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Second Song

Chapter 10

Reconcile

Asuka

"Where is the wound?" Dad asked loudly as Wolfram was laid out on the bed in the medical ward of Beacon, his face completely serene. "It was right under his diaphragm, his upper abdominal walls were perforated and his stomach, large intestine and liver also suffered some superficial damage," Mom was quick to respond.

"…It's surprisingly well healed," Dad said after a moment as he ripped Wolfram's undershirt off. He put a hand on where his wound was supposed to be, closing his eyes and concentrating. "This is actually incredible. With a wound as severe as you'd described, having his aura pierced and with all that force, he'd have survived for… three minutes at the absolute max if he were by himself and out in the field. And that's considering he still had aura trying to heal him too!"

"Are we in the clear then?"

"Not just yet. His organs are still inflamed from burns, there's minor internal bleeding and he's still lost a lot of blood. Even if I rack up my semblance as high as it can go and amped up his aura, he still might suffer long-term from a lack of oxygen." The sound of that made my already numb body go cold.

"…I'll give him blood," I spoke up, getting their attention, "Please, I did this to him. Let me do something right…" My voice croaked and I struggled to hold in tears, my hands shaking as the image of my fist punching right into his flesh replayed in my mind. A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of it, and I looked up to see dad with a bright smile on his face. "Kid, don't worry about it. Freak accidents happen, and your ability to respond as quickly as you did was admirable."

"Dad, he could've fucking died because of me!" I shouted, not caring about the tears streaming down my face.

"No, he wouldn't have," He said back strongly, yet his face still remained gentle, "Because you've got people like your mother and I here. This isn't the first time that we've dealt with injuries like this, and the fact that you responded as fast as you did only means that he'll recover that much quicker."

"Plus, there's no need for you to give any blood," Mom piped up with a grin, idly holding a bag of blood in her hand, "We've got things like these stored up for accidents like these. Besides, you won't need to worry about any of his other injuries too, your dad is more than capable of patching those up. He'll be just fine." The news of Wolfram making a full recovery soothed me a bit. But the entire thing felt way to familiar in a sickening way: the injury, the blood on my fist, the raging violence that I let freely explode from my body. It was just like…

"Regardless of accident or not," A voice behind me said, all of us turning around. Both mom and dad's faces hardened, tension immediately rising in the room as Headmaster Oscar walked into the room, a snide and disgusted look on his face. "Your careless actions could have been fatal had the sufficient care not been provided. If you were in the field, your lack of awareness would have resulted in the untimely death of your partner."

"Oscar, they were in the middle of freaking combat, against each other," Mom snarled as dad quickly went to work, needling him and giving Wolfram blood. "I was there to witness the whole thing. It was a freak accident, Wolfram launched an attack that focused his aura away from his body, and Asuka aimed for his blind spot. It's what we're trained to do."

"Perhaps," He conceded, before he leaned in to look me dead in the eyes. "But was it not you who vowed to kill him in the match today?" My heart dropped to my stomach, and I couldn't meet those eyes that pierced right through me. "Oscar-!" Mom started before to completely cut her off.

"Even if you were supposedly just talking, I find it strange that today has yielded a fatally-wounded student at your hand. This does bring into question of your most recent history in regards to your encounter with a certain individual, and how affected your behaviour has been because of it."

"How dare you!?" Jaune shouted, storming right up to him, "You think that you can just waltz in here and dredge that up to accuse my daughter of something as asinine as an accident!?"

"The similarities between the accounts are rather striking and it brings into question whether she's fit to be a Huntress."

"You have a lot of nerve suggesting some bullshit like that," Mom snarled, standing right next to dad as her eyes burned red. "Is it though?" Oscar said with an eyebrow raised as he walked right next to Wolfram. "Here lies a student injured in an incredibly similar fashion in the way that Asuka was as well. Perhaps there is more to this situation than I may have initially thought then. For Asuka to have survived an encounter with Diavolo of all people, only to then take the opportunity to fatally injure one of our top prospects, who just so happens to be the son of one of Diavolo's greatest adversaries?"

"…You think that my daughter is fucking working for him!?" Mom roared, the room heating up as her hair burst into golden fire. I had never seen dad so livid before either, his body physically growing in size as his aura began to waft off of him. There was a sudden movement, and hand snatched Oscar's wrist. "W-Wolfram!" I gasped, everyone's eyes now on him. His pale face sweating buckets, but his eyes had changed into glyphs and the slight rise of his own aura that got Oscar's attention. "Oh my, it's good to see you already awake-!"

"Not… her fault!" He snarled, gripping his sleeve tighter. "I… made her… do it!" His eyes rolled into his head and her promptly passed out again. Without thinking, I dashed to his side, not sure of what to do besides just be there for him. "He's telling the truth," Dad said after a moment, glaring at Oscar.

"Th-that's preposterous, you'll take the word of someone stricken by blood-loss and delirium-?"

"Don't play dumb with me Oscar, you know that I can read auras. He's telling the truth," Dad said coldly as he strode up to him and poked his finger directly into Oscar's chest. "It was a freak accident. That's all. So don't you dare throw around accusations like treason at my daughter. Do that again, and we're going to have some serious issues." The headmaster didn't back down, nor did he rise to the challenge either, kissing his teeth and swatting dad's hand away. "…Two day's suspension for the both of them, and your team will drop by one rank," He snapped at me. "Regardless of accident or not, you need to learn a lesson on controlling yourselves."

"Oscar, it was an accident!" Mom shouted before I quickly grabbed her arm, shaking my head. "It's… it's fine mom," I said quietly. "I… still had a part to play in this."

"Then it is settled. You will both return to classes the following week, and you will be expected to catch up." He turned away sharply, briskly walking out of the medical ward. I shuddered out a sob and the tears that were swelling in my eyes fall down my face. "He's been taking some serious liberties with his power," Mom muttered, frustrated as she gently rubbed my back. "It's almost like he's nothing like the Oscar that married my little sister." I tuned her out as I lost myself in my own swirling thoughts, conflict, confusion and fear being the most prominent.

'Is… is Oscar right though? I know that I'm not helping him,' I thought as my mind wandered to the image of him and his Stand piercing my stomach. 'Wolfram is just a stepping-stone! He brought this upon himself: you just did what you're good at,' Another aggressive and sinister voice said in the back of my mind. 'You are strong. It is the right of the strong to tear the weak apart.' It was only after a second that I realized what that thought meant, horror and fear rising in myself. The image of Diavolo was replaced by me, his pitch-black shadow morphing into a spitting image of my grinning, snarling face as my fist ripped into Wolfram's chest-cavity. 'Is that what I'm fucking becoming?' Tears flooded out of my eyes and I sobbed as I collapsed right by Wolfram's unconscious chest, my hand gripping his arm. My self-absorbed obsession with my strength since that moment had led right up to this moment.

'I'm sorry. Fuck, I'm so sorry!'

"Relax honey," Dad said in a soothing voice, stroking my hair to help me calm down, if only slightly. "Just relax. He's going to be all right." I cried my eyes out, unashamed at my sobbing for an hour straight. The exhaustion that hit me afterwards was more than enough to cause me to pass out right then and there.

Later that evening…

My eyes slowly cracked open, and one of the first things that I felt was the needy rumbling in my stomach. Ignoring it, I slowly rubbed the exhaustion out of my eyes as best as I could and turned to look at Wolfram. His face looked much healthier, his breathing deep, even and relaxed. "It's crazy how quickly he healed up," A soft voice said behind me. Riot was sitting on a chair behind me, Terra leaning on his shoulder and fast asleep. "That other Semblance of his is pretty crazy." I rubbed my eyes again and weakly muttered, "Hey."

"Hey Asuka," He chuckled back shyly, "How are you feeling?" I huffed out a breath and chewed on my lip, looking back at Wolfram. Groggy as I was, everything that had just happened was still clear enough in my mind. "…I'm not sure what to feel," I said quietly, "But… had I really changed that much?" Riot sighed and leaned his head back, quiet for a moment. I dreaded the answer but knew that it was coming.

"…By as much as you think? No. But… you did change since then. I-I don't blame you for it," He stuttered to correct himself, and it did bring a little smile to my face. "But it was there. You got more… vindictive. The way you fought was harsher, more desperate." I nodded and felt tears welling in my eyes, quickly turning away to hide my shame. "I let my fear control me." His soft hum, as gentle as he intended it to be, felt like a knife in my heart.

"But… I think something's changed," He said after a moment, his voice a lot lighter and almost excited. "I think that this was the first time I've seen you fight like that. You were way more flexible with your Semblance, and your technique was sharper than ever. The next time we brawl is gonna be amazing!" I couldn't help but let out a slightly choked laugh at that: he was always looking forward to the next fight, the next clash of fists and will. "I've gotta ask you… what changed?"

"Changed?" I parroted, before I was lost in thought, my eyes turning to Wolfram for a second "…I mean… he called me out, I guess," I laughed, wiping my eyes, "Credit is due where credit is due. He's got some balls. And when he fought me today… I think that I would have lost anyway." Riot's eyebrows shot up in genuine shock. "You'd admit that?" I flipped him off and he grinned cheekily. "…Yeah. Yeah, I admit that. I completely underestimated him, and I thought that I could just rush in and kick his ass. He just… picked me apart. Even when I pushed my semblance beyond its limits, he took those hits like a champ and fought back." The sickening image of my fist in his chest flashed in my mind again, and I struggled not to vomit.

"B-but I don't get why he did that! That was so fucking stupid of him!" I almost shouted, more tears springing from my eyes. "He knew that I was better at close-quarters combat than he was, so why the hell would he intentionally leave himself open-!"

"Could… you not be so loud?" I snapped my sight back to Wolfram, who's brows were furrowed in annoyance and a single eye was cracked open. "H-holy shit, you're awake-!"

"Please quiet down, my head's still ringing," He sighed with a small laugh, immediately making me clam up. "How's your shoulder? Caliburn managed to scrape you there and I'm fairly sure that you ran out of aura before I passed out." Idly, I glanced at my shoulder where a dull pain constantly throbbed. "Oh… um, my dad healed it. It's fine, just sore." He sighed in relief to my surprise before looking to Riot with an eyebrow raised. "As much as I appreciate you being here, why is Terra asleep?" Riot just raised an eyebrow back.

"You're questioning why Terra of all people is asleep?"

"…fair point, fair point," Wolfram laughed softly, "But thank you all for being here, regardless of consciousness." Riot just nodded, a full smile on his own face. Terra was woken up by the movement of his shoulder, and she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes. When she saw Wolfram, a lazy smile graced her face. "Good evening die-hard, you look like you're doing pretty good."

"I'm a bit tired and sore, but besides that, I'd say yes, I'm doing quite well." Terra reached under the seat and pulled out two plastic containers full of food. "That's good, because I figured that you two would be hella-hungry. Asuka, the Philly Cheesesteak is for you and Wolfram, you've got the Chicken and Vegetable stew." The smell of the lunch that I missed made my stomach growled loudly, and while my first instinct was to snatch my food and wolf it down. However… I grabbed the stew and placed it on the mounted table in front of Wolfram, averting my eyes down as I muttered, "Here you go." Glancing up, I saw his wide and genuinely happy smile and I couldn't stop my face from heating up. He was kinda cute when he did that. "Thank you Asuka. I really have been lacking in nutrition as of today." He readily dug into his food, yet as fast as he ate, he never spilled, made a mess, or looked untidy. I tore into my own food when I got the chance, and a few minutes later, we were completely finished.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't massively enjoy that," He sighed in content, patting his stomach before wincing. "I probably shouldn't be hitting myself that hard," He muttered in a strained voice. Riot and Terra both laughed but I felt my stomach twist up on the inside at his injury. "A-are you okay?" He closed his eyes and seemed to focus on something for a moment. "… Yes, I'll be fine. My organs are fully intact, but the soreness appears to be coming directly from my previously damaged muscle. I say that I'll be fine by… around tomorrow afternoon." The declaration calmed me down a little, but the sick feeling still remained.

"That's good to hear," Riot said, before his eyes flicked between the two of us. "W-well, I think that Terra and I are gonna take our leave and give you some time to relax. Asuka, your bed's ready for you whenever you're ready to come back." I gave him a silent thumbs up before he and Terra left, though right before she exited the room, she waved and winked at me. 'The hell?' Wolfram and I sat in silence for a while. He seemed pretty content, that same serene look on his face. Me? I felt like a wreck on the inside. Should I ask him something? Should I walk out of here? Did he even want me here? "So," He said after a moment, completely startling me, "I suppose you have a few inquiries of me? That's judging by your contemplating fidgeting and the hesitation on your face." I stuttered for a moment before I bit my lip and turned away from him, trying to sort out the whirlwind of thoughts in my head. "I… I apologize," He said after a moment, "I meant to just poke fun at you, but if I make you uncomfortable then please don't hesitate to leave. I did just put you through a… trying experience, to say the least."

"Why the fuck did you do something so stupid?" I blurted out, silencing him. "Fuck what I did, why did you leave yourself open on purpose!?" For the hundredth time today, tears formed in my eyes and I couldn't stop them. "You're the fucking smart one, so why did you do that?" I gripped the sheets tightly, unable to look up or through the haze of tears that stung my eyes and burned my throat with shame. "Did you just say that you did it to cover my ass? To pity me? I don't need your pity, anyone's goddamn pity!" A and gripped my wrist hard, and I looked up to see an unnaturally fierce look on his face, one that made me shut up.

"Do you think that I'm soft enough to pity you? Don't make me laugh. I'm well aware of your strength, and I think today was the first time that I saw what you were capable of."

"So why? I could have killed you!"

"I know." His grip turned delicate, his hand trembling around my wrist. "I know that you could've killed me, but I took that chance because ultimately, what you said yesterday was right." The shame in his voice caught me off guard, and my silence was his signal to continue. "I… I haven't really been a good team leader, especially not to you. I don't want to brag, but I really could've ended the fight prematurely, you know? For the first time in a while, you riled up my pride, and I wanted to crush you." He looked directly at me, and something in his eyes seemed to shine brightly. "But I couldn't. That wouldn't have been right, because I saw that you cried out for help." I raised a brow but let him continue. "I know about the… incident with the Insurgency boss. All the signs were there: angrily lashing out, the sudden spike in arrogance, yet the innate fear of a person stronger than you. That incident has been forever imprinted within you and has permanently changed a part of you, no matter how small or large." He was right and it was scary how accurate he was. 'Until now, did I never admit that to myself?' I wondered.

"When I saw that look on your face when we fought, that look of despair and self-loathing, who the hell was I to act like a tyrant? You didn't deserve that, nor did you deserve pity. You deserved someone who could reach out to you. A real leader." The sincerity in his voice only made me tear up even more. "You needed to see what would become of yourself if you went down that path, where your arrogance in your power would lead to someone getting hurt. I'd rather be the first and the last, but it was a chance that I was willing to take." He sighed slightly and looked down, shame radiating from every pore of his body. "I… apologize again. My lack of competent leadership and my neglect of the emotional state of your conditioning is inexcusable. In addition, I should have realized that doing something as extreme and as idiotic as that could only bring about further trauma."

"Stop."

"I genuinely believe that I'm not fit to lead this team."

"Shut up."

"Nor do I deserve forgiveness for my actions."

"Fucking shut up!" I shouted, my body moving on its own. As awkward as the position was, my arms wrapped around him and I squeezed him tightly. It was embarrassing, but I swallowed my pride for once in my life to show my gratitude. Tears stained his shoulder as I buried my face in his shirt, openly crying. "You're a goddamn idiot, and an asshole! I've never met a dickhead like you before."

"…thank you?" He said after a moment, and I let out a snorted laugh, untangling my arms as I sat on the bed, right by his waist. "At the same time…" I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my sleeves, bowing my head slightly, "You've got balls enough to call me out, fight me to a draw and force me to face the reality of my actions. I'm only gonna say this once, so clear your damn ears and listen closely. Thank you." Gone was his calculated and measured face, now he was openly smiling like a giant goofball, radiating so much genuine joy that I swore it was physical. "You don't need to thank me for anything," He said after a moment, still smiling warmly. "But… I'm glad that I was able to get through to you." He held out his hand and said, "Let's work as partners, and rise our team to the top." I chuckled and wiped my eyes, clasping his hand in my own.

"I think that I can get behind that." We sat in silence for a bit longer, thank God it wasn't awkward anymore. Though, I still was curious about something, concerning our recent clash. "Hey."

"What's up?"

"That… thing you did in our fight. And yesterday too. I thought your semblance was metal-manipulation." He chuckled sheepishly and scratched his nose, unsure of what to say for the moment. "Well, it is my semblance. My first one, anyway."

"So you do have two," I said, raising a brow. Two semblances in one person were really rare, but not unheard of. "I would have thought that you'd inherit the Glyphs that your mom has, but the only thing that I see related to that is your eyes. What's up with that?"

"Well…" He said after a moment, "I did inherit it, but it's… different. I haven't been practicing with my Semblance for the time that I've had it because I fear how widespread its effects may be. My mother's Glyphs let her invoke specific action into the world, right? Propulsion, Time-manipulation, and at her peak, Summoning." He blinked, and his entire attitude changed. He turned cold, unfeeling, his aura like ice. "Me? I don't just project specific actions. My aura can bend the laws of this world to my very will." The oppressive vibe in the room suddenly vanished and he was left with a sheepish look on his face. "Only issue is… I can only use it for three actions per-day."

"That's still broken as fu-!"

"And it has a one-meter range."

"…ah," I deadpanned. "That's why you used it right when I was about to punch you, right?" He nodded, tapping his chin as he was deep in thought. "Still, today was certainly a new experience for me in regards to my Ruler. It seems that I'm able to heal myself quite effectively, though it doesn't replace lost blood. Perhaps it was because I was focused solely on the broken flesh? I might be able to heal others with it too, at least to a certain extent."

"W-well," I spoke up to get his attention. "I'm going to be joining the Aura-Studies class when we get back, I've got some serious catching up to do. I think that you could join all of us, dad and Riot could probably give you some pointers on how to use it. You already managed to pick up on Enveloping better than Riot and I, so I think it could really help."

"I was already having thoughts about joining, but I guess you've sold me on that one," He laughed loudly before suddenly wincing. "Okay, still hurts to laugh like that." I snickered and lightly poked him on the forehead.

"So smart and still a dumb-ass."

"Rude," He pouted childishly, and I couldn't help but laugh at him. It was really nice seeming him being more open around me. A sudden yawn overcame me, and a wave of exhaustion hit my body like never before, now that all the tension had truly left me. "Go get some rest," He said firmly, "Both of us took a beating today. You'd best recover in a proper bed rather than in an uncomfortable chair." His reasoning was sound but I still hesitated. I had put a hole in his chest barely a few hours ago. "A-are you sure?" He smiled warmly, and again my face heated up for some damn reason.

"I'll be fine Asuka. If anything, I'll be in optimal condition to be walking around by tomorrow morning, so I'll certainly be seeing you. Thank you." I nodded and hopped off the side of the bed, making my way to the door soon after. "Asuka!" Pausing, I turned around with a raised brow. Did he change his mind? No, he just smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "You're the second person who pushed me this hard today. The first was my mother. I'm looking forward to when we can fight for real." There was a spark, a flare of pride in my chest and I smirked.

"Careful what you wish for, because you're gonna need more than a big brain an a broken semblance to deal with me."

"I'll hold you to that then," He grinned. I left soon after, and I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I could breathe for the first time in a long time. "Thank you," I muttered under my breath.

Yang Xiao Long

"Never would've thought that Ice-Queen's kid would be the one," I sighed after a moment, resting my head on Jaune's chest, "Honestly thought that it would be Riot. Guess I still got to see that big clash." He laughed and kissed my forehead, a little sigh working its way up my throat as he held me closer to him.

"True enough, true enough. But whatever the case, at least she's got someone else to lean on now," He sighed in relief, "It's good for her to cultivate her strength, but now that she's got the right mindset, she'll start to grow into a fine Huntress." I hummed before I yelped as I felt his fingers tickle my stomach. "H-hey, stop that!" I laughed before I devolved into shrieking laughter, his body rolling and pinning my arms above my head. I bit my lip and squirmed in excitement, muttering, "You're in a playful mood tonight."

"I guess I just had a really good day," He chuckled, a cheeky glint in his eyes.

"You realize that if Wolfram calls for help with something, we're gonna be too… preoccupied, right?" I said sternly, though I couldn't wipe the massive grin off my face.

"He's already healed, so he'll be just fine," He chuckled. The next hour of our night was really, really warm. Not that I minded.

To be continued...

So, we finally concluded the first piece of what I feel is real character development. Hope you all enjoyed, and peace out!