Fox casually strolled down the hallway to his dorm. His left hand held a roll of newspapers while his right carried the cardboard cup holder containing his team's morning dose of caffeine. Coco had ordered a double-shot macchiato, Yatsuhashi got an oolong tea, Velvet wanted a hot chocolate with some marshmallows sprinkled in, and Fox himself had simply stuck to black coffee. As he strolled past Team VTRY's dorm, Fox idly wondered if any of them were awake yet. Coco had insisted on her team waking up fairly early, at six o'clock, classes wouldn't even start for another three hours.
"Plenty of time for us to get a quick workout before class." Coco had stated as she set the alarm the night before. Personally Fox felt that he, Yatsuhashi, and the boys of VTRY had gotten enough of a workout lugging all of her stuff around Vale, but she was the team leader. And Fox couldn't fault her desire for CFVY to be the strongest of the freshman teams.
Pausing to readjust his grip on the papers, Fox slipped inside their dorm to find Coco laying out her uniform for after the workout, Yatsuhashi sat in a corner meditating. Both were dressed for their workout, with Coco in a black and brown tracksuit and Yatsuhashi in simple sweats. Velvet was still on her bed, curled in a ball under her sheets. Instead of splitting the room into fourths like VTRY, CFVY had opted for dividing the room in half, with Coco and Velvet's beds residing along the western wall, and Fox and Yatsuhashi's along the eastern wall. The desks were all lined up at the northern wall, with the two bookshelves resting on either side of the door at the southern wall.
Silently, Fox crossed the room and placed the cup holder and papers on one of the desks. When Coco and Yatsuhashi came over, he handed them their drinks and the section of the paper they wanted. Yatsuhashi took the puzzles, and Coco took the fashion articles. When Velvet failed to come get her hot chocolate, Fox gave his teammates a questioning look.
"I just didn't have the heart to wake her." Coco said as she sipped her macchiato, "She's just too adorable when she's asleep." Fox only raised an eyebrow as Coco asked him to wake Velvet up.
"Sure." Fox replied before muttering under his breath, "Make me the bad guy why don't ya." Hot chocolate in hand, Fox walked over to Velvet's bed and gently nudged the pile of blankets the faunus was sleeping under. A few moments passed before Velvet poked her head out from under the blankets, her long brown hair a mess, and her bunny ears pointing in opposite directions.
"Five more minutes Fox." she groaned as she tried to pull the blanket back over her head. Fox grabbed ahold of the blanket and gently pulled it away. Like the others Velvet was dressed for the oncoming workout, wearing loose fitting athletic shirt and shorts. She slowly sat up as Fox held out her cup of hot chocolate.
"Drink before the marshmallows melt." Fox advised when she took the cup from his hand.
"Thank you Fox." Velvet said quietly as she sipped her drink. Fox simply nodded before he stalked back to the desks and looked at the international section of the news.
'Faunus Slaughterhouse In Mistral!' The primary headline read. 'The normally quiet town of Beru was shocked this morning by a grizzly scene found at the residence of one, Edward Niobe. Nine severed faunus heads were discovered on Niobe's front porch by Howard Reese, who was out for his morning jog. Authorities have been unable to identify the names of the deceased, nor have they been able ascertain the location of Mr. Niobe, who is at this moment the primary suspect. Edward Niobe is a human male, approximately forty to forty-five years old, light skinned with dark hair. Please refer to an artist's renditioning of Mr. Niobe on page five for more details. If you see this man do not confront him, but contact your local authorities. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Additionally an apple with a letter carved into it was shoved into the mouth of each of the victims, spelling…'
BOOM!
"AAAGGGHHHH!" the loud scream tore Fox from his article. The rest of his team all looked up from their activities as well. As one they rushed to the door and peeked outside. Roland stood just outside his door, wearing a tank top and his pajama bottoms, covered head to toe in soot, still dazed from whatever had happened to him. Cautiously Fox followed Coco as she led the team to Roland's side, his teammates were already by him. Other students were also coming out of their dorms to investigate the disturbance.
"What happened here?" Coco asked, slowly waving a hand in front of Roland's face to see if he could react. Roland blinked in response to the wave and slowly turned to face his teammates.
"Yuri." the gunslinger started, his fists clenching and unclenching. "What did you say that Asagi girl looked like?" Yuri described the girl he'd met the day before, short, lightly tanned skin, shoulder length orange hair and almond shaped light orange eyes. "Alright, good to know. This was an act of war, and I will not rest until I get that little varmint back." With his declaration of revenge still hanging in the air, Roland spun on his heel and retreated back into his dorm. The rest of VTRY looked around nervously for any sign of their prankster.
"See you guys later." Vincent said as they retreated to the safety of their dorm.
"You guys have Professor Oobleck at nine too right?" Velvet asked.
"Yeah we'll see you there." Teresa responded before gently shutting the door, leaving CFVY and the others in the hallway. None of them noticed the giggling troublemaker, peering at her handy work from around the corner.
Velvet's body was quite sore from the morning workout Coco had them run. It had started with a two mile run around the academy for a warmup. From there she had the team do a solid thirty minutes of squats, crunches, push ups, leg lifts, and lunges, with only a few seconds of rest between sets. After that she lead them to the weight room where for the next forty minutes or so she had them lift until Velvet was dead certain that her arms were about to pop off. The hot shower she took afterwards did little to ease the pain.
However despite the soreness of her muscles, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Vincent she watched him frantically try to keep pace with Oobleck's insane teaching speed. Vincent's pencil blazed across his notebook almost as fast as Oobleck zoomed around his classroom, pausing only long enough to sip his coffee. She, along with the rest of the class, had given up trying to take notes about five minutes in after their teacher had in the course of those minutes gone over what must've been forty five minutes worth of material.
"Professor Oobleck?" Velvet called out while raising her hand. She blinked and suddenly found Oobleck right next to her, peering into her brown eyes through his glasses.
"Dr. Oobleck please Ms. Scarlatina." he corrected her, "I didn't earn my Phd. for fun I'll have you know."
"Sorry, Dr. Oobleck." Velvet continued, "Could you please slow down a bit? It's a little hard to keep up with you." Oobleck looked around the classroom and noticed that most of his students were looking like they were having trouble following him.
"Of course. My apologies class, it seems that I was a smidge too excited when I started." Oobleck said as he zipped back down to the chalkboard. "Can one of you please tell me where to start again?"
The room was silent for a moment as nobody wanted to tell him that they had practically no idea what the hell he had been talking about prior to Velvet's interruption.
"Could you start at the discovery of Dust and how man utilized it to fight against the Grimm?" Vincent called out, "That's about where you lost us."
"Very well, thank you Mr. Helsing. Now legends state that the discovery of the material we call Dust was in…"
Velvet smiled as she saw Vincent visibly relax as Oobleck continued his lesson at a much more reasonable speed. The strawberry blonde leader of team VTRY glanced back at Velvet and nodded his thanks before he returned to taking his notes. Notes that Velvet was sure the entire class would be asking to copy.
"My god that man can talk fast." Coco commented as they walked out of the classroom an hour later. "Poor Vincent looked like he was about to have a meltdown." she added, gently prodding the boy in his ribs.
"I just couldn't keep up with him." Vincent confessed, seemingly still in mild shock. "That's never happened to me before." There was a brief moment of awkward silence as the eight of them continued down the hallway for their next class.
"You gonna be alright buddy?" Roland asked, placing a comforting hand on the shoulder of his traumatized teammate.
"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine." he stammered before looking over to Velvet. "Thanks again for getting him to slow down a bit Velvet."
"You're welcome." she replied, smiling as she noticed something, "Hey Terri, where's your bag?"
"Huh? Oh crap. Must've left it in Oobleck's class." Teresa grumbled, "I'll be right back."
"Do want us to accompany you?" Yatsuhashi inquired.
"No thanks, you guys go on ahead." Teresa responded as she rounded a corner, "I'll catch up with you in Professor Peach's cla… AAAAIIIIIEEEE!"
At the sound of Teresa's scream, Velvet and the others rushed around the corner to see Teresa, hanging upside down, a corded rope tied around one ankle. Her hands pulled at the hem of her skirt to keep herself modest. The boys of Team VTRY were quick to get her down, with Yuri holding on to her while Roland boosted Vincent up to untie her ankle. As they worked to get her down, an evil, malicious cackling echoed throughout the hallway.
"Two down, two to go." Asagi's voice taunted them from seemingly all directions.
"Roland, you just gained an ally in your quest for vengeance." Teresa seethed as she and the gunslinger continued to Oobleck's classroom to get her bag back.
"So do either of you two know who her next target is?" Coco asked, taking a conspicuous step away from Yuri and Vincent.
Vincent merely shrugged while Yuri answered, "I'm more curious as to how the hell she sets up these traps so quickly."
Yatsuhashi sipped his afternoon tea in silence as the din of the mess hall buzzed around him as he looked over the notes Vincent had taken during Oobleck's and Peach's classes. The man was a rather diligent note taker, copying down the instructor's lesson verbatim while adding thoughts and commentaries in the margins. Though his notes from Oobleck's class were, understandably, a bit more rushed and messy. Across from him Roland sat plotting his revenge on Asagi. The rest of the group were all standing in the lunch line.
"Alright so here's the plan." Roland disclosed, "Teresa will string the target up with her whip, then I'll start taking pot shots at her with some rubber bullets."
"That might be going a bit too far Roland." Yatsuhashi objected as he placed his tea on the table. "You should just let it go."
"You're only saying that because she hasn't gotten to you yet." Roland countered, "Just you wait, when she moves on from my team to yours, you'll be wanting revenge as well."
"Revenge is a poison that often kills the poisoner as well." Yatsuhashi quoted, "My father taught me that lesson."
"Yeah well my pa taught me to get even, then to take some interest." the gunslinger informed him, pointing his fork at Yatsuhashi's chest. Yatsuhashi smirked at his new friend's words.
"I don't think our fathers would get along at all." he stated.
"Probably not." Roland agreed, "My pa made it a habit of his to piss off just about everyone he ever met. Hell, to hear him say it, my ma takes a 'shoot on sight' approach if she even thinks she'll run into him."
"You're parent's don't get along?" Yatsuhashi asked, profoundly troubled by the revelation.
"From what I hear. I wouldn't know. I've never met her" Roland informed him.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Yatsuhashi said. "Must be hard."
"What must be hard?" Velvet asked as she and the rest of the group joined them at the table.
"Oh Yatsu and I were just discussing how best to get back at Asagi." Roland informed the group, giving Yatsuhashi a look that all but screamed, 'Not a word.'
"And how's that going?" Vincent asked taking a seat between Roland and Yuri.
"Roland wants to string her up with Teresa's whip and shoot her with rubber bullets." Yatsuhashi told them. Both Vincent and Yuri raised an eyebrow at the suggested revenge, Coco only had one word in response.
"Harsh."
"I'm in." Teresa stated, "She needs to learn that one doesn't simply anger a Belmonte of Atlas."
"Or a Harker." Roland threw in, holding his fist out for Teresa to bump with her own.
"Hey could you pass the salt please?" Vincent asked holding out an open palm. Yatsuhashi handed over the salt shaker before returning to his tea. "Thank you." As Vincent went to add a light sprinkle of salt to his soup, the lid fell off and the entire container poured into his lunch. Everyone just stared, open mouthed, as Vincent just looked at his ruined meal. The Helsing said nothing as he calmly put the empty salt shaker down and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the salt.
"You know compared to the other stuff she's been doing today, that seemed a little disappointing." he commented as he unfolded the paper and read aloud. "Look up."
As one all eight of them looked up just in time to see two large buckets tip over and spill their contents. Yatsuhashi and the others could only watch as both Vincent and Yuri had several gallons of water spill on them. The water splashed all over the group but the bulk of it drenched the two of them. The two, now waterlogged members of VTRY sat perfectly still as Asagi's triumphant laughter reached their ears.
Coco held her hands to her mouth, partly to wipe away the water that had splashed her, mostly to hide her smile at the misfortune of her friends, as she and the others all turned to face the source of the laughter.
'Wow, Yuri wasn't kidding. She really is tiny.' she thought upon seeing the little orange haired prankster. Asagi was happily strolling towards them, her hands resting behind her head, a wide smile playing across her face.
"Alright, eight for the price of two." she crowed before sitting at their table, across from her victims. Coco had to admit, the girl had guts. "So allow me to properly introduce myself. Asagi Yamabuki, Prank Mistress Supreme of Beacon Academy, and I must I am impressed with how well you guys are handling yourselves these first couple of days. I told Malcolm, that's my partner, that we had some good students this year. I mean, when you guys were all about to jump to that mouse boy's defence, hoo, I think my heart skipped a few beats."
"So naturally you decided to prank us all." Vincent stated, his tone was neutral, but Coco could sense some danger in his voice. Yuri's face was just as neutral, but again Coco noticed the slight twitch in his amber eyes. The threatening looks on Roland and Teresa's faces however were much more obvious.
"It's what I do." Asagi replied, seemingly ignorant of the potential danger she was in. "I prank people to get a feel for them."
Coco watched as Vincent calmly folded his hands on the table. "Well I defend my friends. And you Asagi, Mistress of Pranks, have 'attacked' three of mine. You know what I have to do now right?"
Asagi's smile widened as she nodded. "Oh I knew I would like you guys." she then turned to Coco and her team, "Will you be joining in on the fun?"
Coco cast a sidelong glance to Vincent who met her eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Coco then looked to her teammates before meeting Asagi's light orange eyes with her own chocolate brown ones.
"Get her." Coco ordered. In a flash all nine of them were on their feet, the eight members of Teams CFVY and VTRY chasing the lone Asagi Yamabuki, who just laughed as she led them on a merry chase.
The few days at Atlas Academy were always trying. The new teams had to be made, schedules adjusted to, classes introduced, etcetera, etcetera. Winter Schnee didn't really mind, it was all just a bit tiring. So all in all she felt perfectly within her rights to want to take her sword and stab it through her scroll the instant it started buzzing. But alas, she was a professional, so she restrained herself and picked up the annoying little device. Upon checking the caller ID, Winter's frown only deepened as she read the name assigned to the number.
Bastard.
"What do you want Harker?" Winter demanded after answering the call.
"Whoa, nice to hear from you too Ice Queen." the hitman's voice extolled, "Did I catch you at a bad time?" Winter had to stop herself from informing the man that any time was a bad time whenever he was involved. She knew it would only encourage him.
"Why did you call?" she asked, forcing her voice to be a little gentler. His answer came in an infuriating, sing song tone.
"Just wanted to say hi to my favorite Schnee, ask you to tell Rosalyn that her son made it into Beacon, inform you that the White Fang tried to hire me to kill you and your family. You know small, not important things."
"I'm assuming that the key word for that last statement was 'tried'." Winter guessed, already knowing she was correct.
"Yep," he confirmed, "I wouldn't worry too much about them right now though."
Winter could barely contain her annoyance at the hitman's blitheness. "Oh really, cause a large, international terrorist group targeting my entire family seems like exactly the kind of thing I should be worried about."
"Normally you'd be right, but I'm pretty sure that right now their boss is much more interested in putting me in the ground than you guys. I assume you heard about what happened in Anima? A small town called Beru?"
"Yeah, nine faunus heads with apples shoved in their mouths lined up on a front porch." Winter recalled from her morning reports, "So that was you?"
"Yep and I left a little message for the guy who sent those amateurs after me." William laughed.
"You called a leader of the White Fang a pedophile?" Winter asked, not really believing that even William would go that far.
"To his face, several times." the man happily responded, "So I imagine he'll be focusing his efforts on shutting me up as fast as possible before he moves on to you and yours. You're welcome."
Winter sighed as she could already feel the regret coming, "Do you need any help disappearing?"
"You offering me safe haven at your place?" William's voice appealed. Winter could just imagine the bastard's face. "Thank's but I already have something planned, just need to get some of the finer details down before execution… which by the way is what Rosalyn would try to do to me if I dared show up in Atlas."
At the mention of his ex, Winter felt the need to ask, "Did you have anything you wanted me to pass on to her?"
There was a long pause before William spoke again. "Yeah, please tell that she's a rotten cu..."
AN: And there's chapter 7. Sad as it is to say, those pranks were a lot harder to write than I thought they would be. As always I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm curious to see if anyone can guess what William's plans for laying low are. I'll see you guys next time... kind of... cause you know I can't actually see any of you guys but... you know what, you get the idea. Enjoy.
Asagi Yamabuki is a character submitted by Harukawa Ayame.