Chapter 26
Micheal slowly woke up to find a delightful aroma invading his nose. This smell is one of his favorites, mint. It would remind him of home and the mint candles his mother would burn. The scent seems to come from his pillow. It made him smile and incites a desire to indulge in the fragrance even more. He pulls his pillow snug to his form and nuzzles into its warmth. Then two things happened at that moment, he could hear snickering from various sources, and his pillow seemed to stiffen. His sleepy mind began to turn slowly, like a machine turning on for the first time in a while. 'Who is snickering? Why did my pillow stiffen? Why does my pillow smell? And why am I hugging my pillow?' The wolf faunus opens his eyes to see a blurry wall of white at first, making his groggy mind think it was his pillow at first. Then his as his vision clears and his eyes travel down; he sees pale skin and a light blue nightdress. Then he sees the wall of white was, in fact, white hair. "Weiss?"
"A-about time you woke up, p-please let go," Weiss says with a stutter. Micheal immediately lets go of Weiss and backs away with a blush on his face. Then the snickering changes into gut-busting laughter from the others in the room. Yang, Ruby, Nora, and Ember were holding their stomachs from their laughter. Blake and Pyrrha were covering their mouths and shaking slightly from violent giggles, and Ren was smiling widely and chuckling silently. Jaune was laughing, but there was a look of jealousy in his eyes.
"How did I end up…" then he looked around to see they were on his futon. "Why were you on my futon!?"
"I was on my way back to my futon from the restroom when I tripped and fell next to you. Then before I knew it you pulled me closer and would not let go," the heiress says, getting up, a dark blush on her face.
"You smell like mint," Micheal says weakly like that was a sufficient explanation.
"I remember you mentioning that you like the smell," Blake says after she calmed down.
"One of my favorite smells actually," Micheal clarifies. Weiss gives a disgruntled huff at the information, making a mental note not to trip near a sleeping Micheal in the future.
"Now that we had a laugh at my expense, we need to get ready," Weiss says.
"Why?" Ruby asks.
"Because Crystal is supposed to come today, right?" The heiress says, directing her gaze toward the wolf faunus.
"That's what Professor Ozpin said yesterday to me as I left his class, sometime this morning at the earliest," Micheal confirms.
"I want us dressed to meet her," Weiss orders. Her eye twitches as her partner just continue to sit on her futon. "Now," she snaps, which makes the brunette jump.
"Okay, okay," Ruby says as she gets up. The rest of her team following their friend's action, giving the heiress an odd look. All the boys walked outside at that moment.
"Geez, Weiss is quite eager this morning," Micheal says as he closes the door behind him.
"Well, this Crystal seems to be the closest Weiss had to a friend before now, so she has a right to some eagerness," Ren reasons.
"Plus, they can truly be friends since they'll be in the same academy," Jaune adds on.
"True, I just hope we can finally move into our new dorm since she's here," Micheal says, staring at the room across the hall.
"Would be nice, it's a little cramped for all of us," Jaune agrees.
Inside JNPR dorm
"Excited Weiss?" Yang asks as she pulls on her school shirt.
"You must be, it's been a while since you've been this bossy," Ruby comments as she pulls her skirt up. Her partner sighs in response to the comments.
"A little to be honest," Weiss admits as she brushes her hair.
"Were the two of you close?" Pyrrha inquires as she waits for Hitomi and Blake to leave the bathroom.
"Not particularly, we only interacted at corporate parties, but we got along reasonably well, and she was the closest thing I could call a friend at the time despite the lack of interaction," Weiss says.
"Well now you can be friends with her for real once she gets here," Ruby says with a smile. Weiss smiles back at her partner with a nod of agreement.
"Anything else?" Ember inquires.
"Like?" Weiss looks at the red-haired girl.
"Like any physical capabilities or any quirks, I should know about that you managed to pick up, I imagine she is quite strong, since she has to handle weapons of all sizes," Ember says.
"She not only handles them but makes them as well," Weiss says.
"Really?" Ruby says.
"She has a small section in their stores dedicated to her products, we can show you sometime," Weiss says.
"Sure, that sounds awesome," Ruby says excitedly.
Landing Pad on Beacon grounds
A small aircraft lands on the landing platform of Beacon Academy. The sound of the aircraft's engine reverberates for a minute as it settles down. Once the plane engine stops, a door on the side opens downward. The back of the door is a set of metal stairs covered in blue wool with steel railing for balance. A blue-haired young girl steps out of the aircraft onto the stone platform, talking on her scroll. This girl stands about 5'7 feet tall with fair white skin. She wears a blue designer jacket left open to reveal a small shirt that shows her toned stomach and blue gloves. She also wears blue pants that have a black anvil on the right thigh with blue boots. She has a sapphire necklace with long her long royal blue hair tied into a low ponytail. Her royal blue eyes casually study her unfamiliar environment. "Yes father, I just arrived right now," she says in a deep smooth voice with a chuckle. The sound of steps resonates from behind her. She turns to see a pair of her company's employees moving her luggage onto a six-wheel cart. "Yes father, I know, and I will…, I'll try to call when I can, love you too, bye," she says, ending the call. "Alright, now where and who was I supposed to meet again," the young woman says. Then a second later, she shrugs her shoulders, deciding to at least go to the main building in front of her. 'It's a start, I'll run into someone eventually.'
"Mrs. Bleu, all your luggage is on the cart," one of the employees says.
"Perfect, your free to go," Crystal says.
"You sure you don't want us around, ma'am? At least till we can get your luggage to your dorm," the man asked.
"No, I can carry it myself, besides, I'll have to lug my own luggage while I'm here anyways," the heiress says as she picks up her three large suitcases. The men bow and take the cart back onto the aircraft. The blue-haired woman waves at them as the door closes. A minute later, the engines of the craft roar to life as it begins to take off. Then the woman starts her stroll to the main building with a slight smile on her face.
"Hey, toots," a voice says to her left. Crystal slowly turns her head to see Cardin leaning against a tree, his eyes roaming the heiress' figure. The blue-haired girl grimaces at the lecherous stare she is receiving.
"We're almost at the landing pad, hurry up," Weiss shouts, running at the head of the group.
"We're coming Weiss," Ruby says. She and the rest of her friends were behind the white-haired heiress. Just as they round the corner leading toward the landing pad, a loud boom resonates, followed by a large blur flying in front of them and slams into a nearby boulder, destroying it. Whatever or whomever the blur now found themselves buried under the rubble of the boulder. The group turns toward the mound of rocks, curious at the spectacle.
"I think that was Cardin," Micheal says, his eyes barely catching enough detail to tell.
"What sent him flying?" Yang asks.
"I hope you learned your lesson; you leech!" a deep voice angrily shouts, answering the blonde's question. The group turns their head to see the new girl glaring at the destroyed boulder. The wolf faunus recognizes the girl from the photo Ozpin showed him, his new teammate, Crystal Bleu. Micheal could see a small trail of smoke coming from her closed, bare fists. The wolf faunus made a mental note not to piss his new teammate off.
"Crystal!" Weiss shouts. Her fellow heiress looks around for a second for the source of the voice. Then Crystal sees the white-haired girl, and she beams in excitement.
"Weiss, I was hoping to see you," Crystal says as she walks forward, arms open. "How have you been?"
"Good, how have you been?" Weiss says, walking forward as well. Once within arms reach, the blue-haired girl hugs Weiss with a big grin on her face. Weiss smiles softly at the embrace with a light blush on her face.
"I've been great, even better now that I get to see you again," Crystal says and then drops her fellow heiress. Weiss takes a deep breath from the crushing hug. The smith's eyes then travel to the group of students walking forward, guessing they were a mixture of Weiss' team and friends. Then her eyes lay upon her new team, and she beams at them as well with an infectious smile. A gesture they return in earnest. The rest of the group could not help but smile as well.
"Weiss, hurry up and introduce us," Ruby says eagerly. Weiss coughs, gaining Crystal's attention.
"Crystal, this is my partner and the leader of team RWBY, Ruby Rose," Weiss says.
"Pleasure to meet, Ruby, I'm Crystal Bleu," the blue-haired heiress says, holding out her hand.
"Likewise, Weiss has told us about you," Ruby says, shaking the older girl's hand. Ruby was surprised at the strength she had from the heiress' hand alone as it gripped her hand.
"I hope it was good things," Crystal says.
"Nothing but good things," Yang says. The new heiress looks over the blonde.
"Ruby's half-sister, Yang Xiao Long, also part of the team and next to her is her partner Blake Belladonna," Weiss says. Crystal proceeds to shake the other two's hands. Yang was pleasantly surprised to feel the muscle the girl had from the handshake alone. She also notes the roughness of her skin.
"I hope Weiss hasn't been too much of a handful, I know she can be," Crystal says.
"Hey!" Weiss protests.
"She has her moments, but she's calmed down somewhat since we been living together," Blake says. The cat faunus eyes the appreciative gesture from her teammate. Weiss then gesture to JNPR.
"This is team JNPR, their leader is Jaune Arc, he's the unimpressive one," Weiss says, pointing toward the blond boy. Jaune sighs at the comment before regaining himself and holding out his hand.
"Nice to meet you," Jaune says; he would have tried to flirt but seeing what happened to Cardin told him not to. The blond boy gestures to Pyrrha. "This is my partner…."
"Mrs. Nikos, a pleasure," Crystal says.
"Likewise, but please call me Pyrrha and this is the rest of the team," the champion says, gesturing to her right. "Lie Rin and Nora Valkyrie," Rin waves in acknowledgment. Nora beams even brighter than before. Then Crystal turns toward her new team with an excited smile.
"And my new team, Mr. Ironwood showed me your files back in Atlas," Crystal starts, pointing toward the most recognizable due to the latest news. "Micheal Canus Laws," the wolf faunus holds out his hand.
"Nice to meet you," Micheal says. The new heiress shakes his hand. Then she turns her head and extends her hand toward the next most identifiable for more than one reason.
"Hitomi Viola Hunters," Crystal says. The fox faunus nervously shakes the blue-haired girl's hand.
"A pleasure," the fox faunus says with a nervous undertone in her voice. Everyone else looks at Hitomi, finding the girl's attitude peculiar.
"Why are you so nervous?" Micheal inquires.
"Well, um…" Hitomi says.
"Does it have to do with the fact your blacklisted from inspecting weapons at our stores?" Crystal says. Hitomi blushes and looks down in embarrassment.
"What!?" Every one of the Hitomi's friends shouts in unison.
"Well, due to the nature of her semblance we prevent her from entering the weapon segment of our stores, she can still buy ammunition and dust," Crystal clarifies.
"How did your company figure out her semblance?" Weiss asks.
"A friend of hers gave her away and we're glad she did, otherwise she could, in a sense, get any weapon in stock without paying for it, if she felt like it anyway, you seem trustworthy to me, but I'm digressing, the only reason we didn't consider banning you from our stores entirely is because we considered it to be automatic on her semblance's part and not a conscious effort, plus the dust in her weapon has aided those with weak auras perform better in combat and earned us a bit more lien from those unfortunate ones, so we didn't make that a big deal out of it," Crystal answers.
"That's why you we're nervous when we visited the Bleu store in Vale," Yang comments. Hitomi nods in confirmation. The weapon heiress looks at her new partner and holds out her hand.
"Ember Mars, a pleasure to meet you, I hope we can get along," Crystal says.
"I hope so too," Ember says, vigorously shaking her new partner's hand.
"While it's nice you are all getting along, it's almost time for class for most of you," a voice snaps at them. The group jumps in surprise and turns to see Glynda giving them a stern look. Their eyes glance at a group of paramedics and Cardin's team digging the bully out of the rubble.
"Yes ma'am," most of the group said, ready to bolt away from the professor. They were unwilling to anger the woman.
"See you later, Crystal," Ember says as she runs off to her first class of the day. Most of the group followed her except for Micheal.
"Where are you going, Mr. Law?" Glynda asks.
"The library, professor," Micheal answers, looking the woman in the eyes.
"This early?" Glynda inquires. There was a look in the woman's eyes that told Micheal she knew about Ozpin's task and him in general.
"Well, more time to study that's all," Micheal says cautiously. The professor studies him for a second before closing her eyes and readjusts her glasses.
"It's good to hear a student taking their studies seriously, many do not, since the library is on the way to the main building, you can accompany Mrs. Bleu and myself," Glynda says with a stern look. That told the wolf faunus that was not a request.
"Of course, Mrs. Goodwitch," Micheal says, knowing he needed to be in the company of staff members or his team or team RWBY. The wolf faunus then follows the professor and his new teammate, think about his eventual meeting. He missed most of the conversation between Crystal and Glynda, thinking about the eventual discussion with this military figure. The professor chastised the heiress for getting into a fight with Cardin from the bits he could hear. Though the wolf faunus was sure, it was not much of a contest from Cardin's flight. Micheal was not sure what kind of person this military figure would be. They had to be some higher-ranking individual if James was going to reveal things about him. However, would that information warrant a high-ranking individual. It could just be a special induvial just selected for the task. Would this person be a hard-ass or easy-going, at least by military standards, when dealing with him? What would this person do exactly? He knew to watch over him, but how often and where? Would this person be living in his dorm from now on? That would be a source of frustration from his friends and a reason to inquire why a soldier needs to watch him. A pang of worry ran through him as Ozpin's warning repeated itself.
"But I will warn you that your friends may react negatively to the prospect of being watched by James because of you," a sentence that rang true. Micheal could only hope they would not, and life would go on like usual. Then there was now how to deal with Ruby since she knew his predicament now. Blake told him and Yang about the brunette's behavior, to which Micheal revealed that it was his request to do so and to tell the others in time. Yang was supportive of it and would help too. Blake was supportive as well but told him to be cautious on how to explain to the others.
'I guess Ruby is a test in a way to see how they may react, I want to say she'll be fine, but I just don't know, Weiss and Hitomi, they worry me the most for different reasons,' the wolf faunus ponders.
"Mr. Law, we're here," Glynda says, dragging the wolf faunus out of his thoughts. He looked around to see they had indeed reached the library, a little faster than he thought they would. He turns around to thank the professor and sees her tapping away on her scroll. Crystal stood behind the teacher, looking shaken. Micheal smiles internally at her response.
'She can be pretty intimidating,' the wolf faunus muses. "Thank you, Mrs. Goodwitch," he says out loud.
"You're welcome, now I hope you have an idea what you're going to study," Glynda blandly says as she turns her scroll around. The wolf faunus could tell his teacher was purposely obscuring the device from Crystal. Micheal eyes turn to the device to see a message on it. "Ozpin is going to contact you in half-an-hour."
"Yes, I do professor," the grey-haired boy says, looking back at the older woman. Glynda closes the scroll and nods with a small smile.
"Good now have a good day, Mr. Law," Glynda says as she orders the weapon heiress to follow her. Micheal walks into the building, fully intend on studying and thinking on how to approach the coming conversation.
Thirty minutes later
Micheal flips a page in his current book, his eyes scanning for essential or intriguing bits of information, writing down in his notebook sentences that stood out to him. He had been at this task for only a few minutes. It had taken him some time to decide and find the books, one on Vale and another on Atlas, that seem to be the most informative without being incredibly dull, a daunting task considering many of the textbooks were exceptionally bland. A ringing emits from his scroll, ripping his attention away from his book. Micheal pushes the novel next to the other tome on the table and grabs his scroll. He looks at the caller to make sure it was Ozpin; it thankfully was. "Hello professor," the wolf faunus acknowledges.
"Hello, Mr. Law, let's keep this short," the headmaster says. Micheal hums in acknowledgment readying for Ozpin's information. "James is going to call you himself not long after I hang up."
"Really?" Micheal says, confused. It was strange that the general was going to call him personally.
"Yes, he is going to answer your questions and he wants question you about your plans about revealing yourself to your friends," Ozpin explains.
"I see, how long until he calls?" Micheal questions.
"He has other obligations to attend to before he contacts you, it should take him no longer than fifteen minutes, I have to go now," Ozpin says.
"Yes sir, have a good day," Micheal says.
"Thank you and be thoughtful on your words with James," Ozpin says and then closes the call. Micheal sighs as he closes his scroll. But before he could begin pondering what to say, the door to the room clicked. The wolf faunus turns toward the door, not expecting this military person to appear before Ironwood's call. But the sight that greeted him both relaxes and surprises him.
"Ruby," Micheal says. His friend stood there in her school uniform, giving him a somber look. He stares at the brunette with wide eyes for a second before becoming soft. He had a feeling about why she was here.
Earlier
After the initial rush to get away from Glynda, the group moved at a slower pace. Ruby was walking even slower than the others. Her eyes were staring down at the ground but not looking at anything. Her mind was thinking about what her headmaster had revealed to her last week about her friend. It was a strange thing to comprehend; your friend was from another world. It seemed ridiculous, but those videos and the week of questioning the headmaster made her accept it. It also unsettled her to know how much her friend is struggling and her not knowing. She had suspected there was something wrong, but Weiss's help seemed to alleviate most of the problem. And most of the time, he seemed fine, laughing and smiling with the rest of her friends. And now she realized how little he had and how he almost lost it for something out of his control. The brunette mentally kicks herself as she grimaces, hateful at her attitude last week. 'Here I was having a fit over his transfer.'
"Something wrong sis," Yang's voice penetrates her thoughts. Ruby jumps slightly and looks up to see her sister and Blake staring at her. As she remembered Ozpin saying Blake and Yang knew about Micheal's predicament, a thought formed in her mind.
"Can I talk to you?" Ruby says.
"Of course," Yang says warmly, her eyes wandering to her partner. Blake was getting the silent invitation from her partner. The duo knew this conversation was coming if a bit later than expected. The trio wanders discreetly from the group and into an obscure corner of the main building, away from prying ears. "It's about Micheal, isn't it?"
"More specifically, his predicament, correct?" Blake asks. Ruby nods to the question.
"Yes," Ruby says, stopping for a second to ponder her following words. Then her face morphs into a gloomy look as she looks at Yang. Her sister gives her a sad smile as she walks forward to hug her. Ruby returned the hug and took a moment to calm down before separating. "When did you find out?"
"The week you three returned from the fox village," Blake says before divulging how they found out.
"How does he deal with it?" Ruby says at the end of the explanation.
"I honestly don't know, he does the best he can because he has no choice, I'm amazed he hasn't snapped yet," Blake says.
"What you're feeling about it?" Ruby asks her teammates.
"Still confusing to be honest sis," Yang says. "It's still so strange to me, I do believe Micheal and Ozpin are being truthful, but the idea he's from another world is so bizarre. It still feels like a joke at times."
"I feel the same way, I went back to Ozpin's office to look at those videos again and ask him questions about them," Blake says.
"I did the same during my detentions with him, I got a feeling he was hiding something from me," Ruby commented.
"Yes, he would answer my questions but not completely and even Micheal can't get any answers from Ozpin when he asks about why they're so curious about his sudden appearance," Blake adds on.
"What's your feelings sis," Yang asks.
"I don't know myself; I believe Ozpin is saying the truth with what he told and shown me, but…." Ruby stops to think of the right word.
"I know, but you know Ruby…." Yang interjects. The brunette looked up at her sister, who was smiling warmly. "Micheal is still Micheal, even if he's from another world, he's still the same person we've known for a month now and that's good enough for me." Ruby smiled at her sister's comment, finding it comforting.
"He's in the library right now," Blake says.
"If you want, you can go talk to him and we'll cover for you," Yang says.
Present Time
"You know, we've been expecting you to bring this up earlier this week," Micheal says. The duo sat next to each; books pushed away, their eyes on the other and nothing else.
"I wasn't really sure how to bring it up and when, Ozpin said we had to be discreet," Ruby says.
"Yeah, my predicament must remain a secret with only some allowed to know," Micheal says.
"Including me and our friends," Ruby says in an inquiring tone.
"In time, as long as Mr. Ironwood is okay with it, Ozpin is okay with it, but I'm not so sure about Mr. Ironwood," Micheal says.
"Do you think he hates you?" Ruby asks.
"Ozpin says he doesn't, but he is distrusting of me, and I don't truly know why, sure my coming here to Beacon is suspicious under regular circumstances," Micheal says.
"But you're a good person, we know it and so does Ozpin," Ruby interrupts.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Ironwood doesn't and that's why I need to earn his trust, to prove I have a right to be here," the wolf faunus says. Then he grunts as his friend hugs him tightly, head on his shoulder. Micheal returns the hug as he smiles somberly at his friend.
"How do you deal with this?" Ruby asks.
"I do because I have to and I'm able to because all of you, you girls alleviate my loneliness, my homesickness, and the pains this life brings me, both physical and mental, without you, I would have snapped." Ruby shifts her head to look at her friend with one eye, silver looking into ivory. "I can never thank you girls enough, you're always reminding me that you're with me, I'm always thankful towards you all, that is a reason why I want to reveal my secret," Micheal says.
"If that's a reason, what would be another one?" Ruby asks.
"I'm tired of hiding it," Micheal answers. The duo stayed like that for a few minutes, Ruby sitting on her friend's lap, hugging him. Micheal was hugging her back, reveling in her warmth. "Comfy?"
"Maybe," Ruby says, a playful gleam in her eye. Then a ring brought them out of their world. Micheal eyes his phone to see a number he has never seen before. The wolf faunus picked it up as Ruby moved back to her chair.
"Mr. Ironwood?" Micheal inquires.
"Yes, it's me, is Ruby Rose in the room with you?" the deep, commanding voice of the general says.
"Yes sir," Micheal confirms. 'Ozpin must have told him as soon as Yang or Blake inform him where Ruby was.'
"Make sure the room is secure then put me on speaker," James commands.
"Ruby, lock the door, he knows your here," Micheal says. Ruby nods as she walks over to lock the door. As soon as Micheal heard the click of the lock, he turned his scroll to speaker mode. Ruby then returns to her seat as Micheal places his scroll on the table. "We're good sir."
"Now explain," James orders.
"I just want to reveal to my friends my predicament, both because I'm tired of lying and hiding from them and as a thank you for sticking by me," Micheal says.
"Not much of a thank you considering the will know they are being watched," James says.
"Plus, there is the fact it would explain a lot of current issues they've noticed with me and help with future complication when it comes to deal with you and your associates," Micheal says.
"How many people were you going reveal this information to?" James inquires.
"For now, my partner and team RWBY, so five in total, in time hopefully, the rest of my team once I get more familiar with them and then team JNPR," Micheal says. A moment of silence passed before the Atlas headmaster spoke.
"I will allow you to inform your partner and Mrs. Schnee, you will only reveal to the others you've listed when I have allowed you and Mrs. Rose," James says. Ruby nervously eyes Micheal for a second before giving the general her undivided attention.
"Mr. Ironwood sir," Ruby says, informing the general of her presence.
"This information stays in this group, if I find out any of you have been spreading this information, you will find yourself in a jail cell along with your team," James says. Micheal sees Ruby swallow at the warning and shifts uneasily at the message.
"Is this information about me truly that bad?" Micheal inquires.
"Let's leave it at, your suspicious circumstance may invite some unwanted attention to you for both you and our group," James says. The tone in the general's voice was telling the duo that this part of the conversation was over. Micheal and Ruby again share eye contact, both wondering why exactly this is such a big deal. A few thoughts of some past unsavory associations floated in the wolf faunus's mind but could not think of what else.
"So, this person watching me is keeping an I eye on team RWBY as well," Micheal says, redirecting the conversation.
"When she can, otherwise Douglas will be doing it," James clarifies.
"Douglas will be watching my team," Ruby says to herself.
"I've managed to convince him to watch over team RWBY in the same way my associate will watch over you boy," James says.
"As both my trainer and my tutor," Micheal says. 'And my jailor,' he ponders to himself.
"Yes, in your case, it's to get your performance up and to get you and your new team to a functional level. In the case of team RWBY, to get their performance sharper to aid you," James says. Micheal and Ruby look at each other confused.
"Aid me?" Micheal inquires.
"With your tasks and this dragon, Magaru, but that is conversation for another day," James says.
"Mr. Ironwood, does your associate know about my predicament? Ozpin never gave me answer, I would like to know if I have to choose my words better," Micheal says.
"Yes, she does, I deliberated over it for a couple days, but decided it would be easier to tell her than having to skirt around the reason why we're watching you," James clarifies.
"I would think you have been against telling more people of Micheal's situation," Ruby says.
"I am," James says firmly. A statement neither friend found surprising. "I would prefer this to be kept quiet but after two hours of arguing, he managed to convince me to at least allow some of your group to know, I do not trust any of you, but I trust Ozpin's judgment and he has been adamant about you two, but I told him I would give you a warning."
"I really do owe Professor Ozpin a lot," Micheal mumbles under his beath. If Ozpin is this willing to defend him, then he must not betray his trust. "When exactly will be meeting you associate?"
"I will contact her after this call, she should already be on the grounds," James says.
"Any other information, like who she is?" Ruby says.
"Captain Rosa Corvus is her name and any other information she will reveal herself; I have other duties to attend," James says.
"I see, have a good day sir," Micheal says.
"Stay in that room, when you hear three rhythmic knocks open the door, quietly ask for a password, we'll keep simple this time, the password will be my last name," was all the general says before the call ends. The duo proceeded to study the book Micheal brought into the room to pass the time. A few minutes later, there was a knocking at the door. The duo stops what they are doing to pay attention to make sure it's the sound Ironwood wanted them to hear. A few seconds passed as they waited for the sound; three rhythmic knocks emitted from the door. Micheal gets up and opens the door slightly to peer outside.
A tall woman in a casual outfit that shares the same color scheme as Ruby's regular attire stood on the other side of the door. This outfit of hers also appears to hug her lean figure. She wears a black jacket with red lines at various spots to accent the primary color with a tight plain red t-shirt underneath. She also wears black pants and boots. Her white hair went down to her shoulder with her bangs framing her mature face. Micheal could see a sparkle buried in her hair but could not tell what the potential jewelry was. The woman looks at him with a straight face, waiting for him to say something. Micheal eyes the sounding area and looks down the aisles of books he could see before looking at the woman. "Password?"
"Ironwood," Rosa whispers in a soothing voice. Micheal steps into the room, leaving her an opening; the captain looks around one last time before entering. Micheal sits down as the officer locks the door.
"We're sorry for not answering you immediately, we had to make sure it was the sound we were listening for," Micheal says as his tutor sits across the table from him and Ruby.
"You were being cautious, I can't fault you on that," Rosa says.
"I was expecting you to be in uniform," Ruby comments.
"General Ironwood requested me to be in casual attire and to have a reason to visit Beacon to dissuade unwanted attention, which was visiting family," Rosa answers.
"Is it possibly Violet?" Micheal asks.
"Yes, she's my cousin and I believe you've seen my sister," Rosa says with a smile on her face.
"I haven't," Micheal comments.
"I think she was on that rescue mission; it was for a moment, but I think I saw her," Ruby says, racking her memories. She vaguely remembers the white-haired woman among the mercenaries.
"Yes, Snow is head of the family business, but enough about my family," Rosa says, her face becoming serious. "You know why I'm here right?"
"To watch over me and my friends, plus you're my tutor," Micheal says.
"Well, a tutor for your whole team as well, but correct," Rosa confirms.
"And mine when you can otherwise Douglas will do it," Ruby says.
"Yes, any particular questions you want to ask me," Rosa says.
"How are we going to hide the fact you are training me?" Micheal inquires.
"It would seem strange to everyone if a military official was training a team all the time," Ruby comments.
"I'm still trying to get my plans and schedule in order for this task, I volunteered for this, but this task was a bit sudden, the two options I'm deciding between are having designated days I'm off-duty to train you or work with Mr. Ozpin about setting up a program for extracurricular training program with our personnel to disguise our trainings," Rosa says.
"And you will inform me and Ruby after you decide. That way we can choose our words when talking to others," Micheal comments.
"Correct, but if I do go with option two, you two will need a way to explain why your teams are signed up in a way that seems voluntary and not by force," Rosa explains.
"Well Ruby, you should have it easy as the leader of your team," Micheal says, looking at his friend. Ruby looks down and ponders a possible explanation.
"I guess I could say I signed us up as soon as I saw it, Weiss may get angry but could understand why I did it," Ruby comments.
"For me I would have to convince my leader to sign up for a class we will already be taking," Micheal says, mentally hating trying to comprehend that situation.
"Well, that will be a bridge we'll cross eventually," Rosa says. Then her face becomes stern, making the two friends curious. "I will inform you that General Ironwood has given me permission to deal with you as I see fit."
"Meaning if we screw up, you'll throw us behind bars," Micheal says.
"Yes, and if you prove yourselves a threat," Rosa says as she pulls a small axe from her back and places it on the table, the weapon making a metallic thud as it hits the table. The message was not lost to Ruby and Micheal as they eye the armament; both friends shift uneasily. The wolf faunus notices the woman's eyes looking at him intently. Micheal had a feeling that Ozpin gave Ironwood records of him from his appearance till now, including his comfort with taking a life. The older woman sighs with a sympathetic look as she puts the weapon away. "That being said, personally, I just think you two and your teams are caught in a unfortunate circumstance outside your control, you two don't strike me as troublemakers but I have a job to do and I will do it, please don't force my hand." The woman eyes the books pushed off to the side and then rolled her sleeve back to look at her watch. She then pulls the books to the middle of the table. "We have some time before classes end and I am supposed to be your tutor, ask me anything."
Later that Day, Dormitory
The members of Team RWBY, JNPR, and the newly united EMBH stood outside the door to RWBY's dorm, Crystal in front of the group with a wide ecstatic smile. The group stood waiting for the blue-haired heiress to reveal the secret; they quickly figured out that she had something to do with the current renovations on the dorm.
"Now without further ado," Crystal pulls a card like the ones they use already for their dorms from her pants. The weapon heiress places her card in front of the reader. A beep followed by a mechanical click emits from the door. Crystal opens the door, and everyone peers around the door as it opens. Everyone gasps in surprise at the sight and enters the room. The room was double the size than before, and while the furniture was mostly the same, there was more. The most surprising thing was the beds; there were now four sets of bunk beds lined up against the far wall with a window between each bunk and evenly spaced out from each other.
"Wait, why are there four bunks?" Yang asks.
"For each set of partners," Crystal says.
"Cool, I have…." Micheal starts but never finishes before a pair of hands grabs the back of his jacket.
"Bottom bunk," Hitomi finishes as she tosses him. Micheal flails through the air with a surprised shout, landing on the bottom of the second bunk from the left. Everyone closes their eyes and looks away for a second as the wolf faunus' impacts the bed. Hitomi brushes her hands off as she walks towards the bunk she selected for herself and her partner.
"I think Ember and I should take the right most bunk," Crystal says.
"Why?" Ember asks, curious about the suggestion. It would separate them from their teammates. The members of team RWBY and JNPR were curious about the comment as well. Hitomi's ears moved to listen in. Micheal turns around from his undignified landing to pay attention.
"Well, I remember you telling me they slept on futons between your bunks," Crystal says, looking at Yang.
"Yeah," Yang says slowly. She got a feeling where she was going with her current train of thought.
"But that would separate you from your team," Ruby says, picking up on the new heiress plan.
"Not really we still will be sleeping in the same dorm," Crystal says.
"I think it promote some kind of bonding to sleep next to your teammates," Pyrrha says.
"Maybe, but I imagine it would be more comfortable for them to sleep kind of like they used too," Crystal says.
"What do you think Hitomi?" Micheal asks his partner. The partners turn toward each other. "I mean it would be nice to sleep like we used to."
"Yes, but we are no longer part of team RWBY, we maybe in the same dorm as them still but we are team EMBH now," Hitomi says.
"I know that I was just asking, I know you would be more comfortable with Crystal's setup," Micheal says. His partner gave him a look that told him he was not wrong.
"So would you," Hitomi counters. Her partner gives a similar look toward her. "But we do need sleep next to our team, it's only fair to them."
"You're right," Micheal says.
"You know what, I got an idea," Yang says, getting everyone's attention. "Let's have a match, if I win you sleep next to your teammates in the bunks to the far left, and if you win, we follow your idea," Yang proposes.
"Are you sure this isn't just some half-assed excuse to fight Crystal, Yang? I am willing to have new sleeping arrangements," Hitomi accuses.
"Maybe, but I think this is a good way to settle things, besides I am curious to see how good she is," Yang says, giving the weapon heiress a competitive smile.
"I guess, but I'm really not that good, I have enough skill to get into a huntsmen academy but that's it," Crystal says. Yang gave a dubious look that told her she did not believe it. "But I agree nonetheless."
"Cool, tomorrow morning then," Yang says.
The next day
Yang was in the locker room checking her weapon, making sure she had everything ready. She got up before everyone else to get ready. She heard footsteps enter the room and turned to see the guest. It was Crystal, concealing a yawn with her hand.
"Morning Crystal," Yang greets.
"Morning," Crystal says as she heads to her assigned locker. Yang then blushes as the heiress takes off her shirt. Two things caught the blonde's attention: the defined muscles and the small scars across Crystal's arms and hands.
"What catches your eyes more, my physique or the scars?" Crystal asks, snapping Yang out of her stupor.
"I say both catch my attention," Yang says honestly. Crystal huffs an amused breath.
"Well at least your honest, my muscles should be obvious because of my profession and the scars are the result of some of my failures," Crystal comments.
"Make sense, I remember Ruby almost lost a couple fingers when making her weapon, she was in the middle of making it transform between its two forms, lucky she heard the mechanism that held it in place snap before it transformed," Yang says.
"Some people are not so lucky," Crystal says as she stretches for a minute. The heiress then opens her lock and pulls out a blue shirt and studded leather armor. She then proceeds to put them on and then reaches into her locker again. "I've seen it happen in front of me, would have happen to me if I didn't always concentrate my aura when making weapons. But occasionally a weapon does leave a scar," the blue-haired heiress says as she pulls out a falchion, a couple of gauntlets, and a large handgun.
"Your entire team wields more than one weapon," Yang comments.
"Well, if we lose one weapon or our main, at least we have another to use and are not left defenseless," Crystal says. Yang nods in agreement at the logic.
"Well, let's get going," Crystal says.
Amphitheater
Yang smiles with her hands on her hips, staring at her opponent. Crystal sighs before shrugging and returns the smile. Blake stood to the side, ready to countdown. In the stands sat the rest of team RWBY, the rest of team EMBH, and team JNPR. The cat faunus looks between the two combatants, seeing if they are ready. The two young girls nod in confirmation, and Blake takes a deep breath. "Three, two, one, begin!" The cat faunus quickly leaves the arena. Yang activates Ember Cecilia as Crystal pulls her falchion out of its sheath.
Yang fires her weapons behind her, propelling her forward. Yang readies her left arm for the first hit in the match. Crystal just stands there, smiling as she adjusts her stance. Yang hits Crystal's forehead with a loud thump. The blonde's smile drops as she sees Crystal did not budge an inch. The weapon heiress clenches her fist, and the small stream of fire bursts from the back of the gauntlet, sending her fist crashing into Yang's stomach. A thump emits from the impact with followed by a blue glow and then a bright light. A loud explosion follows the bright light, and the sound booms throughout the amphitheater, with every one of the spectators covering their ears from the noise. The brawler went flying backward onto her back.
"Ow," Yang groans as she gets up, holding her stomach. Yang saw the attack coming but could not move away in time. She did the next best option and concentrated on minimizing the damage but was not expecting the explosion. The blonde knew her aura took more damage than she was expecting it to take.
"It's going to take more than that to send me flying, remember when I some of my weapon creations fail," Crystal says. Yang nods as she gets back into her fighting stance. "Well, some of those failures explode, so I've learned to withstand the force of an explosion which I have learned to apply to other forms of attack, plus I'm fairly sure my semblance giving me some kind of resistance to the force of said explosions."
"So, are we looking at some of unstoppable force and immovable wall scenario," Micheal says.
"Seems like it," Blake comments.
"Considering that was a point-blank explosion, it didn't do that much damage," Ruby says, looking at the big screen. Everyone looks at the display and sees Ruby spoke the truth. Yang was still in the green with plenty of aura to spare. That kind of attack, at least from its appearance, should have dropped Yang's aura to at the least yellow. The group eye the weapon heiress' aura to see it had fallen a little from the first hit, but the drop seemed too small for a direct impact to the head. The group took the weapon heiress word about her ability to minimize the damage on her aura.
"So, it's more pushing kind of force than a damaging attack," Micheal says, doing his best to describe it.
"Seems that way," Weiss comments.
Yang jabs at the air, firing a round from her weapon. Crystal pulls her falchion up to block the round, reaching around with her back with her other hand. Before she could complete her action, Yang already closed the distance between them. Crystal grits her teeth as she sees the incoming fist. The blonde's fist impacts the center of the heiress's torso. Crystal's armor took a fair amount of the impact, but the heiress still felt most of the attack. The blonde drove her fist forward, picking the blue-haired girl up and fires a round from her weapon. Crystal flew backward, only a couple of feet from the ground. As Crystal flies backward, she pulls out her handgun and fires a couple of rounds at her opponent. The firearm emits a disproportionately loud bang for its size as yellow lights fly from the barrel. Yang hops to the side, the dust rounds impact the floor with a crackle.
"Lightning dust?" Yang says, looking at the spot the shot landed.
"I find it does more damage to one's aura, at least from my experiments anyway, even more once I fine-tuned it," Crystal says. Then another crackle pulls her attention from the spot towards her opponent. Yang's eyes widen as a nervous smile adorns her face. A line of electricity wraps the blade of the falchion. Yang takes a deep breath, resigned to her situation.
'I only have myself to blame, this is going to hurt,' the blonde ponders with a deep sigh as she readies herself. Yang shifts to the side, dodging another shot from Crystal. Yang returns the dust round with one of her own. Crystal turns her stance to the side to avoid the bullet and keep aim on Yang. The heiress fires a couple more shots to try and deter Yang from approaching. But to no avail, as the blonde proceeds to close the gap between them.
Crystal retaliates with a swipe of her sword, the humming blade cutting and burning the air in its path. Yang shifts her body to the side, moving her gauntlets to deflect the blade. The falchion hits the weapon with a clang and crackle as metal and electricity hit metal. Yang grits her teeth as the weapon shocks her arms. The blonde toughs out the pain and tries to deliver a punch into her opponent's side. But then a bang resonates, and a force hits Yang's leg and throws her balance, invalidating her attack. The weapon heiress proceeds to take advantage of the opening and swings her falchion down onto the blonde's back. The impact slams Yang into the ground, with her limbs locking up for a second as the massive jolt of electricity runs through her body. Once she regained control of her limbs, the brawler swings one of her legs to sweep her opponent's legs out. Crystal jumps back, out of the sweep and away from the blonde. Yang uses the momentum of her leg to adjust her direction toward Crystal, and then as she places her foot on the ground, she charges at Crystal.
The brawler drives her fist into her opponents' stomach, Yang continuing her movement forward, picking up her opponent and forcing her into the ground. The impact momentarily stuns Crystal with her adversary taking advantage of the moment and kicking the blade away, getting a slight shock with the action. Crystal rears one arm back as she points her pistol at Yang. The blonde knocked it aside as she felt a weak impact on her chest, followed by a glow. Then another massive blast sends her flying away, though Yang was prepared this time and adjusted her form to land on her feet. But then another boom emits from Crystal. Yang sees the blue-haired girl coming at her and moves to block the attack. The clang of metal on metal resounds from the impact of the two gauntlets; the force of the impact pushes Yang backward, but the blonde kept her feet under her. She then retaliates with an uppercut under her opponent's guard. Crystal leans back to avoid the gauntlet, which barely graces her chin. Crystal launches a punch of her own, activating the miniature jet engine on her gauntlet. Yang redirects the hit away, and Crystal moves with the momentum of her fist and passes by Yang before turning around to face her. From that point, the fight morphs into, in a sense, a boxing match in Micheal's eyes.
"It looks to me that Crystal was selling herself short, if she was bad at fighting, this would be a one-sided fight, though Yang is the better and faster," Micheal remarks as the combatants trade blows. His eyes wander to the big screen to see Yang's aura about to hit yellow with Crystal within the green. However, Yang's skill shows through as Crystal's meter dropped steadily instead of Yang's periodic decreases.
"Crystal is more of a slugger, I would say hit per hit, she hit harder than Yang. But while she has some skill, her attack are slow by comparison, she scores her hits on Yang when Yang hits her, taking the chance to hit while Yang is still committing to her attack. Since she can minimize the damage efficiently in that moment," Blake says with a wince as her partner takes a vicious hit to the temple.
"Yang is recovering her misses faster than Crystal can," Hitomi says as Yang lands a couple of jabs before backing up to dodge an uppercut.
"Crystal wasn't lying about weapon exploding and being able to minimize the damage to her aura, during corporate parties she would always tell me stories of mishaps with her weapons, and it always amazes me how she is even alive mush less with all her limbs and fingers, as the years pass her mishaps happen less and less, but her aura control never waned," Weiss says with an amused breath. Seeing her fellow heiress in action is an experience; seeing Crystal prove herself brings a smile to her face.
"So, this is going to come down to either Crystal outlasting Yang or Yang wearing down Crystal," Ruby says as Yang and Crystal hit each other at the same time with a smack that reverberates throughout the room. Both combatants stagger backward before readying themselves again. Micheal then notices a figure at the edges of his vision and then focuses on it. Micheal surreptitiously taps Blake's leg, and she turns toward him, then notices his index pointing toward the door. The cat faunus' eyes wander to see Rosa at the door. She looks at Micheal with a questioning look, who explains who the woman is.
"I see, but we can talk more later," Blake says. A resounding boom snaps their attention back to the match. They see Yang bounce across the floor for a few feet. The blonde slowly gets up on her feet and returns to her stance. Crystal was breathing heavily, unable to keep her arms up to keep her guard. Yang managed to wear down the durable heiress but was worn down herself from her opponent's powerful strikes. The blonde looks up at the screen to see her aura has dropped into the red, Crystal right behind her. Yang takes a deep breath and readies herself for the last stretch of her fight. The brawler closes the distance between her and Crystal. The weapon heiress raises her arms, ready to block the next assault, her eyes widening as her opponent's eyes become red, and flames emit from her. Crystal grits her teeth as she feels the oncoming assault is going to be worse than before. And it was; the blue-haired girl felt the difference from the first punch. If Crystal had to compare, it was the difference between being hit by a hammer and being hit by a warhammer. Yang's relentless attack tests her ability to minimize the damage, but she found she could only do so much. Each jab, cross, hook, and uppercut was hitting her indescribably, not caring where she struck, and it wore her down all the same. This onslaught continued for a moment before Yang delivered a vicious punch to her stomach with enough force to pick Crystal up and tossed her away. The weapon heiress lands on her back, lying still for a moment as she recovers from the onslaught.
"You done," Yang says with a heavy breath, her eyes returning to their natural color. She looked up at the screen to see her opponent still had a small amount left from the tiny amount of red bar.
"Nah, let's continue till the other can't," Crystal says as she gets up from the ground at a slow and shaky pace. Yang groans, knowing this match was dragging on and her attack did not put the unbelievably durable woman down. The weapon heiress eventually gets to her feet and readies herself again, as does her opponent. Then another boom resonates as a flash of light emits from the blue-haired girl's feet, propelling her forward. The blonde found herself caught off-guard by the sudden action. Crystal's fist connects with Yang's stomach, repeating comparable results as Yang did to her. She picks her up but instead of sending her flying. The blue-haired heiress angles her punch into the ground and drives the blonde toward it, but this time activates her semblance again. The momentum of the attack propels Yang into the ground with enough force to make her bounce off it and a few feet into the air. The cracks and chips fly in all directions as the blonde makes an impact. Yang's face contorted in pain from the shock, but she could see the heiress bring her gauntlet down again with this jet engine activated. The blonde felt the fist connect drive her down a foot before another explosion emits, making Yang bounce again. The brawler then feels her opponent grab her leg and then pull her up. Yang then feels Crystal let go, finding herself in the air with her back toward her opponent, before feeling a powerful blow hit her in the back. The blonde flips through the air before landing hard on the ground. She could feel her aura break from the impact.
"I'm out of aura," Yang says in a weary voice as she slowly gets up.
"Same here," Crystal says in a similar tone, pointing at the board with her thumb. "That last use of my semblance drained me."
"Your extremely tough, I'm drained from just trying to wear you down, I don't think I can keep this up much longer," Yang says.
"Same here, I think have enough in me for one last punch," Crystal says, clenching her fist.
"Yeah, me too," Yang says, readying herself. Crystal mimics her actions. The duo stood there for a few seconds before charging at each other. As they got within range, both girls swung with all their remaining strength.
Crystal and Yang's fist connect with the other's temple with an audible thump. Both girls stood there, unmoving, for the next few minutes, both exchanging smug smiles with the other. Then Crystal's eyes roll up, and her eyelids drop as she drops to the ground with a thud. The blonde straightens up and gives a wheezing victorious laugh at the sight of her unconscious opponent. Her friends could tell she was still uneasy on her feet as her whole body was shaking. "I won," the blonde says to herself to acknowledge her victory, pointing to her chest.
"Three," Micheal starts, having a feeling that Yang was going to pass out soon.
"Two," Blake continues, having a similar feeling. Though they could not see it, Yang's eyes rolled up as well, losing consciousness. What they could see was Yang's arms falling limply by her side.
"One," Ruby finishes as her sister falls on her back with a thump. The two combatant's friends and teammates shake their heads in exasperation.
"Whose carrying who?" Pyrrha asks.
"Hey Hitomi, mind helping me with Crystal?" Ember says to her taller teammate, getting up from her seat.
"Sure," the fox faunus says as she follows her leader.
"Blake?" Micheal says to his fellow faunus, asking for help.
"Alright," Blake says. The faunus duo following the other two into the arena. Blake and Micheal exchange a smile at the triumphant expression on their sleeping friend's face.
"They're going to regret this later aren't they," Micheal says as he puts one of Yang's arms over his shoulder.
"Definitely," Blake says as he puts the other arms around her shoulder. The two duos proceed to carry their unconscious teammates to the medical wing. The two girls slept for a few hours before waking sore all over and regretting their sparring session.
Rooftop, Nighttime
"Ow," Yang says as Micheal massages her shoulders. Her body was stiff, sore, and in pain from her duel with Crystal.
"You two were going at each other pretty hard," Micheal says comfortingly with a warm smile.
"I had too, she's unbelievable tough," Yang whines.
"We could tell from the stands, you two should have stop when Crystal hit red," Micheal says.
"We know, but we got into it and rolled with it," Yang defends herself. The blonde gently pushes her friend's hands-off.
"Feel better?" Micheal says as he sits against the wall.
"Somewhat," Yang says as she sits next to Micheal, leaning against him, head on his shoulder. Micheal smiles, reveling in the feeling of Yang against him. Deep down, the wolf faunus love this feeling wanting more, willing to start a relationship with Yang. But another part still felt wrong about it, knowing how little he could provide it. He believes all he can do is provide frustration. Then he felt Yang grab his hand and entwined their fingers.
"What's wrong?" Yang says, lifting her head. Micheal turns his head to look his friend in her eyes, heterochromic into amethyst.
"Why do you like me so much?" Micheal asks bluntly.
"What brought this on?" Yang returns the question. Micheal looks away for a second, trying to find the proper response, unconsciously and slightly tightening his grip on Yang's hand for support.
"Be honest with me, you have feelings for me," Micheal says.
"I'm definitely attracted to you," the blonde stops for a second to ponder her feelings. "At best I would say I have a crush on you nothing more than that."
"Why would you consider me an option? I'm a source of frustration for you," Micheal says. "Look at my situation, I went from being broke to being watched by a military with the threat of jail time and bringing my friends into it."
"You didn't do it intentionally, Blake and I did that to ourselves, it's what we get for being stupid," Yang counters. Micheal lets go of his friend's hand to dig his hands into his hair with a disgruntled face.
"Doesn't making it any better, I…." Micheal starts before a burning pain explodes on his cheek; the sound of the slap resonates through the night.
Yang then pushes her friend on his back, giving him a stern look. Micheal blushes at his new position with his beautiful friend, his blush on his right cheek obscured by the slap. The blonde straddles his waist, his hands pinned above his head with her hair hung down like a golden curtain, hiding their faces from view. "Micheal," Yang says in a gentle but firm voice. The wolf faunus gives his friend his undivided attention. The blonde takes a deep breath before speaking. "I know things are frustrating for you and you're right, they're frustrating for me as well. I don't like this situation any more than you do, but I have no choice but to deal with it the same way you have been dealing with life until now, doing the best I can, I'm still here to support you along with the rest of the team, so don't give up on me." Micheal sighs as he relaxes from his previous distress.
"I'm sorry Yang, everything is starting to get to me now, I trying to hold but it's getting harder by the day," Micheal says.
"I know, I can tell, but you can come to me, Blake, or Ruby now, if you need to vent, besides it could be worse, you know Ozpin is on your side, seeing as he fought for you to stay here. And this Rosa person seems decent from what you and Ruby told me and Blake, I don't like him but what Ozpin said is true, Ironwood seems to be giving you a fair chance, if I had to trust anyone in this situation I would go with Ozpin. As for why I would choose you, well because I like you simple as that, I would like to at least give you a chance," Yang says.
"Alright, so why are you straddling me and for how long?" Micheal asks. Yang blushes and gives an embarrassed chuckle, and gets off the wolf faunus.
"Kind of just happened," Yang says.
"That's the first time I made you blush, you always make blush, so it's good to get you back for once," Micheal says with a smile. Yang playfully punches Micheal shoulder with a smile of her own.
"Thanks Yang," Micheal says.
"You're welcome, like Ruby, I'll always be your friend in the end," Yang says, holding out her pinky.
"Ruby told you about that?" Micheal questions, wrapping his pinky around Yang's pinky.
"I coaxed it out of her, I had to know whether to hurt you or not," Yang says. The wolf faunus scoffs, amused.
"Good to know," Micheal says, annoyed, while his friend laughs. "Thanks again Yang."
"You're welcome again," Yang says with a wink as she lets go of her friend's pinky. The two sat there looking at the stars. "I still haven't given you your reward for taking care of Ruby."
"I think I have an idea," Micheal comments.
"Oh, what would that be," Yang says, amused.
"A kiss," Micheal says.
"Oh," Yang says, more amused, dragging out the sound.
"One, I was disappointed when you kissed me on the cheek, and two, I have a crush on you," Micheal says. Yang smiles with a blush turning toward Micheal. She gently grabs the back of Micheal head and pulls him into a kiss. At first, it was a simple kiss on the lips. Micheal loved the feeling of Yang's soft lips against his and felt a small sense of accomplishment for achieving this moment. Then Yang separated for a moment before diving back in. The force knocking the wolf faunus over. The blonde caught up in the moment, then deepened the kiss with her tongue invading her crush's mouth. The duo continues their current action for a few minutes before separating for air. Yang resting her forehead against Micheal's.
"A little caught up in the moment?" Micheal questions.
"Yeah, you complaining?" Yang asks.
"No, I imagine you don't regret going more intimate than you meant to?" Micheal says.
"No," Yang responds.
"It would be difficult, but would you like to go out?" Micheal asks.
"What changed? I thought you were going to wait one more month," Yang says, confused.
"Well, I'm probably going to word this poorly, but it would be nice to have a distraction from the stress of everything right now. It would be nice to have someone to not only come to vent my feeling to but divert me away from the problems even if for a little while, relieve some of the stress," Micheal explains.
"That's definitely one way to relieve stress if things are good, but it could also add quite a bit to it if they're not," a voice says, making the duo jump in surprise. The two friends look up to see Noire with a cheeky smile. "I hope I'm not gate crashing too badly here."
"How long were you there Noire?" Micheal inquires, hopeful not long enough to catch earlier Yang comments.
"Since you two had your little make out session," Noire says. Micheal and Yang had a long look to make sure she was honest. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" The green-eyes girl says with genuine annoyance and confusion. "I went to your dorm to ask you team where you were to tease Yang about her match the weapon heiress. Seriously, who spars with their opponent to the point they knock each other out? As I walked up the stairs, I didn't hear you two, so I decided to peak to see if you were on the roof and low and behold, I see you two going at it."
"Sorry Noire, well the last time I was overheard, Weiss got extremely angry with me," Yang says quickly.
"Overheard saying what?" Noire inquires.
"The fact that Micheal sucks as a fighter, it was supposed to say a secret," Yang says, twisting her story about the time she accidentally told Pyrrha and Nora about their issue with Micheal at the time. The comment about Weiss was genuine; the blonde still has a clear memory of Weiss almost shouting about her little slip-up.
"Fair enough," Noire concedes, believing it from her time with the heiress. The green-eyed girl then proceeds to sit in front of the duo. Micheal and Yang then proceed to move to a sitting position in front of their friend. "But we're digressing…." Noire looks between the two with a small smile. "If you two are serious about this, then go ahead, but as I said it can be extremely stressful for the both of you considering the situation right now…" the dark-haired girl holds her hand out, all fingers extended. "School still going on being the least of them, the Elder Scourge, Military involvement and the rules they implement, uneasy atmosphere among the populous. Which means when the Elder Scrouge is away expect Grimm to enter the area in mass, plus the issues your teams our experiencing now with the split," the girl says as she pulls a finger down with each point. "And that's just what I can think of right now, there may be more in time."
"Which is why I'm being selfish when asking Yang, I genuinely want to give this a shot and I do like Yang in that way, but I'm also looking for a distraction from everything to relieve some stress, but if Yang doesn't want to, I will respect it," Micheal says.
"Isn't asking someone out selfish to some extent, you want to date someone because you want to," Yang says with a shrug. "I mean I want Micheal to look my way and only my way, which is why I'm flirting and teasing him all the time."
"Even though your team, Hitomi and your sister also have or starting to have a crush on him at varying degrees," Noire says.
"Yeah," Yang says bluntly.
"Hypothetically speaking, what about sharing with your sister?" Noire questions. Yang sighs and rolls her head back, looking up as she ponders the situation.
"Maybe in time, I love my sister and I share a lot with her, but doesn't mean I share everything with her, say what you want about me but that is how I feel. Though, If Micheal and I don't work out and ends up with Ruby then I would support her," Yang says, returning her attention forward.
"That's fair," Noire says. She then gets up and brushes herself off. "But I've gate crashed long enough, you two need to finish your previous conversation," she says in a playful voice. She then walks over to the door to the roof and opens it. "If you two do decide to become a couple, I wish you the best of luck and don't worry our conversation will be a secret between us." Noire then leaves the two friends on the roof with a wave.
"Well, do you want to go out?" Micheal asks.
"Well, I would like to but can I ask you a couple questions?" Yang says.
"What?" Micheal says.
"Do you even have a plan when it comes to telling the others about our relationship?" Yang asks.
"Not really, I would like it to low-key till I found a plan," Micheal says.
"And I would like to be open about it, and let's say you did tell them would be able to handle the reaction?" Yang inquires.
"To be honest no," Micheal says.
"Then how do I expect you to handle a relationship with the way things are now," Yang says as she shifts behind the wolf faunus. She then wraps her arms around Micheal. "I like that you want to give this a chance, but I need you to be ready for this than jump into this because of a selfish reasons." Micheal sighs as he brings his hands up and lays his hands on his friend's, gripping them slightly, a gesture Yang returns. "So, while it's a no for now, I'm not rejecting you, I'll wait for you to be ready and when you are then it's a yes," Yang says.
"I'm sorry Yang, I'm stressed and just want something to look forward to other than these task and military surveillance, something I can enjoy at least," Micheal says.
"Don't worry I forgive you and as I said, you're not the only one who is stressed," Yang says, letting go of her friend. The blonde then stands up, helping Micheal up as well. "How much has Weiss paid you this month?"
"Two thousand, which has to be under the table, I'm not officially part of her company, why?" Micheal says.
"Well, I can think of a distraction from thing, I think it's time to bring back some of your old hobbies," Yang says.
"I can't leave Beacon to buy them, and I was saving it for an emergency," Micheal says.
"That's admirable, but I can see this as an emergency of sort, plus I'm still allowed to leave Beacon," Yang says. "Blake asked if we could, we are under surveillance, but not as much as you. We are still given some freedom to leave Beacon grounds to shop in Vale, but that's about it," the blonde says, answering Micheal questioning look at the last remark. "So, make me a list and some of your lien and I will buy what you want when Weiss and me go shopping this weekend."
"Sure, thanks Yang," Micheal says.
"No problem, what are friends for," Yang says with a wink. The duo returns to their dorm to find their teams adjusting to their new quarters and going about various activities. Ruby and Crystal talked in detail about weapons to the degree that no one else could understand them. Ember and Weiss discussed their new sleeping arrangements and making a list of groceries to buy from town. Blake and Hitomi were moving the luggage to accommodate their brand-new quarters. Micheal and Yang decided to help Blake and Hitomi with the bags to help speed up the process.
Later that night, Micheal was lying awake on his bunk. The sound of his sleeping friends and teammates resonates in his sensitive ears, from the soft breathing of Weiss and Blake to the loud snores of Yang and Ember. The wolf faunus could not sleep due to too many thoughts going on through his head. 'Thing really went awry, I went from broke and no home to now being under watch damn near 24/7 for something that wasn't my fault, on top of that I'm probably nothing more than a tool to be used, all in the course of a month,' Micheal's eyes roll up ponder that last bit. 'That's maybe more pessimistic than I should be thinking, sure I might have to do whatever Ozpin and Ironwood says, but Ozpin kept me here. I need to try and be more optimistic or that thing will be back, and I do need to keep my spirits up for my friends. I guess Ironwood is going out of his way to assign a trainer to me and my friends, so if I was a tool, why would he go out of his way to do that and not just throw me to the Grimm, would that make me a pawn, granted that probably not much better than too, if at all. I mean I have good friends and new teammates that seem to be good people, so it's not all bad. Ruby, Blake, and Yang are still choosing to support and stand by me despite the stress this situation to them as well. I need to do better to show I'm not squandering their support and be able to support them back.' A beep catches Micheal's attention. The wolf faunus turns to see his scroll notifying him he has a message. Micheal grabs the device and opens it to see the message.
"We agreed on making it a school wide program, so your next task is to convince your leader to sign up your team for a program she is going to take anyways." Micheal closes his scroll and sighs as he closes his eyes. Knowing his life will be even more difficult from now on, but he would do even better.
A/N: As always, criticism is good
I know I was atrociously slow with this, but I'm barely getting back into writing, and I'm trying not to overdo it. But I made the promise to myself to see this story through. The only reason for me to truly stop is if FanFiction shut down or stopped working for me.
As for why I didn't use Winter, I just didn't feel like it. I don't hate the character; I just didn't want to use her for now.