Kittens. I like cats and kittens. Now you know a little bit more about me. Also, I got this done on time. Praise me~❤. :3

-Mandatory Disclaimer-

Um… I've run out of things to put here.

-Chapter 19: Obfuscation Play-

Blake covered her mouth with her hand as she let out what had to be her millionth yawn of exhaustion. She could feel every second tick by as if it were palpable, which really, really didn't help her, as she was trying to stay blissfully ignorant of the passage of time. With each passing moment, she was painfully reminded of her dwindling energy reserves.

As she looked at the holographic screen in front of her, Blake found herself staring at the lower righthand corner of the screen, where the current time was being displayed in the usual generic black font. One in the morning already, huh? She leaned back in the wooden chair she was sitting in and let out a tired breath. How is it possible that I've lost track of the time so badly, and yet every second feels like it's infinite?

Every part of her wanted to shut down, to lie her head on the desk and allow herself to slip away into the sweet abyss of sleep, but she couldn't. Not when there was work still needed to be done.

The White Fang. They were currently running amok like they were wild beasts, creating chaos wherever they stepped, and even worse than that, working with scum like Torchwick.

Blake… She needed to find them, to stop them, before they could do any more damage. Her current level of comfort didn't matter. She could keep going–she needed to keep going. Even if she had to stay up all night—

"Blake…?" Blake nearly jumped in her seat when the voice of the only other person in the room reminded her of his presence. Glancing back, she was just able to catch a glimpse of Kaneki yawning into his hand. "Just how long have you been up?" He glanced over at the digital alarm clock to his right and blinked at it before narrowing his eyes in scrutiny. "Have you slept at all?"

Blake shook her head. "No, couldn't," she responded. "Also, wouldn't the better question be 'what are you doing here in the first place'?"

Kaneki walked over to her chair. "Well," he said, "seeing as saying that would imply me having a problem with you being here, I didn't think it was a very appropriate thing to say."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "I broke into your room without your knowledge or permission," she deadpanned. "I would've thought that warranted a little suspicion from you." Seeing that he was now just a few inches away from touching her shoulder and was giving no indication that he was going to move from that location at all, she shifted her attention back to the holographic screen. "Looks like I was wrong."

There was a long silence. Blake wondered if she had said something to offend Kaneki, though she quickly batted that thought to the ground. Kaneki was way too thick-skinned to let something that small offend him. Besides, it wasn't as though what she'd said was actually offensive. It was a mere observation of a fact.

Blake continued to skim through the article that she had been reading for the past half hour, looking for any information that she might've mistakenly overlooked on her initial two read-throughs. Supposedly, within the article were all of the documented cases of White Fang's movement inside the walls of Vale–or, at the very least, the ones that the police were telling the public about. She was trying to find a link, something that connected all of the crimes together. As of right now, she could only find a single thing that joined them all, and it worried her immensely.

"Were you able to find anything?" The sound of Kaneki speaking forced her focus away from the screen once more. For a moment, she was silent as she stared at him, trying to fully process what he had said to her. "On the White Fang, I mean?"

Blake nodded tentatively and once again turned her head back to the screen. "Um, y-yeah…" She stuttered as she spoke—not because she felt embarrassed, but because she was surprised that that was all he had to say. "…I think I figured out a few things, but nothing concrete. There are still a lot of holes I'm trying to fill in."

"Do you mind sharing what you've figured out then?" Kaneki asked, placing his hands on the desk. "Maybe I could help with filling in whatever holes you have."

Blake sighed, propping her elbow up on the desk and leaning her chin into her hand. "Like I said, I haven't really figured out a lot, but I do think I know why they're doing all of this, at the very least." Moving the cursor on the screen to a tab she had long ago bookmarked and saved, she clicked on it and opened it, revealing a news article that detailed all of the Dust shop robberies Roman Torchwick and his hired gang of thugs had committed. "You remember that Dust shop robbery Ruby broke up on her own, right? The one that involved Torchwick?"

Kaneki nodded. "I'm assuming this has something to do with the shipment of Dust he and the White Fang stole from the docks?"

"Mhm," Blake hummed back, happy that she wouldn't have to waste time explaining how the two were connected. "Alright, assuming that all of what they took is going towards the same cause, then it should be safe to assume that they're planning some sort of attack, right?"

Kaneki tilted his head. "Yeah, that would be the most logical conclusion." "So, what are you thinking that mutual cause is? Seeing that Torchwick—or whoever the hell is in command of this operation—had people infiltrate Beacon Academy, I'm assuming some sort of all out attack on Vale and its residents."

Blake hummed in affirmation, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. "That's what I thought too. Now, the only questions left are: 'how exactly they're going go about doing so' and 'why'." She cupped her chin with her left hand and rested her elbow on her right, muttering to herself. "Seeing that a part of this plan involves the White Fang in some way, it stands to reason that the potential destruction of a city filled with humans is a motivator in this situation, though I can't be too sure. Knowing who's most likely in charge of the Vale branch of White Fang, human subjugation could also be a driving factor."

"Wait," Kaneki said, a slight accusatory edge in his voice. "You know who's in charge of the White Fang in this area?" From the way she could feel his eyes burning into the side of her head, Blake could tell that he was glaring at her through narrowed eyes. "You do realize that's information people would want to know going into a conversation like this, right?"

Blake shook her head. "I have an idea as to who it might be," she quickly defended herself. "There's a difference. I didn't want to get too ahead of myself."

"True, but even an idea would help us come up with a motive of some sort, wouldn't it?"

Blake scowled. Her lack of sleep was catching up with her; her temper was getting short. "Yes, I know that. Where do you think I got the two possibilities I listed earlier? Thin air?"

"The two you listed earlier was extremely broad and unspecific. If you hadn't said anything about knowing who runs this area's branch, I could've easily assumed that you were talking about the group in general."

"And who do you think instilled those broad and unspecific motivations into their heads in the first place?"

"If that's the case, then I still don't understand why you didn't want to mention whoever you're talking about to me, at the very least."

"Look, it's complicated. Alright? He… He's someone I'd rather not discuss unless absolutely necessary." Blake's wrapped her arms around herself, cold at the mere thought of him. "Our past together is a long one, and I'd rather not remember it." Realizing that her eyes had trained themselves onto the ground at some point, she shook her head vigorously and lifted it to meet Kaneki's gaze. "Why do you even care about this anyway? It's not like what you're planning on doing with Neo and the team she brought with her has anything to do with my investigation."

Kaneki stared. "What? Are you serious?" Blake couldn't help but flinch at his sudden abrasive tone. "Did you forget that Neo is probably the closest person in the world to Torchwick right now—the same person who you yourself saw working with the White Fang not even a week ago? How in the world are they not connected?"

Blake could physically feel all of the color drain from her cheeks. Dammit, he's right, she cursed mentally. He's never going to leave me alone about this now.

Sure enough, the next words out of Kaneki's mouth were a question. "Look, answer me truthfully, should you really be doing this right now? If you're making lapses in logic as bad as that, then what's the point in staying up late to search for information?"

Blake grit her teeth and whirled around to face Kaneki. His expression was strange, some emotion she couldn't place but instinctively didn't like. "The point is that neither the White Fang, nor Torchwick, nor whoever they're both being directed by are going to wait for either of us to sleep to follow through on whatever they're planning," she snapped. "We have to nip it in the bud as soon as—"

"No, we don't," Kaneki's words were firm and unmoving. He glared at her, eyes steely and distant. The feel of his hand on her shoulder lacked the usual warmth and comfort that it gave her.

It was strange. Blake's emotions were completely conflicted. A part of her felt like she was talking to a complete stranger, and yet, in that very same unfamiliarity, she could see the same person she always saw. It was clear to her that the Kaneki that she was talking to, the one that just cut her off, was a side that she had never seen in her entire life, but was one that she knew he had inside of him the whole time.

"You want to know why?" Kaneki continued, his tone still harsh. "It's because trying to cut down a tree with a blade that's already dull is a stupid idea and isn't going to get you anywhere."

Blake shook his hand off her shoulder. "True, but what if the tree you're talking about is shaky? Unstable, even? What happens then? It's not just going to stand there forever! It's gonna keep tilting and tipping until a really strong wind hits it and it tips over onto us, destroying everything we have here! I'm not going to let that happen!"

"What happens when the blade you're using breaks? What happens then? Are you just going to sit there and bash your forehead on the tree until it falls or you pass out? That's completely asinine!"

"Which is why something like that isn't going to ever happen!"

"The hell it isn't! You don't think I how self-destructive this sort of behavior is? Blake, I know better than anyone! I did the same exact thing back in my world! Do you know what happened to me at the end of all that?!"

"What?! If you're so freaking knowledgeable about my situation, then tell me what's in store for me! I want to know!"

"Alright, you really want to know?" Kaneki went completely silent for a bit, taking in a deep breath and very clearly bracing himself. "You aren't going to get anything. Not a goddamn thing. Not the goal you're working towards, or a shoulder to lean on at the end of your little witch hunt when you're barely able to stand and you need it the most."

"What then? Are you saying that you'll give up on me if I keep going like this? If you know how I feel and how it's going to end, then shouldn't you be the one to go against the grain and be there when no else will be? To provide that arm to lean on no matter what? Besides, how is anything that I'm doing any different from your obsession with Neo?"

"It's different because, unlike you, I'm actually taking the time to goddamn sleep at night!"

Kaneki's last words sent the room into abrupt silence, punctuated only by the two breathing heavily. They stared at each other for a good while after that–neither of them caring that the tips of their noses were only about ten centimeters from touching.

After a moment, Kaneki snorted angrily and pulled away. "Fine, suit yourself," he said, going back over to his bed. Despite her anger, the irritation in his voice caused Blake a pang of guilt. A part of her knew that she was the one being unreasonable and understood that he was just worried about her, but she couldn't let anyone stop her–not when the White Fang was still out there, and she had no clue as to what their next move was.

When Blake had a somewhat decent idea as to what their goal was, then, and only then, would she even think about indulging in the comfort of sleep. Until then, she would continue to turn Kaneki away. No matter how much it pained her to see him being both angry and disappointed with her.

He'll thank me later, Blake told herself, turning back to the screen and rubbing the drowsiness out of her eyes.

Neo couldn't help but smile at the sudden twist of fate that her life had presented her with.

When Cinder had told her that it would be a requirement for her to attend classes at Beacon while disguised as Emma Blackery, she thought that it would be boring and entirely unneeded. Why would someone like her want to learn how to more effectively kill a Grimm or about some irrelevant piece of history? It wasn't like she would need it anytime soon.

That was, however, before she found herself being sat right next to a certain someone—a certain someone who didn't hesitate in going for the kill instantly. Apparently, the girl who normally sat need to him wasn't present, due to being out on some sort of mission.

Oh, how very convenient for her.

"What are you doing here, Neo?" Neo would've been taken by surprise if it were anybody else talking, but Haise wasn't just anybody else–he was the only person in the world who could see through her disguise so easily.

"Oh, I have no idea as to what you're talking about, Mr. Kaneki," Neo answered, the tiniest bit of mirth in her voice. She was careful to keep her voice low so that the lecturer (and the other students) wouldn't hear her. "My name is Emma, not—"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Neo." The low, soft growl that came from Haise's mouth practically made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. It was just so refreshing to hear him act so unsettled. "Do you seriously think that you're going to fool me of all people with that disguise? When I've already seen you use it before?"

"Ah, so you actually remember when I did that?" Neo asked, her matter-of-fact tone hiding her surprise at Haise remembering. "You bringing that up does makes me wonder about something" She scooched herself a little closer to him. "Just how much does that little mismatching head of your's remember of our little exploits? Oh, and what the owner of that head plans on doing with that information. I'd like to know that too, of course, but before all that…"

Her voice was getting huskier as she spoke, although she managed to keep her cocky attitude. "Give me a little refresher course as to what you're referring to. Y'know…" Seeing that the hand closest to her, his right one, was completely unoccupied (the left was being used as a stand for his head), she slowly, subtly reached over until she was almost touching it, and began drawing little circles on the desk. "Just in case."

Haise didn't miss a beat with his answer, although he didn't seem at all happy that he knew. "You used both the getup and the name during that mission Torchwick sent us on, to break into and clear that lower-ranking Schnee Corporation official's personal mansion of all it contained."

Actually, now that she paid attention, he didn't seem like anything because he didn't sound like anything. He was acting like he didn't even care at all. He wasn't even looking at her! "You used it to catch the interest of the official's son and get you inside. It took you less than an hour to gain access. And only five minutes to let me in."

Neo couldn't keep herself from flinching at how Haise sounded. True, there was no emotion in his voice, but she still felt that there was more bitterness in his words than there was in the coffee he smelled of recently. "Ah… You remember that, huh?"

Haise nodded. "Given your reaction, I take it that was good enough an answer to convince you that I'm telling the truth about knowing who you are? Good. Now, we can finally stop acting like you don't and start discussing your business here at Beacon."

Normally, Neo wasn't someone to be rendered speechless by anything, much less anyone. Usually, if words weren't come out of her mouth, it was because she chose to keep it shut. Right now, however, that certainly wasn't the case. For some reason, despite already knowing just how much he'd changed since she last spoke to him, she still found herself taken off guard by how he different he really was.

Still, despite her surprise towards his behavior, Neo wouldn't let herself be completely bested by someone. Much less Haise of all people. She had her pride, after all.

"What? You think that just because you know who I really am, I'm just going to spill my guts to you about my plans here? Please." Neo smirked at Haise and tilted her head to the side. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to know what I'm up to."

There was silence between them for a bit after she said that. The entire time, Neo kept her eyes locked onto Haise's face, watching for any change in his facial expression. It occurred to her as she stared at him that she was currently playing a rather dangerous game. The person in front of her wasn't the same person he once was. No, there was absolutely nothing that tied him to her anymore, which meant that he had no reason to keep her presence at Beacon a secret. He might've told someone already, now that she thought about it. She meant nothing to him right now, so purposefully pushing his buttons probably wasn't the best idea.

Then, suddenly, Haise cracked a small smile. Neo let out a breath (dare she say a sigh of relief?) as she remembered that Haise had, at one point, been her willing punching bag, so pushing his buttons was probably something he expected.

"Yeah," Haise replied, almost wistfully, leaning back into his chair. "Can't say that I didn't expect something like that from you."

And just like that, their conversation was over, leaving only the lecturer's boring drone to fill the silence. Neo normally would've loathed it, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel…not happy, per se, but content sitting where she was.

So, this is what it would have felt like, huh? She thought, glancing at the familiar, yet entirely different young man next to her. If he and I had just lived normal lives together?

Neo made a little pillow out of her arms, propping them right up on her desk and resting her head on them. Closing her eyes, she pondered what such a life would have been like, and if it would've been possible for her to maintain.

Neo soon realized, after looking at her memory and then herself, that the answer to the second question was most definitely no. There was no way she would have been able to deal with the doldrums of a 'normal' life. Still, she couldn't help but imagine what it might have been like.

She wouldn't have to deal with the constant stress of being a thief, walk the city streets ever-paranoid about the people around her, and most importantly, there wouldn't be any need for her to be on the move constantly. She'd be able to settle down and get to know the people around her. Have them not just be yet another cast of interchangeable faces that came in and out of her life. At least for a little while.

Yeah, that'd be nice… Neo thought to herself contentedly, smiling. She had no sooner done so, then something jabbed her in the arm.

Something that felt very much like an elbow.

"So he knows about us being here then?" Cinder asked Neopolitan, her tone harboring only the slightest hints of her rising aggravation.

"Oh, most definitely," Neo deadpanned in reply, showing an infuriatingly small amount of concern. She laid back on her bed with her legs raised up in the air. "If he knows about me, then he no doubts suspects that the people I came in with have some connection to whatever I'm doing. I still wouldn't worry about it too much, though."

"And why do you think that, exactly?" There was much more than a hint of irritation in Cinder's voice now. "Our entire plan will fall apart if he goes to Ozpin and tells him about our presence here."

Neo shrugged, shifting her attention to the ceiling. "Can't say that you're wrong there." She winked at Cinder, smirking so nonchalantly that it almost made the blood in her veins boil. "Though, I have a good feeling that he isn't going to be running to his lord and master Ozpin anytime soon."

With a whip of her legs, Neo went from lying down to sitting up, cross-legged. "Just think about it." She stretched her arms out to her sides. "Unless Haise has the guy in his pocket, Ozpin probably isn't going to believe him when he says that a bunch of transfer students are really extremely famous and dangerous criminals. He's gotta have proof first."

"That may be true, but what if he does believe him?"

Once again, Neo shrugged infuriatingly. "We'll just have to find out when that happens. There's no real point in worrying about it until then."

This girl is actually impossible… Cinder let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She's lucky that I need her for recruiting Sasaki. Otherwise, I'd—

"Say, you know, you never told me why you wanted to bring Haise back." Cinder's train of thought was broken when Neo suddenly spoke up. "You probably wouldn't be having this problem if you didn't find him to be oh-so-desirable."

"Would you please not phrase it like that?" Cinder snapped. "People may get the wrong idea."

"Oh, that's my bad." The amount of sarcasm in Neo's voice made the hairs on the back of Cinder's neck bristle.

Thankfully, experience had taught her how to deal with both Torchwick and his associates: let everything they said bounce off, so as to avoid giving them more reasons to be smug. With that in mind, Cinder merely crossed her arms and said, "Also, I think what I want him for should be fairly obvious to you of all people."

"Oh, so I should know what about him you find desirable?" Neo rocked back and forth in exaggerated glee. "Oh, let me guess! Is it the fact he has absurd amounts of book smarts, yet never tries to lord it over people?"

"What?" Cinder was immediately thrown off. "Of course not! What are you even talking about?"

"Is it the fact that he stood up to you that one time? You seem like the kind of woman who likes a guy with a backbone."

"What— No— What in the world are you even going on about?"

"Oh, I know! Maybe you took a liking to those powers that he somehow gained! You probably want to use them to help instill more fear within Vale's public by having him attack civilians since they make him look so much like a Grimm when he activates them. The fact that he's been living here at Beacon helps because you can twist it to make it seem like Ozpin has been harboring an unknown and dangerous creature in their halls without even notifying any of the students, making him look like an extremely bad person."

Cinder opened her mouth to refute Neopolitan's claims once more but stopped herself when she realized those claims were actually very, very accurate. Keeping down the urge to be immature and grumble a few choice curse words under her breath, she begrudgingly nodded.

Neo, realizing she was right, smirked smugly. "Seriously? Well, it looks like I hit myself a home run in a 0-2 count there." She tilted her head to the side in a clear sign of contemplation, which genuinely made Cinder curious, until she saw that infuriating smirk was still on her lips. "Though I'm getting the distinct feeling that those first two strikes I got were more foul balls than swings and misses."

Letting out a frustrated growl and shaking her head disbelievingly, Cinder quickly made her way out of the dorm room that Beacon Academy had graciously provided them. However, as she turned the doorknob and pushed open the door, she quickly found herself coming to a dead stop due to surprise.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention," Neopolitan continued from the bed, "he wanted to talk to you."

Standing in the doorway was none other than Haise Sasaki, looking eerily calm.

"Cinder Fall," he said, as a loud crack came from his right side. "I'd like to say that it's nice to see you again, but after all that's happened, I don't think I can without flat out lying."

"…I guess you can say the same about me as well, Haise Sasaki."

-Chapter End-

The chapter was shorter than it originally was due to editing. It was five thousand words and now it's not. You guys still got the five thousand word effort from me, though, and that's all that matters, right? UwU

P.S: The "UwU" means don't kill me for not hitting the five-thousand-word mark.