Adam Taurus sat silently in a corner seat of the last row, as far away from Professor Scotch and his meandering speech about the cost of the Great War as possible. The entire rest of the seats in the row were empty, and Adam had his textbook, notebook, and several diagrams of battlefields spread out upon the unoccupied countertop in front of himself. The faunus boy was well aware that he was alone, and he was perfectly content with the notion. Despite the lack of students in his immediate area, Adam did notice that every so often, Robin Winchester would cast him uneasy, judgmental glances from his seat in the row on the opposite side of the aisle.

Something about the boy's narrowed eyes and stiff posture suggested to Adam that he was intimidated, and the very thought of the possibility filled the bull's chest with a satisfied warmth. Robin, too, was sitting alone, though he had made no effort to even pretend that he was engaged in the lecture or assigned work. His otherwise bare countertop featured only a notebook opened to a blank page, and Robin didn't even have a writing utensil at the ready. Adam turned his head ever so slightly and narrowed his own eye at Robin, who quickly looked away and pretended to be poring over nonexistent notes.

Sudden noise from down on the floor of the lecture hall caused nearly everyone in the room to jump, Professor Scotch included. The older, professionally dressed man paused his lecture as he whirled to face the entrance of the room, only to find the tall, imposing frame of Jay Winchester in the doorway. The leader of JHRY made hasty steps toward the professor and held out a small slip of paper while rubbing his jaw with his other hand. A dark bruise, visible even to Adam and Robin in the back row, was beginning to manifest on his jawline, beneath his bronze fingers.

"Sorry," Jay began before sucking in a pained hiss through his teeth as Professor Scotch accepted the pass. "I… got jumped in the bathroom, and had to stop along the way here to get a pass."

Professor Scotch wrinkled his nose and squinted as he read through the information upon the hall pass, before turning his beady eyes up from the paper and onto those of Jay.

"And yet you didn't think to stop at the infirmary for ice?"

"I'll be fine," Jay seethed as he finally dropped his hand to show off the bruise. The boy cast a quick glance up into the crowd of other students, who had begun whispering feverishly amongst themselves. "I didn't want to waste any more time, and one of the three that started this is in a lot worse shape than me. Not in the mood to go sit around with him at the nurse's office."

Professor Scotch raised his brows as the whispering intensified up in the seats. "And who, exactly, attacked you, Mister Winchester?"

Jay merely shrugged, and cracked his neck. "Don't know. A human that isn't first year, and two faunus- one with gills, and another with some kind of wolf's tail. Goodwitch has the upperclassman and the uninjured faunus in her office right now. The other one's with the nurse, like I said. Can I just go and sit down? Today hasn't exactly been fun, and I'm getting really tired of being stared at."

Professor Scotch nodded, and tucked the hall pass into a pocket upon his sweater vest. "Very well. I'm sure your brother can fill you in on what you've missed."

Jay snorted with enough ferocity that Professor Scotch instinctively moved his head back in shock as the boy scowled and began to make his way up into the seats.

"Yeah. Sure he can."

Adam felt his entire body tense as he watched Jay climb the steps. The faunus kept his eye trained on the heir as Jay reached the last row and immediately pivoted to put his back to his brother. Without so much as a word, Jay closed the distance to Adam and slumped into the seat right next to the faunus before putting his notebook onto the countertop in front of himself. Jay stared straight ahead and down at Professor Scotch as he began to lecture once again, and Adam moved his eye from Jay's face to the row opposite the aisle as he leaned forward slightly. Robin was glaring at the pair of them, absolutely furious. The redheaded human made a motion of drawing a finger across his throat as he gave Adam a pointed look, and the bull merely leaned back into his seat in response.

A minute passed in silence between Adam and Jay, before the faunus decided that he had had enough. Adam moved to stand, only for Jay to grip his leg and hold him in place. The heir finally turned his head to face Adam with an unreadable look, and the bull sucked in a nervous breath before beginning to speak.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm not your punching bag, Winchester. I'm also not the pair of faunus that attacked you, so back off, and let me move to a new row," Adam seethed as he returned the boy's look with a glare of his own.

"No," Jay said simply as he lifted his hand and brought it back to his own lap. "Don't. I want to talk to you."

"You want to threaten me," Adam corrected. He contemplated trying to stand once again, only to settle for shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest. "Just because your day has been terrible doesn't mean you and your brother can take it out on me."

"My day started out terrible because of you," Jay replied with a significant amount of venom in his tone. "I spent most of the morning trying to convince some members of my team to leave you alone, and then your precious little defender Kali kneed me in the balls for trying to apologize. Add being jumped and my stupid brother continuing to look at us like we're some kind of forbidden interspecies couple to the list, and I'm not in the mood for any bullshit, Taurus. Hear me out, or maybe I will threaten you."

Adam took several more long, measured breaths through his nose as he returned his eyes to Professor Scotch. The man was in the process of writing "Read pages 30-37 and answer questions 1-5 at the end of the section" on the board in a messy scrawl as his protruding stomach dragged along the chalk tray at the bottom.

"Fine."

"Good. Listen- I'm still not a big fan of your people in a general sense, and getting attacked and clawed at by two animals in the bathroom only reinforced those feelings. I'm sick of hearing all of the bitching thrown my way just because I was born into a family in a better position than you… but I'm also starting to realize that what I just said, and your situation aren't so different. That, and… you are different, from most of them. So, let's figure this out," Jay finished as he reached for one of the textbooks in the metal bin upon the countertop.

"Figure what out? You think we're just going to solve racism in Period Two History, today? As far as I'm concerned, it's a good thing that you're starting to get a taste of what we go through. Everyone here is looking forward to the weekend tomorrow, and getting out into the city of Vale to see the sights, go on dates, waste time with friends, and try to sneak into bars," Adam spat. "But not me. I've already seen the streets of Vale when I was on my way to the Academy, and it's barely any better than Atlas. The constant racism here is just a bit more subtle, so people think it's fine."

Jay continued to look down at his book as he began slowly flipping the pages. "I'm listening. I'm trying to offer an olive branch. Continue."

Adam only glared harder, ignoring his own textbook as he remained fixated on Jay. "Do you know how many shops proudly display signs that read "No Faunus Allowed" plain as day in their windows? Do you know how many faunus I've already seen living out in the streets of Vale, most of them with injuries that make your little bruise look like it was delivered with love? Do you know that any faunus buying dust is charged extra in some shops, because we're not trusted to be smart enough to handle it? Back off, and keep your olive branch, especially right after telling me how most of my race isn't worth your breath. You chose your side, and I'm not in a forgiving mood."

"I was born into my side, just like you were!" Jay hissed in contempt. "All I've ever known is a family and society who treats everything you just told me as normal, and you're the first faunus I've met that's starting to make me think that just maybe, it shouldn't be. So why don't you back off, before I reconsider my stance for a second time."

Adam fell silent for all of a moment, before finally gripping his textbook and drawing it down into his lap to find the assigned pages. He flipped through the tome with far more force than necessary, his voice a dangerous growl as he spat his words back at Jay.

"Keep escalating things. Keep telling me how you're suffering. Funny how you're trying to turn your life around now that things aren't convenient for you anymore, since you're away from home. Is it getting uncomfortable to carry around your family name? So sorry to hear that, when some of us are carrying around things far worse," Adam said as he slammed his book back down upon the counter.

"I know that," Jay replied as his own voice grew quieter. "Adam, please, calm down, and let me try to start over with you. I'm starting to get a little taste of the shit you're catching every single day. I want to understand you, and I want to keep pushing for something other than what my family is known for, at least a little. Isn't that better than nothing, in your eyes?"

"In my eyes," Adam repeated as he turned to fix Jay with a glare. The Winchester boy's face drained of color as his expression fell.

"Adam, come on, you know that's not what I meant."

"Oh, I do know," Adam fumed as he stood from his seat. "But what a novel thought. You think you're starting to understand suffering? You think you know what I'm dealing with? You don't know anything about me, or about what it means to be a faunus."

Jay opened his mouth to reply, only to have his thoughts wiped away immediately as he watched Adam reach up to the back of his head and begin to untie the knot at the back of his bandanna. The bull let the dark green cloth slip from around his head and flutter to the countertop, before turning to face Jay. A strangled, uncomfortable noise escaped the boy's throat as he looked over the wound beneath the cloth, and he physically recoiled in an uncontrollable reflex.

Where Adam's left eye should have been was instead what could only be described as a sick and twisted wound. The opening had been totally fused shut, with wrinkled, melted skin pulled over it into a messy texture of drooping and discolored leathery flesh. Faint traces of pink, red, and black dotted the area in odd, malformed patterns, and the wound had clearly healed improperly. There atop the warped canvas of Adam's former left eye was the jagged, twelve-pointed snowflake emblem of the Schnee Dust Company seared directly into his flesh. The deep red color of the brand seemed almost to match the color of his hair, and the edges of the lines were scarred, messy, and jutted at odd, asymmetrical angles.

A feeling of nausea more intense than any Jay had ever felt immediately boiled to life within the pit of his stomach. He lurched forward and clasped a hand over his mouth as he stood and started to back away from Adam, who began a rapid approach. The faunus pushed past Jay and made his way into the aisle, only to watch Robin fall backward onto the floor as he scrambled away. From somewhere in the rows below, a female student let out a shrill scream as Adam continued to make his way down the steps. Professor Scotch looked up from his place seated behind his desk and placed his hands down onto the surface before standing up.

"Excuse me, Mister Taurus, what are you d-…" he began, only to lose all will to continue as Adam's brand came into view.

"Teaching fucking history," Adam replied before making his way to the doors of the classroom and storming out into the hall.

Bartholomew kept his eyes closed and his left hand on his forehead as he simply focused on breathing. He continued to wait for the scroll upon the table next to his tray to vibrate, only for Willow's voice to break the minutes on end of silence instead.

"…still no word…?"

"Obviously not. If there was word, his scroll would have buzzed," Roman snapped as he scowled down into his bowl of soup. He raised his visible eye to shoot Willow a judgmental glare, before mirroring Bartholomew's pose, though using both hands to massage his temples. "Don't just talk to fill space. There's nothing worth saying right now."

"Roman," Qrow said in a warning tone. "Don't be an asshole. She's trying to help. What the hell's gotten into you?"

"He's in a bad mood, and for good reason," Raven informed from behind her usual bowl of salad, which had remained untouched. She turned her eyes from her brother to Roman, and despite her scowl, they seemed to hold a bit of sympathy for the boy. "But Qrow's right. It's already so tense over here that Tai had to go sit at another table. Don't make it even worse. Please?"

"No," Willow interrupted with a soft shake of her head. "He's right- it was a needless question, and I…was just trying to break the silence, for the sake of breaking it. Somehow, though, I don't think there's any way to make this entire situation less uncomfortable."

"No, Raven's right," Roman protested as he leaned back in his seat with a dramatic sigh. "Everything's just… fucked right now, and I'm in a shitty mood. Adam's locked in the dorm and Kali's busy trying to talk him down after whatever the hell happened this morning, Tai's feeling sick and Summer's over there keeping him company, and I've got my own stupid shit that's not important compared to either of those things, so I'll just shut up. Let's all just shut up, eat, and move on with life."

"In case you somehow haven't noticed, nobody's eating," Qrow pointed out. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to change. So, out with it, Roman. What's going on? We can't help Adam, and we can't help Tai, so let us help you, instead."

Roman scowled and muttered something to himself, before wiping his fringe up and out of his face as he leaned forward with his elbows upon the table. "Fine. You see that dickbag over there?" he asked as he nodded his head toward the doors of the cafeteria.

Willow, Qrow, Raven, and even Bartholomew followed the gesture, only to find a man wearing a familiar uniform. The waiting figure seemed to be in his mid-thirties, and he was dressed in a uniform suggesting that he was both of the upper class, and likely not from Vale at all.

"Why is he just… staring at us?" Willow asked as she hugged her arms and looked down at the table. "It's a little… creepy."

"Because he's a good little lap dog, and doing what Dad asked him to," Roman informed as he let his spoon rest against the side of his bowl of soup. "I should just go. No sense prolonging the inevitable, especially with how today is going."

"Roman," Raven said icily as the boy made a move to stand up. He slowly lowered himself back down into the seat upon catching sight of her glare, and she shook her head. "Don't be like that. Even if today is the worst one yet, you still have some time. Make the most of it."

"Yeah, still not sure what's going on, here," Qrow pointed out as he offered a shrug.

"I've got some idea, though I don't like it," Bartholomew replied. "You're being forced to leave for the weekend, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Roman admitted with an annoyed sigh. "Every single fucking weekend. Dad's sending an escort to pick me up after lunch, because hey, who cares about the classes in the second half of the day, or the fact that we're supposed to be a team, or the farfetched idea that I might have friends here, right? Gotta go home and attend his shitty parties and meetings to make the family look good. That's what counts, when you're trying to become a huntsman."

Willow heaved a frustrated enough sigh that everyone at the table turned to look at her in surprise. Her expression was a dour one, and she narrowed her eyes at the waiting man from across the room.

"My parents insisted upon something similar. It took Professor Ozpin over an hour to get them to let go of that one point, and he only just managed it," Willow explained. "Believe me, Roman, I understand what you're feeling. There must be some way, some meeting that could be arranged to fix this."

"Even if there is, I'm screwed for this weekend, at least," Roman grumbled. "I appreciate the thought, though. Funnily enough, he's dragging me to most of these things to try to hook me up with you."

Willow blinked rapidly, and her cheeks flushed as she coughed lightly into her hand. "I… I see. Well, that's going to be rather difficult, considering I'm no longer in Atlas."

"Works out for both of us," Roman said with a shrug. "You're honestly not my type, and I'm definitely not yours. Not saying you're not cool or anything, though. And… thanks for the idea, Wil. Maybe I'll talk to Oz on Monday, see if we can get something worked out."

"And we'll catch you up on anything missed," Bartholomew offered. "Academic, and otherwise. If we really can't convince your father to let you stay with us, perhaps OKRA could go home with you, one weekend? It would alleviate some of the boredom, at least."

"No," Roman shot back immediately. "Hell no, at that. I'm not letting Kal get dragged to Atlas, let alone Adam. Being in the upper city, as a faunus? That's just asking for trouble. Not to mention, my dad's a racist douche."

"Shocking," Qrow commented as he finally took a bite of his sandwich. The other students slowly began to follow suit, and started in on their food as he continued. "I honestly can't believe that the Great War changed so little, both legally, and in peoples' minds. It's really that bad up there, huh?"

"It is," Willow confirmed. "I… honestly don't get out much, but when I do, I never see faunus walking about freely, on the upper level. Even with the obvious lack of non-workers in town, establishments still insist on putting up racist slogans and propaganda all over their property. Bringing Kali to the city would be… honestly, almost cruel."

"And bringing Adam would be like lighting a match in a fireworks factory," Raven added. "Bringing OKRA home with you is a bad idea, but maybe STRQ? Or some of us? We could try to keep you company."

"You guys would really deal with all of the boring shit up there, just to keep me entertained?" Roman asked with a sad smile. Qrow nodded, and Raven opened her mouth to speak, only for Bartholomew's scroll to light up and vibrate. The boy interrupted her thought by slamming his hand down on the table, and the circle of teens all scooted slightly closer to the device as he adjusted his glasses and began to read. Slowly, his neutral expression slipped into a frown.

"Adam is… remaining within the dorm, for the rest of the day. He doesn't want to deal with classes after this morning, and he simply wants to study, this weekend."

Roman threw his hands up incredulously, and rolled his eyes. "Well, have fun at Team Synergy and Tactics, with your team of two. That's assuming Kali even shows up, at this point. This entire day is a wash, now- we didn't even get out to the Emerald Forest during Legends on account of Adam losing his damned mind yesterday. I won't be back until this time on Monday, so I'll be missing it then, too. Fuck me, I guess."

"We're not going to Team Synergy," Bartholomew replied without hesitation. "Without Adam, there's no reason to pretend that the class will have any benefit today, and without you, the point is just reinforced even more. If we're to get in trouble for supporting one of our teammates at a low moment, then so be it. We're a team, and one of our members is down. I'll be heading back to the dorm, after you leave. As for the forest, and Legends… I'm sorry, Roman. There's little we can do."

"We'll fill you in on whatever goes on then, too" Qrow offered. "I'm… sorry that you guys are going through so much shit, so often. Maybe we'll stop by tonight and see if we can help at all?"

"We will," Raven agreed. "We're all in this together, at this point."

"We are," Willow added. Once again, everyone at the table turned to look at her with a bit of surprise, while she looked back with an expression full of determination. "Barty, if you'll allow it… I want to come with you to see Adam."

"Hey, before I go, which of the soda machines dispenses alcohol?" Roman asked. "I wanna know for Monday, because you must be fucking wasted right now. Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm very much not," Willow protested as she stood up from the table. "I have no team, so no reason to go to Team Synergy and Tactics, and this is only going to get worse as time goes on. I want to finally meet him, and offer what support I can. Even if he rejects it, I want the attempt to be made, early, and in good faith."

Bartholomew adjusted his glasses once again in a fit of nervous energy, before shaking his head softly and standing up beside Willow. "Well… there really isn't a good time, is there? I suppose it may as well be now. Kali did say that he'd calmed down, though I still don't know the details of what went on this morning."

"You two do that, and Qrow and I will go and see Tai," Raven offered as she and her brother stood up from their seats. "We'll figure out what to do this weekend after we a-"

"Your family branded him. Across the eye," Roman interrupted as he stared at Willow. "The entire area looks like a discolored ball sack pulled tight, with a snowflake burned into it. I hope you're ready to see that shit, because I doubt he'll keep it hidden when you're around."

Willow bristled at the words, and hugged her arms once again. "…it's something I need to confront, at some point. I'm as ready as I ever will be."

"You know I don't blame you, right? Even if I push back a little, you're not wrong. They're never going to understand what it's really like, Adam, no matter how hard we try to make it clear. It's just… something we have to accept."

Adam opened his eye, and watched as Kali continued typing on her scroll. Though he couldn't see the screen as she held it close to her face, he could tell from her expressions that whatever was being said wasn't good.

"No. No, I don't think we do," Adam replied, sounding defeated. "You can just sit back and accept it, but I can't. We're young, Kali. We can make a change, somehow. I don't know how to get it done just yet, but I'll think of something. It'd be easier if I had your help."

Kali shifted slightly to look sideways at Adam. Her cheek was pressed to the center of his stomach as the pair laid atop his bed together, with her legs dangling over the edge. She gently dropped her scroll down atop her cleavage, and let out a soft sigh while regarding her faunus companion with weary eyes.

"You've got it. I hope you know you've got it, even if I'll draw lines in some places. We're in this together, not just as teammates, but as faunus. If you want to make a move, then I'll have your back. Just because I'm hanging out with Willow, too, doesn't mean I'm supporting everything… or anything her family does. I did just knee a Winchester in the dick this morning, you know."

Adam allowed himself the ghost of a smile, and followed it up with a soft chuckle. "So I heard. I wish you could have seen his face when he saw mine."

Kali tilted her head once again, and stared up at the ceiling of the dorm. "So do I, but… at the same time, I kinda feel bad. He's at least trying."

"Trying isn't good enough," Adam countered. "If he actually does something, then maybe I'll lay off. Until then, he'd better watch himself. I can handle him, if I have to. His brother, too. Robin's terrified of me, now, and that's how I like it. If he tries anything, then I'll give him even more reason to be afraid. My semblance is just what I needed to get through this year."

A nervous chill tingled its way up Kali's arms, neck, and cheeks as she kept her eyes locked on the ceiling, afraid of what expression she might see on Adam's face. She inhaled through her nose before wrinkling it, and spoke softly.

"Adam… your semblance could kill someone. Threatening with it is all well and good, but don't… just don't go too far? Please?"

Adam remained silent for several minutes, and simply focused on the weight of Kali's head on the center of his stomach. He could feel the girl's body weighing down his breathing ever so slightly, though the sensation was somehow pleasant, rather than restrictive. Something about the resistance was satisfying to him, and he found himself absently trailing a hand down to stroke at one of Kali's feline ears.

"I won't. You trust me, don't you? After all, I'm trying not to get kicked out of Beacon. Whatever I end up doing for our people after school, being a certified huntsman would help the cause along. I'm going to focus on peaceful methods of protest, while I'm here," Adam stated with an uncharacteristic calm. "Starting with no longer wearing that bandanna."

The chilling feeling returned to Kali's flesh as her opposite ear flicked and spasmed. The contrast between the pleasurable rubbing and sickly sensation caused her to squirm uncomfortably. Adam pulled his hand back as Kali sat up and gave him a worried look, and her scroll slid down her chest and into the folds of her skirt with a soft thump. The sight of the disfigured, melted flesh where Adam's left eye should have been only intensified the feelings of disgust in Kali's heart, but also brought forth an odd sort of passion. The sensation was something akin to anger, with a twinge of adrenaline mixed in. She shook her head to try to clear her thoughts, and gave in to a full body shiver as she tore her eyes off the grotesque sight.

"You're… what? Adam, are you sure you want to do that? You know what people are going to say, and how they'll react, right?"

"I do," Adam offered as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and crossed his legs. "But there's nothing in the handbook against being ugly. I checked," he joked with a sly smile.

Kali giggled softly and rolled her eyes, before letting them fall back on her companion. Her ears wilted as she looked him over once again, and her mouth pulled into a slight frown.

"Just… be ready. I do trust you, and I know we'll all support you on OKRA and STRQ, but… people will say things. People are going to judge you, and avoid you, and just… be shitty," Kali warned.

"People are already shitty to us, Kali," Adam reminded as he slipped off the side of the bed and into a standing overhead stretch. "Gods forbid they have to see something uncomfortable, and start to have difficult thoughts about our people. It's high time that they start to put in work for us, after our people have put in so much work for them. Especially the Schnees."

Kali remained sitting upon the bed, and leaned forward to rest her elbows upon her knees and her chin in her hands as she pulled a face. "Again, you're not wrong, but I'm worried about Willow."

"And I don't care about Willow's sensitivity or discomfort seeing me as I am," Adam said flippantly as he began to make his way toward the kitchenette. "She can see what her family really does, too. In fact, she should see it, more than anyone else here. It's almost a shame that we don't have any normal classes together."

"It's actually not about how she feels, personally," Kali explained as she watched Adam bend over and open the fridge. "It's about the shit she's going to catch from other people who see you as you are. You have every right to let people see your face, and I'm not going to try to stop you… but just… please think about the impact it could have on her life at Beacon. She's already under a lot of stress, and having some of the student body turn against her over you might be enough to break her down. That'll also affect the rest of OKRA, and all of STRQ, you know. Fighting hate with hate, even if it's just a side effect, is going to impact everyone."

Adam paused as he remained bent low, looking into the fridge. Part of him wanted to retrieve the pitcher of water as he had planned, pour a glass, and continue his conversation with Kali. Part of him wanted to punch the jug of milk as hard as he could, rip one of the shelves out of the appliance, and hurl it at the back of Kali's head. Still another wanted to scream and cry, while a fourth wanted to simply stand, turn, and storm out of the room. He never had the chance to make a decision as a knock came at the door, and Kali got up off the bed to open it. Mere moments later, the faunus girl let out a startled scream of "Oh shit!", and Adam stood up quickly to peer over the cutout above the countertop installed into the dividing wall of the kitchenette.

There in the doorway to the OKRA dormitory stood Bartholomew Oobleck and Willow Schnee.

Author's Note:

Everything's fine, everything's great. Nothing is ever going to go wrong here. Ever.

-RD