Crimson III: First Classes
"So... this is our room," Tsubaki said as she looked over the four beds posted around the team room. "I suppose it's good that we're out of that standard room in the guest quarters."
"Yep, now we can finally set it up the way we want to!" Noel said happily as she brought in her three suitcases and started setting up her posters... many of them of cute pandas, kittens, or anything fluffy and adorable.
"Do you really need all of that junk?" Azrael asked his partner as he took his own luggage and threw it on top of his bed. "That sort of stuff would just clutter the whole place."
"Some of us want to make sure that we have everything we need to make it through the school year," Tsubaki scolded her teammate. "Not all of us want to have to wear the same outfit all day like some sort of-"
"Jeeze, not so loud," Ragna groaned from his bed and he gripped his head. He hadn't taken any of his supplies out, but he'd place his own suitcase underneath his bed to keep it out of the foot traffic.
"What's your problem? You look completely out of it," Azrael observed bluntly.
"Blame Jin and Kagura, those assholes have made these last few days complete hell for me," the Grim Reaper muttered, causing Tsubaki to glare at him at the mere mention of Jin's name. "I'll unpack later, see you guys in class." And with that he headed off down the hallway.
"Our leader ladies and gentlemen," Tsubaki told the others with great sarcasm. "Out of all of us, why on earth was he chosen to be the head of our team?"
"...Probably because of the RAIN acronym honestly," Azrael admitted. "Teams don't make the damnedest bit of sense when it comes to their leaders; RWBY has the youngest member of the academy heading their team and the less said about JNPR's leader the better." The Mad Dog then chuckled. "To be completely fair though, all three of them make far better leaders than you ever could."
"Excuse you!?" Noel became nervous as her best friend raised her voice and became more enraged than when she was dealing with Ragna. "Where on earth do you get the right to say that you...!? You...!"
"What? Monster? Grimm-spawn? Berserker? Whatever kind of name you want to give me, it's still better than what I can say about your little performance during the exam," Azrael told her bluntly as he started heading for the door before stopping in front of it. "Now that I think back on it..."
"What is it now?" Tsubaki demanded, her eyes completely filled with hatred at the Mad Dog.
"...Ozpin and Goodwitch were going to fail your entrance performance."
Tsubaki felt her blood go cold. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
"It's the truth; I overheard them talking after the exam was over," Azrael told her. "Apparently, they didn't take well to you trying to kill your own partner. You were more of a hindrance to the both of you than any actual help."
"B-But I-!" Tsubaki stuttered, trying to regain her composure. "What about you then!? You tried to kill Ragna as well!"
"Kill him? No, that was just a test after we'd completed the mission objective. Maybe I didn't give him a choice, but I at least decided to wait until our test was over. Plus, this mad dog did its job and looked out for his partner." He glanced to Noel who trembled under the giant man's gaze. "She needs some work, but I think she's got some potential for down the road."
"Th-thank you?" Noel stuttered with slight confusion if that was supposed to be a compliment or not.
"Now... I got one more little revelation for you, red head," Azrael told Tsubaki. "Your partner; the guy you tried to kill only because you couldn't be teamed up with his brother and still try to berate to this day... he's the only reason you managed to get into Beacon at all."
"You're lying!" Tsubaki shouted.
"Actually, I'm not," the Mad Dog explained. "See, when Ozpin and Goodwitch were talking to our dear leader, they were telling him that his team was going to be of three; Team RAN I guess. Apparently, both of them thought that you would be a bad fit for the team, so he suggested we drop you and move on as normal. And you want to know what he did?"
Tsubaki said nothing, she only kept glaring at the Mad Dog with severe hatred in her eyes. Noel didn't do anything, only trembling with fear and sadness as she listened to the debate.
"He stood up for his partner," Azrael told her before finally opening the door. "God knows why he bothered..." With that he exited and closed the do behind him, leaving a tension heated atmosphere in his wake.
"Tsubaki..." Noel said as she tried to put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Not now Noel," Tsubaki said as she pushed it off of her. She then looked at the ceiling and scowled heatedly. 'I will never forgive Ragna the Bloodedge for what he did to Jin... NEVER.'
Outside the dorm room, Azrael headed down the hallway to his next class, causing several students to immediately part for him as he walked through. 'Cowards,' he thought to himself before continuing on. It was like this for him no matter where he went. Only a handful of people ever had the balls to approach him... but it seemed like there was one such person here now.
"Well now, that was a heated performance," said one Amane Nishiki as the dancer approached Azrael.
"Tch, I thought some creep was listening in," Azrael muttered as he didn't slow in his stride. "So what the hell do you want?"
"Just to sate my curiosity really; I'm interested why you'd bother coming to your leader's defense. Pardon my blunt observations, but you clearly don't seem to be the type," he admitted.
"I wasn't defending anyone; just stating the harsh truth to our weakest link," Azrael told him. "It's an investment more than anything else; if our leader doesn't have to waste all of his time dealing with some red head trying to kill him, he can focus on getting stronger. Then when he's at his peak-"
"You'll challenge him to a fight to the death, I'm aware," Amane said with a sigh. "Though, I thought you already considered him enough of a rival when the two of you duked it out yesterday."
"...The fight ended too early to consider anything; it looked like he could keep up with me physically, but neither of us unleashed our semblances."
"All of the damage was with sheer muscle alone then?" Amane said as he thought back to the destruction that had been caused in wake of the two's fight. "Perhaps the two of us could enjoy a dance soon enough?"
"Don't tempt me, I've already got three targets I'm interested in," Azrael said with a dark laugh.
Later -The Classroom-
'This idiot!' Wiess Schnee thought to herself as her team 'leader' Ruby made a series of funny faces while their teacher, Professor Port, continued to drown on and on about how he had become a hunter and his several adventures.
Peter Port was a slightly obese man with a large and bushy mustache. He went into his adventure with more detail than a Stephen King novel, painting himself with all of the colors of a great Hunter. Even Wiess could admit that the subject material was boring, but that didn't give Ruby an excuse to slack off and act childish during class. Weiss just had it; she decided it was time to put her foot down and-
"SNRRKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" came a sudden sound, breaking Weiss out of her thoughts and even stopping the classroom teacher from his story telling.
"What on earth is that!?" he demanded, appearing to be rather startled.
"Oh man! Is it another giant Grimm!?" a rather timid Jaune Arc exclaimed as the blonde frightfully remembered yesterday's events during the exam. His teammate, Lie Ren, gave a small sigh as his leader covered his trembling head with his arms for protection.
"I wish it was a monster..." Azrael growled as he glared at the seat beside him. Everyone turned their gazes to their spot only to see the team leader of RAIN slumped forward over his desk. Ragna's eyes were shut tight as he continued to snore loudly. Had Wiess been annoyed at Ruby's antics, she was completely flabbergasted that the older student had the gall to fall asleep in the middle of class.
"A-HEM!" Port called out to his asleep student. When Ragna didn't move in response, Azrael reluctantly shook him awake causing Ragna to drowsily raise his head with a piece of paper and a pink eraser sticking to his cheek. "Having a nice nap, are we?"
"Sorry, I haven't been able to get any sleep for the past few days," Ragna drowsily told his teacher as tried to a shake his head and awaken himself; it didn't help much and his head was still pounding painfully.
"Is that so? And why, pray tell, haven't you gotten the proper amount of sleep that any hunter in training would need for the task ahead?" the Professor asked his student. Ragna didn't say anything, but his complexion seemed to darken.
"...Homesick," he answered after a long pause though it was a complete lie. "...I couldn't sleep because I was homesick." He heard several of the laughs that came from the other students, but he didn't seem to care.
"Understandable, the longing for the company of loved ones is someone that every person at this academy has to endure, even those that have already become Hunters and Huntresses." Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby noticed Jin's scalding glare towards his brother at the Professor's mentioning of loved ones. "However, I would offer a word of caution... If your unable to react in combat due to this form of weariness, wellyou may find others to you'll miss once the battle is over."
"...You don't need to tell me twice," Ragna answered readily. Port gave a small chuckle.
"You're certainly acting like you know what I'm talking about, but let's see if I can get that young adrenaline flowing." Snapping his fingers, a large crate was brought into his class room. "Back in my much grander days of fighting, I noticed that being in the heat of combat was the best method of keeping your mind off of unrelated matters. Care to experience it first hand?"
"...I guess," Ragna said as he drowsily rose from his seat and slowly made his way down to the front of the classroom. Port then headed over and stood beside the large crate.
"Now, this creature is a little tougher to deal with than the more common Grimm you faced in the exam, but it can still be easily beat as long as you stay on your toes and identify its key weakness. Are you ready to begin?"
"Yeah, sure... whatever," Ragna said as he was still having trouble staying awake.
Satisfied with the answer he'd been given, Port then undid the latch and unleashed the Grimm from within. The monster was shaped as a boar and the upper part of his body was completely covered in white bones. It had long curved, tusks on either sides of its dark snout. The thing rolled into a ball, spun in place for a few moments, and then launched itself into Ragna. The Reaper didn't even seem to try to defend himself, only being blasted to the ground before he quickly managed to rise to his feet.
'Okay, think I'm up now,' he irritably thought to himself. 'Let's finish this thing off before my headache gets any-!' Having an 'oh shit' moment as he reached for his sword, Ragna glanced behind him only to realize he'd left his blade back in his room, having thought it wouldn't be required. 'Dammit,' he thought as the boar nearly plowed into him a second time.
"Are we really sure he was the one they were whispering about last night?" Blake asked as Ragna was forced to leap into the air to avoid yet another attack from the rolling boar. "He's missing his weapon, he looks too drowsy to fight properly, and he's having trouble against a single Grimm."
"Maybe he's just having an off day?" Yang suggested, but didn't seem too impressed herself
'Damn, wish I could say that the chicks are wrong, but for the most part they've got my number...' Ragna thought with annoyance as the Boar came at him for another rolling charge. 'Looks like I'm going to have to use 'that.' I'd better make this quick.'
Side-stepping the monster's roll one final time, Ragna waited for the monster to swerve around before finally rushing forward. Slamming his fist down heavily upon the Grimm, it gave a shrill scream right before it bounced from the force.
"A powerful attack, but this one's hide is stronger than most," Port lectured from where he watched. "In order to defeat you'll have to-"
"I know already!" Ragna shouted before leaped into the air and chased after the Boar. The monster gave a shrill squeal as he... no one could really say what Ragna had done to the creature, only that when he and the Boar fell to the ground it wasn't moving.
"I see you've managed to the defeat the creature... and in a rather enigmatic way at that," the professor said acknowledging Ragna abilities as the Reaper remained standing with his back to the teacher. "Tell us, was that a part of your semblance ability or did you perhaps-?"
Unable to remain standing any longer Ragna collapsed to the floor. Leading most of the class to stare on worriedly while others whispered worriedly among themselves.
"It's alright, it's alright!" Port declared, trying to calm his students down. "I'll see that he gets medical attention and-!"
"SNRRKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Port gave a grimace as he was interrupted once more by Ragna's snoring as the Reaper laid on the floor, once more passed out with exhaustion. He stared at the apparent trouble student for a moment before sighing. "I think that's enough excitement for our first day. Class dismissed... Now will someone please carry this student to his next lessons?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got him," Azrael grumbled as he picked the sleeping form of Ragna up and slung him over his shoulder like a snoring rag doll. "Tch, now I'm his nanny? This bites."
The students started to pile out of the classroom, each of them eager not to be late for their next class of the day. Soon the only two left in the room were Ruby and Weiss.
"Well, that was a pretty boar-ing class," Ruby said with her goofy smirk, trying to get one last joke in for Weiss. The white haired student then stood with a sudden forcefulness that surprised her team leader. "Um... Weiss?"
"...Why can't you grow up already?" she asked with venom. Ruby couldn't respond, not the Weiss was waiting around long enough for a response.
Later -That Night-
"Okay, last chapter of reading then I'm finally hitting the hay," Ragna said aloud to himself as he sat on the bench outside of the school, the same one where he'd met Ruby the night prior. "I need to find somewhere else to spend the night from now on, otherwise I'm going to wake up with a knife in my head or-" He gave an involuntary shudder at that last thought. "Having trouble focusing... one cup of Joe and then it's right back to work."
Bookmarking the page he'd been about to to start, Ragna closed the book and rose to stretch his stiff muscles. Despite his napping through his first class (and his trip on Azrael's shoulder), not all of the Reaper's stamina had returned and that made it difficult to get through that night's assigned reading. By now the rest of the students were either in their dorms preparing for the next day of classes or already fast asleep. Heading into one of the buildings, the Reaper came to one of the student break rooms... only to pause when he saw Ruby sitting at the table working tirelessly as she read over her books.
"Someone's putting in the midnight oil," Ragna noted aloud causing Ruby to jump in her seat at his unexpected arrival. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"You just startled me," Ruby told him sheepishly. Ragna gave a small chuckle, put he paused when he got a glance inside of Ruby's book. "Something wrong?"
"...You're eight chapters ahead," he noted before crossing his arms. "Have you been studying all night?"
"I have... It's just, I'm not really sure that I'm ready to lead a team... I mean, I sort of got called out earlier for acting like a kid in class... and when I talked to Ozpin about it, he told me that if my teams going to succeed they're going to need to be as serious as I can be."
"Well, staying up late to study is one way to do that," Ragna agreed before he headed over to the room's coffee maker. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Cream and five sugars?" Ruby answered nervously, knowing it was most likely how kids tried to drink coffee.
"...I used to take mine with eight sugars," Ragna told her as he began mixing the two's drinks and Ruby gave his a small but friendly smile. "You get used to the taste eventually, like with most things... so where are you in the reading?"
"Well..."
For the next few hours, Ragna and Ruby sat with one another at the table. Ragna had finished the last of his readings relatively quickly, but had decided to stay if not to further his own progress then to give Ruby someone to study with (that and he wasn't in any hurry to return to his team's room). Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he realized that they'd been studying past midnight.
"We oughta call it a... night," Ragna said as he realized Ruby had once more fallen asleep. Getting a proper glance at the books around her and the bookmarks in each one, he realized that she was now ahead by at least six chapters in every subject and had at least managed to close the books before 'resting her eyes.' "Qrow was right, this one is a character..."
Ragna knew that it was too late to carry the young huntress-in-training to her room (plus he had no idea which one it was) so he decided it probably was a better choice for them to both spend the night in the break room. Besides, the couches off to the side would make a nice makeshift bed for him. Taking off his coat, he laid his favorite article of clothing over Ruby's back so that she wouldn't have to spend the entire night cold. He was about to head over to take his place on one of the couches before realizing that there was someone else watching the two.
"..." Ragna gave the staring Weiss Shnee a passive smirk before he headed over to his couch. "Just give the kid a chance; she's trying at least." She didn't say anything to Reaper, merely giving him a passive nod before walking off. "...Talk about an Ice Queen."