"Hey, Teach...You alright?"
Byleth's eyes widened in confusion as Claude asked the question, a worried look on his face. She nodded, her brow raised.
"Yes...?" Byleth affirmed as she sipped at her tea. It actually was quite good! Byleth had never really drank anything flavored before, preferring to stick to water (or alcohol, considering who her father was). "Why?"
"Ah, you just look...kinda distressed," Claude admitted nonchalantly, a soft smile still on his face. "Was it the lack of sleep?"
"Huh? Oh, no," Byleth swirled the tea in her cup absentmindedly. "I didn't know I seemed distressed...I felt fine."
"Felt, as in the past tense," Claude mused, placing his finished cup of tea on the table. He leaned backward in his chair, and as Byleth inadvertently moved her gaze back towards the cashier, her eyes scanning over the pink haired female, Claude smirked. "...Is it Hilda?"
"No," Byleth replied a bit too defensively, and she soon noted the tone of her voice. She shrugged. "I don't know. I just..."
"Hilda's a slacker, but she's got a kind soul," Claude told her, misunderstanding her reasons for feeling cautious around Hilda. Well, Byleth didn't quite understand it herself, so she couldn't blame Claude for getting it wrong. "She's one of my closest friends."
Somehow, that didn't make Byleth feel much better.
"Yeah, she seems nice," Byleth said almost apathetically. Upon realizing this fact, she began to panic. No, she couldn't slip back into this bland state! She hurriedly tried to focus herself on something else. "So, uh..How are you today?"
What kind of question was that? Byleth wanted to smack herself for asking such a simple question. Claude just grinned at her, amused at her reaction to herself.
"I'm fine. Actually, I'm great now that we're together again," Claude responded with a smile, placing his hands behind his head casually. Byleth felt her beating heart begin to race in her chest. She knew she'd been magnetized to him from the start, but Byleth didn't realize just how quickly he could make her smile! "Life isn't just about crazy nights like yesterday...sometimes, the happiest moments come from simple times like this."
"Is that so?" Byleth mused, lowering her cup to the table. "I wish I could have found this out sooner. I never really took time to interact and stuff like that."
"...No harm meant by asking, but..." Claude hesitated before pressing on. "Do you hang out with other people besides me?"
"Does one person count?" Byleth asked, and Claude shook his hand as if to say 'well, kinda'. Byleth shrugged. "Two if you count my father."
"But you've never really...had fun with either of them?" Claude questioned, a surprised and slightly concerned look in his emerald eyes. Somehow, the color of his eyes were comforting, despite the piercing green tone of his irises. "That's so..strange. You've got a weird sort of condition, Teach."
Condition? Byleth inwardly cursed at the accuracy of the situation. Why does he have to be so on the mark about the truth?
"I don't know why I'm like this," Byleth shrugged as she folded her hands on the wooden table. "All I know is that I just felt...pity. That's all."
"...I'm glad that I can make you feel something different, then," Claude offered her another soft smile. He stood, offering his hand for her to take. Byleth glanced at his hand, wide eyed. "Come on, Teach. Time to go!"
"R-Right."
Byleth hesitantly took Claude's hand, and the two walked out. His touch was surprisingly warm against Byleth's frigid skin, and Byleth felt warm,
pleasant shivers run down her spine.
As the two walked to the bar, Byleth's heart beat erratically in her once stone cold chest.
YOU ARE READING
Race Against Time
Fanfiction"BYLETH, YOU'RE DYING." Those were the words Byleth Eisner had heard her entire life...but it had never rang true. She had always known that the doctors were wrong, that she was going to keep living, but the fear of death was constant. Born with a h...
