Students didn't need to leave their on campus housing when their breaks came along. In Ren and Nora's case, they didn't have much choice but to stay on campus. They could always do nothing all summer, but Ren didn't like the sound of that. At his urging, he and Nora searched for summer jobs. After a bit of looking, they found something, and they were going to be starting soon.
"A library, huh?" Nora asked that morning. "Sounds pretty easy, don't you think, Ren? Just sit behind a desk, screw around on the internet, scan some books to check them in or check them out, and tell people where books are? I can definitely handle that."
"At least in theory it'll be that simple. I expect it to be much more complicated than that, though."
"Oh, we'll be fine! Hey, how do you think the others are doing?"
"Well, I would assume they're fine. They all just went home, after all."
"Well, duh? What about now that they're home? I mean, Ruby asked us all what instruments we could play, for crying out loud. She's planning something, and I don't have the first idea what it could be. And what's Jaune been up to? Especially with all those sisters of his?"
"You could just ask him. Your Scroll is always in your pocket, after all."
"Oh. Yeah, I can do that, can't I?"
When they first arrived at the library, Ren took the lead in talking to their supervisor and getting them all set up for their first day. If Nora spoke, he was a bit concerned about her volume, and disturbing guests on their first day definitely wouldn't have been a good first impression.
"Alright, Ren, Nora," said their supervisor, "I'm going to start you two at the front desk. It's really simple. Just scan the books if they're being checked out or checked in, and just search the database to point guests to the correct area of the library if they're not sure where to go. I'd actually recommend you go around a little bit to get familiar with the library. After you're on this for a while, we can have you returning the books to where they belong."
"You got it, boss man," Nora said with a salute.
"You can count on us," Ren added.
Ren and Nora settled in as their supervisor headed off. Right away, Nora reached over to start browsing the internet.
"Don't get too engrossed," Ren warned, "You don't want to just be staring into space when someone wants your help."
Ren had faith at the beginning of the day. Unfortunately, it didn't take very long for his faith to be tested. The day at the library started off slow. Usually one one person would come up to the counter at a time, and Ren would attend to them. On a few occasions, two or more people would be waiting, and Nora would be too invested in whatever was on her computer screen to notice at first. Ren had to nudge her so she could actually start doing her job. After a few times of that very thing happening, Nora was more alert and didn't need to be reminded whenever she was needed.
"Alright, so I guess I might not be as cut out for desk work as I thought." Nora said after work that day, "I'll try to be better, I promise! But I hope I can stretch my legs a bit and put books away. It'll be like trying to solve a maze!"
"At least you got better about it," Ren said, "and it's nice to know that you want to try being better about it. There's always tomorrow, Nora."
She did improve a bit. The longest streak that they had without her needing to be reminded was four days. They were so close to making an entire week, but Nora just couldn't quite make it. Not too long after their first pay day, they were finally trusted with returning the books to their proper places after being returned. The job was more important than it might seem at first, they were told, because an improperly placed book would put not only a guest on a wild goose chase, but the entire library staff as they tried figuring out where the book went. As Ren saw Nora wheeling off her first cart of books, he was both fearful and hopeful. Nora should be able to just walk around a library and put books where they belonged, right?
Ren saw Nora a handful of times as he worked. Everything seemed in order when he did. After he was done, he returned to the front. The day passed quietly and peacefully. Things were very nice and tranquil. After a time, the quiet started to disturb Ren. Nora had been really good about raising her voice in the library, but she did whisper in Ren's ear from time to time. No one had leaned in to tell him about some random fact they found online in a while. Nora was excited about the maze that was the library, but she couldn't have gotten herself lost.
Ren excused himself to go and look for her. He had seen a few of the books on her cart, so he had a few places in mind to search. They were deserted, so he kept on looking. He couldn't find anything in the aisles upon aisles of books. An especially vibrant head of orange hair caught his eye as he was searching. It was no wonder that he couldn't find Nora in one of the aisles. She was at a table, reading. Ren sighed before he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"I'm trying to re-" Nora whispered as she turned, and when she saw who had tapped her, she laughed nervously to herself. "Hey, Ren…"
"Back to work." Ren plucked the graphic novel out of her hands. "You're supposed to be putting the books away, not reading them."
"But the book looked so cool!"
"Then check it out yourself when we leave. Now come on."
Just like with the computer distracting her, that wasn't the last time Nora would fall victim to comic books and graphic novels. It definitely interfered with her work. It never amounted to much more than the occasional dirty look from their supervisor and the extremely rare verbal warning, but as far as Ren was concerned, it was just bad optics.
After a few weeks, they quit. Ren might've enjoyed the work, but it didn't exactly seem up Nora's alley.
"Don't worry about it," Ren told her that day, "We can just keep searching for something that you think you'd enjoy more."
"I'm sorry, Ren… I know you looked like you were enjoying yourself."
"And you only enjoyed yourself when you weren't doing the work. If you can't enjoy the work itself, we should leave. It's as simple as that. There has to be something we both like. You can take the lead in this job search."
The next week went by quite slowly for Ren. Nora tirelessly searched for more work for them while Ren just relaxed. Whatever Nora decided, he'd be content with. One day, she stormed into their room, looking very pleased with herself. Ren liked seeing Nora so happy.
"I guess you found a new job?"
"And a really good paying one, too!" She exclaimed. "We're going to be teaching rich kids to dance!"
Ren's heart sank. Dance? That couldn't end very well. Nora was a good dancer, but Ren, not so much. He had left the search to her, and she had found something, so he needed to believe in her decision.
"Rich kids?"
"I saw an ad online, showed off a few of my moves, and a rich housewife said she just needed to have me! We need to buy you some dance clothes! Come on, mister!"
"Nora, wa-"
Nora ripped Ren from his bed and started dragging him outside. Whatever dancing he'd do would probably offend whoever saw it, so there wasn't going to be a need for him to buy clothes. Nora probably wasn't going to be hearing it, so he just had to prepare himself to try and get some last minute practice in before they actually started.
Just as Nora had said, they were teaching rich kids. On their first day of work, they boarded a bus to one of the capital city's upper class residential areas. When they arrived in front of their client's house, Ren couldn't believe his eyes. It was one of the biggest houses he had ever seen.
"Come on, Ren! They're waiting for us!"
Nora pushed him towards the door. As Nora pushed the doorbell, Ren had to calm his nerves. It was at times like this that he found his semblance especially useful. His body steadied itself just as the door opened.
"Ah, Nora, there you are! And this is your friend?"
"Lie Ren, at your service. It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
"What a polite young man! I'm sure Derek could learn a thing or two from you… Come inside, please!"
The woman led the two through her elaborately decorated, spotless house. She turned so many corners that Ren was a little surprised she didn't make a joke about making a wrong turn and start to retrace her steps. When they arrived in a large dance studio, they saw two children stretching. A boy and a girl, only a few years younger than Ren and Nora. Probably around eleven and twelve, if he had to guess.
"Alright, kids, be sure to play nice with your teachers. I'll check in on you a bit later, okay?"
"Okay, mom!" Said the girl.
"And you better not record us!" Added the boy. Then he looked at Ren. "Who're you? Nora's little boytoy?"
"Boytoy?" Ren asked.
"None of that!" Nora said, "His name's Ren, and that's what you're going to call him."
"Tsk. You're not the boss of me…"
"Your mom's money says otherwise, kid." Turning to the girl, Nora said, "Nice to know you're already limber! How about we get right to work?"
When Nora looked back at Ren, he felt slight tremors. He was going to make a fool of himself sooner or later. He may as well get it out of the way.
It didn't take long at all for Ren to expose himself as a complete dancing novice. Nora was quick and light on her feet, and the kids weren't doing a bad job at keeping up with her. Ren fell multiple times. With how he was performing, he was starting to get confused on how he was even able to handle himself in a fight. After yet another fall, Ren just sat on the ground for a second. One of the walls of the studio was a mirror. Everyone's reflection was just looking at him. Seeing himself just flat on his behind was disheartening, to say the least.
"I'll just get you all some water…"
With that, their new dynamic was established. Nora was their instructor, while Ren did little more than get them water and give his opinion as an observer. He assisted Nora in judging the children's dancing and pointing out ways that they could improve, but his performance definitely meant his opinion held less weight than hers. He was still paid, but he insisted on less, if he was reduced to waterboy. Their instructing job lasted longer than their library job. The day it officially overtook that position, Ren was sitting on the ground in the dance studio, as he did. Their client walked in during the lesson, as she often did, to see how her kids were doing. Normally she just poked her head in and then went about her day, but that day, she settled next to Ren, leaning against the wall beside him.
"Your friend is really talented," she said.
"She really is. I'm sorry for being such a disappointment, ma'am."
"Oh, no, don't worry about it! Support is always important, and I think you're doing an alright job at that! …Though, if you're okay with me asking, why are you still here? Well, I guess it's easy money, but it can't be all that fun just sitting here, right?"
Ren just gestured towards the three dancing. Seeing Nora's bouncy, energetic movements in time to the music they were dancing to, a look of pure joy on her face, made it more than worth it to stay, even if he was practically useless.
"You really are a polite young man. Well, good luck, Ren. I'm rooting for you."
"Uh, what are you…?" She walked away before he could finish his question. He shrugged and returned to watching the three.
One Friday, Nora looked more downcast as they got ready for work. Before they left, she called for Ren to wait.
"Today's going to be our last day there. Is that alright with you?"
"What? You look like you're having a lot of fun, though."
"And I am! You don't, though! You're just there on the ground, watching us!"
"And that's okay! If you're having fun, that's more than enough for me, Nora."
"Well, it isn't for me, okay?" She sighed, "I want a job that we can both enjoy! Not just you, and not just me! This one isn't working out, so I want to try again."
Ren wanted to object, but he couldn't exactly do that. He had liked the library, but had decided to leave. If Nora liked this job, but wanted to leave, he couldn't exactly fault her. That would just be hypocritical.
As soon as they arrived, Nora told their client of their plans. She was clearly upset, but understanding. The kids were more stunned by the news. They had really been enjoying their lessons. Nora worked them especially hard that day, as a sort of special send off. The three of them saw the two off at the end of the day for the final time. Nora looked sad to say goodbye, and that only made Ren feel worse for driving her to this. Tomorrow, back to the job board, and they'd have to work hard to find something that would be pleasing to them both.
Ren was browsing an online job board one day when he found an ad from a local rec center. It needed people to look after the children who were still on break. Even though summer vacation was half over, they were still looking for new hires. It seemed like a perfect fit. It wasn't as cut and dry as a library or being a dance instructor. There should have been more flexibility. Maybe they both could find something to like there. He mentioned it to Nora, and they went into the city to apply later that afternoon.
Just as he had suspected, there were a number of positions that needed to be filled. Their gymnasium needed a new attendant, and the rec center had been wanting to start up a home economics class, but still needed a teacher. The two were just what the rec center was looking for. They were asked when they'd be able to start, and there was nothing keeping them from beginning as soon as possible. Though Ren needed to make a small purchase on their way home. He needed a new apron.
Early the next morning, Ren and Nora made their way to the rec center to start work. They had to go their separate ways once they were inside, though.
"Guess I'll see you later today, then," Nora said, "Let me know how it goes."
"Same to you," Ren responded.
Things were a bit slow at first, with Nora just being shown around the gym, but within a few hours, people started piling in to start playing games. Nora's job as gym attendant was quite flexible. She was in charge of getting things when people needed them, locking them up once they were done, and making sure nothing was destroyed. Other than that, she had free reign of the gymnasium. She included herself in as many of the games as she could. The kids seemed happy to have more people to play with. She was having a blast, but she was curious about how Ren was doing.
His first day, in contrast to Nora's, was much slower. People had signed up for a home economics class, and those people were being notified of the fact that they had finally found a teacher. The rec center also wanted to give people another day or two to sign up before officially beginning. Ren spent that time coming up with a more in depth lesson plan for what remained of the summer. As he sat in the home ec room, fleshing out and refining his plan, he was actually having a lot of fun. Figuring out exactly what he would teach, and making a list of the things he would need, was almost like solving a small puzzle to him. By the time their shift was done that day, he was quite content. He went to the main office to turn in his list of materials, and then went to the gym to find Nora. She was still in the middle of a game. She had probably lost track of time.
"Alright, Jake!" A mom walked past Ren into the gymnasium. "We're going!"
"Mom, I'm in the middle of something!"
"And you knew when I'd be coming! We're going!"
The child groaned and trudged over to her. The rest of the players were just as upset, it seemed, having suddenly lost a player. Normally, the game probably would've ended then and there, but it wasn't like he was doing anything. Ren volunteered to take their place for the remainder of this final game, with Nora due to leave. Just as he had suspected, she didn't know her shift was done.
Over the next few days, Nora's routine was much the same. Make sure people didn't abuse the gym supplies, mediate any disagreements, and help people have as much fun as they could. She wasn't quite expecting Jake's mother coming at the same time each and every day to become part of her routine, though. As soon as the second day, he started sitting out around the time she was supposed to come. She could tell that he really wanted to keep playing, but if he would have been forced to leave, there wasn't much that could be done, was there? Nora felt bad for him, seeing him all by himself like that.
Ren's home economics class had started up as well. His class was mostly middle school and high school aged children, but there were a few people older and a few people younger as well. Not all of them took to his lessons that easily, but whenever someone seemed stuck, Ren would take a bit of extra time to walk them through things, always keeping an eye on the others to make sure he wasn't being neglectful. His students seemed quite satisfied with his work, though there was one exception. There was a young faunus girl in his class. He could tell she struggled with some things, but she never asked him for help. When he offered it, she would say no, and then Ren would just see her asking the people near her instead. They were strangers. He knew he had never seen her before, so it wasn't like she had any reason to have a problem with him. An effective teacher couldn't exactly just sit by as one of his students looked like they didn't want to be anywhere around them. After class one Friday, he had resolved to sit her down and ask what the issue was. He and Nora wouldn't be working again until Monday, so he had little choice but to wait until then. After work that day, Ren and Nora went out to get lunch.
"I think we found the perfect job," Nora said. "I like it. You like it. It's perfect!"
"I think so," Ren said, "How's the gym?"
"Super fun! But I just play games all day, so of course it is! How's that class of yours?"
"It can be messy… but it's still fun. It's nice seeing all of my students grow. I think I'm going to need to talk to one of them, though."
"You too, huh? You saw it, right? On our first day. That kid's mom came to pick them up? It makes me a bit worried that there might be something wrong."
"Probably just a concerned parent being a concerned parent. Maybe this kid is just in the middle of a rebellious phase?"
"Maybe… I guess I'll just have to ask and see if I'm able to help at all. Kind of sucks that we have to wait, though."
After a game of soccer on Monday, the kids were getting drinks. Nora found that to be as good a time as any to approach Jake. Better to do it in the middle of the day than wait and risk being interrupted by the inevitable mother.
"Hey there," she said.
"Hey…?"
"Guess your mom really wants to make sure you get home before dark, huh?"
"She's such a pain!"
"Want to talk about it?"
Jake just looked at her for a minute, sizing her up. His shoulders slumped a bit before he started to talk. "It's like she thinks I'm still some little kid. Like I'm too stupid to know how to get home, or when to get home. I can walk back! It isn't even like it's that far!"
"Have you… ever thought about just walking home on your own, then?"
"She just started whining. And dad said I had to listen to her because she's my mother and she's just worried about me. It was a load of crap. They always pull the mother card when they don't get what they want. They don't get to boss me around just because they're my parents."
"You can say that again." A face flashed in Nora's mind. A face strikingly similar to hers, and with the same head of red hair she had. She was surprised she still remembered it, after all these years. "Who cares if they're your parents? It doesn't mean they're always in the right."
"I know!"
"Have you tried talking to them about it?"
"Like there'd be a point in that!"
"You probably should." Nora placed a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't choose them. They didn't choose you. You have to make it work, though. If things aren't working, and you never talk… well, they'll never work. They pull the parent card to get you to listen, right? Well, you should play the parent card to get them to listen to you. A good parent would care about what their kid has to say if they aren't happy, right?"
"It isn't like it would be that easy, you know!"
"I don't doubt it. Just think about it, alright? If you don't like the way they're treating you now and just never talk about it, it probably isn't going to get much better anytime soon. Now come on, I think the others are waiting for us."
Jake lagged behind Nora. Looking back, she saw him just looking at the ground. She could only hope he was giving what she told him some serious thought.
As always, Ren's class went swimmingly. The faunus girl was a little more receptive to his help than she had ever been before, but she still didn't like him, it seemed. When Ren ended his class, she started to take off his apron as the rest of his students did. They hung them all up and then started filing out of the class. He stood by the door, wishing them all a good day as they did. When the faunus girl walked by him, he asked her to stay behind. Surprisingly enough, she actually listened to him. Once everyone was gone, he approached her.
"Hello. I guess this will be one of our first times talking, isn't it?"
"What do you want?"
"Just to know what I did wrong," he said. "Clearly, you aren't very fond of me."
He just waited patiently for her to respond. Her arms were crossed, and her brow furrowed. The longer he waited, though, the more her expression softed.
"You… don't seem like a bad person," she finally said.
"I would certainly hope so. I don't think I'd be a very good teacher if I wasn't."
"Well, I guess, but…" she took a deep breath and looked right at him. "My dad says not to trust Mistrali like you. I haven't said anything about the teacher, when I talk about this class, because I think he'd make me leave it."
Of all the things he was expecting to hear, it definitely wasn't that. It made sense though, in hindsight. Between her name and some of the accessories he'd seen her wearing, it was clear the girl was of Mistrali descent. If her father simply didn't trust people from Mistral, she must've been first generation, too. He couldn't blame her father. Mistrali humans weren't especially known for their kindness towards the faunus. Especially easterners like Ren.
"He says they're all just a bunch of rotten cheaters who'll do whatever it takes to screw over the faunus."
"He isn't exactly wrong." The girl's eyes went wide at his confession. "Have you ever been to Mistral?" She shook her head. "Then you've never heard of Kuroyuri and Oniyuri, I'm guessing?" She shook her head again. "Oniyuri was supposed to be the capital of a breakaway nation. Enough people were sick and tired of Mistral. The ministerial corruption, the absentee king, the sexist and racist old guard that still dominated court politics… They wanted to offer people on Anima an alternative. So they pooled their resources together and started building. Kuroyuri was a town nearby that was supposed to be a temporary home until Oniyuri was complete. It would be the new border between Mistral and the Oniyuri nation."
"What…? A place like that really exists in Mistral?"
Ren just stared at the girl. It wasn't exactly easy, talking about this. Still, he had brought it up to her for a reason. No matter how it made him feel, he had to continue.
"No, it doesn't. Kuroyuri was destroyed by the Grimm, and all construction on Oniyuri stopped immediately." He continued talking right away, before her spirits could plummet. "That's not the important part, though. The important part is what they stand for. Your father isn't wrong to hate people like me. We've done a lot of things to keep the faunus down, in the east. That doesn't make us a monolith, though. There are humans in Mistral who see faunus like brothers and sisters. They hated the status quo so much they wanted to found their own new country. It wasn't all of them, but for some of them, the only reason they liked the idea of Oniyuri was because it could mean giving the faunus a better home that was closer than Menagerie. We aren't all bad. Just try to remember that."
"Well… you're living proof that not all Mistrali easterners are bad. But this place… Oniyuri? I never knew about it. That sounds great! Almost like there's… hope."
"And plenty of it. I haven't been to Mistral in a while, but I hear about things going on there every once in a while. I've heard that Prince Yu is the hope that Mistral needs. The sort of king it deserves. So, if they're right, your generation, and the next, should have a king who wants to do more for the faunus, so they don't grow up to hate all of us. …I'm sorry for keeping you so long. You can go."
"Mr. Ren, thank you." The girl looked back before she ran down the hall. "I'll try to remember that, don't worry!"
He had a feeling there wasn't any changing her dad's mind. He didn't even think it was necessarily all that bad. He was definitely older than Ren, to have a child only a few years younger than him. With how long he must've lived, trying to tell him to just forgive and forget decades of mistreatment almost sounded cruel. If there was something he could do to try and keep her from becoming like him, though, he had to at least try. It would be in everyone's best interest to help the future generations of Remnant grow closer together, despite the differences their ancestors had.
Ren took a deep breath, after she was gone. He wasn't expecting to recall Kuroyuri. Not now of all times, and definitely not in Vale of all places. He had a bit more cleaning up to do, and then he could go get Nora. This was going to be an interesting story to tell her.
Ren and Nora remained at the rec center for the rest of the summer. Ren noticed that the faunus girl began to warm up to him more and more as the days went on. Nora didn't see much difference with Jake and his mom. At least at first. Though she noticed her coming a bit later. Only a few minutes at a time, but by the summer's end, she was showing up anywhere from an hour to two later. She even went as far as waiting for him to finish whatever he was playing first.
The summer was coming to a close, so it was only a matter of time until they'd have to stop working and return to Beacon. After their last day, the two went out and got dinner. It was late when they were done, but the sun had barely started setting as they walked to catch the shuttle back to Beacon.
"It was sort of weird, wasn't it?" Nora asked. "This summer was just so… so… chill!"
"Yeah, it really was."
"No Grimm. No fighting. Just… work. Is this what life would be like without the Grimm around?"
"I guess it would be, wouldn't it?"
"This is just so… weird!"
"You already said that," Ren pointed out.
"Just kids, going around and having fun! Worrying about their parents breathing down their necks, whether or not their crush likes them, parents wondering if their kid's friends are good people, who to vote for in that next election… It's all just so normal!"
"Do you think you'd like that, Nora?"
"Would I? Well… I really liked the rec center. It was nice, just hanging around with the kids. They all had their families and all, but it was almost like being a big sister to them. If I could just do that, I think it would be nice."
"I agree. There's only so much I can do to help people as a huntsman, outside of killing Grimm. I think it would be nice to be able to do more. Like that one student of mine I mentioned. I can't do much to help people like her as a huntsman, but as a politician? I'd have a direct hand in shaping the world into something better for people like her."
"Yeah…" Nora shrugged, "Look at us, Ren! What's the point in even talking about all this stuff? We're huntsmen! Our job is to kill Grimm! Other people can take care of the kids and change the future with bills and signatures. It's up to us to make sure they live long enough to do those things."
"Then we'll really have to apply ourselves when classes start up again. The others should be back soon, so we can have group training sessions again."
"Yes! I hope Yang hasn't been slacking off! I don't want to beat her too easily!"
"Like you've been practicing at all."
"...That's not important."
For his first summer at Beacon, Ren wasn't expecting it to be so eventful. He definitely didn't think he'd go through three jobs. It was over now, and within the week, classes would start up again. More learning, more sparring, more practice missions. Nora was absolutely right about it being up to them to keep the world safe enough for others to help make peoples' lives better. Thinking back to all those years ago, those nightmarish sounds that still haunted his dreams, he couldn't understate just how important it was to have huntsmen out there. No matter how many people didn't want to step up to the plate, he and Nora had to make sure the people already out there had at least a few more allies to make their jobs easier.
Author's Note
With this, Volume 1.5 is complete, and Volume 1 will resume in the next chapter with Chapter 10, beginning the second semester. While Volume 1 Part 1 was largely faithful to Volume 1 of the show, Volume 1 Part 2 will have more differences than Volume 2 of the show, mainly because of it being the introduction of several important original characters - like Queen Catherine of Vale from V1C7 - that will go on to be major players in the rest of the story.
I hope you enjoyed Volume 1.5, if you've made it this far. With how early it is, Volume 1.5 is probably the least important of these, but future ones will be very important. As was mentioned in the note for V1C9, Volume 2.5 would be the space between the first two arcs of the story. V3 will just jump into things, and won't go back at all to explain what happened in the intertim, because V2.5 would've already done that. That's just an example of the sort of the purpose they'll have going forward.
