Shirou had no idea what to expect today but something told him it was going to be a long one. The time had finally come for his planned outing with Coco and Velvet of Team CFVY and, if he was being honest, he'd rather be doing just about anything else. He didn't have anything against them, it was just that there were so many productive things he could be doing today and fraternizing with two second-years wasn't among them. Even back on Earth, he had avoided random outings with his friends for that exact same reason. If he was lucky, they either wouldn't stay out too long or otherwise he could find a reason to beg off but he didn't trust his luck.

Still, if Shirou was going to do this, he was going to do it properly. He spent part of last night going through a list of stores in Vale (which was quite a long one) and picking out a few that might be worth visiting and then made a dozen ohagi for them to eat as a snack. He even made sure to turn some of his Lien to cash just on the off chance that it was needed. He just hoped that this didn't end up anything like his disastrous date with Saber. That really wasn't something he wanted to live through twice; not that he'd be able to live this time.

Arriving at the port five minutes ahead of schedule, Shirou was surprised to see Coco and Velvet already there. As seemed to be the norm for Beacon students, both were dressed in what Shirou could only assume was their Huntress attire. At least, that appeared to be the case with Velvet and her armor but Coco's impeccably stylish clothing seemed to suggest otherwise. Of course, only a handful of students at the school— and not that many more fully trained Hunters— seemed to realize that having actual armor to fall back on in case your Aura broke was a good idea so it probably was what she fought in.

Shirou called out to them and Coco simply pulled her sunglasses down and gave Shirou a very incredulous look over the rim. "This won't do at all," she said, her voice full of disapproval.

"What won't?" Shirou asked.

"Your outfit. Is that seriously what you're going to wear?"

Shirou looked down at himself. Not wanting to casually walk about the city in full armor, Shirou had forgone his Hunter attire and instead wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with blue sleeves and blue jeans; his sword and quiver strapped where they belonged.

"What's wrong with my outfit?" Shirou asked, oddly defensive. Minor variations of this outfit had been his go-to set of clothes for just about as long as he could remember.

"It's extremely bland and would make you blend in if it weren't for the weapons. How are you going to be a good Huntsman if you aren't memorable?"

"What does being memorable had to do with being a good Huntsman? Besides, it's not like I wear this if I'm expecting a fight."

"Um, what's in the bag?" Velvet suddenly asked, wishing to end this before her friend and leader got out of control.

"Oh, just some treats I made," Shirou said as he held the bag up. "I figured we could eat them as a snack later."

"A hero and a cook? Looks like you've got a good eye, Velv. Even if his fashion leaves a lot to be desired," Coco said. Velvet violently blushed at that, hiding her face behind her hands with a squeak, even as Shirou was torn between confusion and annoyance. "Anyway, let's get going. We've got a lot of places to hit up today."

OoOoOoO

Shirou suppressed a groan as he all but collapsed in a chair, the mountain of bags he had been carrying placed carefully to the side. It was now just past twelve and the past three hours had been spent following Coco from store to store, going through more types and styles of clothing than Shirou even knew existed. It also seemed like Coco had made it her mission for the day to instruct Shirou in the subtleties of fashion since she had gone on and on about color coordination, pattern synergy and their effects, the pros and cons of various materials, and other related subjects that sounded more complicated than one of Tohsaka's mega lectures on Thaumaturgy. The entire lesson culminated in a test as Coco led them to a store that specialized in Huntsmen's fashion and told Shirou to construct three different outfits and present himself to her in them. The first set had been halfheartedly and quickly thrown together but this just inspired Coco's ire so Shirou felt almost compelled to actually put some effort into it.

Thankfully, Shirou wasn't completely thrown to the wolves. Velvet had been an absolute godsend during the trip, actually talking about things Shirou could follow and comment on whenever Coco seemed to be taking a break and even inquiring as to what Shirou had been up to lately. During his "final exam", she had even taken to giving subtle hints and advice about what he should wear. She had been the anchor of Shirou's sanity during this trip and, without her, he'd probably still be trying to put together outfits that were up to Coco's standards.

At least Coco was kind enough to purchase the outfit she deemed the best for him so there was that. She was also pleasant to talk to when not talking about fashion and both she and Velvet had practically sung his praises when they tried his ohagi. That was followed by Coco giving Velvet a look of approval— at least, Shirou assumed it was one given that she never took off her sunglasses— and mutter something that made the rabbit Faunus blush brightly.

And now Shirou found himself sitting at an outdoor cafe, utterly spent from carrying not only his bag but the two Velvet had and the twenty Coco had. He'd actually even been forced to use his Aura to not only strengthen himself but also protect himself from the handles that were cutting into his hands.

It was at that moment that Shirou realized why Fox and Yatsuhashi, the male half of Team CFVY, decided to not go out that day.

As Shirou took a sip of some sort of designer coffee Coco insisted that he try (he had to admit that it was actually really good even though he wasn't normally fond of the stuff), he let his gaze wander through the street, idly noting the people passing by. He was just beginning to wonder if he should try to beg off or at least insist that they return to the dorms to drop off their bags when a group of blessedly familiar people caught his attention.

"Ruby! Wiess! Blake! Yang!" Shirou called out with a wave. From their seats across from him, Coco and Velvet turned to look as Ruby returned the wave before coming towards them with the rest of her team.

"Hey, Shirou! What are you doing here?" Yang asked.

"A reward, of sorts. Everyone, this is Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina of Team CFVY. Coco, Velvet; this is Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY."

"You were the one Cardin was harassing during lunch last week," Blake pointed out.

Velvet smiled bashfully, "Yeah, that was me. Coco insisted on Shirou coming with us today as a reward."

"In truth," Shirou interjected, "I'm pretty sure Coco just wanted someone to carry her bags and that was a convenient excuse."

Coco smiled all too innocently at Shirou, "I got you an outfit."

"You did," Shirou allowed with a nod, "but only after you filled my head full of fashion knowledge and then forced me to construct three outfits that met your standards."

"I allowed Velvet to help you."

"If she hadn't, we'd still be in that store," Shirou countered. Coco nodded slowly in concession and said nothing further, taking a sip of her coffee.

When it was clear that Coco would say no more, Shirou turned to Team RWBY, who had been watching the back-and-forth with varying levels of interest and amusement. From the look in Weiss' eye, he suspected that she would be finding a reason to "reward" him in the future as well. "So, what are you girls up to?"

"We wanted to check out the decorations for the Vytal Festival," Ruby answered excitedly.

"Man, they really start preparing for that thing early," Shirou said.

"Well, of course they are," Weiss said. "It's a week-long festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! Everything has to be at a scale and quality that befits such a momentous event."

Shirou thought back to the Olympics on Earth and nodded in agreement. "I suppose. So why are you headed toward the docks? Pretty sure that's the only thing down that way."

Weiss opened her mouth to answer only to be cut off by Blake. "Weiss wants to spy on the students arriving from Vacuo so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

Shirou shook his head even as Weiss scoffed and stated that Blake couldn't prove a thing. "Why can't people just be honest with what they want?" Shirou wondered aloud to himself.

"Hey, since we ran into you, do you want to come with us?" Ruby offered.

Shirou had to resist the urge to take Ruby's hand and run away with her offer. "Well, I don't mind. Did you have any other place you wanted to go, Coco?"

"Not particularly. Besides, this is supposed to be your reward," Coco smiled innocently at Shirou's incredulous look, "so you're free to do whatever you want."

Shirou looked to Velvet. "Oh, it's fine!" she said quickly. "I really appreciate you joining us today. It was a lot of fun. We should get together again sometime."

"And I promise not to make you carry all the bags next time," Coco added with a smile that was reinforced when Shirou gave her another incredulous look. Shirou felt almost compelled to believe her and that just made him all the more suspicious.

"Maybe we shall," Shirou said slowly as he got up. "Will you be fine carrying all those bags?" Even if he didn't like it, it was against his nature to both leave things unfinished and to abandon a duty that had been given to him.

"Oh, that's no problem," Coco said as she pulled a rectangular object about the size of a brick from her handbag. She pressed a button somewhere on it and tossed it to the side where it quickly unfurled into a shopping trolley. "We'll just use this."

Shirou couldn't put a name to what he was feeling but it wasn't a good one. "You mean you— Ever since— You've had me— All this time—" Unable to form a sentence, Shirou simply gave up, his head and shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Don't worry about your outfit. Just text me when you get back and I'll give it to you."

"Yeah, thanks. Come on, let's go," Shirou said, his voice empty as he trudged towards the docks. At this, Yang couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing uproariously, doubled over and gripping her stomach. Weiss looked at the smiling Coco with great approval as Blake looked at Shirou with sympathy.

Being the only one of her team not otherwise preoccupied, Ruby spoke up before heading off herself, "It was nice meeting you!"

"Nice meeting you, too."

OoOoOoO

"Whoa. What happened here?" Ruby asked a bit later as she approached a police line that was blocking off a shop with a broken window.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle," the officer on duty said as he finished writing down some notes on his notepad before walking off.

"That's terrible," Yang stated the obvious with a sigh.

"Why would someone do this?" Ruby asked no one in particular.

"Well, let's think about it, shall we?" Shirou said. "What are the reasons someone would steal Dust in the first place?"

"To resell on the black market," Blake answered.

"Yes but there's practically no black market for Dust in Vale," Shirou said.

"How do you know that?" Yang asked.

"Because the existence of the black market is dependant on the availability and pricing of items. In Vale, Dust is readily available and fairly cheap. There's almost no reason someone would purchase Dust illegally and possibly at an outrageous price when they can easily do so legally for not much. Also," Shirou turned towards the storefront and reinforced his eyes, quickly examining everything he could see, "this store sells average quality Dust at standard market value. Not a particularly good target for a theft."

"Maybe it's personal. The thief might have had a grudge with the shop's owner and decided to get back at them by stealing their product," Weiss suggested. "Alternatively, it could be a rival business owner wishing to destroy them."

"Both possible but unlikely. A rival business owner is almost certainly not the case given that the store owner will be reimbursed by the Kingdom and that there's plenty of competition in the area. Of course, they may have had other motives but that's just speculation. While it's possible that someone took advantage of the rash of Dust robberies to cover up their crime, it's best to assume that the person or group behind the previous ones are behind this one as well."

"I wouldn't really call two robberies a rash," Weiss said.

"There have been sixteen robberies of Dust stores in the past month alone. In all instances, this one included, only Dust was stolen. As such, barring other evidence, it's safe to assume that it's the same person or group."

"There have been sixteen?" Ruby asked in alarm.

"That's right. Am I the only one who watches the news?"

Ruby, Yang, and Blake all pointedly avoided looking at Shirou while Weiss said, "I follow the stock market."

"But how do you know about the money thing?" Yang asked. "There's no way you could know that the money hasn't been taken here." Shirou gestured with his head towards the two detectives, one of whom was exiting the store with a stack of Lien in an evidence bag. "Oh."

"Maybe they're building up an army?" Ruby posited.

Shirou nodded grimly, "That's the most likely reason. There's even a group out there who are no doubt the prime suspects."

"The White Fang," Weiss said sourly.

Shirou nodded again. "They have a motive, the manpower, and a history of stealing large quantities of Dust. The last of which being a train robbery that took place about eight months ago."

"I'm aware of it," Weiss said as Blake suddenly became interested in a building across the street. "That Dust belonged to my family's company. Turned out one of the Faunus working at the shipping yard was a mole and tipped them off."

"Right. Anyway, the chances are good that they're the ones behind this."

"It doesn't make sense, though," Blake suddenly interjected, very antsy for some reason. "Why would they rob a random Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale?"

"Simple: To send a message. They're robbing us of ammunition in the heart of what should be one of the safest cities on the planet and there's nothing we can do to stop them." Blake opened her mouth to respond but stopped and closed it, biting her lip. She had no way to dispute that.

"I suppose those degenerates can be clever when they want to be," Weiss said. Blake spun sharply around and had to visibly restrain herself from shouting at the heiress.

"Maybe it was that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. The police never caught him," Ruby suggested.

"Roman Torchwick is one of the seediest criminals in all of Vale," Shirou said, "but he has no use for that much Dust. While you did confront him at the scene of one of the first robberies in this crime spree and those goons you knocked out apparently didn't say a word, there has to be someone who's backing him and the only group I'm currently aware of who would and could do that is the White Fang."

"Besides, there's no way the White Fang would work with a Human," Weiss said.

"Not necessarily true," Shirou refuted. "While it's true that a large number of the White Fang wishes to see Humanity either extinct or firmly under the heels of the Faunus, that's not true for all of them. Even those who do want that might concede to the logic of using a Human who has access to highly valuable information and resources that they do not."

Blake looked down, her eyes shifting from side-to-side as she considered everything she knew. "Yeah, that makes sense," she conceded.

"Of course it does," Weiss said haughtily. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal. Why miss a golden opportunity to do all three at once?"

"That's not necessarily true…" Yang said uneasily as Blake looked like she was about to strangle the heiress. Thankfully, the murder in potentia was stopped by a cry from the docks.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" someone on one of the boats said. Team RWBY plus Shirou quickly turned to the source of the call and rushed to investigate just in time to see a blond monkey Faunus leap onto the boat's forward railing.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" he said with a laugh before jumping down to the docks and taking off.

"You no-good Faunus!" one of the pursuing sailors said as he reached the edge.

The monkey Faunus had apparently decided to fulfill every stereotype at once as he hung upside down by his tail on a lamppost while peeling a banana he had gotten from somewhere. "Hey! I like to think I'm a pretty great Faunus!"

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" one of the detectives from earlier shouted up at the monkey Faunus, throwing a stone at him for good measure. The Faunus paused and grinned mischievously down at him before dropping the banana peel on his face.

Laughing in amusement, the Faunus twirled up on top of the lamppost before leaping down and running off. As he ran past Team RWBY, he slowed down just enough to turn and give a stunned Blake a wink before running straight into Shirou's clothesline-turned-choke slam which he had been too busy flirting to see coming.

Surprised as he was, the monkey Faunus proved surprisingly skilled as he wrapped his legs around Shirou's extended arm before grabbing his wrist with both hands and twisting while striking Shirou's shoulder with his crossed legs. As Shirou was forced to let go, the Faunus released his leg lock and rolled onto his upper back, pulling Shirou forward and onto the soles of his feet. He paused to smirk before attempting to launch Shirou away but this paused was long enough for Shirou to grab his ankle with his free hand. Instead of sending the redhead flying, the monkey Faunus only succeeding in pushing him back and helping him to give his right leg a hard yank.

Not one to be deterred, the Faunus kicked Shirou's wrist to force him to let go before quickly spinning onto his feet. He had just enough time to see Shirou's haymaker before the attack collided with his jaw. Following the force of the blow, the Faunus spun around and used his tail to grab Shirou's wrist and jerk him forward into his elbow. As Shirou staggered backward, stunned, the Faunus brushed past him and gave a jaunty salute before running off.

Growling, Shirou reached into his pocket and projected a flat kunai into his hand before drawing it and throwing it at the Faunus. Much to his surprise, the monkey Faunus spun around mid-stride and snatched it out of the air.

"Cool knife! Hope you don't mind if I keep it!" he said before disappearing around a corner, the officers in hot pursuit now that their target wasn't otherwise engaged.

"Are you okay, Shirou?" Ruby asked, walking up to the redhead who was rubbing at his nose.

Shirou opened his mouth to respond only to be interrupted by Weiss. "That was absolutely perfect!" she said while clapping her hands together with maniacal glee. "That ruffian was no doubt one of the competitors from Vacuo and, thanks to Shirou, we got to see him in action!"

"I'm fine," Shirou said, more annoyed by the fact that one of his projections got nabbed than by the fact that he lost. "And I'm glad I could help. Still, we should probably go after him. I seriously doubt those detectives could capture him."

"You want to capture him?" Blake asked.

"Of course I do. He broke, like, five laws in the span of two minutes. Are you suggesting that criminals shouldn't be caught?" Blake quickly tilted her head to the side and hummed in acknowledgment of the point but said nothing as her thoughts consumed her.

With Blake silent and the others not looking like they disagreed, Shirou turned and sprinted in the direction the Faunus disappeared in. As he rounded the corner, he found himself slamming into someone and tripping, making both of them fall forward. Not wanting to accidentally harm someone, especially since this someone was smaller than him, he instinctively moved to position himself under them.

This turned out to be the worst mistake of Shirou's life on Remnant.

The collision with the ground wasn't that bad but, as the smaller person landed on him, Shirou suddenly knew what it was like to be sat on by an elephant. Despite the redhead's diminutive stature and lithe frame, they were somehow crushing his ribcage just by laying on top of him. Thankfully, the smaller person seemed to realize this and quite quickly got up.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright? Do you require assistance?" she asked.

"I'm fine!" Shirou managed to wheeze out before descending into a coughing fit. When he stopped, he just laid there and stared up at the sky.

"I'm done with today," he said as he looked like he was torn between wanting to laugh and cry. "I get roped into being someone's servant as a joke, get thrown into a cram session on fashion that I never asked for, get forced to take a ridiculous test on fashion, get my ass kicked by a criminal, and then get crushed half to death by a girl I was trying to protect. I am completely done with today and it's only one in the afternoon."

Ruby Rose suddenly appeared in his vision, smiling sympathetically down at him as she held her hand out. "Well, at least it can't get any worse," she said helpfully.

Shirou took the offered hand and stood up. "Oh god, please don't say that," he said before returning Ruby's smile. "Are you okay?" he asked the girl he had ran into who had been smiling absently at them after Shirou said he was fine.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking," she said, her voice strangely intoned. "Are you certain that you don't require assistance?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Oh! I should introduce myself! Sal-u-ta-tions! My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" the strange girl said happily.

"I'm Shirou."

"Hi, Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked only to have Blake elbow her in the side. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said.

"You already said that," Weiss pointed out.

Penny paused for a moment in contemplation. "So I did!"

"Well, I'm sorry for running into you," Shirou said before walking away with Team RWBY.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby called out with a wave.

When they had gotten a decent distance away, Yang spoke up. "She was… weird…"

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss asked herself as she looked around for signs of him. Shirou just so happened to know almost precisely where he was since he was still holding on to that projected kunai but he had no way of revealing this without also revealing that ability so he chose to say nothing. Not that he had to make the choice as they found a rather intense Penny suddenly standing in front of them.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang quickly said.

"No, not you," Penny said dismissively before pushing her way through the group to stand before Ruby. "You."

Ruby looked very much like a cornered rabbit at that moment. "Me? I-I don't know. I, what, I, um, uh…?"

"You called me 'friend'!" Penny said. "Am I really your friend?"

"Umm…" Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder to her teammates and Shirou. The former were violently shaking their heads while the latter shrugged. "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?" she said, ignoring Shirou's cry of pain as Weiss smacked him in the back of the head.

As for Penny, she looked like all of her birthdays came at once. "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys!"

"Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss with a groan.

"Thankfully, no," Weiss said.

"So… what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament."

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked incredulously.

Penny gave a little salute. "I'm combat ready!"

"Forgive me but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake snidely remarked.

Weiss crossed her arms, "It's a combat skirt!"

In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby was by Weiss' side, her arms also crossed. "Yeah!" she said before low-fiving Weiss.

"I once knew a girl who fought in a full dress. She was the best swordsman I knew," Shirou remarked although he couldn't be certain if anyone paid attention.

"Wait a minute," Weiss said as she realized something. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?"

"The who?" Penny asked.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss said as she pulled a crude drawing of him from somewhere.

"Why do you keep saying that‽" Blake said, more than a little offended.

"Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Now, calm down, girls," Shirou said as he started to step between them, moving his hands in a placating gesture. "There's no need to—"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" they both said in unison. Shirou quickly threw his hands up in surrender before returning to the others, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Ruby gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and another sympathetic smile.

"You need to stop that!" Blake said to Weiss.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

Blake growled dangerously as the air was filled with killing intent. "You ignorant little brat!"

A look of hurt and betrayal flashed across Weiss' face as Blake spun sharply around and started to walk off. Clearly not finished, Weiss gave chase. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgemental little girl."

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

Yang slid up next to Ruby and Shirou, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Um, I think we should probably go…"

Shirou was torn between wanting to help and wanting to leave them to their own business. The memory of how terribly his day has gone so far made him choose the latter. "Yeah, let's."

"Where are we going?" Penny asked as she popped up behind Ruby.

"So you admit it!" Weiss said, still focused on her argument. "The White Fang is a just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Blake retorted.

As the two girls continued to argue, Shirou and the others slowly backed away before deciding to go get a late lunch from the other side of town.

OoOoOoO

Unfortunately for Ruby and Yang, Weiss and Blake's argument wasn't a one-time issue. For the rest of the day, the most random of subjects and incidents would spark another argument and every attempt at mediation resulted in a swift and fierce rebuke; seemingly the only thing both girls could agree upon anymore.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss said in their dorm that night. They had only just settled down into their beds when another argument got triggered by what Ruby and Yang could only assume was some kind of telepathy since no one had been talking.

"That is the problem!" Blake said as if that explained everything.

Weiss got up from her bed. "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake followed suit. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Weiss and Blake glared at each other for a long moment before Weiss decided something. She leaned in and spoke quietly; not that it stopped Ruby and Yang from hearing her. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" She leaned against the bookshelf underneath the window, her expression a cold, impassive mask as she dug into some rather unpleasant memories. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust stolen. And, every day, my father would come home furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." The last sentence was accompanied by Weiss banging her fist against the bookshelf, the only display of emotion she had shown that entire time.

Ruby, who had gotten down part way through, walked over to Weiss and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, I—"

"No!" Weiss said sharply. She paused and reigned her anger in, oddly comforted by Ruby's hand, before gently moving it away and saying "No" once more but in a much softer voice.

Weiss turned her attention back to Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

Blake had no idea how to react. She had been fully aware of the more… extreme measures the White Fang had taken against certain targets and even knew that the Schnee Dust Company was one such target. However, for whatever reason, she had never put the pieces together and realized just how that would have affected Weiss and those around her. No, it was more like she didn't let herself put those pieces together. If she didn't know what their actions had done, she wouldn't be burdened by any more grief.

Of course, there was still the matter that Weiss was insulting some very good, if misguided, people and that she was lumping all Faunus in with the White Fang. Such blatant racism shouldn't be tolerated no matter how logical the reason for its existence. Then there was the fact that, despite her best efforts, Blake was taking the entire thing rather personally so trying to remain objective had been long since impossible.

Conflicted as she was, Blake said the first thing that came to mind. "Well, maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Blake was horrified for more than one reason as the words left her mouth. She glanced around quickly, looking between her shocked teammates and seeing nothing but judgment and condemnation in their expressions no matter how they tried to hide it. "I… I…" Unable to take it, Blake rushed out of the dorm as quickly as she could.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby called after her but she was already gone.

OoOoOoO

Outside of Beacon, Blake came to a stop at the fountain in the central plaza. The fine stonework depicting a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop of a cliff overlooking a Beowolf felt particularly symbolic to her at the moment.

Burdened by the weight of her sins, Blake finally let herself cry. Almost on their own, her arms rose to her ever-present bow and untied it, the familiar accessory feeling more like a ball-and-chain than ever. As she pulled it away, her black cat ears were, at last, revealed to the world, drooped in sadness.

"I knew you would look better without the bow," a familiar voice said. Blake spun around, startled, only see Emiya Shirou standing not five feet away.

"Shirou! You— When— How— What do you mean you knew?" Blake asked.

"Well, let's see: Your behaviors and habits have reminded me of a cat on more than one occasion, you react very strongly to practically any mention of the Faunus or White Fang— you practically burnt holes in me when I stopped Cardin from assaulting Velvet, the color of your eyes is one not found in Humans but isn't uncommon in Faunus, you have the best night vision out of everyone, you wear that bow more than Ruby wears her cloak, and I've seen that bow twitch a few times for seemingly no reason. Taken all together, you being a Faunus is the only logical conclusion."

Blake was unsure whether to feel embarrassed, upset, or some other emotion so she settled for numb. "When you lay it out like that, it makes me wonder why I even bothered to hide it in the first place."

"To be fair, most people don't really pay attention to small details like that. I only do because my father impressed upon me the importance of seeing everything."

"He sounds like a smart man. How long have you known?"

"Known? Not until just now. But I've been almost certain of it for a couple of weeks."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was there to say? You had your reasons for hiding it and I fully understand, perhaps better than anyone else in our class, wanting to keep certain things a secret. You would tell me when you wanted to; if you wanted to."

"Well… thanks… Shirou."

"It's not a problem. I assume that your argument with Weiss led to you saying things you shouldn't have?"

"They now know I'm a Faunus. And that I used to be a member of the White Fang." Shirou's complete lack of surprise at this revelation only served to make Blake feel like even more of an idiot. "You knew that, too?"

"Not until this afternoon. It had been a remote possibility before then. Do you want to go back to your team?" Blake shook her head. "I still have an apartment in Vale. If you want, we can spend the night there."

"'We'?"

"Yes, we. If you insist, I'll just give you my key and the address but it's really best if you have someone available to talk to. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I… think I'd like that," Blake said, a ghost of a smile crossing her face.

"Good. Let's get going before the rest of your team shows up."

"Hey, Shirou?"

"Hm?"

"What were you going here anyway?"

"I have trouble sleeping sometimes and a walk outside helps a bit. Besides, our dorms share a wall and you and Weiss were being quite loud."

Blake ducked her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

Shirou gave her a comforting smile. "It's quite alright, Blake."

A/N: As always, all of the reviews are greatly appreciated.

So, Sun was replaced by Shirou at the end of this chapter. As you can probably expect, this means that he won't be showing up for the showdown at the docks next chapter. I expect and Sun fans reading this will be mad at me for that but I have a number of reasons for it. For starters, it was really easy to get Shirou to be at the fountain at that time and thus I could use him to make events diverge from canon a bit and thus make the climax of Volume 1 more interesting to read. Not only that but this one change, as minor as it seems, is also the biggest one in the story so far that came about due to actions the characters took. I'm not kidding when I say that you'll be seeing the effects of this change for literally the entire story.

In case you're wondering, Sun still showed up at the fountain but he saw Shirou wandering around and didn't feel like messing with him so he took off.

Next up is the Volume 1 finale. Hang on to your hats, folks. It's gonna be a doozy.