Race Against Time

Take Action

"Hey, Claude! Check it out."

Byleth handed a newspaper to her friend, who had an amused look on his face. They were practically empty today, aside from one customer who was a usual. He had orange hair and stern eyes, and mostly kept to himself...allowing Byleth and Claude to mess around.

Yes, mess around. Byleth had placed the thought of her death to the back of her mind. If she was going to die with no cure, then she could at least enjoy the days she had left.

"What's this?" Claude took the newspaper curiously, but his face fell upon seeing the contents. He grimaced, placing the newspaper gently back onto the counter. "Ah, yes..."

"I thought you would have been excited to see yourself in the paper," Byleth mused, taking the paper and throwing it in the trash. If it upset Claude, then it certainly didn't belong in her bar.

"Well, the more people who see my face, the more people that will ask me about when I'll become the next CEO," Claude shrugged, an annoyed look plaguing his features. "I know my father did this on purpose."

Byleth remained silent at this. Part of her was itching to know more about his past, while the other part of her didn't want to intrude. He sighed, sitting down and placing his head in his hands. Byleth retrieved a drink from the fridge before setting it down in front of him. He chuckled somewhat darkly.

"I'm okay, thanks," Claude declined, pushing the bottle away. "I can't ignore my problems with a bit of alcohol. Not when I've got to take action to change my own destiny."

Huh. Byleth had never thought about it that way. Her father had always been quick to take to the bottle whenever he wanted to forget something. Byleth herself normally just did whatever she could to ignore it, but here Claude was instead, choosing to fight for his own fate...?

Maybe Byleth could learn a thing or two from him.

But that wasn't applicable in her situation, was it? The only thing she could to was avoid the thought of it, right? If Manuela couldn't figure it out, how could she?

Byleth forgot that Claude was still looking at her, and upon snapping back to reality, she grimaced apologetically.

"Sorry. But that's...That's really admirable of you," Byleth nodded her head, the wheels beginning to turn in her mind.Take action...

"Well, we've got to take matters into our own hands sometimes," Claude shrugged, looking up at her with a small smile. "We can't just leave our future up to blind fate."

Huh.

Byleth couldn't just do that?

She knew Manuela wouldn't be able to find a cure, she knew it...so maybe Byleth could...do it herself. After all, Claude had a point. Blind fate might not be too kind to her.

"...That's all I've been doing my whole life," Byleth admitted guiltily, a sheepish look on her face. "Just waiting around for my life to change..."

"For happiness?" Claude questioned, and while Byleth had been referring to her illness, she nodded her head anyway. "Well, lucky for you, I walked into your life, haha."

"Yes, true," Byleth couldn't disagree with that whatsoever. "But I think...I think I'm going to take your own advice to heart."

I'm going to find a cure.

"Oh, about your mother?" Claude guessed. After a moment of hesitation, Byleth nodded, and Claude shook his head. "You're not a doctor, Teach. I didn't mean to place you in situations you're not made for-"

"I wouldn't do that! I'm just saying that..." Byleth caught herself before she revealed how she had previously just tried to forget about her illness. "I need to take fate into my own hands. That's all."

I can't...I can't give up my chance to be happy.

Claude has made me the happiest I've been in my life...and he's right. I should fight for it.

Even if he has no idea what I'm really talking about.

"Don't assume its all your fault if you can't find anything, though," Claude reminded her softly, his eyes watching her carefully. Byleth noticed that even in this solemn moment, he still had a small smile on his face. "That's...something my mother always warned me about."

"Your mother seems wise."

"Yeah..." Claude's voice drifted quieter. He was about to respond when the door suddenly slammed shut, surprising both of them. Neither of them had heard the bell ring when the man left. Claude let out a soft laugh, placing his hands behind his head. "Geez, that scared me."

"Yeah, me too," Byleth agreed, glad for the distraction that lightened the mood. When Claude was down, Byleth didn't exactly know how to help him. She hoped that one day, she'd be able to help him like he helped her. "Takes a lot to scare me, normally."

"Yeah, you are pretty stoic, aren't you?" Claude grinned, his entire demeanor changing in an instant from soft to lighthearted. "It's a nice change of pace. Definitely different than everyone else I've known around here...but I've always liked different."

"I'm glad," Byleth agreed. "Not many people do..."

"Well, they're missing out. And speaking of missing out, we need to take you to go do something fun!" Claude exclaimed, before pulling out his phone. He entered the passcode, swiping to a screen before handing it to her. "Here. Put your number in."

"My number?" Byleth's eyes widened in surprise. No one had ever asked for her number before...she wasn't kidding when she said that the only numbers she had in her phone were her father's, a training instructor named Alois, and her old roommate from
college named Sothis. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'll...Yeah."

Byleth took the phone, typing in her number almost excitedly. She could see him grinning from the corner of her eye, and as she handed the phone back to him, his smile grew wider.

"Great. I'll text you when I think of something."

Byleth nodded, a smile on her face.

"I look forward to it."

i don't mean to ruin the chapter but can we all take action against intelligent systems for putting edelgard in as a legendary hero before everyone else? k thanks.

please help. my soul is dying