It was a day like any other, a normal school day of the second semester. During one of the breaks between the lectures, Rotsard got up from his seat and left the classroom unbothered by a single soul.
His brisk pace led him to one of the Academy's bathrooms. He opened the door casually, immediately reached for something inside, only to take out a sign with 'out of order' written on it and placed it in the front before entering properly.
"...!"
"..."
Something or someone rustled in one of the stalls, alarmed by his presence, but he ignored it… well, to a point.
Because while the other person was doing their best to stay as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, Rotsard walked right to the occupied stall, turning on the faucets on his way, and then leaned against the stall's door.
He even ended up sliding down it until he found himself sitting on the tiled floor.
*pomf*
"Nnr-!"
"Shhh…~"
The moment he settled down, something flashed, and a golden bear cub materialized in Rotsard's lap, about to let out a happy gowl, but the youth stopped it with a gentle shush as he delicately pressed his index finger against the cub's mouth.
"~!"
He then proceeded to hug the golden cub, and it nuzzled up to him trustingly while keeping as quiet as it could.
"Those so-called seniors still aren't treating you well."
"?"
"!!!"
Rotsard kept hugging the cute cub as he spoke up, causing it to tilt its head in confusion, but the actual recipient of those words flinched violently inside the stall, either so shaken or straight up scared to the core, making the toilet rattle.
Rotsard closed his mouth and waited for a response while affectionately patting the golden cub cuddling up to him, smiling softly at the baby fae's adorableness.
Unlike animals, of which some of the fae were before, baby fae did not mature nearly as fast. In fact, despite Polaris already being a great help to Justin and only becoming more reliable, it would not learn to properly speak in its first decade, and wouldn't develop physically in a meaningful way even within Justin's entire lifetime.
"The hostility you are experiencing makes no sense to me, so I will interfere. Come up with an excuse for an absence for a few training sessions, preferably together with Young Lady Edemsworth and that idiot of a Rose of the North, and leave it to me."
"!?"
Rotsard added, and this time the reaction of the person inside was a lot less dramatic, although still there, even though they've braced themselves.
"Th-there's no reason for y…"
"I wasn't asking for your permission or opinion about my decision. I'm merely informing you of what I will do and what I believe would be best for you to do. You can choose to ignore or try to stop me… although… ugh… please, don't."
"!!!"
The youth scoffed, only to change his tone and even use polite words towards the commoner student… even though it almost made him gag… not to mention that the kindness was certainly even more shocking to Justin confined within the stall than it was nauseating to Rotsard.
"...th-then you know about Sa… about Young Lady Vallhall requesting my help with…"
"Are you implying her blo-up during the result's announcement was possible to miss?"
Justin asked awkwardly, hurriedly changing the way he addressed the silver-haired girl which, honestly, earned him a bit more good will from Rotsard, who chuckled back.
"N-no! I-it's just that… that I thought that maybe you would be ann… bother… umm… ticked off about her asking me for help with studying instead of you…"
The commoner student certainly turned into a stuttering mess trying to find the right words to not bring down the mood of the youth who hold a major advantage in their current situation.
"While I don't hate her anymore, I still dislike her greatly, so being spared the need to be around her is something I'm grateful for, actually… Actually! Yes, actually, I want to help you out with your swordsmanship seniors, precisely as a method to pay you back for sparing me the burden of that brat's presence."
Rotsard shrugged his shoulders, stopping patting Polaris for a second as his eyes widened once he realized how he could present his actions in a believable way and go along with it.
"I-if I may know… why is there so much bad blood between the two of you?"
"You, in fact, may not know."
Justin dared to ask but was shot down immediately while the bleached-blond-haired youth's expression darkened.
"I'm sorry…!"
"Hmm? No, no, it's not to that point… Just… It's something that she will tell you on her own when the time comes. Learning about it on the toilet and through the stall's door is neither an appropriate time nor place for that kind of conversation. You surely see my point."
The commoner student apologized immediately and was taking a deep breath to apologize some more, but Rotsard merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head over that reaction.
"You already seem to be close with her… and yet you think that she's not a person who hates others without a valid reason? What makes you put so much faith in her?"
Surprisingly, Rotsard himself didn't want to end the subject at all and only steered it off slightly.
"...w-well… It's not like I can say that for sure, b-but…"
"...oh…?"
And, to his great interest, Justin began to follow up on his question.
"While I don't know Young Lady Saria that well, the other person is… well… you."
"Pfft!"
Although the future hero sounded exceedingly apologetic and hesitant to speak up his mind in the first place, once he did, worried about the reaction, he was met with an immediate snort followed by a peal of amused laughter.
"Ghahaha~ Would you look at that! This cute little puppy really IS growing out its fangs~!"
Rotsard's entire body shook from laughter before he cheered out in amusement, causing a rather funny reaction from the person inside the stall.
"...wh-wh-wha…?"
The future hero whimpered, sounding so shameful that even without actually seeing their face, it was obvious how hard they were blushing.
"Still, that's a fair statement. Although from my perspective I have a perfectly valid reason to still dislike her greatly, that's not really important… especially considering that I have no intention of revealing that reason."
"...~"
Rotsard added, lightly shaking his head before propping up Polaris against his knees and propping up its paws to gently press on the cute little paw beans.
"On top of that… does she still have that stupid dream of hers, or are you not close enough for her to talk about it?"
The youth asked absentmindedly, not really paying attention to how he sounded as he and the golden cub began playfully swiping at each other.