25

Her hair was tied into her signature high ponytail as always, however it seemed to be slightly disheveled today as it stuck out every where.

Her blue eyes shined bright as she smiled down at him, showing her white teeth.

"Good morning, Dimitriu!" She exclaimed happily.

"Guten Morgen, Cat. It's nice to see you, but do you mind waiting here for a moment so we can all say hello properly?" He asked politely, although his curiosity was getting the best of him. She immediately nodded, not wanting to upset the new boy who saved her life not too long ago.

"Thank you! We'll be right back," he said as he shut the door behind him and turned back towards the group of friends that were still sitting on the island.

"Catherine! Hi, how are ya?" Felix yelled excitedly, waving his arms in the air. He didn't realize his friend wasn't alone, but he quickly composed himself.

"Hey, Felix. Hello, everybody. I'm great thanks for asking," she giggled. "It has been awhile since the last time I had seen all of you. How have you guys been?" She replied as she moved closer to the countertop and sat down across from Dimitri, her posture much more relaxed than she had been before.

"We've been alright. Thanks for askin', though. I actually wanted to ask something, but I didn't know how to put it," answered Felix as he leaned forward a little and lowered his voice before continuing on, "Have any of you guys ever heard of a person called Dimitri, or at least have you heard about a guy named Claude?" The others all shook their heads no, except for Dedue.

"You're probably wondering how I managed to get hold of one of the only files that I could access from the university library when my dad didn't want to let me go near the archive room. Well, I have this weird thing about being able to hear spirits, whether it's voices or thoughts… well, anyway I ended up hearing Dimitri's memories, and somehow figured out a way to help him," explained Felix as he looked over toward Dimitri.

"I suppose that sounds like something you should try your luck with if possible. That does seem a little strange. Although I don't really care as long as you're not going out of town with no warning again. If you ever go to school without having someone to bring with you, I swear to God I will kill you myself," she declared, glaring at Dimitri.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry, ma'am. I won't let it happen again. Promise."

"Good. Now then, what did you guys need?" She asked, turning her attention back over to the others as she continued talking, "And who's the new kid? You're friends with him? I thought he lived in the city?"

"That's right! This is Dimitri. He's from Faerghus. We found him collapsed on top of our church when we arrived. His name is Claude, though everyone calls him 'Claude.' And yeah, he lives here now. But don't worry; we aren't gonna leave him alone, I swear," he said confidently.

"Alright. Nice to meet you, Claude. So what exactly do you guys want?"

"We wanted to know if maybe you've seen him. We haven't met him yet, so we're curious. We know he doesn't remember anything about his family, so...we just wanted to know if he would want to stay with us."

"Ahh..." she replied, "Well to be honest, I couldn't give you a better answer than the truth. We can keep him here as long as he wants. However, I'm going to have to warn you that he's kinda moody. He doesn't get mad or act very happy unless you start talking about work or school. Then he gets very quiet and sullen for days afterwards. In fact, it took all of five minutes for his parents to send him out of the house the last time he came in upset because he felt like he couldn't handle his emotions. I think you'd be wise to avoid mentioning anything relating to work or school. Especially when he's feeling like his life isn't worth living."

"Wow...that's rough," he whispered.

"I know. It takes some adjusting for him. And honestly, I can understand why. As I said, he's rather shy, but I assure you that he loves his job with a passion. Don't even mention the word work while he's around."

"I won't…"

"Thanks again, Catherine. I hope you enjoy your breakfast," Byleth said as he picked up the plates that were still left on the island