Hello everyone here is the next chapter of the story, I hope you all enjoy it, this one is about the final preparations for the school festival. The initial plan was to show the entire festival, plus the dungeon and the dance, but work and a nasty cold made that impossible. Sorry for that, I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.

Cdswalkthrough, thanks for leaving a review. Oh well he wouldn't be Rean without at least one such moment, lol.

Like always some info:
Spoken words are between " "
Thoughts are between ( )

It has been nearly a month since Class VII had returned to Trista and began the preparations for their music concert or how they called away from a certain musician's ears, General Elliot's torture of preparation. The red head had meant it when he said that he would get them to an acceptable level even if it killed them, though no one had died they were brought to the border of complete exhaustion nearly every day.

His training regime had been ruthless to them, the moment George had managed to get his hands on the necessary music instruments, Rean and the others had used them more than their own weapons during those weeks which was astounding given the fact that Sara had nearly doubled their combat training during her classes thanks to Blueblanc declaration of interest in them.

The day before the official Festival Preparations began, Class VII had one last meeting in their dormitory, "I want to thank you all for the effort you have put in over these last weeks. You all managed to reach the required proficiency level in all three areas, instruments, singing and dancing. I am sure that we will do a wonderful performance during the festival."

The rest of the class besides Crow, who claimed that since he was a second year he couldn't possibly take away their spotlight in their first school festival, looked at the musician with deadpan eyes, "I don't know if it is a good or bad thing that you aren't that passionate about military training like your father is. The results would be terrifying, forget about Calvard I am sure that Erebonia could conquer the entire continent with you leading the armies with that kind of passion."

Elliot was shocked when the rest of his classmates agreed with Jusis remark, "Come now, I wasn't that bad!" The incredulous looks he was getting in return seemed to say otherwise, "Those words are the same as Rean saying that he isn't reckless all the time." Said person was going to nod but stopped in the middle to say, "Hey!" but was ignored by the rest.

"Or like Alisa saying that she didn't find Rean cute when they first met, and he gave her his books as a token for their first meeting." Fie smirked as the archer glared at her, "…You have been using that for the last four weeks aren't you tired of it yet?"

"Nope!" Alisa groaned out loud much to the Fie's and the others amusement besides Rean's who just sighed, "Anyway, we have got Principal Vandyck's permission to use the old building for our rehearsals. The outfits should arrive tomorrow evening right Crow?" The second year grinned at him having noticed his intention, "You have much to learn from me if that is the best you can do to change the subject, my very young apprentice. But I will allow it, the costumes should indeed arrive tomorrow evening giving you all the chance to wear them to practice for the concert."

"Ah, finally we will get to see those mysterious clothes, that no one aside from you three have seen. I must admit I am truly curious how they turned out, but fair warning if those are some tasteless ones, you will face my blade." Laura's glare at them along with the other girls who promised them unbelievable pain if the costumes were too revealing for their tastes.

"As for the songs, I was surprised on how much Jusis and Machias were in sync with each other even without a combat link on, I am positive that you are going to give the students and the visitors a nice surprise on how commoners and nobles can work together." As if the prove Gaius point, both groaned out loud at the same time causing them to glare at each other, "As much I don't want to admit, the songs are coming together nicely, especially Emma's. With me and Albarea giving the opening act, she will dazzle the audience."

"C-come now I don't think I am that good, besides I don't need that kind of pressure right now. Just the fact that I will have to sing in front of so many people is nerve wrecking." Emma looked uneasy at the prospect, but the others quickly assured her that she would do well at the concert, meanwhile Millium had a teasing look in her eyes, "Speaking of the old schoolhouse, a little birdy told me that something very interesting happened to two people on the first day of the schoolyear. I wonder why Crow and I haven't been informed about that?"

Crow caught on what she was playing at, dramatically he raised his hands to his heart with a sad expression on his face, "Isn't that obvious because they don't treat us, the latecomers, as true members of Class VII!" Both jokers huddled together shedding crocodile tears, no one was fooled by them though a certain pair just ignored them and continued with the meeting, "(I wonder who told them about that?) Since the preparations start tomorrow classes are cancelled, you all should use that time to check in your clubs since until the Festival our schedule just has rehearsal, rehearsal and rehearsal."

"That means you are going to help the Student Council as their gopher with any last-minute tasks, right?"

"As a helper, yes. They have been totally swamped with work these last few days and since I don't have a club, I figured I would give them a hand and while I am making the rounds I will also check the old building just to make sure that nothing has changed on the ground floor." Silence fell around the room at that, Rean was getting the feeling that he had said the wrong thing though he didn't know what.

"Uhm, guys? Is something wrong?" They let Alisa handle this one, who reached out to flick his forehead hard, "Just when I think that you are making some progress, you come and say something like that. Have you forgotten that you of all people aren't allowed to go inside that place alone or do I need to remind of your punishment in case you go there?"

The swordsman gulped at that threat, "Well, I thought that was just for the lower floors and not the ground floor. Ok, ok, ok I know I won't go there alone, ever!" The moment he tried to make excuses Alisa just narrowed her eyes at him to get him to retract his statement, he ignored the snickering and the whispered, "He is so whipped.", from his so-called friends. The rest of the evening was spent with them going over some details about their event or what they could improve during their performance, the next day they watched as Towa declared the start of the first day of festival preparation.

With his friends going over to their clubs, Rean found himself in front of Towa, "If you wouldn't mind taking care of these for me, I would really appreciate it." With that she gave him the usual envelope containing his tasks for the day, there were three inside, one was to deliver permission slips to the students who ran food stands, one was to collect comments for Radio Trista regarding the attractions and the last one was to solve a mail mix up.

"Haha, I figured they would be all related to the festival in some way. The shops in Trista seem pretty keen on helping out, that is pretty nice of them."

"Yeah, they do that every year. The radio station is even doing a little advertising for us, too."

"Alright then. I will see what I can do to keep the ball rolling, I should probably start with that mail mix up. That one should take me all over the campus, perhaps I should also start with the permissions slips and the Radio station. That way I should be able to do all three at the same time." Towa sweat dropped at the planning Rean was giving himself, "It is nice that you are helping us out but please don't neglect your concert practice, okay? Crow has been telling me all about it, looks like you guys are really pulling out all the stops."

"That is the idea, yeah. Though we haven't started group rehearsals yet, most of our class have family coming in to watch, so for better or worse we are going to give it all we have got. By the way, do you think Angelica will be able to make it?" The downcast look he got in return was answer enough for him, "….Sorry, I guess it is not looking too hopeful, huh?"

"I just don't know; I have tried calling the marquis household, but they won't even let me talk with her. Still, this is Angie we are talking about, I am sure there is nothing to worry about. Most likely while we are worrying about her, she will just show up during the festival like it is no big deal. That is why we need to make this festival a big success. I want Angie to forget the bad times for a little while and have fun and I just know that your concert will be a big part of that."

"When you put it like that, I want to do whatever I can to make it a good time for her but for now I should start with these requests." After that Rean started making his rounds across the campus, starting with both the permission slips and the mixed mail, along with talking to Micheal at Trista Radio to gather comments from the students for their events as publicity. Like he had thought those tasks made him trek through the entire campus, as a bonus he was able to see and help his classmates with the preparation for their clubs.

It took the entire morning for him to finish those requests but in the end, he was able to finish them to perfection. He entered the infirmary to inform Instructor Beatrix that he was also done with her task of disturbing the permission slips, as a reward she offered him some of her new tea. Seeing no reason to refuse he joined her, "This is amazing, you managed to combine both western and eastern tea leaves together."

Chuckling the older woman took a sip of her cup, "Thanks for the compliment, it took a lot of trial and error to arrive here. Your input along with the leaves you have given me were a big help, but how have you been doing, Rean? Last I heard your class has been working hard on preparing for the festival."

"That we are but I believe that it will be worth at the end. We are doing the final fittings for our costumes today and tomorrow will be a day full of rehearsal, we are definitely cutting it close, but we are confident that it will be a success."

"It is nice to see you filled with such confidence, just make sure you don't work so hard you end up having to pay me a visit. Class VII has accomplished a great deal since it was established, it is always a pleasure to learn what you are up. That said, it seems like you also have a knack for finding yourselves in trouble, I know that Sara methods are showing results but still I would feel a lot better if there were more safeguards around you all to ensure you students safety."

"Well, not that I would be opposed to that, but it isn't really her fault that we managed to get ourselves into trouble like with those terrorists, it was more like really bad luck that we stumbled into them. But for now, they are the furthest thing from my mind, I just want to enjoy the festival with my friends and relax."

Beatrix upon hearing that gave him a grandmotherly smile, "You have changed a lot since you first stepped into Thors, Rean. Even during our weekly meetings those changes are noticeable, you are more confident in yourself and are starting to rely more on your friends instead of trying to bear everything on your own."

The swordsman let the memories of the last six months pass through his head, before he nodded his head, "Yeah, I can't deny that. Like I can't deny that I still have a lot of room to grow in those aspects but little by little I think that I am getting there. Though I am pretty sure that I am going to stumble along the way or fall back into old habits, but as long as I have Alisa and the others with me, I am sure that I will be fine. Even if that means that they will probably have to drag me along."

Both chuckled at that image, "Self-recognition is the first step of getting better. I am glad to see that not only you are growing but also your classmates. There is no greater joy for an instructor than to see their students improving." They spend some more talking with each other before Beatrix was called away by some students needing her help, deciding that he still had enough time to do some more rounds, Rean got ready to leave the building when his Arcus started to ring, "Hello, Rean Schwarzer speaking."

"Yo, it is your good old pal Crow here."

"Hey, Crow. Is something wrong? It isn't like you to call out of the blue…. unless you got yourself into some serious trouble. So, what did you do this time?" The swordsman couldn't help but grin at the indignant tone of his upperclassman, "EXCUSE ME?! I never get into trouble I am the perfect role model for you all, I am getting the feeling that you don't respect as much as you should, Schwarzer!"

At that Rean just snorted loudly enough for the other side to hear it, deciding that he would deal with this unruly underclassman of his later, Crow focused on the reason why he called, "We have run into a bit of a problem, turns out our outfits for the concert will be arriving late. They said the earliest they can get them delivered is sometime tomorrow morning."

"That isn't good, it will be hard to do tonight's dress rehearsal without the actual costumes. Though knowing you Crow, you must have already an idea on how to solve this or am I wrong?"

"Looks like you do know me, oh well all revenge plans are cancelled as thanks for your trust in me. I already talked with the tailor; they are going to finish them as soon as possible we just have to go pick them up ourselves. Are you up for it?"

"I have time, I am already finished with my requests for the day. You ordered them from a boutique in Heimdallr, didn't you?"

"Yup, they are doing the finishing touches on them. They should be done by this evening, so our whole delivery problem is solved if you just head over there. I would do it myself, but I have got some stuff I need to get done." Rean looked at the time and tried to remember when the next train for the capital would depart, "No problem, I am going to the train station right now. Wouldn't want to miss the train on something this time sensitive. Talk to you later, Crow."

He was going to hang up before he heard Crow saying, "Whoa, there! The train? Come on, man. Don't tell me you already forgot about Celica's parting gift; she will be quite upset if you don't take it out for a spin from time to time."

This made Rean remember the Orbal Bike she had entrusted to him, "You are right, it would probably be faster to get to Heimdallr by bike than by train. Besides, if I cut down my travel time I can put some more work into the festival." A sigh that spoke of suffering could be heard from the Arcus, "I swear, even when I give you something cool to do, you find a way to make it dorky. Just take someone with you, there are eleven outfits to bring back and that is not exactly going to be easy on your own."

"That is true, and the sidecar would probably help to with that." He hung up to make his way towards the Engineering Club, thinking of who he could call to help him out though he was honest enough to admit to himself that there had been only one choice from the beginning. He took his Arcus out once again to dial her number, "Hey, Alisa. Are you free right now?...Good, I could use your help with something if you are interested…Good, how about we meet about at George's? We are going to take the Orbal Bike to the capital."

Not even ten minutes later these two were driving out of Trista on the bike, "Heehee, what a nice breeze. I have always wanted to try driving Angelica's bike but without her there to ogle me while driving it. Think you can teach how to drive it after the school festival is over?" The archer leaned back in the side car enjoying the breeze on her face, Rean nodded at her request, "Sure, why not. But be sure to wear some jeans instead of a skirt, ok?"

An amused Alisa grinned at him before it changed to a worried expression, "And that is why I am asking you, if this was Angelica, she would insist on me wearing a skirt just so that she can catch a glimpse…. Do you think she is alright?" While he shared the same worries as Alisa, he tried to convince her that everything was fine, "I asked Towa the same question this morning at the answer was that this is Angelica we are talking about. Do you really think that there is anything in the Empire that can bring her down?"

"When you put it like that, knowing her perhaps she is enjoying herself right now while being surrounded by her maids. Still, I would feel better if we could at least talk with her, I take it that Towa also wasn't able to?"

"…Unfortunately, no. But again, this is Angelica we are talking about, most likely she will just nonchalantly appear at the festival like nothing has changed which is why we should concentrate on putting on you the best concert that we can."

"I can already picture that in my head. Besides, I should be focusing on those mysterious outfits right now; to be honest part of me is quite curious about finally seeing them and yet another part is filled with trepidation on what they are going to look like." The swordsman avoided her pointed look and focused on the road which only made her narrow her eyes, "Sigh, fair warning though I already told Laura and the other girls that I would be the first one to deal with you, Mister."

"Haha..hahaha." Rean could only hope that she and the rest would be ok with their outfits, deciding that she had scarred him enough Alisa shifted her focus back to the bike, asking him several question about it, relieved at that he answered her question adding some points that he noticed should be added to it.

Though the orbal bike was slower than the train, they managed to arrive at the store after only an hour after leaving the academy, it turned out to be the head store of the boutique Le Sage, the owner Howard was the one that greeted after they asked for their costumes, "Sorry to make you kids come all this way to pick up these up. I think you will be pretty happy with the way they turned out, though."

"Fantastic, I can't wait to see how they turned out. Thanks for making them in such short notice."

"Haha, this was no sweat compared to what Crow put me through last year. He had me working like a madman, but in the end, it was all worth it. Last year's concert was great, so you can bet I will be there to see if you kids can top that." Howard eyes drifted to Alisa as he noticed something, "Oh, by the way, are you the girl on the rhythm guitar? Hmm, you have got a kind of natural elegance to you. Combine that with the outfit and you will be a real right to see."

She was a bit taken back at that, "Oh really? So, what exactly DO these outfits look like, Rean?" He could only whistle innocently at that, not saying anything and taking the first cases to take them back to the bike, while Alisa remained behind to take the last ones. Once the cases were safely secured, he was going to go back inside but something else caught his attention, a bird with colour like lapis lazuli though that wasn't what caught his interest.

(It feels the same as Celine, like a bird that isn't a bird at the same time. Does it have anything to do with Emma?) Before he could think any further on the subject, the bird(?) flew away leaving Rean starring at the direction it flew. Still thinking about it the swordsman didn't notice how Alisa exited the store, "Uhm, Rean? Are you still with me or are you just zoning out?"

"Oh, sorry about that. Let me get that and stored it in the side car." Taking the last case from her, he was going to move but stopped when he caught at the expression on her face seemingly asking him something, he chuckled at that, "Nothing to worry about, there was just a strange bird on that lamppost over there that caught my attention."

"Strange enough to get you daydreaming?"

"Yeah, until now I have never seen a bird with feathers that colour before. It was a really deep blue, almost like lapis lazuli." The archer blinked at that, "Oh, wow. That DOES sound strange, I wonder what a bird like that is doing in the middle of a big city. Perhaps it belongs to someone?" He had only time to shrug his shoulder before another voice appeared from behind them, "Oooh, what do we have here?"

Swirling around Rean saw someone he knew approaching them, "Vit….I mean, Misty!", as for Alisa she watched as an older woman approached him with a grin on her face, (Is she an acquaintance of his? Her voice sounds kind of familiar though…). Misty nodded at Alisa as a form of greeting before directing her eyes to him, "It has been a while, hasn't it Rean? Thanks for not using my real name, if people here in the capital were to overhear you, I would be drowning in fans in no time flat."

"Haha, no problem. Mum is the word, fancy meeting you here, though. Come to browse the wares of Le Sage?"

"You guessed it! This store does have a branch in Trista, but this one has a much better selection. What about you? Is there a reason why you are lugging around so many suitcases?" A teasing glint appeared in her eyes as she made a show of putting two and two together, "Heh, let me guess. You two getting a jump start on a romantic weekend getaway?"

Both teenagers turned bright red at that causing the older woman to grin wide, "You got the wrong idea there, Misty! Let me explain, this here is my classmate Alisa as for why we are here is because we came to get the costumes that we are going to use for our concert at the school festival. (Though that does give me an idea and I think it is long overdue.)" Despite wanting to tease them some more Misty relented, instead her interest was picked at the mention of what they were going to do.

"Wow! A concert, huh? That sounds like a blast, I would love to drop by the festival and see it myself. I might be able to go if I can free up a bit of space in my schedule…hmmm perhaps I can push that meeting to the next day?"

"It would be great to have you, although I can't imagine a professional like you would be terribly impressed."

"Don't be silly, Rean Great music come from the heart,…..whoops. Lost track of the time I better get going. See you at the festival and be sure to tune in to tomorrow's broadcast!" Misty gave waved them before entering the store, "Tomorrow's broadcast? What was she talking about and what did she mean by real name?"

"That is actually a bit interesting, let me start at the beginning…." Rean explained how he met Vita and her alter ego, 'Misty', while finally securing the last suitcase, "Wait, that was THE Misty? From Abend Time? Wow, I never would have guessed that the famous Azure Diva Vita Clotilde and Misty were one and the same person!"

"You would think it would be obvious since their voices are so famous, but it is pretty hard to tell…..Wait what does she mean by tomorrow's broadcast? Abend Time only airs on Sundays and tomorrow is Friday, did she switch to another programme?" Thinking about it, Alisa also found it weird but put it aside as she noticed something else, "A question perhaps for later, but what are we going to do now?"

She gestured to the orbal bike, it took Rean a moment to understand what she meant but the moment he did he groaned out loud as the implication of it hit him, "Dammit Crow, was this really necessary?!" Now it was her turn to catch up, but she managed it a moment later, "…I see, this is something he would do, and he was also the one who told you that someone should come with you to help, correct?" He nodded at that, "Now that you mention it, I am sure that he knew that I was going to ask you to come with me and I would bet if I had asked someone else to come with me, they would have declined or told me to ask you."

The reason for their frustration was that side car was full of the suitcases leaving Alisa no room to sit there, that left only the place behind Rean for her to sit meaning she would have to hug tightly to make that she would fall off the bike. Since the side car was enough for Rean to transport the costumes there should have been no reason for the upperclassman to tell him that he should take someone with him besides to mess with them.

"Sigh, I am going to give him a piece of my mind later but for now we should go back to Trista, is that alright with you?" Alisa blushed at his question but still nodded, "Yeah don't worry about it." He nodded back also blushing a bit though that he had to do that he was gathering his courage for what he was going to say next, "Not to change the subject or anything, but do you have any plans for the school festival?"

"? Now that came out of nowhere, but not really, besides going around with my family on the second day. Why?...Rean?" She could now see that he getting quite red in the face, taking a deep breath he asked the question that had popped inside his head minutes ago, "Then do you want to visit the attractions with me on the first day as a…..date?"

Her blush returned tenfold at his question, "! A date?! What brought this on?!", he took a step closer to her before explaining where this came from, "Well, when Vita mentioned that we looked like we were going on a romantic getaway it made me realise that despite us spending so much together since that day, I never invited you out on a date and since the school festival is so close, I thought why not now?"

Another step closer and he took her in his arms making her look up at him, "Of course, you don't have to say yes. I still stand by what I said back then, I don't want to mess this up, you mean too much for me to risk that and I am content with what we have right now. But Vita made me realise that I should still put in the effort to make sure that you know how much I appreciate you."

"Oh, Rean." Listening to him made butterflies appear inside her stomach but above else it made her heart melt as he tried to explain himself to her, "Just when I think I got a handle on your sweet nothings, you go and prove me wrong. Just let me say this first, I would love to go on a date with you so the answer to your question is yes and it will always be yes when you ask me out like this. Second, we did say that we are going to take this slow, because you are also too important for me. I am fine with the way things are right now, but perhaps we should think about the next step? Not immediately of course, maybe after this date and the concert we could sit down and talk?"

The soft look in his eyes was enough for her to shyly turn her head, though he wouldn't let her he used his hand to gently make her look at him, "Alisa Reinford, I am the luckiest guy in Zemuria just for having you in my life and I will forever be grateful to the goddess for letting me meet you. So instead of one we have two dates lined up, one for the festival and one for after, I will have to think about where we should go on that one."

"How about you let me decide the destination for the second one, you already invited me to the festival so I should be the one to take you out on the next. Or don't you trust me that I can show you a good time?" In spite how red her face was Alisa still smirked at him, "I will always trust you; nothing will ever change that. Still, I will have to try to come with something special now. Perhaps I could…"

Seeing where this was already going the archer put a finger on his lips to stop him, "No need for anything extra, all I need for it to be special is you alone. So, there is no need for you to overthink this, just be yourself, ok?" He grinned at her after a bit, "And you say that I speak sweet nothings? I think you severely underestimating yourself in that regard but fine. Now I have another thing to look forward to the festival besides our concert."

"Me too, but for now we should go back to Trista." The two released each other to take their seats on the bike, Alisa didn't hesitate before leaning against Rean's back circling her arms around his waist to hold tight, in spite of herself of being embarrassed about this situation Rean's red ears made her giggle, he started the bike after making sure that she secure and drove off. On the way back they didn't say anything just enjoyed each other company while admiring the scenery of the setting sun, before they arrived at the academy an idea popped into the swordsman head.

He slowed down enough to tell her about it, both grinned at each other before deciding that it wasn't a bad idea as payback for their meddling senior. The rest of Class VII was already waiting in front of the old school building for them with a certain smirking Crow and Fie getting ready to tease a certain pair. They could hear the sound of the orbal bike approaching, the bandana wearer smirk grew wider as he saw how close these were on the vehicle, he stood up to whistle loudly and shout, "OH MY! How sweet you two look…..holy crap!"

He was interrupted mid speech by an arrow flying right beside his ear, Rean had slowed his speed enough for Alisa to take out her bow and fire an arrow, "Oh, is that you Crow? So sorry, I thought it was a monster making that noise, so I attacked without thinking. Really sorry but what were you saying?" The rest of their classmates sweat dropped at the sweet smile Alisa was giving their resident troublemaker, who was going to respond but stopped when she nocked another arrow on her bow.

Like it was completely normal, Rean parked the bike, got off it along with Alisa still holding her bow and start to unload the cases, "Think you guys can give me a hand with these? Not you Crow, I think you can stand there for a while longer." All protest was silenced when the archer drew back her bow making him sweat run down his face, the others wisely didn't say anything about the whole situation, even Fie kept quiet after Alisa glanced at her as if daring her to say anything about this.

Though it didn't stop the silver haired girl to pout at a missed opportunity to tease them, after everything was inside at the costume were disturbed to their recipients Crow was finally released from the danger of being hit by an arrow. A few minutes and the girls could finally try out their costumes along with Sharon helping them out, "Wow, these are actually really nice. After all I have heard I was expecting something a bit more revealing, but these aren't bad at all."

"Hmm, you think so Alisa? I find them a bit more revealing that I would have chosen but at least the design itself is reasonably tasteful." Fie and Millium twirled around in front of a mirror before nodding at Laura's remark, "Yup, not bad. At the black gives us quite the classy look." These four were quite satisfied with their outfits though there was one that trying to hide herself, "Sigh, what am I even doing in this getup?"

Millium bolted towards Emma to drag her out of her hiding place, "Come now! Don't be embarrassed, that costume makes your bobbies look even bigger!" The others agreed with her though their remarks were more subdued than Millium's, they still made Emma attempt to hide her body with her hands, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted the boys with the design of our customs."

The archer stepped forward to try to calm her down, "I for one think it looks perfect on you and letting your hair down combined without your glasses just adds the right amount of mystique. Nice work on the styling Sharon!" Said maid bowed to her charge, "Thank you, my lady! I think you all look beautiful; I am sure that audience won't be able to look away once you are on stage, wouldn't agree Master Rean?"

The girls turned around to see the boys making their way towards them from their changing room, "I wholeheartedly agree Sharon. You all look even better than I had thought." He may have been praising them all, but his eyes were fixed on a certain blonde all along, a fact that wasn't lost on Alisa and the rest, though they didn't say anything as they also got a good look on them, "Well, well. You all look the part of dashing gentleman yourself. I must admit those costumes do suit, guys."

"Alisa is right, it seems like you took your inspiration from the traditional dress code of the imperial court."

"Is that why they look like rejected princes from a children's book? Though it kind of works." Both Laura and Fie gave their own opinion on the white suit suits they were wearing while Millium was circling around Jusis to get a better look, "I feel a little bad for you guys. Your uniforms don't have those little personal touches like ours do."

"Well, considering the time we had to work with, we had to settle for all us guys just wearing the same thing. Besides we have all different heights and have different hair colours, so we are better off with a standardized look." A grinning Crow clapped Elliot's back, "What little Elliot is trying to say, is that no one is going to care what the guys are wearing. It is better to bring out each girl's charms and let the boys just sort of fade into the background. That is called knowing your audience, boys and girls!"

The rest just ignored him, though Jusis after having fended off Millium couldn't help but comment on Machias visible discomfort after he had recovered his wits from seeing Emma in her costume, "I am no stranger to cuffs, epaulettes and overdone embroidery but it looks preposterous to see YOU of all the people wearing such finery, even it IS just a costume."

"H-Hey….. I didn't ask for this! What sane man would WANT to dress like a noble?! Besides I don't know what you find so amusing, I hope you haven't forgotten that we will be singing in these outfits. TOGETHER!" On the last words both shivered in horror, "Sadly, despite my earnest attempts, I haven't. How I agreed to this I will never understand."

Chuckling at their display Elliot once again took charge, "Now that we have our outfits, are you ready to practice the night away? We have only got a day, and a half left and that is if you include today. No time to waste and that is why none of us are leaving this building until we can do a perfect run through our whole set."

"I don't think he is going to take no for an answer, I guess General Elliot is taking over again, huh? Does that mean no sleep for us tonight?" Sharon chuckled before revealing what she has brought, "There is nothing to worry about, Lord Gaius. I have here a nourishing dinner along with enough coffee and tea to last you all throughout the night."

From that point they put their all into their music until nearly twenty-four hours later they managed to do a perfect performance to the satisfaction of Elliot and Crow, "Nice work, guys! I think we are right where we want to be. You all play like that during the concert and I am sure that the audience will be spellbound by you."

"If Crow is satisfied then we are ready for it, well done guys! Even I can't find anything to nitpick on your playing."

"Wow, will wonders never cease? Approval from these two? I guess we are truly prepared for the actual show, thank Aidios for that. I am exhausted as soon as I am back at the dorm, I am going to sleep." Before the rest could agree with Machias, Crow drew their attention, "Rest? Oh-no-no. No time for that now. See, the best concerts always have two aces in the hole, an unexpected surprise and an encore. Now that you all have finally got the basics down, we can try pulling off something that will pave our road to victory."

Rean and the rest suddenly got a very bad feeling about this, "A surprise? An encore…? Please tell me you are just kidding…..you are, right? You aren't seriously suggesting we add another song, are you?"

"Ding, ding. Rean CAN be taught, do take notes on how to do this Reinford. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it though. You will be all in on this when you hear what I have planned. I have got a nice simple tune in mind that everyone has heard, and most people probably even knows the lyrics. Anyway, we haven't got much time to prep so how about we skip your pointless resistance and get down to business?"

Emma nearly fell down on her knees if Machias hadn't caught her in time, sighing to himself Rean looked around to the despairing faces of his friends, "Oh boy. I get the feeling he is taking us on a ride one way or another, so we might as well just strap ourselves in. Guys, come on. This is here will the last spurt after that we can go back and rest until tomorrow morning."

Even with Rean trying to motivate them, it took a while before they were at it again, though Crow had been right the song was one that everyone knew making it easier for them play and sing it compared to the other two songs, that was why they were able to finish it after only four hours of practice.

Later that evening Rean was in his room relaxing while listening to the music playing from his radio, "After all this hard work, I am sure that we are going to put a spectacular show for the audience. Elise will be visiting on the second day and tomorrow I have my date with Alisa…and now I am really nervous. Wow, who knew that going on a date was this frightening and exciting? I do hope that she will enjoy it…..zzzz…oh!"

The fatigue from all that practice was catching up to him nearly making him fall asleep right there, deciding to turn in early he stood up to turn off his radio but the moment he touched the dial the music stopped, and a familiar voice came out instead, "Excuse me, we interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this special news!"

"That is…Misty and she sounds oddly serious, just what is going on?"

"This afternoon, Crossbell Sate issued a declaration of independence!"

"! What?!" Rean was now wide wake, as he focused on the radio, "This declaration was issued by the state government based on a recent referendum and carries no legal authority whatsoever. The Imperial Government has issued an official statement that they refuse to accept the declaration as valid and President Rocksmith of the Calvard which also claims authority over Crossbell has made a similar statement. In spite of this, Crossbell's Mayor Crois has declared that the country will act as an independent state going forward, as well as announced the establishment of the Crossbell Defence Force, raising tensions both at home and abroad. We will maintain you listeners apprised if there are more news regarding this situation."

"…..Whoa, if it isn't one thing it is another. I hope Llyod and the SSS are doing fine, but this is going to upset a lot of people…..right now there is nothing I can do about it, besides asking Micht just what is going on in Crossbell, after the festival of course. For now, I should just go to bed and sleep." Rean turned off his radios and got ready for bed, still thinking about what kind of consequences that declaration will have on the Empire.