Welcome to Phase 25 of Still Alive!

First of all, I am terribly sorry for the late update. I was being lazy and got caught up in watching Hunter X Hunter. Could you guys imagine it? Me watching RWBY and Hunter X Hunter at the same time? Two series that has tons of feels in it?

Anyway, I got exams next week so I won't be updating anytime soon.

Other than that, RWBY Volume 3 has finally ended. I'd give it a 9 out of 10! I'm just disappointed that Fox didn't get much screen time...but at least we know about Velvet's weapon, right?

Well, I would like to thank you all for your continued support. You guys are amazing! And because of Volume 3, I've got a lot more ideas cooking up inside of my head right now. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy Phase 25.

I do not own RWBY nor BlazBlue.

Ruby was entirely confused at this point.

A second ago she was filled with determination, but after reaching the door leading to Kval's current room, she was nothing more than a nervous wreck. How that happened so quickly was beyond her.

Taking in a deep breath to calm herself down, Ruby exhaled sharply and attempted to reach for the door.

Only to stop halfway when she felt all nervous again.

"Why is this so hard?" Ruby asked herself with a frustrated sigh. She glared at the door knob with her cheeks puffed out in a cute manner.

There was no turning back now. It was around midnight, so if she were to get caught by Professor Goodwitch, it's end game for her.

She would just have to apologize to her sister and teammates later. Right now, she had a job to do.

Talking to Kval.

Easier said than done.

"Maybe…I should turn back," she said, but the idea was immediately thrown out of her head, "N-No…I'll do it right now."

Ruby nodded to herself and reached for the door knob once more. Though, the urge to jump in surprise was too much for her, as the door suddenly opened by itself.

"Eep!"

The door stopped moving halfway, revealing the darkness inside. Ruby squinted her eyes to get a better look, only for her to nearly wet herself upon witnessing a pair of yellow orbs glowing in the darkness.

"U-Uh…um…" She can't help but squeak when the door quickly slammed shut. Ruby blinked a couple of times in utter confusion, before realization dawned on her. "Wait a minute…you're awake!?"

She received no answer.

"H-Hey! Open up!" Ruby called out. She proceeded to knock on the door repeatedly. "That's an order!"

Figuring that Ruby wouldn't stop torturing the door with her nonstop knocking, the person inside finally decided to open the door. In an instant, all the lights in the room went on, revealing Kval who was standing in the doorway with bandages wrapped around his stomach. He stared at Ruby through half-lidded eyes, being unusually silent.

Ruby took note of how shirtless he was, which prompted her to look away with a bright blush. The little Huntress-in-training began to fidget, but after a moment, she decided to focus her eyes on his face once more.

The caring smile he gave her was a bit unexpected.

"Thanks for being there for me, Ruby."

Without thinking, the little scythe wielder pulled him in a tight hug with tears welling up in her eyes. She buried her head in his chest.

"I was worried sick…"

The young vessel said nothing as he stared down at her head, smiling slightly. He gave her a soft pat on the head, holding her close with his other arm.

"Sorry," was all he could say to her.

"You bastard! Release me this instant!" Jin growled. He attempted to free himself from Ouroboros, to no avail.

"Major Kisaragi, can you please calm yourself for a second?" Hazama sighed. He rubbed his forehead as an attempt to kill his headache, adding, "I won't kill you, but I need your help."

"As if I'd help you." Jin scowled. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide when realization dawned on him. He began to look around frantically. "Where's Yukianesa!?"

"Oh…uh…" Hazama looked around his office, eventually spotting the sheathed blade which was somewhere on his desk. The man smiled, "There it is."

The moment Jin saw his weapon, he couldn't resist the urge to sigh. He slowly turned his head to Hazama, glaring at him. "What do you want, you scum?"

"Oh my, is it me or did you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"Spit it out already!"

And with this, Hazama leaned back in his chair and muttered, "You're no fun…"

"Just get to the point."

Hazama rolled his eyes and leaned forward, taking off his fedora.

"Terumi and I…well, we're not working together anymore," he told Jin, gaining his full attention and interest, "I want him dead, and…" He cleared his throat, staring at Yukianesa from the corner of his eyes. "…I need your help."

Jin raised an eyebrow at this.

"Did you seriously think that I would consider helping a bastard like you?"

"Come on!" Hazama yelled, frustrated beyond belief. He buried his face in his hands, causing Jin to smirk slightly. "Asking for help is against my morales but…damn it…"

"I must admit, watching you acting like this is rather enjoyable," Jin said, earning a glare from Hazama.

"Shut your trap!" the man yelled, "This is frustrating…"

"Now you are just being childish." Jin scoffed with his gaze elsewhere.

"Shut it!" Hazama scowled.

"If you insist."

"Look, we both have the same goal here. So I suggest we work together, find that good for nothing maniac, and put an end to his existence. It's that simple," Hazama explained to Jin, sounding a bit desperate for his help. "Heck, if Ragna was here, I'd gladly work alongside him to find the bastard…and maybe annoy him as well in my free time."

Jin perked up at the mention of his brother. He closed his eyes to think deeply and, after a few seconds, he finally made his decision.

Jin slowly opened his eyes and landed his gaze on Hazama, who was slumped in his chair.

"Fine, I'll lend you a hand."

"Eh?" Hazama stared at Jin, bewildered.

"Don't act all friendly with me, you snake. Try anything funny, and I'll kill you on the spot."

Hazama merely rolled his eyes in response to that. "I'm not gonna thank you or anything…"

Jin stared at the man for a brief moment. Curiosity got the better of him, so he decided to ask an unexpected question.

"Who's the mother?"

"Huh?" Hazama narrowed his eyes at Jin, confused, "I don't understand your question."

"The green-haired brat is your son, is he not?"

"What!? Hell no!" Hazama yelled as Ouroboros slowly uncoiled itself from Jin, dropping him to the ground. "He's just another vessel created for Terumi back in the day when the Black Beast was still rampaging around. You're one messed up bastard to think I would marry someone."

"It was the first thing that came to mind," Jin shrugged.

Hazama said nothing, other than grumbling a few things under his breath.

"What the hell are these things!?" Kagura exclaimed. He knocked another Beowolf away with his zweihander, while Tsubaki was handling a few others on her own.

"Don't let them swarm you!" Tsubaki warned him, stabbing the head of a Beowolf with her sword.

"Ryūjinshō!" The Black Knight turned around and jumped in the air with his sword swung upwards, tearing a poor Beowolf in half. He landed back on the ground with a grin after that, nodding in agreement. "I'll try to not let them get me," he said, knocking a Beowolf away by smashing the blunt side of his zweihander into the side of its head without looking.

"Shingi: Hirameku Ichi no Geki!" Tsubaki charged herself forward at a pack of Beowolves, using her book as a shield. In an instant, the Beowolves were sent flying away in all directions. Some managed to recover in midair, while some were unfortunate enough to get most of their bones broken.

Once Kagura was done dealing with his own pack of annoying Beowolves, he decided to finish the job by clearing the remaining ones which were scattered around by Tsubaki, allowing the girl to catch her breath.

Not that she needed to, anyway.

Tsubaki stared blankly at the blade she was holding, deep within her own thoughts.

"Despite their looks, these things are pretty much like roaches in my book." The Black Knight brought his weapon down on the last remaining Beowolf, killing it instantly. He turned around and noticed Tsubaki, and felt slightly worried. "Tsubaki, how are you holding up?"

She stopped staring at her weapon and gave him a small smile. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about…things."

Kagura walked up to her and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, grinning. "We'll find him, so don't worry about it too much."

She looked to him, before nodding with determination in her eyes. "Y-You're right."

"Good." He pulled his hand away and scanned his surroundings. He couldn't see much since it was dark, so he sighed. "Well, I'm guessing we're in some sort of forest."

"Should we camp for the night?" Tsubaki asked, earning a small shrug from the man in return.

"Your choice, but it's probably a good idea." He placed the small bag he'd been carrying around on the ground, rummaging through it. He pulled out two cans of baked beans, holding one of it out towards Tsubaki. "Here."

She took the can, smiling gratefully. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He started rummaging through the bag again, grinning as he did so. "Just go get some rest while I prepare the fire. I'll be the first to keep watch."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you even know who you're talking to?"

"Good point."

To say that she felt like crap was an understatement.

Neo hissed in complete pain as she slowly opened her eyes. She took note of the fact that she couldn't move. She looked down, and the first thing she saw was her blade, which was smeared with blood. Her eyes grew wide in horror upon realizing the situation she was in.

Neo was nailed on the wall with her own weapon, and was bleeding badly.

The psycho she fought from earlier was insanely strong, and it's a miracle she survived. She looked around to see if she could find help, but her hands began to tremble in fear when she saw the dead bodies of White Fang soldiers all around her.

Neo looked down at the blade and took in a deep breath, before quickly grabbing the hilt of her weapon and began pulling it out of her with all the strength she could muster. She bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming, her eyes tightly shut.

The blade clattered against the cold floor once she had pulled it out. Neo held her midsection to keep herself from bleeding too much, sweating all the while.

After that hellish fight with the psychopath, it was safe to say that her Aura wasn't going to heal up her wounds anytime soon.

Neo sat herself up and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. That's when she spotted a small medical kit from the corner of her eyes, which made her sigh in relief. The short girl took a second to catch her breathing, and proceeded to crawl her way towards the kit with all the energy she had left.

"Here, let me help you," a voice said from behind her.

Neo's eyes grew wide when the unfamiliar voice reached her ears. And before she knew it, the man grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up gently. He allowed her to lean against him for support, and she was a bit grateful for that.

Neo slowly looked up to get a clear view of her helper. The first thing she saw was the Grimm mask covering the upper part of his face, before noticing his red hair. She also took note of the horns on his head, which made her realize that this person was a faunus.

"I'm not going to hurt you, human," he assured her as they began to carefully make their way towards the medical kit.

"My name is Adam Taurus."

Ruby was sitting in a chair at the side of the bed, being as quiet as she could be. The girl stared at Kval as he prepared some tea, and she'd be lying if she said that she didn't feel awkward.

Kval was humming a small happy tune as he did his work, smiling slightly. Once he was done, he took the cups and went to Ruby, handing her one of said cups.

It's as if he's acting like none of the events from earlier ever happened.

"Thanks," Ruby mumbled, taking the cup from him. She took a little sip of the tea, and was surprised at how good it actually tasted.

But then something caught her eyes.

Kval's hand was trembling, which caused some of the hot tea to spill on his hand. He paid no mind to the pain, however.

"Kazuma?" Ruby called out. She noticed that his smile was nowhere to be seen, and it made her feel worried.

The boy quickly turned to her, still not minding the pain. "Y-Yes?"

"You're hurting yourself," she pointed out, looking to the small cup he was holding to prove her point. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No…I'm not," he muttered, much to Ruby's surprise.

Before Ruby had a chance to say anything, she was shocked to see him downing the whole freshly made tea, and was shocked further when he showed no signs of pain.

Kval threw the small plastic cup in the trash can when he was finished, muttering, "That was hot. But I needed that."

Ruby sat in her chair in stunned silence, baffled.

The young vessel looked to his hand, noticing the hot liquid. "So that's why you were worried…"

"Kazuma!" Ruby took his hand and began to wipe it clean with a tissue, glaring cutely at it.

That's when she felt something warm touching her skin, and she soon realized that her hand was slightly wet for some odd reason.

"Huh?"

More came down on her hand, and she was confused at this point. Ruby decided to turn her head up.

However, before she could, Kval wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her head.

Ruby's response?

She blushed madly.

"H-Huh!? Kazuma!?"

The fact he was shirtless made her even more embarrassed.

"I'm very sorry," he whispered, "I could've killed you. I-I didn't know what came over me. I'm so sorry."

Upon hearing those words, Ruby finally understood what was happening.

Ruby buried her head deeper into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. The girl closed her eyes, smiling slightly. "You don't need to apologize, Kazuma. I'm just glad you're still alive…and safe."

He began sobbing, and pressed his chin against the top of her head. "B-But…you could've died because of me. I-I…I could've killed you."

"It's okay," Ruby assured him. She pulled her head back, revealing the tears which were welling up in her eyes. "You're alive, and that's all that matters to me."

Kval looked to her, and lowered his gaze. "B-But…"

She sighed and kicked his shin, glaring at him. "I said it's fine. Now stop apologizing." She sniffled, wiping away her tears as she did so. "Kazuma, it's all in the past. The important thing is we're all still here."

"S-Sorry…"

Ruby glared at him.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Kval rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't help it."

"H-Hey, can I…ask you something?" Ruby asked, eyes on the floor as her cheeks suddenly went red.

Kval wiped his tears away with his sleeve, looking at her. "W-What is it, Ruby?"

Ruby took a step back and began fidgeting. "W-Well…you see…u-um…" She closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "W-What were you going to say to me?"

"Eh?" Kval tilted his head to the side.

"J-Just seconds before you went unconscious, you were about to tell me something," she explained to him.

The boy took a few seconds to recall what he was going to say at that time, and that's when it all clicked.

"O-Oh…"

Suddenly, his cheeks began to turn red for some reason.

"N-Now I remember."

Ruby smiled at him. "Well, what is it?"

Kval scratched his reddened cheek, looking at the ceiling as he did. "U-Uh…it's nothing important."

Ruby pouted. "Please?"

"I'm sorry Ruby, but I can't tell you," Kval told her with a nervous smile, prompting the girl to grumble to herself. "Come on, don't be like that."

"But I'm curious! It's no fair!" she yelled, punching him in the gut without thinking. Ruby gasped in horror when she saw Kval holding his gut in utter pain. "Oh no! Kazuma, I'm so sorry! I'm very sorry! Oh dust!"

"I-I think you broke something…" He fell to his knees, wincing.

Ruby quickly helped him up, feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry…I-I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Hehe…I can't believe you actually fell for it."

"What do you mean?" Ruby gave him a puzzled look. She narrowed her eyes when the boy began to laugh uncontrollably. "Hey! W-What's so funny?"

Kval didn't answer. Instead, he kept on laughing.

The little Huntress-in-training was confused at this point, that is until she saw her teammate unwrapping the bandages around his stomach.

Ruby was flabbergasted upon seeing no injuries on his stomach. She stomped her foot on the ground like an angered child, growling.

"That wasn't funny! I thought I really did broke something!"

"I-I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it…hehe…" He chuckled a bit. "I didn't really have any injuries on me in the first place."

Ruby can't help but blush upon seeing his smile, which prompted her to look away from him in pure embarrassment.

That feeling was back, and this time at full force.

After taking the time to think hard about it when she was in the empty hallway, Ruby finally found her answer.

And she wasn't denying it or anything. It was true, after all.

Hanging around him made her extra happy, shy, and awkward at the same time. Hell, just by looking at that smile of his made her want to jump out of the nearest window in embarrassment.

"Hey Kazuma, I've got something to tell you," Ruby said somewhat shyly, blushing, "I-It's important…sort of."

"Sure, I'm listening," Kval told her, grinning.

Well, it was now or never.

"Well…u-um…I've been having this weird feeling lately…every time I'm around you…" Ruby said that last part a bit too quietly, unsure if she should tell him.

However, Kval had heard it quite clearly, which caused him to freeze in his spot.

Figuring that he wasn't planning on saying anything, Ruby continued.

"A-At first, I didn't know what this feeling was, so I ignored it. B-But after it kept on bugging me without stopping…i-it somehow…became clearer to me now."

"Uh…" Kval said as an attempt to get the girl's attention, but he was unfortunately ignored.

"S-So I…I'm just gonna say it." She took in a deep breath, and exhaled. Ruby looked to him with her cheeks bright red, and she took a step forward. "I…I think I have a crush on you." She quickly closed her eyes and waited for his outburst.

But it never came.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that Kval was staring at her with a massive blush on his face. She could easily tell that he was at a loss for words at the moment.

But can you really blame him?

"I…wow…I can't believe it." He gulped and covered his reddened face with his hand, much to the girl's confusion.

"W-What are you talking about?" she asked somewhat curiously.

"Remember that time when you and the others wanted to know why I rejected Velvet?" Kval said, and Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you want to know why?"

"Y-Yeah…I mean, I'm curious now," Ruby said, nodding her head a few times.

"Well, it's because I was already interested in someone else," Kval explained, smiling all the while.

"Oh…" Ruby's eyes widened, before the look of sadness took over her pale features. She immediately forced a smile, not wanting to look sad in front of her first crush. "I-I see…"

"And you want to know what Velvet told me after she got rejected?"

Ruby nodded, but in truth she was mildly interested. The poor girl was currently busy with her own thoughts. "Sure…"

"Velvet said that she hoped the person who I'm interested in will return my feelings," Kval said to Ruby with a smile, which now gained her full attention.

The room went silent.

"W-What?" Ruby went wide-eyed when she started to slowly piece it all together, while her cheeks grew redder as seconds passed by.

Kval's cheeks matched hers, and he lowered his gaze. "W-Well…you see…I uh…I kinda like you too…"

The little scythe wielder stared at him with her mouth hung open, blushing madly.

"I uh…shocked you, didn't I?"

Without warning, Ruby zipped her way towards Kval and ended up sending him down on the bed, along with her.

Kval's entire face was completely red at this point. He stared at the little reaper in utter shock. "Ruby! W-What in the world are you doing!?"

"S-Shut up! I can't help it!" Ruby yelled, hugging him tightly. She stopped her actions for a moment, and looked him in the eyes. "Why didn't you tell me about your feelings sooner?"

Kval chose this particular moment to look away. "I didn't really want people to call me a pedophile because of your age. Other than that, your sister kinda scares me."

"Oh…" Ruby muttered. "S-So, does this mean…we're a thing now?" she asked somewhat shyly, staring into his serpentine eyes with her silver ones.

Kval stayed silent for a brief moment, but then a happy smile made its sudden appearance across his features. "What do you think?"

Ruby blushed harder at the unexpected question, eyes downcast as she nodded. "Y-You're teasing me…a-aren't you?"

Kval said nothing as he grinned. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, which earned himself a cute noise from the girl. "You're so adorable."

Ruby wasted no time in burying her head in his chest upon hearing those words. "S-Stop teasing me!"

"Fine, I'll stop." Kval chuckled.

But just like that, his eyes glowed faintly as the look on his face turned serious.

"No matter what happens…I'll do my best to protect you, Ruby."

To all passengers, this is your captain speaking. Artificial Rose has set sail! I repeat, Artificial Rose has set sail!

I'm quite surprised that no one gives a damn about Neo when she first confronted Terumi. I wasn't planning on killing her or anything.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the Phase, and thanks for all the support!

I'll be seeing you guys again later in Phase 26.

Peace out you cool dudes!