~NRK~
Roman paced, Junior had been kind enough to allow the thief to rent a room in his club.
He looked at Neo, the girl wrapped up in the coat of that serious brat, asleep on the bed.
He sighed into his palm, twitching for a cigar but was forbidden by Junior to do so in his club's rented rooms.
Grumbling about stingy mob bosses, Roman Torchwick made to go do a night on the town when his Scroll rang.
His Scroll rang.
The thief stared at it in his pocket for all of a second before cursing in his head as he brought it out. He didn't recognize the caller ID at all.
"Great, what, this a telemarketer? What a shitty joke," the thief muttered as he ended it and went back-
It rang again, causing him to look at it in worry.
No one but Neo had his Scroll number. Not even Junior had it and Roman did business with the Big Bear more often than most.
He looked at the caller ID that read 'Unknown' which made him more suspicious.
Roman hadn't been on the town like usual, worrying over Neo, so he wasn't really worried about being tracked at the moment.
So who the hell was calling him?
~NRK~
His week away from work was coming to an end, the days passing by in a flash. His hair now in a short wolf's tail at the base of his head in the back, thanks to Liz's familiarity with Patty's hair.
Obito was in his kitchen, the Thompson Sisters in his living room watching the television.
He'd just finished making some rice when Patty spoke up.
"You're going to the museum, right?" she asked. "It looks cool! Wish we could go." She pouted at him with pleading eyes before she squealed at Elizabeth's disapproving stare.
"We're fine," the older sibling emphasized, cowing Patty before turning to Obito. "Take it easy, alright? Don't need any more ambushes, ya know?"
"Hopefully, it stays that way," Obito said as he finished cutting some vegetables before removing some sesame oil from his pantry. "Qrow's gotten in as a guard for the opening so there's little chance of it happening again with more Huntsmen around."
"Sick!" Patty nodded. "So… How's that food coming along?"
"You still need to wait, Inosuke's not even out the sh-"
"I AM CLEAN!" entered the unmasked Inosuke, the boy's face open for all to see as he laughed to himself. "HAHAHAHA! Kobi! That shower was great!" the wild child's blue hair slapped against his head as he said as he made to remove the towel from his waist.
"INOSUKE!" Liz shouted as she covered Patty's eyes, the younger girl pushing the older girl's hands down in anticipation. "Put some damn clothes on!"
"Ha?" he said with a raised brow before a grin formed on his face. "Worry not! Mere mortals! The Almighty Inosuke will allow you to see his true nature!"
"Inosuke… If so much as a centimeter of skin is shown you're going hungry," Obito threatened without turning around, getting the younger boy to freeze in his tracks.
"What?! No?!" the boar boy shouted with terror. "You wouldn't!"
Obito simply turned his head to look at him with a flat glare as he slowly began to push some of the vegetables into the garbage.
The rowdy teen was out of sight in seconds, the door to Obito's room slamming shut before Obito could get one diced vegetable into the garbage bag.
"Whew! Thank you," Liz said with a groan and release of relieved breath. "Seriously, what the hell had Tanjirou been teaching him?"
"From what I understand, he found Inosuke in the forest and the Kamados informally adopted him," Obito said as he pushed the rice, vegetables, oil, and soy sauce into a wok. "I can't imagine that he's as tolerant as he was in the beginning."
"Tsk! That guy needs a course in manners on every level," Liz said as she looked at the clock on the wall that read '6:00 pm'. "Might want to hurry, your thing's at 6:30, huh? You can get there by jumping rooftops anyway."
Obito finished the fried rice, looked at the clock and nodded as Inosuke broke back into the living room with, thankfully, a pair of brown shorts on.
"FEED ME!"
~NRK~
Obito hit the floor in an alleyway and walked out, startling a nearby passerby.
Dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt, dark slacks, and dress shoes, Obito finished it off with a dark blue hoodie tied around his waist.
Walking down the street, he noticed the crowd and moved past all of them with his invitation in hand.
"Yo! We're over here!" Came Marrone's call from a line of people behind the velvet rope. "He can skip, right? He's with us."
Obito walked over, ignoring the eyes on his back and cheek, and was allowed in via the bodyguard unlatching the rope for him.
"I was expecting you to be the first one here," Marrow said with a grin, dressed in a red dress shirt and black pants combo with white sneakers. "Before you ask, I don't have dress shoes. I didn't think we'd dress fancy before today so I had no time."
"I see, at least you mostly there," Obito responded, getting a dual thumbs up thrown his way before he turned to Liza and Ochre. "Good evening, Liza, Ochre." He nodded at both of them.
"Y-Yeah! Um…" Liza muttered as she picked at her dark blue, short-sleeved, top and a long white skirt that ended off in a pair of white heels. "You look good! I wasn't sure what to wear and my mom sorta just… passed me some of her own clothes."
"It's fine, you look great," Marrone said as he leaned on Obito's shoulder, the other brunette nodding along.
"You look fine, Liza,' she blushed at their compliments and deflected.
"O-Ochre looks great, right?!" she said, almost shouted, as she gestured to the older woman.
Marrone had long since been wowed by her get up but Obito saw the older Adel and actually had to process it.
Her scowl and dodgy eyes did nothing to hide their lavender shade that was exploited to their utmost by her purple, sleeveless, ruffled dress. It had a V-neck that allowed for her cleavage, which she had ample of, to show, and the entire thing had a sash around her waist that accentuated her figure that, with her time in the force, had been hourglass-shaped with a bit more thickness to it.
Her hair was simply more voluminous and bouncier than he was used to.
All together? She looked amazing and Obito was worried about why he cared.
Marrow whistled. "Ya know if Iruka doesn't work o-"
"Celeste, if I hear another word I'll have you doing latrine duty at the Academy," she growled, getting the Faunus to pucker up in horror. "Good, arghh… I shouldn't have let Coco choose for me."
Obito shook away the image of Kushina, the vision's 'Dattebane~' flowing through his ears in a phantom melody that he sighed away.
"You look fine, Ms. Adel," Obito stated with crossed arms and a nod that Ochre reciprocated with a thankful smile that he ignored how much looked like Coco's who, by proxy, looked like Rin's.
He really didn't need all these brown-haired women in his life.
"Alright everybody!" came the megaphone of a Huntsman with green hair. "We'll be letting all of you in an orderly manner!"
Marrone grinned and moved forward before hooking arms with Liza, the dog Faunus blushing as he did so.
"Come on, ladies and gent, we should look as fancy as possible," he said as he and Liza moved forward.
Obito and Ochre watched him, the former raising an eyebrow with the latter pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Hm," Obito grunted as he offered his elbow to the blinking Ochre. "Might as well, we're the only ones not doing so."
He was right, Ochre noted begrudgingly, as all around them couples followed Marrone's actions and the two more serious members of the cop quartet were the only ones.
The older woman sighed before she reciprocated the gesture, the two moving forward right behind Celeste and Carmel.
"Coco never hears a word."
"My lips are sealed."
The two were woefully unaware of a said girl filming all of the proceedings with her Scroll.
"Hello, nurse~!"
~NRK~
Qrow's eyebrow quirked at the sight of Obito and Ochre, arm in arm, walking into the place. He felt a smirk reach his lips as Obito turned his head, noticed Qrow, and shot him a message.
Don't misconstrue this, the Huntsman could hear and he shrugged helplessly at the brunette.
Turning away from Obito's possible preference in women, Qrow greeted his fellow Huntsman.
"Sup, Oobleck," he grinned, unclasping a flask from his pocket and taking a swig. "Wasn't expectin' to see you here."
"Qrow?" the green-haired man adjusted his glasses before smiling. "Long time no see! Are you also in the guard detail? Wonderous!"
"He, yeah, I'm keeping an eye out for whatever or whoever decides to crash this party," the Branwen said getting a raised brow from Oobleck.
"Is that what this detail is for?" the other man asked, his rumpled white dress shirt and tan slacks shifting with every instance of Oobleck blurring about. "Why, I say that this many Huntsmen are the usual for openings like this."
"Whoa, whoa, I'm speaking metaphorically here," Qrow said. "You know, like saying I'm hoping for the best but expectin' the worst?"
"Ah! Of course, right you are!" Bartholomew Oobleck stated as he adjusted his glasses. "To be ever vigilant! That is part of what it means to be a Hunter!"
"Yeah, yeah, what are we looking at here anyway?" Qrow asked as the two of them began to walk towards the new museum entrance, the crowd of invited guests clogging the doorway. "Something with, like, a million Lien to its name? Some massive WMD from the past? An old whiskey can? That sounds fun."
"All very wrong!" Bart said as he put his hands behind his back. "Well, not entirely, we've dug up some artifacts from an earlier age. We've been looking into Ruins surrounded by Dust and, I say, those have been some of the most explosive expeditions I've ever been on!"
"Snrk! Yeah, I can imagine."
"That's not all, my friend," Bartholomew's green eyes peered over his glasses as he and Qrow locked eyes.
"There was a special cloth found."
"What, old clothes? What's so special about it?" the drunker Huntsman's eyes narrowed.
"That's just it! They're not dusty clothes at all!"
"They were Dust woven cloth that has no signs of the passage of time on them!"
Qrow's eyes went wide.
~NRK~
"Okay, what the hell is this?" Marrone asked as the line of people was allowed free reign to travel the pathways until they were gathered for the main events.
"It looks like a picture of a platypus… Grimm?" Liza said unsurely as they looked at the painting with confusion.
"It looks more like a demon than an animal."
"Yuh-huh."
"Thank you, Midoriya," Ochre said as she tapped her heels on the floor. "I needed to get away from all those people."
"It's fine, Coco doing your fashion for tonight may have been a bad idea."
Wasn't that an understatement?
Time and time again, the two were besieged by random men coming up to compliment Ochre on her looks. The sneer Obito had seen some of them throw his way had been utterly baffling.
So Ochre had made the executive decision of having them take the first chance to get away from all the people and here they were, by the bathrooms.
"I'm never letting her get me in this get-up again."
"Unless it's for Iruka."
"Yeah, unl- Don't," Obito smirked a bit, the tease garnering a glower from the beautiful cop.
Obito's concept of romance was skewed, bartered with maturity, and demolished within his time in the Elemental Nations.
He knew he could never be seduced in this life, not likely, but the fact he can still consider Ochre a beauty left him feeling the slightest bit conflicted.
The idea of romance wasn't one he entertained throughout most of his lives, he simply didn't have the time, wasn't for it, or too old.
Now he was every one of them and that set him apart from most of his peers by a large margin, especially those in his age bracket.
Too immature to even consider, knowing nothing about the world that he'd despise every bit of any possible consideration, not even in adulthood.
There were an assortment of reasons to ignore Coco's, Melanie's, and Elizabeth's advances.
Were it an actual adult, at this point in time, which came onto him, he'd have them arrested.
Quite frankly, his options were zero and he wasn't bothered by that fact until right just now.
Love as a Sin seemed amazingly appropriate right now.
As he and Ochre moved throughout the museum, scantily pointing out items of interest to one another, Obito felt a slight bit more miserable and he couldn't fathom why.
God, puberty just couldn't leave him well alone. He never thought he could be eager and hate the approach of his 21st birthday.
Eager to get over this.
Hate because he still hadn't learned enough to kill Kojiro.
Making their way past a few more exhibits, the duo heard the intercom screech to life.
-"Ladies and gentlemen! Please come to the main hall, it's time for the main event!"-
~NRK~
Coco grinned as she watched Qrow speak with some green-haired guy before that dude went inside.
She watched the Huntsman fail at flirting with an annoyed Huntress before she noticed something out of her peripheral.
What was that light?
~NRK~
Meeting up with their Faunus teammates, the group made their way towards the main hall. A large group of moving people made finding it easy.
They entered and found themselves a corner of the room to watch the proceedings.
"I hope the night has been treating you well!" said the announcer, a woman standing on a tall pillar with a pinstripe suit and large mask, on one of the large pillars in the room. "Tonight we will be seeing several pieces of new old artifacts that our resident archeologist, Bartholomew Oobleck! Huntsman and teacher at the famous, Beacon Academy!"
Out came a man in archeologist gear, green hair, and glasses. The crowd clapped as the man bashfully scratched the back of his head.
"He's found very interesting pieces of old world items in the depths of Mistral and we'll begin with this one!" she gestured to the middle of the room, the lights shut off with a lone one on a single space where a case sat..
It was a long piece of brown cloth that looked like a scarf with several intri- those were Runes!
His breath caught and his eyes looked around at the others, Liza and Marrone looking on in curiosity but Ochre…
She gripped the inner part of her elbow, her eyes wide as she stared at the relic.
"Some of you might be wondering, 'How's this a relic? It looks brand new!' and you'd be right to think so but that assumption is wrong! Professor?"
"Thank you!" came Oobleck's voice as he attached a mic to his collar before looking at the crowd. "Welcome to you all but I'll keep this short."
"This piece was found in an old temple in Mistral, an eroded stone alter it seemed. I wasn't sure about it, perhaps it had been someone else's clothing but when I went to look at it, I was astonished!"
"The cloth was completely and utterly unharmed! Not a single nick or tear! I thought to look around but found no one around. For such a thing to be in such condition was utterly jarring but just as much as it was fascinating!" he stated as he looked at the casing where the cloth was held.
"I did tests, numerous tests, from spilling water to passing dirt and, alas, not a stain in sight but I find that it all fell to the floor!"
The crowd muttered, some in confusion, some in disbelief, while few were amused by the man's tone and mannerisms.
Obito was more than just a little bit horrified by such a blatant target.
"I can't imagine what this object is! Yet, I'm sure that with time we will further our knowledge and learn more about the past than we ever could before!"
The crowd clapped, Obito frigidly following along. He looked around the room, eyes the only thing on his face moving, to every corner of the room.
His eyes flashed red, the pupils sweeping across the room quickly before turning back to those dark silver pools.
He digested what he'd seen and knew who it'd be.
What irony that the announcer would be in Orichalcum? Not just that, he could see small glowing bodies scattering around the room.
If his magic knowledge, those in the usual fantasy books and what he'd learned recently, was right, those were familiars.
The group was quiet now as the announcer brought up the next item of interest.
"This one, another ge-"
There was the crack of glass and a rain shower of shards that caused a panic.
"Why hello there, ladies and gents!" came the voice of none other than Roman Torchwick, the man's grin plastered on for all to see as he fell onto the pillar where the announcer was, the woman staring at the thief in shock. "I see you have something interesting here!"
"Lemme hold onto that fer ya!" He exclaimed as his cane was pointed forward and smoke exploded outward into the crowd. "Hahaha! Nab it!"
Obito's group was already moving, Ochre had long since dropped her heels and pulled a gun from a leather band on her thigh.
Liza copied the action as Obito and Marrone's shirts were popped open.
"Team 7, stop him!" Ochre ordered with a gunshot that had the thief jumping away from the announcer pillar, the cane trailing smoke behind him.
"Come on!" Marrone said to Obito as the two of them ran forward, Liza and Ochre covering their backs as they ran into the smoke.
Obito's eyes burned red in the smoke, thankful for the cover of smoke, as he searched for Roman's signature-
His eyes widened as Marrone's ears perked, the duo jumping back as the smoke split in front of them.
Obito narrowed his eyes on the dark purple cloaked figure in front of them, a waif of a thing that turned its hood towards them.
Obito's eyes widened when he saw a metal face before bending backward over the spear coming out its mouth.
"Damn it!" Marrone said as his hands shot out, purple string shot forward towards the doll before they were severed. "What?!"
"Get down!" Obito said as he tackled the Faunus, a blade of wind shooting above them. "There's more of them!"
There was a clamber of metal against metal as five cloaked puppets hit the floor. The one that they'd encountered rescinded its arm, a blade of light blue energy flaring out before dying down.
"Thanks," Marrone said under his breath as his Aura strings formed around his knuckles. "Take the three small ones and I'll deal with the big bastards."
Obito nodded. "Havoc," he uttered as a black blade formed in the human brunette's hand.
"Heh," Marrone smirked.
"Now!" they lunged.
Qrow ducked a swing from the gorilla shaped robot, its trunk-like arm cut off by Harbinger in one smooth slice of its scythe form.
"Tsk! How's it looking over there?!" Qrow shouted to a nearby Huntress, the woman's hatchet carving up the side of a large saber tooth tiger robot.
"More of them around the perimeter!" she shouted as her hatchet shot back into her hand via a purple glow. "Where the hell did they come from?!"
"Qrow!" he turned to see Coco running towards him before pointing up. "Up top!"
Red eyes turned to the museum building, eyes narrowing as the lights flailing around the building flashed past the edge of the roof.
He grimaced at the shadowy figure waving their hands around.
"I'm gonna go up top, keep this area clean! Coco!" the Branwen said as he ran towards the building before leaping onto the wall protrusions. He continued this trend as he kept an eye on that figure, circling around to catch them from behind.
"Already on it!" the girl ran towards the entrance before disappearing behind the museum's doors.
He landed silently on the roof, Aura dampening his steps, and hunted.
He could hear sounds, the whirring of machinery and taut string, as he prowled about the rooftop. He snuck directly behind the potential source of the problem, hiding behind an air vent.
Peeking around it, he stared at the machine.
It looked like a printing press, with mechanical arms moving from the tread to another box like machine with paintings that were lobbed inside.
A ruckus later and out came another one of those stupid robots, this time another gorilla.
'What on Remnant's unholy earth?!' he thought in shock as the machine popped out on all four.
An orb above the machine shot a string of light out at the thing and it sprung to life. It pounded on it chests and stomped around before leaping off the rooftop, the string following it. Now that he looked at, Qrow could see numerous strings coming from the orb that spread out towards all sides of the building.
"What the hell is this?"
"A bastard who's stealing my shit," came a voice besides the Huntsman who swung on the person in question.
A hand rested on his forearm, stopping his swing along with a hurried 'shhhhh!' from the cloaked person.
"Seriously! Shush! You want that thing to hear us?!" the Gideon whispered harshly to the frowning Huntsman who dislodged the crazy man's arm from his person and turned on him fully.
"Who the hell are you?! I know you aren't on the detail!" he said, looking at the cloak on the other male. "You're one of them, I see. I got a couple of questions."
"Yes, yes, suspicious man but now's seriously not the time," Gideon said with a grimace. "We need to stop that thing, pronto, capiche? It's seriously bad news!"
"Why should I believe you?" Qrow inched away as much as he could from the Orichalcum member. "I told yer friends what'd happen the next time we meet."
"No! You're not listening!" Gideon stomped. "That thing is going to get worse the more time we leave it on! We have to destroy it!"
"Tell me what I want to know first!"
"I already told you!"
"Just spit it out!"
"You dumb c-!"
A shadow was cast above the two bickering men causing them to freeze before slowly turning their heads upwards.
The eagle head looked down at them as its paws crept over the side of the air vent.
"Ah-"
"-Fuck!"
The two jumped away from a claw swipe.
Liza focused on Obito, the former ninja dodging out of way at the perfect moments for her to shoot with a call of 'Mark!'
She looked around, ears flagging to the sides as she did.
Her nose twitched, the various smells of perfume and cologne, with slight difficulty, were weeded out until only Roman's remained.
She looked around and spotted the thief hiding in the rafters, a grimace sitting on the man's face.
She took her shot, startling him enough that he fell down to the museum floor.
"Fuck!" he shouted as he landed on his back, the crack of stone and pebbles greeting him, and hissed as he got up.
Turning to look at Liza, he found the barrel of a gun leveled on him and spun his cane just in time to intercept a bullet.
"I seriously do not have time for this, Puppy! Get outta my way," he growled as he got to his feet, bashing another bullet aside. "Fine! We'll do this the ye ol' fashion way!"
His cane aimed. "Engarde!" he clicked down on his trigger.
"Yikes!" Liza squeaked as she dodged to the side.
Ochre focused on both battles, her eyes trailing on Liza more than the two males.
She focused on Roman, the thief's cane was going to be a problem and, if what she knows of him is true, then he was more of an unlicensed Huntsman instead of just a thief.
She slipped some bullets from her bra and loaded them into her gun.
She crouched, both hands on the gun' handle before she clicked the trigger.
Her feet dug into the ground as the Heavy Concentrate Gravity Dust did its job.
Two shots later and Roman sighed into the engagement.
'The cops? Of course, the COPS!' he thought with a grimace as the Faunus took aim once more but dodged as he shot at her.
Cops without Aura was the usual but, knowing Obito's face, he knew to be more careful.
Seemed like Puppy here was the odd one out, maybe. She did go after him, after all, and if you knew his record but still tried? Well, he'd award guts points if nothing else.
He made to shoot once more, keeping the canine Faunus off her feet before he turned to Ochre-
His body trembled at the shot, aching in his side even through his Aura.
"The hell?!" he screamed as he hit a knee. "That wasn't a normal bullet! Fuck!"
Three more shots from Liza hit him in the shoulder, knocking the thief back.
"Tsk! The things I do for love, gods!"
"Sup, asshole!"
"Oh come on!"
Obito's blade cut through the puppet's arm, the dark blade in his hand coming up to block the energy blast coming out of the severed limb, the flat side elongating into a greatsword wide enough to cover his shoulder.
His feet skid against the stone floor as he shot back before ducking under a slash of wind that cut through the pillar behind him.
The former shinobi jumped to the side as the halves fell, throwing up dust.
Obito's eyes winced for a moment before he looked in the direction of the puppets.
"Havoc!" he shouted, hand pointed in the trio's direction, launching a swathe of black flame at the robots.
Fire, wind, and energy, shot to meet his blast causing an explosion that cleared the cloud of dirt and dust.
His sword, still in its larger state, came up and blocked the jump attack from the fire puppet. It's handaxe of fire slamming into his sword before dissipating completely.
Obito spun, sword coming out from underneath the metal doll before his leg planted itself in the doll's chest to send it hurtling into a pillar across the room.
He leaped after it, sword arcing around to cut it in twain only to find a blade of wind in his way.
He grit his teeth.
Marrone could officially say this night was a bust, regardless of how well it started.
He held his hand out, red thread shot forward piercing the large robot's chassis and not doing a damn thing as it continued to surge forward at him.
"Crap!" he jumped back and swung his hand back, the thread pulling out of the gorilla in a claw-like pattern that left the doll with a gaping hole in it. "Progress, I guess."
He rolled to the side as the second one attacked him, bringing its arm around in a swing that carved up the wall behind him.
He rolled into an upright position kneeling on the floor, thread of a purple hue marked the ground towards his opponent, causing the crumbled earth on the floor to wrap around its body.
It hit a knee and Marrone's other hand came forward with Aura strings of a blue color to freeze it but gave up the opportunity to not get smashed by the other harmed robot.
"Gods, can you two just die already!" he shot his hands forward.
He eyed Obito's situation and cursed at the brunette dancing in and out of bladed elements.
He turned back to the- fist meet face.
WHAM!
~NRK~
Qrow wasn't having a good time as he dodged a swipe of the griffon's claw before slicing towards its chest and being rewarded a scar across its chestplate.
Only to, once again, see it close up.
"Dammit!" he exclaimed as he jumped onto another outcropping on the roof. "Anytime now!"
"I get it! I'm working!" Gideon shouted back from the side of the building, thread forming a ball in his hands. "Ungrateful!"
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck you worse!" the cloaked member shouted back as the ball formed and he lobbed it at the griffon, the ball exploding outward to grip the robotic griffon's limbs and tying them together.
Qrow took the chance to slice at its head, the metal screeched as he dragged his scythe across its neck before lopping the mechanical creature's top off.
The metal faded into dust as the two turned back to the machine, a familiar-looking image being pulled towards the machine that created the robot dolls.
Gideon swung his thread outward, the strings latching onto the arms and slicing through them.
The Huntsman sighed as the arms hit the floor and the machine stopped printing but the orb above it was still shining bright.
"How do we stop it?"
"If I'm sure about it, this thing only has so many puppets left," Gideon answered as he cricked his neck. "I've never done puppetry like this so I don't know."
"Just great."
Qrow hoped Obito had already done away with any that came near.
~NRK~
Obito finished off the energy wielding puppet with a beheading, the other two element-wielding puppets lunging at him.
He flicked his nodachi upwards, the slice lopping off the arm of the fire puppet causing it to stumble past him as he slammed his blade down on the wind puppet.
The sound of gunshots reached his ears as the puppet's head flew backward, Obito turned to see Coco grinning at him before she turned to help Liza and Ochre.
Obito smirked as he cut down the fire puppet with a slash at its back.
Marrone's Aura strings glowed yellow as they shot towards the bulky robots, the two lumbering out the way.
"Not today!" his hand shot back before curling around to his chest.
The yellow strings angled sharply, shooting into the sides of the hulking metal dolls.
"An electric finish!" the tiger Faunus announced as electricity exploded about the two hulking heaps of metal before they fell to the floor, metal melted all about them.
Marrone grinned.
"Nothing to it!"
~NRK~
Roman had been having a moderately normal day and then that stupid phone call happened.
He really should have just let the kid handle it.
He was, thankfully, back on his feet and swerving in and out of gunfire, his eyes full of determination as he kept Ochre in his sights. He didn't need another surprise coming out of her.
He spun his cane to deflect two of Coco's gunshots before he pulled it behind his back and clicked the trigger.
Coco jumped out the way of the bullet, the shot hitting the floor and causing a small crater.
Roman tipped his cap as Liza ran out of bullets and pulled a knife from beneath her dress.
Good ol' cops and their weaker weapons, good times.
He looked at Ochre and grimaced immediately as she assumed a kneeling shot.
He saw it coming a mile away and was prepared this time as he took the same stance in an instant and shot at the same time she did.
He'd expected his shot to fail but he didn't need it to beat whatever she was firing.
He just needed the smokescreen.
The concentrated Dust bullet plowed through his fire Dust one and the explosion filled the area with heat and smoke.
He dodged Ochre's bullet and ran into the cloud, clicking on a button on the side of his cane handle to release more smoke. He needed to focus on what he came here for.
The long cloth Bart had been talking about, whatever it was, his current 'employers' wanted it in exchange for helping Neo.
He… if he could get her better sooner, he'd bite that bullet.
'Sorry brat but I gotta look out for us and not you,' he thought as he made for the case. Getting to it, he found it on its side and empty?
"Where the hell is it?!"
"Ya mean this?" came the voice of Coco, a grin on her face as she held the brown cloth in her hands. "I figured you'd want it so I did the same thing and nabbed it before ya."
"I'm gonna appeal to your better nature and ask ya nicely, 'Please give me that crap, I need it.'" he held his hand out.
"Hmmmmm, no." Coco thought over with fake seriousness. "How about, I tuck this bad boy away-"
She'd wrapped it around her neck as she spoke and froze.
"… Uh, Coffee Bean? You in there?" Roman asked with fake concern before strutting over with a hum. "Well, if you're not gonna use th- Whoa, what the fuck?!" he jumped back, staring at her in disbelief.
"I know not who you are," Coco spoke, in her hand was a thin, long, double-sided blade. "But understand, you will not leave here alive should you chance conflict with me."
Coco looked him in the eye and Roman stared back at Coco's silver eyes.
"…okay…" Roman stepped back as white marks fell down Coco's eyes forming a pair of upside-down horns. "That's a new 'look' you got going on there, Cacao."
"Cacao?" she looked confused at the word. "I… feel I should know that name but you will address me as you should."
"I am Ottiline Adel, the true heir of the noble Adel bloodline, the greatest archers across this bleak land."
Roman stared at her, eye to eyes, and had little more to say than, "What?"
"Who are you? A trespasser? Hmm?" she looked around as the smoke cleared and frowned. "Where are we? This doesn't look like the manor."
"Coco!" came a voice behind her, she turned to the voice to find a young man.
A young man with dark silver eyes.
"You…" she turned to Obito completely, the reincarnated young man stopping entirely as their eyes met. "You have dark silver eyes," she observed him before speaking once more.
"We have much to talk about, my Dark Brethren," she said with a smile that caught Obito off-guard. "With time, we will be the ones to shoot down the gods themselves."
"Who…" Obito's grip on his dark blade tightened. "Who are you? Where's Coco?"
"Hmmm? I'm not sure who that is," Otilline said with a frown, the blade in her hand brought forth to rest against Obito's. "It seems you two are in the know about someone I don't know."
Obito frowned as the relic from the exhibit hung around Coco's neck and slowly began to turn translucent. Their swords resonating in such a way that 'Coco' looked amused.
"Yes, we are quite a m-"
"Mine!" Roman's hand gripped the cloth, the distracted Coco turning on a dime with her sword raised.
'No time, crazy!' he thought as he pulled, the cloth coming loose easily from its hastily made knot.
He watched her eyes change in slow motion, the white sword dimming as more cloth was pulled. The weapon wouldn't reach him.
And it didn't as it cut the air between them, the cloth splitting into two right before the thief's eyes.
He kicked off, gaining some distance as the girl collapsed to her feet before leaping onto one of the remaining pillars in the room.
"Fun times, people, but I have places to be!" he shot them a smug salute before breaking through a window. "Now!"
There was a second shattering of glass before the group was left in silence, the fighting outside now apparent to all inside the museum.
"Coco!" Ochre's hurried steps accompanied her call as she dropped down to Coco's level, the girl held in Obito's arms as the two looked at her.
Her eyes were half-lidded, the consciousness not there in her brown and silver eyes.
Ochre's mouth tightened into a thin line as Obito checked Coco's pulse.
He sighed as he thought over the last few minutes.
'Dark Brethren,' he frowned at the words she'd said to him.
He looked down at the girl who reminded him so much of Rin.
Coco, who were you?
~NRK~
The rest of the police were called in and Team 7 found themselves explaining to Larry the entirety of the situation with Qrow adding his input.
"Man," the sandy-haired man scratched his head with his pen. "That sounds whack! Who'd do something like this? Also, didn't you say Torchwick?"
"What is it with you guys and your bad luck?"
Marrone slumped as Liza messed with her fingers.
"We wish we could tell you," they said in unison getting a shake of the head from Butz.
"What about you?" he turned to Obito, the brunette had his arms crossed in thought. "Um, dude? Obi Dude?"
"Hm?" Obito looked up at Larry before frowning. "Apologies, what was the question?"
"Man, you're all out of it," the on-the-job cop muttered as he and Obito turned to look at Ochre sitting on a bench with an unconscious Coco. "Right when you're about to come back to work, sucks, huh?"
"I'm unsure of how to feel about any of this," Obito admitted as his gaze went from Ochre to Coco. "All I know is that I feel like my days as a cop are going to be more complicated from here on out."
"Totally dude."
~NRK~
She dreamed… at least, she thinks she is.
There were brown walls with white trim and yellow accents, not a bad mix actually. It was almost the same color as her outfit.
Speaking of outfit, looking down, she saw she was dressed to impress it seemed.
A tan dress shirt with a dark brown ruffle at the collar and large diamond-shaped crosshairs on her wrist cuffs.
Nice and tight black shorts that flared out at the ends while also leading down into tall0073boots.
A Victorian fit? Did she own something like this?
"Ms. Adel?" she looked up as she heard her name.
A maid, oh she needed to remember her name.
Wait, who was this? Her sis was many things but rich wasn't one of them.
"It's fine, Clarissa, come," she began to walk past the servant. "Father and Mother await me."
Father? Dad and Ma were dead to her so why was she saying her parents were waiting?
Walking down the halls, she saw a window and took a peak-
What the hell?! Why were there mountains outside?! Where was she?!
They were green and brown in color, reaching high into the sky… yet, far off in the distance-
She turned back, facing forward, as they walked past tapestry after tapestry with diamond-shaped crosshairs.
A large empty circle with triangles at all four corners pointing outward, all of them white in color on black tapestry.
That was a strange symbol but why?
Why did it feel like she'd seen it before?
They walked for a bit before she found herself in front of large double doors.
Besides wondering what she was doing here she had to wonder who needed doors this cliché.
"I'll be waiting, Miss."
She pressed her hand against the doors and they opened with little problem?
Obito had said she could punch holes in cement… she'd never tried yet but, hey, look at her go.
When opened, the doors revealed a large room. Like, ridiculously large. SUPER large.
She walked in and Coco thought over everything she'd just seen as she saw that, inside, there was a pair of thrones.
One large and one smaller one on its side, in them sat a couple that froze Coco's heart.
The man was staring back at her with his silver eyes, his square jaw, narrow face, and swept-back brown hair, painted a handsome image.
But it wasn't him who she froze upon seeing, it was the woman in the big throne.
Her eyes were a dark silver that peered down at Coco with such impassivity the young girl doubted she was even alive for a moment. That train of thought died though as the woman's large wings, white color and complete with feathers, spread out.
Feathers fell above the throne as her wings glowed and she got up. Her short frame touching the floor after she did, five feet at best.
Coco wanted to laugh, she wanted to so hard but this woman terrified her to no end.
She walked towards Coco, her white hair falling past pale skin down to her modest chest in slight curls. Her dress was a simple grey thing that flared out at the end near her scaled feet.
Coco didn't see her anymore and wonder why until she realized she was looking at the floor.
Was she kneeling? When had she- why was she kneeling?!
"Raise your head, my child."
Coco's entire being froze even as her body looked up at the woman, her proportions more telling than her face did her age.
"Mother?" Coco's lips spilled the question as she looked at the woman in confusion.
This woman was her mother?
"Do you know why you are here?" the woman asked, face still impassive.
"No?"
"It's almost time," she said as she walked back to her throne, the floor made little sound as she did. "Soon, you will take the responsibility as family head."
"In a month's time, you will become the Lichte of the Adel family."
"Of course," Coco uttered, a feeling of joy enveloping her entire being from the forehead down. "Of course, I will. I will lead the family to your standard." Coco's body bowed a bit but the girl finally found release from this weird dream as she felt herself separate from her body.
"Ugh!" the girl was on her butt and staring up at a familiar image. "Why the hell am I seeing this?"
The dream stopped altogether as 'Coco' turned to herself, a frown on the dream's Coco's lips.
"Because this is you," she pointed at Coco. "These are your memories… Our memories."
Coco stared back at her mirror image as the dream turned back to its normal colors.
"Ottiline Adel," her mother spoke causing the two to look at her. "That said, your training is still incomplete."
"To become the Arrow That Pierces is to push your ability to unknown heights that will take training that will continue throughout your tenure as Lichte."
"The Sword That Cuts has been destroyed, the Shield That Defends is barely a fraction of what they should be, We're all our Queen has left and we will NOT fail."
"Twenty years, yes?" 'Ottiline' responded as she looked at her parent. "A short amount of time."
The current Adel matriarch nodded.
"With your affinity for Light it was only natural," the small woman shook her head.
"A pity your sister couldn't contribute."
Coco was on her feet in a second.
"Where's my sister?!" she shouted but no one heard.
A glow emanated from her mother's head, pushing the bangs aside to reveal her forehead.
Coco saw a glowing letter on the shorter female's head when the world turned grey once more and froze.
"Wunjo," the other her said, catching Coco's attention. "I spent years learning the runic alphabet, the archery, the family bloodline… EVERYTHING!"
Wind blew from somewhere, Coco didn't know, behind the other her.
"And she took it away from me! Away from us!"
Coco didn't understand! Who the hell was she talking about?!
"Isn't it obvious?!" Ottiline sneered at Coco, the other girl frowning back. "That heathen you call a sister! Ottilie!"
"She took it all from US!"
Coco's world turned black as a bright sigil formed at the back of the brown-haired girl's neck.
~NRK~
She shot up from her bed with a gasp as she pinched her eyes clothes at the slight headache she felt.
"Blargh!" she groaned before covering her mouth and leaping from her bed to the bathroom.
"BBLLAAEERRGGHHH!"
She felt no dignity at that moment, simply nausea.
She was thankful for her clean habits and self-control because, as she finished blowing chunks into her toilet, she hugged it.
'Ugghh… what happened to me?'
She didn't remember.
Wait, she had a few things.
Going into the museum to help out Obi and the others. Fighting Torchwick a bit and stopping him from stealing the old thing.
Then…. Nothing.
What happened?
She grimaced as the smell of her own sick reached her and snapped her out of her daze.
Through the haze and slight headache, she couldn't stay like this.
She wobbled into her room, stripped, grabbed a towel and went back to the bathroom and turned on the shower.
The warm water soothed her and she was displeased with it ending so soon as she shut off the water leaving steam waiving in the air.
She stood there for what felt like an eternity but was really only about five minutes before stepping out.
Water dripped down her form and she turned to her mirror, wiping away some of the fog on it to get a good look at herself.
She didn't look off, in fact, she felt fine after that little spell.
Spell… she shook her head and, with slight deliberation, turned her head and parted her hair.
On the Adel's nape sat a black dot, a birthmark Coco remarked.
Ochre had one too, saying that it was their family mark. Coco never really thought about it much before but now?
It bothered her. The sight sent a shiver up her skin for reasons she couldn't fathom.
She dropped her hair and toweled off, the time she spent out of the shower making the job a little easier.
After that, she was dressed in her brown Teddie and cycling through her Contacts.
"Right…. There!" She landed on Obito's name and clicked on it.
~NRK~
Obito sat in his living room with the others when Coco called.
Obito eyed the caller ID, raised a brow, and shot the others an excuse as he walked to his room.
His room was simple, a large square bed, a desk with a comfortable gaming chair, and a set of dressers with a closet in the corner.
Taking a seat at his desk, he picked up on her second call.
"Coco?" he asked as he leaned back.
-Hey Obi.- he frowned at her tone.
Was something wrong?
"Is something wrong?"
-... Not, really? I'm kind of confused.-
"About what?"
-Obito… What happened after I stopped Torchwick from stealing that scarf thing?-
He stopped, his grip on his armrest tightening as he remembered the 'Coco' from earlier.
"I'm not sure myself," he admitted. "You seemed like a different person, Coco. I'm not sure what was happening."
-...-
"Coco?"
-Nah, it's nothing… Hey, Obi?-
"Yes?"
-You mind if I come over some time? I mean, no offense if you don't wanna but we never really get to hang out. Mono e Mano.-
Obito stared at the wall in confusion.
Coco wanted to hang out with him? What?
-Obi?-
"... It's nothing… I guess, if you want to," Obito answered. "I'm unsure of how you want to do this but I'm here. Just let me know."
-Thanks, I mean it.- she said.
He ended the call and went back out with the others.
Spending time with Coco? The last time he'd done that alone had been sometime after they'd first met at that coffee shop, he believed.
As he sat down on the couch with the mattress fortress of blankets and pillows in front of him with the others on it, Obito felt himself being in a lull.
He was neither feeling good nor bad.
Just kind of neutral.
~NRK~
That wraps up chapter 16 and paves the way for the next on its coattails.
Obito in this fic is, for lack of a better term, sad over a missed childhood in the fullest sense.
I imagine he had that moment at the end of Naruto where he remembered all he'd deluded himself into thinking was for the best and realized how much time he'd honestly lost.
Even in Remnant, most of his childhood is dominated by his time in a tribe of bandits. Nothing about him screams 'Happy childhood' and he's noticing it.
Obito Uchiha is one who drones on the past as he deals with his current predicaments because he should be living it but has once again, by a man of unknown age and power, lost it and his power to have control over it.
I've looked it up and Obito obviously has cPTSD from the Elemental Nations in his childhood and it affects less now but still.
I'm not going to delve THAT deeply into it but it frames Obito well.
Words: 8.2k+
~NRK Out~
