Chapter 8 – who Killed marrow amin
"Wait up, you guys!"
Blake and Adam slowed down to allow Ilia a chance to catch up with them. A brief glance confirmed that they were all alone in the corridor.
"K," whispered Blake.
"I spoke to Goodwitch. It's her. I'm sure of it."
"It can't be. It's Jaune Arc. I have proof."
"Yeah, but I have actual proof that it's Goodwitch."
"It's Arc. I'd bet lien on it."
Adam watched the back and forth with no small degree of confusion. He wasn't sure how Blake had gotten it into her head that the blond idiot was a capable assassin…or a capable anything, for that matter. As for Ilia's theory, well…Adam personally thought it more likely to be the Schnee or Ruby Rose, but he would try to keep an open mind. Any human had it in them to become a murderer.
It wasn't prejudice that made him think that; it was experience. To be fair, so did any Faunus, but there were no Faunus suspects.
"Ilia. You go first."
"Ok. So, I spoke to Goodwitch about seeing the crocodile Faunus and asked her if we should have gone to a teacher. It was a subtle way of asking her if she would have intervened."
"She bought it?"
"I played up the confused, guilt-ridden student bit. Now, Goodwitch said that, had she known about the croc and her hostile intent against the students, she would have engaged her. But that's the thing – I saw her look directly at the crocodile woman and pass her by. She clearly had a bigger priority, and I think that it was finding K. Besides, she had already gone into the Emerald Forest despite promising not to help out any students, and that was before she knew about the crocodile in the first place."
Adam ran through it in his head. "You're saying she killed Amin…how?"
"Her semblance is telekinesis. She could have ripped his head right off from a distance before he even had a chance to get his aura up. It would make a clean cut…I think. I don't really know how much control she has."
"But that would mean that Ozpin is in on it. After all, the two of them were standing next to each other when they launched us. If she went into the forest, there was no way she could have done it without him seeing."
"I – maybe. I didn't think of that, but I guess it would make sense. I mean, Ozpin could be harboring the aura device in his school and sending his attack dog to kill anyone who tries to get it."
"Anything else? Evidence, that is, beyond speculation?"
Ilia deflated. "I thought that was enough evidence to make her a suspect."
"She is a suspect, but she's not our only one. Blake. You suspect J–"
"It's him! It has to be!"
Adam raised his eyebrows. "You seem sure. I saw him fight with that sword and shield. There's no way he could have killed a specialist."
"That just it – the sword and shield are decoys! He didn't even use them. He doesn't know how!"
"So…he sucks?"
"It's because he sucks that it has to be him!"
"This I have to hear," Ilia said, folding her arms and leaning against a wall. "Do go on."
"I fought him, and I saw it. It's not easy to realize, so I don't blame either of you for not getting it. He's playing games with us, running in circles around us. Think about it – how could someone so obviously weak get into Beacon? Get past initiation in a forest overflowing the creatures of Grimm? He fought like a civilian just a minute ago, but he somehow is in the same place as huntsmen and huntresses who trained their whole lives. How? Because that wasn't his full power just now. He's holding back."
"Again…" Adam shrugged. "Just speculation."
"Not speculation. When you or I use a sword, we know that the best chance of hitting an opponent is with slashes to the center of mass or tactical strikes on extremities. Jaune Arc tried to run me through every time. Every. Damn. Time. And that shield – he tried to slam into me as though he were a battering ram. He's not trained with either of those weapons, but he must be trained on something else! He's applying skills on the lance or maybe a javelin to swordplay. It's the perfect cover – he comes off as genuinely weak enough to dismiss to everyone around him, but he can easily drop the act and pick up his real weapon when it's time to strike. It's him!"
"Keep your voice down," commanded Adam, looking around. "He'll join the list, like Goodwitch, but I urge you to not get tunnel vision. If you only watch one person, you'll lose track of everyone else around you. Both of you – that's an order."
"Maybe it would be best if we each took a target or two," offered Ilia. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to focus on the blond blunderer when I'm also trying to keep track of Goodwitch. Blake can take–"
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Adam. "You're our resident human, Ilia. Only you can talk to Schnee. And if Jaune Arc doesn't open up to Blake, it might arouse his suspicions if one of her teammates suddenly approaches him. We can't be too heavy handed. People will notice if we introduce ourselves like a revolving door, one after another. This isn't the White Fang, where everyone else disappears at the end. For now, we're just a group of three friends looking to network and make some lasting connections with our…K. What are you doing here?"
Ruby Rose had nearly snuck up on them. Despite the immense racket she tended to produce when she was standing still in one place, the little girl was surprisingly light on her feet when in motion.
"We're going to be late for our next class if we don't head over now. I've been looking all over for you guys."
"We were having a private conversation, human."
Ruby looked away. Adam checked his scroll – 5 minutes until the next class, but it was halfway across the school. It didn't matter, though; little tardiness never hurt anyone.
"Um…I'd…"
The little girl appeared to be screwing up her courage in an attempt to tell him something.
"Spit it out, human."
"I…" She looked like she was about to faint. "I don't like it when you call me human."
Adam nodded. "I wouldn't want to be one either. They have a poor track record for–"
"Stop that!" She slammed her boot down. "Stop it with the racism! I know I'm a human, and you're a Faunus, but I'm not responsible for every bad thing every human has done!"
She was wrong. As long as cruelty exists, there could be no bystanders. Either you took a stand or allowed the world to get worse while watching from the sidelines.
Still, she had showed backbone, and that sort of behavior would merit a reward in Atlas. So…
"Fine. Let us go to class, girl."
"Just Ruby is enough. I know I messed it up when we first me, but my name is Ruby Rose."
"Ruby, then."
Ruby outstretched a hand and smiled.
She had earned her name, but he wasn't going to go around touching a human's hand just because she'd stood up to him. Adam turned around without taking her hand. Unfortunately, the sight that awaited him was now far worse.
"Oh. Well look what we have here," a repugnant voice hissed out.
"Schnee. And her merry band of radical human supremacists."
"At least we aren't a crew of rabid animals." It was the short, stumpy one that said it. Not the mohawk or the tall one, the other one. Dove? Something like that.
"Well, at least I'm going to inherit the SDC," said Adam.
"What?" Schnee glared. "You won't ever inherit the SDC."
"I guess that makes two of us," Adam replied with a grin.
Schnee drew her rapier and pointed it at Adam. He didn't respond. "Every Faunus should be rounded up and driven off the edge of Remnant."
"Flat Remnant theorist? I should've known – you're just smart enough to fit the part."
Ilia tried her best to not look conspicuous and keep a neutral face, but it wasn't easy. Schnee was just like every schoolyard bully that talked shit about the Faunus just because they could. Like all of her false friends from prep school that giggled when Ilia's parents were murdered by Schnee carelessness. L̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶I̶l̶i̶a̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶.̶
Still, she wasn't Adam, who need to finger some toys in his back pocket to manage his anger. Ilia was a professional who could feel one way and act the other, so she faked a snort and nodded. Weiss and her humans were Ilia's responsibility, and it was best to start early.
It was the same thing she'd done when she was a kid, but somehow this time it felt different. Back then, it had been to benefit herself. Now, it was to make real change in the world. Maybe that was why the general had put her in an undercover unit, to give her a chance to come to terms with what she'd done and reclaim the action of lying, but now in a positive context.
Ruby looked aghast at Ilia's laugh, then angrily glared at Weiss. "That's tough talk coming from someone who's team just lost every fight they were in."
Schnee growled, but the fact of the matter was that Ruby hadn't lied. Bronzewing had lost to the Invincible Girl, Thrush to Sky Lark of Team Yellowjacket, Cardin to Ruby's own sister, and Weiss to Ruby herself. For a fancy pants heiress who was probably used to getting every little thing she wanted, a defeat at the hands of this immature warrior must have been especially humiliating. Ilia couldn't afford to burn bridges with either girl by supporting one over the other, so she kept quiet.
"At least we weren't held back."
"W-What? Held back? I wasn't held back! I'm young, not old!"
Schnee turned her devil glare away from Ruby and set it on Adam. "You. You're older than huntsmen are supposed to be when they come here. I bet you had to keep repeating first grade at your combat school, and that's why you're so old."
"Spot on, Weiss," said the tall one, Cardin. Ilia was just beginning to get their names down. "He's probably retarded. Wait, I take it back. All Faunus are retarded." Cardin high fived Dove, and Ilia tried her best not to rupture a blood vessel. Did those two think that that was some kind of epic zinger? Literally just insulting your enemy, and then insulting their species? Adam wasn't even responding to racism, and on top of that, it was so bland, so unoriginal, that Ilia nearly broke character to fire off something more witty in response. It would have been easy – focus on their insecurities and play to that, adapting as necessary. Bitchery had always come easy to Ilia when she wanted it to. Still, she was just another 'human,' so she plastered a smile across her face and giggled. Cardin's grin widened.
Ruby stamped her foot down as hard as she could. "Adam wasn't held back. Unlike you beef jerkies, he's a real huntsman, he just never had time to get certified. Now, if you dumb butts are done, we need to go to class. So, why don't you scooch your dumb faces out of the way and let us through?" Ruby's trash talk needed work, but secretly, Ilia was loving every moment of it. The more her own leader talked like a simpleton and used infantile language, the more she hurt Weiss Schnee by driving home the point that Weiss had just lost to someone so child-like.
Schnee sheathed her rapier, but Cardin slammed his mace onto the ground in front of them. "Take it back."
"But it's not my mace…? It can't take back something that doesn't belong to me."
"I meant the insult. You just insulted the glorious leader of Team Sword, the best huntsmen and huntresses at Beacon. Now take it back."
"No." Ruby stuck out her tongue and puffed up her cheeks. "You take it back!"
"Wh – that doesn't even make any sense."
"Ignore her, Cardin," said the Schnee. "If you respond, you only debase yourself by stooping to her level. We're better than them."
"The combat rankings disagree!" Ruby called out, waving goodbye with her middle fingers as the four of them retreated. "Now, where were we?"
Ilia shrugged. "Not in class, even though it started two minutes ago!"
"Oh no! We gotta go…and Ilia, let's talk later. We need to have a chat about – yeah. Later, later. After class. Now, all four of us – mush! I mean, all three of us." Ruby looked around. "Hey, where's Blake?"
Adam and Ruby had the Schnee under control, so Blake had made her way to class. Better not to have all of them tardy in one sitting, lest a professor write the team up with detentions of some sort. Blake was hoping to take a look around the school in search of the aura machine. It was too early to expect to find it, but memorizing the layout of campus would probably be a good starting place to lay the groundwork for the future.
With her entire team verbally sparring with Team Sword, Blake didn't have anyone to sit next to. Teams weren't strictly required to stick together, but it was generally expected that they do so. Plus, when the desk grouping as Beacon only seated four people, it tended to be difficult to play with the other kiddies without giving someone the boot and splitting up a team.
"Oi! Anime catgirl! I dunno your name…Ruby's friend!"
Blake turned around to see a bushy-haired blonde waving her down.
"You need somewhere to sit? Come joins the Yellowjacket-P's!"
"Why?"
"Any friend of Rubes' is a friend of mine," the blonde declared. Then, under her breath, "And she barely has enough as it is…"
As Blake approached the four of them, she couldn't help but ask, "So you do pronounce the P?"
"Yeah. We talked it over, and sounding cool is less important than kicking out Pyrrha altogether. If we called ourselves Team Yellowjacket and left it silent, there's no way it wouldn't screw with her mental health." The blonde patted Pyrrha Nikos on the back heartily, causing the red haired girl to jolt forward in her seat. "Why don't'cha take a seat next to The Pyre, friend? Just go ahead and grab one from the other desk groupings."
"The Pyre?"
"Cause she makin' this bitch lit!" The blonde threw finger guns. Ilia would probably love this one. "I'm Yang. Jaune's…asleep. Again. Dammit. And this sourpuss is Sky!"
Sky glared at her with the kind of hatred only the most bitter of humans could produce. Blake decided not to prod that sleeping Ursa and simply nodded at the four of them. "I'm Blake…"
"…Belladonna," finished Pyrrha, her head jumping up.
It was Blake's turn to jolt forward. "W-What?"
"You two know each other?" asked Yang. "Pyramid, I thought you said you didn't know anyone else." Pyrrha's cheeks turned bright red.
"Well, obviously she does, you dumbass," added Sky, quite helpfully. "She knew her name."
"But I don't know her," said Blake, looking at a mortified Pyrrha quizzically. "I mean, I know her, as the Invincible Girl, but we've never met. I've never been to Mistr–" Blake stopped, before she admitted anything that could tie her to Atlas and K.
Pyrrha had waited until Blake had said her first name. There hadn't been recognition in her eyes when all she'd had was Blake's face.
Yang cocked her head. "Pyrrha? Do you know Blake?"
"…class is about to start," Pyrrha said quietly. "Let's listen. This is an important subject."
"P-Pyrrha? What's going on? Uhhh, Blake?"
Suddenly, Blake wasn't so sure that Jaune Arc was the one she'd been looking for. Nodding her head, she agreed, "She's right. We need to focus."
Yang looked between the two of them rapidly, desperately searching for a rational explanation of what was going on as Professor White began his lecture. Unfortunately, the most rational explanation wasn't one that Blake would willingly say out loud.
Pyrrha Nikos…she had been one of the combatants skilled enough to make their list of suspects, easily. A Mistrilian native, she randomly decided to come to Vale and had never offered an explanation of her reasoning to the media, causing a frenzy of speculation and theorizing about all sorts of things. She just up and decided that there was something she wanted at Beacon, so she'd shown up.
And she knew Blake's name.
Omake
Adam: Any theories?
Blake: It was Jaune! He's a master assassin hiding in plain sight! He's Jaune Wick!
