Chains of Remnant
Chapter 05
Galling peace and half—baked measures.
— Interlude —
The kingdom where no life was allowed, with its darkened plots of ruined dirt, was like an ant-hill brimming with parasites.
As far as the limits of human sight, there are uncountable creatures with pitch-black bodies, bone-white armors, and blood-red eyes. They litter the grounds restlessly, either moving without any aim or waiting with deadly stillness.
Such a thing is what she sees every day across the crystal windows of her castle.
"Cinder's report has arrived. Everything is going according to the plan, there have been some unexpected hiccups but she claims that they might end up helping us in the end. If we can continue like this, they should move like we expect them to."
In the barren castle that befitted its kingdom, an obeisant tone echoes.
The man who spoke had an unremarkable appearance, if one had to note anything about him it was how despite his tone or how he felt, he held his head high with pride. It was worthy to remark because he was speaking towards the monarch of the lifeless kingdom.
There was only one who could wear such a crown.
"And I'm sure she was delighted when you received her news in my stead, isn't that right Arthur?"
It was a light response with a teasing nature that disregarded anything the man had said as meaningless. That attitude wasn´t appropriate for her, the king of the jungle should not treat his prey in that manner.
A human doesn´t acknowledge an ant with a good-natured response. Yet...
That´s a usual occurrence in the great hall, where there are currently only two people. The unremarkable man and the woman with an inhuman appearance who was seemingly carefree looking out of the window.
"You take too much pleasure aggravating that girl. I thought that the mutual dislike you shared would have been gone after so many years.
—You two wouldn't let such your childishness affect our objective, right?"
"We would never dare madam."
During their exchange, nothing had changed.
The man didn´t change his subservient tone nor did his prideful persona fall. The ruler didn´t bother with threats or orders, her voice wasn´t raised and she spoke with the same unbecoming lightness from before.
So, if there wasn´t a change, why was the man filled with fear?
"I know that very well, that's why the both of you are still with me after so long. You can continue playing your little games with Cinder as long as you want but the next time you speak with her remind her…."
Perhaps at another time, the man´s attempts to hide his emotions would have brought twisted pleasure for the ruler but this was not the case. Steel came into her voice, turning sharper and deadlier with each voiced word.
"She has to avoid that man as long as she can. If she falls into Ozpin's hands not only her but the whole plan will be unsalvageable."
"I will make sure to make it clear that she is to be careful, even she won't be dull enough to not follow your warnings. Unfortunately, there still is no word from the other two, it seems that their assignment in Mistral isn't advancing at all."
The lethal steel was met with it a practiced evasive manoeuvre.
It was a common occurrence that even one who was riddled with fear could respond to. If that man was ever brought up, his superior would always be put on the teetering edge. That´s why he responds as he did, without leaving himself a second of breathing room.
If you walk by the riverside for long enough, you will get wet. That´s why he learned to changed subjects whenever that man is mentioned.
"Well, that's no surprise. If what we were told is true then they must be having quite a bad time there. It has been almost ten years since their target was last seen after all."
And just like a faulty old machine being turned on and off, she returned to her unfitting persona.
—A fakeness that can't trick you but, at the same time, one that you can't call out.
Was it appropriate that an unremarkable man thought the exact same thing as so many others before him?
"You can go now Arthur, remember that you still have to be ready to perform when the time is right on Vale. You are the only one with the expertise to do it."
The departure of the man, who had left invigorated by the reaffirmation of his worth was unheard and unseen. It was natural, Arthur Watts was an entertaining but pathetic worthless pawn. The queen would only pay attention to him when she deemed to.
—And she was now in the middle of an impossible task.
The anomalous looking woman, with skin pale as wax, with black protruding veins, and height unreachable by humans. Her face was twisted in an earnest effort, as she was in the middle of her unaccomplishable task of remembrance.
The great hall she was in could have been said to be lost to time.
The queen who no longer grows older, the unchanging throne that lies coldly waiting for her, a large wooden table with seats that haven´t been replaced since they were built, and a large hourglass whose sand has never stopped falling in many years.
Maybe it was because time was frozen for her or maybe it was just the simple interaction with her pawn, but the woman couldn´t help but think of everyone who worked for her before. The featureless faces that were too many to count, flash in her mind.
As she fails to remember them, the red orbs of her face are fixated towards the unreasonable large clock with its ever-falling sand.
"Time is running out, Oz."
A phrase said many times before is followed by another with a smile that decried lunacy, also used many times.
"The world might need to wake up from its pathetic delusions of safety."
—And as if putting such thoughts into words was some kind of signal.
Countless creatures, some practically newborns and others immeasurably old, rose up and cried into the broken moon hidden beyond the heavens covered in dark clouds.
—Interlude out—
"—Hmm."
My eyes open and a brightly lit ceiling is there.
Rolling my stiff neck while still on the floor, I turn my head to the side and note the currently asleep forge. I at least manage to turn it off before nodding off.
With that thought, I can't help but think of something else that is currently not asleep, and my vision trails down into my lower body, something had risen hidden underneath the fabric of my clothes and the silk blanket.
"Wait…blanket?"
Did I bring that with me last night?
With a dreadfully slow speed, I turn towards the other side of the room, even if I already knew the answer, there was still hope that I was wrong.
—A sleeping girl resting against the door, with the strands of her hair that seemingly tried to escape a cataclysm by running in every possible direction. Her mouth was slightly opened as she faintly breathed, a small trail of transparent liquid escaping from between her lips.
"Ugh—aghk!"
My body jumped on instinct, backing away several meters. I was stopped the moment the back of my head hit the metal forge with full force.
And as my recently woken brain is scrambled into a stupor, a loud bang resounded across the closed room, waking up the other resident.
"….Shi—rou?"
Crap—!
The mumbling voice of someone who had just awoken reaches my ears but it´s completely ignored, just as I did with the pain and my swirling vision. My arms move with all the strength I can muster, my fist tightens around the blanket that is loosely draped over me and I wrapped it over my lower body.
If I don´t manage to hide it and show her something like that, then I very well might die from shame. If there was a window in this room, I would have already chosen to jump through it, no matter how high we were.
As my vision stops swirling, a girl with her face tilted to the side is peering at me with half-lidded eyes. She doesn´t take a single moment to fix her morning appearance and—
"Isn´t it uncomfortable, sleeping like that...?"
"Idiot, are you saying that after sleeping against the door all night!?"
My voice is raised, as blood rushes to my cheeks and heats up my face. I´m laying sprawled on the floor with my neck and shoulders resting on the cold metal of the forge. The awkward position is embarrassing but I can´t move for the moment.
—The smallest of mistakes can be fatal for me now.
"Shirou, your face is all red. Did you actually catch a cold by sleeping on the floor?"
"—Huh!? No, I´m fine!"
Mikasa stands up and with a crumpled uniform that can only match her wild hair, she starts coming closer as if to check my temperature.
I wave one of my arms with wild abandon, but neither that nor my loud reassurances stop her, when she closes the distance enough to be in range of my forehead by simply bending forward, I resort to my last option.
With a battle cry, I throw the blanket into the air, exactly between her line of sight and myself. I use both my arms to lift my entire body off the floor and flip myself midair.
"..."
My actions are not met by words of any kind, she simply stares down at me. Eyes open with bafflement, she is just looking at the me that´s lying face down on the floor.
My face somehow manages to get even hotter as I turn my head around to return her stare, the silence that fills the room and the smell of the burnt oxygen and smelt iron that managed to impregnate everything and everyone in it are the only things that can distract me from the situation.
Her voice is the one that appears first
"Nice flip—?"
—Line break—
"Thank you for the blanket but you didn´t need to do that. I used to sleep on the floor of the outbuilding all the time on the cabin, and never got sick."
"Hm"
We are walking down the road between the main school building and the dorms. The sun still hasn´t come out but the artificial light of the lamps built along the premises is more than enough for us to see where we are going.
Even if neither of us slept for long, we aren´t tired enough to trip on flat ground.
After spending long, embarrassing moments on the floor while Mikasa peered down on me I manage to stand up without shaming myself. To avoid talking about the reason behind my actions I started cleaning up everything I dirtied while working there last night.
I can´t help but admit that it went faster with the two of us.
When we got out of the room the old man who was sleeping behind the desk wasn´t there anymore. His replacement was a handcrafted paper sign that said to call a certain scroll number in case of an emergency.
On the way from the fourth floor to the first, we didn´t encounter anyone either.
"Besides, there wasn´t a need for you to sleep there. You could have gone back to the dorms or at least you could have brought a second blanket. What if you get sick?"
"So, you can´t get sick by sleeping like that but I can?"
"Ugh..."
I guess I can´t say much if she puts it like that. Now that I think about it, I don´t think we ever caught a cold for something like sleeping in the cold. Still, if she were to make a habit of sleeping like that, I can´t say I wouldn´t worry.
Besides, I don´t think I could sleep at all if I have to worry about what happened this morning every day. If I just take something to cover myself next time I go to the forge, she shouldn´t have a reason to go sleep there, right?
No, wait a second...
"If you took a blanket to me is because you were worried, I would get sick. By that reasoning, shouldn´t you have brought one for yourself in the first place?"
"I forgot to bring one for me."
I almost trip on nothing after such an unexpected response. I can´t say that I expect anything else but hearing her boldly admitting it without hesitation was unexpected.
...I´m relieved that we are talking like normal, after what I did yesterday I wouldn´t blame her if she was mad at me. Refusing to even speak to me, wouldn´t be too much of an overreaction.
"A-Anyways, that doesn´t matter. You don´t need to go there next time I go to the forge at night. I won´t be able to sleep at all otherwise. I can bring my own blanket if I need one, besides the place is warm enough as it is."
"If you care so much about resting properly you can always use your bed. And I don´t understand, why can´t you sleep if I´m there?"
—!
Asking me why, there is no way I can say the real reason.
I wish I could just use something of common sense, a teenage boy and girl shouldn´t sleep in the same room after a certain age. But how can I say that if we are made to share rooms with the opposite gender by the school?
"Um...It´s because I get embarrassed by people looking at my face when I sleep."
"—"
Without any regard for the struggle of a boy my age, Mikasa just stares at me. Disregarding my poorly made excuse.
….She doesn´t seem convinced in the least. I need to remind her of that before tonight at some point.
Without taking too much more time, we already arrive at the entrance of the dorm. The distance between the school and the dorm building is quite short, if we timed ourselves from the moment we left the forge to now, not even ten minutes must have passed.
Once we are inside, we both stop talking and we walk in a more subdue manner, it would be too rude to wake up the other students this early in the morning. Continuing with our quiet steps we arrive at our room and enter it.
There, we are greeted with the sight of Pyrrha sleeping under her sheets and Jaune, not quite doing the same. It seems that those pajamas of his make up for their appearance by being warm, as he sleeping in a bed with its cover thrown aside.
I pick it up and leave it on at an unused corner of his bed before continuing on.
Mikasa and I enter the bathroom, without exchanging a word we start cleaning our teeth. I look into the mirror and two persons with disheveled looks and dark bags under their eyes are there, doing the same activity as us.
Just looking at those reflections an intense urge to yawn bubbles up inside me. I don´t know at what hour I stopped working on the forge, but I can´t imagine that I managed to sleep more than two hours.
With the first part of our morning routine done, I simply turned around and grab the hairbrush of my own initiative. I don´t want to concede so easily, but at the same time, I´m not energetic enough to fight her about something like this right now.
I´m not capitulating now because I want to make up for yesterday or anything like that.
—Line break—
We manage to get changed, drop our untidy uniforms in the laundry bin, and leave the building without waking anyone up.
The chilling morning winds, typical of the time of the day when the sun has yet to rise, hit my body covered with a new set of exercise clothes. They aren´t anything fancy or extravagant, but it´s a novel feeling after using secondhand clothes for my morning routines the last couple of months.
If I had to complain about something it´s that they are too tight. No, it´s not that they don´t fit me well enough, but that they fit me too well. It´s just common sense to buy clothes a size too big for someone who is still growing, right?
"I guess that´s what happens when you buy something in a rush."
The murmur leaves my lips as I start lightly stretching, the familiar tightness in my muscles gained after spending the night on the floor lessens the more I move, with my heart pumping blood all throughout my body.
My sight is firmly planted on the ground, being simultaneously repelled and attracted by the person next to me. She is dressed similarly to me, the only difference is that her clothes are a darker color scheme.
That´s the only difference, which of course means that our outfits share the same traits. Tight. Too tight. Her clothes are too tight, if the person herself doesn´t complain then it should obviously not be an issue. Yet...
"L-Let´s start already. That´s should be enough for a warm-up"
Mikasa simply ignores any oddity in my speech and starts off. Her figure moves up ahead and before I have enough time to react, a considerable distance is created between us.
"Hm—?"
That´s... strange?
I start running as well, my feet move forward one by one and the distance stops increasing once I have gained enough speed. I up my pace, trying to catch up to her, but before I could get to her side, she is once again going faster than me.
In response, I can only intensify the rhythm of my moving limbs. The only thing in my sight is the back of the black-haired girl, no matter how much I manage to shorten the gap, she regularly speeds up before I can get to her side.
"Ha— What´s going on with her?"
We have run together several times during the past month, every morning that I would wake up to complete my morning routine she would, without fail, come with me. It wasn´t that she simply started worrying about her cardiovascular health or anything of the style.
While there were times she took the lead and started running ahead of me, she never did so from the beginning. She has always kept going at the pace I was going because...
….She started doing it after the day I was shot the night of the exams to enter Beacon. Her goal was obviously to keep an eye on me, even if she said otherwise.
Unnecessary things, like the thoughts I shouldn´t have when looking at her fitting outfit, vanish from my mind. I can´t afford them after all. It´s been five minutes since we started, but we are already going at the fastest pace I usually ran during the mornings, but like if it was nothing, steps into a higher gear once more.
"Ha— Ha—"
I can tell.
She isn´t running like this so that I can´t catch up.
What´s she is doing is regularly increasing her speed as if she was just warming up like she was all by herself.
If I wanted to catch up it would be easy, neither of us is running at our top speed. To do so we would need to use Aura, but using it would render the whole thing pointless.
In the first place, there is no reason for me to catch up. This isn´t a race, so getting the lead would be meaningless. On the other hand, as long as I finish my own work out everything should be fine, forcing myself to match her wouldn´t make sense.
"…. As if—!"
My speed becomes equal to hers, and before she can go any faster, I force my limbs to move forward, piercing the wind with movements like a coupling rod.
—The distance between us is finally less than two meters.
I have been running for a long time, the first thing Kiritsugu told me I should do was to run. I´m not proud of the fact nor delusional about my capabilities. If we are talking physical condition, the girl in front of me has always been superior.
Being left behind can´t be helped, you can´t run faster than someone who is faster than you. Yet—
Once again, the girl with a practiced running form quickens her steps, but the distance that should have been widened remains the same.
—My arms and my legs move with reckless effort, matching what I can´t match.
—Line break—
"Haa—Haa—Haa—Haa—!"
Pained breaths leave my throat as I try to take as much oxygen as possible, the heart on my chest still beating like the roaring engine of a car and a head covered with sweat-matted hair.
I can´t remember the last time that just running for an hour has left me like this, supporting my leaning body with my hands resting on my knees. I would be more disappointed with this result if it wasn´t for the girl currently stopped in front of me.
Standing there while redoing her ponytail, even she was affected.
While she clearly isn´t as overworked as I´m, her breathing is still labored and her body is covered in sweat. I didn´t manage to close the gap at any point of the full hour, no matter how hard I tried. But I was also never left behind, you could say that I somehow managed to keep up with her.
Seemingly knowing I was watching her, her head turns to me and our gazes meet. Her aloof voice comes out, not matching the strenuous activity she had just finished.
"We should get going, if we take too much time here the gymnasium might be too full."
"Eh...?"
"Hm? Did you not like working out there yesterday, Shirou? We can just go somewhere else and do normal exercises if that´s the case."
"N-No! There is no problem with the gym, let´s get going."
My reply seems to have convinced her, as she starts walking away. Strangely enough, just like our run the day before, we ended up behind the dorm building after an hour of running. It´s should be an easy ten minutes' walk from here to the third floor on the main building of the academy.
I hesitantly move forward one step, and with legs that seem to be made of soft rubber, I almost fall face-first into the ground.
Bracing myself, I start unsteadily walking at a pitiful pace.
This is really bad, I got too heated earlier and I didn´t just run at my full speed for an hour, I somehow managed to go faster than what I should be able to, even if it wasn´t by much. I completely forgot about the next part where we are supposed to go work out for another hour.
I can´t call this anything but childish and embarrassing, getting too much into a one-sided competition against Mikasa is bad enough but admitting that out loud to her would be worse. That´s why not only I couldn´t refuse going but I completely lost my chance to ask her what´s the deal with her this morning.
Taking more time and cool looks from my partner, as she had to slow down to my rhythm, than what I should have. We pass through the road to the academy´s main building, go up the stairs and we finally arrive at the gymnasium.
"It looks like the students still aren´t coming here?"
I spoke out as soon as we crossed the door, inside a very similar scenario to yesterday is in front of us.
A low number of students are inside a room with a large variety of machines designed to exercise, each and every single piece of equipment seems new and expensive. The few students using said machines are mostly the same that were here the day before, although some are missing and new faces can be seen replacing them.
Even if I said that the only persons here that I can confidently say that I recognize is that girl with bunny ears that had a ridiculously strong lower body and...
"Hello there—!"
"Pyrrha."
The redheaded girl who is our teammate, it seems like running on a treadmill is how she starts her workouts every day. Unlike yesterday when she turned to us while running to talk to us, she simply gave us a good-natured greeting and continued doing her thing.
...She also seems to be going at a faster pace than yesterday.
After calling out her name and waving, I start going my way. Mikasa is already ahead of about to pick one of the few machines we already know how to use. My lower limbs still feel like I´m stepping on needles but it should be fine if I focus mainly on my upper body today, maybe.
Unlike the tasking first part of this morning´s routine, this hour of exercises went without much happening. My body wasn´t in peak condition but I, somehow, ended up doing everything I was supposed to and more without completely coming falling apart.
The fact that I saw Mikasa doing more repetitions and using heavier weights than yesterday was entirely unrelated.
"Huh, you didn´t seem like the type, being so tiny, but you actually do pump some iron. Eh, Emiya?"
As I started going towards the showers with my aching muscles, a voice called out to me from the front door
A tall boy with light brown hair, dressed in simple workout clothes is leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. His lips curved into a smile as he looks down at me.
"Ah, Cardin. You are also coming to work out?"
"Did your brain short circuit after doing too... Wait, you really look like crap. How did you manage to look worse than usual, did you drop a dozen dumbbells on your face or something?"
"Eh? I don´t know how I look right now, but it should just be a lack of sleep. Even if I don´t know how most of the machines here work I´m not clumsy enough to hit my face with them."
I said that, but with the way Cardin´s smile changed as his features narrowed, I can only wonder how I must look right now.
"Don´t come here if you don´t even know something as basic as using the equipment, I don´t want to touch something covered with the blood of an idiot. Go ask someone or search for a video on your scroll before coming here next time, short stuff."
With his piece said and an abruptness that can only be matched by his rudeness, he leaves stomping the ground with heavy steps without giving me a chance to respond.
I don´t really get him. Does he just want to insult me or is he trying to give advice in a roundabout way?
With that question on my mind, I resume my walking towards the showers.
—Line Break—
On the dorm building, I climb set after set of stairs passing through the first to the fourth floor before arriving at my destination on the fifth.
A black piece of clothing is within the hold of my right hand, while my left hand is roaming through my still wet hair. Small droplets of water fall onto and darken my school uniform.
There, unlike the previous levels, are no hallways filled with different rooms housing the various teams. Instead, a big and ample room with various wooden closets, exactly in front of the stairs a big door labeled "Communal Kitchen" sits closed.
"Hm, I should hurry up a bit, it took me longer to get here than I planned for."
Yesterday I promised that I would start making breakfast and lunch from today on, right now it´s 7:20 in the morning and class starts today at 9 o clock. If I want enough time to get to the dining hall and eat with my team, that leaves me an hour to finish four breakfasts and lunches.
It´s a tight schedule but if I share ingredients between the two meals and try to be efficient, I should be able to manage.
"So, someone actually came. You sure have great timing, just finished stocking everything."
"—?"
A moment before I could reach for the handle, the labeled door is open revealing a burly man dressed in a worker uniform, he is carrying a big bag over his shoulder.
His face has big features that would normally make him look intimidating but no matter how thick his eyebrows are, how prominent the scar under his left eye is or how muscular his neck is, it´s impossible for the man to look scary with two floppy dog ears on top of his head.
As my eyes were somewhat fixed on the large pair of brown animal ears on his head, the man starts grumbling.
"Kids never come here on weekdays, they always prefer to just sit back and relax while eating anything as long they don´t have to cook it for themselves. The hard work I put into making your dorm kitchen always stocked and clean is a big waste of my time.
I personally went to the docks to get you fresh fish this morning, and most likely those old women from the cafeteria will come and take it away before tomorrow with the same excuse that´s it´s just going to waste here"
"Ah, thanks for your hard work."
The complaining man just loudly huffs before shrugging and going his way, as he passed me he told me to make sure to clean everything I use.
I turn around and follow his retreating figure with my eyes, his walk is awkward because every time he steps with his left foot the man limps for a moment before continuing.
Did he get injured or...?
"—Woah."
The sight beyond the kitchen is surprising enough to make me stop after putting just one foot inside. I was expecting something similar to what I found in the school kitchen, but it´s surprisingly different.
The various new and expensive appliances are something that I have come to expect from this school, even if I get nervous using them in case that I break them. The problem is that I don´t recognize even half of what they are supposed to do.
While I wouldn´t call myself an expert or anything, I have worked part-time in restaurants before, but besides the obvious stuff like the ovens, fridges, and coolers the only thing I can say I know how to use from sight would be the rice maker on one of the shelves.
"What´s the deal with all these ingredients? It makes sense that the staff of the school kitchen comes to take away the ingredients here."
Cabinets filled with various boxes and cans, numerous spices in small glass containers clearly labeled, fridges full of different types of fish and cuts of meat.
If this is something that gets regularly stocked, it doesn´t matter if it´s once every two weeks or something done monthly the amount of Lien spent would quickly build up.
"That old man, is he blackmailing the council for funds?"
As far as I know, everything in this academy is paid for by Vale´s government. It makes sense, after all, Huntsmen are a necessity for maintaining the safety of the kingdom. But I can´t imagine they would just give them funds for luxuries like this.
One thing is the gymnasium and forge, but even the kitchen for the students is like this?
The headmaster talked about getting additional support from the council that led to the students being able to use Dust and other necessary supplies for crafting and maintaining their weapons. Even if only a tenth of all students used that privilege, the expenditure would be many times what I can save from working in an entire year.
"Well, it's not like I can figure the finances out just by thinking about it. Let's just start cooking for now."
I put the piece of black clothing I had been carrying over my head and tie the straps behind my back. This apron was something that I had bought during yesterday's trip.
While the question of what to make echoes through my head, my eyes fall once more onto the rice maker and the place where the fresh fish is stored.
It's a bad idea, I will just barely manage to do it on time if I choose that for lunch. Even if all the ingredients are here, I'm not good at making it so I might simply fail outright as well…
"Haa— Well, I guess it can´t come out too badly."
Contrary to my pessimistic prospects with regards to making the dish, I start preparing it anyways. I search through the cabinets until I find the place where the rice is and take out a sizeable amount of the needed grain. Setting up the rice cooker, I pour 6 cups of rice and an equal amount of water.
While that is getting done, I start taking out everything else I will need. Plastic wrappers, a rolling mat, a cutting board, rice vinegar, vegetable oil, eggs, a packet of seaweed, various vegetables, and a large-sized salmon.
—As a knife appeared in my hand, taken from deep within me, the door to the kitchen is opened without warning.
"Mikasa, what are you doing here?"
"I asked you to prepare the meals, it´s only natural to come to help you."
"Um—"
She walks through the room towards the countertop I´m using, her appearance is similar to my own with an apron draped over her school uniform and her long dark hair is still wet from taking a shower.
My eyes trail her, and for some unknown reason, my mind becomes blank until she reaches my side. Then it´s when my eyes widen as I remember what I´m preparing.
"Y-You know, there is no need for that! I can handle it myself, actually, I prefer it that way—!"
"…..?"
A silent and questioning stare.
This is bad, what I decided to make is embarrassing enough. There is a great difference between serving it to her and preparing together.
" What are you doing then, Shirou? Is it something that I would only get in the way?"
"Eh…."
She looks into the ingredients on the table with narrowed eyes, before long she returns her gaze to my face with obvious doubt.
Of course, a meal that I can make where she would be detrimental towards doesn't exist. In the first place while I'm more experienced I can't say I surpass her in skill by much.
When we were children she was actually better in the kitchen; the difference between someone self-taught and one who learned from her mother was clear. While that may no longer be the case, I can´t exactly say that her giving me a hand won´t help at all.
"—….Sushi."
"Oh—."
I speak with a small mumble just enough for her to hear me, at the same time I turn the attention to the large fish. I´m already behind schedule so, I move it toward the side and start taking the scales of it with the knife.
Her one-syllable response is the only thing I hear for a few moments, before the sound of falling water starts. While I flip the Salmon around, I look at Mikasa and see her calmly cleaning the vegetables.
Without turning around, she reaches out with her open palm in a familiar manner as if knowing I was watching her. Moving by instinct more than anything else, I summon a knife and give it to her before realizing it.
For reasons I can´t understand, her not even commenting on the dish manages to make me more embarrassed. So, as I finish to de-scale the fish, I speak out.
"A-Actually, I have been wanting to go eat this for a while. When you mentioned it yesterday it got me excited for it, so I decided to make it for lunch today."
"-This amount of vegetables is too much if you are making lunch for four. Do I use chop them all? And what type of cut do you want for them?"
"... I will also use them for omelets for breakfast, so it would be helpful if you can prepare all of them. Cutting them in julienne should be good as well."
She didn´t even acknowledge my excuse, it makes it looks like there wasn´t even a chance I didn´t decide to make sushi because she wanted it yesterday.
Hmph, I would like to take what I´m feeling out on something, but the salmon I´m currently filleting isn´t something I paid for. It wouldn´t be right to hold it responsible for crimes it didn´t commit, so I can only do it carefully.
—Slicing a centimeter before the gill down to the bone before flipping it over and doing the same. With the knife bone-deep, I slowly slide the blade downwards towards the fin. After I separate the long strip of meat from the fish, I do follow the same steps with the other side.
The two long strips of salmon contain most of the edible parts. I slice the tail, the second cut, the top, and the underbelly.
Two strips became twelves different cuts of fish. It´s obviously too much for four people, so I start wrapping everything I won´t use in plastic paper and storing it on the fridge for the use of other students.
"I'm done here, I will help you finish when I get rid of the wa—"
I turn around but the expected figure of my partner cutting vegetables is not what I find. Instead, she is already throwing the skin and odd ends of all the products.
A mountain of chopped vegetables is neatly stacked to her side. It took me five minutes to deal with the fish, she did all that in such a short amount of time?
"Mikasa…Did you use your Aura because you were in a hurry?"
"...? I don't think there will be a problem. I didn't mess up any ingredient."
I can only sigh and move next to her. It´s honestly my fault, I forgot that she has never cooked for so many people before. This is also not something a mother would teach her small daughter when teaching her how to do household chores.
I reach into the sink, where she left the cutting board to clean it later, and take out the rectangular piece of wood.
"—Ah."
As if the wood was passed through an industrial machine, plentiful amounts of deep and thin scars decorate the surface of the board. It´s now difficult to say if it can still be used.
Mikasa´s face slightly lowers and although her countenance hasn´t changed much, it´s clear she is feeling guilty. Her chin hiding behind the red cotton of her scarf, her mouth slightly parted and the skin between her eyebrows with a small crease.
Hm. Is it wrong of me to think that when she gets like that, worrying about small matters, she looks cute? I can´t imagine that she would be happy with me if she knew what I was thinking...
"Don´t make that face, I was the one that asked you to do it in the first place. I will go and apologize to the one in charge of this kitchen, it might be rude to say it but he looked kind of adorable. I doubt he would get mad with me."
"Adorable...?"
"Can you dice two or three cuts of the salmon? You can take your time, the rice should be in 10 minutes or so. Please, try to keep the causalities of cooking utensils as low as possible."
Taking around half the chopped vegetables, I turned around and grabbed two different pans, and leave a bewildered black-haired girl behind as I look for a stove.
If she took offence to my joke, she didn´t voice it.
Since I´m planning to make a fairly simple rice omelet, what I have to do is pretty easy from now on. Stir-frying the vegetable on one of the oiled pans, and heating up the other for the fish. It´s something I have done many times before, so I just focus on the sound of a knife hitting a board happening in the background.
—With a calmer mind now, the image of the two of us in the kitchen pops into my mind.
It´s a bit weird but now that I think about it, I can´t remember many times where Mikasa and I cooked together. We certainly did all the other household chores together, but for some reason, we always cooked taking turns.
Ding—!
"Ah, the rice must be done. Could you take over here for a moment, Mikasa? You just need to stir the vegetables and drop the salmon on the other one."
The girl carrying a plate with chopped-up salmon nods and relieves me from the stove. She already regained her usual coolness, and it seems she isn´t too worried about the ruined boards anymore.
The rice from the Dust-powered cooker is a specific variety that is used for sushi, it´s not the tastiest for a normal dish but if you use it with other flavorful ingredients it shouldn´t be too much of an issue.
—As I start separating the amount I will need for the breakfast and what will be needed for lunch, an odd hammering sound starts coming from the door leading to this kitchen. For some reason, the short girl who uses an oversized hammer and loves pancakes comes into my mind.
"They do say to strike while the iron is hot..."
I whisper to convince myself and to gather my courage, even if the saying doesn´t really apply itself to this situation. It´s probably better than nothing.
"Mikasa, today after class I´m going to go into the city again. I will start patrolling the city, even if I don´t have any lead I can´t stay here doing nothing."
A clear-cut declaration that leaves me without any excuse. I had already talked to her about this, it´s not that I think she forgot, but since I already know what her response will be it´s better to deal with this sooner rather than later.
And as I prepare myself for it, nothing comes.
Instead of the quick and almost instant denial I expected, she doesn´t even turn to face me. For a long moment, the strange and out of nowhere hammering sounds and the sizzling sound of heated oiled is the only thing I can hear. Until...
"Fine."
"I know what you want to say, there is no way for me to do anything to the guy from yesterd—What did you say?"
"Fine?"
Huh-?
My hands move in an automated manner, they accomplish their task without any input from my part. It´s not that I'm multitasking, but the main hardware that´s my brain is just not working. That much is clear because I just had an auditory hallucination.
As I stood there, wondering about how to proceed, she continued speaking on her own.
"If I could stop you by asking, we wouldn´t be in this academy. Besides Shirou, I already gave you my swords. If you are going anywhere, I will be there."
"—"
I don't know how I didn't realize what she meant when she handed those swords.
It's not that she will be weaponless without them but a promise she is forcing to keep by not giving herself another choice.
-To always fight by my side.
"Mikasa, you—"
I don't finish the sentence.
Nor does she say anything else. We both continue working on the food, each of us within our own heads momentarily isolated from the other.
Emiya Shirou chose to fight, many years ago. I can't ever take that choice back and it´s also something I have never desired. That's why my decision to involve myself with the killings in Vale was never a question. But if-
—If a person has to choose whetever to fight or not beforehand, then when…
As if to distract myself, my focus returned entirely to cooking. Without realizing it, I had worked on preparing the dishes for 30 minutes without saying a single word.
Eggs were whisked and seasoned, rice was cooled while bathed in rice vinegar, omelets were made, sushi was armed, rolled, and stored. Was it because the hammering noise accompanied me for all that time that I ended up making an extra dish?
"—Shirou, if you feed a stray dog, it will only come back wagging its tail and barking for more. Do you want that?"
"I don´t think that calling referring to a classmate like that is good. I wasn´t actually planning to make them, but I saw the ingredients and those sounds from earlier...?"
?
We both stop one step beyond the kitchen.
The room that connects the stairs with the communal kitchen, the place where I was an hour ago is completely different. There wasn't much that was changed but the previous atmosphere is irreconcilable with the current one.
In front of the door we just came out of, a big cardboard box with a rope that connects it to a dangling net on the ceiling. A cartoonish trap that one could never take seriously is laid before us, with a clear message written in what looks like a sharpie:
—Beautiful and Awesome girl (Without her hammer) trapped inside. Do not open and rescue the Beautiful and Awesome girl (Without her hammer), especially if you are a generous, ginger or a guy.
"—"
I...
I don't know how to respond to this. Does anyone know how to respond to this? Is this something that I don't get because I was raised outside the kingdoms? Perhaps a common joke between teenagers? Yeah, maybe right now similar pranks are being played out to other people in Beacon.
Mikasa didn't bother wasting a second rationalizing this as I did.
She simply stared at the box, then at me, and back at the box. And decided to ignore it altogether. She, without glancing at the trap for the third time, just coolly walked around it while motioning me to follow with a nod of her head.
"—How foolish!"
With a scream that served as an announcement and declaration, a small girl jumped out of one of the many closets that were in the room. A trap within a trap, a cunningness that I didn´t expect from a girl who managed to fall asleep while standing.
—A perfect surprise attack without any killing intent.
The girl with orange hair, dressed in our school uniform, finishes her trap. While in midair, she covers the head of my unprepared partner with what looks like an empty potato sack. The assailant doesn´t give a second of respite, she locks her arms from behind Mikasa around her midsection,
"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. I can´t believe you Shirou, how could you ignore a Beautiful and Awesome girl in distress. You didn´t even stop to check the box. Where is the boy I met so many long years ago? "
"...Nora, we met last month."
—I ignore it.
"A month or a couple of years is the same. When you have such a deep friendship time doesn´t matter. So, I will forgive you for not trying to save that poor Beautiful and Awesome girl, if you just give me a couple pancakes from your personal pancake pile.
—?
Personal pancake pile? Do I look like someone with such a ludicrous thing?
The orange-haired girl speaks of things that make no sense without turning back to look at me, she is completely focused on the motionless girl she is holding captive. Is she so desperate for the pancakes that she hasn´t realized it yet?
—I continue ignoring it.
Actually, when I started hearing the hammering noises, I started making pancakes without realizing it. Most likely it was because I was reminded that she wanted to ask for them the day before. I don´t mind if she is asking me for breakfast.
…. But, shouldn't I at least scold her here? Even if I feel like it would be meaningless, like teaching a tiger table manners, I have to try.
"Nora, that´s no way to ask for something. If you want something from someone else, using words is the proper way. If you start using force to get what you want, getting friends in school will be difficult."
"Renny actually said the same thing! That´s why I didn´t bring my hammer, there is no need for leg-breaking if I get a hold of you like this right? I get pancakes, you get to have a cute girl like me to hold you while you have a bag on your head. Everyone wins."
—With those words, the icy ominous aura I have been ignoring somehow grows even colder.
"... You know Nora, I just happen to have some extra healthy pancakes made with whole wheat and topped with nuts and fruits. You can have it afterward."
" Extra healthy? I might actually leave them for Ren then, he has been in a bit of a sour mood since yesterday. That´s why I came, to give him a bit of "man time" for himself, you know what I mean. Anyway Shirou, you are slimmer than you look you know? You have an iron stomach but really have a girly waist."
She remarks those words by petting her captive´s stomach, still not realizing their true identity. Was it those wondering hands what finally pulled the trigger?
Mikasa, who had been stock-still since the beginning, slowly moves her arms without a word of warning. One goes to the sack, revealing the icy look on her face that was only matched by the atmosphere I have been ignoring. Her other hand moves and takes a hold of the smaller girl's face.
"—Oh, you are not Shirou."
Where the words of realization from Nora Valkyrie.
—Line break—
"You know Shirou, having to wait so long for breakfast kind of left us expecting something, a bit more than an omelet. Not that I´m complaining, I love a good omelet, but it is just anticlimactic after that buildup?"
"Yes, I know. I got too caught up with something else earlier, so I had to go with a simple option for breakfast. It should still have enough to get by until lunch."
Having arrived late to the cafeteria, I´m faced with a somewhat disappointed blond team leader. His hair is still wet as he pokes around his breakfast with a spoon.
It seems he showered today before coming to get breakfast, does that mean he started training this morning? It would explain his sleepy face somewhat. Physical training can be tiring until you get used to it.
—Should I say that when I just overworked myself this morning?
"Is this salmon? I don´t think I have ever tried something like this. It´s unexpected but not bad at all."
"Hmm—You are right Pyrrha! Actually, this tastes a lot better than it looks."
After a taste of their food, my teammates praise it. Or at least I think so? I can´t tell by their comments if they are complimenting it or not. It would be too bad if they don´t at least enjoy it, even the cheapest cuts of salmon aren´t all that cheap.
If you cook with expensive ingredients, at the very least you need to make something tasty.
I start eating but instead of focusing on the flavors my eyes fall on the two girls from another team that is sitting next to us. Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, both of them are talking about something trivial but they seem to be getting along much better.
" …...So, if I adjusted the barrels by a few millimeters It could get to the point of complete opposition. But of course, I couldn´t! That would be an infringement of Vale law or something silly like that. It makes no sense..."
Well, Ruby is the one that´s mostly talking but Weiss nods or shakes her head from time to time in response. You can´t say they look like best friends but at least it doesn´t look like Weiss will try to start a mutiny any time soon.
Amongst the conversation of my teammates and the people around me, I continue eating my breakfast but there is one thing that I should check now before classes start. So, I take my scroll and check today´s news.
— Building caught on fire, at least two confirmed causalities.
— Atlassian prosthetic cargo for a joint experiment stolen by band of bandits near Vale.
— Alleged White Fang members sighted in the residential districts of the city.
— Council proposal to reduce the number of Huntsmen mission around the kingdom to increase security regarding the recent streak of killings.
— Dust robberies culprit Roman Torchwick still remains on the run since his last hit two weeks ago. The police Director promises his long-awaited capture.
"—"
As always it seems that whenever I look at the news only troubling headlines are being listed. I can´t speak about things like whatever decision the Kingdom´s council comes out with, whatever the White Fang is trying to do or how the police will try to stop the Dust robberies.
Topics like that are too difficult for me to comment on without knowing much about them. Instead...
I can´t help but think back on the two assassins that targeted Ruby during Initiation. Back then the one who used a crossbow was dealt a crippling injury by Mikasa, who cut off both his hands. Criminals can´t exactly walk into a hospital and ask for a surgeon, so the chances that he reattached his missing limbs are low.
If someone like them needed a prosthetic, they could buy them from the black market or steal them. I don´t think about this too much because something else captures my mind.
—For some reason, when I think about that building fire a foreboding feeling of someone who has been sentenced to be hanged grips my heart.
"Shirou, is everything alright? You stopped eating a while ago."
"Hm—?"
Pyrrha´s voice pulls me from being buried from my thoughts with a jolt. Looking away from my scroll, a redhead girl with an inquisitive look is staring straight at me.
"I just got caught up looking at the news. There isn´t anything interesting going on today."
To my side, Mikasa is staring at me as while talking to the blonde girl of team RWBY sitting beside her. Okay, talking might be being too generous, as she hasn´t responded with more than one-word answers to the girl who is trying to make conversation with her.
I was going to signal her that I was okay and that she should try to talk back to Yang, even If her looks make it difficult but something across the other side of the table caught my attention.
"Weiss, I couldn´t help but notice that you are pretty white, with the hair and your dress. Do you know what goes great with white? Yellow.
I checked in the mirror this morning and guess who has natural blond hair?"
—Eight persons on two tables.
One with a red scarf stares emotionlessly, a blonde girl covers her mouth, a blond boy who awaits with a smile, a girl with a bronze diadem cringes in pain, a girl with a black bow on her head is starring straight into my half-eaten food with great intensity, a redheaded small girl looks to her fellow team leader in incomprehension, I look at everyone else and….
….the white-haired hair who stands up with an impressive amount of disgust on her face.
"I'm going to contemplate how to dye my hair and clothes jet black while I revise Oobleck's homework in the classroom."
"Black also goes great with—homework!?"
"You didn't even do your homework? Aren't you ashamed to call yourself a leader? Even Ruby did hers last night."
The retreating girl who was leaving with righteous anger, turned back to admonish my still reeling leader. The normal reaction of being lectured at that you would expect from him never came, instead he looked at all the people that made the two teams before taking action, but he was not the only one.
—My leader with blond hair and the blonde girl with waist-long hair both jumped from their place and cried a plea at the same time.
""—Pyrrha/Rubes! Can you lend me your homework, please!?""
Weiss might have said something, either to my teammate or her own, I can't be sure. My gaze is currently interlocked with Mikasa's. A silent conversation starts and ends in less than a second, afterward we both nod to the other. And…
"Pyrrha can you lend us your homework as well?"
We both ask for the assignment we forgot to do yesterday after everything that happened. I can't excuse myself too much, after all, from the moment when that strange man beat us and to when I went to the forge, I had enough time to finish what professor Oobleck asked us.
—Breakfast ends with four people asking for something, two girls being asked that something, one silently standing with her arms crossed judging us, and the eighth member staring at my abandoned food.
—Linebreak—
"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
The man moves his mouth to speak but the words don't come out. Or they did and my brain failed to interpret them?
I shake my languid head awake.
" —….The young children were too excited and I had no choice, they are one of my few weaknesses, so I had to oblige them.
After the big dinner in the village chief's home, I started narrating some of my most memorable missions. Only the ones appropriate for all the family of course. You can't excite the kids too much before bedtime."
My mind resumed working, my interpretation functions once again fulling their purpose. I can understand the words of the Professor standing in the front of the classroom. The movements of his mustache-covered mouth are no longer meaningless.
—Is this the result of poor sleep and too much exercise or a showcase of inexplicable talent?
It all started with a simple situation, a simple thoughtlessly asked request. Professor Port asked me if I had any questions about the type of work he did as a huntsman. Without being prepared, I just asked the first thing that came into my mind.
"Um…. What did you do when you had to investigate a crime?"
And just like that, with a brief, but interesting, mention of someone who he caught after stealing the Dust reserves of a town that lasted less than a minute, he started talking about the applauding reaction of the town members and how they welcomed him with an applauding reception.
What I thought to be a brief mention became a long explanation.
Since that moment he started showing talent, the talent to not only talk about the same event for more than thirty minutes but also to drench each of his words with a somniferous drug that penetrates your defences.
His talent is such that I don´t know if I in fact fell asleep or I just got absent-minded for a second. I can´t complain about the lesson, even if the anecdote is something unrelated to Grimm studies I did ask for a similarly unrelated to the subject of the class.
And it´s not that the lesson is meaningless either...
The importance of the positive spirit of the people and the role that a huntsman has to do to keep it up or even improve it. He hasn´t said it explicitly but it´s not hard to understand that´s what he means... I think.
Even knowing that and that I should be listening closely to see if I can learn how to do such a complex thing, my eyelids grow heavier with each word.
"At least I´m not the only one..."
In a desperate attempt to keep me awake, my eyes catch sight of the people I know in my year.
Jaune, Cardin, and Nora are sprawled into their desk, making a remarkably close impression of someone in a coma. Yang is doing something similar, but her back is still against her seat and she wears aviator glasses to try to fool the professor, even if they are falling halfway out of place already.
The two girls on my team, are somehow still awake and they look to be paying attention.
Well, I can´t speak for Pyrrha but Mikasa is sitting next to me, and while she is facing the professor the pen in her hand hasn´t moved in a good while.
Ruby actually seems to belong to both camps of people so far, she is at moments wobbling her head with the energy of a flickering fire and at others sharply waking up and writing several long notes. Weiss instead is alternating between taking notes and painfully poking her partner in the sides every few moments. And...
"Huh—?"
Behind the girl, Lie Ren sits on his chair glaring fiercely at the man giving the class. It lasts but a single second before he returns to a blank, emotionless face. The difference is such that I can´t tell if I imagined the whole situation.
From furrowing brows and a mouth-drawn like a line to a face that seems to lack musculature, I don´t know if that can still be considered a mood swing.
I recall the conversation with Nora this morning, she did mention that her partner was in a bad mood. That´s nothing strange, any person can be in a bad mood. Even being angry with a teacher can´t be that weird. But—
—Is calming yourself that quickly something that a normal person can do?
CLAP—!
An echoing sound captured the attention of all in the room, even those who were sleeping and those who weren´t paying attention all jolted in place and turned to professor Port, who had his back turned to us as he was doing something I couldn´t see in his desk.
"Children, I´m sorry to cut my narration short. It seems I forgot that I had to tell you something, I didn't expect that fulfilling Mr. Emiya's request would take so long. Don´t worry we will pick up right where I left off, can´t leave you all wondering about what happened to the people of the town of Gao Kan."
—? My request?
I guess he isn´t wrong but at the same time, I can´t say he is correct.
The professor still doesn´t turn as he speaks, he is gathering several things from his desk and storing them in a small leather briefcase. He still has the same energetic voice he maintained since the beginning of the class.
But not long after he finally faces us and starts moving towards the door.
"Starting next class we are going to be going hunting! I understand that you would prefer to not waste our valuable time together doing something that´s not listening to the exhilarating experiences of my career but it´s what must be done.
So, we will start intermittently exploring Emerald Forrest once every two classes. Everyone must do their best, your grades are quite important after all. The missions that you will do after you graduate depend on them.
See you in our next class kids, bring your weapons and armor. If Glynda asks you don´t know where I am!"
He speaks those words, gives us a ridiculous goodbye, and in the same breath, he exits the classroom leaving everyone behind with minds full of questions.
The missions we can take depend on our grades? What does that mean, aren´t Huntsmen allowed to roam the world while doing what they can to help people? Isn´t that one of the reasons I came here?
Ring—!
Less than a minute passes, the bell rings and our teacherless class is finished. We can only leave the classroom and move to our next class.
—Line Break—
"Both can stop already, Mr. Arc Aura reached the minimum threshold. Mr. Winchester wins this session.
Mr. Winchester, this is just your second match of the year but you are already slacking off. Using movements as big as you did when attacking is asking to be hurt by your opponent. The result of the spar doesn´t matter, if you keep fighting like that you will develop bad habits that can lead you into something much worse than making an effort in class.
…. There are too many faults with your performance but I think it would be appropriate if you try to understand your capabilities before attacking your opponent next time."
With those words, spoken by the strict Huntress that teaches Combat Class, the two boys down below me walk away to the locker room. Neither of them looks happy with the result.
The reason behind my leader's despondent manner of walking is obvious enough. I don´t think there are many people who could laugh at losing without being able to land even a single hit on their opponent. But...
...Why is It that the opponent, who won without difficulty, looks angry enough to punch a wall?
"Well, Jaune did better than last time, r-right guys?"
"Sounding reaaaally confident there Ruby."
The older sister ruffles the hair of her sister as if to mock the words she just said. Well, no matter how much Ruby didn´t believe what she said, she was right. From being having to be helped off the platform to being able to walk on his own is enough of an improvement for a day.
The first time, he might have thought that he had a chance of victory despite his lack of experience.
Jaune might not have fought any better today than he did yesterday, but he also didn´t do any worse. Normally, fighting against someone who you know is stronger than you and who has already beaten you is tough enough that you might suffer mentally during the fight and perform worse.
´ I think it would be appropriate if you try to understand your capabilities before attacking your opponent next time´
—Is it that he didn´t fear losing or he just didn´t understand that he couldn´t win?
Before I could come up with any conclusion, and before my teammate returned to the stands where the students seat to watch the fights the next two students to spar were selected. Lie Ren and Russel Thrush.
"You can do it, Ren—!"
"...You don´t need to scream Nora, I´m right next to you"
One is the partner and team leader of Nora, the girl that I know somewhat, with a big hammer and a bigger obsession with eating pancakes. I don´t know Ren very well at all but his partner always talks positively about him.
The other is the partner of Cardin, I meet him in the forest during initiation but I don´t know very much about him. Who would win between the two is a mystery to me.
—Without having to wait too long, the previous fighters returned, and the new ones were standing on the platform, listening to the Professor´s instructions.
The two stand separated by the obligatory ten-meter distance, the team leader is dressed in a long-sleeved green tailcoat and white pants. The other boy is dressed exactly as the time I meet wearing an outfit that can only be described as punk.
Their weapons are already on hand and their stances ready.
Ren´s weapons are two green handguns with a blade that descends from the endpoint of the gun´s barrel. His opponent wields the same weapons I once saw him use, two short blades with cylindrical Dust containers at their hilt.
"The match can begin."
With the concise announcement of professor Goodwitch, both boys start to fight. Each with opposite actions.
Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!
Ren's first move is to retreat backward while mercilessly making use of his reach advantage and shooting his rival with a rain of bullets. Meanwhile, his opponent puts his all into charging and decreasing the distance.
It doesn´t matter how fast the boy runs or how small he makes his body, for every bullet that doesn´t hit him another one does.
With each second and with each meter that he closes between the two, a portion of his aura is lost. Perhaps realizing his imminent defeat if he continues, the straight charge is abandoned for a different manoeuvre.
Using his hand as springs, he drops his body into the ground and pushes himself off into an acrobatic flip with seemingly no intended direction. He continues chaining moves that make one think of a circus act.
That alone shouldn´t be enough to avoid the offensive rain but—
Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!
—somehow the movements are erratic enough that Ren can´t land a single shot.
Guns are fired and bullets are dodged, neither student manages to do much as the gunfire´s sound fills the room. There is one that can´t advance and there is one that can´t damage his opponent any longer, one of the two will have to put a stop to this deadlock.
The gunshot sound halts abruptly. Did he run out of ammunition, or did he simply give up on that strategy?
Two different pair of blades intersect their path towards their enemy.
Without giving a second´s rest, Ren charged at the boy and decided to end the fight at a closer range. Using his green gun-blades, which should be lacking in slashing power, the team leader strikes aren´t fast but they use the fastest trajectory.
Those line-like attacks clash with the quick reflexes of the boy dressed like a punk.
It seems both of them are somewhat similar in how they fight. Their entire fight styles are based on their agility and skill instead of pure power. One jumps around never meeting an attack head-on, while the other relies on his polished technique.
"Come on Renny, break his legs! Or face, I´m not picky!"
"—"
It´s not just me, but every student turned around to look at the girl who screamed something so scandalous without a hint of shame. Even the professor seemed to have taken her eyes out of the fight for a couple of moments.
The only two who didn´t get distracted are the two currently fighting.
It has been five minutes since the beginning of the match and the two have traded many blows already. A clear victor can be seen, without even looking at the two fighters and their exchange of steel.
Lie Ren 72% Russel Thrush 33%
Just a single glance at the display with their Aura meter is enough to know how the fight will end In a couple of minutes if nothing is changed or if a trump card isn´t played. And that change does indeed happen...
After a new clash between their weapons, red flowing flames cover the blades of Russel.
The strength of his blows shouldn´t have increased by much by that simple fact but their next exchange sends his opponent's green weapon flying out of his hands.
With assured confidence against his weaponless foe, a winning blow straight to the head of Lie Ren descends with burning hostility.
"Agh—!"
And the match ends with one blow, the boy with flaming blades is sent flying back with a lighting fast pink palm that struck his stomach.
A green Aura flickers into visibility for less than a second before bright a bright pink glow shatters it like an egg being smashed by a hammer.
Lie Ren 60% Russel Thrush 05%
"That—"
"Was—"
"" So COOOL—!""
An excited cry in unison from Jaune and Ruby drown out the sound of the professor declaring the end of the match.
The fight wasn´t that interesting until the very last moment. Neither of the two students fought particularly bad but they also can´t be called good either. If I´m being honest, if you don´t count the last move, the match wouldn´t have been any different from all the others so far.
At least it seems that Jaune's spirit is up once again if he can scream like that. Not that I blame him...…. Aura techniques are certainly flashy.
Every Huntsman or Huntress uses Aura to fight. Warding off damage, empowering their bodies, and fueling their Semblances are the basics that almost everyone uses. and spend most of their time training those usages of Aura.
There are other abilities beyond the basics, healing yourself, gaining extrasensory perception, and more. How proficient one becomes in those areas is dependent on how much training a person invests and their natural proficiency.
For example, disregarding training, my Aura has always been bad at taking damage but at the same time, my injuries heal faster than normal. If there is any basis to why some people are better in some areas than others I never learned why.
—What Ren did is an Aura technique.
Unlike the previous abilities that everyone who unlocked their Aura can use, these techniques rely on a practiced and particular method of using Aura. Using his hands as a medium, he accumulated a portion of his Aura and released it inside his opponent's body.
The weaponized energy served as an explosive that can bypass physical bodies and be specialized in damaging Aura.
The most common of these types of techniques is using a blade instead of your body, storing and releasing the Aura in the form of a slash. They sound straightforward enough to perform, but in reality, they are quite hard to do.
Ren doesn´t seem to be above average in weapon handling and his physicality is nothing special but the control of his internal energy was top-notch.
"—"
The sparing down below continued, students that hadn´t had their chance to fight yesterday were given a spot today. So far, the only two who fought today and yesterday were Jaune and Cardin. Did professor Goodwitch plan to focus on my leader for now?
If that is the case it can´t be helped, he is probably the one who needs the most training right now.
I look around the room and the clock on the far side of the amphitheater, and my muscles start to tense by themselves. With the number of students left, it´s likely that I will get picked to fight before the end of class.
That isn´t a problem, it´s obvious that my turn would come out sooner or later. But there are only a few people who could be chosen as my opponent, like the girl sitting beside me. She is looking at the sparring students below us with her usual aloof look.
If I have to fight her, what can I try to get a winning chance—?
—Just ten minutes before class ends
"The last match of the day, just like I told you yesterday, it doesn´t end when the bell ring but when I say so. Mikasa Ackerman and Yang Xiao Long, both of you can go and arm yourself in the locker room, don´t be late."
—?
As both girls stand up, an unpleasant sensation fills my head and turns my tongue heavy with worry. These are probably the worst two people to put on a fight together right now.
"I´m sorry doll-face, but I'm coming from an ugly loss so today is my redemption moment. I will try to not be too rough with that pretty face, no hard feelings right?"
"—….Sure."
The cocky but good-natured challenge is met with a short and cold answer. My partner simply extends her hand towards me in askance, but before giving her the swords—
"Good luck and don´t do anything stupid."
"—"
The girl nods at me after holding my gaze for a moment. There shouldn´t be any reason for me to worry, Mikasa isn´t someone who would injure someone else without reason. But she has been acting strange today and—
—She has to fight the one person with an uncanny resemblance to the bandit who attacked Strumbella and defeated her once before.
The two leave while being cheered on by the member of their teams, Mikasa only stops for a moment as she passes Pyrrha but she continues on after a brief glance at our team member. It doesn´t take them long before they are already on the platform.
"Blondie! Be careful of her ultimate secret attack, the Universal Palm, Steel Grip!"
—?
The unexpected holler came from an even more unexpected person.
"Ren?"
No, that´s wrong. It came from the girl hiding behind her leader.
I shouldn´t be surprised that she was the one who said it. Not everybody could scream at the top of her lungs something like "Universal Palm, Steel Grip" and not be embarrassed in the least. Still...Since when did Mikasa learn a ridiculous-sounding technique like that?
Below me, looking as if they hadn´t heard a word of the short girl.
The blonde brawler and the swordsman dressed in dark colors like her hair are ten meters apart, being talked to by the professor in a voice that I can´t hear from here. The clock on the wall signals that there are five and a half minutes before class ends.
Beyond reason, the bad feeling I got since the spar was announced hasn´t vanished but instead escalated with each passing second. Should I—
"Shirou, who do you think will win?"
"...Eh? Jaune?"
"I didn´t see Mikasa fighting while we were in the forest, but you have known her for a while, right? Yang lost to Pyrrha but she didn´t seem exactly weak, especially when her hair started glowing like crazy. It really looked like something out of a comic..."
My leader´s question seem to have caught the attention of his partner as she took her eyes from the platform and lead them to me. If they ask me something like that it´s somewhat troublesome.
"You aren´t wrong, at least from what I saw these past two days Yang might be among the strongest first years in this type of fights. Her strength seems particularly high and that´s without her Semblance. She might actually be able to do it."
"You think Yang is going to win in the end?"
As I heard Juane´s question, I turn my sight towards the ground floor. It´s difficult if he asks me this because there is no answer that doesn´t sound bad in the end if I´m being honest.
There are many factors to consider in a fight. For example, weapons.
Even if I´m being modest, Mikasa´s weapons are a cut above what she is facing. That shouldn´t matter as she isn´t the type to use the areas where her swords shine, at least not in a spar. Her opponent weapons do have a massive boon.
They can attack at long, mid, and short-range without requiring any moment to shift forms like most mecha-shifts. If she plays her cards well...
"No, but she might be able to last the whole five minutes that are left if she uses her Semblance right."
""Huh?""
—The double question of my teammates is spoken at the same time the match begins.
There is no initial movement, both opponents just stand with a prepared stance. The swordsman's hand remained firmly on the hilt of one of her swords while her rival had lowered her stance, and leaned her body slightly forward.
The ten-meter distance remained static for five seconds.
Bang—! Bang—!
A heavy step forward and the resounding gunshots are fired by the twin gauntlets. That´s how the battle began.
The bullets flew straight, they didn´t meet their target but they weren´t blocked or parried. A simple jump backwards was enough for the bullets to miss their target.
—One second and the blonde fighter reduced the distance to five meters while Mikasa still hasn´t landed from her jump.
How can someone who fights with her fist, end a fight against someone who launches herself into the air at high speeds? The answer Yang came out with was the simplest. If a land predator wishes to hunt a bird, it just has to charge forward with everything it had the moment between the bird lands on the ground and before it can take flight and the ground.
A bet where she gambles everything in the fact that she can reach her opponent before she touches the floor from the first move. But...
What if her opponent never intended to create an aerial advantage?
"—!That idiot—!"
The black sword Töten was hidden in jet-black light that overpowered the artificial illumination, like a perverse inversion of a sunrise with a black sun. The same instant that the black-haired girl´s foot touched the ground, she unsheathed her sword revealing a mass of light that looked nothing like light.
The representation of one soul is always colored in one way, Mikasa´s has always been the color black.
The sword with surging Aura was swung with neither hurry nor hesitation and the resulting dark slash sailed through the air in a course of destruction just above the head covered In golden hair.
"—!"
A wordless scream left the still advancing brawler who ducked underneath an attack that from the beginning had no hope of reaching her. Just like an amateur would close their eyes when a punch came to their face, panicking overseeing such an attack at close range is only natural.
Abandoning the sword in her hand, Mikasa spun in the air and a whip-like kick met the face of her opponent.
The girl was sent tumbling across the air to the side, and she didn´t seem to receive any damage. The first thing she did as she stop skidding was to use both of her hands to caress her hair as if to feel it wasn´t lost to the black surge of Aura.
—And the match was decided, right there with two hits to an opponent who forgot to fight.
Without holding any weapon, my partner shot herself like a speeding bullet. Her outreached feet becoming the bullethead, aimed straight to the unguarded chest of her opponent. But before reaching her target she must have used her Semblance, as her speed was killed without hitting anything.
—The result was just a painful push, sending Yang nothing more than half a meter back. Outside the platform.
Mikasa Ackerman 83% Yang Xiao Long 91%
A win created in the sliver of a second the opponent let their guard down, after spending a huge chunk of her Aura as a distraction can only be called a victory in this type of sparring with a tournament rule style.
"What—?"
The question spoken by the one who lost was not heard by any student, nor were they looking at her or at Mikasa. Their sight was captured by the same thing that our professor was staring at with an annoyed scowl that I'm becoming too familiar with.
"Haa— Didn´t I tell her to not do anything stupid? I don´t know how to fix that, will I have to use the funds that Kiritsugu left us?"
My forehead is caught by the palm of my hand as I avoid looking in that direction. I guess it was good that no one got hurt in the end. No one except our saving account that is.
The one thing I could never understand or replicate about the two swords that Mikasa uses, the ability to amplify the effects of Aura and Dust that are applied to them was just used to perform an Aura technique as a distraction.
That wouldn´t be something that troubles me so much by itself but...
"Ms. Ackerman, could I know what possess you to try to destroy your new grounds of learning? What exactly could compel you to do something like using that inside a closed room?"
The tall huntress complained while pinching the intersection between her brows with clear exasperation. The raiding crop on her other hand pointed to the wall at the other side, barely standing in place with falling debris and an opening with the form of a sword slash.
"Ah, I´m sorry... I worked on construction before, I can try to fix it...?"
A sigh and flick of the professor´s weapon were all it took. Like a work of magic, every fallen piece of debris was risen by an invisible force and as if I was watching the clock turn back they returned to their original place, fixing the wall leaving no evidence of what had just happened.
"Never mind that, I can´t have you spend a week playing around and leaving the wall like that. Please try to use this moment as a lesson for your future as a Huntress, damage to public property done by a Huntsman or Huntress can result in a lawsuit if you are judged to act without regard to society.
You might end up working for the council for free until your retirement if you don´t learn to behave properly. "
Being admonished with her head hanging low and half-covered by her red scarf, Mikasa makes quite a sight. It might be something that would appear cute if she didn´t just almost cause the crumbling of the amphitheater and...
…. if I didn´t have to worry about her acting strangely during all of today.
"Man, that was more embarrassing than losing to Pyrrha. I didn´t even last a minute, people are going to start saying I´m a teenage boy. I don´t think I ever had a losing streak back at Signal."
A whining voice, theatrically exaggerated leaves Yang´s lips as she plops her body down to a chair next to her team. I think she said something really outrageous in between complaints.
Next to me, the bashful Mikasa no longer exists as she sits looking composed. I don´t think I should let this go, even if everything ended up okay and our savings weren't spent, I should still be scolding her here, right?
"Going for the hair was a low blow, we are good because it´s all still there. You caught me off guard this time, but l will win next time. I think a good redemption training would fit the situation. Should I go first for the champ or for Miss Silent beauty...?"
Yang´s words are first directed at the girl next to me but soon trail to herself as she crosses her arms under her chest and starts looking up in thought, whatever she is joking or not I can´t tell.
It doesn´t look like she is taking the loss very hard even after being defeated in less than ten seconds. Maybe she just doesn´t care too much about a meaningless spar in class? Or maybe she is just happy she didn´t receive an impromptu haircut?
"Students, for the next couple of classes we will continue with this method of sparing until I think you gathered a proper grasp on what you will need to work by yourself to improve. I hope it´s clear for those that needed more rounds of combat than others what your situation is.
While the year has just begun, the Vytal festival at the end of the year will be held in our kingdom and there is no way I´m letting my students make Beacon Academy look like a place full of undisciplined kids. If I have to whip you into form, it won´t be pleasant for you..."
The professor's voice came from downstairs seemingly interested in spending the last few moments of class speaking about the Vytal tournament. I can´t say I know very much about it, except that huntsman in training fight each other there. But...
…. I´m not paying attention to what she is saying right now. I don´t know if there is a reason behind her choice, but from the entire year, I'm the only student who has yet to spar in class. I´m not particularly fond of fighting but yesterday—
"—"
I can´t afford to not train, even for a day. A day of training will not achieve anything, but doing nothing will not improve the situation. There is only one person I can think of asking for help.
But it seems that I was late because as I move my head, a stare I´m familiar with is already on my face. Our eyes meet, and she speaks without words what I was supposed to ask first.
—Line break—
"Even here, at this school, those who dine in excess and extravagance sit beside people who eat only what they can. I guess there is no reason for me to be surprised anymore."
"..."
The eloquent and heavy words are spoken with a melancholic tone by the brunette of team RWBY, there is no way I can respond. Not because of what she said but...
…. I can´t take her seriously as a clear line of transparent liquid is falling from the corner of her mouth and her eyes are fixated on the sushi pieces currently on my plate.
"—I don´t know about calling the cafeteria food just what you can eat but do you want some Blake? They can´t really compare to the real thing but I don´t think it came out too badly."
"...No, thank you. I´m fine without."
Turning her head to the side she rejects my offer, her rejection would be stronger if she managed to take her eyes off the pieces with salmon. Is there any point in not eating something you clearly want?
I shake my head and go back to trying to complete Oobleck´s homework while I eat. It´s not particularly hard, it was asked for with only a day to prepare it, just that makes sense. One hand brings the food to my mouth while the other moves with the pen.
The outcome of lunch was pretty good, not so much in the taste but everyone ended up liking it. I didn´t think Pyrrha would complain no matter what was served and I knew Mikasa would like it, but Jaune might not have liked the idea of eating raw fish.
As I started to think that, Ruby spoke—
" I don't know how you guys can just eat something like that without cooking it first. Gross."
—With an expression reminiscent of a child being told to eat his most hated vegetable.
The consequence of those lines didn´t appear instantly, it took a full five seconds for him to react.
"MhmRammw?—!"
"Jaune—!"
In a fascinating delayed reaction to the small girl´s word, our leader stopped eating just as he had placed a particularly large piece on his mouth and proceeded to choke on it after trying to talk with his mouth full.
Before I could even stand, his redheaded partner was already offering a glass of water to the lurching Jaune while hitting his back with her palm.
" A-Are okay there Jaune? "
"—Haaaa... Yes, I´m fine Shirou. For a second everything turned white and I think I saw someone who looked like my grandfather... But that doesn´t matter, this is raw fish?"
"Um... Yes, Sushi is mostly made with fresh but raw fish. I think you said something too important earlier, are you sure we shouldn´t take you to the infirmary—?"
Without any regard for my question, Jaune just looked at the plates of the rest of us, as if to confirm that we were actually eating the same thing as him. With a contemplating look on his face, he shrugs his shoulders and resumes eating.
"My mom used to tell us to always make sure the food we ate was cooked properly... but my father also said that a man has to always eat the food someone else made for them or I would never be popular.
—And it doesn´t taste bad at all."
I...don´t know where to start after you say something like that.
"I guess that I should tell you that you shouldn´t worry too much about the raw fish, it carries some amount of danger but since it´s made from a saltwater species some of the risks are lower. You are more likely to get sick by licking raw cookie dough.
What I don´t understand is how you never heard about sushi being made with raw ingredients, Mikasa and I lived outside the kingdom and we still have seen them before."
I would like to ask him how is eating what other people made for him related to being popular or not, but I feel that I would end up more confused after I ask him.
"My family is quite big, so it was always difficult for us to eat outside. My mom also isn´t that great of a cook, her specialty is quantity over quality if you know what I mean.
….Please, no one tell her that I said that if you meet her."
Jaune had already mentioned his family before, something about having sisters? I don´t know about his family situation but it makes some sense, going into a sushi restaurant with five or six people can be harsh for your budget.
I still think that even If you haven´t eaten it before so form of knowledge about it would be normal but I guess I don´t know how things are where Jaune is from.
Without anything else happening, I continue eating while doing my homework. I occasionally glance towards a piece of paper between Mikasa and me, Pyrrha already done work, it doesn´t feel nice to do something like this, but it´s not copying if I just use it as a reference, right?
With the passing of fifteen minutes, both my lunch and the homework were done.
Since there is a good amount of time before class starts, I should take the tupperware back to the dorm kitchen and clean them. Even if there are plenty more there, someone might need them for preparing dinner.
And as I was making my way there—
"Emiya, your annoying bunch sure is noisy. The whole school didn´t need to learn that you eat things raw like a disgusting animal. Are you sure that you aren´t going to come down with something during class? Let me know so I can at least sit far away, unlike you, I prefer not getting puke on my clothes."
—I´m stopped by Cardin Winchester´s usual rude manner of speaking. He is sitting on a table isolated from the rest of the school, just his teammates sit at the same table as him
"Hmm. I guess people in Vale don´t have the custom of eating things raw... Anyway, you don´t need to worry about us, even if we do get sick it would be after class already when it happens.
This is unrelated but can I ask you a question, Cardin?"
"Okay runt, stop there. No one here cares about you and your annoying team. Just ask me whatever you want, I understand that you want to trade team leaders after seeing combat class but it´s too late now."
The unfriendly smile he had when he stopped me was gone after he heard me speak. He really changes moods quickly whenever we speak. Always going from a smug upwards tilt of her mouth to a frowning visage.
His personality is strange as well, why bother to talk to me every time he sees me if he says he doesn´t care?
"Did you also happen to forget about professor Oobleck´s assignment?"
"—"
"Pyrrha used Alabaster Lieck´s book, "Oceanus: The First City" as reference. There are free copies you can search for with your scroll."
I can´t offer them much more help when I... used Pyrrha´s as a reference. So, I leave the four behind without waiting for a response.
""Crap—!""
—It seems that the response came anyways, in the form of the simultaneous cry of four people.
—Line Break—
It´s a pen-like blur
Class with professor Oobleck has already started, after the beginning when he started to collect the assignments and being interrupted by the smallest member of team CRDL being thrown into the room, carrying four sets of homework, by his late-arriving leader, the class session began in full.
The green-haired professor speaks word after word, with a speed and energy that everyone might find hard to match. Bordering an unfollowable pace, I have to concentrate on writing as fast as I can to not fall behind.
"Everyone knows about the Great War, of course! At least everyone here should know about it by now. It was a terrible and horrific tragedy for every single human and faunus who lived during it. That much is common knowledge that even the biggest ignoramus of a teacher should have taught you before coming to this school.
—But does anyone here know what the world was before it happened?"
A brief momentary respite, it should have come with the question but a raised hand cut it short before I could stop moving my pen, the man with an untucked white shirt and an unkempt appearance acknowledges the student and—
"Ms. Schnee."
"The reason for the Great War was because the majority of the population desired for liberation, freedom from the controlling ruling of the kingdoms at the time. The living conditions of those times must have been comfortless, austere, and onerous for such a high amount of people to organize and risk waging war despite the threat of the Grimm."
The girl reminiscent of snow answers with confidence and her head held high, sitting next to her is her partner who is silently mouthing off some of the girl's chosen words as If to try to understand them.
The social aspects of history weren´t ever my strongest point, but I think I would have answered the same way to the question...Although, I don´t think I could have worded it as she did.
"That was a proper and correct answer Ms. Schnee, unfortunately, it´s also wrong.
You can certainly say that the living conditions in the kingdoms were harsh and unbearable, but that´s only something that people with our modern values would say. The people who lived at those times weren´t discontent with their living conditions in almost any aspect.
But as you correctly said, what caused the war was their inability to accept those conditions!"
What—?
They weren´t unhappy with how they lived but they couldn´t accept them?
" GDP per capita, life expectancy, distribution of wealth, safety from Grimm attacks, education, stability and freedom from corruption and poverty. Those are some of the criteria by which we can judge the satisfaction of the population. Every single one of those values reached an all-time high during the oppressive rule of the kingdoms before the war!
While the advancements in Dust technology and the surge of Huntsman and Huntresses allow our society to live in conditions vastly superior to those times, it´s impossible for those populations to have been dissatisfied with their living standards."
For the first time since the class began, the professor stops for more than a brief moment. Giving us time to think about the tacitly asked question.
—If their basic needs were met better than ever before, why was it that they couldn't accept it?
It´s not much of a question if you think about it, after all, people aren´t machines. Even if you fill them with fuel and store them with care in the correct conditions, they won´t work like clockwork, not for long at least.
If the attack on Strumbella didn´t happen, I wouldn´t have been able to stay there much longer because—
"The result was inescapable, it didn´t matter how much food they had year-round, it didn´t matter that unemployment was almost nonexistent, all the benefits that the oppressive laws had bought weren´t enough to change reality.
It wasn´t something that happen from one night to the other, but a slow matter! Living without any freedoms, without choice, and without the ability to express themselves, it was a poison that was fed to everyone day by day. It didn´t kill their body but the spirit, if the circumstances were different the people would have revolted much earlier!"
Moving from and to every unoccupied corner of the room, the bespectacled man talks with passion and disinterest towards whatever we can catch up to what comes out of his mouth.
"If someone were to tell you to kill yourself then fighting back would be the natural response of any human or faunus! We desire to live more than almost anything else, if someone were to force you to drink something that would kill you for many years there is no way you wouldn´t do anything.
It was only because everyone willingly drank the poison that the result was as explosive as the war, no one wanted to go back to the harsh times with unending Grimm attacks, food shortages, and irremissible crime. So, they tried their best to live without freedoms as much as they could.
The result that everyone should have been able to see, but chose to ignore, happened and the biggest war in our known history was the outcome."
Coming to a halt for the first and final time, the man takes several swings from a coffee mug from his desk and turns to face us.
"If learning history is about learning from our past, then in my opinion there are two things that we have to grasp. The undying desire for freedom that people are born with and the costs to trying to fight it, no matter how benevolent of a cause."
The class continues with those words, Oobleck begins to talk about the different laws and customs that were in place but they seem ludicrous and strange. I´m sure that they are something that would enter into a test.
But I´m not taking notes anymore, the swift pace of the professor quickly leaves me behind but I don´t care about it. There is something that refuses to leave my head, no matter how much I try to focus on something else.
—The uncomfortable feeling of thinking that there is something wrong with what he just said.
Without me realizing it, the topic ends and the green-haired man is no longer talking, I must have missed something. In front of me, Lie Ren raised has his hand raised and is asking—
"Professor Oobleck, what was it like living outside the kingdom back then?"
"— It´s doctor Oobleck, but that was an excellent question!
Generally, the curriculum only focuses on the certain aspects of the development of society before the war, things like the isolation and desertion done towards any town that wasn´t absolutely necessary for the exploitation of the land is a topic that is sadly lef—"
Ring—!
The bell signaling the end of class cuts off the man zipping around the classroom and either sends the tired students plummeting towards their desks or makes them jump out of their seats, ready to leap out towards the hall.
This was the last class of the day, so there is no hurry to go anywhere for me right now. But there is one thing I need to do, something I need to confirm with the girl sitting at my side—
"—Shirou, we have time before we need to leave for town. You didn´t do anything in combat class, are we going to spar?"
"...Yes, you are right. There is no point in going into the city before dark, and we haven´t trained together for a long time now. I think doing it outside the school is for the best, in case we break something."
—Mikasa asks me something she would normally not, but that´s fine.
I was planning to ask her the same thing, when we are alone without other people I´m going to have to talk to her about why she is acting like this.
—Line break—
"The days where there is no homework are always the best.—Haa..."
Jaune starts to speak while sitting on his bed but gets interrupted by his own yawning. I have to clench my teeth and close my eyes to not get infected by it.
I should really try to get more sleep tonight if I can help it.
"Isn´t it worse like that? If they just gave the homework now instead of later, we could have more time to finish it."
"That´s easy for you to say, Pyrrha. I´m sure you are the type to start it the day you get it. I always end up doing it the night before..."
The pair of partners go back and forth with their conversation. After the end of class, the four of us decided to just come back to the dorm and drop off our school supplies.
After leaving my things stacked on a corner, I grabbed some clothes and went to change in the bathroom. It was just a white and black jacket and a pair of jeans that I bought yesterday but they should be enough, nights on Vale aren´t too cold.
Mikasa is in the bathroom right now changing as well, we won´t go into the city straight away but it´s for the better if we don´t come back here before going—
"—Are you going somewhere Shirou? You didn´t even sit down after we got here."
A doubtful and somehow hesitant voice calls out to me, Jaune conversation with Pyrrha seemed to have come to a halt. He is looking at me but his eyes shift from my person to Pyrrha while he scratches the back of his head.
The suspicion is clear enough, but for some reason, he doesn´t ask me it outright.
"Mikasa and I were going to go train together for a while. It´s going to take a while so we might not be able to get dinner together."
"Haa—So that´s what you are going to do...Wait a moment, how long are you going to be training? We still have three hours until dinner."
Letting out a sigh of evident relief, Jaune collapses into the bed before he realized what I had said. I get why he is looking at me with such a weird expression. No matter how you look at it, sparring for more than three hours is not normal.
But before I make something up, Pyrrha speaks up with clear vacillation in her voice, trying to not offend with her choice of words.
"I was planning to revise what we went over in class and maybe also practice a bit later.
….Do want to come with me Jaune? It´s always easier to train with a partner. I mean, if you want to of course!"
"Ah, I, you know, don´t feel that great since combat class. I think I pulled a muscle, probably the biceps femoris longus. Sorry, but maybe next time Pyrrha?"
"...Sure Jaune."
My leader finishes his excuse while pointing at his supposedly injured arm. Going by the tight smile that his partner gave him, it doesn´t seem like she believes him. I don´t know why he wouldn´t want to train with her but...
" I didn´t expect you to know the scientific name for muscles Jaune, were you planning to study medicine at some point?"
"Me? No, but my sister Olive is in her last year of college. Last summer she fell down the stairs and broke her legs, and moved back home while she recuperated. She made me help her study for her exams all the time, some things just got stuck in my head. And they might be useful someday, right?"
"—"
I just nod my head. If he smiles like that after saying that I can´t tell him he got the name of the muscle completely wrong. Even if it´s called biceps I´m pretty sure that the one he said is on the legs.
Still, why did he lie just now? Is he embarrassed to practice with Pyrrha because of the gap between them? I can´t say I don´t understand where he is coming from but is that—
Stopping my train of thought, the bathroom door opens and an already changed Mikasa comes out. She isn´t wearing anything new, but the same outfit she tends to use. Her scarf, a white and black shirt, and a normal pair of pants.
Her presence cutting the stiff atmosphere of the room, we all breathe a sigh of respite after seeing her.
Without delay, we waved goodbye and started to leave without much further discussion but before we exit the room, a question from Pyrrha makes us come to a halt.
"—Why did you two change into casual clothes?
If you are sparring then you will probably wear the armor you keep in the locker room, so why change here just to have to change again there?"
My reaching hand, just centimeters before the doorknob tightens into a fist, and I heave a heavy sigh before turning around. Green eyes tinted with worry stare straight at me as the redhead waits for our answer.
"Um…Well, we also forgot to buy some things yesterday so we are going to make a quick trip to the city."
"What—!"
The loud exclamation from Jaune overwhelms my mumbling and probably reaches well beyond the thick walls of the room. From his position on the bed, he unsteadily gets on his feet and...
"Are you guys sure that´s a great idea? I don´t really know very much about it but the news says that´s dangerous in the city lately. I didn´t really think about it before but after what happened... What if you cross that thing from yesterday..."
The reason for his alarm doesn´t need to be explained. Since he was there, even if it´s only by instinct, he knows that if we ever encounter that swordsman we won´t be able to escape or fight him off.
We will be killed.
"You are worrying too much. We are just going to a store, there is no way we will encounter that guy two days in a row."
"I´m sorry but even if that´s true, wouldn´t it be better to not go after dark? Every incident that happened last month, and even when we met that man yesterday, was during the nighttime. I think it´s better to be safe than sorry."
I´m not allowed to finish reassuring our leader before Pyrrha interjects. I can´t find anything wrong with her logic and there isn´t anything out of place with being worried about someone else, much less your teammates. But...
"We still have to go, there is something we need to do no matter what. We stayed the entire last month there in the city and we didn´t encounter anyone dangerous until the swordsman from yesterday. We are going to be fine, really."
"..."
I´m not lying, technically.
The time I was shot I didn´t encounter the person responsible, and whenever I went looking I didn´t manage to find anything. So, if I´m not lying, why do I feel the unimpressed stare of my partner without having to look at her?
It seems like neither of the two want to continue arguing with me or they noticed that they won´t convince us to stay. The mood of the room has been shattered into something unpleasant as four people stand without saying anything.
I didn´t want this to happen but it´s better than the alternative.
"H-He is right. It can´t be that dangerous, people still are living their lives normally in the city. If just being there was risky the authorities would have done something already. We will just go and come back."
"—You aren´t wrong Jaune, I guess I was just still hung up on yesterday. Do you want me to come to pick you up before we leave?"
—!?
Wait a second, it´s good that they are letting the matter go but why are they making it sound like they are coming along? Even Jaune who is almost shaking at the idea of going there has an attempt of a confident smile on his face.
" You two...the thing is that... we were planning to go alone and it would be a bit problematic if you were to come along..."
"" Huh? Why!?""
Two questions, asked at the same time by two persons who stare directly at me. Demanding a convincing excuse that I can´t give them.
"Um..."
"Shirou needs to go to a pharmacy to get an ointment for his hemorrhoids. He is embarrassed and I have to come and ask the clerk for it."
"—"
"—"
"—"
Wh—at?
What did Mikasa just say?
My mouth hangs open and my wide eyes stare at her without comprehending. I´m not breathing, I'm sure my respiratory system has stopped functioning. The only thing that tells me that I´m still alive is the rising heat on my face.
"Y-You idiot, what are you saying!?"
"You don´t need to be so ashamed Shirou, I get why you didn´t want to come with you. It´s a natural thing, if you want I can send a message to Olive for advice."
The hurtful compassion and eyes full of understanding from my leader leave me speechless. Is that worse than Pyrrha who is covering her redden face with both hands?
A merciless hand grabs me by the scruff of my jackets and pulls me towards the exit, with wobbly legs made of jelly I take the opportunity to escape the room.
"—"
"—"
Yellow lights descend from the ceiling, filling the empty hall we walk. There is no one else here, except the black-haired girl walking ahead and the me who is glaring at her.
I know I have no right to complain, I should have had an excuse ready, and what she said certainly made it so the other two wouldn´t want to come with us.
"But couldn´t you have said anything else? If I did anything to tick you off and that was payback, I think that was taking it too far."
I may sound like am whining, but what kind of face I´m supposed to make next time I see Jaune and he tries to tell me that his sister said I should eat more fiber? How do I explain to anyone why Pyrrha can´t look me in the eyes anymore?
Besides, there are things that I don't think a teenage girl should say that kind of things with a matter-of-fact tone...
"...Isn´t this for the better? You aren´t going to be satisfied by patrolling just today. Even if we could tell them something else now, we wouldn´t have an excuse for tomorrow."
"Mikasa, do you mean that—"
"Medicine refills, consults with a doctor, emergencies after going to the bathroom, surgery, and preparations for it,"
"How is that any better—!?"
Walking by my side Mikasa was counting using her fingers with each new and increasingly embarrassing excuse. My complaint seemingly not bothering her at all.
I sigh and simply focus back on going out of the dorm building, it´s better if I don´t think too much about what just happened. When I get back I might convince them that Mikasa was just joking and we were doing something else.
That would mean lying to them again.
I don´t like it, but I know it´s better than the alternative. I can´t involve anyone else in this. It´s bad enough that I had to involve Mikasa, I can let those two be dragged because of me again.
"But that comes later, now..."
I should be thinking about what I need to do next.
—Line break—
A gentle breeze makes the greenery that covers the grounds outside the school´s main area sway from one side to the other. In front of me, dressed in the same way she did for her spar with Yang, Mikasa stands silently waiting for me.
—The fight has not begun. It can´t begin, one of the fighters is still unarmed, so a fight can´t start yet.
There is nothing special about this location, we simply choose the closest place where we weren´t bound to break something. The school building can still be easily be seen from where are, but there are no people around us at this hour.
I checked my body´s condition on the way here, I´m in a good form right now so at least I should be able to perform as usual. That´s not the only thing that I have been thinking about, there is also the fact—
—That I have no way to win this.
Mikasa is stronger than me, that much is simple for me to accept. It´s embarrassing but there is not a single aspect that I´m superior to her in terms of physiology, technique, or instincts. Even the weapons she uses are better than my own.
But those aren´t the reason.
It doesn´t matter how much stronger than you someone is, as long as they are humans you can still beat them. Stances, tactics, dirty tricks, or even bullhead stubbornness. There are ways to overcome an opponent who surpasses you.
—I have managed to win more than one spar against her before.
We have been doing it since we were little kids after all, even if our scoreboard has such a disparity that I could never say the results out loud, Mikasa is made out of blood and bones just like me. Managing to create more than one stance capable of winning was not beyond my capabilities.
…. But they only worked once, after being used in one match I could never actually use them successfully again. After all, I'm fighting a human being who can adapt not a machine that repeats its strongest patterns.
Half-baked plots will not work either.
Something I come up with right now will only end up failing, the best result I can see happening as things stand is me being defeated after fighting for twenty minutes, my Aura will be slowly ground away until I won´t be able to keep up.
—A sandcastle built just at the edge of a rising sea
"Are you going to tell me what is going on today? Whatever happened during our morning workout doesn't matter too much, after what happened yesterday, I can understand wanting to train more but—
—What were you trying to do during combat class?"
I receive no response, I'm not being ignored but there is a silent deliberation going on her part. As if to think what words to say to express what she wants or perhaps whatever she would even answer me or not.
It's impossible for her to deny that she is acting strange today, the clearest example is that she used an Aura technique, something I have never seen her use against a person or Grimm.
"….It looks like you didn't understand it even after I did that, Shirou."
I didn't understand—?
She did something like that to tell me something?
"Even if you chose to fight for people you don´t know, after almost being killed by that swordsman you should know that you can't do it by yourself. The result of you choosing to fight will always be the same even if you don't want to admit it—"
The saliva on my mouth turns heavy like liquid metal and swallowing becomes a hard task. It's not because of surprise but the grotesque reality that I can't deny.
"—When the only solution requires a sword then you should know which one you should use. If you can't cut something by yourself, the simplest solution is to use a blade sharp enough."
"Mikasa, do you know what you are saying—?"
—If I can´t do something by myself I should just use something else capable of accomplishing it?
I was wrong.
Mikasa never told me that we would fight together. She went and did something as stupid as she did in combat class to make me realize the difference between the two of us. It was all just a show to tell me she was still strong.
"...You are too weak to do it in any other way. If you want to stop what´s happening, that´s all you can do."
I´m angry.
I´m so angry It´s difficult for me to hear her over my thumping heart. No, it´s not that. I just don´t want to hear what she has to say. With a motion of my arm, I throw two swords at Mikasa. The two swords she is telling me I should use.
—The two I made for her and the two she has always been using.
"That´s why you wanted to spar today. To force me to agree with that."
She is coldly walking away with her swords on her waist, distancing so that neither of us can´t close the distance in less than 4 steps. She stops midway to give a nod of affirmation before she continues moving.
Then that´s okay. Such a stupid idea to make me agree is fine, because—
"If you planned to use force to prove your point, you can´t complain when I beat some sense into your head and make you take back every word you said."
I´m not enough of an idiot to not understand what she is saying or why she had to say it in the first place. Because she doesn´t want me to get hurt, I should simply use her against the enemies I can´t defeat myself. To use my family as a weapon—
My teeth grind against each other, because I´m not enough I forced her to say something nonsensically like that.
More than ten meters are what separate us right now. Two curved short swords appear on my hands. One´s hilt is white while the other one is black, both possess gravity Dust that attracts each other like magnets.
"—"
"—"
Any plan I come up with right now will not be sufficient, my fighting spirit won´t turn into a miraculous result. There is a tactic I thought about after fighting professor Goodwitch´s telekinesis, even if it´s not complete yet...
Mikasa won´t start the fight, her hand rests over the handle of her weapon, waiting for my first move. If this went like usual, she would block my first attack, and afterwards, I wouldn´t be able to do anything else but defend against her counterattack for the rest of the fight.
My Aura flares to life and shrouds my body, a sliver of it runs through the insides of my weapons until the dust is activated.
To signal the start of the fight, a flash of white light comes out of nowhere.
—I throw both swords from the sides, they will form a cross and intersect on my opponent's body. A simultaneous attack from different sides by steel-cutting weapons.
I kick off the ground and charge forward, two identical swords to the one from before are already in my hands. Before I can reach her, the two thrown projectiles that should have deterred anyone, are easily repelled downwards by her white sword Liebe.
With everything I got, I swing the black short sword in my right hand.
Clang—!
"—!"
Mikasa´s gasp of surprise as she steps back is drawn out by the sound of the clashing metals, her white sword carrying inhuman strength against a regular straight longsword that couldn´t break her guard.
"Haa—!"
I can´t give a moment of respite, I follow after the retreating girl. Longswords ready to attack and aim straight at her body.
Clang—! Clang—!
Her sword blocks the first attack of the short sword in my left hand and the counterattack of the identical weapon in my right hand. With each exchange, she draws a step backwards and I follow on forwards.
—Swapping weapons mid-swing and changing the angle, weight, and reach of my attacks. A tactic only possible since there is no cost in taking weapons in and out of me.
Our fight continues.
She resists only using her white sword while I attack with dozens of different blades.
For her, it must be like fighting with an enemy whose weapon is invisible and ever-changing. The only reason she hasn´t allowed even a grazing hit is because she overpowers every blow with unmatched power.
She is using the simplest of solutions against my half-baked tactic.
My strategy is flawed, by swapping the weapon I´m currently using I decrease the speed and power behind each hit. If my skill was better or if I had practiced this before the result might be different, but right now I have given up fighting in a straight battle.
The only reason I can do well enough is that I know how she fights and because I can choose the best weapon for each exchange since she is also unprepared for fighting someone like this.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
Her steel has met hundreds of different swords In this fight alone.
She no longer retreats as she defends and the fight has become a struggle of a desperate man whose candle is about to be put out. The moment I stop to breathe and I cease attacking the flame will go extinct.
Each blow creates the loud and ugly sound of metal.
Every single clash sends a ripple of force from my swords towards my arms, numbing pain that slowly drains away my Aura. In the first place, she was already stronger than me so now I´m paying the price of attacking.
The only way this way of fighting can end in me winning is if I can create an opening. A single opening should be enough but her defense is impenetrable. It feels like I´m trying to batter down a steel gate using only my fists.
is she now relying on instinct to predict which weapon I will pull out next?
—Five minutes, and more than a hundred different blades. The offensive I gave my everything...
"Shirou, is that..."
….. is crushed by a slash with torrential might.
"Haa—Haa— Haa—!"
My lungs burn with need and my head is dizzy by lack of oxygen.
I try to catch my speeding breath, her last attack would have broken through my barrage and my Aura if it connected. Just blocking it with a weapon was enough to send me ten meters back, right where she stood at the beginning and—
Where the two original curved swords are impaled into the floor.
I don´t have much time, she will most likely use her Semblance now. If I´m caught in her rhythm, the fight will be decided. What I have prepared for the entire time, is to exploit the one weakness Mikasa´s weapons have against me.
—But the swift charge I was waiting for didn´t come.
"I don´t know what kind of cheap trick you want to use Shirou but something like what you just showed me, is nowhere near enough.
—Besides you are not the only one that can do something new."
Mikasa´s Semblance
Despite what it might look like is not flight. The ability allows her to propel herself into any direction with a speed proportionate to her physical capabilities. Such a thing should be almost impossible to use with finesse but she has never has had trouble since the first time she used it.
Taking up to the sky, keeping herself in place well above the setting sun with small upwards bursts. The hand that isn´t holding her weapon reaches behind her and—
"I´m strong. I´m stronger than what you need to be, stronger than the two that attacked you in initiation, stronger than the woman that attacked Strumbella, and stronger than that swordsman.
Shirou, you won´t ever need to—"
—Takes out a green crystal of wind Dust.
Her emotionless voice held steady, her expression never changed and her unchanging eyes never left me.
For reasons that I can´t understand, my mind goes back to that man. The swordman with a wooden sword we meet in the desolate world that was Vale, and his thrust that exceeded logic to thrust towards my heart.
—From within myself, two curved swords appear on my hands and move themselves to cover my chest, just like last night.
Shatter—!
White.
The entire world turned white in an instant, then it became an infinite black as if all that existed was shallowed by a black hole.
No, that was wrong. It wasn´t everything else that was shallowed but my consciousness. Even if time seemed meaningless, the never-ending darkness was replaced by whiteness in the blink of an eye. With that blink, I regain my awareness.
"—Ah."
The orange sky, tinted by the retreating star.
That´s the first thing I see as I came to be, sprawled in the ground without any energy to move. There is dirt that has risen on either side of me. There isn´t much but it feels like I was buried in a shallowed grave.
The sun still hasn´t set, because of that, I can´t stay like this.
Pushing myself, I try to stand but my limbs failed me and dropped me against the raised dirt that surrounded me. I´m now in a sited position, there isn´t anything broken nor am I injured as even some of my Aura remains but I can´t imagine what kind of pitiful image I´m giving her.
"What—?"
My eyes are working perfectly, I can still see. Then, why is there such a ludicrous thing in my sight?
Up in the sky, my partner is still holding herself above the setting sun.
I must have passed out for less than a minute, but there is a world of difference with what she was doing. Instead of periodically using her Semblance to hold herself in place, she is now being held by the air itself.
The green crystal that she took out early and her sword are still held out in her hands, but visible gusts of wind now surround her body. Coiling around her like hundreds of snakes climbing up at three.
I don´t need to see the green luminance emanating from her left hand to understand what happened. People using Dust in conjuncture with their Semblance is nothing new, Weiss did it in class the other day.
—But I´m sure Mikasa has never been able to do that before.
The realization that thought brings me causes my eyes to lower, giving me a further understanding of what happened. Right now, I´m in a trench of dirt, several meters away from where I was standing before.
The length of the trench is from where I am now to the place where I was.
That´s not the only difference to terrain, the flat land full of grass is now covered in deep gashes. Scars of slashed dirt that paint the picture of a war between hundreds of armed men fighting without reservations.
This is only a guess, but Mikasa used her Semblance boosted by the air itself, threw herself like a projectile being shot from a railgun, and imitated the blow I received from the swordsman from yesterday.
As she fell the accompanying wind, like an unexpected side effect, became a hurricane of steel.
She must have held back at the last moment, that´s the only reason she didn´t end up smashed against the floor like a thrown tomato. No, in the first place if I had been hit at full force, it would not have been just my swords that broke, my body would have been turned into mush no matter how much Aura I had.
—That´s just my guess in the end.
I didn´t take my eyes from her for even one instant, and I couldn´t even see her move. If last night´s swordsman was someone who had the quickest attack speed then her attack right now had a speed that surpassed the quickest speed.
But what she did is no different than what I was doing, an unfinished technique that sacrifices more than she gained. Unlike me, she sacrificed everything else including her own safety for the sake of speed and power.
If what I did was a risky half-baked plan, hers is a suicidal one.
When attacking it´s obvious that an opening in your guard will always be open, but what she did left her completely defenseless. It doesn´t matter how talented Mikasa may be, there is no human being who could complete a technique like that from one day to the other.
In desperation, after encountering an overwhelming enemy she can´t defeat no matter what she tried to create a sure-way to win against anyone. The result is such a stupid thing, something that will result in her death if she fails by the tiniest margin.
Well, I have to scold her right now and I'm going to sound like a sore lose—!
"Shirou—"
A quiet voice that I shouldn´t be able to hear, it breaks my train of thought and captures my attention. For the first time since we got here, there is emotion in Mikasa´s words.
My vision swirls up, her face twisting itself to show a sorrowful sight. There is only one thing I can think when I look at her solitary figure, placidly flying above the domain of man as if she were drifting in the sea all by herself.
—She looks down on me with judgment and...
"—Is that everything you can do?"
...She speaks as if to disregard me, as if to wish for more, as if believing in me.
"Ah."
What am I doing? How could I be so stupid?
Why am I laying down? For what reason did my body give up? How could I allow my mind to accept defeat? Am I unable to even keep the expectations of the one girl who is family to me? Can I just sit here when her words—
"is that all? Are you—"
—Piss me off so much?
"—Stupid!? I haven´t shown you anything yet!"
Hot emotions are what order my impotent legs to stand up, my body feels like an empty balloon.
I take out a single long sword as I bluff to even myself. It doesn´t matter if I don´t have anything else, I just have to use something I don´t have. I have to pull out every that remains and what isn´t there.
My last remaining Aura flares up but I don´t use it on myself.
It´s useless to enhance my body, it doesn´t matter how fast I can swing a sword or how strong my attacks become. I can´t respond to an attack I can´t perceive, so against the speed that surpasses the quickest speed, everything I have is poured into the sword.
I fill the balloon with bluffs and conviction, enough to swing the sword twice.
If I can´t react to the descending storm of steel, I just need to predict it. In my mind, I need to see the attack before it happens and respond perfectly. The moment I block the first attack, she will be defenseless.
—Two seconds.
My Aura has already been in my swords for two seconds, one more should be the limit. But the strongest girl, far above me, won´t let that second pass up, she will come before. One parry and one counterattack, I can do it.
Because I promised, that I would protect a girl who has always been stronger than me.
"I think this is enough! How much work do you intend to give before the first week of class is over?"
—!? Shatter—!
Towards the side, between the two of us and the school main building, a clearly annoyed woman stands with one of her arms crossed beneath her chest while the other tightly holds a riding crop. Her face might be the apex of the concept "angry teacher."
"Ms. Ackerman, get down here this instant before I have to do make you myself.
Could any of the two tell me why you decided to do this here, instead of one of the many rooms prepared exactly for students to spar against one another? Because I can´t think of a single reason besides that you want to make me clean after you two, like a pair of undisciplined children."
"Um...We didn´t want to break anything from the school. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I wasn´t expecting—"
Before finishing my sentence, a sharp whip-like movement from the professor´s weapon activates her Semblance, the scattered dirt and slashed blades of glass move at the same time. The battlefield now looks normal again.
Excepts for the various bare patches of land where the greenery was destroyed.
I had already thought so, but her Semblance is incredibly convenient. The now-dead grass is neatly piled to the side, she even took out the dirt that was covering and even gather the broken pieces of my swords in front of me.
"What was it you weren´t expecting, Mr. Emiya? You weren´t expecting to destroy what was a perfectly acceptable part of the school or weren´t you expecting to give the gardeners hours more of work that they didn´t need to do?
—And you Ms. Ackerman, I don´t know what your partner could have done to merit such a scolding but it seems excessive. Please refrain from taking things far enough that someone could end in the infirmary."
"...no, this time it´s not Shirou´s fault. I took it too far because I couldn't think straight."
—?
Isn´t there something wrong with what Goodwitch is saying? Why did she assume I did something? And what does Mikasa mean with this time it´s not my fault?
I don´t voice those complaints because we did just create a mess and had the professor clean up after us. My head is hanging low in an apologetic manner and Mikasa is doing the same. It´s unexpected but she seems surprisingly weak to scoldings from Professor Goodwitch.
Still, I should probably try to talk to the people in charge of gardening to replant the grass myself...
"Haa— I don´t think I have ever seen a student choosing not to use the rooms prepared for sparring because they were afraid of breaking something. From now on, both of you should make use of the appropriate facilities. The possibility of them getting damaged is already taken into consideration, repairs are scheduled daily during the school term.
—That, however, is not an excuse to act wildly without any regard! If I have to fix crumbling walls every other day because of you two, you can´t forget about ever having a day without homework."
She speaks harshly but without any ill intent, so we have no option but to nod our heads and accept what she said. The only reason we choose to spar here was that we can´t afford to pay for the damages, but it seems that students have some leeway into their actions thanks to the school.
Still, we should make sure to make as little problem as possible. I would feel awkward knowing someone was being forced to fix things after me every day.
Now, after taking in her words, I store the broken fragments of my swords and we try to wave a polite goodbye to our teacher. But we don´t get farther than a step away—
"Where are the two of you going? Did I say I was finished?"
Turning around and seeing the honestly surprised face of the blonde huntress, I´m somehow hesitant. I look to the girl at my side and we ask each other with a look that says, are we forgetting something?
"Did the two of you seriously think you weren´t going to be punished? Tomorrow, after class, both of you will come and spend the afternoon seeding every spot that´s was damaged. And you will keep coming day after day until you are finished.
Am I being clear?"
Remarking her words with the lifting of one of her brows as she looks down with her superior height. Maybe it´s because of the stark contrast in mood from what was happening before she interrupted us, but I end up nodding before thinking about it.
The older woman leaves right after, not bothering to say anything else to us. Once again, I exchange a look with Mikasa. It´s not that anything unnatural happened, if you do something wrong getting punished because of it is the correct thing to happen.
…. It´s just that the idea of getting detention is a bit weird.
It was something we only read of in books or seen in the occasional times we watched movies with our tutor back home. It really brings the point of us being in a real school home.
"We should probably get going. It´s about the sun is almost finished setting."
Mikasa just nods at me, her usual demeanor already back as she looks at the retreating back of our combat class professor. My eyes follow in her direction, as she walks straight to the school building. But then, I see something beyond the woman walking back.
—?
On top of the school, on a sort of lookout, facing this way is an old man drinking from a coffee mug while resting on his cane and to his side a girl dressed in Beacon´s uniform, two long bunny years come straight from the top of her head.
Were they watc—
Before I can even form a complete thought about them, the girl turns to the old man says something that I can´t possibly hear from here, and leaves with something on her hands. The headmaster stays there just looking out for a moment before leaving as well.
I´m left walking side by side with Mikasa, looking out towards the school as we slowly make our way there. I didn´t get hurt earlier but my body still is aching and my Aura is completely depleted. In the end, we were left with no conclusion and I couldn´t do anything.
"Mikasa, about before I..."
"Don´t think too much about that Shirou. It was my loss and you won again."
"No, even if it´s embarrassing there is no way I can think of it like my win."
My voice doesn´t come out with much force but it would be too shameless to say I was the one who won after not being able to land a single hit.
Mikasa doesn't stop walking but she turns her head to address me, she isn´t smiling but her face is light. It´s a bit odd, while we fought, she seemed so serious and now it´s like she finds the situation funny.
"...It was an unfair match from the beginning. I can´t seem to win against you no matter what I try to do. Even if I keep giving up ground and retreating you aren´t even willing to concede a single thing.
—You are completely unfair, Shirou."
"I don´t know what you are complaining about. It should be me the one who has something to say about you being unreasonable, you didn´t hold back at all back then. I don´t even think I can feel my arms."
I don´t really understand what Mikasa is talking about but it´s good that she seems to be in a better mood than before. We didn´t solve any problem with that spar. Even if she said she lost, her intentions and my own are still different.
Because neither could convince the other, we are left mostly where we were before. Although, the tense air between the two of us is no longer there. It´s not a perfect ending but it should do for now.
—Line Break—
We walked together until the changing rooms where we went our separate ways. After changing into the casual clothes I was wearing before, I walk out of the school and travel towards the place Mikasa and I arranged to meet.
"I can´t exactly wait for her in front of the girl´s changing room."
It would have been difficult to receive the judgmental stares of the people walking by, and in the worst-case scenario, someone might even call the authorities about me. I don´t think professor Goodwitch would be happy to see me again today, much less like that.
—So, we decided to meet in the statute I had seen the day we took the entrance test to the academy.
It looks like during this time of the day most of the students are doing something in some other place. Except for an extremely tall upperclassman that I crossed paths with in the Lockerroom, I haven´t seen any other person until I got to the statue.
A Grimm below, above a Huntsman and a Huntress. Their never-ending battle replicated in cold stone.
In front of the statue, immovable and with an aloof expression stands a black-haired girl. She doesn´t acknowledge my presence in the least, I want to think that she is deep in thought and not simply ignoring my existence.
Still, I should probably say something.
"Hey, Blake."
"Hey."
….
… And the conversation dies just like that.
I stand there and imitate her actions, looking towards the sculpture. I once read a book about art and understood most of what it said but I can´t say I know how I´m supposed to look at it as an art piece. So, we both stand there in silence.
I shouldn´t be surprised by my lacking conversational abilities, but this is a bit depressing.
I don´t have any clue of what to say right now. It´s not like I know anything about her, except for the first time that she talked to me, every other time she didn´t seem to want to speak to me. I guess there isn´t a need to make small talk...
...But we are classmates and our team leaders seem to get along very well to the point that they try to get the two teams together, so it can´t hurt to try.
"Ruby and Weiss looked like they were getting along better today, that´s good."
"Yes, it seems that even the little spoiled heiress can try to behave. I couldn´t believe my eyes."
"Um...heiress? What do you mean by that?"
—Ugh.
The black hair, quiet personality, and being good-looking was enough of a similarity already. Did she have to be able to give a look that said "Are you stupid?", just like Mikasa´s?
As she seemed uninterested in continuing with the conversation, I didn´t ask again. Her eyes trailed back to the two stationary warriors before dipping below. An inscription is there, and by the look on her face, she is interested in it.
I don´t need to read it again, I remember the words from the first time that I saw the statue.
—Heroes who protect humanity of the ever-approaching darkness—
"It´s surprising that I can still be bothered by something so small."
"Huh—?"
I´m not the one who began the conversation this time, with a sigh the girl speaks more to herself than to me. Her focus shifts to me and nods her head towards the statue before speaking again.
"You don´t look like someone who would find any trouble with it. That´s probably for the best."
"—"
I don´t respond.
Not because I didn´t have anything to say but because the girl just walks off, not caring any longer. Her hair is long so that´s the only part of her retreating back that I can see. My eyes are fixed to her figure as walks away.
I had a feeling before, there is no concrete proof but this conversation has confirmed things for me a little even if I don´t know why.
"It looks like she dislikes me after all."
"Hm, did I miss something?"
An unexpected voice that responded to what I had whispered to myself.
Mikasa, already changed, stands close to me with an unimpressed look on her face as she follows my gaze...I have a bad feeling that a big misunderstanding is happening right now. But if I defend myself now I would just be digging my grave.
I choose my next words with careful deliberation.
"Yo, are you ready to go?"
"—"
—Line break—
Without my jacket on, the soft winds of Vale´s night hit my body and give me a fresh sensation.
"The two of you again-?"
I stop chewing the last remainings of a chicken salad sandwich, shallowing the tasty but maybe too salty food, and look at the familiar figure. A police officer is in front of us, looking between the four people in front of him.
He is wearing his uniform in a neat and by-the-code manner. His red hair is cut short, in a manner that gives a professional look. His expression is not very friendly towards anyone but—
—He only gives Mikasa and me an exasperated look.
"I don´t want to ask. I honestly don´t want to, but what´s the deal with the sandwich?"
"Hm? We had to leave the academy before the cafeteria started serving dinner, since we were waiting for you I thought we had the time and there is a store across the streets."
I point towards the other side of the street, a group of workers are currently closing a big shop that is specialized in selling different kinds of sandwiches. I had never eaten from one of those places before, while it´s not a good substitute for dinner it was a pretty quick transaction.
The officer didn´t seem to like the answer as his face soured
"I´m not asking you that, I want to know why the criminal is also eating a sandwich?"
His tired and annoyed voice was accompanied by him pointing a finger to the man sitting on the street floor, eating a combination of tuna, cheese, and bread.
The seated man was tall and skinny, dressed in a brand white and black tracksuit. The most notable features of him are, an out-of-place mustache on his youthful face and the mismatch that occurred on his head.
Snow white bunny ears and messy black hair that create an impactful contrast.
"Oh, so I´m a criminal, huh?
Why are you assuming that? Just because I´m a faunus!?"
"—Ugh! I-I didn´t..."
For the first time since the police officer got down from his patrol car did his face change. Going from an absolute display of annoyance to one of realization that quickly changed into regret. He genuinely seems at a loss for words.
There is one thing that´s honestly impressive, the amount of outrage and scandalization the seated man could generate without moving from his place and when you consider the situation he is in.
"—But aren´t you, literally, a criminal?"
"Well yes, but the man didn´t know that. He might know Shorty and Psycho but why did he assume that I was a criminal and not you?"
The one who straighten out the situation before I could say anything was an older woman.
Standing to the right of Mikasa, she is wearing black heels, a suit skirt and as a top, the jacket I was wearing earlier. Her brown hair is done in an intricate and sophisticated manner that I could never match when I do Mikasa´s hair.
When Mikasa and I got to Vale we started patrolling the streets, without much of a clue or lead to guide us we simply walked wherever my feet took us.
After spending 30 minutes without anything achieved, by chance, we crossed paths with the man who had just ripped off a gold necklace from an office lady's neck, breaking her suit and shirt in the process. He was running straight towards us.
—And he was not very lucky at all.
He had a gun but while he pointed it towards me, he choose to run towards Mikasa´s side of the street. It was a singular and brutal kick to the stomach that folded him in 90 degrees. It wasn´t a pretty sight but she did hold back a lot.
He didn´t even vomit from it.
At first, he tried a few tricks to escape running but while we were waiting for the police and he asked for a scroll to call his wife and the mother of his seven children Mikasa´s response was unpleasant enough for him to start being mellow and amiable.
"Shirou, give me one of my swords."
…While I can understand where he is coming from, calling her Psycho seems a bit too much.
I explained everything that happened to the officer but his bad mood after his earlier exchange with the bunny-eared man left his mood in a terrible state. After hearing from me and taking the man´s gun, he confirmed the facts with the woman.
"Today is the worst day ever—
First, my hand gets caught in that woman's ridiculous bust, then I got kicked by the one girl who never skipped leg day, my tuna sandwich wasn´t even toasted and now I´m getting detained by a prejudiced cop. How am I going to feed my nine kids after this—?
Why do the gods only reward good people with tragic fates?"
The faunus man speaks with no a single ounce of shame, calling himself a good person right in front of the woman he just tried to rob. I don´t think I can understand how he thinks and...
...I never thought that anyone would toast a tuna sandwich but beyond that, I don´t think that complaining about free food is okay. I got enough for the four of us because I thought that getting something just for Mikasa and me would be rude.
—Wait, didn´t he say that he had seven kids earlier?
"Okay, I had enough of this circus and I don´t even want to think about the paperwork this will be. We are going to the station."
As if the complaints from earlier were the drops of water that spilled the glassed, the moves next to the still sitting man and grabbing onto the furry appendages he tries to raise him from the ground and he...
...rips his ears off?
The policeman stares at his own hand like it was a murder culprit, horrified at his brutal actions. The pained cries of the faunus echoed in my ears—
"—Wait, is that just a headband with bunny ears?"
"That hurt—! There was tape on that, you brute—! I´m going to file a police brutality report, just you wait! And now that I remember, I will also be going to sue those two for excessive use of force during detainment!"
—?
The man spewed more and more ridiculous complaints as he was dragged until his voice was being muffled by the closed door of the police vehicle. In the first place, it´s impossible to say that Mikasa used too much force to stop an armed robber, but even then, why am I included in that?
"Miss, I´m going to have to ask you that you accompany me to the station to fill you a report if it´s possible for you. If you can´t it would be for the best if you can come at any point in the last 24 hours."
"Mhm. I will be going with you, I have a busy day tomorrow and I want to be done with this as soon as I can.
—Thank you again girlie, that necklace was something from my mother, and you too Shirou. Thanks for buying me dinner for me. I will make sure to return your jacket soon."
As a man, I can´t help but feel troubled by her thanks.
I did buy something for her to eat, but I didn´t end up actually paying for it as the woman gave me the money for that I spent as soon as I gave her the sandwich. I didn´t want to accept her money but when she offered to tip me with 20 times the value of everything I bought I was left dumbfounded.
Thankfully, in the world's weirdest haggling, I managed to convince her to just give me enough for her food.
After being reproached by the policeman one more time, we manage to return to our patrol. We spent too much time here but it can´t be helped. If someone is in trouble in front of us, it´s not like we can´t just do nothing.
The streets, illuminated by artificial lights, are now even more deserted than before, not another person can be seen walking around.
The city of Vale is divided into five different parts, the industrial district, the residential zone, the commercial district, the agricultural region, and the high-class sector. The entire city is surrounded by natural defenses or manmade walls that stand several meters tall.
We are currently in the commercial district, my directionless lead only managed to lead us to that incident before.
Now that time passed, the only difference is that the few people that were on the street are no longer there and that Mikasa is giving a look that tells me that she is thinking something like.
"How can you attract so much trouble, Shirou?"
And while I would like to object, I feel like I wouldn´t be able to win that argument with her.
So, the two of us continue searching for anything related to the murders, the repetitive sound of our footsteps creating an odd atmosphere. Much like the day before, the solitary world where no one else exists descends upon us.
In such a world we pass by houses, restaurants, badly parked cars, Dust shops, and even a children´s park which emptiness leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
In such a world, it would be the perfect fitting to encounter something, anything that corrupts the peaceful state, just like the swordman did yesterday.
In such a world, my nerves should be tempered into hard steel, sharpened like a blade to do the one thing I have to do.
—Then why, despite all of that, I can only feel at peace and ill at ease at the same time?
—Interlude—
"Gods, who would have known that having a workforce made up by society´s most cliched rejects was going to be so annoying—!"
A loud voice.
Inside a mildly lit building that had every window boarded up with awkwardly cut pieces of dry wood. Dozens of men are working in different menial tasks, the majority of them are moving heavy-looking boxes around. The aggravating loud voice doesn´t stop them from their work.
They are used to it already and they had one other thing to worry about.
"—I wonder if this is my punishment for making fun of the old hag when she complained about her minions? If I had known that finding competent henchmen would require divine intervention, I might have shown her a bit more compassion before robbing her.
….Then again, maybe I wouldn´t have after all?"
The one speaking out loud to himself, spewing bothersome word after word to the ears of the workers, is a tall man. The tall man had an eye-catching appearance, a white suit with black pants, a head adorned with longer than average orange hair, and a black bowler hat.
There was, however, one thing that deserved more attention than his appearance—
"I had promised my mother that I would never do it again! It has been so difficult to put that habit down, but I need at least one cigar to survive the torture that is watching people fail the most basic of tasks. You pick up a box from one place and drop it in another.
Not exactly high-level brain work, people! —But I admit it was partially my fault as well.
So, once I finish my cigar I will get some papers and crayons to make all of you a drawing that even a slow and ugly child could understand."
—His ability to annoy people so much, that they can keep moving despite their paralyzing fear.
Despite the man´s speech, his hand doesn´t move to reach for his smokes. He stares down at the scroll in his grip as if something would change about what is displayed. But that is impossible, what once happened won´t be undone.
The news showed the investigation of an unnatural arson, the nearby building that crumbled into ashes, the two people who were died in that fire. Those things would not change.
"Well, maybe my life choices will look better after a good puff?"
To smoke a cigar like a gentleman you can´t just put it in your mouth and light it up. The first step is selection.
A good cigar can´t be manufactured in a factory, it requires natural products and to be handcrafted by the artisan hands of many people. It is said that some may be passed by the hands of two hundred underpaid faunus workers.
The second step is the procurement of said cigars, you can´t just buy them on the street corner.
There is an important element of fermentation and aging that´s vital for the taste. If you manage to steal them from a particular pompous fat cat that thought he could cut you in line while you shopped? Well, the flavor is much better then.
Third step, knowing the anatomy and how to cut and light them with style.
A cigar is divided into a wrapper, filler, and binder. You need to cut the head just above the shoulder line, like the not-so-pleasant task of an executioner, then lighting it should be done with minimal contact. Like the more pleasant task of pick-pocketing.
The fourth and most delightful of steps, taking a flavorful but slow puff.
It´s easy enough, you just put it in your mouth while looking sufficiently dapper to fit the role of a gentleman thief and delight yourself with the...awful taste of the cigar?
"This is the last straw, you vertically challenged girl! I told you we were going to the ice cream shop later, how difficult it is to wait a couple of hours? Those things were smuggled by hard-working animals from Menagerie and bought at a high price by some rich idiot, If I don´t smoke them after stealing them it would be down-right criminal.
If you just give them back, I won´t even pick you up and leave you on the highest shelf of this pigsty!"
For the first time, the many workers stopped their tasks and ogled the foreman of their operation.
It was a funny sight, even if albeit weird, seeing the lanky man, arguing with the wind. Bargaining with a girl that wasn´t there with complete reassurance. Had this happened to anyone else, they might have been cornered, if not for the person´s sanity for their own safety.
—But with him? That was just funny for them.
"Haa— I would like to say that I don´t know who is worse, between the knee-level, vindicative, frozen cow juice addict girl or the pyromaniac woman that somehow manages to emphasize both the pyro and manic parts of the word, while having a weird fixation for standing in the edge of buildings.
—But I would be lying—"
"Oh, and exactly how would you be lying, Roman?"
A benevolent tone that depicted interest, more than enough to make the man stop moving, talking, or even breathing.
A figure previously not there before. A woman with long black hair with a bang that covers her left eye, a red dress with golden accents, her one visible iris is of an amber color. Her arms are crossed in front of her, not an ounce of hostility emits from her, and—
—She has a smile on her face.
"Ah ha, Cinder! You see, I would be lying because working with you is the best thing that happened to me. I can´t remember a time when I had stolen so much in so little time before. With that said, those robberies? Going great, even with the subpar help from those incompetent grunts.
You could say the epitome of my already quite renowned career only happened thanks to you. I couldn´t be happier with our partnership."
"Hmm."
The woman hums as if to signal an understanding of his obvious bootlicking and starts looking around the room.
Everywhere where her gaze roamed, men that had stopped moving since she arrived started acting in a frenzy. Trying to look like the hardest and most indispensable worker of the entire a lot. It was as if someone had told them that the one who did the least would be killed.
"It´s great to hear that you are so satisfied with your situation. After all, a happy worker is much more efficient than a dead one. You won´t need to worry about your help much longer, I´m planning to bring more... muscle to this operation sometime soon."
"You see, this is why the operation is running so smoothly. You understand that a criminal mastermind needs a matching group of capable minions. No matter how skilled a captain is, a ship will still sink with a crew that still can´t tie their shoes on their own.
…. But there is one thing that would greatly help our Dust procuring operation before competent help arrives."
As if amused by the choice of words of the man in front of her, she responds with a light tone.
"You have been keeping up with the minimum quotas so far, Roman. I guess it would not be too much to humor you when you promise to raise that minimum with so much certainty.
What is this thing that would help you steal even more Dust than you already do?"
" It´s not a problem for me, it´s once again those two-bit wannabe criminals. They are a bit terrified that they will end up killed like one of those sad bastards on the news. I always tell them that they are being nitwits, but it seems that my words enter in one of their ears and exit by the other.
Once they got to know the identities of those who were killed, they almost pissed their pants and ran to their mommies. So, if you could just assure them that they won´t —"
"Roman."
She didn´t raise her voice, she didn´t threaten him either. She just stopped smiling.
That was enough for his blood to run cold, and for him to regret his idea of talking about this. He didn´t lie, everyone in that warehouse was terrified of what had been happening for the past month. To the point that the operation was on the brink of collapse.
It wasn´t a matter of numbers. The problem for them was the who. The people who were getting killed weren´t all well known, but with each passing cadaver, the pattern was clear enough that no one in their line of business could ignore it.
No one knew for certain if the woman was the one behind it or not, but no one wanted to be alone with her to find out.
"I already told you, as long as you keep being a good little thief you won´t find out about my other affairs.
—And believe me, you don´t want to know what has been happening."
The topic ended there.
Without enough to gain, there was no reason for him to ask the woman in red any more questions that might anger her any longer. What followed was a basic discussion of what other dust shops would be targeted next and how long should they keep waiting between hits.
When the conversation was over and there was nothing else to discuss, the woman said one final thing.
"There was one thing I was forgetting. There is a big importance to words, a little mistake can end up turning fatal before you realize it. I don´t personally mind it, but next time you should choose your words in a better manner.
We aren´t working together Roman, you work under me. You aren´t half-bad at this, if you keep this up, they will definitely come out when I need them to. I would find it annoying having to replace you now, so behave like a good boy."
With those words spoken, she sighs like a boss who had to deal with a new intern who didn´t know how to make coffee and leaves the room.
"—"
As soon as she is out of sight, a girl with bicolor hair appears out of nowhere.
She doesn´t speak a word but she moves her right hand, extended like a prayer, and hits it against her chin with it. Her clothing is peculiar, as she has a broad white tailed-jacket with pink interiors and a visible black corset.
"You are right, Neo...But I still want my cigars back."
—Interlude out—
The broken moon hangs far away, but still looms over the school building.
We patrolled everywhere our feet allowed us to cover, passed by many locations, and even kept watching our scrolls for any news of something happening in the city. Nothing, not a single thing happened in the end. As far as we know—
—The killings on Vale didn't happen today.
Beacon Academy is in a location inaccessible by foot from the city. The only reasonable way to get here is using a bullhead, but the last one of the day was long before we stopped our search. The only way back was with our own means of aerial movement.
We would have arrived sooner if we hadn't discussed meaningless things before doing so.
"How can she think I would be fine being carried on her arms?"
I complain to myself in a low voice. There is a reason I made so much effort to make a sword with wind and gravity Dust.
One thing would be in an emergency, in such cases I wouldn't say anything as suffer the embarrassment without saying a word. Her Semblance is of course a superior option for such situations. If it's just a normal trip I would prefer scaling the rocky cliffs that isolate the academy.
It doesn't matter what Mikasa says, I'm not being unreasonable. Not about this at least.
"—is something wrong?"
"—"
It shouldn´t be the case, but ever since we got close to the school she has been weirdly out of focus.
I don´t think it´s because of anything that happened since we left, because she is staring in the direction of where our spar happened earlier in the day. Her face is slightly hidden by her scarf and before answering me she brings her hands to her head.
A loud memory comes back with that gesture.
"—if Taiga finds out that we managed to get detention on the second day of class..."
"... We would be hearing a roar right now, without a doubt. She would also blame me about the situation."
I finish her sentence with what she intended to say, even adding a complaint on my part.
We weren´t punished very much as children, at least not by Kiritsugu. He was mostly someone who would scold us calmly, explaining what we did wrong. Taiga, on the other hand, was someone who could let out a tiger´s roar when angry.
And most of the time she blamed me for dragging Mikasa into trouble or fights in Strumbella...Nowadays, I can´t complain too much because I can see she was right...
"—Are you okay to spar with me again tomorrow, Mikasa?"
"—?"
Seemingly surprised by the change of topic, it takes her a moment before she can nod.
Even with that delay, it doesn´t seem like she thought about it very much. I´m always bothering her like this but she never rejects my selfishness in the end. As I walk forwards, with Mikasa at my side I can´t help myself and stare at her.
...There is one more thing that I need to ask her.
"That thing you did during our spars, don´t use it against anyone that isn´t me until you get a hang of it."
I´m not worried she will injure a classmate with that incomplete technique. In the first place, she is not like me. If she is forced to use it against someone, it would be a person who can´t be defeated by her in the first place.
A suicidal tactic only works against someone of your equal strength.
"...Shirou, I won´t die. I´m not going to get let anyone kill me as long as you live.
I wouldn´t be able to rest in peace knowing that you would get yourself killed a moment later."
"Heh."
I can´t help it, despite what I´m feeling, I can´t help it.
That answer was something that only Mikasa could say to me with a straight face. So, it´s not my fault, I can´t help but laugh at that. Even if the girl next to me doesn´t seem to like my reaction, I just have to laugh.
Her face with wide eyes and her mouth slightly opened is also cute and funny, but I think that if I laugh about her face, I would get some kind of divine punishment tomorrow while we spar.
—At some point, we already reached the point midway from the dorm to the main school building.
"I still need to finish what I was working on the forge. So, I should be going this way."
"It´s fine, don´t do anyt...No. If something happens wake me up instead of going alone to do something by yourself."
"I already dragged you around town enough. I think I can at least let you sleep for the night."
We wave goodnight to each other and go on our own ways. I can´t help but think I´m forgetting something. I guess it wasn´t that important if I can´t remember it.
—It was like a switch flicking on and off.
Each step brings me closer to the school, but my mind can´t think about such meaningless things now that I´m alone. An oppressive and unpleasant feeling I have been suppressing for a while surges now.
"It should have been good news..."
I can´t do anything to save people before something happens, I know that.
No encountering whoever is behind the murders means that no one was killed. No tragedies happened, that should be more than enough.
"Then why—?"
I´m not surprised about what happened and the comforting thought that no one was hurt...
...Only makes me feel like I´m standing in front of the gallows.
—Line break—
"Ahhhhhh—"
A room lit only by the lamp on top of a bedside table and a mouth wide open.
Those are the two things I´m greeted by when I open my door room. Pyrrha was surprisingly still awake, sited on her bed with a book on her lap and yawning with no restraint. I think I can even see her uvul—
"Mikasa—!?"
Jumping in place and letting out a muffled yelp, my teammate noticed I arrived and covered her mouth. Is there any reason to be so embarrassed about someone seeing you yawn? It´s something everyone does.
I don´t get it.
"It´s good that you came, I wasn´t sure if I could stay up doing nothing much longer. Did Shirou go to the same place as yesterday?"
While walking to the bathroom to clean my hands and teeth I nod to her, when I realize something that stops me for a moment.
Shirou didn´t clean his teeth before going to sleep yesterday, and he isn´t going to do it today either...
Once I get the brush in my mouth It takes two minutes, up and down, left and right. In front of me, a girl with black hair is making a mimicry of my movements. We both spit and rise our mouths at the same time.
I leave but close to the bathroom door, the other girl of our team is awkwardly watching me as if she had something to say to me. I don´t think she wants to compare dental hygiene tips...
"... Did you want to use the bathroom—?"
"Eh? No, I just wanted to say that Jaune got you brought the two of you dinner since it didn´t seem you would get here on time. I´m sorry, I should have said that before you brushed your teeth."
One of her hands moves to the side, pointing to a desk with two trays of food.
I don´t follow that direction but turn towards the other side. On his bed, our team leader is sleeping with the same damaging onesie he did the previous two days. His breathing is loud but it seems he isn´t easily awoken by light sounds.
"...h—!"
"Mikasa! are you okay? You sounded weird there."
"—I´m fine."
I can´t help it.
That reaction was only natural after seeing one of the trays full of food. An odd choice of bell peppers, oatmeal, celery, sweet potatoes, carrots, beans, and pears. It was the oddest combination for dinner I had ever seen.
The only way someone would come up with it would be if they tried to mix everything someone tells them is good for something like hemorrhoids. I can´t imagine Shirou´s face if he were to see this.
"We missed you and Shirou during dinner. Even team RWBY was asking where you were. Do you think we might all be able to eat dinner together tomorrow?"
"No."
There is no point in saying anything but the truth here. Even if she was trying to ask me something else with that question, the answer would still be the same.
The redhead seems to not be surprised by the answer but she still doesn´t know what to say. She just stands there watching me while moving in place. I don´t move away because it´s clear that she is going to start speaking soon.
"Then tomorrow the two of you will leave again?"
"Yes, probably after we end replanting the grass in the school ground."
"I see, I´m sorry but I think we shoul—After you do what?"
She blinks to herself, repeating our conversation in her head but seemingly still not coming out with an answer.
It started with her asking me to explain the situation, after that it was a question about where did we go and if we didn´t find any trouble. Somehow, and because I didn´t have anything to do for the moment, I ended up being interrogated about everything that happened since Shirou and I left.
And somehow more things...
"During combat class, were you trying to say something to me? I don´t know if I understood your message correctly?"
"... no, I didn´t."
I don´t know what she means.
I don´t remember saying a single thing to her during that class. Not much happened in today´s classes, neither Shirou nor Pyrrha participated during this day's spars. So, I think she might be misunderstanding something.
As the redhead sighs in relief, she continues.
"Ah, I´m sorry. It´s just that you looked at me for a moment and then you finished Yang using the same move I did... Okay, maybe not the same exactly. For a second, I honestly thought you wanted to pick a fight with me."
"No, I just thought it would be for the best if I didn´t fight her for too long. I just remember how your fight ended and I didn't see a problem with it."
It looks like Pyrrha´s thought pattern is strange.
If you want to pick a fight with someone, why would you go through the trouble of doing something like that? You can ask for the professor to spar with whoever you want, so there is no reason to do something so pointless.
Besides, even if I wanted to show Shirou something I also didn´t want to fight that blonde for too long. When I think about that woman—
"Mikasa? Are you going somewhere again?"
"We already ate, that food should go into the fridge for the night."
I don´t have any other motives.
Food shouldn´t be wasted, that´s something you learn when at one point you depended on hunting to feed yourself. We can probably prepare something with the leftovers tomorrow and that would be good.
...It´s not because I want to see Shirou´s face when he sees his recommended diet.
"—Is there any reason I the two of you need to do something so dangerous and not even talk to us about it? We may just have met, but we are a team for a reason. You won´t lose anything by just saying something."
"—"
As I was moving away from the pajama-wearing girl, it looks like she couldn´t hold it back after all.
If there is a reason, he might have a different one to me. It doesn´t matter how capable our teammates are, if they are strong or weak is meaningless. If they were to come with us, Shirou wouldn´t do anything too stupid.
But—
"Even if we are a team, it would be pointless if the two of you come."
—If the worst were to happen, I can´t trust them to not stab us in the back.
I stand and move towards my bed. I fold a blanket and put it beneath the two trays of food.
I walk past Pyrrha who hasn´t responded in any way. She seems hurt by what I said, but I can´t take my words back. It would be better if there isn´t a conflict between the four of us, but that doesn´t what I have to do.
Balancing the two trays in one hand, I grip the handle of the door and—
"I can´t understand you. I don´t know why the two of you are like you are, but if you ever need me, I would like it if you or Shirou asked for help. I would like for our team to be more than just four people put together.
Good night, Mikasa."
"...Good night."
It was with a tight voice, but I receive an honest request from her.
I leave the room, and I can´t help but wonder if I should start leaving at a later moment. Using the window would probably be too much. It´s also true that it´s avoiding things is a bad habit, sometimes you need to face them head-on.
"Hey, Doll-face. Two nights in a row, that rough?"
"—?"
I tilt my head.
A blond girl who was just about to enter her room stopped the moment she saw me. Her clothes aren´t something one would wear to sleep, so she must have gone out somewhere. She is asking me something weird with a smile.
She leans back against the door and with a finger she points towards my hands.
"That blanket. You are sleeping elsewhere because of loud snoring, right? I get it, whenever no one was looking Ruby would escape and play in the rain. She always got sick in the end, and her snoring was loud enough that even being downstairs didn´t help."
"I see."
I don´t see it. What is the connection between her getting sick and snoring?
"You see, we are already getting along much better than yesterday. You even said two full words back and did not just nod while trying to look the silent beauty type. I guess that all that stuff about becoming friends after punching each other works in real life too. Cool, right—?"
"—"
"Okay, let´s call this relationship a work in progress."
On and on the girl talks, not deterred in the least.
It doesn´t matter the topic she tries to use an energetic voice that is not fitting for this hour of the night. You could probably say that her personality is a good match for her looks, but shouldn´t she at least try to keep it down for her team behind that door?
I guess that letting her speak for a while longer won´t bring any harm. She probably will tire soon—
"You know, I didn´t want to say anything because it was kind of rude but don´t you think all that is a bit too much for a late snack? At least it´s healthier than a bowl of cookies but that´s just a promise for a stomachache and getting fat."
Now that I think about it, I don´t have any reason to not just leave her here talking to herself.
—Line break—
A flickering light illuminates the fourth floor of the school.
In the ceiling, exactly in front of the entrance door, a long fluorescent light is quickly switching between on and off. It´s something unpleasant to see, giving a discouraging ambiance to the unpopulated hall.
"It´s too high."
It might be obvious if one thinks about it, but the ceiling of places like this school always have tall ceilings.
It wouldn´t change anything if I was taller or if I had a ladder right now. If there is anything wrong with that light, the only thing I could do was change it for a new, working light. A cheap thing to do as well, mercury-vapor and electric Dust are the most expensive of the materials that make these lights.
I heard that Vale has large mercury deposits in the north and that people that don´t live in the capital can find work there. Making the production of this light-
"Cheap enough that repairing it is wasting resources..."
It can´t be helped, even a place like this academy doesn´t have an unlimited workforce.
I shake my head and stop thinking about useless stuff. I don´t have time to be wasting time like this, I would have gone to sleep in our room with Mikasa. Once again, shake my head even more to make sure any tiredness that I had goes away.
Then, I walk into the forge.
The place is exactly the same as it was the first time I saw it, with numerous doors and only one person in sight. The old man sleeping behind the counter, the only sound of this floor level is his rough breathing.
"—"
Just to check again, I look all around the room and...
….There is no one else here.
Of course, I´m being stupid. There was no reason to think he would be here, just because I encountered him once in this place and because he enjoys appearing when I´m least expecting doesn´t mean he would be here today.
I´m sure that being the headmaster of a Huntsmen academy is a busy job, at least I can´t imagine doing something like keeping a budget for this place.
I start forward once again, passing by the sleeping old man with a work uniform and making my way through the empty facility towards the same door I used last night. I don´t think there is any difference between each door, as they all should lead to a room with similar equipment.
My mind should be focused on one thing—
I enter the room and everything is there, just as I left it this morning after cleaning up. Whoever is in charge of cleaning this floor must not have thought it worth to tidy up a place that was already cleaned.
—to improve my skills as a blacksmith.
...But I can´t do that right now.
"Haa—"
The moment the door is behind me I sigh and let my tired body slump for a moment.
Right now, my mind is like a car stuck in the mud, if I were to try to smith something like this, I would just be mindlessly revving up the engine and getting myself stuck deeper.
I need to first calm myself down in the first place, to get out of the mud I just need to move my mind out of this topic for good.
There is a group killing people on Vale, the one connection between the victims that I know of is that each of them put up a fight. They were either Huntsmen or people with equivalent training, besides that nothing else can be considered a linking pattern.
The two people who tried to kill Ruby during initiation were too weak to be responsible for what´s been happening.
The swordman who my team met last night before he defeated Mikasa and me in one blow, in his case, he is too strong to be the one.
They may not be the ones who had killed those seven people, but I can´t believe that meeting them back-to-back was just a coincidence. They are surely connected, even if I can´t see what´s the thread connecting them.
After patrolling the city for hours, we found nothing. There wasn´t even the faintest of traces of a group of people committed to hunting Huntsmen. There is no doubt about it, that is something that can only be good. There is no way that I can´t see that as something positive.
If there is a reason I´m uneasy —
"I just shouldn´t think about it."
That´s right.
There is nothing to be gained by thinking about it, so from today onwards, I will just focus on patrolling the city and training.
"—I´m going to need to apologize to those two after everything is done."
I´m referring to Pyrrha and Jaune.
Today back in the dorms, we spent the whole time lying to each other. The atmosphere of the room was awful and I can´t imagine that´s a good example of what a team should be. The situation is my fault but I can´t do anything in the meantime.
We have four years together, hopefully, I can repay them for the trouble at some point. But for now, I need to think about what to do about my training.
My capabilities as a fighter aren´t something I can´t improve in a short time. I´m already at the peak of what my body can manage, which can only be slowly improved. My skill in handling weapons still can be developed, but there is a limit to what I can achieve any time soon.
Something like the tactic I used today with Mikasa is not possible to perfect without using it hundreds of times either.
Going beyond that, there still is no progress in my ability to shroud weapons with Aura. If I'm being honest, it´s possibly something hopeless. If my prospect weren´t so grim in the first place, I would never have done something like try to compensate for my deficiency with smithing.
"I wonder if there is somewhere to practice archery in this place? I´m sure a firing range for weapons exists somewhere..."
It´s not exactly optimal for me to practice with my bow in such a place, but it´s certainly better than nothing. If I see that isn´t working, I can always go to the forest we were thrown during initiation, there is no shortage of moving targets there.
—Without realizing it, the immobilized car had been freed and working normally once again.
Now that everything is settled...
I start preparing every tool and instrument I´m capable of using. There are still many things I don´t understand about the high-end equipment that the school provides, even if last night I familiarized myself with it somehow.
...I need to turn my entire being into a steel manufacturing factory.
In my mind, a blueprint of a weapon I have created several times. There is nothing special about the sword, it´s just a blade I recreated until tiredness. Now, with my body that will ignore my fatigue like a machine, I will do my best to recreate it again without fail.
If I keep repeating this process, then someday, the result should be improved.
Clank—!
On this night that´s still far from over, the sound of metal striking metal echoes loudly.
[ Quick Author´s note: I´m sorry for the almost month and half of delay. I may be willing but this feeble writer´s flesh is weak.
If you notice that his chapter is actually readable at parts, it´s thanks to the partial proofreading&beta work of Hecturnus, and before you ask, yes he is that Hect (if you wish to tell me how he changed your life with a Bleach fanfic or something, please DM or something IDK.)
I will try to at least manage to get the next one before the end of this month but I can´t promise anything.]
