Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!

I'm pretty tired right now, so I don't really feel like saying much, nor do I have anything to say really.

This chapter is nice and chill, like my mood. Enjoy

Weiss swung her rapier, slapping the needle-like blade against my upper arm. It stung, but I ignored it and kept fighting. She swung and stabbed, over and over, pushing me backwards as I attempted to deflect and avoid each attack.

Since we started training she seemed to have improved. Either that or she was just learning my own fighting style. Nonetheless, I was happy with the results which had been produced after such a short amount of time.

The battle ended with my blade resting against her neck, yet again.

She sighed with disappointment as I withdrew the blade.

"You're getting better." I said, "You'll beat me, don't worry"

"I'm not worrying." She said, "I'm just disappointed"

"Disappointed?" I asked, "In whom?"

"Myself." She replied.

"You're doing great, trust me." I said, looking her in the eyes in the hopes of conveying that I meant it.

She gave me a little smile that lasted barely a second before looking away. After a few moments she started to leave. Her head turned as she stopped, "Well?" She asked, "You coming?"

I sheathed Reitō no Fukushū and followed after her, a smile playing on my lips at the fact that she was taking charge.

She stood before the punching bag and waited.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Isn't there anything you need to tell me?" She asked.

I shook my head, "No," I replied, "Not until you start hitting it"

She did just that, and as expected, didn't require any advice. I patted her shoulder blade, then went to the bag across from her and started punching. When I started she glanced up at me, and so did I.

"Stay focused." I said with a smile, "Your opponent won't allow for sidelong glances"

She smiled, "Unless my opponent is as bad at fighting as this punching bag"

We kept punching for several minutes. I felt sweat dribble down my forehead, each drop weaving it's way past my facial features and pushing through the forest of hair that were my eyebrows before falling off my face entirely. My knuckles started to feel sore, so I put up my aura and kept punching. As the one-sided fight continued my arms slowed until they felt like they'd been sat on by a very large man. I was panting, and by the time my watch rang I was sweating and sore all over, barely able to move my arms.

"We done?" Weiss asked.

I nodded, "Yeah." I replied between breaths, "We're done"

"Cool," She said, lowering her hands to her sides.

I snatched my sword in its sheath up from its place on the floor, then started towards the men's change room.

"You're going on a mission today, right?" Weiss asked as we walked.

"Yeah" I replied.

"Where're you going?"

"Uh," I started, "Some village, I think. I can't remember. You?"

"No," she replied, "Thunder didn't assign RWBY to anything"

"Ah."

She sighed, "I wish we could do something to help"

"You will," I said, splitting from her towards the men's room, "don't worry"

"I'm not worrying" She said simply, disappearing into the women's room. I thought she might have said it as a joke, but the last look on her face didn't say that. In fact, it said quite the opposite.

I showered, but due to my lack of arm strength ended up standing under the running water without applying any soap or other bodily cleaning detergents. But I didn't mind, it was relaxing just to stand there and let the water run over me.

With some difficulty I managed to pull clothing over my damp body. My arms were starting to feel better, but I still preferred not to use them.

Outside I found Weiss waiting. She looked up when I came out.

"Took you long enough," She said, "I thought I'd be the last out"

"I'm still sore" I replied.

"So where're you going now?" She asked.

"Well," I started, raising my arm, with some effort, to see my wrist watch, "I have to report to Gazini's place for a full briefing in a while, so I'll probably head over there now. Make sure I give myself some time to find the place, or be there early. Either one works. You?"

"Oh, I don't know." She replied, "Maybe I'll go to my room and see if my team's around. Otherwise I might go find something to do, like a hunting job or something"

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"…Or I could sneak out with you guys on your mission" She added.

"No," I replied, "that's really not a good idea"

"I know," she said, "I just thought-"

"Don't worry, Weiss, you'll get your chance"

"I'm not worrying!" She exclaimed, "Why do you keep saying that?"

"You seem like you're worrying," I replied, "I can never tell if you are or not"

"Just assume that I'm not." She said simply. There was a long silence. "I just, I want to do something, you know?" She finally continued, "I don't like sitting around here"

"Thunder and Gazini value you," I said, "trust me"

"Why do you say that?" She asked, "I haven't done anything for them"

"You're the only one who ever beat Cinder, remember?"

"With three other people"

"That's still more experience than most of us"

She didn't reply.

"Are you married?" She finally asked, changing the subject.

"No." I replied, surprised by the sudden question, "Why?"

"Oh, well," she started, "what about that orange haired girl, Ember? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"She's my daughter" I replied.

"Oh," She said, "OH, I'm so sorry. I just made that weird" She got worried all of a sudden.

"Don't worry about it," I said, "I loo-"

"I'm NOT worrying"

"Sorry," I said, "But I look young for my age, and she is quite young. It looks that way sometimes, I know. You're not the first person to ask that"

"Okay." She said, "So, who's her mother, then?"

"Beats me" I replied.

Weiss didn't reply for a while, "Wait," She started as we got on the elevator, "how does that work? Have you been with so many women that you forgot?"

I laughed, "No, no," I said, "It's definitely not that. Quite the opposite, in fact. No, I rescued her and figured I'd raise her as my own"

"Oh, does she know you're not her father?"

"Yes, of course." I replied, "I found her when she was around ten years old. She remembers her parents"

Again another moment of silence. Much more short lived this time around though.

"What do you mean by, 'quite the opposite'?"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I asked if you forgot how many women you've been with, and you said 'quite the opposite'. What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sorry, what's unclear?"

"Are you meaning to say that you haven't been with many women?"

"Yes, I guess. I mean, I've never been with anyone before, so yeah. It'd be quite the opposite"

The elevator doors slid open, but Weiss didn't move. "Seriously?" She asked. "You've never dated anyone?"

"Never"

"No significant other, not even an elementary school girlfriend?"

"Not ever"

"Why?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. It's never been important to me. I have Ember, so I have no real reason to have children"

She stared at me, "Seriously?" She asked, "Loving someone isn't about having children. It's about…loving them and expressing it, you know?"

I paused, "I guess that I just haven't met the right person"

I smiled, but her expression was anything but. It was a mixture of sadness and surprise.

After a long moment, she turned and left. The elevator doors closed behind her, and the metal box which I now alone stood in began to rise yet again.

So there you have it. Kind of seems like some romantic comedy or something eh? I'm sure you all know it, but HellFall is anything but a rom-com, and I'll do anything I can to largely keep it that way (with the exception of these kinds of chapters).

Anyways, still tired. Make sure you guys get enough sleep tonight, and don't take naps too late in the day, otherwise you won't be able to sleep at night. Also, don't Monday. Don't ever Monday. And as usual, favorite, follow, review tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.