Hello Readers,
I hope you enjoy the next intallment of Professor Tohsaka at Beacon Academy.
ShirouKuroEmiya
Chapter Five "The Bathhouse"
"I am still having a hard time believing what we have learned over the last two classes," said Ruby and her teammates nodded their heads in agreement. "The world might have turned on its head."
"That is an apt description of how everyone would respond if Headmaster Ozpin hadn't made it possible to be expelled from Beacon Academy and face legal actions for letting the general public know about magic," remarked Yang. "I still think what Ozpin did was wrong. The world deserves to know about magic."
"I think Ozpin did the right thing," added Blake. "The world isn't ready for magic, just yet. I even heard rumors that no one, even Ozpin himself, knew that Professor Tohsaka would be teaching magic and he had been so blindsided. Can you imagine how badly criminals would use to abuse magic, in particular terrorist groups? Hence, the drastic and harsh response."
"Assuming what you said is true, which I do, then Shirou and Rin are the only ones that know about and how to use magic," stated Weiss confidently. She paused for a moment. "Correction: used to. Everyone that attends Rin's class does now."
"I kind of find it funny how my sister and you, Weiss, have Elemental Affinities closely related to your names. Weiss as your name can translate to White that in turns relates to snow and winter allows you to have the dual Elements of Water and Wind. My sister having the name of a gem has the Earth Element," giggled Yang.
Weiss glanced at Yang. "The same could apply to you. The origin of your name, yang, is associated with heat and light. Your Semblance and your Fire Element really match your name."
"That applies to everyone on the team. My name is associated with white, pale, black and dark. Hence I have the non-traditional Dual Elements of Light and Dark," noted Blake as she continued reading a book as she walked.
"It's quite the coincidence that everyone on our team has their Elemental Affinities linked to our names, which didn't happen to anyone else in our class," chirped Ruby. "I am really conflicted about what animal I should choose as my familiar."
"I certainly know what I want to choose." Weiss smiled as she brought out her Scroll. "Have a look at this. Doesn't she look so cute?"
"Snow owl," read Yang from the Scroll. "It certainly suits your color preference since you love to wear white clothes. I am going to ask my father to mail Zwei over."
"No, Yang! Zwei is my Familiar!" protested Ruby.
"You just said that you don't know what Familiar you wanted!"
"I do now!"
"Well, I have first picks at the oldest sibling."
Weiss chuckled as she saw the two siblings getting into an argument. She walked towards Blake and gently nudged her to the side so that they were some distance away from Ruby and Yang.
"Hey," Weiss began in a nervous tone. "I'm sorry..." She took a deep breath and looked at Blake's eyes. "... About the comments I made two days ago about the Faunus."
Blake closed her book and met Weiss's gaze. "This is not what I was expecting."
"Yes, I would also be surprised if I was in your shoes." sighed Weiss. "I reflected on what I said. What I said was incredibly wrong. I... allowed my emotions to get the better of me. My experience with the Faunus has not been... great you could say. Many friends and family I knew have been blackmailed, kidnapped or killed by the White Fang."
The black haired girl flinched and caught Weiss by surprise. The Schnee heiress couldn't understand why for Blake's response, Weiss could only shake it with Blake's pro-faunus views having to do something with it.
"But, I will not change my views on the White Fang, at least the current iterations after the organization split off from its more moderate and peaceful members, the Faunus Rights Advocacy Group." Weiss continued stubbornly.
"That I can agree with you." Blake grudgingly nodded her head. "The White Fang is an organization that should be eradicated. It not only hurts the Faunus cause, but what they do is just wrong!" She paused for a moment before looking at Weiss skeptically. "I hope this isn't an act to make me like you for your self-interest, say to get better teamwork so we score better as a team in group activities."
"Of course, not!" The Schnee heiress protested. "I started to change my mind when I heard what other students and teachers thought about me after my racist remarks. They made me self-reflect how petty I had been..."
"Hey, so you two made up!" Ruby cheered happily as she caught Weiss and Blake by surprise to pull them together by wrapping her hands on the girls' shoulders.
Blake made a small smile, almost as if she was still skeptical about the honesty of Weiss's apology, but a part did accept it or at least that was what Weiss could see. The Schnee heiress made a mental note to remind herself that she needed to show through convincing actions that her apology to Blake was genuine.
"You will have to prove yourself, Weiss," remarked Yang. "So Blake... What are you deciding as your Familiar?"
"I want to get a... black cat." replied Blake with a sense of kinship. "I always wanted a pet, but never got the chance given how I moved around alot and didn't have time to care for one."
Weiss started smiling as if she discovered something amusing. "That's because you feel a personal connection with cats right? Are you perhaps a Cat Faunus?"
The normally stoic Blake's expression momentarily slipped just enough to show a hint of panic before it disappeared. A normal person might have missed it, but Weiss didn't. She had grown up being taught by some of the best teachers regarding psychology and reading's people's body language as part of her upbringing as a potential heiress to the family company, the Schnee Dust Company.
"What are you talking about?" asked a confused Ruby.
A concerned Yang glanced at Weiss and Blake, worrying how the conversation might go by using past experience as a guide. "I don't think we should be approaching this topic." She murmured.
"No, I think we need to acknowledge it," said Blake as she proudly took of her black bowtie to reveal her cat-like ears. A feat that she never would have dared to do if Remnant's general outlook on Faunuskind hadn't become favorable due to Tohsaka Industries' influence. "Yes, I'm a Cat-Faunus, and I am proud of it. I shouldn't have hidden in the first place."
"Congratulations on openly acknowledging it." Weiss clapped to her teammates' shock.
"Are you okay, Weiss?" inquired a baffled Yang.
"Agreed," added Ruby.
"Did you truly turn a new leaf?" Blake suspiciously stared at Weiss.
"To be honest, I still have some reservation of... accepting the Faunus," admitted Weiss. "But I know that I am in the wrong. What I did earlier was just plain rude. It was discriminatory, and even if I didn't like Faunus, I should have kept my opinion to myself and not affect my judgement."
"At least, I can accept that over pretending that you all of sudden became a Pro-Faunus activist," said Blake with a smile. "I hope that I can show you that the Faunus don't deserve what the many human conservatives and anti-faunus believers are wrong."
"Oh, hey!" shouted Ruby to the surprise of her teammates. "If we don't hurry it up then we are going to miss the free admission time period for Beacon students at Taiga Bathhouse!"
"Wait up, Ruby!" Yang screamed as Ruby disappeared into the distance with her Speed-type Semblance.
Weiss and Blake looked at each other before quickly chasing after their sprinting teammates.
- O -
"I didn't know that the Tohsaka Industries ran this bathhouse," casually remarked Yang as she let her body soak in the body-relaxing and soothing onsen.
"I heard that it wasn't personally owned by Professor Tohsaka," added Blake.
"Professor Tohsaka owns it?" asked Weiss. "I heard it was her husband, Shirou. There is also a rumor that the Taiga Bathhouse isn't an artificial hot-spring, but it's really a natural one."
"The place is a natural hot spring?" repeated Ruby. "I thought there was no volcanic activity in Vale."
"Well that is what the rumors going around right now say. It started around the time Professor Tohsaka revealed magic. Before that, Taiga Bathhouse already had a renowned reputation for its health effects. So I think someone put these two facts together and the rumor was born." explained Weiss.
"Now that you mention it." Blake paused as she focused her attention. "I think I can detect a... what was it called again... the term used to describe magic being used over an area?"
"A Bounded Field," answered Weiss. "Are you sure you can detect a Bou-"
"I feel it," interrupted Yang.
"Same here," added Ruby. "It's really subtle. I never would have noticed it if Blake didn't mention it."
Blake closed her eyes and turned her attention to the nearly undetectable Bounded Field while trying to recall everything she knew on the subject. She tried to get past the magic hiding the Bounded Fields existence and discern its inner workings, but she failed no matter how many times the Cat Faunus tried.
With a sigh, Blake reached to right wrist where there was a bracelet and channeled Od from her recently activated Magic Circuits while mentally inputting commands as Professor Tohsaka had taught her class.
"Well done," said a familiar voice, causing Team RWBY to nearly jump in surprise. "Not only did you detect the Bounded Field, but you were able to use the Mystic Code that I gave out. If this had been a class assignment I would have given you an A-grade, Miss Belladonna."
Team RWBY had been mentally prepared to see their teacher in the flesh, but instead they found her swallow familiar, Sapphire, taking a hot bath in the pet section, which was a very rare and famous feature of Taiga Bathhouse.
"Professor, did you follow us?" Weiss subconsciously asked as while her opinions on Rin had softened over the two classes, she still had years of being taught to hate the owner of the SDC's greatest rival.
"No," the swallow shook its head in a human-like manner. "Sapphire likes to take baths at Taiga Bathhouse. It was just a coincidence that I met you here."
"Sapphire is incredibly intelligent if it could let you know about our presence so that you could communicate to us through Sapphire," remarked Yang in awe. "Do all animals become this intelligent as Familiars?"
"Not necessarily. All Familiars have different starting points of their intelligence and limits to their growth depending on the animal species. Sapphire here has reached the limit of what intelligence she has and it is comparable to that of a ten year human child." explained Rin.
"So the more intelligent the animal before the magical bonding the better it is as a Familiar?" asked Blake.
"It depends on what you're looking for when you're choosing a Familiar. Let's use machines as an example. Do you want a multi-purpose device like a Scroll or a specialized camera that outperforms even the best Scrolls in taking photos and videos? What you want determines what animal you should carefully select as a potential Familiar." answered Rin.
"That isn't entirely true," said another familiar voice. "What Rin has told you was a textbook answer for beginners such as yourselves, Team RWBY. If you learn more about magic that isn't the never-changing answer. Sapphire here could have even more room for its intelligence to grow, if Rin was willing to put the time, effort and resources. It's all about cost and benefits."
"Argh!" Team RWBY screamed as they covered up their bodies to protect their female modesty when they heard Shirou's voice.
"Don't worry," Rin replied as Sapphire rolled its eyes. "Shirou has his familiar's eyes covered."
Rin's response soon turned out to be true as they found Shirou's familiar, a cute-looking baby tiger, with a blindfold on, which would have been a bizarre sight if Shirou controlling a tiger was a more surprising feat.
"There is no way that I can let my husband peek at the naked bodies of Taiga Bathhouse's female customers." Rin reassured her students. "Oh, if you didn't know, Shirou's familiar is the mascot and origin for the bathhouse's name."
"Taiga, say hi to Rin's students." The baby tiger let out a quiet and cute roar before its eyes changed to show the intelligent eyes that would be seen from a human. "On your earlier topic, this bathhouse basically replicates the natural process found in naturally occurring springs.
"Well the closest anyone can get without actually creating volcanic activity," added Rin. "Just thinking about the time, effort and resources to replicate a natural hot spring hurts my head, Shirou!"
"Well it was worth it. The public greatly benefited from the health-promoting effects of the bathhouse." chuckled Shirou.
"Anyway," Rin responded as the swallow turned away from the tiger cub and looked at Team RWBY. "Enjoy your stay. I have another class to teach."
With that Sapphire's intelligent eyes started to dim and its behavior returned to that expected from a bird.
"I too will have to leave. There is a student fighting club session that I must supervise."
The baby tiger soon followed Sapphire's example and it let out a cute roar before returning to playing around in the water.
"I think we have soaked ourselves in the onsen long enough. Let's take a go at the sauna."
- O -
"Ha! This hits just the right spot!" yelled Yang happily after downing a small glass bottle filled with one of Tohsaka Industries most recent inventions. "This is better than milk after a relaxing time in the hot spring!" She lifted the now empty bottle as she waved at her teammates. "MILK flavored Mana Potion that is tasty, relaxes your body AND restores your energy!"
"I totally agree with you there, Yang," said Blake as her tongue slipped in and out her own milk-flavored Mana Potion similar to how a cat might lap away a tray of milk.
"Rubes, did you like the drink?" asked Yang as she turned to her younger half-sister.
"It doesn't feel right..." muttered Ruby in a cautious tone as she stared at the unopened bottle.
"If you're not going to drink it then let me!" Yang snatched the bottle out of Ruby's hand and quickly uncorked the lid before downing everything in one go. "Ah! That is great! I don't think I will ever get used to this sweet and refreshing taste, and how it fills me up with energy."
"What part doesn't seem right?" asked Blake curiously as she walked up to her leader. "Is the part that can restore Aura without any side-effects too good to be true? Or something else that we don't know about Mana Potions?"
"Don't you think the release of Mana Potions was too rushed? To claim to have such powerful medical properties like replenishing Aura after a drink seems too unrealistic. You need years of research on animal models before even thinking about doing human clinical trials."
"Nope," replied Yang bluntly while getting another Milk flavored Mana Potion from a nearby vendor machine. "If Shirou Emiya endorses it then it has to be healthy for you."
Ruby sighed as she looked at her older sister. Many things interested Yang, but Shirou Emiya was one of her greatest fascinations. He was like a symbol of two things that Yang loved; adventure and strength. A legendary huntsman that traveled the lands destroying evil wherever it could be found. If Shirou Emiya wasn't married already then Yang probably would have tried to get into his pants and more...
"The Mana Potions have been tested very rigorously over the years already that includes both animal models and human clinical trials." chirped Blake, snapping Ruby out her thoughts. "Besides, TD (Tohsaka Industries) is well known for their ethical integrity. I doubt that they would release products that are harmful to the general public."
"That I have to agree with." Weiss grudgingly nodded. "I'm amazed that no one in the public connects the name of Mana Potion with magic."
"No one would believe it is magic unless they saw magic in person with their own eyes," commented Blake. "Still, I can only imagine the chaos and an overwhelming demand for Mana Potions related products after the general public learns about its magical nature."
Suddenly, there was an explosion as the wall was blasted to pieces and as the smoke and dust settled several black suit wearing men entered the changing room with weapons drawn.
"Hands in there! No one needs to get hurt. We are here for the Dust."
A shocked Team RWBY stared in disbelief at how criminals were trying to rob Dust in a bathhouse of all places.
An embarrassed gun-man explained, "The Taiga Bathhouse buys and uses more Dust than most large Dust stores."
The girls didn't believe the claim for a moment until they suddenly recalled their lessons with Professor Tohsaka and how the bathhouse was owned by her husband. The existence of a Bonded Field also entered their minds. It was after all a Mana sustained magical ritual that likely required a lot of Mana Dust that had attracted the criminals in the first place.
"Why blast your way into the female change room then if you're looking for Dust!" screamed Weiss.
"Yea! Why do naked girls and women have Dust?!" shouted Yang in agreement.
Blake shook her head in disapproval and remarked in a hostile tone, "I bet they are perverts and just using Dust as an excuse."
"I recognise who they are!" shouted Ruby as she pointed at the criminals. "They are Roman Torchwick's goons!"
"Well the perverts need to pay!" Team RWBY shouted in unison as they rushed to the cabinets holding their weapons in their towel-clad bodies.
- O -
Roman Torchwick was waiting at the front lounge for his goons to steal the reported hundred tonnes of Dust when he saw one of his goons, quickly followed by several more flying out of the female change rooms.
"What the hell are you doing in the fem-" Roman was about to berate his goons when he saw four towel clad girls aimed with weapons.
If it had been any other time Roman wouldn't have been scared four young Huntress trainees, but the girls' near naked appearance and their bloodthirsty aura made it obvious that they might actually murder someone, the consequences be damned.
"Oh, hell no! I am not standing around to deal with this mess!" Roman shouted as he started running away.
"Boss why are you run-" A goon asked, but Roman ignored the goon and started sprinting.
As Roman made his escape, he witnessed something that he would never forgot. There was a ANGRY swallow that was flying around spewing FUCKING fire upon his goons. A tiger cub that transformed into an adult and could punch through concrete with its paws.
I am never going to try robbing Taiga Bathhouse ever again in the future, no matter what Cinder offers to pay or threatens me! thought Roman as he run for his life.
What do you guys think about what you read? Is it good, bad or meh? Any recommendations to improve? Please let me know.
Thank you for reading!