Hey, everyone. I'm sure nobody's surprised that it's been a hot minute since the last update, but since this has been a long one, even for me, I owe you guys a bit of an explanation.
Without going into too much detail, my home life hasn't been good for a long time. It hit a breaking point last summer, and I ended up leaving with whatever I could fit in my backpack. I was fortunate enough to have a family friend take me in, but everything since then has been working on getting my life in order. It took a while (obviously, lmao) and writing got put on the back burner most of the time, but I'm happy to say I have a job, my own apartment, and am more or less stable for the time being. And hey, this should prove that nothing short of my death is gonna stop me from writing this story, even if it takes over a year and a half.
I do have one other announcement before I start. Most of you probably know about the RWBY anime that came out. As of me writing this, I haven't seen more than one episode. That could change, but while I may use the anime for a few things—supplementing backstories that aren't fully elaborated on otherwise, Grimm subspecies, etc—I'll still be using the main series in terms of canon. I started this story using the main series, and I'd like to keep it that way.
This chapter's a little bit of a mess, but it's mostly an introduction to the new volume, and I really just wanted to get it out at this point. Thank you again for your patience with me, I really do appreciate it.
Now, let the story begin!
Ruby was planning something.
The signs were obvious once you knew what to look for: the straightened back and proud, puffed-out chest, the way she bounced with every step, the sparkle in her eyes that made them gleam like silver coins. She'd shown all the signs when she left Kaneki and the rest of Team RWBY at the breakfast table, claiming that she'd forgotten a notebook in the dorm, and the fact she hadn't returned meant one of two things: she'd gotten sidetracked tinkering with Crescent Rose again, or she was planning something.
Whatever it was, Kaneki hoped she'd return soon. Without her there to lift the morning mood, the table had fallen into an uncomfortable silence. Weiss was alternating between swirling her coffee and picking at her nails, Yang was chewing her breakfast with morose, mechanical motions, and Blake was hunched over her notebook, oblivious to everything and everyone around her.
Kaneki sipped his coffee uneasily, watching as she flipped the page and started writing feverishly. Ever since she'd learned of Tukson's death, Blake had retreated into herself at an alarming speed. She was constantly distracted, short when spoken to and dismissive when asked questions, focusing only on her notebook and whatever articles she pulled up on her scroll.
Shutting out her friends, focusing only on hunting down the ghosts of her past…even if she'd only been at it for a day, it was all uncomfortably familiar to him.
Kaneki was considering breaking the silence and asking Blake what she was writing when something slammed into the table with a bang. He jumped, clutching his coffee mug so tightly that it was a miracle it didn't crack. He wasn't alone in his surprise: Weiss's face was three shades paler than normal, and Yang had reduced her fork to a twisted scrap of metal. Even Blake had jumped, her hair puffing up like a frightened cat's.
Heart pounding, Kaneki turned to the source of the commotion: Ruby, standing at the front of the table, seemingly unaware of the havoc she'd just wrought. "Sisters!" She declared. "Friends!" She glanced at Weiss, smiling mischievously. "Weiss."
Weiss's face went from paper white to indignant pink in a second. "Hey!"
Ruby ignored her, raising her hand and striking a lecturer's pose. "Forescore and seven minutes ago, I had a dream. A dream that one day, the five of us would come together and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!"
Kaneki stared at what she'd dropped on the table: a white binder stuffed with at least two novels' worth of paper. The title at the top ("Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee") had been hastily scratched out, and the words "Best Day Ever Activities!" had been written on in ruby-red marker.
All of a sudden, sitting in silence with the others didn't seem so bad.
Weiss leaned over the table and stared at the binder, incredulous. "Did you steal my binder?"
Ruby held her hands up in twin peace signs. She wouldn't meet Weiss's eyes. "I am not a crook."
Blake set down her notebook with a sigh. "What are you talking about?" she asked, more tired than annoyed.
"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" Ruby cried, pointing at Blake with a flourish.
Blake blinked at her. Whether she was too tired to respond or not in the mood to entertain Ruby's antics, Kaneki couldn't tell.
Ruby's smile wavered. She sighed, dropping her arm in defeat. "Look, guys, it's been a good two weeks. And between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great. But…classes start back up tomorrow."
Kaneki took a measured sip of his coffee. You say that like it's a bad thing. Now that his weapon was finished, he was grateful to have a reason to leave the dorm again.
Ruby slapped the top of the binder, some of the cheer leaking back into her voice. "Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"
Weiss looked from her pilfered binder to Ruby, brows furrowed. "I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store."
Kaneki was nowhere near as divided. He knew Ruby meant well, but the thought of spending the day playing whatever games she had planned with the others (or specifically, with the dour Yang and clearly uninterested Blake) wasn't pleasant. "Are you sure there's enough time for us to do everything?" He asked, trying to keep a hopeful edge out of his voice.
To his chagrin, Ruby nodded. "I did the math and everything. I even made sure to schedule snack breaks!" She grimaced. "Or uh, coffee breaks for you, Eyepatch."
"I don't know," Blake said, disinterest clear in her voice. She opened her notebook again, as though the conversation were already finished. "I think I might sit this one out."
"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team," Weiss declared. She stood, striking a lecturer's pose to match Ruby's. "I, for one, think that—"
Whatever she thought was abruptly cut off by a pie splattering across her face.
Blake, Yang, Kaneki, and Ruby all jumped, Ruby grabbing the edge of the table as though she expected to be blown back. For several seconds, all any of them could do was stare. As they watched, the pie tin slid from Weiss's face, hitting the table with a spray of cream and a clatter.
As one, the five turned towards the table behind them. Nora was leaning over the tabletop, one arm still outstretched, mouth hanging open. As they locked eyes on her, she hastily sat down and pointed to Ren, who had his face buried in his hands. Jaune and Pyrrha stared on in horror.
Kaneki turned back to the table as Weiss wiped cream from her eyes. She stared at her hands, a thousand different emotions flashing across her face before finally settling on resignation. "I'll be back," she muttered, stepping away from the table.
Ruby finally snapped out of her daze. "Wha—no, you won't!" She marched to Weiss's side and grabbed her shoulder. "Are you really gonna let them get away with that?"
Weiss blinked. "...Yes?"
Ruby shot Team JNPR a scathing glare. "You can't take a pie to the face like you're some kind of…sad birthday clown! You have to fight back! You have to show that you're not going to let them walk all over you just because you're afraid to throw some food! Do it for me! For yourself! For the name of Team RWBY!"
Weiss rolled her eyes, but before she could respond with her usual sarcasm, a new voice rang through the cafeteria. "Yeah!"
Kaneki turned, feeling vaguely as though he was watching a tennis match, to see that Nora had risen from the table as well. She'd taken a challenger's stance, one foot on her chair, the other planted steadfastly between the serving dishes.
"Nora," Jaune hissed, face going as red as Pyrrha's hair. "What are you doing?"
Nora ignored him and pointed at Weiss dramatically, all traces of her earlier shame gone. "C'mon, Weiss! Are you gonna take a stand against breakfast tyranny?" She smirked, ignoring Pyrrha and Jaune's attempts to shush her. "Or are you afraid you'll get your skirt dirty?"
Weiss stared. Kaneki waited for her to scoff, but she didn't. Instead, something started to smolder in her eyes—an uncharacteristically Ruby-like spark.
Kaneki felt a sudden rush of foreboding. Don't be stupid, he thought uneasily. Weiss wouldn't—
Quick as a whip, Weiss snatched the half-full pie tin from the table and hurled it through the air like a discus. Nora yelped and ducked at the last second, allowing the tin to go streaking over her head…straight into the face of a girl two tables down. She cried out, clutching at her nose and blinking cream out of her eyes.
Kaneki stared. She would.
There was a long, excruciating pause, during which the entire dining hall seemed to hold its breath; then Nora rose, cupped her mouth, and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"FOOD FIGHT!"
Pandemonium exploded across the room. Students leapt to their feet, some grabbing the nearest piece of food, others sprinting for the exit like Beowolves were snapping at their heels. Across the room, Kaneki saw Cardin reach for a pineapple, only to be immediately clotheslined by one of his teammates.
He didn't see whether he got up or stayed down, however; Nora chose that moment to flip the table she'd been eating at, hurling it through the air like it was made of plastic. It skipped across another table and crashed into a third with a sound like thunder. The screaming got louder.
Kaneki stared at the unfolding chaos, completely flabbergasted. He'd seen food fights before, even beenin one as a child (Hide had been in a mischievous mood that day). He'd never seen anything like this before. Is this what food fights are always like here?
He turned to Team RWBY, hoping they might have kept their heads, but his hopes were dashed in seconds. Ruby and Weiss had both taken fighting stances, Ruby holding a carton of milk as though it were a hand grenade. Yang was cracking her knuckles, a familiar fire flickering in her eyes. Even Blake had put away her notebook, although it seemed more out of resignation than anything.
Kaneki ran through all his options and quickly decided that he'd rather not end up plastered with human food. "Ruby?" he said tentatively. "I'm going to wait by the door."
Ruby ignored him. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" She planted a foot on the table, eyes burning with the determination of a soldier ready to die for her country. "It will be delicious!" She crushed the milk carton, spraying milk across the floor.
The rest of Team RWBY roared. Kaneki hurried for the door.
He was barely five steps away when the unmistakable sounds of a full-on brawl exploded behind him. Any students who hadn't already fled stampeded for the door; screams, snapping wood, and Nora's high-pitched, disturbingly cheerful laughter rang off the walls. Something whistled past his ear and splattered across a table. He didn't slow down to see what it was.
As Kaneki got closer to the door, he spotted two figures that weren't trying to leave. One was a boy in a red jacket, the fridge of his aqua-blue hair held back by a pair of yellow-lensed goggles; the other, to Kaneki's surprise, was Sun.
The blond spotted Kaneki a split second after he did. His face lit up. "Hey, Eyepatch!" He waved him over. "How's it hangin'?"
Kaneki slowed to a walk, grateful that he wouldn't have to wait out the fight alone. "I'm alright. How have you been?"
Sun waved a hand noncommittally. "Nothing much. Seeing the town, hanging out with the team, the usual." He turned back to the boy at his side, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Speaking of teams, this is Neptune. Neptune, Eyepatch."
Neptune looked Kaneki over, eyes lingering on his eyepatch. It wasn't an intimidating look; it reminded Kaneki of the way Hide would size up other students when he met them. After a few seconds, he nodded once, as though he'd found the answer to an unspoken question. "Sup."
Kaneki dipped his head in response. "It's nice to meet you."
Neptune smiled a friendly, lopsided smile. "So, Sun told me you two hung out this weekend. Sure would have been nice if he let his team know where he was going before he disappeared for two days." He jabbed an elbow into Sun's ribs.
Sun yelped and jerked away, tail bristling. "I already said I was sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't give me back the time I spent listening to Scarlet complain about you bailing." Neptune grabbed Sun by the shoulder and pulled him close, poking a finger into his chest. "We've been over this. Either you tell us all where you're gonna be, or you take me with you so I don't have to listen to Scarlet's meltdown."
"I got distracted!"
"Oh, so when you follow a girl you just met into a motel, you're just distracted and it's fine, but when I do it—"
Kaneki watched the two dissolve into squabbles. He was only half-listening; Neptune's words had given him pause. While he hadn't told Sun to keep what had happened at the docks a secret, Ozpin's warning had stuck with him. How much did Sun tell him?
Neptune finally let go of Sun and turned to Kaneki. "Sorry you had to put up with this idiot," he said. "Hope he didn't give you too much trouble."
Kaneki shook his head. "He didn't. It was a fun weekend." He rubbed his chin.
Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Really? Sun said you had it pretty rough at the docks."
Of course. Kaneki suppressed a sigh. "I'm alright now," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Neptune opened his mouth to respond, then flinched as a chunk of something shot past his head. He smoothed his hair, then peered behind Kaneki. His eyes went round as coins. "Hey, not to rush you guys, but do you wanna go and wait outside until they're done with…" He pointed. "That?"
Kaneki turned. In the few minutes he'd looked away from the fight, things had dissolved into complete and utter madness. Someone (he suspected Nora) had piled half of the tables and all of the vending machines into a mountainous heap at the far end of the dining hall. RWBY and JNPR were scattered between the remaining tables, hurling food as though their lives depended on it. As he watched, Ren tripped into a spectacular skid on a patch of ketchup and went spinning into a cluster of tables, sending them flying through the air.
Kaneki stared. It was like watching a car crash: brutal, vicious, and messy, yet impossible to look away from. We should definitely wait outside.
Before he could tear his eyes away to say as such, however, Sun spoke. "No way!" He sounded downright scandalized. "We gotta see who wins!"
Neptune sighed. "I don't think a fight like this has winners, dude."
Kaneki watched as Weiss picked up a swordfish (had they always served swordfish at breakfast?) and launched herself at Nora, who was swinging a watermelon on a metal pole with enough force to crack the floors. That's an understatement.
"So." Neptune stepped to Kaneki's side. "Which one's yours?"
Kaneki blinked, finally managing to tear his eyes away from the carnage. "I'm sorry?"
Neptune jerked his head towards the brawl. "Which team?"
Oh. Kaneki briefly wondered if it was worth mentioning that he technically wasn't a part of any team. "Team RWBY."
Neptune nodded. "Cool, cool." There was a moment's pause. "Which ones are they?"
Kaneki scanned the room until he spotted a flash of red. "There's Ruby." He pointed at the younger girl, who was cradling a seemingly unconscious Weiss and wailing like a soldier clutching a dying comrade. "The girl she's holding is Weiss."
Sun shouldered his way between the two of them. He pointed at Blake, who was crouched behind a table. Every now and then, she'd reach for a stray chunk of food and throw it like a grenade. "That's her! The girl I was telling you about!"
Kaneki nodded. "That's Blake."
Neptune eyed Blake. There was an appraising look in his eye, like a jeweler examining a freshly-cut rock. After a moment, he sighed. "Alright, you were right. She's cute enough to follow into a motel."
"Told you!" Sun crowed. He paused, the triumphant gleam in his eyes morphing into suspicion. "But not your type, right?"
Neptune ignored him. "So an all-girl team, huh?" he said slyly, turning to Kaneki. "Bet that's nice."
Memories of Yang pinning him to a bloody mattress flashed through Kaneki's mind. He forced a laugh. "I guess. There's one more, though."
Neptune tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Kaneki turned his attention back to the brawl, scanning for a flash of golden blonde. "There's four members of the team aside from me. I was a last-minute addition. Yang's the one with…"
He trailed off, furrowing his brow. By all accounts, Yang should have been the easiest to find, but the only blond hair he could see was Jaune's, poking out from a pile of smashed fruit. "I don't see her, actually."
"Blonde girl, right?" Sun offered. "Tall, kinda punchy?"
Kinda didn't really describe Yang—the girl rarely did anything halfway, especially punching—but Kaneki nodded. "That's right."
Sun pointed at the ceiling. "She went through the roof a minute ago."
For a moment, Kaneki thought he was joking. He waited for Sun to break, to laugh and point somewhere else, but the boy kept his hand staunchly skyward. Finally, he followed his hand.
Sure enough, there was a hole in the ceiling.
Kaneki stared. He'd survived his fair share of high falls, and he knew Yang could as well—apparently the practical entrance exam for Beacon students started with being launched from a cliff—but still. It was so cartoonish that he expected Yang to leave a perfect outline of herself when she fell back through the ceiling.
There was a minute of (relative) silence as the three watched the brawl. Neptune coughed. "So…any of them single?"
Ah. And just like that, Kaneki was back at school, listening to Hide gush excitedly about a girl who'd lent him a pencil. "All of them. But Ruby was accepted to Beacon early. She's fifteen."
Behind Neptune, Sun locked eyes with Kaneki. He jerked his head towards Blake, drew a hand across his throat, and put his hands together pleadingly.
Kaneki rolled his eyes. "And Blake isn't looking for a partner right now."
Neptune glanced at Sun, who became suddenly enamored with a fleck of food on his shoe. He smirked. "Noted." He turned back to the girls. "Maybe I'll talk to Snow Angel sometime, then."
Kaneki winced. The last boy he'd seen flirt with Weiss was Jaune; the rejection he'd received had become so infamous that freshmen still whispered about it at meals. He may have just met Neptune, but he felt obligated to at least warn him before he suffered the same fate. "Just so you know, Weiss can be—"
Before he could finish, the dining hall erupted in a cacophony of metal clashing against metal. A low hum filled the air, just noticeable enough to set his teeth on edge. He looked back to the fight just in time to see a truck's worth of soda cans soar into the air, twisting into a river of metal. He could just make out Pyrrha in the middle of it all, arms outstretched, hands pulsing with black energy. Her Semblance, he realized.
The soda cans flew through the air in an aluminum torrent, slamming into the nearby wall. There was a faint cry and a flash of black hair beneath it all—Blake, carried away by the flood—before the cans burst. Soda flew through the air, green and purple spraying the walls and floors like spray paint.
And heading directly for the three boys.
Kaneki and Sun lept to the sides at the last second, the torrent missing them by inches. Neptune wasn't so lucky—before he could so much as blink, he was doused in soda, leaving him dripping wet and stained purple from head to toe.
Kaneki sighed in relief…a second too soon, as a final splash of soda sprayed directly into his open mouth. He choked, eyes watering. The flavor fizzled over his tongue, sickeningly sweet and painfully sour, like rotting syrup and battery acid. His stomach churned.
Don't get sick. He spat the soda on the floor, trying not to let his disgust show. Humans wouldn't get sick from that. He wiped at his mouth, turning to see if the boys had noticed his reaction—
Boom!
Kaneki staggered. The explosion was so enormously, insanely, ear-splittingly loud that it felt as though a bomb had gone off. The shockwave echoed through the room, through his bones and around his skull. He could feel the aftershocks rattling through his teeth.
Before he could fully recover from that, an invisible force yanked him forward. He lurched forward, nearly falling on his face before he managed to regain his footing. He could feel his hair being drawn forward, his clothes pulling slightly, everything pulled forward in a sudden rush of wind. The air filled with crashes and screams.
Kaneki dug his heels in, feeling as though he was being shaken in a snowglobe. This can't be what food fights are supposed to be like here. It can't.
After a solid twenty seconds of fighting to keep his footing, the wind and noise finally died down. Kaneki staggered, ears ringing in the aftermath, and looked up.
What he saw was a massacre. The wall at the far end of the dining hall was completely plastered with food. Crushed soda cans glinted here and there, embedded in the mess like nails. As Kaneki watched, dumbfounded, four distinctly human shapes peeled away from the wall, falling to the floor like sacks of flour. In front of it all knelt Ruby, cloak fluttering behind her like a superhero's.
Sun beamed. "I love these guys."
Kaneki stayed silent, not trusting himself to respond with his ears still ringing and his mouth still stinging. It was obvious Ruby had been responsible for whatever had just happened, but Kaneki couldn't have said how with a quinque to his throat. Next to him, Neptune glared daggers at his teammate, soda dripping down his face.
Before he could voice his complaints, however, there was a slam from behind them. The three whirled on the spot to see Miss Goodwitch standing in the doorway, riding crop in hand.
Kaneki wasn't easily frightened by any means, but even he flinched under the force of her glare.
She strode into the cafeteria, cape flaring behind her, every click of her boots against the floor as loud as a gunshot. Kaneki, Neptune, and Sun simultaneously realized they were in her path and hurriedly stepped to the side. She passed by them without a second glance. With a wave of her riding crop, the room began reassembling itself: tabled righted, chairs lined up in neat rows, and whatever food wasn't mashed to the floors or walls sailed back onto the plates.
Sun and Neptune stared, their expressions something akin to rapturous. "Man," Sun said faintly. "Vale really does get all the good stuff."
Once the room was back in order, Miss Goodwitch whirled on teams RWBY and JNPR. "Children, please." It was clear from her voice alone that she was three seconds from sending them all flying. "Do not play with your food."
Before either of the guilty parties could answer, there was a crash and a yell. Yang dropped from the ceiling in a shower of rubble, landing with a thud that rattled the windows.
Ruby, Weiss, and Team JNPR all burst out laughing, so it seemed like Yang hadn't splattered on impact, but Kaneki didn't get the chance to check. A new figure had walked past him, making a beeline for Miss Goodwitch—one with silver hair and a familiar green scarf.
He frowned. Perfect.
Not wanting to risk drawing the headmaster's attention, he turned back to Sun and Neptune. Neptune was wringing soda out of the hem of his jacket, face a mask of disgust. "Next time there's a food fight, I'm using you as a shield," he grumbled.
Sun rolled his eyes. "C'mon, dude, don't try and act like that wasn't cool."
Neptune scowled. "It would have been cooler if you were the one in the splash zone." Snagging Sun by the collar, he turned on his heel and dragged him towards the door. "Now come on. I need to find a shower."
Sun squawked. "Hey!" He flailed his arms and dug in his heels, but Neptune didn't even break stride. "I'm not done, you—Eyepatch! I'll see you later, okay?"
Kaneki chuckled. "Alright, Sun. Take care." He raised his voice. "And it was nice to meet you, Neptune!"
"Eyepatch!" A familiar voice split the air, high and cheerful and practically singing with excitement. "Eyepaaatch!"
Kaneki turned just in time for Ruby to materialize in front of him. Her uniform was splattered with multicolored bits of food, but she was beaming as though she'd just won the Nobel Prize. "Did you see me?" She asked, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Did you see how fast I was?
As always, her enthusiasm was infectious; even with the soda lingering unpleasantly in his throat, Kaneki couldn't help but smile. "I tried," he said teasingly. "You were too fast for me to see."
"Right?" Ruby struck a pose. "I have to try that move next time I'm fighting Grimm. I think it would work great on Beowolves."
Kaneki looked at Team JNPR, who looked as though they'd been dragged by their ankles through a grocery store. "I'm sure it would," he mused, watching as Nora dabbed at Ren's food-covered cheek with an equally food-covered napkin.
Weiss staggered to Ruby's side, combing chunks of bread from her ponytail with her fingers. Ketchup glistened on her cheek. "I can't believe I let you talk me into that," she groused. "I look ridiculous."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "You threw the first pie, not me." She reached out and hooked her arm with Weiss's. "Besides, don't lie. You had fun!"
Weiss scoffed, but she couldn't hide the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You were smart to say out of it, Eyepatch," she said. She produced a handkerchief seemingly from thin air and wiped the ketchup off her face. "At least one of us came out of this looking respectable."
Kaneki chuckled. "You're better off than JNPR, at least."
Weiss glanced at Nora, who had given up with the napkin and was now attempting to shake Ren clean. "...Fair enough."
"Pardon me." Ozpin's voice cut through the conversation like a knife. Kaneki's good mood evaporated in an instant. "Could I have a word with you, Eyepatch?"
You know I can't say no. Kaneki nodded. "Yes, sir?"
Ozpin's eyes flickered to Ruby and Weiss. His mouth twitched; for a single second, he looked almost sad. "Thank you. I'm expecting a somewhat…let's say, intense visitor today, and I'd rather not worry about where you are during our meeting. So I'd like to ask that, for today, you stay in your dormitory."
"What?" Ruby whirled on the headmaster. "You can't make him stay in the room all day! It's the last day before the new semester! We have plans!"
Miss Goodwitch stepped forward, face stony, a single eyebrow raised incredulously. "Need we remind you, Miss Rose, that the last time a member of your team had plans involving him, it ended with you being interrogated by the Vale police force?"
Ruby's mouth snapped shut with an audible click. She flushed.
Ozpin shook his head. "I'm afraid I have no choice, Miss Rose." He looked at Kaneki, his expression somehow even stonier than Miss Goodwitch's. "It's for his own safety."
The severity of his tone gave Kaneki pause. A memory sprang to his mind, something Ozpin had said during their disastrous conversation after the incident at the docks. "I've already received a message about it from an acquaintance in the Atlesian military, not to mention—"
The thought had been eating at the back of his mind, but for the first time, Kaneki let himself wonder: what person could be alarming enough for Ozpin not to talk about, if not someone from the military?
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaneki saw Ruby opening her mouth in protest. He raised a hand, silencing her before she could speak. "It's alright, Ruby." He fixed Ozpin with a cool stare. "If the headmaster wants me to stay in the room today, then I will."
He might have imagined it, but could have sworn he saw a flicker of relief cross Ozpin's face. "Thank you," the headmaster said. He turned to Ruby. "I understand that this is short notice, so I'm willing to find someone to stay with him if this conflicts with your plans for the day."
Ruby looked helplessly from Ozpin to Kaneki. When she locked eyes with him, something in her own shifted. Silver darkening to determined grey, she squared her shoulders, turned back to Ozpin, opened her mouth—
"It's fine."
Kaneki and Ruby both jumped. At some point, Blake had appeared behind them, face stained green and purple, soda pooling at her feet. She was holding her notebook again, albeit gingerly to avoid staining it. "I can stay with him."
Ozpin blinked, eyebrows raising in a rare show of surprise. "That's very generous of you, Miss Belladonna."
Blake shrugged. "I was planning to stay in the room today, anyway." Her voice took on a subtle sharpness. "I'm assuming it's fine if I'm the only one watching him? Considering it's on such short notice."
Ozpin's eyes flickered to the notebook in Blake's hands. Sadness flashed across his face, just for a moment. "Only if you're sure. I'd be happy to have someone else—"
Blake cut him off. "I'm sure." She turned to Kaneki. "You're alright with that, right?"
Kaneki hesitated. While he appreciated an excuse to avoid Ruby's plans, he doubted Yang would be alright with him and Blake spending the day alone.
As if on cue, the blonde approached the group, shaking chunks of rubble from her hair. The food fight had clearly put her in a better mood, but her expression still dimmed when she saw the group. "What's going on, Ruby?"
"Yang!" Ruby cried. "Ozpin said—" She hesitated, eyes darting to Kaneki. When she spoke again, her voice was more subdued, almost hesitant. "He says Eyepatch has to stay in the room today."
Yang looked at him. Kaneki thought for sure she'd be thrilled at the news, so gleeful it looked vicious…but she wasn't. She didn't even look particularly pleased. "And?"
Ruby winced. "Blake says she's going to stay with him as well. Since someone has to watch him."
Kaneki held his breath, watching as Yang processed what her sister had said. He waited for her eyes to flash red, her hair to smoke, for her to step forward and insist that no, he would not be spending the day alone with Blake, and if he so much as tried she'd blow his head off his shoulders—
Only to be met with a slow blink and a spasm of what looked like pain. "It's fine, Ruby," Yang muttered. She wouldn't look at Blake. "If that's what she wants, we can't stop her."
Kaneki had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. He'd known Yang was more subdued than usual, guessed that something might have happened between her and Blake, but this?
Ruby seemed just as shocked as well. She gaped at her sister, then at Weiss, who was staring with a raised eyebrow, and finally at Blake, who was watching with a tired expression. "That's—" Ruby stuttered. "Are you sure, Blake?"
Blake nodded, smiling in a way that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm sure. That fight was enough fun for me today." She turned, the smile sliding off her face the second Ruby couldn't see. "I'll see you guys later."
With that, she strode for the exit.
Ruby watched her go, helplessness plain on her face, before turning to Kaneki. "I'm sorry, Eyepatch," she said mournfully. "I really wanted us to spend the day together."
Kaneki sighed. "I'm sorry, Ruby." He reached out and without thinking, ruffled her hair. "Next time, okay?"
Ruby nodded, pouting under his hand. "Next time."
Kaneki smiled, said a quick goodbye to Weiss, dipped his head to Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch, and followed after Blake.
Whatever she planned to do, she was clearly in a hurry; by the time Kaneki caught up with her, she was nearly to the fountain. "Thank you for that," he said once he reached her side. "I'm sorry you have to miss out."
Blake didn't break stride. "It's fine, really." She gripped the notebook tighter. "I really was going to sit out, anyway. I have work to do."
Kaneki frowned. It really was familiar, seeing someone act as though the world would end if their focus wavered for so much as a second—is this how he'd looked when he'd first left Aogiri Tree? Had his eyes been this dull, his voice this flat? She didn't even seem to care about the soda soaking her clothes. Had he been the same when Jason's blood had soaked his shirt?
Old guilt twinged through him, an ache like a broken bone that hadn't healed right. No wonder Touka worried about me.
The thought of Touka made his chest ache. The feeling grew, memories crowding his mind as the pain threatened to crush him, but he shoved it back as best he could. You can think about her later. Focus on Blake for now.
Kaneki cleared his throat. He had no business talking Blake out of her search, he knew that, but that didn't mean he had to leave her alone with it. "Do you need any help?"
Blake paused mid-stride. "I thought you didn't care about this." There was no accusation in her voice, no anger. Just a simple statement of fact—or at least, what she thought was fact.
Kaneki frowned. "I never said that."
"You didn't have to." Now her voice was bitter. "Or the others. I know you don't care."
Kaneki sped up, stepping into Blake's path and forcing her to stop. "Just because I don't think this is your fault doesn't mean I want to watch you do this alone." He locked eyes with her as earnestly as he could. "If you're serious about this, then let me help you. I want to."
Blake stared at him, shock evident on her face. Her grip on her notebook loosened slightly, some of the tension going out of her shoulders. Something flickered in her amber-gold eyes, a faint, desperate spark of something hopeful—
—something that went out like a snuffed candle in the next second. A shadow passed over her face, dark and sad and tinged with…was that guilt? "I'll be fine on my own." She stepped around him and set off down the path without so much as a backward glance. "Thanks, though."
Kaneki watched her go, sadness mixing with that same familiar guilt and throbbing in his chest like an open wound. A memory sprang into his mind, one he couldn't force back no matter how hard he tried.
"Kaneki…I wanna—"
"Are you going to college, Touka? The entrance exam is next year, isn't it? You should probably start preparing for it soon."
Kaneki shook himself. It wasn't a fair comparison to make at all. He owed Blake more than he could repay her; if she didn't want his help, then respecting her wishes was the best he could do. But Touka hadn't owed him. She'd protected him, time and again, so much that he'd abandoned her for the chance to return the favor. He'd ignored her wishes and left her alone, all while insisting it was to protect her.
And in the end…
Kaneki followed Blake, forcing himself to hurry even as memories turned his feet and heart to lead.
I couldn't even do that much.
While the kingdom of Vale was lauded as one of the safest kingdoms in Remnant, there were still parts of it one would never want to visit on their own. Even without accounting for the Grimm-infested ruins of Mountain Glenn, Vale's bustling trade ports were the perfect cover for unsavory types. If the recent rise in Dust robbery had taught the inhabitants anything, it was that it was a bad idea to be at the docks after dark.
At least, not unless you were one of the unsavory types.
Tonight, one of the many unmarked warehouses was alive with activity. Figures scuttled through the building like ants, unloading crates from Bullheads and stacking them in piles tall enough to reach the second floor. Several had tails or horns protruding from their clothes, but all wore the hood, mask, and mark of the White Fang.
The two figures walking through it all, however, didn't bear the White Fang's insignia. Neither were armed, and yet they walked with the lazy confidence of someone silently daring an attacker to strike. One was a boy, lean and sharp, with steely grey hair that matched the grey of his jacket and the metal glinting from above the tops of his shoes the other was a waifish girl with dark skin, garnet eyes, and a starburst scar on her temple, barely peeking from beneath a mint-green bob.
Emerald and Mercury ignored the crates of Dust, making a beeline for the back of the warehouse. There, a familiar bowler-hatted figure was standing at a table, glaring at a map of Vale as though it had spit in his bottle-green eye.
At the sound of Emerald and Mercury's footsteps, Torchwick turned from the map. "Oh, look!" he said, voice tight with false cheerfulness. "She sent the kids again." He walked over to the two and, before they could protest, pulled them both close in a mocking hug. "This is turning out just like the divorce."
Emerald shuddered, worming her way free. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."
Torchwick's mouth twisted like he'd sucked a lemon. "That was a joke." He pushed past the two and walked back to the table. "And this—" he held up a crumpled piece of paper, "—just might tell me where you two have been all day."
Emerald's eyes widened. Her hands flew to her pockets; after a moment of fruitless searching, she let them fall to her sides, glaring bitterly at Torchwick.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." He scanned the paper, expression darkening. "Why do you have this address?"
Emerald scowled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yeah, I would." Torchwick shoved the paper in Emerald's face. "Now, where have you been all day?"
Mercury stepped forward, jabbing a finger at Torchwick's chest. "Cleaning up your problems," he snapped. "One of them, at least."
Somehow, Torchwick's expression grew even darker. "I had that under control," he growled.
"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," Mercury countered.
Torchwick's eye twitched. "Listen, you little punk," he snapped, stepping forward until he and Mercury were nose to nose. "If it were up to me I would take you and your little street rat friend and I would—"
"Do what, Roman?"
The three went rigid, turning as one towards the voice. A lone woman was standing on a nearby catwalk, watching over them like a queen surveying a new conquest. Even at a distance, her dark hair, embroidered dress, and molten eyes were unmistakable.
Torchwick laughed nervously, all bravado gone. "I'd, uh…not kill them?"
The woman stepped onto a waiting lift, her gaze never leaving the trio. It activated with a whir, lowering her until she reached the main floor. Once there, she stepped down from the platform and immediately beelined for the group, the clink of her glass heels audible even over the din of the warehouse.
"Cinder!" In contrast to Torchwick's sudden submission, Emerald looked ready to jump for joy. She ran forward to greet her, only for Cinder to stalk past her without a second glance. She froze, smile dimming.
Cinder came to a stop in front of Torchwick, who looked as though he would have given all the Dust in the warehouse to be somewhere else. "I thought I made it clear you were to eliminate the would-be runaway," she growled.
Torchwick looked away, shoulders hunched defensively. "I was going to," he muttered.
"He was going to escape to Vacuo!" Emerald cut in, voice tinged with desperation. "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."
"I think he was some sort of cat, actually," Mercury commented off-handedly. He was the only one who wasn't cowed by Cinder's appearance; on the contrary, he looked just as bored and mildly irritated as he had prior to her appearance.
Emerald rolled her eyes, but whatever response she had planned was cut off by a spasm of pain darting across her face. She winced, pressing a hand against the scar on her temple.
Cinder watched her subordinate without an ounce of pity. "Did I not specifically instruct the two of you to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" The edge in her voice could have drawn blood.
Emerald looked up, the pain in her eyes morphing to a different kind of hurt entirely. "I just thought—"
"Don't think," Cinder snapped. The temperature around her seemed to jump ten degrees; if one looked closely, they would have seen wisps of smoke curling from her shoulders. "Obey."
Emerald wilted like a cut flower, dropping her gaze to the floor. "Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again."
Cinder smirked, clearly pleased with the young girl's despair, before fixing her burning eyes on Torchwick. "And you."
Torchwick, who had been watching Emerald and Mercury's scolding with obvious relish, went white as a sheet. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead, and his hand twitched towards his hip, as though reaching for a weapon.
"Why wasn't this job done sooner?" Cinder asked. Her eyes flashed dangerously, as though she already knew she wouldn't like his answer and was deciding what limb to remove as punishment.
Torchwick stared at her, fear giving way to blatant, dumbstruck disbelief. He gestured to the crates on his right, then to the small mountain of cardboard boxes off to his left, and finally, to the massive wall of shipping containers behind him. "Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom," he snapped.
Mercury rolled his eyes. "You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask."
"Look around, kid," Torchwick retorted. "I've got this town running scared. Police camping out at every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with."
"Speaking of which…" He turned to Cinder, seemingly bolstered by his own ranting. "If you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grandmaster plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother."
There was a short, excruciating pause. Emerald was staring at Torchwick with a mixture of shock and outrage; Mercury was smirking, as though he'd just heard the first part of a familiar joke and was waiting expectantly for the punchline. Torchwick, meanwhile, seemed to realize what he'd done and shrunk back slightly, swallowing nervously.
Cinder raised a single eyebrow, smirking with something almost like pity. "Oh, Roman. Have a little faith." She stepped forward, reaching out a hand and tracing the bandage on his face. Her eyes flickered, bright as a funeral pyre. "You'll know what you need when you need to know."
Fear flared bright and wild in Torchwick's eyes, his body visibly tensing at Cinder's touch. After a moment of silence, he looked away, scowling.
Cinder smirked. "Besides," she continued, pulling away, "we're done with Dust."
Torchwick touched the bandage on his face, as though testing to see if it—and his skin—were still there. "Okay," he said slowly. "Then what now?"
Cinder turned. "We're moving." She walked away, her words punctuated by the sharp clink of her heels. "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."
"Coordinates?"
Cinder paused. When she turned to face him, the smile on her face could have frozen molten rock. "We're proceeding to Phase Two."
Torchwick scowled. "Can you at least tell me what's going on with our little friend?" He gestured to the bandage on his face. "He and I have some unfinished business, if you couldn't tell."
"Get in line," Emerald muttered, rubbing at her temple with a grimace.
Cinder frowned. "I haven't forgotten him." There was a bitterness behind her cool tone, something dark and venomous. "You're sure he doesn't remember anything?"
Torchwick nodded. "He didn't when I saw him. He did get a little spacey when I called him by his name, though, so I'd avoid that." He smiled, although it came off as more of a sneer. "Unless you're trying to blow his head off. It makes for a great distraction then."
"We only loaned him to you for a day, though," Mercury pointed out. "And you're not exactly memorable."
Emerald snorted. "Honestly, sometimes I try to forget about you."
The smile slid off of Torchwick's face like it was greased. "I suppose he might remember you guys. I didn't have time to ask him while he was trying to chew my face off."
Cinder scowled, eyes flickering like embers. "It's too late for us to find replacements. We'll need to be cautious from here on out." She glared pointedly at Mercury and Emerald. "If we draw the wrong attention, we're finished. All of us."
Mercury scowled. Emerald gulped.
Cinder turned back to Torchwick. "Which reminds me. Is your little henchman ready?"
Torchwick's mouth twisted at the word "henchman", but he nodded. "She's been ready."
As if on cue, a figure dropped down from the ceiling, landing daintily at Torchwick's side with an artful twirl of their lace parasol. Gloved hands closed the parasol with a snap, revealing a young woman with long, multicolored hair—brown on one side, pink shot with pearlescent white on the other. Her white coat fluttered in the breeze of her descent, and her eyes—colored and split the same way as her hair—glittered like ice.
Emerald jumped. "Was she waiting for us to mention her that whole time?"
"What can I say?" Torchwick shrugged, watching the woman with obvious fondness. "I haven't seen Neo this fired up in a long time. She's had a chip in her shoulder ever since Grimmsby broke my cane."
Neo scowled, gesturing at Torchwick's face with a gloved hand.
"Oh, right. And since he ripped my face open." Torchwick fluttered his eyelashes like a lovesick schoolboy. "She's so protective sometimes. It's the little things that show she really cares."
Neo rolled her eyes, jabbing the handle of her parasol sharply into Torchwick's side. He yelped and jerked away, cursing. Mercury snorted.
"Perfect." Cinder stepped forward, resting a hand on Neo's shoulder. "Don't worry. By the time we're finished with him, he'll have paid for everything he's done, with interest."
Neo didn't speak, but her smile and the murderous glint in her eyes spoke volumes.
Fun fact, trying to figure out how to incorporate the food fight was a pain. I debated on having Kaneki participate, then struggled integrating Sun and Neptune into the scene, then struggled more trying to get the dialogue halfway decent. Not a huge fan of how it turned out, but like I said, just needed to get it done at this point, lmao. Until next time!
