My god, there was over twenty reviews ever since the last update. Damn guys, I could barely keep up with them all! Obviously, I can't reply to every single one, but I'll do what I can. Even if about 10 of them came from the same person.

Oblivious Ninja: You've been enjoying all of my stories so far, I am flattered to have been able to entertain you so much and I do not blame you for having a love for Orchid, the Flamingo goddess.

Astralbound: I wouldn't say it's stupid OP, there's still a lot of ways that it could be countered, remember that these are still 15 year old kids. In time they will all get better.

Arctech: I'll keep it up the best I can! I don't see a bunch of prequel RWBY fanfics, but here we are with a pretty successful one if I do say so myself. If RT did a prequel series I would love to see it myself.

Guest: This will not be a harem story, sorry, I am just not good with something like that.

Okay, that's good enough. I will admit that SOMEONE, not saying any names, managed to almost perfectly predict what Orchid's semblance would be in like chapter 6 of this story. You know who you are you…

Current Poll results: [ENDING VERY SOON]

Ruby Rose- 65

Yang Xiao Long-64

Orchid Rosa- 28

Blake Belladonna- 25

Weiss Schnee- 24

Neo- 23

Pyrrha Nikos- 21

Oof, Ruby has overtaken Yang again, that sucks. Remember that the pairing is NOT decided by the Poll, it is simply for a special at most.

Here we go.

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 26- Volume 0, Episode 24

Moment of Rest

The quarter finals were going by much more quickly then the round before with the triple threats out of the way, while exciting it must have been to watch for most, except for a certain blind boy who couldn't actually see any of it. One on one fights went by much faster.

So much so that it was already in the last round of the quarter finals, no one that Kai was friends with was in it, though he might have recognized the name of someone from Signal, but it was only a feeling of familiarity. Nothing hit close enough for home for him to root for them in their fight. Not that he would have been able to tell if they were having their fight anyway. He stopped trying to remind people that he was blind when Orchid asked him for help in a crossword puzzle.

Nothing serious has happened since Orchid and Yang's match finished up, he was able to slightly sense their movements from his position up in the stands, but he couldn't tell exactly what they were doing unless he was up close to them. He was only able to tell where one was standing, it got really hard to keep up with when his partner split herself into four separate bodies, each of them having their own fun personality, including one that kept screaming murder over and over again. He had to personally deal with that one a few times during his time as the `Sidekick of the Flamingo Goddess`. It wasn't even Orchid who gave him that Title, it was her mom.

Speaking of her mom, he hasn't heard from her ever since the stunt she pulled in front of pretty much the whole world. This tournament, or festival, it has a lot of names, but it was definitely a tradition he's learned about with the eager help coming from Malikai. It seemed Marron wasn't completely over the fact that he did sort of miss out on almost a full year of his own sons life.

"Kid, your face says you're thinking really hard about something." Vernal slurred from beside him. He doesn't pay much attention, but he was able to tell that all of his friends loved to keep switching seats for whatever reason, making it hard to tell who exactly is sitting on either side of him. Her breath also smelled mildly of alcohol, and that did not come as a surprise at all.

"How can you tell?" Kai asked with a smirk, tilting his head in her direction.

"Because your finger keeps tapping on the armrest, and you haven't responded to that Rick kid who has been calling for your help for the past minute or two." Vernal pointed out with a scoff.

Snapping out of it, Kai actually focused on his surroundings, finally hearing one of his blue friend's begging plea.

"Kai… I'm not going to make it much longer." Rick dramatically spewed, he couldn't tell what was going on, since it all sensed like a bundle of limbs just thrown together in a mess, but he could feel another body's weight on top of Rick, who was unconscious. He was faking it of course, he could tell with how he could hear the breathing.

"Brick is down… mission failed." Rick said as he faked exhaling his final breath.

Kai rose one of his eyebrows out of confusion.

"You know I can sense your heart beating still right?"

"Drat! He's onto us." Brick suddenly woke up, panicked, clambering off of his twin and dragging him behind one of the chairs.

Kai chuckled and turned his attention back to the Spring Maiden, who was still sitting lazily with one elbow on her left armrest, effectively stealing the one for his right arm.

"Well, yeah. I have been thinking." Kai went back to their first topic that was brought up by Vernal herself.

He has been thinking on a lot in fact. Once he was done with the congratulating of Orchid and Yang, despite the latter one losing their fight, and then apparently discovering that there was some kind of bet that they made while he was passed out after finding out that his mother was pregnant once again. The bet was that whoever won would be able to partner up with him come Beacon. It made sense now that he thought about it, after getting a rundown of the whole fight courtesy of a very excited Ruby who just couldn't stop talking about it, Orchid would definitely pull out all of the stocks in order to keep her position as the Flamingo overlord.

But that wasn't all he was thinking about. Despite Malikai seemingly coming back to his senses and reclaiming his spot as a Huntsman under the command of Ozpin. Suddenly all the pressure that rode on his shoulders ever since he listened to that message his father left for him was lifted, but not all of it. There was still a lot that he needed to worry about, first was his eyes. Obviously, their kind was being hunted down to the point of near extinction, only a handful remaining. Most in hiding, dead, or are simply not aware of the power they unknowingly wield.

Which meant that he still had a target on his back just because of the color of his eyes. It didn't make him feel any better that he was already world famous because of his disability and him still aspiring to become a Huntsman. One that the Headmaster made clear that he was interested in. It didn't help that the skill came naturally to him. Kai Matsuoka, The Blind Huntsman, the title he has earned for himself. So much for his father's advice of discretion, because now that entire point was moot. After learning that the thing that he did with his sword was actually an ability that only silver eyed warriors could do with a silver ebony weapon, his cover may as well have been blown to those who were paying attention.

Was he worried? Yes.

Was he scared? Also yes, as much as he hated to admit.

Was he going to going to fight back if they came for him? Absolutely, if they wanted him, they could come get him. There was a reason he didn't use his semblance to its full potential, and they would learn why that was, if his father didn't kill them first that is.

But still, therein laid the constant threat of this Salem creature. He did not know anything about her besides her name, and that she is incredibly dangerous. Dangerous enough that she posed a threat to the whole world.

Enough to make even his father run away from a battle, and then force him back into one. Malikai was many things, subtle, he was not. In the short time that his father has been back, he has been constantly nervous and tense, always wearing his armour and having his weapon with him.

"You're doing it again, you alright kid?" Vernal asked, poking him in the cheek to get his attention back.

"Wha? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Kai said with a soft shuckle, brushing Vernals finger away from his face gently.

"Wow, I'm impressed, I took you for the goodie goodie type. I didn't think you had it in you to lie."

Kai coughed, and tried to hide the evidence of heat rising up to his cheeks.

"Whatever, if you don't want to talk about it with me, that's fine, you got your mommy and daddy here for you anyway." Vernal said with a scoff, clearly irritated.

Kai was quick to rectify his mistake. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it… it's that I really can't." He explained, hoping that Vernal caught the hidden message between the lines.

Vernal rose one eyebrow, and then smirked, understanding what he meant. "Ah, I see." She turned her head to face him, and leaned back into her chair. "I get it, I was in your position before too y'know."

"Really?"

He could just feel the `Really?` expression on her face burning a hole in the middle of his forehead. The Spring Maiden didn't let up until he realized exactly who and what he was talking too.

"Right… that thing you have." Kai muttered quietly.

"I hope that thing isn't being spoken about so casually out in the open like this." Malikai berated stepping in front of them both and leaned his lower back on the railing. "You're lucky your friends are too busy joking around to hear you, lest they ask questions about what that thing could be." The hardness in Malikai's tone made Kai flinch, and Vernal roll her eyes.

"Such things can be spoken about behind closed doors, and only behind closed doors." He continued. "Now, I can't help but see that something is bothering you, and I already know what it is, I understand why you feel that way son." His voice grew softer, and his body grew less tense as he said that. "I didn't intend to cause this much distress in you, but I hope you understand that I didn't think I'd be able to tell you myself just in case…" Malikai trailed off, the message was clear. He didn't know that he was going to come out of Vacuo alive, that message he let Kai was left out of necessity and desperation. In another timeline, one where Malikai died when he was attacked, one where Raven didn't come in time to save him, and Kai didn't know everything he knew now? It was safe to say that he didn't want to imagine that course of events.

"I… I get it." Kai eventually said.

"Good!" Marron exclaimed, slapping her hands on her son's shoulders and startling him.

"M-mom!? I didn't even sense you…" Kai stammered, his heart beating in his chest. Jumpscares would never be the same anymore.

"Call it a mother's intuition."

"That… doesn't make any sense."

"Agreed, anyway." Marron cleared her throat, sending a glare Vernal's way as she made her way around and stepped beside Malikai, and linking their arms together. "I was thinking that since you have been doing so well in the tournament, and that you beat a Schnee."

"Her name was Weiss." Kai corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, same person. Your father, and I thought that we should reward you with something!" Marron exclaimed, squeezing Malikai's arm in a silent message.

"I did?" Malikai whispered to his wife.

"You did?" Kai asked, his face lighting up just enough for his parents to notice.

"Of course!" Marron answered for them both. "Have you ever heard of ice cream?"

Kai's eyes blinked once underneath his blindfold.

"What's that?"

Vernal snickered

Weiss Schnee has been working up the courage to call thou who shall not be named, AKA her father, Jacques Schnee. For about that last hour or so. The past few matches were… lackluster, that was the nicest word she could use. After the match between Orchid Rosa and Yang Xiao Long, there wasn't any other pair that could match up to that amount of intensity and fast paced combat with an interesting semblance coming from both sides. She lost interest when she saw a girl with a grenade launched hammer hit her opponent so hard that her flew out of the stadium itself, which was technically deemed as an out of bounds and won her the match. That orange haired girl was good in a fight, but her personality…

Yeah, Weiss would not want to be part of any of that. Whoever she ran to straight after she won had her sympathies.

Now enough of the stalling, she couldn't avoid this talk, not after the last time they've spoken where Weiss promised to impress him enough to allow her to attend Beacon instead of Atlas. Then after losing in the second round after getting a first round by, she could just imagine the smug shit-eating grin her father is going to have on his face once he sees that one of his daughters was calling him.

Swallowing down her nervousness, and fear. She scrolled through the contacts on her scroll, and made to call her father. She sat down on a nearby chair and adjusted the camera. Making it focus on her face rather then her still slightly shriveled hair. She didn't have the time to fix herself up in front of a mirror, and Winter pulled her back into the observation deck to watch more of the fights. Saying that she could learn from them. It hurt at the time, but she knew that Winter meant no harm.

The call was answered immediately, Jacques Schnee's face appearing on the screen, and to her surprise, actually wasn't grinning smugly at her, but simply smiling at her.

"Ah, Weiss, it is wonderful to hear from you." Her father said, taking a seat himself and looking his daughter in the eye through the scroll. "How is Mistral?"

"Mistral is… okay." Weiss answered honestly, still a little bemused by her fathers uncharacteristic happiness to see her. "The people are interesting, and the food is surprisingly elegant here."

"And the tournament?"

Damn him, getting straight to the point.

Weiss' hope that welled up within her was bursted instantly. She managed to keep a smile on her face, but it was horribly and obviously forced.

"There are a lot of skilled characters here, I certainly didn't expect to witness what I have seen so far from those of another kingdom. There are also some famous hunters in training here, some very well known ones in fact."

"That was to be expected." Jacque nodded his head once and drank out of a wine glass. "It was expected of Pyrrha Nikos to try her hand at another tournament, many expect her to win it all, I even thought so myself."

Weiss winced, it should have been expected of her father. But that fact didn't make it hurt any less. She hid her distress behind a well practiced facade, one that she had many years to master when it was required of her to not show emotion where it wasn't needed.

"But, I suppose there is another that has the potential to win, the one that bested you." Jacques said with a neutral expression.

So he knew, that was also to be expected. It happened on live television after all. It would have taken a miracle for her father to not have heard about it.

"Kai Matsuoka?" Weiss asked, her eyes strayed to her once burned hand, his last attack burning her through her aura. Whatever that light attack was, it wasn't anything he's ever seen before. To her surprise, the faunus boy went up to heal her, using the water from the ice she created before as some kind of medical liquid that soothed her hand and washed away any pain she had in that hand. It was still slightly bruised, but it was nothing that she couldn't get used to. The kind gesture was simply unexpected, yet not one that went unappreciated. She feels a little bad about yelling at him when he dropped the water onto her combat boots, but only a little bit. It was a small vengeance for defeating her in single combat on live television.

"That's the one, the blind boy. I've not thought it possible for one with his disability to become so proficient in combat, and he also has a kind heart, one that I am sure you did not leave unnoticed."

"I noticed." Weiss affirmed. "It was an appreciated gesture, I am sure that most faunus would have not done the same."

"As am I daughter, as am I."

They entered a tense and awkward silence after those words were spoken. It last about a minute or so, Weiss knew that she had to ask about her decision to go to Beacon, and Jacques looked like he was waiting for her to do so. Waiting patiently on the other side of the scroll and still looking into her eyes.

With a sigh, Weiss made it known where she stood.

"I still want to attend Beacon father."

To her slight surprise, Jacques didn't look that disappointed in her decision.

"And you are certain with this choice you've made? It is a rather serious one as I am sure you know." Her father said, one hand coming up to scratch his chin as he thought about the foreseeable future.

"I am." Weiss nodded her head, gulping silently and nervously in secret.

Jacques shrugged and blinked his eyes.

"Very well."

Huh?

"P-Pardon?" Weiss stammered, leaning into the scroll like that would make the message any clearer.

"I said, very well. What? Did you think that I was going to force you to attend Atlas? Don't make me laugh." Jacques laughed anyway.

Weiss had an expression of shock mixed with an odd amount of gratitude, and she tried to move her mouth to speak but only inaudible grumbles were heard. Before finally a small smile started to creep up from her lips.

"Thank you, father." Weiss finally got out.

"Weiss, I know sometimes I can come off as an… irrational man." That was one way to put it. "But you are still my daughter, not only that but you are also my heiress. I only hope that you remember your duty to your family and company."

"I will father, I will not let you down." Weiss promised, it didn't mean much making a promise to her father, but she has already made plans for her future as the head of the SDC, so if he was worried that she wouldn't do it, his worries were then needless.

"I certainly hope that to be the case daughter, please, do not make me regret my decision."

With that, her father hung up the scroll, leaving Weiss with those last words. She read in between the lines, and of course couldn't help but notice the subtle threat he left in there. She needs to be successful at Beacon, more successful then she would be at Atlas. The moment she becomes slightly below the above average mark, she would be taken back to Atlas. While her father has shown her a rare moment of kindness, a moment where he actually remembered that he needed to give love to his children, he is still Jacques Schnee. The man who married into the family just for the name and not for her mothers love.

Weiss was grateful to her father, but not stupid. He still wants what was best for the company, evidence of the fact is Winter joining the military as an act of defiance which earned her disownment in all but name. She needs to be careful.

With a sigh, Weiss stood up from the chair.

She still had a tournament to watch after all.

Kai didn't know what was happening, mostly because his mother dragged him and his father by the wrists and decided for herself what they were going to do in that moment. The tournament was still going on, but all of his friends have already fought, some lost and some won, and only a handful of them have made it to the semi finals. Shae, Cyan, himself, and Orchid.

Vernal was offered to come with, and while she gave it some thought, she respectfully declined. Which of course made Marron and Malikai suspicious because the last time they trusted her with kids she bought them drinks, and let them get drunk. So Marron called and demanded for Qrow to come by and watch the kids. Some time later Orchid's mom also came by, she looked like she was just in a fight, and that would have been worrying if they somehow missed the part of the tournament where she took over the announcers desk and forced him to read off of a script for when her daughter came out onto the arena. No one knew what happened after that, but they found that announcer huddled in a corner, his hair dyed pink and orange paint on and around his lips. But besides the mental trauma, everyone came out relatively unscathed.

So now Kai was once again being dragged through the streets of the kingdom of Mistral. With his enhanced hearing he can hear all kinds of things. Such as sales being made, people talking, running around, and Mistral being Mistral he also heard some shady stuff going on in some alleys. It was nothing serious, and his father had the same abilities as him. If he wasn't going to do anything about it, he wouldn't neither.

"Damn it, I know it was around here somewhere." Marron groaned as she stopped and looked over the heads of the crowd around them.

"Honey, I don't think an ice cream store in Mistral is even going to be that safe," Malikai pointed out carefully. "We can always wait until we get back to Vale, we can even bring the girls with us and make a day out of it."

"Our son has never eaten ice cream before, or even heard of it somehow some way, and you are suggested that we make him wait even longer?" Marron asked, getting up in Malikai's face and intimidating him.

"Well… when you put it that way…" Malikai gulped nervously.

"It's fine mom, really, whatever this ice cream is I think it can wait until at least the tournament is over." Kai suggested, and tried to calm his mother down. But one thing about his mother that he would never dare to forget is when she puts her mind to something, especially when it came to her children, she would not back down until it is done. She could even make ice cream sound like it was exactly what they needed to gain world peace.

Marron sighed through her nose as she looked down at her son. "Trust me Kai, once you get a taste of it, you're going to understand why I want this for you so bad. 'Kay? Trust your mother. She always knows best."

She also knew how to leave no more room for negotiation.

Kai eventually gave in, it wasn't like anything serious was going on at the moment anyway. His hand dug into one of his pockets and he took out his scroll. He remembered that lady, the Malachite lady, she was a information broker. Maybe he could ask for a small favor from her.

As his parents conversed with each other, Malikai also giving in and also looked for this mysterious ice cream shop, Kai's fingers traced over the braille on the buttons on his custom made scroll. He remembered that the Malachite lady said that she put her number on speed dial for him, for whatever reason that was.

He pushed down on the bottom right button, the pound symbol. He kept following the voices and weights of his parents as he brought the scroll up to his face, a motion that Yang taught him for when he receives and sends out calls. The speaker next to his mouth so he could speak into it, and the other side up to his ear so he could hear whoever speaks on the other side of the line.

After a few seconds of ringing, the call was answered.

"Ah, the little silver eyed boy, to what do I owe to pleasure?" A woman's voice came through the scroll, the same one that belonged to the Malachite lady from the day before.

"Hi, uh… my mom is going crazy looking for some place that sells… ice cream." Kai slapped himself because of how stupid that sounded.

"...Huh."

"Kai, who are you talking too?" Marron asked him, turning around after hearing her son speak into his scroll.

"Oh, just the nice lady from yesterday, the one that gives out information." Kai answered honestly, not seeing any problem with it. "Do you want to talk to her?"

"The Spider queen!?" Marron reached for his scroll and yanked it out of his hand. "Who is this?"

"Why, a friend of course! I heard you were having a problem, and your sweet son decided contacting me would solve this problem." Miss Malachite said through the scroll. "Not now I'm having an important call."

"Excuse me?

"Ignore that last part, just some business partners. Anyways, I think there should be a decent ice cream shop just around the corner to the right of your location, you can't miss it."

"You're tracking my son's scroll!?" Marron seethed.

"Oh honey, if I wanted to cause harm to either of you, you would know. Toodle loo~!" The call ended right there, which earned Marrons ire as she tossed the scroll back to her son.

"You've made some interesting friends while I was gone." Malikai pointed out.

"Like you're one to talk mister." Marron shot back for Kai. "But yes, apparently he has. I can only wonder what kind of friends he is going to make when he gets older."

"In my defense… I was just trying to help." Kai said, his tail wrapping around his waist instinctively just in case it was to be pulled.

"Oh, I'm sure you were." Marron sighed. "You need to remember that not all people are good people Kai, you've been lucky so far, one day that luck is going to run out and you're going to meet some really nasty people."

"I know that. I just like making friends is all." Kai said, offering a weak defense against his mother.

"Kai-" Marron sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. She then let out a chuckle that lasted a few seconds. "Oh son, you are just too kind for this world. Okay, let's go see if this ice cream was worth all the trouble, Malikai?"

"Hmm?"

"Do make sure that our son doesn't get into too much trouble while you are around." Marron said in a soft voice, it sounded hopeful, and maybe even a little desperate. She knew something was going on, and was understandably worried for her son, this whole silver eyed warrior thing threw her life in a loop. She ran her hands over her belly where her second child was developing, there was a strong possibility that their second child would also have silver eyes. Which would mean that her second child would also always have a target on his or her back.

The hidden truth to her wanting to spend time with her family more and more was because of how worried she was about the future. Her husband was already attacked once, and through that, their son is also at risk. Kai was strong, but Malikai was far stronger and still nearly died. Whoever was hunting the silver eyed warriors down were incredibly dangerous, and she doesn't know if one day, however far into the future it would be, that she would lose one of her loves.

Malikai caught onto her meaning, and with a silent promise in the motion of a nod, he grabbed her hand, and pulled Kai closer into the group. It was his job as a father and a husband to defend his family, and would do that to the best of his ability for as long as he lived.

/-/

It was a short walk to the ice cream shop, just as Little Miss Malachite said it was just around the corner on their right. Marron really didn't how to feel about Kai's new friend, angry yes, but it was true that if the woman really wanted to hurt them, she would have made that clear by now. So she would let it slide, for now.

Kai on the other hand had no idea what to look for in a bowl of ice cream, it was to be his first ever one after all.

Malikai was no help of course, the man knew what ice cream was but never really had a lot throughout his life. There was one time where he went out to get ice cream with Summer and Raven back when he was a student at Beacon, and that ended as well as one could expect. It was still a funny story to talk about with Qrow on their missions up to this day.

"Okay Kai, what is your favorite flavor of candy?" Marron asked, leaning down to her son to speak to him.

"Uh… I don't really have a favorite, I like them all equally." Kai said with a shrug, thinking about the flavors and combination of flavors that were listed off to him,

Marron's eye twitched.

"Okay… do you like chocolate?" She asked, her brown eyes roaming the chocolate mound of ice cream in one of the containers in the display case.

"Oh, yeah I do." Kai nodded.

"Awesome, hey can we get some samples here?" Marron asked the cashier.

"Sure! Chocolate I presume?" The woman asked, preparing a small foam cup to fill a tiny amount in, just enough to get a taste of it to make the person want more of the flavor if they like it enough.

"Yes, and also that one if you can." Marron pointed to the vanilla. "Aaand that one too." She pointed to the strawberry one with her other hand.

"R-Right away mam." The woman said as she scrambled to get all three samples, and placed them all in separate cups with tiny spoons in each of them all within the span of about seven seconds. "Here you go young man." She said as she handed all three toward him, and nervously gulped when Kai wasn't even looking at her and made no motion to grab the cups out of her hand.

Marron took them for her, smiling kindly at her as she took one of Kai's hands and placed one of the cups in there. "Sorry about that, he's blind."

The cashier looked guilty, and nearly panicked. "O-oh I'm so sorry, I just assumed…"

"That I was just wearing this for the fashion sense?" Kai asked with a smirk. "I get that a lot, don't worry, I won't take any offense." He said as he took his other hand and grabbed the tiny spoon out of one of the cups, the one with chocolate in it.

The cashier smiled kindly and backed away to serve another customer while he tried out the samples. He brought up the spoon with chocolate ice cream in it, and sniffed it. It smelled good, sweet, and sugary. He couldn't smell anything weird coming from it.

With a shrug, he tested out the ice cream with a lick of his tongue. The sweet chocolaty taste sent electricity down his tongue, it tasted really good to him. Kai smiled and sucked up the rest of that cup, enjoying the small amount of chocolate ice cream within it.

"Like it?" Malikai asked, leaning on the back wall and away from the rest of the kids in the shop. Huntsman were well respected, much for their lethality, it was understandable that a mother may be nervous to have her kids around one. So he saved her the trouble by staying near the door, offering himself as some sort of security guard rather than a Huntsman. But when she heard him call Kai his son, the strangers relaxed even more.

"Yeah, it's really good." Kai answered honestly as he swallowed what melted in his mouth.

"Try the rest of them." Marron pressed on, and Kai was more than happy to do so.

He had the same reactions to the Vanilla and Strawberry samples. He liked them all, if his pleased smile was of any indication. He nodded his head and reached up the glass to place the foam cups back on the counter.

"Well? Tell me which is your favorite and I'll get you one." Marron said as she crossed her arms triumphantly. Pleased with herself to bring this much sweet joy to her son.

"I don't know, they were all really good." Kai said, and Marron froze on the spot.

They still had the same problem, their son was very indecisive when it came to these kinds of things.

"Alright, enough of this." Malikai said as he pushed off the wall, and approached the counter. "You like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, so you're going to get all three." He declared as he beckoned over the cashier again, and gave them Kai's order that he came up for him.

"Oh! The Neapolitan blend, that's a popular one with one of our other customers that comes around every now and again." The woman said with a fond smile. "Just wait just a moment, and I'll get it for you. What size did you want?"

Malikai looked to Marron, who shrugged, and then to Kai, who also shrugged.

The Malikai shrugged. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Extra large."

"Okay, and do you want sprinkles young man?" The cashier asked Kai.

"What are sprinkles?"

"No, he would not." Malikai cut in again, not wanting Marron to go wild with the idea that their son is oblivious to a lot of things. "Just the ice cream please."

"Okay, that would be ten lien."

Ten lien for an extra large ice cream? That was enough for a dinner in some places. With a quiet grunt, Malikai reached into his pocket and paid for his son's `snack`. He'd better enjoy it.

Moments later, a bowl the size of about a ball was placed in front of Malikai, it was much larger than he thought it was going to be. He widened his eyes at the sight of the bright colors of the ice cream.

So that was why it was so expensive… Malikai thought to himself as he reached his hands out underneath the bowl and lifted it up. It had some weight to it for sure.

"Suddenly I really wish we brought Ruby with us."

"Why? Is there anything wrong with it?" Kai asked, unable to see the gargantuan size of the bowl of ice cream his father has just ordered him.

"Oh no, it's not that there's anything wrong with it." Marron giggled. "It's just your father regretting some of his life choices, he's a brood like that."

"Oh, understandable."

"What!?" Malikai cried, not happy with the fact that he has become a source of entertainment. "Marron, Kai is not going to be able to eat all of this!" He pointed out, tilting the bowl so Marron can see just how much is actually inside of the massive bowl of ice cream.

"Bah, he'll manage it. Think about it this way, you'll be able to spend a lot of time with your son now!" Marron cheered, taking the bowl from her husband's hand and dashing over to one of the vacant tables.

"You wouldn't…" Malikai said with wide eyes, the realization dawning upon him.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the fact that you left us alone for almost a year, and then gave us a shady message that changed our lives forever." The scary thing about that sentence being said was that Marron didn't even make it sound like she was upset about it at all, which meant that she was, and is holding a grudge against him for it.

"...Come on Kai." Malikai said as he directed his son toward the empty table, and let Marron place the bowl right in between the two of them once they sat down.

She then placed a spoon in Kai's hand, directed that hand to the small mountain that was the ice cream that was just bought using Malikai's pocket money. Kai happily scooped some into his mouth, moaning in pleasure as the triforce of flavors that was chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry filling every crevice of his mouth.

"Wow, this is really good!" Kai cheered as he dug his spoon into the bowl a second time.

"That's great son." Marron laughed wholeheartedly as she sat down besides Kai. "Think of this as a sort of reward for everything we have been through so far, it's nice to have the whole family out together again, we never did it much."

"Hm." Malikai hummed his agreement, his smile unable to be hidden behind his fists.

Five minutes turned into ten, than ten minutes turned into twenty and finally twenty minutes turned into an hour. The Matsuoka family were chatting, catching up on lost time, and generally having an overall great time. This was the happiest Malikai has ever been over the past year or so, barring the time he finally reunited with his family, of course, nothing would ever beat that moment. He even had to share some of that ice cream he bought for his son, Kai offering it to him when he finally realized that there was actually too much for him to eat on his own. It was alright, he supposed, it yet again reminded him of that funny story of a ice cream day out with Summer, and Raven. It made him laugh when he remembered just how long it took for Summer and himself to convince Raven to go along with him, and at the time he was still dating the Branwen twin. It happened, eventually.

It all came to an abrupt spot when Malikai felt his scroll vibrate in his pocket, and for the caller id to be shown as Ozpin himself. After their little talk from the night before, he unblocked his number, basically agreeing to become his pawn once again. With a shake of his head and a huff, he answered the scroll.

"Malikai, we have a problem." Ozpin said immediately.

"Could it wait? I'm out with my family right now." Malikai replied, his thumb already hovering over the end call button. Any fun the family was having vanished instantly as they heard the headmasters voice. Being reminded of the very real possibility of Kai being drafted into his ranks.

"A serious issue, I'm afraid. One that requires one with your skill, Qrow is unavailable and I am busy with the tournament preparations itself." Ozpin pressed on with a serious expression draped across his features, his light brown eyes staring into silver. "I trust that you remember our agreement, Malikai."

With a groan of frustration, Malikai slammed a hand down on the table and pushed himself up, his eyes never leaving Ozpin's for even a moment. "I'm on my way." He said just before he hung up the scroll, not wanting to hear whatever else was about to come out of his mouth.

Malikai then looked to his family with a sorry expression. "I'm sorry I can't stay here longer, duty calls." He said sorrowfully.

"I… I understand, just come back when you can." Marron said with a sad smile, as she leaned up to place a kiss on her husbands lips, which was reciprocated softly.

"I'll be back Kai, tell you what, after this tournament is over, I'll take you on that mission I promised you." Malikai said with a small smile as he kneeled down beside Kai.

"That sounds like fun!" Kai exclaimed.

A huntsman mission was a dangerous one in a variety of ways, and taking a huntsman in training along with them as a shadow would make it even more so. But Kai was strong enough to hold his own now, and if not then Malikai would be more than willing to assist his son with the use of his eyes. It has been a while since he actually used them against a Grimm, since he didn't really need to with the amount of skill he had, along with his powerful semblance. Give him even a spark of flame, and he can take out ten Grimm with it easily. Give him motivation to keep himself and his son alive? Now you got yourself a one man army.

"Of course you'd say that." Malikai sighed, and stood back up, running a hand through Kai's hair. "I'll meet you two back in the hotel… don't wait up for me. If you need me however, do not hesitate to call me." He made a deal with Ozpin, but if his family needed him, he would turn on him in even less than a heartbeat.

After saying his goodbyes for now, Malikai waved as he left the shop, and then used his speed as a huntsman to make his way back to the stadium, and to where he was needed.

It was getting late now, the sun was going down, and at this point the quarter finals would have already ended. Night was quickly approaching, and before they knew it, they would find themselves waiting for Kai's semi-final match, and he had a strong chance of competing against Pyrrha Nikos of all people. Since unlike at the beginning of the tournament, there isn't that many competitors left. This was to be their day to relax and unwind, for Kai, a fifteen year old blind boy to actually not have to worry about training or worrying about the future. When Ozpin called his father in on a mission, it all came crashing back down on them.

They couldn't even talk about it, it was forsaken information for any wandering ears to hear. Not where they were, instead, the melting neapolitan ice cream sat in the middle of the table, both of them thinking hard about the future.

"Kai, do you want to start heading back now?" Marron asked, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Mmm, I guess." Kai hummed as he stood up, the bowl of ice cream in his hands. He wasn't going to finish it, but he is sure Orchid or Ruby would be more than happy to eat the rest of it, be it together or to fight over it.

Marron nodded and lead them to the exit of the store, but stopped when Kai felt his tail get tugged hard, stopping him in his tracks. He spun around to confront who it was, sensing a presence behind him, only to sense in the air that it was another person about a head shorter then he was. His snapped anger calmed down instantly as his tail was given another, softer tug.

"Hello?" Kai greeted, raising one of his eyebrows from behind his blindfold.

The girl looked up at him with mismatched eyes, eyes that matched her colorful hairstyle. Marron was about to confront the girl herself, but the way her brown and pink eyes switched places and her head adorable tilt to the side as she looked at Kai was too much, she would let her son handle this however he wanted to.

Kai rose another eyebrow from behind his blindfold when the mysterious girl took one of his hands, and traced something into it. Him being blind, he understood the kind of language that was just inscribed into his hand. His eyes widened slightly as he interpreted her message to him.

"You're mute?" he asked while smiling.

The girl nodded her head and traced something else into his hand.

"Nice to meet you Neo, I'm Kai." He greeted back.

Neo smirked up at him, it was a lot easier then she thought to speak to a blind person. She had her eye on him for a while now, and saw that he was about to walk out with a bowl of her favorite ice cream half finished. That, she could not let slide.

She traced something else in her hand, her mismatched eyes switching places as she watched Kai consider her request.

"Yeah, this ice cream is really good, and I think it is now my favorite. I was going to share the rest with my friends, but since you asked… here." Kai handed the bowl to her, actually surprising her somewhat at how easy going he was about giving up a bowl of his favorite ice cream to a complete stranger. It couldn't have been her looks, since he was blind, that just made him all the more interesting for her.

Neo giddily jumped in place, and immediately started eating away at the creamy meal, not caring for the fact that Kai's mouth was around the spoon that she was now using. An indirect kiss was the least of her worries when it came to her favorite dinner.

Kai chuckled as he sensed the giddy hops in place as his new friend enjoyed her meal. "It was good to meet you Neo, this makes us friends now, I think."

Neo showed her agreement by stepping up on the tips of her toes, and giving him a light peck of gratitude on the cheek. Kai recoiled in shock at the sudden display of affection, and didn't have much time to respond properly as Neo quickly traced something in his hand again with one of her hands.

See you soon, Kai. Was the message traced into his hand.

Neo skipped away happily, and then vanished completely from existence, shocking Marron even more as she just watched the adorable girl that her son just befriend literally just shatter into pieces before her.

Seriously, how did her son make friends like these?

"W-what just happened?" Kai finally asked, his tail slump to his side as he sensed the girl just disappear seconds after receiving his second ever kiss from a girl. He was almost as shocked as his mother, who was too busy staring at the ice cream colored kiss mark on Kai's cheek to respond properly.

With a sigh, she took Kai by the hand and led him out of the store, he could have made it out on his own, but in the state he was now, she would have to wait about ten minutes before he finally processed everything.

"I give up, I give up on trying to understand these things!" Marron said as she pulled Kai along.

Malikai, as promised, returned to the room that Ozpin has requested- nay, demanded his presence in. There he found not only Ozpin, but also Albedo, Taiyang, and Qrow, he looked around with a curious eye to see his long time friends and allies, and the headmaster of signal whom he is just meeting for the first time now in person.

"Ah, Malikai, how good it is to meet finally meet you in person." Albedo greeted, his light blue eyes meeting Malikai's.

"The feeling is mutual." Malikai replied with a nod of his head, before turning to face Ozpin himself. "What did you need me here Ozpin, it better be as important as you made it out to be. I had to run out on my family for this."

Ozpin adjusted the glasses on his nose, and sighed softly with a shake of his head. What he said next made Malikai deadly serious.

"There's been a murder."

Uh Oh, you all thought this was going to be a purely filler/relaxing chapter didn't you? I like pulling stuff like this. Also Neo has made her first appearance, and of course she met Kai already, I mean, ice cream store, Neapolitan ice cream, I'm sure most if not all of you thought about Neo when you read the words 'Ice cream' coming out of Marron's mouth.

Just so you all know, this will NOT be a harem story, just no. I can barely write normal romantic relationships as it is.

In other news, I've finally started drawing characters from this fanfic, first I drew Two, since apparently you guys thought that Two was Neo in disguise. I am sorry to say this, but no, Two is NOT Neo in disguise. If you want to see what she looks like, go ahead and take a peek at my twitter. Username is Genatools.

Omake: Ice cream with Summer and Raven

"Pleeeeease." Summer begged Raven and Malikai, pulling all the stocks with her pouty silver eyed gaze.

Malikai sighed and tightened the blindfold around his eyes, while his current girlfriend, Raven Branwen, also sighed before running a cloth over her red sword for the seventh time this conversation.

"Summer, I get you trying to ask me that, but I think you know how Raven feels about it." Malikai said.

"No." Raven proved his point.

"See?"

"Come ooonn, it's been so long since we all hung out together!" Summer exclaimed.

In truth, the three of them used to always hang around each other, due to Malikai and Summer's quick friendship and Raven wondering who the hell the one with the blindfold was being dragged off by her partner. It's been about a month since they last went out together, mostly because of Raven not wanting to make Summer uncomfortable with the way she shows affection to Malikai in public but is too prideful to admit it.

"You're asking us to go eat ice cream with you, let me remind you who exactly you're talking too." Malikai gestured to himself, and then to Raven.

Summer didn't seemed phased by it in the slightest. "Which is why it's going to be so much fun!" She exclaimed as she grabbed both Raven and Malikai by their forearms, and tried to tug them out of the classroom they're in.

Malikai looked into Raven's eyes from behind his blindfold. "I'll go if Raven goes."

"Oh you motherfu-"

"Ah! Language! Don't make me whip out the swear jar!" Summer berated as she already reached into her back pocket from inside her white hood.

Raven actually flinched, she was already forced to hand over a lot of her lien because of Summer's constant pestering with the swear jar. Her brother Qrow loved making fun of her about it while not swearing, earning Raven's ire. With a grunt Raven stood up and slammed her sword back into its sheath.

"FINE." Raven said as she brushed past Malikai and Summer.

"Yay!" Summer cheered her victory as she followed, with Malikai also following suit with the most amused expression on his face that he has ever had. It was one of his guilty pleasures to bother Raven like this, among a lot of other things they have done together.

"Okay, we're here! What do you guys want, I'll pay." Summer offered as she pulled out a white and red wallet, because of course it would be white and red.

"Don't know, don't care."

"Get Raven dark chocolate, she likes that." Malikai ordered for her, earning an approving hum from Summer as she gave the order to the cashier.

"How did you know I'd like that?" Raven asked Malikai as Summer ordered for herself and for Malikai since she already knew what Malikai liked.

"Just had a feeling." Malikai half lied, which Raven caught and glared at him in the most loving way possible. "I found that pack of dark chocolate you hide under your mattress." He admitted.

Raven then punched his shoulder playfully, and by playfully it was an aura enhanced fist that made Malikai's bright silver aura flare up to prevent a dislocated shoulder, but couldn't prevent a bruise.

"That's why there was a few missing! I blamed Qrow for that you dick!" Raven yelled at him.

"All I can say, is that I am sorry." Malikai said as he rubbed his shoulder and kept taking it until Raven finally calmed down after the eighth punch to his shoulder.

The entire time, Summer was cheering happily and talking about their time at Beacon so far, Malikai was doing his best at paying attention, Raven was too busy scowling at him to pay attention.

But overall, Summer was having a good time.

Not a terribly funny one, I admit, I think I could have done better with this one. But yeah, this was that funny story that Malikai was thinking about earlier in the chapter. Summer convincing him and Raven to go out with her to eat ice cream, you can leave the rest to your imagination.

Please review and let me know what you think of the story!

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