"Again… you've got to be kidding me."
Ragna gripped his forehead in a deep sigh as he tried to process what next to say. An upset scolding? A bewildered demand for answers? A rage filled attack to cut… no, he'd already tried that. Thinking it over for so long, he'd lost his chance to get the first word in.
"In our defense, you were too obvious with what you were going to try," Weiss Schnee cut in with crossed arms. "All of us knew what you were going to do as soon as you left class, so you have no one to blame but yourself."
"Sorry for the lack of performance, but I could hardly think I'd have to worry about you four ditching the entire school!" Ragna shouted. "Do you have any idea what you've just done!? What you're in for!? You could all get expelled for this!"
"Is that the work you've managed to catch back up on?" Yang asked, referring to the binder.
"Listen when I'm talking to you, dammit!" Ragna shouted.
"We are… just about as well as you've been listening to us these past few days," Blake answered. Ragna should have expected a retort along those line, what he hadn't counted on was how… playful Blake had sounded. Not a hint of anger or aggression in her voice. "Have you calmed down, yet?"
"GAH!" Ragna shouted as he facepalmed hard. "What the hell…? What the actual hell…"
"If it makes you feel any better we already got chewed out by Ozpin. Called him right after we ditched the ship," Ruby informed with a bright smile. "So… we're on dinner duty this upcoming Friday."
"…That's it? You just have to help out in the kitchen?" Ragna was flabbergasted at the ease of the punishment.
"Not help out, we're on dinner duty," Yang explained. "We have to create a menu and get it approved, get all of the ingredients, get the cafeteria room ready, cook and serve the food, then clean everything up afterwards for the entire school… So we're going to need your help on this one, since you're the master and all."
"That's almost a completely unreasonable ask! I got approved for time off! Why should I-!?" Ragna groaned; one way or another he knew he was going to be helping the after all.
"Not that I'm much for blackmail like these two…" Blake began, referring to Yang and Weiss.
"More like Blake-mail," Yang added as a pun only to get nudged in the sides by Weiss.
"But if you can come and help us with this big task, then we'll put your big blow up before you left behind us." Ragna couldn't face them at that idea, only turning his head away. "And maybe as more positive note, you can get some credit with the school once they finally see how good you really are at cooking. Recover some of that social status?"
"What social status? Even at my best here, I was barely better than an outcast. Not that it mattered," he reminded gruffly.
"I'm not hearing a 'No' at the offer," Ruby cut in with a smile. "Besides, it could end up being a ton of fun. I had a really awesome time with you making those cookies when you weren't brooding. Imagine the fun we can have when the five of us are working together."
"…I get to choose the menu. I'm not backing down on that," Ragna demanded. No objections. "I can't believe that you're putting this on me now. If it wasn't for what I just found, do you know how much I'd have needed that extra time?"
"Needed meaning past tense?" Weiss asked. Ragna handed her the folder, like that explained everything. It explained a lot at least. "When did you-?"
"Two minutes ago," he growled. "And something about it just stinks. I know that's my handwriting, but who the hell would hold onto it instead of destroying it all? I figured burning it would've been their first step." He shook his head. "If anything, they made me skip the camping trip as one final screw you."
"The way you've been lately, I'd doubt that you'd want to come along if you'd recovered your project or not," Ruby said. Ragna didn't answer, even if it didn't sound like she was saying this to call him out. "Well… I guess our plans haven't changed that much, we should all head to the library."
"You did all of this to help me get caught up?" the Reaper asked.
"Not just you; the entire library's going to empty," Yang reminded. "No one to get in our way as we look through all of the material that we need, so this is prime time to get your work done. We're both going to be working on our projects, but now that you have all of your old stuff it's not just catch up. We're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that they're finished TONIGHT."
"After being absent for so long and working twice on catch up, that's still going to be a lot of work for me," Ragna reminded.
"Then we'll help each other as needed; staying up all night if we need to," Weiss began with a smirk. "Let's head to the library and finish our assignments a few weeks early. Ruby, prepare the coffee."
"You got it!" the team leader said with a salute. "So Ragna… you want to take yours the way you usually do, or just black?"
"I don't ca… Surprise me," he decided with a sigh. 'Dammit.. this was exactly what I was trying to avoid.'
Crimson XXXII: Grimm Reaper
Getting back into the library to study with Team RWBY after he'd tried to avoid them was already a vexing enough event, but now Ragna was looking through the history books at the sacred sealed warrior with a better understanding of who that tyrant was then he'd have liked. As he took his notes, he kept the book close to him so that Ruby wouldn't have to get another look at the monster that had attacked her… the same monster that had told him it was her fault she'd ended up that way.
'Stop it, that asshole had no idea what they were talking about. He said Ruby was going to die and she's alive and well right across from me, even with all of the close calls we had down there. He wasn't right on anything…' He considered the other big claim Messiah had made down there. 'Tch…'
"Hey Ragna, think you can help me out here?" Yang asked from besides him. "I'm trying to set up the right trap for this pack of Beowulf Grimm, but it feels like I'm forgetting something with my plan. I'd feel better if our resident Grimm expect took a look at it first."
"Are you trying to flatter me just so I'll say yes?" Ragna asked with suspicion. "Whatever, just give me a second and I'll give it a look."
"Seems like my honeyed words did the trick then." At Yang's usual flirting Ragna only rolled his eyes as he quickly jotted down the notes he'd gotten from looking at the same five page for the last twenty minutes. "Everything okay, you kinda looked like you were spacing out a little there."
"It's nothing; just some notes on an old and dead bastard." He'd hoped to keep his wording vague, but alas Ruby knew well enough what he'd meant with her sudden glance his way. Casually observing the others though, it looked like she hadn't told them the events that had transpired underground. Taking a look at Yang's paper, he studied over her planning for a few minutes, hoping not to appear distracted with Yang also reading over his shoulder. "Your plan's not half bad, but I think you should be a little further up the cliff side if you can help it. Beowolfs can scale that kind of siding quickly and you'll be fighting at a huge disadvantage once they get up."
"Right, but then I might not be able to take out too many of them with my initial boulder ambush," she reminded.
"Which is why you have your sniper on the side to take out as many Grimm as they can as the hoard climbs up to you. Staying further up is just going to give them more time to get their shots off and less Grimm to fight at such a disadvantage," Ragna clarified. "If you can get them up that high on stable footing, get them up to their maximum sniping range."
"I guess that makes sense as far as plans go," she admitted. "I'll keep that in mind and give this another look. Thanks a bunch, can always count on you for this stuff."
"I guess you're welcome, but it's not like I did anything major," Ragna said as he took a long sip of his coffee.
"You say that now, but we've been having trouble with that strategy all quarter," Weiss told him. "Give yourself some credit, I don't think even Professor Port is half as knowledgeable about Grimm are you are."
"It's just my best subject. And you're just saying that so that I'll look over the other bits of your project." Weiss didn't offer a retort. "J'accuse… though I guess you did give me some of your own notes to look over, so I'll indulge you."
"And see? Look at how much we've already gotten down in our first hour!" Ruby said excitedly, louder than what was normal for a library. "Another and you'll probably be caught up to the rest of the students and from there you'll only be able to push yourself further ahead."
"It'll be harder for him than it is the rest of us," Yang noted. "Do you already know what parts Tsubaki's leaving you to work on?"
"Yeah, I messaged her and got a summary of everything she'd need me to do for the rest of this project. I'm in the clear there. And as for Cinder's project, I was already done with that a while ago. This is just double checking our work to make sure it's right."
"So have you talked to either of them since they've left? I mean that you actually had a conversation with them?" Blake reminded him.
"Like I said for Tsubaki, I just messaged her and she gave me the work I needed to do. I'm not stupid; even after she helped out there's still some tension, but I think she's willing to save it for when she gets back. As for Cinder, I didn't even bother doing that much… It's probably better to leave things alone with her after that last match."
He couldn't help but notice all four of them silently nodding their heads in agreement. Pushing that out of his mind, he went back to his Historical Studies. There wasn't a lot left to do on that assignment as Tsubaki had not only covered her half, but had also done some of Ragna's to help him in his recovery effort. He noticed a few things that he'd change about her side of the work, but those changes were few and mild; he could easily have a conversation with Tsubaki about what they wanted to do once she returned… and he regained the nerve to speak face to face. That was going to be another issue.
"How's everyone doing on coffee?" he asked a little later once his History Project was as done as could be without his partner's input.
"Ready for a refill," Ruby said. "Mind going a little easier on the sugar this time?"
"Translation; three sugars instead of five," Yang explained as she handed both their cups.
Blake and Weiss also offered their cups, but without any specific order Ragna figured he'd make it like they had during the first quarter… only realizing that he still remembered their orders from months ago. Nodding, Ragna headed to the break room only to get hit with that same uncomfortable feeling whenever he was alone at the Academy.
"Not this again," he growled to himself. "It's not Cinder doing this; this was going on long before she showed up. The only real connection here is…" He shook his head. "I'm probably overthinking it and wasting time; not like anything's going to change unless I…" Again, not a thought he could finish.
Later
As expected, it was well after midnight when they finished. Still, they were done. Aside from some of the peer review they'd have to do with their classmates that weren't present, there wasn't anything left to be done. They'd conquered the infamous Project Hell a good THREE WEEKS before the appointed deadline. As expected, all of them were an exhausted mess and just mentioning the word 'coffee' would likely make any of them sick.
"Think we went a little overboard?" Ragna muttered as he saved, resaved, and alternative saved all of his projects for the fifth time already. "We still had tomorrow and the day after to play catch up, but you all kept telling me to keep going."
"And? Aren't you relived now that we're finished?" Weiss answered though she was resting her head on the table so her words came out as a mild murmur.
"I'm not going to argue with that, but I feel like I should sleep in until noon tomorrow," Ragna said as made absolutely sure that no one could steal his work and put him in the same hell they he'd been forced through.
"Sorry big guy, but sleeping in is not the itinerary for tomorrow," Yang informed. The fact that she could act almost as upbeat as she usual showed that she was in the best shape out of any of them. "We all gotta a lotta stuff to get to any you're included in that."
"We do?" Ragna asked in confusion as he looked to his completed paperwork. "What else do we have to work on? I mean I guess we can do some practice fights against each other, but that shouldn't go on for the whole day, should it?"
"Nope, but we're not going to be getting into the mock fights in the first place. After all, you already showed today that you're back to your prime… well technically you showed us yesterday, but you get the idea. Either way, once we knew that we weren't going to be attending the camping trip we made the point that once we got all of our work done we'd been spending the entire day in town tomorrow."
"Doing… what?" Ragna again had to ask.
"You're not playing dumb, are you?" Blake felt the need to ask. "This camping trip was supposed to be a chance for all of us to relax, but since we didn't go we still need a way to unwind now that all of this chaos is finally behind us. You haven't been able to take much of a breather yourself and we can take the chance to get out and around like we used to."
"I guess you've got a point," Ragna said, though Ruby could tell that he was acting pretty reserved. "Sorry, it's just a little surreal to think that I've actually got time to relax with all of the shit I've gone through. You guys sure that this is what you want to do?"
"Absolutely, and I hope that you want to do this too," Ruby told him. "If… if it's not, maybe we could-"
"Forget it, I owe you all this after I made you miss the camping trip in the first place," the Reaper agreed. "Alright, I guess I'm in. But what are we actually doing once we get into town?"
"Playing it by ear for the most part," Yang admitted. "Some of us have some actually plans once we get there, but you'll just have to wait and see what those actually are." She smirked. "We're going out there to have fun tomorrow, so make sure you put something nice on."
"Don't worry, I'll pick something out," he promised. 'This… This is just part of it. I'm not going to let myself get in too deep. How could I? …But if I really have to fight this hard should I…?'
"I get the impression that you're going through and internal monologue," Ruby admitted. "Everything alright?"
"…Just tired," Ragna lied.
The Next Morning
To say that Team RWBY felt tense when there wasn't a response after knocking on Team RAIN's door would be an understatement. The four of them each knew that this had been a risk given Ragna's previous behavior, but he'd given them his word last night. That should have meant something. Trying again, Yang knocked on the door much harsher this time. If Ragna had slept through her first series of knocking, he wouldn't be able to sleep through this one. Still no response.
"I know we shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet," Weiss started. "But his recent track record is rather damning here."
"You'd think if he wanted us to back off he'd at least be direct about it," Blake noted. "I thought he was coming around yesterday."
"He was, but something's holding him… and I don't think it's actually him. We need to get the answer, and the whole point of today was to get him in a better mood so we could talk things through tomorrow."
"I wonder if he's caught onto that yet," Ruby considered worriedly. "Let me try his scroll really quick." There were a few tense moments as the device started to ring. Right up until the final ring which would send it to Ragna's voicemail.
"Yang, quit it I've got the message. Hey, it's already started. Leave me-" Came the pre-recorded message, deflating everyone's spirt. "This is Ragna, leave a message at the end-" The message was cut, but not by Ruby.
"Morning," came Ragna's voice on the other end. He didn't sound nearly as reserved as usual. In fact, it didn't even seem like he was as gruff as usual even before the quarter had started.
"Um… Morning," Ruby said in surprised response. "Where are you?"
"In the student kitchens. Sorry it took me a moment to answer; hands had some yolk on them from the shells I was throwing out and it was getting everywhere. How do you all take your eggs?"
"Chef's choice, but we'll see you in a moment," she said before hanging up.
All four of them shared a look of brief surprise at the morning turnaround for the Reaper. Knowing that they needed to see it firsthand, they headed to the kitchens and found Ragna. He was dressed in a very casual red hoody and set of dark jeans though he also currently had a cooking apron on as he quickly mixed the eggs.
"You guys look like you've seen a ghost," Ragna observed, before becoming surprised he'd used his dreaded G-Word… and didn't feel that off about it.
"…Well we're looking at the Grimm Reaper, so close enough." This was certainly a time that everyone could appreciate Yang's ability to break the ice with her japes. "Where'd you get all this?"
"I woke up about an hour and a half ago, headed into town for the ingredients," Ragna explained. "Some fresh squeezed OJ in the fridge too, since I think we should all stay away from coffee for the day."
"Thanks, this is really kind of you," Weiss said in appreciation. "We were a little worried when you weren't in your room this morning."
"Didn't mean to worry you, just thought this should be a surprise," Ragna told them before he stopped mixing. "And… as an apology."
"I understand where you're coming from, but I can say something first?" Ruby asked. Ragna nodded, though he set the mixture aside for a moment to give them his undivided attention. "After we finished studying last night, I told them all what happened in the caves. Messiah, almost dying, all of it. And I hope you realize that while yes… you were the reason I was down there. You're also the reason I managed to get out at all." Ragna didn't say anything as he thought that over.
"It's really incredible, but Ruby's gotta be telling the truth about what she saw. I believe my sister… but I also believe in you." Still silent. "I'm her big sister, but you fought for her down there just as hard I would have, maybe even more. That's what I know about this."
"So long story short, don't blame yourself for what happened there. You did your part," Blake added. "And as for what happened before you left we already said we'd forgive you. You were just in a bad place."
"We'll try to do our best in the future when you need some actual room, but I think we should also be able to try and help our friend when he needs it," Weiss said diplomatically. "You've aided us our entire time here, so give us the chance to return the favor… and maybe even open up to us about your problems… when you're ready to."
"Right, that's all fair," Ragna said with a sigh. "Look, I'm not sure when I'm going to be ready to get into that shit with anyone, if ever. But thanks for having my back this far." Silence.
"Anything else?" Ruby asked softly.
"Not right now, no." At least Ragna was honest about that much. Shaking the feelings of doom and gloom off, Ragna forced himself to smile "Let's just eat and try to enjoy the day off like you all said. Maybe all this Grimm Reaper really needs is a damn breather."
"I don't think that's exclusive to Reapers. You don't want to know half of the caffeine delusional dreams I had last night," Blake groaned.
"Why? What happened in them?" Ragna asked with genuine interest as he got back to cooking.
"I'm not telling you," she scoffed.
"Then why bring it up in the first place? Now I'm just curious," the Reaper retorted.
"Curiosity killed the-!" Blake had been about to shout before realizing that saying wasn't exactly in her favor. "Just drop it! You might as well ask Weiss what her problem was with all the noise she was making!"
"I did no such thing!" the Schnee heiress denied.
"Other than keep me up for two hours?" Yang reminded. "Just for that I'm giving him the entire play by play."
Ruby couldn't help but laugh at the two as Yang joined in the conversation to describe some of the groans she'd heard coming from Weiss's bed while the young heiress vehemently denied that she'd have done anything so unrefined. It wasn't all back to normal, but it was getting there.
Later In Town
"You four have been staring at me for a while now," Ragna noted a while later after they'd finished breakfast. "I still got egg on me?"
"No, you already cleaned up a while ago. It's just a little weird seeing you in something that isn't your regular jacket," Ruby noted. "In fact, I'm a little surprised you haven't finished repairing your old outfit yet."
"You saw what kind of condition that thing was in even before we fought Messiah. It's a miracle I had enough left to salvage. You have no idea how long it's going to be before I wear that thing again."
"Shame too; it's always a good look for you," Weiss told him.
"This coming from the same people that kept wanting me to try wearing other clothes," the Reaper grumbled.
"Just because it's your best and signature look doesn't mean that you should be wearing it all the time," Yang pointed out.
'Then what the hell is this?' Ragna internally demanded as he looked over each of the girls who were wearing their regular clothes. 'Just leave it Ragna, this is one argument that's not worth having.' "So what's first on the list?"
"There's no set order, but I remember that Blake's favorite bookstore was around here, so maybe that's the best place to start," Ruby suggested, only for the Cat Faunus's face to heat up with a blush.
"I-I said we should go to the public library and get some reading done there! There's no reason why we have to go out of our way to that shop!" the cat Faunus exclaimed.
"Blake, I think you're past the point of hiding it. Everyone's seen your reading material at least a dozen times by now," Ruby informed, causing the Faunus to freeze. "You're really bad at leaving them around. Heck, even Ragna managed to catch on."
"Hey," the Reaper retorted at the insult. At Ruby's mischievous giggle, he decided to let it go. "Either way, we should head over now and get the day started. Your secret's safe with us at least."
'Secrets…' Blake remembered all of the secrets that Ragna had helped her keep, only no he was the one keeping them from her. To say there was some hypocrisy in wanting to have a discovery of the inner workings of the Reaper was an understatement. While it was true that Blake felt significantly better now that some of her secrets were known by her team, Ragna had helped her by giving her time to explain herself and staying in her corner when the time came… so she decided to wait at least for now.
The bookstore hadn't changed much since Ragna and Blake had visited on their on their arranged date, but it frankly the five of them were just happy to have books to look at that weren't for their projects. Like last time, Ragna tried out the books in the cooking section to little success. If anything it was just making him more annoyed that he'd only been able to cook twice during the entire term. Ruby had been reading books on cookies a bit ago, but by now she was already checking material on different weapons. Yang was reading up on hair care and bikes (big surprise) while Weiss was having a good old fashioned look on… politics? Ragna figured that it probably came with being a noble from a high ranking family, but he could help but find something about it odd.
Putting that aside, Blake hadn't headed into the romance section of the store just yet had simply remained reading books on the history between humans and Faunus. Ragna figured that it probably wasn't the best thing for her to be reading with her past and decided he wasn't getting anywhere with cooking.
"Heya," he greeted as he headed over.
"Hey,' she returned as she continued looking through the book.
"So… how much do they have wrong in there?" he asked.
"Not wrong per say, there doesn't appear to be any information left out on either sides so it's factually accurate. The way it's presented however shows that the people who wrote it had an obvious bias," she returned. "You needed something?"
"Yeah, it's about that book you lent me after we visited this place last time… I returned that to you, right?" Blake lifted her eyes from the book so she could shoot Ragna an odd look. "Come on, my head's been in a weird place all quarter. I can barely remember some of these things."
"Ragna, when you returned it to me you barely looked me in the eye and only said 'half' which I figured was your evasive way of saying that you only managed to get halfway through." It was almost like she was angry at him. "Any of this sounding familiar?"
"I think so…?" Ragna responded with less than full assurance as he scratched the back of his head. "Halfway through, halfway… Oh." NOW he remembered why he'd stopped reading. "…Once the protagonist made their heel turn and revealed that they'd been using that girl the whole time I just sort of fell off."
"Really, the sudden twist is what makes the book so good. And the conflict that she has when she finds someone else that looks like she loves her for who she is while she keeps thinking back to her old flame is incredible. Then when it looks like the first boy is start to make moves on her again she-" Blake suddenly realized she was rambling and covered her mouth with her hand out of embarrassment.
"Let's go. You've been wanting to head to that section ever since we got here. It's better than outright depressing yourself with these books."
"I guess you're right, but why are you going over?" she asked him while relenting. "I thought you weren't interested in it."
"No reason, I just gave it the one try. I'm wondering if my next book would be any better." What he wasn't admitting that some of the book before the heel turn was actually kind of interesting for him… just a little. When they got to the section though, they found a new best seller given its display in the center of the self. There were only a few copies left, so Ragna grabbed one and read the synopsis on the back. "Huh… Interesting, this one almost looks an anti-romance book."
"Really? I don't think I've heard of that author before," Blake admitted. "What's the plot summary say about the book?"
"It's like the girl character from the book we were just talking about, only this one has her leaving the creep before he dumps her because he catches on that he's using her." Blake was silent. "Rest of it seems to be a series of events of whether she's going out to find and start a new relationship or whether she's enough herself. And I guess she's trying to avoid the memories of her old ex."
'Of all the premises,' Blake thought to herself irately as she glared at the book.
"You look like you've got some choice words," Ragna caught on quickly. Blake was silent for a moment as she was thinking it over. "Everything all right?"
"I don't think that you need to bother with that book," she told him. "After all, you have the real version of that story standing right next to you."
"What's that supposed to…" Ragna questioned before realizing it himself. "Grimm's Day?"
"His name was Adam. Dark clothes, red hair, Grimm mask, you even had horn on your head when I saw you. It was the perfect match." She hadn't planned to go into so much of her past with Ragna, but if sharing hers could get him to open up, she was willing to try. "He was a large reason of why I left the White Fang."
"Don't push yourself to go on if you don't want to; we're supposed to be having fun today." Blake didn't respond. Even if she wanted to open up, that didn't mean it was easy. "Or… I'm here to listen if you need it."
"There were a couple of ways that Adam was like you; strong, independent, very arrogant. I don't think that there was anyone else in the White Fang half as powerful as he was. When we started dating, I honestly thought that he was fighting for the same thing I was. Equality and respect for the Faunus. We made a pretty strong team… then I started to notice the kind of person that he really was."
Ragna remained silent, though he did keep an ear out for anyone who could've been eavesdropping on them.
"Soon our actions were starting to turn violent and Adam was fully embracing them. There were several occasions where he'd come back to camp after scouting out a nearby town covered in someone else's blood. He kept telling me that they'd shot first and he was only defending himself, but it kept happening. Then I start noticing the subtle differences in how he was talking to me. Now when he was saying he'd always protect me, it was honestly starting to sound like a threat. Like what he'd do to me if I ever left him. Once I finally caught on I couldn't stay much longer and… left."
"Did it hurt to?" Ragna asked. It was blunt to be sure, but carefully navigating even deeper questions like these didn't exactly suit him.
"Of course it did. Even if they were starting to get caught up with Adam and his twisted ideals, I still had friends there that I had known for most of my life. I couldn't even tell them that I was leaving because I was afraid that they'd tell Adam and… there was no telling what he'd have done to me if he found out."
"When you put it like that, it's really no wonder that you shot at me," Ragna admitted, scratching the back of his head like it was somehow his fault. "Sorry that I remind you so much of him."
"…When did I ever say that?" The cat Faunus looked especially serious now. "Just because you remind me of him in some ways doesn't mean that you're similar. There's a lot of contextual difference between the two of you. Even if you're both powerful and arrogant, there's a big difference for how and why the two of you fight. If the two of us had been stuck down there with Messiah, instead of fighting to keep me safe he'd be fighting just to kill another human. There are a lot of differences when I'm thinking of the two of you."
"That sounds a bit better… I guess," Ragna said, still a little uncertain.
"Besides… when I'm with you I don't find myself thinking about the past nearly as much as I used to," Blake said with a smile. "So… thanks for that."
"I didn't do anything, not intentionally anyways… but you're welcome," Ragna returned, though he wasn't smiling. "Let's look through some of these books then regroup with the others before they wonder where we disappeared to."
"Sure I've got a good read in mind for you," she told him as she picked a quick book of the shelf from just the title alone. "It'd be a pretty good read for you. The main character has a hard time expressing themselves and needs a lot of help to get their voice heard."
"That doesn't sound like me; I can be pretty damn loud and clear when I want to be," Ragna retorted.
"What about when you need to be? Or how you need to be?" He didn't have as sharp of an answer for those. "Here, I'll go ahead and buy this for us. Just bring it back to me once you're done with it."
"…Fine, I'll give it a read," he finally answered, trying not to make direct eye contact with Blake so he wouldn't see her knowing smile.
The Mall
'Biting my tongue a lot here,' Ragna thought to himself as he stood on display for Blake, Ruby, and Yang. The reaper was now wearing a light grey button up shirt (untucked of course), a casual set of slacks, and loose dull red tie. Ragna was hardly one for playing dress up, especially after the shenanigans of last time, but this had been Weiss's choice… someone who was surprisingly absent at the moment. "So… how does it look?"
"Kind of sloppy," Blake said bluntly. "Almost like you're trying to show that you don't give a damn."
"So it fits?"
"Hey hey, leave the puns to the master," Yang reminded.
"Just as soon as we find one."
"Ouch, Ragna's got a bite to him today," Ruby noted with a giggle. "Maybe if you tucked the shirt into your pants it would be a better look?"
"It'd still be pretty tight around the chest," Ragna huffed. "I dunno, just doesn't really seem to suit my style at all."
"I know what's missing!" Yang said. Ragna couldn't help but notice the mischievous glint in her eyes, likely plotting revenge for his insult from earlier. "He doesn't have his tie on just right. Weiss hasn't worked her magic just yet."
"…You all realize that even if I'm nearly unkillable, I still need to breath?" The worrying part was, he was genuinely asking.
"Don't be such a baby. Besides, Weiss shouldn't have taken that long in the bathroom. Go find her and get yourself fixed up. We have our own outfits to try on in the meantime," Yang ordered.
'Why me? If she's in the bathroom I wouldn't be able to tell,' Ragna muttered as he headed into the rest of the mall (which luckily only checked for security at the main entrances). It didn't take him long to find Weiss, though the situation he found her in raised its own questions. 'She's been here so long staring at…? What?' "You… thinking of trying it on?"
"I wouldn't want to be caught dead in it," Weiss responded harshly without turning to him. "Even if these dresses are my color."
"Meaning you're always in top form for your own wedding?" Ragna joked. It had been a harmless little play, but her glare at him did not treat it as such. "What's with you? Something wrong with a wedding dress?"
"Under the circumstances, yes," she told him irately.
"Okay?" Ragna responded, though he wasn't all that informed. He could still make guesses though. "Are you getting pressured into getting hitched soon by someone?"
"Yes, and that someone is my father who has a tendency to get what he wants," she answered. "In fact, he already has a match picked out for me."
"Friggin' news to me," the aghast Reaper retorted. "How long have you known about this bullshit?"
"Since the beginning of the quarter." Weiss was about to elaborate further, but seeing Ragna's mind seemed to work right before her eyes she stayed her tongue. His face went through a whole mix of emotions before he landed on his apparent answer, still appearing to be quite confused.
"Call me crazy, but… he can't mean Jin?" He sounded a little upset. Figuring there was no turning back now, Weiss nodded. "That… No insult to you, but that son of a bitch…"
"I think you've earned that, seeing as its your younger brother."
"You two can barely stand each other. It's a miracle you've managed to work together this long during the quarter," Ragna muttered. "And he thinks it's a good idea to marry you off when you're just as against the idea?"
"You really don't know anything about political or business marriages, do you?" It wasn't an insult.
"No. And if this is the kind of shit that I'd have to put up with then I hope that I never do," Ragna responded. "Why didn't either of you tell me about this?"
"Because we were worried that you'd go and do something reckless, which it seems like you might do now that I've told you." A fair assessment. "Jin and I have been working together to end this before it can begin, but it's been difficult because neither side has made a move. If things come down to it, can we trust you to be in our corner?"
"Like you have to ask; I'd be such a nightmare that your father would never want me as a son-in-law." The way Ragna said that so confidently, Weiss couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I'm trying to help you here."
"I know you are, and I'm glad that's the case… even if your tie is off." Before Ragna could protest, Weiss was already making the needed adjustments to his neckpiece until it was perfect in her eyes. "There we go."
"A little warning next time?" Ragna asked though a tightened windpipe, though the last few instances already told him that this would be in vain. "Why do you have to keep doing this?"
"Because it helps to complete the image," she responded sweetly.
"Image? Image of what?" Ragna grumbled as the two started walking back to rejoin the others.
"Someone who meets my extreme list of standards. You know, just giving you a little help along the way."
Weiss's tone was cheerful enough… but Ragna was starting to feel a sense of dread racing down his spine.
Later
"I think we already missed lunch by a few hours," Yang noted as the group walked the streets of Vale City. "Guess we'll just have to each settle for a heavy dinner."
"Aw, but I'm already hungry," Ruby sighed. "Can't we make a quick stop on the way?"
"Then we'd have to walk around with full stomachs. And when we sit down after that, we're not going to feel like getting up again," Blake said, speaking from solid experience. "Besides, this way we get to all work up a solid appetite."
"Okay…" Ruby groaned… though she did also look expectingly to Ragna.
'Please tell me she's not going for the eyes again,' Ragna silently pleaded, knowing that the chances of refusing her if she did would quickly drop to zero. It didn't seem like she was trying anything, but it was still enough for Ragna to let out a sigh as he grabbed out his scroll. "…There's a small bakery near here. We can head over and grab a little something for a snack to bide us over."
"Woo hoo!" Ruby declared while pumping her fists in the air. Ragna expected the rest of her team to glare at him, but all they did was shoot him knowing smirks. "Thanks a bunch Ragna!"
"No need, I'm hungry too," the Reaper muttered. "But this is a snack Ruby, we're not grabbing an entire meal's worth of cookies."
"Uh oh, looks like Ragna's trying to put his foot down," Weiss teased from the sidelines. "Better go all in and give him the big eyes."
"Oh look at that. A certain someone just offered to treat. Ruby, go crazy."
"Woo!"
"Now hang on a second!"
After a short walk to the bakery filled with Weiss's ranting as she tried to explain that there was no reason why she should have to treat (not like she didn't have the money for it) the group found themselves at the bakery in question. It was a nice enough day to sit outside, so that's what they decided to do once they'd gotten their pick. Weiss, Blake, and Yang had all gotten their desired orders fairly quickly, but Ruby was taking a while to decide on what she wanted. Ragna had stay behind with her; he had no idea what he wanted, but also because Ruby would probably go overboard without him.
"Just choose something already," he muttered.
"It has to be a good pick," Ruby responded. "After, I need to make sure I find something that you like as well."
"Why me? I'm not really all that into sweets," Ragna muttered. "Mom's cookies aside I guess."
"Mmm… Whatever happened to the batch we made?" she asked, stirring up some memories from Ragna.
"I… didn't eat a lot of them. I think Tsubaki and the rest of my team had most of them. Afterwards I was pretty out of it due to Project Hell anyways."
"Right, it was right after that when your work was missing," she remembered. "You know that you should've come to us for help, right?"
"You say that, but I'm not sure what that would've done," he argued, before realizing that it sounded pretty cruel as a response. "Look, I didn't mean it like that. I just…"
"Didn't want to drag us down with you?" Ruby asked. "I think you sort of failed on that. Pretty spectacularly too."
"No need to remind me," Ragna grumbled.
"But do you know why you did?" The Reaper had a lot of answers to that, but he wasn't sure what Ruby was specifically was saying. "How about this then? Team R-W-B-Y is a misspelling."
"I think we all knew that from the start, It's not supposed to have a W in it."
"What about a second R?" Ragna froze as Ruby had a growing smile on her face. "Like it or not, you're a central part of our team now. I hope you realize that."
"But-"
"And nothing's going to change that you're important to me; nothing."
No response.
"So… jam?"
"Uh… wait, what?"
"Jam. Those cookies that we tried the other night. Maybe have something to try for a comparison?"
"I… sure…"
The Other side of Town
"I thought that Ruby's choice was supposed to be the bakery. Why are we heading in here?" Weiss demanded as the group started stepping into a weapon manufacturer shop.
"My pick, and this place doesn't just deal in weapons," Yang announced as she headed inside and gave a quick wave to the person working the front desk. "This is where I get a lot of my bike parts. They've got a really good selection here to choose from."
"And how much of it is legal?" Blake asked with a whisper.
"He's got a license to sell this stuff, don't worry about it," Yang answered before grabbing Ragna's arm. "You're with me. I need some input on parts to grab for the old girl and you're the only one here that's rode it."
"I don't think that means that I'm the right person to ask," Ragna retorted.
"Well I can't ask any of them. It's going to take both of them to hold Ruby down while we're in here." True to her word, Weiss and Blake were worriedly keeping any eye on the sparkle eyed Ruby as she gawked over the weapon parts and eagerly wrote notes down on her scroll for future upgrades to the Crescent Rose. "Coming?"
"Sure thing," he agreed as he followed after Yang. "…Is this an excuse to get me alone for another heart to heart?
"In our defense, we weren't planning on doing it that way. It's just how things ended up at this point," she admitted before smirking. "But you know me, I'm nothing if not a girl that can roll with the punches."
"I've learned that plenty of times already. Not much seems to get you down; maybe just someone messing with your hair," Ragna considered before sighing. "…Or your sister."
"Don't get so hung up on that; I already told you that I don't blame you."
"Ever think that you should?" He knew that he'd get a strange look at Yang. "What? I stormed out in a pretty shitty way last time and I almost got her killed as a result. I feel like everyone here's been giving me a bunch of passes that I honestly don't deserve."
"Aren't we supposed to be having fun now? I don't think you're allowed to be such a downer." Ragna only shot her a glare as he tried to be serious. "There is one thing that I have a problem with; losing people."
"You…"
"Both of my moms… I saw what that sort of thing did to my dad. He was a wreck for quite a while there. I don't want to see him or anyone else have to go through that sort of hell. So that's my reason for fighting so hard, so no one else has to get left behind again."
'She's not joking about this, not one bit.'
"I hope you're still not thinking about running off," Yang started. "But… I guess it's pretty clear that something still nagging you at the back of your mind."
"…Yeah," the Reaper had to admit. "But… I'll do my best to fight through it for now. That's all I can do."
"You mean you can't come to us for help?"
"Not on this one," Ragna said with a sigh. 'Because you're what's causing it.'
"Maybe throwing down with each other tomorrow will help get your mind off things," Yang offered with a smirk. "In fact, maybe we could treat it like one of our fights back in the arena? Get all set up in our getups and-?"
"You're just trying to get me shirtless again," the Reaper muttered, only for Yang to get pretty close to him. "What are you-?"
"…And you're saying you didn't have just as much fun checking me out?" Ragna couldn't contain a slight blush at that one. Yang couldn't help but giggle. "I guess we're both guilty."
Nightfall
The five had ended up grabbing ramen at stand run by an elderly man that Ruby swore she'd seen before. It wasn't an overly extravagant meal, but all of them had decided that the day had been a success… at least most of them had. Now with stomachs filled with food and arms carrying bags contain the days spoils, they were on their way back to the transports back to Beacon.
"Have a good time?" Ruby asked to Ragna, who was trailing only slightly behind the group.
"Yeah, I did." It wasn't a lie… but it was a problem.
"And we still have most of tomorrow before the rest of the students come back," Weiss reminded. "Any plans about what you're going to do?"
"Yang had said something about a mock fight," he recalled, forcing his voice to be filled with emotion.
"Does that mean that you're going to be dressing up like you were in your Arena fights?" Blake asked. The Faunus certainly didn't seem opposed to the idea.
"You know it! We'll be sure to put on an amazing show for all of you!" Yang promised before turning to Ragna. "Trust me! We'll give them a fight so good that nothing at the Vytal Festival will even come close!"
"Sounds like kind of a challenge, we don't know what's going to happen in there," Ragna admitted. "Even still… I'm rooting for all of you."
"Just like we're rooting for you," Ruby told him kindly. "Come on… there's still time to Ozpin to change his mind on this. Anything you need for help, just let us know."
"I… Sure… I…"
"Um… Ragna?" Weiss's concern leaked into her words.
"I…"
Blake and Yang glanced nervously at one another. They'd had all stopped in their walk, as Ragna stood there, trying to make some semblance of words… but in the end, it wasn't enough. It was worse than that.
'God dammit… I can't do this.'
"...Hey," Ragna began, his voice a hollow whisper so quiet that the girls could barely hear him. 'It's far past time I set this straight, no more fooling them... or myself.' "I got something I need to talk to you all about. It's-"
"Oh NO," Yang said seriously as she crossed her arms. "I know that voice; you're going to say something that's going to bring the mood down for everyone. Just like you did after your match with Mercury. I told you that's not allowed now, this is supposed to be where we finally get you out of your funk and-"
"STOP." Ragna's harsh and forceful voice carried a sort of dark power behind it, enough to stop even Yang in her tracks. "I... I need to tell you all this before things... before they go too far."
"Too far?" Blake repeated. "Ragna, what's this about?"
"It's about why I came to Beacon in the first place," he said before taking a deep and painful breath, the air cutting against his tightening throat like a knife. "I'm only here doing a favor for Ruby's uncle, Qrow... a big favor for him."
"And is that really a problem? Does it really matter why you were brought here?" Weiss asked. "If you want to tell us, you can go ahead but I don't know why you think this could ever change anything."
"It changes everything," the Reaper insisted, his heart beating like a drum in his ears. "He sent me here to Beacon... Just so I could keep an eye on Ruby."
The young scythe user in question was silent as she looked at Ragna. Her mind raced and began to fill with doubt as she thought back to their first meeting; how he'd only given her a chance, how he always helped with her crazy plans, how no matter what he'd always been her friend... and how it had been brought into question.
"...That's all this has ever been."
She tried to look into Ragna's eyes, to get some form of reaffirmation that it hadn't just been a long ruse on the Reaper's part... but he refused to even glance in her direction, his head turned away in shame.
"Ragna..." she tried, only saying his name... but with no response. "You meant that since the start you've only been... Because my Uncle...?"
Again the Reaper said nothing, even fully facing away to literally turn his back on the four that had tried so much to give him a better life. All of team RWBY felt shattered by what Ragna was doing, by what he decided he had to do.
"You know that's a lie!" Yang shouted through her tears, but Ragna still didn't give her a response. "After everything you've done with us, after all of this... YOU'RE SAYING YOU MADE IT ALL UP!? YOU FAKED IT!?" There was a stillness in the Reaper, a deathly one that Yang knew she wasn't going to break through just by yelling at him. But what else was there? "You... you've gotta be screwing with us... IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
"...You told me not to hide who I was from the world," Blake tried again, her ears slowly falling. "Seeing you like this... Why can't you just take your own advice?"
"If this is something to do with your pride or you're worried about us, I demand that you drop this farce and bring back the real Ragna!" Weiss screamed at him. "You said I was an Empress, your Empress... so I order you to stop this! NOW!"
Ruby still didn't say anything as pools started to form in her eyes. Coming up behind Ragna, she wrapped her arms around his back in a solemn hug as she tried to get something out of him. He didn't move a muscle and eventually she weakly let go. Tears slowly falling in full now, she watched as Ragna walked on in the opposite direction of Beacon, clearly heading for the border walls.
'I had to do it,' Ragna told himself, partially just to make sure it had been real. 'It's done now. I've got to meet up with Qrow as soon as I can and get those damn answers; he owes me a hell of a lot for wasting so much time. No goodbyes to Jin, my team, or anyone else. I won't need them for what I've got to do, I can't have them around anyway. This game is over. Now it's back to the real thing.'
He painfully grit his teeth as he marched into solitude. Trying to keep his rage about him, he glared harshly at his right hand that had been stolen from him. The secret that only he had known for so long, not that it mattered who knew at this point. He tried focusing on his mother's death, the loss of someone that had loved him dearly and he'd loved in turn. He tried to focus on the man responsible for all of this, the... thing he'd spend his life hunting down. Everything had built up to getting his deserved revenge on him and nothing else. He told himself that over and over again in his head, finally consumed by his rage... and nothing else.
'And now it's finally time to murder that son of a bitch! That's all I have left in this damned life!'
"Ragna."
Even his thoughts seemed to freeze as Ruby simply said his name aloud. His body remained anchored to hear his... hear Ruby's words. He could practically feel the sadness in her voice, it seemed coarse as she spoke with a tightened throat. But there was something else there...
Something he would never have been ready for.
(Cue Super Paper Mario Memory 1 -Extended-)
"Even if it wasn't real... Even if you were just faking it for my uncle... Even if you say all of that..." The rest of team RWBY surrounded their leader as she tried to put on a brave smile for Ragna. One that he wasn't even looking at, but knew full well was there. "I can't believe it... I won't... Because for us, everything we did together was real... but even if you have to insist that, even if it's just to fool yourself… Then thanks... thanks for at least pretending to give us all a good friend..."
Numb... Suffocating... Dying...
"We'll never forget you..." Ruby told him, though her tears weren't stopping. "Promise."
"...I know enough about putting on airs to see you're forcing yourself through this," Weiss added sternly. "And I know I can take back control of my life with your help, so let me repay the favor."
"You told me that even if you had all of Remnant against you, as long as you had a few friends you'd fight against the world itself," Blake reminded the Reaper. "You have us... so what do you need our help fighting?"
"I told you a little bit ago that I'm already used to losing people…" Yang admitted sadly, betrayed by the harsh flames burning in her eyes. "That doesn't mean that they're gone for good though! I'll wait for you to come to your senses as long as I gotta! I'm not giving up on you, so you're not allowed to give up on yourself!"
'G-Give up? No... I... I... I need to hunt that bastard down... He... He stole everything from me! He killed mom and-! He made Jin...! He took...! HE RUINED MY LIFE! That's why I have to... That's WHY I-! ...That's why... I...'
"Ragna... What's wrong? You're... shaking."
"...I..."
Even after seeing him at his absolute worst, even after almost getting one of them killed, even after these attempts to push them away... they wouldn't leave him.
'FUCK. THIS.'
"It was never part of Qrow's plan to fake being your friend."
Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long could only watch as the Reaper finally broke his silence. He was so still as he continued to have his back to them, they almost thought they'd imagined him talking. They were about to speak to him, trying one final time to get him out of his self-caused hell... only now he was the one talking.
"I was just going to hang around at arm's length to make sure Ruby didn't get killed while I was here. Keep my head down and look after you from the shadows; that's all I needed to do, it's what Qrow wanted me to do."
Finally turning, he wasn't looking at a single one of them in their eyes. Instead he was focused on all four of them as one whole. Now he was speaking without falsehoods clouding who he really was, right from the heart.
"And that mess was ruined right from the start."
I've already been through enough hell from that bastard. Why should I have to put myself through more?
"You all made sure of that."
Turn my back on my brother? My team? My friends? ...On them?
"I didn't have some overblown goal to get involved with your group; you guys just kept welcoming me back no matter how much I bitched about it. And you still do… even now."
Who was I even trying to fool with that shit?
"And I never thought I'd ever get to know or understand anyone like I do the four of you... we all just ended up that way."
Now I've got something else I need to live for.
"But most of all..."
For the suffering I caused myself...
For all of the secrets I still have...
And most of all for my old life...
"Most of all-!"
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I'm not going to stay trapped in my damn past.
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"...I sure as hell never planned on falling in love."
Next Time: Ragna