Me: Hi, guys! Sorry for being late with this chapter. If you've read my story Scarlet, then you probably already know that my laptop got confiscated for almost a year since last year. I got it back a few weeks ago (and I bought a new laptop, too, yay), so I'm now able to type this chapter and update.

Really sorry for the wait.

Hope you guys like this chapter!

Chapter 2: Beginnings

Robin supposed that checking out that Art Club wasn't a bad idea. Having at least one club was a requirement, after all, and if Art was interesting enough, then why not?

Holding the club application form in her hands, she nodded to herself and knocked on the door of the clubroom. The peppy blonde, Lissa, opened the door with a squeal of glee.

"You're here!"

"Yeah, haha. I wanted to check out the club, if that's alright?" Robin said.

"Of course, it's fine!" Lissa said, taking Robin's hand and gently tugging her inside the room.

The clubroom was spacious and bright, with large, open windows decorating one whole wall of the white-coloured room. Shelves beside the door contained a vast number of art materials, from brushes to coloured paper to oil pastels. On the other wall beside the door, various artworks were displayed. Robin could see the skill and effort put into those works.

In the middle of the room were three lines of four canvases each. Two of the lines were occupied by five girls and three boys.

"Some of our members couldn't make it today, but let me introduce you to my friend!" Lissa said excitedly, bringing Robin to a brown haired girl wearing a pastel pink jacket. "Robin, this is Sumia. Sumia, this is Robin! She's new here."

"I-It's nice t-to me-meet you, Robin," Sumia said shyly, holding out a delicate hand for Robin to shake.

"It's a pleasure," Robin smiled, taking the girl's hand.

"W-Will you be joining the club?" Sumia asked curiously.

At this, Lissa pouted teasingly. "She's only checking it out."

Robin chuckled with a sweatdrop.

Sumia smiled. "Whether or not you join, I do hope you come to like our club. It's where I learned to be more confident, and well, more myself."

Robin blinked. Huh, she wasn't stuttering?

"Eep!" Sumia let out. "I-I'm sorry. Y-you weren't e-even asking me about it. I'm s-so -"

"It's fine, Sumia!" Robin smiled at her. "I can tell you really love your club."

Robin then gazed at the painting. The brown haired girl's canvas featured a white pegasus napping in a meadow of bluebells. Robin, normally, wasn't one for girlish themes, but the detail of the painting really drew her in.

Sumia blushed at the compliment. "T-Thank you."

Robin then let the girl be, knowing the shy girl was really overwhelmed by the attention. Robin then went around the room, observing the paintings and how clean and organised the room was kept, before heading back to Lissa.

"What do you think?" Lissa asked her.

Robin hummed. "It's a very interesting club. I'm not sure I'd have the talent for it, or the creativity, but I do think that's it's certainly one option for me."

Lissa squealed. "Cool! You still have two days, anyways, to, you know, think about what club you'd want to join. We should totally - ", but whatever she was going to say was cut off by someone opening the club door in a hurry.

A boy quickly went inside and locked it, leaning against the door with a hand to his chest. The squealing of females passed by the room before disappearing off the corridor.

The boy's face was flushed and he was panting slightly. Now that she took a closer look at him, she recognized him as the popular boy the girls from outside (and inside) her classroom were fangirling over.

Lissa was looking at him with fake disappointment and spoke in a deadpan voice, "You know, I asked you once to feel free to drop by, with me thinking you actually were interested. Instead, you use it to escape from your fangirls. I feel the love. Really, I do."

"Hehe, sorry, Lissa," the boy said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Well, he certainly had quite the delectably sinful voice - I'll give him that, Robin thought to herself.

The boy then took note of her presence in the room. "Oh, hello! You must be the new girl. I'm Chrom. Nice to meet you!"

"Robin," she gestured to herself as they shook hands. "It's a pleasure."

"You joining the Art Club?" Chrom asked curiously.

"If she were, it's because she has more sense than you!" Lissa huffed jokingly. "This is where you'll find and be able to appreciate true beauty!"

"Sure, Lissa," Chrom snorted.

Robin observed their interaction curiously. "Are you guys dating?"

This earned her disgusted looks from the both of them.

"Gross, Robin!"

"Why would I date her of all people? She's my sister!"

Robin blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry! It just seemed like it with how familiar you two seem to be with each other."

Lissa giggled. "It's fine. It's not the first time we've been asked that, and it's not like we look like each other, anyways."

"Yeah, and besides, I wouldn't have time for this club," Chrom said, a response to the previous conversation that occurred before Robin's ridiculous speculation. "Besides the fact that I have zero talent in art, I'm already occupied."

"He's in the basketball club, you see," Lissa added when she saw that Robin was about to ask what club Chrom was in. "He's even the -"

By this time, though, Robin had already spaced out. Hearing the word "basketball" brought back memories she didn't want to remember - those awful, awful cracks (They were going to win) and screams (but those stupid, stupid gleaming eyes) and -

"Robin, are you okay?" Chrom asked the silent girl whose eyes had become unfocused.

Brought back from her musing, Robin cleared her throat and faked a smile. "Y-yeah, sorry about that."

She then hurriedly excused herself, but not before thanking Lissa for her time and accommodation.

The two siblings watched her leave with curious gazes.

As she walked along the school grounds, she noticed that she had been unconsciously walking towards the gymnasium. She could hear the familiar squeaking of shoes moving across a tiled floor, and it pained her.

The first scream…

She took deep breaths and forced herself to turn around.

It hurt her ears.

Robin wanted to kick herself for still being affected by basketball. She went to Ylisse to move on, but it seemed she really couldn't let go of her past.

Chrom blew the whistle and the three regulars of the team stopped their drills. They were panting slightly. Even though they've been doing these drills since last year, the number of repetitions had increased and Chrom wasn't exactly a merciful captain. They hurriedly lined up in front of Chrom, who held a clipboard in his hand.

"Okay, so Vaike, let's try to refine your technique more over the week. It's good and entirely unexpected if our opponents haven't played basketball on the streets like you have. Stahl, I want you to keep practicing your ball handling. You're speedy and flexible, but if you can't control the ball as efficiently as we need you to, you won't be performing your best during matches. Lastly, Gaius, try to put in more effort, okay? I know you're taller than most of our guys, so it's easy to block them, but we can't keep doing the same moves. We need more diversity." Chrom informed them and each member of the team nodded and noted what they needed to improve on.

They all then sat on the bleachers, with the three regulars downing the water in their water jugs. Chrom sat on the bleacher above them, sighing.

"You all still did pretty good today. You're pretty much shoe-ins if Coach wants us to hold tryouts for the regular position again, but we really need one more guy to be our shooting guard. Frederick's good at it, but he can't always spare time for us, considering his duties in the Student Council. I don't want to put that much pressure on him." Chrom told them.

"What about that kid from a while ago?" Gaius spoke up as he brought out a lollipop and sucked on it. "He seemed pretty okay to me."

"The Kaden dude?" Vaike asked, earning a nod from the boy who was enjoying his sweet. "He's fine, but…"

"He's a little too hyperactive and excitable. He puts in the effort and he's pretty speedy, but…" Stahl drifted off, looking at Chrom who nodded.

"Yeah, Stahl's right. Kaden has potential to be a regular, but he needs to do a lot of work to be able to catch up to your level, and not to mention the level of that damned Plegia…" Chrom growled when he mentioned their rival's name. Ylisse and Plegia's basketball teams have always been rivals, taking the championship from each other time and time again. Chrom, however, wanted them to have back-to-back wins, so they were so not letting Plegia take the gold again this time.

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the gym and the four boys looked at the entrance where Miriel came in, stacks of documents in her arms.

"Hey, Miriel," the boys greeted her.

"Chrom, I'm afraid I won't be of much help this year," Miriel regretfully informed him. She knew how much this championship meant to him, so it was really for the better that she informed him of this as soon as possible. "The Magic Club is in need of my assistance more, and since that is my official club…"

"I understand, Miriel. Thanks for telling me," Chrom sighed as he took the documents from her. He scanned them quickly and frowned. "So most of the new students already joined clubs, huh?"

Miriel nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. I'm sure you can coerce one of the students without a club yet to be a manager, even if it's only for this year."

"It can't just be anyone, though. I need someone who can really direct us and help us grow." Chrom pouted slightly.

Miriel shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers. Just choose someone who seems decent. I've added their profiles there, anyways."

Chrom sighed again. "You're right."

He started humming. They really did need a manager, but he didn't know anyone who would probably be willing. He'd prefer a guy, but it seems the only new male student without a club was more inclined to joining the kendo club. Girls were such a hassle.

As he scanned the documents for the females, he stopped at one document and grinned. "This might actually work!"

This earned him curious looks from the others that were with him.

Chrom smirked. "I have no idea how I'll convince her to do this, but I'm sure I can find a way."

Me: And that's it for now! I'll try to update sooner. :c

Also, here's the current line-up for Ylisse High's Basketball Team in case you were wondering, hehe:

Vaike - Power Forward

Stahl - Small Forward

Gaius - Center

Chrom - Point Guard

Frederick - Temporary Shooting Guard

REPLIES TO REVIEWS

Darkchaser: Haha, sorry, I don't understand the reference :c

AzureVermillion: Thank you! There was? Aww, I wish I got to see it. Don't worry! I'll be continuing this story :)

IsThisWorking: That's true! I'll be adding Panne later on.

Life Will Boredom: Yeah, KNB was my inspiration for this, hehe. Thanks for the advice and support! Your review was really appreciated.

JustAFanfictionReader: Yeah, sorry about that :c I wasn't allowed to use our family desktop for anything but academics the whole school year last year. Thanks for the support, though!

matchamida: Hehe, thanks! I actually have plans for Lon'qu in the future chapters :3