1,516Disclaimer: Fate/Stay Night is property of Type-moon, RWBY is property of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. This work is purely fanfiction and as such earns me no income.
On a warm moonlit night, a beautiful young girl with white hair gazes at the starry sky from a balcony. Her chin resting on her hand, she continued to stare, her thoughts wandering.
"Hey, Weiss."
Blake stood just outside the dorm's balcony doors.
"Mind if I join you?" she said.
"…Oh, sure." Weiss took a moment longer to answer as she had many things occupying her mind this night. "Do what you like. It's not like I own the dorm."
Blake took the spot near her. She closed her eyes and brushed away her stray hair that had been swept up by a passing breeze. It was a good, peaceful night.
"…You okay?" asked Blake after a minute of silence.
"Why wouldn't I be?" answered Weiss.
"Well…"
The faunus had been passing by earlier when she had chanced upon a rather daring and private confession. Jaune had apparently done the whole song and dance number in order to ask Weiss out to the school dance with him. She heard the entire routine pretty well.
"So you must've heard that, huh?" Weiss smiled. "It got a little bit embarrassing towards the end, but I think he did his best. I'm just glad nobody else was around to hear it."
Blake blinked blankly at her.
"What?" scoffed Weiss.
"Nothing." Blake shook her head. "Well, not nothing… It's just that I would have never— I mean—!"
"I know, I know." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm the 'Ice Queen' and all that. You were probably expecting a lot more from me than a polite rejection, right?"
"Uh…" Blake didn't answer, but that was all the answer that was needed.
Weiss had earned that nickname after all. No one in the entire school would mistake anyone else for it. Heck, even some of the people in Vale know about it.
"…I thought it was nice of you to let him down easy," said Blake.
"A bumbling buffoon that he is, he is still a friend of ours," sighed Weiss. "While it's not exactly how I pictured it when I came here, I still have learned to grow in my own way, you know?"
"Right." Blake could clearly understand that the incident with her running away is still probably fresh on her mind. While it had been a rather tumultuous experience, she was glad that they all came out the better for it.
Weiss Schnee befriending a faunus. A former member of the White Fang, no less. Not exactly as Blake would have pictured it herself when she first came here.
"Does that mean someone's already asked you out to the dance?" said Blake.
"No."
"Huh?"
"No one else had asked me to the dance," repeated Weiss, looking nonplussed. "Aside from the buffoon, there hasn't been a single one to ask me to the dance. At least there was one guy in this entire school that had the nerve to try and ask me out, even if it's probably because he's way too dense. "
"Then why did you turn him down?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow at the faunus. "I said I learned to be better, not become a saint. I'm not going out with a…" She seemed to have realized the venom that was close to come out of her mouth, biting down back on it. "Charming boy of… uhh, unique personality."
"Pfft." Blake couldn't help letting out a snort at her attempt at civility. She was really bad at it, but at least she was trying. "I know, I know. Learning to be better. You don't have to frown so much at me. So what are you going to do about the dance then?"
"Nothing," said Weiss with disinterest. "I'll probably just go alone. I don't really find that idea as displeasing as I thought I would. It's not like I'll be the only girl without a partner to the dance. I mean even Ruby is going without a dance partner."
"Ruby?" said Blake. "But she does have one."
Weiss almost stumbled as she turned too quickly at the comment.
"Ruby?!" she repeated, getting up close to Blake. "Ruby Rose?! She has a partner to the dance?!"
"…Yes?" Blake had to take a step back as the Ice Queen drew much too close to her. "She told me she asked someone yesterday."
"She was the one who asked?"
"Y-Yeah!" Blake was uneasy as Weiss had gripped her tightly by the shoulders.
"…Who is it?"
Blake felt chills at the frost of her voice. "I… don't know. I only found out about it a while ago. Why do you care?"
"I-I don't!" Weiss let her go, much to her relief. "Just a little… curious. I mean, it's Ruby after all."
"And there's the 'Ice Queen,'" sighed Blake. She was doing just fine a while ago too. "I know she's not the popular type like you and Yang, but she is still a cute girl, you know? It's not that hard to imagine that someone might've taken an interest in her."
"I… suppose she is…" Weiss conceded as her image of Ruby seemed to glow in her memories for some reason she could not fathom. "Her smile does make her pretty…"
"What?"
"Uh, nothing!" shouted Weiss. "I just said that the tiles here are all so messy! Why aren't they cleaning it thoroughly?"
"Well, it is an outside balcony?" Blake tilted her head at the sudden off topic. "Anyway, we should probably head back. It's getting pretty late."
"Yeah…"
"Not coming with?" asked Blake as she waited by the door.
"You go on ahead," said Weiss. "I think I still need to clear my head."
"Okay, but don't take too long. It's probably going get colder soon. You don't want to miss the school dance because you got sick."
"Thanks."
Blake left, leaving Weiss all alone once again to stare at the bright shining, shattered moon above her head. She stayed there for just a bit longer. Her thoughts going back to Ruby and the dance.
"I wonder what she's going to wear?" Weiss asked herself. If it's Ruby, she could somehow picture her wearing combat boots just because they would be easier to move when dancing. The idea of it brought a smile to her face. "Maybe she'll bring Crescent Rose as her partner?"
That smile she quickly vanished. Ruby had asked someone to the dance with her.
"Blake was right. I might be feeling a little sick." Weiss decided that the feeling she felt was probably due to the weather and unrelated to Ruby in any way. She left to go to sleep back in her bed, not noticing that the tightness in her chest was anything else.
She got back to their room, finding everyone was already asleep. It looked like Ruby had been too tired to climb up to her bed once again, as she was on Weiss' bed.
Weiss sighed. This was the reason why she wanted the bottom bunk. It made it so much easier to get in and out of bed.
She was about to wake Ruby and make her complaints known, but she changed her mind when she saw how peaceful Ruby slept.
"Really, how could anyone think of going to the dance with you?" Weiss adjusted the blanket haphazardly covering their dear leader. She stared at Ruby's face for several minutes before climbing up to Ruby's bed.
She had thought she would have trouble sleeping that night due to how troubled her mind was over matters she herself did not quite understand, but somehow, Ruby's pillow felt really nice on her head. The scent of her sheets made her feel so relaxed and her blanket felt warm over her.
As she drifted to sleep, she reminded herself to ask Ruby where she bought them. No wonder she could sleep so quickly.
Yang wondered who he was. That question had bothered her since that night. She couldn't get it out of her mind. He came at just the right moment to save her.
Just like a superhero.
That couldn't be it, right? But then, how did he show up just in the nick of time? Was he just passing by and seen her falling? That seems much too coincidental.
Well, there was also the idea that he'd been watching her the entire time. That was a lot more probable to her. There was no telling how long he'd been observing her. Since she came from Junior's club or possibly even longer before that?
The idea of someone stalking her like that should have creeped her out, but somehow, she just felt her face flush at the thought of those steel grey eyes watching her every move. Could he be watching her right now? Was he somehow observing her without her knowing?
Could she maybe—?
"Miss Xiao Long!"
"Huh?" Yang looked up to see a very displeased Professor Goodwitch glaring down at her. The rest of the class snickered and giggled at the dumbfounded expression she was giving the professor.
"I take it then that you had not heard me the first three times I called you?"
"Y-Yes, Ma'am! I mean—no, Ma'am!" Students snickered at her panicked reaction. Yang had finally realized that she was in the middle of class.
"Very well," said the professor, calmly adjusting the bridge of her glasses. "Seeing as you seem so out of it, how about I give you some exercise to wake you?" She took out her tablet and the combat screen in the practice arena came to life. "I was planning on having Miss Nikos do a demonstration, but it appears you would be better suit for it. The demonstration will be about solo versus team combat. For this lesson, you'll be fighting…" She made a series of clicks on her tablet before a Team appeared on the screen. "Team CRDL."
Team CRDL seemed hyped as they hooted and jumped down onto the combat ring of the room. They most likely thought this was going to be an easy match, and therefore, an easy grade for them. Their grades weren't very good, so they'll take what they can to raise it even just a little bit. Even if it means fighting an unfair match up.
Too bad for them that Yang hadn't been idle in her skills as she was in her studies in classes. She was one of the most serious in honing her skills among the teams ever since they lost so badly.
"Why not?" grinned Yang, cracking her knuckles. She could use a warm up to shake her thoughts out of the way. It wasn't her style to think about things too deeply anyway. It's been a while since she gave anyone a good beating.
She was quick to jump down, ready for a good fight.
"Break a leg, Yang!" shouted her sister from the seats. "I mean that as a form of expression, though!"
"Don't worry," she answered, bumping her fists in anticipation. "I'll try not to. Maybe just their faces, though?"
Now, the fight pretty much went as expected. As in, it was a one way beat down of the Team CRDL. They had gone in with an almost carefree attitude, assuming that one girl isn't going to give them much trouble. After giving Cardin, the leader of the team, a floor-cracking suplex, they made the already late decision to take things a little more seriously.
The battle ended when Yang put a ground pound through Russel and down into the rest of the pile of his team, knocking them all out. Professor Goodwitch called the results of the match. She seemed to have finally gotten over Yang's earlier conduct and was now smiling.
"Well done, Miss Xiao Long," she said. "It seems you'll have no problems at least with the practical side of my class, but still, I expect to have your full attention when I am in front of you."
"Yes, Ma'am," smiled Yang apologetically.
"Good," nodded the professor. "Now, we have time for one more sparring match. Do I have any volunteers?"
She waited as she looked for any signs from students to do so. If no one wanted to volunteer, she would have to choose someone herself.
"I'll do it." A hand raised up from a pale, gray haired student. The professor seemed to recall that he was one of the foreign students that had come for the Vytal Festival.
"Mercury, is it? Very well. Let's find you an opponent."
"Actually, I wanna fight her." He pointed at Yang.
Professor Goodwitch frowned. "I'm afraid Miss Xiao Long has just finished a match, I'd recommend you choose another partner."
"I'm fine with it," said Yang, looking at Mercury's smirking face. "I just got warmed up anyway."
She hadn't even broken a sweat against Cardin's team. Plus, it was good opportunity for her to see just how good the visiting students were. There was also the feeling that she just wanted to punch the guy's face for some reason.
With no further complaints, the two students took to the ring, readying their combat stances.
"Let's take this slow, shall we?" said Mercury.
Yang immediately charged at him, sending a punch right at his head that he narrowly dodged, but could only block a kick to his stomach with his arms. Even though he blocked it, he got pushed back by several feet from the force of it.
"Now where's the fun in that?" smirked Yang at him. She didn't give him time to respond as she pressed her attack. Her fists were fast as she threw them his way. Mercury kept backing off trying to dodge them.
"Pretty good," said Mercury. He sent a high kick towards Yang's chin that she deftly avoided, before flipping on his hands and rotating his legs outwards that made her break away to avoid it. "Still better than you, though."
Yang closed in once again, pressuring him as he now blocked with his legs at each of her strikes. As he raised one leg to block a blow, she twisted her body and delivered a low spin kick that tripped him on his back.
"Is that a fact?" said Yang smugly.
"I suppose… it's debatable," groaned Mercury, picking himself up on his feet. He supposed that his little bit of fun was enough. He could feel Emerald frowning at him from his back.
"Giving up?" said Yang, just as he was about to. "I can tell you want to."
Mercury looked at her watching him with such surety. He could usually take insults like water off a duck's back, but right now?
He leveled his legs, readying for another clash.
"I was gonna say that I was just getting warmed up." What she said reminded him of his dad. So now, he needed to release some pent up aggression. Emerald can just sit tight until he was finished. It's not like winning in class would mess up any of their plans.
The match continued with Yang and Mercury exchanging blow for blow, with no one getting the upper over the other for too long. Yang used her fists, while Mercury used his legs. The fight would have lasted longer if Professor Goodwitch hadn't had to end it before either side won. Class time was over, so she had to declare the match a draw due to them having the same amount of aura left.
There was some applause from the class. Everyone thought it was a good fight.
…Well, almost everyone.
"Cinder told us not to stand out," whispered Emerald unhappily as Mercury returned to her side. "You should have just given up."
"You're right," said Mercury. "I probably should have. It's just that… I really didn't want to. I wanted to wipe that smug smile off her face."
As they both left the class, Professor Goodwitch still had some words for Yang.
"I trust you will remember to be attentive next class, Miss Xiao Long," Professor Goodwitch scolded. "On that note, perhaps I should give you some advice if you are struggling with staying awake in class?"
About a full five minutes worth of parting words. Professor Goodwitch really didn't appreciate being ignored. It was great that the class was the very last one of the day.
"Oh, man…" sighed Yang after leaving the lecture hall. "The professor really gave it to me there."
"Not surprising," said Blake, walking beside her and the rest of their team. "You were really out of it. I thought for sure she was going to take out her riding crop. It's not like you to daydream in Professor Goodwitch's class."
"What were you daydreaming about?" asked Ruby.
"N-Nothing," chuckled Yang nervously.
"Really?" Ruby eyed her suspiciously. "Reaaaaallly?"
"I was just… thinking of the school dance coming up!" Yang quickly found an excuse. "Yup," she nodded. "I was thinking what sort of music they'll have lined up. Nothing important really."
"Oh, that's right!" nodded Ruby. The dance was already coming up soon, so she had to think about preparations as well. "I also wanted to know what kind of music they had to dance to. I gotta practice and don't want to embarrass myself. Thanks for reminding me, Yang. I have to go find the DJ and ask him about it. I'll see you guys later."
Ruby waved a quick goodbye and raced down the hallways. It didn't creep into her mind that she had no idea where or who the DJ was. She'll probably meet up with them sooner rather than later to ask them.
"She's pretty excited," said Yang, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. "I guess getting a date for the dance really motivated her."
"S-Speaking of," stuttered Weiss, "You wouldn't happen to know who her date is, would you?"
"I don't know," shrugged Yang. "She just said she found someone to go to the dance with her. I was… uh, a bit tired from my night out to really get into asking her about it."
"Why are you so interested?" said Blake, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said you didn't mind not having a partner to the dance."
"O-Of course I don't!" huffed Weiss. "I… just want to make sure that since Ruby is the leader of our team that she doesn't ask someone that might embarrass us. For the good of the team."
"Hmm…" Blake didn't seem so sure.
"You know you could always just ask her yourself, right?" stated Yang.
"That's…!" Weiss had her mouth open, but there were no words coming out of it. She couldn't seem to find a reason not to. Although, she felt like she wouldn't be able to handle it so well if she did ask Ruby.
Weiss herself couldn't really explain it. Just a few days ago she didn't even care much if someone asked her to the dance or not. But now? Ever since she found out Ruby had a partner at the dance, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She really wanted to know who it was. She also felt frustrated that… that…
"You could always ask for a dance," said Blake.
"What…?"
"You know, ask Ruby's partner for a dance to get to know them. It's not like people can dance only exclusively with their partners. I mean, even Yang said she wanted to show me how to dance after I'm done with Sun."
"Oh!" Weiss said. "That's right! I could just ask Ruby for a dance."
"Uh… you mean with her partner?"
"Right," nodded Weiss enthusiastically. "Isn't that what I said?"
Blake and Yang both looked a little confused, sharing a look with one another as if asking each other if they misheard.
"I'm really looking forward to it," said Weiss. "Oh, but I haven't picked out a dress yet! The dance is practically just around the corner! I have to make some calls. I'll see you guys back at the dorm."
She rushed off from the two, scroll already out and on her hand as she dialed numbers on it. Yang and Blake could hear her asking about dress styles and sizes.
Professor Goodwitch watched as the last of her students left. Although she had been irritated by them at most times, she still found it greatly satisfying to see them grow before her eyes. She firmly believed in Ozpin's view that the children are their future.
Now if only they could dial back on their destruction.
She sighed as she surveyed the damage to the class combat ring from the fight between Yang and Mercury.
"Would you like me to start cleaning up?"
Professor Goodwitch looked up to see their new custodian jumping down from the elevated seats of the room. It would seem that he had once again visited and observed during today's class. If he had been a student of hers, she would have been proud of his diligence.
"No need," smiled the professor. "If I'm here, I see no need to trouble you over something I can finish much faster." Taking out her riding crop, she waved it and pointed it at the destruction around the room, causing the rubble and craters to slowly fill back into their original condition.
"Oh?" exclaimed the custodian. "That's certainly a useful ability. I can imagine that would make my work much easier if I could do the same."
"I am not so sure if it isn't more of a curse," sighed Glynda. She sometimes wondered if she was the reason why students thought so little in regard for their wanton disregard for furniture and property. There wasn't a day where she didn't need to be called for to help with repairs. "Were you here watching class again, Mr. Emiya? I hadn't noticed you."
He nodded. "I had been told that my presence was a bit distracting, so I hid myself until after classes had started."
"I see," chuckled the professor. "Well, I for one, thought your presence helped motivate my students during classes. Goodness knows that Miss Xiao Long could have used it in class today."
"She seemed lively enough."
"Well, I wouldn't say she was at peak performance." Professor Goodwitch could tell that the girl had other things in mind. "She is usually quite attentive when it comes to combat classes, but she seemed quite distracted today. Although, I can't reprimand her so much about it, seeing as that she seemed to have improved her combat skills. She and some of the other students are much more motivated than before in their training."
She supposed that their earlier experience of fighting opponents much stronger than them had helped in that. Being so young, a lot of them probably thought they were invincible and could take on the world with will alone. Having to face a seemingly insurmountable wall had greatly affected that lax view of the world.
"It isn't a bad thing," said Shirou. "To become stronger."
"I just hope to teach them what I can until they grow up," said Glynda. "I look forward to seeing them become first rate Huntsmen and Huntresses. Although, the headmaster seem to think that they will one day save the world."
"Saving the world, huh?"
Professor Goodwitch was confused. There was a hint of coldness that seemed entirely out of place in his voice just then. She could hear his knuckles tighten.
"I wonder… does he really know what that means?" he said, turning his back on her so that she couldn't see his face. "After all… the fighting never stops."
"Mr. Emiya…?"
"I should be getting back to work," he said abruptly. "It was nice chatting with you professor. The students are lucky to have you as their educator."
Professor Goodwitch saw him go. She found him to be an agreeable man. Yet, it was only now that she wondered about who he really was. That change in his voice had been vastly different. It was heavy with the weight of understanding. Something that only those with experience could have.
If only she knew how much experience he had… saving the world, that is.
"So this makes the third spot we've secured," said Rin.
She looked at the map of the city of Vale laid out on her desk. There were various pins and markers of different colors place all over it.
"The purchase price so far haven't been that expensive since we started with the areas located at the outer edges of the city," said Roman who stood in front of her. He checked his scroll on the information they've gathered. "The other locations won't be as cheap. Also, a few might be more of a problem than simply throwing money at them."
For their project to succeed, it was necessary that they secure all the locations. Even failing to get a single one would turn all they have worked for useless. It was a difficult problem.
"You don't have to worry about that part," said Rin. "I've got that handled. Concentrate on acquiring the rest of the locations. While I encourage you—encourage you to avoid spending too much, if you can get them through legal means, then you can…" She found it difficult to get out the words. "…spend as much as needed…"
"You know, it would be faster and cheaper if you could—"
"We're not going to do anything illegal," snapped Rin.
"You understand that we are wanted terrorists, right?" said Roman. "I doubt something like real estate fraud is going to make much of a difference."
"I know," said Rin in irritation. She knew that. After all, she made the same arguments already before. She had been sorely tempted by the idea more than once. Shirou and Sakura were both adamant about their thoughts about it.
"It's not like we're in a rush anyway," said Tukson. He stood beside Roman as he too had been involved with acquiring some of the areas.
There was no immediate need to setup the bounded field so soon. They were actually way ahead of schedule with how quickly they made progress with it. All the materials had been acquired and Rin and Illya are almost done with the calculations for the spell.
Encasing the entire city in the field was possible thanks in part to the amount of ambient mana found in this world. The Dust crystals also proved to be an excellent and efficient battery source for starting and maintaining it without it burning through the ambient mana faster than it could be replenished.
Rin sighed. "You're right. It's not like this city is danger of getting attacked at any moment. Even if it did, I doubt those Grimm would be enough to go through all the hunters and soldiers here."
"I guess it's fine if I take it easy then?" smiled Roman. "Nothing wrong with relaxing a bit until the papers go through anyway."
Everything had been going smoothly with all the business and stuff lately, so Roman had been having more and more time to himself. With all the legal paperwork awaiting approval from the ever slow process of government bureaucracy, there wasn't a lot he could do but sit and wait.
"You have that much free time, do you?"
A chill ran up Roman's back. He could see his boss smiling at him. He knew what that meant. It was the same smile she had when he signed his soul away.
"That's great," she continued to smile. "And here I was working two jobs and at home every single day. It must be nice to be able to sit back and relax."
"I-It's not all that great…" mumbled Roman weakly.
"Ah, maybe you can help me with something since you have plenty of time now, right?"
Roman blanched.
"I was wondering where I was going to get a live subje—volunteer for a little test of mine."
"Oh! I forgot about that really important email I got about those lease agreements! Let me just—" Roman found himself held up by two burly arms, unable to make his quick getaway.
"Should've kept your mouth shut," whispered Tukson. Rin had signaled him to make sure he didn't escape.
"Let's go to my workshop, shall we?" said Rin as she stood up from her desk. "I'm really thankful for you helping me out here. I'd ask the others but everyone is so busy. It's great that you have so much free time."
The faunus in the house watched as Tukson carried a struggling Roman in his arms whilst following a very pleased Rin. The gentleman criminal begged them for help, but they could only look at him in pity, sending prayers his way. They'd heard Rin's murmurings to herself about finding a volunteer during breakfast. With Roman taking the role, they could breathe a little easier about it.
A/N:
So the next chapter is going to be the school dance. I'm hoping I can make it work well with the plot I have planned. If not, then I'll probably modify it. Things are different when you put them into writing.
As always, please read and review.