Chapter 3

The unexpected surge of rain that had come in so suddenly, proved to be worse then expected. As the festivity of the dance came to a close, and almost dramatic one considering the conflict that had occurred between Aero and all of CRDL, every student was nearly running to find shelter in their dorm rooms from the rain. Not a lick of thunder could be heard, but the rain was heavy and strong, as were the winds.

Drenched completely as he ran through it all, Aero kept an arm up over his eyes to block out the rain, but with how strong it was, it almost was futile.

"Damn it its coming down hard! Blake! You okay!?" Aero yelled back to the young woman of a Faunus, who herself was also soaked.

"Yes, but I'd prefer it if we were inside!" She shouted back as she kept her hand clasped with his, so as not to get separated from him.

Both were completely soaked with rain, and still had a good distance to the dorm rooms, but despite this and the still strong gusts of wind that blew past them, they eventually made it back.

"Oh god, that was completely unexpected. I didn't expect the rain to come down so hard." Aero let out a few sighs of relief, still shaken up by the sudden torrential downpour, shivering a bit even from being drenched.

"Maybe we should have checked a forecast before we left... a-achoo!" Blake suddenly let out a sneeze, albeit, a rather cute one.

"Uh oh, that didn't sound good. Come on up to my room Blake, we'll get dried up their, otherwise we're bound to catch cold." Aero took hold of her hand gently as he spoke, leading her up the stairs and eventually down the hall to his room.

"Mm, okay." Blake could only respond with a sniffle almost as she let him take her hand, leading the way.

Soon both we're within Aero's own room, obviously still soaked to no end, and shivering as well. Without even asking, Aero quickly worked the thermostat to heat the room up, not wanting neither him, nor his lover, to be feeling cold.

"Hang on a sec Blake, let me get some towels and dry clothes you can slip into." Aero spoke before opening up a nearby closet to rummage around for the mentioned items.

Blake simply smiled before sitting herself down on the nearby bed. Her eyes soon fell on a series of photos though, some of which were recognizable to her, since they were of both Aero and her, them with their teammates, all in various shots from different moments in time, to when their team was fully brought together, or when she and him finally became a couple.

Her eyes however then feel on a few photos she didn't recognize, yet had Aero in them, with various other people. Her attention however fell mostly on two that had Aero with three other girls in one, and then one of those three girls in another. His expression in them, he seemed, quite happy. It looked as though he were even close to her. So close... Blake's mind wondered, could this be someone Aero knew back where he came from? Could she be his ex? Or maybe... she was another girlfriend of his somehow?

"Blake?" His voice brought her back to her senses as he called out to her, a towel being handed to her as she looked back up, able to see Aero had also changed back into his normal clothes, minus the hooded vest and wristbands he usually wore.

"H-Huh?! O-Oh, sorry." Blake couldn't help but jump a bit in surprise as he had called to her so suddenly, the picture she had been holding up falling from her hands.

"Hm? Oh, were you looking at these old things?" Aero chuckled before picking up the framed picture, looking to it for a moment before placing it down.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to be staring at them for so long, they just... sort of got my attention is all." Blake felt a faint bit of heat fill her cheeks as her face went red slightly.

"Don't worry about it. These pictures are from a long time ago anyway."

"They are? Then... would it be alright if I asked, who those girls are?"

Aero could see where Blake was going with her question, letting out a chuckle as he cleared his throat before tossing the towel he held onto her head, helping her dry herself off. She flinched, surprised by actions, but nonetheless comfortable by his gentle touch.

"Their just a couple of my old friends from my time before I came to Beacon. The one I'm with by myself here, her name's Mizore. I actually dated her for a couple of months, but some complications came up, and we had to go our separate ways. Let me guess though Blake, you thought maybe I was still dating one of these girls or something and that's why you asked me who they were, am I right?"

Aero couldn't help but smile, trying to hold in a bit of laughter as Blake turned the other way for a moment, a faint blush on her face.

"I didn't mean to pry, I just... wasn't sure if those girls meant something to you or not." As she spoke, the cat ears on her head drooped, as if reflecting her emotions.

'She's so adorable.' Aero downright wanted to hug her she looked so cute the way she was at that moment. "Oh, by the way, here Blake."

Reaching for what was under his arm, Aero pulled out what looked like a rather large black shirt, that despite its size, looked like it would fit Blake.

"I don't really have any of your clothes here, as if I would, and I don't want to barge into the team room, so I figured, maybe you could make due with this. If, that's alright." A small blush spread across his face.

Blake wasn't sure by what he going on about, but smiled nonetheless as she took the shirt in her hands. "Its okay, I'll wear it."

"Okay, well, let me turn the other way then."

With those words, Aero stepped away and turned around, keeping his eyes closed so as not to slip any peeks. Even if he had kept his eyes open, he still wouldn't have tried to look. Actions that could easily label him as a pervert were things he always refrained from doing.

Blake giggled at the way Aero acted. She had seen very different sides to him, but this was a first. Of course, she felt she had nothing to worry about with him peeking at her, and even if he did, she wouldn't mind. They weren't strangers to one another anymore. With those thoughts in mind, she stood up and undid the zipper on the back of her dress, the entire piece slipping off of her and pooling to her feet. Once that had been done, she easily slipped the shirt on to herself, the entirety of it covering all of her upper body and a good portion of her lower body, so that even her lower unmentionables were only viewable if she pulled the hem of it up.

'I can... smell Aero on this shirt.' As she thought this, she pulled the shirt closer to her nose, taking a deep breath, able to smell his scent on it. If it weren't for her ability to keep her more primal side under control, that one inhale could have sent her into a tizzy.

"You can turn around now."

At her words, Aero opened his eyes again and turned back to face her, only to nearly topple over from pure shock at what he saw. He had expected the sight of Blake in one of his older shirts to be something, interesting, to say the least, but what he was looking at nearly sent his heart into absolute arrest.

"W... Wow..." Was the only word he could even think to mutter out, his face most obviously flushed with red. His thoughts said something different however.

'S-She looks so damn sexy in that shirt...'

"Uhm, you're making this embarrassing for me you know." A blush formed on Blake's face.

"Ah! S-Sorry! D-Didn't mean to stare or anything, you just look... really good even in just that shirt is all. E-Eheheh." A nervous chuckle escaped from him as he apologized, scratching the back of his head all too nervously as well.

Blake giggled and smiled again. Just as much as he found her embarrassed side to be cute, so did she but with his.

"Anyway, do you feel a bit warmer and dried up now Blake? The heater is going still, and I did dry your hair up as much as I could." Aero's face was still flushed as he tried to quickly change the topic, of course this only made Blake giggle more, almost full on laugh.

"Hmhm, I'm fine Aero, thanks." She replied with a smile before looking back over at the pictures, still a bit curious over them despite Aero's words from earlier.

"Blake...? Are you still worried about those girls in the pictures? I already told you I'm not with one of them anymore, and the other two are just close friends of mine."

"I know, I just... still feel this part of me, that says, they still are real close to you, and maybe, even if you don't love them, they love you... and that, irks me for some reason... it makes, the part of me that isn't human, feel almost... possessive of you..."

The words that came from her were unexpected, but in some ways, they almost touched Aero's heart. He knew for a fact he would never go back to being with any one of those girls as a lover again, yet he also knew he wouldn't ever leave Blake as a lover either. Even so, she still felt possessive of him whenever she saw just the images of these girls he had been so close to in the past. He could almost swear this came from the part of her that was Faunus. The part of her that was different. A part of her that was only one of many that drove him up the walls about her.

"Blake..." He only muttered her name before moving closer to her and pulling her into a tight, loving, and protective embrace as both of them toppled into the bed on their sides, with Aero still holding her as close as possible.

"A-Aero?" Blake's face turned red hot with embarrassment as she found herself embraced by her lover, surprised all the same still he had suddenly done so.

"Blake, listen to me, I have no connections of the sort with those girls anymore like I do with you. They are my friends still yes, but they don't have the same amount of value to me as you do now. They're not the most important people in the world to me. You are. You're always going to be the person I put before everything else, and that's a fact. I mean, I can't take two steps on my own without thinking about you. You have no idea how much of an important part of my life you now are."

The words he spoke were both soft and gently, and Blake nearly felt herself tear up when she heard them. How could she have still thought those ideas from before? She should have known better then to doubt him. And after hearing those words, she knew he meant every word he spoke.

Despite still being locked in his embrace, Blake managed to nuzzle her head against his chest as she herself wrapped her arms around him as well, feeling more than comfortable.

"You're right... I'm sorry Aero. I just, felt that part of me stir up, and I guess I let my feelings get the better of me. I should have known better then to doubt you."

Aero smiled as he nuzzled her hair, a sweet aroma filling his senses. "Yeah, because you're the only one my heart is set on now Blake. You and you only."

As he finished speaking, he lifted her face up by the chin so they could look to each other, an arm still around her, before leaning in and kissing her both deeply and lovingly. There was almost an immediate spark of passion as their lips collided, their eyes closing as they let their minds sink into the sea of love and affection that was between them.

It lasted for a few minutes, but those were some of the best minutes they had ever spent together.

"Oh, I forgot to mention something to you Blake."

"What is it?" The cat ears on her head twitched with curiosity as her face showed an expression that showed a similar reaction as well.

"A while before I confessed to you, Ozpin said he needed me to go on a solo mission to retrieve some stuff from where Sapphire and her other allies were set up before. Something regarding a project I think. I have to leave tomorrow."

The mentioning of Sapphire Violet made Blake want to hiss. That woman had apparently had some connection to Aero in the past, and it only made things worse that before, during events long passed, she had constantly tried to almost seduce him. But that didn't make her as emotional as the mentioning of the fact that the mission Aero would be taking would be solo. Meaning he would have to leave her for a while.

"I see... do you know when you'll be back at all?" Her cat ears drooped with disappointment, but she knew he'd be back eventually.

"Couple of days at most. I don't know how many. But I'm sure you can manage without me for that time right?" He looked to her with a smile as he pressed his nose against hers in an affectionate manner.

A faint blush, along with a smile and giggle escaped from her. "Eheheh, yeah, I can."

"Good. Don't worry Blake, I'll be back soon enough. Until then, you just continue on with everything else, and also, be a good kitten while I'm away." Aero chuckled at the clever little affectionate joke he made, and Blake herself couldn't help but do the same as well.

"Heheh~" She almost felt happy in some manner by the way Aero had referred to her as such. As for why, she didn't even know, but she loved it nonetheless.

The next morning came rather quickly, and even after the lengthy amount of time that had passed, the rain was still coming down, though not as hard as before.

Not wanting to leave the comfort of being between both her lover and his bed, Blake had decided to sleep with him in his own room, having felt too exhausted to get up and go back to the teams room. Aero himself didn't mind this in the slightest, and felt rather relaxed and comfortable himself knowing he'd be sleeping next to his beloved Faunus. Now said Faunus was still sleeping soundly, her cat ears twitching every so often.

"She's so adorable even when she sleeps." Aero looked to her with a smile as he knelt down beside the bed, having woken up early since he had important business to attend to. "I'll be back soon Blake. I promise. Sayonara."

At those words he stood up, leaving a small note on the nightstand next to the bed she still slept in, before heading for the door and opening and closing it slowly.

"I love you Blake." Was his last few words as he closed the door completely before heading off to the outside.

Under the still coming rain, he quickly made his way to the docks where an airship await him, and as he approached, he wasn't too surprised to see Ozpin himself waiting.

"I take it you're ready and prepared?" The headmaster spoke with a casual smile as he saw Aero approach.

"Yeah, I'm ready. So all I need to locate are these project plans you mentioned to me, correct?"

"That's correct. And you are the only one I trust with this job because I know you've had the greatest amount of encounters with Sapphire Violet, so I know you should be able to figure out any tricks or traps she left behind before she switched sides. Alright then?"

"Right. I'll do what I can." And with those words, Aero stepped into the airship, feeling his weight almost disappear as the ship lifted off, heading to its predetermined destination.

"I'll make this end as quickly as possible. Don't want to keep Blake waiting for me."

... as he spoke those words, underneath the torrent of rain that still poured down onto the ground below, a familiar shadow appeared nearby, watching the airship with Aero in it depart, eyes of the same red color as before looking on at it with something of an emotionless glare.

"... I will break you, Aero Tatsu... as I will break your beloved Faunus..." The same female voice as before said before its source disappeared once more. If only Aero himself could have known the trouble he was about to find himself in could change everything, but for the worse...

... when a shadow of unknown follows you, all you can do is wait, as a terrible fate, worse then death, approaches...