Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.
Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.
Hi, Hi, everyone. Long time no… see? Speak?
(?_?)
Well, whatever it is, I'm back with another chapter.
I'm glad the last chapter was received positively. As I mentioned before, I was a little hesitant to turn that chapter into a song chapter. I'm not too fond of song-fics myself or even using songs in a chapter like what I did. But something just kept telling me to do it that way. So, rather than bust my head open over it, I just went with the flow. And I'm glad I did.
Just like some of you admitted to crying, or coming close, while reading it, I shed my fair share of tears while writing it. It was probably worse for me since I had to envision the scene multiple times while listening to the music. My roommate actually caught me one time while writing in the living room. Now that was a fun time. She wouldn't believe me when I said that I made myself cry. XD
I did some work on previous chapters. It was mainly to fix any typos I missed, but I also edited some scenes, added a few minor ones, and extended some existing scenes. It's nothing major though but feel free to check them out. I can't remember which scenes they were, not off the top of my head, so I can't really point them out here.
Anyway, for now, let's get on with the chapter. I'm sure I've kept you all waiting long enough. Enjoy.
Chapter 6 – The Fools Pt. 2
September 16, XX13
"Mr. Sanada." The stern voice of their professor rang across the room. And heeding her call, the silver-haired boxer, wearing his usual red vest over a white, collared shirt, stood from his seat and made his way to the front. "Mr. Thrush." Another name was called, and another person stood and made his way down.
Their Combat class, unlike their other classes, was held in a far larger room. And, unlike the half-circle arrangement of the other lecture halls, the room was completely circular. At the center of the room was a circular platform twenty meters in diameter and about a meter high. Directly above the platform were several large screens to allow the students to monitor the Aura levels of the combatants as well as offering different views of the combat area.
Around the platform, two meters away from the edge, was a special projector that created a circular, hard-light wall around the platform to simulate a ring-out area as well as preventing any stray projectile attacks from hitting the spectating students. Another two meters away was a solid wall five meters in height, and an additional two meters of reinforced glass as an added precaution. Behind the glass were the benches for the spectating students, each row elevated higher than the one in front of it to allow everyone a mostly unimpeded view of the fighting area.
Much like an arena or stadium, there were stairs leading down from the spectator's area. Those stairs led to a hallway that would take them to the exit, the small infirmary, the locker room, or the combat area. The doors separating the hallway from the combat area were heavily reinforced and were designed to remain shut if a fight was ongoing.
The hard-light wall, and the door's lock were linked to one another. The moment the facilitating teacher activated one, the other would activate as well. There were, of course, many safeguards to prevent accidents, and even more redundancies should something fail.
One might think that the multitude of precautions was more than just bit redundant. But when one considers that they were in a school for training Huntsmen and Huntresses, and that the Combat class allowed, and actually encouraged, the full use of one's weaponry, it simply made sense to be as cautious as possible. Even the small infirmary in the building was fully staffed and equipped for even a major surgical operation. Though thankfully that little precaution had never been needed since the day it came to be.
It was true that the students all had Aura to protect them but it was always better to play things safe, especially when it concerns a life.
As the two combatants stood opposite one another, Glynda Goodwitch standing off to one side while reiterating the rules to ensure there were no misunderstandings, Ren couldn't help but watch his team leader with worry. Outwardly, Akihiko seemed well. His body was relaxed but alert and his grin showed that he was looking forward to his first fight in their Combat class.
But it was quite a significant change from how he had been just before his name was called. Not two minutes ago he was only half paying attention, half lost in his own thoughts. Then, the moment he learned he was going to be fighting, his entire demeanor changed into the battle-ready fighter now standing in front of their entire year.
It had been completely unexpected, even for SEES. They had intended to listen to the music that their friend once listened to as a way to remember him by. Aigis had kept it a secret to all but one so as to surprise them all. That was all. Nobody had expected that it would result in all of them breaking down the way they did.
Even after it ended, SEES had held on to each other, tears flowing liberally down their faces, their sobs and cries unrestrained. They hadn't been able to help at all. They just sat there, watching their newfound friends with worry. No matter what they thought they could have done, nothing felt right.
Asking them how they were feeling would have been stupid. Physically comforting them would have been intrusive as they did not know each other that well. Verbal comfort at that time felt insincere, mere words without any real feelings whatsoever as they could not even begin to understand the depths of their pain, only see the surface that they had been allowed to glimpse at that moment. And leaving the room altogether, even if the intent was to give them privacy, was out of the question.
So all they could do was watch. Watch as their friends broke down and shut down, completely ignoring everything around them save for the one in their embrace. The only ones with even a modicum of composure were Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Chidori. But even then, anyone could see that they were simply holding themselves back.
Did they, perhaps, not feel as much as everyone else regarding what had happened? No, that was completely wrong. Rather, that was an impossibility given what little they knew of SEES. Whatever their reasons for reigning in their emotions rather than giving in like the rest, it was not something along the lines of insensitivity or apathy. Perhaps they simply felt they needed to be strong for those who had given in to their emotions.
Professor Goddwitch glanced at both teens. "Are there any questions before we begin?" It was only the third match of the day. And considering that their first two Combat classes had been spend testing the limits of their physical abilities through various exercises, this would also count as their third match as a whole. As such, Glynda had to ensure that the fighters and the spectators are constantly reminded of the rules. More than a few in the past had, after all, claimed ignorance when they had stepped out of bounds just to win a fight.
"Yeah, I've got one. What's with that guy's Aura?"
The question had come not from one of the fighters, but one of the spectators. Understandable since neither fighter could see the screen displaying their Aura levels as it was directly above them. Turning to where the spectators were seated, her eyes met that of Cardin Winchester's, leader of Team CRDL. The same team that Russell Thrush, one of two combatants about to fight, was a part of.
Knowing what that the burly boy was talking about, Glynda glanced discreetly at Akihiko, who returned the look with a small, nearly imperceptible, nod. "This year, we have several students who do not possess an active Aura." As expected, her words caused quite a stir among the first-years. Only those who were already aware remained silent. "The reason why is something you will have to ask them yourselves. Regardless, however, they all passed the initiation, meaning they are just as capable as the rest of you."
"So how's this gonna work then?" asked Russel as he looked Akihiko up and down several time. Akihiko did the same though his eyes only passed over the other boy's form once. With a light green Mohawk surrounded by a bed of freshly shaven hair, a green, hooded sweater with its sleeves torn off, and a spiked pauldron on his left shoulder, Akihiko's only thought was that the boy's appearance was more fitting for a member of a street gang rather than a Huntsman. "If you ain't got Aura how do we know when the fight's over? When you're dead?"
Russel, along with his team and a few others, laughed at his joke, morbid as it was, while others just frowned at the tastelessness. One person, however, grinned. And the moment Russel saw the grin, his laughter faded and an uneasy look appeared on his face.
Akihiko saw this and his grin only grew more manic in appearance. "What's wrong all of a sudden?" The dark undertones of his voice carried past the barriers and even a few spectators grew uneasy at the sudden change in his demeanor. "Well, if you don't have the guts for a death-match then I guess we'll just settle for first-blood."
Glynda frowned at Akihiko's statement but said nothing. He had neither proposed nor decided on using death as an end to the spar after all, merely used the other boy's words against him. As to his declaration of losing if his opponent managed to draw blood, well that was something she had been ready for. After all, she had been the one to pull SEES asides after their first class with her to discuss the rules of engagement they would be using when they fought in her class. For SEES, it was all or nothing.
Because of the danger involved, they all agreed on that one simple rule. The moment a member of SEES received a solid blow, the match would be considered over. For a while, their teammates argued, saying that it wasn't fair. Not only did SEES not have Aura, but they were also physically inferior. A single hit would not give them much chance to fight back.
Some took their teammates' words poorly and had more or less shut them up, basically telling them that it was fine. Mitsuru, after calming down the more irate members, explained that it was something they had already decided upon after a long discussion with one another even before coming to Beacon.
"Have faith in us as your teammates," she had said.
And now, they would all see whether that faith was misplaced or not.
"H-Hey, you kiddin' me?" asked Russel, glancing over at Glynda for confirmation.
"What he says is not inaccurate," she replied. "To be precise, all you would need to win is to deliver a single, solid blow. Whether it is a punch, a kick, or even a cut with your daggers. Know, however, that I will not tolerate any attacks meant to kill." The sudden shift in her tone let everyone know how serious she was. "You are aware that your opponent does not have Aura, just as they are aware of their own disadvantages. They are aware that accidents happen and are prepared to face such. But if you…"
She paused and looked around the room to let everyone know that she was addressing them all. "If any of you display even the slightest hint that you had intended to kill your opponent, or even purposely deliver a needlessly cruel attack, then you will be held responsible."
This added restriction, even if it shouldn't have to be mentioned out loud, was all she could do to tilt the scales slightly in SEES's favor. Every student here had trained to kill Grimm, and are thus trained to kill as swiftly as possible. Even in training, few held back because their opponents all had Aura to protect them from most forms of damage. As a result, most of them would have difficulty adjusting to having to fight against an opponent without Aura.
'I suppose this could be a good lesson in its own way,' she thought as she examined each of her students' expressions, making note of those who seemed willing to test how far they could bend that rule. 'Not every mission leads to a fight against Grimm or criminals who can use Aura and Semblance after all. I'll have to see if a lesson like this could be incorporated into the standard curriculum in the future.'
Nobody dared to argue with her, not with the stern glare she was giving them all. Satisfied, her glare softened into her normal stern expression as she turned to the two combatants. "Now, I believe we've wasted enough time. Are you both ready?"
Russel drew his daggers just as Akihiko fell into a boxing stance, his right hand in front. Glynda tapped something on her Scroll and the lights were shut off, a single, wide-beamed spotlight illuminating the entire combat area. The hard-light wall went up around the circular platform just as Glynda called out, "Begin!"
Immediately, Russel went on the offensive, dashing straight for Akihiko. Once his opponent was within range, his daggers struck. Metal rang against metal as Akihiko deflected the daggers with the steel plates on the back of his gloves. Again, Russel struck. And again, Akihiko knocked them off-course.
Watching from above, the Aura-users of teams KYBT, ASYR, JACN, and ANKR looked on with a bit of worry. They knew Akihiko was good in a fight. Alongside Mitsuru, he had the most combat experience among SEES. But they could see how seriously Russel was fighting. He was still holding back, that much was certain given Goodwitch's added restrictions, but even so, the speed he displayed was already a step above what Akihiko was displaying.
The boxer was doing well enough but he had yet to attack, prioritizing defense due to his lack of Aura as well as the conditions for his loss. But as the fight went on, they could see his movements starting to slow down ever so slightly. It was to be expected. He was a seasoned fighter but at the rate that Russel was attacking, he hadn't had a chance to relax even a little bit.
Russel easily picked up on this and pushed even harder, his daggers coming in faster and faster as Akihiko stepped back more and more, fists frantically flying around him to block the daggers. With the increase in the attack's intensity, it was only a matter of time before the match ended. And soon enough, the opportunity to do so presented itself.
Russel's eyes narrowed as he spotted a small opening in Akihiko's guard right after he had blocked an attack. He grinned victoriously as his dagger cut through the air towards Akihiko's right arm. He would have aimed for the body, but Goodwitch's warning rang clearly in his ears and there were more than a few vital organs that could be struck, even by accident, if his opponent reacted poorly. Still, the arm was a good enough target since a single blow was all that was needed. 'This'll teach him not to be so cocky.'
So focused was he on his impending victory that he failed to notice the equally victorious grin on Akihiko's face. Faster than the dagger-wielding boy could react, Akihiko's right hand backhanded his left wrist, moving faster than Akihiko had shown to be capable of. The impact caused Russel to cry out and lose hold of the dagger, sending it flying off to the side.
Shocked by the swift reversal, he was unable to react when Akihiko's dominant left hand flew towards his face in a powerful cross, the studded metal plate on the back of the glove striking the right side of his jaw. As useful as Aura was in that it prevented blades and bullets from drawing blood, there was one aspect of it that was often overlooked. Unfortunately for Russel, it was a fact that Akihiko was very much aware of.
The blow sent him stumbling back a few steps, his right hand, still holding his other dagger, rose up instinctively to cradle the side of his jaw. Akihiko didn't let the opportunity slip. Even as Russel stumbled away, Akihiko stepped forward and delivered a quick jab to the other side of the boy's face with his right fist.
The force of the blow was controlled, honed by years of boxing experience. Enough to be felt and disorient, but not enough to knock him back more than a single step, if even that much. Perfect for allowing follow-ups. And seeing the boy react in the exact same manner as many others before him, Akihiko knew then and there that Aura did not mean complete invulnerability as there was one thing it could not stop.
Physics.
For all its ability to protect the body from harm, Aura still could not completely defy the natural laws of the world. In this case, the laws of motion came into play in a way that most of his classmates most likely forgot or overlooked.
Aura might have stopped his punch from doing damage, but it did not mitigate the force behind the punch. All that force still had to go somewhere. And as he had learned from a quick experiment with Ren, that 'somewhere' was in the same direction as the movement. And since Aura could not stop it, the force of the punch continued on to what was behind it.
In this case, that just so happened to be Russel's face. And unfortunately for the poor boy, Akihiko's specialty happened to be blunt, concussive force. The same sort of force that Aura could not mitigate.
Once, twice, thrice, several times Akihiko right shot back and forth like a piston, causing Russel's head to jerk back with each hit, sometimes taking a single step backwards. He continued to stumble away, but the shock factor of Akihiko's counterattack had yet to wear off so the silver-haired boxer had little trouble following after him. The continuous hits, despite their lack of power, continued to rattle and distract him. And when he regained enough presence of mind to raise his empty left hand up in a feeble attempt to ward off Akihiko's repeatedly punching right hand, the boxer grinned and made his next move.
Akihiko suddenly crouched and delivered a heavy right-hand blow to Russel's midsection, causing the boy to curl around the boxer's fist, air evacuating his lungs. Even as Akihiko pulled his right arm out of his abdomen, the left was already cocked back. With a loud shout, his left connected with Russel's chin in a vicious rising uppercut, the power of the blow increased as Akihiko swiftly rose from his crouch, almost leaping off the ground, and sending his opponent flipping backwards and down to the ground.
The buzzer sounded even before Russel landed on his back, the sensors registering that the boy had been completely knocked out by the final blow. At the end of the first two matches, there was some light applause from the students. This time, the crowd was completely silent. Looking down at her Scroll, Glynda could certainly understand why.
Despite being knocked out, Russel's Aura meter had not even gone below seventy percent. The students had probably never once considered the possibility that someone could be knocked out or beaten while their Aura was still at such a high level. It was rare, especially in a straight fight, but Glynda had heard of it happening before. And now, she was seeing it happen with her very own eyes, performed in front of her by a nineteen-year-old who did not even have Aura.
It was a good thing recordings were made so that both the students and the teachers could review them in the future. This would be a good fight to show the other classes as well as future students.
"And that's the match," she announced, dispelling most of the shock that the students were undoubtedly experiencing. "As you can see, it is possible to defeat someone without having to first deplete their Aura. So let this be a lesson to you all. Having Aura does not mean you are invincible until it runs out. And not having Aura does not mean someone is weak."
Later that day, news had gotten around to nearly the entire school about how a nineteen-year-old first-year student with no Aura knocked out his sparring partner, who had not only failed to hit his opponent but also had more than half his Aura left when he had gotten knocked out.
And over the next two days, more news of first-years whose Aura was not unlocked spread as they emerged victorious in their own spars. And while none of them had managed to knock out their opponents, all of them, even the twelve-year-old who had somehow gotten into Beacon, had won without a single scratch.
September 18, XX13
First-years had five main classes. Grimm Studies, History, Social Studies, Local Geography, and, of course, Combat.
Grimm Studies was self-explanatory, both in nature and in importance. After all, the Creatures of the Grimm were enemies of all living things. And Huntsmen and Huntresses were trained mainly to battle these creatures. To properly do so, a thorough understanding of the various types of Grimm and their known qualities and behavior would be valuable, if not outright indispensable.
History gave the students a background into recent events and ties in with their Social Studies class. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses, they would be traveling all over Remnant on various missions. But not all their missions would lead to battle against the Grimm. At times combat may not even be involved at all.
More importantly, they would be dealing with people from all walks of life. Knowledge of what led to events as they were, as well as how they affected the people in an area, would help them communicate better with the people they meet as well as foster understanding with such people. And if they were inspired to create a better future than the past they had learned about, then all the better.
Local Geography was, as its name implied, a class that focused on educating their students on everything to do with the land of Vale. From the shape of the entire kingdom, to the various flora and fauna found in any given area, to the locations of various bodies of water, and even the weather patterns across the kingdom. As long as it had even the slightest bit to do with the land, it would be covered.
Since missions assigned to the first-years in later months were limited to those within the Kingdom of Vale, such a class was invaluable should their missions take them out past the walls of Vale. Of course, most missions for first-years are kept within a certain distance of Vale. Few missions past that distance would be assigned to a first-year team, regardless of who their escort was and how strong the team was. Only second-years and above were permitted to accept missions beyond that radius, though second-years were still escorted by a Huntsman.
With proper knowledge of the surrounding area, one could survive far longer than someone who had no idea which plants were edible, or which place was best for a campsite. At times, a geographical advantage proved the difference between success and failure while fighting the Grimm. All in all, it was a class that not only prepared them for the wilderness of Vale, but it was also a class that prepared them for their Survival class in their second year, which, as the name implied, would focus on teaching them how to survive for extended periods of time with limited resources using that knowledge they had gained.
Combat class was, of course, the staple of every year level. It was here where their skills were honed under the watchful eye of a skilled Huntsman or Huntress. Some may argue that fighting against fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses would do little to prepare them for the Grimm. But those people forget that most Grimm are mindless, incapable of striking intelligently. Humans and faunus, on the other hand, are more than capable of examining and dissecting another's fighting style, finding one's weaknesses and then exploiting it to achieve victory, all within the same battle. Thus it could be argued that another person was a more dangerous opponent than a Grimm, especially in a one-on-one situation.
If a student could refine their skills to the point where they could cover most, if not all, of their own weaknesses, and could work with their team to avoid exposing any other weaknesses, then the Grimm would stand little chance of succeeding where more intelligent foes have failed. Theoretically anyway.
After all, few teams, especially first-years, could stand up against a rampaging herd of Goliaths, or hundreds of Beowolves and Beowolf Alphas, regardless of how skilled they were. But even so, a proper mastery of one's fighting style minimized the opportunity for an opponent to strike them down due to a careless mistake born of inexperience.
Those five classes were held on the weekdays. Grimm Studies and Geography on Mondays and Wednesdays, History and Social Studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Combat class every day as their last class of the day. It was also the only class they had on Fridays. Saturdays were left open for their electives, much to the dismay of some. Many mumbled prayers could be heard, praying that their choice of elective did not intrude upon their weekends.
And speaking of the electives, the students would soon be receiving their updated schedules once the electives were added beginning the next week. Many wondered how the classes would be scheduled seeing as they spend four days each week attending class from nine in the morning until six in the evening, with Combat being the only exception on Fridays.
Not everyone though. Others had worries far more troublesome than a simple class schedule.
The members of SEES have recovered, somewhat, but save for Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Chidori, everyone still showed signs of their breakdown. A lack of appetite, a general lack of focus, difficulty sleeping, and a lack of interest in social interaction were some of the things they had displayed over the past six days.
The two seniors were affected, there was no doubt about that. It was simply that they were better at hiding it and managing their emotions in general.
Chidori was different in that she had not truly known Minato. According to her, she had seen him a few times but had only spoken to him directly once, and that had been when she had been hospitalized for some time. Even then, their conversation had been brief and mostly insignificant. That was as much as she had shared with them, and nobody wanted to try and ask why it was that she was close to the rest of SEES but not to Minato.
The symptoms had abated over the week, but it would be a long time before they were back to their old selves. The only time that their focus returned in full was during Combat class, specifically when they were the ones called on to fight. It was as though a switch was flipped when their names were called to participate. But the moment the fight ended, the sharpness in their movements would fade and their eyes would gain that hollow quality that only the two seniors and Chidori lacked.
"Try not to worry about it too much," Akihiko had said to everyone else after noting how worried they were for their teammates. "Mitsuru and I expected this. We just didn't expect it to happen so soon, or that a song, of all things, would trigger it. For now, the best you can do is be there for them when we can't. Help them get through the next two weeks. Everything should be ready a little after the end of the month."
Neither he nor Mitsuru explained what 'everything' was or why it would take a little over two weeks to prepare. But if it would help SEES recover, they, as their teammates, would do what they could to help them make it that far.
The biggest problem was Team ASYR. Yukari had Mitsuru on her team to support her. Ken had Akihiko, and Junpei had Chidori. And although Mitsuru and Akihiko also had their own moments of distraction, they were far and few in between and had the rest of their team to pick up the slack when necessary. But with those three pairs formed, that left Aigis and Fuuka.
Neither one was in a position to properly support the other. And though she was an android, Aigis had displayed a shocking degree of emotion that night, openly weeping just like the others. Even the tears that had somehow begun to flow down her face had caught them off guard as they did not expect that to be possible.
Ruby tried her best to be supportive. But since she had always been the younger sibling, and was now the youngest on the team, she had little experience in cheering up people. Weiss was of little help, especially when Aigis was concerned. Even when she had tried to comfort Fuuka, her words lacked the sincerity and understanding needed, resulting in the teal-haired girl smiling gratefully at the effort but looking no better.
During dinner one night, Ruby remembered something that Aigis told her once and brought it up just as they were finishing their dinner. A number of emotions passed through Aigis's face when Ruby asked her question but the one that lingered at the end was shame. She had only seen it for a second before Aigis suddenly stood, startling several of them, and fled from the dining hall.
"Don't!" Ruby had been about to chase after her when Fuuka shouted. Her shout drew attention, even from those seated at the other tables. She drew in on herself a bit but soon refocused her attention towards her silver-eyed teammate, her tone and volume returning to normal as she spoke. "Out of all of us, I'm sure that Aigis is the one hurting the most. It's true that Aigis could shut off her emotional systems but she hasn't, not even once, despite the pain she must be feeling. Please, try to consider what that means."
Nobody saw Aigis afterwards. Even when they were settling in for the night, no one from either of the four teams knew where she was nor did Aigis contact any of them. Come morning, however, she was back in their room, sitting on her bed, wearing her uniform and ready for the day. Nobody knew when she had come in, if she had gotten any sleep, or if she had even changed her clothes from the day before. But asides from that, it was as though she had never left.
Their classes proceeded normally from that point. At least, as normal as it could all things considered. SEES did their best to pay attention in class but after the first few days, it was clear that only Mitsuru, Akihiko and Chidori could properly function for extended periods of time but even the two seniors lost focus after a little more than half an hour into the lesson. The rest could force themselves for a few minutes before their emotions began to drag them down.
Their teammates did their best to support those who were having trouble focusing but even that could only do so much. The first week was easy since all they did, save for Combat class, was recap what they were already expected to know.
The next week, however, brought two problems with it. The first was that they would start covering new topics, topics that most of SEES were unfamiliar with. The second was the start of their elective classes. Few of them shared an elective with another member of their group. They would still be evaluated and graded in those classes so SEES would be, for the most part, on their own during that time. Hopefully they could focus enough to avoid getting into trouble until whatever it was Mitsuru and Akihiko were planning could be put into action.
For now, however, there were more urgent matters that needed to be addressed. Even if not all of them were aware of it.
September 19, XX13
"I see. You certainly have some interesting teammates, Weiss."
Staring at her through one of the CCT's intercontinental communication terminals was the stern visage of Winter Schnee, Weiss's elder sister. One glimpse would be enough to let anyone know of their relation. Beyond the snow-white hair and ice-blue eyes they shared, their faces shared enough similarities that anyone could easily come to the conclusion that they were sisters, or cousins at the very least.
Winter Schnee was a Specialist in the Atlas Military, a branch of the military formed from those who had graduated from Atlas's Huntsman academy, aptly and simply called Atlas Academy. Their branch was a highly controversial topic. Then again, so was the fact that Atlas's military and government were essentially one and the same, and that General James Ironwood of the Atlas Military also served as headmaster of Atlas Academy, which also existed as part of the government, hence the military.
When Huntsmen and Huntresses were first created after the end of the Great War eighty years ago, they were allowed to be free to serve whoever they wished. They owed no single kingdom, no single ruling body, their loyalty. The closest that could be called any form of allegiance was the fact that the Grimm were their enemies. In that way, it could be said that Huntsmen and Huntresses served the people of Remnant. But even that could be contested by pointing out the more unscrupulous individuals among the ranks of the Huntsmen.
Still, the fact remained that the Atlas Military actively recruited from graduates of their own academy – some have even been said to have been pressured into joining. While the Atlesian populace mostly saw their military in a positive light, the same could not be said of the other kingdoms.
Admittedly, having an active military composed of mostly androids as a means of fighting the Grimm ensured less people were killed. But many people also saw their actions as blatant disrespect, and sometime disregard, for the rights of Huntsmen and Huntresses. There were times when the Atlesian military was known to accept requests for Huntsmen from outside their kingdom. And though they claimed that they had accepted the request due to the high level of danger as a means to prevent the possible death of a Huntsman, very few people outside of Atlas saw it as benevolence.
In response, the military started sending their Special Operatives Unit on those missions, stating that as graduates of a Huntsman academy they, too, had a right to accept those missions if they so wished. The complaints died down after that, but that did nothing to change their perception of the military. If anything, their standing with the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the other three kingdoms sank deeper into the abyss as the decades passed.
"Still, I'm curious" continued Winter. "Why not simply introduce your teammate to us? Would that not be more efficient than you learning from our staff and passing on that information to her?"
"For now I just want to understand what it is she does," explain Weiss, reciting the excuses she had come up with over the past week while waiting for Winter to respond to her previous missive. "What she is working on is beyond my comprehension and I do not wish to bother her by having her teach me the basics."
"And so you wanted to see if I could assist you." Weiss nodded at her sister's deduction. "Still, I believe it would be better to refer her to us directly. After all, if her research proved to be beneficial she could receive backing from Atlas in terms of funding and materials."
"I don't want to pressure her too much. Not now anyway. Classes have just begun and she is still recovering from the destruction of her home." Thankfully she had not needed to lie about that. Winter knew her well after all. Outright lies would be easily noticed. Misdirection and half-truths were the best for the moment though she still had to be careful. "Moreover, she already has a backer. Not on the level of Atlas's military of course, but her backer is a good friend of hers. I don't believe she will abandon them just because of a better offer."
That was partially true. They had mentioned that Aigis was created by a branch of the Kirijo Group. And Mitsuru was the heiress of the group. Though the company no longer existed, Winter did not need to know that. Not now at least.
"I see, commendable." Left unsaid was that it was not a pragmatic choice. After all, who would turn down financial and material support from the military, which also happened to be the governing body of its kingdom? "So I assume your plan is to learn from us and show her that it would be more beneficial if she were to come to us, is that it?"
No, that wasn't it, Weiss thought. But considering her sister had already assumed that much, it would be difficult to explain what it was she truly wanted to do with the information she learned. Best to go along with it than risk further questioning. "Y-Yes. How-"
"Did I know?" finished Winter, chuckling at what Weiss hoped was a convincingly surprised expression on her face. "You forget that, before I entered Atlas or joined the military, I was the one father had groomed as his heir. I may have left that life but that does not mean I have forgotten what I learned."
No, Weiss definitely did not forget. After all, that was why… Weiss shook those thoughts out of her head before they could form. Now was not the time for that especially since Winter was still speaking.
"I do not know whether my superiors will allow it but I suppose there would be no harm in asking. Not to worry, I will leave out your name for the moment though I will have to explain at some point."
"That's fine, thank you." And she meant it. The less they knew about those involved the better. That way she minimized the risk of the military getting directly involved. At least until after she finished her research. Then, perhaps, she would decide one way or another what to do.
The two spoke about less consequential things afterwards. Thankfully no one else was in the CCT's communications level that early in the morning. As much as she loved her sister, and even the way she doted on her at times, that was not something she wanted others to see, a sentiment that Winter shared.
Weiss waited for one of the elevators to reach her level, ready to return to the dorms and take care of any homework she had not finished the day before. Afterwards, she would look into some material that Winter sent her. It might be outdated, compared to what Atlas was producing these days anyway, but it would give her some basic information in the field of robotics that would serve as a decent foundation should she be allowed to speak with one of their engineers or programmers.
The tone signaling the arrival of the elevator sounded. She took a step forward, ready to enter, when she caught sight of who was about to exit. "Mitsuru? Why are you here?"
Walking out of the elevator was none other than the former Kirijo heiress, dressed in the same coat and pants she wore the time they went to Vale. In her hand was the crimson Rotulus model, a message displayed on the tiny screen. Mitsuru looked up when her name was called and her face lit up in recognition when she saw the white-haired girl.
"Ah, good morning Weiss," Mitsuru greeted with a smile. Instantly Weiss felt a small blush creeping up onto her face as she realized how rude she must have sounded. "I'm here to make a call to the Adamas Corporation. I received a message earlier this week asking to contact them any time this morning."
The name of Mistral's largest corporation, as well as the one responsible for producing most of Remnant's Scrolls and other various bits and pieces of technology used in everyday life, caught Weiss's attention immediately. She wondered why they would be contacting Mitsuru. Did it have something to do with the Scrolls they received?
Her curiosity must have shown despite her efforts not to let it show, or perhaps Mitsuru was simply that observant, because Mitsuru chuckled. "You're welcome to come along if you're curious. They never said I would have to be alone but I'll have to ask that you remain off-screen regardless."
Weiss accepted the offer of course. It was an opportunity she couldn't afford to ignore. Afterwards she might even be able to spend a bit more time with her fellow heiress. Though she clearly did not need as much support as the others, she would surely appreciate having someone to lean on now and then. And if she could later be one of the first people she went to in times of trouble then all the better.
After informing the holographic AI of their intent – the sight of which had left Mitsuru slightly stunned – the two were soon in front of another communication terminal. Mitsuru took a seat in front of the screen while Weiss stood off to the side as agreed. She would be close enough to listen while not being visible on screen. She would just have to remain silent to avoid being discovered.
Soon, the call connected and a blue-haired young woman appeared on the screen with Adamas's black diamond logo visible behind her. "Good morning and thank you for calling the Adamas Corporation. How may I help you today?"
"Good morning," greeted Mitsuru. From where Weiss was standing, she could see the smile on Mitsuru's face. It looked completely natural on her face. Even Weiss couldn't find any hint that it was just a show of politeness and amiability. She wondered how much time Mitsuru spent practicing to master such a smile. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo. I received a message the other day asking me to call."
As soon as Mitsuru mentioned her name, the woman on the other side of the call had already glanced to the right, seemingly searching for something. "Ah yes, here we are," she declared after a moment. "Please give me a moment while I redirect your call. Thank you for calling and have a nice day."
"Thank you, and you as well."
The call was cut-off at that moment but immediately returned. This time, Mitsuru was met by an older woman dressed in a black business suit with short black hair in a page-cut and a stern face. Sharp, angular eyeglasses added to her already stern features but the neutral expression on her lips told Mitsuru that the woman's stern expression was not something she put up on purpose. Not now anyway. "Good morning. Ms. Kirijo, I presume?"
"That would be me, yes."
"You called at a good time. Director Claire should be free for the next hour or so before her first meeting of the day. Please give me a moment while I inform her."
"Of course. If I may, why I was asked to call? I don't believe something like this is normal for a shareholder."
Weiss had to hide her surprise at what she had just heard. As a business partner to the Schnee Dust Company, many key personnel within Adamas were well-known to the SDC. Even she had been briefed as to key personnel to familiarize herself with since she regularly accompanied her father to business meetings and such. And now one of those people had just requested to meet with Mitsuru, who… just so happened to be one of their company's shareholders?
When did that even happen? More importantly, they had mentioned that the money they had was worthless outside of Japan. So how had Mitsuru been able to afford those shares? The prices of Adamas's shares were second only to the SDC's own. And the only reason that the SDC's was worth more was because Dust was a far more profitable business venture than Adamas's technological developments, despite the latter's broader business coverage. After all, Dust was used to combat the Grimm. And as useful as Adamas's technology was, few of what they produced were useful against the Grimm.
There was clearly more to Mitsuru than she had first thought if she had been able to gather resources and form such connections within a short amount of time.
"I am unaware of the specific reasons for the summons," replied the secretary. "I do know, however, that it has something to do with that strange woman who often met with the Director."
"Strange… woman?" A thoughtful look appeared on Mitsuru's face. "Would this woman happen to have short, white hair, a pale complexion, and wearing a sleeveless dress, gloves, a cap, and knee-length boots, all in shades of blue?"
Recognition shone in the woman's eyes even before Mitsuru finished describing the eccentric woman. "Yes. Am I correct in my assumptions that you are an acquaintance of hers?"
"Yes, I am. My friends and I owe her much for her aid in recent times."
"I see. In that case, I believe that-" her words were cut-off by a sharp chime on her end. "Pardon me for a moment." Glancing at something off-screen, the secretary nodded before turning back to Mitsuru. "It seems we need not speculate any longer. The Director will meet you now. Have a nice day, Ms. Kirijo."
"Thank you. And you as well."
The secretary's visage was then replaced by another, presumably the Director who had asked to meet with Mitsuru. She was an older woman, possibly in her forties. Her graying brown hair was tied in a bun and her face showed a few signs of wrinkles. But her expression was more relaxed, more welcoming than her secretary's.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Kirijo," greeted the woman, a smile blooming on her face. "I'd shake your hand but I don't believe we have the technology to do that just yet."
Mitsuru chuckled at the small joke. "The pleasure is all mine, Director."
There was a searching look on the woman's face as Mitsuru spoke and even afterwards. Eventually, she nodded as though satisfied by what she found. "Elizabeth was correct, there is something about you that makes it hard to mistake anyone else for you."
"Oh?"
The Director waved it off. "It's nothing to worry about. Rest assured, she had nothing but good things to say about you and your friends." Inwardly, that wasn't what worried Mitsuru but she was grateful nonetheless. "Now then, as much as I would like to get to know you know better I do have to meet with the various departments under me in about an hour so we'll have to cut straight to the point for the moment."
"That's fine. I have some business to attend to as well later on so I understand."
"Good, good. We can arrange for a longer meeting at a later time. Perhaps you can even come to the labs at some point. I believe Beacon students have a two-week break near the end of the year."
"The… labs?"
It was only then that Mitsuru actually noticed the Director's clothing. Rather than a business suit, the woman was wearing what seemed to be a white lab coat over a navy blue button-up shirt. "Ah, my apologies. I had assumed you were aware of why I asked to meet. Allow me to properly introduce myself. Claire Bernard, Adamas Corporation's Director of Research and Development."
A look of understanding passed over Mitsuru's face as Claire made her position known. "To start things off, how are the Scrolls we sent you? Elizabeth mentioned that there were no Scrolls where you were from. I imagine the level of technology of the rest of Remnant must have come as quite a shock to you."
"Shocked would be quite an understatement," Mitsuru replied with a short laugh. "We have nothing that even comes close to this level of technology. Even this… terminal I'm using is beyond anything I've ever seen prior to my arrival in Vale. As for the Scrolls all I can say is that they've been quite helpful. I can't say more since I have no prior experience to compare them with."
"Oh no, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure they were working as intended since we hadn't exactly planned on producing more at this time." Mitsuru's expression showed her confusion at Claire's statement. "I don't know if you've heard but so far we've only released one hundred of the Rotulus models. That one hundred, given to various people within and connected to Adamas, was both a gift, and a test to see how well they worked. The eight you have were actually produced after the first hundred were released, made with the data received from the test batch."
It barely took Mitsuru two seconds to put the facts together. "I suppose that Elizabeth-san had something to do with that."
"You'd assume correctly. She came to Adamas one day and met with Elmas, the CEO. Don't ask me how she pulled that off," Claire added quickly when she saw the shocked look on Mitsuru's face. "All of a sudden there were orders to produce eight more Rotulus models, each one of a different color, as well as three custom-made weapons." At least Mitsuru finally had an answer as to where the weapons had come from. "And then there's the fact that during the next meeting two days later, all of us Directors found out that she voluntarily paid double the price, and in cash, on that same day."
By the look on Claire's face, it was most definitely something they were still having trouble believing. Mitsuru knew she'd likely be the same in such a situation.
The Director shook her head. "Anyway, I don't exactly know what else went on with her meeting with the CEO but a few days after that I was called to meet with her in person and in private, just the two of us. Turns out she had cut a deal with Elmas to borrow the R&D for a little project in exchange for funding the project as well as paying an additional fee since her project would draw personnel away from our own projects."
That certainly made Mitsuru curious. "What kind of project?" Elizabeth certainly didn't strike her as the scientific type. What kind of project could she have hired an entire research division for?
"She brought a strange object, said it come from your homeland, and gave it to us to study under the condition that anything we discover would be shared with you, and only you, unless you give us permission to do otherwise, and that we were only to study it unless, again, you give us permission to go beyond just studying it. So when your name entered our systems as a shareholder, Elmas informed me immediately and I made sure to keep my morning clear of any important business."
As interesting as that information was, something else that Claire mentioned had caught Mitsuru's interest. "A strange object?"
The R&D Director nodded slowly, a frown forming on her face. "I'll be honest, what we can do with it is limited by the fact that we specialize in technological research. What Elizabeth gave us seems to be some sort of Dust crystal, the likes of which we have never seen before."
"A… Crystal?" A thoughtful look appeared on Mitsuru's face for a moment before an idea popped into her head. "Tell me, what does it look like? Specifically, what color is it?"
"Like a luminous electric blue, perhaps a shade lighter? It's a little hard to describe to be honest," Claire responded with a bit of a frown, a look that was mirrored on Mitsuru's face. "Did you have some idea of what it is?"
"Maybe," she admitted. She raised her fist to her chin in a thinking position, trying to remember the crystals she saw in Iwatodai, in the room where SEES had been sealed away. "Electric blue you say," she murmured. She must have spoken louder than she thought since Claire nodded, a slightly hopeful look on her face. "Unfortunately the crystals I'm familiar with were a deep blue in color and gave off a pale blue light. And admittedly, I do not even know much about them. If I were ever to return to Iwatodai, or have the chance to do so, I will see about procuring a sample for comparison."
Claire nodded once more but the frown did not leave her aging face. "That would certainly be helpful. Though personally I think you should look into someone more capable of studying this. As I said, we specialize in technology rather than gems, minerals, and whatnot. Since you're using the CCT's communications room, I feel it would be best for me not to share any specific findings with you over an unsecure line, considering the conditions of the contract. What I can say is that the crystal bears some similarities with the Dust crystals we are all familiar with. Might I suggest transferring this task to the Schnee Dust Company in Atlas? I believe they should be more readily equipped to study something like this."
"No." Mitsuru's response was calm even though it had come swiftly. Even so, the response shocked Claire, who had frozen in surprise with her mouth slightly parted. Had Mitsuru looked to the side, she would have caught the brief expression of utter shock on Weiss's face at how swiftly her family's company had been turned down.
"With the resources she had, Elizabeth-san would have brought it to them in the first place had she wanted to." Mitsuru's expression was locked into one of firm resolve. Her tone reflected the shift in her demeanor but remained calm and polite. "I have not known her for very long but, despite her eccentricities, she is not one to act foolishly. If she gave it to you to study then I believe it would be best to leave it in your care for the moment."
Then her expression softened, and the Mitsuru that had led Kirijo Group for just shy of a quarter of a year was gone. "However, I do understand your concerns regarding your limited capabilities. Though my own resources are limited, I will see what I can do in that regard but for the moment please continue studying it as she asked. If you feel that there is nothing more you can learn then by all means, minimize the number studying it or even suspend your observations entirely, and return to work on the company's own projects."
"I see." Claire looked amused by Mitsuru's response, more so when the young woman gave her permission to abandon the study entirely if it proved fruitless. "Very well, I'll let the team handling it know. As to the preliminary results, do we wait until you can find the time to visit us, or would you like us to provide a secure method to send it to you in some way?"
"Let's wait on that for now," Mitsuru suggested with a shake of her head. "There are some things I have to deal with at the moment that require my full attention so I won't be able to review the findings either way. If need be, should I contact you in the same way?"
"Of course not," Claire responded with amusement. "I'll have my secretary forward my office's contact details to you. Understandably, I won't be able to answer every call that comes my way but this way you can let me know if something comes up. Similarly, we already have your Scroll number so we can send you a notice if anything similarly noteworthy comes up on our end."
Mitsuru gave the woman a respectful nod in gratitude. "Thank you. I'd appreciate that."
The Director returned the gesture. "For the moment that was all I needed to tell you. One last thing though. Please let us know what you think of the weapons we made. It's rare that someone avails of the company's services to create a weapon since most Huntsmen and Huntresses create their own so we want to know how well they turned out. And if something is off, we do offer free tune-ups and minor adjustments since we were the ones to create it."
"I'll speak with my friends about it and send you a response as soon as I am able."
"Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Kirijo. Have a good day."
"And you as well, Director."
The two had time to exchange brief but pleasant smiles before the feed was cut. With her business finished, Mitsuru stood and turned to face Weiss only to find her deep in thought. "Weiss? Is everything alright?"
"Huh?" Mitsuru's voice shook Weiss out of her thoughts and she barely remembered where she was. "Oh… I-I'm sorry. I was thinking about something."
"I could see that," Mitsuru replied with a chuckle. "Well, shall we go? I'm sure you have other things planned for the day."
"I do, yes."
The two proceeded to the elevator and descended the building in silence. They parted ways outside of the CCT after a few words of farewell, Weiss's original plan to join or invite Mitsuru to spend more time with the red-haired young woman abandoned in lieu of more important pursuits.
As she walked back towards the dorm, Weiss was deep in thought about the things she had just learned. But the one thought at the forefront of her mind was the description of the woman who had helped Mitsuru and her friends. A white-haired woman with pale skin.
The repairs of the club were going fairly well. If things continued to proceed as scheduled they would be able to reopen in two weeks. Maybe even less if they were lucky, which Junior hoped they would be for once.
Dressed in a simple long-sleeved dress shirt and black pants, Junior watched over the workers like a hawk, circling around the entire work area as though seeking out the slightest mistake to prey upon. Thus far the day had been going fairly well. The workers arrived a little earlier than normal and had not made any mistakes, even minor ones.
His other business was going just as well. Every man he had hired out the past week had reported in without incident and his informants had gotten back to him sooner than expected with various bits and pieces of information he and his various clients needed or wanted to know.
Unfortunately, that meant just one thing.
"Yo! How's it going little big bear?"
The large man resisted the urge to sigh. 'And there's the catch.' Turning to face the direction of the door, he soon came face-to-face with the same young man he had met a week ago. In fact, thinking about it, he had come in with that other woman at about the same time last week. Was there some meaning behind that? Another sigh bubbled up in him as Thantos approached. And he had managed to completely forget about the annoying young man too.
"Don't call me that," he responded sharply. Not even there for a minute and he was already pissed off. Was there something about him that attracted annoying people? Even without Thantos and Roman, he was acquainted with well over a dozen people who seemed to enjoy pushing his buttons and causing his blood pressure to rise. The worst part was that he could not refuse their business as they were, strangely enough, some of his best paying clients.
"Aw, come on, lighten up Junior." The red-haired, grinning young man attempted to place his arm around Junior's shoulders but the height difference and a quick shrug brought that idea to a swift end. "If you keep frowning so much you'll have wrinkles before you even hit thirty."
"I'm thirty-six," he growled out slowly through clenched teeth.
"Really?" The bodyguard's eyes widened enough that Junior saw the top of his eyes rise over the sunglasses he wore, though not enough to see his irises. "No way! You don't look a day over forty!"
"OF COURSE I DON'T! I'M-" Junior quickly cut himself off, taking as deep a breath as he could before slowly letting it out. "Look," he began, speaking calmly but sharply. "Why the hell are you here? I don't have all the information that boss of yours wants just yet. Besides, she gave a month. I still have at least three weeks. You here to tell me she wants it now?"
"What? I can't come hang out with my favorite grumpy bear?" Junior frowned and growled at Thantos's playful response. "Okay, okay, I admit it. You're the only grumpy bear I know. So no need to be jealous of the other bears out there, alright?" The bear-like man's growl only increased in volume at his 'admission'. Seeing this, Thantos sighed, his grin fading away. He reached into his jacket's breast pocket and handed Junior a folded piece of paper. "Man, you really need to lighten up. But fine, let's talk business. Boss-lady's got a couple of other things she wanted you to check out and keep an eye out for."
"Tch, why'd she have to send you then?" Junior violently grabbed the proffered slip of paper and unfolded it, grumbling the entire time. The first item on the list caused his eyes to shoot open in shock, his hand unconsciously clenching tighter around the slip of paper. The other two items didn't make things any better.
"You alright there Junior?" The way Thantos said his name made it clear that he was not referring to him by name alone. But right now, the information broker couldn't care less. "You look like you're about to have a conniption or something."
"You might as well just give me a heart attack and get it over with!" Junior reversed his grip on the paper and thrust it towards the bodyguard's face, holding it up barely an inch away. "Is that boss of yours trying to get me killed?! Why not ask me to spy on the Vale Council while you're at it?!"
The bodyguard remained unfazed by Junior's explosive moment as he raised a hand to his chin and hummed in thought. "Let's see here, locate targets of opportunity that the White Fang may be interested in, locate White Fang bases within and near the vicinity of Vale, and identify any notable White Fang members within the same range." Thantos hummed louder, as though considering the requests. "Easy enough if you ask me. Just send in some of your faunus informants. If they're good they won't have any problems getting in good with the White Fang, will they?"
"I don't have any faunus informants!" snapped Junior, whipping his arm to the side and throwing away the piece of paper, causing it to drift around. "Any faunus willing do underground work would rather join the White Fang than some human-run group."
All of a sudden Thantos lost all of his playful demeanor. His entire posture straightened up and, despite being more than half-a-foot shorter, seemed to be looking down on Junior. "Well, that's not my problem now, is it?" Even the tone of his voice had changed, growing colder, much like Shade's. Cold enough that Junior shivered. "You know, you really should lighten up a bit. In case you haven't realized it yet, I was giving you a way to do your job. All you had to do was play along. If you were a good enough liar you might've even made me believe that you really did have faunus informants working for you. But nooo, you get riled up so easily that you just react to every little thing that comes your way."
Thantos placed his hands behind him and started stalking around Junior, looking him up and down as though examining a new purchase. Or prey. Junior, for his part, could only stand there and let him do so. There was something about the man that just screamed 'danger' in large block letters. Extremely large letters. Painted in fresh blood.
"So instead, you come out looking like someone lacking common sense." The red-haired man scoffed, a humorless grin appearing on his face though he retained his cold tone. "How you've made it this far in this dark little world of ours is an absolute mystery. You don't even seem to have the street smarts one would expect of an underground information broker. I mean, really, do you actually try to intimidate everyone who comes in? What if you end up pissing off someone way more powerful than you are?" Left unsaid between the two was the fact that Thantos may very well be one of those people.
"And besides, what kind of idiot walks into a crowded club to discuss underground business?" He shook his head. "Sure, everyone's too busy fooling around to pay attention to someone, but that just mean that many more people who could suddenly notice you and decide to pay attention in some way and be able to identify you later. I'm surprised you don't have cops or Huntsmen in disguise staking out the place for any criminals they were after. Then again, you probably do and you're just too stupid to realize it."
Junior clenched his fist, trying to ignore Thantos's jabs at his intelligence. He had known the young man was dangerous from the way he moved, he would have to be if someone trusted him enough to be the sole bodyguard. But now that he had dropped all pretenses of friendliness, every wall that had been hiding the true level of danger he posed had dropped as well.
Smooth, carefully calculated movements, each one steady and purposefully done to maintain proper distance from his target should they decide to attack. He spoke carefully as well, never speaking too long that he would run out of breath and be forced to break his calm and steady breathing. Though his hands were interlocked behind him, his feet were carefully positioned with each step to allow him to evade any attack from the known threat, perhaps even from surprise attacks.
If there had been any doubt in his mind before, his movements now erased them. This man was incredibly dangerous. Far more than the blonde who had wrecked his bar. Possibly even more dangerous than that sadist of a girl who was almost always at Roman's side. And if he was just the bodyguard, there was no telling whether the woman Thantos worked for was someone who needed protecting, or someone who was powerful enough to command him.
"Now then, let's try this again." Thantos returned to his position in front of Junior, standing exactly where he had been standing before he dropped his façade. But his demeanor remained the same, cold and almost aloof. "The boss gave you an additional job. What do you say? Will you take it?"
Junior swallowed the lump in his throat along with any retorts he might have considered throwing out. Now was definitely not the time for that. "Yeah, I'll take it," he said with a resigned growl. "How soon does she want it?"
Thantos hummed in thought. "Could use a little more respect but considering where we were earlier I suppose it's an improvement." A small, cold grin made its way to his face as he noticed Junior tense up at the jab. "For the first, let her know immediately as soon as you find something. She'll either send me to pick it up or we'll both come by to discuss it. For the bases and personnel, throw it in with the other information she requested."
"Fine. Anything else?"
"Just one last thing," said Thantos, placing his hands in his jacket pockets. And just like that, the deadly air surrounding him disappeared as though it was never there. The cocky grin returned to his face and his movements became carefree once more with that underlying layer of alertness. "Try to remember this little lesson next time we come by," he said cheerily, turning around and walking towards the door.
Then, just as he got to the exit, he turned around and faced Junior with a grin. But his grin had lost all its cheer and Junior froze as the man's bloodthirsty nature hit him once again. "It'll save you a whole lot of trouble in the future."
It wasn't until Miltia and Melanie came up to him five minutes later that he recovered from his shock.
"Now then, is there anything else we need to discuss before we end today's meeting?"
Sitting in front of Ozpin's desk were all of the school's teachers. Every week, they held a meeting to discuss how the students were doing. As it was only the beginning of the school year, they mostly relayed how the first-years behaved in their respective classes. News regarding second-years and above were often just small updates such as whether someone's behavior was noticeably different from last year. Glynda usually had the most to share as the teacher in charge of the first-years' Combat class. This time, however, there was a far bigger issue that was circulating the school.
"Yeah, I've got something."
The speaker was a tall, fairly muscular man with short red hair and a full beard. On top of his head were a pair of wolf ears covered with fur just as red as his hair. Combined with piercing, amber eyes, and sharp, angular features, the man's calm face was known to be just as fearsome as the wolves whose traits he shared when he was enraged. He was wearing a dark blue tunic that was unbuttoned, a black sleeveless shirt underneath, a thick, white cloth belt around his waist, and loose black pants tucked into dark brown combat boots. This man was Ruadh Giollah, one of Beacon Academy's teachers.
"Are they true?" asked the woman sitting beside him, bringing up the same topic he was about to. "The rumors about students without Aura."
Rosalyn Peach was a petite woman, easily the smallest in the room and perhaps even one of the smallest people in the entire academy, students included. Her shoulder-length hair was pale pink, like the rose she was named after, and her eyes a deep violet in coloration. She wore a simple, but fairly oversized, white dress that reached down to her ankles, with short, loose fitting sleeves. The modesty of her chest, which would have been highly exposed due to the loose neckline of the dress, was protected by a loose, white sleeveless shirt. Few knew the reason why she wore such loose-fitting clothes and those who knew kept it to themselves.
To her right, a fairly tall but portly man laughed, his belly rising with each syllable. "Ohoho, yes, do tell Headmaster. These children must be quite the aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses to be able to accomplish the feats we've heard."
Peter Port, an older, middle-aged man with short, neatly combed gray hair and an equally gray moustache. He wore a burgundy with gold-colored buttons and trimmings that somewhat hid his portly form, and black pants tucked into olive-colored boots.
"Indeed," began the man to Peter's right as he took a long sip from his coffee mug. "While it is hardly impossible, it is quite interesting that we would have not one but eight children capable of such feats. Not to mention that one of them is five years younger than his peers." The man sitting beside Peter spoke so quickly that most people would still be trying to make sense of his first few words by the time he finished speaking.
Bartholomew Oobleck, often shortened to Bart or Barty, was a younger man with messy, swept-back green hair and dark brown eyes covered by a pair of round spectacles. His white, long-sleeved button-up shirt was only partially tucked into dark green pants and a yellow necktie loosely hung around an upturned collar. Nobody knew for certain if he just didn't care for his appearance, or if his swift movements resulted in this, so much that he had gotten tired of fixing himself up every time.
"You know, we probably would have gotten an answer already if not everyone decided to speak up. Or do answers come faster the more people ask?"
The fifth and last person in line was Khloe Fair, a slim, statuesque woman with lavender-colored hair in a waist-length braid, striking blue eyes, and a sardonic grin on her face. Her clothing consisted solely of a black, leather bustier with several rows of silver studs that accentuated what little curves she had, and black, tight-fitting denim jeans tucked into heavy, black boots. In a sheath strapped to the outer side of each boot was a combat knife and on each thigh was an empty gun holster.
The five of them, alongside Glynda and Ozpin, made up Beacon Academy's main teaching staff.
"Rather than answer, perhaps you should see for yourself," Ozpin responded with a barely concealed grin. He nodded to Glynda, standing beside his desk as always, who returned the nod and tapped on her Scroll.
Within seconds, the five teachers reached for their Scrolls when they heard the familiar tune of a message being received. Opening the message, they found several video files, each one labeled by a name. Specifically, the names of the students said to not have an awakened Aura. Soon, the sounds of combat could be heard coming from the five Scrolls as its owners watched each of the eight videos that Glynda had forwarded to them.
Glynda and Ozpin, the latter having watched the recordings the day before after Glynda had compiled them all, watched the various expressions flit about the five teachers' faces. Peter was the easiest to read as his face showed pure excitement, most likely at the idea that people without an active Aura could fight on par with trainees, perhaps even actual Huntsmen. Bart was completely intrigued and enthralled. As a man who valued knowledge, anything new and unusual was bound to catch his interest.
Ruadh was as calm as ever but the way his eyes were focused on every movement the members of SEES made was quite telling to them. Moreover, the fact that he had not dismissed them outright meant he had acknowledged their skills to a degree. Rosalyn, despite already knowing the outcome due to the rumors, looked worried as she watched the fight due to the knowledge that one participant in each fight was fighting without Aura. Khloe looked just as excited and intrigued as both Peter and Bart, but her eyes told of her own worries. Worries that surpassed Rosalyn's own.
Once they had all finished watching the collection of recordings, Ozpin addressed them once more. "As you can see and as Glynda can personally attest to, the rumors are indeed true. This year, we have eight skilled students without Aura. Moreover, they came from the same place and are actually close friends with one another."
"Amazing! Simply amazing!" Bart exclaimed in his usual, hurried manner, pausing just long enough to take another sip of his coffee. "Why, I don't think I've ever seen so many skilled first-years in one class. Not to mention we have Mistral's four-time champion in that same class as well. I almost can't imagine how this group will turn out."
Peter gave another of his full-bellied laughs. "Agreed. Despite their handicaps they emerged victorious against what one would assume was a superior foe. And to defeat them without receiving a single scratch in return, quite an astounding feat."
"Yes but…" Rosalyn spoke then paused, looking at her fellow teachers. "Am I the only one who noticed?"
"You mean the way they fought?" asked Ruadh. Rosalyn nodded, and all of a sudden the cheer left Peter's and Bart's faces. Looking at them now, no one would have thought they were the same two people who were lauding the eight Aura-less students just seconds ago. "As amazing as it was, I doubt any of us didn't notice."
The five of them faced forward, answer-seeking eyes meeting the Headmaster's and the Deputy Headmistress's.
"And what was it that you noticed?" asked the gray-haired Headmaster. Everyone in the room knew that Ozpin knew what they saw in the video that had gotten their attention and that there was no need to ask. But, at heart, he was still a teacher. He gave hints and guides, but he very rarely told people the answer. It was just his way of teaching people to think for themselves, to try and seek out their own answer before asking somebody else for the answer. In this case, he wanted to see what answer they had come up with before giving them his.
"Their fighting styles," answered Khloe, already used to the Headmaster's little games like all the others. It was a bit tiresome at times, but they could understand why he did it. As long as it wasn't hurting or endangering anyone, they were willing to waste a bit of time to play the teacher-student game. "Despite using different weapons, their styles are almost identical at its core."
"In what way?"
This time, it was the diminutive Rosalyn who answered. "They fought defensively and deceptively. They let their opponents make the first move to gauge their abilities while also hiding their true abilities. Some switched to offense now and then, but none of their early attacks were truly committed to winning. It was like they just wanted to be seen attacking."
"Why would they do that?"
"To give their opponents a false measure of strength," said Bart, eyes closed as he ran through a mental image of the fights he had just witnessed. "The first fight to occur, with the Sanada boy, ended almost as soon as he began to attack. He remained on the defensive the entire fight and only attacked when he knew enough about his opponent to win. Afterwards, people would be wary of a similar trick. So the others made token attacks to make their opponents think that they have a measure of their abilities. But when the time came, they always struck with strength and speed greater than what they previously showed."
"The only exception," he continued after another sip of his coffee, "Was Ms. Arisato, who struck so swiftly and decisively that their opponent did not have a chance to attack even once before their Aura was brought down to red levels."
"They seem quite capable then. So why does this worry you?"
Rather than answer his question, Peter turned to the Deputy Headmistress. "My dear, I believe that you tested the physical limits of all the first-years, correct? How did those eight students fare in comparison to their peers?" The other four teachers turned to Glynda with expectant looks.
Without even having to look up the data, the tall blonde answered Peter's query. "Seven out of eight of them ranked at the bottom of the class in nearly every aspect. Only Mr. Sanada and Ms. Kirijo showed slightly higher limits than the others but they were still physically inferior to nearly the entire class. Only Ms. Arisato ranked higher, her overall performance placing her within the top ten students of the class in terms of physical capability."
Their reaction said it all. Glynda's words had proven their expectations true. And that lack of physical ability was the source of their worries.
"Oz," began Ruadh, one of two people in the room who were older than Ozpin. His face was still calm, but his eyes showed the depths of his worry. "I rarely question your decisions but this time I'm sure you can understand. Surely you knew of their shortcomings before their entry. Why would you accept such students into Beacon? Why did you even allow them to take the initiation in the first place?"
"To be fair, I was aware of this no more than you were," Ozpin said casually. In turn, the five teachers before him reacted with varying levels of shock at his admission. He then explained the circumstances behind SEES and their arrival at Beacon, making sure to leave out two things, the fact that Aigis was an android, and their Semblance and the nature behind its awakening. He did, after all, promise SEES not to reveal certain things without their permission.
Although he did mention, for the sake of reassurance, that SEES did possess a Semblance, just that the awakening of their Semblance was so vastly different that the success rate was low and that it bypassed the prerequisite of unlocking one's Aura first.
Having so few teachers made things difficult but, he thought, not many who became Huntsmen and Huntresses had the proper mindset and attitude to deal with schoolchildren on a daily basis, never mind teaching them properly. But for once, Ozpin was grateful that only he and Glynda actively monitored the entirety of the Initiation. In this case, it was a bit of a blessing. While the two of them monitored the Initiation, the others were busy patrolling the borders of the Initiation area, ensuring that none of the more powerful Grimm would enter while the initiates were inside.
The Giant Nevermore was unexpected. How they missed it during their final sweep the day before baffled them all, but there was little to be done about it once they saw it. To interfere then would invalidate the efforts of the initiates since he, himself, told the students that they would not interfere. All they could do was pray that the students escaped or, somehow, fought it off.
That and the hundreds of Grimm that had chased after SEES, were the reasons why Ozpin ordered two of the upper-year teams patrolling nearby to move closer to the temple ruins. He was willing to place the students in danger to test both their ability and resolve. He was not, however, willing to let them face certain death by allowing them to fight such an overwhelming number of Grimm all by themselves. But in the end, SEES's Personas made their help and worries unnecessary.
So in the end, the Personas were known only to Ozpin, Glynda, and the two teams he had on stand-by, whom he had already ordered to remain silent on the matter. All that the other teachers would know, for the moment anyway, was that SEES was capable enough to make up for their lack of Aura and physical ability. He would have to speak to Mitsuru at some point about revealing more to the other teachers.
The end of his explanation left the five teachers with speculative looks, though Ozpin caught a hint of doubt appear on more than one face during some points of his story. "Still," began Ruadh, raising his ambers eyes to meet Ozpin's spectacled ones. "They may be capable enough against the Grimm but are you sure about pitting them against their classmates? They might have won their first fights but it was clear that their classmates not only underestimated them, but that first fight clearly shook them all up to the point that some even overestimated them and were too cautious."
"The way that kid took advantage of it was pretty well done too," added Khloe, a clear look of approval on her face. "They underestimated him since he was young and his opponent, that Mercier girl, also held back, probably thinking he had relied on his partner to get through the Initiation. But when the kid switched to offense, he was quick and relentless. She realized she had underestimated him but overcompensated and ended up overestimating him instead, focusing solely on defense. Had she remained calm, she would have been able to sneak in more than a couple of attacks, enough to get that one hit in to beat him. Instead she panicked and he drained her Aura enough to win. Still, Ruadh's right that a tactic like that won't work a second time."
"I do worry about that girl though," Peter began, stroking his moustache. At the questioning looks he received – more than half of SEES were female after all – he added, "That small one with the arm guards that opened into shields. Ms.… Yamagishi, I believe." Receiving looks of understanding and agreement, he voiced his own concern. "Clearly her abilities lie in her defenses. Even though her opponent was far superior in terms of capability, she read his movements and defended against all of them easily, slowly wearing down his Aura with the firearm built into her shields. Against people she is certainly capable enough, but against the Grimm I cannot help but be concerned."
The Headmaster accepted their concerns. They were honest and made with the students' well-being at heart. All that prevented them from fully trusting the students' abilities was their lack of knowledge of SEES's Personas, something he hoped to rectify soon. He then turned to Rosalyn and Bart. "Do either of you have anything to add?"
Bart shook his head, the main concerns covered by both Ruadh and Khloe, but Rosalyn nodded. "Yes. You mentioned that their people had a different method for awakening one's Semblance, one that bypassed the unlocking of one's Aura. Now that they are here, wouldn't it have been prudent to unlock their Aura? I'm honestly surprised that you haven't yet, after learning that they did not have an active Aura."
"I considered that, yes," Ozpin responded, taking a sip from his own coffee mug. "However, Ms. Kirijo and I agreed to test the possibility at a later time." He held up a hand when Rosalyn made to speak, no doubt concerned about the need to wait. "There are… other factors at play that need to be considered, factors that she requested remain confidential for the moment. I will, however, speak to her soon about allowing me to inform the rest of you, as well as key members of our infirmary, of these things."
"And are these secrets of theirs so important that you would agree to keep them even from us?"
It was a well-known fact that Ozpin was fond of bending the rules and skirting the very edges of what society found acceptable behavior. At times his behavior was done openly, often drawing attention from the Vale Council or other important figures in society. Other times, however, he kept his dealings completely hidden, never once revealing which secrets he had shared and with whom. So for him to keep a secret shared to him by several teenagers was enough to let them know that those secrets were dangerous on some level. The question now is, just how dangerous those secrets were and for whom.
"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "For now, allow me to speak with Ms. Kirijo about it. Until then, I ask that you trust my decision. As to their continued attendance in Glynda's class, they were well aware of the risks when they chose to enter Beacon. Even after we questioned them, they were resolute in their desire to attend the school and even the Combat classes without any special treatment. As you get to know them in class, perhaps you'll come to see why I did not exercise my right to deny them entry."
"I'll take your word for it," replied Bart. "Their behavior in their matches certainly did not coincide with the behavior they displayed in my class so I suppose I'll give them the benefit of the doubt."
That sent alarms ringing through Ozpin and Glynda's heads. They glanced at one another and, after confirming that the other did not know what the green-haired teacher was talking about, faced forward once again. "What do you mean?" asked Glynda. "What sort of behavior did they display in your class? None of them gave me the impression that they would cause trouble or anything of the sort."
"Ah, and that is precisely the problem." Bart took another sip from his mug, emptying it. "If anything, revealing themselves as troublemakers would have at least given me a measure of their personalities." He spoke even as he retrieved his thermos and refilled his mug with coffee so thick it may as well have been sludge. Beside him, Rosalyn was leaning away from the mysterious substance. "But in my class, all but one were quite listless, clearly unable to focus. Some did an admirable job of hiding it or forcing themselves to pay attention, yet they were clearly unable to remain focused for too long. The red-haired girl was focused for a while, but seemed to be distracted by her partner's lack of focus."
"Do you mean Ms. Kirijo?"
Bart shook his head, putting away his thermos once more as he took a sip from his mug, ignorant of Rosalyn's cringe as he did so. "The girl with the axe. Ms… Yoshino, I think." Ignoring Glynda's slightly shocked expression, Bart continued one. "I noticed her paying attention for the first half-hour but as the class went on she spent more time keeping an eye on her partner and growing just as distracted."
"That is indeed troubling," said Ozpin. "Has anyone else noticed this behavior?" He hid his surprise as Peter, Ruadh, and Rosalyn all nodded. He raised his arms onto his desk and interlaced his fingers, resting the bridge of his nose on his hands with his eyes shut as though in prayer. "As Glynda has said, none of them gave any indication of being poor students. Mr. Iori seemed quite playful and may very well be a student who might have difficulty focusing in class, but the fact that all of them were unfocused means that something has happened that affected them all."
He spent a few more moments in thought, thinking back all the way to the previous week. After his meeting with SEES the day of the Initiation, nothing of note occurred that involved the group. His last meeting with Mitsuru, Friday of last week if he wasn't mistaken, was brief and unexpected. The two of them crossed paths as he was leaving Beacon Tower to check on the various facilities on campus. They had exchanged pleasantries and Mitsuru returned the Scroll he had lent them. She hadn't seemed different at that time.
Since they had only begun behaving as such this past week, it meant that whatever happened occurred between last Friday afternoon, and Monday morning. But try as he might, nothing of note came to mind. Part of him wanted to investigate the matter, to see what had so deeply affected a group that had not hesitated to rush headlong against a horde or Grimm. Another part of him argued that their actions had not affected anyone else, meaning he had no reason as Headmaster to invade their privacy.
In the end, the latter half won. He would just have to believe that whatever was troubling them was something they could resolve in time. As long as their academic performance did not suffer and their troubles did not affect other students negatively he would leave them to it. Decision made, he relayed his thoughts to his staff, including his reasoning behind the decision.
Glynda clearly did not like it but she agreed, nonetheless, that they could not invade a student's privacy on such shaky grounds. The others were more ambivalent about it, having had no prior interaction with the students involved.
As Ozpin concluded the meeting, nobody noticed the way Glynda's brows furrowed in thought. They may not be allowed to investigate, but nothing in the rules prevented a teacher from expressing concern. All she needed was a proper setting to ensure nobody suspected her of setting it up. Ozpin would be suspicious, or probably even realize it, if he found out but that was fine with her. He bent the rules often enough that he had no room to complain if someone else did the same.
Glynda exited Ozpin's office alongside her fellow teachers. As they descended the tower, only one thought remained in her head. Who would be the best to approach and when?
Junpei sighed and collapsed onto his bed, one arm raised up to cover his face. Earlier, he had taken his team to try out the training rooms since today was the first weekend that it was open. Unfortunately, he was far too distracted to even put up a noteworthy amount of effort into it. Even Jaune's strangely familiar way of fighting, as ineffective as it was, had beaten him due to his inability to concentrate for more than a minute. He hadn't even been able to appreciate the technology of the room as he normally would have.
So, admitting to himself and to his team that he was useless the way he was, he returned his katana to his rocket locker – something that he still found useless since to him, barring unexpected emergencies, needing to call your weapon to you was like going into Tartarus without an Evoker or even a Persona – and returned to the dorm. Chidori, Jaune and Pyrrha had attempted to accompany him back but he made it an order as team leader for the trio to continue training. Just because he was doing poorly didn't mean he had to drag them down after all.
"Wonder what you'd do if you were here?" Junpei asked the empty room. After a heartbeat, a bitter chuckle escaped his lips. "Stupid question. If you were here this wouldn't be happening, would it?" He sighed again as thoughts about SEES's field leader came to the forefront of his mind. "But even if you were in our shoes, you'd just move on wouldn't you? Nothing ever kept you down for long after all. Not even finding out about Ryoji-kun and Nyx."
He wasn't sure how long he lay there, just thinking about the past. His thoughts had ran through his junior high school years all the way up to the trip to Yakushima so it must have been quite a while. He rose up to a sitting position, his body tired from staying in the same position for so long. As he stretched his entire body, feeling a few joints popping and his muscles relaxing, his eyes caught sight of something on his study desk.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." He rose from the bed and walked to his desk, looking down on his old laptop.
When SEES left the Iwatodai dorm, they had taken everything they owned with them, knowing that it was highly unlikely they would ever return. It hadn't taken long to discover that their laptops and cellphones were useless now considering the technological gap between Earth as they knew it, and Remnant.
But when Aigis revealed that she and Fuuka had managed to at least transfer the data from Minato's MP3 player to Aigis's scroll, he thought that perhaps they could do the same for his laptop. Or at least, whatever could be transferred to Remnant's equivalent of their laptops. He hadn't seen any yet so there was a possibility that the larger Scrolls were both tablet and laptop for the people of Remnant. Unfortunately, that same night's events put that idea on hold.
Seeing his laptop now, just as he was thinking of the past, brought another idea into his head. He knew the laptop would still work even after sitting unused for thousands of years. Yukari, Fuuka, and Mitsuru had been able to use theirs during the seven-month training period after all. But he couldn't remember if he had charged it all the way that night they left to fight Nyx. It might last several hours or only just one. So did he still want to use it?
His body answered for him as he found himself sitting down at his desk, one hand already flipping open the laptop while the other pushed the power button. It probably wasn't the best idea. That much he could admit to himself. But would it really be that bad? He leaned back against the chair, allowing his head to hang over the backrest so that he was looking upwards towards the shelf above the table. He was already drowning in the memories of the past so adding a lake's worth of water to an ocean would hardly make a difference. What harm could looking at old photos and videos do? Drown him even more?
In no time at all, the laptop had booted up and the desktop was displayed. The change from a mostly black screen to a blue one caught his attention. He shut his eyes, and took a slow, deep breath. He would do this. If not now, then it would keep tempting him until he did. Might as well get it over with. Maybe after this he'd feel better and actually be able to focus for once.
All at once, he opened his eyes, lowered his gaze to the screen, and let out the breath he had taken. Only to freeze the moment his eyes saw the screen. "What the…" It took him a moment to figure out what he was staring at. And when he did, his expression shifted from confusion to shock. "No way," he breathed out, unable to believe what he was seeing. "This is…"
When the rest of JACN returned to their room, they found Junpei pacing around the room, mumbling and looking deeply worried about something. As soon as he saw them, however, he stopped then rushed over to the trio.
"Sorry you two," he said hurriedly to Jaune and Pyrrha, his hand latching onto Chidori's wrist. "I need to talk to Chidori real quick. We'll be back in a while."
Before either one of them could get a single word in, Junpei was already pulling Chidori out of the room, speaking rapidly in a language they couldn't understand. They barely caught the look of surprise on Chidori's face as they turned into the hallway and left their sight. The couple's voices carried into the room for a moment longer before they could no longer hear them.
As they contemplated going after them, despite Junpei's unspoken request for privacy, neither noticed the open, but switched off, laptop on Junpei's desk with a small puddle of liquid right in front of it.
September 21, XX13
Monday morning brought with it a new school week, which of course included moans and groans as students struggled to rise from their beds after a restful weekend. Some, however, had been awake even before the sun had fully risen above the horizon.
A lone female figure walked towards the school building, the rising sun shining down upon her from her left as she crossed the distance between the dorms and the school. Many students would consider such a thing inconceivable. More so since it was still ten minutes to six AM, more than three hours before the first class of the day. No, that was somewhat incorrect. Rather, it was three hours before the first regular class for today marked the beginning of their elective classes.
The girl wore Beacon Academy's uniform, a white dress shirt with a thin ribbon tie, a dark tan vest, a dark brown jacket with lighter brown lining, and a plaid skirt. Completing her outfit were thigh high socks, brown boots that were more casual than the usual pair she wore, and plain white gloves on her hands.
Ahead of her, she could see a few other students entering the school's main building, no doubt headed for the same class. She wondered briefly if she would know anyone in the class. She knew that no one on her team had taken the same electives as her but she had forgotten to ask if someone else from one of the other teams did. Just as she was contemplating that, she heard someone behind her speak.
"Is that you Aigis?" The blonde android stopped and turned on around, catching sight of a familiar head of black hair with a black bow. "I thought it was you. I forgot that you were taking Field Medicine too." Aigis nodded in response as Blake caught up. Together, the two of them resumed their trek to the assigned classroom. "Still, it's surprising. I'm guessing it's for your team rather than for yourself since… you're…"
Catching the way Blake trailed off, Aigis said, "It is."
"I see."
An uncomfortable silence descended on the black and yellow pair as they entered the building. Although, Blake felt that she was the only one feeling uncomfortable. Glancing at Aigis out of the corner of her eye, Blake could see the same distracted look on her face that she and the other members of SEES had on the past week.
She hesitated for a brief moment before mustering up the courage to ask, "Are… Are you alright?"
Despite the vagueness of her question, it was easy enough to understand exactly what she was concerned about. "I am well enough, thank you."
'At least she didn't say 'I'm fine',' thought Blake.
It was strange to the feline faunus just how close SEES had become to their respective teammates, herself included. A few had even forged friendships across teams as a result of how close their four teams were. And yet, barely a week after they first met, she could already see the newly formed bonds beginning to strain under the burden on SEES's shoulders.
And what a burden it was.
She had always thought that SEES had seemed too well adjusted to the loss of their home. True, there was some sadness and longing when they spoke, but their expressions had lacked one crucial detail. One detail that she had seen on the faces of many members of the White Fang. And it was that same expression that had appeared on their faces that one night a little over a week ago.
Pain.
In every conversation when their home was brought up, mostly times when she and Yang would speak to Yukari, and sometimes Mitsuru, about Japan, neither one ever showed even a shred of pain. Sadness, longing, fondness, all signs that they miss their home. Homesickness. That was what it seemed like to Blake whenever they conversed, whenever their home was a point of conversation, even tangentially.
But pain? The one constant of a loss as significant as that? Never. It was as though they felt nothing for the destruction of their home. 'That's just it, isn't it?' she thought, glancing at Aigis's far off expression once again. 'They felt no pain because they had yet to truly accept that it had happened. They either denied the reality of the situation, or locked up their feelings as deep as they could bury it. But then that song drew out their feelings, their memories, and forced them to acknowledge reality.'
Had they done it on purpose? Had they been trying to run away from reality, hoping that by starting a new life they could bury all the pain and forget it? Or had they simply not realized that they had done so?
They said so themselves. The day after the tragedy was spent figuring out how they had survived. The day after that, the woman named Elizabeth began training them and would do so for the next seven months. Alongside that training was their studies into the English language and the world of Remnant as a whole.
Had they poured all their energy into their training and studies in an effort to forget? Or did they just move on so quickly that they had forgotten to resolve the past?
Blake shook her head, clearing her mind of thoughts that would only serve to distract her from the present. Regardless of how it happened, it did. And now SEES was, from Blake's point of view, barely managing to scrape by each day without incident. Their Combat class would not be a problem if they could switch into combat mode as easily as they have.
Today, however, would be the start of a more difficult time. Today, they would move on from reviewing lessons that were covered in the basic combat schools and move on to lessons tailored specifically towards those aspiring to be Huntsmen.
Attending lessons and paying attention to those lessons while ensuring their less attentive teammates listened to lessons they most likely have yet to study was going to be difficult. Tutoring could only help so much, especially if they were just as unfocused. Homework was another matter entirely.
And then, there were the electives like the one they were headed to now. As much as she and the others were willing to help, they wouldn't – couldn't – always be there to help. She had taken Field Medicine, and Stealth and Reconnaissance. She knew that the only other person in their group to take Stealth & Recon was Ren and, asides from Aigis, she wasn't aware of anyone else taking Field Medicine.
After all, as close as they all were they didn't exactly spend every moment together. Especially during the week before class started. With new bank accounts and plenty of necessities, most of them had spent quite a lot of time separated from the rest to obtain what they needed as well as to explore Vale further. Thus, they had not really though to discuss their choice of electives with one another beyond those of their teammates'. Though she did piece it all together through various conversations during their first week of classes.
She knew that Yukari had taken the Marksmanship and Ranged Combat class while Mitsuru had taken Combat Tactics and Dust Manipulation. It's true that she wouldn't be able to use Dust since Aura was the spark that lit the fuse, but she had spoken to Professor Goodwitch about it and received permission to attend simply to learn more about Dust, though she would still have to study if she wanted to pass the class's written exam.
Yang had taken Unarmed Combat and had mentioned sharing the class with Ren and, of course, Akihiko. Surprisingly, she mentioned that Fuuka had also signed up for that class as did Ken. Blake had been with Yang when she had spoken to Ruby, who was accompanied by Weiss, about their own decisions.
Ruby had taken Marksmanship and Advanced Weapons Designing. The later was a bit of a surprise since taking an advanced class meant having to approach Professor Goodwitch and taking the final exam of the basic class to prove they were qualified for it. Then again, Ruby was a weapons nut. And bringing that up in front of the girl brought a pout to the girl's face that had Blake turning away to resist.
Weiss had taken Leadership and Advanced Dust Manipulation. Neither was really all that surprising.
Through Ren, she learned that Nora signed up for the Demolitions class. That had worried Blake for all of fifteen seconds, as that was how long it took Ren to calm her down and explain that Nora was already fairly adept at creating explosives. "Who do you think makes those grenades of hers?" he had asked her at the end of his explanation. In hindsight, cylindrical grenades marked with a pink heart, and exploding in pink should have been clue enough that they were custom-made and not store-bought.
Jaune mentioned at one point that he wanted to focus on the five main classes first since he had never been the best student. His partner, Pyrrha, had taken the Combat Tactics class and had briefly considered Marksmanship but decided otherwise at the last minute.
With all the Aura-users accounted for, that simply left SEES. It was Mitsuru who provided the final pieces of information.
Junpei would be joining Mitsuru and Pyrrha in the Combat Tactics class along with Akihiko. And having decided to take his role as leader seriously, Junpei had also joined the Leadership class since he had never led anyone before, never mind a combat team.
Aigis had shared that sentiment and joined that class as well. Nobody was sure what Chidori picked. The last thing Mitsuru knew on that end was that she was still undecided on the day of the deadline so she may or may not have picked one at the last minute.
And finally, Fuuka had also signed up for Weapons Designing in addition to Unarmed Combat.
All in all, most members of SEES were fortunate to have someone there to make sure nothing happened. The only unfortunate ones were Fuuka, who was the only one to take Weapons Designing – though she did have Ruby to help her out since Ruby was qualified for the advanced class – and Aigis and Junpei, who were with Weiss in the Leadership class. Try as she might, Blake could not imagine Weiss being sympathetic enough to help them out if they fell behind.
Blake recalled Akihiko's words back when they had shown concern for SEES, specifically the amount of time they needed to help hold SEES together. 'It's still about two weeks away though. That's still ten days of classes, twelve for those with electives on Saturdays.' She sent Aigis a worried look as she pushed open the door to the designated classroom. 'Hopefully we can last that long.'
Inside the classroom, they found several dozen students of varying ages already seated and waiting for whoever the assigned professor was. At first glance, there were at least three other first-years in the room. Looking around for a vacant spot, Blake blinked when she found a familiar head of red hair. The owner of said red hair was already waving them over, a small, near unnoticeable smile edging up the corner of her lips.
Both Aigis and Blake made their way over to Chidori, the former taking the spot beside the normally white-clad girl. Even now, Blake couldn't help but look over Chidori as she greeted her. The girl who had only ever worn that white dress of hers looked so different in her school uniform. Along with how she had taken to styling her hair differently every few days – right now it was tied into a ponytail with a white ribbon just below the nape of her neck – many of them found themselves giving Chidori seconds looks when they met up.
She had said something along the lines of wanting to try out something new since she rarely deviated from the norm in the past. Regardless of the reason, it certainly made her look more… normal. So much so that her appearance actually looked strange in their eyes.
"I'm surprised to see you here," Blake admitted once the greetings were passed around. "I didn't really take you to be someone interested in Field Medicine."
"I'm not." Chidori's own admission surprised the faunus, her surprise causing her bow to twitch. Hopefully nobody saw that. "But it's something our team will need so I decided to join."
"What do you mean? Technically every team needs a medic or someone capable of first-aid but it doesn't mean someone has to force themselves to come to a class they don't want to be in."
"I never said I didn't want to be here," explained Chidori, a slight frown on her face. "Just that I'm not interested." Discreetly glancing at those around them, she considered her next words carefully. "Among our four teams, JACN is the only team without someone capable in terms of healing. While our methods are… unconventional, Aigis, Mitsuru, Yukari, Ken, and Akihiko are more than capable of taking care of various injuries."
It took a moment for Blake to understand what the redhead meant by unconventional, but the moment she did her eyes slowly opened in surprise along with her mouth. 'Their Personas can heal?!' Blake resisted the urge to slam her head against the desk. Repeatedly. Powerful physical attacks, elemental attacks, a timed Aura-like ability, and now healing? 'Is there anything their Personas can't do? What next? Instant death?'
Blake was saved from the growing urge to introduce her head to the table when the door opened and admitted a brown-haired woman wearing a white lab coat, most likely their teacher, into the room. Beneath the lab coat she wore a black dress shirt and black slacks. "Good morning everyone."
"Good morning Doctor Blackthorne," responded about half of the class, all of whom were second through fourth-year students. None of the first years responded, having yet to meet the woman standing in front of them.
"First things first." The woman walked to the center of the room to allow everyone to see her clearly. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Doctor Flora Blackthorn. I work primarily in Beacon's infirmary but also teach the Field Medicine class once every two or three years. Now then, we won't be doing much today but I expect everyone to come to the next class prepared. Since we only meet twice a week for two hours each class we will only spend, at most, fifteen minutes going over the readings, which you should all receive by the end of the day along with a rough timeline of which topics you will need to familiarize yourself with by a given date."
She glanced around the room, especially towards those she knew were first-years, carefully taking in their various expressions and reactions. Some were already looking more than a little uncertain about their decision to take the class. She made a mental note of their faces for later. "This elective is one that I take seriously whenever I am chosen to teach it since how capable you are at this may very well determine the fate of your teammates, or even civilians, during your missions. Sometimes even being able to properly diagnose an injury could determine whether that person will survive until you can get them to someone more capable or get someone to them in some cases."
A few more uncertain faces appeared around the class but about half of them looked more than ready to tackle such a huge responsibility. "Now then, for today we will begin with introductions, grouping you all into four, or perhaps just three, for future lessons, as well as going over what you can expect from this class and how it will be conducted. Now then, let's start with the first row." Doctor Blackthorn pointed to a second-year sitting at the end of the row. "Name, year, and whatever else you want to share."
"Gracia Jiong," began the black-haired, bespectacled girl. "Second-year student. Member of Team LGTG (Lightning), and…"
September 24, XX13
It was three days later that the first major incident surrounding SEES occurred. At least, if one didn't count the initiation and their breakdown. The entire group of sixteen were eating lunch while occupying a single area within the dining hall as they usually did. The SEES half of the group was, as usual, unnaturally quiet. To make up for it, Nora had decided to share with them stories of hers and Ren's various exploits in the past.
"It was the middle of the night," she began, speaking slowly and dramatically.
Beside her, Ren threw in a comment of his own, speaking blandly as he blew on his mug of tea. "It's was day."
But Nora continued on, ignoring Ren's comment-slash-correction. "There we were, surrounded by Ursai." Yang, sitting directly opposite Nora and leaning forward with her arms on the table, leaned in closer, eyes going wide as she listened to Nora's tale.
"Beowolves."
Nora suddenly shot to her feet, hands on the table. "Dozens of them!" Her sudden and loud exclamation caused Ruby to jump, curled hands rising up to her mouth as she gasped while Yang leaned back and away from Nora.
"Two of them." Ren took a sip of his tea.
"But they were no match," the orange-haired girl proclaimed proudly, crossing her arms as she sat back down. "And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs."
Ren sighed as he lowered his mug from his lips. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
"That was a dream?" Ruby half-exclaimed, half-questioned, before slumping down. "Aw man, that sounded so cool too."
"Rubes, you do realize that they couldn't have skinned those Ursa, right?" asked Yang, ignoring the fact that she had been just as enraptured by the tale up until that little detail was revealed.
Ruby just turned away, knowing that Yang would just continue teasing her if she gave in. Looking away, however, meant seeing Fuuka, Aigis, and their dejected forms. Fuuka's movements were mechanical as she ate, ironic considering Aigis was the android. Aigis, meanwhile, was deep in thought as she always was. But what was beginning to scare Ruby was the utter lack of emotion in Aigis's eyes and how the sight was becoming more and more frequent as the days passed.
She had seen it for the first time two days ago. Aigis was, rather than lying on her bed, sitting on the reclining chair of her maintenance station. When Ruby and Fuuka went to wake her for class, they were greeted by a completely blank and emotionless face. It only lasted a few seconds before Aigis's eyes lit up with emotion. Sadness and pain, but emotion nonetheless.
Ruby had her suspicions as to what had happened but Fuuka's words the week before were still running through her head. 'Aigis could shut off her emotional systems but she hasn't, not even once.' Ruby could understand, to a degree, why Aigis would refuse to take the easy way out. Even if she shut off her emotional systems, those feelings would still be there. She simply wouldn't be able to comprehend or display them. And the moment those systems were reactivated, those same emotions would resurface.
'Much like everyone else,' she mused, thinking back to the time when her mother had disappeared from their lives. She had been too young to properly understand what it meant when her mother never returned home one day. Yang and her father, however, were different.
Both had shut down for a time. One was unable to come to terms that he had lost not one, but two women that he had loved. The other was simply too young to know how to process her feelings. The fact that her father was in no condition to help her certainly didn't make things any better.
Yang once told her that she had pushed those feelings of depression aside when she realized that the younger Ruby needed someone to be there for her. Their father had not recovered from the loss, and their Uncle was neither a skilled nor responsible caretaker for children. And so Yang, despite only being two years older than Ruby, had done her best to take care of her younger sibling.
Later, when Taiyang Xaio Long had managed to piece enough of himself together to care for them again, all of Yang's suppressed emotions had come rushing out as she finally allowed herself to stop forcing them down. Sadness at the loss of Summer from their lives, anger at her father for essentially abandoning them, hatred towards whoever had sent her mother – Summer was the only mother she had known, after all, despite the lack of blood relations – on the mission that took her away, disappointment towards the uncle who had barely attempted to care for them before leaving for an extended 'mission', and a large host of other emotions.
While Yang had suppressed her emotions by placing priority on Ruby's well-being, constantly reminding herself that she could not afford to break down and forcing herself to function despite already going past her limits, Aigis was doing the same by manipulating her own programming. Ruby could only remember parts of Yang's emotional outburst when she had finally been released from her responsibility of taking care of Ruby and their home, but she remember how scared she had been at seeing Yang lose control of her emotions. She wondered, with curiosity and a small dose of fear, what would happen if Aigis ever lost control like that.
"Ow! That hurts."
The cry of pain followed by raucous laughter caught Ruby's attention. She, along with everyone else at the table, turned to the source and immediately frowned. A little ways down the hall, a rabbit faunus, her heritage marked by the long ears on the top of her head, was being harassed by a familiar team of first-years.
Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL, had a tight grip on one of the poor girl's ears, pulling them downwards and forcing her to bend down while also trying to balance her lunch tray in her hands without spilling the food. All the while, his entire team laughed as the other students either looked on with unease, disinterest, or amusement for a few of them.
"I told you they were real," jeered one of the boys. They recognized the boy as Russell Thrush, the same boy Akihiko had knocked out just last week.
"What a freak!" exclaimed another, earning another bout of laughter from the group.
"P-Please stop…" pleaded the girl, doing her best to keep her ears as still as possible. But Cardin's constant movements made it difficult to maintain the proper distance, causing pain to shoot through her ears with every movement.
"Atrocious," Pyrrha commented with a scowl. "I can't stand people like him."
"And he's not the only one either," added Blake, watching with sympathy as the girl tried to escape only for Cardin to tug harder on the girl's rabbit ears, eliciting another yelp of pain.
Beside her, Yang nodded, also frowning at the scene but sympathy in her eyes. "It must be hard to be a faunus."
BANG!
Everyone at the table jumped at the loud sound, followed by the clattering of various tableware as they shook, which had been caused by Yukari slamming both hands on the table and pushing herself up onto her feet. When she turned towards Team CRDL and stepped over the bench, they immediately realized her intentions.
"Yukari!"
"Yukari-chan!"
"Oi, Yukari!"
Everyone called out to the brunette in varied ways but their words failed to reach the teen's ears. From behind, they could see the tenseness of her shoulder, the anger in her gait, and her tightly clenched fists. They could almost imagine her teeth clenched just as tightly and the anger that must be burning in her eyes even as she closed the last few steps separating her from Cardin and the faunus girl.
Once she was close enough, the rage-filled teen decided to make her presence known. "Hey!"
Attention drawn by the loud yell that pierced through his and his team's laughter, Cardin looked away from his team just in time to receive a harsh slap to the face.
The entire dining hall fell silent as the ringing sound of flesh meeting flesh seemed to echo repeatedly across the entire hall. Eyes were wide in shock at the sight of a girl at least a foot shorter and less than half of Cardin's width slapping the boy with enough force to not only turn his head, but also cause him to stumble, his hands hastily slamming down onto the table to keep him from falling onto it.
Yukari might not have been the strongest amongst her friends, but she certainly had enough strength in her arms. Constantly holding up and repeatedly pulling back the bowstring of Sharanga, which was heavier than normal, both in overall weight and string tension, would certainly build up her strength over time. And that was in addition to Elizabeth's hellish training and the exercise regimen that Akihiko had put them all through to complement their various styles.
"Don't you have anything better to do than to pick on others?!" screamed Yukari, turning to the rest of Team CRDL with a smoldering glare that would have put even Glynda's to shame. "Bullies like you are the worst kinds of people!"
"Damn bitch!" Yukari quickly stepped back when her sharp eyes caught sight of movement, Cardin's sudden backhand just barely missing the skin of her nose. Just to be safe, she put just a little more distance between them, making sure to grab the rabbit faunus by the arm and carefully move her out of Cardin's reach while doing so. "What's it to you? You some kind of animal-loving freak?" His tone was a mixture of anger, disgust, and even a hint of amusement, his words causing his team to leer and laugh at Yukari. Even a few spectators did the same, much to the archer's disgust. "Why the hell do you care anyway? Those faunus are just a bunch of stupid animals on two legs."
"Just animals?" Yukari repeated with a growl. "Faunus are people just like you and me. They think and feel just like any human does. If anyone's an animal here, it's you! You, your team, and every other bully out there!" That certainly brought an end to CRDL's laughter, grins and leers turning into frowns and scowls. "You're pathetic! All people like you can do is prey on those weaker than them but then run away when someone bigger and stronger comes along. Bullies like you are nothing more than cowardly scum!"
Everyone in the hall turned to CRDL at those words, some wondering how they would react while a few were even brave enough - or perhaps foolish would be a more appropriate term - to call for them to 'put the faunus-lover in her place'. Three loud bangs, of flesh meeting wood echoed throughout the hall and Russell, Dove, and Sky imitated Yukari's earlier actions and rose from the bench. Slowly but surely, the stepped around the table and stood slightly behind Cardin in a show of support while their leader slowly approached Yukari with a deep, angry scowl on his face.
The air in the dining hall grew tense as the other students just watched the confrontation, some far too enraptured by the scene while none of the rest were willing enough or brave enough to assist. Whether they wanted Cardin to put down a faunus sympathizer, or Yukari to stand up to the racist bully, no one made a move or a single sound. Instead, they watched as Cardin stood just a few feet from Yukari, his entire demeanor reflecting his anger.
And yet, throughout all this, Yukari's eyes never left his and her determination never once wavered. Instead, she unbuttoned the flap holding her Evoker in place and drew the gun-shaped tool. Even as enraged as she was, she knew she would stand no chance without her Persona. It would not be a repeat of what happened last time she had confronted people like him with such words. She kept her arm at her side, the muzzle of her Evoker pointed down, but she kept a close eye on Cardin's movements, watching for any sign of his impending attack.
"Last chance," said Cardin, glaring down at the smaller girl. "Don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just 'cuz you don't have Aura. Gun like that won't do much to me with my Aura and you don't have that bow of yours with you. And unlike you, I don't need my mace to beat you down like the filthy, faunus-loving bitch you are."
The rest of Team CRDL chuckled darkly at his words but Yukari's own glare just hardened. "Last chance?" she repeated with a mocking tone. "What, you scared? Trying to get me to leave so you don't have to show people how cowardly you are?" she taunted, watching as Cardin's scowl deepened. "Like I said, bullies like you are just cowards who push around others to hide the fact that they can't face people stronger than them."
Yukari saw Cardin's shoulders begin to shake in anger, her own body ready to react to whatever he did. A part of her wanted him to charge in then and there, wanted to have an excuse to let out the violent storm of emotions swirling around inside her, unable to escape as she refused to lose control without reason. Cardin let out a harsh roar and cocked his fist back, one foot stepping forward.
A dark grin bloomed on her face, ready to dodge the telegraphed punch and her arm already beginning to bring her Evoker up to her forehead. A dark part of her wondered how he would react to her Persona and the summoning process.
Her arm was halfway up and Cardin had already begun to shift his weight forward to deliver the punch.
"TAKEBA!"
"ENOUGH!"
Both teens froze mid-motion at the simultaneous shouts that rang throughout the hall. Cardin growled when he saw Professor Goodwitch sternly marching up to them, riding crop in hand. With her here he knew he wouldn't be able to get away with a fight. He could blame the girl who had slapped him but he'd still get in trouble for participating in the fight.
A small part of him wanted to go on and just punch the girl now that her attention had been taken from him, wanted to put her in her place and just damn the consequences. But Goodwitch was known to be a strict and harsh disciplinarian. Even if the girl struck first, he'd face the heavier consequence for attacking even after she had already called for a cessation of all hostilities. At worst he may even be expelled outright. And so, with great reluctance, he lowered his arm.
Yukari, however, couldn't have cared less for Goodwitch's presence. If it had just been her, Yukari would have gone ahead and called forth Isis to put Cardin and his team in their place regardless of whatever punishment she would have to serve. It was the other voice that had shouted that chilled her emotions faster than they could erupt.
And so, with equal reluctance, she replaced her Evoker into its holster. Sending Cardin one final glare and a snarl, she spun around and marched towards the doors.
"What is goi- Ms. Takeba!" Glynda's surprised cry was a result of Yukari storming past her, coming close to shouldering her out of the way, and ignoring both hers and her friends' attempts to call her back. Several of her friends – none from SEES, she noted – made to stand but a few words from Mitsuru stopped them in their tracks. Some argued but the red-haired leader was quick to placate them. They grudgingly sat back down but kept sending furtive glances towards the doors which Yukari had marched through.
But while they all sat down, Mitsuru stood and calmly walked over to Cardin, who was still standing in the middle of the hall with a seething glare. "Winchester." There was a coldness to Mitsuru's tone that surprised even Glynda as the redhead addressed the taller teen. "Let this be your only warning. Neither I, nor my teammates and friends, will tolerate such behavior in our presence. Know that if I witness, hear of, or even suspect you or any member of your team acting in such a disgraceful manner again, then it will be the last time you will ever do so."
With the girl's back turned to her, Glynda didn't know whether the uncomfortable look on Cardin's face was because of Mitsuru's expression, her frosty tone or her harsh words - perhaps a combination of the three - but it was clear that the brave face he was attempting to put up was nothing but pure bravado. "Y-yeah?" he sneered, unable to completely suppress the stutter that escaped his lips. "What're you g-gonna do about it? Report me?"
"No." Something in Mitsuru's expression must have changed as Glynda watched Cardin's hastily erected bravado disappear. "I will Execute you."
At her cold, threatening words, Cardin, his team, and even some of those who had laughed alongside Cardin earlier froze and even paled. Even Glynda couldn't suppress the shiver of fear that went down her spine at Mitsuru's words. That certainly had not been an idle threat. Glynda wasn't sure what the boy had done to warrant such a threat, but she wouldn't stand by as one student threatened another so blatantly.
"Ms. Kiri-"
For the second time within just as many minutes, Glynda was cut off as Mitsuru spun around and began to walk towards the door. Unlike Yukari, who had practically stomped out of the hall, Mitsuru's gait was calm but imperious, the sound of her heels the only sound that could be heard across the entire hall.
With her arms crossed beneath her breasts and chin held high, the blonde disciplinarian couldn't help but compare Mitsuru's actions to that of a Queen, an Empress, who had just spoken to her subjects, declaring a new law before walking away, leaving no room for argument. And even if those people wanted to voice their displeasure, the girl's demeanor alone was enough to dissuade them, like that of a tyrant who would strike them down at the first sign of dissent.
By the time Glynda gathered her wits, Mitsuru had already left the hall. Resolving to speak to her and Yukari at a later time, she turned to the still frozen Team CRDL and approached them. Regardless of who started it, she would need to find out their side of the story. Hopefully they would be coherent and cooperative enough to not waste any more of her time. Given what she had seen of them the past two weeks, even that little bit seemed unlikely.
October 3, XX13
Many more incidents occurred over the following week-and-a-half. Most as a direct consequence of Yukari's actions, while a few were a result of SEES's continued inability to properly come to terms with their emotions.
Yukari had received a single day's detention with Glynda after their Combat class, simply sitting there with a few others to quietly contemplate their misdeeds while the telekinetic professor worked on some papers. Afterwards, she called Yukari to remain for a while longer and asked her for her side of the story. Once that was done, she had asked why Yukari had reacted in that manner, making sure to mention that she did not seem the type to lose control of her emotions.
The thought of Team CRDL and their bullying caused Yukari's anger to rear its head once again, but not at Glynda. Unable to stop herself, she recounted the incident with Fuuka that had led to her joining SEES. Thankfully, she had calmed down a bit by the time that she got to the point where she mentioned Fuuka being locked in the gym.
She managed to avoid mentioning Tartarus entirely, spinning a tale of how Fuuka, at that time, had been incredibly shy and insecure - which was not very far from the truth - how the Grimm had attacked the city that night, and how some of the Grimm homed in on Fuuka's fear and insecurities due to being locked in the gym, nearly resulting in Fuuka's death.
Needless to say, Glynda felt significantly more understanding of Yukari's outrage and reaction to Cardin's own acts. She did not agree with how she handled the situation, but she did understand why she had done so. While her questioning had failed to reveal why SEES seemed emotionally compromised, she did, at least, learn more about the group and its members.
Team CRDL, on the other hand, had all their privileges suspended for one weekend - which included unsupervised training sessions, and visits to Vale - as a result of their discrimination, and bullying. Needless to say, their ire at the archer grew at what they felt was an unjust punishment seeing as Yukari had landed the first blow. Glynda countered by pointing out that Yukari had done so in defense of another student. A student that they had harassed first, both physically and verbally.
Even so, that did not stop CRDL from attempting to take out their anger on the Aura-less girl. Unfortunately for them, many of Yukari's friends had seen their retaliation coming. Yang and Blake had made sure to stick close to Yukari as much as they could. Thankfully, for them, Yukari had more or less returned to her distracted and unfocused state now that she did not have a proper outlet for her more negative emotions. As such, they did not have to worry about Yukari noticing or being offended at the idea that she needed to be protected.
But this also made it difficult to watch out for her as it meant she was completely vulnerable to retaliation as long as she did not directly come in contact with a member of Team CRDL. The one time they did, Yukari's rage had resurfaced and Yang had to physically restrain her while Blake tried to calm the girl down.
Though Yang did find it funny afterwards that she was the one holding someone back from lashing out in anger. Usually she was the one who had to be held back. And usually that attempt ended in failure due to her Semblance.
But it wasn't just Yukari that Team CRDL targeted.
The all-male team had noticed how close Team KYBT was to teams ANKR, ASYR, and JACN. As a result, they had focused their attention on the other seven Aura-less first-years. Obviously Mitsuru was out of the question. Despite the obvious difference in strength, none of them could doubt the credibility of her threat.
They had started with Akihiko, mainly because of the humiliation that Russell suffered after being knocked out by the boxer. That attempt was railroaded the moment they tried to corner him one day. The dark, manic grin on the boxer's face had scared Russell as he vaguely remembered that exact same look the day that Akihiko had beaten him. That fear slowly spread to the others. Despite his lack of Aura, none of them could dispute Akihiko's sheer skill in combat.
Ken was second on their list. Not only was he young and an easy target, he was also Akihiko's teammate and partner. Unfortunately for them, the other students quickly took notice. While many of them weren't willing to get in the middle of a confrontation that did not involve them, it was clearly a different matter when the one involved was a twelve-year-old boy. A cute twelve-year-old boy that many female students doted on – most from afar – for that matter.
Junpei and Chidori were their next targets but for some reason strange things always happened to them when they attempted to intimidate or prank the boyfriend-girlfriend pair. Lockers would suddenly pop open and hit them in the face hard enough to knock them back or down. Someone or something would push or pull their legs while they walked, causing them to trip. Food trays, work tools, and even collapsed weapons would suddenly strike them with the owner denying having thrown them.
That left Aigis and Fuuka. They had seen Aigis fight, seen that, despite her lack of Aura, she was just as fast and strong as any of them. And so, they aimed for the easy target. But, for some reason, they could never find her when she was alone. She was either with her friends, or she was completely gone, almost like a phantom.
Left with no viable targets, CRDL's anger was left to simmer.
Beyond that, only three other things of note had occurred. The first was Yukari being approached and thanked by the Velvet, the rabbit faunus she had helped. This, in turn, led to her meeting with Velvet's team as they had been with her when she approached the archer.
They had immediately noticed Yukari's dispirited demeanor and had reacted with a bit of alarm. It had taken a while to convince them that neither Cardin nor his team had anything to do with it, that it was just some personal problems she had to sort out. Before they left, Coco had mentioned their dorm and room number along with an open invitation to drop by for a visit, or even for a favor if she ever needed anything.
When Yukari had gotten too modest for her tastes by attempting to turn down the offer beyond the invitation to visit, Coco simply told her, "Of all the people in the hall, you were the only one who did anything. That makes you okay in our book."
The second was that SEES as a whole was no longer undefeated during Combat class. As the teachers had predicted, SEES's tactics had not worked as well the next time they were called to fight. While not all of them lost – Aigis remained undefeated, and Akihiko and Mitsuru won most of their fights to date – the rest of SEES now struggled in every fight. Yukari, Chidori, and Fuuka especially since they were not front-line material in the first place. Junpei and Ken fared better but lost more than they won.
This led to a lot of demeaning and degrading remarks from Team CRDL and a few other first-years but those went mostly ignored. After all, SEES knew the truth. Their teammates, however, could not accept such words so easily. Very often, Yang and Nora had to be held back and calmed down in order to prevent them from assaulting one of their classmates in anger. They argued that SEES shouldn't have to hear such slander but Mitsuru argued back, saying that they were merely words. That one day they would be able to act and prove them wrong.
It was only the promise from Akihiko that they intended to reveal their Personas in such a way that those who looked down on them would have no choice but to swallow their words or choke on them that the two relented. Though they did hope for the latter option in the case of Team CRDL.
And the third was that Ozpin had sent Mitsuru a request to meet whenever she was free. She had gone earlier that day, right after breakfast. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, Ozpin had, in accordance with their agreement, requested permission to reveal more to the school's main teaching staff as well as some of the doctors in the infirmary. "Should anything happen, I feel it would be better if certain others were aware of your unique circumstances rather than merely Glynda and myself."
The two had spoken more about that topic for a while but in the end, Mitsuru agreed but on the condition that she meet those people first and would be present when their secrets were revealed. Ozpin had no complaints and had agreed just as quickly.
It was then that she brought up a request of her own.
"You do realize that this is highly unusual, especially considering that you and some of your friends are part of the Combat Tactics class tonight," were Ozpin's first words after Mitsuru made her request.
It had come as a great surprise to everyone in the class when Ozpin showed up for the first Combat Tactics class and had announced that he would be one of their many teachers in the class. All their teachers would take turns in teaching the class, allowing them to learn from the experiences of several accomplished Huntsmen and Huntresses.
Mitsuru nodded but her eyes never left Ozpin's. "I am aware of that. However, we had already planned this since the day after Initiation. At that time, we had not been aware that some of our electives would take place on a Saturday. But even if we did, we would have gone through with it nonetheless. This is simply far too important for us to decide otherwise."
Ozpin carefully regarded the young woman before him. As always, there was more to the situation than she was revealing to him. What was the event that SEES needed to attend so urgently? Why was she only asking for permission for SEES rather than all four teams?
She had purposely avoided mentioning the reason why SEES needed to travel to Vale tonight and remain there overnight. Even now, she showed no indication of revealing that one piece of information. While he no longer suspected them of having anything to do with the attack on Amber, it did not mean that he trusted them completely.
There was still too much that they had not revealed regarding their backgrounds and their Personas. And considering the power of their Personas, he had to wonder whether that secret was a danger to the rest of the students. They mentioned that there existed the possibility of losing control of one's Persona. A construct with the power to utterly destroy dozens of Grimm by itself was not something he wanted rampaging in a school full of trainee Huntsmen.
Was this outing of theirs related to that? A method to prevent or minimize the chances of such an event coming to pass? No. If it was that then the red-haired leader would have mentioned it.
Still, she did have a point. They had scheduled the event while unaware of their class schedule. While they generally kept the schedule the same every year, SEES had no way of knowing that.
So now it all came down to one question. Did he trust them enough to allow them this one request?
He sighed inwardly and gave his answer.
"Hey Yukari," called a near lifeless voice. "Any idea what senpai wants?"
Yukari shook her head, looking just as lifeless as Junpei's tone. "Sorry. This is the first I've heard of this."
The six members of SEES sat together in the dorm's lounge. Next to them or at their feet was a single bag each that contained a change of clothes for an overnight stay in Vale, as per Mitsuru's request via Scroll. Missing from the message was the reason why they were going to Vale. Knowing Mitsuru, she had done that on purpose. She did at least mention that she had gotten permission from the Headmaster to make the trip and that Junpei, Akihiko, and herself were excused from their Combat Tactics class later that night.
Still, that left a lot of questions still unanswered. Akihiko, it seems, might be in on it since he was the only other person missing besides Mitsuru.
"Still, I'm a little concerned."
Everyone looked to the half of the lounge where Pyrrha was sitting alongside the rest of their teammates. The message had only been sent to SEES, making it clear that nobody else was coming with them. That raised a lot of questions from their teammates when they heard about it.
Some of them, like Pyrrha and Jaune, had been present when the message for SEES arrived. Similarly, Ren had been doing homework with Ken in their room when the message came. Blake and Yang had come back from the library – where the former practically forced the latter to finish her homework rather than wait until the last minute – to find Yukari packing her own bag. Ruby and Weiss were the opposite. They had been doing their homework in the room when Aigis entered and began to pack, followed shortly by Fuuka.
Nora was the only person who did now know of SEES's plans due to her Demolitions class but Ren had left earlier to pick her up and return as soon as they could. Hopefully they returned before Mitsuru and Akihiko did from wherever they were.
"Why so suddenly?" asked Pyrrha, gazing at each member of SEES. "I do not believe Mitsuru would simply forget to inform you if it was important enough to miss class for, even if it is just one class."
Yukari sighed, leaning back into the couch and listlessly gazing up at the ceiling. "Who knows," she replied just as lifelessly as her demeanor. "I mean, we haven't exactly been at our best these past few weeks. I don't even care that she hasn't answered any of our messages. I just wanna get this over with."
Several people had tried sending Mitsuru a message asking about what was going on, Yang among their number. But despite the numerous messages each one sent, nobody received so much as a single response. Calling her Scroll ended in much the same way. So now, they were all waiting in the lounge as Mitsuru instructed, waiting for the leader of SEES and her second to arrive.
"Oh good, we made it."
Several people looked up when Ren arrived, Nora beside him and looking decidedly un-Nora-like. Her childhood friend had most likely explained what was going on. Needless to say, she didn't look all that enthused at SEES's sudden, though temporary, departure. Had he been in a better mood, Ken might have joked that she was just going to miss using either him or Koromaru as a body pillow like she did some nights.
"Senpai'll probably be here soon though."
As though she was waiting for those words to be uttered, the next person to walk into the dorm was Mitsuru herself. And following closely behind her was Akihiko, a duffel bag already hanging from his shoulders.
"Good, you're all here," said Mitsuru, glancing at the six of them and the bags they had with them. "Give me a moment to collect my things then we can go." And without another word, she walked to the stairs and climbed up to KYBT's room.
Her abrupt entrance and exit left eight people speechless while SEES just stood and got ready to leave.
"Well that was… a thing." Yang turned to Yukari and asked, "Did I just not notice that she was always like that?"
Yukari shook her head, shouldering her own travel bag like the others. "She used to be worse. Now she's only like that when it's important."
Yang waited but no further explanation was forthcoming. And that caused her to frown again. Ever since that night, practically all of SEES had been like this. Short and quick answers just to get it over with. It was like talking for extended periods was too tiring in itself.
Yang could see that everyone else was just as worried as she was. Well, save for Weiss. Yang honestly wasn't sure whether she was worried or not. Her words tried to convey worry but her body language didn't show it very well. It was either Weiss was just like that, or she wasn't actually concerned for them and just spoke to try and show that she was.
But honestly, Yang didn't care about that at the moment. Weiss could be completely insincere and it wouldn't matter one bit to her. Not right now.
The moment Mitsuru came down the stairs carrying her own bag, Yang stood from her seat and walked up to her. "Hey Mitsuru?" She waited until she had the older girl's full attention before continuing. "Think you guys could wait for a few more minutes while the rest of us grab some stuff too? We didn't exactly get the memo on our end." Fifteen pairs of eyes widened at the blonde's request but one had only widened marginally before going back to normal in the time it took Yang to blink. Still, it was good to know that Mitsuru could be caught off guard too.
"There'll be no need for that," said Mitsuru. With how normal her voice and tone was, Yang couldn't tell just how Mitsuru felt about the sudden request. "This is a personal matter for SEES. Besides which, I only asked the Headmaster for permission for SEES to stay in Vale overnight. Even if you came with us, you would have to return to avoid getting into trouble."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." This time, Mitsuru's eyes widened more than just a little bit at Yang's words. "We have permission too, see?" Yang held up her Scroll, showing Mitsuru a message from Ozpin granting them permission to stay in Vale for the night. Taking advantage of the redhead's shock, Yang turned around to face the rest of her friends. "Anyway, you guys should go on up and pack some clothes for the night. Don't wanna hold them up longer than we have to after all."
Thankfully for her, everyone took the hint and swiftly departed from the lounge, walking past the still stunned Mitsuru to do as Yang asked. Nora was dragging along a reluctant Ren, who felt that they may be intruding on something private as Mitsuru's words suggested, just as Ruby was tugging on Weiss's wrist, denying the girl every possible excuse ranging from homework to simply not wanting to go.
Soon enough, only Yang was left in the lounge with SEES, smiling nonchalantly as though she hadn't just ran over Mitsuru's own plans for the day. Everyone could see through it though. The moment she had produced that message from the Headmaster showed that her recent actions had all been planned out. What they couldn't understand was…
"Why?"
"Hm?"
Mitsuru glared slightly to show that the time for games as over. That was enough for Yang's innocently oblivious expression to fall off her face as soon as she had put it up, replaced by an equally serious look. "Why did you want to come? Or rather, why force your way into this?"
"Is there something wrong with wanting to come? We're a team after all."
"Yet this has nothing to do with Beacon or being a Huntress," countered Mitsuru. Yang just shrugged unapologetically, showing that she didn't really care what Mitsuru thought about her decision. In turn, Mitsuru sighed, knowing there was little she could do at this point. Not without raising her voice or using needless force. "Very well," she conceded.
"But," she cut in just as Yang looked ready to cheer or celebrate her little victory. "I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. If a single one behaves inappropriately, even in the smallest possible way, then all of you are returning here even if I have to use Artemisia to take you all back. Understood?"
Yang, however, just waved off Mitsuru's words, still inwardly cheering for what she had just pulled off. "Hey, don't worry about us. I'll personally make sure everyone behaves. If they do anything, I'll take full responsibility."
"I'll hold you to that."
At the same time that Mitsuru spoke, Akihiko spoke up from behind Yang. "You're gonna regret that."
Hearing the doubt in his words, Yang rounded on the boxer. "What, you don't think I can keep them in line?"
"If you say you can, then I believe you," said the boxer, causing Yang to preen. "I just don't think you'll manage it for the whole thing."
Her proud bearing fell apart immediately as annoyance crept into her expression at Akihiko's continued doubt. Before she could retort, Yukari chose that moment to speak up. "About that senpai." Akihiko turned his attention to the archer, giving her a nod to go ahead. Yang just frowned at being snubbed. "Where exactly are we going?"
"I'm curious as well," said Pyrrha, who returned carrying an overnight bag.
Beside her was Jaune and following soon after were Ren, Nora, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. The black-haired girl walked over to her partner and handed her one of the bags she was carrying.
Mitsuru's eyes narrowed slightly at their swift return. It had barely been two minutes since they left after all. Either they really wanted to come along and had packed in a hurry, or they had packed ahead of time without letting SEES know, having known of Yang's request to the Headmaster to accompany them.
"You'll see when we get there," was Akihiko's evasive response towards the new arrivals. Then he turned to the rest of SEES, giving them all a searching glance before a sad smile appeared on his face. "Considering everything that's happened and how we've all been I'm not surprised you all forgot or just didn't notice."
"Forgot what?"
"The date, what else?"
"The date? But what does…"
Yukari froze as her mind caught up to Akihiko's words. Around her, the rest of SEES came to the same startling realization. Almost as one, they pulled out their Scrolls and opened them, their eyes immediately locking onto the date as heavy lumps formed in the back of their throats.
October 3, XX13.
Okay, show of hands and be honest, how many of you paid attention to the dates I've been showing and noticed that it was October 3, BEFORE the end of the chapter?
Any Persona 3 fan should know the significance of that date. Or rather, the next day.
Given all that, I'm sure just about everyone can figure out what the next chapter is going to be about. Will it be a tearjerker like the Interlude? Perhaps, but this time I can promise that it will at least be more positive than the Interlude. SEES has been broken down so now it's time to build them back up.
On my profile, I posted a link to the class schedule I made up for Beacon's curriculum in case anyone is interested in seeing how I envisioned their classes going. Right now all I have are the first year classes plus the school-wide electives but I have a tentative idea for the second through fourth-year classes already written down.
If anyone wants to use it for their story, feel free though I'd appreciate a little heads-up if you do.
And now, unfortunately, I have some slightly bad news to get out of the way. The next update may or may not take as long as this one did. It may even be longer for two reasons.
1) Writing this chapter was harder than it should have been. I knew all the scenes that would go into it, I knew how I wanted it to go, but the words just didn't flow out like they used to. I found myself erasing as much as 2,000 words in one go because I started feeling like the entire scene was too forced. So I had to redo the scene but also think of a different way to approach and write it. And this happened at least once for more than half the scenes in this chapter.
2) To offset the lack of inspiration, I'm going to step back into planning mode. Specifically for a new story idea I came up with recently. It's going to be a purely Persona 3 story focusing on a major 'what if' situation. As far as I'm aware, no one has ever written that particular scenario just yet so it's going to take some planning since I don't have any prior stories to go off of. So yes, I'll be taking some time to plan out this story for a bit, let my inspiration for Messiah's Legacy build back up before I work on the next chapter. I'll still stick to my personal goal of having a minimum of one chapter per month though hopefully it doesn't get to that point.
I tried going back to my other story but it seems like inspiration for that has dried up completely. I'm still trying, but I can't even finish the first 3,000 words, never mind the entire chapter. I'm guessing it's because I was never that enthused about writing it. Sure I found myself interested by the idea of switching the partnerships and teams around but I had no grand designs for it like this one. I'll probably delete it in time but I'll give it a chance until the end of next month. If it doesn't get moving by then I'll scrap it and search through my idea/plot bunny graveyard to see if any of those ideas are still kicking.
Parts of this chapter still felt forced to me but only slightly. Hopefully I managed to smooth those over so let me know what you think. If any part feels like it wasn't as good as it could have been, let me know and I'll see about giving it a once over to see what I can do about it.
Until next time everyone.
