a/n: Typical disclaimer of not owning Toaru or RWBY, but I can dream, right? Special thanks to furaiz as always


When it came to any sanctioned educational activities, there would be many opportunities to learn, whether it would be from an instructor or an activity. For Touma, he learned that using a map was not as easy as it first seemed, even with all the 'helpful' scribbles thanks to Lych. Unfortunately for him, he had spent the past few hours heading to the wrong room, getting 'denied' by doors that said he had no authority to access it and dodging large, heavy moving objects pushed by robots or the people that work here. He even tried contacting Motoharu and Winter with the scroll but that failed to work as neither picked it up. Eventually, he found his accommodations after asking the people around and struggling with his map, and now his head whispered to him that it is in need of the lovely embrace of a pillow.

"Ahhh! Kami-yan~! Been wondering where you are!" a jovial voice called from the back of the room. Motoharu sauntered towards him, shutting his scroll while waving at him with a large grin on his face, "So… how's the tour? Met any… sexy scientist women types?"

"I-I met some good people!" Touma jerked away from Motoharu, as he inwardly cursed his face for heating up.

"Sure you did, I've met a few of them, myself. Those stockings..." Motoharu inhaled deeply with a content smile, "Almost a paradise, too bad there aren't any little sister types, that's the real treasure there."

"Psh! I prefer the older sister types, there was this lady, Harumi? She had nice le-" Touma smacked his hand across his mouth, as he just realised he got caught up in Motoharu's pace and his heart stopped as he watched the huntsman's grin widen even further.

"Hmhmm! So you do like older women! I'll admit that they certainly have the mature, sexy vibe. But, I'm afraid that they don't have anything on little sister types!" Motoharu then leaned forward, "You see Kami-yan, the little sisters have one thing over older women and that… is innocence!"

Touma shook his head as a fire started to kindle within his chest, little girls over older women? Preposterous! His nails dug into his palms as he glared at the man who dared to think otherwise, "You don't get it! Older women are dependable, nice and most of all, sexy!"

Motoharu's grin didn't subside, instead, it stretched out even further as he sat back on a bed, "Like Winter?"

"Exactly like Winter!" Touma exclaimed as he grew more animated with his hands as he gestured in an hourglass, pacing around the room, "She has amazing legs, a great chest and it feels like you can depend on her no matter what! Not only that, she's stern yet caring and it makes me really want to impress her! If anything, I wish I could-"

"Could what, Kamijou?" a cool voice called out.

Touma froze as he felt the back of his neck prick, recognizing a frosty voice belonging to the eldest child of the Schnee family. Half of him wanted to turn so that it didn't looked like he was cowering away from her, yet at the same time, he didn't want to turn because he was terrified at the thought of what Winter's face might look like. Deciding on the former, his eyes were instantly glued towards Winter's unreadable face and his mouth dried up, he was almost sure that Motoharu was silently laughing at his predicament. Despite her casual outfit, the glare Winter held was what you'd expect from a soldier, hardened by battle and tempered by pressure.

"Uh… I wish I could have a woman like you?" Touma meekly ventured as he felt sweat dripping down his face as he silently berated himself for not thinking up anything but what he said.

Winter's face didn't react at all as her eyes bore into Touma, but somehow he felt a growing ire from her even if she didn't move at all. Eventually, her eyes narrowed as she folded her arms and said, "Kamijou, we are in the middle of a mission. I won't tolerate fraternisation or inappropriate behaviour. I'll let it slide for this time, but I warn you, don't do it again."

Touma bobbed his head like a jackhammer as he couldn't trust his mouth to say anything right, especially since he wanted to know how long she was standing behind him, at the same time, he was deathly afraid of the answer. He couldn't help it, he was passionate about older women being the best, way better than younger ones in his humble opinion.

"Good. Now, report what you found about site Echo-Nineteen," Winter ordered with a curt nod as her glare maintained its frostiness.

"Geeze, that's no good, Winter!" Motoharu butted in before Touma could even open his mouth, "We aren't military and these guys are expecting us not to be military, remember? If I hadn't disabled all the bugs and stuff here, we'd be in pretty big trouble."

"... You're right, but we aren't here to fraternize and you shouldn't encourage him," Winter shot back.

"Uh…"

"It's his first mission! I think Kami-yan needs a little more time to… acclimatize to this kind of environment," Motoharu's grin had never shrunk as Touma flinched from the blonde huntsman's smack. Touma, however, was quickly finding himself in a very different kind of uncomfortable position as he watched his two seniors bicker back and forth.

"Then he needs to learn as quickly as possible, one mistake can cost us dearly," Winter countered as she pointed at Touma and like Motoharu's grin, her frosty demeanour only intensified. If Touma had to describe what was taking place between the two, it was like an angel against a demon as he was sure he felt a flare from both Winter and Motoharu.

Motoharu then turned to Touma and gently said, "Kami-yan, when Mommy and Daddy are fighting, we just want you to know that we love you dearly and it is not your fault."

"This is what I'm talking about, you need to set a proper example as to what a huntsman should be to him. We have been tasked to look over his progress and you shouldn't lead him astray with your antics," chided Winter as she grabbed Touma by the arm and pulled him away from Motoharu.

"Well, I'm not just any huntsman, I'm afraid, I'm simply teaching him what I know," Motoharu replied but he held his hands up and backed off from them.

"...You have a point, but keep in mind that he is not training to become you, but to be a proper huntsman," Winter conceded as she turned away from the blonde huntsman who shrugged and remained silent, "Now, Kamijou… what do you have to report?"

Touma shook his head as he realised the bickering had stopped and started patting down his pockets, fishing out the map Lych gave him, "One of the engineers gave me a map to the whole place but…"

Winter took the map and carefully laid it out on the table, Motoharu joined her and the two leaned over as their eyes flicked from corner to corner on this piece of information. Winter's face remained cool as she nodded and murmured to herself every once in a while, whereas Motoharu flashed a grin at Touma before turning his attention back to the map.

"So uh…" Touma wasn't sure how to proceed, but from the way the two acted, his spirits were lifted as if he had done something right.

"Any idea what those 'keep out' areas are?" Winter asked with her eyes still on the map.

Touma scratched his head, Lych told him about this before and he found it a little strange, "The engineer said it's where the inner labs and residential quarters are, but I don't know why the residential quarter's lobby is off limits."

Winter and Motoharu's eyes flickered towards each other but their silence felt stifling to Touma as he opened and closed his mouth several times before asking, "Umm… is there something wrong? I get it's weird and all, but I bet some of the scientists and engineers have no idea what's going on in the inner labs. They told me that some of the guys do top secret stuff in there."

The two of them didn't respond and Touma frowned at the extended silence, he wasn't sure if his 'report' had mentioned something he shouldn't have or not, but whatever it was, it had him gulping as he observed the two huntsmen mulling over their thoughts. Eventually, Winter straightened up and said, "That's good work, Kamijou. Is there anything else you have?"

Touma approached the table as he scratched his cheek, his mind running in circles in what to tell them. It wasn't like he had nothing, it was more like he had no idea how to articulate it into words as he saw various machines, weapons and dust being used as he wandered from room to room just trying to get here. With a shrug, he ventured, "Well, they seem to be developing all sorts of weapons and other defensive stuff like walls and automatic turrets for other settlements. Not really sure if it is important, but they said we can't use our scroll to communicate outside the bunkers."

"That doesn't seem out of the ordinary for a facility that creates weapons and other equipment. Atlas has several isolated facilities throughout the kingdom for these kinds of purposes, but it is pretty rare for one to exist outside its purview," Winter explained with a nod, but Touma witnessed something he never expected, Motoharu's frown. Whenever he saw the blonde huntsman, it was either a cheeky grin, smirk or a neutral face, but a frown had Touma a little concerned as to why this was the case.

"Strange… I've talked to some of the guys at the breach site and they mentioned that nothing was stolen. Only some breached walls and doors and some AK-130's that were destroyed by the bandits…" Motoharu stated, slowly shaking his head, Touma's eyes widened, wasn't Lych about to say something like that before they got interrupted? The blonde huntsman made a click from his mouth, "Doesn't really fit the M.O. of any bandits I'm aware of, especially with all the hardware and tech lying around."

"...They wouldn't be any ordinary bandits, I examined the breach points and the surrounding area, and..." Winter placed a small vial from her jacket onto the table, inside of it was a strange mix of orange and black powder, "They used a lot of dust and special chemicals to breach through that wall. I also checked the security footage they provided to us but it seemed like they were able to disable it somehow, it can't be an EMP so it must be some form of semblance or technology they possess. Honestly, it looks more like something a criminal organisation would do, or even… a military unit."

Touma swallowed a lump as he listened, criminal organisations or a military unit sounds completely out of his ballpark. He had been mentally preparing himself to take on bandits for the past few hours, even though training with Goodwitch had been plenty scary, he was nervous taking on bandits for the first time in his career. He had only been a huntsman-in-training for less than a month and now there's a chance he might be taking on a military unit? This was definitely not how he imagined his first month would be like at all, no one at the academy would believe him at all.

"Well, looks like we got some pretty hefty work to do," Motoharu called out as he turned away from the table and started rummaging through his bag, "Dr Gin got a little flustered from the infiltration and all, so…" Motoharu opened up the large scroll, displaying a map, "I have a good idea where those 'bandits' may be, especially since they used a lot of resources to breach that wall and they shouldn't be too far from here."

"Then… it is likely that they have set up here," Winter pointed at the tablet and Touma peeked to see where it was. He raised his eyebrows, a little confused as to how she came up with the answer while realising that not paying attention to seemingly mundane classes at Beacon may have been a contributing factor.

"Agreed, can't really see any other option, I'll go scout it out tomorrow," Motoharu concurred and soon his arms began to reach for the ceiling before relaxing them on the table, "Well, won't get done much more today so... Kami-yan~! Time for a food run! Overheard some of the guys saying that the cafeteria has some grilled fish up for grabs, so… go on…"

Touma frowned at the gesture Motoharu was making, "Wait, what? Why do I-"

"Kami-yan considering that you get to come to Beacon for free, and thus by extension, get taught by us for free, it's only fair that you would do this small favour for us, yeah?" Motoharu reasoned as he waggled his eyebrows. Touma glanced at Winter who seemed to be more interested in the maps, though he had a sinking suspicion that she had chosen not to join this conversation. Motoharu went on, "I'm only asking you to grab me a fish… some chips, Winter, you want anything?"

"Just a veggie pasta will be fine, thanks," Winter stated and Touma gaped at her nonchalance to the conversation.

"Well, you heard the woman, get going Kami-yan~! Shoo! Shoo!" Motoharu sang and Touma sighed in defeat. He had thought with Winter's presence, there would be no hazing but her last statement shattered his hopes and he dragged his feet to the door. On the bright side, he knew where to go, having visited the cafeteria multiple times when he was lost. As he left the room, Motoharu continued on, "Now that he's off doing some uh… useful errands for us-"

"I'm not disagreeing with trying to keep Kamijou out of the loop… but we could use his help," Winter said stiffly.

Motoharu flopped onto the bed, which only served to draw a sigh from the Schnee, he then pointed to the ceiling and declared, "He'll be helping, he just won't know why exactly and well…he needs to be able to choose for himself if he is in the right or the wrong. That's the whole point of our 'educational guidance', isn't it?"

"Perhaps for you, Tsuchimikado. My duties are for... Atlas's interests and safety," Winter rejected.

Motoharu sat up with a raised eyebrow, a hesitation in Winter's resolve was a rare sight to be had. If he had to be honest, there were still a lot of things he didn't like about this mission, but for the sake of that person, he had little choice but to enact on it, "Mine is not so different from yours, Winter. Anyways, I'm going to deal with bandit camp with the Spec Ops team, see if I can get any info out of the camp."

Winter was well aware that they had never planned to 'scout' the camp in the first place, but according to Motoharu, it wasn't in Touma's need to know. After all, everything about this mission was deeper than it seemed.

"But, let's get to something more important, have you got the files on 'Project Revolution'?" Motoharu asked.

Winter's face grew stonier at the mention of the project as she clenched her fist tightly. Whenever that project was mentioned, a white-hot flare had almost erupted from her chest, as she felt her jaws tighten at the name, at the same time she felt like she had swallowed something extremely bitter. Motoharu sat up as he noticed the silence and upon the look on Winter's face only increased his curiosity at her silence.

"Yes… But… Nothing leaves the room and not one peep to Kamijou," Winter harshly growled and Motoharu almost baulked at her tone, completely forgoing the opportunity to tease her. There was a reason why she was called the 'Ice Queen' among the huntsman community, to hear her voice contorted with rage was an extremely rare sight, and two in one day could only mean one thing.

"...Lips are sealed," Motoharu answered as his tone morphed into a business-like manner as he could sense that no matter the situation, joking would not be tolerated.

Winter heaved a sigh and slowly took a seat at another bed, she opened her mouth and as she told him everything in regards to Project Revolution, Motoharu's face never moved a muscle.


Touma gulped his saliva as he carried the three warm paper boxes from the cafeteria and he continuously licked his lips, almost enticed to wolf it all down by himself. It was far worse at the cafeteria when his nose was assaulted with the smell of grilled fish or beef stew and he almost abandoned the idea of coming back to the rooms with some food. He had silently vowed to return to the rooms as soon as possible, all so he can indulge himself with one of those boxes as he could almost taste it from his nose alone. However, as he entered through one door after another, a hall or room would greet him with an eerily familiar silence and Touma's mouth cursed at his luck as his footsteps began to beat faster to the floor. Suddenly, there was a shadow just as he rounded a corner and by instinct, he twisted his body in an attempt to dodge whatever he ran into.

"Hey! Watch wh- Mr Kamijou?" a gruff voice called out and the shadow receded to a familiar balding man.

"Dr Gin! Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," Touma replied with a laugh that quickly died down as he watched the man's face.

Gin waved his hand dismissively with a small chuckle and Touma let go of a breath he didn't know he had, "Don't worry my boy, but next time you need to be more careful, it could be someone holding important equipment!" Touma gulped as this was an extremely rare occasion that his luck didn't screw him over. After all, he didn't end up breaking expensive equipment that he would have no way to pay it off. Gin then sniffed before leaning towards Touma, "Is that grilled fish!? Mmm! The staff must've pulled out all the stops for tonight!"

Touma hesitated at the doctor's jovial attitude but decided to entertain him all the same, "Yeah, one of your engineers told me it was tonight's special, just bringing some for my team."

"Oh? Then why are you heading here?" Gin asked with raised eyebrows, Touma's face froze and that was all it was needed for the doctor to know, "Lost? Very well, I shall guide you to your rooms myself! It would be a shame for your team to miss out on such a dish!" With that, the man spun on his heel and marched through the corridor which strangely reminded Touma of a soldier. He breathed a sigh of relief, regardless, the man is guiding him back to the rooms and he's happy that he won't be arriving at his team's room with stone cold fish.

"Mr Kamijou, if I may ask, how goes the investigation? Will you and your team be able to take care of our bandit problem?" Gin asked over his shoulder.

"Uh...Well, we figured there are some bandits near the location and uh... Motoharu will check it out and confirm it," Touma answered, but he noticed Gin craning his neck to look back and there was a slight frown.

"Your whole team isn't going to deal with the threat?" Gin's tone was harder, almost as if he was irritated and that had Touma widened his eyes at his supposed mistake.

He didn't want to make his team look bad and his mind raced to find something to rectify the issue, "W-What I meant was that he was just going to scout out the bandits and make sure we know what we're going up against." The two walked in silence as Touma had felt a little guilty about putting his team on a negative light. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to shine what huntsmen are, he shook his head in order to recompose himself as he remembered what he wanted to do as a huntsman. With a clear voice, he declared, "Dr Gin, we will find the bandits and deal with them as quick as possible so that everyone here will be safe."

Gin glanced back once again, but this time, the creases on his brow were no longer visible, "Mm, I see, good answer. I take the security of this place very seriously, Mr Kamijou. I'm sure you are aware that our work is highly important for the future of every settlement."

Touma nodded, while he found most of these 'defensive measures' intimidating, he had to agree that it was a necessary tool to protect lives. From the stories he heard about the Grimm being ruthless against humans and Faunus regardless of any situation, something like an automatic turret could mean the difference between a ruined settlement and a safe one.

"Though these guns, walls and other barriers are useful, they are only temporary and to fund a more… permanent solution," explained Gin and Touma's eyes widened, his mind just clicked as Gin's words echoed through it followed by the meeting he had.

"So that's why the bandits tried to get into the bunker," Touma murmured.

"Indeed, that's what we hypothesized as well, it is likely they want what we are working on for their personal gain," Gin replied bitterly, his ears reddening.

"Dr Gin, we will handle it, I promise you," Touma declared, his mind made up. He might not consider himself the pivotal point or the hero here, but if it is to protect something that could potentially save people from the Grimm, he would do it without question.

Touma suddenly found himself dodging Gin again as he almost walked right into him, but the man didn't seem to mind as there was a small curve to the edges of his lips, "That's fine, I'd expect nothing less from your team, and ah…. There! Hahaha! I'm sure your team will enjoy the grilled fish, speaking of which, I better head to the cafeteria! I'm eager to hear your team's progress, Mr Kamijou." Gin then marched, leaving Touma with his mouth ajar as he tried to make sense of the somewhat strange man who had just left him.

In many ways, Touma genuinely believed that Gin and his scientists were working towards ways where even the most unfortunate settlements would be able to defend themselves against the Grimm. He knew that hiring huntsmen was expensive, and working on alternative methods was something he could get behind.


Peace, a commodity Weiss had come to value greatly during her short time at Beacon. For the past few weeks, she began to realise how special a simple moment's silence was to her as she often had to deal with her overly energetic partner, said partner's sister who thought she was funny and a blundering blonde boy who refused to get the hint that she wasn't interested in him.

As the cool breeze gently caressed her face in the deserted courtyard, she strolled under the shining lamps as she got her thoughts in order. Needless to say, after the meeting with Ozpin about Touma, almost everyone had a generally positive reaction, glad that the boy was alright. In fact, she was just glad that her friend wasn't in any danger as well, but at the same time, what Ozpin divulged to them had left a prickling feeling at the depths of her chest.

Granted, Touma had never told them about his semblance, and no one that she was aware of had the slightest clue to what it was. Weiss often heard rumours about what he might've had but the fact that Goodwitch had forbade him from duelling in combat class had left a lot of people speculating.

Now that she had heard of this semblance existing, she struggled to come to terms with everything she knew about Aura and semblances. Weiss had spent hours in the library to triple check on the subject, yet Touma's semblance had effectively denied the accumulated knowledge of the subject.

"Woah there! Aren't you… Weiss-cold here?" a voice called to her and Weiss stifled a groan as there was only one person in this whole campus that had the audacity to make a joke that bad. Yang waved at Weiss, sticking out like a sore thumb in the darkened courtyard, carrying a shopping bag over her shoulder, "What? C'mon that was a good one."

"The day it's going to be a good one is the day Cardin Winchester becomes a saint," Weiss retorted.

"Ok, hurtful," Yang replied, completely unbothered by Weiss's remark. She stood right in front of Weiss, a lazy grin dressed upon her face, "Still, what're you doing here? It's getting pretty late."

"Uh… Well… I'm just taking some fresh air! You know, because uh… all that studying can-"

"Wow… you're even a worse liar than Rubes," Yang commented with wide eyes, she shook her head before asking, "So… what's bothering you?"

Weiss baulked, if there was one person on team RWBY that she could hardly understand, it was Yang. With Ruby, she could understand her drive, her rather simple and reckless behaviour, and that they were both younger sisters. Blake, on the other hand, was perhaps the one she got along with the most, often they had worked together on homework set by their classes and enjoyed a silent companionship their other members weren't exactly fond of. Yang was the one person Weiss found most difficult to understand, often energetic just like her younger sister and cracked some of the worst jokes Weiss had the displeasure of listening to, she was also someone who can easily read people.

"It's… nothing…" Weiss muttered, as her memories reminded her of everyone else's face when they left Ozpin's office and all she could hide was her confusion as she grinned along with everyone else.

"Doesn't sound like nothing… is it about what Ozpin told us?" Yang asked and Weiss flinched, only for the blonde girl to shrug, "Well, you can talk to me about it, c'mon."

Before she knew it, Yang dragged Weiss to a nearby wooden bench and the blonde girl sat down before digging into the shopping bag before pulling out a small white box. Yang licked her lips and Weiss could already guess what was inside the box. Soon both their noses were filled with a subtle sweet smell and Yang held the box to Weiss, "Got these bad boys from the new bakery downtown."

Weiss had to admit, the small cupcakes topped with a small strawberry were very enticing, but she held back her desire with regret as she shook her head. Yang shrugged and picked one up, "So~, what's… eatin' ya?"

Weiss groaned at Yang's persistence to crack any joke as she slumped to the seat next to her teammate. She wasn't even sure if Yang could take her thoughts seriously, if anything, Yang screamed frivolity. As Weiss weighed her options, she sighed at her choices and said, "It's about Touma."

As Yang gulped down the small cupcake, she raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Is it something to do with what Ozpin said about him or… are you… interested in him?" she asked with a teasing grin, but immediately dropped it when she saw Weiss's face, "Okay… okay, so, what's bugging you about him?"

"...It's his semblance," Yang let out a questioning grunt, "It defies everything the world knows about semblances and aura. I mean, what kind of semblance is indiscriminate that affects him? What kind of semblance that literally puts binds on his aura? It's like…" Weiss elaborated as she waved her hand in an attempt to bring out more words.

"Like…?"

"It's like he wasn't supposed to exist in this world! A semblance requires an unlocked aura as a resource, but Touma's was there since birth and that would mean his semblance has no need for aura! I… I just don't understand how that's possible," Weiss continued as she glared at her knees like it was the source of all her problems.

As Weiss rubbed her brow as she struggled to figure out everything, until she heard Yang's oddly calm voice, "Maybe you're just thinking into it too much," Weiss whipped her head towards her teammate whose face was illuminated by the shattered moon, "I mean… Discoveries are like that, aren't they? Always a first for something and Touma just happened to be one."

Weiss blinked and blurted out, "Wow... you do say smart things from time to time… No offence." Yang shrugged but didn't say anything, and soon Weiss joined her teammate at watching the shattered moon, "But it begs the question… His semblance… might not be a semblance at all… at least in our current definition of it."

"Argh! Who cares!?" Yang replied with a wave of her hand and Weiss bit back a squawk of indignance at Yang's dismissiveness, "The way I see it, he's a good guy, Ruby and Blake seems to like him and he only got on my bad side once. Who cares if he's got some weird powers or something, he isn't using them against us."

Touma got on Yang's bad side? Weiss shook her head at the thought, as she could hardly believe someone who was polite and decent could be the target of her teammate's ire if it was true, she found it hard to believe that there was someone who survived Yang's ire. At the same time, she knew Yang was right, it wasn't like Touma was malicious against anyone, if anything, he tries to help everyone, almost to a fault. "I… guess you're right," Weiss conceded.

The two sat in silence, watching the unmoving broken moon above them. It had just occurred to Weiss on how rare the two spent time with each other alone, usually, she was harassed by Ruby under the guise of 'team building exercise' or spending some lasting peace in reading with Blake. Yang was a calming presence, something she never thought possible, considering the fact that her 'jokes' tended to be mind-numbing at best.

"Why were you so hung up about this?" Yang's voice pierced the tranquil moment, "I mean, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to…"

"...It just bothers me," Weiss answered but Yang's face made her sigh as she elaborated, "I just don't get how Touma is in this situation… I've even checked for his family but they don't seem to be anywhere in Vale for at least the past decade. I mean, it can't be hereditary otherwise it would've been well-known and..." Weiss heaved a sigh as words were caught in her throat. Her face etched with a scowl, she bit out, "I… know what it's like to be lonely… and he doesn't even have a family here and he told us he had been living here for several years… and when I spent the last few hours trying to find his family so I can talk about it to them, there were no records of them existing in Vale…"

This time the silence that fell on them was far less tranquil than the one before, but Yang gently wrapped her arm around Weiss as she digested the Schnee heir's words. It wasn't difficult to figure out what Weiss meant, and yet, she found it a little hard to understand it as well. When Yang thought family, immediately Ruby, her father and her step-mother flashed in her mind, they were her home.

"Is… that why you came to Beacon instead of the Atlas Academy? Your family..." Yang's question hung in the air as Weiss drew a long breath.

"I guess it is… I mean, I love my family and all, it's just…" Yang watched Weiss squirm a little, it was a strange spectacle to witness a stick in the mud like Weiss to be struggling like this. If anything, it worried the blonde girl, "... I don't know… I just felt like… I needed it... for me. I couldn't stand being in that place any longer…"

"Why is that?" Yang asked, as part of her felt for Weiss at the same time, she wanted to know more what goes behind her teammate's mind.

"Father is just…. He doesn't feel like family and… he keeps trying to make me do things I don't want," Weiss lamented with a shake of her head.

Yang remained silent, waiting for her teammate to mull over her words. In some ways, what Weiss was saying was illuminating, when she heard about Weiss Schnee, first impressions was a spoilt rich kid and the first few weeks of interacting with her almost fell in line with her preconceptions. This conversation, however, showed her that perhaps, even the famed and fortunate aren't always having it all their own way. In one way, she felt like she had to dismiss her teammate's problems, it felt like it was exaggerated with the 'woe is me' but at the same time, she felt like there was a deeper story that Weiss was trying to hide but at the same time, wanted to talk about.

"Ugh… why am I even telling you this!?" Weiss exclaimed and then just slumped forwards, bewildered at how Yang is pretty much acting like her councillor from a random conversation.

Yang gave a sheepish grin as she scratched her head and if she had to be honest, she had no idea how she felt like a counsellor listening to Weiss's problems, despite that, she ventured, "Uhh… because I'm your teammate and that you needed someone to talk to?"

Weiss groaned into her hands as they warmed up from her face, she couldn't believe that she spilt it so easily. She wasn't planning to reveal her issues inside these grounds, but when she investigated as much as she could into Touma's case she just couldn't stop.

"Weiss? Are you alright?" Yang gingerly gripped onto Weiss's shoulder, the girl looked up to her before eyes wandered off to the ground.

"Yeah… I think I am…" Weiss conceded, it was pointless for her to resist anymore, she knew Yang was a lot smarter than a lot of people give her credit for and the blonde girl was likely to figure out what she slipped to her. Despite that, she felt her shoulders a little lighter, as if all that strain to prove herself took a diet. Her fingers started intertwining itself, she still wasn't ready to spill everything.

"...Right… Well…" Yang's mind cycled through many words she tried putting into her mouth. She had done these kinds of talks before, especially since she had often helped Ruby sort herself out a few times, but this was a first with Weiss and she wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. "You know… if you need to talk… I'm here. So uh… I'm heading up."

With that, Yang stood up with the bag in hand and strode towards the dorms, "Hey…" Yang turned to Weiss, who also stood up, "...Thanks."

Yang's signature grin flashed at Weiss who weakly returned it, "Sure, Weiss… anytime."

Weiss watched Yang's retreating back, as she sat back down, feeling a lot lighter even though there were still problems behind Touma's case. Surprisingly enough, talking with Yang felt good, like pressure on her chest seemed to feel lighter. After replaying the conversation in her head a few times before resolving herself to talk to Touma when he comes back. Somehow, she had a feeling that he would be forthcoming about everything.


It wasn't every day that an Atlesian special ops huntsman operates outside the Solitas region, and when it does happen, there was usually an extraordinary circumstance tied to it. To Frenda Seivelun, this was one whole cluster-fuck that her team and another team were getting into. General Ironwood had made it clear to both of them, that failure cannot be an option after he briefed them as it was a matter of 'National Security' and she had to agree, the top brass had seriously put them in an awful position. To put into terms on how serious it was, General Ironwood himself had come to oversee the operation himself.

"Tyrant, this is FRST-One, we have just touchdown," Frenda reported as she quickly surveyed her surroundings, using her hand to block out the bright light above her.

"Tyrant, this is SCLN-One, we also hit the ground." A feminine voice called out from her radio.

"FRST-One, SCLN-One, this is Tyrant, copy that. Be advised, our contact's last location is about one klick north of your location. You are to rendezvous with him to continue the mission." Ironwood's voice ordered over the radio as each soldier dusted themselves from the landing.

"Copy that, FRST-One, out," Frenda then gestured with her hand and three people quickly surrounded her, each one carrying their personal weapon and wearing dark green camo gear and their heads exposed, but it wasn't a big deal thanks to their aura. It was very different from the snow-white gear she was used to, but they had a job, and complaints were the last thing she needed to express. She redid her ponytail, her blonde hair would stick out like a sore thumb in the forest, so she pulled a green cap over it.

With one gesture, the four of them began running north, the sound of their boots muffled by the grass beneath them, and for every Grimm they passed, it would fall with a few flashes of their weapon, but their momentum never slowed down as they continued rushing forward. Within a couple of minutes, the four of them slowed their pace, their eyes scanning for their contact.

"Ahh… took a while, but glad you guys made it," a jovial voice called and that was all it was needed to destroy Frenda's relatively good mood. Suddenly more footsteps were heard and as all five whipped towards it, four figures, all dressed in a similar fashion to Frenda and her team, joined them.

The four arrived and within a split second held their hands up with the lead one saying in a feminine voice, "Cyclone, seven, four, three, four."

"Frost, eight, six, one, one," Frenda replied as her team lowered her weapons. Standard procedure, but Frenda had to admit, it was a pain in the ass most of the time.

"Two teams? Thought Ironwood would only give me one," Motoharu said as he scanned each Atlesian huntsmen.

"General Ironwood deemed it necessary after your report about Project Revolution, Tsuchimikado," Frenda answered, "Basically, he wants this wrapped up as soon as possible."

Motoharu stared at her for a few seconds before asking, "And you are?"

"Specialist Frenda Seivelun, leader of team FRST," Frenda reported and her team nodded all together, almost robotically.

"Specialist Saiai Kinuhata, leader of team SCLN, here you'll need this," the other leader stepped handing a small earpiece to Motoharu who took it and plugged it in.

Motoharu looked between the two before shrugging, not really bothered about having the extra manpower, "Okay… No-"

"Wait… Where is Specialist Schnee? Because it would be super if she's here," Saiai asked.

"Winter's got her own job to do at Echo-Nineteen, and as for us, we got our own," Motoharu answered as he fished for a large tablet and opened up in front of them. The teams gathered around as Motoharu held it up in front of him, revealing a map and he explained, "What you are seeing here is the location of the bandits you guys were uh… briefed on. I scouted the area as best I could, they have about a dozen, maybe more."

"Wait… Basically, I thought we were going to Echo-Nineteen for the op, why the bandit camp?" Frenda inquired, from what General Ironwood told them, they had to deal with the issue there.

"Frenda, your general is a bit too hasty, we haven't confirmed that they are doing Project Revolution, that's why we are raiding this camp. They've breached into the site and it's likely they might know something about it." Motoharu answered and the Atlesian soldiers all shifted uncomfortably. When they were briefed on the Project, all of them, despite the extensive training they were subjected to, couldn't believe that their own country would conduct a project like this.

"The thing is," Motoharu continued, "It turns out they aren't bandits."

The Atlesian soldiers didn't make a move, but one question from their radios resounded in their minds, "What do you mean they aren't bandits?"

"Ah! Ironman? How've ya been?" Motoharu said in as he waved into the air.

"Answer the question Tsuchimikado, what do you mean that they aren't bandits?" Ironwood's voice was completely stony compared to Motoharu's.

Motoharu grinned and replied, "You know what? I think it's better if I just show you." With that, he reached into a nearby brush and dragged out a body and dumped it in front of the teams. The male body was wearing rags with a holster for the absent weapons and on his head was a small trail of blood from a bullet hole. On top of that, upon the man's short blonde hair was a pair of small horns, which every Atlesian frowned at.

"Huh… Bandit Faunus, those are pretty uncommon," one of the soldiers commented and murmurs of agreement shared between them.

"You would be right, but this buddy here isn't a bandit, look," Motoharu then pulled up one of the sleeves, and upon it was a black and red tattoo of a very familiar symbol with two blades crossed underneath it.

"White Fang? That's… not super," Saiai muttered in genuine surprise.

"Oh, not just any White Fang, only certain members tattoo this kind of symbol on them," Motoharu replied as he dropped the arm.

"Tyrant, are you getting this?" Frenda asked.

"I did FRST-One. Tsuchimikado, can you confirm that the whole 'bandit' camp is made up of the White Fang?" Ironwood's voice held a sense of urgency.

"Already confirmed, he wasn't the only one I took out, if the other two I took out has the same tattoo, then it's likely we are dealing with a faction of the White Fang, the Howling Battalion," Motoharu explained.

"The Howling Battalion?"

"Never heard of 'em"

The soldiers murmured amongst themselves before Frenda ordered, "Cut the chatter, if Tsuchimikado took out the three of them, then they'll figure out that some of them are missing, basically, we have to take them out, now!"

The soldiers immediately clamped their mouths as the blonde girl glared at them before taking the map and asking, "Anything else we need to know about the camp?"

"Mmm… nothing much, turns out they didn't plan to stay here for long." Motoharu replied, with a shrug, "Either way, better to take 'em down before they know what's coming."

Frenda examined the map and passed it on to Saiai, "Saiai, you take the south entrance, we'll come in from the west. Basically, we'll take them out before they see us coming, but we're going in loud, so don't lose momentum."

"Sounds super!" Saiai confirmed.

"Before you go, we still don't know if Project Revolution is still being worked on, better to capture some of the White Fang and see what they tell us," Motoharu chimed in and Frenda frowned at the blonde huntsman.

"Aww man! Are you serious?" one of the soldiers whined.

"Shut up!" Frenda ordered before glaring at Motoharu whose lips twitched upwards, "Fine, we'll keep that in mind, but no promises. Tyrant, we are moving to engage."

"Copy that FRST-One. Good hunting." Ironwood said and with a single hand signal from Frenda, the Atlesian soldiers bounded towards the camp, leaving Motoharu who simply stood there with a grin.

Frenda and her team soon reached their position and hid behind trees and bushes, each one of them watching around them as they took out their weapons. Frenda took out her radio, "SCLN-One, this is FRST-One, we're in position."

"FRST-One, this is SCLN-One, we're in position too," Saiai replied.

"Teams, this is Tyrant," Ironwood's voice cut in, "Be advised, hostiles may have powerful weaponry on them."

Frenda grinned, as she dug into her camo pants and fished out a number of miscellaneous objects; Chapsticks, key rings, even a magic ball. Her aura flared once as she infused each of the objects with her semblance and she ordered, "Execute, execute, execute!"

She immediately threw the objects into the camp and in a second, a thunderous cracking resounded through the canopies multiple times with black smoke billowing from the camps in mere seconds. Her teammates charged forwards, their weapons raised as she heard cries and screams echoed from the camp. She charged forwards and saw a number of Faunus stumbling from the sudden explosions, some dazed or shocked, only to be cut down or knocked out by her team. One of them even attempted to pick up a rifle, only for his face to be smashed in by Frenda's knee, effectively knocking him out.

As Frenda advanced further into the camp, she saw the SCLN team quickly taking out the White Fang with ease, in a methodical but surgical and swift style. Soon, the grounds were quickly filled with scattered bodies of the White Fang, some groaning in pain, others very much lifeless. A sudden wail caught her attention as she saw two men charging at her. She smirked and rushed towards them, striking out with her legs as she heard two satisfying cracks from her kicks. The two men flew back from the sheer impact of her aura-empowered legs and lay motionless on the ground. She strode towards them, calmly as the screams and cries around her eventually died out, she nudged the two men, both of them not responding.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"...Clear!" Frenda echoed as she stretched her neck, the raid barely taking two minutes and that was what her team had trained for. The enemies were neutralised before they could regroup and her semblance was excellent for throwing hostiles into chaos when they struck.

"Ma'am, got a live one here!" one of her teammates called as he dragged a bloodied but coughing Faunus. The prisoner was pushed to the ground and he groaned in pain as he was surrounded by the Atlesian huntsmen.

"Good, search the area, they might have dust, let's confiscate them. Steph, contact Tsuchimikado and get him here," Frenda ordered and both her team and SCLN scattered passing over debris and bodies, looking for anything that could be of use. She picked up her radio and reported, "Tyrant, this is FRST-One, all hostiles neutralised, no casualties. Also got a live one, we're bringing in Tsuchimikado to interrogate him."

"Good work, keep me posted, Tyrant, out," Ironwood's voice was then cut off, leaving Frenda alone with a coughing Faunus.

"You… have no idea what you're getting into!" the Faunus spat as he propped himself on his arms.

Frenda's eyes narrowed before delivering a swift kick, leaving the man in a fetal position as she scoffed, "Shut up, I don't want to hear it from a traitor."

"Hey, hey! C'mon, don't kill him before I get to talk to him!" a voice complained of a slightly playful tone to it. Motoharu strolled in as if he was taking a relaxing walk in the park, except that there were fires and smoke everywhere. Frenda's mouth now twisted into a snarl, she didn't know why, but she did not like him.

"Hmph! You know that every Howling Battalion member is an ex-soldier or ex-law enforcement, basically, they are all traitors," Frenda venomously replied as she kicked the man again, "Now go do your thing, it won't be long before we get a whole bunch of Grimm coming down on us."

Motoharu sighed before he easily picked up the man by the shoulders and walked him into one of the last few standing tents, "Alright, give me a few minutes to crack him, so uhh… hold the line, thanks!"

Frenda resisted the urge to groan, as she knew she would be forced to do more work for someone who wasn't even part of Atlas. However, since General Ironwood was overseeing the mission and that Winter was still in the site of interest, she'll comply with him for now, "Alright teams, this is FRST-One. Tsuchimikado needs some more time to fish out some information from the prisoner. Create a perimeter around the camp, FRST-Four, head to the east tent, and make sure Tsuchimikado is undisturbed. Solid copy?"

After receiving a round of affirmations, Frenda pulled out a pair of golden tonfa, combining them into a compact rifle, something she didn't even need for this raid, but to deal with Grimm? Well, it was just another day at the office for her.


The Silver Hotel, a five-star hotel, the Vale Branch of the Mistral corporation, with massage parlours, spas and even its own small cinema for their guests, it was the supreme hotel for the rich and the famous. As Roman was a busy man and enjoyed the luxuries life had to offer, he decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to indulge in some of the features the hotel had to offer, but unfortunately, business called.

"Right this way," The Faunus nun bowed, their masks absent revealing a youthful, feminine face.

Roman nodded to his only companion, Neopolitan, and the two followed the nun deeper into the hotel while drinking in the large halls, accents with ancient stylings and the many employees, well groomed in their maroon uniforms and white gloves. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, a short elevator ride followed by a short walk and they met a group of nuns, each one without the infamous White Fang mask.

Roman hummed to himself at seeing how the White Fang were able to walk around in public, as he passed by various tourists, not a single one batting an eye at the nun, or in this case, a group of nuns standing in front of a large wooden door.

As they approached, the nuns parted as the one guiding said, "We ask that you go in, alone." and with a pointed look at Neopolitan, it seemed like they wouldn't budge, no matter what. Roman heaved a sigh at the troublesome situation before nodding to his confidant who rolled her eyes but leaned against the wall away from the nuns.

Entering, Roman was then greeted by an empty room, with a velvet couch with a huge television with a woman in white and gold robes, however, unlike the other nuns, a large golden necklace adorned her neck, with a strange circular symbol with a ruby in the centre as the pendant.

"Roman Torchwick, on behalf of the Mistral Seeker's Church, I am Mother Lidvia and I thank you for your hospitality in regards to my people," the woman greeted and Roman snorted at the greeting.

"Please, we both know where we stand in regards to each other, let's just drop the act and get to business, shall we," Roman offered as he relaxed on the couch, his face lit up with orange and soon the room was slowly encroached by smoke.

The woman's smile dropped and with a curt nod, she replied, "Perhaps it is best that we do." Roman grinned, all too familiar with dealing Mistral denizens. "I am told by the nuns that you had a proposition, do you not?"

"Mhmm, after all, every faction of the White Fang don't really get along do they?" Roman asked and a stream of smoke shot out from his mouth, "So, here's the deal, I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

Lidvia's dispassionate gaze held onto Roman as if steadily analyzing the man cell by cell, but the man didn't mind as he continued to enjoy his cigar, the room almost completely saturated by the perfume. She finally asked, "I'm well aware that Adam has knowledge of the Church's activities on his turf. What do you have to offer?"

"My dear, under my command is a number of White Fang members from his faction, and we have some important business to conduct in the Vale kingdom," Roman explained, stubbing the spent cigar on the table in front of him, "I intend to acquire more of his men for, prospective events in the future. Leaving, you, a fair amount of breathing room to do what you need to do."

"My nuns have arrived at Vale, knowing that they may have a confrontation against the Loyalists," The nun replied curtly.

"But… what if he knew the exact location of your activities outside of Vale?" Roman asked then he laced his fingers together, "After all, he can't touch you inside the city, but outside, your nuns are free game for him."

Lidvia's face barely changed, but he could see her eyes hardening at his statement and he almost gloated at her reaction, he continued, "I'd hate to see the good nuns suffer at the hands of Adam, simply because someone didn't do anything."

"I will not rise to blackma-"

"Oh no! I don't intend to make this a one-sided deal, my dear. I am just hoping that we can have a… healthy business partnership between us," Roman replied in a dramatic fashion as if he was on a theatre stage, "As I said before, 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine.'"

"...I am listening," Lidvia's voice was barely above a whisper, but that was all Roman needed.

"There!" Roman spread his arms out, "I plan to take in more of Adam's men for the coming weeks, it should thin his control for the time being." Lidvia leaned forward and Roman nodded to himself, it wasn't like she had to know his complete circumstances, he just decided to take advantage of the hand that was dealt to him. "I can also direct you to the settlements that are in need of… an evacuation, something your church could stand to gain."

Lidvia tilted her head, as she digested what he placed on the proverbial table, "...For?"

"My dear, all you need to do is to get me and my associate to Mistral, and we can talk further business there that I believe… can be of benefit to the both of us," the criminal concluded.

"Very well… I'll consult with the Church… please wait while we make our decision, then we shall discuss further on what to do," with that, Lidvia vacated the screen, leaving Roman to shrug, deciding to help himself to a glass of brandy that was sitting on the bedside table.

Meanwhile, Neopolitan loathed the whole thing. She didn't care for the White Fang nuns, who were just standing there like dolls, but to just stand there as Roman's bodyguard without even guarding him was just painfully boring. Roman did mention that the meeting would take minutes, but unfortunately, those minutes turned to hours and all she had was her scroll to entertain herself.

Eventually, the door opened, revealing Roman strutting out of the room. He fixed his collar and bowler hat before nodding to Neopolitan, she raised her eyebrow, displeased with what she had to deal with.

"Ah… don't be like that Neo! We've got ourselves a new benefactor! I think we earned ourselves… a celebration, wouldn't you say?" Roman invited with a lopsided grin as he strode passed her. Neopolitan raised an eyebrow, it was rare to see him this cheerful recently, and if her instincts were right, everything was going to be a lot more interesting.