8

Chapter 8

The Anti-Huntsmen Part II

Blake's jaw dropped in sheer shock.

It was universally known to almost everyone how obsessed Yang was about her hair. Yang took great lengths to maintain and care for it every day. Every morning and evening, she could be seen sitting in front of a mirror brushing her hair and properly drying after every shower. She took care of it religiously and would violently lash out at anyone who threatened to harm it. And Blake knew that Shirou was also aware of this particular fact, considering how close their teams were. To say Blake was shocked at what he just did was an understatement.

The initial horrid shock that plastered Yang's face eventually gave way to unbridled rage.

"YOU'RE DEAD – SHIROU!"

Yang's voice shook as she hung her head, letting her bangs fall over her eyes. Hands clenched tightly into fists were overshadowed as little gouts of flames began to emit from her hair. The very air trembled as the rest of the room felt Yang's rage rising with every second.

When Yang looked up, the soft lilac eyes that always had a mischievous tint was replaced with a glowing murderous crimson red.

Blake shuddered at the sight as she turned to see how Shirou reacted.

Shirou stood confidently as he faced Yang with his bow at his side. His glowing eyes narrowed in response before the corner of his lips turned upward. Straightening to his full height, he motioned with his head to come forth. Her partner in response bared her teeth at his arrogance as her entire body began to shimmer with her Aura becoming visible.

It became difficult to breath as the very air dried up due to the heat.

Blake inhaled and exhaled slowly as she calmed her nerves and went about planning her next actions. Even as her legs burned, she bent her knees and readied to launch herself at Shirou.

Just as the silence became unbearable, Shirou blinked.

Yang blurred, shattering the floor as she catapulted herself onto Shirou.

Blake pushed off, matching her partner's intent on rushing Shirou; black and yellow pincered both sides of their target.

Arrows zipped past Blake Belladonna.

Shirou Emiya was like a one-man army. He had waved off his teammates as she and Yang rushed him from different angles. Pyrrha and Nora maneuvered their way to Ruby and Weiss who were being backed into a corner by Ren's covering fire. "Damn it," she cursed at their predicament. "Sorry you two."

This gambit of theirs was going to be costly. It was clear to everyone that Shirou had to be eliminated right now or eventually his offensive pressure would whittle them down from afar. He could not be allowed to sit back freely with his bow and arrows.

Unending shotgun blasts wrung into her ears as Yang punched with all her speed and might. Every time a stream of arrows barreled into the blonde; she would punch them all down into nothing but splinters. Great blasts of flame spewed forth with every punch. And with every step, her feet pulverized the floor bringing her one step closer to Shirou. "I'M GONNA TEACH YOU A LESSON SHIROU! NO ONE MESSES WITH MY HAIR!"

In response, Yang received a snap and whistle. Her arms automatically swiped down to cut an arrow aimed straight for her eyes. During the second her vision was blocked, dozens more quickly followed. Engaging her shotgun gauntlets, they all clattered to the ground broken. "God! Are you ever going to stop with these stupid arrows?!" complained Yang as she reloaded and trudged forward. "This is just ridiculous!"

Even as Shirou fired shots at Yang, he would quickly aim his sights at Blake to discourage her from flanking him.

Up in the stands, some of the previously defeated foes watched in awe.

"Holy crap, just look at SNPR's leader go!" exclaimed Lavender. Her eyes wide as her mouth as she gawked in disbelief.

"How the hell is someone this good with a bow? He's taking on two against one!" Gamboge scratched his head.

"I don't know Gam…" muttered Ochre. "But my gut is telling me that this guy was holding back on us the entire time."

Normally Pyrrha Nikos would command the attention of an entire room when she fought. But with how Shirou was able to handle multiple opponents without visibly struggling, everyone was focused on him instead. Even as he was beset on two fronts, he was the definition of calm as he serenely repositioned himself while doling out damage. When either pushed forward, he would pivot in their direction to blast them back.

If anyone had looked close enough, he had yet to even break a sweat.

As Blake trudged forward with narrowed eyes. Her ears twitched as she had to utilize nearly all of her Faunus attributes to cut down a seemingly never-ending flow of arrows. It felt like Shirou had an unlimited number of them, as he continued to produce, notch, and fire at both herself and Yang. Speaking of Yang, her partner was making about the same progress as her. For the few moments she took her eyes off Shirou, Blake jolted back as she blocked a particularly nasty shot with her sheath that left her arms numb.

At the start of the fight, a rhythm developed. Her sensitive hearing picked up a steady staccato and became accustomed to it. That same rhythm allowed her to keep up with his rapid shots, as she timed each movement a heartbeat before each twang. However, Shirou seemed to have quickened his pace as there were seemingly even more arrows being flung about.

It puzzled her as she didn't notice any changes to her progress or Yang's.

So, where was he aiming those extra-?

"Ruby Rose has been eliminated."

"W-What?!" Blake almost lost her footing in dismay as she stumbled to a halt.

In the distance, Ren stood over her leader's defeated body. Her eyes followed the trail of arrows that surrounded Ruby. "Are you kidding me?" she said exasperated. "He wasn't just shooting at me and Yang, but Ruby as well?!" Ren understood the cues and exploited the opportunity to finish off Ruby while she was distracted. Her leader must have been separated from Weiss at some point as the heiress was nowhere close to her partner.

"Fan… guh-!" Blake grunted as she dove and rolled before an arrow clipped some strands of her hair. "Tastic!"

Sweat, grim, and dust matted her body as she weaved through Shirou's barrage. Her chest felt like it was on fire with every breath, but the sight of her goal getting closer spurred her onward. Squeezing her pistol's trigger, her covering fire was barely a distraction. At most it seemed to only mildly bother Shirou as he seemingly phased through the bullets.

The fact that he would smirk directly at her as he dodged her bullets only fueled Blake's ire. "Cocky asshole!"

The last few meters to Shirou was like ascending the mountains of Solitas. It took nearly everything Blake had to close the handful of steps. "Give me a break you jerk!" Her feet kicked off the ground as she made a clone that went in another direction. The clone barely went anywhere before an arrow sniped it out of existence. "Ugh!" Blake growled in frustration as she had to retreat.

She took note of the distance. If something could just distract him then-

"Weiss Schnee has been eliminated."

Deciding that Blake was far enough away from him. Shirou turned his back to her and left himself completely open. His choice left her utterly baffled and costed her precious seconds as every bone in her body told her this was a trap.

Just as she was about to pounce, the hair at the back of her neck rose. "Gah-!?" she yelped.

At the last moment, she swapped herself out with a clone before it was speared through the chest.

Nimbly somersaulting away, she took stock of her new opponent. "Oh boy… out of the frying pan and into the fire," groaned Blake.

Standing tall and proud was none other than the four-time champion herself.

Pyrrha Nikos appraised her opponent placidly. A charming smile made its way onto Pyrrha's face as if something amused her. Blake in the meantime stood on her toes unwilling to lower her guard. "I must say I am impressed that you were able to last this long against Shirou," complimented the redhead.

Blake blinked, unable to discern whether she was being patronized or praised. "Uh… thanks?"

"Haha, sorry," she softly chuckled. "That did come off rather condescending, but I do mean that it is impressive to last this long. Shirou's skill with his bow and arrow are unparalleled and he always finds his mark. It speaks volumes of your ability to avoid any serious injuries."

"Uh… I mean, if you consider running and jumping around everywhere a skill then sure," replied Blake with a shrug.

Pyrrha still held her smile. "Don't worry, I encountered the same problem as you. Trying to close the distance on Shirou is astoundingly difficult. When he wants to, he's very good at keeping you away." Her green eyes swept from left to right. "Now then," she sighed, "I think I've stalled you quite long enough."

"What?"

So fixated on their conversation, Blake failed to notice Ren and Nora falling into position.

That damn smile of Pyrrha's. She shot a scathing glare at the girl. "I didn't know you would be the type to deceive people Pyrrha." She readied her exhausted body once more. A three-on-one fight in her state guaranteed she was going to lose, but she was going to make them work for it.

The redhead rolled her shoulders and motioned her two teammates away. "It's okay," she cracked her neck as she slowly marched forward. "They're not here to fight you. Just to make sure you can't run away to Yang." Blake's ears twitched angrily. That damn smile. How many hearts did she deceive with that smile? "The only opponent you have to worry about…" the armored girl came to a stop and flourished her spear to the side. "…is me."

"Wonderful." Blake inhaled deeply. "You know…" She exhaled out as she cracked her own neck. "I've always wondered how I'd fare against you."

"Let's find out, shall we?" That genial smile suddenly morphed into an excited grin.

Flourishing Gambol Shroud herself, Blake nodded back to Pyrrha. "Let's."

In the time that Blake blinked, the armor cladded girl blurred forward.

The next thing Blake knew, she was sent barreling backwards through a boulder. Her body tumbled and bounced on the ground before coming to a rough stop. Her world spun as she tried to orient herself.

"Ahck-!" She coughed violent as dust clouded her vision.

Her Aura blunted most of the damage, but came at a substantial cost to her reserves. She knew immediately that she couldn't afford to take another hit like that or else be automatically eliminated. Just as she scrambled up, a dark red blur crashed into Blake.

"Gah-!" gasped the Faunus girl as she barely managed to see Pyrrha's blow.

Her sheath batted away a thrust to her abdomen. She responded immediately with a wild swing that was easily blocked by Pyrrha's shield. Blake tried to put distance between herself and the redhead, however Pyrrha did not let up and pursued. Realizing that Pyrrha was not going to let her recover so easily, Blake used everything she had to bat Pyrrha away. Within a single breath, they exchanged a flurry of blows that rang across the arena. Her sheath blocked and deflected thrusts that would have likely ended the fight. Meanwhile, she used her agile footwork to angle herself to poke through Pyrrha's defenses with Gambol Shroud.

"Grrh-!" She growled out in frustration.

Pyrrha left little to no openings and Blake was already feeling another wave of exhaustion hit her. It felt even more apparent as with each exchange, her weapon began feeling heavier and harder to swing. Displaying just why she was considered the best duelist of their generation, Pyrrha anticipated every action made. When Blake moved to attack, Pyrrha had the foresight to already be in motion to defend from the blow while counterattacking at the same time.

After dozens of more blows, Blake had enough. Staying in melee range would lead to her defeat as Pyrrha handily proved that Blake was no match for her.

"Okay – I need to keep you away from me," resolved the black-haired girl.

She stepped forward switching Gambol Shroud into its sickle mode and twirled her weapon. Pyrrha responded by shifting her stance to defend and raised her shield to block an overhead blow. With her vision blocked by the bronze shield. Blake sprang forward and used the shield as a springboard to leap backwards a great distance away while also forcing Pyrrha to regain her balance.

Green eyes narrowed at Blake's feint before advancing with caution.

Gripping tightly on her ribbon, Blake spun Gambol several times before swinging overhead. Sparks flew wildly as a horrific screech resounded the arena. Pyrrha paused in her stride as she noted the distance between the two. Blake struck out once again to force Pyrrha back as the champion raised her shield to avoid the sickle aimed at her neck. The shield gonged out loudly as Gambol hit exactly in the center.

Sensing the first opening since their fight began, Blake forward while Pyrrha was forced back with each consecutive hit.

Pyrrha continued backpedaling until she tapped a boulder with her heel. As she blocked another hit, she glanced back at the same time and gauged the size. Without hesitation, she leapt up and used it as a springboard to catapult herself forward. The boulder shattered into fine powder. Her arm stretched out; Milo fully extended to its maximum length.

The black-haired girl dove to the side as she avoided a red blur.

Counterattacking promptly, Blake's sickle clashed with the blade of the spear. Pyrrha bled her momentum into a tight roll before popping back up instantly; shield raised, spear forward.

The two girls faced each other, crouching low, and tensed to jump at any moment. Sensing that neither was going to rush again, they began to slowly circle each other as they took a small break. Blake spun her weapon above her head all the while. The tactic she utilized to counter Pyrrha's reach was working. She was going to abuse the distance she had between her sickle and Pyrrha's spear and reach as much as she could.

Blake's muscles coiled up and struck out a dozen times in quick succession.

Pyrrha stood her ground even as she was forced back. Her heels dug into the ground as she persevered Gambol Shroud's onslaught. The spear in her hand jutted out to bat away a strike causing the weapon to be deflected to the side.

Amber eyes narrowed as Blake clicked her tongue. Pyrrha was adapting faster than she anticipated. A change of plans was needed.

Contesting the redhead in melee was out of the question. Of the two, Blake had the greater reach. Not only did her Gambol Shroud outrange Milo, in either its sword or spear form, and Akouo, she was also dexterous enough to evade most of the rifle shots. She just needed to keep Pyrrha engaged long enough to create an opening.

Every time Blake struck out, Pyrrha attacked her weapon and took a step forward.

Responding the same, but with increased fervor, Blake continued attacking with determination at the spear. Using her Semblance, she produced a clone to distract Pyrrha that only slowed her little. Pyrrha remained firm even as her spear rattled as Gambol continued to arc from different angles. Blake softly hissed in frustration at how fast Pyrrha already adapted.

Sweat rolled down Blake's face as she concentrated on her plan. Ever so slowly, with each step that Blake took back, Pyrrha took one forward. Retracting her weapon, Blake squeezed down the trigger until the magazine ran dry with a click. Dust rounds pinged off Pyrrha's bronze shield harmlessly.

During the time Blake reloaded a fresh magazine, she dangled the bait.

Her eyes carefully tracked Pyrrha's movements, as the bronze-clad warrior contemplated Blake's bait. Just as the black-haired girl feared her bait to be too obvious, Pyrrha sprung the trap by rushing forward with Milo extended out. A single thrust aimed straight for Blake's heart to finish the fight.

When Pyrrha stepped into her range, Blake slid her foot back, turning her body to the side before swiping Gambol upwards. At the last moment, Pyrrha turned her thrust into a hasty parry as her eyes barely caught the pistol transforming.

In a flash, Blake maneuvered her weapon in the air and wrapped Gambol around the head of the spear. Her heart pounded at finally seeing an opening. It almost worked too easily for her taste, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

Leaning back, Blake pulled with all her might.

But then to her horror, Pyrrha pulled as well.

Before she even knew what was happening. Blake was pulled off the ground towards Pyrrha. In desperation, she tried unhooking her weapon free, but to her shock it stayed stuck. Almost as if it were magnetized to it!

Blake was soaring in the air far too fast for a clone to form and redirect her flight.

A bronze shield crashed into her face before she could even think to raise her arms.

"Blake Belladonna has been eliminated."

"Ughhh…"

Blake rolled over onto her back moaning in pain. Her head felt like it was split open as the world spun even though she lay flat on the ground.

"Never doing that again." She hissed as she massaged her head.

The scoreboard up above had her name and portrait darkened. She sighed tiredly as she sat up to go over her fight against Pyrrha. For a brief moment, she thought she could win against the champion owing to her background of battling experienced opponents out in the field. Except Pyrrha showcased that she was the four-time champion for a reason.

Without even using the full extent of her arsenal or semblance. Pyrrha repelled all of Blake's attacks and even used her own plan against. She had been in control of the fight even when both the crowd and Blake herself felt like she wasn't.

All the champion needed to end the fight was one solid blow.

"Oh well," sighed Blake accepting the outcome of her fight.

Now that she was eliminated, there was only one member of RWBY still left standing.

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora stood not too far away from her. As Yang blazed towards Shirou with her right arm cocked back, Nora readied her hammer to assist their leader. But before she could even take a step forward, Pyrrha's hand jutted out to stop her.

The orange haired girl turned to Pyrrha with a tilt of her head.

The redhead who had a soft smile for the entire match, changed into one a bit more predatory. "No – let him have his fun."

Nora mirrored Pyrrha's grin.

Finding Pyrrha's words ominous, Blake quickly traced back to her partner.

Arrows upon arrows relentlessly pummeled into Yang as she ran in a straight line to Shirou. He took her more seriously the moment her fist came into range. Yang swung and punched where he stood with such ferocity that it shook the arena.

"Yang actually made him move!" Blake whispered excitedly.

Shirou deftly tumbled backwards, turning his bow horizontally, and fired off a particularly nasty shot into Yang's stomach. The shot shoved her back into a pile of rubble leaving the blonde stunned for a second. The moment of reprieve was all Shirou needed to create more space between the two of them. With a defiant roar, Yang flung herself out of the pile and chased Shirou.

Yellow and red blurred all around the arena.

Blake observed how different yet similar Yang and Shirou's fight was to her own with Pyrrha. While Yang was the more brute force of the two, Shirou appeared in complete control. Yang's tunnel vision prevented her from noticing how he leveraged the environment to his advantage while still letting loose arrows.

He refused to give Yang the satisfaction of engaging a slugfest with their fists. Instead, he kited away while keeping the distance between them close enough that the blonde would still focus on chasing him. The fact that he was so agonizing close, only compounded Yang's frustration even further.

His hand pulled back on the string and let loose another nasty shot that smashed into Yang's left knee causing her to buckle and stumble. Rolling forward to convert her momentum, Blake quickly noted that Yang was starting to evade some of the shots rather than just tank through it.

By now, Blake learned that Yang Xiao Long was the ultimate personification of human endurance.

Even if her team had been eliminated and she was the only one left standing. She stubbornly continued on, casting aside everything else. The fact that Yang had suffered the greatest amount of abuse, more so than anyone else, only further exemplified her peerless endurance. For the blonde, it was no longer about winning the match, but making a statement. Yet time was against Yang as even her substantial Aura was dwindling down to a dangerously low level.

"Grr!" growled Yang. "Let – me – smash – your – face – in!" She punctuated each word with every shotgun punch. "Even if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna show you why no one messes with my hair!"

Yang crouched low to the ground and dashed forward wildly. This brazen move caused Shirou to narrow his eyes at the seemingly suicidal move. He bombarded the blonde, but Yang tanked the shots before reaching out with both hands onto his bow.

Shirou's smirk disappeared, immediately pleasing Yang. "Gimme that bow asshole! I'm sick and tired of your shit!"

Red murderous eyes drunk in the sight of his face contorted in concern.

Everyone in the arena gasped as she prepared to throw away the bow and deliver a crushing blow.

When Shirou tried to counter, Yang jerked the bow back causing him to stumble forward slightly. Blake felt hope well in her chest. "Not so tough are ya huh?!" Yang grinned maliciously. "You're not gonna enjoy this!" With her left hand keeping his bow in place. She cocked back her right for a devastating haymaker.

And then Shirou exhaled.

The bow suddenly disappeared into particles of light.

"W-What the fu-" Yang couldn't even finish her words. "GUOOAHHCK-!"

Shirou, abusing the opening during the time Yang lost her balance, ducked underneath the punch that went wide and returned the favor by smashing his right fist straight into her mouth. Shirou hit her with such force that it sent Yang flying before landing hard on the ground meters away.

Blake's heart dropped as she watched him materialize another bow along with two arrows.

Yang realized what was about to happen attempted to scramble back up, but by the time she righted herself. Shirou already notched the arrow and sent it flying. "NOT AGAIN!" She yelled as the arrow exploded at her feet, sending her up into the air. "NOT LIKE THIS!"

Her pleading fell on deaf ear. She was helpless to stop him from what he was about to do to her. The last sight she saw was his smirk as he lined up his aim.

"SHIROU YOU BAST-! GAHCK-!"

Yang was cut off as his final shot sent her back up into the hole of the ceiling.

"That… that smug bastard." That was all Blake could utter as she laid back and observed the dust that fell from above. "Well," she sighed dejectedly, "that sucked."

"Winner – Team SNPR!"

"So…" drawled a brunette. "This is the guy huh?"

Her dark eyes peered over her circular sunglasses. They roamed over the figure that walked over to the headmaster and deputy headmistress. She clicked her tongue and hummed in satisfaction. "Not bad I suppose. Choice of wardrobe and styling aside, I do have to say he does make that drab uniform work." Her eyes wandered down and grinned. "He's got a nice ass – I can see why you like him Velvet."

"Coco!" the girl's face flushed in embarrassment.

"Oh, don't worry hun," an amused look danced on her face as she slapped Velvet's shoulders. "I'm only window shopping."

The accompanying wink prompted the girl to bury her face in her hands.

"Alright, stop teasing the poor girl," chastised a colossus of a man. His deep, baritone voice belied his caring nature as he laid a comforting hand on Velvet's other shoulder. "It's nice to finally see your savior after all this time. I didn't want to take too much stock on the gossip that Coco drivels out. Can never be too sure what's true when it comes to her you know?"

"Hey!" His leader shot him an accusing glare. "I take great offense to that Yatsuhashi!"

Yatsuhashi shrugged his shoulders, "You'll get over it."

"Curious…" their fourth member spoke up. "Do we know who he is?"

"Not much honestly Fox," confessed Coco. "No one really knows where he graduated from. Nor where he came from for that matter." She shrugged as she saw Professor Goodwitch repairing the stage. "Apparently, he wasn't even here during the opening ceremony for the newbies." She quickly rattled off some things off the top of her head. "Now that I think about it. He's probably the biggest enigma here. He's already a hot topic amongst the other seniors."

"Oh? I didn't know he was already so famous. What made him stand out?" prodded Yatsuhashi.

"Being the leader of the team that has Pyrrha Nikos for starters," she began. "Obviously that's going to turn a lot of heads. Not to mention that incident with Velvet in the first week resulting in the biggest beat down anyone in the academy as ever seen for a first year. And lastly… well I'm not sure about this one, but there's a hot rumor going around that he beat the Invincible Girl herself," Coco replied while inspecting her nails.

All three of her teammates perked their eyebrows up.

"Is it true though?" asked a keenly interested Velvet. "Did Shirou beat Pyrrha?"

"No one really knows," shrugged Coco. "Some girl overheard them talking about it when she passed by their table. Seeing as one of the practice rooms got trashed, I would put some truth to it. Although by the time anyone snooped around, Professor Goodwitch had already repaired the arena."

"Did they try accessing the public archival footage?" inquired Fox.

"Yeah," nodded their leader. "But guess what? All of the footage during their time was wiped." Coco scrutinized the leader of SNPR as he presented his Scroll to his professors. "So that tells us he doesn't want anyone snooping around his team. Guy sure loves his privacy," she muttered.

"Well," grunted Yatsuhashi crossing his arms. "Today's performance certainly makes it plausible that he actually beat Nikos." He peered up at the hole in the ceiling that Shirou made. "I've never seen anyone use a bow packed with so much power. To think that he could pack as much power like an Atlesian tank."

"So… he's a real spook huh?" softly summarized Fox.

"Yeah – he's the real deal," affirmed Coco. "The guy is like a ghost that appeared out of nowhere. Makes him super mysterious don't you think?"

"Congratulations Mister Emiya," smiled Ozpin. "You and your team went above and beyond today's matches. You have certainly impressed your fellow students, professors, and myself. I can see that your team's thorough preparations paid off." He extended a hand forward.

I returned his smile and shook his hand. "We could've done better."

"Good," he was satisfied by that response. "That's the proper mindset to have."

"Going forward," Glynda Goodwitch stepped up with her tablet. "With your team being the victors and scoring the highest marks out of anyone else. You are now eligible to select your first mission or work-study. I must advise you to carefully examine which ones you choose and are to be reminded that we hold the right to deny your selection."

I bowed my head. "Understood."

"With that out of the way, you will be forwarded a list later this evening. Please discuss it with your team and we will try to-"

"Ah sorry," I cut in, "but we already have one in mind."

Glynda blinked at the abrupt intrusion. "Is that so?"

I pulled out my Scroll and presented it to her. "We would like to select this work-study if that is possible."

Her eyes narrowed at our choice. She gave the headmaster a quick glance. He studied the selection before nodding in approval. "Very well," she tapped her tablet. "I will forward more information to you later this evening. You will be expected to depart by no later than tomorrow morning. Please be at the terminal by nine and no later."

"Yes ma'am."

The sun had set by the time Team RWBY made it back to their dorm.

The atmosphere in the room was quiet and somber as each member split to their respective place. Yang had unceremoniously collapsed face first onto the carpet the moment she stepped in. Ruby slumped in her hair over at her desk and fiddled around with Crescent Rose. Weiss sat pensively next to Ruby at her own desk while writing away at her personal journal. And lastly, Blake crawled up into her bed and curled up in her sheets.

She had long accepted the outcome of the match and was content with continuing where she left on in her book. While it was unfortunate that they failed to overcome Shirou's team, there was nothing else they could do besides learn from their mistakes. In her opinion, it was better to forget about their current misery and work harder for next time.

Sadly – some of her teammates didn't share the same sentiments. Tension lingered in the air as each member tackled the same problem differently.

Breaking the silence, "Well…" Yang's muffled voice came out from the carpet, "that sucked."

"Yeah…" Ruby sighed out. "That was… that was rough."

"Ugh god, can someone roll me over?" Blake rolled her eyes. She got up from her bed and pushed her partner over onto her backside with her foot. "Thanks Blakey." Yang groaned as she adjusted to her new position. "Everything just… hurts so much right now. I think after today, I never want to see another bow or arrow in my life."

"You mean you don't like being sent up into the ceiling over and over Yang?" teased Blake crawling back into her bed.

Yang weakly glared at her. "I want you to know Blake, if it weren't for the fact that I can barely move right now. I would totally punch you."

"Well then it's good you're down there and I'm up here," she returned with a smirk. Blake turned to her side comfortably with her book lowered just enough to get a good view of Yang. "Just to make sure. Don't want you to get any funny ideas about sneaking up on me while I'm not looking," winked Blake.

Her partner tried getting up and was barely able to lift up her arm. "Yea nope." She shook her head. "I'm going nowhere. Looks like you're safe for now Blakey."

"Well I'm glad that you two are in such high spirits," bit out Weiss icily.

"Hey, we're on the road to recovery Weiss," Yang shrugged from the floor. "I'd rather crack jokes than be mopey and all sad about it. I mean, yeah it sucks that we lost, but we'll get over it. We've only been a team for like two months. Can't always ride the highs you know? Gotta learn how to deal with the lows too, that's just life for ya."

"But we lost," stressed the white-haired girl. "We got humiliated in front of everyone!"

"Uh Weiss? I'm pretty sure Shirou's team humiliated every team they came across and not just us," replied Yang. "Team GOLD got knocked out in like sixteen seconds. I'm pretty sure we're the only team that lasted longer than a minute. So, I see this as an absolute win!" she spread out her arms with a grin.

"We should have actually won if we had a plan!" Weiss glared at their leader. "We should have been able to beat them! We could have been the top team! And… and now we're just second best," she finished bitterly. "If only… if only…"

"Should'a, would'a, could'a," said Yang. "Team SNPR came prepared and we didn't. They were the better team today and that's a fact that we have to accept. Like… could we have fought better? Yeah. Do you think we should have been better prepared? Sure. There wasn't much we could realistically do that would've given us a better chance."

"My sister's right." Ruby sat up in her chair. "I'll be honest everyone, a lot of what went wrong was my fault. Everything just… got out of control so fast I didn't know what to do. I just… I just started freezing up. Everywhere I looked we were getting outmaneuvered and it didn't help that they didn't even say anything to each other."

"Hey," Yang pointed to her sister. "Don't go putting all the blame on yourself because you can pretty much dump half of what went wrong to me." She scratched the side of her head. "I… well I pretty much lost my shit and that screwed us over pretty bad." Her fingers rubbed some strands of her hair. "And the more I think about it. The more I realize I played right into Shirou's hands." Yang clicked her tongue loudly. "He knew I'd flip my lid if he nicked some of my hair. He knew I'd throw our plan out the window just to get my own personal revenge. And look where that got us?"

"We just didn't fight as a team," stated Ruby. "After you got shot up into the rafters. Blake had to take your spot and cover for us as best as she could. Speaking of which," she turned to her sister. "Just how far did he shoot you up Yang?"

Yang winced as she rubbed her stomach. "Well the first shot sent me into the crawl space. Took me a while to get all the rubble off me and jump back down. And when I did… man," she grimaced recollecting the memory, "the second shot actually broke through the roof and sent me outside. And boy was that a doozy trying to get back down."

"Ouch," was all Blake managed to say as she flipped a page.

"You could say that again," huffed Yang. "He was doing his best to keep me out of the fight. But yeah, whatever we were doing just wasn't enough against a team like Shirou's."

"But maybe if we had changed up our plan. Like engage their team differently or focused our efforts on Shirou instead of Pyrrha." Weiss stubbornly clung onto her idea. "We could have…"

"Weiss," called out Ruby. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come up with something. I know I'm not the greatest leader, but I'm doing my best to be one. I don't think if we did anything different the outcome would have changed. We'll all take something from this experience and get better together."

"And if that isn't enough?" murmured Weiss looking at Ruby. "And if we still end up failing?"

Ruby resolutely stared back. "Then we'll do that together too."

Weiss pursed her lips together thinly. As the most prideful of the four, she found it difficult to accept defeat. Yet even Weiss could see complaining about it would not change reality. "…Very well then."

"Girls," Ruby addressed everyone as she stood up. "We may have lost today, but we will win tomorrow. I promise you that. Team SNPR will rue the day that they decided to mess with Team RWBY, and the moment they get complacent. We will be there to take back what is rightfully ours as the bestest super-ultra-rad team of Beacon!"

Blake, Weiss, and Yang stared at Ruby in silence. Her leader made her declaration with her eyes closed and right hand tightly balled into a fist. It made for a moving moment until Yang started giggling uncontrollably.

"Oh my god Ruby, you are such a dork!" She started to roll on the ground before crying out in pain. "Oh god, oh god! It hurts to even laugh!"

Ruby flushed a bright pink on her cheeks.

Blake partially covered her face with her book and giggled softly. "I have to say that was pretty corny Ruby." It was like Ruby took a page out of a cheesy comic book.

"Ya-ang!" whined her leader. "Quit laughing at me!"

"Hmph," Weiss harrumphed, but everyone could see even she was laughing a little bit too.

"Weiss not you too?! Aww come on! I was just trying to cheer everyone up! Isn't that what a leader is supposed to do!" She scratched her head with both hands. "And you! Quit laughing on the ground Yang! I'll… I'll kick you!"

"Haha-! Try me little sis!" goaded the older sister still laughing sporadically on the ground.

"Grr-!" growled Ruby. "Take this!" She went to kick her sister at her leg, but soon found her foot caught in a vice-like grip.

"Gotcha!" winked Yang. "Now get over here Ruby! This is your punishment!" She pulled Ruby down to the ground and they both began to wrestle. It wasn't long before Yang got her younger sister in a headlock. "Say uncle Ruby! I wanna hear you say it!"

"N-Never! I'll never say uncle!" Ruby cried as she struggled to get out.

Yang laughed, rubbing her knuckles on top of Ruby's head. "I'm gonna make you regret those words! Haha-!"

Blake rolled her eyes as she flipped to another page. "You guys are such dorks."

The cold Fall breeze rushing by felt refreshing outside the terminal.

A bright morning sun crested over the horizon.

The central promenade going into the school bustled with students and faculty members starting their day. Workers at the airport filed people in and out for their daily commute to the city and back.

Our transportation, a bullhead, was scheduled to begin boarding at nine o'clock sharp.

I checked my Scroll once more and swiped to my messages for any updates from Ozpin. Seeing nothing yet again was starting to get too familiar for me to see. A familiar feeling that I refused to let keep happening. Peering over at our transportation, I couldn't contain my anticipation of starting my new journey.

With this opportunity – I could begin to search for Miyu myself.

Even though Ozpin assisted, I wanted to be able to get out there and do some work myself. Being dependent on someone didn't exactly sit well with me. Nor did the feeling of sitting on my laurels rest easy on my shoulders. What kind of brother could I call myself if all I did was sit around while someone else did all the work?

"Excited Shirou?" came a voice to my left that broke me out of my muse.

Pyrrha strolled up with her luggage. Her hands smoothed out her skirt as she took a seat next to me on the bench. Since I had yet to purchase my own set of clothes, I wore the school uniform. The other three made a unanimous decision to also stay dressed in their uniforms. That way, and I quote from Nora, I wouldn't feel awkward for standing out for not having my own set of clothes.

"What makes you say that?"

"Ohh~ I think I'm starting to learn how you express yourself," she coyly winked. "You always wear a little grin when you start staring off in the distance."

"I- I do?" I blinked in surprise.

Do I really stare off into the distance with a grin? Wasn't that a little creepy? Better question yet was I really becoming more like EMIYA? Was the influence from the Class Card really that great? I knew that being one-hundred percent compatible with a heroic spirit would have some effect on me, but was it that much?

Unaware of my internal dilemma, Pyrrha giggled. "Gotcha~!"

My right eye twitched. "Oh, you're very funny Pyrrha," I said dryly. "Enjoy the moment you hear me." Pyrrha was starting to adapt quickly to my behavior. That girl was getting better every day at playing our little game of cat and mouse.

"Oh, I will," her giggles turned into soft fits of laughter.

I glared as she reveled in her small victory.

"You're a terrible loser Shirou," she stated with a grin.

"And you're a terrible winner Pyrrha," I shook my head. "If only the people actually knew the real you."

"Then it's a good thing that only you do," winked Pyrrha once again.

"Watch yourself," I warned. "Or else you'll be finding yourself crashing into another pole."

She stopped laughing, blinked, and her cheeks began to flush. "I- I thought you'd never bring that up again."

Grinning back, I replied. "You thought wrong."

"That's not fair!" she complained.

"All's fair in love and war," I shot back.

"Shirou you-"

"Hey you two!" called out Nora. "Quit your flirting and look! Ruby and her team are coming to see us off!"

We both stared at each other for a brief moment. Her face flushed even more that it began to match the color of her hair. I snuck a glimpse as Pyrrha turned her head to the side, catching her sputter. Nora's comment unaffected me, but it seemed like Pyrrha was still inexperienced when it came to things like romance.

"Ha," I huffed in amusement. I closed my eyes and turned to Pyrrha before opening only one. "Oh well, we'll just flirt again somewhere else in private later."

"S-Shirou!" Pyrrha stammered as her head whipped to gawk at me.

"Heyyy! Shirou!" Ruby called out as she ran up to the terminal gate. "We got here just in time!"

I got off my seat and left Pyrrha to stew in her abashment.

"Good morning Ruby," I ruffled her hair.

Ruby squinted her eyes as she giggled in delight. "H-Hey! You're ruining my hair style!"

"If you can call that mess before as a style then sure," I teased. "Don't worry, I'll fix it really quick for you." My hands went to work right away.

"Tee-hehe!"

"Gosh," gagged Weiss. "You spoil her too much you know that Shirou?"

"Is that envy I hear Weiss?" grinned Yang as she saddled up next to the girl.

"I am not envious!" huffed the white-haired girl. "Why would I be envious of Shirou fixing Ruby's hair? I've had my hair done by the best hair stylists in the world! Speaking of hair, aren't you still angry at Shirou for cutting your hair?"

"Pssh," Yang waved her off. "Water under the bridge girl. After dinner, we caught up and he offered to fix my hair and boy oh boy! Do I need to tell you that Shirou can work wonders with my hair! That guy right there," she jabbed her finger at me. "Has magic hands I tell you. I swear it felt like his scalp massage was almost worth losing a few strands. Even if he nicked some of my hair, all is forgiven."

All the girls gave a poignant look at me, with the exception of Ruby as I finished her hair. Notably, Pyrrha and Blake stared the hardest; their gaze practically drilling holes into me.

Feeling awkward at being the center of attention, I responded with only one word. "What?"

"You… you know how to do a girl's hair?" asked Nora.

I tilted my head slightly. "Yes?"

"And you never told us why?" she further questioned.

I narrowed my eyes in return. "Do you know how creepy that is to tell someone? Especially to a girl?"

"T-True, true, now that you mention, it does sound pretty creepy for a guy to tell a girl that," conceded Nora.

Ren fidgeted for some reason in his seat.

Pyrrha stroked her fingers through her ponytail. "You know... I wouldn't mind if you did my hair too Shirou."

"S-Same here Shirou," spoke up a bashful Blake.

"Eh – I got Ren, so I'm good," shrugged Nora.

Ren fidgeted harder as Nora wrapped an arm around him.

"I mean… if everyone is trying then I wouldn't be opposed to getting my hair done, I guess," said a begrudging Weiss feeling left out.

"Oi," I glared at all of them. "What do I look like, your personal hairstylist?"

"Yes," Yang answered for everyone unashamedly.

All of them looked at me with pleading eyes. Especially Ruby who was attempting her best to share some of my skills that I honed with Miyu. I sighed heavily as I caved in, "Fine."

They all smiled and grinned in victory.

"But," I held my hand up, "I reserve the right to do it when I feel like it. You moochers don't have a say in anything you got that? So don't come to me expecting to do your hair at the drop of a hat or whenever you feel like it."

"Yeah, sure, sure!" Yang wrapped her arm around my neck pulling me in close enough that I could smell her perfume. "You're a good friend of ours and we would never ever exploit you like that! It's just you know," her head swayed side to side, "it'd be nice to have you work that magic of yours once in a while!"

Once again, for one reason or another, I could feel the stares from Pyrrha and Blake. I didn't even dare to turn my gaze left knowing that meant certain death. "Let go of me," I grounded out.

"Aww come on red! I'm just trying to show my appreciation to you even if you did lop off some of my hair," she cooed cutely. "Most guys would die to be in this position you know?"

A set of green eyes and amber eyes observed none to discretely.

I grasped her arm and pried myself free. "You can show your appreciation by not suffocating me."

"Not into blondes huh?" guessed Yang.

"Well the last blonde I spoke with tried to kill me," I plainly stated remembering Angelica Ainsworth.

"Wow really? What'd you do? Reject her confession or something? Or are you actually a playboy that messed around with one too many girls?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it was because I tried to murder her brother?"

The entire group went silent as they stared. One of Yang's eyebrows slowly rose as she looked at me strangely. Tense seconds passed as I waited for their reaction. It really was the truth, but if a person were to hear my circumstances and backstory then it would sound so ridiculous that they would simply laugh it off. Not to mention how I got here was even more crazy.

And just like that, Yang finally broke out into laughter while holding her gut. "O-Oh my god Shirou! You're actually funny you know that? Ow-!" She winced from laughing, still slightly sore. "L-like holy crap, I legitimately thought you were being for real with us for a second, but running it through my head, it just sounds crazy!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Seriously man, you can say some of the most outlandish things you know?"

Everyone shared a few chuckles and laughs as they played off my statement. For a split second I wanted to confess everything. All the lies, the omissions, the sins, everything. A sudden madness to reveal my origin and my fears. It would have been just so easy to offload the ever growing weight to my heart. Yet…

"The opportunity was there," I grinned.

"Well, well, well, looks like you guys and gals are having a merry time," announced a new voice.

The eight of us turned to a group of four students walking our way.

Leading at the front was a girl with dark-brown hair that had a part of her bangs dyed with a gradient that transitioned into a lighter color. The aviator sunglasses were tipped down to where her dark brown eyes could be seen. Her heeled boots loudly clicked and clacked as she strode up with a powerful and confident gait.

"The name's Coco Adel," she introduced, her voice strong yet husky. "Second year and the leader of Team CFVY." Her hand that wasn't holding her expensive looking bag tossed her hair out. Subtlety was not this girl's strong suit. The more I took her in, the more I realized that everything this girl wore was expensive. Nothing, but name brands that must've cost a pretty penny. However, it didn't detract from how she stood.

That small little smirk she wore was telling. She was used to deceiving people with first impressions. It was dangerous to think of her as dainty or fragile. The way her stance shifted to support the weight of her bag gave away that something heavy was stashed away.

Before any of us could properly return a greeting, she continued.

"This one over here," pointed Coco to her right. "Fox Alistair."

A dark-skinned boy with messy copper hair. Scars riddled all over his arms and face telling a story of a harsh past. He observed all of us quietly with white eyes. His face cracked a small smile greeting us all warmly.

"He can't talk," mentioned Coco before quickly moving on. "Next up is the big guy over there." The other male in question stepped forward. "That's Daichi Yatsuhashi."

Tall- no that wasn't an accurate description. He was a behemoth of a man. Towering over everyone else, he made Weiss start shifting around uncomfortably as she became self-conscious about her height. Holstered on his back was an equally massive sword, or cleaver in this case, that likely weighed as much as he did. Even so the weight did not affect him at all as there were no visible signs of strain on his face.

Weapon aside, he wore a rather plain and simple get up being a green robe over a black muscle shirt, brown slacks, and black boots.

Before Coco could introduce the last of her team, I already recognized a familiar face.

Her long brown hair waved in the wind as her bunny ears twitched in either excitement or nervousness. Instead of the academy uniform I first met her in, she wore a long-sleeved brown zipper jacket, brown short-shorts, black leggings, and boots.

"Haven't seen you in a while Velvet."

"O-Oh," her eyes perked up as her cheeks flushed, "you remember me still!"

"Of course I remember."

She smiled nervously, "I figure you would've already forgotten. I'm sort of surprised you still remember my name and all."

Returning a soft smile, I shook my head, "I don't forget so easily."

Yatsuhashi stepped forward. "Emiya Shirou?" he said with a jovial smile. "It's nice to finally meet you," he bowed. "You have my gratitude for standing up for Velvet. I apologize for not doing this sooner, but missions forced us to be outside of the academy for a while. And not to mention, you're a terribly difficult man to find."

"Ah," was all that came out of my mouth. He was a soft-spoken individual, but his presence was undeniable. "It's nice to meet you as well," I returned the gesture.

"It's rare to see a fellow Eastern Mistralian in these parts," he commented joyously. "We are too few among these parts so it's rather refreshing to see another one of us."

I shared the same sentiment. "Indeed, Ren here," I motioned with my head, "makes good company, but you know the saying; the more the merrier right?"

His chest rumbled with a deep laughter. "Too true, too true Emiya!"

"Alright move over big guy," the girl named Coco pushed her teammate aside. "Sooo," she drawled. "This is Shirou huh?" Her eyes peered over her sunglasses with a smirk as she indiscreetly checked me out. "Hmm… now that I got a closer look at you. I have to say," she glanced back at Velvet, "you really do make those drab uniforms work my guy. Velvet has some good taste."

I blinked owlishly at how blatant this girl was. Her eyes roamed up and down, making small comments to herself about my appearance. Without shame and tossing aside decorum, she closed in on my personal space as she scrutinized every visible inch of me.

"I give him… a solid nine out of ten," judged Coco. "If you let me borrow him for a day, I can bump up that score from a nine to an eleven," she winked confidently.

"Coco!" blushed Velvet pulling Coco back.

My eyebrow arched, "…Thanks?"

"Between you and me hun? Velvet's got a bit of a teensy-weensy little crush on you. So do please treat our little bunny well."

"Coco please!" Her hands covered her face unable to bear the embarrassment from her leader.

"Alright," Yatsuhashi stepped in. "Quit teasing the poor girl Coco."

"Alright, alright!" She raised her hands in a placating gesture. "On a more serious note, from one team leader to another, thank you for looking out for her."

"Don't worry about it," I waved her off. "Most people would've done what I did."

Coco fell silent for a moment. "Hmm… then you're better than most."

"Team SNPR – your flight into Vale City is ready; please head to your assigned departure gate," announced a woman on the intercom.

I inhaled and turned around, "Alright team, let's move out."

"W-Wait!" Velvet moved forward. "Could I trouble you for a picture really quick?"

"Just me or…?"

"Even better with your whole team! And if you don't mind. Do you think you could pose with your weapons as well?"

I looked at my team for their response.

"I don't mind Shirou," smiled Pyrrha. She was probably already used to being asked for pictures and autographs.

"Yeah!" whooped Nora. "A team picture sounds fantastic!"

Ren simply politely nodded.

"Well, there's your answer."

"That's awesome!" Velvet pulled out her camera from behind. "Now if you could all just pose in the middle for me then that would be great."

The four of us got into position as I materialized Kanshou and Bakuya. The request was rather odd to make and using a pair of Noble Phantasms for a photo made it doubly so. And as usual, the sight of them being created drew awes from Ruby.

"Okay everyone! Counting down from three! Three – two – one!"

A bright flash from her camera.

"Huh?"

"Something wrong Velvet?" asked Coco.

"It… it says my memory is full?" she answered confused.

"Didn't you clear out the memory last night?"

"Yeah, I did!" She said scratching her head. "Here, I'll just do a quick format and try again. Sorry about that you guys."

I grinned patiently, "It's alright, take your time."

Again from three! Three – two – one!"

Another bright flash.

"What? What do you mean the memory is full! I just formatted the memory clean!" she complained with growing embarrassment. "I-I'm so sorry about this. It's never happened before. I don't know what's going on with this thing."

"Team SNPR, your flight into Vale City is ready; please head to your assigned departure gate," urged the woman from the intercom.

"Shirou," Pyrrha tapped my shoulder, "we better get going."

"Right…" I turned to Velvet to offer my condolences. "It's okay, we can take another one some other time." I patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I'll catch you later next time okay?"

Her bunny ears drooped down in sadness. "I'm really, really sorry about this. I'll try and figure this out so it won't happen again."

"I'm sure you will."

I moved away and picked up my bags.

"Bye Shirou! Bye Pyrrha! Bye Ren! Bye Nora! Have fun with your work-study!" waved Ruby. "We'll miss you all!"

"Be seeing you four!" said Yang. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Until next time Team SNPR," nodded Weiss with a prim wave.

"Bye you guys." Black snuck a small smile to me. "Later Shirou."

I waved them off as I walked away. After almost two months of being in Beacon Academy. I was finally able to venture off from the next and into the world.

The C.I.D. awaited us.

Author's Note:

So, I assumed I would be able to get this chapter out quickly before the year ended; I assumed wrong. As usual, the chapter ended up being overhauled from the ground up. My good friend and editor felt that I could do better to which I agreed so we spent a good while improving the detail and flow of the chapter. I hope we did a good job and the chapter was enjoyable to read!

Four years.

It has been four god damn years since I posted the first chapter. Kind of pathetic at how slow my pace has been. But I'm just happy to have finally gotten to this point of the story. Shirou's team is finally out of Beacon and setting off to their first adventure in the big city.

I will preface this by saying that while there won't be any totally radical changes, I think, there will be things added to enhance the story and expand upon things established in RWBY. This is the part that has me the most excited and at the same time the most terrified because the coming chapters draw from a lot of sources that I've read or watched over the years. Off the top of my head, titles like: Blade Runner 2049, Psycho-Pass, The Prestige, Solo-Leveling, Fate/Strange Fake, and Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Sekiro.

A mish-mash of different things that I want to try out and hopefully implement them well into the story.

From here on out, the story ramps up and I can finally get to the interesting bits that will push the story even further. I'm excited, scared, nervous, hyped, and terrified all rolled up into one neat package.

Without adding more nonsense, I appreciate you, the reader, taking the time to check out and read my story! Please, if you can, leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter or story. I appreciate any and all critiques or comments. I will do my best to keep on improving and deliver a quality story to you all! If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a private message. Reminder to also check out my profile periodically as I post updates on the chapter's progress on there.

Thank you for reading another update of this story!

Also farming back to back doing all 200 floors of Setsubun, going straight into Valentines, and now the Kara no Kyoukai re-run; just kill me. Don't forget to monk for Skadi.