Reverse Isekaied to My World 3 (FemByleth TG) (Patreon)

Cole opened his eyes, feeling a heavy pit in his stomach as if something was laying on top of his gut. He felt unusually full of energy despite how his sleep had been sporadic. His mind wondered if time was truly passing with how awake he had felt throughout the night. He knew why he was like that and hadn’t been looking forward to this day, as if he had an important job interview that would determine his future.

The young man looked at the calendar he had set up for this. After the discussion with Shirou and Jaune, they had set it up in case someone else came along. They had marked down the dates that they had appeared and his heart fell when he saw the day. Today would be the day they would find out if they would be getting another new roommate or not.

Cole’s grimace grew when he saw that he would be starting up the fall term for college in the next few days. He had forgotten about that with what his life had become in the past month. Despite the insanity of it all, Cole would be lying if he said that it didn’t have its ups and downs.

The ups were nice with things being a little more fun, like being able to practice fighting and having someone to play games with Jaune, and the delicious food that Shirou made was certainly a win. It was hard when he had to think about the economics of the situation and how…awkward things could be. At the very least he didn’t need to worry about going shopping for college supplies since he had more than enough and could reuse his folders. A small blessing considering everything else going on in his life.

Cole looked around his room, and the ball of nervous energy in him grew as he looked at his belongings, every one of them looked like they were a gun waiting to go off. He was afraid to touch anything of his that might lead to someone getting summoned. The games that he had played, the shows he had watched, the books he had, all of them scared him as if they were traps laid by a serial killer watching on a video camera.

Any one of them could pull someone from their world and into his and he was worried about who it might be. So far the people who had been brought in were people who were nice and heroes, but there was the chance that next time might not be the case. For all he knew, next time he would bring in some sort of terrible monster or supervillain that they would have no chance at stopping. There mere thought of someone like Sephiroth, Mithos, or some evil god coming into this world was enough to make him shudder and turn away from his stuff as if it was some sort of eldrich horror.

Cole laid on his bed still, wondering if he could just sleep the day away with how he had been last night. His eyes felt heavy and all but demanded that he close them now. His limbs felt off as if they weren't his own for a moment. He stretched in bed and his body let out low pops as it heated further. The desire to go back to sleep all but demanded his attention and he was half tempted to give into it. This way at least if something were to happen then he wouldn’t be involved in it. Though he was sure that Jaune and Shirou would knock the door down if they had to out of worry for him if he didn't answer, and he would rather not wake up to something like that.

The thought made Cole chuckle as he forced himself out of bed with a faint smile. His body felt off the moment he stood up, and tingled as if his limbs were still asleep. The young man blinked as stars entered his vision from how fast he got up. He shook his head and stayed still, waiting for the episode to pass. The moment it did he began to go through his normal morning routine. No matter what might happen today he would face it. It was all that he could do at times and he was sure that today would be one of those days that he would have to power through.

Cole grabbed some fresh clothes and then went to take a shower. The warm water did little to help him relax as music played. He wondered if he could just stay in here for the day and then nothing would happen. He would probably look like an old prune before night came along, but it didn’t sound so bad if it meant that he wouldn’t have to deal with any surprises. Then again the others might drag him out of the shower as well if he tried to hide in here to. The young man sighed as he turned the shower off and then dried himself off, making sure that he wouldn’t get his clothes wet.

After drying himself off, Cole slowly got dressed, his mind still a mess. It was as if he was performing a new experiment and making sure that everything would go as it should. He knew that there wasn’t anything wrong with him and that it was just to slow him down so that he didn’t have to go down yet.

When Cole was finished getting dressed he took a deep breath and went downstairs, praying that he had the strength for whatever the day might throw at him. It might not be as bad as he was thinking, but it didn’t hurt to brace for it. It was hard to be disappointed when you were ready to face the worst possible outcome.

The young man went to the living room and saw the two of them. Shirou was working in the kitchen making breakfast, while Jaune was flipping through the channels on the tv trying to find something to watch. The two of them were not aware of his presence and yet he could feel from here that the two of them were tense. He sighed already knowing what it was even though they haven’t talked.

“Good morning,” Cole greeted as he entered the room.

The two jumped and turned to Cole in shock as if he just let out a monstrous roar. The young man bit down the snort that came out from the two as they turned to him. They composed themsevles the moment they saw him and then flushed as they realized how they responded.

“Morning Cole,” Jaune greeted nervously.

Just like him, Jaune knew what could happen today and was clearly nervous about it. Cole wished that he could offer some sort of comfort to her but he couldn’t think of anything that wouldn't be a lie and he couldn't do that. Especially since he wanted that same comfort.

“I'll have breakfast ready in a jiffy,” Shirou replied as she went back to working on their morning meal for the day.

“Ok,” Cole sighed.

Cole sat down on the couch and looked through his phone, and frowned when he saw that he hadn’t gotten any new messages. It had been days since he had last messaged his parents, and even longer since he had heard back from them and he was starting to get a little worried. He had checked the cruise information online and looked for any news to see if anything happened. From what he saw online  nothing happened, but even so, the radio silence was making him worried.

“Cole?”

“Just wondering about my parents is all,” Cole answered.

“Still nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. We would have heard if something bad happened.”

“I know…but I haven’t gone this long without hearing anything from them. With my mom it would be like every couple of days we would talk and that was because she eased up a bit. Before that when I went on a high school graduation trip out of the country or something without them, she would call me every day and text to see how I was doing.”

It was strange and nerve-wracking to the young man that he had gone this long without hearing anything from either of them. He wanted to hold out hope that it was just him being paranoid, but with how crazy his life had been for all he knew they might have been isekaied themselves. It would have put his heart at ease for even a little bit just to have some sign that they were ok.

“Breakfast is ready,” Shirou announced, bringing Cole out of his funk.

Cole all but leaped out of his chair and went to the dining room with Jaune right behind him. He took his plate and grabbed a cup to fill it with something to drink.  When he finished getting everything he needed he sat down at the table, the others already there waiting for him.

The moment Cole sat down, he dug into his meal with gusto. He focused on his food trying to ignore the worry that builded in his gut and the whispers in his head. The quietness around the dinner table was almost suffocating as if they had committed some horrible crime and were still trying to process it all. Normally Shirou’s cooking would have soothed his soul, but it didn’t this morning. No matter how hard he focused on the food Shirou had made, it didn’t catch his attention like it usually did. Not with what might happen today still being a strong possibility.

They finished their meal in record time and then put their dirty dishes away, none of them saying anything. They cleaned up the table and put the rest of their stuff away, not saying anything in the meantime. None of them were sure about what they should say or do.

Cole sat down on the couch. His eyes felt heavy again as if he could fall asleep right now, despite the noise from the television. His first instinct was to reach for the remote to pull up one of the various streaming services but he stopped himself. He remembered how Jaune first arrived and wondered if the moment he chose something someone else would suddenly appear in the room, wondering how they got here. He pulled his hand back and looked at the others, hoping they would have some ideas.

“So now that everyone’s awake do you guys want to do something specific or what?” Jaune questioned, trying to cut through the awkward tension in the air.

“I’m alright for anything, is there anything that you would like to do?” Shirou replied, looking meaningfully at Cole.

Cole sighed but smilled a little grateful that they were trying to find some way to help his mood. It made him glad that they were here, even if the circumstances weren’t ideal. His heart warmed, happy that the girls were trying so hard to make him happy. It was only fair that he did all that he could to keep the mood up and made sure that they had fun too.

The brunette thought over what they could do together until his mind went over the games that he had and what he had yet to beat. The stockpile of games that he had only seemed to keep getting bigger with every month.  It looked so tempting, especially since he would be going back to college. The time that he would have to just lounge and relax would be getting smaller much to his dismay and even now called to him like a siren.

“Do you want to play a game?” Shirou questioned.

“I would be fine watching you play whatever you want,” Jaune commented.

“I don’t know,” Cole sighed, though it wasn’t for a lack of desire. With how close college was to starting again normally he would have sat down and gone crazy playing his games and everything else he wanted to do no matter what. All of his games might as well have been landmines just like all of the stuff in his room. He imagined someone from one of those games getting pulled into his world and what might happen. He gulped, especially as his eyes landed on the Resident Evil case, and imagined the possible disaster from anything in that franchise coming over here.

“Cole you can’t just not do anything,” Jaune said. “Just take a breath. Play or watch something.”

“I can’t, not if what I think will happen next does,” Cole replied tiredly.

“Cole we don’t even know if you not doing anything will solve it. For all, we know someone might show up anyway. Just try to relax and get through the day. Don’t worry about what might happen.”

Cole gulped, but couldn’t fight that Jaune did have a point that he couldn’t deny, no matter how much he wanted. They didn't have any way of knowing if it would still happen, even if he didn’t do anything. It was just as likely that it would pull some random person from their world into his. His head pounded slightly, wishing that he had a little more information to work with, just so he had some peace of mind.

The young man looked at his game systems and games, wondering what he should play. His eyes went to his Nintendo Switch. He hesitantly started his switch, worried that would be what would set off the trigger to pull someone else here. He could hear the clock ticking across the room, making his nerves coil further and his stomach twist. The brunette wanted to take it down and stomp on it as if it was his most hated enemy with how every tick of the clock made his stomach coil further.

He looked over the games again and his eyes landed on Fire Emblem: Three Houses. One of his friends had been all but demanding that he play the game more, especially since he hadn’t done any of the other routes. If he was honest he was only going to do the three houses instead of all four endings. He didn’t care much for the church route and had no intentions of seeing what it was like. It just didn’t grab his appeal. If he remembered right, the game cartridge was already in. He just had to start it up and then he could go back into the story of Three Houses.

Cole took the controller and started the system, his breathing grew stronger and he braced himself for what might happen next. He breathed in and out, gathering the courage that he needed before he did anything. The young man looked at the others wondering what they were thinking. The girls smiled at him encouragingly. Cole looked back at the screen and sighed.

“Just going to start a game to help pass the time and all,” Cole muttered awkwardly. He wanted to toss the controller away right now as if it was a live snake that would coil around his body and then bite his throat. The young man gulped and hesitantly pressed down on the load button. He went to his latest save and took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, hearing the game confirm his choice.

The young man waited for things to go wrong, for another sudden burst of light to enter the room that would blind him and everyone else. The game loaded and there was nothing there that told him something wrong was about to happen. He let out a breath and thanked God that hadn’t happened yet but was still somewhat tense.

“Ok, looks like we might not have to worry about things going wrong,” Jaune smiled.

“Hopefully,” Shirou agreed with a small but hopeful smile.

Cole didn’t answer and focused on the game, relaxing as he did so. He talked with the students and listened to them give their apologies for what happened. The music helped sell just how sad and tragic it was, especially with Byleth’s emotional track record. The only time that he had shown any emotion in the game was with the death of their father.

He gave a quick rundown to Shirou of the game and the world so that she wouldn't be completely lost as they dived deeper into it. The girl was saddened to hear what happened to the main character’s father, though Cole noticed that there was a little more to it. No doubt her mind had gone to her adopted father Kiritsugu and his death. Cole patted her head and she smiled with a faint blush rubbed her head.

“Why…Why did you do that?” Shirou questioned and placed her hand on top of where he had rubbed her head.

“I…I thought it would help,” Cole replied, and then sighed. “Sorry if I made things weird.”

“No no no, it’s fine,” Shirou waved off. “Just a little warning or something would be nice.”

“Oh…I can do that next time.”

Jaune rubbed her head, wondering if it was as good as it seemed. She had been head patted before when she was a kid by her sisters and parents. She didn’t like it as much when she got older and it was pretty embarrassing to have it happen when she was with her friends. She was half tempted to ask Cole to pat her head, but after seeing the blush on their face she wasn’t sure if she should. Cole and Shirou seemed embarrassed enough as is, and she didn’t want to add to the weirdness of the situation. No matter how bad she wanted to have her head patted.

The group focused on the current situation in the game. The weeks in the game month kept passing by as Cole braced himself for the battle that would be at the end of the month. There was only so much that he would be able to do and Cole wanted to get revenge for what had happened to Byleth’s father. Jerelt had done his best to give his son a good life and despite all that had happened he kept going forward and did what he could for his son to try and make him happy. What couldn’t be respected about that?

Both of the girls offered advice on what they thought he should do to prepare for the battle. Shirou thought it would be better to continue training the students, while Jaune thought it would be best to do more battles to get more money and experience. Cole could see where they were both coming from and tried to do a bit of both to get the best results.

Cole still expected things to go wrong and for someone to appear. There was just this nagging sensation in the back of his head as if someone was pushing their fingers in his head that something big was going to happen today. Still, his mind went through all of the different tactics that he could do to finally get to Kronya.

As it got closer to the battle, the further his mind went away from his worries and the more he enjoyed himself. For once since he woke up during the day he felt like he could do something without having any worry about bringing someone else over. He had fun as he imagined what would happen and the plans that he could do depending on the situation and the terrain.

When the monthly final battle began, Cole forgot all about his worries and focused more on his opponents and how to best overcome them. Now that he was in the battle his mind kept the tactics and game mechanics in mind. He paired the Blue Lions and Ashen Wolves with those whose bond could be raised or who best complemented each other in a fight. With the number of characters that he had at his disposal, it was a challenge to him trying to keep it all balanced and in order.

After getting who he wanted to set up on the battlefield, he began the battle. He set his people up in groups, making sure that they would have proper support and be protected. He moved his forces forward, keeping them close together to provide proper support and ensure that those who weren’t meant for fighting up close would be destroyed. The more he got into the battle the more invested he became, and the girls were getting more interested as well.

“Just keep going forward and you’ll get them all,” Shirou cheered.

“Keep your people together. This is why you're coming out on top. You don’t want to make a mistake when you’re right at the finish line,” Jaune advised.

Cole smiled, imagining the moment he would finally get that evil clown girl. After what happened with Jerelt he would like to give that sadistic bitch a piece of his mind. The way she laughed about what she had done had infuriated him and he would like nothing more than to make her pay for what she had done. The closer he got to her, the more sure that he would be able to finish her. He would surround her and then have Byleth deal the final blow, even using the Sword of the Creator to make sure that things ended as they should. His smile grew when he was able to make what he had envisioned a reality, defeating Kronya in a single attack.

The group lounged when they saw that it led to a cutscene. The old man Solon appeared and Cole stared at the screen, knowing that what was about to happen next couldn’t be good. He looked at the others to see how they were handling the sudden change and saw that they were on the edge of their seats. Jaune knew the true story behind the man, and even though Shirou didn't know him, it was easy for the redhead to tell that he was a bad guy from his appearance. They watched as Solon sacrificed Kronya and performed a spell, saying what it would do. Byleth was pulled into the portal, and they all wondered what would happen next.

Suddenly the tv screen went dark, but not like when a scene ended, more as if the tv had suddenly been turned off. Cole froze and gripped the controller tighter as if ice had been suddenly poured on his body, his mind going with the answer that he knew was right. The earthling unconsciously gripped the controller tighter as his heart pounded in his ears. He looked at Jaune and saw her body stiffen. He looked at Shirou and heard her gulp as she braced herself. At that moment, Cole knew they were all thinking the same thing.

“Not again,” Cole muttered fearfully.

Another bright light filled the room, and the trio blocked their eyes and braced themselves, hissing in pain from the sudden flash. Cole forced himself to look into the light, ignoring the stinging pain in his eyes as if soap had gotten in them. Despite the pain in his eyes, he could see a figure form in the light that he was willing to bet his videogame collection that it was a guy.

When the light died down Cole could finally make out the person who stood in it and wanted to bang his head into a wall. The person who had emerged from the light was a handsome fit young man with fair skin who looked to be in his early 20s. He had short dark green hair and emerald eyes that would catch everyone’s attention. In his hands was an aged yellow longsword with a draconic crossguard with a diamond-shaped pommel. The center of the sword had a large hole as if someone could shove a gem into it. It had a thin fuller along the blade that was almost unnoticeable with how aged the blade was.

Cole felt a little relieved about the whole situation, even if he hated his whole being that it happened again. While Byleth might be emotionally impaired from what the game said he was a good soul at heart. He wouldn’t go on any killing sprees or do something morally bankrupt. He would take this small mercy for what it was. Better if it was another hero rather than a villain.

“Hello?” Cole started, as he recalled from his time playing the game that it would be best to be direct with him.

Byleth turned to him and looked at him with a blank expression that revealed absolutely nothing about what he might be thinking. He looked over at Jaune and Shirou and after seeing that they weren’t a threat he relaxed a little, but still kept his guard up.

“Who are you? Where am I?” Byleth questioned, his voice level and even as if he hadn’t just been teleported. His face only had the slightest hint of confusion that it had previously.

“You’re in my house, and my name is Cole,” Cole started. He then turned to the others and introduced, “This is Jaune and this is Shirou.”

“Hello,” Jaune greeted awkwardly.

"Hi," Shirou said just as awkwardly.

“Hello, could you clarify further where we are?” Byleth questioned. “Like the country, and province?”

“We’re in the United States, and…I guess the right term would be realm known as Earth,” Cole answered, thinking it would be the best term to use instead of the planet. “Look, I'm going to be straight with you. This is a different world from the one you came from so if you’re wondering why you never heard of it that’s why.”

“Ok,” Byleth replied stoically, still with the same blank face that he had since he arrived.

The girls looked at each other, confused by the lack of reactions and how Cole didn’t seem to care or notice. They thought that Byleth would be panicking like they had when they first arrived after being hit by such a bombshell. Not the perfect picture of acceptance that he was now.

Cole just decided to roll with it and accept it. Right now he couldn’t find it within himself to care too much about what was going on. He was just so tired, so disappointed that this happened again.

“From your expressions, you have some experience I’m assuming?”

“Yeah,” Cole sighed.

“Byleth, what were you doing before you before you came here?” Shirou questioned.

Byleth hummed as he thought, getting his story in order, the moment he got it all sorted he began telling them what had happened.  “I was in a battle with my students, chasing after a fugitive who I have a…personal issue with. We had managed to corner her and were about to deal with her until a colleague of her’s appeared and performed some magic on me that trapped me in another location.”

The others blinked in surprise, especially Cole who thought over the implications of them. Byleth had to be talking about the battle that they played. Unlike the others, who seemed to be from the start of their journey, Byleth was roughly the center point. If his stats and abilities in the game are anything to go by then Byleth was without question the strongest here and could slaughter them all if he was inclined. He hoped they would never give him a reason to.

“After that, I felt a pull,” Byleth continued. “I decided that it would be better to take my chances with it than stay in there.”

“...I get you, better that than being stuck in whatever he had done,” Cole said, getting a nod from Byleth.

“Can you tell me where I am? I have never seen a house like this before along with some of the stuff inside,” Byleth said, looking at the tv.

“Yeah, but there’s something I need to get first,” Cole sighed tiredly. “Give me a second.”

Cole went to his room and grabbed the calendar. He looked at it again and sighed, already noticing a pattern. He grabbed a pen that he had kept on his desk and rushed out of his room. He went back to the living room and saw the others looking at each other unsure about what they should say to their newest arrival. The brunette placed the calendar down on the coffee table so that all of them could see it. He marked down today’s date, showing that was when Byleth arrived.

After doing so, he leaned back so all of them could see the calendar. The time from Jaune’s appearance, to Shirou’s, and Byleth’s were on display. All of them could see a clear pattern now that it was laid out in front of them like this. Both Shirou and Jaune's expressions dropped, which made Cole’s heart fall into his stomach, but he pressed on.

“Okay so that confirms there is a timetable for this,” Cole sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Every two weeks someone suddenly appears here.”

“Yeah,” Jaune said sadly.

Cole relaxed just a little. If this was happening in that time frame then that meant that he had 14 days to enjoy himself. At least he would be able to act and play as he pleased during that period. There was no way that he would be able to survive if he had to go without any way to entertain himself since.

“Do you know what has been causing it?” Byleth questioned.

“No, not exactly,” Shirou answered. “We thought about it as hard as we could to try and figure it out, but we don’t have anything concrete.”

“The only consistent thing was that it was here and in front of me both times,” Cole answered. The words were ash on his mouth and made his stomach churn as if he was about to throw up.

Byleth hummed and then stepped closer to Cole, studying him intently and with his emotionless look made the younger man nervous. He placed it on him and Cole could feel something go off between them, like a zap. The earthling stared at Byleth, and gulped, wondering what he would say next.

“You have some magical potential, your reserves are small, but you can use magic with proper training,” Byleth informed.

All of them aside from Byleth were stunned by that revelation, and Cole was the most flummoxed by the revelation. Magic wasn’t supposed to be real in this world. If it was, why would people act as if it wasn’t or hide it when they could gain so much influence and power? A million and one questions ran through his mind at the speed of sound that made it impossible for him to ask Byleth about them.

“Do you think I could be the one to…,” Cole trailed off.

“From what I’m feeling currently, no, at best you would be able to fire one spell with proper training but even then that might be to much for you,” Byleth responded.

The words did little to abate the tension in Cole’s heart and mind but he did ease it a little bit. It proved that he did have some connection to how they were showing up. When he was younger, the idea of having magical powers would have filled him with glee and made him wonder what he could do. Now though he only felt fear and terror at the thought, even if he was curious about what he could do.

Cole sighed, they would be able to figure out what he could do later, and having Byleth here did help him relax a little. Byleth could tell them about his powers and how they were developing. Maybe he would be able to provide an early warning, or help him get it under control.

“Well since you showed up here you can stay in one of the rooms if you want,” Cole offered. “Seems only fair considering the whole situation.”

“Thank you,” Byleth said gratefully.

Cole hummed as he began thinking over which of the rooms weren’t being used. Aside from the rooms that Shirou and Jaune were using and his parents bedroom, there was only one other guest room that wasn’t occupied at the moment. He wasn’t sure if there was some stuff in there that might be needed to be cleaned out. If no one was using one of the rooms then they would use the closet as a storeroom.

“We only got one room left, follow me please,” Cole said as he led Byleth to it, and the others followed them.

As they did Cole pointed out where everything was to Byleth. Byleth didn’t question anything as he passed by them with the same stone-cold face as he examined the rooms. He could see why Dimitri and the others were unnerved when they first saw him especially since he didn’t seem fazed him at all. When they arrived at what would be Byleth’s room, he opened the door.

Byleth stepped in and looked around the room. After a moment he placed the Sword of the Creator down and turned to them. He said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Cole replied as he held back a sigh. If one more person showed up then he would have to give up his room. It wasn’t ideal, but at least he had the option if they ddn’t have something else before then. He just hoped that he wouldn’t have a repeat of what happened when Jaune discovered Senran Kagura.

“Despite this being another world, I hope that this still has some value here,” Byleth said he as pulled out some gold coins and dropped them in Cole’s hand, making Cole’s eyes bulge as he stared at them. “From your reaction, I see that it does still have some value.”

“Y-Yeah it does,” Cole answered, feeling a little faint. He would need to check the exchange prices for gold, but Byleth might have just solved their money issue, though he would have to be careful about how he exchanged it. There was no way that he could bring hundreds of gold coins in at once. That would be getting some attention. He looked at Shirou and Jaune and saw that the two of them were just as shocked as he was.

“Well then if you need any financial aid just let me know, I have plenty more where that came from,” Byleth responded.

Cole let out a noise that was a mix between a sputter and a wheeze, one that was shared by the others. All of them looked at the gold coins as if they were a gift from the heavens. They all knew the value of gold and the fact that the mercenary had more only made them wonder just how rich they were in this world. Jaune shook her head and cleared her throat, getting herself under control and bringing Shirou and Cole out of there stupor.

“Byleth there’s something else that you need to know,” Jaune said, taking the lead.

Byleth turned to the blonde who gulped and gathered her courage to say what she needed to. Cole placed his hand on Jaune’s shoulder, giving her strength that she sorely needed. She took a deep breath, her confidence growing as the words finally came together in her head.

“Before me and Shirou arrived here, the two of us…were boys, but the longer we spent time here, the more we changed into girls. It's likely that you’ll become a woman as well,” Jaune informed awkwardly.

“Ok,” Byleth said evenly without even a moment’s hesitation.

The others were thrown off by the casual acceptance that Byleth had. Their jaws dropped and they looked at each other, all of them thinking the same thing. That’s it? No that wouldn't be it. Maybe Byleth was in denial, or it just hadn’t quite settled in just yet.

“Byleth you do understand what she means right?” Shirou questioned.

“I understand,” Byleth responded. “What is the timeline?”

“It will take place over a couple of days, maybe a week at most,” Cole responded. He hadn’t paid it too much thought about how long the transformation would take. The thoughts brought forth the breast and butt expansion that he had witnessed and his face immeditly burned again as blood rushed down below to his fifth limb, making him hold back an annoyed groan. This wasn't the time or place to get a boner, especially in front of everyone.

“Thank you,” Byleth nodded.

“So I guess we can just relax and show you some of the stuff we do around here,” Cole stated, as his mind focused on the timeline they had. If things continued like they had been, then they would have to deal with someone else arriving in two weeks. That meant he had two weeks to enjoy himself and help Byleth adjust before going through it again. He hoped that he would be able to get some enjoyment within that time span.

The group went back to relaxing and throughout the whole time the displaced teacher never once seemed shocked or astounded from the house and the various technologies aside from the slight way his eyes lit up. Byleth took the remote from him and tentatively played with the buttons like a child, wondering how it worked. After playing with the buttons for a bit, the dimensionally displaced teacher put the remote down after setting it back to its original settings. The green haired mercenary watched as Cole put up another game, while Shirou began cooking their meal for the night.

“Dinner is ready,” Shirou announced when she finally finished making it. It took a little longer than it usually would have since she needed to make extra, especially since they had another housemate.

The rest of the house occupants quickly went to the kitchen to grab their drinks and then went to the dining room. They took a seat at the table, the food already laid out on it and quickly filled their plates.

Byleth examined the food, wondering how it tasted and then took a large bite. Byleth’s eyes brightened the moment he took a bite at the meal and rolled the food in his mouth. He swallowed it and then filled his plate with even more food. He quickly devoured his plate, the others only able to watch in shock as finished his first plate, while the others weren’t even half way done with their’s.

“Did you make this?” Byleth questioned.

“Yes?” Shirou said, though it sounded more like a question.

“It's wonderful. Is there more?” Byleth questioned, his voice having a hint of eagerness in his normally bland voice that none of them expected.

“Y-yeah I usually make more in case people want some more,” Shirou questioned.

Byleth eagerly began building his second plate until it looked like it might topple over.The green-haired man ate his second plate with even greater gusto. He didn’t seem to slow down at all as he continued to eat his food as if he had never eaten before in his life. The others could only stare at Byleth as he ate. Unlike Jaune and Shirou, Byleth ate with less care about manners, and scarved down the food that he enjoyed without abandon as if he might die in the next few minutes.

The others could only stare, watching the green-haired man fill his plate for a third time. The moment one plate was finished he made himself another and used his fork or his fingers to fill, whatever would let him eat more of it quicker. It sorta made sense to Cole, considering that Byleth had been raised by a mercenary company.

Cole wondered if there were any food-eating competitions around here. He was sure that Byleth could win with how she had been. If anything Byleth might not care about the food and just be happy with all the food that he could eat. Maybe he should talk to Byleth and go from there.

“Oh yeah by the way, I’ll be starting my college courses tomorrow, so you guys will have to find ways to keep yourself busy until then,” Cole said. Jaune and Shirou seemed to deflate about it for a reason he couldn't understand while Byleth didn't care.

“Oh, are you excited?” Jaune questioned.

“A little bit,” Cole admitted. He was a little nervous about going back to college, but he was excited about it as well. Mainly because it would give him something else to do.

The rest of the dinner continued quietly, Cole's stomach soon getting full, feeling like it was about to burst. He yawned and looked at the time, his eyes struggling to stay open. It wasn't that late but to Cole it seemed like it was four in the morning with how tired he was.

“I’m gonna get some sleep, I need some extra strength for tomorrow,” Cole said. He had no idea what to expect from his professor and wanted to have the energy to make a good impression. The reviews online did little to soothe his nervous gut when he saw that they had a lower score then usual.

“Ok, sleep tight,” Jaune said.

“Night,” Shirou said robotically, still focused intently on Byleth and how he was eating.

Byleth looked up from his plate at Cole. He nodded his head and then went back to eating.

Cole went back to his room, and after changing into his night clothes the young man laid on his bed and thought about what tomorrow might be like as he went over what happened today. He had to say aside from the sudden chaos of Byleth’s arrival, Cole would say that the day went pretty well. They had told Byleth about what might happen and he hadn’t blown up and gotten angry about the whole situation and he had been able to provide some support and solutions. It was a sweet mercy that he would take and he needed all of it no matter what form it came in. Hopefully things continued to go on that upward climb for a while.

Cole sighed as he woke up the next morning, today's events, and yesterday's still fresh on his mind. He looked at the calendar on his phone and sighed. Today would be his first big day back to college. It almost didn’t seem real after everything that he had gone through. The more he thought about class the more energized he felt. It would be nice to have something to focus on that wasn’t related to dimensionally displaced boys becoming girls.

The brunette got out of bed and began getting ready to face the day, starting with a hot shower. He had plenty of time before his class, but with how many people were here now, he would rather not have to wait for someone to finish. The shower helped wake him up and he continued to rub his eyes, destorying the last of the tiredness that plagued him. When Cole was finished getting ready, he went to the kitchen to get something to drink and maybe something light to eat.

The smell of delicious food being cooked, made Cole grin slightly as he walked into the room. The nervousness that he had in his gut eased as he entered the kitchen. The sound of sizzling bacon caught his attention and the heavenly aroma of cooked meat put him at ease. He saw Shirou standing over the stove, moving the finished bacon onto a plate along with another filled with scrambled eggs on it.

“Morning, Cole. Since you have a big day I made sure to make a large breakfast for you,” Shirou said as she placed a plate down in front of him. “I also made a sandwich for you to have later.”

“Thanks Shirou,” Cole replied as he began making his plate. He was sure that Shirou’s cooking would be just what he needed to have the energy for his first day of college. She truly did act like a perfect housewife.

He wondered if Byleth would be eating it all like how he did yesterday and if he should hide some of the food that he wanted to eat. If the way that Byleth ate in the game and yesterday had any credence then Byleth was a bottomless pit that would eat anything. He shuddered, knowing that Byleth’s money might be needed for more food soon.

Not long after, Jaune and Byleth came down from the kitchen dressed and showered. The green-haired young man all but leaped at the food Shirou had made and quickly made himself a plate. He started munching on his food before he had even sat down.

“Morning guys,” Cole said and then went back to eating his meal.

Seeing the eagerness Byleth had, Jaune rushed over and began making her own plate. There was no way that she was going to wait on getting her meal, especially one of Shirou’s calibur. She had seen how much Byleth could eat and if she wasn’t fast enough then she might not get any. After making her plate, Jaune sat down in the chair next to Cole.

As he ate, Cole kept track of the time, watching it like a hawk. His stomach felt like someone was pressing down on it, despite being surrounded by friends. He knew it was just the first day jitters that were getting the better of him and that it would pass once he knew what he was getting into. Until then he would just have to persevere until he got home.

“So how long will you be gone?” Shirou questioned.

“For a few hours, probably be back around 3 so long as traffic isn’t bad,” Cole answered. “Hope the three of you can find something to enjoy yourself with.”

“Don’t worry I’m sure that we will get by on our own,” Shirou giggled. “It's not like we can’t take care of ourselves and all.”

Cole chuckled. Of course, they could. He had shown them how to use the technology and helped them understand it. If they had trouble then they could just give him a call or something. He hoped that they would have some fun, and wished that he would be able to get in on it, but business came before pleasure.  He looked at the time again and sighed as he gathered his courage again.

“Alright, I’m going to head out, take care, everyone,” Cole announced as he stood up and grabbed his stuff. He ran out the door and shut it behind him, hoping that his first day would go well.

The moment the door shut, Jaune slouched in her seat and let out a sigh, already missing him. She understood why he had to go, but she wished that he didn’t have to, or that she could go with him. It was partially because of the company. She was comfortable with Shirou, but she still wasn’t sure what to make of Byleth. The blankness that he had on his face and the lack of reaction to becoming a woman just threw her off and unsettled her. How could anyone be so calm when they were told that they would be going through a gender change that they didn't consent to? It didn’t make sense to her since anyone else would be freaking out like any normal person would if they were in their position.

Byleth looked at Jaune, who noticed that she had the attention the green-haired man. Byleth suddenly nodded his head and winked at the blonde, making her blink. She wondered what he had on his mind.

"What?" Jaune started.

Shirou looked between the two, feeling like she was missing something. She was completely confused by what was going on between them and wondered if she should say something or not. After a moment, the redhead shrugged and focused on her meal and what she would do until Cole got back. With how she had been cleaning, there was little that needed to be done, and couldn't help but feel that she had done her job too well. Still, there was bound to be some housework that she could do if she looked hard enough.

"I need a hobby," Shirou muttered. Perhaps she should talk to the others about some other stuff she could do. Despite how much she cooked and cleaned already, she did not want to become a maid and needed more in her life then just that.

Cole wandered through the campus, looking for his classroom. He had gotten here earlier than he had expected that he would, and was walking around to pass the time. Before the semester started, he had gotten it all mapped out in his head of where he would need to go. Strange as it was for him to admit, it was good to be back at college.

“Well aren’t you a surprising sight,” a familiar voice called, making Cole stop. He turned and was surprised to see Ashley.

“Ashley?” Cole questioned. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to learn!” Ashley giggled.

Cole couldn’t help but snort at the exuberance that she had. It was infectious and away and lifted his mood up a tiny bit, the nerves that he had eased slightly. God knows that he didn’t have the energy to be like that no matter what was going on at school. He said. “Suppose I walked into that one. So what are you taking?”

“I’ll be taking the mythology course, in 203,” Ashley replied.

“Same as me,” Cole smiled. It was nice to know that there would be a familiar face here. Granted the two of them didn’t know each other that well, but maybe they could become real friends instead of weird acquaintances. At least they would be able to help each other in class if something happened. Maybe she would even be able to help him with Byleth and the rest of the girls, though that was something to think about later when he had a better idea of what she was like. “What’s your major?”

“I’m just floating around right now getting the general education stuff out of the way,” Ashley replied. “I’m taking some electives here and there, seeing what I like and if anything pops out to me.”

“I get that, I’m doing the same. I don’t know what I wanna do with my life just yet,” Cole sighed.

“You’ll figure it out. Important decisions like that take time and you don’t want to bull rush into them.”

“Yeah I hope you’re right,” Cole agreed. He wanted to get it right at once than wrong and regret it. Both because of the time wasted and the money involved that he would have to make up for would be a huge pain. Besides, that wouldn't have been a fun conversation to have with his parents either.

The two of them entered the room and looked for a pair of empty seats that they could sit down next to one another. They saw a pair of empty seats in the middle of the room and quickly went over to them. They ignored the other students who mainly passed the time, in their cellphone or talking with each other already. The two placed their stuff down and then sat in the seats to continue their conversation.

“Hey, would it be ok if I got your number?” Cole questioned. “I think it might be good if we have each other's numbers in case something happens in class or if we need help on the homework or something.”

“I would be down with it but my phone broke the other day and I gotta get a new one,” Ashley sighed.

“Sorry to hear. Dare I ask what happened to it?”

“Let’s just say I took a tumble,” Ashley answered sheepishly.

Cole was curious about what happened but didn’t ask. It wasn't important and he could tell from the It was probably a little embarrassing for her. There was no reason to ruin the one good relationship he had with a classmate with.

The two of them continued to exchange small talk and as they did, Cole eyed the door, wondering if he would spy any familiar faces among the students who entered the room, but there wasn't anyone that he knew. His eyes kept darting to the time, his stomach coling a little further as it got closer to the class's starting time. The door opened, and the class immediately quieted down. Cole breathed in as he turned forward, wondering what his teacher would look like.

Cole blinked when he saw, to his shock, Byleth entering the room. None of the other students seemed to recognize the arguably famous videogame character to his shock. Three Houses had taken over the internet when it first came out and still did to an extent. It was hard NOT to find any of the advertisements that had been made for it when it had been around, or the videos on youtube.

The brunette looked around the room and noticed that quite a few of the girls were grinning and eyeing Byleth with desire, some began muttering to each other in joyous surprise. Even if he couldn’t make out their words, he could tell what they were all thinking. Some of the guys seemed to be disappointed or visibly angered, no doubt jealous at all of the attention that he was getting from the girls and his good looks.

“The original professor for this course is unable to do so due to family circumstances, so I will be teaching the class in his stead. My name is Byleth Eisner and I hope that you all enjoy your time in this class,” Byleth said.

Jaune stiffly walked into the room, her face scrunched in nervousness. The blonde had a backpack over her shoulder and played with locks of her hair as her eyes wandered over the room. She gulped as she tightened her grip on the backpack straps with her other hand.

“What are they doing here?” Cole muttered quietly.

“Hey everyone,” Jaune started awkwardly as she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Cole and she stood up a little straighter, but noticed his shock. “M-my name is Jaune Arc. I’m h-here to learn-”

Suddenly the blonde stopped and winced in pain. At that moment, the class had a singular thought, knowing what just happened and feeling a little sympathy for her. ‘She bit her tongue.’

Cole was the only one who wasn’t paying it much mind. Instead, his face was still firmly planted on his desk as his arms massaged his head, silently groaning. He wondered why she was trying to introduce herself to the class. This wasn’t high school and nobody truly did have to introduce themself to the class in this situation. He looked at Byleth, wondering if he was the reason why Jaune had done the introduction.

“Are you alright Ms. Arc?” Byleth questioned.

“I’m alright,” Jaune replied, her face burning in embarrassment.

“Thank you, Ms. Arc, you can sit down now,” Byleth instructed and the blonde quickly left the front of the room. “Now for those of you who are wondering why she did that, she did so at my request. Before we dive into the first lesson, I would like the class to get to know each other first. Just a short introduction about who you are and what your goals are.”

Well, that answered Cole’s question. Some of the people in the classroom muttered about it. The words got jumbled up again, preventing the young man from understanding what was being said, but he could tell that some were not happy about it.

'At least it puts off the lesson for a little bit,' Cole thought.

The seat next to Cole was pulled out and the young man turned his head to see that Jaune had taken the other seat next to him. Cole waved at her and Jaune smiled sheepishly as she waved at him in return. Despite how shocked and surprised he was by their appearance, he couldn't help but smile at Jaune.

The young man looked around the room and waited for his turn. He frowned as it got closer to him and hearing the answers of his fellow students. Most of them already had what they wanted to do figured out and seemed to have a plan. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t envious of them.

When his turn finally came, Cole forced himself up and cleared his throat. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and fought down the nervous pit that was in his gut.

“Hello, my name is Cole and I’m still undecided about what I want my major to be so I’m floating around and getting my associates out of the way in the mean time,” Cole answered.

“Thank you,” Byleth said and had the next student do their introduction.

Cole sighed as he sat back down and looked between Jaune and Byleth as the introductions continued. Jaune was clearly happy that she got her introduction out of the way by how relieved she was, though her face still burned a little in embarrassment. He wanted to reach out and let her know that it was okay and question her and Byleth on how they got here, but with everyone here he would have to wait until it was over.

“Alright now that all of the introductions are out of the way, pull out your books and turn to the first chapter,” Byleth said as he opened his book.

The class did as they were told, and Cole did as well but at a slower pace than the rest. The questions that he wanted to ask came forward with new intensity and continued to bother him throughout the lesson. He gripped his pen a little tighter as he wrote down what Byleth was saying and writing on the board.

Cole focused on Byleth’s lesson as best he could, but his notetaking stopped when he noticed something was off about Byleth’s face. He studied the green-haired man’s face, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It looked almost as if it was getting smaller, his jaw reducing, but the distance made it hard for him to be sure. The young man’s eyes bulged and he dropped the pen that he was holding when he finally noticed what was wrong with Byleth’s face. The green-haired man’s face was changing shape as it started to look cleaner, softer, and becoming more feminine as time passed.

Byleth blinked and paused for a moment. He rolled his jaw and it let out a low pop as it adjusted. He brought his hand up to his face and traced his jawline. The dimensionally displaced mercenary could feel his cheekbones rising higher and his jawline soften. Throughout the whole time, Byleth’s expression never changed and maintained the same stoic expression he usually had. After a moment of recovery, he continued the lesson, as if his face wasn’t changing at all.

Cole looked at Jaune to see if she was noticing it as well and saw that the girl was mesmerized by the changes that were happening as well. The blonde fidgeted in her seat, her mouth opening and closing in shock as she watched Byleth’s face changed. A small squeak came from her as the pen in her hand fell to the floor.

The brunette wondered how could Byleth continue, despite the fact his face was changing right now. Jaune had muttered and winced in her sleep when her face changed, and had squirmed when her breasts and butt were growing, though the latter might have been more glee with how happy she was. He had never seen Shirou react to her face changing, and the redhead had been so focused on doing what she wanted that she had never noticed the growth to her posterior. Was the change just not that bad or depended on what was changing? Cole groaned, struggling not to slam his head onto his desk again.

"Stop it," Cole told himself.

Cole looked around the classroom to see if anyone else had noticed the changes, but no one else seemed shocked or anything. There weren’t even any quiet mutterings about what was happening, just the same looks of adoration that the girls had, and jealousy from the boys. The lack of any surprise made Cole’s head spin. Was no one else able to see the changes but him and Jaune? Again Cole wanted to slam his head on his desk, even if he was relieved that they wouldn’t have to deal with a mass panic if the changes happened in public.

The confused young man turned his attention back to Byleth and saw the green-haired man’s jaw had finished softening and his cheekbones had finished moving, but his face wasn’t done changing yet. Byleth’s lips swelled into plump soft kissers as the young man’s nose let out a low crunch as it got smaller, his nostrils shrinking to fit his altering features. The moment it finished changing, everything about Byleth's new face screamed feminine beauty with how there wasn't even a sliver of the handsome masculine features that it had seconds ago.

Cole blushed as his focus completely shifted to Byleth’s new face and what it would inevitably lead to. It was weird seeing the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous female face on a dominantly male body, but he was just that beautiful. It made him wonder what the rest of Byleth’s body would look like as the transformation progressed. From the game and ‘research’ that people did online, he knew that Byleth was one of the most well-developed women in the game, and the third or fourth most stacked in terms of breast size. He could only wonder how the rest of her dynamite body would look when the rest of it came in.

The more Cole stared, the more enraptured by Byleth’s beauty he was. Jaune and Shirou were both beautiful, but their features lacked the maturity that Byleth’s had. He had no doubt that with time, the two of them would be just as beautiful as Byleth as they got older, but for now, Byleth was on another level in terms of looks.

Cole looked at Jaune again and saw that the blonde seemed to be just as frazzled as he was. Her jaw kept opening and closing and her face had a dark blush on it. Her hands moved erratically. She ran her hands through her hair and then hugged herself as she took a heavy breathe of air.

The earthling stared at Jaune as his mind wandered a little and imagined Jaune’s face with the same maturity that Byleth’s face. The thought of her features refined to that point made him blush at how much of a beauty it was. Cole imagined Jaune sending him a saucy wink at him and his face darkened further as a bit of blood rushed down below. Cole shook his head as he ran his hand through his hair, to get Jaune's beautiful face out of his head and tried to focus on the lesson. As nice as those thoughts were, he was in the middle of class and couldn’t afford to lose his focus, even if he was watching a man become more feminine.

Cole forced himself to focus on the lesson and as he did, he paid close attention to Byleth's body, looking for anything else that might be changing about him. He still maintained his usual height and build, though how long that would remain to be the case he wasn’t sure. There didn’t seem to be any hints of an hourglass figure appearing like Byleth's hips widening or his waist shrinking.

The brunette wanted to say it was over, but as his eyes went back to Byleth's face, he noticed that Byleth's hair was growing. Byleth’s hair brushed his cheeks as it grew and slowed as the lengthening green mane reached his shoulders. It continued to lengthen a little longer until its growth stopped when it reached the region just above his chest, looking exactly like the female Byleth’s hair from the game.

“And that is all for the day,” Byleth said as he closed his book. “Make sure to do the homework before our next class. I will add a small bit of extra credit to the next test if you do the bonus question as well.”

As the students packed, some of them started talking about Byleth again. Some of them gossiped about how pretty he was and how off his voice was with his new feminine face. Others grumbled again at how physically built he seemed, while others talked about the lesson and the troubles that they had with it. None of them talked about Byleth transforming in front of their eyes, or noticing anything off about him during the lesson, which made Cole sigh.

Cole packed his things and went straight to Byleth, Jaune following behind him. The earthling looked around, struggling to hold his question as the rest of the students filtered out of the room. The trio waited for all the students to leave, Ashley being the last to do so and looking at them curiously as she did.

“What are you two doing here and Byleth why are you my teacher now?” Cole questioned.

“I wanted to keep a close eye on you so I used my magic to alter the minds of the staff to put me on their payroll and become your teacher,” Byleth answered.

“…You can do that?” Cole questioned fearfully. He knew that Byleth could manipulate time, but he didn't think that he could manipulate people’s minds as well. That was something that never popped up in the game.

“I have not done that to you or the others,” the dimensionally displaced mercenary said in the same flat tone. “Whatever decisions you have made they have been your own.”

“Ok, but why did you bring Jaune with you?”

"Because she wanted to come."

"Jaune, why did you want to come?" Cole questioned, looking at the blonde curiously.

The blonde blushed and gulped, and Cole could feel his face heating up at how cute she looked. The young man waited patiently and knew from the blush alone that it would be something a little embarrassing for her as his mind pondered what her reason could be. Cole wondered if it was because she wanted to see a little more of the town, or needed a change of pace. He couldn’t blame her with how things have been lately.

“I…wanted to be with you a little more,” Jaune answered quietly as her flush darkened further, to the point that it looked like someone had painted her face a bright red. “After I learned that Byleth could do that, I asked him if he could make me a student as well...and now we share some classes.”

Cole didn’t say anything as his face burned. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. His mind tried to remember what words were and how to form coherent sentences with them again, and then blinked as he realized someone else was missing.

“Is Shirou here?” Cole questioned. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if the magus was here as well considering the two of them were as well.

Right now Cole wasn’t sure who he considered was the most responsible of the group. He would have said Byleth at first, but now he couldn’t since he had broken the law to keep watch over him, and Jaune decided to go along with it. At the very least it was for benign reasons and he didn’t have to worry about Shirou pulling a stunt like that. Unless the redhead did something that would expose her food to everyone. Then Cole expected nothing but trouble to come from it since he was sure that Shirou’s food would be enough reason for some people to go to war.

“No, she stayed at home,” Jaune answered, fidgeting slightly under his investigative look. "We...didn't tell her."

“Ok, but then how did the two of you get here?” Cole questioned.

“Magic,” Byleth answered with his usual flat tone.

“...Should’ve expected that, but how were you able to find me? The school is miles away from you and you have never been there before?”

“I focused on you Cole and followed the magical energy that you were giving off. Since your energy was so distinctive, I was able to tell where you were and used one of my spells, Warp to bring us here. Compared to everyone else so far, you stand out like a lighthouse on a dark night, especially with how close we had been to each other,” Byleth replied.

Cole looked at Byleth for a moment, mulling over his words. Before today he would have been flabbergasted at such an answer, but now that Byleth was here, and could do true magic, it was one that he had to consider. Especially since Byleth was now his professor. “Right.”

“You’re not mad are you?” Jaune asked nervously.

“Mad? No. Nervous and afraid…very much so,” Cole admitted.

“You don't need to worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Byleth said, his face plain, but his voice full of conviction.

“What if you’re caught?”

“I won’t, my magic gives me an advantage over other people. I even used it to set up the paperwork here for myself and Jaune so that our identities wouldn’t be questioned.”

Cole opened his mouth again to say something, but then stopped himself. The first thing that he wanted to say was that it was illegal, but that didn’t matter much in comparison to the mind magic Byleth had. Honestly, he found it rather disturbing to know that Byleth even had it in the first place. Still…he couldn’t deny that it would certainly help them out in the long run. Instead, he said, “Just be careful.”

“I always am,” Byleth responded.

“Happy to hear. You are getting paid for this right?” Cole questioned.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have taken up the position if I wasn’t going to get paid. I might like teaching, but I need money.”

“That makes things easier then. We can just use your paycheck to help around the house instead of the gold.”

“Very well then,” Byleth replied. “We can save the gold for times of emergencies.”

"Of course," Cole agreed. At the very least now they won’t have to worry too much if a person goes looking into where the money was coming from. It might not explain all of it, but it was something.

“Do you have any more classes to teach?” Cole questioned.

“I only have your class for the day, but I will be teaching more tomorrow,” Byleth answered. “I wanted to get a feel for the first day and see if teaching here would be any different from my world. To be frank, I’m surprised by how little difference there was.”

“Heh, probably just need some time to get used to the new tech and all. You seem to be a quick learner with how composed you were to all of the stuff at home,” Cole commented. "I'm sure you'll be a tech expert in no time."

“My father did say I always was,” Byleth said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

“We better get home. Shirou has been alone by herself long enough, and knowing her I’m willing to bet she's already finished making dinner,” Cole said quickly, trying to change the subject.

The moment Cole said that Byleth and Jaune smiled and he couldn’t help but join them. Enjoying perfect heavenly food after a day of college sounded great, even if they didn’t know what Shirou made. There was no doubt that no matter what it was, it would be nothing short of exquisite.

The group headed back to his car and the moment they entered the parking lot, Cole stopped as a thought occurred to him. He looked around, hoping that none of his fellow classmates saw the three of them were getting into the same car. If it was just Jaune then it wouldn’t be an issue, but with Byleth it would be something else entirely.

“Is something wrong Cole?” Jaune questioned.

“I just don’t want anyone to see us get in my car. Worried someone might start rumors or something if Byleth is seen in it.”

“Relax, it doesn’t matter,” Byleth stated. “If you are that worried then a simple excuse could be that we live on the same street and my car broke down.”

“That…could work actually,” Cole nodded.

The drive back to Cole’s home was quiet as they listened to rock music. Unlike the other times that they had done this, there wasn’t a heaviness in the air from how awkward it was. The quietness in this one was just a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere as if someone could say anything and nothing terrible would happen.

Cole looked at Byleth, wondering how the displaced mercenary was doing. He heard the green-haired man humming to the music as it played, bopping his head in tandem with the beats with his eyes close. Cole smiled, happy that Byleth had been able to easily adapt to this world and could relax despite everything that had happened. When they arrived at his home, Cole opened the door and held it open for Jaune and Shirou who stepped inside.

“I’m back,” Cole called out, wondering where the red-haired girl was.

Shirou stepped out of the living room and rushed over to see him, but she jumped when saw Byleth’s new face. Her eyes widened as her face darkened for a moment. She cleared her throat and shook her head.

“I...I see that the changes have started,” Shirou stated worryingly. “Are you ok?”

“I am,” Byleth responded with an indifferent look.

Shirou frowned and looked like she wanted to press Byleth further, but stopped herself. Instead, she let out a sigh as she rubbed her brow. “Where did the two of you go? I looked all over the place and wondered if you two went out for a run without me or something.”

“They apparently decided to go to my college,” Cole said.

“What?” Shirou exclaimed.

“Yeah, that was a shocking surprise for me too.”

Cole explained how they showed up at his class with Byleth suddenly being his teacher and Jaune as another student. After explaining everything, Shriou went quiet and then looked away from him with a slight flush on her face. The young man could immediately tell that Shirou wanted to ask something and opened his mouth to ask, but stopped when he realized what it was. The earthling inwardly sighed and looked at the two who just seemed confused by Shirou’s actions, even if Byleth wasn’t showing it.

“You want to become a student?” Cole questioned, earning shocked looks from Byleth and Jaune.

“If…it wouldn’t be any trouble,” Shirou answered reluctantly.

“Think you can do your magic one more time tomorrow?” Cole questioned, looking at Byleth, who nodded his head. “If she’s going to get in there, she needs the paperwork, and people not to question her sudden appearance.

“Huh? Byleth can set me up as a student?” Shirou questioned.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it either. Knowing he can do that is quite…something isn't it,” Cole replied, making Shirou look at Byleth in horrified awe.

“Cole was just as surprised as you were,” Byleth remarked.

Cole looked at the time and then sighed. “Well, time to get the homework done so I don't have to worry about it later.”

“Right, I need to do that now too,” Jaune grumbled as she rifled through her bag to get it out.

“Starting to regret your decision to become a student again?” Cole asked with a playful smirk.

Jaune looked at the textbook in her backpack for a moment and sighed. “A little bit.”

They all laughed at Jaune's answer and after a moment, Jaune’s laughter joined them. Cole went to the dining table and sat down as he pulled out his notes and textbook. Jaune sat down next to him and looked as if she was staring down some terrible monster.

“Would you like me to help you with it?” Byleth questioned.

“Let me take a crack at it by myself first and see how that goes,” Cole answered. “If I start screaming and groaning then take that as a sign that I need your help.”

“Same,” Jaune groaned as she opened her own bag. “I wanna see how I deal with this by myself first.”

The two worked on the questions as best they could, and immediately felt a hurdle the more they worked as Byleth and Shirou watched. After several questions, the two asked for Byleth’s help and their professor came over without hesitation and smiled as he guided them to the proper answer, making sure they understood every portion of it. Shirou watched them work and listened in as well. If she was going to start college tomorrow, then it would be best if she knew what she was getting in for.

Cole began getting ready for the long day of classes that he would have to deal with, greeting the others as he prepared. He was happy that he made it so that he had to go to classes that were later in the day so that he could continue to sleep in and do as he pleases in the morning. It would take some time to get used to all of the changes in his schedule now and the new demands that it had, but he was confident that he would be able to pull through. Especially since he had Byleth, Jaune, and Shirou working with him.

Another blessing was that Byleth had gotten his work schedule to work around his classes, so he wouldn’t have to wait too long for him or get up earlier than he had to. There was still going to be some wait time, but it wouldn’t be as bad as it could have been. Still, he knew that Byleth was going to be kept busy with all of the paperwork that he would have to do.

The group jumped into Cole’s car and made their way to the college. The ride was silent with only the music from the stereo filling the air. Everyone aside from Byleth were nervous about what the day would throw at them. Byleth looked over the notes that he had for the day, no doubt getting everything organized in his head and what he would say. Again, Byleth bobbed his head to the music during the ride, something that Cole couldn’t help but find cute with the green-haired instructor's new face and hair. The young man sighed, as he gathered his courage to ask a question that he had been wanting for a while.

“Byleth you said that you felt magical power coming from me,” Cole said slowly. “How do I feel? I mean like do I feel any stronger or weaker magically?”

Byleth placed his hand on him and Cole breathed in as he did. Byleth blinked and the young man grimaced, wondering what he would say.

“You feel stronger,” Byleth answered. “Far more than you did the other day.”

“Do you….do you think that you can teach me how to use magic?” Cole questioned. He looked at the others to see how they reacted to the news and saw that both Jaune and Shirou were just as curious about the question.

“After you finish your schoolwork,” Byleth said with a tiny playful smile.

Cole groaned but smiled in excitement. He wondered if he would be able to lob fireballs and shoot lightning from his fingertips. The thought made him giggle at the thought of how cool it would be to do it for real.

“Could I get in on that?” Shirou questioned.

“I’m not sure if you will be able to use my magic with how different our magic system is, but we can try and give it a shot,” Byleth answered.

Shirou smiled with the same eagerness that Cole had. She wondered how much more she would be able to help others if she learned how to use his brand of magic. She was sure that it would go a long way for her.

“And me?” Jaune questioned, her voice dripping with hope.

Byleth took her hand and examined her to see if she had magical potential. Her blank face gained a small frown to it that told everyone what the results were. She took her hand away and sighed sadly.

“I’m sorry Jaune, but you don’t have any magical potential or power,” Byleth admitted.

Jaune frowned, but didn’t say anything more. She looked away, desperately trying to hide the disappointment that was clear to all of them. Her grip on the bag tightened as she let out a resigned sigh.

“It’s honestly weird how little affinity for magic that you have. It's almost as if you don’t have any at all, even though there should even be a slight bit of magical power there.”

Cole remembered a certain fact about Jaune’s world. How only a few people in that world could use magic and the rest of humanity and Faunus kind couldn’t. It made sense when he thought about it more and why Jaune couldn’t use magic. Cole wanted to reach out and provide some comfort for the blonde, but since he had to keep his hands on the wheel and make sure that he didn’t crash, he couldn't do so until they came to a stop.

“Still I’m willing to teach you however I can and I saw a sword in your room. Perhaps I could teach you if you’re willing.”

“I fight with a sword and shield,” Jaune admitted, smiled her mood brightening a little.

“Then I will teach you how to fight with them,” Byleth vowed.

As they turned down another street, Cole said. “Hey Byleth, do you want teleport over there, so you don’t have to deal with the parking situation and the rest of traffic. Especially since you might need some extra time for Shirou's paperwork.”

“I understand, just drop me off a little bit before school, and I’ll walk the rest of the way,” Byleth replied. “Shirou it would be best if you come with me that way you can finish the paperwork and make sure that its right.”

“Sounds good,” Cole replied as he parked the car a short bit from the school. “Alright this should be good.”

“Yes, this is a perfect spot,” Byleth said and unbuckled his seat and then grabbed his stuff. Shirou did the same and stepped out of the car.

“See you two in a bit,” Cole waved.

Byleth nodded and then took off running, Shirou following behind her. The two of them went behind a wall, and after a moment, Cole saw a bright flash, and smiled.

With the two of them gone, Cole drove to the campus again and managed to get to the university without any issues. The two looked for an empty parking spot in the yard, and grew more frustrated as they kept seeing someone else take it before they could or there was a small vehicle that they didn’t see there. After almost 20 minutes the two of them were finally able to find a spot.

“The one thing I hate most about this place is the lack of good parking,” Cole muttered. “Forgot how bad it can be to try and find a spot.”

The young man looked at the time and sighed as he quickly rushed over with Jaune right behind him. While they didn’t have to worry about being late with Byleth, it was the principal of the matter and would be less suspicious if they did arrive on time. The two of them entered the classroom and saw that Byleth and Shirou were already in the room.

“Hey guys, is everything set?” Jaune questioned.

“Yes, Shirou has her classes and paperwork ready. From now on she is an official student of the university,” Byleth said as she opened her teacher’s version of the textbook.

“Awesome, so are you excited Shirou?”

“A little nervous but excited,” Shirou admitted. “I had Byleth set me up with some cooking classes as well since I thought those would be fun.”

“You want to take cooking classes? But you already put professional chefs everywhere to shame,” Cole smirked.

“Thanks, but its always good to sharpen your skills, and build on them. Everything I learned was me at home experimenting. If I can get a degree for this, then I know I can help you out,” Shirou answered with determination.

“Well then Shirou you better not let anyone else try your food out. Otherwise you’re ging to be hounded by everyone and never have a moment’s peace if we’re any indication.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Shirou chuckled. “Hey, could I copy your notes on the first lesson?"

“Of course,” Cole answered as he pulled out his notebook. He opened it and let Shirou copy the notes that he had taken.

More students entered the classroom as time passed, Ashley being one of the first to arrive. She looked all of them over and then smiled as she approached Cole.

“Oh hey, Ashley,” Cole greeted as he sat in his seat.

“Heya Cole, and didn’t expect to see all of you here so early,” Ashley greeted with a bright smile. “What are you all doing?”

“Just waiting for class to start and relaxing until then. And what do you mean by that? Don’t I look like the perfect studious student?” Cole questioned playfully.

“Not particularly,” Ashley admitted, earning a snort from him. “And what about the rest of you?”

“I’m bracing myself for the day,” Jaune admitted.

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this stuff,” Shirou grumbled as she continued to write down the notes.

“What bits are you having trouble with?” Byleth questioned as he looked over the notes.

“I’m having trouble with this part here and here,” Shirou answered, pointing at the parts.

Byleth looked over the notes and then clarified those portions, much to the redhead's relief. Byleth words were slow, simple, and clear, making it easy for Shirou to understand what he was saying.

“If you have any trouble, I’ll help you out later,” Byleth said, getting a nod from Shirou. “We can also do a one-on-one tutoring session later.”

Byleth went behind his desk and then began taking rollcall when it was time for class to start. The students answered with an eagerness that was there before, particularly the girls. After finding out who was here, Byleth began the class.

Cole followed the lesson with greater ease than he did yesterday, though he wondered how long that would be the case. It was a good thing that he had plenty of time to get used to Byleth’s new face since he lived with him. Otherwise, he would have distracted by it the whole time and struggled to follow along.

While going over the lesson, Byleth’s voice cracked and the young man cleared his throat. He continued the lesson but his voice sounded noticeably different; it was lighter and was scratchier.

Cole’s pen stopped and he stared at Byleth, holding his breath as if a bomb would go off. He had a feeling that it wasn’t an ordinary sore throat. He looked at the others and saw they were still as well, watching with trepidation.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Byleth said, his voice coming off higher as he grabbed a bottle of water. The dimensionally displaced mercenary chugged down a few sips and then put it down. “Much better.”

Byleth’s voice sounded cleaner, softer, lighter, more feminine and it made Cole’s heart drop. Again he looked at the others and saw Jaune and Shirou’s expressions shatter, while the rest of the students watched on with mild interest.

"Now then where was I?" Byleth wondered as his voice cracked again, rising in pitch and sounding more womanly.  The professor remained non-pulsed by the changes and continued as if they weren’t happening.  He cleared his throat, the higher pitch coming from him clear as day.

Byleth raised his hand to his throat, something that made Cole shiver. He tapped around his throat and Cole could vaguely see that Byleth's Adam's apple was dissappering. The brunette watched and kept his eyes on it, almost not hearing the lesson that Byleth was teaching. Soon the dimensionally displaced man’s Adam’s apple was gone entirely.

“I apologize, I had something caught in my throat,” Byleth answered slowly, testing out his new voice.

Cole brought one of his legs up over his crotch as he could feel his blood go down there. Byleth’s new voice oozed sex appeal and sounded like it could make someone cream their pants, despite the flat tone in it. Yet there was something matronly, warm, comforting about it as well. He groaned, further understanding why someone would follow Byleth with ease. Byleth already had a great natural charisma that endeared people to him and would make anyone do anything for him, especially with how far he would go for those he cared about. That voice was overkill in every sense of the world if he wanted to seduce someone.

“How did anyone in the games get stuff done?” Cole wondered with a dark blush.

Jaune’s face was beet red as well and she shimmied in her seat, rubbing her thighs against each other. Despite knowing better and seeing who it was in front of her, she still couldn’t help but be aroused by it. How was she supposed to focus on the lesson when she had to deal with a voice that sounded like it belonged in one of her fantasies.

Shirou’s pencil broke in her hand, as her face again darkened to match her hair. Her breathing picked up, and she could feel her nippples perk underneath her top. She looked down at her chest, making sure that they weren’t visible through her top and pleased to see they weren’t. She crossed her legs and tried to calm herself down, but it quickly proved to be an excercise in futility.

Cole looked at some of the other boys and girls in class and saw some seemed to be struggling to keep themselves together as well, which made Cole a little happy since it wasn't just them. At least he and Jaune weren’t the only ones that were suffering that way.

He looked at Ashley and noticed that she didn’t seem bothered by Byleth's voice. Instead she looked more intrigued, amused even. She giggled as she looked at the others in the room and then lounged in her seat as she continued to follow the lesson.

The moment class was over, Cole sighed and placed his head down on the table. He could already feel a headache coming on that made him one to lay down in bed and grab a bottle of tylenol or something. It would have been better if he could just go to bed and sleep it off, but that wasn’t going to happen with how energized he still was. Footsteps caught his attention and he turned his head to see that it was Byleth.

The moment class was over, Cole sighed and placed his head down on the desk. He could already feel a headache coming on that made him want to lay down in bed and grab a bottle of Tylenol or something. It would have been better if he could just go to bed and sleep it off, but that wasn’t going to happen with how energized he was. Footsteps caught his attention and he turned his head to see that it was Byleth.

“Well that went well,” Byleth questioned. “Did any of you have any problem following the lesson?”

“Aside from when your voice changed, no I did not, and Byleth I’m not going to lie, but it's a little weird hearing that voice come out of a face with that body,” Cole admitted.

“I understand,” Byleth nodded. “I would be thrown off as well if our positions were reversed.”

Cole wondered for a moment what it would be like to see Byleth confused. It would probably just be the green-haired man looking at him with the same flat face and tilting his head for a moment. He looked at Byleth and let out a snort, who performed the exact head tilt that he had imagined.

“Something up?” Jaune questioned.

“Oh nothing, just a silly little thought,” Cole remarked, trying to brush it off.

“I have to admit Byleth, that you have taken things surprisingly well,” Shirou started.

“There are worse things than becoming a woman and it’s not as if the changes are unpleasant,” Byleth answered.

“Yeah, but it’s so weird,” Jaune groaned.

“It is but I will adapt to the changes,” Byleth replied. “There is nothing else that can be done about them.”

Cole could only scratch the back of his head as he processed his words. Again Byleth reacted with the same blandness and flat acceptance of the whole situation that threw him and the others off. Unlike the others who couldn’t help but freak out. He wondered how much of it was just Byleth’s personality again, or what had been done to him being the main reason why.

“We have to stop questioning it at this point. So I guess we will all meet up later?” Cole said.

“Yes,” Byleth reapplied. “My next class will be in 20 minutes. I hope all of you enjoy yourselves and if you need anything at all during your time let me know and I will assist you as best I can.”

“Alright then, all of my classes will be done at 4, so if you finish your stuff beforehand just wait in the library, and then we can all go home.”

“Alright hope you have a fun time in there,” Byleth said.

“Thanks, take care,” Shirou replied and then went to her next class.

“Think she’ll be ok?” Jaune questioned, looking at the others.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. I just hope that she doesn’t wind up taking over the class or getting a fan club with how good her cooking is,” Cole laughed, something that Jaune shared.

The rest of the day continued to pass in a peaceful blur for Cole. It was mainly just getting settled in and getting the introductions out of the way to his relief. It was nice, relaxing even, and the lessons that the teachers were instructing were simple and easy to follow. He hoped that the classes would continue like that as the semester continued, but with his current luck, he knew that wouldn’t be the case.

He was surprised but happy to see that a few of his classmates from Byleth’s, including Jaune and Ashley. Seeing Ashley again made him wish more that he had a number that he could use to contact her in case something were to happen. He didn’t approach the other classmates that he had, not feeling comfortable enough to talk to them and get their numbers.

As he made his way to his classes, Cole felt as if there was a pair of eyes that were on him, watching him intently as he walked. The only time that feeling ceased was when he finally left the school with the others. He didn’t think about bringing it up to them, chalking it up to paranoia.

The moment they were back at his home, Cole and the others went to work on their homework. Cole breezed through the schoolwork, finding it a little enjoyable by how different it was from what his routine had been like for the past couple of weeks. It was nice to be back in the work saddle. Jaune and Shirou worked hard and did their best to get it all done as fast as possible, but the two of them kept having problems. Occasionally they would ask the other if they were having difficulty with a problem. Byleth watched on, waiting for them to finish like a teacher watching an exam.

The moment they were all done, Byleth looked over their work for any problems. His blank face didn’t show anything as he did. After a minute he let a small please smile cross his face.

“Very good,” Byleth said and gave the homework back to him. He looked at Jaune’s homework and pointed out a few things on it. “There are a few things you will need to keep in mind Jaune from what I’m seeing.”

As Byleth explained, Jaune wilted and then grumbled. “Damn it Jaune you idiot what were you thinking.”

“None of that,” Byleth ordered gently. “You will not insult yourself, especially since you are still learning and growing. It is ok to make mistakes.”

Jaune nodded and made adjustments to her work so that it was correct. When she finished, Byleth looked it over and was pleased by the changes to it.

Shirou gave her work next, almost bouncing in eager glee. Byleth looked it over and pointed out the errors in Shirou’s homework. The redhead quickly got to work on fixing the errors in her work and the moment she finished, she gave it back. After she looked it over again, Byleth nodded her head.

“Can we begin learning magic?” Shirou questioned, excitedly.

“If you are all ready,” Byleth stated and looked at the others.

“Yeah I’m ready, what about you guys?” Cole questioned as he looked at the others who nodded their head.

“Alright, Cole, I just want you to focus on harnessing your magical power as the others work for now. Shirou, I want to examine your body and see if I can get a better idea of how your magic works. Jaune, go grab your shield and sword,” Byleth instructed.

The blonde quickly ran off to grab her gear as Byleth turned to Shirou. The redhead stood up straight with a smile on her face. The redhead vaguely looked like a puppy with how eager she was to learn.

“Now then Shirou since you already have your own magical abilities and know how to use them, I suspect that it will come much faster for you,” Byleth said. “I want you to create a simple fire spell. Focus on the image of fire forming in your hand. Just a small little flame as if a match had been struck."

Shirou nodded and then began to use her powers, smiling. All of them could almost see stars with how eager she was. They were sure that if she had a tail it would have been wagging all over the place like a puppy's getting lathered in attention.

As Shirou intoned her spell, Cole blinked. He could actually see the faint lines of the magic circuit running across the girl's body. He had thought that the magical lines were an anime-only effect they added to show off that the Magus’s powers were activating. Seeing it in person like this was something else. He looked at the others wondering if they were seeing it as well, but froze when he saw Byleth had a heavy frown.

Before Shirou could finish, Byleth reached out and roughly grabbed her arm. Shirou flinched from how hard she was being held by the green-haired man. She turned and opened her mouth to speak, but the green-haired man was looking at her with cold demanding eyes.

“What are you doing?” Byleth questioned, his voice having a tinge of anger inside it.

“I was just activating my Magic Circuits and making a new one,” Shirou answered hesitantly, worried by the look of anger that was clear in Byleth’s eyes. “It’s how we are supposed to do Magecraft back in my world. Everytime a Magus uses them you have to make a new one.”

“Stop it,” Byleth ordered, making Shirou blink. “Even though I’m not a magical expert, I can tell that what you are doing is dangerous and stupid. You’re not supposed to convert part of your body into your soul to form magical power. Just try calling on your own…circuits instead of making a new one.”

“I’m not supposed to do that?”

“No, and never do it again,” Byleth ordered. “This time try activating them, WITHOUT creating a new circut.”

Shirou looked down at her hands and then sighed as she brought her hand up. She blinked when she was able to use her powers without them.

“I can use my circuts without making a new one,” Shirou gaped.

“Apparently not,” Byleth remarked tightly. “Since it's not, I don't want you to ever do what you were doing before again. Am I clear?”

“Yes ma'am,” Shirou cried, terrified by the intensity from Byleth.

“Good, now continue activating your circuits and getting a feel for this method. After what you’ve been doing it’s no doubt somewhat different from what you were used to.”

Shirou nodded and began to practice with the new method. A small gasp of awe went through her. It felt similar to what she was used to at first, but it lacked the agony that came with it when she usually activated her secrets. It was a new, but familiar way to use her powers which she was somewhat glad for.

Jaune returned with her sword and shield at the ready. The blonde gulped when she noticed the flustered look on Shirou’s face and wondered what she had missed.

“Come with me,” Byleth said to Jaune. The two of them went out onto the porch and Byleth instructed. “Show me your fighting stance.”

The blonde girl moved in her fighting stance, raising her shield and sword. After a moment, she adjusted her footing and raised her shield a little higher and closer to her body. She gulped under Byleth’s inquisitive eye, hoping it was good.

“Jaune, adjust your stance so that your feet are a little further apart. Your stance is solid, but by doing so, it will make it even more so while strengthening your swings,” Byleth ordered.

Jaune adjusted her stance. Right after she swung her sword and could feel the difference in her swings from how she was doing.  She grinned at Byleth, who nodded her head.

“Hold your sword just a little tighter,” Byleth instructed gently. “You don’t want it to slip out of your hand.”

Jaune did as she was told and then swung again. She kept swinging her word and could feel the difference in the weight and how it moved.

“Too tight, just a little lighter,” Byleth instructed as she watched the blonde swing.

Jaune adjusted her grip to it and again felt the difference in how she attacked. She imagined that she was fighting a Grimm and continued swinging with greater intensity. Byleth nodded her head in approval, and the blonde felt greater appreciation as she swung. She smiled as she did, knowing that with every swing she would get a little better.

“There we go now you got it,” Byleth praised.

Cole continued to try and conjure his magic as he watched them. He wondered how long he would have to continue doing this before he could pull it off. How many times had he tried to call upon magical powers when he was younger until he gave up. Whenever he saw fantasy movie, he would try to copy it, saying spell names, doing gestures, and anything else that might cause it to work. Thinking on it now made the young man smile and his face burn at all of the silly stuff he did back then.

The young man looked down at his hands again and continued to imagine some element forming around it. He imagined a small ball of fire forming in his hand, but nothing came. The next thing he imagined was lightning running across his fingers, dancing around as it moved from digit to digit.

Lightning formed on his fingers and sparked between each of his digits, making the brunette yelp like a kicked cat. The others turned and the young man blushed at being the center of attention again. It was quickly replaced by awe as he stared down at his fingers, the slight smell of ozone hitting his nostrils.

“I did it,” Cole said in awe, staring at his fingers. “I actually did it.”

“Good,” Byleth smiled. “Continue to practice and it will become easier with time.”

Cole looked down at his fingers as he tried to activate his magical powers again with a grin. It was only for a second, but he knew it was there. He tried to summon it again, but it wasn't working. The young man stared at his hand, desperately hoping that it would come back, flicking his wrists and snapping his fingers as he did.

He tried to recall everything that occurred the moment lightning danced on his fingers. For a moment he felt as if there was an ocean inside of him brimming with potential. He focused on that pool that he had felt for just a moment and tried to call it back. As the others continue their training Cole focused on bringing that power out, knowing that he had a long road ahead of him, but one that he was eager to walk. There was no way that he was going to pass over the chance to become a wizard, now that he knew he could.

Tommorow came faster than Cole would have liked as he struggled to stay awake in Byleth’s class. He wished that he had some more hot chocolate to keep himself awake. His eyes were heavy and he swore that he could still feel the crust around them, even though he had gotten them off long ago. When he had woke up this morning, he had guzzled down his preferred morning beverage as quickly as he could and felt new vigor course through his body, but now it was running out.

Cole paid attention to the lesson as best he could, but his mind still wondered how he should go about performing his magic. All of the failure from last night and yesterday gnawed at his mind like a hungry dog and made him want to continue practicing. His eyes got heavier and he wanted to lower his head and take a nap or anything that would give him a little more energy. It didn’t help that Byleth’s voice was so soothing and relaxing that it made him want to fall asleep again.

The young man had stayed up later than he should have practicing his magic, trying to make it work. Cole had tried to summon his magic again and yet he hadn’t been able to get another spark going, no matter how long he tried. He focused so hard on that pool he had felt and imagined it dancing between his digits, hoping that it would be enough to make it come back, but it never did.

Cole wondered if he was missing something in particular. Byleth had told him to try and think of a trigger that would allow him to use his magic. Shirou had told him that when she tried to cast Magecraft, the image that came to her mind was firing the hammer on a gun. It made sense to the young man, especially since it wasn’t an unheard of concept. In dozens of work he could recall that magical people used foci or triggers when they were casting spells.

After that explanation, Cole had thought about all different sort of triggers that he could use, like the swing of a sword, a bomb going off, an arrow being fired, and more as he tried to use his magic. No matter what he thought, it just didn’t feel right and didn't call upon the power he had within him. It frustrated him to no end. Until he found his trigger, Cole doubted that he would be able to use his magic.

The young man honestly wished that he could just go home and learn how to use his magic, but he couldn’t. Not with all the classes that he had, and Byleth taking his job as a professor seriously. Byleth had made sure that all of them would be late, and no doubt would have dragged him here in is pajamas if he had to.

The young man watched Byleth’s hands as one wrote on the board, while the other performed small gestures as Byleth explained everything. It was something that Byleth did during his lectures. Cole had to admit that it helped keep him a little more interested in the lesson and gave him something to focus on.

Cole yawned as he stretched his seat, involuntarily closing his eyes. Again he wished that for anything that would be able to provide him some energy so that he would be able to stay awake. Maybe he should hit up one of the vending machines and see what they had after class. There was bound to be something in there that he would like.

As Cole focused on the lesson, he noticed something was off about Byleth’s hand, something that he wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t sitting in front of the class. The nails on the green-haired man’s hands were longer, cleaner-looking. They had a refined point that he didn’t remember being there before. He was sure of it. Suddenly Byleth’s words stopped and he looked down at his hand, confirming to Cole that he hadn’t just been seeing things.

After a moment, Byleth cleared his throat and resumed the lesson. The professor’s words coming out without any sign of slowing down. As he talked, Byleth kept putting his hands up as he pointed to specific parts of the board, eyeing them as they changed.

The world went quiet to Cole as he watched and out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Jaune and Shirou were mystified by the change to Byleth's hands. The three stared at the nails and then looked at him, clearly wondering if they were all seeing the same thing. Cole looked at them and nodded his head, showing that they were. He then looked back at Byleth, knowing that it hadn’t and wouldn’t stop at just her nails.

The changes didn’t stop at Byleth’s nails and continued down the rest of his hands. His fingers thinned down and got smaller as the palm of his hands changed to match. The green-haired man wiggled his fingers as the changes continued as if he had gotten a cramp in them. He hummed as he turned his hand over and studied the palms of his hands as if he was looking them over after getting a pedicure. After a moment, Byleth put his hand down as he grabbed a bottle of water and drank it.

Byleth’s forearms thinned down as if he was loosing the defined muscles he had there, but on a second look, they saw the truth. The muscles that he had was compacting, getting smaller, refining, and making his arms look more feminine. The thinner length of Byleth’s limb fit perfectly with his new hands, while his biceps and shoulders looks off.

“Is something wrong professor Byleth?” Ashley questioned hesitantly as if she was trying to find the right words.

“No,” Byleth answered as the rest of his arms slimmed down, eyeing his biceps intently. The defined biceps he had maintained their refined and toned appearance despite how much smaller they were getting. When the changes to them finished, they had a decent amount of muscle that looked fitting on an athletic woman.

The professor’s shoulders let out a low crack as they moved closer together, losing some of their broadness. Byleth rolled his shoulders as another crack came from him, making him hum. After several rotations, he ceased doing so and relaxed.

All of the displaced humans and Cole studied Byleth’s new arms, which made the contrast between Byleth's male and female body parts all the more apparent. The slimmer look of his arms fit Byleth's new face, shoulders, and hair, but it didn’t match the masculine legs, midsection, and hips. It was almost like seeing an action figure that had some of its parts replaced with another toy’s. The mismatch threw them all off them aside from Byleth, reminding Shirou and Jaune of when they had been going through the transformation process.

The trio followed the rest of the lesson as best as they could, but they could only stare at Byleth’s arms. The new feminine slenderness of Byleth's limbs made it hard for them to focus because of how unused to it they were. Shirou and Jaune had gone through the process and had seen it happen, but seeing it again was still just as mind-blowing. The moment class was over Cole, Shirou, and Jaune went to Byleth as the rest of the class left.

Cole looked at his classmates, his finger tapping his thigh, wishing they would all get out already. Just like before, some of the students looked at them curiously as they left, but they didn’t pay them much mind as they did. The moment the door was shut, Cole let out a breath he didn’t know that he had been holding.

“How are the new arms?” Cole questioned awkwardly.

“They are fine,” Byleth responded and flexed her arm. “They feel just like my old ones.”

“...I can’t tell if that’s a joke or not,” Cole muttered.

“It is not.”

Cole ran his hand down his face as he let out a sigh, wondering why his life was like this. He wanted to focus on his class and make sure that he got all the information down, but it was hard to focus when he kept seeing the transformation happen right in front of his eyes. Why couldn't it happen when he was out of the classroom?

“You’re making good progress on the transformation front,” Jaune commented.

“Indeed,” Byleth agreed. “Legs, stomach, hips, chest, butt, and genitals. I'll be a girl before long.”

Cole gulped, still not used to Byleth’s acceptance of the changes. It was strange to hear the transformation being talked about so calmly and matter-of-factly, like a doctor talking about an operation. If it was him he would’ve been panicking and thrown off by it all.

“Yeah,” Jaune agreed. “Are you nervous about how curvy you might be when it's done?”

“More curious than anything else,” Byleth admitted.

“Well, when your bust comes in, then we could lend you some clothes for them. If we’re any indication then you might be around our size.”

“That would be appreciated. Maybe I could get some stockings as well. I’m curious about what they would be like to wear,” Byleth admitted.

Cole’s face burned as he imagined the female Byleth and the stockings she wore. He wasn’t much of a leg man, but he could see the appeal, especially with thick thighs. His mind ran wild at the image of Byleth's succulent thicc legs and wondered further about Byleth’s female body and what it would be like “Are you alright Cole? Your face is red,” Byleth pointed out.

“Y-yeah I’m fine,” Cole brushed off as he cleared his throat and ignored the looks he was getting. He noticed that Shirou also had a blush on her face that rivaled her dark-auburn hair. The redhead noticed that he was staring at her and she squeaked as her face darkened. She gulped, but this just gained the attention of the others.

“Shirou? Are you ok? Why is your face red?" Jaune questioned.

Byleth placed his hand on her head, making Shirou flinch at how close he was. "You don't seem to have a fever."

Cole didn’t say anything, primarily because he needed time to get his own fantasy-fueled body under control and Shirou was a great distraction. He would make up for using her as a sacrifice. Maybe he could get her something nice, or treat her the next time they went out. He looked at the time on his phone, wondering how much longer he had before his next class and frowned.

“I got to get going, hope you all have a good time in your classes,” Cole responded.

The young man took off running as the others sent their goodbyes. Cole went to the nearest water fountain and chugged the water down, feeling a bit more revitalized now that he had something in him. After doing so, he continued to his next class, eager to see what would happen next.

Cole went to his next class and unlike in Byleth’s, he was able to follow the lessons without issue, even if Byleth’s transformation was prevalent in his mind. He couldn't help but think about how far she had transitioned as if the current  Byleth and her fully male form were in front of him right now. He shook his head and reminded himself that Byleth might look like a girl, but he wasn’t one yet.

In his next class, Cole saw Jaune and the two smiled as they sat next to each other. Cole relaxed at having a familiar face next to him as the two of them worked together and followed the lesson. They didn't have any trouble understanding the material and were able to follow along with ease. Once the teacher finished instructing them on how to get the answer, she gave them worksheets and allowed them to work with each other, which Jaune and Cole immediately did. When it was over, he bid Jaune goodbye and hoped that the two of them would get through everything else without any problems.

In his last class for the day, Cole wished that his school day would be over already and wondered how the others were doing. He knew that Byleth would be fine teaching. He was sure that Shirou would be fine as well, even if she was behind on several years of education. The one that worried him the most was Jaune. The blonde girl was sent into a completely different world with a new history and despite how similar it was, and the time she spent here, he couldn’t help but worry.

When his last class finished, Cole went to the library to wait for the others and found an empty table to work at. He pulled out his homework and his notes, wondering what he should start with. He put Byleth’s assignments to the side for now and started going through the rest of his work. Since they lived together any problems that he might have he could just ask her about it. He got to work, deciding he would just get right to it.

Cole finished his science homework when approaching footsteps caught his attention. He looked and saw that it was Shirou walking toward him. Her eyes had a dull glaze in them as if she had woken up too early and didn't have anything to eat. Her bag hung loosely over her shoulder and she had to adjust it so that it would remain where it was.

“Hey Cole,” Shirou greeted sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

“Are you ok?” Cole questioned worryingly.

“I…I just became the most wanted student in my cooking class,” Shirou admitted hesitantly.

“Oh…your cooking was that well-liked I guess?” Cole stated, already knowing the truth.

“Liked is an understatement,” Shirou sighed. “They looked at me as if I was some sort of goddess that came from the heavens. Even the teacher asked if I could give her some tips due to how nice it all tasted.”

Cole snorted at the mental images Shirou gave him. It only got funnier when his mind conjured up the image of the rest of the class kneeling in front of Shirou and praying to her as if she was a goddess. He chuckled, struggling to hold his laughter in.

“It’s not funny,” Shirou pouted.

“C’mon you got to admit that it’s a little funny,” Cole chuckled. “Anything else happen?”

Shirou’s face darkened as she stood up a little straighter. She mumbled her words so quietly that he couldn’t hear what she had said.

“Excuse me?” Cole questioned.

“Some of the people in my classes asked me out,” Shirou squeaked.

Cole snorted and couldn’t help but grin. Seems like no matter where Shirou went, she was gonna get attention and still be a harem protagonist. Even in other worlds, she would have people fawning over her.

“I told you it’s not funny!”

“S-sorry,” Cole got out as he managed to get his laughter under control. “You put them down gently?”

“I…I told them that I already had someone,” Shirou replied, her face darkening a little.

“Not a bad move,” Cole remarked. “Hopefully that’s enough to make them back off.”

Shirou frowned and looked away from him, but as she was about to say something, they heard footsteps getting closer. The two of them turned and saw it was Jaune. She human had a smile as she got closer to the two of them.

“Hey guys,” Jaune yawned.

“Surviving alright?” Cole questioned.

“I’m ok, just a little tired and my brain hurting from all of the new stuff,” Jaune replied. “Shirou are you ok? Your face is a little red.”

“Y-yeah I’m fine,” Shirou squeaked. She sent a small glare at Cole that demanded him not to say anything about what she just confessed.

Cole decided that he would keep his mouth shut. There was no way that he was going to do anything that might make Shirou get revenge if he blabbed, especially if it came to her food. Living without her divine food was an impossibility for him now and there was no way he was going to jeopardize his stomach and taste buds like that.

“Alright if I get a timeline of your schedules for future reference?” Cole asked as he pulled out a blank piece of paper. “This way, if either of you wants to join a club or something then we could compensate for it and work around it.”

Jaune and Shirou were more than willing to tell him what classes they were taking and wrote their school routines down. As Cole put the piece of paper to the side, he noticed Byleth looking for them. He waved at him, and the green-haired man went toward them as if he was on a life-or-death mission.

“Hello everyone,” Byleth greeted with his usual monotone voice.

“Hey, Byleth what’s your schedule looking like? Thought it would be best if we wrote everything down and all,” Cole said.

Byleth told them everything about his schedule, and Cole quickly added it to the schedule list. He looked at it and was pleased by how everything lined up nicely. Cole questioned. “How did you get everything to line up so well?”

“I looked at your record to see what classes you would be taking and planned around that to set everyone up,” Byleth answered.

Cole stared at him for a moment and then turned away as he focused on the paper. He wasn’t going to question it and just roll with it. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it anyway.

“So we cool to head home because I have had enough of this day,” Cole commented.

“Yeah sounds good,” Jaune voiced, and the others agreed.

They packed their stuff and headed to Cole’s car and as they walked, Cole wondered what would change about Byleth. There were still quite a number of things about Byleth's body that could transform but he still didn’t have a solid clue of what might change about Byleth next. He had to admit after seeing everything so far, he was a little eager to see what a female Byleth looked like in her entirety. He was sure that when the transformation was over, Byleth would be one of the sexiest women that he had ever seen in his life.

The next day came far faster than Cole would have liked. He wanted to be off in another class, just so he didn’t haven’t to be here now. He gulped, mentally bracing himself as best he could for the mundane school work and the next alteration to Byleth’s body.

Today would be their first test, and Cole wasn’t sure how well he would do on it. Byleth had made sure to help them out last night and gave them a long study session. The mercenary had quizzed them and helped them out as best he could to make sure that they would be ready for it. The material came to him rather easily for the most part, though he did get a few things mixed up that slowed him down. Byleth took the time to ensure he had the correct information for it. While it was comforting to Cole that he had such a long study session with the others, it was still rather daunting to him to have an exam, even if he was familiar with the material. He breathed in and out trying to keep himself relaxed.

“Alright everyone, here are the tests. Once you are done, bring it up to my desk and then you can leave the class,” Byleth said as he went to the nearest row. He took a portion of them and then passed them down to the people in the row. "You have until the end of class to work on it as you see fit, so take your time and do not rush it."

Cole looked around the room, struggling to calm his pounding heart as he gripped the pencil in his hand tighter. He noticed Jaune gulp and tap her finger on the table with one hand as the other played with a lock of her hair. Her leg rapidly bounced up and down as her breathing picked up.

“Jaune,” Cole whispered, getting Jaune's attention. She turned to him curiously and he smiled at her. “We can do this.”

Jaune blinked at his words before a small smile graced her face. She breathed a little easier as relaxed in her seat. She looked forward, seemingly filed with new confidence as she waited for the test.

Cole looked at Shirou to see how she was doing, and unlike Jaune, Shirou was far more composed. She wiped her brow and waited patiently to begin. Shirou turned to Cole and then smiled at him as she took the paperwork from the person in front of her and went right to work on the test.

Cole wished that he could have the same kind of composure as he braced himself for whatever the test might have. He focused on the knowledge that he had learned in class, trying to recall every scrape of it. Small little things came rushing forward and he allowed it to do so, even if it was a bit all over the place in terms of information. When the student in front of him turned around, and held out the test for him, Cole went cold as he mechanically took it, the knowledge that he had leaving him.

Jaune blinked at his words before a small smile graced her face. She breathed a little easier as relaxed in her seat. She looked forward, seemingly filed with new confidence as she waited for the test.

Cole looked at Shirou to see how she was doing, and unlike Jaune, Shirou was far more composed. She wiped her brow and waited patiently to begin. Shirou turned to Cole and then smiled at him as she took the paperwork from the person in front of her and went right to work on the test. He wished that he could have the same kind of composure as he braced himself for whatever the test might have on it. He focused on everything he had learned, trying to recall every scrape of it. Small little things came rushing forward and he allowed it to do so, even if it was a bit all over the place. The person in front of him handed Cole the test, and he sighed as he took it.

With the test in front of him, Cole began working on it. The information that he knew he had, he struggled to recall, as if he had learned it a lifetime ago. An urge to look over at either Shirou or Jaune’s work came over him, but he refused to do so. Though, the idea of dropping his pen and taking a moment longer to grab it was looking more promising by the second.

Cole looked around the classroom to see how confident the rest of his fellow students were doing. Most of the students seemed to be doing fine by how composed they were. Ashley didn’t seem at all troubled by the quiz and wrote stuff down without any hesitation. She stopped and turned to him, making Cole freeze. The moment Ashley saw it was him, she smiled at him and winked playfully.

He quickly looked away to hide the flush on his face and focused on the test again. The knowledge rushed forward, but he didn't get to work just yet. Cole took several deep heavy breaths to get his nerves under control and steady his head.

Suddenly Byleth got up from his seat and walked across the room, making Cole gulp and clench his buttocks. His heart pounded harder the closer Byleth got as if he was the Grim Reaper coming to take his soul. Cole's tongue twisted itself and his mind scrambled, fearing that Byleth was going to accuse him of cheating.

Byleth stopped and blinked. He looked around the room and his frown tightened. He looked at his hands and the rest of the students before he sighed.

Cole blinked, unsure of what to make of Byleth’s action. He focused intently on Byleth's body, willing to bet a letter grade that another change was happening now. His breathing picked up and the stress from the test was forgotten as he wondered what would transform now.

A few more seconds and it was unmistakable what he was noticing. Byleth's smart and crisp uniform appeared to be falling off him before Cole's eyes. His shirt sagged; loose legs trailed over boots he was now walking in clumsily, and as they watched with childish fascination, the hem of their proctor's pants began to slide down.

Cole heard his pencil roll off his desk, which gave him the excuse to look away before his staring was noticed. As he stooped down he shot glances at Shirou and Jaune. They had both forgotten the exam, it seemed, both of them having an eye peeled on Byleth. Cole tried to refocus, but compared to the stuffy test, their seemingly shrinking proctor was just too interesting. He noted how the posters on the wall behind Byleth looked larger now, and took note of every inch that disappeared from the man's frame as he stepped out of his shoes. The class kept watching them shrink until Byleth stood no taller than the sitting class before him. Were any of them to rise now, they would probably stand heads and shoulders over him.

Cole ran his hand down his face, trying to get to grips with what he saw. He sighed, wondering how he hadn’t expected this to happen. He should have known that Byleth would change some more during the test, though at least it wasn’t anything like the breasts or butt. It would have made getting through the test all but impossible.

Byleth stumbled and leaned on one of the desks for support as a low popping noise went off, that Cole almost didn’t hear. After a moment, Byleth managed to find his balance and continued walking, though at a measured pace.

Another pop went through the room that Cole knew came from Byleth, making him freeze again. He had thought that it would all be over now that the professor was much smaller and hoped it was a figment of his stressed mind.He looked at Shirou and Jaune and saw that they had heard at it as well. He stared at Byleth again, trying to find what was changing about him now, but just couldn’t see it.

Unknown to them all, Byleth’s shoes got looser as the next alteration to his body started. Byleth wiggled his toes as the changes began and forced himself to step forward. The looseness of his shoes was a little annoying, but quickly finished when they became small womanly feet with dainty toes to match.

Byleth stepped closer to his target as the process continued, ignoring his loosening pants as the others gaped. Even with his pants being to large on his frame, the others could plainly see his shifting lower form.

Cole froze as Byleth passed him by and then watched where he went, a wave of relief coming over him, as Byleth stopped at another student. Byleth took the paper from the student, without saying a word. He went back to his desk and placed the test he took on it and then picked up another. The mercenary walked back to the student with the new test in hand.

As Byleth walked back, the others could see the legs of his pants got tighter as his thighs bloated, filling with fat and muscle that added a seductive curve to them. Like two balloons growing they stretched his pants, returning some of the tightness that was there before as they got bigger. It was getting easier for Cole and others to see where the thighs began and where they ended on his pants, simply by how tight the pants were around them. The seems of Byleth’s pants stretched further and were beginning to strain as if they would rip apart as their growth slowed.

Cole could see the legs of his pants struggle to contain the voluptuous thighs that were only getting bigger by the second. His face burned and gained a rosy shade of pink as blood rushed down below as well. His pants tightened, but he didn’t reach down to fix it just yet. He was sure that if he did, Byleth or another student next to him would notice that he was getting harder. The brunette swore that he could see a slight jiggle coming from them through Byleth’s pants right as the professor passed by him.

Byleth placed the new test in front of him, who flinched as if he had just been struck. He said as his thighs stopped growing. “Whatever your final grade would be will be a letter grade lower. The next time I catch you cheating, you will get an automatic 0 on the test.”

The student slowly nodded their head with a terrified frown, not that Cole could blame him. He would be to if he was caught cheating by Byleth.

Byleth walked back to his desk, and Cole gulped as he stared at the thick succulent thighs jiggle as blood again rushed down below. He could feel Cole junior rise and press harder, making his pants tighten even further, but this time he couldn’t ignore it. The young man tried to act casual as he adjusted his pants, holding back a grunt as he did.

With Byleth behind the desk again and no longer changing, Cole was able to focus on the test with new clarity. All of the information from the lessons came rushing forward as if it was desperate to prove itself. The urge to look up at Byleth gnawed at his mind, but he violently shoved it down and focused on his work. It would help get his mind off the jiggle of Byleth’s thighs, which he was still seeing as if it was still happening. Again Cole was grateful that the desk was here to hide what was happening in his pants.

He looked at his friends to see if they had noticed the transformation as well. Both Jaune and Shirou had pronounced blushes and struggled not to stare at Byleth. The looked at their desks, then at Byleth, andthen back last their desks, clearly struggling not to focus on her again.

The only student who seemed out of it was Ashley, who blinked and then rubbed her eyes before swiftly going back to work. She briskly went through the questions on the paper, writing her answers down as if she had the answer key in front of her. She quickly finished the test and brought it up to Byleth.

“I hope you didn’t rush it,” Byleth commented. “It would be a shame if you didn’t get a good score because you did.”

“I only would if I knew my answers were right,” Ashley smiled boisterously.

“If you’re sure then I hope you have a wonderful day,” Byleth responded and placed the paper down.

“Have a good one, professor,” Ashley said as she stepped out of the room.

Right after Ashley left, it was as if a signal had gone out to the rest of the class that said it was okay to turn in their papers. Students got up one after another and turned their tests in. They quietly said goodbye to Byleth as left the room.

Cole paid them little thought as he focused on the test again. With his mind now free of worry, he was able to quickly finish the test. The young man triple checked his answers making sure that he hadn’t missed any and that his answered were correct. It was strange how seeing a man slide further into womanhood was able to bring out the knowledge that he needed better then any relaxation technique. When Cole was sure of his answers, he brought the test up to Byleth and sat outside, waiting for the others to finish.

Cole sighed and wiped his brow, happy that he was out of the room. He looked at his phone wondering if he had gotten a text or something his parents, but saw nothing from them. He tried to call them again, hoping that this time he would get something, but again all he got was the voice mail.

“Hey mom, can you give me a call or something when you got a minute,” Cole sighed as he ran his hand through his hair again.

A thought came to him, and he put the name of their cruise line on his phone, and browsed the news to see if he could find anything about it. Cole didn’t find any articles that said something was wrong. He frowned and put his phone away. If something happened then there would be something on the news. He hoped that everything was alright, and there wasn’t some sort of disaster or trouble that caught up to him. He looked into the room to see how many people were left in the room and saw there were only a few, Jaune and Shirou being among them.

Cole’s eyes went to Jaune and Shirou who were still focusing primarily on the test. Shirou seemed to be doing alright and focused intently on the test as she wiped her brow. Jaune looked like she was about to slam her head against her desk with how rapidly she tapped her pencil against the desk. Her other hand played with locks of her hair, twirling them around. He wished that he could provide some comfort for her, but he could only do so when it was over.

Cole wondered between Jaune and Shirou would be the one to finish their test first. Both of them were smart and capable, though maybe it would depend on who could keep their cool first. If that was the case then he would have to bet on Shirou. His guess was proven correct when Shirou was the first one to finish it and stepped out of the classroom.

“Don’t worry, I would rather you be comfortable with how you did rather than rushing through and trying to get it done and making mistakes on the way,” Cole responded. “How do you think you did on the test?”

“I have to thank Byleth for all of the studying sessions,” Shirou muttered.

“Feel like they helped you out a lot?” Cole questioned.

“They most certainly did. I was in high school before I got sent here so I'm a little behind on everything. Cole...why did you stick around here?”

“I wanted to stay and talk to you guys, especially Byleth about the latest…change,” Cole said after a moment.

Shirou nodded her head. She would have done the same if there weren't more people in the classroom.

“Plus I wanted to be there for you too since you and Jaune looked like you were struggling on the test, especially Jaune,” Cole sighed.

Shirou peeked into the room and looked at Jaune. She frowned when she saw the frazzled state Jaune was in. She said, “I see what you mean. She didn’t seem to have this problem when we were studying.”

“It's one thing to study it, but it's another then you’re in the classroom taking the test,” Cole sighed. “Honestly I was the same way as Jaune until Byleth's body started transforming again, and then the test was so much easier for me and I could recall everything we learned. I don't know what that says about me, or if I should question why seeing someone transform was able to clear my head. ”

"Probably best not to," Shirou said sheepishly.

Jaune brought her test up to Byleth and handed it over with a glum look. Byleth nodded his head and then placed it on top of a pile. She tiredly left the room and the moment she stepped out of the room, Jaune sighed heavily. She looked at them as if she had just been on the receiving end of harsh tirade.

“I think I failed,” Jaune stated.

“I’m sure you did fine,” Cole said as he patted her back. “Couldn’t have been worse than me.”

“You probably did better than both of us Cole,” Shirou remarked.

“You’re just saying that to try and make me feel better,” Cole snorted.

When the last person taking the test finished, they went back into the classroom and studied Byleth. Cole rubbed the back of his head, thrown off by the sudden height difference between the two of them. It was strange to see that he now towered over Byleth, who came up to his chest and was almost as short as Shirou was.

“This is so weird,” Jaune admitted, voicing Cole’s thoughts as well.

“Yeah, but thank kami, you’re wearing a belt Byleth,” Shirou commented.

“Yes if it wasn’t for it, I'm sure that my pants would have fallen to the floor,” Byleth admitted and patted the belt.

“That…would have been something,” Cole admitted, his face darkening slightly as that enticing image formed in his mind. “How…are the new legs?”

Byleth raised his leg and pulled up his pants, allowing them all to stare at the exposed limb. All of them oberseved the supple slenderness it had, along with how clean it was. Though it was clear to Byleth that they were all focused more on his well-developed thighs, which visibly strained his pants.

“It took some getting used to with the sudden shift, but I won’t have any problems going about my day,” Byleth stated.

“That’s good to hear,” Shirou sighed, still staring at the Byleh's thick thighs.

“By the way, Cole I’m happy to see that you didn’t cheat on the test,” Byleth remarked, his voice having a smidge of pride to it.

“W-What?” Cole gulped. “You were watching me?”

“I could tell that you were thinking about trying to cheat, but you resisted the urge,” Byleth said with a pleased smile. “I’m proud of you.”

Cole blushed and ran his hand through his hair. He couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed and happy about it. Byleth's face only added to his flush since it was such a beautiful womanly face, even if Byleth was still a guy.

“I’ll do my best to make sure that I won’t cheat on my tests," Cole said.

“Good, but feel free to cheat if you are ever in a fight for whatever reason. Then its perfectly fine.”

The others blinked, a little surprised by that but Cole wasn’t. To him, it only made sense to cheat then. If he was in that sort of situation, then he would do whatever he had to win so that he wouldn’t get hurt.

“It also helped that after….your transformation, the test everything came a little easier. Its hard to be nervous about answers you might get wrong when you see your teacher's thighs suddenly balloon,” Cole admitted. The others blushed and coughed, but Byleth’s face kept the same impeccable composure that left nothing slip.

“I’ll bet,” Byleth responded after a moment, earning a look from Cole.

“Well I got some time before my next class, want me to walk you guys to yours?” Cole asked.

“I would like that,” Shirou smiled.

“Sure,” Jaune replied with a weak smile.

“Have fun, and if you need anything just come find me,” Byleth said.

“Will do Byleth!” Jaune said.

The trio went to Shirou’s next class, with the redhead taking the lead. They talked about the test and how much trouble they had with specific parts and anything else that came to mind. They grimaced as they realized what they had gotten wrong and what they got right. They paid it little thought when they entered Shirou’s building and followed the redhead up the stairs to her next class.

“Well this is it,” Shirou said. “Thanks for coming with me and all. Helped get my mind off of the test.”

“Not a problem, Shirou.”

“Yeah, maybe if we finish up sooner then we could meet up between classes. Maybe Byleth would be willing to put us into more of the same classes….Hey Shirou, I’m wondering how different does your classroom look from the others?”

“I’m actually curious if it looks any different,” Cole said. Some of the science classes looked different from the standard classroom, mainly for the chemistry equipment.

“Oh its nothing special. It looks just like any other classroom,” Shirou quickly replied and swiftly looked behind the door. “It just has a couple off ovens for baking, some stove tops, and some fridges to keep everything cool.”

“Wow, you have me a bit more curious about the room now,” Jaune admitted. “Do they have a bunch of snacks in there to eat?”

“...What we make is usually tested by the class with everyone getting a piece of what we make,” Shirou admitted hesitantly.

“That must be nice, being able to eat what you make in class,” Jaune sighed. “Maybe I should see if I can get in that class.”

“It can be fun and tasty. So long as the food is cooked properly. Sometimes someone lets their food cook for a little longer, or not enough at the right heat and it can taste a little weird. Then your stomach feels like its trying to rebel and well...you can figure out the rest.”

“Yeah, though the free food might be enough to make up for it ,” Cole muttered.

“If there are any leftovers I can see about bringing them home,” Shirou offered. “It would help save some money.”

“Would be good to have the free extra meals and all. Even if they aren’t at your amazing level. Or maybe you could do something with them to put them on your level.”

“Yeah I’m sure I could do that.”

“Dang it I can’t get a good look at the room,” Jaune muttered as she looked through the window on the door, but only saw the wall.

“There’s no need to look into the classroom, like I said, it looks just like any other classroom except for the stoves and the fridges,” Shirou said swiftly as she stepped closer to Jaune.

“It will just be a quick in and out,” Jaune replied as she opened the door.

“Wait!” Shirou said, but Jaune had already stepped inside the classroom.

A student threw a piece of garbage into the trash can and turned to the door as Jaune stepped in. The moment he saw Shirou, his eyes immediately brightened and a smile formed.

“Oh hey Shirou!” The young man said gleefully.

Immedietly after he said that, the other students quickly turned to them as if a gun shot had gone off. They stared at Shirou, their eyes lighting up as if they were seeing a celebrity.

“Hey, Shirou how are you doing?” A girl asked. “You want a coke? I got a spare can if you would like something to drink.”

"I got half a sandwich if you would like something to eat," another male student said as he rifled through his bag.

More students said stuff they had and were willing to share, while others offered to get Shirou something from the vending machiens making Cole blink. The almost fanatical attention they were getting from the other students made his skin crawl as if they were trying to prove themselves to a divine being. It was one thing to see it happen in an anime where things were meant to be a little out there and zaney, but it was something else entirely to see it in the real world. He muttered to Shirou. “They started acting like this after they tried your food, didn't they?”

Shirou slowly nodded her head, her cheeks having an embarrassed blush. She knew that her food was good, but she didn’t think that she would be able to charm the whole class with it. It made her glad that she hadn’t joined any of the home ec classes back home. She would never have been able to get any alone time if the people here were any indication.

“Hey guys,” Shirou said weekly as she waved at the students. She shuddered at the intense looks of want she was getting from the students.

Cole looked at the students and recognized two of them from Byleth's class. The rest he wasn’t sure about, but he could feel an animosity for him and Jaune rolling off them as if he was out on the beach. No doubt because of their relationship with Shirou.

“So Shirou who are these people?” One of the girls asked, looking at Jaune and Cole jealously.

“These are my friends,” Shirou answered hesitantly.

"Are you close?" Another girl asked.

"How long have you known them?" A boy questioned.

Cole shuffled in place, vaguely reminded of several yanderes from how the people were eyeing them. He gulped as his eyes went around the room, half expecting someone to suddenly lash out at them. His hand tightened around his bag, ready to use it like a shield or a mace if he had to.

‘Please don’t let us deal with that genre on top of isekai,’ Cole thought desperately.

The people kept demanding an explanation from Shirou as the door opened, and Cole was grateful for the distraction. He prayed that it was the teacher who would hopefully put an to end this madness, but to his surprise, it was Ashley.

“Ashley, you’re here?” Cole blinked.

“Yup, this is my next class,” Ashley answered with a carefree grin. “I’ve been wanting to learn how to cook and thought that this would be the best way to do it since I would have that extra motivation and all.”

Cole could understand that. Having a little extra incentive with him being paid for good grades helped drive him to improve over the years. He was sure that if he was interested in sharpening his cooking skills, having them graded would help him.

“Has the class been helping you out?” Cole asked.

“Yeah I feel like my cooking skills have been getting better. By the way, how have things been going for you? After all the shopping that you’ve done for these two, I hope that you were able to get something nice out of it,” Ashley giggled.

Ashley’s words made the whole class turn to them as if they were sharks with blood in the water. Cole’s eyes widened as his body went cold. He gripped his bag, his instincts on edge, telling him he was in danger.

“What does she mean by that?” One student questioned.

“Why did he shop for the two of you?” Another questioned.

The students hounded Shirou for answers like a pack of puppies amped up on energy drinks. She only got more flustered the more they asked her. Their questions overlapped with one another, right when one finished their question, another asked her a question that she couldn’t exist. Her frustration boiled as her annoyance rose, wishing they would stop.

“Do you all live together?” Another one of the girls questioned, her voice miracously being heard over the crowd.

“Yes!” Shirou exclaimed in frustration, only to pale as her words registered in her mind.

‘Shit,’ Cole muttered mentally, knowing that what would come next would be one big headache.

Cole hesitantly looked around the room again, worried about what he would notice now that Shirou’s admirers knew their current situation. They eyed him and Jaune as if they were the lowest form of life that smiled gleefully as they stole candy from toddlers. The jealousy from the people was plain to see as the clothes they wore. He held back a heavy sigh, wishing that they didn't have to deal with this.

‘Wonder if you would all feel that way still if you knew the truth,’ Cole wondered.

“Well, Shirou, hope the rest of your day goes well. I’ll see you later,” Cole said, desperate to get out of there with how everyone was staring at them.

“Yeah, take care,” Shirou replied demurely as she looked at her classmates.

“If you need anything just give us a holler,” Jaune said and quickly ran to Cole.

Cole and Jaune quickly went to the door, the students’ gazes following them. They shut the door, and after a few steps, they looked over their shoulders, making sure that no one was following them. The moment they were by the stairs, Cole slouched and let out a heavy sigh.

“Holy crap that got awkward real fast,” Cole admitted.

“Yeah. I didn’t think Shirou would be so popular,” Jaune muttered.

“That makes two of us,” Cole agreed. “I mean with Shirou’s cooking I thought that she would be popular, but I didn’t think that would lead to a freaking cult!”

“Yeah, I don’t ever want to walk Shirou to this class ever again,” Jaune admitted.

“Neither do I,” Cole agreed as a shiver went down his spine. “I hope she survives her course.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Jaune said as she looked over her shoulder again. She sighed. “I think we better get going before someone from the class decides to try and get some more information from us. With how intense they were, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried something physical or something.”

Cole looked over his shoulder again and half expected someone to tackle him so they could question them like a police officer on a manhunt. He shuddered again and said, “Yeah good idea.”

The two of them walked to Jaune’s class not saying anything else as they did. After the insanity that they had seen in Shirou’s class, the two of them didn’t need to say anything and could simply enjoy the other’s presence.

The moment they made it to Jaune’s next class, the pair looked inside the room to see how it was. There were a few students in there along with the professor. The two looked at Cole’s phone and saw there was still a bit of time before the class started.

“Your classmates aren’t as crazy as Shirou’s right? If so, should I stay outside or do you need a shield?” Cole questioned.

“No, thankfully I haven’t been able to charm my classmates like Shirou,” Jaune smiled. “Which is a good thing. After seeing how it turned out for Shirou, I think it’s for the best if I don’t stand out too much.”

“Yeah, I would rather be comfortable then be some big shot on campus,” Cole sighed.

“Thanks for taking the time to walk me here and all. It was nice and relaxing.”

“I think we both needed it after seeing the insanity that was in Shirou’s class,” Cole said, earning a snort from the blonde.

“You don’t think that we have to worry about them whenever we come to college, do you?” Jaune questioned. “With how crazy and obsessed her class seemed to be who knows if they will try something else.”

“I think at best they’re just going to be a bunch of headaches to deal with. Though I don't think that they're going to be a threat. The three of you are more than capable of handling the average college student.”

“But what about you?” Jaune questioned hastily. “You might have some magic, but…”

“Jaune, I trust you to be my knight in shining armor then if I do run into trouble, or if it comes looking for me,” Cole smiled.

Jaune’s mouth dropped and then she blushed from the praise. She smiled brightly and then giggled, struggling to control herself. “Then as your knight in shining armor, if something happens I’ll come running to save you...Do you have any idea how cringy and corny that sounds?”

“Thank you my wonderful knight,” Cole said mischeviously, his face darkening slightly, but his smile remaining. “And yes I do, but it seemed like the best thing to say.”

"Thanks for believing in me, it means a lot to me," Jaune admitted.

“Don't worry Jaune, I'll always be in your corner. Alright then, guess its time I head of to my clas. Take care Jaune, and if something happens you know where to find me."

“Right, have a good day Cole,” Jaune said and stepped into the classroom.

Cole looked at the time on his phone, wondering how much time he had left before his next class began. He sighed as he walked faster so that he would make it on time. This day wasn’t going at all like he expected it would. Then again ever since a month ago, his life had been pretty weird.

As the day progressed, Cole continued to feel more at ease, despite having another test he forgot about. The nervousness that he had for it were minimal since he was far more comfortable with the material, and Byleth's transformation earlier killing any strangenss he might have felt during it. He got through the test without much issue and went to his next class.

As Cole walked to his next class, he felt as if someone was watching him again. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. His stomach twisted and toiled as if it was being used to make knots.

“Again?” Cole wondered. He looked around, trying to see if he could find the perpetrator who was staring at him. There were only a couple of students, but none of them looked like they were paying him any mind. They all seemed to be minding their own business, but he had his doubts. Anyone keeping an eye on someone and trying to act like they weren't wouldn't be blatant about it.

This wasn't the first time he felt like this. If it were, he would be willing to chalk it up to paranoia, but for it to happen again at college? No there had to be more to it. After all the insanity that he had to deal with, he was willing to bet that there was more to it.

Still what could be the reason behind it? Cole refused to believe that it was something like someone having a crush on him, so he was inclined to believe

it was something else and possibly malicious. He wasn't showing any money or valuables to make someone think that he was a good target, but that didn't mean much. Until he was safe, all he could do was stay around people. Having a crowd around him would give him some measure of protection that being alone wouldn’t.

Whatever the case was it would be best if he went looking for one of his friends at this point to class, or stayed in a public area. He didn’t want to barge into Byleth's classroom. If he went into one of Shirou’s class, it would probably just get him more attention and demands from her loony fans if it was anything like her last one. He shuddered imagining that it would be like putting oil on a fire. So that left Jaune and thankfully for him if there weren't any sudden changes to her schedule, then they would be in the same class.

Cole marched on and as he did he stealthily looked around, trying to look like he wasn’t suspicious. He hoped that he would notice who it was, or who it might be. If he could find a person that looked off then he could point them out to the others and then they could go from there.

The young man smiled when he arrived at his class and breathed out as he relaxed in his seat. No matter what might happen in the classroom he would take it over any horrible surprises, even a surprise test. The young man looked at the time and hoped that his class wouldn’t be over to soon. If he was going to figure out what he was going to do then he needed some time to get an idea of a plan sorted out.

Normally Cole didn’t care about being in class, but he welcomed it this time since he wouldn’t be alone and could try to make sense of what he was feeling. Cole focued on the lesson as best he could, as his mind scrambled for ideas and solutions that would make him safer. He tried to put a face that he was paying attention, but he just couldn’t bring himself to keep it up since the situation he was kept returning to the forefront of the mind.

He tried to think of who it might be that was watching him, but no one of note came to him. No one in his classes paid him much thought and it wasn’t as if he had any enemies. As easy as it was to say that it was Shirou’s fans, the timing was off, if it was tied to the first time he felt like someone was watching him. Still he was sure that some of them might cause some trouble down the line.

“Please don’t let there be rumors,” Cole muttered his breath and forced himself to focus on the class.

The professor’s dull words made his eyes droop and he sighed as he struggled to focused on the lesson. With everything going on it was hard to do so. He gulped as he followed the lesson, sparsely taking down notes as he continued. With everything that was going on, he couldn’t bring himself. He looked at his pen, wondering how viable it would be as a defensive tool. It might just be a pen, but it would be better then nothing and he was sure getting stabbed would hurt no matter what.

When class was over, Cole got up and tried to blend in with the crowd. He wondered if there were enough people around him, if he would he be able to loose them. He breathed in and out, feeling his heart pound slightly in his chest as he continued his day.

Again, Cole felt like he was being watched and he held back a tired sigh as the crowd around him dispersed. How was this person so close and able to keep such a watch on him? Why did he only feel like he wasn’t being watched when he was in the classroom, but the moment he got out, he was. He looked around, hoping that he would be able to find the person this time. He just had to find that one face that stood out to him repeatedly and that would be his main suspect.

He went out the building, keeping his eyes locked on the environment and the people around them. Every one of them looked vulture circling its prey. He wanted to scream, but instead he just grabbed his bag tighter as he moved. He tried to place if he had seen them before and if he did what had their contact been like, but their were just to many people around him.

Since his initial plan failed, Cole rushed to his next class, walking as fast as he could without drawing attention. If his watcher was paying more attention to him then they would certainly notice that he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't afford to slow down. No matter how fast he moved, he could feel the watcherful gaze of his pursuor on him.

Suddenly Cole remembered that Jaune was in his next class and he smilled. With her nearby, he would feel much more confident about his current situation. He walked faster, knowing that if something were to happen she would be able to stop them easily.

“Please already be there Jaune,” Cole muttered as he hastily entered the building, almost knocking down some people in his way. He muttered to them, “Sorry.”

He found his classroom, and hastily entered it as if a large hound was after him. To his glee, Jaune was already here, sitting at a desk with a book in hand. He rushed over to her and sighed as he sat down next to her.

Jaune turned to him with a smile, only to frown when she noticed his frazzled state. She asked. “Cole, is something wrong?”

“I’ll tell you and everyone later,” Cole answered, eying the door.

“What happened? Did one of Shirou’s weird classmates try something?”

“Jaune I just don’t want to repeat myself and tell the story again when I can get it out of the way in one shot, but so far no to that….I think.“

The blonde frowned, hating that she could see where he was coming from. She pinched the brow of her nose with one hand.

“Can you at least tell me if someone tried to hurt you or not?” Jaune asked.

“No, as I’m aware they haven’t tried anything. I might be going crazy, but I think someone’s watching me,” Cole whispered.

Jaune’s eyes widened as her body stiffened. She moved her desk a little closer and leaned over to him so that they could talk quietly.

“What do you mean by that?” Jaune hissed.

“That's why I didn't want to tell you,” Cole whispered. “Moment I did, I knew you would want to know more.”

“That's because it's pretty important!”

“I am not denying that, but again, I would rather just let you all know at once,” Cole sighed.

Jaune stared at him with a flat look and a heavy frown that made Cole feel guilty. He gulped and understood that he wasn’t helping his case, and thought of how he could make her stop for now. He cleared his throat, this time deciding to appeal to her logic.

“Jaune, if you were in my place, would you like to repeat yourself if you didn't have to,” Cole sighed. “Besides this isn't the kind of place to talk about it. People might overhear and all and this gives me a bit more time to get my head on straight so I can explain properly everything to you all.”

Jaune glared at him but then bit her lip. She looked at their classmates, checking to see if any might have overheard their conversation. Her hands balled into fists and then she slouched in her seat.

“You have a point,” Jaune sighed, hating that she had to admit it.

“Jaune just give me a little more time before I tell you, please,” Cole pleaded.

“....Fine,” Jaune sighed. “But you better tell us all when we’re together.”

“I promise Jaune and I don't intend to go back on my promises,” Cole vowed, crossing his heart.

“You better not, especially when you make a promise with an Arc.”

When they finished the class, Cole sighed as he gathered his things together. He was slow, meticulous as if he was making sure that he got everything. In truth, he was only buying time so he didn’t have to leave the room just yet. He looked at Jaune, wondering how she was feeling about all of this and saw her face was resolute.

“So where’s you next class?" Jaune questioned.

“Not to far from here, its in the building next to this one. Why you asking?”

“Well since someone might be spying on you, you might need some extra protection, and I want to get an idea and all.”

“Jaune you don’t have to act like my bodyguard. You’ll be late to class and I don’t want you getting in trouble or falling behind because of me.”

“I know, but something’s up and I’m going to be there for you. I’m your knight in shining armor remember,” Jaune rebuffed, blushing. “If someone is watching you, then I’m going to be here to protect you if they try something.”

“I thought that was cringy and corny,” Cole said, making her blush darken.

“Maybe, but you know what I mean,” Jaune pouted.

As they exited the classroom, Jaune stayed close to Cole, as if she expected the attacker to suddenly leap at them. Her hands were clenched and her body was tense as if she was bracing herself for a fight. Her hand was wrapped tightly around her bag, she gulped.

“Just relax Jaune,” Cole whispered. “If someone is watching, we don’t want to let them know we know that we’re being watched.”

“Hard not to if someone you can't see might decide try and start a fight. I wish I had my sword and shield,” Jaune groaned.

“I don’t think you would need it, but wish you did to,” Cole admitted. If it was a normal person he knew that she would be more then able to handle it. If it was someone from another fictional universe or some sort of monster he wasn’t sure what to expect. Still he believed that Jaune would be abe to get him through it.

“Thanks for having such faith in me,” Jaune replied. “But I would rather stack the odds in my favor as much as possible.”

"I agree with you there,” Cole admitted. “I would be doing the same.”

Cole smiled, feeling more confident after getting her to admit that. It was a small thing, but it made him glad that she was here to help him.

“Would your mom tear your hide a new one if she heard you were cutting classes?” Cole questioned.

“She totally would,” Jaune smiled. “Skipping class sounds weird for me to say it, let alone do.”

“I'll bet. My mom raised me right, so even think about doing it feels...weird,” Cole chuckled and then frowned. “Sorry if I brought up any old scars.”

“No, you're fine,” Jaune responded.

Cole took another breath and braced himself for whatever might happen. His nerves spiked the moment they stepped outside and he focused on his breathing. He gulped and forced himself to breathe. He snuck a look at Jaune stood straighter confidence filling him despite it all.

As they walked, Cole used the opportunity to look around and see if he could spy the person spying on them. No one seemed to pay them any attention and were more focused on their phones or getting to their next class, and yet he still felt like he was being watched. Sooner they found out who or what was doing this the better.

“Do you still feel like you’re being watched?” Jaune asked quietly.

“Yes…Yes I do,” Cole said.

“Ok, let me know the moment you see something off.”

"Will do."

The entered the class and Cole took note of everyone there, even the professor.  He doubted that any of them were the ones watching him, especially since he no longer felt like someone was trying to burn a hole into his back. The professor noticed Jaune and stepped toward her.

“Is there anything that I can help you with miss?” the professor asked.

“Would it be okay if I just sit in the back of the room?” Jaune questioned. “Cole’s my ride.”

“Well I don’t see any reason why not. And as far as I recall, there are not any rules against it. Just don’t cause a disturbance and I suppose you can stay,” the teacher responded.

“Thank you sir,” Jaune answered gratefully with a nice smile.

Cole took his seat as he readied himself for whatever they would go over today. He breathed in and out, looking forward to whatever might happen during it. He looked at Jaune, who stayed in the back of the room and watched as she pulled out a book from her bag and read it to pass the time. Sometimes when he looked at her, he noticed Jaune was looking around the room.

Jaune’s presence in the room allowed him to breathe easier, as if no one had been watching him in the first place. The hardship that Cole had in the following classes wasn’t at all there. He could make out everything that was being said with ease. The lesson allowed him to relax and focus a little. The questions that had persisted from earlier leaving him alone for now.

When the class was over, The blonde girl immediately rushed over to him. They looked around at the other students, waiting for them all to leave the room first. They stepped out into the hallway and didn't see anyone else out there.

“So did you notice anything off on the way over here?” Cole asked lowly, hoping she would say yes.

“No, nothing seemed wrong,” Jaune sighed. “I was hoping that I would find something, but nobody stood out, and didn't see anything suspicious.”

“Well fuck,” Cole muttered. “Whoever it is, they aren’t stupid, and good at staying hidden sadly.”

Jaune groaned and Cole patted her back. He felt the same way as she did. It was all that they needed on top of everything else that was going on in their world.

“Let’s go to the library, at least there we don't have to keep standing around and get some stuff done,” Cole said.

“Right.”

The two walked to the library, both of them keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. As Cole walked, the hair on the back of his neck stood up as if someone was breathing down his neck. Again, the instinctual feeling of someone watching him returned, making him run his hand through his hair. If they didn't have malicious intentions then they wouldn’t be afraid to act. It would take time  for them to arrive, but with Jaune he was safe.

For a single moment, Cole swore he that he could make out the shimmering outline of a figure. He forced himself to breathe and focus on the figure, wondering if his mind was getting the better of him or if it was a spell caster. Considering that he knew magic was real, he couldn’t and wouldn’t rule anything out.

“Is everything ok?” Jaune asked, making him jump and turn to her.

“Think I might have seen our mysterious stalker,” Cole answered and then looked at where the figure had been and saw they were gone. His heart pounded in his chest. His eyes darted around, looking desperately for the mysterious figure. He shook when someone took his hand and gently squeezed it.

Cole quickly turned and saw that it was Jaune looking at him worryingly. The mere sight of her was enough to help him relax. He wasn't alone. If something was going to happen then he would have Jaune here to back him up. He smiled weakly and gently squeezed her hand back.

"Do you see them still?"

"Not anymore. Fucking hell," Cole sighed. "As if I need this to deal with as well."

Cole's parents came to the forefront of his mind. All of the worries that he had for them barreled forth again. Again he pulled out his phone hoping that he would finally get a call from his parents. There was still no message or anything from them. He was half tempted to call one of his aunts or uncles and see if one of them had heard from them. Though that wouldn’t explain why he hadn’t heard anything from any of them at this point if something happened. He quickly pulled out his phone, mentally bracing himself for the call he was about to make.

“Something wrong?” Jaune questioned.

“One sec,” Cole said as he pulled up his mother’s number. The phone rang and he waited, holding his breath. He wanted to see if he could get them this time. After all the attempts and getting nothing, he needed something, no matter how small it was. He gulped as the phone rang, praying that this time he would finally get her.

“Hi you reached the voice mailbox of Clary, I’m sorry that I can’t answer the phone right now, but if you leave a message for me I will get back to you at the earliest convenience possible. Thank you and have a wonderful day.”

Hearing the soothing voice of his mother again made the time that he had been away from his parents all the more apparent to him. Cole wished that it was them instead of a recording. He wanted to ask her how their day was, what she was doing, even something as simple as hearing what she had for dinner would have been welcome.

“Hey mom,” Cole started, the words making his mouth feel as if there were cotton balls shoved in his mouth. “It's me again... Look I know that I said this before, but please contact me as soon as you can. I’m getting really worried since I haven’t heard anything from you guys in weeks. Please just...call me."

Cole ended the call and ran his hand through his hair. "Damn it."

Again he pulled up the website and the news trying to find that something was wrong. No matter how deep he looked he couldn't find any articles that talked about anything that might have happened to the cruise ship. “Still nothing.”

“I’m sure they’re okay,” Jaune said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just give them a little more time.”

Cole wished that he could believe her. At this point though he couldn't help but think the worst. How could they go dark this long and something not happen to them? Even if the news didn't tell him that something was wrong his mind told him something was.

He sighed and put his phone away as they stepped into the library. The two of them found a nice empty spot and immediately got to work.

The two of them tried to focus on the schoolwork that they had, but Cole wasn’t fully invested in it. He went through it slowly as if he wasn't sure what to do, despite knowing the process and having his notes. It was only the thoughts of Jaune being here, and what his mother would say if she learned that he let his grades slip that kept him focused.

Jaune tried to keep him on track and correct any mistakes in his work, but she wasn’t fully invested in her work. Her mind kept going over Cole’s words and what he said he saw as well. Once Byleth and Shirou were here she would tell them about the mysterious figure Cole saw and make sure to get everything from Cole as well. Being left in the dark like this gnawed at her mind and she didn’t like it one bit.

Cole stretched in his seat in another attempt to relax as he looked around. He pulled at his arms and they let out a pop. He pulled out the page with their schedules on it, wondering how much longer it would be before the others would arrive.

As if the universe was responding to his thoughts, he saw Shirou enter the library. Cole smiled at the sight of her. He muttered to Jaune, “Shirou’s here.”

Shirou looked their way and Cole waved at her with a cheeky grin. She instantly flushed and smiled weakly as she waved back, making Cole chuckle. Clearly, she was still embarrassed about what happened in the classroom, not that he could blame her. He would have been nervous about meeting his friends as well if he was the reason for such a scene. Shirou sat next to him and awkwardly pulled out her stuff.

“So, how are you doing?” Jaune questioned.

“I've...Been better,” Shirou admitted.

“Did everyone in your class keep hounding you about us?” Cole questioned and then frowned heavily at the grim nod that he got from her.

“They tried to corner me after class, and get some more information about us. Thankfully, I was able to give them a slip when class ended. I am not looking forward to tomorrow.”

The others grimaced, knowing exactly what Shirou meant. She might have gotten away from them for now, but they would no doubt continue to prod her for information until she gave it to them.

“Think you could just ignore them?” Cole said, knowing that it wouldn’t be ideal in the long term. It was clear that they were all charmed by Shirou, and jealous of anyone that was close to her. It was only a matter of time before someone went to absurd lengths to get her attention.

“I don’t think that that's going to work,” Shirou sighed. “There are times when I will have to talk to people because of class assignments so that they can tell me what they think. Besides with how determined they are to get to know me, they’ll probably keep bothering me no matter what I say.”

“Maybe you could threaten them that they won’t be able to try your cooking if they keep bothering you,” Cole said, half-jokingly.

“That might work,” Jaune giggled. “I know that if you threatened to stop cooking for us I would apologize immediately and beg for forgiveness.”

Shirou brought her hand up to her chin and rubbed it as she thought about it. She said, “That won't work since we do have taste testing, and I think that's a little too mean.”

“Better to be only a little mean than to blow up at them when you can’t take it anymore,” Cole advised. “And it's not like you threatened their lives or anything. Just the food they eat.”

“Yeah, we can't have too much attention on us,” Jaune agreed. “I have to admit I’m surprised to see that Ashley was in your class Shirou.”

“Why?” Shirou questioned.

“She’s in my fourth class for the day.”

“Good to know that we all know someone we share classes with. Could ask them to pass on a message or to help us out if we need something,” Cole said, getting a nod of agreement from the others.

Byleth came not long after with a bundle of papers in his hands. He sat at their table and placed the stack down. Byleth said. “Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well."

“The day has been nice enough, thankfully,” Cole admitted. “Though there is something that we need to talk about...Is all that from one class?”

“It is. Being a professor requires a lot of paperwork. Though all of the lessons were made before I took over so all I have to do is tell you about them. It is thankfully easier in some regards. Even if I can’t teach the lessons I want to.”

“I have been better,” Shirou admitted. "Class had been...weird lately with how the students have been acting around me."

“If you have any problems then please alert me if there is anything that you need,” Byleth informed, staring at Shirou.

“No, it's nothing major. It’s just been one of those days where you are tired a lot for some reason.”

“Are you sure it's not for a specific reason?” Cole questioned meaningfully, getting a nod from Shirou along with a silent plea in her eyes not to say anymore.

“What do you mean?” Byleth questioned, looking at Cole.

“She has a couple of…overzealous admirers,” Cole remarked, deciding it would be best to just tell her the truth rather than beat around the bush. From how Shirou was, he wouldn't be surprised if she tried to keep it hidden so she wouldn't trouble anyone. Shirou looked at him with a displeased frown that made him feel a little guilty, but he focused on Byleth.

“Are they disturbing you and making you uncomfortable? I can talk to the professor of the class if need be,” Byleth offered.

“No! No, I don't think it's worth getting a teacher over. It’s not like they’re hurting anyone. It's just been a headache with how much they want to know me and keep trying to be friends with me,” Shirou replied.

“I told her to stop cooking for them,” Cole remarked with a smil, earning a sigh from her.

“Do it,” Byleth ordered, her voice having a sharpness in it that made the others jump. “It is a harsh punishment that will make them rethink their life decisions. If it doesn’t work then there is truly is no hope for them.”

The others looked at each other, unsure what to think by the sudden aggression Byleth had. She sounded like a dragon trying to guard its treasure hoard from would-be thieves with how sharp her voice was. They knew that Byleth liked the food that Shirou had made, but they didn’t think that she liked it enough that she would go to war for it.

“Are you saying that because you think it's a good tactic, or because you'll be able to get more food?” Cole questioned.

“Yes,” Byleth answered.

“I’ll…consider it,” Shirou replied, getting a small pleased nod from the professor.

The others decided to just leave it be for now. It wasn’t as if it was anything life-threatening. If something more did come from it then they could do something about it. For all they knew, nothing would come of it.

“Good. If they still bother you then, we could try for some more extreme measures,” Byleth said.

“I guess,” Shirou sighed. “To be honest I would rather not do anything to them. They aren’t hurting anyone. They might be a little annoying with how crazy they’re acting, but that’s it. Still it’s weird that someone would like me that way, let alone a whole class.”

“The burdens of being popular,” Cole muttered.

Cole saw Ashley walking by and she stopped. She turned her head toward them and smiled as she walked to them with a pleased leisure gait.

“Hey…Oh professor I didn’t expect to see you here,” Ashley said.

“Ashley,” Byleth greeted. “I hope that the day has gone well for you as well.”

“It has been so far. I had a great time in my classes and was able to easily follow everything being taught. Though I did worry a little in my cooking class since I thought I might have overcooked the dish.”

Ashley’s eyes roamed over the table, and Cole couldn’t help but see her like a Cheshire cat. A playful grin formed as her eyes sparkled with childish glee.

“So what’s everyone doing all gathered around here?” Ashley asked.

“Byleth was going to tutor us,” Cole said quickly. “We asked him if he could help us out and make sure that we understand everything correctly and aren't getting stuff mixed up.”

“Yes, I have been helping them with their work,” Byleth admitted his face as blank as it usually was.

“I get you, wanting to make a strong foundation before we get deeper into things is good,” Ashley commented. “Would it be alright if I join in? I’m having trouble following certain parts and keeping it organized in my head so this might clear it all up.”

Cole looked at the others, silently asking if they were ok having her here as his mind warred with itself. He wanted to talk to them right now about what has happened, especially since he didn’t feel like he was being watched right now. Another reason why was that he couldn't think of a good answer without seeming like an ass. The biggest reason though was that he thought it would be better to wait until they were in his car and heading back to his house.

They looked at each other, silently asking if it would be ok for her to spend time with them. They were all trying to find a reason why they shouldn’t let her, but none of them could think of one that would get her to back off immediately without looking suspicious.

Jaune was the first to shrug and said glumly. “I don’t mind.”

“If everyone’s ok with it then I’m alright with it,” Shirou said.

“Alright, what part you are having trouble with?” Byleth questioned.

Ashley's smile brightened as she sat down at the table, and pulled out their classwork.

With the others here, Cole's confidence swelled if something were to happen. He still wasn't sure where he stood with Ashley, but he would admit that he was more comfortable around her than the other students in their class. If anything he would say that their relationship was in that weird middle ground between that and acquaintances where he was comfortable talking to her if he had to but not to do any favors for her.

“Hey Ashley,” Cole said.

“Yes? Need some help with a problem?” Ashley asked.

“No, just have a question I want to ask you.”

“Oh good because you’re probably better equipped to help me,” Ashley laughed.

“Would you say we are friends?”

Ashley blinked and then rubbed her chin as she hummed, making Cole gulp. He felt a little guilty asking her that question in front of everyone and wondered if he had overstepped. He looked at the others and saw none of them were perturbed by his question, though they were a little curious and relaxed slightly.

“With how often we had seen each other and all I thought that we were friends. Are we?” Ashley said.

“Well…. I guess,” Cole answered awkwardly.

“Then I guess we are,” Ashley smiled.

Cole focused on his work again, but his mind mulled over Ashley's words. Despite what she said, he didn’t feel as if they were on the same level. The way she responded, was almost like a differential way as if she was letting him set the boundaries, which he was happy about.

Things continued at a steady even pace, Byleth and the others helping where they could. The students tried to help the others out if they were having an issue with a specific problem, and after doing so, Byleth would let them know if they got it right or wrong. It helped speed up the rate they worked, helped the information get sorted correctly in their heads, and made it all come easier. Soon they were breezing through the schoolwork until they finished.

“This went a lot better than it would have been if I was on my own. Would it be ok if I joined you guys whenever you do this?” Ashley questioned as she packed her bag.

“I don’t see why not,” Cole responded. “You ok with that guys?”

“Sure,” Shirou responded.

“It’s ok with me I guess,” Jaune replied.

“Great just let me know then whenever we meet up in class then since I still haven’t gotten my phone situation sorted,” Ashley smiled.

Cole watched Ashley leave and then sighed. His stomach let out a hungry growl and he patted his stomach. He was sure that he had eaten what Shirou made this morning, but he couldn’t recall it.

“So Shirou, do you think you can whip up something amazing for dinner, or would you prefer to take a break tonight?” Cole asked playfully.

Byleth's eyes widened in delight and he eagerly licked his lips, earning a chuckle from Cole. It was amusing to see how the simplest of things could get a reaction out of Byleth. Then again he was sure that he looked just like Byleth did when it came to Shirou’s food.

Cole looked around, trying to look out for anything specific. Even though he didn’t feel as if he was being watched by anyone now, with how often he felt like that today, he couldn’t help but be alert. The moment they were in Cole’s car, Cole sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“Are you alright Cole?” Shirou questioned.

“Just give me a sec,” Cole replied as he pulled out of the parking lot. The moment they were out on the road, he took a deep breath and braced himself. There is something we need to talk about.”

"Finally," Jaune muttered, making the others look at her.

“I didn't want to talk about this while we were out in the open since I was worried that someone might overhear us. I already told Jaune this earlier but today I felt like someone was watching me.”

Shirou’s eyes widened, while Byleth’s face kept the same neutral expression. Even so, he could tell that Byleth was shocked and worried by the sudden sharp intensity in his eyes.

“When did you feel like you were being watched?” Byleth questioned.

“It was after I left your class. I felt like this when the semester started, but I didn't pay it too much on the first day and thought I was just being a little paranoid. Now though, I felt it a lot today. No matter how hard Jaune and I looked, we just couldn't find who was doing it, at least not entirely.”

“Cole, you should have gone to us right after you felt like that,” Shirou reprimanded. "We could have helped you... and what do you mean not entirely?"

Cole looked at Shirou and Byleth, biting his lip as he ran his hand through his hair. The clear concern and disapproval that Shirou had for him made him feel as if he had hidden some horrible secret from her. There was even a hint of disapproval from Byleth as well, though hers was nowhere near as prominent.

“I know, but I didn’t want to just barge into Byleth’s class since there was probably a lesson going on. And…I was worried about what would happen if I barged into yours Shirou,” Cole explained.

“Why would be worried?” Shirou questioned.

“Your fans,” Cole said without hesitation.

Shirou opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. She opened it again, but no noise came out. She hissed and bit her lip. After a moment she sighed and lowered her head.

“Dang it,” Shirou muttered.

“As for what I meant...well it was only for a moment, but I swear I saw a shimmer that was like the outline of a person. I'm thinking that might be why we weren't able to see my new stalker. Maybe they have magic, like an invisibility spell or something.”

“That couldn't be it though. We’re the only ones that have been coming,” Jaune rebuffed.

“That we know of. What if you guys aren't the only ones that have been coming over,” Cole voiced, making them all stop.

Byleth hummed as he cupped his chin. The others stared at Byleth, wondering what he was thinking.

“I think it would be best if you didn’t go off on your own,” Byleth said. “If your instincts tell you that something is wrong then it would be in your best interest to listen to them. You said that you saw a shimmer for a moment, yes?”

“I did,” Cole answered.

“If your theory is true, and it might be. I think it's possible that whoever is keeping watch on you is doing so through magical means.”

“But who would want to go after Cole?” Jaune questioned. “Especially someone that has the ability to use magic.”

“There isn’t anyone that I could think of,” Cole sighed.  “I’ve pondered this what feels like hundreds of times today and I don’t have even a sliver of an idea of who it could be. I'm on good terms with my friends and its not like I go after any gangs. Maybe whoever they are, they can sense the magic from me or something.”

“Even more reason to stay together if its true. If after some time they do nothing then it might not be for malevolent reasons. Until we know for sure, it would be wise to play it safe and have one of us nearby.”

Cole couldn’t bring himself to refute Byleth’s words as he thought more about his mysterious watcher. With what little they knew it would be for the best that he stayed close to his friends since they didn't know why they would had such a vested interest in him. He why they haven't approached him yet, and who they might be if they were from another world. Charcters and beings from all sorts of franchises came forward and he gulped as he griped ran his hand through his again.

The stress of the mystery piled onto Cole's mind and he forced himself to focus on the road. He hoped that when the weekend came he would be able to relax at home. It seemed like a long shot, but all he could do was continue forward. No matter how bleak things got.

Shirou focused on the food she was making as if she was trying to find some hidden meaning or savior there that would be able to cleanse her mind and save her. It was just her in the room right now, making breakfast for everyone. So far cooking had been helping her mind keep off the errant path that the internet had provided her.

When she had used the computer the other day, Cole’s feed had sent an image to her and she had been unable to get it out. It was the picture of a dark-skinned buxom girl wearing only an apron at a cafe setting, asking if they would like any breast milk to go with their drink.

After she saw that, Shirou decided that it would be best if she didn’t just randomly wander onto some websites, lest she find more cursed things. Or to be more appropriate things that would get her body roaring and eager for attention. She had been struggling enough as is with her mind going against her without any inspiration. She wished that she hadn’t seen that and now couldn’t look at the gallon of milk in the fridge the same way!

Shirou opened the pantry and for a moment her eyes lingered on the hot cocoa packets that Cole had to help start his day. She smiled as she pulled two of them out, knowing Cole would want one to help wake up. The young woman looked at the time and knew that he would be waking up soon.

“He would probably love to have a cup of cocoa waiting for him,” Shirou muttered. She grabbed a large mug from the cupboard and filled it with hot water. She mixed the contents together and stopped when her mind assaulted her again.

Shirou stood there with nothing on except for an apron covering her decency, the food finished, and licked her lips as she heard footsteps getting closer. She turned, grinning madly with lust, and just as she expected, saw Cole coming up behind and blinking in surprise at the sight of her, making her smile gleefully.

“Shirou?” Cole blinked. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“Just making sure you’re ready for the day. I know you’re not drinking coffee, but breast milk works just as well with hot chocolate I think,” Shirou smirked as she leaned over and pulled down her apron top, exposing her decently sized breasts to him.

Shirou shook her head and breathed out through her nose trying to calm her horny body down. She couldn't believe that she just had another horny fantasy like that again. She had to admit that she was a little more curious about what else might have interested him, and if she would be able to pull it off. Though she would have to take steps to ensure that he didn’t learn about it, or-

“Nope!” Shirou cried as she shook her head and ran her hands down her face. She wouldn’t lose herself to her horny desires and fantasies. She was a young girl who would strive to be a hero! She wasn’t a pervert!

“Shirou?” Someone questioned, making Shirou freeze as if a sword had been pulled from a sheathe, the young woman turned and saw Byleth looking at her with blank non-judgmental eyes.

Shirou’s face burned to match her head. A dozen and one questions went through her head, wondering how much she saw.

“Are you alright?” Byleth questioned.

“I’m fine!” Shirou squeaked, wishing that she could teleport to some random location in the world just so that she didn’t have to continue this conversation.

Byleth leaned forward and placed his hand on the redhead’s face, making her jump at the suddenness of it.

“Hmm your face is a little hot, but doesn’t seem like you have a fever,” Byleth stated. “Is there anything wrong with your vision?”

“No, I'm fine! You’re just a little too close,” Shirou squeaked and quickly moved her face away from him. Even though she knew that Byleth was still a guy despite how pretty she looked it was easy for him to see that it was a woman in her place instead. If anything it was only a matter of time until her professor became a woman and the option for that was how long until that happens. “Trust me I’m fine!”

“If you are certain, but if you are not then inform us immediately,” Byleth commanded gently.

“Trust me if something happens then I will let you and others know immediately,” Shirou smiled.

Byleth didn’t say anything and continued to stare at her as if she was evaluating her very soul. It made the redhead feel as if she was being judged by a court official or police officer in an intense murder case.

“Is something wrong Byleth?” Shirou questioned.

Byleth didn’t respond as he continued to stare at Shirou. The green-haired professor then let out a sigh as he looked at her with disappointment clear in his eyes. Shirou wilted from the look as if it was her father or big sister figure that were looking at her like that.

“Shirou it isn’t good to bottle your emotions and pretend everything is okay if something were to happen,” Byleth rebuffed.

Shirou flinched as if she had been struck. She didn't think that Byleth would have been able to read her considering that he hadn’t been here that long. Not to mention with how Byleth had been focused on the teaching stuff and how different everything was technologically wise.

“How?” Shirou questioned quietly, the cheer that had been in her voice previously gone.

“I am used to dealing with troublesome students,” Byleth replied, a hint of playfulness in his voice. “They told me about how you had pretended that you weren’t changing, and overworked yourself to the point you were bedridden. Shirou do not think that you need to put on some face so that you don’t worry the others, because it won’t work. No matter what, if someone cares about you then they will worry. Especially if they notice that something is wrong. You can’t just pretend that everything is fine and expect that they will go along with it. No matter how hard you may say otherwise.”

Shirou couldn't say anything in return. The smile that she had tried to keep on slipped and she couldn’t bring herself to look the green-haired man in the eye. Especially as the memories of how the others had reacted after she had fallen ill. She recalled the worry they had for her and how Cole had even fed her. She couldn’t quite understand why they would go out of their way for her like they did, since in her eyes she didn’t deserve it.

“I just don’t think that I’m worth worrying about is all,” Shirou admitted and then blinked at how the words slipped out.

“You are not the only one who decides how much your life is worth,” Byleth reprimanded. “No matter how you feel, remember that we are here for you. Whether you like it or not.”

Shirou again couldn’t help but feel as if she was a small child being lectured by an adult. The redhead couldn’t quite believe them, even though she knew that Byleth was right about the others, and could tell even Byleth would worry about her as well. It was a strange thing to see, mainly since it was her that they worried about. It wasn’t like she had a long history with them.

“Ok,” Shirou said and would keep her words in mind, even though she felt that it was slightly misplaced.

Byleth stared at him and then smiled when he noticed that this time, Shirou was being honest with him. “Good.”

Seeing the green-haired man relaxed made Shirou smile, happy that they were moving away from the serious topic. Byleth should relax and focus on what she needs to get done, not on her.

“I will be going over my notes and grading until then,” Byleth replied.

“Alright if you need anything just give us a holler and we’ll help you out,” Cole said.

Byleth nodded and then went up the stairs to the office room, and gently opened the door. He went to the computer and turned it on, waiting for it to load. There were still so much he needed to do. He still needed to finish going through the grades and posting them online. That was a weird aspect of this world that he couldn’t quite believe was real.

He was still reeling from all of the stuff that he had learned. The internet was still a concept that he just couldn’t quite understand, more so for all of the information on it. The first day that he had learned about it and all the uses that it had, left the green-haired professor befuddled.

Byleth placed the stuff that he had on the desk and adjusted the blinds to let a little more light in, allowing him to see the woods and the garden that by the fence. It only served to help ease his mind and give him some sense of familiarity. Again, he looked around the office, taking in everything inside. With all of the books and shelves here it was as if he had entered the library back at Gaarag Mach. Byleth frowned slightly.

There were things that Byleth missed from the academy and his old world, especially when it came to the teaching sphere. He missed the more one-on-one that he had with his students back Garrag Mach but could admit that he still found fulfillment like this. He hoped that he would be able to see them again and confirm that they were doing alright. Everyone there was good kids who deserved more than what he could give. He hoped that everything would work out in the end and they would all live peacefully. The young man took a sip of his tea as he put down the notes.

Byleth took a sip of his tea as he looked over the notes for the next lesson. He was happy that he was able to help Cole, Jaune, and Shirou. It reminded him of when some of his students came to him and asked him to tutor them with lessons that they were struggling with. The material was different from what he was used to in part and he did miss the tactics classes. Though the wargames that Cole had did help deal with that itch along with chess. It was a bit more fun and added layers that weren’t there. Though the rules did help set up battles simulations and making sure that they fit was a struggle at times. He wondered what army he should play for and how they could set up the area the next time they played.

Byleth shuddered for a moment and blinked at a sudden tightness that came from his pants. He placed his cup down and adjusted his trouser to make it more comfortable and calm down, but it didn’t. It continued to get harder and more noticeable. The young man frowned, hoping that this would be enough it enough for him to deal with it. He opened the front of his pants and narrowed his eyes, willing to bet that something about his body was going to change again.

The green-haired man watched as his masculinity started to get smaller. He traced it and flinched from the sudden tenderness. He watched mildly curious at his shrinking member. It was as if it was a piece of rope that was slowly being pulled into him. Byleth didn’t squirm or panic as his body heated from the change that was happening to it. He just kept breathing at a brisk and easy pace as he watched. His other hand moved and cupped his balls there, eliciting a surprised gasp from him.

Byleth breathed in and out as he watched and waited for the process to finish. It was strange, almost pleasant even. Everything that was going on down between his legs was so tender, even though it was just brushing against his thighs. For a moment, the process slowed and Byleth gulped, his throat trembled. The transitioning man wasn’t sure what to do, especially now that the process seemed to have come to a stop, at the precipice of the change.

The displaced mercenary frowned, somewhat annoyed at feeling so exhilerated and unable to do anything. The tip of the blade was all that remained, and he couldn’t take it. With a mighty gulp of air, the transitioning man steeled himself as he pressed down on the top of his junk.

Byleth jerked from the sudden entry of his manhood and could feel a new opening form down there. The transitioning man breathed out and wiped his brow, bracing himself for the next part. He was sure that no matter what he had been through before this would be much more sexually intense and stimulating then anything he had gone through before.

His face twitched, and he couldn’t help but roll his shoulders as the heat in his core and privates only grew more intense. He placed his fingers in the hole and flinched as another shock went through his body like he had been struck by an Elthunder. That hadn’t been what he had been expecting at all, but he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t found it to be rather pleasing. The excitement that he felt returned and couldn’t help but exhale haphazardly.

Despite the change to his lower body, his transition wasn’t done yet. As he studied what was going on down there he noticed that his balls were moving faster up his body, as if it was trying to make up for the time lost. He hesitantly touched them and again his calm composure broke as his eyes twitched. AS a strong and sudden burst came from them as if someone cupped them, but it wasn’t bad.

Byleth watched as the remains of his manhood rubbed against his thighs, breathing as calmly as he could. It was as if someone was gently caressing them along with his inner thigh, teasing him down there. The longer it went on, the more it made his toes curl in eager anticipation, his body eager for the final burst, while Byleth was more curious about what the transition would be like.

They reached the new hole and the changing professor spasmed as if he had been shocked again, and gulped. He was half tempted to push them in just so he could get it over with instead of dealing with the trepidation of when it would finally happen. He waited patiently, and the feelings that were generated down below there were painfully slow and demanding. Again his fingers twitched and his toes curled as the expectation and desire that his body had demanded he please himself. Byleth wanted it to end, but he couldn’t bring himself to finish it like he had his memeber.

The mercenary knew that what what was about to happen down there would be unlike anything that he had experienced. If Byleth were honest, he was a little eager to see that burst and finally experience it. The soon to be former man closed his eyes as he waited for it to happen, ready to embrace womanhood and everything that came with it.

Just as Byleth expected, his balls entered his body, making him spasm at the unexpected force. It wasn’t painful but it had been somewhat discomforting with the suddenness and how his balls moved as they entered his new hole. A new wave of juices came from her vagina as they changed into a set of ovaries, completing the change to her genetalia.

Byleth panted heavily, her body covered in sweat. The young woman wiped her brow, waiting for when the strength that she had would return. She massaged her thighs together and her face darkened slightly as the new layer of juices that were down there. Byleth took a few moments to gather her strength, making sure that the sudden drain of the intensity had passed. The young woman breathed as she pulled the hem of her pants, and was surprised a little by the stickiness of her clothes.

The new woman hummed as she stared at the new entrance that she had between her legs, not quite sure what to make of it. She hadn’t been too invested in the other anatomy, nor was she romantically inclined. Both because she didn't have interest, and with her lifestyle she didn’t have the time to form a connection with someone to reach that level. So having one now left her a little perplexed by it.

Byleth hesitantly inched her fingers closer to her vagina, not sure what she should expect now. Her fingers brushed against her new entrance and she shuddered as a bolt of arousal went through her body as if she had been zapped by an electric spell. She quickly pulled her hand back, but then felt a thirst and need to continue. Her digits inched closer, and the closer her fingers got the more her body tingled. It was as if it was daring her to put it in there so she could see what it was like. Again she touched her equipment and her body spasmed as she hummed in thought. It seemed that it was more sensitive than her man parts had been, and it made her curious about what it would be like to go all the way, but she restrained herself.

She stood up and the transitioned woman took a few slow meticulous steps, seeing what it was like to walk without anything moving down there. She noticed the lack of anything brushing against her thighs immediately.

“So this is what it's like,” Byleth muttered. The differences were both less and more than she was expecting. She had thought that she would mind the sudden change in her anatomy, but if she was honest, she wasn’t bothered by it. The lack of her manhood against her thighs was rather relieving if she had to be honest. She no longer had to deal with the added stress of it being crushed between her thighs and any issues down there.

After a couple more seconds of observing it and seeing what it she fixed her pants. While the change in gender was something that she had been curious about, especially how it might affect her daily routine now, it wasn’t something to dwell on in a room. The best way to find out how it might affect her was for her to go out as she normally would.

The young woman took a moment to gather herself, making sure that her appearance wasn’t too frazzled and that she didn’t look like she had just been playing with herself. Despite all of the changes that she had been through, Byleth was sure that the others would have been grateful that she maintained some sense of decorum.

The green-haired woman went down the stairs, wondering what the others were up to now. She found them sitting in the living room, watching a game that Cole was playing. While it didn’t look as real as some of the other games and movies that she had seen around the house when it came to entertainment it was beautiful nonetheless with the vivid array of colors. The wonders of this world never ceased to amaze her at times with how far they had gotten without any magic to support them. After a moment Cole noticed her and paused the game to look at her.

“Hey Byleth, how are you doing?” Cole questioned.

“I’m alright. I’m a woman now,” Byleth announced with her usual bluntness and blank face.

Everyone stopped and turned to the dimensionally displaced teacher. The green-haired woman looked around the living room and noticed the flustered confused expressions that they had, earning a cute head tilt from her. They groaned and their faces darkened.

“Could you…repeat that?” Jaune questioned. “I want to make sure I heard right.”

“I would like a repeat of it as well,” Cole voiced. “I just want to make sure that I’m hearing it right, you know.”

“I am a woman now,” Byleth repeated. “My penis and balls have changed into a vagina.”

The group blinked again. The bluntness that was coming from her threw their minds for such a loop that they couldn’t handle it at first. Cole cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair, while Jaune moved some of her hair behind her ears.

“Ok, thanks for letting us know about this,” Shirou stated awkwardly. “Are you ok?”

“Yes I am,” Byleth answered without a moment’s pause.

“Are you sure?” Jaune questioned. “I found the sudden gender change to be a big shock and horrifying when it first happened to me.”

“Suddenly finding my gender changed is not that big of an issue for me,” Byleth shrugged. “So long as it doesn’t inconvenience me from doing what I need to.”

“...Let’s not worry about it too much. If Byleth isn’t bothered then I guess that’s that,” Cole sighed. “Everyone reacts differently to stuff after all.”

“Exactly,” Byleth agreed. “If I am bothered when it happens then I shall inform you all about it.”

Again the quietness returned as Jaune and Shirou opened and closed their mouths, confused by the lack of emotion that Byleth had. Byleth noticed that Cole didn’t seem as frazzled by her response. It warmed her heart a little that Cole just took her words at face value instead of constantly asking her if she was ok.

“Is it alright if I watch?” Byleth questioned.

“Of course,” Cole replied as he cleared his throat. “Just take a seat anywhere you like and we can get started.

Byleth hummed as she looked around the living room, wondering what would be the best seat to have in such a situation. She sat down on one of the ends of the couch while Jaune sat down next to her and played with her hair. Byleth looked at her for a moment, and then focused on the screen again.

“So does it feel weird for you? Not feeling your…sword,” Jaune questioned.

“My sword? I still have the Sword of the Creator,” Byleth questioned.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jaune stated, her face darkening again. “I meant your…you know…your third leg.

Byleth narrowed her eyes, confused. Her lips pursed as she thought over Jaune’s words and then they widened in understanding. She said, “It is a little different. I can’t help but notice the distinct lack of something against my thighs. Probably for the best in this case. With how big my thighs had gotten, my balls felt like they were being crushed. I have to admit it is a bit of a relief to no longer having to deal with it.”

The former boys looked surprised by the answer. They looked at each other and then back to Byleth. They opened and closed their mouths before they sighed at the same time. Neither of them could deny that Byleth was sadly right in that regard.

Cole sighed again and pinched the brow of his nose. He seriously wondered if Byleth was doing this to mess with them at times. That blank face didn’t reveal anything at all. If it was anyone else he was sure that they would have been messing with them.

“So now that my gender has changed I will need to look into female undergarments,” Byleth stated.

Cole paused the game again and then ran his hand down his face as he let out a tired groan. He wished that the world would gobble him up already so that he didn’t have to deal with this right now. Was Byleth trying to kill him, or was she just that thick at times? After spending a few days with her, he couldn’t tell if it was some weird combination of the two.

‘Jeralt I salute you, and feel sorry for what you probably had to put up with,’ Cole thought.

“Let’s…wait until after your boobs and butt come in,” Jaune said, looking frazzled at the professor.

“Fair enough,” Byleth replied.

“I…I want to go for a run and get some exercise,” Cole said. “Anyone want to come with me?”

“I would, this would be a good way for me to get used to the lack of having my privates moving down there,” Byleth commented.

“I’ll join you,” Jaune and Shirou stated at the same time.

Cole quickly went to his room and swiftly got changed as the others did. He placed some water bottles in the freezer for when they came back and lounged in the living room as he waited for them to return. As he waited for the others, he browsed the web and readied his headphones to play the music playlist that he had set up. When he could hear the others coming he turned and was greeted to a delightful site that made his privates and face burn.

Jaune came out blushing, wearing a tight pair of shorts and a sports bra that made her look like she should have been on the cover of a sportswear magazine. The blonde’s midsection was completely exposed, and the top did nothing to hide the full size of her large bust, while giving an arousing shot of her cleavage. The flare of her hips and thighs was also exposed and made them look even more appetizing.

Shirou wore a loose pair of shorts that did nothing to hide the strength and shape of her thighs along with the curve of her butt. She wore a somewhat more conservative top that still did nothing to hide the shape of her breasts and the slim core that she had. She pulled at her shorts, adjusting them slightly, unwittingly making her thighs stand out a little more.

Byleth wore a looser pair of shorts as well along with a nice sports bra, even if it didn’t have anything to show off. She looked over her attire as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Nevertheless, she didn’t seem at all bothered by it.

Cole couldn’t help but admire all of them and was momentarily rendered dumb by how sexy they were. All of them were beautiful and stunning in one way or another. This wasn’t the first time he had seen them dressed like this, though he wondered where the sexier sports wear Jaune was wearing came from, but he wasn’t going to question it too much. Not with how their wonderful curves were on full display in such revealing and sexy sportswear was a sight that he would be sure to thank the lord for. Especially since it helped him get over the strangeness of Byleth’s gender change.

“Alright then are we ready?” Cole questioned. “Alright then let’s get a quick stretch in, and then we can head on out of here.”

They went outside and began stretching, getting ready for the run to be had. As Cole stretched, he wondered how much of their beauty and athletic skill was just them having the protagonist card or them being from the worlds that they were. Again his loins burned, as his mind focused on their wonderful curves.

Cole breathed out as he looked at the others, unable to stop himself from admiring them in their attire, though making sure not to be too blatant about it. The curves that were on full display were simply too tantalizing for him not to observe. The slight bounce of their busts and how fine their rears were was like a balm on his soul. He could feel his blood rush down below and was reminded of a very important issue that he might have if he focused too much on admiring them.

‘Please give me strength god and make sure that my clothes don’t cause any issues,’ Cole prayed. He was sure that they would be able to hold up well to his erect, but he still felt as if something would happen with how different in stature they were. He finished stretching and stood up, observing the others and waiting for them to finish. When they were finished they turned to him.

“Everyone ready?” Cole questioned, eager to get this run started.

Cole received various voices of agreement and then the group ran down the road with Byleth taking the lead, breathing at an easy pace. She didn’t at all seem bothered by her attire and was able to continue without any sort of issue. To her, it was as if she was going through a brisk run rather than an intense exercise that pushed her. She would occasionally glance behind her to see how the others were doing.

Shirou was surprisingly in second place of the convoy, though struggled to keep going despite all of the effort. Her lungs and legs burned from the run, but she refused to give up. She felt accomplished with how she was able to keep up with Byleth, even if the green-haired woman wasn’t going all out. There was no way that she was going to let herself fall behind her.

Jaune was behind her, though struggled a little more as she ran, but was able to keep up with the green-haired woman without any problems. Occasionally, the blonde would look over her shoulder to check on Cole to check how he was doing.

Cole, despite his best efforts to at least not be last, was behind them. His body burned and his lungs panted, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t stop now. He knew that if he rested the others would get so far ahead that they would be home before he even reached the halfway point. If he wasn't struggling to keep his breath, the tired he had would have been plain to see.

‘Yeah this seems right,’ Cole thought sardonically as he continued. He hadn’t had a repeat of his and Jaune’s first excursion and he wasn’t looking forward to a repeat, still, he had hoped that he would at least be in the middle of the convoy with all the exercise that he had gotten lately.

Right now he wasn’t sure if he should be happy or not that he was in the back of the group because his body was at war with itself. As sad as he was that he was behind them all, being in the back did prevent them from seeing a certain part of his body rising and growing more excited at what he was seeing. He had a perfect view of the girls' lower bodies as they ran and his eyes were drawn lower because of it. They wanted to observe the bouncing booties that the girls had and the sway of their wonderfully shapely hips. Whenever he felt like they were focusing on their butts for too long, Cole would quickly look up to make sure that he wasn’t about to run someone over. Yet his eyes would still be drawn to their rear ends as if their booties were a pair of sirens trying to get his attention.

The young man hoped that they would be able to get to the park soon, or that he wouldn’t have to worry about his dick trying to betray him much longer and that they wouldn’t be able to see it. He focused on the music in his ears, praying that it would help calm his body down. Sadly it proved to be just as much of a failure to his dismay.

The park that they had visited was like a godsend to the young man. The moment that they came to a stop, Cole let out a sigh as he focused on trying to ease the burn that coursed through his body. He made sure to keep his back straight so that he could breathe a little easier. He couldn’t help but feel proud of himself for how far he had come in the weeks since he had started. He looked at the others wondering how they were doing, already knowing that they were holding up much better than he had been.

His eyes first went to Byleth first, who didn’t look at all bothered by the exercise, no doubt in part because of her previous occupation and activities. Her breathing was at the same steady pace that it usually was. Considering the life she had led, there was no doubt that she had been prepared for all sorts of physical activities. The biggest hurdle for her now was probably how different her body was and exploring those differences to get used to them.

Jaune only had a light layer of sweat on her body that made her clothes cling a little tighter to her, making her figure stand out a little more than it already did. Cole couldn't help but be drawn to her looks and how she was. She wiped her brow, and made his breath hitch as his eyes went over her frame with greater focus, especially her bust which had a layer enticing layer of sweat over it.

Shirou was covered with the most sweat of the bunch as she bent over, perfectly giving an eyeful of her breasts. Her clothes clung to her frame tightly, patches of sweat visible on them. The outline of her bust was plain to see as the top she wore clung to her body tighter. She stood up straight and then took a large gasp of air that made her breasts bounce.

“This is my life now,” Cole muttered quietly, finding it less bothersome than he should have.

“How are you holding Byleth?” Jaune questioned.

“Better than expected, and not at all bothered by my missing penis,” Byleth responded.

The others groaned at the sudden reminder. Cole covered his eyes with his hand, his mind imagining what the process for that must have been like. He wanted to shove those thoughts away into a dark corner of his mind, but the more that Byleth brought it up, the harder it was to suppress them.

“Byleth…please no more,” Jaune pleaded. “Stop bringing up your gender change please.”

“Okay,” Byleth responded blankly.

“Still…I’m happy that you aren’t bothered by it,” Cole stated awkwardly.

Byleth merely nodded her head. Again Cole wondered if he should have been a bit more worried that Byleth still wasn’t perturbed by it all, despite the words that he and Byleth had said. He wasn’t sure if he should be grateful that he didn’t have to worry about another freak-out session or not from her.

Cole looked around, making sure that there wasn’t anyone else around. Thankfully he couldn’t see anyone else around. They wouldn’t be able to talk openly if there was any worry about someone possibly overhearing them. Even then he didn’t feel comfortable talking about it out here in case someone arrived.

“We are alone Cole,” Byleth said, making him jump.

“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure. You never know who might be listening or if something might happen like the last time we were here,” Cole replied.

“What happened last time?” Byleth questioned.

Cole looked at Jaune and Shirou, their race, flashing through his mind as Shirou flushed as she tried to look anywhere else. Byleth noticed the direction that the burnettewas looking in and focused on the distressed redhead.

“I… might have accidentally made a crater form in the ground,” Shirou replied sheepishly.

“How did that happen?” Byleth questioned, sounding more curious than appalled.

“Because we… got into a little heated competition,” Jaune admitted. “We were doing a race and then Shirou used a spell that sent her flying forward and made a hole in the ground.”

“What is the spell called?” Byleth asked.

“It's a spell from my world called Reinforcement.”

“Reinforcement?”

“Well like the name of the spell it reinforces an item or person that is using it. I used it to strengthen my body since I was loosing, but I had underestimated how much power I had used. You can use it for items to and make some papers as strong as steel,” Shirou explained.

Byleth hummed. “I would like to learn that if it's possible.”

“You would?” Shirou questioned.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I’m just surprised,” Shirou admitted. “Considering all of your skills and powers it’s just strange for me to hear that you would want to learn anything from me.”

“If I can learn something that I think is useful then I will learn it.”

“Do you think that you can?” Jaune questioned.

“Since it's magic, I believe that I can, it would just be a matter of time learning the principles, which I’m sure you can teach me.”

Cole’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help but gulp at the idea of Byleth learning something like Reinforcement. She was already a monster in combat that was able to destroy just about anything in her path. She didn't have the power to punch someone’s head off their body, but, she would probably be able to with ease if she had Reinforcement. Cole shuddered as he imagined the green-haired woman going about on a mission and doing that. He was sure if she had that power as well back in her world, Byleth’s reputation would have only been more fearsome.

“That’s…agood point,” Shirou said as she ran her hand through her hair.

“It wouldn't be a problem would it?” Byleth questioned.

“No, no, no! It wouldn’t be at all!” Shirou quickly explained. “It’s just…well, I’m a third-rate magus. Everything I learned about Magecraft I learned on my own since my father wouldn’t teach me. I’m not sure how well I could teach you anything.”

“Even so I would like to learn how you do it,” Byleth said.

“I guess when we get back, I could try and teach you how to use Magecraft or something,” Shirou sighed.

“Yeah it would be best not to do it here for obvious reasons,” Cole sighed. The likelihood of them getting spied on was just too great of a risk and should be avoided for obvious reasons. He stopped for a moment when he recalled the mental abilities that Byleth had used. “Oh right, Byleth’s mental powers.”

The others blinked before their jaws dropped in realization as well aside from Byleth. Shirou and Jaune had forgotten that little tidbit since they had joined Cole’s college.

“Maybe it would be best to start here actually, at least to show the basics off,” Shirou sighed. The redhead looked around for something that she could use and grabbed the nearest big stick. “That way at least if something happens then we don’t have to worry about breaking anything.”

“Is it wrong that I would rather we avoid using doing thatif it's possible?” Jaune asked. “I get that we aren’t supposed to let anybody know about what we can do but…It just feels wrong to mess with someone’s head.”

“To be honest, I’m with you on this one, Jaune,” Cole admitted. He wouldn’t and couldn’t deny the usefulness of it, and knew that it could save them so much trouble. It already helped Jaune, Shirou, and Byleth settle into this world easier. Even so, it just felt wrong messing with someone’s head just because they could and saw something they weren’t supposed to, especially if they were lazy about making sure they weren’t noticed.

“I don’t know,” Shirou brought up. “I get not wanting to mess with someone’s mind, but is it worth the risk if something does happen?”

“Trust me we won’t have to worry about anything breaking,” Byleth said with such a calm certain confidence that it reassured the others. “Still I understand and will only do so if we have to. I promise.”

Even though she wasn’t saying it, Cole knew exactly what the professor was talking about. Her ability to go back in time. If anything were to happen then she would have advanced warning if something did go wrong.

“I guess we can just go back to my place, it would probably be safer as well since we wouldn’t have to worry about anyone seeing it,” Cole said. “Besides, just because we don’t notice that someone else is here doesn’t mean that someone might be watching, school has been proof of that.”

He was sure that Byleth would be able to stop anything bad from happening. With how often she could travel back in time in the game and prevent any horrible tragedies from happening to her forces there was little reason to expect she couldn’t. If she hadn’t used her power now, then there was no reason to think of why she hadn’t done so yet.

“Alright then, we better head back if you want to learn how to use that spell,” Cole said.

Cole breathed out as he readied himself again for the run back. This time intending on holding the lead, even if just for a few seconds. He took off before the others had a chance to get ready.

“Cole!” Jaune yelled, startled.

“Wait!” Shirou cried.

Cole couldn’t help but smile, amused that he was able to surprise them like that. He could hear them chase after him, and Cole ran faster. He knew that it would only buy him a few extra seconds at best, but he still wanted to see how long he could make his lead last.

The lead that he had on the others was quickly destroyed as they passed him by, with Byleth being the first to take the lead again. If he wasn’t running then Cole might have sighed tiredly, but right now he needed to conserve what air he had for the run back so he could get back without having to be carried again. Jaune pulled back so it was primarily her and Cole.

“Cole, why did you just run off like that?” Jaune questioned, looking over her shoulder at him.

Shirou looked over her shoulder, her eyes clearly asking the same thing, even if she wasn’t asking it verbally. Byleth wasn’t looking at him, though Cole was that she was paying close attention was well. There was a feeling in his gut that told him that she was paying full attention to him and her surroundings.

“...I felt like it,” Cole answered sheepishly.

“Really?” Jaune questioned.

“I wanted to see if I could keep the lead if I got a headstart on you guys,” Cole admitted. “I’m happy that I was able to do that.”

“Please don’t surprise us like that, we have enough of that going on in our lives,” Shirou sighed.

“I’ll try not to,” Cole said.

The rest of the run back was thankfully quiet as they focused on heading back, Cole was again faced with the same problem that he had last time. With his eyes being drawn lower to intently study the rear ends of his friends as they ran. His body couldn’t help itself and noticed how they jiggled in the tight clothing they wore, and how the fabric stretched and moved as they did.

Byleth’s bottom was easily the smallest but Cole knew that it would undoubtedly grow much larger. It was just a matter of time until Byleth would have a voluminous behind that would rival the others, of that he was certain. Yet he hoped that it didn’t come in during a bad time like in class or something. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to survive the embarrassment if someone in their noticed.

Currently, it was a hard call between Jaune and Shirou who had the finer booty. Both of the girls' butts gave their enticing figures an alluring pear shape that would have driven men mad with desire. Hell, there were times that he was still drawn to look at their behinds and burn them to his brain, even when they weren’t anything to show them off. It didn’t help that the roll of their hips was like a pendulum and even through the pants they were he could see a good bit of jiggle come from them that aroused Cole’s loins like nothing else.

The moment they were back at Cole’s home, the young man immediately grabbed the bottles of water he had stored in the freezer for everyone. They chugged their water down as they regained their breath. Cole sat down on the couch, and Byleth sat down next to him, while the others relaxed on the recliner.

“What did you find so enticing?” Byleth questioned.

“What are you talking about?” Cole asked.

“I could tell that your eyes drifted to my butt,” Byleth said bluntly, unknowingly making the young man scream in his head. “I must admit that I’m surprised that you would also look at mine, considering how much larger and more attention grabbing Jaune and Shirou’s are. There’s are much larger than mine and far more toned and seductive.”

“Byleth, please stop, and could you please keep quiet about that?” Cole pleaded quietly. He quickly looked at the others, hoping that they weren’t noticing the conversation that was going on between them. Thankfully Shirou and Jaune didn’t seem to notice.

“If that is your wish then I will do so,” Byleth nodded.

“Thanks, Byleth,” Cole smiled, relieved at the green-haired woman’s answer. Again he shot a look at the others who seemed to be more focused on getting their energy back. He was sure that the two of them would have been a stuttering mess with their faces as red as beats if they heard what was said.

“Can we begin now?” Byleth questioned looking at Shirou, her blank, but Cole saw an eagerness in her eyes that reminded him of a student eager to learn.

“I guess,” Shirou started. “But are you sure you want to start now?”

“Now is as good a time as any,” Byleth replied earnestly.

“Alright then, let’s go outside again to be safe,” Shirou sighed as she went out the back door, the others following her until they were a good distance from the house. The redhead hummed as she gathered her words. She opened and closed her mouth as she struggled to think of what she should say and her face darkened as time passed.

“Just take your time, you got this,” Cole encouraged with an easy smile.

“Reinforcement is one of the simplest spells that any Magus can learn in my world. Just like the name says it…well reinforces whatever you're focusing the spell through,” Shirou explained.

Byleth nodded her head, easily understanding the principal, making Cole’s smile grow at how eager she seemed to be. It was a small reaction, but the clear exuberance that she was exuding made him happy. He couldn’t help but be happy that he was getting better at reading her.

“Is there anything that I have to be worried about when I perform the spell?” Byleth questioned.

“You have to be careful about how much you put into it,” Shirou advised seriously. “Otherwise you could wind up hurting yourself.”

To demonstrate, Shirou activated her magical circuits. Cole could see her body light up as the magical circuits in her body activated. The lines traveled through her body and went into the stick. After a second the wood shattered.

Byleth didn’t seem at all perturbed by the sudden power, in fact, Cole could see the small slight eager glee that in her eyes as if she was seeing a new toy for the first time. It made him smile at the almost child-like eagerness that she had. He wondered how she would have reacted if she could learn all of the magic that the Type-moon multiverse had and knew She would probably be drooling.

After seeing, Shirou perform her little burst of magic, Cole looked down at his fingers and remembered what Byleth had said earlier about him having magic.

Cole hadn’t tried in the past few days, since he was focusing more on his new workload, but now was as good a time as any to get back into it. He sighed as he raised his hand and tried to conjure a small flame on his fingers that was no bigger than the size of his thumb. He kept visualizing and thinking about the slight warmth that would come from it. To his shock, instead of a small flame, a massive cone of fire formed as if it was being fired out of a flamethrower.

“Holy Shit!” Cole cried. He tried to cancel it for a moment, but it took a moment longer than it should have. It was as if he was trying to close a hatch that was gushing water at his face. The flame that he had conjured slowly died down and he focused harder on trying to make it stop. After a few seconds, the fire that came from his digits receded and got smaller until it came to a stop.

The young man panted heavily, staring at his fingers as if another cone of fire would suddenly erupt from it again. He hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. He had only meant for a small spark to form.

Cole looked at the others and saw that Shirou and Jaune were both staring at him with absolute shock. Byleth’s face was the same blank stare that he was used to, but even so, he could tell that there was a hint of surprise in her stance. The young man squirmed as he slowly, carefully lowered his hand, making sure it was pointed away from them.

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Cole stated.

Byleth tilted her head and stepped forward. She looked at him curiously and then took Cole’s hand. She gently squeezed it as she turned it over, almost as if she was looking for any injuries.

Cole felt a warm energy go through him as the green-haired woman’s eyes blinked rapidly. To some, it might have seemed like a small reaction, but to the earthling, he knew that it was the equivalent of her screaming in shock.

“The magical power you have now is immense,” Byleth informed. “It keeps growing exponentially. Every second it just keeps getting stronger, the reserves you have growing. Right now you have a lot of magic, almost as much as someone who’s trained for years.”

Cole paled as his mind spun a little. How else was he supposed to respond when someone like Byleth says he had a lot?

“Don’t practice magic in the house,” Byleth ordered. “Until it decreases to manageable levels or you gain better control it would be dangerous to practice without anyone around.”

Cole didn’t need her to tell him not to do that. He could already see and tell how that would go. Honestly, after seeing what he could do at the moment he was afraid of what might happen if he went all out with it. The thought made him shudder at the image of what it might have looked like if someone was on the receiving end of that fire blast.

He hoped that he would be able to get his powers under control in the near future. It was crazy how he was able to go from having trouble making something from now struggling to keep his power under control after letting it out. It was insane, almost unbelievable.

Byleth said that he had magic and that he was growing stronger, but it shouldn’t be like this. It wasn’t natural for power to just suddenly grow like that. Even though he only had at best a few days worth of knowledge about his power. Cole wanted to slam his head into a wal. Whenever he felt like he was just starting to get a grasp on everything, something came with the speed and power of a falling star. The worst part was that every time something came he was left with more questions than answers.

Cole breathed out and forced himself to shove those thoughts aside. Again. He couldn’t afford to lose himself and wonder as if he was some crazy conspiracy theorist. He was going to get those answers he was sure. It was only a matter of time until he finally got them. The main question though was how long would it be before he finally got them. Besides he had to focus on the now and the positives in this case. He had to in order to stay sane.

He would be lying if he said that the thought of him being able to lunge fireballs and summon electricity to his fingers as if he was a sorcerer was too cool not to like. He might not ever need it, but still. it would be pretty cool to have.

“Cole, are you ok?” Jaune questioned.

“Right, sorry,” Cole replied. “Just a little lost in thought is all.”

“Don’t worry Cole, I’m sure that you’ll get it under control in no time with Byleth’s help,” Jaune smiled.

Cole returned her smile. She was right, with plenty of practice then he would be able to get this power he had under control. He had to. For all of their sakes.

Cole hummed as explored the web on his phone, wondering how the day would go. He was sure that they would be getting their exercise later today, but didn't feel like playing a game, or watching a movie just yet. He was still trying to figure out what he wanted and was thinking about how the others could take part in it.

In the back of his mind, he was already making a bet that another part of Byleth’s transformation would happen today, but the question that he had was what would it be. By this point, he would like to say that he had learned how everything worked and knew that it would happen today. He had enough pattern recognition to know when something was going to happen and this was no different.

Things were getting down the wire and unlike all of the stuff that had happened before, the possibilities about what might happen were diminishing. There were only a few things left at this point, and it would either be Byleth’s boobs or buttocks growing. He would be lying if he denied that seeing either one of those didn’t excite him, especially considering how large Byleth was in both regards from people doing studies online. The young man didn’t know if she would grow that big or not, but he would take it as it came and hoped that he would enjoy the show at the time.

Cole went into the living room and he smiled when he saw Jaune was playing one of his games with a content smile, with Shirou watching next to her. It was currently playing a cutscene in the game that enraptured the blonde. It was a far cry from how she had been when she first arrived and broke the coffee table. Shirou seemed just as invested as she watched the game as if she was an interesting movie that she couldn’t help but be glued to. Her hands were cupped as she leaned forward, looking almost like a little kid watching an anime they were interested in.

Seeing Jaune play one of his games gave him an idea of what they could do. It would let all of them have some fun for a little while and help mix things up a bit. It would be nice to get back into the game, maybe make a little campaign that they could play for the day to help make things a little more interesting.

“How goes the game?” Cole questioned.

“Going well, getting further in the story, loving it so far,” Jaune admitted.

“Happy to hear that all of the stuff I love is able to entertain you,” Cole smiled.

“Of course, it would be. Is there anything you need Cole?” Shirou questioned, with such eagerness and desire to please that he couldn’t help but see small a pair of dog ears on her head and a tail.

“Just wondering if you guys would be up for a wargame in a little bit? I feel the urge to play and all,” Cole questioned. He was feeling the urge to pretend that he was some military leader trying to lead his soldiers to victory against an enemy force. Depending on what they wanted to play, he would either be the leader of the great warriors of humanity or as the forces of chaos.

“I would be down for the change of pace,” Jaune smiled as she paused the game. “It’s been a while since we had our match and I owe you for the last time that we fought.”

“You may certainly try to get me this time,” Cole chuckled. She had forgotten about his Terminator forces and had wound up paying the price for it. This time he would need to think of another way that he could get one over her. Then again Byleth might come out on top considering she had true battle experience and led soldiers, so long as the dice didn’t mess with her. Now that he thought about it, it had been some time since he had seen Byleth around here.

“Hey, have either of you seen Byleth?” Cole questioned, wondering where his professor was and what she was doing.

“Last I saw, she went upstairs, but that had been after breakfast,” Shirou responded.

“Thanks, I want to see how she’s doing since she’s been quiet. Well quieter than normal.”

“She might just be busy working on school stuff,” Jaune said.

“You’re probably right. Give me a minute or two, to find her, and then we can get everything set up on the table,” Cole replied.

The young man went around the looking for Byleth, wondering how she was. After seeing her take everything that was happening with a stout blank look, he wondered if there was anything that would be able to phase the displaced mercenary. He grimaced at the reminder of her father and knew that had been the one thing that had hit her like a punch to the gut.

Cole saw an open door and knew that Byleth would be in there. He stepped into the room and found the green-haired woman working on some more papers in the office that his mother would use whenever she was going over some paperwork.

Byleth marked down the paper that she was looking at and then turned to the computer. She expertly typed in something on the computer, frowned as she deleted something, and then typed again. After doing so she nodded and then grabbed another one of the papers by her.

Cole smiled, happy that the room was getting some use, even if it wasn’t the intended owner. Having anyone work here was better than no one at all. His mother would usually do her work here and would have some calm instrumental or piano music going on in the background. When he was young he would come rushing in here, whenever he needed something and would hug her, and every time she would be surprised before she smiled at him and pulled him into her warm embrace. The memories of his mother soured his good mood slightly. Cole forced the despondent thoughts that he had away and focused on Byleth.

“How goes the paperwork?” Cole questioned, getting Byleth’s attention. “It hasn’t tried to eat you yet has it?”

“It goes well,” Byleth responded as she looked up from the screen and papers. “If I continue at my current pace then I should be done within the hour.”

“I hope I’m not distracting you. If you want I could leave you be until then.”

“You are not and would never be a distraction,” Byleth replied.

‘Almost sounds like a confession there,’ Cole thought as his face heated up. He had thought that he would have gotten used to all of this stuff by now, but no matter who or what said it he just couldn't handle it. He wondered if it was just how cute and sexy the girls were that made him so weak.

“I’m surprised by how quickly you learned how to use a computer,” Cole admitted. “I thought that you would be having more problems with it.”

“I have had plenty of practice during my classes. I made time to explore and play around on it when I can to get a better understanding of it,” Byleth admitted. “The technology of your world still escapes me at times, but I believe I am getting the hang of it.”

“Practice makes perfect,” Cole remarked.

“Indeed, if it would not be much trouble would you be willing to help me with some of the finer points of it when we have some time?” Byleth questioned.

“Not a problem. It’s just another way that I can help pay you back,” Cole responded with a smile.

“You do not owe me anything.”

“You helped make my life a bit easier. All of the financial problems I mean, especially helping the others have something that they can use and give them more of identity in this world, that is worth more than you could know,” Cole rebuffed. “Now they have a chance of making something in this world.”

Byleth stared at him, her face expressionless for a moment before she smiled at him, leaving the young man stunned. Cole blinked at the sudden expression that she had, but had to admit that it was one of the prettiest smiles that he had ever seen with how it lit up her whole face. He could easily see how she was able to wrap so many around her finger and fall for her.

“I think a small break would be good,” Byleth remarked as she slipped out of her seat. “Would you like some tea?”

“That’s good, I came up here, because we were going to start a game and I wondered if you would be interested in playing as well.”

Byleth opened her mouth to answer, but then suddenly jolted and then her body went still for a moment. She blinked and the smile that she had disappeared. The young woman knew what was about to happen as her butt tingled as if it had fallen asleep.

“Byleth are you ok?” Cole questioned as he cautiously stepped forward. He stopped when she raised her hand and slowly stood up. Her face had a small dark flush on it that combined with her confused expression looked rather cute.

The young woman cleared her throat and breathed as she tried to keep some sense of composure but it was proving to be harder than she expected it would be. Just like with her privates the heat kept pooling into her bottom, tempting her to reach out and play with herself. The young woman didn’t do so, at least not yet, she wanted to wait and see what it would be like before anything were to happen.

Byleth’s flat masculine buttocks started to inflate like a pair of balloons, her bottom cheeks rounding as they grew larger. The athletic shorts she wore did nothing to hide the growth that was going on down there. They went with her growth, accentuating the changes that were happening to her lower body and increasing her hourglass figure.

“Byleth?” Cole questioned. “Are you ok?”

Byleth didn’t say anything. She simply turned to the side, clinging to the desk, showing the side of her body to the young man. She breathed steadily through her nose underwear and pants tightened against her body, digging deeper into her hindquarters and crotch. Her famous composure broke ever so slightly as her nostrils flared a little more. She placed her hand on her buttocks and traced her cheeks teasingly. Her finger sent a bud of pleasure through her body that was like an electric shock to her.

Cole’s eyes widened as his eyes were locked onto her expanding behind, straining the pants that she wore. It was just like the others all over again, he couldn’t help but stare and be drawn in by what was happening as if he was a moth being drawn in by a bright light. It was so mesmerizing, so sexy that he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the wonderful show as blood rushed down below. If he was being honest with himself he wasn’t sure that he wanted to as well. No matter how many times he had seen the girls' boobs and butts grow he was still just as enchanted as he was the first time with Jaune.

Byleth shimmied around, focusing intently on how her ass was making her feel and the growing wiggle that it was getting down there. She couldn’t help but be fascinated by the growth of her ass, and the pleasure that was coming from it. Her cam veneer was broken and tested by how her face darkened and twitched from what was going on down there.

Byleth shuddered in glee, feeling so alive and enjoying how her pants were straining and rubbing against her lower body almost as if Cole was teasing her. It kept getting bigger and bigger, making the bottom of her shorts ride higher up her ass. Her underwear was going through much the same issue. The briefs that she wore dug between her expanding cheeks, making it easy to see where one ripening cheek ended and the other began. Her underwear tickled her rear as the change happened, only adding to her arousal more. The pants that she wore only continued to tighten around her lower body as they changed, making the shape of her hips and butt all the more appealing to look at to Cole.

Despite how often he had seen this and what it had been like, Cole still couldn’t bring himself to look away. Every time he had seen this happen, it was as if he had been hypnotized and forced to stare as it happened. It appealed to him on every level of his being that he almost forgot the rest of the world as they growd..

“Hey, guys how are you,” Jaune started, but stopped when she saw how Byleth was positioned and how Cole was standing there as still as a statue. The blonde girl noticed the shocked stupor look that Cole had and frowned as her mind went wild with the possibilities. For a moment she thought she stepped into a tender moment with how dark Cole’s face but the struggling flushed look on Byleth’s face, and the distance between them put that to rest. If she wanted to try something then Byleth wouldn't have been this far away to do so.

It was then that Jaune noticed what was making Cole act like he was putting on the best impression of a lighthouse with how red his face was. Her face immediately burned to the same degree as Cole’s. She couldn’t help but stare as it ballooned in size. Her nether regions burned for attention and she hugged herself as she clenched her butt, almost wishing that Cole or someone would play with them.

Cole’s dick felt like it was about to break out of pants with how large her ass was getting. The idea of seeing her pants rip and fall to the ground made his mouth water. Again the pervert in him joyfully wondered how big Byleth’s ass would get before it finished.

‘I could have watched it grow all day,’ Cole thought, unable to take his eyes off of the wonderful divine booty before him. If there was any doubt that Byleth’s boobs and butt would have been unable to live up to the memes and estimates that people had about them they were long gone now. He could see the strain of shorts was immense as they struggled to contain her bottom and the young man wondered if one strong tug would be enough to destroy her clothing.

“Is everything o…,” Shirou started, but stopped when she noticed the other two and hesitantly looked at Byleth. She had been here long enough to know that if something had been enough to make one of them stop, it would make her as well. She studied Byleth’s form and the first thing that she checked was her bust, wondering if her breasts were growing in now. After seeing that her chest wasn’t going through any noticeable changes, the second thing that she checked was Byleth’s butt and noticed its immense growth. Her nipples hardened to the point that they would have been able to cut diamonds as she watched Byleth’s posterior.

They all could see that Byleth’s growth was coming to an end much to the disappointment of the others. It stood out like a large shelf behind her and only continued to push further out, straining her pants. Her thighs even gained another little bit of padding to them as if they were being forced to compensate for the change. Byleth’s bottom finished growing when it became a large tight heart-shaped rear end that would have been able to suffocate a man with ease and stood out like two large apples.

Byleth moved from her position when her butt had finished growing. She looked over her shoulder and blinked at how much it stood behind her. She brought her hands down, placed her hands on the bottom of her cheeks, and gently raised them. The green-haired woman blinked at the new immense girth there and how her bottom moved and couldn’t help herself and pressed down on them, examining the tone and tightness they had.

Cole could only stare at her wonderful ass as it embedded itself into his mind. It was everything that he could want. Byleth’s bottom was a perfect full round ass that would make people stare at her retreating form wherever she went. His head turned on its own, following her buttcheeks and noticing every little jiggle that came from it. Her wonderful rear end called to him like the others, as if it was a siren trying to lure him in and give in to his primal instincts.

Byleth stepped away from the desk and sat down in the chair behind it. She looked over her shoulder and raised herself out of her seat and then sat back down. She wiggled in her seat, her face darkening slightly by the pleasing sensations coming from her new full hindquarters.

Cole slowly breathed in and out as he tried to get his body back under control. He looked at Jaune and Shirou to see how they were doing and saw that they were in a similar state to him. They were both blushing immensely and squirmed where they stood, though Shirou was biting her lips as well while Jaune was sucking on hers as she hugged herself. Their plush thighs were closer together then usual and rubbed against each other.

‘At least I’m not the only one,’ Cole thought. He was glad that they were here to share this moment of sexual arousal with him. If they were put off he was aroused by seeing this then at least he could point out that they had been just as pleased as he had been. His eyes went back to Byleth and he held back a groan as his body’s arousal spiked. Cole tried to focus on anything else that would let him operate like a fully functional human being instead of a lampost.

The moment Byleth’s wonderful booty came back into view, Cole stared at it again with a dark aroused blush. He could feel his blood rush down below to his member and gulped as he struggled to control his arousal. Now he couldn’t help but agree with all of the memes and comics that went on about Byleth having a divine booty. Seeing it now and the perfection that it was made him struggle to resist the sexual urges that he had, which demanded he fulfill them.

Byleth turned around and traced the curve of her immense wonderful ass. Strong blasts of arousal coursed through her being, making her shudder gleefully. The young woman stared at her behind with the same flat expression that she usually had, but her eyes shone with curiosity. She swayed her rear from side to side and bent over slightly, making the tightness of her pants become even more visible, as they visibly strained against her hindquarters.

Cole struggled to keep his mouth shut demanding that she stop it. That would only bring attention to how hot and bothered he was getting because of Byleth’s inspection. Even if the pervert in him told him to just keep watching what was happening and let her do as she pleased. It was just too damn arousing to watch the green-haired woman play with herself. He wasn’t sure what to do, especially with how invested Byleth seemed to be in her new butt.

Jaune looked at her own large buttocks to examine it intently, and compared it to Byleth’s ass. The jeans she wore, strained against bulbous seductive cheeks, giving her some comfort. If this butt was on a pretty girl then she was sure that she would have stared at it whenever she got an opportunity to. The blonde let out a groan as her face darkened even further. She couldn’t believe that she was worrying that her butt, even though it was a full round bum, wasn't as big as Byleth’s.

Shirou could only stare at the huge round buttocks that Byleth had. If she still had her meat then she had no doubt that she would have been hard as a rock with how enticing Byleth’s bottom was. Even now her hands wanted to reach out and feel for herself the curve and softness of her professor's posterior.

Byleth finally moved her hands away from her ass and Cole let out a relieved sigh that she did. He wasn’t sure how long he would be able to restrain himself from doing something extreme if she didn’t relent. Even now the pervert in him wanted to take a picture of her ass and hounded him for not taking a picture. Now he could finally try and get his body under control before one of the girls noticed just how hard he was from this show.

“Oh dear,” Byleth commented. “This will take some getting used to.”

Cole looked at her with a slight blush on his face. Out of everything that had changed about her, this would be the thing that would take the most getting used to? She hadn’t even reacted this way when she had lost her holy sword.

“I’ll bet,” Cole remarked tightly, saying the only thing that he trusted himself to say.

The displaced mercenary looked at her rear end with a blank look. Again she moved her hips side to side, earning a delicious wiggle from her rear end that only further aroused the others. She looked at the group seriously.

“Does my butt bounce a lot?” Byleth questioned.

Cole couldn’t and wouldn’t answer, at least not until someone else. His instincts told him that if he said anything it would be the same as entering a minefield. He looked at the others and remembered the bout of jealousy that Jaune had when she went through his books a while back. He sneakily looked at the blonde, wondering what she might be thinking, and noticed how she was focused on her behind, and couldn’t stop himself from admiring Jauen’s rear as well.

The blonde never noticed Cole with how she was far more focused on her examination of her posterior. She slowly moved her hips from side to side and intently observed how her cheeks moved in her pants. She frowned, wishing that she was wearing something that would let her better examine her buttocks to compare it to Byleth’s.

Cole could feel all of the blood rush down below again. He held back a frustrated scream of arousal that desperately came out. He wanted to slam his head into a wall to knock himself out. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with this insanity and sexual frustration.

“Could one of you give me some new pants, please? I think these might rip if I do anything strenuous,” Byleth admitted.

The image of that happening went through all of their heads at once, and their breathing picked up a little further at the thought of it. Jaune’s study came to an end and Cole quickly looked away as he closed his eyes. Shirou took a heavy breath to calm her body and then looked at Byleth intently.

“C’mon,” Shirou sighed with her face matching her hair as she took Byleth’s hand. “I’m sure that I have something that you can wear.”

Shirou all but dragged the professor out of the room, who let herself be led out. Byleth looked at the redhead in confusion as she was led out of the room and then back at Jaune and Cole who didn’t say anything. She looked at the pair until she was pulled out of the doorway and out of view from them.

Now that the cause of Jaune and Cole’s arousal had stepped out of the room, the two of them felt as if a heavyweight had been removed and they could relax normally again. The blood that had been heated up from Byleth’s actions calmed down, and the mound that Cole had from his erection died down as his head cleared enough that he felt like he could think straight. Yet neither of them said anything to each other.

The young man looked at Jaune who seemed earnestly relieved that she no longer had to deal with Byleth’s presence. The pink of Jaune’s face and ears died down as she hugged herself. Again Cole’s heart skipped a beat at how cute she looked and he could tell how flustered she was. She looked over her shoulder and he followed where her eyes were going and could feel blood rush again as he admired her wonderful booty.

“So not how I thought my day off would go,” Cole admitted as he looked away from Jaune’s rear and focused on her face, trying to get his mind off of what they had just seen. “How are you holding?”

“As well as can be expected,” Jaune admitted sheepishly as she rubbed her thighs together. “Thankfully we don’t have to worry about suffering any repercussions with Byleth.”

“Facts,” Cole chuckled. “I know that if it was anyone else outside of us they would probably have slapped us for gawking or something like that.”

“Yeah, I know a few girls that would have done that,” Jaune admitted. “Mostly some of my wilder sisters.”

“So were you as hot and bothered about it as I was?” Cole questioned.

“I would be lying if I said that I didn’t find it…hot,” Jaune admitted with a blush. “Is it wrong that I’m taking some enjoyment from seeing Byleth change?”

“Glad to see that I wasn’t the only one, and I don’t know and I’m not sure if we should ponder that,” Cole replied. The last thing he wanted was to get pulled into a debate about that or possibly be put into a position to answer any awkward questions. He thought, ‘Would rather not be asked if I enjoyed your transformation just as much.’

With how Jaune was at times he could see her asking that. He still remembered her questions about her body and had no intentions of repeating them now. Especially after catching her examining her own posterior.

The two heard footsteps and their conversation died down, hoping that they weren’t overheard. Shirou was the first to enter the room and had a flush on her face that told Cole and Jaune to brace themselves for what they were about to see. Byleth stepped into the room, wearing a pair of black yoga pants that did absolutely nothing to hide the curves of her ass. If anything it did more to show it off than the last pair she wore, and those looked like they were about to explode off her frame. They hugged her plush thighs and showed off her long legs just as well and would have enraptured leg lovers just as muh as butt lovers.

“You went with those?” Jaune questioned.

“I find these to be more comfortable,” Byleth admitted as her hands went along her lower curves. “Now that I’m wearing a pair myself I can see why so many girls wear these”

“I mean…I know that they are comfortable, but wouldn’t you prefer something that is a little more professional looking,” Jaune inquired, the second half of the sentence sounding higher then her normal pitch.

“If I was instructing any classes today then I might have, but for days like today then I am looking for clothes that are more comfortable than anything else.”

Jaune sighed again as her face darkened immesnely. She covered her face with her hands and muttered something no one could hear. The blonde took a heavy breath and struggled to keep her eyes off of Byleth’s lower half.

Cole closed his eyes for a moment and hummed as he tried to calm down the burning that he felt in his loins. Even with his eyes closed, he was still able to perfectly envision Byleth’s buttocks development with perfect clarity as if it was happening right now. The more he focused, the less his blood rushed down below and made him think that his pants might rip. He opened his eyes and watched Byleth’s wonderful rear as she went about the room and did her thing. His eyes followed the bounce of her cheeks and imagined it in a class setting surrounded by other students. Cole gulped and found it harder to focus, but he was still able to keep his reasoning. The young man found it to be a small relief. While he was still drawn to Byleth’s hindquarters, he would at the very least be able to operate, though he would be struggling to hide a boner.

At least he would be able to think and do stuff instead of being constantly distracted by one of the greatest butts that he had ever seen. Again he couldn’t decide between the girls who had the best butts and he wasn’t going to try and figure it out now. Besides, good booty was good booty and didn’t need to be compared.

Suddenly he paused as he remembered the classes that he would have when the next week came around and could only groan as he imagined going through class. Class next week was going to be something else he was sure. It made him wish that his weekend would last a little longer.

“I’ll go get things set,” Cole said and quickly left the room, hoping he would be able to get some much-needed respite. He needed to lose himself in a game or fantasy and he was going to get it now no matter what.

Cole sighed in content as he downed a glass of coco, the hot chocolate going through his body as if he was in a hot shower. He could feel it travel through his body with ease and gently settle in his gut. He smiled, as he took another sip, savoring the wonderful chocolate taste. It helped give his body the energy that it needed to wake up. He savored the taste of the hot chocolate, feeling it course through his body and give his body the energy he needed. It helped make him ever so grateful that today he didn’t have to go to school today.

After everything that had happened this week and how curvaceous Byleth’s form was, he wasn’t sure that he would be able to focus in class just yet. He needed another day or two to get used to all of the changes that had happened to her. If Byleth gave a quiz or a test, he was sure that he would fail with how distracting Byleth figure was.

He had to thank Byleth for insisting on getting the homework done early. Now he didn’t have to worry about anything else over his shoulder and could enjoy his weekend without having to bother about his homework. All that they had to do was relax and enjoy themselves, especially after the week of paranoia and transformations that had happened.

Cole wondered who would be the first one to wake up today. It always was a toss-up on who would wake first. He was still not fully used to how Shirou would go about cleaning everything as if she was a maid. Still, he did try to at least keep track of where he could, but she was just so ahead of the curve that she made it hard for him to do any cleaning.

He was happy for the company, especially since his parents hadn’t returned  yet. He might have gotten lonely if it weren’t for the girls, and their unexpected arrivals. There was only so much alone time that he wanted before he wanted to spend time with others.

Now that he thought about it, he should meet up with his friends again soon. They used to do a weekly basis, and he was missing those times they spent together. Things have been thrown out of whack lately due to some of them getting the new jobs and wanting to get used to everything. With how much time has passed, he should reach out and they could start hanging out again.

“Hey you guys up for meeting up sometime soon?” Cole sent in their group chat. He waited patiently wondering who would be the first one to respond. At this time of day, all of them should be up and about.

“Yeah, I’m missing you bastards, anybody up to hang out soon?” One of his friends, Nick said. “Your parents are back right Cole? If not then maybe we could all meet up at your place.”

Cole wondered what he should say. He wasn’t sure if it would be best to tell them the truth or not. If they did then there was a chance that they would get suspicious about the whole thing. Especially since he had told them when the trip would be ending. Not to mention that he would then have to explain all of the new girls that were in his life and that was a can of worms that he wasn’t ready to divulge just yet.

Footsteps caught his attention and like an eager hound, Cole turned to see who it was. He braced himself for another sight that would wake him up like a punch to the face. It had been something that he had come to expect, mainly with Byleth. Thankfully the others had far more sense and didn’t just wander around in whatever state of dress they were in and had some sense of shame.

He saw it was Byleth tiredly walking down the steps, wearing a pair of athletic shorts that did nothing to hide her supple lower body. She brushed locks of her hair to the side. Her eyes were still a little groggy as she tried to wake up. She looked at him and waved tiredly at him.

“Morning,” Cole greeted tiredly as he raised his glass of cocoa.

Byleth went into the kitchen and grabbed the tea packets and then went about making her cup of tea, and Cole’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to her butt. He could feel his blood rush down below. This was not how he thought he would be waking up, but apparently, it would be. With her new body and how she did as she pleased, he was sure that she would be getting attention from everyone, whether it be man or woman. This exposure therapy would be good for him, especially for what would be happening today.

He knew that today would be the day that her breasts would come in. It wasn’t a guess, but rather a gut feeling and one that he knew was right. If it didn’t happen then he would be willing to bet his manhood on it. If there wasn’t anything that transformed about Byleth today then he was sure that he might be the one growing boobs or something. If her breasts would be anything like her butt, then Cole was certain that they would be a rival if not surpass the majesty of her wonderful buttocks.

Cole breathed out, forcing those thoughts aside. He had spent a good bit of his morning and last night in his bed, thinking about boobs and didn’t need to think about them now. The last thing he wanted or needed to do was greet the others with a hard-on.

The young woman hummed as she watched her tea be made with barely restrained glee. The moment it was done, Byleth poured herself a cup of it and drank it down, not even caring that it had just finished heating up.

“Ahh!” Byleth sighed happily. The young woman smiled as she looked at her tea and then at Cole. “Would you like some?”

“I’m not a big fan of tea myself,” Cole admitted. “Last time I had the stuff I felt like I was going to spit it back up.”

Byleth’s face went flat for a moment before she went back over to the stove. She quickly grabbed the tea that he had bought and went about the kitchen getting the kettle ready and heating up the stove. Every move that she did was measured as if she was on a battlefield. She watched the tea, stirring it, her eyes locked on it.

“Byleth what are you doing?” Cole questioned, surprised by the sudden seriousness and action that she moved.

“I am making tea,” Byleth answered, focused solely on the beverage, not even bothering to look up at him. She watched  it as if it was a creature that might come alive and snap out of them.

“Need another cup that bad?” Cole questioned slowly. It was almost a little intimidating seeing her pull a Shirou with how determined she was.

This time Byleth didn’t answer, continuing to focus on the tea, which Cole couldn’t help but eye as well. The water inside was becoming a nice green color that looked like a brighter shade of Byleth’s hair.

When it was done, Byleth took a few more fruits like lemon and kiwi and added them into the mixture, stirring it for good measure. The moment it was done she grabbed two cups and placed them down on the table. She then grabbed the kettle and placed it between them. She had him sit down in the chair across from her.

“Drink,” Byleth ordered gently, but sternly.

Cole stared at the drink for a moment. He raised it up and sniffed it, finding the smell to be rather pleasant. He could faintly smell the fruit that she added to it. With a heavy and nervous heart, the young man hesitantly took a sip of the tea and was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful taste. He felt like he could drink this and it wouldn’t come back up. He still wouldn’t go out of his way to get more tea, but if he had the sudden urge to drink then he was sure that he would get it done.

“Well Byleth you got me to like your tea at least,” Cole admitted as he took another sip.

“I’m happy that my skills there are sufficient,” Byleth smirked, proudly.

A small smile then formed on Byleth’s face and her face shined with glee that Cole couldn’t help but return. He couldn’t help but snort, again amused by how beautiful she looked when she let emotion show up on her face. She tilted her head curiously, her smile diminishing.

“Do you like it when I smile?” Byleth asked.

“...Of course,” Cole admitted sheepishly, his face darkening a little. “You have a wonderful smile.”

Again Byleth’s smile blossomed and Cole's heart melted at how nice it was to look at. If he recalled correctly it was mentioned in the game how pretty her smile was and again the game couldn’t quite live up to the real thing. Nothing would have been able to compare to the real honest smile before him. Seeing it now made him realize how so many people could fall in love with her.

Before they could say anything else, they heard footsteps and turned to see Jaune and Shirou entering the room. The two of them were also in their night clothes, looking as if they had just crawled out of bed with how messy their clothes and hair were. Jaune was rubbing her eyes, while the redhead let out a tired yawn as they entered the kitchen.

“Morning guys,” Cole said as he waved at them.

“Morning, what are you guys drinking?” Jaune questioned tiredly.

“Byleth made some tea, and as someone who doesn’t like tea normally, I have to say this is some good stuff,” Cole admitted.

“Oh nice, never been much of a tea drinker myself, but I’m willing to give it a chance,” Jaune stated and then let out another yawn.

The green-haired woman frowned and watched the other girls flatly as they grabbed some mugs from the cupboard. She had been hoping that she would have been able to enjoy her teatime with Cole for a little while longer before the others woke up. Jaune and Shirou around the table and poured themselves cups of tea as well. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as they took long sips of it.

“This is some good tea Byleth,” Jaune complimented.

“Yeah, could you teach me how you make it?” Shirou questioned.

Byleth held back a sigh but was a little pleased by their words. She adjusted her posture and sat a little straighter. While she wasn’t happy about their sudden arrival she was happy they liked her tea. Though she would have preferred if it was only her and Cole drinking it still.

Byleth blinked as a light blush appeared on her fair face that stood out like a neon sign as a warmth came over her body that centered on her chest. She seemed visibly confused and then blinked again as she tentatively patted her chest. Her hands brushed against her nipples and she winced. She examined her engorged nipples, wondering what was wrong with them. They felt larger than they had been a little while ago, and a little harder as well. The young woman pulled the front of her top as she looked down, and saw that just as she thought her areola and her nipples were larger. She narrowed her eyes as she studied and it was small, but she could see it. She patted her chest and blinked again, feeling a little more soft padding there.

“Byleth?” Jaune questioned, only for her face to darken as she realized what would be happening next. With how far along she had come, there was only a pair of things left before everything ran its course.

The green haired woman got out of her seat and breathed a little heavier as if she had just finished an intensive exercise. She stared at the others, as small orbs formed through Byleth’s top, catching all of their attention. Small cleavage formed that forced the others to watch as if it was a siren. None of them could tear their eyes away from Byleth’s breasts as they grew.

Byleth stared at her chest and watched as it inflated like a pair of balloons. The outline of the orbs that she had gained became more visible as they continued to swell. Despite the sudden growth the green-haired woman stared at her developing cleavage with the same blank face that she always had with only a slight blush on her face. She grasped her growing bust and her breasts quickly became too large for her hands to hold. The dimensionally displaced mercenary squeezed them experimentally and her blush became a brighter shade of red as her boobs continued to grow.

“Dear god,” Cole muttered, momentarily wondering if he should have said goddess instead. That was all that he could think of with how Byleth’s boobs were growing. They were close to Shirou’s nice bust size and yet they still continued to grow. He looked over at Jaune’s bust and wondered if Byleth’s ballooning bosom would become its rival or even larger than Jaune’s wonderful pair. His eyes immediately went back to Byleth’s boobs as if they were a pair of sirens calling out to him. Every second more flesh appeared there, straining Byleth's clothes and arousing Cole to the point that he couldn’t help but wonder how the zipper on his pants was still there despite how big Byleth had gotten. They grew past Jaune’s large cup size and continued to get bigger. It seemed as if there were no end to their growth in sight as they continued to grow at the same steady pace.

Jaune moaned as she rubbed her thighs together and crossed her arms over her breasts as Byleth’s boobs ballooned. She wondered how much bigger they were going to get. Her nipples perked underneath her jacket and her crotch warmed further. This was just as hot as when she saw it the first time on Shirou and she couldn’t help but feel guilty and jealous that Byleth’s breasts only continued to get bigger.

‘How big are they going to get!’ Jaune mentally yelled as her body burned hotter, and her envy grew as if it was growing with Byleth’s boobs as she adjusted her arms. The bounce of her breasts caught her attention and she looked down at her large breasts which from what she had seen, had no equal in this world. Her eyes went to Byleth’s swelling chest and then back down at her substantial bust, and for the first time in her life, wished that her bust was a little larger.

Shirou watched as if a spell had been placed on her. She unconsciously brought her thighs together and rubbed them together as Byleth’s bust swelled. The heat in her loins grew as she bit her lips, her mind wondering what it would be like to feel them up.

“I appear to be growing watermelons,” Byleth commented bluntly, which made the blushes on the others darken.

“D-don’t just say it!” Jaune demanded, unable to take her eyes off of Byleth’s immense bust. Her fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and feel what they were like.

Cole was in a similar state to Shirou. He was unable to tear his eyes off of Byleth’s boobs as they grew and could feel himself getting hard the more he stared at her rack. The rest of the world seemed to disappear as he focused solely on her breasts. For a moment, the young man forgot where he was as his eyes could only stare shamelessly at Byleth’s knockers, his mind and body running wild, but unable to act on his impulses.

The growth of Byleth’s bust finally came to an end when Byleth’s breasts had become huge, perfect watermelon-sized breasts. They rested on her chest proudly as if demanding people to gaze upon them and admire them. All of them could see strained, stretch marks on Byleth’s top that made it harder to resist Byleth’s alluring form than it already was, and gave off the faint appearance they were still growing. Were it not for the deep valley of exposed cleavage, they might have thought Byleth’s growth was still happening.

Byleth squeezed and pushed her breasts up and down experimentally. Her face twitched for a moment before her same blank expression reappeared. A small cute pink blush came to her face, from the sensations of her groping, but she continued to fondle herself.

“Byleth…please stop,” Cole pleaded, almost desperately.

Byleth nodded and let go of her ginormous chest, making them bounce. None of the others could tear their eyes away from the wondrous bouncing of her boobs. Cole could feel his third leg somehow push against his pants again even harder, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Everything else, even Byleth’s booty coming in, didn’t quite compare to everything else that had happened.

Jaune and Shirou were just as enraptured as he was as their nipples perked underneath their tops and their crotchs were on fire, demanding to be played with. Both of them had nothing but lewd thoughts going through their heads, that were unknowingly the same as the others. The two of them wondered if they could get another round of expansion so that they were at the very least as curvy as Byleth. Not that they would ever admit it to anyone and would take that wish with them to their last moments.

“Looks like we’re going to need to go shopping again,” Jaune remarked. Desperately trying to break through the awkwardness and desire that was pounding in her skull with all the eagerness of a child with a new toy.

“Gah!” Cole jumped and then quickly turned to the blonde as his heart pounded like it was going to burst out of his chest.  He placed his hand over his heart and his face darkened. He had been so focused on Byleth’s wonderful new rack that he had forgotten the others were there. Cole thought, ‘I guess no matter how many wonderful boobs there are in this house, there’s never going to be enough for me.’

Cole cleared his mind and could thankfully no longer feel his blood rushing down below as much, hoping that nobody noticed how he jumped. He looked at the others again and could almost taste the jealous desire that was coming from the two former boys. The mere thought of Jaune and Shirou going through another round of expansion was enough to keep the heat and desire flowing through his body strong. Still, they didn’t need to be jealous as far as he was concerned, their boobs were just as nice.

Shirou could only stare at the huge breasts that Byleth had gained. She had thought Jaune was big with how large her chest was, but Byleth’s boobs were something else. Her thighs moved closer together and she gulped as she stared at them. Her face burned the longer she stared at Byleth’s rack, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from them.

“So big,” Shirou commented, unable to tear her eyes away from the green-haired woman’s boobs.

“Shirou, are you ok?” Jaune questioned.

“Oh yes, I’m fine!” Shirou squealed and quickly averted her eyes, only for them to wander back to Byleth’s boobs. She couldn’t help herself. They were just so huge that she almost couldn’t believe that they were real.

Jaune again looked at the green-haired woman’s breasts and again a rush of envy and frustration came over her. Her eyes went to Cole and she noticed how dark his face was and where his eyes were looking. She frowned and the jealous rage in her spiked to the point that it was too much for her. The blonde quickly ran to get one of her bras from her room and then marched to Byleth and shoved it in her hands. “Here put this on now!”

The professor didn’t move to put it on, much to Jaune’s anger. She looked at the bra in her hand, at Jaune’s boobs, and then after a moment, she looked at her own bust. The blonde’s eyes twitched when she noticed where Byleth was looking and her hands curled in frustration.

“This bra won't work,” Byleth said flatly. “It’s too small.”

Cole gulped and wanted to say something but he didn’t trust his mouth. He was sure that if he opened it then it would only add oil to the fire of weirdness that this was.

“You don’t know unless you try and you need one if you’re going to walk around and all,” Jaune informed. “It could save you so much trouble if you wear it.”

“Even so, I can tell that this one won’t work just by looking at our boobs that it won’t fit,” Byleth argued.

“Just…,” Jaune started, her voice raised and dripping with desperation. She then took a long deep breath through her nose as she calmed down. “Please…just try it.”

Byleth sighed but did as she was told. She reached down and moved to pull off her shirt, making Cole quickly turn around so his back was to them while Shirou’s jaw dropped.

“In a private room!” Jaune ordered as she grabbed Byleth’s arms. She shoved the green-haired woman to the bathroom.

“Jaune there is no need for-”

“Yes, yes there is!” Jaune squealed. “There is an absolute need for it.”

“...If you say so,” Byleth replied, looking at Byleth with a flat look that bordered on annoyance.

Jaune slammed the door shut behind them and turned to her professor, forcing a smile on her face. She had thought Byleth would have enough sense not to just sow off her girls like that. She had thought that she would have had enough sense not to do something like that.

“Ok now you can take off your clothes,” Jaune smiled.

Byleth rolled her eyes as she took off her shirt before Jaune could say anything. The blonde squealed and breathed through her nose as her face darkened once more, becoming a bright neon shade of red. She almost dropped the bra that she was holding, and then her fingers tightened on the bra as her jealously rose at seeing such perfect round boobs on display.

Byleth filled the cups of the bra, and then some, as some of her bust went beyond the cups. Seeing that it wouldn’t work Byleth sighed and decided to try to secure the bra. She struggled with it, making her narrow her eyes.

“I can’t clip the bra,” Byleth answered as she let go of the clips.

“Let me give it a shot,” Jaune said and then tried to force the bra claps closer together. “Suck it in.”

“I…am. This isn’t going to work,” Byleth grunted and then winced at how tight Jaune was pulling.

“You can’t just walk around without a bra!” Jaune griped as she pulled harder. “So suck it in!”

Byleth did as she was bid and held her breath, while Jaune tried to get the bra on her. Her eyes twitched as the blonde grunted and pulled harder on the bra to wrap it around Byleth’s boobs. Her face twitched and her fingers curled at how hard it was getting for her to breath.

With a mighty heave, Jaune was finally able to clasp the bra together and let go. Jaune smiled, pleased with herself as she stepped back. The two went back to the dining room where Cole and Shirou were. Byleth winced at how hard the bra dug into her back as she continued to hold her breath, which Cole noticed.

“Breathe,” Cole said awkwardly.

Byleth let out the breath that she had been holding, gleefully filling her lungs.

SNAP!

The bra that had been supporting her girls broke and fell to the ground. Byleth smiled in relief and continued to focus on filling her lungs.

“.....”

Jaune’s pride shattered as she let out a groan, while Cole and Shirou’s face darkened as they watched the green-haired woman’s boobs bounce. Shirou rubbed her thighs at the seeing them break the bra again, and Cole was in the same sport.

“I am going to need some proper support for these,” Byleth said.

“Yup,” Cole agreed, his voice coming a little tighter as he could feel blood rush down below. “So…I guess we are going to the mall today.”

“Damn it,” Jaune muttered.

“Alright then…so I guess in an hour or something when we’re all ready we'll head to the mall and get your clothing situation sorted out. Do we need anything else?”

“We could use some more groceries,” Shirou informed. “I’ll make a list of stuff that we need.”

They all quickly went about getting ready for the day after they all filled their stomachs. Byleth put on some of Jaune’s spare clothes to protect her dignity. After everybody finished their morning routine they all got into the car and Cole drove down to the mall.

“Ok is there anything else that we need while we are out? Now’s the time to say it?” Cole advised.

“Could we get some more tea?” Byleth asked. “We could use a little more, especially after…recent events.

“I don’t see why not,” Cole answered, and Shirou put it down on the list.

“I enjoy drinking it and making it. I’ve been aching to make my own brew,” Byleth smiled.

“...You just made one not too long ago,” Cole pointed out.

“You can never have too much tea, especially since it can go with any meal,” Byleth responded.

“How much tea have you been drinking?” Jaune questioned. “I’ve always seen you with a cup when we were at the dinner table now that I think about it.”

“Enough,” Byleth replied.

“How much is enough?” Shirou questioned

“Enough,” Byleth said, and didn’t say anything further.

After a few seconds, the others realized that they weren’t going to get more of an answer from her. Cole shot swift looks at them to get an idea of what they were thinking and saw looks of confusion on the Jaune and Shirou. After a moment, he sighed with an amused smile.

“Note to self Byleth is a tea addict,,” Cole commented, getting a nod of agreement from the other girls, Byleth nodding her head as well without a hint of shame.

When they arrived at the mall, Cole, Jaune, and Shirou took the lead, while Byleth looked around, watching the people passing by. They noticed the looks that they were getting from people and Cole stood up a little straighter. He knew that he wasn't the one that they were all looking at. The girls were the prime attention grabber for obvious reasons.

Cole looked over his shoulder to see how they were doing and saw that Byleth didn’t seem at all concerned about the looks that she was getting. Her face was just as blank as it usually was. She walked with the same brisk and confident pace that made her breasts bounce ever so slightly as she did. Shirou looked around as if she was trying to find something in particular, but couldn’t find it. Jaune bit her lips and hugged herself as she looked down at the ground. She gulped, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else but here.

The earthling walked slowed until he was next to the blonde and gently patted her back. The blonde girl jumped and quickly turned to him. The nerves that the blonde had visibly reduced as she moved a little closer to him.

“Think we’ll find Ashley working at the store?” Jaune wondered.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Cole admitted. “She’s always there whenever we go, and if I remember correctly, this is her work day. Either way we’ll find out soon.”

The group saw the store that they had been to and Byleth walked into the store without any issue, the others following right after her. The others stood there, surprised by how quickly the green-haired woman had rushed into the store. They quickly went in and saw her looking at the more professional attire.

“So Byleth what are you looking for?” Jaune questioned.

“Clothes for work and a variety of situations,” Byleth answered as she threw a pair of clothes over her shoulders. “I don't want to wear formal wear unless I have to, and it would be a waste to do so around the house.”

The professor intently studied the clothes around her, clearly already having a good idea of what she wanted. She looked at the clothes and took off some of the more professional-looking ones. The other three could only watch as she moved like a honey bee going through a garden and taking what she needed before moving on to the next batch of clothes and looking through them.

“She is going faster than I thought,” Shirou commented. “She seems almost eager even.”

“This is the first time any of us knew exactly what we wanted and rushed in without fear,” Jaune commented.

“Byleth usually acts with a goal or something in her mind,” Cole remarked. “And unlike you guys, she has no shame and is willing to rush in to get something done.”

“You’re right on that,” Jaune admitted. “Even though I had an idea of what I wanted I still didn’t know what I should get.”

“I still can’t believe she just came out and said that she had become a woman,” Shirou commented.

“That was certainly something to wake up to,” Cole commented. “I rely on my coco so that I can get through the morning and wake up, but she was able to do that in mere seconds.”

“Yeah, I would like not to have to deal with revelations like that in that morning to,” Jaune sighed.

Cole looked around, for a moment and then took a breath and went toward Byleth. He wasn't sure if he would be able to provide much help, but he would do whatever he could. Anything that could help would be a blessing.

“Byleth are you looking for anything in particular?” Cole questioned.

“I’m first seeing what is here,” Byleth replied as she looked at a pair of hot pants. “So far I am pleased by what I am finding here.”

Cole looked around, wondering if he could find some help. He wasn’t even sure if they would have tops that would be able to support her girls. There was no way that he was going to let Byleth go anywhere topless. To his surprise and amusement, he saw Ashley coming and couldn’t help but feel relieved that she was here. With her help, they would be able to get Byleth dressed and maybe not have to spend a fortune to do so.

“Professor?” Ashley voiced, her eyes drawn to Byleth’s enormous bust again.

For a moment the girl could only stare at the massive mammaries that rested proudly on Byleth’s chest. She gulped and then looked down at her chest and frowned. After a moment she somehow managed to force herself to look away from Byleth’s bust.

“Why does every girl around him have a huge rack,” Ashley muttered.

Cole and the others blushed except for Byleth, who was unfazed at all by the awkwardness of her comment. Though Cole did have to admit that she did have a point there. In terms of boob size, Shirou was the closest to having an average size but she would still be considered large. Though he would be lying if he said that he didn’t like that. He liked big boobs and butts, and wouldn’t mind being surrounded by more, sue him.

“I wouldn’t know,” Shirou answered. “I’m adopted.”

“I’m bigger than my sisters actually,” Jaune remarked with a blush.

“I take it that has to be a point of…jealousy for some of them,” Ashley questioned.

“It’s…something,” Jaune trailed off. She was sure that if her sisters ever learned about her situation they would be stuck between being angry or laughing at her. Maybe both for a few of them.

“Things just have been going that way,” Cole replied. There wasn’t anything else that he could say about it. It wasn’t as if he had been hoping that they would get huge breasts. It just happened that they had large breasts at the end.

“Anyway, can I help you look for anything specific?” Ashley questioned, staring at Byleth and the hodgepodge of clothes that she was wearing.

“I need some new clothes,” Byleth answered.

“I’m sure you do,” Ashley muttered, still staring at Byleth’s model-like body. “Alright, what are you looking for exactly.”

“I need a little bit of everything. Swimsuits, pants, skirts, shirts, and everything else,” Byleth responded.

“Alright soother full wardrobe. We can do that right after I get your measurements. Come with me please,” Ashley requested, as she went towards the nearest empty stall.

“I almost want to be in that room to see her reactions to Byleth’s fully exposed body,” Cole muttered quietly so that only Jaune and Shirou could hear him, amused by the clear jealousy that Ashley exuded. The two girls let out a snort and a giggle that made him feel a little better about this situation.

The two of them went into a booth and Ashley locked the door behind her. She turned to the green-haired woman and took a deep breath. “Now take off your shirt.”

Byleth did so without any hesitation that the others, and the moment they were free from their cloth prison they jiggled ever so slightly. She noticed Ashley breathe a little heavier and her hands curl before she sighed again. The green-haired woman tilted her head slightly and then looked down at her breasts and thought. ‘Are they really that nice?’

“And you aren't wearing a bra I see. Alright let’s see how big those jugs of yours really are,” Ashley muttered, jealousy slipping into her voice. She pulled the tape out and exhaled heavily through her nose as she began getting Byleth’s measurements.

Byleth jumped slightly at the tape around her nipples but quickly relaxed. It tightened around her chest and she breathed as she waited for Ashley to finish. Ashley let out a gasp that made Byleth look at her with a quirked brow. Her curiosity was piqued further when the brunette worker looked back at Byleth’s boobs again before looking down at the tape again.

“Is there a problem?” Byleth questioned.

“....God’s gracious G-cup. If I didn’t know better, I would swear that you had some work done to get as big as you are,”

“I assure you that I haven’t. They are natural,” Byleth said straight-faced.

“You mind telling me your secret? You must be doing something right if you got them that big. It can’t just be genetics. Was it some special drink? Food? Family recipes.”

“No. Nothing like that. They just got that big on their own,” Byleth said, blushing slightly.

“If you say so,” Ashely said, jealously seeping into her voice again as she stared at the gigantic boobs on the green-haired girl’s chest. After a moment she looked down at her chest once more and let out a heavy groan.

“I'm sure that they will grow a little more with time,” Byleth replied, trying to ease the girl’s mind.

“Oh sure if I decided to throw money to get a boob job,” Ashley muttered. “No, when you get to my age, your hooters getting bigger naturally is off the table.”

Byleth looked at Ashley over curiously. She didn't seem older than the others or herself. She understood that there came a time when the growth that person went through came to an end, and yet it sounded like she was referring to herself as if she was older than them by a great margin. The dimensionally displaced teacher might not be the greatest when it comes to social cues, but she still remembered lessons from her father about what she should and shouldn’t do. One of those lessons that he made sure she knew was to never ask a woman about their age.

The young woman put on the first ensemble of clothes that she had chosen for a completed outfit. It might not be appropriate for teaching a class, at least in this world, but all of the clothes felt nice and she didn’t have to worry about that now.

After Byleth finished putting on the clothes, she adjusted her hair so that it was a little less frazzled looking. The young woman studied herself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. With her appearance settled, Byleth stepped out of the room so that the others could see what she looked like. She was a little eager to hear about what they had to say on what she was wearing now.

The moment that the door opened they turned and immediately stalled when they saw Byleth step out of the room. Their jaws dropped as they stared at her. The clothes looked similar to he cannon attire and even wore the stockings and boots. The only thing missing was the cloak that she wore, but she could just use the cloak that she had back at his home and then her outfit would be complete.

Byleth waited patiently for them to come back to their senses, a little surprised that she was able to make them act like that. It made her a little happy that she could get that sort of reaction from them.

“You could be a model,” Shirou said dumbly and then her face flushed in embaressment. She had wanted to say that she did look good, but she didn’t want to just blurt something like that out.

The others could only nod in agreement as they struggled to find the words that they had in mind. They knew that Byleth would look good in whatever clothes that she wore, but they didn’t think she would be this impressive. No amount of preparation would have been able to stop them from getting stunned.

Jaune could only stare at her professor, thrown off by how nice she looked. She was sure that she would look nice, but the pettiness that Byleth had was on a whole different level. She had seen plenty of pretty, cute, and sexy girls but Byleth had blown all of them out of the water and she didn’t seem to be trying. She would be lying if she tried to say that she was a little insecure right now, even though she didn't care much about her curvy body and how much it had gotten her attention but she couldn’t help but be a little jealous. Especially since Byleth didn’t seem to be trying at all. Byleth had everything, pretty looks, and the curviest body se had ever seen. She just knew that she would be getting looked at, especially by Cole not that she could blame him to her dismay. She had been staring at her more then a few times, especially at her boobs.

“Yeah Byleth, you look…amazing,” Cole stumbled. He wanted to say more, but that didn’t seem like the right word to use. He tried to think of anything that he could say that would compare, but just like Jaune nothing came to him that would work.

It was ever so slightly, but Byleth’s expression curled into a small smile and her aura brightened. It was only because of their continued exposure to her that they were able to tell what she was thinking. The pure honest glee from her wiped the stunned awe from them and replaced it with honest smiles, happy that they were able to make her so happy.

“I’m sure that you will be getting all of the attention from everyone, though make sure you don’t go all out. You’ll probably kill everyone in your classes,” Ashley commented.

“Excuse me? I don’t keep any weapons in the classroom,” Byleth replied.

“...Shirou wasn’t joking when she said that you looked like a model. Some might say that you look like a goddess,” Ashley commented, ignoring Byleth’s response. “How about you put on another one of your outfits? I’m sure that the others would love to see that.”

Byleth nodded and quickly changed into another outfit and showed it off to them, hearing their thoughts, and then changing into another, continuing this processs for some time. She stepped out in a lovely dress that left little of her impressive bust hidden and hugged her figure. A pair of black yoga pants and a white t-shirt with fitting sneakers, looking like a track star. A button-down white blouse and skirt perfect for her job, a black bikini that protected her dignity while emphasizing her goddess-like frame, and more. The last one causing everyone to steathily adjust and shimmy around with how they stared at her wonderful body.

Cole could only watch and continue to marvel at the clothes Byleth wore. He felt as if he was seeing a model strut her stuff on stage with how many clothes she changed into. He was sure that there were plenty of people who would love to be in this moment right now that he thought about it. Female Byleth was undoubtedly popular online from what he had seen. If people knew that she was real, here, and modeling, he was sure that they would have gleefully killed him or someone else for this opportunity before Byleth killed them. He wanted to look at the others and hoped that they were faring better than he was, but could only do so for a few seconds because his mind felt like it would miss something if he did.

Jaune hugged herself and ran her hand through her hair as another wave of insecurity and jealousy came over her as she noticed how Cole stared at Byleth. She wished that he would look at her the same way that he was looking at Byleth. She was half tempted to go looking for some cute clothes as well, but knew that it would only hurt her wallet. Guilt came over her as she remembered the last time that she was here and he had bought a swimsuit for her, simply because she had shown an interest in it. If she started doing her own modeling session then he might buy her them because of that. She refused to be a burden to him, even more than she already was.

Shirou wasn’t sure how she should feel as she watched what was happening. On one hand it was a pretty sexy girl that was showing off in a variety of outfits that would have made many reel in desire. On the other they were currently out in public and getting looks from people that were passing them by, some of them even muttering about what they were seeing.

She noticed that a giggle was coming from Ashley and saw the employee had a smug proud smile on her face as she watched. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the others to see how uncomfortable Jaune was. The blonde looked like she wanted to be anyone else but here with how tightly she was hugging herself, and how dark her face was. To her relief she saw that Cole noticed Jaune shimmy around.

“Jaune are you ok?” Cole questioned.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Shirou brought up before Jaune can say anything, hoping to avoid a explosive argument. “Are you happy with these clothes Byleth?”

“Yes, these clothes will do nicely,” Byleth answered. “Especially since they aren’t tight around my chest.”

Ashley’s smile waned for a moment before it recovered. She took a breath and the smile that shehad returned to its previous state, but looked a little more forced.

“Alright then let’s get all of this together and paid for then,” Ashley said earnestly as she quickly began picking up the clothes.

They all bundled up the clothes that Byleth had gotten and went to the nearest cash register to pay for them all. They waited patiently for her to scan them all, all of them looking around. Jaune continued to hug herself and look down at the ground. Shirou gulped as she watched the blonde, ready to take her out if things got a little much for her.

Cole kept his eyes forward, wondering how much longer this would take. He had to fight down the words telling her to speed up so they could leave already. All of the looks that he was getting from the people made him wish that he could crawl into a hole and never come back here again.

Cole was about to pay for it, but she stopped him, making him look at her curiously.  She had a coy grin on his face that made him more than a little curious about what she was thinking.

“Since you're such nice customers I’ll do all of you a favor and use my employee discount on the house. All you gotta do is keep coming here whenever you need some new clothes,” Ashley replied.

“Deal,” Cole smirked without thinking. It was a small thing and something that he didn’t see anything wrong about. Any deal that he could get with all of his housemates was nothing short of a blessing that he would abuse at every chance that he got.

After paying for everything, the group headed to the food court. They went through and filled their plates with whatever got their attention. When they had all gotten their meals they found a nice spot to sit down and relaxed.

Byleth took a bite of her food and then blinked. She pulled her fork out and rolled the food in her mouth before swallowing. The green haired mercenary looked at her food and inspected it intently. She poked at it with her fork and hummed as she did. She turned it over and frowned when she didn’t see anything visibly wrong with it. After another second of observation she took another bite of it and rolled it over in her mouth, visibly grimacing at the taste. She looked at Cole and the others, who quickly understood what the problem was aside from Shirou.

“I know, it doesn't quite match up after having Shirou’s food for so long, but it's fair that we give our wonderful chef a break,” Cole remarked, earning a blush from Shirou. “I might be asking for a few of those gold coins from you Byleth. Another shopping spree like this has done a killer on my account.”

“I would have done so without any hesitation,” Byleth replied. “Its the least that I can do. I owe you for and I make sure that all of my debts are paid. I’ll give you a little more as well to help pay for everything that you had to do already, when you had to go shopping for Jaune and Shirou.”

Cole blinked, but inwardly cried in glee and had to fight the urge to get down on his knees and pray to Byleth as if she was a deity. After the initial shock he had about her having gold, he didn’t want to press his luck and ask for it, unless they needed it. He swore that he could hear approval in her voice, but wasn’t sure why. Still he was happy that all of the money he had spent would come back to him, maybe even with interest.

“Yeah, we can work out how much some other time when we go and figure out how much we can get. You know now that I think about it, where is your paycheck going?" Cole questioned.

“Right now the checks will be going to your mailbox,” Byleth replied, getting a nod from him.

“Well, that’s good to know. The fact there is a paper trail will go a long way if people start asking questions.”

“Perhaps it would be best if I set you up with some jobs at campus as well,” Byleth said. “I’m sure that I would be able to set you up a job at the bookstore or something.”

“That would be nice,” Cole said. “I would love to work in the bookstore or in the library, and having a job on campus would make it easy for all of us. It would help cover up some of the expenses that we have and explain more of where our money is coming from.”

“I would like that to,” Jaune said immediately, making Cole blink at how quickly she had said that. “I mean having a job. Whatever it is, I'm willing to do it.”

“Jaune you sure?” Cole questioned.

“Yes, this way I can finally start to pay you back and pull my weight around the house,” Jaune smiled.

“I told you Jaune that you didn’t have to do that,” Cole frowned.

“Yeah, but I want to,” Jaune said firmly.

“Well…if you're sure, I’ll support you. Just don’t feel like you have to get one or anything,” Cole said. "No one is forcing you to."

“I would like to get a job on campus as well. Maybe working in the cafeteria or as a janitor,” Shirou brought up.

“Shirou I think you just need to make some food and then you could sell it at school and you would make a killing,” Cole commented. "With how people go crazy about your food, it's bound to be a success."

“I think Cole’s right in that regard,” Jaune joked with a small smile. “I’m sure you would have the whole school going to you over the cafeteria with enough time.”

“Please no, I don’t need any more fans,” Shirou sighed.

“Shirou…that’s probably going to happen no matter what you do,” Cole rebuffed sheepishly.

The others chuckled at Shirou’s growing dismay. She lowered her head onto the table, making the others laugh more. The redhead groaned as her face darkened, wishing they would move on and talk about anything else. Her mind scrambled for a moment before it focused on their idea.

“Alright, I guess we could try and see where it goes. Though I would have to figure out exactly what that would be first,” Shirou said.

“Probably something simple,” Cole said. “You don’t want to break yourself bending over backward to make something time-consuming or hard.”

“I’ll think about some recipes and go from there. Maybe I should do it on specific days only.”

“It would be for the best since it would give you plenty of time to prepare,” Jaune commented.

“When we go back next week then you can do whatever you need to get the paperwork for the jobs and whatever else sorted,” Cole stated. He was a little nervous, mainly because they would need to make sure that the other coworkers don’t question it.

“Don't worry, I’m sure that it'll be no problem when you start it,” Byleth commented.

“Maybe, I'm just worried something could go wrong. Still, at least we won’t have to deal with the total insanity of working there during the first week semester. It would have been a mess if we went and joined during the first week,” Cole commented.

“Is it that bad?” Shirou questioned.

“Yes,” Cole answered without any hesitation. The first time he tried to get his books from the campus store they had a line that went out the door. That was why he ordered what he could online so he didn’t have to deal with it. Plus it was cheaper as well and he would take any good deal that he could get.

“Which means that it will be the perfect time for you to join in since they might be looking for all the help they can get," Byleth stated.

"Too true," Cole said and went back to eating his meal, the others following his example.

When they finished eating they headed back to Cole’s home with all of their new gains. Just like the drive over it was nice and quiet. The moment they were home they went about putting all of the stuff that they had gained away. Byleth quickly changed into a set of her new

“Now then with all of the shopping and everything settled I think it would be a good time to do a remedial lesson,” Byleth said with a charming smile. “I finished grading the tests and their were some spots that I saw could use some improvement.”

Cole and the others groaned. This was not going to be a fun class lesson, he just knew it. They had hoped that they would all just be able to relax and enjoy the weekend. Especially after seeing Byleth’s boobs come in.

The young man went and got his things and placed them down on the table as the others did the same. Byleth sat down next to him, giving him a perfect eyeful of her cleavage and even. His face heated up as his fifth limb did as well. The young man wished that he would be able to focus, but with those divine tits all but in his face, he doubted that he was going to be able to focus as hard as he would have liked.

Cole let out a yawn, fully intending to make the most out of the day before he would have to go back to school next week. He had gotten all of his work done thankfully so that he could do whatever he wanted. He had to thank Byleth for helping ensure that he got his work done early so that he could do whatever he wanted to.

He turned to greet whoever it was only for blood to rush through his body when he saw Byleth yawning. She had her arms raised as she yawned and was only wearing a white shirt that did nothing to hide her voluminous bust and a pair of panties that kept her decent.

“Byleth pants please!” Cole said. He didn’t need to deal with blood rushing down there just yet. It was too early in the morning for this and while he was sure that it wouldn’t lead him into any major trouble with Byleth he was sure that the others would be weird out by it.

“After I get my tea in,” Byleth answered tiredly.

“Byleth….please,” Cole pleaded.

“Tea first,” Byleth replied as she got to work getting her tea ready.

Cole turned away and focused on his phone again, trying to find something that would occupy his mind until Byleth got her drink and then hopefully got some more clothes on. He wondered if any of her students had to put up with this back in her world when she had been a guy.

The young man heard footsteps coming again and braced himself for whatever is next as he grabbed his drink again. This was either going to be amusing, weird, or horrible, maybe even all three and he would be a fool if he didn’t get something in his body before things went down. He saw Jaune step out of the hallway, her hair a wildier shaggier mess then it usually was and her eyes had  a slight glazed look. He looked lower and saw that she was wearing a pair of exercise shorts thankfully.

“Brace yourself,” Cole muttered to her.

Jaune looked at him in confusion before she looked forward and then stumbled the moment she saw her professor and her face burned. She opened and closed her mouth. After a long moment she took a deep breath and calmed down, the tired look in her eyes now long gone.

“Byleth what are you doing?” Jaune demanded.

“I am getting something to drink,” Byleth responded as she grabbed a cup.

“Without pants?”

“...I am wearing underwear,” Byleth responded as if that made it fine.

“Byleth you need to wear pants. Wearing just your underwear isn’t enough!” Jaune rebuffed.

“But I know that none of you would do anything,” Byleth replied plainly.

Jaune sputtered as she tried to think of how she should respond to that, but the honest belief in her voice was enough to stop her. She raised a hand and then closed it. After several more times of her mouth opening and closing she let out a small mewl, like a defeated animal.

Cole shuffled in his seat, a little touched by how much she trusted them. It was both heartwarming and annoying that she was willing to just walk out here in her bra and panties as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. It almost made him feel guilty for sneaking looks when he could.

“Please do it…for us,” Jaune pleaded again.

Byleth looked at the blonde flatly and then took a sip of her tea. “After my cup.”

Jaune went over to the table and sat down next to Cole. She placed her head on the table and groaned. The young man couldn’t help himself and patted her head. She looked up at him with bright eyes and a faint blush. Cole quickly pulled his hand away as if he had been shocked and his face brightened ever so slightly.

“Sorry if that was weird. Just seemed like you needed it,” Cole remarked.

“No, it wasn’t bad,” Jaune quickly refuted. “It was just…unexpected is all.”

“Well that's a relief,” Cole smiled. “For a moment I thought that I made things weird.”

“I don’t think there’s anything that you could do at the moment that would compare to Byleth and how she's dressed right now,” Jaune deadpanned and then looked at Byleth meaningfully.

Byleth didn’t say anything and merely continued to drink her tea. She didn't look at all ashamed of herself. After a sip she shrugged, making her prominent boobs jostle against eachother ever so slightly.

“Well then Shirou will be in for a big surprise I’m sure,” Cole commented, and then heard the sound of another round of footsteps. “Speak of the redhead and she shall appear.”

Shirou triedly rubbed her eyes as she stumbled into the room, Cole watching her eagerly. She mumbled out a morning to the pair and then turned to the kitchen. Just as Cole expected, the redhead jumped in shock and immediately flushed at the surprise she had. A  amused giggle escaped the blonde at how Shirou reacted.

“At least I got a little giggle out of it and all,” Jaune smiled sheepishly.

“Byleth,” Shirou sighed. “Byleth why aren’t you wearing pants?"

Byleth held back a sigh as she took another sip of her tea. She looked at the redhead with a flat annoyed look. She said, “Because it's early in the morning and before I can get ready for the day I need something to drink.”

“Byleth can you please put on some pants?” Shirou begged while the other two gave her looks of sympathy.

“Can I please enjoy my tea first?” Byleth questioned.

“Might as well let her do that first,” Cole sighed. “We both tried to get her to wear pants, but she said she's sticking around until she finishes her tea.”

Shirou sighed. She wondered how her professor could be so smart and insightful at times and yet so thick at others. It was as if she was two different people at times. The redhead went to the table and sat across from Cole so that she couldn't see her professor. Even so, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder and then catch herself seconds later, forcing herself to look forward.

Byleth preened in joy, her lips twitching upward at her small victory, making Cole frown and wonder if she had planned to be this stubborn about it on purpose or not to tease them. She sat at the table, gently placing her cup down as she drank. It was a small mercy, but the damage had already been done, and all of them could still visualize everything that they had seen as if she was standing right now. After she finished her cup, Byleth left the room, all of their eyes being drawn to her sinfully perfect buttocks.

“Is it bad that I can’t help but look?” Shirou questioned.

“I can’t blame you,” Cole sighed as he pinched his brow. “Especially when she is walking around in just her underwear.

“Damn it Byleth,” Jaune muttered.

After she finished her cup, Shirou began cooking breakfast, desperate for any distraction that she could get. She pulled out the food that she was making and immediately began getting it all ready. Cole and Jaune waited at the table as they watched her work, their mouths salivating already at whatever it might be.

Byleth returned to the living, thankfully this time she was wearing yoga pants that hugged her sinfully perfect lower body and wonderful rear. The others breathed a little easier now that they didn’t have to deal with a loose shirt and panties-clad Byleth. While the yoga pants were sexy as hell and called to them like a siren they were glad that they wouldn't be seeing her underwear. Still, none of them would be able to get the image of what they had seen out of their heads for the rest of the day at the least.

“Thanks,” Jaune said with a grateful smile.

Byleth merely shrugged and then looked at Cole. Her face was as blank as it usually was, but there was something expectant in her look as if she was waiting for something. She frowned as time passed, making Cole wonder what was wrong.

“Is something wrong Byleth?” Cole questioned.

“I would like some head pats,” the green-haired woman requested.

Cole blinked at the sudden request. Out of all the things that he expected, that was the last thing that he thought it could be, that was the last thing he considered. He shrugged and then gently patted her head. After a few soft pats, Cole pulled his hand away and she blinked.

“Thank you,” Byleth nodded.

The green-haired woman turned to Shirou and watched her cook like a small child that was waiting for a present. It brought a smile to Cole's face that despite all of the power that she had, Byleth enjoyed and only wanted the simple things in life. No matter how many times Byleth had Shirou’s food she was just as eager as she was the first time that she had it. Not that he could blame her since Shirou’s food was simply divine.

They all quickly helped Shirou set the table. Jaune got the plates, Cole the silverware and glasses, while Byleth helped the redhead bring the food over. They grabbed their drinks, taking one of the cups that Cole had brought. Within seconds the table was set, and they all began taking

The moment Byleth finished,  let out a small content burp and then patted her stomach in content.

“Would anyone be up for a spar later?” Byleth questioned. “While practicing with my sword has kept me in shape, I would prefer it if I could fight someone.”

“Sounds great. I need to continue my sword lessons, and this would be a good way to do so,” Jaune smiled. “We haven’t had a proper spar in a while.”

“And you Shirou?”  Byleth asked.

“I would like to as well,” Shirou replied.

“Cole, would you like to join in as well?”

“I might as well get in on this,” Cole smiled sheepishly. “I don’t want to be the odd man out. Though let’s wait for the food to settle before we do. I don’t want the food to come back out. I know it won’t be as good.”

“Absolutely. In an hour or two we shall go out. Until then let’s just relax and enjoy ourselves,” Byleth stated.

Cole put on one of his games as he waited for time to pass, trying to keep himself calm and entertained as the others watched. No matter how hard he tried he was still plagued by the worry that something might go wrong and the pain that he was sure to come. Even though he knew that it wasn’t going to be horrible or life threatening he just didn’t like the thought of him and the others getting hurt.

After their food settled, the group got ready for the next training excursion. He changed into some of the sturdier clothes that he had, knowing that it would be in his best interest if he wore something sturdier than the workout clothes he normally wore when they practiced. After he changed, Cole grabbed the training gear in his closet and brought them outside. He saw Jaune and Shirou outside, changed and eager to start. They moved to take some of the practice gear, but stopped when the door opened. Cole turned and immedietly paled when he saw Byleth with the Sword of the Creator in her hand.

“Byleth, why do you have your sword?” Cole questioned hesitantly, staring at the divine weapon.

“I wanted to practice with my preferred weapon,” Byleth admitted and frowned as she did a few practice swings.

“Are you ok?” Cole questioned, knowing that something was off to her.

“Just strange to hold it in my hands now that they’re a little smaller,” Byleth admitted. She swung it a few times, and then nodded her head when she managed to adjust how she held the blade for her smaller hand size.

“I’ll be back! I need to get something!” Jaune said and quickly ran back into the house. They all waited patiently wondering what the blonde could be grabbing. When she returned they were surprised to see that Jaune was holding Crocea Mors. The blonde drew her sword, and turned her sheathe into its shield form. “It's been a while since I got to use it and if we’re going to practice with real weapons, then I’ll use nothing else but this.” “May I?” Byleth questioned, looking at the sword.

Jaune blinked and then nodded as she handed the sword over to the green-haired woman. Byleth studied the blade, running her fingers over the edge of the sword. She swung it a few times and Cole could tell that she was pleased by the weight of the blade and how it felt. Though he could tell that there was something off about it to her, like it didn’t feel right.

“Happy to hear that it passed your test,” Jaune smiled.

“Are you sure you want to use it though?” Cole questioned. “Its going against a divine weapon.”

“If anything happens I will take care of it,” Byleth said. “And we don’t need to worry about any injuries either. I can heal people with magic as well.”

“Is there anything that you can’t do?” Shirou questioned.

“A few things, but I am always focused on expanding my skills so I can deal with a variety of situations,” Byleth replied.

“Alright then” Cole sighed as he gently swung the weapon he chose around, again trying to get a feel for it. He knew how this was going to go. Compared to everyone he was just a lump of deadweight that would slow them down if they did any team matches. Still the exercise was bound to do him some good. It was rather thrilling if he was going to be honest.

“Worst one up to bat first,” Cole said and stepped forward.

They took a few steps away from the house to ensure that they wouldn’t get the others or the house in the crosshairs. Cole stared, thinking of how he would attack, while Byleth’s sword was by her hip. The young man sighed and decided he would just go with whatever felt natural.

“Go!” Jaune exclaimed.

Byleth raised her sword, but didn’t move to attack. She stood there with her sword at the ready, her body still. Her face was as impassive as she usually was, but Cole could tell that she wasa little eager for the next part.

Cole just stood there waiting for her to make the first move. He wasn’t going to go on the offensive against someone like Byleth who could break him in half in seconds. With every second that passed, Cole’s skin crawled as his grip tightened on the blade even further then it had before. His grip tightened and for a moment he entertained the thought of going on the offensive, but knew that would be asking for hm to get slaughtered.

Suddenly Byleth moved and Cole stepped back to put some distance between the two of them. It wasn’t enough and she was already within striking distance of him. Cole was thankfully able to stop the blow. The young woman pulled her blade back and struck again, once more making Cole reel from the attack.

Cole frowned, knowing that she was going slow, as if she was testing him rather than trying to win, which suited the young man just fine. At least he would be able to make this a little entertaining for her. He continued to block, doing his best not to give into her strikes. The power that was from them belayed the strength that her body showed and felt more like it was coming from a professional body builder with how his bones rattled. She forced his blade down and brought the blade of her sword to his neck.

“Dead,” Byleth stated, and then lowered her weapon.

Cole nodded and then went back to his original starting position, while Byleth went back to her spot. The earthling wondered if he should try and go about things for a moment. Playing defensive had ended about as well as he had expected, so he would need to mix things up a bit. Instead of letting her be the one to try and decide how things would go, he would be the one to go on the offensive since he had nothing to loose.

“Go!” Shirou cried.

“Alright round 2,” Cole said. He knew that a defensive approach wasn’t going to do him as much good as when he went on the offensive, but he had to hope for the best. This time he decided that he would try and see if he could somehow be lucky enough to get a blow in on her.

Cole rushed forward and he saw Byleth blink in shock as she blocked his sword. He jumped back to avoid a swing from her and thankfully was able to do so. He blocked her sword again, but then she went for a feint to his side, and then gently whacked him with the flat of the blade on his other side, making him freeze.

“And that is the second round,” Byleth stated.

“Okay that’s my two losses, the warm-up act is over. Who's brave enough to go now?” Cole questioned.

The other two girls looked at Byleth wide-eyed. The two of them looked at each other as if asking which of them would go next. Neither one of them seemed particularly keen on doing so.

“Rock paper scissors?” Jaune questioned as she raised her arm.

“I guess,” Shirou sighed as she raised her sword.

The two of them brought their hands up and down until they threw them out. With Shirou having scissors, and Jaune having rock. The two of them did another round, and this time Shirou got the win by using paper. Their worry increased and they breathed a little heavier. This time Shirou went with paper and Jaune used scissors.

Shirou sighed as she stepped forward, raising her weapon, as Cole went over to Jaune. After seeing how easily Cole got slaughtered she knew how this was going to go but was still a little eager. It would be good to face a master swordswoman who could teach her so much.

“It won’t be that bad,” Byleth said.

“You don’t see yourself from an outside perspective like we do,” Shirou sighed.

“Go!” Jaune yelled.

The two of them charged, and their blades clashed against each others. Both of their faces were blank as they pulled back and traded blows, their swords blocking the others. A trail of sweat went down the side of Shirou’s face as she struggled to block, while Byleth didn't show any. The redhead tried to find an opening that would let her strike, but with what little time she had, Shirou couldn't find one.

Cole watched the two of them spar in awe. Just like when it was him, the green-haired girl, kept Shirou off balance, but the redhead was able to recover far quicker and was much more certain of her attacks. Every attack that Byleth made was precise, clean, and strong enough that it kept throwing her off balance. The redhead was barely able to block, the attacks, but as the two of them fought, he could tell that Shirou was improving. It was ever so slightly, but he could see it. He jumped when Byleth managed to force the blade out of Shirou’s hand and the young woman flinched at losing her sword.

"Well that's my loss," Shirou admitted as she picked up her sword.

"Not bad Shirou," Byleth complimented, making Shirou blink, but happy about the compliment. "You were improving. Make sure to be a little more mindful of my whole body rather than just where my sword is going."

"Got it," Shirou said as she went back to her starting spot, Byleth doing the same.

When the two of them were ready, Cole raised his hand again like a referee. “Round 2! Begin!”

Just like last time, Shirou went on the offensive, but this time, Byleth went on the defensive. Byleth stepped back, moving how Shirou reacted. The redhead continued to be relentless, but even so, Byleth didn’t seem at all worried. Her face was just as blank as when the match first started.

Cole knew that Byleth was leading Shirou into a trap and wished that he could say that he was surprised by how different their skill level was, but he couldn't. None of them lived their lives as a mercenary, outside of Byleth, and seeing it on the outside only went to show just how far out of her league they were compared to her. He wasn’t surprised when Byleth finally went on the offensive and in one expert maneuver managed to disarm Shirou.

“Done,” Byleth stated. She then looked at Jaune expectantly, and they all could tell that she was eager with how focused she was on the blonde. They all swore that she looked like a hungry dragon about to devour her next meal with how intently she stared at Jaune.

Jaune stepped forward, holding her shield as close as she could to her body, and Cole couldn’t help but feel proud that she remembered that rule still. It would go a long way in the fight he was sure. Well as long as it would go against going against someone of Byleth’s caliber.

Shirou walked over to Cole and patted Jaune on the back as she passed. The blonde shot her a grateful look as she breathed and then focused on Byleth.

“You ok?” Cole questioned the Magus.

“My wrists are a little sore, but nothing major,” Shirou replied as she put her sword down and rubbed her wrists. “Just need a few minutes. I got so focused on trying to hit her that I forgot to pay attention to the rest of her body.”

“It’s fine, just take it easy for a sec,” Cole said, getting a nod from Shirou. He then focused on Jaune and Shirou and raised his hand. He then brought it down as he yelled. “Go!”

Almost too fast for the others to see, Byleth zoomed forward, making Jaune’s eyes widen as she quickly tightened her stance. The clang of the divine blade against Crocea Mors’s shield went out like a loud gong to the others as Jaune reacted on instinct and went counter with her sword. Byleth backed off,  avoiding the blade, and then went back to go on the offensive, like a panther trying to dig its claws into its prey.

Cole watched the two of them clash, paying rapt attention to what was going on. So far, Jaune was doing better than the two of them with how her stance hadn’t broken yet. Still for as good as being a turtle as Jaune was, her defenses were weakening as well. She flinched with every strike and needed a little more time to regain her bearing. Every attempt Jaune made to counter Byleth's attack was easily parried or blocked, and then the Remnantborne human had to block an attack from Byleth. It was as if it was on a loop with how it was, but Jaune was getting a little sloppier every time. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Byleth was able to capitalize on it.

Byleth twisted her body and forced the blonde onto the ground with the pummel of her sword, making Jaune’s Aura flash. Jaune moved to get up but stopped when Byleth tapped her sword on Jaune’s back.

“Dead,” Byleth stated, earning a groan from the blonde.

Jaune got back up and went back to her spot and Byleth went to hers. The two stood apart from each other, the blonde breathing in and out as she psyched herself up. She made sure to fix her stance again and when she was ready she looked at Cole.

Cole raised his hand up and felt like he was a proctor with how the air seemed to still for a moment as he watched the two of them get ready. He could tell both of them were like coiled springs, waiting to go off. Cole cried. "Go!"

Jaune charged forward, keeping her shield up, while Byleth braced herself. The others watched the match intently, wondering if this time, the blonde would be the one to get the victory as their weapons clashed. For this match, Jaune was far more aggressive than she was last time. Whenever Byleth’s sword collided with her shield, Jaune would go on the offensive, as if she was trying to get revenge for the attack. Jaune kept marching forward, using her shield as a barrier to keep the pressure on.

After a counter-attack from Jaune, instead of pulling back, Byleth stepped forward, her sword lowered at her side. The blonde girl went to bash her shield into the Ashen Demon’s body, but Byleth grabbed the side of the shield and pulled Jaune forward as she stuck her leg out, making the blonde fall to the ground. Byleth pointed her blade down, digging it ever so slightly into her back.

“Done,” Byleth stated.

Jaune groaned again, frowning at her failure. Byleth helped her up, but the blonde couldn’t help but look away in shame.

“Relax Jaune. You were awesome out there and you lasted longer than me,” Cole remarked, earning a weak smile from the Remnantborne human.

“Yes you performed well, Jaune,” Byleth praised. “Your stance was solid and you did the most important thing that someone with a shield should do and keep it up. It was also good to see you use it to force me to move as you wish. However, just like Shirou, be mindful of your opponent's body instead of focusing solely on their weapon.”

Jaune smiled at the praise, happy that she was getting better. Even if she couldn’t become a Huntsman or Huntress now, she was happy that she could improve and get better. There was something peaceful and exhilarating about using her sword and improving with it. Even if she would never get the chance to use it in this world.

Who knows, maybe one day she would be able to go back to her world since she was able to come to this one and fulfill her dream of becoming a hero. If she could go back to Remnant one day, she would show them everything that she loved about it, and introduce them to her family. She was sure that they would like Cole, especially after she told them everything he did for her.

“How would you all feel about fighting me all at once?” Byleth questioned to the group's shock.

“...Fighting us one on one was too easy for you wasn’t it?” Jaune asked rhetorically.

“...I would admit that I could use a bit more of a challenge,” Byleth admitted, earning a sigh from the others.

Cole ran his hand through his hair, holding back a groan that wanted to come out at her words. She couldn't even pretend that they had entertained her could she? He looked at the others and could see that they shared the same exasperation that he felt at that moment.

“What do you guys say? Who wants to try and go for a round like that?” Cole questioned. He was ambivalent about the opportunity. He was sure that he would just hold Shirou and Jaune back when they tried to fight her, but he would be damned if he didn’t give it his all.

“I guess we can try,” Jaune said as she took her stance.

Cole and Shirou followed Jaune's example and Byleth smiled as she got in her stance. They looked at each other, waiting for someone to take the lead. All of them knew that if they went one by one then none of them would be able to take her on in a one-on-one fight.

Jaune moved forward, her shield at the ready, while Shirou went to attack Byleth's left. Cole waited a second before moving in to attack Byleth's right, hoping that the delay would have gone unnoticed. Byleth was expertly able to block an attack from someone one second and attack another person the next. It made their eyes widen in shock, but they refused to give up and were sure that if they continued, one of them would finally get her.

Byleth dodged another barrage of attacks and managed to whack the flat of her blade on Shirou’s back. The green-haired woman sidestepped Jaune's shield and ‘stabbed’ her blade into Jaune’s side. The young woman turned to Cole as he brought his blade down, only for her to grab Cole’s hand as she brought her sword to his side. The moment he felt the blade, Cole groaned as Byleth let go of him, knowing that they had lost.

“Another round?” Byleth asked.

“I’ll pass,” Shirou replied.

“Same,” Jaune stated.

Cole quickly nodded, desperate for a reprieve from the hard fighting. Even with all of the exercises that he had done with the others, he still wasn’t up to par with them physically.

“Then perhaps we do some magical training instead if you would like to stop fighting. I could try to teach you guys some of my spells, and see how well they work with your magic systems,” Byleth offered. “Though it wouldn’t be fair to Jaune since she can’t use magic.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jaune moaned. “I’ll just keep practicing with my sword.”

"In that case, shall we start practicing magic?" Byleth questioned.

"I would be down," Cole said.

"Yes please," Shirou said, looking like an eager puppy.

“Alright, why don’t we try the warp spell then? The warp spell is the one that I used when Jaune and I first went to your school,” Byleth explained.

“I would welcome learning the ability to teleport wherever I want,” Cole said with a small grin. He could already imagine how much money it would save if he no longer had to worry about gas. Besides, never having to worry about traffic would be such a relief.

Shirou nodded. She could already imagine how useful it would be if she could teleport. It would help her when she felt confident enough that she would be able to go out and start helping people. Especially when she had to make her getaways. There was no way that she would be able to stay and answer any questions that the police or citizens might have. It was too much of a risk for her and the others.

“Are there any risks of using it?” Cole questioned. “As useful as the spell seemed, especially in the game he would rather not use it if he was going to unwittingly wind up in the wall.

“No, the spell was made in a way that protects the user from that sort of situation. It will thankfully put you in the closest and safest spot without hurting you and others, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally winding up inside a wall or something like that," Byleth explained.

Cole let out a sigh of relief, which was shared by the others. That explained why in-game there were certain spots that a person couldn’t go to even with the spell technically being in range. As cool as it would be to teleport around the area, he would rather not use something if it ran the risk of them getting hurt.

“Cole this might be a little too much for you since you are still struggling to use your magic, but focusing on harnessing your power would be good practice for you,” Byleth advised. "If your control is good enough, then we can focus on the next part."

The earthling nodded his head. He honestly didn’t expect to get the spell down in this session, but he would welcome all of the practice that he could get. He might never need to lob fireballs around or send vortexes of unstoppable wind tunnels, but if he could learn something to help him keep up then he would gladly do so.

“Now then the first thing that you want to do is call upon your magical powers,” Byleth started. The dimensionally displaced mercenary frowned after a moment, which didn’t go unnoticed by the others. It was the most emotion that they had visibly seen on the woman aside from Cole.

“Byleth is something wrong?” Shirou questioned.

“There’s something off,” Byleth said after a moment.

“Something off? What do you mean?” Cole questioned.

“I didn’t bother to investigate it before since I was more focused on following, but now that I’m focusing on the area, I notice how large of a pocket there is underground,” Byleth replied.

“How large is it? Cole questioned warily.

“Big,” Byleth responded. “I want to say at least as big as the house, maybe even larger.”

The others could only look at the dimensionally displaced mercenary in shock. None of them could believe that a place like that could be so close and underground as well, yet Byleth seemed so sure of it.

“Give me a little while,” Byleth said before the others could say anything. “I’m going to use my magic to see what's inside it, I’ll be back.”

Before the others could question her further, Byleth disappeared in a blue flash. The others stared at where she had been and then looked around.

“What do you think it could be?” Shirou questioned.

“I wish I could tell you,” Cole replied. “Still whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

They waited a few minutes to see if Byleth would come right back. They looked around the area, wondering if they could find a hint of where the entrance was, or what had caught her attention but she didn’t return after a few minutes. They waited to see if she would suddenly call out to them, but they never heard her call out to them, or see her suddenly appear, but as time dragged on they realized it might be a little longer than anticipated.

“I guess we can wait for her inside,” Cole said. “Better in there than standing in the sun waiting for her to come back.”

“But what if something happened to Byleth?” Shirou brought up. “For all we know she could be in danger.”

“Byleth can take care of herself,” Jaune sighed. “She proved that when she took all of us on and came out on top.”

“Yeah,” Cole agreed. “Besides it isn’t as if there are any major threats in the world that she couldn’t handle. And even then we don’t know where she is exactly so it's not like we could rush there to help her.”

Cole went inside and Jaune followed him. After a moment, Shirou sighed before she reluctantly went inside the house as well. The brunette grabbed a drink for them all and then gave them there beverages. He immeidetly opened his water and lounged on the couch, enjoying the cold air as his muscles burned from their workout. He would get their workout gear later after Byleth returned.

They all chugged their drinks down, savoring their beverages as the liquid went through their bodies, and allowing them to relax a little, though they all wondered what Byleth would find. The group looked around the room, as if Byleth would pop out from one of the hallways. They wondered what she found and why she hadn’t come back yet. It couldn’t have been too far, and yet she was taking her time. It was a little nerve inducing, more so for how long she was taking, like how they had to wait for her to finish grading their tests.

As they waited, Cole kept looking at the time, fearful of where Byleth might have gone. It shouldn’t have taken her this long. He had no doubt that Byleth was fine since she was easily the strongest and most capable person, especially since she could even manipulate time. There was nothing here that she couldn’t handle.

Still, he didn’t want to call the cops if it could be avoided, especially for the others. He wasn't sure how he would say that she had disappeared with her magic. He wasn’t sure how well Byleth’s ID would work or if she would need to use her magic to make them stop questioning them. If it didn't hold up then it might lead to them investigating Jaune and Shirou as well and that was something that needed to be avoided at all costs.

Cole looked at the back door again and jumped when he saw Byleth by the back door. He looked her over and to his relief, he saw that she was perfectly fine. She tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Just a sec,” Cole said and ran over to the door. He unlocked the door and Byleth stepped inside, her face as emotionless as it usually was, yet he could tell that something was wrong. It was in her posture with how her hand rested over the sword at her hip as if she was expecting to be ambushed by someone. Her eyes also spoke volumes and told him that she had found something huge and wasn't sure what to make of it.

“Byleth where did you go?” Cole questioned. “I didn’t think that you would be gone for so long.”

“There is something that you need to see,” Byleth said. “It’s outside.”

“Do we need to bring anything?” Jaune questioned, noticing how serious the mercenary was.

“Bring something to protect yourself just in case,” Byleth answered and it made the others freeze for a moment. “I didn’t encounter anyone or anything, but I would prefer that you all have some protection.”

Cole, Jaune, and Shirou gulped at her words but looked for something to protect themselves with. Jaune quickly grabbed Crocra Mors and secured it around her waist as she breathed out. Shirou grabbed one of the training swords and swung it experimentally, getting a feel for the weight of the blade. Cole grabbed the largest kitchen knife and slipped it into his pocket, he then grabbed one of the training swords he had.

When they all had something to protect themselves with, they left his home with Byleth taking the lead. The others frowned but followed the dimensionally displaced mercenary, their guts coiling in terror, as their minds ran wild with possibilities. None of them knew how far they walked away from the large estate, but eventually they all came upon a large open door in the ground that was thrown to its side.

“The fuck?” Cole cursed as he looked down the hole to see stairs. “Is this a bunker?”

“Yes,” Byleth responded. “I was in there after I teleported. As I was preparing to use the spell I noticed that there was a place underground that I could go to and  I decided to investigate. I wasn’t sure what would be there so thought it would be best if I went alone.”

“Anything down there?” Cole questioned.

“There wasn’t anyone else down there, but as I was looking for an exit, I discovered that it had food, money, and…there seemed to be a camera room."

The coldness that went through their bodies multiplied at what she just said, but as shocked and Jaune and Shirou were, neither were as shaken and disturbed as the brunette. He looked back at his house, as if it had been a devil's trap. It was so close to his hime. If there were cameras set up then that meant they could see everything in the house and were in a perfect position to act if they wanted to do anything.

Cole took a breath and then slowly entered the bunker. The metal steps made his heart pound. He wanted to run to his home to tear it apart to find the cameras, but he had to enter the bunker and see everything for himself. He stepped down the hall, just letting his feet lead him. His eyes wandered from one side of the hall to the other, looking for any traps or anything suspicious until they came upon another door.

He hesitantly opened the door, as if it would cause a bomb to go off and peeked inside the room. Since there wasn’t an explosion or anything in there that told him it wasn’t safe he threw open the door. To the earthlings shock, he was surprised to see that there were multiple tunnels with signs that told him where they were going, what stood out the most was the lounge like area in the middle of it all. There was a couch, a TV, books, and a dining area off to the side and set up as if it was just a standard living room.

Cole stared at the underground area, not sure what to make of it all. He wondered how long this had been here and if he had been the one this time to enter a  new world and the girls had been dragged with him. There were so many questions that he had right now and didn't know where to start. Did his parents know about this place? How could something like this just remain hidden?

“You said there was a camera room?” Cole questioned hesitantly as he ran his hand over the couch, hoping that there would be dust. To his dismay, the couch didn't have any.

“Yes,” Byleth answered. “Would you like to go there?”

“I…I need to,” Cole started. His mind swerved and went all over the place the more he looked around. He kept expecting a figure to come out of the tunnels looking like an agent of death, but they never came and it only served to worry him further. He trembled and shook his head as his head started to feel light as a feather.

“Cole breathe,” Byleth instructed. “Jaune, get him out of here. “Shirou stay with me. Nothing seemed to go off when I was here, but just in case there was a hidden security measure stay close.”

“Ok,” Shirou agreed. She took one last look at Cole as Jaune wrapped her arms around him. The blonde nodded her head and the redhead breathed a little easier, knowing Jaune would keep him safe.

The brunette let Jaune lead him out of the place and wouldn't have been able to resist even if he wanted to. The sunlight made him flinch for a moment, but he continued to walk as best he could. He couldn’t trust himself, or what his body would do if he stayed down there for now. The fresh air did little to ease him and the dirt under his feet did nothing as well. All he could think about was the metal halls in the bunker that were underneath the earth and what was within them.

The two of them entered the house, and Jaune gently placed him on the couch. Cole sat there and lounged against the couch. He curled and uncurled his fingers at a rapid pace as if he was holding an invisible stress ball. He was doing the same with his toes and could feel the blood rushing through his body.

After getting his bearings Cole stood up. He walked around the room, unable to sit still. He felt like a small animal trapped in a cage as massive monsters leered at him menacingly through the bars.

“Cole, maybe we should play a game or something until they get here,” Jaune advised.

“I can’t. I won’t be able to focus on it until they get here,” Cole admitted as he ran his hand through his hair again. “I feel like I’m waiting to hear the results of some big medical test or something.”

“I get that I would be scared to death if our places were reversed,” Jaune admitted. “But just going around in circles isn’t going to help.”

“I know, but it's all I feel like doing right now. I would love to play a game or watch something, but I won’t be able to get invested in anything at the moment. I’m just…I’m just…,” Cole trailed off. All the words that he could think of to describe this situation were just gone like ash in the wind.

Jaune wrapped him in a warm tight hug. The young man hugged her back, nestling his face against her hair, enjoying the softness of her hair and the warmth of her body against him. He smiled slightly, his mind calming as he focused on her.

After a bit of time, the two of them broke apart, and Cole looked at his phone, wondering if he would be able to find some relaxation there. He browsed through the web, but even then his mind was gnawed at by the worries that he had. His foot rapidly tapped against the floor and his throat still felt as if someone was grabbing it tightly. He glanced at Jaune and focused on her, and it helped keep the anxiety at bay to an extent, but it wasn't enough.

Footsteps caught Cole’s attention and he looked up and saw the others returning. Byleth’s face was just as blank as it always was, but Shirou looked visibly uncomfortable, especially with the package that was in her arms. Cole's eyes focused on it, and he wanted to rip it out of her hands, but he restrained himself.

“Did you two have any trouble? Was there anything else down there?” Cole questioned. His heart pounded faster and he could hear it pound heavily in his ears. He tried to look at Shirou and Byleth faces, but his eyes were drawn to the package.

Cole breathed deeply as he ran his hand through his hair as everything he knew seemed like it was being put into question. The lightheadedness that he felt returned with a vengeance. He stumbled and shook his head as his body suddenly tingled. He was afraid of what he would hear next. For all he knew there could be some bodies down there that a serial killer had stored.

“Cole breathe,” Jaune ordered gently as she grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her. “Breathe. Focus on me.”

Cole’s breathing became more labored as he looked at her, his head throbbing in pain. He desperately tried to get himself under control, but it was a battle that he was losing. His head pounded as if someone was knocking on his head as if it was a door. It was getting harder to breathe as his mind scrambled with possibilities.

Suddenly, he thought back to the day that Jaune had arrived here. The thing that he found in his bed. He hadn’t thought much about it and simply thought that it had been something that slipped into his bed. Now though, what if it was something else? Was it a tracker? The young man groaned and wished that he could go back in time and hold on to it. If he had kept it, would it have shed some light on the whole situation?

Cole focused on her again and was finally able to start getting himself under control. He focused on the air filling his lungs, on the girls, anything at all. Even their chests and the prominent size of their busts and supple curves. It didn’t bring him the same comfort that it would have, but right now he needed everything that he could to try and take the edge off. The anxiety he had eased the more he did and he no longer felt like his soul was leaving his body.

“Good, just focus on me. How about the schoolwork, or what you’re going to do for one of the games? Maybe the next wargame we play,” Jaune offered. “Is it going to be set on some ice world? Jungle, or ruined city?”

Cole focused on those questions, trying to build a scenario for her to work with. He focused on it, imagining their troops going up against each other as if they were two gallant generals leading their forces to victory.

When Jaune was sure that Cole wouldn’t pass out, she turned to the others, still holding Cole to make sure that he wouldn’t suddenly topple over. He seemed to have gotten through the worst of it but she wouldn't be taking any chances just yet. He needed all of the support that he could get right now, and holding him seemed to be working.

Byleth’s face was blank, though there was a darkness in her eyes that told him something was wrong. Shirou was as easy to read as a book and looked as if she had just discovered a body. She shimmied in place and looked around the room as if she was looking for something.

Cole couldn’t bring himself to say anything, even though he wanted to know. His mind ran through all of the possibilities, each one getting worse than the last. He wanted to ask so much, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It was as if a boulder had been shoved in his mouth. He could feel every bead of sweat as it trailed down his body, making his innards coil inside of him more than they already had. His heart pounded in his chest and he wondered if it would explode out of his body with how worried he was and how fast it was getting.

“What did you guys find?” Jaune questioned, asking the question that was on Cole’s mind.

“I don’t think…,” Shirou started.

“What…did you find?” Cole questioned, staring intently at them. “Tell me please.”

Byleth lowered her head and Shirou bit her lip. The redhead looked at Byleth as if she was asking for permission about what she should do. Byleth sighed and nodded her head the magus.

“Well...the entire place was clean as if someone had used it recently,” Shirou said uncomfortably. “It wasn’t just that lounge area."

Cole ran his hand through his hair again as his heart pounded a little faster. If it was clean then that had to mean that people had known about it. His parents had to have known about that place. It was the only answer that he could think of. There wasn’t anyone else that lived close by for a good distance, at least as far as he was aware.

“There were a few books in there, but we left them there for now,” Byleth responded. “I assumed it would be more prudent to go through the base and make sure that it was a safe place first before taking anything from it.”

“Ok,” Cole sighed. He stood up, his head feeling like someone was crushing it in their hands. His hands trembled. He wanted to rip them out of Jaune's hands and start going through them as if he had a final exam in hours that would determine if he passed or failed the course, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. “And after looking through the place you found a box and filled it up with stuff.”

“Yeah, we thought that it would be best if we took something with us, but be quick about it since we didn't want to keep you waiting. This is all from the last room we searched,” Shirou gulped. She opened the box at her side and revealed multiple passports inside it, along with ID cards that were tagged for different nations.

Cole reached in and pulled out one of the IDs. He opened it and blinked when he saw a picture of his father, with a different name than his own. He pulled out another random passport and saw his mom there, again with a different name. He did this multiple times, and every one of the passports had a different name than the last.

“These were in the bunker?” Cole questioned, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, they were in one of the lockers,” Shirou sighed. "It was like if they needed to go anywhere then they could just grab the one they needed to go in a heartbeat.”

Cole stared at the IDs and ran his hand through his hair one more time. He didn’t want to think about why these were in the bunker. Seeing these brought up even more questions than he already had. He didn’t like any of the answers that he got as he thought them over. The young man wanted to tear them apart and scream in rage, call them again, and try to get an explanation but he couldn’t bring himself to do any of that.

Instead, Cole went over to a portrait of the three of them together. Before he would have found it comforting and reminded him that whatever happened his parents would be there for him. Now though, it only filled him with terror and questions. Questions that made him wonder about everything he knew.

“Mom, dad, what were you two part of? Why do you have all of this stuff?” Cole questioned. He went over to the picture and took it off the wall. He turned it around and breathed a little easier. Cole looked back at his phone to see if there were any messages from them but to his expectant dismay, there were no messages from them.

All of the worries that he had for them were somewhat diluted by his questions and were replaced with anxiety. He wondered what was truly going on. He questioned everything about them now and the truth of their relationship. Was he even their son? Or was he just some experiment that they took on?

“Cole, do you want to do something?” Shirou questioned.

“Maybe we could go play a game or watch a movie,” Jaune offered.

"...I don’t know what I want,” Cole admitted, his mind could only focus on the recent revelations that he had. There was nothing else that he could think about. Everything spiraled back to the damn questions that he had, no matter how out there they were from them. No pastime or good memory could let him break free from them.

Cole jumped when Jaune hugged him tightly and the others immediately joined in. The young man focused on the girls savoring the warmth that came from them as if it was a priceless ancient treasure that he found.

“It’s okay,” Jaune soothed. “I know this is a lot to take in and there are so many questions right now, but we will get all of them in time. I know we will, and we'll be with you every step of the way.”

Cole just let himself be held, tears going down his face, savoring the warmth that was coming from the girls. It was as if his whole world was crumbling all around him, everything that he thought he knew was now put into question. Yet being in their arms made him feel a little stronger as if he was in the presence were gentle goddesses that came to him. He was glad that they were here for more than ever. Whatever minor complications it caused it more than made up for them being here and now. After a bit, Cole’s mind no longer felt like it was being pulled into some dark cold abyss, and he could think straight as if he was one with his body again.

Cole's mind went to his parents, and both of their faces flashed in his mind. His body went limb and the blonde girl quickly grabbed him. The young man never noticed that his legs had given out on him, and at that moment he didn’t care. His mind was focused solely on his past, and the bonds that he had with his family. He went over every memory he had with them again and tried to remember every scrap of detail hoping that he would learn something.

'Was every good memory with them a lie? The times that they had gone to the amusement parks. The yearly Halloween parties, the Christmas Eve and Day parties. Were all of those memories just ones that they had fabricated?' Cole wondered.

The young man struggled to stay conscious and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to. It was as if his world was crumbling down around him in a fiery inferno. Tears appeared again and the calm veneer that he managed to gain shattered in an instant again.

“Cole, look at me, please look at me,” Jenna pleaded, forcing the young man to look into her bright blue eyes.

Cole’s breathing slowed as he focused on her again, staring intently at Jaune's beautiful face. The soft kissable lips. The perfectly gold spun locks. The bright blue eyes that were so enchanting that he felt like he could get lost in them. The desperate concern for him in her voice. He focused on Jaune in her entirety, forcing the worrisome mind-numbing thoughts that plagued him away with everything that he had.

Strength returned to Cole the more he focused on Jaune. His breathing evened out the longer he did, he curled his fingers, and this time he was able to feel them properly. He raised his arms and gently pulled her into a hug, eliciting a small surprised gasp from the blonde before she recovered. A part of Cole felt ashamed for making her embarrassed, but it was minuscule to the rest of his being's needs right now. He needed to feel her, to hold her in his arms like this. His mind regained the clarity it had before as the strength that had been sapped from him returned, along with new power. After a second, Cole embraced the others in one large hug as best he could, thankful that they were here as well.

The next time he met his parents they would have a long talk about everything. If he didn’t like those answers then he would have to take extreme action. The thought of running away somewhere was looking increasingly more enticing, even if he didn’t have a full plan. If this was some sort of scheme or something and involved some criminal activity or strange black ops for the government then he needed a plan, but he wanted to hear them out at least. Even if it was on the risky side. Before that though, he needed to relax. This was too much for him all at once.

“I…I think I’m going to bed,” Cole stated weakly.

Cole went to his bedroom, his head feeling like it was going to split with all of the stuff that he had learned right now. He didn’t bother to look back at the others to see how they were doing. He was just done for the day. The recent revelations and the questions they produced had taken their toll on him and he couldn’t take anymore. If he was going to get anything done then he would need to be rested for it.

The bed was practically magnetic to Cole as he crawled under the sheets. He moaned as he moved and got himself comfortable. He pulled a portion of the blanket up to his chest and rubbed it against his face. The soft fluff of the blanket was like a siren’s call to him.

The young man closed his eyes and let sleep take him. Cole waited desperately for the moment that it would come and envelop his mind so he wouldn’t have to suffer anything more for the day. Even if he would suffer from nightmares or strange dreams instead, it would be preferable to this.

The door opened and Cole moaned as he turned his head. He blinked when he saw Jaune enter the room and sit down on the edge of the bed. The other girls entered after him and looked for a place where they could sit. Shirou moved to the other side of the bed, while Byleth stood next to Jaune.

“Something wrong guys?” Cole asked hollowly. He hoped it was something small and easy to solve. He was tired. So tired that he didn’t want to leave the bed, but if they needed something then he would force himself out so he could help them.

“I…we just wanted to stay with you for a bit,” Jaune answered. “We wanted to make sure that you were ok since we all can tell this is some pretty heavy stuff.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? I’m just going to lay down here and get some sleep,” Cole questioned, his voice lower as his eyes drooped. “It's going to be pretty boring.”

“You stayed with me when I was having trouble, so now I’m going to stay with you,” Jaune replied, her voice leaving no room for argument. Though she had a small blush on her face that warmed Cole's heart.

“Yeah I want to stay here with you as well,” Shirou responded. "I want to make sure that you're going to be ok."

Byleth nodded her head. Despite the strong stoic disposition that she maintained, Cole understood she was of the same mind as if she was bellowing it to the world.

Cole couldn’t bring himself to fight them even if he wanted to. He just laid there, his mind a swirl of thoughts and emotions that made him wonder if he was truly awake or if he was dying right now and this was one big fever dream. It seemed like it could be the case after the recent revelations and who was here.

Jaune placed her hand on Cole’s shoulder, and he flinched. Her face dropped as if she had been physically hurt by the fact that he did so and felt guilty about touching him. Cole gently took her hand in his and gently rubbed it.

As if it was a signal that it was ok, the other girls moved and touched him. Byleth placed her hand on his head and gently patted it. She smiled at him as if she was proud of him for some reason. It was a little embarrassing, but Cole would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy the affection that he was getting from everyone.

Cole breathed easier and allowed himself to relax. He focused on their warm soft hands and gently moved against them as if he was a dog wanting attention. This was real. He was sure of it. Anything that could make him feel better was real. After all that they had done together, he knew that it was, and felt guilty that he even considered it to be a dream.

“Thanks, everyone,” Cole said as his consciousness finally entered the land of dreams.

None of them moved, worried that they would wake him from his slumber. They watched him, like silent guardians ensuring that he would have a peaceful slumber. Cole turned in his sleep and held Jaune’s arm tightly.

When the mercenary was certain that he had fallen asleep, Byleth quietly walked to the door and could hear Shirou follow her example, though she noticed that Jaune hadn’t moved from her place. There was a blush on the blonde's face that the two of them immediately noticed. After a second the blonde noticed the looks her way and turned to the pair, biting her lips.

“I want to stay for a bit,” Jaune responded quietly. “Besides I don’t think I could get away even if I wanted to.”

Byleth frowned but nodded her head. “If something happens then let us know immediately.”

“Right,” Jaune replied, and focused on Cole again.

Byleth left the room with Shirou right behind her. They quietly shut the door behind them, making sure that they wouldn’t wake up Cole. The moment they were out of the room Shirou slouched forward.

“I’ll make something special for him,” Shirou said with determination. “What will you be up to?”

“I’ll be finishing the schoolwork,” Byeleth answered. “But before that t will probably make some tea.”

“Could you teach me how you make tea?” Shirou questioned. “I mean I know how to make tea, but could you teach me how you do it? If it's no trouble that is.”

“It wouldn’t be,” Byleth replied. A kettle of tea before she began her work sounded like a wonderful idea. It had been some time since she had a good pot of tea. Sharing it with Shirou sounded good, even if she would have preferred to share it with Cole.

A small smile graced her lips. While she might have missed her cute little students from Garrag Mach she would be lying if she said that she wasn’t enjoying herself here. As strange as things were, it was a nice reprieve from the insanity of it all.

Byleth looked at the time on the clock in the room and saw that it was well before daybreak. At this hour, everyone in the house would be asleep. She quietly creeped out of the room and made it to the door. The mercenary looked down the hall, making sure that there wasn’t anyone coming. She breathed and stepped down the hall as quietly as possible. She listened closely, every creek in the halls making her stop and wait to see if something more was going to happen. The young woman kept her eyes on the doors, waiting for one of the others to come through the door and ask what she was doing, and hoped none of them woke up.

Her instincts were on a razor’s edge. She didn’t want to lie to them and would rather not have to deal with any interaction until she was done. The moment she was out of the hallway she continued as swiftly as she could through the house. She reached the backdoor and sighed as she quietly slid it open just enough for her to slip through. The moment she was out of the house, Byleth sighed and shut the door behind her. She studied her surroundings, making sure that there was no one watching her in the shadows.

The full moon provided just enough light for her to see everything that was going on in the woods. If she was on the job she would have been glad for all of the extra light if she was a lookout, but now she wished that it wasn't there. Byleth looked at the house, specifically at the windows, and checked again to make sure no one was awake. None of the lights were on, and the others didn’t seem to be by the windows thankfully.

After a few seconds, the dimensionally displaced woman headed back to the bunker and opened the door. She walked through the place, with a clear goal in mind. She held the Sword of the Creator at her side. She didn't know what she would find here and would rather be prepared if something were here. A place out of view like this, hidden underground, would have to have more than this for defenses. Besides, just because they didn’t set off any traps or something doesn't mean that there weren't any protective measures.

The mercenary didn’t like this place, more so because of the implications than anything else. For someone to have something like this so close to a house was not a good sign. Something that all of the others knew, but unlike her, she had a more concrete idea of why it was here. Whenever there was a secret base it had a purpose like this. A place to recover after a battle. Or a place to keep an eye on someone without them knowing that you were there.

She passed by the hot springs that they had set up here. Something that she questioned the utility of but considering that they had running water through the bathrooms and some other locations she let it be. If nothing did come from it then she and the others could enjoy it, which was a big if at the moment.

Byleth went straight to the office room that she has been in on her first look, but didn't enter it just yet. She looked once more, half expecting some secret measure to appear that would try to stop her or something to be out of place. After a second she entered the room when she was sure it all looked just as she had left it.

She doubted that there had been anyone else down here but she wasn't going to make an amateur mistake and assume that it hadn't been discovered. She looked around the room, studying every item in the room once more. Assumptions were disasters waiting to happen. After a minute of intent searching, she stopped. Everything was just like how she had left it.

The mercenary went to the desk along the wall and moved it. It screeched as it moved across the floor, but she refused to stop. When there was a large enough gap for her to move she stepped into it and pulled out a manila folder. She sighed in relief as she wiped off any grime that had been on it and checked to make sure its contents were still inside and smiled when she saw they were.

Byleth tucked the folder in her arms and made her way back the way she came, still being mindful of her surroundings. There had yet to be any sign that there was any security here, and she hoped that it was true. She didn’t know everything about the technology of this world, but she wouldn’t be surprised if there was some hidden measure that they didn’t know about. It was the only reason why someone wouldn’t have a guard.

The young woman quickly left the bunker, her stomach feeling like its insides were coiled up into a ball. None of the nervousness that she felt was visible. Despite how easy it was to get in here and how many times they had already done so, she still expected something to go wrong. Her father taught her to always be aware and wary if she got into secure locations without any issues. It meant that there might be trouble soon. The moment she was out of the bunker she looked around, making sure that she had not been followed. After being sure that she was alone she continued to the house.

When the house came in sight, Byleth looked at the rooms to make sure everyone was asleep. She waited a minute, looking at the rooms before going to the door. She opened the door as quickly and quietly as possible and closed it. The green-haired woman quietly went back to her room, her eyes quickly looking around and making sure that she wouldn't wake anyone up.

The moment Byleth was back in her room she locked the door and let out a tired sigh. That hadn’t been physically exhausting in the slightest, but the idea of getting caught had been mentally straining. She was so grateful that she hadn't been discovered by the others. It would have made everything harder than it needed to be.

Byleth sat on the bed and opened the folder. She looked at the picture of Cole that it had, and sighed as she placed it to the side. The young woman had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like anything that she read in it.

The displaced mercenary didn’t know what she would find in this, but she was willing to bet that it wouldn’t be good if Cole saw this. With his current mental state, it would be best if she didn't show him this until he was in a better state of mind. Just the fact the bunker existed was enough to make him weak, and this folder's contents might break him. She hated keeping secrets but a revelation like this was something that she was sure would wind up breaking him with how he was currently. He needed time until he was able to handle it. Until then she would do what she can to help her housemate and cute little student.

With a heavy heart, Byleth opened it and began reading, hoping that she would be able to understand its contents. She would rather not go to any of the others until she understood them. The dimensionally displaced professor was thankful that she didn't have to worry about classes tomorrow because this was probably going to keep her up till the wee hours of the morning. If that did happen, then there would be no amount of tea that would be able to keep her awake throughout the day.