Here we are again my beautiful readers, I am sorry that this chapter came out as late as it did. IRL stuff caught up finally and it has been eating away at my time, and also Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I spent a lot of time earlier this week playing and beating that game, that I don't know if I can be sorry for, the feeling of finally beating that hard as shit game felt like me completing a story. Which I haven't yet, but I'll figure out how that feels soon enough.
Not this story though, this story has a LONG ways to go. I mean just think about it, Chapter 40, and only JUST getting into the Beacon arc.
Masso2010: Honestly, I wasn't going to make their team names RWBY and JNPR but with different people, I was going to give them different team names, but then I realized out of a stroke of luck that all their initials could be lined up to be Team's RWBY and JNPR. It was a happy accident, and I did feel clever for it.
Oblivious IJ: That's exactly how I imagine most people's reaction when they see what teams I made for this story, and their team names. Good job putting it into words. When Sun comes by, I do have a plan for something like that, I'll admit it.
Arctech: Well, this is how I look at it. I believe one of Monty's original rules for names was that it had to be a color, or something that reminds you have a color, and personally, when I think Kraber, I think the sniper rifle from Apex Legends or Titanfall, and what color is the Kraber? A silvery black, and what color is Kai's sword? Silvery Black, or Silver Ebony. I do have plans for the whole Ozpin situation, don't worry, I may have gone a just bit out of the cannon here, but try to see it from my perspective; As a writer, I don't really want to just rewrite the original story of RWBY but just have Kai and his pals along for the ride as the only major difference. I want development, original plot points, relationships between characters that would last a lifetime being made, more plot points, drama, etc, etc. This isn't my first time going out of Canon, and I do hope that you stick around for the rest of the ride, because man it's going to be a long one.
Thank you all for the reviews!
Let's get right back into it!
Beta: Crowskull
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 40- Volume 1, Episode 7
First Night, First Morning
"Oh. My. God! Kai is our leader!?" Orchid exclaimed for the umpteenth time as she bounced on her bed in their new dorm room. "And, we have a room all to ourselves!"
"Yes Orchid." Ruby groaned into her pillow. While she would usually be more than happy to share the enthusiasm of her Beacon partner, she was incredibly tired after that mornings initiation. Fighting and killing a Nevermore really was incredibly tiring, even with help from friends. "It's ten o'clock, can we go to sleep."
"Go ahead if you want to." Kai said as he dries his hair after just finishing taking a shower. Being the only guy on a team full of girls meant that it went without saying that he would always get the shower to himself last. He kept his eyes closed as the parts of his face was exposed by the towel, everyone here might have seen his eyes already, but it was instinct at this point that he just keep them closed. "We have our first class at nine in the morning, so we should get all the sleep we can get." He added as he tied his father's blindfold around his face.
"Then why are you getting ready to leave?" Blake asked, speaking up for the first time since becoming a member of Team KRBR. After taking a shower, she put on her pajamas and sat on her bed in the left corner of the dorm, putting the only other quiet-ish one to the only open bed to the right of her own bed. She stayed mostly quiet, but wouldn't ignore the fact that her new apparent leader was already back in his combat gear, Silver Ebony holstered at his side with bracers being strapped on next.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Orchid said in a more tired voice, changing personalities as she fell backward onto her bed and yawned loudly.
"He's probably going to go train like he always does." Ruby finished for her partners sake, who seemed to have fallen asleep the moment she finished speaking. She didn't even have the blanket over her body, unless you count her hair being let down and splayed all over her face as a blanket, then she has a very small one.
Blake raised an eyebrow at that. "Training at this hour? We just finished initiation today though." She pointed out.
"Don't ask me, I've been trying to figure out why he does that too."
"You could just ask me, you know." Kai pointed out with a chuckle.
"For some reason… I don't think I would want to hear your answer." Ruby said that last part in a voice barely above a whisper, knowing that Kai would hear her words because of his highly enhanced hearing.
Kai's smile slowly faded from his face, and with a snap his blindfold was tied firmly to his face. He knew what she meant, and he understood why she probably didn't want to hear his answer, because if she did, she would an irresistible urge to go tell Yang that he was going to be visited by Raven or Vernal again.
"I'll be back in about two hours." He said robotically as he turned around and exited the room.
"What was that all about?" Blake asked curiously, looking to the only other person in the dorm who is awake for an answer.
"Eh… it's more of a personal thing?" Ruby replied awkwardly and with a nervous laugh. "You'll have to ask him about it, I don't think he'd it if I told you, neither would my sister."
"Hm." Blake took it for what it was, she did wonder what Ruby meant by not wanting to hear his answer. She had four ears to hear with after all, even if she was hiding them. She contemplated getting dressed herself to go after him and see for herself but figured that it was probably none of her business.
Instead, she slapped her book shut and yawned. After turning off the last remaining lamp in the room, she slid under the sheets and rested her head on the provided pillow. She would worry about everything else in the morning, now it was time to sleep and rest her sore muscles.
Kai used his senses to figure out how to leave the large dorm building. They were on the second floor, and so was elevated off the ground. It took about a minute, but he figured it out. He kept walking until he felt his bare feet press up against the grass. He found it necessary to put on those weird socks he got two years ago, he was just going to get them dirty and take them off again anyway, and he didn't feel like having to wash them after his next training session.
After making sure no one was around him spying on him or something by using his seismic sensing. He slowly slid Silver Ebony out of her sheath, and waited. Breathing in deeply and slowly before letting it out into the cold air around him. He couldn't see it, but it was cold enough for his breath to appear in the air.
As he expected, the tell tale feeling of a large oval shaped swirl of air opened up in front of him. He hoped that this part of the school was secluded well enough, apart from the occasional group of tears scattered around the area.
A foot went through the portal, and then two. He already knew who it was after the first step, and gave the Spring Maiden a greeting smile as he waved at her.
"Hey Vernal, it's been a while." Kai said.
"Yeah, well. Shit's been busy in the tribe lately." Vernal replied as she stretched her body up into the air. "Heard you got into Beacon finally, congrats I guess."
"I guess." Kai mocked with a laugh. "It's been about a month, you're not happy to see me again?"
"Ha, is that you trying to tease me?" Vernal countered with a sarcastic laugh of her own. "Please, you can't hope to get me stammering when I still remember that time you accidentally fell into my chest."
Kai cursed as he felt his cheeks heat up. "It was an accident."
"I know, which was why I laughed my ass off when your face turned redder than your friends eyes." Vernal chuckled as she flicked Kai's nose, using his moment of unfocus to get in close suddenly. After training with the kid for the better part of two years, she has learned the in's and out's of his fighting style and his sensing ability. She knew his weaknesses, and his strengths. While he was still trying to figure out hers, and it would be a cold day in Hell before he would be able to figure her out all the way.
"Look at you, two years later and you're almost as tall as me." Vernal teased as she placed a hand on top of his head as if to try and push him down a few inches.
Kai shrugged his shoulders. "I know I might be taller than you, I just can't tell without using my eyes."
"Well, there's no Grimm around so you'll never get to find out." Vernal said as she moved her hand to his shoulder, and her other around his hip.
"Uh… you're being affectionate today. What are you doing?" Kai asked and tried to wiggle out of her grip, then gasped when she held a tight grip on his body.
"What? I can't show my dear pal Kai how much I missed him?" Vernal asked with a fake hurt voice, and it almost worked if Kai couldn't tell that she was barely holding in her laughter. "I just wanna give ya a hug you little shit."
"You never liked hugs! The last time I tried to hug you I got punched in the face and the stomach at the same time!"
"And you remembered that too late." Vernal said as she fully wrapped her arms around Kai's waist, and then jumped up into the air. She defied gravity as her eyes flared up with blue flames, before Kai knew it, they were flying through the air high above the ground. Kai held on for dear life even though he didn't really need to, Vernal wasn't about to drop him.
"Jeez, you still hate flying?" Vernal asked as she flew above the school itself.
"Eugh…" Kai groaned.
"I'll take that as a yes." Vernal chuckled. "Just a few more seconds, and we'll be good. So stop being a little pansy ass."
Just as she said, a few seconds later and they touched down on solid ground. Vernal let go of Kai and he stumbled back, head still spinning and Silver Ebony still in his hand. He sheathed in and took a few deep breaths to compose himself.
"I hate it when you do that." Kai said as he recovered. It wasn't the act of flying itself that ticked him off, it was the feeling of not being able to sense anything that bothered him. It was why he tried to minimize flying through the air as much as possible, and always tried to have some part of his body on the ground so that he could see what was around him at all times.
"Well, you need to learn somehow." Vernal said in a much less amused tone. Kai noticed right away, and stood up straight with a more serious expression on his face.
"Where did you take me?" Kai felt the need to ask as he recovered.
"We're still at Beacon, just in a little spot where none of Ozpin's little cameras can see us." Vernal said as she leaned up against a wall.
Kai nodded his head in understanding, he figured that there was probably a form of surveillance security in the school before he even got there. It was a school meant for aspiring Hunters after all.
"So this is where we're going to train?" Kai inquired next.
"Yup, but today's not a training day." Vernal revealed, and quickly made to explain. "Someone wants to talk to you, I am sure you know who I mean."
Kai recoiled in shock, if who she was insinuating to was actually coming, then that meant that after a long time. Raven was going to come to him herself, but if it wasn't for training, then she probably just wants to talk to him. About what, he didn't know. They already talked about most of the important stuff already, Maidens, Salem, and Ozpin. It was what he needed to know, she would tell him, and she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was hiding something from him. He knew that he wasn't being told everything, and that was probably for the best, or at least he hoped so.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak again, another swirl of air appeared just beside Vernal. He could sense her bow her head in respect toward Raven as she stepped through, her heels clicking against the ground as she exited the portal made him stand straighter and at attention. He respected Raven, trusted her even against Qrow and Tai's warnings. Some of his father's dying words was that Raven would protect him, and if Malikai implied that she could be trusted, than he would.
"Raven." Kai greeted, unable to think of any other ways to greet his strong mentor.
"You made it to Beacon, then." Raven started right away, getting straight into business as she usually would. " I expected nothing less from you, what of your team?"
"I am the leader of Team KRBR, or Kraber." Kai answered. "My partner is Blake Belladonna, and my other teammates are Orchid, and Ruby."
"Ruby is on your team." Raven caught that, and latched onto it right away right as she leaned on one of her hips. "I am sure you know what that means."
"Yeah, I figured it how quickly." Kai said, and then sighed. "I care about Ruby, and I've already been training with her whenever I can. Ozpin is using her to get to me, even let her in to the school early just to ensure my obedience, at least for a little while."
Raven looked impressed, and didn't bother to hide it. While she would usually not let herself look impressed by anyone she trained, Kai was blind. So he wouldn't be able to see it unless he activated his silver eyes, which would be a waste of an activation anyway. "Good, you've learned quickly." She said. "Now this Blake girl, I believe I heard her name being said at the last Vytal Festival."
"She used to be White Fang, but she saved my mother and I, turned on her own people and gave me the time to recover enough to use my eyes again to almost kill Cinder. She can be trusted." Kai replied, immediately coming to the defense of his partner, feeling like he owed it to her since he saved his and his family's life. He might have even just saved hers by defending her in front of Raven.
"If you say so." Raven said, leaving it at that.
"Is… Is there anything else you want?" Kai asked, and waited for a few moments. When Raven didn't say anything, he spoke again. "It's been awhile since you visited me… why?"
"I have been busy." Raven answered simply.
"With what?"
"That's none of your business."
"You've been training me for years, I care about you and I know you care about me in at least some small way." Kai snapped, but calmed himself with a quick breath. "I just feel like the student has a right to know what his master has been up to."
"Kai." Vernal warned, her voice serious and stern.
"That is understandable," Raven said, not denying or confirming his previous accustation. "If you really want to know, then you must grow stronger, older, and more experienced." She continued. "Then I shall put you in the know of things, and perhaps even include you in them."
Same as ever, Kai sighed and nodded his head in acceptance. He didn't want to make a problem out of it and force a wedge between himself and Raven, as selfish as it was to admit. He needed her to get stronger, and was her prime source of information of what was going on in the world. He couldn't afford to lose her, not only for his sake, but for Yang's as well. It was a work in progress convincing Raven to at least have a conversation with her estranged daughter, but any amount of progress was better than none. After seeing her mother two years ago at one of the darkest points in her life, she was yearning for any information on her.
"I will return again soon." Raven said as she sliced the air before her, creating a portal for herself and Vernal. "Rest well." That was as close as she was going to get to saying goodnight to Kai, and he took it for what it was. He said goodnight back as the woman stepped through the portal, and he knew she heard it when he sensed her stop for a second before continuing to walk through the portal, disappearing from
"See ya, you little shit." Vernal said as she followed Raven through the portal.
"See you later." Kai replied as his sparring partner left his field of sense.
It took a few seconds for Kai to realize that they just left him on some roof somewhere in Beacon, and he sighed as he ran a hand down his face.
"I guess this is what I get for trying to pressure something out of Raven again…" He said as he placed his hands on the ground to expand his seismic sensing.
Making his way down and back to the dorm room without waking anyone up or alarming any of them was simple, all he had to do was walk gently back into his dorm room and pass out in his bed. What wasn't all too exciting however was when everyone woke up at six-thirty in the morning for whatever reason.
"Nooo." Kai groaned into his pillow as Ruby asked him a question.
"Pleeease Matsu?" Ruby begged, giving her new leader puppy eyes even though he was blind and couldn't see them. Sometimes though, somehow, they get to him. She yearns for the day it works a second time.
"Go back to sleep." Kai grumbled back as he rolled to his other side, facing his body away from Ruby and toward Blake in a similar situation with Orchid. "Why are you two even awake in the first place? I'm positive we still have at least another hour before we actually have to wake up."
"Yeah, but we gotta use this morning to create memories that'll last forever! Group selfies, trying on our new school clothes, and of course one of the most important things… room decorations!"
"I can't see any of those things." Kai pointed out, trying to go back to sleep while talking at the same time however, proved problematic.
"But we can see it." Ruby pressed on. "Come on Matsu, aren't you supposed to be our leader?"
"I think our leader is ordering us to go back to sleep for another hour." Blake groaned from underneath her pillow.
"Psh, Kaizy wouldn't do that. That would be boring" Orchid said with a dismissal wave of her hand, sitting on the edge of Blake's bed and continuously nudging her leg to keep her teammate just on the verge of falling asleep but not quite able to close that gap.
"I hereby order the you two to sleep for another hour." Kai groaned as he rolled onto his back and pulled a pillow over the top half of his face.
"But we still have to unpack!" Ruby whined, splaying her entire body across Kai's chest. She was very light, but all of her weight suddenly pressing into his belly made him lurch up out of surprise. "And decorate, and clean, and… and... personalize!"
"You're not going to stop until I give in are you?" Kai asked, sitting up in his bed finally.
"Nope." Ruby said, turning her head to the right to look up at her blind friends face.
Kai sighed, he supposed it couldn't be helped. He was already awake as it was, and with Orchid getting to work on Blake, it would be safe to assume that his faunus partner would be getting up soon.
"Fine, whatever, just get off me." Kai said as he adjusted the blindfold on his face so that it actually covered both of his eyes. He hardly even noticed that one of them was exposed, but since everyone in this room has already seen them some way or another, there wasn't really a point to stressing himself to hiding them all the time. Ruby knew because he just showed her, and even told her about what silver eyes meant. Orchid was the first person he told, though she doesn't know yet, and Blake found out when she saw his eyes nearly kill Cinder with a burst of white light. He had a feeling that they were going to have to talk about that one day, but until she asked, he wasn't about to go explaining it to her, only a few select people knew about his activation. Raven, Tai, Qrow, Vernal, Ozpin, Albedo, and Glynda Goodwitch. Blake was among that list of a 'few' people who already know, and at the same time all of his enemies knew as well. So saying that a few people knew about his eyes was a bit of an understatement now that he thought about it.
"Yes! Matsu is the best leader ever!" Ruby exclaimed as she bounced off of Kai's chest and legs and sped to another corner of the room, already getting to working on the decorations and such. Kai shook his head as he swung his legs over the side of his bed, stretching his back and rolling his shoulders as he stood up.
"Might as well get up now Blake, we can catch up on sleep some other time." He told his partner.
"Ugh. Fine." Blake said as she sat up, adjusting her bow so that it was symmetrical to her head and not at an odd angle. Orchid made a cheerful happy sound as she grabbed both of Blakes hands and helped her up before running to the closet in the room and throwing their schools clothes at her.
Kai accidentally caught his outfit with his shoulder and proceeded on like he meant to do it on purpose. Since he didn't really train last night, and he already took a shower the night before, all he would do was use that stick of deodorant that his mother packed for him and it would be like he just got out of the shower. Minus all the damp feeling he would have attached to his skin and hair. Which honestly made the feeling a little better.
As Ruby sped around the room doing what she thought would be great in terms of decoration, Orchid did the same with Blake on the other half of the room. Apparently - And he found this amusing - Blake really was into decorating and making things look good, even making a bookshelf seemingly out of the moulding of their closet and bathroom doors to store her books. How she had enough wood to create such a thing was beyond him, but with what his senses was telling him, it was coming out okay-ish.
As about half an hour passed, he traced his hand over the schedule that he has been given to him in an envelope. He hadn't known it was his until Orchid pointed it out to him soon after teams were made. It was in braille as well, and only braille. It wasn't put into words, just a packet of papers with protruding dots pointing upwards. It seemed like he had to be a the leader whether he liked it or not. Some of the things the braille told him wasn't just classes and times to be in those classes, but exact routes on how to get there from where his room currently was.
A right as soon as he stepped out of his room, down the stairs four doors down to the ground floor, a left into a straight toward the exit, and then he would be in the courtyard outside of the dorm room building. After that, there was a variety of different routes he could take to get to any given building. Such as the cafeteria, the CCT tower, the combat arena, lecture rooms, exam rooms, and all of the such. There was even routes to each separate room explained in a similar fashion to how he was supposed to get out of his own dorm building, and even one that lead straight to the headmasters office, and if he wasn't available, then Glynda's office.
It got really confusing when the routes expanded out from specific rooms, and to others. One room leading to this one, and that one leading to another, or some different room, or even back to his own dorm room. It was convoluted and difficult to understand, but necessary.
It made his head think hard as he tried to cram all of these instructions into his head. He had to remember all of these anyway, he was going to be at Beacon for the next four years. But he might as well learn the routes right now, or as soon as possible. He was most likely going to be the navigator unless he asked someone else along the way, hopefully an upperclassman, to tell him where else he needed to go.
Gone was an hour before he even realized it, sitting down at one of the provided desks in the dormroom that was surprisingly still in one piece. He claimed it before his teammates could tear it apart anyway.
"Annnd done!" Ruby said as she wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve, huffing as she looked around her masterpiece.
"I'd say we did an adequate job." Blake added, not as tired but as satisfied with their creation nonetheless.
"I feel like we should fix something though…" Intelligent Orchid said as she pushed up her glasses, the lens shining brightly as she did so. That became a norm between most of her friends, but Blake noticed it and recoiled back in shock.
"If you're referring to the absolute mess that is our beds in the middle of the room, then I think we should worry about that later." Kai said as he folded his leader packet as he is now calling it, and stuck it in a small dark grey backpack that he would carry with him. He already got into his own school outfit while his teammates were focused on fixing up the room. Though the exception with him was that he refused to wear the shoes, and instead put back on the Atlesian socks that acted as a sort of shoe, but let him still use his seismic sensing without muffling it at all. It would be weird to see some guy walking around Beacon barefoot, no matter the reason.
"Oh shoot! I nearly forgot we had class so soon!" Ruby exclaimed as she snapped her fingers at herself. "And this is why you're our team leader."
"It hasn't even been a full day, but thanks." Kai laughed. "Are we all ready to go? I think we might still have some time to eat breakfast before we have to get to class."
"Yup." Orchid said as she twirled on one foot beside him.
Blake simply nodded her head, but when Ruby mouthed her lips to her to speak up, she realized that she just nodded yes to a blind person who had just asked her a question.
"Yes." She quickly recovered, that was going to have to get some getting used to. She has never met a blind person before, and certainly hasn't been around any long enough to get used to having to verbally respond to what they say every time they speak.
"Good, let's go then."
Getting his own team to wake up proved to be more difficult than he thought, Jaune was nervous to dare try to nudge Nora awake. His other teammates he was more willing to wake up, but since Nora was his partner and was very… eccentric, he figured that she would get upset or worse, and he did not like the alternate reality where he woke up Rick or Pyrrha first, who looked like they were about to wake up soon anyway.
Apprehensively, Jaune gulped and placed a hand on Noras shoulder, and with another deep breath. He squeezed and shook her.
"Wake up… please." Jaune begged as he continued to shake the ginger barbarian that was his partner.
He instantly regretted his decision when Nora suddenly rolled over, grabbed his shoulder, and yanked him into her bed. Not only did it not stop there, but she thought he was some kind of teddy bear and pushed his face into the promised land that was the valley in between her breasts.
Jaune's face lit up a bright red color, almost as red as Ruby's cloak as he tried to pr the much stronger girls arms out from behind his head and back. He gasped for air when he just managed to push his head up, only to blush even more fiercely when he saw that Nora's sleeping face was less than an inch away from his own. If he so much as breathed incorrectly, he would accidentally touch his lips to hers.
And of course that was when Rick's body decided that it was time to wake up. Jaune's face paled and blushed out of embarrassment in the same time when he heard his teammate rise from his bed, and he could hear his eyes widening in shock and second hand embarrassment as he saw his blonde leader's pinned in a vice grip tightly against his other well developed female teammate.
"Uh… wow, you work fast." Rick said with a nervous laughter as he slowly stepped around Nora's bed, and started sliding into the bathroom.
"Rick, it's not what it looks like! Help me!" Jaune yelled as quietly as he could, throwing caution to the wind as he started thrashing around wildy and used all his strength to try and push himself away from the sleeping ginger.
"Sorry boss, that is way above my paygrade, and you're not even paying me." Rick said with boisterous laughter as he realized what the situation really was. He did get warned by the pink eyed guy in the room across from theirs that Nora might get a little too friendly and snuggly. "I gotta claim this bathroom before the girls wake up anyway, wouldn't want to be stuck in a line now. Then I gotta get my new personal suit on."
"Rick please!" Jaune gasped as Nora's grip somehow got even tighter when he managed to wriggle his shoulders and arms up and out of her arms, only for her to have great access to his whole torso and squeeze harder than any Beringel could hope to.
His response was Rick saluting and thanking him for taking one for the male half of the team. All Jaune could do after that was wait and hope his other teammate Pyrrha would be more willing to assist him.
"Oh my!" Pyrrha exclaimed in shocked embarrassment.
Oh, and wasn't that great to hear...
Ren barely had to do anything for his team to be all out and about. The alarm he set for them an hour before classes started sounded off, and everyone woke up. Yang was the second to stand up (Second only to him, who wisely woke up half an hour before everyone else did), and took the shower before anyone could claim it for themselves.
After a bit of arguing between Yang and Weiss on whose hair needed more attention, everyone was dressed, and had their desired perfumes making their bodies smell however they like. Minus himself of course, all he had to do was just shower.
Everything was going well so far, the only real problem was that he could tell just by speaking to his white haired teammate that she really wanted to be team leader, and was envious of his position. He made a mental note to go speak to her about that in private, and come to an understanding. It was also one of the reasons why he went up and beyond his own expectations for his team. To prove to Miss Schnee that he could be trusted to be leader, he hasn't given her anything to complain about, and he was relieved to see that she was actually impressed with what he did already, he would have to keep it up though.
Besides that, and the problem of his partner being a little too high maintenance. There was only one other problem.
Their red headed teammate was not in the room with them.
He woke up to the sight of one empty bed, sheets already folded up nicely thankfully, but it worried Ren that already, one of his teammates snuck out in the middle of the night.
Naturally, as the leader of Team RWBY, he sent a text to his teammate when he woke up - All four of them exchanged scroll numbers with each other as soon as they made it to the dorm room - and was relieved to get a text back not even ten seconds later.
Sorry! I meant to tell you last night, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I'll be back before class though, promise! Was what Brick texted him back with. To which he simply replied with; Okay, be safe.
"Hey, where's Brick?" Yang asked, finally noticing that her other male teammate was absent from the room.
"He said he wanted to surprise us with something." Ren explained quickly as to stray away any worry. "He texted me saying that he will be back soon however, so there is no need to worry, we'll simply wait for him here."
"He's lucky class starts in half an hour." Weiss grumbled. "I'm going to have to teach my partner a lesson of manners."
"How much you wanna bet those two are going to get together one day?" Yang asked Ren in a whisper.
"I am uninterested in such a bet." Ren replied quietly. "Besides, I've noticed he already has eyes for your little sister, doesn't he?" He asked next, voice just as quiet.
"Oooh, you're an observant one." Yang said with a devilish smirk. The crush Brick had on Ruby was not much of a secret within their friend group, and while she may of been defensive of her little sister once upon a time, she trusts Brick enough to know that he wouldn't break her heart intentionally. Ruby seemed to be finally getting into the liking boys part of life, and have been sharing some glances toward her fellow red and black haired friend. Thinking her dear older sister wouldn't notice, and boy did she love teasing her about it.
"Perhaps." Ren said with a small smirk of his own.
"Twenty Lien on Weiss though." Yang said, she figured that since Brick and Weiss were going to be spending time with each other a lot now, that their relationship would blossom first.
Ren sighed, but the smile on his face didn't leave. "Twenty on your sister, then." However, Ren thought that Brick and Ruby knew each other longer, and even while being on different teams, they would continue to speak with each other. He thought their pairing up a foregone conclusion.
"And forty goes to the winner." Yang said and held out a hand to shake and confirm this bet.
"Your math is wrong, but why not?" Ren said as he took her hand and shook it. Solidifying the deal.
"What are you two whispering about?" Weiss asked, finally noticing how close the two of them were and getting suspicious.
"Oh nothing, just a little thing between partners." Yang said as she sauntered over to her only female teammate, draping and arm over her shoulders when she closed the distance and completely ignoring Weiss when she slithered her way out from her grasp.
"Oh really? Well, do tell, since my partner apparently thought it would be a good thing to leave in the middle of the night." Weiss said.
"Yeah? Does that mean you're worried about him?" Yang teased, smirking preemptively as she thought the heiress was going to go red and deny it.
"Of course!"
Well… that was a surprise. Yang's smirk faltered slightly, and she tilted her head in confusion, that never happened to her before.
"He's my partner, if he sneaks out at night and get himself hurt, or worse, embarrass himself. Then it would tarnish not only his, but my reputation that I must uphold." Weiss ranted on and on about how important said reputation was. Yang deflated as she heard even Ren chuckle at this, her complete failure in planting the seed that was the teenage love between Weiss and Brick.
And then, as if on cue, Brick stormed into the room with his arms outstretched, presenting himself and his new school outfit while shouting Ta Da at the top of his lungs. He looked so happy to see their reactions, and then waited still for anyone to speak up.
"Eh? Eh?" Brick pressed on.
"What in Remnant's name are you wearing?" Weiss finally asked, completely unamused and equally as unimpressed.
"I got my auntie to allow me and my brother-"
"My brother and I." Weiss corrected sternly.
"Me and my brother," Brick ignored his partners glare. "To wear our own outfits that we specifically designed for our time here at Beacon."
"And you thought it would be a good idea to go for a sweatshirt of all things?" Weiss asked.
"Why not? It keeps me warm, it has long sleeves, and it even still has most of Beacon's style on it!" Brick said as he twirled himself slowly to present all of his dull points. "I also couldn't sleep so I wanted to go bug my aunt, we haven't seen each other in a while after all."
A few moments of awkward silence passed,
"Okay, so are we all ready to go to class?" Ren asked his team.
"Yeup."
"Please."
Brick sagged his shoulders, physically drained of any and all happiness he had moments ago.
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
Team KRBR lead by Kai Matsuoka, the team of four made their way through another courtyard after eating breakfast. As they were leaving, they past by the team that was being lead by Ren, the team named after Ruby. They all said their hellos, with Brick looking at Ruby a little too long and the red reaper reciprocating the gesture. Kai wondered why Yang jabbed Ren with her elbow for whatever reason, but he didn't have the time to ask as Orchid practically pulled her whole team through the cafeteria doors all on her own.
He was walking in silence as Ruby and Orchid chatted away about some potential upgrades for either of their weapons. Orchid using one the original and more intelligent personalities that she held within that brain of hers. He told them what room they needed to go to and what building, so they knew where they were going. They were quite animated as well he could tell, it seemed like they really enjoyed what they were talking about.
Enough so that he went mostly unnoticed as he trailed behind them all a few more feet. Sensing a adult man and woman looking at them about fifty steps away from them. He also sensed Blake turn around to look at him, he almost had to explain himself before Ozpin spoke up and cut her off before she could formulate actual words.
"Mister Matsuoka," The headmaster called to him, and he could already sense that the older man had a small smile on his face just by hearing the tone of his voice. Upon hearing said voice, Orchid and Ruby also stopped in their tracks, finally noticing how far Kai actually was from them. "I have heard that you wanted to speak with me?"
"I did," Kai lied, he never said to anyone that he wanted to speak to him. But he did have a few questions for him now that he thought about it. "Is now really a good time though? Wouldn't you rather this happen after class?"
"I am sure Professor Port would be willing to excuse you if you tell him where you were." Ozpin countered, and there was no point arguing with him any further.
"Ooo, is Kaizy in trouble already?" Orchid asked teasingly, and for once not being in one of her more cheerful personalities. "Naughty, naughty."
"The rest of us will be late if we all wait for him." Blake pointed out.
"But Blaaake, this is Matsu we're talking about here. The leader of our team? We can't just show up without him on the first day!" Ruby exclaimed, and huffed as she crossed her arms in indignance. "As co-leader of Team KRB-"
"Who made you co-leader?" Blake asked, and went ignored completely.
"-I declare that we shall all be late as a team. All in favor?"
"Aye!"
"No."
"You have been outvoted." Ruby said to Blake with an all too satisfied grin on her face.
"If you wish to stay behind and wait for your leader, I shall allow it. Professor Goodwitch will take you away not far so Mister Matsuoka and I can have the privacy required." Ozpin said, gesturing toward the tall blonde woman as she walked around him and toward the other three members of Team KRBR. Orchid, Ruby and Blake made no move to argue or protest as the professor ushered them away with herself as their escort.
When they were out of hearing range, Kai turned his body so that he faced the headmaster. Turning his head up so that it looked like he was looking into his face. They just stayed like that for about two minutes. It became obvious that Kai wasn't going to open up the conversation, so Ozpin cleared his throat and did the deed himself.
"I am sure you have questions, questions that may involve my selection of making you the leader of Team KRBR."
"I know why, you're keeping Ruby close to me so that I don't have to worry about her when she is not around me." Kai said, making it clear right from the start that he was on to the headmaster.
Ozpin didn't even falter, his smile stayed on his face and Kai couldn't even sense any sign of negativity coming from the headmaster. In truth, the headmaster expected Kai to catch on early, the boy was smart. He had an amazing ability to learn quickly and adapt. And he has had more experience in real world situations than most already. Being a silver eyed warrior and knowing what that meant, especially at such a young age, put a weight on your shoulders, and already Ozpin could tell that Kai was mentally older than he was physically.
"You are correct. I found it necessary that you would like to keep a close proximity to young Miss Rose. Especially after I allowed her into my school early." Ozpin said, surprising the blind boy. "But that is not why I pulled you over for."
"Then what did you pull me over for? I am not fond of having to lie to my friends, so it better be important." Kai said as he crossed his arms, his body language showing that he was already expecting a response and that the headmaster was already taking too long.
"Straight to the point then." Ozpin tilted his head slightly. "I would like to offer you personal training sessions, taught by myself of course."
Kai recoiled in mild shock. Of all the things he expected Ozpin to tell him, that was not among the list of possibilities. But there had to be a catch. Sure, he could accept and get training from possibly the most powerful Huntsman on Remnant, and grow stronger himself. But there was no possibly way Ozpin wasn't doing this just for Kai's sake. He wouldn't sacrifice time out of his busy schedule as the headmaster of Beacon to train him if he didn't have some kind of plan going into it. It might even take up most of his own free time.
Kai thought about Raven, and then Vernal. If he accepted this training… would they still keep coming around? Would they believe him compromised and cut him out of their lives? Possibly, as much as he wanted to believe in the contrary, Raven was very careful when it came to her allies. If she thought him not worth keeping around, she might just forget about him altogether, he wouldn't put it past her. The woman already left her husband and daughter soon after recovering from giving birth.
"Give me some time… to think about it." Kai said slowly, cursing himself for his own hesitation and revealing that he was actually considering accepting Ozpin's offer.
"Very well, I would have been surprised if you gave me an answer right away. Given our circumstances." Ozpin damn well knew he was was treading in dangerous waters, and with the way Kai growled at him slightly, and his tail stiffening up behind him, he had to refrain from snapping at the old man.
"I have class to attend." Kai said, excusing himself as he turned his back on the headmaster.
He only was just able to take a few steps before his voice reached his sensitive ears again.
"Before you go, there is one more thing you should know." Ozpin said, voice much more serious than before. "I extended the same offer to your father many years ago."
Kai straightened up immediately at the mention of his father. Malikai took his stories about what went wrong between him and Ozpin to the grave, he asked Raven once, she didn't know. He asked Tai, and he didn't know, and then he asked Qrow, and even asking him lead to the same results. They were all telling the truth.
"He was a second year student at that time, the leader of Team MAVR, or Maverick. Though you are not as strong as he was then, you are much stronger than he was when he first came to my school." Kai's fists clenched as he figured out where he was going with this, it took his aura for his nails to not dig into the skin of his palms. "As I said before, I extended the same offer you Malikai. He accepted."
"And before I knew it, he became stronger than even I. Then he grew as strong as seasonal Maiden, and then even further beyond with the power of his eyes. If you were to accept my training now… just imagine the potential."
"I have to go." Kai snapped, breaking into a walk fast enough to be considered a jog as he made his way back to his team. Barely able to restrain himself any longer and storming off before he did anything he would regret.
Ozpin watched him leave, smile fading away as he took a sip of his favorite coffee from his mug. He let him get away this time, but the blind boy could only refuse to work with him for so long. Eventually he would come around, and he wouldn't make the same mistake he made with Malikai. He would keep a close eye on the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses this time around.
And if all else failed, he Ruby to go to as a backup plan, and if she failed. There was one more yet to come. Little silver eyed Malienna Matsuoka. Though she was just barely under two years old at the moment, she would surely grow up to want to follow her older brothers footsteps. He had plans that spanned for decades, he had to, given his curse bounding him to this plane of existence. Cursed to reincarnate again and again until he could unite humanity under a single unified banner.
"Enjoy your first day Mister Matsuoka." Ozpin said to himself more than anyone.
He really hoped he wouldn't have to fall back on those long term plans. He was quite fond of the boy, it would be a shame to see such potential go to waste…
And that is the end of this chapter, oh man. Plot is already being established, and we finally get a little bit into how Malikai got as strong as he was before. I mean, being stronger than Ozpin, and able to fight against a full powered Maiden had to require some serious training. Given that he was a silver eyed warrior, and now we know that he trained with Ozpin in one on one sessions back when he was a student of Beacon. But even with all that, there has to be more to it. Right?
I didn't even tell my Beta about that one yet, only I know.
I'll leave you all to think on that for a while, we'll see where it goes.
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