"What's your name?"
I was staring blankly at the black haired adult in front of me, with my best poker face. In return, piercing red eyes glared back and felt like they were peeking right into my soul. Experienced huntsman or not, my friend over here didn't seem to be willing to give me the chance to escape the predicament he put me in. The situation was dire and I had to make sure not to mess anything up. In these circumstances, I needed to be sharp.
"Rose, but you knew that already."
The first steps consist in asserting dominance in the conversation. Expressing annoyance or reluctance towards answering the questions will force my interlocutor to narrow down his inquiries. He won't have an easy time getting what they want out of me if I play my cards right.
"Surname?"
Err.
"I'm not really sure."
Vague replies are the way to go if stalling for time is the objective.
"Who and where are your parents then?"
"I don't remember."
"Any other relatives we can contact?"
"What's a relative?"
.
.
.
"Nevermind then. Do you remember anything from what happened in forest?"
"Actually... No, mister."
.
.
.
"Amnesia at such a young age huh?" He grunted. "Fine."
Call it amnesia. Yes, amnesia is the right answer. If you don't know the answer to a question, then you probably forgot or never knew in the first place. Let's say I have selective amnesia. I somehow can forget what I choose to forget at a given time and place. Makes sense, no? It's another one of my hidden gamer skills which of course can be applied in every dialogue possible.
And this time I must say it's pretty useful.
I was having a nice chat with Bird-san. It was definitely not a one on one interrogation between a fully grown adult and a kid barely capable of speech. The vile fiend managed to isolate me from my powerful allies. Papaya went out shopping with Yang and Ruby, and left Bird-san in charge of me for the meantime. I suspected the two adults were in league with each other but I lacked any initiative to gather information by my lonesome.
We were sitting on opposite sides of the dining room table, face to face. While I was playing with a small fork that was left unused from lunch, twirling the piece of metal around my fingers aimlessly, the man in front of me was slouching in his chair with one hand on a flask of alcohol. The more time we'd spend exchanging brief words with each other, the more he would unabashedly drink down his liquor without pause.
After his tenth sip, he shook the flask and dropped it on the table. Having most likely emptied his only source of entertainment, Bird-san sighed and stood from his wooden chair. He gestured towards the door with his head.
"Come on, Pink, we're heading to the Signal town hall."
A change of location. Interesting. I won't say for sure it'll be enough for me to open up but I'll admit it is a viable strategy. But why an administrative building that's full of old grown ups and boring desks?
Why?
"To check any records about you, brat." He clarified.
Whoops, did I say something out loud?
"We're going now." He urged me to hurry up."Find a way to tighten your robes' loose parts, we don't have any spare clothes for you. Unless ..." He raised an eyebrow.
"Unless what?"
"Unless you're okay with wearing Ruby's. We'd have to ask her though, and they're not here so... nope."
"No no no no. Thanks, but no."
I'm not going to lose my dignity any further. I did use a total makeover kit to revert back to my gender and it would be ironic not to dress up like one. Rose's coat was tailored to be unisex so it still fit my criteria.
I inspected my mantle to see how oversized it was.
In games, character equipment would just size up to the bearer whenever you wished to swap your gear or send it over to another person. Some equipment would of course be gender restricted but I made sure not to use any of those on any of my characters. I expected the mechanic to apply in my current conditions but something was visibly in the way.
Well, I could manage without.
I gathered the excessive cloth in my hands to try and make it less troublesome for me to walk around. I formed a knot around my waist so as to prevent the coat from reaching the ground and tightened the strings that held the coat around my shoulders and neck.
The rest still was too big for me. My hands didn't quite reach the end of the sleeves and pulling up the hood would just cover my face entirely.
Other than that, it was okay to wear. I could bear it for today.
"Come on. Let's go." He urged me.
I hurried to walk alongside Bird-san.
It was still early in the afternoon.
Ruby and the others left quickly after lunch to take the first ferry to Vale. They did not tell me precisely what they were out to get but they insisted I don't come. Papaya said he didn't want to overwhelm me with too many crowded places, huge sceneries and noisy environments when I was recovering from an alleged memory loss. For that matter, there wasn't as much variety in the local shops as there was in the kingdom's capital. Luckily, Patch wasn't really too far off the coast so they could afford to take the two way trip in a single day. Yang told me they were used to traveling back and forth at least several times a week. It's nothing out of the ordinary for them.
I'm only appalled by the fact that they left me here instead of bringing me with them.
Nothing could compare to the sense of profound betrayal I had felt when they waved me goodbye half an hour ago.
Nothing!
... Except maybe my newfound hunger for cookies.
I blame Ruby for making it the first food I eat after ending up in Remnant.
I must say that I've gotten my bearings by now. All things considered, I'm left with a headache even without a so-called amnesia
Those three crammed into my head the amount of common sense someone my age (physically) should have before leaving. They gave me a lengthy crash course about how the world works in light of what happened the day before.
Long story short, this world is on the verge of apocalypse. Humanity is being coerced into the brink of extinction by a species of man hunting beasts that is comprised of a population thrice as big as ours.
Amazing right?
The mobs, also referred to as Grimm by the common folk, are creatures that have for sole intent and purpose the destruction of mankind along with anything it has built. Grimm occupied most of the territories in Remnant and only yielded several pockets of land to humans. Four main settlements were formed up until today : the kingdoms of Vale, Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo.
These bastions of humanity are primarily defended by mercenary fighters called huntsmen, each usually affiliated to a kingdom. A single huntsman could, according to Ruby, handle hordes of grimm on their own without breaking a sweat. In a sense, their job fit their name as they actually go on beast-hunting mission and get paid for it. Grimm just didn't match my original view of 'prey'. Huntsmen represent most of a kingdom's defensive force and are kind of seen as heroes by the inhabitants.
This leads us to the following question: how could single individuals become so powerful to the point they could be mistaken with superheroes?
Papaya, Yang and Ruby all had their own answer, though obviously I gave more credit to one in particular.
Aura, Dust and mechanized shifting weaponry.
.
.
.
Mechanized shifting weaponry!
Just envisioning how lethal-but-clearly-cool-and-refined parts would click together in perfect harmony after a chain of unprecedented mechanisms is enough to make me daydream. Undoubtedly, the epitome of human technology taking the form of deadly weapons was, to me, the reason why we can still make a stand on this unfair world.
That's what I thought.
Papaya and Yang told me otherwise.
Now, what's Dust and what's aura?
Dust is the Remnant equivalent of Earth's oil or nuclear energy. It is the main ressource mankind has at its disposal and is the core material in basically any unearthly technology made in Remnant. Dust is used for anything from ammunition and fuel to basic lighting and heating.
It's the dream mineral with magical properties and unlimited possibilities. Dust is said to have changed the tide in the fight between grimm and humanity.
Dust is not entirely unrelated to Aura either. Other than brute-forcing an ignition through an energetic reaction, dust can be activated by elementary Aura manipulation.
If I had to describe Aura in my own words, I'd say it's an energetic shield that protects any living being with a soul. While active, Aura protects the user from taking any direct damage to their body. In the event of an injury, Aura will accelerate the body's healing functions to restore the user's physical condition.
Truly convenient.
Don't get me wrong, Aura did not stem from any kind technological innovation. It's a magical phenomenon that is unique to this world, something which probably can't be grasped or comprehended by human reasoning and logic. For Remnant dwellers, it's a mundanity in practice but a real mystery in theory.
That's what make Aura such a marvelous thing!
'Magic at last! Magic!' is what I would like to shout, but aura is only a fraction of what magic is to me.
Magic and Aura strikingly differ in terms of potency.
Aura grants regenerative and defensive power similar to reinforcement and healing magic.
However upon reaching a certain level, like a flip being switched, the Aura-user manifests a special power called Semblance. A semblance is a special ability unique to each person and would probably the closest thing to true magic.
Depending on the individual, a semblance could surpass intermediate magic but largely focused on a single area such as misdirection, firepower or speed. If trained and studied thoroughly, the use of a semblance could reach impossible levels.
That's the most I could find from the books I grabbed in Papaya's desk.
Ruby unlocked her semblance last day when she learned about her mother. It allowed her to run extremely fast while leaving a trail of rose petals behind.
In fact, leaving ME in the dust.
Both Yang and Ruby have had their aura unlocked by Papaya and Bird-san after the grimm attack.
They didn't want to activate mine! This was scandalous, preposterous and infuriating! My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined.
And when I asked them why, they answered "You were sleeping heavily, we didn't want to wake you up" and "Sorry lad, activating aura is a bit personal".
Mwahaha, fine, they know so little.
No such things like full fledged necromancers or druids existed in this world.
I think that makes me the only elementalist in this world?
Needless to say, if I could get ahold of a weapon, dust and aura I might be able to survive without using magic.
"Hey, we're here." Bird-san exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I apparently locked myself in a monologue the whole time we took to get to the town hall.
"Let's go in." He ordered.
"Ara, Mr Branwen. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
A secretary greeted us in the front desk. She was the stereotypical lobby attendant present in most administrative building. One you would find in an anime universe though.
That is to say, she's a beauty. The big sister type on top of that. She had long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail. Her brown eyes were covered by small reading glasses that accentuated her looks. She was adopting a professional posture, yet her attitude towards Bird-san leaned more towards familiarity.
What I was most afraid of was her devilish grin. I knew ahead of time my companion would have trouble dealing with her.
Bird-san was already looking uncomfortable and seemed to be avoiding eye contact.
"Sigh... Why did it have to be on her shift?" He whispered quietly enough so only I could hear it.
"Now is not the time Amarillo, I'm here for business."
Amarillo pushed her glasses up and smiled even more.
"For business, huh? That's really like you, Qrow, going straight to the point." She teased.
"I'm serious. It's about him."
She turned to look at me. I sensed her sly eyes scan my body from my feet all the way up to my face. The exchange sent a chill down my spine. It felt like I was going to get eaten alive.
"Oh my, young man, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were with Qrow."
Not like I wanted to be under his care. I got forced into this!
"Hello! I'm Rose." I said politely.
She gathered the stack of paper she was working on and put it aside. She rested her elbows on her desk and cupped her cheeks with her hands. It was as though she gave me all her attention.
"That's a lovely name!" She complimented "So, Rose. What can I do for you?"
She treated me like a kid. Well I am a kid.
"He lost his parents. We're here to see if anyone put up a missing child request or if he has any relatives around. You see, he seems to have mild amnesia and can't give us any clue. He only remembers his name." Bird-san spoke for me.
Amarillo raised an eyebrow at his summary.
"Well then, why not leave him to the local police department? He's not the only lost child we find here in Patch." She questioned.
"He's a special case and I'm basically police too."
She put a hand up her chin and started acting pensive.
"I can't access the databanks on a whim. Are you here as a huntsman or on personal endeavors?"
"Huntsman. Here's my scroll, to enter restricted archives."
They must know each other very well if he could casually hand over a key to huntsman secret information.
He handed a rectangular device to her.
"Um. Mister. What's a scroll? Is that a scroll?" I inquired curiously.
Bird-san glanced at me lazily.
"Its something we use to speak with people over long distances. Adult stuff, don't look too far into it yet."
Oof. The 'adult stuff' rebuttal will be going against me for a long time... A scroll is sort of a cell phone then. Now I know they have that.
Amarillo plugged the scroll to her computer and began typing around.
"Rose... Rose..." She muttered.
I waited for her to finish searching. She'd end up with a 'no match found' no matter what she does. I'm not supposed to exist in this world.
I surveyed the rest of the building. People were, unlike us who were spending our time loitering around, decisively going in and out of the building. They went straight from the entrance to a specific room. I noticed some of them giving us a weird glare, implying messages like "What are you doing here? You're in the way." or "Come on, move along!".
Minutes passed as Bird-san became more and more exasperated at the situation. He started to tap the floor repeatedly with his foot.
"Got anything?"
"Are you sure his name is Rose?"
"Yeah, maybe, maybe not."
She tilted her head a second. Her hand moved towards her pocket to pull out her own scroll.
"Let me take a picture of him to make a physical appearance search."
The piece of tech flashed before I could even blink or even smile for that matter. Isn't this a violation of my rights? Never mind, different universe.
The incessant keyboard noise kept going for a few more minutes before our hostess decided to give up.
Amarillo removed her glasses and shook her head. She unplugged the scroll and passed it back to Bird-san.
"Nay, not a single match. Either he was born in an unregistered settlement or he just doesn't exist."
.
.
.
"Alright, thanks for the help. We're leaving. Bye." Bird-san said swiftly.
He took my hand and dragged me away to the entrance. I wonder why he's in such a hurry.
We were just about to step outside when Amarillo stopped us.
"Wait a second, Qrow. I cannot in all good consciousness let you in charge of a kid you don't know a thing about. All the more if he's unregistered in the CCT archives." She sent him a foxy smile.
"I knew you would do that." Bird-San hissed. "What do you want?"
"It's simple"
She was browsing a binder and was taking out several documents out of it.
"Either you bring him to the local orphanage..."
"Not a chance, I told you already. He's special."
"... or you register him. By adoption. I even took a picture for this occasion."
.
.
.
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" I almost yelled.
Rose Branwen.
Rose. Branwen.
That's my name now.
"How did it even come to this?" Qrow Branwen asked himself.
We were back in the Xiao Long household, both sitting on the couch and staring at the turned-off TV screen.
I can't believe that Amarillo woman made him sign these papers. I can't believe he actually signed them too.
"You know what? I'm not even surprised." He started elaborating."We told you what a semblance is, right?"
I calmly nodded.
"My semblance is bad luck." He blurted out.
Ah.
Everything checks out now. I understand. I'm sorry for being troublesome. Luck factor in life is indeed absolutely despicable. Whoever created this stat should suffer.
But looking at things more positively, I have a legal tutor, a place to stay and a huntsman at hand's reach. Being adopted out of the blue isn't too bad, for me at least.
"I'll be under your care then." I bowed slightly while announcing that.
"You sure are, Pink." He chuckled before taking out his alcohol flask and drinking down a large sip. "Sure are."
"..."
Even though I had no say in this, I do feel bad about barging in a person's life and adding myself as another burden on their shoulders. I think this is the right time to leak a bit of truth. It wouldn't hurt to have my parent's trust.
"I'm sorry, I lied." I admitted.
I caught the small glimpse of attention he still had left in his drunken state. He put his flask back on the table.
"I know you lied. But about what?" He pressed further.
How can he be so lucid with that amount of booze in his blood? Most likely Aura.
"I do remember what happened last night."
Let's start there. I can afford to give my version of the story.
"I'm listening."
"I woke up in the middle of the forest at night. I was all alone. It was a bit scary so I walked around to find a village or someone but I only found evil grimm."
Do I hide my use of the Total Makeover Kit? Yes, definitely.
"I ran away in the fog until I saw the abandoned wooden shed. I met Ruby and Yang there but the grimm were waiting for us inside. After that, everything went white and I woke up here. I don't remember anything before that." I summarized without mentioning my use of magic.
Qrow eyed me suspiciously but his expression was less stern than before. I can tell he's warming up to me a little bit. Probably because he's going to be stuck with me for the next decade.
"You're omitting the details brat. I'm the one who knocked you out." He pointed out. "I'm sorry about that... Heh."
He's getting on my nerves, the filthy bird.
"In any case, you were wide awake and screaming 'Banzai to magic' or some nonsense like that. The grimm were already going up in black smoke and the shed was burning. Care to tell me what you did?" He continued.
You're asking some really difficult questions here, mister. I can't exactly tell him I'm a wizard considering magic is no more a thing in Remnant. I don't want to stand out as an alien either!
"..."
I remained silent.
"..."
"..."
"I'm waiting."
"..."
"..."
"Do I have to answer?"
"My boss ordered me to figure you out. Having some sort of feedback would be good."
Screw it. I'm done with the mind games.
"Um, lightning fell out of the sky and killed the grimm for me?"
"..."
Don't stay speechless! I'm doing my best right now!
Qrow pressed his forehead against his palms and let out a deep sigh.
"I'll let it slide for now." He conceded. "If you hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened to Ruby and Yang. Thanks, I guess."
He looked at me in the eyes with a speck of a smile at the edge of his mouth.
Oh. OH. I hear it. I see it. I never thought it'd come to this. Don't you hear it too? It's human gratitude! Maybe Bird-san isn't so bad after all.
"No problem." I smiled back at him and gave him a bold thumbs up.
"Don't get cocky, Pink. You cheeky brat." He retorted with annoyance.
"Hey, hey. Can I call you dad now?"
"No. Shut up."
I tried. Tehee.
Yang, Ruby and Papaya got back in time for dinner. They took home some pizza.
We were discussing things over food.
"If I got everything correctly, Qrow, you went to the town hall with Rose to look for his parents." Papaya repeated Bird-san's explanation.
"U-huh."
"But then the secretary found nothing in the archives."
"U-huh."
"And when you wanted to leave, she forced you to register Rose as your son."
"U-huh."
"So you signed the papers and now he's Rose Branwen."
"That's right."
Papaya slammed his hand on the table and slouched on his chair.
"I can't believe you."
"I can't believe myself either. What can I say? I am that amazing." Bird-san said jokingly.
"You'll owe me for this."
Papaya was mad. It was understandable.
To put it simply, Qrow was only on a visit here and intended to leave shortly. As a huntsman, he didn't have time to settle somewhere long term. That meant he had no way of assuming guardianship. Therefore, he planned on dumping all the work to Papaya.
"Sho, Sho! Ish Rosh Hamily gnow?" Yang butted in with a slice of pizza in her mouth.
"Don't talk while eating, Yang." Papaya reminded her.
"Sorry! Is Rose family now?" She repeated.
"Technically, he's your cousin now. He not related to Ruby though." Qrow precised.
"Aww, I could use a little brother."
Yang was smirking at Ruby while saying that.
"Yang you meanie!"
Ruby was hammering Yang's back with a flurry of small punches. It didn't even faze her as she gulped down more pizza.
"Hmm~" She squealed.
The atmosphere was very lively this evening. This felt like a cozy family gathering after a long day. There was the occasional banter over there, some small laughs across and a chatter in between.
It really warmed my heart to see them in such a mood. Yesterday didn't exactly go this way and felt a tad more depressing. Something must've happened at Vale.
Whatever. Maybe I'm overthinking things.
I took a slice of pizza then bit into it.
The pizza was so delicious I wished it erased everything l have experienced up until now.
That's too much to digest in a lapse of two days.
On one hand, I've gotten isekai-ed, genderbent, almost killed and definitely kidnapped. On the other, I've gotten a new surname, a new family and a new home.
Did everything balance out? I'm not sure. I don't think I can give a proper value to the things that surround me. I should be devastated losing everything I have ever known or had on Earth.
Yet I am not.
It shouldn't be mentally healthy to accept all these events and consider them reality. In fact, I even wonder if I'm sane right now.
"Okay girls! Off to bed now!" Papaya called out.
"What about Rose?" Ruby prompted.
"He's going too."
"But-" She sent a glance to me.
"No buts, or evil grimm will haunt your dreams."
"Ha! I'm not scared of grimm anymore!"
"You sure sweetie?"
"Yeah!"
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin so as to look defiant.
Papaya turned around and made it so his back was facing us. He crouched and was curling up. Strangely, it looked like he was crying or depressed. He even started sobbing. He probably wanted to fake it.
Ruby naively approached him and tapped on his shoulder.
"Dad?"
Then the guy instantly exploded.
"RAAAAAAWRRRR" He screamed at Ruby with the ugliest scare face I have ever seen. He was wildly baring his teeth. The muscles on his cheeks and forehead weirdly contracted. He was lifting his arms as if he were a Beowolf showing off its claws.
"Kyaaaaa!" Ruby ran away in a flurry of rose petals directly towards her room.
"Gahahahaha! You can't run away from me young lady!" The madman chased after her. Probably to put her to sleep when they're done with their little game.
I sighed before heading off towards the guest room.
Bird-san stood up to follow me.
I looked back and met his eyes to let him know I wondered what he wanted.
"Go on. We just need to talk for a second."
What did we need to talk about? I clearly said I wouldn't tell him anything more about me. Perhaps he's going to give me details about his boss? Who knows.
I'll just wait and see.
When we reached the room, he told me to sit on the bed and wait.
My gaze unwittingly drifted off to the window and the nightly sky. The broken moon still shone in the nocturnal stage. The luminescent body was outlasting the infinity of stars trying to nest in the heavenly horizons. The ensemble blinked and spun, some passed by before traveling back to the void. Only the unmade crescent faithfully loomed over our surface. How come the ever present satellite rendered itself to shattered pieces? Had this world ever met it whole or did it only carry on with its Remnants?
The answers must lie somewhere. I moved away from the glass.
My thoughts went back to Qrow.
"Close your eyes." He ordered.
I complied, unsure of what he intended to do.
I felt his firm hands on my shoulders holding me down in place. I shuddered when I realized I had no means of defending myself if it ever came to a fight, but considering his actions he didn't look like he was about to do anything rash.
Instead, he shut his eyes and whispered an aria close to me.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee."
His words resembled the formulas Rose used to cast her spells.
A foreign force entered my body. A slow and steady wave of warmth coursed through my chest and eerily navigated through me. While it kept making its way towards my heart, it sharply crossed my inner being and, rather than sensing the flux with my nerves, it felt like the entity was resonating deeply with the entirety of my consciousness.
The mysterious flow neared my heart and tried to breach into it. Despite the presence exerting a dominant pressure, a torrent of quick rotating energy covered the kernel of my blood before the flux could pierce through it. My mana was defending the entrance to my core fiercely. What I now assumed to be Qrow's influence wanted to touch the corner of my subconscious, to touch my soul. His efforts have been swept away by the mana traveling inside me.
Bird-san let out a groan of pain. He was struggling.
I trusted him.
I wanted to trust him.
I dissolved the mana and let the presence in, dismissing any protection and now laying bare my entire soul to my adoptive father. And as a result, an intense current suddenly gushed out from deep within me and expanded everywhere.
I opened my eyes. A faint pinkish glow covered the entirety of my body and clothes.
I felt... safe, protected. A bit ticklish but also warm and reassuring.
"This is ... aura?"
"Yep." Bird-san replied. He was sweating a little bit and had tired eyes. His breathing was slightly ragged and he seemingly had trouble standing upright.
Was it because he's a total drunkard or because of the toll of aura activation?
Probably the latter because I'm sure he could drink more than he did this evening.
"I'm leaving tonight. Make sure to take care of Ruby and Yang, Pink." He announced the news nonchalantly.
"Okay."
"By the way, I hid your staff just beneath the bed. Not so perceptive huh?"
Ah. I forgot about Nevermore.
"Thanks. It's very important to me." I made sure to show gratitude.
"I'm off then."
He hastily passed the door while closing it behind him.
I checked below the bed and did find my precious companion Nevermore. The elder wood mystical branch hadn't changed a bit since the last time I used it. The pristine raven stood prouder than ever on its top and the feeling of transcendence it gave off didn't dim at all. Ever since I collapsed, I made a mental note to safeguard any of Rose's combat gear since her abilities depended on them. Taking into account the fact that I could recreate game spells and mechanics with a little understanding of how characters did their job, I needed to be on the safe side and save those for when they will be most useful.
Speaking of which.
"Inventory."
The small leather bag popped in my hands once again.
It seems like my user interface is still accessible but I'd prefer not to abuse it too much. If I were to mess something up I may accidentally delete some important stuff or misconfigure any settings. I'd have to be careful about any manipulation because this mental interface requires me to remember everything about it by heart. I can't press buttons or such, only interact with it through vocal commands.
Also, I don't want to treat this undeniable reality like a game. I'll try and use it to a minimum.
I picked up Nevermore and slowly dragged it down the inventory bag. The staff sank into the bottomless recipient without effort, disregarding any laws of physics about matter compression and volume. When the raven's head passed through the bag's hole, I promptly closed it and tossed it on my bed.
"Pfew, unbelievable."
I was about to settle and gather my thoughts.
Key word being about.
Knock knock!
Someone was at the door and had the decency of knocking before entering. Who could it be? There's no way it's a member of the Xiao Long household.
"Knock! Knock!" They shouted from the other side.
I quickly hid the bag under the blankets and faced the door.
"Who's there?"
A pause. My visitor suddenly didn't sound too confident about coming in.
"Luke."
Luke? I don't know any Luke, do I?
"Luke who?"
"Luke through the peep hole and find out!" The voice giggled. "It's me, Yang."
Luke through the...
...
That's horrendous. Beautifully horrendous.
"Pftt" I clapped my hands and burst into laughter when I understood. A terrible pun indeed. One atrocious enough to make me shake my head and cackle like a crazy dolphin at the same time. Even when I tried to calm myself, I kept snickering down my throat while trying to stamp out the uncontrollable hysteria.
This weak mind of mine.
I lost it long enough for the blonde to push the door open and run towards me.
"You laughed! Only dad laughs at my jokes!" Yang barged in excitedly.
"I didn't. You misheard." My expression went back over to a forced poker face. It wouldn't do well letting her know I'm terrible at taking jokes and that I'm an easy audience.
"Stop lying!" She crossed her arms as she gave me a knowing look. "I clearly heard someone laughing from the other side of the door. And I'm sure it wasn't me."
Yang narrowed her eyes and glared at me with suspicion. The pair of cold lilac would have intimidated me if it weren't for the immensely smug grin that was stuck on her face from the beginning.
Bold of me to claim her devilish smile didn't factor in as intimidation.
"I feel like every time you step into my room, you're always right on the nose." I retorted. "I don't really en-door-se things like that you see."
I'm unstoppable.
A fresh reminder that she still owes me an apology for yesterday's one sided attack. Even if we could now call each other friends, or worse, family, I'd appreciate it if she started acting more considerate towards me.
Her smile didn't drop. On the contrary, it was about to reach her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She muttered while scratching the beck of her neck. "My fault, I won't sugarcoat it. You already have your hands full after all."
The blonde gestured at my garments which I was still holding onto so as not to step on the excessive fabric.
I groaned and let myself fall backwards on my bed. Clothes that fit my size are among the many things I needed to get to regain any decency.
"Don't remind me of that. I had to wear this when Bird-, I mean Qrow, took me to town." I vented to her. "Believe it or not, I didn't even trip once. I guess you could say I Rose up to the task."
My newly acquired cousin snorted at my words. It sounded like we both were easy people.
"You're terrible." She blurted out amidst her chuckles.
"Thanks. You're awful too." I snickered at our newfound bonding material. It's far more difficult to find a person that genuinely laughs at your jokes than one who fakes it to be a good conversation partner. It takes a profound sense of humor to truly appreciate the art of making puns.
That's why consider myself the funniest guy in the world, 'cause I understand my own jokes best. Not because I'm the only one who laughs at them, of course...
"Anyway, do you need anything from me? It's getting late and Papaya is probably going to look for you if you don't go back to your room." I stopped beating around the bush and went to the point. I needed my time alone to reflect.
"Oh, right!" She remembered. "We bought you some clothes from Vale."
Yang made her way back the corridor and returned with two big shopping bags. She dropped them onto my bed without noticing that my inventory bag was hidden just below the blanket. A drop of sweat ran on my forehead just thinking about anyone else getting their hands on it.
"You should change Rose, or you'll get your dress thorn." Yang advised without putting a stop to our exchange of insufferable puns.
"It's not a dress." I corrected. "These are robes. And thanks. Okay. Bye. Good night."
I pushed her towards the door til she got on the other side.
"Good night lil' bro." She smiled. "And thanks for being Ruby's first friend."
"No problem, and I'm your cousin."
I shut the door and crashed on my bed.
What a long day.