Author's Notes

Another day, another update. Finally got around to delivering those price quotes. Hopefully there's some work to be done in the near future.

I should also look into finishing and starting to upload my comedy fic. That fic has a severe case of the writer's block. But that is not going to solve itself. Just need to sit and push through the blockage. Clear the drainage so ideas can flow, so to speak.

Chapter 22: Our past in Remnant

Copen liked peace and quiet. A good day for him was one where he would wake up at noon, mess with the schematics and logistics of the dozens of projects he had in the pipeline for about three hours, thinker hands-on with his current project for what's left of the day, then go to sleep at ungodly hours of next day's morning. Sprinkle food and caffeine to your liking. Rinse and repeat.

But throughout the years, Copen had come to a realization. His definition of peace and quiet was a bit off. His definition of peace and quiet involved a sister that even when she was a mute, bedridden stick of a girl, was incredibly loud. It involved a maid that wasn't shy about dragging him off outside to spend time with said sister even if it killed him. It involved a father that would always manage to make time in his busy schedule to spoil his sister and work with him in one of his projects.

And ever since coming to Beacon his definition of peace and quiet has expanded. It grew to include a partner that sort of hovered around him, asking him questions and engaging in small chat, eager to hear what Copen was tinkering with, if only to be sociable and polite. An island of normality and zero drama in a sea hellbent on making mountains out of every molehill. It grew to include a taciturn teammate that Copen was half-convinced was a sociopath, but who Copen also believed would tear the world apart for those he considered friend, even if it was through unorthodox means.

To include a team of four girls with way more talent and personality than any one team has any right to have. To include a team with a leader that might or might not have a thing for his sister, but sure as hell would indulge her in her mischiefs with the ease of a man that grew up with seven sisters of his own. A couple that insisted were not together-together – the boy an emotional crypt that got along with everyone by virtue of lacking any distinct personality trait, dislikeable or otherwise, and the girl an emotional faucet waging a war against his aforementioned sociopath of a teammate.

And a sarcastic cat faunus that hid behind a bow and used to be a terrorist.

Given the benefit of hindsight, he could see the signs. How Blake's bow sometimes seemed to twitch. How she did the faunus no favors by acting like a stereotype. How, whenever the topic came up in Oobleck's class, she was in the frontlines of the pro-faunus discourse. How, despite CRDL keeping to themselves as promised, she still would send death glares at the team of bullies.

Many times, before he's been told by his family that he could be very unobservant, despite his academic brilliance. His nose 'too buried in his projects to see the world around him', Nori once said. A flaw Copen admitted to but hadn't bothered to correct. He depended on Mytyl to notice things and tell him. She was, ironically, the social butterfly of the two. Copen was willing to bet that Mytyl, if not in the known, suspected Blake's secret. Copen was willing to bet Gun outright knew, and not because Blake told him.

"Boss? You've been just staring at the screen for 20 minutes now."

Copen sighed, Lola's voice making him aware that, yes, for the last twenty minutes he has been lost in thoughts. He let his scroll tablet rest on the desk, deciding that no progress was going to be made. He looked around the room for another, less typical distraction. None was found. He had woken up a bit before the clock hit twelve. By then a quick checkup with RWPY had revealed that Kohaku, GV, and the remains of JNBR were on Vale, each group to their own device. He had no idea what Kohaku was doing in Vale. And if GV was also searching for Blake, why didn't he tag along with Jaune and the rest of his team? Maybe he felt he would have better luck if he found Blake first?

Mytyl and Lumen were in RWPY's room, consoling Weiss, who refuses to get out of bed. His short stint procuring food for himself revealed that Weiss's and Blake's meltdown yesterday was all the talk among the first years and some of the older years. It was no surprise Weiss wanted nothing to do with that.

He could sympathize with the heiress. If it was Mytyl who was being gunned down by the White Fang, he could easily see himself spiraling down a dark path, stopping at nothing to destroy the terrorist organization – and maybe all faunus, just in case. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. And the fact Weiss's faults amounted to prejudice born out of ignorance already made her a much better person that he would be under the same circumstances.

"Boss, you're spacing out again."

Copen pinched the bridge of his nose in slight irritation. He needed a drink. Preferably far away from Beacon. And maybe do something productive while he was at it. And he knew just the place and partner in crime to do it with.

Making his way to Team RWPY's room, he knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to answer. It wasn't long before a mane of red hair received him.

"Oh, Copen. Hello."

"Pyrrha," Copen nodded his greeting towards the champion, who promptly moved aside to let him in. He took in the state of the room. The miserable, miserable state of the room. And it wasn't because one bed hung haphazardly from ropes while another was somehow nailed to the roof. The atmosphere was miserable. Ruby and Mytyl sat by Weiss's bed, who in turn laid in bed between them, with her back turn away from the world at large. Yang sat on a chair by the desk, feet resting on the desk and chair balanced in its two hind legs. She busied herself by continuously twirling a pen on one hand, her expression conflicted; torn between being here for her team and wanting to be anywhere else because, again, the atmosphere was miserable.

"Hey bro. Finished working?" Mytyl asked. She sat by the head of Weiss's bed, hands hugging her knees and back leaned against the wall. If Weiss wasn't actually sleeping, she's been staring at Mytyl's hip all this time. Either the heiress was really sleeping, she was too out of it to tell Mytyl to get off her bed, or she really appreciated Mytyl's presence. Same for Ruby.

"Couldn't concentrate. I was thinking of going to Vale, maybe get something to drink, and was wondering if Yang is interested."

Yang inclined the chair enough so that she could stretch her head backwards and raised, or in this case lowered, an eyebrow at Copen. "Me?"

"Don't get any funny ideas. You're just the closest thing I have to a drinking buddy."

"Hmph" Weiss broke her vow of silence to express a tinge of disapproval, not budging from her position on the bed.

"Do you think now is the right time to go partying?" Mytyl asked. It was obvious she wasn't particularly thrilled about Copen's plans.

"I'm not only going drinking. There's also a business I need to attend to."

Mytyl narrowed her eyes. "What kind of business?"

"The kind that requires drinks, two ACP, a twin or two, and Yang." Copen explained, giving a pointed look that the brawler didn't miss.

"I think I'll pass." Mytyl did miss the pointed look.

Copen shrugged. "Suit yourself. Want me to bring you something, Weiss?"

"Copen!" Mytyl chided her brother, but Weiss rolled to look at him, nonetheless. It was odd to see the red around her eyes.

"Ice cream."

Huh. If that's what the princess wants…

"Brand and flavor?"

"Creamy Top's and Winter Delight."

Copen smirked. "So, you want a Weiss Cream?"

A beat of silence followed.

"Not cool, dude," Yang said, "you know Weiss doesn't like my-"

A giggle interrupted Yang's train of thought. A Weiss-sounding giggle.

"No, no, no. You hate my puns. You don't get to laugh at his. Even less when he steals my material."

Weiss shoot Yang a small, mischievous smirk before rolling back and pressing her head against Mytyl's thighs.

Mytyl mouthed a 'thank you' at Copen. It was reckless. It could have backfired horribly. But it didn't and his dubious joke lifted a bit of the gloom surrounding Weiss.

"It's all on the timing, Yang," Copen rustled Yang's hair, the blonde too shocked to go nuclear. "Don't worry, you'll learn. Or not. It's a male thing, I'm told. Now come on, girl. And stop dawdling. And gaping. So uncivilized."

-o-

Kohaku sat by the window to the street. She was in the café she visited with Kon, enjoying a steaming mug, letting live in Vale pass before her eyes. She had told Jaune and GV to give Blake some time before mounting a search party, but Jaune was having none of it. She supposed she could understand, having been in similar shoes years prior. She would join them if Blake was still missing by tomorrow, but today…

"What is a pretty lady like yourself doing alone, looking all melancholic?"

Today she was dealing with this. She observed the monkey faunus that just sat in front of her pick the second cup she ordered with his tail, hands hovering around the cup ready to catch it if he messed up and blowing a bit at it to disperse the heat before sipping experimentally. Then shooting her a questioning look.

"Bananas?"

"The sweetener is banana-based."

"That's racist."

"Stop acting like a stereotype, Sun, and I'll stop treating you like one. And if you don't like the drink, hand it back." She extended her hand, offering to do just that.

Sun backed away a bit and used his body to jealously guard his mug. "No. No, that's ok. Carry on treating me like a stereotype. I don't mind." He savored his drink once more, bliss and complacency etched on his face. After a long sip, he finally placed the drink down and engaged the brunette in actual conversation.

"It's so good to see you again, Kohi," he said with a friendly grin. "How long has it been? Three years?" He took a glance towards where Kohaku kept a pistol and a sword on her person, having seen them when he approached the table. "What happened after I left Burrow? You had zero training back then and now you're a Huntress at Beacon. Or Shade, but that raises the question of how you avoided me the whole boat ride here."

"Someone," Kohaku gave Sun a pointed look, "wouldn't shut up about becoming this hotshot Huntsman that would travel the world, being a hero and bedding every thankful village girl along the way. Priority given to the mayors' daughters," she prattled that last sentence. "Congratulations, Sun. You are, technically, the reason I became a Huntress."

"Tempted by the promise of village girls, huh?" Sun grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

Kohaku tried not to, but ultimately, she barked out a small laugh at her friend's antics. "Don't be perv. And stop leering at me."

Sun gasped in mocked offense, hands in chest and the pitch of his voice higher. "I'd never. I swear to you not once I have ogled you. But if I did, which I didn't, in my defense – not that I need a defense, mind you – I would have no idea where to look at you that wouldn't be considered ogling."

Kohaku smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Have you tried my face?"

At that, Sun took a dreamy, half-eyelid, droopy smile and rested his head on an arm supported by the table. "And be lost in those deep pools of honey-Ow!"

Kohaku kicked Sun's knee. She wasn't mad. She was actually pretty amused. Sun just had a way to talk himself into people's good grace. A natural charisma. But despite knowing the faunus was just messing with her, she couldn't help bit of blush that appeared at the comment about her eyes.

"Stop that," she whined. "Don't you have an ear fetish?"

"Tut tut tut", Sun tutted and slammed the table gently but firmly with one arm, pointing at Kohaku with the other. "It is not a fetish, it's a type. Wording matters." Without changing pose, he used his tail to pick up his mug and slurp loudly from it, narrowing his eyes and never breaking eye contact.

Kohaku leaned forward, her elbows on the table, her hands crossed, and her chin resting on the back of where her fingers met. She shot Sun a nostalgic smile. "You know, you never had a problem with how I dressed back home, and I wore less then."

Sun chuckled like an adult entertained by a child's naivety. "Oh, Kohi, where to start? First, sure, your attire is more conservative now – on a side note, really love the look. You own it – " Sun sent two thumbs up at Kohaku, who beamed at the compliment, "but you also lost the remaining baby fat you had left, hit puberty, and got yourself Huntress fit. So, it all evens out in the end.

"Second, back then I either thought girls were icky or I was getting my ass handed to me by your sister. Neither circumstances conductive to checking you out. By the way, how is Teach doing?"

"Well enough," Kohaku answered. "She's very hush-hush about her missions lately, so my guess would be the Headmaster has her running really important stuff."

"And third… three years, Kohi. You'll excuse me if the round-faced fourteen years old girl I remember doesn't exactly match the seventeen years old Huntress in front of me."

"Right back at ya'," Kohaku said, her eyes staring a bit too long at Sun's shameless abs. If Sun noticed, he didn't comment on it. "I thought you went to Haven, not Shade."

"I went to Haven," Sun confirmed.

Kohaku expression flatlined. "Sun… why are you in Vale?"

Sun took another sip from his mug. "That, Kohi, is a very good question that totally has a reasonable explanation." He sipped once more. "How did you get into Beacon? You had no training when I left." Sun didn't answer.

And Kohaku didn't miss the evasion but decided against pressing the issue. "Kon put me through the wringer in those two years. Then she and a friend of hers sponsored me."

"What about your team? I saw you with a lot of people yesterday."

Kohaku winced at the reminder of yesterday's events, then let out an internal curse when she realized she winced. People look at Sun and assumed he was easygoing and therefore unobservant. Kohaku knew better.

"What's wrong?"

She squirmed a bit, trying to decide how to explain it. "Don't take this the wrong way, but that little stunt of yours, the criminal one, might have had unforeseen consequences…"

Kohaku proceeded to retell yesterday's event, glossing over Weiss's and Blake's fight, specially the very end of it, and ending with how Blake ran away and was currently missing. The fact that horror dawned on Sun's face as the story advanced alleviated a bit a Kohaku's hesitation to filling him in on such a private matter. He still was the bleeding heart she had known in her childhood. But that also meant…

"We have to look for her!"

Kohaku knew that was going to be his reaction. "Her team is already searching for her. I told them if she's still missing tomorrow, I'll lend a hand. But, today, I was hoping we could catch up." Kohaku didn't meet Sun's eyes, feeling a bit ashamed about her selfishness.

"Why not both?"

She looked at Sun questioningly. Sun continued. "We don't have to actively look for her. If we just walk around the city, we might stumble upon your lost friend. And I don't know about you, but I wasn't planning on spending the rest of the day here. Don't get me wrong, this place," he gestured around him, "is kickass, but I was hoping we could get actual food, maybe squeeze in a small tour of Vale. Mix it up a bit, you know?"

Sun slid to her side and the edge of her seat and hooked an arm across her shoulders. "It'll be like old times. You, me, and a world of mysteries begging to be uncovered. And by world of mysteries I mean hot, lost catgirls in dire need of two dashing Hunters to save them."

Kohaku covered her face to hide both her laughter and embarrassment at being associated with Sun. "Just like old times?" she asked sarcastically.

"Just like old times… Except without the snotty kids. I miss those little buggers."

'Just like old time.' Kohaku was elated at the sentiment. Sun had his faults, but not even once she doubted how dependable he was. Meeting up with him again truly felt like old times.

-o-

"Boss!"

Junior looked up from his favorite spot behind the bar. The club was still closed, not even four in the afternoon. That did not mean there wasn't work to be done. After a Friday, there were floors to be cleaned, dishes to be washed, and equipment to be fixed or replaced. You didn't get to be a hot place for the degenerate youth without dotting your i's and crossing your t's.

So, here he was, making sure the bar was good to go for the night ahead and entertaining the Malachites and the new stray they brought yesterday.

"That woman looks distressed."

'Yes, she does,' Junior thought of the approaching grunt, a rookie eager to impress and quicker to panic. He wasn't keen on hiring woman. His parents were old fashioned and taught him to leave women and children out of his criminal enterprises. He didn't believe that to a T, but he liked to believe some of the chivalry taught to him in his youth remained. After all, his employees were also criminals up for rent that could end up in jail, or worst, after one bad job. Though that particular service was on hold after Roman got a bunch of his guys in said jail and Junior had to slither his way through a bunch of cops and Hunters out for blood. Things had calmed down, but he was not quite ready to take on new requests. So, The Club and his jig as an information broker it is.

"Boss... there… a... oh god,"

"Compose yourself. Count to ten," Junior instructed the panting rookie. It would take some time to make a decent grunt out of her, but beggars cannot be choosers and Junior needed the extra hands.

"There's a boy, armed to the teeth, insisting on seeing you."

"Hmmm," Junior hummed, "Am I correct in thinking the 'armed to the teeth' bit means the guys outside are getting their asses handed to them?" He sent the Malachites a glance, to prepare themselves.

"No… they refused to attack him, sir. The old blood refuses to interfere. Something about not being paid enough to deal with this."

'Only the old blood? So, a recurring customer…'

With impeccable timing, the door that led to the entrance swung open, revealing a very familiar white-haired boy. Instead of the civilian's clothes he was wearing last time, this time around he wore a form-fitting combat shirt with baggy pants and, besides his boots, hauled with him a massive shield and kept a handgun in his person. Also, call him crazy, but Junior thought those two orbs floating by him with smaller orbs orbiting them were ominous.

But Junior wasn't worried and instead grinned. "Copen! You son of a bitch, what are you doing here?" He boomed genially.

"Hey Junior." A female voice responded.

Junior grin died when he saw Copen's companion.

"Yang! You bitch. What are you doing here?" He roared furiously.

"Hi, Copen," the Malachite twins said in unison, a teasing lift to their voice and each waving at a hand daintily.

"Don't I get a 'Hi, Yang'?" Yang asked.

"Ewww" "No" Miltia and Melanie answered, respectively.

"Yeah? Well… I don't need your approval. Junior loves me the way I am."

Junior pointed at the exit. "Yang, out!"

"But Junior," Yang whined, "you and I have something special. We basically got to second base."

The girl sitting between the Malachite twins gasped. "Is she your significant other, Mister Xiong?"

"NO!" Junior recoiled in equal measure mortification, anger, and disgust. "I'm old enough to be her father."

"Really?" the new girl asked in surprise, eyeing Junior from head to toe. "You keep yourself in great shape!"

"Yang, out!"

"You know, Mister J, that says more about you than it does about me," Yang pointed out.

"Yang! Out! Now!"

"I'll keep her on her leash, Hei," Copen said as he took the seat next to Miltia. "Yang, sit."

Yang crossed her arms and frowned at her white-haired companion. "I'm not a dog."

Copen shrugged. "Fine. You can stand during the entire thing. I honestly don't care."

…

Yang dropped on the stool next to Copen, pouting and grumbling the entire time.

Junior eyed the blonde with trepidation, but let it be. If Copen promised she was not going to cause trouble, he'll take his word for it. He dismissed the grunt that brought him the warning before addressing Copen. "So, Copen, what brings you to The Club?"

"Pleasure," Miltia immediately answered.

"Business," Copen corrected.

"And then pleasure?" Miltia hoped. Copen ignored her.

"First, a strawberry sunrise for my dog with fabulous hair and a cinnamon whiskey with a touch a vanilla rum, on rocks, for me."

"A Bitch's Sunset and an Irondick coming up," Junior said as he got to business.

Yang blinked. "Bitch's Sunset? Also," she punched Copen, "don't call me a dog. But my hair is fabulous, so thanks." She flipped her hair for emphasis.

"Oh yeah," Junior explained while working on the drinks, "after you trashed my place, I started a campaign to get the Strawberry Sunrise renamed into the Bitch's Sunset. Inspired by you, of course."

"To everybody's surprise, he's having a modicum of success," Melanie commented.

"Look, he even printed flyers," Miltia added as she reached behind the bar, pulled a flyer, and showed it to those present. In it, the image of the previously named Strawberry Sunrise rested on top of a fiery backdrop that went from orange on top to dark blue at the bottom. In the dark blue section, white words read 'For the girls bad enough to grab guys by the dick and assert dominance.'

Yang was not amused. "Charmed…"

"Oooh, I like the colors," the girl between the twin sisters said while reviewing the poster closely.

"The name is a bit crass," Lumen added, floating behind Copen.

"Yeah, Boss. I'm surprised by how foulmouthed your business meetings tend to be," Lola chipped in.

"I know," the orange-haired girl said, "I've heard more swears in the last twenty-four hours than I've had in my entire life! Father would be apoplectic if he found out." The girl stopped to look at Lola. "You talk?"

"You know, Junior," Yang said, clearly fuming at being used as an elaborate marketing tool to rename her favorite drink into a targeted insult, "they have a point. That name and slogan will not fly in classier places than this shithole."

Junior gave Yang a shit eating grin.

"Junior said the exact same thing! Look at this!" Miltia flipped the flyer. "Ta-dah!"

~The Courtesan's Twilight~

~For the independent ladies confident enough to seize gentlemen by the manhood and proclaim supremacy~

Yang groaned from behind her hands. "It's like I'm looking at baby's first thesaurus."

"Impressive," Copen said inquisitively. "You said you are having success in your campaign?"

"Oh yeah. The entire west of Vale is already using the new name. By my estimates, 93% of Vale will be using it by December."

Copen pushed a business cards towards Junior. "If you ever get tired of being a mob boss and a club owner, the Sumeragi is always looking for talented individuals for our marketing department."

"I don't know why I fooled myself into believe you were my friend, Copen," Yang lamented. "Can I just get my bitch drink?" She blinked. "I never said that."

"What about Irondick?" the orange and green girl asked while poking Lola.

"Oh, that," Junior passed the drinks to their owners. "Some guy once interviewed Ironwood and the general mentioned being a fan of it. Turns out making a habit of drinking an actual whiskey while you are a military general is ill-advised. Then some unknown party with a bone to pick against Ironwood convinced the entirety of Mantle to call the drink Irondick. All for petty revenge."

"Fascinating," the girl said as she grabbed Lola and started to closely inspect the pod. "Who knew the world of alcoholism could be so cutthroat."

"Boss! Help! I'm being Ruby-handled."

"Endure it," Copen ordered.

"Who's this girl, by the way?" Yang asked. "New hire?"

"Nah, she's some stray the Malachites picked off the streets yesterday," Junior explained.

"She was so lost and just wandering Vale by her lonesome in the middle of the night. We couldn't leave such a cutie by herself!" Melanie expanded.

"So, we adopted her. And she sometimes says just the cutest things too!" Miltia gushed.

The girl paused from inspecting a currently vibrating Lola – turns out metallic orbs cannot squirm – to give the group a nod and said, "I've learned a lot from Big Sis Melanie and Big Sis Miltiades."

Both Malachites squealed at the girl's words, swearing to protect and cherish her for the remainder of their life. Junior shook his head in slight disbelief. It was dizzying how the twins could go from aloof and uncaring in public to girls giggling over a cute boy or a new friend in private.

"So, Mister Kamizono, what is this business you were telling me about?"

Copen slid a slip of paper towards Junior, while Yang looked uncomfortable at the entire transaction.

"Should we be looking at this? It feels wrong to go behind her back."

Junior looked at the name and whistle. "You shouldn't. About anybody. It's why we call it a violation of privacy." He returned the name to Copen. "However, unless you actually want to know where she is, which I don't know other than she's attending Beacon and I doubt you didn't know that, much of the info I have on Miss Belladonna can be found in public records, if you know where to search. And if you don't, that maid of yours could tell you."

"If you're willing to use the CCT or have a message log," Copen added. "The fact you have info to sell on Blake at all means she's not just another Beacon student."

"She isn't," Junior confirmed, "but who she is not a particularly hidden secret. It's just the kind of information you won't know unless you pay attention at the right news."

"The right news being the White Fang?"

"Yup," Junior verified Copen's question. "If you want, I can just tell you what you want to know for a low price."

"Just add it to the tab. Hit me."

"Very well. Blake Belladonna, only daughter to Ghira and Kali Belladonna. Ghira is the current Chieftain of Menagerie.

Yang eyes widened. "Wait. So, Blake is, like, a faunus princess?"

"First Daughter, as in the president's daughter, is a more accurate moniker," Junior said, "but what's more interesting is who her father was. Ghira was a former High Leader of the White Fang, which Miss Belladonna was a member of until recently. You could say she is the exiled princess of the White Fang."

Oh. That explains so much about Blake's gut reaction to Weiss's comments. Sure, there was little room for interpretation, but it was nice to have it verbalized.

"Blake's parents were terrorist?" Yang asked.

"Not necessarily," Copen said. "The terrorist label, while used by Atlas since the White Fang's inception because, well, Atlas, gained wide traction only a few years ago."

"When Sienna Khan took over Ghira's position," Junior confirmed. "I'm sure you can infer what Miss Belladonna leaving the White Fang means for her should she ever cross path with the organization."

Yang paled. Copen frowned.

"Finally, this next tidbit is about the only information you wouldn't find online, though Nori might still know about it. Miss Belladonna burned a few bridges when she defected, a couple of them with really high ranking and highly dangerous people. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the reasons she is in Beacon is for the safety it provides."

Yang looked at Copen. "We need to find her."

"I agree." Copen had an inkling that Blake would end up stumbling upon whatever sect the Fang has in Vale, either by accident or looking for them.

"Can I help you search?"

Both of Beacon's Hunters-in-training shifted their attention to the ginger that was still holding the now offline Lola.

"What happened to Lola?" Copen asked.

"Her AI was overrun with simulated stress and initiated an emergency shutdown protocol to defragment its memory core and adapt and future proof against similar stimulus going forward. I must say, this is an impressive ACP. And her AI is very advanced. You built her?"

Copen stared at the girl oddly. Automated Combat Pods are not a thing. At least not outside of Atlas military and even then, they were still in pre-alpha stages. Lola and Lumen were the only fully functional ACPs currently in use and only because Copen dug up the initial proposal that Sumeragi's R&D's shelved ages ago. In fact, if he allowed himself some degree of hubris, he was the only reason ACPs were getting a second look. He effectively provided free labor to get the project running up to a so far successful trial.

So how does this girl know that terminology? Copen interrogated the girl.

"Where are you from, again?"

"Atlas."

Ok. Maybe the daughter of a military officer or Sumeragi researcher with loose lips.

"I don't think I ever caught your name."

"I don't think I ever told you my name." The girl extended a hand. "I'm Penny. Penny Polendina."

Copen shook the hand. "Copen… Copen Kamizono."

The girl beamed. "As in Dresden Kamizono? You're Dr. Copen!"

That tacked on and inaccurate 'Doctor' title felt weird, but Copen had more important thoughts in his mind. "I'm not a doctor," he said offhandedly. "Polendina, as in Pietro Polendina?"

"That's my Father!"

Except Pietro Polendina doesn't have a daughter. At least he didn't less than a year ago. All he had was a clinic, one of the brightest minds in Atlas with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics as well as a sub-specialization in Aura, and Copen's father on speed dial. Copen will admit, Pietro was a hero of his. He followed the doctor's research closely and was over the moon, in his own stoic way, when his father introduced them. It was how Copen got the initial code for Lola's and Lumen's AI. It was also thanks to Dr. Polendina that the pods' AI got their initial learning dataset a few months before Beacon. He had a more advanced AI further along the training period and he offered to kickstart the pods learning by uploading her progress so fa-

Her. He called the AI a 'her'.

"Ooooooh," was Copen's only reaction. Suddenly, a lot of the girl's odd quirks made a lot more sense.

-o-

Paranoia was defined by the delusion of persecution. In layman terms, you were convinced someone was out to get you. Or to steal something from you. Or observing you from afar. Or a myriad of other unwarranted fears. By this definition, Blake was paranoid.

And then she reminded herself that it wasn't paranoia if there was, in fact, someone out to get you. Or in her case, stalking her.

Running away from Beacon had been a knee-jerk reaction. One that by the time she entertained the idea that it might have been, in fact an overreaction, she was committed to and was not about to change. She didn't think herself capable of confronting any of her friends or acquaintances, anyways. Especially not Weiss. Or the rumor mills their altercation undoubtedly greased. However, she was not ready to book a one-way trip to Vacuo and lose herself among the nomadic tribes either. She wasn't that far gone.

Instead, she just wandered Vale, convinced that the size of the city would make her a needle in a haystack. Jaune was probably looking for her. That was just the kind of guy her partner was. The kind of guy he had to be if he subjected himself to Beacon and challenged bullies without any previous training. And so far, things had gone smoothly. She had time to think. She had time to realize thinking was not helping. But that was fine too, she would just take more time to think more.

That recursive downward spiral was brought to a halt by the sound of her scroll ringing. Blake pinpointed that exact instance as the moment her paranoia kicked in. She explicitly remembers turning her scroll off. And checking it was off. And then double checking. And checking periodically.

But it rang, informing her of an incoming message. A simple, if menacing, message.

'Don't run. I can find you. Need to talk. Meet me at this place. - GV.'

Blake's first instinct, naturally, was to throw away her phone and run. She wasn't ready to deal with GV either. But she didn't. Not because of a moment of lucidity. Or a niggling doubt in her heart. No, Blake wasn't as romantic as some of the books she read – the romance ones that weren't also adult literature – would lead people to believe. What stopped her on her track was something simpler and more tangible.

A single white feather gently fluttering on the wind before dispersing into nothingness.

The reason GV told her that he would find her is because he already has. He was giving her a chance to prepare for the confrontation in a more private location. She could either do as told, or he would just stop her and deal with the messiness of a discussion in broad daylight in the middle of Vale.

It was then that Blake realized that GV was – between his unnerving calmness, ridiculous power, and absurd feats of petty preemptive revenge – a jump scare and dissonant musical score away from being a horror movie monster.

And that was why Blake found herself in a steakhouse with terrible lighting and a disproportionately high number of faunus. And by disproportionate she meant every single patron was a faunus. At least that explains the bad lighting. Why GV opted for this place? Blake hadn't missed how the hostess eyed her with disgust when she first arrived. She was told to wait until seated. Three different patrons that arrived after her were seated first. The waitress basically threw the menu on the table without saying a single word. And the entire dynamic did a 180 when, noticing the overwhelming faunus patronage, Blake decided to take off her bow for a little more comfort.

Humans could be prejudiced pricks against faunus, but the inverse, while much rarer, was also true. So again, why did GV chose this place? To show her this side of the faunus? That's possible, but Blake didn't think GV was the kind of guy to downplay an injustice with another injustice.

"Hello, Blake."

Whatever words she had planned, got caught in her throat and refused to come out. When GV sat on the seat across the table, she forced herself to look at him in the eyes. The golden, piercing eyes that revealed nothing.

"Hi, GV," she whispered. Hating how that came out, she raised her volume. "How… did you find me? I'm sure I disabled the location of my scroll and turn it off."

"Set timer to restart scroll automatically when you bumped into me yesterday, right before you ran away."

"I see." GV's Semblance was something else.

Silenced reigned several seconds. Blake fidgeted under GV's analytic eyes. Does the boy have experience interrogating? Because as the seconds ticked, Blake found herself more desperate to say something, anything, to break the uncomfortable silence. Luckily, she was saved from that fate.

"You know, the rest of your team is currently turning Vale upside-down trying to find you."

Shame pooled in Blake's stomach. "I… know."

"Weiss hasn't left her room all day. Or her bed, if Mytyl is to be believed."

That outright made Blake feel like crap. Sure, she wasn't the closest to the Schnee heiress, but their time as acquaintances had dampened the initial mistrust she felt towards Weiss. It was hard to be mad at someone who personally did nothing to you when you were basically living with them and you shared so many friends. To hear her words had such an impact…

"I'm sorry."

A menu flopped onto GV's hands, which were resting on the table. GV ignored the waitress's rude action in favor of addressing Blake. "As Mytyl loves reminding me, I'm not an expert when it comes to apologies, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know, I know, it's just… will she even want an apology? Weiss grew up hating the White Fang, she sees all faunus in the Fang as monsters. Could I even convince otherwise? It's not true-"

"Not entirely false, either."

Blake was robbed of words upon hearing GV… dismiss her. A small shadow of fear loomed in her.

"The individual Fang members might not be monsters, but they are advocating for a monstrous organization," GV said, low enough so his voice didn't carry over to unwelcomed ears. "Isn't that the reason you left? To not be the monster Weiss believes you are?"

Blake shook her head. "No! I mean, I left because the Fang became monstrous, but I never thought of myself as that. Misguided, desperate, even blind, sure. But never a monster. I don't think most members are bad people… just misguided. Blind to the truth. The whole is monstrous, but not the individuals."

"I… see," GV lowered his head contemplatively.

"Don't bother, GV," Blake said dejectedly. It hurt that GV thought that was what the White Fang is. A bunch of monsters. "I don't expect someone like you to understand."

"That really hurts, Blake. I know I'm not very expressive, but I'm not emotionless."

"I mean a human," Blake clarified.

"…" GV sighed, reaching into his jacket.

Blake quickly looked around the restaurant. He could see several patrons and employees glaring at her blond… friend?

She hopes they were still friends, even if GV's opinions left much to desire. It was ignorance, not malice. She had to remind herself of that. Same for Weiss. They were just taught what the governments wanted to sell.

Even when she looked back at the other patrons, the glaring wasn't subsiding. They didn't even have the common courtesy to avert their eyes when caught. And it wasn't because of their conversation. They were being careful about their volume. It was because of what GV is.

"GV, maybe we should go."

A small case was placed on the table. She was about to ask what it was for but stopped upon seeing GV hold his breath and look upward, keeping one of his eyes pried open with two fingers and another reaching towards it.

And remove a contact lens. It was only for a fraction of a second before GV repeated the process with his other eye, but Blake caught a quick peek of it and immediately notice a difference: they weren't the golden color she knew.

He removed the second lens and place it on its case and blinked a couple time as if adjusting his eyes to the difference, evading Blake's eyes by pure happenstance. When he looked up, Blake mouth slowly opened, gaping as she realized something.

That her assumptions were wrong. That GV might not be as ignorant to her plea as she thought.

That those azure eyes with slit pupils might be hiding something.

Author's Notes

That last scene was one of those pivotal moments I knew was going to happen from the very beginning. Of course, how it was going to happen is another matter. I'm sure I thought about a better version in my idle thoughts, but I have a bad habit of not making notes about them.

So yeah, a Kohaku and Copen focused chapter, with a final GV scene to wrap things up. Chapter was longer than expected, but that's ok. There's quite a bit to unpack here, so let's get to it!

RUNDOWN!

Poor Weiss: I was crueler to Weiss this time around, so I make the aftermath more soul crushing. Don't worry, she gets better.

Japanese Amber: Admittedly, part of this chapter was meant to work towards addressing the lack of Kohaku in the fic. I like the character. I really do. But since the true protagonists of the fic are Mytyl and GV, the latter half of KVKC falls to the sidelines. It's a work in process. And while we are in the topic of Kohaku…

Kohaku and Sun: When writing this fic, I promised myself something. The ASG characters will not be simply slapped into the RWBY plot. They were not isekai'd into Remnant. They are born and raised in Remnant. What are the chances that Kohaku and Sun just happen to grow in the same settlement? In real life the chances would be astronomically low. But that's the thing about stories; they are larger than life. In stories, characters can meet each other against all odds and the world follows the writer's vision. Not to say the story should be tied together by a string of coincidences. There's a difference between deus ex machina and important character knowing each other. It's a small world, after all. (Shit, the song is now on my head!)

It actually bothers me when people attempt to justify a writer's decision with lore that is, at best, shaky. Writers make the lore and unless it is a hard, explicit, mechanical rule with hundreds of details that rely on this rule, they can change it with relative ease. I'm looking at you, people that insist Link must be male and Zelda female due to "lore".

Ahem.

That's how I decided the ASG characters would be weaved into the world of Remnant. It's the reason Nori is not simply the maid to the Kamizono, but an infamous… something, on a first name basis with Glynda. Why Sumeragi is a megacorporation that supplies Atlas with most of its weapons. Why Copen and Lola have Misfortune in their repertoire. Why Copen's work stands on the shoulders of giants like Pietro Polendina. Why Cinder told Roman she would get him a way to reign in the White Fang.

And why Kohaku and Sun are childhood friends from an original Vacuo settlement called Burrow. #DoNotSteal. Why both don't wear as much clothes as normal people; the settlement is hot and humid. And if they are childhood friends, what else does that mean for them besides obviously being comfortable with each other? Maybe Sun first steps into becoming a Huntsman were provided by Blade. Maybe four years of him continuously blabbering about heroes and villager girls finally pushed Kohaku into the path of a Huntress. Maybe I'm setting up KohakuxSun. I'll call it GoldenUrchins. Or ShirtOptional. Who knows? I certainly don't. No, seriously, I still have no idea about pairings. Point is, this weaving is a recurring thing that we will see in the rest of the fic.

On that note…

Sun: RWBY's novels, After the Fall and Before the Dawn, are expanding upon both CFVY and SSSN. Goes without saying, there are probably going to be details about these characters' past that contradict what I already wrote (remember I actually have a backlog of chapters written). For example, I have no idea how Sun's cousin can fit in his background in this story. Oh well, just assume I haven't read any of these novels (I haven't).

Junior and Copen: After defeating Yang back in Chapter 4, Copen is one of Junior's favorite patrons. There's also the fact that Miltia has a crush on Copen. That helps. Finally, I would say the Yang/Copen/Junior/Malachites dynamic is among my favorites, next to the GV/Blake/Jaune/slightly!Ruby one and Mytyl/Jaune. Kohaku/Sun was also more fun than I expected originally.

On a side note: Rereading the ASG dialogue, Copen can be a big dork at times. Three occasions that stand out are when he continuously calls a cello a big fiddle, when he is astonished by Nori cutting apples into rabbit shape ("Holy crap, it *is* a rabbit!") and when Mytyl tries to flex ('God bless her, she tried. But nothing happened.')

Penny: In canon, Weiss and company stumbles into Penny chasing after Sun. Since they don't chase after Sun, Penny continues wandering Vale and eventually stumbles upon the Malachites. I see no reason why not. Penny being a robot with AI and aura provides an opportunity to establish a relationship between Dr. Kamizono and Dr. Polendina. It is common in the scientific community for experts to help each other (as long as there isn't a clear benefit to doing otherwise). With Dr. Kamizono being THE authority in Aura, naturally it is a very real possibility for Pietro to seek him out. Likewise, once Copen started showing an interest in AI and robotics, if Dr. Kamizono and Dr. Polendina have a good professional relationship, maybe even friends, it wouldn't be strange for Copen's father to pull some strings so that his son can meet THE authority in robotics and artificial intelligence. That's what Pietro is in this fic. I have no plans of inserting Dr. Light and Dr. Wily and make this a Mega Man x GV x RWBY crossover.

Gun Volt: The revelation he's a faunus was something that was planned from the very beginning, with the first clue appearing as early as his first physical description, when I mentioned his golden eyes. The Azure Striker doesn't have golden eyes, he has azure eyes. After that, there were a couple of more subtle hints: his fondness of meat (akin to Blake's fondness of fish), his team's reaction on Chapter 11 when he comes out of the shower (and doesn't have his contacts on, so Kohaku and Mytyl stare and compliment him), GV reacting to Cardin bullying Velvet (although he has a bigger gripe with Velvet not defending herself), and his sense of smell surpassing even Blake's last chapter.

You will see why I made GV a faunus as early as next chapter. This also ties into making the ASG cast part of Remnant.

As for what kind of faunus GV is… he is not a dragon. That much I can assure you. I'm tempted to just tell you, since frankly it's not a big secret and, based on GV's portfolio, it's easy to guess at. But I'll refrain and let you people take jabs at it.

Reviews

Blue Bragon: … ****, that's a good idea. *Takes notes*

Thanks for the review. Give me stuff to think about. I like your idea, and had it occurred to me I would have put some version of it in here. I'm not keen of reenacting Copen's hatred and mistrust towards GV in full force. Canon doesn't need help making those two kill each other (I AM trying to keep the suffocating bleakness from canon ASG from bleeding over here. Your brain jars are in another fic :p)

By the way, the paragraph of Copen comparing himself to Weiss was inspired by your review. Thanks.

However, you bring a good point that I believe I mentioned before in one of my A/N, but haven't really been working towards. I am focusing more in the character relation across the RWBY/ASG franchises than within each one. It is something to work on. Identify opportunities in the overall plot where the characters, especially KVKC, can interact and shine within their team.

As for Kohaku… I think I'm slowly defining where I want her character to go eventually. I haven't forgotten about her. And I always knew this was going to be the Mytyl and GV show, feat. Copen and Kohaku as guest stars.