Chains of Remnant

by HalfaDozenE

On an abandoned world with a desperate need for heroes everything is possible. Cruelty within a tragedy with no survivors. Kindness on a miracle that shouldn't have happened. Hope in an inherited will. Despair in a sealed fate. All underneath a broken moon.

5. A long first day

Chains of Remnant

Chapter 04

A long first day

This is what happened almost five years ago on a cold winter night.

A child that had just entered adolescence and a man that looked feeble enough for a soft breeze to shatter him.

One rested on his bed while the other stood next to him.

"—My time has run out and I still couldn´t do it. Living with the two of you has been the most peaceful years I have ever had. Maybe that´s why in the end I have to do this. I´ll leave the ending up to you.

I´m sorry."

He voiced those words as both knew the unspoken truth.

The man would never again get up from that bed.

He would die today, there is no other possibility for him.

The pale and thin face of the man was enough for one to realize it.

The child held the tears that threaten to spill.

There were many emotions held within those tears but one was more prominent than any other.

Resolution to follow the oath they would make.

"I promise... I´ll do it, no matter what."

Those words escaped alongside the tears that had finally broken free.

The sentence was not completely said out loud, the most important part of it was left unsaid.

Perhaps the dying man could understand the meaning behind that action.

"I'm sure you will do what´s right...I´m relieved."

That was the final exchange between the two.

Everything was already decided and the path forwards was settled.

The child would cry for a long time before stopping but there was one thing that never left during that time.

The image of that smile and the oath made thinking about it.

I open up my eyes and an unfamiliar ceiling is there.

I sigh as I try to recall my dream.

In the meantime, my gaze wanders over the darkroom.

To my right, an almost perfectly still red-haired girl is sleeping on her bed, and to my left, a stirring girl whose eyes are still closed.

"How does she do it every night...?"

A mutter leaves my lips while I rise from my new bed.

In the darkness of the predawn, I maneuver myself over to the bathroom.

Different sounds can be heard from behind me.

I leave the door open while putting toothpaste on two different brushes.

"Mornings"

"... Mornings"

We exchange greetings before starting to clean our teeth.

I look into the mirror above the sink.

Mikasa and I are both wearing shorts and old t-shirts as pajamas.

And while her features show that she is already wide awake—

—Her bed hair is as bad and wild as it was back home.

Different strands go up, down, left, or right.

That has to be something like a curse. How can someone consistently have such unruly bed hair?

My sight focuses on my hair, it´s not particularly pleasant to see but it´s uncluttered enough to not bother doing anything to it.

I might need to get a haircut sometime soon—?

"—"

"—"

After we both rinse our mouths and I´m about to leave.

Something grabs my sleeve and makes me turn around.

A girl holding a hairbrush without saying anything. Her expression isn´t even expectant, after all, why expect something that has become natural like breathing?

"Haa— I guess that now we are here, It´s back to the usual routine, huh?"

"..."

She had been doing it on her own ever since we left the cabin at least until we reached Vale.

It´s not exactly something we could waste time with during the time we traveled.

Then the next morning after we arrived at the city and managed to get to an inn, she suddenly appeared in my room after I woke up with a brush on her hands.

Strange thing, I was sure that I had locked the door that night.

"I don´t get it, isn´t easier to do it yourself? Not only would you be able to do it faster, but you would also probably do it better than I do."

"..."

I´m talking to myself while using the brush at this point.

But the question is still true, I know for a fact that her hair ends up looking better when she does it herself.

It might be the difference between a girl and a boy, or she might simply be talented in that aspect.

"If you just want to have somebody else do it, why don´t you try asking Pyrrha? Another girl is bound to be better than me at this type of stuff."

"No, I won´t."

She stands and leaves the bathroom just as I was finished.

It seems she still doesn´t want to try and befriend the other girl in our team.

It isn´t like I can make her do something she doesn´t want.

After I put the brush back into one of the shelves, Mikasa re-enters with my clothes in her arms.

"Thanks, I will be out in a second."

She nods and leaves the room once again.

I start changing and something starts bothering me.

It´s not the fact that I have to change in the bathroom, that´s to be expected when there are two girls in my dorm room.

But really, who thought it was a good idea to have mixed gendered rooms?

"Can´t they be more understanding towards the realities of a teenage boy during mornings?"

Today was a lucky day, but I might need to do something about the future. Otherwise, my dignity will be unrepairable damaged.

Not only that, but yesterday I was out of it by the time we got to the dorm and I went through the motions of everything.

But, how I´m supposed to sleep every day with two girls sleeping in the same room?

The clothes that I use to exercise are already over my body, while my pajamas are folded in my hands.

"I´m done, it´s all yours."

"—Don´t leave without me."

"Sure, I wasn´t planning on it, it´s not like I could escape if I wanted. We live in the same place."

She enters the bathroom with her own change of clothes.

Something that changed since we came to vale, or to be more exact since the day I was shot in the chest.

She started going out with me for my runs, I can´t say I approve of her reasonings to come with me.

But I do enjoy her company so after she didn´t listen to me for the sixth day in a row, I just gave up and started accepting it.

"And she doesn´t need to make it sound like I would run away at the first chance to get myself in trouble..."

My complaint is no louder than a whisper.

Not only because I can´t honestly say that I wouldn´t get in some sort of trouble but also for the other two members of my team.

They are still sleeping soundly on their beds, as most people would at this hour.

It´s around a bit before five a.m right now.

The door behind me is abruptly opened and a girl, wearing clothing similar to my own, comes out.

In the same way we use old clothes to sleep, we use old jerseys to do my, or more fittingly, our morning routine.

They aren´t our old clothes, but they were something we bought second-hand in the first town we visited after Strumbella.

I don´t mind it but maybe she does—

We both leave the room and head out of the dorm building.

We start to run after we stretch for a moment.

We don´t have any real route to take yet, so we just do laps around the school.

Yesterday I thought about it while we were going around the facilities but I couldn´t decide on anything in concrete.

"We should go shopping when we get the time, we can´t keep using the same clothes every day even if we clean them. So, buying clothes is something we´re going to have to do sooner or later"

"...Are you sure we have enough lien left? You still haven´t started buying the materials to begin forging again."

"Well, we should have enough for spending on something like a new dress or some new running wear. If we don´t I will just find a job in between classes, I can´t imagine that Beacon doesn´t have a way to deal with poor students one way or another. If not, then we can just take something from the account Kiritsugu left us."

I don´t mind having anything else to wear but a girl should probably care about it more than I do.

We have already completed the first lap around the school and we haven´t encountered anyone else.

Everything is still dark and the different lighting posts illuminate the limits of the school building.

"" Haa—""

Running around in circles around a fixed place isn´t exactly engaging to the mind.

It wouldn´t be a problem if I was by myself but I´m with someone else.

Should we try having a conversation, it´s not in good form as we should focus on our—

"Shirou, on this shopping trip..."

"Hm? If you want something in particu..."

I turned my head towards Mikasa but she was running extremely close to me.

Her expression was completely serious as her hair shadowed her face.

"You weren´t planning on accidentally going missing and running around the city looking for those two, were you?"

"O—of course not, I just thought that a girl your age might want some cuter clothes that´s it. If we happened to come across the two from yesterday it would just be a lucky coincidence."

Crap.

Her stare didn´t soften at all with my words.

I wasn´t lying before, I did plan on legitimately going with her to buy new clothes.

But I might have been planning on telling her that I wanted to search for them after we were already on Vale.

"Now that you say that, I can only tell you things as they are. Whenever I can, I´ll be going out to the city to investigate what´s been happening. I don´t plan on doing anything too dangerous, if I find anything I can just call the authorities."

Now that I said it, it can´t be taken back.

What I hid from her since last month, my attempts to stop the killings in the city.

I didn´t tell her because I didn´t want her following me there and getting in danger in something unrelated to her.

But I can´t go behind her back while we´re at Beacon in the same team, it would be impossible to manage.

"...Shirou, yesterday you could have died, last month you almost died. Do you think you will always be as lucky?

There are already professionals investigating the killing, they aren´t even related to you. What do you think you are going to manage going around aimlessly around the streets as bait?"

—We both stop dead on our tracks.

There isn´t anything false in what she says.

Had I been unlucky yesterday I would have died, simply not hearing the displaced wind of the surprise attack on Ruby would have been enough for both of us to die at that moment.

And if I wasn´t with Mikasa last month I would have been shot more than once or bled out in the streets.

—I would have died meaninglessly without fulling my responsibilities.

"...I know that, but I can´t sit here doing nothing. If people are going after anyone capable of fighting then that means that they must mean something is about to happen in the Vale.

We don´t know how many innocent people would be hurt if something like that happens and more importantly, people are getting killed right next to me. If I can do anything to stop that then I have to do it."

"Then... are you sure that you understand what that means, Shirou? If we find whoever is doing this you aren´t going to save anyone."

"—It´s okay. I will do what´s right and make sure there aren´t more victims."

When I find the killer or killers then... There would only be one outcome at that time.

I might be able to stop more victims from appearing but those who already died and those who committed such crimes can´t be saved anymore.

The truth of the answer that Emiya Shirou has chosen will be repeated.

—I hope that there is an outcome when no one more has to die but...

"Then I´ll go with you searching for them, if I leave you alone who knows in what state you will come back home, I promised to protect you so I won´t let you go on your own."

"But I can´t ask you to risk your life like—"

She doesn´t let me finish and she starts running again.

It was like everything was already decided for her.

I sprint after her, while my gaze focuses on her advancing back.

Guilt surfaces from within me.

"...Shirou, if those two from yesterday were related to what happened on Vale. After receiving such injuries, they might decide to stop by themselves. Would you stop searching for them if the killings stopped?"

Hm?

If the killings suddenly stopped?

Something like that...

"If something that miraculous happens then there is no need for me to keep going after them. I won´t go out of my way to punish someone who doesn´t intend to hurt others in the future but there is no way someone who has killed so many people to stop after doing all that."

Even if they decided to stop, they would still need to answer for their crimes.

Something like escaping the responsibilities of your crimes is impossible. One way or another, the sins one has to carry have to be paid at one point, that´s an absolute truth in this world.

—But if they stopped...

-Line Break-

"Haa—"

I control my breathing as we begin to slow our rhythm down.

We already went around the main school building enough times that an hour passed.

It took more time than usual to complete the run because we stopped to talk in the middle of it.

I take out my scroll to check the time

"It´s around six, do you want to go find someplace somewhere to exercise in peace, or do you want to try the gymnasium?"

"You can decide Shirou, I don´t mind either way."

"Hm, then we could go check the gym at least for today. Since it´s the first day of the semester then there shouldn´t be too many people."

It´s not unusual for her to leave things like this on me to decide when she doesn´t have a preference.

It´s not particularly bad but sometimes it makes things harder than what they need to be.

If somebody asks what you want for dinner, any answer is better than saying ´Anything you want Shirou´.

We start making our way to the main school building.

We ended our run at the back of the dorm rooms, so it shouldn´t be much more than a couple of minutes while walking.

And we passed by the entrance of the dorms, something...was there.

The tone of my voice is as uncertain as the situation.

"Um...what is she doing?"

"—?"

A girl of small stature I am familiar with is waiting at the entrance doors.

Well, that isn´t exactly accurate.

She is actually sleeping there.

To be more exact, she is sleeping in her pajamas while standing holding a rope that forms a tripping trap and a hammer on her other hand.

"Nora, are you okay...?"

"... Just one Kn...ee..."

A mumble in her sleep is her response.

Nora Valkyrie, yesterday she and her friend Lie Ren were assigned to their own team.

We also saw her in the kitchens while I was searching for something to clean my coat, I somehow ended up cooking some snacks for her.

I didn´t have a chance to see her in the forest so they most likely had finished their mission earlier than us.

"Should I take her to her room? She might catch a cold out here?"

"No, leave it to me."

While I was about to lift the girl into my arms.

Mikasa gets in the way and puts the girl, still holding her hammer, on her shoulder.

I...

I guess that it´s better if she carries a girl instead of me but...

"Should you really carry her like a sack of potatoes...?"

After checking the dorm registries and finding where her room was.

We stand outside their door while knocking.

The door is opened by a still sleepy man with long black hair.

The leader of their team, Lie Ren.

"—Here."

"...is that Nora?"

With a single word, my partner dangles the sleeping girl from one ankle towards the boy.

Being able to keep sleeping even after that, Nora still mumbles on her sleep.

The man receives the girl with a girl an exasperated face.

I should probably explain the situation.

"We found her on the entrance to the dorm doing something, does she have a history of sleepwalking?"

"No, but last night she did say something about wanting to go catch a guy who made some good pancakes for her the other day, something about convincing him to make more for her."

I see, she just wanted to ask for another snack.

And why did she need her hammer and a rope to convince m... whoever that person may be?

I gulp the contents of my mouth.

"Um...We´re running late for our morning exercise, so see you later in class. You may want to tell her that a healthy diet can´t be maintained with that pancakes every day."

Making a retreat, I sprout off a comment about nutritional health.

I wouldn´t normally mind making a snack or two for the girl.

But for some unknown and impossible reason, my knees just told me that they had just escaped a grave danger.

"...That´s why I told you not to feed stray animals, Shirou."

"You don´t know if she was talking about me, it might be anyone else in the school.

I can´t be the only person who cooked pancakes for her since we got here, right?"

"..."

I shake my head

I´m sure that I´m blowing this out of proportion.

The rope and the hammer have to be just a prank.

Just a prank...

We leave and head straight towards the gymnasium.

Yesterday we didn´t actually go inside, just checked the location. What it looks like and what kind of equipment is there is unknown to us.

On the fourth floor in the main school building, above most of the classrooms.

I push open the door in front of me and I find something unexpected.

"Hm, it seems that people are still not used to the new school year. But being this big and with so much equipment, at least this explains where everyone's taxes are going to."

I had assumed there wouldn´t be too many people but there must be at most ten different students using the gymnasium.

If one considers the day and what time it is, it might seem logical but we´re in a Huntsmen Academy.

In a profession where you risk your life so much, using every moment to improve yourself must be common sense.

The most likely cause is that people are still out of it, coming from the break between terms or something along those lines.

"—Hello Shirou, Mikasa. I was surprised that both of you were gone when I woke up."

"Huh, Pyrrha?"

I turn to the left and a row of running mils were placed against the wall.

In one of them, our teammate was currently running while greeting us.

She is wearing a set of exercise clothes that consisted of the color red and it seems brand new.

"I´m sorry if we got you worried about us, going to run in the mornings is just a routine for us.

We aren´t used to it but we should have left a note or something."

"No, don´t be. I get it myself; I feel restless if I don´t train for at least an hour every morning. But it´s honestly surprising seeing someone start earlier than me. I´m used to be the first person on any Gym or training facility I go to."

She isn´t boasting or exaggerating the truth.

Her ability to keep her breathing stable while talking and running at the speed she is going is proof that she doesn´t neglect her physical training at all.

That, and the clear musculature that her clothes show.

My cheeks burn as I avert my eyes.

"..."

Damn.

My training is still too lacking in that aspect.

As my vision was moved from her figure; they caught an unimpressed stare being directed at me.

It´s normal for Mikasa to be mad, I shouldn´t look at someone in my team like that.

"A-Anyway, we´re going to stop bothering you. Keep up the good work and let´s talk later Pyrrha."

"...Okay, see you both?"

What a way to start the day, today might be a long one.

This is the second time I run away from something today, and the day just started.

I walk through the almost empty room when a girl with bunny ears catches my eyes.

Or at least what she is doing.

She must be an older student as I didn´t see her at any point during the initiation.

She can´t be any taller than me.

And currently, she is doing leg presses a couple of meters from where we are standing, and the weight she is using is completely ridiculous.

"...Do you have any idea of what we should do right now?"

"Eh...Honestly, I don´t know much more than you, but I doubt that it could be too hard to use the machines. If we can´t manage to grasp them by ourselves we can always go and ask Pyrrha, she seems like she knows her way around these things.

…. By the way, I wasn´t looking at that girl like that, I was just surprised by seeing a girl her size using so many weights."

"... I didn´t say anything about her."

Yes, you didn´t say anything.

But your expression is enough for me to know you don´t believe what I said.

I was too naïve; my mental image of a gymnasium was a bunch of tall men with bulging muscles.

I wasn´t mentally prepared for girls with tight clothes and sweaty bodies.

After I endured her stare for a while longer, we started going around the room.

We had to check what sorts of exercise equipment were available.

Back in the cabin, we mostly did bodyweight exercises or training with my heavier swords. It´s not a particular problem since both our styles require us to be on the leaner side.

Our musculature has to be just enough to not restrain our movements.

"We should start lightly while we warm up and learn how to use the machines. They don´t seem exactly cheap so we should avoid starting too roughly with any of them. They may be intended for huntsmen-in-training but they shouldn´t be able to resist someone's strength when they are using Aura. "

"Sure... try not to get distracted staring at the bunny girl and end up hurting yourself."

My face heats up as I cough loudly.

It seems that she isn´t forgetting that one for a while.

Maybe working out somewhere else might be a better idea?

-Line Break-

"Jaune, wake up."

"... hmmm."

I used one of my hands to shake the sleeping boy.

But it seems that he isn´t a morning person as he doesn´t wake up at all.

I start using both hands and his head starts bobbing up and down.

Finally, his eyes start to slowly open.

"Jaune, you need to get change or we won´t get to breakfast before class."

"Haaa, Mom did your hair change colors... and shape?"

"My hair has been the same since I was a child and I think I would remember giving birth to some blond kid, so you might have the wrong person."

"Shirou...? What time is it?"

"It´s 7:20 in the morning, breakfast starts in ten. We need you to get up"

…?

The blond had a horrified expression the moment I told him the time.

He most likely isn´t used to waking up so late. What happened yesterday during Initiation must have shaken him up.

It´s not a surprise, it´s not every day one sees someone trying to kill another human being.

Since he is already awake, I step away and go back to preparing myself for school.

In her bed, Mikasa is sitting with her hair loose and already dressed in her uniform.

The uniform consists of a black coat, a red vest, a white shirt with a red ribbon, and a red and white skirt.

—She looks ridiculously good, to the point that my head goes numb when I see her.

Smack—!

"Shirou, are you okay!?"

"—Yes, I´m fine, don´t worry. There was just a bug on the wall."

I wave off the concern of my partner.

It might have hurt but at least it worked, even if my team leader is looking at me weirdly.

"...And you had to kill it using your forehead-?"

"Yes, Jaune, I had to use my forehead, that´s the way we do it outside the kingdoms."

"Really...?"

"—No. We don't do that. Shirou did you lose too much blood yesterday...?"

Our exchange is interrupted by Mikasa who also had peculiar look on her face.

I simply ignored it, and keep checking if I had everything ready.

Notebooks, pens and pencils, books, and now I just need to finish tying my tie—

"Wait! Don´t enter that bathroom Jaune."

"Huh, what? Is there something dangerous locked in there, like a Grimm or one of those strange people from yesterday?"

"No, but if go in there, you will face a fate much worse than death."

"Worse than death...?"

I can hear him gulp from here.

It´s good that my warning came on time. Had he gone into the bathroom who knows what would happen?

The door to the bathroom opens by itself.

Pyrrha comes out, dressed in her uniform and with a towel wrapped around her head.

At the same time, I can see the look of understanding on Jaune's face. He must be already experienced in the reality of living with girls your age.

"—Hello Jaune, you woke up already? I´m sorry for hogging the bathroom, you can go in now."

As she does her usual cheerful greeting, Jaune gives her a greeting and solemnly enters the bathroom.

He must be thinking of the fate he had just avoided. His solemn face might look cool if he wasn´t wearing that onesie of his.

Meanwhile, the red-haired girl just looks confused.

"Did I miss something...?"

"Don´t worry Pyrrha, we already survived our first obstacle as a team."

"?"

Her confusion intensifies and at the same time.

The black-haired girl on her bed looks at me with her usual expression.

And without saying or even moving her features I can tell she is thinking.

—Are you stupid Shirou?

She might keep thinking that but I know.

That bathroom gives me an ominous feeling, an accident is going to happen with it someday. And knowing my luck, it will involve me.

A shiver runs down my spine.

I position in front of the mirror hanging to the side of the room, the uniform tie is on my hand.

It should be easy enough, I haven´t done it ever before but, it shouldn´t be too different from doing a knot, right?

Grabbing both sides, one goes over the other two times, a pull, the longer side goes under the circle and then over it, with just another pull it should be...

"—A complete disaster..."

"...Shirou, if you can´t do it you can always ask me for help."

"Mikasa...!? Wait, I can do it by myself! You don´t need to get so-"

—Close.

Her arms come from both sides over my shoulders as she gets closer to my back.

Even if I want to move away I have all my routes of escape blocked.

When her body touches my back, I can definitely feel something being smashed against me.

"Gck—!"

What must be a stupid sounding groan can be heard but I can´t tell who made it.

For some reason, my body heats up and my brain is like an egg in a heated pan.

"Done..."

I don´t know how long it took but when I realized it, she was already done.

I didn´t have time to pay attention to how she tied it.

Wait where did she learn how to do this? If Kiritsugu never taught me I don´t think he would have shown her how to do it.

As my eyes fall to the neck area of my reflection...

"—Hey! That´s somehow actually worse than before! I don´t know how did you even manage to do it like this."

"..."

"Idiot, don´t try to show off like that when you don´t know how to do something."

Without the decency of making an excuse, she just looks away, with a slight face of embarrassment.

How can she get so close to someone of the opposite gender and not know what sort of effect she has on them?

A giggle can be heard on the other side of the room, I don´t need to look to know that the owner was the Redhair girl on our team.

As I was about to make some sort of excuse...

"So, how does the uniform fit me, do I look decently dashing, or maybe it looks too good on me?"

Coming out already dressed, our Leader saves me by asking a question while showing something I wasn´t expecting.

He is wearing the same clothes that I am. It consists of a black coat, a blue vest with a white shirt, black pants, and a properly tied red tie.

But the biggest difference is... his zipper is open.

"...Y-You look ready to lead, Jaune"

"You really think so Pyrrha? I mean, of course I do."

Pyrrha while blushing up a storm is the only one able to respond.

I need to say something, I can´t let him get out of the room like that.

I will whisper it to his ear, it´s the only way to save his remaining dignity, but as I make my way to him, something stops me dead on my feet.

"So, team ANMS, are you ready to partake in the most import meal of the day?"

Pyrrha is once more the one who responds while still showing a blushed expression.

Mikasa doesn´t seem to want to bother responding.

And I was too busy processing what just happened.

His zipper closed all by itself without anyone doing anything.

"I was expecting a livelier response from everyone, with shouts, raised arms, and excitement, you know? I guess nodding while looking cool works as well."

His despondent face and his slumped shoulders wake me up from my stupor.

Was I hallucinating or was that ...?

I look to my side to my partner.

It seems that she didn´t notice anything strange, and Pyrrha is still awkwardly blushing while talking to Jaune.

—I still have to ask anyway.

"Jaune, you know how to tie these things properly—?"

-Line Break-

"..."

The four of us seat in the cafeteria, side by side on one of the tables.

I chose a vegetarian option. The taste isn´t bad even if it was made in mass for all the students.

I can feel a cold gaze coming from the side.

"..."

Pyrrha seems to be having the same as me, and she is eating it with polite manners.

She is using a steady pace while maintaining an equally polite smile on her face.

"..."

"...I´m not doing it."

My words seem to have reached no one.

The stare continues.

But I can´t let that bother me.

I keep eating and this time, I look towards our leader.

"..."

"It´s just a waste of time, and we would need to go grocery shopping too often."

Jaune seems unperturbed by my monologue against my silent foe.

He eats his bowl of cereal while looking around the cafeteria as if searching for someone.

Honestly, eating something like that is not good for your health.

—Wait a second...

"Um...is that you Pyrrha?"

"Hm? What do you mean...Oh that, yes one of my sponsorship's deals included me posing for the boxes of various products. It was a fun experience."

Sponsorships? Various products?

I think she did mention something about being famous when we met.

I thought she was something like a school idol or something along those lines, not actually celebrity famous.

Appearing on a cereal box is undoubtedly an amazing thing to do but...

"" Too bad that it´s not healthy to eat them.""

"..."

We both say the same thing at the same time. After a moment of surprise, she smiles at me and goes back to her food.

I try to do the same.

But my vision is involuntarily drawn towards the last person on our team.

"..."

I gulp.

She hasn´t eaten a single bite of her breakfast.

She has been staring at me the entire time since we sat at the table.

She doesn´t need to say the words, I can understand what she is asking without the use of language.

"You should really eat already, we don´t have all day to get to class..."

"..."

"I´m not the same kid from before, you can´t just expect to make me do whatever you want this easily..."

"..."

I can´t accept defeat here.

At Beacon, there is a fully staffed kitchen that makes every meal for the students for the duration of the term. Not taking advantage of that fact would just be a waste of time.

So, I won´t give up.

"..."

"You can keep staring at me all day, I´m not doing it."

"..."

"—Why do you even want me to cook? I´m might be able to make something better than the staff but it wouldn´t be that much better. Besides, you never complained about having to eat something made by someone else while we traveled. Why are you acting spoiled all of the sudden?"

She finally does something other than plainly staring at me, she points at both her breakfast and Jaune´s

.

"….! I can´t believe you would fight so dirty."

I finally know why she chose such an odd thing for breakfast.

She only grabbed unhealthy sugary snacks.

I didn´t say anything because I thought she was just having an odd craving today, but it seems it was a trap all along.

"If you make the meals, you can make sure that we have a balanced diet. Proper nutrition is key to surviving, isn´t that right Shirou?"

"Gck...!"

I can´t say anything if she says something like that.

It´s true, I would indeed worry if she ate only sweets or junk food, and the best way to make sure that she didn´t is making the food myself.

—But wasn´t there something wrong with what she said?

"Wait... Do you expect me to make Jaune´s meals as well?"

"That would be awesome, I only tasted a bite yesterday but it was great!"

Our leader who had said nothing until now suddenly pipes up.

And when my glare falls on him...

He has both his hands together in his chest, his eyes are upturned and watery.

—He looks like a puppy begging for someone to pet him!

"B-But I would need to ask for permission to use the kitchen, and I would just bother the people working there. And, we would need to go grocery shopping at least once a week, it´s just a waste of Lien and time."

"...I´m sorry but... there is a fully equipped kitchen on the dorms that regularly gets stocked with ingredients by the school, it seems that they want to encourage students to at least know how to cook by themselves in cases of emergency."

"—Pyrr...ha...Why?"

I can´t believe, the polite girl I met two days ago, is blushing and cutely looking away.

As if she didn´t just stab me in the back, and left me to bleed out.

She has the decency to offer a quiet excuse.

"...That dinner you made was pretty good... I´m sorry!"

"So, this is it, huh. I´m alone against you three..."

It wasn´t even twenty-four hours since this team was formed.

And I already can´t help but wonder, if this is why Kiritsugu never talked about his team back then.

Did he, like me, experience such betrayals when he was a student?

—I can only sigh.

"Haa— You guys win and I give up. I´ll start making breakfast and lunch from tomorrow on, it shouldn´t be too much trouble if I make them both at the same time."

"Are you sure it wouldn´t be too much trouble, Shirou?

Making both breakfast and lunch seems to be too much, I know what I said earlier, but if it´s too much work you don´t need to do it. The food from the cafeteria is good enough."

"Yes, don´t mind it too much Pyrrha. I should be able to handle both without wasting too much time, dinner is a different subject, I don´t have enough time after class to prepare something, so we are going to have to eat dinner here on school days."

While our leader seems to be celebrating by himself, Pyrrha is guiltily asking if I was alright with it.

My partner, satisfied with the results, finally started eating her sugary food.

I can´t let her go like this.

"Oi, don´t think you can just brush everything aside, and start eating like everything was settled. What´s the true reason you wanted me to start cooking for the team? And don´t say something like you have gotten too used to my cooking."

"Shirou, you could stop acting like you didn´t want to do it yourself. You are so stubborn that once you decided on something you wanted, not even Kiritsugu could stop you or make you change your mind."

I can feel the heat coming from my face.

She isn´t... wrong.

I didn´t dislike having to cook for her, and it´s not like I didn´t like it when she enjoyed it.

I wasn´t planning to cook not because I didn´t want to, but because I wanted to use the time on things like studying for class or more training.

"—Besides, every moment you spend safely in the kitchen is a moment you aren´t in d..."

She starts whispering something, but I couldn´t make it out.

She pulled her face into her scarf mid-way into her sentence.

I was going to ask her to repeat herself but—

"Hands up in the air everybody, leave the pancakes on the table and no one has to get too hurt!"

A short girl kicks open the door of the cafeteria while screaming.

She has a Hammer in her hands and behind her are three other people.

I can make out her team leader, Ren, trying to hold her back with both arms while applying his whole body´s weight.

She simply drags the much taller boy inside, as if he didn´t even weigh a single kilogram.

-Line Break-

It´s seconds away from nine o´clock in the morning.

I´m sitting in my first class for the day.

After watching team RWBY slide into the classroom at the last possible second, the bell chimes, and Professor Oobleck zips into the classroom.

"Hello, students! Are you ready to begin your most significant learning course in the entirety of your life?! No, not a single one of you sitting in this class is ready. You don´t comprehend even the most basics of truths of this world.

Anyone here could tell me how everything began? Any answer is welcome, don´t be afraid, just say what you think!"

My mind takes a full two seconds to catch up with what just transpired.

The man is incredibly tall, has wild green hair, and wears big circular glasses.

He also is moving around the room as if part of a video constantly in fast forward. His movements can only be matched by the speed of his speech.

"Please students, there are no wrong answers! Well, that´s actually not true, there is an unlimited number of wrong answers. But what´s a Huntsmen or Huntress if not one who braves the dangers of the inevitable defeat! If no one is going to answer then I will select the student myself."

There is no response from the students.

Everyone, including me, is trying to process what´s being said.

I see some that are completely lost, those who are desperately trying to write everything he is saying, and some that´s just don´t care about what he is saying.

—How everything began... in regards to a history class?

"It seems that this year´s batch isn´t made of stern stuff. It doesn´t matter, you will all learn sooner or later. So, to lead by example, who is better than a team leader?

Mr. Arc! Please, tell the class how do you think everything began."

"Me...? How...did...everything...began...?"

Our blond leader seems to be taken aback by being selected.

He repeats the question to the professor as if that was answer enough. Our professor simply asks him to quickly answer the question.

His face starts dripping with cold sweat as his gaze moves around the room.

"—And what´s your answer, Mr. Arc?"

"My answer is..."

His eyes quickly found his partner Pyrrha, who is holding a bottle of Dust?

That makes sense, it´s often said that when humanity discovered dust they began fighting back against the Grimm.

He seems to not have caught onto her meaning as his sight quickly moves once again, this time they fall on my partner, who sightly shakes her head, signaling she doesn´t know the answer.

And to end his search, our eyes meet.

—And I shrug my shoulders as well, I would like to help but I don´t know the actual response other than what Pyrrha already mentioned. It seems he decided to follow democracy because...

"I... don´t know how everything started?"

"You—don´t know...? Why, this must be the first time in all my years of asking this question at the begging of the course that someone gave the correct response, at first try! Remarkable! You´re showing great promise Mr. Arc keep the good work."

"Thanks...?"

The expression of incredulity on Jaune's face is reflected on almost every student.

The professor takes no heed to anything and continues on.

"He doesn´t know. And if I were to ask any of you, I might receive a different response, but they would all be wrong. That´s the most important question in all of Remnant´s history! And not a single person alive knows the answer, not even me!

Dust, Aura, Semblances, those are the tools that everyone thinks that humanity used to carve their way to survival out from the claws of the Grimm. But they are all wrong! That answer makes no sense at all! Anyone who has lived outside the kingdoms knows the harsh reality, people can´t survive by themselves. How could any type of living being survive being defenseless and weaponless against creatures that only wish to kill them?

They simply cannot do that. Not before the creation of safe havens like the kingdoms."

His jumbled words are hard to understand but his meaning is clear and reaches me well enough.

People couldn´t have relied on Aura or Dust to survive their first encounters with the creatures of darkness. They wouldn´t had have time to learn how to harness their powers before being swarmed and killed.

No matter how talented one would be, not even Mikasa or my father would have been able to constantly battle against waves of Grimm without a safe place to rest.

"How? How did humans or faunus manage to prosper in times before they were capable of forging a sword to cut their enemies, without walls that protected them, without Aura that shielded them, without Dust to empower them?

There are many folktales, myths, and legends about legendary figures that appeared across time wielding weapons that decimated the Grimm, swords that split the oceans, spears that pierced the heavens, and axes that cleaved mountains. They are all nonsense of course! Not a single shred of evidence to that silly talk."

He continued talking but my ears failed me. My mind is captive to the concept of people wielding weapons that can´t exist.

If I was like that people, if I could make such weapons...

-Such wishful thinking is not something I should do but I can´t help myself for just one tiny moment.

"... There is a saying that educated people like to say. I use it myself all the time! ´Those who can´t learn from their past are fated to repeat it´, a great saying full of truth. It´s an important lesson that I hope everyone can retain after you leave this class.

But there is something even more important! The true nature of the mystery of how our races survived their humble beginnings, knowing how we began to know how to advance.

I personally believe that´s the key to knowing how we should move forward towards a better world. I´m sure of it, the many mysteries that exist in our planet's history must contain the answer to a better future!"

His words are full of passion. I can practically feel on my skin the conviction I hear from his speech.

He may be a complete odd case, who I suspect has an even worse caffeine addiction than our headmaster, but I can tell—

He is fully committed to what he believes is the correct path for the world.

"Oh! I Completely forgot the most important of detail!"

The professor zips back in front of the board all the way in front of the classroom.

The most important detail—? Unknowingly, I start to anticipate what could be more important than what he just said.

With a marker he makes quick and practiced strokes, in a blink he was already finished.

"I studied hard for my doctorate, so everyone should address me as Doctor Oobleck, not professor."

The Loud sighs full of disappointment of various students can be heard as the class continued, even if the contents became much more mundane and commonplace.

Discussion of what we will cover during the semester and what sources we should use to study. The speed at which the man talked made it difficult to keep up with but I think I managed to write down the essentials of what he said.

-Line Break-

Time passed as usual, and after an hour and a half.

The bell rung and everyone moved towards the next class on our schedule.

I could hear the groan and moans of the students from the overload of information the bespectacled man had given us.

I, alongside everyone, quickly arrive at the stands of the amphitheater.

"Help, I think my brain is still spinning from that class..."

"It's your eyes that are spinning, not your questionable brain. Could you stop embarrassing the team and act like any other leader?"

"...You mean you want me to act more like Jaune?"

"—Any other leader that´s not Jaune."

"Hey, what´s wrong with me snow-angel?"

"Don´t call me that! But well, we essentially just met but if you want me to start alphabetically, absent-minded, burdensome, careless..."

Sitting next to me and my teammates is team RWBY.

I can hear that Ruby and Weiss were both arguing with each other. At the same time, I spot Pyrrha comforting Jaune after a rather brutal and excessive verbal beat down.

It´s a good thing everyone in my team gets along, more or less.

—For the third time in the day the bell can be heard.

Professor Goodwitch comes into the room below us.

Her face is stern as she swipes her gaze over every student.

I hadn´t noticed this the first time I was here but her voice is easily carried across the entire room without raising her voice

"Welcome to your first combat class of the year, while you´ll come to learn that most of your classes contain practical studies along with their theoretical material this one is different. We will mostly focus on training and testing your different fighting capabilities in a variety of scenarios.

You will be tested in normal combat, one against many, fighting against superior and inferior foes, hand to hand, or even fights that only long-range is permitted.

Everyone will follow what I say during the duration of this class, if I say stop you will immediately cease your actions. This is no joking matter, the moment anyone breaks the rules for any reason, they won´t be simply disciplined by me. They will not be allowed to step a single step in this place, and this class will be counted as a failed subject for the year."

Her tone of voice matching her serious expression. She doesn´t ask us if we understand or if we have any questions.

She just fixes her eyes among the many students.

I guess that enough time has passed that she thinks we ingrained her words in our heads because she starts once again.

"Now, we are going to proceed to have regular tournament-style matches, you are free to volunteer or I will be choosing the participants by my discretion.

The rules are simple and something most of you who have already attended a combat school should know, nonetheless, I´ll explain it to everyone once more. The fight will end as long as one of the several conditions is met.

Once the Aura reflected in your scroll has reached below ten percent, if you suffer a grave injury or fall unconscious, if a part of your body falls outside the designated space if any of the fighters surrenders, and most importantly, whenever I say so."

This explanation is something that I have heard before but there is a crucial difference between this one and the one I first heard...

It seems that there is something vital for her that she wants to get across.

"I will repeat it one final time, if anyone continues fighting after the match is over or when I tell them to stop, then they won´t have to worry about failing class. I will be personally making sure they are expelled from this academy. Hurting a fellow huntsmen-in-training, for either stupidity or malicious intent, will never be allowed in this class."

What she says is common sense, something anyone should know without being told.

But if someone with her experience remarks it, then there should be a reason for it.

For some reason, I can tell what she is saying has deep significance to her.

I wonder how many of the other students understood how grievous that statement was for the blonde.

"Some of you may be lucky enough to wonder why Beacon has such a focus on inter-personal combat training instead of Grimm hunting, in the future, you will most likely spend most of your time fighting against the forces of the Grimm and fighting against other people will be only a small part of your duties. It´s also true that the harm that those creatures can deliver is many times worse than what any terrorist or criminal can hope to achieve. One only has to see what happened to Mount Gleen..."

My breathing gets caught in my throat by the unexpected mention of what happened back then.

Someone touches my back before I can recover.

I don´t need to turn around to know that Mikasa is the one who noticed my slip.

I simply whisper that I´m fine and return my attention to the woman below us.

"But no matter how powerful or wise the Grimm get with age; they will never reach the viciousness and vileness people can. Murders, assassinations, betrayals, using civilians or loved ones as shields or hostages, people who can work at your side at one moment would suddenly stab you in the heart from the back.

—Such are the enemies that we´re trying to prepare you for, people who would commit unspeakable evil with a smile on their faces, if any of you can´t meet the standard for this class... then you will most likely become a victim before ever accomplishing your missions as defenders of the kingdoms."

"—!"

Her words aren´t a surprise, even if the atmosphere in the room darkens alongside them.

Her words held a weight I understood far too well.

But during the duration of her talk, she never moved her eyes from this location.

The only thing that I know, is that between the two teams seated here, she wasn´t looking at me.

—Whom did she intend to tell that to...?

"That´s the reason you must do your best in this class, someone who can´t keep their own life can´t become a protector that this world needs.

We may be in a time of unprecedented peace but that´s no reason to slack in our efforts to prepare for a better future. For the peaceful life that you were able to experience growing up, countless Huntsman and Huntresses gave their everything to accomplish."

Life inside the kingdoms' big cities has never been as good as before, some people reach adulthood without ever meeting a single Grimm.

There even are people who have never seen someone gravely hurt much less a dead body.

Something like that is not a luxury that has existed anytime since before the Great War.

And it´s only possible thanks to the efforts of Huntsmen like the professors that teach us, the ones that guard the cities

—or people like Kiritsugu.

"Since today is the first day I´ll pair the participants of the matches depending on their performance during initiation. If anyone wants to participate, they are free to volunteer and even request a specific sparring partner but be warned that it´s against the rules to try to solve personal grudges here.

I´ll be taking care of the punishment of such people with my own hands, you will quickly come to realize that it would be wise to behave."

The tall woman finishes her sentence with a threatening note. Memories of a certain fight with a pathetic result appear inside my mind.

It was certainly a good experience to learn from but I´m not looking forward to a repeat performance.

I look around my classmates, it seems the majority are excited about being able to spar with one another.

My team might be the exception, as not a single member looks particularly eager.

Mikasa has the same stoic expression she usually wears, Pyrrha is also wearing the polite smile that I had seen her have most of the time and Jaune seems more anxious than thrilled at the prospect.

I don´t find the idea of sparring fun but facing new opponents and seeing others fights is a good way to gain experience. I had thousands of spars against Mikasa and while that let me know how to fight against people stronger than me.

—On the other hand, people with unique fighting styles like professor Goodwitch are not something I had any experience against.

"Do you want to let me have a go at breaking that perfect streak of your, Pyrrha?"

"If you want, then I don´t mind letting you try at any moment, Yang. I haven´t been challenged like this in some time."

"Okay, then let´s get to it right now! Beating an undefeated champion is going to be one hell of a way to start the semester."

At my side, it seems the first match of the day was decided.

The sole blonde of team RWBY suddenly challenged Pyrrha with a cocky grin on her face.

The polite smile on the redheaded girl never changed, no, it seems that the entire idea of being challenged didn´t face her at all.

...is she that confident in her victory?

Both of them stood up and asked the professor for permission.

After approving the match, the two were sent towards the locker rooms to change into their battle attire and get their weapons.

In less than ten minutes they were already in the platform below us, with a gap of ten meters between them.

"—Good luck Pyrrha, you can do it! How hard can it be, she isn´t even wearing armor!"

"—Do your best Yang, watch out for her spear! And sword! …. And her shield!

…. Don´t forget about the rifle either!"

Both fighters are cheered by their respective team leaders. I don´t really know about their exact wording but their intentions are what counts.

The two students below us are being explained something I can´t hear by the professor.

I take this moment to look at their respective weapons.

Yang´s weapons, a pair of gauntlets with some kind of firing mechanism.

Pyrrha´s weapons, a mecha-shift spear that can turn into both a sword and a rifle. She also uses a shield on her off-hand.

In terms of armaments who has the advantage is obvious. A superiority on every fighting range but melee.

It seems that battle is about to begin as the professor stands at the side of the stage and signals both of them.

—The match begins with a bang.

The blonde brawler lounges ahead, she fires both her gauntlets behind her to increase her momentum.

The distance of ten meters will be closed in less than three seconds.

But before she gets close enough

Clang!

A gauntlet is deflected by a spearhead.

The red-haired girl swipes her spear horizontally with both precision and speed, and in the same breath stops and attacks her enemy.

In a moment, the roles of attacker and defender are exchanged.

A barrage of attacks comes towards Yang

The melee fighter is forced a step back with each swipe and thrust she defends against.

It´s not a matter of strength or even speed at this point.

The spear is mercilessly going against any opening that the blonde girl leaves while trying to close the gap.

It´s like I'm watching someone being slowly being pushed back by high-velocity winds.

Bang—!

It seems like Yang is used to fighting against people with longer reach.

Even on the defensive, the girl manages to use her weapons to shoot her attacker while blocking the upcoming thrusts.

Each of her shots fails to land on her enemy, as they are blocked by a shield without slowing down the movements of the spear.

Clang—!

The bombardment of steel entrapping the brawler continues.

The battle began minutes ago, but not a single clean hit was given yet.

The armored woman has only managed to land many grazing blows that slowly chip away at her opponent´s Aura.

That should be more than enough to win the spar if this continues as is.

The deadlock between the two is finished after one dodged spear swipe.

The blonde girl charges in the instant the opening is made, wavering between the shaft of her enemy´s weapon.

And for the first time in the match, Pyrrha is in her enemy´s reach.

A fast right hook is aimed towards the unguarded torso of the girl with crimson hair.

Clang—!

But the fist didn´t meet the target, a shield was placed in its path.

Her first attack was easily repelled as if her opponent already knew it was coming before her.

A spear transforms into a sword mid-swing and strikes the opened body of the girl whose attack was just blocked.

A grunt of pain loud enough to reach my ears can be heard.

The battle continues at a closer range.

A girl attacking with both a sword and a shield and a girl defending herself not letting another strike happen.

The reduced distance between the two is an advantage towards the gauntlet wielder but...

Her opponent hasn´t let out her attacks for a single breath, it´s like she doesn´t know the concept of getting tired.

I didn´t particularly pay much attention to how much she worked out this morning, but her fitness must be top-notch.

The fight so far can´t be considered one, it can only be described as a spectacle. One where one opponent is slowly dismantling an inferior foe.

This is not a fight of an underdog facing the champion but a clear show of disparity and...

The several students around me are excited by this, they loudly cheer for the fight even if it´s nothing they wouldn´t have seen before.

"Yang, you still got this! Do it for team RWBY!"

"Please ruby, Pyrrha has this one on the bag already. She practically already brought home the first victory of team ANMS."

"Nuh huh, she still hasn´t used..."

"—I´M DONE WITH THIS!"

"...her Semblance."

The back and forth between both the team leader at my side was broken up by the scream of the blonde brawler.

After she received a particularly nasty blow to the face from Pyrrha´s shield, she leaped back and she ignited herself.

Her eyes became crimson red and her hair began to shine, the girl's fighting spirit erupted like a volcano.

With speed and intensity surpassing anything she showed previously, she leaps towards the redhead.

Opting for taking the blow head-on, Pyrrha moved her shield forward.

A blow containing all her gathered momentum struck the shielding girl.

An explosion of sparks and sound is created the moment the weaponized fist meets metal.

The force in that attack was enough to send the defending fighter back by several meters.

I can feel my eyes narrowing.

Had I been fighting her and confronted that attack head-on, most of my blades would have shattered in that one exchange.

—Her semblance is clearly a power-up of some kind, but what are the conditions and payments that activating it brings?

Most semblances are simple, they use Aura in exchange to bring about one ability.

Not every ability requires the expenditure of Aura, for example, I can still pull weapons from within me even after my Aura is broken.

But something that increases strength usually is either conditional to something or consumes large amounts of Aura.

"—Her Aura meter didn´t decrease that much..."

A quick glance at the big screen above the platform is enough to tell me that.

If she didn´t use it until now, the most likely cause is that she can´t use it as she pleases.

Does she have a time limit or...

In the seconds that those thoughts came into my head, the battle resumed itself.

Now the roles are reversed, the blonde attacks without pause, a flurry of fists falls onto my teammate. Based on Pyrrha´s previous showing this should be enough to at least change the battle.

But somehow not a single one connects, most of them are dodged with graceful twists and side-steps.

What she couldn´t avoid was deflected with her shield.

Clang—!

A powerful blow connects fully against the defensive armament and the armored girl is once again flung back.

One more attack like that and she would be out of the platform.

It seems that the girl with long yellow hair wants to end it quickly, as she charges forwards like a fierce tiger.

Her opponent is still moving backward with the momentum of the earlier punch.

Without waiting to come to a full stop she throws her shield like a projectile straight towards her enemy.

The shield is repelled upwards without diminishing the momentum of the charging girl.

At the moment that the shield was blocked, a spear was launched with great force but it was also deflected in a similar direction.

Now empty-handed, red awaits yellow with an open stance.

"...!"

Just a moment before she was struck on her body something happened and the attacking limb was grabbed.

Pyrrha twisted herself in place and using the incoming force, she threw back her attacker.

Without even catching her breath the redhead jumped into the air.

—Exactly into the unnatural path of the falling spear and shield.

She didn´t catch her weapon but chose to simply flip midair and kick it towards her opponent.

The mecha-shift weapon somehow managed to fire itself after being struck, increasing its speed.

The spear flew in a straight line turning into a bullet before striking the ignited girl.

It pushed her millimeters near the edge of the platform.

And both the match and the show arrived at the climax.

A shield connects directly with the chest of the brawler finally ending the match.

A moment after she had kicked her spear, my teammate turned her body still in the air to catch her shield before she flung it with all her might.

Making it look like she had calculated exactly where her weapon and shield would be sent after she threw them for the first time.

—Even if that isn´t the case.

"The match is decided, the winner is Pyrrha Nikkos. That was a good performance from both parties considering that today it's the first day of class. Ms. Xiao Long, please procure to start thinking about a plan before you start fighting another person, trying whatever comes into your mind at the moment and letting your temper might work against a mindless creature but not against an experienced fighter.

—And Ms. Nikkos, while the results were good for you on this occasion you might want to consider revising your style going forward, while we might spar using tournament rules that´s not what you will encounter out in the real world."

It seems that even after winning you can´t escape being criticized in this class, but I can´t say I don´t agree partially.

During the entire time the two fought, Pyrrha could have ended the fight much earlier.

I don´t know exactly what her semblance is, but without a doubt, it´s something similar to our teacher´s telekinesis. I saw strange things happening during the fight, attacks going too wide, hits slowing down slightly before connecting, things falling into place too easily.

I also can´t tell what reason she has to use it so subtly as she did.

If she was trying to polish her skills or hide her Semblance wouldn´t it be much better to simply not use it at all in the first place? Maybe she is trying to mislead people about what her capabilities truly are...?

For now, I can´t tell with certainty the full extent of her abilities nor why she fights as she does.

"...Well, it seems that at least it worked for her."

Or at least, that´s what I can gather from the talk of the students

Most of the students are talking about the match but no one seems to be mentioning her Semblance.

So, if anyone besides me and Goodwitch found out her secret they aren´t talking about it either.

But...

—There is something else that doesn´t make much sense...

If the matches are decided by people who were deemed to be similarly skilled.

Then I don´t understand why those two were put together, Yang isn´t exactly weak.

But a person who would make a better match for Pyrrha is sitting right next to me.

While the professor fixed the damage to the platform, she called for the next two combatants.

I didn´t know either of them nor anyone in their respective teams.

Before long, I see both Pyrrha and Yang coming back, already wearing their uniforms.

"—Go and challenge the undefeated champion, Yang, it´s going to be fun. What´s the worst thing that could happen?

I haven´t been this embarrassed since that time that our uncle showed up drunk into our student-parent meetings, and he was the teacher."

"I´m sorry. You shouldn´t be too harsh with yourself Yang, even compared with people I fought in tournaments you aren´t lacking much, I'm sure that if we fought again the fight wouldn´t go the same way."

"—Agh! You know what P-Money, next time after we fight, I´ll be the one giving you a pep talk to cheer you up from a loss."

"I´m looking forwards to it already Yang."

Both of them were already talking on their way here.

Yang is slightly more reserved than she was before she left and Pyrrha still looks the same, her smile hasn´t changed a bit since the moment they left.

She won that battle without receiving a single gracing blow and came back looking as if nothing happened.

I was expecting that she would be happier about it, someone who fights in tournaments is supposed to enjoy this kind of thing, right?

"Hmm, do I have something on my face, Shirou?

"Eh? ...No, I was just kind of surprised, I could tell you were strong but I wasn´t expecting you to be that much. It´s a relief having someone like you on the team. And I didn´t know it before but thanks for having my back yesterday"

"—! Oh, it was nothing, I´m sorry that I couldn´t do more at that time. You ended up being the only one hurt because I couldn´t react on time."

"...? I only got injured because I wasn´t good enough, and if you weren´t there I would have ended much worse."

Yesterday in the forest, when those two assassins attacked, some of the bolts that would have struck me were repelled without me knowing who did it.

I can´t imagine that it wasn´t Pyrrha using her hidden Semblance. The look of surprise when I thanked her was confirmation enough.

I look to the girl at my side, Mikasa doesn´t seem interested in the fights at all.

What I said earlier about being surprised about Pyrrha being that good of a fighter isn´t a lie.

I could tell she didn´t leave openings in her stance, the musculature that shows on her battle attire is also telling enough, even the air around her shows she has battle experience.

But maybe because she was a girl, I underestimated her without realizing it.

—To be more exact, my image of a strong girl doesn´t really match with someone who wears a polite smile most of the time.

"...That could have been bad..."

I mutter to myself.

I guess I have a bad habit of comparing girls my age with my Mikasa.

I doubt I would have done the same mistake if we had to spar or something more serious was happening. Still, even if it was just subconsciously, misjudging someone like that is not something I should do.

The matches continued, but not a single one reached the level of the first one.

Some of the people I know were called down, like Nora who managed to remind everyone that a hammer to the face hurts a lot. Sky Lark almost had to be taken to the infirmary, luckily professor Goodwitch managed to stop the last blow of the short girl with her Semblance.

Even if Aura is capable of stopping most harm if one receives a blow powerful enough to break through it and keep going then grave injuries aren´t impossible to receive.

I check the time on one clock at the other side of the room, class should end in less than twenty minutes.

Pyrrha was the only one on our team that had to fight today, but I'm not complaining since I managed to observe a good number of new things that I didn´t know were even possible.

Blake Belladonna, the mysterious girl from the night we arrived at Beacon, her Semblance allows her to leave behind clones to deceive her opponent. Facing something like that without prior knowledge could be fatal.

"The last match of the day, Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. Both should go to the locker room and prepare themselves as quickly as possible. Remember that the bell doesn´t dismiss class but I do, so don´t think that once you hear it you can just stop sparring."

And another weird matchup is made. I can´t see how both of these fighters have similar capabilities at all.

Our leader´s partner is the first one to speak up after the announcement, and I follow quickly behind. Surprisingly Mikasa even nods in encouragement.

"Good luck Jaune, do your best."

"Be careful and don´t let your guard down."

"..."

"Don´t worry guys, I'm going to continue the team winning streak, and If I don´t I will pay for today´s lunch and dinner."

With those confident words, he struts off.

But even then... Aren´t lunch and dinner free of charge inside the school?

After he leaves the area, I hear the leader of team RWBY speak up.

"Do you think that Jaune got this? Cardin seems pretty big even if he doesn´t look all that... smart. While is pretty much...you know..."

"He should have at least a chance, I´m sure he is tougher than he looks. I mean, he literally has to be tougher than he looks, he graduated from a combat school."

It seems that they don´t really have a high opinion of my leader's combat capabilities.

I can´t blame them, Jaune looks are deceptive—

Before I could say anything, Pyrrha is already backing her partner up. After she finishes saying that she believes in him, I speak up.

"I have no doubts that Jaune will win this fight."

"What do you mean Shirou? Oh, does he have a special technique to win any fight? Can he use his sword technique to break through any defense? Or can he shoot a concentrated Aura beam out of it?!"

"...Eh Ruby, I don´t know if he can do any of that, and even if shooting Aura out of your sword isn´t an uncommon ability whatever Jaune knows how to do it or not, I can´t tell without seeing him fight first."

"Aww, that´s too bad, but then, why are you so sure he will win? "

"Hmm... What´s the impression you have about Jaune as a Huntsmen-in-training, just by looking at him?"

It seems that the members of both teams are interested in what I'm saying, even Mikasa´s attention was caught.

Ruby seemed to be struggling to find the exact words to say without sounding too rude.

Her partner doesn´t seem to have that problem

"Someone wispy, anemic, and inadequate? ...Honestly, I feel for your team, you might have somehow managed to get someone worse than I did..."

"...Hey!"

"Um...Those weren´t exactly the choice of words I was thinking about but I guess that they work too. That´s the exact reason he is going to win."

"—Excuse me...?"

Now everyone is looking at me as if I had just told them something insane.

I wasn´t expecting anything else from most but I thought Pyrrha had already figured it out.

I point them towards the platform. The two last combatants of the day are already there, with the professor explaining something to them.

"Look at Jaune, the way he holds himself, the way he grips his sword, his stance is completely wrong. Nothing about his demeanor scream Huntsmen-in-training. If you crossed paths with him around the city you would never think he is a student at Beacon. His presence is totally like that of a civilian, do you understand what that means?"

"That vomit boy should ask for his money back at whatever combat school he assisted?"

"Not that Yang. Has any of you heard of master martial artist that has become so proficient, that they manage to completely restrain their presence appearing nothing more than a common man? I had never thought that someone as young as Jaune could reach such a profound level."

I shallow my breath while remembering every interaction I had with my leader.

All things considered, I hadn´t interacted too much with him, but there was not a single moment since we meet that I could get any read on him.

At least none that could reveal what his true depths should be.

"If there is one person on this school that I don´t want to have to fight, that would be Mikasa and then Professor Goodwitch...but after them comes Jaune.

I don´t know what kind of training regime he has gone through, but even his muscles must have been built with the intention of hiding his true might, even wearing that... thing he uses to sleep, I couldn´t perceive a hint of the musculature someone with the barest training should have.

If someone starts to swing a sword and shield around, no matter how lackluster the effort they put in is, some telling musculature is built in the process."

That must be the reason why Professor Ozpin chose him as a leader, he had managed to see through his skill or —

He must have seen him in action during Initiation using the cameras around the forest

Of course, it´s not like he had many options to pick another team leader, I can´t speak about Pyrrha with certainty but between me and Mikasa, I can´t say who is a worse fit for the role.

"... As I have, once again, explained the rules to both of you and the severity of breaking said rules.

—The match begins now."

The voice of the blonde professor comes from below and wakes me from my thoughts.

It seems that what I said earlier caught the attention of everyone.

—I watch over both of the students about to fight.

The taller boy, Cardin Winchester, wearing heavy plates of metal covers his body. He holds his maze in one hand while smirking down on his opponent.

Jaune, the blond wearing light straps of armor, seems to fidget on his feet, sword and shield awkwardly held up.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

With a battle cry, the blond charges forward while raising his blade.

—How cautious of him, even if it seems excessive. Using such a dangerous strategy in order to secure victory...

He leaves uncountable openings as he lowers his shield while advancing.

Creating fake openings to fight opponents stronger than you is a tactic that I had used some times, but I never made so many.

He must be absolutely sure of his predictions of the taller boy´s counterattack.

Smack—!

A maze connects with an unguarded chest.

A figure is sent tumbling to the floor while coughing.

I blink.

"...huh...?"

Smack—! Smack—! Smack—! Smack—!

A brutal beatdown soon follows.

Strike after strike easily connects onto the fallen blond.

A yellow shimmer flickers all around the sword wielder.

And his opponent retreats and looks down on him with what I can only describe as pure disgust.

"—The battle is over. The winner is Cardin Winchester.

Mr. Winchester, I won´t reprimed you for your actions in this particular case, there are times when extreme use of force is necessary out in the field, you also broke no established rules and you did stop immediately when you noticed your opponent low aura.

But, this will also be the last time you will conduct yourself like that in this class. There are many other ways to neutralize an enemy combatant that has fallen, and you are expected to train in them and become proficient in their use."

I hadn´t paid attention to her during the short confrontation or how she reacted to it.

A stoic expression is the only thing that her face shows as she gives her opinion to the winner of the match. She lets out a sigh that I almost miss, before turning to the blond still on the ground.

"—Mr. Arc, remember to at least keep your guard up when facing any kind of opponent, even in a sparring match. After all, if you were to be beaten like this in front of civilians, the people may question the quality of the academies' students and their future protectors... And please try to revise your basic training before the next class."

I can´t hear him, but Jaune gurgles something in response as he tries and fails to stand up.

He shouldn´t have any internal bleeding because his Aura held up until the last blow.

I stand up and make my way towards the railings on the stands before jumping over it.

As I´m falling, I hear the familiar quiet voice of Mikasa.

"Shirou, are you getting sick? Your face is all red..."

"Gck—!"

I choke and almost miss my landing, her word didn´t contain a hint of worry.

I can´t say I was expecting mercy from her after saying all that.

She wasn´t this way before when we were kids, who did she pick that mouth from?

I pass next to the retreating Cardin. He has a strange look on his face.

He lost his smirk from the beginning of the match, his brows are drawn together as if he was mad at something. I ignored that and continue making my way towards the platform.

Jaune shouldn´t be injured but he still is on the ground, groaning to himself.

"Are you okay down there Jaune or did you break something?"

"...Only...my dignity..."

"If you can say something like that then you should be fine, and you shouldn´t feel too bad. At least, this time you didn´t vomit in front of everyone"

A loud groan is the response I got as I pulled him up. Whatever it was because he was hurt or from embarrassment, I can´t tell.

I put his arm over my shoulders and start carrying him to the lockers.

I cross my gaze with the Professor, who started talking to the rest of the students about what to expect for the next classes.

She still looks the part of the strict teacher as much as anyone could hope to but she didn´t complain about me acting on my own and helping my teammate, so she might have her version of kindness.

"...He caught me by surprise- I would have had it if not. Next time I´m going to do better."

The boy in my carry speaks with all the confidence he can muster.

Is he trying to bluff me or himself with those words?

It seems that at least in one aspect, the two of us have something in common.

"As long as you can say that and believe it, then next time you might have a chance."

"Huh—?"

I don´t repeat my words nor do I explain myself.

The truth is apparent. My leader has no real training, and winning such a fight should be impossible but that doesn´t matter.

If one admits defeat to oneself before trying then the result is already determined. If one can fool himself and keep doing everything they can, then surely...

—They would achieve what they want.

-Line Break-

"As your leader, I announce that team ANMS first unofficial mission is decided! We will march out first thing after the end of today's classes."

"—Hm?"

I lift one of my brows while bringing the fork to my mouth.

We are sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch after combat class.

I think I'm missing something, as my team leader just proclaimed something I can´t understand.

All while holding a half-eaten hamburger in his hand.

"I don´t know what brought this up but, should Mikasa and I change our plans? We can just go shopping tomorrow. It´s not that big deal if we have to wait for another day."

"No, the two of you going shopping is the exact reason we are going as a team to get you proper things. It was honestly pretty difficult to watch both of you unpack yesterday."

"Huh—? Aren´t you exaggerating a bit too much, besides since we didn´t have too many things to unpack it made things easier last night"

"Not too many things..."

He leaves his sentence unfinished as his face grimaces.

He takes advantage of the break of conversation to take a couple french fries into his mouth.

I frown and cannot help but think that Mikasa was right, me taking care of breakfast and lunch for the team might be for the best.

At that moment Pyrrha spoke up.

"I´m sorry but Jaune is right. Watching both of you take out two small travel bags and saying that it was everything you brought for the school term was...you know, quite something."

"Well, it´s easier to travel when you pack lightly..."

I scratch my cheeks while looking away.

I should have somehow made more time before coming to the school to take care of things like this.

At my side, Mikasa is eating without caring a bit about the conversation, she is looking up something on her scroll.

"That´s why Pyrrha and I will accompany you into the city, there is a lot of stuff you need to buy and two extra pairs of hands should help with all the bags.

I can´t let you go alone, I have experienced way too many times the fate of being the only guy on a shopping trip with one of my sisters. Too many times have my arms almost fallen off thanks to one of them to let you go to suffer that by yourself. "

"Um... I don´t think we are going to buy that many clothes to begin with and besides-"

It´s embarrassing to admit but Mikasa tends to always carry more bags than I do when we go buy things.

I really need to get better at Rock-Paper-Scissors...Or stop making decisions that way.

Talking about my partner, my curiosity gets the best out of me and I sneak a peek at what she is searching for on her scroll.

...!

"—Jaune, I thank you for wanting to give us a hand but you should know. Only suffering awaits you if you come with us."

"Didn´t I tell you this already? As a fellow guy, I can´t leave you alone. What are friends for if not for stuff like this? Besides, how bad could a shopping trip could be?"

I sigh and pity the blond in front of me.

My sleeve is pulled and Mikasa pushes her scroll Infront of me.

A silent request is written on her face.

´The best Sushi restaurant in Vale´ is the result of her net search.

"That seems like a good place to celebrate the first day of class. Especially when we don´t have to pay."

She simply accepts my answer with a nod and moves her scroll towards our leader.

His surprise by the sudden gesture makes him take a while to understand what he is reading.

He begins nodding and muttering something along the lines of ´that looks tasty´.

Pyrrha seems to understand the situation first, as she looks pitifully towards Jaune.

"—Oh no..."

A horror-filled gasp escapes his lips.

It seems he finally remembers, how he promised to pay for both lunch and dinner today if he lost in combat class.

I know I shouldn´t make it worse but...

"I still remember last time we went to eat somewhere like that place for the last time. We ended up spending our food budget for the entire month in a single day."

"Uuuuhhhhh-"

A strange noise comes out from the throat of our leader.

I advert my gaze from him.

If we are going to eat out, we could just go to the inn where we stayed for the last month. Since we made a good amount of trouble while we stayed, it should be good to bring some business to them.

—And it´s a pretty cheap place as well.

A loud metallic sound echoes through the room.

I turn my head to the table next to us, where team RWBY is sitting, Weiss had just smashed her tray against the table and stood up.

"I´m going ahead to the next lesson! Someone in this team has to at least be prepared to perform up to standard. And everyone clearly knows who isn´t going to do that."

"Weiss wait! We should at least go togeth..."

The white-haired girl glared at her leader and partner before leaving with her head held upwards.

She power-walked out of the cafeteria before Ruby had time to finish her sentence.

"It´s impressive how someone can walk that quickly with a stick so far-"

"Yang! Ugh—! Why does she need to make everything so difficult? We should be trying to get along right now..."

"You shouldn´t stress yourself with the Ice-queen too much Ruby. She will start chilling out sooner or later. Heh, get it? Chilling out."

Thud —!

A heavy moan escapes from Ruby as she drops her head into the table.

I guess being a team leader can be difficult in ways I didn´t imagine before. Not only dealing with someone with a difficult personality but also being assaulted by bad puns.

Still...

Is it just me or Yang is sitting too close to her sister? The only way for her to be closer would be if she was sitting on her lap.

Is that because of what happened yesterday in the forest or is it that how sisters normally act?

It´s still a bit difficult for me to get past her likeness to that woman but it seems that she is a caring older sister.

As the blonde girl starts patting the head of her sister, I return my focus on my meal.

While eating I notice that our team blond has a worried expression while looking at Ruby.

My features turn unsightly for a moment. It´s not that I don´t want to do something as well, but I don´t know where to even begin.

—Interpersonal relationship issues like that, are one of the many things I can´t do anything about.

It doesn't bother me.

She hasn´t asked me for help and It´s not like she will particularly suffer because of this, it´s probably a problem that will solve itself without much issue.

I know my limits.

What I can do and what´s beyond my capabilities.

Even then, something leaves a bitter taste in my mouth as I finish my lunch.

-Line Break-

"Grimm. Creatures of darkness, our world's oldest natural disaster. Beings that humans and faunus alike cannot coexist with.

The bane of every village, destroyers of peace and harbingers of despair. Relentless, unending monsters that cannot be reasoned with.

That´s what we, as Huntsmen, exist to fight."

I´m once again sitting in a classroom, notebook on the table and pen in hand.

Professor Port is in front of the class, beginning his class with a speech.

He speaks with a tone that doesn´t match the seriousness of the topic he is covering.

"No matter the variety of the tasks we will train for, there is only a simple answer to the question of why Huntsmen exist. To exterminate the Grimm and protect those who cannot do so for themselves.

That´s the unquestionable basis of our jobs, and what you will train to accomplish."

What a Huntsmen does and why they exist...

He says such a thing without the slightest of doubts.

My hold on my pencil tightens without me intending to do so.

He continues to voice his lesson.

"The concept it´s very simple, but the requirements are not something everyone can fulfill.

We are those who the people lookup in times of need! We need to be strong! gallant! Beautiful! Noble! Flawless! Unblemished! Full of vigor and valor, while being capable to strike down all evil with only the weapon in your hand.

—Someone who can hold the weight of the world on your shoulders!"

"—!"

Did he...?

Wink at Mikasa once again when he said beautiful—?

I will admit that it takes a lot to do such a thing with a girl young enough to be your daughter after the said girl had beaten you in a spar where you couldn´t do anything.

Whatever that something is vigor and valor or just plain shamelessness of an old man...

"Now, I´m sure that, as you sit there, enthralled by my words and filled with both wonder and trepidation, you must be thinking how to become such glorious example of a warrior. But don´t worry, it´s my duty as your educator to showcase to all of you, how to follow in my steps on the path of self-improvement. "

He stops his speech and starts looking around the students.

He steps away from his desk and moves towards the entrance door.

Before reaching the doorknob, he stops and starts to speak once more.

"Now, I think a practical demonstration is in order. Who among you thinks that they have what it takes to uphold the mantle of the Huntsman? Any volunteer is welcomed, but only those capable of accomplishing their duties will be able to come off unscratched."

"—I will, sir!"

"Ms. Scheene? Not who I was expecting, but I´m sure you will do splendidly! Go and get ready to in the locker-room and quickly catch up to everybody else. Everybody else, follow me to the forest. You can store your stationaries already, you won´t use them for the rest of the class.

Besides, I´m sure my words will be ingrained in your memories without the need of studying them."

Just as he finished talking, the man has already left the room.

I blink and look to my sides. No one has even begun to move yet, the only one standing is Weiss.

She still has her arm raised from the moment she volunteered.

The idea of a practical lesson isn´t a surprise for anyone in this class.

You can´t expect that becoming a Huntsman is something where you only need to study in a classroom. Even then, are all the students except one supposed to go unarmed, to a forest filled with Grimm?

I guess that it can serve as survival training in a sense.

"Guys, shouldn´t we hurry up and catch up to him...?"

"...Yes, you are right Jaune. It would be bad we lose track of him, the forest isn´t exactly an easy place to find a single person."

With Jaune and Pyrrha´s exchange as a signal, I start storing my school supplies and the rest of the class started doing the same.

I shouldn´t worry too much about it, we are going with a professor. He surely must have things ready in case of something happening.

Besides, in the worst case—

—I haven´t gone anywhere truly unarmed in many years.

-Line Break-

In the same forest grounds we were just yesterday.

The sounds of growling and something hitting against metal.

Across a clearing, our professor stands next to a metal cage with his weapon in hand.

Between us and the armed man.

—A girl dressed in a white dress awaits with a rapier.

"So, how does it feel students? Being outside the safety of that one finds in the city walls without a single weapon, at any moment Grimm could swarm us and what could you do without anything to kill them with?

If any of you feel the slightest fear, then I recommend that you try to remember that feeling within yourself. That feeling of powerless is something that civilians that aren´t lucky enough to live inside the kingdoms have to live with at every turn."

He speaks with the same animated tone as always.

Some of the students start moving their eyes, scanning every bush or tree, and without realizing it, a good amount of them group up together.

"The duty of the Huntsman is to install a sense of safety and relief on the people. No matter how strong a Huntsman gets, no one can keep fighting forever, so if the negative emotions of the people never cease then the result is already spelled before they manage to kill a single Beowolf.

—Still, there is no reason for any of you to worry. I´m here, and there is not a single creature in this entire forest that can get past me!"

The professor smacks a fist into his chest while letting out a hearty laugh.

There is no actual reason as to why any of the students, bar some, should feel any discomfort.

While most Huntsman and Huntresses depend on a weapon to fight effectively, they aren´t completely inexperienced in hand-to-hand combat. There are plenty of students here that should be able to deal with something like a Beowolf empty-handed without any real trouble.

It´s also true that if something like that Deathstalker from the initiation came out, most wouldn´t be able to do much in that situation.

If that were the case, the only professional Huntsman here should be able to handle it.

I start putting myself next to Jaune, just in case. Following my example, with a similar reason with a different target, Mikasa does the same to me.

—Shortly after Pyrrha comes too, is she doing it for the same reasons or does she just want to be with everyone else?

"Well, we have spent enough time with the chit-chat, don´t you agree Ms. Scheene? Just tell me when you are ready, and I will release our little prey for the day. Don´t be too harsh on him, a quick execution should be just enough."

A silent nod was the only response the laughing man received.

The girl in white started concentrating while pushing her rapier forward.

Her stance lowered and her eyes narrowed.

The professor uses the axe part of his weapon to break open the lock of the cage he was right next to

"Woo! You can do it Ice queen!"

"Be careful, snow angel! "

"Do our team proud Weiss!"

"—Silence, you bunch of vociferous oafs! Don´t you see I´m in the middle of someth-ING!"

At the same moment the lock was destroyed, Yang, Jaune, and Ruby exploded with cheers of encouragement.

In response the girl in front of us, not only managed to trip herself but she was also distracted by screaming back. And at that moment of distraction.

—A beast of black and white charges into her like a stampeding bull.

"Don´t forget the most important rule child, eyes always on the target!"

The girl in white barely manages to spin away from the attack.

She jumps away and makes a five-meter distance between her and the creature.

A body similar to that of a wild hog, with a heavily armored upper body and large tusks, made to penetrate its victims.

A Boarbatusk stands in its four feet, completely focused on slaughtering the girl that just dodged it.

"—!"

There is no hesitation with the creature, it charges once again kicking the dirt off the ground as it goes.

As the distance between the Grimm and the student is less than two meters.

The girl side-stepped out of the tusk's reach while thrusting her blade towards her enemy´s head.

From here, I can see the barely noticeable scratch the blade leaves on the white skull-like armor.

Like that, the battle continues in a manner similar to a matador who uses an edgeless weapon and an enraged bull.

A monster recklessly charging forward and a small warrior that twirls around while using her rapier.

Neither has managed to affect the other in a significant manner.

The girl´s weapon cannot penetrate the natural armor of the Grimm and the beast is never agile enough to skewered its victim.

The huntress-in-training moves as if she was a weightless leaf in the wind.

With practiced and lithe movements, she avoids the charges leaving herself only a small window of opportunity.

The boar-like creature is graceless in comparison, but every action it takes is like a tireless machine that can continue all day if it needs to.

Even when it receives attack after attack, it continues to charge with lethal intent.

The fight cannot continue forever like this.

The two began trying to kill each other four minutes ago. They crossed each other over a dozen times now.

But Weiss should know well enough that her Aura is not infinite, with each crossing a sliver is expended.

That´s why—

"—Weiss, go for its belly! There is no armor there!"

"Y-You—!"

As a thrust directed to the Grimm´s scarlet eye was made, a scream echoed through the forest.

The loud shout of her leader caused her hand to twitch and miss the target.

Taking advantage of the situation, the rapier was stuck between the monster tusks.

A single mistake changed the flow of the battle.

"Gah—!"

A single twist and push.

That was all it took for the weapon and its wielder to be sent flying in different directions.

A white figure skips on the grass, like a stone thrown towards a lake, she stops several meters away from her attacker.

That must have taken at least a good amount of her Aura.

"... Juvenile...Aggravating...Unruly...Rascal...Runny-nose brat."

She stands up uninjured while muttering something, her white dress now covered in dirt and her face struck in an angry scowl.

I don´t think that anger is directed towards her enemy, but fortunately, the monster will probably be used to relieve it.

The girl takes out small two vials from the insides of her dress, one red and the other light blue.

Unable to understand the murderous emotions of the girl, the Boarbatusk leaps forward to deal the finishing blow.

"—!"

The Grimm roared as the distance between the two was closed to less than two meters.

At that moment, beneath Weiss´s feet, a detailed white circle of light appeared. Jumping over the attacking beast, the blue vial that was still on her hand was pushed forward.

And just as the charging monster went over the white light it suddenly changed colors.

—White becomes light blue and the fight was finished in that instant.

A tall spike made of ice appears from beneath the Grimm, piercing its unarmored stomach.

The wound is fatal, not even the creatures of darkness can live after such injury. But it seems that the girl didn´t intend to let it die like that.

As it let out a screech of anguish, a red light appears within its open maw.

—A burst of flames ends the life of the Boarbatusk.

"Bravo! Splendid! Extraordinary! You may have committed a few blunders here and there, but that quick wit and viciousness at the end! Truly a promising start for what seems a true Huntress-in-training.

My, back when I was your age I almost couldn´t have done a better job myself."

"... Thank you, professor."

Even from here, I can see that she isn´t particularly happy after her victory,

Her back is as straight as possible while her hands rest on her back, tighten into a fist.

The vials she used are now colorless and discarded on the ground.

"So that one was her doing..."

Yesterday, there was a moment where somebody used their Semblance to summon those white lights to help me get to Ruby when my speed wasn´t enough.

After everything that happened, I ended up forgetting about it.

I hadn´t seen the girl until after Mikasa and I had gotten the relic from the ruin, so...

—Did she use her Semblance while falling down the sky?

After a few more words, the professor dismissed Weiss. She made her way back to the rest of the students, and the anger on her face made my eyes follow her.

Her team welcomed her back with a loud cheer, well at least Ruby and Yang did.

Her partner not only cheered but also raised both her hands

"High five partner! That move at the end was..."

"—Hmph."

"...Great..."

The motion was completely ignored by the snow-white girl.

She simply let out a harrumph and moved her head to the side, I guess she wasn´t particularly fond of her leader gesture.

Before any further development could happen there, my attention was drawn by the Professor.

"What did all of you think of that fight? Did it get your blood pumping, ready to go out into the world, saving villages and slaying monsters? How difficult could it be right? Just now your classmate exterminated one such monster right in front of your eyes."

The usual enthusiastic tone that I had come to expect from the man´s voice slowly drained itself.

An ominous atmosphere draped itself over everyone in the forest.

With a stone-cold face and a matching voice, he continued.

"If the world worked that way, everything would be much easier. Alas, such a reality doesn´t exist. Grimm like the one Miss Scheene just dealt with, they are mostly the least anyone who expects to pass your first year at Beacon has to manage to easily hunt, if they want to pass to the second year that is.

Creatures like that are the standard that most Huntsmen or Huntresses deal with will protecting a village outside a kingdom reach, of course, they have to at least be capable enough to fight several of them at the same time while making sure to keep the civilians safe, not an easy task in the least."

He stops himself for a moment as if to think about what he wants to say.

I´m brought back to the times back in the cabin, meeting various Grimm of that caliber was a daily occurrence near Strumbella. The huntsmen, like Mr. Raeburn, who worked in the village usually took advantage of the walls or used mounted weapons to deal with the more numerous encounters.

The moment one of the walls was breached and the mounted weapons were destroyed...

"And even when one only has to concern themselves with such creatures, weak enough to be considered prey, then everything still can turn for the worse. Some Huntsmen and Huntresses die on duty, from time-to-time villages are swarmed and destroyed leaving nothing more than a few survivors to tell the dark tale.

Of course, they aren´t the only things that exist to threaten the people, more unique and powerful Grimm roam the lands, capable enough to deal with your normal Huntsman by themself, they alone are enough to also destroy a village if they are unlucky enough to be in their path.

But they aren´t something humans and faunus can´t deal with, sooner or later such creatures are hunted down and killed. They simply aren´t a real threat to the world."

Countless people dying like that, hopeless and without anyone to save them. A reality where the death of many just can´t be helped and nothing can be done about it.

Someone saying something like that would normally get me to deny them with everything I have, but the anger that should have been inside me was replaced with dread.

Because I know what he is going to talk about next—

"I have been a Huntsman since long before any of you ever was born, I have slain countless Grimm, and before I realized it, I had also helped many people.

There wasn´t a single time I thought to myself that a situation was hopeless, I always thought that I had a chance to win against any Grimm. If they were too many or too tough for a single man to possibly handle, then I asked for help and continued fighting. Even when I failed and people died or my companions were lost, the next fight still wasn´t hopeless.

That hope was maintained for many years, until ten years ago, for the first time in many centuries an Ancient Grimm destroyed a major city."

"—"

I knew that this was what was coming.

The loud beating of my heart almost drowns out the professor's words, but I still couldn´t help the images that came into my mind.

A familiar sensation of nausea that´s usually reserved for the nights where I have the most vivid nightmares of that day.

"The tragedy of Mount Glemm, a city created to be annexed to Vale where thousands of people lived. Innumerable people of every profession had moved there, promises of safety and the dream of expanding the kingdom´s territory in hopes of a better future.

Everyone wholeheartedly believed that it was going to work, walls taller than any other on the planet, defense armament that almost matched that of the Atlas military and Huntsmen and Huntresses in great numbers to protect the innocent.

It was over in a single instant; everyone died a horrendous death and it was not the work of something like an army of Grimm but it only required a single devil, a Grimm that had to appear out of nowhere and decimated a city before disappearing once again.

Or at least that´s the leading explanation on the subject, after all, there was not a single survivor."

A tragedy where no one survived and no one was saved.

A hell where no miracles should have happened.

The thing I swore under the broken moon to never allow to happen again.

The place where Kiritsugu Emiya saved a child that had nothing.

"Unlike humans and faunus, Grimm grow in strength not thought training or learning but with the passage of the years. Give a Beowulf a couple dozens of years, and it will become an Alpha Beowulf, add a couple hundred years and they will still be considered an Alpha but with the might of at least several regular ones.

But, if you give them several millennia to grow stronger and wiser, then they become what we call Ancient Grimms. They are not something anyone can fight against, there is not a single Huntsman in recorded history that has managed to kill a single one.

Skins, scales, fur, or feathers impenetrable by steel, massive bodies comparable to mountains capable of eclipsing the sun, and intellects incomparable to their younger kins. That´s the kind of monster that no human can compete against. Of course, legends do speak of warriors capable of killing such behemoths with nothing more than a flick of their sword, but I have never seen such a thing."

I have spent years following behind Kiritsugu´s footsteps.

I develop every kind of sword that came into my mind trying to improve.

I trained my body as much as I could to be able to prevent something like what happened to be repeated.

But, if such a monster appeared outside the city right now, then I would simply die like an ant who faced an elephant.

As the man finish talking, the seriousness of his tone was leaving him and the usual persona of the professor came back.

He stood before us, with his weapon gripped in one hand and a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"—What´s with all those grim expressions kids? Are you worried about how the kingdoms still stand to this day with such fierce enemies? —Heh.

Honestly, you shouldn´t be so afraid, what happened that day was a tragedy like few others but it was something that hasn´t occurred ever before for a very simple reason. The older the Grimm gets, the less likely it is from wasting its life attacking a settlement, even if those old things aren´t exactly in danger when going against a kingdom they still have never directly attacked.

They supposedly spend all their time in deep slumber doing nothing else but collecting dust, once every dozen years, one of them wakes up and wanders without doing much for a while but they never bother attacking anyone.

At most, a village with extremely bad luck might be in its path. They aren´t something you should actually worry about, it´s not like any of you could do anything in that situation."

The man continued talking but not a single word of his entered my brain.

The nauseating memories of that night are gone now, only senseless indignity fills my body now.

Not directed at the man, but at myself, for not being able to deny out loud everything he just said.

I clench my fist as tightly as I can, I dispel every doubt in my mind by force.

It doesn't matter how hopeless it is, if I´m in that situation then I need to be able—

"—!"

—I search within me for several identical swords, they are slender and long.

The first one is in my hand for less than a second before it was thrown away.

Moments after that the second blade, identical to the previous one, is already in my hand

A sudden noise comes from the bushes near the grouped-up students, three black blurs jump out lethal intent, claws ready to shred flesh.

The third sword is already flying in the air, reflecting the light that comes through the treetops.

—Three Beowulf and three lethal gray lights

Before they managed to get any of the students, their chests were pierced by steel.

They land of ground near a particular tall first year, I was sure that someone else was there before, did he change place with his teammates?

His wide eyes narrowed after a second and he is already scoffing at me.

"This again Emiya? I told you already, we don´t need your help. You should do something about that ugly mug you call a face, if you save a civilian from a Grimm with that look on, they will probably prefer getting eaten alive.

Besides, where did you learn to throw knives around like that, the circus?"

"I was just taking care of something that probably was my fault, sorry for bothering you. And, once again, thanks for the concern, Cardin."

The tall boy just makes an unsightly expression before turning away.

Insulting comments regarding my height aside, I probably had a really bad face earlier.

"Remarkable response time mister Emiya! It´s not exactly polite etiquette to steal the game from your teacher, but I like that youthfulness. It reminds me of the days where I still was a student...

I would assign extra points for such a demonstration of constant vigilance, but Glynda has been really uptight with me on those last year, so instead, I will give you something better, next class I will let you request an anecdote about my many feats battling the creatures of darkness.

Any monster you could think of, I´m sure one of their kind has fallen to this trusty weapon of mine."

"Um...Thanks for the honor?"

The man laughs from his belly as he lowers his weapon, the professor already had it aimed towards the Beowulfs before they were killed.

I can´t say that I understand what he means about the next class and anecdotes, so I will just ignore it for now.

I start making my way to the disintegrating corpses when I realize something.

"Huh...?"

"..."

I look towards one of my hands, the one I didn't use to throw the swords earlier.

My fingers are gripping tightly onto Mikasa´s hand, and I don´t remember when did that even happened. I quickly let go, and an unwanted heat flows up my head.

"—I´m sorry, I didn´t notice earlier...Are you okay?"

"The one who should be asking that question is me, and you don´t need to apologize for something that I did on my own."

I´m not embarrassed or saying sorry just because I was holding her hand.

She must have slipped her hand on my own when she realized what the professor was going to talk about. I started to forcefully close my hands into fists without even noticing, she should be fine but that´s still no excuse.

As I started to go collect my swords, a student´s somewhat insecure voice reaches my ears

"Professor, those Grimm you spoke about earlier... Are you saying that we shouldn´t try to stop them if we see one of those attacking a village? Isn´t that against what we are training to become?"

"Oh, Miss Rose—? Are you saying that you would try to fight them even if you couldn't accomplish anything?"

"You can´t know if something is impossible until you try! Even if I fail, that doesn´t mean I can´t accomplish anything. We´re are here to try and make a better future for the entire world. That´s not going to happen if we just stand around doing nothing."

I pick up my scattered blades from the ground, but my fingers are numb.

The redhead girl speaks as if she didn´t have a single doubt in what she believes in.

As if the world impossible didn´t exist in her reality.

—The professor simply laughs good-naturedly in response, a full smile on his face.

"Hahaha. I can´t say I have ever seen someone miss the point of a lesson so much in my entire career as a teacher. That´s certainly impressive in its own right Miss Rose, but I guess that´s also a good showcase of youth.

But it seems you didn´t understand at all about what happens when those kinds of Grimm appear."

"—Eh?"

"In the extremely rare cases when their path intersects with a village or town, the Huntsmen's priority is to do everything in their power to evacuate as many of the civilians as possible. At those times the negative emotions of the people attract enough Grimm to make it impossible for them to survive on their own."

"Oh... That makes sense, hehehe..."

A blush flourishes in Ruby´s face as she awkwardly scratches the back of her head.

It seems that her actions slightly broke the ominous mood of the forest... except for the small white-haired girl at her side, she is glaring at her partner with an impressive intensity.

The professor speaks once more.

"And there is another misunderstanding that I need to address, I simply wanted to teach you, kids, that some battles are simply impossible to win but that doesn´t mean that there is no Huntsman or Huntresses that fought against such monsters.

As you can all see in front of you, there is no shortage of prodigious warriors. Famous Huntsmen, known for fighting against armies of Grimm by their lonesome and coming up unscathed appear throughout history.

Those types of warriors have tried multiple times to kill Ancient Grimms whenever they came out of their sleep, but without an exception, not a single one managed to accomplish it in the end."

-Line Break-

"Jeez, does every professor in the world likes to hear their own voice so much? Port isn´t anywhere need as bad as Oobleck but still."

"You shouldn´t say that Jaune. I´m sure that there was some meaning to that tale about how that village celebrated for three days after he killed that Ursa Major."

"Oh, yeah? And what would that hidden lesson be then, Pyrrha-?

"Um... Well..."

I caught a conversation between teammates as I entered our room.

After Professor Port ended his talk on Ancient Grimm, he used the remaining class time to speak of one of his experiences as a Huntsman.

Making a story about monster hunting and how he rescued a village sound boring would be close to impossible. I don´t know he managed to send a previously disturbed class bored enough to almost start sleeping while standing.

"Shirou, are you done searching for whatever you were looking for? If we don´t hurry up we are going to miss the next Bullhead heading out to the city."

"Yes, I already got that thing I need Jaune. Thankfully the kitchen staff is quite helpful when a student asks them for something."

I pat the pocket of my uniform jacket, where the item I went to search for was.

In the room, Jaune and Pyrrha were standing talking to each other while Mikasa was sitting on her bed reading something on her scroll. She was never one to use her Scroll back during our childhood, but then again is not like we had much to do with them back then.

Jaune´s voice starts up once more.

"Since everything is ready, I announce that team ANMS first unofficial mission has started. We will march towards the school docking bay!"

"—?"

Words one would expect from a leader come out of him.

Didn´t that sound weirdly familiar to something he already said today?

I wasn´t the only one to notice, as three pairs of eyes lock on our resident blond.

""...""

"Okay, maybe I only read the first entry in ´10 phrases Great leaders says every day´. To read more you need to pay for a subscription fee and the site was kind of sketchy..."

"Ah, it wasn´t...bad for someone who has been a leader for one day, right guys?"

His partner asks us with a tentative voice and half a smile on her face.

In the first place, what is a good or bad thing to say for a team leader?

As I ponder that, Jaune's expectant face and Mikasa who is starting to say something come into my view.

I hurry myself to say anything.

"Y-Yeah! The first thing I thought when I heard you was that it was something a team leader would say. It might be better to try to say something more natural, one can get better from trying and failing. No matter how badly they do it."

"Right, right! It wasn´t bad for our first day! —Wait, what you said there at the end..."

"Look at the time, we need to run or we´ll miss the bullhead!"

"Eh? Don´t evade the question, Shirou!"

I quickly make my way towards the door

I needed to stop Mikasa from responding to that question, knowing her she might have been too harsh.

At the same, I had to say something a bit rude, we can´t have Jaune saying that kind of phrase to everything we do together.

I twist the handle of the door and—

"Woah—!"

"I´m done! I can´t handle your childishness anymore! I´ve worked too much for this, and I can´t afford to for spent four years futilely

following some naïve, inexperienced child that somehow managed to trick the school into believing that she belonged here!"

"Weiss, wait! Where are you going!?"

"I´m going to demand to the headmaster to explain to me how you of all people managed to become my leader. When he admits that he suffered a temporary case of dementia, someone truly fit for the role will lead us."

The moment I left the room, a speeding body of white almost collides with me.

After I twist my body to barely avoid it, a blur of red passes centimeters to my side following after the existing white

With less than a second to stabilize myself, flowing yellow hair covers my line of sight.

"Ruby, don´t run off on your own!"

I dumbfoundedly watch as three parts of team RWBY chase one another. The situation of our neighboring team doesn´t look too well yet.

But isn´t someone missing—?

"—"

To my side, a girl with a black bow on her head stands at the door of her room.

Head half peeking out of her book to look at the back of her retreating teammates.

Our eyes intersect, and I notice how her face scrunches itself for a quick moment before returning to a non-plus expression.

A question leaves me before I realize it.

"Did something happen between those two—?"

"—It seems that way."

And with that abrupt answer to my question, the girl returns to her room while closing the door.

The heavy slam of the wooden construct overpowers even the hasty sounds of the retreating footsteps.

Only the four members of my team remain in the hall.

I break the silence with an unintended mutter.

"That was weird..."

I don´t mean the three girls who left in a hurry, but the teammate that was left behind.

I haven´t noticed it before, I assumed that that girl was simply weird but—

Shaking me out of my train of thought, Pyrrha's voice comes from my side.

"Shirou, are you okay? I don´t want to hurry you but we are really going to miss the bullhead if we don´t leave now"

"Ah, yes. Of course, let´s get going."

We start making our way out of the dorm building.

Silence is our fifth invisible companion, everyone must be in their own head at the moment,

I glance to our leader, who is walking ahead with a troubled expression on his face.

The same one he had at lunch when Ruby and Weiss had a fight.

"Was that also a wrong assumption—?"

The whisper that came out of me was near inaudible.

I had thought that he was worried about Ruby and how she would be feeling but now that I think about it more, there is one other possibility.

Does he take Weiss complaints as valid for him as well?

"Everything alright Jaune? You look like someone asked you to cook a bizarre dinner they saw somewhere and after tasting one bite said it was ´Horrible´"

"W-What? I´m fine Shirou, I was just thinking about something Weiss said...

And that was an oddly specific example, are you okay Shirou?"

"Yes, after so many classes today I might be feeling nostalgic and remember an old teacher of mine.

Anyways, you shouldn´t worry too much about what she said. Just try to do your best."

"Are you sure? I was thinking that if she was that angry maybe I shouldn´t ask her out today.

But if you think that, then maybe I should try to talk to her when we get back-?"

Ask her out—? What in the world is he talking about?

I guess there were actually two other options of what he would worry about.

I look at Mikasa who was a step or two behind me. Her expression didn´t change much, but she was looking towards our blond with what looks like doubt.

"—!"

We continue walking, and when we reach the halfway point.

Someone grabs me by the wrist of my left arm and pulls me back. I don´t even need to look to know that such treatment can only come from my partner.

"Shirou, what are you going to do?"

"... I´m still thinking about it. He already made his choice, even if he might not know it."

I was planning to use the shopping trip as an excuse to search for the two assassins from yesterday, with their injuries they should be hiding somewhere in the city.

If there are people attacking people with combat training, going around in shady areas with our uniforms should be enough to draw attention to us.

Mikasa is one thing, she is strong enough to at least escape if the situation turns bad.

But Jaune would...

"If you believed that then you wouldn´t be thinking about it."

"…."

I don´t know why Jaune came into this school without training.

But being a Huntsman means living with death constantly at your side. If you take up a weapon against others then it doesn´t even have to be said that they will do the same to you.

As long as he stays at Beacon, sooner or later, he is going to risk his life, me taking a risk today and taking him to search with us wouldn´t change that.

—My teeth clash and grind against each other.

I can´t do it.

After we have dinner, I will make sure that he gets into a bullhead with Pyrrha and goes back to Beacon. I can still look around after that, even If I have to take Mikasa with me.

If something happens before that then I...

"..."

"Wha—at...?"

I must have sounded really stupid, elongating that world like that.

But I can´t help it, a visage powerful enough to numb my brain and make me feel like weird drugs were injected into my bloodstream.

Mikasa is smiling, but not like she does from time to time, it looks like she had just found something precious.

My heart beats at an irregular pace, an off-tempo orchestra that reaches my ears.

"—You face is read again Shirou..."

"Huh...? It´s not that! The sun is just making it look weird. At this time of the day everything looks red."

It surely must be the light of the soon-to-sink sun, that also explains the heat that comes from my cheeks.

Man, what kind of kid am I? Getting caught up by something like a smile, and then forgetting what was upsetting me.

I look away while concentrating on controlling my heartbeat.

—At least, now I can think a bit more clearly.

I can´t do anything about Jaune´s situation, so I will just protect him when the moment comes. As long as he doesn´t die and he continues to be a student at Beacon he should grow more capable by training as time passes.

The assassinations on Vale aren´t related to our team, I will deal with the situation by myself. After dinner, I´ll make sure Jaune and Pyrrha get on a bullhead to Beacon, and then I will stay there searching with Mikasa.

Flying vehicles slowly come into view, becoming clearer step by step. I pat the pocket of my jacket and make sure the item I searched for before was still there.

The sound of paper rustling can be heard the moment my hand makes contact.

"Jaune..."

"Yes—?"

As we are about to get on board, someone calls out our leader. Mikasa is looking at him, this might actually be the first time they properly talk to each other.

A brief pause, as three people look at one girl.

A bad feeling suddenly warps around me

"—Don´t vomit on my scarf."

"It´s not like that happens every time! And I can´t help myself if my motion sickness flares up!

One out of three people in the world suffer from it at least once in their life, but people still don´t recognize how big of an issue it is..."

I hope the paper bags in my pocket go unused.

-Line Break-

"It´s was an honor to have someone like you in my store. Please, come back any time you need anything, even if we don´t have it we´ll our best to get it for you."

"No, it´s always my pleasure to meet with an old acquiesce. I greatly appreciate the special discount you gave my friends. Next time I know to come straight to this shop."

"Don´t even mention it, Pyrrha. After all, the lines of products you promoted last year sell excellently well. It´s a shame that your manager has rejected all our offers since the year began."

"It´s unfortunate, but from this year onwards my full focus will be on becoming the best Huntress I can be. Anything else will have to wait until after I finish my first year, at the very least."

Pyrrha and a middle-aged man exchange polite goodbyes to one another.

I stand awkwardly at the side of the conversation going on.

The light weight of numerous bags from various stores rests in my hands. Even if almost half the stuff we bought today was for me, the man hasn´t directed a single sentence to me or anyone else but Pyrrha.

I can´t say that bothers me too much, but I don´t think that´s appropriate behavior for a store owner.

After our teammate finishes her talk, I give a final nod in thanks to the man and start to leave.

Mikasa, who is also carrying various bags, and Jaune follow along.

After we exit the large sports store, the forced smile on Pyrrha finally leaves her face for the first time in the last 30 minutes.

"I´m really sorry about this, it´s my fault that we took so long finishing. Some people normally want to talk to me when they recognize me but it´s usually not as bad as today. Having worked together before didn´t help the situation."

"No, actually, it should be me that´s sorry. You are accompanying us while we shop for ourselves and had to deal with something like that. In the end, we had to spend much less money than what I planned, so even if we had to spend a bit more time it can´t be said that we suffered any loss.

And I also managed to get us stuck wasting time before, so you can´t honestly say it´s your fault."

I respond to the apologetic girl while we walk.

The dark streets are brightened by the street lights that populate the sidewalks every so often.

While she didn´t make any indication of it, I can´t imagine it´s pleasant having to talk so long with people when you just want to go and normally buy something.

"Even if you say that, I'm still sorry. We could have finished an hour ago, if not earlier. And doing stuff like that isn´t something that I can complain about, it´s literally what I signed for after my first tournament."

"Is that something that someone that came up to me because I had a jacket full of vomit that kept people away—?"

"Ha ha ha..."

An awkward laugh and a blush are the only things that she responds with.

Jaune, walking ahead while being suspiciously quiet almost trips himself at the mention of that accident. Still, since a while ago he hasn´t said a single word.

Ah—!

"You know Pyrrha, you didn´t just manage to save Mikasa and us some lien. Going for how dark it is, it´s probably too late to go to that sushi place anymore. Jaune´s wallet will surely thank you as well."

"O-Oh, what? It´s that late already? I didn´t even notice, time does fly when you are out having fun with your team. I was looking forward to treating everyone, it´s too bad but if we go now, we would miss the last bullhead to Beacon. If that happens who knows what Goodwitch would do to us, we could be expelled on the spot."

Our blond leader stops dead on his feet for just a moment, badly lies to our faces, and continues on.

His steps manage to grow faster while advancing less than before, clearly worried about his financial safety. He turns around and while walking in reverse he continues to talk.

"Besides, we shouldn´t stay out so late, we still have to wake up early enough to eat breakfast before class. And today seems oddly dangerous in Vale, Shirou managed to stop two muggers just walking around. Even if it was seriously cool when he used those weird martial arts move to throw down the man that had stolen a purse."

"...He did manage to show his talent for finding trouble anywhere he goes..."

—Putting aside the subdued complaint from Mikasa, I can´t say that I agree with Jaune.

First of all, a shoulder throw barely can be considered a martial arts move.

It´s also not that weird for someone to witness a couple of low-level crimes per day in Vale if they keep their eyes open. Without going out of my way to search for them, I lost count of how many times I had to wait for the police with some kind of criminal in the last month.

Beacon´s uniform was quite useful today, normally I had to talk for a long time with the police officer that came into the scene but with a single glance at our clothes, the process was made much quicker.

The conversation dies down before being resurrected as Jaune and Pyrrha start talking about something related to cereal.

I move along with everyone, while not paying too much attention to the topic. The bags on my hand rustle together with each of my movements and it makes me think about their contents.

—I wonder if Pyrrha got offended when we refused those training jerseys...?

We bought many things, aprons, sleep-wear, casual clothing, and workout attires, we were in a bit of a hurry so we didn´t spend any time trying what we ended up buying.

And when we got to the last shop, a place specialized in sports equipment, the owner offered us a bunch of items free of charge. The problem was, that each of one them had either the name or face of Pyrrha on them.

We obviously had to reject them, no matter how much money we could have saved.

I look around and take notice of the one thing that´s different today compared to the day Mikasa and I arrived at the city.

It´s undoubtedly late at night but the liveness of we had once seen is all but gone. The number of people out and about after sundown has severely decreased since the assassinations began, a clear show of distress from the population.

I definitely have to...

—Up, many meters up from the streets, a woman is there.

On top of a building with many floors, at a distance that should be impossible for any human without Aura to notice her.

A woman with black hair that flows with the wind, a red dress that reminds one of blood, decorated with golden highlights of some kind.

She is simply standing there, looking out into the endless dark of sky in front of her, feeling the wind and—

…. Smiling.

Why? The woman is certainly beautiful but it wouldn´t be the first time I have seen such a thing.

Then why? Why am so captivated by this sight?

Her smile is nothing like the one I saw today from Mikasa, my heart doesn´t beat nearly as fast.

So, what´s the thing that her smile reminds me of?

"—!"

An impact on my side makes me stumble, a firm hold of my shoulders by a surprised Mikasa is what stops me.

I look around and easily find the source of the collation.

A man that looks no older than thirty, carrying a little girl in his hands, who was almost sent tumbling down after our shoulders hit each other.

"I´m really sorry! I was being stupid and not paying attention to where I was going at all. Are both of you, okay?"

"Don´t get so worked out about small things man! It was also my fault there, it´s a good thing the little devil sleeps like a log after her playtime in the park. We could probably get into a fight and she wouldn´t even twitch a brow."

The man with a big smile waves one of his hands in front of himself, his state of dress almost enough for me to forget about my worry.

He is wearing a leather outfit that would perfectly fit in a biker gang, except for two little details... the bright pink hair on top of his head and the thick glasses on his face.

The contrast between those things is nothing compared to the dissonance between him and the doll-like girl in his arms. She is dressed in a frilly black and white dress and her long white hair is decorated with expensive-looking bows

"You all look like cute children and I would love to stay and have a nice chat, but I need to drop her in bed. It´s dangerous outside these days, so the four of you should go home. See you later kiddo"

"Hey, wait a second—!"

The strange man quickly says strange things and leaves without turning back even when I raise my voice.

He turns into the first intersection and disappears from my view within seconds.

"What a peculiar guy, his clothes were pretty cool even if they didn´t look exactly right... he was totally kidnapping that girl, wasn't he—?"

Jaune's voice tinged itself with more concern after each word was spoken.

It´s not like the possibility didn´t enter my mind but—

"... No, he may have looked out of place with her but I´m sure he wasn´t harming her."

I can´t say why, but something tells me that girl wasn´t being abducted.

It´s strange, for some reason, I could bet anything on that feeling.

A tug on my shoulder turns me around.

"Shirou, it´s not like you to bump into someone. Did he pickpocket your wallet or scroll?"

"—Um, no, it was my fault I was actually distracted because I was looking at that woman..."

"... Woman—?"

I take my eyes off Mikasa and look back up to the building from before.

Noone was there, as if who I saw before was nothing more than an illusion.

A foreboding feeling creeps inside me as if I had just made a grave mistake.

"..."

O-Oh

The look of a girl who had just seen an unsightly bug. Her long dark hair shadows her eyes, an iciness that sends chillness deep into my bones.

I want to say that it was a misunderstanding, but at the same time, for some reason, I feel the need to apologize.

"I´m sorry, that was my bad."

"...Don´t say you are sorry if you don´t know why..."

A tired and heavy sigh escapes Mikasa´s lips while she moves ahead, the words she whispered were too low for me to hear.

She tugs me forward, and the short incident is forgotten as quickly as it went.

While catching up to her, I passed to the standing pair of our teammates. Jaune is, for some reason, sagely nodding to himself. In Pyrrha´s case, she is just looking between me and Mikasa, clear interest painted on her face.

We made our way back towards the same place the bullhead drop us off a couple of hours ago.

The previously meager amount of people on the streets diminishes until only we inhabit the asphalt.

The more we advance, the more it seems like we are the only ones that exist in the world.

—Until a foreign being easily invades the tranquil world of four.

"Haa... What a waste of time. I shouldn´t have come all the way here. Still, it´s weird that my instincts are wrong..."

—It´s going to be a massacre.

The invader´s bored voice grates my ear canals.

A disgusting taste rises from my stomach up to my mouth.

My body lacks any strength, so even gulping down the bile on my throat is impossible.

I´m scared, no it´s not my mind... -My body is terrified of the man that appeared before us.

—He will kill us.

It wasn´t that he appeared out of thin air, the man was simply standing in front of us the whole time.

We simply didn´t notice until he allowed us to.

I don´t question how he did such a thing, it´s meaningless.

Logic doesn´t apply to him, because he isn´t human.

"I came looking for a fierce animal and what do I find? A black cat that can only think of protecting their kitten."

—We will die.

I observe the man lazily pointing at Mikasa.

He wears the skin of a normal man very well. His average-looking face is crowned by long and unruly black hair full of dirt, and he clothes his body with a well-used piece of fabric.

A piece of wood shaped like a sword is tucked in his belt and on his back a long object wrapped in white cloth.

"...A boring clown that fools themself and dulls their weapon."

—He will kill us and we will die.

His finger moved towards Pyrrha.

He even mimics human mannerism pretty well but the truth is apparent to anyone, he isn´t human.

If I had to compare him to anything, he would be a beast driven mad by hunger.

"... a stranded fake, whose swords hold no weight."

—He will kill them.

His eyes meet mine the moment I noticed him and that hasn´t stopped since but even when he started speaking about me, he hasn´t acknowledged my existence. He just looks at me like one would a brick on a wall.

He doesn´t emit any murderous intent, there is no hostility in his voice or actions.

But that doesn´t matter at all, he is going to use his sword to kill everyone here.

When water makes contact with your body, you get wet. When someone touches a flame, they get burned. When anyone meets this man, they are devoured and killed.

"—You might actually have what I´m looking for... I can´t get any read from you, to have reached that mastery at such a young age...not bad."

—I need to do anything, for just one second.

His finger finally lands on Jaune.

Since that thing decided to confront us, less than thirty seconds have passed.

My body is still out of order, but I can still force it to move forward.

I need to create an opening, Mikasa should be able to get the other two to safety if I give her that one second even if I die immediately after.

He stops talking.

This should be it, he is going to make his move now, I need to parry it and counter-attack with everything I have.

I grit my teeth and everything slows down, I can´t afford to move after him.

I need to predict his lethal attack perfectly before it happens, a single mistake and they will die.

"—Run away as fast as you can, I will give take care of him."

"...!"

The muddled voice that speaks isn´t mine but Mikasa´s.

How can she say something like that with an expression full of fear and a body that barely responds!? She doesn´t even have her swords, is she planning to fight him unarmed!?

It wasn´t much time, maybe shorter than the time it takes me to blink.

"—Crap...!"

My mind never completely left the man in front of us, but that minimal distraction proved fatal.

He began moving, not showing a hint of his hostility before I could see his attack coming.

Two swords are in my hands that are already moving, I begin to kick the floor to advance.

—But it´s all useless

"W-what?"

I spit a choked question while befuddling looking at the man.

He turned around and started to walk away.

Without realizing it, my heart and lungs resume working from their frozen state. Stickness can be felt everywhere on my body from my falling cold sweat.

The loud gulps of my teammates are barely audible over the beating of my heart.

They are most likely in a similar state to me, but I can´t know for certain.

The back of the retreating figure captured my eyes and holds them captive.

I...

"—You. You are involved with what´s happening in the city."

"Shirou no-!"

My words come out with a strange firmness, even as I disregard my partner's call for reason.

A pair of hands are holding me in place with great strength, but I shrug them off while stepping forward.

The man stops but doesn´t turn back.

"You aren´t wrong. Saying that there is a connection between those who died and me isn´t completely wrong even if it isn´t exactly right either."

His apathetic voice responds as if asking me ´so what? ´

I tighten the grip of the swords in my hands.

But before I can say anything-

"You are going to use them to make me tell you? You are at least not as dull as I first thought, but I don´t feel like telling you. If you want to know you are going to have to show me what I´m looking for."

He mocks me with indifference, to him those who died or will die have no meaning.

It´s neither a surprise nor am I enraged.

Even if something wears human skin, it doesn´t mean they should act like a human.

"Show you...? What are you talking about?"

"—The other side."

—The distant image of my dreams, that which is always distant flashes through my mind-

Finally, he turns around and grips the hilt of his wooden sword.

There are fifteen meters between the two of us.

His eyes, no longer showing boredom turn ravenous. They transparently show his intention, this time he will pierce my heart.

From this distance, I should be able to react in time no matter how fast he is.

—But, he isn´t the first to move.

A black blur flies forward from behind me at the speed of sound.

She doesn´t have any weapon but she still launches an attack.

What follows is something that surpasses logic itself.

The wooden blade is swung with an inhuman velocity that surpasses the quickest speed.

The wind is cut in a perfect half-moon arc.

By pure instinct, the girl manages to block the attack using her arm.

But it wasn´t nearly enough.

"M—!"

I wasn´t allowed to finish the name.

As Mikasa is flung towards the side like a bullet, he is already here.

I hear the noise of something being smashed as my vision turns white for a moment.

I become weightless as my body leaves the ground and like a cannonball, I crash into something.

"Gck—!"

A female grunt of pain and the hard sensation of the floor.

My eyes slowly start working again but spots fill my vision while pain explodes from my chest.

At the very least most of my ribs fractured after my aura shattered, my body should still be able to fight but I can´t put energy into it.

"—If you can show me what´s beyond, then I will tell you what you want to know so much. If you can´t I will just kill you next time we meet."

He looks down on the one he defeated in one blow.

On the floor next to me is Pyrrha, who must have been what I struck mid-air, she has a hand extended in preparation to do something.

Only two people are standing, Jaune who is currently stuck still not knowing what to do while that man is already walking away.

"...agh!...Ah...ha!"

Pained moans escape my gritted teeth and force my numbed body to stand.

That man defeated Mikasa and me in less than a second, a swing, closing the gap, and a thrust all made in a single motion with the quickest speed.

My knees are barely capable of maintaining themself straight.

The man is leisurely getting away, doing whatever he pleases.

He appears and leaves at a whim, like a devilish wraith that roams the planet looking for victims.

The moment he disappears, the uncomfortable sensation of imminent death that my body felt disappears. The relief of someone about to be hanged that was allowed to live doesn't come.

I can only think about one thing

—A lead, no matter how unreachable, to stop whatever has been happening in the city.

-Line Break-

"Okay! Okay! Okay!"

I look to the boy who currently is pacing back and forth in the confines of our dorm room while talking to himself.

He had been mostly silent on our way back, even after we arrived while I started storing what we bought he still haven´t talked much.

It seems that whatever he was thinking about was either resolved or pushed aside.

His hands move through his yellow hair, making it a complete mess.

"New team rule Shirou! That, that thing you just did! Never again, we are a no-suicide team from today on. Whenever we meet some... something like whatever that man was, we are going to opt by not the smart choice but the living choice.

Simply not provoking him into attacking us and turning us into human ground beef. "

He stops to say that, his words carry obvious annoyance.

To who it´s directed and whatever it´s right or not is not even a question.

"I understand that what I did today was a mistake. Because of what I did you were in danger you didn´t have to be. That´s a mistake I´m not going to make again."

"..."

He doesn´t say anything back, but his expression turns ugly nonetheless

At the side of the room, Pyrrha acts like she paying attention to us while sitting at a desk. With the way she is acting it seems something is on her head, and that something is more important than what´s happening in front of her.

After a while, Jaune´s voice appears once more.

"... I came here to do exactly that kind of thing too. You know, facing some kind of monster and saving the day against the odds. But that man was different from just a criminal or some kind of monster, I don´t even understand why I know that, but fighting him is not the same."

His tone is increasingly downcast the more he speaks, and when his sentence is over, he simply goes and sits on his bed. He wasn´t talking to anyone in particular nor does he want a response.

I don´t know what he felt when we meet that man, but taking into consideration that even Mikasa was affected by his mere presence, someone with Jaune capabilities...

Yesterday during initiation he must certainly have felt overwhelmed but today might have felt like meeting a death god in the flesh.

I stand up, just breathing with fractured ribs should be difficult enough, one shouldn´t move at all in that case but—

My injuries were already healed by the time we arrived at the school grounds.

"Shirou? Where are you going this late?"

Pyrrha comes out of her head to ask me. It seems she was paying more attention to everything than I thought

I´m already making my way to the door, and when my hand is on the handle.

"I have been waiting to use the school´s forge since I heard about it, when Mikasa comes backs please tell her I´m going there for a bit. I will be back soon but you all can go to sleep without waiting for me."

Without waiting for a reply, I leave the room.

Just as I close the door behind me, I catch a glimpse of white hair entering the opposite room before their door is closed gently closed. Weiss was pretty agitated last time I saw her, but maybe she calmed down since?

"Where in the world are those three at this hour—!?"

A loud voice pierces through the walls to answer my unspoken question.

I start going out of the building but still, I was quite sure the dorm rooms walls were pretty thick...

As I was about to turn for the final time before reaching the main entrance of the dorm building...

"..."

"..."

My feet act before my brain and stop their advance.

In front of me, the last member of my team left our room saying she had something to do. Her school uniform was still dirtied from being sent skipping through the ground.

—But what was it she needed to do with both of her swords...?

"Were you going out to search for me? I haven´t been gone for more than ten minutes."

Her voice is cold, and her face is set in a serious scowl as she asked me something without asking what she truly wanted to know.

She has been in a bad mood since she confirmed that I wasn´t seriously hurt after that man struck me in the chest. It would be nice if it was because of how easily she was defeated but I know that her annoyance comes from me going against what I said before.

She looked very happy when I decided to prioritize Jaune´s safety over going patrolling the town but I trampled over that not much later.

"—I´m not going after him, even if I wanted to, I would just die right now if we meet again as I am now. I´m going to the forge, there is something in my head that I need to work out."

"...That´s good, make sure you don´t overdo it out there. Don´t just pass out on the floor while working late into the night, make sure to come back to sleep in your own bed."

Her expression softens somewhat when she speaks, maybe she wasn´t so angry after all?

Just as I let down my guard—

"—Proper sleep is important in a growing boy."

"—You really didn´t need to say that last part."

—An unexpected attack with dagger-like words stabs me in my unguarded back.

Forget I said anything, she is mad about it.

I scratch the back of my head while looking away, I can´t complain but this is bad.

"Huh?"

Black and white sword handles are thrust into the space in front of me.

Even without words, the request is easy for me to understand but doing something like that...

The benefits and restrictions are quite obvious to anyone that thinks about them.

But even then—

"Mikasa, are you sure about this? It might be better when we are together but those lockers the school provides us with are capable of reaching everywhere in the city. The moment you are alone you are going to be completely weaponless, it´s obvious what option is better overall."

"Before it might have been different, but now that we are at Beacon there isn´t a need for me to have them on me all day. It´s safer to have them instantly if something happens when we go out."

I can´t detect any doubt in her voice or in her eyes as they stare straight at me.

I shouldn´t accept them, without a doubt she would be safer if I don´t.

What is it that convinces me otherwise?

My hands accept them, and without waiting for more than a couple of seconds, the weapons disappear.

"You can ask for them whenever you want. There is no point in being stubborn about it if you change your mind."

"I already made my mind this morning, what happened earlier was enough for me to know that it was the right choice"

She slightly shakes her head as she answers.

A strange feeling of relief that I don´t understand where it comes from wells up inside me.

I start walking away once again.

"I will be back to the room later, you should rest well, even if that blow wasn´t enough to break your Aura it doesn´t mean you are in perfect form after receiving it."

"... Shirou."

The moment I moved past her when our backs faced each other, she called out to me with a tone difficult to place.

I don´t say anything in return but me coming to a stop is taken as a cue for her to continue.

"Why did you do it? Doing what you did put everyone at risk, isn´t that exactly the one thing you don´t want? Tell me why did you call him out when there wasn´t a need."

"I didn´t think about it too much at the moment but when he started retreating, I understood that he wouldn´t go out of his way to kill any of you even If I provoked him. I might have been at a risk but It was also obvious that someone like him knew something about the murders, and stopping more people from dying was worth it."

"We weren´t going to be killed but you would be the one at risk...? Is that what you want me to believe you truly think?"

She repeats my words with an irritated tone.

We still don´t look back to the other, so I can´t know what expression she has on right now.

She doesn´t give me time to respond to her question

"You know what would have happened if you were killed at that moment. It wouldn´t have ended with just one victim.

Is that an outcome that you are okay with?"

Before her sentence is over the sounds of her steps intermix with her voice.

She is long gone before I can respond.

With gritted teeth, I speak aloud to myself

"—Of course not."

In the case that I died, Mikasa wouldn´t see reason and would definitely use everything she can to kill the one responsible.

But even if she faced him a hundred times, she would only manage to die a hundred times.

At that moment Pyrrha might also try to do something, and most likely die in the same way.

—To stop the people behind the killings in Vale and avoid future victims I risked the life of innocents.

I start walking once again and before realizing it I already left the building.

Even when I'm going towards the school main building and I am not that familiar with the path yet, I can´t focus on anything else but what is going in my mind.

Earlier, I had made the decision of not putting Jaune at risk because and dealing with everything on my own. Once I managed to get him in a ship towards Beacon, I would have stayed behind. Mikasa would have probably insisted on staying as well.

And I betrayed that decision the moment I saw the need, and by doing so...

—I betrayed my ideals.

Someone who would never hurt others.

Someone capable of preventing every disaster in his path, that wouldn´t allow anyone to die in front of him.

That´s the ally of justice that I seek to become since a long time ago.

—But I betrayed that and it´s not the first time either.

The day I meet Mikasa, being nothing more than a clueless kid, the first time I chose to fight and betray my ideals.

The day bandits attacked Strumbella was another, just like so many years ago, I failed to become the ally of justice that Kiritsugu spoke of.

There were those I gravely hurt, those I mercilessly killed, and those that I couldn´t save.

With each passing year the more I matured I understood reality better, there are times where one can´t save everybody.

If there is a criminal that threatens the happiness of many others, even accomplishing a miracle and protecting that happiness wouldn´t be enough.

There still is one person that can´t be happy or saved. The criminal must face the consequences of their actions.

"—Shirou, in the end, an ally of justice can only save those he chooses to save..."

—Words said by the man I admired, words that I tried to defy ever since.

I have done such things before, for the sake of my ideals, I went against them.

Even if I did everything I could, putting myself in the most perilous situation to safeguard others, in the end, I couldn´t accomplish a result where everyone was happy.

An ideal that conflicts with reality, a world where everyone is happy and shares that with others.

Kiritsugu spoke of a world where everyone could smile and no one would have to cry.

—Such a beautiful thing, it can´t possibly be wrong.

Indeed, it´s not the dream that´s at fault, but the one who chases after it. If just a miracle isn´t enough for everyone to be happy, then the answer is simple enough that even I know what it is.

I need to do it anyway, if I was saved when there was no hope that means others can be as well.

I couldn´t accomplish it as a kid when I meet Mikasa, I couldn´t do it at any other point while living in the cabin after Kiritsugu died, I couldn´t do it when I came into the city and the strange killings began.

—But in such a life filled with failures, there still were times where I could do something.

Times where I saved someone, when I helped someone, when I allowed others to continue smiling.

That´s enough for Emiya Shirou to keep trying, to continue betraying his ideal to protect it.

The reason I train every day, why I chose to fight and continue to choose that every time.

—The reason I came into this school, the hope of becoming someone that can fulfill the ideal that I believe in.

"UFFF!"

A black and red mass hits my body jolting me from my thoughts.

A weird groan is emitted from the oddly familiar mass currently on the floor.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wall, we haven´t met in so long...ouch..."

"Mr. Wall? Did you hit your head too hard Ruby?"

On the ground before me, Ruby is rubbing her head while surrounded by a ludicrous number of books and her scroll.

I look around me, and it seems that without realizing it, I already arrived in front of the school library.

I kneel and start gathering her scattered belongings.

"Shirou? Did I smash myself against you? What did you eat growing up, a diet of iron? It felt like going headfirst against a wall, believe me, I know the feeling."

"... And why do you know that with so much certainty?"

Her voice had turned full of confidence and pride at that last part, like a weapons enthusiast talking about his favorite gun firing mechanism.

In the first place, how much can anyone know about the feeling of hitting a wall like that?

Suddenly an accusing finger is pointed at my face.

"Hah, that look of disbelief is enough to know that you aren´t someone with a speed Semblance. To us, every time we have struck a wall while training is a badge of honor that others can´t understand. There isn´t a single one of us who wouldn't know what smashing at high speed against a wall feels like."

"I see... It seems that the world truly is vast after all. All kinds of people exist."

"it´s fine Shirou, not many people understand the struggle of my people."

Her voice turns jokingly dramatic and I responded with a shallow laugh.

As I finished collecting the books I couldn´t help but recall that Mikasa Semblance might as well be counted as a speed Semblance and yet she never made a similar mistake. It would be best if I never mention that out loud, it would be like a person who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight taunting someone on a diet.

"—Huh?"

Ruby had already stood up and dusted herself, and I was about to stand up myself but I saw something weird.

The scroll still on the ground is showing a picture of a woman with an astonishing appearance, not for her beauty but for her resemblance to someone else.

If somebody asked what a future version of the girl in front of me was, it would undoubtedly be something along the lines of the woman in that picture.

The letters ´ SMSAPC! ´ are displayed at the corner of the device.

"I forgot! Sorry for grabbing my books and all that! No, I meant thank you for hitting you! No, it´s the other way around? "

"It was nothing and don´t worry about it?"

Her self-confusion seems to have gotten to me as well, as I say so with a doubtful tone while standing up, scroll and books in hands.

She Nonchantingly receives the stacks of books with one hand, while that´s impressive maybe using both hands would be better to avoid an accident like the one from before?

"—Please, please, please don't be broken. I promise to spend my allowance responsible this month..."

"Eh, Ruby the books..."

She started to plead to no one in particular before I handed her scroll back, her face even scrunched up in worry. I can understand being worried about something so expensive being broken, but the stack of books in her hand is trembling more with each passing second

If by some chance all those books get damaged, wouldn't that cost more than fixing a scroll?

"Oh, thank the gods it isn´t broken. The last time I lost my scroll dad had me pay it with my allowance for months. I had to resort to using only the cheapest bullets for so long."

Her voice goes from relief to whining in less than a second.

It´s not strange to find girls her age doing such a thing, but I can´t imagine that many would do so while complaining of the lack of ammunition funds. Or maybe they do? What was it that Mikasa used to complain back two years ago?

The only thing I can remember are things I did...that can´t be all right-?

"A-Anyway, that woman looks remarkably like you. Except for the color scheme of her clothes and age every else is mostly the same, even the eyes. You are related right?"

"Yes, she is my mom, I'm used to getting told that we look similar, mostly from my uncle. I was distracted earlier because I was looking for it. It helps me keep me motivated, you know?"

"I guess I can understand the feeling, I have been thinking about my father quite often lately."

I wouldn´t say that it keeps me motivated or that spend time looking at a picture of him.

Honestly, I can´t remember any time we actually took a photograph together. If it happened It must have been many years ago.

"—Ah! Those photos are actually a secret. So, you can´t tell anyone that I have them, you understand Shirou? I guess Yang would be okay but no one else, okay? Pleaseeee."

"Sure, I won´t tell anyone. I wouldn´t really talk about it even if you didn´t mention it."

"I´m not joking Shirou, back home I thought I was safe when talking with my classmates about something but you know what? Without fail dad would come and I would get in trouble. ´ A bird told me ¨ was his excuse like I was a little kid."

The girl grumbles the last part with vexation about one parent that can only be seen on a little kid. I manage to hold my tongue but there is something weird about what she said.

Why would someone having a photo of her mother be something that she needs to hide—?

While I pondered about that, the high-pitched voice speaks up.

"Shirou, where you going to the library? I had to leave because it was about to close already."

"Ah, no. I was actually just passing through, I have some things to do in the forge. As far as I know, students are allowed to stay there all night long if they need to. I don´t really have much of a hurry."

"Oooh, going there and taking care of my boy would be great. My dad told me that Beacon had an awesome weapon-building program when he studied here. But... I need to go back to my room and keep studying..."

Once again, the girl goes from one emotional state to the other in a second.

It´s a bit jarring to experience but I also can´t deny that it´s cute to see.

But what did she mean by her boy?

"The school facilities aren´t going to disappear if you don´t use them now, you can always go tomorrow whenever you have free time. And it´s already quite late right now, studying is always a good thing but doing it after resting is more effective. A growing girl needs to sleep properly."

—?

My sincere advice is received with a grimacing face. Did I say something wrong?

"That´s such a thing my dad would say to me, that if you had made a horrible joke, I would have to consider you my lost brother. And I don´t need sleep to grow, I drink milk. I will be at least taller than you before you notice."

"—Ruby, according to scientist research milk doesn´t make you grow taller if you already have a proper diet."

"What!?"

I can only nod at her question full of despair, an understandable feeling. It´s embarrassing, but I actually researched that on my scroll recently when I was alone. No one should know about that search, and it will hopefully stay that way forever.

The near-catatonic girl sluggishly starts moving away.

"... I´m going to go study to my room, I need to go study so much I can pack my head so full of stuff that what you said just gets pushed out."

"That´s probably not the worst idea, Weiss was quite angry about being the only one in your room. You two might even be able to study together and finish earli-"

"—!? Forget studying, who has ever learned something about being a huntress by studying!? Let´s go and check that beautiful safe haven of weapon building!"

"Wha—!?"

With a lighting fast turnaround on everything, Ruby burst with speed. She grabs my hand and starts running with me in tow in direction of the stairs that lead to the upper floor.

When she makes two steps, I only manage one.

Several times I barely manage not to stumble into the ground, but before I have time to come face to face with the ground.

—We arrive in front of our destination.

The speed wasn´t enough to disorient me but the unexpectedness of what happened was enough for me to have to blink for several moments.

The girl, whose speed is no joke, almost looks like a nervous little dog moving in place.

"W-What in the world? Didn´t you say that you couldn´t come because you wanted to study?"

"Well, you see... If I go to study there I would be bothering Weiss by having the lights on and the noise of the turning of the pages. A good leader needs to be more conscious of the needs of her team."

I can´t say that she is completely wrong so I just nod. Even if I want to say that I doubt someone could be seriously annoyed by the turning of a page.

I did realize an important thing about her just now, if I ever need to play poker against someone, I should choose Ruby without a doubt.

She is a horrible liar, with the way her eyes go to the side and her voice turns insincere I can tell that there is another reason she doesn´t want to go to her room right now.

"If you say so. We are already here, so we might as well come inside. But you don´t have your weapon on you, what are you planning to do?"

"Ah, that´s right I forgot... A-Actually, I mean, I wanted to take a look at what you were going to do! I didn´t manage to get a good look at what you used yesterday but your Semblance was really cool, I wish I could make weapons out of thin air too."

"Hm? Well, such a Semblance would be quite convenient but unfortunately, I can´t do anything like that."

"What? Then what you did yesterday...?"

Her question strays off as we cross the door.

A room large enough to cover the entire floor, an old man dressed in a working uniform sits behind a desk and several closed rooms with number designations are everything that I can gather in a quick glance.

Behind each closed door, there must be a private forge or working area for a student to borrow, otherwise, it would be impossible for multiple students to use this area at the same time.

I continue explaining to Ruby as we move to the side of the room, but in the back of my head, I feel that someone else is in the room.

"My ability is not the creation of swords but instead is mostly being able to store somewhere inside of me an unlimited number of blades of my own making. As long as I made it, the weapon size or weight doesn´t matter in the end."

"That´s... still pretty cool. Crescent Rose could always be with me everywhere I go. Wait, then do you —"

To demonstrate, I summon a short dagger to my right hand and a straight sword to my left.

Ruby´s voice who was cut off mid-sentence turns strange as she focuses on them.

Her brows knit themselves and she tilts her head while inclining forward to get a better look.

"You made this? Just a look is enough to tell they were done amazingly and they look really new and...eh...neat—?"

"You don´t need to force yourself, Ruby. I already know that they look weird like they lack something right?"

An awkward laugh escapes her. Honestly, I was joking before but a class for social interactions would be a true vital at Beacon. Well, it´s not really her fault, I had similar reactions whenever someone else saw my weapons as a kid.

More than saying that they look weird, a mass-produced look would be more appropriate, comparing it to something that has as much personal flair as her scythe makes it much more noticeable.

It´s not the lack of color or decorations that make them look like that, it´s simply the result of being made by me for some reason. Only Mikasa´s swords look different, but they are another story altogether.

"—and what do they do?"

"Ruby they are swords, they cut things generally, they can also stab. You know, sword things."

"No, I meant if they can turn into any kind of gun? You know for those moments you need range, that little dagger seems like a perfect fit for a Dellinger, or maybe a small revolver."

"They aren´t actually mecha-shift. Just a regular sword and dagger. I´m not exactly a swordsman in the first place, being at a distance with a bow is what I do if I need range and if not, I can just throw the blades like a projectile."

"?"

It seems something of my explanation confused her, but it shouldn´t be too important as she changed topics without asking me further.

Right after she asked me to show her what other weapons I have, even if she looked interested it was an obvious attempt to make time.

She can´t avoid going to her room forever and I know that I should say something about it, but it´s somewhat difficult to deny what she is asking me when she looks nervous.

I might have an unexpected weakness...

—Many weapons were taken out and put back as time went on for what must be twenty minutes.

"Shirou, how can someone have so many swords and not a single mecha-shift one- I understand honoring the classics but guns are so useful, awesome, convenient, and cool. Does your semblance don´t work on them or something?"

"It´s not that I can´t store guns or anything like that. I simply have no clue how to make them, I was mostly self-taught and learned by just failing and trying again. The difference between making a sword and a gun should be obvious without me saying it right? Unlike a bladed weapon, I wouldn´t have the first clue on how to make them in the first place."

"But...That doesn´t make any sense. You can´t just make all those swords by trial and error, how would you even know the designs in the first place?"

How did I know about them when I was a kid?

I was about to answer her but we have wasted enough time, she can´t stay with me here forever.

"Ruby, isn´t it time you go back to your room? Your sister is sure to be worried about you. And I don´t know what you are trying to avoid, but it´s not going to solve itself if you stay here."

"... You are right. It was fun but I should really get going. Thanks for putting up with me for so long."

Her dispirited voice makes me feel guilty but some it´s for the best that she confronts whatever happened with her team.

Unlike what I expected after she said that, she hasn't moved from her spot nor made any signs that she was going to actually do it.

Her face is hesitant and as seconds pass I start to worry, before I could express that worry, she begins.

"I talked to Professor Ozpin earlier and I asked him if he had made a mistake when choosing the team leaders. He said many things about doing my best so that I could inspire others to follow me with confidence.

I had my doubts about it, what if my best wasn´t enough? What if Ruby Rose´s best just isn´t enough for Weiss or my other teammates? Then I realized that I didn´t have that option anymore, if my best wasn´t enough I would do better than that. "

"And why are you saying this to me?"

My question stops her and drains her momentum.

It´s not that I don´t feel sympathy for her situation nor am I trying to be cold towards her.

But there isn´t any reason for her to care about what I have to say about it, beyond that, it doesn´t seem like she isn´t searching for me someone she barely knows to boost her self-esteem.

Ruby takes a couple of moments to gather her thoughts before she starts speaking once more.

"I actually don´t really remember much about my mom anymore, but you reminded me of her a bit yesterday or at least what I feel she was like. Back when I tried to go kill that Deathstalker to show off, you started running because you were worrying about some girl you haven´t ever met. It took me a while to realize but when you were fighting those two weirdos yesterday you were most worried about me than anything else.

I want to know, what would someone like you do if you were Weiss, no, my team´s leader?"

"Fail. Honestly, I can´t see myself as anything other than a failure as a team leader. I´m too selfish to take such a role."

"What...? There is no way that´s true! You were just like a hero yesterday! ...Okay, maybe a bit less dashing than what they sound like in the stories with all that blood, and the face you made when you saw the Nevermore falling was pretty funny, but you still acted like I was supposed to. Someone like that can´t be all that selfish."

I made a funny face...? And I guess I must have made a sorry sight with all that blood coming from my shoulder but did she have to say all that?

"I don´t know what you think I did or how I acted in your eyes, but today was a clear example. I was out with my team for the first time and I already managed to put them at risk by doing whatever I wanted. I can´t speak at all about your mother, but Shirou Emiya doesn´t have a single clue about how to be a leader."

"Shirou... Has anyone told you that you aren´t great giving advice—?"

I make a sound similar to a dry laugh at the sudden burst of honesty in the girl´s complaints. Something like that may have happened a couple of times, but I didn´t know this had become a situation where I gave my advice.

It´s not like talking about it will change anything, magic words that make everything better simply don´t exist.

I should still say something to encourage her.

"Whatever Ozpin made a mistake or not is impossible for me to tell. No matter who it is that becomes a leader, they are still people. They do their best and keep moving forward as long as they can."

"So, basically you are telling me I have to do my best to not fail horribly?"

"I wish that it was as simple as that, but the world wouldn´t be what it is if just by doing your best was enough to not fail. You are still a human being, and that means you are inevitably going to fail at some point. The one thing I know is that the only way to accomplish something that seems beyond you is doing everything you can and keep going regardless of those failures."

The contradiction of doing everything you can in order to accomplish something above your station and the inevitability of failure.

The only way to avoid regretting your mistakes, pushing forwards, and increasing the number of your failures, the small rewards in the way, the successes you managed while desperately trying, and knowing you did everything you could.

If someone does all that, then in the end they shouldn't feel regret over what happened even if they can´t reach their goal.

"...Heh, I guess I shouldn´t say that you´re bad at giving advice anymore Shirou. You are also bad at giving pep talks. Humph, saying that I will fail no matter what, I guess I´m going to have to show you how wrong you are."

"At least that expression looks pretty good for you right now."

She complains at me with a smile that isn´t wide or bright but full of spirit. It fits the naïve girl who spoke out in class today when I couldn´t.

Nothing has changed since before we talked; the actions she will take and the difficulties she would have if we never spoke will probably remain the same.

Yet, having her smile like that can´t be a bad thing.

I can´t help myself, and my hand drops itself on the top of her head and I scuffle her hair around.

"Hey, don´t mess with my hair I need it to look cool as a huntress-in-training! I can already imagine how Weiss will tell me how inappropriate and uncut my hair looks and that I have dishonored my team."

"I don´t think that something like cool hair is a requirement in this academy. And the word you were looking for was probably uncouth."

She whines a bit at me before I let her go, her hands lightly smack against my own before she jumps back.

She quickly says goodbye before truly leaving this time, she doesn´t turn back and her movements are full of energy.

I look around the room, no one has gone out of the closed room and the older man sitting behind the desk doesn´t seem to have bothered with our conversation.

He hasn´t moved much since we arrived—

"—Did you enjoy the show, professor?"

"It´s less enjoyable when I don´t get to your surprised face Mr. Emiya, but it certainly wasn´t a bad thing to watch over. You didn´t look like it, but you might not make a bad professor, should I ask Glynda to prepare herself if you won't work with her after graduation?"

Is this the fourth time already?

A man with white hair, dressed in a suit while carrying a steaming cup and a cane comes into my view from behind my line of sight.

He takes a sip before coming to a stop in front of me. I can´t help myself from frowning at the sight, consuming caffeine this late can´t be good for your health.

"I have the feeling that she wouldn´t enjoy such news even as a joke. I wouldn´t know what to do as a teacher and even if I knew what to teach, I still have other things I need to do. I will have to reject your offer."

"A surprising response Mr. Emiya. I wasn´t expecting that you would have sincerely responded to my jest with such a serious response and a straight face."

"What are you doing here Professor? I don´t think there is enough caffeine in the world to make someone take a walk before sleeping in a place like this."

I don´t know why but I'm being ruder with him than ever before. Am I angry because how he stopped me yesterday from chasing those two?

"The first day of class is always a long and busy day for us. First-year students having moments of self-doubt is nothing strange. Having to face the realities of leaving their homes and meeting other people similar and different to them acts as a catalyst of change. Guiding them at those moments is why teachers should exist in the first place."

"And you are here to guide all the confusing first years that tend to go to forge weapons late at night?"

I signaled to the practically empty room with a nod of my head. The silence after my voice finished echoing across the walls makes my doubts about his claims clear enough.

The older man just takes another sip while raising one of his eyebrows.

"You being here should be more than enough, aren´t you also a student at my school? There was also Ruby with you just now and it seems that my earlier talk lacked something for her. One of the two doesn´t require me anymore, but I still have things to do before going into bed. Much like you, Mr. Emiya."

"I'm supposed to be a troubled student right now? I came here to do something, not to speak to the principal of an academy."

"You at least look the part of one, but if you say as much yourself then I won´t push it. I also came to satisfy a curiosity of mine, I don´t think that would be too much trouble, not for someone who is going to use the academy´s resources."

"Resources—? If you mean the equipment of the forge, I would think that gets covered by the fee I paid to enter Beacon."

"It´s true that both you and miss Ackerman decided to pay for your tuitions after rejecting the scholarship that we offer most orphaned students. Saying that your usage of the academy´s facilities is obviously reasonable. The material such as Dust and metals that we provide the students on the other hand is a different case. They are something the Kingdom council provides us as part of a development plan that I had to petition."

There is no reason for me to antagonize the professor, even If he hadn´t stopped me yesterday the truth is that if Goodwitch couldn´t find them with her Semblance then I wouldn´t have done so either.

It might be that I´m just acting childish and holding a grudge, or it might simply be that our personalities don´t match.

Either way, I can´t speak to him as politely as I did before.

"I don´t think that someone of your position should ask a student about something so unfairly but I don´t mind answering your questions if you care so much. I can´t imagine what I could say that´s worth your time, Professor."

"You are aware of the dispute between miss Scheene and her leader. What is your opinion about it, are her misgivings about having a leader who has less experience than herself valid?"

"...I don´t know her at all, but I can´t say that she is completely on the wrong. I´m sure she must have her reasons to act like she is, but I doubt that she will be like that for much longer. As long as they are on the same team one of the two is going to have to give at some point. And Ruby seems like the more stubborn out of the two."

The man doesn´t seem to be either surprised or interested in my response. What he wants to know shouldn´t be something as meaningless as my opinion on my classmates.

He makes the motion to start speaking but I interrupt him before he has the chance. My voice carries more annoyance than it probably should.

"—If what you actually want to know is whatever Mikasa or I will make trouble about Jaune then you don´t need to worry about it. I don´t know what made you choose him as a leader but it doesn´t particularly matter to me. He doesn´t seem like a bad person and I don´t see a reason why him being the leader might be a problem for either of us."

"I don´t know what happened today, but you were cuter when your tongue wasn´t as sharp, Mr. Emiya.

The ones more adept at being leaders aren´t usually the strongest members, children don´t take well to someone less capable than them bossing them around. Power struggles within teams tend to be the leading cause of the failure of many of their first missions."

"And does the principal handle the interpersonal relationship of each team? You must be quite busy."

The man just shrugs carelessly while bringing the cup on his hand to his lips.

Now that he mentioned it, I might still be on edge about what happened with that man in the city. It wouldn´t be a surprise if I was still affected, what he said about ¨the other side¨ is why I need to be here at his time.

I don´t think Ozpin was lying at any point but this shouldn´t be the reason he came to talk to me all the way here. Something else should be on his mind.

"Was your curiosity still not satisfied, professor? I already said so, but I came here to do something."

"Well that´s the thing, there was one thing I saw from the cameras during initiation that I couldn´t really understand. You said that you had made Miss Ackerman swords yourself, but every weapon you used was nothing like them. The ones she used were something I hadn´t seen in a long time, and yours were something commonplace even if their craftsmanship was top-notch.

Was there a reason that you were holding back, even during your fight with the two assailants?"

"Huh—?"

Does he think that I was holding back because none of my swords were of the same quality as the two Mikasa uses? I can´t help myself and after I managed to understand what he said I snort out loud.

It´s a response in derision, not of the one in front of me but of myself.

"It seems that you are completely wrong about me professor, I certainly made those two weapons but it was a complete accident. My sword-making skills are too lacking, those two are the best thing I have ever made in my entire life. If I´m honest at the rate I'm improving even after ten years I might not make something like that again."

"You made them...by accident?"

For the first time since I have met the man, his face is contorted to show comical confusion.

I would be happier about it if it wasn´t such an embarrassing topic for me.

The comical expression is soon changed into a grave expression that would be welcomed at a funeral.

"How did you... What happened to you after you made them?"

"What happened to me...? I mean, I tried something really stupid a few years ago, so I was sick for a while afterward. And I think I hurt my arms during the process because they were numb for a long while. It wasn´t that serious, I got better after a good day of sleep."

I´m actually lying, the day after Kiritsugu died Mikasa asked me to make her a pair of swords.

I might not have been in a good place mentally so even after making the first pair, I broke them because I wasn´t satisfied by the result, and tried again. Repetitively making and discarding them searching for something.

That process went on for a long time, I had to force Mikasa out of the shed I worked in when she tried to stop me in concern.

At some point I lost my mind and, in a fever, it seems that I managed to go far beyond my limits and made the two swords she still uses to this day.

—But it came with a price.

I couldn´t move my arms for an entire day and every part of my body hurt like I was dying.

My intelligence was also lost for a while, what I could easily think about before was almost an impossible task, like a computer with a broken processor. At that moment, I feared I might have been stuck like that forever.

But even worse than that, there was something important I lost for just a moment back then.

For some reason, I never want to speak about it to anybody if I can help it.

"... Don´t mind me, if you got better and this happened a few years ago then I must have been misunderstanding something. You should be more careful with what you do, I imagine that someone like Miss Ackerman wasn´t exactly happy with you getting hurt doing something for her."

"—I can´t say you are wrong."

The man for some reason is looking towards the exit door while he says that.

A shiver pierced my back at the memory of those days, I barely could go to the bathroom with Mikasa following around thinking I was about to get myself killed.

It was absolutely my fault for worrying her so much and the price I had to pay for having her take care of me while I couldn´t get out of bed.

My face heats up, some things happened at that time that are best forgotten.

While I was remembering those shameful moments, Ozpin had already made his way towards the door. Even after all the time we talked, the old man behind the desk hasn´t moved much.

The professor says his goodbyes to me while moving.

"Well Mr. Emiya, I have taken enough of your time and you don´t seem to want the advice of this old man. So, I will let you do what you came for."

"Wait...I need to tell you about some things."

The man stops in his tracks and takes another sip from his mug before turning.

His expression is his usual one, but it seems I have his attention.

I shallow whatever annoyance I have towards the man for a moment, and ask him about something that has been on my mind.

"´Professor, have you ever done something stupid, a mistake that went against what you believed in for no apparent reason?"

"It must have been an interesting trip outside the school for you to ask me that after being out of the school just for a couple of hours. And the answer is yes, I have done things like that so many times that I lost count. People who at random go against their way of life aren´t uncommon, that´s something you realize more with the passing of time."

—!?

When we left the school aboard the bullhead we had to sign with our names. The information of our team leaving is not particularly difficult to find for someone of the school staff.

But how did he actually know about it? Does he check everyone that leaves every time or was he notified about us?

He continues to respond to my question without offering any explanation for that.

"People who fight for equality being discriminatory towards someone. People who care for their freedom willingly restrict themself, people who always search for peace acting violently. Those are a common phenomenon, no matter how dedicated someone is towards something, they aren´t machines. No one can perfectly act according to what they want at every moment of their life.

Outside influences make them act against their own wishes without them realizing it, and the result is something they can´t generally explain. It has happened to me many times, where I knew I had to do something but I ended up doing something else in the end."

"If that´s the case, how am I supposed to be sure to never do something like that again?"

"Heh, no idea Mr. Emiya. Stuff like that still happens to me from time to time. But if you ever find the answer, be sure to tell me about it. I´m going to go rest now Mr. Emiya, today was a long first day. You shouldn´t be in there for too long."

"Wha—at?"

The white-haired man takes advantage of my surprise and leaves the room. I can see him take another sip from his mug while nodding to something or someone outside the room before the door is entirely closed.

I might need to apologize to Ruby, if that it´s what it feels like when someone gives you bad advice then I might have pissed her off too much.

"—At least I don´t feel bad about being rude to that guy anymore."

I turn around and walk towards one of the closed doors. Maybe I´m supposed to talk to the person behind the desk to be assigned one of the rooms but I don´t think waking him up is worth it.

With just a turn of the handle, the door numbered one opens.

Several expensive-looking and unfamiliar equipment welcome me.

"I need to make sure not to break anything. I would need to have a search for a couple of jobs just to pay them back."

What I used to work within the cabin was something my father used mostly to make bullets or keep his guns in peak form.

It wasn´t the best equipment but over the years I managed to make do well enough, and later on, that woman who was friends with my father brought more specialized equipment for me. Even when I worked with the smithy in the village, her equipment was even more barebones than Kiritsugu´s original set.

"I will figure it out as I go later, first I should check the usual stuff."

I extend my right hand and a particular green and black sword appears.

The flying sword that was stuck on the Deathstalker head and the one I broke while blocking the surprise attack of that assassin.

"—It´s in a perfect state, just like always."

The sword that was broken into countless pieces is in my hold, without a single scratch.

The other side of my ability that only Kiritsugu and Mikasa should know about. It´s not that I have kept it hidden or anything, it´s just something I don´t understand so I don´t talk much about it.

Whenever I store a sword made by me inside of myself, no matter how damaged, it always comes out in a perfect state.

I put back the sword, in the end, that side of my abilities is just something of a commodity that allows me to never run out of swords even if they break or to skip the maintenance of everything I use.

In my still outstretched hand, an oversized arrow made out of metal appears. A design based on a sword and altered afterward to become more aerodynamic, the result was a form that people would relate more to a javelin than either a sword or an arrow.

There are times that a normal arrow doesn´t have enough force to take down some of the bigger Grimm or targets, so I made things like these. I had thought about using one to take down the Deathstalker yesterday but doing so with someone in your path of fire would be the same as killing them.

"Haa—"

I breathe out and I calm myself, my mind fixates on its task.

The blueprint of this particular arrow is visualized in my mind. After repeating the forging process of every single of my weapons several times, I memorized everything I could about them

A hammer falls inside my mind and my recovering Aura floods the projectile´s structure like any Huntsmen would with his weapons.

—One second—two seconds...

—Clack!

A loud noise and the piece of metal in my hands turns useless as it breaks into several pieces. They all clatter against the floor as they suffered the same fate that every weapon I poured my Aura in had.

"As I thought, nothing changed since last time..."

No matter how much aura one fills something with, they shouldn´t ever break. This is a problem that only happens to me as far as I know, and no matter what advice Mikasa gave me I can´t understand what I'm doing wrong.

It can´t be a problem with my aura because whenever I use it on myself neither my body nor clothes suffer any damage, only my swords are damaged.

I kneel and put the broken pieces inside myself.

"The Semblance of that assassin yesterday gave me an idea of how to modify that arrow but..."

"—Show me the other side"

That´s what the monster wearing human skin said.

I don´t have a single clue of what he means, but the moment he spoke those words one image came into my mind.

The sword that surpasses every other, the one that can grant victory to anyone who holds it.

—The sword that has appeared countless times in my dreams.

For some reason, when I think of "The other side" the only thing that comes into my mind is that sword.

The one that I can never reach, the one that every one of my weapons tries to imitate but fails without exception.

The only sword that is similar to the two that Mikasa uses.

"If I can manage to do the same thing that I did back then, will I get closer to it?"

I know the answer to that, I have always known about it since the day I made them.

But when I think of using that method, my body starts trembling in refusal.

I´m not scared of the pain, I'm also not scared of dying as a result and it´s also not the same feeling that the monster from before gave my body.

My body trembles because it knows, as long as I´m human I should never do something like that ever again.

"Haa— Even if I want to try to do it the same way, I don´t even know how I did it back then."

I grab a hammer that is resting on a toll racket on one of the walls.

It doesn´t matter what kind of thing I did at that time.

I´m sure that I can do the same thing at some point if I keep improving my normal skills.

Clang—!

The sounds of metal being struck resound in the closed room.

The bandits who attacked Strumbella, the murderers from Vale, the two assassins in the forest, and the monster wearing human skin.

They aren´t exceptional situations, I can´t say that my failures were reasonable or unavoidable, those scenarios will keep repeating themselves.

So, I need to keep improving as much as I can.

Clang-!

—The clock might have gone past twelve o clock, but my day still isn´t over.

-Line Break-

Soft breathing flows and the scratching of a pen on a piece of paper reach my ears.

I finish folding the blanket over the bed and take it under one of my arms.

In one of the beds, a boy with blond hair and unspeakable pajamas is sleeping.

At the other side of the room sitting on a desk working over some papers is a redhead girl.

Ever since I stepped into the room not much noise was made.

I used the time to search for something in my scroll, I hadn´t realized how useful they were until we arrived in Vale.

I start making my way out of the room, a strand of hair falls in front of my eyes and I brush it to the side.

"Are you also going out Mikasa?"

The Redhair girl´s soft voice calls me from behind, she turned around from her desk to see me.

Her hair is pulled back and she twirls her pen in one in his hands as she gives me an inquisitive look.

I push forward the blanket under my arm.

"—Ah."

She nods her head in understanding.

With that finished, I´m about to leave before I'm stopped by her voice once more.

"I´m sorry but I'm about to finish this, so I will probably be going to sleep before you come back. Good night and sleep well, Mikasa."

"...Thanks."

And just I crossed outside into the hall, I noticed that a person is in leaning against the open door in front of our door room.

My fists tighten themself for a moment before I force myself to relax.

The girl with waist-long blonde hair has her arms crossed her chest while she taps her foot at a quick speed. Her face is painted in clear worry but she still greets me when she notices me.

"Going out for a night under the stars, dollface?

"..."

"Geez, and I thought that my partner was the wallflower. Does every team need a black-haired beauty that doesn´t talk?.

Anyways, don´t let the bugs bite you out there."

I keep my emotions in check and nod at her before walking away.

It was less than a minute before I was already out of the building and two different girls are what I find this time.

One in red holding several books and the other in white with two cups of coffee, members of the same team as the blonde girl from before.

The two don´t seem to notice me, even as I pass next to them.

"Hey, you! Wait hold on, I´m talking to you! Yes, you."

"...?"

A shrill voice and hasty steps come from behind me.

I crane my neck downwards, the white-haired girl who wears a white dress has come closer to me.

With one hand holding her hip she closes her eyes before coughing into her closed fist.

"—Ahem. Some people have brought to my attention that my attitude towards my peers may not have been the most commendable since the onset of my arrival at this academy. So I want to make amends for our first interaction."

"...?"

"It may have been entirely rude of you to grab me midair and drop me in the top of that big tree. But it was also true that you helped me while I falling from that Nevermore and that it was improper of me to raise my voice to say those things when you left."

Did that happen? I do remember leaving her on a tree because I was in a hurry.

If she said something I couldn´t hear her because of the sound of the rushing wind.

"So, I wish to say I'm deeply sorry and thank you for giving a stranger a helping hand. I hope we can start on anew from this moment."

"...Okay."

"Wonderful, I need to finish the talk with my partner but it would be a pleasure talking to you again tomorrow."

She finishes her sentence with a clap of her hands and without waiting she goes back where she came from.

Behind her, I can see the girl she called partner balancing the two cups of coffee over a trembling stack of books.

I had thought about it before but the students in this place are...

"—!"

On the roof of the school building, a girl with black hair and a black bow on top of her head, sitting on the edge watching down towards the ground.

Her bright amber color eyes somehow are noticeable even over this distance.

The last member of the team I have been meeting since I left the room, even as I stare directly at her she doesn´t pay a single bit of attention to me.

Her entire focus is on the other two girls who are currently talking to each other again without noticing.

—Something like that doesn´t concern me so I start moving once more.

It takes less than ten minutes to arrive at the correct floor.

As I'm about to open the door the sound of two voices from the other side stops me.

I feel my muscles tense up and step back from the door that´s opening.

"Heh, no idea. After all stuff like that still happens to me from time to time. But if you ever find the answer, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

I´m going to go rest now Mr. Emiya, today was a long first day. You shouldn´t be in there for too long either."

The old man sees me and without slowing a bit he nods to me while he speaks.

He simultaneously sips from his mug while he closes the door with his cane.

In a soft voice bereft of any emotion

"First being mouthed-off and then receiving a glare from two different students. I can´t say that I haven´t done anything to deserve it, but it´s certainly unpleasant. I might not know why you are so angry but with age comes knowledge of what to do in this situation."

"..."

He proceeds to say that he is sorry for whatever he did to anger me.

For some reason, I can tell they aren´t empty words and that they hold weight to the man.

His actions don´t make me any less wary of him, after all, he hasn´t done anything to make me angry.

I simply can´t allow such a man to be close to Shirou, if what Kiritsugu said to me was right then he might—

"Even a sincere apology doesn´t work huh? I´m being genuinely hated here, not unusual but... he talked to you about me, didn´t he?"

"I don´t know what you are talking about you—"

"I can only imagine how you ended up related to a man like Kiritsugu, miss Ackerman. I also don´t know what he said about me, in any case, I can´t picture him complimenting me but he wasn´t one to lie about such things without a reason. If you have any misgiving about me, I can only accept them as something I deserve."

An unnerving gaze that makes me feel like the footing under me is gone.

It seems that I was wrong about something, what Kiritsugu said doesn´t matter.

There is no doubt, even if he was wrong about what he assumed, this old man was dangerous.

I bring my scarf upwards and move past him into the room.

I don´t offer him any response and he doesn´t say anything more, he simply stares at me.

There is no need for me to talk to him in the first place.

There is only one person inside, a man sleeping behind a desk.

Familiar sounds are being muffled behind one of the many closed rooms in front of me, using them as guidance I walk towards the source.

A door plastered with the number one, being so close to it the noise created with metal being pounded becomes more recognizable.

I seat against the door with my face still hidden behind my scarf, the song created by the struck metal seems different than other times. What usually is resolute and stubborn today is desperate.

"—It seems that I wasn´t the only one annoyed by our loss today."

-Line Break-

Interlude In

A miserable groan echo throughout the abandoned building.

It paints a perfect picture of the pathetic situation the man that made such noise finds himself.

Sitting among many dust-covered boxes an attractive person dressed in robes stained with deep read.

"Alba, you useless bastard can you come and help me for a moment!"

"Ha, one could say you need...?

"Don´t say it! I´m warning you, Alba..."

"—A Helping hand?"

The man groans grow even more loudly than before.

In front of him, a bottle of water that he wishes to use to sate his sore throat.

But no matter how much thirst he has, both of his hands her slashed off the day before, so he isn´t able to do anything about it.

His bandaged-covered stumps fly around as he rages in place.

"Don´t you dare make that pun ever again. What are you even doing over there, you have been in that corner doing weird noises for a while?!"

"Don´t you think it came out great? I put a lot of effort to get the intensity of his eyes."

With a sweet voice, a girl with translucent hair that barely reaches her ears, asks her partner.

She has a sketchbook in her hands, in it a pencil drawing of a teenage boy with auburn hair.

The skill of its making leaves many things to be desired, but with the many hearts in the background, the intention of the artist is clear enough.

"Gods, not again! Why do you always do these things with the worst possible men? And this time you are even more disgusting, you are like ten years older than that boy."

"Simon, being jealous is not attractive. If you keep going like this you are going to end up being a lonely old man. I don´t think that you can keep seeing your current lover now."

"What are you...?"

It takes a couple of seconds for him to realize why she said that while looking at his missing limbs.

With a scream fueled by anger, he kicks the bottle of water towards the woman with all the might he can gather.

It misses miserably as it hits a wall off to the side and he falls awkwardly into the ground unable to get up.

"You know Alba, the biggest mistake of my life was not running away the day I meet you..."

"Bigger than the time you accepted a job everyone else was too scared to accept that ended with you becoming a cripple at the hand of some teenage girl?"

Once again, the man groans. He has lost count of how many times he has done it by now.

Like a turtle who landed on its shell, the man struggles on the floor before being able to turn around.

Now, with his back to the floor, he stares into the darkness that covers the ceiling, the lights of the scatter candles unable to pierce through.

"... I´m done. I quit, and this time it´s for real. I going to go back home and get into a proper job."

A light giggle escapes the woman, the man´s solemn declaration doesn´t bother her the least. She simply keeps moving the pencil across her piece of paper.

The one laying on the ground is used to it, but even after so many years he still can´t help but be annoyed by her personality.

"You want to abandon the job? Are you scared of some little girl with some sharp sticks? How lame, but what can you expect of someone that got done in a single blow—"

"Fuck you, you know my aura gets low the more I use my Semblance! I would totally beat her if we attacked her like usual."

"Excuses like that are also lame, Simon. Besides, there are two reasons we can´t go back yet. Firstly, what kind of work can you do without your hands? Use your Semblance as a human cement mixer?"

The man grumbles a bit, still on the floor.

"I was planning of asking Granny for a job in the orphanage..."

"Didn´t you burn down her office´s bathroom last time we went there? I don´t think she is going to hire you, even as a handout."

"It was an accident! How many times do I need to say that it´s not my fault she leaves so many scented candles in there!? —That doesn´t matter, I´m sure she would still hire me if I asked nicely, maybe.

Anyways, what is the second reason we can´t leave... wait, was that last part another pun?"

"We can´t leave because I haven´t managed to ask him out on a date yet. This time I'm sure he isn´t married or gay."

As the man considered trying to get up and experimenting whatever choking someone without hands was possible.

A short song filled the room and a flash of light brighten up the candlelight ambient.

And only seconds after the fact, the woman exclaims energetically.

"Kelly sent me a message; it seems that there are three reasons why we have to stay..."

"What does the nerd want now? I´m not going to wait in line some weird store for another of her stupid toy robots, again."

The woman stood from her corner and place her sketch pad carefully over some cloth.

With light steps, she moved over the laying man and squatted next to his face, her scroll right next to his eyes.

"Atlasian military-grade prosthetic shipment for joint-field testing near Vale...Convenient, now we just have to scroll up to and ask big daddy Ironwood to lend us his expensive stuff. Seems easy."

"If we can´t steal them on our own we can just ask for help. Look how well we did when we tried to do it by ourselves."

"Ask for help—? Do you think we still are back in Mistral? Who are you going to ask for help, the weirdo with a hat that keeps stealing Dust?"

As the man sarcastic remarks and the woman continued to tease him with what came to her head, neither noticed the entrance of a third figure.

The two orphans that had been together for many years, who worked together as assassins and a cloaked person who wore only black.

Why were they found when they tried so hard to escape pursuit? Was it their luck? The figure in black´s desperation? Was it the fate they couldn´t escape after coming into Vale for their target?

—In the end, it didn´t matter, even when the figure wasn´t looking for them in particular, nothing would change in the end.

Interlude out.

-Line Break-

The smell of burning air and heated metal reaches my nose as I stand with exhaustion.

The sounds coming from this room were finished and the one who produced them lays on the ground, sleeping after long passing the point of exhaustion.

He wasn´t wearing his jacket or tie anymore, both were hanging to the side next to a toll racket.

The top buttons of his white shirt were open, maybe he was too hot to sleep comfortably?

I knell beside him, and my hand travels to the open skin of his muscled chest, right over his heart.

I already knew it, but no scar remains there. The proof of what happened, my failure from a month ago, doesn´t exist.

—He is still alive.

He is breathing, his heart beats with a steady rhythm and the heat from his body is easily transmitted to my hand.

A simple gesture of my selfishness, but it´s okay because he is still alive.

"I´m sorry Shirou."

My voice barely reaches me, much less the sleeping boy.

Again, I´m doing the one thing I told him not to do, apologizing without knowing why.

Is it because he was hurt that day? Because he was hurt today? Because he will, without a doubt, be hurt once more in the future?

is it for my selfishness? Everything I did to make sure we wouldn´t ever come into an academy like this? The many plans I thought about during the years, some silly and childish, others sinful and unforgivable?

And even more unforgivable was the fact that I wasn´t able to go through with any of them.

"If you sleep like that you will catch a cold..."

—My hand abandons the warmth of his chest, and I cover him with the blanket that I took from our new room.

I get up and start moving towards the door.

My legs are heavy as lead due to the fatigue that comes with such a long day, and each step is a difficult task.

I don´t manage to make many steps before a small green crystal on a table captures my attention.

The man from earlier who managed to beat with a single slash of a wooden sword fills my mind for a moment.

"..."

The green crystal is no longer on the table before I continue walking.

The locked door I used to come in is in front of me and just like before, I sit against it.

Like usual before falling asleep, a hand runs through my head messing with my hair and alleviating the headache that was coming, on my vision is the boy I had been with for so many years.

I know I don´t deserve it, but even if it´s just when I´m no longer awake, I would like to see that old dream I used to have a child before everything changed.

Before Kiritsugu passed away, before the woman who came to teach us had to go back to her family in Vacou, before Shirou started to seriously plan to leave our home.

It has been a long time since I last thought about that childish wish, it must have been because of everything that happened today.

But even if a long time had passed and I´m no longer the same as that innocent little girl, that dream—

—Still seems so beautiful.

-Line Break-

Author´s note: Look people I´m sorry if this chapter doesn´t look quite that good but I have been trying to upload it for an entire week already and fffnet keeps screwing up for me after I save it.

Thanks everyone for reading so far and I hope next chapter goes more smoothly.

Please let me know what you think about the series and this chapther later in a review.

All criticism is welcomed.

The world is made out of peace and love, but I sure hate FFFNET