Chapter 51 - Pool Party Panic

7.8.1206 - Saturday

"Cannonball!" Ash shouted as he ran towards the pool before jumping in.

"Ash, you can't run in the pool area!" Kurt yelled as he and the rest of Class VII entered the pool area.

"C'mon, no one's getting hurt." Juna teased before making a run for it.

"Kurt's right everyone. Any spot in here could easily become slippery because of the water." Rean warned as he watched his students make their way towards the pool.

"There is no reason to be alarmed Instructor Rean, the nurse's office is a reasonable distance away. If anything were to happen I can have Claiomh Solais carry the injured party to the nurse's office." Altina suggested as she got into the pool.

"Pretty sure Ms. Linde is going to be here in the pool area today. Principal Le Guin did organize this pool party for everyone at the Branch Campus after all." Musse pointed out as she joined the others inside the pool.

"Plus all the instructors will be on lifeguard duty. So there's no need to worry." Rean added on as he stood by the edge of the pool.

"I'm not sure how safe I feel if it's Instructor Randy who's keeping an eye on things." Juna commented.

"Personally I feel all the more safer knowing that Instructor Rean will be keeping a close eye on me." Musse teased before turning to take a look at Rean in his swimsuit as he did some stretches beside Kurt.

"You really do only have a one track mind, don't you?" Juna noted upon realizing what Musse was doing.

"Don't mind me. I'm just enjoying the view. Are you not?" Musse teased.

"I-I'm not looking at Kurt!" Juna responded.

"Who said anything about pretty boy?" Ash questioned as he swam up to Musse and Juna.

"Ugh! I think I'm going to go swim a lap!" Juna replied before swimming away with a blushing face.

"You two really have a knack for getting under peoples' skin." Altina noted as swam up to Musse and Ash.

"It's not our fault they're easy targets." Ash replied.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" Towa announced as she led Class IX into the pool area.

Soon Randy arrived with Class VIII, followed by Aurelia with the rest of the staff at the branch campus.


In order to cover the most range without stretching themselves too thin, Aurelia split the staff into small groups and assigned them parts of the pool area that they would be in charge of. Randy and Michael would watch over the top left of the pool area, Linde, Mint, and Gina would watch over the top right of the pool area, Celestin and Franky would watch over the bottom left of the pool area, Rean and Towa would watch over the bottom right part of the pool area, and finally Aurelia and Schmidt would watch over everything from the balcony that overlooked the entire pool area.

"Instructors and staff of Thors' branch campus remember, your top priority today is to make sure that all of the students have fun!" Aurelia declared.

"Your second priority is to make sure that none of the brats drown." Schmidt added on.

The instructors and staff then made their way to their assigned locations.

"Are you ready, Towa?" Rean asked as he walked beside Towa.

"You bet. The kids deserve this after working so hard on their exams." Towa responded as she walked beside Rean.

It took all of their strength to keep their hands from reaching out and holding the other's hand as they walked closely together.


"Man, when Principal Le Guin said that we'd be having a pool party after exams, I thought that meant that we'd be able to see the girls in proper swimsuits." Sidney complained as he looked around the pool.

"It's because of people like you that the school-issued swimsuits are designed the way they are." Kurt commented as floated beside Sidney.

"It ain't all bad. The Instructors' swimsuits show off plenty o' skin." Pablo informed them as he pointed towards Aurelia on the balcony.

Even though she wasn't close to the pool, Aurelia decided to change into her two-piece faulty swimsuit just in case she saw someone drowning and needed to jump into the pool all the way from the balcony to save them.

"Wow, so much muscle…" Kairi said aloud as he stared at Aurelia's arms and torso.

"It isn't just the principal that's showing off some skin." Maya noted as she looked at the male staff.

Randy, Michael, Celestin, Franky, and Rean's faculty swimsuits left their chests exposed for all of the world to see. Franky to no one's surprise had a fairly scrawny build, with a little bit of muscle thanks to Celestin's training. To everyone's surprise, Celestin was much more muscular underneath the butler uniform. Clearly he took his job as head butler of House Hyarms very seriously. Michael clearly still kept up the same training regiment from when he worked for the RMP full-time, if his well built chest was anything to go off of. Randy's many scars gave off a sense of mystery and intrigue. The students knew about his time on the SSS and the Crossbell Guardian Force thanks to Juna, but everything before that was a mystery to them. On the topic of scars, the large scar Rean had in the middle of his chest caught many students by surprise.

"Instructor Randy and Instructor Rean look so much more muscular without their uniforms." Jessica noted.

"Hey now, the rest of the female staff deserve some credit too." Sidney replied as before turning to look at some of the female staff.

Towa, Linde, Mint, and Gina's faculty swimsuits very much highlighted their womanly charms. Linde, Mint, and Gina's faculty swimsuits were similar to Aurelia's, but covered a bit more skin. Towa's one-piece swimsuit on the other hand showed off no skin beside her arms and legs. Although from where Rean was standing, it did a stellar job of highlighting her curves.

"They're all such beauts." Pablo commented.

"You're telling me. Too bad Instructor Towa's showing the least amount of skin. You'd think that she'd have a two-piece like the rest of the female staff." Sidney complained.

"Haha. If the rumors are true, then I think that might be something Instructor Towa intends to keep for Instructor Rean's eyes only." Stark joked.

The group immediately began laughing to themselves at the thought of Towa dressing up in a revealing outfit for Rean's eyes only. Blissfully unaware of their instructors doing exactly that back when they were students.


Rean and Towa sat down by the edge of the pool, and began talking as they dipped their legs into the water.

"Well Towa, we did it. We survived another exam season." Rean noted.

"It still feels weird being the ones making them now instead of being the ones taking them." Towa replied.

"Yeah, you said it. Now we get to relax." Rean add on.

"Not just yet, Rean. We still have to keep an eye out on the kids. Plus we have a free day tomorrow, so we're not out of the woods quite yet." Towa reminded Rean.

"All the more reason to look forward to the Summer Festival." Rean commented.

"Heehee. Once we're done with the field exercises and meeting with my family we should be free to do as we please." Towa pointed out.

"I'm looking forward to it." Rean responded.

"Same here. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm looking forward to taking a break." Towa admitted.

"Don't worry. With exam season behind us, I'm sure the rest of the school year is going to be smooth sailing for us." Rean assured Towa as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you, Rean. That's reassuring to hear coming from you." Towa replied before turning to look at Rean.

The pair were quickly jolted back to reality when Rean's sixth sense alerted him to a nearby danger. Causing him to let go of Towa and stand up to scan the pool area to figure out what was the danger he was sensing.

"Is something wrong, Rean? Wait, don't tell me that you sensed something." Towa questioned before standing up.

"It's gone now." Rean informed Towa.

"Maybe it was a false alarm?" Towa suggested.

"You're probably right. Sorry for worrying you." Rean replied.

"Let's just sit back down and relax." Towa suggested before sitting down like they were before.
Not wanting to continue worrying Towa, Rean did as she suggested and sat down beside her. Still, he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something dangerous nearby.

In the end, Rean concluded that his sixth sense must've been working overtime sensing all the people in the pool area at the same time and overreacted to something small.

Rean and Towa quickly continued their conversation from where they had left off, unaware of the two nearby students swimming away.


"What do you think you're doing!? You almost got me caught!" Musse questioned as she popped her head out of the water to catch her breath.

"I believe it was you who almost got me caught." Altina responded as she popped her head out of the water.

"Fine. Let's just say that it was a mutual ruining of schemes then." Musse replied.

"What are you two even doing eavesdropping on Schwarzer and Herschel anyway?" Ash asked as he swam up to Musse and Altina.

"I simply wish to make sure that Instructor Towa doesn't harm Instructor Rean again." Altina answered.

"And I was waiting for the right opportunity to ask Instructor Rean if he could give me a quick CPR lesson." Musse added on.

"How long are you seriously going to commit to the homewrecker act?" Ash questioned as he got closer to Musse.

"Haha. Who said I wanted him to use me as the practice dummy? With so many people around, word is sure to get around about Instructor Rean passionately locking lips with Instructor Towa." Musse explained.

"So that's what you want, huh? Don't you think that's a little lackluster? Sure, there's lots of people in the pool area right now, but no one's really focusing on Schwarzer and Herschel right now. You need to put a spotlight on them." Ash suggested.

"Hmm. I take it that you're lending me your aid? If so, what is it that you suggest we do?" Musse asked.

"Well…" Ash replied before leaning closer to Musse's ear to explain his plan.

Altina watched as a mischievous grin grew on Musse's face in response to what Ash was whispering to her.

"Say Altina, may we ask you for your assistance?" Musse asked as she swam closer to Altina.

"If it involves keeping Instructor Towa away from Instructor Rean, then you can count on me." Altina replied before shaking hands with Musse.


"Instructor Rean, there's an emergency!" Musse yelled as she ran up to Rean and Towa.

"What is it, Musse!?" Rean asked as he quickly stood back up.

"There's no time to explain, follow me!" Musse answered before grabbing onto one of Rean's arms and dragging him away.

"Don't worry, Rean! I'll keep an eye on things over here!" Towa assured Rean as Musse dragged him into the hallway.

Musse and Rean quickly made it to the scene of the accident. Rean immediately saw someone laying on the floor as they wrapped their arms around one of their legs. To his horror, it was one of his own students.

"My leg…" Ash muttered as he laid on the floor.

"Ash, what happened?" Rean questioned before kneeling down to check on Ash's condition.

"I saw the whole thing. He was running around out here in the hallway, when he slipped on some water and hurt his leg." Musse explained.

"Man. I really should've listened to your warning earlier, Schwarzer." Ash added on.

"It doesn't look too damaged. Here, let's go see Linde. She might be able to provide a proper check up." Rean replied before standing back up.

Rean quickly helped Ash stand back up, and let him lean on him so he could get his footing.

"O-Oh Aidios, it hurts so bad." Ash commented as he lifted his injured leg.

"Don't worry, Linde should have her first-aid kit right now. She might be able to help ease the pain until we can give it proper medical attention." Rean explained as he helped Ash walk over back to the pool area.

Musse followed close behind, giving Ash a thumbs up for his performance while Rean wasn't looking.

"Linde, it's an emergency!" Rean shouted, grabbing everyone's attention.

Ash felt a new found sense of shame as he felt all of schoolmates and instructors turn to look at him as Rean walked him over to Linde.

"Egret owes me big time." Ash thought to himself as multiple people approached him to see what had happened.

"Oh no, what happened?" Linde questioned as she ran to Rean and Ash with her first-aid kit.

"Ash was running around in the hallway before he slipped on some water. I think he might've sprained his ankle." Rean answered.

"Please lay him on the ground so I can inspect the injury." Linde instructed as she kneeled down and opened her first-aid kit.

As the chaos unfolded, Musse turned to look at Altina as she floated in the middle of the pool by herself. She was now the only person in the pool, which meant that they could now move on to the next phase of their plan.

Musse gave Altina a thumbs up, giving her the greenlight to do her part.

Altina took a deep breath, before diving into the water. After a minute of waiting underwater, she popped up her head and started to rapidly move her arms around.

"H-Help." Altina bluntly called out as she pretended to be drowning.

Due to being in no real danger, Rean wasn't alerted about Altina by his sixth sense. Along with everyone else being too focused on Ash to notice her in the pool.

Now that she was sure that no one noticed Altina in the pool, Musse ran up to Towa.

"Instructor Towa, look!" Musse announced as pointed to Altina.

"Altina!" Towa yelled as she got into the pool and swam towards Altina.

Towa didn't hesitate to come to Altina's rescue. Sure, things between the two of them had been rocky since the school year began. But that didn't matter when she saw one of her students in danger.

"A-Altina, grab my hand!" Towa ordered as she stretched out her hand.

Before Towa knew it, Altina began kicking her away.

"W-What the!? I'm trying to help- gah!" Towa questioned as Altina continued kicking her.

Altina didn't bother listening to what Towa was trying to tell her. Ash and Musse's plan involved Rean saving them both, so she had to keep Towa at bay until Rean noticed what was going on.

By any means necessary.

"A-Altina- stop-" Towa tried to yell before getting submerged in water.

Rean instantly sensed danger nearby. He quickly turned around and saw Towa and Altina panicking in the middle of the pool.

"Towa, Altina!" Rean shouted as he stood up and ran towards the pool.

Without much thought, Rean dived into the pool to rescue Towa and Altina. Fearing that he wouldn't be fast enough to reach them in time, he activated his ogre powers.

In the blink of an eye, the branch campus saw Rean blaze through the pool and gently place Towa and Altina on the ground once he made it to the other side.

Rean saw that Altina was just fine, so he focused all of his attention on Towa.

"She isn't breathing." Altina informed Rean as she checked Towa's pulse. She couldn't help but start to question whether or not Ash and Musse's plan went too far.

"Altina, stand back." Rean ordered as he kneeled down next to Towa.

Altina watched as Rean started performing CPR on Towa, before suddenly recalling what had happened back in Celdic during the civil war.

Rean did as he was taught back at Thors. First he rolled Towa over so she was flat on her back. Then he pulled back her head and pinched her nose, before giving Towa mouth-to-mouth. After giving her two breaths, he separated his mouth and placed his hands on her chest and started giving her chest compressions.

"Alright Rean, Sara said that I should do this for ten seconds before repeating the process." Rean thought to himself as he finished giving Towa chest compressions.

Towa slowly regained consciousness after Rean finished giving her mouth-to-mouth again.

"R-Rean!?" Towa questioned as she sat up, before coughing up water.

"Oh thank Aidios." Rean replied before he wrapped his arms around Towa.

"Thank you for saving us, Instructor Rean." Altina commented as she walked up to Rean and Towa. She made sure to avoid making eye contact with Towa.

Suddenly, all three turned around once they heard cheers and applause from the other side of the pool area.

"Way to go Instructor Rean!" Tita shouted.

"That was a close one, glad you're safe Allie!" Leonora yelled.

"Haha, good job hero!" Ash teased as he stood alongside the others.

"W-Wait Ash, y-you're standing!" Tatiana yelled, causing everyone to turn to Ash.

"You look good as new…" Linde added on as she realized that Ash had lied about his injury.

"I-It's a miracle!" Ash nervously replied as he felt everyone staring at him with ire.

Rean and Towa quickly turned to look at Musse, who quickly realized that her instructors were piecing together what had just happened.

"Rean, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Towa asked as a dark aura surrounded her.

"I believe I am. Alas it seems that some of my students need a firm talking to." Rean replied.

Altina, Ash, and Musse all felt a chill go down their spines at the same time.


Rean and Towa soon took Altina, Ash, and Musse into the hallway to figure out what exactly they were trying to gain from their little stunt. The pair had their suspicions that Musse and Ash had roped Altina into their plans, so they decided to split them up. Rean took Ash and Musse to the shooting range, and Towa took Altina to the training area.

"What exactly was your plan?" Rean questioned.

"Plan?" Ashe repeated in an attempt to act dumb.

"For the record, I should point out that no one got hurt." Musse noted.

"You two still endangered the lives of a classmate and an instructor." Rean reminded them.

"Oh please, Herschel and the little bunny were in no real danger with the Ashen Chevalier around. You even used your ogre powers to save them extra fast." Ash replied.

"To be honest, I was surprised by how passionately you performed CRP on Instructor Towa." Musse added on.

"This isn't something you two should be taking lightly." Rean commented as he continued scolding Ash and Musse.

"Altina, what did Ash and Musse do to trick you into endangering your life?" Towa questioned.

"Trick? I did it of my own free will." Altina revealed.

"Huh? Why would you-" Towa replied before Altina interrupted her.

"I believe I should be reprimanded alongside my conspirators by Instructor Rean." Altina informed Towa before exiting the training room.

"Wait, come back here!" Towa yelled as she followed Altina into the shooting range.

"Altina, Towa?" Rean questioned.

"Rean, Altina isn't listening to me." Towa explained as she walked up to Rean.

"Instructor Rean, I had as much to do with the plan as Musse and Ash did. Therefore, I deserve the same punishment as them." Altina revealed.

"Punishment?" Rean and Towa repeated aloud.

"Was that not the point of you taking us aside?" Musse questioned.

"I mean, we wanted to let you guys know that what you did was wrong." Rean replied.

"But we didn't really have any punishment in mind." Towa continued.

"Yeah. It's more counterproductive keeping you three in detention, when we all know you'll find a way to get out anyway." Rean added on.

"So we're in the clear then? Good. I'm going back to the pool then." Ash said as he tried to leave the shooting range.

"Hold on there. We're still not done here." Rean replied as he put his hand on Ash's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"What is it now?" Musse asked.

"I believe you owe your instructor an apology." Rean informed his students, before turning to look at Towa.

"W-Wait Rean, I don't think that's necessary." Towa replied.

"Nonsense, Instructor Towa. It's the least we could do." Musse replied.

Towa awkwardly watched as Musse and Ash apologized to her. Soon all eyes were on Altina, who was the only one who didn't apologize.

"Just apologize already. We're missing out on pool time, y'know." Ash advised.

Altina had only agreed to Ash and Musse's plan because their description implied that Rean would get mad at Towa for failing to rescue her, but it seemed as if the incident only showed off how close her instructors were with how Rean didn't hesitate to use his ogre powers to save the both of them.

"Fine. Instructor Towa, I apologize for being a part of Ash and Musse's scheme." Altina bluntly commented.

"Thank you. I accept your apologies. Now go out there and enjoy the pool." Towa replied, even if she could tell that none of their apologies were genuine.

Rean and Towa watched as Altina, Ash, and Musse exited the shooting range and walked back to the pool area.

"You don't think we're being too soft on them, do you?" Rean asked as he and Towa stood in the hallway.

"Nonsense. I think we did just enough. Like you said, they'd just figure out a way to escape detention anyway." Towa answered.

"If you say so. Shall we head back to our post?" Rean replied.

"Wait Rean, there's something I want to tell you." Towa informed Rean.

"What is it?" Rean questioned.

"T-Thank you for rescuing Altina and I. Oh, and for giving me CPR." Towa replied, before her face began to heat up.

In response, Rean walked up closer to Towa wrapped his arms around her. Who in return, wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm just glad that you two are safe. Plus, I know that you'd do the same for me." Rean whispered.

"Rean… Yeah. We'll always be there for each other, no matter how difficult things may seem." Towa whispered, before tightening her grip around Rean.

The pair stayed like that for a few minutes, before finally returning to the pool area.


Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

It was fun writing for the branch campus kids.

Hopefully Altina and Towa can start getting along soon.