Chapter Four
"So, Miss Beryl, did you enjoy your nap?" Asked a voice which, in all honesty, was of the kind that made Lune think of raccoons crashing through a glass window. It was annoying, nasal, and it was definitely the last thing both her human and animal ears wanted to hear.
It was also her teacher's voice.
No wonder she felt like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. The crone—who in actuality was only around her late twenties and only had the attitude of one—was the one currently handling this section. Right. It was coming back to her now. The bespectacled woman was the one who took delight in watching her only Faunus student squirm in every opportunity. In her mind, she was called Teacher Sadist. Sadie, for short.
Lune cracked her eyes open, lifting her head from the desk it had been resting on for the past thirty minutes, give or take. A bit of her drool had apparently pooled on the notebook she'd been using as a pillow, much to her dismay. That discovery would have made her let out a long sigh if she wasn't being stared at by everyone who owned a set of eyes.
On second thought… Lune sighed anyway. And yawned. Oh, she definitely yawned and stared back at her teacher with half-lidded eyes.
"Basic arithmetic lessons are soothing to the ears," Lune answered. Soothing in a way that it always makes any student want to fall asleep instead of listening to this lesson of boringness. "So yes, Teacher. I did."
That kind of disrespect would normally be enough to warrant a punishment, but then Lune was punished without doing anything, anyway. Being slated for classroom cleaning duty later on was proof of that, and to think! All she'd done was ask the teacher a question that made her appear like she was participating in class. Might as well have a legit reason to be punished for this time, though things with Mom and Dad might get hairy if the teacher sent them another report via scroll (which wasn't actually a scroll, per se, but an electronic tablet that opened like one) that "Your daugther, Lune Beryl, has yet again aggravated one of her teachers to the point of resorting to disciplinary measures."
Lune could only play the I'm-unfairly-treated-as-a-Faunus card for so long, especially when she was starting to grow into an attitude of giving back whatever they dished at her. With limits. Whether that was an acceptable change or not, it was up in the air right now.
Anyway, the teacher, Sadie, did this thing with her nose that indicated that she was definitely incensed by Lune's off-hand remark. See, whenever Lune got on her nerves, she would also blink at her, open and close her mouth like so, and stare like the girl just sprouted another animal appendage. Then she would calm down, smile a bit, and pretend nothing happened. Which, contrary to what she thought, did not go unnoticed by the whole class. Lune found a bit of satisfaction in it every time.
"Then you're definitely staying for a talk after class," the teacher said in a forced, neutral tone, like she didn't just have an oh-my-god-you-did-not moment seconds earlier. "And then some."
"Okay." Lune said. An I'm-not-really-all-that-bothered shrug would probably be too much at this point, so she decided against doing just that.
The teacher began droning on about adding or subtracting numbers, utilizing the ol' 'X has Y number of apples and was given another one by Z; how many apples does X have now?' question that was undoubtedly done to death. And seeing that the woman was now doing her level best to ignore her existence (she failed, if that leer was any indication), Lune stared down at the wet notebook page consisting of her messily-written timeline of future events for future reference. Future events that she would try not to meddle with, that is. She'd already been thrown off-course enough by the sudden friendship with Yang Xiao Long last week.
She thought what little she knew of the Butterfly Effect was inevitable, concerning her presence, but she might as well try to keep the changes to a minimum. So much for her wanting to not carry this kind of baggage, but whatever. She supposed there were some merits to not stumbling about blindly. She'll just have to avoid thinking about what happens to this person or that. No pressure. Stupid effin' foreknowledge, though.
So far, she'd written down what she remembered, and belatedly remembered, organizing them by volume. Volume 1 didn't have much to speak of other than the encounters she definitely shouldn't meddle with, like the Dust shop robbery (because Ruby needs to get to Beacon), Ruby's moment of badassery during the test that led to her leadership of Team RWBY, team what's-its-name bullying Jaune Arc which led to some character growth, and the Vytal Festival preparation wherein stuff happened and led to Blake Belladonna finally feeling a sense of belongingness with her teammates.
Then there was Volume 2, which, admittedly, probably had less chances of her getting involved because they were team-centric and she would—if she got to Beacon—be busy being with her own team doing whatever it was the froshies did. All she had to take note of here were the people she needed to be very, very wary of, like Cinder and company. No doubt about it; they'd end up knowing all there was to know about the Beacon students, but that didn't mean Lune couldn't tiptoe around them to lessen her risks of being screwed over. She wasn't letting their existence ruin her life.
And… oh, right, yeah, there was that Grimm invasion in the city too, but that only served to show how badass everyone was. Would she end up fighting off Grimm, when that finally happened?
Lune suddenly felt like snorting. Fat chance, maybe. The most she'd probably do was flail around with whatever weapon she came up with. And that is if she even survived Signal Academy.
Anyway, lastly, there was the emotional roller coaster that was Volume 3. This one, being the most recent she'd remembered before dying as Amelie, was what she knew the best. And in turns, wished she didn't know about. Because, frankly, awesome as that volume was, in her current situation she might want to unsee all of those in a heartbeat. Her heart would just break into a tiny million pieces and she didn't want to be bothered with picking them all up and putting them back together.
Poor Pyrrha. And Penny. Blake. And Yang.
(God. She'd just befriended Yang sometime last week and managed not to feel sorry for her because of what she'll become. Only because the memory didn't come to her at once. And now that she had to remember that again… amnesia was sounding appealing right now.)
Though, taking notes of certain plot points would not only help her fading memory, but it also would help her prepare for the shitstorm that was to come. God, this meant she had to be a Huntress.
Would I even have the power to save those people from their fates? Or at best, make sure they suffered less than they originally had? She wanted to tug at her hair just then, but considering how her differentness already sought enough attention, she refrained from doing so.
Saving those people would save even more people a load of sadness, but what if the salvation of one life meant the loss of another? The universe would always seek to keep itself on the track it had been running on. Or at least, that was the lesson her old videogames told her.
And who the hell was she to try and manipulate these events, anyway? She was no god. Just one random girl reincarnated into another body. Just one girl who knew what was to come. She knew her boundaries. Knew to keep away from the spotlight. Trying to push past the big red line would only get her in trouble.
On second thought, I don't want to think about this. Philosophy has never been my forte. Lune had intentionally left that section of her timeline as brief as possible. Her life and her loved one's lives before anyone else, she decided. What will come, will come, and she would go with the flow, like her mom's namesake. The sun always shows up once the rainclouds have cleared.
Before she could proceed to rewrite her notes in a new, drier page, however, something collided against the back of her head, knocking it slightly forward. Picking up the crumpled paper ball on the floor and spreading it out on her desk, her eyes suddenly caught the cleanly-written message that Aqua Grey had written to her. A part of her was jealous of his neater handwriting; hers resembled a chicken's if it could pick up a pencil and write.
Pay attention to the class, dummy.
Lune cautioned a glance to the boy behind her after the teacher wasn't looking her way. Aqua was listening and taking down notes, alright, and Lune had to remind herself that the kid was actually a flippin' genius when he wasn't busy resorting to petty pranking wars with her. And only her. He had one of the highest grades in class—second only to Lune's, who'd later decided against dumbing herself down so she could give every discriminatory person the middle finger by being better than them in academics.
Aqua was only a monster to her while being a delightful little boy to everyone else.
Yes, she'd spied on him once. He played well with the others. He was their best friend. But that wasn't the point.
She tore off a page of her notebook and scribbled down her next reply, passing it back to the kid. Her message said: Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine. :)
She received a reply seconds later, hearing his pencil scratch against the paper and feeling another paper ball hit her head.
Not concerned! You're distracting me from learning stuff.
Then tell the teacher you're moving to another chair coz I'm annoying. Lune wrote back. She always sides with you anyway.
The classroom's full today, you bunny dummy. And it's 'cause, not coz.
Bunny dummy?
It's the best thing I can think of.
Work on your insults, Aqua.
Shut up, animal.
"I'm really mystified how you pass all your exams with flying colors while having poor etiquette in class, Beryl." The teacher interrupted Lune before she could finish her own retort. A quick glance at Aqua revealed the boy's desk clean of paper; only his notebook and pencil was there, neat and organized. Lune's desk looked like it was attacked by papery projectiles. Which it was.
How surprising.
"Teachers grade students on class performance anyway." At this point in time, Lune knew that defending herself was a futile attempt. Not when everyone seemed to be against her. All she could do was shrug.
"As if it was bad enough that you sleep more often now. What blatant disrespect," Sadie muttered under her breath, Lune managing to hear every word with supreme ease. Her sharp sense of hearing was definitely both a blessing and a curse, especially when she started hearing everyone mumble unsavory things about her while they thought she didn't catch on to their every word. Silly people.
But to be fair, Lune thought as she pretended to listen to her teacher's scolding. I have a good reason why I feel like gluing myself to my bed all the time now: my dad.
But she never got to completely recall what Vert Beryl had been doing with her, exactly, because just then, the teacher stopped glaring at her and looked away. She clapped her hands once, addressing the class.
"Alright, kids. Bring out a sheet of paper and hide your notebooks. We're having a little quiz right now on addition and subtraction!" She said. She looked meaningfully at Lune, the small smirk on her face recognizable only to the girl. Lune was casually indifferent to it. "You have Lune here to thank for that."
There were groans all around the classroom.
Later that day, Lune Beryl was the happy recipient of many glares, barbs, and crumpled papers.
Curiously enough, one of them contained a message that mockingly greeted her for celebrating her sixth birthday today.
(Which was kind of funny, because she turned six three weeks ago.)
"Lune? You've got—eww—a spitball in your hair." Yang later said with a look of disgust, making the aforementioned girl look up from the picture book she'd been viewing with little Ruby.
Ever since Lune was invited to visit the Xiao Long-slash-Rose residence several weeks ago and was given directions on how to get there, the girl had been visiting as often as she was allowed. She would be fetched from school by her Mom around two-thirty, reach Patch by four, and by four-thirty dropped off here with promises of being good. The rest of the afternoon would be spent talking or playing any games they could think of. If they weren't playing one of the board games Yang owned, they were playing Grimm versus Huntsmen. Lune often ended up being the Grimm, chased around the house by Yang and Ruby, whose role was painfully obvious. She would only stop being 'it' the moment she was killed (tagged) by the other two children.
One would think that a kid with the mentality of a nineteen-year-old would grow bored of such games, but no, not her. She felt like a kid and an adult at the same time, and oftentimes she preferred being a kid anyway.
So. Really. It was awesome to have something to look forward to every day. Really look forward to, for once.
"What?" Lune reached for the small, squishy ball at the spot Yang pointed, pulling back her hand and making a face at what she'd just ended up looking at. "Eww, you're right." She flicked the offending object away at once, careful not to send it flying towards the three-year-old beside her.
"Let me guess," Yang said, her lilac eyes unashamedly meeting hers. "Your bullies. Again."
Lune shrugged. "Yep. Math quiz for everyone 'cause I fell asleep in class."
Lune hadn't really intended the girl to know all about the bullying, to be honest. Not because she didn't want Yang to bother with her or get too close, but because she had thought she had it all under control. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal; the life of a Faunus was difficult by default. She would survive, and all she needed to do was focus on her graduation day. The bullying would be over before she knew it. Freedom at last.
But after that one particularly rough day last-last week when Yang asked how things went on her side, the genuine concern overwhelmed Lune to the point that the words just tumbled right out of the Faunus' mouth.
She had to admit, there was some crying mixed in with the ranting, showing that for all her open mind, the discrimination still managed to nick bits and pieces of her armor. But it was a good cry, and after that she was good to go for the next couple months. Or years. (Please God, let her non-crying streak last for years.) So long as her parents didn't find out how bad it really was for her, she was fine. She was determined to finish what she'd started.
But god, how she missed having friends.
She'd almost forgotten what it was like to have someone she could share her problems with. Heck, she didn't realize how lonely her life was until the warm feeling of friendship—cheesy as that sounded—filled her to the brim and left her craving for more.
When was the last time anyone other than her parents appreciated her company? When was the last time she even had any social life?
Lune had decided she did not want to be friendless again. The loner life was not for her.
So, whenever she opened her own house's door to find a sunny Yang and a cute Ruby at her doorstep, with either their Daddy Taiyang or Uncle Qrow standing behind them, the smile on her face was practically heartbreaking to see. Because, true to Yang's word, they also visited her when she wasn't visiting them. And god she'd never been so happy.
River practically teared up at the thought of her little girl finally having some people she could consider as friends, too, knowing that Lune was only soldiering on in her civilian school without making so much as an acquaintance. The woman was in Super Mom mode whenever the two kids came for a visit.
And judging from the looks on Yang and Ruby's faces whenever they were offered a plate of cookies or waffles, the two appreciated the warm treatment. Yang wasn't even bothered whenever River's way of speaking took a turn for the sarcastic. The blonde actually found it pretty funny. She even wanted to take notes.
While there was no replacing the gap that Summer Rose left with Yang's family after she'd presumably died on a mission, River Beryl seemed to be doing a good job filling even just one-fourths of it. It made Lune think that her death as Amelie was worth it since it meant all these stuff happening. It meant that somehow, she was returning a favor to the world that granted her a second chance. Even if that world was dangerous as hell.
"You know, you really should do something about those jerks. Just because you're a Faunus, that doesn't mean they get a free pass for bullying you." Yang then said. She crossed her arms from where she'd been sitting cross-legged. "If I were in your shoes, I'd kick their butts."
"I'd pay you with candies to do just that." Lune said dryly.
"I'd do it for free." Yang easily countered. The two exchanged amused grins before she grew serious again. "Come on, don't you think it's unfair? You might have a pair of rabbit ears, but you're still a kid like me. You enjoy my crappy board games and everything." That got a snort from Lune. "You can't just spend the rest of your school life letting them win all the time."
Leave it to a fellow six-year-old to give sage advice. Admittedly, she was content in pranking someone if the bullying was too much (example: Aqua), but most of the time? She did let things slide. The teachers punishing her. Her classmates' taunts. The dirty looks. She was a half-glass-full kind of person—she liked to believe—so she would always think that it would get better (she was going to be a Huntress so things did get better, right?), but sometimes… Gah. For all her adult mindset, she did want to fight back.
But since when was life ever easy, anyway? It didn't mean the bullying would stop once she'd actually tried retaliating. The bullying might just get even worse because they finally got what they wanted, and the satisfaction of seeing someone snap and admit their words struck true would be all too sweet. She wasn't giving the brats that.
And then there was her stubbornness in finishing what she'd started… which was ironic, because she was borderline lazy by nature.
"Trust me, Yang, I'll be fine. It's only four more years before I graduate. I can handle it." She smiled the foxy smile her dad was practically known for, though her insides twisted at the half-truth. "I get my victories where I could; you should see their faces whenever I had the highest grades in class. And once I get into Signal Academy anyway, they're gonna have to think twice before they tried bullying me again. By then, I'll know how to kick their butts in the most epic. Way. Possible."
"I guess so." Yang said, though she was undoubtedly unconvinced.
But a certain word sparked her interest, and her eyes widened as it finally registered in her mind. "Wait a minute. So you want to be a Huntress, too?" Yang immediately asked. Before Lune could even answer, the girl squealed and tackle-hugged her. Lune could hear Ruby laughing in the background. "Because that's awesome! So do I. I could see it now: you. And me. In Signal. Together. That would be super-duper fun and we'd get to start on our chosen paths with a Yang." She said, drawing back from a stunned Lune with a wide, toothy grin."Then when Ruby's old enough, she could join in on our team, too. She really wants to become a Huntress like Mom."
Lune glanced at the red-haired kid, who was currently looking at a picture of a Grimm and a Huntsman with fascination and starry eyes. Yang moved to ruffle Ruby's hair affectionately. She earned a bright grin in return. The siblings were too adorable for words.
"I guess that means your dad's training you for Signal, too?" Lune asked, straightening herself from where she was sprawled on seconds ago.
"That's right," Yang said proudly. "Ever since he's temporarily pulled out of his teaching career in Signal and spent more time with us after… you know, that, we've been doing pretty well. Dad says my punches are getting stronger and stronger." Yang demonstrated a punch in the air for emphasis. Grinning, she then said, "So how about you? How's your own training coming along? I know your dad's a Huntsman too."
"Urk," was the most appropriate response that Lune could think of. It was so eloquent she wanted to cry.
"...That bad, then?"
Lune quickly shook her head in disagreement and waved her hands around her. "No. N-no. It's not really bad-bad. It's just… well… my dad's way of teaching is kinda… different." She finished lamely, her hand gestures weak and floppy.
"Different?" Yang repeated in puzzlement. "I dunno, wouldn't different be a good thing? I've been told we're going to be developing our own fighting styles someday. Something about… oh! Right. Something about that being a part of our identity. I saw some tournaments on TV, and nobody fights the same way."
"I wish that was the case." Lune practically whined.
Ruby looked up at the girl with wide, curious eyes, asking in her simplest way—she didn't have the best vocabulary yet—if something's wrong. The Faunus was quick to smile sheepishly and reassure the kid that everything was fine and she should get back to her picture book. Ruby was getting to the best part, after all, and she shouldn't miss the picture with the Huntsman facing off a Beowolf. It was the battle of epic proportions.
"'Kay!" Ruby chirped, smiling at Lune. With the red-haired girl distracted once more, Lune returned her attention to Yang.
"In fact…" Lune began with a gulp. "This is what usually happens…"
Lune proceeded to tell Yang (and Ruby) about the so-dubbed Beryl Training Regime. In fact, she might as well be telling a horror story around a campfire while a clock somewhere struck midnight. By the time Lune's mom came back to fetch her, there was a haunted look in her green eyes.
In Lune's ideal world, nothing was scarier than the prospect of sacrificing sleep for an early wake-up call. And recently, of the Beryl Training Regime.
The horror story was revived anew.
"Rise and shine, sweetie! The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming… and it's another new day for the Beryl Training Regime!"
Lune hissed like an angry cat the moment the light switch was flipped on and her blanket was snatched mercilessly away, leaving her to curl up into a ball and shiver from the cold. Her eyes remain stubbornly shut.
Maybe she was just dreaming, she thought as the silence reigned once more. Yeah, this was all a bad dream and Dad was still sleeping with Mom. No, not in that way—on second thought, hopefully in that way because she'd very much appreciate an additional hour of sleep and when two people get going, they really get going.
"Aww, don't be like that. This is for your own good, you know!" Her dad said. It was impossible to imagine his face sporting anything else but a wide, toothy grin. No doubt his hands, curled into fists, were resting on his hips, too. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I've already let you sleep in long enough."
Nope. Not a dream. Lune could have sworn she heard her hopes crash and burn. She was pretty sure the person mentally screaming was her. Screaming no, Darth Vader style.
"It's five-thirty in the morning," Lune whined, blindly grabbing for her pillow and burying her head underneath it. She didn't have to look at a clock; she knew deep in her heart that it was five-thirty—okay, no, she didn't, but she was always roused after five, ever since she'd been to Signal and her dad made a habit of conditioning her body every. Single. Morning.
"And you get to see the sun rise with me! Come onnnn, what better way to start the day with?"
"It's snowing."
"Not for long. The weather channel said that the sun's shining bright sometime later."
"It's cold."
"Getting used to the cold builds character!"
"Mom's gonna flip every table in the universe if I catch frostbite."
"She's not as scary as you think she is, sweetie."
"Sunday of last autumn begs to differ, Daddy."
Lune didn't receive a retort for that one. There was never a retort for that one. Instead, her pillow was ruthlessly snatched away from her too, making everything as unbearable as the day she was born. Well, minus the whole I-can't-make-sense-of-everything part. There was no trumping that. She'd rather not find out if there was anything far worse. She'll probably die an ugly death by then.
But if that meant getting cremated and having my ashes sprinkled over Aqua…
"Yeah, no, kiddo. That card only works once. Better luck next time," his last words were in a singsong voice, and… that was that.
Lune lost the battle she thought she could win even once.
Several moments later, Lune was grudgingly doing some stretching exercises up on the attic with her dad. It didn't really take much effort for the man to clean up the place and transform it into a makeshift training room; there were never that many boxes of old belongings to begin with. The attic did require regular sweeping, though, because when left alone, a thin layer of dust covered the floor. And if she inhaled enough, Lune would sneeze like crazy.
She hated having a runny nose.
And, while it was a huge ol' positive that he decided against braving the snow outside—even though it was, to her dismay, falling very, very lightly and it meant snowball fights—she was never going to get used to getting up at such an ungodly hour.
Only crazy people woke up at five in the freaking morning. Crazy people who managed to greet the day with a smile. People who... who actually liked doing that from Sunday to Saturday. Really, who did that? And what's wrong with them?
"See, Lune? Don't you feel a lot more flexible than before?" Dad later said as Lune effortlessly reached for her toes without bending her legs. "Before you know it, you'll be doing cartwheels and back flips like crazy!"
She had to admit, it was getting easier to do this as time passed. She wasn't about to perform some rad moves anytime soon, moves that would make a gymnast cry in jealousy, but there was something about this body of hers she could definitely appreciate.
Maybe it had something to do with her parents' genes resulting to a body that made her feel she was born to be physically fit. Maybe it had something to do with being a Faunus. Heck, maybe starting out early on exercises like these helped a ton. Whichever it was, her current body was surprisingly easier to condition than her last one.
Then again, she ate more vegetables than meat. There was that.
Lune straightened up, did a few other stretches, and looked expectantly at Dad. Seeing her done, he pressed his scroll's screen and stopped the music that had been playing for the past thirty minutes. Music that, by the way, seemed to be catering more to his tastes than hers. Shame; a good rock song would get her going.
"Can I go back to sleep now?" Lune yawned for emphasis despite feeling twice as awake as before.
Her dad stared at her. Then he smiled. It was the kind that didn't make her grow warm and fuzzy on the inside. It was the kind that made her wonder if a hailstorm was coming. "You know what's about to come next. Ready to improve your reflexes?"
A look of horror immediately crossed Lune's face and the girl took a step back, fingers forming an X. "No. No no no no. Maybe if you didn't throw so many balls at once in that Huntsman-y way you did, with the flipping and twirling and everything, but yeah… no." She shook her head and felt her ears swish with the movement. "Daddy, I can't keep up! You said I move way quicker than humans, but I'm too slow for you."
She had never been pelted with so many balls in so little time. It was like playing dodge ball, only harsher and faster-paced, and did she mention the balls her dad threw hit like a truck? On rocket boosters? Packed with C4? She had a fear of round things for a week. A week. And Aqua capitalized on that.
Her rabbit reflexes didn't do her any good because Dad was always faster.
"I admit, maybe the last time was a liiiiittle too extreme," Dad said sheepishly, taking one step closer. "But this time… I think you'll like what I have in mind."
"Mom nearly exploded when she saw the bruises. It didn't hurt me much, but my skin didn't like those balls," Lune said bluntly, her eyes wary and her body attentive. It was true. In fact, River prevented her from doing anything beyond stretches for three days. The woman was tempted to say forever, but everyone knew that couldn't be possible.
Lune thought it would be pretty darned awesome if her Aura was activated so she stopped getting sprains and bruises. But then it took training and willpower before she could even accomplish that. Training that she was already whining about, and willpower that she wasn't sure existed or not. Oh huzzah, lack of progress. Dad could probably help her activate it, but then he'd likened her Aura to a prize: until Lune's physical performance was Signal Academy-ready, no Aura for her.
"Then will you trust me if I said we're going out of the house for some harmless snowball fight? Let's put a little fun on the exercise this time."
Lune paused. And reconsidered.
Snowball fight.
Snowball fight.
Vert Beryl was already looking like he already won some sort of internal war.
Lune gave a resigned shrug and let her inner kid take over. She stared up at her dad's face. "Okay, fine, but if it's anything like the last time, I'm gonna sleep beside Mom and you're gonna have to deal with her if you want me to get up early in the morning."
River Beryl was not a morning person. This was a fact, and both Lune and her dad were witness to her, um, tantrums if she was given even the slightest nudge away from her precious sleep. Maybe that was why Lune liked to sleep in, herself. Other than the fact that she was utterly spoiled as an infant, maybe the preference was genetic. She really needed to work on her knowledge of science.
"Deal." Dad said, grinning.
"Pinky swear?"
"Pinky swear."
Lune Beryl awoke to the sensation of something stubby poking her cheek, and confusion was the first thing that dominated her senses. What happened? Where's the fire? Did anyone die? She cracked her eyes open—
And she saw her least favorite person in the world.
"I'm awake," Lune mumbled to Aqua, belatedly realizing that the reason why she felt so uncomfortable and weirdly stiff was because her head was stuck to her desk for too long. Longer than usual, because normally, the teacher would notice her dozing off and she'd either be jolted awake by a volunteer classmate or her teacher did the waking. She didn't think rulers could make that kind of noise.
She was surprised to discover that she'd actually been ignored for an entire period.
Also, Dad's snowball fight earlier in the morning felt more like a war between life and death.
"Y'know, I pick on you every day, but even I start to notice your sleeping habits are getting worse and worse. Even though you still ace everything and I really, really wonder how you could do that." Aqua said. He would have sounded concerned... and awed... if it weren't for his next choice of words. "Don't tell me some animal stuff's keeping you up at night, whatever it is you Faunus do during that time."
The corner of Lune's lips twitched as she picked up her rucksack from beside her chair, refusing to give the boy a reply. She wasn't a decent conversationalist until she was awake for a couple more minutes. The rabbit faunus reached for her notebook so she could close it shut and stuff it inside her bag, but something seemed to have caught Aqua's eye, and the thing was snatched before she could become aware of it. She could only level a half-sleepy glare at the boy who flipped through several pages and stopped on one particular page that made her cheeks grow warm.
"Future Huntress outfit…" Aqua read from the page, his eyes gazing at the drawing Lune had remade at some point in the past. "You're gonna become one of them?"
In hindsight, better that page than her timeline page. She would have to bullshit her way out of the latter. She could've sworn her heart stopped for a second.
"Yep," she finally said, snatching back her notebook and shoving it inside her bag. Somehow Yang's words echoed in her mind. "And you're not gonna stop me, Aqua. You can bully me all you want, I've got my mind set on this."
For a moment, something seemed to have clicked in Aqua's mind. If she had to warrant a guess, he managed to connect the dots between her constant siestas and the drawing he discovered. Not surprising, given his intellect. He was looking at her differently now, but his eyes didn't reflect respect. It didn't reflect anything she knew of. She could use all the abstract nouns she could think of, and she still wouldn't be able to put a finger on the peculiar way he was regarding her.
But just like any moments, it was gone as soon as it came. Aqua smirked. "Good luck then, sleepyhead. I doubt you'll even get far, what with that kind of attitude you already have in class. I guess that means I'll have another thing to work at, 'cause I don't want no Faunus being better at the one thing I plan to be the best at."
He didn't even give her a second to retort, that jerk. The boy turned away and left the classroom with his own backpack strapped over one shoulder.
And maybe her mind was slow in processing information right now, because it wasn't until later—en route to the Beryl residence—that Lune realized what Aqua's words were implying.
"You okay, kiddo? Need a break?" Her mom beside her asked in concern, noticing Lune's sudden stop from her walk. "I know your dad's been working you to the bone and all… so honestly, we can take a breather if you want."
"Eh?" Lune blinked. She quickly shook her head and offered a strained smile. "I'm fine, Mom. Dad does need to ease up on the training, though. I'm only six—I'm not getting to Signal until I'm ten."
"Actually, depending on your qualifications, you can get enrolled there earlier." River corrected, and she grinned in amusement at Lune's incredulous stare. "I mean it. For once, I'm actually dead serious. No combat school's about to turn away a prodigy, you see; Remnant needs all the help it can get in fighting the Grimm, remember. And that means making exceptions to the rule if they have to." She said. She seemed to have this faraway look in her eyes before she continued. "They've done it before. Think of it as something like… your school. If you're smart enough, you get moved ahead. And getting moved ahead means getting out of school earlier than normal."
The thought of doing so well in class was an appealing thought, but she bet no teacher was willing to put a Faunus like her in an advanced subject. Or god forbid, let her graduate early.
"How do you know all that, Mom?" It's not in the books, Lune meant to say. Mom might just be employing some common sense, but her tone of voice implied otherwise. And wasn't her mom too civilian to be privy to information like combat school evaluations? On the other hand, Dad could only know so much.
The smile on the woman's face was a secretive one. "Oh, you know, I just do."
Odd.
"...Oh. Okay." Lune decided to leave it at that.
But the implication from her words was enough to send her mind reeling alongside the revelation about Aqua.
For someone who wasn't a Huntress, her mom sure knew a lot. Okay, she might be thinking too much on this, the way she'd do so on supposedly simple things, but something told her there was way more to River Beryl than meets the eye.
And Aqua… crap, so the kid was planning on being a Huntsman too. Considering how he already knew the one thing Lune wasn't making apparent to the class, she suddenly thought that the remaining four years of civilian school was going to drag on longer than she'd thought. What if he told the entire class of her decided path and everyone tried their best to shoot her down as brutally as possible?
Ugggghhh, was the most accurate response Lune could think on that.
But life was never really so predictable, so eh, really, who knew what was going to happen in the course of four years?
A/N: Okayyy, so I managed to write this chapter up quickly because I managed to finish a thesis chapter of mine fast enough to make time for everything else. My usual, self-appointed deadline is two weeks from the last update, but yay, fast update! I basically knew how I wanted to start this one and things took a life of their own from there. It's not the most exciting chapter out there, but I wanted to do some showing, not telling.
Also, yeah, expect a time skip soon, if not next chapter. I'm almost done with the civilian academy portion of Lune's life. On another note, I like learning how to add layers to characters. If it's not polished or well-executed as I've hoped, my inexperience would be the reason. XP
Please feel free to follow, fave, or review like usual! I appreciate the support you guys are giving me, vocal or not. It makes some depressing days so much better. Life does get a bit rough on me from time to time too, haha.