Chapter Text
The boy sat next to the window, staring at the passing trees as the train rushed past them, not really paying attention. In his hands he loosely held a sheathed sword, the tip resting against the floor. He passed it from one hand to the other and occasionally spun it in place, fidgeting with it through the whole trip.
Rean was thinking of his immediate future. He was nervous, his brain kept jumping to the possibilities of what he’d find there. Friendship, adventure, love, normal teenage things that had nothing to do with… that thing.
Maybe he’d even get some answers? Of course, answers to his questions would imply a not so normal school life, and he so desired that. Going to school, having a boring but enjoyable couple of years there and forgetting about his problems. Getting away from Ymir was the first step in that direction, of course he’d miss his family initially and he chastised himself for even considering they were part of the problem, but he needed to turn a new page on life. He needed change, he needed to be someone new, someone better and that wouldn’t happen with that baggage hanging over his head.
Things didn’t start well. He had left the train station and, mesmerized by the beauty of Trista, didn’t notice the girl walking in his direction and collided with her. She fell, he helped her up and stammered an awkward apology. Thankfully she was very understanding.
Not smooth sailing so far but it’s not like his life would change as soon as he took a step out of the train station, surely things would be better from now on, right? Then the floor literally gave out from under him and other students as they were sent into some kooky orientation (orienteering?) lesson. The girl from before was there and in the few seconds before they slipped into the dark unknown he tried to save her from getting hurt, he moved on the pure instinct of protecting someone and probably looked really cool doing it but...
Rean, okay, listen, no sudden movements, you can save this, just be really calm. Do. Not. Have. A. Boner. For the love of Aidios. “Hey, so feel free to get up anytime you want to,” Rean said, his voice muffled.
“Uh what, where...? Ah!” It took a while for the girl to recover herself from the shock, but when she noticed she was on top of a boy, her chest right on his face, she jumped up, her face turning red like a tomato.
Rean, you have to apologise, just keep calm and defuse the situation. “Sorry abou- Woah hold on!” He stepped back to avoid a strike from the girl’s open hand. Did she just- “Hey come on”, he dodged a second slap. Screw this. “Back off!”
“Are you kidding me, do you even know what you just-” Their spat got interrupted by their instructor communicating through their orbments. While the information relayed to them was fascinating, Rean was just relieved that it put an end to the awkward situation right now.
Everything else after that was a blur on Rean’s mind as he and the other students were pushed through a series of trials. A labyrinth under the old schoolhouse, monsters, being part of an experimental class, not the most othordox kind of lesson he could think of. But now, lying on his bed and reflecting on it, Rean realized it was a good time, so while Thors wasn’t the normal kind of school he expected it seemed to be interesting at least. And he even made some friends.
His mind went back to the situation with the girl. Alisa. Alisa R. For starters why would anyone present themselves like that, she does know everyone is going to learn who her family is sooner or later right? But I guess I shouldn’t talk since I didn’t mention my own heritage. I should have come clean when Machias started ranting about nobles.
He never… raised his voice at someone before, and he could’ve sworn he was about to push the girl away. It would be an understatement to say he had anger issues, that’s why he trained under Master Yun Ka-fai to begin with, but this didn’t feel like exactly the same thing. He was trying to apologise, then came the slap and he dodged it instinctively, at which point it clicked in his brain: why should he apologise? For what? He was trying to help, it wasn’t his fault. It felt kinda good to be honest.
A brief look into the last two months and Rean remembered apologising at least 10 times for something he didn’t do or wasn’t that big of a deal. This… this self-flagellation he put himself through was a terrible habit of his, even his father pointed it out to him more than once and Rean of course apologised for it every time, then apologised for apologising. It was time for a new Rean, right? Someone who is more self-assured, more confident, who wouldn’t take shit from anyone else…
Rean sighed. He walked to the window and leaned against it, taking in the night air and silence of the town. Trista sure was beautiful even at night. “I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and be the same idiot all over again, aren’t I?” A sad smile crossed his lips.
As he slept, the scar on his chest itched.
The days passed without any major incidents. Nobody at Class VII had much of a break after their first day, acclimating to their new lives wasn’t easy and as such they barely had time to talk to each other about anything but school.
“Mr. Schwarzer.”
“Instructor Sara.”
“Could you explain to me what you’re doing here?”
Rean was lying on the couch on the first floor of the dormitory, lazing around when his homeroom teacher’s face popped above him, sporting a slightly annoyed expression.
“Uhh… I was… “ Be confident. “A-as you can clearly see I got some free time before lunch so I’m taking a break.”
His teacher clearly wasn’t amused. “Don’t be a smartass, kiddo. I mean why are you here, alone, while the rest of the class has joined a club or is in the process of doing so?”
“Oh that. Well, I gave some of the clubs a chance but uhh it didn’t work out.”
“Explain. And move over so I can sit down when talking to you or I swear to Aidios I’ll flip this couch along with you,” Sara couldn’t deny she was curious about what this kid had gotten himself into, teacher life was so boring even mild teenage gossip seemed exciting to her. Also she wasn’t actually going to flip the couch. Maybe.
“Sorry.” Damnit. “Like I said, I went through some of the clubs that interested me. The fencing club seemed like a no brainer but there were problems.”
“Well well well, what do we have here? Someone from the ‘special’ class deemed himself worthy of mingling with us,” that voice was the pinnacle of arrogance, coming out of the smuggest face imaginable. It belonged to a student dressed in a white uniform, indicating he was a noble. “I had Celestin look into what made this Class VII so special. Let me see, which one are you again… ah you’re Baron Schwarzer’s adopted son.”
The upper class kid did not notice Rean's grip tightening around his tachi.
“You probably already knew that, being our teacher and all, but my father, Baron Teo Schwazer, adopted me and that carries a certain stigma among the nobles,” Rean paused for a moment, mulling over the events that followed and what he should say. “So I challenged him to a mock duel with practice swords, wiped the floor with him and his other upper class buddies and then left.”
The teacher went silent for a moment. Stupid Sara, stupid! After you heard about the incident between him and Alisa you expected he had gotten himself into another wacky mishap, instead he’s going through some personal shit and you were joking about throwing him on the floor. “Oh Rean, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”
“Let me stop you right there, instructor. I’m fine, honestly,” he forced a smile. “I guess I shouldn’t have engaged at all with that guy, Patrick was his name I think, but what’s done is done. Besides, between my own training regimen and Thor’s combat practice course I think I’ll have more than enough training.”
“Laura said the same thing,” realizing Rean didn’t want to go deep into his personal issues with her she changed the subject. And who could blame him, school had started barely two weeks ago, she was basically a stranger to him. “I heard she’s thinking about joining the swimming club, you should try that. You did give a chance to other clubs, right? I’m sure getting to join a bunch of cute girls in swimsuits would be fun,” she playfully winked and elbowed him in the arm.
That got a chuckle out of Rean. “Yeah I thought about swimming, as well as the chess and riding clubs, but I don’t know, all of these are stuff I do when I’m trying to relax, not things I feel particularly dedicated towards.”
“So what, you’re not joining any clubs and just going to spend this free time doing nothing?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
“Uh huh,” there was a pause, Sara’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Okay then, see you later,” she immediately left the dormitory.
“See you later, Instructor,” Rean laid back on the couch and for a moment started to relax again. “She accepted that too easily. Hmm... I don’t like that.”
The boys of Class VII were at the school’s cafeteria, eating and chatting away. All together except for Jusis Albarea.
“Do you think we should invite him over? We are in the same class after all,” Elliot said, pointing out to the only male noble at their class sitting at another table. A handful of other noble students were sitting with him but Jusis didn’t seem particularly interested in talking to them. Elliot looked at Rean for support but his friend just shrugged.
“What for? So he can regale us with exciting stories about being incredibly rich and taking advantage of his status? Oh please Jusis, tell us about the time the maid dropped wine on your father’s expensive rug made of leopard skin and he fired her on the spot.”
“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh? I’ve spoken to him a few times and he seemed nice.”
“At best he was being polite because you’re the son of a famous general. I doubt he’d lend the same level of diplomacy to the rest of us. Nobles can be sneaky like that. Right, Rean?”
“Huh?” Rean was caught mid bite on his sandwich, he chewed really slowly stalling for time as he thought of something to move away from this topic. “Uh well, you know, people are people and uhh…”
“I think what Rean is trying to say is that we should get to know Jusis before passing judgement on his character,” Gaius interjected.
“Yeah that, thanks, Gaius. What about Laura, she’s a noble and she’s making friends with the other girls, by the way I heard she’s in the swimming club, what about you guys?” Please move on from nobles, please.
“I’m in the music club, that’s basically a no brainer for me.”
“I was thinking of joining the art club, I think the mixing of my own Nord heritage with Erebonian techniques will prove to be an interesting learning experience.”
“I was thinking of joining the chess club, seems like the one more up my alley. What about you, Rean?”
But before Rean could answer he had no clue and that their instructor may or may not be planning something weird for him a food tray slammed against their table, startling everybody. Its owner was a gray haired boy in the green uniform reserved for commoners. “Hey hey hey, just the class I wanted to see.”
“Who the hell are you?” Machias yelled as the other student pulled a chair in between Rean and Elliot.
“Pleasure to meet you all, name’s Crow Armbrust, your senior,” he took a bite from his lunch with absolute nonchalance, while the other students around him were still surprised by his intrusion. “So what were you guys talking about?”
“We were talking about which clubs we’re joining,” Rean said to break the ice.
“Yes, and before that we were discussing how archaic the concept of a class system is.”
“No, I think you were just bashing nobles again, Machias.”
“Whatever.”
Crow looked at Rean, then at Machias and then back at Rean. “Wow you guys are boring. You should be talking about actual important issues. Such as: which do you think is the cutest girl in your class?”
All of the boys at the table blanched at the sheer audacity of posing that question mere seconds upon meeting them. “Haha, well we just started classes so we don’t know each other very well.”
“Wrong answer, redhead,” with great speed and precision, Crow’s hand stabbed a piece of meat from Elliot’s plate with a fork then he ate it. “I’m not asking which one you wanna get married with. This is important data, you gather your initial thoughts and then at the end of the year you compare with what you learned. For example, at the start of my first year every guy was head over heels over Angelica but now? Pssh.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?"
“Oh you’ll learn soon enough. Anyway, you with the glasses, go.”
“W-what? I’m not going to play this stupid, childish and frankly sexist game.”
“Wrong!” Again Crow’s hand shot out to steal more food but Machias was faster and managed to pull his plate away.
“Stop that! Hey, ask Rean, he touched a girl’s boob on his first day here.”
Rean started choking on his drink. Shut up, Machias, go back to ranting about nobles.
Crow’s eyes went wide and a grin formed on his face. “Oh ho ho, holy shit! Now that’s a man who knows what he wants and goes for it. So tell me which one it was? Was it the one with the glasses, I bet those barely fit in your hands,” he elbowed Rean, whose face reached a tone of red nobody there had seen before.
“Actually, it was Alisa, the blonde one. And he actually got a faceful of her chest,” Gaius calmly stated with a sly smile on his face. He might not have known the Nord for long but Rean did not expect this level of betrayal from him.
Crow was rendered speechless for a moment, a piece of food almost falling from his open mouth. “I came here expecting to act like a guide to school life, play the wise senior you know? But it looks like I have a lot to learn from master Reano over here.”
After Rean explained what actually happened at the old schoolhouse they had a much more normal conversation. Crow did try to instil some senior knowledge on them like which teachers were less likely to catch you cheating on tests, best places to be alone with your girl, etc. “Actually important school life information,” he called it.
“Now if you gents will excuse me, I gotta bounce. But before that,” he put his arm around Rean’s shoulders, pulling him away from the table and towards outside. “I gotta have a chat with the ladykiller over here.”
“If this is about Alisa, I already explained it was a misunderstanding.”
“Sheesh man, you gotta chill. Listen, I got a message from student council president Towa for you,” Crow waited until they left the cafeteria and its cacophony of sounds behind and directed Rean to a bench near the building. “You’re supposed to go to her office later after classes are over, it seems like they have a special assignment for you.”
“What? Why?”
“If I had to guess, since someone isn’t joining any clubs they’ll have a ton of free time to help the student council with whatever they need.”
“Damnit.”
“Hey man, come on, it ain’t so bad. I did that during my first year as well. It’s gonna be fun, you’ll get to go around all over school and Trista and get to know a bunch of new people. Call it forced socializing.”
Rean let out a half-hearted “I guess” which frustrated Crow a little bit. This guy was being a little too depressing. “Listen man, you don’t have to take every opportunity that shows up for you but you do have to take some chances. There’s an entire world out there that’ll change who you are, for the better or worse. Isn’t that why you are here, to get yourself into trouble, make friends and pick up a few chicks along the way?”
The way Crow put it was oddly familiar to a thought he had on the trip to Trista. Changing himself, becoming a new person, but he had to make an effort for that to happen. His mind brought back memories of how he refused to study the Eight Leaves One Blade school at first. This Crow character was right.
“Yeah… yeah you’re right. If it’s like you said, it’s an opportunity to get to know a lot of different people and, I’m gonna be honest, sounds more interesting than, like, the literature club or gardening,” he sounded more committed now, more genuine and confident.
“Hell yeah that’s what I’m talking about. Now between you and me… seriously, which girl got your attention?”
“Haha, uhh Laura’s…” Got a big sword, she’s an Arseid, I wonder how good she is with it. You can’t say that though, it’s stupid, say something lewd about her. “Tall.” Idiot!
“Wow, looks like Reano over here wants to climb a mountain huh?”
That sent Rean into a laughing fit, it was the first good laugh he had in weeks, it felt like a lot of tension was leaving his brain. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“Hey that’s what I’m here for. Also, you really should tell your friends you’re a noble, I’m sure they’ll be fine with it.”
“Why does everyone here seem to know about my family?”
“Not my fault the student records are so easy to break into. Anyway, I gotta go now,” Crow got up from his seat and extended his closed fist towards Rean. “Come on man, don’t leave me hanging.”
Rean raised his fist and it met with his senior’s. “Heh, you’re a cool guy, Rean. See ya!”
Later that day Rean met with the council president and just as Crow had told him, he’d be the council’s errand boy. As positive as he had been when talking to Crow, in that moment Rean almost thought about not accepting the offer but he felt that saying no to President Towa would be akin to kicking a puppy. A very tiny puppy. That girl was way too cute and small to be his senior.
While not as eventful as the first day at Thors, lying there on his bed Rean couldn’t stop but reflect on it. Crow was cool, confident, irreverent. He helped Rean break out of the thin shell that started to form around him. He intruded on the conversation between 4 complete strangers and soon it was like he was part of the group, he was a natural. Rean should be more like him. “Maybe his attitude will rub off on me if we hang out more”.