Chapter 58 - Festival Festivities: Familial Feeling

7.17.1206 - Monday (Festival Day)

Rean silently stood outside of Plaza Bifrost. After what he had learned from General Craig earlier it was difficult for him to keep his cool. Luckily he was able to hide how shaken up he was, but he knew that Towa would be able to see right through him the second she laid her eyes on him. He hoped that the festive atmosphere would be enough to distract her.

The pair had agreed to spend the Summer Festival together, as they've had little opportunity to relax by themselves at Leeves and their previous field exercises. Rean knew that Towa wouldn't forgive him if he canceled their plans at the last minute for such a personal reason.

"Just relax, Rean. Just keep your cool for the afternoon. No need to get worked up about your fath- I mean Chancellor Osborne and your biological mother." Rean said to himself.

Rean couldn't help but feel like people were starting to stare at him. He had remembered to put on his glasses before leaving the field exercise camp, so it was unlikely that people recognized him as the Ashen Chevalier. He then realized that he'd been standing outside Plaza Bifrost for a few minutes. In hindsight, it would look odd for anyone to stand outside the building for so long.

With that, Rean took a deep breath and entered Plaza Bifrost. He quickly spotted Towa upstairs talking with a few of their students.

"Oh hey, Instructor Rean!" Sandy greeted.

"There you are, Rean. Don't mind me, I was just helping out some of the kids get a good idea on how to explore the city." Towa informed Rean as she handed out maps of the city to each of the students.

"Haha. Still the ever reliable tour guide I see." Rean pointed out.

"Heehee. Don't tell me you need me to give you a quick refresher on navigating the city?" Towa joked.

"Hmm? Wait Instructor Towa, does Instructor Rean also have trouble navigating the city?" Louise asked.

"N-No, I don't-" Rean tried to lie before getting interrupted by Towa.

"Yes, he does. He has gotten better over time, but it's clear that he wasn't raised in the big city like I was." Towa answered.

"Over time?" Sandy repeated.

"Wait Instructor Towa, was Instructor Rean visiting you here in Heimdallr before you two started teaching at Leeves?" Kairi questioned.

"I-I just happened to be staying at my friend Machias' place after I graduated. T-Towa was a big help in helping me settle down here." Rean lied.

"Y-Yeah! W-What former upperclassman would I be if I didn't help out a fellow Thors alum?" Towa pointed out.

"I suppose that makes sense. Best we students don't pry any further into the pasts of our instructors." Musse commented as she made her way towards the group.

"Oh hey Musse, where have you been?" Maya greeted.

"Little old me? I was just visiting some old friends from my days at St. Astraia. A little birdie told me that you guys had gone with Instructor Towa to Plaza Bifrost so she could give you guys advice on how to best make your way around Heimdallr, so I decided to check if you were all still here." Musse explained.
"No doubt she was scheming something with Elise and her Highness." Rean thought to himself.

Towa started to question what she should do. She had already made plans with Rean to spend quality time together during the Summer Festival, but she also didn't want to ignore the students who were unfamiliar with Heimdallr.

"Now that I think about it, why don't I show you guys around the city?" Musse suggested.

"Huh!?" Towa questioned.

"Knowing Instructor Towa, she'll probably take you somewhere boring, like the Imperial Museum. C'mon, I'll show you guys where all the fun spots in the city are." Musse commented.
"Boring!?" Towa repeated.

"History isn't boring!" Rean argued.

"Says the person in charge of our history lectures." Musse pointed out.

"N-No offense Instructor Towa, but I think Musse has a point. N-Not that I have a problem with history, but I imagine that there are far more fitting locations for me to spend my time as a man." Kairi noted.

"Yeah, there's lots of new recently opened up shops around the city from what I hear. Instructor Towa, your expertise might be a bit more outdated compared to Musse's." Sandy added on.

"Also I doubt Musse would prevent this from feeling like schoolwork." Maya commented.

With that, Musse pointed her schoolmates towards the exit of Plaza Bifrost. Once they were all waiting for her outside, she walked over Rean and Towa.

"I do hope that this is enough to curve my grades up in both of your classes." Musse teased before exiting the building.

Rean and Towa weren't sure how to react, all they could do was stand silently and process what had just happened.

"Yup. They're definitely scheming something." Rean said to himself.


Unsure of where to go, the pair stepped outside of Plaza Bifrost.

"S-So uh, where would you like to go?" Rean nervously asked Towa.

Despite the fact that he was courting her and that they had been in a relationship for the past year and half, Rean still couldn't help but still get a little nervous at the thought of going on a date with Towa.

"I-I don't know. Where would you like to go?" Towa nervously replied.

The feeling was mutual.

Towa couldn't help but think of hundreds of potential places in the city to take Rean. Thanks to his disguise, they could go anywhere without worrying about getting bombarded by people who wanted photos and autographs from him. However, the mere thought of being alone with Rean caused her to freeze up.

"H-He's courting me, I should be acting more professionally. Why am I suddenly so nervous?" Towa thought to herself before Rean grabbed her hand.

"S-Shall we-" Rean tried to ask before getting interrupted by someone with a microphone nearby.

"Gather around boys and girls, the Mishy stage show is about to start!" an announcer yelled as a swarm of nearby children with their parents gathered around the nearby stage to watch the Mishy stage show.

"Huh, do you want to stay here and watch the show while we think about where to go?" Rean suggested.

"Yeah. Kai loves Mishy, so I have some familiarity with the lore." Towa replied.

"Wait, there's lore?" Rean questioned as he and Towa approached the crowd.

They whispered ideas of where to go while the Mishy stage show went on in the background. Rean suggested walking around one of the more quiet areas like the Leica District and Vesta Street. Towa liked his idea and suggested places in those areas where they could sit down and relax like the Imperial Museum or Lafite.

Before they could leave however, they noticed a humorous sight nearby at the back of the audience.

Kai and his friends were also watching the Mishy stage show. Unfortunately for him he was shorter than the rest of his friends, resulting in him clearly not being able to get a good view of the show.

"Haha. I guess the Herschel genes take no prisoners." Rean joked as he and Towa watched Kai standing on his tiptoes to get a better look at the Mishy stage show.
"Rean! Kai's still a growing boy! Hmph, I already told him that he should start eating his veggies if he wants to get taller." Towa responded before they both started to laugh.

"How about we help Kai get a better view?" Rean suggested.

"Look at you, already trying to get on your in-law's good side." Towa teased.

Kai was getting annoyed by the fact that he was missing out on seeing all the action. He could hear the dialogue just fine, but hearing the show was nothing compared to actually seeing Mishy and Mecha Mishy have their epic dance battle.

"Hey Kai, are you enjoying the Mishy stage show?" Towa greeted.

"Oh hey Towa. I'm trying to, but I can barely see anything." Kai explained.

"Then allow us to help." Rean responded before he picked up Kai and placed him on his shoulders.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea, S-Schwarzer!?" Kai questioned before realizing that being on Rean's shoulders had given him a way better view than before.

"Heehee. Enjoy the rest of the show, Kai!" Towa teased as she looked up at Rean carrying Kai.

The three of them soon started to watch the Mishy stage show in peace, with Kai finally getting the view he wanted along with Rean and Towa happy to have helped.

While the show continued however, Towa began to overhear a group of moms nearby talking amongst themselves. Fearing that they might have recognized Rean, she paid close attention in case she and Rean needed to make a run for it before he got swarmed by people who wanted to take pictures of their kids with the Ashen Chevalier.

"You see those two? The black-hair guy with glasses and that short brunette woman." one woman commented.

"Yeah, the kid the black-haired guy has on his shoulders must be their son. Look, they even have the same hair as the brunette woman." a second woman added on.

"Aw, how adorable. I'm glad the next generation is finally settling down and having children during these peaceful times." a third woman noted.

"They both look so youthful though, and the kid looks like he's around twelve years old. Either the parents have a really good skin care routine, or they had way too much fun during their school days." the second woman pointed out.

"They look happy though, so it doesn't matter." the third woman replied.

"Yeah, that's what really matters. May Aidios bless that family with another addition." the first woman concluded.

"F-Family!?" Towa questioned as her face turned a bright shade of red in response to women's conversation.

Towa quickly shook her head to calm herself down, before looking back up at Rean holding Kai. Without any context, it really did look like the three of them were out on some sort of family outing.

Suddenly Towa's mind started to wander as she began to fantasize about her and Rean having children of their own. Knowing how Rean treated Altina and Kai, it was obvious that Rean would be the type of father who'd spoil their children. The thought of Rean preparing their hypothetical child for their first day of Sunday School was enough to cause Towa to clench her chest due to the adorableness of it all.

"Is something wrong, Towa?" Rean asked as he looked down at Towa, snapping her back into reality.

"N-Nothing's wrong! Just thinking about… stuff." Towa responded as she did her best to calm herself down.

After a few more minutes, the Mishy stage show neared its end. In a surprise twist for the ages, it turned out that Mecha Mishy had been Mishy's brother the entire time. Admittedly, Rean and Towa wished they better understood what any of it meant.

"Wait a minute, Kai! No fair, I want a better view too!" one of Kai's friends shouted upon noticing that Kai was on Rean's shoulders.

"Yeah, I want a turn!" another one of Kai's friends yelled.

Kai's friends quickly decided to start tugging on Rean's coat to catch his attention, causing him to lose his balance briefly before accidently dropping his glasses on the ground.

"Okay, okay. Kai, I think it would be a good idea if you were a bit more level headed." Rean joked as he placed Kai down on the ground.

Towa froze as she watched Rean casually pick up his glasses.

"What? It was a good joke." Rean said in his defense upon noticing Towa staring at him.

Rean suddenly realized that multiple audience members were staring at him, and not because of his hilarious dad joke.

"Mommy, look! It's the Ashen Chevalier!" one kid yelled.

"Wow, he's even more handsome in-person. Go ask them for a photo and an autograph." their mother replied.

Realizing what was happening, Towa turned around and noticed that the tram had stopped by and people were getting in.

"Rean, we've got to go! Make sure to get home before sundown, Kai!" Towa shouted as she grabbed Rean's hand and started making a run for it.

"Take care, Kai!" Rean yelled as he put his glasses back on.

Fearing that they wouldn't get on the tram in time, Rean lifted Towa off the ground and princess carried her as he picked up the pace to escape the crowd of women and children chasing after them.

They were just barely able to get inside the tram before the doors closed, separating them from all the chaos on the other side.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, our next stop is the Racetrack Plaza." the tram driver announced before the tram started moving.

"I guess we'll just have to take a quick detour." Rean noted as Towa still clung onto him.


After taking a few minutes to catch their breaths, Rean set Towa down and they began searching for a spot they could sit down together.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Summer Festival the tram was more packed than usual. Which meant that finding a spot for the two of them was more difficult than expected.

"Towa look, there's a spot." Rean informed Towa as he pointed to a single seat at the end of the tram.

"Thanks Rean- Wait, what about you?" Towa responded.

"Don't worry, I can stand just fine." Rean assured Towa.

"But you must be tired after not only running so fast, but also because you carried me onto the tram." Towa argued.

"If none of you are going to take it, then allow me." Ash commented as he walked past the couple and sat down.

"Ash?" Rean and Towa questioned at the same time.

"What's the matter? Knowing you two, you'd just spend the entire ride insisting that the other should sit down until the tram arrived at your destination." Ash noted.

"Well, I suppose he has a point." Rean admitted.

"Don't I always?" Ash teased.

"Not really, you usually get the wrong answers on exams. You'd do so much better if you applied yourself better at school." Towa commented.

"Ugh. It's the Summer Festival, the last thing I want to hear is talk about school. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that school is what you guys think of, even when on a date." Ash complained.

"Hey, we think about a lot of things." Rean said in their defense.

"Oh yeah? Some remarkable romantic rendezvous you guys got going on. I bet you guys still have your ARCUS units turned on in case one of your precious little hatchlings calls mama bird or papa bird because they're lost." Ash joked.

"We're instructors. We'd be setting a horrible example if we turned off our ARCUS units when anything could happen." Towa argued.

"Like I said, it's the Summer Festival. You two really have no clue how to let loose, huh?" Ash pointed out.

"We don't need a lecture from a student." Rean commented.

"All I'm saying is that you two aren't going to find any peace and quiet until you two cut yourselves off for a few hours." Ash advised.

Rean and Towa both knew that the conversation wasn't going anywhere. In fact, they were rather offended by Ash's assumption that the two of them were incapable of relaxing. Sure they spent the majority of their free time helping out around Leeves, but they still had their scheduled free time. Be it going out to drink at Barney's Tavern and Inn, reading together in the Faculty Lounge, or simply having tea together in one of their dorm rooms before bed.

"Fine then. However, for every missed call we get you'll have to complete one of your missed assignments from both of our classes." Towa responded as she pulled out her ARCUS and turned it off.

"Haha, deal." Ash replied.

"T-Towa? You can't be serious." Rean questioned.

"What's the matter, Schwarzer? Afraid of spending some alone time with Herschel?" Ash teased.

"C'mon Rean, we can't just get teased by students like this. We need to set an example of what happens when they cross the line." Towa justified.

Knowing that he couldn't win this argument, Rean yielded and turned off his ARCUS.

Almost immediately, the pair felt a mild sense of relief that they didn't need to keep an ear out for their ARCUS in case anyone called them. It felt rather nice.

"Man. Egret, Schwarzer's sister and the princess were right, those two folded like twigs with the slightest bit of pressure. Honestly, I might even be able to talk my way out of doing those missing assignments once we return to Leeves." Ash thought to himself.


Once at the Racetrack Plaza, Rean and Towa decided to go inside the Heimdallr Racecourse to watch a horse race since they were already there.

The race was fairly standard, many of the people sitting around them were frantically yelling at the horses that they had betted on.

"Think we should've betted a small amount? I'm sure any winnings could go into getting some new school supplies for the Branch Campus." Towa suggested.

"I think it's best if we just watch. Do we need to resupply some things? Might be a good idea for me to dip into my personal bank account to purchase some things." Rean replied.

"W-Wait, don't just dip into your Schwarzer money for school supplies!" Towa responded.

"Why not? It's my money, I get to pick what it goes into." Rean argued.

"Like how you almost went broke taking me to that fancy restaurant in Heimdallr a year ago?" Towa pointed out.

"T-That was only because I was only getting monthly allowance money from my family intended for school food and other supplies. Now I get a bit more from the Schwarzer Estate monthly that goes straight into my personal bank account. Plus, there's my wage from working at the Branch Campus. So it's not like buying up spare school supplies for our classes using my Schwarzer money will make too much of a dent to my finances." Rean said in his defense.

"Rean, our income from the Branch Campus goes directly into our joint bank account. We both know it's not exactly an amount to brag about." Towa reminded Rean.

"Fine. Let's just file a request with Principal Le Guin when we return to Leeves so she knows that we need more school supplies for our classes." Rean suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." Towa replied.

Just as Rean and Towa were about to go back to watching the race however, the pair noticed some people staring at them all of the way from one of the windows of the nobility seating area.

"W-Wait, is that Sara, Major Lechter, Major Claire, Toval, and Viscount Arseid!?" Rean questioned as he and Towa looked up and saw that they were looking at them.

Claire and Toval waved politely at them, Lechter and Victor tipped their wine glasses towards them before taking a sip of their drinks, and then there was Sara. She was clearly drunk and trying to tease them, not realizing that there was no way for them to hear whatever it was she was trying to tell them. Judging by how embarrassed the others looked while Sara continued talking, it was for the best that they couldn't hear her. Rean and Towa simply waved back at her and the rest of the adults.

After a few minutes the race finally ended. Not having any reason to stay any longer, Rean and Towa got up from their seats and made their way to the exit.

"Is something wrong?" Towa asked Rean as they made their way outside of the Heimdallr Racecourse.

"I thought I saw some familiar faces sitting across from us inside. I feel kind of rude for not greeting them." Rean admitted.

"Don't worry, Rean. I'm sure we'll see them around the city later." Towa assured Rean.


Rean and Towa soon made their way to Vesta Street. It had been a while since they had their breakfast, so they decided that it would be a good idea to have a quick snack from Lafite before continuing on with their day.

Surprisingly, there were only a few customers inside Lafite on what should've been a very busy day. Rean was able to sense that there were three customers sitting at a table together in the back and two employees running the bakery.

"Hi there! Welcome to Lafite, shall I seat you two?" Oscar greeted them.

"As you can see, there's a lot of space. So don't be afraid to tell us which table you two would prefer." Philly explained.

"I'm guessing we just missed happy hour?" Rean asked.

"Yeah, this place was wild an hour ago." Oscar revealed.
"From what I heard, apparently people spotted the Ashen Chevalier earlier by Vainqueur Street. After they were spotted they made a run for it, and got on a tram. According to some kid who was at the scene, the Ashen Chevalier had been staying here in Vesta Street. So many people dropped by in hopes of finding them, but were unable to find him." Philly informed them.

"On the bright side, the people who came looking for the Ashen Chevalier were starving. Us and the Inn across the street were packed with customers for a while. If only the Ashen Chevalier were here right now, I'd give him a lifetime of free meals as thanks for helping bring so much attention to this establishment." Oscar added on.

"I really need to let Kai know not to publicly announce that Rean has been staying with us." Towa thought to herself.

"Wow. A lifetime of free meals, huh?" Rean said to himself while his hands played around with his glasses.

"Careful Rean, those glasses of yours seem really poorly secured." Laura joked as she approached them.

Laura wasn't by herself, Alisa and Emma quickly joined them as well. They had all gone out to eat together, and finished up their meals just as Rean and Towa had arrived.

"Good afternoon, you two." Emma greeted.

"Hey guys! Just finished your meals, I take it?" Rean replied.

"Yup, this place was great." Alisa responded.

Before Alisa, Emma, and Laura could pay for their meals however, they were stopped by Oscar and Philly.

"Please excuse us, but we couldn't help but notice that you five are just the right amount of participants we need for our event. It was so packed earlier that none of the guests were able to do it. We put lots of effort into planning out a fun activity, would it be possible for you five to try it out?" Oscar informed them.

"If you guys participate, we won't charge any of you for your orders." Philly added on to sweeten the deal.

"I have time, sure." Laura commented.

"Same here." Alisa noted.

"Well if you guys are doing it, I see no reason for me not to join in." Emma replied.

"What about you two? I'm sure you guys are starving, we can wait for you guys to have something before we start." Alisa offered.

"We couldn't ask you guys for that, there are so many other things around the city that you guys can do instead of waiting for us to finish eating." Towa responded.

"Actually, food is involved. It's a baking competition, four of you will cook while one 'lucky' volunteer gets to judge whatever the other four bake for them." Oscar explained.

"I see, I suppose that kills two birds with one stone. Since we're the ones who haven't eaten, how should we decide who gets to be the judge?" Rean asked Towa.

"You. I, uh, had a bagel after we finished having breakfast together and you went off to shower." Towa admitted.

"Something tells me that Towa just wants to cook Rean something nice." Alisa quietly joked, causing Laura and Emma to giggle to themselves.

"Thank you so much! Sir, can you please step outside while the others bake? We want to make sure our judges aren't being biased by seeing who cooked what." Oscar explained.

"No problem, best of luck you four!" Rean told the others before stepping outside.

"Great! I'll go prepare the tables for you guys." Philly commented.

"No need to prepare a table for me. I came prepared." Alisa informed Philly before opening up her jacket to reveal a set of Reinford branded kitchen utensils.

"Wait Alisa, have you been running around Heimdallr with kitchen utensils this entire time?" Laura questioned.

"Oh this? I decided to test out these new portable kitchen utensils the Reinford Company's been working on. As soon as I close up my jacket… BAM! Instantly folded to provide no hindrance in my movement." Alisa explained as she repeatedly opened and closed her jacket.

No one was really sure how to react.

"I've actually been helping lead a division within the company that focuses on producing less violent products. Since I'm traveling so much, I always carry around some prototypes with me." Alisa continued before pulling out a small device from her sleeve.

"Is that a new ARCUS model?" Towa asked.

"Oh this little thing? It's actually an ARCUS unit that can exclusively play music. We call it ICARUS." Alisa revealed before pressing on a button.

Alisa's ICARUS unit quickly began to play the hit song 'The Whereabouts of Light', almost everyone in Zemuria recognized that song.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you guys should probably start cooking. We don't want to keep our judge waiting outside for too long." Oscar advised.

"You're right. Rean might get recognized if he stands around outside for too long." Towa noted.

"Oh, is he famous?" Philly asked.

"Say, now that I think about it, he does look sort of familiar." Oscar commented.

Towa signaled to Alisa, Emma, and Laura to keep Rean's identity a secret.

"Oh, Rean? He just likes to travel throughout Zemuria. Haha." Alisa lied.

"A-Anyway, let's get cooking!" Emma added on to segue the conversation away from Rean.


The girls quickly got to baking, each relying heavily on their own style to prepare something that Rean would rate highly.

"Sharon might be the one who does most of the cooking, but these new Reinford kitchen utensils should give me a leg up on the competition." Alisa thought to herself.

"Would it be cheating if I cast a spell on my food to make it tastier?" Emma questioned.

"I recall the recipe book Klaus used back at home called for one teaspoon of sugar. This amount should suffice, oh I should probably add a second teaspoon to add extra flavor." Laura said to herself as she used a large regular spoon instead of an actual teaspoon.

Towa started to panic as she started baking, it had only dawned on her after sending Rean outside that he was the cook between them. She was usually off grading papers in her dorm room until he entered and gave her the meals he prepared.

"Why isn't this a coffee brewing competition!? That one I'm sure I could win." Towa thought to herself.

"Alright, I'm done. I think that I'll step outside for a minute or two." Alisa commented as she placed her pastry in the oven.


"Oh, hey Alisa. Are you guys all done now?" Rean asked as he saw Alisa step outside.

"I am, but the others still need more time. Towa's playing it safe and following and baking you something simple, Emma's using magic to make her food taste better, and Laura's trying her best." Alisa informed Rean.
"Aw man, I should've been the one cooking instead of Towa. I could've made her something nice." Rean noted.

"Nothing's stopping you from cooking something nice for her once you head back to Leeves." Alisa suggested.

"Great idea! Why are you outside anyway?" Rean replied.

"I got an update from my mom and Marquis Rogner. They were given an anonymous tip last night, it was a bunch of photos of George here in Heimdallr. He should be here or at least around the city right now." Alisa informed Rean.

"I see then. But why are you telling me this instead of Towa?" Rean questioned.

"I'm not exactly sure when would be a good time to tell her, so I figured that I'd leave the job of updating Towa to you." Alisa explained.

"That makes sense. I'll let her know." Rean responded.

"Thanks, I'll be going back inside now. Don't worry, I'm sure the others should be done any minute now." Alisa replied before going back inside.


Rean soon found himself sitting at a table with a blindfold around his eyes. He was forced to wear it in order to be able to rate each of the girls' cooking without any bias.

First up, was a small pastry in the shape of Kagemaru. They were a character from a novel popular in Crossbell, some saw them as Mishy's biggest rival.

The girls watched intently as Rean took his first bite, for the most part he seemed to enjoy it. He then immediately passed out and fell to the floor.

"Jeez! I know that my cooking isn't the best, but you don't have to exaggerate like that!" Alisa shouted while Towa started giving Rean CPR.

"T-Thank you, Towa. S-Sorry… I was just caught off guard by how 'unique' it tasted." Rean assured Alisa as he sat back down and adjusted his blindfold.

"And here I thought the Reinford kitchen utensils would carry me to victory." Alisa complained.

"Much like any weapon, results are determined by the wielder, not by the weapon itself." Laura commented.

"Maybe you should ask Sharon to give you cooking lessons." Emma joked.

Rean soon took a bite of what looked like a fairly basic cake. After swallowing it, he began to have a coughing fit.
"W-Why is there a raw egg inside!?" Rean questioned as he continued coughing.

"Is something wrong? I figured that I would save time on baking if I didn't cook the egg. You're still getting the same calories after all." Laura justified.

"I don't think that's how that works." Towa replied.

After a quick glass of water, Rean took a bite of another cat shaped pastry. This time, it was of the very much real feline: Celine.

"This actually tastes good!" Rean noted before taking a second bite.

"Few, that spell I used worked like a charm." Emma thought to herself.

"We're totally disqualified Emma for using magic to hide her food's actual flavor, right?" Alisa whispered to Laura and Towa.

"Oh definitely." Laura quietly replied.

Rean soon took a bite of the final item. It was a fairly ordinary looking loaf of bread filled with lots of raisins.

"It's fairly inoffensive. I'm still conscious or not trying to cough it out of my system, so that's a good sign. This doesn't taste like a sweet, but it would taste good with other ingredients like jelly or peanut butter. Maybe I should ask whoever made this for the recipe so I can bake it for Towa later." Rean thought to himself as he continued eating the bread.

Unlike all of the other items, which Rean only had a single bite of, he continued eating the raisin bread until his plate was cleared.

"Well then, I guess we have our winner." Oscar noted while untying Rean's blindfold.

"I'm glad you liked the fruits of my labor, Rean! I call it 'Stargazin' Raisin Bread'!" Towa revealed before making her way closer to Rean and giving him a hug.

"I swear, we could block out all of your senses and you'd still find a way to favor Towa." Alisa joked.

"Thank you all so much for participating." Philly commented.

"Not a problem, this was fun." Rean informed Oscar and Philly.

The girls suddenly noticed that Rean had forgotten to put back on his glasses after Oscar untied his blindfold.

"W-Wait a minute!?" Philly yelled.

"You're the Ashen Chevalier!" Oscar added on.

The girls watched as Oscar began shaking Rean's hand while Philly took out her ARCUS to take a picture of Rean and Oscar so they could hang it up on a wall later.

"Would you mind signing the photo?" Oscar asked while he continued shaking Rean's hand.

"N-Not at all." Rean replied, knowing full well that it was too late to run out there with Towa.

"Now you've done it." Towa scolded Rean while Alisa, Laura, and Emma began to laugh at them.


Rean and Towa soon found themselves exploring the Imperial Museum. It had been a while since they had last visited, and despite the Summer Festival occurring outside it was fairly quiet inside the museum. Giving Rean and Towa the perfect spot to collect their thoughts.

It was nice to have some time to themselves in such a quiet area, there were so few people in fact that Rean and Towa felt comfortable holding hands while they walked around the museum.

"This has been nice." Rean noted as he and Towa continued walking.

"Yeah. Maybe we should start turning off our ARCUS units more frequently. When we're not working, of course." Towa added on.

"I agree. Hopefully we're not missing any important calls." Rean commented.

"I doubt that. It's the summer festival, everyone's probably hanging out with someone. I bet you that Altina and Millium are having a blast right now." Towa pointed out.

"Haha. I hope so, the festival is a pretty good location to relax with family." Rean noted.

"Yeah, family…" Towa responded before looking away.

"Did I say something wrong?" Rean asked.

"You didn't, just follow me." Towa replied before leading Rean to the very back of the museum.
Towa looked around for staff before lifting a nearby potted plant and grabbing a key that was underneath it. She quickly unlocked the door to the back room before placing the key back where it belonged. After checking for staff one last time, she entered the back room and pulled Rean inside before closing the door before anyone noticed.

"I don't think this is the restroom." Rean joked as he turned on the lights in the back room.

There wasn't much inside. Just a few brooms and mops, a table for the staff to eat their lunch, and a few photographs hung up on the walls.

"Sorry for not explaining first, but I saw an opening so I knew I had to take it. You see, back when my grandfather was working here he showed me all of the ways to sneak back here without the staff knowing. Since, as a child I wasn't allowed back here. But that didn't stop him from teaching me how to get inside so I could read some of the books they keep back here for safe keeping." Towa explained.

"I see. So what did you want to do while we're here?" Rean asked as he began to look around the back room.

"I think it's better if I show you. Come over here." Towa instructed Rean as she stood in front of a portrait.

Once Rean was next to Towa, he realized that it was a portrait of her grandfather.

"The museum staff like to hang portraits of the museum directors in their office. Once they retire they usually place them back here for safe keeping. After my grandfather passed away I occasionally visited to spend time with him." Towa revealed as she began to tear up.

Before Towa could continue, Rean wrapped his arms around her to help comfort her.

"T-Thank you, Rean. I also have been placing photos in the back part of the frame as a way for him to see how the family's been." Towa continued before letting go of Rean.

Rean watched as Towa tilted the portrait slightly and reached back to grab some things: they were two photographs. An old family portrait of her with her parents, it was the same one she had on her desk back at the Herschels' residence. Along with a family portrait of her, Martha, Fred, and Kai, it seemed to have been taken a few years ago.

"I wanted to let you know, so I could get your permission to include a picture with you in it. You are part of the family after all, even if you're still only courting me right now." Towa explained.

"T-Towa… It would be an honor." Rean replied.

Unfortunately, Rean and Towa didn't have any printed pictures of him on standby.

"Wait, I know! You don't mind if I use the photo of you that I have in my locket, do you?" Towa asked as she pulled out her heart shaped locket from underneath her uniform.

"I don't mind. Maybe we should take a photo later that we can print and use in our lockets." Rean suggested as he pulled out his locket from underneath his uniform.

Wanting to have one last good look at the pictures before Towa placed the picture of Rean away, the two realized something that they should've noticed a long time ago.

"Wait a minute, the pictures connect." Rean noted upon noticing the matching background.

"Wait, you don't think this was taken of us while we were having tea together back during their Thors days, do you?" Towa questioned as she tried to remember when the picture was taken.

"At this point, I don't think it really matters. Since they seem to be from the same photo, do you mind putting this picture of you from my locket next to your picture of me?" Rean asked.

"I-I'd love to. I'm sure my grandfather is going to love seeing you with me." Towa replied.

Rean watched as Towa hid away all the pictures behind the portrait of her grandfather.
"By the way, Rean. Don't think I haven't noticed." Towa commented as she turned to face Rean.

"What do you mean?" Rean asked.

"You've had this sad look on your face ever since you had that talk with General Craig. By the looks of it, it left quite the impact on you. You've respected my privacy, so I'll respect yours. So I don't wish for you to tell me what you guys talked about, until you're comfortable enough to tell me. I'm sure there are a lot of things you're concerned about right now, but I know it'll all turn out fine. Because you're you." Towa continued.

"Thank you. But I know just how difficult things are going to be from here on. The masked man and the Black Workshop, Ouroboros and the jaeger corps, and the Imperial government will all be making their moves. On top of that, I need to look into Angelica and George's disappearances. Alisa told me earlier that someone had spotted George around the city recently, there's a chance he's still here right under our noses. As soon as I find him, the sooner I'll be able to reunite you with your friends." Rean began to list off.

"No… You can leave that last part to me, at least. I know in my heart we'll be able to see them again before long. I know it. That's why I'm going to turn this Empire upside down looking for them. When it comes to monitoring Ouroboros and the Black Workshop, and the government, we all need to work together. So don't try to do everything on your own, Rean. Just focus on the things only you can deal with. Like your family and your students. No one else but you can handle those things." Towa responded.

"You're right. Those things are what I need to focus on. It'd be bad if I got overwhelmed by the big picture and let all the important stuff slip through the cracks." Rean admitted.

"Teehee. Exactly. And just like how you've helped everyone up till now, Class VII, Elise, and everyone else will help you when you need it. Of course, that includes me, too." Towa assured Rean.

"Towa…" Rean replied.

"Let's both give it everything we've got! As your colleague, your old Student Council President, and your girlfriend, I'll support you!" Towa informed Rean.

"Y-Yeah! T-Thanks!" Rean responded.

Before Rean knew it, Towa walked over to him and gave him a hug for good measure. Wanting to show her how grateful he was, he returned the hug and held onto her tightly.

After a few minutes, the pair let go of each other and said a quick prayer together in front of the portrait of Towa's grandfather before sneaking back out to the public area of the Imperial Museum.

"Is there anywhere else you want to go?" Towa asked while she and Rean did their best to act casual as they left the Imperial Museum.

"Would it be okay to stop by the Sankt District? There's two people there who I'd love to have a quick chat with." Rean asked.

"Sure thing. Ooh, I heard that her Highness and Elise were in charge of St. Astraia's charity bazaar this year. Let me stop by my family's shop to pick up something I've been meaning to donate." Towa replied.

"Sure thing, let's go." Rean responded.


Alfin and Elise carefully sorted through the recent donations that they had received. As part of their big plan, Musse had advised them to keep an eye out for items that could benefit their scheme later.

"Ooh, this could prove to be very useful. What do you think, Elise?" Alfin asked as she held a light blue wig.

"I think it looks very nice. Let's save for later and see what Musse has to say." Elise instructed.

"Roger that!" Alfin replied before placing the wig in a box that was underneath the table they were using.

"Good afternoon, Elise and your Highness." Rean greeted the duo as he and Towa approached their table.

"Good afternoon. We're here to donate some things." Towa explained as she placed a tiny telescope on the table.

"Good afternoon, Rean and Towa. Thank you very much!" Alfin replied as she inspected the tiny telescope.

"Good afternoon, you two. Are you going to donate something as well, Rean?" Elise asked.

"I am, here you go Elise." Rean answered before handing Elise a small pencil case with his name on it.

It had been the one he had used back at Thors, he had accidentally left a few of his school supplies at the Herschels' residence while he had been staying with them. Seeing as he had gotten a new pencil case at the Branch Campus, he figured that it would be a good idea to donate his old one now that he didn't have a use for it.

"Does it have his signature?" Alfin quietly asked Elise.

"It does, it could be sold for a decent amount." Elise quietly answered.

"Heehee. The music club is going to love having new equipment." Alfin quietly replied.

"Ahem. I also came to ask you guys something." Rean continued.

"Oh, did Cedric manage to convince you? Are you sure you want to practice right now?" Alfin teased.

"That's not what I'm here to ask you two about. Although, I imagine that it might be related now that I think about it." Rean answered.

"Did something happen, Rean?" Towa asked.

"Not yet, but do you remember how Musse stopped by Plaza Bifrost at the nick of time earlier?" Rean reminded Towa.

"I do. I'm guessing you've concluded that Elise and her Highness were the friends from St. Astraia Musse mentioned visiting earlier?" Towa questioned.

"That's right. Now tell me you two, just what were you three scheming?" Rean asked Alfin and Elise.

"Scheming is such a strong word." Alfin joked.

"So you three are scheming something!" Towa responded.

Alfin immediately began to mentally kick herself while Elise stared daggers at her for easily confirming Rean's suspicions.

"I'll ask again. What is it you guys are planning for later tonight?" Rean asked again.

"No comment." Alfin bluntly answered.

"Elise, anything you want to add?" Rean questioned as he turned to Elise.

"N-No c-comment." Elise nervously answered.

"I didn't want to resort to this, but you've left me no choice. It's been a while since I last flexed by older sibling privileges." Rean noted before reaching over the table and began to give Elise headpats.

Nostalgic memories of her childhood in Ymir with Rean quickly started to flood into Elise's head. Causing her to lower her guard around her brother.

"Haha. Come on, Elise. Mom and Dad always said that it's bad manners to lie to your older brother." Rean softly reminded Elise as he continued patting her head.

"I had no idea Rean's headpats were so dangerous." Towa thought to herself.

"You can't be serious." Alfin responded as she watched on in disbelief.

"F-F-Fine! Her Highness, Musse, and I were planning to-" Elise tried to explain before someone tackled Rean to the ground.

"There you are, Rean! Allie and I have been looking all over Heimdallr for you and Towa!" Millium revealed as Altina made her way closer to the group.

"Millium, Altina!?" Rean yelled as Towa helped him up.

"Phew, looks like they're distracted now." Alfin commented before turning to Elise.

"I-I apologize, your Highness. I-I had no idea just how susceptible I still am to Rean's touch." Elise noted as she tried to compose herself.

"Wait, you two have been looking for us?" Towa asked Altina and Millium.

"We have-" Altina tried to answer before getting interrupted by Alfin.

"It sounds to me like this is going to take a while. We've actually prepared iced tea and sweets for everyone who donated something. Elise is currently setting up a table for Rean and Towa, perhaps you four could sit down at the table and discuss matters over a bowl of sweets?" Alfin suggested.

"Yay, sweets!" Millium yelled before running over to the table that Elise had prepared.


"So what is it that you've wanted to tell us?" Towa asked while Altina took a sip of the iced tea Rean had gifted her.

"I will keep this brief. I… I'm sorry for how I acted around you, Instructor Towa." Altina explained.

"Is that all? You already apologized for the pool party incident, that apology was more than enough." Towa replied.

"No, I'm not apologizing for just that. You see, I-I…" Altina tried to continue, but she was having trouble forming the words.

"Take your time with what you need to say, Altina." Rean assured Altina.

"C'mon Allie, we practiced this. You can do it!" Millium added on.

"Ahem. I'm apologizing for how I've acted around the two of you. I had a distorted view of what Instructor Towa was to Instructor Rean, I mistakenly viewed her as someone who brought him dread. With that misunderstanding at the front of my mind, I did my best to 'protect' Instructor Rean from Instructor Towa. Which peaked with me assisting in Musse's scheme during the pool party. I believe the reason why I was so determined to try to protect Instructor Rean was because I started to view him as family. Whenever Juna talks about how her father used to sneak her into Mishelam Wonderland, Kurt describing his training with his older brother, Ash sharing stories of his mother, or Musse's stories about living with her grandparents, they all shared such warm smiles. However, despite me never being able to recall any memories like that from my time in the Black Workshop, I never felt like I lacked a family. Millium, as a fellow OZ unit, is my sister. But Instructor Rean is different. Be it because of our time working together in Crossbell and North Ambria, along with my time in Leeves as his student. I-I… c-come to see him as a father. Even though I didn't have childhood like the rest of my peers, I don't feel as if I had missed out on warm memories with family. Because Millium and Instructor Rean are my family. Of course, what I had trouble realizing is that if Instructor Rean is like a father to me, then Instructor Towa is like a mother to me. One who I've mistreated over a misunderstanding. A part of me was worried that I had realized that too late, and that you would both treat me differently as a response." Altina revealed.

"A-Altina, we had no idea…" Towa responded before she and Rean got up and made their way over to Altina.

"Y-You view me like a f-father?" Rean nervously replied as he began to headpat Altina.

Rean knew that some of his students joked about him acting like a parent around them, but he hadn't realized that some were being literal.

"Neither of you are mad?" Altina questioned.

"Why would we be mad at the thought of you viewing us like parents!?" Rean responded.

"Altina, we're happy that you don't feel like you've missed out on something as important as family." Towa added on.

"B-But what about the pool party incident?" Altina reminded them.

"Like we've been telling, it's water under the bridge." Rean replied.

Unsure of how to react, Altina went silent before standing up to hug Rean and Towa.

"T-Thank you…" Altina said quietly as Rean and Towa wrapped their arms around her.

"Jeez. What am I, chopped liver?" Millium complained.

"Nothing's stopping you from joining in. You are Altina's sister after all, and a member of Class VII." Rean informed her.

"If you say so!" Millium responded before getting up from her seat and joining in.

"So this is what having a family feels like." Altina thought to herself as a warm smile formed on her face.


Author's Note

Haha, now you all know why I had to separate "Festival Festivities" into two chapters.

It was fun getting to write for the characters that I don't usually give attention to, along with more Rean and Towa fluff.

I hope that you all enjoyed these two Summer Festival chapters!

With Cold Steel III's endgame upon us, things are sure to ramp.