A New Lease on Life.

Chapter Four: Acclimation.

She was lost. She had no clue how she was going to get out of this. And to finally top it off, she swore that she was gonna be slain by, not the Creatures of Grimm, but by the girl she was stuck with.

Ruby was snapped from her thoughts by the caterwaul of the white haired girl she'd unfortunately been seated with by the name of Weiss Schnee. From minute one of their meeting, this girl had easily become the most annoying thing Ruby had ever had the displeasure of knowing existed. "I'm positive this time! It's this way!" Weiss said. "Do you mind hurrying little miss riding hood?"

Ruby rolled her eyes at the insult. Yeah, like I'd never heard that one before, she thought. But she didn't care what people thought of her hood. It was important to her.

"My name is Ruby!" she said, reluctantly following behind. They'd been wandering for what felt like hours and Ruby felt they were nowhere closer to their destination than they were when they first started. "You have no sense of direction Weiss," she added. "We're nowhere near it!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss said. "All you can do is follow me, I know where to go." "I'm not much of a follower!" Ruby said in frustration. "I'm not so sure about that," Weiss said. What exactly she meant was lost on Ruby.

"Mind telling me why a girl like you would join the academy?" "To be a Huntress of course!" Ruby replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Like the ones in the stories!"

Weiss scowled, which she seemed to be an average expression for her. "Stories?" she asked. "Unbelievable. I came here to learn. To grow stronger."

She whirled around to look Ruby dead in the eye! "I strive for perfection. Unlike you, I'm not here for fun and games."

"If all you want is to be part of the stories, give up and go home. Your mother is waiting to read one to you." Ruby felt her heart rate increase exponentially.

"You... you don't know anything!" she said angrily.

Hyde's eyes burnt as he awoke, dreams disturbing his sleep. He didn't know what time it was, yet he didn't care. Whatever time it was, it was far too early for his liking.

He looked around the near pitch black room, his eyes not bothered in the slightest by the dark. Orie was fast asleep in the bed beside his, the back of her head facing him. In the bed in front of hers was Naoto, her hat hanging on the bed post. And if the snoring was any indication, Kanji was sound asleep in the bed in front of Hyde's own.

Hyde lolled his head back and stared blankly at the ceiling. He had the sneaking suspicion that his dreams would be plagued based on what Izanami had said earlier that afternoon, so he shouldn't have been surprised at all. But more than that, he just had this inkling that whatever had happened to him back in the fog wasn't done with him.

He didn't mention it back with the others, but he still felt... incomplete, for lack of a better word. Like he was being pulled from where he was to a dozen other places at once. Yet at the same time, no matter where his mind wandered, he felt like he didn't belong anywhere.

True, that had technically begun back in Kanzakai, not Vale. When Hyde had become an In-Birth, he felt that his life as he knew it was over. He was now stuck in a war he wanted nothing to do with, and was stuck hunting Voids and fighting off psychos like the ones from Amnesia, or even just basic lunatics like Carmine.

But he never really felt like he belonged there. He never wanted anything to do with the Hollow Night. He never felt like this was something he wanted to do. He was just stuck there, as the Unknown Actor. The Wild Card. Unaligned.

Only now things were worse. His memories, those that he had, felt wrong. New ones, that belonged to others, were stuck in his head. And he had no idea why he was suffering these like this.

He rubbed his head, but it did nothing to help. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself. His chest felt heavy, as if he had trouble breathing. Actually, he did have trouble breathing, as he felt a weight was pressing down on his chest.

He looked down, and felt his eye twitch out of annoyance. Laying on top of him, her head resting on her hands that were laid across Hyde's chest, was Yuzuriha. It was just like her. Showing up without any announcement, nothing to reassure Hyde who was worried sick when he heard she was still in the Forever Fall. Just to find him and fall asleep on top of him.

He poked her right between the eyes in an attempt to wake her. She mumbled as her eyes slowly opened one at a time. "Whut?" she asked. "Yuzu," Hyde said, as quietly as he dared, "you know that this isn't helping the very reason why you broke off our relationship, right?" "But it's okay since it's me who's doing it," Yuzu replied, without missing a beat. "Plus, we did stuff like this before. It's fun right~?"

"Yuzuriha," Hyde said, "get off of me!"

Hyde yawned like he'd never yawned before, as he found himself stumbling around the Kingdom of Vale, alongside Orie, Ruby, Weiss, and the Investigation Team, the sun stinging his eyes. There was a multitude of awed expressions or statements from the group as they moved. True, the Kingdom of Valve was quite an extravagant place to look at, with a certain scifi, techno/steampunk vibe to it. It was far beyond anything that his world, or the Investigation Team's from their statements, was capable of, but Hyde could not care less at the moment. The last thing that he needed at this hour, or any hour preferably, was more exposition.

As they walked, Weiss rattled off a multitude of information from her mouth. Things like Atlesian technological advances or different implementations of Dust across the globe, and two dozen other things that Hyde could not care for.

"What're we doing here?" Hyde asked. "We already told you!" Weiss replied. "We're getting you all different clothes. You don't have anything else to wear aside from the clothes you came in, which are all uniforms. If you're going to be going out and about in Vale, like you should be, you have to have some more casual wear."

"Casual?" Yosuke asked. "This coming from you, the girl that wears a dress everywhere she goes?" "It's a combat skirt!" Weiss refuted. "Yeah!" Ruby agreed.

"Whatever," Yosuke said. "The point he's trying to make," Yu said, "is thank you very much. We really appreciate you both agreeing to help us out like this." A row of 'thank you's' came from the others as well. "Think nothing of it," Weiss said. "I'm just pleased to see some gratitude." Yosuke stuck out his tongue at Weiss, who followed suit with her own.

"Hey, hey," Orie said, approaching Weiss's left, "maybe we shouldn't jump to arguments!" "Agreed," Yukiko said, moving to her other side, "let's worry about clothes, yes?" Weiss nodded, more than happy to get an excuse to ignore Yosuke.

"Blake and Yang," Ruby said, "would've been happy to help too, but Blake said she had something to do, and now that Yuzuriha is back, Yang wanted a 'rematch' with her?" "Ah yeah," Yosuke said. "Kinda wish I didn't miss that." "Yosuke!" Chie said, smacking him in the head." Her face was bright red as she experienced the indignity of recalling her own massive failure battling Yuzuriha.

"I don't see how you're going to help Ruby," Weiss said. "You're broke. I'm the one stuck with buying everything." "But I'm the leader!" Ruby said. "It's my job to keep an eye on everyone!" "I thought that you didn't want to be joint leader," Weiss said. "It grew on me," Ruby said.

Hyde looked at Ruby and Weiss's banter with a face of intrigue. He couldn't get over the dream he had last night of their argument from who knows when. But he also couldn't deny that his gut was telling him it wasn't a dream, but a memory. Not his own naturally, but something that Izanami plucked from... somewhere to further confuse him.

But if it wasn't a dream, what did it mean? Why did he have it? Why that memory specifically?

He couldn't help but be more confused, since he knew these two from before in the Phantom Field. Ruby was pretty much the same in the dream. Weiss however was far different. A lot more prickly.

But that thing Weiss had said to Ruby that seemed really odd. As if something about that resonated with Ruby for some reason that Hyde could not understand. Something that brought back bad blood. He supposed that he'd just have to brush it aside for now.

While he really wanted to learn about what the story was, he didn't want to bring it up. He might've been on good terms with Ruby, and even Weiss, he didn't know them nearly well enough to bring this up. Especially Ruby.

The group soon arrived at the mall where they would select their clothes, entering the boutique that Weiss had in mind. "Okay," Ruby said, "so let's try to do this as best we can. So team, let's-!" Weiss proceeded to pull Ruby's hood over her eyes. "Pay no attention to the child beneath the hood," she said. "Go about as you will, just don't go overboard with your purchases just because I'm rich and am choosing to kindly reimburse your clothing."

"Thanks Weiss," Yu said, guiding the gentlemen to the boys' section, as the other chunk of girls went their own way as well. Weiss finally released Ruby from her hold, as the red hooded girl glared heavily at her partner. "Weiss! What gives!?" she yelled. "As leader, you can't do that to me!" "I don't recall seeing where that was written," Weiss said. "Just because you're joint leader, for whatever reason that escapes me, doesn't mean you have to go about mother henning. We're just getting clothes. It's not like we're prepping for battle."

Weiss strutted away, as Ruby was left to her own devices. Much to her annoyance. With little other choice, she merely paced around impatiently in the girls' section as Weiss did her best to direct everyone around.

"So do you know what you all might want?" she asked. "I think we have an idea, don't we Yukiko?" Chie asked. Yukiko nodded in agreeance. "We have some outfits back in Inaba that we wear sometimes that we're hoping to find some copies of here."

"Well if you need some help, let me know," Weiss said. "Uh, Weiss?" Orie asked. "Yes Orie?" Weiss replied. "Could you help me find some outfits? I really like your style, so I thought I could ask you." "Sure thing Orie," Weiss replied. "I'm flattered actually."

Ruby continued pacing around, watching as Weiss and Orie talked. She was happy to see Weiss reaching out more, and actually offering to interact with others for once. She couldn't help but smile as she was so proud to see how far Weiss had come, and actually offer a kind smile or comfort.

But that was quickly replaced by Ruby's own boredom. She didn't need more clothes, and she wasn't one for clothes shopping at all, so she was left with nothing to interest her. She continued to wait, before she spotted something that caught her eye. It was red fabric and threat used for sewing. She hastily snatched it up under everyone's gaze and held it under her arm. Her hood required maintenance sometimes, and something like that was a big help. Especially since she wore it literally ninety-five percent of everywhere she went.

As she looked back to the group of girls, she did a double take as her numbers appeared to have dropped by one. "Say," she said. "Where's the short girl with the hat? What was her name again, still trying to keep track of them. Forgive me." "You mean Naoto?" Chie asked. "She went to the guys' section." "Oh," Ruby said. "Because she dresses like a boy, huh?" "That's right," Chie sighed.

"I'll be right back," Ruby said, quickly turning! Anything to get out of the monotony of clothes shopping was a blessing to be sure! "I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you," Chie called behind her! "When she makes up her mind, that's it."

Ruby didn't listen, as she hastily found the girl in question looking through a section of coats. "Hey! Naoto, right?" Ruby asked the Detective Prince. "Hm?" she asked in response. "Oh, yes, that is me. Something I can help you with?" "Not really," Ruby replied. "I was just wondering if there was something that I could help with."

Naoto looked back at the coats. "Nothing so much," she replied. "I just have a preferred style I like to keep to." "Dressing like a boy?" Ruby asked. Naoto faltered. "P-perhaps," she said. "I just... I've never been fond of dressing in standard 'female' attire. Like skirts, or dresses. It's not something that appeals to me so much."

"It's fine," Ruby said. "I get it. I mean, look at me. You're looking at the girl that wears a cape 24/7. I don't think I have room to judge." Naoto couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose," she said.

"If you don't mind, why do you wear that? Is there a special reason?" Ruby used her free hand to rub her cape between her fingers. "Yeah, there is," she said dreamily. "Somebody really special gave it to me. They wore a cape and a hood like this too. It's in memory, you could say." Naoto's expression was unreadable, but she merely looked away from Ruby once again to continue browsing.

"I understand," she said. "Thank you, for sharing." "No problem," Ruby replied. "And thank you for agreeing to buy at least a single outfit that is more feminine." "Your welcome- ?! Wait, what was that?" By the time Naoto turned back around, Ruby had vanished, leaving only a few rose petals behind her.

Ruby decided to use this opportunity to check up on the guys, realizing quickly that the same problem she had seen last time when she had checked the girls was present here too, as Hyde was now the one missing. "Have you guys seen Hyde?" she asked. "He said he was going to those couches," Yosuke replied.

Ruby recalled there were a few couches that had been posted up in the middle of the store, about where the divide between boys and girls was. "He said that he wanted to take a nap," Yosuke said. "A nap?" Ruby asked.

She hurried back there, and found Hyde laying flat on his back on one of them, snoring lightly. "Hyde?" she asked. "You okay?" She poked Hyde several times, before he finally woke up and looked at her. Ruby pushed his legs aside, causing him to sit up as she sat next to him.

"You alright?" she asked again. "Uh... yeah," Hyde replied. "Why'd you wake me up?" "Because the others told me that you weren't shopping, and were instead napping. What's up? You not sleep well?" "Did you?" Hyde asked. Ruby shrugged.

"I slept fine," she said. "Did Izanami do something to you last night? Is she pulling some mind games?" "You could say that," Hyde said. He didn't know whether or not he should share the fact that he was dreaming of her last night. Whatever was going on with her and Weiss was clearly sensitive, and he was happy he woke up when he did, in order to avoid things getting more serious.

"Yes, I think Izanami did something to my dreams last night," he said. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked. "No," Hyde replied, before he quickly caught himself. "Sorry, that was rude." "It's okay," Ruby replied. "But, when you want to talk, if at all, I'd be willing to listen. Not just as your team leader, but as a friend."

Hyde looked back at Ruby. "We're friends? Just like that?" he asked. "We barely know each other aside from basic backstories." "That might be," Ruby said. "But you helped me back in the Phantom Field. True, I wasn't in any real danger, since Yosuke and Chie are cool, but you stood up for me when you thought I was in trouble. You didn't take me getting bullied. That's the signs of somebody I'd want to have as a friend."

Hyde felt touched. If Linne were here, she would have said that Ruby was being far too trusting. She didn't know the kinds of things that Hyde had seen or would eventually do. But, Hyde was somewhat thankful.

Ruby had always been a good friend. She was always willing to stick up for other people that she felt needed her, whether as a partner, or as a friend. Right? At least, that sounded right in his head.

Truth be told he wasn't sure how he felt aside from just scared. He was avoiding his fears by not talking to Ruby. Not only the fear of what he was seeing, memories not his own, but the fact of what it could mean. Why was he seeing these things? Could his mind really be running away with itself? Could he be forgetting his own identity?

Was anyone else experiencing it? Not. They would say, he knew it. He wasn't because he was weaker than they were. More afraid than they were.

Absentmindedly, Hyde reached out and grabbed Ruby's hand that was resting on the couch. Ruby squeaked in surprise, her face reddening as she saw Hyde grab her hand. She didn't exactly know what to say or do, as she had never consented to any guy grabbing her hand in such a touching fashion!

"I approve," Yu said. Both Ruby and Hyde jumped to their feet in surprise, turning to see Yu standing by casually, a set of clothes tucked under his arms. "Yu! When - how long were you standing there?" Ruby asked. "I followed you," Yu replied. "Well, don't do that!" Ruby said.

"And... what did you approve of?" she added nervously. "Listening to Hyde," Yu replied, "when he wants to talk. What did you think I was approving of?" "Nothing!" Ruby added hastily.

Hyde was confused for a moment, before Yu stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "I've learned in the past," Yu said, "that not keeping up any walls with people, is something that can only bring you closer. Even when you're dealing with aspects of yourself that you don't want to acknowledge, facing these things will make you stronger. And accepting them with others around you, can only make you that much stronger."

Yu turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Hyde and awed Ruby behind him. "Although," he added, "that may just be when dealing with your Shadows." Both Ruby and Hyde collapsed comically.

Before too much longer, the group had their clothes picked out and moved to the dressing room to try them on. As Ruby and Weiss waited as an audience, the red leader saw that Hyde was waiting with them. "Hyde, don't you thin you should try on some clothes too?" she asked. "Not really," he replied.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked in annoyance. "All you have is your school uniform." "This isn't much of a uniform," Hyde said, picking at his collar. "Outside of the jacket, the rest is simply my own shirt or pants." Weiss growled under her breath. "Don't think this is over Kido," she said.

The Investigation Team tried on their own clothes to the captive audience. They had succeeded in selecting clothes that matched their standard attire back in Inaba, much to their enjoyment. The other three all agreed that the clothes looked really good on them as well.

Yosuke got an outfit consisting of a white jacket over a plain orange t-shirt, with cargo pants and boots."So ladies," he said, "what do you think?" "I suppose it looks better than I was anticipating," Weiss said. "Well what were you anticipating?" Yosuke asked. "I don't think you want her to answer that," Ruby replied. Hyde nodding in agreement.

Chie had a heavy green jacket with matching boots, and a pair of jean shorts."Yeah I figured that'd be your style," Ruby said happily. "Is that in a good way or a bad way?" Chie asked, rubbing her neck. "Do you think I should have gotten something else?" "No no!" Ruby said. "I mean, you remind me a bit of my sister, and she wears clothes like that all the time. It looks great!" "Oh, thanks," Chie said in relief.

Yukiko got a bright red dress over a black top, with a matching jacket and a pair of black shoes. "Hm, looks rather lovely," Weiss said. "Oh thank you!" Yukiko replied happily. "I see we wear matching colors!" Ruby added. "Perhaps you should get something in white or blue," Weiss hastily added. "Hey!" Ruby said angrily. "Isn't that Weiss's line?" Hyde asked. "Hey!" Weiss said. "I rest my case," Hyde said.

Kanji got a plain leather jacket, with matching pants, and pair of brown leather shoes. "Looking good dude!" Yosuke said. "Uh, thanks Yosuke-Senpai," Kanji said. "So... uh, what do you girls think?" "Looks nice," Ruby said. "I concur," Weiss added.

Ruby saw Naoto come out next, with a large jacket that gave off a distinct Victorian, almost Sherlock Holmes vibe (does Sherlock Homes exist on Remnant you ask? Good question) that was a matching blue to her hat she wore, with a pair of heavy brown boots, and pinstriped bluish-green pants. "So where's your more feminine outfit?" Ruby asked. "I... d-didn't get one?" Naoto replied. "I thought we had an agreement," Ruby said. "An agreement you forced me into," Naoto added dryly. "Will you both relax?" Hyde asked.

Finally Yu came out, wearing an outfit that definitely gave the others pause. He was wearing a jacket that was indistinguishable from his uniform jacket, over a black zip-up shirt, and a pair of matching shoes and pants. "Hm? Is something the matter?" he asked. "Your clothes..." Ruby said. "What about them?" Yu asked. "They're almost exactly the same as your last clothes!" Weiss replied. "That's Narukami for you," Yosuke said.

"Why would you get clothes almost the same as your Yasogami uniform?" Weiss asked. "Because it's comfortable," Yu said. Weiss groaned. "Just when I was thinking you weren't nearly as dumb as Yosuke," she said. "Hey!" Yosuke said. "What is your problem with me?" "I'm not privy to thick-headed perverts," Weiss said. "When have I ever been perverted!?" Yosuke asked. "And don't you three say a thing," he quickly added to the girls of the Investigation Team, who all began whistling to themselves.

Hyde rolled his eyes. He turned to find Orie come out of her own dressing room. She was now wearing a light gray sweater underneath a darker gray skirt with a interconnected top with two straps that went over her shoulders. "Hey Harada," he said happily. "You look good." "Really?" she asked. "This is like the clothes I wore when I first came to Kanzakai. Y-you're sure it looks good?" "Yeah," Hyde replied. "You look great."

She gained a little red on her cheeks as she smiled happily. "Hey Orie!" Ruby said. "Wow! You look really good! I guess that you and Weiss really well get along if your clothes are anything to go off of." "Yeah," Orie replied. "Weiss really did strike me as a person I can discuss with more in the future." "Maybe Yukiko can also hang out with her too," Hyde said. "Maybe they can teach her to make something edible," Ruby said, shuddering in fear over her memories of Mystery Food X.

"So, if we've gotten everything, are we all set?" she asked. She did a double take as she saw Yosuke and Weiss still in a heated argument. "Will you two knock it off!" she said. Yosuke and Weiss stopped arguing to look at Ruby.

"If we're all done arguing, can we please just go?" Ruby asked. "Yes indeed," Yosuke said, more than happy to get away from Weiss. "Let's get back! Still plenty of time for me to get some r&r." "Not on your life Hanamura," Chie said. "We're gonna have a lot to do, so you are not slouching! Got that?"

"What's with them?" Weiss asked. "New school life," Yu replied, "and even a new life in general, it's a lot to take in. All of us want to ensure that we at least have a basic understanding going in."

"Makes sense," Hyde admitted. "Right now however, I'm a little more worried with how Yang is holding up with Yuzu."

It turns out, Yang's training did not go much better than it did the last time. By the time the team got back, those who'd purchased new clothes hurried off to change, leaving Ruby, Weiss, and Hyde to find the others. They did in fact find them in one of the large fields around the school.

Yuzuriha had once again succeeding in pinning Yang to the ground, sitting on her back this time on her knees, using them to pin her down, and had hooked her arms around once again to pin them behind her back, pretty much leaving Yang only able to flail her legs around uselessly. The biggest surprise outside of this however, was the fact Nora had also been beaten, getting trapped in a headlock by Yuzu!

"Hey guys! Welcome back," Yuzu said casually. "Yang..." Weiss said, looking rather unimpressed. "How did this happen" "Don't say things, I'm concentrating!" Yang replied, her eyes blazing red.

Ruby began to giggle at the sight, having not witnessed Yang's prior defeat. It started off quietly at first, but began quickly rising in volume. "Oh God. No, Ruby no!" Yang said, her eyes returning to their natural violet color. That did it. Ruby burst into laughter, killing Yang's will to keep fighting.

"Whom I more intrigued by," Weiss said, as Ruby continued laughing, much to Hyde's entertainment, "is Nora. How in the world did she catch you?" "This foul vixen won't hold me forever!" Nora said. "Come on! Show me your best - huegh!" She was cut off by Yuzu adding more pressure to her neck.

"It only takes about eleven pounds of pressure to collapse a windpipe you know," Yuzu said. "But I've got Aura!" Nora replied. She choked once more as Yuzu continued to add more strength to her hold!

After a few minutes, she decided to release the both of them, leaving them gasping and sweating on the ground. "Y'know," she said to Hyde, "since we're gonna be stuck here for awhile it looks like, I wouldn't mind taking up our training again. Especially since that loli of yours pulled a vanishing act."

Hyde was reasonably stunned. Did she just forget what had happened between them? Sure she wasn't one to hold a grudge, but it still seemed rather sudden, even under the circumstances.

"But not today," she added. She pulled her sword from the ground and looked it over. "So Blake," she said, "did you want to take up that sword practice I offered you?" Blake, who had been reading by a tree for a time in order to keep an eye on the others, looked around nervously. "Can I not and say that I did?" "No," Yuzu added, looking at her with eyes so hungry it left Blake gulping in fear.

"Come on Blake!" she said. "You've gotta do it. And after Hyde, you can give me a bath." "What?!" Weiss and Ruby screamed. "Not this side of hell," Hyde added coldly.

Ruby was taken aback by her own response. Why the heck did she just freak out like that? Weiss was one thing, but she was not one to get so easily frazzled.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a green blur rushing past her! "Yuzuriha!" Chie yelled, delivering a massive midair kick towards the magenta haired samurai... who wasn't stunned in the slightest. She merely dropped her blade, and grabbed Chie in less than a second! She proceeded to toss Chie over her head and slammed her on the ground on her back! And for good measure, she flipped herself over and straddled Chie's body, pinning her arms down!

"Nice surprise attack," Yuzu said, "but not good enough to catch me off guard. So, do you surrender?" "O-okay! Okay I-I give!" Chie said, very unhappy about her current situation, her face bright red! "Please get off me now!" "Oh, but you're so adorable!" Yuzu said happily, making Chie's face even more red!

"So, Blake," Yuzu added, "about that sparring match?" "Can I not and say that I did?" Blake asked, now even more stunned. "No," Yuzu replied.

Naturally the other members of the Investigation Team were not far behind Chie, all except for Naoto accounted for. Naturally annoyed by this fact, Ruby asked where she was and Yu told her that she was in the library doing some research. She skipped her way over to the library in order to find the androgynous detective inside.

Sure enough, she found Naoto standing in the aisle between some shelves, reading about the Grimm. Ruby hurried over with her Semblance, appearing right next to her and shouting - "What're you looking at!?" It naturally scared Naoto out of her skin, and annoyed many of the patrons inside the supposed to be quiet space!

"Ruby Rose," Naoto said, catching her breath, "why do you insist on annoying me so?" "Because it's funny," Ruby said. Naoto rolled her eyes, reminded of some of the more bubbly aspects of Rise back in her world.

"So, in all seriousness," Ruby said, "what're you looking at?" "A book on the Creatures of Grimm," Naoto replied. "I figured that researching before class starts tomorrow would be a good idea, and this would be the safest place to start, considering how we might encounter them in the future. I am truly taken by how horrific in variety the Grimm are."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, they are pretty nasty aren't they?" she said. "Well, when you finish we're all in the grass outside the courtyard. Blake's gonna fight Yuzu, and I do not want to miss that!"

Naoto waved her off, as she returned to her reading. Ruby was certainly an interesting character. Perhaps she kept coming to her because they were the same age? Maybe. Still, she chose not to bother with it, as she looked at her book for another few minutes.

Ursai, Sea Feilongs, Griffons, Nevermores, Creeps, Goliaths, Deathstalkers, Sphinxes, Geists, the sheer amount of Grimm there were was honestly hard to take in. And there were dozens that had only been mentioned in legend, and there was speculation if they even existed at all. Such as a type that was both man and beast, a rider on his horse fused together with an impossible reach. Or a type that drained your very will to live entirely. Or even a gargantuan Grimm, the most terrible of all, that could secrete other Grimm from its very skin.

Shuddering, Naoto put the book back and decided she had done enough research on that for one day. Or maybe even several. Grabbing a few other books on Remnant history she left the library, her mind running away with stories of the Grimm.

Such creatures are so awful to think about, she thought. At least the Shadows had the decency to stay in the TV World, and weren't even inherently evil themselves. But here the people of Remnant are not so lucky. It's hard to believe that they are locked in a never ending battle with these monsters.

And... if we can't use our Personas in this world, what chance do we have when we come across even the weakest type of Grimm? Her thoughts kept her distracted to the point that she didn't even notice somebody walking past her, and bumped shoulders with them, causing her to drop her books, and the person lose their bag as well! "Oh, sorry about that," she said, gathering her things, "I was too distracted." "It's fine," the person said, grabbing her bag and handing Naoto back one of her books.

It was a girl, a few years older than her it looked, and maybe even older than Narukami, or Yukiko, and most of Team RWBY. She wore a beige, leather, sleevless jacket with brown fingerless gloves, gray pants that was held up by a belt with several brown patches, and matching gray boots. What struck Naoto as the most embarrassing, to the point she didn't make direct eye contact with the person, was the fact that she was wearing no top aside from a sarashi tied around her chest. However, Naoto could understand the confidence this girl clearly possessed, as she did not drop a smile at all as she secured her bag back around her shoulder, with no animosity or hostility or even the slightest bit of annoyance, as she was picture perfect beauty.

She had long, wavy black hair that obscured her left eye and flowed around her shoulders. It looked soft as a cloud. She had a lovely figure as well, full of curves and strength. And a pair of amber colored eyes that were almost glassy and shining. There was not a flaw to be found with her whatsoever.

Ruby asks me why I wear such mannish looking clothes? Naoto thought silently. This is why. Because, compared to somebody like this, what good am I whatsoever? Such a boyish looking girl, how could anybody ever find me as beautiful when there's somebody like this that exists?

"Are you alright?" the girl asked. Naoto blinked before responding. "Uh, yes," Naoto said. "Just, uh, lost in thought again. It's an unhealthy habit of mine it would seem." The girl gave a giggle that sounded as beauteous as the sound of wind chimes. "It's fine," she said. "I like it. It shows that you have a powerful mind." Naoto was touched, uttering a quiet "thank you," in response.

"Say," the girl said, "aren't you one of the new students?" "Huh?" Naoto asked. Were people already hearing about them? "Well, yes," she said. "Yes I am." "Well lovely to meet you," the girl said. "My name is Cinder. Cinder Fall. I'm a transfer from Haven Academy, here for the Vytal Festival." "I'm Naoto Shirogane," the Detective Prince replied. "It's, ahem, lovely to meet you too."

Her face was red hot. There was something about this girl's kindness that was making her somewhat uncomfortable. She seemed to have no limitations, and was more than willing to reach out with open arms, which was a bit much for the rather reclusive detective.

"Well, I hope to see you again in the future," Cinder said, waving as she made her way to the library. "Hm?" Naoto said, surprised by the girl's exit. "Oh, same to you!" She turned to leave herself, but caught sight of something that caused her to turn her head back.

As the girl adjusted the bag over her shoulder, she saw something glowing inside of it with a faint redness. Naoto was thrown for a second, her mind tracing back on itself. Figuring it was merely a Dust crystal, she hurried on her way to meet back up with her team and Team RWBY in the fields.

Cinder however, was not so distracted. In fact, she had gotten exactly what she wanted. The excuse to confront one of the "new students." New students that just so happened to have no records whatsoever, and did not come from any of the schools for the festival.

Yes, there was clearly something else about them. She knew it, and she could bet that Ozpin knew it too. She patted the bag she had on her shoulder, grinning with delight. A bag which, upon her opening the lid to peek inside, revealed something that could lead to utter devastation if left in her hands: the Red Keystone.

Keeping her eye on these kids was going to be so much fun.

Earlier:

Cinder was expecting any number of things in the future to happen during this little infiltration into Beacon Academy. What she was not expecting however, was students to drop from the sky without warning. She had merely been minding her own business for once in the courtyard, when suddenly the girl she recognized far too well as Ruby Rose, along with two boys she did not recognize, just appeared in front of her. It was as if the world glitched out for a moment, and suddenly there they were, completely unconscious.

Not wanting to take a chance, she moved them all out of sight, before trying to wake them up, but got no response. Any number of variables as to what had caused this soared around in her head, as she simply knelt in front of them, looking them up and down with intrigue. However, she was really caught by something that Ruby had been holding in her hand. She had to pry her hand open in order to see what it was, as Ruby was holding it in a death grip, but finally she let go and Cinder was able to see that Ruby was holding some kind of a red crystal in her hand.

Analyzing it further showed that it was not a Dust crystal, it was something else. Something that Cinder was able to sense giving off a huge amount of magical energy. Magic, something which Remnant believed to be nothing more than the stuff of legend. But it was real, and it was simply pouring out of this crystal in waves.

She looked back down at Ruby, a smile growing on her face. "Oh little red, little red," she said, petting Ruby's face gently. "you are just full of surprises aren't you?"

She called her teammates to help carry the trio of sleeping beauties back to Team RWBY's dorm room, and tossed them inside. Whatever this crystal was, Ruby wouldn't need it anymore. After all, why leave it with her, when it could prove much more useful for Cinder's faction?

Author's Note:

Freaking FINALLY! Yes, after over a month of no update, I've finally gotten a new chapter up! I would first like to apologize, but after getting one chapter out after another about a week between each other, my brain was sufficiently fried.

But now I am back, and I can hopefully get more chapters up in a much shorter time. Anywho, first things first, I did try to limit things down to this chapter between Ruby and Hyde's point of views, aside from the ending. This chapter was designed mostly just to show the group getting more into a groove now that they're stuck in Beacon. One of the first things I did want to address was the fact that the Investigation Team were all stuck in their Yasogami High uniforms, and I wanted to get them out of those before the day was done. So, here you are.

Within the next chapter, I can imagine things will narrow down even further to just Ruby and her team, Hyde, and Yu with the Investigation Team in support in terms of focus now that class will be in session.

But on a much larger note, we have Hyde dreaming about memories between Ruby and Weiss. What could that mean? Well, for starters, I did want to address the fact that the dream sequence there was actually a part of the Manga Anthology released by Rooster Teeth "Red Like Roses," specifically the one called "That Is Why I'm Here."

The Manga Anthologies as a whole are great, and I eagerly await the chance to own all of them. I included that mainly because of the fact that Ruby never talks about her mother at all in the show itself, outside of the first chapter of Volume 3, where she is actually talking to her at her grave. So that story really stood out, and I think that it was very well done. And you will see many instances of things like this, as Izanami further confuses the group.

But on the subject of Hyde, I really wanted to bring up more of how his brain is twisted in the wake of everything that is happening to him. In the description of this story, I mentioned how Hyde doesn't know who he is anymore, so I at least wanted to keep that involved for a little while longer.

And finally we have Cinder. Yes, of course Cinder is going to be a player in this. If this does take place during the Beacon Arc of RWBY, you know that she has to show up at one point. And now she has the Red Keystone in her grasp. And I am embarrassed to admit that I totally forgot to have the Red Keystone brought up in the previous chapters. But now here it is, in the hands of a villain.

Not much else to say about this one, as it was just sort of grown over time. Could I have added more? Sure. But I didn't want this chapter to become really confused. But hopefully later chapters will prove better.

Once again, let me know what things you would like to see our heroes, or maybe even our villains, do in the future and how you think I can improve. I welcome any suggestions I can get. And please, also let me know if you would like for me to go back and redo the earlier chapters, or if I should just leave them be, as the awkward start I wish I could go back and improve.

And as always, I hope you have a wonderful evening, and thank you for reading! The amount of support I've gotten, really does touch me.