Chapter 30: Harrassment

VIEWER DISCRETION WARNING: I AM RATING THIS CHAPTER M FOR ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT. SERIOUSLY, IF YOU'D RATHER NOT READ IT THEN I'M STICKING THE OFFENDING SECTION IN BETWEEN LINE BREAKS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

AN: Well, with that out of the way… yeah. Not really sure what prompted me to write that, it just kinda happened. I know I promised one last light-hearted chapter, but apparently we took a detour straight to Seriousville. At least the first half is still light… ish.

Also worth noting, there plans for at least one more chapter with graphic content similar to this. While Four Birds, One Stone toed the line, I personally feel that this steps way over that T-M line. I'll follow the etiquette I established here for any and all content of that variety and make sure it's clearly and repeatedly labelled. This is still a T-rated fic, so if anyone doesn't want to deal with that then I'll make sure it's clear what to avoid. Is it actually M-rated material? Dunno, but better safe than sorry.

Anyway… in today's chapter, Kassidy figures out what the hell is up with everyone, before having the single most embarrassing conversation she has ever had. Then Kassidy gets cornered. I'll give you three guesses as to which team the offending party is on.

(Perspective: Kassidy)

Friday, April 6. This was the day that Kassidy swore she would die on. Not from Grimm, or from a superpowered teenager, or who knows what else was on this god forsaken planet. No, the cause of Kassidy Smith's death would be from annoyance overload. For the past five days, almost everyone she ran into was giving her sideways glances, blushed in her presence, watched her when they thought she couldn't see them, or just straight up leered at her.

Of course, her first reaction was paranoia. Having every kid on campus, and most of the teachers for that matter, giving her strange looks constantly? That was the first sign something was very wrong. Two days and three attempts to bait out a possible assault later, however, and Kassidy concluded that there wasn't an actual threat. Which made the continued behaviors of everyone around her incredibly annoying. Especially when she couldn't figure out why.

Sure, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang acted normally. Ruby was still the hyperactive dork that had way too much fondness for her weapon and used her adorableness to get her way in things. Weiss was still the stuck up perfectionist with a ridiculous work ethic and enough pride for three people. Yang was still the overly friendly brawler that would beat you into a pulp for even looking at Ruby wrong… or her hair, for that matter.

Unfortunately, they were the only three people she interacted with on a daily basis that did act normally. A prime example for 'people behaving strangely' would be team JNPR, which was sitting at the lunch table with them. Sure, most of them kept to their food, or told another ridiculous story in Nora's case, but every now and then Pyrrha would try and sneak a glance at Kassidy and Yang as they ate. After a few minutes of this, Kassidy had enough. Finishing off her stew, she stood up. "Hey Pyrrha, can we talk privately?"

"Um, sure." Pyrrha seemed incredibly nervous at the request, but nonetheless got up and followed her out the cafeteria.

Still have an hour before combat training class. Should be enough time to get some solid answers out of her. Leading her to an unused classroom, Kassidy shut the door behind them before glaring at Pyrrha. "Alright, what gives?"

Pyrrha gave a nervous chuckle. "What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that crap. All week you guys have been sneaking glances when you thought I wasn't looking." Pushing her hands into her eyes, she sighed. "And don't think I haven't noticed everyone else doing that too. Which means that either half the damn school's gone crazy at exactly the same time, or there's some kind of sick joke that nobody's clued me in on. So, care to clue me in?"

Pyrrha's eyes widened, and she started shaking her head and arms. "No, no, no! It's not sick at all! Or a joke! Honestly, it's a great thing that you and Yang have found. I'm just surprised that you two are taking it so slow."

Kassidy planted her hands on her hips, shook her head, and sighed. "Bob, help me out here. Apparently Yang and I found something, and people think we're not going fast enough. What am I missing here?"

"You honestly don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" Kassidy confirmed Pyrrha's suspicion, who giggled softly. "I was talking about you and Yang dating."

Kassidy's jaw dropped. "Alright, just to be clear, you're talking about 'pursuing a romantic relationship' dating, and not 'finding interesting dates on the calendar' dating, is that right?" Pyrrha nodded, which left Kassidy even more flabbergasted. "Um, what the fuck? What could have possibly given you this idea?"

"Now what are you talking about?" Pyrrha took a more defensive stance in their conversation. "You're the only one of us that even tolerates Yang's puns, she's the only of us that can get you to open up, and don't even make me mention what happened Sunday morning."

"In case you failed to notice, I actually LIKE puns, I DON'T do a lot of talking to begin with, and Yang ATTACKED me that morning. Seriously, we are NOT dating." Am I still sleeping? Is this another nightmare? God I hope not, this is gonna take so much alcohol to forget.

"Look, I can understand if you want to keep this quiet. I know not everyone is tolerant of it, but we're your friends, right? You don't feel like you need to hide around us. I'm sure Jaune, Nora, and Ren feel the same way.

"Oh for the love of… I'll take 'Conversations I Never Thought I'd Have' for eight hundred, Bob."

"I just got a message. Ruby wants to know what you're up to." Heh, that code phrase for providing an excuse to get me out of a conversation is never going to be more appropriate.

"Better not keep our fearless leader waiting, then. And Pyrrha? Get the hint." Without waiting for another word, Kassidy stormed out of the room and returned to the lunch table.

"Hey, Kass." Fortunately, Ruby was contributing to her cover story. "How was your talk?"

"Mortifying." Kassidy got some odd looks, but she didn't mind. Honestly, if that was what this had all been about, I'll take those looks all eight days of the week. "Fair warning, I'm skipping today's team practice. Yang, too."

"Wait, what?" All three of her teammates responded at exactly the same time.

"Yang's doing her best to make me die of old age before I hit twenty. We need to have a very serious talk about that."

"Um… okay?" Yang seemed perplexed.

The three and a half hours between when the two teams finished their lunches, and time seemed to be mocking Kassidy as much as the strange looks she got were. Time dragged on forever, and she had plenty of opportunities to repeat the conversation she had with Pyrrha over and over again in her head. At least Nora beat the everliving crap out of Dove Bronzewing in Combat Training, so that was nice. What was also nice was Yang almost blowing up half the lab in Applied Chemistry. Again. Still, the mortifying conversation she just had and the obviously mortifying conversation she was going to have raced through her mind.

Finally, classes ended for the day. As Ruby, Weiss, and Yang changed out of their school uniforms, Kassidy yet again waited outside their dorm for her teammates to finish. They did, and as Kassidy pulled on her leggings and shirt in the bathroom, her mind kept racing as to how she was going to play this out despite having the past three and a half hours to plan out every little detail. Collecting her breath and stepping out, she wasted no time in dragging Yang with her to another unused classroom.

Yang spoke up before Kassidy got a word in edgewise. "Alright, you know the rules. If we're going to have these secret meetings, you need to tell me something embarrassing."

Kassidy's mind ground to a halt. "We never made that rule. And this isn't a case of 'I never agreed to it', you flat out never said that before."

"That's because I just made it, silly." Yang grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Well, I don't agree to it."

"Ugh, you are the worst. C'mon, Bob. You're with her all the time. You gotta have something juicy for me, right?"

"I don't know if this is the proper setting to do so."

"I'll let you try out your latest combat protocols on me tonight." That sealed the deal; ever since that whole fiasco with their first training mission, Bob was almost as fanatical as Kassidy was about upgrading his ability to fight. And it wasn't often he got to spar, what with the two factors of Ozpin not approving of his 'borrowing' androids, and never being able to get a sparring partner.

"Deal. You didn't hear this from me, but lately Kassidy has had a bit of envy regarding breast size."

"WHAT?! BOB!" Kassidy screeched as Yang tried, and failed, to contain her giggles. "That's it, open up the infinite loop program. You're in time out. Again."

"Ugh, you know how much I hate getting stuck in an infinite loop."

"Maybe you should've kept that in mind."

"Still worth it." With those words, Bob seemingly shut down. He wouldn't be doing much of anything for a while.

"I don't hear you denying it." You could almost literally hear Yang's smirk.

"I, you, eh, uh…" Kassidy's brain shut itself down, unable to form a coherent response. Eventually, her head sank in defeat and she mumbled, "It's not my fault that puberty forgot about that part."

Yang apparently heard that, though. Laughing, she sat herself down on the bench next to Kassidy. "Hey, don't worry about it that much. We all grow differently, and I don't think you're done growing yet."

Kassidy half-heartedly shoved at her partner. "Quit trying to make me feel better. It's not working." How I wish I had Ruby's cloak right about now. Hiding in it sure looks like an attractive alternative right now. Or maybe even blaming my furious blush on reflected light. Or something.

"Oh, cheer up, sourpuss! Who cares if you're a little small right now?"

Kassidy looked at Yang with an incredulous glance. "Small?"

Yang elbowed her. "Yeah, but don't worry. You'll fill out."

"Quit trying to spare my feelings; I'm not small. Weiss is small. I'm flat."

Yang waved her hand and snorted, "Pfft, you're not flat. What's your bra size?"

Kassidy somehow found the means to blush harder, as she tried to find somewhere to burrow in and hide until the end of time. "Isn't that a little personal?"

"Among us girls? Nah, not really. At least, it isn't with Rubes and I." Yang elbowed her again. "So, c'mon. I guarantee you're not flat."

Whether it was due to not really knowing better, or being far too flustered to care, Kassidy decided not to argue with that logic. A few seconds of silence followed. "I don't have one."

"Um, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean I don't even wear a bra. There's nothing to support." Standing up and burying her face in her hands, Kassidy let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Thank god Pyrrha can't hear us right now. Willing to bet this would've completely invalidated my argument."

"Yeah, okay. Now that I got my amusement for the day, what did you want to talk about? I figured it had something to do with your talk with her."

Almost as if remembering that particular conversation, Kassidy whirled on Yang with renewed vigor. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Err…"

"Surely you've noticed people staring at us all week, right?"

"Nothing I'm not used to."

"Well, it's something I'm VERY not used to, and according to Pyrrha it's because they think we're dating."

Yang blinked. "They do?"

"Apparently. I'm still not sure how exactly they came to that faulty conclusion, but I am sure that it's nothing to do with me. Which means you're obviously to blame. So, I ask again, just what have you been up to lately?"

Yang furrowed her brow in thought for a little bit, before lighting up in a grin again. "Are you sure you have nothing to do with it?"

"Of course I don't! Which of my actions could have possibly made them think that?"

"How about the constant innuendos you keep dropping?"

"What innuendos?"

Yang ran a hand down her face. "Dust, I can't believe I'm about to have this conversation."

"What conversation?"

Yang patted the bench next to her and beckoned Kassidy to sit. Sitting cross legged, Yang turned to face her. "When Nora says she and Ren aren't 'together-together', do you know what they mean?"

"Eh?" Kassidy had never really given it thought before. Why would she? They're just really good friends, probably since their childhood. "Not really. Where does this come from?"

"When you called Pyrrha 'attractive' on Sunday with that whole magnet situation, do you have any idea how that could have been interpreted?"

"As a scientifically accurate descriptor of the system consisting of the magnets and her head?"

"Dear Oum, not even Weiss is this dense." Yang leaned back and rubbed her face, before deciding on a course of action. "Kassidy… Dust I can't believe I'm about to ask this. Did you ever get The Talk?"

"I've gotten plenty of talks from plenty of people. You're going to need to be more specific."

Yang looked unamused. "The talk that deals with… you know… a person's private parts?"

Kassidy blushed heavily at Yang's insinuation, but nevertheless thought about it. "Not that I can think of. If they're not mine, then they quite comfortably fall into the 'none of my damn business' category." Yang was about to say something more, Kassidy seemed to remember something and snapped her fingers. "Ah, that's it! Dad did give me what he called an abbreviated talk when I was nine. Said it was good for any and every talk I would ever need."

Yang eyed her suspiciously. "Do you mind telling me that talk he had with you? Because something's telling me it wasn't good for this one."

"Don't do stupid shit."

Yang blinked. "Was that it?"

Kassidy thought a little more. "He said something about pills, but I don't really get what those have to do with anything."

Yang buried her face in her hands. Her muffled voice sounded frustrated. "Yup. I'm actually going to need to have this conversation with my partner at Beacon." Letting her hands down, Yang looked Kassidy in the eye. "Well, while that talk isn't technically wrong… actually, yeah, it's pretty much wrong."

"I sincerely doubt that."

Yang chuckled lightly. "Alright, as much fun as it would be to keep making fun of your unintentional innuendos, this is stuff you kinda need to know. So listen up, because I really don't want to say this twice."

Glynda wasn't meeting her for additional training anymore. While Weiss was normally always up for helping her swordswomanship, tonight was an exception as the heiress felt as though she needed to get more studying done. Which was perfectly acceptable to Kassidy. She had been right, the conversation with Yang had indeed been mortifying, and not just due to Bob's not incorrect declaration. Holy fuck did things just become a lot more complicated.

Kassidy tried to focus on her dinner, but to no avail. With both the rest of her team and JNPR having left a short while ago, the awkward glances sent her way were now painfully obvious, and that wasn't the paranoia talking. If Kassidy was moderately annoyed earlier, she was seriously uncomfortable now. Shifting in her seat yet again, she decided that Bob had enough of a punishment and brought him out of his little time-out program. He needed to be ready for his spar with Yang, after all. Or is it a date now? Goddamnit, why is all this crap coming up now?

Making sure her computer was ready for his spar with Yang, Kassidy dug into her food to try and distract herself from everyone around her. Unfortunately, the lasagna did a very poor job of providing a lasting distraction, and it wasn't long before the plate was empty. Picking up after herself, Kassidy decided to make up for the lack of evening training with another workout.

BEGIN M RATED SECTION

The gym proved to be no safe haven, however. The awkward glances continued, as it seemed like everyone in the gym was taking their fill of her. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick. I've never been this self-conscious about anything. Am I going crazy? This cannot be normal. Pfft, like I was ever normal. Setting the bar on the rack after doing some squats, Kassidy looked behind her to find the worst of it all. For, standing behind her, eyes firmly on her pronounced rear, was Russel Thrush, the sword wielding douchebag from CRDL.

As she moved to bench presses, Kassidy found that Thrush had followed her, doing a bad job of looking like he was exercising while never taking his eyes off of her. It only took a further ninety seconds of this before she decided she had her fill of the workout. Abruptly putting up the weights halfway through her second set, Kassidy wasted no time in hurrying out the gym.

Now, as a girl with a profound sense of paranoia, Kassidy Smith was very good at telling when someone was following her, or when she was being watched. You had to be skilled to escape her notice for any length of time. And Russel Thrush was not skilled. As such, Kassidy almost instantly noticed the boy following her. Although she already knew the answer, she decided to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that she was being followed. Taking the most circuitous route possible, Kassidy took nearly ten minutes to arrive in the dorm building, a far cry from the four minutes it usually took. Sure enough, Thrush had followed her the whole way.

"Hey, Bob?" Kassidy whispered into her earpiece, "How quickly could you get me help?"

"Depends, what for?"

"You know that Russel Thrush prick from CRDL? He's been following me for the past ten minutes, AFTER he stared at me the whole time I was in the gym. Not sure if it's paranoia or… a result from mine and Yang's talk earlier, but I don't like this."

"Hey there, little bird." Kassidy had subconsciously slowed her gait while talking on her earpiece, and Russel used the opportunity to catch up with her. Taking a subtle glance around, she found herself in an empty hallway, with Russel using his body to block the wall in the direction where they came. The only direction she could easily go was into a corner.

"Interesting nickname. What's the occasion?" Kassidy did her best to sound level-headed. If nothing else, the cool weight of her ever-present pistol in the small of her back was there. Another benefit of paranoia: I'm never unarmed.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I make nicknames up for everyone." Russel slowly started pressing forward, making Kassidy back away to maintain distance. Thanks to Yang's talk, she knew damn well where this was going. "Hey, are you alright? You've been looking out of it all week, and at dinner you seemed really uncomfortable."

"You've been watching me?" Kassidy let out a small snort, partly to emphasize her next point, partly to reassure herself. "You have any idea how dangerous it is to be watching an armed, paranoid woman?"

"I was worried. Cardin's a jackal in human form, and Dove and Sky are both jackasses, but I try not to be like them. I didn't like the look of you being so worried."

I sincerely doubt that. "Yes, you didn't like the look so much you stared at me the whole time I was in the gym, then proceeded to follow me after I took the most circuitous route possible back to the dorms just to make sure you were indeed following me."

Russel raised his hands, but kept pressing forward. "Guilty as charged. I just don't want to let a pretty girl like yourself be so worked up about nothing."

"You really think I'm pretty?" Suddenly, her back hit the wall. The corner already? Damnit Kass, way to not pay attention.

"Of course. So, what do you say, little bird? Maybe get a bite to eat some day? Get to know each other a little more?"

Kassidy decided to try and end things now. Diplomatically, anyway. "Actually, I really need to get to my dorm right about now. Need to study." She tried to move along the wall…

Only for Russel to predictably put an arm up to block her escape. "Why not come to my place, then? We can study together. Or maybe find something else to occupy our time?" He waggled his eyebrows in a manner that would have befuddled Kassidy were it not for her current situation.

"Sorry, not an option. Weiss is waiting on me, and I'm late as is."

"I'm sure snow angel won't mind. So c'mon. I can show you a great time."

Alright, that's it. This stops here. Slowly, stealthily moving her arm behind her back to reach for her pistol, Kassidy tried to buy time as well as distract his attention. "Now, look, I've been more than reasonable, but if you don't let me out then-"

"You'll what?" Suddenly, Russel shoved his forearm into her chest, pinning her arm between her back and the wall and causing her to let out an 'eep!'. "No need to do anything drastic, is there? I just wanna spend some time with you is all." Cursing her ludicrously weak muscles, Kassidy could only think of one thing to get her out at this point. It was a classic, after all. Bracing her legs for a quick second, she swiftly brought her knee into the boy's crotch.

Leave it to aura to ruin all her plans. Russel seemed to have barely felt that, not to say that he didn't notice it. Grabbing her other arm and pinning it to the wall as well, he leaned in closer with a sneer. "Now that wasn't very nice, was it?"

It was at this moment that salvation came, courtesy of a golden gauntlet slamming into the side of his face while firing a high impact shell. Filled with fury, eyes blazing red and hair blazing gold, Yang was the picture of holy retribution as she cocked Ember Celica for another shot. "Neither is getting all handsy with my partner, Thrush."

Russel's face was filled with bowel-voiding terror. "Hey, this wasn't what it looked like."

"No, it was exactly what it looked like. I saw everything." Yang took a few menacing steps forward and sucker punched him, her gauntlets giving another loud report. "Cardin's going to be scraping what's left of you off the wall when I'm done." Another punch depleted his aura and broke his arm.

A purple barrier separated Yang and Thrush. A very irate Glynda came storming down the hall moments later. Russel seemed utterly relieved, as he predictably tried to spin the story. "Oh thank Oum you're here, Professor Goodwitch! Yang just-"

"Silence!" Using her telekinesis, Glynda threw him into the wall and pinned him there. "I came here fully aware of the events leading up to this moment. And if it were up to me, Mr. Thrush…" Glynda walked into his face and gave him a glare that would shame the dead into dying a second time. "You would count yourself beyond lucky if you were merely expelled."

END M RATED SECTION

Kassidy simply stood there stunned. As the livid deputy headmistress dealt with the offending party, Yang cooled off and wrapped up Kassidy in a fierce bear hug. Shortly thereafter, the rest of their little circle came running down the hall as well. Jaune spoke for the six of them. "What happened? We heard something about an emergency and came here as fast as we could."

Neither of them spoke. Yang merely nodded her head in Thrush's direction, who was still being chastised by Glynda. A few seconds of listening in told the newcomers all. Nora made threats about how he'd be missing more than his legs, and for once Ren and Pyrrha made no efforts to stop her; only the dutifulness of Glynda spared the boy's life. Ruby turned things into a group hug. Jaune and Weiss stood there with their jaws planted firmly on the ground.

A couple hours later saw Kassidy sitting at her desk in their dorm room idly fiddling with Bob. Nobody had said anything, Kassidy's lack of desire for conversation being made known early on. A knock on the door revealed Glynda to the pajama-clad girls.

"I know it's getting late, so I'll keep this brief. Kassidy." The address caused her to look up from her computer. "I am so terribly sorry you had to go through that. I can promise that Russel Thrush is currently discussing with Headmaster Ozpin his continued education at Beacon Academy… if there will be any." Glynda took a few steps forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you need anyone to talk to, my office is always open." Kassidy gave a hum of acknowledgement, before Glynda turned to Yang.

"Now, as for you Miss Xiao Long. Before I say this, know that I do not in the slightest blame you for your actions." The statement was met with curious glances, and Glynda sighed. "Unfortunately, due to school policy, I'm required to issue you a detention for use of excessive force on another student." A chorus of complaints was silenced by a raised hand. "For the record, I don't like it either. Regardless, visit me in the combat training classroom after dinner on Monday for your punishment." The emphasis on the last word removed any doubts that this wasn't actually a detention, and Yang nodded.

Glynda left the room, and silence reigned for a few minutes. Ruby was the first to raise her voice. "You want to talk now, Kass?"

Kassidy sighed. "What I need is a drink. Or three. I'll be on the roof if you need me." She stood up from her desk.

"No, you won't be." A firm but soft hand held on to her. Yang's face was filled with worry. "That's not gonna help you in the long run, trust me. I've seen it before."

"Got any better ideas? It doesn't take a genius to figure out the nightmares are coming back after that."

Yang looked around at the room. Ruby had wide eyes equally filled with worry but didn't seem to have any ideas. Weiss' brow was furrowed, and it was she that spoke up. "From what I know of psychology, nightmares like the ones you had – have – are because you don't feel safe. So is there a way to make you feel safer?"

Kassidy snorted. "Weiss, I sleep with my pistol on the nightstand and my rifle leaned against the foot of my bed. Hard to get much safer than that."

"I can think of one way." Yang looked around the room again, apparently asking an unvoiced question that both Ruby and Weiss blushed but nodded at. Turning to her partner, Yang said, "I'm joining you for the night."

"Um… joining me how?"

Yang just rolled her eyes. "We're sharing your bed, silly. Now c'mon, it's past ten and we all need our sleep for tomorrow's mission."

Kassidy blushed furiously. "Wow, Yang. You sure know how to time things."

Yang understood what she was talking about immediately. "Yeah, yeah. Into bed with ya, partner. You need your sleep and then some after tonight."

AN 2: So, that escalated quickly. Hope you all enjoyed your humor while you can, we're full speed ahead towards Seriousville for the immediate future.

Also, yes, I am aware this chapter is ungodly long. While yes, I am planning on taking James' advice for longer chapters, I'm not planning on making them this long. More like 3500-4000 words long as opposed to the old 3000-3500.

Also also, I screwed around slightly in paint to make an actual cover image. So, hope you enjoy Kassidy's emblem/symbol thing. Finally, onto Reader Responses.

Captain Marvel 36: I assume you mean don't let this turn into a soap opera type of deal? Honestly, having never seen a soap opera before, I wouldn't know what I should be looking out for. I'll try regardless.

James: Glad to hear you're enjoying things so much. Things definitely took a darker turn here, hopefully it still lives up to satisfaction.

Iron-ninja: All hail indeed. If only there was time in the RWBYverse (or I guess I should call it RWKYverse now) for endless pranking. Regardless, there remains Grimm to slaughter, bad guys to hunt, and terrorists to terrorize.

AgentDraakis: Glad to hear that you're enjoying the comedy segments so much. Especially considering that most of the compliments I had gotten were for the action chapters, it's good to hear I can switch hit.

Tykene: Well, for better or worse, that all got addressed here. Hopefully the solution is to your liking.