Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Subaru, wake up now. It’s time for school.”

His mind still partly in the realm of dreams, Subaru opened his eyes to the voice of his mother, gently shaking him.

“Ugh…5 more minutes….” He yawned, trying to hide under his sheets before Naoko pulled them away.

“Then these 5 minutes will lead to 10, not today young man. You made a promise, remember?” She smiled as she poked his cheek, “come on. Breakfast is ready.”

While he still wished to sleep some more Subaru resolved himself to stand up, after remembering the obligations he had toward his parents more than his school.

“Ghn…” the boy grunted, taking off his pajamas to wear his O so dreaded uniform, “I couldn’t get much sleep tonight again…”

In front of the mirror, he put his hair up and moved his face from left to right in a feeble attempt to notice any of his charms. Seeking to find any appeal in himself that would somehow boost his self-confidence.

“Nope…Still the same ugly-ass face…” He sighed with a defeated look.

When he was done buttoning his uniform, he picked up his school bag and headed to the kitchen where his mother and father would wait for him, the latter with a beaming smile at the sight of his son in uniform.

“I’ll never get tired of this sight!” He exclaimed in joy, “My handsome son in his handsome attire ready to become the next prime minister of Japan with the precious knowledge he accumulates daily!”

“Aren’t you exaggerating here?” He scoffed, taking his seat around the table.

For a while since he started to go back to school, Kenichi couldn’t help but praise his son every time he would see him.

Of course, he solely swore himself to always support his son since he knew he would take this step for him and his wife, but he also couldn’t contain how proud he was for the courage he saw in his own boy.

It wasn’t difficult for Kenichi to understand in what kind of situation Subaru was going through, and truth be told he was ready to expect his son to be a complete dropout. Not that he would have been resentful or disappointed towards his son, rather, Kenichi would have seen himself as sole responsible for such a thing.

However, these thoughts didn’t bother his mind as much as before thanks to Subaru’s bravery.

Truly, Kenichi Natsuki couldn’t be prouder to be a father than ever before.

“Not at all,” Kenichi shook his head with a laugh, “You’re damn capable and you know it.”

“…”

Subaru didn’t answer with nothing much than a smile, though he certainly had a hard time to believe any of his father’s words.

As of now, he had no plans for any future path or carrier. And needless to say, how politics was out of the question…Much like everything else.

He was still worried, knowing that he was in his last year before graduating. He still didn’t have any college in sight in contrary to most of his classmates…But he kept repeating himself the same thing, over and over.

“It’ll come when it’ll come…”

Rather, it was his excuse and way of coping with the future he couldn’t see for himself.

“Now, dear father and prime minister, it’s time to eat,” Naoko giggled, taking her son out of his thoughts while she placed the food on the table, “you have just about twenty minutes, so don’t waste any more time.”

Sighing under his parents’ teasing, Subaru picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.

“Well, time to go…” Subaru mused aloud as he took a look at the clock, “thanks for the meal mom.”

“Ah, wait! I have to buy some groceries; I’ll walk with you a bit!” Naoko exclaimed, taking off her apron and coming towards her son.

Subaru waited at the door for her, glancing at his father who would throw him a thumb-up.

“You have fun at school then, my dear son!”

“Yeah, sure thing.” He chuckled back.

Now outside, Subaru and Naoko were walking side by side under the sun of a beautiful day in the streets of their peaceful town.

Their living place was really nothing special, but the rather common aspect of it was what made it so relaxing and pleasant to be in. All houses of the neighborhood were relatively the same, modest looking, the people were friendly and enjoyable to talk to as they all knew each other.

When he saw the bigger picture of his life like that, Subaru felt guilty over not being satisfied with it. Surely there was people who couldn’t have such comfort and dreamed over being at his place.

Yet he couldn’t help it. The feeling that hailed from his heart was the one of not fitting in this picture, like a stranger, an outsider of it all…That’s what he grew to be to his own demise.

“Subaru?” Naoko called him, noticing the silence of her son.

“Mh? Yeah?” He replied with a neutral voice.

“Ah…Sorry, usually you always talk about something when we walk together. I thought that perhaps something was bugging you?”

Some would say that no son could hide an illness from a loving and caring mother. Such was in their instinct after all, known as the motherly sixth sense.

Rumor or not, it was at least true for Naoko, who could perceive troubles in her son with nothing but a glance over him.

Alas, as much as he desired to tell her, as much as he wished to explain his thoughts and receive comfort from her…It simply wasn’t possible.

Not because he didn’t want to. But because he couldn’t.

Thoughts and troubles that none can explain, those which words cannot describe. This is what loomed over him, and what he couldn’t get rid of.

With the same fears that hid in the shadows of each word he would try to speak.

“They will not understand…”

“They will be disappointed in me…”

They will think I’m weird…”

“They will lose all hope in me…”

“I will just create more problems if I talk…”

He was walking a thin line, of which the destination was blurred behind a deep fog. In the end, he knew he was living the life he lead for the sake of his parents to whom he owned so much, and not for himself.

Not that he wished it to be different…

Rather, himself didn’t seem to matter at all.

“…I was just thinking on this new assignment we’ll be given today…I’m kind of anxious about it.”

“Mh?” Naoko widened her eyes, “what will it be about?”

“Well, the teacher wants to put us in random group of three each, and we will have to work on a designated social subject,” he explained, “we can’t choose with whom we’ll be so that we learn to adapt.”

“Ah! I remember when I had to do this too at your age!” Naoko clapped her hands, remembering her younger days, “Once, I even ended up with your father.”

“Don’t even start to talk about your romantic youth, woman!” Subaru exclaimed in fake outrage, sensing another trivia about his mother and father coming.

“Aaaaw, and here I thought you liked these,” she giggled while looking up to him, “but these activities are very important, Subaru.”

“…”

“In life, you can find yourself in any situation. Lucky or unlucky, with any kind of people. So rather than blaming fate for putting you a tight spot, you need to learn to work through these situations and overcome them.” Naoko explained, satisfied with how her explanation sounded, “though, what could happen really? No one hates you in your class anyways. You should be fine!”

“It’s not a question of hating me or not, rather that no one really knows me,” He sighed in desperation, “I’ve just came back after months…”

“Aaaah, It’s alright! You have your father’s charisma and my intelligence!” she exclaimed with a fist on her chest, winking at him, “oh, now that I think about it you’ll have to work to each other’s houses right?!”

“Uh…Yeah?”

“That’s an occasion to make a good first impression, Natsuki Subaru!” She exclaimed in glee, “I will buy some snacks and prepare a good welcome for our guests!”

“Hey! Don’t overdo it!” his face red in shame over the scenarios in briefly imagined, Subaru stammered, “If ever it happens things have to be natural! Alright?! Natural!”

“Have faith in your mother!” Stopping in her tracks as she was just about to go the other way, Naoko smiled to her son as she brought her hand to comb his hair, “now, you go and have fun alright? I will be waiting for you at home with some tasty cooking.”

“…Yeah,” he smiled at her, hiding the comfort he felt over her motherly touch, “I’ll do my best. Thanks mom.”

Both mother and son parted ways with a smile. One was proud of her son for his determination and foresaw him becoming greater than he already was.

The other...Was satisfied, and happy to have someone like her as his mother. Thinking that going through what he was going to was worth it if it was for her.

Arriving to school, Subaru met with several hordes of students coming in groups at school, which contrasted poorly with his coming as a loner.

Yet thankfully enough, none really noticed it.

The high school in which he was going was not really more extravagant than any other of its kind. A large building with several other structures around mainly for sports.

However, the modesty of such a school didn’t prevent quite unique personalities to attend it…

“It is the fourth consecutive day that you show yourself in time, I must express my satisfaction over your bettering behavior.” A strict voice called next to him.

To his left, was standing the president of the student council observing the etiquette and attendance of her fellow classmates. She was undoubtedly beautiful. While her green-haired was unusual, she somehow wore this color so perfectly it seemed like how they were naturally, her expression was always rather strict, emanating an aura of discipline which truthfully added to her charm, and her eyes were from an hypnotical amber color that one would stare in for hours.

“…Already at the attention so early in the morning, you’re taking this role to heart too much, Karsten-san.” Subaru sighed with a smile, greeting the verdant-haired girl who smiled back at him.

“My duty obliges, there is no ‘too much’ when it comes to etiquette, Natsuki Subaru,” she said while narrowing her eyes, “speaking of which, your tie. Fix it.”

“Eh?” He looked down, noticing the knot of his tie to be upside down, “damn, I really thought I got it right this time.”

“I already explained you several times how to make a proper knot,” she sighed in disappointment with a shake of her head, “One’s reputation depends partly on how others view you. This is something you should be careful about.”

“Yeah yeah, I get it…” He nodded his head, executing a correct passage through with his tie, “etiquette and all that.”

“Are you perhaps mocking such notion? I really wonder how one can call himself a man when he can’t even dress himself up properly.” She coldly retorqued.

Subaru didn’t react much aside from taking a good look at her from head to toe. She was wearing the classic uniform of the school with an armband representing the student council on her blazer, the only difference between her and other girls in school being…

“You talk about proper etiquette when you’re wearing the male’s uniform?” He scoffed, “that’s grand.”

“No rules prevent students from wearing the uniform they see fit, as long as this one is provided by the institution,” Crusch crossed her arms, not faltering at all in front this boy, “I fail to see how I breach the etiquette here, Natsuki-san.”

“Etiquette perhaps not,” he closed his eyes, walking away from the gate and her, “but you’re not cute at all.”

“…” Crusch didn’t continue, her words failing to come out as she couldn’t help but look down at her uniform in thoughts.

Leaving the nonplussed president at the gate, Subaru continued his way towards his classroom, his eyes meeting several other personalities of the school along the way.

“How much did you score yesterday?” A handsome purple-haired young man asked to his friend.

“30 points,” his interlocutor, another handsome young man with red-hair replied, “I believe it is a new record.”

“And here I thought I finally had a chance…Damn you, Reinhard.” Julius grunted while passing his hand through his hair.

Both Julius and Reinhard were part of the basketball team. Or rather, they were the pride of this club, the school rising high in the rankings since their arrival in the school. Both had some sort of a rivalry over their sport, competing regularly to see who could score more points during their matches.

They were honesty the types of people Subaru couldn’t stomach, seeing them as nothing but playboys trying to show off. Even if I part of him knew it was certainly nothing but jealousy over their skills and popularity.

Perhaps he would have joined this club too if he didn’t take so long to come back to school.

“It really ain’t that hard once you get the basic of how economics works darlin’,” a petite, violet-haired girl chuckled while pointing on a paper for a younger student of the academy, “come on, try again.”

“But I really don’t wannaaaaa” A younger little girl whined, working on her assignment under Anastasia’s guidance.

This was Anastasia Hoshin and Mimi Pearlbaton. Anastasia was the daughter of a rich company owner, and a genius in economy and management, while Mimi was her beloved younger classmate that she swore to hire to work one day. For this kind of people, their future was already set in stone, much more thanks to their background than skills, but still it was a luck that Subaru wished he could have had.

“Fourier-sama! A good day to you! Ah, and you too Felt-sama!” a strangely cute voice rung the side, as brown-haired person was greeting two blonde people, a young girl and a much older young-man.

“A pleasure to see you, Felix!”

“Yeah yeah, hello.”

“Felt-sama is sooooo annoyed this early in the morning, you should avoid that ya know? It’s bad for you face. It may cause wrinkles!” Felix cheerfully replied.

“Mind your own damn business you girly clothes-wearing freak!” Felt spat out, directly attacking Felix’s choice of uniform.

“I guess it doesn’t really surprise me considering Karsten-san is doing something similar. But I can’t help but be grossed out a bit…Come on, what are you trying to say here if it’s not a one day joke?”

 “My heart! Felt-sama is sooooo mean!” Faking a cry while holding a hand on his heart, Felix continued to mock the little blonde under the shocked look of her family member.

“Felt! This is no way to treat your upper-classman! Apologies right away!” Fourier exclaimed in outrage towards his friend.

“I ain’t apologizing for shit! The only reason I have to support this is because you can’t leave me for 5 minutes in this damn school!”

“Uncle asked me to look over you! A school can be dangerous, you know? It is but your first year here!” He tried to argue.

“My father is worried for everything and anything about me, but I can manage on my own for hell’s sake! Stop treating me like a kid!”

“Now now Felt-sama, would you like some strawberry milk to calm down?” Felix proposed while taking out the drink from his blazer.

“Fuck off!”

Fourier Lugunica and Felt Lugunica. Both were part of the same family that owned this school, while the principal was Fourier’s father.

Subaru always saw them as a rather noble-like people living in another era where nobility still mattered a lot in Japan, considering the bits of behavior he observed from them. They were extravagant in their looks, way of speech and habits…Even if Felt was the little black sheep of an exception.

Though Subaru always thought to himself that he would rather hang out with Felt than Fourier if he had to choose.

When it came to Fourier, Subaru didn’t have much of thoughts towards him. He seemed like a nice guy from afar, and he didn’t plan on going any closer to him anyway, so it was plenty enough.

“P-Please…!”

“Uh-oh…” Subaru thought to himself, stopping in his tracks as he prepared himself to see something painful once again.

Several eyes turned towards the corner where this was happening.

“P-please…Go out with me, Priscilla-san!” A boy exclaimed for everyone to hear, bowing down in a perfect angle as he handed an envelope to the lady he yearned for.

An absolute beauty. Her long, beautiful ginger hair reaching her back-waist, her pure white skin, her perfectly shaped visage and unique, ruby colored eyes along with a well-developed body for her age.

“Oh, would you look at that?” She said in a calm voice, a haughty smirk forming on her face, “so, you believe to be suited to call yourself my lover?”

“Y-Yes! Or…Maybe no…B-but if you give me a chance, I promise-“

“Only one, single question and you are already unable to give me a proper response. Only one.” She cut him, her sudden voice scaring him enough for him to jump back a step.

“Add to that, how unable you are to stand properly...Trembling and shaking at a mere discussion we are having. Is a man not supposed to stand out for the one he loves? Is this how you will react if I am in trouble? Will you shake your legs and cry until the threat is gone?”

“I-…I mean…-“

“What do you ‘mean’? Since you take so long to speak, I suppose it has to be something quite difficult. How am I supposed to give a chance to someone who can’t express himself?”

“I’m sorry…This is just very…Stressing.” He stuttered, as Priscilla sighed with a shake of her head.

“Very well. I shall be magnanimous. Tell me, what is it that you like about me, which lead you to make your demand?”

At this, the boy gave a way more elated expression, feeling relief over something he could finally answer with confidence.

“It’s because you’re beautiful!” He exclaimed with confidence.

Yet, Priscilla remained with a stone-cold expression. Her glare becoming more and more threatening to the young-man who’s confidence flew away when he realized he was in trouble, like an ant stepping on a spider’s web.

“You fucked up man…” Subaru mused to himself, wincing at the situation his classmate just put himself in.

“I-I…”

“Get out of my sight.”

And without further ado, the young-man bowed his head one last time and ran away, not having a second to think about his rejection due to the fear rising in his heart.

Subaru raised his eyebrows in surprise, expecting a way harsher backlash from the ginger-haired beauty, much like those he witnessed by the past.

Priscilla Barielle was her name. The beautiful iron lady of the school. She was the daughter of a rich, foreign politician who settled in Japan with his family, and for an unknown reason she was attending a public school instead of a private one like those of her class of people would.

She was known to be fierce, cold, heartless. A combo some could call cruel considering her other-worldly beauty that attracted men from all years to try and court her.

“And what could you be gawking at?” Said iron lady spoke out at the sight of Subaru looking towards her.

“Nothing in particular.” Subaru replied while averting his gaze when he was cut out of his thoughts.

“Surely one who stares so much has something he wishes to say stuck on his tongue. Go on, I shall hear it.” Priscilla came closer, urging the black-haired young man to speak his mind.

“Will you care about anything I’m saying or just get out another ‘hime’ attitude and try to dismiss it?” While such a woman could be scary or overwhelming for some, Subaru was not one of those. It was surprising even to him, but when he thought about it this was recurrent with anyone in this school.

Priscilla raised an eyebrow in surprise to his reaction, seeing how unusual it was for most men she would come towards with such an attitude and voice. She knew and was used to her aura being more dominant than most.

“This is not a matter that depends on me, is it not? If what you have to say is legitimate, I have no reason to get out another ‘hime’ attitude.” She stood face to face, her hands on her waist as she awaited Subaru’s reply.

“Alright then…” Turning to face her properly, not a few feet from her, Subaru looked at her in the eyes as he decided to lay out his thoughts.

“I think you were needlessly harsh towards him. Rather, you’re being needlessly harsh towards anyone who ever tries to ask you out. If you don’t want it, just say no. You don’t need to humiliate them along with it.”

“Oh? Would you look at that? I would have never thought someone so quiet and forgettable as you would be a closet altruist.” She scoffed.

“The way you said your phrase right now hints that you actually remembered me though.”

“Not in a good light, I am afraid. Your face does seem familiar, your name however…” She narrowed her eyes, actually trying to remember Subaru’s name.

“Don’t bother.” He rolled his eyes, not knowing if he truly didn’t care about her knowing him or not like what he wanted to believe.

“In any case, your statement holds nothing worth listening to. If someone takes a step further to confess his love, such a thing should be genuine, powerful. And one who takes a step in these dangerous waters should also be ready to face the consequences of it.” Her expression changed to be sterner, explaining what she deemed to be mere evidence.

“Taking a step to confess already demands a lot of courage. People are risking their social lives out here just to ask you out; this isn’t something that should be looked down upon no matter how many times you have to refuse.” Still not impressed, Subaru continued to hold his stand towards the iron lady.

“A pitiful speech coming from a blind man. There is no courage in what these men are doing every time they try to ask for my hand. In front of such pathetic people, I do not know why I should be merciful.”

“There we go again, I don’t even know what I expected.” Subaru clicked his tongue, as he couldn’t hide how upsetting was this situation for him.

Priscilla’s eyes reflected her own resent and rising anger towards this boy she found to be way too rude.

She already thought of how she would make him pay for this, but just as words were about to leave her mouth…

“This is enough.”

Both Subaru and Priscilla turned to their side to see the verdant-haired president coming towards them.

“You have gained enough attention as of now, don’t you think?” She pointed out, as Subaru glanced around him to see all the eyes staring at him and Priscilla. From Reinhard and Julius to Felt and her cousin.

“Who do you think you are to interrupt me, Karsten?” Greatly irritated, Priscilla’s anger rose so much that the beauty of her visage wasn’t visible no more. It was a wonder how a woman could be so beautiful yet so terrifying at the same time.

“Don’t even try any of your threats towards me, Barielle. Remember you are not the only lion in this territory.” Indomitable, Crusch didn’t cower at all and faced her head on, her amber eyes staring in her red irises.

“Then I will just need to make sure you understand your place,” she scoffed, turning around with a huff as she walk passed Subaru.

“You. We are not done with this. You better prepare yourself.” She warned him with a threatened glance, before walking away.

And with her depart, most of the eyes directed towards Subaru averted as well, seeing this situation as done and over with.

“Cry me a river,” He thought aloud, smiling to the principal, “thanks for the assist, Karsten-san.”

“I merely acted as my duty called, for the sake of the harmony within our school grounds,” she recalled in a veracious voice, like a teacher to his pupil, “however, such a thing would have never happened if you would have simply avoided getting in trouble, Natsuki Subaru.”

“How are you pinning this on me? I’m the one who started the conversation after she trashed that poor guy!” Subaru replied in outrage, “and I wasn’t about to let her do as she pleased with me!”

“Putting your pride aside would have secured a peaceful conclusion, wouldn’t it? This is what you should prioritize within the walls of this school.”

“So that’s it? We let ourselves be walked upon and spat at just so miss gets her way with whatever because daddy got money in the bank? Give me a break.” He spat out, genuinely disgusted.

“The weak seeks revenge, the strong forgives, and the wise ignore.” taking a much more calmer tone at the sight of his frustration, Crusch decided to take another route to explain Subaru her thoughts.

“I’m not saying that you must accept being looked down upon, Natsuki Subaru. I’m saying that such fights are not worth it, and should be ignored for both your sake, and the academy’s.”

Subaru remained silent for a second, gazing at her in a thoughtful manner, as she thought of her words finally breaking through for him to understand.

“So why didn’t you ignore her threat?”

“What?”

“Just before when she threatened you, you got to stand your grand with your lion talk. Why didn’t you decide to be wise and ignore it, rather than confronting her?”

His voice wasn’t condescending, sarcastic or mocking. It was a genuine question from him.

“…It is a fairly different situation, Natsu-“

“It really isn’t. And you know it,” already knowing what she would say, Subaru didn’t waste any time before cutting right through, “I really wonder why I even came back here to begin with.”

“Natsuk-“

“What a rude fellow…” walking towards her, Fourier sighed at the sight of the black-haired boy parting ways with the president, “you only tried to help him here…”

Crusch was still conflicted over what she had to say. She wanted Subaru to understand how pride could sometimes relate to toxicity and aggravate a situation, but when she looked back at what she did herself…

“He was right…” putting a hand on her forehead, Crusch exhaled in distaste.

“Eh? What” Surprised to hear Crusch with such a tone of voice, Fourier widened his eyes.

“Oooh, looks like this one managed to have effect on Crusch-sama~” Felix teased, nudging the blonde-haired young-man, “What are you waiting for, Fourier-sama? You should immediately comfort your fiancée!”

The last part of his phrase was rather a whisper than said out loud.

But before anything could have been done, Crusch was heading towards the classroom herself already. The thought of her interaction with Subaru Natsuki still in her mind.

******

“Was it really worth it to come back here…” He kept thinking to himself.

Now he was in front of his locker, changing his town shoes for school slippers as he grimaced over the last interactions he had with both women.

“And this day was just about to start well…” He grunted, closing his locker.

“Hum…Subaru-san?”

The voice calling him this time didn’t startle him, nor gave him a bad feeling, no. It was a much more pleasant voice, a voice he would immediately associate with goodness.

“E-Emilia-san?” He widened his eyes, trying to keep his composure at the sight of the silver-haired girl in front of him.

She was yet another beauty of this school according to most people’s standards, and nothing short of the ideal woman in Subaru’s eyes.

To him she was beautiful, caring, kind, thoughtful of others…

“A real angel among men…”

“Eh? What was it?” Emilia tilted her head, miss-hearing what was just thought aloud by the black-haired boy.

“Aaaah! Nothing! Nothing at all, please forgive me!” He exclaimed while clapping his hands and bowing in front of her.

“B-But there’s no need to apologize…! Are you alright, Subaru-san?” She began to worry, wondering if the boy didn’t hit his head.

“No no, I’m alright! Perfectly fine! Thanks for worrying about me…” rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, Subaru slowly gained back some confidence, “anyways, what did you want of me?”

“Ah…I just wanted to…I don’t know…Thank you?”

“T…Thank me? What?”

“Well…When you stood up earlier for that poor boy after Priscilla’s rejection…” She recalled, remembering the saddened and distraught face of the poor victim, “I found you to be veeeeeery brave. So, I thought I had to tell you…And thank you for doing what was right.”

Subaru was paralyzed in sheer shock at what was happening to him.

Emilia! The girl of his dreams just thanked him and praised him over something as random as standing up to a haughty bitch!

“…Sure thing…” he could only answer, his mind still in the clouds of his extasy.

“Well…Thanks to this angel my day is riiiiight back at being a good one!”

Before they could further continue their conversation, the school bell rung announcing all students to attend their classrooms, making both Emilia and Subaru smile at each other as they went towards their room side by side.

“You have been coming to school more and more these past few days, Subaru-san. I have to admit that I was kind of really worried when the teacher would constantly call your name, only for you to never be here.” While on their walk, Emilia laid down her thoughts, with a hint of worry behind them, “I hope nothing too difficult happened to you…”

“Well…Something like that, I guess? It doesn’t really matter, it’s over now!” He waved off, avoiding such a gloomy subject with such a pretty lady, “what about you Emilia? I was really surprised when I saw you here after coming back…I don’t remember such a beauty at the entrance ceremony!”

Emilia blushed a bit at his compliments, smiling in gratitude.

“Yes…I was actually transferred to this school 2 months ago.”

“A transfer student! Well this explains a lot!” He thought aloud, opening the door of the classroom for her.

Unfortunately for him as they reached inside, both had to go on their separate ways as Emilia was sat down in the front row, far away from where Subaru was seating.

As he was walking towards his seat, he quickly glanced to a place at the front where a certain fiery girl was seated, narrowing her ruby-colored eyes at him like she was observing a prey.

Subaru quickly rolled his eyes and ignored it, focusing on a more important matter.

“Even for a girl, I wouldn’t betray you old friend….” Subaru thought to himself as he looked at his desk in the far away back. A place out of minds and out of sights, perfect for someone who wished to be left alone just like him.

Or rather…What he forced himself to wish.

“Hello everyone, please take your seats!” right as he came in the room, the teacher dropped a pile of files on the table while taking a quick look at the entire classroom.

He was a tall and extravagant man, wearing traces of white make up on his face while his blue-hair were tied in a ponytail.

“Aaaaand everyone is here! Today will truly be a good day!” He clapped his hands, laying down the files on his desk.

“As you know, today is the famous day which you will receive your assignments…! And your designated classmates!” He laughed out loud, “now now my beloved students, whatever may be the outcome remember that this is aaaaaaall for your sake, and that you shall overcome it as long as you work for it!”

Everyone in the class nodded at him, readying themselves for the fate that shall befall on them.

Some were drowning in stress, others were praying to be with someone they would feel comfortable with.

And Subaru…Well Subaru didn’t have anyone particular in mind, unless…

“Ah, but we’re group of three anyways…This would be dangerous, wouldn’t it?”

The teacher then raised the files up and began to throw them around like frisbees to each student’s desk with a frightening precision. Weirdly enough Subaru never remembered this teacher to be around when he attended school before, but he was clearly an odd fellow.

His classes were still fun and interesting, so he didn’t mind much.

“I would ask of you to cease this kind of distribution again, Roswaal-sensei.” Crusch sternly reprimanded, grabbing her file mid-air.

“No fuuuuuuun, Karsten-san~”

When Subaru’s file fell on his desk, he didn’t touch it just yet. Rather, he was observing the people around him opening their files and their reactions.

In the middle of gasps and breathing of relief, he somehow noticed to people that remained dead silent. The first one was Crusch Karsten who promptly opened her file, read the names, nodded her head and closed it, while the second one was Priscilla up front, who didn’t give much of a reaction.

“Guess there’s very few people suited for her anyways…” He scoffed to himself as he brought his hands to his file.

He took a deep breath, and when he opened it…

“…”

Priscilla began to turn around, Crusch began to look to her side.

And Subaru raised his head to meet both gazes staring at him.

“…shit.”

Chapter Text

"Nooooow, everyone should be aware of their classmates! Let's divide the classroom for you all to meet with your soulmaaaaaates!"

The students began to move their desks and chairs towards the members of their group, promptly designating towards whom they would set and reunite with each other. Everyone...Except Subaru. 

He still couldn't believe the situation he was in, and if it wasn't for the shock of it he'd have certainly begged Roswaal-sensei to swap him with someone else. 

Alas, even if he tried such demand could never bear its fruits considering the very setpoint of this group project was to adapt and overcome no matter with whom you would end up with. 

"I'm cursed."  He thought to himself while staring at the floor with wide eyes.

"I can't believe this. Please tell me this is a damn nightmare!" He gritted his teeth trying to conceal is anger, "What the fuck have I done in my past life to deserve this?!" 

The other groups seemed to be satisfied with everyone compared to him. Julius was with Anastasia and Felix, Felt was with Emilia and Mimi, Reinhard was with Fourier and a girl named Ram, while Ram’s twin sister, Rem, was with two boys named Otto and Garfiel.  

While usually a man would call himself lucky to be in a group with two girls, for Subaru it was nothing short of the worst choice possible now, considering the events of today. 

He never really had any issue with Crusch. Since he returned to school, she was one of the first students to welcome him and try to learn more about him. Surely it was a feeling pushed by her duty as a council president but still something Subaru didn't forget, which eventually lead him to have some sort of a banter with this tomboy beauty. 

The issue lied where he simply didn’t want to have anything to do with her for at least the rest of this day after.

Natsuki Subaru was forgiving, yet much like anyone after a heating dispute, he needed time off what triggered the state he was in.

Priscilla however was a totally different situation, as he simply couldn’t stand her any day of the week.

She perhaps held the grand prize of the single person in this academy he could never hang out with or befriend, simply because of how unbearable he believed her to be.

Yet…

“Move.” She ordered as she pushed his desk to the left to fit hers.

Here he was…

“If you will excuse me.” Sticking her desk to the opposite side, the other voice sat down as well.

“Just end me already…” he uttered for himself, straightening up his back as he met once more with both ruby and amber gazes towards him.

“Seize this nonsense, a little bit of vigor would not hurt you,” Crusch reprimanded him while putting the papers side by side on the table, “we are meant to work together. We will go nowhere if this is how you begin.”

Subaru kept a neutral expression as his eyes travelled from Crusch to Priscilla, who didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood either. She simply looked back at him with an unreadable look. It was an odd mix of abhorrence and disinterest, as if she wanted to attack him but held herself back thinking of how ‘worth it’ this would be.

Ultimately, it lead to both of them staring at each other with clear resent, waiting for the other to make a move before striking back. Well, that would be the case for even longer if it wasn’t for the fierce warden tagging along with them.

“I believe it is evident that you two hold a certain grudge towards another, but-“

“Silence,” without taking the trouble to face the president, Priscilla cut short whatever advice she was ready to deliver, “no one asked you to open your mouth, Karsten.”

Crusch’s expression remained the same, lasting a silence for a few seconds as she observed Priscilla, then Subaru.

“I will open my mouth as much as I can, so long as I wish to do so,” unimpressed by the fiery girl’s insulting demeanor, “now, back at the topic which caused us to be entangled together…”

As he expected a more fierce response, Subaru found himself taken aback from his pseudo-staring contest with Priscilla, briefly clearing his throat before focusing his gaze on their work instead.

“So what is ours about?” He asked the president, reading the paper alongside her.

“It seems like we have to research and work on the multicultural influence in modern Japan…” Crusch mused aloud, a hand on her chin, “this is actually pretty interesting…”

“…Yeah. Sure. 100%.” He off-handily commented, earning a bored look from Priscilla.

“Less than a minute in, and this is already too much for you to understand?” the fiery lady spoke with a tone of pity, “I did not expect an unchallenging road ahead, but it seems like it will be more of a chore than anything.”

“It was already a chore the second I noticed your name in this file, you’re late to the party.” He shot back right away, much to Crusch’s demise.

“You two are truly insufferable,” taking her characteristic tone of voice, Crusch tapped the papers on the table to get their attentions,” you dislike each other, we get it. So perhaps we should focus on our work and nothing else, so we can go on our merry ways as soon as possible?”

Priscilla and Subaru kept staring at each other once more, their pride taking the better of them for this stand off that was definitely, for nothing.

Subaru had nothing to gain over this and he knew it perfectly, and so did Priscilla. It was simply stronger than them. A war had ben declared, and this would not end without a clear winner.

“Yeah, I agree with you on that.” Subaru nodded his head, “so what do we have to do Prez?”

“Observe the influence of foreign culture in the modern day of this country,” Priscilla explained in boredom, “a simple task that might turn into far worse considering what I have to deal with.”

“You can turn that the other way around and you’ll have the same result.”

At the end of her wits, Crusch kicked Subaru’s shin bone under the table in an attempt to shut him up, hating how he would constantly revive this circle when he could simply be quiet.

“Are you really going to constantly showcase your weakness, Natsuki Subaru?” Crusch narrowed her eyes to him, purposely ignoring the ginger-hair, “quit being such a child.”

“Oh wow, it’s as if you got something against me at this point.”

“What are yo-“

“Second time you get into this, and then again, you’re blaming me for her bitchy behavior?”

“Mind your tongue peasant. Classroom or not, do not expect my patience to be limitless.” Priscilla intervened with a hint of anger.

“Peasant? You don’t have anything else in store? Like you know, out of the sixteen’s century where you left your humility?”

At this point of time, Crusch took perhaps the deepest breath she ever did to avoid the awakening of an inner danger.

“So we agree? On Saturday 1PM we go to Akihabara?”

After an hour of discussions their project, all three of them somehow managed to reach a consensus of needing to collect information and see the multiculturalism for themselves. For that, they decided to meet up at one of Tokyo’s most famous districts.

“It works fine for me.” Crusch nodded her head.

“Very well. I shall be present.” Priscilla replied.

“Uh…Contrary to the expectations, I think we’re starting good for this. I really feel like it’s a good beginning,” Subaru commented, more to himself than them, “plus Akihabara is a nice place, at least it won’t be boring.

“Are you not speaking too soon?” Priscilla raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t even start.” He pointed her with his finger, glancing at Crusch who seemed to be so fed up by their antics she didn’t even pay no mind to them.

Fortunately enough, before anything here could escalate once more, the bell of the school rung breaking them all out from their thoughts as the idea of a pause seemed way too blissful to be wasted.

Break times were for everyone a moment of relaxation before all, to take a breath of fresh air from sitting in a room all day listening to a boring lesson.

“Natsuki-san, where are you going right now?” Crusch asked him as he got up.

“Rest my head.” He off-handily replied.

“Mh…Perhaps should I escort you to the-“

“Don’t bother.” He cut her before walking away, leaving the president behind with a nonplussed expression.

“Ooooouh! Did the class president just got dismissed?” Felix giggled from the side.

“Are you alright, Crusch-san?” Fourier asked her, coming closer as well.

“I am alright…” She sighed, turning towards her friends, “how about you two?”

“I’m doing great! I like the subject I got!” Felix jumped on place.

“Me too. It shouldn’t be something too difficult, and I believe my group will be comfortable,” Fourier smiled as well, “however, for you Crusch-san…”

“I know,” she shook her head, “however this shall not prevent me from succeeding this project. Unconventional or not, I shall make them work.”

“If it’s you, I’m sure It’ll go just fine!” Fourier smiled as he bumped his fist up.

“Thank you, Fourier.” Crusch replied with a smile of her own, before looking back to the door Subaru left through.

“…”

When she turned around to see where her ginger-haired classmate was, she was surprised to see she had already left the classroom to go who-knows-where.

“Well, if it isn’t odd…” she thought to herself, remembering that didn’t see Priscilla anywhere in the courtyard during the break times.

Crusch would most of the times go back to the student council’s office or hang out with Fourier and Felix, so her interactions with the other students of the academy were somewhat restricted as of now. Nevertheless, she had managed to know approximatively where each student of her class during break times was, would she ever be in need of them, even Subaru.

Except Priscilla.

“You seem lost in your thoughts, Crusch-san,” a blue-haired girl spoke from the side, “is everything alright?”

“Rem-san…” she uttered her name at the sight of the girl, still half in her thoughts, “I am doing alright, thank you for asking. I was indeed thinking of something strange. How about you?”

“I am doing rather fine!” Rem chuckled, “would you perhaps be in need of help for what’s bothering you?”

As always, Rem was a cheerful and reliable girl. She was one of those who was always ready to help her fellow classmates, and wouldn’t mind doing anyone a favor if they needed it, a behavior that Crusch admired, appreciated and respected her for it.

“I would like to ask you, have you any idea where Barielle-san goes during break times?”

“Mh…Barielle…” Rem began to think, putting a finger under her chin, “I believe once, I saw her heading to the rooftops when I was bringing papers to the teacher’s room.”

“The rooftops…” Crusch thought aloud, “Isn’t such a place restricted?”

“Yeah, restricted…” Felix laughed nervously, while Fourier sighed with a hand on his forehead.

“Why are you two looking so uneasy?” Crusch asked with a frown, “Is my statement false?”

“The rooftops are ‘restricted’” Felix smiled while making inverted commas with his fingers, “everyone goes there, Crusch-sama. If it was as restricted as it is, the door would be locked at least.”

“What?!” Crusch replied in shock, looking at her blonde fiancée.

“Yes, even I knew it, Crusch-san…” Fourier replied with an uncomfortable smile, “it isn’t such a big deal, really. Even my father knows about it, and doesn’t say anything. Sometimes people likes to sightsee when they take a break.”

In her confusion, Crusch turned around to Rem who also nodded her head, saying that even she knew about this, and would Crusch ask to anyone else in this classroom, she would have obtained the same answer. 

“It doesn’t matter what they want to do, or not! The school rules should be respected regardless of loopholes and says of others.” Crusch firmly reprimanded as she was about to go upstairs.

“That’s useless,” Felix waved his hand, “you won’t stop anyone from going there when they feel like it. Especially not this woman.”

“…”

“Just let it be, Crusch-san…” Fourier shook his head, grabbing the verdant-haired girl’s hand, “there’s no harm done if she wants to have a view from there while taking her break.”

Looking back and forth between Fourier’s face and his hand, Crusch simply sighed in defeat as she nodded her head, letting go of his grasp.

“I suppose you are right…”

Usually for Subaru there was no distinction, both the lesson and break time were part of the same boring routine he had to be part of every week for the sake of his family, but now it was different.

For the first time since he came back to school, he really felt like he needed this break. A moment for himself to sit back and think about what was to come. It helped a lot that he was constantly alone during such times anyways.

As most of the students were in the courtyard discussing under the beautiful sun, he was relaxing under the shadow of a tree with his eyes closed, laid down on a bench.

“Such a populated classroom, and I just had to end up with the two worst people possible,” He thought in a grim tone, “Come on, I’d even take playboy purple or red instead of them!”

He began to think about whom he would have liked to be with, the total opposite from Crusch and Priscilla.

“Well…Emilia. Definitely Emilia.” He thought right away, smiling unconsciously as he remembered her face, “And…Mh, the best would’ve probably been just the two of us but if I really had to choose a third…That girl Rem seems very sweet.”

“Subaru-san?”

“Aaah~ I can even hear her angelic voice.”

“U-um…Hello? Subaru-san, are you sleeping?”

“Eh?”

He instantly reopened his eyes as he stood up in surprise, seeing that Emilia was right here in front him.

“I hope I didn’t scare you!” She tried to reassure the situation, moving her hands apologetically.

“N-no! Not at all!” he exclaimed back as he couldn’t control his voice, “it was just surprising to see you here! Wait, what are you doing here?”

“Ah! I just saw you alone and I thought…Well, that you wouldn’t mind a bit of company?” she tried to explain, making Subaru blush bright red.

“She’s truly an angel!”

“Well…If it’s you I wouldn’t mind it at all!” He smirked while trying to hide his beating heart, “please take a seat!”

Nodding to him with a smile, Emilia obliged his proposition and sat down next to him on the bench.

“What subject did you have, Subaru-san?” wishing to continue their conversation, Emilia asked him the first thing that came to her mind.

“Eh…Multiculturalism in J- Basically the influence of foreign countries on Japan,” he waved off, “what about you, Emilia-san?”

“It sounds so interesting!” She clapped her hands in awe, “I had Japan’s culinary legacy in an international view!”

“So Japan’s cooking in the rest of the world?” He deduced, “I never really thought much about the influence we had in the culinary industry, aside from sushis.”

“Japan has actually a great influence in terms of fish cooking, along with some of the best chefs in the world, with their own skills and culture of the blade,” Emilia explained with a raised finger, “I always found it fascinating how Japan created a culture around knifes and blades.”

“Well we never had any good steel to work with, so we had to perfectionate a certain way of forging to create proper steel blades,” Subaru replied while speaking from memory, “it created whole culture around it since it was considered an art, much like any practice here, really.”

Emilia looked at him with fascinated eyes, sparkling with interest.

“Where do you come from, Emilia-san?”

“From Europe! A country called Finland,” she answered with joy, “my aunt had a business trip in Japan, and proposed me to come with her. I accepted since I always loved learning about other cultures.”

“That’s amazing…Finland, right? I think it’s a Nordic country?”

“Correct! Quite snowy, but you get used to it, really. And personally, I believe it is what makes it so charming,” Emilia nodded her head with a smile as she recalled her homeland.

“I’m sure it is as beautiful as you claim,” he smiled at her, “I’d love to travel there some day.”

“Have you ever travelled outside of Japan?”

“No, never,” he sighed while looking up, “but I certainly want to. I think everyone should travel a bit in their life.”

“I think so too, it’s important to see new horizons and learn more about the world you live in.” Emilia nodded her head, balancing her legs.

Subaru briefly glanced at her, his mind soothing at the sight of her beauty under the rays of the sun partly blocked by the tree over their heads.

Then he began to wonder why such a beautiful girl would come to talk with him. She was undoubtedly popular and had many friends around her. Actually the fact that none of them was around at the moment surprised him.

Most of the time he noticed Emilia to be with either Ram or Rem, or other classmates that would follow her around. He didn’t know if the fact that he was alone with her was suspicious or a miracle, but he was persuaded it was one of the two.

“I saw you ended up with Priscilla Barielle and Crusch Karsten for the project,” Emilia winced while smiling, “Do you think you will be alright? I heard both of them were quite fierce.”

“That’s not wrong,” he spat in distaste, “I had to restrain myself from waging a war during the entire hour just before.”

“Is it…This bad?”

“One is constantly trying to push your buttons for God knows why, the other thinks herself in a boot camp,” he spoke in a voice characteristic of his annoyance, “I don’t know what hell looks like but I’m pretty sure it’s similar.”

“I see…I really wouldn’t like to be at your place…” She said with an uneasy smile.

“What about your group, Emilia-san?”

“I love it!” She exclaimed instantly, “Felt is sooooo cute and friendly, and I got lucky to be with Ram, I’m friends with her since my first day here!”

“I see,” he smiled at her, “I’m happy for you then. I’m sure you guys will make some sparks in that project.”

“I surely hope so!”

The rest of the day followed its course just like any other, ending on a rather peaceful note for Subaru albeit the tumultuous beginning.

Subaru was on his way home already, thinking about what he was about to say to his parents about today and the group he was in, a part of him even thinking of already quitting everything now and have summer classes.

But as he went on his way, a stern voice called his name.

“Natsuki Subaru.” As he stopped when she called him, she fastened her steps to reach him.

“What do you want?” He replied without hiding his annoyance, “I think I got enough scolding for today.”

“…Do you believe me to be solely able to reprimand you?” She spoke in a quite outraged tone, “Besides, I would not have to do any of it, would you simply comply by our school ethics.”

“So far you haven’t done anything else than that prez,” He sighed as he turned around, Crusch following him, “so, what do you want?”

“I simply wished to talk to you about today…And…” she cleared her throat, “and apologize.”

While he was surprised, Subaru managed to remain expressionless as he kept his pace, listening quietly to what the president had to say.

“I realized that I might have been…Unfair with you today. In more ways than one,” she admitted, walking by his side,” However I felt like you should know…”

Subaru glanced towards Crusch as she began to explain something he felt like he should lend a more careful ear.

“It is not something that I can have a control on, Natsuki Subaru. I seek only order for the safety of this school. And sometimes, I simply…”

“You’re just used to people nodding their heads and agreeing with you, Crusch-san,” Subaru commented with a scoff, “seems like holding authority got to your head.”

Shaken by his words, Crusch stopped in her tracks while grabbing his jacket and forcing him to stop as well, glaring at him with anger.

“What in the world happened to you?!”

“…”

“I didn’t know you to be this distasteful!” she told him in a grave voice, “since this morning you’ve been doing nothing but being disrespectful and aggressive!”

“You’re getting heated up over me defending myself against your bullshit?! Well surprise Karsten! The world doesn’t bow down to you at will!” he pushed her hand away, standing his ground, “since this morning YOU have been doing nothing but getting on my back and blaming me for whatever was happening around as if that bimbo was untouchable!”

“Because she is known to be a stubborn and infuriating individual! The best way to minimize consequences is to not be entangled with her! I tried to push you away since you would be more understanding!”

“More understanding?! You’ve been doing nothing but blaming me! If this is how you try to help people then please don’t help me! I’ll do just fine on my own!”

Crusch’s expression froze for a moment as she widened her eyes, unable to speak another word. Subaru stared at her for a few seconds as he awaited her reply, but as her eyes averted her realized that what he said managed to hurt the president.

“I…I just…-“ Crusch stuttered.

While Crusch kept her gaze low as she slowly realized the wrong she caused to Subaru, he too couldn’t look in her direction as he cursed himself for making a girl sad.

“I guess I kind of vented a bit of my personal frustration on you…” Subaru shook his head as he felt miserable.

“Your personal…” She raised her head, narrowing her eyes towards him, “did something happen to you?”

“…It’s complicated, Crusch-san. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Is this the reason why you were so brooded since this morning?” she questioned, slowly making a connection.

“Brooded? Wha-“

“Usually, you are always livelier when you come to school,” reminiscing the previous days and her interactions with Subaru, Crusch mused her thoughts out loud, “however, your expression was…Darker, today.”

“Me? Livelier?” He clicked his tongue, “you got it wrong here Prez…”

“Really…?”

“This isn’t something I want to elaborate upon,” he turned his back to her,” so let’s just avoid it. I’m sorry for making you sad.”

“I see…” She mumbled, still thinking about what he told her.

She didn’t know much about him, if at all. But Subaru was one of those she kept in her mind, as her instincts rarely failed her when it came to spotting special individuals.

Being the student council president, Crusch took it as a duty to help the students she considered to be in her care as much as discipline them. But Subaru out of all the students had this strange aura around him that she was always intrigued about.

Hearing this much from him made her feel like there was something she had to do to help him, but as she feared he was rather close-minded about his personal issues. Who could blame him? Crusch Karsten was no one he could consider close, neither someone he could trust considering the level of their relationship.

“I just wished to apologize to you, for today’s behavior,” Crusch explained, “I haven’t been fair to you, at all.”

“Well at this point I’m just glad you realized it,” he scoffed in relief, “there’s no harm done, Crusch-san.”

“No…” she said with a neutral voice, staring at him, “there is harm done. And I shall fix it.”

Subaru stopped in his tracks and turned around, seeing the serious gaze of the president. Those were the eyes of someone determined, and whatever the idea she had in mind it didn’t reassure Subaru one bit.

“Hey now, don’t go do something that could make things worse…!” Was his first thought, “It’s fine! I’m okay with your apology, really!”

“Well, even if you are this is something I feel obligated to do for my own honor as well,” she said as she came closer to him, “so, go ahead.”

“Uh?”

“Ask anything of me,” she told him, her eyes face to face with his, “whatever is your wish, I shall do it.”

It took a few moments for Subaru to process her words, such a tirade which sounded straight out of a cliché movie simply seemed too stupid to be true.

Yet here he was, in front of a woman who said those very words.

“Crusch-san…Are you perhaps…” He narrowed his eyes, gaining Crusch’s attention.

“Naïve?”

“…”

“…”

Crusch stared at him for a few seconds, before grimacing in confusion and affront.

“Is this…Verbal abuse?”

“Don’t look at me like that! From which bad old school movie are you getting this line from!” Subaru retorted,” this is not verbal abuse! Just me wondering what came through your mind to say that!”

“And what else am I supposed to say?! I do not know what you want that could wash off my behavior towards you! So name your price, and let us be done with it!” Crusch replied with exasperation, showing her dislike of this situation as well.

“Anything, then?” Subaru repeated with a suspicious gaze.

“Yes, anything. As long as it is within my power.” She replied once more, taking a more composed face.

Subaru thought for a second, then narrowed his eyes over Crusch’s body, going back and forth between her face and her silhouette.

“Alright then,” he cleared his throat, “you said you would do anything?”

“…Yes…” for some reason, she began to feel uneasy.

“Then strip, right here and right now.” He ordered, looking at her face contorting in shock and fear.

“Here…?” She gasped in horror, looking around her to see how they were standing in the middle of the street.

“Of course you’ll never do it.” He thought to himself, closing his eyes with a silent sigh, “But you have to understand how absurd you are when you say something like th-“

However, he was thrown out of his thoughts when he reopened his eyes, and saw the president taking off her blazer, as she was now unbuttoning her shirt.

“TIME! TIME GOD DAMN IT!” He yelled as he caught her blazer mid air and putt it back on her shoulders, “WHAT THE HELL?!”

“What?” She growled out of her teeth, “this is what you just asked of me!”

“YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO DO IT!” He yelled as he shook her by the shoulders, “I wanted you to know how stupid was this kind of proposition!”

“…I am sorry?”

“The whole ‘I will do anything you say’ “he repeated while imitating Crusch’s voice, “Just what happened in your mind to think this was an okay thing to do!?”

“…Just as I said before-“

“This doesn’t wo- Oh for hell’s sake!” He suddenly brought her closer to his face, so their eyes would be so close to each other they could see their reflection through their pupils, “have some damn self-esteem! Aren’t you betrothed to that one blonde dude?!”

“…Fourier?”

“God where does that name comes from!?” He grunted in incomprehension, “but yeah, him! What would he think if his fiancée just stripped in front of another man in public!”

They stayed like this for a moment, gazing in each other’s eyes as Crusch’s mind was filled with a mix of different feelings, from confusion, to outrage, and awe.

“I…I see,” she cleared her throat, looking at the side, “I suppose you are right. Forgive my shameless behavior…”

“Good grief,” he sighed in tiredness, “that was a close one…”

“I suppose…That we are bad at communicating?” she couldn’t help but smile, somehow thinking the situation to be laughable.

“Something we should improve before getting our nose into this project too much, don’t you think Prez?” he smiled as well as he saw the smile on her lips, “Ah, well. I’m sorry to have even said that to begin with.”

“It is alright, if anything I am glad you weren’t serious,” she nodded her head, feeling grateful towards Subaru for stopping her, and also relief over the new image she was getting of him being false, “however this raises my last question back…I still owe you a debt.”

Subaru looked at her once more in wonder. He didn’t even understand quite well why she owed him something to begin with, but knew that somehow this was a matter she would not let go of.

“Well, if this is so important to you, let’s go this way,” he turned towards her with a smile as he raised his hand.

“From here on out…Say ‘Hello’ to me as you see me coming in the morning before criticizing me on my tie.”

“…”

Crusch remained frozen in place, looking in awe at him and his raised hand…Before she slowly began to laugh, and soon couldn’t stop her voice.

“I see, yes, ahahahah,” she held a fist to her mouth, before bringing her hand toward his and shaking it, “I would certainly be glad to, Natsuki Subaru!”

It was as absurd as it sounded, yet this was what Subaru wanted. The reason Crusch laughed wasn’t because of his demand, but because of how common it was for someone who could have asked for anything from her, going to the use of her own body. This made her feel like she knew a bit more about Natsuki Subaru than she did before, and that was a new page describing a sincere part of his heart that she was glad to know about.

“Mh…Natsuki Subaru?” Looking up to him, Crusch began to smile warmly.

“Yes?”

“May I call you a friend from now on?”

Widening his eyes to this peculiar demand from the president, Subaru began to blush slightly as his heart began to race much to his own surprise, and gave his answer with the happiest smile he had ever made today.

Chapter Text

“Oh my, did something good happen today?” 

As soon as he came back home, Subaru’s wide and joyful expression caught the attention of his mother, surprised and excited to see her son with a genuine smile on his face after school for once. 

“A-ah…” Subaru stammered as he noticed his mother standing in front of the sink cleaning dishes. 

Or rather, Subaru was so absorbed in his thoughts that he wasn’t aware of anything that was around him. 

“Mmmmmh? Anything you wish to share with your dear mother, Subaru?” A teasing smug began to draw itself on his mother’s face, “would it be because of a girl?”

“No! I mean yes! But no!” Subaru shot back immediately, becoming redder and redder, “this is not what you think!”

“Oh, I see, I see!” Naoko tapped her palm with her fist, “my son was invited to a date!” 

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO WRONG AND YET SOMEHOW RIGHT AT THE SAME TIME?!” Subaru held his head with both his hands in despair, as his mother couldn’t help but giggle at her deduction. 

“Sooner the earth would be swallowed by the sun, than you would manage to fool your own mother~” She said as quickly wiped her hands and pushed her son to sit down at the other end of the table, while she leaned over with her elbows against it, “now. Tell me! Tell me everything!” 

“Why do you sound so interested in this?! Have you any memory of the notion of private life, mom?!” Subaru tried to protest, only for his mother to slap his hand in an annoyed mood. 

“Oh don’t you even dare! Every mother in the world is waiting for this exact moment with their son! It is both a boost in our pride for making a child handsome enough to receive advances from girls, and mainly so we can use it to embarrass them in front of others if need be!” 

“The second part is doing everything but making me tell you anything about it!” 

“No more beating around the bush!” Naoko slammed the table with an ire of determination in her eyes, “I am the one who changed your diapers for 4 years, the only privacy you have is in my hands!” 

While he still wanted to contest, seeing how determined, and greatly excited was his mother, Subaru decided to give in and, begrudgingly, speak about his school day. 

“So you found yourself with two girls?!” Naoko exclaimed with wide eyes, “no no! Not only girls! But two incredible beauties such as Karsten-san and Barielle-san?!” 

“Yeah but I didn-Hold on, how do you know them?!” 

“It would be difficult to not know them, you know?” She sighed while pouring tea for both her and her son, “their families are quite influential in our town…Well, you would know if it interested you even a little.”

“Well sorry…” He said in a low voice, before continuing, “but yeah…I didn’t really want to be with any of them. And to be honest, I was just nothing but disappointed in this entire thing-” 

"And you have a date with the both of them?!" She put a hand on her mouth, her eyes reflecting her fright, "My son would be a two timer..." 

"...I know you are doing it on purpose, but man, you really sound genuinely disappointed..." 

"Hehe~" Naoko slightly pulled out her tongue, "though, this is still really scary...You will have to make the best impression you can! No, the best of your best! This will demand proper etiquette, an outfit...An outfit! We will have to go shopping right as you come home tomorrow!" 

"Okay, okay time out! This is just for work mom, I don't need to impress them or anything!" 

"But imagine if you could be closer to one of them! This would be amazing, don't you think?!" She said with stars in her eyes. 

"Well...I didn't think much of it until..."

Subaru paused for a second, remembering the few moments he spent before parting ways with the class president, both smiling from beginning to end. 

More than actually being on good terms with her, he thought that he even managed to bond, as little as it was- with the verdant-haired iron lady. It was more than a simple achievement for him, it was a genuine step forward the school life he never had… 

“Until?” Naoko replied, bring his cup of tea in front of himself as she urged for more, “don’t cut me off now, Subaru! It would be too cruel!”

“Well…I mean, I kinda made a part of the road back home with Crusch-san…”

“Yes?” Naoko eagerly waited for more. 

“And…Even though I didn’t expect it since we did nothing but spit at each other all day long…We kinda managed to get closer?” He looked up to his mother, his eyes showing deep trouble. 

Naoko paused for a second, deciphering the expression that her son was giving her without even realizing himself. It was not confusion, nor embarrassment, or excitement…

Slowly, Naoko brought her hand to Subaru’s, holding it gently with a warm, comforting smile on her face. 

“Step by step, Subaru…There is no need to be afraid,” she reassured him, “I am very, very proud of you, you know?”

Subaru blinked several times, feeling his leg moving up and down on its own as his breathing became faster and faster, desperately trying to calm down. He should be happy just like how he was when he came home. 

Not scared. 

“Y-yeah…” He grumbled out of his mouth while leaving the table, “I-I’m feeling a bit weird…I’mma rest a second.”

Naoko kept smiling, even though her eyes turned into pity at the sight of her son fighting so hard against himself. She was a mother, and as such when she saw her child struggle she was both worried and proud. 

Worried for where this may take him. And proud, for his will to at least try and fight his flaws. 

When he entered his room, Subaru was quick to throw his backpack down and throw himself in his bed, holding a hand on his heart as he felt his breath being taken away. 

No matter how hard he tried, and how he changed before stepping in school once more…He never expected to be having to fight this feeling again. 

“Damn it…” He breathed out loudly, rolling on his back with his eyes towards the ceiling, “How much more pathetic can I become…?” 

He thought it was over and dealt with. 

“Why does it have to come back now…?” 

He thought he could finally have a fresh start. 

“Is it a fucking curse…? I just…I just want to…” 

When he felt the tears about to come out of his eyes, he immediately put his forearm in front of them, and restrained himself as much as he could. 

“It all happened because I stopped…” He thought to himself aloud. 

“...Come on, there’s no need to make myself illusions here,” strangely, he seemed to be steeling himself with his words, “she is only doing it because she has to. Because of her title as a president, and the group project…” 

He breathed in and out slowly. 

“I don’t need her.” He said as he began to calm down. 

“I don’t need them. I don’t need any of them.” 

He was effectively becoming relaxed, his breathing taking back its natural pace. 

“There’s nothing good about them anyways…You’re only here to do your job, and get out,” he said as he turned to face the mirror in his room, “yeah…Once you’re out, and you never see them again…” 

He nodded to himself, his gaze becoming more serious. 

“This is where I am really starting again.” 

...

...

...

"Right...?"

“Ah! Crush, you are finally here!” A blond, old man exclaimed from his seat in the large living room of the apartment, “come! I already prepared some tea for us!” 

Crusch put down her bag, then her coat and boots, before she loosed up her tie and walked towards the quite extravagant room of her apartment. 

The living room in itself, was composed of several book shelves, a lower table with two leather chairs at its side with food and drinks from tea to expensive bourbons, the last generation smart tv at the top front, and right next to it, an astonishing view on the entire city from above. 

Well, actually everything in this apartment was rather extravagant. An entire floor in one of the tallest buildings of the main city, especially designed for Meckart Karsten, and his daughter Crusch Karsten.

With the Lugunica and the Barielle, the Karsten family was the third most powerful family of this city, even though it consisted right now of nothing but Crusch and her father. 

Something that Meckart had in mind to drastically change soon. 

“So, how was school today?” he smiled at her while tapping her seat, “did you have fun?” 

“...I suppose I did,” Crusch smiled as she took up her tea, remembering what she had just lived with the nasty-eyed boy, “well, perhaps fun is not the right term…Productive, perhaps?” 

“Ah, are you talking about your assignment?” Meckart widened his eyes, “and with whom were you paired,Fourier? Felt?!”

Crusch’s smile immediately faded as soon as she heard those names, glancing towards her father with an upset gaze, “I see you had your priorities, father?”

“Ah, so you did end up with Fourier!” He clapped his hands, taking a bottle of amber colored old whisky on the table, “baby steps, but surely we will get there! It deserves celebration!” 

“What kind of celebration?” Crusch replied in a loud and severe voice, “father, please cease your fantasies immediately. I have not ended with Fourier-sama or Felt-sama.” 

“What?!” Meckart exclaimed, nearly dropping his bottle, “how come?!” 

“Whatever wishes you threw down the well, I must inform you that my partners for this group project are Priscilla Barielle, and Natsuki Subaru.” Crusch crossed her arms under her chest, waiting for her father’s reaction. 

“Priscilla Barielle?!” Meckart shouted in shock, “what is this damned clown doing?!” 

“Clown?” 

“Nothing that matters,” Meckart waved his hand, “but for you to end up with Priscilla Barielle out of all people…Perhaps it could be useful?” 

“Father…” 

“Yes, yes…!” Meckart thought to himself for everyone to hear, “if you become closer to the daughter of the Vollachia family and the fiancee of the Barielle house, we may have the possibility to create strong ties with the both of them…” 

“Father!” With a powerful and outraged voice, Crusch managed to cut right through her father’s thoughts, making him gasp in fear over the tone she just took, “I thought you asked me to seat to converse about my day, but here you are thinking of using me right away for your relationships!” 

“I-I am only doing this for your sake, Crusch!” Meckart replied immediately while shaking his head, “think about it! In the future, you will become Crusch Lugunica! LUGUNICA! It is imperative that you have strong ties and influence when this time comes!” 

“But this ‘time’ is still yet to come,” she replied as she leaned in her seat, still harboring a threatening glare to her own father, “and I have no wish to talk about what is so far away from me in this present day.” 

“...Aaaah, very well! Very well,” Meckart nodded his head, admitting defeat to his daughter, “you really have the same ire as your mother, I suppose she would be proud of you…” 

Crusch silently bit her lip, remaining silent while her father continued. 

“Please, tell me! What is your group project with Barielle-san about!” He changed the subject, smiling at Crusch while leaning forward to show his interest. 

“Barielle, and Natsuki Subaru, father.” Crusch corrected him, until she noticed his oblivious expression. 

“Who?” 

“...The third person of my group, father. I am to complete this assignment with Priscilla Barielle AND Natsuki Subaru.” 

Meckart grimaced for a second, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 

“Who is this person? I have never heard of the ‘Natsuki’ name…Where would you put his status?” He questioned, earning a face of incomprehension from his daughter. 

“What stat-...Father, he is another one of my classmates! Not anyone of status in this city!” 

“Then why do we even talk about him?!” He exclaimed back, looking at his daughter in confusion, “You should have said so right away!”

“...” Crusch only glared at Meckart with a look he didn’t manage to describe. 

To him, it seemed rather neutral. But in reality, it was a complex mix between the edge of one’s anger, and great disappointment. a Mixture with such power, that Crusch didn’t even dare to express it in words. 

“Come on, come on!” He waved his hand to put this little parenthesis behind them, “tell me! What is the project about?” 

“You took your time,” a displeased voice of a man spoke from above the great stairs of the main hall, as a ginger-haired girl just entered the mansion, “have you seen the clock? What did father tell you about not wasting any minute in this disgusting wretch of a school?”

“Then, you shall tell my father that I will do as I please.” Priscilla replied with an irritated voice. 

“If it is to speak like this, I would rather you say those words to him yourself and see the outcome,” The man went down the stairs slowly, “I wonder what you are trying to prove, however.” 

Priscilla narrowed her eyes to the black-haired man glaring at her. 

“Being the stubborn and prideful woman does not work within these walls, and you know it well Prisca,” he smirked, “so who might you be trying to impress?” 

“Another word out of your mouth, and I shall make you regret it tenfold,” she said as she stepped forward to take him off guard, “may it be these walls, or the gates of hell themselves, I shall still do as I see fit.” 

Without another word exchanged to each other, Priscilla walked past him up the stairs and back to her room. 

The Barielle mansion was perhaps one of the biggest buildings, on the largest land that could ever be in this city. A great domain, with enough room to welcome the entire neighborhood, and a garden the size of 3 football stadiums, neatly taken care of by an army of servants. 

This much was a show of power, and money. Two things that the Barielle family mastered for generations over generations. Politics, economy, trade markets, enterprises, diplomacy, foreign affairs…To this point in time, there was perhaps not a single domain in which the name of Barielle couldn’t grant privilege. 

While she was reaching her room, Priscilla was stopped by a maid standing in her way with her head down. 

“Prisca-sama. Your father requested your presence at once,” she said in a very professional manner, “please, this way.” 

Priscilla didn’t search to fight or contest this maid who was merely doing what she was tasked to do. But more than anything, why would she try to avoid a meeting with her father. 

Finding excuses would be for the coward or the weak. 

Walking in the corridors of the great mansion, both finally reached the doors of the head of the family’s office. 

“Drizen-sama,” the maid said with a bow of her head, “your daughter is here.” 

“You may leave us.” The man spoke from his chair, turned away from his desk as he looked towards the windows outside. 

Priscilla followed the maid walking out of the office with her eyes, turning her head slightly to watch as she shut the door. 

Then a silence took place, while father and daughter didn’t even turn to look at each other. 

“How was your day at school, Prisca?” Drizen is the one who finally broke it, still looking at the window.

“As usual as every single day,” she replied as she looked towards his turned around chair, “boring, and even a bit upsetting.” 

“Mh…” Drizen sighed as slightly turned towards her,” and even with how little bit upsetting it is, you still wish to stay?”

“Yes,” Priscilla replied, “I will still stay in this school. No matter how upsetting it is.” 

Drizen fully turned around, his own eyes meeting with Priscilla’s, harboring the face of a rather unfriendly man, as if he was unable to smile. 

“This ‘thing’ is nowhere close to what you deserve,” he slowly shook his head, “why would you persist to stand with what does not even reach your feet?” 

“Because you believe in the place YOU want to see me in, has anyone worthy of breathing the same air as mine?” 

“Children of aristocrats, people of power, with the best education money can buy and proper etiquette,” he explained while standing up from his chair, “perhaps they are still nowhere near where you stand, but still higher than whatever these suburban commoners are!” 

“They could be the reincarnation of existing deities themselves,” Priscilla crossed her arms under her voluptuous chest, “they are still less than worthy for me to even lay my eyes on them.”

“So you will keep disobeying me…” Drizen grimaced, walking closer to the center of the room, “I never expected anything else when it comes to pride from the blood of my blood…But even I showed a form of respect towards my father, Prisca.” 

“And what happened to your father? ”She tilted her head, acting as if it was a genuine question.” Furthermore, where, pray tell, have you found it legitimate to compare us, father?” 

Drizen slowly began to smile. However it was not the smile of a proud father nor the comedic smile of someone who had just heard a joke…But an evil, malicious smile. The smile of someone who was just about to commit unnamed atrocities, while taking pleasure in them. 

However, it seemed to be nothing but Drizen’s natural smile. 

“I wonder if your husband will approve of this, when he will come back? He doesn’t know about this whole thing does he?.” He began to laugh, as Priscilla tightened her hand into a fist, “ah, we shall see. We shall see.” 

“I have no husband.” She replied with anger in her voice. 

“Mh? Then perhaps you should think about taking back my name…But for that, you should follow my orders, don’t you think?”

“...” 

Drizen then turned around and walked back to his desk, both hands joined behind his back. 

“As stubborn as you are…I still own you, daughter ,” He murmured, the echoes of the room allowing Priscilla to hear, “if you do not consent to comply with my will, then I will force you. But in one way or another, you will bend the knee before me.”

He paused for a second to take a loud, pleasant breath. “Know that, standing up to me just means falling with harsher consequences.” 

Priscilla raised her face, looking at her father walking away with nothing short of a killing intent in her eyes.

“Out of my sight.” He sighed as he watched towards the window again.

And on these words, Priscilla walked out of the room without wasting a second. 

When evening came around, Kenichi was finally back home. He showed off with a large smile on his face, dropping his coat and bag right away as he didn’t waste a second before rushing to meet his son, opening the door of his room wildly. 

“HERE IT IS!” He exclaimed as he saw Subaru reading homework papers on his desk, “MY AMAZING SON!” 

“Can you open this door like a normal human being?!” Subaru exclaimed back, feeling bad for the way his door was treated. 

“There is no way I can!” He laughed as he walked forward and grabbed his son’s shoulders, peeking at the papers he was looking at, “what is this?! Is this it? The legendary…”

“...It’s my group project.” 

“THE ONE AND ONLY!” He exclaimed with a laugh, “So?! Who are they?!” 

Subaru opened his mouth to talk, but was stopped by the image of Crusch appearing in his mind. More precisely, by the smile she gave him before parting ways today. 

He remained quiet for a few seconds, frowning more and more as he remembered her, before shaking his head with a grimace, “the last two people I would ever want to end up with.” 

“O-oh…” Kenichi rubbed his hand over his head, a bit disappointed by seeing the reaction of his son, “man…This sucks.” 

“And what did you even expect?” Subaru scoffed as he turned towards him again, “come on dad. It’s a lost cause when it comes to that.”

“You are being quite pessimistic out of nowhere, my dear son.” Kenichi smiled at him as a show of comfort. 

“If you say so.” 

“...Well I can see you don’t want to talk about this,” he said as he tapped his shoulder,” so tell me, what is the subject about?” 

“The influence that other countries have on Japan in our day, basically.” He briefly told his father, who took the paper his son handed him and began to think. 

“Mh…Foreign cultures? We’re still pretty much closed to foreigners and everything that is related to them, but…I think the United States has been influencing us a lot since the last war?” 

“Yeah,” Subaru nodded his head, “that’s what I thought too. We’re going out Saturday in Akihabara to see how it changed from now to a few years ago, and try to detail how it went this way and not another.” 

“Ah! That’s a really good plan! Most of the stuff we get over there is because of the west.” Kenichi exclaimed loudly,” who got the idea?” 

“I did initially, then both of them agreed.” 

“YES! NOW I CAN FLEX ON THE NEIGHBORS WHEN YOU WILL GET A GOOD NOTE!”  

“DAD!” 

“I’m joking, I’m joking son!” Kenichi tapped Subaru’s shoulder, laughing his heart out at the reaction he got out of him, “But seriously you’re making me prouder every day that passes!” 

“...Thanks.” Subaru replied, trying to hide his face for any eventual blush he couldn’t control. 

“Now, I’m glad that you’re so into your work like a proper student, but your mom just made a very tasty-looking dinner…” He pointed at the door, “what do you say about grabbing a bite?” 

“Yeah,” Subaru smiled, “I’d love that.” 

“May I call you a friend from now on?”

“...”

When the sun rose enough to bask her room with its light through her large window, Crusch slowly opened her eyes, drawn out of her dream, and got up relatively as soon as she did. 

She first headed to her personal bathroom, and wiped her face with water so she could kill any sleepiness leftover, then grabbed her comb, and began to go through her hair delicately as she walked towards her mirror. 

“Mh…Did I sleep too much?” she thought aloud, touching the top of her head, “I have a lot of bed hairs today…” 

When she was done with it, she opened her clothes closet, and picked up her school uniform which she brought towards an ironing board.

Crusch was very meticulous with her mornings. Everything was done in a strict order which would ensure her to be ready both mentally and physically, straight out of bed. Adding to that, she was especially keen on doing every single step of her morning by herself, without any servants like her father requested of her to be more comfortable. 

It was simply out of the question, as Crusch Karsten couldn’t accept anyone doing her work at her place. Plus, she took pride in how much of a capable woman she was.

“There,” she smiled as she picked up her jacket and pants, “perfect.” 

Putting her uniform on, she took one last look in her mirror to see if everything looked alright, and when she was satisfied, she brought her hands towards her tie.

 But as she was about to make the knot, her hands stopped. Her eyes staring at herself with a pensive expression, remembering a few words which somehow echoed within her. 

“ You’re not cute at all.” 

“...” 

Crusch winced a bit, glancing towards her opened closet where she saw the girl’s uniform still pending in the corner, and unconsciously, she reached her hand towards it… 

“...No.” She stopped herself, closing the closet instead, “this is not for me…” 

She promptly tied up her tie on her collar and grabbed her bag, before walking out of her room towards the kitchen. 

“Ah! There is my sunshine!” Meckart exclaimed while preparing some eggs on a pan, “breakfast is ready, you are just in time!” 

Meckart quickly looked at his daughter from head to toe, wincing a bit at the sight of her uniform meant for men, but he was rather used to it at this point. 

“Of course,” she nodded her head, proud of her flawless timing, “well, if it isn’t a surprising sight. Why are the servants absent, father?” 

“Is it so unusual to see me cooking?” Meckart smirked, putting the omelet on a large wooden plate, “ah, I should really get into more often then! You know, I used to cook a lot for your mother.” 

“Is that so.” Crusch looked away from him, preferring the sight of the sun rising on the city. 

“Yes! And she really loved it!” He kept laughing fondly, “she praised it every time she could, and I was the happiest man in the world for it, so much that I was cooking all the time just to hear her praises.” 

He placed the omelet on the table, taking a pinch of herbs and spreading them on it. 

“A coffee like usual?” 

“Thank you father.” Crusch smiled. 

Gently humming a tune, Meckart went to the coffee machine while picking up a cup, and placing it under the filter tube. 

“I should be at the school gate at 7am, perfect timing,” she thought to herself as she heard the sound of coffee pouring inside of the cup. 

“You know, sometimes you could allow yourself a little bit more rest,” her father chuckled, “people your age’s only wish is nothing but 5 more minutes…” 

“It would be intolerable, father,” Crusch sternly rejected such a thought, “I have my duties as the class president.” 

“I know, I know,” he laughed warmly, “how lucky I am to have such a strong daughter. Your mother would be proud.” 

“...” 

The rest of this morning between a father and his daughter, carried on in a wordless manner. Both enjoyed their food without exchanging much. Meckart was peacefully reading his newspaper while Crusch, silently finishing her food, was more thinking of her project and how to handle her two coworkers. 

Priscilla would be a tough person to handle and work with, that was for sure. Especially because of their positions, and thoughts towards one another. 

Her father talked about befriending her, mostly to be able to use her if need be as her status would soon require such contacts, but aside from her own morals, she knew it was nothing short of a lost cause. Both viewed each other as a hindrance albeit Crusch’s professionalism as a president forced her to conceal it, and the both of them ever getting along would demand a power far above anything one could possibly imagine. 

Subaru Natsuki, though…Here was a name that brought a smile to the president’s face, along with much more hope of socializing. When she thought about it, even now she didn’t understand how these words came out of her mouth with the little interaction she had yesterday with him. 

“May I call you a friend from now on?” 

She never had to ask that of anyone. In fact, she never felt the need to do so…So why suddenly? 

Crusch was born a Karsten. She had a renown, a legacy. She was strong, respected, and admired…But now there was a question that couldn’t stop lingering in her mind, something giving her a strange feeling of dissatisfaction as she heard the beatings inside of her chest. 

Who could she really call a friend? 

Fourier was the one she was betrothed to…But when did she ever act like a friend around him? 

Felix was someone she knew since her childhood, but he always more or less considered himself as her subordinate than one she could look at eye to eye. 

The more she kept thinking about it, the more this feeling grew more and more uncomfortable, as another question managed to slip inside of her mind along with the rest of them…

“What…Is a friend?” She whispered to herself. 

“Crusch?” Meckart replied with wide eyes, noticing the gaze of his daughter to be staring at nothing. 

“Ah…Apologies,” startled, Crusch quickly shook her head, “I was lost in my thoughts.” 

“Did you say anything to me? I could swear I heard you whisper something…” Her father continued, a bit skeptical. 

“It was nothing, just a slip of the tongue.” She smiled as she waved off the topic. 

“Mh…” Meckart shrugged before looking at his watch, “oh, it’s already past thirty?” 

“Ah! I have to go now then.” Crusch said as she finished her coffee, picking up her bag, “I shall be home by five in the afternoon as usual.” 

“Have a nice day!” Her father smiled at her as she walked away. 

The school was about Fifteen minutes away from her building. A little alone time in which Crusch could walk peacefully before her busy day would start. She always appreciated these few minutes for herself, it allowed her to think along with a breath of fresh air, and in her opinion, did wonders to her mind, as she had these little moments before and after her work. 

“Mommy! Look what I found!” 

She was stopped in her tracks by this little voice speaking from the side, showing a little girl presenting a freshly bloomed cherry blossom to her mother that she picked up from the ground. 

“How beautiful! Where did you find it sweetheart?” 

“Over there! There are lots and lots! This one's for you!” 

“Aaaw, thank you!” 

Crusch seemed surprised as she looked up, the wind softly blowing over her, taking on its passage several of the pink petals of the beautiful trees decorating the streets of Japan in spring. 

“Ah…It is this time of the year, isn’t it.” She thought to herself, in awe at the magical sight in front of her. 

Her eyes wandered back to the woman and her daughter, smiling at each other as the mother held the flower she had been gifted with a proud smile, showing nothing but love in her eyes for the little one. 

“...I wonder if we could have ever lived something like this, would you still be here…” She uttered, holding her hair as the wind blew once more. 

“Hmh…Maybe…Only another life would tell.” Crusch smiled warmly, taking one last glance to the little girl before she went on her way. 

Chapter Text

“Prisca-sama.” The maid softly whispered near the bed of the ginger-haired lady, “it is morning. Please prepare yourself for breakfast.” 

Priscilla opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling of her canopy bed for a few seconds, pondering if she should get up now or take a few more minutes under her sheets. 

“Prisca-sama.” 

Although exasperated by the maid’s insistence, Priscilla resolved herself to comply with her, and pulled her cover away, revealing her red slim, silk-night dress as she walked over her servant who began to undress her. 

The maid bent towards one of the many drawers of her room to fetch a pair of underwear, while Priscilla glanced at her naked body through the mirror. 

Her assets, shape of body, and skin was astonishing for a girl of her age, and anyone with such a body would be most satisfied with themselves.

“Which one would you prefer, Prisca-sama?” The maid came back, holding different colors of lingerie. 

“The black ones,” she replied, putting on her underwear herself before standing up straight so the maid could proceed with the bra. 

“Does it feel uncomfortable?” The servant demanded. 

“No.” She drily replied, “bring my uniform.”

“Right away.” 

She walked towards the wardrobe, and took the freshly ironed school uniform hanging in it, before dividing up in pieces from skirt, shirt and blazer. 

Then, she began by putting Priscilla’s shirt on, following with the skirt to tighten it properly, and finally tie her ribbon. 

“Should you need anything else, I shall be preparing your breakfast in the kitchen, Prisca-sama.” The maid bowed her head before walking out of the room, leaving priscilla to comb her hair and pick up any accessories she saw fit. 

She picked up her comb, and sat down in front of her vanity as she brushed her hair. As strange as it was, Priscilla did not even look like she had just been out of bed, for she was blessed with an eternal maiden’s beautiful face. 

No matter what, she would always look beautiful, or at least this is what seemed to be. 

When her combing was done, she picked up a black bun, and tied her hair to a side ponytail. 

“Mh…It is perfect.” She thought aloud as she picked up her school bag, and made her way towards the kitchen. 

Upon her arrival the table was already filled with exquisite food that one from a common background could hardly call a breakfast. Sweet or salty snacks, tea or coffee, everything was ready and set for whatever taste Priscilla felt like having this morning. 

Without further ado Priscilla sat down at the table and began to eat, while the maids of the Barielle mansion respectfully waited at each side of the table a few steps away from her so she could have space.

After some minutes, Vincent had entered the room and took a seat at a distance of two chairs from Priscilla, wordlessly eating his own breakfast. 

The two of them didn’t exchange any glances, nor did they want to speak to one another, at least for one more than the other. 

“You should think about wearing something more appropriate when you come home tonight,” Vincent commented without taking his eyes off his food, “your husband is coming.” 

“No.” She replied without much care. 

Vincent paused for a brief moment, and carefully put down his utensils next to his plate as he gazed towards his little sister. 

“There was not a single instance in which I mentioned your opinion to be necessary,” Vincent replied,”you are to dress properly for lord Barielle.” 

“If welcoming him with a womanly attire is what you O so desire, then why even bother expecting someone else to do what you picture so perfectly in your mind?” Priscilla tilted her head, “I will pick up the finest of dresses from my wardrobe just for you, elder brother. Something tells me it would fit you quite well even.” 

Vincent narrowed his eyes, smiling with malice, “Is picking a fight with me really what you want, little sister?” 

Priscilla’s face turned even more stern, glaring at Vincent with genuine anger. 

“Do you really think such petty words would scare me, perhaps? You may act as powerful as you think you are outside of these walls, elder brother…” She clicked her tongue in distaste, “but right here?” 

“The difference between you and I, Prisca, is that I can perfectly prove to you that I am to be feared wherever I am.”

“Prisca-sama, you will be late for school if you do not depart this instant,” The maid bowed as she intervened in between, but neither Priscilla nor Vincent broke eye contact. 

Without saying a word, Priscilla got up from her seat and picked up her school bag, walking away from the room leaving her brother with the few maids still around.

“She still had close to 10 minutes before really being late, did she not?” Vincent asked the maid in a curious voice. 

“Yes. But had she replied to your previous statement, she wouldn’t have left even after an hour.” The maid respectfully replied. 

“You will not always be able to save her like that, Arakiya.” Vinent scoffed as he brought his attention back to his coffee. 

“So long as I am able to, I will.” The maid opened her eyes to where Priscilla had gone, pensive of the girl’s future. 

When she got out of the mansion, her personal driver was waiting for her at the gate, wearing a smoking, white gloves, and a black hat with a red feather on top. 

“Ready to go, Priscilla-sama?” He voiced aloud with a grin, lifting the tip of his hat, “ah, you’re in a bad mood.” 

“You are paid to drive, not ask questions,” Priscilla ignored him as she opened the door of the car herself and took her place. 

“Yep, very bad mood.”  He whispered to himself, taking off his hat and sitting in the driver’s seat. 

Then, the large gates bearing the Barielle crest opened as two armed guards with rifles waved their hands for the car to pass and allow it to join the road. 

Right before it reached the intersection to start its way to the school, two black SUVs with tinted windows took place respectively in front and behind Priscilla’s car, as they all finally took off towards the schoolgirl’s destination. 

Priscilla kept her eyes towards the window, observing the pink flowers of the cherry blossoms falling on the road ahead, while the rising sun flashed the city with its powerful rays. 

Her brother had truly ruined her mood this morning, so much so that even this warm scenery wasn’t enough to lift her spirits. Against what was thought of her, she was someone who knew how to appreciate the world and its beauty, which was sometimes the only solace she could find in her unsalvageable everyday life. 

For someone who had always lived the most prestigious of life, such a situation put her in a rare spot; as she was quite dissatisfied with everything happening to her. 

Her family, her house, her ‘marriage’, her heritage, her school, and her group she was forced to interact with. 

Yet none but her was to be blamed. She chose to be at this school in one last act of rebellion against her father…For her hands were tied, and this would never stop her from fighting back in any way she could. 

But out of everyone, it had to be them… 

The ever-boring Crusch Karsten…And- 

“...Stop the car this instant.” She ordered, her eyes fixated towards a figure from far away.

“I can’t stop in the middle of-oh, a red light…” Al slowly stopped the car, slightly surprised at the sudden coincidence allowing Priscilla to have it her way.

Without wasting a second, she opened the door and walked out while grabbing her bag, leaving her driver and the guards in confusion. 

The radio next to Al began to buzz, “Dipaolo to Erikson…W-What the hell is she doing? What do we do?” 

“I don’t know! Vance! Bring her back, what the hell?!” 

Al picked up the radio, sighing, “Nope. She got that look in her eyes where she’ll kick me in the guts if I try anything. I say we just follow close, there’s no big deal if she wants to walk a bit.” 

“Tell that to Drizen!” Dipaolo scoffed through the radio. 

“It’s fine, it’s been two years since we’re escorting her through the streets of this city, nothing has ever happened. Just keep overwatch.” Erikson replied. 

Priscilla kept walking, as the blurry figure became more and more clear. He wasn’t moving much, as he was crouched forward holding his hand forward to an animal. 

Now that she was at a correct distance, she could confirm her thoughts. 

“I know, I know, you’re all excited,” Subaru spoke in a low voice, gently stroking the cat’s head, “I got you some premium brand of tuna today, you can probably already smell it.” 

But the cat's hair suddenly went up, as it jumped back staring at the newcomer. Subaru turned his head around at the same time, and was surprised as much as the animal when he recognized the ginger haired beauty walking towards them. 

Priscilla didn’t give an immediate response to his reaction, as if she was expecting something out of him…But to her surprise, his gaze turned to be more neutral than she expected.

“Your Rolls Royce is out of gas and you lost your way, Priscilla-san?” He said in a very uninterested voice, his eyes back on the cat, trying to appease it rather than pay any attention to the girl. 

“Quite the way of greeting a fellow classmate,” she crossed her arms under her chest, speaking with disdain, “do you lack so many social abilities that you are reduced to begging animals for any kind of interaction?” 

Subaru gently petted the cat as he presented an opened can of tuna, effectively diverting its attention from Priscilla and calming it down a bit. 

“Some animals are worth the time of the day far more than some people,” he replied, smiling at the sight of the happy little feline, “at least they don’t necessarily try to get on your nerves as soon as they see you.” 

She narrowed her eyes dangerously, her mind probably thinking of several ways to shut his unruly mouth…But this was not the thing that angered her the most, no. Rather, it was…Him.

How he didn’t seem as antagonizing as she expected, how he didn’t seem ready to fight back against her like he usually was…Yesterday he had presented himself as someone willing to talk back to her, why would this morning be any different? 

“How pathetic,” she gritted her teeth and turned back, her face showing nothing but her anger and frustration. She stomped her way back to the convoy which was still waiting for her to move around the corner, and sat back down in the car in complete silence safe for the animosity radiating from her. 

“...Vance to all stations, we’re rolling again.” Al spoke through the radio, not even trying to question the girl. 

“Rog.” 

“Roger.” 

Subaru and the cat observed the convoy rolling away to the direction of the school, before they looked back at each other. 

“I’ll never understand rich folks,” he thought aloud to himself, petting the purring cat again as it went back to eating the food, “but it’s probably best for me to be on my way.” 

He picked up his bag and let the cat enjoy, “though…Seriously, what did she even want from me? She just wanted to throw hands?” 

In the end, it didn’t really matter. She was someone that was best to ignore outside of the obvious school duties to him, someone that would only bring him troubles or put him in a bad mood. 

“Social abilities she says…Yet I never saw her with anyone either!” He grumbled again, “maybe if you learned to not be a bitch to whoever talks to you.” 

As he reached school–far after Priscilla, considering the parked cars in the front of the school–he could see Crusch Karsten waiting at the gate, observing the students and their etiquette before her eyes caught Subaru. 

She smiled warmly, “good morning, Natsuki Subaru. I can see you wearing proper attire this time.” 

“You know a tie doesn’t make a man, right?” He scoffed, avoiding her eyes, “good morning Crusch-san.” 

“Is something wrong?” She asked him as she noticed the uneasiness in his eyes. 

“Y-yeah! I just remembered I really needed to pick up something at my desk!” He rushed inside of the school, as Crusch raised her hand to stop him, but wasn’t fast enough.

“I…Have to stay away,” he thought to himself as he kept running upstairs to his classroom. 

It was early, too early even. But now that he had made up that excuse Subaru felt as if he had to live up to it, and quickly find something which could justify himself if ever Crusch would ask for any details afterwards. 

When he opened the door of the classroom however, he was surprised to see that it was not empty…As his eyes locked with Priscilla Barielle–sat down at her seat with a book in her hands–whose expression turned as sour as Subaru’s. 

“You gotta be fucking kidding me…” he uttered in disbelief as he looked away from her and walked towards his desk.

“It seems like I am doomed to be surrounded by undesirables this morning.” She commented as she came back to her book. 

“I knew you’d fucking talk!” He shot back in outrage, “YOU are the one who came towards me this morning! Don’t you put this on me!” 

“And yet now you are the one coming to me. Could it be that you wish for some sort of revenge?” She closed off her book, smiling haughtily as she turned back to him. 

“Reveng-You know what? Yeah, let’s do it.” He put his bag down walking towards her while Priscilla stood up to stand her ground. 

“I have enough of your bullshit, tell me right now: what’s your problem?” He pointed out, to which Priscilla scoffed in response. 

“My problem is to be surrounded by fools,” She spoke in a neutral tone, as if this was obvious, “why is it so difficult to understand?” 

“No one asked you to come to this school!” Subaru replied as he raised his tone, “with daddy’s money you can probably sod off to a private place right? With all the finest intellectual stick-up-their-asses snobs that you seem to be so fond of!” 

Priscilla’s eyes suddenly turned into a glare, her voice growing way more threatening, “what did you just say?” 

Subaru seemed taken aback, glancing left and right as he seemed to wonder what he could’ve said which would anger her so much, “that you should change schools to a private one using your father’s money-”

Subaru was abruptly interrupted by Priscilla’s hand slapping his face, echoing through the entire classroom. 

He remained still for a brief moment, processing what had just happened, and slowly turned his head back to the ginger-haired girl who was still staring daggers at him.

“So you really did it…” he whispered, feeling his own anger rising within his chest. 

“Don’t you ever dare say that I shall depend upon my father’s riches, understand?” even in this situation, she found it proper to be the one raising her voice. 

“Right.” Subaru nodded his head, “now you tell me why I shouldn’t also give you a slap in the face.” 

Priscilla narrowed her eyes, “If you believe that such an action will go without consequences, go on.” 

“Eh,” Subaru scoffed, “firing up the powder keg and then threatening with more retaliations as you have to face the consequences, typical entitled rich bitch behavior, really.” 

Priscilla frowned again as she raised her hand, only for Subaru to grab it mid air this time. Surprisingly Priscilla didn’t react much, she didn’t even bother to remove her hand from his grasp as they just stared into each other’s eyes. 

Quite frankly, none of them knew what the other one’s course of action would be at the moment. Priscilla expected some form of retaliation–and so did Subaru–but before he could go any further he recalled the words of the class president when he first got entangled with Priscilla. 

“No,’ Subaru sighed, yet with a dejected look on his face,“I’m better than this.”

Priscilla narrowed her eyes, and Subaru let go of her hand as he rubbed his cheek, moving back to his seat.

She kept gazing at him with confusion, as frustration rose within her. Why did he seem so indifferent?

Priscilla gritted her teeth and stormed back towards him, sitting down on his desk as she grabbed his tie and pulled him towards her.

“Will you really disappoint me again, you disgusting little man? Are you not capable of standing for yourself?! How dare you talk back to me if is to allow yourself to be trampled on so easily afterwards?! She spat out, not hiding her wrath at all as she glared at him with an aura close to killing intent. 

Subaru was surprised at first, but quickly felt like it was the last drop…But just before he snapped, his eyes widened in confusion as he looked at Priscilla’s gaze. 

These eyes…Subaru knew them way too well. 

“Are…You okay?” words slipped out of his mouth, to which Priscilla simply stared back in silence, her grip loosening. 

Right at that moment, the door of the classroom slid to the side revealing a group of students coming in, as the first thing that caught their eyes was Priscilla sitting on Subaru’s desk with his tie in her hands.

Everyone stood frozen for a brief moment, trying to process their respective sights. For one, it was simply two people who despised each other getting into a fight. But for others…It was a girl sitting on a boy’s desk, pulling him closer to her face.

And it was none other than the wealthy girl from the Barielle family, and a boy they barely remembered the name.

Of course, it quickly perked up for both Subaru and Priscilla. 

“W-Wait!” Subaru got up abruptly with his hands forward, as Priscilla had already let go of his tie to go sit back at her desk, uncaring of whatever stories were brewing in the minds of the students in the classroom. 

“T-this is not what you guys think!” 

Showing signs of discomfort and awkwardness, the other students swiftly ignored Subaru’s pleas to walk to their respective desk as well, acting as if they had seen nothing. 

Subaru however felt like his breath was taken away, glancing back to Priscilla in the hopes that she would say something. But she seemed most uncaring about this situation which only confused him more. 

He felt his heartbeat rising as he kept looking left and right, searching for anyone willing to listen to him…But they seemed to have already made a conclusion inside of their minds as they all acted as if he didn’t exist. 

He couldn’t speak loudly to get their attention, he was way too scared and ashamed to do so…And he couldn’t act as if he didn’t care either, since he didn’t want to stand out in his classroom… 

So he quietly sat down, holding a hand to squeeze his chest as more and more students seemed to enter the classroom. Heads would turn, mouths would speak. It was only a matter of time before everyone would know about what they saw in this classroom. 

He hated it, he dreaded it. His nightmare was happening all over again. 

Ultimately Crusch entered the classroom alongside Fourier and Felix, and as soon as she stepped in, she looked for Subaru with her eyes. While at first she was curious of the reason why he had come to the classroom early, her eyes turned to worry when she noticed him being hunched forward with a hand over his chest. 

Leaving her two friends behind–surprised as they were in the middle of a discussion–she walked towards him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Natsuki Subaru-”

“...!” Subaru jolted on his seat as he looked up to her with fearful eyes as he didn’t realize who it was yet. 

“...Crusch-san…?” Subaru uttered, “N-no, it’s no-”

“Are you alright?!” She exclaimed in worry, noticing his painful expression, “do you need to go to the infirmary?”

Subaru breathed loudly for a while, and then nodded his head at her. Crusch quickly put her bag down at her seat and proceeded to escort him there without caring much if he truly needed her help or not. 

“What happened to you? You seemed fine when you arrived at school this morning…?” Crusch asked him as they reached the doors of the infirmary. 

“I…Don’t know…it was a sudden chest pain, maybe I ate something I shouldn’t…” Subaru sighed, averting his gaze away from her so she wouldn’t figure out his lie. 

“If you didn’t feel well you should have told me sooner…Is this the reason why you quickly went to the classroom?” She seemed upset now, yearning for answers from him. 

“...I’m sorry, Crusch-san.” 

Crusch winced in pity for him. Even if she didn’t figure out what was happening to him, she could clearly see that he was in pain. After she made sure that he was installed in one of the beds, she asked if he needed anything else, and when he told her that he didn’t, she simply left. 

Away from his classroom and the many people who held the gazes he couldn’t forget, Subaru finally began to calm down, burying himself under the bed sheets as he breathed more slowly and calmly.

“Just why the hell did this happen?” He whispered to himself, rethinking the situation, “damn it…! It had to be her…!” 

His mind was cursing Priscilla for her actions. He wished she could simply die and disappear for a moment, as he couldn’t help but blame her for the looks they received…But then he remembered. 

The look in her eyes, for that brief instant.

Subaru opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling as he kept thinking about that. Priscilla…

“She was hurting…” Subaru whispered, frowning, “just what the hell is going on with her…” 

“Have you tried asking her?” 

“No, I mean yeah but…I didn’t get into the-WAIT!” Subaru perked up, getting up from the bed in an instant as he heard the feminine voice in the room. 

And from behind the white curtains, he could see the shadow of someone sitting down in front of a desk before she got up and walked closer to him, “How surprising~I don’t usually see you here, Subaru-kun?” 

“Elsa-sensei…” Subaru sighed in relief as he recognized the school nurse, taking a seat to next to his bed. 

“What brings you here I wonder?” she smiled as she took her stethoscope in her hands, “you seemed to have chest pains when you entered, should I take a look?” 

“...” Subaru nodded his head, unbuttoning his shirt a little bit so she could reach his chest with her hand. 

“Hm…This is pretty hard…” She whispered

“What? My heart is hard?” Subaru repeated in confusion. 

“No, your chest,” she blinked innocently, “you have strong pectorals. Do you exercise often?”

“...I mean, yeah but I thought you wanted to check my heart?” Subaru’s face became a bit red, as he was not really used to people complimenting his physique. 

“Oh, I am simply making an assessment. Chest pains may have multiple factors, including over-exercise, food poisoning, feelings…” 

She eyed at Subaru as she spoke of that last possibility, waiting for a reaction from him. 

“...I feel like you have the wrong idea about me, Elsa-sensei…” Subaru cleared his throat, looking away from her. 

“My intuition tells me I actually do have the right idea, Subaru-kun,” she smiled warmly as she brought her stethoscope to check his heart, “that beating little guy seems to be doing just fine, too.” 

“...”

“You know, lying about your medical condition to skip class is strictly prohibited?” She commented as she put her instrument around her neck, “so why don’t you tell me why you are really here, and sensei will close her eyes about your little lie?” 

“...It’s really nothing to concern yourself with, it’s just…Some dumb highschooler issues…” 

“I have been young too, you know?” She raised an eyebrow with a snort, “if it isn’t a girl who is making you so anxious, then what is it?” 

Subaru widened his eyes, staring right back at her in surprise. She simply replied with a smile, nodding her head as a sign for him to speak. 

“...I just don’t want to stand out too much, sensei…And it happens that today, all eyes were on me. I just…I just couldn’t stand it. That’s it, really.” He admitted, exhaling tiredly, “and it happened because of a girl that I grew to hate more than anyone else…” 

“I have never seen someone hate a girl ‘more than anyone else’ with such a tone and expression on his face, though.” Elsa pointed out, to which Subaru winced in pain. 

“I do hate her…She seems to have it out for me personally. Usually she just doesn’t care about anyone but herself and yet for some reason, for a few days I have a feeling she’s constantly weighing on my back. She’s everything I despise when it comes to someone…but…” he thought about her gaze one more time,”for a second when I was looking at her, I felt like something wasn’t right, and that maybe this was why she acted like this, so-”

“So you thought about perhaps helping her?” Elsa continued for him, and Subaru nodded his head. 

Elsa closed her eyes, crossing her arms under her bosom as she seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a moment. Then she smiled, “I will tell you a secret about women, Subaru-kun.” 

Subaru looked back to Elsa with curiosity. 

“Usually we always act the same with men we either like or dislike. Romantic feelings aside we either are friendly with them, or we try to avoid them…But when a woman actively seeks to harm a man, she tries to destroy him in ways that are realistically possible to her,” she began to explain; making sure that his eyes were focused on hers, “and if she does so you can see it very easily…But when a woman acts in a different way towards a man, then it usually means only one thing.”

Subaru kept listening to her with attention, as Elsa smiled. 

“She is expecting something from that person.” 

Subaru frowned in confusion, looking down to his bedsheets in thought, “What the hell could she be expecting of me…? I don’t even know her more than that!” 

“Hm?” Elsa hummed gently. 

“I only began to interact with her after a few days, and then I was stuck in a group project with her…That’s all! And we did nothing but be at each other’s throats so why would she even…” 

“Why would something more than that be necessary?” Elsa put a leg over the other, “A woman mostly follows her intuition, Subaru-kun. Now I am not saying that this is always correct or wise, but this is something we do out of a habit, since we live in a world that is far different from men in a certain way.” 

“Now this is just getting confusing, is earth not enough for you guys?” Subaru scoffed, and earned a giggle from his sensei. 

“Alright then, let us make it even simpler. If that girl, whoever she is, seems to treat you differently…Then why don’t you just go and ask her the reason why?” Elsa concluded, “sometimes, straightforwardness is appreciated, you know?” 

“...I mean I could, but I'm not sure she gives me any proper answer.”

“This is the danger of it all.” She got up, taking a notepad in her hands and a pen, “you may either get your answers…Or disappoint her.” 

“Disappoint her?” He repeated with a raised eyebrow. 

“if she really expects something out of you…Then perhaps she is waiting for you to figure something out yourself.” She finished writing on the notepad and signed at the foot page before she tore the paper apart and give it to him, “This is the proof that I have looked over you and confirmed your need to remain in the infirmary for the first period.” 

“...” Subaru took the paper and looked back up to his sensei. 

“Use this time to ponder about what we talked about,” she smiled warmly as she ruffled his hair, “and take your decision, alright? This will remain our little secret.” 

Albeit feeling a bit troubled about having his hair ruffled at his age, Subaru blushed and nodded his head at her, clutching the paper in his hand slightly, “thank you, Elsa-sensei.” 

Elsa left the infirmary after that, and Subaru laid back down on the bed with his hands behind the back of his head, his mind filled with what Elsa had just advised him about, and Priscilla Barielle. 

“...I never wanted to have more expectations on my shoulders though, if that’s true…” He whispered to himself, “maybe I should just walk away from it…?” 

As soon as he thought about this, he growled in upsetness towards himself.

Walking away was out of the question, not after he took the time and advice from someone else to resolve this issue in a certain way. 

He remained in this bed until the bell of the first period rang, and got up from the bed. Putting his shoes and coat back on, he walked towards the doors of the infirmary and stood in front of them for a moment, taking a deep breath. 

He thought about Priscilla one more time, and opened his eyes. 

“Alright, let’s do this…” He steeled himself as he opened the door, and walked towards his classroom.