Crimson XIII: Experience and Secrets

"...Alright I'll bite, what did I do this time?" Ragna asked as he stood before Professor Ozpin. For the few minutes that he'd been in the office, Ozpin hadn't said a word more than the standard greeting he gave his student, only seeming to observe the Reaper. Ragna was starting to grow annoyed with always getting called out by the head of the academy immediately after classes or right before dinner, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice.

"What did you do?" Ozpin asked, his tone remaining neutral. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Tch, I know your game. You're trying to get me to reveal some crime that I've done even though you don't have any idea what it is or even if I've done it," the Reaper bit back as he crossed his arms. "I'm not stupid enough to fall for that trick twice."

"...I take it the first time was with Jubei?" Ozpin asked, a small smile forming a he allowed his demeanor to relax. "You're not in trouble… I was actually wondering if you weren't open for a match."

"A match? What kind of a match?" Ragna questioned, keeping his tone neutral as Ozpin took out a small wooden box.

"A Chess one," Ozpin confirmed, only to notice Ragna growing uncomfortable. "You don't know the rules?"

"Far from it actually… someone my teacher was friends with forced me to learn how to play, and Jubei made me practice too," he admitted, still strangely uncomfortable at the idea. "But I mean... I'm getting called up here by a headmaster that holds a lot of power at the school I go to, he asks me for a round of Chess in private, and you're probably going to ask me some serious questions while we play with a friggin sunset to set the scene. It just seems a little... cliché?"

Ozpin paused as he was about to set board down, realizing that Ragna did make a strong point. It didn't hold him for long as he sent the student a smile. "If you'd prefer, I have been wanting to try that Grimm Hunter Junior game." Ragna's cringe was impossible to miss. "I know it's normally meant for several players, but perhaps if we could get Port and Oobleck to join us we could have a fun round of that."

"Cliché Chess it is," Ragna muttered as he pulled up a chair to the other side of the desk. "Don't expect me to win."

"I expect an effort to do so at the very least," Ozpin told him as he started placing the pieces. "I hope you don't mind if I take the white side and gain the first move? The black side seems to suit your darker persona better." Ragna shrugged as Ozpin shot him a smirk, amused that Ragna didn't seem to care that he was poking fun at him. "Good, then let's begin the match."

Early on, it was clear that Ragna was outmatched in their game. No matter what move he made or how carefully he tried to think things through in advance Ozpin would completely blind side him and claim some of his vital pieces, including his Queen. By this point Ragna had only taken a few of his pieces and most of them were basic pawns.

"So it seems that the Grimm's Day party was a success… for the most part," Ozpin told him as Ragna tried to figure out a method that would keep him from claiming one of his bishops. "A few of the teacher's noticed that some of the students showed up to classes the next day with hangovers."

"In my defense, I wasn't the guy that spiked the punch," Ragna told him as he instead elected to move his pawn to claim one of Ozpin's, only to have it captured by a knight.

"Check," Oz announced as Ragna was starting to consider giving up the match. "...I'd also heard that you left the party shortly into its run."

"Well when you get doused with alcohol spiked punch, it kinda kills your mood to dance," the Reaper defended. "That and… I had to take care of a friend of mine; they were sort of in a bad place."

"I see…" Ozpin said, not pressing for further details as Ragna tried to make a move that resulted him in losing his rook, but took Ozpin's knight and kept him out of check. "How have you been liking your new accommodations?"

"It's been nice… though certain people are starting to insist that I start decorating that thing or they're going to do it for me," Ragna said as he looked over the pieces, trying to figure his next move and not seeing many options.

"Only because they seem to care about you," Ozpin noted as Ragna moved his bishop to claim a knight, only to be taken by Ozpin's queen. "Check."

'Dammit, it feels like…' Ragna thought to himself as he tried to keep a cool head. He then moved his own knight into sacrifice range to keep him out of check. A bad move, but he was desperate. "...I've noticed."

"Speaking of relationships, how are your current standings with your team?" Ozpin asked as he claimed the knight. "You remember the room is a temporary fix?"

"Yeah, I know… I tried something right before the party with Tsubaki," he confirmed as he moved his pawn forward. "Hard to tell if it's worked… but I haven't gotten any dirty looks from her lately."

"Progress then," Ozpin decided as he moved his king between a line of pawns to clear a path for his rook. "Check. What of your standings with Azrael?"

"I'm trying to get something to work out between him that doesn't involve us destroying Beacon," Ragna admitted as he moved a pawn to protect his king and get taken by Ozpin's rook. "Damn… I get the feeling that it's going to involve a fight so…"

"I can try and give you what you need, but I ask that you be discreet. Check," Ozpin informed as he moved his rook and claimed Ragna's pawn. "You'll still have much work to do with the both of them, that's for certain. Though what I can't understand is why you and Jin Kisaragi seem so uncomfortable around Noel Ver-"

"Checkmate."

"...I beg your pardon?" Ozpin asked before he looked at the board and realized that Ragna was indeed correct. Using his last knight, Ragna had managed to take the rook that had been right next his king and placed it into range to Ozpin's headpiece and protected by his last remaining pawn. Ozpin's king was surrounded by his own pieces preventing him from moving back or to the side and if he moved it any direction forward, Ragna was primed to take it with two of his pawns that were lined up side by side two places away. Even if Ozpin claimed one of the pawns, Ragna's knight would go over whatever barrier Ozpin could set… effectively trapping him. "...And you made it clear that I shouldn't expect much from you."

"I wasn't lying, I couldn't be sure that would work…" Ragna muttered as he looked like he was about to break out in a nervous sweat. "And I didn't exactly create this on the fly either."

"Oh? Do tell," Ozpin requested as he analyzed the board and studied where he had gone wrong.

"Like I said earlier, my master made me play this game with him all the time," Ragna informed. "He said something about learning to plan ahead, keeping your mind clear, the usual teacher mantra. No matter how much I practiced though, I could never come close to beating him." He glanced at the gears around Ozpin's office as he thought back. "But… looking back on some of our matches, I saw that there were a couple of moves that I made that made him pause for a moment. By the time I could learn how to use it though, he saw right through me and I couldn't try it on him."

"So you used it on me then; someone that hadn't seen any of your previous matches," Oz noted as he began picking the pieces up. "It's a risky strategy… I'd wager it would normally have a five percent chance to work at best."

"You're probably right," Ragna admitted before smirking. "With you though, I'd say it would be about twenty." Ozpin raised an eyebrow, unsure if the student had a point to make or if this was a form of mockery. "Playing against you was like playing against Jubei, like you both have so much experience and technique that I almost knew what to look out for… even if there wasn't a lot I could do about it."

"...Rather perceptive of you," Ozpin said before giving a small smile. "I suppose I'll have to play the gracious loser today. Now how to celebrate your victory?"

"You're kidding, I get a prize too?" the Reaper asked, his luck starting to turn hopeful. "So then… what do I win?"

"How about… your room?" Ozpin suggested, immediately killing Ragna's good mood.

"I didn't realize that's what we were playing for," he noted, trying not to seem too disappointed.

"We did have a few complaints about the Grimm's Day party and its after effects, complaints that I'm now willing to overlook," the headmaster explained as Ragna sighed and made his way to his feet. "One last question… Are you planning on-?"

"Not anytime soon, but maybe this upcoming week," Ragna interrupted as he knew what Ozpin was going to ask. "Probably have to come up with an alibi or something for Ruby…"

"I could just explain you're on an extra credit assignment," Ozpin offered. "There is some truth to that…"

"It ain't helping my grades… but maybe," Ragna muttered as he turned to head out. "Later then."

"Later it is," Ozpin agreed as he waited until Ragna was gone before returning his attention to the chess board. 'Seems that I can still get carried away, even with all of my experience…' He smirked softly. 'I'd better start practicing again. After all, I can't very well let Jubei show me up…'

Later -Student Hallways-

'H-Heavy!' Jaune thought to himself as he tried to make his way through the dormitory hallways carrying several packages and letters in his hands. 'I know it's my turn to deliver the package overflow, but are there even more here than there usually are? I still have at least three trips left to go and these are the rooms close to the mailroom. I can barely see where I'm going!'

"Jaune, is that you?" came a familiar voice. Peaking his eye through the cracks between the packages, Jaune's eye found itself looking at Ruby Rose herself. "You alright?"

"...Not really," Jaune groaned as his arms began to shake. "I… I got something for you though…" He grunted as he tried to adjust his hold on the packages. "Top right pile… I think."

"Uh… okay?" Ruby said as she grabbed the letter. "Oh wow! It's a message from my uncle!"

"Yeah, glad you got it," Jaune said with a sigh, knowing that a single letter would hardly lighten his load. "Anyways I gotta… Huh, it's a lot lighter suddenly."

"Oh wow! A giant package from him too! I gotta show my sis!"

'Package?' Jaune thought before remembering that specific delivery. "Ruby, wait! That's not for you, its-!" His words fell on deaf ears as she used her Speed Semblance to blast back to her room in sheer excitement. "Then again… maybe it'll work out and I'llAAAUUUUUUGGGHHH!"

Jaune finally fell to the floor as he lost his balance and his hold on the packages, getting crushed beneath the heavy weight of several of the parcels while landing square on his back. The blond student let out a defeated whimper at his fate.

"Are you alright?" Moving a few of the packages off of him and sitting up, he saw Pyrrha standing over him. Seeing her giving him a bright smile, Jaune couldn't help but blush at his current predicament. "Need some help?"

"...You have no idea," he groaned as he dusted himself off and started picking the packages off the floor, relieved that none of them were labeled 'fragile.'

Meanwhile -Team RWBY's Room-

"So… you're painting them red this time," Yang noted as she turned the page in her magazine, checking out the new info of one of the celebrity Hunter groups that she was following. Blake was sitting on her bed reading one of her romance books (which had a second cover for something a little less embarrassing) while Weiss was painting her fingernails.

"I ran out of white yesterday and I haven't had the chance to get more," Weiss said as she continued to paint, pausing to examine how it was coming out. "Besides, I think it's nice to try these small changes every now and again."

"Huh, something a little more subtle than seeing Ragna's jaw hit the floor when he got a good look of you in that dress?" Yang asked, leaving Weiss to shoot the blonde a small glare. "I'm just saying, you two seemed like you were having a lot of fun out on the dance floor… even looked like he might've kissed you after the dance." Silence.

'...Weiss isn't denying it,' Blake thought to herself, having been absent from the dance for… reasons. Instead of reading her book, she decided to keep her ears (now lacking their ribbon) focused on the story right before her.

"Ragna was just doing that because everyone else around us happened to giving a small peck on the cheek or hand; it would've been rude to me if he wasn't the only one," Weiss said before looking suspiciously to Yang. "And are you sure that punch bowl just moved on its own?"

'Punch bowl?' Blake thought to herself before remembering that night's events. 'So that's why his hair looked like…' She shook her head. 'He's not here, Blake… he's not here…'

"I'm just telling you what I saw; Ruby was there too so you can ask her," Yang countered as she closed her magazine, not enjoying the accusation being thrown her way. "Besides, why would either of us throw punch on Ragna? We're not nearly that petty."

"...I figured," Weiss said as she continued painting her nails. "By the way, aren't the two of you going out tonight? Going back to that Fight Club you mentioned?"

"Yeah, but try to keep that a secret; it's sort of an Underground Fight Club," Yang explained, earning a sigh from Weiss. "We're both careful and it's not like it's super sketchy; we've already done it before and won… and it's good money."

"Just try not to get Ragna in trouble; from what I've heard he's been on thin ice for months now… and it's just been getting thinner lately," Blake told her… before giving a soft smile. "Of course if he heard us say that…"

"He'd say something completely profane and try to tell us that it's nothing that he hasn't already dealt with a thousand times," Weiss finished with a sigh, trying to hide her small smirk.

"Yeah… that does sound exactly like him," Yang admitted. "Anyways I'll try and keep him out of-"

"WE GOT MAIL!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs as she kicked the door in, interrupting the three and causing all of them to jump. "Uncle Qrow finally wrote to us! Look! Look!"

"Ruby calm down!" Weiss ordered before looking at her nails, which thankfully hadn't been ruined yet despite unintentionally spreading some nail polish to her sheets. 'Great, now I'll have to wash those later.'

"So we got a letter and a package then?" Yang said with a smirk as she took the letter sent by their uncle from her giggling sister. Opening it, she began to read. "Let's see here…

To my two favorite Nieces,

Sorry it's been so long since I've written to you both. I'm sort of on an important assignment at the moment and most of the towns out here don't even have a barebones mailing system. By the time you get this I'll probably be two or three towns away. So… there's that.

Anyways, I heard that the both of you got accepted in Beacon. Yang I knew was a sure thing, but for Ruby to get in so early was a real shock to the system, not that she hasn't earned it. I also heard that you're both on the same team, so make sure you look out for each other. Even if this is still school, I hear Ozpin won't shy away from some of the more intense lessons.

I'm almost certain I won't be back in time for your break, but give Tai my regards… poor bastard's probably lonely without either of you to keep him company. I'll try to write to you both a little sooner next time, but I can't promise anything. Yang, always keep an eye out for your sister and Team Leader, that's your first and most important job. Ruby, I know that being Team Lead is probably a lot of pressure for you, but I got faith that you can handle this. Both of you give 'em hell.

Looking forward to sharing stories,

Your Uncle Qrow

P.S. I also sent a package that should be arriving close to the same time you're getting this. It's addressed to a guy I know that's in school with you. Maybe you've heard of him; goes by the name Ragna. A hundred Platinum Lien says that he's made a name for himself as something of a standout troublemaker by now, even if he claims it ain't his fault. Do your best Uncle a solid and make sure that package gets to him."

"...So the package isn't to us?" Ruby asked as she looked at the large package's postage information and saw that while it was sent from Qrow, it was intended to be received by Ragna. "Aww…"

"But you know…" Yang began as she looked over the box with a gleam in her eyes. "There's only one thing that we can do with it now."

"Righhhhhhhhht," Ruby said with the same mischievous gleam in her own eyes as she looked at the box. "Just one thing…"

"This can't end well," Blake and Weiss said in deadpanned unison.

Ragna's Room

"It was a first attempt at pruning it, but how's it looking?" Ragna asked as he showed Ren the Bonsai tree resting on his desk.

"You haven't changed much, but I like the style," Ren told him as he looked over the small tree. "You've rounded out most the the edges I've made rather nicely, but also added sharper tips to a few of the branches. Have you been watering it?"

"Yeah, like the book told me," the Reaper told him as he began to put his equipment away. "So, how was the rest of the dance after my… mishap?"

"Parts of it were good… other parts not so much," Ren admitted as he thought back to those events. "A couple of guys tried hitting on Nora while they were plastered… it didn't end well."

"Ouch," Ragna responded simply, wondering they had been the student's he'd heard had been sent to the infirmary. "Heard she and Azrael tore through the buffet."

"You heard right, all I managed to get was a single sandwich cut," Ren told him before giving a small smile. "If I didn't know better though, I'd say your brother might've been having fun."

"He and Tsubaki dance?" the Reaper questioned to which Ren nodded. "Good… hopefully that made my life a little easier."

"You can only hope," Ren told him before there was a hard knock on the door.

"Package delivery~!" came Ruby's sing song voice outside his doorway. The two gave each other a confused glance before Ragna made his way forward and opened his door. Waiting for Ragna outside was Ruby and her sister with beaming smiles on their faces as they held the package sent to him with Weiss and Blake stood off to the side, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed that all the two had done was take the package straight to the Reaper.

"...Something tells me your life wouldn't stay easy for long anyways," Ren told Ragna, giving his classmate a small smirk of understanding.

"Maybe not, but this is still preferable," Ragna told his friend as Ren left his room, feeling that things were about to go crazy. "I thought Jaune was on mail call today."

"Yeah, but I sort of got your mail by mistake," she admitted as she brought the large package in at next to no invitation, followed by the rest of her team. Ruby and Yang glaced around as they were seeing his new accommodations for the first time while Blake tried not to look at the spot were she'd vomited a few nights ago.

"You got a plant," Weiss noted at the Bonsai as she had been somewhat obsessed in helping Ragna decorate his room a while time ago. True the tree wasn't much of an addition, but it was enough to tell her that he was trying. "It looks nice."

"...You did your nails," Ragna commented as he saw Weiss's small but noticeable change. "Likewise." This wasn't nearly enough to get her to blush, but it did cause her to give a smile as her efforts weren't in vain.

"You guys see a punch bowl anywhere?" Yang questioned as she glanced around Ragna's room.

"YANG!" Weiss and Ruby screamed in unison.

"C'mon, I'm kidding…" Yang told them both with a mischievous smile as Ragna and Blake rolled their eyes. "Besides, I can't have him dyed red; it might make him look sickly."

"Or at least sunburnt," Ragna said, trying to keep Blake from getting uncomfortable. "It's… from Qrow?"

"Why is that such a big surprise? You said you two knew each other," Ruby reminded. "Besides, he sent us a letter too."

"I just… never thought he'd ever send me anything; figured if anything he'd send stuff to..." he stopped himself before he said something to completely discredit Ruby's uncle. "Girls he… knew." Everyone except for Yang and Ruby were confused, but those two just nodded their heads in agreement. "Well… thanks, I guess."

"Aw, c'mon… Don't just stand there, open it up!" Yang told him leaving Ragna's face to blanch. "You think we all came here just to give it to you? We want a peek at what our uncle's sending your way!"

'...If Qrow sent me those, I'm dead,' Ragna realized as he looked over the long package. 'He could put a lot of those in this thing…' Glancing around at the curious faces and realizing he didn't have a choice. Opening it up, he saw that it was filled to the brim with packing peanuts. Reaching inside, he shifted through the box for a moment before grabbing a hold of something.. Bracing himself, he brought out-

"Awesome! A new sword!" Ruby said with sparkles in her eyes.

Indeed it was; a longsword currently kept inside a rounded midnight black sheath. The sheath wasn't exceptionally interesting, though it did have a metal clip on one side that would allow Ragna to easily keep it attached to one of his belts. The sword's handle was held in a dark stained leather, wrapped around in a diagonal pattern which extended from its small metal pommel down to a metal covering which was connected to a grey metal plated hilt. A small gun trigger was placed on the metal part covering the bottom part of the of the handle (oddly perpendicular to the hilt), a feature of which made Ruby squeal in excitement as she was crazy about weapons like these. Her excitement only grew as Ragna unsheathed the new equipment piece. While the metal itself was a plain lighter material, the fact that the blade was made of several smaller metal pieces placed close together let Ruby know that it likely held a transformational property.

"Soooo…. COOOOOLLLL!" Ruby said like a crazed fangirl as she dashed around the weapon getting a good look at it from every angle.

'He totally should have sent this to his Niece,' Ragna thought to himself as he sheathed the sword. Looking back in the package that the sword had come inside, he noticed that there was a small letter that came with it as well.

"Looks like Qrow wrote to you," Yang noted. "Mind if we hear what he has to say?"

'At least she's asking this time,' Ragna noted as he handed the sword to Ruby, who was only too eager to take it as she tried to examine any part of it she could. With her occupied, Ragna was free to open the letter and start reading it out loud.

"To Ragna,

Heya kid, hopefully this message gets to you before… you get expelled..."

He gave a small growl at Qrow's opening address while everyone in the room gave each other worried glances.

"Knowing you, if you haven't been thrown out of Beacon yet you've probably been skating on thin ice since you've gotten there. I got word that you somehow managed to pass your entrance exam, but the real trouble's going to be keeping you there."

"Someone's of little faith," Blake noted as the tone of Qrow's message was far different than that of the one addressed to Ruby and Yang.

"Back to your gift, I was heading through the market for this job I was on when I saw smithy selling this thing for cheap. Seeing it got me to remember that the Aramasa doesn't have a 'gun' function and I figure even if you like to keep you fights up close and personal, you should have a little range to keep you safe if you even run into trouble. While it didn't exactly come with a 'how to' manual, the smith assured me it's easy enough to figure out so I'll leave that part to you. Its design might seem pretty basic, but it's supposedly made of high quality steel.I know you're used to swinging something around with a lot more weight on it, but put this thing to good work for me, would you?

The owner called this thing Clarent and made a stern point that I tell you to continue to call it such. Personally I don't care, but if you gotta call the sword something, you might as well.

I'll say hey to you at Beacon next chance I get, just don't get your ass kicked out by then.

Best Regards,

Qrow Branwen"

"Huh," Yang added helpfully as Ragna put down the letter. "So are you two friends? Do you have score to settle? What going on?"

"Qrow's… Qrow. Don't ask me, I don't exactly get it either," Ragna said simply, folding the letter back into its envelope and tossing it off to the side. "Ruby, can I have my sword back?"

"Shouldn't we put this thing through a test run though?" she eagerly suggested. "What good is it going to do if you're not used to the new weapon before you get into a fight with it? I don't think I've ever seen you use a gun before."

"Don't you just point and shoot?" the Reaper questioned, leaving Ruby to roll her eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll get some practice in with this thing."

"We got a some time before our match later; you could always just go now," Yang offered. Ragna shot her a glare before turning to Ruby… who was giving the big pleading eyes look.

"...Guess I can't say no when you put it like that," Ragna muttered, causing Ruby to make the biggest smile she possibly could and everyone else made a note to what they could use for leverage in the future. "Fine, but just until we grab din-"

"I'll go set up the practice room!" Ruby said as she didn't even give Ragna a chance to finish, using her speed semblance to blast off and leaving Ragna's new weapon spiraling in the air before him. Grabbing it out of midair, he placed the blade on one of his belts, just below the handle for his regular sword.

"Said it before and I'll say it again; she moves quick," Ragna muttered before giving a smirk and turning to the other girls. "Any of you going to join us?"

"With Ruby's obsession? We'd just in the way," Blake told him with a knowing smile. "I'll see you at dinner then."

"Try to bear it, you know as well as I do how energetic she can be," Weiss began.

"But she means well, and one of your weapons means the world to her," Yang finished before hitting Ragna on the arm. "Just don't let her tire you out too badly, I wouldn't want you to be too worn out before our match."

"I'll give them both a damn good fight," Ragna promised, continuing to softly smile as the girls left his room… once they were gone though, his expression turned almost deathly serious as he went to the letter that Qrow had sent. Reaching inside his jacket he brought out a small black cigarette lighter that used dust as its main form of fuel. The truth was Ragna wouldn't need it to start a fire (and he had no intention to start smoking), but there were times it made his life easier. Lighting the small device, he placed it under the letter he'd gotten and began to careful heat the paper. "Alright you bastard... what've you really got to say?"

Certain parts of the paper began to darken as it revealed two words… two rather enigmatic words for the Reaper's eyes only.

Still looking

Gritting his teeth, Ragna did… something to letter and caused it to turn to an ash like material in his hand, only it was far more shadowy and it seemed to disappear completely when it hit his floor. Switching the lighter off, he placed the small device into one of his jacket's inner pockets for safekeeping. He was about to head after Ruby, but noticed something peeking out of the packaging he'd received. Wondering if this could hold a further clue what Qrow was really up to, he brought the small object out and-

'You can't be… He can't be this much of a… Is he…' "God…" Ragna began through his wince. What he felt was a mix of ire, regret, shock… and unbridled rage. "DAMMIT QROW!"

Beacon Hallways

"Hmm… seems suspiciously quiet tonight," Goodwitch thought to herself as she walked through the hallways whilst reading her scroll. The mail had been deliver by Jaune (even if he had needed help), the students that had earned their detentions had been put to work and would be finishing their jobs soon, and she hadn't heard anything out of the usual offender… though she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen Ozpin so focused on that dusty old chess board. He hadn't informed her of the details of said match, but it was quite clear Ragna had done something to shake the Headmaster.

"Hey Goodwitch," came Ragna's call from behind her. Goodwitch gave a sigh at his usual crass attitude as Ragna approached… looking oddly uncomfortable about something. He was glancing around the hallway, almost as if to make sure that no one was here to see them and he was obviously hiding something in his jacket's folds. She also saw a second weapon on his side and made a mental note to send Ragna the documents so he could register it at the academy.

"What do you need?" she demanded as she kept eyeing whatever it was he was hiding in his jacket. True she could easily use her semblance to take said item out and expose it, but she decided that she would give Ragna a chance to explain himself first.

"You… you know Qrow… right?" he asked, seeming rather hopeful that she did. "I mean… you know the kind of person that he is?"

"That might be accurate," she said patiently.

"And you saw that he sent me mail earlier, right?" Ragna followed up, yet again glancing around nervously.

"I didn't go through the mail personally, but go on," she instructed.

"So…" he took in a deep breath. "So when I tell you that he sent me this as a prank, you know that I'm trying not get into deeper shi- trouble by bringing this to you the first chance that I got."

"Brought in… what exactly?" Goodwitch asked before Ragna finally revealed the object he had been hiding. Her expression was hard to describe as she saw the adult magazine that Qrow had sent him. It was titled Naughty Maid Weekly and had every word written in flowery pink cursive. The girl on the front cover was looking straight up at the camera with bright blue eyes, blinding blonde hair, and showing off plenty of her cleavage which wasn't hard in her skimpy maid's uniform. The text right beside her said 'Please forgive me… Master…'

"I see…" Goodwitch commented as she hard a difficult time tearing her eyes from the magazine's cover.

"Do me a favor and don't bring this up with anyone else, yeah?" a clearly embarrassed Ragna begged. "My reputation's already been going downhill fast lately and this might just be the final nail in the coffin."

"...I will keep quiet about this," she promised as she took the magazine from him. "Though I suppose I'll have to trust you not to buy any of these on your own."

"Are you kidding me? With how many problems this joke alone is going to cause me? This might come as a shock to you teachers, but I ain't stupid," Ragna told her before grumbling and walking off in a frustrated huff. Goodwitch rolled her eyes at his attitude, before eyeing the magazine she'd been given.

'What do people see in these things anyway?' Goodwitch thought to herself… as curiosity started to get the better of her. Glancing around as Ragna had just a few moments earlier, she confirmed that she was still alone in this hallways. Opening the cover to the center section, she saw the revealing pictures. 'Scandalous, tasteless, and perverted; exactly what I was expecting,' she concluded as she harshly critiqued the centerfold… though such thoughts didn't stop her from turning the page.

Later -Practice Room-

"What took you so long!? We've got to put that thing to work if we're going to learn the as much as we can about it!" a hyper Ruby Rose demanded as Ragna opened the door to the training room, not even giving him time to answer or walk over as she grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him over to the dummy that she'd set up.

'The training room is empty on a friday night?' Ragna thought to himself as he glanced around. 'Then again, Ruby might've just scared everyone short of Azrael away before I got here.' He then directed his attention to the training dummy in front of him. "So… now what?"

"Try to cut it, let's start by seeing how good of an edge with weapon is; it's almost like christening a new weapon in a way!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Well if you think it's that serious..." Ragna began before unsheathing the blade from his side. At first Ruby thought that he was holding the blade backhanded like he usually did for his weaponry, only to have Ragna offer her the hilt. "You should do it."

"M-me?" Ruby asked, even though it was clear that she had said that Ragna should make the first cut, it was even more clear that she REALLY REALLY wanted to take a swing with the new blade. "Come on… Qrow sent the weapon to you."

"Yeah, but he's your Uncle, doubt that he'd mind," Ragna said, remembering that he needed to kick the fellow sword-scythe user's ass the next chance he got. "Come on, you're a better gauge on how well this works anyways: I'd be able to cut that with just about anything."

"Anything?" Ruby asked, almost playfully. "What about a wooden practice sword?"

"...Mmm..."

Flashback

"You want me…" a young twelve year old Ragna began. "To cut that…" he pointed to a comically large boulder about twelve times his size. "With… a stick."

"Of course not kid," Jubei said with a chuckle. "What do you think I am, crazy?"

"Well you have been scaring me lately," he muttered before looking at the weapon. "So-"

"I gave you a bokken not a stick; you'll cut the rock with that," the cat informed. Now Ragna knew his teacher was insane. "Come 'n, like this is the toughest thing I've ever had you do. Hell, last week you killed your first Beowolf like a reckless idiot."

"You mean the Beowolf that was chasing me after YOU DOUSED ME IN BARBECUE SAUCE!?" Ragna shouted at the teacher. "This is the outlands! Where the hell did you even get all of that sauce!?"

"Old recipe, you'd be surprised what you can make off of nature," Jubei told him. "So are you going to start swinging at that thing or are you just going to yell at me?"

"Of course I'm going to yell at you! What am I supposed to do with this thing!?" Ragna shouted as he held up the old and chipped practice blade.

"Swing like your life depends on if, because until you can make a clean cut and cleave that thing in half…" an almost sadistic shine appeared in Jubei's eye. "You ain't eating." As if on cue, a low growl sounded from Ragna's starving stomach. The youth was clearly terrified at the idea and turned to face the rock with his practice sword. "...How's that fer motivation kid?"

(Author's Note: ...Is now a bad time to tell you that I've been watching Gintama on VRV? Gintoki and Adult Ragna share Tomokazu Sugita as their Japanese VA's for those of you that don't know)

Back to the Present

'Thanks to that little event I learned how to split boulders in half with a shoddy practice sword,' Ragna thought as he remembered back to his early days of training. '...And that it's possible for me to go almost two weeks without food. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.'

"...Ragna? Hellooooooo? Remnant to Ragnaaaaaaa," Ruby said as she leaned rather close to the Reaper as he emerged from his thoughts. "What's got you acting up all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing," Ragna muttered as he again held the sword out. "Go ahead and do the honors for us, would ya?"

"Well if you insist…" Ruby began as she took the sword winded up a large slash. "HA!" Even if Ruby was more used to using a scythe, she still managed to make a harsh cut deep into the training dummy. "Wow! That's pretty sharp! Nice edge to it!" She then handed the sword back to Ragna. "No then… how do you think we're supposed to use the Gun function on this thing; what gets the bullets firing?"

"I dunno… pull the trigger maybe?" Ragna tried as he pulled on the awkwardly placed trigger. It didn't seem like it was jammed, but it wouldn't move in the slightest. "That ain't it… what a weird ass place for a trigger anyways."

"Maybe that's part of the point," Ruby thought to herself as she looked at the trigger. "It's on its own piece of metal, maybe…" Grabbing the trigger, she found that she could twist the metal ring it was on clockwise. Moving it to where it lined up with the sword's hilt, the blade split apart revealing a long metal rifle barrel in the center. "Awesome! So now we know how that works!"

'Kind of a wierd setup, but okay,' Ragna thought to himself before he pointed in at the dummy and pulled the trigger. The time the trigger moved like it should have, but the gun only gave a small clicking sound. "...Tch, looks like Qrow wasn't willing to pay for a loaded weapon."

"Like that's a problem, we've got plenty of practice rounds that we can use!" Ruby told him as she looked over the sword's newer form. "The real problem is knowing what type of rounds this thing uses and how we're supposed to load them into place. There's a slotted opening on the barrel close to the base, but since it's snapped shut I'm guessing that's where the casing comes out once the bullet's been fired… the question is where they keep the bullets before that."

Putting his ear close the the gun-sword, Ragna pulled the trigger a couple more times, only to have the gun sound off useless clicks… only his sense weren't exactly average. "It's weird, but it sounds like there's some sound coming from the hilt…" His eyes immediately going to the sword's metal pommel, he pulled at the small piece at the edge of his hilt. It took a small twist, but the part came out and was attached to a small linear cartridge.

"Huh, so it's a ten shot weapon then," Ruby observed as she looked it over before heading to the supply side of the practice room and searching for the proper ammunition. "This one I think… standard grade practice rounds; these go into almost every weapon with a gun function." Placing one bullets into the open top end, the projectile snapped into place. Placing a second one on top of that forced the first bullet into a lower chamber. Quickly, Ruby fully loaded the weapon. Placing the piece back inside the sword, there was an obvious snap that signaled that a bullet had been loaded into the sword's chamber.

"Alright Qrow, what kinda fire power are you thinking?" Ragna muttered as he pointed at the dummy target and quickly pulled Clarent's trigger. The sheer volume and recoil of the blast made it clear that this was no way utilizable for stealth kills nor rapid fire; these shots needed to be intentional… on the plus side, there was this thing's raw destructive power. "...Correct me if I'm wrong…"

"But you're not supposed to be able to completely blast through the training dummies with training bullets?" Ruby asked as she looked through the perfect hole that had been shot through the target… and the one set up behind it. "How's your arm from the recoil?"

"Sorta shaken, but I'll be fine," Ragna muttered as he released his hold on the trigger, sending the first bullet's casing out of the slot and snapping the next round into place. Feeling satisfied with today's discoveries, he twisted the trigger to compact his weapon into its blade form and sheathed his new sword. "Thanks for helping me figure this thing out Ruby, if there's something I can do to return the favor…"

"Don't be silly, I'm always happy to help, especially if it involves helping out with one of your weapons!" she old him simply as an idea formed in her mind… one which caused her to blush slightly. "A-actually, there was something that I was kind curious about."

"O...kay?" Ragna repeated, wondering what was making this such a big deal for his best friend. "What is this ab-?"

"It's really serious!" she yelled, surprising the Reaper as she interrupted him and her blushing only seemed to grow. "Like probably one of the most important things I can ask you!" Surprisingly, that was when she averted her gaze. "You… you can't be angry with me after I do it… p-promise?"

"A-After you do it?" Ragna asked, only now noticing that Ruby was pretty damn close to his face. 'Sh-she can't mean… I-idiot! There's no way she would possibly ask for something like... that… right?' "I… I-I mean I can never exactly get angry at you for anything…" he said trying to keep his tone neutral and failing horridly. "What… what was it that you needed?"

"Well… I…" she began before forcing herself to turn back to Ragna, his deep red and green eyes meeting her flawless silver ones. Ruby eye's started growing bigger… and that's when Ragna knew he had no damn way he could possibly turn her down.

-The Cafeteria-

"...Are those two ever going to get here? We've been waiting for them almost an hour now," Weiss rightfully (in her eyes) complained as she crossed her arms while sitting at a mess hall table. "It's nearly time for the cafeteria to close and they still haven't gotten here!"

"...And their food's already cold," Blake noted as she looked at the lukewarm potatoes and meatloaf that was waiting for the two.

"Just have some patience, I sort of warned you that Ruby was going to go crazy over this," Yang reminded with a sigh. "She was already crazy about Ragna's first sword and now that he doesn't have any choice but to show her his second weapon she's going to try and take full advantage of this."

"Oh, are you really sure it's the weapons she's interested in darlings?" came the flowery tones of one Amane Nishiki, playing with one of his ribbons as he sat at the table across from the three… his team oddly absent.

"Helloooooo? This is Ruby we're talking about about; of course it's the weapons," Yang muttered as she rolled her eyes. "What else is there for Ruby to be interested in?"

"What else indeed?" Amane answered with another question as he slowly sipped his tea, that playful smile never leaving his face.

"Look if you have something to say about my sister, say it," Yang began as she rose to her feet. As per expected of an older sibling, she was very protective when it came to Ruby and didn't like Amane making accusations.

"Oh please my dear, calm yourself," Amane said, his tone still playful but laced with apology. "I'm could never imply anything scandalous about sweet Ruby… only that she might soon have less interest in Ragna's weaponry compared to the man himself."

'He… he's really saying that…' Blake thought to herself as she realized what Amane was getting at. 'Well, I mean… it's not exactly the worst thing to be-'

"Are you blind? Of course it's like that; Ragna's her best friend," Weiss told him, still a little cross at the time he'd forced her into dancing with the Reaper (she only wants to do that willingly).

"Best friend? ...So you'd say that Ruby is the closest to Ragna then? Compared to all of you?" Amane asked, obviously having far too much fun to stop now.

"Well, I mean…" Weiss began, unable to make eye contact as she distractingly played with her hair, the fact that she'd had almost been kissed by the Reaper unable to leave her mind.

"If you mean it like… that…" Yang continued, also not making contact with the dancer as she remembered all of the times the two had spent poking fun at the others expense, sparring with each other, and in general going along with her antics.

"..." Blake said nothing, only remembering what had happened during the Grimm's Day Festival and how Ragna had cared for her.

"It's nothing darlings, I assure you I was purely curious," Amane said with a joyful laugh. "I'm sure there's certainly nothing going on between the two that would cause any alarm here."

"O-Of course not!" Yang denied, her face growing flushed. "Like there's any way-!"

"Hey guys!" came Ruby's cheery voice.

Turning her attention to her sister and Ragna who had just entered the mess hall, Yang's words died in her mouth. One look… It took one look to know exactly what had clearly happened between the two of them. Weiss and Blake caught on and could only stare at the pair before them while Amane was failing horribly to contain his own snickering at the events unfolding.

'Ruby… went there…' Weiss thought as she stared horrified at her partner.

'I can't believe I'm actually seeing something like this…' Blake herself thought as her blush only seemed to deepen several shades.

'Oh my god…' Yang thought, never thinking her sister was capable of such a thing. 'They really… They really…'

...

...

...

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! ENTER: RUBY THE BLOODEDGE!"

...Much as the statement implied, Ruby was wearing Ragna prized jacket which would have proven to be several sizes too big even without the giant sword on the back and Clarent sheathed at her side. Her bellowing voice had gotten the attention of everyone in the cafeteria who could only stare at Ruby in a strange sense of awe. Ragna himself was standing behind her in only his black hakama set, slinging Crescent Rose over his shoulder in one hand while harshly facepalming into the other and muttering something about falling for the eyes.

"You… actually got him to give up his coat?" Weiss said as she looked at Ruby almost in a sense of awe.

"Yep! Hence the name!" Ruby continued before scowling in a very Ragna-like way (somehow) and moodily crossing her arms. "What a pain in the… butt..."

"Stop it… please…" Ragna begged, dying at such a sight. By now Amane had given up containing his jolly laughter.

"Ruby, I think that's enough…" Weiss told her Team leader with a disappointed sigh. Ruby tried the big eyed technique on Weiss, but she wasn't as big of a sucker for that as Ragna. Sighing, the young scythe user took off the jacket and handed it to Weiss. Ragna gave a sigh of relief and was about to take it back from the Schnee heir… only to see the smile.

"Oh god…"

"You had his posture all wrong," Weiss said as she stuffed her own arms into the sleeves, showing that she wasn't much of a better fit than Ruby. Ragna watched on with terror as she adopted his familiar slouch and gruff complexion. "Quit teaching Yang about blackmail…"

"No…" Ragna painfully hissed through his front teeth before Weiss threw off the jacket to Blake as he tried to reclaim it. Ragna pleaded with the cat Fanus with the biggest eyes he could manage… much like a inferior Pokemon matchup, it wasn't very effective as she too tried his jacket on.

"It's… roomier than I would've thought," she decided as she adjusted her sleeves, even placing her hand on Aramasa's hilt like Ragna would. Acting like she was about to draw the massive blade, she went into his signature fighting stance.

"Please give it back," Ragna begged before it went to Yang. Even if she could… fill it out the most, the jacket would still prove too big on her compared to Ragna, though not by too much. She took a moment to consider what to say, but smiled as she came to her decision.

"CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES BITCHES!" she declared, a little louder than she needed to.

"Hey! I only did that bit ONCE!" Ragna shouted at her, his face growing crimson at the situation before him. Already some of the other students were whispering amongst themselves and it even looked like a few were coming forward to try it on for themselves… The DEATH glare he sent their way halted such efforts. "Give it back… NOW."

"Come on, you said you can't ever get angry at me, right?" Ruby asked with a girlish giggle.

"YOU'RE REALLY PUSHING THAT RUBY! ALL OF YOU ARE!" he shouted as Yang finally offered his coat back to him, grabbing it back and throwing it on as fast as his dignity could allow him.

'Perhaps I don't have push things any further at the moment,' Amane considered through his continued laughing as Ragna and Ruby slowly made their way towards their table, Ragna head slumped forward in defeat and Ruby holding onto his arm playfully. 'After all, I doubt things will be going stale between them anytime soon...'

Author's Note: STICK AROUND FOR A REVEAL AFTERWARDS AND AN ADRESSION DURING

...Damn my sickness. Thanks to that this story had to go through several rewrites and I had trouble deciding what I should be setting up for. Anyways, this update.

Now I know that I said I'd be holding off on this chapter until the end of Season 6, but it doesn't look like there's anything especially big that could reasonably be revealed that Season that could ruin this story's events (in fact, some of what's been revealed actually lines up with a few ideas that I had). I also got a request from EpicLinkSam, so there's that excuse… not throwing him under the bus or anything.

IMPORTANT: Before I get to the reviews, I want to adjust an elephant in the room that I've been asked about several times… the Ragna/Ruby DBX. I was actually… fine with the results. Sure it was a pain to see Ragna lose AGAIN in something Screwattack related and it essentially boiled down to a RWBY Season 6 trailer, but I never really took what those guys say all that seriously to begin with and DBX is specifically no research (also a couple of headcannons made by the fans were really fun to read).

So please don't have THAT be the subject of your reviews. Now then…

Dcraus: Sorry, not sure what you were trying to say.

Vanitas50: No, no, I've just been… BUSY.

Guest (1): That's… kinda a lot of BlazBlue characters in a nutshell.

The Unplanner: Kinda poked fun at you in this chapter with the age comment, but just a bit of fun.

Wlyman2009: Didn't last that long.

Guest (2): That… or she's just getting back at Ragna for his age comments.

Silversean24: I'm trying to have the romance in this be a slow progression for a number of reasons. As you've seen is this chapter its becoming more considered… but still not official.

Lownag: The world may never know…

Star's Keyblade4114: Thank you.

Guest (3): Visions of Adam is steadily becoming a thing in Season 6… also you misspelled Kagura as Ragna.

VirusChris: Always looking forward to your long reviews and always a pleasure.

RedBurningDragon: Thanks for that.

Guest (4): At the moment, you guess is as good as mine.

WideBrimmedHat: ...Okay…

Yungsun: Yeah, I thought that they wouldn't work out great at first, but hey… opposites attract.

Airnaruto45: Hazama actually, but close.

Here's just a little something to keep you interested! Until next time! Ciao!

"I'm really sorry," Jaune said, making a deep 90 degree bow as he held his blond head in shame. Raising his head he looked at the two girls standing before him. "I must've lost it earlier when I took a bad fall in the hallways. If… if there was anything broken in there, I promise that I'll replace it myself."

"It's a just a letter," Tsubaki Yayoi told him calmly, her smile and hair color not making her unlike his own partner… though Jaune knew not to bring up Ragna if he wanted to keep it that way. "Besides you're here now to correct your mistake, aren't you?"

"That's… what I try to do?" he told her, still scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry, but I gotta get going to training. Maybe I'll-"

"You want MY help?" came the threatening voice of the room's third occupant. Even though he couldn't see its owner, just hearing that tone caused Jaune to instantly stiffen.

"Azrael, don't bully him," Noel scolded her partner. Now it was the other blonde's turn to give an apologetic bow. "Sorry for his behavior, he doesn't mean anything by it."

"The hell I don't," the Mad Dog muttered from his bed. "I want to see how my punches would do against that guard of-"

"Huh? What's that?" Jaune suddenly interrupted. "Sorry! Pyrrha's calling for me! Bye!" ...Yet another individual who might've shown some potential for a speed semblance user.

"You could've been nicer," Noel sighed with disappoint at her partner lying boredly on his bed with his eyes closed and his hands behind his hand as Tsubaki closed the door to their team room.

"Like it's my fault that I've got so much power that everyone slinks off with their tail between their legs," Azrael grumbed.

"With the way you wield said power, it most certainly is your fault," Tsubaki scolded. "As a famous philosopher once said, the measure of a Hunter is what they choose to do with power."

"Sounds like a plea from weaklings," Azrael muttered, getting Tsubaki's scowl to tighten at him. Finally opening a red eye, he glanced at the letter she was holding. "Who's it from?"

"A friend of ours from Flare Academy," Noel explained. "We were really close during out time there, but unfortunately she got transferred to Haven so it's been kind of hard to keep in touch."

"I see…" Azrael began as he thought the information over. "They tough?"

"Does that have to be the first thing you ask?" Tsubaki once again reprimanded as she opened the letter and she began reading it with Noel.

"It can also be the last thing I ask," Azrael told them moodily, wondering if he would get the chance to test the fighting ability of anyone worthwhile for himself. There were plenty of tough people around the school grounds and if he didn't get a proper fight in soon he was going to go crazy. Such moody behair was soon interrupted as Noel gave a scream. "Hmm?"

"This is great news!" she cheered with happy tears in her eyes, giving a Tsubaki a happy hug which the surprised the redhead as she tried to return the embrace. "MAKOTO AND MAI ARE COMING TO BEACON!"

"...Good for… you?" Azrael could only answer as Noel began throwing out suggestions and questions to Tsubaki about their friend's visit well over the speed limit. 'I'm mean she's happy, but… is she going a little overboard here?'