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Chapter Text

“Juna!”

“Mmm…” She was feeling nice and warm and soft and she didn’t want to stop...

“Juna, I can’t breathe! Juna! JUNA!”

“Ack! Sorry!” Juna immediately flung her arms out and away from Altina who she had been hugging so tightly. She really couldn’t help it; Altina was just so cute and the perfect size for hugging and she really needed that recharge after today’s tough day of class.

“I think you like me too much, Juna,” Altina scolded as she smoothed out her clothes.

Juna blushed. “Well, you’re just so good! To hug!“

“If you smother me too much, I’ll have to tell Instructor Rean,” Altina warned.

“No!” Juna wailed. “I’ll be good! Just let me hug!”

Altina scooted away, laughing. “It’s already too much…”

“No…” Juna pouted. “I need your hugs! They give me energy!”

“Well…” Altina cocked her head to the side. “If you work hard on your studies, then maybe…”

“I will! I definitely will!” Juna knew Altina was offering because she wanted to help her classmates, which would mean less work for Instructor Rean, but whatever the reason Juna would work very hard if she could get more Altina hug time.

Chapter Text

“Musse!” Juna stormed into the medical office where Musse was sitting alone. She had checked almost everywhere for the mint-haired girl, only for Rean to point Juna in that direction.

“Yes?” Musse turned around, her ARCUS unit in her right hand. “Do you need something?”

“I wasn’t interrupting, was I?” Juna had rushed here because she had an idea, a whim, but if Musse had been hiding in here because of actual business…

“No.” Musse frowned. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Nope, not at all!” Juna replied cheerily. “I just had a tiny request.” Juna took a deep breath. “Can I try on your wig?”

Musse’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before closing as she chuckled. “I don’t think green would look very good on you, Juna.”

It wasn’t a no, then? “Just come on, please?”

Musse sighed dramatically, though she also seemed amused. “Alright.” She motioned for Juna to take a seat on the bed. From her pouch she retrieved a bunch of hair pins as well as her wig. “You have so much hair, Juna,” she murmured as her undid Juna’s ponytail.

Juna giggled. “Surprising, isn’t it? My mom always complained about the number of knots I’d get in my hair.”

“Your hair’s very nice,” Musse said. Juna smiled and closed her eyes as she waited for Musse to pin up her hair. Musse was efficient in her work, taking only a few minutes to pin Juna’s hair up with dozens of clips. Juna briefly wondered just how many times had Musse done this in the past to her own hair. How many times, for how many years…

“There you go!” Musse stood up and stepped away. Juna first patted her head, ensuring that the wig was on securely, before she stood up and looked for something reflective so she could see herself. The wig did look strange on her head but that didn’t matter. Juna did a twirl and a curtsy.

“Teehee, pleased to meet you! My name is Junalise!”

Musse was stunned, before stuttering. “W-What?”

Okay, so Juna was expecting laughter, but when Musse collapsed to the ground, laughing so hard that she might have been crying, Juna felt so embarrassed she was feeling faint, sinking down onto her knees next to Musse Thankfully no one else was in the room…

“You’re so cute, Juna-lise,” Musse sang out once her laughter subsided.

Juna covered her face with her hands. “Gosh, stop it, please!” It was so embarrassing, truly. Despite this, though, Juna would do something like this again, if only to bring another smile to Musse’s face.

Chapter Text

For one week the Thors II dormitory kitchen had one consistent occupant and it wasn’t the usual suspects of Sandy or Freddy. It was a pink-haired, chipper but stubborn girl named Juna.

Altina was the first to notice something was different. 3 days in a row she had gone looking for Juna, and 3 times she found Juna in the kitchen. “You’re here again, Juna?”

“What’s up, Altina?” Juna continued to hand-mix the batter in the bowl she was holding.

“You didn’t finish your mathematics homework.”

“Huh?” Juna paused. “Oh, yeah, that.” She started mixing again. “I want to finish making this first.”

“Juna…”

“Don’t look at me like that, Altina!” Juna exclaimed. “I just needed a break.”

“If you say so…” Altina had a hard time forcing Juna to quit. After all, Juna was about to bake cupcakes. She instead went back to their room, grabbed her books, and returned with their homework that she forced Juna to work on while the cupcakes were baking. They might have stayed up later than they should have after eating the sweets, but Juna did get her homework done at least…

*****

Two days later, Rean was returning to the dorms late when he found Juna about to put some cupcakes in the oven. “You’re here again, Juna? I heard from Altina that you’ve been in the kitchen a lot lately.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to make some cupcakes…” Juna replied.

Rean sighed. “It’s late, you know. You should head to bed soon.”

“I know, it’s just, you know, we had cooking class, and I was thinking of sending something to Ken and Nana. Though I don’t know if these would keep for long… Wait, why did I think of that just now?”

“It should be fine for a few days,” Rean reassured Juna. “But why are you making cupcakes over and over again?”

Juna looked away. “I’m trying different ratios of chocolate to cherries so I can please both Ken and Nana.”

Rean nodded, though one thing didn’t make sense to him. “That’s great, but what are you doing with all the leftover cupcakes? Surely you aren’t eating a dozen a day?”

Juna shrugged. “I don’t have leftovers? They’re always gone by the next morning.”

Rean was worried Juna was causing all the other students, especially certain boys, to have an unhealthy spike of sweets in their diet, so he investigated the next day. It turned out Celestin had been taking the cupcakes early the next morning and handing them out to the Leeves residents. Rean decided it was best not to let anyone else know.

*****

“Perfect!” Juna fist-pumped. Juna had just bitten into one of the cupcakes she had made. It was from her 7th set of cupcakes in the past 7 days.

“What are you yapping about?” Ash barged in, only to stop a few seconds later.

“Don’t be so crude, Ash.” Behind Ash was Musse, who scolded Ash with a sugary smile and dancing eyes. “When a girl shouts good things about her food, it must surely be delicious.”

“It smells really good, Juna.” Behind Musse was Altina.

“Mmhmm.” And Kurt was here too.

“You guys!” Juna looked down at her cupcakes. She hadn’t planned to share these. “I’m...actually giving these to-“

“Ooh, who is it? Instructor Rean?” Musse asked slyly.

“What? No!” Juna didn’t mention she had given Instructor Rean a cupcake just two days ago; that would cause Musse’s fantasies to go wild. “I’m sending these home.”

“Home? Two dozen of these?” Ash looked a bit skeptical. “That’s a lot for like…four people?”

“Well, not just my family family,” Juna replied, “but also the Special Support Group, and my friends, and…”

“Is two dozen going to be enough?” Kurt looked worried.

“Oh come on, there’s no way-“ Ash began protesting, but he was cut off.

“Miss Ju! I heard you were baking!“ Just then Randy barged in and went straight to the cupcakes.

“Oh! You should have one, Randy! I made them for you.”

“Gosh, you know how to treat a man.” Randy happily took a bite. “Too sweet for me but I can never deny Miss Ju.”

Juna grinned and laughed before turning to her classmates who were all looking on enviously. Especially Altina, who seemed ready to cry. Oh, she wasn’t being fair, was she? She supposed if…if she only sent 18 cupcakes back home instead of 22, it’d be okay, right? Ken and Nana wouldn’t know better, right?

“Fine! One for all of you.”

Altina smiled so wide that it was probably worth it. Ash didn’t give compliments because he was still a prick, but it was fine because he smiled. They enjoyed cupcakes and light conversation until Rean showed up.

“Hey guys, what are you… Oh.”

“Um…” Juna hadn’t counted on Rean showing up. Would she be sending back 17 instead?

“Looks like you guys are having fun. Randy, I expect you to make sure they aren’t up too late.” Rean was about to leave when Ash spoke up unexpectedly.

“Wait, you don’t want a cupcake?”

“Nah, Juna gave me one earlier this week. I’m alright.” Rean smiled. “Have a good night, everyone.” With that Rean left. As soon as he left, Musse pounced.

“It was for Instructor Rean after all,” Musse said with a sly grin. “Maybe I should try making him something…maybe add a bit more love into it…”

“Musse!” Juna and Altina exclaimed. While Kurt made some tea for them all to enjoy, Altina explained just how she would protect Rean from any “love-poisoned” goods that Musse might attempt.

After tea and cupcakes, Musse and Altina helped Juna to pack the remaining 18 cupcakes for shipping to Crossbell. And so came the end of Juna’s intensive baking week.

Chapter Text

Juna was quick to say she felt love. Love for her family, obviously. Love for her friends. Love for her classmates. Love for tennis, for shopping, for eating sweets, for hot baths, for soft pillows and stuffed animals. Love for Crossbell, not just the S.S.S. but for the vibrant, lively country.

Using the actual word, though, was tricky business. She probably smothered Altina with the word, because it was easy with her and Altina was just so cute, but with anyone else… With any male classmates it would definitely cause misunderstandings. With teachers…Randy would make fun of her and Rean… She definitely couldn’t use it with Rean! Musse would definitely come after her, even if Juna just meant she admired and respected and felt indebted to him…

“Do I feel love too easily?” Juna asked aloud one night as she laid in bed, unable to sleep.

“You might, but that’s one of your strong points.”

“Huh?” Juna blurted out, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She looked over to Altina’s bed to find Altina lying on her side, facing Juna. Altina should have been asleep!

Altina continued. “Because you love and support us, we can do our best. That’s what Rean told me, at least.”

Juna laughed. Of course it was something Rean had said, not Altina. Those types of cheesy words were not typical Altina-speak.

Altina added, “I still don’t really know what love is, but I agree with him. With your support I am better.”

Juna smiled so widely and her heart felt so full. “Altina!” she exclaimed. “Let me-“

“Go to sleep, Juna,” Altina said, cutting Juna off. To emphasize her point Altina rolled to face away from Juna and pulled her blankets snug. Juna sighed, albeit still happily, and rolled to lay on her other side as well. Maybe Altina didn’t know what love was right now. It just meant Juna would keep teaching her, right?

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe how exhausted I feel right now,” Juna groaned as she, Altina, Kurt, and Randy left Saint-Gral labyrinth for the first time. Kurt nodded and Altina yawned, while Randy just smiled sympathetically.

It had been incredibly disappointing to be training instead of out there like the old Class VII members, looking for clues to find Instructor Rean, but after today’s exercise she understood perfectly well that the others had been right about this. It didn’t ease the frustration, though.

Food was delicious but it didn’t help her keep her focus up, her eyes and ears open. She went to her room and couldn’t remember if she managed to change before she fell asleep. (She did, somehow.)

The cycle repeated, twice, albeit with different enemies. In a way it was better to be tired; she didn’t think as much about what she could be doing out there instead and she didn’t think as much about what had happened that day, that horrible day…

The third day she was tired but they got news that the old Class VII was coming back. Which was good because she was also tired of the same training fortress. She was tired but she was back to her original strength now, ready to kick butt. It was time to actually start moving, actually start doing.

“We’re ready,” she muttered. She thought she had just said it quietly to herself, but Altina grabbed her hand and Kurt put his on top.

“Yeah!” they cheered.

Juna fell asleep that night not worrying about anything at all.

Chapter Text

Juna stifled a yawn before opening the door to the training room in the Thors II dormitory. The room was quiet save for the soft grunts coming from the pale blue-haired young man as he practiced with his twin swords. He made a few more practice swings before lowering both his swords and turning around.

“Good morning, Juna,” he greeted with a small smile. “It’s unusual to see you up this early.”

“Morning Kurt!” Juna replied cheerily. “I wanted to catch you practicing.”

Kurt blinked. “You want to spar with me?”

“No! Well, sorta…” Juna fiddled with her skirt. There was no need to be nervous, she told herself. “I was curious about your twin swords.”

Kurt chuckled. “You were just bragging about how your gunbreakers were a superior type of weapon-”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry about that!” Juna interrupted loudly, feeling flustered. That had not been one of her best moments… “You looked so smooth with your twin swords so I kind of wanted to try…”

“Here.” Kurt took a step towards her and held the swords blade down towards her. He made sure that Juna’s hands were securely around each sword’s handle before letting them go. Juna nearly dropped them when he let go.

“They are heavier than they look,” she commented, readjusting her grip on the swords.

“More weight means more power.”

“I see.” Juna lifted both swords so that they were out in front of her. “So, slashing is like this?” She drew both swords up and towards-

“No, stop!” Kurt shouted. Juna immediately froze. Instead of explaining with words, Kurt moved to stand behind her and guided her left and right arms with his own. It was pretty awkward, standing so close together, arm against arm, but she definitely could imagine a verbal explanation not making much sense to her.

“That feels really weird. It’s almost opposite of what I do,” she commented when Kurt stepped back. She tried a practice swing with left and then right, downwards instead of upwards.

“Yes.” Kurt didn’t step in to correct her again, so she must have been doing it sort of correctly now, albeit in an unrefined manner.

She decided this was enough and handed the swords back to Kurt. “I should probably stop now before I ruin something, right?” she said with a sheepish smile. Kurt nodded. “Anyway, thanks for letting me try. Now I owe you an actual spar!”

“Right now?” Kurt took a step back, his swords position to defend or attack at a moment’s notice.

“Why not?” She retrieved her gunbreakers and set them to strike mode. “En garde!”

Chapter Text

Hate would be too strong of a word, but that smug, rude, bratty prince just made her blood boil!

Just because he happened to be some important person from some important family didn’t mean he could just barge in, demand attention, insult people, trample over feelings, make unreasonable demands, and act like he was offended just because you didn’t give in to his whims! How could someone who acted the way he did deserve any respect?

Maybe because Juna was an outsider, because Crossbell had an elected leader, not an inherited leader, maybe because of that she didn’t understand some things. However the way that Instructor Rean talked, stiffly as if he forced out every word… The way that Kurt’s expression fell, his fists clenching and eyes squinting with each nasty word… How could such an awful person deserve the attention of such good people?

Juna might not understand everything, but she wasn’t going to hide how angry she was on behalf of Kurt, of Instructor Rean, of all these good people!

Chapter Text

Juna wasn’t necessarily a bad student. She attended all her classes, paid attention, took notes, reviewed her notes, studied every day… Maybe she didn’t do it for as long as the others because she couldn’t sit still for too long. She was naturally active and sometimes it was hard to sit down and just read.

It didn’t help that Altina could just focus and study for hours, so quiet and still that she almost looked like a doll and not a human.

It didn’t help that Ash didn’t study at all and yet he always seemed to know the answers whenever he was asked in class. He did read a lot of books though; maybe he managed to read them years ago since he devoured books like they were sweets.

It didn’t help that Musse didn't study because she was basically a genius, and that Kurt seemed only one step below in that aspect.

It didn’t help that Juna hadn’t grown up in the Erebonian Empire and was significantly behind in knowledge that just happened because of immersion, because of years of Sunday school, because of caring about Erebonian history as an Erebonian citizen. She would totally kick butt at Crossbell history, at least.

Instructor Rean told her not to feel so down after the midterm results, but it was a matter of pride. Not just her own pride but the pride of Class VII. To beat those arrogant Class I students she needed to pull her own weight!

“Juna, I can hear you muttering,” Altina said in her usual deadpan.

“Oh, sorry!” Juna gritted her teeth. She’d try to study for another half an hour tonight, but Altina looked to be heading to bed right now and it looked so tempting… No, focus! She was going to do this! She looked back down at her history book and yawned. Maybe she should go get something from the kitchen…

“If you want to sleep you should sleep.” Altina was lying on her bed, blankets tucked to just under her chin. “You won’t remember anything you read when you’re tired.”

“Ah, you’re right!” Juna was feeling a little guilty, but not too much because Altina was right. She needed to be well-rested so she could pay attention in class tomorrow. As for studying at night, she’d try harder tomorrow.

Chapter Text

“Did you get new hairclips?” Altina asked as Juna sat down in front of her for breakfast. Usually they would eat breakfast together, but Juna told Altina to go ahead this morning and Altina now understood why.

Juna grinned. “Yep! My mom sent them to me. Aren’t they nice?”

Normally Juna had pair of thin, plain white clips but this morning the clips were a bit fancier. At the ends this time there were circles decorated with the signature bell symbol of Crossbell.

“Yes. Now stop touching your hair and actually eat.”

*****

The smell of sweet baked goodness tempted all types of students from their rooms and into the dining hall of the dormitory. Kurt was among them (Sidney would not stop “complaining” about how hard it was to study when he was just so hungry) and found Juna dressed in her pink apron, taking out her baked goods from the oven.

“Pretzels?”

Juna nodded. “Crossbell-style pretzels.” She smiled sheepishly. “It’s not like this is a good time to get them from Crossbell, considering the current situation… Hey Ash, not yet!”

Juna had turned her attention to Ash, but just before she turned completely away Kurt noticed that Juna’s pink apron was no longer plain. There was a patch, a white rectangle with a blue cross, that had been sewn on the upper left, right above where Juna’s heart was. It was a small sign maybe, but the placement was definitely deliberate.

Juna was putting on a smile for herself and everyone, still putting her best into school, but it was obvious that her heart was still beating for Crossbell.

*****

“That’s a new jacket,” Louise commented as Juna shrugged on a jacket on top of her tennis outfit. The cold wind had picked up, so the girls had scrambled to put on something to keep them warm. Juna’s jacket had blue sleeves, a white body, and very distinct symbols including the words “Crossbell Police”.

“Elie was able to send one to me. I don’t know how, but I really appreciate it.” Juna crossed her arms over her chest. “Sheesh it is suddenly really cold.”

“Yes.” Louise pulled on her own jacket, which was just her school uniform jacket, to try to keep out more of the cold. “It’s a nice jacket.”

“Thanks.” Juna smiled. Her expression was wistful when she added, “I hope to hand it back in person someday soon.”

Louise just nodded and smiled. She might have never met the original person who owned the jacket, but it was a little too big for her friend. She hoped indeed that Juna would be able to hand the jacket back one day, with a smile on her face.

*****

When Crossbell was finally liberated from Erebonian and Republican troops, everyone in Leeves knew right away because of one particular pink-haired student of Thors II. She might have started dancing in the streets. She might have found children to wave Crossbell flags with her as they went up and down the streets. No one minded, though. It was her day, her homeland’s day, and it was a good day.

Chapter Text

Juna hadn’t played tennis before coming to Thors Second Branch Academy, but the way that Louise described it, it sounded like it would be a lot of fun. Juna enjoyed all types of sports, but especially ones where she was on her feet and constantly attacking and counterattacking. She picked up tennis reasonably well, at least according to Louise, and it didn’t hurt to keep practicing when it was a lot of fun.

It was strange, though, just how deceptively good Louise was at tennis, considering her enrollment at Thors into Class IX and how absolutely blind she was without her glasses. Jessica was better than her too, but her physical aptitude was much more obvious. Still, it was embarrassing at first to be playing side-by-side with Jessica and still not be able to overcome the play of Louise, playing alone on the other side. Juna wasn’t going to stay at this level of mediocrity for too long, though. She was going to keep improving and then one day, play a good match against Louise and the best out there!

Of course tennis club was not just about winning at a sport for Juna. Louise and Jessica became Juna’s good friends. There was plenty of times post-practice where they talked about all types of things: family, hometowns, friends, classmates… Of course Juna got prodded the most; not only were the two most “attractive” boys in her class, but the ever so popular Instructor Rean as her homeroom teacher… It was fun gossip though.

When Juna finally opened up to them more about her conflicting thoughts about Rean, the two were very understanding and supportive. They even set up… It was kind of embarrassing, looking back at that time. Though the actual moment when Juna explicitly thanked Rean for saving her siblings, he laughed at her! Louise had been right about the timing only getting worse…

Now that they were back in Leeves, back to normal school life, Juna was looking forward to making more good memories with her friends, inside and outside of tennis. First would be winning their next interschool match and then going out for cake at Recette to celebrate it!

Chapter Text

Juna was usually the envious one. Other people were stronger, smarter, more beautiful… It didn’t help that she felt this even more after coming to Thors II. Not only was her instructor ridiculously blessed with amazingly beautiful former classmates, but even her own classmates had something she wanted. Altina had beautiful silver hair and perfect skin. Musse was incredibly sly and smart. Kurt was so handsome and proper that the girls of Thors II collectively agreed that he was “off limits”. Ash managed to get away with so much, barely lifted a finger at times and yet he still was so good at fighting and at school.

It felt strange to be envied for something. She wasn’t sure it was good to be envied for being so “simple”, so “forward-looking”, but apparently these qualities helped cheer people up? She was glad to help, if so.

Chapter Text

Juna remembers. In a flash it was over. It was bright, it sparkled, it disappeared as if it had never existed. It was a sharp pain, followed by a dull pain. It was blurry eyes, it was endless tears, it was uncontrollable choked sounds coming from her mouth, from her friends, her classmates, her upperclassmen, from those old or young, from more experienced people.

Every night she kept thinking about that moment, about what she could have done, what she could not have done. Every night she replayed it a thousand times. Every morning she woke up exhausted.

*****

There had been confusion after the sudden ending to their battle that really started back in April. Everyone first all gathered on the Courageous. Students were told to wait in one of the conference rooms. No one really felt like talking. They knew the teachers had stuff to discuss and it was related to them, but it was hard to care enough to gossip about it.

Aurelia came back, half an hour later, and announced that the Thors II students and staff would return to Leeves the next day and also they would resume classes. Everyone just blankly nodded and quietly returned to their sleeping quarters. It was so quiet that it should have been easy to sleep…if it had been any other night.

Juna supposed it was hard to miss the appearance of the Courageous in a small town like Leeves, but the crowd of townspeople cheering and welcoming them back made her feel uncomfortable. No matter how much she knew she should be smiling, she bit her lip and just couldn’t. She looked around and found that she wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be here.

Especially when one of the kids asked, “Where’s that Divine Knight guy?”

There was a collective gasp. The townspeople starting murmuring. It was even harder to look up from the ground now, to see the confused faces of the townspeople.

“Pardon us.” The loud voice of Vice Principal Irving commanded everyone’s attention. “We’ve had a long field trip and the students are exhausted. Please let them go back to the dorms and rest.”

He stayed behind as Juna and the others shuffled past the confused townspeople. Juna refused to look up and betray her feelings, the flood of sadness that washed over her just from a few words from a kid who had no way of knowing what his one question would provoke. She entered the dorm, her old room, Altina right behind her. She threw herself onto the bed, clutched the sheets, and wailed.

*****

A note was slipped under the door of their rooms. Food was available in the first floor kitchen that they were welcome to eat at any time. Classes would resume tomorrow morning following a school assembly.

Juna wondered for a moment what the assembly would be about and then found that she didn’t care. (What did she care about?)

*****

Juna and the other students had been standing for five minutes already in silence, as no one really knew what to talk about, when Principal Aurelia, Vice Principal Irving, and Instructors Randy and Towa arrived.

Aurelia got straight to business. “After much discussion we decided to dissolve Class VII. Juna, Kurt, Ash, you will join Class VIII. Musse, Altina, you will join Class IX.”

At first everyone was stunned, blinking, not comprehending as if Aurelia had just spoken complete gibberish. Ash was the first to react. “What the fuck do you mean?”

Aurelia ignored him. “That is all. Dismissed.” She glared at all of them until Wayne choked out “Yes, m’am!” It was an automatic response from the rest of them.

Once she left, Vice Principal Irving repeated her words. “Juna, Kurt, and Ash, please follow Instructor Orlando. Musse and Altina, please follow Instructor Herschel.”

Juna nodded numbly, though she didn’t really know why. Randy did his best to smile at his three new students (well, technically two new and one returning) reassuringly. Ash grumbled and Kurt patted his back. If Juna wasn’t still just processing what was happening, she would have laughed at the reversal of actions.

Jessica took Juna’s hand and helped her walk with the other Class VIII members back to the classrooms. Okay, sometimes Juna was slow, but did it come to anyone’s surprise when halfway back to the classrooms Juna screamed, “What the hell is this?”

Kurt shushed her. “Let’s meet up after class with the others,” he whispered. It meant a lot when Kurt spoke up like this. There must be some sort of plan. Juna took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. They would do something about this. They couldn’t just let Class VII disappear…let Rean’s class disappear…

*****

Musse and Altina joined them in the Class VIII classroom after all their classes for the day were over and they went over the plan. All five of them would march into Principal Aurelia’s office and Musse would do the majority of talking, since she was Aurelia’s boss in a way, and they would demand to be restored as Class VII. They would go back to their schedule of having half their classes with Class VIII and half with Class IX like they did before. They were capable students and didn’t need a homeroom teacher.

As the five of them marched towards Aurelia’s office, they overheard Instructors Randy and Towa. The sound of Towa’s sobbing made them all pause.

“I can’t do this… It’s so hard…”

This was one of the strongest, smartest people they knew breaking down. They heard Randy murmur words but nothing that they could discern. And then, “You don’t have to be strong all the time. You should take time to rest. I can take care of some things, you know?” Then more words they couldn’t really hear over Towa’s sobs.

Juna took one step away closer to Aurelia’s office and stopped again. She turned around to face the others. “Guys…I’m not sure…”

“Yeah.” Kurt also looked hesitant. Musse was biting her lip, Altina was looking at the ground, and Ash was clenching his fists.

“Let’s head back,” Musse finally said. The others all nodded in agreement before turning back, walking away. Instructor Rean wouldn’t have wanted them to cause unnecessary trouble. Class VII would just have to live on in other ways…

*****

Juna gets through the next week somehow. The classes that Instructor Rean used to teach were now taught by Vice Principal Irving. Juna couldn’t help but zone in and out of the lectures. Instructor Towa still relayed lectures with precision and accuracy but she had lost the enthusiasm. Instructor Randy’s classes were the best for Juna; for a moment she could just react and not think. The recent classes were now about keeping their instincts sharp instead of engaging their tactical minds of fighting. Ash was the most put off by the change in curriculum at first, but even he didn’t protest much. Which reflected just how hard everyone was still suffering.

There were also rumors going around town that Thors II would close at the end of the school year. Juna didn’t know who started them, but she overheard them on her walk from the dorms to the school campus, so maybe it was one of the townspeople? Juna refused to engage in that talk with anyone.

There was also no word on whether they would continue to have field studies or any other special school activities.

What could Juna do to change this? After the first few days of eerie silence save for quiet sniffles and noses being blown, she just kept trying to think. She had to come up with something! They couldn’t be like this forever! Before, when things looked pretty bad…there was…Instructor Rean…

“Juna.”

Juna had been pacing outside on the tennis courts when Randy approached her. “Yes?”

“I was thinking…of returning to Crossbell. I know it puts everyone in a tough situation, but I can’t wait around here. I was wondering if you wanted to go back with me?”

“Wait, what? When?”

“I plan to leave in a week. I wasn’t going to announce it before you decide if you want to come or not. I can wait a few days for your decision.”

“O-okay…” Juna had sent one letter home letting her family know briefly what happened and they had sent one back telling her they were doing okay and not to worry about them, but still… She knew stuff was happening in Crossbell. Governor Rufus had been imprisoned and Erebonia was pulling out, but Calvard was making noise now. Juna was not part of the police academy and she would only return as a civilian, but still…

Randy patted her head. “Take some time to decide, alright? I normally wouldn’t want to take a good student like you out of school, but I also know that your heart hasn’t exactly been here…” He turned away, shaking his head. Juna had the feeling he wanted to say more but worried about biasing her decision.

Juna spent the next two days and nights debating with herself. Her heart really did belong with Crossbell. Even coming to Thors II was related to Crossbell. Not that she hated the Erebonian Empire anymore, of course; she had met many nice people here and understood that good people could be found everywhere. She didn’t want to abandon her classmates, though, specifically Class VII. They were special to her… But what was she really getting accomplished, staying here?

She made her decision and gathered the other class VII members together. Ash made a crude but half-hearted joke about being invited into her and Altina’s room, which just meant that he was forced to either sit on the floor or stand. Kurt sat down next to Juna and Musse next to Altina.

“Guys…I…I’m going back to Crossbell.”

“You’re doing what?” Kurt shouted. Juna cowered; she had never heard Kurt yell like that from this close. His fists were shaking. “You can’t just leave! What about us? Weren’t you one of the biggest-“

“Juna has her reasons, Kurt,” Musse scolded. “Let’s listen to them.” Altina nodded in agreement.

“Tch.” Kurt crossed his arms and glared as Juna told them what Randy told her and explained that she couldn’t focus on school, that she kept thinking about what was happening in Crossbell with the fighting happening there, that she kept thinking she could do something there.

When she finished, Kurt has relaxed his stance somewhat but still looks pissed off. Musse looked satisfied with her explanation. Altina’s expression was mixed. Ash was…?

“Stubborn tomboy has a point for once.”

“Ash, you…” Juna was annoyed at the nickname but surprised at his sympathy.

“Schwarzer wouldn’t want us staying here, stopping ourselves from doing what we thought was right, just out of some obligation,” Ash continued. “So let her do what she wants, ‘young master’.”

Kurt bit his lip. “Fine.” He wasn’t happy. “Why couldn’t you stay at least until the end of the school year…” he muttered, but they all knew that was months from now and it might be too late.

With the conversation over, Musse ushered Ash and Kurt out of the room, leaving just Juna and Altina. Altina had been quiet this whole time.

“Is it okay with you, Al?” Juna considered Altina one her best friends here and really wanted to hear Altina’s thoughts from her own mouth.

“I…” Altina shook her head. “I need some more time to think.”

“That’s okay.” Juna stood up and moved to sit next to Altina, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “We still have a few more days.”

To Juna’s surprise, Altina hugged her back. They held each other and cried themselves to sleep.

*****

Juna let Randy know the next afternoon following class and Louise and Jessica know at tennis club practice of her decision to leave Thors II to return to Crossbell. Louise and Jessica promised to keep in touch and also forced her to buy them sweets at Recette. Juna gladly obliged their whims.

That evening Altina and Juna talked again. Altina finally let her know what she thought of Juna’s decision.

“I am going to leave too.”

“Huh? Al, you can’t just leave too!” Juna shook her head. Juna had her reasons to leave; she didn’t want Class VII to just fall apart just because…

“I thought about what you said, what the others said. I want to leave and help Jusis. He and I, we are both hurting from losing Millium too. He probably needs help too, dealing with family matters and his province.”

Juna nodded. Altina had definitely thought hard about this and come to the right decision. “I understand completely! I support you 100%”

“Thanks.” Altina smiled. It was the first time in days.

“But…” Juna had been thinking about this during the day as well and decided to bring it up with Altina first. “How about we both come back to Thors when our duties are done? We can be classmates and roommates again.”

Juna stuck out her hand and Altina grasped it. “That sounds good.” It was as good as they could do for a promise.

The next morning Randy let everyone know what was going on. Kurt was still upset but it was hard to be upset about that when Juna felt a new purpose in her life, and Altina too. Even Instructor Towa, who would probably suffer quite a bit in workload from Randy’s departure, wished him well. Juna learned later that apparently Principal Aurelia was going to step in until Sara Valenstein arrived. Juna was a tiny bit envious of that lost opportunity to train with Aurelia, which Ash teased her about. This managed to break Kurt’s anger slightly.

Well, she didn’t have much time to worry about that. She informed her family and worked on packing her stuff. She had accumulated a surprising amount of stuff. Maybe she’d give some of these things to Louise and Jessica and Musse and Tita and the other Thors II girls…

She fell asleep easily for the first night in a long while.

*****

It was the day of their departure. Juna was pleasantly surprised at the crowd of well-wishers to see them off. All the Thors II students and Thors II staff waited with them at the train station.

Louise and Jessica got the first hugs, followed by Musse and Tita. Juna was seriously going to miss these girls. When things were back to good in Crossbell she promised to come back and Musse threatened to kidnap her if she failed that promise. Juna shivered; it would be stupid to take those words lightly.

Ash, after shaking Randy’s hand, gave Juna an awkward hug. Juna chuckled; despite his cocky and rude nature he was still awkward with girls which was hilarious. The last person to say goodbye to Juna was Kurt.

“Good luck in Crossbell,” he said simply and held a hand out. Juna took it and shook it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back!” She grinned.

“You better.” It was good that he had come around. “Class VII will be waiting for you two to return.”

“Understood.” Altina was standing next to Juna now. They would be taking the same train to Heimdallr, so they would do their goodbyes then.

“Goodbye Altina, Juna, Instructor Randy!” Everyone called out when the three of them finally boarded the train.

Juna smiled and waved. It was goodbye for now, but it didn’t mean goodbye forever. Even Instructor Rean…even him…somewhere, someday…

Chapter Text

“Yo, Crawford.”

“…What?”

Juna almost didn’t realize Ash was talking to her. She couldn’t remember the last time Ash used her name, last or first name.

“Hurry it up, tomboy. I ain’t got all day.”

And there it was. Juna grumbled in annoyance as she refilled Ash’s cup of coffee. Now that she thought about it, Ash had a derisive nickname for everyone in their class. The words in isolation weren’t necessarily insults, such as Altina’s “black rabbit”, but he always added a sneer to them. There was certainly no respect given when he called Kurt “young master”, that’s for sure. Everyone in their class…except for Instructor Rean.

“Hey, why don’t you use a nickname for Instructor Rean?” She might as well ask. She couldn’t remember if Ash ever called him “Ashen Knight”. If he did, it felt like ages ago.

“Hmm?” Ash took a sip of his hot coffee and almost choked. Juna stifled a laugh, knowing Ash had tried to buy himself some time with that act. “Dunno, Schwarzer is just…Schwarzer.” His cheeks were a bit pink as he took another sip of his hot coffee. It was already glaringly obvious that Ash had come to respect Rean as a teacher and a friend, but Ash would never admit it. Ash was terrible at admitting his soft-hearted side; it was one of his cute traits.

Juna decided to try to push on the offensive. Hands on her hips, she said, “Well it’s not fair that you use a nickname with us and not with Instructor Rean. If you can’t think of one for him then you have to stop using them with us.”

Ash smirked. “You gotta think of something better if you want to threaten me.”

Oh, where was Musse when she could use some backup? Juna pouted as Ash loudly drank his coffee, knowing that he ended up winning this conversation in the end.

Chapter Text

When Crossbell had been taken over by Erebonia, there was anger at the injustice.

When Governor Rufus has informed them that the S.S.S. had been imprisoned, there was despair.

But for every one of the Erebonians that did wrong, there was also an Erebonian trying to do right.

There was Altina and Kurt, supporting her. Altina who had helped the government in Crossbell missions with Rean and probably still worked for the military (except she had a growing ability to care for others). Kurt who symbolized in some ways what she thought of first when she thought of Erebonians, tied to their past traditions and history as their source of glory (except she soon found that Kurt wasn’t really like that at all).

There was Rean, who had been essential in the Crossbell invasion but had also saved her siblings when she couldn’t, and his former classmates including Machias, who was working from within the government to fight for justice.

They all supported her, supported the freeing of the S.S.S., supported Crossbell.

For the first time Juna felt hope that one day Erebonia and Crossbell could be at peace again. Bit by bit they just needed to keep fighting and someday…

Chapter Text

Once again Class VII was in Crossbell and once again they were in Michelam, because that’s one of the things you do when you are in Crossbell, especially if one of your dads is a manger there. Juna didn’t even have to say anything; all her classmates asked Instructor Rean if they could go and he said yes.

There was some time before Juna’s dad would be free to meet them, so in the meantime the Class VII crew were free to check out the attractions in the park. Juna has been distracted by the Mishy charms on sale that she tried to attach to her ARCUS that she didn’t exactly look where she was going, just followed Ash and Musse and the rest. Before Juna knew it, the six of them had reached the outside of the Horror Coaster.

“How shall we do this? Maybe we take turns?” Instructor Rean asked.

“Let’s see which pair gets the better score, Schwarzer,” Ash said with a grin.

Musse immediately grabbed Juna’s arm and declared, “I’m partnering up with Juna.”

“What?” Juna exclaimed, stumbling because of Musse’s sudden action. Also because for once Musse didn’t choose Rean first.

Altina shook her head. “That would be unfair. Musse is a sharpshooter and Juna has experience.”

“Well, I guess that’s true...” Juna said

“Just how many times have you gone on the Horror Coaster?” Kurt asked, curious.

Juna shrugged. “Dunno, maybe a dozen?”

“That sounds low.” Ash sounded skeptical.

“How about we take turns with Juna? That could be more fair,” Rean suggested.

Juna blanched. “I don’t want to ride it that many times in a row... Can we do something else, like the Ferris wheel?”

“Does Juna...not exactly like the Horror Coaster?” Musse asked. Juna looked away. It was those stupid pop-up things that startled her…a bit too much.

“Hah! Scaredy-cat!” Ash smirked.

“I’m not! Ash, we’re going in first!” She’d show him a scaredy-cat!

And that was how Juna and the rest spent their bit of time before meeting her dad...taking turns on the Horror Coaster.

Chapter Text

Juna couldn’t contain her nerves as she stood in front of Principal Aurelia Le Guin, waiting for the imposing silver-haired woman to finish looking over her enrollment paperwork. Juna was dressed in the female student uniform she had been sent, which fit perfectly even over her bra. All the paperwork for enrollment in Thors Second Branch had already been reviewed and approved by Vice-principal Irving, but it was easier to be one biological sex and identifying as a different one in paperwork. As moral support, Major Claire was here, standing next to her. Claire had been the one to recommend her to the academy after all.

Aurelia smiled. “Looks good. Welcome to Thors Military Academy Second Branch, Juna Crawford.”

“It’s…it’s really okay and everything?” Juna squeaked.

Aurelia chuckled. “Why would it not be?”

“Well, I…”

“We welcome all sorts of people of different backgrounds and strengths. Your situation is nothing special.”

“Besides, if anyone gives you trouble, you come straight to me and I’ll sort them out.” To Juna’s surprise, Randy had barged in without warning. Juna knew he was an instructor here; that had been another reason for her to come to this place.

“Instructor Orlando, you shouldn’t show such obvious favoritism.” Behind him was a short, brown-haired woman who Juna presumed was another teacher? She looked quite young though but very competent. At least Juna just got those types of vibes from her mannerisms.

“Orlando, make sure you give both sides a fair hearing before you exact punishment,” Aurelia commanded.

“Principal!” The young woman exclaimed. “Sheesh…”

Major Claire had been laughing quietly during this whole exchange. “Isn’t this good, Juna?”

Juna nodded. She bowed to everyone in the room. “Please take care of me this year!”

*****

Before, when she had been at the Crossbell Police Academy, the other students had known her since she was young and knew her situation and supported her. Here among strangers she didn’t know what they would think. She wanted her first impression to be about her abilities, not her gender. Being sorted into this “Class VII” with an instructor who was having his first time teaching and also happened to be the Ashen Chevalier… She had been more worried about this weird class and this inexperienced instructor that when…that….happened she panicked and immediately slapped Kurt.

For the rest of the day she worried whether he would say something, that he had felt and noticed that. When nothing happened, she felt a bit relieved, but she still didn’t know how to breach the topic. She knew her slap was an overreaction, but there was a lot she didn’t know about Erebonians generally (she felt like her preconceived notions might have been off), and if she told him she would have to tell Altina too, who was her roommate, and would she be uncomfortable? And did Instructor Rean know or not?

After a week or two of debating back and forth Juna decided well it would be better to just tell them and let it blow up. Since they were such a small class, they would need to work well together. She needed to give them the benefit of the doubt. Moreover she remembered that Randy would have her back. She didn’t want to rely on him, though, to help her stand up.

Juna bumped into Kurt on the way out of the dorms. It was perfect timing, only if Altina hadn’t escaped this morning to do something even though they were supposed to go to school together. After some small talk to help Juna work up her nerve to breach the topic, she finally exclaimed, “I’m sorry! It wasn’t your fault completely!”

Kurt looked confused. Juna continued. “I mean, for slapping you. It was an accident I know, but… I panicked because I am well…um…not…girl…”

“Not a girl?” Kurt said, head tilting to the side.

“I’m a boy…” Juna looked to the ground, her voice trailing off.

“Oh, you mean you’re trans,” Kurt stated. “Okay.”

“Okay? You don’t care?”

Kurt shrugged. “It’s not a problem, is it?” he said rhetorically.

“Definitely not!” Juna exclaimed. She exhaled loudly. “What a relief… Now to tell Altina…”

“I already know.” Juna’s short, white-haired classmate and roommate had snuck in behind them at some point without Juna noticing.

“Wait, how come you know?” Juna asked.

“That’s a secret, but I know everyone’s data,” Altina replied nonchalantly.

“What?” Juna exclaimed.

Kurt shook his head. “I think that’s more of a problem.”

Juna agreed. Despite pestering the entire walk to the academy, Altina remained mum on the subject. Later, after they found out more about each other and their classmates, Juna’s situation really would seem like “nothing special”. For now, though, Juna was happy that at least one issue was resolved.

Chapter Text

Juna loved shopping.

She loved shopping when she had money to spend. She loved buying small trinkets, little toys, cute plushies, hair accessories, candy. She absolutely loved to spoil Ken and Nana.

Shopping wasn’t quite as fun when she didn’t have money. She would always feel a bit of sadness when she saw something she knew her siblings would love, or her mother, or her father, or her friends, and she couldn’t afford it. She still enjoyed shopping though because she loved finding new things, unique items, creative items. She would still talk about them to her friends or write about them in her letters back home, but it wasn’t quite as satisfying.

Shopping with someone else, for someone else, was maybe the best type of shopping. It had been super fun when she had gone shopping with Elise and Musse, picking out and discussing clothes. Musse’s ideas of “clothes” for women might have been a bit…much…but it was in good fun and even Juna couldn’t help but laugh when Musse managed to fool Elise into taking some of them off the shelf. The face that Elise made when she pulled out something racy by accident… Elise was very pretty so she really didn’t need anything fancy to still look beautiful. Of course Juna envied that fact, but it made picking out clothes for Elise to try on more exciting because so many styles could look good on her. In the end neither Juna nor Musse could sway Elise to branch out of her usual simple style, but Juna supposed the clothes Elise picked fit her personality. From all the discussion Juna felt like she leveled up her knowledge about being a stylish woman.

For now they were all wearing uniforms (they were nice uniforms that Juna had no problems with) so Juna probably shouldn’t spend her spare money on new clothes, but when she graduated, she would definitely go on shopping spree and get her style on!

Chapter Text

Class VII had just finished their combat training and were now in the cafeteria for lunch. Upon sitting down at the table Juna immediately spotted something.

“Al, your hair ties!” Before anyone could say anything, Juna started fussing with the ribbons in it.

Altina, who had been about to start eating, paused her movements and grumbled, “Juna, stop treating me like a younger sister.”

Musse chuckled. “Big sister Juna can’t help it.” Juna blushed because it was true. It was instinct to fix up Ken’s bedhead or Nana’s ponytails. “Speaking of younger siblings, who do you like better, Ken or Nana?”

“What?” Juna exclaimed. That was a ridiculous question. She shook her head. “Musse, you definitely were a single child.”

“I’m kind of curious too,” Kurt piped.

“Kurt?” Juna was surprised. He had a brother, so surely he understood? “Oh come on.”

“Choose, Juna.” It looked like Altina wasn’t going to let her escape this question either. Juna looked around frantically. This would be a good time for Instructor Rean to show up and say something, or for Randy to butt in… A minute passed and no such savior appeared.

“Stop stalling, tomboy,” Ash grumbled. He had already finished eating and had pulled out another book to read, so why was he even butting in? He wasn’t even participating in the conversation!

“I, um…” Juna stalled as best as she could.

“Whose side would you take if they got into a fight?” Kurt asked.

“Fight?” Juna didn’t remember the twins fighting very often. Despite being the same age and having to share things, they really played well together. They were angels and the best siblings she could have asked for. “I would do my best to make sure both were happy, if they were to fight.”

“Typical Juna,” Musse commented with a smile.

“Hmm…” Kurt seemed contemplative.

“Juna. You sound like Instructor Rean.” Altina didn’t seem satisfied with that answer.

“Coward,” Ash said.

“Hey!” Juna exclaimed. “Why don’t you try choosing between those two angels?”

“Older sister Juna is very proud and very stubborn.” Altina was smiling as she said this, though.

“You bet!”

Juna loved her family. She loved her parents. She loved her siblings. She loved them and she was proud of them and she would fight for them and she would never, ever choose just one over the others! If anyone questioned her, Juna would not back down and she would win this battle, every time!

If she ended up being "big sister Juna" to the rest of Class VII, well, they better get used to it too!

Chapter Text

It wasn’t surprising that Juna and Alisa got along. Both shared interest in girly things like shopping and fashion as well as tomboyish things like sports. Juna was in the tennis club and Alisa had been in the lacrosse club. Their club experiences were pretty different though.

“You guys never fought? At all?” Alisa was surprised.

“Nope! Louise and Jessica have always supported me. I had no tennis experience so I had to catch up, and they were patient and encouraged me. There wasn’t any drama at all, probably because I had other issues on my mind…” Of course Alisa knew what Juna’s other issues were but it was still embarrassing to say them aloud.

Alisa laughed. “Ferris and I, we got on each other nerves. Though mostly it was Ferris who couldn’t admit that I was working as hard and was better than her.” Juna knew Alisa could be like her and have a hard time expressing her honest feelings. Having met Ferris and seen how she reacted to Alisa’s name made it easy for Juna to imagine that.

“That must have been fun,” Juna grinned. “How did that affect the other club members?”

“Apparently Emily and Theresia clashed the same way the previous year, so they let us have it out.”

“Really?” Juna giggled. “Is there something about lacrosse…?”

Alisa shrugged. “Who knows. Speaking of which, have you ever played lacrosse?”

Juna shook her head. “I haven’t. It sounds like fun though.”

“It definitely is! And I’m not just saying that because I play it.” Alisa smiled. “I actually haven’t played tennis before but it looks fun too. We should teach each other some time.”

“Yeah, that sounds great!”

They shook pinkies on this “promise”. It wasn’t possible right now, but once they cleared this “mission”, once Juna got back to normal school life and Alisa back to normal work life, Juna would definitely make this tennis-and-lacrosse exchange happen.

Chapter Text

Juna had no problems sleeping on her own but she also had no problems sharing a bed. When Ken or Nana had a bad dream, they knew that Juna’s bed was always free for them to crawl into. No matter the time of night, it didn’t matter at all. Juna didn’t mind at all if she woke up and found Ken or Nana clinging to her shirt, drooling on her. She couldn’t resist the urge to ruffle their hair, though.

It was a surprise, though, when Altina got into the habit of sneaking into her bed after Rean... Even when they got him back, Juna found that Altina was sometimes curled up against her when she woke up. She had told Altina it was fine to do so, but she had always seemed reluctant to take Juna up on the offer, telling her through words and gestures that Juna was smothering her with too much physical affection. Juna decided to not to bring it up. It was super cute when Altina would snore softly. But sometimes she would sniffle or wordlessly scream, and all Juna could do to help was hold her closer and stroke her hair. She wondered if Altina had to ever do the same for her… If only someone could let her know!

Either way, Juna was going to appreciate this closeness while she could. When Altina went back to sleeping on her own, it would mean that she was happy, relaxed, and life was good, but it didn’t mean Juna wouldn’t miss it.

Chapter Text

Ever since Juna and Altina had gotten closer, Juna tried every day to get Altina to hug her back. She understood that Altina was not used to hugging people. Altina was not very expressive when they first met, but she had really grown more comfortable with emotions and more expressive with them. Juna was so happy and proud of Altina for this.

Altina had recently become more receptive to being hugged by Juna, but her arms would still stay stubbornly down at her sides. She’d blush a little though, so Juna thought there was a bit of improvement. Slow, steady progress towards her ultimate goal.

Juna hadn’t expected a sudden change, though. Juna was standing on the back deck of the Merkaba staring out at the sky, just blanking out, when she felt a sudden impact.

“Whoa!” At first she thought it was Ken or Nana but the person was short but not that short. The only other person that came to mind was… “Al?”

If it weren’t for Altina’s strong grip around her waist keeping her upright, Juna might have smashed her face into the railing. Once Juna felt steady again, she slowly turned herself around within Altina’s encirclement and squeezed tightly.

“I knew you’d come around,” she murmured into Altina’s hat. Altina grunted and Juna couldn’t help herself.

“Ju-na-can’t-breathe-“

Juna giggled but she did loosen her grip slightly. “Sorry!” She sighed happily. “Best day of my life…”

“Stop exaggerating,” Altina scolded. Her breathing had returned to normal.

“Anyway, why did you suddenly hug me?” Juna couldn’t resist asking.

Altina blushed. “Rean said it would make you really happy.”

“Because Rean told you to?” Juna pouted. “Maybe I lost after all…” Even if she did “lose” to Rean in a way, no matter the reason behind it, the fact that Altina initiated the hug was still a win for Juna. Persistence paid off!

Chapter Text

Juna loved Claire. Claire was beautiful inside and out. She was not just blessed with a beautiful physical appearance but she was beautifully intelligent, beautifully capable at her job, beautifully soft-hearted. Juna wanted Claire to be her older sister. She wanted to be Claire when she “grew up”.

Juna forgot sometimes that Claire was a member of the Railway Military Police of Erebonia. That it was her division that helped enforce the lockdown of Crossbell, that arrested her idol, that made the SSS go underground. Juna forgot sometimes that Claire was actually an enemy to the independence of Crossbell, that she worked directly for that man. Her loyalty was a beautiful thing but it was actually so, so wrong. Juna forgot so many times because it was hard to reconcile these two aspects of Claire.

At least now, with the conflict over, it was easier to go back to thinking of Claire as a kind-hearted woman who helped her and took good care of her for that short period of time when Juna was lost. Juna never really blamed Claire for anything but even so she “forgave” her. One day, if they were to meet again, Juna would give her a hug…a very tight hug.

Chapter Text

Juna was an optimistic girl, most of the time. Sure she got angry and sad too, but she always wanted to move past that. Frustration, though, wasn’t as easy to move past as anger or sadness. Frustration usually built up about minor things that weren’t necessarily “horrible” things but things that just annoyed her.

There were currently 3 people who easily made the top of the “most frustrating people” list. First on the list was the cocky and insolent Crown Prince of Erebonia, Cedric Reise Arnor. She didn’t care that he was a big name; his voice and mannerisms just made her want to scream. He was just asking to get slugged! Not only did he come to show off and bait Instructor Rean and Kurt, but he childishly threw tantrums when he didn’t get his way! Grow up! Everyone at this point knew that Juna was riled up at the sight of the blonde prince and basically went into damage control mode. Juna was thankful for that, even if she had to clench her fists tightly to quell her annoyance.

The second on the “most frustrating people” list was Rean, actually. This bonehead of an instructor was one of the densest people she had met in life! Or he pretended to be. Either way, it was annoying. Juna didn’t really know, but either way how did such a guy deserve so many wonderful friends, so many beautiful and talented and amazing… It wasn’t fair! The thing was, Rean was actually a kind person and genuinely wanted to help her and the others… That kindness was hard to reconcile with the man who helped Erebonia take over Crossbell. The way these two aspects made her feel was frustrating because she wanted to thank him for saving the twins but it was so embarrassing to admit after how she’d treated him in the past…

The third on the “most frustrating people” list was Musse. This girl was so much trouble and she did it so deliberately. Musse knew that Rean was put off every time she openly flirted with him, so she did it at any good opportunity. Distracting him when Juna or the others wanted to ask him a question. Distracting Juna or anyone else when they wanted to ask her a question. What Juna found most frustrating was she and the others fell for Musse’s trap every single time! That’s how they found out way later than they should who Musse really was, her own struggles, her own vulnerability… Stupid Musse!

Ash would probably get ranked on this list rather soon, if he kept up with the rude nicknames and insults. Otherwise Juna was mostly fine…just every once in a while, a little bit frustrated…

Chapter Text

When Juna was a kid, she thought the happiest life was having everything she wanted (no restrictions on dolls or plushies or other toys) and playing with her friends every day. She thought, if she and her friends had everything, no one would fight over anything.

When Juna entered her pre-teen years, she thought the greatest happiness would come from having the person she loved the most at her side, always, and living a peaceful and content life. Just the thought of this person she would love would make her smile, make her happy, and the same would be for them.

When Juna entered her teenage years and trouble broke out over Crossbell, she just wanted to return to peace. She would happy enough if her family and her friends could always be safe. No more war – that’s all she needed.

When Juna first entered Thors Second Branch, she thought it wasn’t fair that these Erebonians weren’t feeling any remorse for taking over her country. Maybe it wouldn’t make her happy necessarily, but she wanted them to feel a bit what she felt…

When Juna finally reconciled her thoughts on Crossbell and Erebonia, she thought once again about peace. Happiness could come from Crossbell and Erebonia working together for a better future. Happiness was having friends in both places, traveling freely between places, sharing and enjoying each other’s specialties.

When Juna and the others finally finished their fight against the curse of Erebonia, she was able to go back to her childhood dreams of happiness, somewhat. Being with her friends, but also having a special one to share her life with, always by her side… Maybe she was heavily influenced by the beautiful wedding between Prince Olivert and Scherazard Harvey.

Juna was still young and there was plenty to do. There wasn’t just school to finish, but the fight against Ouroboros was not over. She may or may not be involved in that fight, but she was old enough now, stronger now too. The happiest life would have many happy moments, but she would need to fight for it, fight for that happiness.

Chapter Text

Juna didn’t know much about the Erebonian Empire, let alone the history of Thors Military Academy, so she hadn’t understood what was so special about “Class VII” until she was placed into it. Not only was Class VII unique because it had a mix of commoners and nobles, but they had special field studies too. The fact that the Crown Prince Cedric was not in Class VII apparently irked the prince so badly that he constantly harassed their class.

“Here he comes again…” Altina muttered as Prince Cedric and his posse interrupted their skills test once again, before they could have even started. Instructor Rean and Kurt both groaned while Ash and Musse grinned.

The first time Cedric came by, it had taken all of them by complete surprise. Kurt, who was one of his old friends, for some reason was ignored while the blonde prince told Rean just how much of a waste it was for him to be teaching a group of 5 mediocre students. According to this prince, the sorting of students into Class VII had been rigged anyway because how else did it exclude one of the most talented fighters and ARCUS unit users and a Divine Knight to boot?

“Battle capability is not just about the individual but the strength of bonds,” Rean had told Cedric cryptically. Somehow that translated into Kurt, Juna, and Altina teaming up to beat Cedric and his syncophants. Juna and the others won, of course, even if, for Juna, it was driven by shear annoyance with this royal brat! Rean was lucky that Juna had already made up with Kurt a few weeks earlier, or his gamble might not have paid off.

Cedric and company’s “humiliating” defeat was not enough to stop him from visiting almost every week. He came around by himself sometimes; in those moments he would remember his old friend Kurt, his “reject bodyguard”. The normally calm and quiet Kurt was always burning with anger at that insult in particular; Juna learned later that Kurt’s older brother was the trusted bodyguard of Prince Olivert and Kurt had planned to be the same for Cedric. Though believing that this royal brat was once a cute, shy, and kind kid was a hard thing to do...

Anyway, Juna had gotten way too distracted by her thoughts. Cedric once again had beelined towards Rean. Musse giggled. “The crush he has on Instructor Rean is so cute.”

“Only you would think so,” Ash muttered.

Musse smirked. “Oh, I could give you some convincing reasons…”

“Musse! Ash! Kurt!” Rean’s shout got all their attention. “You three into your Soldats.”

“Yes Sir!” Kurt nodded and scrambled off.

“Yes, Instructor!” Musse blew an air kiss.

“Finally!” Ash grinned.

“What a circus,” Altina commented. Juna chuckled. She knew they would win the battle but even she felt a bit bad for Rean, dealing with all of this and not being able to run away or yell about it.

This time the battle was actually competitive. Apparently Eida and Fritz, Cedric's regular cronies now, liked Cedric well enough to coordinate with him. Juna and Ash had been subject to their criticism for not treating the Prince with enough respect or something like that. Maybe that’s how they bonded. Juna didn’t really care to know.

After the battle, Cedric complained that he was still not allowed to use his full potential, still wanted to get Rean involved, and Juna started wondering what part two of the “circus” was going to be. Luckily for all of them, Instructor Neithardt arrived and threatened to tell Chancellor Osborne that Cedric was being an unruly student. That immediately quieted Cedric’s tantrum and the bratty prince was led away.

Rean coughed. “Now that the skill test is over, let’s talk about the next field study. We’ll be heading to Ordis…”

Juna perked up. With the prince’s appearance and drama she had almost forgotten the best part of being in Class VII – the field studies. Ordis was another new place to her; all these chances to see Erebonia with her own eyes and ears was really helping her look at Erebonia with a slightly better light. Besides it was a bit like being the S.S.S. in Erebonia for a few days a month. No wonder why the crown prince was jealous.

“Stop smiling so creepily, Juna.” Altina didn’t actually seem bothered, though.

When Juna saw Major Claire next, she would have to thank her for the recommendation. Juna had been hesitant about leaving Crossbell and coming here, but now she had no regrets, no hesitation. Every day it was growing stronger, growing smarter, growing into a better person. When she returned to Crossbell, Juna would have so much to share.

Chapter Text

“You’re in good spirits today,” Louise commented as Juna shoved a spoonful of curry rice into her mouth. The tennis club had just finished practice and the three of them decided to get some nutrition from the school cafeteria after a long, hard practice.

“It was good to see your family, right?” Jessica added.

Juna nodded. “Even though it hadn’t been too long and Dad was too busy to meet, it was still nice to see mom and Ken and Nana. Thankfully they and everyone else are safe.”

Juna had felt a rollercoaster of emotions during the brief field study in Crossbell, but she had left in much better spirits and it had carried over into the next few days. Still, a part of her wished they had been able to stay longer, that she could have seen her Dad, that she could have shown off more of Crossbell’s best points.

“You guys saw some parts of Crossbell, right?” Now that Juna asked, she wasn’t exactly sure what the other classes had gotten to see.

“We saw a little bit of the city on our way to and from Orchis Tower,” Louise replied with Jessica nodding. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see your house, but it was nice to see parts of where you did live, though.”

“That’s too bad.” Juna sighed. “If only we could have stayed in Crossbell another day or two, I could have shown you so many things!”

“What are your favorite parts of Crossbell?” Louise asked.

“I don’t even know how to rank them, so I guess I’ll just go off of whatever comes to mind… First, the central plaza area with the Crossbell Bell! The department store has all types of goods, and on the roof there’s a good view of the city. The restaurant there is also good. But in terms of food, there is also “Old Dragon Inn” on Eastern Street. Not only is the food delicious, but it’s always nice to see my friend Sansan too. And the market stands sometimes sell interesting foods and other goods. Further east of that is the old part of town where…well…we weren’t supposed to go over there. There were two gangs there and some rough people…”

Juna trailed off, thinking back on her childhood days. Her first time leaving Crossbell had been to go to school in Erebonia and she quickly learned that despite growing up in a culturally diverse area as Crossbell, there was so much she still didn’t know, that she could only learn from being in person. That’s why it was such a regret that she couldn’t have taken her friends around…

“Ahem, Juna?” Jessica had been lightly shaking her.

“Huh? Oh sorry, was just thinking about the old days, before…”

“That’s fine,” Louise said with a laugh. “Maybe it’d be easier to just talk about your childhood in Crossbell instead?”

Juna nodded. “Alright!” She described the street she grew up on, the residential area, playing with the kids in the central square, running around the park in the harbor, peaking in at the Arc en Ciel theatre, avoiding the back alley and the old part of town, going to Sunday school…

“Don’t be so surprised!” Juna exclaimed, causing her friends to laugh. “I might not be the best student here, but I do love school!”

Juna continued on talking about her father, about Michelam and the recently built Michelam Wonderland which was the place they went to most when he had free time from work and also visiting Almorica village.

“Sounds like a really nice childhood.”

“Ash?” Juna was surprised to hear his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just passing by, but you were so loud,” he said with a smirk. “Not my fault I overheard.”

“It was nice to hear Juna talk so much about Crossbell.”

“Instructor Rean?” Juna almost fell out of her chair. Rean had been hiding behind Ash. Actually, looking around, Juna saw that quite a crowd had built up. Even Randy was here. She put her hands on her face, groaning.

“Don’t worry, Miss Ju, you didn’t let out any big secrets,” Randy said with a wink and a pat on her back.

“Big secrets? Considering she didn’t make it to the casinos or the back alley…”

“Ash,” Randy warned. “It’s too bad you didn’t get to see Ilya and Rixia perform, before that…” He coughed. “Anyway, see you later, Juna.”

As most of the crowd followed Randy away from the table, most likely to pester him about Arc en Ciel’s stars, Juna sighed in relief. Louise and Jessica smiled.

“My father told me good things about Crossbell, but hearing about it from you was even better. I can’t wait to visit your family and your hometown for real, next time,” Louise said.

“Same here. The three of us, together,” Jessica added.

Juna grinned. “Sounds good! My family of course, but Michelam is a must too, and the Old Dragon Inn, and…” Maybe they would need more than a weekend for Juna to show them everything, but she hoped one day soon, they could make this trip happen!

Chapter Text

The first letter Juna wrote home once she started at Thors Second Branch, she tried to mention the fact that Rean was her instructor like it was nothing special, like a description of the scenery in Leeves. It didn’t work at all. Her mom and dad, Ken and Nana, they all jumped on it.

Juna was conflicted about her new instructor at first. He didn’t seem like he was all that great outside of his Divine Knight. Even Kurt shared her doubts. Juna didn’t know what to write back home, to her younger twins who idolized him because he saved their lives, to her parents when she couldn’t thank him properly as a good person should, because he also represented Erebonia’s takeover of Crossbell.

So at first she tried describing him and the way he interacted with other people. She talked about how he talked with Instructor Towa a lot, how they got along quite well. Apparently they had been in school together and worked together then too. Rean had been a busybody assistant when he was a student and even as an Instructor he couldn’t shake that habit off. Instructor Towa respected him a lot but he respected her a lot too. They also seemed to share a different connection, which she only found out later…

She also talked about the strange devotion, at least at first, that Altina had to Rean. Bit by bit Juna and the others got a fuller picture of the situation, of the connection between Altina and Rean. Altina’s shared experience with Rean, the fact that she met him well before he became the Ashen Knight of international fame, it meant when she wanted to reveal the dirt on Rean, she had some good stuff. Juna relayed a few of the stories, just to make Rean seem dorkier to her family.

She tried to talk about Rean’s sword-style, which was a big thing to Kurt, but that ended up being tough. Instead she talked about Kurt and everyone else’s frustration with Rean; he was always talking about supporting them and advising them, but he was also very prone to taking things on by himself, leaving his students out of things.

The easiest thing to talk about, the aspect that came off her pen as if she was possessed by a muse, was talking about Rean’s former classmates. How had Rean managed to be so blessed with so many wonderful former classmates…it wasn’t fair! It definitely leaked through how popular Rean was with women; it was embarrassing when her mom’s reply noted that as a source of jealousy on Juna’s end. Rean’s male classmates also were quite devoted to him as well. Having so many talented people just willing to drop what they are doing to help… Juna was thankful for that since they did save Juna and the others when things got really crazy…

Then her family actually met Rean in person, during their field study in Crossbell, and even though the whole incident was embarrassing to Juna, in a way it made everything better, easier.

Juna felt free to talk positively about how she felt about her Instructor, his good aspects, how she was starting to move on from him symbolizing Erebonia’s “bad” side but actually Erebonia’s “good” side. She didn’t stop talking about Rean via how others dealt with him. After all, with Musse and Ash joining Class VII there was quite a change in dynamics. Musse was…well, Musse. Juna left most of that stuff out; there wasn’t really anything interesting there. Ash meanwhile was an odd case; he clearly couldn’t admit at all how much he did respect Rean, how much he wanted respect from Rean. It was…kind of like her at first, but not really at all!

In replies her mom joked that all Juna wrote in her letters was about Rean. It wasn’t really true… it was just that all these things culminated and what else could she say? It was Rean’s fault, anyway.

But it was okay, now. Things had been righted, there was normal school life again, club activities, maybe a school festival in the future. In her most recent letter she even admitted easily, for once, how thankful she was to have Rean as her instructor. Maybe if Rean was still teaching, Ken and/or Nana could be one of his students! Wait, no, she wasn’t ready to write that into her letter…yet.

Chapter Text

Juna was happy that she settled into Thors Second Branch pretty quickly, but she was also happy that the same was true for Randy.

Juna actually hadn’t known Randy was going to be here as an instructor; probably his arrangement to be moved to Thors Second Branch had happened after her decision to transfer. Seeing him here, that first day, had been strange but comforting. If anything were to go wrong, she had someone who would definitely have her back. But at the same time, she knew this place was a “prison” for him, a place where they could keep track of him at all times. It was just like how Crossbell was being managed…

Of course Randy wasn’t just someone who could help her in a time of need. He was still Randy, still someone who teased others, who wasn’t afraid to put his foot down, who wasn’t just idle even in this “captivity”. He wasn’t as free as Juna but she and others at the Crossbell Police Academy understood, though only a little bit, that even this bit of restriction was better than his old life. Here they both still had a free mind, a free heart…

Randy was one of her heroes, but he was also her older brother figure. He was the cool older brother to all of the police academy students. He was the cool one who everyone looked up to because of his smarts and his experience. He was the approachable one because his name was just a name, his former “titles” just words on a page; he only cared whether you followed your words with actions. He also had some bad habits; the gravure magazines, which he exchanged with the other male students, and his habit to nickname anyone with anything that came to mind. Especially the girls…not a single Crossbell Police female student escaped a nickname, at least to Juna’s knowledge.

As Juna learned to smile, to make friends, to find some good in Erebonia, she was happy Randy was doing the same. Sometimes Randy went out drinking with Rean or Towa; sometimes he would hang around the shops; sometimes he flirted with the ladies in town. Juna and Randy still spent time alone, sometimes, just talking about Crossbell things. There wasn’t a replacement for Crossbell in either of their hearts, the people they knew, the locations, the food, the atmosphere, the memories…

Juna would make some baked goods, sometimes, to remind herself of Crossbell. She always shared some with Randy; he always savored every bite even though they both knew he still wasn’t much for sweets. In exchange Randy would help her clean the kitchen. For some reason they always worked in silence. He was always pensive, thinking about something…maybe someone… Juna understood that feeling too… Even though they were close, there were some things they just didn’t talk about yet.

“Juna, Randy? It’s surprising to see you here, Randy.” Towa entered the kitchen and interrupted the silence. “Helping Juna out?”

“Nah, just returning a favor,” Randy said as finished drying the dish he was holding. “What’s up, Towa?”

Towa chuckled. “Nothing, just was getting a drink.”

“A glass of milk?” Randy teased.

“Randy!”

As the two forgot that Juna was still around, Juna slipped out, smiling to herself. Towa’s unexpected arrival had broken a spell that they had let themselves be trapped under. Maybe next time they did dishes together Juna would talk…and ask…

Chapter Text

“Your ID and ticket, please.”

Juna promptly handed her ID card and train ticket to the man in uniform. It wasn’t like there was anything else for her to do, really. This was Juna’s first time taking a train into Erebonia and she couldn’t help but be on edge. Thankfully Juna was sitting alone; her neighbor probably would have been concerned at how much her leg was shaking, her fingers twitching. Juna’s suitcase had been tucked under her seat. Once this check was over it would start feeling real. She had filled out the paperwork, even put on the uniform they sent her, and yet…

“Juna Crawford.”

“Yes?”

The man in uniform stared at her face for what felt like an eternity. Juna squirmed under his intense stare. “Okay.”

Once he walked away to check the next passenger, Juna muffled her voice with her hand and said to herself, “What the hell was with that attitude? Sheesh!”

Juna swore he hadn’t been that rude to the other passengers. Was it something about her hometown being Crossbell City? Well who were the ones that came into her homeland, snatched it like a lion did its prey, and then had the nerve to act as if she should be indebted, grateful to them? Sure, the number of tourists from Erebonia had increased, meaning it was even harder Dad to get any time off, but Crossbell wasn’t just about money. They had their pride, their heroes…

“Miss, you should sit back down. The train is about to move again.”

Juna had unconsciously stood up as her thoughts had heated up. She flushed and sat back down, resolving to just look out the window. She supposed trees and fields were still trees and fields, no matter the country. Just how long would it be to get to Heimdallr? Apparently that was the big capital of this stinking empire. Another five hours? Juna groaned. Maybe she could will herself to sleep.

At some point she did manage to sleep. That helped, though during that time she gained a seat neighbor. It was an old man with a newspaper, some Erebonian newspaper with an image of the two most hated people in Crossbell, at least in Juna’s eyes, front and center. Chancellor Giliath Osborne and Governor Rufus Albarea. Juna bet that the newspaper was singing praise of these men; what else would a newspaper run by the government do? At least the Crossbell Times had its pride still…

The old man found her looking at his newspaper and grunted, pulling away from her. Fine, she supposed she really didn’t want to read it anyway. Juna turned back to the window. More fields.

They passed another small town, some trains going the opposite direction. Trains were definitely the biggest thing here; an airship would be way better than trains, but she supposed trains were what people were used to. Now that she thought about, Major Claire was part of some train agency or something? She was basically part of the police force, though. Juna didn’t hate the train; it ran smoothly and she knew they had moved quite a distance during the time she had been on it. Still, with nothing to really look at… Juna clasped a hand over her mouth to stop from gasping out loud.

Was that the biggest city in Erebonia? Wow… Juna barely had a moment to process the sight before the train stopped into the biggest station she had ever seen. She had to go to a different platform to catch a train to Leeves… If only she had packed a little less stuff! Everyone was scrambling, running in all sorts of directions. While she fumbled for her train ticket information, she was constantly bumped into by other people, and none of them even apologized! She even stood in the middle of the platform, by a pole, as much out of the way as she could! Finally she figured out which platform she needed to go to. It was two platforms over…she had to walk all the way to the end, all the way over there, just to go up some stairs so she can cross over? Why the hell did this place have to be so big?

Juna huffed and puffed as she scrambled over to the correct platform. She had just stopped to catch her breath when a person in uniform approached her.

“Miss, the train doesn’t stop here. What seat do you have?”

Juna wordlessly handed her ticket over, but in her mind she was wondering if she was singled out for being an idiot. She was confused. The train doesn’t stop here? What the hell did that mean?

“For trains to Leeves, the train cars only stop on the green spots. You need to go down another two spots.”

“Huh?”

“Look at the green numbers.” Juna looked around, not seeing anything green. “On the floor.” Oh.

“Uh, okay.” Juna would have even thanked the man but he had already left. Was helping her such a hassle?

A half-hour later, Juna got off at Leeves. It was a tiny place; she could probably run around every corner in less than ten minutes. Apparently the new buildings were the school and the dormitories. At least the administrator in charge of checking students in was nice. As Juna dragged her bag up the stairs and settled into her assigned room, she found that her roommate was not here yet. It was already evening and school started tomorrow, so was this Altina girl going to show up then? Actually it was pretty quiet; where was everyone else? Juna kind of wanted to get all this type of stuff out of the way. It had already been a not so pleasant day, but she supposed at least she made it here. It could be better the next day, at least?

Chapter Text

The concept of working together to attack, specifically as a pair, wasn’t a new concept to Juna. Yet with these new ARCUS units, with these new classmates she just met, there was something strange going on. She felt already comfortable fighting with them. Was there some kind of resonance between them?

Linking with Kurt felt incredibly natural. Who would have thought after their first meeting that she would be most comfortable fighting with Kurt? Their fighting styles were compatible: both offensive with crafts and physical attacks. They both moved forward, weapons blazing. She might have been more supportive, covering and healing, while he was more counter-aggressive. Sometimes he was too forward; he seemed to coordinate best with her, Ash, or Rean because of that.

Linking with Altina was interesting. Despite her massive weapon, Altina was best with arts. Juna made sure to protect Al as best as she could, so that Altina could do her damage from the back. Besides, it wasn’t hard at all to want to protect someone so cute!

Linking with Ash was a mixed bag. At first she didn’t understand why Ash was getting fired up when she was the one who was getting attacked, but she soon found out that it was just one step before he unleashed his fury on the enemies. Ash might have come off as self-centered but his battle style of causing havoc was…seductive…in a way.

Linking with Musse was…incomprehensible, at times. Sometimes Juna swore she was down for the count and suddenly she was back on her feet, a quiet giggling Musse behind her. Juna didn’t know if she should be protecting Musse or running forward without abandon. Musse acted in mysterious ways, yet she always came through. If Juna could read her mind for 10 minutes, maybe she’d figure out the right thing to do. Nevertheless with Musse casting powerful arts, there sometimes wasn’t much Juna needed to do…

Linking with Rean was like wielding a shield in addition to her tonfas. Juna didn’t think his sword style was the reason for this tendency but rather his personality, to take on other people’s troubles and not care about himself. In a way Rean fought in such a straightforward way that it was the easiest to work with; she almost had complete freedom, she could be a little reckless. He would have her back; he would have their back. Always.

As the months passed, each of these people, everyone in Class VII, they all became precious to her. Fighting together, fighting for each other. They could overcome any challenge, any barrier, together.

Chapter Text

Juna wasn’t happy without reservations, considering the circumstances under which everyone had gathered on the Pantagruel, but she was pretty darn happy. Here all of the members of Crossbell’s Special Support Section, her heroes, her inspiration, her idols, were gathered again for the first time since the occupation.

Juna had many stories she could tell about the SSS; Altina or Louise would hear most of them once she got on a roll. When Randy had come to the police academy, they had already come from being “that weird police group that’s trying to imitate bracers” to a source of Crossbell pride. Juna couldn’t help but find inspiration from them. Before the SSS emerged, Juna hadn’t figure out her future yet. While she enjoyed Sunday school, she didn’t like reading that much. She liked shopping but she didn’t have the eye for buying and selling. She like baking but she wasn’t sure about doing that every day, all the time like Bennett did. After the emergence of the SSS, her future was a no-brainer; join the police academy and become someone who helped others!

Juna remembered when Randy had joined them at the police academy. He was introduced to the newbies and from the outside was an intimidating physical presence, but by cracking a joke during his introduction Randy immediately became approachable. He had soon become a friend, an older brother figure to them all.

Tio was someone she looked up to as well. She played such a vital role in the SSS. She was so smart, so talented, so hardworking, so amazing! Tio was incredibly cute, too. Juna wanted to respectfully keep her distance because she admired Tio so much, but it was so hard to resist the urge to hug her! Even though much of the first visit to Crossbell as a Thors student was a disaster, Juna would never forget the precious moments of fighting with Tio, linked to her, witnessing the one-and-only in person.

Elie was…by Aidios, the most beautiful member of the SSS. She just had this air that put her on another level; any girl in Crossbell would aspire to be at her level! Yet somehow, despite all these blessings, Elie was the kind older sister, the protective older sister, the responsible and even-keeled one. Elie was sure to be a hit among all Juna’s Thors friends!

And Lloyd… The last of the four that she got to see again, the biggest hero of them all. It surprised Juna just how calm she felt in front of him, seeing him now. Well, she wasn’t calm, but she definitely wasn’t in danger of fainting or collapsing because she couldn’t breathe or control her heartbeat. Lloyd’s strong heart was not only inspiring, but his resolve echoed inside of every Crossbellian’s soul. It was pure, it was shining, it was hope. Sure, she had met some people sort of like Lloyd in Erebonia, but being in the presence of her biggest idol, the fact that he praised her? Surely no other motivation could surpass that?

Though it was a bit embarrassing just how many people came up to her, congratulating her on being acknowledged by her heroes. It would have been impossible to hide her happiness. To think they would even consider her worthy, as a semi-representative of them? It was an honor higher than she was truly worth receiving. Juna, though, would take on that challenge. She would work hard and live up to that honor.

For now she was okay with walking around on cloud nine, savoring all these small interactions, sharing the same space, the same air as her idols!