Ch. 14 Heartache

Junior waits for the water to warm up before he gets in. He takes a few more swings from the bottle and gets into the shower.

The blood and dirt from his body is washed away. Only a small portion of the blood is actually his. Just the bit that was on his forehead and face was his own. But Derek's blood was all over him. Some was from the time Derek coughed blood when they were talking for the last time.

Junior looks down at his body as the water takes the blood with it. He puts his hands on the wall to keep himself standing. The anger, sorrow, frustration, and other emotions begin attacking him again. And this time they're back with a vengeance.

His breathing picks up and his arms begin shaking. He clenches his eyes shut and tries to just focus on the water running over his body. His entire world feels like it's spinning.

Derek is dead. He has to tell Lavi Earl Bole wasn't her father, but Derek was and now he is dead too. These are the two major things weighing on his conscience.

Then there is the whole Rue thing. Uprooting Spider in Vale. The funerals and fixing Vale back up. He's now on Ozpin's radar. And so many other things are going on.

"I guess if I'm only worrying now it's not that bad" Junior jokes to himself. He should have been freaking out since the beginning. He wasn't some big name in his last life. But now here he is, playing with people's lives.

He grabs the bottle of alcohol and sits down with the water falling onto him. Junior leans his back against the shower wall and just focuses on stabilizing his breathing.

Junior can't help but focus on what he's done so far. Sure he's done a lot in his 3 years, but has he actually enjoyed it? There were some points he did.Training is fun, he always dreamed of having superpowers. But training isn't enjoyable, it's the rewards you get from training. Maybe that's what he will do for the next 4 years… enjoy his time while maximizing what he gets from the time he spends.

Mastering his semblance will be fun but frustrating. But what about the various projects he has coming up? He's got Pyrrha's Mistral Tournaments to bet on. Why not go in person? He's also got the opportunity to talk with the Schnees if he goes to Atlas. He may even get to meet some other big wigs. And if Ozpin wants to watch him… why can't he just watch Ozpin right back.

After 10 minutes sitting down, drinking, and thinking he gets up. He then actually washes himself off and scrubs the blood from his hands and body.

Before he can do anything he needs sleep. But before he goes to sleep he makes sure to send a message to all his men outside of Vale to make a trip back for a weekend. After sending out the recall he goes to sleep. It's an edited version of what he wrote when he was down in the weird dungeon room.

——————

After a few hours Junior wakes up. He checks his scroll and sees the time is 8:50am. It's been a few hours and he's got a long day ahead.

He gets up and gets dressed in a new suit. As he does so he turns on the news to see a reporter standing in front of some destroyed houses and buildings. The female reporter is talking about the destruction and casualties as well as what caused it. As it turns out, Glynda has either not publicly released the names of the 5 bald idiots or she is still looking into them. Junior doesn't care either way. Casualties are up to 175 and more are in a critical condition kn the hospital. And many are injured.

After he gets dressed he goes out of his bedroom and goes straight to his office. Once inside he immediately gets to working out the funds he will donate and use.

After an hour he finishes up and contacts the various people around Vale to get things rolling.

When he checks his scroll after he sees that he's already got some responses from a few people. He knows a few aren't happy about it but he couldn't care less about what they will be missing out on. Lucky for them they know better than to talk back to him, he is their boss after all.

Junior walks out of his office and walks back into his room. He grabs Derek's lighter and scroll. Next is breakfast and then Lavi.

Along the way to the kitchen he stops in front of the door Rue is inside. There is yellow tape across the door saying 'keep out' and 'caution'. He closes his eyes and just continues walking. He will deal with that later… or maybe he will have Lavi do it…

He has a relatively small breakfast compared to usual, but it's still about the portion of a normal person with an omelet and bacon. Along with his breakfast he hears Deadb3ar playing some music. The beat allows Junior's mind to calm down even more.

After he is finished eating he goes to the room Rue is in. He grabs the yellow tape and has an idea. He throws it to the side and holds one end of a strand.

He takes the kinetic energy from the tap as it falls and it stops moving midair. Unfortunately it doesn't continue to generate kinetic energy but he was able to take its kinetic energy from it. Perhaps if he trains his semblance he can learn to constantly take kinetic energy from an object because gravity is always exerting force on an object. Right now the tape only has potential energy, but nothing is holding it up. So in theory he should be able to generate kinetic energy infinitely, or maybe he is but it's just so small that he isn't able to detect it yet. He lets the tape go and it falls to the ground.

There's also the downside that he must be touching the object in order to take its kinetic energy. But even with that downside he won't be complaining.

He opens the door and looks into the room. It's about half the size of a dorm room at Beacon. There is only one bed, a desk, dresser, closet, and bathroom. It's bare-bones because it was an unused room.

On the bed there is a bundle of bedsheets. He notices the bathroom door is open, meaning that she had used it previously because the unused rooms always have everything closed.

"Wake up!" Junior shouts as he closes the door behind him.

"Mmmmm~" A groan comes from the bundle of sheets.

A tick mark appears on Junior's forehead. He stomps over to the bed and grabs the sheets. "I said WAKE UP!!!"

He forces the sheets off the bed. And what he sees is not what he was expecting.

Under the sheets was Rue. She was holding a pillow in her arms while laying on her side. But she is currently missing something. And she isn't getting up either.

Junior's right eye twitches and throws the bedsheets down onto the floor. "Where the hell are your clothes?!"

Rue's silky white hair is spread over the bed around her. Her eyes flutter open to reveal a dull purple color. She sees Junior's face and sits up, leaving the pillow on the bed. Rue kneeling on the bed but then sits back on her heels. "Good morning Master Junior"

"I said don't call me master!" Junior shouts at the small girl that somehow claims to be 21.

Rue places her hands on her thighs, she doesn't think to hide anything. "Oh, I meant Mr. Xiong"

Junior puts his right hand over his face. "That isn't what you should be focused on right now Rue"

"Oh?" Rue nods her head. "I am sorry. I just woke up, I wasn't ready so soon. I waited for you most of the night but you didn't come. You may use me however you wish Mr. Xiong" Rue lays down on the bed and spreads her legs.

Junior bends down and grabs the sheets off the floor. He throws the sheets atop of Rue so hard he uses a decent sized chunk of his aura to increase the sheets kinetic energy. "I told you I don't need your body! I'm not here for that!"

Rue sits up and lets the sheets fall to her lap as she responds in a dispirited tone. "Owwie…"

"I'll give you an owwie" Junior says in a threatening tone and grabs her throat with his right hand. He lifts her from the bed slightly and leans over her face. "You are going to make a list of every Spider here in Vale that you know of. I want their name, location, and any relevant information. Do I make myself clear? "

Rue's eyes open widely and she grabs his hand with both of hers. She's barely able to keep her knees on the bed. "Y-yes~!"

Junior tosses her back into the bed. Unsure if she liked being grabbed. "There are pens and paper in the desk. I will be back in maybe an hour or so. If the list isn't there you know exactly what I'll do to you. And you better be in your clothes when I return"

"As you wish Mr. Xiong" Rue says in a slightly strained voice as she holds her throat. She lowers her head. "It will be done"

As Junior exits the room Rue hops off the bed and walks over to the dresser and takes her clothes from the bottom drawer.

Junior exits the room and is unsure if Rue liked what he did or not. He would much rather not think about it. He grabs the tape from the ground and puts it back up. Thank the Gods he sound proofed the rooms.

Images flash in his head of what he just saw. He rubs the corners of his eyes with his left hand. "Of course the first girl I actually see naked just has to be her"

*Bzzz!*

Junior takes his scroll out and sees all the messages he's received. A bunch of confirmations that people will be returning in a few days. He also sees a few messages from Lavi.

Along the walk to Lavi's room he checks the reports. Nothing worth mentioning is reported. But that's mostly because it's the digital reports. The really important ones will be in writing.

"Junior~!" A certain redhead jumps out of her room and looks down the hall. She is wearing a cloak that is more akin to a hoodie. It's brown and the ears on the hood resemble fox ears. It covers down to her mid-thigh since it's supposed to go over other clothing. But ever since Junior had this made for her she has worn it to sleep more than actually used it on missions as a disguise. It was a birthday present, and something to congratulate her on awakening her semblance. This was meant to help her blend in more with the darkness since she likes wearing bright reds so much.

"Hello Lavi" Junior rubs his temples. "Please put some shorts or something on"

He's had it with women being barely dressed today.

Lavi smiles brightly and pulls up the cloak to reveal short-shorts. "I already am! You can't tell at me again!"

Junior puts his hands in his pockets. "Yeah well, you don't get a pass to walk around in revealing clothes. I don't care what you wear in your room but outside of it is the Xiong family building. There has to be some sense and level of professionalism around here"

"It was one time!" Lavi pouts and folds her arms under her bust. "Changing the subject… can you tell me what happened yesterday?" Her tone changing to a concerned one.

"Yeah, come with me" Junior walks past Lavi.

"Where we goin?" She asks as she walks behind Junior. She matches her steps with his and it looks like she is doing lunges.

"A place where we can talk" Junior continues his pace. He can practically feel Lavi stepping right behind his feet.

Around 2 minutes later and Junior stops walking abruptly.

Lavi doesn't stop in time and bumps into Junior. She quickly takes a step back and looks at the door they stopped in front of. It was Derek's room.

"Are we going to talk with Derek? But I don't sense him" Lavi looks at the room. She can use her aura to scan rooms and she's relatively good at sensing auras and differentiating between auras. She can find Junior's and Derek's aura the fastest since she spends the most time with them.

"Let's go inside" Junior puts his hand on the door knob. He can feel his heart constrict.

Lavi puts her hand on his. "Derek never lets us inside!"

Junior looks down at the small red head. "I am the boss here. This is my building. And you'll understand when I explain things inside"

Lavi takes her hand back and steps to the side.

"Don't be like that yet" Junior grabs her hood and puts it on her head. He then opens Derek's door and walks inside.

The room is relatively small compared to Junior's room, even the old one makes this room look small. Derek said he preferred it small and compact. He didn't like wasting space. There was a big bed in the corner of the room. Book cases lined the walls and there were various paintings hanging as well. There was a desk and dresser along with a closet and bathroom. The lighting was relatively dark, Derek wasn't a fan of anything too bright.

Lavi carefully steps into the room behind Junior and closes the door. "I am not taking the blame if we get in trouble"

Junior looks around at the various books and then sees the desk. There were some journals lined up along the wall on the desk and one was still open with a pen next to it. It seems Derek was called to the office in the middle of writing something.

"Junior?" Lavi goes to his front.

"Sorry" Junior shakes his head. "What is it?"

"When will Derek meet us here?" Lavi asks, her fox ears hood sliding back slightly so she can look way up at Junior's face.

"That's part of what I want to talk to you about Lavi" Junior takes his hands from his pocket and walks over to the desk.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asks with ignorance, unknown if it's intentional or not.

Junior places Derek's scroll and lighter on the desk. He also takes a look at the journal. And from a quick glance it looks like he was writing down his life story with notes and various pictures. Junior forgot that Derek can draw really well.

Lavi sees the lighter and scroll. "W-why do you have those…."

"I've been trying to figure out how to tell you 2 things Lavi. And I don't know which one I should start with" Junior puts the book down.

"Why can't you just tell me where Derek is?!" Lavi pleads.

Junior suddenly turns around. "Derek is gone!" He closes his eyes and calms down. "Derek died last night fighting the people who bombed Vale"

Lavi's eyes water and widen. She takes a step backwards and shakes her head. "This isn't funny! Where is he? Did you send him undercover? These rooms are sound proof right? You don't need to try and tell me lies! I don't expect you to tell me the truth, but please don't lie!"

Junior walks towards Lavi as the girl takes another step back and falls onto the bed.

Junior kneels in front of Lavi who sits up and tears threaten to fall. She hadn't cried in a while, not like this. It was only the first few months she had it bad. "Derek was stabbed through the chest and died in my arms Lavi. I heard his final words. We will be having his funeral this weekend, I've already called everyone back so we can all put him in the ground"

Her usual bright and wide smile nowhere to be seen, a terrible frown in its place. Her breathing becomes irregular and rapid like she's trying to breathe but there just isn't enough air in the world to let her catch her breath. Her hands go a light shade of red and then white she grabs onto her cloak so tightly as she wraps her arms around herself. Her eyes trying to stay open and wait for Junior to tell her it's a terrible joke. But when she sees his hardened expression she knows it's the truth, and the tears flow like a waterfall. She bunches forward and hangs her head as she tries to hold in the pain.

Junior's shoulders can't stay up and slump downwards. He puts his hand on the bed on either side of Lavi. He moves closer to her and puts his left hand on her shoulder and the other on her back. "You don't need to hold this in Lavi. Let it out. Be as loud as you need to be. I know this hurts and it cuts deep"

Lavi lurches forward and wraps her arms around Junior's back and buddies her face into his chest. "Arrgghhhhh!!!" *Sniff* *WAAAAAHHHH!!* "Agghhhh!!!!!!"

Junior can feel her grabbing his back as tightly as she can. But he can tell that her body is weak. She is shaking and it's like her strength is rapidly leaving her. Junior wraps his arms around her small body. He takes her hood off and rests his cheek on the top of her red hair.

Lavi grabs onto Junior a few times. She feels like she will fall if she lets go and when her grip fails she lets go and grabs a different part of his jacket. She can't help but cry and wail in Junior's arms.

She remembers just seeing Derek 2 days ago. Just before she left to go and spy on the counsel members. Derek saw her off with a smile on his face. That smile flashes through her mind as she realizes she will never get to see it again. Another person in her life is gone and she doesn't get to say goodbye to them ever again. And it was Derek. He was so strong, and he ended up dying. She thought the message she received from him in the morning was weird. But it wasn't the first time Derek had contacted her to come and get Junior.

Lavi remembers her first time meeting Derek and how he was a bit weird. But then as she was trained by him and taught lots and lots of various things by him. They spent a lot of time together and became pretty close. She never knew her father, and all the males she knew in the past weren't nice to her or her mother. It was Junior and Derek that were the first nice men she knew. Derek was rude and very harsh on her at the beginning. He made her work to her bones during training and stuffed words into her brain when she was studying. But Derek was always there to help her when Junior wasn't there. Derek eventually opened up to her and they had some really neat talks about his travels around Remnant.

Lavi doesn't know what having a father is like. But from the books she's read and what she's learned here in Vale she believed that Derek was the closest thing to a father to her. He was her second best friend right after Junior. He was so smart and cool. Derek always taught her random things. He even helped her become more useful to Junior.

But now Derek is gone… Forever.

Just like her mom. All of a sudden he left her behind. At least this time she isn't alone.

The small Faunus girl clutches Junior and she can't even wrap her arms fully around him. She can feel his big and warms arms around her body. And his head that rests on hers. She also feels something wet in her hair. But she can't stop crying and shouting.

Junior presses Lavi's head into his chest. Tears slowly fall down his face and into Lavi's hair. If this hurts the girl so much, how is he supposed to tell her the next part. He just opened so many old wounds and is about to pour salt and lemon juice into them.

He can feels Lavi's screams and cries of anguish through his chest. He can't think of anything to say, and he's pretty sure that anything he says will fall upon deaf ears. Lavi is pretty out of it and he can tell she's going through some things. All he can do is be here for her.

——————

After a long time Pavi finally begins calming down. Her screams died down a while ago, but she is still crying and she's barely being able to hold onto Junior.

Lavi feels like her head is misty. There's a hazy feeling and everything hurts now. She lifts her head and when she speaks her voice is super quiet like it had been back when she first met Junior. Her voice is also shaky and a little hoarse. She sniffles and prepares to ask her question. "W.. h-how… why?…"

Junior takes his right hand and puts it on the back of her head and brushes his hand over her hair. His tears stopped a while ago. He moves his left hand onto her lower back and picks her up. He moves her to the bed and lays her down. He uses his thumb and wipes her the tears from her face. He puts on a small smile and looks at her. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Lavi grabs his right hand tightly with both of hers. She has her head laying down on a pillow and her eyes are slightly red and puffy. She tries to talk but she ends up just nodding her head slowly.

"Alright" Junior uses his left hand and moves Lavi's hair out of her face. "Derek died last night when I took him with me to get rid of the people that bombed Vale. That's why we had you trying to find out what the counsel was planning to do. We made our way to the enemies base of operations. We fought our way through some goons without a sweat"

Junior remembers Derek struggling a bit. But it was likely from him doing more teaching than training these last few years and his age catching up to him.

Lavi holds Juniors hand to her chest, just above her breasts. She also likes the feeling Junior gives off. He makes her feel safe and secured. She listens to the story and lets her body relax a bit.

"We went into an old building and went down into its basement. There was one giant room down there, and that's the room you popped in at next to the throne…" Junior wipes his eyes on the back of his left wrist and continues. "Down there we found 5 idiots and a little girl sitting on the throne. The 5 idiots were the bald pissants that tried assaulting you in the past. At first Derek and I beat them. But then they took a drug and grew stronger. I was helpless as 3 of them beat Derek to death. Derek put up a good fight, but in a 3v1… the ending was nearly inevitable… I got free from the 2 holding me to the ground and tried to save Derek. But I was too late. By the time I got to Derek he already was stabbed through the chest. The men backed off and let me talk with Derek as he died in my arms… He was proud of you Lavi. And he also wanted me to tell you something very important. Something he himself couldn't tell you due to guilt or something similar"

Lavi manages to sit up. She tightly holds his hand as her strength comes back to her a little bit. "W-what… did he say?"

Junior nods. "First, you should know that Earl Bole isn't your father"

Lavi's eyes stare into Junior's. "W-what?" She caught slightly off guard.

"I know your mother said Bole was your father. But she may have been confused. Because Bole wasn't able to have kids. It was something that he was born with that couldn't be fixed. So there isn't any possibility for Earl Bole to be your father" Junior slowly explains. "And Derek did find out who your real father is"

Lavi feels overwhelmed.

Before Lavi can ask or speak up Junior continues. "Lavi, your last name isn't Bole. It's Blaize. Your full name is Lavi Blaize. Derek traveled around a lot in his past as you know. He went to Vacuo about 21 years ago. I wasn't even born yet I think. He met a Faunus woman with red hair and fox ears. I don't know much more, but he did love her I believe. But he was forced to leave and return back here in Vale because of some reasons, likely my father ordering him to do something. He didn't even know that you were born. And I imagine that your mother moved to a port town in Vacuo to take care of you and was forced to resort to her job. Derek didn't know you were his until he got to know you better. But then things started to fall into place and he realized you were his daughter. This is what Derek told me with some of his last breaths. He couldn't bring himself to tell you, but he really did care about you. Likely more than anything else. He regretted not being there for you and your mother…"

Lavi is left stunned.

Junior leans down and puts his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry you weren't told this before. I'm not sure exactly when he figured it out, but I assume it was about a 6 months to a year ago. From Derek's point of view he probably didn't think he was worthy of being called father by you. So he did what he could to prepare you for this cruel world. And he did what he could for you once he figured out who you were, and he didn't just befriend you after figuring out you were his daughter. Like is said that first night, Derek liked you and just needed to get to know you. He died with a smile on his face as he remembered you and your mother. He just regretted not being able to tell you he loves you…"