Chapter 20

Kagutsuchi- Upper Sector- Hotel- Qrow's room

After the match, Qrow, Glynda and Ozpin used every trick imaginable to steal Yang from Hibiki, and bring her to Qrow's room, and right now as Glynda was doing everything she could to negotiate with(read stall) Hibiki, Qrow tried to get Yang's side of the story.

"I didn't… He attacked me first! He just suddenly called me a batch! And then tried to sucker punch me! I know it! Either that, or… or I'm going crazy." Yang frantically ran her fingers through her hair. "Am I… am I going crazy?"

"No you're not." 'At least I hope not.' Thought Qrow. "Look, if it's just between you and some rando, I'll believe you in a heartbeat, but-"

"I know! I saw the video too! I just attacked him unprovoked! Look, I... I just don't know what- Ruby?" Said Yang suddenly, looking at the opened door, and Ruby peeking in.

"Ruby?" Said Qrow. "I thought I told you to stand outside."

"Ruby, you, believe me, right?" Asked Yang.

"Of course!" Said Ruby, loudly, but then… "But Young-"

"Ruby, came with me for a second." Said Qrow, pulling her outside.

"What happens now?" Asked Ruby

"Well, right now, those library shitheads want to arrest her, over my dead body. You think Atlas was bad, Ha! But don't worry, there's no way I'm letting some authoritarian organization take Yang."

Suddenly, Qrow felt his scroll vibrate. He pulled it out, looked at it, and then smiled.

"It's good to have friends in high places."

Hotel's hallway

Outside of Qrow's room, Glynda was doing her best to stop Hibiki from getting pass her.

Glynda: "Captian, please, we just need a little more time."

Hibiki: "What you need is to let me take her."

"We will, just, we just need a little-"

"Would you defend assault under normal circumstances?"

"This isn't a normal circumstance. This is an international relations crisis."

"To tell the truth, I also think this is more than meets the eye, but she just assaulted someone on live TV. People are outraged. Naoto was the Hierarchical cities representative. I promise to get to the bottom of this."

"There's no longer necessary." Said Qrow with a smirk. "Young is now under Vale's jurisdiction and my protection."

"I heard nothing about this." Said Hibiki, unhappy.

"Not my problem, go check with your superior, it's settled."

"I don't think you understand, I'm trying to help you! The people in the city want to see some justice or they might riot! And we don't have enough soldiers to stop them right now!"

"And I said, why don't you leave this to the big boys."

"Qrow!" Said Glynda in anger and pulled him aside. "Captain, I'll talk to you later, after I learn more about the matter."

After pushing Qrow into her room, Glynda immediately closed the door.

"What happened?"

"Oz talks to James, and he talks to their, what do they call them? Lord? General? Marshal? Whatever. Yeah, it's fixed now."

"How is that fix?"

"It's fine. Yang will do some community service, Vale and Oz will give the library something, they'll reach a compromise, it's politics."

"Yang… The boy Yang just beat up might never wake up! His face was so blood-"

"It's Fine! What's done is done! The person who feels worse about it is Yang right now!"

"I think the ones who feel worse would be the victim and his family."

"You think I don't know that! But I need to think about my family first!" Said Qrow. Frustrated. "And besides, there's more to this, Yang might be impulsive, attacking someone for no reason? Not Yang. Never Yang!"

"I hope so, but, even if Yang is innocent, do you think the people of Kagutsuchi would understand that? Or even care?"

"All I know is, I'll kill anyone who tries to harm my nieces."

Kagutsuchi NOL Base- Hibiki's office

"Lord Marshal, I don't understand, did you give the order to release Yang Xiao Long?" Asked Hibiki through a secure line.

"Only for now."

"Why?"

"Because it's an enemy's trap. We need to recognize the trap first before we do anything."

"The citizens are furious! They might even riot!"

"That boy… already have this much influence… but until we know what our enemies want, we can't do anything hurriedly."

"But sir! What if, this is exactly what the enemy wants? To incite, to stir up violence, when we have no soldier in the city right now!"

"I already knew the risk when I'd made my decision, and you have your order, captain."

Cinder's Hideout

"The people here were already not happy with the library, now they are ready to riot!" Said Mercury happily. "This will work out even better than it would at Vale!"

"I'm kind of surprised." Said Emerald. "I thought the people of Kagutsushi hated the library, but to get so riled up over a librarian like that…"

"In the end, when choosing between an outsider and one of their own, they will choose one of their own, even if that person is with the library." Said Cinder.

"Well good for us anyway, all this negative energy, it's practically a Grimm's all you can eat buffet! And once we blow open the tunnels, it'll be a party!" Said Mercury.

"About that," Said Emerald. "Adam's lieutenant said that it was Kval, or whatever his name was, who gave him the information about the tunnels. That means that Kaval knew all along about the tunnels, and didn't say anything."

"Who cares anymore! Asking him would be a waste of time, he'll probably just say "oh, that's because you didn't ask me"." Said Mercury, doing his best Hazama impersonation.

"He's right. I'll deal with Kval after I've restored to full power." Said Cinder. "Now all we need are the Knights."

"Do we even need those robots?" Asked Emerald. "The more we expose ourselves, the greater the risk for people to find out about us."

"Yes we do. The Knights can keep both the Atlas and the NOL military on the ground at bay while we make our move." Explained Cinder.

"Hi, you're the boss." replied Emerald.

Cinder then turned to Torchwick. "Ironwood is coming with his flagship."

"What? That would make things more difficult." Said Torchwick.

"Yes, but it will also provide an opportunity, to put my original plan back on track." Said Cinder.

"Wait… you not suggesting we…"

"Yes. Infiltrate Ironwood's ship, and take control of everything."

Kagutsuchi- Army Dorms

After Yang was taken away, Team JNPR was ordered to return to the dorm. With nothing to do, Jaune went to the gym, thinking to find Pyrrha, only to be disappointed. After a little searching, he finally found her, behind the dorm, looking at the ground.

"What's wrong, Pyrrha?"

"Jaune?" Surprised Pyrrha. "It's not- no…" Pyrrha paused, looking for the right word. "Jaune, do you believe in destiny?"

"What?" Said Jaune, confused. "I… not sure… Sorry."

"No, it's okay. To some, destiny means a predetermined goal you meant, or have to get to. To me, it means a goal you work towards."

"Oh, I like that, I mean, I like your version more." Said Jaune, embarrssed.

"But sometimes, destiny comes knocking."

"Pyrrha, talk to me, what's wrong?" Said Jaune, starting to worry.

"I wanted to do so many things, become a Huntress, help people… And now, I can…"

'But at what price?'

"Oh… I… don't understand." Said Jaune, ashamed.

'It's not about me. I had seven days to think about it.' Though Pyrrha. "It's alright. I'm sorry, I just needed to vent a little. I already know, knew what I must do."

"Okay… I guess."

That's what he said, but… What else could he have done? He couldn't force Pyrrha to tell him what was really going on, if Pyrrha didn't even want him involved.

'She's clearly gotten involved in something big, but all I can do is trust Pyrrha.'

"Hi, how about we go out and get something to eat?" Asked Jaune.

Hotel Hallway

After leaving the room, Ruby met up with Weiss and Blake and told them everything.

"So now, we just wait?" Asked Weiss.

"That's what Uncle Qrow told me."

"And what do you want to do?" Asked Blake.

"I can't just do nothing. I need to do something, even if it's pointless, I need to help Yang!"

"Alright, any ideas?" Asked Weiss.

"Huh? You agree? No argument? Just like that?" Surprised Blake.

"I don't like the idea of sitting around and doing nothing either." Answered Weiss. "So, any ideas?"

"Oh! Oh! How about we talk to Naoto first?" Suggested Ruby.

"But, last I heard, he's still in a coma." Said Blake.

"Even if he's not, why would he tell us anything? At best, he's the victim of assault, at worse… He might be in on it." Said Weiss.

"In on what?" Asked Ruby.

"Yang swore that he attack first." explained Weiss. "So if Yang is telling the truth, then Naoto is part of some… conspire."

"Or both of them are just victims of misunderstanding." Suggested Blake.

"Either way, we still have no proof." Said Weiss.

"My uncle, he probably has the same thought, he's probably on his way there now!" Said Ruby.

"So not Naoto then. Who else?" Said Weiss.

"Makoto Nanaya." Said Blake suddenly.

"What? That squirrel Faunus? Why?" Asked Weiss.

"She's an intelligence officer, she might be able to tell us something."

"Oh yeah, she is, isn't she? I always forgot about that. But even so, what would she even tell us?"

"I don't know! Maybe some kind of Ars, or conspire as you call it. I'm just throwing idea around."

"Won't hurt to try." Said Ruby "But we haven't seen her in the dorm for a while now, where can we find her?"

"Noel might know." Said Weiss with an annoyed look. "But that means… that place."

"Litchi's Clinic it is!" Said Ruby, excited.

To be continued