Miltia stifled a yawn as she trudged through the empty room that made up the main attraction of Junior's club. It was beginning to look a lot like her home again. The restoration process was nearly complete. It had taken a few weeks, but the repairs had finally been made. New furniture had arrived. Deliveries had started to come in once more. The grunts were ready to resume their usual roles.

Maybe all of this meant that she would finally be able to start getting her coffee fix once more. It's not that she wasn't grateful for what Jaune did. On the contrary, his skills in the kitchen had been a nice change of pace from the regular foods that were usually waiting for her when she woke up. However there were few things in the world she loved more than chocolate. Chocolate and pumpkin spice lattes. Unless Jaune could learn how to make those her world would never make sense again.

Speaking of Jaune and breakfast, she wondered what he was up to right now. It was around the usual time where he would be in the kitchen doing something. Usually it just happened to coincide with the time where Miltia had just woken up, while Melanie was still sleeping. Now was a chance to be able to speak with him alone. A chance where Melanie would not be there to offer some sort of suggestive comment or throw the conversation off track.

It seemed unusual to the girl that Jaune had not brought up the conversation between her sister and Ruby. A couple of days had passed and he had not acted differently toward them at all. No annoyance. No anger. Not even a hint that he was aware of it happening. It was unusual. She knew he was a kind person and all, but it was odd to just ignore what Melanie had done to someone who was his friend.

Perhaps she would be able to get answers from him. As well as find out what he was making for breakfast today.

As she made her way toward the club's kitchen she heard a few faint sounds coming from within. She figured it had to be him with none of the other members of the staff having reason to be there. Sure enough she spotted the back his shaggy blonde hair as he leaned against a table. Several food items littered the table as well.

Seeing him dressed in his usual jeans and a short-sleeve black shirt made her suddenly feel self conscious. It was a normal thing for her to walk around the club in the sweatpants and tank top she slept in when the place was still closed. After all, Melanie was her sister and Junior was closer to an uncle than a former huntsman who had picked her and her twin up off the streets. The opinions of the lowly grunts did not concern her either. They knew that if they stared or commented then they would be in for a world of hurt. However, where did Jaune fit into this equation?

It was too late to turn back now, seeing how he had turned around when he heard the double doors swoosh open softly as she pushed through into the kitchen. "Hey, Miltia," he greeted with his usual happy tone.

The soft smile on his face was nothing out of the ordinary when he spoke to her. As she had thought before, it was simply business as usual. Like nothing had even taken place following his spar with Melanie.

"Hey," she replied. Her tongue poked the inside of her cheek as she wondered how best to continue. "What's up?"

Not exactly the brightest of questions, as there was only one thing he could be doing in a kitchen. However it would at least continue the conversation. Maybe it would lead to a way to figure out what was going through his mind.

He shrugged. "Nothing much. Just wondering what I should cook today."

Miltia turned her head a little bit to try and peek around his tall body. Standing more than half a foot shorter than Jaune meant that trying to see over him was never an option. Still, she could only make out a couple of the items which sat on the table behind him.

The sight and though of food made her hungry though, and she felt a tiny rumbling in her stomach. "What were you thinking of making?"

"Eh, choices are kinda limited," he said as he waved for her to come over. Miltia did so, walking to stand next to him at the table and overlooking an assortment of ingredients which sat upon it.

Everything there appeared to be in its raw or frozen form. A frown slipped onto her face as she looked over them. What could he really do with this stuff aside from what he had done before?

"A lot of the stuff in the club's freezer is for the kind of stuff you'd find on a bar's menu," he continued. He stopped suddenly and shrugged, a small breath of laughter slipping through his lips as he went on. "At least I think that's what it'd be. Never actually been to a bar or club before coming to this place."

Miltia nodded. Having spent a good portion of her life here she was very familiar with the place's menu. With the variety and quality of fried, salty and greasy snacks it had to offer it was a wonder she and her sister were in as good of shape as they were.

"So we have a lot of things like potatoes to make fries. Or onions for onion rings. Beef for burgers, and other things as burger toppings. I guess the challenge is finding some variety out of it all."

She hummed in understanding. While it was true that what he made for breakfast always tasted good, he had a point about the repetition. She was sure they would both agree that they would get tired of eating the same breakfast day after day. People just needed change every now and then.

"What about a cake?" she asked.

Jaune looked up from his intense stare at the food, and turned to give her a quizzical look. "A cake?"

Now was her chance. A chance to finally indulge and give into the chocolate craving which had plagued her for days now. "Do you know how to like, bake a cake?"

"I guess?" he answered, not sounding all too certain of himself. He chuckled softly as he brought up a finger to scratch his cheek. "I mean it's not like I'm some gourmet chef or anything. I couldn't make one from scratch even if we did have the ingredients. But I think anyone could buy a box of cake mix and follow the instructions."

It figured. No sweet, delicious goodness for her. The club needed to open up again and it needed to happen fast. Once the lien started flowing in once more then she would be back to experiencing the pure bliss that came with her favorite morning treats.

The frown which fell upon Miltia's face must have been obvious, as Jaune's expression changed almost immediately after he had given her his answer. "I mean, just because we don't have any of that stuff now doesn't mean we can't get some," he followed up quickly. "I'm sure one of Junior's guys would pick up a box if you told him to. To be honest I think they would do anything you said."

He wasn't wrong. Junior's goons knew their place on the food chain. They knew that both she and Melanie could tear them apart with little effort. There was just one problem, however.

"That still wouldn't help," she said softly.

Jaune raised an eyebrow at that comment. "Why's that?"

"'Cause I don't know how to cook."

"Well you don't even need to know how to cook. You just follow the-"

"I don't know how," she interrupted. She averted her gaze from him immediately afterward.

"What do you mean you don't know how?"

"I mean I don't know how." Her words came out sharper than they had been intended.

A few seconds of silence passed between them after her statement. Her hands were pressed on the surface of the table. How had this even become about her anyway? She was supposed to figure out what to do about the Ruby situation. Yet he hadn't even mentioned it.

"Have you ever tried?" he asked.

The question brought her attention to him once again. "No."

A slight frown formed on his lips. "Then how do you know you can't?"

"I dunno."

The frown quickly turned to amusement, flipping upside down into a sly smile. "That doesn't even make sense."

It didn't have to. Miltia knew that she wasn't a cook. She'd never had to do anything like that in her life. She was a fighter. She didn't cut meats and vegetables. She cut men and women. She didn't deal with giant bowls and spoons and knives. The tools of her culinary art were long, sharp claws.

Still, she did not appreciate the look on his face right now. Looking up at the young man who towered over her did not intimidate her in the slightest, and if anything the feeling of being looked down upon in more ways than one merely annoyed her.

A hand drifted over to her hip as she looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you laughing at me?"

He tried to clear the smile from his face, but if anything it only made his lips quiver. "Uh... no?"

The stupid smirk of his grew a little bit at the question, his lips curling inward briefly as if to seal his mouth shut. His body shook for a fraction of a second. It only annoyed her further.

"You're totally laughing at me," she said accusingly.

Jaune brought his hands up defensively. "I mean, I wasn't until you actually asked if I was. Haven't you ever seen one of those videos where the title of it tells you to try not laughing?"

"I don't care. It's still not funny."

"Maybe not," he conceded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of you or anything. I just thought it was kinda weird to say you can't do something if you've never tried."

She hadn't meant to snap like that. It became apparent that she had after his apology. Of course he wasn't actually trying to be mean to her about it. It wasn't like this was Melanie being an annoying pest like she often was. However after spending a lifetime growing up with a twin who knew her almost as much as she did herself, it was hard not to expect people to try and poke a little fun at her.

"I know, it's okay," she replied with a frown. She looked away as she spoke, bringing her attention back to the food. "Unlike you I never had a sister who taught me how to do stuff like this."

Jaune shrugged, turning slightly as he looked back at the food too. "Yeah. I get that. It's easy enough for me to say to just follow the instructions on the box. But if you've never even seen a box of the stuff before you don't really know what to expect."

Miltia hummed an acknowledgment. It was good that little argument had been averted before it even began. The last thing she wanted right now was another potential issue.

She heard another small laugh from the boy beside her. "Melanie doesn't seem much like the cooking type either," he continued.

A frown returned to her lips as she looked back to him. "Oh but I do?"

"Well, no," he agreed. "But you seem... I don't know. More responsible I guess? Like you could turn on a stove and it wouldn't burn the place to the ground."

Now that was something she could agree with. Maybe not the burning Junior's club to the ground part. Not even her sister was that careless. However she knew for a fact that she was a great deal more responsible than Melanie. She loved her sister, she really did. She always would. Melanie was the only blood-related family she had left. There were times, though, when her twin's attitude and drinking habit would get her into trouble. When it would get them into trouble. That's where Miltia came in to bail her out. As she always did and always would.

"I had to be," she explained. Her thoughts were full of memories. Recalling sights and sounds and smells from the times where she had been the responsible sister. "One of us did."

Jaune hummed this time. Afterward he looked to meet her gaze. "Well if it makes you feel any better I think she has it in her to be the same when she needs to be."

"What do you mean?"

The blonde boy looked away, his eyes staring into the distance as if recalling a memory of his own. For a few long seconds nothing more was said, the only sound in her ear the dull thumping of her own heart.

"The first time I ever came here," he started. He paused momentarily, most likely not meaning to build any kind of tension but creating it nonetheless. "When I saw you and Melanie for the first time you were both in pretty bad shape. You were both bruised and bleeding." He shook his head softly, an almost embarrassed look forming on his face. "Wow I'm dumb. I don't know why I'm telling you this. I'm sure you remember since you lived through it."

"Mhmm," she said softly. Of course she remembered. It was hard to forget a night like that.

"But anyway," he continued. "When I found you two, you were still unconscious. Melanie was kneeling down on the floor with your head in her lap. She didn't even seem to know or care that there was shattered glass everywhere even though her Aura was gone. All she cared about was you. The way she was whispering your name. The way her hands gently stroked your hair."

Miltia didn't remember these little details. As he said, she had been unconscious. She didn't know how long she had been out for, but obviously long enough if this had happened without her knowledge.

"Then she saw me. The way she looked at me... that look of pure hatred in her eyes." Jaune's voice had dropped lower as he voiced a memory that she could not recall herself. "I thought she was going to tear my throat out right then and there. It was like she was some kind of... I don't know. Lioness, and you were her cub. And if she thought I was any kind of threat to you she would have done anything it took to protect you."

She couldn't help but smile at the way he had worded it, like it was some sort of primal instinct. In a way he was right. Much like an animal driven by instinct alone, there was nothing that she would not do and no length she would not go to in order to protect her sister. She knew that Melanie felt the same way. No matter how much they argued, no matter how much they pissed one another off, they had always been there for one another. Theirs was a bond which was forged before they had even left their mother's womb. A bond which had been tested through loss and tragedy. A bond which had been made stronger through that same loss and tragedy. It was what made them special.

"Sounds about right," she agreed.

"I don't know why she trusted me though," he admitted. "Well, maybe me tossing my sword aside had something to do with it. I think it was just because she was hurt, and that she knew you were in bad shape too. But I know that she was ready to jump on me like a cornered animal if I tried anything."

A cornered animal was the most dangerous kind, or so Miltia had heard. She had no doubt that if Jaune had turned out to be an enemy on that night that Melanie would have fought blade and tooth and nail to fight him off. She would have pulled every nasty trick in her huge book to kill or maim him. Miltia would have done the same.

"She would have." Despite the fact that she knew all of this about her sister, it never hurt to hear it aloud. Hearing it from Jaune was surprising as well. "Maybe you're not as dumb as Melanie says."

That sly smirk came back as he looked down to her. "Says the girl who can't read a box of cake mix."

"I can read it! I've just never done it before!"

"Then let's try it later."

The suggestion surprised her. Not simply because there was the chance that she would indeed have cake in the near future, but because of the implication. Not that he would bake it, but that they would.

"I'll totally mess it up," she insisted.

"You don't know if you don't try."

"That's bullshit," she argued. "I know about a lot of stuff without having to try it. Like, if I jump off a cliff I'm gonna die."

"I don't think baking a cake is a life or death situation."

Okay, maybe he was as dumb as Melanie thought. Clearly he underestimated just how important chocolate was to her.

"You do it."

His brow furrowed in amusement at the order. "What am I, your own personal chef or something?"

"Um, obviously?" she agreed. "You're like, kinda cooking for all of us right now."

That wiped the smile off his face. Jaune looked down at the food, as if he was just reminded of where he was and why he was there. However soon enough that goofy expression returned to his face as his gaze returned to her.

"Fair enough," he admitted with a shrug. "So how about you help me?"

"How about no?" she countered.

"Sounds like someone doesn't want breakfast."

Eyes narrowed on him again. He did not just go there. He did not just threaten to starve her into submission. He may as well have just told Melanie that Junior would only be serving non-alcoholic drinks from now on. The walls would be painted red with blood.

"You wouldn't," she challenged, crossing her arms against her chest as she stared up at him.

His eyes remained locked on hers. "Wanna find out?"

A hard breath shot through her nostrils. Jaune wouldn't have dared speak to Melanie like that. There was no way he ever would have been so bold around her. He knew it. She knew it. So what was his excuse here?

Had she been too soft on him? She had admittedly stood up for him a few times both when he was and wasn't present for the conversation. She had even successfully blocked one of Melanie's attempts to mess with him again, much to the other girl's chagrin. Maybe he was feeling too comfortable around her. Well, it was time to change that. It was time to channel some of her twin's attitude and show him who was boss.

Miltia picked up the large kitchen knife which sat on the table and held it up menacingly at him. "Does this change your mind?"

What appeared to be fear briefly appeared in his eyes before disappearing. His smile had faded into a frown, but as far as she could tell it was not out of fear or anger. Blue eyes drifted from her own and onto the long blade she held in her hand.

"Not like that," he said. A moment later his hands reached out and gripped her own, eliciting a small squeak from the girl in grey and red. They were gentle yet firm in some paradoxical way, and began to manipulate the knife clenched in her fingers.

"What are you-" she started, but was cut off almost as soon as she began.

"You don't chop food with an overhand grip like that," he continued. One by one he pried her fingers off of the knife, at the same time flipping the handle around before replacing her fingers on it once more. "There," he said happily. "Step one complete. Now you don't look like you're about to murder me like a slasher film killer."

She looked down at the very sharp and deadly blade still in her grip. "You know I can still totally murder you like this, right?"

He shrugged in acknowledgement. "True. But who's going to feed you then?"

What would Melanie say? A moment later it came to her. "I dunno. I'd just sell your organs on the black market or something. I'd make a ton of lien for food."

That one seemed to have gotten through if his reaction was anything to go by. A quick intake of air through clenched teeth told much of the story. "Heh, yeah. Fair point. But," he said as he held his hands up again. "You're hungry now, right? Better to leave me alive and eat now instead of killing me and eating later."

He made a good point as well. Naturally she was not about to kill him. She never would. However, intimidation was a powerful tool. One that her sister was never hesitant about using.

"Whatever," she said.

The relief on his face was apparent with her concession. "Great! So now let's get cooking. I have something in mind."

"I told you I'm not-"

"Omelets sound good to you?"

Miltia stopped in her tracks. She looked up at him, a hunger in her eyes almost equal to the one she felt in her stomach. "You can do that?"

"Yup. They're actually not that hard to make."

Again, Miltia wouldn't know. She had eaten an omelet here and there in her life. Each time had been out at some local diner or restaurant with Melanie and Junior. She had never had one prepared here at the club, however.

"I mean, we have a lot of ingredients here in the freezer," he continued. "Eggs are useful for preparing a lot of stuff on the menu. Then when you think about it, a ton of the food uses cheese, bacon, ham, onions, tomatoes and all that good stuff."

His assessment was true enough. Miltia could not recall the number of times she had eaten a thick, greasy cheeseburger with most of the mentioned items on it as toppings.

"Alright, so," he said as he began to peel the skin off of an onion. She looked up into his eyes for any sign of them watering as she had heard about so many times in media. Ocean-blue eyes remained dry, however. "I'm going to have some onion in mine, so let's chop it up. Sound good?"

Miltia looked to the onion, then to him. Finally back to the knife. Her lip twitched before she looked back up to him once again. "You know you don't have to talk to me like I'm a kid, right?"

He laughed for a split-second before stopping himself. His eyes looked down to the knife before returning to her own. "Sorry. It's just that I usually am talking to a kid when I do something like this. One of my little sisters."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Seventeen. Why?"

She shrugged. "No reason."

"Anyway," he went on. "I want you to take the onion with your left hand and hold it on this cutting board." He produced a slab of wood and placed the onion atop it before motioning for her to continue. Miltia frowned but did so. "Good. Now take the knife, and put the blade on the surface about half an inch away from the edge. Like this."

His hands took her own once more, guiding them and the six inch long blade she held onto the awaiting food. She was about to protest once more about not being a cook and not wanting to cook, but the sensation of his skin making contact with hers quelled the words before they could leave her tongue.

Each of his hands was large, dwarfing hers to the point where he would probably be able to clasp them both comfortably in only one of his. Yet for as large as they were they were also surprisingly soft. She had already noted the gentleness with which they had handled her own earlier, but now here with his resting on her own it was obvious how warm and soft they were.

They were hands that had not seen combat yet. Hands which had not grown calloused from gripping the hilt of a sword. Hands which had not spilled blood. Innocent hands. Just like their owner.

So what if she had been soft on Jaune? Maybe it was what he needed. Melanie... she could be the one to play rough with him. She knew that the girl would undoubtedly enjoy it. Melanie could teach him the lessons he would need to know for this life. The ones he needed to learn so that he wouldn't die.

However that didn't mean that she had to be that way as well. Life didn't have to be nothing but cruelty. Everyone needed someone on their side. Someone to turn to. Someone to be there as a friend. If that someone just happened-

"You alright?"

Miltia was snapped from her thoughts at the sound of his voice. "Huh?"

"You shouldn't space out while you're cutting something. Aura or not it could still hurt."

She looked down to see the knife still in her hands, its edge biting into the onion below. With a tiny shake of her head she cleared her previous line of thinking from her mind. "Right."

"Alright. So what you want to do here is keep the tip of the blade down on the wood, and bring the back of it down to slice through the onion."

She did as he instructed, slowly chopping through the moist, white vegetable. Tears welled up in her eyes as she did.

Little miss Ruby Rose had long since been forgotten.

Nerd.

Fucking nerd.

It was all Melanie could think as she walked down the sidewalk beside her sister and Jaune.

When Jaune had originally said that he was going to be heading out to pick up a few things she had been mildly intrigued. Not because she found his life particularly interesting, but simply because she was bored. Her interest was perked more when it was revealed that Miltia was going to be tagging along. Something about cake had been mentioned. If Miltia was going then she decided that she would grace them with her presence as well. No reason to let her younger sister have all the fun, after all.

Then it had been revealed that Jaune would be stopping off at a local bookstore. She wasn't much of a reader, and she didn't believe that Jaune was either, but she was going to stick around regardless. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do on a weekday afternoon.

Excitement briefly returned when Jaune explained that he was going to be picking up the latest issue of X-rated Vav, or something along those lines. She didn't know what a Vav was, but since it was only one letter away from something fun she figured she would come with to find out.

However when he had clarified its true name and the fact that it was merely a monthly super hero comic book her enthusiasm plummeted immediately. Not that she was a fan of erotic literature or comics to begin with, but the idea that her new co-worker might have had a few hidden kinks had been enough to warrant her tagging along. It was one way to get past the boredom of the mornings and afternoons. That, and she was simply a naturally curious girl who could always use some more ammunition to use against those who were her sources of entertainment.

Unfortunately by the time Jaune had explained what the comic was truly about they were already almost there. It was too late to turn back now and make the trip into this part of Vale all for nothing. Melanie decided that she would stick it out and see if there was anything that she herself might find interesting at a dusty little book store.

The normally talkative Melanie had been silently stewing for much of the walk since Jaune's anticlimactic reveal. However to her surprise her normally more reserved sister was busy chatting away with the boy about his lame little comic book.

"So what's it about?" the girl in red asked.

"Well, it's about a couple of guys who want to be super heroes," he explained. "They have the powers and everything, but they're just not very good at it. They're always screwing around and messing things up."

"Sounds like you," Melanie said sharply.

Both Jaune and Miltia turned to their to look at her. As usual the boy was flanked on either side by the twins, with Miltia on his right side and Melanie on his left. It didn't matter that he was not someone they viewed as an enemy who needed to be surrounded. At this point the strategy of using the number's game to their advantage was so ingrained in their minds that they did so without even thinking about it.

A small frown formed on Miltia's lips. "That's not very nice."

"What?" Melanie said innocently. "I thought it'd be like, a compliment to be compared to his favorite characters and stuff."

Not true, but it was easy enough to frame it as such. There were obvious comparisons that could be made that were less than flattering. Jaune had wanted to be a hero. A huntsman. He had failed in doing so.

As for messing things up, well, she couldn't exactly say he had done that as of yet. However his career in working for Junior was young. Give him time and he would probably screw something up.

"Not exactly the kind of people I want to be compared to," Jaune pointed out.

Melanie huffed dismissively. "Whatever."

It was a good thing they were almost there. It was a stupid little conversation anyway. In the distance she could read out the name of the store Jaune had mentioned. It would be hard to miss it, with there being two signs proclaiming the name for all the world to see. Tukson's Book Trade. She'd never heard of it. However as she had already noted, she was hardly one for reading.

It was a quaint little place. As the trio grew near she could see that it wasn't some large chain store that may have had multiple locations spread across the kingdom, or even the continents. Probably some local business. Melanie rolled her eyes as she recalled the conversations she had overheard in her life of people acting like they were better than others because they supported local businesses. If Jaune decided to do the same thing she would not hesitate to kick the crap out of him.

The boy paused before reaching for the door, turning back to her and Miltia. "I'll just be in there for a minute," he told them. "You don't have to come in if you don't want."

Miltia shrugged. "It's fine."

"Whatever," Melanie said again. "Probably at least has air conditioning in there."

Jaune seemed satisfied with their answers, pulling the door open to the sound of a soft jingle.

The three stepped inside, and the first thing Melanie noticed was how dimly lit the shop was. For a place where you were supposed to read, or at least be able to read to see if you wanted the book, it seemed like a rather stupid design flaw. Most of the light was coming from the two large windows which sat on either side of the entrance.

Her nose wrinkled at the smell of the store. Paper. It had a distinct smell. Whether it was a school, library, or in this case a book store, there was no mistaking the stench of old ink and paper. Row after row of books sat atop shelves which seemed to be haphazardly set up throughout the room. How was anyone supposed to find anything in a place like this anyway? At least Junior had some organization skill when it came to the liquor setup behind the bar. It made finding her drink of choice for the night a very simple task.

A glance over to Jaune made her think that he was having a similar problem, his head on a swivel as he looked around for some idea of what he was looking for. A moment later his eyes lit up, a soft smile playing on his lips. "Nice, looks like comics are all right here by the front."

Melanie didn't respond as he separated himself from the group, or at least until Miltia decided to follow him. Left alone now Melanie was free to wander the small place until he was done. No one else was even in the store. Probably because most people had better things to do on a weekday morning. Like work. Poor bastards.

Not even the store employees seemed to be around. No one was even behind the counter. Stealing from Tukson would have been a breeze. She was half tempted to go over to Jaune, figure out what comic he wanted and just grab it and leave. However she was certain that he would protest the action with some misguided sense of morality. Maybe if the store owner didn't want to get robbed he would actually be on the floor to watch for potential shoplifters.

Deciding to see just how stupid the man was, Melanie sauntered over to the counter, resting her arms up against it. She wanted to see just how long it would take the idiot to come out and assist a potential customer. The pair of double doors behind the counter led into some sort of back room. If he was going to make an appearance, it would probably be from there.

Seconds passed by in relative silence with the only sounds in the room being the faint chatter that Jaune and Miltia exchanged behind her. Soon enough she added to noise, her long fingernails rapping on the counter's wooden surface in an impatient rhythm. Seriously, she could have grabbed the whole series of whatever Jaune's favorite comics were and been out the door already. Whoever this Tukson was, he was clearly incompetent. Melanie was half tempted to ring the small bell on the counter to get his attention, but she didn't want to cheat in her own boredom-spawned game.

That was when she heard something else. A voice coming from the doors behind the counter. The girl leaned in a little to try and hear what it was saying. The words were mostly vague, muffled by the distance and doors which separated her from them. She could make out a few here and there, but not enough to get a clear picture. Until she heard one in particular.

"...Roman..."

Roman? As in Roman Torchwick? Her mind went on alert at the mention of the criminal's name. She didn't know why it had been mentioned. She didn't know the context of its use. In an instant she could feel her heart thumping in her ears, and her mind was working overtime to try and drown out the talking behind her and focus on what was ahead. Sadly it was of no use, and the full conversation continued to elude her.

The doors pushed open, revealing a pair of men walking out. One was a faunus, the antlers which protruded from his forehead being a dead giveaway. The other appeared to be human, or at the very least if he was a faunus as well his defining trait was hidden from her. Both men were large, probably about as tall as Jaune and with a little more meat on their bones.

One turned back to look to the backroom he had just left. "Be there, Tukson," he said with a certain degree of authority in his voice. "You'll disappoint a lot of people if you miss another meeting."

The pair made their way out from behind the counter, a certain swagger to their walk that Melanie recognized all too well. She had spent much of her life growing up around real criminals and wannabe thugs alike. She knew the signs. The way that they carried themselves. Like they were big shots. Like they were tough guys for shoving around people who were weaker than them. Like the power that they had was real.

She stared at them as they left the store, their eyes locking onto hers as she did. Despite the fact that they wore regular clothes, that they for all intents and purposes looked like average people, she knew better. Their eyes told the entire story. They were hard eyes that were used to intimidating others. Eyes like her own. They were trying to intimidate her in that very moment for having the audacity to look at them the way that she was. She didn't back down. Neither did they.

Melanie's heart rate had surged, and her brain had entered criminal mode. There was the potential for a fight to break out in the next few seconds. Her mind raced to recalled the details of this place which might save her life. There was only one confirmed exit, that being the front door they had come through. It was possible that there was a rear exit in the backroom, but she could not count on that. As for possible weapons, she could not recall seeing anything hard or solid. She could always pick up a hefty book and smash the spine over someone's head, but she couldn't count on it to be effective. Without her blades and Miltia's claws they would have to rely on feet and fists alone.

Her eyes remained locked on the two men until they had left the store. In the end her adrenaline surge had been for nothing, and the pair exited without incident. Almost immediately a wave of relief passed over her, but she was still on edge. A glance over to Miltia told her that she felt the same. Her twin stared back at her, still standing next to Jaune who seemed blissfully ignorant of what was taking place between the sisters.

Hands which she did not even realize had become sweaty rubbed the wood counter leaving a thin trail of moisture in their wake. Better there than on her dress.

The sudden sound of a new voice snapped her back to reality as she looked back behind the counter to see a third man emerge from the backroom. "Sorry for the wait, ma'am."

Another man, this one a little bit shorter than the other two had made his way to stand across the counter from her. His black hair was cut short, and as if to make up for that he sported massive mutton chops down the sides of his face. Arms which were also covered in copious amounts of hair painted a rather unpleasant picture of what the rest of the man's body might have looked like, and Melanie was happy that he wore a white undershirt beneath what would have otherwise been a revealing v-neck shirt.

His voice sounded tired when he spoke next. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade," he said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. If the idea was to convince potential customers to buy his books then he was sorely lacking in that department. "Home to every book under the sun. How may I help you?"

So this was Tukson? Apparently, since one of the other men had addressed him as such. Despite his overly-hairy appearance he seemed to be just an average guy overall. He lacked the tells of the two men who had just left. It made her wonder what kind of relationship he shared with them.

"I'm with them," Melanie said as she motioned back over to Miltia and Jaune. "Not looking for anything though."

Tukson nodded. "Alright. But if you change your mind let me know. We have something here for pretty much anyone. I could offer a few recommendations if you'd like."

What a salesman he was. Despite her just saying that she wasn't looking for anything he was more than eager to push a sale or two onto her. It had been done in such a polite and helpful way that some people might have actually fallen for the con. However most people had not grown up around conmen and criminals the way she had.

"Thanks," she said disingenuously. He didn't seem to pick up on it, however. She on the other hand had picked up on his lackluster greeting, and was about to call him out on it. "Everything alright there, big guy?"

The man's brow furrowed briefly in confusion before he answered. "I am. Thanks for asking though."

A good liar he was not, and Melanie pressed onward. "You sure? Those guys you were talking to seemed like, upset."

She wanted to know who they were and why they were talking about Roman Torchwick. A man who if Junior was correct, may have had some connection to the girl who attacked the club a few weeks ago. After all, a criminal as renowned and skilled as Roman did not botch an operation the way that he had. She could not help but feel it had been on purpose in an attempt to deliberately weaken Junior. It had done exactly that. The loss of manpower after the club was hit and Roman's failed operation had sapped her employer of much of his strength.

Tukson's poker face was lacking, and the noticeable swallowing in his throat told her that he was indeed not alright. "Oh, you mean them?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Sorry you had to see that. They're a couple of regular customers and I didn't have what they were looking for. But it'll turn out alright. We're still close."

Bullshit. Melanie had seen their type before, and they were not customers. She was all too familiar with the scumbags who walked around like they had the biggest dicks in the room. At least until they had a sharp steel blade pressed up against their manhood. It truly was a pity that she left her blades at home.

"S'okay," she shrugged. Tukson was on edge now as well. There was worry in his eyes. That along with the blatant lie he had just told was just piling onto the evidence that he was hiding something. Something involving those men who had left.

"If you need anything I'll be over there assisting your friends," he said as he looked over to where Miltia and Jaune still stood.

Her eyes narrowed. One moment he was trying to push a sale onto her, and now he was simply abandoning her for a customer he already knew would be making a purchase?

Before he could leave Melanie decided to push even further. Hopefully this time she would get something concrete. "Is Roman a regular customer too?"

The question stopped Tukson in his tracks. He looked back to the girl, a tiny bit of panic in his hazel eyes. Clearly the last thing he expected was to be asked about was Roman. Judging by his reaction it was apparent that they were talking about the same Roman.

"I, uh..." he began with uncertainty. "I don't know who you mean by that."

She smelled blood. It was time to go in for the kill. "Roman Torchwick," she clarified. "I heard someone mention him when you were in back," she said motioning to the doors. "Is he one of your regulars too?"

He shook his head, but as always his eyes painted a far clearer picture than his body or words ever could. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else."

"Do I, Tukson?" she said in a low tone. "Do I?"

Tukson's full attention was on her again, but this time it was for the wrong reasons. His breathing had become heavier and it was clear he was uncomfortable with where the conversation had gone. Another lump came and went from his throat. "I think you should leave," he said with a hint of sternness in his tone.

Not a chance. Clearly something was wrong here. There were too many coincidences here for it to just be one big coincidence. Name dropping Roman Torchwick. Obvious thugs in the backroom with Tukson. His nervousness at the mention of both. These things added up to something. Tukson knew something. She didn't know what he knew exactly, but it was something. If that something just happened to involve knowledge of that new player in town then she wanted to know. Even if it was just a tip in the right direction, she would find out. By any means necessary.

Melanie's head tilted slightly, a coy smile playing on her lips. "But my friends are still shopping," she said innocently.

"They can make their purchases and leave," he said. His hands were pressed up against the counter now, torso leaning slightly forward. He was still above average in terms of height and build, and a great deal larger than Melanie. He was trying to use that size to intimidate her. "You however need to get out of my store right now."

Little did he know that she had thrashed bigger men than him.

The girl in white did not back down from his little display, and in fact leaned in as well to meet his face halfway across the counter. "You gonna make me, big guy?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

His stare had become more intense with that challenge. He knew that the jig was up. He could not use words to convince her of his innocence or ignorance.

It was impressive that he didn't back down either. Tukson had balls, she had to give him that. "Who sent you?" he asked in an equally quiet tone.

A sly grin spread across Melanie's face, her tongue poking out briefly to wet her full red lips. "A girl's allowed to have her secrets," she answered teasingly. "Now you gonna tell me about Roman or not?"

The staredown persisted for long seconds, and Melanie felt her face beginning to warm in response to her body's natural reaction to danger. Her heart was pumping blood through her veins, her muscles were tensing in perpetration to either fight or run away. She had no intention of doing the latter.

"No."

In a flash Tukson threw his arms up from the table, and fingernails which had once appeared normal extended to form sets of sharp, inch-long claws.

Author's Note: So Tukson's getting introduced a lot earlier than normal. Kind of similar to the way it happened in V2, which is completely intentional. "It's like poetry, they rhyme", as George Lucas once infamously said. Hopefully that's where comparisons between the prequels and my story end...

Anyway, as always my thanks go out to everyone who cares about this story. I'll say it every chapter, and it probably gets repetitive, but I just always want to let you know that I really do appreciate your support. I enjoy seeing that people enjoy the story, if that makes sense.

Questions, comments or concerns? You know what to do. Feedback is always appreciated.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it.