running out of the library.

"Well then, good luck with organizing the travel plans. I'll see later tonight." Rean told Towa before excusing himself.

"Thank you! Good luck with the tour! See you later tonight!" Towa replied as Rean chased after Millium.

"What exactly do you and Schwarzer have planned for later tonight?" Aurelia asked once it was just her and Towa in the library.

"Oh, Rean's birthday is next month. Seeing as it'll be his 20th birthday, we wanted to make it extra special. So we're trying to see if our friends will be able to visit Leeves next month." Towa explained.


Author's Note

Haha, I'm back!

Trails to Eternity returns, although don't expect any frequent updates. Hopefully there'll be one to two chapters per month.

As for the chapter, it was fun to write to write these two again. It might've been a little overkill of Rean to take out his tachi and use it to destroy a bunch of heavy binders, but considering how overprotective he is about Elise and Altina, I figured that same attitude applies to Towa now as well. For better or for worse. Although Towa does seem to like having Rean's attention all to herself.