Hello again, everybody! Glad y'all could make it to the sequel to The SHLD of Beacon! Anyway, I was actually waiting for one of the beta readers to send back feedback, but it's taking too long and I know some of y'all are getting antsy. Anyway, enjoy!

23 years old…where does the time go?

I smirked, leaning back into the chair I was sitting in as I listened to Sierra and Hotel happily chatting with the locals. Having ran strong for so long, we had decided to take a, persay, "sponser" of sorts at my dad's Tavern, simply called "Al's Tavern." Did mom give him a lot of crap about it? I'd be lying if I said she didn't half beat him to a pulp for opening it in the first place.

Five years and Team SHLD's still running strong as ever.

I then turned to Lima, who was slurping away at some orange juice, clearly not interested in the alcohol that the other two were enjoying. I then heard Hotel, as well as the locals that he was talking to, burst out into laughter. I couldn't help but chuckle, only to see Lima's ear perk out of the corner of my eye.

"What's up, partner?"

Lima remained quiet as usual as she glanced at the entrance of the Tavern.

I turned my attention to the door as well as it suddenly slammed open. I immediately noted a man, probably as tall as, if not taller than, Hotel, carrying around a battle axe of sorts. Two more men entered after him as he said, "Al's Tavern is rather…disappointing."

"C'mon boss," one of the lackeys stated, "We should remodel this place after we beat the living crap out of this 'Team SHLD.'"

Ooooh snap.

My lips curled up into a grin as Sierra spun herself around, swinging a leg over the other as she asked, "So…what brings you gentlemen into Al's Tavern tonight?"

"We're here for Team SHLD," the other lackey stated, "Cuz one of their members beat up our boys earlier!"

…huh? Umm…oh. Oh. Oooh.

I held back my laughter remembering those drunken sailors who had tried to hit on Lima earlier, only to end up on the reverse side of my blades.

I could tell that my partner was holding back her own laughter as well as Sierra didn't hold back hers and said, "Well then, good luck."

"What?"

"Because," Sierra stated, a grin plastered on her face as she looked up, "I'm not about to let you touch any of my boys. And girl for that matter."

Suddenly, Hotel slugged one of the lackeys in the cheek, followed by Lima, who hip tossed the other, finishing him with an axe kick to the gut.

"Wh-wha…!?"

The man looked at his lackeys, seemingly shocked that Hotel and Lima had gotten behind him so fast as the locals began cheering us on. Hotel grinned victoriously as Lima patted her hands, her ears perking up in aggression as she glared at the man. He nervously turned his gaze to Hotel, then Lima, then finally back at Sierra, who, still grinning, stated, "Or they can just handle the business for me!"

"D-don't fuck with me!"

Suddenly, the man drew his axe. I turned my attention to Sierra, who flicked her wrists, hiding the fact that she was holding two knives. I sighed as the man charged, a "BANG" filling the tavern as I stopped my sword in midair, having fired it, holding it at the man's throat.

"I advise you don't do that," I stated, "If you want to keep your life that is."

"Delta."

I turned my attention to my leader, who raised an eyebrow at me, her grin having turned into a frown as she asked, "Why're you taking my fun away?"

"I don't need to explain to my dad why there's blood in the tavern," I explained as Hotel hit the back of the man's head with an empty champagne bottle, effectively knocking him out.

"Delta, I'm back! Can you help me…with…."

I turned around, seeing the jet black hair and red eyes of my dad holding a crate of vodka.

"Is there…something I should know about here, son?"

"Umm…," I replied, tracing his eyes all the way to my swords, causing me to sheath them immediately as I continued, "Just a minor altercation."

"I'll…leave it at that," my dad replied, "but can you help me with these cases?"

"I…guess…?"

I turned to Sierra, who sighed, smiling at me as she said, "I'm not stopping you."

With a sigh, I walked out of the back room, having finally finished my dad's work for the day as he began counting up the til. I walked up to him and sat on the back counter, catching his attention as he entered an X amount into his scroll. It was then that I caught sight of my team still hanging out in the lobby.

"You should go join them," dad said to me as he picked up the cash tray, already making his way to the back where our house was located. Despite having already gotten my own apartment, I still called it "our" since I still mooched off of them for some aspects of my life. Most namely laundry.

Complying, I took a quick seat next to them as Sierra said, "Now that Delta's here, let's discuss our next course of action."

"…Agreed," Lima replied, followed by a grunt of agreement from Hotel.

"Alright," Sierra stated, "Despite my protests, Ozpin's having us do teaching duty. At Beacon."

…Oh hell no.

"And before you say anything, Delta," Sierra said, "You're no exception."

"God dammiiiit," I groaned out loud, dropping my head on the table.

Depression quickly flooded my system as the sound of the door opening caught all of our attentions.

"Oh, we're closed for now," I heard my dad say, walking back into the lobby.

"No worries," Windsickle's familiar voice stated, "I'm just here to pick up Lima."

"Alright," my dad replied, his footsteps disappearing yet again as the sound of Lima's chair sliding out from under her filled the air, followed by a light kiss on my head, then followed by idle chatter with Wind as they took off. I then heard Hotel groan, assuming he was stretching as he stood up and said, "I oughta get going too."

"See ya, Hotel," Sierra said, "I'll forward the details to you later."

There was an awkward silence between us as Hotel opened the door, closing it just moments afterwards. Sierra then sighed and asked, "So is this about Ruby?"

I flinched, my heart throbbing as Sierra continued, "You don't want to go to Beacon because of Ruby, huh?"

"…Mostly, yeah," I admitted, my heart seemingly wrenching itself out of my chest as I recalled the day last year. The day we broke up.

"I'm telling you," Echo told me, "You need to cut all of these duties and spend time with Ruby!"

"Stop telling me what to do, Echo," I replied to him, walking down the halls of the building we were in rather quickly, getting annoyed with how he kept pestering me about how I should be spending more time with Ruby

Not like I can help it….

"Ugh…look Echo," I said, finally stopping and turning to face him, "I know I should be spending more time with her but…with how things are going right now, it's just…."

"Bullshit," Echo replied, "You know damn well that you can turn away missions."

"But at the cost of my livelihood!? Not happening!"

"Delta," Echo said, "Ruby's not going to stand for any more ignorance."

"Ignorance? What the hell are you talking about?"

The front doors opened up, causing me to turn and nearly run into someone.

Narrowly dodging the person, I quickly identified it as Ruby, who had long since grown her hair out to her mid back, keeping the same attire, as she stared at me. A bit more intensely than usual.

"Oh, hi Ruby," I said in surprise, "What's up?"

"…Delta…," Ruby said sternly, causing me to shiver.

"Umm…," I said, stammering, "D…did I do something wrong?"

Ruby glanced away, twirling a stray bang as she said, "'Something wrong' would be an understatement, Delta."

…she didn't call me "Del…."

"…Hang on, Rubes, I can explain-."

"Don't. Say. Anything."

I suddenly found myself frozen in place as she walked up to me and reached around her neck. I watched, fearing what she was going to do as she removed the locket I had given her so long ago, looping it around my neck.

"I'm breaking up with you," Ruby stated flatly, "Goodbye."

I felt the familiar feeling of wanting to kill myself well up once more as tears suddenly flooded my eyes. Digging my face into my arms, my breathing began to grow a bit more labored as I felt Sierra patting my back. My heart wrenched itself into a ball again as I let out an involuntary sob.

"…Fucking…," I breathed out, "…dammit…!"

"Delta," Sierra asked, "What exactly were you planning?"

I remained sobbing for several more minutes before I recomposed myself. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small box I had actually gotten that morning. Sierra raised an eyebrow, then grinned as she said, "Oh, you were gonna do 'that.'"

"Which is why I was taking so many jobs…," I mumbled, "the morning I ordered it, she broke up with me…."

"Oh," Sierra exclaimed, "Umm…sorry…."

"Don't be," I replied soberly, "It's not your fault."

"No, it is," Sierra stated, "I dragged you on these missions. I should've given you guys time together, but now…."

"It's not your fault Sierra," I replied again, "Really, it isn't."

That night, I contemplated how I should've handled the situation.

Flopping onto my bed, I saw visions of Ruby smiling in my head, causing my chest to flare up again as I began imagining her with some other guy. Most namely Saber.

"Uuuu…," I moaned out, turning onto my side as I couldn't help but cry.

Ruby…Ruby…!

"Ruby…," I moaned out, gripping my bed sheets even harder than I had before, inadvertently crying myself to sleep.

Oh yeah and before I forget, whoever asked me about Delta's semblance; no, it's not like Minato's kunai. His semblance will fade away with time on any given weapon, and he won't be able to synchronize with it. Anyway, hope y'all hang with me on this story! I'll try not making it quite as long as the prequel.