Archive of Our Own ^beta

Claire didn’t really consider herself that awful of a person, she was just better than everyone else. The simple fact of the matter was that she was richer than commoners, more well-off in life and therefore she was a better person than them.

Unattainable, but idolized.

The model student for the entire academy.

Desired, but never reachable.

Unless your name was Rae Taylor, who seemed to have deluded herself into thinking otherwise. Claire simply didn’t understand the infuriating, deluded, and utterly annoying girl who thought she even had a chance with her.

Romance didn’t work that way!

Putting aside the fact that Rae was better off marrying a nice man, the two were from completely different worlds. Rae was another commoner who’d just gotten lucky being able to apply here. Some noble had taken pity on the poor and decided they deserved a look at what they could never achieve on their own.

Rae Tayor, the perpetual thorn in her side. For whatever reason, that girl had convinced herself that she was going to marry her. Nothing Claire did seemed to dissuade her, if anything she liked being told to shove off.

She liked it. What kind of girl was that into getting herself told off over and over?

Was she really that deprived of companionship that she’d elected to settle for getting bullied over and over?

Again, romance simply didn’t work that way! Not that Claire would ever settle for a commoner girl!

There were so many things wrong with Rae Taylor, and her delusions she simply didn’t know where to even begin!

And to think, she’d been sent to find the little pervert after she was late for magical studies. Something which Claire admittedly found extremely odd, if not refreshing as it meant time without the irritating girl. She could hear herself think and let herself focus on her education without worrying what the girl might try to do to win her affections next.

But all the same, it wasn’t like Rae to be late as she was never late as to her the idea of missing any time spent with her ‘Miss Claire’ was unthinkable. And to think she’d only shown up here at the start of the school year which despite only being two weeks ago felt like eternity to Claire.

She reminded herself that there was every chance the girl would give up eventually because even she would probably choose to pursue someone more open to her… unique affections. A part of Claire, a traitorous part wondered if she’d miss the seeming new constant in her life annoying as she was.

To have a girl seemingly this devoted to her was, in it’s own weird creepy way, affirming. Claire knew that Rae would do anything she asked of her, simply because she was the one doing the asking.

She could see the stars in the girl’s eyes, the proclamation of ‘yes Miss Claire, my very life and soul are devoted to your wellbeing!’. Great, the fact that she could imagine that voice in her head said it all, how this close to being insane Rae was driving her. She’d be in a bedlam asylum if the dark-haired girl kept this up.

The heir to the Francois fortune, driven to the madhouse. What a world. And what’s worse, her family would never be able to escape the shame. At least Rae would probably be executed for her actions.

…executed, did she really want even Rae executed? Sure, she was annoying, but she wasn’t ‘wanting her to be put to death’ levels of annoying. A frightening mental image forced its way into her brain and she was unable to suppress the shudder. The hurt, the betrayal in Rae’s eyes as the guillotine came down.

She heard the sob, and the cry of ‘why Miss Claire?’ as the blade severed her head from her neck. It was… disturbing to say the least and caused Claire to halt in her tracks at the thought.

No, not even she could want Rae executed. Banished maybe, but certainly not killed in her name. Even the thought of seeing Rae’s heartbroken face, the tears in her eyes as she was told of her exile made Claire pause. She could hear the heartbroken sob in her mind.

And then she heard it again, and the blonde realized she wasn’t just imagining Rae crying.

A part of her wanted to turn and walk off, leave the little menace to herself but her feet betrayed her and she found herself walking towards the source of the sob. She could hear the little sniffles coming from a nearby classroom, where the girl had figured nobody would catch her crying.

About what, Claire wasn’t sure and she didn’t know why she even cared. Maybe it just felt wrong to her, hearing the normally bright and chipper girl sound so utterly broken.

That was the worst part of it, the blonde supposed. The girl’s cries sounded so alone, like she wasn’t expecting anyone to come to her aid. Horrified, Claire realized that no, Rae probably didn’t expect anyone to come and comfort her.

Rae had friends right? Misha, for whatever reason, had decided to take pity on her and be her friend. Okay Claire would judge her a little for that but Misha had always been more sympathetic to the commoners. Lene as well, for whatever reason despite Rae’s infuriating antics. The both of them for whatever reason found her rather charming.

A horrific thought formed in her head, wondering if the two were collaborating in making Claire happy. If they thought the dark-haired commoner was actually a good fit for her. What a ridiculous, utterly ridiculous notion.

Neither Misha or Lene were here right now though. Misha was out sick with the flu and Lene didn’t attend the school. That left her to comfort Rae, and clearly, the gods hated her if this was left up to her.

But, as annoying as she was, Rae was her classmate and it was her duty to help look out for her. Noblesse oblige, some of the more sympathetic nobles called it. The duty of the rich to look out for the poor.

It seemed that included her right now.

Gently pushing the door open, she saw the unusually stubborn girl lying next to a desk and crying into her arms. She’d curled herself into a ball and looked so small like this much to Claire’s astonishment.

The girl had never really been anyone Claire would consider especially tall but she wasn’t tiny either. But right now, looking at her like this, she seemed that way.

“Get up! You’re late for class!” Claire barked. “You can cry about how poor and unsuccessful you are later, right now you’ve got show us how so annoyingly gifted you are as a duel caster with your wand!”

She tried pulling on Rae’s shoulders to pull her up, tugging on the crimson fabric but the girl only let out another sob.

“Stop crying, you’re embarrassing yourself and the name of this institution by your tardiness,” Claire said. “What, do I have to bully you into picking yourself up off the floor, because you always respond infuriatingly well to that. You somehow convinced yourself into thinking I’m your target of affections so you’ll do anything I tell you right?”

To her astonishment, Rae only cried some more.

“STOP CRYING!” Claire barked and sighed, lowering her voice. “Do you want me to go get one of those princes? Because I know you want them and you think by going after me you’ll make them stupidly jealous!”

Rae shook her head rapidly, hot salty tears finding themselves on Claire’s uniform, staining it. The blonde sighed and muttered something rude under her breath, something her mother would wash her mouth out with soap if she were around to hear it. Sitting herself down besides Rae, she asked the gods why she of all people had to do this.

“I’m not leaving this room until you pick yourself up and decide to act like you belong here,” Claire said. “However long that takes, unless is this a ploy for me to comfort you in which case you can forget about it!”

“...you sounded like them, a few moments ago,” Rae said, finally speaking. “About how I was deluding myself, about how I was only using you to get the guy I wanted. I… I don’t want a guy, I want… I want…”

“Yes yes, you want me,” Claire said, nodding along, confused as she was. “I don’t know why but you’ve convinced yourself that you want me.”

“Not just you, I want to love a girl, but…” and here Rae began to sob into the blonde’s shoulder. Awkwardly, Claire put her arms around the girl even if she wasn’t quite sure why. “...the land I come from… Japan… it always thought I was deluding myself. That I was supposed to grow out of it.”

Claire blanched, and her eyes went wide. Her whole country, her whole kingdom, whichever it was had told her this? Now, sure, Claire wasn’t sure what Rae was after but she definitely seemed convinced she had to love a girl. Now, she wasn’t sure how sincere her affections were for her, but Rae had chosen her as her target.

“...I want to let everyone know I love girls,” Rae whispered, her voice still fearful and uncertain. “I want everyone to know that, and you’re the most beautiful girl in the academy. I want people to know that it’s okay for a girl to love another girl, no matter what society thinks of me. No matter how society expects me to act.”

And Claire’s whole world briefly stopped on its axis as she was forced to consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe everything she knew about Rae Taylor might have been a lie. A part of her was aware she might have been hugging the annoying girl a little tighter, a part of her didn’t care because Rae obviously needed it right now.

“You… The way you’re acting… You actually want to love girls?”

“Yes…” Rae sniffled. “But Japan… I’m not supposed to. I’m supposed to have grown out of it. I’m supposed to be needy, to be obvious, to be annoying, to be a walking cliche. A living… a living punchline for people to laugh at.”

She could hear actual anger in Rae’s voice, and Claire’s heart stopped as she realized she had the situation all wrong. Rae had simply wanted people to know what kind of girl she was, and who her affections were directed towards.

Be it Claire Francois, or simply anyone else of the same sex. And she’d been forced to act a certain way just so people would be comfortable with that. And oh didn’t that feel familiar. Truthfully, a part of Claire wondered if lording her wealth over everyone was necessary, given they’d simply been born of unluckier circumstances.

Because even her family had started from nothing. All of the noble families hadn’t just been born rich. They’d gotten there through lucky breaks and careful managing of their finances along with business deals. Had one thing gone wrong, Claire was painfully aware she might have been a commoner herself.

She might have been the same person she laughed at Rae for being. Not for who she desired, but her social status. Pushing the rather disquieting, uncomfortable thought away, she finally said: “...and that’s why you came here, to get away from all of it? From… all that… unpleasantness?”

Rae sniffled out a soft little ‘yes’ and for a brief moment, Claire felt legitimately angry on her behalf. Rae had just wanted to live her life the way she saw fit and she’d been forced to be someone she was not just to do even that. 

“...but it followed me even here,” Claire heard. “Of course you don’t care, because you don’t really pay attention to anything besides your schoolwork and your friends but…”

And oh. Oh dear, she didn’t like where this was going. She didn’t like where this was going at all did she?

“...You haven’t heard the whispers behind my back, and the others… I was confronted today, told to act my age and to act like a proper girl and stop slaving myself to your every demand. I was told to go after one of the boys, that I’d ever have a chance of-”

Her shaky voice failed her and she let out a little sob.

“-and I was told to stop deluding myself. To stop acting out and stop playing this obvious joke on everyone around me…”

And Claire’s eyes widened and she didn’t care if she was hugging Rae as a cold chill ran down her back. Because of course she didn’t notice, she didn’t care what most of the other students did as long as it didn’t affect her in any other way.

“Who?” she asked, in a cold voice that was probably chilly enough to repair the polar ice caps.

And when Rae rattled of the names in that shaky, broken voice of hers, utterly devoid of her usual confidence her real self rattled Claire far more than she would have cared to admit. It just felt wrong to hear the otherwise incorrigible girl like this, but Claire got the sickening feeling that she was hearing the real Rae Tayor that she didn’t let anyone else get to see.

At least Misha and her other friends hadn’t been a part of this, though that was still little comfort to the blonde. Because girls her own age, they’d still participated in this completely unacceptable behavior and something told her this might not have been the first time. It made another cold chill run down Claire’s spine to realize that this was probably not the first incident. This was just the only one that Rae had the courage to even talk about.

And the only reason she had the courage to talk about it at all to Claire was because she was the one comforting her. She hated the idea, but somehow, Rae trusted her to let her in on this. Rae, for one reason or the other, trusted her to know what her life was really like when nobody else was around.

No wonder people were laughing at Rae, she’d either A been bullied or B, purposefully set herself up as the punchline. White hot rage, her inner fire burning inside her rose up from a gentle smolder to a raging inferno. Something had to be done, this couldn’t continue.

“I promise you, this won’t happen again,” Claire said. “I know I haven’t been the kindest person to you, and maybe I’m beginning to regret that but if I had known this was going on…”

“You would have put a stop to it, Miss Claire-” and oh there was that nickname that Rae insisted on giving her. Right now, hearing it didn’t feel so bad. “-because I know deep down you really care. That’s why I care for you. That’s why I favor you, the supposed villainess.”

“...Oh, so you’re calling me a villainess now?” she said. “I thought you cared for me, Taylor. Instead you’re-”

“Sorry, it wasn’t an insult. I didn’t even say I thought of you as one, only what everyone else thinks of you,” Rae said, and oh she was faintly aware of Taylor gently clasping her hands. No, she wasn’t blushing. “But I know you, there’s more to you than what everyone else thinks of you. You’re not just a snobby noble, you have your own thoughts, hopes and dreams and-”

Maybe it was just the emotion of the moment, maybe she wasn’t thinking straight or maybe for once she wanted something to go right in Rae’s life. But when their lips connected, as Rae left out a soft gasp Claire for whatever reason decided not to pull away. They stayed there for a minute, before finally the shared moment whatever it was between them was over.

“...sorry, I know I shouldn’t have done that, oh god I just forced a kiss on you and oh god I just molested you Miss Claire,” Rae said, pulling away and refusing to look her in the eyes. “I’m not worthy of your affections, I’m just what they say I am. A clingy, self-absorbed, delusional-”

Claire couldn’t help it, she slapped her.

“...I deserved that,” Rae nodded. “You should probably slap me again, or better yet go to the headmaster and expel-”

“I didn’t do it because you deserved it,” Claire said, deciding to just swallow her pride and give up hating this girl because clearly she needed someone in her corner. “I did it because you needed to get ahold of yourself, woman.”

“HUH?”

“Your incoherent babbling, your self-pity, it really gets under my skin and I don’t know what that was we just shared-”

“A kiss?”

“-I know what it was you dunce, but I don’t know what it meant because I’ve never kissed anyone in my life! Especially not another girl and I-”

“That was your first kiss?” Rae said, in shock and with stars in her eyes. “It was an honor to give you your first kiss, Miss Claire!”

“Please don’t fawn over me, we both know your ridiculous utterly ridiculous act is just that, an act,” Claire said. “I don’t care who you’re attracted to, be it a girl or a boy. You’re still an irritating commoner, just an irritating commoner who happens to like girls instead of boys. It simply doesn’t matter to me.”

“...Oh…” and here by the sad look in Rae’s eyes, Claire knew she’d probably said the wrong thing.

“BUT! Apparently others do care who you like and they see fit to take it out on you,” Claire said. “That’s behavior unbecoming of this academy and it makes me embarrassed to be a witch and share the same breathing space as them. They should be expelled or at least admonished and humiliated in public!”

And when Rae pulled her into a hug and cried into her chest, this time it was with happy joyful tears.

Damn this girl, Claire thought. She was truly incorrigible and petulant. Why in the gods name had she let her kiss her?

…and why did she feel as if she’d liked it?

-----

“HEY! I’m talking to you! Who do you think you are?”

Rae, who’d been hoping to creep into magical studies unnoticed felt her eyes drawn to Miss Claire as the blonde singled out several of her classmates.

Rae’s breath caught in her throat as she realized that oh wow Miss Claire was already taking the homophobic bullies to task for what they’d done.

She felt her heart skip a beat and wondered if it was possible to love the supposed villainess any more than she already did.

Oh wow, she felt a bit faint actually. The fury on Miss Claire’s face was unmatched and if she hadn’t cried enough today she might have started again. Exactly nobody had ever stood up for her like this, apart from her friends whom she’d left behind. Her friends who were equally gay for her.

But in Japan, you were expected to keep your head down and not raise a fuss and there was only so much you could do. Right out of Persona 5, the apathetic adults only did what was best for their jobs and their appearances and did very little beyond the bare minimum.

Her high school life had been hell and when she’d come to this world, this academy she’d thought things would be different. Revolution had been her only escape, and she’d seen Miss Claire as a victim of society forcing her to be someone she wasn’t.

Miss Claire had been executed, by the axe and most players cheered for that ending for what they saw as a despicable woman. Rae wasn’t most players and she refused to play the route that lead to that turn of events ever again.

Persona 5 had been an escape as well, badass thieves changing society for the better, leading the revolution but she’d always been forced to play as a boy without modding the game. And a 100-hour+ RPG was something she never had time for. 

Revolution had the beautiful Miss Claire who Rei Oohashi had always headcanoned as having a lot more to her than anybody ever knew. Rae Taylor was happy to be proven right.

Miss Claire was exactly the kind of girl she’d hoped to fall for, and exactly the girl she’d dreamed about in private moments.

Miss Claire was coming to her defense! Miss Claire, whom she’d kissed . Miss Claire, who accepted her.

“...I’m in love with the villainess, I’m in love with her,” Rae whispered. “I favor her, and I want her hand…”

Hopefully, maybe soon, Miss Claire would accept the offer.

-----

“HEY! I’m talking to you!” Claire said, a fire in her eyes as she marched across the classroom, her heels clacking against the floor with her skirt swaying with every step. “Who do you think you are?”

She knew Rae’s eyes were on her and honestly she actually didn’t mind. She wanted the suddenly less annoying girl to watch this.

Noblesse Oblige, right? Well, she was certainly obligated to take out the trash, and deal with these… people who were making a mockery of this academy and wasting her time.

Their names weren’t that important, Claire reasoned. She’d soon forget about them as soon as she asked the headmaster to show these fools the door. She pushed back a far less improper word for them, something she knew fit them as a descriptor but was extremely impolite for someone of her status to actually use.

“You’re actually sticking up for that commoner?” the first of the fivesome asked, having watched how her eyes had traitorously drifted towards Rae. “She’s an idiot, and she’s making a mockery of this academy by pursuing after you in an attempt to ride your coattails! She’s kidding herself anyways, what she really needs is admit she likes one of the princes!”

“Yes, possibly against my better judgment I actually am sticking up for Rae,” Claire said. “Maybe I’m a fool, maybe she’s a fool but she’s a fool in love and I don’t actually care if she likes girls or not. She’s free to do that, and maybe she’s been a bit of an idiot but she doesn’t deserve your particular brand of idiocy stressing her out.”

“She stresses you out, by constantly proclaiming her love for you!” and oh gods was that what she sounded like when she laughed into her hand? Wow, now she knew why that laugh sounded so annoying. “We’re just showing her that there’s no place for that kind of idiocy in this academy and showing her where she belongs and her place! Which is-”

“Which is with who exactly? A man?” Claire said, tapping her foot in impatience. “Not to her. In her mind, and she’s free to think that and free to like who she likes. In her mind, her place is hand in hand with a girl. Not a girl like any of you, because you’re especially terrible but with a girl who truly cares for her.”

“Like you?” one of the five sneered.

“With a girl who truly cares for her,” Claire stressed. “As "Top Student," it is my duty to tell you to keep at it! Even you could get a passing grade someday. Mind, it won’t be at this school if I have anything to say about it,” Claire said, pulling out her wand. “Personally, I’m disgusted girls with your attitude made it past the front door. You might be rich in wealth, but not in personality.”

“Why you!”

“Professor, I think a practical demonstration of what I’ve learned should suffice,” Claire said, tapping her shoe against the floor again. “I want everyone else to see what kind of witches they could be if they really put their minds to it.”

Leading the entire class outside, five against one, Claire drew her wand with no fear in her eyes at all.

“I’m only going to say this once, and I’m going to ask you to back down and if you don’t I can’t be responsible for the consequences,” Claire said as the five circled her like lions before a kill. “Leave Rae alone. Leave her alone . It's not her fault she was born without our level of talent, though if she really applies herself maybe she can impress me. If she really wants to be serious, I’m not going to stop her. Commoners rarely have any significant magical ability…”

She tossed a look back at Rae, and to everyone’s shock even her own actually smiled at her.

“...But I doubt that'll stop you.”

And then the spellfire began. Claire shot white hot fire from her wand knocking out the first two witches before they’d even had time to react. The other three lasted a bit longer but that really wasn’t saying much.

“Now, does anyone else want to make a fuss?” Claire said, as everyone watched her in awe as they should. “No, didn’t think so.”

Misha gave her an approving smile as she passed, and said: “I’m proud of you, Claire.”

Rolling her eyes, she replied with a: “I was just showing those losers their place, Misha.”

“Mhmmmmm. If that’s what you say you’re doing, mhmmm.”

-----

“I’m sorry for being a bother today,” Rae said as the two got ready for bed. “For… I made you take time out of your busy schedule all to find me and-”

Claire put a finger to her lips. “You were in distress, you needed help and a shoulder to cry on and I however unwittingly found myself in a position to help you. I’m still not sure if I like you or not but I’m not going to let people bully you for who you happen to be attracted to.”

And now she was hugging her, and Claire let out a sigh as she accepted her fate.

“We tell nobody about the… moment we shared though,” Claire said. “Not until I figure out what it means for us, in the future because I’m suddenly finding myself questioning who I am.”

“Really?” Rae said, looking pleased.

“It’s… a lot, I don’t know if I’m attracted to girls like you are, and I certainly don’t know if I’m attracted to you,” Claire said. “Nor am I sure if there’s any point to insulting people on their social status in life anymore. Not when I know my father is one bad business decision away from leaving us bereft of any of our wealth.”

“...that is a lot.”

“Indeed, and I suppose I should kick you out to the maid’s quarters but… after the day you’ve had the last thing you need is to be alone and I…” and here Claire let herself slip out a curse.

Much to Rae’s amusement.

“It’s not funny,” she told the giggling girl. “I’m a proper heiress, I’m not supposed to swear and I’m certainly not supposed to kiss commoners like you and I’m certainly not supposed to enjoy doing it either! I’m not supposed to-”

“Make excuses either,” Rae said, wagging her finger. “If you want to like girls, and boys, then nobody’s stopping you. If you want to figure that out, the least I can do is help you.”

“Surely you’re not saying-”

“Yes, I am, now pucker up!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, why would I ever…” Claire started before groaning as she realized there was no point arguing this as she’d liked Rae’s lips on hers. Whether that meant she liked kissing girls or liked kissing Rae she wasn’t sure.

“Alright, fine, but we’re not discussing this with anyone and this is a one-night-only type of thing, if I don’t like this then you agree to stop pursuing me, deal?”

“In God’s name I swear to stop pursuing you if you don’t like me kissing you,” Rae said and oh that must have been so hard for her to say, Claire mused before nervously pressing her lips to the pajama-clad girl’s own.

Pulling Rae into her bed with her, she kept kissing her as her hands wrapped themselves around the other girl’s form. Claire released her lips, and for a moment hesitated and wondered why she was doing this before deciding to not argue that point either. Instead, she initiated another kiss.

Claire found herself letting out a soft sigh from the feel of Rae’s lips on hers and pulled her even closer. Feeling Rae run her hands through her blonde hair, Claire decided to take a risk and clutch her head in her hands. Pulling away, she realized how disappointed she’d felt by letting go.

“...I suppose that’s that then…” Claire mused aloud.

Rae nodded. “I’ll… I’ll just…” and as she got up to move towards the door Claire grabbed her by the sleeve.

“No, don’t go,” the blonde said. “Come back over here, I said I suppose that’s that and I meant I suppose I know I swing both ways now. I don’t know if I favor you yet, Rae Taylor but-”

She kissed the girl again, letting her hands roam down her fellow classmate’s back as she pulled Rae into her lap. The two continued kissing and Claire fell backwards onto her pillow before capturing Rae’s lips in another kiss. 

“-but I’m open to figuring that out for myself,” Claire said, not caring it was one and a half in the morning and her hands had been tangled in the other girl’s hair.

“Miss Claire…” Rae said, her eyes a little watery.

“Don’t cry, you’ll get my sheets all wet. Don’t cry, you’ve done enough of that today,” Claire said. “Now, commoner, I order you to cuddle up with me and keep me company for the rest of the night. Snuggle me now, please. I don’t have my favorite plushie with me so you’ll have to do!”

“Yes ma’am!” Rae said and Claire felt the girl clutch her tight and snuggle into her hair. Her scent was now all over Claire, not that she cared smelling like cinnamon. All that she cared about right now was seeing just where her relationship went with this girl from now on.

Let people talk, she decided. They knew nothing about her and why she did the things she did. She didn’t know if she liked Rae as a person but when she thought about it, maybe the idea of working out her feelings about her wasn’t so bad after all.

fin