Ch. 15 Combat Class Aftermath and Lifting a Veil

Alabast sets his weapon in his locker. Nights Fall can barely fit, as it takes up the entire height, length, and width of the relatively large locker.

It doesn't take long before Alabast exits the changing room and sees the students all look at him with varying expressions.

Most students had varying degrees of curiosity, awe, surprise, or fear. It was to be expected after what Alabast just did to Cardin.

His team and team RWBY were giving him nods, a thumbs up, smiles, or other approving actions as he went back to his seat.

"No" Alabast tells Ruby who was about to jump on him as he sat down. But he simply put his hand on the top of her head and forced her back into her seat.

"I didn't even do anything yet!" Ruby defensively claims as Alabast removes his hand from her head.

"Yet" Alabast points out and pushes his index finger against her forehead.

Ruby does her best to not be pushed back but it is futile. Luckily for her, Alabast doesn't actually want to push her out of her seat. So he just ends up letting Ruby struggle against his finger.

"Congratulations on your victory, Alabast" Pyrrha speaks up from the other side of Alabast.

He turns towards Pyrrha and sees a genuine smile from her. He stops messing with Ruby and looks down at the stage, avoiding her bright smile. "Thanks…. I imagine I'll have another chance to fight him soon. Maybe his entire team…"

Yang leans forward and whispers past the people between her and Alabast. "You want to fight all of team CRDL? I'd watch that"

Yang has a flash back to their training sessions and can only imagine Alabast fighting somebody he doesn't like. Heck, she wonders what he might have done to Cardin if he actually fought back.

Weiss is about to speak with Alabast when:

"Nora" Alabast grabs the attention of his teammate.

Nora jumps a little as she sits next to Ren. She looks down at the ground but turns to face her leader, continuing to avoid eye contact.

"Do not feel down, at least you got to hit him" Alabast tries to lighten the mood.

It's also true. All Alabast had done is disarm Cardin and grab his face. He hadn't actually been able to land a hit before the match was over. Nora had actually landed a solid blow that was able to knock Cardin to his ass.

Nora turns her gaze from her shoes to the screen above the stage with the results of the match still on it.

Alabast's health bar barely had a dent in it. It only moved when Cardin hit him the first time. Not even the explosion from the dust crystal had managed to lower Alabast's Aura. Cardin himself hadn't even managed to come out of his own attack unscathed.

Nora looked over at Alabast and can't help but still feel a little guilty. But she gives a little smile. She was able to give her leader the chance to fight the bully of their class year. And Alabast was able to win so decisively. So there was actually some good that came out of this.

Ren nods to Alabast in approval. He approves of the way Alabast handled the situation. Ren wonders how many people would have done the same for their teammate as Alabast did for Nora.

"Ahem! That… is a new one" Glynda clears her throat and grabs the attention of her class. "Students, let us review the match we just witnessed. There are a few points we should point out and discuss"

Glynda swipes up on her pad and the screen above the stage changes to a side view of Alabast and Cardin's fight. It starts playing a recording of the fight and pauses when Alabast gets hit by Cardin.

Glynda motions towards the screen. "As you can see here, when Mr. Noir was hit his Aura was lowered. This demonstrates how the Hp bar will show your Aura reserves in real time. You can check your own Aura, and your teammate's Aura, via your scroll. You should check your aura reserves and change your battle plans accordingly"

The screen cuts to Alabast dodging Cardin's mace.

"Mr. Noir is demonstrating how you don't necessarily need to match your opponent swing for swing or blow for blow. Sometimes letting your enemy tire themselves out is a strategy..." Glynda begins explaining various strategies anyone could use.

After some students chime in and add their own two cents Glynda moves on to her next topic. The screen cuts to show the moment Cardin strikes the ground with his mace, activating the red dust crystal to create an explosion.

"Mr. Winchester devised a strategy that utilized his weapon and the surroundings to make an opening. It is crucial to be aware of your surroundings and use them to your advantage in any fight you find yourself in. Whether you fight another person or you fight against the creatures of Grimm. Using the environment may save your life" Glynda makes sure to drive this point home.

When the screen shows the crater Cardin caused Glynda makes sure to point it out.

"I do not encourage the destruction of the school's property. My Semblance may be useful for damage control, however, in no way do I plan on spending my time cleaning up your messes. And if a situation requires my Semblance, you can expect a detention" Glynda remembers her Huntress days and how her team was reckless in populated areas due to the fact that she could repair any damage they did to nearly anything. Even students have tried to take advantage of her in the past. It's best to say that they got what was coming to them.

With that said, Glynda fast forwards until the screen displays Alabast walking out of the smoke and grabbing Cardin.

Glynda moves her glasses higher up her nose while looking down at her tablet. "Mr. Noir saw an opening and seized the chance to disrupt Mr. Winchester's plan of attack. Patience is good to have. Be sure that you know when it is best to attack, there is a difference between patience and wasting time"

Without delay, the screen fast forwards to replay Alabast forcing Cardin to his knees. It plays the rest of the scene until Alabast walks away from Cardin.

"The rest of that fight is unrealistic for most of the other students, not only in just this year. Normally if you manage to get your opponent on their knees they either forfeit or you bring their aura to the red. Odds are they wont faint for an easy win…." Glynda concludes while narrowing her eyes at Alabast.

It doesn't take long for Glynda to finish her lecture about some advice Huntsmen and Huntresses may find useful. But for the most part Alabast doesn't pay all that much attention.

When Glynda is done picking apart Alabast's fight the next students get volun-told to fight and Alabast couldn't help but call it mediocre.

Even the next three fights aren't anything to write home about. Nobody from team RWBY or team ANVL got called so it was boring for Alabast.

Ruby at least enjoyed the diferent weapons. She kept grabbing Alabast's forearm and shaking it whenever a weapon was transformed unexpectedly or was just cool in general.

Her enthusiasm was met with tired eyes as Alabast just watched children flail at each other. Some were better than others but it wasn't anything great. Nobody really used their Semblance, maybe their Semblances weren't suitable for fighting other people. Similar to how Ren's Semblance is only useful against Grimm.

Alabast was absentmindedly looking around the room when he noticed his hair. It was still black with the ends being gray, however, it seems that the gray has started to go up the hair. For years he chalked his never changing gray tips up to anime rules. Yet now the gray has increased by not more than an inch.

He grabbed a lock of his hair and pinches the gray tip. He rolls it between his fingers to see if anything was happening but the only thing he noticed is that his hair is much softer. It's thanks to Yang's instructions that he's been following.

While he was lost in thought he randomly rested his chin on the raised desk in front of him. He wasn't sure when it popped back up and didn't care. Resting his chin on his folded arms he watches a moth fly into a light across the room.

Suddenly his right ear begins emanating a feeling of exaltation that spreads throughout his body. Not only is it pleasant, but it's relaxing and calming.

Alabast closes his eyes. His head tilts to the right without his permission, however, the feeling increases and he finds himself leaning more to the right.

He never really felt anything from his ears besides pain. Aside from his first few moments in this world, when his ear was partially cut off, he had only felt pain from them like when something was too loud. He never let anyone or anything touch them before and he rarely touched them except to clean them or scratch them.

To mimic his sudden uplift in mood, Alabast's tail begins to quicken its pace as it swiftly moves through the air.

"Team RWBY and team ANVL! I hope I'm not interrupting you!" Glynda shouts from the front of the room.

The pleasant sensation stops as abruptly as it had started.

Alabast opens his eyes and spots a red hood on the desk in front of his face. Looking up he sees the owner of the red hood, Ruby Rose, frozen with her hands near the top of his head.

Sitting up, Alabast sends a glare to the assaulted of his ears. He got careless, but that doesn't excuse Ruby of her actions.

Ruby stands at attention. "Sorry ma'am!"

Glynda sighs and shakes her head. "Please, do your best to pay attention"

"Ehehehehe…" Ruby nervously smiles as she laughs while taking her seat.

"Now back to the topic at hand. You should be aware of your surroundings at all times, even while in the midst of battle. While Grimm might not be able to perform advanced battle tactics some might try to corral you into a corner…" Glynda continues talking about how they need to improve.

Ruby is stiffly sitting straight with her hands in her lap. She looks straight ahead and doesn't even notice a gun-lance being shown on the big screen. She's trying to avoid Alabast's gaze and the consequences of her actions.

Alabast was staring a hole into the side of Ruby's head. He wasn't mad, but he wasn't too pleased either.

If you asked Pyrrha, she would say Alabast is at least in a good mood based off his tail…. Ren and Nora did actually ask her while the crime was being committed, and Pyrrha answered honestly.

What bothered Alabast are the smiles he was getting from Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Weiss, and especially Yang. The smiles ticked him off way more than the assault on his ears.

Pyrrha may, or may not, have been reaching for his other ear when Glynda called them out.

The two teams were focused on Alabast. Which was hard for Glynda to ignore. As a professor she had to get her students in line.

Nora, Weiss, and Yang wanted to have a go but couldn't reach Alabast's head. Pyrrha was too slow to actually reach her target. She spent too long internally debating before making her decision.

Weiss nearly freaked out when she randomly felt something brush against her back. She was about to go off when she noticed Alabast under attack. She was about to go off on her leader but at the same time didn't want to disrupt the moment when she saw Alabast's face. It was small, but it was the most genuine smile and happiest she had seen him.

Yang was just taking in the moment and goading her little sister on. She wanted to assist, but didn't want to draw too much attention. That didn't mean she wouldn't steal a feel from Alabast's soft tail when it came her way.

Now Blake. She was just watching from the corner of her eyes. She was conflicted because this guy was supposed to be "The Black Wolf" of the White Fang. But here he is. Letting a little girl scratch his ear and blatantly enjoying it.

This is the happiest she has seen Alabast. He seemed happy when he talked to her when they were in the White Fang. But since they have both been here at Beacon she saw him like that most of the time he interacted with their teammates.

Lots of conflicting feelings swirl in her mind. One of them being about why she couldn't look away from him when he was having his ears scratched. Not to mention a random though of what if he scratched her ear. What conflicted her the most was that she wondered what it would be like if Alabast would scratch her ears, not if someone would scratch her ears. She nearly went mad by the time class ended.

After a few minutes Ruby goes back to her usual self and starts talking about the weapons again. Weiss would talk about the dust used. Pyrrha silently critiqued their fighting styles. Nora talked about food. Yang admired their bodies, but found herself watching Alabast's tail from time to time. Ren, Blake, and Alabast were silent for the reamainder of class.

——————

Being scratched behind the ear.

Alabast does it to himself all the time. Granted, it would be because it would itch.

But when Ruby had done it. He doesn't know how to explain it. The Little Red had somehow not alerted his senses and had even gotten him into such a state, such a vulnerable state.

He didn't know what to think of it. It shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it lingered in his thoughts. It's not like she hurt him or had ill intentions. Maybe that's why it is stuck in his head.

She had no reason to do it but she still did it. And she continued to do it. It's not like he said no, and he did somehow end up leaning into it and enjoying it….

He glanced down at Ruby and simply stared at her. She had a blinding smile and was talking with Weiss about the weapons. She had sparkles in her eyes and had so much energy.

"….Right Alabast?" Ruby turns to face Alabast and he is nearly flashbanged by her sparkly eyes and smile.

"What?" Alabast leaves his thoughts be.

"I said, the weapons are so cool! Right Alabast?" Ruby repeats herself.

"Oh… sure, yeah" Alabast then looks at the stage to see a woman using a whip that has lightning arcing across it. Her opponent has a bastard sword combined with some type of pistol.

"I'm sorry about earlier Alabast… are you ok?" Ruby decides it's time to apologize. She doesn't want to ruin their friendship over this. But she has refrained from petting his ears for so long she couldn't stop herself…. Maybe this is why she doesn't have many Faunus friends.

"I'm alright…" Alabast He notices that his words don't help her at all. He puts his hand on her head and messes with her hair. "And what did I say about being down and sad unnecessarily? It'll tick me off more than you having your usual energy. You didn't do anything wrong so cheer back up. Come with me after class before our training session. We can talk then"

Hearing his words, Ruby took a second and became her usual chipper self. She and Weiss went back to discussing how the various weapons utilize dust. It's one of the rare moments the two actually get along.

The class continued for a little while longer and finally ended after two students decided to play a game of 'Who Can Hit the Stage More' which neither ended up winning. Both students ended with a loss due to Glynda sentencing them to detention and giving them a lecture. They tried calling her bluff, now they must write an essay about Huntsmen property damage and how serious of an issue it is.

This is t to say she didn't repair the stage, which she did. She just wasn't very happy about it and made sure to let everyone know it. Alabast wondered what her punishments would be later on in the semester.

"That is the end of this class. I want everyone to write a report on the class today. What you think a huntsman's and huntress' duty is and how they should carry out their missions. More details will be sent to your scroll. Have it prepared for the next class, which is on Monday. Dismissed!" Glynda declares the end of class and takes her leave as well.

The students file out of the room, not wanting to stick around. The seats don't exactly have the best back support, and having to sit on them for hours on end isn't fun.

"Why a report for Combat Class?" Alabast groans as he stands up, pushing off the desk.

Nora and Ruby and Ruby also complain, but it ends up sounding more whiney.

As they were walking towards the practice field Alabast turns towards the others. "You guys go ahead and get started. I have something to talk about with Ruby. We will only be a few minutes"

Alabast sees Yang smirk and then is about to say something "Don't even start anything Blondie"

"I-I was just going to say…." Yang stutters, trying to get her words out but is cut off.

Alabast shakes his head. "It's either a bad pun or an innuendo. Am I right?"

Yang rocks back and forth on her heels. "Maybe, maybe not…"

Alabast puts his hands on his hips and looks down at Yang. "Then what was it?"

Yang smirks as she mimics Alabast by putting her hands on her hips. "Was gonna ask for my own one on one session"

"You need to talk with me about something?" Alabast inquires.

"There won't be a lot of talking with what I have in mind" Yang raises her left eyebrow as a slight blush begins to grow across her cheeks.

Alabast slumps his shoulders. "You said it wouldn't be an innuendo"

"I'm not hearing a no" Yang points out. "And normally there isn't a whole lot of talking during a fight, right?"

Alabast rubs his temples as he forces a blush away. He fell right into Yang's trap. "If you want your ass kicked that badly Pyrrha will gladly do so. Or if you can wait I'll make sure to give you an unforgettable time… And there won't be much talking"

With that said, Alabast turns around and grabs Ruby by the back of her collar as he walks away.

Yang watches Alabast leave with the smuggest smirk, the blush added to her smugness.

Ruby waves at the others as she is dragged away. Their teammates had gone ahead and didn't catch the conversation between Alabast and Yang… except for Blake.

Alabast releases Ruby when they get back on a main sidewalk. The duo make their way to a building as Alabast searches for an empty room.

——————

Alabast finds an empty room with its lights off.

Ruby pokes her head into the dark classroom with her hands behind her back as she fiddles with her fingers. Her eyes scanning the room's empty desks and dark corners. She watches as Alabast's tail sinks into the darkness of the classroom. "A-Alabast?"

After a few seconds the lights are turned on.

Alabast walks away from the light switch while muttering. "Night vision…"

Tilting her head, Ruby is drawn in by Alabast's eyes. She even forgets how nervous she was as she walks in. "Sooooo…. How does everything look in night vision?"

"Hm?" Alabast turns around as Ruby bursts into petals.

The petals quickly travel across the classroom and scatter as Ruby reappears in front of Alabast.

Ruby cups her hands around her eyes like she is using binoculars. "Night vision! Is it like in the movies?! Or is everything in shades of gray?! Can you see in pitch black?!"

"Movies?" Alabast gets stuck on the first question of many.

"Yeah! There are movies of Faunus where they end up fighting in the dark! Humans use night vision goggles to try and mimic the night vision, but… some Grimm aren't seen with the goggles so it's kinda been deemed obsolete. And Atlas is the only place with that kind of technology…" Ruby starts strong but kinda fizzles out towards the end as she trails off.

"Ive…" Alabast rubs the back of his head. "… never watched a movie"

"Never?! Like never ever?! Never ever EVER?!" Ruby is more surprised about this than finding out he was part of the White Fang. Her priorities are clear.

"Never ever, I just didn't have the time" Alabast wonders when he would have had a chance to see a movie. Maybe when he was in a large city… or at one of his wealthier targets houses.

"Uhm… this weekend. We have some time off, our teams could head into Vale and we can see something. I'm sure there is something interesting playing- WAIT!" Ruby holds her hands out and points up at Alabast. "Is this what you wanted to talk about?! You wanted to get our teams closer together through team exercises, except it would be more like team outings…"

Alabast slumps his shoulders. "What? No, that's not why I brought you here"

"Oh…." Ruby looks to the side as her arms fall to her sides.

"And about the night vision…" Alabast thinks for a moment.

It doesn't take long before he moves back over to the light switch and turns it off.

Alabast looks around the room. "I can't turn it off, and it's instantaneous for me. For most Faunus it might take a few seconds for their eyes to adjust, however, I've never had to worry about that. I didn't need to train it like others either, it's been this way for as long as I can remember. At this point, the only way I can tell if I'm in the dark is if someone tells me. The night vision is just shades of gray, it's due to the lack of light or whatever. I've never bothered looking into it too much"

Ruby looks around for Alabast but finds it hard to spot him. "You… can't tell whether there is any color or not?"

There's a deafening silence around Alabast as he ponders on what Ruby means. He should be able to tell if there is color or not, yet he has trouble doing so.

"Are you color blind? That's so sad! Wait, but you called me Little Red and my sister Blondie… so you should be able to see color…" Ruby begins walking through the dark to try and find Alabast.

"I'm not color blind" Alabast corrects her. "I guess I… see the world from a darker point of view"

"Are you… depressed?" Asks as Ruby walks towards where she thinks Alabast is. "After my mom died… my dad would sometimes talk about how the world had lost its color…"

When Ruby is about to bump into a wall Alabast puts his palm on her forehead to take the brunt of the force. He turns the lights on using his semblance and looks down at the girl in front of him. "I don't think it's the same as with your dad. I think…"

Ruby listens intently as she looks up into Alabast's deep red eye. She wants to push his bangs out of the way to see his full face but remembers how he reacted the last time she almost touched his bangs. So she patiently waits for Alabast to finish.

"I think I was in a dark place, but recently it's gotten brighter. So don't worry about me, now back to why I brought you over here" Alabast walks away from Ruby and goes to sit on the edge of a desk.

She doesn't want to drop the subject, but she knows that pursuing it will only cause problems between them. "R-right…"

Alabast watches as Ruby goes back to acting the way she did as they walked through the building. He isn't sure what is on her mind but decides to just ask his questions and get this over with, they talked more about his problems than he would have liked. "Ruby"

Hearing her name from Alabast catches her a little off guard. Her heart jumps as her face begins to flush a light pink. She moves her left foot behind her right, she looks down at Alabast's boots since she finds it hard to look him in his eye suddenly. "Y-yes Alabast?"

Ignoring the sudden drop of nicknames, Alabast continues. "Why do you want to be a Huntress?"

"Huh?" Ruby is blindsided by this question. She was expecting a completely different type of question for some reason.

Alabast leans back, his right hand on the desk behind him to stop himself from falling. "Why do you want to be a Huntress? You have so many other options for yourself that are less dangerous. You're smart when you want to be. You are a fanatic for all types of weapons. You are incredibly friendly when you know someone. You are small but clearly not fragile, yet somehow you are simultaneously weak and strong. Not to mention that you're adorable. So I must ask, why would you choose to risk your life to hunt monsters?"

Ruby's silver eyes widen as her face goes beet red. She can't help but look up and watch Alabast talk about her so seriously.

This situation is extremely similar to some of the romance stories between Huntsmen and Huntresses she has read. There was a particular book in her dorm room she found and read, but that romance book lead to something more steamy than anything she had previously read.

"I… um… er" Ruby can't seem to form a coherent sentence.

It was about this moment that Alabast wonders if she had even heard his entire question. "Ruby?"

The heavily blushing girl tries to get her thoughts straight but her mind gets hazier and hazier. Ruby pulls her hood over her head and hides her face. "I need some time…"

"What?" Alabast feels like he missed something.

"I… likeyoutoo…" Ruby mumbles beneath her hood as her mind succumbs to the haze.

Even with Alabast's hearing it was difficult to fully understand her, but after their time together he can decipher it.

"Ruby?" Alabast tilts his head to the side as a small blush forces its way onto his face.

Hearing his words, Ruby snaps out of her hazy daze. She points at Alabast as she realizes what she said. "Didn't you just confess?!"

"I didn't!" Alabast denies as he stands up.

"Y-you said I was adorable and described my characteristics! That's what someone does when they confess!" Ruby pulls her hood down to where she can see Alabast but he can't see her.

"I just meant-" Alabast tries to explain himself

"Wait!" Ruby cuts him off. "I need some time!"

*Fwoosh~*

The only thing Alabast was able to see was a flurry of rose petals storming out of the classroom.

"Wait, what just happened?" Alabast was trying to understand what had just happened.

The original reason he had asked Ruby to talk with him was to ask her why she wanted to be a Huntress. Then he would ask her how she was able to touch him without him noticing.

It took him around 2 years to be able to touch the ear that was clipped. He hadn't let anyone else touch it since, but Ruby was able to do it without alerting his heightened senses.

Then there was the questions Ruby asked him. He was fine until he was thrown off his game by Ruby asking him if he's depressed. Then Ruby's confession sent him over the ledge.

Had he actually confessed?

He wouldn't say he dislikes her. And he feels the same way about Ruby that he feels towards the rest of team RWBY and Pyrrha.

The more he thought about it the more confused he got.

Over the past 2 weeks he spent a lot of time with his team and team RWBY. They had the same classes, they studied and did homework together, and they trained together.

What sticks out to him is the fact that he views Ren and Nora differently than the others.

Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake. Alabast can't help but wonder when he made the separation between them and Ren and Nora.

He just gave up on love two weeks ago. And now he finds himself in this type of situation.

Deciding that he will worry about it later he walks out of the empty classroom after shutting the lights off.

When Alabast walks outside he looks around and takes in the colors of his surroundings.

"I should pay more attention to the little things…" Alabast mutters while he heads back to the training ground.