A/N:
I've finally returned to this! And LORD-EE-LORD has it been a long time.
Fun fact.
When you write a character that would sooner rather joke about sexual abuse than ask for medical attention due to the knife in their body, predictably, going back to writing a character as kind, polite, and SANE as Rio is a bit of a challenge.
Who knew?
That being said, it definitely took me a while to get into the swing of the things Rio says and the way he says them. But of course, just because it was difficult, doesn't mean I should have given up. So no more excuses! Let's dive straight in!
Ah, but first, everyone put your hands in.
Respecting women on three, respecting women on me!
GO!
...
...
...
In the Amity stands, the excitement radiating from the spectators had reached feverish levels. Outside the arena, and even farther still, their cheers would likely still be able to be heard. It got to the point where many faunus amongst the crowd, ones with sharpened hearing especially, began to twitch uncomfortably.
Thus, where RWBY and JNPR were in the stands, Blake began to do exactly that, squirming in her seat. But even that was just instinctual actions her body took. Because in reality, all of her focus was down on the arena. And that had been the case for the entirety of the fifteen minutes she had just witnessed.
With the way Rio always carried himself, Blake never really had the impression he was weak. There was when she spotted him practicing, and then even the brief spar with Yang to consider. But those didn't even come close to hinting at what he was really capable of.
Quite simply, she had underestimated him. Not by intention, but by practicality.
She had doubted he would exceed a certain skill-threshold in her head. As good or better than actual Huntsmen? Such a thought didn't even cross her mind. Then he had fought three—technically four—of them at once, practically forcing her to switch gears.
Anyway, the fight had concluded not even a few minutes ago.
Currently, the white-haired boy was talking animatedly with his competitors. Well, that's how the Huntsmen appeared. Rio was, as usual, a bit more measured, but still amicable. Although that changed when the boy blinked, taking a look around him. He was looking at the crowd. It was as if he was just now noticing the streams upon streams of spectators.
And in that moment, he looked confused, dazed even.
Then his lips curved upwards.
Blake's heart momentarily stopped beating.
It was an attractive expression. As a girl, she could freely admit that. But her reaction didn't stem from that. And it certainly wasn't because Rio never smiled, because he did, and often. So the problem wasn't a matter of quantity either. No. Rather, it was—
"Rio's never smiled with us like that..."
Ruby took the words right out of Blake's mouth. And aptly, their leader had a sad little frown on her face.
Rio wore an expression they hadn't seen yet.
While it was true the boy had been slightly more assertive in treating them as friends, there was still a wall not one of them had managed to break down. Rio was kind to them, yes. But that was it.
Rio was only kind.
Asking for anything more than that was selfish—they knew that. But still, if Rio was capable of smiling like that, but didn't, did that mean they were the ones doing something wrong? Didn't that mean that none of them were able to make him feel that way? Or that he didn't feel comfortable enough in their presence to feel that way?
Or...
An uncomfortable feeling kneaded Blake's stomach.
—"My goal... is to kill someone."
Was it that Rio wasn't giving himself the right to feel that way?
Then perhaps it was wrong of Blake to want to see that smile regardless, or even be amongst those who cause it, even as friends. And perhaps, it was hypocritical for her to think, with how many unresolved issues she still had, that she had any right to try to help another person.
But against all odds, little by little, her time in Beacon had helped her. It shouldn't have happened, not to someone like her, yet it had. Ruby and the others had seen to that. They had been patient with her, even as often as she caused problems for them.
She wanted to extend that same courtesy to Rio. It was unlike her in every way, but she still wanted to.
After all, Rio was—
"Ah, she tackled him."
Blake's mind went blank.
No, really.
Jaune's sudden comment caused her brain to well and truly short-circuit.
And it was only after un-short-circuiting, and several seconds of refocusing did Blake find that—yes—a 'she' had indeed just tackled a 'him', with both the owners of those subjects being in ample view of not only herself, but also the several hundred thousand other people surely watching right alongside her.
And they definitely all saw it.
It would have been stranger if they didn't, not the impeccably strange sight of an all too startled white-haired boy falling backwards, on account of the blue haired woman that had suddenly lunged at him. Or as a certain someone would have worded it...
"Holy shit—she 'jumped' him..." Yang breathed out, with near perfect timing.
Unfortunately, the blonde was right.
Though, it wasn't some kind of post-battle malicious attack. Was it strange that Blake would have preferred that? The person doing the 'attacking' wouldn't have agreed with her, certainly not with the look of pure joy on her face—Aqua, she believed her name was.
And it was most definitely a sharp contrast to the one right beside it, the troubled smile of the teenager suddenly getting quite affectionately hugged by a woman older than him.
"She looks really happy, don't you think?"
Nora asked that with a sideways bob of her head.
Blake didn't say anything. Weiss hummed vaguely, ice-blue eyes watching the scene like a hawk. Yang snickered. Ruby stared, if only because she was too surprised to do anything else.
Nora then stretched her arms for emphasis. "Like reaaaaaaally happ—"
"I think they get it, Nora," Ren quickly cut her off.
Jaune coughed.
"Well, that fight was amazing, wasn't it? People stopped cheering so many times because of how shocked they were. Reminds me of when I used to watch the Vytal tournament as a kid. I mean, really, from start to finish, it was like..." The blond didn't even have the words to describe it.
"Even while on the defensive, he was the one leading them around?" Ren offered, staring forward with little to no change in expression.
"Yeah..." Jaune nodded.
But the white-haired boy hadn't only focused on defense. A fact that Ruby was all too quick to remind them of.
"But Rio charging at them was so hecking cool too...! And when he cut those bullets with his knives, I thought my heart stopped then and there! He was all like, swing, swing, flash, flash! And the bullets were all like, um, dying in the throes of agony or something! Gahh! Gweehhh! Like that! And Speardude looked at him like, whoa, how did he do that?"
Pantomiming every which way, the silver eyed girl looked no different than a small child gushing about their favorite comic book superhero. At least, that's what a majority of them thought as they stared at her. Except the small child in this case was also a fifteen-year-old Huntress who used a scythe larger than her to fight monsters.
"Well, that was pretty badass," Yang acknowledged. "But come on little sis? Surely him folding that red-haired dude at the start of the match was the coolest. Rio sent his ass flying! Or when he forced that big dude to his knees with that axe kick? As I thought, that lithe body of his sure has some power—heehee. Mama likes~"
"Yang. Ew."
"You don't like Rio's body, Rubes?"
"T-That's not true! Wait, I mean—! Ugh, s-stop putting words in my mouth!"
Meanwhile, opposite them, Nora had a dead serious expression on her face.
"Renny."
"Yes, Nora?"
"If I asked, do you think Rio would punt me across Beacon?"
"I think asking is probably the only thing you'll succeed in," Ren replied, not even fazed.
Pyrrha laughed quietly into one hand at the byplay. "Nora, even if given permission, I don't think Rio would feel comfortable doing that." He was a gentleman, so he won't—was what Pyrrha seemed to be saying.
A normal girl would have been satisfied with such an answer, pleased even.
Nora was not a normal girl.
The hammer-wielder looked scandalized. "B-But dropkicking things into the distance is the best part of being a Huntress...!"
"You're talking about the Grimm, right?" Jaune asked.
Nora blinked.
"Sure."
Below them, the Aqua woman had finally been convinced of—and/or acknowledged herself—the need in getting off the boy she had all but trapped underneath her, a fact that was readily apparent by the crisp blush encompassing her face. And if it wasn't obvious now, it certainly was when a familiar voice filled the stadium, from up in the announcer's booth.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our opening ceremony! Rio has just earned his spot in the singles bracket; with a display of skill no one can doubt! To Beacon Academy Student Rio Amakawa and Vale's very own Team ARGT, for giving it their all today, everyone please give them a round of applause... just as soon as two of them stop getting frisky...! Haha!"
They almost felt bad for the woman.
Almost.
Weiss hadn't once teared her gaze away from Aqua, for all intents and purposes glaring, but she did finally add in her own two lien to the conversation that had been unfolding. "I too found his skill in unarmed combat something to praise. Personally though, Rio's strategic cunning in exploiting his opponents' weaknesses was the far more impressive aspect of that fight."
"Feeling up a girl's sides is strategically cunning?"
Blake's dry question had the Schnee sputtering.
"N-Not just that! ...Although admittedly, I can't claim to know the purpose of that particular tactic," Weiss acknowledged during her attempt to school her features. "B-But whatever it was, it seemed to work out for him, so I believe he had a plan... I think."
She didn't sound very convincing.
Jaune laughed somewhat awkwardly, turning to the person beside him. "What about you Pyr? What did you think of the fight?"
"I'm a bit envious, actually."
"Eh?"
The clipped statement had everyone freezing.
Just who or what was Pyrrha looking at with such an expression on her face, a smile that could barely be called a smile? One that wasn't dissatisfaction, but not quite contentment either. Perhaps it was a feeling that was perfectly placed in between the two.
"U-Um?" Ruby's face was a mix between confusion and surprise. "P... Pyrrha? You, uh, you alright?"
The red head didn't hear her.
Pyrrha was envious.
It was an ugly feeling, but she couldn't very well pretend it wasn't there, not with the sparks it kept leaving behind during the fight. It was why she could safely say that this was indeed something like jealousy. She was jealous of the woman, Aqua. She was jealous of her, the man named Teale, and the one called Grey as well.
They had been forced on the backfoot by an opponent they had thought weaker than them, had to throw all the cards on the table when they realized they could no longer hold back, and what was more, they all had the most exhilarating of expressions on their face as they did so.
They were fighting with every ounce of sanctioned and real-world training they had.
But they were enjoying it.
They didn't look bothered about having lost in the slightest. It had been a humiliating defeat, yet absolutely none of that was present. They had been overjoyed by the battle itself. The crowd didn't matter. The consequences attached to winning and losing didn't matter. Not when they had been able to clash both their swords and minds with such a strong opponent.
So Pyrrha was envious—of course she was.
She was envious of the kind of fight where even after going all out against one another, bright unparalleled expressions could be exchanged immediately after. Where, in a fit of excitement, a rush of affection and comradery could be given to your opponent, much like what that blue haired woman had done.
Pyrrha wouldn't be intimately hugging her opponents any time soon, but it was the sentiment she couldn't help but long for. And the white-haired boy, too, near the end there, looked like he realized the same...
I think... I'll ask Rio to spar with me.
Nora's voice suddenly flittered into her ears.
"Soooooooo, Pyrrha wants a piece of Rio too?"
"I do, but the problem is whether he can make time for me," Pyrrha responded with a light laugh.
It had been a fairly innocuous worry.
It was why she was rather confused when all she got was silence.
Silence and flabbergasted expressions.
"Wait, what's wrong?"
Even ignoring her own team's startlingly colorful visages, she found the sight of their sister team far more distracting. Ruby was twiddling her thumbs without looking at her, Weiss was looking at nothing in particular in an especially dazed manner, which then contrasted with Yang and Blake, the first looking impressed, and the second looking uncharacteristically taken aback.
"Was..."
Pyrrha adopted a nervous sweat.
"Was it something I said?"
It took thirty minutes for her to clear up the misunderstanding.
...
...
...
The airstrip in front of Amity was considerably busy, even more so now that the opening ceremony had reached its end. Everyone would be flying back to Vale, at least until the next day, when the actual competition would start in earnest. Nonetheless, because the surrounding area was so packed, that made it so there was no shortage of eyes on a certain quintet of people. But among them...
Aqua's face was surely glowing red like a beacon.
She had thought she had grown up to be a rather sensible woman. Ha. That was a funny joke. Because really, she was just an idiot.
A one-of-a-kind idiot.
Only an idiot treated someone ten years younger as if they were the same age, got easily flustered over their actions, and all consequences be damned, intimately embraced that someone, not only in front of all his peers, but the entirety of Remnant too, her parents included: parents she hadn't wanted to give the wrong idea to, but as of right now, most assuredly did.
It's official, Aqua thought soundly.
Her life was over.
Okay, admittedly, that might be an exaggeration.
This wouldn't affect her career as a Huntress. She also hadn't done anything overly serious. She just... affectionately embraced someone in a fit of excitement, which she could now say was likely due to the copious amount of adrenaline that had been surging through her body at the time.
The media wouldn't be as understanding.
They likely wouldn't let this go. There might even be tabloids written about a thought-to-be-well-adjusted Huntress snapping, giving into her baser urges, and going after the virile young males of Beacon.
Oh god.
That could actually happen, couldn't it?
Aqua could go down in history as an unhinged predator. Her name would be floated around with warnings. She could be put on watchlists. At that point, it actually would affect her career prospects.
Was it okay to show her face in public after this?
Would she be jeered?
Thrown rocks at?
Or, would she be subjected to the overtly heart-crushing experience of having mothers shuffle their children away from her as she passed by...?
She was catastrophizing.
Aqua knew that, but didn't stop.
At the ripe age of twenty-five, she was going to become what she feared, and what she even frequently had nightmares about. Her life as an unattractive cat-lady began now. I'm going to be a spinster until I'm no longer marriable, she thought with finality. She felt like crying, even more so since she had actually given thought to the cats she wanted.
"Thanks, kid."
"I'm sorry?"
Aqua was taken from her musings right as she was deciding which animal shelters she would need to visit. Adopting all the cats in Vale would need strategic planning after all. But it was sudden voices that had done so, Teale's, and he was talking to the white-haired boy who she, even now, couldn't meet the eyes of.
"For bothering to see us off, I mean. You could be enjoying the festivities with your friends. Or, heh, someone in particular? I imagine someone like you is popular, right?" Teale probed with a good-natured grin, bordering teasing.
"I wouldn't really know about that, sir." But Rio just deflected it with a small smile, as if he was used to it. "More importantly though, you're all such close friends. A stranger like me, seeing you all off, is perhaps more of an oddity, no? I wonder if I'm intruding."
Listening, Aqua frowned, about to say something—
A scoff.
"Least you can read the room."
Unfortunately, someone beat her to it—their red-haired teammate, who they had joined after the match had concluded. But rather than focusing on building up a rapport, Rouge seemed near determined to state his dislike for the white-haired teen at every opportunity.
Inwardly, Rio was taking it rather well. Besides, it wasn't like the man's ire didn't make sense. But... he's still pretty vexed at me, huh?
'Hm. You kicked him into a wall, Haruto,' a calm voice kindly reminded him.
Rio's already struggling smile took even more of a beating.
Grey eventually broke the silence. "Hey, ignore this fool. He's just pissy because he let his guard down."
"You say that like I was the only one," Rouge sniped back. "From what it looked like, you all did the same and lost, didn't you?"
"That's right. And it was embarrassing as all hell," Teale admitted, roughly running a hand through his hair. "But I'd rather get my ass beat by someone a decade younger than have him hold back just so I can hold onto some measly pride."
"...Tch."
The serious response had Rouge clicking his tongue and looking away.
"And besides, it's obvious."
Teale looked at Rio, a tired smirk appearing on the man's face.
"If he's this much a monster now, he's only going to get stronger. My own training has been way too light. Kid, no, Rio, you'll fight me again when I'm stronger, yeah?"
Personally, Rio felt the monster comment was a bit much.
But as Teale offered a hand in his direction, with a wish for a future fight down the line—it was so earnest that Rio couldn't exactly keep hesitating. With a slight smile of his own, he grasped the man's hand and shook it. "I'll... look forward to that time, then, Mr. Teale."
The man grinned back.
Grey looked on with a sigh.
"Well, if Teale's being so proactive... I'll cast my lot in too. Of course, I was trying to be respectful of our ages—... though that probably already went up in flames a bit ago..."
The words were incredibly vague.
Still...
"...W-Wait?! Why are you all looking at me...!? It was Rouge you were talking about! Right...?! Right...?"
Aqua, voice shrill, almost matching the intensity of the blush set upon her cheeks, looked to the red-haired man.
But.
Rouge backed away, as if disgusted. "Don't drag me into your illicit love affair, woman."
Aqua choked.
And he wasn't done either. He only continued to throw her under the proverbial bullhead. "What? Did you think we would all conveniently forget the hip-to-hip sandwiching you were doing with Whitey right here? Speaking of, don't tell me you really got let off the hook for that. No suspension? No revoked license? Sheesh. A sexual predator, right back on the streets. Vale, I swear."
Aqua looked like she had been slapped in the face, repeatedly.
Meanwhile, with a tight smile, Rio's eyes found the sky.
He wondered how Ruri and Granny Yuba were doing in Yagumo right about now, Sayo and Shin too. This year's harvest shouldn't be too far off, right? He hoped it was plentiful enough for them to eat comfortably...
Back with Aqua, through coincidence or hope, her eyes tried to pin Teale and then Grey for backup. They were pointedly looking away. Those were not the faces of people who were on her side. Summarily abandoned by her teammates, Aqua had no choice.
She looked to Rio.
Eventually noticing, he scratched his cheek with a bashful smile.
"Um, the conversation was a bit hard to follow, but Miss Aqua's behavior didn't really bother me. No, seeing you so happy and unreserved prevented me from being bothered. If anything, it reminded me of my little sister."
"Y-Your little—...?!"
Aqua promptly fell to her knees, stricken.
Just like that, Rio unknowingly dealt the final blow.
Rouge's incessant chuckling certainly didn't help things.
...
...
...
Team ARGT eventually boarded a bullhead and flew off.
Rio watched as it disappeared.
The goodbye was hardly so serious, since it would only be temporary. Grey had told him that they would be here to watch the rest of the festival, but their free time just wasn't so generous. Rio guessed that was just the life of an active Huntsman.
Of course, it went without saying that their lodgings for the night most likely resided in Vale. Rio imagined himself and the others would be doing the same come nighttime, flying back to Beacon. At the very least, he didn't think he heard anything about this super arena containing room and board.
He pulled out his scroll to check the time, something he was trying to get more in the habit of doing. He didn't use the device for much else. But now that he thought of it... I suppose we should have exchanged information...
There was still the separate promise he had made to Aqua, after all.
Although, Rio wasn't entirely sure what his responsibilities were supposed to look like regarding that. He was correct in thinking it would be a simple phone call apologizing to the woman's parents, right? That shouldn't be too hard. Of course, that was assuming she was still expecting that at all...
Aqua didn't look to be all there when she left. Teale and Grey had to practically drag her to the Bullhead. It was quite worrying, but the two men had waved at him with cheer as they left. Strangely, Rouge even gave what might have been a smirk.
As if letting out the exhaustion, Rio sighed.
Perhaps they would run into each other again soon.
"It looks like you made a good impression," a voice said, followed by the sound of heels clicking in his direction.
Rio found himself smiling.
"I honestly wonder about that."
Glynda regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't seem very surprised to see me."
"I just happened to catch your figure from afar at one point. I am sorry for making you wait."
"It wasn't an inconvenience, so please don't worry about it. I came to get you at my own leisure after all. But... I was hardly within eyesight, Mr. Rio, I can't imagine you would have... well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point. Your match definitely put a lot of things in perspective..."
Glynda was regarding him with something akin to exasperation.
"Frankly, I was in awe the entire time. My estimation of you keeps getting higher and higher."
Rio blinked, before looking a bit embarrassed.
"...Surely I don't deserve that much praise. Miss Glynda is a combat instructor. I'm certain there were aspects of that fight in need of correction."
"Correct. If this were class, and you fell into your opponent's traps, I would have brought to your attention the ways you could have escaped them, or better yet, avoided them entirely. You, Mr. Rio, don't need to be told something like that."
She looked at him seriously, or with contemplation that approached it.
"Any mistake you happened to fall into, you made obsolete by finding a way to adapt. And by counterattacking ruthlessly immediately afterwards."
"No, calling it ruthless is a bit..."
Glynda ignored him with the slightest hint of a smile.
"Being cornered on all sides yet still managing to find a way to win. Or better yet, survive. That is what we're trying to teach our students, Mr. Rio. If you are already so proficient at that, can you understand why I feel I have little to offer in terms of critique? Anything I say would just be subjective nitpicking, after all."
Rio could only fall silent.
"...As I thought, winning an argument in the presence of Miss Glynda is difficult."
The woman didn't hide her satisfaction this time.
Though, the silence that stretched on afterwards made Rio realize he still didn't know why the professor was here. "I seemed to have derailed the conversation a bit. Do you require me for something, Professor?"
Glynda blinked in surprise.
Because contrary to Rio's words, it was her who had done the derailing. Which meant either the boy was too kind to say it, or genuinely seemed to think it was him who had done so. Now slightly flustered, but no less taciturn, she turned around briskly and walked off.
"T... That's right. Please come with me, Mr. Rio."
Rio was more than a little perplexed. Still, he followed after her.
...
...
...
Glynda... had abandoned him partway through.
That was the thought Rio amused himself with anyway.
The truth turned out to be a bit different. She had been needed elsewhere. That was what he could gather from the short scroll call she took right in front of him—and then the annoyed expression on her face thereafter.
Given the content of the conversation, however...
—"The press wants what?! An interview?! Unbelievable—! Hold on, I'm on my way. ...I apologize, Mr. Rio. I have to deal with this. Keep going straight. The door you want is at the end of the hall. Tsune will take a look at you. She's a bit... well, it should be fine. Oh, and afterwards, make sure you enjoy the festivities. Ah, and if you're with Team RWBY, please make sure they beha—yes, yes, I'm still here. I hear you, and I'm coming. Mr. Rio, again, I'm terribly sorry, I really must be going."
And then Glynda summarily stormed off in a different direction, leaving Rio by himself.
The press, huh?
There seemed to be something of a ruckus being caused by reporters or the like. That's what his memories from Japan told him, anyway. Still, for them to be causing a problem... he could only imagine the fight that had just been seen by the entire world was likely to blame. It seemed the people of Vale were very excitable.
It's a good thing Aqua and the others left when they did.
Huntsmen must practically be celebrities to them, after all. Oh, but he supposed a few of them might want to talk to him, too. That was the silly thought Rio entertained himself with as he reached the door Glynda had pointed out.
It was pretty nondescript. There was only a plate on the adjacent wall reading: MEDICAL.
Truthfully, Rio didn't think this was necessary, but he promised his blonde teacher that he would at least get a rudimentary checkup. After all, he exerted himself quite a bit. Not to mention, his aura had almost been completely drained.
That's the sight everyone saw, anyway.
There was just one thing he was worried about.
Having a professional looking at my body is...
All it would take was one medical device to determine he was without aura. Then again... since arriving in this world, he had, miraculously, been able to fool everyone, even their machines, a fact Rio didn't understand at all.
This was a risk, but one he might have to take.
Besides, Rio had the feeling that if he was caught not having gone to the infirmary by Glynda, that would be an entirely different bad ending. Moreover, by not going, others might think he had something to hide.
Which he definitely did.
Quite a lot of things in fact.
"Hah..."
Suddenly feeling a lot more tired, Rio knocked on the door. He took a few polite steps back and waited for a response. And waited. And waited a bit more. Cocking his head a bit, he knocked again.
This person's name, it was...
"Um, Miss Tsune?" he called out tentatively.
No one answered back.
He could sense a presence, but... something was different.
A voice responded to him after that, but it wasn't Tsune's. 'Haruto. I sense them too. But... their presence is faint. Barely perceivable.'
That confirmed it.
It was rude of him to enter without permission, but he did so anyway, faced with the thought that something might actually be wrong. Aisha's observations were something to be trusted, after all. More importantly, he had already been given the go ahead by Glynda, so not entering after all of this... he would have later regretted it if it turned out there was actually an issue that he could have offered some modicum of assistance with.
He opened the door, body tense and ready.
And was thusly met with a sight that contradicted all expectations.
Aisha...
'Yes, Haruto?'
...You made it sound like she was in critical condition.
'Oh.'
A pause.
'Haruto. She's only sleeping. Don't worry,' the spirit girl informed him way too late.
The sole person inside the white medical room did indeed have a faint presence, but that was only because they were not fully conscious. That of course referred to the older woman with pointy animal ears attached to her bright pink hair, eyes closed, cheek pressed against her forearm.
The woman, who Rio was forced to conclude was Tsune given the white-clad coat, had fallen asleep against her desk.
Everything left Rio at once.
First his worry, then his tension.
And after that his professionalism.
Aisha... people normally don't like to be intruded on while sleeping, he brought up as gently as he could.
A hum reverberated throughout his head. His faithful companion seemed to be thinking.
'...Is that true?'
Yes, Aisha.
'But... waking up to Haruto is the highlight of my day.'
"..."
Rio didn't know how to respond to that.
No, it actually left him incredibly embarrassed, to the point where he did not know what to do or say. Therefore, he coughed, directing his attention to something else, like the fact that he had just invaded the space of a sleeping woman for nothing... well actually, this turned out to be for the best.
He now had the perfect excuse to leave.
He would just tell Glynda that the Tsune in question was sleeping. On second thought, maybe he shouldn't tell her that. It was true he didn't know the woman slumbering away next to him, but he would feel bad throwing her under the bus like that. He'd just have to think of a proper excuse.
Pondering just that, Rio went to leave.
A remarkably cute sounding sneeze stopped him.
It wasn't the white-haired boy who had done so, nor was it Aisha in her spirit form. Thus, Rio's eyes found the sleeping woman. Ripples of slight discomfort flashed over her face, right before she tried to snuggle further into her arms. That seemed to be made difficult by the way her body was shivering, the cute animal appendages atop her head doing the same—that of a dog's, or maybe that of a wolf's?
It is rather cool in here...
Rio noted the air conditioning flowing into the room rather strongly. There was a little hesitation, but it was gone after a sigh escaped his lips, and he already started moving.
He knew full well that what he was about to do was just for his own self-satisfaction.
They didn't even look alike. They couldn't even be said to be in the same age group. Not his sister, Latifa, the young fox-beast-folk, or even who she had been before, Suzune Endo, a human Elementary school girl, who all that time ago would stare at college student Haruto on the bus. Any comparison he was seeing was purely his own delusion.
Still...
"Forgive me if this is a little selfish..." With a comforter that had been neatly folded on a nearby bed, he took it and draped it around the woman's shoulders.
Then Rio left without another word, closing the door behind him.
He didn't seem to pick up on the security camera in the far corner of the room.
...
...
...
Now, Rio, or Haruto as some knew him, was a very dependable person. Of course, the boy probably would have something entirely different to say to that, but if left to others, such a statement would likely be unanimously agreed with. That would remain the case even if one put aside his physical capabilities, which gave him the ability to repel disaster time and time again.
Rio was also wiser than his years, rarely acted on emotion, and never once made an important decision before consulting the people involved. Of course, once again, if the white-haired boy heard any of this, he would most likely do his best to deny it with a troubled smile.
That all being said...
I... really, really, don't know how to use this thing...
He may or may not be having trouble.
The scroll he was holding didn't seem to care.
It continued to offer no help whatsoever.
In this situation, he was completely out of his element. Don't get him wrong, though. After living as Haruto in modern day Japan for twenty years, there was no way he could be considered technologically illiterate. Still. This and that were two very different things.
Not only did this world have a completely new substandard of electronics, the names of the applications and settings used therein were also just as different. It was like suddenly having his textbooks switched on him at the last moment, yet still expected to follow along.
So, Rio could only continue to stare at his chipperly chiming scroll like an idiot.
This means I'm getting messages of some kind, right?
He understood that.
But how was he supposed to open them?
Unlike Earth's devices, Remnant didn't seem to share in the concept of instantly visible notifications. Was it because opening and turning on the scroll instantly brought everything up with no need for a lock screen or the like? And concerning that, did everyone feel no need for security, or was everything biometric? Or even based on Aura?
None of that mattered, as he was still very much at a loss.
Aisha, do you happen to... he started to say.
'Yesh, Haruto?' A clear yawn reverberated through his mind. 'Oh, you're using your cellular device thingy? Something wrong?'
...N-Never mind.
While it was true Aisha was hardly ignorant in 'cellular device thingies', since she held all of his memories, including his Japan ones—having access to them AND being able to offer help with them, were too very different things.
The spirit once mentioned before that she could speak any language he could speak, but he wondered how much of that was her own talent, or how much of it was just her link to his memories.
Either way, it looked like he was on his own.
Rio squinted back at the screen.
I just need to find the messaging software, right?
Remnant might use the word call, like his old, OLD world did, but that did not hold true for the word phone. Thus, any images or icons associated with such a word would likely not be appearing at all. He couldn't even be sure an image of an envelope had notoriety either. He certainly didn't see anything like that on the blueish panel before him.
He looked around for a few more moments, and then kept coming back to a small little icon, a nondescript squiggly line going horizontally. Was that supposed to symbolize a line of text? He clicked on it. He instantly regretted it, despite it being exactly what he was looking for.
[ You have (200) unread messages ]
Rio stared at it blankly.
Impossibly, they all seemed to be coming from one conversation. The only other thread was below, with just a very pleasing (1) unread message. It was from Glynda actually, from a day or so ago. From what he could see, it was a cursory message, informing him she would be stopping by his room, specifically RWBY's room, to drop off his essentials.
Ever the professional, that blonde teacher hadn't just showed up unannounced.
Rio finally allowed himself to look at the only other thread.
It was clearly labeled 'Team RWBY & JNPR', but with the words: 'and Rio!' sequestered in parentheses. He felt a slight quirk to his lips. Out of the girls, he could well imagine who had been the one to change it. Ruby's awkward yet at the same time contagious enthusiasm knew no bounds.
He read the most recent message.
RosePetals: Rioooooo, where'd u go?
He felt like chuckling.
Then he read the message next to it.
ExtraBombastic: Don't make us track u down.
"..."
He... actually couldn't tell if that was from Yang or Nora.
Both options were extremely concerning.
He scrolled down a bit more and saw many messages asking the same question. He was about to reply, but the scroll's interface changed completely. Rio was initially confused, but that lasted only until he processed what he was seeing. Luckily, this was something his memories as Haruto did prepare him for.
The 'ACCEPT' or 'DECLINE' buttons made that rather obvious. He pressed accept, and the call connected.
"Miss Glynda?"
"Mr. Rio, thank you for picking up so fast. I wanted to—wait, where are you right now, why is it completely dark?"
Rio pulled the phone away from his ear, which he had done instinctively upon accepting the call. When he looked at the screen, he saw Glynda's confused face looking back at him.
"Oh, that's..." He really didn't have the heart to tell her he had not realized calling someone instantly turned on the camera. "That was a slight mistake on my part. Haha. Anyway, what is the matter? Do you need assistance?"
Something like a smile appeared on her face before it turned sterner. "That's very kind, and more than a little tempting, but I'm fine. Besides, I called to help you. Before that, may I ask where you are? Did your checkup go alright?"
Rio's mind briefly blanked. "Oh, well I just left, right outside the door even, in a hallway... why, did something go wrong? Those press you mentioned?" Rio avoided the first question altogether, hoping she wouldn't call him out on it.
She didn't.
"Yes, those vult—... those reporters contacted their bosses and were allowed entry into Amity's school-personnel-only zones. They were very adamant about speaking with the competitors of the match."
"I see. In that case, I don't think there should be a problem. Miss Aqua and the others already left. They will likely not run into them," he said after pondering a bit, thinking the good news would put the matter to rest.
But his statement was met with silence.
Glynda was giving him a funny look.
"Rio..." She forewent any honorifics. "They aren't going through all this trouble to speak to the losers of the fight. They want to speak with the winner."
Now it was Rio's turn to pause.
"Even though the others were famous Huntsmen?"
Glynda sighed. "An eye-catching student just beat said famous Huntsmen. If it were you, who would you be more interested in?"
Well, when she put it like that, Rio supposed he should have guessed this outcome. Still, he asked what he thought was a natural question. "Will there be any consequences if I avoid them entirely?"
"That's..."
Glynda looked briefly taken aback. Not at the words themselves, but the impassiveness the boy's face adopted to match them.
"...It is your right as a student to speak freely in events such as these, so long as it is your choice. Of course, that includes not doing so as well."
"I see."
"...Mr. Rio, trust me when I say I also have my own thoughts on the demerits of fame in a Huntsmen's life, but I can acknowledge good publicity has its merits too. If it's not too rude of me to ask, is there a reason that doesn't appeal to you?"
"It's nothing like that."
Rio shook his head, a small smile on his face.
"Rather, it's just my own indecisiveness. Saying the wrong thing just because I was a little hasty... if my actions ended up reflecting badly on the school, well, it would be a poor way to pay back the kindness I've been given in being allowed to stay here." His smile suddenly turned a tad bit cynical. "Although, when it comes right down to it, I guess I just still don't want to stand out unnecessarily. As much as I try not to be, I'm still plenty immature."
There was no response from Glynda.
In fact, she seemed frozen.
Rio paused in confusion.
Did the call crash?
"Miss Glynda? Can you hear me?"
"...Yes, I'm here."
His smile waned even further. "That probably didn't make any sense, huh? I apologize for rambling."
"No, not at all, just..."
The woman trailed off.
The look on her face was hard to grasp, and Rio had no idea what she was thinking of as she gave him such a look.
"Yes...?"
But just like that the woman snapped out of it. "N-Nothing. I'll end the call, so you can avoid the reporters at your leisure. And remember, no running in the halls. ...At least not too much," came out the taciturn reply, same as usual.
Rio nodded. "Of course, and thank you for checking in."
He was about to close the device entirely and pocket it, but Glynda spoke up one last time.
"Actually, there is one more thing."
"Hm? Ye—" When he found Glynda's eyes again, he was a little taken aback.
The look she gave him wasn't like her stoic attitude at all. In fact, he would even go as far as to say she looked several times younger. There was no other way to appropriate the pleasant little smile on her face, or the ways her already distracting olive-green eyes softened.
"It's just, you might see yourself as immature and the like, but I don't think that way at all. Because I know you place a lot of thought and consideration to others. I've seen it, so I wanted you to know that I respect you. Allow me to give you that compliment, one I hope you know I mean."
She might have said something else before the call ended, but Rio didn't hear it.
He just stood there, effectively rooted in place.
'Does that surprise you, Haruto?'
There was silence for a time.
Minutes might have even gone by.
But.
...Of course it does.
'But does it make you happy?'
He sighed before smiling a small, difficult little smile.
Of course it does.
'Then...'
It felt like Aisha was smiling as well.
'Just focus on that feeling.'
Focus on it?
The words were incredibly vague and unsatisfying. They meant nothing. So why did Rio, in some small part of him, feel like they made the most sense? Why did he feel like they spoke to him so much?
He was... respected.
In a world not his own.
He didn't think he was worthy of such a thing. He really didn't. But Glynda seemed to think he was. Aisha seemed to think he was allowed to be. He guessed... that meant he had no choice. Even if it was like his usual, being the most ungodly of hypocrites, wanting to commit evil but unable to fully reject the good, he would need to...
"I definitely heard something over here...!"
A shout followed by footsteps tore him from his thoughts.
The sound appeared to still be aways off, but it was enough for Rio to shake away his mental cobwebs. He would make an educated guess and say those were the reporters. He could trouble himself with his current line of thinking later. For now, he needed to think about relocating. Everything would be kind of pointless if he was spotted and they came up with their own narrative as to why he was openly fleeing from them.
It would be easy to cloak himself with invisibility.
But he wasn't sure he wanted to reveal such an ability.
Not yet anyway, especially when he was fairly certain Ozpin didn't know about it. The man wouldn't have been so blasé about his flying otherwise. Between levitating and becoming completely unseen to the naked eye... the headmaster would have made a greater deal out of the latter.
Back to the point, invisibility was out due to how sure Rio was about Amity Coliseum having a plethora of camera's surveying the facility's... entirety...
Wait.
Cam... eras?
A prick of sweat appeared on the boy's neck.
He had the strangest feeling he had already made a mistake. No matter. For now, he chose the simpler approach. As the footsteps beyond were getting closer, he deftly kicked off the wall, and then jumped upwards.
And stayed there.
Not five seconds later—
"T-This is ridiculous! What, did he take a swan dive off of Amity...?! Where the hell is he?!"
A displeased young woman came to a halt, panting. Two others—men—who had been running behind her performed the same action, looking just as disgruntled. The heavy-duty camera and other equipment that they were carrying jostled unevenly with their harsh breaths.
"I mean, seriously, how hard is it to find a boy with white hair?! As far as I'm concerned, he should be the only male with a look like that for miles, no, probably even the entirety of Vale! Ugh, and if another agency asks the golden question before we do...!"
The woman seemed genuinely distressed.
But as if it wasn't anything at all, her fighting spirit only grew brighter, proven by the order she tossed behind her. "Double time, you lot! We need to keep looking!"
"Yes..."
"Whatever you say ma'am. ...But please don't tell me we're going to straight up ask him if he's an illegitimate ch—"
"Onward!"
"Why do I even bother, Frank?"
"I stopped asking that question a while ago, Jeff."
Two tired replies followed after her.
Meanwhile, up in the darkness, standing atop a line of rafters, Rio had a strange smile on his face.
Illegitimate, huh?
Even though he couldn't have known, it seemed he really had made a mistake by arriving in this world with this hair color.
Weiss might have said certain things about it the last time, very kind things that he did not deserve, but he wondered if that still held true, even now. Talk of illegitimacy was quite serious, and Rio would never forgive himself if he caused strife amongst Weiss' family just to maintain an identity here.
Rio hopped down.
Nevertheless, I should move to a place easier to move around in. I highly doubt one reporter and her associates were big enough of a splash to cause Miss Glynda's speedy exit. There's sure to be more of them.
He was about to take off down the opposite hallway.
A door suddenly opening stopped him.
Rio was surprised.
Not nearly as surprised as the pink haired woman, however. "M-Mr. Amakawa... wait, you were really waiting this whole time?" A nervous tick enveloped her smile, and certain appendages atop her head went ramrod straight. "H... How shameful of me. Quick, come inside."
Rio couldn't even formulate a response.
The doctor named Tsune was already ushering him into her office.
...
...
...
"...I feel I should apologize for bothering you like this, Miss."
"No, no. Absolutely not. Being polite is fine at all, but it is most definitely not warranted in this case. There is no excuse for a staff member like me to be caught sleeping on the job of all things."
Yes, there was that.
When Tsune had dragged him in here, she had immediately started profusely apologizing to him, which had been quite embarrassing for the both of them... since the faunus woman had revealed how exactly she realized Rio walked in.
"..."
Rio couldn't stop eyeing the camera with a shaky smile.
It was one thing to walk in on the vulnerable sleeping form of the opposite sex. It was another to put a blanket over said person and be caught doing so.
The atmosphere was most assuredly strange.
Still, Rio tried not to let it get to him.
"There's nothing shameful about enjoying a break when you can. You certainly won't find me holding it against you. Besides..." The boy looked away; a bit embarrassed. "What I did was even more inappropriate. Intruding while you were sleeping, and even doing something like that without permission. I was completely at fault and have no excuse."
The nervous tapping away of a tablet ceased, and those eyes regarded him for a moment, longer than Rio was perhaps comfortable with.
But then the woman smiled.
"It seems you're just as she describes you... even if she doesn't seem to realize when she's doing it."
"Huh?"
"Don't mind me. And again, you don't need to apologize for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I think it's very sweet what you did for a stranger. Or did you think women don't like to be swept off their feet every now and then? You're a bit on the young side, but it was still enough to get my heart racing, so thank you."
Rio blinked.
He nodded, unsure what else to say.
"And by the way, calling me Tsune is fine. Everyone else does."
Tsune was a rather buxom woman, Glynda's age or possibly younger. She wore a white uniform that hugged her body, and quite honestly, the less said about that the better. The situation was already awkward enough. She wore white gloves, and those slender fingers reached out, rearranging the few electrodes on his chest.
"Understood. Miss Tsune then."
"Can I convince you to drop the Miss?"
"...There's no way I could do that."
"Fufufu—you're a serious one for your age, aren't you? Though, I already saw a fair bit of that even before you arrived."
Rio wasn't quite sure what that meant.
"Anyway, you're almost done, Mr. Amakawa. Oh, would you prefer Amakawa or Rio?"
"...Rio's fine. It's the name my mother gave me after all."
"How sweet. I'm sure she's very proud of the boy she raised."
"If that is indeed the case, I'd be very happy." There was a smile on his face, and the boy hid the fleetingness of it well. Rio suddenly shifted on the bed. "But, Miss Tsune, I did have a question."
"Hm?"
"My injuries were nonexistent. Why, um, was it needed for my shirt to come off...?"
Tsune twitched a bit, but otherwise didn't react.
"...Oh, that? It's fairly standard procedure. I simply wanted to make sure your aura was in well and working order. Besides, we do this for all the students who sustain as much aura loss as you had." Looking down, she smiled. "Although, the students I typically get in here have so much aura gone because they—lost—their match."
Rio tried to remain as still as possible as Tsune was currently feeling for his pulse.
"You, on the other hand, are a different story. I have to say, I initially wasn't very interested in what they chose for the opening ceremony this year, but you made it quite entertaining. I didn't expect you to be able to fight so well. Why, you're already above the strength of a student."
Rio shook his head with a small smile. "I'm flattered. But I tried my best, as did they."
The woman hummed, and silence overtook the non-descript white room, the only noise being the ticking of the clock on the wall.
After a lull of hesitation, Rio spoke up.
"By the way, is my aura healthy? Are there any abnormalities that you can see?" Upon seeing a confused look from the woman, Rio remained calm and elaborated a bit more. "My place of birth, it didn't really have a doctor readily available to check my aura when I unlocked it, so I never really had a very good grasp on how it was in comparison to other children my age."
Saying it that way should be fine, right?
And it wasn't like he had just spun some lofty tale. It was true that his 'aura' hadn't awakened, nor had it been recognized during the time he lived with his mother as a child. That being said, it was definitely a surprise when the power resting within him did reveal itself.
Even more so, shocking even, when he found out his abilities had such direct ties to his ancestry: spirit arts, an ancient type of magic that differed greatly from the much-acclaimed formula-based sorcery prominent in the Strahl, Galarc, Rubia, and Proxia Kingdoms.
Mom had to be aware I might show proficiency with it...
Rio let that idle thought whisk him away before he could stop himself, wondering what it would have been like, being taught to tame his power by his mother and father. But the fleetingness of such a musing was cruel. Because it would have never happened. Such a future was snuffed out long before Rio was born.
From the moment his father befriended a certain mercenary who had just been run out of his old Kingdom, things had already been set into motion.
Lucius...
Rio had to push the white-hot feeling down before it exploded.
In the moment he was subtly regaining his composure, Tsune had stopped prodding him, eyes busy roaming over the tablet held in front of her. He could only assume it was medical diagnostics.
She hummed before answering his question.
"Your body is in great shape, and that in turn increases the vitality of your aura. Believe it or not, aura and blood flow do mesh together, and being deficient in one can lead to be lacking in the other. Anyway, you have an aura pool that is unusually high for your age. But again, pretty sure that's due to these."
Tsune cupped a hand around an exposed bicep, squeezing it. Rio tensed up at the cool touch before anything else, and Tsune flashed him a small smile. Rio just smiled back awkwardly. Perhaps he would have felt embarrassed, had his mind not instantly delved into what she had said.
He apparently had a cap of aura flow in this world.
She had told him it was unusually high for his age, but she sounded like it was still within the realm of possibility, mainly due to his physique. Things were failing to add up. Just what was aura? How could machines generate a theoretical number to it, but fail to expose how clearly different it was from what he actually had in his body?
Regardless, he was just glad that nothing had been revealed that he wasn't able to explain away, or at least, nothing that hadn't been able to neatly coincide with the ineffable concept of 'aura'.
Things were suspiciously convenient in that way.
Now, Rio didn't necessarily believe that some higher being had whisked him away from his world, but if that somehow was the case, he supposed he should be grateful the application of his spirit arts meshed together so well.
Tsune suddenly clapped her hands in front of her.
"Alright~! All done! You're free to go. Ah, but feel free to come back whenever you need medical assistance. Or if you just want to talk. Either's fine. My door is always open for you, Rio."
Rio could only smile hesitantly at her. Really, the woman didn't seem to have any reticence in closing the distance. "Then... I will be relying on you whenever I am in need of assistance."
With that, Rio left.
Tsune was alone in the room, with only her thoughts.
What an interesting boy. But...
A frown crinkled an otherwise beautiful face.
What could have possibly happened to give him so many scars?
...
...
...
This is okay, right?
Emerald, who was still on Amity despite the opening ceremony having long ended, wondered that.
She had needed to use the bathroom, which is why she very deferentially asked Cinder to go back to Beacon ahead of her. So, when the woman nodded uncaringly, Emerald very calmly went past several bathrooms, and started perusing the halls to find a certain white-haired boy instead.
She had told Cinder a fib.
But it was simple reconnaissance, and with little to show for it, there was no need to bring it up to the woman yet. She could do so after she found something worthwhile. Then she could just bring up what she learned very matter-of-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing to have done all this without being asked.
That's what kept Emerald's feet moving.
Her loyalty to the cause, and more importantly, to Cinder. To be as pleasing as possible. To be of help. To gain whatever her lady wanted, and then receive favor upon giving it to her. Yes. That wouldn't ever change. Just like it wouldn't change that Cinder had been the one to save her back then, in that gray-scale world.
On that day, a hand had reached out to her, pulling her out, giving her surroundings an impossible splash of color. To that dirty orphan in that alley, it was Cinder who had done so, no one else. Taking Emerald's hand in hers, smiling beautifully, and saying the words—
—"If I asked you to ... Do you think you would be able to kill that person in front of all these people?"
Emerald's breathing stilled.
No. That was wrong. That wasn't what Cinder had said.
But, then.
What had she said that day?
A clamor of voices snapped Emerald to attention.
Her feet had taken her outside of Amity.
The area was packed. At least, the fraction she was looking at was—the flat surface area of concrete where civilians and students alike were lining up in droves, either to catch a bullhead back to Vale or Beacon. Although, even more curious were the dozens of suited men and women idling around with cameras and the like.
They waiting for something?
Well, it had nothing to do with Emerald, so she turned around.
She didn't head back into the stadium, however.
My feet hurt.
Instead, she glided to the arena's outskirts, not the bullhead airstrips, but the plethora of park-like hedges and benches that lay opposite it. It was a part of Amity that was just as well furnished and architectural sound, but significantly less popular due to how far out of the way it was from the air-docks.
Not to mention, unsafe. Really, who designed a floating landmass, where a toddler, unsupervised, could walk off the edge if they wanted to? Then again, that was probably Atlas in a nutshell. For all she knew, toddlers had mandatory jetpacks installed in their snack baggies, which would match nicely with the tracking chips parents had installed in their children.
Emerald was exaggerating.
But her childhood was spent in the slums of another kingdom. Sue her.
Basically, putting one foot in front of the other, she retreated further behind the building, like some schoolgirl going to meet a boy she liked, or to go cry after being dumped by the same. She amused herself with that far-off, barely believable thought, anyway.
Only.
"Oh, I didn't expect to be found here." a soft, unassuming voice spoke.
For a moment, she didn't know what she was looking at.
That didn't hold true for the person seated on one of the benches, who after recognizing her, adopted a more welcoming expression. Or maybe the polite little smile he had on always seemed to look that way. But still, out of everyone she could have run into, it was the white-haired boy who had just danced around trained Huntsmen with frightening ease.
The one who she, ironically or not, had been looking for.
For Cinder...
—"If I asked you to—"
Emerald bit down on her teeth hard, her stomach beginning to slosh around unhappily.
My feet hurt, she decided on again.
Trying to think of just that, she habitually looked around to make sure they were the only ones there, before shuffling forward. Then, completely ignoring the way his eyes widened, she strode over and plopped herself down right beside him. And given the dozens of empty benches around them, any confusion on his part was entirely justified.
He didn't say a thing, though.
Right.
This guy is weird like that.
Rio Amakawa wasn't a pushy person.
Their two interactions, as meager as they were, had expressed that. And as proof of this, out of the corner of her eye, the boy shifted away in his seat a little. If she was some normal girl, a boy like him doing that to her would spark the end of her world.
But, because she wasn't anything close to a normal girl, and because she had some semblance of Rio's personality, it was him just showing consideration and nothing more. Of course, the strange part, and not for the first time either, was that it was being afforded to her of all people, someone who didn't smile when she didn't need to, was snappy with people when she wanted to, and admittedly, was a class-A bitch.
And that was a honest reflection, not just listening to Mercury.
That being said, because she hadn't quite reached Cinder's level of treating everyone and anyone with practiced courtesy, Emerald knew she didn't have anything like an inviting aura about her as she stared at the expanse of sky and forest before her, knees brought close to her chest.
A fact she hadn't even realized she had done.
She had done it unconsciously. She had certainly repeated it enough times. In the past, and in alleys stained with piss and blood, she had hugged her knees just like this, as hard as she could. It wasn't to look smaller, nor was it to hide away from her reality. Or... maybe not.
Because it was so she could pretend she didn't feel it.
It was to, if even for a moment, ignore the way her stomach relentlessly folded in on itself, the rampant hunger driving her mad. I'm hungry. Those thoughts, whose were they? Was it the 'her' in the present? Or was it that past self who had chanted those words, endlessly, like a gods-forsaken mantra?
"—olvo."
A voice drew Emerald back to the present.
No, to the carefully wrapped sandwich now being held in front of her.
With one just like it in his other hand, Rio continued to hold the other one towards her. Except, she was almost certain he hadn't been holding anything before she got here. Nor had there been a nearby bag or container.
Rio smiled. "I don't think I'll be able to eat all of what I made. Would you please help me finish these?"
She just stared at him.
What... What kind of lie is that...
Surprisingly, that was the first thing she thought of.
His tone of voice didn't even try to make it sound like the truth. He had obviously planned to eat what he had.
Even so... the sudden sight of meat, vegetables, and melted cheese... it was tugging at her stomach in a far more distracting way, causing it to growl. Or maybe it had already been growling, leading to the boy's offer in the first place. That probably should have caused her to feel something like embarrassment, but she found herself not caring.
Because... even though Emerald had never once allowed herself to be as hungry as she was during those days, she still could not forgive that it had been close to five hours since Breakfast. So she was already accepting the sandwich with two hands before she could stop herself.
"Ah, um, thanks," she quickly remembered to say.
Rio nodded.
"You're welcome. Just don't be afraid to tell me if you don't like it. I'm still experimenting with the ingredients here."
"Does, does that mean you cook?"
She hadn't meant to say that out loud, and cringed a bit when she realized that would probably spark a long-winded conversation. But contrary to her expectations—
"Something like that." He smiled briefly before taking a bite of his half.
He wouldn't find her complaining.
She eagerly took a bite of her own, albeit a more massive one.
Okay.
It was actually really good.
She didn't do anything so weird as moan in delight, but she did take another bite. Then another and another. "Ah..." And before she knew it, it was all gone. Still, her stomach was hardly displeased, nor was her tongue.
A chuckle came from beside her.
"Can I take that to mean you liked it?"
The boy's words accompanied a certain amount of merry, and it made Emerald properly realize she had just scarfed it all down in front of him. Rio being of the opposite sex... either made that much worse, or just as unbearable.
She stammered out a reply. "Y-Yeah. It was good."
"I'm happy you think so. But?"
"What?"
Emerald got a little wary at the still highly amused smile the boy was giving her. At least, that was until he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out something; something that took her brain a few minutes to latch onto.
His smile waned as he held out the napkin to her, and her brows furrowed in confusion.
Then she turned scarlet.
A flash had her snatching the napkin, and frantically turning away from him with a start. Sure enough, there had been a slight amount of sauce on her chin. Mortified, Emerald found she didn't want to look back into those amber eyes. "Ass," she muttered before she could stop herself.
Surprisingly, the boy laughed. "I suppose that's fair. Sorry, there might have been a more polite way of letting you know. Or, maybe I should have let some get on me instead?"
"No, no one was expecting you to be that considerate, weirdo..." Once again, the words came out brisk and instinctually, the same as when she habitually fell into pace with Mercury, a fact she realized with a frown.
Well... not quite the same.
Rio didn't have even half the infuriating face or personality of her colleague. And that was saying something since Mercury was perhaps the only one in Beacon to be able to pass as Rio's long-lost brother, especially since there were no male Schnees around. Still, there was no antagonistic flame imploring her to keep up with the scathing retorts...
"Hey..."
Her voice came out after a while.
"Why haven't you asked me yet?"
"And what would that be?"
The way he parroted that back was so adult-like Emerald didn't know whether to feel amused or annoyed. She ended up deciding on bluntness. "...People usually have questions when some weird and moody girl sits down next to them."
"Weird and moody, huh?"
The way he smiled was distracting.
"For some reason, that doesn't really come to mind when I think of Miss Emerald."
The words seemed to come out so easily and unassuming, that she wanted to curse both him and her for the way her heart dramatically decided to beat off kilter. But he wasn't finished, and it gave her the time to pretend the words hadn't done anything.
"As for the other thing... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but it's really none of my business. If you wanted to tell me, I would of course listen. But if not?" He tilted his face towards her calmly. "Sitting in silence is more than fine. You may not believe me, but I'm actually not that good at talking with people."
"You're right. I don't believe you," she said matter-of-factly, her head dipping away and back into her knees. She just felt the need to hide her face from him all of a sudden.
That was all.
For a time, nothing more was said between the two of them, something she thought she would appreciate, but after a while, that silence began to irk her. Maybe it was because they had now gotten to talking normally, so now it was weirder that they weren't. Emerald couldn't very well pretend he didn't exist this far in, after all.
She thought of something to say, anything to end this poisonous silence she herself had created.
"So. Um. Your fight."
Rio looked over at her, one brow raised.
Emerald wanted to promptly hurl herself off Amity.
Now, it wasn't at all necessary for her to be the bubbly and sociable 'Emmy' around someone not even suspicious of her, but come on? —"So. Um. Your fight." What the hell was that? Who was she? Mercury? There were things she could accept her partner-in-crime being better than her in. Very few things, yes, but they still existed.
Losing in a battle of social skills though?
Hell no.
Emerald cleared her throat, hastily amending her words in an attempt to save her pride. "I mean. I saw your fight. You're strong, like, really strong."
And she actually did mean it.
Rio was already at the level where he was better than her. Fighting prowess-wise anyway. Adding her semblance into the mix would be a different story, naturally. But without it, the boy would be able to take her on, easily, and she imagined Mercury too.
That should have left her anxious. Yet, it didn't.
Maybe it was for the same reason Emerald didn't expect Pyrrha Nikos, a known accomplished fighter, to suddenly ambush her, or that she didn't expect that Rose girl, plenty capable with her speed, to burst into their dorm and slit her throat. The teachers too, and even Atlas with their current overcompensating grandstanding.
She was surrounded by enemies.
They just... weren't ones yet.
...Though, that would be changing soon though, wouldn't it?
The feeling in her stomach returned.
The white-haired boy shook his head lightly.
"If I seemed strong, my opponents were even stronger."
"Opponents you beat," she managed to say.
But Rio corrected her with a smile. "I lasted fifteen minutes. Something I was only able to do because I'm confident in my speed. Draining all four of them of their aura or knocking them out of bounds? I'm hardly that capable."
Emerald hummed, if only to make it clear she wasn't entirely convinced.
Cinder certainly wasn't.
She purposely directed her thoughts in a different direction. "Wait, you're, um, all buddy-buddy with those RWBY girls, aren't you? After a fight like that, shouldn't they be, I dunno, hanging all over you right about now? Gasp," she suddenly said without feeling. "Are you playing hard to get?"
The boy's smile took a little damage.
Good. Served him right.
"Not... quite. You could say I'm hiding."
"From girls?"
"Miss Emerald, just what kind of person am I in your head?"
"No comment."
Unaware she was smiling, she looked away from him, not before enjoying the uncomfortable looking expression on his face, or the way his voice had frayed a bit. Really, acting like he didn't know what she was talking about—like she would believe that when he said embarrassing words at the drop of a hat, and to her of all people.
Mercury did say he was a playboy.
Although... Rio seemed to be at a loss when people genuinely pushed back, such as that Aqua woman actually doing the pushing, to the ground even.
"So who are you actually hiding from?"
Rio's eyes drifted to the sky. Something like a cramped smile overtook his expression, and it was almost as glaring as the ensuing silence. It made Emerald suddenly feel the need to backpedal.
"Er, not that you have to tell me."
She didn't even know whether those were her real feelings or not. But in a strange amount of empathy—and really, the emotion was strange—she knew damn well she wouldn't appreciate some nosy bitch trying to get into her business. And that made her the bitch in this scenario, huh?
That sounded about right.
But rather than taking offense, Rio just chuckled awkwardly. "It's not that I mind telling you. Just... the reason is a bit silly, so I was almost certain Miss Emerald would laugh at me if I said it."
She blinked, parsing through his statement.
"I won't."
A beat passed.
"...Probably, anyway."
Emerald was either an unparalleled criminal mastermind, mixing lies with truth, or she was just the special kind of dumbass who just revealed and kept on revealing she had a rotten personality, even further blowing her cover. For her own self-confidence though, she was going to pretend it was the former, and take it as a good thing that the boy somehow seemed faintly amused by what she said.
"I suppose that's the best I can hope for then," he said with a chuckle, before his amber eyes slid to the side. "...Basically, I'm being actively hunted down by... twenty or so members of nearby news agencies..."
The reporters that had been waiting at the bullheads flashed in her mind.
"Because you won?"
Rio nodded, tiredly. "Apparently."
She huffed, leaning back in her seat a bit. "Well, I don't know why you thought I'd laugh at that. It's not even that funny. You made it sound like they have dirt on you or something."
He coughed.
Emerald paused. "...Wait, do they?"
"Well, they certainly seem to think they do," the white-haired boy answered vaguely.
She didn't get it.
Rio sighed, before explaining.
Upon finishing, Emerald realized she ended up being right. There was no use saying she wouldn't laugh, promise or otherwise. Because when the boy said the words "illegitimate child" with a such a fleeting look of patience on his face, Emerald giggled, and before she could stop herself, she started laughing as well.
And Rio's smile turning more and more brittle may or may not have kept her going.
"S-So wait, they all want to ask if you're some secret love child between the Schnee and the working class?" Emerald asked between rasps of laughter.
"I believe that is the idea, yes."
"...Are you?"
"Both my parents very much had black hair, Miss Emerald."
She hummed, still chuckling at odd intervals.
"...Mom had green hair, I think."
Rio glanced at her.
Ah.
It made her realize what she just said.
She... had just mentioned her mother.
When was the last time she had even spoken a word about her, much less thought of her? It's not as if there had ever been a reason to do so. Emerald was born, then summarily abandoned and left on the streets. That was it. End of story. She certainly didn't care whether the woman was alive or dead.
"F... Forget I said that..." That being said, Emerald currently found herself confused, and more than a little embarrassed. Because even beyond the fact that her mother suddenly found her way into her headspace, she had just shared that information with someone else, something she had never done. Not even with Cinder and Mercury.
And that gaping incongruity only left her more flustered, especially with how awkward she surely just made things.
But.
"I didn't hear it."
Emerald blinked, before looking at the boy next to her. Rio didn't meet her eyes as he just continued to stare forward; his expression unbothered. "If you said something strange, I didn't hear it," he explained calmly, shrugging.
So it's fine—that seemed to be left unspoken.
A beat passed.
A moment beyond that passed too.
Then, Emerald's shoulders unwound, and she let out a sigh. "You really are the enemy of all women, aren't you?"
The boy immediately started coughing and sputtering like he was choking. "P-...Pardon...?!"
Very aware she was smiling this time, Emerald stood up and stretched. "I think I'm going to head back."
"U-Um, that's more than fine of course, but don't you think you should explain what you just—"
"See you, Rio."
"M-Miss Emerald?"
She clapped him on the shoulder before walking off, knowing full well he was watching her the whole way, right until the last possible second.
That didn't cause a spring in her step.
Definitely not.
...
...
...
Rio changed locations.
Although, that was only after a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to piece together Emerald's abrupt parting statement. But since it was nothing knew not being able to figure out what the women around him were thinking, he eventually gave up.
Anyway.
Rio knew Ruby had been gushing about it considerably, but the Festival Fairgrounds he was in the midst of were actually more impressive than he would have thought.
It intensely reminded him of the mid-summer festivals he would go to with Miharu and Aki all that time ago. And he wondered why he could remember that so vividly, since it was supposed to be hiding behind decades of other places and experiences.
Fifteen or so years, both Haruto and Rio had now spent that time and more in their respective worlds. Reaching out and grabbing memories from two different people... it should have been harder. Lost in such a paradox, Rio continued walking through the stalls, numerous people, and the all-around cheer of those enjoying what the Vytal Festival had to offer.
Of course, he hadn't just decided to join in the festivities on a whim for the fun of it.
He did decide, however, that most if not all of those reporters were looking for a white-haired boy at Amity Coliseum.
So he walked off it.
A normal person would have plummeted to their death.
Rio flew safely to the ground. Completely invisible for good measure.
And that brought him here, continuing on his quest to stall for time and avoid attracting attention. Although, as he began walking, it quickly became obvious that such a thing was a fool's arrand. Because as it happened, he just traded the officialized coverage for the more unofficial kind.
It wasn't particularly bothersome, but people were staring, pointing, and he heard mutterings that sounded like his name. Fortunately, they weren't doing anything as overt as rushing at him and hounding him with questions, and that already made things a step better than what those reporters seemed to want.
It almost reminded him of Galarc.
Not completely though.
No one is calling me the Black Knight, Rio thought with strange smile.
If he didn't want to cringe himself into an early grave when he received that name by the King himself, in front of the royal retainers no less, and Rio's own acquaintances, then he certainly wanted to do so when Satsuki heard it, and with impish giggles aplenty, proceeded to use it at every opportunity.
Now, a more mature person wouldn't have retaliated.
But Rio wasn't perfect, so there wasn't anything to be done.
—"Is something the matter, Great Hero Satsuki?"
—"Surely, you jest. I could never call a Great Hero such as yourself so casually."
—"Great Hero?"
Rio's lips twitched upwards.
Quite unlike that girl's usual unflappable self, calling her that in front of others seemed to fluster her greatly. And, it was somewhat strange, because when Rio thought about it, besides family, he didn't act that way with anyone else. Well, he certainly missed that exuberant personality of hers.
Although, if he were honest, he felt defeated saying such a thing about someone so impossibly far away.
Not that he would want to change that, though. Whisking someone away to a completely different world, just because he was feeling a little lonely—that would be beyond reproachable. Still...
I hope everyone is doing okay.
A soft hum reverberated in his head. 'No need to worry, Haruto. Nothing should be happening on their end.'
Rio's legs completely stopped moving.
The people walking behind him nearly ran into him, but what would usually be him profusely apologizing wasn't anywhere close to happening. He just stood there as people started to walk past him, making not quite disgruntled expressions, but confused and curious ones. Regardless, it was all he could do to suddenly break off from the main crowd and find somewhere more secluded.
No, he had done so instinctively, all too aware of the cold sweat washing over his body. Aisha... just now... what did you mean by that?
'Hm? Shouldn't Haruto already know? Time moves differently between worlds. That was why you aged considerably before Miharu arrived in Strahl, having not aged at all.'
The world was blurring together.
No, it just felt that way within his own head.
Of course he had considered this before.
He had entertained this thought.
But the other way of looking at it had twisted his stomach to the point where he wanted to die. Even beyond the fact that he might have well been pronounced missing for the last few days back home, he had also been worried about something far worse. That something as meager as five minutes here, actually meant five years. That possibility was just too painful though, and he had to force himself not to think about it.
If he did, he would surely unravel.
But...
If what Aisha was telling him was true...
If it really was the other way around...
Rio licked his dry lips.
Aisha... do you... do you know that for sure?
'Yup. Although, I don't know how I know. But I know.'
The words weren't credible in the slightest.
Rio had no reason to place them as truth and fact.
He didn't even have all the facts either.
That boy hadn't even been told yet that Aisha, through a dream, had impossibly shown the painfully curious Miharu how a saddened and distant Haruto Amakawa had died on a certain bus, or how a hatefully crying Rio Karasuki had watched his mother strangled right in front of him.
But even without knowing this...
Rio trusted Aisha.
He knew, that at the strangest of times, she knew what she was talking about, even if she didn't seem to be aware how she knew.
After all, it had been Aisha and no one else that had told him he needed to go in the direction of those blinding pillars of light. Because of that he met Miharu again. Because of that, he was just in time to be able to save her from a horrible fate. It was Aisha who had saved an orphan boy time and time again as he struggled with memories not his own.
It was Aisha who, even now, was his ceaseless companion.
His partner.
So if she was the one saying it, Rio knew he could believe her.
The boy slumped to his knees.
His fists, painfully tight, clenched at the grass beneath him.
He really was the worst kind of person, being so happy that those he knew wouldn't leave him behind, and he wouldn't be leaving them behind in turn. That if he worked hard enough, there was a chance, however slim, that he could see them again.
He didn't deserve to be this happy, not when he should be distancing himself instead.
But he couldn't help it.
Even if he was a terrible rotten person who didn't deserve this feeling, he would feel happy from the bottom of his heart that he would be able to see Miharu, Celia, Latifa, and the others again. It might take months. It might take years.
But right now, he was so relieved.
Aisha, thank you. Thank you.
A flickering warmth sparked inside him, before it intensified all at once. 'There is nothing to be thankful for. Just keep doing what you always do. Because... being right by Haruto's side is more than enough. It always has and will continue to be...'
"M-Mister?"
Rio blinked.
He had been out of it.
That was the only way to describe how he had completely overlooked the presence of the small form hunkered behind one of the Festival Stalls, not even a few feet away. They had their knees tucked to their chest, looking at him with a mixture of uncertainty and worry.
"A-Are you okie? D-Did—Did you lose someone too?" But strangely, that worry was for him, even when the small girl—who had to have been younger than ten—had tracks of tears running down her cheeks...
Tears matching his own, which Rio realized with a start, having brought up his hands to check. "..." This normally would have been enough for him to hurriedly reform his demeanor, quietly readjusting the mask that had slipped. But...
"Yeah..."
He just smiled tiredly at the girl.
"I did. But I just realized I could find them again."
"O-Oh..."
A fresh set of tears shimmered in those eyes.
"Well, m-my Mommy... I haven't found her y-yet."
With orange hair that was braided into a singular pigtail to the left, it matched the color of her wide and quivering orbs.
Rio parted his lips, trying to regain his wits.
"Then..."
His lips eventually curved into a smile, a proper one.
"We should definitely do something about that, huh?"
...
...
...
The sight was comical at best.
That, or adorable.
That must have been what the onlookers thought as they saw the white-haired teen with a small child on his shoulders, the little girl talking about all kinds of things from up high. And the fact that Rio Amakawa was hardly an unforgettable face in light of the day's events, that seemed to generate an even greater clamor of surprise and amusement from those watching.
Of course, the two were hardly aware of this as they talked.
"Hey, Rio, are you a prince or something?"
"No one that important, Miss Azalea, I promise."
Naturally, they had already introduced themselves to each other.
"I told you to call me Azalea silly. But you gotta be a prince. Mommy told me the people with white hair were like, super important and stuff."
Rio's lips twitched into a smile. "Well, I'm sure they are. But I can't be a prince. Princes need protection from their kingdom. People will get hurt for them without a second thought. I don't want anyone to worry about me like that. I want to do the protecting, if I can."
"Whoa, that's actually kinda cool. ...Are you a hero then?"
"I'm not. But I know some people who are."
"Whoaaaaa, really? ...Wait, do they know you're a crybaby?"
Rio chuckled. "A lot of them don't. Do you think I should tell them?"
Azalea was silent for a time.
"...No. You said you don't wanna worry people, right? But... if you're feeling too sad, you can tell them and they might make you feel better. Sometimes the girls are mean to me at school, but talking to Mommy helps."
"Then I'll do just that. ...Hm, I'll have to tell my hero friends that I met another hero named Azalea, and that she helped me with my problems. They'll want to meet you."
The girl blushed and smiled. "R-Really?"
They continued walking, looking for the wayward parent, enjoying the sights as they did so. Well, Azalea seemed to, given where she was. Although... Rio suddenly thought with a sweat, aren't too many people staring? Well, if nothing else, the mother might just find them instead of the other way around.
It was why he didn't have a problem briefly stopping and purchasing the girl a treat.
Azalea sat on some benches as she ate, looking into the crowd.
"...I don't see Mommy yet."
Standing rather than sitting, Rio reassured her. "That's fine. I didn't say this before, but I have a friend looking for her as well. She'll alert me if she finds her. With the three of us looking, there's no way we won't spot her."
Azalea's eyes suddenly sparkled. "You mean your hero friends?"
"She may as well be. She's saved me more times than I can count."
"She sounds really cool."
Rio hummed. "I think so too."
It didn't need to be said that Azalea didn't look even half as terrified as she had been earlier. Although, he wondered if that was due in-part to the vestiges of chocolate now smearing the sides of her mouth.
"Azalea, if you'll allow me to help you?"
Smiling at the confuzzled stare he got, he brought out a handkerchief, lightly dabbing around the girl's mouth. Perhaps that action was already familiar, because rather than protesting, she just sat there and waited. Rio quickly felt awkward doing something like this as a stranger, so he tried to fill in the silence.
"My little sister also has the uncanny skill of collecting food around her mouth. I haven't figured out why though—maybe she wants to save it for later?"
"T-That's not why!" Azalea protested, embarrassed. "I can clean myself! I can do it!" Then she grabbed the cloth from his hands and began wiping her mouth furiously. "See!"
The search didn't stretch on for too long after that, not that Rio thought it would. With Aisha looking from the skies for someone that matched Azalea's description, combined with their own efforts, it wasn't even five minutes before someone that might have been the person in question was found.
Luckily, it didn't turn out to be an incorrect guess.
"Mama!"
Azalea, who had taken to walking beside him instead of on his shoulders, ran towards the woman the second she saw her. In that direction, there were two people. One of them was a very uncomfortable looking Festival staff member, on all accounts wanting to be anywhere else, and the second was an irate older woman with orange hair heatedly tearing into them.
Both, however, were quick to notice the small form running towards them, and the shout of her little girl was predictably enough for the woman's head to turn.
"A-Azalea?"
Confusion gave way to shock, but once that wore off, the mother took no time at all looking incredibly relieved, the stern features softening into nothingness. It was the kind of expression only a mother could make. A radiating warmth like no other. They embraced like that, the woman meeting her child halfway and wrapping her in a hug.
Perhaps it was a common sight, deserving nothing more than a passing glance and smile.
Rio was transfixed.
Because the reunited family changed appearances like magic, in the blink of an eye too, as if they had always been that way. A completely different mother and child were there. Different, but painfully familiar.
"—You can't wander off like that, Rio. We have to look after each other now."
With a sharp intake of breath, the white-haired teen tore his eyes away from Azalea and her mother. He did it out of politeness. It was only right to give them some privacy, after all.
The lie naturally didn't work... even in his own head.
"Rio...!"
Like clockwork, he pasted a smile on his face.
Azalea now had her mother in tow, the latter looking at him quite intently. Rio's smile wavered a bit. The odds he wasn't being seen as a shady character right now were pretty abysmal, weren't they? Thinking as such, he prepared to take the brunt of the woman's suspicions when they came.
"Thank you so much, young man. For finding her."
It was why Rio found himself taken aback when he was suddenly bowed to at waist level. Luckily, in the time it took to notice others looking their way curiously, he snapped out of it. His face turning a bit awkward but no less welcoming, he closed the distance between them a bit, speaking softly.
"You don't need to go that far Miss. Please raise your head."
The mother did, and it revealed purple eyes that were glossy and on the verge of tears.
Before anything else, Rio was confused by the profound emotion in that gaze. He even entertained the thought that while she was searching for her child, she had just fretted herself into overreacting.
But then he realized.
This wasn't a matter of getting lost amidst a city's decorated streets, not like in Japan, where police officers were every several blocks and could be instantly dispatched with a call. No, they were currently next to a forest filled with creatures. Creatures, that were far more unpredictable and bloodthirsty than any natural predator would be, practically suicidal to face without aura.
Like the civilian mother and daughter in front of him.
And him too, technically.
Claws wouldn't be bouncing off his body anytime soon, not like the aura-wielders of this world. His spirit arts enhanced strengthening might make his body sturdier, but if powerful enough, and if he just stood there and took it, he would be run through just like those without aura.
It was why he understood the worry.
But at the same time, Rio was fairly certain Ozpin wasn't so lax a headmaster that he would have approved the location of this venue, not if he wasn't absolutely sure it was clear of Grimm. Or at the very least, as clear as the situation allowed. So, the forest should be safe.
But did the people of Vale know that?
"...Miss, if I may, I know for a fact that the teachers, professional Huntsmen, trek through the surrounding forests weeks in advance. And if by some chance that isn't enough, all the students present would take up arms to protect the people."
The mother looked at him in surprise for a moment, before she sagged forward with a wobbly looking smile on her face. "Did it show on my face that much?"
Azalea was looking between them, confused.
Rio shook his head gently, and his tone grew softer without even realizing it. "Not at all. You're a parent who loves their child. I just wanted to assure you based on that, even if it happened to be something you already knew."
The mother let out a breath that sounded a little like a laugh, eyes crinkling with more relief than before. "Then you're a very kind person... especially when you're being so modest."
Rio paused. "I'm sorry?"
The woman smiled right back at him, nodding to the sword at his waist. "You were the boy who just fought, right? I've never so much as picked up a weapon, but even someone like me knows doing what you did couldn't have been easy. What I'm trying to say, is I already feel better knowing your walking around."
It was a rare moment that Rio didn't know what to say.
He shouldn't have been surprised, not really. He had been seeing more and more evidence of his publicity. Still, perhaps it was hearing it from the most unexpected of sources, that of the mother who just reunited with their child...
"Thank you for the kind words then," Rio said, smiling hesitantly.
Azalea took that moment to tug on Rio's sleeve. "Hey, what are you talking about. Fought? Rio did?"
The mother looked at her daughter with exasperation, then back at Rio. "We actually didn't go up to Amity, but everyone has been talking about the white-haired boy in black going toe to toe with Huntsmen. There are already even several clips bouncing around the CCTS, too," she further explained with a bit of laugh.
"I see..."
The CCTS... that's this world's Internet equivalent if I'm not mistaken...
"Woah, are you actually crazy-strong Rio?"
As usual, Azalea's untamed exuberance made him smile—even more so at the disapproving look shot her way from her mother. But to show it was no trouble, Rio laughed slightly, addressing the younger girl. "If it's being called 'crazy strong'... I think there are other people more deserving of such a thing."
Azalea immediately pointed with excitement.
"Mama! That's totally what a crazy-strong person would say!"
"Please don't point, honey. It's rude." The mother directed her attention to Rio. "I'm sorry for her—and that you had to go out of your way to look after her in the first place..."
"It was no trouble at all, really."
"Ah, but what if I paid you?"
Rio inclined his head. "I'd have to seriously refuse you if you tried, Miss."
She smiled sadly. Only it froze midway.
"Oh my gosh—I just realized. I know your name, but you don't even know mine. How rude of me. At the very least, let me introduce myself properly. I'm Rachel." Then she patted Azalea's head. "And of course, this is my daughter Azalea." Rachel then held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Rio."
Rio only paused for a beat before taking the hand.
"It's a pleasure Miss Rachel. I hope you two enjoy the rest of the festival."
They said simple goodbyes after that.
Rather, Rachel and he exchanged them normally. Azalea on the other hand was surprisingly more affectionate. The girl wouldn't let him leave without a hug, which he hesitantly returned only after looking to the mother for approval.
And with that, they parted.
...
...
...
When Rio returned to Beacon, it was just as the sky began to darken.
The dinner hour saw the school's outside pavilion mostly empty, only the occasional group of students seemingly still active and catching his eye. One such group were milling about next to a fountain, sitting on its edge laughing and talking. They stilled and quieted upon noticing him, though.
Rather, just one of them had, and the rest had followed suit. It was a particularly heavy-set boy with reddish orange hair.
Rio simply dipped his head respectfully.
Surprisingly, they returned the gesture.
Fame sure was a flighty and unpredictable thing. Nothing made that more obvious than a group of boys he didn't even know showing him courtesy. And he had been reasonably sure most of the males in the school intensely disliked him, too...
What does it say about me that I find it weird when my peers aren't treating me in a hostile manner...?
Truly, Beltram had conditioned him in strange ways.
What with being orphaned, forced to become an indirect criminal in a kingdom's slums, coming across a kidnapped princess, accused of kidnapping said princess, summarily tortured into confessing to the kidnapping, vouched for by the princess only hours later, and finally, given tuition to attend a noble school where everyone openly despised him, and all this happening before even turning ten...
Or actually, wasn't his luck just atrociously bad?
Finally in the school proper, and with a wry smile on his face, Rio headed for the dorm building first.
"Surprise atta—hwawawahhh?!"
Rio had stepped out of the way of the human-shaped blur of rose petals quite easily.
The cutesy voice immediately yelped their surprise, silver eyes widening in panic as their momentum bled out the only way it could: jettisoning right past him and down the way he came. Saying they bounced along the paved walkway like a soccer ball... wasn't totally accurate, but the movements were certainly sporadic enough to appear that way. Although...
Should I perhaps not have dodged?
As Ruby landed in an unceremonious heap, Rio couldn't help but feel a little bad.
"B-But my surprise attack..."
No... it really wasn't a surprise attack if she announced that she was coming so readily—but, that was a bit hard to say when seeing the girl's downtrodden and defeated form. Of course, there is also the matter of attacking from the front...
Rio approached with an unsure smile on his face. "If Ruby is the one attacking me, then I must have truly done something wrong."
Gently, he took one of her hands in his and helped her up. Although when a slightly flushed face rose to meet his, his brain naturally stalled for a bit in confusion. At least, that was until he looked at her hand, which he had grabbed entirely reflexively and was still doing so.
He took a few steps back, feeling more than a little awkward. "I'm sorry Ruby. I didn't think too heavily on what I just did."
Despite the apology, Ruby flushed even deeper.
"N-No, it's fine! More than fine even! A-And I should be sorry! I just saw you, and I got excited, and my brain was all like, do this silly thing Ruby, and I listened to it, and now we're here and, um... you're still listening to me talk like an idiot..." The girl promptly wilted like an abused flower.
Rio really shouldn't be laughing, not when it would only serve to make the girl even more discouraged. But he couldn't help it. Though because he didn't want to give her the wrong idea, he cheerily explained himself. "Please don't misunderstand, Ruby. I wasn't poking fun. Rather, doing so would be more of the challenge? You make it very hard to dislike you."
He was smiling.
Of course he was.
But impossibly, it was a lot like the one he had shown after his fight, one that the little rose beside him had been all but convinced that she wasn't capable of seeing pointed her way. The others too.
But Rio knew none of this.
So, he was naturally confused when he realized Ruby wasn't saying anything. In fact, she wasn't even moving. Her face seemed frozen. But his confusion quickly turned to worry as she abruptly took a few steps back, but only to turn and crouch low to the ground.
"...Ruby?"
And for some reason she was all but stretching her hood over her face. Had her ears been glowing? The boy stood there, all kinds of uncertain, until a strangled murmur suddenly floated up towards him, almost too soft to hear.
"(...Y-You... could be a little less nice to me, you know...)"
Rio blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"N-No, don't be sorry... j-just ignore me—I'll be fine in a few more seconds."
That actually hadn't been what Rio was trying to convey when giving his response, but he supposed it didn't really matter. Because true to her word, Ruby bolted upright again not five seconds later. Her cheeks were very much still colored, and she seemed to be making a conscious effort not to look directly at him, but it wasn't something he wanted to push under risk of upsetting her.
So he changed the subject.
"Where are the others, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, they should be in the cafeteria. I was actually heading there before, you know..." Thankfully, Ruby reacted to that with little issue, just giggling nervously.
"Then let's go."
They set off towards the cafeteria, with Rio only making one speedy stop along the way, his dorm room to deposit his sword and even his wyvern coat. They were nearly upon the meal building when Ruby began to nervously start speaking beside him.
"Um. We never really talked about it, but I was just wondering... the tournament officially starts tomorrow, you know, and we might be fighting. My team, I mean. So, if you wanted to, since you'll be competing only later, b-but only if you don't have anything else to do of course! If, ah, while we're fighting, if you could, um..."
She trailed off, tossing furtive glances his way. However, just when he thought the words would come out, she seemed to change her mind.
"A-Actually? I just realized it really isn't anything important. Just forget it, heehee."
"I see. Well... tell me if you change your mind." The awkward smile pasted on her face—Rio eyed both it and her with an indecipherable stare. He then faced front again. "Oh, by the way, I'll be watching your match tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Ruby stopped walking.
Rio did so as well, trying to keep a straight face. He actually succeeded up until the point his shoulder was punched. "...That was mean," she pouted.
"It was," he agreed with a slight incline to his head, smile apologetic. "Sorry."
Ruby very exaggeratedly huffed and turned away from him, but after a brief lull, said something else. "...b-but thanks." The words were so soft that he barely heard it. But just like that, a small smile lit up her face the rest of the way.
...
...
...
The good news, was that Rio arrived at the cafeteria.
The bad news...
'Wow. Everyone turned to stare at you, Haruto,' Aisha commented.
Yes. Because in a chain of events that could have been widely predicted, a meal building full of students, who had largely comprised Amity's stands hours prior, immediately noticed the arrival of a white-haired male and began looking fixedly in his direction.
Smile brittle, Rio turned to his companion.
"Ruby, perhaps you should—..."
There was no one there.
"..."
He was about to tell her to go on ahead, however that turned out to be unnecessary, since the girl was already in the midst of scampering to a familiar table in a far corner. If he focused, he could make out each face of Team RWBY and JNPR, but currently, he was far more impressed by the speed in which he had been abandoned.
It seemed Ruby, just like his own sister, shared being deathly allergic to the gazes of strangers.
"...Rio."
While he was smiling in tired amusement, an unexpected voice called his name.
It actually wasn't so unexpected, but perhaps that was only from the perspective that he didn't think he would be talking with this person again so soon. But with that uncanny mint green hair and crimson eyes, Emerald was indeed standing there with her arms crossed.
She wasn't really meeting his eyes though.
"Um, Cinder wants you to sit with us."
"Is that so...?"
His distant response had only been meant to hide his confusion, but Emerald seemed to have taken it a different way, because, quite unlike her, she immediately started tripping over her words. "Uh, if you would like, I mean," she clarified, trying for politeness.
Then, she tossed a glance behind her.
Rio followed her gaze to where a familiar gray-haired boy and black-haired girl were sitting. Interestingly though, there was another, one he hadn't seen yet. She had black hair like Cinder; however, it was separated into twin tails. But unlike Cinder who was looking at him with a beatific smile, and even Mercury with his two-finger salute, the other girl completely ignored him in favor of her food.
"Well, I don't mind," he finally said. "So long as it's okay with you, Miss Emerald."
The look Emerald gave him was incredibly flat. " ..Are you serious?"
Rio just smiled helplessly.
"Gods you are strange."
"Haha, I'm sorry you feel that way... and, for the other thing too."
"Other thing?"
"Well, that it's as I thought, hearing Miss Emerald's honest feelings is surprisingly more refreshing."
"Guh..."
The girl's shoulders jumped as she hurriedly spun around, her chocolate-colored skin darkening considerably just before she did. Now walking to the table, she tossed the words over her shoulder, barely above a murmur. "Y-You have my permission already, so just move your ass."
Rio followed after her with a chuckle.
Cinder ended up being the first to greet him.
"Hello once again, Rio. This wasn't a bother, was it?"
"Not as much as you might think," he said kindly.
"Hmph." Emerald made a noise while walking to her seat, which Rio weathered with a smile. It caused a few looks, Cinder's overt one especially, but it seemed to die down with Rio sitting down.
As it happened, this was next to Mercury, which wasn't so much of a purposeful decision rather than an instinctual one. This had Cinder across from him, as well as the girl he didn't know. And incidentally, when Emerald finally sat down, it was now the two males facing the three females.
Also, Rio was the only one without food.
Cinder noticed. "You should be eating as well. Emerald, get Rio—"
"Ah, actually." Rio quickly raised a hand, effectively stopping Emerald who was already in the midst of standing up. "That won't be necessary. I'm not all that hungry. So don't trouble yourself, please." Or, so he whimsically decided to lie, and very pleased when it got the wanted action of sitting the girl back down. He hardly felt comfortable treating Emerald like some meal courier, after all.
And not just that...
She didn't look at Cinder for permission before sitting... he noticed idly.
"Ah, yes. Ever the gentleman," Cinder said, smiling. "Well, that means we can get right to it then. Although I hope you don't mind if we finish our meal?"
Rio shook his head. "Of course not."
By the way, Mercury was busying himself with a plate of hamburger and fries, Emerald went back to twirling some pasta around her fork, and Cinder seemed halfway through a cut of steak. Beacon was, as ever, a premiere school. Although? It made the very conspicuous bowl of ice cream their last teammate was working on quite strange.
The girl noticed his stare, and he met her green eyes above the spoon closed around her mouth. Huh... He stared at her seriously for a moment, before shaking it off and giving her a hesitant smile. She wasn't even glaring at him... but it actually did look like she was telling him to steal the dessert from her, so long as he was prepared for the consequences.
"Oh, right. That would be Mint, our fourth teammate." Cinder suddenly explained, looking between the two of them. "Don't mind her too much. She's just... very unique."
Mercury snorted. "Yeah, and that's not even including the whole 'mute' thing."
"I see..."
He didn't know too much about the affliction, only that it could be caused by more than just physical trauma. Not that it mattered, since it really wasn't any of his business. But rather than that, there was something else he was curious about. A bit of hesitance came with it, but he pushed past, making eye contact with the girl.
—Am I overstepping by doing this?
Mint looked at him, blinking several times.
The others more or less did the same.
It was because he had signed it.
Rio was prepared to feel very awkward, more so than he already was. After all, even beyond the possibility that the girl didn't know sign language, it was entirely possible that a way of speaking involving hand signals didn't even exist at all in this world. He certainly hadn't seen any proof of it in his previous world's Kingdoms. Not, that he had even gone about looking for it.
So just as his smile began to strain...
Mint mimed a sigh, before signing something back.
—Why on Remnant do you know a dead language.
The blunt way he took that almost had Rio chuckling.
Dead, huh?
That could make a strange amount of sense.
If aura protected a sizeable chunk of the population from things like physical throat injuries, why would people decide to learn up on a related side effect, like muteness? If he was a civilian, it would make sense, but as a someone in a school for Huntsmen, Mint's question had merit. There were probably very few who bothered with such a thing.
Rio answered her with a slight smile.
—It was just a skill I whimsically took on at one point. That's it.
Or he meant to sign something like that.
He wasn't sure he finished on account of Mercury getting up in his face all of a sudden, eyes practically shining. "Wait, what happened? That's that weird hand language, right? What did you say? Were you hitting on her?"
"I—"
"Because learning something like that just to pick up mute chicks is, like, some next level game. Hey, you'll teach me some phrases to use, right?"
Mercury's worrying amount of energy had Rio leaning farther and farther away, but that wasn't nearly as bad as the laser-like stares from both Emerald and Cinder, not caring in the slightest that he was caught in the crossfire. Alternatively, Mint just started shoveling ice cream into her mouth anew, eyeing Rio with new curiosity.
"I don't mind teaching you a few things," Rio finally decided to say. Then there was a pause as his eyes briefly darted to Mint and then back to Mercury. "...Polite things," he clarified.
Someone chuckled.
Everyone paused before summarily looking at Emerald, who after realizing what she did, all too quickly blushed, stiffly going back to her pasta.
"I'm surprised you know something so remote," Cinder said with an alluring smile. Then she looked at Mint. "And even more that this one actually responded to you. She treats everyone else like they don't exist. Lucky you, Mint. You finally have someone to talk to. Ah, does this mean you're going to spend all your time with Rio instead of us?"
Mint stared at her.
Then she signed something at Rio with a smile.
The boy's own smile very noticeably cramped.
"What did she say?" Cinder immediately asked, no, demanded, a quite obvious frown tugging her lips downward. Not with quite so much emotion, Emerald and Mercury had same question painted across their faces.
—Tell this dumb bitch she's ugly and I want to stomp her face in.
Rio coughed a few times, "She made a, uh, colorful remark about me not being her type," he lied with a tired smile. ...Did she really think he would repeat the other thing? Thankfully, as far as Cinder was concerned, it seemed believable enough to pass inspection... which unfortunately told Rio quite a bit about Mint's personality.
Speaking of, contrary to his expectations, the mute girl didn't look dissatisfied in the slightest with his untruth. In fact, she was looking at him with a mischievous little smile, and it looked so similar to someone else he knew that he unconsciously shivered.
Which Mint saw, smile widening.
Really, the parallels were frightening.
Charlotte, that is, Princess Charlotte of the Galarc Kingdom, with her demure personality hiding a bit of a sadistic streak, was quite frankly the last individual who needed imitating.
Meanwhile, Mercury was staring long and hard at Rio.
"...I know you're confident dude, but I really meant it when I said I wouldn't recommend it."
"I'm sorry?"
"And even if you somehow managed to, impossibly, bag one of them, you're either getting crazy, crazier, or craziest. It's just not worth it. You get what I'm saying right?"
"...Yes, but the reason why you are feeling the need to tell me this is the part I'm finding unclear."
"I actually feel the same. Mercury, haven't you been a little too honest lately? And why don't you tell me who is being labeled 'craziest' in that head of yours?" Cinder's laugh was angelic.
On the surface.
And even though the woman wasn't looking at Mercury in any particular way, that didn't seem to stop him from stiffening and paling a very worrying white. Emerald didn't exercise quite so much self-control, full on glaring. That just left Mint to unblinkingly drag her pinky-finger across her neck.
The team dynamic here was quite strange.
Rio tried to tell himself that even when Mercury spasmed in his seat.
"(Cough). Was there anything in particular you four wanted to discuss?"
The question came from his lips with a bit of forced cheeriness, not only because he felt the need to lend Mercury a helping hand, but also because he very much wanted to bring things to a conclusion. Frankly, Rio's social meter had been running on fumes for the last hour or so.
"It would be an issue if I wasted too much of your time..."
"Ah, of course. Let's get to that." Thankfully, that seemed to drag at Cinder's attention, and she began speaking to Rio as if nothing had even happened. Although, Mercury didn't seem to be any safer in the clutches of Emerald and Mint. At that moment, a sudden but small metallic sound came from underneath the table, along with Mercury's abrupt breath.
Rio's brain briefly stalled.
Did one of them just kick him? Wait, then why did it sound...
"Rio, I was wondering if you attended a Huntsmen Academy."
Rio blinked back to Cinder, before shaking his head. "Ah—no, I did not. From a young age, I've been traveling from place to place, learning what I can."
"Interesting, so you're self-taught?"
Rio smiled and shrugged. "I have had a few individuals who taught me various things, but it was never through very official means. It's a bit awkward to admit, but I've been surviving like a hermit most of my life."
"Wait, you're telling me you're some homeless pretty boy?"
Rio turned to Mercury with a chuckle. "Hopefully not those exact words, but sure."
"Do you mind if I ask why you left home at all?"
At Cinder's question, he didn't immediately respond, and the smile on his face became the slightest bit smaller. But right when it became obvious to those present the question was hardly one the boy felt comfortable talking about...
"A monster passed through our village one day. It killed some people important to me. I left to track it down."
He said that with that same barely present smile on his face.
"Did... you kill it...?"
Rio looked at Emerald.
She had quite a complex look on her for some reason, although he really couldn't tell what she was thinking, only that she looked bothered.
Still, Rio shook his head.
"No, I was too weak back then. It got away."
"Oh."
Bothered? No, Emerald wasn't bothered. Or she wasn't only bothered. Rather, she was just forced to reevaluate something Rio had told her in what she thought was complete lightheartedness. In what she thought was him simply bantering with her.
—"Both my parents very much had black hair, Miss Emerald."
Had.
Ugh... Had he wanted her to pick up on that cue? Or had she just dredged up bad memories by thoughtlessly mentioning her own mother? Not knowing which it was, only that she felt like a proper bitch now, Emerald just continued to feel a squirming sensation in her gut. If this is guilt, it sucks.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Rio, and... for making you remember something like that," Cinder said in a low, bordering on hesitant, tone.
"...No, I think it should be like that."
Cinder's brow knitted in confusion.
"Ah, it's nothing," Rio said, wiping his serious expression away with a smile.
The thoughts, however, stayed.
It should be like that, he repeated to himself.
Remembering that day, it was his responsibility. It couldn't exactly be left to anyone else after all, nor did he want it to be. He needed to remember since he was the only one who could. Until the day came where he could finally track that monster down and kill him.
"Well, let me apologize again for being so forward, Rio. You can go now, if you want. Why, I'm sure there are a great many others who have been bothered by your absence," Cinder smiled coyly at him.
Rio forced a smile back. "I have a hard time believing that, but I'll take my leave. ...Um. Actually. Before that. I did have a question for you Miss Cinder, if you don't mind. It's actually been on my mind for a while."
He had been about to stand up, but recalling something stopped him.
"Phrasing it like that just makes me nervous." Still, the black-haired woman gestured him to continue.
"Right. It's about your name, actually. Do you by chance go by another?"
Cinder's smile froze.
"Pardon?"
Rio didn't notice.
"There's just a story from where I'm from. About a girl raised by her stepmother and stepsisters. They treated her lovingly and with care. But it was only made to look that way. They did awful things to her when no one was looking. I was wondering if you were familiar with it? Or if your parents read you—"
The change was immediate.
Cinder abruptly stood.
Teeth chattering slightly, pupils dilated, heart racing a mile a bit, Cinder looked at Rio with shock. Her carefully constructed mask of seductive maturity, and even the strength she had coursing through her veins—in that moment withered away to nothingness.
She actually looked well and truly frightened.
"Miss Cinder?" Confused, Rio stood up from his seat as well.
Cinder immediately reacted. However, she did so by running. Fleeing and saying nothing else, she just rushed out of the cafeteria, completely ignoring the startled voices of Mercury and Emerald, and even the widened eyed interest of Mint. She just needed to get away.
Otherwise she would burn the entire place down.
"..."
Rio watched her go, at a loss.
Her eyes... they were flickering with...
He was puzzled.
Very puzzled.
A simple curiosity caused by this world's naming sense, but one different from the color theme, had him asking Cinder about her name. Of course, she wasn't the only one. Ozpin... Blake Belladonna... Glynda Goodwitch—strangely, but perhaps no less unexpected, no one seemed to realize their names also matched that of Earth's fairy tales.
And Cinder too.
He had described what he thought was a simple folktale from Earth—the story of Cinderella.
But she acted as if...
"Dude, what the hell did you say to her?" Mercury looked at Rio with an expression that very much still said he was a little freaked out.
Rio breathed through his nose, frowning. "I'm actually wondering the same." He looked to Mercury, and then to the equally shocked looks of Emerald and Mint, although less for the latter girl's case. "I don't imagine tracking her down and apologizing will go over well, will it?"
The silence made it clear what the answer was to that.
Mint still signed something though.
"Right..." Rio sighed.
"She'll kill you?" Mercury guessed the translation, still in a bit of a daze.
"A bit more violent and descriptive, but more or less."
Mint just smiled.
Rio actually didn't stay for very long after that.
He exchanged a few more words and then parted.
Of course, even after walking away, his thoughts still lingered on everything that just happened. Even if his outward expression was calm.
Whatever hypothetical past Cinder wanted to keep under lock and key, it wasn't any of his business. If anything, he was just confused. Not so much about Cinder, but about something else he noticed.
Mint.
Why was that girl, just like him, not using her true appearance?
...
...
...
A/N:
Ah, misunderstandings.
They write the story for you.
But really, someone from Earth like Rio, given the fairy tale names all around him, there's no way he wouldn't be curious about Cinder's name. Of course, she instantly seemed to get the wrong idea.
Poor girl.
Okay. Okay. Okay. About the whole 'time being different between worlds' thing. Is it lazy of me to give Rio that peace of mind so early? Yes. Do I care? I'll get back to you on that. But, is the time thing realistic? Um, I think it is, actually. You know with the whole 'Miharu' proof. In the time it took that waamen to be Truck-kun'ed, Rio lived 9 years, right until his current sixteen year old self.
I'm confusing everyone, but I'm pretty sure that addresses most, if not all, questions and concerns.
*Nods in satisfaction*
Ha! Just kidding, I'm sure there will be more.
Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I'm building an army of female OC's to throw at plot. Salem will never expect it. Only joking of course. At least I think I am? Anyway, speaking of morally dubious members of the opposite sex—I WAS ON TEAM EMERALD BEFORE ANY OF YALL!
No, really. Even before she got her redemption arc in the later seasons, being big sis to Oscar and all that, Emerald was my main waifu. Okay, not, like, "MY" waifu. That's some of that objectification. I would never. Besides, I'm obviously not worthy. But Emmy was my characters' waifu. ...hm, that's actually not any better. Emerald is a Queen. There we go. Sigh, or maybe I just like tomboys' way too much? Or treating tomboys right? Treating them like their princesses?
I should stop, otherwise I'll rant for an hour.
If you made is this far, I'm impressed.
If you've made it this far despite waiting for an update for two fracking years, I'm doubtful, because there are no such things as perfect humans like you.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed~.
Please review if it pleases you, not a single author doesn't read them.
Have a predominantly exemplary day!
: )
—EPSILON
