Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.
Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.
Warning 2: With the ongoing status of RWBY, it's to be expected that many of my ideas will, at some point, 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 existing story plans.
And here we have the resolution of Blake's faunus reveal. Please don't expect anything too elaborate or exciting with the rescue. The reason why will be explained in the story itself as well as the Author Note at the bottom.
Chapter 16 – Trust and Betrayal
November 13, XX13
Two faunus wearing ceramic white masks that covered the upper halves of their faces stormed into an old, rundown apartment, glancing around and searching for any signs of people. The sounds of other doors being forced open could be heard coming from the hallway. This process was repeated with every apartment and every room in the building, leaving nothing to chance.
Satisfied that there was nobody inside the abandoned apartment complex, one of the six faunus searching the building pulled out his Scroll and sent the message that he had prepared earlier. In no time at all, the rest of their compatriots entered the room, all wearing the same kind of mask, until there were a dozen of them.
Each of them had an additional animal trait granted by their faunus heritage, whether it was an additional pair of ears, a tail, or even a part of their body covered in fur or scales. One of them was carrying a large sack over his shoulder that had a pair of legs, clad in white pants tucked into knee-high boots, coming out of the opening.
They moved to a fairly empty room that had a few abandoned piece of furniture, most of them speaking in excited but hushed voices. One of them grabbed an old, wooden chair and set it down near the middle of the room while another brought several lengths of rope.
The one carrying the sack set down his burden on the wooden seat, placing his hands where the shoulders were to keep the person seated. It didn't seem necessary since they weren't struggling at all, but he knew better than to take chances. The other man began tying their prisoner's legs against the legs of the chair. Once the legs were secure, the man stepped back.
The one holding the prisoner down was about to pull off the sack when one of them, presumably the one in charge, motioned for him to wait. "Don't pull it off just yet," he ordered, his voice low and scratchy. "Just step back fer now." Though the order confused him, he obeyed.
The background conversations stopped even as their leader slowly paced around their prisoner, his heavy boots making a loud sound whenever it came down on the old, almost creaky, wooden floorboards. Yet no matter where he moved, the young woman they had captured did not so much as turn in the direction of the sounds. If not for the fact that she was sitting upright without any help they might have thought she had fallen unconscious at some point.
After circling her twice, the man chuckled. "Well, that's a Schnee for ya I guess. Always gotta be in control and all that. How's it feel knowing you've got no control over what's gonna happen now?" He waited a moment, then frowned at the lack of response. "What? Can't talk? I know ya ain't afraid or anythin' like that. These ears of mine ain't just fer show." He reached up to tap the dark orange fox ears sitting at the top of his head, even though he knew that she wouldn't see him doing so. "I can hear yer heartbeat and I gotta say, I'm a little impressed you've kept yer cool so long."
Still, she remained silent. Those in the room who were less patient growled in annoyance. One of them took a step forward but was stopped by their leader's outstretched arm. He gave those in the room a mild warning look before turning to the captured heiress once more. "Ya know, fer an heiress yer being pretty rude. Didn't that old man of yers teach ya any manners and shit?" Yet again, no response came and even his patience could only run so long. "Well ain't you just a little brat. Think yer too good to talk to the likes of us?"
He took two large steps, closing the distance between them in a second, and reached up to the sack. Just as he grabbed a handful of it, their prisoner spoke. "If it's all the same with you," came a cool, cultured voice, calm despite her situation. In fact, many of the faunus in the room would agree that she sounded quite confident. "I'd rather you not take this off."
"Found yer tongue have ya?" exclaimed the faunus, taking his hand off the sack. "Still, you telling me you'd rather be in there? What? You think yer better than us? Can't even be bothered to look at a 'lowly animal'?" He growled out the last two words, leaning in close until his masked face was barely an inch from hers.
"Believe what you will," was the girl's response, completely unperturbed by his closeness and tone. "However, if you were willing to believe me, then all I can say that it would be out of consideration for you."
"Consideration? From a Schnee?" barked out the man, leaning back and letting out a full-bellied laugh, one that the other faunus copied at hearing her words. It was not completely out of amusement, however, as there was a heavy undertone of bitterness in their laughter. "Cute," the ringleader spat out. "Ya think we need that from the likes of you?"
"As I said, believe what you will." They could vaguely see the motion of a nod through the sack covering her. "If you want me to be more specific, then it would be because you would be disappointed if you were to see my face. I'm merely sparing you the disappointment."
"See yer…" Again, the entire room of faunus burst out laughing, this time with pure amusement. "I'd sooner fuck an old lady than touch a Schnee like that," he yelled out amidst all the laughter. "'Sides, who ya tryin' ta kid?" he asked as he got his laughter under control. "We've got profiles of all the Schnee bastards and bitches, not that there's a whole lot of 'em. Unless we missed one, there's only a single female Schnee at the right age to be up at Beacon. And if you weren't a Schnee I'd say yer just pretty enough fer a free ticket ta paradise." Everyone burst out laughing once more. Everyone, save for him.
Instead, he leaned closer once again, chuckling darkly as he did. "Weiss Schnee, the SDC's precious heiress. Gotta say, I didn't expect ta pick up a prize like you. Wonder what that old man o' yers'll give us ta get you back?" He chuckled again as another thought came to mind. "Maybe we'll just keep you with us and milk 'im dry. Take every last lien all you stuck-up bluebloods up in Atlas made off of the thousands of faunus you've killed in those damn mines."
"Why not give 'em a taste of their own medicine?" one of the faunus near the back, a black-haired woman, called out. "See how they like working twenty-four-seven in a fuckin' Dust mine!"
"Tch, those bastards've been livin' the good life way too long!" Shouted another one. "I say just kill 'em all and get it over with! We can take whatever the fuck we want when they're dead!"
One after another, the dozen faunus in the room began to shout out one demand after another, many of them laughing in amusement as they imagined how it would happen. Just as their ringleader was about to quiet them all down, he felt his Scroll buzzing against his thigh. "Alright, alright, pipe down! I'm gonna take this outside. See if any of ya can get in touch with the others, let 'em know who we've got. This little princess is gonna bring the Fang one hell of a payday!"
Though their voices quieted down, that didn't stop them from throwing out one intention after another with regards to their prisoner. Many of them even addressed her directly, not that she responded anymore.
Then, all of a sudden, a loud shout came from outside. "WHAT?!" The door was slammed open, all eleven faunus in the apartment reaching for their weapons, only to find the group's leader stomping his way to them, orange fox ears twitching in agitation, teeth clenched tight in anger, and tan face turning red.
He marched straight up to the captive heiress and, without warning grabbed the sack and yanked it away. When his eyes landed on the girl, he threw the sack down onto the ground. "FUCK!" He glanced around the room and immediately locked on to one faunus in particular, who slowly began to back away as he realized the group leader's intentions. "YOU IDIOT!" He shouted, walking up to the slightly shorter faunus with a wolf's tail poking out of his pants. A hand wrapped around the wolf faunus's shirt, yanked him off the floor, and slammed his back against the nearby wall. "YOU HAD ONE JOB. ONE FUCKING JOB AND YOU FUCKING SCREWED UP!"
"I-I-I didn't! I-I s-swear!" The brown-haired faunus shouted back desperately, trying to pry his shirt out of the fox faunus's grip. "She… she was right there! White hair and all! I know I got her!"
With an angry roar, he stepped aside, still keeping his compatriot pinned against the wall, and pointed at the captive sitting in the middle of the room with his other hand. "DOES THAT HAIR LOOK FUCKING WHITE TO YOU?!"
Everyone in the room could only stare at their captive. There was no mistaking it. The girl before them most definitely did not have white hair. And she most definitely was not Weiss Schnee.
Sitting on the chair before them, arms crossed and posture relaxed, was a young woman with long, wine red hair that flowed down in waves past her shoulders, partially covering her left eye. Her eyes were a similar shade as her hair and were gazing up at them all calmly as though she hadn't just been kidnapped. But what caught their attention the most was one particular article of clothing on her person.
The girl herself was wearing a black, double-breasted coat. But on top of that, carelessly draped over her shoulders, was a pale blue bolero. Pale enough in color that it could easily be mistaken for white inside a smokescreen. Enough to be mistaken as white hair if she simply used it to cover her own crimson tresses.
As realization dawned on their faces, the red-haired girl just gave them an unconcerned shrug. "I did say you'd be disappointed if you saw my face."
"You know, I never really noticed how tiny you are without your jacket."
"Excuse me?!"
Yukari raised her hands up in a placating gesture. "Calm down. I just meant that you look a lot slimmer without it. Especially around your shoulders."
Weiss huffed, crossed her arms, and turned her head away. "You could have said that the first time." Her hands then moved to rub her upper arms as a cool breeze blew in through the broken display window of the restaurant, as well as the broken glass of the doors.
Weiss may be used to the colder climate of Atlas but she was also used to having at least one layer of clothing. Without her jacket, her shoulders, arms, and upper back were now bare and vulnerable to the cold. And although Aura was able to stave off the more extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, it didn't prevent her from feeling it up to a certain point.
Just as she was considering going out to look for a nearby clothing store to buy a jacket – or anything that would at least cover her up – a mug of steaming-hot coffee was placed in front of her. A second one followed, Lucas placing it down on the table in front of Yukari. Then two more followed, presumably for Blake and Yang. The former had gone to the back to look after Iris and Lucas, who they found knocked out and tied up in the kitchen earlier. The latter stood outside the restaurant.
"Thanks, but are you sure you should be moving around?" asked Yukari, glancing up at the faunus with concern.
"I'm fine," Lucas replied with a nod. "I was a little dizzy earlier from whatever they used to knock me out but I'm feeling better now. And I'd rather be moving around anyway. I'd just get restless sitting and doing nothing. "
"By the way." Both Yukari and Lucas turned to Weiss, the latter of the two surprised that the Schnee heiress was actually talking to him. Then again, the suspicious gleam in her eyes did not make that a pleasant surprise. "Blake mentioned something interesting earlier." Her blue eyes narrowed, the suspicion within them growing. "I don't suppose you could tell us how those criminals got in considering that the backdoor could only be opened from inside or with an authorized Scroll?"
"Weiss! Don't be-"
"It's fine," Lucas cut in, giving Yukari an understanding look. "I don't like being accused like this, but I understand where she's coming from. As for your suspicions," he said while turning his attention back to Weiss, whose gaze didn't let up one bit. "I have my own. It's true that the door can't be opened from outside without an authorized Scroll but, asides from myself, there's one other person whose Scroll can access the backdoor. I've tried getting in contact with her but she hasn't replied to my messages or called me back."
"I could give you a dozen good reasons why she might not be answering. Not being able to communicate with her doesn't necessarily mean she's a part of this," argued Weiss. "One of you could have opened the door for them and just let yourselves be knocked out to lessen suspicion."
"Why do you have to be so suspicious, Weiss?" Yukari argued back before Lucas could say anything. "Blake said it herself earlier. She didn't tell anyone you'd be here since she didn't even know if you were gonna come along with us. We were barely here half an hour too. They wouldn't have had time to plan something like that."
"Precisely my point! They didn't have time to plan all this and yet they did!" Weiss was quick to point out the flaw in Yukari's logic, compounding her argument with a glare that all but invited Yukari to prove her wrong. "Not only did they know where to strike, but they were able to enter without the use of force, without alerting any of us. Not to mention that the entire kidnapping attempt barely took a minute."
"Even if one of them saw me on the way here, they couldn't have known where we were going. And even if all those who took part were within a five-minute walk from here, do you honestly think they could have planned, prepared, and gotten into position in that half-hour we were in here before they struck? They had to have gotten help from someone who already knew the situation and could plan out everything while they were getting ready and into position."
"In addition, how would they have even known that the backdoor needed a Scroll to be opened from the outside? That sort of security isn't exactly cheap. For all they knew it was just a lock they could pick apart. They wouldn't have had time to hack the security."
"So maybe they had an expert hacker or something."
In response, Weiss just slapped a hand to her face and shook her head. "I keep forgetting you're not used to dealing with this level of technology." With just those words, Yukari knew her argument was dead even before she said it. The heiress sighed in frustration before returning her gaze to the archer. "Simply put, even the cheapest Scroll-locks have advanced countermeasures against hacking. It's why they're so expensive. It's not impossible, but it would have taken a good portion of that half-hour just to unlock a single door. If they did, then that means they would have had that much less time for everything else."
"In short, they couldn't have done this without help. Help from someone who knew the location and a way in. All that was left was to plan the actual operation and that could have been done by the same person who was already here while the others got into position," Weiss insisted, turning narrowed blue eyes to the faunus who was looking more nervous now. "And provided there wasn't anyone in here we weren't aware of, there were only seven of us inside the restaurant who could have opened the backdoor for them. And five of us were here out front with each other the whole time."
Yukari had to at least appreciate the fact that Weiss was being patient enough to explain without shouting or being openly insulting, despite the frustration the heiress must be feeling. Even so, that did little to numb the sting of defeat. Everything Weiss said was completely logical and within the realm of possibility.
What was surprising was how quickly she had put it all together like that. Yukari had realized early on that Weiss was one of the smartest in their group, possibly on par with Mitsuru, but seeing it put into practice on something other than homework and written tests just made it all the more real.
The brunette might have considered things like the time it might take to actually plan and prepare the kidnapping attempt in relation to the time the kidnappers did have to do said acts, but she hadn't considered that those limiting factors would actually be evidence of the culprit's possible identity. She was definitely finding herself leaning towards believing that Weiss was correct in her deductions.
But whether it was out of desire to not doubt the goodwill of the people that Blake had come to trust, or because she didn't want to admit defeat just yet, Yukari couldn't completely believe that the heiress was correct. Besides which…
"… you do know it's pretty hard to take you seriously when you're shivering like that, right?"
Weiss just directed a half-lidded glare at Yukari, her hands furiously rubbing up and down her bare arms as the wind blowing into the restaurant seemed to pick up. "… shut up…"
"Hey guys, they're here! I see them coming!"
Three pairs of eyes turned to the front where Yang was just turning away from them, waving her hands in the air to catch someone's attention.
Lucas sighed out loud, but Yukari wasn't certain whether it was because the new arrivals put an end to the impromptu interrogation, or just out of relief in general. "Well," he began, "You kids should be able to relax a bit now. Just let the police handle things from here. I'm sure they'll get your friend back."
Both Yukari and Weiss shared confused looks at his words, and Lucas couldn't help but give them the same in turn. "The police?" Yukari asked, looking up at the brown-haired restaurant owner. "What are you-"
"Hey! You guys alright?"
At the voice, all three turned back to the entrance, Lucas's eyes widening at the sight. Entering the restaurant was a large group of teenagers, about a dozen at first glance. Most of them looked concerned as they examined the broken glass, probably at the abduction of who he assumed was their friend, though a select few looked quite calm overall. The one who had spoken was the silver-haired teen at the forefront of the group.
"We're fine, senpai," Yukari replied as she rose from her seat. "Let me get Blake then we can head out and-"
"No need." Cut in the voice of the aforementioned faunus, her tone hurried and her face flustered. "We've got a problem. Iris is gone."
Weiss was the first to react. "What? How?"
"Hey Ren, can I-"
"Later."
"She asked for a glass of water so I went into the kitchen to get one. When I came back, she was gone," Blake explained in a hurry, the brief conversation between Ren and Nora going mostly ignored by everyone else. Then she turned to Lucas apologetically. "Sorry but… I think she may have been the one to tip them off."
"And the one to let them in," Lucas finished with a sigh, his expression growing despondent and resigned at the revelation. "She must have contacted them earlier when I came back out to take your order. I didn't pay it much attention, but I thought it was strange that she was on her Scroll even while we were preparing the orders. She's usually strict about that sort of thing while working in the kitchen." He sighed again. "I knew she had some bad experiences with humans but I don't ever remember her saying that the Schnee were involved. And I definitely didn't think that she knew people who'd help her with something like this."
"Any idea where she might be?" asked Akihiko. "Or which of her friends would her help with something like this?"
Lucas didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the assembled group and narrowed his eyes when he saw their weapons. Then he turned to Yukari. "You didn't call the police earlier. You called your friend." It wasn't a question but a statement of the fact, almost an accusation in fact. "Why? Don't tell me you're actually going to try to save your friend by yourselves."
Yukari gave the faunus a firm nod. "That's exactly what we're going to do." She turned back to the rest of her friends. "You guys get our stuff?"
"We did." Aigis stepped around from behind the group, allowing Yukari to see that she had been the one to carry their weapons down from Beacon. That wasn't the only thing that caught the archer's eyes, however. Rather than Beacon or Gekkoukan's school uniform, Aigis was wearing, for the first time, the clothes that Yukari had gotten her a few weeks back.
It was a heavy-looking, two-piece long-sleeved coat reminiscent of a military uniform, reaching down to Aigis's knees. It was mostly black, with red and gold accents and trim. It had wide-mouthed sleeves, wide enough to contain Aigis's drum magazines should she use it, with a V-shaped part cut out along the inside of the arm to allow her to reload without having to roll up the sleeve. It narrowed towards the elbow, then connected to puffed-up yet angular shoulders.
The sleeves connected to a short, military-style jacket that only covered the upper half of her torso, held shut by a single gold button. Underneath that was a longer, double-breasted, sleeveless coat with a turtle-neck collar. The bottom half of the coat flowed down until her knees, the sides of the coat having a long slit that reached her hips and a third slit at the back that was half the length of the other two.
Her pants were much simpler, being simple black cargo pants with multiple pockets along the pant leg, tucked into black combat boots with metal plates all over for added 'protection'.
All in all, Aigis looked very different from how she normally did. All she needed were some medals, pins, and such and Yukari was sure she'd pass as a military officer of sorts with her current clothing. The serious expression on the blonde android's face did little to stifle that idea.
On Aigis's back, held in place by a black strap that went across the front of her chest, was Gambol Shroud. Yukari briefly wondered why she needed the strap but then remembered that Blake usually wore something like a magnetic plate to hold the weapon. Obviously Aigis couldn't use it. Strapped to her right thigh was the pink and white travel form of Sharanga. Hanging from her left hip was Myrtenaster, while at her right hip was Mitsuru's rapier.
One by one, with the exception of Mitsuru's rapier, she handed the weapons to their respective owners, Fuuka handing Blake a small bag which held the magnetic plate for her weapon. Afterwards, Aigis reached into the bag hanging from her shoulder, pulled out something, and handed it to Weiss. "I also brought this," she said, as Weiss took the proffered object and began to unfold it. "Yukari-san mentioned that Mitsuru-san took your jacket so I brought you another one just in case."
"You… really like that style, huh?" Yukari couldn't help but ask, even as Yang snickered. The jacket that Aigis brought from Beacon was exactly the same as the one that Mitsuru had taken. At the glare she received that was just daring her to comment further, Yukari once again held up her hands in a placating manner. "Hey, I'm just saying. No need to get mad."
Weiss huffed as she put on her bolero, barely managing to hide the relief and satisfaction she felt as the cold air stopped blowing against her bare skin. Then she turned to her blonde team leader. "Thank you, Aigis." She at least managed to convey her gratitude without letting any negative feelings leak into her tone. Whatever she may feel for the android, she wasn't going to let it get in the way of her manners.
"Alright, let's go," announced Akihiko. "The sooner we start searching, the sooner we can-"
"Wait!"
Everyone had already turned to the door when the interruption came so only half-turned back to the restaurant owner. "Lucas, I'm sorry," Blake began, her tone apologetic as she understood why he was trying to stop them. "But they were originally after Weiss. I doubt they'll let Mitsuru go just because they got the wrong girl. They may even try using her as a bargaining chip in an exchange."
"You don't know that," Lucas argued, albeit a little weakly. "Besides, you're just children. Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training but still children. How will you even find them? Vale is a huge city. Even with so many of you, I doubt you'll be able search even a quarter of the city by the end of the day. And it's not like you can just enter whatever place you want to search."
"Please, just call the police and let them handle this," he pleaded. "They're trained to handle this sort of thing. We know that Iris was part of this now. If the police have her description and everything then they can start investigating soon. They might even find the group of kidnappers before the end of the day."
"By then it might be too late," Blake argued back firmly. "I know how the police work. Just because we tell them our suspicions and everything doesn't mean they'll start searching immediately. By the time they do, Iris'll probably be with whoever took Mitsuru. As long as nobody sees her they won't have a way to follow her to Mitsuru. So no, we can't leave this to the police. Besides, we're better equipped for this."
Lucas didn't know what to make of Blake's last statement, it could mean anything especially when one considered that Semblances can be incredibly varied. But more than that, her tone told him that she wasn't going to change her mind. Not unless he could provide a much faster method of getting her friend back.
In the end, he sighed and gave in. "Alright. But at least let me know if you find them. I'll call the police and let them know there was a kidnapping. Don't worry," he cut in before anyone could protest. "I'll just pretend that the one who was kidnapped was the only person here for a late breakfast. Then, when you let me know where they are, I'll… well… I'll let the police know somehow. Maybe an anonymous tip or something. Better than letting you go in by yourselves."
Blake looked like she wanted to decline the offer but a hand on her shoulder made her turn to her partner, who gave her a slight shrug along with a faint smile. The feline faunus sighed in response before turning back to Lucas, who looked quite hopeful. "I suppose it couldn't hurt," she said, relaying the sentiment behind Yang's actions. Inwardly, however, she was hoping they wouldn't need the police.
"Thank you. That's a load off my mind at least," Lucas replied with a sigh. "I'll look up Iris's address and forward you the details. You might find something there. Maybe even Iris herself, if she decided to go back for something before meeting up the others."
Blake nodded one final time even as the others began to make their exit, sensing that the conversation was at an end. She followed them out and down the sidewalk, spotting a familiar-looking van. She followed everyone in without a word. Though she did hesitate a bit when she saw Koromaru sitting in the very back row.
With Mitsuru's absence, It was only slightly less cramped than the time they rode in it to go to the funeral home. To help, Nora, once again, just sat on Ren's lap without a word of complaint from the black-haired boy. Soon, Akihiko started up the van and drove off.
Yang wasted no time in starting up the conversation. "So what's the plan?"
"For one thing, we aren't gonna bother with that Iris woman," Akihiko replied. "First, we need to head someplace where Fuuka can summon Juno. There's an entire block just about where the residential, commercial, and industrial districts meet that have a bunch of abandoned buildings."
"I know that place," said Yang. "There was some kind of plan to tear them all down to make some new shopping center or something like that. It never pulled through since the guy who bought out the entire block lost a lot of money just when they started demolishing some of the buildings. Last I heard he's still planning on building it once he's got enough cash again though the whole block's been pretty much abandoned for a few years now."
"Let's hope that's still the case."
About ten minutes later, the group of fifteen entered what seemed to be an old theater used for stage plays. Despite its years of disuse, the building was in fairly good condition. The biggest damage that could be seen was the large chunk missing from the upper part of the building. The damage had probably come from when the shop next to it was being demolished.
The air inside was stale and musty, and the thick layer of dust covering every surface forced them to cover their mouths and noses as their movements kicked up some of it. The inside was, as expected, rundown and vandalized in many ways such as spray-painted surfaces and broken furniture. Further in, past a second set of doors, they found the stage itself, the once scarlet curtains now threadbare and moth-eaten, ready to fall apart at the slightest touch.
Due to the lack of power being supplied to the building, the group decided to stay close to the door leading to the lobby. Enough light streamed in through the mostly glass front doors and they stood just out of the line of sight of those same doors. Even if passersby looked through the doors, they wouldn't see the group.
"So what's the plan?" Yang asked a second time, Fuuka already standing within Juno and performing a search for the missing leader of SEES and Team KYBT. "Not sure how many of 'em there were but it had to be at least four or five with all the noise they made."
"Hey Ren, now can I-"
"Later."
"Assuming they didn't discover their mistake too soon, they would have taken Mitsuru someplace where they could have kept a prisoner," deduced Akihiko, leaning against the remains of the door. "They're most likely gonna be holed up in some building. Either one that they own, or abandoned, like this one."
"They won't want to risk a prisoner being heard screaming for help so it should be fairly isolated," added Weiss. "But if they have a soundproofed room or a basement then they may be able to risk going somewhere more populated."
"If that is the case, that would mean any combat will most likely take place indoors," finished Aigis.
The Aura-users suddenly found themselves surrounded by six upset Persona-users. "Huh? What's wrong?" asked Nora, surprised by their sudden drop in mood when they'd all been ready to go earlier.
It was Ren who first realized the issue. "We'll be fighting indoors," he said, repeating the conclusion that Aigis had come to. "Unless we get lucky enough that they're hiding out in a warehouse, their Personas will be more of a hindrance by fighting in such an enclosed space." One by one, the eyes of the Aura-users lit up with realization and dimmed as they further realized that it was not just the Persona problem that made them upset. "You might not be able to take part in rescuing Mitsuru."
Though the words of his teammate stung, Akihiko nodded, lips pressed tightly shut as though he were afraid of lashing out verbally otherwise.
"Huh? I don't get it." Everyone turned to Ruby at her words, and she eeped at the sudden attention she was receiving. It only lasted a second before she recovered. "I mean, you can still fight without your Personas, right?"
"It's not that easy, dolt." Despite her words, there was no real heat in Weiss's tone. "They can fight in Combat class because our classmates have been ordered to hold back. And in our training matches, we never fought too hard against them until they started using their Personas. I doubt these kidnappers will willingly hold back just because we tell them that their opponents don't have Aura. Especially not if the kidnappers are who I think they are."
"You know who they might be?" asked Yukari.
"The fau-" Weiss's mouth shut with a slightly audible click, her eyes darting over to Blake for just a split-second. "Many faunus despise my family but only one group has ever been bold enough to actually act against us."
"The White Fang." All eyes then turned to Blake, her amber eyes seemingly glowing in the darkness where she stood. "Honestly, I was thinking the same thing. This isn't something that just anyone could have done."
Yang nodded in agreement. "Yeah, those smoke grenades aren't the kind they sell to civilians. I don't think that just anyone could get their hands on that kind of gear that quickly plus masks for themselves. They probably had them stashed away somewhere."
But Blake shook her head in disagreement, the movement barely visible due to her black hair and the limited lighting. "It's not just that. They were organized, much more than just a civilian group. It took less than a minute from the moment they threw the smoke grenades to the moment they left. Less than half a minute actually. It's possible that they're a group of Huntsmen or former Huntsmen with a grudge against the Schnee family, but it's more likely that they're from the White Fang."
"Unfortunately, that's not much better since most, if not all, their members will have their Auras unlocked. And since they wear masks to hide their faces, they might still have a Huntsman in the group. Maybe more than just one. With how organized they were whoever was leading them has done things like this before. No matter how I look at it, this won't be easy unless we stack the deck to our advantage."
Akihiko clicked his tongue and rubbed the back of his neck, with a resigned sigh. "So we're looking at an indoor fight with an armed group that'll have Aura. Possibly with at least one Huntsman, or at least a trained fighter, in the group." The mood sunk even lower as everyone realized that SEES would just be a liability if they were to fight.
The only exception was Aigis, but Akihiko was hesitant to risk any possible damage to her until they had a sure-fire way of fixing her if it came to pass. Combat class and training was one thing, but fighting while under such a massive disadvantage against an unknown enemy? Aigis was good, but battle was an unpredictable affair. All it would take was a single strike or bullet in the wrong spot and Aigis could very well be damaged beyond their already limited capability to repair her.
Moreover, they still didn't know what sort of environment they would be fighting in. A theater like the one they were in now was one thing since they would have sufficient cover and more than enough room for their Personas. But if the kidnappers had taken Mitsuru to someplace more cramped, like an office building, they wouldn't be able to summon their Personas without causing a lot of collateral damage. At worst, they may even bring the entire building down on themselves.
"Well, we can worry about that later, right?" Ruby asked, trying to be optimistic about things. "We don't even know where they are. They could be in a big warehouse with lots of room."
"Or an apartment building." The words caused Ruby to slump down in defeat. Not just because of the words themselves, but because it was Fuuka who had spoken, her teammate's voice penetrating directly into her mind. "Mitsuru-senpai is safe and they don't seem to have hurt her, but there are twelve faunus in the room with her, all of them with Aura. It wasn't much, but she says she was able to buy us a few minutes before they discovered that she wasn't Weiss."
Curses were heard from the group, with the exception of Weiss. "You can speak with her?" Fuuka nodded, but looked quite distracted. Still, twelve opponents was more than they had expected and both their Aura and location worked against the members of SEES.
"There's more." The voices quieted down, not that it was really needed since Fuuka was speaking telepathically through Juno. "Mitsuru-senpai confirmed that the group is, at the very least, connected to the White Fang. Despite their masks, which could just be copies, none of them have said anything yet about being part of the group itself. To make things worse-"
"There's more?!"
"-Their leader said something about calling 'others'. Senpai isn't sure whether that meant they would all be gathering at the apartment, or if they were just informing them of the situation."
If the group hadn't been despondent earlier, they certainly were now. Twelve possible White Fang members against fifteen students. All twelve faunus had Aura while only eight among the latter group had it. The remaining seven couldn't fight in a building as cramped as an apartment building, nor could they fight in the open. At least, not unless they were willing to expose the existence of their Personas.
If it was for the sake of their friend, they would gladly do so in a heartbeat. The question was, was that what Mitsuru would want?
It didn't take the seven members of SEES very long to come to an answer. No, she wouldn't want that. Nor would any of them, if they were in Mitsuru's position. Not without a good reason at least. And if anyone were ever to ask, then they would give them a very good reason as to why they are hesitant to expose their abilities so soon.
So no, using their Personas even from outside the building was out of the question. At most, they could have one Persona out. Provided they didn't have to explain the summoning process, a single Persona could be explained away as a summoning Semblance of sorts.
"By the way Fuuka," chimed in Weiss, causing everyone to turn to her. "Where is the apartment? It might help to know the surrounding area as well if we're going to plan a proper rescue."
"Oh, that's easy." The positive tone in Fuuka's voice did wonders for their depleting morale. Any sort of good news was welcome considering all the bad. "It's one of the apartment buildings on the other side of this block."
"… WHAT?!" came the collective cry of fourteen voices.
"Alright, I'll let him know." There was a soft click as the Scroll was clicked shut. "Boss, looks like we might be getting trouble sooner than we thought."
Galus, the fox faunus pacing around the room in thought, paused and turned to the black-haired woman, green eyes just barely visible through the slits in the mask, who addressed him. "What happened? No way the cops could pick up our trail that easily."
"Not the police. A bunch of kids went by the restaurant in a van and picked up the Schnee and her friends. All of 'em were armed and the kids from the restaurant went out with weapons of their own. Our guy's still in place, but he says the cops haven't showed up yet."
"How many?"
"About a dozen came out of the van. With the ones in the restaurant and the girl we have, I'd say we have four teams of four all-in-all."
The faunus clicked his tongue in annoyance. "What a fuckin' day this turned out ta be," he growled out. "Go let everyone know. Get some guys on the roof ta keep watch. We know what the van looks like?"
The black-haired woman nodded. "Color and model. Not the plate, unfortunately."
"Good. Tell 'em to let us know if they see it or even a single kid with a weapon. Don't start shootin' or anythin' but just keep an eye on 'em. And make sure ta tell the guys who're comin' in case they seem 'em on the way here. If we're lucky we can get the Schnee in an exchange or somethin'."
The woman, his second-in-command, nodded and left to relay his orders, leaving him alone with their prisoner. Now that the sack had been removed, the redhead's upper body had been tied to the chair as well, ensuring that she would have no way of standing, much less leaving.
She had chosen to remain silent after her final quip earlier, neither complaining nor commenting on anything that went on around her. There was a strange air about her even as she just sat there calmly. Her eyes were shut, though she was still awake. Her breathing was steady, though the steady pace sounded neither natural nor forced to his ears. Rather… both? Like she had controlled her breathing to conform to that pace so many times that she could do it without as much effort.
"So tell me," he began, hoping he could get some information they could use. He didn't think he'd get much out of her, she might just ignore him completely, but it was still worth a try. "What're the chances yer friend'll give up the Schnee for ya?"
Surprisingly, she answered. "You should already know the answer to that."
He sighed, irritated. Not at her, but that she was right. The moment Amiela told him that the other kids were armed, he knew that they would fight. Some of the others might not have problems with it, but he would rather not have to beat up a children, even those who were Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training, just to get one of them.
"Any chance you can talk 'em out of it?" he asked. "All I want is the Schnee girl. We get her, you and the rest can go. No catch."
"Again, you should already know the answer to that." This time, after she spoke, she opened her eyes, crimson irises locking onto his green ones through the mask. "Even if you had succeeded in taking Weiss, this would have been the same outcome. This is simply the natural result of your actions."
"What actions?" he huffed. "Tryin' ta pay back the company that killed thousands of us? The same one killing hundreds in their damn mines right now?"
"Kidnapping a friend," she replied calmly, saying no more than what was necessary.
"Ya sound pretty damn sure they're gonna rescue ya. What? You kids the top students up at Beacon on somethin'?" When she didn't respond, Galus clicked his tongue, realizing that it was futile to fish for information. Had she been more temperamental then he could have used that to his advantage to goad her into telling him more about her friends, whether she realized it or not.
He was about to turn away when something on the nearby table caught his attention. He walked over to it, picked up the object, and went back to stand in front of the girl. "Mind tellin' me what the hell's up with this gun?" he asked, holding the object in front of her. "Far as I can tell, there's no way to put in a bullet. Even pulling the trigger just makes the sound of a gunshot but nothin' else. The hell's the point of a gun that can't shoot anything?"
"Call it a good luck charm," the girl replied, giving him a slight grin. "Not everything that looks like a weapon is meant to be used as one."
He knew she wouldn't say anything else. Her words had been chosen specifically to answer his question and close the conversation all in one go. He doubted she'd answer any more questions about the strange gun. Whoever she was, she knew how to use words as a weapon and tool to suit her needs. Someone like him had little chance from the start. He bit back a sigh as he set the not-gun down on the table. 'Can this day get any worse?'
The door suddenly clicked open, followed by quick footsteps. "Bad news."
'And it just did,' he thought, cursing himself for tempting fate. "What is it?"
"The van was spotted nearby." The way the redhead didn't react, as well as the way her breathing didn't change even the slightest, caught Galus's attention, but he kept his eyes on Amiela. "The color and model's a match. Too much of a coincidence for it to be a different one. It's parked about two blocks over. No sign of the kids."
Galus shut his eyes, thinking of how to approach the situation. Should they go out to search? It would be easy enough. They didn't know what the kids looked like but they knew what that they were looking for Beacon students who were armed. The inverse wasn't true. They just had to take off their masks and no one would be the wiser. Or would it be better to stay in place, concentrate on defense in case their hideout was found? The rest of their group should be along in less than half an hour, bringing along some weapons and supplies.
Since their original plan had been to keep the Schnee heiress hidden, they had planned on using the abandoned city block as a temporary hideaway while they waited for orders from the higher-ups. Thus, they needed the weapons and supplies, plus the extra manpower, in case they were found before they could bring their captive out of the city to somewhere more secure.
Now, however, their plan had gone down the drain and out into the sea with everything else that's gone wrong. And now he had to decide whether to take the fight to the Huntsmen-in-training or stay hidden and hope the kids didn't find them. Unfortunately, the moment the door slammed open was the moment he knew that the choice was about to be taken out of his hands.
"Boss, some of those kids are down in the lobby saying they're here for their friend. Including the Schnee."
He bit back yet another sigh that almost slipped past his lips. 'I hate it when I'm right.'
The four girls stood in front of an equal number of white-masked faunus wearing civilian clothing. Despite being on the wrong end of just as many assault rifles, none of them showed even a hint of being worried.
Ice blue eyes narrowed as she took in their appearance. The mask was usually one way of identifying members of the White Fang but, given their plain clothing, it was hard to tell if this was just a wanna-be White Fang group, or if they had some other reason for being in plain clothing.
"Well, well, didn't think you'd actually be here." Weiss eyes traveled behind the group of faunus where she spotted a slightly taller faunus with orange fox ears. "Hard to believe a Schnee'd give herself up fer someone else." Then his green eyes narrowed, and Weiss saw them drift to her side where Myrtenaster was. "Or are ya actually thinkin' of fighting?"
"I'd rather not fight at all if possible," Weiss responded with an upturned nose, earning a few growls from the faunus. "So I'll say this once. Give us back Mitsuru and we'll pretend this never happened."
The unamused glare and sneer she received was more than enough to let her know what they thought of her generous offer. "A Schnee through and through. Just 'nother self-righteous bitch who thinks she can get whatever the hell she wants." It was hard to say if his words were directed at her or to no one in particular. "Well too bad. I ain't got a problem letting little miss red up there go but you ain't leavin' 'less you're with us. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Man, that's practically the most clichéd line there is," commented Yang, the fox faunus's stern gaze turning to her. "You wanna know what's even more clichéd than that?"
"I can guess," he replied, drawing the pistol at his side. Then, without any hesitation, he gave the order. "Let 'em have it!"
Yang's shout of "You were supposed to say 'the hard way it is'," was drowned out by the sudden storm of gunfire as the five faunus started shooting at the four girls. Weiss had already been in motion before the fox faunus even gave the order, creating a large and thick wall of ice that ran from one wall to the next just as the bullets flew out of the barrels. While this wouldn't allow them to fight back until the wall was removed, it did give them a chance to enact the next part of their plan.
"Fuuka." Communicating through her thoughts was a strange experience, but Weiss could definitely appreciate how easier it made things. What's more, they wouldn't be overheard nor would the communication be intercepted unlike with verbal or radio communication. "How's this?"
"That should be fine for now," came the response from the girl who was acting as their communications hub. "Three more are making their way down but the two in the room with senpai aren't moving. Other than them, that just leaves the two on the roof."
"Are you three ready?" she verbally asked the others with her.
"Just let me know when, ice queen."
"I'm ready to break some legs! And arms!"
"I'm ready."
Weiss withheld a sigh. Only the fact that Pyrrha was part of their group helped her maintain what sanity she had left for having to team up with Yang and Nora. This certainly wasn't anywhere near her dream team, but it was hard to argue with the reasoning that Aigis and Ahikiko had used earlier.
They hadn't expected that the kidnappers would leave someone behind to keep an eye on things. It was only because Mitsuru was able to communicate with them through Fuuka that they even had that much warning. As it was, their plan to catch the kidnappers off guard with their numbers was scrapped before it could be put into action, and the knowledge that more were on their way meant they had to strike quickly. Hopefully the last minute changes to the plan would work as well as hoped.
At the very least, their first gamble had paid off. None of the faunus that confronted them seemed to realize that the group they were facing weren't exactly the same as the ones that had been in the restaurant during the kidnapping.
"Now!"
Hearing the signal, Weiss and Pyrrha backed away from the wall even as Yang and Nora wound back their arms, weapons at the ready. With a loud roar, the wall of ice was smashed open by a hammer and a gauntlet-encased fist, sending chunks and shards of ice flying at their faunus opponents. Weiss and Pyrrha surged through the opening, taking advantage of their opponents' reflexive act of shielding their faces.
The faunus recovered from the ice barrage faster than expected, but a few shots from Yang and Nora scattered them before they could even aim at the approaching pair. And when Weiss and Pyrrha did reach the group, the fight that ensued was as one-sided as it could possibly get. Despite having Aura, the masked faunus weren't very well-trained.
It was only when a pair of combat knives held in a reverse grip blocked Myrtenaster and Miló that the fighting came to a sudden stop. The fox faunus pushed both weapons away even as he began barking out orders. "Pull back and set up a defensive line like we talked about earlier. We'll hold 'em off here."
The majority of the faunus didn't even turn back as they left, picking up weapons and fallen comrades as the dashed up the stairs. In just a handful of seconds, only the fox faunus and a black-haired woman remained, the latter tossing aside her rifle and drawing a pair of steel-plated wooden tonfa from her back.
"Last chance, Schnee," he offered, facing off against the four trainee Huntresses. "You for the girl upstairs and your friends. You ain't gettin' a better deal."
Weiss scoffed and readied herself, her current team doing the same. Inwardly, however, she frowned at the failure of the first objective, that of taking out as many of the eight faunus as possible. It was such an utter failure that they hadn't been able to take out a single one. At the very least, their Aura would be drained, making them softer targets even if by just a little bit.
The only reason it wasn't the worst case scenario was because only eight had fled to the upper floors while two remained with them. Either way, they had taken such a possibility into consideration. Or rather, Aigis and Akihiko had. Their experience when it came to combat shone through during their brief strategy session earlier.
Not to say that nobody else had anything to offer to the plan, but the two of them had contributed the most to the discussion. Although two things stood out to her. One was that a major aspect of their revised plan came from the most unexpected pair. The other was the surprising amount of information that came from a certain someone. And that someone wasn't Fuuka.
Weiss could only hope for the success of the other groups as the two faunus charged forward to engage the four teenagers in the apartment's lobby.
"Six of the eight are making their way up. Two remained behind to hold off Group A."
"Got it," Blake replied in her head after a slight pause, still trying to get used to telepathic communication since her thoughts didn't automatically transmit through the connection. Still, the instruction to 'direct' her thoughts to Fuuka was simple enough to follow. That, and the fact that she didn't need to 'speak' to multiple people at once. Not yet at least. According to Akihiko, they could work on communicating with several people at a later time. The feline faunus turned to the other people in the stairwell with her. "Get ready."
The other two nodded their heads, weapons in hand as they prepared for their part of the plan. The planning session may have been cut short due to the approaching reinforcements for the opposition, but the roles of each group were simple enough to understand and remember. The most difficult part was the timing of it all but with their scout and communication center being one and the same, they simply needed to wait and listen for Fuuka's cues or, should it call for it, warnings.
"Three on the third floor guarding the stairs. Three on the fifth doing the same. The two in the room with senpai haven't changed positions. They're behind cover watching over the door. Whenever you're ready Blake."
"Group B, go!"
The two faunus keeping watch from the roof, listening to the sounds of battle coming from far below them, spun at the unexpected sound of a door slamming open. And then promptly froze in surprise when they saw three teenagers charging out of the stairwell of the next building over. Their surprise only lasted a second before one of them raised their rifle, the other going for the radio on his belt.
The sharp bang of a gun being fired rang across the neighborhood. The faunus didn't even get to touch the radio before the bullet pierced through it, destroying it in an instant. The other faunus managed to fire a quick burst before his weapon suffered the same fate as the radio, but the bullets were stopped by a white heater shield held by a blonde boy who was running in front of the other two. And while it slowed him down, the same couldn't be said of his two companions.
With one final burst of speed, a boy and a girl, both with black hair and the former with a magenta-colored streak of hair on the left side, ran out from behind the blonde and leapt across the gap between the two buildings, firing their weapons on the two faunus and battering their Aura with a steady stream of bullets. Not to mention the sniper who was still firing at them from an undetermined location. As a result, the faunus who retained his rifle couldn't even raise it to fire back.
Blake and Ren lost no time engaging the two faunus upon landing on the adjacent roof with a roll, the former's weapon shifting to its katana form. Off guard and given no chance to draw a weapon, the two faunus were quickly drained of Aura and knocked unconscious. As two bodies slumped to the ground, Jaune came flying in. Literally.
With help from Ruby and her Semblance, Jaune managed to make the jump but his landing was less than stellar as he hit the ground with an ungraceful roll, stopping just before he slammed into the door leading into the building. The sniper-scythe-wielding girl briefly skid to a stop next to Blake, rose petals trailing in her wake. "Sorry Jaune," was all she could say, looking quite sheepish.
Ruby hadn't been certain that Jaune would make the jump, knowing that the blonde was still playing catch-up in terms of physical ability. Among other things. So she decided to assist him by giving him a push from behind while in mid-air. She just hadn't expected to send him flying that hard.
"I'm okay," Jaune replied with a small groan. "Just… a little warning next time please."
"Group C is in position," came Fuuka's voice, causing all four of them to jump slightly in surprise. SEES might have been used to it, but suddenly hearing a voice in their head that wasn't their own was something they had yet to get used to. Especially when tensions were running high due to having just been in a fight, brief as it was. "Proceed when ready."
Galus's knives clashed with the two blades that came at him from the left and right. With a roar, he pushed both blades away and spun in between the two, his knives just barely missing their targets as both the Schnee heiress and her red-haired partner leapt back. He remained in place, knowing his current position was the most advantageous for him
The short hallway leading to the stairwell was narrow, just enough for two people to comfortably walk side-by-side. As such, it was the perfect place for him to fight. With their longer weapons, never mind the redhead's shield, the two girls were hindered by their environment while fighting him two-on-one. Even if they fought him one-on-one instead, he could already tell that he was more skilled and would be able to fight off whoever engaged him.
On the other hand, their teamwork, while far from perfect, was just enough that he couldn't properly take advantage of any openings. Just like now, his attacks always missed by a tiny margin. If not for the fact that a drawn out battle worked to his advantage he would have been incredibly frustrated by now at his inability to land a single hit.
Then again, the fact that a pair of seventeen-year-old children were holding out against him, one of them being a Schnee at that, was enough to frustrate him to some extent.
Over by the entrance, he could see that Amiela was also locked in a stalemate with her opponents. The blonde with the gauntlets and the redhead with the hammer were fairly skilled as well from what he could see. Much like his own opponents, their teamwork clearly needed work but it was still enough for the moment. The blonde engaged Amiela up close to give her partner, who lacked the agility to keep up with Amiela in direct combat, an opening.
Still, Amiela was always a step ahead and never gave either girl, both of whom seemed stronger than the average trainee, the opportunity to land a single blow. She had even managed to land several blows on the blonde. Obviously not enough to knock her out of the fight, but enough to show that she was the superior fighter.
A quick glance at his watch showed that he still had about fifteen minutes before the rest of the group was scheduled to arrive. With luck they would arrive earlier. But with the day he's been having, Galus knew better than to count on his luck.
He tightened his grip on his knives when he saw the Schnee and her partner slide their leading foot forward, ready to try taking him out once more, only to suddenly freeze. The sudden hesitation passed so quickly that Galus had to wonder if he had seen it at all. Then, the two glanced at one another out of the corner of their eyes and nodded slightly.
Before Galus could consider what their actions meant, his ears caught the sound of an explosion coming from the upper floors. Remembering too late that there was supposed to be more than just the four kids who were in the lobby, his eyes shot open in shock and turned to the stairs, his mind considering running up to confront whoever had managed to slip into the building.
Then he mentally cursed himself at his mistake, quickly turning his attention back to the two opponents who were actually in front of him. It was too late, however, as he found himself face-to-face with the redhead's shield as she rammed into him, pushing him back and slamming him against the wall. Then she jumped away just as the Schnee heiress came in with a thrust of her rapier.
He hopped to the side, avoiding the stab and preparing to counterattack only to suddenly find his entire body encased in ice all the way up to his neck. He glanced down with a growl, meeting the heiress's smug grin as he began to struggle, trying to break free of the ice.
"INCOMING!"
He looked up at the shout, barely noticing the heiress leaping to the side. A body flew at him, crashing back-first into the ice encasing him. More ice appeared, most likely courtesy of the Schnee heiress again, and encased Amiela's body just like it did his. Both of them struggled, trying to break free, but the ice was far too thick for them to break from within.
"Alright!" he heard the blonde cheer, running up to them with the orange-haired girl. "Way to go ice queen!"
"How many times do I have to say it before you stop calling me that?" complained the heiress, her good mood disappearing in an instant, replaced by a look of intense annoyance. "Or are you deaf as well as stupid?"
Yet the blonde just grinned unrepentantly. "Lighten up ice queen. Besides, don't we have an 'empress' to rescue?"
The Schnee heiress growled but said nothing more on the subject. "Don't think this is over, you brute."
The orange-haired girl quickly ran up the stairs with a loud cheer just as his ears picked up another explosion, dashing ahead of her teammates even as the redhead called for her to wait for them. The blonde followed suit soon after.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop them, Galus took a deep breath to try warn and call out a warning to the others only for the heiress to stab her rapier down on the staircase, a wall of ice rising up between him and her and blocking the staircase. Rather than yell, he let out a resigned sigh. The Schnee girl had clearly thought this through.
Even if he and Amiela could escape the ice encasing them, the wall of ice blocking their path was clearly thicker than the one imprisoning them. By the time they broke through it would be too late to help whoever was up there. Even so, he struggled despite knowing the chances of escaping in time to help were slim to none. He could only hope that the others could hold the line long enough for their reinforcements to arrive.
But as with earlier, he knew better than to rely on luck. Not unless he was relying on bad luck.
As things stood, they most likely had next to no chance of success. Hopefully the captain wouldn't fault him too badly for their failure.
The group of Weiss, Pyrrha, Yang, and Nora ran up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. Yet despite knowing there were a handful more of enemies between them and their goal, they showed no concern at all. Not even for the possibility of an ambush.
It was not confidence in their abilities that removed their worries. Rather, it was confidence in their friends and teammates. That, and the voices in their heads that gave constant updates on the situation.
"Third floor's all yours," came the voice of Junpei just as the sound of gunshots reached the ears of Group A.
"Same for the fifth," added Yukari soon after. Much like with group A, group B also heard the sound of gunshots as they descended from the roof to their destination.
The quartet reached the third floor just a few seconds later. And just as they had expected, the three faunus guarding the stairwell were no longer watching the stairs. Instead, they were facing the hallway, firing their guns at someone the quartet couldn't see but knew was there.
The sound of their guns drowned out all others, enough that none of the faunus realized that someone was coming up the stairs. Even those that possessed a heightened sense of hearing would be deafened by the gunshots. In fact, it probably made it worse for them. By the time they realized it, they were already under attack and were soon knocked unconscious by the quartet of girls. Yang glanced down the hallway, and out the window at the end, sending a thumbs-up when Junpei and Chidori came into view, standing in the building across from theirs.
"Third and fifth floors cleared," announced Fuuka when nobody made the report. It was understandable since the members of groups A and B were not used to speaking telepathically while fighting. Or at all.
After sending a quick thumbs-up back, Junpei dashed away with Chidori in tow, his voice echoing in their heads even as the quartet ran up the stairs, barely acknowledging the fire and scorch marks on the walls, floor, and ceiling as a result of Junpei and Chidori's sneak attack. "Alright, heading to the meeting point now." Yukari's and Ken's voices came after, Junpei reporting the same for himself and Chidori.
Weiss's group reached the fourth floor in short order, the same floor where Mitsuru was being held. Just then, they all heard a gasp. It hadn't been any of them. Rather, it came from inside their heads. "The two faunus in the room are using senpai as a hostage!"
The group of four immediately shot down the hallway, eyes zeroed in on one door in particular. Nora charged ahead of the group, weapon in hand. Solidly planting her foot on the floor, she spun around and slammed Magnhild's head into the door, blasting it off the hinges. The rest of the group charged through the door just as a voice reached them.
"Don't move or the girl dies!"
The threat was enough to freeze them in place, hearts hammering in their chests, more so when they saw the two remaining faunus pointing their rifle at Mitsuru's head. Did they find out that she didn't have Aura?
Then their aim shifted and the pair opened fire on the group. The four teenagers scattered, two leaping through the door leading to what was once a bedroom while the other two retreated back into the hallway.
Their surprise cost them some of their Aura, but not enough to make that much of a difference. But it did serve to point out their mistake. With their Aura, and Pyrrha possessing a physical shield on top of it, they should have just rushed their enemies.
Moreover, the faunus hadn't discovered the lack of Aura. They simply used their worry for their friend against them. The threat of Mitsuru's death made them freeze and panic, compounded by her lack of Aura. And the pair of faunus used that panic to their advantage. And in their panic, their bodies had simply reacted on instinct, choosing to avoid the danger rather than fight.
Weiss had to admit that their little ploy worked. Using their concern for Mitsuru's safety against them the same way the White Fang used associates of her family and company against the Schnee, not that the latter worked very well. Psychological combat at its finest.
Still, this was a slightly better scenario than earlier. Had the faunus kept their weapons trained on Mitsuru then the four girls would have been in a much more difficult situation.
"I don't know how the hell you kids got through the others so quickly, but this is as far as you get!" yelled one of the faunus as they heard both guns being reloaded. "I'll give you one last chance. The Schnee comes with us, or you all die. Starting with your friend here."
"Do you really think we've come this far just to surrender to scum like you? Besides, what do you think two of you can do against four of us?" she called back from her hiding place just past the door to the bedroom. It shouldn't be long before their trump card was ready to go into play. "And if you kill Mitsuru, we have no reason to hold back. You should be the ones surrendering."
One of the faunus laughed, derisive and amused in equal measure. "You think you've won? We've got a couple dozen more on their way and we've already let 'em know that you're here. Unlike us, they aren't gonna give you a chance to give up and leave."
"And there's a reason why we're the ones guarding your friend here," added the other. "We ain't Huntsmen but my brother and I could take on at least ten of you kids and still win. So come on. I dare ya t-."
The sound of shattering glass cut off the faunus, followed by the sound of something landing on the floor behind them. Pyrrha jumped into the room from the hallway the moment she heard the glass break, eyes locked onto their rifles before the two faunus could even turn around. A quick application of her Semblance sent the weapons flying from their hands with no difficulty at all.
Unarmed and thoroughly confused by the sudden turn of events, the blonde-haired mechanical maiden that leapt in through the window had little difficulty knocking the two faunus away from Mitsuru and to the middle of the room. At that moment, Weiss dashed out into the open and stabbed Myrtenaster into the floor where a single, white glyph spun into existence.
Just like with the two faunus in the lobby, ice quickly encased the two faunus in front of her, crawling up their legs, their torsos and arms, all in just a second until only their heads were left untouched. Though with how badly they were cursing, Weiss was tempted to freeze them up to their mouths as well.
"Thank you, Aigis."
The four Aura-users gathered in the space between the imprisoned faunus and their recently released friend as said friend rose from the creaky wooden seat she had been forced to sit in since her arrival roughly two hours ago.
Two hours. One hundred and twenty minutes.
Weiss found it a little hard to believe that it had only been about that long since Mitsuru was kidnapped. It wasn't the most accurate measure of time but considering it wasn't even noon yet then it was safe to say that, at most, it had been two hours since the kidnapping. And looking back, the efficiency with which SEES worked was… astounding. Almost unbelievable.
At the time that Yukari called Akihiko, the group at Beacon would have had less than twenty minutes before the next airship was scheduled to leave for Vale, then it would take teams ANKR, ASYR, and JACN ten minutes before they landed in the city. From memory, Weiss recalled that it took about ten minutes by bus to SEES's home so they could pick up the van. Then an estimated fifteen minutes of driving to get to the restaurant.
Once they had regrouped, it took less than ten minutes to travel to the abandoned theater where Fuuka could summon Juno without being seen. Their conversation had been brief, five minutes at most, before Fuuka informed them of Mitsuru's location as well as an unknown time limit associated with the arrival of reinforcements for the enemy. From there, it had taken less than half an hour for Fuuka to obtain a map of the city block in question and for Aigis and Akihiko to come up with a basic plan, with a handful of inputs from everyone else.
They were moving into position when Mitsuru, through Fuuka, let them know that the kidnappers knew how many of them there were as well as the fact that they were using a gray van for transportation. With the loss of the element of surprise some parts of their plan had to be changed. Even as they continued to move into position, Akihiko and Aigis quickly made some revisions. It took less than five minutes to revise their plans as well as come up with a handful of contingencies in case something else went wrong or something unexpected came up.
Akihiko asked for a few minutes to get the final part of their revised plan ready before they began the actual rescue. After he gave them confirmation, they began phase one of their plans, namely group A walking in through the front doors. From there, it took less than ten minutes to get to where they were now. All that was left was to escape and that wouldn't take more than a minute or two.
Weiss had no words for how quickly they had managed to work. Was it experience, she wondered, that allowed them to do so? She recalled hearing Fuuka explain to Ruby that, asides from defending their city of jurisdiction from the Grimm, SEES was only ever deployed for major Grimm extermination missions when the Japanese Huntsmen – Weiss really needed to remember to ask what the Japanese called their Huntsmen – were unable to for whatever reason. If so, then it stood to reason that they would be used to coming up with plans in a short span of time.
The Schnee heiress shook her thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to dwell on such things. They managed to reach Mitsuru. Now they had to get away before the enemy's reinforcements arrived.
Clearly the aforementioned girl was of the same mind. "I'm fine, everyone," said Mitsuru, waving away everyone's concerns and picking up her Evoker from the nearby table, which she had managed to convince the vulpine faunus earlier to leave behind. It hadn't been that hard since the 'gun' wasn't real. "For now, let's focus on our escape."
And just like that, the seriousness of the situation returned. Relieved and celebratory smiles faded into grim expressions as they marched out the door, ignoring the two faunus who cursed at their backs. The group of six hurried up to the roof, marching past the unconscious trio that group B had taken care of, with help from Yukari and Ken, before returning to the roof to keep watch on their surroundings.
Just as they reached the roof, spotting Blake, Ruby, Ren, Jaune, and two tied-up and unconscious masked faunus, Akihiko's voice entered their minds once more. "I just picked up Fuuka and group C. Get to the second meeting point now. We don't know how far out their reinforcements are."
Everyone nodded and responded verbally, even though they knew Akihiko wouldn't see or hear their responses. The only ones who remained silent were Aigis and Mitsuru, whose voices echoed in their heads.
Following the plan, group B led the way, leaping across the rooftops to their destination. Jaune, of course, was assisted by Pyrrha, who helped the blonde clear the gaps via her Semblance. The blonde swallowed his protests, knowing that it was safer and less time consuming this way. Though it didn't help that a few people were openly snickering in his direction.
Group A followed after with Mitsuru. The redhead had an arm around Yang's shoulders while one of Yang's arms went around Mitsuru's waist – "Carry me and I'll make you regret it." – to support her as they leapt across the rooftops. Last to follow was Aigis, who was constantly scouting their surroundings now that Fuuka no longer had Juno summoned.
After crossing a few rooftops, they leapt down to the top of a smaller building, only about three stories high, just as a van casually came to a stop in front of it, the door to the back being opened from inside. Despite Yang taking most of their combined weight, Mitsuru still grunted at the landing as some pain lanced up her legs. She wasn't injured, but her legs would be aching for quite a while. Thankfully they had reached their destination.
Another jump brought them to ground level. Wasting no time, the group piled into the waiting van, squeezing in wherever they could fit. There would be time to get comfortable after they got to safety. The van departed, moving at a casual pace to avoid attention, before the door was even shut.
"Renny, now can I-"
"Later."
"What the hell happened?!"
"What the fuck d'ya think happened?!" Galus shouted back even as two other faunus broke apart the ice imprisoning him and Amiela. "Somehow those kids found us and got their friend back. If I heard right they prob'ly came in through the roof too. Don't know how the hell they took out the guys up there so easily. All I heard from down here was a bunch o' explosions."
The woman before him growled as she raised the radio next to her face, the full-faced mask she was wearing that marked her as a higher-ranked member of the White Fang distorting her voice slightly as she spoke into the radio. "The kids are gone. Spread out and search for a gray van. They couldn't have gotten far."
Various responses of affirmation came back through the radio followed by the sound of several vehicles moving away. The woman then turned to the six faunus she brought with her. "Don't bother with the ice here. Go in through the windows or the fire exit or whatever. Grab everyone else and let's get going. Pretty sure someone's called the cops by now." Once they were gone, the woman ripped the mask off her face, pulling off the hood of her White Fang uniform and freeing her pale green hair. "Damn it all! This was our big chance! We had her right there! How the hell did you screw up the kidnapping in the first place?!"
Ignoring the fact that the woman was practically spitting on his face with every word, Galus calmly replied to the woman who was ranked higher than he was despite being a bit younger. "That redhead pulled the Schnee's jacket off of her and used it ta cover up her hair. Even with the gas masks we had trouble seeing 'cuz of all the smoke."
"Idiots," growled out the woman, but said nothing else. For a while, the only sound that could be heard in the lobby was the clomping and tromping footsteps coming from above as the rest of Galus's group was recovered. Then the woman turned to the vulpine faunus once more. "What do you think? If we do manage to grab the Schnee next time we get the chance, do you think they'll come after her again?"
Galus huffed. "Four teams, Iris. Four teams came ta save one of their own. We grabbed the girl before ten and they got 'er back 'fore noon. We had you on the inside ta come up with a plan while the rest of us just got together after you called. Those kids had 'bout two hours ta find us, get together a plan, and actually use that plan. Not ta mention most of 'em probably had ta come down from Beacon since it ain't exactly a weekend and they weren't there earlier. Whoever the hell came up with their rescue plan must be one hell of a genius. 'Specially since we didn't see any of 'em scoutin' out this place."
"That doesn't exactly answer my question."
"You really gotta ask, LT?" He sighed at the unamused expression on the lieutenant's face. "If they don't come chasin' after 'er I'll shoot myself in the nuts. Still, they're just kids. The only thing they've goin' for 'em is that they're smart and they caught us with our pants down this time. They came in with a plan we didn't expect and they stuck to it. That, and more than half the guys with me are pretty damn useless without a gun. And you know fuckin' well guns don't cut it when they can get up close so damn easily with Aura an' all, not unless there's three or four of us shootin' at one of 'em."
"We'll start training them harder then," Iris scoffed. "Don't know what the plan for Vale is but all the Dust we've been taking means it's pretty damn big." Just then, her radio came to life. She raised it up and half-shouted into it. "What?"
"We've got eight guys loaded up, all knocked out. The last two are frozen but we'll have 'em out in a minute."
"Hurry it up. I want us out of here before those cops get anywhere near this place." Another affirmation later, Iris let out a harsh sigh and clipped the radio back to her belt. "When we get back to the safe house, go over what happened with your guys then let me know. If those kids are gonna be around the Schnee then the captain'll wanna know what they can do in case we make another play for her."
"Got it."
Iris pulled up her hood once more, tucking in every last strand of her pale green hair, before replacing the mask over her face. "Let's go," she ordered, voice slightly distorted by the mask, as she marched out of the building, Galus and Amiela, who remained silent the entire time, following suit. "Something tells me we aren't gonna be finding those kids today."
Akihiko drove around the city's commercial area for at least fifteen minutes, Fuuka's limited abilities helping them keep track of any possible tails. When they were certain that nobody was following them, they made their way to Vale's residential district.
The ride back to SEES's house was made in silence, everyone still on high alert in case they were somehow discovered. They were already within the residential area of Vale but Akihiko reminded them, when several of them began to cheer for their victory, not to relax just yet. "It's times like these, when you feel like letting your guard down after a mission, that you shouldn't. Not until you're somewhere absolutely safe."
But soon enough, the van was parked in a familiar driveway, sixteen people and a dog exiting the vehicle. But before they entered the house, everyone turned to look at the van.
"Y'know something?" began Junpei, his face practically split in half by his grin. "I think it looks better this way."
Those words completely snapped the tension everyone was feeling as snickers, chuckles, giggles and outright laughter broke out past everyone's lips, with the sole exception of one person who just groaned. Mitsuru was covering her mouth with a fist but was clearly shaking in amusement. Even Weiss, despite restraining herself from showing it openly, had to admit that it was an amusing sight. Or in the case of some, downright hilarious.
What once was a drab, gray van would no longer look out of place at a carnival or a museum for… less traditional works of art. Someone might have said that it looked like an artist took several cans of paint and emptied the contents on the van at random.
The truth, however, was much more unbelievable.
"I'm surprised you actually went through with it, Akihiko," said Mitsuru, chuckling at the abashed yet equally amused boxer. When Fuuka had relayed the plan to her through Juno, she hadn't thought that the normally straight-laced Akihiko would intentionally do something even that was even remotely… impulsive in nature. Even if it was premeditated.
"Yeah, well, it's this or risk getting caught," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a light blush on his face. "A car chase might look fun when you're watching but I'm nowhere that good of a driver. Still, this is gonna cost us to clean up. Might as well give it a nice design or something while we're at it."
"See? Told ya it was a good idea," Junpei said, elbowing Jaune lightly. "I mean, any of those cars we passed could've belonged to the kidnappers or their friends."
Jaune, seeing so many eyes turn in his direction with approval, blushed and shuffled nervously, trying to avoid their gazes. "I… well… I mean, I just, y'know, said the first thing that came into my head. Didn't think you guys would take me seriously."
Junpei barked out laughing, slapping Jaune in the back. "Woah!" Unfortunately, the blonde was too busy trying to force down his embarrassment that the playful slap actually threw him off-balance. His arms spun wildly as he tried to regain his balance.
"Jaune!"
Pyrrha saw what happened and quickly stepped forward to get in front of Jaune. But when the wild flailing of his arms struck the side of her face, she stumbled right into him and the two fell to the ground in a clumsy heap. Knowing that a little fall like that wouldn't really hurt either of them only made some of them laugh harder, their attention drifting from the multi-colored van to the two trainees on the ground.
Jaune groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, which was surprisingly softer than expected, shaking his head slightly with his eyes still shut. He wasn't sure if he was hearing things right, but some of the laughter was cut off by the sound of choking. "Um… Jaune?" he heard someone ask. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring straight into a familiar pair of emerald green eyes.
It didn't take him long to realize that he was lying on top of Pyrrha, who was alternating between looking at him, and looking away with a slight blush on her face. "S-Sorry!" he stammered out, pushing down with his hands as he made to rise. At the same time, Pyrrha let out an uncharacteristic whimper. "Let me just-" He paused abruptly as a thought occurred to him.
He pushed against the ground again. And again, Pyrrha whimpered. At the same time, Junpei, Yang, and Nora, undoubtedly the most boisterous of their group, laughed even louder. The choking noises he heard earlier continued along with some nonsensical spluttering from a few others. But as Jaune looked down, only one thought went through his head. 'That's why the ground feels so soft.'
Once everyone settled back down, though Jaune and Pyrrha were notably avoiding each other's gaze with reddened cheeks, the group of sixteen - seventeen with Koromaru in the count - moved to the living room. Akihiko called for take-out seeing as it was noon and they had nothing but a few snacks in the house for when he sometimes came to assemble one of the many exercise machines he had purchased, sometimes with Team ANKR in tow.
Now that they were more or less safe, everyone began celebrating their successful rescue of Mitsuru in their own way.
The most notable were Yang and Nora who were on their feet, gesturing excitedly and wildly as they regaled the others with an exaggerated re-telling of their fight with the tonfa-wielding woman in the lobby. And when she heard about Ruby's successful sniping of the radio and weapons of the rooftop guards, Yang proceeded to shower the young girl with compliments and praise mixed in with sisterly teasing, much to the sniper's embarrassment.
The others were more subdued but were no less glad for their collective success. Junpei, for one, was still laughing at the shock that he supposedly saw on the faces of their opponents when he and Chidori blasted them from the neighboring building. They had only managed to get off one Agidyne each, not wanting to damage the building too much, before the weapons were turned in their direction and they had to hide away. Still, the threat of an attack from an unexpected direction was enough for group A to take them out without any difficulties.
Yukari and Ken didn't bother with a re-telling of their own surprise attack, but the smiles on their faces belied their calm emotions. Everyone else just listened calmly but with smiles of their own, laughing at appropriate moments.
"Oh man, that was great," crowed Yang, collapsing down on a sofa. "Dunno if they really were White Fang or not, but those guys were no match for us. Are we the best first year teams or what? Bet even the older teams couldn't pull of a rescue that smoothly."
Mitsuru chuckled at her teammate's exuberance. "While there's nothing wrong with taking pride in your achievements, try to remember that we had an overwhelming advantage working for us." The redhead was quick to become the center of attention, receiving many curious looks at her words. "Fuuka's ability to gather information allowed us all to know their numbers, their positions, and the building's structure. Not to mention she was the one responsible for locating me, keeping track of their movements in real time, and allowing us to communicate without delays."
"Without her help, it would have taken longer to find their hideout, not to mention the lack of information would have made it much more difficult to come up with a viable plan. And if you had taken too long there would have been much more of them to contend with." Looking around, she saw that the earlier cheer had died down as a result of her words. "I don't mean to downplay everyone's achievements. Just keep in mind that things could have turned out much worse. With that said…" Mitsuru then turned her gaze to Fuuka. "… how was it?"
While there was some confusion from the group as a whole, it would seem that Fuuka knew just what the redhead was asking about. "It was… different. Back in Iwatodai, I only had to keep track of a handful of Grimm, or a few bigger ones. Even when there were more, they always just came right at us. But with people… it's…" Her voice drifted off, unable to find an appropriate word.
"It's much more overwhelming, isn't it?" offered Mitsuru with a knowing smile. "Fighting other people, especially beyond simple combat, requires you to keep track of everyone's movements. To make things worse, every change in the enemy's position could mean any number of things. And as the one monitoring the situation, we'll be relying on you to coordinate our movements even as you remain constantly on alert and report any change on the battlefield as soon as it happens. "
"Information is power." All eyes then turned to Weiss when she spoke, her own eyes directed at Fuuka. "To be honest, I was thinking about it this entire time. The success of the rescue relied completely on Fuuka's abilities, didn't it?"
"M-me?" Fuuka stammered out with wide eyes, genuinely surprised at the indirect compliment she received. From Weiss, of all people. And it wasn't just a simple one. The heiress was more or less attributing the success of the entire operation to her.
"Who else?" Weiss asked as though it should have been obvious from the start.
"But…" By the way she was squirming in her seat, it was obvious that Fuuka was more than just a little uncomfortable with all the attention even as positive as it was. "Akihiko-senpai and Aigis-chan were the ones who came up with the plan. And Jaune and Junpei-kun were the ones who came up with a way to avoid being found out during our escape."
"But without you finding out how many we were facing and that they had Aura, they wouldn't have been able to come up with those plans. And without you, Mitsuru would not have been able to let us know that they knew how many of us there were, what vehicle we were using, and that we were searching for them and not the police."
"But everyone else did all the work," protested the teal-haired girl. "Everyone else was out there fighting while I stayed safe in the theater until the end."
"You were the one coordinating our movements and monitoring our enemy's movements, letting us know the best time to proceed with the next phase of the plan. Without you, we wouldn't have known if they were circling around to attack us from behind, or if their reinforcements arrived sooner than expected."
"But I-"
"Come on, Fuuka," interjected Yukari. "Everyone knows what you did."
"Yeah, and this ain't exactly the first time you saved our butts," added Junpei. "Like when we were looking for the Shadow in the mall. Or the second one over at Shirakawa."
Yukari's mood soured somewhat as she groaned and palmed her face. "Did you really have to bring that up?" she muttered under her breath, ignoring the curious looks she received from those not in the know.
"Can't forget the first time you actually summoned your Persona," Akihiko added with a nostalgia-filled grin. "If you weren't there that night all of us would be dead, including your friend, Moriyama."
"Oh wow! Really?" Ruby zipped up to Fuuka's side gazing at the shorter but older girl with what seemed to be admiration. "You really saved them all?"
"I don't think anyone told me that story," said Ken, turning to Akihiko. "What happened? Was the Shadow that strong?"
What began as a brief lecture from Mitsuru to not grow overconfident now turned into a storytelling session. Akihiko, with some very heavy modifications to the story, as well as permission from Fuuka, began to tell the story of how Fuuka came to join SEES.
Yukari jumped in early on to make sure that the story she told Goodwitch all those weeks ago matched what they told everyone else. The knowledge that Fuuka was once bullied, and that she could have died because of it, earned the diminutive girl some sympathy, but she settled it by letting them all know that one of her bullies eventually became one of her best friends outside of SEES.
Of course, Junpei found Akihiko and Yukari's storytelling to be too bland and occasionally took over. That, of course, led to Yukari interrupting whenever Junpei went overboard with his embellishments. And, of course, that led to yet another round of bantering between the two that everyone just watched in amusement.
Somewhere in the middle of the storytelling, well before the pair started to argue, Fuuka managed to slip away into the kitchen to get a drink of water. That, and to fade away from everyone's attention. It was one thing to be complimented or thanked, but being praised so highly always made her so uncomfortable.
She took a sip of water as she turned back to the living room only to cough and choke on the water at the sudden appearance of her white-haired teammate. Weiss, herself, was caught off-guard and stopped to stare as Fuuka coughed repeatedly to clear her airway.
"A-are you alright?" she asked, leaning forward and hesitantly placing a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.
"I'm-" a brief bout of coughing interrupted her. "I'm fine. I just…" Fuuka took a few quick breaths to steady herself, thankful that she hadn't dropped the glass. "You surprised me."
"What?" Weiss blinked, wondering if she heard her right. "But didn't you say that you still have limited use of Juno's abilities even without summoning it?"
"That doesn't-" Fuuka coughed twice more to clear the water still in her airway. "That doesn't mean I use it all the time," she defended gently. "If it was the Grimm, then I'd be able to sense their location even without trying. But when it comes to other people I need to focus at least a little bit."
"I see. In that case, I apologize for startling you."
"It's fine. No harm done." She brought her glass to the sink and went about washing it, making sure to wipe down the sink with a spare cloth once she was done. "By the way, did you need something?"
Weiss hummed in query, as though wondering what Fuuka was talking about, then remembered her reason for following the Japanese girl into the kitchen. "I was just curious about something. It didn't look like you were very comfortable being complimented earlier." Whatever she was expecting, she certainly didn't expect Fuuka to suddenly giggle. "Did… I say something funny?" she asked, running her words through her head to see if she could find the joke.
But Fuuka was quick to reassure the heiress. "Oh no. It's because I was thinking about the same thing just now." She paused for a moment to compose herself before addressing Weiss's curiosity. "I don't think I've told you or Ruby about my family, have I?"
Weiss's side-tail shook with the movement of her head. "All things considered, I don't think Ruby and I, or anyone in our group, feel comfortable enough to casually ask about your families. Though I have to admit I find myself curious now and then."
"That's understandable, though I don't really think any of us would have trouble talking about our families. Not that much at least," responded Fuuka. "Most members of my family, from both sides, were doctors. Both my parents were among the very few exceptions. Because of that, both of them had an inferiority complex and always pushed me to study hard to get good grades in school."
"Not to sound rude, but what does that have to do with being uncomfortable when you receive a compliment?"
Fuuka gave a weak smile as she answered. "Living at home was… difficult because of that. If my grades drop, I'm scolded. If I achieve high marks, I'm expected to maintain them. I got so used to it that I became the kind of person who always tried to meet other people's expectations of me. And for a long time, I didn't even stop to think about what I wanted anymore." Fuuka spoke with her gaze lowered, thus she missed the look of sympathy that was on Weiss's face. "It's part of why I joined SEES when they gave me the chance after I awakened my Persona. At least at first."
"At first?" Weiss repeated in question form, receiving a small nod in return. "What changed?"
Fuuka raised her head and turned her gaze to the right. Following her line of sight, Weiss found Fuuka looking in the direction of their friends. In the direction of SEES. "Everything," she replied as though it were enough of an explanation. Thankfully, she chose to clarify her words. "At first, I joined because it would mean living in the dorms rather than at home when my parents only ever pressured me. And also because I could be useful to SEES."
"But…" Weiss hesitated, which was uncharacteristic enough of her that Fuuka turned her gaze back to the heiress. "But isn't that just the same as before? The part about meeting people's expectations I mean. Are you sure you didn't just join because you might have felt that they expected you to?"
And yet again, Fuuka reacted with amusement. And when she saw the almost petulant expression on her teammate's face, her giggling almost turned into outright laughter. "I'm… I'm sorry…" Once again, Fuuka took a moment to get her amusement under control. "I'm sorry Weiss," she repeated, "What you said reminded me of Yukari-chan and Mitsuru-senpai. Both of them were worried that I was pressured into joining SEES. Maybe that's how it seemed at that time, but I really did make the decision because it's what I wanted to do. Even if it was only much later that I found my own reason to fight beyond just wanting to help."
Weiss was about to respond when the sharp but gentle chime of the doorbell rang, followed by an excited shout from the living room. "Alright! Food's here!" Fuuka stifled a laugh at Junpei's words, especially when Yukari yelled after him for one reason or another.
Of course, that was the spark that lit the fire. Loud proclamations of hunger came from Yang and Nora, Koromaru joining in with a bark. And like clockwork, that bark elicited a yelp from Blake that was heard even from the kitchen. About the only unexpected thing that happened was the amusement Fuuka felt at that last scene. 'Does that make me a bad person for finding it funny as long as she doesn't panic again?'
She could hear Junpei speaking with whoever delivered the food but not what was said. Instead of trying, she turned back to Weiss. "Were you going to say something?"
The heiress just shook her head. "It wasn't that important. We can continue another time." But even as Fuuka accepted her words with a nod and turned to the living room, Weiss cursed the interruption inside her head.
Even so, she was grateful, happy even, that she and Fuuka had that talk. And as she and Fuuka went to reconvene with everyone around the dining table, Weiss promised herself that, the next time the opportunity came up, she would not hesitate.
Lunch, like every mealtime with the group, was a fairly noisy affair. Just because they weren't at Beacon's dining hall didn't mean they were any quieter. In fact, they might have even been just a bit rowdier because they were in the privacy of SEES's home. Though Mitsuru did remind them not to be too rowdy as they still had the neighbors to consider.
But soon enough, they had collected all the food containers and other disposables, collected them in a large trash bag and brought it out to the trash bin just outside the gates.
She knew they would have to return to Beacon soon. They still had to attend Combat class with Professor Goodwitch in less than two hours if they didn't want any uncomfortable questions being asked. With that in mind, she turned her attention of Blake and called her attention.
Hearing the feline faunus's name coming from her mouth pulled everyone's attention as well and she could see Blake's partner tensing and frowning. The latter detail didn't matter to her. What mattered was finishing the conversation that had been interrupted. "You asked me earlier what I thought about the faunus, correct?" Weiss didn't need to ask. She knew what Blake had asked her. But she felt the need to make everyone aware of what was going on.
The curious look on Blake's face was replaced by a serious expression, reflecting the tone of the conversation to come. "I did."
Weiss steadied herself with a few deep, calming breaths, shutting her eyes and doing her best to block out the steely glare she could feel coming from Yang's direction. "I don't particularly trust the faunus," she finally announced, as she opened her eyes, taking in the subtle tightening of Blake's jaw and the twitch of her feline pair of ears.
And it wasn't just Blake who reacted. Even without looking at any of them, Weiss could practically feel the shock and the frowns, the hostility in their eyes, at what was essentially a denouncement of a member of their group, a friend. Still, she spared everyone a quick glance, cataloguing who felt what with regards to her words.
The majority, as she had already expected, were either frowning at her or were shocked by her words, Yang being the most hostile with her gritted teeth and clenched fists. Mitsuru's calm, neutral expression was just as expected. As was Akihiko's discerning gaze, as though he knew there was more to her words than the obvious.
Surprisingly, there were four other people who didn't look ready to assault her, verbally or otherwise. Yukari's gaze had a hint of disapproval, but it was also laced with curiosity. If not for prior experience, Weiss would have fully expected Yukari to be on the same boat as Yang. But as several occasions have shown, the archer was about as vocal about her opinions as the brawler but was also much more open-minded.
Ruby looked worried, which confused Weiss just a tad. Why was her partner worried? Was she worried that her words would cause a rift to form in the group? Was she worried that Weiss would despise Blake for being a faunus? A fight between her and Yang perhaps?
There were so many possibilities yet it was hard to determine which one was the most likely. Was Ruby on Weiss's side due to being her partner? Or would she side with Yang, her sister, because she was Blake's partner? It was only now that she was beginning to regret now getting to know her partner a little bit better. If she had, then perhaps she could have better predicted the scythe-wielder's opinion.
With Fuuka, Weiss wondered if the diminutive girl's passive expression was because they were teammates as she was willing to give Weiss a chance to explain herself, or if it was simply her nature to be so… Weiss couldn't even find a proper word for it. What did you call someone who not only befriended their former bully, someone who nearly caused their death, but also became their best friend? Accepting? Forgiving? Tolerant? In Weiss's eyes, such a thing went beyond mere kindness.
But then, what did that make Weiss to be the recipient? Did Fuuka see her in the same light that she saw the girl who once bullied her? Did that mean she would still extend a hand of friendship? Or would she begin to shun Weiss because, unlike Fuuka's friend who regretted her actions, the heiress did not feel the least bit remorseful with regards to her opinion and treatment of the faunus?
The last, and the most confusing one, was Aigis. Much like Ruby, her mechanical teammate looked concerned for some reason. Only this time, Weiss had absolutely no idea why she could be worried. With Ruby, Weiss at least had a rudimentary understanding of her partner. But Aigis? She was just an android. What reason did she have to worry?
The only conclusion she could reach was that Aigis was concerned for the team from a leader's standpoint. But that made no sense. It wasn't as though Weiss and Blake's differences would affect the team or even just Weiss's performance. As the Schnee heiress, she was far too professional to let her personal feelings bleed into unrelated affairs such as schoolwork and teamwork. Whatever came of this conversation would not affect her performance at all, never mind the team's. Not unless they were to let their feelings affect it. In which case, Weiss would hardly be at fault.
In any event, she turned her full attention back to Blake, carefully watching Blake's expression for any changes and noting the slight bit of hope that was there even before she spoke. "However," Weiss continued, idly noting the brief twitch from Blake's ears. "While I am mistrustful of the faunus, that does not mean I am unwilling to give them a chance."
"Weiss… So you-"
"Let me finish," she cut in just a little sharply. "I am willing to give the faunus, in this case you, a chance. But let me make it clear that, for better or worse, my opinion of you will not change my opinion of the faunus as a whole. Even if I do come to trust you, that does not mean I will immediately trust other faunus. Is that clear?"
"Why do you hate the faunus so much?" Flesh met flesh as Yukari's palm met her face. Similarly, several people winced and glanced apprehensively in Yang's direction. On her part, the blonde ignored everyone's reactions to her words. "I get that the White Fang and your family are practically at war, but it's not like every faunus out there is part of it."
"I'm well aware of that," Weiss replied frostily as she did her best to reign in the urge to blow up in the blonde's face, the memory of their previous altercation less than a week ago resurfacing.
To her credit, Yang was doing the same. Though if the expression on her face was any indication, she was just barely succeeding. "Then why the hell are you acting like they are?"
"If the White Fang took off their masks and uniforms, would you still be able to tell they were part of the group?" she asked, icy blue eyes challenging Yang. "Even before their failed attempt at kidnapping me, an attempt that only failed because of Mitsuru's quick thinking, could you have said, with absolute certainty, that I can walk down the streets of Vale without worrying that the next faunus I walk past won't suddenly point a gun at my face or hold a knife to my neck?" Yang opened her mouth to retort only to stop. Judging by the position of her mouth and tongue, she wasn't about to say 'no'. Instead, she shut her mouth with a click and settled for glaring at Weiss. "Exactly."
"Family friends, board members and senior employees of the Schnee Dust Company, friends and family of those same people, or even anyone with the slightest connection to the company or my family, every single one of those people are at risk of being kidnapped or killed simply because of their association with us." Those who weren't present earlier when she said something similar to Team KYBT, and those who hadn't already known or suspected, stared at her in shock as though unable to believe her words. But Weiss wasn't looking at them. She was staring straight into Yang's eyes, whose resolved suddenly wavered. "The White Fang can't get to my family, so they target the company. We increase security around company property, the White Fang target people outside the company."
"E… e-even…"
"It doesn't matter who," she replied sternly and cuttingly to the stammering Ruby without looking away from Yang. "If kidnapping the family of a senior employee or a board member gives them even the slightest chance of opening negotiations, then they'll do it. But when they realized that my father wouldn't negotiate for them, they turned to murder." Several faces went pale at those words. "They'll find and kill people with connections to the company, no matter how distant. They probably think that doing so will make people in the company pressure my father into giving up some concessions to pacify the White Fang."
"Not just the company, no." All eyes turned to Blake at her words, and they wondered if she, as a faunus, had some additional insight to share. "In case that didn't work, the hope was that they would paint the SDC as unsympathetic and ruthless, caring only about profit even over the well-being of the families of their own employees so that other people would begin pressuring or even leaving the company, which would then pressure your father even more and make things more difficult."
While most of them nodded along, seeing how the White Fang would think that way, one pair of eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And just how do you know that?"
"Oh come on, just give it a rest, ice queen," Yang growled out. "Why do you have to be so-"
"Yang. Please." Blake placed a hand on her partner's arm, giving her a look that said she would handle it herself. For a while, the blonde looked like she was going to ignore it. Then she nodded, even though the scowl didn't leave her face. "Thank you."
Blake shut her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to do. When she opened her eyes, amber met blue. "I can guess what you're thinking," she said in a pathetic attempt to buy herself more time to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. "And… you're partly right."
A single eyebrow rose. "Partly?" Weiss sounded predictably skeptical.
Blake nodded and took another steadying breath. "I… was a member of the White Fang." The moment those words left her lips, everything else faded away. The gasps and stares, the murmurs and whispers, the shock and disbelief, none of it reached Blake's conscious mind. Her eyes, her ears, every conscious thought in her mind, everything was focused solely on Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and the unchanged expression on her face. "I was a member for most of my life. I actually just left only about a month before coming to Beacon."
She clamped her mouth shut after that, knowing that she'd just start babbling on about unnecessary details due to trepidation. Nothing about Weiss's expression had changed yet, but that was to be expected. Blake's admission to having once been a member of the very same group that would be overjoyed by the death of even a single member of the Schnee family was a very serious issue.
But she knew that, after her earlier words of wanting to honestly show that the faunus can be trusted, she needed to start somewhere. Before she could earn their trust, Weiss's trust, she would have to show that she could be trusted. And hiding her past as a member of the White Fang, choosing only the most convenient time to reveal it, was no way to do that.
"If we, ourselves, are unwilling to learn, grow, and change, then we have little hope of enlightening others to the truth."
It was just as Mitsuru said two weeks ago. Blake had made that mistake once already by hiding her heritage, waiting until the most opportune moment to reveal it. And now she was paying for it. She could only be grateful that the price wasn't as high as she had expected it to be.
But her past as a former member of the White Fang was not as easy to brush aside if it came out at a time outside of her choosing. The price she would pay for hiding that may be far more costly than she was willing to pay should it be discovered. She made that mistake once before. So she learned from that mistake, grew from that experience, and now she would change how she approached such a situation again. And pray that it did not blow up in her face.
After what seemed like an eternity, Weiss took a deep breath, much like Blake did earlier, and let it out slowly. "Why did you leave?" It was a good sign that the heiress hadn't exploded. Or did that mean her anger was just simmering and waiting to explode? "If you've been with them most of your life, what made you decide to suddenly leave?"
"I wouldn't call it a sudden decision." She leaned forward, arms on her thighs and her gaze distant. "Like I said earlier, the White Fang wasn't always this violent. I still remember joining protests and rallies, shouting until my voice ran out, and running around entire towns until my legs couldn't move anymore, passing out flyers or helping collect signatures for petitions."
"But those methods weren't achieving results fast enough for many of us. After some in-fighting, when there was no longer any doubt that a large majority wanted to be more proactive, the High Leader of the White Fang chose to step down. That was when the White Fang began to change."
"The change in the White Fang's operations weren't as sudden as the change in leadership. Protest and rallies were still common, but instead of just targeting the worst offenders we started going after even the smallest offenders. It wasn't long before things literally started being thrown around and, honestly, I don't even know which side really started it. All I remember was that one rally went bad and turned into a riot with over two dozen injured on both sides."
"As you can expect, things went from bad to worse almost overnight. Vandalism of property and assault became our new protests and rallies. Sometimes they'd be kidnapped and the beatings were done in private with the video being released the day after or even broadcast live." A few faces, notably Ruby's most of all, turned slightly green at that, which was much more noticeable due to how pale their complexions had already become. "The victim would be left in front of their home or place of business, alive but definitely in need of medical attention."
"It wasn't long before we started arming ourselves with weapons. Supposedly," everyone could hear the derision in her tone at that word, "It was for self-defense in the event that people attacked us. But now, looking back, that was when things began going from violent to bloody. Because clearly publicly humiliating and assaulting people wasn't enough, it was decided that we should start destroying businesses and outright killing those who were deemed irredeemable."
"Did you…" The hesitant interruption brought amber eyes to meet silver, only for Ruby to turn away, reaching up to her crimson cloak and pulling it up past her neck in an effort to hide.
But Blake could guess what the young girl wanted to ask. "I did," she answered honestly. "More times than I would like to admit. And not just racists. There was a time, however brief, that I felt that the end justified any means." Judging by the way a few of them averted their eyes, they understood what she was implying.
There was an uncomfortable pause where nobody knew what to say, until it was broken by Blake's partner. "Was that why you left? You didn't want to kill anymore?"
"…"
At her partner's silence, Yang cast a worried look at everyone before leaning forward to try and catch a glimpse of the feline faunus's face. "Blake?"
"You… you have to understand, Yang," she finally replied, one hand over the other, gripping tightly to stop the trembling as she grew more anxious with every confession. "You don't live in the darkness for so long and expect to walk back into the light unchanged."
Yang seemed to pale at her partner's words. "What're you... what're you saying?" asked the blonde, aghast and worried, almost afraid.
The response came not from Blake, but from Weiss. "She's saying that if she has to, she will." Her gaze was a cold as her family's namesake. "She probably grew, or rediscovered, her conscience at some point. And now she wants to go back to the White Fang's former, less violent, methods. Even so, she won't necessarily rule out violence if it becomes necessary. Is that about right?"
"… yeah." Blake met Weiss's gaze with resolve. "It's not something I'm proud of. And I'm not saying that it'll be my first option. Or even my second or third. But if it comes to it, I think I…" Her voice trailed away as she glanced down at her hands, their trembling just barely visible even to her sharp eyesight. "I think I still could do it. Maybe. But it's not exactly something I want to start doing again. Killing people… It shouldn't ever be necessary. Nobody, human or faunus, should ever have the power to decide who lives and who dies."
The heiress stared intently at Blake for some time before finally asking, "Is this really the best way to start trying to earn my trust? Telling me that you were a member of the White Fang and that, if worst comes to worst, you'd be willing to bloody your hands again?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
To anyone else, the words and the shrug that accompanied it were callous. But to Blake, it was simple a confirmation, to herself and to everyone else, that she was aware of how her words would be taken. That her fate now lay in their hands.
How will they judge her? Will her earnest desire at turning her life around, at returning to the White Fang's old ways, be enough to vindicate her to some degree? Or will her past encroach upon the present, the darkness and blood tainting and marking her as beyond redemption?
And then, Weiss nodded with a stern expression on her face, lips pressed tightly as though she were about to do something she didn't want to. "One chance." Blake almost collapsed in relief at those two simple words. "I'll give you one chance to earn my trust."
The scowl on Yang's face made it clear that she wanted Weiss to give more than that, but Blake was happy enough with even that much. All things considered, it wouldn't have been surprising if Weiss told Blake to stay away from her lest she spread her secret. Or even just make a simple call to the police to let them know that a former member of the White Fang was attending Beacon as a student.
Defector or not, the police would be glad to have a member of the group to question. And Blake had no illusions that she would be treated well simply because she turned her back on the White Fang. The White Fang's actions in recent years all but guaranteed that she would be treated roughly even if they had no intention of questioning her.
"Thank you, Weiss," she said, bowing her head slightly.
Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. "Don't thank me just yet," she said, turning away. "Besides, you seem to be forgetting that I'm not the only one in the room."
It was embarrassing to admit, but in her anxiety and, now, excitement, she really had forgotten that everyone else was there. And looking around, Blake could see that her past had made just about everyone uneasy. The one who was the least uneasy, perhaps even not at all, was Mitsuru.
When the redhead saw a worried pair of amber eyes turn to her, Mitsuru just gazed back at Blake with a weak though understanding smile. "I'm not exactly a stranger to high-handed, even violent, methods. The Kirijo Group, after all, was essentially a…" she paused to send a wry smile in the direction of SEES. "… ninkyō dantai." There were some nervous chuckles from about half of SEES. Aigis looked confused, Chidori remained blank-faced, and Akihiko just shook his head with a small, amused smile.
It was Akihiko who turned to their confused teammates, knowing that they wouldn't possibly know the meaning, much less the significance, of those words. "Ninkyō dantai basically means 'chivalrous organization'." His grin widened slightly at the innocent acknowledgements of their teammates, despite the slight sarcastic tone he added at those last two words. "Of course," he added with a knowing smile. "Ninkyō dantai is how the yakuza usually refer to themselves."
"Yakuza?" came the innocent question from more than one person. By now, Aigis was nodding in comprehension even as the rest of SEES were watching on in expectant amusement.
"I guess the closest you could call it in your language would be…" he paused as though to think even though he already knew the right word. Akihiko's grin turned positively feral right before he finished his statement. "… mafia."
Eight people nodded in understanding. Then their nodding slowed as their expressions grew thoughtful and passive, the final word that Akihiko had spoken finally registering in their minds. Then their eyes grew wide and they turned stare at Mitsuru with varying levels of disbelief and horror. Even Nora was speechless as she stared, slack-jawed.
All the while, Mitsuru just smiled and turned to Akihiko chidingly. "Really Akihiko? I'd like to think the Kirijo were more civilized than that. After all, we never involved ourselves in theft, burglary, armed robbery, or other street crimes. Nor do we involve ourselves in major crimes like drug or human trafficking."
The eight shocked Aura-users gradually relaxed, color returning to their pale faces as they realized that Akihiko had been joking. "Hehe, good one Akihiko," laughed Yang.
Nora followed suit. "Yeah! I actually thought Mitsuru was some sort of crime lord princess or something."
"Of course," continued Mitsuru, her face still bearing that same pleasant smile. "I can't say the same for things such as sōkaiya and even yubitsume, though I'm not entirely sure if my father retained the latter policy when he took over after my grandfather's death.."
"Uh… soka-what now?" Though not as bad as earlier, there was just something about Mitsuru's smile that put her, and the others, on edge. Yang's expression had slowly gone back to showing her nervousness. "W-what're those?"
"Sōkaiya are basically extortionists," Mitsuru explained in an ordinary conversational tone, much to the returning horror of SEES's Aura-wielding teammates and the amusement of SEES themselves. "What makes them special is that they only extort money or favors from major shareholders of a company. If I were to purchase enough shares from, say, the Schnee Dust Company to be able to sit in on a shareholder's meeting. I could then use that position to threaten the management or even the company as a whole until certain… demands are met. Often through the use of blackmail material."
"Of course," continued the former Kirijo heiress, ignoring the way Weiss had paled dramatically, "There are certain cultural differences that make such a thing a bit easier to conduct against a Japanese company rather than those here in Remnant. Though given the slight similarities in culture, I suppose such a thing would work well in Mistral." She then hummed and glanced up in thought. "Perhaps the Adamas Corporation would make a more viable target in that case." This time, it was Pyrrha who grew pale.
"As for yubitsume, the word literally translates to 'finger shortening'." Half the Aura-users turned a little green as they guessed, correctly for the most part, how the fingers were shortened. "As I said, I don't know if my father kept the tradition alive after taking over from my grandfather, but it's a ritual performed by Yakuza to atone for one's offenses and mistakes. Like the name implies, it involved cutting off one's own little fin-"
"Aaah! I don't wanna hear it! I don't wanna hear it!" cried Ruby, raising the hood of her cloak and hiding her entire head inside it, pressing her hands against the sides where her ears would be. "Yaaaaaang! Why'd you have to ask?!"
"Are you sure you want me to stop?" asked Mitsuru, smiling gently in Ruby's direction where Yang was trying to calm down her hysterical younger sister. "It actually has quite the interesting history. You see, in Kendo, or basically Japanese swordsmanship, it's actually the last three fingers that have the tightest grip on the sword. So by cutting off the-"
"Aaaaaaah! I'm not listening! I'm not listening!" Ruby continued to cry out, yelling incoherently and shaking her head back and forth as though to shake the thoughts out of her head.
Yang looked torn between calming down Ruby and glaring at Mitsuru for causing Ruby's hysteria in the first place. Despite this, almost all of SEES was laughing out loud at the frozen expressions of shock and horror on everyone else's faces.
The first to recover, though she still looked a tiny bit green at the last topic, was Weiss. And the first thought that went through her mind was directed at the red-haired young woman who was laughing, though not as rambunctiously, at everyone's reactions. 'Well played, Mitsuru.'
By bringing attention to the fact that everyone now knew Blake's secret, Weiss had tried to urge everyone else to speak their minds. She didn't do it out of spite. Well, perhaps not completely out of spite, but she had done it to see what the others would say and do in response to Blake's confession.
Mitsuru, however, put a damper on that plan. By revealing such a shocking truth about the Kirijo Group – Weiss didn't doubt the veracity since using such a thing as a joke was in very poor taste – the red-haired former heiress had drawn all attention away from Blake. Prolonging it by explaining more only made it less likely that the others would voice their opinions regarding the former White Fang operative anytime soon.
Even if it was brought up later, Mitsuru's revelation would have overshadowed Blake's misdemeanors. It was like comparing the crimes of one thug to the crimes of the one who led thousands of such thugs. Mitsuru may not have done or participated in any of those things – or perhaps she just wasn't saying that she did – but the knowledge was enough. Blake's wrongdoings would seem smaller now in comparison to the knowledge that among them was the heiress to what had essentially been an organized crime group.
Although, now that the topic was brought up, Weiss had to wonder what else the Kirijo Group had taken part in. Mitsuru mentioned not being involved in street crimes or drug and human trafficking. But she mentioned corporate extortion as something they did, as well as… physical mutilation as a form of punishment. What did that mean for anything she hadn't mentioned?
The crime rate of Atlas was incredibly low, almost non-existent, due to the presence of a powerful military, the leaders of which also doubled as the government leaders. As such, criminal groups such as gangs and mafias were topics she had only heard of in passing or seen in books, typically those referring to the less civilized parts of Mistral, and even Anima as a whole, rather than in real life. It still taught her enough to know there were many other things that the Kirijo Group could have been involved in.
'The obvious question now,' she thought, observing how Mitsuru calmed everyone down by promising not bring up such grisly things again, 'Is what else the group was involved in. For that matter, how deeply involved was Mitsuru?'
"Re~enny." At the playful tone accompanied by an exaggeratedly sweet voice, many eyes turned to Nora. Anyone paying attention would have noted the wariness in those eyes. "No~ow?"
Nobody but Ren understood what the ginger-haired girl was asking, but they knew it was something worth worrying about when the black-haired boy sighed. "Alright," he replied with a heavy sigh, full of resignation and regret. "But-" he tried to quickly cut in just as an excited squeal left Nora's mouth, but his partner and long-time friend was already moving before he could say anything.
And by moving, that meant pouncing.
At Blake.
Blake just barely had time to widen her eyes in surprise before the five foot something girl landed squarely on her and a hand found its way up to her feline ears.
The four teams left for Beacon shortly after Nora had her fill of petting Blake's ears, just barely managing to catch the airship. Had they missed it, they would have been late for Combat class. And if they were late for Combat class then they would have had to come up with some sort of explanation as to why they missed it. Given the professor in charge of the class, that was quite the daunting task.
On the way back, Mitsuru gently gave Nora, as well as everyone else, a crash course on faunus culture. Specifically, physical contact with regards to the physical animal trait.
Nora immediately apologized for her faux pas, not having realized that petting Blake like that could have been taken as her treating Blake as a pet. Similarly, Ren apologized for not moving fast enough to make sure that Nora asked for permission first. He hadn't been aware of the specifics, but he knew that many faunus were sensitive about having their ears or tail, or whatever animal trait they bore, touched without permission.
Blake graciously forgave the hyperactive girl, knowing she hadn't meant anything bad by it. But she did emphasize the fact that she shouldn't do it again without asking first. Even then, she should only ask a faunus she was very close friends with. Merely being acquaintances or a passing friend was not enough.
Blake forgave it because she knew Nora well enough. Other faunus were almost certain to take offense. Perhaps even reacting physically and violently. And possibly even if they weren't the ones being touched. Faunus-human relations were strained enough as it is that such an even wasn't entirely our of the question.
Surprisingly to Blake, many of her friends were immediately curious about faunus culture, which led to Mitsuru mentioning that she had been discussing the matter with Blake and had everything she had learned written down in a notebook. Even more surprising was the fact that Weiss was among those who had requested a copy of said notes, the first one to ask in fact. It was also worth noting that she was trying to avoid meeting Blake's eyes the entire airship ride back after she made that request.
The only other event of note was Mitsuru convincing Blake to hold off on not wearing her bow. At least, until tomorrow. Today had already been an exciting and stressful day without adding the predictable stares and questions of their classmates to the equation.
It made enough sense that Blake agreed with only a bit of hesitation. And so, she pulled out the ribbon from her pocket, staring at it as though seeing it for the first time, and tied it into that familiar bow that had adorned the top of her head since leaving the White Fang.
It felt decidedly strange after having gone without it for the past few days. Stranger than the first time she put it on, in fact. Perhaps that was a sign of some sort.
Upon their return to Beacon, everyone went straight to the Combat class's classroom/training room even though they had nearly half an hour to spare. Everyone, that is, save for one. Blake had one stop to make before attending her only class for the day. And, for more than one reason, it was one stop she was dreading.
"It's good to see that you're doing better, Ms. Belladonna." Blake nodded, a slight blush on her face at what she knew was coming. "When Ms. Kirijo told me you were ill, I certainly didn't think it was for that reason. Which is why I'm quite disappointed that you didn't inform us that you did have that condition in the first place."
'That's because I don't have it,' thought Blake. Her 'illness', after all, was nothing more than a fabrication by Mitsuru to ensure that the feline faunus did not get into trouble with the staff for missing nearly a full week's worth of classes.
"Regardless," continued the blonde professor, her glare softening almost immediately, "I do understand that it can be quite a sensitive topic to discuss, given what is involved. And unless I'm mistaken, it's quite a rare condition among female faunus. In fact, in all my years at Beacon, I believe I've only ever met one other student who had it. Unfortunately for her, the medicine for that particular condition didn't exist at that time."
"I-it's a fairly recent development, Professor," she mentioned with just a hint of a stutter. A quick calming breath steadied the rapid beating of her heart and her shaky breathing. "Up until several years ago, all we had was medicine to dull the worst of the effects, but still not enough for us to function normally. Thankfully, it was already developed by the time I learned that I had it."
Blake was grateful that she didn't have to lie about that much. The newer medication for it really hadn't existed until fairly recently. Mitsuru had clearly done her research when she came up with this excuse.
Professor Goodwitch nodded in agreement."Thankfully, yes. Much like yourself these past few days, that student had to be confined to her room. It was more difficult for her since she had to repeat it a handful of days every few weeks. To make things worse, two of her teammates were male." Blake didn't even bother to hide her wince at the thought of that scenario. "Indeed."
"I've already made arrangements to have more delivered by next week. Enough to last at least another year," she fibbed. Given her background, lying wasn't exactly all that difficult. Provided, of course, that she wasn't the target of the Goodwitch Glare. Thankfully, for now, she wasn't. "I won't let it happen again."
'And by that, I mean I won't go missing long enough for Mitsuru to have to use that excuse again.'
"See to it that you don't," the teacher replied sternly, though more as an agreement rather than an admonishment. "I'm aware that the medication for that particular condition isn't easy to procure. While it's unlikely that Ms. Kirijo forgot to pass on my message, let me just remind you that the school's infirmary does carry a small supply. I've already added your condition to your file. As such, you need only proceed to the infirmary should you run out at any time during your stay here. None of them should question you should you ask for it, nor should they let anyone not part of the staff know of your condition. If either one occurs, let me know and I will straighten things out."
"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind just in case."
"Very well. Finally, with regards to my class, you'll be paired with either Ms. Kirijo or Ms. Takeba while the other will be paired with Ms. Xiao Long. And since you've missed the past few sessions, expect me to call on your team for two matches today to give you a chance to fight alongside both. I'll space the matches apart to give your Aura time to recover somewhat. Now, unless there's anything else, I'll see you in class shortly." Professor Goodwitch went back to the papers on her desk after a nod of acknowledgement from Blake.
As she walked away, Blake let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had been worried that Goodwitch would question her on her 'condition'. While she knew about it, Blake knew next to nothing about how it actually felt to have it. She knew it was uncomfortable and that her behavior would be affected, but she wouldn't have been able to properly describe it. Not like someone who actually had it.
Mitsuru's reputation worked in her favor this time. At least, she thought that that may have been the case. Blake got the distinct feeling that, had anyone else tried that excuse without someone like Mitsuru backing them, they would have been questioned – or would interrogated be a better word? – by the stern professor or even sent to the infirmary for a check-up. Either one would have led to the deception being discovered.
After all, Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training they may be, but they were still teenagers, even if in the latter years of it. It wouldn't be unexpected for someone to try and get out of class for a few days if they could.
Regardless, Blake had gotten away with it without any problems, save for a bit of embarrassment for having to pretend to have that. As long as she didn't give Professor Goodwitch a reason to think she had forgotten her non-existent medication again then Blake had nothing to worry about.
"Blake?" The black-haired teen froze just as she shut the door behind her, amber eyes meeting brown eyes as she came face-to-face with a familiar acquaintance. "I… I didn't mean to overhear but… did I…hear that right?" Blake sighed and slumped forward in defeat, anticipating what the rabbit-eared Velvet wanted to know. "You… have an estrous cycle?"
'...Suddenly, working for Lucas doesn't sound too bad. Or even for Thantos. Or even just dying right here.'
And here we are, the end of Blake's character arc. Fairly short at two chapters, but we've been building it up for a while now, alongside a decent portion of Weiss's character development, so I didn't wanna drag it out too long. I know the rescue wasn't too terribly exciting, but it was never meant to become some epic showdown or something similar.
With this, we also see a bit more of the power scale between RWBY and SEES. If it wasn't apparent before, it should be now. SEES may be the superior Grimm killers, but against other people they are at a disadvantage, especially if the terrain or venue limits the use of Personas.
There'll be one more character arc before we hit the first major story arc. I estimate 3 more chapters, plus maybe the second interlude, though I'm considering adding the scenes planned for the interlude to one of the next chapters instead. We'll see how it goes when I write it.
Once that part is done, I'll probably take a quick break just to go over my plans for the first major arc to smoothen things out as well as to write a chapter or two for my other story.
Interesting tidbit about something mentioned in this chapter.
Ninkyō Dantai: Yes, this does mean 'chivalrous organization/group'. And yes, this really is what the Yakuza refer to themselves as. I know it's not canon, but I couldn't resist the idea of doing it when the idea came to me during the story planning.
I mean, really. The Kirijo Group is supposedly a 'globally operating multinational trading company that is said to be involved with almost every aspect of daily life' and that 'finding someone that doesn't know the Kirijo Group is virtually impossible'. And if you've read up on the Yakuza, you'd know that they do own legitimate companies and businesses themselves - Companies and businesses that AREN'T just a front for something illegal - and, like Mitsuru mentioned above with the sōkaiya, are also shareholders of other companies.
It was actually an interesting bit of research for me. While similar in many ways, Yakuza really are different from the Mafia. Obviously I don't mean to say that one is better to have exist than the other, just that there are enough differences that referring to the Mafia as western-Yakuza, or the Yakuza as eastern-Mafia, is inaccurate, or even outright wrong in some cases.
As always, let me know what you think. Good, bad, like it, love it, dislike it, despise it… either way I wanna know about it.
Until next time everyone. Don't forget to drop by my profile, check out the poll, and vote.
OMAKE
"I still say we should have waited for Akihiko-senpai and the others."
"The kidnappers told us to come alone and to be there in half an hour. We might be too late if we waited," argued Weiss, practically stomping her way to the address they were given. "Besides, who knows what those filthy animals have already done to Mitsuru?"
"Stop calling them that!" Blake half-yelled at the heiress, fingers practically twitching as she considered drawing Gambol Shroud. "None of us like what they did, but calling them names won't help. They might just kill Mitsuru if you call them that to their faces!"
"Getting called names is the last thing they need to worry about if they so much as hurt her," growled Yang, eyes already a bright, burning crimson.
Yukari sighed, giving up on getting her two teammates and Weiss to calm down. As her hand brushed over the top of Sharanga's sheathed form, the archer once again thanked whatever deity or spirit was out there for Beacon's rocket lockers.
After getting a call from the kidnappers, through the restaurant's phone of all things, the four of them departed for the location they were given after a three-to-one vote against waiting for the others. At the very least, Yukari was able to convince them to take a moment to call down their weapon lockers from Beacon at a nearby park.
In no time at all, they stood in front of a dilapidated old apartment building. And judging by the rest of the buildings on the block, it had long since been abandoned. Making their way in, or rather stomping their way in, the two more enraged Aura-users made a beeline for the stairs to make their way to the fourth floor, Yukari and Blake trying and failing to get them to slow down and be more cautious of traps or an ambush.
Thankfully, there had been none. But that just made the two more cautious members of the quartet even more nervous. No traps or ambushes meant whoever they were dealing with were confident in their chances. And considering they had a hostage who didn't have Aura, they could afford to be even if they didn't know about the no-Aura bit.
Yukari and Blake had to physically restrain Yang from literally kicking the door in once they found the right room. "If you scare them they might start shooting. Don't forget that Mitsuru doesn't have Aura," Blake whispered harshly into her teammate's ear, not wanting to risk being overheard, while Yukari did the same with Weiss. That reminder served to cool down the two hot-headed teens.
After taking a moment to cool off further, Yukari knocked on the door, waiting for a response. Yet, after almost a minute, there was still no response. The knocked again. And again. Curious at the lack of response, she tried to open the door but the doorknob only jiggled, indicating that it was locked from inside. Worried that they might have been tricked, Yang burst into the room, ramming down the door with her shoulder.
"WOAH THAT'S COLD!"
And then promptly jumped back out, hands rapidly rubbing her arms as a blast of cold air blew outwards from within. When all four peered into the room through the doorway, they found a large amount of snow billowing around the room like a miniature snowstorm. Four pairs of eyes widened. Three with hope, one with horror.
"Wait!" Yukari cried out as the three ran into the room. "Don't-" But it was too late. The three had crossed the threshold into the room. With a whispered curse and an expression of great reluctance, Yukari followed.
Once inside, Yukari saw the three staring, just as expected. Looking at their faces, she could also see the growing horror on their expressions. Just as expected. And when she followed their horrified gazes, the sight she was met with was exactly as she expected.
"What… the hell…?"
"Oh... God…"
"Wh… What is this? M-mitsuru," the redhead looked up from her Scroll when her name was called, looking completely calm and collected as always. "W-what did you do?" Weiss asked
"What? You mean this?" She gestured around her and the three Aura-users nodded shakily, looking fearful of the redhead. "Well, I couldn't very well tolerate a kidnapping attempt so I decided to Execute them when they gave me the opportunity."
"You what?!" exclaimed Weiss, Yang, and Blake, eyes glancing around at what they knew were once living faunus.
"Oh don't worry, they're still alive." Rather than reassure them, her carefree tone terrified them even more.
Nothing she had ever seen in her time with the White Fang could have prepared her for the sight before her now. It was... no words could describe the inhumane sight before her. Unable to comprehend it, or perhaps unwilling to, Blake's mind shut down, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as her body went completely slack, falling to the ground, unconscious ever before she began her descent.
Weiss's mind broke at the thought of Mitsuru, the young woman she looked up to and almost idolized, doing something like... this. It was... She may dislike the faunus but they would be better off dead that allowing them to suffer through... this. She just stood there, staring in horrified disbelief with a pale face, far paler than her normal complexion, and a slack jaw, arms hanging limp by her sides.
"Yukari?"
"Yes, Yang?"
"I am never making another pun again. Ever. For the rest of my life. Or my next hundred lives."
"Best decision you'll ever make."
Just a little something that came to mind.
Anyway...
REVIEW!
Please... XD XD XD
