Man, I've finished my semester exams and it was the worst. I wanted to upload a chapter before it started but I procrastinated and lost the time. Obviously, I can't write fanfic during my exams but I might as well have done just that because of all the studying I didn't fucking do. Christ, I was so determined to get a good GPA at the start of the year, what the hell happened? I gotta make an academic comeback next year or I'm fucked.
Anyway, now that my exams are over, I'll try to update weekly again and be consistent about it. But we all know how that will go…
Chapter 16: A Mighty Maiden
After the events at the docks, the police showed up and began questioning Blake and Sun along with a couple of others at the scene. Luckily, Beacon Academy got involved and
managed to get the two students out of trouble. At least with the police anyway. As they would be questioned once again by the teachers.
Miss Goodwitch especially was infuriated with the recklessness that led to their harm. She already made plans to punish them, though Headmaster Ozpin prevented it from being too severe. And since it was late, the old man allowed the two to rest and sent them to their dorms.
But before Blake could even get out of the elevator that led to the Headmaster's office, she was immediately swarmed by her teammates who fussed over her in sheer worry. Sun read the mood and excused himself to let Team Ruby have their privacy.
Even Weiss spoke with concern. Blake felt compelled to explain her past with the White Fang but Weiss shushed her.
Announcing that after many hours of contemplation, Weiss didn't care. She didn't care about Blake's past affiliation with the Fang as long as they stayed in the past, along with the demand that Blake come to them whenever something like this happens again. So, they can work and fight together like the team that they are.
Blake wiped away tears and agreed with a smile.
The morning after, when Team Ruby had gotten their rest, they began discussing the events of last night.
"So, one man overwhelmed the both of you?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah," Blake confirmed with a frown. "I can tell that Sun isn't a slouch and even I would have a hard time against him. Despite that, neither of us could lay a hand on this guy."
"Damn," Yang voiced. "He was that strong?"
"No, not really," said Blake as she got confused looks sent her way. "I can't really comment on his actual skills and that's because I never had a chance to actually see it. It was his Semblance that made him so strong."
Yang frowned.
"And I'm not even sure what his Semblance was," Blake continued. "I think it was something like teleportation. It would always activate whenever this black dome expanded out of him. I think that dome was the range of his—"
"Blackout…!" Yang interrupted with a heavy breath. A far off-look on her face as her lilac eyes flickered red for a second.
"Yang?" Ruby called out while touching her arm which got Yang out of her daze.
Then she suddenly stood up, "Blake! This guy, was he wearing a raincoat?"
Blake leaned back in surprise, "Uh no. He was wearing a coat and had a hood on."
"And you said you saw Roman Torchwick there, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Then it's gotta be him!" Yang scowled, her eyes blazing red as she growled the word, "Hood."
"... The guy from the Club?" Ruby realised with a questioning look.
"Yeah." Yang turned to her teammates, "And his Semblance is freezing minds, like time has stopped but only in people's heads or something. It's why it looks like he's teleporting and shit."
Blake pondered that. "… That would make a lot of sense actually."
"Then you know this thug, Yang?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah. We have unfinished business."
A fist collided with a palm.
"Good news Blake," Yang turned to her partner with a predatory grin. "I'm more motivated than ever to help you find the White Fang."
0-0-0
Sending the text he just finished typing, Gin lay his Scroll on the table of his bed and resumed the maintenance on Steel Seer.
A few seconds later, Rin spoke into his earphones to notify him that Jaune replied and Gin ordered Rin to turn the text into speech to his earphones.
[I'm not reading all that, you piece of shit.]
[For fuck's sakes, you've been going on and on about Velvet for days.]
[Shut the fuck up already.]
Gin snickered and decided to text him again about her after finishing his maintenance first.
Then, Russel came over and sat on Gin's bed to talk to him. "So Gin," He began with a sly smile. "How's it going?"
"Huh?" Gin turned to Russel. "How's what going?"
"You know," said Russel while wiggling his brows.
"I… don't think I do," Gin replied with a confused look.
"C'mon, you can tell what I mean from my face," Russel pointed at said face.
"Use words bitch, I don't speak facial expressions." At least, not without his Aura Realm.
"Oh right," Russel face-palmed. "My bad, mate. I forgot. I was talking about Velvet."
"Ah. It's been going well," Gin said simply before returning to his sword.
Russel looked like he was expecting some more. But nothing came.
"... Ight. Cool." Russel fell back onto the bed and rested his head on interlocked hands. "I haven't had any luck with girls meself lately," He said with a sigh.
Sky barked a laugh, "Bitchless bitch."
"Fuck you. You the one who said he's never had a girlfriend before," Russel retorted.
"Yeah, because I am a sigma male."
"… Ight, I'm just gonna stop tryin' to argue with you."
"Hahaha," Sky fake laughed. "Another day, another win for a pro Gamer."
Every single one of his teammates rolled their eyes.
"Hey, speaking of girlfriends," Cardin began, "Russel, Gin, how many have you two have had?"
"Uh, five or six I think," said Russel.
"One," said Gin.
"Eh? For real?" said Russel. Their other teammates turn to look at Gin with some surprise too.
"Yeah." Gin smirked at them, "I mean, I AM short and blind you know."
"Well yeah, but you're a huntsman-in-training," said Cardin. "Our kind is popular everywhere."
"Aye. I can get why Sky isn't–" Russel ignored the cuss from Sky. "But you're not bad-looking. I would totally fuck you." He paused and grabbed his chin in contemplation. "Or let you fuck me."
"Much obliged, dude," Gin snickered. "Anyway, I suppose a lot of it had to do with my ex," continued while returning to his sword. "Our relationship was terrible and it made me lose interest in dating for a while. Plus, there was the fact that my ex and her friend spread stories about how I broke up with her after having sex, which obviously led to a lot of girls disliking me."
"Ugh," Cardin sneered. "I fucking hate girls like that,"
"Most reasonable female after a breakup," said Sky with a shake of his head.
"Why the fuck did she do that?" Russel asked incredulously.
"Well, mostly because that's exactly what I did."
. . .
Russel snorted, "Fuckin' hell mate."
Cardin burst out laughing. "Damn, I did NOT expect that from you," He said before he resumed laughing.
"… Maybe you're a Sigma Male too, Gin," said Sky with a look of awe.
Gin turned to stare at Sky. "I would actually rather castrate myself."
Both Cardin and Russel voiced their agreement.
"Cope and seethe, soyjacks."
0-0-0
Inside the manager's room from before, Roman sat behind the table reading a newspaper and smoking a cigar. New furniture was present in the room in the form of two dark green couches facing each other with a glass table between them.
While the table and chairs were meant for a manager to talk to their employees, these couches were for talks with people that the manager didn't have power over.
It could even be the exact opposite instead.
Blackout
Roman's eyes drew up above the newspaper to look at the latest arrival. "Here I thought no one could match me in the flair for dramatics," He said with a smirk while putting out his cigar in an ashtray. "But lately, it seems like I'm losing compared to you."
"And here I thought only the elderly read newspapers. Seems I was right," Gin retorted.
Roman's smirk dropped. "Brat."
"So, what're we doing for tonight?" Gin asked.
Roman folded the newspaper and dropped it on the table. "No robbery tonight."
"Then what?"
"Take a seat first."
Gin took a second or two before he decided to comply and sat on the chair in front of the table.
"Tell me, kid," Roman leaned forward and gazed at the boy with scrutinising eyes, "Why do you hold yourself back?"
"Huh?"
"With your Semblance, you could easily disarm your opponents but you never do. Hell, you don't even attack them from the back. Like that time in the club or at the docks."
"Because I don't need to do dirty shit like that," Gin said with a little heat in his tone.
Roman laughed. "That's pretty ironic considering what your Semblance is. Obviously, Semblances are unfair in general, but some just lean a little too hard into that," He said while putting a high-pitched emphasis on 'a little too hard'.
Gin scoffed, "If my Semblance is that powerful, then that's just a testament to the strength of my soul. There's nothing dirty about it."
"Sure. Why not?" Roman said dismissively. He leaned back into the chair and rested his elbows on the arm supports so he could interlock his fingers. "But then why half-ass it? Your Semblance could be so much more terrifying and deadly. Don't tell me it's because of honour or something. Those don't actually belong in the real world, kiddo."
"I get it already, you're a criminal. No need to use that spiel on me," Gin replied with an unimpressed look.
"… Or more likely, it's arrogance," Roman continued.
Gin closed his eyes to control himself without making it look too obvious. "Do you mind telling me why it even matters?"
Roman gave a resigned breath that essentially said 'Oh well'. Then he placed a forearm on the table and green eyes gazed into red. "You ever thought about becoming an assassin?"
. . .
"No," Both his voice and expression were cold. "I'm a Swordsman, not some killer for money," Gin put a special emphasis on the profession.
"Oooh," Roman raised his hands in a placating gesture, yet the smile didn't leave his face. "I take it you don't think too highly of assassins?"
"No. No, I don't." He said. "And I already told you that I won't murder for you."
"True," Roman shrugged. "Then let's leave it at that for now and move on to the main course."
Gin merely hummed.
"A special someone wants to meet you," Roman revealed. "Let's call her my employer."
His employer? Gin questioned in his mind. Then he has a damn boss. So there's even more I need to find and target?!
The Swordsman clenched his hands.
"… I'm listening," He spoke calmly.
"Good. Because we have ten minutes or less before she gets here so I'll try to keep it brief," said Roman. "Let me start off by saying that this woman is fucking dangerous."
Gin raised a brow hearing Roman swear like that for the first time.
"So, try not to get on her bad side," Roman continued. "There's only so much I can do to cover for you, kid. The second most important thing is, don't let her know about your Semblance."
"… Alright," Gin nodded. "Though… how much does this woman know about me?"
"She knows about the blackmail and your stay at Beacon."
Gin's eye twitched.
"And she knows about our nightly escapades. She assumes that you're a decent or more Huntsmen-in-training because she obviously doesn't know about your Semblance so let's keep it that way."
A memory of Roman holding a card flashed in Gin's mind.
"I tried making sure that the White Fang were too busy to focus on your fight at the docks so even though they saw it, they won't exactly know about your Semblance. Still, I'm worried about her finding out from the Fang."
"This woman isn't exactly your ally, is she?" Gin asked.
Roman chuckled, "A dangerous question that has no business wandering outside of this room."
"… Understood," said Gin. His curiosity peaked as Roman prattled on about her. Who was this woman that had Roman so cautious—
Gin went rigid.
His Aura Sense picked up on an… unnatural Aura
Aura commonly resembled fire when it wasn't active, yet this one somehow felt like more than just an echo.
It belonged to a woman so Gin wondered if this was Roman's boss. She seemed to be inside a vehicle while someone drove and would reach this warehouse in minutes.
… Maybe I should listen to Roman a bit more carefully.
0-0-0
The door opened to allow in a young woman with fair skin. Her hair was an ashen black that partly covered one of her amber eyes which only used some violet eyeshadow, but it was more than enough to accentuate her beauty even further. She wore a dark red, off-the-shoulders mini-dress with yellow patterns. Her outfit was accompanied by a blue feather-like accessory, gold hoop earrings, a black choker and a jewel anklet above one of her glass high-heels that made her around 5"11'.
As soon as she entered the room, she felt a small shudder and her eyes honed in on a hooded boy.
"Cinder," Roman rose from his seat to greet her. "A pleasure to see you."
Ignoring him, amber eyes stayed on the boy who stood near the couches. He was facing her with his back against the wall and his hands at his sides, one holding a weapon and the other hand near it.
Cinder smiled.
"Roman," She gifted the thief a nod. Then her attention returned to the boy, "And you must be Gin Suzume."
"… Hello," Gin nodded.
Heels clicked against the floor as Cinder made her way towards the couch and two teens walked in through the door after her. Emerald Sustrai, a brown-skinned girl with short green hair and Mercury Black, a white-skinned boy with silver unkempt hair that was a darker shade than Gin's.
They took their place standing behind the couch where Cinder sat with her legs crossed.
"Come, sit with me," She ordered with a sensuous tone.
Gin moved towards the opposite couch to—
"No. I meant it more literally," Cinder patted the cushion to her left.
. . .
No, don't show weakness, Gin told himself in his head.
Complying, he sat next to Cinder but he kept some space between them without making it too wide.
"Show me your face."
The hood helped hide his annoyed expression. And now, Gin had to deprive himself of that extra cover and turn towards the woman who was a head taller than him. Fortunately, he was already well-versed in keeping a calm face.
But he couldn't quite suppress his surprise when Cinder gently grasped his chin and pulled it towards her to get a better look.
So close to her, there was no mistaking the sheer heat he felt from this woman. Though Gin prayed that this wasn't his male body doing what it does best, especially at a time like this.
"You have a beautiful pair of eyes," Her thumb stroked his chin. "And a face to match it. They make me wonder if you really are blind."
An insulting insinuation that made it sound like blind people couldn't have such attractive features.
Gin merely hummed in response and moved her hand off him to show some mettle. "I was told that you wanted to speak to me."
Cinder allowed his action and brought her hand back to her lap, "Yes, I did. Roman has told me of your situation. Although I believe there were two of you,"
"I'm the only one who can do what Roman wants. That lousy guy can't."
"Why is that?"
"Because he's dumber than a dog."
That got a chuckle out of Cinder. "I was under the assumption that you two were friends."
"Ass out of you and me, as the saying goes."
"Hmm, quite," Cinder said with amusement. "Now, Roman has told me some other things about you," She started. "Such as your ability to sense Aura better than most, along with your Aura technique."
Gin nodded.
"So, I'll ask you this question. You've noticed how my Aura is different from most, correct?"
"... Yeah."
Cinder smiled with a gleam in her eye, "Then have you noticed a similar Aura to mine in Beacon?"
"Similar to yours? No," He said. "Although… Headmaster Ozpin's Aura had a strange quality to it as well."
"I don't doubt that," Cinder muttered. "And how far is the range of your Aura Sense?"
"Technically, I can sense Aura from around one kilometre if I concentrate. More if I'm searching for a specific Aura. Needless to say, I need to be familiar with that Aura in the first place."
"Do the Aura of other people hamper your ability?" Cinder asked.
"Well, yeah," Gin shrugged. "More so with Aura users but I could still manage to do it with some time."
"Very well," She decided. "I want you to familiarise yourself with my Aura. And when you return to Beacon, you will search for an Aura similar to mine."
"… Alright."
Cinder sent the boy a studying gaze. "Are you not going to ask any questions?"
"No. Not unless it's necessary to the task you gave me," said Gin. "Otherwise, it's not my place to know more than I need to."
Cinder gave an amused soothing laugh.
"My oh my, what a splendid attitude," She commented. "I certainly appreciate such professionalism."
Unseen by anyone in the room thanks to the newspaper he was reading, Roman let out a silent laugh.
0-0-0
Inside a book store called 'Tukson's Book Trade', the owner was busying himself by filling the books in the storage room which was just behind the counter.
He was a muscular man with white skin and cleanly cut black hair and sideburns. His clothes were similarly clean yet fairly ordinary.
He was also a member of the White Fang.
Though, that was soon going to change.
Tukson was a useful member of the Fang as he didn't have noticeable Faunus traits which made him good for infiltration and undercover missions. It allowed him to serve the Fang well and faithfully for more than a decade. But in recent years, that faith wavered and waned until he could serve no longer.
It wasn't that the White Fang lost their goal but that they had changed the path they took to it. Tukson himself wasn't innocent. Hell, he walked that path of blood with excitement and pleasure until quite recently.
He had been considering leaving for some time now, but the White Fang branch he was in now only took resignation letters written in blood. The only exception might have been Blake Belladonna. Ironically, she was the one who gave him the balls to finally make the choice of leaving.
When she arrived in Vale, Blake came to Tukson to ask for refuge to which he easily granted. After all, when he heard her story he was entirely sympathetic as he felt much the same.
And now, he prepared to leave Vale tomorrow. But none could know or his head would roll so he went about his day like normal, maintaining his facade of being a store owner.
Tukson turned his head around when he heard the sound of his door opening. He moved to finish his filling and stacked books on top of each other.
"Be right there!" He called out politely when he heard the bell on his counter ringing. Picking up the stacks of books, he moved towards the door and opened it with his back.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun," He repeated his store's motto as he moved to place the books on the counter so he could arrange them for later.
Smiling and slightly spreading his arms, he took a good at the two people.
"How may I—" A small gasp escaped his lips. Tukson recognised these two as the humans who were working with the White Fang like Roman Torchwick.
The girl who was right in front of the counter was Emerald. Her slightly risqué attire consisted of an intricate white crop top that showed her cleavage and belly. On the back, it contained her emblem which were black separate stripes that formed the shape of a gem. Her pants were also similarly intricate with brown and white as they reached only her shins. Sandals adorned her feet while armbands and beads decked her left arm.
The boy behind her who was examining the books on the small shelves was Mercury. He was a head taller than Emerald at 6'2". His outfit was easily identifiable as one meant for combat. A grey and black zipped jacket and black pants that had a bandanna on the hip, with his symbol of a black shoe with a wing spread behind it. A set of rerebraces and vambraces protected his arms while steel-tipped boots contained metal shin guards.
Emerald's red eyes glinted as she smiled innocently.
0-0-0
Tukson laid against the counter with a pained expression as he gripped his chest. After a few minutes of doublespeak where they verbally toyed with him, violence finally erupted and Tukson chose to press the attack with his extendable claws.
But his pounce was effortlessly countered by Mercury who kicked him in the chest with a dust bullet that shot from the bottom of the boot.
Tukson looked up to see the muzzle of a gun pointed at his face.
"Fighting back is pretty pointless," said Emerald as she held the gun. "But I do respect the courage. Still, I recommend that you deactivate your Aura so that this can be quick and painless."
Tukson growled in defiance.
Emerald sighed. They needed to make him deactivate his Aura by knocking him out. Otherwise, the two of them will be forced to whittle it down which would cause even more noise and take more time. The dark tint feature of the store's wide windows was used so no one outside could see what they were doing, but if they made too much noise then people would get too suspicious. So, Emerald positioned the barrel of her gun at Tukson's chin to knock him out via concussion–
The bell rang as violently as the door was opened.
"Pardon the intrusionnn!"
All of their heads sharply turned towards the entrance and the source of that loud yet sluggish voice.
A collection of eyes feast upon the sight of a tall kimono-clad woman who had to duck under the door frame to enter the store.
"Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with the culture of this kingdom," Kyouka Sasaki smiled as she closed the door behind her. "But I am confident that this situation can be universally understood."
As if they've witnessed the sight of a titan and were struck silent by awe, none of the occupants of the store spoke a word and a tense silence began filling the room.
Mercury and Emerald stood at the ready for combat, a stark contrast to the woman's casual posture where she even had her right arm hanging off the opening of her kimono.
"Well, seeing as neither of you is making a move," Kyouka began, "might I suggest surrender—"
Her left forearm shot up and intercepted the kick that could've decapitated her.
The arm quickly yet smoothly transitioned to a gentle push at her assailant's stomach.
Aura Ripple
Mercury had leapt to attack so he had no proper footing to stop himself as he flew across the room, knocking some of the short bookshelves over.
"Ah," Kyouka's fingers touched her lips in a somewhat bashful expression. She turned to make eye contact with Tukson. "Friend, if you're the owner of this establishment then a thousand apologies. I shall reimburse you shortly."
Tukson coughed twice, "I-It's fine. Just get rid of these psychos and you don't have to pay for anything."
"Hey," Emerald hadn't relented her gun's aim at Tukson and now her attention returned to him. "Keep your mouth—"
She immediately leapt away just in time to avoid the slash of a long blade.
"How kind of you, my friend," said Kyouka as she now stood in front of Tukson with her odachi drawn and her right sleeve falling off to reveal her muscles. "In return, you have my word that no harm shall befall you any further."
Emerald aimed both of her pistols at Kyouka's back. The Swordswoman not even deigning to keep her eyes on Emerald as she spoke to Tukson.
"Stay out of this!" Mercury barked as he emerged out of the pile of books.
"Don't be stupid!" Emerald barked back. "We can't afford to waste time."
"Then just give me one minute," Mercury began walking towards Kyouka who turned around to face them. "That's all the time I need to down this titless bitch," He claimed as he got into stance.
"Ohohoho," Kyouka dropped the other sleeve and bared both of her ripped arms. "That reminds me of how my nephew has me saved in his Scroll as 'Titless Titan'. A pity that you don't even have a fraction of his wit," She said, moving into a sideways stance where she held her odachi perpendicular to her body near the face. The sword's spine lay flat on her left palm with the tip aimed at her opponent.
Mercury smirked. The cocky bitch should have stuck to hand-to-hand. He obviously had the advantage in this terrain since that long-ass sword would be limited in a tight space like this. Even if she could cut through the bookshelves, her blade would still get slowed for a moment at least.
In a duel like this, the victor was decided in the domain of seconds.
Mercury knew that the women knew this as well, which is why she took this stance where she would attack with a stab or defend by half-swording her weapon. The better option was to get her to attack and get in close but time was not on Mercury's side so he was left with no choice but to engage.
To Mercury's surprise, Kyouka did not defend but countered. And not with a stab but a diagonally upward slash.
Stupid bitch, Mercury grinned savagely as he evaded the blade. Then he quickly dashed in thinking that the blade's own inertia would prevent it from returning to defend in time—
Tsubame Gaeshi
Aura cackled from a slash across Mercury's chest, halting him in his tracks.
Tsubame Gaeshi
Mercury avoided the returning diagonal slash this time by flipping sideways.
And despite his attitude, Mercury was no small fry. So even though he was upside down in the air, a dust bullet shot off from his heel and he used the recoil to throw a kick down at Kyouka's head.
Mercury clicked his tongue and glared at the smiling Kyouka who blocked his attack again with her left forearm. Then the odachi commenced its third returning side slash which was much slower than the first two, but Mercury's precarious position meant that it would strike true regardless.
At least, that's what common sense would dictate.
However, through an extraordinary display of upper body strength, Mercury used the leg caught against Kyouka's forearm as a lever to pull his torso up and away from the slash.
It even managed to surprise Kyouka, though it didn't keep her from focusing Aura to her forehead and headbutting the stomp that came from Mercury's free leg. The teen used that stomp to jump off Kyouka and land on his feet away from her.
"Ohoho! An excellent move, boy!" Kyouka praised honestly with a grin.
What the fuck was that?! Mercury thought. Did she change her attack mid-swing? And in the opposite direction?!
Kyouka cracked her neck before assuming a similar stance from before.
Even though that unusual move was concerning, time was running out so Mercury had no choice but to charge in again. And Kyouka prepared to answer his challenge similarly by countering a second–
Something is wrong, Kyouka thought in a split second. It was an assumption born from all of Kyouka's senses, including her Aura Sense, and her warrior's intuition. So, instead of countering, she focused on defence by twisting her sword in a diagonal guard and focusing Aura on her vulnerable body parts.
And just as she expected, despite blocking Mercury's kick, she grunted as she felt something like a bullet hit her left ribcage.
It was a target that made sense because her diagonal guard left her left body open in favour of guarding her liver and neck. But what didn't make sense was that the only ones who could have capitalised on that opening had his kick blocked and the other one merely stood at the side doing nothing. So, what the hell hit her?
Three seconds earlier,
Mercury was left confused as the metal tip of his boot struck true. It didn't feel right because the woman didn't even react to his crescent kick until it landed. Mercury knew that a woman of her calibre could've defended against it unless it was a part of some plan or…
Instead of continuing his assault, Mercury leapt back away from the woman.
Yet the Swordswoman moved her guard like she was blocking another hit.
Mercury glared at Emerald. "Hey! It hasn't even been thirty seconds yet!"
"Shut up!" Emerald yelled back. "I told you we don't have time for your shit." She aimed her guns at Kyouka who was still guarding against attacks that only she could see. But then Emerald reconsidered as the rapid-fire would create even more noise. So she extended the sickles on the barrels of her guns and charged.
Scowling, Mercury did nothing and just watched Emerald's assault on the woman. But he eventually relented with great displeasure and charged for Kyouka too, his low kick ready to ruin her balance and–
Aura Realm
Both Emerald and Mercury shuddered, though it didn't stop Mercury's kick. Instead, it was a hilt that did that with a parry.
Emerald's own sickles were deflected by the blade which was being half-sworded like Mercury predicted. Allowing Kyouka to make tight and quick manoeuvres with the blade and hilt.
The Thief and Assassin rained their slashes and kicks from opposite sides in a pincer attack, but the Swordswoman battled the storm with closed eyes and an ecstatic smile.
Utter confusion assailed Emerald. This woman should have been under her hallucinatory Semblance, yet she knew exactly where Mercury and her were coming from. How? Was it a Semblance too?
Emerald grunted. She was stabbed in the chest and shoved away. She managed to note that the same happened to Mercury with the pommel less than a second later.
Unbelievable, She thought with awe and worry. Counter-attacking in the middle of all that…
"Stop!" She barked upon noticing Mercury about to rush back in. "Enough. Let's get out of here."
"Are you insane?! Cind—" Mercury stopped himself. "She's going to be pissed if we fail like this."
Emerald grimaced with fear. "… She'll be even more pissed if the police get here and see us."
"This bitch will tell them what we look like anyway!"
"I know. But it'll still be worse if we get seen or caught. We can't beat this woman fast enough."
Mercury clicked his tongue, but he didn't deny that statement. He really wanted to but it would sound like bullshit even to him.
"Now, what is this?" asked Kyouka. She taunted them by letting her odachi rest on her shoulders. "Discussing your strategies out in the open is a bold, if not stupid move."
Emerald studied the woman for a second or two.
Then she pointed one blade at her and asked, "My favourite colour is red. What's yours?"
Mercury looked at her like she had suddenly grown a second head.
With her eyes still closed, Kyouka chuckled. "It seems your words are even bolder. But are you certain that you can back them up?"
That confirmed Emerald's suspicions. The tall woman was still under her Semblance. She was just pretending to be unaffected. But she could still somehow detect them with precision and Emerald didn't know how. Well, it didn't matter at the moment.
Emerald sheathed her guns and walked towards the front door, uncaring that she left her back open. Mercury was even more baffled than before, though he didn't let Kyouka out of his sights.
"Oh my. Now I can't decide what's bolder between your words and actions anymore," said Kyouka. "But you two can leave if you wish. It would be a hassle to chase you so I won't."
"Are you coming or not?" Emerald asked, having already opened the door.
His brows furrowed for two more seconds before Mercury walked backwards to the door, not as crazy as Emerald to leave his back open.
When the two intruders finally left the store, Kyouka opened her eyes. "What an awful Semblance. Somehow even worse than my nephew," She said with a wry grin.
Sheathing her odachi, she kneeled before Tukson. "I hope you don't mind that I let them go. I didn't want to risk keeping you in harm's way more than necessary."
"No, it's fine," Tukson replied with a relieved sigh. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. How are your injuries?"
"I'll live. Aura is a blessing as always."
"Quite," She smiled. "By the way, I originally came here in search of books. And this store claims to have every book under the sun, correct?"
Tukson cringed before muttering, "It's just a phrase…"
"Hmm. Then I don't suppose you sell audiobooks, do you?"
End of Chapter
I wanted Kyouka's arrival in the city to be in the same episode as Qrow and Winter did and title that chapter "An uncle, aunt and sister walk into a bar…" or something like that. But I needed Kyouka here before the end of this volume for something important and I didn't want to change the timeline.
I hope I didn't use too many em dashes in the fight scene. I know they should be used sparingly or they would lose their kick but I just couldn't resist xD