"Bye, Claude. I'll see you at work tonight."
Byleth sighed and shut the door after Claude had departed. Did she really think that Claude wasn't going to stay up all night and try to study? No. But he said he would, so Byleth would just have to trust him there.
She turned around to head back to her room, but the sound of someone's throat clearing interrupted her. Byleth turned to her father.
"Yeah?" Byleth asked innocently, but upon seeing the knowing look in his eyes, she immediately groaned. "Dad, don't-"
"Told you so," Jeralt grinned, reaching over to ruffle Byleth's hair messily. "Told you he wouldn't leave."
"How did you know!? I didn't even tell you yet," Byleth exclaimed, genuinely surprised that Jeralt already knew. Jeralt just smiled wider.
"I didn't know, but now you just told me, so..." Jeralt chuckled as Byleth sulked at her own actions. "Come on, Kid. I could tell from seeing the look on your face."
"Ugh, Dad..."
"I'm happy for you, Kid," Jeralt pulled her into a tight hug so she practically couldn't breathe. It wasn't that he meant to do it, but he was just a strong as she was. "I told you I was right about Claude, though. Called it."
"Okay, okay. You don't have to rub it in more," Byleth grumbled, pushing herself away so she could breathe. "...He's a really great guy, Dad."
"Yeah, he loves you like you love him."
"It's not like he feels the same, Dad," Byleth sighed, not realizing what she had just admitted. Upon seeing his daughter so dejected, Jeralt skipped out on the opportunity to tease her and instead began to coax her instead.
"I told you he looks at you like how I looked at your mother," Jeralt repeated once more. "If you need me to spell it out for you further...He looks at you like he loves you. Because he does. He does love you."
"Not a funny thing to tease me about, Dad," Byleth said, turning to her room. "But it's alright. I'm just glad to have him around, I don't really care how he feels about me. He's staying, and I shouldn't ask for more. I don't need to talk to him about this and then really drive him away."
"...Alright, Kid," Jeralt relented, much to Byleth's surprise. Little did she know that he did have a reason to stop prodding, and it definitely wasn't because Jeralt wanted to hear how delighted Byleth would be once Claude confessed... "But just remember, I told you so."
"Sure, sure."
Byleth walked to her room before sitting at the desk. It was time for her to study up on heart disease. So far, Claude and her had made a decent amount of progress, almost half as much as she'd been doing for the past couple of months. He was very intuitive, catching onto the fact that most of the usual procedures wouldn't work and focusing on his own notes. He had complied a list of things for them to do to try and stop Byleth's heart.
What a weird statement.
Byleth wondered just how she could die. Would it mean that when she died, her heart would still be beating? How would that work? Byleth didn't really get it. She frowned before looking into the mirror for green hairs.
Much to her dismay, she found two strands of long, minty hair. She pulled them out, discarding them onto her desk. She knew Claude would want to see. She sighed, staring at herself intently in the mirror. Her teal eyes, that almost seemed a shade greener than usual stared back.
Why am I dying like this...?
A spark of heated, sharp pain exploded in her chest. It didn't last for long, but it hurt more than anything else. Byleth brought a hand to her chest, feeling her pulsing heart as she stumbled backward.
That couldn't be good.
She waited to see if it would happen again, but it was gone. The only thing that remained was a slight burning sensation in her chest, a painful and uncomfortable feeling. Byleth sunk onto her bed, pain etched onto her face. She hurried to her phone, inputting Manuela's phone number before holding the phone to her ear.
The call actually went to voicemail, which was strange since Manuela always picked up. It was alright, Byleth would just leave a message. This wasn't that important, right? Her life certainly wasn't important, right...? Byleth stopped herself from being too sarcastic. If Manuela wasn't answering, something serious must have come up. Byleth should be grateful.
"Manuela? I, um," Byleth struggled to catch her breath. "I just had some really bad chest pain. It was like an explosion...and then this searing pain remained after. It was...burning, kinda. Oh, and I found two more green hairs. That's all I have. I'll see you at the checkup in three days, I guess. We don't need to reschedule unless things get worse...I just wanted you to know. Bye."
She dropped her phone onto her bed, a sigh escaping her lips.
She wished she could live a normal life where she still met Claude.
She wished they could have had a normal life together...
She wished they could be together.
But wishes didn't come true like that. The truth of the matter was that her heart was messed up, she lacked happiness, and Claude wasn't interested in a relationship. Wishes didn't come true just like that...
But Byleth wished that they did.
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...
