Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also exceedingly exceedingly exceedingly rarely chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
-Story Start-
And so, the Beacon freshmen's official meeting to plan pre-ball events for the international students, title pending, continued!
"Umm, ahem! H-Hello everyone!" Pyrrha cleared her throat, standing beside Yang before the assembled party of freshmen.
Yang gave her a practiced smile and stepped in. "Due to uncertain circumstances, sister dearest will not be joining the proceedings of this meeting!"
She casually gestured with a swipe of her hand at one of the two bunk beds, Ruby Rose lying there with a big bump at the top of her head.
It seemed she was facing the consequences of her actions.
Crocodile tears ran down Ruby's cheeks. Alex sat beside her with folded arms, radiating an almost self-righteous satisfaction despite his usual blank expression.
"I-" She sniffed, "I-I was trying to be a good host!" Her protest resonated meekly.
"Sure. But you should ask permission to use other people's stuff." Alex nodded, lecturing indifferently.
"B-But you wouldn't agree to share it with the others!"
"Exactly. Doesn't give you the right to hand it away."
Ruby's face twitched, "I-It's just coffee-"
At her words, a certain pressure enveloped the room, sourced from Alex and even the two distant fellow connoisseurs among the first years.
She hadn't dared complete her insinuation.
"...I'm sorry, don't be angry, please?" Ruby apologized with a weak voice, her face going soft as she stared at Alex beside her with an almost pleading look.
The weapon freak's attempt at weaponizing her own cuteness hadn't gone unnoticed.
"YEOWCH!" Alex pressed a lone finger against the bump.
"O-OKAY OKAY! I'M SORRY I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! STAHHPPPPPPPPP" The ungraceful, blunt, and loud plea of his Leader and Partner was what told Alex she was being genuine this time.
The debacle was loud enough and exceptionally odd enough to draw attention from everyone in the room.
Some of the freshmen exchanged wary looks and scratched their faces in utter confusion at that interaction.
"It's just coffee; what's got him so uptight?"
"Andrite's as weird as ever. Poor Ruby."
"Might be the most emotion I've seen from this guy; he never gets worked up by anything. Nice change of pace to see."
"How dare he be so cruel to Ruby... look how cute she is!"
The murmurs were quiet, but not quiet enough for Alex.
He could see how they fell prey to Ruby's ploy, and how their ignorance of what was truly divine and worth living for in this world corrupted their minds.
So, he did what he did best...
Nothing.
A clap reverberated from Yang's palms. "Alright, guys! This ain't no zoo exhibit, leave em be. We've got bigger fish to fry... literally, heh."
A hand raised; Sky Lark, the only member from Cardin's team that was present, inquired. "So we're going with the Cooking Challenge?"
"Yeah, but minus the cookies clause-"
"HEY!"
"Shaddup sis! You're down for the count!"
Giving no chance for Ruby to retort, Pyrrha continued. "So... I was thinking of a friendly arm-wrestling competition."
"Then we'd all be fighting for third place! That isn't fair!" someone protested.
First place was no question, and second place was also pretty inarguable unless the other Academies had someone like Pyrrha up their sleeves.
"If there's no prize, I ain't participating," Alex said.
"The prize is honor and glory! That WE Beacon Freshmen are the best of the best... which we are!" Yang winked at Alex knowingly.
"Got it."
He ain't in; he does not need glory.
[If we're being frank...]
'Shut up.'
One of the less competitive classmates brought up a contrasting point of view, "Yo man, I need you to participate to earn some cash on the betting."
"Don't give him ideas!" Protests broke out once more.
"Hell no, mate." Alex assuaged them immediately.
"I'll share the earnings."
"...Send me the details."
Chaos broke out once more, before Pyrrha nodded strongly, a warning smile on her face. "There will be no betting involved."
The protests quieted down a bit at that, further quieting down as she added one last detail. "If it concerns all of you too much, I won't participate as well."
"Hey, hey, no need to rush. How about you participate ONLY if our side's about to lose?" Another offered.
""Yeah/Good idea!""
Thus, Arm-wrestling competition was another confirmed event.
With no betting involved. Surely.
Sighing, Alex turned his head to his partner lying lifelessly, soullessly beside him.
Then he looked around the entire cluttered dorm room. 'There's no way I can fall asleep like this. How long till they wrap this up?'
He was heavily considering shooing them all away.
"Life... is meaningless. I've been... a bad girl, Dad." Ruby's nonsensical mutters left her lips, their recipient but the empty air around them.
"Stop being overdramatic. You've been hit by worse."
"..." An onslaught of strikes on his thigh followed as she frowned at him, "...Meanie."
Seeing his lack of reaction, her face fell into the blanket of the bed.
"By the way, where's Weiss?" Alex asked RAWP's leader.
A raised hand answered him, alongside a muffled voice of a girl too depressed to raise her head from the blanket. "Off on some business thingy."
"Cool."
Ruby let loose a whiny groan of unbridled sorrow.
But just before she could truly fall into despair, a voice not far from her expressed similar displeasure.
The nemesis.
"...I'm disgraced as well; Yangy and Renny aren't agreeing to my Knee-breaking tournament," Nora whispered with a dangerous glint in her eye.
"How about the three of us?" She pointed at the two of them, "Cook up something... exciting~?"
The devil whispered honeyed words, attempting to persuade the reaper.
Those words- it was as if life had returned to the young Rose. "Something exciting, you say?"
"Leave me out of it."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" His nemesis insisted, but he wouldn't dare give in.
Not to her.
"I'm logistics. Whatever prank you guys cook up, go ahead, but I ain't doing it."
Nora hadn't even tried to deny that it was a prank. "Logistics, you say... what about setting it up with us?" She took his words out of context, "You are, as you claim... logistics, right~?"
"Yeah. I guess I can help you carry the stuff you need, but nothing beyond that."
"But setting things up also counts as logistics, right? Are you a liar, Sleep Neighbor? That's very disappointing! I never expected you to be a meanie, stinky, liar! No, no, that can't be! You ARE a liar?!"
He entered deep meditation protocol, the same one he used against Weiss's nagging, and ironically the same one that helped him train his Mana-to-Aura conversion.
"Sleep neighbor..."
"Sleep neighbor..."
It was ineffective; her voice broke through any mental defenses.
And his would-be 'partner' and 'Leader', damn her, could only giggle in amusement as she distributed her attention between Pyrrha and Yang's hosting to his torment.
He exhaled wearily through his nose. 'Save me, Merlin.'
[Save you what?]
-----------------------------
In the end, Merlin had not somehow saved him, so he saved himself by going out for a night walk.
It was a conundrum worth contemplating - whether to shoo everyone away to go to sleep or just stroll around until they were done with their 'planning'.
He never actually required any sleep, so he chose the latter out of decency.
[Decency, how incredibly kind of you.] The vermin's pleased tone rang in the recess of his mind, but he paid it no mind.
As he went out of the dormitory building, he was greeted with fresh air once more and the shattered moon's light upon him.
The streetlamps illuminated the grounds of Beacon Academy, creating an almost ethereal atmosphere, with the sword at his hip casting a mystifying glow.
He stared at the darkened clouds above, "I wonder when it'll rain." A vain, pointless statement left his lips.
He always liked the rain, and yet ever since his admittance into the Academy, it hadn't rained once in Vale.
He missed it, if he was frank.
Rain was great for staying indoors. That comfortable feeling when you're wrapped in your blanket as the rain pitter-patters just outside your window- it was a feeling most sublime.
Even when it rained whilst he was outdoors, he liked it. The smell of it, and the almost tranquil air, the solitary atmosphere it created. As long as it wasn't a typhoon or anything, he didn't mind his clothes getting wet; it never bothered him.
If there was a downside... well, it was when he could still get sick.
As he strolled, he came across some of the second years and third years as they waved at him and he casually waved back.
...He didn't know who they were.
But, at least they knew not to bother him too much, especially at this time of day.
He looked for his usual preferred spot, that small park with the fountain and a few neat benches. Good view, good atmosphere, nothing beat it in terms of the close-to-the-dorms landscape.
And he won't let bad experiences ruin his view of the spot.
Several visiting freshmen watched him as he passed.
He felt the gaze, but none thankfully approached, so that didn't matter either.
Soon, he would be at his spot.
He paused; an unpleasant view lay before his eyes.
Obviously, as his luck would have it, a cluster of Haven students and their handler occupied nearly every bench. Weiss was the lone Beacon member among them. "What's she doing here?"
Weiss appeared in her 'all smiles and politics' state or whatnot, at least from that familiar look on her face.
He'd talk with her, but with all these random people...
Maybe this was the 'business' Ruby was talking about.
'I don't envy her.'
If luxury's price was wearing that exhausting expression every waking day, he'd take canned beans any day of the week.
His eyes narrowed lightly at the Schnee Heiress. She seemed to be in her element as usual. No, in fact, she had that rare showing of competence you'd stereotypically expect from a 'Young Lady' like herself.
Huffing through his nose, noting that things looked okay-
[And how can you be so sure she's fine? I question your ability to discern the troubles of others. Fortunately for you, that's why I'm here.]
He ignored the parasite so he could refocus on more dire troubles.
He lightly clicked his tongue, "I'm out of spots." With a resigned admission, he strolled towards one of the only two benches that were unoccupied.
There was another spot he remembered from initiation, but it was quite a walk away.
Sitting down, his amber eyes looked upon the dark sky, at the starless canvas and fragmented moon.
...
It was nice, not bad at all.
As long as he paid no heed to the conversations around him, it was quiet, with only a light breeze gently caressing his face as he sat just a couple of feet away from the rest of the conversing entourage.
Seconds turned to minutes, as the feeling of gazes directed at him naturally bubbled up.
That much wasn't enough to shake off his peace, as he took the opportunity to control his breath.
How long was he planning on staying here?
'...I'll stay for a bit longer when everyone's gone.'
[...How thoughtful of you.]
To Be Continued!