Mayumi twiddles her thumbs, attempting to ignore Ozpin's green eyes peering over the brim of his glasses. This was the closest she had been to him since her interview, which was intimidating in its own right. The circumstances of her being there, however, only added to the fear she felt. They were in trouble, and the scalding disappointment in Ozpin's gaze was enough to rattle her to the core.
"So...you all are here because you violated school rules and decided to take on a Grimm on your own? I would commemorate your fighting spirit, had you not been rescued by Professor Dimitri," Ozpin murmurs. His tone is soft and fatherly, reminding Mayumi of Ivan. It was the same scolding tone as him as well: one that didn't need to be raised in order to unsettle the listener.
"That's correct!" Pixie responds, her fake smile tightening. "A bit of a slip up…" she murmurs, her voice trailing off. Ozpin chuckles, monotone and unenthused. Randy and Gabriel exchange silent glances.
"Oh, yes. Quite the slip up," Ozpin says. He leans forward, his gaze slicing straight through Mayumi, though she knew he wasn't just looking at her. In fact, his eyes were glued to Pixie's stubborn smile. "You're very lucky it wasn't worse," he adds, cocking an eyebrow.
"I had it under enough control...I could have killed that Grimm myself. Besides, no one got hurt," Pixie says. A cheeky, unfiltered smile tugs at her lips, as if she wasn't worried that they'd get some sort of terrible punishment. Randy had told Mayumi that punishments could include janitorial duty. Cleaning toilets! Not that Mayumi minded dirty jobs, only that she was hoping her time at Beacon would not be spent doing such things. Her thoughts are broken by Ozpin's response.
"But they almost did. That is besides the point, anyways. What you did broke school rules and showed a severe lack of discipline. This needs to be addressed, does it not?" Ozpin says with narrowed eyes. He's reading Pixie. Mayumi can see it, and she can tell that Pixie sees it as well. The pink haired girl's smile falters and her hands grip the seat of her chair. Mayumi's fear, however, is short-lived as Pixie quickly regains composure.
"Surely...the punishment won't be too bad, will it? It was our first slip up, and...we have proved ourselves to be able Grimm-killers," Pixie says. Despite Pixie's playful tone, the room seems to have dipped into a heavy awkwardness. Ozpin is the only one comfortable. Gabriel is looking everywhere but at Ozpin, and Randy is suddenly extremely interested in fixing his collar. Mayumi, on the other hand, finds her eyes glued to Ozpin every moment they weren't flittering to Pixie. They were wide, begging him to glance her away and break the standstill between him and Pixie. If only he could chuckle a real chuckle. Not the dry, fake laughs he had been peppering the conversation with.
"I will decide how bad it is," Ozpin replies dryly. Pixie's nails dig into her chair. Her smile cracks. She grits her teeth.
"You really ain't any fun, are ya?" she mutters, nails sinking deeper.
"I can be, when it's earned," he replies evenly.
"And how does one do that?" Pixie murmurs.
"The first thing you can do is learn some self control. You know, the punishment I picked for you all is going to test how quickly you all can learn self control. Do you know what the purpose of the guard towers stationed outside of Beacon is?" Ozpin says, leaning away from his desk. His tone lightens and the entire atmosphere of the room seems to change with this shift in mood from the headmaster. The pressing weight of his stare evaporates, leaving only the dull buzz of Pixie's anger to cause discomfort. At least that, Mayumi thought, was something manageable.
"Yeah, they keep an eye on Grimm," Randy pipes in. This earns a harsh glare from Pixie, but Ozpin nods approvingly and encourages Randy to continue with a wave of his hand.
"Do you know who stands guard in these towers?" Ozpin questions. Pixie opens her mouth, but a stern look from Ozpin cuts her off. Randy slowly continues.
"Umm… I always assumed huntsmen," Randy ventures.
"Not huntsmen. We'd need quite a bit of huntsmen to stand there all day, not even fighting Grimm. No, no. It's hired citizens, usually law enforcement. They don't actually fight, they just watch. Watch, and alert the Council of Vale when Grimm are sighted. Then, the real huntsmen come in." Ozpin pauses. "But, occasionally I send students to help. You students wouldn't mind spending a few hours watching for Grimm? I put a heavy emphasis on watching, as you will not be allowed to fight the Grimm." Ozpin continues. His eyes venture, landing back on Pixie's twitching expression.
"We don't mind," Pixie answers tersely. The room falls into thick silence broken by the muffled tapping of Pixie's foot. This goes on for what feels like eons, though surely was only a few seconds. Ozpin stands, gesturing to the students to do the same.
"Check your scrolls. I'll let you know about your punishment when I iron out the details with the Council. Understood?"
"Yes. Sir." Pixie responds. Mayumi can see Pixie's body quivering beneath her clothing, her muscles tightened with a quiet rage. Narcissa was always better at these things, while Pixie could hardly contain her anger when faced with the slightest of problems. Mayumi gently places her hand on Pixie's, tentatively in case it furthers her anger. Pixie silently accepts the touch and the team boards the elevator.
~Scene Break~
Vira always writes in a physical diary. Though scrolls have a place to write, hers were always breaking thanks to her semblance, and the tapping of her fingers against the screen don't even compare to the solace she finds when pen meets paper. Older journals are her favorites: especially the ones she finds with a few scribbles already in it. When the ink sinks into the dark paper, her memories settle and become graspable and tangible things. Vira doesn't know why her memory is this way, only that writing down everything helps it stick. Then it is forever, something she can reference whenever she needs too.
The door creaks open and in comes Clover. Vira quickly closes her diary and glances over at him with wide eyes, brushing off her tattered school uniform. It takes a moment for his name to come to her, but once it does she smiles. Clover Shi. Her teammate. He has a pocket dimension for a semblance and really likes eggs. All of this is written down in her diary. She studies it every night, else these trivial facts would melt from her mind and disappear like fog in the morning.
"Clover! Where have you been?" she asks in a mouse-like voice.
"I was in the forge working on my shields," he responds. He places his hand on the wall of the building and a glowing, green hole opens up. He reaches inside and pulls out two, circular shields with jagged, saw-like edges, and closes the portal.
"See, this one wasn't spinning quite right so I wanted to fix the motor on it. I think I got it..." he trails off. Vira smiles, nodding along as he speaks. Clover loves to go on about his weapons, though now he seems preoccupied.
"You did? That's great. Do you want to show me? Or is there something else on your mind?" she asks. Clover opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He sets his weapons down and sits on his bed with a heavy expression.
"You and Mayumi traveled together, right?" Clover asks. He keeps his head low with eyes glued to his hands.
"Yes...we did. Why do you ask? Oh, are you still worried about the game we played? She isn't mad at you I promi-"
"No, no that's not it. I was just wondering…why did she react like that? What happened to her that she was so bothered?" he asks. Vira shifts. In truth, she only could recall fragments of their travels beyond the past month, and she wasn't even allowed to talk about what they had really been doing. Their involvement with Chaos was a secret. Ivan had given them all a fake story, so she supposed that was what she should tell Clover.
"Well...we're orphans. I don't really know what happened to Mayumi and Pixie's village, but Mayumi told me that it had been destroyed by Grimm. I'm sure a dragon destroying a village just hit a little too close to home," Vira lies. The lie slips off her tongue easily, though truth be told she didn't really know if it was a lie. For all she knew, the story was true.
"Oh...I should have been a little more careful with what I said. I'll make sure I keep that in mind when I'm around her. Hey, what's a good way to make it up to her?" Clover asks. He looks up to meet Vira's eyes for the first time and she sees they're bright with hope. Vira thinks back to her conversation with Mayumi in the hallway.
"Well...you could help her study. I know she complains about that all the time. Or, oh! Pixie can be really loud and overbearing, so if you take her out to do things in Vale without Pixie she might like the break. Or even just in the pocket," Vira offers. "She's pretty curious about the pocket," Vira adds.
"Really?" Clover asks. "I guess she did seem pretty...interested when she was in there the night before orientation. Do you think I should show her around? Like, I could show her the kitchen. Oh! There's the workshop. It's on the roof, is she afraid of heights?" Clover asks Vira. He leans towards her eagerly, hardly able to contain his excitement.
"No, Mayumi's not afraid of heights. I think she'd like the roof. She likes pretty things, you know? Maybe show her the sky of your pocket, she'll like that more than the workshop part," Vira explains. Clover nods thoughtfully, standing up assuredly.
"I think I'll do that after her team does their punishment, maybe as a pick-me-up. Is that a good idea? Oh, are you sure she won't be interested in the workshop? I think it's pretty interesting-"
"Clover, if you're trying to make Mayumi feel better, then you should focus on what she'll like about the pocket. She might think it's cool, but she never really was all that into making weapons. Maybe another time, you can show that off. Ok?" Vira offers. Clover is visibly disappointed, but he shrugs it off.
"Ok. Got it. Focus on what she likes, which is pretty things, and help her with her homework. I'll make her feel better in no time!" he says confidently. With that, he opens a large portal on the wall of their dorm room, revealing a door.
"Are you going in there to study?" Vira asks nonchalantly, used to Clover's pocket by now.
"Umm...maybe in a bit. Right now, I'm going to make sure everything is tidy for Mayumi. She seems like the clean type. Is she?" he asks. Vira giggles lightly, offering a small nod.
"Yeah, you could say that. She doesn't like clutter," Vira says happily. It made her happy to see Clover feeling better. The fact that he was willing to go out of his way to make things up to Mayumi really touched her heart, as well. She hoped it went well. Absentmindedly, she pulls at a string in her skirt, scowling when it crumbles in her hands.
~Scene Break~
The janitor's closet smells of cleaning chemicals and cigarette smoke. In fact, Pixie notices that she could pick out the smells of more than one tobacco product among the wafting odors of bleach and various disinfecting sprays. It was enough to give a girl a headache: Pixie can already feel one coming on. She tries to ignore it, however, since her mission is to acquaint herself with the smelly man who spent his time in this foul smelling room. She has to push through.
Besides just the smell, the room is small. It seems to double as both a closet and a living area for the janitor. A table, several chairs, a bed, and a few scattered appliances crowd one half of the room, while the other houses a tall shelving rack that's leaning precariously against the brick wall. It's packed full with cleaning materials, chewing tobacco and cigarette packets are lying around the bottle and jugs of chemicals. Pixie doesn't think it looks very safe, nor does she care if it is. With a slender hand, she snags a package of cigarettes and sniffs it. Not her favorite kind, but a smoke was a smoke. She lights it quickly with a lighter from her pocket. With a click, the fire dust inside it ignites and the smoke from her breath mingles with the odor of the room. As much as she hates the smell, she enjoys the buzz of nicotine in her veins. It's especially nice when she's away from the good supply Ivan keeps around. Pixie allows her mind to wander to Ivan, and Chaos, as she waits for the janitor, the cigarette smoke billowing off her breath like broken storm clouds.
Chaos is her home. It's a place where people like her, true degenerates of society, could live freely. At least, that's what Ivan always preaches. Their mission is to gather the lost, tormented souls of outcasts, and their second was to serve the Goddess of Chaos. Pixie has never seen the Goddess herself, only heard of her through Ivan's gospels. Pixie had never been the religious type until she met Ivan, but that man could change a woman. She taps the cigarette against the shelving, reminded of the importance of her mission. Blueprints. She needs blueprints. Or, rather, she needs them long enough for both her and Narcissa to get a good look at them.
It isn't that either of them can memorize the layout of the school at a glance. It's Ivan's semblance that would end up being the key to this mission's success. Ivan can read memories, bring them back, and do with them what he pleases. Of course, he isn't going to tamper with the memory of the blueprints, only look through them. That and all the other pieces of information that the four girls gathered. He only tampers with memories when members were bad, which Pixie has already learned the hard way. Ivan can dig up the most terrible memories, twist them into something more horrifying, and leave you lost in your mind if he wishes. Pixie shivers, white and blue flashing in her eyes. She grips the shelves with a firm hand, her fingers trembling as she struggles to reroot herself in the present.
"Are you not used to a smoke?" a low, gravely voice asks. Pixie jerks her head towards the door, muttering a curse under her breath.
"I am. I just...haven't had one in awhile," she says sweetly. Immediately after noticing him, she paints a smile on her red lips and places a hand on the curve of her hip, as if to bring attention to the finer points of her body. The way she walks, the way she speaks, and even the way her eyes lock on his, all communicate a feeling of openness and willingness. Men like that, she knows. They like a woman who can be molded into whatever shape they want, so if you become clay in their hands they drop their guard thinking that they're the ones sculpting you. In reality, there isn't a pair of hands more suited to forming others than Pixie's own beautifully slender fingers.
"You're so desperate for a smoke that you decided to break into my stash?" he pauses, reaching past her to snag a cigarette of his own. He lights it, placing it between his lips. Pixie gives his face her attention. It's pale, his chin is unevenly covered in stubble, and she can't find many redeeming physical characteristics. He has a face that looks as if it was roughly sculpted from granite, and left unpolished. Unappealing eyes stare back at her, a muddled brownish green color that immediately brings down her appreciation for hazel eyes. Paired with the drooping of his lids and the tired bruises beneath, and his eyes reminded her of dirty puddles.
"Maybe I came for the smokes, maybe I came for the company," she murmurs, blowing a breath of smoke towards him. He chuckles, shaking his head and moving towards the bed. When he sits, it creaks under his weight. He's a thin, short man, so the bed's verbal complaints lead Pixie to think that the ragged cot was even cheaper than it looked.
"What - you think Ozpin hired a sleezebag to work at his school? I don't do that, not with students, at least," he says with a dry chuckle. "And you look too clean to be a working girl. Now get out of my room, okay sweetheart? I don't have time for this," he says. His voice wheezes, as if his lungs can't ever fill with enough air. Pixie wonders if her lungs will shrivel up, should she live long enough to reach his age. She wagers that they will, and finds solace in this.
"I didn't mean like that," she recovers quickly with a laugh. "I just don't click too well with the students around here. Sure, they're nice and all, but I came from the streets. I'm a traveler, no formal training. Everyone here...well it's like you assumed about me: they're too clean. Can't take a smoke," she says easily, watching him carefully. He doesn't get up, and instead watches her with his interest clearly piqued.
"Is that so? Well, if you're going to smoke my cigarettes, then the least you could do is pa-"
Before he can finish, Pixie reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a wallet. Snagging 1,000 lien, she tosses it to him.
"Buy yourself a nicer box of cigs, sweetheart," she says with a playful wink. With a swift movement of her hand, she tucks her wallet back into her dress pocket.
"I sure will, sweets," he responds, quickly snagging the money with a ragged smile on his face. It wasn't much, just enough to cover the cost of another box: but Pixie knew that just one box of cigarettes meant a whole lot to someone who smoked as steadily as this man did.
"Next time I visit, I'll bring my favorite. That is, if you let me stop by again for a smoke," Pixie chirps, placing her hand on her chest to draw his eyes. However, his smoking habit must be stronger than any woman-based habits she assumed him to have and he doesn't lift his eyes from the money. Well, not like she was going to complain. She preferred her targets to be...easier on the eyes, anyways.
"Of course, sweetheart. So long as you share," he says, chuckling at his own joke. Pixie turns, only allowing herself to roll her eyes once she's facing the door.
"I sure will, hun, I sure will," she murmurs. She pauses, a fanged grin playing at her lips. Her foot was in the door, it wouldn't take long for her to get what she wanted. Without any hesitation, she leaves with nothing more than a wave.
~Author's Note~
Hello! I hope you guys like this chapter! I didn't post yesterday because I was busy, but here's another chapter! Let me know what you think! We're starting to get more into the bigger plot stuff now, so I'm excited for these next few chapters! I also hope you liked the variety in POV this chapter!