Author's Note: Okay, here's another one; I hope that you enjoy another peek into Mina's somewhat off-center psychology.

Mina drew a deep breath, summoning up her semblance and expanding its reach to ten yards, just far enough to perceive Miss Nikos. She could hear the room fall quiet as she presumed Professor Goodwitch took her position at the side of the stage. She held one of her stakes in her left hand, and her right was poised to draw out the lengths of wire. Miss Pyrrha Nikos was the highest ranked first-year in the combat practicum component of the Beacon curriculum, and it was she against whom Mina had found herself matched in class after lunch.

"Woooo! Go Mina! Giver her everything you've got!"

Mina's lips curled into a little smile as Miss Rose cheered for her; she was a sweet girl, so sweet in fact that she cheered for both combatants in turn.

"Show us what you can do Pyrrha!"

"Let's have a good fight!" Miss Valkyrie this time.

"Mina," Blake's voice actually caused her to turn her head before Blake continued, her voice simultaneously carrying a tone of lecture and encouragement, "No nasty tricks, okay? Remember, Pyrrha's a friend,"

Mina nodded, "Of course Dearest,"

"Miss Nikos," Professor Goodwitch spoke up, "Miss Carfax, you may now begin,"

Mina looped her fingers through rings on her left wrist and pulled out nearly three feet as she positioned herself for a backward pivot to the left. Miss Nikos had opted to barrel forward, shield raised so as to pre-empt any attempt by Mina to throw her stakes. Pyrrha thrust forth with Milo as the distance was closed, and Mina pivoted back as planned to avoid it, slinging the lengths of wire about her opponent's weapon as she did so.

With a slight grunt, Mina attempted to heave the weapon from Pyrrha's hands,, but the effort was answered with a blow to the stomach from Miss Nikos' shield. Mina stumbled, then did a backward cartwheel to avoid Pyrrha's follow-up slash. Mina slid her stake through one of the rings at the end of her wires and pitched it forward as she landed on her feet. The sharpened metal stave embedded itself in the floor to Pyrrha's right as she moved in to attack again. Mina dove into a roll to the left to dodge the attack, and heaved on her wire as she sprang back to her feet.

And down she goes…

True enough, Pyrrha tripped over the razor wire before she could control her momentum as intended, but Mina's plan went awry when Miss Nikos decided to treat her to an acrobatics display of her own.

As she toppled forward, Pyrrha held up her shield so as to hit the ground with it first. As it struck the ground, she let it slip from her wrist and used both hands to spring skyward off of it, tapping her semblance in a manner opposite to that which she usually did, repulsing herself further airborne. Still mid-air, Pyrrha raised Milo in one hand, converting it to rifle mode, and opened up with a quick salvo as she fell back down to a three-point landing.

Mina sidestepped the first two rounds, but the last hit home, striking her in the shoulder. She winced, but shook it off and dashed to recover her stake, pulling two more from a pouch at her waist even as she went. As she pulled it though, she was aware that, behind her, Miss Nikos was winding up to throw her weapon in javelin mode. Mina pivoted again, this time just barely buying herself the inches needed to avoid being struck full-on in the chest, and she very nearly didn't have time to do the backward bridge necessary to avoid Pyrrha's shield as well.

Too close…but for the moment, she's unarmed…

As she landed on her feet again, she threw one stake, and then the other her opponent's way, drawing another as she bolted forward to get close before Pyrrha could recall her arms. The attack came to nothing though, as with a dull humming noise Mina's projectile's seemingly bounced off of thin air mere inches from their target even as Milo and Akouo hurtled back to their master.

Mina aborted the headlong attack, preferring instead to dive into another roll to Pyrrha's right this time, rolling just beneath Pyrrha's slash. Mina stopped on one knee just behind her opponent to throw another pair of the stakes, at point-blank this time, but met with no greater success.

Two left…

Without pause for thought, Mina's grip tightened on the first of her stakes, still tethered to one of the wires, and while simultaneously leaping back and out of reach as Pyrrha rounded on her, Mina slung the stake, trailing the biting cord behind it and once again catching on Pyrrha's shin. The length of cord bent around the impeding Spartan's legs, winding tight. Mina reached for her last stake as Pyrrha toppled, lunging forward to get into reach.

But then came that irritating noise again.

The wires about Pyrrha's legs loosened and fell; the consequent slackening causing Mina to stumble. Mina's mind raced as Pyrrha raised her weapon for another discharge, and in a frenzied blur of thought she noted Pyrrha's rather wide fighting stance, and in a last-ditch move, dove for the ground sliding between her surprised opponent's feet and grabbing the stake and wire from where they lay on the ground as she slid before vaulting back to her feet behind a slightly bewildered opponent.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Mina pulled the rest of the wires out of her left gauntlet and draped the lot of them over Pyrrha's head, and before Pyrrha could turn, Mina slammed her shoulder into Pyrrha's back, pulling the cutting wires tight around her opponent's upper torso, grinding against Pyrrha's aura as she pulled.

Mina was vaguely aware of excited whispers from the audience; apparently the outcome wasn't certain…

Pausing to acknowledge this bit of information would prove to be a mistake, however, as Pyrrha pivoted backward, planting her left foot firmly between Mina's dropping both Milo and Akouo as she did so. Mina was momentarily puzzled by this until she realized that Pyrrha was reaching back over her head, grabbing Mina by one shoulder and a fistful of the back of her blouse. By then though, it was too late, as Pyrrha bent forward, throwing Mina over her own shoulder, the wires going slack as Mina was pulled in front of her opponent, and falling away from Pyrrha entirely as Mina was slammed to the floor on her back. Mina tried to shake the daze, but before she could attempt to roll away this time, she heard that humming again, followed by the sound of a rifle cocking.

"Winner, Pyrrha Nikos!"

Blake watched carefully as Mina threw her first pair of stakes. Mina was good, but she was up against Pyrrha here, and so the outcome was nothing if not in doubt. Yes, Mina had managed to get the drop on her and Yang once before, but neither of them had really had their heart in it; this was a different matter entirely – Pyrrha was the top first-year combatant for a reason. Mina could win if she pulled somethin underhanded, but given that Blake had expressly told her not to-

"Hey Blake!" Yang's voice stirred Blake from her contemplation, and pulled her attention from the fight.

"Yang? What is it? You're late-,"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but look at this! Isn't it awesome! She's on the cover of a magazine!"

"Blake blinked a few times, "Come again? Do you honestly mean to say that you were late to class because of some stupid magazine? We had a half an hour between the end of lunch and class-,"

"Yang! Where have you been?" Ruby interjected, "Weiss has been yelling at me because you're late!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, "That is a ridiculous exaggeration; I was merely impressing upon her the importance of knowing one's teammate's whereabouts,"

"Yelling!"

"Yeah okay," Yang shook her head as though to convey in gesture that she was returning to her intended subject, and held up the magazine in question this time, "Look!"

Sure enough, the cover was dominated by a picture of Mina, in the Summer Blossom Café maid outfit, bending down to set a tray on the table, and the picture had been taken from just such an angle to highlight… certain assets…

"Wh-where did you find this?" Blake stammered, eyes fixed upon the offending gossip rag.

"It was sitting on the coffee table in the dorm common room," Yang shrugged, before absently adding, "She really looks hot in this picture, doesn't she?"

"It's positively obscene!" Weiss declared, "the real question you should be asking is who was the depraved jerk that took this picture?"

"Thank you," Blake agreed, though she didn't take her eyes off of the image, It certainly is a nice view though…

The discussion of the magazine cover was interrupted, however, as Nora jumped and screamed, "Woooo! Go Pyrrha!"

Blake turned her head back toward the stage at the hammer-wielder's sudden exaltation, just in time to watch Mina get thrown over Pyrrha's shoulder, and to wince as Mina was slammed to the ground.

"Winner, Pyrrha Nikos!"

Blake moved in to make sure Mina was okay as Pyrrha helped her to her feet, "Are you alright Mina?" she tried to keep the guilt over having not paid attention out of her voice.

Mina took a deep breath, "Yes…" she turned to Pyrrha, offering a handshake, "Well fought; it's true, what they say about you Miss Nikos,"

Pyrrha accepted with a smile, "You did well yourself, although…"

Mina cocked her head in puzzlement.

"I'm sorry… I'll buy you a new blouse…"

Blake turned back to Mina, giving her a closer look, and was startled to find that there was a tear down from the right side of Mina's collar, and that her shoulder and part of her bra were exposed, the sleeve of her blouse having drooped down to her upper arm.

Mina barely seemed to notice, "Oh dear… It must have happened when you threw me…"

Blake reached over to pull the sleeve back into place, "Come on, we'll get that fixed-,"

"Miss Belladonna, unless you wish to participate in the next match, please show yourself off of the stage," It was Professor Goodwitch.

Blake froze; How to handle this delicately… "Yes, Professor, but can I take Mina back to our dorm? She's kind of got a… wardrobe malfunction…"

Goodwitch tapped her scroll a few times, taking their names off the list for the next potential match, "Very well, Miss Belladonna, take her and go – oh, and take Miss Xiao Long with you; If she can't be bothered to come to class on time, she may as well not come at all,"

"Ya know, I was hoping she wouldn't notice…" Yang muttered as She, Blake, and Mina returned to Team RWBY's dorm, "I mean, I wasn't that late…"

Blake sighed, moving over to Mina's section of their dresser to find a replacement shirt, "This is Miss Goodwitch we're talking about; it's on time or not at all with her… Mina, take that off, you'll have to get rid of it."

"As you wish Dearest," Mina complied, stripping off the damaged blouse, before adding with a smirk, "Shall I do away with the bra as well?"

"No!" Blake reddened at the thought, and then further reddened as she remembered what Yang had found, "I think you're showing enough skin as it is…"

"Hmm?" Mina sounded genuinely perplexed, then pressed herself to Blake's back, "Do you… not like what you see, Dearest?"

Blake stiffened slightly as Mina's hands clasped about her stomach, "No, it's not that… but… Yang, do you still have that magazine?"

"Uh…"

Blake rolled her eyes, "The magazine, Yang, before you start drooling please,"

"Oh, right," Yang held up the offending periodical, "I dunno how it got here, but that's definitely your picture on the front, and inside on the feature on the Summer Blossom Café…"

Mina shrugged, "What of it?"

"I know you can't see it Mina, but the picture's a bit… provocative…"

Mina abruptly turned Blake around, pulling Blake closer by the small of her back, and pressed her lips to Blake's, "Like that?"

Blake tried to pull away, but not very hard, "I'm serious Mina, you need to be more careful and take this seriously; someone's already taking advantage of you for some sleazy magazine – you can't just let people take pictures of you-,"

"Let? I do not recall ever having been consulted…"

"That's even worse!" Blake exclaimed, "Someone's taking compromising pictures of you without your permission and publishing them-,"

"Let them look," Mina cut in, nuzzling closer and pulling one of Blake's hands up to her chest, "As long as you're the only one who touches…"

Blake swallowed, and shot Yang a look.

"Yeah, alright, third wheel, got it…" Yang set the magazine down on her dresser and stepped out, "Don't get too loud,"

Blake shook her head; everything was a joke to Yang…

"Dearest… are you jealous?"

"What? No! I… I'm just worried about you… This could really hurt your reputation-,"

"My reputation as your psychotic concubine?" Mina said dryly, "Dearest, the precious few people who matter know me better than that, and frankly, even if they did not, you are the only one with enough of my heart to hurt me. So I ask you again, Dearest, does this picture make you envious?"

"I…" Was that it? "That'd be such a selfish way to put it…"

"Then be a bit selfish from time to time Dearest; my heart, my soul, my body… all I have to give is yours, you need only ask it of me, no, take it from me when you so desire…" Mina pushed Blake gently down onto her bunk and reached back to unclasp her bra before pressing herself back against her Dearest, "I love you, Blake, no one else; you have nothing to fear from some fool reading a magazine," she assured, pressing Blake's face into her bare chest and stroking her ears, "They have a picture, you have me. All of me, without reserve; all I ask is that you love me in return, and your envy is proof enough of that,"

Blake took a deep breath, inhaling Mina's scent; she was still somewhat sweaty from the match, but that didn't matter, "…Okay…."