Uploaded: 19/12/2019 Last Edited: 28/01/2020

The air thrummed with lights and music as students crowded the hall. Youths from the four corners of the globe gathered in the auditorium, enjoying a night free from the responsibilities and burdens of school and being huntsmen.

Well, at least most were.

While most danced with a partner, enjoying themselves and the event, a single brown-haired boy stuck to the sidelines. He was not alone, the borders sometimes more crowded than the dancefloor itself. Yet, he, amongst the sea of colour that was the four academy's students, Rolo managed to blend in, casually slipping through the cracks in the crowd without them so much as giving a passing glance. Clad in a simple black suit, white shirt and baby blue tie, his only defining feature at first glance were his grey feline ears, which were tucked low onto his head to block out the noise.

As he drifted in the crowd, his eyes were darting around constantly as he rationalised his surroundings. He hadn't had any contact with his team yet so the best he could do was follow their advice. Specifically, Lelouch's.

'During the dance, keep an eye out for any potential obstacles or threats to your mission. Pay attention to them and find a way to avoid suspicion if they see you. Use your semblance if needed. But sparingly. Hell, if you need to dance for an alibi, then dance. But always keep in mind that at midnight, our agent's… "associate" will make her move. Wait for a few minutes and take advantage of the chaos amongst the security forces. Remember, get in, get out. No time for dallying.'

That was the advice he was given after being demolished in a chess match against his brother. Again. Snapping back to reality, he fingered the flashdrive in his pocket as he searched for his alibi. You'd think that in the sidelines, he'd find at least one person who was lonely enough to-

THERE. RIGHT THERE. THAT WAS HIS ALIBI.

It came in the form of a young girl standing in front of the punch bowl, 15 years old by his estimate, just shy of his age by a few months. She had neck length black hair which seemed to graduate into a dark red at the tips. She had a milky white complexion and was wearing a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black trim along the bottom. The bodice was split vertically to the sash and laced with black lacing, it's yoke a translucent mesh with opaque collar and hem, as well as opaque lines connecting the collar to her shoulders. Below she wore a pair of black stockings and pumps. She looked lost, as if she were searching for someone in the crowd. That would explain why she was holding two glasses. As he walked towards her, he picked up the traces of a conversation, one with a voice of anger.

Something concerning "leaving her hanging", "I can't dance" and "blur hair", whatever that meant. He couldn't care less. Just a few steps ahead, the girl was still oblivious to his approach. As the distance closed to just a few metres, he slowed down. He breathed deep, calming his nerves and stopping his shaking hand, which still tightly grasped the plastic in his pocket. With a final breath and a clearing of his throat. He strode up to her.

"Excuse me." Ruby Rose looked to her right, where she heard the voice. There stood a young man in a black suit and a blue tie. He was taller than her by a few inches (though that wasn't saying much), but likely a little shorter than Yang. She also noticed a round pair of ears on his crown, folded downwards. The sight made her giggle. He reminded her of Blake but, with the lost (and slightly fearful) look on his face, he also reminded her of those cute widdle kittens she would see at pet stores. Oh the way they would leap at the toys dangling above them! Their little mewls for attention. Their soft paws! The way they climbed up your leg! Their bright little eyes! The way they would-

"Um, excuse me?"

Ruby snapped out of her imaginary playtime. The boy still stood there, his purple eyes now with a hint of worry.

'Remember Ruby, normal knees! You may have your team and team JNPR but you need to make more friends!'

"Hello!" She chirped. "My name's Ruby. Ruby Rose. Can I help you?"

While she greeted him, she kept an eye out for Jaune. What was taking him so long?

With a little wave, he greeted, "Hello, my name's Rolo. Rolo Lamperouge. I hope you don't mind but I saw you standing all alone here with two glasses of punch. Did your date leave you or anything?"

At that question, Ruby blushed. Hard. Rolo has never seen such a sudden change in skin colour from white to tomato red. Ever. Well, except for that one time where Cornelia-

He stopped himself from finishing that thought. That was never to be spoken of by virtue of the trauma witnessed that day. He inwardly shuddered.

"WHA?! n-NO! i-It's not like that at all! Jaune and I are just friends! I-I mean it's not like we're NOT best friends or anything. It's just he didn't invitemeashisdatedortonightandthatifhedidthatwouldbe-" A chuckle stopped her from spiralling any further. As soon as he stopped, Rolo took a deep breath before he told her "Okay okay, slow down! How about we just take a breather. We don't want to seize up right?"

Ruby followed his advice and took a deep breath, the flush draining away from her face till she was back to her pale self. "Calm now?" asked Rolo. A meek nod was her response. "Alright" continued the boy, "as I was saying, were you left by your date? I'm sorry if it's an embarrassing question."

"Oh!" was her immediate reaction. Now that she was calmer, she could actually answer. "No, I don't have a date. I'm just holding this for a friend," she said as she shook a glass.

'Alright, moment of truth, Rolo. You got this.' he told himself. "Well in that case, would you mind if you…." the last few words came out unintelligible, thought a dusting of red appeared on his as he looked away. "Sorry?" was Ruby's answer. Again Rolo muttered something that she just barely made out. Something about…. pantsing with him? What was that?

"Sorry, could you speak louder? I can't hear you." she asked.

"I asked 'Would you like to dance with me?'" said Rolo in a rushed tone. Though that did not stop a few bystanders hearing him and grinning at his embarrassment. As his blush faded away, he straightened himself out before continuing. "Neither of us have dates and it would be a shame if a night like this was wasted." he reasoned.

"I would but I'm sorry I can't. I need to watch my friends drink until he gets back." said Ruby. Seriously, where was Jaune!?

"I'm sure that he can get another glass. Besides, if he's taking this long, I don't think punch is the most important thing to him right now." reasoned Rolo.

"Why do you think that?" asked Ruby.

"I don't know. Perhaps he found a dancing partner. Maybe he's just occupied with them. Either way, I don't think he'll be back at the punch bowl for a long time. So please? Just one dance?" reasoned the boy. After thinking it through for a moment, she conceded with a sigh and a smile. "Alright. But if I see him waiting around here I'm joining him. I'm not good at dancing. Don't really like it."

Nodding in understanding, out came a, "Alright then, let's do this!" in an overly excited tone. Catching himself, he quickly straightened himself again (much to his partner's amusement), before holding out a hand and bowing at the waist.

"Well then. Shall we, my lady?" With a smirk he learnt from his brother, the results were instantaneous. His partner had turned into a tomato again and could only shakily reach out and take his hand, leading her to the dance floor on a pair of shaky black heels.

'Now I see why Lelouch likes doing this. It's cute.' Rolo inwardly chuckled as he watched his partners flush deepen while they got into a proper starting position. Slowly they took the first step. Then the second. Then the third. Then the fourth and fifth. Soon, they were gliding relatively smoothly on the floor, albeit with an occasional "ouch!", "Sorry!" and stumble. Slowly but surely, Guinevere's dance classes started coming back. 'Well, she was right about me needing this' he mused.

"So Ruby. Can't help but notice that you seem a little young to be in Beacon. Any reasons why?" He asked.

"Oh it's kinda a long story. You see I graduated early from Signal when Ozpin spotted me protecting a store from a robbery." she answered.

"A robbery? By who?" pressed Rolo.

"Oh, no one. Just Roman Torchwick!" answered Ruby.

She went on to describe her night with vivid detail as they danced, even throwing in some kung fu sound effects occasionally, much to Rolo's amusement. While he listened to her story, throwing in the occasional response, he kept his eyes trained on his surroundings. Upon the balcony, he could see Ozpin, watching over all the students present. No doubt he had his suspicions of Rolo already, masked by a facade of diplomatic cordiality. On the dancefloor itself was the vice headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch if he remembered correctly, dancing with a man. Though she was the more outspoken on her suspicions of the two, it would be easier for him to step away from her. No, the most notable of his mission's threats came from her dance partner, who towered over the blonde woman by a few inches.

General James Ironwood. The leader of Atlas's military, the largest, strongest and most technologically advanced of the Four Kingdoms. Though with the entrance of his homeland onto the world stage, that status had been highly contested. The last bit especially. As the general of the visiting military force and headmaster of his Kingdom's Huntsman academy, he held power at the tips of his fingers and from what Rolo was told, was not afraid to flex that strength (if the airfleet he brought was any indication).

Yes. HE was the one Rolo had to steer clear from. If he was ever confronted, he'd have to try his damnedest to seem the meek pawn of the diplomatic effort. 'So, note to self. Steer clear of Ironwood under all circumstances until otherwise advised' jotted Rolo as he continued to listen to Ruby's slightly embellished recollection of events. All the while, they glided on the floor.

-with Yang-

Yang lifted her arms and stretched her back, no doubt garnering more than a few looks from others. Having just finished her duties at the entrance, taking note of the students, she had just got off from standing at the podium for the past hour. As she rubbed her shoulders, she made her way to the punch bowl to meet with Ruby. She last saw her just standing there! She had already dollied up her little sister! Her efforts to make Ruby look good for tonight will not go to waste! If Ruby didn't have a dance by now she would dance with her herself!

Her determined march was stopped short at the punch station, occupied by anyone but her sister. Where was she? Sad as it was to say but Ruby isn't social enough to ask someone for a dance so why would she disappear?

With a soft gasp, Yang broke into a grin. If Ruby doesn't ask for dances and isn't here, chances are that someone asked her to! And she accepted! Yang could just barely suppress a squeal from coming out, her body trembling with excitement. 'Oh I have to see this!' excitedly thought Yang as she pulled out a scroll. 'Dad's gonna freak!' She scanned the room, occasionally having to tiptoe to see over the people for her short sister. Finding a short person in a room where everyone's taller was difficult. Go figure. 'Can't be that hard Yang' she thought, 'She still stands out with that dress of hers. Just need to keep an eye out for-THERE!'

Coming into the middle of the floor, she spotted her sister happily dancing and chatting with a taller boy, Weiss's age by her guess. She put them into frame with her scroll, snapped a picture, and began filming. 'Juicy blackmail for later' she slyly thought. She took the time to assess her sister's partner. Tall but slightly shorter than her. Sleek. Brown hair. Purple eyes. Round feline ears. Mentally going through the guest list, she racked her brain to put a name to that face.

'What was his name again? Romeo? Romulus? Rojo? Rouge? I need to go back and check later.' decided Yang. 'Ahhh! But Ruby looks so cute dancing with him! She looks so happy!' She sighed contentedly. "Gotta send this to dad sometime" she muttered to herself. Just then, Rolo pulled Ruby into a spin and then into a dive, leaving a moment of silence between them as they gazed into their partner's eyes. On the sidelines, Yang blushed and squealed, as much as she tried to hold it in. The resulting stares from confused students left her apologising awkwardly, all the while trying to keep an eye on her little sister.

-Xiao Long Household-

Taiyang Xiao Long, former member of Team STRQ, single father of two and teacher at Signal Academy, was in the middle of aggressively stuffing a mail delivery tube when he froze. His face contorted as his nose got itchy. The discomfort soon grew unbearable and with it, a discharge that could rival the thunderbolts of the heavens rang forth.

"ACHOO!"

He took a moment to rub his nose and clear it of snot, one easily used by Zwei to wriggle out of the tube. He may be used to it, but it was still uncomfortable! As he scampered away, Taiyang finally cleared his nose.

"Ugh, somebody must be talking about me," he thought aloud. "Wonder who it could be? Also," he looked down at his free hand, which seemed to tremble with strength. "Why do I feel so angry?" he continued. He couldn't explain it but it knew it had something to do with Ruby. 'Oh no. What if she's hurt!?' thought the father. Quickly, however, he calmed himself down. After all, Yang was there for her little sister so she was well protected already.

"Now, time to use this new energy to finish packing. ZWEI! COME HERE!" exclaimed Taiyang.

With that, he stomped off, more than determined to finish with his canine mail delivery. Zwei could only cower and cover his ears that day.

-Back at the dance-

"- and then I was like 'Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! IT WILL BE DELICIOUS!' and then my teammates cheered behind me!" Ruby recounted with stars in her eyes. Still the best day ever in her opinion. Rolo couldn't help but laugh heartily as Ruby recalled their epic food fight at the start of their semester. As her recollection ended, the music slowed down, decreasing the tempo of the dancing as well. Soon the pair were just swishing from side to side.

"So, I've told a lot about myself but I've heard none from you. Tell me something about yourself for a change." said Ruby.

"Alright." Rolo conceded. "Where to begin… I have two siblings in my family. An elder brother and a twin sister."

"That's interesting! What do your siblings do?" asked Ruby.

"Well they're huntsmen in training, just like us, though my sister hasn't started yet," stated Rolo. That caught her attention.

"What do you mean 'yet'? Isn't she in training like you?" asked Ruby.

"Well you see," began Rolo, " She didn't do well enough in the entrance exams to get into the school like me. So, unfortunately, she'll have to try again next year."

"Well, I hope she manages to get in," said Ruby. "What about your brother?"

"He's two years above me. Popular in the school, recognised as a genius. In all honesty, it's nice but being known as 'his brother' get's annoying at times," replied the boy.

"Oh that's interesting! Speaking of which, you never did tell me which academy you're from. Your Kingdom neither. So, where are you from?" asked the huntress.

With a sigh and a quick deliberation, Rolo decided to relent. After all, if the meetings went well and relations improved (which he was sure of), he wouldn't need to hide for much longer, so this wouldn't hurt.

"Can you keep a secret?" asked Rolo abruptly.

"Uh what?" responded Ruby intelligently.

"I said 'Can you keep a secret?"' repeated the boy.

"Oh! Um, yeah sure! I can do that!" answered the girl with her bubbly attitude. With a deep breath, Rolo readied himself for the revelation.

"Well you see, I'm not from the Four Kingdoms. I'm actually from Bri-"

"OH MY GOD WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER THERE?!"

In the middle of the dance floor were Pyrrha Nikos and her partner Jaune Arc, who was wearing a white dress. The two danced in sync and before long the other half of Team JNPR joined in, a planned dance routine breaking out in the hall. The cheers from the circle formed around them let Rolo take a breather, Ruby having pulled him for a closer view. He used the time to check his watch before his eyes widened.

It read 00:02.

Crap! He had to get into position to use the chaos! He had to get ready.

With a little tap on the shoulder, Ruby turned her head to face him. "Hey Ruby," he began. "I need to use the toilet, I think I had something bad!" He doubled over, clutching his gut in pain.

"Oh no! Are you gonna be okay? Maybe you should see the nurse!" Hook, line and sinker.

"No it's okay. I just need to ...go! Like really badly! That's all!" responded Rolo.

"Oh? Ohhhhhhhhh," intoned Ruby. "I understand! Go ahead! I'll be waiting for you back here!"

"Alright thanks Ruby! See you in a bit!" said Rolo as he "limped" to the toilets.

-CCT Tower, top floor, after Cinder's infiltration-

At 00:20, a lone black-clad figure stalked through the communications room. Having scaled the elevator shaft to not alert the already-on-high-alert-guards, it made its way to the front desk. Pulling out a little black stick, it jacked the piece of hardware into the scroll port in the centre of the desk and gave its input into the system. Priming the tiny self-destruct mechanism, the figure waited with bated breath as the holoscreen counted its download progress, the words "DOWNLOAD IN PROGRESS" displayed in a light blue midair. A finger began to tap impatiently as the bar neared its limit.

Just a little more. Just a little more and the mission would be compl-

*DING*

'Shit!'

As the elevator doors slid open, General Ironwood stepped out and scanned his surroundings. It was just minutes earlier that the tower had been infiltrated and after handing over the young trainee huntress who helped defend it for rudimentary interrogations (a formality really), his gut told him to come back. Something was off.

Just as the doors parted, he heard a fizzle and a pop and caught a spark of light on the front desk. Barging through the gap, he strode over, determined to find out. Looking at the desk, he could make out black bits of plastic. The smell of burnt matter told him that something had just been incinerated. Erased. It couldn't have been the previous infiltration since the windows were broken. The smell would've already escaped. In other words, there was a second infiltration. A recent one.

The culprit might still be around.

Reaching into his suit, Ironwood drew a Due Process, one of his revolvers, and held it at the ready. Slowly he stalked the rest of the room, sweeping every corner to flush out the intruder. Unbeknownst to him, said intruder was just barely hanging on above.

The figure held onto a thick, black, rectangular steel trunking on the ceiling, one used to hold wiring. They held on as gravity fought to bring them down, their body pressed flush against the structure. Their ankles, oddly enough, were inverted at nearly-90 degree angles, their feet hooking onto the top.

Their heart raced as they slowly shifted themselves into the top of the beam, wary of alerting the Atlesian below. As they shifted themselves onto the top of the beam, they let out a quite sigh of relief, releasing a held breath.

Too loud.

In an instant, Ironwood whipped around and trained his sights in where he heard the noise. His eyes narrowed, steeling himself for the possible conflict. Someone was DEFINITELY here.

"Come out! There is no use in hiding! I know you are there! Show yourself!" asserted Ironwood.

'Crap!' thought the figure. They clamped a hand over their mouth to prevent a gasp of surprise from being heard. The other hand gripped tighter as fear began to clench their heart.

Seeing no response, Ironwood sought to press the intruder. "I'll say it again. Come out from your hiding place. Surrender peacefully and I will ensure that no harm is done to you. I will even convince the courts to give lighter sentencing!" He then reached up to his earpiece. With a crackle of static it came alive.

"Reds 1 to 3 this is White. Requesting support over at the CCT Tower. Top Floor. Intruder cornered. Potentially hostile. Over." A moment later it crackled again. "White this is Red 1 leader. We copy. ETA 5 minutes. What's the situation? Over."

Ironwood smirked. 'Got you now' he thought as he reached to respond. "Single suspect, cornered in the top floor. May retaliate. Requesting support. Be advised that non-lethal force is to be used. Set rifles to stun. Over."

"Copy White. ETA 3 minutes. Over and out." crackled the device.

'Come on Rolo, think of something! You can't afford to be caught!' The now revealed student rebuked himself, trying to find a way out. But to no avail, as fear became increasingly constricting on his mind. His heart beat faster, he started to hyperventilate, audible even through his hand if only barely.

Seeing as to how the intruder had yet to respond, Ironwood chose to nudge them into a response.

A shot rang out in the building. The round bounced off the ceiling to Rolo's right, the sound snapping him out of his panic. 'Alright. Single opponent. Exit point across the room. 3 minutes to make a getaway before I'm caught. What can I use?' pondered Rolo, his eyes darting about the room.

'2 minutes' counted Ironwood, He slowly crept his way closer to where the intruder was, gun trained on their position. Suddenly, he felt as if he was weightless for a second and from the corner of his eye, caught a glimpse of movement. Swinging around he loosed another shot.

"You've had two warning shots! I will not miss the third time. Come out!" ordered the general, looking for the intruder's new position.

With Rolo, he was crouched upon a new beam, having used his semblance to buy some extra time for movement. Still, his leap did not leave him unscathed. 'Dammit,' he thought as he examined himself. Luckily though, no puncture. He breathed a sigh of relief but was annoyed. He had to buck up. That shot could have been avoided! On his thigh, there was a hole, torn by the passing bullet. 'Still,' he thought as he reached into a back pocket, 'I've got something to use for escaping.' He looked at his hand, a grenade held in his palm.

Meanwhile, Ironwood crept closer still. '30 seconds' he counted. Suddenly his earpiece spoke out. "White this is Red 1 leader. We are heading up the elevator. What's your status? Over." With a grin knowing of his imminent victory, he replied, "Red 1 Leader this is White. Be advised, the suspect has started to move. Be alert. Over" With a quick reply of "Copy", the general kept his sights focused, patiently waiting for his men.

With a chime of the elevator and the *clomp clomp clomp* of rushing boots, Atlesian men filed into the room and assumed firing positions. With the arrival of support, Ironwood spoke out, "We have you surrounded! Come out now and surrender! I guarantee that you will be subject to no harm!"

'Now or never Rolo' he spoke to himself. With that, he gathered his aura. Though his slight shifting gave his position away to the Atlesians.

Quickly, the beam he lay on was painted by a dozen red dots, all ready to fire at the word.

"Come out! This is your last chance to surrender before we open fire!" asserted Ironwood.

'Now!' thought Rolo. With a spike of aura, he triggered his semblance and leapt. As he moved from beam to beam towards the window, he noticed Ironwood bring his gun to bear, albeit sluggishly.

The intruder came out as a blur, Ironwood just barely able to catch him. "Over there! At the windows!" he exclaimed. The soldiers immediately turned their sights towards the broken pane of glass and saw a thin black figure standing against the moonlight. With a flash, it leapt out high as a shout of " OPEN FIRE" rang out.

As bullets whizzed past him, Rolo primed and threw the grenade he had in hand just as he leapt. A few seconds later, while twisting in the air to avoid the bullets, he reached the apex of his leap and began to freefall.

'The intruder threw something.' noted Ironwood. He squinted in the moonlight. What was that? It was cylindrical, looked metallic and had a pronounced piece on top, with a handle included. Almost like a gr-

"GRENADE! GET DOWN!" cried out Ironwood. The general and his men dove to the floor, just in time for the flashbang to go off, filling the room with a burst of light and a deafening *BANG*.

As the soldiers recovered from the sensory shock, General Ironwood stumbled towards the windowpane, blinking spots from his eyes and his ears still ringing. He looked down, and the intruder was nowhere to be seen. In anger, he glared at the courtyard and the auditorium just in the distance.

"Fuck!" he swore silently.

-Back at the dance-

Rolo arrived back at the hall, having burnt his clothes in a flash of sakuradite-laced fire dust. He looked around for his partner but she was nowhere to be found. Where could she be?

Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted by his black-and-red haired partner. "Hey," he said, "where were you?"

"Sorry!" apologised Ruby. "I was pulled aside for some school things that took… longer than expected! Yeah!"

"Oooookayyy" replied Rolo. "That's cool I guess. What was it about?"

"Oh, I can't say yet. It's got to do with the Vytal Festival you know? Important things." said the huntress.

"I see. Well then! Mum's the word!" said Rolo, tapping his nose.

"Huh?" was her response.

"It's a figure of speech to say 'I'll keep it secret'" explained Rolo.

"Ohhhh," was her intelligent response.

Just then, the music changed to a slow dance and couples filtered onto the dancefloor.

Taking stock of the situation, Rolo did what was hammered into him after hours of classes. One hand behind his back, he bowed towards the huntress and held out an awaiting hand.

"Milady, may you honour me with this dance?" he asked with exaggerated pomp.

"Oh…" responded Ruby. It took her a moment to catch on but when she did, she took his hand and with a nervous grin, said, "You may."

With a smile, he pulled her onto the floor and they waltzed, blissfully unaware of Yang still recording them. When it was time to retire for the night, Ruby pulled Rolo aside, promising her team that she wouldn't take more than 5 minutes before walking him to the guest dorms.

Just as they reached his room, Ruby spoke something that was bothering her. "So Rolo," she began, making him turn around. "what was it that you wanted to tell me earlier on? The secret."

Rolo's eyebrows shot up when he realised where this was going. With the history of between his homeland and the Four Kingdoms, his would she react? He couldn't back away now, she would only pursue him further. But he couldn't tell her the whole truth yet, it would compromise the mission! He would have to lie, at least till the full truth can be revealed.

"Well, the truth is I'm from the island of Nihon, east of mainland Mistral and I transferred into Haven during the 2nd year. Instead of me joining in the 1st year like most trainees, I shadowed huntsmen in the first year, gathered recommendations as well as doing some solo work on the side. That's why I said it was a secret. If people find out I'm from Nihon, who knows what they might do. Sure Beacon and Vale, in general, may be safer but there's always somebody who bears a grudge." lied Rolo. 'I'm sorry Ruby.' he mentally said.

"Also," he added, "since I've told you all this, can you please keep it a secret from everyone? I need to tell them myself."

Ruby took in that information and thought about it. There was a shadowing system in place, true, but it was difficult. Very few got in that way. His fears of being discovered made sense. After all, Mistral and Nihon had ended their fighting just a few years ago so tensions were still high. Though, something seemed off. She couldn't put her finger on it but it was there. He was lying but she couldn't figure out how. That being said, his tone was sincere enough for it to sound like the truth. Without much less to go off of, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright Rolo, you put your trust in me by telling me this and I will keep that trust. My lips are sealed," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Ruby. You have no idea how much this means to me." That was the truth.

"Agh it's no problem Rolo!" she said as she waved a hand dismissively. "That's what friends do after all!" she continued.

"Well then I am honoured to be called a friend!" replied the boy.

Just then a chime came from her scroll. A text from Yang telling her to hurry back to the dorms.

"Shoot. Well, tonight was fun Rolo but I gotta go! See you some other time!" said Ruby as she ran off, cursing about how painful running in heels was.

He chuckled and waved as he saw her run off into the distance. Just as he was about to enter, a throat cleared beside him.

"I take it you had fun tonight, Mr Lamperouge?" asked Ozpin, coming out of nowhere.

"AAAAHHHH!" Startled, he let out a very unmasculine scream and launched himself into the air, sticking to the ceiling. There were a few seconds of awkward silence, Ozpin looking up at the feline faunus who hung by his claws. Down the hall, an irritated "SHUT UP WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" rang out.

"Are you going to come down? Or do you require assistance, Mr Lamperouge? Because I assure you we are fully equipped for the occasional bodily mishap." said Ozpin. With a blush and a muted apology, Rolo retracted his claws and dropped to the floor, landing with nary a sound.

"Impressive. I see you put your additional traits to good use and are well versed in them," said Ozpin. 'If your performance tonight was any indication.' he continued internally as he sipped his mug.

"Oh! Thank you for the kind words, headmaster. I have to ask, why are you here at this time of night?" asked Rolo, panicking internally. 'I didn't even sense him coming!'

"Not much, just wanted to check on the lone Britannian in school. After all, it must be lonely and frankly frightening to be the only one of your kind. Not to mention, being both a Faunus and a Britannian, whose home is not exactly known for total cooperation, I must imagine that you have or will face a large amount of discrimination here." reasoned Ozpin in a hushed tone.

"Thank you for your concern, Headmaster." began Rolo, following suit. "But as you can see, I'm currently facing no issues." This prompted a raised eyebrow from the white-haired man, one which made Rolo nervous. Was his cover blown?

"I see. Well, in that case, would you care to explain why you so blatantly lied to young Ruby just now?" asked Ozpin.

"Well you see," reasoned Rolo, "I do not wish to reveal myself entirely yet since there is still animosity between my home and the Kingdoms. I wish to remain as "the boy from Nihon" until the rest of the Emissariat arrives. That way, I will not have to worry about being cornered and bullied by students for my home's actions. Nor will I have to worry about compromising the oncoming talks. News of the student representative acting out would surely jeopardise cooperation efforts no?"

"I suppose you are right to think that," spoke Ozpin. "However, should you require any assistance or run into any trouble, know that I am able and willing to help where I can. After all, what chance do two nations have at working together when two individuals from them can't? Nonetheless, I am here for you."

"Thank you, professor."

"Well, I've nothing else to do so I bid you goodnight Mister Lamperouge. I wish you a smooth mission tomorrow." With that, the Headmaster turned and walked down the hall.

"Goodnight Professor!" called out Rolo (quietly).

Turning to his door, just as he entered, his burner scroll buzzed with a notification. He looked at it and saw 2 simples words on its screen.

CONTACT ESTABLISHED

'Perfect' he thought. With a grin he changed into his sleepwear and flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes. 'I wonder what Lelouch and the team are doing right now?' he wondered as he drifted off to sleep.

-Meanwhile, location unknown-

With a grunt of effort and the swing of a sword, a Beowolf was cut down from shoulder to hip, the two pieces falling apart as they dissipated. A black haired man wiped his brow as the last of the Grimm in the village were culled. Luckily, no civilian casualties. Now they just had to put out the fires.

As he sat down on a piece of rubble, he gazed at the rest of the village from his position on an elevated ridge. Just then, a black-clad soldier walked up to him. "Yes, Captain?" he acknowledged.

"Milord, we have just received word from the Iris program! It seems that master Rolo successfully gained access to the CCT system." said the captain with a salute.

"Did he now? Excellent." said the man as he stood up. "Chart a course for Vale, captain." spoke the man with authority. A curt "Yes Sir!" saw the soldier jogging off to make preparations. Meanwhile, the man tapped on his earpiece to connect to his teammates.

"Yes, Lelouch?" asked his partner.

"Pack your bags boys. We are headed to Beacon." proclaimed Lelouch. A pair of acknowledgements came through and soon, he found himself boarding his vessel.

"Time for school," he said as the bay doors hissed shut.

-At the CCT tower in Vale-

The screens in the communications room flickered, the Queen's virus digging into the system with the symbol of a Black Queen piece displayed on all the holoscreens in its revelry. Suddenly, the symbol began to glitch out, its image erratically stretching and breaking across the displays as a new one took its place amongst a white background. Replacing it stood the even more regal Black King piece, a slender thing with high prongs on its crown. Behind it, a black sigil of what seemed to be a simplified bird, wings outstretched in flight. Yet, as soon as it made its presence known to an absent audience, the displays vanished, plunging the room back into its ambient green lighting.