It seemed that Aki's stern smile had finally resolved whatever lingering discomfort there was, post the bumping into each other. As per usual, once she had reassured the newer Rune Knight, she averted her gaze, unwilling to let it linger to long on the dark-haired girl, eye contact was definitely not favored by the Shimada. The presumably younger knight, went onto explain how Alisa and she were cousins. Aki wasn't the least bit surprised given the similarity in their appearance, in fact, she'd assumed a closer blood relation. 'Mhmm... I see...' she said softly, following which the girl added that she'd been on the lookout for the Blue Pegasus mage. 'Oh, unless I'm mistaken, she should still be in Crocus, I met her just the other day.' Aki offered, a gentle crease forming between her brows, as she wondered how the two fell out of touch and why, another addition in the questions that kept her rooted to the conversation.
Unfortunately, the conversation slipped back into talk of ranks. Aki cleared her throat, wondering if she should just not contest the girl's technically accurate assumption, with the unofficial rank up she was promised. Aki had essentially been picked as a seated, she just needed to attend to some paperwork in Era. Nervously she decided to go with the truth, but it was apparent in the tone she employed, that this wasn't something she considered to be a great accomplishment. Her voice was devoid of anything that may be seen as her showing off. 'I'm technically an apprentice on paper, but that's only because I'm yet to turn in the paper work to substantiate my promotion to Seated. ' she said, shrugging almost apologetically. 'For sure... I'm pretty sure there will always be the next big mission that'll need all hands on deck and we'll get to work together...' she said with a slight bitterness lacing her statement, the wounds from the war had still not completely vanished.
'I'm surprised you haven't run into Alisa already, does she not know you were here for the exam?' Akira asked curiously. 'I ran into her after the attack at the Cathedral, though I doubt she's the sort to visit everyday...' Aki added, contemplatively. 'I could be wrong though... So, how come you joined the Knights instead of the same guild as your cousin?' she finally popped the question as she idly led the Page down the street, to nowhere in particular actually.
Unfortunately for Aki and her emergent curiosity, before the Vollan had a chance to answer, a distraught Rune Knight messenger raced towards them. In response, Aki already slumped her shoulders, she had a sinking feeling about this. Sure enough, upon his arrival, he clutched his chest and tried to catch his breath, in broken words he relayed the fact that Akira had been called to the headquarters for missions that possibly required her departure from Crocus. With an apologetic glance towards Agnes, she trudged after the Knight who had come to fetch her. 'I do hope we run into each other again, Agnes...' she turned and said before jogging to keep up with the hasty man.
~Exit~