Like yesterday, I got up at 7:30 and was actually awake around 8:30. Unlike yesterday, I had gotten some actual food from a nearby grocery store and thus had a decent, relatively healthy breakfast instead of a bowl of marshmallows and flakes of sugar that I was told had grain in them somewhere, all drowned in milk.
Also unlike yesterday, there was a call I'd promised to make, so as soon as I'd finished getting a quick bite to eat I returned to my room to make a call on the personal terminal I'd set up yesterday. It was brand new; I'd gotten it to keep in touch with the (very few) people I knew back in Atlas who were worth the trouble.
The call was picked up after only two rings. Knowing her, she'd probably gotten ready for the day as quickly as possible and then parked right by the terminal waiting.
"Hey, Mom," I said, holding up an arm in a small sort-of wave.
On the screen, Lilith Morgenstern gave that radiant smile that made the neighborhood brats, crotchety old cranks and hormone-addled teenagers alike all turn into eager-to-please puppies.
"Good morning, Lucifer," she greeted me. Her voice was soothing and melodic, which had made her great at telling stories and singing lullabies when I was little. She looked at the screen, her eyes darting around me and into the room, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end a little.
"Is there a reason you've set your terminal up so that I don't have a view of your room?" she asked suspiciously.
"What? No, I hadn't noticed," I tried.
"I don't know why you still think you can lie to me, Lucifer," she said with a weary sigh. "Please tell me you aren't just leaving everything in boxes and then throwing them in some pile in the room when you take them out."
I took a side glance over to the stacks of still-unopened boxes and the small stacks of books, papers and other miscellaneous crap that had already started to accrue on the floor. "Umm… I'm not just leaving everything in boxes and then throwing them in some pile in the room when I take them out," I recited.
The glare I received in return was enough to make plants wither and milk curdle.
"Oh come on, it's not like I leave clothes or food lying around on the floor," I said defensively. "It's all just books and papers and crap. What's the big deal?"
"Because it makes you look like a slob who can't take care of himself, no matter what the mess is made of," she chided me. "What happens if you meet a nice girl and want to get intimate? Believe me, no girl wants to have sex in a bachelor pad."
"Okay, wow, no, I am not having this conversation with my mom!" I exclaimed with a look of profound disgust.
"Oh fine, be that way," Mom said with a sigh. "How have your first two days in Vale been?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Well, they've been eventful. I'll need to get back to you later on whether that's a good thing," I answered.
"Really? What happened?" she asked with a frown.
"Nothing really bad or anything," I began. "I just… met a lot of interesting people. Quirky teachers, quirky students, you know, that whole thing." I didn't elaborate further than that; Mom had worried enough about me being so far from home. She didn't need to know that I'd gotten into a grudge match over video games on my first day, in a classroom supervised by a teacher who spent the whole time getting soused.
"Oh, and there was nothing decent for breakfast yesterday, so I ended up caving and eating Marshmallow Flakes; definitely the low point of the day, honestly," I concluded.
Mom gave a light giggle. "The more things change, hmm? I seem to remember you complaining to me about all of those things more than once right here in Atlas."
"What can I say? I'm a magnet for crazy. Well, crazy and stray cats."
"Not that you've ever done much to discourage either," Mom noted dryly, prompting a sheepish grin from me.
"Eh heh… yeah. Speaking of which…"
"Your babies are fine," Mom assured me with a warm smile. "Though I think they miss their daddy. Or were you asking about your friends?"
"Friend, you mean," I corrected her with a frown.
"Lucifer-"
"We had this talk, Mom. He made his feelings on the subject very clear. I have to go now; school's going to start soon."
"Fine," Mom said with a sigh. "Just… make sure to call regularly, okay? You know I worry."
"I will, Mom. I'll talk to you later," I assured her. "Love you."
The first thing I noticed when I walked out of my bedroom was Oscar, who was gloomily staring into his bowl of Marshmallow Flakes as though he was considering drowning himself in it.
"Are you still moping about that game? Seriously kid, get over it," I told him.
"It's not… well okay, it's not just that," Oscar admitted with a sigh. "It's… it's complicated, you know?"
"Uh-huh," I grunted, unconvinced. "Well I hope it's not so complicated that you can't finish eating your entire daily value in sugar in one sitting and get to school soon, or you'll be late."
Oscar checked the clock, took a long look at his half-empty cereal bowl again, and then got up to dump it in the sink. "I'm not really that hungry."
Because we were going to the same place at the same time, Oscar and I ended up walking to school together, which meant I had to put up with more of his moping.
"Alright, that's it! Either tell me what's wrong or stop all the damn sighing!" I finally snapped after what felt like Oscar's dozenth forlorn, "woe-is-me" sigh in as many minutes.
Oscar kept his eyes on the ground. "… Do you think Ruby hates me now?" he finally asked.
"… What?"
"I mean, this is like the fourth time I've done this, and every time she makes me promise not to do stuff like that again and I mean it but then I go and do it again!" he said, the words spilling from his lips now. "I mean, how many chances do I get? Was this the last one? Did I blow it? Does she finally get that I'm a lost cause and she's too good for me!?"
His voice started getting more distraught and his breathing started to spike, so I snapped him out of it.
"Ow! Why did you slap me!?" he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.
"Because you were starting to have a freak-out," I said calmly. "And don't be a baby; you have Aura, don't you? It should have stopped hurting almost instantly."
"Well yeah, but still!"
"Still nothing. What the hell was that about, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, that whole thing was just you acting like a dumbass. I can see her being disappointed, sure, but she didn't really strike me as the type to ditch friends for doing stupid crap."
Oscar took a deep breath to collect himself. "Well, it's-"
"Excuse me, are you Lucifer Morgenstern?" a voice asked me from behind. I turned around to confront the voice, and was met with a girl about my age. I took a quick second or two to look her up and down.
She looked about the same height as Yang, maybe a little taller, though with a more… slender build. Her skin was as pale and flawless as porcelain, offset by icy-blue eyes and red tattoos in abstract designs on her face. She was wearing what my "other" memories told me looked very similar to a Japanese miko's outfit, with a loose-fitting white robe and baggy red pants. More eye-catching were the very long, shaggy mane-like white hair that ran all the way down her back (which might have been a wig; it seemed kind of similar to something a kabuki actor might wear) and the red mask she wore that covered only the lower part of her face, with an opening for her mouth shaped like the snarling maw of a demon, fangs and all.
"Uh… yeah, I am," I answered after a moment. "Hi. Do… I know you? No offense, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember seeing you around here."
"No offense is taken," she assured me; her voice was very measured and calm, as though she was considering everything she said before she said it. "My name is Shiranui Hinata. I am in your class, but have been absent for the past two days due to illness," she explained. "My friend Dahlia informed me of you."
"Dahlia? The VP?" I asked.
"Yes. She told me that you defeated Björn Järnsida in a match in Live Combat; a commendable feat, though I am not yet convinced that it was not due to luck."
"Are you going somewhere with this?" I asked testily.
"Yes. I am not sure yet whether you are a formidable opponent and would like to remedy that. Would you agree to a spar with me?" she asked.
"A spar?" I repeated, tilting my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oscar slightly to the side of me, rapidly shaking his head 'no' until Hinata glanced in his direction, at which point he froze up completely.
"Hello, Oscar. Ruby is at the vending machines right now," she told him. Mumbling a quick 'thanks,' Oscar took that as his out and ran off.
Once he was gone, she continued. "Yes, a spar. There are very few students in this school who are a significant challenge to me in combat," she confirmed. "I am hopeful that you will prove one of the rare exceptions."
"Oh, I see. Yeah, no, I'm gonna pass," I said, turning around and going back on my way to class.
"Wait!" she yelled from behind me, stopping me in my tracks.
"God damn it, why do they never take no for an answer?" I whispered to myself as I turned around to face her again. "What?"
"You can't just refuse!" she exclaimed, losing her composure.
"Why the hell not?"
"Have you no pride? How can you stand down when your skill as a warrior is being challenged?" she asked in disbelief.
I looked around from left to right. "I don't see anyone here except you challenging my skill as a warrior," I pointed out. "And last I checked, you're not the one who gets to decide what I'm worth as a fighter."
"I… that…" she sputtered in shock.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but getting into pointless fights over stupid crap like what people I've just met think about me just isn't something I'm very interested in," I said casually, turning back around. "Later."
I kept on walking.
Hinata didn't stop me this time.
At lunch, I had found an empty table and quickly took it. Before I could take more than one bite, Dahlia slammed a tray on the table just across the table from me and took the seat, glaring at me.
"Uh… Whatever it is, I didn't do it," I hedged.
"Oh, so you're not the reason Hina's been out of it all day and won't tell me why? You've got no idea why she keeps staring at you and then looking like she wants to cry?" she asked acidly.
I shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know; I don't really understand people like that, anyway." I've just never gotten people who bought into that "warrior's pride" mindset where you had to go around beating the crap out of people to "prove yourself."
"You-!" Dahlia yelled, but caught herself and continued talking in a low voice, but one that dripped with contempt. "I can't stand people like you."
She took her tray back and got up, very pointedly refusing to look at me.
"… What the hell?" I asked aloud. As I watched, Ruby and Yang sat down with her, looking concerned and curious. Dahlia visibly struggled with herself explaining it to them, her fists clenched on the table.
Whatever she was saying, it had an effect on the sisters, as they gasped, then looked at me in shock, before turning back to Dahlia and talking rapidly with her.
Okay, something's really wrong here. I have to be missing something important, I thought to myself as I ate.
I only got a few bites into my food before another tray hit the table. Six of them, in fact, of mixed gender. I idly noticed that, although they all had their own color and style like most students, they all had some element of blue and black on them, even if just a little.
"Why yes, of course you can sit here," I said sarcastically.
"Heh, sorry about that," one of them said sheepishly. He was pretty plain-looking and of average height, though rather muscular, and wore some armor that was colored like copper.
"I'm messing with you," I clarified. "I don't really care if you sit here."
"Thanks. So uh, Lucifer, right? Transfer student from Atlas?" he asked, to which I nodded. He took this as a cue to continue. "I'm Kessler. Heard you were the reason Shiranui's been all docile today; something you said to her or something?"
"Look, I don't know what the hell happened, alright?" I replied. "She walks up to me challenging me to a fight to 'prove myself' to her or some crap-"
"Ugh, yeah, that sounds like her, all right," Kessler said, nose crinkling in disgust. "Acting so high and mighty, like just because she's a little good at fighting means she's better than us." His five friends all nodded and made various assenting words.
"Riiiight," I said uncertainly. "I see you've got some issues with her."
"Got that right," he all but growled, his face contorting into an ugly snarl, before coughing into his fist awkwardly. "Sorry. So anyway, a video of your fight with Björn's been making the rounds. You were pretty awesome."
"Yeah, it was really cool," one of the girls said, giving a flirty wink.
"Yeah, I do tend to be a bit of a badass," I said with a smug grin. "But you should see what I can do when I can use my Semblance."
"Well, maybe we can get a demonstration sooner rather than later?" Kessler said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Kessler's voice dropped lower. "Well, we figure, you're definitely one of the toughest guys around here now, you know? And honestly, that bitch Shiranui's been acting pretty damn stuck up lately. We figure, maybe you can show her who's boss, you know?"
"What."
"Whoa, whoa, I'm not talking about anything crazy!" Kessler quickly said, holding up his hands at the flinty look I gave him. "I just meant, you know, kick her ass in a fight."
"Ooooh. Still no."
"Aw come on man, why not?" he asked.
"Because it's pointless," I said. "I don't go around fighting people to 'prove myself,' so why the hell would I go fight some girl just because some random guys I just met don't like her?"
"Well, look at it this way: you'll probably end up fighting her anyway," Kessler said reasonably. "This is a combat school and we all take Live Combat together. If she doesn't challenge you right away, eventually the teachers will put you two together anyway. So why not make it sooner rather than later?"
"Fair point, I guess…"
"And come on, a guy as tough as you, how hard could putting her in her place really be?" he asked.
"Now I know you're playing me…" I said, causing a few of the others (who I was quickly realizing were more cronies than friends to this guy) to blink in surprise and a little bit of worry. "… But you're right."
"Great! So you'll do it?" Kessler asked excitedly. It didn't strike me as a particularly pleasant form of excitement.
"Depends. Why does she piss you off so much? And why are you going to me for this? Why not, I don't know, Yang?"
"Xiao Long? She's almost as bad, the bitch!" Kessler said with venom. "Hanging around, acting like they're friends; makes me sick. Her and all the rest of those-"
A bandage-wrapped hand slammed down onto the table next to Kessler, causing all of us to start a bit. I quickly followed the arm up to see Hinata, her expression unreadable and composed, just like it had been earlier.
"I have warned you before, Kessler. I do not care what you say about me, but I do not take kindly to you speaking that way of my friends," she said, her voice low and quiet, but still somehow with a threatening undercurrent. "And as I'm sure you remember, you and your pets have neither the skill nor the numbers to force the issue."
"You bitch-!" Kessler snarled, but stopped when glowing red markings appeared on Hinata's clothes, which cowed them all.
Is that Dust in her clothes? I wondered.
She turned to face me, looking… disappointed? "I had heard you were from Atlas, but I do not like to make assumptions about people. Do you share their beliefs?"
That was it; I snapped. "What fucking beliefs!?" I yelled out, pounding the table in frustration with a fist. "What the fuck is up with everyone today!? Did I miss some important briefing or something, because none of you are making any damn sense!"
"Wh-What do you mean?" Kessler asked. "Can't you tell?"
The corners of Hinata's mouth curled upward in a smile. "No, he can't," she said, a note of relief in her voice. "Keep in mind that few of you would have realized, had I not made sure to announce it when I began attending this school."
"So help me, if you motherfuckers don't explain what's going on right now…" I warned. What can I say? I hate it when people act cryptic and refuse to explain things.
I hate a lot of things, come to think of it.
In answer, Hinata opened her mouth as though she was going to the dentist. "See?" she asked.
"You have… really long canine teeth," I noted. "Almost like… fangs."
"Yes. My eyes, too, are those of a canine," she explained. "The traits of my faunus heritage are far more subtle than most; if I wanted, I could pass as human with only the slightest difficulty."
"Get it now?" Kessler asked testily. "This animal has the gall to go around acting like she's better than us!"
"Oh, believe me, I get it now," I said. "Makes sense that Dahlia got so pissed at me. You and her are pretty close, aren't you?"
"Very," Hinata said with a soft smile. "I tell her that it's pointless to be offended on my part over such things, but she can be very stubborn."
I turned to Kessler. "So: why?"
"H-huh? Why what?" he asked.
"Why do you hate faunus so much?" I explained. "Did you lose someone to the White Fang, or a faunus gangster?"
"What? No."
"Someone in your family lose their job to cheap faunus labor?"
"Uh… no."
"Any reason other than a belief in the inherent superiority of humanity and that the faunus are closer to animals than people?"
The look on his face told me all I needed to know. And judging from the looks on the faces of him and his goons, they were seeing where I was going with this. "Well, so what!? It's not like-"
"Good."
Everyone listening blinked in shock. "Wait, you mean you-?"
His question was cut off when my fist slammed straight into his nose and sent him flying. His cronies all jumped to their feet in shock, and I jumped up on top of the table, cracking my knuckles as I looked down on them all with a cruel grin.
"If you had actual reasons for being a bunch of racist fucks, I'd have to be a lot more civil about this. Not nearly as cathartic," I explained.
Doctor Black sighed. "I hope you realize that getting into a fight on your second day here sets a very terrible precedent," he pointed out as I sat in the hot seat.
"To be fair, you had to know this was coming. You did read my disciplinary record, right?" I asked.
"I did," he says, looking as though he just bit into a lemon. "But I'd hoped that outside of the more… conservative atmosphere of Atlas, you might prove less of a… discipline problem."
I snorted in amusement. "Really? Half a dozen racist pricks ran up to recruit me the moment I put a faunus in a bad mood. Just because this school has a policy against discrimination doesn't make it some bastion of tolerance."
"I am aware," he said, sighing again. "But let me ask you a question: did Kessler or any of his friends attack you or Miss Shiranui?"
"No."
"Did they make any threats to do so?"
"Also no," I admitted.
"Did you have any reason to believe that they would?"
"… No."
"Then you realize that this is an unacceptable breach of school rules?" he asked.
"… Yeah."
"I would seriously advise you see the school counselor. As unconscionable as anti-faunus sentiment like that espoused by Mister Kessler may be, attacking them with so little provocation is not a rational response," he said.
"So I've been told before."
"In the meantime, you will spend the time from the end of your last class until 5 o'clock each day for a month in after-school detention."
"That seems a little light," I pointed out. "Uh… not that I'm complaining."
"This is a combat school. Violence between students is quite simply inevitable," Doctor Black pointed out. "It is, I'll admit, the minimum punishment allowed, but as Kessler and his friends have agitated and started fights several times in the past themselves, I feel we can afford to be lenient this time.
"Besides," he continued with a smile, "My daughter made a very convincing case."
"Daughter?" I asked, surprised. Who…
Oh. Kind of obvious in hindsight, though it's not like "Black" is an uncommon last name, I thought to myself. Well damn, hooray for nepotism, I guess.
"She informed me that I would get more mileage out of the punishment with my choice of supervisor than by extending the length of your punishment, as I had originally planned on doing," he concluded.
"Wait, what?"
I will fucking kill her, I thought to myself as Colonel Mustard prattled on with the story of how he got a car that turns into a miniature submarine. If it were anyone whose voice was less headache-inducingly loud, I'd probably be enthralled. As it was, I was feeling more murderous than anything.
A knock at the door granted me temporarily relief. "Hmm? Who could that be?" the Colonel asked as he strode across the room to answer the door.
Hinata stood at the doorway. "Hello Colonel. I was hoping I could speak to Lucifer," she explained.
"Hmm? Well, I suppose I can allow it," the Colonel said, rubbing his chin. "Not too long, though, of course; I'm in the middle of a very riveting tale, and I'd hate to leave poor Mister Morgenstern in suspense!"
"Of course," she said with a nod.
She walked up to me. "Thank you."
"For what? Kicking Kessler's ass?"
"No; I could have easily done that myself if he had continued to be a nuisance," Hinata said casually, getting a chuckle out of me. "I want to thank you for refusing my offer of a match earlier."
"Uh… what?"
"What you said about your reasons – that you refused to give me the power to judge your worth as a warrior – it struck a chord with me," she explained. "I refuse to let bigots like Kesler decide my worth. It is part of why I'm here, training to become a Huntress."
I nodded. I could understand that motivation pretty well.
"But… somewhere along the line, I believe I may have lost sight of that," she admitted, staring down at her clasped hands. "At first, I sought out strong opponents simply to hone my skills, but as time went on, it became a way of trying to prove my worth to others."
Her amber eyes, which have been unfocused as though she were looking past me, became sharp and determined. "I would like to spar with you some time, Lucifer Morgenstern. Not to prove your worth, or mine, but because you seem like you might be an interesting challenge to overcome. Will you accept?"
"Eh, why not?" I replied with a shrug. "… Not right now, just to be clear."
"Of course," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Thank you. Both for accepting my challenge, and for refusing it."
"Well, it's nice to know just how inspiring I am and all, but you don't need to thank me," I replied. "Unless you have cash you feel like paying me with, in which case, feel free to thank me as much as you want."
"Well, I do not have much in the way of money, but I believe I have something that will be much more valuable to you at the moment," she said with a slight smile, holding out a hand.
"… You are officially my best friend here," I said breathlessly as I stared at the earplugs in her outstretched hand like they were made of gold.
