Three years in, and Professor Port's 'lectures' haven't gotten any better. As he droned on he eventually distracted himself with stories of his youth, going completely off topic from the actual lesson he was supposed to give. They only ever really learned what they were supposed to by doing the book studies. And I'm not even going to be here long enough for that to matter… perhaps I can catch up on some sleep…
"Don't zone out!" Weiss berated from beside Reaper.
"But this class is sooo boring…" Reaper whispered back.
Amen…
"You missed months of schooling, I'm surprised you're not officially held back for missing exams!" Weiss criticized. "You've got make up work, extra credit, you need to catch up!"
Is she always like this?
"You know that already…" Reaper responded to The Voice.
"Of course I know it already, but do you? Get to work!" Weiss told her.
Oops…
Reaper almost told The Voice to shut up, but stopped herself as she realized she almost spoke out loud again. There would be hell to pay if I accidently told Weiss to shut up… Reaper decided it would be best to work at least a little, for her cover's sake. After just a few minutes it turned into her doing her best to look like she was working, as Port's voice killed all her drive.
So, seeing as we are not actually working, maybe now is a good time to talk?
Reaper tried to ignore The Voice once again, though in the back of her mind she already knew it was a futile goal.
Come on, I'm bored… you're bored… we're bored! If his form is his own idea of 'handsome', he's delusional on top of everything else.
The scythe master dropped her head onto the desk. If this kept up, The Voice would end up giving her a migraine…
Because banging your head on a desk totally isn't headache inducing itself…
But wouldn't a migraine hurt it too? The Voice only exists in my mind…
There has to be something you're willing to talk about! What about Velvet? I don't mind if you gush to me, I really am that bored!
Reaper held the sides of her head and began to repeatedly knock her forehead against the desk in some vain hope she was hitting The Voice.
Shut. Knock. Up. Knock. Shut. Knock. Up. Knock. Shut. Knock. Up. Knock.
"R-Ruby…? What are you doing… is something the matter?" Weiss's voice filled with concern.
Just talk to me!
Reaper stood suddenly, looking straight ahead at Professor Port. "May I please be excused to go to the bathroom?" She managed calmly. He raised an eyebrow for just a second and nodded, resuming his lecture as Reaper vanished in a cloud of rose petals. Reaper rushed into the thankfully unoccupied bathroom and headed straight for one of the mirrors. She could see the red barely tinging her eyes, turning silver into pink.
Great, now I can piss myself off without even having to interact with anyone! This is just perfect! Damn it all! Fuck!
Hey, sorry, believe it or not I find those 'Red Hazes' just as exhausting as you do! You should have just talked to me.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Reaper screamed into the mirror. "Listen, we need to set a few ground rules."
Ground rules? The fuck are you talking about?
"You can't be blabbing like that in class. Because either we'll be talking and it will distract me, or something like what just happened will happen again, and either way people will notice, which won't be good for our cover!"
Yeah, yeah, we have a job to do, whatever…
Reaper sighed. "You like Neo, right? Or what she does to us or whatever? If we fuck up the job, if we get caught and arrested, it's going to be very hard to get back to her."
… Shit, you have a point.
"So however painful or boring it gets, we have to deal with it, and you have to stop distracting me!"
I get it, but I want something too.
"Velvet is off limits."
I know, I know, that's not what I was going to ask. I want a fight.
"A fight? Like Goodwitch's class? There's a reason we're barred from sparring."
I can help keep you from killing someone, I'm sure. Come on, there has to be a way, even if it's not in class.
Reaper considered her options. If it was going to help The Voice deal with staying quiet, she really didn't have much choice. She had to keep her cover a little while longer. The alternative was dealing with an even more vindictively annoying Voice that was pissed she didn't accept. "Fine, I'll try. But I can't guarantee anyone will let us." Reaper returned to class and looked around for who she should ask.
Definitely gotta stay far away from Jaune. Nora's just crazy enough to accept, but how well will she hold up? I should probably stick with my own team mates. Or Ren maybe? Wait… perfect. Reaper smiled and waited in blissful silence until class was over. As soon as the bell rang, she made her way straight to Pyrrha.
"Hey there!" she greeted the golden fighter.
"Hello! Oh my! You're eyes are… pink?" She responded, caught off guard by the unusual hue.
"Yeah, 'just a little peeved' is pretty accurate to explain that…" Reaper told her.
"Peeved? What is the matter?" Pyrrha turned her full attention to her friend.
"It's just that… it's been so long since I've been in a proper battle… I miss sparring… I was hoping, maybe you and me talk to Goodwitch in class later, see about doing a one-time bending of my suspension…" Reaper asked cautiously. Pyrrha seemed a little uneased by the concept. But to help a friend? It has been a long time since Ruby fought anything other than Grimm…
"We'll talk to Goodwitch in class later," Pyrrha answered, "it's up to her in the end, so don't hold your breath."
"Thank you so much!" Reaper put on a 'Ruby smile' to seal the deal
"Ms. Nikos, I strongly advice against this." Goodwitch's stern face hid the 'however' coming. "However, if you understand the risks and truly wish to continue, then I suppose we can make this singular exception. Don't expect this often in the future, Ms. Rose, especially if you fail to contain yourself. Your match will be the last this class period. Ms. Nikos, I advise you take no other challengers to preserve your strength. Now take your seats."
Pyrrha and Reaper gave their thanks and made their way to sit with their team. Reaper couldn't deny that she was excited to spar. She had chosen Pyrrha not just because her kind heart wouldn't allow her to say no, but because the strong woman may actually stand a chance at beating her. Pyrrha was also curious at how well she could stand up to Ruby. She hasn't gotten a chance to spar her after she got Yang's aura and semblance before today.
"I think this is foolish." Weiss remarked as they sat down. "Both of you are putting yourselves in unnecessary danger."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. The pink eyes unnerved him no less than the red ones. He was never comfortable around Ruby anymore unless she had her normal silver.
"We'll be fine. I'm sure Professor Goodwitch has some safety measures she's planning. How is Ruby ever going to get better if we don't start trusting her a little?" Pyrrha insisted.
"I guess you have a point." Weiss conceded after a moment of silence.
"Just be careful, okay?" Jaune told the golden fighter, resting has hand on top of hers.
Strongest fighter in class! Way to go, girl.
Aren't you supposed to shut up now?
Sorry, I'm just happy. I half expected you to try and find a way out of it.
I thought we both wanted the same thing and you're just the honest half of us?
Oh can it, you're the one betraying all your friends…
Can we please not think about it while I'm in the middle of betraying them? Oh, and be quiet before I call the fight off!
Class progressed quickly despite the girls' anticipation for their coming battle. Soon enough, Goodwitch was announcing their fight and the special rules for it. "I will be standing by and observing carefully," She told the scythe master, "and if I think it looks like you're too far gone, I will restrain you. Also, now that we know for a fact you have double the aura you should, Ms. Nikos only has to take half to win. Do you both agree?"
I guess that's fair…
"That sounds fair." Reaper told her. Pyrrha nodded in agreement and the girls took their positions in the ring.
The audience watched in hushed excitement. No one knew how this would turn out. On one hand, Pyrrha was Pyrrha, but on the other, they had all seen what happened when Ruby fought Jaune. The timer slowly counted down as the fighters readied themselves.
Every time she hits us, we get stronger – But it still depletes our aura and she only has to take half of it to win. Reaper and her Voice decided to try harder not to get hit than in a usual fight.
Pyrrha was working on her own strategy. I'm already familiar with Crescent Rose, I can use my polarity against it. But she swings so hard and so fast, especially now that she has Yang's semblance, all I can do is redirect it when it's about to hit me, if I can even see it coming.
At the last second before the ringer, Reaper changed out her clip for the same air rounds she used in the train heist, planning her opening move. She pointed the barrel behind and slightly beside her just as the match began. Using her speed semblance toward Pyrrha and firing at the same time, Reaper propelled herself in a high speed spin. The golden fighter barely had time to raise Akouo as the red buzz saw came at her.
The scythe blade met the shield, and Reaper continued her spin hoping to loosen Pyrrha's grip and knock the shield away with repeated high speed strikes. Pyrrha's grip won out as the recurrent attack slowed Reaper's spin until Crescent Rose's tip locked with Akouo. Pyrrha pushed the scythe aside as brought Milo up. Reaper failed to avoid the attack, and took a decent hit to her aura.
But now she has that extra strength to fight with. This fight can only get more difficult as it presses on.
Reaper spun at Pyrrha again, hoping her extra strength would change things. Pyrrha brought Akouo up once more, but a second assault indeed weakened the girl's grip. Akouo was bashed away and Reaper brought the backside of her scythe across the golden fighters face, followed up with a half-spin to thrust the spear point at the bottom of Crescent Rose's handle. She was going to finish her spin by bringing Crescent Rose's blade down from above.
This last attack Pyrrha blocked with Milo. Her polarity brought her shield back to her, which she used the edge of against Ruby's midsection. It didn't do much damage, but it knocked her back. A few well-placed strikes with Milo's spear form ate away more of the scythe girl's aura. With each connect Pyrrha observed Ruby's eyes growing redder and redder.
Reaper fought hard to keep her anger from taking over, but she knew it was a pointless struggle. She could feel herself losing control.
Damn it, damn it, hit her, she's winning! – I'm trying!
Pyrrha noticed too. The scythe master's attacks were becoming erratic, faster, and harder. But as the golden fighter dodged, blocked, and watched, she saw they were also becoming more predictable. She was losing herself to the battle and it looked like she had stopped thinking her attacks through. Pyrrha watched and realized that while a scythe has a long reach that her first reaction was to get away from, there was a long staff handle before the blade actually started. If I can step within, past Crescent Rose's blade, it will breach the defense her wild swings create.
Pyrrha threw herself forward, thrusting Milo's sword form. At the last second, when Milo should have connected with Ruby's chest, Pyrrha found herself slicing thin air instead. She heard a gunshot, and felt Crescent Rose's blade slam into her back. Reaper followed through and launched the golden fighter across the ring. It was the first time she was hit by the actual blade this battle, and Pyrrha felt as though she was struck by a freight train. She's turning this around. I need a new strategy. How did she have enough presence to counter like that?
Pyrrha looked up and say the blade coming down at her. She used her semblance on her own armor to pull herself away. Pyrrha watched the tip of Crescent Rose dig into the ground where she was a moment before, and a light bulb turned in in her head. Back-springing onto her feet, she used her polarity and brought all the force she could down on Crescent Rose, jamming the scythe deep into the ground. Ruby can probably pull it out, but not until she regains her balance.
Before Reaper could extract the blade Pyrrha charged in and ran up the back of Crescent Rose, kicking the Scythe girl in the face with enough force to separate her from her weapon. Even in a rage, Ruby was much easier without her scythe. The golden fighter closed the distance once more and began an assault with Milo. She slowly chipped the red dressed girl's aura away, coming closer to victory.
Milo swung down, and Pyrrha was surprised to find Ruby's hand around her wrist, stopping the swing at the last moment. The scythe girl tightened her grip, squeezing until the force made the golden fighter drop her blade. Reaper cocked back her other fist and sent it forward to Pyrrha's nose. Pyrrha felt the bone break, but her aura still held. She just needed to find a counter and she could still win. Ruby brought her fist forward again. Another good punch with all her strength might finish me…
The golden fighter dropped Akouo and used her polarity to grab Milo with her offhand. Bringing the blade up knocked the girl back, who was immediately restrained by Goodwitch's telekinesis as the buzzer sounded. It was close, but Pyrrha had won.
Later on Reaper, tired and silver eyed, knocked on the door to JNPR dorm. The girl had spent the last few hours wearing out the rest of the Red Haze in the Emerald Forest, then on a long walk. She was answered by Pyrrha with a bandage across her nose. "Oh crap, I broke it? Sorry about that." Reaper told her, stunned.
"It is fine, Ruby. It was a good fight." Pyrrha replied.
"I thought so too. Thank you for letting me do it."
"Of course. Tell me, how did you counter my attack, when I jumped in past your blade? I thought you couldn't think straight when you… went off."
"Oh, yeah. I learned that it's not quite so mindless when I lose myself." Reaper explained. "It's more like instinct. So I've been trying to, like, train my instincts more than my style. Unless one day I can actually learn to control myself, it's the best I can do for my fighting."
"I see… you learned that fighting Grimm on your own?" Pyrrha sounded impressed.
No, Neo pointed it out
"Just kinda clicked one day. Anyway, thank you for the fight, and I hope your nose gets better soon." Reaper bid Pyrrha farewell and stepped across the hall into her own dorm. Velvet was waiting inside, and Reaper smiled when she saw her. The pair hugged tightly.
"You stink of Grimm, love." Velvet told her.
Reaper laughed. "Yeah, I was about to hop into the shower."
"Should I wait for you? Maybe you'll take up my offer?" Velvet asked.
You really should.
You know I can't.
You think I'm the one that wants this? You know that I prefer something rougher to whatever qualifies as 'love making'. I'm trying to do you a favor.
That's not even what she's offering!
I could help you turn it into that.
"Love?" Velvet brought Reaper out of her internal conversation. "That looked like a lot of thinking."
"Yeah… maybe soon, but I've only been back two days. Not tonight, sorry." Reaper replied
"It's fine, love. I'll try again tomorrow. Goodnight, I love you!"
"I love you too! Night!"
Reaper slipped into the bathroom to take her shower. Seconds after the door closed, she felt her black scroll buzz. She quickly pulled it out and read the screen.
You should have said yes. Could have drawn it out a few hours before having to sneak away.
No, it's better this way. Not just for Velvet, but for us as well. Easier to leave when no one's holding onto you.
