The Messiah's Legacy

by LeiCiel

He was supposed to be the Seal that saved mankind. The one who ensured that people would still have the chance to find happiness in life. Instead, he cursed the world. And now, people spend every moment fearing for their lives. It now falls to eight special individuals to discover the truth behind the Messiah's final act and, perhaps, save the world in the process.

10. Ch 8 - Rivalries and Reunions

Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in any way, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.

Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.

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I know I said this would be out a week after the last but I got my days off switched this week since we got a few new guys who needed to be trained for the job. And then when I got to my day off, I lost it since some of the new guys decided they didn't like the job and just up and quit. But who cares. NEW CHAPTER! XD

Yeah, this week was a bit of a downer thanks to stuff from my job but hey, it's not the first time I've seen it happen, both during my current and previous jobs, so I, and a couple of others, pretty much saw it coming when we saw how they acted at work. Just didn't expect it to happen before the one week training period was over.

Still, like I said, it's nothing new. Though if they'd at least stayed on for one more day I would have been able to get this out last week like I promised. Well, not much we can do about it now. What's done is done and all that.

And now that we've more or less moved on, so has SEES for that matter, we can move into a new arc starting with the Arc Arc. Was that supposed to be a joke? Well, take it as you will. But of course, given the large cast of characters we're dealing with here, there'll also be some focus on other characters, their issues, and their relationship with their teammates and friends.

And let's not forget our subterranean friends. Little Big Bear's just hit the first month working with his new clients so we get to see if he has anything to deliver sometime soon. Or maybe not. You'll just have to see for yourself.

We'll also start moving into the Persona-experimentation stage, or at least the start of it, as hinted by Ozpin's request to Mitsuru two chapters ago to bring in the rest of his teaching staff to learn SEES's secrets. For anyone still wondering whether or not SEES will gain Aura and/or Semblance, or the other way around… actually, you should already know by now how that will turn out. If not, you can either wait for it or head back to Chapter 4 where you can find hints to the answer.

As a quick reminder, the class schedule, which has been updated to include the 2nd-4th-year classes, can be viewed through a link at the bottom of my profile. And as I've said before, anyone writing a RWBY story is free to use it and even revise the class list as needed provided you let me know and give proper credit.

Now then, let the show begin.

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Chapter 8 – Rivalries and Reunions

October 9, XX13

The sound of combat rang across the entire room, as was common within the Combat classroom. But unlike most fights, this time the audience was just as loud, if not louder, than the fight itself.

The fight itself had been going on for at least fifteen minutes and, according to the timer on the monitors above the fighters, was nearing the twenty minute mark. And within that twenty minutes, neither fighter had landed a single hit on the other.

Another round of shouting rippled from the crowd. Some cheered while some roared out their disappointment as the two fighters fought another bout with neither landing a single blow on the other.

It was the fight that everybody had been looking forward to for over two weeks now. Two weeks of speculation and even some bets between friends here and there. And once that got started, the formation of a small betting pool was only to be expected. One that even drew in some of the upper years.

And speaking of which, nearly half the Combat classroom's occupants were second-year students, with the other half being the first years whose class it of the second years must have seen the fight when it began since the others slowly came trickling in not long after the fight began. And in no time at all nearly all forty second-year students had come to watch the fight between the two top students in the first years' Combat Class.

The first fighter was none other than Pyrrha Nikos. Most, if not all, of the students in the room have at least heard of her in some manner. The Invincible Girl. Four-time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament. The Mistralian Champion. And, to one boy in particular, the girl on the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box.

Pyrrha had lived up to her fame since the very first match she had participated in during their Combat class. Her skills were above and beyond what many of them were capable of, regardless of what weapon they used, how well-trained they were, or even how long they've been training. Every single match ended without receiving a single blow. And every single fight was over in less than five minutes regardless of opponent, with only one exception prior to her current fight.

Even matches against her friends did not last long. Weiss, Ruby, Ren, and Blake were swift. Weiss was versatile, Ruby was far faster than any previous opponent, and the latter two were very cunning, more than the rest, but they all lacked the raw power to overcome her defenses. Yang and Nora, on the other hand, had power in spades, far more than she had. Yet neither were quick enough to test whether they strength could overpower her defenses.

For the former group, waiting for them to strike first and then launching a counteroffensive after dodging or parrying their attacks with a handful of powerful attacks of her own was enough to break their guard and depleted their Aura quickly. For the latter, multiple, swift hit-and-run attacks worked best to whittle down their Aura while avoiding their devastating attacks.

As for Jaune, well… needless to say it was just another repeat of their various training matches outside of class. There were just more spectators this time, much to Jaune's embarrassment and dismay.

She had held back against SEES whenever she was paired up with one of their members, knowing full well she would dominate the fight in seconds if she went all out, if not kill them outright if either one made a mistake. Each one held their own well enough, and three of them lasted longer than most.

Akihiko and Mitsuru were expected to be among those three. Not only were they experienced, they were also far shrewder, far more cunning, than their juniors. What they lacked in physical ability, they made up with intellect. And though the end result was the same, the respect she had for them rose. In the face of a more powerful opponent, they developed more cunning tactics to turn the tables. And while none of them were enough to bring victory, she had nearly fallen into their traps more than once. Only her sharp reflexes and quick thinking prevented them from landing a single blow.

It was the third person, the one who lasted the longest out of the entire class just a few days ago, who had surprised her.

Fuuka was known to be the least combat-capable among their group, even among their entire year. She had only won a handful of fights, mostly by slowly draining her opponent's Aura over a long period of time while utilizing her shields to great effect. Even Ken had won more fights than her. But when it came to pure defensive ability, Pyrrha could have easily said at that time that Fuuka was one of the best in class.

Their fight simply proved her right.

Their fight had gone on for nearly fifteen minutes, with Fuuka focusing strictly on defense and barely even trying to shoot the redhead with the firearms built into her shields. But even so, Fuuka should not have lasted so long. Especially not after Pyrrha slowly stepped up her game.

It was almost as though Fuuka was reading her mind. It was only the fact that she, as well as the rest of SEES, admitted that Juno's ability to connect their minds did not extend to actual mind reading abilities that Pyrrha accepted the extended fight as pure skill on Fuuka's part. She admitted that she could sense emotions to a very limited degree, but she could not discern another person's thoughts through their connection. Not unless they wanted her to hear it.

And yet their fight played out as though she had been reading Pyrrha's mind. For nearly fifteen minutes, Pyrrha tried and failed to break through the diminutive girl's guard. But every slash, every stab and thrust, every shot – which she had only used as a feint and not aimed to hurt the other girl – every single attack was blocked without fail.

Even with the Mistralian's superior speed and power, Fuuka was able to defend herself, anticipating the attacks despite their speed and bleeding off the power by deflecting rather than blocking the attack. It had gotten to the point where she was considering revealing her Semblance to everyone and just force Fuuka's arms apart, leaving her wide open. As it was, subtle manipulation was not enough since she always caught the attacks close to the center of the shields.

Never before had she met an opponent like Fuuka. It was the first time that Pyrrha could say that she was frustrated but not wary or threatened by her opponent. When the basic attacks failed, she tried making use of feints and misdirection. But none of them worked. Fuuka didn't so much as hesitate in ignoring the feints, instead moving to block the real attack as though she had known what the redhead was doing from the start.

And when that failed, she began pulling out more and more tricks she had learned over the years. Attacks from above, maneuvers that brought her behind her opponent, a pincer attack with her shield – plus a little manipulation with her Semblance – and even a little bit of grappling after she threw her javelin and shield to distract Fuuka from her plan.

The results?

Attacking from above nearly led to Fuuka landing the first blow of the entire match, the sudden barrage of bullets catching her off guard since Fuuka had not attempted to attack her at all prior to that point.

Forcing Fuuka to hide behind her shield, essentially blocking her field of view to allow Pyrrha to encircle her, ended with her nearly coming face to shield with Ancile when Fuuka backhanded her just as she finished circling the girl. She had only remembered afterwards that Fuuka did not need her eyes to know where her opponent was, even if her 'sight' was limited due to not actually summoning Juno.

The pincer attack – attempted under the assumption that Fuuka could not sense inanimate objects – failed spectacularly when Fuuka ducked at the right moment. Akoúo sailed over the Aura-less girl's head, just barely missing her teal hair, and forced Pyrrha to knock her own shield out of the air using both Miló and her Semblance. Then she had to abandon her attack when Fuuka attempted to shoot her again while she was recovering from blocking Akoúo.

Grappling? Fuuka had jumped out of range of the Mistralian's hands almost as soon as she attempted to grab Ancile to keep her in place, using her hidden firearm to keep Pyrrha at a distance.

In the end, it had taken nearly bringing forth her full ability to land a decisive blow. She had grown frustrated at not being able to land a single hit against the girl who was a solid foot shorter than she was that she had unconsciously began using more and more of her full strength. In the end, Pyrrha smashed her Akoúo against Fuuka's Ancile, putting nearly all her strength behind the blow. The strength behind the blow caught Fuuka unprepared, even though her block was perfectly executed, sending her flying back a fair distance and landing on her back.

That had been enough for Goodwitch to call the match, ending in what appeared to be a hard-earned victory for the still undefeated Champion. But Pyrrha knew the truth, one that she admitted only to herself. Had Fuuka had Aura, and had Fuuka's physical abilities been on par with her own, then the fight would have been much more difficult. It might have even ended in her defeat if Fuuka was also more combat-capable.

It had not been skill that had decided the match, but raw physical stats. The sheer difference in raw power between the two had been the deciding factor of the match. And as perfect as Fuuka's defenses were – not even Pyrrha could claim to be able to deflect every attack at the perfect angle to redirect nearly all the force behind it – every defense had its weakness. Hers just so happened to be her physical limits. It had been from the start. If Pyrrha had realized that sooner then perhaps she would have won in under five minutes, just like every other fight, simply by overpowering the girl rather than fighting as she usually did.

When asked for how she so skilled on the defensive, Fuuka's explanation – at least the one she had been willing to give – was that she had trained specifically to defend herself against enemies stronger than her to make up for her complete lack of offensive ability. She also needed to learn quickly because the ones who had trained the group prior to arriving in Beacon were as exceedingly powerful as they were brutal.

It did not answer every question in Pyrrha's mind, but it did help her understand how Fuuka developed such a defensive fighting style. If she was up against such a powerful foe, then there was only one reason behind it.

The sheer will to survive.

But that fight was nothing compared to the fight she was in now. Unlike Fuuka, who could only last so long due to focusing on defense, her current opponent was well-versed in both offense and defense. So much so that they had just passed the twenty-minute mark without a clear advantage on either side.

Her opponent was none other than Aigis Arisato, the only other first-year student with an undefeated win streak.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise and yet it did. Aigis was an android built specifically for combat against the Grimm. She, herself, had admitted that she had been pre-programmed with various combat-related data from the start in place of things like social interaction and various subjects unrelated to combat.

The only reason that she even needed to study for class was because her programming was not as advanced as a true AI in that the latter could assimilate knowledge as soon as it was gained.

The blonde had gained quite a reputation in the past few weeks. Not just among their class, but even in the entire school. Not only was she one of the eight Aura-less students, but all of her matches had been equal to Pyrrha's in nearly every way. All ended before the five-minute mark – most of them in fact ended in less than three minutes – and all ended without receiving a single scratch.

Never mind the fact that a single hit would have ended in Aigis's loss. The simple fact that she had yet to be hit even once was evidence of her skill.

The Untouchable Girl. That was what they called her.

Nobody could properly claim who it was who first called her that, just that it had apparently first been used by various people when they compared her matches to Pyrrha's. Obviously they couldn't call them both 'Invincible' and so the next best thing was used. And that was what she was, even from Pyrrha's perspective.

There was a reason why she was called 'Invincible' after all. She was not infallible, no human was. There were times when even she was caught off guard, forcing her to take the full brunt of an attack with Akoúo rather than avoiding it or deflecting it.

It was something she was taught by her personal tutor, who had been hired by her parents hired to give her additional lessons when her potential was first recognized by Sanctum's staff. Avoiding an attack shows that you had seen it coming, that you had predicted such a move. Deflecting it shows skill, especially when it is deflected in a way that allows a counterattack while preventing the opponent from shifting to defense or counterattacking in turn. Blocking outright showed a lack of skill and ability if it was done with no significant to gain in mind. And taking a hit in order to deliver one was, in his own words, the lowest, most disgraceful tactic there was, one that was only used by the weak and unskilled.

There were certainly times, even now, when she had been forced to utilize that third option. She could just imagine his frown whenever she blocked an attack because she had not expected it. She was still young and fairly inexperienced, but his teachings had long taken root in her mind. Outright blocking an attack was not an option, only a final resort for when it was necessary. And if she was better, then it should never be necessary. Not without a plan to take advantage of it.

And then came Aigis.

Even after learning that the blonde was not human, the fact was that Aigis behaved so much like a human that it began to grow increasingly more difficult to think of her as anything else as the days passed. But whenever she fought during Combat class, that tiny portion of her mind that continued to see Aigis as a machine resurfaced.

Her defensive style was, much like Fuuka's, textbook perfect. In fact, it was even better. Every dodge was swiftly followed by an attack where the opponent was open. Every attack that could not be dodged was knocked aside with contemptuous ease, followed by another attack. Attacks were deflected at the perfect angle and in the right direction, minimizing her opponent's ability to redirect the failed attack into another one or into a defensive nature to stop the coming counterattack. And, unlike Pyrrha, she had yet to outright block a single attack, regardless of whether or not she had something to gain by doing so. A perfect defense in Pyrrha's eyes.

But unlike Fuuka, her offense was just as perfect. Attacks were made swiftly and fiercely, carefully calculated to ensure she would always be able to switch back to defense should it become necessary. Her mechanical limbs aided in allowing her to control the strength of her blows, making it next to impossible to overexert herself and overextend her attacks, and minimizing her opponents chance for a counteroffensive even further. And even when attacking, her guard was maintained. Any and all attempts to attack were quickly dealt with and her offensive resumed with barely a pause.

Her body, while not indestructible, was capable of channeling more power and withstanding more force than the rest of SEES. It wasn't much when compared to Huntsmen and Huntresses, or even some of the trainees, but it was more than enough for her to stand on equal ground. Her footing was always strong and steady, ready to shift between offense and defense at a moment's notice. Her eyes took in every detail, far more than any human possibly could, reading her foe's body language, the slightest tensing of muscles, and predicting their attacks. And her mind, though mechanical, could easily calculate any and all possibilities based on what her eyes could see and, if she had it, what her instincts told her.

All this brought forth a feeling in Pyrrha that she had not felt in since her early years in Sanctum and her first two entries in the Mistral Regionals. Excitement.

For two years now she had stood so far ahead of her class, and even ahead of some of those above her, that the thrill of combat, of fighting a worthy opponent, was turning into a distant memory. Even the two most recent tournaments had failed to elicit such a feeling from her. There was always that tiny shred of hope that she would meet an opponent who could challenge her, who could force her to bring out the full brunt of her abilities. Then the excitement would build when she faced off against someone stronger or faster than her.

But the moment her Semblance came into play, the fight would lose that which made it interesting.

Polarity. Control over magnetic forces, over any object that could normally be attracted by magnets. And given that practically every weapon was made of such materials, her Semblance was essentially the best anti-Huntsman Semblance there was. Or even anti-human/anti-faunus if one were to go beyond that.

To date, her use was subtle, slightly redirecting attacks to better avoid them or using it to guide her weapons to their destination. Almost nobody knew of her Semblance and what it could do. Not even her own team had brought it up for some reason.

And yet here she was, struggling to land a single hit on her opponent while making sure to avoid being hit first.

The match against Aigis was just as exhilarating as she had expected it to be. Neither one let up on the attack, nor did they allow their defenses to slip even the tiniest bit. Their bouts would go on for nearly a full minute before one or both pulled back to reassess the situation only to dash right in after no more than a few seconds, a new plan of attack already divined after their previous bout.

But two bouts turned to five. Then ten. Then twenty. Until neither one bothered to count how many times they had engaged in combat only to end in another stalemate.

Physically they were roughly equal. Aigis's mechanical frame was strong, and her movements were swift and precise. Pyrrha was the same, but her strength and speed was born of training, and was slightly above Aigis in terms of limitations.

But Aigis more than made up for that small disadvantage. While Pyrrha was well-versed fighting against humans and faunus, compared to Aigis who was much more experienced against the Grimm, the blonde still slipped through that net due to being an android. The way she fought was similar enough to humans and faunus, but the level of precision was so vast in difference that it was a different experience altogether.

Blades and bullets were dodged by literally a hair's width. Attacks came in from angles where Pyrrha would be forced to abandon her attack in order to dodge or block, or at least be unable to counterattack. Giving away even the slightest opening, even one that was only present for a split-second, was the equivalent of welcoming an attack.

And that didn't even factor in the fact that Aigis seems to have worked out her Semblance almost as soon as she had used it.

It had been a literal whirlwind of attacks from Aigis, her knives coming in from seemingly every direction. She thought Aigis was simply trying to wear her down, tire her out enough – she was human after all – so that she would slip up just that little bit. But the whole thing had been one big setup. The directions the attack came from, the angles, all of it was done to force her into a specific position.

The blonde android's plan was flawless in both planning and execution. Back, forward, left, right, and even above, Aigis showed that she had a way to prevent Pyrrha from escaping, never once allowing the redhead to move in a way that did not suit her needs. Her only clue that something was horribly wrong was when she stepped to the left only to find that only half of her left foot hand actually landed on solid ground.

She stumbled a bit and nearly fell outside the boundaries of the circular platform they fought on, which would have resulted in her loss. She raised Miló to stop an attack coming from above and to the right, but the force was enough to push her to the left so that her left foot slid off the platform completely.

Thinking quickly, she dropped down onto her right knee while bringing her left hand to support her. Unfortunately this left her in a precarious situation. With her left leg hanging over the edge of the platform and her left arm, along with Akoúo, being used to keep her from falling off the edge, she was almost completely vulnerable.

Her right hand raised Miló once more to block a knife, only for Aigis to shift the movement at the last second in order to knock the xiphos aside, though Pyrrha maintained her grip. With the right hand unable to recover in time and the left needed to keep her from losing by ring out, she had no other option.

For the first time that fight, Pyrrha used her Semblance, redirecting the knife's handguard slightly upwards and to the left before it could break her nose, eyes wide at how close she had come to getting hit even as she tilted her head to the right as far as she could.

It had been subtle, just a slight enough redirection that gave her a little more room as she managed to lean back and to the right to avoid the attack, using her momentum to roll away from the edge of the platform. But as soon as she did, Aigis leapt away a great distance, far greater than any other time they had separated.

Pyrrha didn't pursue, taking the time to rise to her feet and regain her stance while re-evaluating her impression of her opponent. She watched as Aigis glanced down at the weapon that had failed to land the first hit of the match then back up at Pyrrha. The blonde nodded at something while muttering a few words before charging forward once more.

Since then, any attempt to redirect her trench knives had ended in failure. No, that wasn't quite right. Her attempts succeeded. She managed to connect with the weapons and adjust their course. It was simply that Aigis was more than capable of overpowering her hold on the weapons, forcing them to travel to their intended target through sheer brute force. It caused a very brief moment when the knife slowed down before continuing on its path at full speed, but that was it. It was hardly enough for Pyrrha to take advantage of in any way.

It brought home the fact that while Pyrrha may be strong and skilled, she was far from the only one in their class who was capable. And as the fight drew on, the differences between them grew more and more apparent.

Sharp blue eyes caught even the slightest openings – which grew in frequency as Pyrrha slowly began to tire – and the blonde was quick to capitalize on them, her mechanical mind processing information faster than any living being alive could and coming up with the best possible plans to do so. And all the while she was still maintaining her defense, making it difficult for Pyrrha to even spot an opening. Or at least, one that she could take advantage of without leaving herself wide open.

As things stood, the idea of letting Aigis get in one hit to be absorbed by her Aura so that she could make the one hit she needed to win was becoming more and more tempting.

But both her tutor's lessons and her own personal pride wouldn't allow it.

She was Pyrrha Nikos. She was the Invincible Girl.

It was not a title she was overly fond of as it became her public name more than her own, but it was a title she earned on her own merits. To willingly receive an attack in order to deliver her own was anathema to her. She may as well just concede the match and her title if she had to resort to an exchange of that sort in order to win. Besides, if winning the fight was all she wanted to do she could have done so in the first minute.

Aigis was an android. It was one of the reasons why she could match Pyrrha blow for blow. But it was also the reason why she would never be able to win against Pyrrha if it came down to a serious fight. Her entire body was made of metal. Metal that, through a few discreet tests, was receptive to her Semblance.

Had the Mistralian Champion wanted to, she could have ended the match at any time. All she would need to do was target the blonde's body, rather than her weapons. But this time it was not just her pride that would not allow her to take such a course of action.

The fact was, Pyrrha was enjoying the fight. As strange as it may sound to those who wanted her to win, wanting her to prove once again why she was the Invincible Girl, she was having far too much fun for her to end the fight then and there.

A grin threatened to split her face as she and the android separated, their most recent bout once more ending in a stalemate. She steadied her breathing – when had she even began to breath that hard? – and quickly wiped away the sweat making its way down her brow lest it slide into her eye and blind her at an inopportune moment.

Proving once again her mechanical roots, Aigis was neither gasping for breath nor was she sweating. Her face was calm and focused, but set into a slight frown. It didn't feel like the blonde was frustrated or annoyed at her lack of progress, more like she was simply that focused on the fight itself.

She wondered whether Aigis was enjoying the fight as much as she was or if she was even capable of feeling such. It was hard to tell if there were any emotions being stirred up beneath that stony frown.

Idly, she wondered what the spectators thought of her now. There she was, sweating heavily and breathing just as hard, while Aigis stood firm, not even looking the slightest bit tired. Did they perhaps think that Pyrrha would lose? That there was someone who would take away her title of Invincible?

And what about her sponsors? Her fans the world over? Surely a loss here would have far-reaching consequences even beyond the walls of Beacon. Would they look down on her for losing to some no-name challenger? To someone they had not even heard of? To someone without an active Aura?

But as soon as that thought appeared, it was quickly suppressed. Now was not the time for idle thoughts. Not against an opponent of Aigis's caliber. Moreover, she found that she couldn't care less what they thought. Here and now, she was enjoying herself far more than she had any other time within the past two years. Let them say what they want. In the end, she was happy.

No sooner did that thought cross her mind did Aigis charge forward once more, the skirt of Gekkoukan High school's uniform fluttering and beating lightly along her thighs as she closed the gap.

Again, the thought came to mind that she should just use her Semblance at full power, though not necessarily against Aigis herself. At full power she had no doubt she could overpower Aigis and redirect the blonde's attacks the way she was used to doing. But the way the attack would suddenly veer off course, quite unlike the subtle and almost unnoticeable movements from before, would be visible to the spectators and would give away hints at her Semblance, if not her Semblance itself. But if she was going to go all out then pride would demand that she target Aigis's body as well and not just her weapons.

And that was something she did not want to do. Not just yet.

If she was going to unleash everything she had, then Aigis would have to do the same. But at the moment that was something Aigis could not and would not do. While powerful, their Personas and how they would interact with those with Aura and Aura itself was still completely unknown.

Despite requests and even pleas by some, or just Yang for the most part, Mitsuru refused to let their teammates be the test subjects for their Personas. Even during training, Personas were only used against another Persona-user. Against an Aura-user, she would only allow the use of Rakukaja or, as they would learn Aigis and Junpei were capable of, Marakukaja – which turned out to be the same only it targeted multiple people all at once – for group battles.

And none of SEES would disobey that order. Not because Mitsuru commanded it, but because they agreed that it was too much of an unknown to carelessly attempt such experimentations.

Thus Aigis would not unleash her Persona, not here and now at least. And no matter what Pyrrha did, nothing would give Aigis cause to draw the evoker holstered at her side.

But that was fine.

Forget the crowd and their cheering. Forget her unbroken winning streak. Forget her sponsors and her fans. Forget the wager that her friends, classmates, and even upperclassmen made on who would win. None of that mattered to her at all. Right here, right now, it was just the two of them attempting to outmaneuver and outsmart one another in order to land even a single blow on the other. And that was all that mattered to her. No Semblance, no Persona, just pure skill.

The Invincible versus the Untouchable.

Yes. Win or lose, nothing could make her happier at that moment.

---

"Is she alright?"

"Dunno, she's been like this since Goodwitch's class."

They were talking about her. Or were they talking to her? It was just too hard to tell right now. Perhaps she should answer. Ah, who cares anyway? She certainly couldn't care less right now.

"You don't know? Aren't you supposed to be the team leader?"

"It's not like I ask for every little detail of her life. Besides, I don't even know why Ozpin made me leader. I mean, Pyrrha would have been way better than me."

"Not if she's like this she's not."

All she wanted to do right now was bask in the moment and take in the feeling of the most fulfilling fight she has ever had in the past two years. Perhaps even the past four years. Certainly, even her first tournament hadn't given her this much of a challenge.

She replayed the entire fight in her head from start to finish. Every attack, every parry, every counterattack, every feint, every plot, and every deception they played against one another flashed in her mind's eye. It was the most beautiful dance of steel she had ever seen and experienced.

"Well, I don't see you doing anything Yang. 'Sides, not like it's hurting anyone. Or her."

"That's true I guess. Still, if I didn't know any better I'd say she was crushing on some guy. And trust me, she isn't. But honestly, seeing Pyrrha daydreaming like that is a little weird."

True enough, there sat Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, currently blankly staring straight ahead with a dazed, almost, dare they say it, goofy-looking, smile on her face. Her left elbow was propped up on the table, the side of her head cradled in her open palm, while her other hand played idly with the pasta on her plate, which she had been playing with since she sat down without consuming a single bite.

It was a wonder that she had managed to make her way from the Combat classroom to the dining hall without incident. Though she had seemed distracted at the end of the match against Aigis, nobody paid it much heed considering the way the fight had ended. They had simply assumed she was trying to pick out her mistakes during the fight – not that they had spotted any from the spectators' seats – and where she could have done better.

In fact, the only reason they were noticing it now was because they were getting ready to leave the dining hall. In fact, most of them had already risen from their seats and bade the others farewell.

Fuuka had her Weapons Designing class in fifteen minutes while Ruby needed to get ready for the Advanced Designing class, which would take place two hours later. Weiss accompanied Ruby back to the room with the goal of working on her homework so that she could enjoy her weekend.

Mitsuru went to the library, accompanied by Blake, while Yukari returned to KYBT's dorm room for the same reason as Weiss. In addition, she was trying to get her blonde teammate to do the same while Yang wanted to hang out with the others more.

Akihiko, Ken, and Ren were dragging a reluctant Nora to do the same, the first two knowing by now that Nora, while intelligent enough, was simply too lazy or unmotivated to do the work earlier than she felt it necessary. Translation: at the very last minute.

And that left team JACN, or three members of the team, to deal with their mentally preoccupied fourth teammate. She hadn't even said a single word since leaving the classroom, merely a non-committal hum that failed to give an answer of any sort.

The uncharacteristic grin on her face was both unnerving and a relief. Unnerving in that she had never once sported such an expression and a relief in that she was mostly likely not injured or overly worried about something. Still, that didn't mean they didn't worry. What could have happened to make her like this?

"What should we do?" asked Jaune, waving a hand in front of his partner's face to no avail. Whatever the reason for her current state, it certainly served as quite the distraction if neither sights nor sounds could catch her attention.

Junpei looked just as lost as Jaune, and Chidori didn't really seem too worried. Or even interested at all for that matter. Scanning his surroundings, Junpei looked for… something that he could use. He wanted to just try tapping Pyrrha's shoulder or something but he didn't want a repeat of what happened last Sunday when he tried waking her up for dinner. 'Yeah, a broken nose ain't worth it.'

His eyes locked onto something right in front of him and, after a brief moment of contemplation, nodded to himself. "Hey Jaune, move back a bit."

The blonde turned to his leader, wondering what he was going to do. His eyes widened when he spotted the glass of water in Junpei's left hand. "W-wait. Y-you're not gonna…?"

Junpei just grinned and turned to Pyrrha, watching in amusement as Jaune scurried back, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of his leader's attack or his partner's retaliation. Then, setting his sights on the daydreaming redhead, he struck.

Pyrrha blinked when she felt something wet strike her face, her right hand unconsciously lashing out to the side out of reflex. She blinked a second time, and even recoiled slightly, when it happened again. This time her eyes quickly locked onto her attacker.

In front of her, Junpei had just pulled out his fingers from a glass filled with water. He curled his wet fingers hallway to his palm and placed his thumb over them, the half-formed fist pointed towards her, ready to flick more water onto her face.

"So, you awake yet?" he asked with a playful grin. Beside him, Chidori just shook her head in exasperation, but the small grin on her face gave away her true feelings. "Or do I need to splash you some more?"

"What… I… Ah!" Pyrrha shut her eyes as Junpei flicked his fingers, sending droplets of water flying at her face for a third time with a chuckle. "I-I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm awake!" she said hurriedly, her left arm rising from the table to shield her face from further attack.

"Aw, really?" asked Junpei, his grin never once leaving his face. He raised the glass in his hand, showing it to Pyrrha. "I mean, the glass is still pretty full. I'm sure I could keep splashing ya 'til you're wide awake."

"No!" Pyrrha winced when she realized she had shouted out loud, huddling down as though to hide when other students turned her way. "I…" She coughed into her hand, trying to hide her embarrassment. Though judging by her leader's grin, it wasn't very effective. "I'm fine," she continued with her usual composure, though the heat she felt coming from her face most likely did not match her tone. "I don't believe any more will be necessary. Though I don't believe the water was necessary in the first place."

The cap-wearing teen shrugged and set down the glass, making a mental note not to drink from it anymore. "Yeah, well, it was either that or risk a broken nose. Again."

Although there was no malice in his words, merely a statement of the fact, Pyrrha looked away with an even deeper blush. "I'm sorry."

While the incident had been nothing more than an accident – a result of her tutor's training methods – it didn't mean that she was comfortable knowing she had injured her friend and leader. The fact that she had not struck him with all her might was the only consolation she had. And that was only due to how tired she was since she had only slept for four hours, if even that, after returning to Beacon, rather than a conscious effort to hold back. A full powered blow would have broken her Aura-less leader's face. Or possibly worse.

"Don't make me order you to stop apologizing," he responded good-naturedly. "It's not like you did it on purpose. And besides, nothing happened this time. See?" He leaned forward as though to give her a better view of his face. "I don't see a broken nose anywhere. Do you?"

"No." Surprisingly, it was Chidori who answered. And when the two looked at her, they found her trying to hold in her amusement. "Just a messy face."

The Japanese and the Mistralian turned to face one another in confusion. While wet, Pyrrha's face didn't look that messy. Or even slightly messy. They looked to Chidori for confirmation but found that her attention wasn't on Pyrrha at all. Following her line of sight, Pyrrha froze and gasped at what she saw, her hand rising to her mouth, while Junpei burst out laughing.

Jaune just sighed, knowing that he must have made quite the sight the way he was. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he said with resignation.

All over his face and hair was a large amount of pasta, sauce, cheese, and diced chicken. The same pasta, sauce, cheese, and diced chicken that had come flying his way barely a minute earlier. The exact same pasta, sauce, cheese, and diced chicken that Pyrrha had been playing around with before she sent it flying.

"I'm sorry!"

Pyrrha quickly looked around for something to help clean up the mess even as Junpei and Chidori continued to laugh, the latter drawn in by the former's unrestrained laughter. Jaune just sighed even as some of the food slipped off his face and onto his lap. 'This just isn't my day.'

---

About an hour later, Jaune stepped out of the bathroom, food-free and in a fresh change of clothes. It wasn't so much the food as much as the smell that had taken him so long to get rid of. He probably still smelled a little like whatever wine was used in the pasta sauce, but hopefully it wasn't enough to mark him as an alcoholic or anything of the sort.

Pyrrha quickly rose from where she sat on her bed and ran up to him, apologies streaming forth once again. Jaune was quick to placate her, letting her know that no harm was done.

Chidori and Junpei were sitting at one of the tables, going over a quick review of the latter's notes from the previous days to make sure he understood them all as well as comparing them to the books he used for reference to make sure he hadn't mistranslated anything.

It was no secret that their leader still had some difficulty reading the English language. He could communicate easily enough through words, even if his vocabulary wasn't that broad. It was just that he had focused on the speaking and listening aspect when SEES had studied it months ago, leaving his reading and writing skills to fall behind.

As a result, Chidori often had to help Junpei understand the books they needed to read, translating the parts he could not understand. The same went for any essays their teachers assigned them to write for their respective classes. Improvement was slow going, since their focus was on the subject rather than the language, but it was there.

Once Jaune had gotten Pyrrha to stop feeling bad about throwing food on his face, he decided to broach the topic they had been discussing early. "So Pyrrha, what were you thinking about earlier?"

As though the question had flipped a switch, Pyrrha immediately went from concerned and apologetic, to bright and ecstatic. "Ah, I was just thinking about my fight with Aigis."

Her words and her tone didn't make a lot of sense to him. Correction. It didn't make sense at all. And he made his confusion known. "Huh?" Pyrrha giggled at his confused expression, only slightly surprised that he didn't really understand it. "You uh… you almost sound happy. I mean, are you really alright with how the fight ended?"

Pyrrha just laughed, happiness bubbling forth from every pore as the fight began to play once more in her mind's eye. "Of course I'm happy," she said, bringing her laughter under control. "It's been years since I've fought that hard against someone other than a teacher or my tutor. For the first time in so long I've found someone who can push me to fight harder than I normally do."

Off to the side, Junpei chuckled when he heard the Mistralian's words, loud enough to get their attention. "Sounds like you've got a rival then."

Rival. That word made Pyrrha smile.

Yes, a rival. Certainly, no other word could better describe how she now saw the android. A rival. One who would push her to her limits in order to achieve victory, who would force her to fight at her very best or face defeat. And if Pyrrha were to slack off then she would be defeated in turn. But even so, that defeat would undoubtedly serve as motivation to work harder in order to avoid the same conclusion next time they fought.

It was a novel idea. To Pyrrha at least. Many saw her as a rival, as someone to surpass by any means necessary. And yet, none of them were worthy enough to be called her rival. Many has possessed the potential to one day stand on equal grounds with her. But by the time they reached that point, she, herself, would have improved and moved on to a higher level.

But Aigis…

Aigis was certainly different from the rest of them. Never mind the fact that she wasn't human or even faunus. Her skills and abilities were easily on par with Pyrrha's. Perhaps even better. Or perhaps she had simply grown too reliant on the use of her Semblance as a means of defending against her opponents' attacks to the point that her own skills have stagnated to a degree.

It also hadn't escaped Pyrrha's notice that she was focusing more on defense during that entire fight. Whether it was Aigis's extremely keen sense of observation, her inhuman ability to calculate and predict her opponent's next move, her equally inhuman reactions times, her vast knowledge of combat tactics and combat in general, or her ability to resist, to a limited degree, having her weapon be manipulated by Pyrrha's Semblance, it all boiled down to the same thing. In a straight fight with just their skills, Aigis was superior.

And rather than be discouraged, Pyrrha found herself fighting harder and harder, pushing her body more than she ever had in any of her recent fights. And with her normal use of Semblance rendered all but useless, she was forced to rely strictly on the most basic of combat skills using only Miló, Akoúo, her body, and her wits.

While she hadn't been injured, Aigis's powerful blows, coupled with the sheer number she could deliver with her speed, took a heavy toll on her muscles the longer the fight went on, a disadvantage that Aigis did not have. She was just barely able to stand at the end, and it had taken all her willpower to remain standing after Goodwitch called the end of the fight.

Returning her equipment to the lockers had certainly made it easier on her, but it was only years of training and conditioning that allowed her to move normally after such an extended fight. That, and the thought of losing some of her dignity by falling over in public was not a very appealing thought at all

"Is uh… is that a good thing?" Jaune asked, turning to the team's leader.

"You should ask Akihiko-senpai more about that. I'm sure he's had a rival or two before. But yeah," said Junpei, shutting the book and notebook on the desk and stretching his arms high above his head. He turned to sit sideways on the chair as he spoke to his teammate. "It's good that you've got someone who can keep up with you," he said to Pyrrha, drawing her away from her thoughts before she could delve too deep again.

"Maybe I'll invite Aigis when we train so you have someone to train with. I mean, you're pretty much the strongest on this team so you're practically the one teaching us whenever we train. I feel kinda bad that we can't do much for you when it comes to training. Especially since I'm the leader and all."

"You shouldn't feel bad about that," replied Pyrrha. "I'm sure Headmaster Ozpin has his reasons for making you the leader of our team." The fact that she didn't mention any possible reason spoke volumes but Junpei appreciated the pep talk all the same. It didn't hurt that her expression was always so sincere when she said such things.

"Well, maybe I'll find out someday." Junpei rose from the chair and stretched once more, twisting his body this way and that. "Anyway, I'm gonna go for a quick walk. Anyone wanna come along?"

His red-haired girlfriend shook her head, laying a book down on the desk along with her own notebook. "I need to finish my essay for my Field Medicine class and maybe start on the next set of readings. That way I won't have to worry about it too much this weekend."

The other redhead also shook her head in response, sitting back down on her bed and leaning against the headboard with a pillow supporting her lower back. "I'm still a little sore from my fight with Aigis so I'll remain here for now. Perhaps I'll go over my homework for Tactics. I believe the Headmaster will be one of the instructors present tomorrow night."

Jaune looked uncertain for a moment before he nodded wordlessly, grabbing the sweater hanging on the chair next to him.

"Kinda forgot he'd be there tomorrow. Meh, I'll go over mine tomorrow before the class." Junpei held the door open, letting Jaune go on ahead, then turned to the two redheads in the room. "Alright, we'll be back in a while. See ya."

The two waved farewell as Junpei walked through the doorway and shut the door behind him. He placed his hands in his jacket pockets as the two of them made their way down to the first floor and out the door. Stepping outside, he shivered a bit as a cool breeze blew past them. "Man, it's getting pretty chilly already. How cold does it get around here? Does it snow during the winter?"

Jaune looked up in thought. "Pretty cold I think. I mean, I'm from a little further south so I'm not really too sure. But I think it snows here."

"Good thing we've got some stuff from back home then. Still, better let everyone know just in case." He also made sure to make a mental note to check if he had enough warm clothes, especially since he wasn't sure if it was going to be colder here than in Japan.

The two of them walked aimlessly through campus, talking about whatever came to mind. The climate, their classes, and plans for the weekend among other things. Eventually they ran out of things to talk about and just wandered around in silence, neither one really bothered by it.

But as they walked through the courtyard, just past the statue depicting a Huntsman and a Huntress standing atop a rock, beneath which a Beowolf could be seen, presumably cowering in fear of the two, Jaune paused to stare at the statue.

Seeing his teammate missing, Junpei walked back to the blonde. "Something up?"

No response came. Jaune simply continued to stare up at the statue. "Doesn't it… doesn't it bother you?" Jaune asked from out of nowhere, much to Junpei's confusion. "Knowing that Pyrrha's stronger than you I mean."

"Not really." Junpei's reply came so swiftly and without hesitation that Jaune had to turn to make sure that the dark-haired boy was serious. "I mean, we all knew we weren't gonna be the strongest guys around when we decided to come here. You guys have been training for years and you've got Aura and Semblance. Asides from Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai, the rest of us have been training for about a year and all we have is Persona."

"But they're-"

"Pretty strong, yeah," interrupted Junpei. Then he shrugged. "But if you think about it, that's pretty much it. Our Personas are all we've got going for us."

"But you've won some of your fight during Goodwitch's class," argued Jaune, unable to believe that Junpei was putting himself and his friends down, speaking as though they weren't all that powerful. "And that's without your Persona."

"Yeah but how long will that last? We pretty much won 'cuz they can't go all out against us and we're used to fighting people stronger than us. Besides, if you hadn't noticed we've been losing more of our fights lately," countered Junpei. "Fuuka, Yukari, and Chidori lose a lot since the three of them are support and long-range types. Ken's young so he isn't as strong and fast as the rest of us. I've only been fighting for a year and a couple of months and I'm not exactly fast enough to hit most of the other guys. Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai can only keep winning since they're used to fighting other people more than the rest of us but they've been losing more often too. Aigis is the only one who's different. Pretty sure I don't need to tell you why."

"But in the end, none of us are as strong or as fast as any of you." Junpei sighed as he looked up at the sky where the shattered moon gazed down upon them. "You guys have been training for years and only our senpai have been training for just as long. But you guys went to school to learn how to fight. For us, and even both senpai, fighting is pretty much just a part-time job. An important job, yeah, but not something we were training to do our whole lives."

"The fact that we're used to fighting isn't even gonna last long. Akihiko-senpai thinks that by the time we get to our second year you'll all have enough experience that the little tricks we use to win won't be enough. And even if we can use our Personas against people with Aura without hurting them too much, it'll probably be just another year or so before everyone gets used to it too and start finding ways to beat us. Even Mitsuru-senpai and Aigis agreed. And Aigis is a freakin' fighting computer. So if she says it's happening then I'm betting it is."

"Heck, if we'd come straight here after everything went down then we wouldn't have won even a single fight. It's only 'cuz Elizabeth-san trained us that we're even as good as we are now."

That admission was new. Unless Jaune hadn't paid attention at some point, none of them had ever mentioned just how much difference their training made.

"But still, doesn't it bother you?" Jaune asked for a second time, still unable to understand Junpei's easy acceptance of their strange pecking order. "I mean, isn't the leader supposed to be the strongest?"

"Eh, maybe Ozpin doesn't think that way." Junpei's casual response and uncaring shrug only served to confuse Jaune even more. Perhaps his inner conflict showed since the dark-haired teen spoke again. "So why the questions? I mean, doesn't really take a genius to know that something's bothering you."

"That's… well…" Did he really want to answer that question? Junpei was carefree and playful more often than not, which usually resulted in an argument with Yukari for one reason or another, but Jaune had learned over the past few weeks that Junpei was anything but stupid. The past week had more than disproven any notion that Junpei was unintelligent.

Junpei, and the rest of SEES for that matter, had made up for the two weeks of poor academic performance prior to the memorial service by studying doubly hard whenever the opportunity arose. And today, the fifth day since then, all Junpei had needed to do was review the past week's lessons. And even that hadn't taken very long.

If he explained the reason behind his questions, would Junpei suspect that there was anything more? Would he begin to realize that there was more to Jaune's poor combat ability than his excuse of being the lowest ranking student in the school he never actually attended, let alone graduated from? Or would this be an occasion where Junpei's carefree nature would allow an answer made up of partial truths to slip by without notice?

"If you wait too long before acting, then you might find that the proper time to act has passed."

Ever since that day one month ago, Jaune had been unable to forget Chidori's words. Was this what she meant? Was now the proper time to act? Even so, what was he meant to do? Was he supposed to ask for advice? To let Junpei know how he felt about the whole situation? Or was this where he confessed the entire truth and let fate, and Junpei, decide what happened to him?

"Hey." Junpei voice snapped Jaune out of his thoughts, causing him to look up from the ground to the slightly older teen. "If you're not ready to talk then that's fine too. Just… well, I'm here whenever you're ready. Or if you need anything else. Pyrrha's there too and so's Chidori." After thinking for a bit, Junpei spoke again. "Two in harmony, surpasses on in perfection."

He had only heard those words once, but Jaune recognized it all the same. "Was that the one Mitsuru had written near the grave? Something to do with her family I think."

"Yeah." Junpei nodded. "The Kirijo's family motto. Pretty much means what you think. Doesn't matter how good you are at something. Having someone there helping you will always be better."

"But what about being a Hunstman? A… A hero?" Jaune cursed his impulsiveness even before he finished speaking. He hadn't intended to ask that question, especially out loud like that. "I-I mean uh… you… you've got all these great Huntsmen on the news, saving people and towns all on their own and stopping criminals like the White Fang."

Junpei didn't even need to think about his response. His mind quickly bringing up that fateful night on the monorail the moment Jaune brought up the word 'hero'. "And how long 'til something bigger and badder comes along?" he asked, his tone dejected and somber. The smaller, weaker Shadows had been one thing. The Priestess was another thing entirely. "Like they say, there's always someone out there better than you. They may be fine now, but what happens when they finally meet that someone? Or worse, something?"

Had Junpei been facing Jaune, he might have caught the brief expression of shock that crossed his face. But by the time Junpei pulled himself out of the memory, reminding himself that he was no longer that same thrill-seeking boy, the blonde had already schooled his features once more. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be a downer all of a sudden," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh. "Look I uh… I'm… gonna keep walking a bit longer. Clear my head. Let the girls know if you get back before me."

Junpei turned and made to leave but seemed to remember something as he looked over his shoulder at address Jaune once more. "Hey. Try uh… try not to think about it too much, alright? What I said I mean. You're still in school after all. Well, we're still in school. It ain't like we'll be out there doing the hard stuff anytime soon so we've got time to figure out all the answers we're looking for."

"Besides," he continued, a faint, carefree grin gracing his lips. "We're still just kids. Gotta enjoy what we've got while we got it. Next thing we know we're looking in a mirror wondering when the hell we got so old." Junpei wasn't entirely sure why he said what he did. Or even whether or not he was speaking more to Jaune or himself. All he knew was that those words had been on his lips before he could even think about it.

Without another word, he walked away, letting his feet and his whims decide his route, leaving Jaune standing before the statue by himself.

For his part, Jaune was just as lost as he had been when he first questioned Junpei. None of the answers Junpei had given him were the ones he was looking for. Or even expected for that matter. With a heavy sigh, he turned his back to the statue and sunk to the ground, leaning his back against the round base of the statue.

---

October 10, XX13

Breakfast was a fairly quiet affair for the four teams, at least when compared to how they normally were. This was mainly due to the absence of Aigis, Junpei, and Weiss, whose Leadership class started at six in the morning – something that almost made Junpei regret taking the class – and went on for four straight hours before the classes ended just in time for a late breakfast or brunch.

But even so, their absence only encouraged those they normally conversed with to reach out to the others in the group so as not to end up silent the whole meal. And it was certainly better than the past weeks where only half of them were in any mood to even speak.

"Hey guys, anybody got any plans today?" asked Yang, looking around the table where she and her friends sat. "A new movie came out this week and Ruby and I were planning to check it out later. Anyone wanna come along?"

Yukari was the first to response, shaking her head. "Sorry. I was going to head over to the cemetery today after my Marksmanship class."

The archer's answer confused Yang and she didn't hesitate to let it be known. "The cemetery? How come?"

"It's pretty much a custom for us," the brunette began to explain. "Then again we've already broken a lot of those customs but we do want to preserve what we can. Some people visit as much as every weekend to clean the grave and make an offering. Others go less often. Sometimes it depends on the local custom, other times it depends on the family as well. Japan wasn't that big a country but the customs were pretty diverse for a lot of different things."

"Really?" Ruby paused her assault on a small bowl of strawberries, her interest piqued by the frequency of visits. "What about you guys?" She glanced at the other Japanese teens. "Do you visit that often?"

"Not really," responded Akihiko, finishing off the last of his tea. "Like with any tradition or custom, things change as time passes. Some people still go weekly. Others, even those from the same area or family, might decide for themselves not to go as often."

"It's also for different reasons," added Yukari, looking up from what she was reading on her Scroll. "Some people might not see why they have to visit so often, or they might see visiting and talking to someone who's already dead as not being able to properly move on. So it can be a personal thing at times."

"I see." Yang still had something she wanted to ask but she did her best to keep her mouth shut firmly. They may have moved on from the events of the previous weekend, but being the focus of Mitsuru's icy but smoldering gaze once was bad enough. She wasn't in any hurry for a repeat performance anytime soon. Or ever if she could help it. "What about the rest of you guys?" she asked, hoping to distract herself from her current thoughts.

"I have a meeting with the Headmaster this morning," said Mitsuru. "I'll have to see what happens before I can make any plans for the afternoon."

Akihiko, Blake, Chidori, and Ken also turned down the invitation.

"I'm actually headed to Vale in a while but I won't be able to join you. I'll be checking out some places I looked up for training equipment and such for the house."

"Sorry Yang. Chidori and I were going look over our Field Medicine essays and then get a head start on the next class's readings."

"Actually, I was wondering if I could come along," Ken said to Yukari. "I didn't exactly get to say everything I wanted to the other day."

"Sure, I don't mind."

With half the table's occupants declining, Yang turned to the remaining half for their own answers.

"I wanna go," declared Nora. "Renny's been making me do my homework everyday so I wanna go have some fun."

Beside her, Ren just sighed but gave no indication of stopping his childhood friend. In short, he was going because Nora was going.

Fuuka looked up in thought for a moment before giving her own answer. "It's been a while since I've watched a movie so I'll join you if you don't mind."

Ruby cheered and started giving Fuuka a basic synopsis of the movie, which turned out to be a sequel to one that had come out nearly a year ago. And that, in turn, led to Ruby giving an even more detailed synopsis of the first movie.

"It sounds like a wonderful idea," said Pyrrha, much to Yang's joy. "What do you think Jaune?"

The smile on her face didn't last long the moment she saw her partner. He looked uncomfortable, almost skittish even. His eyes kept glancing towards the dining hall's main doors whenever something in that direction moved enough to catch his attention.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha reached out worriedly, placing a hand on her partner's shoulder only to pull back when he suddenly jumped.

"Huh? What?" He looked around rapidly, searching for whatever had disturbed him. It didn't take long before his eyes settled on Pyrrha and the worried look on her face. "O-Oh, s-sorry. Were you uh… were you saying something?"

"Jaune," Pyrrha began, slowly and gently. "Are you alright? You've been acting strangely since last night."

"W-who me? Pssh, I'm fine. Do I look not fine to you?" His voice took on a higher than normal pitch as he attempted, and was undoubtedly failing, to convince her otherwise. "I was just thinking about a lot of stuff last night, that's all."

His red-haired partner, along with everyone else, did not look the slightest bit convinced by his words. If anything, Pyrrha looked even more worried. But before she could say anything else, Jaune quickly rose from his seat, his mostly uneaten breakfast left forgotten.

"A-anyway, I uh… I'm gonna go do my homework." He spoke quickly, and stepped over the bench just as quickly, nearly tripping and falling onto his face. "I-I'm fine, I'm fine," he added before Pyrrha could rise from her seat to check on him. "I'll uh… I'll see you later. Don't wait up."

And before Pyrrha, or anyone else, could utter another word, Jaune fled from the scene, nearly crashing into two other students along the way. All the while, they all watched him depart with concern in their eyes. None more so than Pyrrha.

Well, all but one that is.

"'Don't wait up'? He does know it's still morning, right?"

Three people could only palm their faces in response to their teammate's words. "Time and place Nora."

---

As was the norm every Saturday morning, right after the Leadership class, Ozpin met with his main teaching staff to discuss the past week.

There was usually very little to go over since the more urgent matters were brought to him as soon as it came up. Urgent matters usually involved accidents and injuries that occur within a classroom setting – since they would need to determine whether the teacher or the student was more at fault if it wasn't simply an accident – and severe infractions of the rules.

Less important and more mundane issues that did not need to be discussed in person or urgently were submitted to him via biweekly written reports. Most of those issues were usually those that did not need his direct attention. Repairs and such were taken direct to the maintenance department, item requisition went to the armory, and requests for additional medical supplies went to the infirmary, to name a few. From there, both parties would include the request or issue in their report for him to review.

Important but not urgent issues were discussed during the monthly Sunday meetings held by the entire Beacon staff. These meetings were usually used to discuss long-term plans, ideas, and issues for the school. One such issue they would be discussing soon enough was the upcoming Vytal Festival, which Vale would play host to this year, and the logistics they would need to handle on their end. School-sanctioned trips, training exercises outside the school, school events, and the like were the main bulk of such meetings.

The progress of such were then discussed during the weekly meetings to ensure that long-term plans were proceeding on schedule. But the main reason for the weekly meetings were for the teachers to discuss the weekly performance of the students. Specifically, how to handle any issues the students may be having with regards to classes, or how to handle the students themselves.

It was a good way for the teachers to exchange notes on promising and problem students. In this manner, all the main teachers – and sometimes the teachers for the electives as well – could work together to better understand and handle their students.

Once those issues were discussed, however, the meeting usually ended as there was rarely anything that needed to be discussed by all the teachers at once. That and Ruadh still had his Demolitions class at two in the afternoon.

Today, however, Ozpin knew that there would be two, perhaps three, major topics of interest. None were urgent enough but they were certainly interesting enough that at least one person was undoubtedly awaiting the proper opportunity to bring it up. All of which revolved around the members of a certain group of students.

"Well," Khloe began once they finished discussing the issues surrounding this year's problem students. "Now that we've gotten the boring stuff out of the way, did one of the Aura-less kids seriously fight the Invincible Girl to a draw?"

And there it was. Ozpin sighed internally, knowing that the normal flow of the meeting had been utterly disrupted now that one of the topics of interest had been brought up. "Yes," he responded with barely a hint of the resignation he felt, one hand reaching for the handle of his mug. Beside him, Glynda had no such reservations and openly showed her displeasure at the interruption of the meeting's normal flow. "Glynda, if you would."

Before he even finished his request, the statuesque blonde had already forwarded the video to the five other teachers in the room, their Scrolls already in their hands even as several melodies played to indicate the receipt of the video. And with eager eyes, all five watched the video that they had been waiting to see since word reached their ears the day before.

While many students had taken videos, the quality had been quite poor due to having to be viewed through both the reinforced glass and the hard-light wall. As such, all five of them had decided to wait for the meeting, knowing that Glynda would undoubtedly have a copy of the video taken by the combat room's surveillance cameras just waiting to be sent to them. That was, of course, after some of them had watched multiple videos only to stop watching before the fight had even begun due to the poor quality.

Like with all of her previous fights, Aigis charged forward the moment Glynda gave the signal. The fact that she was up against the Invincible Girl did not deter her even the slightest bit. Yet her confidence was not merely for show. Armed with her twin trench knives, Aigis was a literal whirlwind of steel. Not that five of the teachers in the room had any way of knowing just how true that was.

Within the first minute of the recording, both were locked in a deadly dance of steel. Whirlwind met bulwark as the one known as the Invincible Girl put up a fierce defense, utilizing her shield to great effect and striking back just as fiercely at every opportunity. And when they failed to break through the other's defenses, one or both would break away, re-evaluate their options, and then charge in once again within the next few seconds.

The fight was on a level none of them had expected from two first-year students, even if one of them was the Invincible Girl. And despite the fact that Pyrrha's victory hinged on getting a single hit on Aigis, the blonde showed no fear, no hesitation, whenever she charged in. It was as though she knew with absolute certainty that the Mistralian Champion would not land that decisive blow.

Two minutes turned to five. Five turned into ten. Ten turned to twenty. And soon, the video was nearing the thirty-minute mark, which would bring with it the end of fight. And during that half-hour, each of the five teachers looked tense despite knowing how the fight ended due to the circulating rumors. Once the thirty minutes had passed, the buzzer rang and the Glynda in the video signaled the end of the match, declaring it a draw. They watched a while longer, watching as the two fighters acknowledged the other before walking off-screen.

The lavender-haired Khloe was the first to break the silence with a long whistle. "Now that was impressive. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought those two were at least second years, maybe even on the lower end of the third-year group."

"And even more surprising is Ms. Arisato's skill in combat." Bart took a long sip from his mug, his speech just as swift and near unintelligible as ever. "It is plain to see why the students refer to her as 'untouchable'."

Peter let out one of his full-bellied laughs. "Indeed. It would seem this group of first years may be some of the best yet. Why, I've no doubt most of them will make fine Huntsmen and Huntresses."

Neither Ruadh nor Rosalyn offered any comments but they nodded in agreement with their colleagues' words. But Ozpin could see the gears turning in their heads. Ruadh was the second oldest in the room, older even than Ozpin but younger than the rotund Peter, and was quite possibly the most experienced Huntsman among them, in terms of field and combat experience.

As for Rosalyn, there was a reason why Ozpin had made her the instructor for both the first and second-year Geography classes and the Stealth and Recon class after all.

"I have to wonder though," began Khloe. "You said they all came from the same city, that they've all undergone more or less the same training. So why is it that Ms. Arisato is far above her friends in seemingly every regard? If she fought any of them the fight would be over in seconds."

None of the other four so much as blinked in surprise at her observation, showing Ozpin and Glynda that all of them had the same question on their minds among others. Thankfully, Ozpin was prepared for this.

"Rather than tell you, perhaps it would be better to show you."

The door opened at that moment, allowing entry to four people that the teachers hadn't expected to see at that time.

Two were fellow Beacon staff. Chief Doctor Reuben Mores and Doctor Flora Blackthorne, the top two in their infirmary's hierarchy. Though infirmary was quite… inaccurate. An infirmary was part of an already existing building, usually to provide medical aid to the building's occupants. The infirmary in the building that housed the combat classroom was one such example.

Their main infirmary, however, was a building in its own. A building four stories tall with two basement levels, with supplies, equipment, and staff easily comparable to Vale's largest hospital. And yet Ozpin refused to refer to it as a hospital. He claimed that the founders of the school referred to it as an infirmary and so infirmary it shall remain. At least, while he was Headmaster anyway. One could only assume that previous Headmasters thought the same way.

The other two who entered were even more surprising and unexpected. One was the very same student they had been discussing just now. The other was another of the Aura-less students. Mitsuru Kirijo.

The red-haired student was fairly well-known to them already. It was not only because she lacked Aura or the fact that she was two years older than the rest of the first years. No, her fame, or rather infamy, grew as a result of her warning, though some called it a threat, to Cardin Winchester.

Word of the incident, as well as a few hastily taken videos, had reached the staff long before the end of that day, though most of the rumors were greatly exaggerated by then. But no matter the reason for their confrontation, or the words she spoke when she delivered her warning/threat, there was one point that remained consistent with every re-telling. And looking at her now, the rumors and videos failed to do her justice in every regard.

Her posture, her gait, her calm, confident expression, everything about her was as regal and as dignified as they came despite the lack of tension and stiffness. It was as though everything came so naturally to her to the point that she was not forcing herself to move in such a manner. It was either that, or years of training. Training, however, implied that she did not always used to present herself in such a fashion, which would leave small, telltale signs. Signs that were completely absent as far as discerning eyes could tell.

Some rumors claimed that she must have been nobility back where she was born. Others say she was descended from one of the four kingdoms' royal families back when they still existed and ruled over the lands centuries ago. Regardless of whether those rumors had hit the mark regarding her supposed nobility or royalty, there was no denying that the young woman approaching them had the bearing of one.

"Good morning everyone," greeted the Headmaster. "I trust the day has treated you well thus far."

"Good morning Headmaster," Mitsuru greeted in turn, followed by Aigis. "It has, thank you." She looked around the room, locking eyes briefly with the five seated teachers and the two doctors standing next to Aigis. "Is this everyone? Or are we expecting others before we begin?"

The young woman's words confused more than half the room's occupants. Clearly she knew why they were gathered there together with two doctors. And if they had any doubts about it, Ozpin revealed his knowledge of the upcoming event with his response. "For the moment, yes. Rest assured, I will speak with you before informing anyone else."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Mitsuru gave a short, shallow bow with her head before turning to the girl beside her. "Are you ready Aigis?"

"Whenever you are, Mitsuru-san."

"Uh… what's going on?" asked the child-like Rosalyn, looking between Mitsuru and Aigis, and then to the Headmaster.

"I informed Ms. Kirijo of the concerns that were brought up in one of our previous meetings regarding their group." Rosalyn, as well as the other teachers, remembered that meeting. It had been the same one where they first witnessed the skills of the Aura-less students. It was clear now that the two students had been called up to, hopefully, shed light on a subject that the Headmaster was keeping in the dark. "She agreed to allow you all to know what it was that I had kept confidential, under the condition that she would be present and that she be the one to explain. Ms. Kirijo, would you care to do the honors?"

Both Mitsuru and Aigis stepped around the seated teachers, who were joined by the two doctors, to stand between them and the Headmaster's desk, just a little off to the side. Before she began her side of things, Mitsuru took a brief moment to take note of those in the room.

Ruadh Giollah was the teacher assigned to the first years' Social Studies class as well as Unarmed Combat and Demolitions. As a wolf faunus, a few of their classmates held him in disdain due to his heritage. Some of them have even gone as far as openly speaking ill of him during class. Yet he always maintained a professional attitude, treating every student fairly and handling even problem cases in such a way that nobody could accuse his actions as being one born of discrimination or retaliation.

Rosalyn Peach, the teacher assigned to the Geography class as well as the Stealth and Reconnaissance class. Her diminutive stature led to her being mistaken as a student, the younger sibling of one, or perhaps even the child of one of Beacon's staff members, during their very first class with her. It didn't help that her hair was pink, a color often attributed to children rather than adults. And even after proving that she was, indeed, their teacher, there were still some who doubted her credibility. Those doubts were quickly put to rest as she conducted her lessons with the professionalism equal to the other teachers and showcased her vast and detailed knowledge of the Kingdom of Vale's Geography down to the smallest, most insignificant aspects that none of them had considered important in any way.

Bartholomew Oobleck, History teacher and, from what she had heard, the one in charge of the second and third years' Survival classes. His… lively method of teaching was often difficult to keep up with. And if one were to stop paying attention for even a split-second, they would find themselves completely lost as they struggled to catch up mentally with the fast-paced lesson. Yet his knowledge of history, the causes behind events, and even the long-reaching effects of events over two generations prior were very much real. Clearly a man who valued knowledge and strongly believed in the saying that 'those who fail to learn from the past are bound to repeat it'.

Peter Port, the oldest among Beacon's staff and, if one were to properly pay attention, the most suited to teach the Grimm Studies class along with the second years' Tracking class. Though his manner of teaching was long-winded and utilized too many stories from his personal experiences rather than their textbooks, Mitsuru couldn't deny that if even half his stories were true then he bore knowledge about the Grimm that none of their textbooks, or even the reference material found over the internet – though 'internet' in Remnant referred to the 'Intercontinental Information Network' – so much as speculated on.

The remaining three were people she had never met personally but had heard or learned about through others.

Khloe Fair was the teacher charged with the third and fourth years' Outdoor Combat class. As the name implied, it was different from Professor Goodwitch's class in that the students fought in various terrain and scenarios outdoors. If Professor Goodwitch honed their basic combat skills during their first two years, Professor Fair was there to test how well they could adapt to different situations after passing the basic Combat class.

Chief Doctor Reuben Mores was the man who held the highest position in Beacon Academy's Infirmary. He was also the oldest member of the entire school's staff, having been employed at Beacon for nearly half the school's existence. His appearance reflected his age and occupation, thinning gray hair, slight wrinkles across his face, glasses with thick lenses, a simple white dress shirt, black slacks, and a doctor's coat.

And finally, Doctor Flora Blackthorne, the second highest in the Infirmary's hierarchy as well as the current teacher for the Field Medicine class, which Aigis, Chidori, and Blake were taking. They had little to say about her beyond her medical knowledge and professionalism, but for the moment that was enough.

After gathering her thoughts on the people in front of her, Mitsuru began to speak. "The Headmaster informed me the previous weekend of your concerns regarding mine and my friends' lack of Aura, among other such concerns."

"That's right," responded Ruadh, sharp amber eyes locking onto Mitsuru's wine-red ones. "And not just while you're here in school. We know of what happened to your homeland, so you should be well aware of the dangers of fighting against the Grimm. I'm sure you can see where our concern is coming from."

"I do." Mitsuru nodded to show her understanding but her gaze remained firm. "And yet, it is because we know the dangers that we cannot simply stand by and watch as the tragedies of the past are repeated. If the Headmaster has shared our past, then I am sure you are aware that we are not as incapable as we seem."

"True," spoke Rosalyn. Unlike how she usually spoke, however, her voice was stern, and her tone cold, both of which were at odds with her child-like appearance. "But, and I hope you don't take offense, you are still weaker than your classmates. Perhaps in terms of skill and experience you are better, but for how long? Surely you don't expect your classmates to not adapt and grow given time. Moreover, even fully-trained Huntsmen have fallen to the Grimm for a variety of reasons, one of which is overconfidence and overestimating their own abilities. What makes you so certain you won't be one of them before you even graduate?"

If Mitsuru or Aigis were surprised by how cold the normally warm and friendly teacher was, neither showed it openly. Instead, Mitsuru turned her attention to Rosalyn and addressed her as she normally would. "I suppose you could say that it is because we do not have Aura that we are more cautious, less reckless, with our lives."

"And yet would you not say that fighting the Grimm without Aura is a sign of such recklessness?"

"Since we lack Aura then yes, it would be considered reckless," agreed Mitsuru, catching Rosalyn and the others off-guard. "However, while we may lack Aura, we do have something to make up for it."

"Ah, you speak of your Semblance, I assume?" asked Peter, leaning forward in anticipation. Khloe, Bart, and even Reuben leaned forward as well. The stout professor could only grin behind his moustache when the red-haired young woman nodded to confirm his suspicions. "And what sort of Semblances could you and your friends have that make you confident in your chances despite your lack of Aura."

"Before that," interrupted Reuben, speaking for the first time since entering the room. "I would like to ask, how is it possible that you possess Semblance but not Aura?"

"From my understanding, which is admittedly limited since I have only learned of Aura fairly recently, I do not believe a Semblance is exclusive to those who have awakened their Aura."

"Oh?" All seven seated before her certainly looked intrigued by her words. "And why would you say that, Ms. Kirijo?" asked the doctor. "From what our esteemed Headmaster explained to me just last week, you come from a place where Aura is unheard of. So, forgive me if I sound rude but, what makes you think you would know better?"

"That we," she gestured towards Aigis and herself, "Possess Semblance despite our lack of Aura should be proof enough that it is possible. But to answer your question, reference materials I have read state that Aura is the physical manifestation of one's soul, correct?" Everyone nodded, more than familiar with the topic. "And Semblance is an extension of Aura." Again, they nodded, but some were looking curious as to where she was going. "Then would it not be accurate, in some way, to say that Semblance is an extension of one's soul?"

Khloe and Rosalyn both opened their mouths to speak, then paused, looking thoughtful like the others at the new perspective on the subject.

"Interesting, very interesting," said Bart's, chin cradled in one hand as he spoke in his usual manner. "It's true that if Semblance was merely an extension of Aura, which is but a physical manifestation of something that is already present, then it is theoretically possible to manifest Semblance without the need to first physically manifest one's Aura, one's soul. And the fact that we have not one or two, but eight people who have done so is the best possible evidence we have of that fact. And while merely having a Semblance is not enough to combat the Grimm, such a discovery will surely bring about a change in the way we see and study Aura and Semblance. Fascinating, truly fascinating."

The other staff members barely paid attention to Bart's loudly spoken thoughts but by the end of their own introspection, they could only agree with Bart's, and Mitsuru's, words. While the premise was purely theoretical, the fact that Mitsuru claims to have a Semblance of her own, along with her friends, regardless of the absence of an active Aura, a fact that Ozpin had backed up weeks ago, clearly supported the theory.

But before they could completely accept it, there was still one issue they needed to clear up. Rosalyn made to speak but the chime coming from her Scroll put a stop to that. In fact, it wasn't only her Scroll that had received a message.

Seeing the confusion on their faces, Ozpin chose that moment to speak up. "What Glynda just sent you all is the recording of their Semblance from the initiation. And rest assured Ms. Kirijo, only Glynda and myself have seen the recording, both during the initiation itself and afterwards." While Mitsuru hadn't really doubted the Headmaster, she still appreciated the reassurance all the same. "I suggest you watch the recording as it will clear up any doubts, though I'm certain you will have more questions by the end."

"'Their Semblance', Headmaster? As in, just one?" Trust Rosalyn to be able to pick out that little detail from his words. "It almost sounds as though their Semblance is not an individual one but rather a collective one."

"You will understand once you watch the video," was all he said on the matter.

Seeing that they would not get any answers without doing so, everyone pulled out their Scrolls to watch the video they had been sent. Even Mitsuru and Aigis had received the video. While it wasn't necessary, both of them decided to watch it as well, though for different reasons. Mitsuru wanted to determine what the others would see, and Aigis wanted to examine the fight and collect additional combat data.

The video began from where Akihiko and Ken had been attacked by the Beowolves and continued on to where they exited the forest to meet Blake and Yang. The camera skipped multiple times, showing that the camera either did not follow them for some reason, or it could not.

From there, the recording showed the entire fight from start to finish. The camera, whatever it was – none of them could recall seeing it anywhere – was not close enough to capture what was said most of the time, but the sounds of battle carried over the distance as well as a few words that had been shouted out loud.

Now and then Mitsuru would glance as the staff members, judging their reactions on certain parts of the video and trying to predict their thoughts based on those reactions. Despite her cold words earlier, Rosalyn was the most visibly worried the entire time. Even knowing that they had come out fine, even if not completely unscathed, was not enough to ease her worries it would seem.

Other points where she had watched their reactions were when SEES had charged the Grimm by themselves, Fuuka's Oracle and its effects, and, of course, the initial summoning of their Personas. While Fuuka's Oracle garnered quite a few wide eyes and raised eyebrows, the summoning process elicited confused vocal responses at first followed by cursing or, in the case of Rosalyn, screaming.

Then, as Athena, the first Persona to be summoned in that battle, manifested, their expressions turned to one of shock and confusion. Confusion gave way to awe as Athena, followed by Caesar, demonstrated their power. And when the rest of their SEES's Personas joined the battle, their awe became even more apparent, as did their looks of interest and curiosity.

By the time the battle concluded, Mitsuru was more certain than ever that she could prove that her confidence in SEES and their abilities was well-founded.

---

Hei "Junior" Xiong had a deep scowl on his face as he paced across the new newly renovated floor of his night club. Behind the bar, following his movements with a bored expression, was Miltia, wearing her usual red dress.

She couldn't really say that she understood her employer's agitation, even though she knew that the man they were waiting for got on his nerves. Then again, there was whatever happened the last time the two of them met. Junior hadn't really explained what happened that day, what had caused him to freeze in place like that, but whatever it was, it was bad. Bad enough that he had threatened to tie up Melanie and stuff her into a crate in the storeroom if she kept insisting on being present for the meeting.

She understood her twin's concern, but given who they were dealing with and what Junior had told her about people like them, she didn't want to add Melanie to a possible 'to-kill' list if those two really were just playing them. Not if they could avoid it.

Her eyes shifted to the side to where Junior had set down three stacks of binders, some of which were thicker than dictionaries. That was all the information he would be handing over if the deal went through. Acquiring it had been far more costly than expected, even before all the additional information that had been requested. Junior wouldn't even need to raise the price if he had any intentions of scaring off the clients.

Not that he did, of course.

It's how he came to be known as the city's most reliable information broker. He always delivered as long as he was paid, regardless of his personal feelings for the clients. And the moment he accepts a job, he would always deliver. On the off chance that the request was for something he didn't know for certain he could acquire, he never made any promises as to obtaining it before he knew if acquiring it was feasible or not.

This, in turn, led to several discontinued contracts as he insisted on not taking the job due to the immense difficulty or, in rare cases, the type of information he was asked to acquire. Underground business was rarely risk-free, but as a man who had practically been born in that world Junior knew his way around. And the most important lesson he learned was when to back down.

Some information was dangerous to obtain. Some information was just plain dangerous. If the case turned out to be either one, nobody could pay or threaten him enough to go after it.

Regardless of what they said, money couldn't buy everything. No amount of money could bring back the dead after all.

"He~ey there little big bear."

Miltia could see Junior's scowl deepen at the nickname as their client finally arrived. Nearly a full hour after the arranged meeting time. An hour where Junior did nothing but wait. And pace. And frown. And complain under his breath. Sometimes out loud too.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" Junior growled, his fist, already clenched tight prior to Thantos's arrival, clenched even tighter, causing the muscles in his arm to shiver at the tension.

"You did," came the nonchalant reply. "I just chose not to listen. Not like there's a law saying I have to listen to you after all."

Miltia could see her employed muttering something under his breath. It took her a moment to realize that he was counting. And by the looks of things, he wasn't just counting to ten. After a while, with Thantos watching the ongoing scene with a grin, Junior took a deep breath and was visibly calmer.

"Fine, whatever," he practically spat out before gesturing to the bar. "There's the info you wanted. The first one on the left's the first set your boss asked for. The one in the middle's the dossiers for the people she wanted for whatever job she's got in mind. And I don't think I need to tell you what's in the third pile."

Rather than another sarcastic or witty retort, the red-haired man simply walked over to the bar and took a seat in front of the documents, much to Junior's combined relief and confusion.

Thantos flipped open the top binder from the first pile and turned to read three random pages. After a while, he shut the binder and set it aside. Again, he read three random pages from the next binder.

Thantos repeated this several more times, going through each binder from each stack. Once he was done, he put everything back the way they were. "Well done," he said cheerily, spinning on the barstool to face Junior. "I mean, we expected the first two to get done fairly quickly but the rest?" The red-haired man gestured to the third stack behind him. "We didn't think we'd be getting this for a couple more weeks, and definitely not this much."

Junior clicked his tongue, not really caring much for the man's compliment. "Just don't forget, you aren't walking out of here with that until it's all paid for." He had sent the amount last night right after notifying Shade that the information was ready. He wondered, however briefly, if they would be able to afford that much.

This was the first time he had ever charged so much all at once. Not only because of the information itself, but also because of the difficulty in obtaining them as well as the time constraints he had been given.

"Oh, that won't be a problem."

Before Junior could ask what he meant, his Scroll alerted him to the arrival of a message. When Thantos waved him off with that same cocky grin he always had, the club owner pulled his Scroll out from his breast pocket and checked the message. As he read the message, his eyes slowly grew wider and his jaw grew slack, making Miltia curious about the contents of the message.

Seeing Junior's current state, Thantos reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick, black object. Unfolding it, the object was revealed to be a reusable black shopping bag. Turning around, he set the bag down on the bar and began placing the documents inside.

Miltia hesitated for only a moment before addressing him. "You heard the boss," she said, as calmly as she could. If Junior was wary of the man then it would stand to reason that she should be at least doubly worried. "You aren't leaving until you've paid up."

Contrary to what she was expecting, the man just chuckled and placed the last of the documents in the bag. He lifted the bag by the loops and tested it twice, making sure that the bag would hold. "You see that face of his?" he asked Miltia, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "That's the face of a guy who just got a big paycheck that he wasn't expecting. Anyway, I've got other stuff to take care of now that I've got these so I'm off."

Thantos turned and walked away from the bar, walking past the still catatonic club owner. "Let little big bear know that we'll contact him the usual way if we need anything else," he called back over his shoulder with a grin. "And tell him to relax. Maybe use some of that cash to get a woman or five. See ya."

Miltia watched the cheerful man leave and then waited just a bit longer, just to be sure that he was gone, before sending a message to Melanie through her Scroll to let her know it was safe to come out from the back. Once her twin arrived, they approached their employer, who was still frozen in shock at whatever he had read.

If Thantos had been telling the truth, then the message he received was in regards to the payment. They were too short to be able to properly look at the Scroll. But the thing about Scrolls was that since it was transparent for the most part, it was possible to read the messages from behind. They would just have to reverse what they saw. Still, why would he suddenly freeze like th…

"Oh…"

"That's… more than he asked for."

"…A lot more."

Melanie could only nod dumbly in response to Miltia's wide-eyed response.

It was the sight of three life-like statues of Junior, Miltia, and Melanie that greeted the rest of the club's employees as they started coming in to prepare the club for that night's opening.

---

"Allow me to summarize your explanations thus far." Mitsuru nodded in the direction of the Chief Doctor in response to his request. "So in your country, Japan as you've called it, neither Aura nor Dust were discovered. But in its place, the power you call uhm… Persona, was discovered."

"That is correct."

"And a Persona is awakened from the depths of one's soul via a combination of man's instinctual desire to survive and his body's natural response to stress. Though rather than heightened senses, seemingly increased physical ability, or clarity of thought – which are what most people have claimed to experience during periods of great stress – a Persona is the result when such a situation surpasses the normal threshold of what one might consider as stressful, namely imminent and certain death."

"Each Persona is unique yet bear can bear similar abilities. They are also resistant to whatever element it is that they wield but are, in turn, more vulnerable to a different element. Other abilities include an increased rate of healing, an increase in physical abilities, a temporary barrier reminiscent of a Huntsman's Aura, the creation of poisonous fogs and the like, and even telepathy to a certain degree. Have I missed anything important?"

"Yeah." The response came not from Mitsuru but from Ruadh, who had a deeply contemplative look on his face that matched the rest of his colleagues. "You forgot that they have skills that can instantly kill any living being."

"By chance if I recall," Bart added. He took a long drink from his mug, draining it of its contents. After having ignored it in lieu of listening to Mitsuru's explanation, he was long overdue. "Yet that is quite an important point to bring up. If not for the fact that the concept of a Persona itself is fantastical and nigh unbelievable, then I would have gone as far as saying that such an ability was completely impossible."

"Don't forget the way they summon it." Khloe suppressed a shiver at the idea of pointing a gun at one's own head and firing. "I mean, it may not be a real gun but just thinking about putting a gun up to my own head is enough to make my skin crawl." This time, she was unable to repress a shiver as her own words brought the image to mind. "Ugh… As interesting as it was, I really wish I could erase that from my head."

The other doctor chose that moment to speak. "There's something that I find strange though. You said that there have been no instances of someone awakening a power similar to Semblance, that everyone who awakened their power awakened a Persona, correct?" Mitsuru nodded in response to Doctor Blackthorne's question. "That is what I find so strange. Just as people in your homeland awakened a Persona even without meaning to, there have been people who have had their Aura and – in a few cases of people with an already awakened Aura – Semblance awakened by similarly traumatic and stressful times."

"Ah, I see," exclaimed Bart. And before anyone could stop him, he had already begun to speak once again. "I believe what Doctor Blackthorne wishes to point out is that similar events have transpired in both Japan and the rest of the world. And yet no case we are aware of has resulted in an awakening of Persona while no case you are aware of resulted in the activation of Aura or Semblance. At least, a Semblance as we know it."

"Fascinating, truly fascinating. What could be the cause? Not the awakening process, certainly. Could it be something to do with blood? Ancestry? No, no, both are said to come from the soul and not the physical body. Perhaps it's-"

"Bart," interrupted Ruadh before he could start spitting out a dozen more theories in the span of a single breath. "Maybe we can leave that for later. We don't exactly have much time left for this meeting."

To be precise, Ruadh couldn't stay much longer even if the others could. It was well past one in the afternoon and he had a Demolitions class in less than two hours. And as interesting as the subject was it would be unprofessional of him to be late to his own class.

The Demolitions class also took a long time to prepare for since he had to double, triple, and quadruple check everything he used for the class. It was one thing if whatever explosive he demonstrated didn't explode. It was another if it blew up in his and the students' faces due to his carelessness.

"Ah, my apologies everyone."

"That's quite alright," said Ozpin, smiling gently at the enthusiastic History teacher. "Are there any other questions before we move on?"

"There's more?" asked Rosalyn. The pink-haired teacher was looking a little pale, probably due to the knowledge that eight students, plus anyone else with a Persona, had to go through such terrible ordeals to obtain their power. Worse was the knowledge that those with Persona were only a tiny percentage of those who have attempted to gain the power due to the risks involved.

Seeing her current state, Ozpin smiled reassuringly. "Two more things, yes, but rest assured that neither will be quite as… disturbing as what you've just learned. The first, is that I would like to ask you all, as the only ones aware of SEES's secret asides from their teams, if you would be willing to aid us in some experiments."

"What… kind of experiments?" Khloe asked with a raised brow and a skeptical look. "We're not exactly scientists here Ozpin."

"Ms. Kirijo and her friends have stated their concerns regarding how their abilities would affect someone who has an active Aura," explained the Headmaster. "For the moment, what we need are simply people who are willing to help us test these things. Will our Aura protect us? Will it hinder even the more beneficial abilities? How powerful are their abilities in relation to the strength of our Aura?"

"To be precise, we will be testing their Personas against our Auras to find these answers. Everything will be monitored and Doctors Mores and Blackthorne's roles will be to help monitor everyone's vital signs as well as to provide first-aid should something go awry."

"It's why we have refrained from using our Personas against our classmates during training," added Mitsuru. "We simply do not know whether their Aura will be sufficient protection or even if we will be able to help heal them should we injure them."

"None of you need to give us an answer at this moment," said Ozpin, much to their collective relief. "Take a few days to consider it and let us know whenever you've come to a decision. If you have any questions about what to expect, feel free to approach myself or Ms. Kirijo for more details. As for the second, it is mostly Ms. Arisato's secret to share rather than their group as a whole so I believe it would be best to allow her to explain."

Everyone then turned to the blonde, whom, in the excitement of learning about Personas, they had very nearly forgotten about. Even though she was standing beside Mitsuru the entire time, she had been so silent that it was as if she wasn't there. Mitsuru stepped around her so that Aigis was closer to everyone and then gave her a nod.

The first thing Aigis did was far from what they expected. Her hands reached up to the top of her black blazer, which they learned was the uniform of their previous school, and began to unbutton her clothes. There were a few protests, as expected, but only from the teaching staff. The two doctors were more intrigued than anything else, wondering what kind of secret the blonde had that required her to undress to reveal.

But when the blazer slipped off her shoulders, their protests died and everyone's eyes widened in confusion, and even awe. After the blazer was removed and taken by Mitsuru to hold onto, a pair of white gloves followed, then the skirt, and, finally, her boots. Once everything was shed, she stood before them in all her mechanical glory.

The most obviously mechanical parts were her shoulders, and her thighs where they connected with her torso. Other parts that stood out were her feet, the wide steel band on her wrist, and her fingertips. The white synthetic material that acted as skin for her limbs and torso could have been explained away as a skin-tight bodysuit.

"Those… aren't just prosthetics, are they?" Khloe asked hesitantly, as though hoping she was wrong. Her hopes were dashed when Aigis shook her head wordlessly.

"Astounding," Peter breathed out, gazing at Aigis's entire form from top to bottom. "Semblance without Aura, and now an android capable of using Semblance. Why, I don't believe even Atlas had managed such a feat."

"If they had, then they would have been showing it off by now," said Rosalyn. There was a bitterness in her tone that surprised everyone. Everyone save for the Headmaster, that is. "They'd probably even be trying to put every Huntsman and Huntress out of a job if they were able to begin mass production of such models."

"That's certainly true," Ruadh commented with a scoff, making note of his colleague's unusual behavior and filing it away in his head. "But rather than whether Atlas can do it or not, I'd rather know how you were made." His eyes locked onto Aigis's blue orbs, neither one breaking the other's gaze. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but from your story, your country's technological level is far below the rest of the world's. And yet, they managed to create you. If not for the fact that you're made of wires and steel, I'd almost say that they managed to create a human."

"I suppose that, in some way, that is what the Kirijo scientists did." Ruadh blinked. That wasn't the response that he was expecting. Glancing at the others out of the corners of his eyes, he saw that he wasn't alone. "A Persona is born from one's soul. A soul is something found only within a living being. As such, it was necessary to create a vessel that is as close as possible to the only living being that has awakened a Persona. A human."

"Interesting." The elderly Reuben stroked his chin, and one could already see questions and various theories forming behind his observant purple eyes. "But how was it that they created you? A human-shaped vessel is not very difficult. After all, Atlas boasts an entire army of androids. Creating a soul, the very source of our abilities, whether Semblance or Persona, is another matter entirely."

Aigis had already anticipated such a question and answered readily. "I cannot say for certain as even I am unaware of many details regarding my creation. But I believe that the answer may lie with my Papillon Heart. That is, the center of my Personality Module as well as my body's energy source."

"And what, precisely, is this Papillon Heart?"

"I do not know," answered Aigis, much to their disappointment and confusion. "While I have seen it once, and was instructed to never expose it outside a clean and sterile environment, I know very little about it." Well, there was that one time when she broke that rule but nobody else needed to know about that. "I can only theorize that since it is part of my Personality Module that it must play a part in my ability to summon a Persona."

"Unlike the others, it was unnecessary for me to undergo the awakening process as I have been able to use a Persona almost from the moment I was activated. What makes me believe that the Papillon Heart plays a role in this, is that it is the one unique component I and the other Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons have that may very well be lacking in other androids."

"Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons?" asked Flora, wondering if the term had been mentioned earlier and simply forgotten.

"Ah, my apologies. That is what I and those like myself were formally called," explained Aigis. "I am from the seventh generation of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons, or ASWs for short. I am, however, the last of the ASWs as no more were created following an incident eleven years ago, which also resulted in the destruction of the others."

"This… Papillon Heart of yours, would it be possible to see it? Perhaps even examine it?" The question came from Reuben, and at the question, Aigis turned to Mitsuru for answers.

The red-haired leader of SEES considered the request for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of allowing it before making a decision. "Aigis," she began, facing the blonde beside her. "You said you were instructed not to expose it outside a sterile environment, correct?"

"That is correct, Mitsuru-san."

Mitsuru shut her eyes and continued to think, all the while the Beacon staff members were awaiting her response with bated breath.

Whatever the Papillon Heart was, it was something that could very well change the world. Androids with artificial souls? With Semblance? While Rosalyn clearly held a great dislike to Atlas, or perhaps their androids, there was no denying that having an android army capable of utilizing Semblance, or Persona if that's what it came to, would significantly reduce the difficulty of combating the Grimm threat.

And there had to be more to it that just that. If her Papillon Heart essentially gave her the human equivalent to a soul, what more could it do? What other wonders could be created with such an object? She also mentioned that it was also her power source. If so, could it possibly be a rare form of Dust? Perhaps even one that was modified, or created artificially.

Regardless of what it truly was, there was no questioning the fact that it would bring great changes to the world.

"I've decided." Everyone leaned forward in their seats, wondering what Mitsuru would say. "But unfortunately, I must decline."

Though the possibility had been there, few of them had expected her to turn down the request. She was, after all, asking for their aid in testing their Personas against Aura and the like. Why would she suddenly choose to hide something like this?

"None of us are knowledgeable enough with regards to the Papillon Heart, or even Aigis's systems," explained Mitsuru, having seen the questioning looks in their eyes. "If the Papillon Heart is sensitive enough that it cannot be exposed to an unclean environment, then I would rather not take my chances without the Kirijo scientists."

"Those scientists are no longer alive, true," she added, anticipating that line of reasoning. "But it is precisely because we no longer have their services that I am wary of experimenting on Aigis. In time, perhaps," she offered, hoping they would accept that for now.

It was clear to her why they would want to study the Papillon Heart, and perhaps even Aigis herself. Unfortunately, it was far too risky to take apart Aigis without the proper knowledge. And, more importantly even if incredibly selfish, she did not want to subject her comrade and friend to such a thing.

"Fuuka is doing her best to learn more about Aigis's body and her internal systems. Once she has reached a satisfactory level in her understanding, then perhaps I will reconsider. Until then, neither I nor the rest of my friends will consent to such a risky endeavor."

Some of them clearly disagreed with her reasoning, or perhaps her priorities, but all of them accepted it nonetheless, for whatever reason. As always, Mitsuru made a mental note of those who were more amiable to her terms and those who were not, already coming up with possible reasons why they agreed or disagreed.

As Ozpin brought an end to the meeting, Mitsuru allowed her gaze to discreetly land on the one staff member who had intrigued her the most. She would have to see what she could find out about the teacher. If her instincts were right, then they would be a good source of advice regarding Aigis's situation.

---

"Oh man, that was even better that the first one. And I can't believe they're planning on making a third."

Yang walked out of the movie theater alongside Pyrrha, with Ruby, Fuuka, Ren, and Nora following soon after.

Contrary to their initial plans, they had decided to watch two movies. Seeing as the newly released movie was a sequel to another, the movie theater had decided to play the first one at a reduced price to try and bring in more fans to the series.

They had taken advantage of it to get Fuuka and Pyrrha started before watching the second movie. It had been an action movie that took place in a highly futuristic setting as it involved time travel, both to the past – which was their present time – and the future, as a major focus in the story. It had come as a surprise that there was going to be a third since the second was supposedly going to conclude the tale from the first.

"Maybe the producers decided they could get more out of the series if they added another one," suggested Pyrrha, more than familiar with such lines of thinking due to her own career experience. "Given how the first one was received and now the second part, it wouldn't surprise me in the least."

"Well, whatever the reason I can't wait for it," said the blonde, looking just as excited as she did when they entered the movie theater earlier. "Hopefully they don't take too long. I always hate waiting for the next part of a movie series to come out."

Behind them, Ruby was regaling Fuuka with a re-enactment of several of her favorite scene, complete with vocalized sound effect. Nora was, from what Yang could hear, bugging Ren about not being allowed to get so much snacks and candy.

As Yang was about to suggest going somewhere for a quick bite to eat, she spotted something, or rather someone, across the street. "Hey, is that Akihiko?"

The name drew Ren and Fuuka's attention to where Yang was looking. Indeed, walking out of a shop named 'Musclemania' was the silver-haired boxer, dressed in a plain red shirt and white pants. Hanging from one hand was a plastic shopping bag bearing the store's name while the other was carrying a black shopping bag of the reusable kind that looked to be holding something heavy.

Deciding to see what he had bought, the sextet crossed the street with the blonde calling out to him and waving to catch his attention. "Hey, Akihiko!" Her call caught the teen's attention, stopping him just before he reached a van that they recognized as the one they had used the previous Sunday.

Turning to face them, a small smile graced Akihiko's lips as he raised one hand slightly to wave back, the plastic bag still hanging from it. "What're you guys doing here? Weren't you going to watch a movie?"

"We just got out actually," replied Ren, glancing down at the bags. "What'd you buy?"

"Just some protein powder and some dumbbells," replied the older teen, lifting the plastic bag and then the black bag respectively. "These are gonna be for our house since Beacon has its own gym and all but I'll probably take these with me back to the dorm and just bring them to the house when we actually start living there."

Their house.

Yang still had a bit of a hard time wrapping her head around that concept. SEES had only been in Vale for a little over a month and they already had a house of their own, even if it wasn't bought with money they had to earn themselves. If they even had to buy it in the first place. They hadn't really thought to ask whether the house had been given to them by their benefactor or if it had been something they purchased on their own.

It didn't really bother her, neither the house nor the money, but it did make her feel a little inadequate in comparison for some reason. She couldn't really explain it. It actually made no sense since comparing her situation to theirs wasn't really fair or even feasible. Their situations were just so different that any comparison was bound to be horribly skewed in one way or another.

"You know that Mitsuru-senpai will have something to say about that, right?" Fuuka asked with what seemed to be a teasing grin on her face.

Akihiko laughed in response. "I'm expecting it," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Still, old habits die hard. Doesn't help that my workout habits aren't something I want to change in the first place."

"Hey, you wanna come along?" asked Yang. "I was thinking of getting a bite to eat before heading back to Beacon. We could all head back together afterwards."

"Sorry, can't," he replied with a shake of his head. "I've got another place to check out. Wanna compare prices and quality of the larger exercise equipment before I commit to any of it. Then I still have to pick up Yukari and Ken from the cemetery later on. Thanks anyway."

The group spoke for a while longer, with Nora even asking Akihiko about whether or not taking protein powder would buff her up quickly if she took enough within a short time. Eventually, Akihiko had to leave and so the group parted ways as Akihiko loaded his purchases into the van, and drove off.

That left the sextet to get into a small debate, mostly Nora and Yang, as to where they should eat before returning to the school. At least until Ren reminded Nora that she would have to take the very next airship back to the school in order to avoid being late for her Demolitions class.

Nora seemed torn between going out to eat with her friends and going to play with explosives. The latter won out when Ren, once again, reminded her that they were going to be making a small explosive in class that day rather than just learning about the components and safety when handling them. And so, the two childhood friends bade the others farewell and made their way to the docks while the remaining four made their way to wherever Yang decided to eat.

Fifteen minutes later, they were seated at a picnic table in one of the nearby parks after buying food from Yang's favorite fast food place. Yang was speaking with Ruby about something to do with Ember Celica as they took out their food from the paper bags. Fuuka was recounting more details from her training upon Pyrrha's request, unsatisfied by the somewhat vague response she had gotten a few days ago.

"So you were trained almost exclusively on defense?" asked the redhead, pulling a take-out box out of the bag and placing it on the table, next to a bottle of juice.

Fuuka nodded as set down her own meal down in front of her, folding the paper bag and setting it aside. Next to her, Ruby had one just like it while Yang, sitting beside Pyrrha and across Ruby, had three such boxes in front of her. "That's right. Given my lack of ability and Juno's focus on support abilities, it only made sense. Even the guns built into Ancile were strictly to deter others from approaching rather than as a way to fight."

"I see. But what about what you said the other day? I believe you mentioned how your mentor was exceedingly powerful and that she taught you how to fight against stronger opponents." Even as Pyrrha spoke, a confused expression settle on her face as she glanced around the table. "Was it because you were aware that you would be at a disadvantage once you arrived here?"

"That's right," Fuuka answered with a nod. But watching Pyrrha stick her face in to the paper bag, she couldn't help but wonder what she was searching for. "In fact, all of us trained that way. It's just that I didn't have to focus on attacking as much that I could defend so well while everyone else had to find a balance."

"I see."

Fuuka could see that Pyrrha's attention was no longer on the conversation and was clearly on whatever it was that had distracted her. "Uh… Pyrrha? Is something wrong?"

At Fuuka's question, Ruby and Yang paused their conversation to see what was going on. What they saw was Pyrrha, who was looking at the ground around the bench, seemingly searching for something while still remaining seated. "I believe I must have dropped the utensils earlier when I emptied the bag."

The three people shared a confused look with one another, shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders. Fuuka turned back to Pyrrha, looking very confused. "Um… What utensils?"

"For the meal," was the redhead's brief response.

Again, three people shared a glance. This time, two of them looked a bit surprised, realizing just what the problem might be, while the third had begun laughing behind her hand. The more composed pair looked to each other, wondering what they should do.

Deciding to help them out, Yang took a moment to breathe deeply and calm her laughter before she called Pyrrha's attention, who had gotten off the bench and was checking underneath the bench. "Pyrrha?"

"Yes Yang?"

"It's a burger."

"Huh?"

"A burger."

"Oh, bless you."

By now, Yang was very close to breaking down in laughter once more.

"… Pyrrha? Do you know what a burger is?"

---

Later that night, all four teams were lounging around up on the dormitory's rooftop. Mitsuru, Akihiko, Junpei, and Pyrrha were the only ones missing as their Tactics class would not end for another half-hour.

Initially it had only been the members of SEES who had gone up to lounge around on the rooftop. One by one, their teammates had come up for one reason or another, and the group grew in number.

That had been two hours ago.

Since then, the twelve students and Koromaru had spent the time just talking about their day as well as making plans for the next day.

"Wait, why would you spent most of the day training?" asked Yang. "Come on, it's Sunday. We should be out there having fun and wasting away our youth!"

"You do know that's not likely to get me to agree, right?" Yukari asked in turn with a raised brow. "Still, the training session we had yesterday shouldn't have ended like that. We might not have been ourselves the past few weeks but that wasn't any reason to slack off in our training, which showed with how badly we lost to Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai especially when there were four of us against just the two of them."

Aigis nodded her assent at the archer's statement. "Indeed. The last time you fought under those conditions the four of you nearly achieved victory. But yesterday they had defeated you with relatively little effort. Now that we've become acclimatized to our new lives in Beacon, I believe we should see about incorporating our previous training regimen into our mornings. Perhaps Akihiko-san could assist in that matter."

"But don't you mostly rely on your Personas anyway?" Yukari had to hide her annoyance at Weiss's words and the more than slightly condescending tone she used. "I mean, the only reason you haven't used them in class is because of the unknown effects it would have on students with Aura. But when it comes to the Grimm, wouldn't you be fighting more with your Personas rather than your own skills?"

Fuuka had noted the brunette's irritation at the implication behind Weiss's words and decided to step in before anything unwanted occurred. "Maybe, but that's not really an excuse to neglect training our bodies. Our Personas are strong, but they have limits as well. It may not have been obvious during our recent training sessions since we take turns fighting, but prolonged use of our Personas can tire us out as very quickly."

Chidori decided to add her opinion on the matter as well. "We also rely on our Evokers to bring forth our Personas. Take that away, and we would be completely vulnerable if we didn't know how to defend ourselves. No matter how you look at it, our training is far from unnecessary. After all, even with your Semblances, I don't see any of you neglecting the other aspects of your training."

Chidori certainly had grown a sharp tongue for a girl who used to barely say anything. That last statement had clearly been directed more towards Weiss, who was the only person among them who could fight using nothing more than her Semblance, in response to her own statement. There was a victorious grin on Yukari's face, a small, hidden one, but a grin nonetheless, when she saw the Schnee heiress turn away with a grumbled agreement.

She couldn't really understand the heiress. Then again, the closest thing Yukari could compare her to was Mitsuru and even the Kirijo heiress hadn't been anywhere near half, or even a quarter, as bad as Weiss when it came to the stereotypical heiress/princess mold. Perhaps Mitsuru could shed some light on that subject.

Speaking of whom…

"I didn't expect everyone to be up here."

All heads turned to the door when it opened, allowing their four missing members to come in and join the group.

"We were wondering where everyone else was and found them up here," Yang answered, to which Blake and Ruby nodded.

"Nora saw them go up and followed them." Akihiko grinned at Ren's unspoken statement of following Nora up to the roof.

Jaune shrugged when Junpei and Pyrrha turned to him. "I was just gonna to come up here to think. Didn't think anyone else would be up here."

Weiss could be heard grumbling about persistent blondes and their equally persistent sisters.

"How was the class?" Yukari asked the quartet, ignoring the heiress's complaints. "Were you able to keep up after missing last week's lesson?"

Due to their trip to Vale, the quartet had missed last week's Tactics class. It was only because Glynda, having been one of three teachers to handle the class that night, had sent them copies of what was discussed, along with the combat scenario they were to assess and devise a plan for, that they hadn't fallen too far behind. But it still meant missing a lesson. And in a class where several teachers taught all at once, it was a difficult class to miss.

"Pretty much," answered Junpei, sitting on the ground and leaning his back against the knee-high wall at the edge of the roof. "And if I could keep up then I'm pretty sure Pyrrha, senpai, and senpai had no trouble at all."

"You give yourself too little credit Junpei." The red-haired Mistralian took a seat on the ledge next to where Junpei sat, placing her between her partner and her team leader. "While your answer to last week's scenario did not work as you had planned, Professor Giollah did praise your use of unconventional tactics."

Yang whistled and turned to Junpei. "That's pretty high praise there. Professor Giollah's one of the oldest teachers in the school and he's pretty famous as a Huntsman too. He isn't easy to impress either from what I've seen."

The sound of someone yawning caught Yang's ears, and she redirected her attention to Ruby, who was looking decidedly more tired. "Looks like your bed's calling you Rubes," she teased only to stifle a yawn of her own, much to her chagrin.

"Re~en, carry meee…"

Looking around, Junpei could see that the others seemed to be just as tired. Considering the time it was hardly a surprise.

Nora had managed to cling onto Ren's back, much to Ken's amusement. Jaune was hiding a huge yawn of his own while Pyrrha mentioned being tired as well. Yang helped Ruby up to her feet while Blake and Weiss stood from the chairs they were using, getting ready to head to bed as well.

But as they moved towards the door to return to their respective dorm rooms, they seemed to realize that something was amiss. Turning, they found SEES still behind them, converging into a tighter circle as conversation fired up once more. Interestingly, none of them looked the least bit tired. Not even Ken, despite his young age.

"Aren't any of you going to rest?" asked Weiss, though, as was the norm for her, her focus was almost entirely on one specific person. "I suspect some of you must be tired after such a long day."

Yukari just waved away the concern. "We're fine, don't worry about us. We're pretty used to staying up late and getting up early the next day."

"Oh? But surely it would be better to get the proper amount of rest rather than staying up late for no significant reason."

The archer once again resisted the urge to let her irritation be known at the heiress's condescending tone. It hadn't escaped her notice that Weiss had been hanging around their team a lot over the past week for reasons that Yukari could only imagine, given the lack of proper evidence. She might even have been doing it the previous weeks as well though Yukari couldn't be certain. She hadn't exactly been in the proper state of mind to notice.

Moreover, she had noticed something else regarding the Schnee heiress. And she didn't like it. She had no evidence beyond the looks so she didn't bring it up with anyone just yet. But that didn't mean she wouldn't keep an eye on the situation whenever she could. The girl may be the heiress to Remnant's largest and most powerful corporation, but that wouldn't stop Yukari from putting the girl in her place if need be.

"Thank you for your concern, but we'll be fine." Mitsuru's perfectly timed response managed to put a halt to the impending conflict between the two girls before it could begin. "Back at Iwatodai, we had to balance our schoolwork with our training, so most of our training took place at night."

"I see." Yukari's eyes narrowed slightly at the change in Weiss's tone the moment Mitsuru spoke. "Then I suppose we'll go on ahead if you're certain."

"No one asked you to stay in the first place," Yukari muttered under her breath even as the former Kirijo heiress reassured Weiss that they would be fine. While none of the Aura-users had heard her, she was certain her fellow Persona-users were more than aware of what she said. But she didn't care if they heard.

Having nothing else to say, Weiss spun around and left the rooftop, followed by the others after gaining reassurance from their own teammates that they would be fine. Once they were gone, everyone who remained turned their attention to Yukari.

"Yukari," Mitsuru began, speaking sternly but with a look of understanding on her face. "I understand that Weiss is not the easiest person to get along with, but I would rather you not antagonize her needlessly. You may not have spoken out loud this time but…" Mitsuru left the sentence hanging, unsure of how to phrase her thoughts.

"Sorry senpai," said the archer, but her tone failed to match her words. "I know I sometimes just let my mouth start talking without really thinking. It's just… I don't like it. Something about her's been bothering me all week. I can try to avoid her and not saying anything when we're together, but I can't make any promises if she keeps acting like… well… a spoiled princess."

Sitting on his haunches between Ken and Akihiko, Koromaru barked and whined, not looking very happy about something. Turning to Aigis, the blonde translated for them. "He says, 'She doesn't like animals.'"

Ken, Junpei, Fuuka, Chidori, and even Aigis, despite being the translator, looked confused, wondering what that had to do with what they were discussing. Especially since she had never once mistreated Koromaru. Even if she did it in private, there was no doubt that Koromaru would have let them know. Yukari and the two seniors, however, looked thoughtful, as though understanding what it was the albino Shiba Inu was trying to tell them.

"Well, I suppose that is the best I can hope for at the moment," conceded Mitsuru before anyone would ask Koromaru to elaborate. "For now, let's discuss tomorrow's training."

Aigis immediately brought up her earlier suggestion of incorporating their previous exercise routines to their current schedule. Both seniors agreed and Akihiko began to note down everyone's class schedules, specifically their electives, so that he could build a proper schedule for each of them. Though Mitsuru was quick to remind him that they would also need time for studies. The slight blush of embarrassment on Akihiko's cheeks brought some amusement to the conversation.

Mitsuru also informed them of hers and Aigis's meeting with the Headmaster and the other staff members, letting them know who else was now in the know regarding their Personas and Aigis's secret. She added that they may soon be participating in some experiments to determine how their Personas' abilities affected Aura, much to their excitement. Akihiko, especially looked downright manic.

"Looks like our team training sessions are gonna get interesting soon enough," he said, getting more than a few devious looks from the others.

Down in the dorms, eight people felt a cold chill run down their spines.

And once midnight had come and gone, tiredness set in as their bodies came to terms with the fact that they would not be visiting Tartarus that night. They bid each other goodnight amidst yawns as they descended the stairs and entered their dorms to retire for the night.

---

October 12, XX13

"As I informed you all last week, beginning today we will begin group combat. Specifically, you will begin fighting alongside your partners for the next few weeks before we more on to pairing you with one of your other teammates."

Excited muttering spread throughout the class even though this was the second time they were hearing this bit of information. Many were already whispering under their breath praying to be the first ones called to fight while others were waving their hands in the air, as though doing so would catch Professor Goodwitch's attention.

"The rules will remain the same," explained the blonde teacher, raising her voice just a little more to ensure she was heard. "Once your Aura meter falls below thirty percent, you are considered out of the fight even if your partner still retains a full Aura meter. As always, those without Aura are considered out of the fight after receiving a single blow."

"Since you all look so eager to begin perhaps we could start with some volunteers. Let's see…" As Glynda scanned the crowd for a good match-up, an unexpected hand shot up just as her eyes passed over its owner. "Mr.… Arc? Well, this is a surprise. I don't believe I've ever seen you volunteer to fight before."

Jaune laughed nervously as he tried to ignore his friends' surprised looks. "W-Well, I uh… I just thought I should, you know, start taking things seriously."

A pale blonde eyebrow rose, its owner having trouble believing his words. But as she did not want to scare away what little confidence he had mustered up to volunteer, she simply nodded. "Very well. Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos, please make your way down." Even as the two rose from their seats and walked down the steps leading to the combat area, green eyes began to scan the crowd for suitable opponents. "Let's see, how about-"

"We'll do it."

Again, blonde eyebrows rose at the unexpected volunteer. Though given what she knew of the boy, she shouldn't have been surprised considering that one of their opponents would be Pyrrha Nikos. She had soundly defeated him during the one-on-one matches so there was almost to be expected that he would want to make up for it. Or perhaps, 'getting revenge' was the more apt term all things considered. "Very well. Mr. Winchester and Mr. Thrush, please make your way down so we can begin the fight."

As she went about preparing the combat area for the match, she and many others failed to notice the grin that flashed briefly across Cardin's face.

As the four fighters made their way down, Junpei was frowning. Chidori instantly picked up on it and turned to face him. "What's wrong, Junpei-kun?"

"I don't know, really," he replied, eyes locked onto his two teammates down in the combat area. "Something about this just doesn't feel right. Jaune's never volunteered to fight before."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean things won't change Stupei," piped up Yukari. "I mean, no offense to him but even Fuuka's won more fights than he has. It sometimes makes me wonder if he's serious about this whole Huntsman thing."

"That's just it, Yukari." The brunette frowned a bit at the way he had addressed her. Junpei only ever stopped using that annoyingly childish nickname when he was thinking seriously about something or if something bothering him, so much so that he wasn't in the mood to play around. "He's sayin' all that but he doesn't look it. It's almost like he's just trying to convince himself or something."

Before they could discuss it further, the match began.

Russel was the first to rush forward, brandishing his daggers and running straight for Pyrrha. The red-haired Mistralian prepared herself to engage him when her partner suddenly dashed forward. Caught off-guard by Jaune's uncharacteristic act, Pyrrha had only just began to run forward to support him by the time he and Russel clashed.

Jaune raised his shield and blocked the first blow, but Russel snaked his second dagger past Jaune's pitiful defenses and struck the blonde's side. When he recoiled from the blow, Russel pushed onward, circling around and repeatedly slashing at the boy.

Pyrrha dashed forward even faster upon seeing her partner being attacked but suddenly jumped back. Cardin's mace smashed into the ground where she would have been had she kept running, an explosion going off the moment the flanges made contact. She spared Jaune another glance, slightly relieved to see that he had gotten away from Russel, but worried since he had chosen to retreat farther from her.

She raised Miló and Akoúo just as Cardin shouldered his mace with a smug-looking grin. She could easily make her way past him but leaving an opponent to your rear was never a good idea. As much as she wanted to help Jaune, she would have to take out Cardin first. Hopefully Jaune could hold out long enough.

Back with Jaune, the blonde boy was busy fending off Russel, doing his best to keep him from getting within striking range with his sword. Unfortunately, his wild swings were too predictable. In the middle of a swing of his sword, the dagger-wielder swung upwards and struck the flat of the blade with his own dagger. The unexpected counterattack sent Crocea Mors flying from Jaune's hand and threw him off balance, leaving him wide open for another flurry of attacks.

Jaune raised his shield and backpedaled to try and open up the distance between them. But in his haste, Jaune raised his shield too high, blocking his own line of sight. Taking advantage of this, Russel circled around him once more, attacking from the side with very little difficulty. And whenever Jaune turned to face him, the dagger-wielding boy would once again circle around.

From near the center of the stone platform, Pyrrha could only watch as Jaune was battered and beaten by Russel's relentless attacks. Cardin was just as relentless. Despite how heavy his mace must be, he was easily swinging it around with one hand just as easily as she wielded her own sword. And the one time he had used both hands to wield it, Pyrrha attempted to parry the blow, thinking the force behind his swing would cause him to lose his balance. Instead, she nearly lost her grip on Miló.

He wasn't as skilled as her, of course. She had already landed over a dozen blows while he had yet to hit her once. But he wasn't completely unskilled either. Just enough that she wouldn't be able to knock his Aura down to the red zone before Russel did the same to Jaune.

With no other option, she loosened her grip of Akoúo and waited for her chance.

Jaune skittered back on his elbows and knees, having been knocked back by a kick to the sternum. Seeing his opponent leap upwards, he rolled to the side just in time to avoid getting struck again. Jaune wanted to fight back but unfortunately, the other boy was doing a good job of keeping him away from where Crocea Mors landed and his shield wasn't very helpful in keeping him away from Jaune.

He desperately tried to think of a way to get past the dagger-wielding boy, to get to Crocea Mors, but his inexperienced mind couldn't come up with a single plan. He had considered turning around and running to Pyrrha for help but he discarded that idea almost as soon as it entered his mind. 'I can't,' he thought, jumping wildly to the side as Russel charged at him once more. 'I won't.'

Raising his shield in front of him, charged in the direction of Russel. Unfortunately, he once again made the mistake of raising his shield too high. Russel quickly sidestepped him and, with a mischievous grin, stuck out his leg and tripped the charging blonde, who had effectively blinded himself with his own actions.

The blonde tumbled to the ground in an undignified heap, dazed by his unexpected fall. As he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, a foot came in and kicked him hard in the side. One arm instantly wrapped around the injured side but the foot came around again and swept his other hand. With the loss of both arms for support, his face crashed down onto the ground, which was exacerbated by Russel stomping down on the side of his face.

He watched out of one slightly blurry eye as Russel raised his foot, fully intending to repeat his previous act, when something struck the side of his head. Then all of a sudden, something brown and red was attacking the green-haired boy, forcing him away from the downed fighter.

Jaune tried to stand, but Russel's last attack had affected him more than he'd care to admit. His vision was a little blurry and his legs were shaky, not to mention the pain in his side where Russel had kicked him. As wonderful as Aura was, it did little to stop pain.

The first thing that registered once he felt well enough to actually stand was Professor Goodwitch's voice, though nothing she said made sense at all. "… ma… ver… nners ar… ne Arc… kos."

He shook his head just a little bit, trying to get his sense back to normal, when something, or someone, entered his line of vision. A very blurry one at that. "ne... ou… ight? Jaune?" He blinked, shook his head once more, making him wince when his head throbbed with pain when he did so, and slowly regaining more of his bodily functions. "Jaune? Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

"P-Pyrrha?" he asked, his head clearing up some more. Gathering his bearings, he found himself sitting on the ground, one hand holding him up while another was wrapped around his abdomen. "I-Is the fight over? Did we…"

"Yes, we won," she responded but continued to look down at him with a worried look. "Are you alright? You fell over as soon as you tried to stand."

"I… did?" he didn't remember falling down. Well, at least not after he stood up after Russel had stomped on his head.

"Hm…" He looked up when he heard someone humming and found Glynda standing just a few feet away. "Mr. Thrush's last attack might have injured you despite your Aura. A light head wound perhaps. Ms. Nikos, please accompany Mr. Arc to the infirmary just down the hall. Better to be safe than sorry after all, even with Aura. We'll go over your fight another time."

"I-Infirmary?" asked Jaune, looking almost disbelieving at what he just heard. "B-But I'm fine. L-Look, see?"

He attempted to stand only to fall back down before he even got halfway up, earning a round of snickers from the spectators, as well as laughter from Cardin, who had just gotten up along with Russel. Both were off to the side for their evaluation, waiting for Glynda to finish checking on Jaune.

"Clearly you're not," Glynda responded dryly. "Ms. Nikos, if you would."

"Of course, Professor."

Pyrrha knelt down beside her partner and wrapped his arm around her shoulder despite his protests. She rose to her feet, slowly so as not to aggravate any injuries he might have sustained, and slowly guided him towards the door leading out of the combat area to head to the infirmary.

Up in the spectator's area, Junpei had watched the entire fight with worry. Specifically, he had been watching Jaune.

"Think he's alright?" asked Yukari, worried that Jaune might have gotten injured despite his Aura taking most of the punishment.

"If not, I'm sure they can patch him up," he responded absent-mindedly, his thoughts still trying to process everything he had seen.

"Do you know why he acted like that?" Chidori asked her boyfriend, having noticed how out of character Jaune had been during the entire fight, just as Junpei had noted earlier.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. But from where she sat, Chidori could see the determined look in his eyes. "But I'm gonna find out as soon as I can."

---

Despite his words, Junpei didn't actually get the chance to speak with Jaune until later that night.

Just as Glynda had said, Jaune had suffered a light head wound due its repeated impacts with the ground, the occasional punch, and, at the end, Russel's boot stomping down. As such, the nurse had him stay in the small infirmary in the combat building to rest while his Aura went about healing him and repairing any damage done.

After Jaune had been released, Pyrrha had accompanied him for a later-than-usual dinner before they returned to Team JACN's dorm room, where Junpei and Chidori were going over their homework for the day. As soon as they entered, Junpei shut his book and notebook.

"You doing alright?" he asked, watching as Jaune walked to his bed and practically collapsed onto it.

"I'm fine." Junpei highly doubted that. "Just… I don't know."

"… what the heck was that about earlier?" the goateed teen asked as calmly as he could. As badly as he wanted answers, forcing them out was rarely the way to go. He just hoped the other teen decided to be cooperative.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. "What do you mean?"

Even Junpei could tell that he was avoiding the subject. "Volunteering for a fight? Running straight up to that other guy? Forgetting everything we've gone over during training?" He enumerated the things that bothered him most, making sure to keep his voice more calm and concerned rather than accusing. "Take your pick. Dude, I know we haven't known each other that long but even I could tell that that wasn't like you."

"I… I just… I guess I'm just tired of being the worst guy in class." His excuse was weak and he knew it. Everyone in the room knew it. It wasn't the first time he had said it, but just like those other times it didn't sound as though he was serious about it. And just like those other times, it didn't look like Junpei would get a straight answer.

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. Only a little over a month as leader and he was already screwing it all up. Not only could he not do anything for the team's strongest, but he couldn't even properly comfort his teammate.

He was about to push some more when someone knocked on their door. A curious look appeared on his face as he turned to look at each of his teammates in turn. Neither Pyrrha nor Chidori looked like they knew more than he did, and Jaune was just lying on his bed, practically dead to the world.

Junpei rose from his seat and walked to the door, wondering who could be visiting them at this time. Anyone from ASYR, ANKR, or KYBT would have spoken through the door to let them know it was one of them. The main door to the dorm needed a Scroll to verify their identity so it had to be someone from the school. Or at least, someone who had gotten permission from the Headmaster to enter the dorms. Still, that didn't really narrow down the possibilities.

The person outside knocked once more just as Junpei reached the door. Hoping that it wasn't anything bad, he twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open to be greeted by a woman he had never met before. A beautiful woman at that.

She was roughly his height, her brown eyes leveled with his, with blonde hair tied in a braid that hung over her left shoulder. She wore a sleeveless, black, turtleneck top that hugged her lithe form, and olive green cargo pants tucked into black combat boots. The hilt of a sword peeked over her right shoulder while a strap ran across her torso, from her right shoulder to her left hip, presumably holding the sheath.

Looking closely at her face, Junpei could have sworn there was something familiar about her but pushed that out of his mind for the moment. "Can I uh… help you with something?" he asked as politely as he could, though he was sure his confusion was evident.

The woman nodded but looked a little uncertain. "Yes. I was looking for Jaune Arc." Her voice was firm though, despite the uncertainty her face reflected. "The Headmaster told me this was his room. Did I make a mistake?"

"Oh, no, you've got the right room. Give me a sec," he looked over his shoulder to the blonde's bed and called out to him. "Hey Jaune, you've got a visitor."

"A visitor?" His team could hear the confusion in his tone as he spoke, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "I wasn't expecting anyo-" He froze the moment his eyes caught sight of the woman standing at the doorway. "S-S-Scarlett?!"

The woman, Scarlett, smiled coldly at being recognized, her uncertainty gone now that she had found her prey. "Glad to see you still remember me, little brother."

---

Hoo boy, looks like Jauney boy's in trouble. Bet you guys weren't expecting this little twist now, were you? XD

Anyway, not much to say here except that this chapter marks the beginning of the Arc Arc. Yes, I decided to keep using it. I'd only said it as a joke at the start but now it's grown on me for some reason. XP

As always, please let me know what you think of the story or my writing. I always appreciate hearing from you guys.

Until the next chapter then.