Claude raised his hand in front of his face, shielding the sun from his eyes. He stared at Lameanr Military Academy for a few moments. The pearly white gates and marble pillars at the entrance shone brightly in the sun, making the building more of a beacon than anything else.
Claude inhaled deeply before stepping forward into the entranceway, "Welp, here's to another great year at Lameanr."
Claude began to walk towards the gates, the sounds of excited cadets rushing by, and confused first years frantically running around to get a bearing on the academy. Before he was able to enter the gates, however, a hand grabbed onto his shoulder. Wheeling around, he locked onto Sylvain!
"Yo, LT!" Sylvain winked, "Ready to finally come with me to pick up some girls this year?"
Claude chuckled, "All you, Sylvain. I'll keep away from that can of worms, just try to break a few less hearts this year than the last."
"Hey, no promises, but I'll try."
"And what have we here?" A familiar voice cut through the noise.
The two looked over, and a familiar figure appeared, "You two could do without blocking the entrance, you know." Elaine said.
"Elaine!" The two exclaimed.
"Yes, that's my name." Elaine walked up to them. She furrowed her brows and dusted off some crumbs on Claude's uniform, "Take more care of your uniform, it's only the first day and you're a mess already."
Claude nodded in response, "Roger…"
"Hey! Check my uniform! Make sure I don't have any crumbs on me!" Sylvain piped up.
Elaine rolled her eyes and walked past him, "Are you two coming to class or are we going to stand here all day?"
"On the way!" Sylvain smirked.
Claude watched on for a few more moments, watching Sylvain and Elaine walk on, "Even through war, I'll protect all of you…" He muttered under his breath.
Elaine looked back and raised a brow, she opened her mouth to speak but decided against it, then turned her attention back to the entrance of Lameanr.
"You comin' LT?" Sylvain called out, "Don't go zoning out before class even starts!"
Claude snapped out of his trance, "Right! Coming!" He trotted along to catch up to Sylvain and Elaine, "How about we take our first step back into the Academy together?"
Sylvain smirked, "I like the way you think, LT! Whaddya say, Elaine? Wanna take LT's approach or not?"
Elaine sighed, but could hardly hide the smile tugging at her mouth, "Sure, sure, we can take the first step together."
"Alright then!" Claude exclaimed, "Here's to our first step back to Lameanr, and to many more first steps we'll take together!"
The trio made their way through the Lameanr Academy Courtyard. A rush of lost first-years ran around, maps in hand, trying to find their classes. Some of the more senior students, however, simply took the few minutes before classes started to gather around, chat, and laugh.
Sylvain whistled, "You remember when that was you LT?" He snickered, "Then the glorious Sylvain de la Croix came in to save you on your first day!"
"Hey, just because you got held back a year doesn't mean you gotta rub it in," Claude chuckled, "Plus, I wasn't that lost!"
"I somehow find that hard to believe…" Elaine murmured, "In any case, let's get to the briefing room, don't want to keep everyone waiting."
The trio began to approach the main building. Elaine stopped abruptly at the sight of Ingrid Hawkin. She looked almost taken aback and slightly frightened at how many people littered the courtyard.
Elaine motioned to Ingrid to come over, "Ingrid!" She shouted out.
Locking eyes with Elaine, Ingrid's face brightened. Rushing over with a newfound energy, she shouted, "Elaine! Lieutenant!" Then, upon seeing Sylvain, looked down at her boots, "Sylvain…" She murmured.
"Aww, Ingrid, no need to make such a fuss seeing me! We're friends!" Sylvain exclaimed, "And friends are what friends do!"
"What does that even mean…" Elaine muttered.
"What it means, my dear XO, is that we're all friends, we eat together, we sleep together, we train together, we do everything together. That makes us all friends!"
"Gotta admit Elaine, when he puts it that way, it's hard to refute what he says." Claude said, "We're all friends here, let's at least act the part."
Ingrid simply nodded before clutching her notebook tight across her chest and staring down at the ground.
"Sooo, how was your summer?" Sylvain nudged Ingrid.
"Oh… It was okay, Aisha invited me out with her sister… That was nice of her…" Ingrid murmured, glancing at Elaine for support.
"Ohhh? I didn't think anyone would be able to break through the cold harsh exterior that is Aisha…" Sylvain said.
"Hey, just because she hates you specifically doesn't mean she can't be friends with people." Claude said.
"Says you 'Claudey-Claude'!" Sylvain blew a raspberry.
"Well, in any case, let's get to the morning brief, doubt Colonel Taft will excuse tardiness for the day." Claude commented.
As they all made their way to the briefing room, someone clearing their throat behind them made Claude stop and wheel around.
In front of him stood a shorter woman with definitely out of regulations long black hair with what seemed to be a permanent frown on her face.
"Oh! Aisha!" Claude exclaimed, "Good to see you! How was your summer?"
"Oh, what's this? Is good old Claudey-Claude gathering the gang of misfits that is Class C?" Aisha smirked, "If you must know, my summer went quite well. I took my sister Ada to quite a nice little strip in Eden. We went to the Aviation Museum, Aquarium, we even got to visit the Imperial Palace!"
Aisha proudly sat her hands on her hips, as though waiting for praise or compliments from those around her.
Claude gave a small golf clap, "Wow! Nice, I love spoiling my sister, she actually enrolled in the Academy this past semester, maybe I'll see her around somewhere."
Sylvain ducked his way out of interacting with Aisha and continued walking off to the briefing room himself. However, Aisha took notice and threw her notebook at him, nailing him right in the back of the head with deadly accuracy.
"And where does the 'Star of Class C' think he's going?" Aisha mocked, "Trying to ditch us or something?"
Sylvain rubbed the back of his head and inhaled sharply, "No… Aisha, you may be, and I mean this in no uncertain terms, the second scariest woman I've ever met in my life, but we do have the briefing in… Three minutes. I just don't want the scariest woman I've ever met in my life to give me a punishment so horrible I can never look at any woman the same again."
"Ah, come on, Colonel Taft isn't that bad!" Claude chimed in.
"She told me she'd lobotomize me with a rusty spoon and feed my entrails to her dogs…" Sylvain grumbled.
"Figure of speech." Elaine said, walking swiftly past Sylvain.
The group continued off to the meeting room, laughing and joking as they walked. As they approached the room, a familiar tuff of white hair poked out from the open door.
Claude grabbed the head of Yuri Astrovska, who had been standing in the doorway, and ruffled his hair.
"Yuri! How goes it? How was your summer?" Claude asked.
"Lieutenant," Yuri nodded, recomposing himself and clutching his clipboard, "You were almost late. One minute and twenty-seven seconds later and you would have been marked UA for the morning."
Claude shrugged, "I blame Sylvain personally."
"Hey!" Sylvain chirped up.
"Regardless, it's your responsibility as Class Leader to make sure you are on time and everyone under you is present and accounted for." Yuri stated.
Claude shrugged again, "Either way, nice to see you again Yuri." He entered the room to take a seat.
"Good to see you as well, sir." Yuri said.
With the class all present and accounted for, all that was left was to await Colonel Taft's arrival. In the meantime, the room buzzed with laughter, conversation, and Sylvain's desperate attempts to flirt with the girls in class.
After a few moments, Colonel Laura Taft entered. She was relatively tall and her presence was immediately known by all in the room. Everyone immediately stiffened in their seats and the noise quickly died out.
"Attention!" Claude called out, calling the room to attention.
"At ease everyone," Colonel Taft said, allowing for all to be seated, "I hope everyone had a good summer break and is ready for another year. Firstly, I'd like to conduct the changing of classes."
Colonel Taft cleared her throat, "Attention to the Changing of Class!" She called out, "This document is to certify that Class E of the Lameanr Military Academy is hereby redesignated as Class C of the Lameanr Military Academy and that the Commanding Officer, Class E, shall be reassigned as Commanding Officer, Class C. Effective this day, the 15th of the Sunken Moon, in the Year of three-hundred and forty-four. Signed, General Lewis, Superintendent, Lameanr Military Academy"
Colonel Taft then set down the document she read from and picked another, "Attention to promotion!" She called out.
The class was called to attention yet again, some of the class looked like they had stopped breathing, particularly Nico Emmy whose face was turning red. Colonel Taft scanned the room for a moment before continuing her speech.
"This document is to certify that Lieutenant Claude Riesen is hereby advanced to the grade of Captain in the Royal Army of the Empire of Ikaria, given under my hand this day, the 15th of the Sunken Moon, in the Year of three-hundred and forty-four. Signed, General Lewis, Superintendent, Lameanr Military Academy"
The class erupted into cheer. Sylvain nudged Claude and gave a smile, "Hey, congrats, Cap! You're gonna be the life of the party from here on out!"
"Nah, Elaine really should've been promoted over me if I'm being honest." Claude replied. Claude stared at Sylvain for a few moments, something was different about his smile, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It almost looked more genuine in a way.
"What?!" Sylvain exclaimed, "No no, you're the guy, Cap! Elaine's great and all, but she doesn't hold a candle to you!"
Claude chuckled, "Thanks for the vote of confidence Sylvain, I'll keep that in mind when I'm Emperor." He joked.
"Atta boy, Cap! Keep up that high energy!"
Elaine nodded to Claude, "Congratulations, Captain, here's to many more promotions."
Claude smirked, "I dunno if I am good enough to be promoted past Captain, but I'll do my best for you all."