YOU SCRATCH MY BACK, I SCRATCH YOURS
The sewer systems of Vale are consolidated towards the southern side of the city making it hard to maintain. Naturally, people avoid this part of town except for the less fortunate ones. Only the people who's left with no choice are the ones that reside here, or the ones that see... an opportunity.
Water is water, doesn't matter how dirty or clean it is. It's all the same when used with my semblance. It's actually easier for me to create mist big enough to cover small district like this.
"That should be enough boy."
The old man behind casually rocked his chair back forth while smoking his pipe.
"Besides, our guest is here."
He tipped his straw hat and pointed his towards to the woman with split colored hair fearlessly walking through my mist.
"Neopolitan. Welcome. To the nest."
The nest is what me and my family call this forsaken part of Vale. It's the perfect place to hide and criminal operations we're doing. The city police have kept their activity here limited, strategically of course. If they cause any sort of commotion here, the spurring negative emotions would do nothing but rattle the Grimm outside the city. In other words, this place is perfect.
"..."
Me and Neo stood there silently till a voice the over radio said the words I've been waiting to hear all this time.
[All clear]
She didn't bring anybody. Somehow I knew that she wouldn't. I figured anybody stubborn enough to stick with Torchwick is extremely loyal or deeply motivated. Something that I can use to my advantage.
"Neo, I'll get straight to the point. I need a favor. Roman is in the cusp of pulling off the biggest heist this city has ever seen and a couple of rats are on prowl, threatening to seriously derail it. A team of students from Beacon, mine."
She mischievously stroked her finger from left to right and drew a line on her neck. I knew what she was implying, that it would be so much easier to simply just kill Team RWBY. True, it's much more convenient that way, but to even entertain the thought is ludicrous, and to be honest quite infuriating.
"Tch. That would a no, Neo. Besides, killing students would put the Vytal Festival in jeopardy, and I can't risk that. Cinder will definitely come after us if that happens."
She shrugged her shoulders as if it to say it's simply a suggestion. With prying eyes, Neo urged me to give her an alternative.
"My plan is simple, but it's execution will be difficult. I'd have to get involved, both as OWL..."
I hesitated at first, but the image of Yang and the rest of my team being in danger strengthened my resolve. I clench my hands around my mask and quickly took it off, much to Neo's surprise.
"...and as Ezra."
I grabbed the tablet that was resting on the old man's lap and opened up a map of Vale, but before I can begin explaining my plan, Neo interrupted me with her scroll raised.
[Sounds good and all, but what do I get out of this?]
Cheeky, but fair.
"You scratch my back, I scratch yours. We still don't know when the shipment will come in right? I can figure that part out for you and Roman. That and I'll owe you a favor."
I never really knew how silent Neo can get when she's deep in thought. She placed her hand on her chin and contemplated for a second then simply responded with a nod. With that, business can resume.
"Now where was I? Here look at this dot right here. This tracker is currently attached to the main force of the team planning to ruin Roman's plans. What I need you to do is to pull a disguise believable enough that it'll create an opportunity for me to split with the team. Ruffle some feathers with the White Fang, and see if you can get more of them to distract more of my teammates."
I lifted my head to see if she was following along, and Neo seems to be taking it in stride.
"Do you think you can pull it off?"
Neo looked intrigued. She tapped her umbrella on the ground thrice then smugly looked back at me. It was clear that she took my question as a challenge.
[I can handle it.]
"T-minus 24 hours Neo. I'll see you then. I'm counting on you."
I quickly wrapped my mask around my face once more and bowed. I twirled my hand, thickening the mist around me and completely erasing myself from her view. I soon as I left, the mist started to disappear and people started to flood the empty streets. Voices broke the muffled silence as food stalls started cooking, the people in the bars started singing, and business began to boom all of a sudden as if the mist was never there. A simple form of misdirection, courtesy of the nest.
I watched on top of the rooftop, away from Neo's sight. I kept my head down till she's out of the nest, so I can eagerly answer my scroll that's been buzzing for a minute.
[CALL FROM: YANG XIAO LONG]
"EZRA! Where are you? We're here at the rendezvous point. Waiting on you!"
I casually took off my mask and crossed my legs.
"Yeah, yeah. Be right there hun!"
I could hear Yang's flustered voice over our scrolls.
"Oh stop it! Hurry up will you?"
Hurry? I'm pretty sure they're early. After exchanging a couple of jokes with Yang, I reluctantly hung up.
"Are you sure about this boy?"
As expected from the man that taught me most of my shady skills. There are very few people in this world that sneak up on me like this, and gramps is definitely one of them.
"You're breaking your own rule you know." He sighed. "Ezra listen, you're an asset here in the nest, but first and foremost, you're family. Don't put yourself in a position where you'll jeopardize the safety of your family."
I understand his concerns. I set aside strict rules for me to abide by, and it seems like I'm breaking them one by one. All because of Yang.
"I know old man. I know... I promise I won't."
Disgruntled, gramps simply muffled his voice and chose to voice out his frustrations under his breath, but not before leaving some ominous reminder.
"That piece of information you promised that woman. You know that's gonna cost you right?"
I cringed at the thought and simply nodded. I hastily put together my uniform and ran as fast as I can towards to Dusk till Dawn where Yang, Ruby, and Weiss where already waiting for me.
"I'm here! Don't worry I'm here!"
Based on how curled Weiss' face was, I can tell that they've been waiting awhile.
"There you are Ezra, got anything for us?"
I huffed and puffed and composed myself the best I can and answered Yang as fast as I can.
"Y-yeah. Schnee Dust Corporation."
Weiss, curious, made her way in front of me.
"What about it?"
She asked, eager to learn more.
"There's a shipment coming in tomorrow. I don't when just yet but it's highly likely that Blake will be there."
Ruby's eyes widened in excitement. She hopped up and down before wrapping her arms around me.
"Way to go Ez!"
Yang on the other hand was calmer and logical than Ruby.
"Yeah, but how can we be sure that Blake will be there?"
"She'll be there, I'm sure of it. Trust me on this one!"
Skeptical as always, Weiss butted in once more.
"HOW CAN WE? Between you disappearing left and right based on your whim, and you saying shady things like 'I know a guy' I don't know IF we can really trust you."
Yang stepped in to protest, but I held a hand up and stopped her. Weiss, too was logical in this part of her questioning.
"Weiss, not everyone grew up in a mansion. I know my way of doing things isn't exactly noble or fair, but this is how I've survived till now. I promise the last thing I want is to put you all in danger. So please." I bow my head. "Trust me."
Flustered and feeling like she's been backed into a corner, Weiss had no choice but to react the way I wanted her too.
"OOOHHH! FINE! I'll trust you."
Yang and Ruby giggled at the embarrassed Weiss, but that wasn't enough to shake the problem at hand that my team had also concluded.
"So, do you know what time the shipment is coming?"
Weiss asked.
"Really, I was hoping you would you know heiress."
But Weiss could do nothing but shrug her shoulders. Much to my disappointment, since I really didn't want to pursue the alternative of acquiring said information.
"What now Ezra?"
Yang eagerly questioned me.
"I know a guy!"
It was a joke in light of the situation, but it clearly didn't have the same effect I was hoping it would if I'm simply basing it off of my teammates' reaction.
"I'm just kidding! It's not a guy, it's a girl actually."
But as soon those words escaped my mouth, Yang's lilac colored eyes changed into a fierce and frightening bright red.
"Did you just say girl?"
Yang gritted her teeth and stomped her way towards me, much to my dismay.
"So all this time, we've been letting you off the hook, telling us lies like what Weiss was saying only for you to go behind my back to sneak off with another woman?"
OHHHHHHH. That's why she's mad.
"WAIT YANG NO! That's not what I-" I sighed "Fine. Yang can come with me. Ruby and Weiss, here take this."
I handed a piece of paper from my pocket to Ruby. She scratched her head confused. I have a feeling it's because of my questionable hand writing. Not wanting to blow her brains out, I quickly explained to her what I gave her.
"It's a list of locations without reported robberies by the White Fang at the moment. Not all of them has full fledge dust business going on, but their stock is significant enough to warrant a hit. If you're really skeptical about the Blake being at the docks, then we can at least scratch the possibility that she'll be in these locations."
Ruby snapped her fingers, as if everything written in the paper started to make sense.
"You're the coolest Ez! C'mon Weiss! This point right here is only a few blocks away!"
Ruby lifted Weiss with such brutish strength that it lifted her off her feet, dragging her away from me and Yang. I can tell from Weiss' yelling how much she doesn't appreciate it, but I for one, appreciate the fact that I'm alone with Yang, giving me a chance to clear up some unfortunate misunderstandings.
"Come on, my contact's this way."
Yang crossed her arms dragged her feet behind me. She sulked and pouted as I took her past various alleyways, some of them stink some are sketchy, but Yang cared for none of it. We walked around for a while without the two of us ever saying a word, and frankly, this silence is deafening. So I stopped and decided to address the problem.
"Yang, do you remember what I told you when we first met?"
Confused, but choosing not give in to her curiosity in favor of her anger, Yang barked back.
"How should I know!?"
I instinctively scratched the back of my head, nervously laughing in the process. I took a deep breath and composed myself and looked at her straight in the eyes.
"I said you're the most beautiful woman in Vale."
Lies, clearly not what I said, and Yang quickly caught on.
"NO! That is not what you said at all. You said you were surprised to ran into a beautiful woman like me. No mention of me being the most - anything!"
Flattering that she remembers, but the way she said it made it really obvious that she wasn't really mad at me.
"Listen Yang, this woman we're about to meet. She's not who you think it is-"
But she was quick to cut me off. This time however, it would seem my fooling around sort of diffused the situation a little bit. Yang looked at the ground, blushing and embarrassed. Quite the adorable sight honestly.
"I-I know... I mean, I had a feeling. I honestly don't even know why I was mad to begin with."
I clenched my fist reached out my pinky towards her, urging her to do same. She stared at me funny for a while, but she eventually complied.
"C'mon, I have a feeling grandma's expecting me and she doesn't like waiting."
Hearing what I had just said, Yang's expression softened.
"S-s-s-so, we're meeting your grandmother huh? Is she-"
With her pinky still wrapped around mine, I started walking and pulled her with me while I answered her question.
"Nah, not my real grandmother. But she was the one that found us, and raised us. So I guess she might as well be."
Satisfied, the liveliness I'm so used to seeing in Yang came back. She stopped dragging her feet and started to walk side by side with me instead of behind me, all the while not letting go of my finger. This continued on till we reached a bridge that connected the southern side to the rest of the city. The bridge itself served a commercial purpose. It served as the entry point to the people living on the southern side, and seeing as how this was the only access point to this part of the city, it was also crowded and busy. The best place to hide a shady business. The best way to hide a tree is in a forest after all.
"Ezra my boy! There you are."
A frail and familiar voice stopped me and Yang straight in the middle of the bridge.
"Don't bother turning around, I don't want your associate here be seen getting involved with the likes of me. Still, was not expecting you to come home with a beautiful young lady. Be a dear and fetch us something to drink will you."
There it is. Payment. I carefully scanned the bridge and saw food stall with a small owl insignia embroidered in it's table cloth and quickly made my way over there without Yang.
"Good day sir! What can I get you?" The cashier enthusiastically asked.
"A Schnee Dust Shake please." I tapped the table thrice, then twice, signaling who the was for.
The cashier simply nodded obliged, but not after charging me an absurd amount of Lien- hence why I never wanted to use this avenue. Family can be so expensive. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I made way back to Yang and grandma and handed her her drink without ever glancing at her.
"AH!" She raised voice. "A Schnee special huh? Did you know, that the ingredients made in this drink is best harvested at 11 in the evening?"
Bingo. 11 in the evening, now I have the time for shipment's arrival.
"Thanks Ma, you're the best."
Grandma softly giggled.
"You should come visit more often Ezra... oh and maybe next time, I can introduce myself properly to your friend."
I can hear her cane slowly fade into the distance but not before she said something back to Yang.
"Take care not lose that young lady."
Curious I glanced at Yang whose faced was burning bright red, and in her hand some sort silver chain.
"Yang you okay? What's that?"
In a panic, Yang shook her head and yelled 'nothing' as she stormed off leaving me behind... I wonder what it is grandma gave her.