All This Time

Peaceful Days

Stepping into the Golden Deer classroom, Byleth couldn't help but smile. She'd had so many good memories associated with the room and the people held in it.

Byleth was lecturing on counterattacks when she heard snickers throughout her classroom. It was about a month into her teaching career, and it had gone off without a hitch...until now. She sighed, pausing for a moment until it became silent again, and then she continued teaching.

A minute passed, and then more laughter was heard. She turned her attention towards the source; unsurprisingly, it was coming from Claude.

"Claude-"

"Sorry," He had grinned at her, a mischievous look on his face. "But yesterday, Hilda was wondering why I find it necessary to flip upside down when I shoot an arrow."

"..."

"...Say, Teach-"

"Claude, I'm going to pummel you."

His smile only grew wider.

"Since we're talking about counterattacks, I figured that I might as well explain in front of the class!" Claude stood from his seat, and in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly hanging upside down from his foot. The class exploded in laughter as Byleth just stood with her jaw at the floor.

"W-what-"

"Well, when I flip upside down, it allows me to avoid the enemy's attack and immediately fight...which gives me distance from them so that they can't come at me!" Claude exclaimed, a grin still on his face. "...Also, it confuses my enemy, and they're too shocked to block the arrow. See, Hilda, I told you there was a real reason!"

"I guess you're right. You definitely surprised the Professor," Hilda sighed, and her eyes widened as she saw Byleth walk over to him. "Uh, you probably should have picked a better time...!"

"You interrupted my lecture...so that you could hang upside down?" Byleth questioned, but her threatening demeanor did nothing to stop his smile.

"Yeah. It was relevant to your lecture, wasn't it?"

Everyone waited for Byleth to yell and scream at him. Lorenz was smirking, while Raphael struggled to keep himself quiet. Byleth leaned in closer towards his face with a stern expression. He suddenly looked very flustered as she headed toward his lips, and the class snickered.

Instead of ordering them to cut him down (or kissing him), she flicked him on the nose, backed away, and she promptly burst out into laughter.

"This...was a good one," Byleth chuckled, confusing the rest of her Deer. "Claude...good job. Confusing the enemy is a point I hadn't even thought about."

Claude smiled proudly, rubbing his nose where she had flicked him. His face was still red as he was still flustered that she had come up to him so close.

"Well, it's my favorite thing to do," Claude grinned. "Probably the one thing I'm truly talented at, actually."

"I'm sure you're talented at other things," Byleth waved her hand flippantly. "Alright, let's lower him down. Raphael, could you help me out?"

"Y-Yeah, of course!" Raphael nodded, standing and heading to the desk where the rope was tied. He untied the rope, slowly lowering Claude down and into Byleth's arms. Claude grinned up at her, and Byleth rolled her eyes as she let him down..

"Okay, well, anyways. Continuing on..." Byleth suddenly stopped mid-sentence. A devilish smile crept onto her face. "Hm. If any of you ever manage to get me hanging upside down like that, you'll get ten extra points on the next exam. Got it?"

"Yes, Professor!" They all shouted, and Byleth smiled.

A little bit of a friendly competition never hurt anyone, did it?

No one had ever managed to get her.

Lysithea had almost managed it when she worked along with Claude. Their intent was while they were in the training grounds, Claude was supposed to back Byleth towards Lysithea, activating the trap. However, Lysithea had been accidentally pushed over by Caspar, resulting in Lysithea hanging upside down. She'd been indignant, yelling as Byleth just chuckled.

The others had certainly tried, but none of their other attempts had actually come close to working. Hilda had lazily placed a trap in front of her door, while Raphael had been too predictable in having her 'follow him". Byleth sighed contently. She missed the days where life was simple and easy.

Byleth stepped onto her podium, searching for her guidebook. She figured that she'd take a look at the old curriculum since it had been awhile since she had fought. As she grabbed the book, she heard the sound of a rope whirring and all of a sudden, Byleth found herself hanging upside down by her right foot.

"Haha! After five years, I finally got you!"

Claude entered the room, a smug look on his face. Byleth rolled her eyes, but nevertheless, a smile crept onto her features.

"Did you really have this planned out?" Byleth questioned, her arms dangling down by her uselessly. She watched him as he walked closer to her. His face was right by hers, almost mirroring the situation five years ago.

"Yes, I did," Claude grinned, and she could tell he was mighty proud that he'd gotten her. "Once you came back, this was one of the first things I did. So? What do you think?"

"Hmm..." Byleth pretended to think hard, but she already knew what she was going to say. "You look a lot sadder when I'm upside down."

"Do you want me to frown?" Claude laughed, raising his hand to caress her cheek. "...You know, I was nervous that you were actually going to kiss me back then. Now, well..."

He leaned in, slowly embracing her lips in a gentle kiss. She obliged, kissing him back as a fluttery feeling in her chest began to form. Slowly, he pulled away, a smile on his face.

"Well, let's just say, you should have just kissed me right there and then. Would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"It probably would have," Byleth sighed, breathless. She still couldn't get enough of him. "I'm not quite sure how you hung upside down for so long, I'm getting light headed."

"In that case, let's get you down from there," Claude smiled, walking over to where his contraption was. He slowly lowered Byleth down onto the ground, and she untied the rope from around her ankle. She stood up, looking at him brightly.

"...You know, I thought about rewinding time so that I didn't fall for your trap," Byleth admitted. He looked at her strangely- Byleth had forgotten that no one knew about that fact.

"Rewinding time?"

Byleth shrugged.

"...You're not allowed to tell anyone else about this," Byleth warned, and he nodded. "But basically...I can rewind time. Not too far back, but...just a little bit."

"Wow," Claude's brow raised, but he didn't seem nearly as surprised as she thought he would have been. Then again, Byleth had so many secrets and powers, that she figured he was just accepting her strange background. "And you were going to use such an awesome power on me!? Just so that you weren't hanging upside down!?"

"I didn't do it, did I?" Byleth responded, smirking. "I let you have the victory. Tada."

"...Well, I'm afraid it's no use," Claude sighed dramatically, suggesting that he wasn't truly upset. "The grand prize means nothing to me now. I don't exactly need extra credit on exams anymore."

Byleth smirked.

"Well, perhaps the grand prize has changed," Byleth replied coyly, walking away. She could hear him running to catch up to her.

"Oh? And what does that mean, Teach?" She could hear the teasing in his voice, so she whirled around, grabbed him by his cravat, and pulled him into a kiss. He groaned as she deepened the kiss, but she leaned away before it could continue. "Hey, wait! Teach!"

She winked at him teasingly, a devilish smirk on her face as she walked away.

"Well? Aren't you coming?"