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 1: 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.
Warning 2: With the ongoing status of RWBY Volume 4, it's to be expected that many of my ideas will go against what is canon, such as when more of each character's respective pasts are revealed. I will do my best to incorporate what I can, but expect that many will be blended with my own ideas or perhaps even ignored completely if incorporating it will be detrimental to my story plans.
A little disappointed by the lack of feedback on the conclusion of the Arc Arc, but then again I suppose I got enough of that from the chapter before that. But who cares about that when we have a-
NEW CHAPTER!
I'm glad I found time to finish this. My estimate was off and work picked up sooner than expected. Still, I got this out and that's the important bit. Though given how this chapter ends, and the fact that I won't be writing at all until the first week of January, some of you might just hate me after this. XP
Anyway, with the end of Jaune's Arc-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We can move on to other developments in the story. We'll be seeing the start of another character arc here since most of the RWBY canon arcs won't be taking place for quite a while yet. Not all the character arcs will take place before the Volume 2 canon events, so don't worry about that. After this one, I might, MIGHT, have one more before we start blending in some more canon arcs.
We'll also be seeing a few technical issues surrounding Persona, Aura, and Semblance here in this chapter. Some might be wondering why but if isn't clear by now, I'm doing this to set a proper, or at least a semi-proper, power scale. Also, best to do this now so that later chapters can focus more on the story itself rather than world-building.
Anyway, I'm sure you're tired of my rambling by now and just want to get to the story itself. And so, without further ado…
Chapter 12 – The More Things Change
October 25, XX13
"Is everyone ready?"
Nods and verbal confirmations came from all around, even the five people down in the combat area. Sitting behind him, several students watched with varying levels of anxiety and excitement. It was understandable, he supposed. Even he felt an equal amount of both as he watched the three people in the combat area get into position, four people on one side, two male, one female, and one not-so-female, and one female the other side. And up above them, the Aura monitor showed a full Aura meter for the one standing by herself while the other four registered as empty.
"Very well," said the man to his right, his entire countenance the picture of calm as his eyes watched from behind his spectacles. "You may begin whenever you are ready."
Down below, the lone fighter nodded at the four across from her, showing that she was ready as well. The quartet glanced at one another, the three of them nodding and taking a half-step backwards to let their brown-haired companion go first as had been agreed upon prior to entering the combat area. And without delay or hesitation, the brunette drew her pistol – they called it an Evoker, if he remembered right – and raised it to her head.
Ruadh felt a twinge of panic and fear creep up on him despite knowing it was coming. And when the girl, Yukari, pulled the trigger, the sound of gunfire elicited a short, stifled scream from the tiny pinkette beside him, and some heavily restrained flinches from some of the other teachers. He, himself, felt himself twitch.
But no blood erupted from the other side of the girl's head. Instead, much like the video they had seen two weeks ago, shards of glass seemed to burst out in its place, swirling up above her head even as tiny motes of blue light appeared and rapidly grew, color filling in even as a solid form appeared.
The figure was that of a woman's upper body, black with golden lines in a vaguely V-shape all over. The head was bovine in appearance, with tall, massive horns jutting upwards, once again in a V-shape but with two wavy curves near the base, and making up roughly half the entire figure's height. Between its eyes, however, was a human head, pure white in contrast with its body, with a soft, almost serene, smile.
Set in between the horns, right where the curves were, was a large red disc made of a material that somehow looked to be made of both glass and metal. The human head was also part of a larger piece, one that almost resembled a helmet that, rather than protecting the head, protected the body. On that helm-like piece were two golden, concave disks, through which the arms extended out of, almost as though it were wearing a vest. The arms didn't extend out very far before it ended with two white wings in place of forearms and hands.
So intrigued was he with the unbelievable sight before him that he nearly missed Yukari's words. Nearly.
"Isis. Garu!"
The red-haired wolf faunus wasn't certain whether Isis Garu was the name of the construct that she had summoned – Persona, he reminded himself – or if it was the name of the attack. Regardless, his eyes narrowed as he examined the attack that blossomed around his lavender-haired colleague.
He had heard of people claiming to be able to hear the wind speaking to them, though a few people claim that they literally speak with the wind. This was the first time he could say that he saw the wind. It happened quickly, but years of experience have honed both his eyesight and his mind, allowing him to carefully replay the attack as it happened.
It began with faint wisps of pale green swirling around Khloe, all within a foot of her body and all close to the ground. They increased in number dramatically within the next second, forming a small, low cyclone with the upper-year combat teacher in the middle of it.
If he had to guess, the green light was most likely the girl's power, or the construct's power, much like how someone could concentrate their Aura into a small area, turning into a visible and tangible barrier like a shield. And with the power itself visible, it gave the illusion that it was the wind itself that could be seen. It was merely an aesthetic issue, however, as he could not deny the power behind the attack.
The center of the storm was normally calm, safe. This time, however, the center was clearly the most dangerous spot. The winds spun briefly but rapidly before suddenly converging on the center, delivering a powerful concussive blow from every direction, aimed mostly at the legs. Khloe, however, was no trainee. She easily withstood the blow, flinching a bit but not hurt or even moved from where she stood. A glance at the monitor, however, showed the extent of the damage.
Five percent of her Aura had been drained away by the attack. It wasn't much. Experience showed him, provided the opponent did not have a strength-boosting Semblance, that a well-placed and properly executed punch could take out as much as ten percent of one's Aura. And it took less time to execute too, compared to summoning a Persona and using one of their attacks.
'But still…' he glanced to the side, where a red-haired girl nodded when the brunette looked up at her.
For the second time, Yukari raised her Evoker and summoned her Persona. He hadn't even noticed that it disappeared, having been too busy focusing on the attack. Again, it formed from motes of bluish-white light, slowly in his mind's eye as he tried to make sense of it, but barely a second in real time. "Garula!" Judging by the words, Isis must have been the Persona's name while Garu was the name of the first attack.
Pale green wisps swirled around Khloe's legs a second time. Only this time, there were more of them from the start and were spread out farther. Already he could tell that it was more powerful than the last as more air would be forced to the center, compressing around a central point for a brief moment. Brief, but possibly painful for whoever or whatever was at the center.
Unlike with the first attack, the force from the blow caused Khloe to stumble around briefly as her legs were struck, unable to completely maintain her footing from the force of the attack. Looking up at the monitor, however, showed that the attack took out a mere eight percent, only slightly higher than the previous attack. To him, the fact that it had caused Khloe to stumble was more significant. Any number of things could happen in that brief moment that she took to regain her balance.
Sharp ears caught the brief conversation between Yukari and Khloe.
"Are you alright?" he heard Yukari ask.
Khloe waved her off with a grin. "I'm fine. That just hit me a bit harder than I was expecting."
Nodding in acceptance, Yukari turned her gaze up to their general direction once more, receiving another nod from Mitsuru.
Ruadh had to admire how cautious Mitsuru was about everything given the sheer number of unknowns. In this case, since those in the combat area couldn't see the Aura monitors, anyone who was demonstrating the power of their Persona had to check with her and the Headmaster if they could proceed with the next attack.
For the third time, Yukari raised her Evoker up to her temple. He had to suppress a shiver at the sight. Three times now he had seen it, yet all three times he could feel a part of him crying out, wanting to stop the girl from shooting the gun. The feeling reinforced the thought that something must be mentally broken or outright wrong with them to be able perform an act that resembled suicide without even flinching.
'Or perhaps they've just gotten used to it after so long.'
Still, getting used to putting what was pretty much a gun to your head and shooting it? Ruadh wouldn't say it out loud, but, to him, something was definitely wrong with those kids, the people who came up with the Evoker, or both. No matter what they said, he couldn't, wouldn't believe that simulating a near-death experience like this was the only way to draw out one's power.
"Garudyne!"
This time, the vortex was significantly wider than the previous one, enough that he felt his eyes open wide in surprise at the sheer difference in size compared to the first two. It was enough that several people standing around the center might have even been drawn in when the attack finally hit, their legs pulled out from underneath them as the air rushed towards the center.
Having felt the previous two attacks, Khloe must have underestimated the third attack a little too much. A fact that Ruadh believed to be true when the sheer force of the attack not only caused her eyes to widen in shock, but also knocked her off her feet, sending her spinning around and then flying upwards and slightly to the side, landing in a crouch just a little off to the side from where she had been standing.
Yukari and the other three immediately ran towards the fallen teacher, eyes wide at seeing the result of the attack. There were quiet murmurs behind him as their teammates and friends also showed some concern. Their concerns were quieted when Mitsuru pointed out that Khloe still had her Aura and that the monitors also registered her as still being conscious. This, in turn, turned those concerned murmurs into excited exchanges, shared by both Peter and Bart, while Rosalyn looked worried for their colleague despite the reassurances.
But rather than worry about Khloe, it was her Aura meter that drew Ruadh's interest more at that moment. Garu had taken off five percent. Garula had taken off eight percent. Garudyne, on the other hand, knocked off a solid nineteen percent, nearly a fifth of her total.
People did not have an equal amount of Aura. Some had more and some had less. There have been many theories over the centuries as to why this was.
Some speculated it had to do with the physical body being healthier, or some unknown factor that made certain bodies better suited for channeling Aura. But this was proven false as studies showed that Aura levels remained fairly steady even when one grew old and, thus, physically weaker. There was a slight drop, yes, but not enough to prove that theory since even the physically weak and malnourished proved that they could have high Aura levels as well.
Some believed it was hereditary, that having two people with higher than average Aura levels for parents meant a similar potential for the child of such a union. But there have been many instances of cases where such a thing proved false. High-Aura parents with low-Aura children or even the opposite. And nothing in their genetics showed any sign of Aura levels being genetic.
Others claimed that, since Aura was the physical manifestation of one's soul, it was one's spiritual health that was important. That particular belief had spawned cults all over Remnant for a period of time. None of them lasted more than a year before the lack of progress in their goal to increase their Aura reserves led to a sharp drop in followers until only the most fanatic or most stubborn remained. There were still a few of them here and there, but hardly worth paying attention to as they were mostly harmless.
These days, people simply believed that, just as talented people could be born from the untalented, and the talentless from the talented, whether one was born with high levels of Aura or not was something to be left for fate to decide upon.
Regardless, the difference between a high amount of Aura reserves and a low amount wasn't very significant. A popular, but supposedly accurate, theory that many researchers had agreed upon went as such. If one were to consider one hundred units of Aura to be the average, then the highest would only be roughly ten units more, fifteen at most. Thus the lowest would be roughly eighty-five to ninety units.
All that, of course, was still theoretical despite the large number of separate researchers performing test to prove it. There was simply no precise way of measuring one's Aura beyond seeing how much one's Aura was reduced by an attack compared to someone else. And even then, the Aura monitors could only measure one's Aura by percentage, not by precise units of measure.
Again, it was speculated that this was because Aura came from the soul, a metaphysical concept, and, thus, could not be properly measured by physical tools.
In any case, Khloe's Aura dropping nearly twenty percent of the total was quite significant. Even if her Aura levels were at the lowest end of the theoretical spectrum at eighty-five units, twenty percent of that was seventeen units. That seventeen would still account for fifteen percent of the hundred-fifteen units of someone on the opposite end of the spectrum.
But it wasn't only the damage that intrigued Ruadh. No. As an experienced Huntsman, his mind had already gone into the tactical issues of the attack. Summoning took roughly two seconds and the attack took just a little over a single second to form and a split second to strike.
Moreover, he realized his mistake in his earlier analysis. He was correct in that the attack converged on a single spot, but he had assumed that the attack was meant to target the legs and to knock the target off their feet. But he had forgotten to take one thing into account. After rushing to the center, where, then, would all that air go?
The answer, was up. The fact that Khloe was launched upwards only seemed to support this. The air was drawn in from every direction around her on a two dimensional plane. And since the attack spawned close to the ground, the air could only go upwards once they met at the target point.
An attack that combined sheer concussive force, force which was felt through one's Aura, and a powerful upward gust of air that could either throw the enemy off balance or lift them up entirely, all occurring in just a second if one did not count the summoning process. Unless one was aware of what the attack did, they would certainly be caught off-guard. And even if they instinctively moved away, the movement of the air just might draw them in slightly, enough to disorient them for a second attack.
There were still a lot of downsides, but that was why they were placed on a team. The attack could be used to set-up their foe for a follow-up by her teammates, or her teammates could draw attention away from her while she caught the opponent in the relatively slow but undoubtedly powerful attack. Either way, it was certainly a useful attack.
'What's more,' he thought as he glanced at the redhead as she spoke with the Headmaster, 'Is that it wasn't the most powerful they had amongst them.'
The reason why Yukari had gone first was because her attack was the least dangerous, at least from a testing standpoint according to Mitsuru. As they didn't know whether or not Aura would stop the attack, or how well Aura would stand up to the attack, Mitsuru didn't want to risk freezing, electrocuting, or burning someone. And so wind and concussive force it was.
There were other things that needed to be tested, such as the various support spells as well as how much damage the Personas themselves could do with raw, physical power. Most of those would take place at another time, so as to give everyone a chance to examine the data.
But some of the most important tests were, strangely enough, being kept for the end of the current session. Seeing whether the group of Persona-users could awaken Aura. And, afterwards, what would happen if an Aura-user were to use an Evoker.
Personally, Ruadh didn't care too much if they couldn't summon a Persona. To him, it was too much of a hindrance to need an Evoker to summon it in the first place, never mind the fact that he was literally shooting himself in the head with it. Others might like it though, especially the sheer variety of abilities one might gain.
It didn't take long for Khloe to get back up on her feet, but with her Aura down a third, it may be a little risky having her face one of the more dangerous attacks. After all, not only were the elements used different, but the Persona-user powering the attack was also different.
Three wind-based attacks from Yukari's had taken Khloe's Aura down to sixty-eight percent. There was no saying how much would be left from the same number of fire or lightning-based attacks.
Unfortunately, there was something that Ozpin had wanted to test. Something that needed Khloe to be the one to test. And that was exactly what Ruadh had been thinking of just then, whether or not another element from another user would deal the same amount of damage.
And so, while Yukari stepped back, the silver-haired boxer, Akihiko Sanada, stepped forward, drawing his Evoker in one swift motion and placing the barrel against the front of his forehead. Just like last time, Ruadh's faunus hearing caught the words he spoke. "Caesar!"
The figure that appeared was much more human-like in appearance as compared to Yukari's Isis. A tall, vaguely male figure wearing white armor of sorts. Its arms and legs, black in color much like Isis, were unarmored save for braces on the wrists and the lower calves. Around its shoulders was a white cape with a red interior lining.
Its face was also black, but its eyes and partially open mouth held a red glow, a combination that made Ruadh think of the Grimm for a brief moment. Atop its head was a crown made of silver leaves.
In its right hand was a sword, a gladius if he recognized it properly, and in its left was a globe. Looking closely, however, he didn't recognize any of the visible landmasses as any that could be found on a map of Remnant. Since they came from a single island, it made him wonder if the globe's features was significant in any way, given that a Persona came from one's soul.
What caught his attention the most, however, was that a large portion of its torso looks as though it had been carved out, creating an open space within that glowed red. And in that space, Ruadh's sharp eyes could make out what seemed to be a completely black, humanoid figure with a red mask on its face sitting with its legs crossed, leaning forward slightly in its seat as its chin rested on the back of its right hand, the elbow resting on the palm of its other hand.
Akihiko didn't call out the attack like Yukari did, nor did he give any visible orders, verbal or otherwise, but the Persona, presumably called Caesar, raised its sword up to the ceiling, the tip coming close to being level with the monitors. Was it truly unnecessary to verbally command it? Or was it an issue of control?
Before he could contemplate it further, a bolt of lightning came down and struck Khloe, coming from literally out of nowhere. Rosalyn let out a surprised yelp at the lightning's sudden appearance while Peter, Bart, and the students, once again, verbalized their excitement. He even spotted a brief look of shock on Khloe's face when the lightning struck.
"Well that was… shocking."
He resisted the urge to palm his face at the predictable pun that came from behind him, and ignored the students' boos and such despite the Xiao Long girl claiming it had been a good joke. Instead, he turned his thoughts to the lightning attack.
They knew Akihiko's Persona was capable of utilizing lightning as an attack. They had seen the video of the initiation after all. But Ruadh was certain he knew the biggest question on their minds at this very moment, one that some may have already been asking themselves since the viewing of the video. Where had the lightning come from?
He wasn't that well-versed in science, but he knew enough to know that lightning couldn't just form out of thin air like that. No, there was always a reason why natural lightning appeared, even on a clear, sunny day. Already, Bart was throwing out questions and theories left, right, center, and behind him, trying to figure out the mechanics behind the attack. Even Ozpin's eyes had narrowed slightly as he tried to make sense of the strange phenomenon.
If the Persona was manipulating lightning, then it would have to come from somewhere else. If it was creating it, then it would somehow have to fulfill the conditions for lightning to form. There had been no visible sign of either one. And yet, a single bolt of lightning had come from somewhere above Khloe, striking her the instant it appeared.
Her Aura meter had dropped by another four percent, drained by the attack only a tiny bit less than Yukari's Garu. Most likely, Akihiko was progressing in the same way, using the weakest form of his attacks and slowly moving up provided Khloe's Aura held up. Idly, he wondered what the attack was called.
Eventually, Khloe assured everyone that she was fine, though she jokingly mentioned that she now knew what it felt like to be struck by lightning. "I didn't feel like I'd been electrocuted, mainly because of my Aura, but I felt the power wash over me along with a blow to my shoulder where it hit me."
Once she was ready, Akihiko fired his Evoker once more. As Caesar raised his – it's? – sword, Ruadh wondered how the attack would differ from the first one. The response to his question came when, like last time, a bolt of lightning appeared from out of nowhere to strike Khloe, who remained standing this time though the look on her face showed that she had fought to remain standing.
The bolt of lightning had been thicker than the last one. Or rather, it looked thicker. Ruadh wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but he did. Rather than one wide bolt, which he didn't really think was possible when it came to lightning, it had been three, maybe four, bolts of lightning that had struck Khloe, moving closely along a similar path that gave the illusion of a single, wider bolt.
Again, that brought up questions. Was it even possible for that many bolts of lightning to travel next to one another? Or be in close proximity to one another? Someone smarter than he was, one who was also well-versed in that particular branch of science, might be able to answer that question. He, however, was just a simple Huntsman whose knowledge allowed him to teach the next generation, hardly enough to understand the nature of something like lightning.
Judging by Bart's rapid-fire theories, even he didn't know the answer. Then again, the man specialized in historic knowledge rather than scientific, though that didn't mean he didn't understand a fair bit of the latter. Clearly, though, his knowledge on the current subject was insufficient to answer the question.
A bright flash of light drew his attention to the combat area and his attention shifted just quick enough to catch what almost looked like a veritable lightning storm as it struck his colleague head-on. The force of the attack powerful enough that a brief, but clearly visible wave of air could be seen billowing outwards from the impact of the attack. Just as she had done after the first lightning attack, Rosalyn let out a stifled scream at the sight.
She wasn't the only one. He heard several of the students behind him yelp at the sudden increase in power. 'Just like the wind attack earlier,' he noted, noticing the large jump in power between the second and third attacks. The attack had taken him off-guard as well, having been lost in his thoughts, so he hadn't been able to see just how many bolts of lightning had struck this time, or if it had any direct correlation with the attack's power.
At that thought, he glanced up and frowned at what he saw. Sixty-eight percent remained after Khloe bore the brunt of the wind attacks. But now, forty-one percent was all that remained after being on the receiving end of the lightning attacks. The recent round of attacks were slightly weaker than the first. But the question now was whether that difference in power was due to the element, the way the attack occurred, or the Persona-user.
Given the amount of damage that Khloe's Aura had taken, however, it would be too risky to test a third element on her. Not today at least. Instead, it would be his turn to test the other two, as had been agreed upon. Without waiting for any sign from the Headmaster, Ruadh rose from his seat and proceeded down the stairs which connected to the lower halls, which would lead him to the combat area.
Just before the heavy doors leading into the combat area, he found Doctors Mores and Blackthorne sitting on a bench, their Scrolls in hand which provided a live feed from the cameras in the combat area. On the bench between them was a larger than normal first-aid kit, with everything they deemed necessary should the worst come to pass during the testing.
The first-aid kit and their placement in the hallway was simply another of the many precautions they were taking. Should something happen, they would be the first to enter as soon as the door locks were disengaged, which had been set to go off automatically should one of two things come to pass. Someone's Aura dropping to zero, which only really applied to whoever the testing was being conducted on, or someone's vital signs showing that they had been injured regardless of Aura levels.
It just goes to show how seriously everyone was taking the safety of the participants. And while some might have said that it was better if the two doctors waiting inside the combat area, the possibility of a Persona attack reacting poorly to Aura was not something that could be ignored. Even the three Persona-users who were waiting on the sidelines were at some level of risk if something like an explosion had occurred due to such a reaction.
Now, though, they would accompany him into the combat area since they had seen that there were no such adverse reactions.
Soon enough, the loud clanking of the door locks disengaging echoed throughout the mostly empty hallways followed by the doors swinging open. As the three of them went into the combat area, Khloe walked out, looking none the worse for wear.
Just before she drew level with Ruadh, she paused, causing him to stop as well. "You're in for a bit of a rough time," she said, to which his eyes narrowed slightly as he sought to interpret her words. Thankfully, she decided to clarify them. "I'll be mentioning it later but something about their attacks are different from the norm. This wasn't the first time I was hit by a lightning-based Semblance, but there was just… something, about this one that felt different. Even that wind attack felt strange. You'll probably see what I mean."
He nodded wordlessly, thanking her for the warning, even as they walked away from one another, her up to the spectator area and he into the combat area. The doors swung shut and he heard the locks engage once again even as he took Khloe's place on the platform, opposite Junpei Iori.
More than the boy's possession of a Persona and his lack of Aura, the cap wearing teen stood out for one other reason. Of the fifty-seven students in the Combat Tactics class, he was one of twelve who regularly submitted unorthodox plans as an answer to the weekly scenario given out as homework. Though, from what he could see, that most likely stemmed from his lack of formal tactical knowledge, leading him to choose what he believed was the best course of action rather than what theoretical knowledge demanded be done.
"Ready?"
He nodded and braced himself, remembering from the video that the boy's Persona wielded fire as its element. He watched as the boy grinned and raised his Evoker up to the side of his head. When he did, however, Ruadh caught a strange glint in the boy's eyes for a very brief moment. If he had to describe it, he would say that it almost looked… manic.
"Come on, Trismegistus!"
As the Persona named Trismegistus materialized, Ruadh's first thought was that a Persona looked bigger up close. Being this close, however, meant he could see even the smaller details of its appearance.
Unlike the first two Personas, Trismegistus was mainly red with white and gold. Its torso looked like it was clothed in a wide shouldered red shirt with golden lines, the bottom of the shirt flaring outwards from the abdomen and ended roughly where its waist and hips met. Strangely enough, it looked to him as though it were wearing shorts of the same design, red with vertical golden lines, that ended just before its equivalent of the knee area.
Both legs from the knee down, and both hands up to the middle of its forearms were covered in red armor of a slightly darker shade that resembled boots and gauntlets respectively. The legs, however, were straight and did not end in what could be called feet. Rather, the ends of the legs, which were colored black, were almost like stumps, as though someone had amputated its feet. Its hands, however, seemed to be normal as he saw the Persona's fingers emerging from holes in the gauntlet.
Around its neck was a straight, high collar, separate from the 'shirt' portion of its body that also went around its underarms as though to hold it in place. Its neck was black. That is, what little of it he could see since the rest of it and its head was hidden beneath a helm in the shape of a bird's head, a band of gold closest to the collar, then a band of red, then white where the 'beak' began, then gold at the tip of the beak, with a red gem held within. Where the eyes of the bird should be where two wing-shaped attachments, white and gold once more.
Attached to its shoulders were two large wings, almost as long as the Persona was tall from its shoulders to its feet, white where it connected to the main body while the 'feathers' were golden in color. What caught his eyes was the edge of the outermost 'feather' as well as the wingtips. There was no mistaking the shape and form of a blade.
And then there were the things attached to its hands and legs. Connected to its gauntlets, right at the back of each hand, were a row of 'feathers' that were more intricately designed than the ones on its shoulders. The ones closest to its hands were the longest with each one progressively becoming shorter until the last one, which was still at least a foot in length, that connected to the back of its shins. Much like the 'feathers' on its wings, these ones were, in reality, blades.
As supported by the video, this was clearly a Persona meant to fight in close range. There was simply no other explanation why it would have so many blades attached to it. And yet it was also capable of wielding fire-elemental attacks. Though having to summon them was a tactical issue, he could not deny that the versatility of the Personas was a significant asset in any fight.
"Alright!" Junpei's cheering drew his attention downwards from the Persona to the boy who had summoned. "Agi!"
Trismegistus responded to the command, spreading its arms and, thus, the feather blades attached to it. The gem in its beak glowed briefly and he braced himself. A split-second later he found himself in the middle of a large ball of fire, his eyes growing wide at its sudden appearance as well as the feel of heat on his skin. He leapt to the side out of reflex, tucking into a ball briefly as he hit the ground then rolling around to extinguish the flames.
It was only after the flames were gone – did it disappear on its own or was it because he had smothered it – that he remembered that his Aura would have protected him. Despite being a Huntsman for more than fifteen years now, the suddenness of the fire's appearance had caught him by surprise and caused him a brief moment of panic. 'Just goes to show how advantageous the element of surprise can be,' he thought to himself as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Hey professor, you alright?"
Glancing to the side, he found Junpei approaching him with a look of concern. Beyond him, he saw Doctor Blackthorne looking in their direction, a hand wrapped on the handle of the first-aid kit. They must have mistaken his actions, thinking that he tried to smother the flames because it had gotten through his Aura.
"I'm fine," he replied with a nod, his eyes meeting Junpei's. "I was just expecting the fire to come at me like a fireball, or perhaps a stream of fire like a flamethrower, and not to emerge right where I was. Thank you for your concern though." The boy with a buzz-cut sighed in relief, showing that he truly had worried that his attack had gotten through where the others hadn't.
Ruadh turned to the two doctors, nodding to show that he was fine, and did the same towards the Headmaster, noting that hint of worry on Glynda and Mitsuru's faces, as well as the other students watching. Junpei quickly returned to his previous position as Ruadh did the same, mentally preparing himself for the next attack.
Junpei summoned Trismegistus once more, the red construct materializing above his head. When the gem glowed a second time, Ruadh braced himself, preparing to be engulfed in a large ball of flame. And as expected, the flames appeared around him in the blink of an eye.
He ignored his instincts, tightening the muscles in his entire body to resist the urge to repeat his previous actions. Instead, he focused on what his body was telling him with regards to the flames. They were hot, obviously. Hot enough that nobody could call the flames fake or an illusion. Interestingly enough, the flames barely lasted two second before it disappeared.
Just like the lightning before, however, his observations only brought up more questions.
There had been no heat build-up at all. One moment there was nothing, and then the next, his entire body was surrounded by flames. He couldn't tell if it was as hot as real flames since his Aura would prevent any excess heat that would cause his skin to burn. As such, he merely felt an uncomfortable amount of heat, as though he were standing beneath the sun in the middle of Vacuo's desert. Given that lightning was supposedly hotter than the sun, Khloe must have felt something similar, that of the lightning washing over her but doing no harm.
Speaking of Khloe, he understood just what it was she was trying to tell him. The flames looked real and, despite his Aura, felt real enough. He was certain that it would burn objects just as any real fire would. And yet, something told him that the flames weren't real. It was like an illusion, real but not. This was most certainly no illusion, yet something in him denied it, denounced it as something that should not exist.
Why was that? And how did the Persona create the flames? How did it create them so quickly?
Even Semblance followed the laws of the world. At least, to some extent. It could not create something from nothing the way the Personas could. Some Semblances were almost mystical in nature in that they seemed to allow one to break the natural laws. But the keyword there was 'seemed'. Careful observation and analysis often revealed a scientific explanation for one's Semblance.
But that was long ago. These days, people didn't so much as blink if they were told such fantastic tales about people flying without wings, being able to lift objects hundreds of times their own weight and size, traveling to a distant land in only a few seconds, or even being able to transform into a different form altogether.
Many feats that could not normally be explained were now often presumed to be the work of one's Semblance, despite how unnatural or how impossible it may seem. And because Semblance supposedly always had a logical explanation, then no matter how ridiculous or incredible it may be, every Semblance must confirm to the laws of nature in some way.
It was a somewhat flawed way of thinking, but he supposed it was better than trying to accept that the laws of nature are not absolute.
Yet these Personas seem to break that belief. Manipulation of wind? Very much possible. Manipulation of lightning? The same. Manipulation of fire? Again, possible. But to create lightning or fire from seemingly nothing? No, that just couldn't be possible. There had to be an explanation somewhere.
He set his jaw and prepared himself as Junpei summoned Trismegistus for the third time. He may not be a man of science, but he was a man of logic. And as a man of logic, he simply could not leave an issue like this alone. So, as the gem held in the Persona's beak glowed once again, he made a silent vow to himself. One way or another, he would make sense of all this.
"Well that was a gyp," complained Yang as she leaned on the wall next to their dorm room's door. "I really thought that would work."
"That would be a little too convenient, don't you think?" Blake asked her partner as they waited for Yukari to finish getting dressed.
After the testing, Yukari had mentioned heading to Vale for an errand and Yang had immediately volunteered the two of them to accompany the Persona-user. It meant losing a few hours of reading time, but one of her favorite bookstores was close to where Yukari was going. Since there was no convincing Yang when she set her mind to something, Blake just decided to make the best of it and planned to drop by the bookstore at some point.
The blonde just grinned with her teeth and shrugged. "Well you gotta admit, it would have been cool if it worked."
Blake returned the grin and the shrug, though her grin was a lot less wide. "I guess."
The sound of a door slamming shut caught the pair's attention, amber and lilac eyes glancing down the hallway from where the sound originated from. What they saw was a familiar black-clad, red-hooded girl looking down despondently while standing in front of a door. The door to Team ASYR's room in fact.
The pair glanced at one another briefly before Yang strode down the hallway, intent on finding out what happened. She barely got to Ruby before the door next to Blake opened. "Alright, are you two…" Yukari paused, immediately noticing the absence of a certain blonde. "Where's Yang?"
"Checking on Ruby," Blake replied, gesturing down the hallway with her head. "Not really sure what happened. We just heard a door slam shut and found Ruby standing outside the dorm. Since she was facing the door I'm guessing someone went in and shut her out."
It wouldn't keep the girl out, of course, given that her Scroll would unlock the door. Still, if she had been shut out because of an argument then the smart decision was to not follow and let the other party cool off. Given Team ASYR's members and team dynamics, it wouldn't even take a half-wit to figure out who had slammed the door shut.
Yukari just nodded and said, "Well, I can wait a while but if this takes too long I'm just gonna go on ahead."
Blake just nodded in response. No point making Yukari delay her plans since Yang had, once again, invited herself to someone else's plans. At least this time it wasn't something personal. She doubted Yukari would be as forgiving a second time. Especially now that she wasn't laden with grief. And if her brief encounter with Cardin and his team was any indication, Yukari had quite the temper, given the right circumstances, with a sharp tongue to match.
So amber eyes and brown eyes watched as the elder sibling comforted the younger, before gaining access to the room with the help of Ruby's Scroll. And when the blonde entered the room, leaving her sister standing outside, Blake and Yukari glanced at each other with a hint of worry, praying that Yang's blunt and straightforward nature would not cause the situation to deteriorate further.
The roar of laughter echoed from several mouths around the table of the staff room, a fist banging repeatedly on the table to add to the boisterous melody even as Mitsuru barely managed to restrain her own amusement, a small grin finding its way to one corner of her lips. Across from her and to the right, the red-haired wolf faunus that was Professor Giollah leaned on his fist, the connecting elbow resting on the table.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he said with a resigned look on his face. "You know, you could consider that nobody's laughing at how you got knocked around yourself."
Despite the soft admonishment, Professor Fair's amusement didn't abate any. Nor did that of Professors Oobleck and Port. Their laughter did die down a bit, however. "That's 'cause I didn't get knocked flat on my ass and back with a stupid look on my face." She forced down her laughter and stared at Professor Giollah with a stupefied, almost dumb, look that was supposed to be an imitation of the expression he had made earlier.
While not wholly accurate, the sight was enough to renew the laughter from the other two professors, as well as snickers from the two doctors at the table. And at the resigned sigh that slipped past the faunus's lips, even Fuuka, seated between Mitsuru and Aigis, had to cover her mouth to hide a giggle, though her quivering shoulders and closed eyes gave it all away. The only reason why the Headmaster and his deputy weren't amused as well was simply because they weren't there, having remained behind to collect the recordings of the test as well as making sure to erase all traces of it.
Mitsuru certainly couldn't fault them for their amusement, though perhaps Junpei should have warned their professor that the third and highest level of Trismegistus's fire attack took the form of an explosion, rather than just setting the target on fire. While he still might have been blown off his feet by the attack, the warning might have saved the man's dignity at the very least.
Eventually, the laughter subsided until all that was left were looks of amusement. "Still," continued the lavender-haired professor while brushing her hair out of her face, "That didn't exactly end how I expected it to. I mean, I knew the chance was there but that was just plain anti-climactic."
"To be honest, I fully expected it to end that way." Mitsuru's words drew everyone's attention to her, even Fuuka and Aigis as she had not shared her predictions with anyone beforehand. "Any other outcome would have been unexpected from my perspective."
The glasses-wearing history professor tilted his head slightly to the side as he turned to face his student, his hand quickly rising with his mug to take a quick sip of his coffee before speaking. "Interesting. So even before today, you were already certain that you and your friends would not awaken your Auras?"
Despite speaking in his usual manner, Mitsuru had little difficulty keeping up. "That's correct." Seeing the question in everyone's eyes, the former Kirijo heiress leaned forward a bit and placed her forearms on the table, lacing her fingers together. "Aura is the physical manifestation of one's soul, while Semblance is an extension of Aura, one that is unique to each individual, with few exceptions. Persona, on the other hand, is a power that is awakened from our very souls, one that we manifest physically with the aid of our Evokers."
That was old information, but Mitsuru's introduction to her explanation had already drawn their interest. Some had even understood where she was taking the conversation, if the brief flash of understanding that appeared in their eyes was any indication. "Both Aura and Persona come from the same source. Thus, I felt that it would be too much to ask for that same source to provide two different, even if similar, things."
Those who hadn't come to that conclusion yet nodded in understanding, and Mitsuru could hear the upper-year combat teacher muttering under her breath, asking herself why she hadn't considered that. If the heiress had to guess why, the answer was probably excitement at the possibly of having two different sets of abilities to use.
"Admittedly, I'm quite grateful," she continued, drawing attention to herself once more, "Because the source was the same, awakening our Aura might have erased our Personas completely, giving room for a Semblance to emerge. Perhaps even the other way around."
She could see the look of confusion on their faces at her words. Who wouldn't be confused? She had seen for herself over the past several weeks just what Aura and Semblance were capable of. And while Semblance was highly specialized unlike a Persona's wider variety of abilities, Aura alone could level the playing field due to its use for both offense and defense.
One-on-one, the Aura-user wins nine times out of ten. The only way they could lose was if it was a poor match-up of Semblance and Persona. In a group battle, however, she judged that there was an even chance for both sides to win depending on the quality of teamwork as well as what abilities were in play.
The bottom line, however, was that SEES was, at the end of the day, inferior to Huntsmen and Huntresses due to their lack of Aura. As the testing had revealed, it would take at least four hits from even the strongest attack from a Persona to whittle down one's Aura to the red zone. Unfortunately, that meant wasting precious seconds summoning the Persona in the first place. Someone like Ruby, whose Semblance was, quite simply, speed, could dash in and, at worst, kill the summoner long before the Persona could manifest, if they even managed to shoot the Evoker.
So yes, she understood their confusion very well.
But that was against a human or faunus opponent. Against the Grimm, however, Personas were far superior. Their initiation proved that. A Persona's wide-range abilities were highly effective against enemies that always appeared in large groups. And while a skilled Huntsman team could kill the same number of Grimm with ease, it would undoubtedly take much longer in comparison. Of that, she was certain.
Weapons and teamwork for the smaller Shadows, Personas and teamwork for the larger and more dangerous ones. That was how SEES always fought. It was the only way they could fight, given the sheer power the larger Shadows had. And while the smaller and younger Grimm were more dangerous than their Shadow counterparts, that way of fighting would not change very much.
"Perhaps it's foolish," she said, volunteering the answer rather than waiting for someone to ask. "But my Persona is a symbol of my journey from the moment I awakened my power as a child…" Her voice trailed away as her eyes lost focus, the room almost fading from view as she thought back to that very day she had just mentioned, that deep, instinctual desire to survive warring with her personal desire to save her father.
Then her thoughts went to that day by the river when Yukari literally slapped some sense into her. That was the day she had learned to stop living in and looking to the past and, instead, live in the present while looking to the future. That was also the day when she felt something change deep within her, a change marked by Penthesilea changing into Artemisia, a phenomenon that still had no proper explanation. "… To that fateful day I found the resolve to truly live and not merely exist."
For a moment, there was only silence. Everybody could feel the weight of Mitsuru's words, even if only two people asides from herself understood what she meant. That silence was broken by the pair who entered the room.
"Sentimentality is all well and good at times," the Headmaster said as he approached the table with a faint smile, one that a parent might give when indulging a child's fantasies. Professor Goodwitch walked in as well, shutting and locking the door behind her before joining them at the table. "But, wouldn't it have been better for whatever goal you have in mind if you were better protected?"
"Perhaps." Mitsuru responded in kind, an indulgent smile gracing her lips. "But as I said, my Persona is a symbol of my journey thus far. It would be unthinkable for me to replace the one who helped me protect that which was dear to me, and helped me fight for my future, before my journey has come to an end."
"Besides," continued the redhead, "With the sole exception of the attack that cost us our home, we have survived with only two casualties over the nine-month period since we became active in our fight against the Grimm despite the disadvantages we have compared to those who have Aura. And that was against Grimm of various kinds and ages, and without outside support."
By 'outside support', she was, of course, referring to the non-existent Japanese equivalent of Huntsmen. It was one of the many necessary lies that she and the others had to maintain about Japan while in the presence of others. Mitsuru didn't like lying to them, especially since they seemed to trust her words with only a hint of doubt, but some things, she told herself, were simply more of a necessity rather than desire.
Ozpin, however, didn't seem to be satisfied with her answer. Neither was his deputy, if her frown and accompanying response was anything to go by. "Some would argue that two casualties, especially those of your age, would be far too much regardless."
Mitsuru couldn't deny the blonde teacher's words, but to only lose two people was, in her eyes, a miracle. "That may be so, but Shinjiro was already dying by that point and used what was left of his life to save someone else's."
'In more ways than one,' she finished in her head, thinking of what Ken had shared when he returned to the dorm following Shinjiro's death by Takaya's hands.
"Minato's death," she continued, "Or rather, his sacrifice, is what allowed us to be here today. The nine of us surviving is, as I've said before, nothing less than a miracle."
The reminder that they were still alive suddenly brought down the mood. Much more than Mitsuru was expecting. It took her a moment to realize her error.
To the school's staff, the destruction of an entire civilization happened in one night, just as she and SEES had recounted in their tale. Countless lives were lost in one fell swoop as the Grimm invaded en masse, leaving only eight children and one dog.
To her and the rest of SEES, however, the destruction of Japan was something that happened over the course of however many centuries have passed, millennia even. However, she theorized that, rather than all of its citizens dying, it was more likely that the Japanese, or perhaps just a portion of them, fled to mainland Asia when defending an isolated island nation became too difficult. Or perhaps even impossible, if they were ever cut off from outside aid.
Since their arrival in Vale, Mitsuru had seen hints that parts of Japanese life have survived the ages. Blake's yukata-like sleepwear, which she saw every night, wasn't enough evidence, of course, but it sparked the idea in the redhead's mind. Some research later revealed that many smaller cities and settlements in Anima bore distinctly eastern influences, evidence that her theory was most likely correct.
That did bring up an issue she sought to correct after learning of it. It was unlikely that Elizabeth had been aware of it when she bought them, but some of the books she had brought them assumed that the reader already had some general knowledge of the world. Most likely, they were books for students their age, students who had already gone through a basic education. That is, a basic education by Remnant's standards, not Japan's. As such, some things were not properly explained.
Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral were the names of the four great kingdoms across Remnant. At the same time, however, those were the names of the cities that formed the center of each kingdom. They were, however, not the names of the land itself, as she and SEES had come to believe.
Sanus, Solitas, and Anima. Those were the names of the three continents upon which the four kingdoms were built upon. Vale and Vacuo were part of the same continent, Sanus, while Atlas and Mistral were located in Solitas and Anima respectively. In hindsight, it should have been obvious that a kingdom would not encompass such a large and broad area, enough for several countries, but given that they had been frozen in time for what could have been thousands of years, such a thing could have become possible.
Still, correcting what knowledge they had and ensuring they were all properly educated was the reason they have come to Beacon in the first place. Nobody could fault them too much for their mistakes, given the circumstances.
"Perhaps we should move on to something a bit more… pleasant." The Headmaster's suggestion brought everyone's attention to the small stack of papers that Glynda had distributed to them all with her Semblance. Taking a look at them, Mitsuru noticed that they were notes on the test, carefully detailed and arranged in order of the tests.
Everyone went over their copies silently at first, some, like Professor Oobleck and the two doctors, making notes on the margins and even on the back of the paper. She, however, committed it all to memory. An ability earned after years of diligently studying. Not long after, people started putting down their copies as they ran through the entire report.
Once they were all done, with the sole exception of one person still diligently making notes, the Headmaster addressed them all. "Is there any particular issue anyone would like to bring up?"
"I do, actually." The red-haired wolf faunus was the first to speak up. He turned to Mitsuru when his employer gestured at him to go ahead. "It's well known that our Semblance is tied to our Aura, even if it's rare for a Semblance to drain Aura when used. That said, having no Aura at any point in time makes it impossible to utilize our Semblance. In your case, I'm curious if there's a limit to summoning a Persona."
Mitsuru nodded, having expected that question at some point. Then again, with all the planning they had done months prior, there was probably nothing they could ask about the topic of Persona that she didn't expect in some form. "There is a limit, yes, but it's much different. Summoning a Persona is both mentally AND physically exhausting."
"The process of summoning a Persona is essentially a simulation of death, tricking the mind into thinking we are in a perilous situation in order to access the power deep within our unconscious minds." She leaned back and crossed her arms as she explained, drawing on knowledge she had long since learned from the Kirijo Group's scientists literally ages ago. "Knowing that, I'm sure the mental exhaustion needs little in the way of explanation." The nods she received confirmed her words. "As for the physical exhaustion, it's most likely that our body's energy is used to fuel the Persona's attacks and prolonged presence in the real world."
"What do you mean 'most likely'?" asked Professor Port, stroking his moustache as he spoke. "Do you mean to say that you are uncertain?"
It was times like these that made Mitsuru remember that the rotund man was, despite his overly verbose manner of teaching, a highly experienced Huntsman with the intelligence to match. "The soul is a metaphysical concept, while the body is physical. Thus a Persona is the physical manifestation of a metaphysical concept. Does the fact that it comes from our soul mean that it draws its power from our soul, which then affects our physical body?"
A calm, elderly voice interjected at that point. "Or does the fact that it now exists on the physical plane mean that it draws energy from a physical source. Yes, yes, I see now why it would be quite the controversial topic," finished the elderly Chief Doctor Mores, leaning forward in his seat to lean his forearms on the table. "And what about Ms. Arisato?" Half the room turned to Aigis, who perked up a bit at her name. Her assumed one at least. "As she is not human, do these limitations apply to her as well?"
As it was her that was now being discussed, Aigis opted to answer for herself. "They do." Was it wrong that a small part of her enjoyed the slightly shocked looks on their faces? "While my Papillon Heart is speculated to be able to provide limitless energy, my body is unable to contain a large amount nor is it able to handle a high output of energy. As such, completely replenishing my energy reserves requires several hours of rest. Or at the very least, activities that require less energy than the Papillon Heart's energy output provides."
"And the mental exhaustion?"
"As we have said before, I was created to be as close as possible to a human. And that includes my mental processes. Anything I know now that was not present at the time of my creation and initial activation are things I have learned on my own. My mental capacity to remember and to learn, as well as many other things, are no greater than that of what a human is capable of. As such, I, too, feel the mental strain associated with summoning Athena. And yes, that means I also need to study for my classes."
There were a few chuckles at her quip, though that did little to erase their bemusement at what she just said. "Does that mean that you fear death as well?" asked the elderly doctor. "It is, after all, the main catalyst that allows for the summoning of a Persona."
"I do." Again, she resisted the urge to grin at the shocked looks she received from half the room. "Initially, however, because I was created rather than born, I was able to summon a Persona despite having no such fear. Rather, the conditions for summoning were artificially induced." There were more than a few inquisitive glances at that statement, ones that she chose to ignore for the moment. "Later, there came a time when I began to feel apprehension at the thought of failure, at the thought of being destroyed or deactivated, never again to open my eyes. It was not long after that my perspective on things changed, gaining a fear of death but also an appreciation for life. And though it is only speculation on my part, I believe that this understanding somehow deepened my connection to my Persona as well."
Ozpin chose that moment to cut in, gently so as not to make it obvious. "Interesting. If that is the case, how many times can you summon your Persona before you are unable to? And is the limit the same for the rest of your friends?" Though there were many questions brought up by Aigis's explanation of her inner workings, now was not the time. Not only did they have the test results to discuss, but it was also a Sunday.
Ozpin certainly didn't want to deprive them of the one day of the week when they could rest, the three students in front of him especially. It was still late morning, but he was hoping they could finish before noon to give them at least half the day to themselves.
Still, even he couldn't deny how his curiosity was piqued by the many new development brought on by the arrival of eight students from a previously unknown land. While it was clear to him that they were still hiding something, he was slowly, but surely, becoming certain that it was not hidden out of ill-intent.
And so he listened to Fuuka and Mitsuru as they explained how simply summoning places stress on the mind and body, while the abilities used add a little more to it, and prolonged summoning for continuous or physical attacks lead a slow but continuous drain. All the while, he couldn't help but wonder what life would throw his way in exchange for everything that has happened thus far.
While Mitsuru remained behind with Aigis and Fuuka to discuss the more technical details of the test results, all the others went on with their day, intent on spending the rest of their Sunday strictly for pleasure.
One such quintet were walking down the streets of Vale's commercial district, having just gotten off the bus that they rode from the airship docks. Normally, one would think that a group like theirs had made plans to spend the day in each other's company. In this particular case, however, it was one person who had plans while the other four came along for one reason or another.
"So you aren't getting anything for yourself?"
Yukari shook her head in response to Yang's question even as they continued down the sidewalk. "No, just for Aigis. Back home, we got used to her always wearing her uniform outdoors so it slipped our minds to buy something for her back when we went shopping before classes started. Didn't help that Aigis didn't say anything at the time. She probably felt that the Gekkoukan uniform would work well enough even as casual wear."
"So she always wore that whenever she went out?" Yang seemed to frown at the thought of only wearing one set of clothing.
Yukari actually felt the same way, now that she looked back on how thoughtless that was of them. "There were some exceptions. We took her to the summer festival wearing a yukata once. It was crowded enough that nobody really noticed her feet. We still had to be careful though." She paused as she remember that incident. "Though one time Minato took her to the movies since Aigis was interested in one that came out that time."
"She has this blue dress, more like a nightgown actually, and she wore that to the movies that day." Both Yang and Blake cringed at that image. "Yeah, that bad," she said, not realizing that their reaction was not for the same reason as hers. "People stared since her clothes didn't exactly look like it was meant for an outing. That meant people saw what her actual feet looked like. And since that was before she started developing a more human personality, she nearly blurted out that she was a robot."
She rolled her eyes at the memory but then smiled faintly as she remembered what happened next. "Honestly, as embarrassed as I would have been if I was there at the time, it might have been worth it just to see Minato-kun's reaction. According to Aigis, he was almost panicking as he tried to convince people she simply had prosthetics while trying to stop her from asking why he was lying."
It was both an amusing, yet cringe-worthy tale, the former only winning out due to Minato's efforts to keep Aigis's true form hidden. Minato had gotten a bit of a stern talk from Mitsuru for his carelessness. While it had been a weekend, it would have been better for people to stare because Aigis was in uniform, rather than because she looked like she had left the house without changing out of her nightwear. That, and her specially-made shoes would have concealed her obviously non-human feet. Shoes that would have looked completely out of place with her dress. Not that she hadn't already look out of place wearing that dress outdoors.
"But… why didn't he just tell people she was a robot?" The innocent question came from Ruby, and Yukari stopped to turn and face the younger girl. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Uncle Qrow once said that the big cities in Atlas use robots to help the police patrol the city."
Yukari was about to correct Ruby's way of thinking, but then realized she had slipped up. SEES was, in their cover story, a publicly known group. Even Anti-Shadow Weapons were supposedly known to the public. So there was, technically, no reason for Aigis to have to hide her real body while in Japan. At least, according to their cover story. The only reason she was hiding now was because androids with Aura have yet to be invented, let alone one with a Semblance or a personality as human as Aigis's.
"Well, well, fancy meeting you here, Yukari."
The brunette spun around quickly, grateful for the interruption as it meant having more time to think up an excuse that wouldn't dig her into a deeper hole. However, doing so meant missing the suspicious look that Weiss sent her when the heiress noticed the delay in the archer's response, as well as how she had quickly tensed up just before the delay.
The smile on her face grew as she spotter Coco and Velvet approaching after having crossed at the nearby intersection. "Hey Coco. Hey Velvet." Yukari could have gotten down on her knees in gratitude for their timely arrival, if not for the fact that she wouldn't have been able to explain why. Instead, she decided to make sure to treat them to something nice later or the next time they got together for lunch or a snack. "Let me guess, trying to get Velvet to expand her wardrobe again?"
The two upperclassmen were dressed in their casual clothing. Well, casual for Coco in any case, given that all her outfits that Yukari had seen were well-coordinated, elaborate, and showy, though, thankfully, never to the point of extravagance.
At the question, Velvet seemed to grow embarrassed as she looked away slightly with a blush while Coco laughed. "I'm not trying this time," she said, emphasizing the third word. "Velvs finally gave in so we've been going around for the past hour-and-a-half trying on stuff from different places. Haven't found a place to her tastes yet but I'll find it. I know every place here in Vale by heart."
Velvet's accented words chimed in at that moment, the blush gone from her face. "I did tell you some places where I prefer to shop but you turned me down."
Coco leaned in and wrapped an arm around the shorter rabbit faunus. "Come on honey bunny, if we're gonna get you some new outfits it should at least be the best we can get, right?"
"First," began Velvet, trying to balance herself as some of the taller girl's weight settle on her. "I give that nickname a four. The rhyming is nice but I hardly want to be called that in public. Second…"
Yukari sighed and tuned her out. She knew exactly why Velvet wasn't shopping at any of Coco's favorite stores. Even without having seen Coco's wardrobe, one look at the clothes they were wearing at that moment was all it took. While Coco didn't settle for anything but the best in terms of quality, Velvet clearly didn't have such strict beliefs. She was more like Yukari in that regard. On the other hand, Coco's handbag alone looked like it was custom-made. Yukari was fairly certain those bullets were real, even if empty of gunpowder or Dust.
She decided to step in before the fashionista scared away her teammate and partner from the long-awaited wardrobe expansion. "Coco, maybe you should let her have this," she said, putting an end to their friendly argument. "I mean, it took you this long to get her to agree in the first place. Just let her start off where she's comfortable unless you wanna scare her back to square one."
She then turned her eyes to Velvet, the faunus meeting her eyes with gratitude. "Though you might want to compromise a bit," she said, making the gratitude fade slightly in place of confusion. "If she's still insisting on paying for everything then it's only fair if you let her buy you an outfit or two from some place she likes."
"Ah. I suppose that's fine," Velvet responded in understanding, though her eyes seemed to have some difficulty meeting Yukari's.
Next to her, Coco lowered her sunglasses a bit to look Yukari directly in the eyes. "Well look at you, playing the nice little mediator. Little soon to be practicing for the third-year Diplomacy class, don't you think?"
Yukari just rolled her eyes, used to Coco's lightly teasing banter by now. Still, she'd take that any day over hers and Junpei's more acerbic brand of banter. "Don't start. Anyway, let me introduce you guys." She didn't care if it was obvious she didn't want to get into the little game. It would be rude to just let the others stand there watching.
"'Bout time you remembered," teased Yang, grinning all the while. Blake elbowed her partner lightly, though her eyes were on the older pair of girls the entire time. Ruby and Weiss had stepped up to stand in line with them. Ignoring the elbow jab, the blonde just went on. "I was a little worried you were gonna walk off and leave us behind."
"Just for that, you can go last," she shot back without hesitation, smiling faintly at Yang's mock indignation. "Anyway, these are Ruby and Weiss. They're part of Team ASYR." She held out her hand in the direction of the two aforementioned girls, one giving a shy wave and hiding slightly behind her elder sister while the other gave a curt nod, though her ice blue eyes were firmly locked onto Velvet. Specifically her ears. Yukari made a note to keep a close eye on the situation. "Next is-"
"Pardon me," cut in Velvet, her brown eyes turning to Yukari's black-haired teammate. "Are you…"
Though the question had trailed off, Blake seemed to know what was being asked as she nodded. "I'm Blake, Yukari's teammate."
Velvet nodded, seemingly satisfied by the answer she received. Next to her, Coco was giving Blake an appraising look for some reason. Yukari was just confused but suspected there was something there that she was missing.
"Then you must be Yang," Velvet said as she turned to the blonde, giving no indication at all of what she and Blake had just been 'talking' about.
"Yup, that's me," came the cheerful reply. Not even a second later, a glint of recognition flashed through Yang's lilac eyes. "Hey, aren't you-"
"Yes, Yang, she is," interrupted Yukari, sighing inwardly at her teammate's obvious lack of tact. "Also, her name's Velvet, just in case you wanted to know." She shot the blonde a look, though Yang just responded with a grin. "And this is Coco, her partner and leader of Team CFVY."
"Nice to finally put some faces on some names," said Coco, glancing at each of the other four briefly as though taking the time to memorize their faces. "So where are you kids headed?"
"You do know I'm the same age as you, right?" she asked with a faint grin. "Can't exactly call me a kid." Yukari ignored the more than slightly raised eyebrows that peaked over the top of Coco's sunglasses. Obviously they wouldn't know, seeing as she never told them. She did not miss the slight look of surprise on Velvet's face as well. And… was that relief? No, probably something else. "As for where we're going, I'm actually going clothes shopping for Aigis. I didn't really have anything planned for today so I volunteered to go since she had some important stuff to do today."
"Oh? She trusts you enough for that?"
The archer just shrugged. "If it was anyone else I wouldn't be doing this. Aigis is pretty easy to shop for." And wasn't that the truth. As long as it covered up everything and went well with her boots then it would be fine. That, and it had to be easy to move in. That second one was a bit harder, but the place she had in mind made clothes specifically for that purpose and also allowed for returns provided they came back within three days.
"It's probably not one of your preferred places, but we're heading to a place I know just two blocks down that way." She pointed to the left of the intersection behind the two. "It's a place called-"
"Black and Smith," finished Velvet, perking up as she named the store and giggling at the look of distaste on Coco's face. "That's one of the few places where I shop for clothing since most of what they have are for Huntsmen and Huntresses who need sturdy clothing for field work."
Yukari smiled and nodded, only slightly surprised that her friend knew about it as well. "Yeah, that's the one. Aigis doesn't care much for fashion, but she does want to be able to move properly if a fight breaks out so I thought that would be a good place to start."
"Mind if we join you?" asked Velvet. She glanced briefly at Coco, making the taller brunette swallow any protests she had at shopping at that particular store. "I may as well replace some old outfits since we're nearby."
"You guys mind?" Yukari asked the quartet beside her, paying close attention to the girl who was discreetly watching the rabbit faunus. Three responded with a negative, some more enthusiastic than others, while the target of her attention gave a non-committal hum. That was good enough for now. As long as she didn't say or do anything overtly rude, or even discreetly, she wouldn't push the issue. "Alright. Let's get going."
"You didn't have to come with me, you know?"
"I know. I just wanted to."
Ken accepted his teammate's words as he and Ren left the cemetery, boarding a bus headed in the direction of the residential district. In his hands was the wooden bucket while his backpack held the box of incense and the brush he used to clean the gravestone with. Thankfully, due to the grave being isolated from the others, there was no trash around it that needed to be cleaned up.
"Besides," continued Ren, "The crime rate in Vale has been steadily rising for the past month now. Most are theft in nature, but I'd rather none of us wander around alone just in case. And," his voice took on a slightly more worried tone. "Yours and the others' lack of Aura is still a concern for us. We know you can handle yourselves, but to us, only civilians don't have Aura. We'll eventually get used to it though, don't worry."
He didn't like it that much, but he appreciated their concern. Still, that did bring up something interesting. "Why doesn't everyone just awaken their Aura then?"
"There's a good reason for that, actually." Ren's voice took on a more serious tone as he gave his answer. "Do you know where emotions come from?"
Ken nodded. "It's when the body releases more of certain chemicals in reaction to something we experience. The brain notices the changes in our body and lets us know by letting us 'feel' the changes in the form of emotions."
He waited a while for the magenta-eyed teen to response, but received nothing. He turned to the seat beside him and found Ren watching him with a dubious look on his face. "Are you sure you're thirteen?" he asked.
Ken just smiled and chuckled in response, not giving an answer either way. Honestly, he was tempted to say that he was thousands of years old. Not exactly a lie, considering their situation. Still, given that it was Ren, his reaction wouldn't have been as exciting compared to Nora's.
Ren just shook his head in amusement and continued with his explanation. "Anyway, scientific explanation on emotions from a thirteen-year-old aside, most people say that emotions come from the heart, which was what I thought you'd say." Ken just shot him another smile. "But since we all know that the heart doesn't really produce emotions, the heart they refer to in this case is deeper. Rather than the heart of the body, emotions come from the heart of the person as a whole."
Ken's brown eyes narrowed as the dots connected in his mind. "The soul."
Ren nodded. "Exactly. And that's precisely the problem. Aura is the physical manifestation of our souls. And if emotions come from the soul, then Aura is also an extension of our emotions. And since Grimm are attracted to negative emotions..." he trailed off, eyeing Ken expectantly.
"People with Aura are more likely to attract them," Ken finished with barely any delay. "I see. So having Aura can be dangerous too," he concluded with a nod. Then suddenly, his eyes shot open as a thought came to him. "Wait, doesn't that mean that you'll be in more danger if we fight the Grimm?"
"Not necessarily." Unlike Ken, Ren didn't seem worried at all. "That's only if we allow ourselves to feel the emotions needed to draw Grimm to us. Look at Nora for example. With how she's so cheerful even in a fight, she's less likely to attract the Grimm's attention. Of course, that's only if she hasn't already caught the Grimm's attention." Knowing the orange-haired girl, she was more likely to draw attention on purpose. "Even so, nearby Grimm aren't as likely to be drawn towards the fight compared to someone who's cowering in fear or is angry at Grimm for hurting their team."
Beacon's youngest student nodded in understanding, understanding how a Huntsman could offset the disadvantage of being more attention-catching than civilians. At the same time, it opened up possibilities if they ever needed to draw the Grimm's attention away from someone or something else.
"Still…" Ren's thoughtful tone drew him away from his thoughts as he looked back up at his teammate. "That does bring up something that might be related. Do you remember the initiation, where you said you, Akihiko, and the rest of SEES were chased by that horde of Grimm we fought?"
The boy nodded. "I don't think that's something I'll ever forget."
"True enough," Ren replied with a small smile. Then the smile faded and his face reflected his thoughtfulness once more. "There was something that I noticed during that fight. Even though we, that is, those with Aura, were more dangerous, the Grimm were particularly focused on targeting SEES." Ken frowned at the older teen's words. "I'm guessing you didn't notice then."
He shook his head. No, he hadn't. And the fact that nobody else brought it up meant that the rest of SEES hadn't either. That was not something that any one among them would keep hidden. "Maybe the Grimm felt we were easier prey since we didn't have Aura?" he offered. And yet, something deep within him denied the theory almost as soon as it left his lips. Somehow, he knew that this wasn't it. That there was some deeper reason why the Grimm targeted SEES.
"Maybe, but I don't think so," Ren responded with a doubtful shake of his head. "The younger Grimm, maybe, but the elder Grimm like the Beowolf Alphas and Ursa Majors? Grimm that have lived long enough to grow that old are capable of assessing a situation and directing other, younger Grimm, much like how a team leader would assess a situation and adjust the team's strategy and tactics."
"So what you're saying is…"
"The Grimm targeted SEES for a reason," finished Ren, his expression far more serious and forbidding than Ken could ever remember seeing. "Worst comes to worst, you and Akihiko, and even the rest of SEES, just might find yourselves the center of attraction if we went on a Grimm extermination mission."
That was a sobering thought. One that Ken hoped was very much wrong as they stepped off the bus when they reached their stop just two blocks away from their destination, SEES's house.
Ken couldn't call it a home just yet. After all, they've only visited the place once as a group and none of them have yet to spend the night there. The only other time someone went there was when they wanted to visit the cemetery. They would then have to come to the house to pick up the bucket and ladle, the cleaning brush, the incense, and the matches. Afterwards, they would come back to return the items before going on with their day.
Today, however, was slightly different. Parked outside the house was a large delivery truck, the back open and revealing three crates of varying sizes. Two large men, one of them a faunus with bear ears, carried a fourth crate through the gate and then around the side of the house. Most likely towards the sliding doors near the dining area, since the front door was far too narrow for the crate.
Ken and Ren entered through the front door, finding Akihiko standing there next to two other crates. "Are these the things you ordered senpai?" Ken asked as he approached, noting that one crate had been opened and looked to be only half-full.
"Yeah," the boxer responded as he turned to face the approaching pair. "Though I doubt I'll have time to put them all together today. There's some stuff I have to take care of for Mitsuru later on since she's discussing the experiment results with Ozpin."
"RENNY! KENNY!"
Ken yelped when he felt two arms wrap around his waist as the girl who was only a few inches taller than him lifted him off his feet with no difficulty at all. Then he felt himself being spun around, Nora's high-pitched squeals of joy piercing straight through his ears. Eventually he was set down on his feet, only to stumble around like a drunk, flailing his arms around as he attempted to keep his balance. In the end, the battle was lost and the floor rose to meet his bottom.
Nora just giggled at the sight, watching from her spot on Ren's back, which she occupied soon after releasing Ken. "Onwards Ren!" she cheered, raising her hand up and throwing it forward.
"Onwards where?" asked Ren, grinning slightly at Nora's silliness.
"Anywhere!"
Ren sighed but didn't lose his grin. At least, not until Akihiko spoke up, standing beside him but slightly towards his back. "Well, since you have a horse, carrying the rest of this should be easier now, right?"
Before he could ask what they would be carrying, he felt the weight on his back slowly increase as Nora accepted whatever it was that Akihiko had given her. The soft but heavy clanking sound made him curious. Slowly craning his neck to glance behind him, she saw Nora carrying a small pile of steel in various shapes and sizes. And the silver-haired boxer was pulling more out of the crate and handing it to her one by one.
"H-Hey! W-Wait!" protested Ren, feeling his legs beginning to quiver underneath the heavy weight. Thankfully, Akihiko stopped.
Nora, however, was of a different mind. "Aw, come on. Ren can take much more than this." She hefted the objects in her hands, the shifting weight causing her steed to sway on his legs and struggle to keep his balance.
"Nora!"
His childhood friend just giggled and laughed, but he felt the weight decrease nonetheless. His load was still quite heavy, but it was much more bearable now. Though he did glare at Akihiko out of the corner of his eyes. The grin on his team leader's face told him that he had done that on purpose.
"Come on Ren, let's go, go, go!"
Her rowdiness made it harder to keep his balance, but the lighter load helped mitigate this somewhat. Knowing she wouldn't give this up anytime soon, he slowly marched towards where her finger had pointed earlier, the door next to the foot of the stairs.
Akihiko watched the pair depart, grinning mischievously for a moment before turning back to his partner. "You alright there Ken?"
"I'll be fine senpai." Yet despite his words, his body was still swaying slightly even though he was sitting down on the floor. "As soon as the room stops moving so much."
Eventually it did, and Ken helped Ren and Nora, the latter now walking on her own feet once more, transfer the contents of the first crate into the next room. Once all the crates had been brought into the house, Akihiko thanked the delivery men and bid them farewell. Then he moved to the open crate and helped unpack its contents.
Once all the objects in the first crate were unpacked, Akihiko unfolded the piece of paper that had been inside, revealing it to be assembly instructions for a leg press machine. Then he frowned and pulled out his Scroll to check the time. "Maybe I should have started with a smaller one. Doesn't look like I'll have time to finish this before I have to run Mitsuru's errand."
"We can do it senpai," said Ken. And when Akihiko looked up, he found himself face-to-face with not only Ken, but also Nora's smiling face. "I don't have anything else planned for today so I can stay longer."
"Yeah." Nora agreed with a cheer. Then she started off on one of her branching thoughts. "Then we can put all these together and start exercising. Then when we go in to combat class tomorrow we'll be really, really big and muscly. Well, except Ken. He looks better when he's small and cute." She paused briefly and looked up in thought. "Ren," she began seriously, "Do you think Ken can make big muscles look cute?"
As Ren tried to convince Nora that no amount of exercise could give someone the huge muscles she was imagining in one day, Akihiko turned to Ken. "You sure? It's not like we're gonna be able to use all this for a while yet."
Ken nodded firmly. "I'm sure senpai."
Akihiko searched Ken's face for a moment, wondering why he decided to volunteer to finish the assembly. And given the boy's tone, he was certain they would try to assemble more than just the one they had unpacked. It was only when the sound of laughter reached his ears that he turned away, his attention now drawn to Nora, who was playing around with a few of the steel parts.
A thought entered his mind just then. Looking to confirm it, he discreetly glanced at Ken, who was watching Nora's hijinks with a strange look in his eyes. He hummed softly in thought. If he was right…
"Ken." When the young Persona-user turned to him, he held out several one-hundred Lien cards that he had pulled out of his wallet. "There's no food here and the closest place is a decent diner about three or four blocks north from here. Or if you'd rather stay in, I'm sure you can use your Scroll to find a place that delivers. You have your copy of the keys, right?"
The brown-haired boy took a moment to process his senior's words, absent-mindedly taking the money. When he did, he smiled and nodded gratefully. "Hai, Akihiko-senpai." In his excitement, he slipped back to Japanese.
Akihiko just smiled in response and gave his shoulder a firm pat. "Alright then, I'll leave this place to you. Be sure to lock up and let me know when you leave, alright?"
He left the room after calling out a farewell to Nora and Ren, the smile still on his lips as he stepped out the front door and past the gates. And as he stood at the bus stop, waiting for the one that would take him to his destination, he glanced up at the sky. "You don't need to worry about him," he spoke softly. "He'll be fine."
She knew from the stories that Coco was a borderline shopaholic. The only thing stopping her from buying every scrap of clothing that caught her eyes was her self-imposed budget. Something no shopaholic could ever manage to maintain.
But she hadn't expected her to be quite so discerning when it came to clothing. Well, that wasn't quite true. Her ability to coordinate her outfits meant she had an eye for detail after all. Yukari just hadn't expected her to take it so seriously even when it wasn't her clothing in question.
"No, just no." Another top was flung into the hands of the store employee from within the dressing room, a shy squeak coming from within. No doubt Coco had been the one to take the top off despite not being the one wearing it.
Yukari sighed even as she turned to the other employee and held out a set of clothing, stacked neatly on one hand. "Do you have these in a different size?" she asked, her other hand holding a slip of paper. "They're for a friend of mine. I have her measurements right here."
"Let me check." The young woman nodded as she took the list of measurements, gave it a quick glance, and then returned it even as her other hand raised her Scroll up.
Yukari left her to her job and glanced around the store. Yang and Ruby were in one corner of the store, checking out some accessories for Huntsmen that the store carried. Next to the door, Weiss sat on a bench, reading something on her Scroll.
Despite being offered the chance to go elsewhere if they weren't planning on shopping there, Weiss opted to stay with the group but not necessarily with them. Blake, on the other hand, had accepted the offer, having gone down the street to a small, used book store they passed on the way.
'I can't believe I'm about to do this,' she thought as her feet began to move. 'But still…' she glanced back to where Yang was playing around with Ruby and then shook her head, disappointed in her teammate's behavior. Facing forward once more, she let her feet carry her to her destination and, without another word, sat down next to Weiss.
She leaned forward slightly as she sat, hands bearing her weight on her thighs. "You sure you don't wanna go elsewhere?" she asked the heiress, though her eyes alternated between keeping an eye on the two siblings and her friends in the dressing room just in case any of them approached. "From the looks of things, Coco and Velvet are gonna take a while. We could just send you a message when we're done here or something."
Weiss didn't even both to turn to face her, her attention solely on whatever she was reading on her Scroll. "No thank you," came the curt reply.
Yukari hid a sigh, the conversation she overhead earlier, if it could even be called a proper conversation, coming to mind. "Look, if you wanna go back to Beacon then just go." With her sight not focused on Weiss, she missed the way the heiress's arms tensed, her fingers clutching the sides of the Scroll just a little tighter. "It's not like you had to come just because Yang and Ruby were pestering you."
"If you don't want me here then just say so instead of using that blonde brute as an excuse." The hostility in Weiss's sharp retort caught Yukari off-guard, not having expected her to respond in such a manner. Thankfully, she hadn't raised her voice. "At least be honest instead of acting like you care."
Yukari took a deep breath at those words, holding it in her lungs for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. As much as Weiss got on her nerves, and though she didn't outright say anything to Mitsuru about playing nice, picking a fight was the one thing she needed to avoid. For more than the obvious reasons.
"You're right, I don't care," she began, the heiress nodding as though to say 'Good of you to admit it'. "But not caring and being rude are two different things." That had the heiress sending her an inquisitive look that Yukari took as an invitation to explain. "I know that Yang pretty much forced you to come along. And that she wanted you to hang out more with Ruby."
"And why would I want to 'hang out' with that dolt she calls a sister?"
Yukari curled her fingers and clenched her jaw, mentally reminding herself of why she approached the heiress in the first place. "Whether you hang out with Ruby or not isn't my business, and why Yang dragged you along isn't the point I'm trying to make. My point, is that you clearly don't want to be here."
The heiress scoffed. "Are you done pointing out the obvious yet?"
"If it's so obvious then why are you still here? Better yet, why did you agree to come along?" Yukari shot back, struggling just a bit to keep her volume even. Drawing attention to their conversation was not something she needed right now. "Yang's pretty pushy but that doesn't mean she's right about whatever she's being stubborn about. And it definitely doesn't mean that going along with it is the best way to get her to stop. If anything, it'll just make her think she can do it again later on."
"Again, are you done pointing out the obvious?" Yukari could just imagine the heiress rolling her eyes. It wouldn't surprise her if Weiss started thinking that she was an idiot for pointing out so many 'obvious' things.
"Again, if it's so obvious then why are you still here?" she shot back, using the exact same tone that Weiss had just used. "You don't want to be here but you are. You didn't have to let Yang force you to come along but you did. You're here but you act like you don't want to be. Yang isn't doing anything to keep you here but you haven't left. So you tell me," she paused as she turned to face the heiress for the first time since the conversation began, sharp brown eyes meeting surprised and conflicted blue ones. "Is it really that obvious?"
Yukari held her gaze for a while longer, waiting to see if Weiss would actually respond. Eventually, the sound of the dressing room curtain being slid open reached her ears and she knew her time was up. She broke away from Weiss's eyes and took a deep calming breath, relaxing her facial muscles as she stood. "If you wanna leave, then just go. No point wasting the day by doing something you don't even want to do in the first place."
As she made to approach Coco, who was trying to coax out a, presumably, embarrassed Velvet from the dressing room, she heard Weiss call out to her in a soft voice. "Yukari, I…" She stopped abruptly, sounding quite hesitant for some reason. Before she could turn around, the girl said, "Never mind." The sound of the door sliding open then shutting came soon after, signaling the heiress's departure.
It might have been her imagination, but for a moment she could have sworn there was some other emotion lacing Weiss's tone asides from her hesitance. And as she went over to Coco, who was urging her to help convince Velvet to come out and show off her new outfit, she couldn't help but think that Weiss sounded almost sad just before she departed the store.
"You sure about this Yukari?" Yang asked as the waitress, a young faunus woman with long black hair and green scales along the right side of her face, filled their glasses with water after taking their orders. "It's not like we can't pay for it ourselves after all."
The archer just waved off Yang's concerns, saying, "Like I said, it's fine. Besides, it's not like this is going to be a regular thing."
The blonde relented and leaned back into her seat. "Alright, if you say so. Still, this is a pretty nice place. Too bad Weiss had to bail on us."
The little restaurant they were in was one that Yukari accompanied Mitsuru to one day. The former Kirijo heiress had heard about a place that was owned and run solely by faunus and wanted to see it for herself. She had originally wanted to ask Blake to accompany her, given that their normally quiet teammete was helping with her research on faunus society and history, but the black-haired girl had been working with Chidori on their Field Medicine homework at that time. So she turned to Yukari instead.
Yukari hadn't really thought much about the place that first time they came, having been too lost in her grief to really pay attention. But after leaving Black and Smith earlier, this was the first place that came to mind as she thought about a place for lunch. It didn't hurt that it was close-by and, considering its owner's and employees' race, there was no need to worry about them refusing Velvet service or entry due to her being a faunus.
"Anyway," said Yukari, looking to change the topic before anyone could question the heiress's absence. Especially since she was the one who told everyone else that the girl had left since something else came up. "Mind coming with me for a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something."
Yang raised an eyebrow in query but nodded all the same, rising from her seat just as Yukari did and following her outside. At the same time, Blake rose from her seat and walked towards the bathroom, Velvet following a few seconds later.
Ruby turned towards Yang's departing form, then towards Blake's, her silver eyes wide open in what seemed like panic. She repeated this until both were out of sight, her mouth forming words but unable to give voice to them. She slowly turned her attention to her sole companion, who had just set down her glass of water after taking a sip.
"So~oo," she drawled out lazily, leaning forward. A single hand rose up and moved her sunglasses lower, allowing Ruby's silver eyes to meet Coco's dark brown ones. "How exactly did a cute little girl like you manage to convince our esteemed Headmaster to let you in two years early?"
Ruby swallowed nervously at the semi-predatory look in those dark eyes, which looked that much darker with a backdrop of pale white skin. Only one thought rang through her mind as she dearly wished for a certain blonde to be by her side. 'Help!'
"So what's this about?" Yang asked once they were outside and out of view of the restaurant's windows. "Something tells me this isn't about schoolwork or anything like that."
She must have hit the nail on the head as her teammate and friend sighed heavily. One arm went around her back, the hand attacked to it clasping the other arm just above the elbow just as she leaned her back against the restaurant's exterior wall. "You… really know how to make a mess of things, don't you?"
Whatever she was expecting, it certainly hadn't been that.
Her confusion must have been evident as Yukari sighed again and shut her eyes, her head turning towards the ground. In but a moment, she looked back up again and locked eyes with Yang. "I'm not bringing this up to make you feel bad or to dig up something that's already been resolved, but do you remember when you and everyone else came along with us to the memorial service we held?"
Yang nodded, showing that she remembered. How could she not? Everything had backfired on her despite her well-intentioned decisions. Not only had she very nearly shattered whatever friendship she had with the members of SEES, she had dragged everyone else along with her and gotten them caught in the crossfire. And while Mitsuru had let them off with a warning – a very, very stern warning at that – and a relatively light punishment, she had seen how her actions had cost her with regards to everyone else.
Though none of them said it out loud, she could see the wariness and hesitance in their eyes whenever she proposed a joint outing or whenever she invited people along to her plans. It was as though they feared the possibility of another stern talking to even though the conversation was taking place right in front of the red-haired leader.
The wariness had faded within a week of that day, but she had seen how her inconsiderate and impulsive actions had come close to breaking that which she had sought to make whole. And yet, a part of her would never regret her actions. After all, did the event not bring them all closer at the end? And while they eyed her with a hint of mistrust afterwards, did it not fade given time? And although Mitsuru had admonished them all, she had been the main recipient of the redhead's disappointment.
She couldn't say for certain if she had gained back every bit of Mitsuru's trust that she had lost, but she had seen that Mitsuru hadn't been as disappointed with everyone else. She had admonished them for going along, but knew that Yang was at the center of it all. And thus, she did not hold it against them for very long, if at all. Only Yang bore the brunt of Mitsuru's disappointment past that day.
Unaware of the blonde's thoughts, Yukari went on with the discussion. "There's one thing I wanted to know about that time before anything else." Again, Yang nodded. She had no intention of being uncooperative. She had no reason to after all. "Did you force anyone else to go along with your plans?"
"Well…" She reached up to rub the back of her neck, her hand disappearing under her voluminous mane of blonde hair. "I might have-"
"Yes or no, Yang," interrupted Yukari, her features hardening as she spoke. "When you told them what you were planning, did they all agree to go along or did you have to convince or force any of them to go along?"
"… Yeah, I did," she admitted. And if she were being honest, she was the only one who had actually wanted to do it in the first place. Everyone else was either apprehensive or outright against the idea.
Rather than the scolding she was expecting, Yukari just palmed her face, shook her head, and sighed. "I thought so," she heard the brunette whisper, just barely audible in the outdoors. "I'm guessing that includes Weiss." It wasn't a question, so Yang just waited for whatever it was Yukari wanted to tell her. "This isn't really something I thought I'd be talking to you about but…" she paused and took a deep breath. And when she let it out, it sounded to Yang more like another sigh. "You know I hate bullies, right?"
Yang response was a long, drawn out, "Yeah…?" Her face showed her skepticism and confusion, unable to understand why Yukari was bringing that up right at that moment. "Why?"
Yukari just stared at her with one raised eyebrow in response as though expecting her to say more. But what was left to say? She asked a question, and Yang answered. Was there supposed to be some deeper meaning to that question?
They stared at one another for a few more moments, one in confusion and one in expectation. When it became clear that Yang truly had nothing to say, Yukari sighed for the fifth time in the past two or three minutes. "When Cardin was messing with Velvet and making fun of her, would you call that bullying or was that just teasing?"
Again with the strange questions. Well, strange in that the answer should have been obvious. "Bullying, of course," she replied, followed by a shrug. "It's not like Velvet was enjoying it."
"If a gang started going around making nearby store owners pay them so they don't wreck their stores and stuff, is that bullying?" There was something in the way Yukari looked at her that bothered her on a deeper level. She just couldn't quite understand why it made her feel that way. At the same time, she couldn't understand exactly what the archer was trying to tell her.
"I'm pretty sure that's extortion, but yeah, you could call it that."
"What about if-"
"Yukari, what's this about?" she cut in, unable to hide the tinge of worry in her tone. It took her long enough, but she started connecting Yukari's questions together. First about whether or not she had to make the others go along with her idea, and now the questions about bullying. "Did I…" She hesitated, almost as though giving voice to the hypothesis she had come up with would validate it. "Did I do something to make you think I'm a bully or something like that?"
Parental and authority figures aside, Yang wasn't normally this meek or submissive. But then again, she had never encountered the likes of Mitsuru and, now, Yukari. In cases where she was accused of wrongdoing, her first instinct was to deny any accusations that she didn't feel were true. And given her short temper, it didn't take long for even the calmest of accusations to escalate into a full-blown argument, if not a fight. And that usually occurred before any evidence of wrongdoing could be presented.
At least, that's how it usually went with people her age, or even adults who were less patient than others.
Her teammates, however, remained calm all throughout. Even ignoring fact that she always felt smaller whenever they looked at her as though she were guilty of something, neither Mitsuru nor Yukari ever accused her in a way that provoked her temper. It was as though they were somehow capable of dousing the fire just as they fed it gas.
And she got the feeling that even if she did blow her top, either Yukari's own explosive temper or Mitsuru's icy wrath would easily match her fiery rage. Perhaps even overwhelm it. As interesting as that would be to see, it was not something she wanted to try. Not unless she had absolutely no choice.
And though Yukari had yet to point out exactly what she had done wrong – she did say she wasn't bringing up the previous incident for the sake of revisiting it – she was already getting the feeling that she had done something wrong. Something she just didn't consider to be wrong at the time.
"No, you didn't." While that was quite a relief to hear, it certainly didn't ease away her confusion, nor did all her worries fade. Yukari had to have some reason to bring up the subject. "But what you're doing is coming close."
"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, what exactly did I do?" She wasn't panicking. Not even close. But she certainly didn't want to be labeled a bully or even anything remotely like it. "I mean, I get you aren't accusing me of doing something, but what the hell did I do that came close?"
One word was all she said. "Weiss."
"Weiss?" parroted Yang. When she saw how serious Yukari was, she thought back to every time she actually spoke or interacted with the girl in question, regardless of whether Yukari was present to see it or not.
The first time they met was just before Ozpin's speech the day before initiation. Then there was the argument they had that same night. They briefly met just before the initiation, when the left SEES to their little meeting. Then came the battle at the temple ruins, though she hadn't really spoken to the heiress since she was focused solely on fighting, staying alive, and keeping Ruby alive. The return to the cliff was, after a minute or two of rapid fire questioning that received little to no answers, silent so as to not attract more Grimm.
Team formations came next, followed by their journey to Ozpin's office and the subsequent revelations from SEES. They retired to their dorms after that, so she hadn't seen Weiss until dinner that night. Though unless she was mistaken, they had sat down far from each other so they had no further interactions that day, as they returned to their dorms for the night afterwards.
And all that happened within the first forty-eight hours since their arrival at Beacon, never mind the weeks that followed.
She forced herself to remember as much as she could, even if it was as insignificant as walking past each other in the hallway. And yet she couldn't remember a single instance that could even remotely be considered bullying. When she relayed this to Yukari, however, the girl just sighed once again.
"How about this morning?" she asked with a frown on her face. "I saw part of what happened, Yang. I didn't see what happened between the two of you inside the dorm room, but when you practically dragged her out, Weiss told you she had her own plans for the day. You didn't have to force her to come along when she clearly didn't want to."
"Wait, that's what this was about?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face. "Because I brought Weiss along? Yukari, she spends practically every minute studying outside of classes, meals, and training. Don't you think she needs to spend time relaxing too? Besides…"
She glanced towards the window of the restaurant despite being unable to see inside from her position, frowning sadly when she did so. "Ruby told me that the two of them barely talk. She was trying to invite Weiss out to do something but she got turned down." She sighed and shut her eyes. "They're supposed to be partners. I get that we didn't exactly have that much control over our partners since Ozpin went and made that 'eye-contact' rule, but just because she doesn't like being partnered up with Ruby doesn't mean she can take it out on her."
"And if they can't learn to work together then what happens when they start going on missions?" Yang looked down briefly, clenching her fists tightly as she imagined Ruby and Weiss's poor teamwork on an actual mission against the Grimm. "I don't want anything to happen to Ruby, especially not because her own partner couldn't be bothered to care about someone else other than herself. I made her come so she and Ruby could spend some time together, maybe even help her loosen up a bit."
Despite the slight harshness of her words, Yukari didn't even look all that bothered. Instead, she had listened calmly, letting Yang speak her piece. When she was done, only then did the Japanese girl speak. "First of all, I don't think you give Weiss enough credit. Even if she doesn't care about forming a better relationship with Ruby, I doubt she's stupid enough to just let Ruby die or even so much as fail a single class. Weiss's reputation and image is everything to her. If something happens to Ruby, it'll reflect on her."
"Ruby dying specifically because she didn't help would mean Weiss was an unreliable partner in a fight. Nobody would want her fighting with them if that was the case." Yang conceded that point with an understanding nod. "Ruby failing a class that Weiss aced would more or less mean that Weiss isn't the kind to offer help to someone in need. Even her own partner. Whatever happens, those kinds of reputations would carry over outside the school too, since that sort of news about the Schnee heiress is a big thing. You can expect students here would be telling others about it. Even if it's ultimately for herself, she's not going to let anything bad happen to Ruby. Not unless Ruby does something to make her want payback of some sort."
"As for relaxing, did you even ask her what her plans were for the day or did you just assume she was going to be studying all day?" Yang opened her mouth to retort but no words came out. Slowly, she shut her mouth as she realized that she hadn't asked about the heiress's plans. "I thought as much," Yukari said, the answer to her question clear on the blonde's face. "For that matter, how would you even know she doesn't do anything to relax? Do you stalk her or something?"
The word 'stalk' made Yang frown briefly as it implied there was something about the heiress that interested her. Still, she conceded the point to Yukari with a barely audible, "No."
Again, Yukari sighed, suddenly looking that much more tired compared to when they first stepped out. "I don't have any siblings so I can't really say I know how you feel considering Ruby's involved in this. But you can't just go around making other people do what you want, even if it's for what you think is a good reason. More importantly, you dragged Weiss along then just ignored her the entire time."
Then her face grew stern once more. "To make things worse, Ruby spent the entire airship ride talking with you. And even afterwards, she tried talking to Weiss once and that's it. What was the point of bringing Weiss along if everyone's just going to ignore her?"
"Ruby's shy, you know that," argued Yang, the volume of her voice rising just as her temper was. "Besides, she tried. Weiss was the one being a stuck-up princess by shooting her down."
"Maybe because you forced her to come?" the archer asked, her own temper flaring in response to the brawler's. "Did you really think she'd be happy being forced to give up her plans for the day? And you said it yourself back before classes started, Ruby's not very good at making friends or being social in general. And you expect her to start with Weiss of all people?"
Yang's anger faded as she looked away and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, looking sheepish the entire time. "When you put it that way…" She trailed off, not really knowing what else to say. From that perspective, it definitely wasn't one of her brightest moments. Or even a slightly lit one. That was as dim as it could possibly get.
Yukari remained silent for a few more moments, making Yang uncomfortable as she wondered what else the archer had to say. She couldn't even bring herself to be mad. All of Yukari's arguments were solid. Even her justification of having done everything for Ruby's sake fell dead flat considering she had most likely, if not assuredly, made things worse. If it had worked then maybe, just maybe, Yukari wouldn't have gotten this upset with her. Now?
The blonde resisted the urge to sigh, not wanting to show any form of outward weakness that she hadn't already showed. Why was this even bothering her so much? It made no sense. Normally she'd just feel guilty for a brief moment, say sorry and whatnot, and everything would be back to normal. Forgive and forget and all that. Instead, her mind was actually lingering on her wrongdoings as though unable to let her forget what she had done.
Was it the situation itself that bothered her? Was it the people involved? No. She knew exactly what was bothering her. It was Yukari's words. "No, you didn't. But what you're doing is coming close."
Was she really? Were her actions truly bordering on what Yukari would consider bullying? One of the things her teammate hated most? But that couldn't be true, right? It's not as if she was doing it for personal gain. Though she had clearly gone about it the wrong way, she had invited herself and others to the memorial to support SEES in their time of need. And as she said, Ruby and Weiss's partnership wasn't working out too well so she just gave them a chance to work it out. It was hardly her fault that Weiss was being a bitch about it.
There was no way that she-
"…ou alright?"
"Huh?" She blinked her eyes repeatedly, looking up from the ground to meet Yukari's concerned brown eyes. "What…"
"You spaced out on me," Yukari explained before Yang could even ask her question in its entirety. "Look, Yang, like I said, you're not a bully. I know that. Everyone knows that. And I get that the stuff you did was because you wanted to help, not because you wanted something from someone." Yang felt her shoulder's sag slightly in relief at those words. "All I'm saying is that you need to be careful, alright? I've gotten into trouble more than once because my mouth or my body were faster than my head. I'd rather not see you get into some kind of trouble you can't get out of."
"Hey come on, I can handle myself." The words were out of Yang's mouth before she could stop herself. To make things worse, her tone sounded quite indignant, as though Yukari had just insulted her ability to look after herself.
"I know you can." Somehow, Yukari's placating words had the opposite effect, as though she were patronizing her instead. Already, she could feel that familiar spark of anger emerging from deep within her. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to avoid getting into trouble in the first place."
She was just concerned. Yukari just didn't want her to bite off more than she could chew, let alone swallow and digest. So why? Why were the older teen's words making her so angry? Shouldn't she feel relieved that there was someone looking out for her?
And now, for some strange, inexplicable reason, Yukari was staring at her, examining her face. Yang didn't know what Yukari saw, but the girl sighed and shut her eyes once again. And just as she opened then, the muscles in her face relaxed, all the tension from their previous conversation melting away. "I'm going on ahead. I'll just let the others know you got a call or something, alright? No point making them worry about why you took longer to come back."
Yukari half-turned towards the door, then paused and gazed into her face once more, eyes searching for something once again. Then, without another word, she completed the turn and walked back into the restaurant.
The moment she did, Yang spun to face the wall and punched it with her fist, doing her utmost best to limit her strength so as not to draw attention. It didn't give her the release she needed, far from it. Her blood was boiling and the rage that was threating to burst forth was directed at her teammate. And she didn't know why.
She clenched her teeth even as she tried to drill her fist into the wall, failing only because she struggled to hold back her strength, her anger. It took her a few minutes to calm down, and at least one more to try and come up with a believable story using the excuse that Yukari made for her. And another to calm down when the thought of her teammate began drawing out her anger once more.
Eventually, she was ready to re-enter the restaurant, hoping she could at least act normally until she could vent her anger back at Beacon. Yukari might have been the recipient of her anger, but the girl hadn't done anything to deserve it, at least nothing that Yang could think of. Moreover, she had offered to pay for the meal for all six of them. At the very least, she wouldn't throw that generosity back in her face by ruining the meal with her temper.
Red and gold clashed against gray steel, two blades locking with one another as gray attempted to hold its ground. Then the steel blade faltered as the force holding it back disappeared, the red and gold xiphos slipping underneath it. But before it could find its mark, a white shield stood in its path. In turn, the steel blade sought its own target only to be halted as well, this time by a round red and gold shield with two semi-circles cut out from opposing sides.
But the deadlock only lasted for a second as the steel blade slid off the shield, unbalancing its wielder. More weight was put behind the xiphos, further unbalancing the other fighter and tipping him back. He attempted to roll with the attack but a leg came in and swept his feet out from under him followed by a kick aimed at his unprotected sides before his back even hit the ground.
The kicked sent him tumbling away then rolling to his feet some distance away. He raised his shield just as his opponent came rushing in, the red and gold weapon, now a javelin, ready to thrust into its target. But before it came, a loud beeping came from their pockets just as a loud buzzer rang through the room, the tip of the javelin stopping just barely and inch from the white shield.
"Alright, come on out you two."
Jaune breathed a sigh of both relief and exhaustion even as Pyrrha's weapons returned to her back, courtesy of her Semblance. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, waving away his partner's concerns, before rising and sheathing his sword and returning the shield-turned-sheath to his hip.
Together, the two of them exited the training area, the hard-light walls fading away as the training session ended. Waiting for them by the training console were Junpei and Chidori, the latter sitting on the bench behind the former.
"So," Junpei began as they approached. "You want the good news, the bad news, or the worst news?"
Jaune glanced at his partner, who met his gaze. He wondered if his face showed the same amount of worry as hers. Good news and bad news were pretty much expected. But worst news? It was just another training match. What could have gone so wrong that he would classify it as 'worst news'?
"Let's uh… Let's start with the good." Maybe the good news was good enough to offset whatever bad news he hears afterwards. Wait… then wouldn't it have been better to start with the bad news then? "Uh… Actually let's-"
"Well, the good news-" Too late. "-Is that you lasted the full three minutes with Aura to spare. Sure, Pyrrha was still holding back but that's better than last time."
If Jaune were being honest, that wasn't good news. Well, it was. It just wasn't that good. More like, just plain news.
"Bad news is you let your form get sloppy after the first minute. You probably wouldn't have gotten knocked down that many times if you didn't."
Well, the bad news wasn't that bad at least. It just meant he'd have to work on his form some more during their morning training sessions. Following that trend, maybe the 'worst' news wouldn't be that bad.
"And the worst news," Junpei paused, looking up from the console with a serious look on his face. He met Jaune's eyes, then Pyrrha's, then went back to Jaune. "The worst news is," he repeated solemnly, causing Jaune to swallow. Even Pyrrha began to fidget at the suspense. Then, all of a sudden, he shrugged, "There isn't any!"
The tension left Jaune's body so swiftly that he almost fell to his knees. Even Pyrrha looked like she had stumbled over something. Junpei's laughter rang in their ears even as Chidori shook her head, lightly admonishing her boyfriend for messing with them like that.
"Sorry, sorry," Junpei gasped out between bouts of laughter. "Couldn't really resist since you looked so serious."
"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Jaune wanted to ask out loud but didn't. If there was one thing he knew about Junpei by now, it was that he didn't take a lot of things seriously. Or rather, he did his best to keep things lighthearted even when he was being serious. Jaune's training, after all, was a fairly serious matter.
His family, though mostly his mother, had allowed him to stay despite his less than honest entry into Beacon. Maintaining his place in the school, however, was another thing entirely.
Beacon Academy had four major examinations throughout the year. The first would be in the middle of December, roughly seven weeks away. And Jaune had that much time to not only catch up on his academics, but also to build up his fighting style.
Unlike the regular Combat class sessions, each student would be evaluated by one of the many professors in a one-on-one fight. Their grade would depend on how long the fight went on. It was a given that their teachers would not be fighting at full strength, but the longer the fight went on the less they would hold back.
During the first minute, only the student would be attacking. Afterwards, whoever was assigned to test them would begin fighting back starting with head-on attacks and matching the student's level of physical ability. And as time went on, they would begin to employ more elaborate tactics such as flanking or attacking from behind while maintaining an equal level of physical ability.
By the fifth minute, they would begin fighting at a physical level slightly higher than whatever the student showed, pushing them even further. That level would continue to slowly rise the longer the fight went on. And any student who manages to last ten minutes would then be faced by their teacher's Semblance in addition to the still rising level of physical ability.
But that second half didn't matter to Jaune. To get a passing grade, he would have to last at least the first five minutes to show that he was capable of fighting an opponent of his level one-on-one. His only disadvantage was his general lack of experience. Though when compared to a full-fledged Huntsman, all the first years were relatively inexperienced. It would be foolish to think they could get through the first five minutes without falling for a trick or two.
Still, that's what their Aura was for. Falling for one or two tactics was fine. They couldn't be expected to know or predict everything after all. But too many mistakes and their Aura would drop into the red zone before the five-minute mark, leading to a failing grade.
It wasn't the end of their schooling if they failed, of course. In truth, an average of fifteen first-years failed the first examination every year. At least, according to Gwen and Sable. Scarlett's year had been exceptional in that only two first-years failed that first exam.
The only thing a failing grade meant was that they needed to work harder to pass the next one. Only the fourth, and final, exam truly mattered as it would determine whether they advanced to the next year or not.
But even so, it was a matter of pride for Jaune that he pass every exam, whether it was a written exam or a practical one and regardless of whether it was the first or the last exam of the year. As such, he worked extra hard whenever he could to try and bring his skills up to the necessary level.
His academics weren't the best, but he was, at the very least, passing them, even if only barely. Still, he was getting better. The team's study sessions certainly helped.
Surprisingly, he was quite good when it came to the Combat Tactics class, despite having been made to join by his mother.
Last night had been his first time attending the class, but Professor Goodwitch still required him to submit the homework the class was given the night before his parents arrived. After spending two days going over the previous classes' lectures with Junpei and Pyrrha, they had given him a copy of the assigned homework which, as always, was a detailed combat situation which they were required to submit a strategy for.
It barely took him half-an-hour to analyze the scenario and come up with a basic strategy for his 'team' to beat the other. And even without stepping into the realm of arrogant chest-puffing, he could say that he was confident in the plan. Of course, stepping into the class for the first time siphoned away all his confidence as he was subject to inquisitive stares when they class realized there was a new student.
The fact that Professor Ozpin himself had been one of the teachers last night only served to make him even more nervous than he already was. But much to his, Junpei's and Pyrrha's collective surprise, as well as many others from the rest of the class, the strategy he had submitted was one of four that were deemed acceptable. Fourentries out of nearly fifty, and his was one of them.
Two had come from a second-year student and a fourth-year student, making his stand out that much more. The last one to be accepted was Mitsuru's. But as one of his classmates mentioned, despite being a first-year, she was the same age as the third-years. As such, his entry would stand out either way.
The four acceptable entries were then displayed for the whole class by using a combat simulator. The simulated fight between two teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses ended in a stalemate using Jaune's tactics while the other three ended in victory. To make things worse, his simulation ended in a draw because he had missed something so simple.
He had forgotten to account for one of the fighter's on his 'side' being a faunus. Their sensitive hearing was a poor match-up for one of the opposing team's members, who used a sound-based Semblance, thus leading to them getting knocked out.
He had expected laughter, perhaps even ridicule, for missing something to simple.
Instead, what he got was approval. Of a sort. Nobody laughed at the fact that his simulation ended in a draw rather than a victory. Nobody ridiculed him for it. In fact, quite a few upper classmen had approached him after class, telling him that his only failing was his own lack of experience. While good, his plan was a little too simple and didn't have any contingencies in place should the unlikely or unexpected come to pass.
One of them was even a canine faunus, as shown by the tail sticking out of his pants. And in his own words, "Humans know we can see and hear better, it's common knowledge. But it's exactly because it's common knowledge that it becomes easy to forget. Just like how you don't normally pay attention to your breathing unless something or someone makes you think about it, or if you need to think about it for some reason. You're still a first year so it's hardly surprising you slipped up. The fact that Ozpin gave yours a pass is enough for now. Just keep training. The more you experience, the better you'll be able to come up with plans in the future."
That brief ego-inflating event had been enough to keep him awake longer than normal, thinking about how strange it felt to be acknowledge like that. Strange in a good way of course. By the time he had finally fallen asleep, it had been well past midnight. Even when he woke up this morning for his morning training session, his mood had been much more positive than normal.
That mood, however, quickly sank when he began the training regimen that Akihiko had helped create for him. One that he had been following since Wednesday morning. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a whole gauntlet of other exercises were the first thing he did. After several warm-up laps around Beacon of course.
Though it did help that he was never alone. In fact, various members of SEES joined him during the weekdays, having restarted their former training routines. It was something they had stopped doing only because they wanted to acclimatize themselves to life at Beacon first.
That morning, as it was a Sunday, was the only time that they were all present due to the fact that some of them had classes as early as six in the morning on certain days. The only other people to join them were Pyrrha and Ren, the latter availing of Akihiko's offer of a personalized training regimen while the former stuck to the training regimen her personal tutor made for her prior to coming to Beacon.
As it turns out, Akihiko knew what he was doing. Everyone more or less did the same basic exercises. The main difference was how much of a certain exercises someone did. Though that was mainly because of the differing levels of strength in their bodies.
What would set them apart were their individual exercises and drills based on their weapons. Though in this case, it had less to do with Akihiko's knowledge and more with each person's knowledge of their own fighting styles.
Jaune had seen Yukari standing in a specific pose, raising Sharanga and drawing the bowstring as far back as she normally would and then holding it there. She would hold that pose for a while, sometimes until he could see her arm quivering slightly, then slowly relax and lower the bow. After a while, she would raise the bow and pull the bowstring back once again, hold it in place, and then relax.
According to Junpei, Yukari did this to strength the muscles in her arms that were used specifically for drawing the bowstring and holding up the bow. It also helped her body remember what the proper pose feels like until it becomes instinct. Though given that she had been using the bow for quite a long time now, the exercise served mainly as a refresher to make sure she didn't have a chance to forget just because she grew complacent.
She also had another exercise where she fired as many arrows as she could in as little time as possible. While the muscles used were the same, this one tested her stamina and her endurance since the muscles weren't given time to rest between shots. Just like how an actual fight might go.
It also tested her concentration since she shot at three different targets, aiming at a different one for each shot. And even when her muscles began to ache she continued to fire, pushing her body as far as she could go and stopping only when her shots grew erratic or when she felt that her muscles could no longer handle it.
Everyone else had similar exercises for their respective weapons. And if their workout was anything like what Jaune had been given, even their exercises in the weight room was tailor fit to work on specific muscles that they used.
Of course, Akihiko had also made sure to schedule the workouts in a way that each set of muscles were given a chance to rest. Jaune's workout, for example, had him focusing on his arms and upper body on one day, his core on another, and his legs and lower body on yet another day.
The sheer amount of planning and detail that went into each workout almost made Jaune dizzy when he imagined trying to plan it all on his own. And Akihiko had planned the workouts for everyone in SEES with his own personal schedule being the most intensive one. It was only then that he understood what Junpei meant when he called Akihiko an 'exercise junkie'. Not that he would ever say that to Akihiko's face.
Today was only the fifth day of his new training regimen. And as it was a Sunday, Akihiko's schedule told them to hold a few sparring matches so that they could see any improvements over the past week, as well as to see what else needed work. They would report things to him later on so that he could adjust the training if necessary.
Given that he had only done two sessions of performing sword drills, it was no surprise that his form reverted back to what he had been using the past month-and-a-half. And by that, he meant the wrong form. And when asked how bad his form had been, Pyrrha's response was to look away and change the subject.
As such, he had been assigned a set of basic sword drills by Pyrrha. Ones that he would perform every day in order to slowly erase any bad habits he might have formed while instilling the proper form into his muscles.
Asides from the fact that the repeated motions tired out his arm faster than he had expected, the exercises were boring and monotonous. He didn't think they meant it literally when they told him he would be swinging his sword one hundred times in the exact same way. To add to the difficulty, Pyrrha would only count those that were performed properly.
Anyone else would have found it insulting that someone else did the counting for them. But Jaune knew very well just how badly he needed their guidance. With no training prior to entering Beacon, he had picked up many bad habits that could lead to defeat in a fight. He would have to be extra vigilant and doubly disciplined during his training if he were to break those habits and replace them with the proper forms and motions.
In the end, he had to slow down between swings to make sure he was doing it right, rather than swinging again immediately after and getting it wrong. Jaune wouldn't have been surprised if they told him that his first day of sword drills ended closer to one thousand swings rather than the one hundred that was his goal.
"So what now?" he asked once Junpei's laughter settled down. If they were going to fight another round then Junpei wouldn't have called them out of the training area. Nor would he have shut it off. "Drills again?"
Junpei shrugged. "Eh, you could if you want. If that's the case then I guess it's just me and Chidori for lunch then."
"That's 'Chidori and I', Junpei-kun," piped up the white-clad redhead.
The correction went unnoticed though as Junpei's words reached Jaune's mind. And his stomach. The blonde teen blushed as a loud growl was heard, a hand futilely attempting to silence the source. Then another, slightly weaker growl was heard. From a different source. Junpei, grinning at Jaune's grumbling stomach, burst out laughing while the blonde turned to his partner in surprise. Her hair was almost indistinguishable from her face.
Chidori sighed, but looked amused. "I suppose we're all going to lunch then."
Downtown Vale was, more often than not, the busiest part of the city. It sat close to the center of the city, not far from where the commercial district met the industrial and residential districts. In addition to its location, countless businesses, a handful of large shopping centers, and a vast multitude of office buildings could be found in that small area, each one offering a either a necessary or desirable service, most putting both together to attract even more people. Its location and services practically guaranteed business.
Near one corner of the downtown area, people were gathering for a different reason.
The building was composed of eight floors and the outside was as plain as any other office building in the area, save for the large sign outside, marking it as 'UNDER RENOVATION', as well as a man and a woman wearing black suits with red ties and red-tinted sunglasses standing on either side of the door as though to further discourage anybody from entering. Yet despite this, there was a large group of people, at least fifty with a few more joining as time passed.
There was nothing distinct about the group. In fact, one might say that it was their diversity that set them apart. Male and female, young adults and middle aged, able and handicapped, human and faunus, it seemed as though most demographics were represented in some way despite their relatively small number.
The one thing that might have stood out was the fact that, despite all their differences, most of them seemed to be speaking amiably with one another. There were a handful who stood off to the side, eyeing the faunus with distrust, but they kept their thoughts to themselves.
It was this scene that Weiss saw as she made her way back towards the airship docks, two small shopping bags in hand. Normally, she would have just ignored whatever was going on. It had little, if anything, to do with her after all.
But just then, the main doors opened and four people stepped out. Two women and two men. Three were much like the two guarding the door, black suits and red ties. Asides from the lack of sunglasses, the only difference was the soft, welcoming smiles on their faces as opposed to the guards' stoic expressions.
The fourth, however, stood out even more. And not just because of his short, spiky red hair. His attire was similar enough, black suit and red tie, but the dress shirt he wore underneath was a dark shade of brown rather than black, and his sunglasses were tinted the usual black instead of red. Most of all, his youthful face sported a cocky grin rather than a soft smile or a stoic frown.
"Alright," he called out, clapping his hands once to get everyone's attention. Even from a short distance away, Weiss could clearly hear the man's voice and words. "Sorry about the wait everyone. Had some stuff we needed to clear up before anything else. Anyway, I'm sure you're not here to listen to all that. You all fill up the forms?"
It was then that Weiss noticed the forms of various colors clutched in their hands as well as a small sheaf of similarly colored forms in the hands of the female guard. "Everyone holding the green forms, please follow the young woman to my right." One of the three who had accompanied the red-haired man out stepped forward with a smile, and then led a dozen or so people into the building. Weiss noted that a few faunus had gone on inside as well. Once they were gone, the redhead spoke once again. "Everyone holding the blue forms, please follow the other young woman to my right."
The aforementioned young woman's smile faltered as she turned to the man. "Uh… sir? I'm uh… not a woman."
Every person in the vicinity blinked, Weiss included, as they gave the young 'woman' a closer look. Despite wearing pants rather than a skirt like the first woman, Weiss could certainly see why the man referred to 'her' as a woman. 'She' was thin and petite, standing just a little taller than the shoulders of the red-haired man, who wasn't even that tall to begin with. If Weiss had to hazard a guess, the man wasn't even as tall as Jaune, who was the tallest among their group. A little taller than Junpei, perhaps.
The young 'woman' was probably only as tall as Weiss was when she took off her shoes. And as much as it galled her to admit it, she was far from tall. Even Ruby stood taller than her if they went barefoot. And the girl was two years younger than her. That was two more years of growing to increase the gap even further.
The only other people who shared her problem were Nora, Chidori, and Fuuka. Nora and Chidori were roughly the same height as her, though the latter's shoes made her look taller, much like Weiss and her heels. But then, what they lacked in height, they made up for in… other ways. Weiss glanced down with a frown.
In the end, the only person who she could say truly shared her dilemma was Fuuka. Just another reason to be nicer to her, she supposed. Weiss shook her head. Now was most certainly not the time to be musing about her physical attributes. Or lack thereof.
"Hey, no worries," said the red-haired man, seemingly the only person who hadn't been shocked by the 'woman's' words. "If that's what you're into then who am I to judge? Besides, you look the part well enough. I'm sure nobody'll notice even if you decide to put on a skirt instead."
"S-Sir!" Weiss had to admit, even the young 'woman's' voice didn't sound very masculine. Especially not when 'her' voice rose in pitch like that. "That's not what I meant!" The admittedly cute pleading look on 'her' face certainly didn't help 'her' cause.
"Hey, like I said, I don't judge." And the man more or less ignores the young 'woman's' plight. "Anyway, better get these people up where they need to be," he reminded with a smile. "We're running late as it is."
The young 'woman' hung her head dejectedly for a moment before straightening her posture and facing the assembled group with a smile. Though Weiss could tell, even from a short distance away, that the smile was strained and weary. "This way please." Even 'her' gait as 'she' walked away was quite feminine. Or at least, NOT masculine.
Weiss decided to just erase the young 'woman' from her mind. She did NOT want the headache of trying to figure out their situation.
"Alright, those with the yellow forms, go with this guy to my left." A slightly older man with a full beard nodded genially to the group and led them into the building, leaving about a dozen or so men and women outside. "And those with the red forms come with me. We'll…"
It took Weiss a moment to realize that the man had stopped because he had noticed her. Similarly, the remaining people followed his gaze to her. She fought down the urge to fidget in place, straightening her posture instead and glaring lightly at the man. "And, what, may I ask, are you looking at?"
"You, obviously," came the carefree response. "Can't you even see that?"
"Of course I can," she snapped back, her hands tightening around the loops of the shopping bags. "I meant, why are you looking at me?"
The man sighed and scratched the back of his head. "You should have asked that then." Weiss grit her teeth in response, her temper rapidly rising at the man's aggravating tone. "As for why, well, I'm just curious," he said with a shrug.
"About?"
"Why a Schnee would be here looking for a job," he replied with another shrug.
"I was merely passing by," she responded, looking away and up with a huff. "It's hardly my fault these people were blocking the way." When no response came, she turned back and found the red-haired man looking around him, seemingly confused. He turned back to her, and raised his hands, palm facing upwards, and gestured to either side of him. She growled as she understood what he was trying to say. "Well obviously the way is clear now since most of the people went inside. I meant, earlier, you simpleton."
"Hey, that's not very nice." Despite his words, he didn't sound very insulted. In fact, he sounded almost amused. "At least call me a handsome simpleton."
His words earned a growl and a glare from Weiss, and some snickers of amusement from the people who had remained outside. "And what are you laughing at?" she snapped, turning to the group of men and women. She noted that there were more than a few faunus in the group, almost half, and leveled them with a glare. She didn't care that she was losing her temper in public. She wasn't going to let them make a fool of her.
Though she had been addressing someone else, the red-haired man was the one to respond. "You, obviously," the man replied in the same tone as he did earlier. "You know, you really should take some time to use that thing in your head called a brain." He leaned forward a bit in her direction and tapped the side of his head. "You probably wouldn't need to ask all these questions with obvious answers if you did."
She could feel her face heating up, though whether it was from anger or shame was up for debate. Before she could even open her mouth to retort, the man waved her off. "Well, even if you were looking for a job I'd have to turn you away. I'd rather not get into trouble with Papa Schnee by poaching his kid and all that. Especially since we've only just barely gotten this little business of ours started."
Weiss huffed, her temper cooling at the change of topic. "As if I'd want to work for you. Even if you weren't here, however, I'm the heiress to Remnant's biggest corporation. I highly doubt you can offer me anything that can surpass that." Her tone was haughty, understandably so.
After all, the Schnee Dust Company truly was the biggest company in all of Remnant. Moreover, it's near monopoly on the Dust trade meant it was incredibly profitable despite having only one product, unlike Mistral's Adamas Corporation, which dealt in a wider variety of products but were less profitable as a whole.
Rather than rise to the bait, or anything that she was expecting, the man just laughed good-naturedly, different from his previously mocking laughter. He gently urged the group to go on inside even as he addressed Weiss once more. "Well, you guys may be dealing with Dust, but here, we're dealing with a far more valuable… er… let's call it a resource for now to avoid giving it away. One that's far more common than Dust and one that's not likely to ever run out."
The haughty and arrogant look on her face gave way to confusion at his words. A resource more valuable and more plentiful than Dust? The second wasn't necessarily difficult as it was often speculated that Dust was a finite resource. There was simply so much of it that even hundreds of years of mining and use have yet to use up all of it. At least, that was the common line of thinking people had.
But more valuable? That had her pursing her lips and scrunching her forehead in thought. Was such a thing even possible? Dust was used in everyday life as an energy propellant for most things and was also used in certain fields and careers for specific purposes, most notably the Huntsmen and Huntresses. While it was hardly the most expensive of resources, it was undoubtedly the most valuable due to its many uses. So what sort of resource could possibly surpass Dust in terms of value?
"Let me give you a hint." Her attention was brought out of her thoughts when the man spoke. He had approached her at some point, as he was not standing only a few feet away from her. She idly noted that only the two guards remained outside. "Your company already has this resource. Heck, everybody out there has it." He tilted his head down just a bit more, his sunglasses sliding down just a bit more so that her blue eyes met the brown ones he had been hiding away. "Most people just don't see its value."
She spotted the grin on his face just before he turned and left, walking back towards the doors to the building. "Well, I'd love to sit here and watch you try and figure this out until you've got steam coming out of your ears, but I've gotta take care of that last group. Later, princess."
His abrupt departure caught her off guard and, thus, she only registered his parting words when he was long gone. She huffed in annoyance at the way he had addressed her but continued on her way rather than cause a scene, studiously ignoring the two guards who, at the very least, did not stare after her. But unless she was mistaken, there was a very faint grin on the corner of their lips.
Still, as much as she hated to admit it, the man's words bothered the SDC heiress in her. A resource more valuable than Dust that everybody has yet was frequently overlooked, supposedly even by her own father. The skeptical part of her wanted to deny any such resource. Surely someone would have made such a thing known to all of Remnant in some manner if it were true.
The logical part of her, however, could not detect any lies in the man's words. Whatever they were dealing in was very much real. At the very least, the man believed his own words. And if those men and women looking for work were aware of what this mysterious resource was, then even they must see the value if they were willing to work for a newly established business with quite the grandiose claims.
That, or they were just that desperate for work. But that theory was immediately thrown out. None of those people looked that desperate. Not to her at least.
She put the matter away for the moment as she boarded the airship to Beacon, securing a secluded area for herself even as she pulled out her Scroll. That man's business was none of hers after all. She'd simply have to wait and see what sort of business it was when they finally went public. After all, if whatever they were dealing in was that valuable then it would undoubtedly make the news in some manner.
For now, she had some readings to catch up on. Both for school, and for personal reasons.
October 27, XX13
"RAAAAAAAGHH!"
A harsh yell erupted from the back of Yang's throat as she threw a punch at her opponent, her fist connecting with the side of his face and sending him flying across the yard. Her opponent, a brown-haired second-year student, pushed off the ground mid-tumble and landed on his feet just before his back slammed into a tree.
She raised her fist and bent her knees, prepared to charge after him, when a loud voice stopped her in her tracks.
"XIAO LONG!" The low, rumbling voice of Professor Giollah was unmistakable, even more so when he chose to raise his voice. The fact that he did meant that he was really upset. By the time he got to her, however, he seemed to have calmed down as he spoke in his normal volume. Though his tone was clearly still upset. "You're sitting out the rest of the class."
"What?" Her already volatile temper flared at his words. The only reason she hadn't exploded was the fact that he was a teacher. Short-tempered or not, she was still very much aware of the consequences of attacking a teacher, verbally or otherwise. "Why? What'd I do wrong?"
"Do you really have to ask?" No. No, she didn't. She knew exactly what was wrong. This wasn't the first time in her Unarmed Combat class that she had gotten in trouble for the same reason. "I could care less if you choose to brawl rather than fight when you're in Glynda's class or anywhere else, but in this class you can either fight properly or leave. And that includes keeping a cool head. You know very well that this isn't a class where you can vent."
"Fine, fine, I'll go cool off." She relented with a harsh sigh, knowing that it was useless to argue. He had already kicked out half a dozen students who thought to use the class as a way to vent the stress that came with being students. The only reason he hadn't kicked her out yet was because she actually had some skill in unarmed fighting and she joined the class to improve. Her only issue was her easily ignited temper as well as her preference for brawling.
But just as she walked away, her professor's weary sigh and the words that followed stopped her in her tracks. "This is your last chance Xiao Long. I could care less about your claims that your way of fighting is useful for your Semblance, whatever it is. If you don't learn to control your temper, OR if you insist on brawling rather than learning a proper fighting style that won't get you killed, then you're out."
She nodded sharply and walked away without a word, sitting on the grass a short distance away from where the other students were sparring, and thinking about Professor Giolla's ultimatum. She couldn't help it. Her short temper was practically part of who she was. The fact that her Semblance could be activated through sheer anger was evidence of this.
And that was another thing. Her Semblance. Her uncle once gave it a name during one of his drunken ramblings. She hadn't really thought of giving it a specific name to call it by rather than just referring to it as 'my Semblance'. Then again, a Semblance was, like their weapons, just another tool they could use to fight. It just came from within them rather than a workshop.
In a way, her uncle's name for it fit. Enduring Retribution. The ability to take whatever punishment came her way and empower herself the more she got hurt, allowing her to deliver even stronger blows to her opponent in retaliation. It was a Semblance that relied on her taking a hit to allow her strength to grow the more she got hurt. It was also a Semblance that reacted to her anger, reacting to her emotional or mental turmoil as though it had caused her pain. In some strange, roundabout way, one could say that such things did hurt her. Her anger was simply her response to such things.
And her fighting style, which was admittedly just a slightly more disciplined form of brawling despite her father's combat lessons when she was younger, was a perfect fit for her Semblance. It wasn't as wild and reckless as actual brawling of course. It was just that she focused less on defense in exchange for offense. She'd still block or dodge an attack if she could, but she was less concerned about taking a hit if it meant landing one of her own. Not only would her Aura protect her, but her Semblance powered her up the more she got hit.
Her Semblance didn't activate until a certain point, of course, otherwise she'd start getting stronger right after the first punch hit her. But when she eventually reached the point when it did, the power boost she received was significant. Enough that she could probably wreck a small building in seconds even upon its initial activation, never mind however much stronger she became if she took more hits after that point.
She had nothing against having an actual fighting style. The problem was that nobody fought like her. Rather, nobody could afford to fight like her. Nobody else had a Semblance like hers after all. As such, there was nobody who could help her refine her style in a way that suited her.
Eventually, the class came to an end. And after a few parting words from Professor Giollah, the students headed back to the dorms to freshen up and change into their uniforms. Yang took her time returning, urging Fuuka, Ken, Akihiko, and Ren to go on ahead of her rather than walking together with them like she usually did. She hoped that the extra minute or two would add to the possibility that Yukari would leave the dorms before she arrived.
For the past two days, Yukari's words echoed in her head, causing her to question some of her decisions before she acted on them.
Like yesterday, when Blake turned down her invitation to work out in the school gym. Yang was ready to urge her to come along only to pause as the image of Yukari's chastising face briefly appeared in her mind's eye. Her sudden silence made her partner concerned, which she waved off by claiming she had remembered something just then. The black-haired girl clearly saw through the lie but didn't push for more information. She just nodded and went back to her book.
Afterwards, anger rose up inside her. Anger which she vented out on a reinforced punching bag, one made specifically for Huntsmen. As she vented her rage, her mind kept trying to decipher the reason behind it. She knew Yukari was the reason, she just didn't know why the kind but temperamental archer would elicit such an emotion. But the more she tried thinking about it, the more she tried to rationalize that Yukari was only trying to help, the more her anger grew in response.
In the end, she was forced to leave when her Semblance activated due to her rage, the punching bag bursting wide open after she delivered a powerful, Semblance-powered haymaker. One that had been aimed at a phantom image of Yukari's face.
Her confusion was causing her a lot of problems. The reason she had gotten angry just now was also because of her issue. Despite being male, seeing her opponent's brown hair had triggered her thoughts. She was distracted during first minute or two of the fight, but when her anger surfaced, she lost control. Thankfully, Professor Giollah hadn't noticed anything amiss. Well, beyond her sudden burst of anger at least.
She didn't want to be angry at Yukari. Logically speaking, there was no reason she should be angry in the first place. Yukari had simply expressed her concern over Yang's actions. The archer didn't even tell her to outright stop, or that what she was doing was downright wrong. Just a warning that her actions weren't entirely on the straight and narrow path, that they were causing harm to those around her, despite her good intentions, and that she should think more carefully before acting.
Emotions, however, were often illogical. Such as now. She felt as though Yukari had just put a leash on her, even if it was a fairly long one, by telling her what she could and couldn't do. A part of her ranted and raged whenever the brunette came to mind. What right did she have to do such a thing? Who was she to tell me what to do? Why should I do things her way when she just admitted to not understanding how I feel?
Yang walked into the dormitory, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Her anger hadn't completely subsided yet, but as long as Yukari was, hopefully, already out of the room, then there shouldn't be any problems. She stood outside the room for a moment, carefully listening for any signs of someone inside.
The walls may have been soundproofed but a wooden door, provided it hadn't been made specifically to be soundproofed as well, could only contain so much noise. After a quick glance down either direction, she pressed her ear against the door for a few seconds for some added reassurance, pulling away when no sound reached her ears. Satisfied that the room was empty, she unlocked the door with her Scroll and slipped in.
The first thing she did after shutting the door was to go to her bed and lie down for a bit, her feet hanging off the foot of the bed. She lay there for a while with her forearm raised to cover her eyes from the light streaming in from the window, sorting through her thoughts to find some manner of peace.
But what little peace she had found was soon shattered, her breath catching in her throat when the bathroom door's doorknob jiggled as someone turned it from the other side. She froze instantly, hearing the soft swish of the door as it swung open towards her bed. And as her bed was next to the bathroom door, this meant that she wouldn't be able to see who it was until they stepped into the room and shut the door.
It only took two seconds before footsteps came into the room and the bathroom door clicked shut. Whoever it was obviously hadn't seen her due to the placement of her bed. She held her breath, as though afraid that breathing would draw attention to her.
Who was it? It was almost half-past eight. With only a little more than half-an-hour before their History class was scheduled to begin, none of her teammates should have been at the dorm.
Mitsuru would most likely kill herself before she behaved less than the proper woman she was raised to be, and that included waking at a proper time and getting ready for class. She was either eating breakfast now or on her way to the classroom.
Yukari was similarly disciplined, though she said it was because she didn't like being the center of attention. She didn't put much effort into blending in, but she did her best to not stand out more than she already did as an Aura-less Huntress-in-training.
Blake was the same, only she did her best to blend into the background. Something which, if one were to ask Yang, the black-haired girl was able to do with next to no effort. More than once, the black-haired girl had snuck up on her teammates even without meaning to. Sometimes even when they were actively looking for her.
So who could have been running late?
A soft gasp of surprise reached her ears. Either something happened, or she had been spotted. "Yang?"
Clearly they hadn't expected anyone else to be in the room either if the surprise and confusion in their voice was anything to go by. Still, Yang let out the breath she was holding. She recognized that voice.
"Hey Blake," she answered, her face still hidden by her forearm. "Running late?"
"I was busy reading." Yang chuckled. That certainly explained everything. It wasn't the first time the girl's reading habits caused her to lose track of time. And she was certain it wouldn't be the last. "Did you just get back from Unarmed Combat?"
"I took my time coming back. Had a lot to think about."
"Well, you better freshen up and get dressed quickly if you want to get something from the dining hall before class."
"Yeah, good point." Yang moved her arm from her face and pushed herself up to a sitting position. Then she got to her feet, turning to face her partner. "Thanks Blake, you…"
Hearing her partner's abrupt pause, Blake turned around to see what was wrong. "Yang?" For some reason, her partner was staring at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "Is… something wrong?" She asked, something heavy dropping into the pit of her stomach.
"You uh…" The blonde hesitated, as though unsure of what to say. "You uh… you got something."
'That was helpful.' Blake resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Something?"
Instead of replying, Yang pointed. To the top of her head. That heavy feeling in her stomach grew worse as a feeling of dread joined it. Slowly, her hands reached up to her head where Yang was pointing. Blake's breath hitched and every muscle in her body froze when her fingertips brushed against her ears.
Her cat ears.
I told you that you guys would hate me for this. XD
Yeah, that's right, I ended the chapter right there knowing I wouldn't have time to write the chapter until at least the first week of January. Meaning that the next chapter won't be out for at least a month.
Wish it didn't have to take so long, but since I'll be working over the holidays, and any spare time I have will be spent with my family, I'm guaranteed to have no time to write.
Still, we've had our first look into Persona-Aura interaction, which took a little creative planning since, as with the issue brought up in earlier chapters, the mechanics of Persona were only truly revealed game-wise, which meant their strength and such were measured by numerical stats.
As mentioned above, things like Aura cannot be measured properly due to being a metaphysical concept. Similarly, since Personas come from the same source, their power would fall under the same logic. The 'theory' of Aura having 100 units, with a min-max of 85 and 115, was simply something to help give a semi-concrete idea. There is no way to definitely measure Aura, just as there is no way to definitely measure a Persona's 'stats'.
The tests, as you've seen, were focused more on a Persona's attacks. Supplementary abilities will come later on, along with more specific tests. How specific you ask? Think measuring the heat of Trismegistus's flames, the force of Isis's wind, whether Caesar's lightning can be redirected with a lightning rod or something similar, etc…
Yes, I plan to delve that deeply into the technical side of things. I will say this though. The logic I am applying to Personas are based on canon facts. Some of you may not believe me, but it's true. I'd tell you what the source of my information was but, unless you already know of it, telling you would also be a MASSIVE spoiler for a later part of the main story.
All I can say is that my source material did not receive an English release, but is has been translated. From what I've seen and heard from other P3 fans, the translation was not something that everybody knew about despite knowing of the source material's existence. In fact, I only stumbled upon it AFTER I started this story. Some of you may remember me mentioning it during one of the earlier chapters, in fact. I had to comb over all my plans and adjust nearly half the details to incorporate the stuff I learned.
For now, just bear with me as you always have and I promise that answers will come. Just not anytime soon. XD
As always, please leave a review and tell me what you think of the story. Was there anything you liked in particular? Perhaps something you disliked? By now, you all know that I don't mind if you tell me that there was something you didn't like or if I did something wrong. So go on, give me your best shot.
…
Just… no needless cursing please. Or rudeness. Or baseless accusations. Or… well… just be nice. XD
If you do, I'll be just as nice back when I respond.
Anyway…
VOLUME 4 SPOILER TIME!
SKIP TO THE END AND REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST EPISODE!
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LAST CHANCE TO SKIP!
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Looks like we finally get some long-awaited details about the faunus, both from the WoR episode as well as Blake and Sun's arrival at Menagerie.
Looking back, Blake actually did hint about her heritage. Back when she and Sun first spoke about her being in the White Fang, she said, "I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it." Back then, I thought that she had either been adopted by a WF member at a young age, since she never mentioned any parents. But then again, she never mentioned NOT having parents. So… yeah.
Adam going 'rogue' is, obviously, questionable. Beyond the obvious fact that the two 'representatives' are on his side of the fence, the White Fang have been quite violent for years now. What I wanna know is when Blake's dad stepped down and how aware he is of White Fang activities outside of Menagerie. Though considering her parents knew of Beacon's fall, it's possible they are aware of the rise in violence, just not how bad it is.
Anyone else feeling sorry for Sun? XD
Guy just can't keep his foot out of his mouth most days and now he suddenly decides to swallow both feet up to his knees in front of Blake's dad. They're probably gonna have that father/(possible)boyfriend talk sometime in the future. I can almost imagine it. "If you touch my baby girl, I'm taking back leadership of the White Fang and sending them after you." XD
Either way, I'll be doing my best to work any new canon information into the story. Of course, if it messes with my plans too much I won't hesitate to not include it. I'm not going to ruin months of planning just to stick to canon. Still, at the pace my story is going I give it a fair chance that RWBY concludes before I finish. That is, unless we hit another break between Volumes, which might also happen since I personally haven't heard anything about Volume 4 being the last.
Anyway, that's it from me. Please review. XD
Enjoys the holidays everyone. I'll see you all next year.
