30/08/1204 06:00
Crossbell City, Crossbell

The sound of her alarm clock ringing assaulted Juna's ears. Groaning in disappointment that it was now time to wake up, she reluctantly reached towards her orbal clock and turned off the ringing sound. Yawning, she woke up and sat on the bed, still trying to gather the energy to start the day. After five minutes on the border between waking up and sleep, Juna was finally conscious enough to stand up.

As per her usual morning habit, Juna would wash her face and brush her teeth before going back to change out of her pajamas. But behind the door, she heard her mother laughing with an unfamiliar voice. Her father was staying overnight at Mishelam for another meeting, so the deep voice couldn't be his.

Feeling a little curious, Juna yawned before she opened the door to see who visited them this early.

There was her mother, preparing breakfast in the kitchen block, but she still occasionally turned her head back and engaged in conversation and laughed with someone on the table. Juna's gaze then turned towards the person on the table.

"Huh?" She let out a noise of confusion when she realized who was sitting at her family's table.

Hearing her voice, her mother turned and looked at her. "Ah, Juna. Go wash your face."

"Huh?!" Juna didn't move. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of the situation.

What was Lloyd Bannings doing this early in the morning at her house?!

"Morning, Juna." The object of her confusion greeted her with a wave of his hand from his seat at Juna's family table. A friendly smile was donned on his face, oblivious to the whirlpool of emotion inside her.

This wasn't a flag, right? Why so early in the morning? She hadn't even washed her face yet. Curse you, tropes! Awawawa, he was laughing and talking with Mom! They must be talking about her!

But all she let out was a simple, "Bwuh?!"

"Ah... I suggest you follow Auntie Lina's words, Juna," Lloyd said as he turned away from her. Huh? What?

Lloyd was looking away, so it probably came from herself? Juna looked down only to gasp.

Her pajama's top button was undone, revealing some of her collarbones and top shoulders alongside her bra strap. It also pulled up the overall pajama top, exposing her belly button.

"Eeeeeeek!" Juna quickly covered the exposed part with her arms. What the hell, players!? Why did they choose her now!? And she remembered clearly she had worn her pajamas neatly last night! This must be the power of tropes working overtime to force the fanservice out of her!

She quickly ran towards the bathroom, ignoring the warm feeling on her face. Once she was there, Juna washed her face with cold water to keep the redness out of her cheeks. She couldn't go back with a red face! She refused to let the players see her being embarrassed!

After brushing her teeth and calming herself down, Juna walked calmly to her room, passing Lloyd and her mother again. She went inside her room and closed the door. Letting out a big sigh, Juna quickly opened her wardrobe to change into something more presentable. No, no need for her usual outfit. That was...

At first, she wore that because she loved how cute it looked on her. Sure, it was quite... revealing compared to her other clothes growing up. But she loved it! Movements are easier with sleeveless clothes and short pants.

But then the protagonist group revealed themselves while she was wearing those clothes. If she suddenly changed how she dressed, it'd catch their attention, and it might make them interested in her. So she swallowed her embarrassment and kept wearing her usual outfit.

But now? Lloyd, the protagonist, is in her territory! She was excused from not wearing anything revealing!

Nodding to herself, Juna chose to wear a modest knee-length dress that did not show anything. She did not forget to put on some light makeup before picking up her hairband and tying her hair into her usual ponytail.

One last smile into the mirror, and now Juna was ready to face Lloyd.

She opened the door and sat on the table. There were already plates of breakfast there. Juna turned to Lloyd and blushed at seeing his smile. Oh, Aidios... it was all coming back to her. The embarrassment, the anger, and the realization that there was nothing she could do about it. Everything was all jumbled up again just by seeing him.

In any case, she had to divert her attention from her own thoughts! "M-Morning, Lloyd."

"Sorry to barge in this early, Juna, but I need your help to confirm some things." Lloyd scratched his cheek.

Ah, of course, it was about her 'ability.' Honestly, she didn't really think much when she talked about some obvious tropes before. Apparently, it was somewhat invisible to other people, so whenever the SSS needed help, she gladly helped them since it was probably important for the plot. It wasn't like she wanted to avoid the plot. She just didn't want to join the main party.

Juna saw her mother put down another plate before her eyes fell on her outfit.

"It's rare to see you wearing that dress, Juna."

Oh, come on, Mom! Don't bring her outfit to attention! Damn it, now Lloyd's, or rather, they, were probably interested. Thinking a lot of wild things like 'she must be shy' or 'she wanted to be seen as a woman' or whatever when, in reality, she just didn't want to show them her skin.

"Lloyd, what do you think?"

Stop it, Mom! She shouted inside her mind because she knew if she reacted, that was what they wanted. This was precisely why she didn't change her fashion style in front of the SSS. Because someone would point it out!

"Ahaha, I think Juna is always cute."

Lloyd! Damn them! Was it a choice, and they chose that line?! Juna looked down, hiding her red face.

"Oh my, you hear that, Juna?"

She heard that clearly, thank you, Mom! Please don't bring more attention to her!

She had to get out of there! "I-I'll wake up the twins," Juna stood up from her seat before she was stopped by her mother.

"No need. They woke up when you shouted before."

In the most convenient timing in her life, the twins opened the door from the bathroom, coming towards the table. Damn it!

"Morning, Mom, Juna, and... huh?"

"Oh, we have a guest!"

Both Ken and Nana quickly went to their seat on the table. Seeing that, Juna just quietly sat down in resignation. It seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong for her this morning.

"You're from the SSS, aren't you?" Ken asked Lloyd. "My friends Anri and Ryu always talked about you!"

"Yes, that's right," Lloyd nodded at his question.

"What are you doing here?" This time, it was Nana asking.

"I needed Juna's help for something."

"Eeh? Are you Juna's boyfriend?" Nana pounced on the situation.

"Nana!" Juna raised her voice.

"Juna got angry! That means you're correct, Nana!"

"Ken, too! Don't be rude to Lloyd!" She pulled both the twin's ears lightly.

"Ouch, ouch!"

"Moom! Juna is being violent!"

"Juna, please don't use violence to hide your embarrassment," her mother calmly said as she put the last plate on the table.

She did not just accuse her of being a tsundere! She was not a tsundere! Not at all!

"Though, visiting early in the morning does sound like what your father did when he was still my boyfriend."

"Mom!" She did not need her to join in to dogpile her! What was this? Picking on Juna day?!

"I'm just joking, dear. Let's eat," her mother said after putting off her apron.

"Huh? You're having breakfast with us, Lloyd?" Juna had just realized what Lloyd's presence at their table meant.

"Auntie Lina insisted," Lloyd said with a reluctant smile.

"You did say that you came straight here after waking up. That means you haven't had breakfast yet, right? That won't do for a busy police officer like you, Lloyd," her mother argued.

"Ahaha..."

"Oh my, this brings me back to the past. When Guy pulled all-nighters or couldn't come home, Leyte and I always had Lloyd to have dinner or breakfast."

"Huh?"

"Really?"

Ken and Nana wondered in fascination.

"You two are still babies, I think," Lina answered.

"That's right," Lloyd confirmed. "If I remember correctly, Juna always dragged me here whenever I said Guy was late. Thanks, Juna."

"...It was nothing," she averted her eyes. What was this? A flashback event to establish her relationship with Lloyd? No, thank you! "And not always! Only occasionally!"

After a laugh from everyone, they ate breakfast in silence. Maybe because Lloyd was there, her mom cooked a much more lavish breakfast than usual. Still, Juna was simply happy to eat some nice breakfast. Usually, her mom went all out on dinner, so this was a rare occasion.

Once they all finished, her mom insisted on accompanying the twins to the Sunday School instead of her since she was the whole reason Lloyd visited their home. What the hell, mom? Why would you leave your teen daughter alone with someone else in your house?! Well, she knew that Lloyd was not that kind of person. She was just asking for common sense from her mother!

In any case, now the two were on the empty and clean table. "So... what do you need help with?"

Lloyd nodded, "Right. First, let me explain what the guild told us last evening. I wanted you to be there, but Michel said you were already home. And since I didn't want to bother you, I decided to ask you today instead."

"Oh, my bad. I didn't know that you needed me. But you could've just called, though."

"I would've done that if not for a sudden interruption from a certain someone. Let me tell you from the start."

Lloyd then started telling her the event from last evening up until the night. How Arios was back and shared the information about the Calvard government's dealings with Heiyue, including everyone's opinion about their motives, like the proxy war or the rewards. And then the guild also confirmed that bracers from Calvard and Liberl would come.

Juna nodded, absorbing the information.

"I see. You want to ask me about their motives, huh?"

"Not quite," Lloyd let out a small smile. "Let me tell you the continuation first because this is important."

He then told her about Shirley's uninvited appearance. About the Red Constellation inviting Randy to a talk and him and Wazy inserting themselves into the invitation. Then, about Sigmund's offer for Randy to come back and him mentioning a confrontation with Heiyue in Calvard.

"...After that, they left us to stew on the situation for a bit," Lloyd finished his story. "So, Juna, I need your help to confirm my deduction."

Oh, interesting! Lloyd didn't want her to elaborate on what she found out from his story! He just wanted her for confirmation! "Lay it on me, Lloyd!"

Lloyd closed his eyes to gather his thought for a second before he opened them and started.

"First, why did the Republicans contract Heiyue? Was it really to wage a proxy war? Arios disagreed, and after further thought, so did I. The proxy war theory doesn't work. Aside from Arios' argument about them not keeping the deal a secret, we couldn't conclude their dealings are for proxy war because none of the information we got mentioned when exactly the dealings took place."

Juna nodded. That actually didn't cross her mind, but the more she thought about it, the more logical it sounded. "If we know the timeframe, the proxy war theory can hold because maybe after Erebonia hired Red Constellation, the Calvard hired Heiyue in a hurry to not lift a hand when the time comes for them to attack Crossbell, or vice versa. But we don't know."

"Exactly. So if we're talking about proxy war, I think it might still happen but only as a side effect of the dealings instead of the main reason," Lloyd agreed with her assessment. "Using that as a basis, we can assume that the two deals happened independently and only came out after both had sealed the contract."

That was plausible, too. Red Constellation was the most infamous Jaeger group. She didn't know how they operated, but she didn't think Erebonia could just walk into a bar and hire them on the spot. Same with Calvard and Heiyue. It was more logical to think that the deals happened independently.

"So we can conclude that their dealings are just coincidence, right? But then I remember your words about coincidences," Lloyd paused.

"'There is no such thing as too much coincidence. Either one is a coincidence, and the rest is planned, or everything is planned from the start,' or something along those lines. I remembered talking to you about that once," Juna recited her words.

"Yes, I noted it down. Thanks for that. In any case, I personally assume that the two dealings are planned from the start. Are you with me so far?"

Juna nodded. "I still get you. Please continue."

"But then, if the two dealings happened independently and were planned from the start, why Red Constellation for Erebonia and Heiyue for Calvard? Why not anyone else? At this point, I scoured my notebook to see if any of your advice could help me. Then my eyes found this," Lloyd opened his detective notebook and pointed to one line. "Parallelism. 'Two sides of the same coin more often than not encounter similar path.'"

Ah, Juna understood. Lloyd was now relying on her trope knowledge and tried to emulate her. He was trying to get answers not from logic and fact but from something outside of common sense. That 'something outside of common sense' was the relationship between Red Constellation and Heiyue and the relationship between Erebonia and Calvard.

"Why did Erebonia hire Red Constellation? You gave us the answer days ago. Erebonia wants to hire some extra protection because they are having some domestic terrorism. Then, considering the parallel between Erebonia and Calvard, is it possible they have the same problem? I don't know, but the idea began taking root in my mind."

Gradually, a smile began to appear on Juna's face as Lloyd continued talking.

"What I do know, though, is that there are some tensions in Calvard between the pro-immigration and the anti-immigration factions. The last time I was there nine months ago, the tension was so thick that anything could push one side to the edge. I might need Elie's opinion on this. But that's not the one thing that convinced me."

Oh?

Now, the smile on her face was a full-blown grin. She really couldn't wait for Lloyd to finish his deduction!

Lloyd sighed. "While I don't exactly like what happened with Randy, our meeting in Neue Blanc actually solidifies my theory. Ogre Rosso mentioned that the Red Constellation and Heiyue have clashed before on Calvardian soil. I was then sure of my theory because after he said that, now I know... there is more than enough weight between the Red Constellation and Heiyue to erase my doubt about the situation."

Lloyd finished his theory. There was a short silence as he waited for her response.

In the end, Juna couldn't hold back anymore. She let out a mix between a squeal and a laugh.

Really, she was very impressed by Lloyd's deduction! He completely made use of her words about tropes and narrative law to arrive at the correct conclusion without understanding how and why the tropes and narrative law worked. Coming to a conclusion about Calvard also having some terrorist problems was amazing. But the ability to recognize the information from Red Constellation, which he got immediately after he came to the conclusion, as an important one, was more than just praiseworthy! It was a testament to his sharpness as a detective. She was very sure that, even without her help and advice, Lloyd would've come to the same conclusion when he faced the same situation.

"Err, Juna?"

"Oh, sorry-I... Aidios... I-sorry, Lloyd. I wasn't making fun of you at all," Juna said, still laughing and squealing. "I'm just so impressed and blown out by your reasonings and deductions. Everything? Every word you spoke? Perfection. I have no words."

"So, I'm correct, then..." Lloyd sighed. "That means the republican government is paranoid enough about a terrorist attack they hired Heiyue as a helping hand. This is why I didn't want to say anything before confirming things to you. But still, thanks, Juna. Now that we have this confirmation, I can inform Dudley and the others about it."

Juna shook her head. "No, I didn't do anything. Everything's all coming from you, Lloyd."

"...Alright. But still, you did help by confirming my theory. In any case, I should go and inform the rest of my teammates."

Yeah, they were going to be busy today, as the delegations from the other countries were scheduled to arrive today. Maybe that was why Lloyd visited her so early in the morning? She wasn't sure.

The two stood up from the seat and walked towards the apartment door.

"Once more, thank you, Juna. We're going to handle some support requests as usual. What'll you do?"

"Of course, I'm going to train," Juna said matter-of-factly. However... "I think I needed to catch up with someone after training. The tower unveiling will happen in the afternoon, right?"

"I believe it's around eight in the morning. The delegations from other countries are expected to arrive soon. Careful so that you don't miss it, okay?" Lloyd answered.

"Oh, I thought it'd be in the afternoon. Well, thanks for the information, Lloyd! See you later!"

After closing the door, Juna let out a huge sigh before covering her face with her palm.

"Eeeeeek! That was so embarrassing! Why the hell did I laugh and squeal instead of just answering yes?!" She rolled on the ground, trying to beat the embarrassment out of her body. "I just know they will probably be sooo happy with my reaction."

Juna sighed.

"Oh well, that was that. I'll just have to get the embarrassment out of my system by beating some monsters."

She quickly went to her room to change into her usual clothes and left her home to the guild.

A/N: There is a comisssioned fanart in the Spacebattles thread. Check it there if you're curious! I think that and the later part of this chapter made it deserving of its own chapter instead of being the first part of a bigger chapter. So, did anyone catch what Lloyd has in the past two chapters? I deliberately hid things from you, but I think I've written enough clues to make it clear that Lloyd's conclusion did not come from nothing. As expected of the Max DP Lloyd run he wouldn't miss anything. This chapter feels like a conclusion to the entire Lloyd-Juna partnership and I couldn't be prouder than I am now. I hope you guys are similarly entertained and maybe even have some 'I gotcha!' moment while reading the explanation.