While taking a rest in the monastery courtyard, Byleth gets caught off-guard by Edelgard and Dorothea, and discovers that a certain rumor about herself that's been going around lately is actually true. Not wanting to feel so embarrassed about her newly revealed weakness, she decides to make the most of things by inviting the girls of the Black Eagle House to an unusual new lesson, one involving a lot of laughs at her own expense.
This story was co-written by myself and one of my closest friends, WrenchofTheTeam! Go check out and support her work!
I guess you can consider this a belated Christmas gift for all of you, as even though this isn't Christmas-themed whatsoever, the fact that I'm posting anything at all in the latter half of this month should hopefully suffice for the rest of you. The two of us have been planning this story for a good, long while before this point, though. The female version of Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses being Wrench's all-time favorite fictional character meant that if there was one thing we couldn't not do together at some point, it was a story with her as the ticklee, and I'm glad I was able to make good on that at long last - though just as much credit is owed to Wrench herself, who wrote almost all the tickling scenes for Byleth herself, whereupon I edited them for stronger dialogue and story flow after the fact. For the fun of it, we also worked in the exact same scenario depicted in this trade piece I did with Wrench back in 2021, since we figured it would be a perfect prelude to the main subject matter; the dialogue snippet attached to that very artwork was as such included in the story proper virtually unchanged. It didn't take us long to build off of it and with the addition of the rest of the Black Eagle girls into the mix, we had a lot of material to work with for the multiple tickle sessions Byleth has to endure the following day. This was a little less plot-driven than some of the previous stories I've written, but I owed this to Wrench regardless and I'm glad we were able to produce something great together. I absolutely cannot thank Wrench enough for her hard work in bringing this idea to life, and I certainly look forward to working with her again for more story projects in the future!
This is my last post of 2023, and I apologize for this being posted later than I'd have wanted - between getting COVID last week and having to readjust after returning from our family vacation, I'm probably going to have to take it slow for a little bit, but the remaining things on my to-do list for this past month will be worked on and posted as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, I hope you'll look forward to what I have in store for 2024, and I'll be seeing you all on the other side in few hours' time. Happy New Year, everyone! :)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (c) Nintendo, Intelligent Systems
DeviantArt link: https://www.deviantart.com/skaeadaimonion/art/Garreg-Mach-s-Newest-Class-F-F-1006391691
ArchiveOfOurOwn link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52222933
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Deep in the heart of the continent of Fodlan lies Garreg Mach Monastery, home to both the Church and the Officer’s Academy. The academy professors worked tirelessly to ensure their students received the best education and combat training, day in and day out — but like all other people, they did need their time to get some much-needed rest as well.
Byleth Eisner, the Ashen Demon, was currently working as one of these professors. It had been a long and exhausting day for her, and now that she was finished with her lessons for the day, she was, admittedly, completely drained. Perhaps a good rest might help, but she wasn’t near the dorms despite being on the verge of fainting outright. She’d have to talk to Seteth about giving her a day off.
“Why do I do this to myself…” the teal-haired mercenary murmured as she made her way along the courtyard of the monastery. She stretched and rubbed her tired eyes, hoping there was some place where she could simply collapse unconscious for a few hours. Hopefully none of the local troublemakers would take notice.
Spotting one of the benches along the paths around the courtyard, the professor decided it was as good a place to catch her breath as any. Taking a seat on one of the benches, she let out a yawn in spite of herself, wiggling her toes in her boots and glancing down at them idly. She was not only exhausted, but footsore as well.
Byleth looked around, making sure no one was near to disturb her, and when she was sure she was alone, she removed her boots one by one. With a large sigh of relief, she wiggled her stocking clad toes and smiled softly; it was only natural to slide the stockings off next, so that was precisely what she did a moment later. She looked up again to make sure no one was around, and thankfully, no one was… or so it seemed.
“I really do need time off,” she murmured to herself. “I just hope nobody decides to bother me while I’m here.”
With that, the teal-head turned over and stretched out on the bench, looking up at the cool blue sky. It was largely calm today, the perfect time for the students at the monastery to enjoy the outdoors. Feeling more relaxed by the moment, Byleth thus closed her eyes and drifted into a light sleep, unaware that someone else had already found her.
The white-haired head of the Black Eagle house was also in need of a break, though it her case it was from studying. Those last few tests had been a lot harder on her than she had imagined, and she could do with some way to relieve her stress. She had taken a walk outside to try and clear her head, though since she had finished her exams for the time being, there was no need to pull any all-nighters for now — but nonetheless, she did feel rather wound up as of late.
“Hm? Seems like the Professor has finally succumbed…” Edelgard von Hresvelg mused aloud as she took notice of her favorite teacher snoozing on the bench. She couldn’t resist chuckling to herself; the exam period really had taken its toll on teachers and students alike.
Wait a minute, she thought to herself suddenly. Did the Professor actually take her shoes off?!
She rubbed her eyes before looking again. She definitely took her shoes off, she thought to herself.
It wasn’t a secret she wanted others to know about against her will, but Edelgard had always had an attraction to women, and she was especially interested in female feet. She had more than once fantasized about what Byleth’s feet had looked like, but as far as she knew, it was likely she’d never find the answer to that question — this was her teacher , after all, and it would feel weird to ask one of the staff members to take their shoes off.
And yet, here she was, getting an eyeful of the professor’s large soles. It was like she couldn’t believe her eyes, and a strange hunger started forming within the recesses of her soul as soon as she realized that no, she wasn’t dreaming after all.
The feet in question were currently dangling close to the edge of the bench; as Edelgard took a step closer, hoping not to wake her up, the teal-head’s toes moved in a sort of pointing motion, peeking a bit over the armrest on the side. She moved a little, causing Edelgard to freeze on the spot, but only to make herself more comfortable in her rest. Then the professor started quietly snoring, her feet rubbing together as she remained totally oblivious to any sign of one of her favorite students sneaking up on her.
Creeping right up to the bench, Edelgard slowly, gently, surreptitiously lifted Byleth’s feet off of it so she could take a seat on it herself, before setting them down in her lap. Now she could get a closer inspection, and what a sight they really were.
Byleth’s soles were quite large indeed, long yet a bit wide as well. Her arch was defined yet wide like her sole, pale and smooth as silk. Her toes were likewise long and perfectly round with a light pink polish on her nails, wiggling just slightly as she continued sleeping without even realizing that Edelgard was there.
“I am certain to be getting detention when she wakes up,” Edelgard whispered to herself. “But this is more than worth it.”
The Black Eagle leader couldn’t stop herself — slowly, she ran a finger down the top of the nearer foot to her, Byleth’s left. Byleth moved her feet ever so slightly at the light touch, rubbing them together. Her toes fluttered a bit as she gave a soft smile in her sleep, before brushing it off quickly; her snoring hitched slightly as well. Spurred a little by this, she wondered what would happen if she tried feeling out the other side, and so ran a single fingertip up the sole of the slightly larger-than-average foot that was now free for her to explore.
With several strokes of her fingers, Edelgard started measuring the soles in her lap, comparing them against the very fingers now poking and stroking them with increasing abandon. The professor’s feet seemed to be close to ten and a half inches long, putting them at around size 11, maybe even a little bigger than that. They were also every bit as soft as they looked, with a delicious “give” where her student’s nails dug into the skin ever so slightly.
To her credit, Byleth still managed to sleep soundly, but the smile on her face grew. As Edelgard dug into soft and tender feet, her toes scrunched reflexively, creating a field of wrinkles across the undersides. The teacher’s smile only widened as the tickling continued; it might be possible that she was dreaming of having her feet under attack by a torture with a difference, but Edelgard would never know for sure.
The white-haired Adrestian princess found herself enraptured by the feet she had at her tender mercy. Their reactions to her touches were honestly adorable, she thought to herself. It was only a matter of time before she started wondering what would happen if she tickled her a little harder…
The answer would soon become clear. Once Edelgard’s long, sharp nails began scraping the arch of the foot in earnest, it was only a matter of seconds before the constant tickles on Byleth’s feet led her to snap out of her relaxed slumber with a noise of complete surprise.
“YEEEEHEHEHEEK! W-WHAT THE—?!” Lifting her head up to try and see what had disturbed her, she kicked her feet a bit as the electrifying surge raced up her spine, prompting her to slam her hand down on the bench with a sound that jolted her tormentor a little. Chortling and squealing, she managed to power through the tickling just long enough to get a better look at the sight of Edelgard grabbing onto her feet with the intent of showing them no mercy whatsoever.
“EEHEHEHEHEHEAHAHAH-EDELGAAARD!” the professor yelped as she felt those nails raking both of her soles at once. “W-WHAT — AHAHAHAHA — IS THE MEANING OF TH-THIS?! EHEHEHEEE~!”
“Oh Professor,” Edelgard replied a little smugly as she continued skittering her fingers along both soles at once, “I just heard from Dorothea that you might be weak to this, and decided to test it myself…”
“EEEHEHEHE OH REALLY?!” Byleth cried as she waved a hand at her student in a vain bid to stop her. “M-MAYBE IT’S YOUR WEAKNESS, TOO! AHAHAHAHAHA~!”
“I honestly wouldn’t know about that. After all, no one has ever tried finding out my own vulnerabilities yet.” Edelgard chuckled as she continued to play with the soft soles wiggling in her lap. “But at least I now know one of yours, now, don’t I?”
“KYAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EDEL, STHAHAHAHAP THIS AT ONCE! AHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOH OR YOU, GAHHAHAH, WILL BE IN S-SOOOOO MUUHUHHAHAHACH T-TROUBLE! YAAAHAHHAHAHAHA!”
Edelgard was now snickering herself, continuing to ignore the teal-head’s desperate pleas. Before her victim could even get the chance to react, the princess leaned her head down and started kissing and gently nibbling the pads of her toes as well.
“AHHHHHHHHHHH! HHHEHEHHEHEEEH EDELGAAAAARD! YAHAHAHAHAAHHHHH! AAIIIEEEEEHHEHEHEEE! W-WHAT ARE YOU— NOOOOOHAHAHAHHEEEHHHH! ” Byleth would swear her screams had scared off birds a mile away, but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t realized just how sensitive she really was, but now she was learning the hard way — and if Edelgard decided to take her prisoner, she now knew exactly how to break her. “HAHAHAHAHAHA OKAY, OKAY, YOU’VE HAD YOUR FUN, EDELLL! YAHAHAHAHAHA! AIIIEEEEEHEHEHAHAHAHA, STOOAAAHAHAHAHAP! RIGHT NOOOHOHOWWWAHAHAHAH!”
“Alright, alright, I guess you’ve had enough,” Edelgard chuckled, before she gave each big toe one last kiss. The moment she released Byleth’s ankles, the professor tucked her legs up to her chest with a pout of embarrassed indignation. “Why would you do that to me?!”
“Well, I figured it’d be good to wake you up before you fell asleep for too long,” Edelgard replied with a shrug. “Though if you didn’t want me to rouse you, I apologize. I simply couldn’t resist those cute feet of yours, that’s all.”
Byleth was blushing greatly now, trying to catch her breath. “You… are… in so much trouble…!” she murmured, pointing at Edelgard with a shaky finger, before slumping back down in a tired faint.
The princess, for her part, gave a satisfied chuckle in response. “Well, at least the entertainment was worth it. Who knows what else can make you squirm?”
“What else indeed~!” came a voice that didn’t belong to either of them. The sound of footsteps and clapping alerted them both, and they looked up to see a familiar brown-haired woman from Edelgard’s house approaching them. “So, the rumors were true, right?” Dorothea Arnault asked in her usual melodic, flirtatious tone. “You are ticklish, aren’t you? Those cute, big feet especially…”
The professor sat bolt upright to stare at the Black Eagles’ premiere mage with wide blue eyes, her toes curling on instinct. “Now, wait a moment! You didn’t—”
The songstress raised her hand in front of Byleth’s face to quiet her. “Oh, you misunderstand me, Professor. I was just passing by when I saw everything, and not secretly tailing her at all. I just didn’t want to spoil her fun until she’d had enough~” She gave a smug look at the two of them, before repeating: “You really are as ticklish as the stories told, it seems.”
Edelgard looked flustered and annoyed that she had basically been spied upon, but decided not to press the issue. “That much I can attest to,” she replied curtly.
Byleth’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Since when were there rumors about… that trait of mine, at any rate?”
Dorothea chuckled and waved her hand. “I think I’ll let you figure that out. Until then, you two have fun now~!” She giggled to herself as she left, though not before looking back at the flustered teacher and student.
“Um, Professor…” Edelgard looked down at her lap, fiddling with her hands as she tried to find the right words. “If it isn’t too much to ask, perhaps I can… keep it secret, conditionally.”
“Hm?” Byleth raised an eyebrow. “What of it?”
“I was thinking of the condition being if you, perhaps… well, you know,” Edelgard replied, regarding her professor with a deep blush. “Go barefoot more often? To class?” She suddenly gasped a bit and looked away from her teacher, already knowing how uncomfortable that must’ve sounded.
Byleth was silent as she thought about how to deal with all of this happening to her. Two of her students had found out about her sensitivity, and it was certainly embarrassing… but she had to admit, it wasn’t exactly a bad experience, being tickled by someone she, admittedly, had found rather attractive…
Edelgard took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. Why did you say something so idiotic?! she thought to herself. You may well have doomed Adreste with that one sentence!
Unbeknownst to her, however, Byleth was not oblivious to the shameful look on her face. It might not have been so proper to follow through with Edelgard’s suggestion, but she didn’t want to disappoint her, either. Besides, she’d already come to a conclusion that there was no way out of this, or at least none that would leave her dignity intact.
“Fine, I’ll do it.” The teal-haired teacher smiled at her embarrassed student. “I might have to change my plans for our next lesson. Oh, and bring Dorothea and maybe some others while you’re at it. I’ll prepare a lesson for you if you keep your promise to keep quiet.”
Edelgard looked at her teacher with utmost shock. “So… that’s a yes?”
Byleth scooted a little closet to give the white-haired woman a pat on the back. “Don’t be late to class, Edelgard. I’ll be waiting.” Before the princess could respond to that, she’d gotten up and departed for the monastery, leaving Edelgard in disbelief as to what had just happened.
Once she was sure she was out of her student’s view, Byleth let herself smile a little. “I’ll never hear the end of it if they found out I enjoyed it quite a bit,” she whispered to herself.
The following day was rather uneventful for the most part, at least for most of the students. For Byleth, however, it was a prelude to a lesson with a difference, and as she made her way toward the officers academy, she knew the feeling of stone and grass beneath her bare feet was only the start of it. She hoped nobody would notice or ask her why she was working without her boots on, but she could already feel quite a few gazes upon her feet. The teal-head smiled nervously and walked a little faster at that thought, daring not to stop and look back until she reached the classroom where the students she had privately notified were already in wait.
The professor hastily slipped through the doors and quickly closed them behind her, letting out a deep sigh of relief. No one had gotten too curious as to what she was doing, thank goodness. Composing herself and wiping her soles upon the floor, she looked up to see the others that Edelgard and Dorothea had invited. Not only were the two girls themselves here, but so were Petra Macneary, Bernadetta von Varley, Mercedes von Martritz, and Leonie Pinelli, all sitting up straight and looking at the professor with a little more focus than normal.
“Well, then, I guess this class is now in session,” Byleth said to nobody in particular.
Edelgard and Dorothea both stood by the teacher’s desk, the former blushing with a smile and the latter acting rather coy. Byleth sighed as she gave the brown-haired mage a pointed look. “Please take your seats, both of you. It’s time for our lesson to begin.”
Dorothea gave a wink before sitting in front. “Whatever you have in store for us, I’m sure it’ll be fun for everyone~!”
Byleth nodded with a small smile, before regarding Edelgard. The princess was blushing redder by the second looking down at the professor’s relatively large feet, but at the sound of the teal-head clearing her throat, she took her seat as well without complaint.
Whatever goes on in this room, it will be our little secret, Byleth thought to herself. Let’s get this over with.
On that note, she picked up the chalk next to the blackboard, and after the obligatory exchange of greetings, she began to draw a simple picture of a foot on the board. “For today’s class, I’ve decided to change tack from our previous agenda. We are going to be talking about sensitivity and how it can be exploited as a tactical advantage.”
The rest of the girls nodded, paper and quills at the ready… though Byleth had a feeling it wasn’t the blackboard they were paying attention to.
“Humans are, like it or not, rather delicate in constitution, more than we care to admit,” Byleth began, stretching up on her tiptoes to give the class a nice view of her long, slender arches as she reached up to draw the toes on the diagram. “There are many forms of stimuli our nervous systems are intended to receive as a sort of early-warning system against immediate danger. You may know this from the immediate reactions you may have to touching something too hot or cold, or from the pain you receive in battle.”
Turning her head to the class, she nodded subtly to Edelgard. The princess smirked, and taking care not to attract too much attention, she slid down from her seat, preparing to sneak out of her desk and make her move.
Acting oblivious to her student sneaking up towards her, Byleth continued her lecture with her back to the class. “There are obvious reasons for some parts of the body being more nerve-packed than others. The armpits, ribs, and stomach, for instance, are adjacent to vital organs and blood vessels and can thus serve as an alarm signal if damaged there. This lesson will not be focusing on those spots, however.” She glanced around at the class; from their point of view she was turned to the side and behind her desk at the front of the room. “Can any of you tell me what this is?”
Leonie raised her hand. “It’s obviously a foot,” she replied. “The bottom of one, to be precise!”
“Correct.” Byleth smiled, seemingly unaware of the impending sabotage to this very informative lesson. “Specifically, for your class exercise today, you’ll be conducting research on the sensitive parts of a person that raise the most questioooOHOHONnnnsss!” Byleth paused and twitched in place, almost dropping her chalk and shaking slightly.
“Professor?” Mercedes tilted her head in curiosity. “What’s happening?”
“N-nothing impohohortant!” came the slightly wheezing reply. “N-no one knows why the bottoms of most people's feheheeeet are very sensitiiIIIIVE! KYAAHAHhahhhhh—!” Byleth jumped in place slightly even as she outlined and labeled the various parts of the foot diagram such as the inner and outer arches, the heel, and the ball of the foot. “M-maybe it's sohoho we’ll be lehehehess likely to step on something dangeroOOOHOHOUS!” She smiled back at the class, giggling through her teeth as she did so.
Beneath her, Edelgard had snuck right under the desk of her teacher, and was now tickling the professor’s feet with a smirk of self-indulgent satisfaction. Byleth had not dared to lower her heels and trap her favorite student by accident, leaving her arches exposed, taut, and vulnerable. The Adrestian princess poked and wiggled her fingers across the full length of each stretched sole, pausing every so often to skitter her nails along the tops of Byleth’s feet as well. She definitely enjoyed watching them jump in place under her ticklish touch.
Byleth turned so her back was to the class, chuckling quietly to herself. She stretched up even further on her tiptoes to label the toes on the foot diagram, which only gave Edelgard more sole space to tickle.
“This diagram — SNRKK! — is meheheant to map out whihiHIII-ich parts of the sole are most tickliHIHIHIIISH!” Byleth was squirming more noticeably now, and the students were already making the connection between her strange behavior and Edelgard’s sudden and mysterious absence. The princess in question, for her part, remained in her place under the table as she continued poking at the taut arches before her, wiggling her fingers in a torturous path along the entire length of each foot as she stroked all the way from her arches to her heels and back. She had to suppress a chuckle to herself when she moved upward from the heels to tickle Byleth’s ankles as well.
“HHHHH— PFFFFT—!” The teal-head was beside herself with laughter by this point, struggling not to put her heels down. Enjoyable as this was, it was nothing short of maddening. “Yohohour task is to pick ohohoOOONE part of my feet to focus ohohoHOHOHOONNN, and — EEEK! C-cut it ohohouttt! — r-rank how ticklish it iiihihihIHIHIIISSS!”
“Wait, don’t we need a shared ranking system? We must have something to compare our findings against—” Petra stopped in her tracks. “Wait. Let me get this straight. Y-you want us… to tickle you?!”
Byleth gave a thumbs up, doing a ticklish jig in place as she responded: “HeheheYYYYAHAHAHAHHH Y-YEHEHEHESSS! Sohohoh, w-who wants to go FihihiHIHIHIHIRST?”
“I believe I’ve already gone first, if you don’t mind,” said a familiar voice from under the table. The whole class burst into giggles as Edelgard slipped out from under her hiding spot and went over with the intent of marking down the arch region of the foot diagram. “So, what rating scale do you want us to use?”
Flustered but still smiling, Byleth all but collapsed onto her chair, moving aside to let her student work on the blackboard. “J-just a standard one to tehehen,” she giggled, her toes curling.
“I think I’ll go with a solid eight for finger tickles, though I’m sure other tools would bump it up to a perfect ten,” Edelgard replied with a chuckle, jotting down a simple picture of a human hand on the blackboard alongside the matching number. “Do you have other tools to go with?”
Byleth put her feet up on her desk, blushing a bit but still putting up a front of dignity. “I guess that depends on what you want to do next, and who wants to go first. Any t-takers?” The professor looked around at the class, a coy smile on her face as she wiggled her toes in a tempting manner, while Edelgard put a chair in front of the desk. Then, reaching into her pockets, the princess fished out an assortment of tickle tools which she set on the desk next to the teacher’s feet, for anyone to make use of.
“Oh my, she really did come prepared for this,” Dorothea said with clear admiration.
“Admittedly, I might’ve helped a little,” Edelgard replied, shrugging.
“I guess it’s only fair, seeing as you were the one who started it.”
Edelgard’s face turned bright red. “Y-you’re supposed to keep that a secret—!”
“Well, if this whole class knows the Professor is ticklish, what harm is there in telling all about that?” Dorothea winked at her.
Edelgard buried her face in her hands as she returned to her seat. “I’m so going to have you punished for this later…”
“Completely worth it,” Dorothea chuckled.
The shy, purple-haired girl sitting near the back of the class was the first to respond to Byleth’s inquiry. “Well I, uhhh… I, ummmm — okay, okay, as long as I get to go back to my room sooner!” Bernadetta got off her desk, surprising the others since she was not normally the last person one would expect to participate in a class activity. After slowly walking over to the desk and taking a seat, the sniper and gardening hobbyist regarded at the professor’s lareg feet nervously. “Uhhh I pick… the toes!” She picked up a feather and wiggled it in her fingers, glancing at Byleth expectantly.
“Well?” Byleth nodded in encouragement. “What are you waiting for?”
Bernadetta swallowed audibly, blushing hard at the awkwardness of the situation. But all the same, she still found if in herself to bring the feather to Byleth’s left set of toes and begin to tickle them.
Byleth jumped a bit in her seat, kicking her left foot up a bit, but she knew she had to keep her feet as still as she could. “AHHHHHH! Hahaha V-very gooOOOOHOHOOD!” she giggled, wiggling her toes. “Keep it uhuhUHUHAHAHAHAAHHP!”
Feeling just more confident now, Bernie smiled up at her teacher, while at the same time stroking the feather between her big and second toe. This spot was particularly sensitive, causing the teal-head to clench her toes instinctively as her laughter sharply increased in pitch.
Taking note of this particular tickle spot, Bernie began lightly stroking the feather back and forth, flossing it between the digits. “Am I doing good professor like this?” Bernie asked as she twirled the feather between her toes.
Byleth promptly burst out laughing, nearly falling backwards and out of her chair. “HAHAHAHA YES, YEHEHEHEHESSS! V-VERY GOOHOHOHOHOOOD, KEEP AHAHAHAT IHIHITTT!”
This continued for several long minutes as the rest of the class watched, almost enraptured, enjoying the sounds of their teacher’s laughter and her banging her palm on her desk every so often. It seemed they were enthusiastic for very different reasons than learning about human sensitivity in general…
“OKAY OKAY, YOU’VE HAHAHAD YOUR FUHUHUHUN!!” Byleth pulled her feet away, finally. “Whew… Th-thank you, Bernie. Now, if you c-can kindly mark down that part of the diagram…”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Bernadetta sighed in relief. With great trepidation, she went behind the desk, before sketching a feather and a “7” on the toe area. “Can I go back to my room now?”
Byleth caught her breath a few seconds later. “Not until the class is over,” she replied with a soft smile
Bernie sighed and went back to her seat. “Aww…”
“It happens a lot, Bernie.” Mercedes’ tone was clearly consoling as she patted the shy sniper gently on the top of her head. “You’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“I hope so…” the other girl replied, curling up a bit in her seat as she picked up her pen and paper again.
“This is going to be a very long class,” Byleth whispered to herself before turning back to the others, putting her feet back up on the desk hesitantly. “Alright, now who wants to go next, and which spot do you want to try?”
It was Petra who responded. “Very well. I shall go next. The balls of the feet seem like a good region to work with.”
Byleth nodded. “Good, good. What sort of tool do you think you can work with?” Hopefully one that’s a little more on the gentle side, she added in her head. I don’t know how much more my poor feet can take!
Petra inspected the tools for a few moments, before finally picking up the hairbrush. “Can something like this actually tickle?”
Ohhhh, no. Byleth’s toes curled on instinct. She couldn’t help herself. At least her arches had already been tested, but she had a feeling the brush being used on them would instantly destroy her.
Thus armed and ready, Petra walked over to the professor’s soles, holding the brush up as if it was a sword. “Actually… can tickling be an effective method?” she asked herself, before proceeding to scrub the brush across the ball of Byleth’s left foot.
“EHHHHHHEHEHEHE! NYUUUHHH—!!” Byleth jumped a bit in her seat and instinctively pulled her feet back, the hairbrush tickling more than anything that had come before.
“Oh, that’s never happened for any other tickle spot,” said Mercedes, her eyes widening a bit.
“Then again, this is the first time the brush has been brought into play,” Dorothea mused aloud. “This should be interesting~”
Petra was not oblivious to the nervous smile on her teacher’s face. She sighed in slight dismay, wondering what could be done to keep her feet from escaping. A thought occurred to her, but she wasn’t sure if asking her teacher about it was a good idea… Still, there was no other choice in the matter.
As soon as Byleth recovered from the hairbrush attack, she hesitated, still giggling, before gingerly putting her feet back on the desk. Almost as soon as she did so, however, the exchange student from Brigid moved with startling speed and wrapped one of arms around her teacher’s ankles.
“This should hold them,” Petra said triumphantly, as though this was a serious assignment.
Byleth gulped, now unable to escape. “Uh-oh…” she whispered to herself, already giggling uncontrollably.
“Ohhh, she’s in for it now,” Leonie said with a dark chuckle, nudging Mercedes next to her. The Crest-bearer was silent, but nodded in agreement.
Once again, Petra started brushing the balls of Byleth’s feet, scrubbing softly, gently. Now holding her ankles down, she didn’t have to worry about her chosen tickle spot escaping from her grip, leaving her free to tickle the professor as much as she wanted. Slowly dragging the horsehair bristles along the surprisingly sensitive skin, she made sure not to wear it down so much, instead alternating between quicker and slower strokes at random to keep Byleth and her nerves guessing.
“YAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAIIEEEEEEEHEHEHEEEEE! EHEHEHEIIEEEHHEHHHHH! GYAHAHAHAHAHAOOOHOHOHHOAHHHH!” Byleth screamed, thrashing, squirming, slapping her palms on the desk over and over. The brush was truly unbearable — again, if anyone had thought to have used it on her arches, she’d be a goner for sure. “ WAHAHAHAA! H-HOW ARE YOU SO STROHOHOHOHOHOHOOONNNG?!”
Petra had to laugh at Byleth’s question, and found herself enjoying her ticklish reaction as much as the rest of the class. “Ahh, so tickling can be an effective tactic. I should definitely remember this for future interrogations.”
“Indeed,” Edelgard replied with a soft smile. “Tickle torture has been used to extract answers from prisoners in Adrestia for centuries. Very effective, and leaves no marks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this monastery welcomed it as a punishment method in the near future…”
Byleth shrieked wordlessly at the feel of the brush, getting too little time to recover as it moved from each foot to the other. The thought of the students getting subjected to tickle-torture if they misbehaved, though, was an intriguing one… Some of them did, after all, seem attractive enough that it could make for quite a public spectacle.
For her part, Petra did feel satisfied with the result she was getting, but still she decided to do more just for the fun of it. She pressed the brush against Byleth’s sole a bit more as she continued scrubbing a bit harder against the ball of her foot, though she still took care not to scrape the skin outright.
“AIIEEEEEHEHEHEHEYAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! T-THAT’S A LOOHOHOHOT OF — AHAHAHA A L-LOT OF TICKLIIIHIHIHIIING!” Byleth gripped her chair as tightly as she could, her laughter echoing throughout the room. The feeling of the bristles digging into her soft skin, scratching back and forth, was more maddening than anything she’d experienced previously today.
“Just a little more of this is torturous for you, correct?” Petra asked casually, moving faster and faster with the brush; she’d found that a side-to-side motion was capable of getting it to scrub both feet at once, and she was now taking full advantage of it.
“AHHHHHAHAHA YES! VERY! T-THIS IS LITERAL TORTUREEEHEHEHEHEEE! WAHAHAHAHA NOOOOHOHAHAHHAHAHHA!” Byleth scrunched her toes in a bid to protect the balls of her feet, only to feel the bristles slip into the wrinkles on her skin and tickle between the sensitive digits. “TOO MUCH! TOOO MUHUHUHUHHHAHAHAHHCH!”
“Ohhhh, remind me never to get on her bad side,” said Bernadetta, shivering a little.
“She’s a warrior, after all,” replied Mercedes. “What were you expecting?”
Byleth was now red in the face, her cheeks and shoulders soaked with her own tears and locks of her hair partly blinding her. “EEEHHEHEHHEHEH E-ENOHOHOUGH! YAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEASE! TH-THAT'S ENOHOHOHOHOUGGHHHH! GAHAHHAHHAHAH NOOOHHAHAHAHAH!”
With a soft chuckle, Petra finally obliged, letting her grip on Byleth’s ankles relax. “Well, I suppose so. Thanks, Professor, for showing me a new tactic!”
“Ooohohohoh… Oohhh.. I-I guess I have, yes…” the teacher wheezed, still a little dazed from this latest torment. “Just… feel free to list your findings on the board over there…”
Petra didn’t need to be told twice. A few moments later, there was a perfect 10 on the ball of the foot diagram, and Petra returned to her seat, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
Byleth slumped in her chair as she caught her breath. “A new tactic, huh? She’s going to be an absolute tickle fiend in the future, isn’t she…” She couldn’t help but curl her toes just thinking about that possibility.
“Well, if she’s going to be that way, I might as well be the one to counter her,” said Leonie. “After all, I’m sure she deserves a good tickle as well.”
“W-what?!” Petra nearly shouted, looking suddenly flustered.
“You think I haven’t noticed how toned those legs look?” Leonie chuckled smugly. “I bet if I could have the backs of your knees at my mercy somehow, you’d be laughing up a storm!”
“Oh, is that a challenge?!” Petra felt hot in the face, but she glared at the orange-haired woman fiercely as ever. “You, me, outside. We’ll get into the battle to end all battles and see who’s the real tickle fiend around here!”
“Please, please, save your squabbles for after class,” said Byleth, having caught her breath and taken notice. “We’ve got just a few spots left and a few tools left to try. So, who hasn’t gone yet, and which parts of my feet do you want to work with next?” she asked with a small giggle.
“I’ll give it a shot!” Leonie and Mercedes exclaimed at almost the exact same time, their hands raised.
Byleth couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “Hehe, eager, are we? Well, why don’t you both go ahead?” She wiggled her toes in the two girls’ direction. “I suppose it’d be interesting to see what two ticklers at once would feel like.”
Mercedes and Leonie looked at each other with a small blush, and then nodded to one another. Getting up from their seats, they seemed synchronized with their movements as they made their way towards the front of the room. Perhaps they’d take turns holding down Byleth’s feet while the other tickled them? Or each would tackle one foot all to themselves?
Leonie inspected the tools for a moment, wondering what to use, before she Mercedes picked up a feather pen, waving it around as she said, “Leonie, why don’t we use this?”
“Hehe, alright!” Leonie giggled, agreeing mostly because the feather tickled her cheeks a bit. “Hmm, how about we make a game out of this, Professor?”
“Oh, what do you mean?” Byleth asked, looking a little curious despite her toes curling at the sight of the quills.
The duo dipped their quills into the bottle and sat down in front of the professor’s large feet. “We’ll write a message on each of your feet,” said Leonie. “If you can guess what it is, you can do whatever you wish with the two of us, but if you can’t, we get full credit for this lesson. How’s that?”
Byleth nodded in acceptance, though she was quite sure they were just using this as an excuse to mess with her, ticklishly so. “Fair enough. Let’s do it!”
“Ooh, this oughta be good,” Dorothea whispered to Edelgard from the side.
Leoine started with a poke to Byleth’s heel, causing the teacher to scrunch her toes up. She grinned as she began to write a small letter X on the heel. “Wow, Professor, your feet are so huge!” she said with a smirk as she started sketching. “I can make so many battle strategies on these things!”
“KHHHEEEHEHEHEEHEHEHE TH-THAHAHAHAHANKS! ” Byleth squeaked as she struggled not to pull her feet out of the way and mess up the writing. “ M-MERCEDES, YOU CAN HAVE MY OTHER FOOHOHOHOHOHHAHAHHAHHOHOHOOT!”
Mercedes had to admit to herself that she was thoroughly enjoying the sight of Leonie tickling her teacher. Why wait any longer to join in? “Whatever you say, Professor. Now, can you guess what I'm writing on your heel?” Mercedes began to drag a line across that spot with her own pen, holding her ankle down with her free hand to keep it steady.
“YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I CAN H-HAHAHARDLY FOCUSSSSS! WEEEHHEHEHEHEHIHIHIHIEEEEHHH!” Byleth cried, her foot instinctively wiggling about as Leonie poked at the center of her heel.
“Oooh, I’ll have to label this!” Leonie circled the spot she’d just poked and wrote “WEAK SPOT” next to it, etching the letters slowly enough for Byleth to make sense of what she was writing while holding the professor’s ankle with her other hand. “We should probably do this for the other spots on her feet as well…”
“NYAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH N-NO NEEHEHEHEHEEED—!” Byleth cried, squirming in her seat.
“You can do it, Professor!” Mercedes encouraged Byleth to guess the words on her other foot as well. “Tell me, what am I writing?”
“BAHHAHHAHAHAHAHA Y-YOUR NAMEAHAHAHAH?!” the teacher responded, though she had a feeling she wasn’t going to guess correctly at any point.
Mercedes turned the feather around and its fluffy tip against Byleth’s foot, dusting her arch and making her squeak in ticklish surprise. “Nope~” the Crest-bearer said cheerfully, before resuming her writing on her victim’s heel.
“GAHHHHHAHAHHAHHH MERCEDEEEHEHEHEES! LEONIEHEHEHEHEEEE!! YAAAAHAHAAHA! ” The sensation of the redhead poking and stroking at the center of her heel was driving poor Byleth to utter distraction. “ HAHAHA YOU CAN TICKLE OTHER SPOTS, TOOOHOHOHOHOO!!”
Leonie shook her head with a snicker before continuing to play with the teacher’s heel. “Well, if this is your weak spot, I’ll just continue tormenting it. It’s how you win the battle!”
“Professor, I’m almost done~” Mercedes cut in as she continued writing upon Byleth’s other sole. “So, have you figured it out yet?”
“AHAHAHAA I-I HAHAHAHAHAVEHEHEHEN’T! LEONIE’S DISTRACTING MEEEHEHEHEHEHEEE! ” Byleth squealed, trying her damndest to keep her feet stationary. “ I GIVEEHEHEHE UHUHAHAHAHAHAAHAUUP!”
Leonie glanced at Mercedes with a smile. “You heard her — let’s show her some mercy!”
“Fair enough. I’m all done anyway!” Mercedes replied with a chuckle as both of them released their hold. “What do you think, Professor?”
Byleth managed to catch her breath again, still giggling spastically as she turned her foot to look at the writing on her sole. Or what had seemed like writing. “H-heh, I knew it was going to be nothing but random scribbling. Well, hehe, f-feel free to write your findings, then!”
“Sounds good!” Leonie went up to the blackboard and marked a feather symbol and an “8” on the heel area of the foot diagram. A moment later, Mercedes marked down a “9” next to Leonie’s writing.
“Interesting how no spots were marked as anything below a five,” said Edelgard. “Is that supposed to mean anything?”
“N-nope, not at all! I swear to it!” Byleth said with a slightly nervous tinge. Still, she caught her breath after a moment and stretched her toes, spreading them in a tantalizing way. “All the same, I think that's everyone. Or at least all the tickle spots.”
That was when Dorothea raised her hand. “All the spots, yes, but not everyone in the class. I think you’ve forgotten about me, after all.”
Byleth sighed. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she’d honestly dreaded this. Dorothea had once teased her about being ticklish, but she hadn’t exactly chosen a ticklish spot to play with; now that Dorothea knew her weak spot, however, the professor feared the worst. “C-come on, now, it isn’t too late to reconsider,” she giggled nervously, wiggling her toes and shaking a bit in place.
“Well, I’m not leaving this room until I’ve had my own turn.” The mage’s face bore an expression as sweet as poisoned honey. “All the tools have been used already, I see.” Dorothea picked up all the tools laid out. “And since every spot on those beautiful feet was already worked on… I will have to use this!” Dorothea took out a small jar and opened it as she got into position. Whatever she was up to, it probably wasn’t going to be anything pleasurable, but still Byleth forced herself to keep still as her student began to cover the bottoms of her feet with the powder inside the jar.
For a moment, Byleth remained there, feeling quite confused; she couldn’t feel anything at first except the sensation of the powder on her soles. And then it started… a strange tingling sensation, one that didn’t tickle but instead felt quite different.
Byleth gripped her seat as the feeling intensified, her eyes widening. It felt like the nerves of her soles had started to burn. “Dorothea!” she said through her gritted teeth. “Mmmph… W-what did you just do?!”
“Oh, nothing. Just a little itching powder, that’s all.” Dorothea winked. “Perhaps I can help you with that?”
“H-how dare—!!” Byleth shook her head, chewing her bottom lip and squeezing her eyes shut. “T-this wasn’t supposed to be part of the lesson!”
“She’s not wrong,” said Mercedes, looking quite taken aback; the rest of the class were similarly alarmed.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to put even my fiercest foes through anything like this!” added Petra. “Dorothea, what have you done?!”
“Eh, just making sure she’s ready for the final stage of the tickling,” the mage replied, shrugging. “Her feet must’ve gotten desensitized after all the previous sessions, so I figured this would restore them to normal.”
“HOW is this restoring my feet to normal?!” Byleth strained against the maddening sensation. “P-please, just scratch my feet already! Whatever you put on them, g-get it off! B-before I put you in detention!!”
“I guess this has gone on for long enough,” Dorothea chuckled. “With pleasure, Professor.”
Before Byleth could respond, she’d picked up the feather pen, and now she’d started scratching the ball of Byleth’s foot with the quill end of it. “Better?”
Byleth squealed at the sensation. “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! BAHAHAHHAHAHAH, NOOOOO! NOOOOOHOHOHOOHOHAHAH! THIS ISN’T BEHEHEHETTEHEHEHERRRR!” In fact, it was driving her crazier than ever before. The itching mixed with the poking and stroking upon her sensitive foot bottom was already making her totally lose control, and it hadn’t even been a minute since the tickles had started.
Dorothea just winked and stuck her tongue out coyly. “What about here?” Turning the feather around, she began to stroke it in slow teasing circles around Byleth’s heel.
“NAHAHAHAHA! DOROTHEA, GET IT OOOOOFFFFFF! YEEEEHEEHEEEHHHHH! NGAAAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Dorothea smirked at her teacher’s reaction. “Oh, the feather on your heel, you mean? Alright then. How about here?” Turning the feather around, she poked between the toes of Byleth's beautiful feet with the quill end.
“HHHEEHEHEHEYYYAAAAHAHAHAHH! IT’S TOO MUUUUUHUHUHUCCCH! NEEEHEHEHEHEHHEEEEIIEEEE!! ” Desperately, the Ashen Demon wiggled her feet around and rubbed them together, trying to scratch her feet with her toes.
Not to be deterred, Dorothea continued working the feather over Byleth’s toes, managed to match every movement of Byleth’s feet, alternating between poking the bulbs of the digits and picking at the stems. “I wouldn’t call it too much. In fact, I think it’s just enough, both for me and the rest of the class.”
“GAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA STHAHAHP, STHAHAAAAHP!” Byleth shrieked in response. “PLEEEEEEASE EEEHHHHEHEHE! EHEHEEEEHHHHH GET IT OFF, GET IT OHOHOHOHOHOFFFFF!!! AHAHAHA!”
Dorothea burst out laughing, withdrawing the feather and placing it back on the table. “Oh, sorry, Professor! I didn’t know you didn't like the feather...”
“Nggghhhh! T-the itching powder was enoughhhh!” Byleth glared at her as she scratched her feet with her own toes. “P-please, get it off of my feeeeet!” She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again — and gasped with a thrill of fear, one shared by quite a few of the others in the class.
“Be careful what you wish for~” said Dorothea, twirling the hairbrush in her fingers with a mischievous expression. Before Byleth could protest, she moved in for the kill, pinning her ankles in place with her free hand as she started to scrub both arches at once with the hair brush.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! ” Byleth screamed at the top of her lungs, making those at the front of the class flinch. “ AAAAAAAAAAHHHAHAHHAHAHA! NOOOOOOOO! NO NO NONONONOHOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA!!!” The room was practically shaking from her laughter by this point. The itching, the bristles, and the speed of Dorothea's tickles all made her completely lose her mind. “AAAAAAAHAHAHAHHHH! I-I CAAAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAN’T!!! PFFFFFHEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHH STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOHOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHHAHHP! I’LL DO ANYTHING, JUST MAKE IT STAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHHHP!!!”
Dorothea only stuck her tongue out scrubbing her feet. “Come on, Professor! You’re a lot stronger than that, I’m sure you can handle it!” She kept the brush scrubbing across the arches; moving it at a faster pace than Petra had.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOOOOOO! ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA— IT’S TOO MUUUHUHUAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAA! PLEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEASE, STOOOOOHOHOHOHOHAHAHHAHAAAAHHHP!!!” Thrashing and squirming in place, Byleth’s ankles slipped out from Dorothea’s grip. “WHAAAAAA—?!” There was a tremendous crashing sound as her chair toppled backward and she fell flat on her back. She remained there, still giggling uncontrollably, her feet the only thing sticking out from behind the desk.
“P-Professor!” cried Bernadetta, the first of the class to get out of her seat. Everyone gathered around the teacher’s desk, milling about in agitation.
Dorothea remained where she’d sat, reaching over the table to poke at Byleth’s feet with the brush. “Oh… Heh, don’t worry, Professor, you should be fine.”
Byleth remained there for a few moments, gasping for breath. But finally, she spoke, her voice still shaky: “D-detention, Miss Arnault…”
“Let me guess. I’ll be put through the same torture I inflicted on you?” Dorothea asked innocently.
“Ohhh yeah, and then some,” Edelgard said with a scowl. “Even if Byleth tasked us with tickling her senseless, that was very much over the line.”
“Well, I think it was worth it,” Dorothea chuckled.
After helping the professor up to her feet and resetting the chair for her, Edelgard gave Byleth a sympathetic shoulder-pat. “How are you feeling?”
Byleth was still a sweaty, gasping, giggling wreck, but despite the downright brutal torment she’d just been forced to endure, she had to admit… the class, overall, had been rather enjoyable. “Honestly… I think it was a good class. T-to summarize… Yes, the rumors about my ticklishness were true, as you may have guessed. But do note… This kind of sensitivity is applicable to anyone , not just me.”
The rest of the students exchanged murmurs of apprehension and intrigue.
“Does… does that mean you’re going to tickle us back?!” asked Leonie, a little alarmed.
Byleth shrugged. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it. But for now, you know the ticklishness of the various parts of my feet. But different people respond to tickling in different ways. So for your in-class assignment, I would like for you to pair up, and examine one anothers’ tickle spots.”
The class exchanged anxious glances. Was this Byleth’s idea of payback for everything they’d put her through? No, it couldn’t be…
“That is a challenge I’m willing to accept!” Petra said suddenly.
Byleth blinked in surprise. In truth, this “assignment” really was her idea of payback for all of them, but this response was certainly unexpected. The same could be said for what the rest of them said a few seconds later.
“If that’s what you want us to do, I have no objections, either,” Leonie declared.
“As long as I get to enjoy a few more laughs, I’m fine with that request,” added Mercedes.
“I don’t think I need to explain my own response,” Dorothea laughed.
“I… I suppose it can’t hurt to give it a try…” Bernadetta said quietly.
“Since I was the one who started this, I suppose you deserve the satisfaction of seeing my own weakness exploited as well,” Edelgard spoke calmly. “Not to mention, the rest of us learning our own weaknesses would also be advantageous later.”
Byleth couldn’t help but smile at that. “In that case, I believe we know now what the rest of this lesson will consist of. Do remember to take as many notes as you can — I expect as much detail known about each of your own tickle spots as was the case with mine!”
The students didn’t need to be told twice. It wasn’t long before the pairings had been established: Petra and Leonie, Bernie and Mercedes, and of course, Dorothea and Edelgard. It turned out that every single one of the girls had feet that were just as ticklish as Byleth’s, and given how they were all tickling one another simultaneously, all of them were soon too distracted by the teasing they were each receiving to take any notes at all, at least not without having to rewrite them or try to remember what they learned about their partners’ weak spots. As a result, the classroom quickly became filled with loud and uncontrollable laughter once again.
“EEEEHEHEHEHEHHEHEE NO NO NOT THEHEHEHAHAHAHHAHAHHH!” Bernadetta yelled, feeling Mercedes picking at her toes and wiggling each digit in turn.
“OHOHOHOH MYYYAHAHAHAHAHAYYY! ” Mercedes squealed, enjoying the sensation of her partner wiggling her nails over the balls of both of her feet at once. “ Y-YOU’RE RATHER GOOD AT THIHIHIHIHISSS!”
“YAHAAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHHAAAAAGGGHHH! Y-YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE BEST OF ME THAT EHEHEHEEASEEHEHEHEEEYYY!” Petra cried, squirming about as she felt the spots between her arches and heels being pinched and raked by Leonie’s nails.
“OHOHOHOHOHOH, REHEHEHEHEHEALLEEHEHEHEHEEEYY?! ” Leonie replied, trying not to kick Petra’s hands away as she felt her partner’s nails skittering all over the outside arches of her own feet. “ WELL, COME AT MEHEHEHE WITH ALL YOU GOT, YOU TICKLE MONSTEHEHEHEHERRR!”
“MMMHHHEHEHEHHHEHHEHEHE, OH, PLEASE BE GENTLLLLEEEEHEHEHE~! ” Dorothea yelped, twisting about a bit in place despite herself as she felt her heels being scratched at by Edelgard’s nails. “ I NEED THOSE TO SURVIVE DETENTIOHOHOHOHON~!”
“YOU SHOULD BE FIHIHIHIHIHIHINE! ” Edelgard shrieked, thrashing about in place as she endured Dorothea’s nails scribbling against every inch of her own hyper-sensitive arches. “ YOU S-STARTED THIS, I’M SURE YOU CAN HANDLE A LITTLE PAYBAHAHAHAHAHAAACK!!”
And at the head of it all, Byleth stretched and put her feet back up on the desk, giving the students a nice view of the large soles of hers’ that had started all of this, wiggling her toes teasingly for good measure. “Dorothea was right after all,” she mused to herself. “This lesson was indeed much more fun than any of us could’ve possibly imagined.”
This may not have been the most informative of lessons, all things considered, but it had certainly provided plenty of entertainment for the girls of the Black Eagle house, not to mention Byleth herself. Nothing was said aloud, but the promise of a follow-up lesson to this one had everyone hooked, especially with the prospect of subjecting their professor to another thoroughly enjoyable tickling experience. Their next class together simply couldn’t come soon enough.
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