~NRK~

"So, she's going to be gone for a month?" Derry asked them as the two returned two hours later, a frown on her face. "Is that going to end well?"

"Most likely not," Obito said with a similar frown. "But the die's been cast, we need to deal with either Jennifer's machinery or her robot."

"That and tell the general," Sienna said as she growled. "That bitch is going down by my hands or damn near close."

"Well… I guess you can start in the morning," Derry said as Obito sighed.

"Basically."

Getting back into bed, the boy resumed his original sleeping position as Sienna growled into her pillow. Derry sighed as she laid down as well, looking up at Obito's thinking expression.

"You need sleep," she told him.

"I'll get some but I need to come up with a plan, we're on a wicked timer now and it's my fault."

"What?" Sienna balked at him as Obito sighed.

"If I'd just kept my arm while we were there, this wouldn't be an issue, Sienna," she grimaced. "It's basically my fault."

"... Well, we know you'll work to fix it and stuff so just get some sleep, dude."

"I'll get some."

Six hours later, Obito blinked as Sienna groaned in her sleep.

'We need to jump into this the first chance we can get,' electricity, plant, and water were going to be his best bet at being this thing. 'Well, first, we have to get to the general so…' That was hopefully going to go well.

"Hmm? Did ya sleep?" Sienna asked him as Obito nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Thank the Brothers I told Perry and Aster to let dad know."

"H-Hmm," Derry groaned as she shuffled from her position, arm around Obito's stomach now becoming apparent to him.

"Why does this keep happening?" The boy grumbled as Sienna blinked and sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes as Obito huffed. "Today's the day we leave, we've got a large amount of training ahead of us, Sienna."

"I know, I know-mmmmmmm," she yawned mid-sentence, slumping onto his shoulder. "I'm not built for being awake on Sunday morning."

"Well, time to get used to it. Unless you like being here."

That got her up real quick.

~NRK~

They left the house in their recently cleaned clothes, Mrs. Doll watching the two leave.

"Hmm, you should make sure to let him remember you by," she said to her daughter who blushed before hurrying over to Obito with a face so red, he knew she was dying on the inside.

Whelp, time to make her hate him more. "I'll see you at school," Obito said nonchalantly.

Then he pecked her on the lips, much to the satisfaction of Isabella, the outright shock of Sienna, and the extremely embarrassed Derry.

'O-Oh no,' he'd just kissed her, Obito kissed her on the lips?! "B-Bye!" Derry blushed like she'd never before.

Obito nodded, looking only slightly embarrassed, before bowing to Isabella one last time and walking off, patting Sienna on the back like the 'owner' he was.

"Come on, let's get home," Obito said to the gawking Sienna as she blushed before following after him, head tucked down. "Take it easy, Mrs. Doll."

"Yes, and you, sir~" The woman looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Hm, hm, hm, hm, he's quite the catch, Derry," Isabella said with a fierce grin as the deer girl blushed harder.

"M-Mo-Um, M-Mrs. Doll! I-It's not…" She replayed the kiss and burned again. 'I'm going to be replaying that for weeks,' dammit.

She wasn't… s-she hadn't caught feelings for Obito, had she?!

~NRK~

Obito and Sienna, meanwhile, snuck into alleyways and kept out of sight.

"What the hell was that?" Sienna asked him in disbelief. "Y-You just…" She blushed. 'So, you just kiss her out of nowhere?!' Wait, no, stop!

That wasn't the important part!

"Yes, I had to keep up appearances," Obito said without a hint of a stutter. "Right now, she thinks we're dating, Brothers help us if she finds out that's a lie and takes it out on Derry."

Sienna grimaced. "How could one of our own do this?" She growled. "Does that woman have no shame?"

"It's clear she doesn't," Obito said with a sigh. "Notice, she didn't recognize Derry as her daughter at all. Did you hear her call her by that title?" Sienna's eyes widened as he nodded glumly. "That woman is not even what you'd call a 'mother', Sienna."

They stopped as she looked back. "... Derry can't stay here."

"Sienna, slow down, you can't just upend her life out of nowhere," he said.

"H-How can you say that?! You said-!"

"I said that Isabella isn't a mother but she still takes care of Derry and her needs, what? Were you going to take Derry to our house? No offense to her, none in the least," he clarified. "We can't handle that. Even with me not eating in that house, how often did we have surplus food?"

Sienna flinched and Obito sighed. "Y-Yeah, no, sorry, I didn't…" She clenched her fists.

"I don't blame you, never did," he said. "But we don't have power, Sienna, this is a big part of changing things down here. We need power, money, resources, people, so many things to fix things despite how hard or simple some missions seem. We have to focus on our situation, first, anyway. Can't do anything if we end up dead."

The tigress sighed at that.

"... Yeah, yeah…" She sighed again. "Dammit, am I really this useless?"

"You're not useless."

"Obito."

"I know it sounds like I'm just saying it but this is the truth. You're not useless, Marrone doesn't think so, I certainly don't," Obito said as she frowned at him. "You're the one who helped tend to my wounds, that allowed me to help you, that still remembered we were still a family, you're the farthest thing from useless."

Orange eyes widened and she blushed a bit, grumbling as she scuffed her boots.

"Y-Yeah, alright, alright, gods, when were you so… no, you were wordy for a while now," Sienna said after a bit, snickering as Obito snorted.

"Come on. We've got a rigorous set of weeks ahead of us."

"Preach."

~NRK~

Their return was received with curious results.

"Sis! Bro! What happened?!" Marrone exclaimed as he ran out of his and Obito's room, the warmth of their home causing Sienna to relax. "Everything go alright?"

"Yeah, things go well?" Aster asked as she left Obito's room in one of his shirts, the clothing barely coming down to her navel, the girl wearing a pair of his boxers as bottoms. "Mmmmmm," she yawned as Sienna's eyebrow twitched. "Man, your warm house is awesome," she grinned obliviously.

"Hmph," Obito rolled his visible eye as he addressed Marrone. "Yeah, they went… somewhere," he said as Sienna grumbled before going over and pushing Aster back into his room. "Handle that please."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Thirty minutes later, with some 'breakfast' made, Obito, Sienna, Marrone, and Aster ate, two other plates of food under some covers in the middle of the table.

"Oh man~" Aster nearly cried tears of joy as she wore her now-clean normal clothes. "Gods, please, keep cooking stuff like this!"

"Hmph, so, Sienna, we'll go and see the general… hopefully," Obito said as the tigress nodded, mouth full of food. "I can only hope this will go smoothly."

~NRK~

"He… what?" Obito's mouth fell as the two guards at the outpost rubbed the back of their heads. "The general's… busy for the NEXT MONTH?!"

"Look, I get it, it's not like we knew it'd happen," one of them said with a shaky shrug. "The thing is, he has meetings, a school to set up, and a series of applicants to deal with. Sadly, he can't do everything."

"B-But it's seriously important that we talk with him," Sienna said with a pale face and limp tail. "C-Can you be real with us? Is he honestly that busy?"

The two guards looked at one another with a grim nod. "Okay, so, it's a total understatement. General Ironwood isn't just dealing with that, we've also got a call from the police station, several other sectors in Mantle, the SDC break-in, and more. There's sadly not a lot he can do this month outside of focusing on those."

Sienna winced as Obito frowned.

"The police station, I know this sounds convenient but we were there," the human said as the guards' heads snapped to him, seeing his grim nod. "The issue there is why we're here. There was a robot who attacked and killed the gang leader of the Diamonds."

Their mouths fell and one of them quickly phoned in on their earpieces.

"I-I need a quick patch-through with the general, it's an urgent matter on one of the issues," he said as Obito and Sienna sighed in relief. "... Huh?! An issue at the-!?"

There was a loud 'BANG!' in the distance, the four individuals, those inside the outpost, and those on the nearby street flinched as their heads snapped to Atlas where a large tower of smoke could be seen.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

~NRK~

They watched through the windows as they saw it.

Ground zero of the destruction that held the general within.

"Shit!" One of the guards, working the bullhead, cursed as they looked at the carnage. "What the hell… This was one of the metal factories… our metal factories!" He grimaced. "I don't like this. How did this happen!?"

"... W-Wait, is this where the metal for the Atlas Military Robots comes from?" Sienna asked him and the man grimaced.

"Yes?"

"Then this is probably connected to our information," Obito said. "The robot at the police station destroyed almost half of it but I could see one thing on it," he added. "Atlas Military Recognition Code: X-dmd-1142-12-AM-121."

The two guards choked. "H-How did you…?" The man gaped at him before swallowing. "Are you sure you saw it?"

"Yes," Obito said as Sienna growled.

"Yeah and-" She began to say before Obito stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "?" Sienna stared at Obito as he shook his head.

"We were going to look for whoever did this but things got busy. You know which sector the Barrons are in? We saw that machine there at one point when we were helping out."

"The Barrons?" The man grimaced. "Ooohhh, that's not gonna end well."

"..." Sienna shot Obito a look. "Why? You guys got bad blood?"

"Well, it's not like every Elite likes the Atlas Military but there are a few who had a hand in a couple of pots in the past," he sighed. "As backers but due to some… difference in opinions, things just spiraled down from there."

"Sounds annoying," Obito said as the man snorted.

"You have no idea."

As their bullhead came down, the side haul door opened, throwing the group's hair or clothes back.

"It's so cold up here, ugh," Sienna shivered.

"It's not fun but, hey, it's something," the guard said as her face went flat. "God, this place smells like destruction."

The smoke, particles, and heat, made them all grimace, the sounds of sirens and more military personnel getting them moving.

Following the sounds and quickly growing sight of people, the four grimaced as they arrived in time to see several individuals being rolled out on stretchers.

One of them being none other than James Ironwood, the general's right half burnt to a blackened complexion that bordered on charred and brittle. The man was covered in medical apparatuses and barely looked like someone who was alive.

"W-What the hell…?" Sienna choked on her tongue as they saw the state he was in.

"Shit… shit!" Obito growled as he clenched his fists. 'They really took him out like this?' Now things had gotten not only messy but fucked beyond imagination. "... This isn't going to end well, this is…"

"... Was this part of what you wanted to tell us?" Their former pilot grimaced as he clenched his gun. "THIS?"

"No, we didn't know this was happening," Obito answered with a grim expression. "But now the four of us have to be careful, sirs… not a word can get out now, this can't leave our lips unless it's to the general himself… because I believe there's a mole in your midst and there's only a chance but… they might be before us."

The three froze as their eyes went to all the individuals before them. Officers, medical workers, inspectors, scientists, factory workers, and techs.

Every one of them were possible suspects.

"... Crap," Sienna gripped her hair before Obito threw up her hood in time for a camera to slip past, the Faunus hissing as she furled her tail around her waist beneath her coat. "Crap, crap, crap! What do we do now?"

"..." Obito sighed. "We… not here, we'll talk when we get home. Right now, not a word to anyone here, you all," he repeated as they watched everything die down.

"We need to leave," one of the guards said as they slowly backed away, the man calling in on his earpiece. "We're heading out… dammit, what happened?!"

-The current consensus is that it was a malfunction- The operator over the earpiece said. -With this, the general is now harmed and will be out of commission for a time-

The four grimaced as they made it back to their bullhead. "You heard her, things are now officially in an unknown zone."

"Are you sure you can't tell us anything?" The other guard asked as they reached their bullhead. "Anything-"

"Stop," Obito said as he held up his hands, stopping them all. "... Head back," he hissed, thankful that his hood was up. "Head back like we just got news, I'm serious," he hissed through clenched teeth.

They all followed his orders, the second guard pretending like they'd just received orders.

"Come on! We've got to check this out, cadets!" The man declared as the group hurried back, neither running nor water. "What the hell did you see?"

"Our robotic friend who destroyed the police station," they all gasped.

Hurrying back, Obito looked around like a newbie cadet-

There was an explosion and the four skidded to a stop as they turned their heads around to see the now-molten vehicle they'd come in.

"... Fuck…" One of the soldiers hissed. "T-This isn't good, was that premeditated?"

"No, I think those were explosives? There wasn't any attack from the air, it'd preset those," Obito grimaced. "Why, though? Did it think we were onto something? Or is it something else?"

Sienna blinked as she looked back and forth between their ride and Obito. "We'll just go back through the… oh shit," she paled as the three males frowned.

"What?"

"W-We'll have to go through the port, right? We'll get IDed."

Obito's eyes widened as his head turned back to the flames.

Within them, a glowy-eyed being vanished from normal sight but not his eyes.

'That bitch.'

"... Come on, we shouldn't stay here," one of the guards said as the four of them hurried off.

They ran back to the slowly lessening crowd of people, thankful there were still people here to ride with.

~NRK~

"Where are you going?" Jennifer's eyes narrowed as she watched those specific four. 'They're the ones, aren't they?' If she was lucky, she could handle them once they were IDed by the bullhead port. 'So, they were trying to go to the general.'

It was a good thing she'd dealt with this as soon as she did. Taking out the general hadn't been in the plans, she'd just wanted to keep him busy, but this was FAR better! Now? All she had to do was wait for them to get their identities revealed.

"Thank the Brothers this is happening before our trip," she sighed in relief before smirking. "All plans come together."

~NRK~

Traveling in a military car, Obito nodded.

"Alright, welcome to the base," the first guard said as they made it to a base. "Now as for how we'll get down to Mantle without being identified," he grinned.

Moments later, the four of them were hiding in a shipping carrier, relaxed.

"Still, this whole event isn't good," the second guard said as the first one piloted. "Tsk, well, I wanted life in the military to be grand and here I am, involved in a conspiracy."

"..." Sienna looked at Obito for answers and he whispered.

"He means an entire undercover event without a lot of official clues and items," he said as she nodded. "Still, you might want to lay low as well, perhaps get shifts up here in Atlas without going down to Mantle if you can help it."

"That's the plan," the pilot said. "This whole situation… someone wants to kill you both that much?"

"Sadly," Sienna said with a grimace. "We have to deal with this before things get out of hand."

"Whoa now, I don't understand, why not trust in the military?" The first guard asked before sighing. "I know you think there's a mole but we have expert channels we can contact, well… m-maybe not guys of our pay grade…"

"There's a high chance we can't help," the pilot said over the speaker. "No offense to you two but I can't stick my neck out for you on a big deal like this. Sorry, but I can't do this."

"You can't be serious, we're soldiers of the people, didn't you join-"

"I know why I joined and I still have a family to take care of. I can't stick my neck out for random people I still don't know the truth of."

Sienna's tail bristled. "So that's it?! We're dead bodies to you?!"

"..."

"Speak up!"

"I know, I do," Obito whispered as she huffed, head down on her arms on her pulled-up knees, the other guard grimacing as he looked down. "And I understand. You're right, you don't deserve possibly being put into a bad position with a family relying on you, I can't curse him for that. That said, are you sure you two can't help us in any way? Say… do you have any Hunters in your families?"

"H-Huh?" The first guard blinked before rubbing the back of his head. "No, sorry, I've got none in my family."

"... I might," the second guard said as Sienna huffed. "He's Mistralian, though, and he's only an Academy student."

"That's fine then-"

"That said… he's a third-year, Zeke Vine… he might be able to help you. They're doing missions every now and then when it comes to Mantle, you know that… well, you might not."

Obito hadn't. "Wait, when was this a thing?"

"It's new," the guard with them said. "Usually… well, they just do little quests in Atlas, sorry."

"Of course, they do," Sienna frowned. "So, these guys are gonna start coming down here?"

"Essentially."

"They start taking missions in Mantle in a week's time, at the start of the next month. Hold on until then and you might be able to get more than you could imagine."

"Isn't he your family?" Obito asked. "You seem unbothered."

"I'm not unbothered so much as… I can't stop this. This isn't my choice to make, he decided he wanted to be a so-called hero of the people by fighting Grimm so… it's too late for that."

"... alright, thanks, we'll figure something out."

They rode out the rest of the hidden ride in silence, minds working.

Half an hour later, the two were slipping out of a manhole, wiping their bodies down before Obito dropped his flaming powers.

"Thank the Brothers for Aura," Sienna scrunched her nose up in disgust. "Ugh."

"The things we do for secrecy," Obito chuckled.

They headed home in borrowed hoodies from the guards' barracks, looking as different from their original sightings as possible.

~NRK~

The following morning, heading to school, Obito, Sienna, and Marrone sat at the front of the bus, by the small divider by the door.

The two 'Aura users' held their hands out behind it, practicing a bit.

Sienna breathed out a bit fast, focusing on her Aura and watching it slip up a bit before it went back to normal.

"Dammit," she muttered as Marrone looked on in interest.

Obito, meanwhile, focused on his left hand with narrowed eyes.

Small circles of water began to spin above his palm slowly as he breathed out a bit. Then he slowly moved the water rings around his hand for a bit before reabsorbing them as he looked up.

"Come on, gotta go," Obito said to the other two as they nodded.

The bus came to its usual stop and they got off before walking to Marrone's school likely always.

Reaching it, they did the same old song and dance, dropping the boy off at his teacher who smiled.

"There's not much else to do," Obito said with a nod as Sienna hummed. "Take care, ma'am."

"Take care," Ms. Sala smiled as Marrone giggled. "Come on, Marrone."

"Alright!"

"Like night and day," Sienna grinned as Obito smirked.

"That's the result of good work, I'm sure," he said.

Getting to school, they walked in before separating like always.

Their school day went by like always before the group, like usual, met atop the rooftop.

"... So," Perry raised a brow as Sienna huffed with red cheeks while Derry sat next to Obito, cheeks blatantly red. "... What happened?"

"Just making sure no one got into trouble," was all Obito said, not looking the slightest bit flustered. "Hmph," he finished his food before putting his things away and standing up.

Walking a bit away, he raised his hands as they raised their brows.

Then electricity crackled around the Mistralian boy, his eyes closed as his fingers twitched with each spark and crackle.

"... Oh!" Sienna scarfed down the rest of her food before putting her own things down and moving a bit away. "Hmm."

"Oh, you guys trainin'?" Aster asked as Sienna nodded before waving her and Penny over. "Alright, alright, for the Tattered Maws."

Derry blinked as she watched them 'train', Perry and Aster got tips from Sienna.

After five minutes of trying, they huffed. "What are you doing? This feels impossible," Perry said as he waved his hands around, breathing out rapidly. "... I don't get it."

"Focus on your Aura and properly breathe out," Obito said as he deposited his hoodie on the floor. "Or… I have an idea for you Aura-users to practice doing," he said as Sienna perked up, her forehead covered in sweat.

"Y-Yeah?" She asked as Aster nodded curiously.

"Focus," Obito said as he flipped back onto one arm before holding his other arm behind his back and breathing out slowly.

Water formed out of his exposed shins and forearms before forming over his body and stilling.

Derry blinked in surprise along with the others as he did this. "W-What's this about?" She blushed a bit at his exposed midriff.

"I can't use Aura as they can," Obito said. "But I can use my water powers to demonstrate. You all, what you need to do is focus on your Aura and use it to steady yourselves," he said to them as Sienna blinked.

"Steady?" She asked him, crouching to his level. "You mean do like you're doing and stuff?"

"Yep."

Sienna nodded before looking at her hands. "Alright, I haven't done handstands since I was Marrone's age," she said before blushing a bit as she tucked her shirt into her pants. "Hmm."

She got into a push-up position with Perry and Aster before pushing off the floor with her feet, wobbling as she barely held her handstand-like position.

"W-Whoa!" Sienna grit her teeth as she tried to steady herself. 'Come on, Aura!'

She called it around her body and felt the ease in her action but hadn't stilled.

Perry, meanwhile, breathed out slowly as he held his balance better as he called on his green Aura, body stilling a bit. "H-Haha! I-I got it!"

Aster, meanwhile, huffed as she flopped onto her back, salmon-colored Aura allowing the fall to feel like a soft, but hard, thump. "Ow."

Derry sweatdropped as Obito raised a brow before shaking his head.

"Practice makes perfect."

They spent the last 35 minutes of lunch trying, for the Faunus, as Obito had transitioned into forms with his wind and fire powers.

Derry sat there along with the tired others as he went through kick after kick, cartwheels, and sweeps, the human boy's control slipping time and time again but he kept going before he was left sweating by the end of it, finishing with a series of kicks that seemed to move him about the roof.

When he was done, he wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt before sighing as he heard the bell ring. 'So pathetic,' he growled at himself as he felt his body twinge. "Real nice showing," Obito sighed as he stretched before turning to the others only for him to note their shocked looks along with the shocked look on Mr. Linne's face as he opened the rooftop door. "Sorry, sir," he said and the others' heads snapped to their teacher before scrambling to their feet.

"T-Teach?! Sorry!" Perry yelped as they packed their things. "We were just about to go!"

"N-No, you all aren't in trouble, we just heard things about lights coming from the roof…" The civet man said while scratching his noggin. "I didn't know that was you, Obito."

"Sorry, just exercising a bit," the human said as the teacher nodded.

"Alright, I can tell the staff things are fine, thankfully."

~NRK~

Obito nodded to the children in the schoolyard, nodding to the seven children in front of him before blinking.

"Where's Bleu?" He asked them and the children murmured before Ms. Sala came running out with a look of concern on her face. "Ma'am?"

"B-Bleu fell down the steps a-and I took him to the infirmary! D-Do you know any…?" She looked horrified as Obito hurried into the school, quickly finding his way towards the medical room where he found a sniffling boy inside.

"M-Mister?" The small boy sniffled again, his shoes off allowing Obito to see the bruise on his ankle. "I-I hurt ma ankle!" Bleu wailed as Obito came over to look at it with a cupped chin.

"... Bleu, I'm going to need you to trust me, alright?" Obito said as he slipped off his hoodie and placed one of his hands on the boy's ankle. 'Geez, he must have been running,' he sighed as he gently prodded the boy's wound.

The boy sniffled and flinched but Obito sighed in relief. "You only sprained it, you'll probably need to stay off it for at least a month."

"A-A month!?" The boy looked pale. "B-But I'll die of boredom!"

Obito's eyebrows twitched as he chuckled nervously.

"Right but you need to be a good boy, this is also, thank God, easier and cheaper to fix," the boy bit his lip, understanding the second part at the very least. "And if you're good, I'll probably come over and… I guess I'll cook you something, alright?"

"Cook?" The boy perked up. "Y-You can cook, Mister?"

"Yes, I'd say I'm good at it. I'll be cooking for a bunch of people during the upcoming break."

"... Vacation! That's next week!"

"Yep, so you won't be that bored, I'd hope," Obito said as he pressed his fingers over the wound, getting a jump out of the boy. "Hold on."

Cool water to keep the wound cool, cool it even further with his control over wind.

The boy's mouth fell in awe before he shivered at the ice encasing his leg.

'... Gravity… can I give it its own gravitational pull?' That'd be an amazing ability but he didn't know if it'd work or not. "..." He focused.

He could imbue gravity, he'd done it with the sword, hadn't he? But controlling the amount would be difficult.

So, for now, he'd have to deal with the two powers only.

Moving around, Obito found bandages and tied the cooled-up wound before lifting the boy into his arms.

Walking out, he found the gathered children and Ms. Sala in a room near the door, nodding to them as he came in.

"W-Were you able to fix it?" The teacher asked, hopefully.

"It's sadly not something I can fix like a desk, he'll be out for at least a month, it's a sprained ankle," Obito said as the boy pouted in his arms. "I'll inform his parents when we get there."

Ms. Sala nodded before looking a bit guilty and wearing a firm look.

"I'll come, I should let them know what really happened, just in case," she said.

With a nod, they were off, the woman marveling before giggling at the Kiddie Tail.

"I'm working on a cart, I'll hopefully have it done by Wednesday."

Making it to the high school, ignoring the stray here-or-there students, Obito had been ready to go inside before sighing as his group stopped to see a familiar Faunus boy running up to them.

"Y-Yo?!" The boy said with a shaky grin as Obito's face went flat. "I-I know, I know, I'm not trying to do anything!" He said.

"... Who are you again?" Obito asked only for Ms. Sala to speak up.

"He's Bleu's brother, Azure," she said as the to-be gangster flinched before grinning nervously, Obito raising a brow at him.

"I see… what can I help you with, Azure?"

"No, it's not that, I was here to follow you up to mom, we're heading home together today."

Obito shrugged with a nod, leading the way as the boy followed him, noting his little brother in the human's arms.

"Wait, what happened to Bleu?"

"He sprained his ankle," Ms. Sala sighed. "I should have been following him better."

"I applied some first-aid," Obito added. "He'll need to be off his feet for at least a month but he should be fine. I'll probably come by to check on him when I can."

Azure looked surprised, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh, uhhhh… thanks."

"You're welcome."

Making it up to the teachers' lounge, they divided up the kids before explaining the situation to Bleu's mother.

"Thank you," the cheetah woman thanked Obito as he nodded. "Still, cooking for him for being a good boy? That's certainly interesting, I think Ireed said you were going to kick in front of her store?"

"I am but that'll be during the break. I don't mind rewarding him for focusing on his classwork while he's out," Bleu froze as his mother smiled knowingly. "Just let me know if he's… good."

"Sounds fine," she chuckled as she looked at her other son. "I guess we'll head home now. Azure, honey, can you grab my things? I'll be carrying your brother."

The boy hurried about like he'd known this place for years before they exited.

"Alright, take your time," Mr. Linne said before thanking Obito. "Thanks for everything, though, you obviously won't need to pick them up on the break."

"Understood," Obito said with a nod. 'With this, I can get some training in.'

"Actually," Ms. Cabba blushed a bit as she came back into the room, the woman's bright yellow eyes closing as she chuckled nervously. "There was something I wanted to see if you could help with, during the break."

Obito raised a brow. "What would that be?"

"My sons will be going to their aunt for the break. Do you think you could take them there?"

"Well, I don't mind," Obito said as he looked at the boys in question, Bleu grinning as Azure rubbed the back of his head. "I'll need to know where, though."

"You can pick him up from the school around ten in the morning," Ms. Cabba said as her boys looked curious. "Is that alright?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Grand, I can pay your five lien."

"Alright, do you also want me to bring them back? Or should I… not?"

"It's fine. My sister is fine with bringing them back."

"Alright."

~NRK~

He finished up the last desk with a chuckle as Ms. Sala blinked in surprise.

"That's it, Miss," he said with a nod as she nodded back with a smile.

"Thank you, truthfully. This helped a lot," she said as he nodded.

"Alright, if anything comes up, let me know, alright?"

"Sure. Oh, here," she handed him the payment and Obito winced.

"It was one day of work, I can't accept this in full, ten lien only."

"Hmm…" she considered it before shaking her hand. "Please, you've done us a great service. W-We usually buy desks, chairs, and tables more often than you know," she admitted with a blush, clawed fingers tapping against one another. "Your fixes, and new ones, are outright better… and the principal might ask you if you can do just that… m-make new ones compared to all the old furniture."

Obito blinked before considering the idea. "... I'll have to think on it."

"That's fine, thank you for everything."

~NRK~

Getting home, Obito went into his room before placing his bag on the back of his chair and plopping his rear into his seat with a long breath. "Nice. I've got more work," he chuckled as a familiar head popped into his doorway. "Ms. Ireed?"

"Yes, w-well, I was curious on how you cooked that… thing, from the days before," the stoat woman looked horribly embarrassed as Obito perked up.

Well, more work to do.

Two hours later, he and Sienna worked out in the backyard once more, sparring already taken care of, they went at it with determination.

'Get strong enough to beat her ass!' Sienna thought ferociously as she pushed up again for the 150th time. "K-Keep… pushing!"

'Right now, destroying it before it can even remotely see us is key,' Obito thought with narrowed eyes as he went up on his 200th. 'Find it, lead it, trap it, kill it,' he continued mentally as he frowned. 'I will not be a failure here and allow our lives to be destroyed!'

He'd kill and kill until their opposition was destroyed.

The gang-destroying came after!

As they continued, Obito considered all his appointments or obligations.

He took the kids to the high school though it'd not be done for the next two weeks following this one.

He finished up the furniture but was being asked to make whole new ones in the Summer if he took it.

He was cooking in two places, maybe, Fiona's mom's workplace and/or in front of Ireed's job.

Finally, he just had to take a kid to his aunt's house next week.

If he couldn't make one of those work, he could work for Mrs. Stone.

Money, weaponry, people, a bit of resource, connections, he'd amassed a few so far but he needed more.

Space, an established hidden base, and a constant stream of larger amounts of money.

Obito knew that, eventually, he'd have to start working with one of the Elite. It was impossible to think otherwise unless he could make contracts outside of Atlas but the chances of that were too small.

Impossible basically.

'Focus on the here and now,' he told himself before finishing on his 250th push-up, stopping and sitting up as he saw Sienna flat against the ground at his side. 'For now, destroying that stupid robot is the most worrying matter.'

And they still needed a plan.

"Sienna," she lifted her head, tiger ears flicking. "I know I said I was working on a plan but do you have any insights?"

"..."

"Thoughts on the matter, I mean."

"Hmm… it's metal, you've got a ton of powers to beat it down, yeah?" She said as he nodded. "But it spits fire and ice? You said it was making mirages."

"Yes, that's the truth, but Flammen means 'Flames', I have a feeling that Jennifer and her associate would name their projects appropriately. So, for now, we can assume the ice is simply for the sake of cloaking it as it moves," Obito said even as he considered something. "I wonder if I can copy that technique… I need to know the balance between ice and fire but I don't have ice as a natural power."

"Hmph, sounds like it'd be a sick tech," she said. "And, well, this thing… i-it's not an alive thing, yeah? It can't think for itself."

"We hope."

"Yep, we hope, but if it isn't, that means it can only do a few things l-like in cartoons," she blushed as he smirked. "S-Shut-up! Anyway! This thing is probably only as smart as its programming, yeah?"

"True, the issue comes that we don't know how smart that is. We could be running into a robot that could only do simple math or one that trumps every mind in Atlas but lives on a short leash, we sadly don't know," Obito said as she sighed.

"Gods, is planning like this gonna be an all-the-time thing?"

"Hm, hm, maybe," he said. "The future needs planning, sadly, but they who plan best get the most benefit. Right now, though, we have a short future to look at," Obito frowned as she nodded. "We have to destroy this thing, no matter what, if we don't, it'll upend our lives. That can't be allowed to happen."

"Yeah… but we still need a plan."

"The way I was thinking about it, we need a trap. We have to bring it into the outskirts, that's the truth, by the way. We can't do this near the house, if we do, we'll be revealing where we're from."

"I bet it's not getting many hints when she got info from the better areas, huh?"

"Most likely, she's checking a database of people… maybe," Obito rubbed the back of his head. "We have no idea what the elite have access to, sadly."

"... Actually," Sienna realized something. "What if we ask Derry?"

"I see where you're going but, sadly, we'd have to travel to her home."

"Hehe," Sienna grinned and Obito looked surprised. "Me and her traded… contacts," she minded the area with a whisper. "We can text."

Obito cupped his chin with interest. Ideas… Ideas. "Then let's do that later at night when we're sure she's in her room."

The tigress nodded.

Two hours later, the two of them sat in Sienna's room, hoping against hope that Derry was awake.

"What should we ask?" Sienna asked Obito as he considered it. "Should we just ask her what the Barrons can do?"

"... Yes, send it," he said.

Sending the text, the two of them waiting with bated breath as it was sent.

"For now, let's-" Obito began to say, deciding they should train while waiting.

But it was, luckily, all for naught as a 'ping' reached their ears and their eyes snapped to the Scroll in Sienna's hands.

"Hell yes," the young woman grinned as her tail curled around Obito's shin involuntarily. "We've got the stuff."

Reading the text, Obito was pleasantly surprised by the information.

"Derry can type fast and knows a lot," he considered, leaning over Sienna's shoulder as the older teen blushed before swallowing and nodding. "And we, thankfully, now know."

"Right but does this help?"

"In the sense that we know more of what Jennifer knows, yes. Right now, we know how to manipulate if we can and I can," he smirked with a sparking hand as Sienna looked at it with a nod. "... This might involve some breaking and entering down the line," he said casually as her mouth fell.

"So… right, just more training?"

"Exactly."

~NRK~

And so that's how they spent their week, with Obito done with the furniture, for now, he came home earlier and trained more with Sienna.

And Sienna finally started going back to the Burst Brights.

~NRK~

"So, how's your boy-toy?" Atella asked Sienna who blushed, tail wiggling. "Ho ho?~ Someone's happy," she smirked as the teen blushed harder.

"Dammit, Atella, don't do this to me," Sienna groaned in embarrassment. 'Nothing happened!' And yet the older woman thought things did.

What a horrid cover-up.

"Yeah, yeah, just let me know if he needs a good… 'keeping in line'," the woman smiled pervertedly without hesitation. "So, today, you know what's up?"

"Not in the least, you know that."

"True. Well, for one, Taliesin wants to take leadership," Atella said as Sienna winced. "Yeah, I kind of knew it was coming, she was definitely not happy with me lettin' that kid leave. I bet you a hate-fuck was on her mind."

Sienna didn't want to think about that. "Right, fantastic imagery. What are you going to do?"

"Accept it, what else?" Atella asked with a shrug as Sienna slumped. "Yeah, yeah, I know but if someone's got an issue with my leadership, what? I can't just ignore it. Who knows? Maybe we'll like it."

'Doubt that,' Sienna could bet that Taliesin was gonna make her life hell if she won. "I don't know, Tal's got a chip on her shoulder when it comes to me and my t-toy, ya know? I don't think things'll go well for me if she ends up top-bitch."

"I promise, you're fine. Your toy?" Atella see-sawed her hand. "That's a… different story."

"Words of wisdom."

"Never said I was a scientist."

'Philosophy but whatever,' wasn't she smart, knowing the proper 'science'.

As they made it to the center of a large collection of unfinished buildings. "Here we are," the former-Vale citizen said as she walked forward, Sienna staying on the outskirts of the circle. "Alright, Tali, you sure about this?"

"Of course," Taliesin said as she entered the arena from her little group, sole eye going from Atella to Sienna who was watching atop a roof edge. "I'm coming for you next, C."

"Whoa now, come on," Atella said with raised brows. "Look, I get it, you're definitely not happy with me but C's got nothing to do with this."

"She's harboring him."

"He's her toy, I know damn well you have a few of 'em you share between you and your girls. It's not like this is new."

"Scarring me is," the Faunus said and Atella winced at the eyepatch. "That's when the line got crossed, A, and I'm gonna make sure it's never crossed again."

Her leader sighed before nodding. "If you win."

"Hmph."

From the side, one of their Sages came forth, the first one with claw hands.

"You both can choose to retreat now, the outcome will be determined by that factor if you do," she said as both combatants shook their heads. "Then you both know the rules. Death isn't allowed, maiming your opponent is, the first left in a state where they're unable to fight will be determined the victor."

Sienna frowned from atop the roof with several other women at her sides, some of whom nudged her.

"Yo, you sure you ain't sharin' that boy?" One asked with a lecherous grin as Sienna facepalmed. "Hey now, some of us need a bit of itchin' going around. This whole event's been kind of stressful. Our Science Commander is gonna try to be our leader? What do ya think'll happen?"

Sienna wished she knew. "I'm hoping this goes in Atella's favor, that's all."

The crowd of women grew rowdy as the Sage nodded to both combatants, stepping out of the 'ring'. "Then it's time. Fire at the first flare of Aura!" The woman called out as both women's eyes narrowed.

Then a single shot of Aura shot between the two from the second Sage, the large woman grinning ferociously.

The two circled one another as blurs, the wind picking up in the arena.

Sienna watched every moment she could. 'Whoever I end up fighting in the future, I need to learn everything about them,' she thought as her eyebrows lowered. 'Still hoping Tali gets her ass handed to her.'

The wind rested as the clang of metal rang out, a saber finding a machete.

Atella grunted as she was pushed back before she kicked up with her right leg, knocking the Faunus's gun from her hand before stepping around her and slamming her elbow into her chest.

Taliesin shot back before her free hand stopped her skidding form, her gun hitting the ground between her and Atella.

The Faunus woman lunged at Atella, picking up her gun mid-way, before turning her stab into a gunshot, the silver-haired woman barely blocking the shot as it deflected off her blade.

The Faunus's eyes glowed as she kicked at her shin before swinging around at the stumbling woman's neck. Atella leaned back just in time, several hairs being cut away from her bangs, before swinging up with her machete as she let out a short burst of breath before holding it.

"Ahhh!" Her opponent was sent flying back from a burst of Aura that slammed into her like a reinforced sledgehammer! 'T-The hell?! That hurt way more than usual!' Had the woman always been holding back? "I guess your Hunter training really makes the difference big, huh?"

"It helps more than you think," the shorter woman said as she held her quickly glowing silver weapon in hand. "I've learned two kinds of Aura techniques before joining our life here, that was one of them, you've seen me use it in different ways before," she smirked as Sienna blinked in confusion.

'Wait, what?!' That bursting Aura had been the same projectile technique?! '... Then Keler would be able to… Keep watching! Don't let her do anything new without seeing it at least once!' That was her job here.

Then there was a flash of white and orange eyes widened as a wave of cutting Aura appeared in front of Taliesin.

The Faunus woman grimaced and dodged to the side, eyes coming up to lock eyes with the now-there Atella, much to her disbelief and most every other women's there.

'When?' Sienna didn't even see the woman move, how had she done that?!

Atella's blade came at Taliesin's forehead and the bigger woman was sent flipping back before her feet touched the ground and she lunged at her leader.

The silver-haired woman met her in the middle before their blades met in the middle, the clash of Aura causing a small throb in the space between them.

And Atella's blade 'won' as Taliesin rebounded off their clash, the Faunus woman wincing before Atella's hand slammed into her neck and clavicle, bringing the taller woman down to the floor in a small crater.

"Ack!" The lion woman choked as she saw Atella's reared-back blade. 'Dammit!'

A roar slammed into Atella's senses and for a very small moment, she froze as her mind blurred.

She was sent flying by a kick to her stomach, bouncing against the ground a good distance away from Taliesin who grasped her neck with another wince.

"Dammit!" She rushed her downed leader who sent out another wave of Aura that the Faunus dodged around before swinging down with her saber.

Atella rolled away as the sword carved into the ground before another flicker of her blade sent Taliesin off her feet as a burst of Aura slammed into the taller woman's stomach.

Rolling for a bit, the Faunus flipped back onto her feet before barely blocking the downward slash of her leader.

Then the machete glowed white and the Faunus could only watch in horror as a ball of Aura formed over it before bursting onto her weapon in a half a second.

The Faunus's blade crack as she hit her knees with both hands holding up her block, the space beneath her knees cratering to twice her height in diameter.

'T-The hell?!'

Atella's eyes narrowed as she began to glow. "You know what my Semblance is, don't you?"

The second blow came an instant faster than the previous, the burst of Aura cutting through Taliesin's blade and slamming into her shoulder.

The crowd was silent as Atella sighed, her gang member laying face-down in a crater that was twice the size of the previous.

'... Repeat,' Sienna swallowed as she remembered that specific detail. 'The ability to repeat the previous move Atella did with her Aura,' a truly scary skill.

Especially because the 'repeat' was twice as strong as its original 'attempt'.

"Man, it's as scary as always," the member at her side said as Sienna nodded. "Still, she said two techniques, yeah? What's the second one?"

Sienna nodded before she froze. 'Wait, what is the second technique?' She wondered in confusion, eyes snapping back to Atella as she lifted Taliesin over her shoulder before taking her to the medical tent nearby. "... I'm gonna ask," the tigress said before she jumped off the roof and hurried over.

As she did, she spied the crater Atella had made.

Was that her strongest attack? Or could she go harder?

'That's just terrifying,' was she really working under such a powerful woman? 'She made Obito's forms look like child's play,' and Sienna had been impressed enough with them.

This was scarier by a bigger degree.

"Hmm?" Atella blinked as the Faunus teen came to a stop by her side, looking down at Taliesin's defeated form. "Sup. How'd ya like the show?"

"It was crazy," Sienna said immediately as the former Academy student laughed. "I knew Repeat was strong but geez since when could you do this?" She pointed at the crater.

"Honestly?" Atella looked embarrassed. "I used to be better at it," Sienna's eyebrow began to twitch as her leader nodded. "That looks impressive, I bet it does, but I could do better when I left the Academy. Hell, I knew people, I'll include the guys due to their way more destructive Semblances, who could make that look like it was made by a toddler. Trust me, that's nothing compared to an Academy student in their third year."

"N-No foolin'?"

"Not a bit. It's a scary world out there, Sie, there are monsters like that Keler bastard you told me about, in Atlas," the silver-haired woman frowned and Sienna followed suit. "... And that was one of the reasons I decided to quit," the tigress blinked.

"Wait, what? I-I kinda wanted to know about that, Atella. Why did you give it all up? You were in an Academy, that's big!"

"... Because someone needed to be down here to protect these people," the woman said as Sienna tilted her head. "... Come on, I'll tell ya in my tent. Rubrum, take care of Tali."

The first Sage nodded. "Of course."

Walking off, the two females went through a series of alleys before reaching a rather large tent that Atella gestured to the flaps of.

Going in, Sienna nodded to the nice circular rug within, a single long dresser, a bed, and a shower set-up that had been mish-mashed together thanks to an unchecked water line. In the center was a table with four chairs by it as a decently large lamp sat in the center.

This was the tent of a leader alright.

Sitting down at one of the four chairs as Atella took the other in front of it. "Alright so what gets told to you here, doesn't leave this room, alright?"

"I get it but why? Is it that serious?" Sienna asked with a frown.

"Yeah, it's not…" the woman looked disgusted. "It's not pretty, Sie. Real fucked-up stuff goes down in the 'flying marvel' called Atlas," Atella said with a frown.

"But you came to Atlas, didn't you? From Vale?"

"Yeah, it's… I left a rather," she blushed a bit. "It was just some kiddie stuff I wasn't prepared for…" Atella said wistfully. "Anyway, I came here because of that but then… on a mission in Atlas, I saw something I couldn't allow, something I wouldn't accept."

"What?" Sienna frowned deeply. "What more could those elite bastards have done?"

"Hah! They sold one of the students into slavery."

Sienna's eyes widened to impossible levels. "... What?" She whispered before slamming her hands down onto the table. "What?! Excuse me?! Are you being serious?!"

"... No, it's as fucked as it sounds," Atella hissed. "It was… I-I didn't notice it at first," she looked conflicted. "Some guy had disappeared at some point, didn't really know him, not in the least, but when he stopped showing up to classes, we got told he transferred out. Next couple of months, a friend of mine disappears," Atella admitted. "... Fuck, Sie, I should have checked when the guy had disappeared. He likely also got sold into slavery like Flavum did."

What the hell was going on up there?! "I-I don't understand, this sounds like it happened often, Atella! H-How?"

"You honestly think the general can stop the Elite?" Atella told her. "That man… despite the distaste, I get him, he's one of those straightforward fucks who'd rather marry a victim if involved than leave 'em to recover but that's just it. He's a straightforward guy and the elites aren't going to interact with someone like that. No… they'll want Hunters they're related to. And that's what happened, a bunch of prissy students had decided this was their school and anyone there who wasn't of noble blood…" she left the sentence hanging. "I came down here to make sure no woman down here got taken advantage of."

"... What about the guys?" Sienna asked as Atella sighed. "Atella, come on! You said it yourself!"

"I know, okay? I get that, I'm not some good person, Sie, I run a gang. I have prisoners and…" The woman grimaced. "The fact remains, I can only help those I could reach easily, the women in Mantle aren't hard to speak with."

'So you just left the men to die?!' Sienna wanted to roar back but could barely reign it in. "... Do you know what happened to them eventually?"

Atella frowned further. "No, I couldn't go to whichever household might have had them, I didn't have the resources to do that and couldn't let these women just run into the Academy without knowing what was happening up there."

Sienna felt like she was making excuses and sighed hotly. "Alright… well, thanks," she said as she got up, Atella sighing at her words.

"Sie, I know you're not like the rest of us in how we think, alright?" Sienna froze. "It's obvious you don't view men like most of us do, I don't hate you for it, the same way I don't hate the women out there but we're not good people. That's all I'll say."

"... Yeah, I know," Sienna sighed again. "Later, A."

"Later."

~NRK~

"..." Obito raised a brow at Sienna as she came into the living room and flopped onto the couch, the midnight hours leaving the two of them awake in the house. "... I'll make you some tea," he said as he got up, dispelling his water rings handstand before going into the kitchen.

Sienna watched him go. 'Like some kind of househusband,' the thought made her sick. "Haaa…" She groaned before getting up and taking off her coat to hang it up. 'Gods, just ignore it, you were gonna take her down eventually, now you have some kind of anger behind it.'

She groaned before the smell of something weird reached her nose and she raised a brow as the soft steps of Obito greeted her ears.

Turning around, she raised a brow at the steaming teacup in his hands, the item newly bought from the day before.

"Uhh… what's that?"

"Tea," Obito said as he put the cup on the nightstand by the couch. "Come on, try it," he chuckled as he sat down, leg crossing over the other and arms crossed.

Sienna huffed and rolled her eyes but came over and sat next to him regardless. "It's hot."

Obito nodded. "Just wait a bit, usually, I'd sip it even now."

"I'm sure you would, Mr. Fire Res."

"Hmph."

As they sat, Sienna simply let herself droop into the couch, groaning softly.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Obito asked her.

"Yeah, just dealing with everything that happened today, sorry for worryin' ya," Sienna told him as he nodded.

Relaxing once more, Sienna frowned as her cheeks reddened. 'No, don't, please don't, especially not after everything that I heard today.'

This city… this KINGDOM needed so much fixing, Sienna felt like her head was going to cave in from the pressure of having to deal with it all. The sheer prospect of it was enough to drain her will.

So, as she recalled the last week, she muttered as Obito sat beside her, even patient.

"Yo, help me with this."

"Hmm?" He turned his head her way, eyes opening slowly. "W-"

The chirping of the crickets outside, the warmth of the living room, and the sounds of soft snoring seemed to fall into the background of Obito and Sienna's minds as the latter… kissed the former.

Obito hadn't been expecting it so he'd given in for a moment before realizing what he'd just done as Sienna pulled away looking several kinds of embarrassed but pleased at the core of each layer.

"H-Huh?!" He blushed a bit, alarmed, at the sudden… 'assault'. "S-Sienna?!" Obito whispered in disbelief.

"T-That was one of my favors, you bastard," Sienna said without thought, hiding her face. 'Oh shit, oh gods, I kissed him?!' And the feeling hadn't left her lips.

Firmer willing lips that were a bit rougher than hers, surprisingly, remained in her head, and on her lips, despite the separation.

"..." Obito looked real nervous about that. 'The hell is she leading up to?' He feared for the 'worst'. "... Sienna?"

"J-Just don't worry about it like with Derry!"

"I was prepared to ignore that!"

As they bickered, a small set of steps left Sienna's room causing them to blink as a sleepily moaning eye-rubbing blanket-wrapped Marrone came into the living room, tiger ears twitching slowly even as he barely looked awake.

"S-Sis? Hmm, you're back?" He asked drowsily, eyes half-cracked but clearly not able to open up fully. "Mmmmm."

The two teens blinked before sighing, Sienna getting up to pick up the sleepy Marrone who flopped onto her shoulder without hesitation.

"... We'll just forget it," Sienna said to Obito who nodded while rubbing the back of his head. "Get some rest, dude," she said with red cheeks, going into her room with Marrone in tow.

Sitting out there in the dark, Obito sighed before remembering that there was a cup of tea nearby.

Taking it up after scooting closer, he drank a bit before releasing a long slightly steamy breath into the air, body relaxing.

The month couldn't get weirder, could it?

~NRK~

The following morning, on Sunday, Obito picked up the Cabba siblings from school before taking them to their aunt's house, carrying the injured boy in a basket he'd weaved with pillows at the bottom for him to rest his feet.

Azure blinked at the carrying item. "Can I get one of those? Y-Ya know, for my bro?" He blushed a bit before Obito shrugged.

"I'll give you this one, I made more just in case," the younger male said as the older teen blinked, rubbing the back of his head.

"This is so weird," he said, sharp teeth showing, as the two of them got closer and closer… to the better districts? "To the left down this alley."

Obito blinked as he noted where they were. 'Wait… this is close to the Burst Brights,' he did not need to be seen in this territory like this!

He was thankful he was wearing a scarf and thick beanie, the items hiding his face well enough for him to remain unknown… which became very necessary moments later as they knocked on a door that sat on the side of a brick building.

For who would open the door none other than Taliesin, fuck his life.

"Hmm? Aunty? You look roughed-up," Azure said as the lion woman huffed before ruffling his hair. "Ugh, I'm as tall as you are," he grumbled as the woman smirked at him before looking at Obito with a frown. "Oh, that's Tobi," Azure lied.

The younger boy had been very adamant about hiding his identity around here and the Faunus boy could understand that especially since he knew who exactly his aunt really was.

"He's from school, he's carrying Bleu."

The gangster woman raised a brow at that before the basket on the shorter boy's back popped up for her to see the small boy.

"Boy, you look more like a gopher Faunus than a lion… lizard," she corrected as the small child grinned innocently. "Hmph, never could get mad at you two," Taliesin said with a shrug before jabbing her thumb into the home. "Come on in."

CRAP.

~NRK~

Ciao, nothing to say. Or, really, don't want to say anything.

So, yeah, ciao.

Words: 10.6k+

~NRK Out~