I was going to write a new chapter for a different story, but Keyblade Guardian Ace and I came up with some ideas for this story and it really made me wanna continue onward with this one. So, either thank or blame him.
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: Tis a mystery.
When I returned to my room Ariana and Proton were the only ones there. Proton was working on his grenades again while Ariana was reading some ninja book.
"Welcome back sugar. Hailey isn't with you?" Ariana asked.
"No, she and Ruby were hanging out today." I said pulling out my scroll before laying on my bed.
"So, I'm guessing you were with Pyrrha then?" Ariana asked.
"No. I was talking with an old friend I'd met up with after our meeting with Ozpin." I said.
"You have friends other than RWBY and JNPR?" Proton asked.
"Don't forget about the hottie from the team that sat in on our meeting. He seems to be pretty close with them." Ariana said.
"Team CFVY? I guess I would consider Velvet and Coco friends. I haven't really talked to the other two much." I said.
"Just gonna gloss over the 'hottie' comment? At least you're finally learning." Proton said.
"I don't know if I want the answer. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss." I said.
"Wait, so does that mean you've been faking being dense this whole time?" Proton asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's a combination of both." Ariana said.
"When did this become an attack on me?" I asked.
"Come on sugar, you can pretend all you want. Everyone knows there is something between you and Hailey. They only ones who don't seem to see it…" Ariana started.
"Or are flat out ignoring it." Proton added.
"Are the two of you." Ariana continued.
"You know, with what you pulled this morning I think you're the last person I wanna talk about this stuff with. I know you like to get reactions out of people, but maybe let peoples relationships progress at their own pace and not get involved in them." I said.
"Huh, give the kid some power and he finally grows a backbone. Respect." Proton said.
"Calm down sugar I wasn't meaning nothin' bad by it. I'll just say you don't wanna wait too long. You never know if or when you might lose your chance to say how you feel." Ariana said.
Proton set his equipment down and turned towards us. "As much as I hate to give her credit for anything. She's right. You never know when something might happen that forces things to change. Might as well live with no regrets."
"No offence, but I've hardly talked to you at all since coming here. Most of which has been snide comments towards or about someone. Either that or you're just not around. So, hearing genuine advice from you is kinds weird." I said.
"Understandable. Which is good enough reason to listen when I say this." Proton said. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Clearly you and Hailey have something. Literally everyone can see it. You should take advantage and enjoy your time while you can. You never know what the future will hold. As I said I hate giving Ariana credit for anything. She is right though. You never know if or when something can come up and take everything away from you."
"You almost sound like you're speaking from experience." I said.
Proton turned his chair and picked his equipment back up. "There may be some truth to that. Good luck getting out of me though."
"I'll… take that into consideration." I said. 'Maybe I should just tell her…'
Soon after Hailey and Ruby entered our room.
"Oh, good you're here." Ruby said digging in her backpack. She pulled out two metal armbands and handed them to me. "I finally finished your gloves."
I put them on, and Ruby started going though all the changes she made to them. Including the retractable blade and the collapsing functions. She said she ran though ideas to make them work with dust but apparently her and Weiss decided that they would be better without. After Ruby took off it wasn't long before my teammates had passed out.
As for me my head kept running through everything Proton, Ariana and Emerald had said. Along with realizing how many people kept noticing how close Hailey and I had gotten.
'Everyone keeps mentioning that we have a connection. Still, even if I do like her that way, with what she's been though I can't imagine her even thinking about a relationship. I'm fairly sure she still has flashbacks to whatever Cardin did to her.' I thought. I put my hands behind my head. "Well that's two crushes out. Relationships are overrated anyway right? For now, I guess I should just focus on school. I'll still help Hailey out, but I should try forgetting about a relationship. At least try anyway.'
I think I ended up getting maybe two hours of sleep that night. All I know is I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep.
'Guess I'm making coffee early today.' I thought
I got up and started a pot of coffee. I put headphones in and started listening to music in the kitchen. I pulled up a comic on my scroll to read to pass some time. Once seven hit I decided to shower and get ready for classes. By the time I was done Hailey was just waking up.
"Morning…" She said stretching her arms out. "Are you already ready for class?"
"Yeah, I figured I'd take off a little early to get some studying in. There's some coffee in the kitchen if you guys want some. If not just dump it out I'll clean it after classes" I said. 'Liar.'
"Mkay…" Hailey said still out of it.
I gathered my things and headed for class.
"The Hero of Beacon has a little crush on someone? That's adorable." Pyrrha's voice echoed.
"You never know if or when you might lose your chance to say how you feel." Ariana's words echoed.
"Wouldn't want either of you to get taken by someone else." Emerald's words echoed.
'Little sleep and all these thoughts running though my head. Classes are gonna suck.' I thought
I wasn't paying attention and ended up running into someone knocking us both to the ground.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." I said.
I looked up and saw a girl in a uniform like Emerald was wearing with long pink and brown hair that matched the color of her eyes. I stood up and offered her a hand. She accepted and got back to her feet.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
She nodded.
"You aren't hurt, are you?" Another girl asked. She had the same outfit with shoulder length black hair that covered one of her amber colored eyes.
"I'm fine. Just a little distracted this morning I guess." I said.
"Well no one seems to be hurt. I guess it's nothing to worry about then." She said.
"I'm Cian by the way. I'm guessing the two of you are here from Mistral for the Vytal Festival?" I asked extending my hand.
"Indeed, I'm Cinder and this is Neo." Cinder said shaking my hand. "Can I assume we aren't the first student's you've met up with from Mistral?"
"Actually, I have an old friend that's also here for the tournament." I said.
"I take it you're the one Emerald was talking about then?" She asked.
"I guess? You must be her teammates?" I asked.
"Indeed." She said.
"Why am I worried about what she told you about me…" I said.
"Nothing bad, right Neo?" She asked.
Neo nodded again and held a thumbs up.
"Not to sound rude, but you're not much of a talker, are you?" I asked.
Neo shook her head.
"You could say that." Cinder added.
"Hey sometimes that could be a good thing." I said.
"I suppose so. I'm afraid we must be going though. Perhaps we'll meet up again another time." Cinder said.
"Oh, right. I guess I should be heading to class. It was nice meeting you two." I said.
"Likewise. Try not to run over anyone else on your way." Cinder said before the two of them took off.
I started heading to class again. 'She seemed like another Ariana. Just with better self-control.'
When I got to class Emerald noticed me right away.
"Cian!" Emerald called out.
'I have other options, right?' I thought trying to look for someone else I knew.
"Either you come over here or we'll come to you." She said.
'Guess not.' I thought heading over to her.
"Good choice." She said. "Oh, this is my teammate Mercury." She gestured to a boy with silver hair.
"Please tell me you're the normal one of the team." I said.
"I'm guessing you met the other two?" Mercury asked.
"I may have bumped into them." I said.
"When was this?" Emerald asked.
"A few minutes ago. I'm still trying to figure out if Cinder was trying to seduce me." I said.
"Nah that's just how she talks." Mercury said.
"Good. I've got enough women trouble in my life." I said.
"I do not envy you." Mercury said.
"Speaking of women trouble." Emerald said pointing to the doorway.
I looked to seem Hailey and Pyrrha walking into the classroom. Hailey seemed to glance over here before the two of them sat in another area.
"Guessing that's one of them?" Mercury asked.
"Two of them actually." I said.
"Cian you stud." Emerald said giving me a light punch.
"Now all three are here." I said.
"Really? Who's the other one?" Emerald asked.
"She's got green hair and is a pain in the ass." I said.
"Oh, Cian I'm flattered…" Emerald started.
"No, no, no. Not in that way. Never in that way." I said.
Soon after Jaune, Nora and Ruby entered the classroom. Jaune and Nora ended up sitting by Hailey and Pyrrha with Ruby sitting next to me.
"Hey Cian. Who are your friends?" Ruby asked.
"That's Mercury and this is my annoying acquaintance Emerald." I said gesturing to the two.
"Rude." Emerald said.
"I'm guessing this is your old friend you met up with yesterday?" Ruby asked.
"Hailey told you I'm guessing?" I asked.
"Yeah. I'm surprised she's not sitting with you." Ruby said.
"I'm guessing she maybe didn't see me." I said.
"She did seem out of it at breakfast. Maybe she's still having trouble waking up." Ruby said.
"Could be." I said.
"Oh, if you're not busy later would you wanna meet up to work on our homework later? Normally I'd ask Weiss, but she's been helping Jaune a lot lately." Ruby said.
"I should be free." I said.
As Ruby was about to respond Dr. Oobleck came in to start class. Classes proceeded as normal until we got to Professor Goodwitch's class.
"Our first match today will be Cian Riley and Proton Caribe versus Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc." Goodwitch said.
'Dang it' I thought. Proton and I headed to the locker room to get changed for our fight. I got my armor and swords ready and opted to try without my gloves and boots.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Proton asked blocking my path. He was wearing his normal attire with a custom gas mask on.
"I wanted to try fighting without my gloves and boots. It's only a practice fight, anyway right?" I asked.
"Yeah that's great. Go put them on." He said.
"Okay?" I questioned. I went back to my locker and equipped my boots and gloves.
"Good." Proton said as we walked out.
"Are the two teams ready?" Goodwitch asked.
"Absolutely!" Nora yelled.
"Ready." I said.
"Then you may begin." Goodwitch said.
"Timeout." Proton said.
"But, we haven't even started yet?" I said confused.
"I almost forgot." Proton said walking over to me.
"Mr. Caribe. Next time make sure you are fully prepared beforehand." Goodwitch said.
"Keep your skirt on. This will only take a second." Proton said digging into his pocket. He pulled out a gas mask and handed it to me. "You're gonna want that."
I looked at him confused and put the mask on.
"Great." He said before walking behind me. "Alright now pose like a giant rock is coming towards you and your gonna punch it."
"What?" I asked.
"Just do it." He said.
I made a pose like Proton said. He adjusted my arm a bit. He looked towards our opponents and made a small adjustment to my arm again.
"Great. Don't move." Proton said walking away.
"You can't be serious." I said.
"I know what I'm doing. Trust me." He said.
"If you say so." I said.
"Alright. Time in." He said taking a grenade from his side and tossing it between Jaune and Nora.
Nora managed to react in time and backed away from the explosive. Jaune got caught and was sent flying forward. His head ended up clashing with the fist Proton had adjusted and knocked him to the ground.
"Finish him quick so we can take out the real threat." Proton said rushing forward.
I looked down and channeled power into my right glove. 'Sorry Jaune.' I jumped and sent the fist down into Jaune sending me forward and knocking Jaune's Aura into the red.
Proton threw another grenade on the ground creating a smokescreen. I drew my swords and prepared for anything. Slowly the smoke started changing from white to a dark purple. Making it even harder to see. Nora let out a scream followed shortly by a number of explosions. I ended up getting hit by one of them and sent flying out of the smoke. Once the explosions stopped the purple smoke dissipated as well. Nora was laying on the ground covered in soot.
"Proton and Cian are the victors…" Goodwitch said with a slightly annoyed tone. Jaune had gotten back up shortly before the smoke had cleared and we went over to help Nora up.
We started helping her up when she started freaking out again. She slowly calmed down once she finally realized it was us. We helped her back to the locker room and sat her down on the bench.
"What happened back there?" Jaune asked.
"My semblance." Proton said. walking up to us without his mask on. "I can create a toxin that makes you see your worst fear. I learned a way to combine it with a smoke bomb to create a larger area of effect. Blondie was out of the smoke's range when it happened, so he wasn't affected. Cian and I had the masks preventing us from being affected as well."
"So, what did she end up seeing?" Jaune asked.
Nora shot up and grabbed Proton by his collar. "Don't. You. Dare."
"I have no clue what she saw. Whatever it was she's the only one who could see it and it disappeared with the smoke." Proton said.
Nora gave him a death glare before letting him go. She put her weapon away and stormed out of the locker room.
"Something tells me she doesn't like me right now." Proton said.
"I'd say that's a good chance." I said.
The three of us finished putting our gear away and joined the rest of the class sitting next to Blake and Weiss. When we returned Hailey and Ariana were getting ready to face off against Tara and Mars.
"I'm guessing Goodwitch and Ozpin planned for our teams to get in a little team practicing after our little meeting." I said.
"I could see that." Blake said.
"It's not a bad idea. Especially since it seems none of you have much cohesion." Weiss said.
"I'm not fully sure what you said, but I'm pretty sure it was an insult." I said.
"She said your teamwork sucks." Blake said.
"I wanna disagree. Considering I didn't do much in our fight though. I really can't." I said.
Ariana seemed to be giving Hailey a pep-talk before starting their fight. Hailey took a deep breath before taking her fighting stance. Tara had a pair of hook swords. While Mars had a bandolier of knives with two larger knives on her sides and one on each shoulder.
"You know, if she wasn't such a bitch Mars would seem pretty hot right now." Proton said.
"You're kidding right?" Blake asked.
"She carries about as more knives than I do grenades. Maybe I should add a bandolier too. Regardless, if it wasn't for the fact she's racist and seems like a borderline yandere she'd be a lot hotter. Hailey's probably lucky Mars hasn't tried killing her yet. Then again if it would have been Sky abusing her, she probably would be." Proton said.
"For her sake never bring this up again." I said.
"Of course not. If she gets killed, I'll never get to see that semblance I've heard so much about myself. See how much of the rumors are true." Proton said.
'For her sake, I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.' I thought.
Mars grabbed the two knives on her sides and took her stance.
"Are the two teams ready?" Goodwitch asked.
Hailey and Ariana exchanged a look with Ariana giving a thumbs up. Mars and Tara both nodded.
"Then you may begin." Goodwitch said.
Mars immediately charged at Hailey with Tara going after Ariana. Ariana started shooting at both opponents while Hailey charged her tonfas.
Tara started slashing at Ariana causing her to reel back. Ariana combined her pistols together forming their axe mode and started knocking Tara's strikes away. Tara was able to lock both her blades around Ariana's axe. Ariana stepped back making the blades collide with her own. She yanked her axe back pulling Tara with them and sending her to the ground. Ariana then stomped on Tara's hands until she released her weapons. She then separated her axe back to its pistol modes and fired at Tara surrounding her with black electricity.
Hailey had managed to hold off Mars' strikes knocking a couple of her knives away in the process. However as soon as she knocked one away Mars would replace it with another. Despite that Hailey's aura was still lower. Mars managed to get a kick in causing Hailey to stagger back.
Ariana fired a shot that formed a chunk of ice in front of Mars causing her to trip. Hailey quickly took advantage and jabbed her tonfas into Mars's hands. Making her release her knives and taking the full force of the tonfa's charged electricity. Hailey let up and took a couple steps back. Mars' aura was still in the yellow, so she slowly got back up to one knee to try to keep fighting. Hailey ran forward and sent a knee straight to Mars' face knocking her on her back nearly depleting her aura.
"That's enough. Hailey and Ariana are the winners." Goodwitch said.
Ariana went over and put her arm around Hailey congratulating her.
"Not bad." Proton said.
"Seemed a little brutal for Hailey though." I said.
"After what that Mars bitch put her through. I'd say she should have done a little more. Besides, I'm fairly sure that was Ariana's idea." Proton said.
"I'll believe it." Blake said.
After Hailey and Ariana came back, we watched Archer and Hydra team up in a losing effort to Pyrrha and Ren. Hydra was taken out quickly with Archer resining shortly after. Once classes were over Hailey and I joined teams RWBY and JNPR for dinner.
"I still say they cheated." Nora said.
"I keep telling you I had no idea what Proton was planning. I was just as confused as you guys." I said.
"Hailey did pretty good out there today. I bet Mars was shocked when the tides were turned on her. She needed to chill out anyway." Yang said.
"Why… Just why." I said.
"Jokes aside. She did seem a to fare better than when we sparred the other day." Ren said.
"Well to be fair she did used to be my teammate. So, I had a pretty good idea of how she or Tara would have fought me. Ariana pretty much told me to hold off whichever one came at me while she took out the other one. Then once I got the opening, I took it." Hailey said.
"And the cherry on top. She clocked Mars right in the face with her knee. That was awesome." Nora said.
"I couldn't agree more." Ariana said joining our table. "I'll admit it was unexpected to see coming from her, but oh so satisfying with the way they've been treating her."
"W-well the fight was about over anyway. I just figured I'd end it." Hailey said.
"Actually, I just thought of something. You guys know my semblance, and Proton showed his off today. I don't think I've ever seen Ariana or Archers though." I said.
"Sugar, I don't even know if Archer even has a semblance. I on the other hand. Well let's just say mine's not very helpful in battle." Ariana said.
"Why does that worry me?" I asked.
"Calm down Sugar, I wouldn't use it on you." Ariana said.
"So, if I'm hearing you right you could do it right now if you had a volunteer?" Nora asked.
"Of course. Although I wouldn't wanna put you though two demonstrations in one day. That'd just be cruel." Ariana said.
"Oh, come on it can't be worse than nightmare boy." Nora said.
Ariana gave a small laugh. "Alright, but maybe we should move this back to your dorm first. Wouldn't wanna give people the wrong idea."
Ariana and Nora got up and started heading back to the dorms.
"I have a really bad feeling about this." I said getting up from the table.
I was soon followed by everyone else to team JNPR's dorm. Once everyone was there Ariana smiled.
"You're sure you wanna do this? Once I start there's no going back." Ariana said.
"Bring it on." Nora said.
"If you say so." Ariana started. She stood face to face with Nora. "Close your eyes."
Nora did as she was told and Ariana closed in and kissed her. A shine of pink could be seen going from Ariana to Nora. When they separated Nora's eyes opened and were fully pink.
"Alright, honey. Let's start with something simple. What's a song you enjoy you but are embarrassed to admit?" Ariana asked.
"Space Unicorn by Parry Gripp." Nora said without even hesitating.
"Huh, I'm not sure what I was expecting but that wasn't it." Ariana said.
"So, you're basically able to get an information you want from people?" I asked.
"Oh, much more that that Sugar. Let's call it a lustful hypnosis. I can make her do anything I choose right now." Ariana said.
"And amazingly she hasn't used this on more of us by now." Weiss said annoyed.
"Well I can't imagine too many of you would be willing to kiss me neither snow cone." Ariana said.
"I'm almost scared to ask what you mean by that." Pyrrha said.
"Exactly what I said sweetheart. Only works with lip to lip." Ariana asked.
"How do you even discover something like that?" Yang asked.
Ariana walked toward the window. "It's… not a happy story I'm afraid."
The tone of the room changed to a more somber one.
Ariana turned back around. "Anyway, times a ticking. Back to our hypnotized girl here. Nora dear please answer any questions your friends ask."
"As you wish mistress." Nora said.
"Not my idea, guess it just comes with the hypnosis." Ariana said.
"Who's your least favorite person here?" Yang asked.
"Weiss." Nora said.
"Probably could have guessed that." Ruby said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked.
"What do you actually think of Weiss?" Jaune asked.
"Well I'd like her a lot more if she'd drop the spoiled princess thing. Still don't understand what Jaune sees in her. I trust her to have my back if I need it. Even if she'd complain about it." Nora said.
"So, then you still see her as a friend?" I asked.
"Of course." Nora said.
"Then why did you say you liked me the least?" Weiss asked.
"Cause that's what I was asked. Out of my friends you're the one I like the least. That doesn't mean I don't like you though. If it makes you feel better, I have more respect for you than a lot of the other students." Nora said.
"See she still likes you." Ruby said.
'She just likes the rest of us better." Yang said.
"Whatever." Weiss said.
"You're just all gonna ignore what she mentioned about her and Jaune?" Ariana asked.
"Oh, we all knew he liked her. He tried hitting on her day two." Yang said.
"Literally right in front of Pyrrha and I. It was painful to watch." I said.
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Jaune asked.
"It was." Weiss, Pyrrha and I said.
"Well since we're talking about crushes. Maybe we should see who Nora's is." Ariana said.
"What did I tell you yesterday?" I said.
"I didn't ask her. I merely brought it up as a suggestion." Ariana said.
"Nora, do you have a crush on anyone in this room." Ren said shocking everyone in the room.
"Nope." Nora said.
Everyone seemed to be more shocked at her response.
"Wow that was bold. We're you hoping she'd say it was you?" Ariana asked.
"Not at all. Just wanted to prove that there's nothing between Nora and I. That we are just friends." Ren said.
"Then how do you actually feel about Ren?" Jaune asked.
"Dude?" I asked.
"He's like an older brother to me. Been that way since we were kids." Nora said.
"Okay that's enough. Ariana stop this." I said.
"Sorry sugar, wish I could turn it off. Trust me…" Ariana said.
"So then how do we stop it?" I asked.
"It's on a timer I can't control. Could be a few more minutes could be a full twenty-four hours." Ariana said.
"You're kidding me." I said.
"Don't get mad at me sugar. She agreed to it. I asked her multiple times if she was sure wanted to do it." Ariana said.
"Without telling her what it was." I said.
"Wrong. We had a head start on the rest of you so I explained it to her on the way here. Isn't that right Nora?" Ariana asked.
"Yep." Nora said.
"After experiencing it, is there anything I didn't tell you about how my semblance works?" Ariana asked.
"Nope." Nora asked.
"What made you still agree to it?" Blake asked.
"Well I figured you'd either make me do something crazy or reveal something embarrassing. Let's be honest I'd probably do any request you guys would have asked anyway. Not only that, but it's not like I have a lot to hide anyway." Nora said.
"She's got a point." Ren asked.
"Did you think Ren would ask if you had a crush?" Jaune asked.
"No, but it's not like it's been a secret anyway. I kept telling you guys we weren't together together." Nora said.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go start on my homework." I said walking out of the room. 'So much for our talk about not interfering with other people's relationships.'
I started walking towards the library.
"Hey." Weiss called out.
I stopped and waited for her to catch up.
"I thought you were going to deal with her." Weiss said.
"I'm trying. You're not the only one getting tired of this." I said.
Weiss sighed and started walking towards the entrance. "Come with me."
I followed her outside and we ended up in an open area with a gazebo set up. We sat at one of the tables.
"What did you talk to her about?" Weiss asked.
"I told her to back off you and Jaune and to let people's relationships progress at their own pace and not get involved in them. Clearly, she took it as a suggestion rather than a request." I said.
"So, you actually have been trying?" she asked.
"Like I said, you're not the only one it's annoying." I said.
"I'm guessing she's involving herself with you and Hailey?" she asked.
"Something like that. There's a lot more to that whole situation that's bothering me, but that's not important." I said.
"Agreed. That being said, considering you have been trying and her nature just seems to be an infuriating one. I will apologize for the way I acted yesterday." She said.
"Don't worry about it. I'm more surprised you were the one who followed me. Figured if anyone it would be Ruby." I said.
"She was going to, but I wanted to discuss this issue since you seemed just as thrilled as I was. When she was about to go after you, I held her back and walked out for the same reason you gave." She said.
"Well unless there's anything else you wanna discuss, I'm gonna head to the library." I said starting to head back.
"Actually, there is." She said. I turned around and sat back down. "I figured I'd inform you that my opinion of you has significantly changed since our first meeting. Despite a few questionable decisions, you have proven that you are more competent than I originally thought."
"Glad I was able to make a better impression, but I'm guessing that still doesn't make us friends?" I asked.
"I'm not sure I'd use the word 'friend' at least not yet. However, I have a higher respect for you that many of the other people here." She said.
"Fair enough. Considering you thought I was a complete idiot when we first met, I'll accept it." I said.
"I will say though. When you left, I expected Hailey to come after you before I did." She said.
"Why's that?" I asked curious what her response would be.
She gave a small sigh. "This conversation never happened... I know you're in the same boat I am with Jaune. You like her but you've got something holding you back from pursuing it."
"Yeah… you could say that." I said stunned at her response.
"I'm sure I don't have to explain what my issue is. Which brings me to my question. The two of you seemed near inseparable the past few weeks. So other than the fact I had something to discuss with you. Why is she not the one sitting here?" she asked.
"Honestly I'm not sure. Part of me expected her to be here too. Since this morning though it seems like she was trying to avoid me." I said.
"It could be she's worried about the girl you were sitting with in class." She said.
"Trust me, nothing would happen between me and Emerald." I said.
"Does Hailey know that?" she asked.
"She should. She saw me get into an argument with her yesterday." I said.
"Maybe she thinks you two made up and are on better terms since you were sitting together." I said.
"She told me either I sit with her or she'd move over to me. I wasn't given a choice." I said.
"Did you tell Ruby that? I noticed she sat with you." She asked.
"Not yet. I'm guessing that's the real reason she suggested we do our homework together today was to discuss that." I said.
"That's most likely the reason." She said.
"Not to sound rude, but considering by your own admission we're not technically friends. Why are you discussing this with me?" I asked.
"Considering your situation is similar to my own I'm guessing like me you don't want someone to just tell you to go for it over and over. You want someone to talk it out instead. Maybe give you another perspective." She said.
"I'll admit it's a nice change. Does this mean you're gonna go into your situation at some point?" I asked.
"As much as I was hoping to avoid it. I suppose it would only be fair." She said.
"I'm not going to make you if you don't want to." I said.
"I'm aware." She said.
"Then what's your reason? Aside from half of what you say still seems like an insult, it seems like the two of get along pretty well." I said.
"Think about it. I'm a Schnee. Someone like him being added to the family would seem like a blemish and a disgrace." She said.
"Jaune Schnee. Yeah that's a hard one to picture. Still no offense it still sounds like a better idea than your father." I said.
"I don't disagree. The problem is if I wanna take over the company I'm positive my father would prevent that from being a possibility if I were to be with Jaune. He'd probably pass the position to my brother." She said.
"Could always hire someone to kidnap your brother. Then he'd only have one choice." I said.
"You're not wrong." She said.
"You know I was joking right?" I asked.
"Of course. It was just nice to hear an something other than, 'it shouldn't matter if you really care about him.' I know it shouldn't but I have to think about my company and my family's future also." She said.
"I'm guessing Jaune or Ruby are the ones who said that?" I asked.
"Jaune of course. It hurt telling him how I felt. I know it hurt him too but I think he's taking it better than I am. Ruby wouldn't stop bugging me about it." She said.
"Ruby really just wants her friends to be happy doesn't she." I said.
"The main annoying trait you both share. The difference is you at least seem to weigh your options before acting. Which I'm guessing is part of your issue with Hailey?" She asked.
"… Of course I like her. It's as obvious to me as everyone else. I'm worried asking her out is a bad idea considering what Cardin did to her. Add in that I had a crush on Pyrrha first and struck out before I even had a chance. It's just made me think maybe I should hold off on even trying a relationship." I said.
"Not surprising to hear you had a crush on Pyrrha. It was pretty obvious, at least until Hailey came along. It's clear she's pretty much in love with you. Perhaps a form of Stockholm syndrome." She said.
"Since when can you tell jokes?" I asked.
"According to everyone else my jokes aren't funny." She said.
"That one wasn't bad." I said.
"I get it through. Things like that can create a lot of mental trauma for a person. Although she seems to be handling the situation rather well though. Perhaps things could work."
"You're… you may have a point." I said.
"I have an idea…" she said.
"You don't sound very confident about it." I said.
She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'll cut you a deal. We both seem to be in a tight spot so how about this. Saturday you take Hailey out and I take Jaune out and we both officially ask them out." She said.
"And what's stopping either of us from chickening out?" I asked.
"If we don't then we have to be the others butter (or maid) for a week." She said.
"That's it?" I asked.
"I have a reputation to uphold. I can't be seen being controlled by someone like you." She said.
"Insulting and sounds more like an incentive for you." She said.
"And my first order would be to wear Jaune's Pumpkin Pete's pajamas to class." She said.
"So our motivation to finally ask the person we each like is by threatening each other?" I asked.
"Do you have another idea?" She asked.
"No, but this never works out on TV. Somehow one person always ends up finding out and then they get pissed thinking they were only asked out because the person was told to. It's a horrible cliché." I said.
"Jaune and I already like each other just like you and Hailey. If we both ask the other out the deal won't matter cause no one loses the bet. It's just a motivation tactic. Like knowing if you do a chore you get a cookie or something." She said.
I sat in silence for a moment and thought about her plan.
"You're sure this will work?" I asked.
"Depends how threatened by the consequences you are." She said.
"Not that. I mean on the off chance they find out about our deal." I said.
"They won't, but if you're that worried about it, I'll think of a backup plan." She said.
"… Alright." I said.
She held her hand out and I accepted her deal.
"Just remembered, this conversation never happened." She said.
"I know." I said.
"We'll meet up here Sunday morning." She said.
"Got it." I said.
I decided to walk around a bit before going back inside. I got a message from Hailey.
"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I decided to get some fresh air after what happened with Ariana. Sorry if I worried you." I replied.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"Just outside the dorms. I'll be back inside in a bit." I replied heading back to the entrance.
"Hang on." She said.
"Okay?" I replied.
A couple minutes later she came outside and met up with me.
"Hey, you sure you're okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine now. Just needed to take a breather. Ariana really knows how to test my patience." I said.
"I know, but like Nora said. She knew about the semblance so she knew what she was getting into." She said.
"It's not that…" I said sitting beside the building. "I'm getting annoyed with her butting into people's relationships."
"I thought she was only messing with Weiss and Jaune?" She asked sitting next to me.
'I can't tell her yet…' I thought "Well… before you came back last night, she was digging into me again. I ended up admitting I had a crush on Pyrrha…" I said.
"Oh…" I said.
"She wouldn't let it go so I told her I got shot down. Which wasn't entirely a lie…" I said.
"What do you… sorry I forget I asked." She said.
"It's fine. I did have a crush on her, but I knew she didn't like me the same way. I'm not as oblivious as everyone thinks. Just makes life easier sometimes to pretend I don't know what's going on." I said.
"Sorry if it sounds like I'm prying, but how do you know she didn't like you the same way?" She asked.
"I could tell by the way she acted around me. Plus, it was around the time she was still into Jaune so I'm almost positive I wasn't even in consideration at the time." I said.
"You never know… She could have just been hiding her feelings." She said.
"No, I know." I said.
"How?" She asked.
"Well… last weekend when we went shopping with her and Ruby's teams, she asked me if I was doing all that stuff to impress you… I told her I wasn't but I did have someone I was kinda trying to impress but I didn't say who. She offered to help but I told her I'd rather not get my hopes up. That I was certain she only saw me as a friend anyway. I said I was grateful for her being there for me since I came here. She said that's what friends are for." I said.
"That doesn't mean she doesn't like you back..." She said.
"It wasn't just that. I heard her tell Jaune the same thing before. When she said it to him it was in a completely different tone. More of an I'll always be there for you tone. With me it was just a happy no problem." I said.
There was a silence between the two of us for a moment.
"I'm guessing Ariana and I are the only ones who know about this?" She asked.
"I told Ruby I had a crush on Pyrrha, but that's all. No one knows about the rejection part other than you and Ariana." I said.
"You know you didn't have to tell me any of that right..." She asked.
"You'd have been worried about me if I hadn't. Besides I trust you." I said.
"Do you still have feelings for her?" She asked.
"I'd be lying if I said I was completely over her, but for the most part I am. Everything that's happened over the weekend has been a good distraction." I said.
"So… it's my fault…" She said.
"N-no, I'm sorry if I made it sound like that. I meant with something else to focus on I was able to move on from those feelings easier. I'm not blaming you in any way. It wouldn't have worked out with her and I regardless. It's not your fault I promise." I said.
"Alright. Either way I'm sorry." She said.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." I said.
"If you say so…" She said.
"So, what happened after I left?" I asked.
"Well, Weiss ended up leaving not long after you did. After a bit Nora returned to normal and Ruby, Pyrrha and I were some of the first to leave. We went back to Ruby's dorm to talk about what happened… we were worried about you and Weiss. You both seemed to be annoyed with Ariana." She said.
"Yeah, Weiss caught up with me and got a little upset with me about the situation. I tried telling her that I was trying to work on it. It went about as well as you'd expect it to." I said.
"By the way sorry I didn't sit with you and Ruby in class… I didn't see you right away. By the time Pyrrha noticed you class was about to start." She said.
"I figured. Ruby said you were still a bit out of it at breakfast…" I said.
"So, I'm guessing you worked things out with Emerald…?" She asked.
'Looks like Weiss was right about her being worried about Emerald.' I thought. "I guess you could say we're on better terms. As far as friends go, I still see Weiss as a better friend than her."
"So then why were you sitting with her?" She asked.
"Cause when I walked in the classroom, she yelled out either I sit with her or she'd move over to me. So, I gave in and just went to her. Where she continued to prove she's just as much a pain to deal with as she used to be. At least her teammate seems kinda cool." I said.
"Wouldn't it have been more inconvenient for her to move that you to give in?" She asked.
"At first glance yes. However, as payback she'd have tried embarrassing me to everyone until class started. In the long run it was the lesser of two evils." I said.
"You make it sound like she tortured you when you were younger." She said.
"Well to a little boy who was forced to wear a dress when she was around. It was torture." I said.
She tried stopping herself from laughing. "She made you wear a dress?"
"Her and my sister versus just me. I didn't have much of a choice." I said.
"No one stopped them?" she asked.
"My dad would, but then they just started doing it when he was off on a mission." I said.
"Oh, sorry to bring him up…" She said.
"Don't worry about it. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Anyway, we should probably head back in. I'm getting tired and am not looking forward to whatever argument I end up having with Ariana." I said.
The two of us stood up and started heading back in.
"Hey Cian…" She said.
I stopped and turned back to her.
"I don't remember if I've said this before, but you know if somethings bothering you, you can always talk to me." She said.
I smiled "I know, and believe me I appreciate it."
We continued back to our dorm. When we came back Ariana was sitting on her bed and Proton seemed to still be out.
"So, I suppose I'll be getting yelled at again?" Ariana asked.
"Look I'm not mad anymore. I just wish you'd tone it down on getting involved in other people's relationships. I don't know what your reason behind it is. I don't know if it's still just getting a reaction out of people or whatever. Right now, I'm too tired to care. All I'm asking is you tone it down a bit." I said.
"You realize there's a chance someone would have brought it up without me mentioning it. The way Ninja Boy talked he probably would have asked regardless." Ariana said.
"Yeah, I know. Still I already have Weiss getting on me about this stuff I don't need anyone else." I said.
"Sugar, there are more important things you need to be worried about. The sooner you realize that, the better." Ariana said.
Hailey put a hand on my shoulder and shook her head. I let it go and decided to just try to get some sleep.
The next couple days went by fairly normal. Emerald and Mercury started hanging out with the rest of us. Emerald ended up talking about some of the stuff She and my sister used to do. Ruby countered with some of the stuff she used to do to Yang. Some of which apparently Yang didn't know about. Mercury took to sparing with Pyrrha and Jaune. We saw Neo and Cinder once in a while. I'm still not sure how to react to Cinder. She seems nice but her tone still makes me think there's something odd about her.
Today is the day I'm supposed to ask Hailey out. Shortly after we woke up, I asked her if she wanted to head into town with me to pick some stuff up. She agreed and we headed to the airships.
"Looks like we won't be going alone." Hailey said.
I looked ahead and saw two people had gotten there first.
"Seriously. It couldn't have been anyone else…" I whispered.
Ruby and Emerald turned around and noticed us.
"Aww you two cuties heading out for a date?" Emerald asked.
"We're just going shopping." I said.
"What about you two?" Hailey asked.
"I offered to show Emerald around the city." Ruby said.
"If you two are only doing some shopping, you could come with us. The more the merrier right?" Emerald asked with an evil smile.
"It sounds fun, but I had plans with Weiss later. So, we can't be out very long." Hailey said as the four of us boarded the airship.
"Really? Weiss said she was gonna be helping Jaune with his homework later." Ruby said confused.
"I think it was today. I guess I'll ask her while we're out." Hailey said.
"Well if not feel free to join us." Ruby said.
"I'll take it into consideration. I might get try getting some practice in with Mercury or Neo later." I said.
"Anything to avoid me, Right Cy?" Emerald said sticking her tongue out.
"Pretty much." I said.
"Aww did someone forget his coffee this morning?" Emerald asked.
"No, you're just a pain." I said.
"Ruby have I said anything mean to Cy today?" Emerald asked.
"You've seemed perfectly kind to me." Ruby said.
"It's you and my sister all over again." I said.
"Oh, come on Cy. She's not that bad." Ruby said.
"Oh, gods it's worse than I imagined." I said.
Emerald and Ruby started laughing. A few minutes later our ship landed and we went our separate ways.
"So, why didn't you tell me you had plans with Weiss?" I asked a little confused.
"I don't. I just knew you wouldn't wanna hang out with Emerald so I made up an excuse." Hailey said.
"I didn't expect you to pull something like that, but I'm not gonna complain." I said.
Hailey blushed a little before turning away. "So where did you need to stop?"
"Oh, I guess I figured we'd just head to the mall again." I said.
"Oh, I thought you had something you needed to pick up." She asked.
"Not really, I kinda figured you'd just like some time away from the school again." I said rubbing the back of my neck.
"You could have just told me that." She said.
"I know, but if I say that at the school someone will suggest it's a date like Emerald did." I said.
"You have a point." She said.
"So, do you have somewhere you'd like to go?" I asked.
"Nowhere in particular." She said.
"Well I probably know the area about as well as you so I guess we could just walk around until we find something that interests us." I said.
"Or I could look up a map. We'd probably have a higher chance of running into Emerald and Ruby if we wandered aimlessly." She said pulling out her scroll.
"Good point." I said.
We looked over a map of the city and ended up heading to a local bookstore. Afterwards we headed to a diner on the northern edge of town. We looked into a couple other stores before heading to a cliff that overlooked the city.
"This place has a great view, don't ya think?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's beautiful." She said.
The two of us sat on a bench close to the edge. We looked over the city and watched the sun begin to set.
"So, I kinda had…" I started before she cut me off.
"Cian. Can I ask you to do something for me?" She asked.
"Of course." I said.
"Can you… Tell me my life means something…" She said.
"Hailey…" I said.
"Cian please." She said as a tear started rolling down her cheek.
"Of course your life means something. You've got friends back at Beacon who would back me up in a heartbeat. Why would you think otherwise?" I asked.
"It's not that I think otherwise. I just… felt like I needed to hear it. I know everyone else cares about me, but I needed to hear it from you." She said.
'She' s been perfectly fine all week. What's gotten into her… unless.' I thought. "Hailey, this whole week's been an act hasn't it?"
"How long have you known…?" She asked.
"Honestly, I didn't… I just had a hunch. Thinking back, it should have been obvious…" I said.
Hailey buried her face in her hands and started crying.
"I feel like I've been nothing but a burden to you and your team. Like I've had to have everyone look out for me like they had to babysit me. I tried acting strong so everyone would think they don't have to watch over me. Yet here I am crying like a baby again." She said.
I stood up and stepped in front of her. I took her hands and helped her to her feet.
"Hailey, you've never been a burden to me." I said wrapping my arms around her. "No one thinks they have to look out for you. They would look out for you just like they would anyone else." I said.
"I shouldn't have come here… I should have stayed home…" She said.
"Hailey…" I started. 'Now isn't the time…' "Hailey, I made a promise that I wouldn't let you give up. You wouldn't have come here without a reason and I know you can become a great huntress. I'm not doing this because I think you need it. I'm doing this because…"
Hailey looked me in the eye.
"Because…" I said. 'I can't…'
"Cian…" She said.
"Because a hero never goes back on his word. No matter what happens I'll always be there for you." I said.
Hailey gave a small smile before hiding her face again.
"Thank you." She said.
We sat back on the bench with her leaning her head on my shoulder. We waited until the sun had fully set before heading back. She grabbed my arm as we started heading back.
"You know, your promise can only last until we graduate. After that we'll be on our own." She said.
"I think I already mentioned. Destiny can have a funny way of turning out." I said.
Meanwhile in another part of the city.
"Alright, I'm here. Who are you and what do you want?" Archer said.
A dark figure approached him.
"It's been a while. Hasn't it, Mr. Tealos?" Cinder said.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"I know about your little plan. I'm here to broker a deal for a mutual partnership." She said.
Archer gave a small laugh and walked towards Cinder. "Anything to be at my side, again right?"
"Come now, you should know me better than that." She said wrapping her arms behind his neck.
"I know you better than most." He said wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Then you know I don't bluff. We both want the same thing." She said.
"Do we?" He asked.
She leaned forward and their lips met. "We do."