Raven sat upright, looking out her window wistfully and inhaling the floral aroma let off by the steam of her tea. She had returned from the shower about half an hour earlier, yet had not changed into Beacon's uniform. Rusty's picture displayed on the scroll on her lap. Raven looked down to it, sliding her thumb across the edge of her mug. Back and forth, back and forth.
She took one deep breath, finger daring itself to land on the call button. At the last minute, she moved her finger to the corner, exiting his contact page. Instead, she placed a call to her mother.
"Raven?" Mrs. Corvis excitedly greeted. "How are things at school?"
"W-Well... not very good," Raven admitted.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" her mother asked.
"I-I..." Raven sighed. "...I had another episode. I f-feel better today, but... I don't know."
"Oh, honey..." Mrs. Corvis comforted. "Did something happen?"
"I think so. Y-You know how I met th-those people? Th-The ones that were actually nice?"
"Yeah, I remember," Mrs. Corvis confirmed.
"I think, m-my team... they attacked them. I keep thinking that I should j-just, stay away from them. A-And I don't know how, a-and I don't want to, but..."
"They attacked them?"
"W-We don't know for sure, but I think so..." Raven confirmed. "I don't want them to get hurt, b-because they're close to me. But there's this one boy, and he keeps trying to make sure I'm okay, and keeps bringing classwork I missed. I r-really want to keep talking to him especially, because- because he's really nice."
"Is he doing it just to get on your good side?" Raven's mother suddenly accused.
"No!" Raven objected. "I... I don't think so. He acts this way toward everyone."
"Good. You know why I want you to be careful with these kinds of things," Mrs. Corvis reminded.
"I do..." Raven agreed, words tinged with melancholy. "But he really does seem like a good person. A-All of them do."
"Raven, these sound like good friends. I think you should-"
A sudden bout of a man's voice yelling broke through Raven's scroll, causing her to wince and spill tea across her hand.
"I have to go," Raven's mother concluded. "I lov-"
The call ended.
With a troubled look on her face, Raven sipped from her mug.
Beacon's main indoor practice arena was back in prime condition long before Greyson. Most of the school's first year students, along with a considerable number of upperclassmen, had gathered to watch the next round of practice fights for the Vytal Tournament.
The entire crowd in the high-ceilinged, marble practice arena became electric as Beacon Academy's champion, Pyrrha Nikos, strode into view. Her crimson hair trailed behind her, and she clutched spear in her right hand, shield in her left. Azure looked up from her scroll for a few seconds to add to the applause, and looked back down to shoot off a quick message.
"The next battler will be... Ms. Pyrrha Nikos!" Glynda Goodwitch announced to the crowd. "Are there any volunteers to be her opponent today?"
Greyson raised his hand instantly.
"You can't!" Azure insisted. She pulled his arm down and put it in her lap, holding his hand with both of hers. "You need to rest. I'm sure your aura hasn't fully regenerated since the fight with Vladimir!"
"Pyrrha was basically my rival at Sanctum. I never won, but I need to see how much stronger we both are," Greyson reasoned, trying to wiggle his hand free. "If I want to win this tournament, I'll have to beat her. I need practice!"
Azure did not let up.
"Very well, I wouldn't want any more holes in the sparring arenas anyway," Ms. Goodwitch said bitterly upon seeing Greyson's hand descend. "Any other takers?"
Pyrrha had agreed to fight an entire team of first-years. The battle was intense, full of acrobatic swordplay and attacks powerful enough to smash the newly-repaired marble flooring. Eventually, all three members of Team CRDL were defeated.
"Wow... It's even crazier to watch her fight in person..." Azure marveled. "I would say it's hard to believe you almost beat her alone, but I've seen you fight too."
Greyson shook his head. "The Mistral region tournament was... what? Nine months ago? She's a lot stronger now," he replied modestly.
"Well, you've been training too of course!" Azure assured. "Once you heal up, I'd love to see you two spar."
A young man, just older than the rest of the students, with messy light grey hair, wearing a silver and black tracksuit raised his hand to volunteer for a match. As Greyson looked down to him, a sudden headache struck behind his eyes. As he pinched the bridge of his nose and clamped his eyes shut, the sounds of shattered glass, and the screams of human and grimm alike, filled his mind's ear. He jolted back to reality, eyes flicking vigorously among the crowd.
Yet no one seemed to think anything was amiss.
"Are you okay?" Azure asked.
"Yeah, fine. Sudden headache, but it's gone now," Greyson responded. His right hand, the one opposite Azure, shot up. "He looks easy enough. I can do this," he insisted.
"Actually, I wanna fight... her," The man declared, pointing at Pyrrha. After a bit of hassle from Glynda, Pyrrha and the man, Mercury, faced each other in the arena.
The two charged each other. Mercury aimed a spinning kick at Pyrrha, which was easily blocked and countered. After a series of dance-like moves, Mercury was back on his feet, as far away from Pyrrha as he started.
Pyrrha charged once again. For a few seconds, the two were locked in a heated exchange of kicks, slashes, and blocks. Once again, Mercury slid backward and paused, as if taking time to analyze his opponent.
Mercury began attacking more aggressively than before. His onslaught of kicks pushed Pyrrha backward, leaving her unarmed. Thinking his victory to be near, Mercury aimed a powerful kick high, but seemed to be set off balance. He stumbled backward awkwardly, and paused. Pyrrha charged him one last time, weapon back in hand.
"I forfeit."
Pyrrha's momentum carried her past Mercury. She looked back to him with a look of puzzlement on her face. "You... don't even want to try?" she questioned.
"What's the point?" Mercury asked in return. "You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."
Greyson shook his head. "I knew he was easy. His kicks are too predictable. I'd be more afraid of cutting his leg off than losing to him," Greyson said.
"Geez, Greyson. What's got you all worked up?" Rusty asked.
"I don't know... I just don't like that look of that guy," Greyson admitted. "Doesn't he just seem... off? I can't explain it."
"Well, I'm not sure why you don't like the look of him, you two could practically pass for twins," Ember commented. She lowered her voice a little, nodding and narrowing her eyes. "But I do agree he's a bit strange. We should keep our guard up around him."
The scroll that Azure had laid in front of her to jot down combat notes vibrated. She was taken with surprise for a split second, and she used her stylus to tap the notification then picked up her scroll to hold it vertically. She read with a smile for several seconds, before turning to tap Rusty on the shoulder in excitement.
"Look! Raven agreed to go dress shopping with Ember and I!" she exclaimed.
"What?! Let me see!" Rusty gleefully demanded. He held Azure's scroll in front of him, smile building. He looked to the blonde. "So she's going to the dance?"
Azure nodded. "She must be!"
Several hours later, Rusty wandered down to the lobby to grab a snack from one of the dormitory building's vending machines. A girl's sudden exclamation of surprise and mild pain caught his attention, and he looked to the door.
It had closed on Azure as she awkwardly maneuvered a dress bag and a pair of smaller shopping bags into the lobby. Behind her, Ember opened it a bit so she and Raven could walk through, before pushing it out to enter the lobby herself.
"Oh, hey guys!. How was shopping?" Rusty asked, approaching the three.
"It went well!" Azure brightly said. "Oddly enough, Ember looks great in a dress. A little too great, considering she's dancing with Greyson, but..."
"The hell do you mean, 'oddly enough?" Ember asked indignantly. Azure laughed.
"It's been a while! How're you doing today?" Rusty inquired cheerfully, turning to Raven.
"F-Fine..." the faunus managed. She shuffled awkwardly around Rusty and past Azure, making a quick break for the stairwell. Rusty watched with pursed lips as she left.
"Oh. By the way. I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Azure continued, her tone much more serious than before. She looked to Ember. "You can go on ahead."
Rusty shook his head slowly, at a loss. "Yeah, sure," he agreed. "If I get to talk to you about something."
Azure turned her head to both sides, making sure no one was around to hear. Then, she signalled Rusty to follow him to the few seats that sat around a television, turned to some sports channel with the volume all the way down. "Have you noticed Greyson acting... strange recently?" she gently asked.
Rusty sighed, then nodded. "Come to think of it, yeah," he admitted. "He's never really been someone to joke around, but he's seemed kind of gloomy lately. It's like there's something bothering him."
Azure nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what I've noticed. And last night, I woke up to get a glass of water. He was awake at four in the morning! I think there's something wrong," she said. "And I think it all started after the whole Emerald Forest incident."
"Yeah. A little after that is when I started to notice too," Rusty agreed. "I think he's stressing out about Raven's team. The whole thing with Vladimir probably doesn't help, either."
Azure pursed her lips, straightening her legs from where she sat and returning her feet to the floor. "I just don't know how much I should help out. I want to be a good girlfriend, but maybe a good girlfriend would let him resolve it on his own."
"Greyson is an independent guy," Rusty replied. "But, I think everyone should get a helping hand from time to time."
"Yeah..." Azure halfheartedly agreed. "But I can tell it will just be worse if I come at him straight-on. I'll probably have to find some other way."
Rusty paused, then nodded. "I don't think you have to worry about not being a good girlfriend," he happily assured.
"Thanks. Even if I'm not sure what to do, I just... I wanted to get that off my chest, and make sure I wasn't imagining things," Azure concluded. "What did you wanna talk about?"
"You can probably guess," Rusty begrudgingly admitted.
Azure nodded. "She came out with us today, that's progress..."
"I know, and I'm happy it seems like she's doing better. But then she all but ignored me just now," Rusty reflected. "How was she today? Like was she acting normal?"
"Well... she was even quieter than normal, I remember thinking. But it seemed like she was really there with us, and she took dress shopping seriously so that's a good sign!"
Rusty nodded. "Even if she doesn't go with me, I'm glad she's going."
His eyes widened, and he pressed his hand to his lips in embarrassment. Azure bid him a sly, knowing smile.
"I, uhh... anyway," Rusty said, moving his hands in an exaggerated manner. "I don't know. I'd honestly just want to know if she doesn't like me or something. Like, it would hurt, but at least I'd be done wondering."
"I can ask what's going on," Azure offered. "We kind of avoided the subject today and acted like things were normal. But it's the least I could do after I had you talk to Greyson for me all those times!"
Rusty shook his head. "Don't pressure her."