Hello Everyone! Nutshop here once again! submitting yet another chapter of this wonderful story! It took a while to complete because the interactions had to be settled between Evi and Weiss. In order for my story to progress, I had to make it so the two are in friendlier terms than before. But enough of this, Enjoy!
Chapter Five
Evi was surrounded in darkness as he lay unconscious on the ground due to unfortunate circumstances that had transpired. At least that's what he thought while his eyes were still shut. Though the ground felt incredibly soft and leathery, like a sofa of some sort? This, in itself, was rather suspicious. Not to mention that the pleasant scent of ground coffee that was abundant around him made his mouth water. He groaned in pain as he slowly opened his eyes revealing what appeared to be a different room than the auditorium as there was a lot of dark green and brown. It was pretty blurry at the moment as his head was aching rather painfully from that long fall to the ground.
"I see you have recovered from feinting Mr. Magkumpun." A familiar male voice had spoken from a brown rectangle a few feet away. Evi shook his head from side to side and massaged is forehead before his vision eventually began to sharpen and reveal the speaker.
"Mr… Ozpin?" Evi asked as he rubbed his eyes with his hands slowly.
"Mhm." Ozpin answered back as he sat comfortably at his desk. His steamy cup of coffee held snugly in his right hand. When Evi had fully recovered his sight, he realized that he must have been brought into the Headmaster's main office. He had to admit, his office looked rather cozy as it was filled with an assortment of brown and dark green pieces furniture that complimented the prestigious Headmaster himself. Speaking of Headmaster Ozpin...
"Why did you have to single me out in that crowd sir? I even told that I become a nervous wreck when I'm the centre of attention in crowds like that!" Evi whined as he gave his friend a frustrated pout.
Ozpin shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I needed you to take care of something for me." He then jerked his head towards the other end of the room where his beloved coffee machine lay in ruins once more. Evi turned his head towards the device before giving both adults a deadpanned stare while they both playfully glared at each other accusingly.
"Is there anything else that I have to worry about?" Evi asked slowly from the comforting location of the dark brown leather couch.
The two adults straightened their posture while placing their glares on hold. "Well, we needed to give you something. Miss Goodwitch, if you please?" Ozpin requested as he gestured the package on the side of his cluttered desk. Glynda nodded her head before walking towards Evi to give him the small, rectangular gift.
"Here you are Mr. Magkumpun, the Headmaster requested for this to be brought to you personally." Glynda stated as she handed him the package. Evi carefully opened the package, revealing what appeared to be a miniscule, green chip.
"Uhh, what's this for?" Evi commented as he held the chip carefully in his grasp.
Ozpin pulled out his scroll before pointing out "That chip contains essential software that will assist you in locating rooms and services that will be in need of your field of expertise."
"Ah, I see." Evi stated in realization before inserting the chip into his right, rectangular ear piece. Once the deed was done, his goggles began to activate before changing from its usual rich red to a subtle, jade green. Glynda raised her brow as to what Evi was doing before witnessing his goggles project a miniature, three-dimensional map of each of Beacon Academy's floors. Before she could inquire about how in the world Evi did that, three, red, blinking lights began to appear in the location of the library, music room and in the Headmasters office. She sent her gaze back at Headmaster Ozpin, only to realize that he was completely unfazed as to what happened and was simply enjoying his warm beverage.
"Well, the map seems to be working properly. Thank you sir!" Evi quickly bowed his head towards his employer.
Ozpin smiled while rising from his comfortable chair before mentioning "I should be the one thanking you Mr. Magkumpun." Evi smiled at the compliment before they began their small talk once more.
While they were casually talking amongst each other, Glynda's mind was utterly confused with several questions quickly forming within her head. How in Remnant did he do that?! Why did Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon himself, give this young man a detailed map of the school grounds? How do they know each other so well?! Her train of thought was halted abruptly when Ozpin made a quick announcement.
"Alright then Evi, Glynda, I must be off. I have to discuss tonight's dinner preparations with the mess hall staff." He nodded towards Evi and waved towards his secretary before quickly leaving his office.
Glynda blinked her eyes before remembering the mountain of paperwork that cluttered his desk. "B-but sir! What about all of your-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Ozpin had already dashed away towards the mess hall. Leaving only the repairman and herself, remaining within the room. She sighed as she rested her hand upon her head trying to remember what she signed up for the next few years.
"Sounds like you have it pretty rough dealing with Ozpin everyday too huh?" Evi sympathetically commented as he inspected the coffee grinder.
Glynda stared back at Evi questioningly before replying, "Tell me about it." She then went towards the Headmaster's desk and began to sort out his employer's paperwork once again…for the third time today.
"So… What did he do for this to happen?" Evi asked curiously while holding the coffee machine's dispenser.
"Mr. Ozpin was abusing his responsibilities as headmaster for directing his funds towards... personal use." Glynda answered back irritably as she began to inspect the transcripts of the new arrivals.
Evi tapped his chin before recalling, "Did it involve using two eighths of the school funds for coffee?"
Glynda raised a surprised brow towards his direction. "H-how did you know?"
Evi then pointed towards the giant pile of coffee bean bags that consumed the corner of the room. "Lucky guess…" He answered back.
Glynda blinked before a look of irritation consumed her well-being once again. Why didn't she see that until he pointed it out?! "Yes… You are indeed correct Mr. Magkumpun. Though I am uncertain how you knew of our financial crisis."
"Oh, he told me about it last night when he came to my place." Evi answered casually. Glynda stared at Evi once more in suprise when she heard such information. While she was contemplating this, her eyes had happened to stumble upon his registration information.
"Your place?" Glynda inquired with a look of suspicion. She read over his student information sheet and found the address of his establishment. "Your business is in… a junkyard?"
"Yep! Evi's Friendly Fixin's is what my place is called. Vale's local repairman, nice to meet you." Evi made a quick bow before returning to fix the dispenser.
"Mr. Magkumpun, may I inquire as to why a repairman like you is partaking a career in becoming a huntsman?" Glynda asked cautiously.
Evi shrugged his shoulders slowly as he faced Glynda once more. "It sounded like a great idea at the time. Mr. Ozpin convinced me to come here so I can explore the world beyond my home. Not to mention he needed my help for all the damage that apparently is going to happen this year from all of the new huntsman and huntresses to be." Glynda soon recalled her night crunching all of the financial numbers before shuddering at the estimated repair costs. I was a terrifying sight to behold.
"Wait, how will you be able to assist us with our financial crisis, won't we need to pay for your services at the same rate as most?" She inquired before wincing at all of the damage reports of a girl wearing a red hood.
"That's the nice thing about my services… I don't charge a lein! That's one of the reasons why Ozpin hired me after all" Evi answered happily as he began to piece all of the components of the coffee machine together.
She quickly stared at the young man confused. "…Are you serious?"
"Yep!" He replied quickly. "If you want more proof, read my business card."
Glynda then noticed a yellow business card lay beside one of Ozpin's coffee mugs and soon read its content.
While Glynda was currently preoccupied by reading the testimonials of his customers, Evi remembered something from last night that was mentioned by Headmaster Ozpin. "So, Mr. Ozpin mentioned you are a licensed professional in the field of Aura right?"
Glynda turned her head towards her certificate located within one of the bookshelves that lined across the walls. It was embroiled with a gold boarder stating that she was indeed a certified professional of aura studies with her graduates cap and scroll placed gently at the side. Now that she thought about it, why was her certificate in Ozpin's office in the first place? "That is indeed correct Mr. Magkumpun, why do you ask?"
"Well, aura is a manifestation of ones soul." Evi started out as he pulled out his paint brush from his utility belt. "It's supposed to be able to heal minor wounds like small cuts and it should be able to protect me from life threatening harm right?"
"You are correct." Glynda confirmed. She was quite impressed in how he knew so much about aura even though his transcript mentioned that he had no education of any kind.
"Well… is it normal for aura to not do that at all?" Evi asked curiously.
Glynda stopped what she was doing before raising a curious brow as to what she had just heard. "Excuse me?"
"Like I said earlier, is it normal for aura to not do that at all?" Evi repeated slowly.
Glynda pondered over this repeatedly within her head. It should not even be possible, Aura was the energy the promoted those with a soul to live longer thanks to the protective, healing properties. "No, no that is not what aura should be doing." Glynda admitted truthfully while giving Evi a rather analytical stare.
"Well, could you possibly help with my aura problem? Because whenever I work, my cuts and bruises take forever to go away." Evi asked quietly while doing the finishing touches on the coffee machine.
Glynda nodded her head approvingly before voicing her concerns. "As a licensed professional, I will assist you in your predicament. But with your aura acting as it is, should you even become a huntsman?" Evi tilted his head in confusion indicating that he was not understanding her. "Without your aura protecting you properly, you will be susceptible to damage that could possibly cripple you, or even worse end your life!"
Evi stared at the professor understandingly while he heard her talk about the life threatening side of being a huntsman. "I know… I-it's just that I want to meet new people and whatnot while exploring the world sounds way better than just staying in a junk yard all day fixing stuff. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Glynda sighed before voicing out her opinion, "Well, if you still insist in become a huntsman, meet me at my office once you finish repairing the rooms that are in need of your services."
Evi perked up from that comment before replying excitedly, "Yes ma'am!" He soon began collecting his tools back into their respective pouches within his utility belt. "Right, now that I'm done, I shall get going!" He then revealed his work as the coffee machine was fully functional once more.
Glynda blinked her eyes once again before checking her wristwatch. He finished fixing all of that in only ten minutes!? No wonder Ozpin requested his assistance. "Right then, I will be expecting your answer later tonight at 9:30 sharp Mr. Magkumpun."
"Right then, see you then Miss Goodwitch." Evi said as he head out the door. Before he opened the door, Evi stated, "Oh I almost forgot, keep the destruction of Ozpins coffee machine to a minimum please. This Is, what, the sixth time I've fixed it now?"
A look of irritation consumed her face when she stared between the coffee machine and then back towards Evi. "I...shall try my best..." Glynda responded with a scowl and gritted teeth.
Evi gave her a look of pity before walking out the headmaster's front door.
So here he was, navigating through the hallways of his new school in search of his next destination, the music room. He had to admit, this place was astounding! The amount of details within the architecture made this establishment amazing, it made him think about what trials that layed before him. Was he worthy enough to become a huntsman even though he has no knowledge on how to fight? He shook the thoughts of doubt from his mind when he remembered the words of his new friend Ruby and activated his three dimensional repair display of Beacon Academy. It's a good thing that he got this from Ozpin, if he didn't, he probably would have been lost by now. Evi shuddered at the thought of being lost in this massive place and began to quicken his pace.
When he finally arrived at the music room entrance, he twisted the doorknob with his hand and slowly creaked open the door. The first thing that he noticed that there were instruments of several different shapes and sizes hanging on the walls, with music stand all folded up besides the several stack of chairs. The second thing that he noticed was how the window began to pour the afternoon sunlight onto something that was currently being covered by a very dusty, large, white sheet. The last thing that he noticed was that for some reason, there was a pile of several brass instruments lying beside the oddly shaped object.
Evi approached it slowly as the sounds of his footsteps began to echo within the room. When he reached the strangely shaped thing, he slowly undraped the sheet when a little cloud of dust appeared and blocked his vision momentarily. After sneezing a few times and fanning his hands, the dust cloud had vanished to reveal what appeared to be a slightly damaged grand piano. The damage wasn't that extensive since all the keys were still intact , the strings were in one piece, and the legs were still holding. The only parts that required his attention was the piano stool, rearranging the strings of the piano, and the piano cover was missing a half of itself. He began to look around the room for something that he could use to repair this large instrument. Fortunately, he found the materials needed hiding behind the closet that was being blocked by a rather large base drum and cello. Once the materials were in place he unhooked his toolbox and began to repair the grand piano.
It took him a span of twenty minutes to fully repair the instrument since he had to figure out the model as well as tuning it. It was convenient that on a nearby shelf that it showed the multiple components of the piano in finer detail. Once the tuning was completed, he stretched his arms and began to sigh in achievement in completing his task at hand. He activated his goggles once more to discover the the time was only 5:45 pm... Wow, he must have passed out for a while if that much time had flown by. He then pulled out the pamphlet of Beacon Academy from his utility belt and began to check the time schedule for when was dinner.
"6:30 pm huh?" Evi asked himself as he stared at the pamphlet. When be realized that he had a bit of free time on his hands before dinner would be served, he decided to revisit a few old talents and began to walk towards the piano. He adjusted the stool, cracked his fingers, straightened his back he prepared his hands and stared to fiddle with the keys to find the right notes for his song.
At this very exact moment in time, Weiss was currently blowing off steam by wandering the halls of her soon to be school. She had to admit, she could have been a bit less violent in her verbal assault upon those two troublemakers but her people skills were a bit lacking. Being home-schooled ever since she was seven years old, it made things rather difficult when it came to interacting with others kids her age. Sure she was trained in the proper ways of speaking with others, but that only applied to speaking with adults and other teenagers of similar status. Having a lack of friends her age made things difficult for her socially since the people whom were 'supposedly' her friends mainly wanted to benefit from her father's company or just wanting something with her… inappropriately. The young heiress shook these vile thoughts from her mind and continued to venture forth and explore her new school.
When she came across an intersection in the hallway, she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the sounds of a piano being played faintly nearby. She slowly followed the music before arriving near a room with the word 'Music Hall' placed on a small plaque near the door.
"Ok, now I remember how it goes!" A familiar voice said from inside the room. Weiss slowly peeked into the music hall to see a man wearing a rather familiar shade of pink seated comfortably on a stool in front of a grand piano.
"He can play piano?" Weiss asked to no one in particular skeptically. She highly doubted that this pink, reckless, ruffian could play something as graceful as the piano. She imagined him suddenly banging random keys with his forehead that would make her ears scream pain from how dreadful it was. Then she remembered the words from his father to 'never judge a book by it's cover.' She decided to stick around for just to humor herself as Evi, who was currently unaware of her presence, began to count himself off.
"One, two, three, four." Evi said to himself as he began to play his jolly tune.
watch?v=-X9OVWM0uwA [When I Grow up, By Crusader Beach Piano Music]
His hands began to glide onto the piano while the notes came naturally within his mind. As he began to play his song, a smile slowly crept onto his face as he began to close his eyes from how noglastic this song was. His hands moving gracefully across the keys as his body began to sway left and right. It made him remember all of the fun and memorable times when he was younger. Sure a majority of his life went downhill when he was only thirteen years old but it didn't stop the rush of old, happy memories from flooding into his mind. Like the day he first met Ozpin, he was great company to have around and his very first friend when he started his repairing business. Then there was the Vytal festival that always occurs once a year. It was always so much fun! It was filled with decorations that hung across the building's walls and then there was all the different kind of food stalls that would simply make any passerby's water from the aroma. While he was reminiscing within memory lane, the unexpected audience member couldn't help but stare.
Weiss was completely mesmerized by the melody that Evi was currently performing within the music room. Never in her wildest dreams would she had believed that someone like Evi, who did nothing but cause a scene as a first impression, could play so gracefully and with such passion as she saw him slowly sway with the song left and right. She slowly entered the music hall to get a closer look at him and hopefully, undisturb his performance.
When she arrived beside the piano, she witnessed how his hands were playing with finess and grace of an expert pianist, hitting every key at the right moment. Her eyes soon began to drift towards his face as his eyes were closed loosely and a heartwarming smile was evident on his face like he was remembering a wonderful memory. She then started to listen to the music as she too closed her eyes and began to remember when she was younger, spending time with her family. The smiles on their faces as she and her parents were together on that little hill having a picnic as they watched the sun set for the night, the eventful nights where they would watch movies together after a long gruling day of work and papers, that one last hug to her parents when she set off towards her plane as she set off to become a huntress and protect the world from the darkness and make her parents proud. Those were the good old days...
When Evi had finished by hitting that last note, he took a deep breath in satisfaction as he began to stretch his arms. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw a girl clad in white staring back him with a smile of reminiscence evident on her features. He was quite startled as that he had an unexpected audience member watch him play so much that he jolted backwards on his seat before the stool tilted and brought him, and the chair, downward onto the carpeted surface.
Weiss winced as he crashed onto the ground before quietly chuckling at the sight of Evi. He groaned as he shook his head to remove the pain.
"H-hey Weiss. I didn't expect to see you in here." Evi gulped as he just layed there on the ground, still sitting on the stool.
Weiss crossed her arms as she gave a playful look that would mean 'really?' Evi simply slumped onto the ground and just stared at the ceiling, slowly recovering from the long fall.
"You know, for a dolt whose reckless and pink, you play pretty well on the piano." Weiss complimented as she stood beside the piano. Evi tilted his head towards the heiress questioningly. He had no idea if that was supposed to be a compliment, or an insult.
"Uhh, thanks? I think." Evi said slowly as he pulled himself from the ground and propping the stool back to its original position. Once he stood on his own two feet, he stayed in place for two seconds before he jumped back once more and retreated behind the convenient pile of brass instruments.
Weiss blinked in surprise in what she had witnessed until her scowl returned once more. "What are you doing now?! Why is it that whenever I'm around, you cower in fear away from me?" Weiss asked impatiently as she became unimpressed by the return of Evi's original self.
"Like I said before, you're scary and I don't want to be a human popsicle again!" Evi whimpered from his hiding place. Whenever he spoke, the pile of brass instruments would shake subtly.
"... I am so not scary!" Weiss yelled as she averted he eyes from Evi's location. Evi revealed his head from his hiding place to give her a deadpanned stare.
"Hey, I know scary. And you Weiss, are a rather frightening individual. Especially when your angry." Evi countered back while he retreated back into the safety of his hiding place.
Weiss frowned and glared back at the pink repairman's direction before commenting, "That's because you could have caused an explosion with your recklessness!"
"How was I supposed to know that there was dust in there?!" Evi whined.
"Didn't you even recognize the Schnee Dust Company logo you dolt?!" Weiss rhetorically yelled. A few seconds of silence had passed and Evi peeked from his hiding place once more. He looked as if he really was trying to recall the name of the international company. Sadly, nothing came up so he slowly shook his head left and right. A look of shock and disbelief was evident on her face before she asked "You can't be serious...?"
"I am dead serious right now." Evi stated as he stared back. "I didn't even know what the Schnee Dust Company was until a few hours ago."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This young man in front of her didn't know who her father's international dust mining company?! Was that even physically possible? "B-but that can't be!" Weise exclaimed as she began to rub her forehead from what was happening at the moment. "It's a world renowned dust mining company; we supply two-thirds of the worlds dust for all of Vytals use! We-we even have our own tooth paste brand!" She then pulled out a box of Shi-Nee tooth paste from her sleeves and began to wave her arms in disbelief. "How in the world can you not know about it?!"
Evi shrugged his shoulders before answering back with an, "…I dunno."
Weiss could only face-palm by the ridiculousness of the situation in front of her. However, the impact of the palm attack caused her memory to be jogged before remembering another detail. "And what's this about becoming a human popsicle that I hear from you?"
Evi began to shudder from the near death experience that happened in the morning. While he was reminiscing in fear, he was unaware of how the pile of brass instruments began to loom over his head. "Well, I was still soaking wet when I came to the site of the explosion. When you got super angry at me, it got really cold and I couldn't even feel my fingers!"
Weiss's eyes went wide open as she realized that she had sub-consciously used her aura. She cursed under her breath for being careless to let that slip once again as she was trying her best to control said power. "Okay, I admit, that part may have been a little bit my fault."
"A little bit?! I almost died of hypothermia!" Evi complained from his position. He soon flicked his hair with his right hand before it made a *ting!* sound like a glass to prove his rather cold point.
Weiss winced by how some of his hair was still frozen even after several hours had passed. She must have used a bit too much aura when they first met.
"Look, I'm sorry if I may have made a rather… cold first impression, but could you possibly keep it secret? Please?" Weiss pleaded as she held her right arm and looked at Evi apologetically.
Evi looked at her carefully just in case. She did look sincere enough, and Evi himself knew how harsh it would be if someone were to find out about their secret and treat them differently. "Okay… I promise to keep your cold aura a secret," Weiss began to close her eyes in relief, "Under one condition."
Weiss groaned at the words 'under one condition'. She was probably going to be blackmailed once again like how she was when she was back at her combat school. Due to some 'unforseen circumstances', the entire building was turned into a glacier which forced her to be home schooled for the rest of elementary years. She would gladly do that again if this reckless ruffian was like the rest of the other pompous, snobby, kids back at her old school. As she slowly reached for her rapier, she glared back at the repairman cautiously asking, "And that would be?"
Without missing a beat, Evi quickly requested, "You promise that you won't turn me into a human popsicle. Ever." He then began to scratch the back of his neck while adding. "It would be nice to live a little bit longer without worrying about dying of hypothermia."
Weiss blinked for a few moments trying to see if she heard him correctly. All she had to was not freeze him? "Really? Just that?" Weiss asked for confirmation.
Evi nodded his up and down before replying, "Yep, that's all I'm asking."
"You don't want dust of the highest quality?" Evi shook his head once more.
"Not even a large sum of lein!?" Weiss inquired with confusion more evident within her voice.
"Nope." Evi answered back.
"Do you even want anything besides that you dolt!?" Weiss yelled once more.
"…Nope. So long as you don't freeze me, that's good enough for me." Evi replied once more form his hiding place.
Weiss blinked before staring at his eyes very carefully to make sure that there wasn't some sort of hidden catch. His eyes begged to differ as he looked more indifferent than a few moments ago. She sighed in relief as she placed back her weapon before nodding her head. "So long as you keep it a secret, I promise that I will not… freeze you."
Evi smiled at his accomplishment of living longer and soon began to emerge from his hiding place. Sadly, he didn't see the giant tuba that loomed above his head. So when he rose to his feet, his head clanked with the large brass tuba before wincing in pain. While in this state, he was completely unaware of where he was going an promptly crashed into his hiding his place. The sound of brass instruments clanging with one another and Evi's yelps of pain could be heard throughout the music hall.
Weiss winced whenever a brass instrument crashed into him, which occurred multiple times before it all stopped. When she checked to see if Evi was okay, she began to giggle at the sight of Evi being completely covered by French horns, trumpets, trombones, and tubas of all shapes and sizes.
"Uh... a little help here? Please?" Evi pleaded from the bottom of the pile. Weiss rolled her eyes before flicking her wrist as she created a white glyph in front of her. When Evi first saw the glyph, he was a bit confused as to what would happen next. His suspicions were answered when his back was no longer being weighted down by brass instruments. She soon twisted her wrist and everything on the glyph was gently placed several feet away from Evi.
"Thanks Weiss." Evi thanked from his current position. She simply walked towards Evi and pulled him up before saying, "You're welcome."
When he finally patted himself clean of any lingering dust from his clothing, he looked towards the heiress before asking, "So, should we get going towards the mess hall? They should be serving dinner by now." Before Weiss could respond, a loud growling sound emanated from her stomach indicating that it was hungry.
Evi blinked as to what had just happened before attempting to hold in his laughter. Sadly, he was unsuccessful as he was over consumed into a fit of giggles from the hungry heiress.
"Sh-shut up! You didn't hear anything!" Weiss yelled as she faced away the lightish-red repairman.
"Uh huh!" Evi cried out while slowly trying to stop his laughter. Weiss would have probably frozen him once more for such humiliation. Sadly, she was bound by the promise that she had made a few moments ago and a Schnee never ever breaks a promise.
"…Dammit." Weiss grumbled as they both slowly made their way towards the mess hall.
Right, I decided to end it here since the Chapter was getting a tab bit too long. I'm not sure if I should write about their meal interaction but one thing is for certain, I am going to need to write about Blake's encounter with Pink Bird as well as discover the secrets as to why his Aura is on the fritz.
So stay in touch with this story and this is Nutshop saying Stay Handsome and have a nice day!