It's early in the morning and Blake is putting on a black apron as she stands behind Tukson's cash register. "Are you guys sure about this? You don't have to do this, you know. I'm used to working on my own in this place.", Tukson says as he looks to his guests.
The two nod to the man before Blake replies with, "Of course, it's the least we can do since you've taken us in. We'll do our best to help around the store."
This causes the man to smile lightly before muttering, "Very well, I guess I'll have to put you two to good use then." Tukson points over to the book shelves and tells Blake, "You'll be working on organization of our fantasy books and novels. It's been a while since I've dealt with those since barely anyone reads them anymore. Just organize them the best you can, preferably in alphabetic order." Blake nods in response before the shop owner turns his attention to Sun, who nervously smiles back at him. "As for you, my boy, I'll be having you help me with moving some things downstairs. I just got a few new shipments of some upcoming books and a few best sellers, so I need to make sure everything is properly added to my inventory. You won't have to do more than move a few boxes around, you can handle that, right?", Tukson explains as Sun nods, listening carefully to what the man wants him to do.
The ripped blonde gives the man a thumb up as he cheerfully shoots back with, "No problem! When it comes to muscle, I have more than my fair share!"
"Yeah, probably too much. Do your muscles have muscles?", Blake jokingly remarks, earning a slight laugh from the two other Faunus.
"Hey, I like to think I have just the right amount of muscle, thank you very much. It's not like my abs have abs or anything.", Sun replies, to which Tukson adds, "But it wouldn't kill you to button up your shirt for once, kid." Sun looks to him with, taking full offense from the small comment, before defiantly exclaiming, "Nobody, and I mean NOBODY locks away my babies!"
This causes the cat girl to let out a light giggle before walking over to the front door and saying, "Well, isn't it about time we open?"
Tukson nods and happily replies with, "Yeah, let's all get to work. Once we close up for, we'll have a nice dinner together, my treat."
The group gets to work with Sun and Tukson heading downstairs and Blake unlocking the door and turning around the closed sign so it says they're open. Through the day, Blake does a great job as Tukson's cashier and librarian, tidying up the books as he requested and selling book after book to the customers that flowed into the store. Eventually, as she was reorganizing the fantasy novels, as Tukson requested she do, she overheard a group of Faunus talking to one another.
"Hey, did you guys think that dude was serious? Do you think we could really make that much money just doing one job?", the young dog Faunus asks his friends with a curious look.
His friend, a mouse Faunus, looks to him with a frightened look and asks, "Are you serious!? There's no way we'll be able to get out of that thing alive!"
The cat Faunus next to him quickly covers the mouse's mouth before shushing him and whispering, "Can you not be so damn loud? They weren't exactly offering us the most legal of jobs, you know."
"T-they weren't? What do you mean, Jasper?", the dog asks, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head as his bulldog ears seem to perk up.
The cat Faunus lets out a hushed groan as he tiredly rubs his face before going on to explain, "You idiots, they were offering us a one-time job to help steal Dust. That's what the 'sparkles' that damned bat was talking about are. We'd either be arrested or hunted down by the White Fang for helping frame them."
"H-hunted down...?", the mouse nervously asks as he shivers in fear.
Jasper slaps the mouse upside the back of his head before telling him, "Hush up Jinx, what are ya, a man or a- Wait a minute."
Jasper lets out a slight chuckle at Jinx's expense, causing the mouse Faunus to let out a sarcastic laugh before replying with, "Real funny, Jasper. Reeeeeal funny."
"It wasn't just funny, it was hilarious. Now let's just get Spike's dumb book and get out'a here.", Jasper retorts as he walks over to the counter.
The bulldog quickly grabs the fuzzy Faunus by his shirt and growls back, "It's not some dumb book, it's a mint condition copy of Gordan's Home Recipes! It's a limited edition!"
Blake finally intervenes with an awkward cough, which gains the boys' attentions. "If you two are ready, I can get your book.", Blake suggests as the three boys all look to her with love-filled eyes.
As the three start to bicker back and forth between one another over who gets to talk to her first, Blake rolls her eyes and walks behind the counter to retrieve the book in question. "No, it's my book and I'm gonna talk to her!", Spike growls as he pokes Jasper's chest.
Jasper only chuckles at him before shooting back with, "Ya don't have a chance in hell with her and you knows it."
"More of a chance than some brick-for-brains like you!", Spike scolds Jasper, infuriating the cat into a hiss.
As the two get in one another's faces, growling and hissing at each other, Jinx quickly breaks up their petty squabble. He puts himself in between the two Faunus and pushes them apart as Blake looks on, unamused. "Guy, guys, guys! We shouldn't be fighting over something like this. She's just a random girl.", Jinx suggests as he looks from Jasper to Spike.
The two look to one another before nodding in agreement, Spike saying, "Yeah, I guess I got a bit ahead of myself there. Sorry bout that."
"Eh, don't mention it. Guess I deserved it after makin fun of ya and your book, eh?", Jasper replies with a slight chuckle.
Jinx lets out a slight laugh as well before striking a cunning pose and saying, "We all know she'd be more interested in a kinder, cuter person like yours truly here anyways. You two brutes are just far too rough."
His two friends quickly turn on him, Jasper pulling his weaponized baseball bat and Spike pulling out his frying pan weapon, as Jasper asks, "What was that, Jinx?"
"Yeah, I couldn't hear that over the sound of us beating some sense into ya.", Spike threatens, causing the mouse to gulp loudly.
Their interaction is instantly halted as they hear the sound of the cash register as it rings up something with a loud beep.
They look up to see Blake with Spike's book, causing the Faunus' dog ears to shoot straight up on sight. "I found your book, would you like a bag with that?", Blake asks the boy in her usual monotone voice, causing the boys to look at her with disappointed glances. Spike shakes his head no before reluctantly taking the book from her, causing her to emotionlessly say, "Thank you for coming to Tukson's Book Shop, please come again."
The three Faunus make their leave, grumbling to one another before finally exiting the store. Blake lets out a sigh of relief as the group finally gives her some time to think without having to deal with some random nonsense. She thinks back on what Jasper mentioned about the White Fang and thinks, "Someone's trying to use the White Fang's name to get away with these robberies? Why?" Not truly sure of the answer, Blake just shrugs before returning to her duties.
Back at Beacon Academy, Reginald and Weiss are standing in front of Ozpin's desk as the Headmaster looks at them with a tired glance. "And that's all we have to report, Headmaster. As you can clearly see, Blake is not only a Faunus, but one that has ties to the White Fang. I suggest that we organize a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses to track her down and interrogate her. Perhaps we can even get some information on her terrorist friends in the organization.", Weiss suggests as she crosses her arms confidently and looks to Ozpin with a triumphant smirk.
As the old man pours himself his first cup of coffee for the day, he lets out a long yawn before replying with, "Yes, I've been watching both your teams rather closely after your little...incidents. You've all gotten on Professor Goodwitch's naughty list I must say, causing as much trouble as you do." After he finishes pouring his drink, he pauses to take a long sip from his favorite mug with a loud slurp, stopping only to say, "I'm actually quite disappointed with how both teams have turned out."
This shocks both of them and Weiss quickly bites back, saying, "Well, maybe if SOMEONE didn't make the leader of my team a child we might actually be a competent team?"
Ozpin gives them a sly grin at this claim and continues on, saying, "Miss Rose obtained her position as team leader from her results in the Emerald Forest. Though she's still quite childish, she's starting to show signs of becoming quite the leader, though there's a bit of a thorn in her side impeding that. A small, arrogant, white thorn."
Weiss is taken back by his suggestion and as she growls in her fury, he turns his attention to Reginald and says, "And before you go on about how Sapphire 'isn't worth listening to,' I'd suggest you remember she's been able to best even the strongest Grimm I've managed to relocate into the Emerald Forest along with winning the Junior Remnicient. She's beyond skilled in both combat and leadership, but a cocky huntsman in training thinks just because he has a title in some organization he's leagues better and deserves to be showered in praise and attention. You should focus less on yourself and more on your team, boy."
"Stop dodging the topic at hand!", Reginald shouts as he slams his fist down on the Headmaster's wooden desk, shaking everything on the table.
Ozpin glances up at the boy as he gently places his mug on his desk and cups his hands in front of his face, listening intently to what the boy has to say. "We just told you that there's a White Fang SPY on the loose and she could planning Gods know what for the school, and you're sitting here belittling us about our lack of team bonding bullshit!? Are you trying to get us all killed or something!?", Reginald exclaims, earning a stern glare from the Headmaster.
The Headmaster quickly slams his hands down on the desk as he rises up from his chair, towering over the boy as he explains, "You shouldn't assume that you're telling me information I was unaware of, Mister Wolfe. I've been aware of Miss Belladonna's former involvement with the White Fang since the minute she stepped foot in this city, and I'll have you know that I've personally looked into every student before they even come close to Beacon's doors. If I ever thought any one of my students was a possible threat to the protection of Humanity or Faunus as a whole, I would never let them step even a foot through that door." With his eyes burning with an intimidating glare, Ozpin stands straight and looks down upon them as he asks, "Do you two still believe that I made a mistake?"
The two seem to back down as he says, this, Reginald even seeming to relax his hand as he begins to understand what Ozpin means. Weiss, however, quickly steps back up to challenge the Headmaster, saying, "Of course you're making a mistake! She's a kid! She hasn't done anything to earn her place here in Beacon! She hasn't studied as hard as I have, she hasn't trained as long as I have, she isn't even close to being as good as I am, but you're still choosing to keep her as the leader instead of me! This is a MISTAKE!"
Ozpin raises an eyebrow at this and gently lifts his coffee mug up from his desk before turning around to look out through grand window behind him at the city below. "Perhaps I did make a mistake after all, Miss Schnee.", Ozpin suggests before taking a long sip from his mug.
Her confidence suddenly skyrockets through the roof as he says this before crashing back down to Remnant when he says, "Perhaps I made the foolish mistake of letting someone like yourself into my school? Letting someone with such arrogant, hotsie behavior into my Academy when she can barely go one day without throwing a hissie fit and complaining. Perhaps that was the mistake I made? I don't like leaving behind mistakes, Miss Schnee. Do I make myself clear?"
The heiress takes a quick step back, terrified by his claim before he glares back at her and says, "Perhaps you two should take some time to think about what it means to be on a team, especially when you aren't the one in command of everyone else? It would do you both some good. You are dismissed."
With that, the two students leave the Headmaster's office, leaving Ozpin all alone, or so they think.
Out from the shadows, Glynda walks out and asks the wise man, "Are you certain you handled that appropriately, Ozpin? If you instill fear into the children, it could lure Grimm here."
"I believe this is the only way to get through to them at this point. Giving them an ultimatum is the only option left if we want to keep them enrolled at this academy.", Ozpin calmly replies as he retakes his seat behind his desk and places his mug down on it.
The calculated Professor looks to the door then asks him, "Are you certain that they'll meet your expectations, sir?", which causes the Headmaster to let off a slight grin.
"I'm certain. With their combined force, Team RWBY and Team SAPR could be two of the best teams we've seen here at Beacon Academy.", Ozpin suggests, to which Glynda raises an eyebrow.
The well-aged blonde lets out a light chuckle before suggesting, "Perhaps they'll one day reach Team STRQ's level?"
The silver-haired fox looks up to his aid with a confident smile across his face before correcting her, saying, "No, Glynda, they won't just reach their level, they'll surpass Team STRQ in every way. I know it."
Seeing the confidence on his face, a slight smirk overcomes Glynda's usually stern persona as she mutters, "Maybe they will, one day."
Off in Vale, Ruby and Sapphire are searching desperately for Blake in every possible location they can think she might go. They scour every book store in sight, check every possible dark alley in sight, and even go to a manga cafe where Blake used to buy her favorite smut and tea from.
"Well, she wasn't there either. At least we got away from those guys.", Sapphire begrudgingly notes as the two girls awkwardly step out of the cafe.
Ruby, slightly scared by the cafe, frantically asks, "W-what was that book? Was that guy wearing a maid outfit? And why did he ask you to step on him!? I'm so confused!"
"Ruby.", Sapphire calls out to the girl, reeling her back into reality with a few snaps of her finger. The red-hooded girl looks over to her and Sapphire tells her, "We've been looking all day, and we haven't seen the slightest sign of Blake. Maybe we should call the others and see what they've found?"
Ruby quickly agrees to the plan before pulling out her scroll and calling Yang and Velvet. "Yang? Velvet? Are you guys there?", the red-haired girl nervously asks as the call seems to go through.
"Yeah, what is it, Ruby?", Yang growls back to her sister over the scroll, causing the girl to slightly flinch in response.
"Persi and I are here too, Ruby. Did you find her or something?", Velvet replies over the scroll in her usual gentle tone.
Sapphire lets out a low groan and Ruby explains, saying, "We've been all over our sector and there isn't any sign of Blake. Please tell me you guys have had better luck than we did."
"No sign of her here on our end either.", Persi replies as he sniffs the air. "I'm not exactly a bloodhound, but I got a pretty good sense of smell and I still can't seem to find any trace of Blake around here.", Persi explains, causing Ruby to sadly slouch.
"What about you and Ash, Yang? Any signs of her in your sector?", Sapphire questions the blonde, who seems to be fuming over something.
"He went off somewhere, saying he needed to scout something out and told me to wait here. I don't know what he's doing!", Yang growls as she impatiently waits for Ash to return.
Sapphire gives her a quick nod and says, "I believe in Ash, he knows what he's doing. He probably thinks that if he finds Blake and she sees you two, she'll probably run again."
"You do stand out a bit, sis.", Ruby nervously adds before hearing Ash say to Yang, "She walked through here a while ago, not recently, but perhaps last night."
"Great! Do you know where she might've went then?", Yang frantically asks, causing Sapphire and Ruby to look at each other then back to the scroll.
"Possibly, but I can't say for certain that she's still there. I can sense her aura, but only somewhat. I don't have it memorized, so I can only guess that since it's close to her aura it might be her.", the boy in rags explains, to which Yang happily nods.
"Alright, then we'll go there. I'll talk to you guys later. K, bye.", Yang quickly replies as she goes to hang up.
Ruby desperately tries to call out to her before she hangs up, but the blonde ignores her sister's pleas and hangs up her scroll, leaving the call. "Well, at least we know they've got a lead, right?", Velvet sheepishly notes, trying to look at the bright side and Ruby seems to agree.
"Yeah, if Ash found something, that means they can find her, right? Then there really is a chance.", Ruby optimistically notes as a slight smile comes across the young huntress' face.
A familiar voice comes through her scroll, lovingly calling out to her as it says, "That's my little Rosie~", causing Ruby's cheeks to turn a light pink.
"C-Coco..?", Ruby nervously questions as the brunette's face pops up on her screen, just now joining the call.
The fashionista seems to be sitting at a cafe as a waiter brings her a cup of coffee. "Hey, how's it goin'? Oh, you're even with Sapphire right now, that's perfect~ That means I can kill two birds with one stone!", Coco notes as she picks up her cup of coffee, taking a slight sip of it to test the heat and taste. "How about you two lovely ladies come have a drink with me? I'm buying~ We can talk about all kinds of thing: our nails, cute boys, our teammates who suddenly ran off into the night.", Coco offers as she holds out her hand to the girls.
Ruby nervously turns to Sapphire, who shakes her head no, before turning back to Coco and saying, "Sorry, Coco, but we're still trying to find Blake. Rain check?"
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? I get it, I get it. You don't want to hang out with your big sister Coco anymore. That really hurts my feelings, you know. I just wanted to relax with my little sisters and talk, but now they're rejecting me! This world is just so cruel!", Coco dramatically exclaims as she begins to tear up.
"D-don't cry! We're coming, we're coming! We'll be right there, Coco, I swear!", Ruby nervously exclaims as she grabs Sapphire by the wrist and pulls her along.
Coco's crocodile tears suddenly dry up when she hears this and she happily replies with, "That's great, here's my location. I'll see ya in a bit. And don't keep me waiting, Rosie~", before hanging up with a wink.
"Ruby, you do know she was faking, right?", Persi bluntly asks the little red girl, to which Ruby lets out a heavy sigh.
The red-hooded girl reluctantly nods to the Faunus and answers, saying, "Yeah, but I can't stand seeing her cry like that, even if I know it's fake. I just want to see everyone happy!"
"Since we're going off to do this and Ash and Yang are the only ones with a lead, you two should head back to the Academy for the evening. I doubt we'll be able to find anything else out at this rate.", Sapphire adds as Ruby pulls her along with her semblance, speeding through the street like the red blur she is.
"Alright, we'll see ya later then.", Persi replies before Velvet waves them off and says, "Have fun!" The bunny suddenly hangs up and Ruby and Sapphire are left alone as the red-hooded girl tugs the warrior along with her.
After speeding down alley after alley, street after street, Ruby finally comes to a stop right in front of the cafe Coco asked them to go to, causing Sapphire to spin around, all senses cut off from the unbelievable speed she had to go through as Ruby rushed through the city to meet up with Coco. "Never. Again.", Sapphire growls at the tiny girl as she places a hand on the nearby brick wall to regain her composure.
They're both surprised when they hear Coco chuckle and say, "You two got here quicker than I expected? Did you take the express train?"
"You could say that.", Sapphire bluntly replies before gagging a bit, just now feeling the effects of the motion sickness.
The fashionista holds out a strawberry milkshake to Ruby in one hand and a blue slushie in the other to Sapphire. "Here, got you guys some drinks like I promised.", Coco notes as she hands them their drinks. Ruby happily takes her shake as Sapphire regains her composure and takes her slushie.
"So you wanted to talk about Blake?", Sapphire asks her big sister as she takes the last of the white wrapper off of the top of her straw.
Coco nods to the two first years and says, "Yeah, but let's go for a walk. I think I've had enough of this place for one day." As she starts walking off, Ruby and Sapphire quickly follow right behind her, enjoying their drinks on the way. "I heard that Blake let a bit of information slip before she ran away.", Coco casually remarks as they walk along the sidewalk together, glancing back at Ruby to see the poor girl ever so slightly tense up.
Ruby stops drinking her drink and quickly adds, "Blake's still a good person, Coco. I know it! She's not like them!"
Coco just snickers to herself before replying with, "Oh Rosie, don't worry, I was just checking to see if she actually ran away for a good reason or if Weiss just pushed her too far. I have nothing but the utmost faith in Blake."
"Y-You do?", Ruby questions the brunette in complete shock as Sapphire raises an eyebrow at her, both girls expecting a more hostile and protective nature from the fashionista.
Coco just nods to the girls and replies with, "Velvet and I spent plenty of time with Blake, Velvet did more than I did though. We're both certain that she's not any threat, if anything she's running from the White Fang."
"Running from the White Fang?", Sapphire asks as she gives Coco a confused glance before adding, "What would she be running away from them for?"
Coco only shrugs and tells her, "Who knows? That'd be a question you'd have to ask her yourself. My guess, she did something to piss 'em off and now they're after her. But we have a more pressing issue than the run away cutie." Before they can ask what she's talking about, Coco points to Sapphire and Ruby and tells them, "You've both been looking so down for the past two weeks! It's depressing! Now, tell your Big Sis what's wrong, or I'll have to force it out of you~"
Sapphire lets out a begrudging groan and reluctantly explains, saying, "It's just kinda hard, you know? I've been trying my best to improve my team like Professor Goodwitch wanted, but nobody really listens to me. Sure, Ash listens pretty well, but Persi and Reginald just take my orders as suggestions. If they feel like it, they just switch off to their own plans and do as they please. It feels like I have a gun, but I can't pull the trigger. I can only aim it and hope it goes off when I want it to."
Coco simply nods before going on to ask Ruby, "I see, and what about you, Rosie? What's wrong with your team?"
Ruby lets out a sharp laugh before asking, "What isn't wrong with my team?" The crimson leader goes on, saying, "Before she ran away, Blake was barely opening up to me, which was nice, but she still didn't open up about herself too much, only books and old stories. Yang is always going off on her own doing her own thing and she never takes me seriously. She only seems to see me as her little sister and not her team leader. And Weiss, oh Weiss, what isn't wrong with Weiss? She never listens to me, she refuses to cooperate with others unless they're doing what SHE tells them to, she's always yelling about us not studying enough or wasting time on our games when we could be training, and she never EVER admits she's wrong EVER! And those are just the big things. I didn't even bring up the constant insults and degradation."
"Sounds like you two have some big hurdles to get over, but don't worry, every team starts off a little rocky. Just look at my team, we sucked when we first started.", Coco tells the two younger leaders, trying to lighten the mood.
Ruby scoffs at her claim and suggests, "That's impossible, you guys are like one of the top three teams in your class. You guys must have started with some chemistry."
"Nope, we technically weren't even supposed to be on the same team. If anything, we were a bunch of misfit toys thrown together to make a team.", Coco quickly corrects the girl with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.
Sapphire raises an eyebrow at this and asks, "Really? It doesn't look like it. How'd that happen?"
The fashionista finally come to a stop at a bench near the docks as Coco glides her hand along the railing until it reaches a bend in it. A light yet warm smile comes across her face as she looks down at the bend before taking a seat on the nearby bench and patting the seats next to her as she says, "Come on, sit down. It's story time." The two girls do as she asks and Ruby sits to her right as Sapphire sits to her left. "You know, this is where we had our first fight, my team that is.", Coco notes as she looks out to the river in front of them. She seems lost in thought for a moment before closing her eyes and smiling happily to herself. "We were real trouble makers back then. Fox and I lost our partners in the introduction ceremony, so we didn't really have a team until Velvet got kicked off of her team and Yatsuhashi transferred to Beacon from Haven.", Coco continues with her story as she recalls their first fight, Coco shoving Fox as he gets in her face with a cocky grin. "I was more of a loose cannon back then and Fox was nothing if not a showoff. Back then, we'd constantly be arguing with each other over everything just to argue. Yatsuhashi was a lone wolf kind of guy, so he didn't really communicate with us other than telling us to stay out of his way. And Velvet didn't even know how to fight, Fox had a field day with that one. None of our fighting styles worked off of one another and we were quickly labeled the laughing-stocks of Beacon Academy.", Coco explains as she turns her gaze up to the sky.
Sapphire is beyond baffled by this and so is Ruby, and the young girl quickly asks, "B-but how did you get through it? You had to do something to fix it all, right?", to which Coco nods.
The older sister turns to Ruby and tells her, "We grew up."
"You...grew up?", the confused girl in crimson questions as she tilts her head, which Coco nods once again to.
Coco returns her gaze back up to the clouds before explaining, "We didn't exactly get older, but more like we stopped acting so selfish. It was actually Velvet, believe it or not, who helped pull us out of our slump. She finally told us that if we didn't grow up and improve our teamwork and overall team grades, we'd flunk out of Beacon and go back to being nobodies. Nobody wanted that and from that point onward, we worked not only for our own reasons, but to help each other and work as a cohesive unit. It wasn't easy at first, not by a long shot, but we got through it. We helped Velvet unlock her semblance and even worked on a design for her weapon to help her use it effectively. We would train every day after classes, studying as we fought each other to let out our pent-up anger and frustration. Eventually, by the end of the semester, we were one of the top ten teams in our class. Even Goodwitch was impressed."
"So you all just grew to accept one another for who you were and started working towards being the best team you could be?", Sapphire asks, but Coco is reluctant to answer.
"To say we grew to accept one another isn't exactly right. Do I still want to hit Fox upside his dumb head when he says one of his stupid puns? Yeah, I do. Do I wanna shake Yatsuhashi like a ragdoll when he's having one of his quiet spells? Every day. Do I want to pick on Velvet whenever she's being all shy and timid? That's just a given. We don't exactly accept each other, but we tolerate one another. I don't like some of their habits, but I deal with them and they deal with me. Sometimes you just have to work around one another. Not every piece of a puzzle is gonna fit every other piece perfectly. Sure, there are pieces that'll fit nice and perfect with one another, but those are few and far between. In the real world, you have to deal with people no matter how you feel about them.", Coco explains to her adopted sisters as she looks to the girls with a stern gaze.
Sapphire nods in response, but Ruby questions her, asking, "Hooow exactly does this help us find Blake?"
"Oh, it doesn't.", Coco quickly retorts, causing the girls to slump in disappointment. "Trust me, Blake will be fine. Velvet and I know for a fact she's pretty smart and once she's cooled down a bit, she'll come back to the home you all have helped build for her. Blake's in a pretty bad place in her life right now if I had to guess, so she'd naturally gravitate to the people she feels a bond with.", Coco confidently explains to the girls, hoping for more of a reaction this time from the girls, but gets nothing.
"Coco, none of that really applies here. She ran away from us in the beginning, so why would she want to run back to us?", Sapphire questions and Coco begins to tremble as she searches for an answer in her brain.
Finally, the fashionista runs out of energy and slouches on the bench, exhausted, as she says, "You're right. It doesn't." The brunette lets out a heavy sigh as she adds, "I know none of that really applies, but I'm trying my best here. I even planned out this entire conversation about telling you guys about my team and how we got better, hoping that it'd inspire you all to do better. This is all my fault regardless. We got roped into this Big Brother program because I wasted last year's dance budget on new clothes for me and my team, and my dad refuses to pay the bill, so I'm stuck doing this until I graduate."
With Coco completely exhausted from her attempts to help, Sapphire and Ruby just look to each other with confused looks before shrugging. They each throw one of Coco's arms over their shoulder as Sapphire suggests, "How about we get you back to your dorm, Coco?"
"Yeah, you look like you've had a really long day. Let's get you home.", Ruby adds as they start carrying their 'Big Sister' back to Beacon as the sun begins to set.
As the sun begins to go down for the evening, Tukson calls out to Blake from the basement, shouting, "Blake! It should be time to close! You know how to lock the door, right?"
"Yeah, I think so! Did you want me to do anything else after I lock it?", Blake quickly calls back down the stairs as she stands in the doorway, taking her eyes off of the main room for a minute to look down at Tukson as he stands at the bottom of the stairway.
The man shakes his head no and shouts, "Nope, just lock up and come down here. I'll have you and Sun move the last of these boxes while I count down the drawers and deal with the safe."
The cat librarian quickly nods her head in response before starting for the door, taking off her bow to let her cat ears breath. But when she goes to lock the door, she sees she requires the keys to lock most of the locks, to which she returns to the register to retrieve them, grabbing the lanyard of keys out from under the desk from their hook. The Faunus quickly sifts through the set of keys, looking for the first one, and much to her surprise, the door opens behind her. Blake quickly drops the keys to cover her ears with her hands as she nervously tells the customer, "Sorry, but we're closed for the night. You'll need to leave."
Her yellow eyes widen in complete disbelief as she hears a familiar voice tell her, "Aw, but I've been looking all day for you, Blake."
Blake whips around to see Yang and Ash standing there in the doorway. "Y-Yang? What are you-", Blake begins to ask as she uncovers her ears, revealing their fluffiness to her partner.
Yang, seeing the ears for the first time, gives her partner a kind smile and says, "I knew you'd look better without the bow.", causing Blake's insecurity to suddenly melt as a slight smile comes across her face.