The week that passed would be considered a mixed bag by the more diplomatic Rean and Laura, but in Fie's mind? It was a total pain in the ass.
Try as they might, there was no hiding the activities from that morning to the rest of the class. It took about three seconds after entering home room before the first whistle from Crow and teasing comment from Sara landed home. They might have had a chance had Rean not been a complete idiot and decided to give Laura a love bite. And no she didn't think that because she was jealous she didn't get marked like that. Not at all.
Needless to say, their friends became downright insufferable after that. Fie wasn't sure if they had discussed it among themselves or all came to the same idea separately, but it soon became apparent that the others weren't content to leave them alone anymore. They weren't even subtle about it, either.
When confronted about it, certain members of the class informed them that they could no longer be trusted alone without getting into trouble. The insinuation that they were horny teens who couldn't control themselves was galling, but she couldn't deny that there might have been a little bit of truth to it. Still annoyed her greatly, though.
At least the more prudish member of the classes had that well-intentioned excuse to offer. A few other members, their dear instructor included, appeared to just want to catch them in the act. Fie was seriously starting to consider placing traps in her room after the third time Millium decided to barge in without knocking, and from what she had heard Rean was facing similar issues with Crow.
A part of her was tempted to give them exactly what they wanted. She shouldn't have to suffer just because their classmates want to watch them getting hot and heavy together! Maybe watching the three of them together would finally help Sara to get a clue and not be a total failure with her own love life.
She shook her head. Something like that was impossible for the three of them and would require a miracle from Aidios.
Unfortunately, as amazing as those rare moments were, even she was uncomfortable experiencing them in vie of the public eye. And if she wasn't comfortable there was no way in hell her partners in crime would consider it. Which meant that as long as the rest of Class VII was hounding them there were few instances where she could experience those moments of raw passion.
On the plus side, while their friends became downright obsessed with their antics, the rest of the school and town seemed to lose interest in the matter. There were still a few odd glances and giggles directed their way, especially when they were together, but generally speaking it appeared that most of the student body had moved onto newer topics of gossip. Having the festival only a few days away certainly helped.
Sara actually helped out a lot on that front. After spending most of the homeroom that day skipping all of her responsibilities to tease the trio relentlessly, she had taken Laura to the infirmary and informed Instructor Beatrix that the girl had gotten nicked in the neck during combat classes and needed to get bandaged. It was an awful excuse, as classes hadn't even started that day, but Beatrix was a good sport and played along. And that excuse was the one they used to explain the bandage to the rest of the students and faculty when asked, thus keeping the worst of their exploits from becoming public knowledge.
Of course while most of the students moved on in their interest, not all of them did. Vivi took look one at that bandage and she just knew. Cue many days of her having to deal with the teasing pinkette constantly asking for details of their relationship or why she didn't have a matching 'injury.' She was sure that Laura and Rean were also suffering interrogation from their friends in other classes, but she doubted that any of them were as bad as the prankster.
Festival prep had gone well. As expected, it took a lot less time for the class to master the second song than it had the first. Dancing was more exhausting than she cared to admit, but she was confident she could handle it well enough on stage. It hadn't escaped her notice that Crow and Elliot seemed to be in cahoots about something that they weren't sharing with the rest of the class and that was worrying, but she and the rest would have to deal with that when it arrived.
As for Laura's punishment, Fie couldn't help but feel disappointed. It literally just was the same crap they did on their field studies, just without the powerful monster hunts to get their adrenaline pumping. It was all the most mundane of tasks. Things like making deliveries for the townsfolk, finding missing items, and helping students with whatever stupid things they requested.
And yet, despite the fact that she had no real obligation to keep helping, she did. If asked she would vehemently deny any accusations that she actually enjoyed doing this kind of work. She could just picture the Boss teasing her for it. Actually no, the Boss would probably just be happy that she was doing things of her own volition and not because it was necessary for survival. Xeno and Leo would definitely be giving her grief for it, though.
At least these tasks gave them an excuse to hang out with Laura and Rean in the morning without the rest of her idiot classmates watching them like hawks, even if it is just for an hour or two each day. They didn't always stick stick together, as many of the requests were simple enough affairs that they could cover more ground by splitting up, but those moments together were nice.
Sara, being Sara, had spent the past week teasing them, dubbing them the 'Trista Branch of the Bracer Guild'. That wouldn't have been so bad if the name didn't catch on and others started using it. She vowed to punch the next person who dared to call her a junior bracer.
But she couldn't help but wonder, was that Sara's angle? Despite her current status as an instructor, she knew the older woman was still a bracer at heart. Everyone knew that their field studies were basically just unpaid bracer work. Had she been subtly trying to recruit Rean by guilt-tripping him into doing student council work this entire year? And could she be trying to expand those efforts to her and Laura?
On one hand she knew that following Sara to the Bracer Guild would make her mentor figure completely insufferable until the end of time, but she couldn't deny the appeal of such a move. Being able to freely travel around fighting monsters and helping people did sound fun. Especially if Rean, Laura, or preferably both were there alongside her...
No, she shouldn't be thinking about that right now. They still had a year and a half until graduation, so it was pointless to speculate on things this early. Saying that, she did have to concede the fact that it was probably a good thing that she was starting to think about her future for the first time after spending her entire life forced to live in the moment to survive...
"Claussell! Are you even paying attention?"
Crap, she had gotten so lost in her thoughts that the Vice-Principal had noticed. She couldn't help herself though. In a school filled with useless classes and boring teachers, his was the worst by far. She quickly scanned the classroom looking for any salvation, but none of those traitors were willing to look her in the eyes. With a sigh she stood up straight and quickly wracked her brain for any sort of excuse that could get the annoying noble off her back...
Some people were considered morning people and some were the opposite, but for Laura mornings were just an inevitable part of each day. She knew when she needed to get up and responded accordingly. So while it was a slight inconvenience for her to adjust her schedule to deal with her new morning routine, it wasn't something that fazed her in any serious fashion.
The same could not be said for her best friend, which is why her new routine featured a brief trip across the hallway each morning. Some might have thought that having to rouse the cat-like girl from her slumber each morning would be a hassle, but it was actually quite entertaining.
Looks could be deceiving. Despite her lazy attitude each morning Laura knew that thanks to her background if she had truly been an enemy then Fie would be wide awake and armed for battle before she could cross the doorway into her room. It could only be seen as a good thing that the former jaeger trusted her surroundings and classmates enough to be this lazy.
Case in point? "Noooo... I don't wanna get up." Fie moaned miserably into her pillow before Laura even had a chance to announce her presence.
"Come on, Fie. You said you wanted to do this."
"And I will... tomorrow."
Seeing as how Fie wasn't budging, Laura moved on to Plan B: Physically torment the young girl. And what was the way that worked most often for her?
Poke. Poke Poke.
Each time one of her long fingers thrust forward into that bundle of blankets and flesh the victim groaned and started curling up as a defense mechanism. But despite that she appeared to be feeling particularly stubborn and still refused to yield to her assaults. For the first time since this began Plan B was a bust.
But that was fine, she had prepared for such a possibility. It was time to unleash Plan C.
"Alright, I understand." She said in a kind voice. "I'll let you sleep in and I will go out with Rean alone today. I am sure Instructor Sara, Crow, Millium, and all the rest will be glad to see you when you do get up and they find you alone."
And just like that the blankets were gone and she was subjected to a horrified glare from the silver-haired maiden, all traces of sleepiness gone. "You wouldn't."
She chose not to answer, instead adopting a rather serene expression on her face. "You would!" Fie hissed in realization. "I liked you better when you were all uptight and boring."
"I know." Laura agreed sadly. "Life was a lot simpler a few months ago before I started spending time with a certain bad influence. Now I barely recognize myself." That much was true, at least. What she didn't say was how much more she liked the more recent Laura. "There are only a few more days until the festival, so you just need to endure it for a little while longer."
With Plan C a rousing success, the two girls began their morning routine of getting ready for the day. One of the perks of the early morning was that it gave them free reign of the bathrooms and they had infinite hot water for themselves. Once hygiene was finished and they were fully dressed and prepared for the day the duo descended to the first floor.
As usual, Sharon and Rean were already down there. Rean was similar to her in that he had little problem waking up early, but also had the benefit of not sharing a floor with the sleepy ex-jaeger. Sharon, bless her soul, had started working a little earlier so she could prepare breakfast for the three each morning. Occasionally they would find Gaius down there as he was the earliest riser out of all of them, but it appeared the kind Nord had decided to remain in his room that day.
They must not have been that late as Rean was still glancing at the envelope that President Towa left in his mailbox each day. "Anything interesting?" Fie asked with a yawn, startling the swordsman from his reverie.
"Good morning, you two. Not much today. Micht needs some goods delivered and Jane wants us to collect some wildflowers for her. There's a third request, but it's directed to me, so I will be focused on that one."
Curious. She shared a glance with Fie. "And what is that?" The younger of the two didn't hesitate to ask. That was one advantage of being friends with the former jaeger; She would ask the questions that others might find impolite so that Laura didn't need to. This meant that she could have her curiosity sated without appearing rude. An absolute win.
Not that Rean was at all bothered by her question. "The cafeteria is planning on serving fish dishes today and asked Kenneth to acquire some fresh ones, but it appears he is sick today..." It was clear that Rean was at least a little concerned for his friend, even if the sickness was probably something minor. "So he recommended me in his stead."
"Fishing? Sounds dull. You should teach me."
"Um, Fie? Not that I mind, but that's an odd request..." Laura had to agree. Why would you want to learn a thing that you think is boring?
The younger girl shrugged, but sighed when she realized that such a gesture was not nearly enough to ward off the curiosity of the sword users. "It sounds dull, but you seems to like it a lot so maybe there's something more to it. And I remember Boss liked to fish on those rare quiet days too..."
That was a fair point, actually. Rean did seem relaxed whenever he slipped away to do a little fishing during their field studies. The trip to Legram, especially, as the swordsman actually seemed to get along well with Old Man Bem as the two fished together on the docks of her hometown. "I am not sure how much I will enjoy it, but it does seem like a practical skill to know, so if you are willing I too would like to learn."
"Haha... Well in that case I would be happy to teach you." Decision made the three continued their morning by eating the simple but tasty breakfast provided by the dorm maid.
They were just about to make their exit when... "Aww, if it isn't my three little adorable junior bracers."
"It's too early to be dealing with Sara. I'm leaving." Fie muttered as she exited the door without a single glance towards their newly arrived instructor.
"Don't be like that! Surely the two of you won't be so rude to your beloved teacher?"
Laura looked at Rean. Rean looked back at her. The unspoken conversation was brief and the decision unanimous. "Sorry, but we need to leave." She announced as she followed her friend out the door.
"See you in class, instructor!" Rean followed.
None of them stuck around long enough to notice how Sara appeared more amused than offended by their reactions, letting out a chuckle that lasted until she realized that she was now alone in the dorm with Sharon until the other brats came downstairs.
The first request they did was the one involving the wildflowers. The flower shop had received an order for a few different kinds, but some of them could only be found outside of town where monsters occasionally roamed, which is why they had been asked to help. Task in hand the trio exited Trista.
The flowers they were seeking weren't particularly rare or hard to spot, so even she and Rean could contribute on that front, but naturally they still ceded leadership responsibilities to the expert of the group. Thanks to her understanding of how and where the flowers grew Fie was able to sniff out the highest concentrations rather quickly. The petite student set to work snipping the plants while the other two chose to stand guard.
There was no denying that the fact that no monster chose to attack them was a good thing, but Laura couldn't help but feel a slight sense of disappointment. While she did enough practice swings each night to keep her skills honed, it just didn't compare to a true fight. Rean was clearly of a similar feeling as he made it quite plain he wished to start practicing his new techniques at some point in the near future. Fie was less obvious, but Laura felt she was starting to get a good read on the girl and could tell that her friend was starting to get antsy too. She suspected the three of them would celebrate the end of the festival with a high-intensity fight in the Old Schoolhouse.
Second was the task for Micht at the pawn shop. He tended to get his shipments in bulk and one such shipment had arrived the night before, but apparently he didn't have enough room to store all of it and thus wanted the three students to deliver some packages to the townspeople who came to him to place orders for them. It was an easy enough task and the trio split up to finish it in as short a time as possible.
This request also had an added benefit thanks to the earlier conversation. After reconvening at the pawn shop with the packages all handed out, Rean asked the owner if he had any fishing rods in stock. As fate would have it, he did, and since he still wanted to clear more space in his shop he rewarded them with a pair of beginner rods and plenty of bait.
After a quick stop at their dorms so Rean could grab his own fishing gear and they could greet their friends who were just now sitting down for their own breakfasts, the group made their way to his favorite fishing spot on the river. He chose to keep any explanations brief, instead opting to show them the proper way to hook the bait and cast the rod, before letting them try it for themselves.
With all that finished they settled in as their lines sat in the water. It was... relaxing and peaceful, she supposed. But also quite boring. Ten minutes passed without even the slightest hint of a bite on her line. Fie appeared to be in the same boat and judging by the look on her face was starting to feel just as frustrated as she did. It didn't help that in that short time Rean managed to reel in three different fish.
She inadvertently made eye contact with Fie and noticed the challenging look in her eyes. So she wanted to make a contest of it, did she? Very well then. She focused her concentration on Rean's hands, carefully observing the way he gently moved his rod and jerked the line to entice fish into going after his bait.
Mimicking his actions it wasn't long until her efforts were rewarded as she felt heavy tension on the line. Initially she panicked in her surprise, but quickly regained her composure and allowed herself to think back on Rean's words and how he acted whenever he got a bite. Her initial surprise didn't go unnoticed, however, and she was keenly aware of the eyes upon her as she struggled.
After a few seconds she calmed down as she realized it wasn't much different from a sword fight. As in any fight, when the fish attacked she pulled back and adopted a more defensive stance, not allowing too much tension on the line. Once the fish exhausted itself she went on the counter, reeling it in until it regained the strength to fight back. It was a back and forth struggle, but one she was used to from her many other battles in life.
As she was not one to ever willingly accept defeat in life, inevitably her struggle ended with a successful catch. While she had no knowledge of fish, it at least appeared to be of a size comparable to the ones that Rean had been catching.
"Nice! That one's definitely a keeper. Good job, Laura." Apparently Rean agreed. As the sole experienced angler of the group moved over to her side to show her how to unhook the fish she chanced a glance over to the third member of their group. Fie did not appear at all happy as she glared fiercely at her prize. Feeling a little smug, Laura couldn't help but mimic the younger girl by shooting her a victory sign with her free hand, causing Fie to pout before redoubling her efforts to score her first catch.
Something which she did a few minutes later. With both of them now understanding the process the three continued to fish in peaceful silence, free of the craziness that had taken over their lives recently. While Laura didn't think she would ever find fishing to be a fun activity like Rean did, there was something pleasant about relaxing out there with dear friends and she could see herself doing it again in the future, so long as they were with her.
While Rean still managed to reel in the vast majority of the aquatic creatures, she and Fie contributed enough to not feel like liabilities and eventually the sizable bucket that Rean had brought was filled with sufficient fish by the time they had to call it quits. Although they still had a few minutes before class began the dorm was empty when they stopped by to drop off their equipment. One quick trip to the cafeteria to deliver the goods and the trio of student bracers proceeded to class to continue their day.
Rean was in a pickle. It was the 21st of October and the first official day of festival setup. He had been spending the past few hours assisting Towa, by himself this time, and had just finished when he received a call on his ARCUS. The plan was for Class VII to dress up and get comfortable in their outfits that night instead of waiting until the day of the performance, but Crow had just informed the nominal leader that the outfits couldn't be delivered until the next morning.
Thankfully the second year had come up with a solution and that was for Rean to use the bike Angelica left him to travel to the capital to pick them up himself. Since there were a lot of outfits he had suggested that Rean bring someone with him to assist. Or more specifically, he told Rean to "Take one of your lady friends out on a romantic drive to the capital for the evening."
But that was the problem. There was only room for one of them since they would need the sidecar to hold all the outfits. He couldn't handle all of that by himself, so he definitely needed to bring someone with him. That meant he would have to pick between the two girls he had come to adore so much.
It was a decision that he had been agonizing over for the past five minutes to no avail. If he called one the other would doubtless be disappointed. That wasn't something he wanted to be responsible for at all. There had to be some alternative that wouldn't leave either of them feeling left out...
His eyes lit up as an idea came to mind. Neither of them would feel left out if he didn't choose either of them! In his mind it was a brilliant solution. With renewed confidence he grabbed his ARCUS and made his decision.
If his solution was so brilliant, then how come Gaius was looking at him with such pity in his eyes? Still, after a second the tall nomad just shook his head with an amused sigh before agreeing to assist him. Rean did his best to ignore how Gaius appeared to do a prayer to Aidios and the winds for his well-being when he thought he wasn't looking. Surely he didn't screw up that badly, did he?
Despite all that, Gaius was actually quite interested in riding the orbal bike. While in some ways it was similar to riding on a horse, it had enough differences to it that Rean enjoyed it just as much as he did equestrianism, and he suspected Gaius would too. It might be a bit noisy for the placid spearman, but undoubtedly he would appreciate the feeling of the wind as they cruised down the highway.
And sure enough, he was proven correct. Cars were still a relatively new concept in Erebonia so the roads were pretty clear. This meant that he could go as fast as he wanted without worry, something which both males enjoyed quite a lot as they chatted during the trip. At that speed it didn't take long, and within fifteen minutes they were entering the outskirts of the city itself.
Thankfully Rean remembered where Le Sage's main store was thanks to their field studies in the summer, so he had no trouble navigating to the store. The owner, Howard, was very helpful and soon the two had all the costumes bagged and ready for the trip back home. The entire process only took a few minutes and soon the two were hauling bags out to the sidecar of the orbal bike.
Really the only noteworthy things that occurred during the entire trip was Rean spotting a really unique mysterious azure bird and a chance encounter with Misty. The radio personality seemed fascinated by their concert and claimed she would try to attend. After explaining to Gaius that Misty was actually a famous opera singer the two got back on Rean's bike and returned to Trista.
The plan was for the rest of the class to meet them at the Old Schoolhouse so Gaius contacted Crow with his ARCUS while Rean navigated the bike through the campus. The others must have been waiting nearby as they made it to the building not long after Gaius unpacked the bags and Rean brought the bike back to the Engineering Building.
The excitement was palpable as each member was handed their own costume. After all the weeks of waiting and listening to Crow's awful terrible ideas it was finally time to see what the leaders had come up with. With Sharon there to assist the girls the group separated by genders to go change in privacy.
The men's outfit was relatively simple. Just a somewhat extravagant white suit, something that might be worn by gaudy nobles (much to the disdain of both Machias and Jusis), but Rean was pleased to see that the outfits had been correctly tailored and fit each both perfectly. His was the same, and while it wasn't something he would ever wear normally, the fact that it fit pretty comfortably and wouldn't hinder movement at all was a huge relief.
But while he was happy to see that the outfits suited the guys well enough, they weren't the ones he was really excited to see. No, that honor belonged to the girls, with two specifically coming to mind. Sadly, this meant they had to wait, as those outfits were a little more time consuming to put on.
Eventually they were informed that the others were ready, and it only took one look for Rean to tell that it was worth the wait. Sleeveless black and white tops over skirts. To complete the ensemble they also wore black boots and gloves, with all of them either wearing a hat or some sort of hair accessory. While the outfits weren't especially revealing, the black did a great job of drawing eyes towards the exposed flesh.
Alisa and Emma both looked quite beautiful in their outfits, and Millium was the textbook definition of cute. At least he assumed they were. He honestly couldn't remember what they looked like in their costumes.
Cause his eyes instinctively focused on the other two members of that group. A part of him wished that he hadn't put his foot down on some of Crows more risque costume ideas...
Fie didn't seem to mind the outfit at all as she stood there with the others. That gave him ample chance to examine her in detail. The costume did a wonderful job of showing off her beautiful legs and exposed arms. He had to stop himself lest he get caught staring at her exposed belly button. Damnit all, now the idea of her dancing in front of a crowd that would have a lot of men actually annoyed him greatly.
Laura's outfit, while not showing off as much leg thanks to her longer boots, was just as gorgeous. It didn't help that unlike Fie she appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable exposing herself like that. Seeing such a proud confident girl looking so meek was surprisingly attractive. Especially when she noticed his eyes roaming her form and grew even more self-conscious, feebly attempting to cover herself with her arms.
Thankfully he managed to pull himself from his staring before the others noticed, although the grin on Fie's face let him know that she, like Laura, hadn't missed it. So caught up in his thoughts he apparently missed Emma having a mental breakdown. That probably wasn't a good thing.
The group spent the next hour or so just standing around and enjoying the company of each other while they got comfortable in their new skin. Even Emma eventually got over her shyness and was able to converse with the rest of them in casual conversation, but still seemed markedly strained doing so. Rean too, did his best, but couldn't help but constantly get distracted by the two beautiful creatures he was lucky enough to be dating.
Not wanting to be out too late, especially since the plan was for the class to spend the entire next day doing final rehearsals, the class eventually changed back into their normal outfits and left the Old Schoolhouse. The trip back to the dorms was made as one group, but as they left a hand grabbed hold of a fistful of Rean's jacket and held him back. Recognizing it as belonging to Fie, with Laura right beside her, he slowed his pace until the three of them were lagging just far enough behind to give them some privacy, but not so far as to arouse suspicion from the others.
"So... You and Gaius, huh?"
"Urk!"
Laura appeared amused by his unimpressive response to Fie's question. "I must admit, I was surprised when I heard that you had taken him into town."
"Right? I never thought my first ever boyfriend would end up cheating on me, especially with another guy. Always kinda figured it would be the opposite, actually..."
"It wasn't like-"
"It's okay, Rean. We aren't judging you on your choices, but I cannot help but feel a little disappointed. Did we do something to cause you to lose interest that quickly?"
He looked between them as he frantically tried to come up with a retort, but stopped as he noticed the matching grins on their faces. "You're just messing with me, aren't you?" He had no idea when the two had time to collude against him like this, but the facts were undeniable.
"Mmm, just a little." The smirk on Fie's face was now absolutely wicked as she visibly delighted in his horror.
"Indeed. I am sure you agonized over the choice before coming to the flawed conclusion that taking someone out was the better solution." He winced as Laura struck true with her shot. "But you do realize that the school dance is at the end of the festival, right?"
"Urk!"
Fie nodded along, clearly enjoying his suffering. "I don't even know how to dance, but I'm kinda getting excited now."
"I am as well. I do wonder who you will pick to be your first dance partner..." Was Laura always this vicious or had Fie been rubbing off on her? It was terrifying just how in sync they were as they worked together to absolutely terrify him.
"But if you want to dance with Gaius first we'll understand."
"Heyyyy!" Came a shout from in front. "Are you guys doing something hot and dirty back there?!"
"Millium, please. And you three better not be doing anything to encourage her." Jusis's pained voice soon followed.
The Arseid practitioner let out a sigh. "It appears they have noticed us lagging behind."
"So annoying..." Fie complained in turn.
"We will leave you to your thoughts. Have a pleasant evening, Rean." With that farewell from Laura the two girls rushed ahead to the others to prove that no they didn't need to be chaperoned all day long. The third member of their little group did not follow nearly as quickly as he was currently suffering a mental breakdown as he thought about the upcoming dance.