With another batch of requests completed, Towa invited Rean to stay in her office and enjoy some green tea that she had brewed for the two of them after he stopped by to report their completion. She had gotten so used to their free day routine together that she didn't even ask him if he was free to stay for a while that day, because he was always free since he wasn't a member of any school club.
As she enjoyed the one on one time with her junior however, she couldn't help but notice a contemplative look on Rean's face as they sat together on one of the sofas in front of her desk.
"Is something the matter, Rean?" Towa asked as she put her tea cup down on the table.
"There's something I've been meaning to confess to you, President Towa." Rean revealed as he put his cup down beside hers on the table. "I've just been struggling to find the right time to do so, but I suppose now's the most opportune time to do so."
A confession…?Towa thought to herself as his words echoed in her head.Like telling me now that he doesn't like this green tea I've been making for us the past few weeks? Or that he's having trouble with a certain subject and wants me to tutor him? Right?
"I've decided that I'd like to join the Imperial Fishing Club." Rean confessed. Fishing out a club application form that he had filled out from his red uniform blazer and handing it to the Student Council President. "After seeing all of my fishing notes inside my student handbook, Kenneth insisted on having me join his club."
"Really? This late into the school year?" Towa questioned as she took the form from her underclassman.
"That's what I told him. But he said that it was fine. Something about seeing 'passion' in my notes… or something. I'm honestly not sure what he meant." Rean explained. "Then I recalled you mentioning how I should try and join a school club earlier in the year when we first met, so I decided to take your advice and accepted his proposal."
"I'm happy to hear you take my words to heart." Towa replied. "Although I hear that the Imperial Fishing Club usually travel all the way to a fishing spot between Trista and Celdic on Sundays, which means you won't be available to help out with requests on free days going forward."
"That's the thing I was hesitant about. I can do both, no?" Rean suggested. "I'll just wake upreallyearly in the morning like you and get them done before Kenneth and the others start heading out to the fishing spot."
"Rean, I can't allow you to do that." Towa scolded him.
"But without me helping, won't there be too many things on your plate?" Rean pointed out.
"Rean, I'm the Student Council President for a reason. I can handle the requests just fine without your help. And if I do need aid, I can rely on the other Student Council members." Towa reminded him.
"Ah right, the others. I suppose I don't really see them do much outside of attending meetings and walking around the school grounds." Rean admitted.
"That's because a certain first-year has been doing tasks I would've normally given to them instead." Towa teased.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I suppose hearing you say that you have another avenue to lighten your workload assures me about joining a club without causing you too much trouble." Rean noted.
"Oh Rean, it's your school life. You don't have to fuss over me, silly." Towa assured him as she reached out and playfully patted his head. Them being seated balanced out their difference in height enough to allow her to do so without him having to bend down.
"U-Understood!" Rean, who wasn't used to being on the receiving end of headpats, anxiously replied as Towa continued patting his head.
One week later, Towa woke up Sunday morning well before her peers and even most of her instructors. She went about her free day morning routine as she always did, changing out of her light green pajamas and into her green student uniform. Making sure to proudly attach her Student Council armband onto her left arm. Brushing her hair and tying it into a ponytail with her light blue ribbon before applying some modest makeup to her face. She grabbed her backpack, filled with paperwork sure to keep her occupied for most of the day, and exited her dorm room.
Instinctively, she made her way over to Class VII's dorm. Reaching into her backpack, she retrieved an envelope containing requests she put aside for Rean to do. Just as she approached the dormitory however, she was greeted by a certain first-year sitting on the building's front steps.
"Good morning, President Towa." Rean greeted before letting out a yawn.
"Rean? What are you doing out here at this hour?" Towa questioned. She then promptly noticed a set of fishing supplies next to him.
"Kenneth said he wanted the club to go to the river extra early today since it's my first day as a club member." Rean explained.
Oh, that's right… Rean's not going to be helping me this week.Towa recalled as she looked down at the envelope in her hands.He'll be spending most of his free days from now on doing things with the Imperial Fishing Club like any other student participating in club activities…
"Oh, is that envelope for me?" Rean questioned upon noticing the item in Trowa's hands. "If there are still any requests you want me to do for you, I can try and do them when I get back."
There he goes again, trying to have his cake and eat it too. If he decides on helping the student council and participating in the Imperial Fishing Club, he'll end up burning himself out.Towa thought to herself.I'd feel terrible if I allowed him to do that. I can't bother him with these requests, I'm sure he'll be better off going fishing with some peace of mind.
"Oh this?" Towa spoke up. "This is just an acceptance letter I got recently for a scholarship I applied for."
"Wow. Congratulations, President Towa!" Rean replied. Believing her lie without a shred of doubt. "Wait, but why did you walk all the way over here? I'd understand if you came to drop off some requests in my mailbox like usual, but I'm sure you already divided up the requests this week between the Student Council members."
"O-Oh… uh…" Towa responded. She didn't want to admit that she had forgotten that he joined the Imperial Fishing Club and was stopping by business as usual with requests, because then she might guilt Rean into staying and helping. She very much didn't want him to miss out on participating in his first day with the Imperial Fishing Club because of her mistake. "I… W-Well as Student Council President, I'm privy to the schedules to all of the school clubs! Since this is your first big day with the Imperial Fishing Club, I wanted to stop by and wave you off!"
She quickly put her hands on her side and put on a confident smile, doing her best to give off the image of his responsible upperclassman.
"Morning, Rean! Are you ready?" Kenneth greeted as he and the other Imperial Fishing Club members approached the two. "Oh hello, President Towa. Here to see Rean off?"
"I am, yes." Towa quickly answered.
"I'm all set, Kenneth." Rean confirmed.
"Excellent, let's head out then everyone." Kenneth instructed as he made his way onto the East Trista Highway.
"Well then, I guess I'll be seeing you later, President Towa." Rean said he watched the others follow Kenneth out of town. Picking up his supplies to join them. "Have a good day!"
"You too, Rean! Have fun!" Towa replied as she waved him off.
A few hours later, Towa found herself collapsing onto the table inside the engineering building while she took a short break from her Student Council work.
"You good?" Crow questioned as he stood by the counter with George while Angelica worked on her orbal bike nearby.
"Honestly, I don't know." Towa answered as she rested her head on the table. "I don't feel tired, but I don't feel quite as motivated either."
"Is Student Council work too much of a hassle this week?" George asked.
"Not really. After Rean left, I was able to divide up the requests evenly and messaged the other Student Council members via ARCUS to let them know of their assigned requests to get done by the end of the day." Towa explained. "Still, something feels off."
"Hmm… I think I might know what's going on." Angelica said as she sat down on the seat next to Towa.
"The flu?" Towa suggested as she raised her head.
"Nope. I think you just miss having your gofer around." Angelica concluded.
"Huh? But I saw Rean this morning, it's not like he isn't coming back with the rest of the Imperial Fishing Club in the evening." Towa pointed out.
"Yeah, but being this well into the school year, I'm sure you must've gotten into the routine of having him around." Angelica argued.
"While I'll admit that I forgot about him joining the Imperial Fishing Club this morning and nearly dropped off some requests in his mailbox, I'm not so dependent on his presence that I can't get anything done the first free day without him around." Towa said in her defense.
"Save your breath, 'Gelica. I don't think Towa understood what you meant." Crow commented as he walked over to the table alongside George.
"Well it's about time I head back to my office." Towa said as she got up and made her way to the door.
"You can run from us, but you can't hide from yourself!" Angelica jokingly shouted as she and the others watched Towa leave.
Elsewhere, Rean found himself standing silently by the river as he and the others fished in the river.
As he kept an eye on his line, waiting for his next catch to bite, he couldn't help but feel that something felt off.
Not that he wasn't enjoying himself. The calming wind and sound of flowing water were definitely relaxing while he and the other club members kept their volume low to not scare away the fish.
"Something on your mind, Rean?" Kenneth asked as walked over to check on Rean's fishing notes.
"Not really." Rean answered as he continued fishing.
"These notes tell a different story." Kenneth informed him as he looked over what Rean had written to record his catches. "They're nothing like your previous ones. Something's definitely on your mind."
"Really?" Rean questioned.
"As a more experienced fisherman, I can notice small irregularities in how people write about fish." Kenneth explained. "While your number of catches are impressive, I just don't see the same passion flowing through your words like before."
"I honestly don't know what to tell you." Rean honestly informed him.
"Well then, I suppose it isn't my place to get involved in other people's business. If anything, it's yours given how much you tend to help out the Student Council with people's requests." Kenneth joked before going to check another club member's notes.
Wait, is that my reputation? I suppose I have been helping out the Student Council for a while now.Rean thought to himself.I know she has things under control without me, but I can't help but want to go back and help out.
By the time Rean and the Imperial Fishing Club returned to Trista, the sun had already set. Meaning he had no time to stop by the Student Council room like he usually did. Even if he tried, it would be pretty awkward to just waltz in and have tea with Towa. Especially when she likely wasn't expecting him since he didn't help out with requests that day, meaning he had nothing to report to her.
Meanwhile in the Student Council room, Towa sat at her desk finishing up the last of her work for the day. Drinking two cups of tea while she reviewed the reports the other Student Council members wrote on their completed requests. Having accidently made a second cup like usual before remembering that Rean had no reason to go see her that day since he was now with the Imperial Fishing Club.
One thing she noted while going over her peers' notes was that they didn't go above and beyond in completed requests like Rean did. Which wasn't bad, since they still got the job done, but it reminded her of his work ethic helping them when he wasn't a member.
It wouldn't be until the following day that the two were able to talk, bumping into each other during lunch period.
"So, how was the Imperial Fishing Club?" Towa asked as the two started walking through the hallway together.
"It was fun. For my first time joining them, Kenneth said I did an impressive job with my catches." Rean explained.
"That's good to hear." Towa replied.
"How did the requests go?" Rean asked.
"Things went smoothly for the most part. The other Student Council members were able to get things done by the end of the day." Towa explained.
It seemed that everything really was fine, yet something still felt off to them as they parted to go eat lunch with their respective friends.
Before they knew it, another free day had arrived.
As usual, Towa woke up and did her usual early morning routine before exiting the lower class dormitory. While making her way over to the school gate, she noticed a few students standing by the bridge.
It was the Imperial Fishing Club, likely holding a meeting to go over their plans for the day. She quickly spotted Rean amongst them and he seemed to be settling into the club nicely. She was happy for him. If anyone needed to find a club to distract themselves, it was him. While she appreciated his constant help with requests the past couple of months, it was best for him to find time for himself on free days.
As the Imperial Fishing Club began to make their way to Trista's eastern exit, Towa continued walking over to the school grounds to get started on her Student Council President responsibilities.
Like the previous week, Towa had sent out the divided up requests to her fellow Student Council members to do via orbal mail. After a few hours of working in her office, she retreated to the engineering building to take a break.
"Working hard or hardly working?" Crow greeted as Towa made a beeline to the table he, Angelica, and George were sitting at.
"What do you think?" Towa responded before resting her head on the table.
"If it were ever the latter we'd start to suspect you're an imposter." Angelica joked. "Speaking of which, I take it that Rean left to go hang out with the Imperial Fishing Club again today? Saw some one of the Student Council members earlier helping those two in the Occult Research Society with something."
"Why wouldn't he? He is a member of their club now." Towa pouted.
"Is that a hint of attitude I hear?" George noted.
"She must still be peeved that Kenneth poached her ever reliable gofer." Crow teased.
"I'm not! Rean can join whichever club he wants, it's not like he was a member of the Student Council to begin with." Towa argued.
"Yeah, but now you don't get to have tea with him in your office after he reports to you all of the requests he completed for the Student Council." Crow continued. "Heh. Bet you still accidentally made a cup for him last week out of habit."
"How did you– Of course not!" Towa responded.
"I heard that mid-sentence correction! I was just guessing! You actually did make him a cup by accident!?" Crow responded before beginning to laugh.
"Hmph. Excuse me for getting used to a routine." Towa said in her defense while her face blushed ever so slightly. "Anyway, I'm done with my break. I'll be heading back to my office."
"You can't keep dodging the conversation! We're all getting grub later to continue where we left off!" Angelica shouted as Towa made her way outside.
Once she was done with her work for the day, Towa's friends kept their word and dragged her with them to Kirsche's Cafe & Inn and got a table outside.
While Towa suffered with her friends' rambling over dinner, Rean and the Imperial Fishing Club returned to Trista.
"Alright everyone, good session today. Spectacular catches all around!" Kenneth cheered before dismissing the club members for the day. "Ah Rean, a moment."
"Sure, what is it Kenneth?" Rean replied as he turned to his upperclassman.
"Are you really enjoying yourself with us?" Kenneth asked as he led him to the plaza.
"Of course, everyone's been really welcoming despite me joining in rather late into the school year. Don't worry." Rean assured him.
"Really? Because your latest notes tell a different story." Kenneth informed him as he flipped through Rean's fishing notes.
"They do?" Rean replied. Unsure as to how his writing would give Kenneth that impression.
"Indeed. The passion compared to the notes in your student handbook just aren't in these notes." Kenneth pointed out as he showed Rean his notes.
"They… uh, look like my usual writing?" Rean noted.
"When your life revolves around fishing as mine, you notice all the small irregularities in how someone writes about fish. Fishing is the key to a person's state of mind." Kenneth said in a serious tone. "There's something weighing on you as we speak, a reluctance to really be fishing with us. Same as you were last week. As the president of the Imperial Fishing Club, I can't allow you to continue spending your free days with us in good faith."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Rean questioned.
"Don't take this personally, Rean. But I hereby honorably discharge you from the Imperial Fishing Club, you need not join us during free days going forward." Kenneth announced.
"Wait, what!?" Rean responded.
"Don't worry, you're still allowed to fish at the river by the dorms and at the pond by the gymnasium." Kenneth assured him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, I can tell that there's something else you're better off doing during free days."
With that, Kenneth left to go take care of something in the clubroom. Leaving behind a confused Rean to sit down on a nearby bench and process what just happened.
Did I just get kicked out of a club?Rean thought to himself as he sat silently by himself.Just what did I do? Was… was my handwriting really that bad?
Nearby, Towa and her friends continued conversing. Unaware of Rean's nearby presence.
"Guys I'm telling you, the Student Council is doing fine without Rean." Towa assured her friends. "Are my fellow members not as thorough with the requests as Rean was? Perhaps. But that's something I can tell them to improve during our usual meetings."
"This ain't about the Student Council, this is about you." Angelica replied. "You've gotten too used to Rean helping out and meeting up with you in your office, and now are having trouble letting go of him."
"I don't see Rean around, probably still fishing outside Trista, I think I'm doing just fine adjusting to our new routine." Towa argued.
"Yeah but I'm willing to bet some fine mira you'd prefer it if things stayed how they were before." Crow pointed out. "Going out each free day and dropping off some letters into Rean's mailbox, working in your office until he arrives to give a report while you both have tea to close out the day."
"Hey wait, why do you do that in the first place?" George questioned as he turned to Towa.
"The tea? Well my relatives mail me some of their excess tea supply and it just so happens to be that the eastern blend I receive often is one Rean's master often gave him, so it's one we both like." Towa explained to them.
"I meant the part where you drop off the requests in his mailbox in the morning" George clarified. "Can't you just send him a message via ARCUS?"
"Oh." Towa replied. "Well I already get up extra early, so I get extra cardio from walking over to Class VII's dorm before heading over to my office."
"Since when do you care about cardio? You barely passed your practical exams last year!" Crow called out.
"Hey! You don't need to bring up the one stain on my academic reputation!" Towa shouted. "Plus that was just because it took a while before I got comfortable with an orbal gun."
"Heh. If you want to raise your grade for the upcoming practical exams I'm sure you can ask Rean to be your sparring partner. Although that would require you to actually practice your marksmanship." Angelica jokingly suggested.
"Hmph. Quit teasing me. I get by just fine at my current skill level." Towa pouted. Even if she knew they had a point when it came to her needing to practice using her orbal gun more.
"Pretty sure that's Angie and Crow's line whenever you tell them to study before exam season…" George noted.
"Listen Towa, I'll be blunt. You're probably too oblivious to notice, but-" Angelica tried to say before three students ran up to their table.
They all had armbands, meaning that they were part of the Student Council.
"T-There you are, P-President Towa…" one of the members panted as they tried catching their breath.
"We've… been looking for you everywhere…" another member continued.
"It's an emergency…! O-One of the requests…" another member informed her.
"What is it!? We've got to hurry back to campus!" Towa immediately responded.
She quickly got up and dashed towards the school grounds. Followed by her fellow Student Council members as they explained the situation to her. Angelica, Crow, and George followed them closely behind.
While sulking, Rean noticed the commotion. Looking up just in time to see Towa, some Student Council members, and her friends rushing over to the school grounds.
Something must've happened!Rean thought to himself as he stood up and started following their trail.
While they quickly made their way inside the Student Union building, he stopped and noticed something outside the building that caught his attention.
"See, I told you your ritual would end in failure." a silver-haired male student chastised his club leader.
"It's your fault, church boy, you got me the wrong ingredients!" Beryl argued as the two stood in front of a broken window in the Occult Research Society's clubroom.
Around the two eccentric students, the remaining Student Council members stood by trying to figure out what had happened. Caleb and Beryl both gave conflicting reports on how exactly they had broken a window during club hours. Pinning blame onto the other.
"Alright, from the beginning, what exactly happened here?" Towa questioned as she and the others entered the clubroom.
"Hello President Towa, as the president of the Occult Research Society, I will explain everything." Beryl greeted.
Beryl recounted the events leading up to the current chaotic scene. She had decided to perform a ritual that day as a club activity and tasked Caleb with retrieving the materials she needed. Nothing complex, just a few grand roses, a bag of regular sugar, and a toad. While performing the ritual however, the bag of sugar exploded and the next thing they knew one of their windows had been broken.
"Clearly my subordinate didn't carry his weight during the ritual and now he must be punished for breaking a window." Beryl concluded as she turned to Caleb with a smug smile.
"I assure you President Towa, Beryl is only telling half truths." Caleb calmly told the Student Council President. Donning a polite smile, which came across as forced to her and the others.
Caleb shared his side of the story. From being sent a message early in the morning by Beryl ordering him at the last minute to obtain the ingredients needed for the ritual she had decided on doing that day. Deciding to file a request to the Student Council and have them get those items for him instead. Handing over what he had received to Beryl and doing his part in the ritual as she instructed. Only for it to end in failure.
"I followed the instructions given to me to a tee. I even had a bad feeling during the ritual before the bag of sugar exploded. The fault for why things have turned out the way that they have lies on my club's difficult leader." Caleb concluded as he turned to Beryl with a confident smirk.
"Okay you two, that's enough of the blame game. Let's look at the evidence and try to make sense of what happened." Towa ordered. Putting her leadership skill on display as the other Student Council members did as she instructed. Picking out small samples from the remains of the failed ritual.
"That doesn't look like regular sugar to me." Angelica noted as she gave a close look at the white substance. "These bits look bigger than usual."
"Looks like coarse sugar and not regular sugar to me." Crow pointed out.
"These flower petals all look different despite them all being red." George brought up as he held up some of the scattered petals.
"They must've been a collection of random flowers whose only shared trait was being the same color." Towa noted as she began thinking over what they had gathered.
Still, there was still a missing piece to the puzzle: the toad.
Before Towa could try and come to a conclusion, someone arrived at the scene.
"I don't mean to intrude, but I believe this belongs to you guys." Rean greeted as he entered the club room. Holding onto his fishing rod in one hand and a frog in the other.
"Rean!?" Towa responded. Surprised by his sudden arrival. "Shouldn't you be with the Imperial Fishing Club?"
"I was in the plaza when I saw you guys running over here. Couldn't help but get involved." Rean explained. "As you guys went inside the Student Union building, I spotted a trail of flower petals and sugar starting from outside the broken window. I followed it and spotted this little guy in the pond and fished them out so I could return them to their rightful owner."
The frog quickly escaped Rean's grasp and hopped over to Caleb, who picked up the escaped amphibian. Happy to be reunited, it stuck out its tongue and hit the silver-haired student in their left eye.
"I didn't give it a proper check earlier, but that's a frog not a toad like I asked you to get." Beryl noted as she got a good look at it.
That's when everything locked into place for Towa, the final piece of the puzzle slotting into place thanks to Rean's last minute assist.
She turned to the other Student Council members, and asked to check their communications involving this request. Just like Caleb had said, Beryl sent him a message asking him to retrieve a toad, a batch of grand roses, and a bag of regular sugar. Which he then requested the Student Council to retrieve in his stead. However, from there miscommunications occurred between the members as they split up the work.
What was originally a batch of grand roses was simplified between messages as a batch of red flowers, coarse sugar was mistaken for regular sugar, and frogs and toads were mistaken for the same animal.
Meaning neither Beryl or Caleb were at fault, but rather the Student Council for messing up the request. Sparing both members of the Occult Research Society from facing punishment from the school.
"I see. So the ritual was doomed to failure from the start." Beryl responded after Towa explained the mix-up.
"The frog must've gotten spooked during the ritual and took the closest exit." Caleb concluded. "I don't blame it, I would've done the same if I knew the fall wouldn't cause me too much harm."
On behalf of the Student Council, Towa apologized to them for screwing up their club activity for the day. As the leader of the club, Beryl was quick to forgive and offered to read Towa's fortune free of charge once Caleb cleaned up the mess inside the club room.
An offer which Towa declined.
"I do have one question." Towa spoked up as everyone started exiting the clubroom.
"What is it?" Beryl replied.
"You two weren't exactly going to kill that frog or toad involved in the ritual were you?" Towa questioned.
"What? No, no. The ritual was meant to transform a toad's colors." Beryl explained. "Although, I'd hate to part ways with this frog that fate has dropped onto our lap. Looks like we have a club pet now."
"Okay, just making sure." Towa replied before leaving the two club members by themselves.
Once in the hallway, the Student Council members requested Towa to hold a quick meeting in their office. Rean watched as they all made their way inside the Student Council room, unsure what exactly the members wanted to discuss with Towa. Just as he was about to leave, Crow, Angelica, and George blocked his path to the stairs.
"Uh, is something the matter?" Rean questioned. Unsure as to what his upperclassmen wanted.
"Hold your horses, man. No need to rush out of here so soon after helping save the day." Crow cautioned.
"I think you've given our Towa enough grief for two weeks." Angelica teased.
"I have?" Rean replied. "Wait, don't tell me that joining the Imperial Fishing Club actually did cause trouble for President Towa and the Student Council."
"Not so much the Student Council, they're capable of handling tasks assigned to them. Although as you've seen they're not as thorough as you are." George assured him. "Towa on the other hand… well, it's not our place to say."
Right on cue, the other Student Council members exited their office. One of them tapped Rean on the shoulder and told him that Towa wanted to speak with him.
"Well then, we're off!" Crow said as he, Angelica, and George made their way downstairs alongside the Student Council members.
Unsure as to what Towa wanted to speak with him about, he took a deep breath before entering the Student Council room.
"You wanted to speak with me, President Towa?" Rean said as he joined her inside her office.
"I did. I'm not taking up too much of your time with the Imperial Fishing Club, am I?" Towa asked.
"No no, it's fine." Rean assured her. He didn't know whether or not to tell her that he had essentially been let go by Kenneth.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping out just now. I never would've thought to go look for the frog the Student Council gave the Occult Research Society over at the pond." Towa admitted. "Truth be told, I almost thought the ritual they did was to transport it to Gehenna or some other place."
"I never took you for the superstitious type." Rean noted.
"I'm not." Towa corrected. "It was just a passing thought."
"I'm just happy I was able to help you out. I guess I'll be going now." Rean replied before turning to the door.
"A-Actually I was wondering if you'd like to stay and chat?" Towa requested as she reached and grabbed onto his sleeve. "I'll make us some tea."
Unable to decline Towa's offer, Rean found himself sitting on one of the sofas inside her office as she prepared tea for both of them.
It wasn't until Towa handed him a cup of tea and sat beside him that they realized that they had fallen back into their usual free day routine.
"So, how have things been since I joined the Imperial Fishing Club?" Rean asked.
"Besides that incident you saw earlier, things have gone smoothly overall." Towa answered. "How has the fishing gone?"
"Uh…" Rean replied as he thought of how to best answer her question. "Pretty good. Got a few catches earlier."
An awkward silence followed. Neither really sure how to continue the conversation gracefully.
Having tea together reminded them of how things once were, and deep down wanted to continue. However, they were both too stubborn to admit it.
As much as she wanted to accept his help and company, she didn't want to force him. While he didn't want to come across as if he was underestimating what Towa and the Student Council could do without his involvement.
They were at a standstill.
"F-Funny story actually, I accidentally made two cups of tea last week once I finished my usual work even though you weren't coming to give me a report like usual." Towa revealed to try and lighten the mood. "Haha. I can be a bit clumsy, huh?"
Rean suddenly remembered what her friends had told him in the hallway a moment ago.
"President Towa, would you prefer it if I went back to helping the Student Council on free days?" Rean asked.
"What!? O-Of course not!" Towa blurted out. "W-Wait! I didn't mean to sound so rude. Your help is always greatly appreciated, and having tea together to close out the free day was always a treat. It's just that you don't need to add on additional responsibilities on top of your new Imperial Fishing Club duties for my sake. I'm the Student Council President after all, I can manage everything just fine."
"I have faith in the Student Council and their president, don't get me wrong. But what I'm asking is if Towa Herschel, the person, would prefer it if I spent time with her." Rean clarified as he placed his emptied cup on the table and turned to his upperclassman.
"Like I told you before, you don't have to fuss over me." Towa replied before taking a final sip of her tea and placing it onto the table next to Rean's.
He stared at the two cups for a moment before looking back up at Towa.
"Now that I think about it, we've certainly had quite a lot of tea together over these past few months, especially this Eastern blend." Rean noted.
"Would you prefer a different tea blend next time you stop by?" Towa offered. "Whenever that is."
"Do you like the Eastern blend we've been having?" Rean asked.
"It was one my grandfather used to give me when I was younger. I didn't like it at first, but I've grown to really like it over time." Towa responded. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm fine having more of this Eastern blend, but I'm more curious to know if you'd like something different for next time?" Rean explained.
"Oh? Well I should have a few more flavors stocked up in my room that I have in my down time. Although I'm personally keen on having more of the usual next time you visit." Towa answered.
"When would you prefer 'next time' to be?" Rean questioned.
"Uh… whenever you're able to. Not that you should force yourself to come, of course. You're busy now with the Imperial Fishing Club, so our previous routine isn't exactly feasible anymore after all." Towa explained.
"I was let go from the Imperial Fishing Club." Rean informed her.
"What…?" Towa bluntly replied.
"I'm not exactly sure myself, but I'll respect Kenneth's judgement." Rean continued.
This is my chance! Welcome Rean back with open arms and go back to our usual routine!Towa thought to herself as she looked at him.Wait, but that might make him think I'm taking pleasure in the fact that he got let go from a club he was interested in!
"President Towa?" Rean questioned as she looked at him silently.
I can probably just ask if she wants me to start helping with requests again.Rean began thinking to himself.But wait, she might think I'm not taking my extracurricular activities seriously if I come crawling back to the Student Council so soon after showing interest in the Imperial Fishing Club.
If things continued like this any longer, they'd probably dance around the subject until Towa graduated. One of them needed to swallow their pride.
"President Towa, I'm available to help out with requests again next week if you want to throw some my way!" Rean loudly offered.
Humorously at that same exact moment.
"Rean, if it's not any trouble can I drop off some requests in your mailbox next week?!" Towa loudly asked.
The two paused for a moment, quickly realizing that they wanted the same thing. To go back to how things were.
"Haha. Of course, President Towa. The other Student Council members won't get upset if I start helping you again will they?" Rean questioned.
"Actually, that quick meeting we had a moment ago was just them begging me to convince you to help out again." Towa revealed. "They have other responsibilities, so helping out with the requests was stretching our resources a bit thin."
"I see…" Rean responded.At least now I know the rest of the Student Council likes me despite not being an actual member.
"Teehee. I think that I'll pick out a different tea blend for next week. Oh I know, I can bring multiple flavor packets and we sample them together!" Towa eagerly suggested.
"Sounds like fun! I'm looking forward to it." Rean cheerfully replied as the two began discussing their plans for next week.
The next free day soon arrived. Rean could be spotted going around Trista helping out thoroughly with requests Towa left in his mailbox earlier that day, while she worked diligently in her office going over paperwork. Both of them were looking forward to spending time together later in her office.
Elsewhere, Keneth relaxed by himself fishing at the school's pond. While the Imperial Fishing Club wasn't meeting that day, he wouldn't let that stop him from fishing that day.
"I knew I'd find you here, Lakelord."
Kenneth turned around and saw Angelica approach him.
"Oh? Good afternoon, Lady Rogner." Kenneth greeted.
"Why exactly did you recruit Rean into your club if you were only going to kick him out after two weeks?" Angelica questioned.
"In my defense, I didn't recruit him with the intent of dismissing him. However by our second fishing trip, it became abundantly clear to me this heart simply wasn't in it like the other members." Kenneth explained. "If you ask me, I believe his heart longed to be elsewhere."
"Heh. You noticed too, huh? Alright, I'll let you be then." Angelica said before excusing herself to go hang out with Crow and George in the engineering building.
After a few hours, Rean completed all of the requests given to him and met with Towa in her office. Once he wrapped up his report on the completed tasks, the two got to work sampling all of the tea blends Towa brought with her that day to share with Rean.
"How does it taste?" Towa asked after handing Rean a cup of tea to sample.
"It's delicious. Take a sip yourself." Rean suggested as he handed the cup back to Towa.
"Alright, if you say so." Towa said before taking a sip for herself. Placing her lips on the same spot of the cup as Rean's just were.
The two of them were too focused on all of the tea blend samples they were trying out to notice how many times they had indirectly kissed.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed this one-shot!
Can never go wrong with writing up another ReanTowa story. Even managed to give my Trails OC a cameo.
This fic stayed on my computer unfinished since December, got 1/3rd of the way through but struggled to figure out how exactly to resolve Rean and Towa's issue. Decided to sit down and finished at least one of the (many) unfinished drafts in the UnlitCrow Archive.
Special thanks to CrowgoesCaw and ZetianWu for beta-reading this for me!
