Li woke up slowly. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed the pristine light room he was situated in.

As he slowly regained composure he noticed the beeping near his head, and turned to see a drip and a heart rate monitor. Li looked around; trying to find something he recognised to put his mind at ease. His eyes locked onto the chair in the opposite corner, where all his clothes were piled up. He tried to reach over to the chair, but the drip pulled him back with a wince of pain, the monitor picked up the tempo at the same time.

Moments later a girl with brown rabbit ears, long silky brown hair and a concerned look on her face entered hurriedly. The faunus girl held her hands over Li's right arm, soothing the pain, "you shouldn't try and move, you've been through a lot, and you need a lot of rest!" she said calmly.

"But I need my hat, people will see!" Li spoke in a fearful tone. The nurse stared at the hat confused for a moment, and then it dawned on her.

"You don't NEED to hide Li," she moved to the chair and picked up the black beanie, "some of us choose to embrace who we are, regardless of what others may think." She walked up to Li, running her soft hands through his messy brown hair, stopping at the black tipped orange fox ears. She rubbed them softly, enjoying the feeling of the furry ears.

Li relaxed when she touched his ears, not realising how much he missed the sensation. He heard the door open, and snapped the beanie from the nurse, slipping it on, and refusing to look her in the eyes.

A tall man, with silver hair, brown eyes and a cane, came around the corner and into the bright room. Ozpin, Li knew immediately. "Could you give us a minute?" Ozpin gestured to the nurse.

"Of course," the nurse headed out, turning back before reaching the door "my names Velvet by the way." And with that Li thought he had pushed another person away.

"How long have I been here?" Li asked.

Ozpin took a sip of his mug, "Just over five weeks, young man. It is Monday, 38 days since your combat test." Li said nothing, wrapping his head around it all.

"It wasn't a test, just a demonstration." Li corrected.

"Oh?"

"Yes, it was a demonstration to show how to properly adjust to unbeknownst situations."

"I don't remember it like that." Ozpin sat down in the chair, sipping at his mug.

Li sat up a bit, winced, and then shot Ozpin a quizzical stare. "I have had some complaints and requests in regards to your place at this school." Ozpin sighed inwardly. "Your teammates have requested a new member; one who they believe will be more of a team player."

Li's eyes widened, "But..but.. they wer.. what abou.. when?"

"During the summer break your leader contacted me, mentioning how you hadn't even attempted to be with your team during the break, and that you actively avoided it." Ozpin explained.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't need to, it wasn't class time, there was no team based work to complete!" Li pleaded, only able to watch as his dream of becoming a huntsman crumbled.

"This is true Mr. Kage, but while it may not be part of the curriculum, it is part of being a team. You don't seem to work well with others."

"But we still were a good team, Peter utilised each of us effectively, just because we aren't friends doesn't mean we aren't a good combat team!"

"But you aren't really a team. Peter followed the rules because he felt he needed to, but he wants what is best for all his team. That means being the best they can be, and you are not the right person for team PLYM."

"So is that why you had them beat me up? To teach me a lesson? To give them the satisfaction of finally hurting me? To make everyone else happy? Why do this to me if you were going to expel me anyway?" Li spat, venom in the words.

Ozpin sat silently for a moment, "Who said I was going to expel you?"

"You said that everyone was requesting you kick me out?" Li pondered the possible outcomes of this conversation, maybe he could be a farmer? Or a forger? Maybe join Jun in the police department! Although he didn't believe he would be a very approachable policeman.

"Many of your peers have requested it, but they do not run this school. You made it into this school because you have the desire to become a huntsman, and you stayed because you had the determination and the skills. You have made it this far on your own. So why couldn't you continue?" Li, still considering his other options, didn't quite pick up what Ozpin was saying. "Mr. Kage, I planned out your battle to show off your personal skills to your peers and myself. It was a test. To find out how well you could work on your own. You passed… with flying colours."

"But I lost, I ended up in a hospital bed, they won! Peter knocked me down over and over, and I could not beat them all." Li didn't know what he was saying; he didn't know why he was arguing. But he had failed; he couldn't allow Ozpin to reward him for failing.

"You were forced into a situation you had never expected to be in. Having to fight your own team. Not being able to use your semblance... or recharge aura, which we noticed later. You were forced into a role you are not used to. Your team did not plan to be defensive, I had them working with Ms. Goodwitch to make their strategy near perfect. Yet you adapted, learnt, and if it weren't for an unfortunate hit, I am told you would have certainly won the match."

Li looked to his lap shyly, not believing the praise. "But I lost, and no-one will be on a team with me. There is nothing for me here." Li whined.

"I do believe that is for me to decide, and I do not see you in that way. You are an incredibly strong individual, you are determined and you are respectful. These traits make you a strong warrior, and with the right training and guidance, you could become a great huntsman."

Li sat alone in the bright room contemplating what he had just been told. He was to be the first individual huntsman at Beacon in its history.

It had been a few hours since Ozpin had left the room and Velvet entered the room once again, obviously to check on Li's vitals.

When Li noticed who it was, he slid his beanie off, looked to his lap and said, "I'm sorry about earlier, I'm just not ready. I've been hated by my peers when they thought me human, I couldn't imagine what they might do if they found out what I am."

Velvet knew how Li felt, she had been through a lot for just being faunus, but she was happy with herself, and that was all that mattered. "I understand, "she whispered, "It is hard for us all, but you must understand, that WHAT you are… is beautiful. It doesn't matter what others think." Li blushed, no-one had ever called him beautiful, but then again no-one knew what he really was.

"Thank you… for everything! Especially for taking care of me, although you don't seem old enough to be the nurse?"

Velvet giggled, "I'm not the nurse, but I was training with her when you had been brought in. When I saw how you looked, I felt obligated to help you, and I decided to be there for you when you woke up."

Li could barely look her in the deep brown eyes. "Thank you so much, I wish I could have woken up sooner." Li felt a hand grab his, and another slide through his hair to his ear. His eyes closed, and he finally relaxed himself, almost drifting off to sleep.

Before he fell unconscious, he asked "When can I leave the room?" Velvet seemed taken aback by the question, clearly taking it personally. "I have missed my spot for too long."

Velvet seemed confused, but continued holding Li's hand, "You can leave in about a week, depending on what the nurse says."

Li sighed, "Can you sneak me out for an hour or so? It's not far!" Velvet checked her tablet for the time. 17:48. she had nothing else to do today.

"I can try, only if you promise to come back when I say, and you can't leave my side!" Velvet blushed as she realised she was turning this into a date! She started unplugging Li from the machines, and gestured him towards his clothes, but not before swiping his hat and keeping it close to her chest. Velvet walked out, sticking her tongue out as she left with his hat.

Li rose slowly, grabbing his clothing, and sliding it on through winces of pain. He stood there waiting for Velvet to return.

Once she came back, she had a big smile on her face. "Come on then! You have to show me this special spot soon! We've only got an hour!" Li smiled, twitching his ears for the first time in a long time. He started out the room, wincing once or twice. Velvet noticed this and propped him up on her shoulder, "You really are stubborn, aren't you?"

Li laughed weakly, "I guess I am! It's just passed the library, and up some stairs."

It took almost thirty minutes to make it to the bay window. Velvet and Li sat down together, Velvet in Li's arms.

Velvet was normally so shy, but something about Li gave her an overwhelming sense of safety, one she had never felt before. She didn't know if it was because he was older or if it was that he was faunus, but she knew he was strong, she had used her aura to help him heal. The feeling she got from his aura was scary, and full of fear, but something about it connected with her, and made her feel safe.

Li didn't realise he could feel as close to anyone, let alone a girl he had met only hours before, but something inside him gravitated to her. He was connected to her somehow, something just felt right when she was close; he was happy.

They looked out over the city, saying nothing. It had been a few hours, Velvet knew they had been gone too long, but she couldn't bring herself to move. They both heard movement from behind them, and turned to see amber eyes. The eyes flicked to Li's ears and looked puzzled, Li nodded and pointed his eyes to the open side of the window.

The girl in black understood and moved forward, sitting and smiling at the two faunus cuddling in front of her. The newcomer and Velvet shared a look, Velvet clearly confused by the situation, as she thought it was a date, but the girl in black only smiled obliviously.

A few minutes passed before the girl in black broke the sweet silence, "I haven't seen you here for a while; you missed some great pictures." Li smiled, but looked over to her, got her attention and put his finger to his lips.

He knew it was rude, but she knew the rules of the bay window. They continued to sit in silence for another half an hour, until Velvet noticed the time and told Li that they needed to go back to the medical wing.

The girl in black looked at Li with a concerned look. "It was just a little coma, nothing to break the rules over. The names Li by the way."

"Blake." She responded. They smiled at each other before Li went to Velvets arms to be helped back to his bed.

During the journey back, Li was bombarded by questions from Velvet, who was clearly jealous of Blake. Every question was met with a giggle and a stare from Li, who had already explained the situation to Velvet three times. Li thought it was adorable that Velvet was jealous, and once they made it back to his medical bed, told her so, "It is adorable how jealous you are!"

Velvet blushed and pulled away, causing Li to falter, quickly bring her back to his side. Li looked into her eyes, the deep brown eyes so full of joy. He leant in to kiss her. Velvet had never kissed a guy before but when she saw Li leaning forward; she didn't have any time to think before instinctively meeting him half way.

They locked lips, each savouring each other's soft lips for what felt like hours, before parting. They stared at each other.

Slowly Li walked to his bed, picking up his gown and slipping off his clothing behind the curtain. He came back around the curtain, put his clothing down on the seat and asked "Would you like to stay the night, with me?" Even if he could have moved without wincing Li never meant for anything lewd to be implied, he had simply never spent the night with someone else next to him.

Li realised how crude it sounded only too late, but before he could explain himself, Velvet had disrobed down to her shirt and smallclothes. She nodded and moved to the bed, grabbing Li's hand as she went.

Velvet had not even realised that what Li had said could have been crude, she was too naïve and too excited about spending a night with her fox. They lay in bed, facing each other, wrapped in each other's arms. Li and Velvet fell asleep slowly, neither one wanting to leave the conscious world. Li dreamt that night, but it was a different dream to normal.