Chapter 50 - Umbrella for Two

7.4.1206 - Tuesday (Day Before Exams)

Rean continued helping out students around the branch campus for a few more hours. Before he knew it, the sun had set and nightfall had arrived. After one final check to make sure everything was locked up, Rean prepared to head back to the dorm.

Upon stepping outside Rean realized that it had begun raining and took out his umbrella.

"Looks like it's only sprinkling, but still, I'm glad I brought this umbrella. All the students are gone now, so maybe I'll-" Rean said to himself before sensing someone running nearby.

"Oh, no! I didn't think it was raining THIS hard!" Towa complained as she ran towards the school's front gates.

"That's… Towa!" Rean yelled before running towards Towa.

"Oh, Rean! Was it your turn to lock up today? Heehee. Thanks for taking care of things." Towa greeted, doing her best to keep the papers she had with her dry.

"No problem. Here, do you need an umbrella? We can share mine." Rean replied before using his umbrella to protect the two of them from the rain.

"I-It's okay! It's not raining that hard!" Towa responded. Contradicting her claim from less than a minute ago.

"Either we share the umbrella or I hand it over to you. Whichever you'd prefer." Rean suggested. There was no way he'd let his girlfriend walk back to the Branch Campus Dorm all wet while he remained dry.

"T-That's not fair. You're not giving me much of a choice. Fine. You win. We'll share the umbrella. Just don't get your shoulder wet from trying to give me cover, okay?" Towa commented.

"Haha, no worries. After all, you're so tin-" Rean joked before realizing his mistake.

"My, I wonder what you were about to say…" Towa replied.

Rean felt a shiver go down his spine as Towa stared daggers into his soul.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, Towa. I-It was a slip of the tongue. You're only slightly below average in height-" Rean tried to apologize before Towa interrupted him.

"Ugh, I can't stay mad at you. I'll forget about your little joke this time, but you better not press your luck!" Towa responded.


After making sure that there weren't any students still on the school grounds, the pair closed the front gates.

"You used to be so much more straightforward and innocent. And now you're giving me impossible choices like this. You've grown up, but in a bad way." Towa noted while she closely stood next to Rean underneath his umbrella.

"Haha, sorry. But knowing you, you gave your umbrella to a student in need. And then lied to them about having a spare, so they wouldn't feel guilty." Rean replied, catching Towa by surprise with his accuracy.

"W-Were you watching!?" Towa questioned.

"No, I just knew you wouldn't forget to bring an umbrella. And it started raining so suddenly, it's an easy situation to imagine." Rean explained.

"J-Jeez. You're banned from making weirdly accurate guesses like that, too! Rean, you're still only 20! You could stand to be a little more innocent! Even though we're colleagues, don't forget I'm still a year older than you!" Towa ordered.

"Haha. Got it. But I don't think that you're one to complain about my loss of innocence when we've-" Rean commented as he thought about all the intimate activities they've done together in the past.

"R-Rean!" Towa yelled as her face began to turn a bright shade of red.

"Haha, sorry. Let's head back. Or did you need to stop by somewhere first?" Rean replied as his face turned a matching shade of red.

"N-No. I'm fine going straight home." Towa answered.


The pair slowly made their way across Leeves, enjoying the rare chance to be by themselves while the rest of the town comfortably stayed indoors.

In an attempt to calm themselves down from Rean's earlier comment, the two started talking about the upcoming exams.

"So the Political Economics exam is with Vice Principal Heinrich from the main campus." Rean commented.

"Yes, his expertise was a big help in making the exam. You're in charge of history and combat skills, right?" Towa replied.

"Yeah, I worked with Instructor Beatrix and one of the new instructors at the main campus. Seemed like they were just as manically busy as we are." Rean explained.

"I suppose it's no wonder after Principal Vandyck and Instructor Thomas both left. But Instructor Makarov and Instructor Mary are still there and giving it their all. But this really brings me back. Two years ago, Sara and Instructor Neithardt were there giving exams, too." Towa commented.

"Yeah. Seems like just yesterday." Rean added on.

The pair quickly thought back to their instructors from their time as students. While never exactly the perfect group of people, they all aided their students to the best of their abilities. Plus it was one of their old instructors, Sara, who set them up all those years ago.

"It feels like all the recent government policies are really putting a focus on the military. Nevertheless, it's reassuring to know our old instructors are still at it, doing everything they can. I am a little worried about the upcoming Field Exercises in North Ambria, though." Rean noted.

"Yeah… Yeah! I'm going to have to work hard to catch up to them! By the way, Angie and George are both back in Erebonia now!" Towa revealed.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. Are they both in Roer right now?" Rean asked.

"Yes, I believe so. But they must both be busy. I can't get in touch with either of them. Aaah, thinking about those two makes me a little jealous. It's clear how much they mean to each other." Towa continued.

"Huh? Well, sure, but George isn't really Angelica's type, right? Then again, considering the way they looked dancing together by the bonfire after the School Festival, they seemed really at ease around each other." Rean commented.

"Heehee. Well, they've known each other a long time, so maybe I'm just reading too much into it. But still, I can't help but feel like their relationship is a little different from just two friends. The difference in their social classes might be a problem to some, but if something did happen between them, I'd be the first to congratulate them. I think Crow would've felt the same way." Towa continued.

"Yeah…" Rean replied.

Rean quickly read between the lines of Towa's attempt to play matchmaker for her friends. Whether she knew it or not, it seemed as if she could sense they were all drifting apart. Despite her efforts to call and message them, they never responded. Be it because of the trauma of losing Crow, or simply them maturing and going down separate paths in life, they each knew that things wouldn't be the same since graduating from Thors. Angelica would soon be busy helping govern the Nortia Region once she finished her cross-continental motorcycle trip, George was set to start working full-time at the Roer Institute of Technology after visiting all the Orbment research facilities, and she was staying at Leeves teaching at Thors' Branch Campus for the foreseeable future. Perhaps she was convinced that if she was able to set them up it would make it easier for the three of them to meet up together and spend time together like back at Thors.

"He'd probably congratulate them, then tease them relentlessly." Rean continued in hopes of lifting Towa's spirit.

"Haha, he would do that. In fact, he'd probably do the same to us." Towa replied.

The pair stood silently as they questioned what to talk about next.

"Rean, you know you don't need to worry about your family or that masked person all on your own, right? If you ever need to talk, you've got not only old Class VII and Sara, but the members of the new Class VII as well. And of course, I'm always willing to lend an ear, too." Towa offered.

"Towa…" Rean replied.

Towa knew that Rean kept a lot of things to himself, it was a trait of his that she was less than fond of. She wanted him to be more open, even if she knew that she was being hypocritical, wanting him to open up around her, when she herself kept her own worries from him. Choosing to confide with either her Angelica or her aunt.

The pair then noted that it had suddenly stopped raining and closed the umbrella.

"Looks like it cleared up." Rean commented before they both looked up at the night sky.

"Wow!" Towa responded upon seeing all the bright stars flooding the night sky.

"You can see the stars shining so clearly now." Rean noted.

"Yeah. Maybe the clouds all got blown away?" Towa theorized.

The two of them soon spent a few minutes looking up at the night sky, mesmerized by all the stars.

"Heehee. Thanks for helping me out, Rean. Reminds me of when we went shopping together as students." Towa commented.

"Oh, wow. That feels like ages ago now. That was when you helped me figure out what to do for the School Festival." Rean replied.

They then remembered what had happened the day after that.

After promising to show Rean a recording of Proto Class VII's performance, Towa found out that she had lost her copy of the recording and decided to recreate the performance just for him, unspeakable costume and all. All with the idea that it was for his eyes only. Unfortunately for them, Sara walked in on them at the worst time imaginable and got the wrong idea.
"Er, wait! Let's forget about that personal performance!" Towa yelled.

"Weeell, I doubt I'll ever be able to forget the sight of you in that outfit." Rean teased.

"H-Hmph! Rean, you're such a meanie!" Towa responded.

"But jokes aside, can we talk more sometime? It's been a while since we've been able to sit down and spend time by ourselves. Just the two of us, you know. I'd like to tell you some things. Things like my father, about what happened at the Infernal Castle, about what happened after you graduated. I want you to know the whole story, from start to finish." Rean asked.

"Of course! I'd love that." Towa answered.


After stargazing together outside for a few more minutes, Rean and Towa finally made it to the dorm.

As much as the pair wanted to talk to each other more about what they talked about outside, they knew that it would be better to continue that conversation for another day.

With exams tomorrow, it would be wise of them to get more sleep that night. While not the ones taking the exams, they were both still nervous about whether or not they were able to provide enough support to their students to help them with the exams.

Towa waited in her dorm room in her pajamas as she waited for Rean to change into his in his dorm room, even if they weren't going to talk they still wanted to spend the night together.


After looking through her ARCUS' inbox to see if Angelica or George had responded to her messages and finding nothing, Towa started looking through her photo gallery.

A lot of her earlier pictures were of the facilities at Thors' main campus from when she was a student. Early on she didn't really prioritize socializing outside of class. So even though she got along well with and was well liked amongst her peers in Class IV, she still only ever communicated with her family back in Heimdallr. Who in an attempt to get her outside of the library and her dorm room asked her for photos of the school. Which worked to some extent, but all she ever did outside was read books.

Towa then stumbled upon a photo of herself looking directly at the camera. She immediately noticed how nervous she looked in the photo.

"Oh that's right, this is the photo I had to take for my application to join the Student Council. I really didn't want to do it, but I was given very little choice. Everyone else had already joined or created a club but me. Angie formed the Biking Club, George joined the Engineering Club, and Crow formed the Broadcast Club. Unless I wanted to step down from participating in the trial run for Class VII, I was required to join a club by a certain date. It just so happened that the Student Council was still looking for members at the time." Towa said to herself.

From there her photos started to change. What used to be landscape shots and photos of the books she was reading, turned in portraits that contained multiple people.

There was a picture of her during a Student Council meeting when it was her turn to be the designated note-taker that she was sent by a member of the Photography Club. A picture she took of herself and the rest of Proto Class VII eating fish burgers in Jurai, celebrating their first successful Field Study. A picture she took of Angelica and George assembling Angelica's orbal bike. A picture taken by Crow of him holding up the unspeakable costume that he designed for her for their School Festival concert, alongside her shocked reaction. A picture taken by Sara of Proto Class VII together in front of Thors' front gates to celebrate completing their first year at Thors.

"I guess I started becoming a bit more photogenic as I progressed through my first year at Thors." Towa joked as she continued on to photos of her second year.

A lot of the pictures of her second year were the same as the second half of her first year. Mainly involving herself and the other members of Proto Class VII. Of course, she started keeping an eye out for Rean. The first picture she had of him was of the group picture Proto Class VII and Old Class VII took together during the School Festival. Despite how much time they spent together before they began courting she surprisingly had little to no pictures documenting that time of their lives where they were just friends. It was only after Rean returned from Crossbell that she began taking pictures of him, and by then they had already confessed their feelings.

"I wonder if Rean has any pictures of me from before we dated." Towa asked herself before moving onto her post graduation photos.

After taking photos with all of her friends, family, and Rean while at her graduation ceremony, her photos returned to how they were before she started to socialize. They became landscapes and pictures of books she was reading. Although now the emotion behind those pictures were different. They were no longer taken in an attempt to have her explore, but as a way to connect. She sent all those pictures to Rean to update him on her internships, and share her experiences with him. While they were far from each other it really helped make them feel just as connected as before.

Towa couldn't help but notice something, the number of pictures of her friends dwindled as time went on. The photo Proto Class VII and Old Class VII took together during the School Festival was the last one where the four of them were together. That photo had been taken almost two years ago.

What had started as her, Angelica, Crow, and George, morphed into just her, Angelica, and George. Before becoming just her and Rean, with her friends seemingly disappearing from her photo gallery.


Rean quietly entered Towa's dorm room and noticed her looking troubled while staring at her ARCUS.

"Towa, is something wrong?" Rean asked as he sat down next to Towa on her bed.

"R-Rean? Oh, it's nothing. Just going down memory lane." Towa replied.

Rean immediately noticed that Towa had been looking through her ARCUS' photo gallery, with the many pictures of her and the rest of Proto Class VII filling up her screen.

"It's been weeks since Towa was last able to get in contact with Angelica or George. She's probably feeling lonely without her friends. Just when things were finally looking up for the three of them, Angelica and George seemingly disappeared." Rean thought to himself.

Recalling how Towa was there to comfort him on his birthday when the rest of their friends were unable to attend the party, Rean decided that it was time to return the favor, and wrapped his arms around her. Which caught her by surprise.

"It's okay Towa, I'm here… I'll keep you company while you wait for Angelica and George to message you back." Rean assured Towa.

"Rean… Thank you." Towa responded before wrapping her arms around Rean.


The pair continued their embrace for a few more minutes, before Towa drifted off to sleep thanks to the warmth Rean provided her. After laying her down on her bed and placing a blanket over her, he got up and turned off the lights, before joining her in bed.

Just as he was ready to drift to sleep, Rean's ARCUS vibrated to let him know that Elliot was trying to call him.

"Good evening, Elliot." Rean quietly greeted as he sat up.

"Good evening, Rean. Sorry if I'm calling at a bad time, but I just got word from Fie and Sara that they managed to secure a location for our class' reunion and I wanted to let everyone know." Elliot explained.

"Oh that's right, the reunion. We all agreed to meet up in Heimdallr during the Summer Festival." Rean whispered.

"Yup, it's a good thing we were all going to be in Heimdallr at the same time. Even Gaius, I was starting to get worried that he'd never respond to our messages." Elliot noted.

"Yeah…" Rean replied. He hoped that Angelica and George would also reappear sometime soon to ease Towa's worries.
"Anyway, we'll all be meeting at the Bracer Guild building in Vesta Street at 7 in the evening." Elliot continued.

"Vesta Street? That's where Towa's family lives. Wait, Towa…" Rean thought to himself.

Rean then turned to look at Towa while she slept. He couldn't help but feel conflicted over Old Class VII's upcoming reunion. Here he was making plans with his friends, while she went to bed worried sick about her friends. He then thought of a solution that might help Towa feel less lonely.

"Hey Elliot, do you mind if I ask you something?" Rean asked.

"Go right ahead." Elliot replied.

"Do you think the others would mind if I bring Towa with me to our reunion?" Rean continued.

"Towa? Her and the rest of Proto Class VII are practically members of Old Class VII at this point, sure! I'll be sure to let the others know that you'll be bringing her so that there's enough food and drinks for all of us." Elliot answered.

"Really? Thanks Elliot, I'll be sure to let Towa know in the morning." Rean responded. He was relieved to hear that Towa was welcome to join him.

"Speaking of Proto Class VII, should I also call Angelica and George?" Elliot questioned.

"Um, Towa and I will call them. Although I think they might be too occupied with stuff to attend." Rean replied, deciding not to inform Elliot of the two's sudden disappearances.

"Okay then. Have a good evening, Rean! I look forward to seeing you and Towa in Heimdallr." Elliot responded before hanging up.

Keeping true to his word, Rean sent messages to Angelica and George, inviting them to Old Class VII's reunion. Even if he knew full well that neither would respond. Just as he was ready to go back to sleep, Rean noticed something from the corner of his eye.

George had sent him a message.

"Sorry I've been radio silent as of late, I've been busy on a project. I appreciate the invitation you sent Angelica and I, but I don't think that I'll be able to attend. This will probably be my last message for a while, so do me a favor, and keep an eye on Towa. I'm fine, Angie's fine, so there's no need for her to be constantly trying to check up on either of us." George wrote.

"Wait George!? Are you okay!? Do you know where Angelica is!? Where are you guys!?" Rean frantically typed out.

Much like Towa before him, Rean was met with no response. It seemed as if George was serious about that being his last message for some time. All he could do now was wait for a response.

After putting away his ARCUS, Rean laid back down next to Towa.

"Keep an eye on Towa? Is something going to happen soon? What does George know that we don't?" Rean questioned as he drifted off to sleep.

Be it because of George's warning, or just by pure instinct, Rean wrapped his arms around Towa in his sleep and held on to her tightly throughout the night.


Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

I knew I had to adapt that umbrella scene from CS3, it was way too cute not to include in this fic. I stayed mostly faithful to the original with a few slight edits to make it work with the changes in this fic.

I hope no one minds the small changes to Proto Class VII's first year at Thors. Since I doubt Crow ever joined the Broadcast Club, that Towa didn't socialize much, or that she originally had little interest in joining the Student Council. These are things that I want to expand on at some point later down the line. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

Can't believe we've reached 50 chapters.

Thank you all for continuing to read, comment, and enjoy this fanfic. I always get a smile seeing you guys giving me your thoughts on my writing.

I hope to continue to provide the same enjoyment for everyone as Trails to Eternity continues.