Fodlan's Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.

Chapter 21: Whispers of a rebellion

2nd of the Garland Moon, 1180

"Sorry for making you two wait." Bernadetta apologized to both Kotone and Sylvain as soon as she stepped out of her room. She was wearing her uniform, just without the hoodie. Sylvain was the same, the school's jacket was wrapped around his waist. Kotone offered her a smile. She was wearing her Gekkoukan uniform without the jacket and the sleeves rolled up, still waiting for her Garreg Mach uniform to be finished. It was taking quite a while though.

"It's fine! We're not in a hurry anyways." she assured her.

"Professor Byleth is giving us the day off because some had a hard time killing those bandits. So we're not exactly in a hurry of some sorts." Sylvain told her.

"Yeah. I remember seeing Aki wince when he snapped that archer's neck." Bernadetta recalled. And him almost dying, too. But that was left unsaid, as she guessed that Sylvain didn't need a reminder of that.

"So, what are we doing, exactly?" Kotone asked, very curious.

"Well, Bernie and I thought it'd be a good idea to fish together!" Sylvain grinned "To make some team bonding, and help with the thing, you know?" he added, not saying the words Persona or fusing incase anyone else was nearby. Kotone quickly caught onto what Sylvain was implying, nodding in agreement.

"Sure! Although, in the evening, I agreed to sparr with Fraldarius-kun, so I'll be here until lunch!" she told them. Sylvain raised a brow.

"You're sparring with Felix? Did he ask you?" he inquired, curious.

"Not exactly an ask, but I did say I wanted to get better at combat with other human beings. Being with the thiefs only taught me the basics, and I'm getting rusty." Kotone admitted, stretching herself. Bernadetta and Sylvain shared a look.

"I'd say Felix took an interest in you." Bernadetta suggested. Kotone raised a brow at that as the three grabbed some fishing rods, Sylvain paying the fisherman for it, heading towards the edge of the lake, sitting down with their legs crossed. Kotone first watched how Sylvain attached the lure to the end of the fishing line carefully bebfore he reeled his arms back and shot the string forwards, which landed in the water. A few seconds later, Bernadetta did the same.

"What time do you remember it was before you ended here, in Fodlan?" the archer asked as Kotone struggled to attach the lure. The previous Wildcard looked up from what she was doing.

"Uh... You... might get mad, but I... died. On March 5th." she admitted, looking down at her lap "I... never got to see if my friends truly remembered. I just laid there, slowly dying with Shinjiro next to me, my head on his lap. He remembered everything. I still don't know why he did, but I was really happy he did." she smiled, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence. Sylvain felt his hand sweating as a fish caught the lure. He pulled it towards him until it flew up in the air and landed on his thigh. He placed it in the bucket the fisherman had given them. He was surprised that Shinjiro was the one to remember and not Aigis, like what hapoened with Makoto, but he supposednot all timelines are the same.

"I believe that they remembered. They're your friends, after all. If they were able to remember the promise in our timeline, I believe they remembered in yours." the redhead assured him as Bernadetta's own string jerked forwards. She pulled it towards herself, doing her best to not let it escape. Eventually, she was able to catch it and put it in the bucket.

"I'd like to hope so." Kotone sighed "And even if they don't remember, I'm just happy I spent all that time with them. All that exploring in Tartarus, fighting the Shadows, everything. I'm happy I was able to experience it instead of the boring, mediocre high school life where everyone would forget about me when I moved away." she smiled.