Chapter 6

Stepping into the fourth class of the day I was met with the sight of an enormous warehouse that had a small meeting area with seating that reminded me of an amphitheatre, it even had a stage where Mrs. Garand was standing on it waiting for people to sit down. The area behind the stage she was standing on had a section of glass that looked out into the rest of the warehouse where I could see what looked like what I understood to be a Shoot House.

Before I get to the class I guess I ought to mention that I was still hiding my wings from everyone but my team, I'm as stupid as it sounds still afraid of experiencing the racism which is dumb I know.

So for now I was going to continue hiding them.

Also it was almost the end of Tuesday and this was our first lesson with Mrs. Garand who taught a lot of the weapon related courses at the school if my classes timetable was anything to go by. The current class was called "Gun Course" which makes the Shoot House make sense.

Our entire team was together for this class and we had been told to get into out "combat gear/outfits" prior to arriving in the class, so they were all in the same stuff they had worn during the initiation and I was wearing my armour under my clothing like I had at that time as well. Which meant I was in a maroon long sleeved shirt with my wings hidden under it wrapped around my breastplate, I was wearing some black cargo pants and some tan combat boots.

I didn't bring my sword though, just one of my handguns and the khukri, both of which were in their sheath and holster on my waist from having been looped into my belt.

Walking as a group over to the seating we sat down next to another team, I think they were Team RKWD/Rookwood. I remembered them from being on the cliff before Ozpin launched us all into the Emerald forest, Shamat Kostroma was the only person from that team I had met so far.

Shamat was… something else.

The first time I met her she was wearing a garland of white lilies and crimson roses and an ivory white shin length cloak like dress with straw sandals, I had been reading a textbook while sitting on a bench in one of the gardens around the school. She had long fine light green hair that went down to her thighs with it cut out around her face showing her grey slightly lilac tinted eyes, her skin was quite fair too adding to the almost spirit like appearance she had.

Without cause or reason she approached me getting my attention by saying 'You seem to be carrying a lot of burden.' I remember looking up from the book and being confused then she continued 'Beasts of Burden I've heard people call them, are you one of those beasts?' Then she hugged me and left without a word after placing a rose from her garland in my hair resting on the nook of my mask's right ear.

This had all happened right before I went to have that conversation with Ozpin in his office about my Semblance.

Anyway, I've distracted myself from what's happening in front of me.

Shahmat was sitting two people over from me, with Yang on my right then Shahmat's teammate then her, the strange girl leant forward in front of her teammate to Yang handing a garland to the blonde that was made of spider lilies and purple hyacinth's- man Survival Studies really covered stuff I never thought I'd use yet here I was using that knowledge to name flowers.

"This is for you, it should lighten your load." The odd girl gave the blonde a bright smile and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, both the time that I met her and now it felt like she knew something that the person receiving the flowers didn't.

Maybe her Semblance showed her something or allowed her to know about people's troubles or what have you? I mean I've got personal experience with a Semblance that just seemed impossible.

Before my leader had a chance to respond our teacher started talking.

"Alright now that you're all here I will tell you about the rules of this class, the ranges and the Kill House behind me!" Everyone's attention was focused intently on the woman who was speaking.

"First of all, there will be an inspection of everyone's firearms by myself prior to being allowed into the ranges or on the course for safety reasons. Secondly there will not be any rubber bullets or the like used, in this class we will be firing live rounds and that brings me to my next point if you ever shoot another student intentionally in my class or out of it you will be outright expelled. Under only one circumstance are you allowed to fire your weapons at another student, this is during sparring classes with Miss Goodwitch and even then only when she has given permission."

There was a level of murmuring as people started talking among themselves.

"Thirdly Dust usage and explosive weapons are strictly prohibited in this class and you will be banned from being allowed to handle either if you are found using them without express permission and supervision by Professor Quartz." Mrs. Garand's voice was stern and commanded everyone to listen.

I understood the reason for the strict nature of the rules we were under, but it seemed some people didn't and they started being particularly vocal about how they thought she was wrong.

"ALL OF YOU WILL BE QUIET!" She shouted her face contorting into a deep scowl. "If you wish to challenge the rules put in place for yours, your fellows and my safety then you can leave now and Begone! This academy has no room for those who would actively endanger those around them and you will not be missed!" Her heavy words and strong voice almost immediately silenced all the people who were trying to argue.

This was followed by about a tenth of the class standing up and leaving.

"Damn that was intense..." My team leader's voice whispered from my right as we all turned to watch the people leave.

I noticed Blake on the other side of Pyrrha wincing and covering her bow? with her hands.

Was she… no… she couldn't be right…? I mean I feel like I would have noticed seeing as the girls and I had been living in the same dorm for the past what? like three or four days? That's more than enough time to have noticed something like a Faunus trait.

Hmm… I might try and approach her about it seeing as I understand why she might be hiding her Faunus heritage, though I'm not blind to the fact that I'm hypocritical in this situation for originally not wanting anyone to find out. In my case though I was really fucking stupid about it and didn't really think about the fact that I'd be on a team for four years as well as just not putting together in my mind that I'd be you know living with a team while we trained.

But we already knew I was stupid, not stupid enough to challenge rules that made sense like those morons who just stormed out of the class though.

Anyhow when the class finally started like Mrs. Garand had said everyone lined up in an orderly fashion so that she could take the roster and call those people up with their weapons so she could look over them.

When I was called, I walked up to the stage where the woman was standing in front of it rather than on top of it now, she had just sent off someone who was using some kind of anti-material rifle bearded greataxe mechashift.

"What do you use Mr. Solatium?" She sounded a lot softer and more caring now compared to earlier.

"Just this." I pulled the handgun out from its holster handing it to her and which point she checked it's safety, dropped the magazine from it checking to see if it was loaded- which it wasn't before she disassembled and reassembled it all in only the space of a minute before handing it back and motioning for me to move on.

The class continued on after she finished checking everyone's weapons, most particularly people with guns and mechashift.

"Now that you've all been checked, I'd like to note that if you haven't already had Weapon Shop and Maintenance with Professor Howitzer then you have either already been through the weapon check or are going to go through another when you have that class as he and I are in charge of most of the course Beacon has relating to different types of weaponry and their uses."

"Are there any questions before I explain the next part of the lesson?" a good seventy percent of the class put their hands up. "Good now let's move on." she said ignoring all those with questions.

[Safety First]

A day passed and finally I was headed to my first counselling session that I was required to do. I was a little concerned as to what the person doing them would be like or whether or not they might even like me as a person. It's not like someone in their position couldn't hate or dislike those they 'served'.

Walking into the room I found it to be some kind of dorm turned office, the kitchenette was still there but instead of the couches and coffee table there was a desk set up in the corner with a terminal and a few nicknacks across the desk. In front of it there was a couch against it facing outward to another couch and a coffee table inbetween, meaning she hadn't gotten rid of it, just moved it. Aside from all that there were a few filing cabinets and such plotted around in a somewhat aesthetically pleasing manner.

The counsellor herself didn't seem to be around in the room so I assumed she was either out and I was early or she was in the bedroom section seeing as the door was rightfully closed off. I would have said to close it myself if it had been open, I'm sure there are a bunch of braindead students that would love to rummage around in a teacher's belongings if they could.

I sat down on the couch that faced the desk sitting in wait, though I hadn't been sitting there for longer than maybe five minutes before a woman walked through the door into the room. Not the door that went into the bedroom area, but rather the one that you entered the dorm from or office in this case.

Anastasia had Silverish grey hair that went down to her waist, teal eyes and pale skin, a somewhat curvy form. The outfit she was wearing was a grey blouse poking out from under a maroon hooded poncho, black jeans and flat bottom shoes and a pendant necklace with an emerald for the gem. If I had to guess though she was probably around my sister's age really, if not slightly older.

"Good you're already here." She walked past and put her handbag down by the desk before going over to the kitchenette and boiling the kettle, pulling out several cups. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Uh… Sure?"

"You don't sound very sure." Looking at me for a moment she smirked before turning back to what she was making. "Coffee, Tea, water or something else?"

"Tea, I don't like coffee all that much." My response made me think about it.

The first time I tried coffee was a year ago and it was too bitter for me, then when I tried it for the second time my sister had made me some after an incident and it was better, but still rough.

There was a few minute long silence while the jug boiled, before the drinks were made up and Anastasia handed me a mug with the Tea in it while she sat across from me on the other couch with a cup of coffee. She sipped at it before placing the cup down on a coaster sitting on the table.

"So, who are you?" The white haired woman asked with a bright smile.

"Azrael Solatium… um shouldn't you know who I am?" did she actually not know or-

"I do, but I forgot your name, so unless you wanted me to call you student 324?" the woman said with a laugh.

"Wait, you only see three hundred other students?" I'd have thought there would be more.

"Something like that, yes, kids just aren't that open to discussing things that are troubling them… though I suppose you're here Azrael." She picked up her cup and sipped from it, reminding me to drink mine as well.

"I would say I'm not like other kids, but every kid is not like the others." I said with a sigh.

"Right well before I forget, I'm Anastasia Cosmos, though I'd prefer you just call me Anastasia or any nickname that you make out of it." there was a pause as she seemed to think about something. "This whole thing lasts as long as you want it to, also if you have any questions for me then we can always play a bit of Quid pro quo instead of having you hand me your heart."

I nodded, accepting the terms Ana offered.

"Why do you wear that mask by the way? It kind of reminds me of a cooler version of those White Fang masks, but I doubt you've ever been a member based on what I've heard about you." Was her first question.

"My semblance is a passive sight based one and as it happens my mother allows her to cancel out other semblances and apply the effect to items, and so hence the mask." I explained and began thinking about my question for her. "Why did you become a teacher? Or counsellor?"

"That's a good one, well I always liked talking to people and hearing what they have to say and so I thought that it would be fun to do this- though I was a Huntress first and foremost before settling on being a counsellor, it was a friend of mine who suggested it." she sipped her drink again while thinking on the next question. "Oh! How about- what is your favourite pastime? Like hobbies or whatever?"

"I enjoy… well..." nothing came to mind immediately.

"Can't think of anything that you enjoy doing? Like playing video games or watching shows? Maybe reading comics or whatever?" Ana's suggestions were close to it, but I guess it was just a matter of never really thinking about it.

"Do you mind if we come back to that? It's not really something I've ever really thought about." she nodded and looked at me waiting to hear what I wanted to ask. "Hm… what- what was this friend of yours like that helped you to decide about becoming a counsellor?"

"Another good one, well she was a Faunus like yourself, she is super tall and has these big dog ears that were always standing up unless she was in a foul mood." Anastasia put a hand to her chin. "We called one another sisters pretty often, but she had a real motherly tone about her though that might have been to do with her semblance." a smile crossed the older woman's face as she reminisced about her friend.

"Anything else?" I asked, she seemed pretty happy to be discussing them.

"Nope, I still haven't asked my question yet and you owe me one for the hobby question, you can't get out of this like that." she laughed to herself. "My next question is… Could you take the mask off for me?"

What? "What? Why?" My team had seen my face sure and I suppose I had no problem with a counsellor of all people seeing it, but this was a bit straightforward wasn't it?

"Because I'll let two questions slide if you do." she shrugged while drinking her coffee.

"Sure." I might as well say it wasn't like anyone else was in the room with us, plus it would be better to do it now rather than later.

"Really? I hadn't actually expected you to." Her surprised expression was worth taking it off.

"Yup." with that I sighed and took it off, feeling my Aura flare up as it returned to its normal state while I placed the mask on the table. After all, how else could you subdue a Semblance without nullifying someone's Aura at least a little.

"Woah, and my name is Cosmos, yet here you are with eyes like that." she leaned forward to see them better before sitting back. "You sure you weren't born with contact lenses in?" she joked.

"No, these really are my real eyes." I realised something. "So that means you owe me now right? Cause you doubled up and asked if I was born with contacts." Ana rolled her eyes at me and waited. "So… how hard is it being a counsellor?"

"Well… damn your eyes are a real distraction, you know that?" The reason I wore the mask was also because of that. "It's not particularly difficult. I just listen to people and help them feel at home really, most of the advice I give out is generally stuff I help them come to on their own to make it stick better than just having some adult tell them how they should deal with it."

"Oh okay, cool." I'm not really sure what I assumed it was like, but I suppose that makes sense.

"Alright, tell me about what drove you to seek out my help?" The teal eyes watched me with a light smile.

"Shouldn't you know already? These are meant to be mandatory for students that have killed another person before, or at least that's what the Headmaster told me." It was a little confusing then again she hadn't not been at least a little confusing when she asked me who I was.

"Yeah I know I just wanted to see if you'd got something deep within that heart of yours that you wanted to profess as the reason for being here and ignore the fact that you're meant to be here for that." I wanted to say she was odd but I kept meeting women recently that I just didn't know how to react to.

"So are we going to talk about me killing someone or…?"

"It depends on how you feel about it really, are you up to talking about it?" She watched me curiously.

"Y'know… I've killed a lot of people, more than I care to admit to." I wasn't really sure how much I should say really, I was one of those kids who matured probably faster than I should have because of the stuff my Semblance led to… like the occasional disappearance that was assumed to be a Grimm attack.

"You obviously regret doing it so I won't hold it against you." Anastasia said, looking at me like nothing had happened.

"You're really okay with hearing about that?" I ended a lot of other people' lives because I had no control over my emotions at times.

"Why shouldn't I be? People have done worse for a lot less, plus I assume it was all relative to unlocking your semblance and not having much self control because kids are assholes." she shrugged, it blew me away. I hadn't really even thought about it like that.

The bell rang signalling that I needed to go to Math for my final class of the day.

"You know I can override your last class if you want to stay here and talk a while longer?" Ana said, looking at me with a soft expression.

"I'd like that, yeah." I watched as she pulled out her scroll.

"What class do you have next?"

"Not sure what exactly but it's with Mr. Howitzer." I answered easily, it wasn't like you'd forget that kind of name.

"Howitzer, huh?" Ana's teal eyes glossed over a list of names on her Scroll while finding the teachers name. "Alright, I'll tell him that you're extending your time with me so you may not get to his class on time if at all. He'll probably be understanding about it, he's a nice guy."

After she finished the call I said "I like reading and going for walks if that's any help as to what I like doing."

She looked at me a little confused. "Oh! You meant the question you didn't answer! Right! Yeah… well its a start, I suppose we could go back t quid pro quo?"

[Weight on his shoulders.]

"What class did you have last Azrael? You're back pretty late." It was my team leader who addressed me when I got back to our dorm. She was sitting on one of the couches watching some show.

"Err… it was Howitzer's class" I answered, rolling my shoulders and stretching a bit.

"Hmm… wait!" I was about to walk into the bedroom when she stopped me.

"What is it Yang?"

"You smell like perfume and coffee." She was now standing looking at me very intently.

"How the hell did you even manage to pick up either of those smells? Also why would that matter anyway?"

She gave me a knowing look. "What do you mean by that then?" there was something innately mischievous about the grin that followed.

"Well I do have a girlfriend Yang, so I could have been out with her." I shrugged and walked away, I wasn't really sure what she was getting at. I suppose the counsellor room smelled of perfume but it's not like I cared at all if the smell was lingering on me, she was doing her job and helping me out and all.

Was she some kind of Faunus with a really good sense of smell or something? How the hell did she even manage to pick up on the smell?

I don't really have any plans to inform any of them about it really, seeing as it is a personal matter and all.

Walking into the next room though Blake was on her bed reading which reminded me that I needed to start reading a book she lent me, it was a pretty good read from the skimming of its synopsis I did, but she said that the side characters were a little more interesting than the main character.

She offered a small wave as I came in before I went straight to rummaging through my drawers for something, after I found what I wanted I realised I hadn't seen my partner, though she was normally out around this time.

If anything I was just glad it the day was almost at an end, so that I was one day closer to the weekend- I was looking forward to the next date Serqet and I went on, I wasn't sure what we were going to be doing, but I had an idea of where I wanted to go. If things didn't go as planned though I was fine with just going to the same cafe we had been. A lot of the time we just talked to one another anyway so I'm sure she wouldn't mind if it came to that or maybe she had something she wanted to do herself?

An hour passed of reading when I got a message on my Scroll.

\\Az, Sis said that you have a Harem with a bunch of famous girls in it?! How the hell did that happen? Also, if not please explain why she always sends messages like that. Also-Also I'm top of my classes at Shade so guess you'll have to catch up to me at this rate!/

It was from my younger Brother who seemed to be doing well by the looks of things then, though right after his message I got a call from him so I decided to walk out of the dorm onto the slight balcony that was in the main room stepping out into the sky again and taking the call on the roof where I had retreated to yesterday. Yang said something as I passed her but I was more focussed on the call I had.