Ch. 11 Hearts and Eyes Pried Open

Alabast puts his weapon in the locker. Nights Fall can barely fit, as it takes up the entire height of it.

Alabast exits the room and sees the students all look at him with varying expressions.

His team and team RWBY were either giving him a nod, a thumbs up, smiling and other actions as he went back to his seat.

Ruby was about to jump on him as he sat down but he just put his hand on the top of her head and forced her back into her seat. "No"

"But I didn't even say anything yet!"

Alabast keeps his hand on her head as he sits down. "Yet" Is all he says.

Once he is sitting down he lets go of Ruby's head. "That was a good match Alabast" He hears from his other side. He turns and sees Pyrrha slightly smiling at him.

"Thank you. I'll have another chance to fight him soon I imagine. Maybe his entire team…."

"You want to fight all of team CRDL? I'd watch that" Yang whispers while imagining Alabast destroy the entire time. Yang has a flash back to their training sessions and can only imagine Alabast fighting somebody he doesn't like.

"Nora" Alabast looks over to Nora next to Ren, she is just looking at the ground but looks in his direction but not at him when calls her name. "Don't feel down. At least you got to hit him" He then points towards the screen that has the grayed out screen with the results of the match.

Alabast's hp bar barely had a dent in it. Granted Cardin didn't use his fire crystal in his mace to explode on impact but still. For someone to take Cardin's full strike head on without defense it practically did nothing.

Cardin's hp was still full but he fainted so he lost. Alabast wasn't able to hit him but Nora did previously so he tried cheering her up.

Nora nodded and gave a weak smile to Alabast. Ren shrugged his shoulders and put a hand on Noras head.

"Well that's a new one" Glynda says loudly. "Students, let us review the match we just witnessed. There are some things that can be pointed out"

The screen starts to show a side view of the fight. Alabast stands there as Cardin hits his diaphragm knocking him back.

"You can see here that when Mr. Noir was hit his aura was lowered. This demonstrates how the hp bar will show your aura reserves in real time. You should check your aura reserves and change your battle plans accordingly"

Then it shows Alabast dodging Cardin's mace.

"Mr. Noir is demonstrating how you don't necessarily need to match your opponent swing for swing. Sometimes letting your enemy tire themselves out is a strategy..."

Then it shows Cardin striking the ground and causing a smokescreen.

"Mr. Winchester devised a strategy that utilized his weapon and the surroundings to make an opening"

Then it show Alabast grabbing Cardin.

"Mr. Noir saw an opening and took the chance to halt the charge and strike of Mr. Winchester. Patience is good to have, but you must know when to strike or else you will only be wasting time"

Then it shows Alabast force Cardin to his knees and raise his sword and then nearly hit Cardin. Alabast tosses Cardin's limp body back to the ground and face the crowd.

"The rest of that fight is unrealistic for most of the other students, not only in just this year. Normally if you have your 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.

A few people get volun-told to fight and it was mediocre. Nobody from team RWBY or ANVL got called to fight so it was boring for the rest of the class. 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 they weren't suitable for fighting other people. Alabast didn't really care.

Alabast was looking around the room when he noticed his hair. It is black with a slight gray at the ends. But it seems that the gray has slightly gone up the hair towards the roots, not much but maybe an inch. And it's gotten lighter. His hair hadn't changed much after the initial change.

As Alabast was looking at his hair he wondered if his dad had black hair. He had spent some time and effort when he was 15 to try and find him when he had time. It wasn't often but he tried. And the search came up with nothing. He only had his last name to go off of and that didn't seem to be enough.

He did find his mother's grave. He had been there once before but couldn't remember where it was until years later. It was just in the middle of a random graveyard and wasn't anything special. He hadn't even seen her get buried. Granted those initial years were foggy and all over the place. It was mostly training with little free time.

He did find out his mother's name. And found her actual last name before she married. Aka, her maiden name.

Bianca Albscen.

He found out his first name was based off of her maiden name while his last name was his fathers. He couldn't confirm his theory, because of the obvious reasons.

He couldn't find any other family. Not even a scent or whiff of a family tree. He even asked Roman to see what he could find when he did him a favor in the past.

Roman may be a prick, but man is he efficient. He gets the results at the end of the day. He's alright if you squint your eyes. He makes puns like Yang but they hit a bit different.

Roman also wears a strong cologne, or used to. And he may wear makeup? Alabast didn't bother investigating that one. He just worked with Roman to gather info on his targets or to assist on some of his heists.

Roman was smart, but man was he an idiot in the field. He could plan some impressive heists. But executing them? Not his strong suit. That's why Alabast had to come in and bail him out. Mostly from jail but he also completed some of his heists.

Alabast was lost in his thoughts for a decently long amount of time. He had his chin on the desk in front of him. Then he felt something scratch behind his ear and it felt amazing. He leaned his head into it and the sensation continued. Alabast closed his eyes and just enjoyed it while continuing his thoughts. His mind went back to his past and the few good times he had over the years.

He hadn't felt anything scratch his ears…..ever. He had been extremely protective of them since they got clipped. He felt his tail pick up in speed as well.

He was about to fall asleep when he was snapped out of his trance and the scratching sensation stopped.

"Team RWBY and team ANVL! I hope I'm not boring you"

Alabast opened his eyes and looked to his left. He saw Ruby frozen with her hands near his head. He sat up and crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Glynda that was staring at them. "Sorry….he he" Ruby apologized and laughed nervously.

"Please try to pay attention. Now….." Glynda continued talking about how they could improve their combat, both what they did well and what they should improve on.

Alabast looked down at Ruby who was sitting up stiffly with her hands in her lap while looking forward. She clearly was trying to avoid his gaze and act like she hadn't done anything. Alabast wasn't mad, but he wasn't excited either.

If you asked Pyrrha, she would say he was happy or at least in a good mood based on his tail. Which the others did ask when Alabast was in his own world.

The other team members had smiles and were looking at Alabast, and for some reason that ticked him off more than getting scratched behind the ear.

Pyrrha may or may not have been reaching for his other ear when Glynda had called them out. The entire two teams were focused on Alabast. Weiss and Yang also wanted to have a go but couldn't reach. Weiss felt his tail as it moved in her direction. She freaked out at first because she felt the soft hairs against her back randomly. But then she saw it was his tail and then she saw Ruby scratching his head. She wanted to tell her leader off but couldn't stop what was happening.

Blake 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 was. Letting a little girl scratch his ear and he was enjoying it. That was probably the happiest she has seen him. He seemed happy when he talked to her when they were in the White Fang. But since they have both been here she saw him like that most of the time he interacted with their teammates. And now she was wondering if he was the white haired wolf cub that saved her back at the "Bloody Hours" protest. Their age could match up, but the guy in front of her has black hair, nothing like the pure white hair of the kid. But the way the kid ripped the throat of the guy from back then, and the way the blood from his mouth matched his red eyes. She was conflicted now.

Class continued on. Ruby went back to her usual self and kept talking about the weapons. Weiss would talk about the dust used. Pyrrha critiqued their fighting styles. Nora talked about food. Yang admired their bodies. Ren and Blake were quiet. Alabast was lost in thought again but made sure to sit up.

Being scratched behind the ear. He does it to himself all the time and it was just because it would itch sometimes. 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 to Little Red and just stared at her. She had on a big 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 eyes and smile that sparkles.

"What?"

"I said, aren't the weapons so cool?! Right Alabast?"

"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 with some type of pistol gun combine in.

"I'm sorry about earlier Alabast….. are you ok?" Ruby sounds down and slowly speaks.

"I'm alright. Just come with me before our training session" Alabast puts his hand on her head and ruffles 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"

Hearing his words she took a second and became her usual chipper self. She and Weiss went back to discussing.

Time went forward and the class ends. Glynda repairs the stage since the last pair decided to hit the stage more than each other. She used her telekinesis semblance to repair it. 'Very useful' is what everyone thought.

"That is the end of this class. I want everyone to write a report on the class today. What you think a huntsman and huntresses duty is and how they should carry out their missions. Have it prepared for the next class which is on Monday. Dismissed!"

The students file out of the room.

"Why a report for Combat Class?" Alabast, Nora and Ruby questioned. Nora and Ruby more so in a whiney tone while Alabast just groaned.

As they were walking towards the practice 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…."

"Something that either had a pun or an innuendo right?"

"Maybe, maybe not" She says back.

"Did you want a one-vs-one against me?"

"Yes, but not sparing"

"What othe-" Alabast was messing with her a bit and walked right into this one. "Whatever"

He just walks away leaving Yang with a confident expression on her face. And a slight blush.

Ruby follows after Alabast after waving at the others.

Alabast walks into a building and finds a classroom that is empty and turns the lights on.

"So what did you wanna talk about Ashy?" Ruby has a decent blush on her face after walking into the empty class room. She can feel her heart beat slightly faster as she looks at Alabast as he leans against the wall.

Alabast looks at her and sees her blushing. "Ruby" he flatly says. Ruby doesn't know what she was expecting but hearing him say her name and not her nickname at this time made her blush more.

"Why do you want to be a huntress?"

"Huh?" Ruby was expecting a completely different question.

"You have so many options for yourself. You are smart when you want to be. A fanatic for weapons. Friendly when you know someone. Your small but not fragile. Strong but weak at the same time. And you're adorable. Why would you choose to hunt monsters?"

Ruby blushes even more hearing Alabast describe her. This is very similar to some of the huntsman love stories she has read. And even one of the books in her dorm room had something like this but lead to something very different than what she expected and was very steamy.

"Does he like me?" Ruby said out loud under her breath. She didn't mean to say it and only meant to think it, but her brain is getting a little hazy.

"What?" Alabast turns his head sideways and gets a hint of pink on his face.

"What?" Ruby snaps out of her inner fantasy.

"Huh?"

"Did you just confess?"

"I'm sorry what?" Alabast is confused on how he got here.

"Yo-you said I was adorable and you described my characteristics! That's what someone does when they confess!"

"Tha-" Alabast moved off the wall and took a step towards Ruby.

"Wait! I need some time!" And just like that Ruby was gone and only rose petals were in the place she had been standing in.

"Wait, what?" Alabast actually was confused on what just happened. He just wanted to know why she wanted to be a huntress and then he would ask her how she was able to scratch his ear and not surprise or alert him. He just kinda stood there.

He was now lost in thought yet again. He had apparently just confessed his feelings. He didn't dislike Ruby but he doesn't know if he likes her. The more he thought about it the more he was confused. He did feel a certain type of way about her, it was similar to the way he felt about Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss. They got closer over the first week and spent most of the week together in class or training and doing homework. Weiss had changed under her surface as she started to try and understand Faunus more and spent more time with Alabast.

His head was spinning and his thoughts were all over the place. He didn't want to deal with romance or love. He just gave up on it and Blake that week. Had he been that oblivious and desperate. Had he let the others into his hearts. Pyrrha had seen him vulnerable, and done her best to help him and even showed her own vulnerability to him. Weiss saw his scars and actually tried harder to know him. Yang is flirty but is sometimes funny with her puns. And she cares about the small things when she isn't in a fight. Ruby is Ruby and has little self awareness and is straight forward. She does her best and is passionate about certain things that are important to her.

Alabast has to sit down on a desk. Why does he feel this way. He thought that just one girl would be enough for him in the past, but now? When he thinks about another guy with any of them he feels the flame burn darker. But when he thinks about himself with them the fire dies down and the darkness allows some light through.

He shakes his head and stands up. He goes back to the others at the training ground and doesn't see Ruby.

"What happened to Ruby?" Yang asked.

Alabast just wanted to focus on training to distract his mind. "I'm not sure. She disappeared and rose petals took her place"

"Is she alright? What did you talk about?" Pyrrha stopped beating down Ren and Nora. Ren was walking back holding his back and Nora fell to the ground from the sky apparently.

"I….think she's fine? She sort of misunderstood what I said and left" He looks up at the few clouds in the sky.

"What did you talk about? Ruby is weird but she wouldn't run away mid-conversation" Weiss lowers Myrtenaster and the glyphs around her fade away.

"That….is a good question. I would ask her when you find her"

"Okay...I'm sure she is probably in the dorm room….maybe...probably" Yang says.

Everyone is a bit weird but they get back to training. Much to Rens and Noras dissatisfaction of getting laid out by Pyrrha.

Alabast works out on his own. He does his best to work so hard he doesn't think about the others and just focus on getting stronger and a better technique. He uses his darkness to add resistance in place of Pyrrhas usual resistance. The darkness just acts as a resistance band to make his movements harder to perform.

They finish and they go towards their room. Alabast stays behind saying he wants to work out more and for them to go ahead. They shrug their shoulders and go back to the dorm rooms.

Alabast thinks about Ruby telling the others and his heart rate increases. Ruby hadn't flat out turned him down when she though he confessed to her so does that mean that she isn't opposed to the idea? What idea?

Alabast shook his head and increased the darkness and worked harder. He opened his left hand and made a darkness whip like he saw earlier. He hadn't liked using them but he did think of a few new ways to use it to restrain his enemies since he can control it unlike a normal whip. He makes it wrap around the branch of a tree. Once it is wrapped he controls the darkness to constrict and wrap it more. The branch is nearly snapped in two before Alabast releases it. It's at least different.

It's getting dark now and Alabast has gotten a bit sweaty. He goes and sits under a tree to relax before he heads back. He looks at the sky and sees the stars and shattered moon. A few clouds are still floating above.

Then he hears someone approach the field. He sees a small figure with a red cape walk onto the field and look around.

"Over here Little Red!" Alabast calls out.

She jumps into the air a little bit and turns towards his voice. She can see Alabast sitting down with his back against a tree. His weapon is leaning next to him against the tree. His face almost completely hidden by his hair that seems extremely wild. His tail on the grass slowly moving.

Ruby walks towards Alabast and stands in front of him about 10 ft away.

"Hey…."

"Did you tell the others?" Alabast bluntly asks.

"N-No. I just said yo-"

"Why?"

"Huh?" Ruby tilts her head. Her ears are also a bit red amplifying her blush.

"I don't really care what you said to them. But why didn't you tell them?" Alabast looks into her sliver eyes.

"Well….I wanted to think about my answer. And I wanted to talk to you again before I said anything to them" Her hands are behind her back as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"What did you want to talk about?" Alabast was genuinely curious and for some reason he had a feeling in his chest and stomach. It was nervousness for some reason.

"I'veseenthewayyoulookattheothersaswellasmyselfandiveseenthewaytheylookatyoutoo!" Ruby just blurted out.

Alabast moves his hair to the side to get it somewhat normal. "Others?". Alabast turns his head to the side and can feel blood rush to his face.

"Me, Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha and Blake" Ruby says quietly.

"Blake?" Alabast asks himself. He thought he had given up on her but apparently not.

"Yeah, we all noticed that you were warming up to us. Blake didn't really talk about it but she listened while the rest of us talked about it. Nora also talked with us about it and how you encouraged her relationship with Ren. Some of us were ok with it while others weren't"

"Well obviously. Who would let another person go out with their significant other"

"Well, some were more accepting than others"

"Why were some of you even considering it?"

Ruby hung her head at that question.

"Alabast, how do you feel about us?" She peeks up at him.

"I….how….what do I say to that? I haven't had an actual friendship until I got to Beacon. The way I feel is different for each of the girls you mentioned. But it's diferent compared to the way I feel about Ren and Nora…"

Ruby walks around the tree and doesn't continue around. She stays on the other side. "We will be going out and fighting against monsters. We will be risking our lives to save others. My mom went out on a mission when I was young and she never came back so I know the risk we all will take…"

"That's sad to hear…..Why do you want to do this then?"

"I'm scared of losing my friends and family. And even more afraid of not being able to help and save them. So I've trained and done my best to get to where I am today...It also helps that it's cool and….and romantic. Being able to work together with your friends. The bonds you make along your path"

"I guess that's as good a reason as any. I don't know myself. I can already save people with my level of strength. But it just doesn't feel right. Like it isn't right or something. And for your information, wolves are monogamous"

"What's that mean?"

"It means that they have one mate for life"

"Not necessarily!" Ruby speaks louder and replies quickly.

"What does that mean?"

"Not all wolves are moge-mongeno-monogamous. Some wolves have multiple….mates…"

"Which wolves?"

"Alphas" Ruby says quietly.

"Maybe in the wild packs….but Faunus don't have alphas"

"Have you ever seen a Faunus like yourself? I haven't seen anyone with ears, fangs, and tail. And your eyes. They are very different and have a certain look to them"

"So kind of like your silver eyes then?"

"Sort of. But I'm trying to say that you are different from the rest Alabast"

"I've noticed that y'know. But that doesn't mean I'm an 'alpha'. That just means I'm different. It gives a reason to be discriminated against by the already discriminated against Faunus. Every other Faunus only has one trait. Every other Faunus. I'm the only one that I know of that has multiple. Some even call me a beast. It's not that it bothers me, and it's not like everyone says it. But it's the looks I get. Both from humans and other Faunus look at me like I'm different. A person can only take so much for so lo-"

Alabast feels Ruby hugging him. He doesn't know when she got so close but he got carried away after having that topic unburied.

She was on his right side kneeling beside him and has her head on his shoulder. She was small and light. But so comforting and warm. It didn't make sense.

"It's ok now Alabast. You have people that care about you now. We don't know the specifics on how you grew up but we know it wasn't easy. We can't change your past, but we will do our best to change your future if you let us. And we don't expect anything from you. You don't have to act all tough and cool all the time, we're your friends and we want to help"

Alabast closes his eyes and sighs. "Haaah. I don't even know how we got to this topic. Look, I think you're all great. And I'd be the luckiest guy to have any one of you. But I don't deserve any of you-"

"Who cares what you do and don't deserve. You aren't any less than the rest of us. If anything you're more. Who cares what others think, I don't believe that has gotten in your way before, right?" Ruby quickly cuts him off and hugs him tighter.

"Right" Alabast opens his eyes and looks over at Ruby.

"And stop with the self-deprecation. You're hotter when you're happy"

"What?!" Alabast feels his face get hotter.

"What!?" Ruby catches her slip. "I-Ahem- Anyway. You always tell me not to be down unnecessarily! So you shouldn't either!"

Alabast looks back up to the shattered moon. "I think that sounds fair"

"And give us some thought. We would rather all of us be happy than one be happy while the others are sad. Weiss might take some time, but she will probably come around. I don't know about Blake. She seems like she wants to get closer to our teams but she's holding herself back. Like she's ready to run away at any time. But she's starting to interact with us more. She's just defensive around you for some reason"

"I'll think about it. I didn't even think of romance and love until you freaked out this afternoon"

"What?!" Ruby lifts her head and backs away.

Alabast feels the weight and warmth leave and he instinctively reaches out to not let it escape. He puts his right arm around Ruby and brings her to his front so she straddles his lap. He puts his left arm around her lower back and his right hand goes from her back to her head and pushes her head into his right shoulder again. Alabast leans his head down onto Ruby's shoulder.

"You misunderstood what I was saying, but I meant what I said. It works out this way I guess"

Alabast enjoys the warmth Ruby is making him feel. He had already cooled off after his workout. He didn't smell bad to Ruby either.

Ruby is frozen in shock after being moved. But she soon wraps her arms around Alabast and she is surprised at how big his shoulders are.

"Did you come out here alone?" Alabast asks after noticing a presence nearby.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Ruby says innocently.

"Someone is watching us. I don't know when they showed up"

"Really, where are they?"

"Hold on tightly" Alabast said as he used his darkness to move them close to the presence. They disappeared from their spot and reappeared on top of another tree deeper into the small woods.

Below them now was a black haired girl with a bow that is standing with her back to the tree and facing where Alabast and Ruby had been just a second ago.

"Blake?" Ruby asks surprised as she sees the bow on the persons head.

"Ruby!? How did yo-" She then sees Alabast holding Ruby close while they sit in the tree and the darkness fades away into the night. "Oh, Alabast did it" She says flustered.

"Sooooo.... How much have you heard?" Ruby asks

"Enough"

"Ren! Damit, I know you are masking the others presence! Come out now!"

The others walk out from around other trees.

"He saw right through us Renny" A energetic voice says.

Alabast just lowers his head since he didn't figure out he was being watched most likely the entire time. Blake probably turned their offer down to spy on them and came out on her own. Ren has improved his semblance to mask his and others presence near perfectly now. If Alabast hadn't seen him train it and help him he wouldn't have found him so soon.

"Care to explain yourselves?" Alabast asks in a mad tone seeing the two teams come out of their hiding spots.

"Surprise!" Yang jokes