{Rin}

"Okay, I'm going to call everyone's names out and if I missed you, or if you changed your mind and you want to go on the mission, then just let me know," Maria said, with a face that expressed nothing but discontent.

And, given the news the students had just received, Rin had half an idea as to why that could be.

As the sun hung over their heads and the afternoon got into full swing, the students all stood outside the Academy. In front of them were two teachers: Maria, and Cara. Just a few minutes ago, they'd been informed that Cara would be joining them on this trip, so as to prevent anything bad from happening.

Personally, Rin could not be any more excited. However, the glare stuck on Maria's face let the adventurer know she didn't share that sentiment.

[It's fine, though,] Rin thought, with a smile. [Maybe, this will help Maria trust Cara a little more. I mean, assuming everything goes well.]

Rin certainly didn't need to be reminded of the kind of things that could happen here. Especially given what happened the last time she went to fight kobolds. Even now, as she remembered those psychos who'd been there with the monsters, and at the cave after she was teleported, she felt shivers. She genuinely wished she could scrub the memories of those events from her mind.

[Whatever they're doing, at least they're far away from me,] Rin thought, as Maria kept speaking.

"Rin," she said, beginning to read out the names of the people who chose to go on the mission. "Eve, John, Dylan, Carla, and Seth. Is that everyone?"

Honestly, Rin felt a little bit surprised to hear that lineup.

[Really?] She asked herself, turning to look at the others. [So... Lisa, Sara, Elisa, Alea, Varyn. You guys don't want to go?]

She couldn't really imagine why anyone would turn this opportunity down. She could guess that Elisa would be too busy with family-related matters, but as for the others, she wondered why they were staying.

"Okay then," Maria said. "I'll let the adventurers know. You can just wait here till they come to pick everyone up."

As that was said, the students all began walking back into the building, and Eve flew over to where Rin was.

"Ah, we're going on a trip! This is sick!"

"Yeah," Rin agreed. "I'm pretty curious to see some real adventurer action."

"As am I," a voice said behind her, and Rin turned around. Dylan was there, with a kind smile. "We haven't gotten to do much together since we went drinking that one night. I, for one, am looking forward to this."

For some reason, Eve was almost scowling.

"Same," Rin said, with a polite smile of her own.

[Wait,] Rin realized. [If Dylan's coming... I bet Xhez would probably want to come too. She hasn't gotten to talk to him much these days. But,] she scratched her head. [Should I take her on this sort of trip? It could be dangerous.]

Almost immediately, she shook her head.

[What am I saying? It's her choice at the end of the day. I'll ask her later.]

Eventually, she and Eve were the only students left outside as the others all went back into the building.

"Could be a longer trip than the others we've had so far," Eve said to her. "Wanna hang out downtown later before we go?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Rin replied, and Eve's attitude picked up as she heard that. With that said, the two students went back into the building, leaving only the two teachers remaining outside.

Rin went back to her room after that and as she walked in, Elisa was sitting at her bed, listening to the radio.

"... week, the factories were vacated again in Cradle," a voice on the radio said, as Elisa smiled up at Rin when their eyes met. "What do you make of this?"

"Well, clearly, monster populations are starting to get out of hand," another voice replied. "If things stay like this, it wouldn't surprise me if Cradle ends up terminating all operations outside the walls until the monsters are handled. Hopefully, the Adventurer's Guild starts doing their damn job!"

Elisa cut the radio off then, tapping a button at the top.

"Not every day the Guild gets talked about," she muttered.

Naturally, as Rin recalled the kiss they'd shared before Elisa had backed out of the session on Friday, her eyes roamed down to the woman's lips, as they had a few times now.

"Y-Yeah," Rin replied, hoping she hadn't gotten caught staring.

"So," Elisa said, laying down, "you're heading up there?"

"Mhm," Rin nodded.

"Ah, I would have gone too but... Well, you know how it is," Elisa said with a slightly sad smile.

As Rin heard that, she sat down at her own bed and kept her hands on its edge as she asked:

"Maybe I can bring you a souvenir."

"What, a kobold head or something?" Elisa asked with a smirk. "As nice as that sounds, I'm gonna have to pass. Nowhere to put it, ya know?"

"Yes, *that's* the problem," Rin chuckled.

Elisa giggled a little in turn before a comfortable silence fell between them. Every time they shared a moment like this, Rin couldn't help but wonder where this was headed. Of course, she would eventually remember that the answer was "nowhere", as Elisa was soon to be a married woman.

Regardless, she figured maybe she should just enjoy this while it lasted.

---

{Later}

"It seems the world is intent on preventing us from heading to those hot springs," Maria said with a sigh. "How unfortunate."

[Yeah, more than you know,] Rin thought, and she almost slapped herself. [Ugh, stop it, Rin.]

"M-Maybe after we come back?" Rin said with a slight blush.

"As soon as possible," Maria replied, smiling.

The two of them were sitting at the Meditation Center after Rin and Eve had gone out to eat for a bit. The sun was going down and Rin figured that meant that the group would be heading out to the mission tomorrow.

"So," Rin spoke up, "any last-minute training we should do?"

"Couldn't hurt to do a little more sparring," Maria replied. "But, you shouldn't do any fighting on this trip, so, no. Rather," Maria said, lifting a finger, "I want you to work on your Essence meditation. During every break, before you go to sleep, whenever you get the chance, just sit down and take a second to meditate. Do this, and even without fighting you'll be making progress."

"Got it," Rin nodded.

Soon, it was getting to be a bit too late and both women stood to walk out of the room. In the hallway, Maria placed a hand gently on Rin's shoulder.

"Get some rest," Maria said with a kind expression. "If I had to guess, the adventurers will be here to take you all away tomorrow morning."

"Alright. Goodnight, teach'," Rin said to her and Maria bowed.

"Goodnight."

The two of them parted ways and Rin walked back down to her room, finding it empty. Seeing this, she figured it was a good chance to get the question out of the way. So, she walked over to Xhez's bag and opened it up. Xhez was deeply asleep inside, so it made Rin feel a little guilty to wake her, but she needed to ask the sprite about this, so, she did.

Tapping the bag a couple of times, Xhez stirred inside and she looked up at Rin, yawning.

"Hey. Can you come out for a sec?"

"Hm? Certainly," Xhez replied with a slightly tired voice, rubbing her eyes.

Rin gave her space, and the sprite did her usual flip, though, this time she stumbled upon landing. Rin held her by the shoulders.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"I, yes," Xhez replied, "I think I just need a little more sleep, is all."

Rin nodded, looking away in thought.

[Yeah, going from sleeping for months at a time to sleeping for, at most, a day or two, was probably gonna have this effect at some point.]

"Do you need something?" Xhez asked.

"No, no, I just... Sit down for a sec. A-After you dry yourself off, I mean."

And so, both girls were soon on Rin's bed, as the adventurer went over the situation. She told Xhez about the mission they'd be spectating, who was going, and when it would take place. Xhez listened to all of this patiently, and in the middle of it, Rin saw her eyes widening a tad with excitement.

"... So, yeah," Rin said after she explained everything. "That's basically everything."

"I see," Xhez nodded a bit.

"Well, what do you say? You wanna come with me?" Rin asked, and half of her was hoping Xhez would say yes, simply because she enjoyed being around her quite a bit, while the other half worried if she'd get hurt somehow.

As for Xhez, her answer came almost as quickly as Rin's had when she heard the offer.

"Of course!" She said, and even as tired as she sounded, that signature excitement of hers shined through. "I would love to go."

Hearing that, the answer settled in Rin's mind.

"Okay then. I'll bring you along," she stated and Xhez beamed.

[I need to make sure I keep her safe, though,] Rin thought. [As much as I can, anyway.]

Before too long, as Xhez wanted to get right back to sleep, she was soon back in her bag and Rin was now alone again, wondering if there was anything else she wanted to do before she went on the trip.

Almost immediately, that box next to her bed pulled her eyes toward it.

[... I should open it,] Rin thought. [Otherwise, I won't be able to stop thinking about it.]

She sighed, however, as her brother's image appeared in her mind.

[Agh...]

Holding her head in her hands, Rin soon threw herself onto her bed and covered her body up before she could keep debating it.

[Tomorrow! I'll check it tomorrow. Right before I leave. Yeah, that works.]