I will never forget the look she had on her face, when she turned around to me. I also won't forget what she said to me.

"You said it would be over... You promised."

This was before the other brainless students poured in to look at what was happening, before I would let myself go and yell at them, and break my sunglasses, and then yell some more. But forget about the crowd, and forget their forced sympathy. They might think they were being nice, but the truth is that they disgusted me. I may have blown up at them, but really I was frustrated with myself. What anyone else had to say was irrelevant.

Velvet mattered.

And what she said to me, affected me the most. Her words had me rooted to the ground.
What had happened here, in her dorm room, was only one of the things that fueled my doubt. It made me doubt if I was really doing the right thing. It made me doubt whether I could help her, if maybe that was something that was out of my expertise.

I did promise it'd be over. It's something I can't deny. I shouldn't have promised something like that.
I was full of myself. And this was the consequence.

Ash fluttered around the room, and stuck to Velvet's face.

This was the consequence.

Final entry.

Tuesday, sunny.

It's been raining for the past few weeks. Pretty much since the day I came to Beacon, it rained.
Thank goodness it was sunny today.

This will probably be my last diary entry. I know I've confided a lot to these pages the last few weeks, but I don't need it anymore. I met someone who I can talk to. I met someone I like. No more holing up and scribbling down fears, haha. Besides, my real diary is just a pile of ashes anyway. I couldn't write in it even if I wanted to.

All I have is this one page. Soon it will be nothing more than ash too. I'm only writing to pass the time.
I don't want to look back on what I've written here, that's why I don't have to keep it, luckily. That's not what this is for. This entry is not for remembering, but for forgetting. I can just leave my memories behind, burn them up, and scatter their ashes. Like a cremation. Well, maybe that's a bit too dark.

Today in Vale, I finally bought that book I wanted to. The Thirteenth Crusade. I wish I could start reading immediately, but there's so many other things that I have to get done first.
It doesn't matter much. I'm looking forward to those other things as well. Maybe even more.
Coco went with me, of course. She's been really nice to me, ever since yesterday, nicer than anyone ever has been. She proved it again today- that she's amazing, and that she is nice. Because there's a difference, you know, but she's both.

The bookstore owner was very nice to me, for example. But he wasn't amazing. He was pretty terrible, actually. You see, you can pretend to be nice, but being amazing is something you can't mimic. You either are, or you aren't.
What happened in the store shows just that.

The bookstore owner held back Coco when I went off on my own to find what I wanted.

He whispered to her that he didn't like serving people like me, and that Coco shouldn't familiarize with my kind. I was nothing but trouble, he insisted. It's funny, because he thought I couldn't hear him, but I could. I also understood that this was one of those people who only pretended to be nice.

"Your convictions aren't very strong then, if you're serving her anyway," Coco replied, so deadpan that I almost laughed. Not really because of what she said, but how she said it.
"The only reason I helped that girl is because I'd get in trouble with the white fang if I didn't," he replied.
Coco was so quick witted with her answer to that, it's like she read the script to her life or something.
She said people like him were the prime reason why the white fang existed in the first place. I almost laughed again, because of how impressed I was with the way she used words. I really like that about her.

She was really angry too. She would be really angry at least three times today, and this was the first time.
She slammed down fifty lien on the counter, and almost carried me out of the store.
I played it cool and innocently asked why we had to go, but Coco refused to tell me why she wanted to leave. She didn't want me to be upset, I think.

And the book- that was a present from her, she said. No matter how much I protested, she wouldn't accept my money.
That made me happy.

I told her everything I knew about the thirteenth crusade while we wandered around Vale. I'm glad she listened to me the entire time. Talking about something other than nothing is fun.
We visited the fountain, the park, the town hall, the docks, and a lot of other places too.
She had never been in Vale before, she said, so I was happy to show her around. I knew the city like my back pocket. I spent most of my time there, when I didn't have to be at school. Anything to escape that place, hahaha.

It's a good thing she bought me the book, now that I think about it. I want to pay her back you see. Getting my money back from Cardin is yet another thing I can add to the already long list of reasons for what I'm going to do.

When we both returned to Beacon, I found another reason for that list.
What we encountered is actually the thing I want to write about most.
And thus, the thing I want to forget the most.
Honestly, I wish I could forget everything.

Something terrible had happened to my dorm room. Something that made me very sad. And something that made Coco very, very angry.
It was hard to digest it. I had to look twice just to be sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.
I hardly recognized the place I lived, and the place I slept, anymore.

All my books were turned to ashes.
All my clothes into ribbons.
All my belongings into fragments of nothingness.

My heart was in shambles also.
Everything that was dear to me, was destroyed.

I hate myself for it, but I cried, just a bit.
There was a little note on my bed, or rather, on what was left of my bed.

'Consider this a warning,' it said.
It was from Cardin, it had to be. He and his friends must have trashed the place, knowing full well that everything I had stored away there, was in fact all I had.
He knew because I told him that, back when he still pretended to be my friend.

I don't know how much of a beating you can take as a person before you just, I don't know- die from sadness or something. Because I don't think I can take a lot more of this, and I'm starting to get afraid about what would've happened if I didn't meet Coco.
I don't think I would've been able to bear it much longer.

I was hardly keeping it together now, after all.

Everything I had was gone. He took it all from me.
Cardin hurt me before, but this was different. What he did now hurt me in a different way, and a lot more than anything physical could.
Thank goodness Coco was with me. Someone to get mad on my behalf. And believe me- she was mad.

She got mad when she saw what happened to my belongings. She got mad when she saw Cardin through the window, laughing at us from the courtyard, but she got really angry when a small crowd formed around the door to my dorm.
Over time, a bunch of people stayed still in the corridor. They huddled together, peering inside at us and the calamity that was the dorm room. Worse than that, they all looked like they had nothing to say.
They were eager to stare at my misfortune though, like they always have been. I didn't want them to. I wanted them to leave. I didn't even want them to know I existed.
Their stares made me shrink. Them seeing this only makes it worse.

My team leader was among them, and she was the only person who had the courage to enter, get close to me.
"Oh my god," she said quietly, "this is terrible."
The crowd behind her agreed, in the form of an incomprehensible mumbling. Oh, how terrible it was for poor me, they seemed to be saying.
"Velvet, I'm so sorry for you... if there's anything I can do... just say the word..."

She didn't really sound genuine at all. I didn't care.
I hardly knew her. She never really talked to me. She didn't even sit next to me in class. I don't know why she cared all of a sudden. I also don't understand why she said she was 'so sorry.' Like I care if you're sorry, damn it.

The crowd agreed with her though. The crowd of people I didn't know was suddenly extremely motivated to help me out.
My team leader approached me.

"It was Cardin who did this, wasn't it? Oh, I'm so sorry..."
She reached her arm out, maybe to hug me, or something. It didn't matter what her intentions were. Coco slapped the girl's arm away, and it looked like it hurt.

"Don't touch her," was what she said.
That made me glad.

"And we know it's Cardin who did this. Kinda obvious. I think all of you know that it was him."
"Oh... Okay," my leader said, and she fidgeted a bit. She obviously didn't expect that, so she went back to her old routine.
"I'm still very sorry. I-"

Coco wouldn't have it. Coco couldn't stand that someone would say that they're sorry. She made everyone quit saying their useless apologies real quick

"Oh yeah? You're sorry? Well, good for you. You know what? This isn't the first time something has made Velvet cry. She's had it worse than this. Where were you then, huh? Where were you? Now that you have a crowd of people behind you who agree, you're suddenly able to speak. You're phony. All of you are. You're all fake. You only care about Velvet when it's safe to do so. You only speak out when there's a crowd backing you up. That's useless. You might as well say nothing. So fuck off, all of you. Get out. You should've been there for her when it counted! This is just fake!"

She was yelling. She started out talking in a very reserved, calm way, but now, each word she shouted made them recoil.

"You're nothing but a bunch of cowards! All this time, all these weeks, Velvet was completely alone. All this time, you saw all of this happen, and you did nothing! Not a single one of you! You all just stood there and watched! So fuck you! Fuck you all!"

She snatched her sunglasses from her face, and flung them at the crowd. They broke against the wall. The crowd backed away like she'd thrown a grenade, and about half of the people present took it as a sign to leave. Eh, I wouldn't miss them.
I think I might buy her new ones, by the way. New sunglasses, as thank-you gift.
She's making everyone upset, just for me. That makes me glad. Hearing her say the truth, the real, raw truth, panting, with a furious expression on her face, all of that makes me glad.

"But we all want to help you," my team leader said. She'd gone red in the face. Really red. I think she was ashamed. I think she knew Coco was right. She was so quiet, I could barely hear her speak.
Coco lashed out at her anyway, completely merciless.
"Ha, congratulations on that. We couldn't care less. If you really want to help, then stay the hell out of our way."
She pointed her finger right at the girl's face.
"And no snitching on us either. Something's about to happen to Cardin. I don't want to hear a single word, from any of you, that it was us who had anything to do with it. Alright? Whatever happens, it wasn't us. I'm telling all of you for a reason. If you really want to help, then you keep your mouth shut. Instead of giving Velvet some useless sympathy, go out and keep an eye on that guy. And make sure he doesn't come here. Understood?"

In unison, the crowd nodded
"We'll do that. We'll do that," they mumbled, and one by one they walked off to somewhere, leaving us alone. Only my leader stayed.
I was relieved, still. Coco made them all go away, just with what she said. Ha. I wish I was clever like that. She always knows to say the right things. More than that, she's completely willing to take the heat off me. And that made me glad.

I still have to apologize to her, I realize. I asked her why this happened, earlier, even though she promised it would be over. Like I was blaming her for what had happened. That was really mean.
And I called her a human, when she first talked to me. I called her a human, as if it was a bad thing.
I was scared of her then, but it was still really mean. Terribly mean, actually. I want to curl up into a ball and hide in a corner, that's how embarrassed I feel about having said that. If I could take it back, I would. I wish I never said it at all.

Now I know it's not about humans, or faunus. It's about good, and evil. Or maybe not even good and evil. Just 'not so evil' and evil.
But it didn't matter to her, all of the mean things I had said. She kept following me anyway, reaching out for me, she wouldn't give up. And that's why I like her.
She even said she could only be happy if I was happy. It was almost like a confession, haha.

Meanwhile, my leader was looking more and more upset about our silence.
"Just leave us alone," Coco finally said, "You're not needed. Not here. You know what you can do- go do it. Or not. But for god's sake, just get out"
My leader turned to me, as if I would help her out.

"But... Velvet... I'm your teammate. I- I also want to stay with you. I can't just leave... That'd be wrong..."

"It's alright," I said, "you can continue to ignore me, like you always have."

That was it. You can't believe how good it felt to say that. She backed off, slowly, and ran away.
I think she was really shocked.
Is it okay to smile? Is it okay to feel happy after telling someone something like that?
Haha, I don't care! I'm going to smile anyway.

We were alone, Coco and I, alone again.
We still had something to do.
"Velvet, remember the plan I told you about?" she asked me. Of course I did. There was no way I could forget.
Coco said she has a plan. When we walked back to Beacon, she told me all about it.
She said there was a time for talking, and a time for violence. It was real motivational and clever, and she said it in such a way that I can't repeat it back to you now. All I can remember is that it filled me with excitement.

"There's one thing that living beings understand the best," I think she said, "and that's violence."
Now, if Coco were to describe my smile, she would probably say that it was like the sun rising over the horizon or something. I'm not poetic like that, so I won't, and I don't even know if that's a metaphor that makes sense. All I know is that I smiled like an idiot.

"We're still going through with it," Coco assured me.
"I know it must be hard for you to do this, but you need to stay here for a while, okay? This is all so sudden, and I still need to prepare for something. If you go with me, there's no telling if we run into Cardin."
"I don't mind."
"But I do. I'll be back as soon as possible, okay? Just stay here, and you'll be safe. Safer than with me, at least. I'll make sure those idiots from just now actually stand guard, and I'll guilt trip your leader into being extra vigilant. Just stay put, and I'll be back as soon as possible."

That was a while ago.
She was preparing whatever she needed for our plan.
Guess there's no going back now, even if I wanted to.
I'm going to fight soon. It's what I want, truly. I'm looking forward to it. That's what it means to be a huntress, fighting.

I don't suspect it will change a lot of things. What we're about to do will not change anything about what faunus have to go through.
It won't change people's minds, it won't change the world either.
Cardin would change, though. Especially in the physical sense, hahaha, and that's what I cared about. If things kept on going as they had been, if Coco and I did nothing, then I wouldn't be able to stay at Beacon, so I might as well go all out from now on. If all else failed, or if I'd get expelled for this, I'd be back to where I was anyway. So to hell with repercussions. And to hell with changing the world. This is just as important.

Coco said it was pointless to try and change the world, and I agree with her.
She said it was impossible to force a revolution, and if it was, she said she certainly couldn't do it.
That was funny, because I knew she totally could.

And speak of the devil- she's back already.
Good. I've said all I wanted to say. There's no point in droning on.

Farewell, memories. Farewell, feeling sad. Farewell diary, that I infused with all my emotions. You'll be burnt up along with my entire past.

I hope I'll never have to see you again, and I won't miss you at all.

yours truly,

-Velvet Scarlatina

The characteristic towers of Beacon rose over the horizon before us, after we had walked for about 15 minutes. We'd just come back from Vale, and I was a bit exhausted.
Velvet was very enthusiastic in showing me around, and whenever we sat down for a bit, she happily told me about all the books she was reading.
Sometimes, during one of her explanations about whatever she read, I thought that maybe she was too smart to be in Beacon.
I didn't tell her that, of course.

Soon, the path through the meadows lead us into the school grounds

The walk there wasn't as awkward as I expected it to be. I said so many things to her in such a short time span, but only after our emotional back and forth did I gain the ability to get to know Velvet as a person. As someone unbound by anxiety, as a freed soul.
It helped that she was a very pleasant to be around too, to say the least.

As we were nearly at the school, I decided to reveal a bit about what I thought up.

"From what you've told me, about the thirteenth crusade and the battle of Fort Castle, it's clear that there's only one thing sentient beings understand the best," I said, extremely pleased with the plan I had concocted.
She listened to me, unperturbed.

"One thing, a universal code to perfectly get a message across."
"You mean... language?" Velvet asked.
"No, no, not language," I chuckled, and raised my fist to emphasize what I said, "violence."

I kept on talking, and she liked what I had to say.

Like the sun rising above the horizon, a smile slowly crept upon her face.

This chapter is a bit short, I apologize for that.
You might have noticed I finally bit the bullet and revealed the main character's identity. It's Coco, if that wasn't clear. An obvious choice, I think.
I will rewrite the previous chapters to reflect who the MC is, without namedropping her.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you didn't, please tell me why.

As usual, I will be rewriting this chapter and earlier ones at some point, so keep an eye on that.
Thanks again for reading, and please look forward to the next chapter!

Addendum;
While I was rereading this chapter to weed out typos and syntax errors, I had the chance to review what I'd written from a more objective standpoint. I realized then that this entire chapter is basically incomprehensible garbage. Definitely needs a rewrite, lol.
(THE NEXT CHAPTER IS WRITTEN BETTER TRUST ME)