Video games are an addiction. When you get involved in one, you tend to forget other stuff, like finding time to write fanfiction. SilverFang88 plays Fallout now and I'm involved in an MMO. So that means a lot less time to actually update. It's been almost a month and I feel rather bad about it, since this story is rather popular. I still try to write a little every day though, even if it's not much. The slice of life is also going on longer than I intended, but people are gathering and soon, everyone will be off on exciting missions. Other than that, not a lot to say except sorry for the slow updates. Thanks to SIlverFang88 for reviewing and let's get comments out of the way real quick.
shadow wolf125767: Really depends on the scene. Accelerator doesn't like social interactions, so I have to find ways to force him into them naturally. I don't think Accelerator would care if she was a Faunus or not. He's not racist.
Guest: Heh, that's pretty funny. Last Order would be happy to have Zwei around more.
Inacio: He does that occasionally.
M1nhTre37: I have the first time it shows up all planned out and who sees it. Don't want to rush and it's hard.
G119: Filthy casuals.
Artyom-Dreizehn: I always found buildup to be really important. Stuff just happening out of nowhere is lazy writing.
Moongaze14: A lot of people wanted the fight, but I needed some way to explain his lack of Aura and ability. Worked out well and Weiss is smart enough to realize that. Heh, Blake getting close to Touma is fun to write. She makes up other reasons as to why. Wings will appear eventually. I have a scene in mind when they first show up.
Guest: All hail, Zwei.
dickythamrin077: That flag was raised when Touma was caught looking at Blake.
Ahsoei: Chapters have been pretty consistent at about 10k words before author notes. Dance has not happened yet and mission occurred a little earlier than in canon.
HydraLightning: If there is no body, then she may not be dead.
HikariNiwa: He picked up a gun once in the LN.
Bluejack222: You're welcome.
zek-xz: There are a couple Semblances I could see affecting Accelerator. That will be brought up at some point. As for Accelerator's concern for others, that's some of the development I hope to convey in this story.
mervinr170: Thanks.
Kingofclubs8129: Heh, Blake and Neo being friends. That is a long shot.
SamGuy: Yep, there's no way he will be comfortable wielding a gun. Maybe a shield or something would be better. Who can turn down Ruby saying she wants to make you a weapon? You can't say no to her sad face easily.
Fernandamichelleraya: Nora should always tell the stories of what happened. Weiss is the only one who COULD be a mentor to Accelerator, at least for a little while. He will learn everything quickly enough. Ruby's and Yang's dad is great. Poor Blake doesn't like dogs.
A certain guest: Huh, an essay, better get to work in my response. Yeah, you can pretend she had a bra. Unless they have a hot spring or beach trip, the group scene probably won't happen. Personal bathrooms, unless it's in the gym changing rooms. I could see that being possible. Ruby would not pull an Index. She would either become obsessed with him or too embarrassed to be in the same room as him. Yang would be the one to try to kill him if he saw Ruby. Heh, marriage cliché would be great. I actually got the idea from season 5 when Yang beat up the large Ursa. The dark aura around it compared to normal Beowolves we saw in earlier episodes. It also ties into the Aura vs Darkness Pyrrha told Jaune about.
I really can't see Thor being added in this fic, though I agree he would love Remnant. He is really OP and not sure I need another one. Already have to take a lot of precautions against Accelerator. I do like the team name though. Blake can't be saved until she is ready to stand up to Adam. That was the key point in season 4-5. I'm trying to think of a good situation for Ruby to bring that up, but I don't want this to turn into pure smut comedy. Neo already made that joke. Pyrrha would want to be first with Jaune though.
Morality will be something interesting to discuss. Cardin likes to pretend he's all that, even though he isn't. Typical male chauvinistic pig. Now, everyone is kicking his ass. He better be careful not to piss off Neo. Neo could own Mercury and Emerald. Cinder keeps her in line. Heh, one of those names for Ruby and Touma might be mentioned in this chapter.
JumpingToaster: Ruby doesn't understand love, so it's going to be a new experience for her. Would take time for it to develop. Touma will get a chance to raise a flag with most of the girls, especially the bad ones. The reason Blake works is because he gained her trust early on. If he had saved someone else, she would be a lot more reserved. Reason I HAD to have her first. Zwei is the child of one of the gods. He guides the silver-eye warriors.
Kiri Kaitou Clover: Timeline got messed up is all. Mt. Glenn happened a little earlier.
Guest: 1) Weapon is already designed. 2) Maybe? Blake wouldn't do that at the start. Touma has to do something even more epic. Soon to come. 3) That's pushing it. 4) Closer to the festival and once Ozpin gets some more information.
Handsomistic1: Sun can be the jealous guy. His item is already planned.
Phoenix 7.49: Maybe he knows already. They can spend the nights. There is just curfew so people aren't wondering in the halls. Blake isn't going to just jump into his bed. Zwei is a unique existence, so don't think about it too deeply. Accelerator will punt Zwei, Yang will be furious, and Zwei will land unharmed and wanting to go again.
TheLastSterling: What's the point of social interactions without love triangles?
Xchrispx: Hmm, you bring up a point. I'll try to do it a little more going forward. Yeah, I know what you mean. Guess being in a new world makes you a little more respectful at the beginning, haha.
PompousBrat: He obviously gets a Gauntlet so he can punch harder. Some person before you mentioned that. I should do a little more of that.
Croniklerx: Eh, we all have RL things to do. Ugh, being sick sucks. You brought up something important. Puppy love until the confession. Beacon girls are a lot bolder than Academy City girls. They will confess a lot easier. Touma won't be able to play off their subtle hints so easily. A misunderstanding between Touma and Ren would be funny to have Nora react to it. I have a couple people who will give Accelerator some trouble. That will be a fun. A kind of rock-paper-scissors. Slice of life is when you put all the jokes out. I still try to push the plot along.
I got a lot of people wanting it and it gave me a chance to do a few things, so it worked out. I like to build up things. Randomly introducing major plot events seems kind of lazy. Things are moving, little slower than I originally planned, but they are. As for your names, you will have to wait until a couple chapters to see what I have selected.
WiliamZ0: Nora had the best story. Kami-yan Disease is already threatening the balance of friendship. Ozpin is like the Aleister of this world. Oh, magic is only limited by imagination. Touma's poor, but who said Neo was? Heh, yeah, Zwei is special.
Formboy1: Betrayed her teammate wants to sleep somewhere else.
Guest: No.
Deep Sea Diver Man: Got to save it when he punches Cinder.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or RWBY.
Things at breakfast were tense to say the least.
Team RWBY, JNPR, TAN, and Last Order were at their usually table, though their noise level was much more subdued. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were still annoyed that Blake decided to ditch their room because of Zwei. Last Order didn't seem to mind though, so they didn't push too hard yesterday to get her back. Team JNPR found out about Zwei yesterday. Because their room was so close to RWBY's, it was hard to keep a lot of things private. Nora immediately took to loving Zwei too, forcing Ren to virtually drag her away when curfew came. Of course, physically that was impossible, so he just bribed her with pancakes. Touma was trying to avoid Ruby's attempts to catch his eye, as he knew part of this was his fault. He suggested to Blake that trying to work it out with her team would be the best solution. All he received was a shrug.
Of course some had enjoyed the lack of conversation.
Accelerator was eating his meal in peace, without Weiss or Yang trying to talk to him. Blake was reading her book, avoiding everyone. Neo would occasionally flick food at Yang between making suggestive comments on her tablet to Touma.
"You know," Jaune suggested and everyone's head turned toward him. His voice grew meeker at the attention. "We could have Zwei stay in our room if it's such a big deal."
"No way!" Ruby and Weiss said in unison.
"I haven't seen Zwei in forever!" Ruby added. "He has to sleep in my room."
"It's fine, Vomit Boy." Yang assured him. "Blake's just being stubborn."
"Or stupid," Weiss interjected. "Who could hate that adorable face?"
"I really don't like dogs." Blake stated in a tone indicating it was the most obvious reason in the world. Her eyes stared resolutely at her book.
"Come oooonnn, Blake." Ruby whined. "Just give him a chance."
'Yes, we don't want you in our room.' Neo held up her tablet for the table to see.
"Be nice." Touma muttered to her.
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Blake." Yang added.
This caused Blake to give her an evil glare.
"Are you okay with Last Order staying with us?" Weiss asked Accelerator. "And Blake taking her spot?"
"The Bookworm keeps to herself so she doesn't bother me." He replied indifferently. "Plus the brat seems to like staying over, so what the hell?"
"Zwei is awesome, MISAKA explains excitedly as MISAKA looks around at the others. Most animals are afraid of MISAKA's electric field and will not approach her." Ruby, Yang, and Weiss glanced over at Blake for a moment to see her cheeks flushed lightly. "Zwei didn't even hesitate, MISAKA continues. He lets MISAKA hug him and pet him, and he licks MISAKA's face. MISAKA loves him, MISAKA finishes."
Weiss gushed at how adorable Last Order's expression was when she talked about Zwei. She had several pictures of the two of them playing on her scroll. One with Nora too, which had resulted in a desk being overturned accidentally. Yang fixed it though and it wasn't her desk, so she didn't complain too much. Nora was just kicked out of the room.
"Do I issue an electric field?" Pyrrha asked Last Order. "You detected my Semblance when I used it briefly."
"You do not, MISAKA explains as MISAKA double checks to be sure." Her ahoge flickered back and forth. "It seems as if you only emit a field when you activate your ability, MISAKA concludes as MISAKA's expression darkens. MISAKA wishes she had that so MISAKA could play with animals."
"You poor thing." Weiss cooed.
"Zwei is special." Ruby declared and puffed out her chest. "He's the greatest dog in the world!"
"Hey, Ren!" Nora suddenly said. "Since they have a mascot for their team, we need one for ours!"
"Let me guess," Ren replied with a small smile. "A sloth?"
"Of course!" Nora stated happily. "They are nature's most perfect predators."
"Wait, what?" Touma turned toward those two. "You have sloths here? Are they actually-…?"
"No." The rest of the table except for Nora, Ren, and Neo answered in unison.
They didn't have to know exactly what sloths were like in his world. Based on those few words it was obvious. Neo rolled her eyes and got up to throw her trash away. Most of the group had gotten use to her, but Weiss and Yang watched her leave out of the corner of their eyes. As long as she was within view, she wasn't breaking any rules.
"So what class do we have next? MISAKA asks as Misaka turns to Weiss."
"Dust Theory." Weiss answered and Accelerator's head swiveled slightly in interest.
"About time." He mumbled. "I need to see if the books I read have any merit. Who teaches it? Tell me it's not the green haired guy."
"Professor Peach teaches it." Weiss reassured him. "However, she's rarely around. Usually Professor Goodwitch teaches it in her place."
"She at least knows what she's doing."
"I'll take that as a compliment." A female voice said from behind him. Glynda had approached them and had an eyebrow raised at him.
"Hello!" Ruby greeted. "Can you we help you with something?"
"I just wanted to explain something to Miss Order and Mr. Kamijou about the dust class coming up." She replied. "Miss Order, due to the volatile nature of Dust, I'm going to ask that you sit back and watch. We have had one too many accidents." Her eyes fell onto Nora, who at least managed to look slightly embarrassed, and then onto Ruby and Jaune, who both avoided eye contact. "Mr. Kamijou… due to your ability, it would be best you avoid public interaction with Dust. I suggest using the excuse of watching Miss Order during that time."
"Okay." Touma replied with a nod.
"Very good." She turned and left before Touma turned to the rest of the table. He blinked in confusion.
"So, what was that look she gave you all?"
"Nora… kind of blew up one room last class." Jaune explained with a chuckle. "Our team had detention, but it turned out to be a blessing. That's how we found Accelerator."
"And Jaune-Jaune mixed up some weird combination of dust." Nora added. "Things went 'fwoosh!' and the light almost blinded everyone."
"I was just trying to make something new." Jaune protested.
"It might have properties as some kind of flash grenade." Pyrrha said reasonably. "I couldn't make out anything besides shapes for several minutes."
"Arc made the idiotic mistake of mixing dust without understanding their properties." Weiss added and glared at Jaune. Her glare made him sink lower into his seat.
"Don't be mean, Weiss," Ruby scolded. "Everyone makes mistakes."
"And haven't you and Ruby had your fair share of mishaps?" Yang added, with an amused grin.
"They smelled like rotten eggs for an hour after one class." Blake agreed. "It took them forever to wash that stench off."
"T-that's because Ruby decided she wanted to skip some of the steps!" Weiss spluttered. "I'm the one who usually stops her, but she occasionally gets passed me."
"Sure, Weiss, whatever you say." Yang said sarcastically.
"It's the truth!"
"Uh, huh."
"Experimenting with dust seems like fun, MISAKA says as MISAKA suddenly grows sad that she can't participate."
"It's only because we have Aura to protect us." Pyrrha explained. "If an accident occurs, we have a safeguard. If you were involved in an explosion, you would get seriously hurt."
"As fun and awesome as explosions are, it's not cool if someone gets seriously hurt." Nora added. "Unless they are a bad guy. Like a pancake stealer. They are the worse."
"Seriously," Ren said solemnly to Accelerator and Touma. "Never touch her pancakes."
Accelerator raised an eyebrow at this, though he didn't say anything. Touma simply looked confused at why pancakes would be so important.
"What's Neo doing?" Yang asked the table suddenly.
Nearly every head at the table turned to see where she was looking. To their surprise, Neo was leaning up against a table with Coco, Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi. None of them could see what Neo was saying because her screen was too far away. However, whatever it was combined with her gestures was causing Coco to laugh and Velvet to start looking worried. The two boys with them acted like this was a normal occurrence.
"When did she meet Coco?" Blake asked.
"No idea." Touma admitted.
"Weren't you supposed to monitor her?" Weiss asked.
"I try, but that's like trying to stop Nora from eating pancakes…."
"No one would dare stop me!" Her response to his remark received a few chuckles.
"…and someone will have to look after her when I'm in detention."
"Look after her like the way Ren looks after Nora." Jaune clarified with a grin. Pyrrha covered her mouth to prevent from laughing. "You are fighting a losing battle."
Ren diverted eye contact from Jaune or he might have nodded automatically in agreement. Neo suddenly came back and everyone grew quiet.
"What kept you?" Touma asked her. Neo beamed at him and patted his head.
'Secret surprise for tomorrow. Keep your schedule open.'
No one at the table trusted her.
Except Last Order.
She liked surprises.
Accelerator was bored overall, but the class wasn't completely useless.
He was mainly using the opportunity to apply book knowledge he received to real world applications. The lesson was pretty straight forward. They were primarily diluting raw fire dust in order to make it easier to use with dust rounds. Highly concentrated dust would give a more powerful explosive charge, but increased the risk of explosions within the bullet. If that happened in the field, a Hunter's weapon could be rendered useless. Most people didn't have powers like Accelerator, so they would be helpless against the Grimm.
His eyes darted over to Touma and Last Order.
Touma was taking notes while Last Order kept peeking at everyone's work with interest. Occasionally, she would ask him something and he would point to his notes. Accelerator huffed at the sight of how chummy those two were and turned back to his own work. He was forced to work with Neo. Though, she mostly let him do what he wanted. He couldn't be positive if she just knew all this already or just didn't care.
"That's way too much you dunce." Accelerator's eyes darted over to Ruby and Weiss. Weiss had grabbed Ruby's wrist and pulled her away from their concoction. "It's going to make it useless."
Accelerator chuckled to himself and glanced at the others. Yang and Blake were doing fine and Ren seemed to be controlling Nora. Jaune was the only one who appeared to be having trouble, with Pyrrha just correcting the mistakes he was about to make rather than doing it herself.
Those two are pretty much a married couple, yet he's an idiot. Seriously, I can see the Spartan likes him and I couldn't care less.
He became bored again.
Learning on his own was a lot more productive than a large classroom of individuals who were not nearly as intelligent as he was. Weiss was probably the closest one there and she could answer any questions he had. Well, if he had one. Their short talk yesterday filled in a lot of holes in what he figured out against the Grimm. His sights had changed from using raw dust to seeing how Dust Technology worked. The force field around the arena in Glynda's combat class was a perfect example. That technology reminded him of the Windowless Building back home.
I wonder if I could make it portable. He thought to himself. I can strap it to the brat to prevent her from getting into trouble all the time.
A finger poked his arm and he turned to Neo, who held up her tablet with a mischievous smile on her face.
'Want to see something funny?' Accelerator raised an eyebrow at this and Neo held something between her fingers.
It was a tiny fragment of a fire dust crystal.
Neo glanced at it and then pointed with her free hand discreetly toward Yang and Blake. No words were said, but her plan was obvious to him. Childish pranks were beneath him and he wasn't going to agree. On the other hand, he wasn't going to say no, as it didn't concern him. His face remained neutral and Neo took his silence as encouragement. Using her ability, the dust disappeared due to her illusion and she flicked the crystal into the air. Though he couldn't see it, Neo's skills were enough to know where it landed.
"Blake?" Yang asked. "Why is our mixture sparking?"
"Get down!" Blake yelled and everyone around them dropped to the floor as their container started shaking.
An explosion followed a second later, leaving a charred mark on their table.
"Is everyone okay?!" Glynda called out. Once she was sure they were, her eyes fell on Yang and Blake. "Miss Xiao-Long, Miss Belladonna, explain yourselves!"
"It wasn't my fault!" Yang denied instantly.
"I don't know what happened." Blake stated, a little more in control of her emotions than Yang. "One second, everything was fine and we were just about finished. The next, it started sparking."
"I see." She straightened her glasses. "It will be hard to determine what the exact cause was with the evidence destroyed. However, it was your project, so both of you will stay behind and clean up the room. Understood?"
Both nodded in defeat as Neo smirked from the safety of her seat, making a small fist pump. The only one who noticed besides Accelerator was Nora, who looked confused at what Neo was doing.
Accelerator yawned, still refusing to get involved, even if a part of him enjoyed seeing Yang in a panic. Neo didn't like her, that was obvious, so these kinds of things were to be expected. It was only a small prank and the brat was far away from everyone, so he didn't have to throttle the midget for putting the brat in danger. Instead, he was thinking of the next step to his own research.
The hero is going to be in detention after classes, so I'm probably going to be stuck with the midget. The library would be the best place to look for some basic engineering designs until I understand the mechanics on using dust as energy sources. I can drag her along by force if I have to. She knows better than to cross me or I'll tell the Bookworm what really happened. I wonder how similar their tech is to Academy City's weapons. His eyebrows narrowed. I haven't heard from Ozpin recently. I should check on the status of our situation.
The bell rang and everyone started packing their things. He left with Last Order next to him and Neo mocking Yang between her and Touma.
Well, he thought Neo was mocking Yang.
Blake's eyes narrowed as they left.
"That was dull." Touma muttered to himself, finally leaving detention.
Glynda made them write a five page paper on why interrupting her class is wrong. His hand was cramping slightly, but it wasn't that unusual from how punishments were distributed back home. Writing reflective essays and cleaning duties tended to be a pretty common tactic for a detention. Students would either do something useful or write down why they were there in the first place so it sunk into their minds why they shouldn't do it again.
Schools similar wherever you go I guess.
He walked through the halls of Beacon, aware of many people casting glances toward him. Ruby had explained that Accelerator had beaten Pyrrha, which was considered impossible by many of the students' standards. Because Touma was the leader over him, people would want to see what he was like. He also supposed it was because of him defeating Cardin and Glynda's explanation of his hand. Blake had warned him others would be interested in his unusual power. After making the now familiar route back to his room, he rounded a corner and came face to face with Jaune and Ren.
"Hey guys." He greeted them.
"How was the detention?" Jaune asked.
"Eh, similar to what I'm used to." Touma shrugged. "Essay about not talking out of line."
"She seemed to have left you off easily." Ren commented. "Usually, after one detention with her, no one wants to go back."
"I had a feeling she wasn't that mad at me." Touma admitted. "It was more like she couldn't just ignore my outburst. It was kind of my fault."
"Cardin's attitude was the cause of it." Ren stated firmly. "Even Nora was getting visibly upset. While, yes, you could have controlled your emotions better, they were understandable."
"He's kind of a jerk to everyone." Jaune admitted. "I got bullied by him a lot when I first joined Beacon."
"What happened?" Touma asked and frowned. "He's a big mouth, but did he actually get physical?"
"It was more… he had information on me." Touma noticed Jaune and Ren share a look. He wasn't going to ask, because it didn't really matter what the reason was. "And I put up with it until he tried to get Pyrrha involved in one of his so-called pranks. The problem was the prank he wanted to play would have caused her injury. I couldn't let my friend get hurt because of a mistake I made. I stood up to him and he's gotten a little better recently."
"Nice one." Touma told him and shared a fist bump with Jaune. He used his left hand of course. "So what are you guys up to?"
"We were planning to kill some time since Nora kicked us out." Jaune answered.
Touma looked confused, so Ren elaborated.
"Nora took the loss in video games to Last Order and Accelerator very hard. She and Last Order are now using the evening to brush up on their video games skills. Pyrrha was roped into it, as Nora declared it was about time for her to learn how to play well. They officially made it a girls' night."
"She's the true leader of the team, isn't she?" Touma asked sarcastically with a smirk.
"Yes." Jaune answered and the corners of Ren's mouth twitched. "Oh, you might want to avoid RWBY's room, they are talking about Blake's rooming situation."
"Ah, that's got to be awkward." Touma said and rubbed his neck. "I'll avoid them then. Though, Ruby said she wanted to see me after my detention, but never said when."
"She will find you." Jaune said. His words could have been ominous, but he said them rather fondly. "Once Ruby wants to hang out with you, it's hard to avoid her."
"Guess I'll head back to my room then." Touma conceded. "I bet Neo doesn't want to be cooped up there and I doubt Accelerator will want to go anywhere."
"Actually," Ren corrected. "He went to the library to look into some dust engineering. I was a little surprised, actually. That's a rather advanced topic and, while most students build their weapons engineering outside of that is not taught at Beacon." Jaune shuffled his feet at this. "There should be some references in the library though. Neo was forced to come along because he didn't want her to spend too much time around Last Order."
"Something about the midget corrupting her." Jaune recited and Touma laughed. Suddenly, a shiver ran down his spine.
There's no way she could know, right?
"Any idea what she has in store for you tomorrow?" Jaune asked.
"Not in the slightest." Touma replied. "All I know is if it's a surprise, it's not going to go well for me." He rubbed his chin. "She did buy that freezer and has nothing to put in it. Maybe she wants me to pick up some ice cream."
"Well, her name is Neo." Jaune pointed out.
"She eats way too much of that." Touma said with a laugh. "I'm surprised she doesn't get fat off of it." He bit the corner of his lip. "I won't make the mistake of saying that to her again."
"Yeah," Jaune acknowledged. "I once made the mistake of saying something that sounded like I was implying Nora was fat. Things did not go well."
"That is an understatement." Ren added, shivering at the thought.
She demanded the team go on a 10 mile run every morning before breakfast on top of what they did normally.
"Moving on." Jaune continued. "Interested in joining us, Touma? We can teach you some of Remnant games our teams enjoy playing occasionally."
"Sure, sounds better than shutting myself up in an empty room. It will be good to spend some time with other guys. The girls are nice and all, but…" His words trailed off.
"We understand." Ren reassured him. "Jaune and I routinely do our own thing and you are welcome to join whenever you are free."
"Growing up with seven sisters, you learn to find time to hang out with guys." Jaune added.
"Seven!?" Touma asked, thinking he misheard.
"That's the usually reaction." Jaune replied with a laugh.
The three of them walked together, joking around, when Touma felt confident enough to ask them something that has been on his mind.
"I've been wondering," Touma started off. "Ever since I arrived, are all Huntresses like supermodels or something? I only had Neo to compare to, but every girl at Beacon seems to be a supermodel."
Jaune and Ren shared a look and Touma was worried he said something insensitive. He had tried to phase his words carefully. Back home, he and his friends would have called them hot and then spiraled into an uncontrollable vortex or arguing who is the most attractive.
His worries were quickly dispelled when Jaune and Ren laughed.
"We had this very same conversation at one point too." Jaune finally told him when he stopped.
"Being a Hunter or Huntress is physically demanding." Ren explained. "So it would only be natural for them to be fit." He did smile. "But, yes; the girls our age are very attractive."
"Don't let Nora hear you say that." Jaune teased and Ren sighed.
"We are not like that." Ren said in a calm tone.
"Really?" Touma asked surprised. "Nora said you were together-…"
"But not together-together." Ren interjected.
"Do you want to be though?" Touma questioned.
His silence caused Jaune and Touma to continue to needle him about it for another five minutes.
"Okay, Blake." Blake was sitting on Yang's bed, looking at Yang with a calm and collected look. She wasn't holding a book this time and giving her teammates her undivided attention. Ruby was standing nervously behind Yang with Weiss sitting down on her own bed. Yang paused to glance back at the other two before turning back to Blake and continued. "Enough being a sour puss and move back in. Zwei isn't going to hurt you."
"I know that." Blake replied, annoyed her teammate implied she was afraid of that dog. "But I don't want to live in a room with a dog."
"Why not?" Ruby asked. "He's house trained and hasn't done anything to your stuff. We miss you."
"I simply don't like them." Blake stated, still remaining calm. "Besides, it's not like I'm avoiding you guys. I join you for meals, we study and train together, and I even come to spend time here. I can stand dogs for a short time, but living with one… It's only a few days anyways. When Zwei goes back home, I'll move back in."
"That…. might be a bit of an issue." Ruby said slowly. Blake's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I called Dad and asked him how long we could keep Zwei." Ruby explained. "Turns out, he's going to be longer than he thought and we might need to watch him most of the semester."
"I see." A long silence followed Blake's statement. "It's a good thing I have an alternative bedroom then."
"Come on!" Weiss interjected loudly. "This is so stupid. Yes, Zwei is a dog and you are… you." Nothing needed to be said about her Faunus heritage. "But he's not bothering you and, besides wanting someone to play with now and then, he doesn't bother anyone. He rarely even barks. Plus, he's adorable. There is no reason to act so childish and demand a new sleeping arrangement because of him."
Blake crossed her arms and pursed her lips tightly, refusing to say anything.
"Maybe there's another reason for this." Yang said slowly and raised an eyebrow. Everyone turned toward her. "Maybe Blakey is using Zwei as an excuse to get closer to a certain someone. Maybe at night, she pretends to be cold and he could warm her up."
Weiss blinked in surprise and rubbed her chin while Blake's eyes widened in shock.
Along with a little annoyance at the accusation.
Ruby's mouth fell open.
"Yaaang!" She wailed. "Blake wouldn't do that. Even if it wasn't because of Zwei, I'm sure she has a real reason for moving in with another team." She turned a hopeful gaze toward Blake. "Right?"
Ruby was actually more concerned about Blake not being into Touma. She had her suspicions, but Blake often hid her emotions. There was no way Blake would leave their team over Zwei, she knew that. The hopeful expression she was giving her was mostly to find out exactly what Blake was doing. Blake opened her mouth to answer and then paused. A way out of the situation instantly came to her.
With some luck, Yang would stop bothering her.
"Actually," Blake said slowly. "There was another reason…. and it's not that!"
She added that last bit when Yang opened her mouth.
"Explain." Weiss ordered.
"Since Touma knows I'm a cat Faunus." Blake obliged. "He understands my dislike of dogs… any dogs." She added that last bit for Ruby to say it wasn't anything personal about Zwei. "Then with Last Order wanting to spend time with Ruby and Weiss, it was the perfect opportunity to gain access to his room."
"You wanted to spy on him when he's most vulnerable!" Yang declared.
"No!" Blake denied instantly.
"Be quiet, Yang." Weiss snapped. "Let her finish."
"As I was saying," Blake continued. "I was worried Neo might be up to something, maybe trying to get Touma and Accelerator to give her information of some kind. I know Accelerator won't tell her much, but Touma is rather open."
The other girls nodded in agreement.
"I thought we agreed to give Neo the benefit of the doubt?" Ruby protested.
"I want to." Blake lied. "But I can't shake the feeling she is up to something. I don't want her to think I'm purposely following her around, so I used Zwei as an excuse."
"So," Yang prompted. "Have you found anything?"
"No. Last night she just glared at me most of the evening and didn't try anything."
"Accelerator told us she wouldn't try anything because she knows she's being watched." Weiss pointed out. "Though, I will admit your reasoning is rather solid."
"Thank you." Blake replied gratefully.
"Perfect Accelerator knows everything." Yang grumbled.
The others ignored her.
"So how about a compromise?" Weiss continued. "We give you a week and, if you don't have any real evidence Neo is up to something, you return back to our room. You can say you finally tolerate Zwei or something."
"Great idea, Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "I knew you missed her."
"I miss being about to sleep without you mumbling about why Blake hates Zwei all night." Weiss corrected.
"Missed you too, Ice Queen." Blake said with a small smile.
"Hey!"
"Well, now that we know Blake is coming back, I need to go." Ruby said abruptly. "I promised Touma we could get started on something important tonight."
She then proceeded to bolt toward the door.
"What's so impor-… aaaannnnddd she's gone." Yang said. "Hmm, I really should be worried with how naïve she is, but I doubt Touma will actually do anything. I doubt he has any ill intentions and he's almost as dense as Jaune is with relationships."
Blake's lips tightened ever so slightly, though it went unnoticed by the others.
"I need to get going too." Weiss stated. "I need to go to the library and look something up for Doctor Oobleck's assignment."
"Has nothing to do with Accelerator saying he was going there to research something." Yang added.
"No, it does not." Weiss's pale cheeks darkened slightly before she turned and headed out the door.
"Make sure the heat gets turned up!" Yang called to her. "With the Ice Queen and King there, the books will freeze!" Weiss gave some generic insult she didn't catch because the door shut. "Heh, she's so transparent."
"I'm heading out too." Blake told Yang, jumping down from the bed. "I'll be in TAN's room if you need me."
"Wait!" Yang reached out and grabbed Blake's shoulder before she could get away. "I can't prove you have an alternative reason for what you are doing, but I do know you like him."
"W-what?!" Blake's face flushed and then quickly regained her composure. "My feelings for him have nothing to do with this." She added as much sarcasm as she could into that word to try to dissuade Yang.
"Uh, huh." Blake could tell she wasn't convinced. "If you are using this chance to have more opportunities to get to know him, fine. I can understand that. Remember though, Neo is dangerous. Be careful around her. Don't do anything stupid and be honest with me. If you learn of anything, tell me. You're my partner and friend, Blake. I hate being kept out of the loop."
Blake paused.
"Thank you for your concern." She finally said. "I promise I'll be careful. I won't overwork myself like I did with the White Fang."
"That's all I ask."
"And if I'm being honest." Blake continued and Yang's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You remember that explosion in class today?"
"How could I forget it?" Yang asked incredulously. "It almost burnt my hair. What did we do wrong?"
"Nothing." Blake reassured her. "We followed the instructions to the letter. The thing is, I think Neo did something, but I can't be sure."
"How could you tell?"
"She seemed to tell Accelerator something and then made a flicking motion." Blake explained. "But I couldn't see anything, even with my vision."
"Neo does have illusion powers." Yang pointed out and rubbed her chin.
"My thoughts exactly."
"Neo doesn't like us, does she?"
"No," Blake answered. Especially me.
"And I doubt Accelerator will tell us if she did anything." Yang added.
"Probably not. If it doesn't concern him or Last Order, he tends to ignore it."
"I don't know." Yang said thoughtfully. "He and Weiss seem to chat frequently. More than just academics too. She's been trying to drop the hint and he's not getting it."
"More like he's ignoring it." Blake replied with a small smirk. "He noticed Jaune and Pyrrha fast enough."
"Hah, yeah." Yang threw her arm over Blake's shoulder. "I know you don't like gossiping, but you are so good at it."
"I simply keep my eyes and ears open." Blake answered and her bow twitched. Yang raised an eyebrow in surprise, but before she could say anything, Blake disappeared through the door.
"Is it my imagination or is she getting a little bolder with being a Faunus?" Yang scratched her head. "Guess it's a good thing if she is? Maybe she can walk about without the bow soon." Her eyes fell onto her desk. "I really should get started on Oobleck's assignment too, but it's going to take so long." She sighed. "Well, at least Weiss and Accelerator will be at the library. I can tease them a bit while I get what I need."
"I can't believe you." Weiss fumed, as she and Yang headed back to their dorm from the library.
"Don't be like that." Yang brushed off her anger. "You two were totally going at it."
"Someone we knew was actually developing an interesting theory on dust use, and you interrupted him." Weiss hissed. "I knew he picked things up quickly, but he's easily passed us in theory. His practical skills are behind us of course, as his Aura is unlocked. Some of the uses he mentioned would be quite revolutionary. I wonder if I could pass the designs on to my sister? Of course, we still need to wait until progress with them has gone furth-…"
"Yes, yes," Yang interrupted. "You want him to make the Schnee business even larger, enough about that. So tell me…" She threw her arm over Weiss's shoulder. "I saw the progress you were making. He actually talks to you without snapping. Only one besides you he does that with is Ruby, and I don't think it's possible to actually hate her."
"He has a short temper." Weiss replied with a shrug. "And he's not as good at blocking your annoying antics as I am. I'm sure he will pretend you don't exist like I do."
"Wow, shot to the heart there, Weiss."
"I know you steal some of my hair products." Weiss added and the corners of her lips twitched. "So we are even."
"Aww, Weiss made a joke." Yang grinned and removed her arm from Weiss's shoulder. "Your stuff is really nice though, even if it's a bit expensive. Seriously, after seeing how well it worked, I took a look into getting some myself. Geez, learn some moderation."
"I prefer quality products." Weiss replied sternly. "I won't tolerate second best."
"Accelerator seems the same way." Yang pointed out. "No wonder you two get along. I'll help you get some alone time with him, on one conditioner though." No laugh came forth and she continued. "You have to buy me some of that shampoo."
"And why would I do that?"
"I'll make sure Neo and Last Order aren't nearby." Yang explained. "And Neo can be a handful. Sounds fair, right?"
There was a pause and Weiss glanced over at her slightly for a moment.
"I'll… think about it." She conceded.
"Close enough." Yang laughed. "At least you aren't as bad as Jaune. I swear I'm going to lock him and Pyrrha in a room together and not let them out until something happens."
"Something?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"PG, R-stuff, I don't care. One of them needs to make the first move."
"What she sees in Arc I have no idea."
"Same thing Ruby does obviously." Yang said. "He's a dork, sure, but he's honest. Try not to be jealous if Pyrrha does start dating him, Weiss Queen."
"As if." Weiss sniffed. "And don't try to distract me with all your gossip. I'm still angry you interrupted our discussion."
"Hey!" Yang cried out indignantly. "I was at the library for a reason." She held up her book. "See, I got it."
"Reason I'm only angry and not furious." Weiss explained with a smirk. Even Yang laughed at this when they reached their room. "Just leave us alone when we are working."
"Sure thing, but keep me updated on the status." Yang reached for the door and heard a voice.
"Hold still!"
"Sounds like Ruby's back." Yang commented to Weiss and then heard another voice.
"How much longer?" Yang froze when she heard the male voice.
"Seems like she brought Touma with her." She added.
"So?" Weiss asked and stepped forward to open the door, when she heard something that caused her to freeze.
"Almost done." Ruby said, her voice slightly muffled by the closed door. "Are you sure you're only a year older than me? You're pretty big."
Yang heard it too and shared a look with Weiss. Both of them looked confused at what they just heard.
"Did…?" Yang asked, trailing off.
"Can't be." Weiss replied.
"Quiet," Yang whispered urgently. "They are still talking and I missed some of it."
"Wow, I wasn't expecting this," Ruby continued. "I figured you had some experience but it's still...wow! Just looking at it I can tell that you've seen a lot of action where you're from."
"Hehe," Touma's shaky laugh could be heard. "Way more than a lot of people know. Most of my class sees me as a simple unlucky classmate. They have no idea what I do at night."
"C-can I touch it? T-that's not a weird to ask is it? I-I mean, it's fine if you don't want me to of course! I figured I'd ask before I went ahead and...well, you know."
Ruby's voice was a combination of excitement and hesitation. Yang's hair began to stand up and Weiss could feel the heat wash over her.
"I guess? Are you sure you want to?" Touma asked.
"Oh! It's so smooth! It looks so rough when I'm looking at it compared to when I'm actually touching it. Reminds me of dad's, but bigger."
"Okay!" Yang yelled out furiously before Weiss could stop her. The door flew open with a bang. "What is going on!?"
Ruby was standing behind Touma, who was sitting on a chair. A tape measure was wrapped around his arm and his shirt sleeve was pulled up as far as it could go, revealing his shoulder. Ruby had frozen with a hand on it.
"Yang!?" She asked in shock. "What I have I told you about slamming open the door? Goodwitch is going to yell at me again."
"Never mind that," Weiss interjected. "What are you two doing?" Her eyes traveled between Ruby and Touma.
"Ruby had an idea for a weapon she wanted to make." Touma explained, eyebrow raised out of confusion. "She just needed to take some measurements before she got to work on it."
"It's important to develop the weapon for the user." Ruby added. "Unlike those mass produce rifles the military uses, Hunter weapons should be individually designed. It has to fit his frame perfectly."
"I've told you I'm not a Hunter." Touma pointed out and he sounded like he mentioned this several times.
"Close enough." Ruby hushed. "He's got this really cool scar here." She pointed to his shoulder. "And I guess it goes down his back. It's bigger than even dad's."
"I get involved in a lot of misfortune." Touma explained and gave a force chuckle. "That and I don't have Aura to prevent wounds like you guys."
"Oh." Yang blinked and her hair stopped moving from the heat she was previously emitting. "That's what you were talking about."
"Were you listening?" Ruby demanded. "It's not cool to eavesdrop on people, Yang."
"We just caught the last few words." Weiss reassured her. "Normally, we make our own weapons. What made you decide to make him one?"
"He won't be here that long, and he needs something to protect himself with." Ruby explained. "Plus, when he goes back, he can show it off to all his friends."
"I did warn her she would have to dial back the firepower." Touma added. "Laws in our city prevent certain things, like flamethrowers."
Ruby huffed and looked severely disappointed.
"Well then, sorry about interrupting." Yang added, a grin forming on her face now that she knew her younger sister wasn't doing anything inappropriate. Now was the time to make Touma think they did. Unlike Accelerator, he was easily embarrassed. "If I knew you two were locked up alone in our room, I would have gone somewhere else. Didn't think she would have her hands all over you and talking about your weapon."
"You and Neo are so much alike." Touma groaned, when Ruby squeaked something incomprehensible and hid herself behind him. "Not sure why you two don't get along."
"I'm nothing like her!" Yang denied loudly, offended at the comparison.
"I don't know," Weiss mused. "I kind of see a resemblance. You both can be rather infuriating."
"And like to tease people." Ruby added.
"Is this pick on Yang day?!" Yang demanded.
"It is now an annual holiday!" Weiss declared with a smirk. Ruby zipped over to her and gave her a quick high five.
"Weiss cracking jokes," Yang grumbled. "Must be a sign of the end times." She shook her head and turned to Ruby. "So, what are you making our residential world hopper here?"
"It's a surprise!" Ruby's smile indicated she wasn't taking any more questions about the subject. Yang raised an eyebrow and turned to Touma.
"Don't ask me." He answered before she could utter a single word. "She's been keeping me out of the loop too." He looked up at the ceiling. "My danger sense has been going off for a while."
"Seems like your senses are working then." Weiss agreed.
"Hey!" Ruby protested indignantly.
"Welcome back," Ozpin greeted, turning around in his chair. Night had fallen and a small black bird had flown in through an open window to land in the chair opposite him.
"We have a big problem." Qrow said, after he transformed back.
"I take it that was the case when you rushed all the way here and refused to explain anything over a secure connection." Ozpin agreed.
"That man I was checking on, turns out his name is Wellen Fischer." Qrow began. "It also seems I wasn't the only one trying to find him. Starts with Raven and it gets worse."
He took a swig from a flash he pulled out of his vest.
"Raven?" Ozpin asked. "Why would she…?" He trailed off with a contemplated look on his face. "What do you mean worse?"
"I'll get to that in a moment. As for Raven, her connections must have informed her and she wanted to verify if this guy was a threat or not. She actually sought me out, so something has her on edge. After meeting him I can see why. We thought he had some water controlling Semblance, but it's so much more." He leaned forward and slammed the flash on the desk. "He can fucking control them, Oz! Somehow that guy is fucking controlling them!"
"Them?" Ozpin asked, smelling the amount of alcohol on Qrow's breath. He leaned forward, which increased the smell and stared directly into Ozpin's eyes.
"That guy can control Grimm with his ability. Raven and I fought dozens of them."
"I need details, Qrow." Ozpin cross his fingers and his brow creased. "How? What exactly did they do and how were the Grimm responding to his control?"
"He forced water into their ears and then their eyes changed blue." Qrow said and shrugged. "This isn't some run-of-the-mill Semblance. They followed commands, but they seemed to follow his intentions too. Like… they could work together effortlessly and with him wordlessly. I would say… maybe intent would be something transferred. This power… it can't be a Semblance. Do you think it's possible he was using magic? He's not a Maiden, but could there be others?"
"Seems what Mr. Kamijou told me was accurate." Ozpin mumbled to himself. "That man followed them."
"Kamijou?" Qrow asked, taking an extra-large swig.
"The boy you met who suppresses Aura and can erase Grimm." Ozpin explained.
Alcohol spat out of Qrow's mouth.
"Erase Grimm?!"
"Mr. Kamijou's power not only suppresses Aura, but actually erases Grimm on contact." Ozpin explained while pulling out a handkerchief and wiping his face. "They seem to be afraid of it and will not approach him past a certain point. Based on what happened in Mt. Glenn, I also surmise the longer he stays in an area, the radius widens. It may be giving something off that grows in intensity the longer he is in one location."
"Ozpin," Qrow said slowly. "What kind of shit have you been getting into since I've been gone?"
A small smile formed on his face.
"We simply have visitors from another world."
It took a while to explain the situation to Qrow. Ozpin had pieced together a rather complete version of events from Touma, Accelerator, and Last Order. The three of them had been trying to stop a person Touma called a magician after he kidnapped Last Order. Due to a ritual mishap, they were all thrown into Remnant. Things got a little hazy here, as none of them knew much about Wellen. Touma had told Ozpin his name and Qrow found it out on his own. All Touma had been able to tell of Wellen's magic was he could control water. That was easily enough to discover. The situation Ozpin wanted to discuss involved magic from their world and the control of Grimm. At the end, Qrow sat down his flask on the table.
A second later, after thinking better of it, he picked it up and gulped the rest down.
"In your opinion," Ozpin asked, standing up and looking out into the night. "What do you make of Wellen's power? Do you truly believe it's magic?"
"I have to say it is." Qrow confirmed. "Though I don't think we can ever be sure unless you witness it. Controlling Grimm doesn't seem like it could be anything else."
"No. It shouldn't be." Ozpin grew quiet in thought. "Salem will not take this lightly. I expect her to move out."
"Remember when I said things get worse?" Qrow reminded him.
"She knows?"
"Oh, she knows." Another flask appeared next to the empty one. "Raven and I were ambushed by a large number of Grimm before we could capture him. A seer arrived and she talked to him. She fucking talked to him, like he was a lost child." Qrow slammed a hand on the table. "He went with her! The bastard went with her!" He grabbed his head. "It all makes sense now. If she has access to his magic, added to her own, who knows how this is going to affect us; no, everyone."
"It is indeed a threat." Ozpin agreed. "But we have two people on our side. They may be young, but I feel their arrival is going to be beneficial to us. I don't know how long it will take to get them home. My friend should be arriving this weekend to discuss our options. We have a lead, but that's all."
"A kid that erases Grimm and Aura plus a kid that has the most ridiculous power of vectors I have ever heard." Qrow recited. "Yeah, video games have become real. I have to accept that."
"I can provide some good news." Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Neither of those two will go over to Salem's side."
"What makes you say that?"
"First." Ozpin held up a finger. "Mr. Accelerator has had experience with people like Salem. Those who promise everything and give nothing. He prioritizes Miss Order's wellbeing above all others. If Salem attempted to hurt that girl, he will not let an army stop him. As for Mr. Kamijou… he has the same eyes as Miss Rose."
Qrow coughed.
"He has silver eyes? I didn't think he did, but I wasn't paying attention when I glanced at him the first time."
"No, no, not that. I meant that he is a pure soul. His eyes held a powerful conviction and belief. Salem will not be able to get to him. Though, I wonder how someone like him became so strong willed. He must have suffered greatly or witnessed others suffering." Ozpin rubbed his chin. "Anyway, he has assimilated quite easily into Beacon. Your niece's group took those three in without too much issue. She also appears to be rather found of Mr. Kamijou."
"Great," Qrow muttered. "I better not have to give her the birds and bees talk again. Tai did that and I'm not sure she understood everything." He laughed at the memory of a red faced little girl covering herself with her hood. He flexed his fingers. "I'll have to take care of that boy if he tries anything."
"You should talk with him." Ozpin suggested. "According to him, bad luck follows him around. You have something to talk about."
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny." Qrow rolled his eyes. "Anything else about these guys?"
"Mr. Accelerator seems to have a lack of respect for authority…"
"We will get along great."
"… and then there is the circumstance around Mr. Kamijou's Aura."
"Didn't you say his hand suppresses it?" Qrow pointed out. "It would explain why I didn't detect it when we met that one time."
"I was curious as to if people from his world had Aura." Ozpin admitted. "I could hardly unlock Mr. Accelerator's. There is no trust between us. Mr. Kamijou, on the other hand, was willing."
"You actually released the kid's Aura?" Qrow sounded surprised. "That doesn't happen often."
"No, and it was a good thing I did." Ozpin's face darkened, something Qrow noticed.
"What happened?" He asked, unusually serious.
"This does not leave this room." Ozpin stated and Qrow nodded, aware very few things they discussed ever left the room. "At least the odds of someone trying to unlock his Aura are low now that I've tried. Things would get… complicated if the students found out."
"Oz, I don't like the look on your face."
"Here's what happened, Qrow."
Qrow did not drink once during Ozpin's retelling.
The following morning after breakfast, Touma found himself backing away slowly from the tiny demon in front of him.
He had faced many things normal people would have never dreamed of. Life and death struggles against people with monstrous abilities, speed and strength exponentially greater than his, and even Magic Gods who would recreate the world at a whim. He had been shocked, shot at, kicked by teleporters, and knocked around more times than he could count. Nevertheless, he still stood up against them if he had to; especially if someone was in trouble. This time, it was him.
He gulped as his eyes fell onto the girl behind Neo.
"Aww," Coco laughed. "He's afraid, how adorable."
"You might as well accept it." Yatsuhashi said, as he walked passed. "Your teammate covered all her bases."
"Coco," Velvet said nervously. "If he doesn't want to…"
"But he needs to. Right Neo?" Coco turned to the diminutive girl, who nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm going to have to put my foot down here, Neo." Touma told her. "I can get clothes just fine on my own."
Neo's expression was riddled with doubt and she held up her tablet.
'I saw what you considered wearing before. No teammate of mine is going to dress like a hick.'
"Who dresses like a hick? At least I don't dress up like an ice cream bar!" He regretted his words a moment later when Neo kicked him in the shin.
"See," Ruby said proudly to her team. "I'm not the only one who doesn't like clothes shopping."
"It's not the same thing at all, you dunce." Weiss replied.
"Hey," Yang whispered and nudged Blake. "Why don't you volunteer? You dress like a sexy kitty, so you're knowledgeable about clothes. Could get some quality time with him."
Blake looked up from her book and almost rolled her eyes.
"It's not like I know men's fashion." Blake stated fairly. She had actually thought about it and was about to volunteer, when Yang spoke up. Now, she didn't want to give her partner the satisfaction. "You are more up to date than I am."
"Hmm, maybe I will." Yang stretched. "I need to pick up something in Vale anyways. Plus, I'll use the opportunity to talk you up."
"Don't you dare!" Blake hissed, but it was too late. Yang had already waltzed over to the others. Touma was still hopping on one foot from the pain.
"Hey, Coco!" Yang called out. "Mind if I go with you guys?"
"Sure thing, Yang." Coco grinned and the two high fived. "Always can use an extra opinion. Velvet's coming, but she always tries to spare people's feelings."
"I can give advice!" Velvet protested and Coco slapped her butt. "Eep!"
"Sure you can, Bun-Bun." Coco replied. "But I want some more brutally honest opinion. I'm getting reimbursed for this."
"Reimbursed?" Touma asked Neo, who grinned.
'I promised her I would buy this new pair of shoes I heard her talking about.'
"You have money?" Touma asked surprised. Neo's grin widened and she held up a card.
"Wow." Pyrrha said with aww, the first from Team JNPR speaking up. "That's a Platinum card. Wonder how she got one."
"Weiss probably has one." Nora added.
"I do." Weiss confirmed. "I bet the one Neo has uses stolen money."
"Be nice." Ruby whispered.
'Use this to buy at least three casual outfits for when he's not in class or training.' Neo instructed Coco, as she handed Touma the card. 'And pick up those shoes you wanted.'
"Sure thing." Coco replied. "And if you're satisfied, feel free to call Coco's Fashion Advice Hotline anytime." Neo saluted and turned to Touma. She poked him once to get his attention and pressed a piece of paper in his hand.
'I left a stock of my favorite ice cream at this location.' Neo explained. 'Pick it up for me since I can't leave and we have a freezer now.'
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" He replied and Neo smiled sweetly at him. Well, it would have been sweet if she didn't slide her finger across her throat. Her eyes darted toward Accelerator, who was leaving. She waved goodbye to the group and bounded after him.
"Interesting teammates you have." Coco commented. "She really wanted to go with you, but has to stay behind. Poor girl."
"Right." Touma wasn't sure exactly what excuse Neo gave to Coco about having to stay in Beacon. It definitely wasn't that she was an ex-criminal and it was part of her probation.
"Don't look so glum." Yang said to cheer him up, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "This will only take four, five hours tops."
"Four to five hours?!" Touma was in shock.
Velvet, Ruby, Blake, and Jaune gave him pitying looks. Touma gazed around the room at his friends, looking for some kind of help. Blake wanted to help, but she also didn't want to stand out in front of everyone. It probably wouldn't help in the long run and she would just be dragged along too. The look on Yang's face confirmed her theory when their eyes met.
Besides, it wasn't like he was going to die clothes shopping.
Velvet had told them Coco's previous bagboys survived ninety five percent of the time.
Then, out of nowhere, Touma received a helping hand.
"Mind if I tag along?" Jaune asked. "I need to pick up something for one of my sisters. She has a birthday coming up."
It wasn't true, but he could get a present now and not have to worry about it next month. It was mostly to help Touma by having another guy there. Shopping with girls was not an unusual occurrence for a guy with seven sisters. Touma mouthed a silent thank you.
"Sure thing." Coco said immediately, after a quick glance at a hopeful Velvet. "We could use a bagboy."
"Just don't let him near them during the bullhead ride." Yang informed her.
"I can control it… usually."
"We are burning daylight, ladies." Coco announced. "Let's get going."
She turned and pushed Touma in the back toward the door. Not given much choice, as Neo had sold his soul for a pair of shoes, he followed her along with Yang. Velvet and Jaune picked up the rear and made some small talk. Touma thought he saw Coco glancing back occasionally and grinning.
The rest of Team JNPR and RWBY, along with Last Order, were planning their own activities.
"Ren and I are off to hunt some Grimm!" Nora announced. "Want to come, Pyrrha?"
"Ah, not today, but thank you." She replied. "I would hate to intrude. I'm planning to practice in the area with a few training bots. There are a couple new combos I wanted to practice."
"It would not be intruding," Ren assured her. "But I understand. If you wish to join later, just give us a call. I'm pretty sure Nora will want to be out there most of the day."
"The Grimm will fear the Queen of the Castle!"
"All shall fear you." Ren confirmed with a small smile.
The two of them waved goodbye to the rest of group and headed to the locker room to collect their weapons. Pyrrha went with them since they had to go to the same location.
"Well," Weiss said to Ruby, Blake, and Last Order, as she stood up. "I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and get some work done."
"You mean, see what Accelerator's up to?" Blake asked with a knowing smile on her face.
"I might check on him at some point." Weiss said offhandedly, avoiding eye contact. "Ruby was the one who told him there's extra scrap at the forge from people who just toss extra parts away when they finish their weapons."
"So wasteful." Ruby added, annoyed. "Though, I have scavenged some useful stuff from there."
"You should spend more time with your studies instead of designing weird attachments to your weapon." Weiss admonished. "I expect to see you in the library today."
"I'll let you know if she shows up." Blake offered and Ruby stared at her with her mouth open. Ruby couldn't believe Blake was betraying her like that. Weiss nodded and left.
"You do need to study." Blake told a depressed Ruby before leaving.
"MISAKA thinks learning is important too, MISAKA admits as MISAKA pats you reassuringly on the back. However, MISAKA suggests doing something fun during the day and study when night falls." Ruby looked up at Last Order in thought.
"Well… there was some new electric dust ammo that one store has I wanted to pick up." Ruby muttered. "It would be kind of nice to test it out. It's supposed to be good for stunning enemies."
"We should go! MISAKA says excitedly."
"We?" Ruby asked.
"MISAKA wants to look around Vale again, MISAKA explains as MISAKA can barely keep her excitement hidden."
"Cool! We can have fun and go on an adventure!"
"Adventure! MISAKA cheers." Last Order paused. "Can we bring Zwei? MISAKA asks uncertainly."
"Hmm." Sneaking Zwei out would be tough, but Ruby did have a large bag he would fit in. She also didn't like the fact he was cooped up in their room all the time. "Sure, let's get him. He would love Vale and he's trained well enough to not run off."
"Will Weiss be mad? MISAKA asks worriedly."
"Can't be mad if she doesn't know."
Yep, that's definitely the same boy. And why is Yang with him?
Qrow looked out of the window of the room he had spent the night in a drunken stupor. He was lucky he checked outside and just happened to see his niece with her arm around Touma's shoulders. Knowing her, she was making some terrible pun. Her sense of humor was as bad as her dad's. After the conversation last night, Qrow was interested in what secrets that boy was hiding. Ozpin told him not to confront him yet, but Qrow didn't like to wait, unless he was supplied with ample amounts of alcohol. His curiosity got the better of him and he cracked open the window. He wasn't going to disobey Oz.
This was a pure reconnaissance mission.
A moment later, a crow started flying toward Vale.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter. All mistakes are SilverFang88's fault.
SF88: Gotta say, I personally found this chapter pretty nice. Everyone got their two bits in, even if it's still in the slice-of-life part of the story. I've actually come to enjoy the process of Touma and Neo's adjustment to life at Beacon. Maybe that's just me though. On another note, does anyone else feel like a second squad of Delta Force has emerged between Jaune, Ren, and Touma?
Oh, and before I forget, fuck you Dark.
DB: Oh, think I'm only going to update shipping names every couple chapters down here. Someone pointed out it did get rather redundant.
