Yang served detention alongside Lumi for another two days before she was set free, and Lumi had to admit that she was slightly sad to see her go. They didn't become best of friends with only a week of interaction, but having a girl her age around was nice. There was less pressure to watch her words and little chance the blonde would pry into things she didn't want to talk about.

Well, she consoled herself, she'd still see the other girl around and it wasn't like Branwen was constantly digging into her life.

Lumi tucked her notes from Literature into her cheap paper folder and tucked it into her bag.

A feminine voice cleared above and slightly to her right. "Hi, Lumi right?"

"Yes?" She lifted the strap over her head and looked up at the blue-eyed girl before her.

"I was wondering, if you don't mind telling me, why you're always with Mr. Branwen after-school?" The girl-Cerise?- asked with a cute tilt of her head, arms tucked behind her back in an unassuming pose.

Lumi was immediately suspicious of her. "Why do you want to know?"

She shrugged, still smiling (Oum, how weird) "I see you around, but when I asked people why, no one knew- sooo I thought I'd ask you!"

That… didn't answer her question at all? What the hell?

"I take the airbus home but it takes a while to get here," she explained, choosing to ignore the previous fact. "So I hang out in Branwen's class."

"So do you two, like, work on weapons?" She rocked back and forth on her heels.

Lumi stood up, glancing at the door and the many students crowding it in their rush to leave. "Yup." She turned and followed the crowd.

Cerise let her go, whether because she got the all the answers she wanted or because she didn't feel like hounding Lumi from class to class, Lumi wasn't sure (but she also didn't care). Lunch was calling her name and that was the important bit.

Afterschool, Lumi kept an eye for other students, but the hallway leading to Branwen's class was practically empty as always. While she wasn't exactly trying to hide the fact that she spent a lot of time with the Weapons Instructor, neither was she trying to flaunt it. The fact that her classmates had apparently picked up on it was weird and slightly off-putting.

What sorts of rumors were floating around as to why she was spending so much time at Branwen's class afterschool? She'd put money on some idiot claiming she was sleeping with him for a better grade (which couldn't be further from the truth, but teenagers weren't exactly the pinnacle of logic and rationality). Aside from that, maybe one or two rumors that she was his apprentice? Or that she wasn't smart/skilled enough to work on her own weapon and needed his help.

Still, some gut instinct told her that her initial guess was the right one. She didn't exactly have a robust social life even if she was on amicable terms with most her classmates. That fact left her vulnerable to vicious rumors and harmless hearsay alike. Hell, once there had been a rumor going around that she was attending two schools at once because she missed so many days in her first year!

Lumi bit back a snicker at the memory of her bewildered fourteen year old self fending off the questions from nosy (but ultimately harmless) classmates.

"Something you'd like to share with the class?" Branwen's voice broke her musings.

She waved him off and settled into her usual spot with her pile of work. "Nothing important."

He hummed. They worked in companionable silence until Lumi looked up from the paper she was grading. She weighed her curiosity against the likelihood that she'd get an answer then opened her mouth to say, "Hey, Mr. Branwen?"

Wonder of all wonders, Qrow thought even as he grunted a distracted "yeah?" while fiddling with his Scroll, Hazelwood was speaking to him first?

"Can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if it's too personal, or anything…" she fiddled with the green pen in her hand, eyes riveted to the table.

You already asked a question, he thought snarkily then no, you idiot, don't mess this up- this is big!

"Shoot," he pretended to be doing something on his Scroll while staring at her from the corner of his eye.

"Did you ever have any… weird rumors about you when you were in school?" She shifted her gaze from the table to the rafters. "Like, uhm, that you were attending two schools at once, or something like that?"

He'd had a slew of rumors about him (and Raven) in school- some about his prowess in battle and in bed (all the good ones were founded in truth, thank you very much) but weird ones? He leaned back in his seat and thought.

"Someone said I had a wooden leg when I was a second year at Beacon," he tucked his arms behind his head.

Lumi looked at him with a raised brow. "Like a peg leg?"

"I guess." He shrugged. "What about you, kid?"

"That I was attending two schools at once," she scribbled a number at the top of the page. "Also, that I was related to the history teacher at my last school; his last name was Hazel and since mines is Hazelwood." She motioned with her hand in a circle.

Qrow nodded. There had been a Robyn in his year and more than one person had come up to him wondering if that kid was his and Raven's sibling. The answer, at first, being "Grimm no, what a weakling" and later "No, this family is fucked up enough."

Lumi jogged the "graded" stack and set it aside. She glanced over at Branwen, mildly eager to hear what other weird thing had been said about him, but no hilarious story was forthcoming. She shifted in place, grabbed another worksheet to grade, and turned her body towards him.

"I'm interested" her body language said "talk to me!"

The companionable silence quickly became expectant silence then slowly became awkward. Lumi felt the weight of waiting on her tongue; her nerves tingled in anticipation. The fluorescent light overhead flickered briefly. Her body language said she was interested… right? All those weird online articles said so, at least.

Lumi finished the rest of the grading and rolled her pen between her thumb and forefinger. Body facing the other person, arms not crossed, leaning towards them, face open and neutral (but not closed off)- interested. Despite that, Branwen scrolled aimlessly on his Scroll, propped one leg on his desk, and lowered it. Repeated with the other leg.

The stool beneath Lumi squeaked as she shifted in place.

How in the world had a friendly chat about weird rumors turn into this puddle of awkwardness? Why didn't he just say something? The unspoken rules of conversation dictated that it was his turn to talk. Would it be rude of her to talk instead? Her mother wasn't one to suffer small talk- but Branwen seemed the sort, judging by the fact that he was constantly circulating the class and talking to students.

Qrow looked up from his Scroll to see his quiet little student fidget and glance around. What was up with her? He mentally shrugged and went back to composing a response for the message Taiyang had sent yesterday (oops).

Lumi continued fidgeting in place, eyes landing on random parts of the class, the feeling of urgency and needing to speak but not knowing what to say heavy on her tongue. Eight minutes passed before she cracked.

"So what's your opinion on sleeping with students?" Lumi blurted out into the too heavy silence.

Qrow slowly looked up from his text, thumb still pressed to the letter "e" and stared at her. "What."

Lumi wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She pursed her lips shut and smiled despite the sudden lump in her throat. Her blood-pressure sky-rocketed. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, SELF?

Did his sixteen year old student just… What? What was going on? Where the hell did that come from?!

She just stared at him with an uncomfortable smile and considered what sort of fine and/or community service sentence she'd get if she marched to Huang's office and confessed to buying alcohol on the weekends. Nearly anything would be better than this. She'd almost take fighting Grimm to this (almost because her arm ached at the thought of it).

Qrow blinked himself out of an incredulous stupor and remembered that she had, technically, asked him a question. "That's fuckin' nasty," his tone was as dry as the dessert and as heavy as marble in the quiet.

Lumi nodded (like an idiot, some rational part of her mind pointed out) "Uh-huh, yup, same here."

He continued to stare at her as his addled brain struggled to turn snippets of thought into full-fledged sentences. The very concept was disgusting and a gross violation of trust and just so wrong- he had nieces her age wha-

"Well I'm done grading, so I'm just gonna," Lumi shoved all her things into her bag and melted into the shadows at her feet.

Even the casual abuse of her Semblance (which was technically against school rules) didn't faze him. A couple minutes of staring into space later, he shouted at the air "What the fuck" and that was that.

Lumi burrowed herself underneath her blankets and carefully thought about anything except the fact that she was ditching school to avoid having to see Branwen again. She could have theoretically ditched only his class, but the guilt would have eaten her alive. As spotty as her attendance was, she made every effort to attend every class she was capable of going to and she'd never ditched a class no matter how little she liked any given teacher.

Basically, this was a new low for her and she wondered if a four-day weekend was feasible without drowning in work when she returned to school.

Short answer: probably not.

Long answer: she was an idiot, why did she have to open her mouth, there was no way she could miss two full days of class AND detention and not suffer consequences, what was she even thinking asking a questions like that, did she want to make her life more difficult- repeat ad nauseam.

In an effort not to feel completely scummy for ditching school, Lumi dragged herself out of bed around ten in the morning and plopped herself in front of her desk. She had some unfinished homework from yesterday she needed to work on, and afterwards, things to bake to make up for putting her foot in her mouth.

Qrow ran a hand over his face and wondered what he was going to do with Hazelwood. After yesterday's- yesterday the girl skipped school and he doubted she'd show up for detention of all things. He spun around once in his chair in thought.

"Knock knock," Taiyang's voice called from the doorway.

"No," he deadpanned.

The other man chuckled. "What's eating you, bird brain?"

He grumbled incoherently.

"What?" He cupped a hand to his ear

"I said," Qrow bit. "Hazelwood asked me my opinion on sleepin' with students yesterday."

Taiyang blinked.

"Yeah, my reaction too," he rolled his eyes. "I bet Oz never has to deal with this shit."

"Wait wait wait, was she," he motioned wildly. "Trying to proposition you or something? What is going on?!"

"I dunno," he slumped forward in his seat. "Her home life is pretty fucked from what I can tell, but she seems pretty level headed. We were talkin' about weird rumors before she asked, so maybe there's a rumor about that sorta thing?"

"I'll ask Yang and see if she's heard anything like that," Taiyang rubbed the back of his neck. "Then remind her that boys are dirty and have cooties no matter how old they are."

Qrow glanced at his Scroll. "Yeah, you do that. If Lumi doesn't show up to school on Monday, I'll talk to Huang and see if she can't get me the kid's address. Hopefully, she shows up before then and saves me the trouble."

Luckily for Qrow, Lumi did show up to school the next day, bearing a plate of brownies of all things. She set the dish down on his desk and said "I'm willing to ignore Wednesday if you are."

He raised a brow at her. "Do I still get the brownies if I say no?"

Her smile twisted uncomfortably. "Yeah."

"Cool," he swiped a chocolatey square. "You missed a quiz on Thursday. Sit down and I'll get it for you."

Her shoulders dropped as relief flooded her. "Okay."

That was that.

Two and a half weeks passed without notice. Lumi let herself into the class and realized she was alone. A cursory check of Branwen's desk revealed no work for her to do.

It wasn't the first time she'd been left alone in detention, far from it actually since Branwen usually had a staff meeting or something on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, but it was the first time she had nothing to do. She plopped herself at her usual seat and leaned her head onto one palm.

She could clean, if she really wanted to, but aside from those first couple of weeks of detention (three months ago!) she hadn't been asked to (and she definitely didn't want to). Branwen, she had learned, hating grading and readily took advantage of having his own (unofficial) TA to do it even if it meant he had to clean his own classroom.

Well, in the absence of assigned work, Lumi thought to herself as pulled out her sketchbook and Scroll, she had things to do. There was an entire class dedicated to crafting and working with weapons, and a class about useful battlefield skills (like landing strategies and first aid) but there was nothing for choosing a Hunter outfit.

As a first year she'd asked her teachers and scoured the internet to find out why not. Common opinion was that while outfits were as personal as weapons, and incredibly important when it came to your image and getting sponsorships, it was up to the individual to cobble something together.

Which was a fuckin' travesty because unless you were interested in fashion like she was or had someone who could point in the direction of a not-dumb outfit, you were stuck with picking what looked cool but what might not be good quality or the right fit for your fighting style. She wondered how many Hunters/Hunters in training got into accidents or lost out on sponsorship opportunities because no one advised them what sorts of clothes best fit their fighting style and image.

She took a deep breath to settle herself. There was no use getting worked up over her own thoughts. Lumi set her pencil to paper and scribbled out a few exercises before working on refining sketches and jotting down new ideas.

Thirty some odd minutes into drawing, the door opened and in walked Branwen holding a clipboard on one shoulder.

"Don't ever be a teacher, kid," he grumbled.

She hummed. "Why not?"

"Chaperoning a bunch of brats is the worst possible way to spend a Saturday," he smacked the clipboard with the back of one hand. He fell onto his chair and rolled a foot before the chair hit the L-shaped desk. "So what are you workin' on?" The clipboard clattered against the desk where it was thrown.

"I'm trying to nail a design for my Huntress outfit," she said and crossed out a sketch. "There's a few ideas I keep coming back to, but nothing is sticking out at me."

He nodded. "Have you considered adding Dust? I knew a woman who embedded Dust crystals in her boots and," he mimed an explosion. "Gives a whole new meaning to killer legs."

Her hand stilled as her head whipped about to stare at him. "You're a genius," the words fell from her mouth without conscious direction. Qrow opened his mouth to respond (why yes I am, how nice of you to notice) but by then Lumi had her head pressed to the sketchbook and was furiously writing down the ideas that popped up in her mind.

She was so engrossed with the new train of thought that she didn't notice when Branwen dragged a stool to her side and started commenting on things. Well, didn't notice until she caught herself responding.

"No, I can't add a cape." She waved him off, a little too close to his face. "It'd get in the way of my quiver."

He rolled his eyes. "Then you should get a rifle, like I tell you every time your weapon eval comes up."

"A cape would still get in the way," she shot back and wrote in all caps NO CAPES.

Lumi continued making notes and jotting down ideas with Branwen's input for roughly twenty minutes before the workshop door swung open again and Mrs. Huang strolled in. The school counselor was decidedly not Lumi's friend, and so the girl followed her teacher's cue when he ignored the older woman.

"A belt or a thigh holster would be good," Lumi nodded. "But I'm not adding handguns."

Huang cleared her throat loudly. "Well don't you two make a cozy little couple," she sneered.

She froze in shock and stared wide-eyed at the counselor. A sharp anger flared deep in her chest as the shadows flickered in the corners of the room. Did Huang know about the rumors, or was she just commenting on how close she and Branwen were? Either way, how dare she.

"Sorry, I think I misheard you." Qrow glared viciously at the woman, equally affronted.

"Yes, yes," she hummed. "It must happen often what with your… history and lifestyle choices. Anyways!" She smiled brightly at him and Lumi bit back the urge to send her on a trip through the shadows. "Since you left before the meeting was over, Principal Blossom wanted me to inform you that-"

"Principal Blossom can e-mail me," he jerked a thumb at his computer. "I'm tutoring a student right now."

Huang spluttered in indignation. She looked between the two of them, at the clear lack of textbooks or weapons on the table.

Lumi found her voice and asked "Mr. Branwen, why is it important to use a magnetic metal in weapons again?" She tilted her head to side and placed a finger to her chin; an expression so sickeningly cute and fake that she was surprised she didn't burst into laughter.

"Magnetic metal is Aura-reactive, and won't shatter when you re-enforce it," he ignored Ember's fuming.

"Oh, what about alloys, Mr. Branwen?" she scribbled in the corner of a page and nodded along as he listed the most common alloys used by Hunters.

It was (apparently) too much for Huang. She tried to slam the door behind her (and failed, much like last time) and she stormed off, heels clacking loudly against the tile floors.

Lumi sighed in relief.

Qrow stretched his arms over his head and looked at the clock that hung over the door. "Well, looks like it's time for you to head home."

She twisted in place to follow his line of sight. "Oh, already?" She gathered up her things and shouldered the strap of her bag. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Branwen."

"See ya, kid," he called while flipping the stools onto the table.

She dismissed the odd sense of loss and stepped from one shadow to another to appear at the bus stop. There was no reason to feel sad at leaving- she'd see him tomorrow and besides, her cute little siblings were at home! Her bed was at home, and so was a fridge full of delicious meals she and her father had made! Going home was a good thing!

But Lumi remembered Branwen eating E-Z Meals at his desk and frowned.

How weird, she noted, that her thoughts and sense of sympathy would go to him when he was keeping her an hour afterschool every day for detention. She wondered what it meant on the ride home, and eventually settled on the realization that despite (technically) punishing her, she'd become fond of him. It made little to no sense but- there it was. He'd somehow grown on her like a stubborn moss over a stubborn rock.

Granted, he wasn't exactly an easy person to be around, but he had interesting stories to tell and a unique perspective of the world. It helped, of course, that he'd given her detention instead of shoving into the tender care of the police or school board. And, yeah, she didn't know why he kept trying to get her to open up, but the fact that he was trying (and kept trying despite how often it ended up with him talking and her humming or nodding along) was a little heart-warming.

Okay, so it was a lot heartwarming, she corrected as she slipped off her shoes and dropped her bag in her room. Her own mother didn't put half as much effort into talking to her- honestly talking to her and not just asking about her grades and how often she was training at home. It was nice, to have someone who cared enough to get her to talk.

Lumi whisked together spices and pancake mix and sighed. How sad that she got more attention from a teacher than her own flesh and blood. She tapped the whisk to get rid of the powder and turned her attention to chicken breast sitting in egg wash.

Well, she amended mentally as she dipped the breast in the dry mix, her dad cared enough to talk to her too; he just didn't have a lot of time to do so. Which, technically, did mean that she got more attention from her teacher than she did from either parent (…ouch).

No use dwelling on it, she shook her head and breaded another breast. There were people less-fortunate than her who didn't even have their parents still, much less a teacher who gave half a fuck about them.

Hm, maybe she'd bring Branwen some leftovers tomorrow… No, that was dumb. Wasn't there a school rule or something about accepting gifts from students? Or was that the other way around? Whatever- grown men didn't just accept pity lunches from teenaged girls, even if they had a good rapport.

She hummed aloud and flipped the frying chicken over. Maybe she'd "forget" a container in class, since she had him just before lunch, and mention how quickly chicken spoiled if he hadn't eaten it by detention…

Actually, the idea wasn't half bad.

She set the finished pieces on a serving plate and added a new batch to the oil. They had to have some old food containers, something shoved in the back of a cupboard and forgotten, that she could conveniently "forget at school" for tomorrow.

A few minutes of digging produced a slightly discolored plastic container with spiders and the word "spooky!" printed in a pattern along the sides. The top was attached to the bottom and slightly sticky (ew). She tossed it in the sink and checked on the cooking chicken. She flipped the pieces and shuffled over to the sink to wash out the tipperware (their slogan: tip-over proof!).

Nocte twirled (literally) into the kitchen with a sweet smile and sidled up to her with a flutter of her eyelashes.

"No, Nocte, you can't get a 'taste test' before I've finished cooking," Lumi side-eyed her.

She scowled and hip-checked her older sister. "Jerk."

"Shoo," she flung a handful of soap water at her.

The white haired girl growled and stomped out.

Lumi rolled her eyes and rinsed the tipperware. Any second now, Ash would come in and complain that Nocte got a bite so he should get one too, don't be so stingy Lumi!

"Lumiii!" Her brother's voice whined from around the corner. "I want a bite too!"

"That brat didn't get any and neither will you," she called as she dried her hands.

She could hear the sounds of her younger siblings' scuffling and running around as she measured out water and butter for instant mashed potatoes. The pair fought for a few minutes longer before Lumi yelled at them to cut it out. They then separated to do whatever they did when they weren't bothering her and trying to sneak dinner before it was done.

Her father walked out of his study, led by his nose, when she put the last batch into oil. "Smells great, star light."

She leaned into his one-armed hug and accepted the kiss on her forehead with minimum fuss. "Coffee breath," she crinkled her nose at him (because minimum fuss didn't mean no fuss).

"Yes yes," he sighed and dumped the cold remains of a mug. He ran a hand through his wavy grey hair and stretched. "Did you find out when that field trip to Beacon is?"

Lumi whisked the potato flakes and milk into the boiling water. "Next week on Saturday."

He hummed. "Your mother's not going to be happy about that."

"I didn't pick the day," she groused and threw in a pinch of garlic salt.

"I know, Lumi love," his shoulders sagged. "I know."

They lapsed into contemplative silence.

"So, about that cat," he trailed off in an obvious attempt to pique her interest (it worked). "I was thinking we could go to the shelter sometime in the next two weeks…"

A classroom full of hungry teenagers, minutes before the lunch bell, was the perfect cover to plant an anonymously donated lunch. Anyone who wasn't packed and ready to go was running around, and those who were ready were loudly chatting. Chaos, in other words.

Lumi lingered by the door and took off just as the bell rang rather than wait to see if her teacher would find the food. She tried to push the thought from her mind for the rest of the day, and mostly succeeded until she found herself a hallway away from the Weapons workshop. Nervousness and eagerness in equal parts fluttered in her chest.

She took a deep breath and walked in. Branwen was seated at his desk, Scroll in hand, feet propped up. Stay cool, he suspects nothing, you did nothing wrong, stay cool…

"Hey, kid," her teacher called.

Oh fuck, he knows! DENY IT! DENY EVERYTHING!

"Y-es?" She cleared her throat to cover the crack in her voice. "Yes, Mr. Branwen?"

"Do you know anybody who lost a lunch in second period?" He held up the container.

"Mm, no one complained about a missing lunch," she hopped onto the tall stool. "How do you know it's from second period?"

"Wasn't here after first period," he shrugged and shook the container.

"What's inside?" she took out her homework and carefully focused on not-him.

"Fried chicken," he said. "Mashed potatoes and gravy."

She leaned her head on her left hand. "Chicken spoils pretty quick if it's not refrigerated; gravy too. I'm sure whoever it belonged to doesn't miss it since they didn't come back for it, so you might as well eat it."

Wow, that was probably the most words she'd ever said to him at once.

He squinted at the food. "Yeah, you're probably right, kid." Branwen got up and tucked it beneath his arm. He walked out the class and (presumably) to the teacher's lounge.

Lumi fist pumped in the empty classroom. Part one of "Feed Branwen and Don't Let Him Know" was a success! She grabbed the ungraded work from his desk and settled in to work. When he reappeared, spoonful of mashed potatoes in mouth and singing praises to the cook, she had to duck her head to hide the viciously wide smile that broke across her face.

It felt good to do good, even if she was the only one who would know.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed :)

See you next week!