Not This Time

Loser

Byleth kept a calm expression on her face as the Golden Deer celebrated around her.

She sheathed her sword, blankly looking around before heading back to the Black Eagles classroom. They looked crushed that they had lost; Edelgard in particular had an extremely disgruntled look on her face.

"...Alright, so we could have handled that better," Edelgard sighed, standing to try and rejuvenate everyone again. "But we will just need to train that much harder. We are twenty times stronger than them. It was only Claude's strategic use of the forest that saved them. Next time, we won't let that happen."

"I bet if I had gone out there. everything would have worked out alright," Ferdinand sighed, resting his chin on his hand. Byleth felt the need to punch him, but she resisted the urge. She instead turned away, sighing.

Byleth had never lost a battle before.

Even if it was only a mock battle, it was still a battle. Byleth knew she was stronger than Claude, stronger than Edelgard, stronger than Dimitri. But the fact of the matter was...Claude had simply outsmarted her.

Byleth wondered how Claude had managed to shoot an arrow from below and then sneak back up to the tree. She figured he had to have been hanging upside down while shooting, and then he simply pulled back up to await for Byleth. She grimaced in irritation.

It had seemed so easy at the time. Byleth hadn't expected him to have a scheme up his sleeve; then again, she should have. After all, he had refused to leave the safety of the woods, and had his Deer strike from the darkness. It was smart, Byleth had to admit.

"...I'll instruct us to be better," Byleth promised her students, standing and walking to the door out of the Black Eagles classroom. "This won't happen happen. I can promise you that."

Byleth exited the room, not wanting to deal with people anymore. Now she was frustrated and antisocial in a large, infested monastery. She ran a hand through her teal hair in irritation.

Which way was it back to my room...?

Byleth honestly couldn't remember. Left, maybe? Or was it right, and then down? This monastery was gigantic, and she'd only just arrived! Byleth began to walk to the right, ignoring the cheers coming from the Golden Deer classroom. She continued to walk around, until eventually she found herself sitting by the fishing pond, utterly lost.

She wanted to scream.

"Hey, Teach. How's it going?"

Not him again.

Byleth didn't want to face Claude after suffering a defeat from him. He sat next to her, staring at her charmingly, but Byleth refused to look at him. She kept her gaze straight ahead on the pond, pulling out a couple of coins from her pocket to throw in the water.

The first one skipped three times before plopping into the gentle waves. Claude raised a brow as Byleth didn't answer him.

"Teach? Hello-"

"I don't want to talk," Byleth interjected angrily, throwing the next coin as far as she could. It pierced the calm water, rippling and disturbing the peace as it fell with a loud plunk. "I don't understand why you don't get it."

"Well, I'm curious about you," Claude reminded her, placing his hands behind his back casually. He seemed unfazed by her fury, and that somehow made her even more angry. "But also...I know there's something about you. I just can't put a finger on it."

"Why do you think that?" Byleth questioned, skipping another coin into the water. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as it skipped four times. "I don't get it. No one else ever cares. They realize I don't feel, and that's the end of that."

"People don't think you feel? Feel emotions?" Claude clarified with a somewhat guilty look on his face, and Byleth nodded condescendingly. He frowned. "They tell you that?"

"No. But I know what they're thinking."

"...Well, believe it or not, Teach," Claude got to his feet, brushing off his uniform as he stood. "You definitely have feelings and emotions."

"How would you know?" Byleth exploded, fury radiating off of her. "You don't even know me. How would you know what I don't even know!"

He began to walk away casually. Byleth finally lifted her gaze to him, and he looked back over his shoulder at her. Claude winked, a knowing look on his face.

"Because you're feeling angry right now."

Claude walked away, giving her the privacy she had asked for. Byleth could only gape in shock as he walked away.

He was right.