Chapter 6
THWACK
I tumbled to the floor before sprawling on my back, groaning as my face stung. "Ow," I grumbled as I rubbed my cheek from the nasty slug I'd just received.
"Like I said. Your reaction with aura has to be faster than my fist," Liya said, helping me up to my feet and readying up. "Again."
"Seriously...I didn't think aura training would be this hard," I mumbled as I felt my face. I had a black eye and a bruise on my cheek. Luckily, the process of aura healing injuries was fairly automatic but doing anything with aura, such as shielding blows would be much more difficult. I don't even wanna get in the process of actually conjuring up the aura in the first place, way too much meditation for me to stay sane.
"Like I said. Faster. The more you can improve your speed in terms of reactions, the easier it will get. And that means more training," Liya said sternly, and I groaned.
"Ugh, fine..." I mumbled before Liya threw another punch at me. Ducking, I swung back and impacted Liya's aura, which flickered a light shade of silver. It felt like hitting a wall, and I instantly recoiled. Big mistake on my part.
Liya kneed me in the gut, before throwing an elbow at my head. My breath heaved as the air shot out of my lungs, but I was barely able to bring up my aura to the elbow, saving me from a concussion.
"See? You're getting the hang of it," Liya said before sweeping my foot, tripping me and kicking me across the room. While I was barely able to block that kick with my aura, I couldn't block it well since it sent me flying into a wall. That girl had some kick because that hurt like hell.
"Two blocks," Liya said as she stood up and cracked her stiff back and neck. "Not bad."
"Thanks...still, I wanna do better," I said, struggling to hold back a yawn. I was exhausted and it was close to curfew.
"I mean, you are doing better than some. You saw Jaune," Liya said. I frowned, remembering Jaune's fight with Cardin earlier today. A few weeks into school and Jaune was already getting targeted by Cardin.
"By the way, that was a nice thing you did for Velvet," Liya said quietly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said as I remembered the events at lunch, where I'd stepped in before Cardin could actually pick on Velvet.
- a few hours ago -
Spotting Velvet next to me approaching Cardin's table, I could clearly see him ready to pounce and grab her ears. I purposefully slipped and accidentally bumped against the second year rabbit Faunus. Both of us winced as my food clattered to the floor. "Oh, sorry about that," I said nervously as Liya came over to help.
"Oh, it's alright!" Velvet said, smiling kindly to me. I remember blushing when she spoke, hearing her voice for real next to me was something different; especially with that accent. God it was a cute accent.
"Hey, freaks." Sighing, Velvet, Liya, and I looked to see Cardin leaning back on the table, smirking at us. "Dunno why Beacon still has animals like you here, causing messes and whatnot." His team behind him snickered, and a few others sitting nearby were watching as well.
"I don't know. Ask the teachers," Liya snapped as she grabbed Velvet's shoulder and my arm. "Let's go."
"Now hold on there, I didn't mean to be so...brash," Cardin said, swiftly getting up and blocking our way to teams RWBY and JNPR's table. "You clearly don't belong with these...things. Why don't you ditch these freaks and hang with us?"
Ooh, boy.
Liya didn't even bother to answer his rude request, simply shoving past Cardin with us two in tow, and reaching the table. "Hey guys. Sorry we didn't get here sooner, we got held up," Liya said.
"We noticed. Jackhole," Nora said, ire clearly in her voice as I sat next to Blake, who was smiling slightly. Guess seeing us save Velvet cheered her up. "Seriously, we should break his legs."
"Ooh, planning against CRDL? Count me in," Liya said as she sat across from me next to Ren.
"Oh, hell yeah," Yang said. "We were already discussing how Cardin was treating Jaune."
"Guys, calm down. It's nothing, I can clearly handle it," Jaune said, chuckling nervously.
"Jaune, he launched you in a rocket locker. Do you know how injured you could've been?" I asked as I popped a fry in my mouth.
"I know...but I'm fine," Jaune protested weakly, unable to find a loophole in that.
"That was out of luck, not intention on Cardin's part," Pyrrha said. "Markus is right, you can't just brush it off."
"Guys!" Jaune said, holding his hands up. "I...I'll be fine. Just gimme some space, alright?"
Jaune took his food and left, and the rest of us sighed tiredly before I noticed that Velvet was also still with us. "Oh right. Umm...hi. Sorry we dragged you to our table and-"
"Oh, it's OK," Velvet said. "Though, is he OK?"
"No he isn't...we just need to convince him of that," Liya said. "Oh, you're from team CFVY, right?"
"Yeah!" Velvet said before clearing her throat. "Velvet Scarlatina."
The rest of us greeted her warmly, though Weiss and Ren were more or less neutral. Weiss was less cold to us, and she was even nice on rare occasions, something I knew was coming yet appreciated nonetheless. Maybe some of it was from Jaune not pining after Weiss.
"Where's your team anyway?" Yang asked. "Figured they'd try and kick those jerk's asses if they tried anything with you."
"Oh, they have a different lunch period," Velvet said, and that confused me. Judging by the looks on the other's faces, it confused them too.
"But...you're on the same team," Nora said.
"I know, it's just that my curriculum follows a slightly different schedule. Especially since I have an SNER for my classes," Velvet said.
"A what?" Ruby asked.
"Special Needs Educational Requirements," Weiss explained. "For those with disorders, disabilities, anything that could hinder someone from learning a standard curriculum, so some changes are made to help anyone adapt."
So Velvet had an IEP? Understandable. "Does Ruby have an SNER?" I asked.
"Hey, what does that mean?!" Ruby cried, flinging one of the cookies on her plate in the air.
"Uhh, you get distracted way too easily," I said.
"True. She also loves weapons more than her own sister sometimes," Weiss chimed in as Ruby gasped in horror at her partner's agreement. "I don't think you can categorize that as something you purposefully prefer."
"There's also the addiction of cookies," Nora said.
"Well..." Ruby tried to interject before coming up blank. "You're mean!"
"I'm hurt." Weiss deadpanned as she rolled her eyes as Liya looked over at Velvet. "Are they picking you for your educational needs?" my partner said.
"Y-yeah..." Velvet whispered. "They've been calling me names like stupid or-"
"Don't..." I said. If any of them looked at me, they'd see me glaring at team CRDL in the distance. "I can't stand people like them. Bullies who pick on others for stuff that isn't even within their control..."
Weiss looked away uncomfortably, and Blake nodded. "It's true..." she said. "I used to see a lot of people like them in the streets, attacking and robbing anyone if they acted differently or if they weren't human."
"Well, you won't have to worry about that here. All of us here are Faunus and SNER friendly," Yang said, yanking Weiss close with an arm around her neck, ignoring the indignant "Hey!"
Velvet giggled before just smiling softly. "Thank you..." she said. The rest of us ate in silence, including Pyrrha; though she kept an eye on the door in hopes of Jaune coming back.
My mind went back to the present as I felt Liya's hand shake my shoulder gently. "Come on, let's go back to our room," she said. I didn't publish a chapter that night, as my mind was plagued deep with thoughts on how to help Jaune with his secret, and how to deal with Cardin when he eventually learned of it.
The next day was Oobleck's class, and I was actually listening in the middle of the lecture rather than doodling. Last time I did that, I ended up having to ask Liya for her notes, both annoying her and keeping us both up until midnight that night. Even then, paying attention was a struggle with how fast this man spoke and zipped around. Occasionally, he'd slow down for some of the students or if there was a very specifically important part he needed to get across.
I managed to secure seats right next to team JNPR, specifically Jaune since I knew what was coming. Currently we were sharing notes on the topic of today; which was Faunus and some events on the Great War.
"-prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing the Faunus population in Menagerie. Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day! Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated against because of your Faunus heritage?" Oobleck asked.
Some of us, including Velvet and I, raised our hands. Cardin sneered at me from behind Jaune, and I ignored him. ""Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck sipped some of his coffee, using it as a breath break before breaking back into lecture speech. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?"
"Fort Castle," Weiss said after raising her hand.
"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck asked. As he'd done in the show, Cardin flicked a piece of folded paper at Jaune, forcing out an annoyed "Hey!" from Jaune, which ended up catching the professor's attention.
Oobleck zipped in front of Jaune, "Ah, Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"
"Uhh," Jaune said before peeking down at his notes. "Enhanced senses?"
"Not exactly incorrect, but please be more specific," Oobleck said. "Notes must include details, Mister Arc. See me after class for some tips on what I'm looking for. Cardin, perhaps you can answer this specific question."
Damn, so that happened anyway.
"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin sneered, I could see Pyrrha and Blakc scowling at the burly student.
"Well animals aren't so stubborn and rude compared to soldiers either. Says a lot about some humans," I interjected, and Cardin frowned down at me.
"Markus. Cardin. Enough. Markus, I understand your aggression but please refrain from reacting to such remarks. Cardin, please be a bit more open-minded and considerate of your fellow classmates in the future. Now, who else has the answer?"
"Night vision," Pyrrha chimed in. "Faunus naturally have near perfect night vision, negating General Lagune's advantage of attacking at night."
"General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured. Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure," Blake said, earning Cardin's anger as he stood up, glaring at Blake. Jaune and I stifled our laughter as Oobleck scolded both Blake and Cardin, warning Blake and ordering Cardin to stay after class.
When class ended, Pyrrha, Ruby, and I waited for Jaune to be released from Oobleck's after class scolding. I could hear what Oobleck was saying; Oobleck mentioning Jaune's struggle but slow and steady improvement as well as admonishing Cardin's insensitive remarks. Cardin got assigned an extra essay while Jaune was required to go over all the notes of today.
When they were done, Cardin shoved past me and headed down the hallway while Jaune exited slowly. "You know, I really will break his legs," Pyrrha said, and Ruby and I laughed. "I'm serious!"
"I know. We got ourselves a Nora Mk 2," I said, and Jaune had to snort at that before frowning. "Hey...you OK?" Ruby asked.
"I'll be fine. Guess I'd better get working on those notes."
"I could help," I said.
"So can I," Ruby said before getting some strange looks from Pyrrha, Jaune, and me. "What? I take notes in class!"
"You mean you and Yang mooch off of Weiss and Blake," I said. Ruby didn't deny that point, and I scratched the back of my head. I knew I shouldn't be pushing so hard, especially since Jaune needs the experience to improve; but it still bugged me to let Jaune get picked around by Cardin over blackmail. "Do you need some time or-"
"Yes, that would be appreciated. Thanks," Pyrrha said gratefully before leaning over to her team leader. "Jaune, mind coming with me for a second?"
Jaune and Pyrrha left as I looked to Ruby. "Hey, wanna take a walk?"
"Sure," Ruby said. The two of us ended up heading back to the courtyard, quietly keeping each other company until Ruby spoke up. "So, uhh...how are you doing?"
"Huh? I'm OK, why?" I asked softly.
"I...could use some help. Our team isn't clicking. Yang likes to do her own thing, Blake almost always ignores us when we aren't in class, and Weiss keeps bossing me around! I mean, she's not constantly doing that, but instead of following orders, she's constantly changing them!" Ruby vented.
"Hmmm...what kind of orders do you give?" I asked, and Ruby flushed. "Come on, you can tell me."
"Well...sharing notes and homework material...mostly," Ruby said, and I immediately thought of Ruby trying to copy down answers as Weiss lists her answers for comparison. Judging by Ruby's expression, she could tell I was thinking that. "It isn't dumb, teammates are supposed to support each other!"
"Well...there's support. Then there's being a handicap. Liya and I usually just study together, reading the textbooks while listening to music," I said. I decided to leave out the combat training.
"I already study a lot on my own! And Weiss always finds mistakes anyway, so what's the point?" Ruby asked, drooping sadly.
"Look, Ruby. Everyone makes mistakes. Especially in school. Didn't you skip a few years?" I asked.
"Two years..." Ruby said. "Yet Weiss still calls me a stupid child sometimes."
So Weiss hasn't fully warmed up. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. "She does get you're trying to catch up, right? Trying to get two years of studying material crammed into one semester?"
"She does, but she thinks I don't try hard enough!" Ruby complained. "I just wish she could see I really do take this stuff seriously. It's Beacon, I wouldn't just...be a lazy bum over this." Thinking, I wondered how I could get Weiss and Ruby to bond. And one thing I knew Weiss would respect Ruby for was initiative. Hmmm...
"Want Liya and me to come over and study with you?" I offered.
"You would?!" Ruby asked. "Will you talk to Weiss?"
"Maybe...but it's your responsibility to get Weiss to understand you're juggling between Beacon work and two years worth of material you skipped," I said. Ruby reluctantly nodded, and we reached our dorms. We quickly split up to our respective rooms, agreeing to meet in my room since it had more space and less objects cluttering it.
"Hey, team RWBY's coming over to study over Oobleck's class," I said the moment I walked into the room. Liya got out of bed, tossing her scroll on the bed as she looked at me in bewilderment. "Are you serious?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said. "They need it, and so do I because he talked way too long for me to catch up. Don't worry, I'll cut it short before curfew."
"You'd better. And I suppose it's not too bad an idea, we don't see RWBY too often," Liya mumbled as she rubbed her arm.
"I'll get the books," I said, opening a drawer and setting aside all of my art for my web-story, and pulling out notes for all the classes I did, as well as new pencils and erasers, Liya beginning to do the same.
As we just finished setting things up, a knock on the door turned both our heads. "I got it," I said before opening the door, seeing Yang waiting outside in her pajamas. Mainly her tight black shorts and even tighter orange top. "Oh, h-hi," I stuttered, looking up at her forehead before something embarrassing could happen. Because Yang in the flesh looked drop dead gorgeous close up.
Luckily, Yang seemed pretty serious. "Yeah, can I talk to you?" Yang asked, and I blinked. Turning back to Liya, I only received a shrug from my partner before I looked back to the door. "Sure. What's up?"
Yang pulled me out of the room and closed the door before sighing. "I know you're the first boy Ruby's met and you're kinda close. If you wanted to have a study date with her, I can get the rest of the team to back off-"
"Hold on, what?" I asked. This was absolutely not what I was expecting from Yang. "A date? Listen-"
"No, I'm cool with it," Yang said, continuing her words in a sort of sage tone of voice, as if she weren't the hotheaded brawler and instead Ruby's guardian of sorts. "You're cool in my eyes, and you really care for your friends. And Ruby has had trouble making friends so this will help both of you in the long run. So, you have my approval."
I was speechless for a few seconds before getting back my voice. "Look...umm, two things. One, that's sorta really sweet of you. Two, I'm not gonna ask her on a date," I said.
"Why not?!" Yang asked sharply, and I nearly toppled over my own feet when her hair immediately began to glow, on the cusp of lighting up like a bonfire. "I-it's nothing against her, I promise! I'm just...well, focused on school. And Ruby does need the help, skipping two years. She agreed to it."
Yang cooled down a few seconds later, and she smiled. "I know. Just messing with you, man. Glad you're looking out for my sis. Not a lotta people do that. Especially with her tendencies and all," she said.
"She's one of my first friends here," I said. "She means a lot to me."
Yang grinned. "Just glad you aren't one of those jerks who talks and acts nice to Ruby just to get a date with me out of it," she said.
"...do people really do that?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah. Hurts Ruby and pisses me off," Yang said.
"That's messed up," I mumbled.
"Still, I appreciate you being there for my sis. Even though..." Yang said.
"Even though I'm a Faunus?" I asked. Yang's eyes went comically wide, and she shook her hands.
"No no no, I'm cool with Faunus and all...just, we don't know much about you. You don't really talk about your past," Yang said.
"Oh. That. Well...there's not much to it," I said nervously before peeking behind Yang. I hid a sigh of relief to see Ruby, Weiss, and Blake heading down the hallway to our room, Weiss looking neutral, Blake on her scroll, and Ruby hopping excitedly along. "Well, should we get started then?" I asked, stepping aside to let them in.
The six of us spent about 2 hours going over this week's current material, as well as quizzing each other on some history facts and questions. Ruby continued to study between present day subjects and former assignments as well, struggling to catch up with everyone else. And while I watched, I noticed Weiss passing glances at Ruby as well between study sharing.
Long story short, Weiss seemed to slightly warm up to Ruby when she saw that she was the hardest working one of the six of us. And despite that, I realized that I had way more than just two years of material to catch up on. Hopefully I wouldn't need it, with the upcoming and potential fall of Beacon coming up.
...wow, that was pretty morbid. Even for me.
"Well, it's almost curfew for us," Yang said as she piled up her notes tiredly. "Best get back before Miss Strict n Blonde comes in and spanks us all for not following the rules."
"Must you be so crass, Yang?" Weiss asked.
"Come on, you know I can't resist making a few jokes here and there," Yang said. "Hey, wonder if she's actually had to spank a few students here and there."
"Please don't continue down that line of thinking," Blake groaned.
"Come on!" Yang cried. "I like to think those super mad looking eyes are hiding something spicy if you know what I mean."
"Yang, enough," Ruby yawned. "I just wanna go back to sleep..."
"Fine..." Yang said as Blake and Ruby left the room. "You comin' Weiss Cream?"
"Yes, and please don't call me that," Weiss said as she neatly stacked her notebooks and other supplies in a single stack she could carry. Looking back to me, she bowed politely and left.
"Huh," Liya said as she plopped her things on her desk. "So the ice queen can be nice."
"Yep. She's human after all," I said. Liya shot me a strange look, and I coughed. "Well...I guess that term doesn't work when I'm around."
"Yo, Mark." I turned to see Yang gesturing for me to come to the door. When I came over, she leaned close to my ear. My human ear, not my caracal ones. "Wanna hang out in Vale on the weekend? I know all the good spots around," she said quietly.
"Oh. Umm, I'll ask if Liya's available for that," I said before Yang shook her head.
"I meant the two of us," Yang whispered, sending shivers down my back. "You're a cool guy, and you aren't really around as much as JNPR is. Plus you sorta work too hard. So...I wanna hang out. Eat out at some joint, go dancing, loosen you up."
"Like a...date?" I asked nervously. Yang leaned back and revealed the wolfish grin she had on her face. "Yang?"
"Sure. A date," Yang said as she winked at me. "It's a date." She left before I could say a word, and all I could do was stare as she walked away.
"Uhh..." Liya said, breaking me out of my trance. "Why're you staring at her butt like a creep?"
"I'm not!" I choked as I shook my head frantically. "Uhh, I think Yang asked me out on a date. Sorta."
"A date? Her? And you? Wow," Liya asked, clearly in surprise at what I said. I narrowed my eyes at what she could possibly be insinuating. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Liya said, probably hiding a smile as she turned away.
"No, tell me what that 'wow' was supposed to be," I said, clearly ticked off as my partner hopped into bed.
"Hmmmm..."
"Liya? Liya, come on!"