Here is the next redone chapter, thank you editor even if you and I both are stuck with midterms.

Cardin was a man on a mission.

Well, several missions to be exact, but they were all pointed towards his main goal. He was going to ask Velvet Scarlatina out on a date if it was the last thing he would ever do. But first, he had to deal with his teammates. How, he had no idea.

In the time it took Cardin to make it back to the dorm room, he had thought of a few ideas as to how he would patch up the rift he made with his team from his outburst. First, he would have to apologize to Russel for hitting him. Next, he would have to somehow get it across to his team that he has a thing for Velvet, and also get them to accept that.

Reaching team CRDL's room, he decided to knock a few times and wait for the door to open. Technically, he could just enter since it was his dorm too, but he felt it would be considerate to knock instead of just barging in on his teammates after what had transpired. Cardin was happy when the person who opened the door wasn't Russel or Sky, but rather Dove, who he hoped would act like his namesake and play mediator in this situation.

Dove gave Cardin a sympathetic look before glancing behind him and letting out a small sigh of frustration. "Cardin's back, he announced to the other two occupants of the room as he allowed Cardin to enter. Cardin stepped inside and was immediately on the receiving end of a dirty glare cast by Russel, and one of indifference from Sky. He noticed Russel using an icepack to nurse the black eye Cardin had given him.

"So . . . how are you guys doing?" Cardin asked casually, trying to initiate the conversation, but judging by the looks they gave him, none were amused. "Okay, so, I may have overreacted to a few things, blows were exchanged—"

"More like a blow," Russel cut him off angrily, scowling. Cardin cleared his throat to pull all attention back to himself.

"Anyway, I'm here to do two things. First, Russel, I'm sorry I punched you in the face," Cardin gestured to his teammate, offering a look of regret and attempting to sound apologetic in spite of thinking that Russel did in fact deserve that punch. Russel, however, simply rolled his eyes and went back to tending to his eye. That'll probably be the closest thing Cardin gets to acceptance from him for a while.

"Second, I have to tell you guys this. My feelings for Velvet aren't going to change no matter what you say or do." Cardin stood straight and crossed his arms defiantly, waiting to meet any objections from his team. Moments passed before Dove finally spoke.

"I can't speak for Sky or Russel, but I'm good with whatever you do," Dove assured him, giving Cardin a thumbs up, and Cardin smiled before turning to the rest of his team. Sky simply shrugged his shoulders quietly and Russel didn't say or do anything to indicate his feelings on the matter. Confident in his team's approval (or lack of clear disapproval), Cardin now had to deal with the matter of asking Velvet out, which up until now, he had no idea how he would go about it.

Wednesdays were always liked by Velvet. The middle of the school week always managed to put her mind at ease knowing that, in a few days, she would have two days of uninterrupted free time. For the most part, her week—and really the last couple of weeks—had been fairly good for her: she hadn't been tormented by Cardin and his goofs for a while and she could finally walk after being caught in that explosion. Best of all, she was doing oh so well in her classes (the detention she had received not withstanding).

Picking up all the things she need for class that day, she and the rest of her team headed out, ready to meet the day. Her first couple of classes were uneventful: a lecture from Professor Port, a sparring session (which she won!) from Professor Goodwitch, and a few other classes not worth mentioning.

It wasn't until her last class of the day with Professor Ooblecks that she was given a note. She never really received many notes during her time at Beacon, or really at any school she had been in. She's not even sure how it ended up on her desk; she didn't get a chance to see who delivered it. All she knew was while she was checking her backpack when class was dismissed, it had appeared on her desk. Normally she would throw something like this away but something on the face of the note caught her attention.

From the one who wishes to be near you.

That's what was written on it. She deciding to show it to her team back at the dorm, and she stuffed it in her backpack.

Her team was already mulling about the dorm room after Velvet had arrived. Coco was reading a magazine and not paying much attention to anything else; Yatsuhashi was sharpening his sword; and Fox was simply sleeping after a long day of class.

"So how was your day, Velvet?" Coco asked while turning a page, her eyes still glued to her magazine. Velvet shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, it was okay. I got a note from someone," she replied with nonchalance as she lay down in her bed. This caught Coco's attention, and the girl lowered her magazine and gave Velvet and inquisitive look.

"A note, huh? Who's it from?" she asked Velvet, giving her full attention to the rabbit Faunus. Velvet hated when she did this.

"I don't know, it just says 'From the one who wishes to be near you.' I'm not sure who that could be," Velvet admitted. Coco thought for a moment and spoke.

"Well, did you read it yet?" she questioned but Velvet shoot her head. Coco let out a short, snorting laugh.

"You received a note like that and didn't read it?" Coco cried out, startling Fox out of his sleep and getting Yatsuhashi's attention from his blade. Velvet sighed as she unfolded the note and read its contents.

Dear Velvet,

I am someone who has seen you from afar, and for a long time I never considered you much of an entity. Now, I look at you and my heart and mind are stuck on you. If you would meet me on the west roof of the academy at 11:00pm, I would be a happy person.

From the one who wishes to be near you.

Velvet stated at the letter and blushed lightly; this clearly caught Coco's attention because in one quick movement she had snatched the note from Velvet's hand and began reading it. She let out a small aww as she finished the letter.

"Wow. Whoever this is much have it bad for you, Velvet. So you going to meet them?" Coco asked excitedly, lowering her sunglasses to direct her stare at Velvet. The Faunus girl stuttered under the intense gaze as she tried to answer.

"I-I'm not sure, I mean . . . I could, but I'm not sure if it's a joke or not," Velvet stammered out as she tried to avoid her leader's gaze, but this only made the older girl laugh.

"Don't worry. We'll tail you, and if it looks fishy, we'll show whoever this is why it's not a good idea to mess with Team CFVY," Coco assured her. Velvet nodded silently, glancing at the clock on the wall to see it read 8:44pm. She had some time before she had to confront this person, whomever they were.

The few hours Velvet had to wait passed fairly quickly. A little too quickly for her taste, actually. While the time passed, she debated back and forth in her mind as to whether or not go to the meeting with this mystery person. On one hand, she would have her team with her in case it was some kind of cruel joke. But on the other hand, if it was a joke, she would still be made fun of by some person who decided to fake a love letter to her.

In the end, she decided to take her chances, and at 10:40pm, she, along with her team, snuck out of their dorm, wary of the night monitors, and made their way to the west roof of Beacon. Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi were hiding behind the door out of sight, a feat not easily achieved for the large and imposing Yatsuhashi.

Opening the door, Velvet could see only one person standing on the roof. The moonlight was slightly illuminating their form, and she could see a few features. They had red hair and broad shoulders, but apart from that she couldn't make out much of their face, as it was mostly turned from her.

"Um, are you the person who sent me the note?" Velvet asked tentatively. The unknown person turned around at the sound of her voice, revealing it to be the one person she dreaded it being: Cardin Winchester.

"I can't believe you came," Cardin said, sounding a little surprised, as he approached Velvet. His movement caused her to reel.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" she yelled in anger, startling him. He backed up at her reaction, his smile no longer present, but replaced with a worried frown. "You wrote me a love letter just to get me up here, didn't you? Are the rest of your goons around here too?" Her tone was dangerous as she walked up to him and poked his chest accusingly, her right hand beginning to glow with the activation of one of her many holographic weapons.

"No, no, I came alone and this isn't a trick," Cardin spat quickly in his defense, trying his best to refrain from further pushing Velvet's anger. Unfortunately, he seemed to be failing.

"Really? The person who tormented me for months on end now wants to confess his love for me?" she hissed, having reached her boiling point. Cardin had never seen her so angry and was now a little in fear of his life.

"It's the truth," he assured her, his hands raised defensively, trying to calm the enraged Faunus as best he could.

"And why should I believe you?" Velvet raised her glowing hand as she materialized God knows what.

"Honestly, I can't think of why you should," he admitted plainly, and this made Velvet hesitate for a second.

"What?" she asked, confused, and her weapon faltered.

"I don't have a reason why you should believe me. I know how this looks to you, a guy who bullied you since you got here now wants to date you," Cardin began awkwardly, looking into Velvet's eyes with a frown. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I deserve someone as pure as you, but trust me when I say this: I want to try to be the man worthy of your affections." His words were solemn. Velvet lowered her arm and deactivated her magic, meeting his eyes.

"When?" she asked simply. Cardin was caught off guard by the question.

"When what?"

"When did you . . . fall for me?" Cardin thought for a moment, trying to figure out the exact moment he had felt it.

"I guess it was a few days after I woke up from the dust explosion." He thought back to that time, how his mind was filled to the brim with nothing but her image, of her in that bed so frail and weak. "You were all that was on my mind—all I could think about. It wasn't until I talked to Jaune that I realized why." He approached her, slowly this time, and she didn't react like before.

"Velvet, you've been the only thing I could focus on for the past month besides school work. I see you in my dreams when I daydream. Velvet, I know I'm not the best man, and gods know you can do better than me, but I was hoping that maybe you'd like to go out with me?" He gave a small smile, hope in his eyes. Velvet's eyes traveled to the ground, but only for a moment before she turned back up to him, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Fine. I'll go out with you," she agreed. It took Cardin a moment to register the Faunus girl's words, but when he did he scooped her up into one of the largest hugs she'd ever received, second only to the bear hugs of Yatsuhashi. He spun her around and released a cry of joy.

"Thank you, Velvet. I promise you won't regret this," he said as he put her back on her feet. "If you want, we could go out this Saturday."

"I'd like that," she replied as she glanced back at her teammates, who waited eagerly for her returned.

"I'll . . . see you tomorrow," Velvet said as she departed, giving Cardin a smile before she went and joined up with her team.

"I can't believe he asked you out," Coco said in disbelief. If someone had told her one of the most devout Faunus haters in the school would have asked one out, she would have laughed them off the face of Remnant. But here she was talking about that very event.

"What's more, I'm surprised you accepted," Yatsuhashi said.

"Yeah, I am too, honestly. But I can at least give him a chance, I guess," she responded as the team made their way back to their dorm. When Velvet readied for bed, it fully dawned on her. She had agreed to a date on Saturday with Cardin Winchester. How and why, she did not know. But she knew she couldn't stand him up, considering the spectacle that happened last night. Letting out a sigh, Velvet wondered how much weirder the next couple of days could get.

To be continued.

So that ends this chapter for now, thank you thedankestofmemes you make my stories much better.

thedankestofmemes: B)