Remnant, a world inhabited by monsters called Grim. Powerful beasts that could be as vicious as wolves and as powerful as bears. Whether they towered over trees or toppled over buildings was a matter of how long they had lived, and in Remnant, some had lived for centuries. Spanning across the four continents without indicating where they'd come from. Some thought the oceans.
Others thought differently.
Yet no matter what anyone thought, be it humans of old or Faunus, a species walking the same road as humanity but with animal like characteristics, it was true that since the dawn of time, the greatest enemy was Grimm. Settlements were razed and burned on their hunger, and in time, it became such a problem that the survivors had to unite or face extinction.
Human settlements began popping up, eventually splitting into four kingdoms spanning the four great continents of Remnant. Each continent was surrounded by Grimm-infested waters that reminded the early Kingdoms where their greatest enemy lay.
Sanus, the largest continent in the West, became home to two kingdoms: the bountiful kingdom of Vacuo in the western jungles and the peaceful kingdom of Vale in the eastern plains.
In the north, the frozen continent of Salitas became home to the icy kingdom of Mantle.
In the east and southeast respectively, the mountainous continent of Anima and the island continent of Menagerie became home to the kingdom of Mistral.
Separately, these four kingdoms were able to push back the Grimm invasion and establish their territories. Lands that Grimm had infested for centuries were turned into settlements, and the Grimm were no longer considered an imminent threat but a constant danger to watch out for. Humanity had established a semblance of peace.
It didn't last.
For reasons long forgotten, 100 years ago, a Great War broke out—the likes of which Remnant had never seen. Vale was attacked by a joint coalition of Mantle and Mistral, sweeping all three nations into a conflict so terrible it reshaped the land. Grimm swarmed at the opportunity, and territory once settled by humans became bathed in fire.
The devastating war lasted ten years before the turning point came. In an attempt to pincer Vale and deal a crushing blow, Mantle and Mistral pressured Vacuo to help join their alliance. Having seen the greed of both Mantle and Mistral, with Vacuo's once flourishing forests being turned into barren deserts due to the foreign countries' search for the valuable mineral known as dust, Vacuo joined the war on the side of Vale.
And the war of 3 nations turned into one of 4.
Another ten years passed before Vale and Vacuo won the war with the help of storms that miraculously destroyed enemy fleets. The leaders of the four kingdoms came together on the island of Vytal, north of Vale, to establish an era of peace. During the Great War, Grimm had taken back so much territory that each kingdom was feeling the losses. Knowing that another Great War could mean extinction, Grimm once again became the priority.
Many changes were made to mark the end of the war. The Vytal Peace Accords were drawn up to officially mark the peace between the four kingdoms. All signed the treaty, and Mantle even changed its name to Atlas to symbolize its rebirth after the war.
The four Huntsmen academies were proposed, schools in each Kingdom that would train elite fighters to defeat Grimm instead of each other.
Finally, the Vytal festival was created, a celebration held on Vytal every two years to celebrate the peace between the four kingdoms. During this time, a tournament was held, and the Huntsmen of each academy were sent to display their skills in a controlled environment.
It was seen as the best event one could attend.
Cardin didn't see the big deal.
"Pops, why are we even here?" Cardin asked. Thirteen and bored out of his mind. He didn't see the urgency of coming out here. Sure, he wanted to see the tournament; he was a student at Signal, for crying out loud, but he could watch it at home. In his room. With air conditioning. Comfortable and not in the middle of a desert surrounded by Faunus.
"I feel like I'm in an open-air zoo."
Cardin's words earned him a few growls-typical- from some Faunus nearby. Their animal ears turned his way as he got a few glares. He didn't care. He hated this place. Vacuo City, the capital of Vacuo. It was dry and hot, a desert city of mud and stone-built next to a river with no freaking water in it. The only greenery was a few palm trees lining the river's shore that had long since dried up.
As for the city's interworkings, they were a mess.
A labyrinth of alleyways that all looked identical and a maze of clay houses and sham work marketplaces surrounding the only decent-looking thing in the town, Shade Academy. It stood atop a manmade zenith at the city's center. Hidden behind four walls, a last stronghold in case the dumpster fire of a city finally fell to Grimm or a sandstorm or something
If it were up to Cardin, he'd say they should go home and watch this on TV.
His dad seemed on the verge of agreement.
"Yes." His dad frowned, glancing icily at the crowd they were following. The tournament was starting soon. Everyone was heading to Shade to watch it. Everyone in the city was migrating.
And Vacuo was a city with a lot of Faunus.
"Vacuo isn't as... clean as it used to be."
"Oh, relax, you two," his mother said, fanning herself with a paper fan she'd paid a small fortune for at a marketplace stall run by an Owl Fanus. That was the problem with Mom—she was too nice. She didn't see what he and Dad saw, the fact that greedy animals surrounded them.
"I think this place is lovely."
All these Faunus were taking advantage of her.
"Sure," Cardin said unconvinced, hands in his pocket as his dad leaned over, lips curled upwards, and whispered, "Don't worry. A couple of lost coins or two won't matter. At the end of the day, they're stuck here, and we'll be back in Vale as soon as the finals are over."
"Thank god." Cardin sighed as he watched his dad smirk and pat his shoulder. He was returning to his mom as they whispered things about this and that.
Meanwhile, their family's head knight, Axel, walked two paces behind. Technically, Axel was just a personal bodyguard hired by his parents, but Cardin still considered him a knight. He dressed like a knight, acted like a knight, and had been teaching Cardin to fight since he was in diapers.
That was knight-like behavior in Cardin's books.
"What do you think Axel?" Cardin asked with a cocky smirk. "Is it hot in that rust bucket?"
"I can handle it," Axel said as he walked in full body armor, a round shield on his back and a mace on his hip that Cardin was 100% modeling his future weapon after. Axel's chest was marked with the crest of the Winchester Family, a yellow Cardinal. He wore a helmet that covered his head and only showed his shaded fire-orange eyes.
Seriously... he's wearing a freaking microwave and won't take it off.
Cardin had been trying to see under that helmet since he was in diapers and had never gotten the chance to. Even now, in freaking 100-degree heat, Axel didn't remove his helmet.
Cardin was 90% sure Axel was doing it out of spite at this point. Cardin was pretty sure Axel was going to be buried in that thing. Cardin's only consolation was that Axel promised to take it off if Cardin could beat him in a spar. Which Cardin thought was bullshit by the way, because Axel used to be a huntsman. Cardin was still training to become a huntsman. It'd be years before he saw what was under that stupid helmet.
But Cardin would see what was under that helmet. Once he was a huntsman, he'd beat Axel into the ground to make up for all the beatings he'd gotten during weekly sparring sessions.
Only an idiot would think otherwise.
"Are you sure you don't want to take a break?" Cardin smirked. "That armor looks awfully heavy, Axel. Are you sure you don't want me to carry it for you? I've been working out."
"That is good news, Master Cardin, but I will survive." Axel said with a hint of a chuckle, "If you were paying attention in Signal's classes, you'd know that since I have Aura, my body's a little more durable than most. It can handle a little desert sun."
"Ugh, Aura. Don't get me started." Cardin rolled his eyes, kicking a stray pebble as they moved through the shifting crowds, "When are you going to unlock mine? Signal won't do it till second year."
"Wow, Master Cardin, you're very lucky." Axel said with the dry comedy Cardin had learned to expect. "I was going to wait until your third."
"You're the worst. What do we pay you for?"
"My charming personality?"
"No wonder you were so cheap." Cardin clicked his tongue as Axel laughed deeply. The two walked through behind Cardin's parents as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked around.
He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad Axel was here. Not because he was scared or anything like that. Cardin was confident he could take on a bunch of losers from this dump any day of the week. No, he was grateful because Axel looked like an idiot.
He was walking around in a complete set of armor in the middle of the desert sun, at noon, with a helmet on. People looked at him like he was crazy.
This means fewer people looked at Cardin and his family as if they were crazy.
Most people in Vacuo wore something that exposed the darker shades of skin that had come to dominate this sun-kissed population. Everyone seemed to be wearing shorts or some loose or ripped pants. Women wearing crop tops or just bras was ordinary. Men wearing nothing, shirtless as the day they were born, was even more common.
A lot of people wore cloaks and bandages, which he didn't understand, but whatever. The point was that the Winchester family stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else.
His mother was probably the best dressed for the occasion, having bought a traditional green and gold Vacuan dress that she said made her blond hair and blue eyes pop. It was only one layer, and according to her, it was really comfortable and breathable so that the wind would cool her down.
Cardin was worse off, wearing his school uniform minus the long-sleeved blazer and tie he usually had to wear because he wasn't freaking insane. That left him in a short-sleeved, button-up white shirt with black pants that he refused to think about because his legs would melt if he did.
His dad was dressed similarly. He wore a white short-sleeved dress shirt and pants that seemed to be loosely fitted to give some semblance of mercy against the arid heat.
It was funny. Cardin knew he looked more like his dad than his mom, but now it was pretty much a copy-and-paste. Change a few things here and there, make Cardin's hair a duller shade of orange, make his eyes a little lighter shade of blue, grow him up a few years and a couple of inches, and bam.
James Winchester, current head of the esteemed Winchester Family, at your service.
That was probably exactly what was going to happen in a few years. He'd look like his father did in his prime, but Cardin would make a few changes to the classic Winchester look. He was starting with the thin mustache his dad had.
Yeah, that was going. He never said it to his dad because, duh, but the mustache was dumb. It would never go anywhere near his face, now or in the future.
The slicked-back hair, on the other hand...
Maybe Cardin would try that, it looked kind of cool and his loose hair was annoying in training. It kept poking him in the eyes.
"Hey Axel, should I slick my hair back?"
"Like Master Winchester?" Axel asked. "I don't know. Why are you asking me?"
"It's because of training," Cardin said. "In sparring classes, my bangs keep getting in my eyes. I hate it. "
"Oh, so that's what it's about," Axel said, his head tilted as he thought over the question momentarily.
"I'd say go for it." Axel shrugged, tilting his head like he was trying to see if he still had hair underneath that rust bucket. Eventually finding his answer, he shook his head and added, "But don't forget to pack hair gel wherever you go."
"Seems excessive."
"Trust me, it's not." Axel shook his head. "The small things get huntsmen killed more often than not. Your bangs poking your eyes could mean death when fighting Grimm. If you're relying on hair gel to overcome that risk, you must always have it on you or be ready to find a different solution if that's not an option."
"A different solution?" Cardin asked as Axel nodded. A smile, Cardin just knew the jerk was smiling under there, on Axel's lips as he took scissors with his fingers and put them in front of his forehead. Making the snipping gesture, he said, "Cut it off. If you don't have any gel, cut it all off."
"You want me to go bald!?"
"Bald is better than buried." Axel shrugged, and Cardin gawked, his hands protecting his hair as he swore he'd pack a thousand bottles of hair gel. There was no way he was going bald. He'd never be able to live that down. They'd torch him at Signal. His friends would shred him to pieces.
"No way. If I lose my hair, then I'll-"
Cardin grunted as he walked into a short figure, someone walking against the crowd for whatever reason, bumping into his chest. He grunted, stunned, as he caught his footing and looked down at a girl with green eyes and red hair. The hood of her brown cloak covered her head as she glanced at his face and scowled, "Watch where you're going, asshole."
"Me?" Cardin asked, his eyes wide before a scowl settled on his face. His eye twitched as the girl shoved past him and walked away. Cardin's temper flared as he yelled, "You watch where you're going!"
"Real Clever." The girl snarked as she walked against the current of people heading to Shade, disappearing with the surrounding crowd. Cardin ground his teeth, nearly chasing after her before a gauntlet grabbed onto his collar and pulled him back.
"Come on, Master Cardin," Axel said. "You can't win them all."
"Huh!? Who lost? I'll break her face in, then I'll win!" Cardin yelled as he was dragged away. His anger only slowed as he heard people laughing at him and started walking as a way to save dignity. His eyes furrowed, and his hands shoved in his pocket as he grumbled, "The hell is with her. Watch where I'm going. She bumped into me."
"Yes," Axel said dryly. "And you handled it very maturely, Master Cardin."
"I did, didn't I?" Cardin smirked. "You know, I bet she couldn't see two feet in front of her with that stupid cloak in her face. What an idiot."
"You know, I've heard people call them tacky, but stupid is a new one."
"Well, that's what they are, and these people," Cardin waved around them, uncaring for the glares sent his way, "Are stupid for wearing them."
"I think you're being a tad inconsiderate."
"No, I'm being honest. I mean. Why's everyone even wearing bandages and cloaks and sh?" Cardin felt his neck prickle and instinctively flicked his eyes over to his mother. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at him, and he sweated slightly. Cardin looked away and coughed into his palm, "Stuff."
Cardin's mom smiled and turned back to her conversation with his father. Cardin sighed in relief; Axel laughed heartily, shaking his metal head as he gestured towards the surroundings. "It's a culture thing in Vacuo, Cardin. These people live in the harshest of terrains. The bandages keep the sun from searing their skin, and the cloaks keep the sandstorms from ripping them to pieces."
"Sounds like a reason to move."
"Sounds like a reason to stay," Axel said, tilting his head slightly as his orange eyes lingered on an old couple running a stand. Cardin traced his gaze to their wrinkled hands. Cardin frowned, "Axel, is there something you're not telling me?"
"You're going to make a splendid comedian one day, Master Cardin," Axel said sarcastically as he rested a hand on Cardin's head and directed his gaze toward the old, wrinkly couple's old, wrinkly fingers. "Look."
"I'm looking."
"Look a little closer, Master Cardin," Axel said patiently, and Cardin bit back the urge to roll his eyes. The last thing he needed was to give Axel a reason to train him any harder than he already was.
"Alright, you big lug," Carding murmured as he stared silently at the couple, squinting to see the heavily scarred skin on their fingers. He blinked, wondering if there was some pattern that Axel was trying to get him to see, but before he could figure it out on his own, Axel spelled it out for him. Those scars weren't from injury. They were from age. From decades of hard work.
"To live in a place that hates you is one of the hardest things a person could do."
It only took a glance to see that most of the older residents of Vacuo had the same.
"It takes a lot of strength. Choosing to adapt instead of leave."
Axel's words echoed in Cardin's ears as he stared, his eyes wide as he glanced at his hands. Calloused after training with his training mace for years. Ever since he decided to become a Huntsman, they were calloused.
They weren't scarred.
"Whatever." Cardin grumbled, flicking his gaze away before lightly pushing Axel's head off his hand, unruffling his hair, and muttering, "Their clothes still look stupid."
"Oh, and your uniform is so much better?"
"Hey!" Cardin said, not embarrassed in the slightest. "I didn't know we were coming here!"
Cardin's dad picked him up from Signal on the last day of the school year. Then, instead of driving him back home, they hopped on an airship and came to Vacuo. Cardin had been cycling through the spare uniforms he'd packed in his backpack since he got here. It wasn't his fault.
"I didn't have time to pack anything good," Cardin muttered as Axel, a smug jerk, chuckled silently. Cardin punched his armor, doing nothing as Axel chuckled harder. Cardin huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he glanced around and toward his parents.
They were already close to the walls surrounding Shade. It was only a few more minutes until they crossed the gates and a few more hours until they said the main event.
This better be worth it.
Cardin would be annoyed if he went through all this crap for nothing.
It was worth it.
It was so unbelievably worth it.
Cardin would give his old self a wedgie if he could. It was so freaking good. His parents got them front-row seats so they had the best view in the house, and even better, they got to see the fights without looking up at the overhead projectors. Full fights. Full action.
It was a nonstop slugfest with zero breaks.
It was like watching one of those crappy old action movies, except this one was actually good. People were still talking about it even after the festival ended. It was the first day back in Signal, and it was all Cardin anyone in his class could talk about.
Cardin sat in the back of the room, the coveted window seat all his, as he listened to all his classmates talk about the tournament.
"Did you see Jane from JCKL? She was amazing. Her outfit was so badass."
"Atlas crushed the finals again this year. SVRN is unbeatable. I don't think they lost a match."
"Damn, it. How did GMNI lose in the quarterfinals? They were our only hope!"
"Did you see GRNN? They made it to the semifinals. I didn't know Vacuo had a team that good."
"I was rooting for MONT all the way. My cousin Oxle is on the team. The one with the Axe. He nearly cried after they lost."
"What'd you think of it, Cardin?" Cardin's friend, Jack, asked, pulling Cardin into the classroom's designated pastime as they waited for their teacher to arrive. Cardin shrugged, tilting his head to the window outside as he played it cool, "It was alright."
"You're foot's tapping."
"Fuck!" Cardin cursed as he made his foot stop and murmured, "Alright, it was pretty cool. The locals sucked," Cardin clicked his tongue at the memory of the girl that bumped into him and had the nerve to complain before shrugging it off, "But the tournament was cool."
"I knew it," Jack smirked, and Cardin rolled his eyes. He turned his attention from the window as Jack tapped his arm and pulled up the finals match on his phone. "So you were there in person, right? At the tournament." Jack asked, "How close were you?"
"Front row."
"Great you," Jack stopped, his eyebrow raised as he glanced at Cardin, "Wait, really?"
"Yeah, really." Cardin smirked, tilting his head back smugly, "Saw the whole thing front row."
"Ugh, you rich bastard. So unfair," Jack grumbled, and Cardin smirked. Choosing not to comment on how Jack was the son of Gion Baxter, the number one chef in Patch. His family's Grimm Duckling restaurant probably made a crazy amount of doe each year.
The only reason Jack was complaining was because the Winchester family was the wealthiest family on Patch. Having descended from one of the noble families way back when Vale still had a king.
"Come on, Jack, don't be sour. You know my family could've gotten you tickets, right?"
Cardin may or may not have rubbed that fact in Jack's face now and again.
"Or what, did your dad's burgers not taste too good this year, and that's why you couldn't come in person?" Cardin smirked, and Jack clicked his tongue. "No, dude. They just didn't have a reason to go. They wanted to hire a food truck for the event but don't have a license in Vacuo. So it was either bail on the entire thing or try to teach some dumb animals to make quality food."
Jack scowled in disgust. "I was looking it up to help them decide. Have you seen what they eat there? Everything's made with sand and spices. They don't know nuance at all!"
"Yeah, the food was awful." Cardin lied, flicking his gaze away towards the window. The food was the only thing he actually liked about that place. Cardin had devoured Curry something during the tournament. He forgot the full name, but whatever it was tasted good.
"Yo Cardin, you good? You're drooling."
"Huh? Oh yeah," Cardin wiped his mouth, shaking the thought of delicious food out of his mind as he turned back to Jack and asked. "What were you asking again? About the finals."
"Oh yeah, this part," Jack said as he played the video and turned to a specific part. The moment when Victor, one of the members of team SVRN, took on two members of team JCKL at once and came out victorious. His patented hammer slammed to the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust that blocked most of the views from the surrounding cameras.
"What the hell happened, dude? None of the cameras got it."
"How am I supposed to know?" Cardin frowned. "I was front row, not in the arena."
"Ah, man. Seriously? that sucks. I thought you'd have seen something, at least since you were in the front row." Jack groaned, slumping lifelessly on his desk as he watched the video again and moped. Meanwhile, a few others nearby halted their conversation and turned to Cardin.
"Hold up, you were in the front row?" Kyle turned around, sitting at the desk ahead of Cardin and someone he'd known since grade school because their parents ran in similar circles. Kyle leaned closer and asked. "Really? Even my parents couldn't get front-row tickets."
"Mine either." Ellie, the girl sitting diagonal to Cardin, pretty blond and pretty, turned around and tilted her head, "You got first row, Cardin. That's awesome. How was it?"
"It was cool," Cardin shrugged, flicking his eyes away as he crossed his arms. His ears weren't burning. They weren't. He was a Winchester. A Winchester's ears didn't burn. Cardin wouldn't let them. Cardin forced his blue eyes back to Ellie's green.
"How about you...did you..."
Damn it, she was cute. How did Dad say he asked Mom out? Confidence. Okay, confidence.
"How was yours," Cardin bit his tongue as the door slammed open, and he lost his chance to talk to Ellie, easily the prettiest girl in class by a mile. Cardin muffled a curse with his hand as he nursed his bleeding tongue. Earning a few chuckles from Kyle and Jack, assholes, and a few giggles from Ellie, score, before the class turned to the teacher making his grand entrance.
"Hello, class!" The teacher announced. "Take your seat, and stop talking."
Cardin swallowed his pain and complied with the rest of the class. Everyone watched as the teacher walked over to the blackboard in the front of the class and took out some chalk, writing his name on the board so no one would forget it.
"My name is Professor Hans. I will be your homeroom teacher for your second year at Signal."
Cardin tilted his head. Hans seemed incredibly average for a Signal teacher.
He was a middle-aged retired hunter with a thick accent and stubble on his chin. He had long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and his brown eyes quickly scanned the room. He wasn't muscular but still had some of his old athleticism. It was just buried under the civilian life if Cardin had to guess.
"Now then, as for the agenda," Professor Hans said, pulling Cardin out of his thoughts as Hans pulled out a scroll and set it on the front desk. A projector lit up in front of the class, displaying the training arena that second-years and up got to use.
The professor said, "Now, I know the first year was mostly basic training and guided sparring, but this year will be different. Today, you all will be unlocking Aura, and sparring will be proctored but not guided for the rest of the year. Fight till you win or lose. It's up to you, but no more hand-holding."
Cardin felt the rest of the class's excitement peak as soon as he did. He grinned from ear to ear, his foot tapping as he watched the rest of the class fail to contain their excited murmurs. Aura. It was finally happening. Cardin was so lost in daydreams of finally beating Axel into the dirt that he didn't hear the professor slowly reigning in the whispering class.
"All right, all right, settle down. I get you're excited, but try not to lose focus." Hans said, getting the class to focus again. He closed his scroll and slipped it into his pocket. "Sparring might seem fun, but it is a tool for growth. Use it to practice those fundamentals you learned last year and improve at your own pace. That's what they're there for."
The class nodded, not wanting to talk for fear that he'd ban them from getting Aura.
"Good. Now, on to the second thing." The teacher said, slightly frowning as he sighed and gestured to the door, 'We have a new student here today, all the way from Vacuo. Try not to question her too much; from what I've been told, she just arrived this morning."
Cardin raised an eyebrow as the class turned to the door. He titled his head, looking for the new student over the sea of turned heads, and nearly choked on air the moment he saw her. Red hair, green eyes, short as shit, and walking in without a hood on, revealing the top of her head.
"Her name is Roxy."
Cardin grinned as he saw the red fox's ears atop her head and the fluffy tail sprouting from her tailbone.
"I know having a Faunus in the class will be a new experience for some of you, but treat her as well as is expected." The professor said somewhat blandly, already taking out his scroll to look at the lesson plans. "Now, Roxy, there's a free seat in the front if you-"
"Hey, teach." Cardin interrupted, smirking as the rest of the class turned back his way. His eyes glinted as he saw the girl look his way. She blinked, her eyes furrowed for a second before his face seemed to click. She froze, her eyes wide and her fists slightly clenched. He smiled as the professor tilted his head and asked, "Yes, Cardin, what is it?"
"Ah, well, I actually happen to know fox- sorry, Roxy." Cardin apologized as some of his classmates snickered, a few chuckles spreading through the class as the Faunus's ears twitched. Her eyes were straight ahead, and her jaw was set in stone as Cardin smiled, reaching the seat directly before him and tapping Kyle's shoulder." I was just thinking she should sit next to someone she knows. Kyle doesn't mind moving, right?"
Cardin glanced at Kyle, watching as his friend frowned slightly, glancing between Cardin and the Faunus girl before seeming to get a semblance of an idea of what Cardin was planning. Kyle raised his hand and grinned, "Yeah, teach. She can sit in my seat. I'll take the one in front."
"Splendid." The professor said as Kyle got up and approached the front. The professor pointed idly to the accessible seat as he said, "Alright, Roxy. Take your seat in the back. Class is starting."
"Sir," The girl said through clenched teeth, "I don't think me sitting in the back is appropriate. I-"
"Roxy, if you have complaints, bring them up later. We're on a tight schedule." The professor said, not looking up from his scroll, "Although if you wish to whine to me about a fellow student's generosity, I suggest looking elsewhere. I am not too sympathetic an ear."
Cardin smirked as the class burst into whispers and giggles. The Faunus girl seemed to clench her jaw to the point of breaking teeth before nodding. Her eyes refused to look at anyone as she walked past her classmates and sat down in front of Cardin without a word. She took out a notebook and buried herself in the professor's lecture on unlocking aura.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Cardin whispered, nudging his foot into the back of her seat, playing wack-a-mole with her tail as she tried to ignore his existence. "Not even gonna say hi?"
Now Cardin couldn't have his old friend ignoring him.
"Is it something I said, Foxy?" Cardin grinned as the girl snapped a pencil in her hand. Her head whipped around, sporting a heated glare, before the professor's voice traveled across the room. "Roxy," he said, and Cardin saw the Faunus girl's expression fall.
"If you have time to waste distracting young Cardin," The professor said blandly. "I'd suggest you use it to pick up the mess you made on your desk. We have janitors here in Signal, not servants."
Cardin smirked as Roxy gnashed her teeth and turned to the professor, "But he!"
"Roxy." The professor said coldly, and Roxy shut her mouth. Her eyes lowered as she snarled, ha, typical, and sat back down. She picked up the pieces of her broken pencil, shoved them into her backpack, and took out a spare one. Settling back to taking notes as Cardin decided to do the same, he wouldn't do to have the professor on his tail instead of hers. He took out his notebook, scribbling a few bits of nonsense as he whispered so only his new neighbor could hear.
"Hey, foxy."
Yeah, Cardin was sure of it.
"You better watch where you're going."
This was going to be a good year.