Rogue Huntsman
KitKat
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Kit was silently watching Arex work on another seemingly tedious task, working her heart out on this project of hers as she pressed her cheek into the support of her palm.
Delicate fingers lightly danced and tapped against her pale cheek as she swished her tails through the warm air, long-since dried and tempted to sleep.
But after a certain threshold, she found herself more bored than tired.
"You know… you can wander around if you'd like. If you can't sleep," Arex lightly commented, her narrow focus pinpointed on her hands as she worked with a couple particularly small and delicate pieces.
"You sure?" Kit asked, getting a distracted nod in return.
With a quick hop, the fox dropped to her feet, sitting on the floor for a moment to slip back on her boots and tie them. Once they were snug, she pushed herself to her feet with a quiet swish of her tails and turned to look in the directions of the lights emanating from the other stations across the room.
A muffled howl of wind whistled in from above, but she ignored it for now as she let her fox ears focus on the noise coming from the opposite forge.
She quietly made her way around, taking the path closer to the entrance as she circled her way to the opposite side of the room, finding Ray's figure hazily shown in the light of his burning furnace.
Ray was working on his right gauntlet, occasionally pulling out a tool from his messenger bag Kitsuki didn't recognize and tinkering with its internal components.
Low humming sounds softly drifted from the aluminum gauntlet as Ray worked, occasionally emitting a bright purple light before dulling back down again.
He hadn't seen her yet.
The fox's soft gaze fell back on the messenger bag leaning against his workstation to the left of him, a sweet scent filtering out of it as she tilted her head curiously.
With a silent activation of her Semblance, she noiselessly made her way forward and kept a careful gaze on where Ray's attention was focused, crouching down in front of his bag unnoticed for now as she wondered if he'd turn around.
After a few moments… she deftly tipped it her way and checked inside, gaze sifting around its simple interior before finding an inside pocket with what she was after.
Her small tongue poked out the corner of her mouth as she reached in with a focused gaze, opening the pocket on the inside before her shining eyes widened in disbelief.
He had so many…
Careful fingers were hesitant now as she roamed her gaze over what was in the bag, briefly looking back to Ray for a moment to make sure he was still working.
With that reassurance, she looked back to the bag, only catching a faint purple light suddenly illuminating from the spine of Ray's back as she reached into the bag again and plucked out two KitKat candy bars.
Ray ceased working on his gauntlet, dropping the tool he held in his right hand as he looked up slightly.
"The hell?" he questioned, sweeping his gaze across the room.
The sudden voice caused the kitsune to freeze completely, the candy bars still held in her delicate grasp as her gaze snapped up to a set of glowing amethyst orbs staring at her.
Her hands were already off the bag and it was back to leaning perfectly against his workstation the way he left it.
C-can he… She double checked that her Semblance was activated, and it was, so she leaned momentarily over to the side…
Only to watch his eyes follow her.
Erm… A tiny wave was all she could muster right now, hiding the candy out of sight.
"If you're wondering if I can see you, kitsune, the answer is yes," Ray spoke lowly, "your Semblance is useful on people, but it doesn't seem effective on machines, correct?"
The small girl stood now that she knew he spotted her, keeping what she took behind her for now as his gaze continued to track her movements.
But… it was almost like he wasn't looking into her eyes as a person, but as a location. He just knew she was there, it didn't seem like he was taking in her details at all.
She dropped her Semblance after that, then gave him a small nod to his question.
It only worked on things that could perceive her, not digitally read her.
"Perhaps the next time you decide you want something, you should probably ask the person first."
She… wasn't used to asking. So with a guilty look in her eyes, she slowly placed both of the KitKats she took onto his workstation.
"I didn't say you couldn't have them. If you're hungry, just take them, not like I'm in short supply or anything," Ray shrugged, "I have other candy in there too."
Wait… he wasn't in short supply? Kit's never met anyone on the streets before who didn't value candy at the highest percentile of anything you could possibly steal for food…
And he had more than enough to just give away?
She silently gulped and glanced back to the candy, then back to him with a questioning, bewildered look.
Was he serious?
"What are you waiting for? Christmas? Take the chocolate already. Then go bother Dante, I'm sure he loves the attention."
Kit gave a small, apprehensive nod after a few more seconds of staring, silently taking the two bars back into her grasp as she took a step away.
She glanced back real quick, just to make sure this was really okay… before she silently walked back the way she came and reappeared at Arex's station.
A curious gaze soon fell on her own before the kitsune slid one of her bars across the workstation, something for Arex to snack on as she quietly opened her own.
"Oh? Where'd you get a candy bar in here…?" Arex asked, sitting back on her stool as she opened her own.
Part of her wondering how Kit knew she was getting hungry for something sweet.
The kitsune quickly pointed to the opposite side of the room, getting another questioning glance from Arex after the phoenix followed her directions.
"That was nice of him."
Kit smiled and nodded, giving a small, meek shrug.
It was something like that…
With the KitKat opened and still half-wrapped in one hand, Kitsuki pulled out her scroll and started typing.
"I tried using my Semblance on him," she wrote out into her notes section, then frowned slightly, "It didn't work."
Arex's look turned worried for a moment before catching Kit's rising gaze, "Was he mad?"
"Sort of?" Kitsuki bit her lip and looked back toward his station, "I couldn't tell. He basically told me to ask before taking then let me have it."
The small girl shrunk in her seat as she pouted, typing her next phrase out quickly.
"He told me off while doing all that though…"
"That…" Arex nodded slowly, the worry in her eyes falling away as she breathed out softly, "sounds like something he'd do, actually."
"Niro told me my Semblance wouldn't work on everybody. I didn't expect Ray to be someone on that list," Kit explained silently, refraining from taking a bite from her candy bar yet.
Arex was doing the same, just wanting to hear Kit out for now as she paused her work.
"He's the kind of guy to have tech hiding in all his pockets. He may have had digital sensors that could've picked you up," Arex pointed out, setting down her tool for now as she rested her arms on the workstation's surface, "Where was the candy?"
"In his bag," Kit replied, meeting Arex's gaze again before remembering something, "There were some lights that glowed running down his spine, right before he turned to look at me."
"Those were probably what tipped him off then…" Arex sighed, softening her gaze as she tilted her head, a few questions in her mind popping up for now but she brushed them aside in favor of Kit, "Be more careful with who you use your Semblance on. They may not all be so dismissive."
Kitsuki quickly nodded to that, almost feeling like a kid being chastised before Arex lightly smiled.
"That being said, go try to use it on Dante. I wonder if he can see you too."
Golden-orange eyes widened for a moment before the silent girl nodded in affirmation, "And if he does?"
"I'm sure he'll give you something too. Anoel says he's a sucker for cute things," the phoenix mentioned with a light blush.
"You think I'm cute?"
"N-no, I mean," Arex blinked hard as Kit leaned over, the fox following her gaze as Arex tried to avert it, "Y-yes. I-I… think you're cute."
Kit's smile couldn't have been wider as she nodded happily and hopped off her stool again, picking back up her candy bar to eat on the go as she went off to harass Dante.
Maybe he was singing again.
This walk was only half the distance, so she took it slower to eat slightly into her KitKat as she made her way around and spotted the white-haired teen working at his own forge.
His method of working was… different.
He sat on a wheeled stool, spinning around in it as he held what seemed to be a handle in his right hand and a cylindrical tool in his left that crackled with white sparks when touching the handle.
Yup… two fox ears twitched slightly as she caught his voice in the air, slowing her pace slightly to make sure she wasn't interrupting anything.
Dante was singing another song.
"You know that I can't smile without you, can't smile without you." A quick triple twirl of his tool between his fingers was seen before sparks ignited when the tip made contact with the handle, "I can't laugh and I can't sing. I'm finding it hard to do anything."
He then leaned back fully until he was completely horizontal on the stool, still spinning while crossing a leg over his knee.
"You see I feel sad, when you're sad. I feel glad, when you're glad. If you, only knew, what I'm going through..."
He then quickly sat back up straight and raised the handle and tool overhead, "I can't just smile without you!"
The rest he hummed to himself while continuing his spin.
Wasn't he getting… dizzy? Kitsuki tilted her head as she watched the display unfold, smiling lightly as she took another small bite of her candy bar.
It's almost been a full year since she's had any.
After a few more moments of him singing and spinning, she activated her Semblance to see if Dante could see through it too.
She quietly made her way forward, her KitKat still in her hand as she maneuvered around his station unnoticed, finding a small bag at the end of it out of sight of his spinning chair as she crouched down and checked inside.
He had three more boxes of graham crackers… She finished the one he gave her an hour ago.
And with Arex getting hungry now too, she wondered if it was alright if she took another to share.
She kept herself from touching the bag yet, glancing around the end of the workstation and to where the sound of Dante's spinning stool could be heard…
Only to see it emptily spinning, Dante completely gone from it.
Golden-orange eyes widened as she blinked silently, watching it turn for another rotation before peering over the top of the station, finding the area in front of his forge empty too.
He wasn't there either.
She bit her lip as she crouched down again, looking down to the bag… then drifting her gaze to the left, a silent yelp tearing out of her throat as she jumped at a closely staring pair of bright sky blue eyes.
The kitsune's tails went rigid as she fell back on her butt, staring at Dante in alarm as he seemed to be cupping his hands over his eyes like binoculars.
W-when did he…
"Good evening."
Kit clutched her KitKat tightly as her heart was racing, blinking silently as she supported herself on her one free hand and dropped her Semblance.
It definitely didn't work on him.
"The little kitsune has taken note of the hunter, possibly fearing for the chocolatey and cinnamony goodness in her hands. And possibly soul," he said, hands still in place over his eyes.
The small, awkward gleam in Kitsuki's eyes reflected back at Dante in a narrowing, confused gaze before the kitsune took a silent breath to calm down.
Kit quietly pulled her knees in a little as she curled her tails around her legs, softly wrapping her lower half in a white, fluffy embrace as she pouted.
Did he have to scare her like that?
"Sorry sorry, I couldn't help my childish tendency right there to scare you a bit. The temptation was too strong to resist," he said, offering her a hand.
She didn't wanna take it. Not yet, anyway.
Remembering he could sign, she held her candy bar with her mouth for a moment as she flashed him a few words.
"Please don't scare me like that again."
"Again, very sorry," he said, slamming his head into the floor in an apologetic bow, "I will compensate with my life if you see fit."
Kit blinked silently for a few solid seconds, actually considering what she could do with that… before shaking her head, fox ears finally rising from their folded back states.
"Graham crackers," she signed simply, then pointed to his bag.
"Understood your majesty," Dante replied respectfully.
He then quickly reached inside his bag and pulled out four more boxes of graham crackers, offering them to her with a bow as if she were a queen.
Kit's tails softly unraveled from her legs, an unsure look falling over her face again before she giggled lightly.
She kind of liked being pampered.
But… she reached a slim hand forward and plucked only one of the boxes from Dante's hands, setting that beside her as she stuck her KitKat back into her mouth to sign again.
"I just wanted one."
"Grievance compensation is included. Besides, I have a whole cupboard of them back in our room that's restocked every week. So it's fine."
Kit bit her lip, wondering how anyone could even have such a large stock… or even needed one.
Were they both rich?
"Thank you…" she signed, then paused for a moment before continuing, "It's just for tonight. Arex looked like she was getting hungry, so I started looking around for something we could share."
She finally took the KitKat back out of her mouth with a small bite taken out of it, partially melted now but she quickly licked the residual chocolate from her lips.
"Well, for me personally those function really well as a late night snack and fill up someone really well. Then again… I don't get hungry really so I wouldn't entirely know."
Kit nodded. Right, Inuba's food was the only food he ate… aside from these graham crackers. And he already mentioned something before about how he didn't need food to sustain his body.
Either way, she picked up her new box of crackers and gave him a grateful smile, lightly flicking her bundle of tails behind her and perking her ears to show her thanks.
"Aww~ So cute… You're just like my partner when she's in a good mood."
Kitsuki smiled in return to the comment, her tails swaying a little more lively now as she tilted her gaze at him, wondering if his partner wasn't always in a good mood.
Was she often in a bad mood…?
"Ah, don't get me wrong or anything. She's pretty much in a good mood always. Except when I do something naughty. Then she pinches my cheeks, which kinda hurts. But then she's in a good mood again right after."
It was almost like Arex… only the phoenix wasn't so stern. She silently nodded in understanding, knowing where Dante was coming from as she related to his words.
But she finally stood up, brushing off her bare legs and checking behind her tails to see if anything was stuck to her.
Her state of attire was completely out of her mind right now due to how late it was, so she didn't even stop to wonder if he caught a glimpse of anything.
"Your Semblance is pretty interesting. First variation of yours I've seen of its type with a singular effect. Very useful. And better compared to the rest I've seen. Train harder and you'll be even more amazing in time."
Really? Kitsuki wondered, tilting her head the other way as she let a small wondrous gaze filter into her irises.
Were there… others like her? She wasn't sure if her Semblance stemmed from her as a person, or her as a race.
Did he know anything?
She set her things back down, leaving them on his workstation and placing her KitKat on top of her new box in order to reply.
"It's not really that amazing. It didn't even work on you." Kit frowned a little, but she appreciated what he said about it.
Unfortunately… it was only always going to be a reminder of the feelings that ripped through her that night.
When it unlocked.
"Now now, replace that frown with a smile. It is actually amazing. And can be so much more. It did work on me at first… but... To be perfectly honest, I'm practically what's considered a freak of nature, so a lot of things won't work on me all too well."
So, it did work on him, for a moment. But that didn't seem to last. "Does that mean you're not ticklish?"
"N-No! Definitely not!" he replied rather suspiciously, earning a quizzical look from her.
He was totally ticklish.
She was too.
"Okay. Well… you don't seem like a freak to me." Not as much as she was, anyway. Or at least what she'd been called all her life now.
She was used to being called a freak or lab rat.
"That's sweet of you. But some others would strongly challenge you on that. They would probably lose to you in the face of your fluffy might."
His words brought a small, tiny chuckle out of her, shaking her head at that but frowning slightly at how others would see him as a freak of nature.
"I'll keep training it," she signed reassuringly, "Do you think it'll eventually work on you some day?"
"It could very likely be the case. There's… a constant stream of unknown's out there. Anything could change just like that," he said, snapping his fingers quickly, "Whether or not the changes are good is up to you entirely. In short, I believe that it could very likely work."
"I'll… keep that in mind," Kit replied, delicate brow furrowing for a moment before she took up her sweets and gave him another thankful smile.
This time for the advice.
She doubted it'd work on him though, even if she trained it.
"Hey, don't doubt yourself ever. I have this funny thing about how I see people. Looking at you, you definitely are strong. And you'll be even stronger as time goes by. So, in short, trust yourself and your feelings. You'll go many a place."
Funny… she was never once strong in her life. She'd always been too weak to do anything to help herself, or even help anyone around her.
But… maybe she could just believe him for now, just this once.
Just to humor him.
She calmly nodded her head to what he said to show that she took in his words.
"And one more thing. Don't let anyone bring you down. Especially because you're a cute and fluffy kitsune. Honestly, I can't even imagine how someone could be so mean to someone so adorable…"
Kitsuki grimaced slightly when he mentioned that, having been hoping she could've left without it being brought up.
"I've noticed Cardin being not so nice to a lot of other students recently. Especially towards students that are faunus. So… if he's being a real jerk to you or anything, just call over your faithful manservant Dante to take care of him. I'll be over real quick to sort him out."
He wasn't the only one who's told her the same exact thing… But she couldn't have him stepping in for her.
Yang does it enough already, and that was without her permission.
In the end, she was still the one who was weak… calling on help from anyone who was stronger than herself.
Or even braver than herself.
"There's no shame in it really. Even I need help myself now and then."
Still… she'd keep what he said in mind…
But Niro's words still echoed in her head from that one time on the roof. He was the only one to ever tell her something different than everybody seemed content to say.
It was her problem, and she had the ability to put a stop to it. She just needed to stop closing in on herself and actually do it.
At the same time, it was still so hard to do…
"Or you could deal with them yourself. That's also okay, even if people say otherwise."
Kit silently nodded, clasping her box beneath her chin to hold it in place before sticking her KitKat in her mouth to make a quick response.
"Thank you… for the offer. I'll keep that in mind too."
"Alrighty then. May I?" he asked, motioning his hand to give her a head rub.
Kit glanced up for a moment before nodding fervently, ears fluttering for a moment in preparation for any kind of touch.
Head pets were her favorite, especially from Arex.
Dante reached forward and gently rested his hand on her head, watching her for a moment as she closed her eyes and brushed the sides of his hand with her ears.
He couldn't stop the small smile from splaying across his lips as he gave the hair between her ears a soft rub, sliding his fingers over as well to give the bases of her ears a brief scratch before pulling back.
"Aha, you're too cute and fluffy. I might actually die."
Kit's eyes quietly opened back up as she flicked one of her ears, "Don't die. Inuba needs you."
His eyes widened momentarily when she said that. But then his gaze softened as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"You're right. She'd be pretty upset with me if that happened."
The kitsune nodded with a proud affirmation, as if her point was proven right then and there, "So don't die."
She caught his gaze one more time before pulling her treat back out of her mouth and heading off, box in her other hand.
He seemed nice… playful too.
But her gaze drifted to the ground as she walked back to Arex, her tails stilling for a moment as she furrowed her brow.
With a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw him pull out his own box of graham crackers before going back to work.
When he pet her and she asked him that last question… she could've sworn she felt a small, faint twinge of pain in that moment.
The thing was…
It wasn't her own.
Kit tucked her cheek into the palm of her hand as she sat in the furthest corner of the room. The only people currently around her were the only present members of her team.
Arex sat to her immediate left, sketching something in her notebook as she waited for class to start. Anoel sat one more seat down, next to Arex, leaning back with her eyes on her black scroll.
Niro was out doing something again.
She didn't ask what.
"Hey there. How's the day been so far?"
Golden-orange eyes glanced up for a moment as a single ear twitched, noticing Dante standing in the row in front of her own with his team.
She just gave a tired shrug. More sleep would've been nice.
"Still a bit tired I see. That's alright," he continued, the rest of his team sliding into the bench he stood in as they began getting out their things.
The class seemed to be filling up quickly now as well, which meant it'd be starting soon.
Kitsuki just let her cheek lean further into her palm before glancing over to Arex's notebook, away from Dante as she saw her sketching out the interior components of what looked like a retractable longbow.
She never really did take a break from conceptualizing new things… did she…?
"No, I'm busy Scarlet…" a hushed baritone voice uttered two rows ahead.
And that'd be Ray…
Kit glanced over to see where his team sat, noticing he'd pushed himself into the wall of his bench as he sat boredly in his seat. Scarlet, or who she'd assumed to be Scarlet, sat to his free side, playing with the crimson hair pulled over her left shoulder.
It seemed they were all sitting on the right side of the room today. For some reason.
The rest of his team didn't look very… approachable. One had his hood up far enough to the point she had no way of seeing his face, even when he turned his head, and the other sat with a tan cowboy hat nestled onto his head.
What was with the hats…?
The kitsune glanced over to see Anoel's black cowboy hat bobbing up and down lightly to music she could faintly hear, her eyes reading through a thread of messages on her scroll that kept updating live before her.
Too many hats.
How were those kinds of hats even comfortable? The girl's ears went flat on her head as she thought about it.
Golden-orange eyes soon turned back to Arex for a moment, envisioning her in a cowboy hat now as well.
Only for that gaze to catch Anoel suddenly flicking the rim of her hat up to loosen it, then flipped it swiftly off of her head and onto her sister's, not even looking away from her scroll.
Did she… know?
Arex felt the hat fit over her head, flinching slightly as it happened, but her questioning gaze met nothing in return as she glanced to Ano at her side.
Completely ignored.
Arex looked really good in the hat.
Kit's eyes struggled to look away from her partner at the sound of a heavier set of footsteps tapping into the room. The rest of the students continued their chatter as the professor walked in.
He was tall… really tall compared to her… But probably just tall compared to everyone else. At least he looked like a professor though.
He had a dark blue collared dress shirt on, the lapels of the collar longer than what she'd seen from the other professors.
Black trousers fitted his legs, the girl's eyes noticing he wore black dress shoes just beneath them with a white belt holding everything up. A glint of light silently glimpsed over his silver buckle as she turned her eyes up to grimace slightly.
He was wearing a cowboy hat too…
Arex looked better.
He may have looked good, but Arex looked better.
Niro too.
The kitsune didn't like the white band circling around the crown of the professor's black hat, encasing slightly curly, shoulder length black hair just beneath. Her gaze shied away as soon as she saw his dark blue eyes take in the class in front of him, irises situated behind rectangular-shaped glasses.
He seemed to also be the only professor with facial hair… Her eyes took in a thin, cleanly cut mustache that sat nicely away from a thin, neatly trimmed beard running along his jawline.
He kind of looked like a dressy cowboy, in a way. But she also wasn't quite set on his hat actually being a cowboy hat at all.
She just didn't know any other way to call a hat like that.
"Good morning everyone," he spoke in a collected, even voice with a mild reverberation, "My name is professor Dravus Gladian, and I will be your professor for Advanced Aura Integration."
The class's chatter died down once he started talking. It was a hard voice to miss.
"Here in this class, I'll be teaching you how to directly combat other Aura-using combatants that make use of advanced Aura and other magic-related abilities, as well as furthering the abilities you yourself possess in your personal arsenal."
One of Kit's fox ears twitched slightly at the sound of someone groaning nearby, then flinching soon after at the harsh sound of something hard slamming heavily into a wooden desk.
Was that… Ray?
"You won't only learn about what exactly is out there and what people might use against you, but how to deal with them. And to this effect, we'll also be performing direct demonstrations of how to combat against these varying different abilities. Out in the field."
Oh.
So this class was held in tandem with Goodwitch's? Kit realized they'd be learning a curriculum that fell closely to what Glynda was doing with them, only she focused more on individual strengths and weaknesses than this.
Were they going to fight in here too, though? Was that why they were allowed to arrive in their normal clothes and not the uniforms?
"Unfortunately, you may not always be able to rely on just your weapon or weapons. Hence why it is important to harness and improve your Aura-related capabilities and understand what it is you're up against when facing another combatant. After all… it isn't JUST the Grimm we have to be worried about out in the world."
Glynda said that too. Or at least, that's what Anoel told her after Kit missed her first day.
"Sounds like bullshit if you ask me," a deeper voice commented, "you've been here five minutes and I've already lost all interest."
"It might sound like 'bullshit' to you, Mr. Chroma, but I'd venture a guess that you would think differently if someone shrunk you down to the size of a water bottle. Or perhaps rearrange the composition of your entire bone structure to make it as brittle as cookies. Who knows? Maybe even a toad for the simple fun of it."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was a huntsman training academy, not a fairytale castle."
"It's often the fairy tales and legends you should be most wary of. Out there in the world of Huntsmen and Huntresses are many unknowns and all sorts of complicated variables involved. Wouldn't you rather know how to deal with them offhand rather than scramble around for an answer?"
A few minutes in and there was already something starting up in the class… and Niro wasn't even here to start it… Kit's eyes flicked back and forth between the two, almost feeling like the professor was enjoying this as he smiled to the challenge.
Did he get this a lot?
Kit wasn't exactly a believer in magic, but she knew Affinities were one of the several unexplained pieces of their more ancient civilizations. Things were left behind over the ages.
Maybe he was one of the people who'd been picking up the pieces as the time passed.
"There are very few things that cannot be explained using science and logic, so until you show me real evidence of magic, I'll take everything you say with a pinch of salt. Starting… now."
It sounded like he was being sarcastic, but Kit could rarely tell with Ray.
"I'll hold off a direct demonstration for now, Mr. Chroma. But still, I suggest you keep a keen eye and pay attention. You might learn a thing or two that can save your life," the professor said, smile growing.
Ray raised his eyebrows once, "Whatever."
The professor set his bag down to the side of the desk at the center of the room and stood in front of it, hands placed on its wooden edge as he leaned forward and glanced around.
Almost as if he was studying his students.
"The world outside of the walls of the Kingdoms is filled with uncertainty. Not everything is clear cut to see in the light of day. And so, one the goals of this class is to make those unknowns and uncertainties as clear as can be when you're out there. That way you can be home for Sunday dinner just in time," he jokingly added, earning one or two chuckles from the students.
The tension from earlier with Ray was still lingering. Maybe Ray's opinion with this kind of subject was shared…
"So… before we dive into it today, two things you should be aware of. What you learn here in this class will in part be applied in Professor Goodwitch's combat classes. That, and every so often we will be holding joint classes together. Secondly, I will be having a Teacher Assistant, or TA for short. If I am not available before or after classes, she will be here for your convenience to ask questions or receive advice and the like."
That perked Kit's interest. He had a TA?
"That being said, Elisia, you can come in now and introduce yourself."
Apparently her interest wasn't the only one to spike, her eyes noticing Dante rigidly sitting up in his seat and staring shakily down to the door below.
Did he recognize the name?
The back door to the class slid open, and in stepped the TA dressed in the standard female Beacon Academy uniform. She was surprisingly about 5'4, two inches taller than Kit's own height with her boots on, and was between a petite and endowed figure, almost matching Dante's sibling Ciel.
But Elisia was just a bit more mature and curvier.
Along with her fair skin, the other two features that caught Kit's eye had to be her ice blue irises and chin length, light blue hair with only a few strands hanging in between her eyes…
And the two light blue rabbit ears atop her head.
She strode down the steps from the top, passing by the desk as everyone's eyes were on her with silent chatter off to the side. Though, she paid them no mind really. However, once she approached the desk Dante sat in just a bit below Kitsuki, she turned her head toward him, as if just noticing he was there and giggled slightly, waving at him subtly as she passed by.
All Dante did was chuckle nervously and awkwardly wave back, something that drew the attention of the others around him. Especially Inuba's.
When she reached the front of the class, she took a once over of everyone in the room before speaking.
"Hello everyone. My name is Elisia Fey. As you all heard, I'm professor Gladian's TA and will be here to help you when he's not around. Treat me nicely, okay?" she said with a bright smile, garnishing the attention of many of the students.
Kit didn't know what to think about this one. She seemed nice, though.
But she quickly heard Ray scoff before muttering to himself, "This class is so bad, it requires two teachers. What a surprise…"
"Sorry, but when you actually have something worthwhile to say, I'll maybe take it under advisement, Mr. Chroma," the TA replied, still keeping her smile about her.
"Now you know my stance on this class."
"Sure thing. Just give me a bit more motivation to try harder. Are we all caught up?" she asked the professor as she brushed Ray off.
Why was this class so cutthroat?
"Quite so now that you're here. Now then… Why don't we start today's class with a short demonstration? Elisia, why don't you pick someone to start?"
"Oh? I get to pick? Alright…"
Her head scanned the room full of students, all of whom assumed she simply did that for show since the cranky complainer would very likely be the chosen candidate for today's "demonstration".
"Let's see… How about… you."
Kit saw the TA's finger fall in her direction, her ears suddenly perking up then shying away as the majority of the class shifted their attention to the back of the room.
Golden-orange eyes quickly cast behind her, meeting the blankness of the wall at her back before turning forward again.
Her?
Kit stared back in confusion, but she soon frantically noticed that the girl's eyes weren't specifically on her… but the one just below and in front of her.
Dante.
The white-haired teen himself met the gazes of numerous people in the room as he looked around, even her own, before he shook his head slightly and let out a sigh.
He raised himself up from his desk and stumbled forward with his first step. After a moment, all he did was walk down the aisle and try to act as calm as could while approaching the center stage.
Kit watched as he eventually made it down to Elisia's side, the two standing just a short distance away from each other. Dante was still trying to keep calm and collected, but it was a strong contrast from how the TA looked.
Elisia stared back at him with a calm smile, the kitsune noticing the girl letting out a silent giggle.
"Are the both of you ready?" Professor Gladian asked.
"As ready as can be…" replied Dante softly.
"Anytime. You give us the go," Elisia said cheerily, holding her hands behind her back while playfully bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
Kit did that too when she was excited.
Wait, was the TA excited for this?
Kit's entire body finally managed to relax back into her chair as her ears drooped, the stress of being called upon now subtly melting away as she took in a short breath.
She felt bad for Dante, but she was also glad she didn't have to go up there.
Still, he looked really uncomfortable.
Maybe the two really had met before?
"Forgive the sudden call, Mister Ezdeil, but there was something I wished to speak to you about concerning one of your teammates."
His voice seemed to emit itself loud enough into the room to overpower the dull clicking and turning of the gears hidden in the ceiling.
How could a man even stay sane in here?
In any case, this was about someone from my team…
That wasn't much of a surprise.
They were all questionable.
Even the cute one.
"In regards to which?" I asked calmly, keeping my hands clasped together behind my back as I leveled a collected gaze at our… headmaster.
You know, the smart one with the stick and the caffeinated hourly drug intake.
"To answer that, I must regrettably divulge what I've been helplessly attempting to look into since initiation," Ozpin spoke with a sigh, resting his fingers on his spanning desk as he lowered his gaze.
This better not be about me.
"You're aware of the incident regarding Miss Kitsuki Aeolus's late partner, am I correct?" he asked.
"Never personally looked into it."
"But one of you has. Good. Unfortunately, my luck in this matter has been running rather… thin. It's a mystery I'd hope to solve. However, I must first apologize to you. Most people didn't realize what you did for the kitsune."
The hell was he on about…?
"I didn't do anything. If taking charge is what you were referring to, that was only because that damn bird started it."
"I am well aware of how that nevermore feather pierced your chest. But at the moment, I'm more amazed at how… intricately you mask your actions," Ozpin replied smoothly, a small, twisted smirk crossing his lips.
You think you got me figured out, old man?
Try me.
"Tell me, Mister Ezdeil," the headmaster continued, leaning away from his desk as he pulled up footage from initiation, specifically the part where I was barking orders at the nameless pitiful color-hogs in my vicinity, "Were you aware of Miss Belladonna's medical training on the field and her strange ability to keep calm and collected in a pressuring situation?"
Anyone could make that assumption. She was the only one who didn't look surprised when I yelled at them and took control.
What a little submissive puss-
"Most people marked off your deflection of her assistance as condescending and rude," Ozpin continued, showing the footage of the exact moment when I pointed out the obvious uselessness in Blake's aptitude then told her to go away, "Most people also tend not to pick up on subconscious manipulation in a mentalist's words."
That was Anoel's specialty. Not mine.
"You not only motioned over to the dying kitsune on the tree line, but ensured Blake dropped all her need to assist in the battle to put her medical experience to use. In doing so, you also brought her help by pushing away Miss Yang Xiao Long alongside her."
"They were annoying," I cut in simply.
He thinks he has me figured out.
"That is how you presented the situation, yes. But that is not what happened in the end. Mister Ezdeil, you saved a young girls life and proceeded to cleanse the forest of Grimm I was banking on using for future endeavors," Ozpin both praised then deadpanned.
Somehow… he did each of those in the same, indifferent voice.
"She would've been fine."
"No, she wouldn't have," Ozpin corrected, forcing me to narrow my gaze.
Maybe I wasn't giving his scrutinizing eyes of the forest enough credit.
"She was nearly dead. However, I've commended you enough. My question takes me to the root of this problem altogether. And that… brings me to wonder how Miss Aeolus got into such a state to begin with."
A question I couldn't care for. Anoel might've.
Knowing her, she had probably already been looking into it since day one.
Ozpin flicked away the video feed and pulled up a new file of footage. Something I remembered sensing during the day of initiation.
So… this was what our meeting is all about…
The kid who died during initiation.
"His name is Maroon Alister."
Ozpin gestured to the video clip as it began to play. It was from one of the observational cameras hidden in one of the trees.
On screen was Kitsuki, surrounded by an encroaching array of beowolves and ursa working together.
21 combatants on the field.
"He hailed from Vacuo, had accolades from every combat competition held in the Kingdom, and was the frequent champion of the area's kingdom-wide events."
A dark red-haired boy flipped into the video's frame, slashing out the back of a beowolve's neck as he landed swiftly in front of the kitsune at the attack's center.
Apparently, the kid was a fan of a brown and gold color scheme, keeping a few hints of red in his attire as well. Maybe it was a Vacuo thing.
Either way, I saw a pair of calm, scarlet irises regard his opponents for just a brief second… before his image distorted then disappeared.
That wasn't a Semblance.
That was just his natural speed.
"Master of martial arts and the impressive masterful honing of a unique executioner technique that involves the use of two curved daggers. He was always praised for his cunning ability to outsmart the defenses of whatever his opponent pit against him."
I watched as the boy appeared in the air, slipping in and out of the camera's poor focus as he cascaded the sharp, slashing edge of his blade down through whatever grimm he could get his hands on.
Three fell before he'd even touched the ground again.
His daggers seemed to extend their reach through wires attached to their pommels, pulling him around and allowing him to blade his way down through the tough tissue of his adversaries with ease.
But when it came down to the last few grimm… the video feed suddenly began to grow hazy.
Then the recording cut out.
"The camera filming the scene was destroyed," Ozpin explained, then held up his hand for a moment as he started flicking through camera numbers, "Including every camera in the immediate area."
"Sounds like someone tampered with your tech, Oz," I pointed out, crossing my arms.
Why was I here again?
"Not quite. Tampering with Beacon grounds isn't easy. It would be easy to apprehend anyone who so much as tried given all collected feeds from those cameras transmit directly to the school's mainframe. Even if one is destroyed, its data isn't lost."
Well doesn't that throw a wrench into the system all of a sudden…
Great.
No wonder he needs help.
"So, nobody was seen tampering with it. What about remotely?" I asked.
"Each camera follows a nested web of connections. Hacking into one will alert the rest. The only way to control them remotely is from this desk or my master scroll. Both are carefully monitored by myself and Miss Goodwitch. The scroll in question was in my possession at the time of the incident, as well. As for my desk, it remained untouched and unpowered for the entire endeavor."
"Then what destroyed the cameras?"
"Good question," Ozpin replied, his smile twisting wider, "Analysis of the area showed each of the cameras short circuited from an unknown electrical signal. Like an EMP, if you will."
Those could be directed if you tried hard enough, but they weren't made for long range waves.
Not unless it was in the form of an artillery missile.
"Pulses like that can be traced," I pointed out, but somehow, I think he knew I'd say that.
Because that damned smirk grew even wider.
"Precisely. The tracing was already done. However," Oh great, another wrench to throw into the gears, "the origination of the EMP surge came from the cameras themselves. This, Mister Ezdeil, is where I seem to be stumped."
Stumped or just too lazy to figure it out on your own, old man? This just feels like you're shoving off your work onto someone else just because it caught a few snags in your fishing line.
"So what? Your cameras committed mass suicide. Nothing you need me for," I returned, figuring my time was done here as I turned away.
"You and I both know there's only one witness that knows exactly what happened in that obscured moment…" Ozpin's voice spoke out again, catching my back as I started walking.
"You think my partner's that incapable of taking care of herself? Or worse, you think she's the one that killed him?" I deadpanned.
"That remains to be seen. No possibilities have been indefinitely ruled out yet. I'll keep looking into it, but… do consider looking into the matter yourself, Mister Ezdeil. I would appreciate the help."
If I wasn't so intent on this man liking me and actually trusting me enough for the moment I ask him about my father…
I might actually consider those words.
But it's not my job to kiss the devil.
Anoel took that role ever since she met me.
"I have class," I said, waving over my shoulder, "I'll assume this excuses me from my first one."
"Indeed it does. Don't be late, Mister Ezdeil."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
I prefer to keep those dreams alongside the rest of its category…
With the psychotic rampages of killer kittens.
And the bloody demise of Jaune Arc.
Was this the first time I wrote a whole segment in Kit's perspective? Maybe. The scene involving the "Visitors" from Dante's team was proportionally in Kit's perspective as well.
I tend to follow a style (for this story) that doesn't blatantly tell you who's perspective something is. I'm sure you can clearly tell whenever Niro's at the wheel (he's the only 1st person there is in here) but as for everyone else, that's something the writing should divulge to you.
I'd rather not just state it up front. You lose the immersion if I do.
Anyway, longer chapter this time. Sorry about that. I'm kicking some plot off (FINALLY). I just wanted to get you all acquainted with the characters before starting anything.
Question... Does anyone have a good ship name for Arex and Kitsuki? I'll be trying to come up with something myself in the meantime.
For now, Favorite and Follow.
I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.
Cya XP