Author's Note: I realize I'm making a lot of comparisons to Arima right now, but there's a good reason why, I promise. See an authors at the end for more details.

Music: I've sorta decided that maybe I should stop recommending music ... just because I feel like it interrupts the flow of the story. Let me know what you guys think on this; happy to abide by whatever your guys wishes are! :D

Additionally: Daily reminder to check out ghoul_edits (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... will represent a TIME BREAK

Bold text will represent GHOUL VOICE
Italics will represent INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves
Underline will be used for EMPHASIS

Mandatory Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor do I own any of the music. In fact, I own nothing xD.

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Chapter 3: The Budding Rose

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Moments after Jaune's fight ended, Ruby and Shinohara stood across the battle grounds, facing one another. Ruby, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was fighting a Special Class Investigator, was still picking at the mark on her weapon, genuinely sad over the blemish.

"Ruby!" Shinohara cried. "We'll begin whenever you're ready. You can have the first move!"

Sighing, Ruby crouched into a fighting position. Oh? Shinohara thought to himself. From that stance, it would appear she's had some instruction from an investigator, or perhaps former investigator by the looks of it.

"I just wanna say for the record, that I feel really bad attacking a defenseless opponent," Ruby said, blushing slightly. "Are you sure you don't wanna take out your weapon?"

Shinohara grinned confidently. "Oh don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Clutching her scythe, Ruby steeled herself and charged straight towards her opponent. Shinohara immediately rolled his eyes. What is it with these kids and frontal attacks? Doesn't she know that's not gonna work-

The investigator's train of thought was interrupted mid-sentence as Ruby disappeared, leaving a trail of roses. Where did she-

Shinohra gasped as Ruby appeared in front of him, knocking him backwards with the tail end of her scythe. Coughing, the investigator dropped to one knee.

"Ah no, I overdid it!" Ruby exclaimed, running over to her opponent.

"No, I'm fine," he responded. Shinohara dusted off his suit and got up from the ground. What … happened? he asked himself.

The Special Class' eyes narrowed as he looked at the opponent before him. She moved so quickly, it looked as though she disappeared for a second!

Shinohara grimaced. He was certain that if he used his Quinque, he would be able to win fairly handily, but nonetheless the girl's skill had impressed him.

"That was an excellent move, Ruby," he said. Ruby blushed at his praise. "U-um, thanks Mr. Shinohara. I hope I didn't injure you!" she responded.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," he said. And he wasn't bluffing - if there was one thing Shinohara was good at, it was enduring hits and outlasting his opponent. The man was by no means quick, nor clever, but he was strong and experienced, which had won him countless victories on the battlefield. And now, after that first attack, he understood his opponent's abilities much better, so he would easily be able to counterattack the second time around.

Or, so he thought.

Once again, faster than he could follow, Ruby appeared at his side and slashed at him with Crescent Rose. This time, Shinohara was able to block the blow, but only just barely. Ruby proceeded to execute a series of slashes, aimed at Shinohara's chest, which Shinohara was only barely able to dodge. After the 9th or 10th strike, Ruby withdrew and gracefully jumped backwards.

I still can't get a read on her, he said to himself. Normally, he wouldn't be afraid of such an opponent, since usually fast opponents could do little to no damage to him by virtue of his strong build, but Ruby was SO fast that he doubted he could ever actually land a hit on her. And he was reluctant to take out his weapon, both for his own pride, and because he still believed that he could defeat her bare-handed.

"You aren't going to attack me?" Shinohara said to her.

Ruby's head perked up at his remark. "Oh … well, you seemed pre-occupied with something, so I didn't want to interrupt!" she said cheerfully.

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. If only we had more people like her in the CCG. Then, perhaps going to work everyday wouldn't be so morbid.

Crouching again into a fighting position, Shinohara said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm ready now, so come at me whenever you wish."

Ruby nodded. This time, she appeared at his left side, slashing at her target's arm. Shinohara predicted the attack, and looked for an opening in her technique to exploit, but to his dismay there was none. She slashed again, this time at his left arm, but once again Shinohara could do nothing but dodge her attack.

Again, and again, Ruby slashed at her opponent, inflicting more than a few minor bruises on her opponent. Shinohara could see that it pained her to hurt a comrade, but still she pushed through.

The sun began to set, as their battle raged on into the evening.

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This feeling, Shinohara thought to himself. Something about it is … familiar. It's almost as though this isn't my first time fighting Ruby.

The Special Class frowned. Obviously that was impossible, since he and Ruby had never met before.

So why, then? Why does this exchange feel so familiar?

The answer hit him like a rock.

This sensation he was feeling right now, was the exact same he had felt on a day nearly 10 years ago, long before his promotion to Special Class. The very day he had met and sparred with none other than-

KISHOU ARIMA.

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Ruby felt … INCREDIBLE. She wasn't sure how, or why, but for whatever reason she felt stronger than she ever had before. Perhaps the fact that she was fighting an officer of the CCG had energized and motivated her. Or, perhaps it was that she had finally begun to mature as a fighter. Being only 15 years old, she had an inherent disadvantage compared to others at the school due to her age, but as she grew older, Ruby knew that gap would begin to fade.

Or, perhaps it was just that she really wanted to see Shinohara's weapon.

Her teammates watched in awe as she struck at her opponent again and again, relentlessly. "Weiss," Yang said, eyes glued to the battle in front of her. "When did Ruby get … this STRONG?" she asked.

"I don't know," her friend responded, eyes wide. Granted they hadn't seen Ruby fight a truly powerful opponent in quite some time, but even still it was hard to believe that Ruby was improving so quickly.

Shinohara jumped back abruptly, earning a questioning glance from his opponent and the spectators. I can't win without my weapon, he stated bluntly. Because this girl before me, isn't just a prodigy … she's the future of the CCG!

"Juuzou," he called, signaling his subordinate. From the sidelines, Juuzou tossed Shinohara a briefcase. Ruby's eyes widened. "Is that …"

"Yeah, it's my Quinque," he said to her. Opening the suitcase, he pulled out what appeared to be a massive butcher knife, much to Ruby's delight. Both her, as well as her partner's eyes sparkled with barely suppressed glee, and even Yang seemed impressed by the weapon before her.

"This, is my weapon - Demon Yamada 1, forged from the remains of an S class ghoul." Shinohara's eyes narrowed. He truly believed he would be able to beat his opponent now, with his weapon in hand, but he had made the mistake of underestimating Ruby once before, and he wasn't about to do so again.

Ruby could barely contain her excitement as she rushed at her opponent. This time, instead of dodging, Shinohara met her attacks head on, blocking them with his Quinque. Immediately, much to Ruby's dismay, the fight turned in the veteran's favor, with him blocking each and every one of Ruby's strikes, and scoring a few hits of his own.

Ruby, however, never faltered. She was having too much fun, too enamored with her opponents weapon and how it clashed with her own.

I think it's time I took it up a notch, she said to herself.

Shinohara's eyes widened as the speed of Ruby's attacks increased, if that was even possible. She struck at the right and left sides of his body almost simultaneously, forcing him to use his Quinque as a makeshift shield.

She's too fast, he thought to himself. Damnit … I really didn't want to do this, but it looks like I've got no choice!

Steeling himself, Shinohara raised his Quinque, and struck Crescent Rose as hard as he could. Ruby, who somehow managed to realize what he was trying to do at the last second, desperately tried to retract her Quinque, but to no avail. The two blades clashed in a brutal collision, jarring both combatants.

More importantly, however, the force was far too much for Crescent Rose, and a crack appeared down the weapon. Ruby's eyes widened in dismay as the crack grew larger and larger, until-

The blade of her weapon shattered into pieces.

NO! she yelled inwardly, falling to her knees. "My Crescent Rose!" she said, tears gathering in her eyes.

Shinohara winced at her reaction. That's two Quinques shattered in one day … and from the looks of it, this one isn't gonna be salvageable. Shinohara put a hand behind his head and sighed. I guess we'll just have to reforge it then.

Ruby's crying got louder and louder until it became a full-out bawl. Yang facepalmed. If there was one thing you should never do to Ruby, it was breaking her weapon.

Shinohara cleared his throat, and kneeled next to her. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll personally reforge it for you and make it stronger than ever before, that's a promise. I had fun in our fight, Ruby."

At this, Ruby's tears abated somewhat, and she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "Th-thank you, Mr. Shinohara. I had fun too!" she sniffed.

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After spending a few minutes consoling Ruby, Shinohara walked over to a nearby bench and he sat down. He began tending to some of the cuts on his body. That girl sure is ruthless when she wants to be, he said to himself.

Looking out to the sky, Shinohara fell into deep thought. He had a lot on his mind after fighting with Weiss, Jaune, and Ruby.

Each time they visited Academies like Beacon, Investigators were tasked not only with inspiring students and educating them about the lives of CCG operatives, but also with finding any students who showed what Chairman Tsuneyoshi had described as, "special potential." The old man's definition of what "special potential" was had gone completely over his head, but there was one thing that Shinohara was certain of: whatever it was, Weiss, Ruby, and even Jaune to some degree had shown it on the battlefield.

So, protocol dictated that he offer them the opportunity to graduate early, and begin working for the CCG - an environment in which their talents would be better nurtured. Shinohara was certain that Weiss would benefit from getting more hands on experience with Quinques, and if Jaune was to truly lead the CCG someday, then he would need to enter the organization as soon as possible,

Ruby, however, he wasn't so sure about.

Not because of her skills, or her demeanor, or anything else, really. She would make a fine investigator, and under normal circumstances, he would have recruited her in a heartbeat. There was only one, slight problem.

"Weiss, Jaune," he said, walking over to the group of youths, who were apparently discussing something embarrassing, since Weiss' face had turned redder than a tomato, and Ruby's face was similarly colored.

"Y-yes Special Class?" Weiss asked.

"I would like the two of you to meet me in your headmaster's office tomorrow at 11:00 am sharp. Does that sound okay?"

Weiss' eyes widened, and Jaune gaped at the investigator's request. He wants to ... meet with us? But why?!

"Well, does that work?" he asked, somewhat irritated. Not at his recruits, of course, but rather at the entire … situation.

"Yes, sir!" they replied simultaneously.

Yang snickered, before remarking, "Well would ya look at that, you two are actually on the same page for once. At this rate who knows, maybe you'll end up dating!"

Weiss' faced turned red for what must have been the 5th time that day, as she turned her head and gave a flustered, "Hmph."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Shinohara," Jaune said. He was so happy, he'd barely noticed Yang's snide remark. "I could never have imagined that I'd be able to fight against and learn from someone of your caliber ever in my lifetime. It means more to me than I could ever express in words," he said, bowing before the superior officer. Shinohara nodded, and with that the group began to walk away.

"Wait," he said, stopping them. "Ruby … May I ask you something?" Ruby nodded, clenching her fists.

"How old are you?"

Ruby hesitated. Not because she didn't know her own age, obviously, but because she had an idea of why the Special Class was asking her.

"15," she said.

Shinohara's face fell. There was no way, no way in HELL that he could expose a 15 year old to the horrors of the Ghoul world.

In fact, he almost wished that she hadn't been such a prodigy. He wished, with all his heart and soul, that the kind girl he had fought today would for whatever reason NOT join the CCG, and never become and investigator. Perhaps she could become a nurse, or a doctor, or do something else she enjoyed, and live a happy life with her sister, and the rest of her family, instead of falling prey to the insanity that was the war between humans and ghouls.

…

…

It was just too bad, that something like that was NEVER going to happen.

Author's Note

Okay first thing I wanna clarify, is that although they were close in this fight, Ruby is nowhere NEAR Shinohara's level. With his armor, Shinohara would destroy Ruby. I would put Ruby at about the level of a Rank 2 investigator for now, which is really strong for a 15 year old, if you think about it. Arima was rank 2 into his 20s if I'm not mistaken. Weiss I'd say is Rank 3 level, and Jaune probably below Rank 3 in terms of fighting ability, but he makes up for it with other characteristics. Yang is slightly stronger than Weiss, probably at Rank 2 level.

Alright, now I need to address all this Arima business. I realize I'm really pushing the Arima comparisons, but let me try and give you an idea of what I'm trying to do. So, Arima is basically the strongest CCG investigator, and he essentially represents the strength and power of the CCG. The whole point of the past 2 chapters is to show that Weiss has inherited Arima's intellectual ability (at least, when it comes to Quinques), and Ruby has inherited Arima's skills. The two of them together therefore are symbolic of Arima's skills, and thus the future of the CCG. That's the reason for these comparisons.

Otherwise, that's pretty much all I have to say, so thanks as always for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter! :D

Review Responses:

Tee888: So first of all, thanks SO Much for the reviews. Really means a lot :). Also "Uta and Cinder kappa" summed up my thoughts exactly xD. Also feel free to use the same cover picture as me; it's not like I own it anyways, lol xD. Happy to provide you with a link if you pm me :) (since I can't provide a link here, dammit :( ). Thanks for the continued support! :D