II. Osmond:

Of Books and Shelves

Great. We are off to a good start after that little 'get-to-know-each-other'. I honestly don't believe it until this day that there was a good, ol' Blake. Unlike what… okay, I admit, this is getting depressing. Yes, she has changed for the worse, but I still want to remind myself and you readers, too, that she used to be such a good friend.

What, Yang? You don't like my phrasing? Deal with it.

So yeah, apparently Yang thought it'd be fun to pop in randomly here. It's not like I can stop her anyways. Please pardon her for the occasional interruptions. Anyways, where was I?

Oh, this note… right. For once, I'll thank you, Yang. Thanks for reminding me. Yes, I was being sarcastic. Now, can we please get on with it? Thank you!

This note(no, Yang, for the last time, this is not a diary!) was what I write every time I put an entry in my journal(shut up, Yang). Sigh, you're not going to let me live this down, aren't you? Yes, I do mind. Please kill me.

She rejected that idea. Saying it's better to torture me like this. Love you as always, Yangy.

My nickname is not Yangy!

Now, look what you've done, Yang. You wrote right in my journal! Get out!

~-x-~

I sniffed the delicious scent upon exiting the bathroom, with a towel circling around my hip. The fragrance of pancakes awakened my still sleeping nose from its slumber. Pancakes are the greatest invention humanity ever made, and I love them a lot(kind of like Ruby's devotion toward strawberries and cookies). Not the 'love like I want to kiss you' type, but rather 'I love eating you'. Yup, I may have an unhealthy obsession with them.

After donning my gray uniform-seriously, it's really plain-, I sauntered down the stairs to the ground level of my mansion. My bedroom was located on the second floor, so it got the best view of our courtyard. Although, I'd never really enjoyed gazing at the boring grass scenery. Anyways, ground level was meant for Josh's workplace as well as where I spend my time having fun.

The said person was already eating breakfast, earlier before me. I chirped happily at him, still victorious from our game fight. Did I tell you that Josh is a noob at games? (Cue a loud boo from a salty Yang.)

"Morning, noob!"

"Morgen," he greeted back, unimpressed.

Obviously, he's still butthurt from last night's defeat. Several traces of sweat could be seen on his face, a sign of exercise. Josh always do a morning exercise like running with his favorite dark blue hoodie and white training pants. I once complained about him getting a new color scheme, but he simply acted brushing the non-existent dust from the hoodie and said in a cool voice, "I'm already too cool with this, no need to get something better."

I feinted a puke at his statement.

Despite the boring appearance, he's pretty disciplined with his schedule. My brother almost never left an exercise every morning, except when he's sick or got a sudden work call. Between taking care his appearance to paint our company's image as good as possible and living a healthy life, it's like a win-win to him.

He threw his favorite excuse to me, as he saw my smug expression, "It's not my fault I never really practiced with that game."

I sat down on my chair across the table and pouted at him, mumbling, "Always the same excuse."

Josh offered a shrug as he took another bite of his breakfast. He accepted the tray containing glasses of milk that one of our maids brought, and waved her off. Technically, we didn't live alone in this mansion, with our small army of chauffeurs, maids, butlers, and bodyguards(like I said earlier, I was a prince in my mansion, Yang). I'd asked a chef as well, but he thought it's redundant, so we're left with these. He's really effective that way.

"I'm glad you already passed your emo phase in your period of the month," he muttered dryly.

I shot back, "I'm glad you still remember my gender."

"I'm glad I did. Wouldn't that be embarrassing, sis?" Josh teased and continued with a chuckle, much to my dismay.

Checkmate.

"I-ugh, you know what? I just hope you'll choke."

"Now, now. That's not very nice of you, Ossy," he chided.

"You know exactly how to ruin someone's mood," I grumbled.

"Ain't it already ruined?" my brother quipped, with a smirk plastered on his face. Ugh, I really, really wanted to shut him by shoving my pancake into his mouth. "Still... I wonder," he continued, waving his fork around, "Why did you take it so seriously?"

"First of all, I'm not taking this very seriously, my dear brother. And second, sheesh, it's just one Faunus girl!"

"Yet she seems quite an impact, capable of turning your world upside down. I mean, you literally threw all your frustration into wrecking me in the game last night."

"You're so exaggerating, Josh. I swear I played like normal. It's you who need to work on your gaming skill."

"But you did exaggerate on swooning over her, Ossy," he pointed out.

I felt like tearing my hair until I became bald. "I'm not swooning over her!"

"Did too."

"Am not!"

"You did when you explained her 'oh they looked so fluffy' cat ears."

I let out a frustrated yell at him, with earned me a Dust-eating grin. I really hate it when he started arguing with me, because of the times, he's always the one winning(now you see, this is why I'm sure my brother would get along with you just fine, Xiao Long). Seriously, you could say he had silver-tongue, meant for bending the words and empowering them into mind manipulation. Perhaps, that's why he had no trouble being an heir.

After shoving down the last bite of my pancake (and almost choked due to the haste), I downed my glass of milk in four seconds. I rose, still glaring at his grinning face, then waved a goodbye. "Well, I'm off to school."

"And off to meet your favorite cat Faunus girl," Josh continued the rest for me as I walked out from the dining room.

"Didn't hear that!" I exclaimed back.

Obviously, I heard that.

~-x-~

I walked along the west wing of the school, carrying a ridiculously big box of cookies. Yeah, I know you'll say I looked like an idiot, doing this. But ahem, like Josh said, it'd never hurt to try to impress a girl(yes, I'm a wannabe ladykiller, so what?). What's better than a box full of delicious cookies? Girls gonna love 'em all.

In case you're wondering how did I summon a box of cookies during this second term (that's just silly, by the way), I bought it on the way to school. My chauffeur asked about it, but he couldn't seem to deny me from what I wanted. Why I did request this was probably beyond him and what his wage paid him to do.

I peeked through the windows of classes, looking for a particular cat Faunus. I know it's creepy, but hey, I came with good intent! Look, I even bought a box of cookies!

Sadly, she's not here.

We probably didn't have most of the classes together, but I doubt she can vanish into thin air. Unless if that's a superpower she had-Drat, I'm getting distracted.

Perhaps she's in the library. It's always the least crowded place in school. Not many appreciated readings, more so because there were no comics here. I mean, seriously, why do you even look for comics in a library? Although I did sneak some for my guilty pleasure, I usually stick around with the ground fact; no comics would ever exist in a school library.

I passed through the shelves of books, intimidatingly tall against my average height. Boring titles were showcased on each shelf, mostly encyclopedias, textbooks, and whatnots. There was also a novels section, but they're all about biography and commonly used as literature class practice. In less fancy words; boring and totally not what most kids looking for. However, Blake wasn't one of those kids, though. I doubt the rule of thumb would apply to her.

My eyes darted around, scanning each corner of the library for her cat ears. Obviously, she didn't like crowded spaces, even more so since the crowds were racist people. I hope she wouldn't mind if it's me, though. Maybe I should've looked for the farthest secluded corner, where she could probably read in peace while avoiding annoying stalkers; like me, as an example.

With the lack of space we had, this library was forced to make it up with a cramped interior which wasn't kid-friendly. You'll need a chair to reach the top section of each shelf, and trust me, it's dangerous. I once tried it just to get a not-so-important-textbook, and I learned not to do it again the hard way. Yep, I fell. Hard.

Nearing the center part, the mini buildings got even taller. It's another key for easy navigation while managing the limited space at the same time. Students could find what they're looking for just by reading the sign on each shelf. They unconsciously resembled a pyramid, though, for keen eyes like mine.

Despite the air conditioner that kept spewing out cool air almost 24/7, there's still not even a soul who'd study here. Not only because of the lack of window-save for two main big window that's too high to get an outside view from- but also because of the lack of adequate chairs and tables. It's hard to imagine how comfortable would you get if you're stuck in one position reading books for hours when there's no backrest. Go figure.

Finally, I spotted my target, beautiful amber eyes boring deeply in the book she's currently holding in her hands. They flickered from side to side, reading whatever was written in the pages. Drat, she could actually read pretty fast for her age. Does it had something to do with her cat-like eyes? Wait, that didn't make sense at all...

Blake's feline cat ears twitched upon hearing my footsteps. Looks like cat ears were the most effective way to prevent people from sneaking on you(it made me want to get a pair). Obviously, the twitching indicated that they're warning her about an incoming unidentified person. Her eyes flickered up from her book. Noticing it's only me, she relaxed a bit. Yet, she still quickly fixed the hem of her gray school skirt that was... let's just say, exposing more skin than it normally should, probably because of her awkward position. It certainly didn't help from prying eyes, but it's not like she had a choice-Wait, what? No, I'm not peeking through it, okay?! So, stop giving me that 'pervert' tag!

Don't blame me, she was sitting with her legs outstretched, so things tend to happen. It's probably to compensate her back that awkwardly was leaning against the hard wall. Her position made her looked like a lost kid who decided to entertain herself with some books.

"Studying for literature?" I asked.

Blake let out a sigh, shrugging. It's cute, you know. "Yeah, this is the calmest place here," she explained. "Why are you here?"

"Just wondering if you want some cookies." I offered the still wrapped box to her.

As expected, her amber eyes narrowed at the hidden implication(Which I didn't have at all, I swear!) while she processed my offer to see the possibilities I'm trying to do. A few seconds of glare went on until it reached the point where I started shuffling awkwardly on my feet while waiting for her reply. Finally, she peeled her disinterested gaze from the innocent box and shook her head at me as a curt answer; no.

I persisted by opening the box in front of her. Sweet, tempting scent of cookies immediately wafted onto the air. I could tell even Blake won't be able to resist it. She started breathing heavily at the smell, but her eyes were still trained on the page. Even so, I know she's already falling for the cookies, no matter how hard she tried to mask it.

"Come on, these are the best cookies in town. Give them a try and I bet you'll love them!"

She rolled her eyes, making them swirl like melting gold being stirred. Apparently, she's still trying to retain her dignity after experiencing the cookies temptation. Her hands snatched one of the cookies and brought it to her mouth. She took a bite, then another, and within five seconds, the cookie had disappeared, leaving crumbs on her lips. I was tempted to clean them off-wait, snap out of it, Os!

"There, satisfied?" Blake mumbled.

She tried to appear unimpressed at my attempt, although, that failed because her eyes kept glancing at the cookies distractedly. I unconsciously grinned at the idea. Apparently, she noticed, and it made her blush without even realizing.

"Not really, but it's a working progress," I said victoriously.

Blake rolled her eyes again, but her hand utilized the moment to sneak out another cookie from the box.

Tsk, girls(yeah, you guys are incomprehensible).

I shook my head, taking out my guilty pleasure; the X-Ray and Vav comics. They're one of my favorite super-dorky-heroes because I could relate to them. Sitting down, I realized that there's no way I could get a comfortable place. Seriously, was it so hard for her to drag a chair here? Instead, I had to follow her example, sitting down on the cold floor with legs outstretched. Oh well, I guess this is the drawback of my persistence.

At least, I could try to take a peek at her book from here. For real, I'm dying to know, what could interest her more than a box full of cookies?

Now, usually, I could ignore things that tend to happen to my surrounding while reading comics. Yep, I love them so much that I doubt I'd notice an earthquake happening when I was reading. That's exaggerating, so to put it mildly: I could focus on my comics against almost all type of distractions, save for one particular cute cat Faunus.

Blake.

With a cat angel reading beside me, I found it really hard to maintain my gaze on the colorful page. So, here I am, stuck in reading the first panel repetitively and still couldn't get any sense of the story. Every word felt jumbled and distorted upon reaching my brain, after passing my visual receptors. It's made even harder with the fact that I kept forgetting what they said.

The way her eyes flickered and moved from one line to next...

The way she flipped each page gently...

The way her feline ears twitched from time to time whenever she found something interesting...

(Did I hear a puke behind me? That must be Yang for sure.)

I shook my head forcefully, then regretted it later after feeling the dizziness. My nose would have bleed if I continued on. It's strange. People said they'll get uncomfortable whenever someone stalked them. But now, why was the stalker that felt it instead? I guess Josh was right, I was crushing so hard on someone I just recently met. Love is illogical, although I didn't think this count as one.

"You're distracted," she said suddenly, surprising me.

"Gah!" I yelped in shock.

The cat Faunus tilted her head, urging me to go on with a logical explanation.

"No-nothing, just got a bug over here," I muttered nervously.

That's really lame.

"Whatever." She didn't look amused, simply returning back to her book.

Ugh, what am I suppose to do? I groaned inward.

RIIINGGG!

Drat, I've been here for half an hour, yet I hadn't even get a good conversation with her, much less reading my comics. So much for the cookies...

"I guess that's our cue," Blake said, snapping her book shut.

I finally could get a good look at the title; The Storm Girl. What was the heck that kind of title?

Knowing I already lost, I sighed and closed my comic, before following her. I asked her, "You coming?"

She only nodded, her lithe form stretching like a cat to ease her stiff muscle as she rose. I copied the same, only to stumble on my wobbly feet and almost crashed to her, had she failed to catch me(I was clumsy back then, so my excuse for that). A quick glare promised me not to try anything weird again in front her. Who knows sitting still on the floor for thirty minutes could lull your feet to sleep?

Surprisingly, she ignored the cookie box and made a beeline towards the class. I was forced to idiotically carry it lest I'd waste a box of perfectly good cookies. Drat.

I followed her dejectedly, despite the small victory of getting her to eat my cookies. Ugh, I swear, even studying Math was easier than studying her, and Math was technically the worst. Give me factorial and prime numbers related problem any day, now.

She's so cutely mysterious, interacts little, and even talks less, preferring to keep most things to herself. That's totally a contrast to the girls I used to talk to. They spoke too much no sense(yep, I usually didn't get what were they talking about) much to my brain's plight. I guess I will never understand girls and their ways. Still, I had to try my last card.

"So..." While scratching the back of my head with difficulties(it's hard to do that when you got three comics and a big box in your hand), I asked her, "Got any plans for the weekend?"

Her cat ears perked up in interest upon the sudden question. "Of course!"

"Cool, what's it?"

Perhaps, there's still a hope for me...

She glanced towards me with a small smile gracing her lips. "I'm joining the Faunus protest, tomorrow."

...or not.

(I've got to agree with you for once; Blake was pretty weird, Yang.)

I blinked. "Tell me you're joking."

"Did I look like I do?" she challenged.

My imagination showed me Blake and other Faunus standing under the blinding sun, under the heat while carrying protest boards; 'WE ARE NOT ANIMALS, TREAT US EQUALLY.'

Definitely not a fun way to spend a weekend. I was at least hoping for her to say she likes going to the movies or something, but this... this is just unacceptable.

"That's," I said carefully, "...cool. But seriously, though, do you have more fun ways for the weekend?"

"Well, that and reading books. If you to find someone to hang out with, you'll have a better luck asking another girl instead of me," she deadpanned.

What did I say again this morning? Ah, right.

Checkmate.

~-x-~

The poor couch made a thumping sound as I threw myself on it, completely still encased in my school uniform. Whatever, our maids could take care of the crinkled fabric. After all, it's their job to make sure I reached the school without any single dust on my clothing. When you're an heir, you'll need to be presentable in the best-test way possible.

Dang all the girls. Especially that one particular cat Faunus. What's in her that kept my attention fixed on it? Maybe I was just curious, after every single girl that I encountered. It's not like I'm truly interested in relationships and lovey-dovey things. Heck, no, I just simply didn't care, because it usually ended up with them disappearing after taking things they needed from me.

Then again, Josh said curiosity is normal for my age, because of puberty and me starting to take interest in opposite gender. He basically approved me exploring, although not that(why is this emphasized here? Oh, maybe due to its implications) far, due to my age. Well, I suppose there's always the first step in everything; including learning a mysterious girl.

I couldn't imagine my father's reaction, though. With his total hatred towards the Faunus, either he'll laugh to death or simply beat the daylights out of me, followed by a lifetime detention. He strongly disliked them. Josh couldn't tolerate it, but if he did, he hid his opinion well.

Honest, I didn't know what could be the reason for my father's hatred, although it's probably because of his bad history with them. It must've been terrible if he hated them so much.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed to me, "Boom!"

The couch shook with such force that rivaled an earthquake(I told you, Yang, my brother was very much like you), courtesy of Josh. I had to control myself from jumping out in fright or yelling girlishly. That's one thing I hate from my brother. He loved shocking people who were deep in thoughts. Fortunately, he never did that whenever he's in a business meeting. That would've been amusing, though.

I counted silently in my head, trying to harness my thumping chest. Try him just for one day, I guaranteed you'll get a heart attack. Definitely not recommended for the faintest of heart.

After finished counting, I turned towards him with a glare and greeted him, "Sup?"

"Aw, you're not fun today," he grumbled upon noticing his failed attempt. "Again with your period? Or does it has something to do with your Faunus girlfriend?"

"Just shut up," I muttered, fighting back the blush that's creeping on my ears.

Josh sighed while shaking his head in amusement. He strolled dramatically in front of me, making me wonder what's in his mind. "We need to talk," he said, still dramatically.

"Hmmm?" I hummed a yes.

"Ossy," he started with his favorite nickname. "There's a saying; A defeat is a victory, only delayed by time. It's just been two days since you met her, so just give her time. Perhaps, it's her nature that she's unresponsive or not talkative."

"How do you even-Wait, nevermind, I don't want to find out."

Exactly like I said earlier, big brothers know all. Unfortunately, they included Josh.

"No need to hurry things up, Ossy. You'll need to remember, different girls react differently."

"Yeah, but she's totally different from others. Dust, she's not even interested in my last name. She's the first to see me as Os, only Osmond. You know what that means, right?"

"That means you finally got the girl of your dream?" He stroked his chin. "Interesting, I have to say. I thought she's kind of like Mil-"

"Apapap, don't talk about She Who Shall Not Be Named again!" I exclaimed, cutting him off.

Josh smirked, knowing he had struck a nerve. "I know you're still in trauma from that-"

"Halt den mund!"

(No! It was nothing important that you need to know! End of the line, okay?!)

"Fine, fine. I understood. Just keep trying, but don't push her too much, okay?" he advised.

"Don't worry, I know the line, bro."

(Ossy's gonna be a ladykiller. ;P)

(Great, she did that, again.)

~-x-~

A few weeks later.

Based on Josh's advice, I decided to follow it. He's more experienced in this whole 'flirting' with girls thing, after all. Not in a commoners way, but rather in more courteous and gentleman-like way. Apparently, it seemed worked, although I had to add a bit of some extra stuff. Came to think about it, why was I doing this anyways? I just had a crush, not like I'm planning an engagement or something biggie. Oh well, maybe I should consider this as a practice(sshhh, quiet!).

That's what in my mind right now, along with a thought of what's currently happening and how did I get in this situation in the first place. Sure, Blake started warming up against me. Not like she'd welcome me enthusiastically, but more like tolerating my annoying presence beside hers. That's good because I thought she'd keep doing that I'll-strangle-you-to-death gaze. Sure, she had talked more and become a bit responsive, although her focus was still mainly in her books. But... I'm not sure if she had to do this to me.

I've got to be strong. Ugh, what I wouldn't do to get a stouter build. I grumbled in my mind, while sweats were trailing down my face. You might be asking right now, what am I doing? Rigorous exercise? Running? Nope. It's actually much simpler.

I straightened my poor spine that's threatening to break from the weight, before asking the cat Faunus, who was perching uncaringly on top of my poor shoulders. "Are you there, yet?"

"Almost, ugh," she grunted, "I will smack whoever put this book so far up."

Blake adjusted her position, making me wobble, but I still managed to keep my slipping balance. Judging from her sound, she's still trying to reach and grab whatever book it was. I didn't care. I didn't ask for this. All I wanted was just reading while accompanying her, but no, she really had to get the book that's practically impossible to get.

"Don't even try to peek at me," she warned, after a few exhausting seconds.

(I didn't even try it at all, I swear to Oum. Stop giving me that suspecting gaze, Yang.)

Why would I even do that? And most importantly, how? Our position made it painful even to glance up. Well, whatever floats her boat.

"Holy Dust, Blake. I swear you're heavier than your appearance," I whined, but then quickly added an afterthought to avoid her getting angry at me, "Not saying you're fat, though."

(Totally dodged that one.)

The chair underneath was trying so hard to keep up with our combined weight. I already tried to get the book after stacking several of its kind, yet they simply wobbled and sent me crashing to the floor. I couldn't blame them, though. I was just merely trying to impress Blake, yet failed miserably. Like I said earlier, cramped interior and super-sized bookshelves. They're the perfect combo of a cat-astrophe. Yeah, that's a pun.

Another fact I learned, I was also clumsy and dumb. Although, it wasn't really necessary helping me, now. The only thing I'm sure was, Blake immediately jumped on my shoulders like a cat-literally, no pun intended- when I told her, "I'll spring you up, don't worry."

Can you imagine it? If anybody caught us right now, I swear I'll tell them that she's doing a physical assault on me. Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for her, there was no one who'd be the wiser.

I really want to get closer to her as a friend, but not this close...

"Blake!" I hissed, "I can't hold much longer! Hurry up!"

"Just stay still," she said firmly, adjusting some more much to my disbalance.

"Easier said than be done," I scoffed at her.

"Almost there..." she ignored me and instead dangerously leaned more towards the shelf.

"Blake!"

Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Got it, now, let's get me down-"

The cat Faunus couldn't finish her words. My knees buckled just right in time. Her cat instinct kicked in, telling her to jump away from the unstable footing. In that case, my shoulders. The effect instantaneous; I lost what's left of my balance on the chair. Eyes wide, I found the floor rushed to kiss my face. "Eep!"

THUMP!

Pain flashed on my knees and elbows since they, unfortunately, made the first contact with the floor. I groaned, then glanced upward to see the most shocking and heavenly sight of my life so far.

Blake was clinging on the shelf for her dear life. That was the shocking part. How about the heavenly part? Well, let's just say, I could see something red flashed from the exposed inner side of her skirt; panties(Ow! What was that for, Yang?). And I was gazing at it, shamelessly. I should've averted my gaze, but it happened too quickly within seconds.

(And now Yang labeled me as a pervert. Worth it.)

The shelf gave away underneath her weight. It leaned forward, threatening to drop on us. Blake, unknowing the fact, simply jumped away from it to land gracefully beside a wide-eyed me. Her momentum was enough to seal our fate, trapped under a heavy, tall, book-filled shelf that's going to go down on us.

Add this to the list of most painful deaths; crushed by a bookshelf along with your crush.

I'm so dead! At least, I had seen her panti-wait, that's a wrong thought!

(I probably was a perverted brat. Okay, I've admitted my sin, Priestess Firecracker.)

I didn't know what happened. One second, I was whining about my short life ended on a stupid shelf. Next, someone whisked me away in their little arms. I shut my eyes in fear and did the only thing I could: cling to my hero.

Colorful noises reached my ears later, yet I didn't feel any pain. Was it lagging? Or perhaps this type of death was painless, because-wait, I'm still alive.

True enough, I still could feel my throbbing joints, from the previous fall. Slowly, I opened my eyes and was greeted by the carnage. The deadly shelf had crashed just a few feet before us, spilling out its contents. How came I didn't get hit by one of them was beyond me. I was still shocked, that I failed to register Blake's voice calling me, very close to my ear.

"Are you okay?"

My brain was still trying to get over the fact that I just missed death by a few feet. I failed to respond until I finally noticed the current awkward position we're in. Sure, I could be a wimp in dangerous situations, although that's not necessarily mean I'll scream my head off for no apparent reason. Still, this is new to me.

Awkward and embarrassing, but new nevertheless.

Once upon a time, Josh pulled off a 'great prank' (he dubbed it that) on me. He dyed my awesome black hair bright, neon pink. That wasn't the worse. He succeeded doing that in my sleep. But worse, it wouldn't go away until another week, despite hours of my effort to wash my head three times a day. Compared to it, this was almost on the par.

"Os, are you okay?" Blake asked with concern tinged in her voice.

Still clinging, I replied inaudibly, "Emmfin."

"What?"

"I'm fine! Could you please, let me down?" I pleaded.

"Sure," she said with her infamous amused smirk. "Although, I have to say, you're lighter than you looked. Not saying you're scrawny, though."

I rolled my eyes at her good copy of my statement earlier. "Very funny."

A pause. Neither of us moved until Blake raised an eyebrow towards me. "I thought you said you want to get down?"

Huh?

"Of course I am! What would make you think otherwise... oh."

(Yeah, I just feel safe in her arms… oh, look, my blonde companion fell onto the floor laughing at my expense. Whatever.)

I just realized that I still had her in my tight grip. No wonder she couldn't free herself. Hastily, I let go of her while blushing madly. Heck, I'm sure my face had burned so hot that it's threatening to explode. I really need to work on controlling myself. Seriously, this was so embarrassing.

As if to make the matter worse for me, she giggled. It's cute, carefree and playful. I'd have followed her if it wasn't my dignity that she's laughing at.

"Not funny, okay?" I tried to snap at her, but I doubt my words caused any effect thanks to my flustering face. I really hate my life.

Blake was about to tease me some more, however, a yell cut her(and saved me from further shame), "What in the name of Dust happened here?!"

Oh boy, finally, a break from her torment.

Our heads turned towards a very angry, very old, and very bald man that soon will be the death of us. Heh, I suppose since the shelf failed to do its job, he's here to finish it. And not even my last name could shield us from this matter.

"S-sorry, sir!" we both stuttered at the same time.

I quickly explained, trying to water down the whole problem. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try to get a lighter detention than sweeping the whole courtyard. "She's trying to get a book from the top using my help, but the shelf kinda fell on us."

Blake jabbed my ribs, making me wince. "What he meant is, we're trying to get some books from up there. However, we made a mistake of leaning on it, so yeah... the rest is history."

Whaaaatttt?! It's her who started this! I was just an innocent victim!

The elder man glowered at us, before stepping closer to the fallen shelf. Meanwhile, I groaned again at the throbs on my joints. Blake quickly made an escape route for us. "Sorry again, sir. But I think my friend here needed a medical attention since he fell pretty hard."

He grumbled some more about 'insufferable brats', yet waved us off nonetheless. Phew.

I limped out from the library, still regretting the fact that I got in this situation in the first place. Although, I think it's worth it, because-Wait, no! She'll kill me if she found out!

At least, Blake insisted on bolstering me along the way to the infirmary.

"You just used this excuse to save your life, didn't you?" I asked.

She smiled sweetly at me, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Probably..."

Girls.

(Don't you dare whistle innocently while looking away, you little sun dragon. Yes, I'm telling them your dad's real nickname for you.)

~-x-~

AN: Another chapter. I only added comments and fixed the grammar here.

So, I've been thinking that instead of starting each new chapters with a chat transcript(which most of the times aren't actually funny), I decided to add a 'small diary-like note'. I got the inspiration from Coeur's recent fic; The Beacon Civil War. Also, I'm basing the past tense from him lolz, although not 100% accurate. After all, what am I compared to a famous writer like him. But yeah, I'm striving for betterment.

I hope you like this small change in style, which is admittedly, feel fresh for me. I try not to put comments too often, though, as it will disrupt the story flow. Also, there will be no more notes/comments as the story reached the third year's timeline. From that on, it'll be present tense(Ossy tells the story as it goes)

Hope that make sense. Thanks for the favs, which I admit, was faster than the first time I posted this. Oh, wait, maybe it's because this is a reboot. ._.

- Karvost (Kronosmond)

Review Answers:

nexus4123(and to some extent, UT Midnight Sky who reviewed via PM):

While I like the idea of Timelord Powers, I feel more than inclined to clarify that Os doesn't have two semblances. His true semblance is Mirror Matching, which I 60% am sure I'll incorporate into this fic. The reasons? It's my original idea rather than Timelord. Furthermore, the concept of controlling time is not something to be taken lightly, and I hated to make my OC overpowered, no matter how cool.

However, since several people insisted(actually, there's only two), I'll include the Timelord power just like in the original story. As a gift/curse, though. It's like Ruby's second ability; Silver Eyes. There's going to be a catch, and I think I've wrote that in the old A&C. It's also a reason why the bad guys were after our poor little Ossy.

"It's both a curse and a blessing." - Ozpin