AN: So, finally got this out. Longest chapter yet!
Hope you all had a happy new year, I did!
Glad to hear the Malachite twin's interaction and the Sasuke alcohol thing I wrote were well received- those was my favorite scenes to write by far.
Kaioo: I know it's not impossible to be over six feet when you're sixteen or seventeen, I was six foot one when I was that age. But in my personal opinion RWBY overdoes it, and not for any meaningful reason from what I can tell. I just changed it as a personal preference on my part, I guess.
KnightofZaku: You might have to wait to see if you're right on those predictions, but you might like the first part of this chapter.
Danish78: Thanks for the positive reinforcement with the sealing and club scenes- I worked very hard on those. I will point out that you're wrong that if you bleed your skin must be punctured. That's true for the outer layer of skin that's made up of dead skin cells. That layer has no blood supply, so any injury to just that layer isn't going to bleed. The layers of skin underneath it, however, are made of living skin cells with their own nerves, capillaries, and blood vessels. So it you break through the outer layer and halfway through the second layer, you will have a painful and bleeding injury of some degree without breaking through the skin's complete depth. As for your comments about the twins and Neo, just you wait.
NightmareKnight1: I can't get rid of you? Well if you're going to be here anyway, I guess I had better stop trying so hard…
TimothyBurr: Hey, if there's a reason to start crazy conspiracy theories I'd say a teenager drinking enough vodka to kill a buffalo would be a good one.
The Baz: Could you do me a solid and remind me of the second sentence in you Chapter 6 review (When you hopefully review this chapter)? I have an idea that I don't want to forget about.
Reasonable Man: Technology is going to play a part later on. As for the whole firearms thing, I have a pretty good idea in mind for how chakra will work as protection compared to aura. It was a pain in the ass to come up with considering the ludicrous inconsistencies with durability seen in the Narutoverse, but I have something pretty solid I think.
Fanfictions4ever: Don't mention it, my story was better because of you. A thank you is the least I can give you. By the way, I should thank you for the scene separation idea too.
alaude hibari: Dude, calm down. The chapter is here. If you or someone else wants to make a reaction fic, go at it bro. Hell, I'm flattered you'd consider the idea. Just let me know that name of the author and story and I'll be the first to review it. They probably should contact me before they start writing though- there's a few rather important spoilers and future details that will be relevant.
Croniklerx: Love them long reviews! Fixed the sentence error you mentioned- can't believe that slipped through the cracks. Shadow clones could be used to help with the seal, but keep in mind if the seal doesn't work he's just wasted chakra to not only to power the seal but also to make the clones to begin with.
I'm sorry but I can't really tell you anything regarding the direction the story is going without MASSIVE spoilers, so you're going to have to be patient.
I've never played Prototype and don't know what it is. I came up with 'bloody confetti' all by my lonesome. But if Prototype has that it sounds interesting.
Nice to hear you like Mr. Slate and Violet so far. Maybe you'll see more of them?
Prism123: Oh, I plan to make the Reunion between Sasuke and Ruby a property-destroying event.
crimson11116: He doesn't really need easy cash now, but I do like the idea of Sasuke and poker…
blankdead: Always great to hear from you. Hope you enjoy this one! Had to do a lot of thinking and some background research to make this one.
Iskandar Hero: If you liked the Ruby-Yang scene last chapter you may be pleased with this one too.
Jotaro: I have not seen Watchman; I'll have to YouTube that scene.
AzazelTheFallen: Oh, Orochimaru is still there alright. Not gonna spoil anything, but the guy is still there.
'thoughts'
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Uchiha of Remnant
Chapter 7: Butterfly Effect
Fighting was something she had trained most of her life for. She went to school to learn it, and she had thought it would be how she achieved her goal in life at protecting others. Ruby had fought Grimm before, but looking back it had been little more than a very realistic video game for her. She had real motivation behind herself, sure, but the enemies she faced were so much weaker than her that there was no real danger. Even when she considered that she was far stronger than most people, and these same Grimm would tear through civilians effortlessly in a bloody massacre, it hadn't really clicked that the profession she was aspiring to was either dangerous or risky.
She had heard of her mother's fate, but the fact that Summer had died so soon after Ruby's birth meant that the girl had very few memories of her. For all intents and purposes, Summer Rose was a familiar stranger to Ruby. The true emotional impact of what had happened to her mother had been softened by lack of connection the mother and daughter had- cut short by Summer's early death.
That had changed now. Ruby had not known Sasuke for long. But she had shaken his hand, her and her father had shared their home and hospitality to him, he had taken the trouble to help her battle Grimm even if his help had been ultimately unneeded.
But unlike Summer she didn't need to look at old family photos to remember what he looked like. He had been a real person in her life.
Now he was probably dead. She had been hoping that he had escaped, but the events surrounding her now made that possibility extremely unlikely.
She had failed to save someone. And the Grimm's mindless quest for death and destruction was to blame.
It was for that reason among others that Ruby was swinging Crescent Rose at the nearest Beowolf with greater force than necessary to kill it before targeting one of the dozens more surrounding her.
For the first time in her life Ruby was fighting not out of a sense of duty or protection, but anger. She wanted to kill all the Grimm that came her way, and she wanted to make it painful.
The other reason for why Ruby was fighting with more determination than usual was where she was currently facing the Grimm.
It wasn't on her way to or from visiting her mom, it was in the back field of Signal Academy.
No one knew how, but a large group of Grimm had managed to meander through the forests to the west to find themselves here. The students and faculty, many of whom had been having their lunch at the time, had all stared at the group of monsters for a few seconds with a classic deer-in-the-headlights look in utter shock that humanity's sworn enemy was standing right outside their doors with no warning.
As the Grimm rushed forward to attack everything that moved and walked on two legs the shock gave way to steely determination and resolve. All of the faculty and Huntsmen and Huntresses in training rushed to either get their weapons or make do with whatever objects lying around they could find.
Ruby and Yang had both had a lunch period at the time, but had been fortunate enough to have their weapons on them. They had decided to take Ember Celica and Crescent Rose with them to their meal so they wouldn't have to leave lunch early to return to their lockers to get them for next period. It had saved them a lot of trouble.
Yang had thrown her gauntlets on and jumped through a glass wall to blitz the closest Ursa, which was clotheslined into the ground before the blonde beat the creature's skull with four punches that crushed it into an unrecognizable prune.
But that was tame compared to what Ruby had in store.
The Grimm standing outside the school was seen a threat by everyone else, but not for Ruby. To her, they were mocking her and everything she stood for.
They had killed her new friend Sasuke, and had decided to continue their march to slaughter more people she cared about. And they were going to try and do it right in front of her eyes.
She shot forward with her semblance to attack at far greater speed than any of the Grimm would be capable of blocking. The first Beowolf was bisected at the waist, the second beheaded, the third split in half from groin to shoulder. All had been killed with a shrill cry of anger.
And she kept going. The rest of her classmates and teachers were far behind, her semblance leading her further away from her allies who could not keep up with her advance. In desperation Yang had use Ember Celica's recoil to shoot herself above the line of Grimm in front of her to join her sister.
Ruby continued killing, her normal fluid dance of whirling slashes enhanced in both speed and power by the raw emotion of anger fueling her movements. All sense of teamwork and strategy had been buried by rage and anguish.
Another swing, another death.
A quick spin to bury the end of her scythe into the gut of an Ursa, then a shot from her sniper rifle to push the blade to exit the body, toppling the creature like a mutated tree cut by a lumberjack.
Ruby turned toward the next target in front of her, but only made it halfway before the wounded Ursa swiped her legs with its closest paw. The creature was injured and crippled- but unlike the hundreds of Grimm she had faced before it did not go down with a single hit.
Ruby had no time to consider why the Ursa had enough durability to temporarily withstand her assault and counterattack before she was brought out of her rage by the horrifying realization that she had lost her footing.
She wasn't a hard-hitting tank like her sister, who would be fine with taking a few hits in the same situation before counterattacking with overwhelming force. For a fighter such as Ruby who primarily utilized speed, losing her battle-winning mobility even for a few seconds could be disastrous.
Fortunately her sister was there to crush the skull of the fallen Ursa before launching blasts from her gauntlets at two Beowolves about to pounce on Ruby.
Like the Ursa Ruby had attacked earlier, Yang couldn't help but notice the two Grimm were able to survive the shotgun blasts. She had thought the tougher than average Grimm she had fought with Ruby before they had found the abandoned cave had just been a one-off event, but she was now forced to consider the fact that something bigger than just a random occurrence was going on.
She pushed her thoughts on the matter to the back of her mind- reaching down to help Ruby stand back up and stand back to back against the wall of Grimm closing in on them.
The Grimm would not get their chance. The school staff and armed students present had finally caught up to the siblings' position and began overwhelming the pack with sheer numbers.
Even without Ruby and Yang's lopsided performances, the battle was won before it began. Signal was staffed by either retired Hunters or combat veterans looking for an easier and safer part-time job. Not to mention the hundreds of students there. They may have not had anywhere near the experience or the power of professional Hunters yet, but with the exception of the first-years not many of them could really be called weak.
Ten minutes later, the student body and all faculty stood victorious on the lawn. Apart from the crowd of teenagers sat Ruby and Yang on a small bench, who were less joyous at the news that their afternoon classes had been cancelled than their schoolmates.
An awkward air surrounded the two of them; neither sure what to say to address the elephant in the room. It was a stark contrast to the warm and mirthful familiarity they usually shared.
"Yang," Ruby began, holding Crescent Rose tighter to her body, "I'm… sorry. I don't know what happened back there."
"Are you planning to jump straight in the middle of a pack of Grimm when I'm not around too?"
The younger sibling winced at the statement- not used to such harsh rebuttals from her normally optimistic and supportive sister.
"Ruby, I know exactly what happened back there. I know why you charged in by yourself without waiting for me or anyone else to catch up. And I think you know the answer too."
Ruby hung her head in shame. She should have stayed on the outside of the Grimm pack and work her way in to minimize the chances of being outflanked, as her Uncle had taught her. But in the instant she had seen the pack outside her school those lessons and strategies were thrown out the window. The burning desire to destroy the enemies outside that were determined to kill her and everyone she cared about replacing all logical thought.
"I was angry" Ruby admitted. "I was so mad! I always knew they were a threat, but I guess it never really hit me until now what that actually meant."
Yang slung her arm over her sibling as Ruby began to tremble with her onslaught of emotion.
"I was scared. So scared… They were going to try and kill you and everyone else here! Just like they did to Sasuke… to Mom…" silver eyes began to tear as Ruby's true feelings bubbled up to the surface.
"They would have done it to you too Ruby! How do you think having my little sister die in front of me would make me feel?"
Tears began to fall from lilac eyes, joining the drops on the ground produced from their silver counterparts.
"How do you think Dad would handle that? He's already lost both your mom and mine. Losing you would break him… and it would break me too."
Ruby slowly lifted her head. She wasn't ready to look Yang in the eye quite yet, but her vision still had the privilege of including most of her peers and teachers in front of her. Some of the staff were on their scrolls telling either their loved ones or their superiors about the incident. Students rapidly discussing who had killed more Grimm during the battle or discussing what they would do with the rest of their day now that school would let them out several hours early.
Ruby Rose had been called innocent and naïve before, but that didn't stop her from having an epiphany that many other people of higher IQ but lesser in understanding of their fellow humanity would fail to grasp.
'They are all alive. They are all happy. They all survived.'
The pain of loss she was feeling, the anger at the monsters that had removed people she cared about from this world, was not felt by those in front of her. Many of them had lost loved ones to the cruel and merciless Grimm, but they were victorious today and surrounded by their family and friends.
Some people would feel separated from their community over such an insurmountable empathic gap, but Ruby had a different emotion running through her when she realized she and her sister were the only ones present suffering from the pain of loss.
Happiness. Relief.
Ruby couldn't stop the warmth spreading from her heart and a genuine smile come to her face when she realized that everyone else was safe and not everyone had to suffer through the pain of loss that she and Yang had.
"Yang," she began, turning her head to address her sister eye to eye, "thank you for being there for me."
Yang turned to look at Ruby, hearing the dramatic positive shift in tone. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw her sister with tears still falling down her cheeks around the most heart-warming smile she had seen from her younger sister in a long time.
"I know now how painful it is to lose someone important. I didn't think of that when I charged in there." Ruby affectionately grabbed Yang's hand firmly before continuing, "I promise, I will never forget that again."
The words were delivered with uncharacteristic stern resolve that Ruby somehow managed to mix in with an antithesis of sisterly tenderness and compassion. Yang knew without having to ask that Ruby knew exactly what she was saying, and meant every word.
Ruby scarcely had time to react even with her extraordinary reaction time as the blonde encircled her in loving arms.
"I'm so proud of you, sis. It took me a lot longer to learn that lesson."
Ruby hugged her back as the two siblings settled themselves in a comforting embrace.
"I love you, Ruby. So much…"
"…I love you too."
It had been a harsh lesson, but Ruby Rose learned to not sacrifice the present to save the past.
'I'm going to be a Huntress. It's not easy or safe, but it's worth it to see the people around me safe and happy. I still have them to live for. Mom gave her life so I and everyone else would have a better chance to live theirs. And Sasuke helped me fight those Grimm when he hadn't needed to. We spoke different languages, but he still helped someone that was a stranger to him because it was the right thing to do.'
Ruby hugged Yang tighter, reminding herself of what and who she still had.
'I am not going to remember Sasuke or Mom as just people I lost. I am going to remember them as two brave people who set the best example for me I could possibly ask for."
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A sickening crunch was heard as the latest victim, a somewhat average-built but very tall man, was struck in the head with an elbow strike. He went down without pause, his newfound unconsciousness preventing him from trying to bring his arms up to catch his fall.
"Oh, and another one has gone down! Not looking too good for the challengers!"
They never had a chance to begin with. The remaining two combatants, though furious at their one-sided humiliation, could see the writing on the wall.
They gave a half-hearted charge, trying to come at their target from opposing directions so at least one of them would land a hit.
The first was punched in the gut with enough force to stop his forward motion dead and remove the air from his lungs before he was then grabbed and thrown into his partner. The two tumbled back in a confused mess before their motion brought them to the edge of the arena. The two were allowed to shakily return to their feet before a leg performing a flawless midair side kick smashed directly into their foreheads.
The two combatants were knocked out before they hit the floor adjacent to each other. The referee didn't bother with a countdown as he called the match for the one fighter still standing with an aloof expression on his face as though he had just taken a walk.
"And Taka is the last man standing! Our champion is too much to handle for even six fighters at once!"
'Six? Is that number supposed to translate to an advantage for them? Six times zero is still zero.'
It was an arrogant thought on Sasuke's part that echoed his words to Naruto at the start of their battle at the Final Valley. A bit too arrogant considering how close that fight had been. Although considering the opponents he had just defeated, such overdeveloped confidence was not too misplaced. His adversaries had neither aura nor chakra, nor any comparable training or raw combat experience.
It was because of the gap between himself and any potential opponent that Sasuke had actually requested for fights where he was at a numerical disadvantage. It was simply too boring for him one-on-one.
The Uchiha simply kept his neutral expression as his arm was raised in victory over the roar of the crowd. Overall, this didn't really concern him. He had acquired a fake ID for his hopefully short stay in this world that had already almost reached the three-week mark, as well as two jobs that were both bringing him enough income to pay basic living expenses with extra to spare. Even if by some miracle he was defeated in the ring and lost his position as Champion, Sasuke still had everything he needed. He was only staying employed with both Slate and Junior so he would have a back-up in the event his relations with one of them went south.
Ten minutes later, the Uchiha was reminded of the other reason why he kept his position here.
Slender feminine fingers dug into his exposed back with surprising strength and dexterity as their owner continued rubbing and kneading his muscles. Sasuke may have been a hardened shinobi, but he would be lying if he said it didn't feel damn good to get a massage.
He had uncharacteristically needed to take a shower first to clean off his sweat. He hadn't been pushed in the fight at all, but there were so many powerful stage lights on him as well as so much ambient body heat that his sweat glands had still seen fit to go to work.
"That was some nice work out there Sasuke, I was really impressed how fast you took those guys down. And on your second night on the job no less."
"Hn."
Despite the praise from his masseuse, Sasuke did not lower his guard. Any second now she would continue…
"Did you have to bribe them to throw the fight with money or did you have to get on your knees and open your mouth for them?"
There it was. She may have been a colleague on paper, but Shyla seemed to have made it her mission to try and get under his skin for some ridiculous reason. She was the same blonde who had taunted him with the classy 'your balls haven't dropped' comment when he had first walked toward the ring for his fight with BoneSaw. Perhaps she was still nursing a grudge from when he pushed her out of his path. Or maybe she had a thing going on with BoneSaw and his victory over him had been more personal than it otherwise would have been.
Alternatively, it could be a genetic trait. Shyla's appearance could be described in many ways. She was stacked in every sense of the word with an impressive bust and curves and had no trouble wearing the tight leather outfits that the cheerleaders here were fond of to show them off. But the trait that stuck out to Sasuke the most was her blue eyes and her natural, platinum blonde hair. It was tied back in a high ponytail similar to what Ino had, and was silky, shiny, and gorgeous. It was also attached to the cranium of someone with a similar-enough hair color and irrational stubborn streak compared to Naruto and Ino that Sasuke was forced to consider the possibility that blondes who personally knew him were somehow forced by their very genetic code to annoy him.
Every comment, every word toward him was either barbed and coated with insult or sarcasm or a setup for the former. Still, it was better than the alternative. The other female workers had made it their mission to try and be his favorite assistant for rather predictable reasons. They may not have been as childish and obnoxious as the girls at the Academy, but it was something he was still eager to avoid if he could help it. Shyla was the only female co-worker he would allow in his room specifically due to her lack of amorous intent. Her thorn-covered tongue was a small price to pay- he had dealt with far worse during his time with Orochimaru. If anything it was so routine to him it was almost a comfortably familiar presence.
"I would never dream of bribing anyone with lien or a blowjob. I would come up with something original instead of plagiarizing your methods" Sasuke calmly retaliated.
It was a low blow perhaps, but Sasuke was not in the habit of pulling verbal punches with blondes. Besides, he needed to get her a bit more upset. She wasn't using as much force with her hands on his back as he would have liked, and he needed her to have a good reason to try and escalate their verbal back-and-forth. She would no doubt counter in moments…
"Excuse me? I'll have you know I'm currently taking courses to be a licensed therapeutic massage therapist. You're lucky I'm the one in here fixing you up instead of some dumb bimbo who doesn't know how to use her hands on anything above the waist."
"Hn. Could have fooled me. With how forgettable your massage has been so far, I assumed you had done some kind of backroom deal to get the position. But if you say so…"
The bait was set and was taken immediately. Shyla's fingers dug into his back with almost double the force in an attempt to make him regret his statement.
She may have thought she was using enough strength to make this painful for him. Unfortunately for Shyla, she was now applying the exact force Sasuke wanted to relive the tension in his shoulders and upper back. All he had to do now was let out a fake wince of pain every minute or two and she would continue her now far more effective ministrations. Blondes may be stubborn, but there were extremely easy to manipulate.
"So Twinkletoes, I have a question for you."
Ah, yes. Her personal nickname for him. She had come up with it to mock his unheard-of footwork and agility in the ring as well as her theory that he played for the other team due to his lack of interest in her friendlier female colleagues. How she was stupid enough to believe that speed was a quality that should be ridiculed was beyond him. There were literally no conceivable situations he could think of that being slower than his opponent was a good thing.
He remained silent after her assertion. There was no need to indulge her, and he knew perfectly well she would ask whatever was on her mind anyway.
"You never work the crowd out there, you never say a word to any of your fans, and you never take the opportunity you know is available to bring in one of the other sluts who work here to get your dick wet. How did you end up with a skyscraper so far up your ass?"
"…It is neither your concern nor your business. But if it will make you shut your mouth, part of the reason is I have no reason to indulge in shallow and meaningless banter."
Shyla's face contorted into a genuinely confused look even if Sasuke was unable to see it lying face-down on the table.
"You must be a sight to behold at parties, Twinkletoes" she sarcastically asserted. "It wouldn't hurt you to show a little appreciation for your fans at least. They love you to death!"
At that Sasuke rose from his position to sit upright on the table, pre-emptively ending the massage as he turned to look at Shyla with a look that clearly expressed his disbelief at her words.
'She cannot be serious. Could she really be that ignorant?'
"Don't tell me you're stupid enough to believe those words. They do not care about me, much less love me."
"What? Surely your ears work well enough to hear them cheering for you. They can't get enough of y-!"
"They care about my victories. That is not the same as caring about me. The moment I lose a fight, all of their support will evaporate."
"You think they will forget about you just like tha-!?"
"How many of them care about BoneSaw now?" Shyla's retort was harshly interrupted by the Uchiha's blunt question. She closed her mouth as Sasuke continued. "How many of them are still his fans? How many of them would cheer his name if he came back?"
Shyla had no answer. She remembered very clearly how BoneSaw had been carried out on a stretcher after his loss. The cheers for Sasuke had been overwhelming, but it had not stopped the audience close to the fallen fighter from ignoring him at best and booing his loss at worst.
"Let me ask you a question Shyla," the Uchiha continued after a brief pause, pressing on with his cold and hard opinion on the matter, "what kind of attention do you get from guys when you do your little cheerleader routine out there, or when you go out for a drink downtown?"
Shyla did not need to answer the question nor did the Uchiha need her to answer it- the answer was obvious to both of them. She couldn't remember the last time she went out when she wasn't hit on less than three or four times an hour. She couldn't remember the last time she had to pay for more than half of her drinks.
"Do you honestly believe any of those guys give a damn about you? Do you think they will be giving you the same compliments twenty years from now?"
The implication of her age brought a spark of fury to her mind, but she did not reply. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew the answer.
"The moment I lose," Sasuke contended "I will be forgotten and replaced."
The Uchiha turned to the silent blonde, ready to conclude his argument.
"So tell me, why should I waste my time saying a word to people that fickle and cheap?"
Shyla only stared at him. There was nothing she could say in reply. The unpleasant truth was undeniable.
With that, Sasuke strode to his chair and began unwrapping a moderately-sized tupperware that contained what would essentially be his after-work meal. He had had dinner already, but staying up late with his job for Slate meant that he was hungry for a modest meal well before the point he would normally be having breakfast. There was food available for him here, but the Uchiha had scarcely taken a glance at the greasy fast food available before he had dismissed it as an option for satiating his hunger. Anything that processed and with that much saturated fat was less a food and more a slow-acting poison in Sasuke's opinion.
"Geez, you must be the most glass-half-full guy I've ever met" Shyla declared in a mockingly sarcastic tone.
"Hn."
An Uchiha grunt was all the blonde received as a reply as Sasuke began to eat the sushi he had prepared himself that was essentially his second dinner.
Being in another world meant that much of what he considered normal in the Elemental Nations was unknown here, and that included sushi. It was hardly as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as restaurant-grade dishes that had all of the fish pieces arranged in colorful flower-like patterns, but the Uchiha was not in the business of spending an extra half hour of his time to make his food nice to look at.
Procuring the fish and assorted seafood had been simple enough. Junior's Club was intricately organized and run with undeniably impressive quality and efficiency, but the kitchen that was run there was not quite up to the same standard even if it was more than good enough to meet food safety regulations. It was understandable; the entrance fees and drinks were how the club got most of its income. The food offered did not make even 10% of the total profits, and was only meant to keep clients at the club when they got hungry instead of closing their tabs and going somewhere else to keep their stomachs happy.
With the club's kitchen sidelined in such a manner, it was no wonder it was not run with the same care as the rest of the place. There were still inefficiencies with how it was run, and just about every night there were notable leftovers that were not consumed by customers and could not be kept in storage. So when Sasuke simply offered to take some of the unused rice and seafood with him, Junior had no reason to complain. It was a happy coincidence that much of the seafood, as well as meat, vegetables, and fruits in this world in general were the same as back home. He might have thought of committing suicide if tomatoes had not existed here.
As he took his first bite, Sasuke considered that he had perhaps gone too far in his rebuttal. Not that he cared about Shyla's feelings, but he did need her to be in a semi-good mood because he intended to try and ask a favor before he left tonight. She might reject his request out of spite if he pushed her too far.
Any thoughts of temporarily pleasing her with some off-handed compliment were replaced by thoughts of outrage and disbelief as Shyla proceeded to stick her hand directly into his dinner to remove a piece of tuna and pop it directly into her mouth. She stared straight into his face as she slowly chewed in a clear and successful attempt to piss him off.
"Mmmm, that's some good stuff. What is it?"
He was tempted to lie and tell her it was poison that made women permanently bald, but managed to hold his tongue. He still intended to ask for her help, but he was close to just flipping the metaphorical table if she was this hell-bent on antagonizing him. He settled for a 'if looks could kill' glare before replying.
"It's sushi, a type of seafood dish from my homeland that I made all by myself. For me to eat."
"Oh, that explains why it tastes so good. Homemade food always has that delicious personal touch" the blonde shamelessly replied, a subtle smirk of satisfaction visible as she proudly swallowed what was meant to be his sustenance. "It tastes different from fish I've tried before, mildly sour but still has plenty of flavor. How is it cooked?"
"It isn't."
Shyla's eyes immediately widened as she comprehended what he said.
"…What?"
"The fish isn't cooked, it's raw. It's frozen, then mixed with vinegar-soaked rice to give it flav-"
"You made me eat fucking RAW meat!? What kind of dumbass are you? Have you ever heard of salmonella or fucking Tapeworms!?"
"You can't get any of those things from fish that have been frozen you moron!" the Uchiha yelled back, having had quite enough of her yelling non-existent problems in his ear. It was uncharacteristic of him to raise his voice, but he would make an exception for blondes.
He would have continued, but at that point Shyla had actually tried to reach over his body and grab his dinner. He could only assume she would try and throw it out the window or something, so he was forced to stand up and place single forearm right above her breasts and below her collarbone to hold her off and use his other one to hold the tupperware up above her reach.
"And why are you blaming me for feeding you this? You're the one who took a piece without even aski-!"
"Give me that shit! It's not safe to eat!"
"Yes it is! It was a common dish back home and I've eaten it all my life! Would it kill you to shut up and listen!?"
It apparently would as she continued to try and steal his food, disregarding all of his words. Shyla was smart enough to realize she stood no chance of taking it with Sasuke defending it so effectively, and was forced to resort to other measures.
"Would you just calm down alrea-!"
The Uchiha's eyes widened in shock and his plea for diplomacy died in his throat as Shyla reached one of her hands underneath his arm and actually had the audacity to tickle him in a fierce attempt to get him to lower the tupperware enough for her to steal it.
It was unbelievably childish and desperate of her. Nevertheless, it did exploit a weakness of his. Despite his uncaring demeanor, it was to Sasuke's eternal shame that he was indeed ticklish. He had had the same weakness as a child that his mother, Itachi, and Shisui had all exploited shamelessly. It was apparently a genetic trait he was cursed with to the end of his days whether he liked it or not. It was simple enough to train to ignore it no problem, but the fact he had to actually divert mental effort to keep himself from breaking out laughing in front of a blatant assault was utterly galling to him.
He could not crack a smile in front of Shyla of all people in this situation- even if he succeeded in saving his dinner he would never hear the end of it. He was getting near the point of throwing manners and chivalry out the window and just shoving her off him.
"Get off me you stubborn little bra-!"
"Am I interrupting something?"
The Uchiha and the blonde froze in their positions as they slowly turned to Mr. Slate, who had just opened the door.
Sasuke and Shyla glanced back at each other for a moment before realizing with horror how they must have appeared to him.
It was almost a carbon-copy of the common family scenario of an older sibling holding something out of reach of the younger one, with the latter resorting to tickling or some other physical methods to force the older one's hand.
"I-It- It's not what it looks like!" Shyla declared with a face flushed red with embarrassment at the rather amusing position they were caught in as they took a step back from each other. "Tell him to throw that worm-ridden crap he brought out! That meat isn't cooked at all!"
"It. Is. Fish. How many times do I have to tell you it's impossible to get worms from it?"
"Both of you calm down!" Slate interjected, realizing he would have to play the role of peace-keeper if he wanted to find out what the hell just happened. He wasn't sure what started this, but it wouldn't be good for him if Sasuke and Shyla continued to butt heads.
Fortunately after hearing both sides of the story it was clearly nothing too serious- he had seen far worse conflicts and scandals. This one was absent of sex and money- child's play in comparison.
"Well Ms. Hopkins, you'll be happy to know that Mr. Uchiha is correct that fish is far safer to eat than poultry or any land-based meat, and you will not be getting a Salmonella infection or anything of the like. It's actually a rather common practice among Huntsmen to eat raw fish they catch if they find themselves low on food and don't have time to cook it. Seafood in general is different enough from terrestrial meat such as beef or pork that any internal parasites they may carry are incompatible with humans and have no effect."
Shyla simply crossed her arms, refusing to meet the unmistakable 'I told you so' look the Uchiha was giving her.
"Do you mind if I have a taste, Mr. Uchiha? I must confess I've never heard of fish being formerly prepared this way before and am rather curious."
Sasuke simply lifted the tupperware to him as a silent approval. He had had enough of pointless conflicts for one day to bother objecting.
"Mmm… It's very good. It's not very common to find a meat that's pleasing to the palate when it's chilled like this, but I must admit this is an exception. Where did you learn to make this?"
"It's a common dish from my home village. There were other ways to prepare it, like wrapping it in seaweed or thin bread to make the bites more manageable. The flavor and texture can vary greatly depending on what meat is used."
"Very interesting…"
The Uchiha became increasingly wary as it became obvious the gears in his employer's head had started moving and brought his hand to his chin in contemplation.
"Sasuke, do you mind if I make a few calls to some friends about this? I know several people in high places in the restaurant business and I think they may greatly appreciate such an original dish."
'Selling the idea to them for a price no doubt. Not exactly unexpected. But it may draw unneeded attention if it's revealed I came up with it.'
It was immediately apparent to Sasuke that he was in a slight dilemma here. Slate was not the worst business owner around by a long shot, and from what he could see treated his workers and partners quite fairly. That didn't mean, however, that he would avoid moral grey areas to increase his revenue. Not breaking the law to avoid legal trouble was not the same thing as cutting corners.
Slate would give the idea to his associates for a price with or without Sasuke's permission- it was too good an opportunity to pass up. When Sasuke found out, he would likely claim he had been drunk with his friends and had just happened to leak the information. Even if Sasuke left in retaliation, the money Slate made from his resulting restaurant deal would be more than enough to compensate him for Sasuke's loss. Sasuke would then be unable to come forward with a lawsuit due to his fake identity; something Slate was well aware of.
If Sasuke wanted to get something out of this, he would have to make a deal now. He would not be getting a better hand in this situation.
"Make whatever deal you want with them. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that I can't have my name formally involved in any of this. But if they want my help in assisting them with how to safely prepare this without the food safety bureaucrats breathing down their neck every ten minutes I am going to ask for ten percent of the gross profit."
Sasuke may have been trying to get home as quickly as possible, but he had seen enough of this new world to want to try a few things before he left. One glance at a motorcycle was all it took for him to want one, if only to ride it to clear his head when he reached a snag creating the Reverse Summoning. The extra money this would bring him was enough to make the purchase, especially considering he didn't need to bother saving for anything in the long-term.
And ten percent wasn't a huge chunk anyway. Slate would no doubt want a fraction for himself, and it would be down to negotiating with all of his associates to get a concrete deal. Sasuke could afford to lower his cut a percentage point or two- he didn't need a ridiculous amount.
Slate smiled pleasantly in response. "Excellent! I'll make the calls first thing in the morning. The timing couldn't be better either, with spring and summer coming up, a cold snack like this has a lot of potential. Especially on the shoreline stands for the tourists during this year's beach season. I need to call…"
Slate began to walk out the door, mumbling to himself about the finer details of his newest endeavor.
The Uchiha slowly turned to the only other person in the room, who had remained uncharacteristically silent for the past few minutes.
"Not a word, Twinkletoes."
She had her arms crossed and still refused to face him. Unwilling to give an inch of ground or admit any error on her part.
'Well I suppose now is a better time than any to ask. The odds of her agreeing were never great to begin with, and I don't see how I could get her in a more agreeable mood after that, so I may as well try now and see where it goes.'
"So Shyla, seeing as how you started that whole fight for no reason," her hands clenched her arms as she was unwillingly reminded of her error, "I don't think it's unfair for me to ask you for a favor."
Blue eyes whipped around to drill into their onyx counterparts in confusion and shock at the audacity of the statement. He was going to ask her for a favor after that?
"If you think I'm going to finish your massage now, you have got another thing comi-!"
"It's not about the massage, it's about my other job."
"Your bouncer job at Junior's place? Why in the world would you need anything from me there?"
The blonde's mood turned away from stubborn and confrontational to genuine curiosity and confusion. Whatever he needed her there for must be very interesting for him to resort asking her of all people for help.
"As I'm sure you are aware, I get more attention from women and… some men, than I would care for."
"Oh, I know. The look on your face when Big Joe hit on you last week before your match was priceless!"
He did remember that. And like many things in his life it seemed, he would not have the luxury of forgetting it anytime soon. Sasuke thanked whatever deities in this world that Shyla hadn't been in his room when Joe had paid him a visit after he had beaten him in their match. The things he had said… the things he had offered before the Uchiha had kicked him out of his room…
He would never admit it to another soul before or after his death, but he had been legitimately creeped out to the point of considering tucking his tail between his legs and just sprinting out of the building.
Shyla seemed to think it was very funny, chuckling at the sight of the Uchiha gritting his teeth at the memory.
"Yes, I'm sure it was. Anyway, I have a similar problem at Junior's. It seems that after women have a few too many drinks, they suddenly lose their ability to read the 'Employees Only' signs that are clearly visible on the velvet rope barrier that I like to stand behind to watch the dance floor, and they come up to talk to me, try to dance with me, and various other things I do not wish to discuss with you."
"Oh, no!" she cried, throwing her hands to the sides of her face and widening her eyes in mock surprise and shock, "You have drunk women going through barricades to hit on you! The horror! The agony you face! What is this world coming to!?"
She finished her speech with a fake swoon, going so far as to dramatically fall on the couch behind her in a classic fainting motion.
"I've avoided that problem here for the most part because I have my own room. In addition, as long as you are my only female assistant I allow in, most of them are under the mistaken impression I've taken a liking to you. And as such, have stopped their advances."
Shyla's aggressive, dig-her-heels-into-the-ground attitude helped with this as well. Many women wouldn't care if they thought he was taken, they would hit on him regardless. But Shyla was contentious and intimidating enough to convince most people that going through her to get something was not worth the effort. Not to mention she could throw a decent punch for a civilian- earlier that night had been a women's fighting special that she had absolutely dominated.
"I think I know where you're heading with this."
She slowly rose from the couch, wearing a grin on her face that would not have looked out of place on a cat that had learned the birdcage in its house had not been locked. The Uchiha was already starting to regret asking her to do anything- she was going to milk this for all it was worth.
"You want me to accompany you on your workdays so other girls will leave you alone. Is that about right?"
The Uchiha only nodded in response.
"I have to ask, why can't you get those twins who work there to do that? Don't tell me your other colleagues don't care about you enough to help you in your time of need."
"I work an alternating schedule with Melanie and Miltia now that Junior trusts me enough to handle the job by myself. Most weekdays except Mondays aren't too busy, but I think your presence tomorrow night would make it easier for me to do my job."
Sasuke had to make sure he didn't have a slip of the tongue here and mention out loud it would make his time there more bearable. There were several ways for her to exploit that information and none of them were to his benefit.
If she thought this would make him feel better, she would drop his offer without hesitation just so she could see his frustration.
"Hmmm. I suppose I could go along with that," Shyla replied, putting a single finger underneath her chin in exaggerated contemplation, "I don't have anything planned yet for tomorrow night anyway…"
She wasn't going for it without some other compensation from him. The tone of her voice practically screaming at him that she was going to follow up with the words, 'but I want something else from you before I agree'.
"But I want something else from you before I agree."
'And there it is.'
"It would only be on Saturdays when the twins aren't helping me already as well as occasional Mondays. Two nights a week at most, and I can get you a 50% discount on all your drinks."
He had to keep her help and by extension his compensation to her to a minimum. He had already discussed his idea with Junior, who had been kind enough to agree if he could pass the deal. He had seen Sasuke borderline assaulted by non-sober patrons a few nights ago when the twins weren't around to dissuade them and was fully onboard with the idea of a 'buffer girl' for him, for lack of a better term.
"No deal, Twinkletoes. There's some fine print you forgot to mention. If I'm going to be your pretend plus-one and be around to shoot down any girls coming your way, I'll have to limit my drinks anyway so I can be sober enough to come to your rescue. Cheap alcohol is only meaningful if you get a lot of it. And if I'm with you I won't be able to hang out with anyone else or try my luck finding a good boyfriend since my last one dumped me for some swimsuit model slut. If I accept a drink or dance with someone else it will blow the entire cover."
The Uchiha began brainstorming ideas for what else he could offer her, which wasn't much. Beat up that ex of hers? That might work…
"So in short," the blonde continued, "you want me to stand next to you and have the same… optimistic conversations we've had here for roughly eight hours while I watch other people have fun. I'm going to need something else from you to make this a fair deal."
"And what would that be? You've clearly thought of what you want already."
Shyla slowly sauntered over to the table holding the tuna sushi before taking yet another piece of his dinner that he had not made to share with her and throwing it in her mouth. The nerve of this girl was almost beyond belief.
"I want you to make me ten lunch's worth of these every week."
"What?" He could do that no problem, but it was still surprising that she wanted him to make her meals of all things as compensation.
"You heard me. I live alone with my little brother. He's in Seventh grade, and I don't always have time to make him nice lunches for school with the massage classes and my other job as a waitress I have to juggle. So, I think making him his lunch and saving me the trouble is a fair trade."
"Fine."
"Good. Just for the record, I'm not going to be your shadow for the whole night. If I see anyone I know I'll hang out with them close enough to where I can see you and intervene if you need a rescue line. And that 50% had better be good for the whole night."
"It will be. Can you explain why exactly you need ten lunches if your brother only needs five to get him through the school week?"
"Oh, the rest are for me. These do taste pretty good, and I'm still mad at you for not telling me in advance they were safe to eat raw. So that's my compensation."
The Uchiha immediately whirled around to face his unjust accuser.
"You took them without aski- forget it. You don't care anyway."
"Now you get it!"
With that the blonde once again took something of his without permission by swiping his scroll from the table before opening it up.
"What are you doing now? Haven't you violated my property enough?"
"I'm giving you my number. That way you can text me when you finish making my lunches tomorrow so you can deliver them before I go out with you as your 'plus one'. You don't expect me to show up at the club for our little agreement without some proof you'll keep your end of the deal?"
"…Hn." He was done talking with her- no need to respond and stoke the fire again. He pocketed his scroll when Shyla was done entering the digits before grabbing his bag and began reaching for the tupperware containing what was left of his meal.
"Alright then Twinkletoes, I will see you tomorrow night."
To the Uchiha's utter amazement, shock, and rage, she then grabbed and ate the last piece of sushi from his now empty tupperware before he could reach it. She then proceeded to throw the now empty plastic container none-too-gently at him as a final middle finger before he left.
"Has anyone ever told you to ask permission before taking other people's stuff?"
"All the time. I just ignore them though."
Sasuke simply stared at her as though she were the most clueless person on the face of the earth.
"…I still can't believe your last boyfriend broke up with you. Why didn't that work out exactly?"
"Oh, shut up and go home. You need to get your rest to make my food tomorrow."
"You need to at least clean your face up after eating before I give them to you. Have you not heard of napkins?"
In the split-second Shyla was distracted trying to feel around her mouth for the crumbs of food Sasuke had lied were there, he took advantage of her distraction by grabbing the nearest dirty towel he had used to dry himself of sweat and shower water earlier and threw it with perfect accuracy to hit her right in the face.
"Clean yourself up."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"We need to build a wall!"
"Senator Hodges, do you realize the cost of what you are suggesting?"
"It will it take months to procure the manpower and resources necessary for such a project even in the best circumstances, not to mention actually build it!"
"Both the completed sections of wall as well as the workers constructing it will have to be protected from Grimm attacks, where do you propose to procure the quantity of military assets and Hunters necessary to protect such a large operation for so long without weakening another area?"
"So what is your alternative, Senator Wilson? Do you propose we just ignore the problem right in front of us?"
"The Huntsmen and Huntresses as well as the few regular military units sent to the area in response have been sufficient to defeat the attacking Grimm so far with minimal casualties and no civilian losses. Would it not be a safer option to simply hold the line for now without weakening our other fronts until this anomaly passes by?"
"What if it doesn't pass by? What if Patch stays this way!?" Senator Hodges was red in the face from frustration and exhaustion, a condition shared by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle around him. He took a moment to catch his breath and continue driving forward his argument. "In the worst-case scenario we do nothing, the problem does not go away, and eventually Patch suffers a Grimm invasion powerful enough to drive us from the island completely. Perhaps in a generation or less. I'm telling all of you, we need to build a wall!"
Another man next to him, an older one with a solid built and six gold stars on his military uniform that confirmed his rank as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Vale, chose that moment to speak.
"I am in agreement with Senator Hodges, we need to start building some kind of physical barrier to block or at least hinder the Grimm! Patch has next to no physical geography favorable for defense anywhere on it- no large rivers, no mountains or rugged hills, and the forests there aren't thick enough to deter most Grimm. Any meaningful physical obstacle to defend the island's inhabitants is going to have to be put there with our own elbow grease brick by brick."
The meeting had been going on for almost ten hours now, and tensions were so high that the few breaks the representatives had taken had done little to nothing to calm anyone's nerves. From his seat, Professor Ozpin sat back and looked on.
Being reincarnated more times than he could count meant that even if he had almost always ended up as either a peerless warrior or some kind of leader in his separate bodies, he had still gone through all other walks of life multiple times. He had been a cook, a carpenter, a farmer, a dog trainer, a builder, an artist, a poet, and the list went on.
It was moments of representative and bureaucratic deadlock like this that made Ozpin wish he could retire from political life for a decade or two and have a few vacations before being reincarnated and jumping back in the saddle. Circular arguments, short tempers, stubborn hold-outs, inconvenient legal loopholes, and endless red tape very accurately summed up every political life he had ever had. It was an endless and universal pain in the ass that transcended time, nations, region, ideologies, and culture itself regardless of where he was.
Ozpin would have much preferred to ditch the meeting and go kill Grimm the old-fashioned way, but circumstances required his presence here. Normally he left smaller matters of governance to the elected senators and other legal bodies. All four kingdoms were governed differently in their own way, but all of them had their respective militaries fall under separate jurisdiction from their main governing bodies more or less. It was perhaps not too democratic to have armed forces not under the leadership of the civilian government, but the risk and nature of Grimm attacks meant that any armed forces needed to respond immediately to any sudden crisis without going through days of government voting and red tape.
The Huntsmen and Huntresses technically fell under their own separate category and were not loyal to any one nation, but they were still organized in a similar way that had a very clear and quick chain of command to gather any Hunters rapidly enough to deal with an emergency.
It was on very rare occasions that the Senators shared a meeting room with Ozpin and Vale's military commanders, and it was never a good sign.
The situation on the island of Patch certainly warranted everyone being there- even with thousands of years beneath his belt Ozpin had no explanation or sure solution for the problem they faced.
The island of Patch had actually been given the name due to it being a 'patch' that compared to the rest of Remnant, was relatively Grimm-free. Some nameless and forgotten explorer or map-maker in the past had referred to the island as a 'Patch' of land that was safe to land on, and over the years the name had stuck. Grimm were still present there, but they spawned with less than a quarter the frequency that the creatures did on the rest of Remnant. Other than areas of dense human populations such as cities, which had no Grimm spawn in them at all, Patch had the lowest density of Grimm in the world.
In addition, they also matured incredibly slowly compared to other regions. Rarely developing the bone-like armor as they matured that members of their kind on other continents did.
It made it an ideal place for a kingdom in terms of safety, but physical geography prevented the island from becoming a practical haven. The climate was too unpredictable for farming, and the soil on the island wasn't suited for most major crops anyway. There were no notable sources of raw materials such as Dust, iron, petroleum, nor industrial or commercial metals. The waters off the island were also too warm and nutrient-poor to support large fisheries, the most productive of which were found around the continents of Solitas and Menagerie.
The Grimm on Patch had one other quirk not found anywhere else; they attacked humans with ordinary eagerness on the eastern portion of Patch, but they went into an almost Berserker-like state of aggression against any people they saw if that person was roughly over forty miles due west of where Signal Academy was. This bizarre behavior that seemed to be tied to the latitude of where the Grimm was located was found nowhere else. The rage induced by this phenomenon was enough to give any Grimm it affected a seeming immunity from pain and a resilience and durability increase that would normally not be found on Grimm so weak. Their brutal suicidal attacks had prevented any attempts to colonize anything more than the eastern part of the island.
These phenomena were collectively known as the Patch Anomaly, and from what little records and artifacts had been gathered it had been there since before even Ozma or Salem had been born.
Not even Ozma knew how the Patch Anomaly came about or how it worked. For that matter neither did Salem. Before her fall the two of them had shared several conversations and debates over lunch or drinks on the subject, hypothesizing many ideas that were each more outrageous than the last.
They had not been the only ones to try and answer the mystery. Scholars, Historians, and scientists from all civilizations present and past had tried to solve the puzzle. All had been unsuccessful. The only thing anyone knew was that the Patch Anomaly was there, had been there for millennia, and would continue to be there.
Except it was not there anymore.
For close to the past three weeks local residents as well as the small local patrols had reported a four-fold increase in the number of Grimm spawning throughout the island- consistent with normal levels seen on the rest of Remnant. They were tougher and more mature too, almost as if they had somehow compressed the years needed to physically and mentally mature down to a few days. Their odd berserker rage had disappeared was well- all the scouts that had gone west of the magic latitude to risk trying to find the reason for the increased spawn rate had reported ordinary aggression from the Grimm they encountered.
As if that weren't puzzling enough, reports from all of the checkpoints around the Kingdom of Vale on the main continent had reported a drop in Grimm attacks of about 30% for all areas and all sectors surrounding the kingdom over the same time period. They were used to seeing the giant Goliaths continue their eternal trek around the kingdom, choosing to patiently wait for the perfect moment to strike instead of charging in. But newborn and young Beowolves, Ursai, and Nevermores that normally charged full speed to kill the first human they saw practicing the same reserved behavior as the Goliaths was unheard of. And yet that was what all the reports from the various outposts and traveling Hunters were unanimously telling them.
Once all of the records of Vale and Patch were re-analyzed and dated, it was concluded they had not started simultaneously. Vale's first drop in Grimm aggression was narrowed down to sometime during the night of February 19th. The changes around Patch had developed more slowly, but the first spike in the number of observed newborn Grimm was seen three days prior on February 16th.
Media outlets across Vale and all kingdoms had brought the events up in their mainstream. Scientists and several Huntsmen witnesses had been on several different stations to try and explain what had happened and guess what was coming next.
For his part, Ozpin was more apprehensive and terrified than he had been in a long time. He may not have known what had caused the Patch Anomaly to appear in the first place, but he knew that whatever had made it had been a strong and dependable enough to keep the area unchanged for over 3000 years. For it to be gone overnight meant something big had happened.
He had gone over every piece of recent news, every shred of information he could find to try and isolate exactly what fundamental change, no matter how seemingly small, had occurred two weeks ago. Even with Dr. Oobleck's assistance he had come up empty-handed. The closest odd event they could find was a report from a rural village in Mistral claiming that almost three weeks prior a hawk or eagle the size of a large car or truck had suddenly appeared with no warning in the middle of the local market without warning before flying away. He would have dismissed the story as a hoax, but it had occurred in broad daylight and had no less than fifty eyewitness testimonies to back it up. Perhaps there was some truth to it, but even if it had occurred Ozpin could not fathom any reason why a large bird appearing in a Mistral village would herald the end of the Patch Anomaly.
How to best proceed depended on the answer to one question that he could only speculate on: was Salem responsible for these events?
If the answer was no, then all of their speculation was meaningless. There was no way to predict how the situation would change down the road, if it did at all. Both humanity and Salem would be forced to dance around the situation as it developed without any idea what was coming next. If that was the case, it was impossible to know what the correct move was.
If the answer was yes, it raised several more questions that only made the situation more confusing. It was clear that Salem would prefer the Patch Anomaly gone and give humanity one less safe area to live. But when the drop in Grimm activity around Vale was considered, such a move made no sense. Vale was the center of the Kingdom, Patch was little more than a small outskirt community in comparison. Why weaken the fringe community if the main kingdom was the ultimate goal? Weakening Patch and strengthening Vale was, from Salem's perspective, like taking one step forward and two steps back.
One possibility was that she was intentionally misdirecting her efforts for now in the hopes that Vale would divert more and more resources to protect the island and keep the pressure off the main kingdom to lull them into a sense of security. That would be the point where she would attack with full force- on the kingdom when an enormous fraction of its defensive forces were stationed dozens of miles away. A diversion on an epic and potentially lethal scale.
If that was the case, then diverting Hunters and regular military resources to Patch was exactly what Salem wanted. It would end in catastrophe.
But if she had caused the change, why had it taken her so long to discover how to do it? Why was it happening now? It still didn't answer the fundamental question of what caused the Patch Anomaly to turn on and off in the first place.
As Ozpin continued to furiously consider scenarios, probabilities, and potential cause-and-effects, the rest of the representatives and leaders in the room continued their furious debate.
"The wall needed for that would have to be around 200 miles in length, Mr. Hodges. Even if we relocated the more rural residents closer to the eastern coast, 150 miles would be the bare minimum length required!"
At those words, tired blue eyes of one of the Huntsmen defending Patch that had been called in for witness testimony turned into cold cerulean pools that pinned the representative with a cold and merciless glare as he shot up from his assigned seat.
"You cannot be serious! I will not accept any course of action that involves forcible relocation or retreat!"
Taiyang Xiao Long was not an easy man to anger, but this was striking a personal note for him in more ways than one. At his words, Ozpin lifted his head in full attention to listen.
"Patch is not just some green spot on a map in your office, it is a home to myself, my family, and thousands of other people! When someone comes to destroy your home, you do not pack up and move, you defend it! We have had our cities, our towns, our lives at risk from Grimm since before history was written on paper, and we did not survive as long as we have by just giving up ground without a fight when things got tough!"
Everyone in the room had paused their thoughts to listen to the man, who showed no signs of being intimidated by the attention.
"I have heard the words 'our lines have held' several times now. Do the public servants in this room care to know how that happened?"
No one answered him.
"Hunters did not hold the line. The military did not hold the line. I did! My neighbors did! My community did! You want to know how we coordinated our defense? We had to wait until one of our friends called for help on their scroll! Everyone with combat experienced or a gun had to show up as fast as we could to contain the Grimm, and just hope that we didn't arrive too late! And you claim the situation is under control? My own daughters as well as their classmates were forced to defend their own fucking school against a Grimm attack just two days ago! With no warning at all! They were in the middle of lunch and what do you know, there's a pack of Grimm on the other side of the glass! I guess we had better take care of that! Can anyone care to guess what would have happened if the Grimm had shown up and the kids didn't have their weapons available? Or if they had shown up at the retirement home? Or the hospital?"
"Mr. Xiao-"
"This kingdom has some of the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world, and a military force specifically designed and built to protect Vale and all of it's territories. So why are the citizens living on Patch being protected by its own citizens when our Hunters and military exist!? How the HELL is resorting to using thirteen to sixteen-year-old teenagers as soldiers an acceptable situation?! You have all talked about the cost of a wall, the cost of your proposals. WHY DO YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE COST!"
The blonde was roaring now, civility be damned.
"YOU ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS! YOU WERE NOT ELECTED TO SAVE MONEY, YOU WERE ELECTED TO PROTECT AND SERVE!"
The blonde's furious tirade paused for a moment as Taiyang forced himself to calm down and catch his breath for a moment before continuing.
"The question of risk has also been a popular topic of discussion tonight. I know many of you are hesitant to divert defensive resources away from Vale. I understand that perspective, I've been a Huntsmen long enough to know the consequences of loosing sight of the big picture. But those of you with that opinion must nevertheless ask yourselves an uncomfortable question: how many people on Patch have to die before you decide to help?"
Sharp intakes of breath were heard across the room at the blunt question. The unspoken accusation was obvious.
"A hundred? A dozen? Five adults and one child? What human sacrifice is going to be necessary before this pointless bickering produces something useful? True protection and security means attacking and defeating the Grimm in the wilderness, not waiting until they show up at our front door of our homes!"
His argument concluded, Taiyang sat back down. Seeing the opportunity to end the debate and actually get some concrete action started, Ozpin intervened before another back-and-forth could start.
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao Long, for your input. I think we all needed to be reminded of why we were brought here" the professor stated, making it clear that they needed to conclude their bickering and make a formal decision.
"I agree. This matter has been debated thoroughly, and both sides have made their points clearly and repeatedly" spoke an elderly woman with a fixed and stern appearance despite her hunched posture from arthritis. "As the Senate Speaker, I move we vote on Bill SM-76. The resolution would permit the Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces of Vale, General Wellington, to freely move military units from their standing positions around Vale to the territory of Patch until further notice at his discretion. In addition, the Bill would permit the use of emergency funds to pay for the design and construction of a defensive wall no further than fifty miles west of Signal Academy to span the length of the island to give its citizens additional protection. All those opposed?"
Ozpin did not watch the vote take place- he was too busy continuing to think. He had been in plenty of situations where no one knew the ultimate outcome. He had seen them end good, bad, and everything in between. Unfortunately, experience would do him no good here. The simple fact was he simply did not have the information necessary to make a confident decision one way or the other.
It was going to be a gamble no matter which path was chosen. Until they learned more details, they would just have to keep their fingers crossed that they had made the correct choice.
Ozpin had thought of sending Qrow to Patch as an easy mission to help defend the territory. It would give him a break from his reconnaissance of Salem's forces in Mistral and a chance to catch up with Taiyang and his nieces while simultaneously completing a mission. Unfortunately with information on Salem's activities suddenly worth its weight in gold, Ozpin needed him to continue gathering intelligence. As well as the situation in Patch, it had only been three months since half of Amber's Fall Maiden powers were stolen. He needed to find out what cards Salem was holding, and he needed to know now.
And if time was a factor, it would pay to do what he could to buy more.
With that final thought, Ozpin made his decision.
"All in favor?"
Ozpin raised his hand.
"Bill SM-76 passes with 24 yea and 18 nay. This meeting is now adjourned."
All present rose from their seats. Ozpin turned toward Commander Wellington, who quickly approached him.
"Professor Ozpin, it will take my staff two days to gather the main forces earmarked for reassignment and the transportation to get them and their mobile barracks to Patch. However, there are several scouting and light units that can be moved now that can perform defensive screening around high-risk areas. If you have any Hunters on standby, I can arrange the transports to pick them up and ship them to the island tonight."
"Thank you, Commander. I have over sixty unassigned Huntsmen and Huntresses near transport hubs in Vale that are available. You can take as many of them as you see fit, but I will require that only twenty Hunters or less remain stationed at Patch on a permanent basis after your main force arrives. I don't want to weaken the defenses of the main kingdom any longer than necessary."
"Absolutely, Professor. Don't worry, I'll get your boys and girls back quick."
"Thank you, Commander."
The two saluted each other before Wellington left the room to make good on his promise. Ozpin turned to address the other man who came to see him.
"That was quite a performance Tai. I must say you were quite the enviable man back there, screaming yourself hoarse at politicians face to face is a dream most of us never get to indulge."
"I'll admit it felt good, wanted to do that ever since the Healthcare fight last year. I only wish it were under less stressful circumstances."
"As do we all. Despite the bickering and self-interest in the room, I do believe everyone here wants the citizens of Vale to be safe. They can just never agree on how to get there" Ozpin replied, hoping to ease Tai's temper further down. "I was informed about the attack on Signal from both you and the Headmaster after it happened, but I never did ask how your daughters handled it?"
Taiyang's head lowered a bit, clearly not liking the answer he was about to give.
"They were both uninjured. With so many students and teachers in one place it didn't take long to overwhelm them. I wasn't there to see it, but I heard they both killed way more of their fair share than their classmates."
"But something else is bothering you, isn't it?"
Tai took a deep breath before replying to gather himself.
"Remember that kid I told you about? The one that Ruby found that couldn't speak Valerian and left my house during the night?"
"Yes, I do." That particular event had coincided quite neatly with the timeframe of the Grimm around Patch and Vale inexplicably shifting their behavior, but he had dismissed the idea as soon as it was formed. A single foreigner from some ancient, secretive lost colony could not possible alter the behavior of Grimm across a collective area measured in thousands of square miles. The professor continued, "I'm sorry to say but I still haven't found any leads."
"Well, Ruby and Yang found a cave several miles from the town where they think he stayed after he left us. Unfortunately the area around it was covered with Grimm tracks. Yang and Ruby faced more than a hundred Grimm before finding the place, and all of them came from the area around the cave."
Ozpin released a sigh of depression at the information, not needing Tai to elaborate further to get the implication. It was nowhere near as significant as the crisis they had just discussed in the meeting, but a single life lost was still a life he had sworn to protect.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm guessing your youngest isn't taking it so well?"
"It's… complicated. She's definitely taking it hard. Can't say I blame her, she's the one who found him after all. I know she feels at least partly responsible for what happened. But I heard she was… let's say, more aggressive than usual during the battle according to Yang. I always thought she was too innocent and trusting, that she would eventually be forced to lose some of it after she became a Huntress and saw some of the less-glamorous parts of life. But I never wanted it to happen this early, or in a personal way like this."
Ozpin brought his hand to Tai's shoulder in a firm grip, an attempt to reassure the man before the blonde continued.
"But she's taking it better than I thought she would, to be honest. I think Yang being around for support is a big help. She's still dead-set on being a Huntress. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's used this as motivation to improve herself. I guess I might just be overly worried. But I can't just assume everything will turn out alright considering, well..."
"What happened to Raven and Summer?" Ozpin finished for him.
Tai lifted his head to look the Headmaster of Beacon in the eye with a look that betrayed his crushing concern and hidden fears. No matter how old he got, Tai still felt like a child whenever he spoke to Ozpin about serious matters. The older man had a grandfatherly air to him that made it seem like he understood and knew everything he was going through.
"…Yes. I just…" the blonde paused again, a lump forming in his throat as he tried to hold off tears from forming. Even after all this time, remembering the loss of Raven and Summer still made him feel like an icy dagger had been plunged into his stomach.
"I don't know what I would do if I lost one of my baby girls the same way I lost them. Sometimes I wonder if I'm even doing the right thing for them as a father, letting them go out on the same path that led one of their mothers to abandon her family and the other to go out on a mission that she never came back from."
"Tai, you can't let the past haunt you forever. Both your children are growing up fast, and both you and Qrow have done a magnificent job raising them if half the stories I've been told about them are accurate. Not just in terms of combat, but supporting and loving each other and their fellow humanity."
Ozpin removed his hand from Tai's shoulder before finishing.
"Tai, I've been alive a long time, and have met more people than I can count. Ruby and Yang have been raised from the cradle by yourself, Summer Rose, and Qrow Branwen. Despite some differences between the three of you, I can honestly say I know no other individuals whom I would trust to do a better job. And despite the fact they will be leaving the nest soon, they will still have each other to rely on."
"Tch, ever the optimist."
"So I've been told, though I'm afraid I might not live up to that expectation tonight considering the circumstances."
"You know what I like after a long day of long and boring meetings?"
"I'll take a wild guess and say alcohol."
"And Professor Ozpin gets it correct! Though I'm not sure where I could take you without damaging your PR. I don't suppose you know a place?"
"My dear Tai, I'm insulted you think so little of me. When you have as much responsibility and paperwork as I do, you learn to keep Tequila in your office and every room of your house."
"Oz… are you serious?"
A small smirk made its way to Ozpin's mouth as he adjusted his glasses in an almost conspiratorial manner.
"Come now Tai, even I need more than coffee every now and then."
XXXXXXXXXX
AN: Hope that was worth the wait.
I had to do some wiki research with the sushi, so I hope I got most of the details more or less right. If not, well it's my story and I can bend the facts here a bit to make it work.
In case any of you were wondering, I am from the United States. And as it so happens our glorious politicians were doing their whole back and forth bullshit with building the Southern Border Wall when I was writing a lot of this. So quite often when I started writing that scene I would be forced to abort writing a sentence that went something like this:
"It will be a big, beautiful wall! And the Grimm will pay for it! It will be huge!"
You have no idea how tempting it was to put something like that in here if only for the fun of it. Don't lie, how many of you were thinking along similar lines when you read that first 'We need a wall'?
Hope you all enjoyed Taiyang's rant here, you have no idea how fun that was to write!
If you liked the first scene with Ruby and Yang, consider yourself lucky. I only added that on after I had written Tai's reference to it during his rant and figured it would have more of an impact if I wrote Ruby's emotional turmoil before that.
Shyla is my first serious OC so I hoped you liked her. I wanted to have someone from Slate's place interacting with him so I just chose the random blonde I had put in Chapter 5. Personality wise I based her off Toph Beifong from Avatar Last Airbender.
Well that's it for now, only another six weeks until the next update.
I put a lot of effort into this one- let me know what you think about ALL of it.
