NOTE: From this point forward, the story will be written with a generic main character.
Bluh, delays. The combination of you buying so many clothes and you going to a mall on a weekend meant that your customization job was taking a minute. You expected it to be done after you got food, checked out a game store, and had all your Faunus senses assaulted by a soap shop. Thanks Weiss. You know it's not her fault, considering she doesn't even know you're a Faunus, but man her suggestion nearly killed you. Luckily, Blake also had no interest in going inside, and stood just outside with you. That gave you a chance to talk to her one on one.
While it was brief, your conversation was thankfully not only about you. Your starting point was talking about your, "memory loss," in relation to that video game mascot you knew but didn't. In addition to some maybe-undeserved sympathy points, Blake started talking about herself. Though she was surprisingly cagey with details, the girl talked about how odd she found Yang and Ruby's fascination was; she said she wasn't from Vale (though didn't elaborate), so she didn't have too much experience with big cities nor the culture of gaming up until recently. Of course, she said that while cuddling a small plush of one of the monsters. She found it super cute and liked it when Yang showed her the anime.
It was annoying. Blake didn't immerse herself in video games, but still knew the monsters. Weiss knew about them despite hating video games. You don't. Oh, well.
Blake talked more about her fascination with Ruby and Yang. She was constantly caught off guard by their duality; both were born huntresses, knowledgeable enough to fight Grimm since age ten, but both were also huge nerds that loved video games and childish fairy tales. You, not having come from a place where you had to fight to survive, didn't carry such a mix yet. She found joy in how much the sisters enjoyed life without worry about tomorrow. Blake knew the pair had plenty to worry about, but Ruby's words when they first met struck her; the first time the two met, Ruby had told her she wanted to be a hero, just like in the fairy tales. At first, she thought Ruby was just being naive, but eventually she realized that was real.
Moving to now, you and RWBY were killing time at a toy store. You're still surprised how fun it was to just look at random old toys and reminisce about childhood or think about whatever the new childhood toy was. You guess the company had quite a bit to do with that; Yang made anything interesting, but Ruby and (surprisingly) Weiss' childish enthusiasm was oddly infectious. You're thankful to see another side of Weiss; you've seen little other than her bratty personality, so seeing her gush over how much she liked the REALLY old school plastic figures of huntsman and Grimm. Apparently, they reminded her of her grandfather. Anything is a plus with her.
As for Blake, she takes an interest in what looks to be classic children's books. You've seen the type, and while you don't remember the contents, you recognize the painty art style and simple characters. Blake's love of books must have started out very young!
While you browse over some board games, you step over a young girl with a weightless tail. She looked to be completely absorbed by the shelves of toys, as one would expect a maybe 6ish child to be. You suddenly realize it's a bit odd that five young adults with no children are exploring a toy store aimed at sub-10 year olds. Oh well. It's still fun…
Time passes as you and RWBY wait for your phone to alert you that your clothes are ready. Though today was fun, you were getting a bit restless; you've explored pretty much everything there was go explore, not counting the places Weiss straight up vetoed. She couldn't stand another game store, so that would have to wait until she was doing something else.
You and RWBY wander around the mall for a bit looking for something to do until something strikes you. You see the little girl from the toy shop, herself wandering… and by herself, too. Looking around, you don't see anyone that looks to be her parent; the young girl was looking up at everyone, trying to find someone she recognized. She was too quiet to show fear, but panic and anxiety painted her face, making it clear she was lost.
Right before you move to say something, Yang says, "Hey, is she alone?" She points at the young girl, who looked like she was try to hide as best she could in the open.
"I think so," you say. "She was in the toy store with us a second ago."
Yang looks around, prompting everyone else to do the same. You don't see anyone frantically looking for their daughter, which didn't bode well.
"We should do something."
"I'm sure it's fine," Weiss says. "Her parents are probably in the store next to her. If not, mall security will take care of her." There she goes again with the negative traits…
"Weiss, I'm not just gonna let a kid wander around a mall."
"It's not your responsibility to look after someone else's kid, Yang."
Yang's eyes flash red. "I wouldn't expect that coming from you. How IS your father doing?"
Weiss eyes narrow. "I'm not sure what you're getting at, nor do I like your tone."
As Yang and Weiss glare at each other, you see two guys, about your age, wander up to the little girl. A red flag ticks when they A. don't have any Faunus traits, and B. give you the familiar impression of the people you met the first time you went to the mall which resulted in a black eye. You hesitate for just one moment too much, which you immediately regret.
"Woah, check it out," one of the boys says. "Looks like another dirty stray."
You find yourself seething immediately as you watch the two men, far to old to be bullying a child, bully a child.
"What, you think her owner got too lazy and tossed her?" The second boy squatted down and touched the girl on the head before roughly petting her hair. Considering she was a child, her reaction was to whimper and shrink. "Aww, how sad. I'm sure we can find a nice kennel for you. Otherwise, I can take you back into an alley where you belong."
You shoot forward, rage in your steps without needing to think. Your body was driven by the hatred you felt towards Gild and his type; the second their mouths opened, your body forced itself into a wrath for your kind. And, of course, the girl was a cat Faunus, judging from her tail. Blake is only an instant behind you, also ready to fight. After Yang and Ruby recover from the initial shock, they follow, equally furious. Though she takes an extra moment, even Weiss' fury ignites and she follows as well.
"You kind telling me what exactly it is that you're doing?" you say, looking down at the two men assaulting a Faunus. It'd be bad enough if it was a regular child, but they were also committing a hate crime as well. "You don't look fit to be parents."
The boys look at each other and laugh. Rising to their feet, one says, "We ain't her parents. What, we look like ferals to you?"
"Then take your hands off her. She's a child." You deliberately ignore the slur.
"And what are you gonna do? She part of your litter?"
"Funny coming from trash." In any other circumstance, you know Yang would cheer for your burn, but she had nothing but red eyes and raised hands for the situation.
"Cool it, Beanie. I just think we'd make good pet owners is–" a crack resounds as your fist connects with his face. Screw consequence, this guy needed an asskicking. Now that you had Aura and training, you could actually fight back against people like Gild; before, you were a boy in an unfamiliar body. The man staggers back, dazed from the blow to his nose. "Who the f–"
Crack.
Suddenly, you're on the floor, glad to be winning the fight this time. You feel a rough hand grip your shoulder as the other racist tries to wrench you off of his friend.
"Get off of him!" the second boy cries as you beat his friend's face in.
"Nah, I think he deserves this," Blake says, grabbing the arm touching you. With a pull and a kick, she trips the other boy and knocks him to the ground. "Whoops."
"You bitch!" the boy spouts from the ground.
"Whoops," Blake says, kicking the grounded racist in the face, playing it off almost as if she didn't see him there. "You should be more careful."
You pause your onslaught. You've felt anger before, but MAN, was this cathartic. You aren't quite sure what took over you, but the mix of the person you were punching assaulting, threatening, and targeting a child strikes you just as much as the fact that they were doing so to a Faunus. You've never been quick to anger, but something just decided to snap in you. Still, best to make it feasible that you were in the right. You climb up off of the racist and stand.
Glancing around the crowd that had gathered around you, you see a security guard stumbling to do anything about the situation. They saw you take down a guy after he touched a little girl without hearing what he said, so it probably didn't look good for you. Still, you had friends. The racist did, but he was in the floor screaming obscenities at Blake, so no favors there.
Thankful beyond any reasoning that Yang exists, you hear her say, "I think this little girl is lost. The guy on the ground said something about taking her behind an alley!" In addition to somewhat inaccurately stating completely accurate facts, Yang plays up the distressed bystander and says, "I heard them talking about throwing her in a kennel!" while looking disgusted. To be fair, she was telling the truth, but the two boys were clearly joking, if in poor taste. Though, as she points out, "They were grabbing at her!"
Ruby raises her hand. "Yeah! He stepped in to stop them!"
Weiss folds her arms and huffs. "Simply disgusting. To be so brazen in a public area." You're glad she's playing along. It's a weird situation where the two boys on the ground are super in the wrong, but Yang was playing them up as pedophiles in addition to racists. Not like they deserve better…
The security guard walks up to you, huffing. He was a bit too portly to be of much use in any real situation, but he seems to accept Yang's only-slightly-exaggerated story. He nods at you and says, "Thanks, boy. Though, next time, call us. We can't have people running around attacking each other freely; that's what we're for."
Not wanting to argue, you nod. "Yes, sir." Sure, a random chubby cop wouldn't do much to intimidate some entitled teens, but whatever. Deciding to justify yourself a bit, you say, "I was trained to protect people, albeit from Grimm."
"Ah, a Beacon student?" You nod. "Good to see they're teaching you kids right."
Yang walks up to the Faunus girl and kneels down. Showing her skills with dealing with children, she pats her on the head (gently, not like a creep) and touches her hand. Despite being dressed like fanservice incarnate, she looks incredibly motherly and gentle as opposed to her overtly sexual and rough self. Gripping the girl's hand lightly, she says, "It's okay now. We'll help you find your parents." The girl, too shy and scared to speak, hugs Yang. Yang hugs her back and picks her up like a mother would. Turning to the security guard, she says, "She's lost. Can you like… call in or something?"
"Of course! We'll get you back to your parents right away, and I'll deal with these two."
A few minutes later, you were watching the Faunus girl enjoy an ice cream Yang had bought her. Another security guard shows up with a hysteric cat-eared woman behind them; the girl's mother runs to her daughter and scoops her up, thanking the Brothers that she found her child. Yang waves her off, earning a heart-wrenchingly cute wave back from the little girl.
Turning to address the group, Yang says, "Well, that was eventful. Jeez, Briar, you kicked his ass!"
You nervously scratch your head. "Yeah… I wasn't gonna sit there and let him get away with that. Thankfully, quote unquote, he touched her. I'd probably be in a lot of trouble if he was just harassing her."
"And that's why the world sucks," Yang says, meaning her words but keeping a joking smile. "Do you know HOW many times guys have catcalled me and I've wanted to punch them?"
"None?" Blake responds, smirking.
"yeah it was none im a slut for catcalling" Yang says flatly. "But sometimes they're uglyyy."
"You just… accept random strangers objectifying your body?" Weiss asks, horrified. "And LIKE it?"
"Eh, depends on how pervy it is. I'm never gonna GO for them, but…"
"Yanggg," Ruby says, unhappy with her sister's antics. Before she can continue, you get a text from the technician shop saying that your clothes were ready.
"Looks like we're finally done!" you cheer.
"That's narratively convenient…" Blake looks around, finding a store window where she could look into a camera at an audience that wasn't there. "Whatever. Time to head home."
This mall trip turned out to be pretty eventful, but at least you got to punch a racist. That's always a good time. Oh, and you guess helping a lost child was pretty cool. At this point, all your cool clothes were really just a bonus. Now you can punch racists, help children, AND look styling.
Hopefully nothing bad comes from you punching a guy, though.
