Chapter 47 - Oh Brother
6.11.1206 - Sunday (Free Day)
"Oh man, that bath hit the spot." Juna said as she sat down on one of the sofas in the dorm's lobby.
"It sure was. Even if it wasn't as good as the real deal." Elise commented as she sat down next to Juna.
"So it seems that both Schwarzer siblings are experts when it comes to hot springs." Altina noted as she sat on one of the other sofas.
"I suppose being from Erebonia's Hot Spring Parade makes them more knowledgeable on the subject matter." Tita concluded as she sat down next to Altina.
"Principal Le Guin's dating advice was also quite informative. Shame Instructor Herschel didn't want to share any advice of her own." Musse commented as she took a seat next to Juna and Elise.
"It was more awkward than informative. I don't blame Instructor Herschel for not getting involved." Juna replied.
"Plus I'm sure she and her boyfriend prefer to lay low right now." Elise added on.
Everyone slowly turned to face Elise. Musse had warned them about how protective Elise could be of her brother, especially her disapproval at the thought of Towa dating him. So to see her seemingly happy for Towa and Rean's relationship caught them by surprise.
Rean and Towa still hadn't publicly revealed their relationship yet. But after spending enough time around them at the dorm and school grounds, the majority of the student body knew that their instructors were in a relationship. Although, whether or not that was a good thing depended on the student.
"You know about their relationship?" Tita asked.
"Of course I do. Ms. Herschel had been on my radar as the most dangerous girl in Rean's friend group back when they were both students. I ran into her and her boyfriend in Heimdallr a few months ago. While I don't know who he is, I approve of their relationship. Thanks to him, Rean is safe from Ms. Herschel's corruption." Elise explained.
Juna, Altina, and Tita sat silently as they realized that Elise still hadn't realized that Towa was dating Rean. Meanwhile, Musse simply chuckled to herself.
"Is something wrong?" Elise questioned upon noticing that the other girls were staring at her.
"You do realize that Instructor Herschel is dating-" Altina tried to ask before Tita interrupted her.
"A-Altina! W-We shouldn't expose Instructor Herschel's personal life like that!" Tita yelled.
"What's this? You all know who Ms. Herschel's boyfriend is?" Elise replied.
"S-Sort of. They haven't exactly gone public, but it's very obvious to everyone at the dorm." Juna revealed.
"The dorm? Oh, do they visit often?" Elise asked.
"Uh…" Juna replied. She was unsure how to continue the conversation without making it obvious that Towa's boyfriend was Rean.
"They stay in Instructor Herschel's dorm room all the time." Musse answered.
"All the time?" Elise repeated.
"Yup. They've stayed in the same room so many times that Principal Le Guin has joked about just having them officially share the same dorm room." Musse added on.
"O-Oh my…" Elise replied.
There was some truth to Musse's words. Despite Rean's efforts to not make it a habit, he frequently slept in Towa's dorm room. Usually as a result of Towa requesting him to stay there so she wouldn't feel lonely. They did their best to hide their unusual sleeping arrangement from their coworkers and students. Unfortunately for them, Aurelia caught on rather quickly and often teased the pair about it privately. It didn't take long after that for Musse to connect the dots herself as to why Rean and Towa always had dinner together later in the evening compared to everyone else.
"You wouldn't happen to know his name would you?" Elise asked.
"Nope." Juna sternly answered.
"Okay then. I'm sure we'll all find out in due time." Elise replied.
"Enough about Instructor Herschel's love life, what about yours Elise?" Musse teased.
"M-Mine? Afraid to say there isn't much." Elise answered.
"One would assume that the daughter belonging to a noble family would have a few marriage offers." Altina noted.
"Well, my parents have a policy of rejecting any and all marriage offers they receive for either me or Rean. They've always promoted the idea of each of us pursuing whoever we choose." Elise explained.
"Well? Have you found your special someone yet?" Musse asked.
"Not really. I've been mainly focused on Student Council duties as of late." Elise revealed.
"Hopefully your workload lightens up soon." Tita commented.
"You don't need to worry about that. Unlike Rean or Herschel, I know how to relax. I usually go hang out with Princess Alfin. Or if time allows, I message Patrick." Elise assured Tita.
"That's good to hear." Tita replied.
"That's enough about me, what about you guys?" Elise asked.
"I believe that Juna has started going out on dates recently with Kurt-" Altina tried to explain before Juna interrupted her.
"H-Hey we agreed to keep that a secret between roommates!?" Juna yelled.
"I do not ever recall signing any contract with you promising my silence." Altina replied.
"I-If we're playing that game, then I guess I should inform Instructor Schwarzer that you've been using the allowance he gives you for school supplies each week on pancakes from Recette Bakery & Cafe!" Juna threatened.
"Fine. I will not mention any other dates you have gone on with Kurt." Altina replied.
"T-Those weren't dates! Kurt and I just thought it would be easier to study at Barney's Tavern & Inn!" Juna objected.
"I-I think you've made your point Juna." Tita said in an attempt to calm the situation down.
"What about you, Musse?" Elise asked.
"Oh me? You'll probably not like my answer, but I still have my sights set on your brother." Musse teased.
"Are you serious!? Is seeing him already in a relationship not enough to make you stop being weird around him!?" Juna blurted out.
"What!?" Elise yelled.
"You are really bad at keeping things secret, Juna." Altina commented.
"Who!?" Elise questioned as she stared at Juna.
"W-W-Well, uh…" Juna said as tried to figure out what to say.
"Good evening everyone." Towa greeted as she went down the stairs.
"I-Instructor Herschel!?" Juna blurted out.
"Did I interrupt something?" Towa questioned.
"Not at all. In fact, you couldn't have arrived at a better time." Elise replied.
"Oh good. Don't mind my presence, continue your girl talk. I just came down for some dinner to take to my room." Towa responded.
"Actually, Instructor Herschel might have an answer for you Elise." Musse teased.
"Oh you're right. Excuse me Ms. Herschel, you and Rean have known each other for a while now, correct?" Elise asked.
"If my memory serves me right, it's been two years since we first met during my second year at Thors." Towa answered.
"Okay then, he hasn't told you who's dating by any chance?" Elise continued.
Towa immediately froze up. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond to Elise's question.
"R-Rean doesn't share that type of personal information with me. W-We keep things strictly professional. H-Haha…" Towa lied.
"I see then, thank you." Elise replied.
With that, Towa awkwardly made her way to the dining area to get some dinner.
"I think I should just go ask Rean directly." Elise commented as she got up from the sofa and excused herself before making her way to the stairs.
After a few minutes, everyone saw Towa exit the dining room and make her way up the stairs with two plates. It was clear to everyone that chaos was about to erupt on the third floor.
"Hello, Rean, there's something I want to ask you." Elise said as she knocked on Rean's door.
There was no response.
"Maybe he's out on a date right now." Elise thought to herself.
Elise was tempted to just call Rean via her ARCUS, but she worried that might call at a bad time. While she wanted to make sure that he didn't wind up in a bad relationship, she didn't exactly want to unknowingly ruin a good relationship.
"Maybe Princess Alfin is right, I should probably just watch and support Rean and whoever he chooses from the sidelines." Elise thought to herself as she waited for Rean to open the door.
Just then, Elise noticed Towa make her way up the stairs with two plates full of food.
"Hello again Ms. Herschel. Why do you have two plates if you don't mind me asking?" Elise greeted.
"Oh, hey Elise. G-Good question… I uh…" Towa replied as she thought about what to say.
Towa and Rean had been grading assignments in her dorm room when they both got hungry. Not wanting to raise suspicion, only Towa went downstairs for their food. Of course in hindsight, Towa walking around with two plates probably looked weird to everyone else.
"I-I like to be efficient. Y-You see, I have an orbal microwave in my dorm room. S-So I like to just warm up all my leftovers and have them for breakfast the next day instead." Towa lied.
"Oh, I see. Here, let me open your door for you." Elise replied as she walked up to Towa's door. Unaware of who was already inside.
Luckily, Rean had sensed Elise's presence just in time and hid under Towa's bed.
"T-Thank you very much Elise." Towa replied as she quickly went inside her room and placed the plates on her desk.
"Do you really have to grade all those papers by tonight?" Elise asked as she noticed all of the papers Rean and Towa had been grading earlier.
"Y-Yup… T-There's always something to do here at Thors…" Towa nervously replied.
"Well, then. I suppose that's why Rean didn't answer his door. He's probably busy grading papers in his room. I don't want to bother either of you, so I think I'll go rejoin the others downstairs." Elise replied.
Elise quickly excused herself before exiting Towa's dorm room.
"Oh thank Aidios, Elise finally left the room." Rean commented as he crawled out from underneath Towa's bed.
"Don't be so loud, she might hear you." Towa advised as she locked her door.
"Sorry about that. I probably should've gone down with you to the dining area." Rean replied.
"It's okay. I was the one who invited you here so we could grade our kids' assignments together." Towa responded.
With that, Rean and Towa took a seat next to each other by Towa's desk so they could enjoy their dinner.
"I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but does your sister not like me?" Towa asked once they both finished their meals.
"Elise? I doubt that." Rean replied.
"Are you sure? She always seems to be against the idea of the two of us being in a relationship." Towa continued.
"She dislikes the idea of me being in a relationship. She looked quite happy for you when she saw us in Heimdallr and thought you had a boyfriend that wasn't me. Sure it was just me in glasses, but it seemed to be enough to distract her from realizing that I was your boyfriend.
"Why is she so protective of you? Did something happen back in Ymir?" Towa questioned.
"Well, it's a long story. When I was like nine years old, this family visited Ymir right before a blizzard hit. After a series of mishaps, the family's daughter and I found shelter inside a cave in the woods. Luckily, the girl's grandfather found us right before the blizzard started and waited out the storm with us. By the time the blizzard ended it was nighttime, and the three of us stargazed together. Before the family left the next day, I gave the girl a handkerchief of mine as a gift." Rean revealed.
"I see. So I guess you being gone during a blizzard probably scared Elise into thinking that you'd run into trouble if you got into a relationship." Towa noted. She couldn't help but feel that Rean's story sounded familiar. She remembered that there was a blizzard when her family visited Ymir when she was younger, maybe her family was also there when it happened.
"Sort of. What happened was that the girl promised me that her family would visit Ymir the following year, so the next year I stood outside the station in Ymir for a whole day waiting for them to arrive. They never showed up, and I got a fever since it started to snow while I was outside. It happened the week after I awoke to my ogre powers, so I already wasn't in the best of health. I guess Elise blamed that girl for getting my hopes up, and sort of became more protective of me in case I ever tried to do something reckless for a girl ever since." Rean continued.
"After hearing that, I don't blame her." Towa confessed.
"Don't worry about Elise, Towa. I'm sure when we go public about our relationship she'll start seeing you as her big sister-in-law." Rean assured Towa before giving her a hug.
"Thanks Rean, that's reassuring to hear. That applies to you as well, I'm sure Kai is going to love being your little brother-in-law." Towa replied as she snuggled up to Rean.
"Haha. Hope he doesn't mind being the one carrying the Herschel mantle, Mrs. Schwarzer." Rean teased.
"Rean, you do realize that once we're married, you'll be a Herschel right? It's Herschel tradition for the spouse to adopt the Herschel name. My Uncle Fred wasn't a Herschel until he married my Aunt Martha for example." Towa informed Rean.
"Really? H-Hey wait, you don't mean-" Rean replied before getting interrupted by Towa.
"Teehee, what's the matter? Don't worry, I'll make sure to help you update all of your important paperwork, Mr. Herschel." Towa teased before going in for a kiss.
Elise stood silently outside of Towa's dorm room. She hadn't intended to listen in on the conversation going on inside, but after she exited the room she swore that she heard Rean inside and turned back around in hopes that he would quickly exit the room.
"I suppose in hindsight it was obvious that Ms. Herschel's boyfriend was Rean. Still, if Rean and Ms. Herschel do wind up getting married, then Rean's going to have to adopt the Herschel name. Mr. Herschel, huh? Looks like I'm the one who's going to have to keep the Schwarzer name when I get married for House Schwarzer's sake." Elise thought to herself as she went downstairs.
"Oh hey Elise, how did it go?" Musse greeted once Elise was back in the lobby.
"Rean's busy right now and couldn't answer the door." Elise answered as she took a seat.
"Maybe you can ask him before you leave tomorrow?" Juna suggested.
"I'm not sure anymore. It isn't really my place to get involved right now." Elise replied.
"I see, don't worry. I'll send you a message once Rean starts courting me." Musse teased.
Everyone gave an uncomfortable chuckle in response to Musse's joke. At least they hoped that it was a joke. No one, not even Altina, could ever get a good read on Musse.
Author's Note
I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter!
Only time will tell if Rean and Towa become Mr. and Mrs. Schwarzer or Mr. and Mrs. Herschel.
