AN: Hello! Sorry for the day, got wrapped up between school, other stories, and whatnot. Anyways, here's the new chapter at long last! Enjoy.
The tests were in.
Paz, Livio, Emi, and Talan all walked out of their second-to-last classes of the day. They were a little anxious about their tests (like I am); some questions they didn't get at first and skipped until near the end when all the other questions were filled out. Even with the questions they got, they weren't sure if they had enough right answers for a good grade. At the very least, though, they were sure that they were above failing grades.
...Right? Right?!
Okay, I know I studied a lot. That much is very true, even with half of me goofing off somewhere hopefully not in that Emerald Forest because we all know I can't focus on every body all the time. I mean, I'm getting there, that's for sure. But I can't possibly have screwed up those tests.
That would be bad. Now, enough about tests. Might as well entertain myself so I can get my mind off things.
"Emi," Paz began, "I have a question."
Emi turned. "Ooh?"
"You think you can spar in Combat Training in a school uniform?"
"Whaddaya mean?"
"You're always wearing that blazer with those things that turn you into a magical girl. Don't you think you shouldn't be relying on that too much?"
"What do you mean? I always like to have it on—especially if trouble's abound!"
"If I were you, I would find better ways to not rely on that form. It might have served you well in the past, but you can't keep using it forever."
Emi stopped dead in her tracks as Paz saw her frown, a sight unusual for a girl like her. 'What happened?' was the first thought that came to her mind as she wondered about her sudden dejection. She knew that she'd touched a nerve, but she didn't have the slightest clue why; hypotheses ranged from "rough upbringing" to "fight for survival" and so on.
She had to know.
"Do you realize that if I hadn't discovered that form, I wouldn't be here today?" Emi asked.
If there was one thing that was certain, Emi didn't get her Semblance from normal circumstances. Just the way she fought reminded her less of a champion boxer and more of someone who was willing to stain their hands to live another day; for instance, Emi wasn't afraid to snap a Beowolf's neck (damn, am I seriously that strong?).
"I... I'm sorry—"
"No, it's okay," she explained, "I..." She gulped. "I didn't mean to—"
"Hey, you're here now. That should be better than before, am I correct?"
Emi sighed. "I mean, I guess..." And then like a machine switching modes, her signature toothy smirk returned and she put her hands on her hips. "But nevermind that for now, because I'm gonna show you what I can do in a school uniform!"
Paz blinked, then sighed, chuckling. "That's the spirit."
Okay, I know I can cheat by making Emi transform anyway, but honestly, it really would be fun to see how far I can get in a fight with just a school uniform. Glynda allows a 10 minute grace period to allow students to change outfits, so I might as well, like before.
. . .
"Today, you will be fighting in pairs," Glynda–what?!
Oh, it's not that bad. If I can pair Emi with Paz, then I can have them cover each other. Biggest concern right now would be how strong my sparring rivals of the day are... Ah well, nothing like a nice opportunity to see how far I've come as a fighter and a team player–
"So who would like to go first?"
Ooh! Paz and Emi raised their hands!
"Emi, I noticed you haven't changed out of your school uniform," Glynda began. "Are you sure you can—"
"Ayyee-yup!" Emi exclaimed, excited.
She silently nodded. "Very well. You and Paz will be fighting... Nora and Ren."
Ehh, that's not too bad, I suppose? I mean, this Nora fellow seems pretty intimidating from what I've seen of her fights, and Ren, well, let's say he keeps his distance until the moment his opponents are vulnerable enough. Now that I think about it, I have numerous opportunities to deal with them.
Let's start with Nora. As far as I'm concerned, she relies extensively on her hammer/grenade launcher; take that out and she has to scramble to get it back before she's eliminated. Then again, that's standard for more than half of the students here. Her crème-and-butter is first throwing her opponents off with the grenade launcher, then finishing them off by bashing them straight with the hammer. No problem, I can keep my distance, deflect the grenades, bait her, and strike.
Ren. Block his shots, lead him into an unfavorable position, beat him up there, rinse and repeat. The biggest problem, then, would be dodging either his guns or his martial arts. He doesn't appear that dumb either; if I don't change up my strategies, sooner or later he'll figure out my schtick and turn the tables on me.
Nah, not even that. The biggest problem might be my Aura levels.
Errr, sorta. I started off with only a quarter of Aura per body. Those max Aura levels are just barely average level, and that's talking about Emi and Talan. Paz and Livio are only three-fourths of the way there.
Looks like I'm gonna have to play my cards carefully.
. . .
What was I thinking?!
How was I supposed to think that packs of Ursas also don't follow a tribalistic "alpha-beta" hierarchy when my brain somehow didn't pick up on what was in the textbook? Why did I un-bubble the correct Atlesian company that drained Vacuo's resources and bubble in a wrong one?!
Was I stupid?!
And Paz just got knocked out of the ring, just perfect! You know what, the kid gloves are coming off!
I punched Ren in the gut, uppercut him—grabbed him by the sides! Leapt backward, threw him back, and there goes the buzzer to tell the class the emo one is done for. Good, good! Now I just gotta take care of the littlest ginger out here, and that'll about avenge my failing test scores.
As she fired another barrage of grenades my way, I ran around them, but then she fired one where I was about to step. Narrowly avoiding it, I leapt inward, kicking the sucker in the face knowing full well I'd managed to avoid that enormous hammer.
But wait. She's still standing; and she's ready!
"Come on!" she shouted, "Give me your worst shot!"
"Bring it on!"
Nora and Emi charged toward each other and leapt into the air with great conviction. The moment they swung—
"GAH!"
Agh... they heard a buzzer go off... Emi h–hissed in pain, then (barely) saw that both her and Nora's Auras had dropped below 20%.
"This right here is a special case," Glynda taught. "When the last fighters on their respective teams are eliminated at the same time, we determine which team gets to move on based on how much remaining Aura they have."
A tie..? Fine, I guess I'll take it if it meant I got to take down Nora with me...
"The one with the highest Aura would be crowned the victor, allowing their team to move on to the next bracket."
As I got up, Nora offered a hand to me—er, Emi. "That was exhilarating!" she exclaimed. "Let's do it again!"
. . .
We had just exited the amphitheater at the end of class. Although Nora \asked me for another spar with her and Ren, I had to tell her we can do it another time. However, we did share Scroll numbers, so that's nice.
"Woah!" Zaffree exclaimed. "How'd you do all that?!"
"Simple training and experience," Emi said, swishing back her twintails. "Thank Sanctum for that." She winked.
"Um... alright!"
She smirked. "Did you seriously not see me fight at Sanctum? Or were you distracted by the pretty colors the whole time?"
"He—Hey!" Zaffree profusely raised a finger. "It's not like that, y'know that!"
Emi chuckled while Zaffree just stood there, pouting with crossed arms. His two teammates joined in with the ribbing. Never change, Zaffree.
Wait, where's Seraphina?
"Hey," Talan began, "I don't think any of us have seen Seraphina since yesterday. Any idea where she went?"
Zaffree shrugged. "I have no idea," he answered. "She's off doing whatever she wanted again."
"Just like last time?"
"Just like last time. That's not the first time she's done it, either."
Eh, I can believe it. She doesn't care about school as much as we do, and I'd say that's reasonable for first years. Hell, I've heard of fourth years being carefree about their education as well, though I'd suspect that's more from watching movies rather than hearing about personal experience. But I believe him.
"So when will she be back?"
"Tonight?"
"Then you best get in contact if she doesn't. Can you do that?"
"Yeah."
"Good." He sighed, pulling out his Scroll to check as Ash tapped Paz on the shoulder.
"Ah, almost forgot–" A—Ash pivoted where she was rolling from and started skating in that direction. "–the room tours!"
Paz and her team rushed after Ash, already thinking of what to say. If anyone asks about the curtains, I can say it's for light sensitivity and excuse opening the curtains as the light sensitivity lessens over time. If anyone asks about the camping bed in the closet, Ash has that covered.
What isn't covered, however, is why Ash wants a room tour to begin with. I can understand getting a tour of her team's room with her if she'd said Paisley would be away around the same time, but I don't think she said anything about that. That's weird. Meh, I can just worry about it later when we're done with the room tours.
Soon enough, the five friends arrived back inside their dorms where they approached Team PCKM's room.
"Why, hello!" Paisley exclaimed. "How are you all doing?"
"Ehhh, could be better," Talan said.
"Ohh, sorry to hear that. Hopefully the rest of your day goes better, mmm'kay?"
Talan blinked. "...Okay..?"
"Great! Now, since I heard that you lots wanted me to give you a dorm tour, I might as well!" She then beckoned Team PLET and their sleep-in buddy to come inside the room, which they did.
"So, this is our room," she began. "We make ourselves comfortable around here."
I took a look around. Right away, I can see that the layout is quite different; bunk beds, separate desks for each member, books clearly separated between fiction and nonfiction, a wide-open window curtain, and a couple of posters on Calfuray's side. As I looked, I noticed that Ash's bed and quarters had been collecting dust. Hm, nobody else is around, either; either they're off doing something else, or something bad is going on and she's all too aware of what's happening.
"So that's your team's room?" Livio asked.
"Yes." Paisley smiled. "It's our home, and it's just how we'd like it to be..." She looked at Ash's bed as her smile dropped. "Almost."
I looked and saw Ash was cringing towar–
Wait, is she sad?
I checked again to make sure it wasn't just my imagination, but sure enough, she appeared genuinely distraught. I'll have to address that later, but for now, let's get on with the much-delayed room tours.
"So what do you like about your room?" Livio asked.
"Oh, there's lots to talk about!" Paisley said. "It's nice, there's plenty of room to move around and arrange our stuff, and we also have the kitchen and bathrooms on the other side."
Yeah, Beacon's staff wanted this place to be a damn great one to live, I know. The only things we're really missing are washers and dryers, which are understandably elsewhere. Seriously, can you imagine how loud it'd be here?
"Well, we like it here, too," Paz said, generically.
"Indeed." Paisley clasped her hands together. "Even the common bathroom is nice. They really thought about everything here at Beacon, didn't they?"
"Yes."
"Yeah!"
"So," Emi began, "if we're visiting your room, why don't we show you ours as well?"
"Sure, why not?"
So Ash, Paisley, and I started heading to my dorm.
Where did I leave off on those tests again..? Right, I might sound crazy, but what if I did get all the answers right? I mean, if I just bubbled that in and bubbled this in this and that, then, maybe, just maybe, I would've gotten the scores I wanted and not the scores I don't. Even if I didn't get those right, then surely those tests are curved, right? Come on, they have to be. Those tests must be curved.
They can't just keep me hanging like that forever.
"Hello, Remnant to PLET!" Huh—wh–oh. Did I seriously space out again? Whatever...
"Yes, we're here," Paz said to Ash, who was looking at her and her team funny.
...Oh God, I'm about to let Paisley into the one safe haven Ash has left, am I? Okay, get it together; she's only going to be in there for a few minutes at best. She might do something with our stuff, or she might start planting evidence in case she decides to pull something, or... dammit, I can't bring myself to trust her, can I?
"It's okay," Paisley reassured us. "There's no need to worry about letting me in. After all, it's just a room tour."
Her eyes flashed—... Uh... what was that about letting her in? Ohhh! Maybe I was wrong! I can trust her to be in the room after all!
"S–Sure," Paz said, then held her Scroll against the lock, which unlocked the door next to it. She then opened the door for her team, Ash, and Paisley to enter through.
"This is our room," she explained. "Just like everyone else on your team, we got comfortable here too."
Ash laughed. "Maybe too comfortable!" Paz, Emi, and Livio chuckled back.
"Anyway..." Paz continued to show Paisley around the room including this and that, whatever. More of the same, except we're the ones showing her around instead of the other way around. Yaaay... And on top of that, I still have to worry about... those grades...
You know what I've been thinking? It doesn't matter... I probably did badly on my tests despite all I did.
What if I somehow studied wrong? What then? I just don't feel like trying to explain to my parents why my grades suddenly dropped after a while of good classwork and homework grades... I mean, I probably don't have to worry about that since, well, I'm on my own now. Still, one of these days Mama Aurea Pastel might ask me why my midterm grade is a 40%.
At least Emi's new parents are more forgiving. No need to worry about Livio's or Talan's, though, but is that enough?
...
...Wait, what?
Okay, she did not just use her Semblance on me! I just remembered thinking about why it might be a bad idea to let her in! Shoot... Now how the hell am I going to explain this to Ash...
Huh. Why isn't she chewing me out on this? Forget Paisley using her Semblance on me, there's something going on between those two.
I have to find out.
"Well see you around, too!" Paisley exclaimed. "It was nice seeing your room for the first time."
And so she left. I shut the door and turned to face Ash, who sighed. Well, now or never, Strings. Now. Or. Never.
"Ash, what's wrong?" Paz asked. "You've been quiet for the past few minutes."
"Paisley and I haven't exactly been... kosher with each other," Ash began, "but lately, we've been starting to make up with each other."
That can't be normal. Ash is getting along with someone who'd not only butted heads with her, but has shown time and time again to be the coldest, most selfish person I'd ever come across.
"Why?" Talan asked. "Isn't she Public Enemy No. 1 to you?"
"I mean, I suppose she was, but I'm starting to think... maybe we got it wrong?"
...
"Like, we've been starting to see each other more and more, talk together, all that jazz. Getting to finally see her side of the story." ... "And you know what I'm thinking? Maybe she's not so bad after all."
"First of all, I get your point," Paz said, "but I find it hard to believe that someone who has caused trouble for people she didn't like would get along with you, someone she also didn't like back in Alsius."
"And Ash, she used her Semblance on Paz," Talan explained. "Did you seriously not catch that?"
Ash looked at him as though she were confused. "Huh? Didn't she tell you what her Semblance really was?"
"...Tell us."
"She told me it's just fancy eye effects," she explained. "Said it's her trying to confirm if someone is receptive to what she wants to say, all that."
Nah, it can't be. Her Semblance is gaslighting as far as I understand.
"Seriously?"
"Eeyup."
"Ash."
Emi stepped up to her, frowning. Just hearing those words from her was starting to get on her nerves, especially as someone who had heard of Ash's story. Hell, it's getting on mine. I don't know how long Ash can go before her Semblance takes its full effect, but I pray to whatever God happens to be listening that she can pull through and stick to her guns.
"We heard your story," she began. "We heard what Paisley was like in Alsius, and Paz saw her for how she really is firsthand. In fact, we even saw her Semblance for what it really is. Don't tell me it's not a tool of indoctrination when we saw Ozpin go from getting on Paisley's case to letting her off scot-fucking-free."
"Jeez louise, do you not get it?" Ash snapped. "Just because we were enemies in the past doesn't mean we should be enemies now!"
The two of us stood at a crossroads, eyes locked on each other.
"It's been years for me, dammit, and I'd say that's a long time for her to realize what she'd done and fix bridges she'd burned."
"Ash–"
"So what's it gonna be, huh? Get with the times, or repeat history?"
With little choice on the matter... "Alright," Paz said, "we'll give her a chance."
"Finally."
Ash let out a sigh of relief and started heading towards the closet. "Well, lemme know if you need anything," she said. "And I know it's not easy for you, but trust me: it wasn't easy on me either, y'know? Like, if you get mad at somebody for so long, it's gonna take a looong while, trust me on that." Oh dear... "And besides, I've only recently started making amends. Who knows if she's changed, anyway?"
"Who knows?"
"I guess only Father Time'll tell."
And just like that, she disappeared into the closet.
. . .
Today is the day I get my results back.
You know what I've realized? I don't know exactly how well I did on my tests. However, I know for a fact that I've studied very hard for it beforehand. Sure, I took the same tests multiple times throughout the day, but that means I could reuse some of my right answers. I just had to adjust a few so nobody would suspect a thing, but such is the life of four kids in trench coats in a bigger trench coat.
Well then. I walked into class where I saw my professors passing out exam papers to go with their name callouts. First up among the team were Paz and Livio, then Talan, then Emi.
Okay, let's see what I got... I sat down and looked through the tests... okay, pretty good, surprised I got that one, unsurprised I didn't get that other one—are the scores too out of character? No? Alright, then score time!
92%. 85%. 78%. 97%.
I silently pumped my fists into the air.
