Chapter Seven

Emiya Shirou somehow managed to sleep after that happened, though it took him a while. Instead of dreaming about the fire, he dreamed that Ruby was using his lap as a pillow, and he was feeding her a big cake. She was smiling widely, they both were. She ate each piece with gusto, and the way her eyes light up and her cheeks stuffed with cake made his heart beat faster. It was weird. Really weird. The weirdest dream he had in all his life, by far.

He waked up sweating, but for different reasons that last night's nightmare. He sat up, and Ruby sleepily told him good morning, while screeching. Then, she yawned. All he could think about was that vivid dream. He blushed a little, and almost looked away from her. He told her good morning, trying to sound normal, but he didn't think he had quite managed that. Ruby probably didn't notice it only because she was still half-sleep. He didn't know how his brain had managed to cook up that dream, but he didn't want to know, either. It was too embarrassing. At that point, he was just glad nobody, let alone Ruby, would find out about it.

They went through their normal routine. He got in the bathroom to change clothes, and waited until he was given the all clear to get out. Everybody was preparing for the upcoming Vytal Festival, but still, there were classes. Professor Port still didn't change, which was infuriating. He hadn't come to Beacon to heard him ramble on and on, and barely teach them anything. The stories as of themselves were mildly educational, but it was impossible to tell when the lies began or if there was some truth to them in the first place. The classes, all in all, proceeded as normal. In the afternoon, he followed the girls to Vale, because Weiss wanted to go to the docks to greet the students that came from Vacuo to the festival.

The Vytal Festival was a symbol of peace and unity. It wasn't entirely true, far for it, but he had least could appreciate the idea behind it. Still, he didn't really have any interest in it. He followed the girls because he was kind of supposed to, since they were a team, but mostly because he liked all three of them-even Weiss- and he didn't have anything better to do. It was nice, though. The festival was still months away, but he liked seeing the people of Vale preparing to receive people from all over the world with a smile on their faces. It cheered him up.

And Weiss thought the same, apparently. She was smiling widely. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had barely seen her smiling since he knew her. Which was weird. But it only made him all the more glad that the festival existed, no matter what was the reason she was smiling. She should really smile more often. She had a nice smile. It was a shame that most of the time it was covered behind her cold exterior. They passed over a sign that read 'WELCOME TO VALE!'

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby said, and chuckled. "It's kinda weirding me out."

Weiss turned towards her. Despite of Ruby's comment, her smile didn't drop in the slightest. That was... really weird, actually.

"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" she turned again, and kept on walking.

"You know." Shirou said, smiling. "You are kind of cute, sometimes. You really should smile more often."

"Oh, quiet you!" she snapped, blushing. Oh, well. He hoped he hadn't pissed her off too baldly and ruined her good mood. It didn't take them long to reach the docks. Ruby made a gargling noise, and pinched her nose.

"It smells like fish."

"Well, what do you think it would smell like?" he said, but his attention was not on her, from once. He looked at Blake. It was small thing, really. Not worth considering. But she looked pleased by the smell, and that, along with his suspicious, made him think that perhaps she was really hidden something behind that bow: cat ears. He wondered what would he say to make things better for her, so she could hold her head high and proudly show what she was to the world. But there were no words for that. Blake didn't trust humanity, and that was with good reason. This wouldn't smooth over as easily as it had happened with Ruby. What was burned in Blake's heart... he didn't know, and he wouldn't never know.

"Yeah, yeah, but..." Ruby gagged. "It's disgusting. I don't know how you can stand it."

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine Kingdom!"

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake said.

Weiss merrily scoffed.

"You can't prove that." she said. But to him, those words were proof enough. Though it was rather weird. Isn't like she would learn much from watching them, and, in any case, it wasn't against the rules or anything, as far as he knew, so she didn't have no reason to hide it.

"Hey!" somebody screamed. "Stop that Faunus!"

Shirou tensed. Somebody needed help. He didn't know who was it, exactly, if the human or the Faunus, but he didn't care about it right now. He ran for it. The girls followed him. A monkey Faunus ran down the length of a boat, and leaped off the edge into a lamppost. He effortlessly landed on the top of it, in crouch.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" he said, and laughed. Shirou's hands clenched into fists, but he reminded himself that he didn't know the full story. He needed to get it out of it. If it turned out that he didn't have a good reason for what he had done, he would personally drag him back and make him pay the sailors.

"You no-good stowaway!" another sailor screamed. Like he hadn't heard him, the Faunus used his tail to hang on a lamppost in reverse while peeling a banana.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" he said, ate the banana in an instant, and then jumped out of the docks here and landed close to where they were. He ran for it. He was really fast, but Shirou could catch up to him. Even if it looked like he would get away from him, he could just used his sword's busters to get it. He took a step forward. As the Faunus passed near them, he turned his head and winked at Blake. That made him hesitate, for a second. Long enough for the monkey Faunus to get away.

"Damn." he said, then clucked his tongue. He didn't have the time to dwell on what that gesture meant. He had to catch up to him. He started running after him. The Faunus hadn't still turned the corner, so if he hurried he could still catch up. A few moments before he got there, he turned the corner. When he himself turned the corner, he was nowhere to be seen. He looked and looked, but he didn't catch even the smallest sight of it. Feeling stupid, he repeated: "Damn."

He heard the rest of his team stop behind him.

"He got away." Shirou said. "Damn."

"Don't worry, Shirou." Ruby said. "He's just hitched a ride without paying. It's not like he has killed anybody or something."

"I know, but still... I wanted to set things right, or at least understand the reason why he did it and if it was a good one, make his situation better. But now..."

"The reason?" Weiss interrupted. "That monkey-tailed rapscallion needs no reason. He just doesn't have a respect for what's proper. He thinks he can do whatever he wants because his kind is oppressed."

"Stop that!" Blake yelled.

"What?" Weiss yelled back, incredulity clear in her expression.

"He's not a rapscallion, he's a person!"

"Oh, sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" Weiss seemed to be ready to start snarling. The situation was getting more out of hand by the instant. No, to be honest, it looked unsalvageable already. He could hardly believe things had been going so well a few minutes before.

"Stop it!"

"He clearly broke the law. You can't argue with that. He's just..."

"Okay, okay!" Shirou cut her off, before she could say something nasty. "Let's calm down. We're a team. We've to stick together. This... This is just not good."

"Then make her understand she's nothing but a spoiled brat!" Blake demanded.

"How da..." Weiss looked absolutely murderous. This was no good. No good at all.

"Blake!" he suddenly screamed, to shut Weiss up. "I know, okay? I know why you're so worked up over this, but you have to understand each other. Do you think she's being deliberative malicious?"

"Y-you know? S-Since when?"

"Since that whole mess with Cardin. But anyway, that's not the important thing here. Just... She has reasons for it. I don't know if they are good reasons, or what reasons she has to begin with, but that she has them is obvious. Please. I'm not asking you to agree, but at least try to come to an understanding. It all would be easy, if you only told them..."

"Tell us what?" Ruby interrupted, frowning. "Wait, Blake, you..." she cut herself off. Her expression turned downcast. She had realized it quickly, of course. He expected nothing less from her. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because of people like her!" Blake screamed, pointing at Weiss.

"What do you meant by that? Wait. A-are you saying you're a Faunus?"

"Yes." Blake hissed, and tore off her bow, just like that, revealing the cat ears beneath. "Yes, Weiss. I'm a Faunus."

"...Fine. I understand why would you be offended. He's a person. I get it. I get it, okay? But he's a criminal! How the fuck can you justify that?!"

"You don't know his circumstances. You don't know shit about him. You can't judge him just because he's a Fanous."

"All I need to know is that he did it. Do you think I'm going to cry if he turns up to have a sob story? Criminals are criminals."

"You're scum." Blake spat out, absolutely murderous. "Just like Cardin."

Okay. If things hadn't been unsalvageable before, they were now. He wanted to find the right words to stop both of them, but even if he suddenly became smooth and suave, he couldn't fix this by himself. This was a problem between the two of them, and until they came to an understanding, at the very least, nothing would change.

"Please, stop this!" Ruby screamed. They acted like they didn't heard her. Or worse, they were so caught between themselves that they didn't heard her for real.

"Don't compare me to him! He pushed a Faunus girl around that didn't nothing wrong! I've reasons. Shirou was right in that. Want me to tell you?" Weiss asked. "Well, I'm gonna do it anyway. The White Fang has been in war with my family for years. And by war, I do meant war. I couldn't do nothing but watch my family and my friends disappear. And for what? Because some idiots thought the best solution to stop their oppression would be banding together and whipping humanity off the face of the earth. Are you telling me you stand being that?"

"No! For fuck's sake!" she yelled, frustrated. "I'm only trying to get through your thick head that people like you are the cause of so many Faunus joining the White Fang. That they have their circumstances, their stories, their reasons. But whatever. Doesn't matter. You don't care about nothing but yourself, and I... I'm already sick of your bullshit."

She put her bow back on, turned away and started to run. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her back.

"Let me go."

"No, you are not going anywhere. We're teammates. Like it or not, we've to stick together."

"...Fine."

He didn't move an itch.

"I said fine!" she screamed. Shirou slowly took his hand out of her arm. She didn't move. She didn't even twitch.

"Good." he whispered. "Good. You've made the right choice."

"You better hope you're right." she whispered back.

They made the walk back to Beacon in silence, their original purpose for coming here completely set aside. Ruby looked absolutely distraught, which only hurt him all the more. Damn. When he thought that the cause of all this was that they had heard that, by mere coincidence... no, he couldn't think like that. The problem would have surfaced eventually, regardless if that hadn't happened or if that monkey Faunus hadn't done that. They had just suddenly been forced to dealt with it now instead of later.

They went straight to the room. The hallway was empty, so there wasn't any danger of somebody stopping to listen in at that moment. He closed the door, and locked it behind him. Weiss sighed as she brought a hand to her head.

"Look." she said, slowly. "I've had quite a lot time to think about this, and yes, you're right. Most probably have a good reason to join the White Fang. Doesn't change that what they are doing is wrong, but I guess I can understand it. A little."

Shirou was astonished. In a good way. He had never expected her to get over Blake's words in that short of a time, without any kind of 'coaching', but she had. He let out a breath he hadn't even know he had been holding.

"I suppose that's enough." Blake said, her tone calm.

"Well, good." Weiss muttered, and huffed. "Because you wouldn't never make me think otherwise. In any case, I'm still a bit... upset you didn't trust us about it. Hiding it from the school I understand, but that you couldn't trust your own teammates is... well, doesn't bode well. But it doesn't matter. We can put that behind us. And I understand that seeing all that you had to see, you wouldn't want to risk it. So we're even. Now, if you excuse me, I going to bed. This day has been exhausting."

"That's great!" Ruby shouted, while stepping between them. "Now," she held out her arms to the side. ", team hug!"

"Don't push it." Weiss curtly replied.

Too late. They all hugged her, squeezing her between their three bodies. It was sort of weird, but it was the good kind of weird. The only persons he really felt close were Kiritsugu and Taiga Fujimura. He did get along with Sakura, and Shinji too, more or less. But in the end he had kept them at arm's length. So couldn't really be said he had friends. But... he was starting to realize that these three girls weren't friends, either.

To him, they were his family.

The image he had in front of him right now, of the three of them being happy and smiling... if nothing else, he would protect that for sure.

No matter what he had to do.