Chapter 8: Concerns and Confrontations

After her talk with Weiss and some light teasing at the heiress' uncomfort of talking about sexuality, Velvet had decided to head back to her team's shared dorm, wanting to get a quick soak and light reading before going to sleep. However, what the faunus didn't know was that her plans were about to be a little sidetracked. That, and that she had another student following her out of sight. It didn't help that Velvet's mind was more focus on the book she was gonna read when she got back rather than on her current surroundings. That is until she was snapped back into reality by an all too familiar voice.

"Hey! You! Faunus girl!" a voice called to her.

Velvet froze. Her eyes widened in terror and body stiffened with fear. Her legs shook, desperately wanting to start running as fast and as far as possible. The sound of footsteps started up, the sound of each step getting louder as the source got closer. Her heart began to start pacing and her breathing followed suit. She recognized the voice. Well enough to know that hearing it call for her was never a good sign. It meant constant harassment, ridicule, and painful pulling of her ears. The young faunus closed her eyes, silently hoping that this was just a bad dream and that she would wake up any second.

'Please no,' she begged within her own mind, 'Not him. Not now.'

Not wanting to confront "him", Velvet continued forward, acting like she didn't even hear anyone call out to her. This attempt only lasted a brief moment before it became blatantly obvious that it wasn't going to work as the person in question grabbed hold of her wrist, his tight grip and superior physical strength keeping her from moving onward. The grip was tight enough to cause Velvet to wince in pain. A stark reminder of how much he would carelessly yank her ears to show off to his team.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" he called out again.

'Please! Just... leave!' Velvet shouted in her thoughts, 'Leave me alone!'

Knowing she couldn't overpower him and that she could no longer get away, Velvet took a deep breath, and tried her best to not look as scared as she was. Quite the opposite in fact, she attempted to make herself look rather pissed off as she turned around to face the orange haired, armor clad man who has tormented her throughout the school year. Cardin Winchester.

-x-

Coco made her way through Beacon's courtyard, looking left and right for any sign of Velvet. Fortunately, she saw the very person her girlfriend had left with when the snow haired heiress walked into view.

"Hey, Princess," she called out, "Where's my lovely lady?"

"Velvet went back to your dorm," Weiss informed the leader, "Said she was gonna call it a day a bit early."

After saying her thanks to the glyph maker, Coco quickly started making her way to her team's dorm room, almost running. She wasn't sure why, but for the last week, every time Velvet wasn't in her line of sight, she would grow worried for the faunus, which she thought odd since she knew very well Velvet can handle herself pretty well in a fight. It was like an unexplainable need to make sure she was okay.

The feeling now was no different. Well, that's not entirely true. She couldn't say why, but the feeling that she needed to watch over her was actually greater than normal. What really weirded her out, was despite how she never told anyone these feelings she's been having, Fox and Yatsuhashi somehow caught on to her, saying she wouldn't be acting like herself when separated from Velvet.

Reaching her dorm building, Coco barely stopped to open the doors before continuing down the hall. The sound of her footsteps leaving echoes throughout the building as she took the quickest path to their dorm. As she turned around one corner, Coco stopped in place as she nearly ran straight into another student. Taking a small jump back from her near collision, Coco took notice of who she almost tackled.

'Cardin' Coco growled his name in her head.

Coco couldn't stand him, especially after she found out he picked on Velvet because of her ears. If it hadn't been for her team calming her down, she would have tore up the entire dorm looking for him. Even before then, she always considered him an ass.

She watched as he continued down the hall as he took a turn into another one. Coco wondered why he was on this side of the dorms when his were on the completely other side with the rest of the first years. The path he was taking would only lead him to... Coco's mind stopped. He was going toward her team's dorm. Velvet's dorm.

"Hey! You! Faunus girl!" she heard Cardin's voice call out, obviously to Velvet by his words, "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Coco quietly made her way to the edge of the wall, wanting not to alert him once she jumped him. She slowly leaned forward to get a peak of the situation, all the while grabbing ahold of her handbag, getting ready to switch it into gatling mode. But before she did, Coco was surprised by what she saw. Velvet staring up to Cardin, not in fear, but in anger. Like someone just said her favorite novel was trash.

"W-What do you want, Cardin?" Velvet nervously forced her false bravado.

"It's Velvet, right?" he asked her name.

"Um, yeah," she confirmed, "And?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you, ever since last semester," Cardin stated, "And I have some very choice words for you."

"Look, c-can we just do this another time," Velvet pleaded as she tried to walk away, only to be held back by the stronger student.

"Just listen to me!" he barked out, "I've waited too long for this."

Velvet closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst. Meanwhile, Coco was losing her patience, switched out her gatling gun, and was about to strike at the first sign that he might harm her. To say the least, neither girl expected what happened next.

"I... am sorry" they both heard him hear.

Velvet reopened her eyes and looked back to him. She blinked a couple times and let a few seconds pass by as she just stood in utter confusion.

"What?" Velvet questioned exactly what she just heard.

"What?" Coco whispered as well.

"I'm sorry for how I used to act and sorry for how I treated you," Cardin explained, "I... I was a really shitty person."

"But... You... I...," Velvet couldn't help but stutter out her words as she remained baffled, "Are you actually apologizing? To me?"

"Um, I am," he replied raising a brow, "Is that a problem?"

"No! It's just... It's odd," Velvet explained, "You don't seem like the type to apologize, or even feel sorry for something. Are you feeling well? Because I'm concerned, and kinda creeped out."

Cardin didn't answer, instead opting to break eye contact to look to look to his side. Coco pulled her head back as to not be spotted, switching her weapon back into a handbag while doing so. Velvet could tell something has been eating at him, and being genuinely curious, she decided to press on.

"Cardin? You okay?" Velvet asked the armored individual.

"Did you ever hear about an Ursa attack during the first years trip to the Forever Falls?" Cardin asked the faunus, to which she nodded.

"Yeah, I heard it going around last semester," she answered, "Luckily nobody was badly hurt."

"It was my fault," he revealed.

"Cardin, Grimm are all over the Falls," Velvet stated, "I hardly believe you are to bl-"

"That's not all," Cardin stopped her, "You know that Jaune fellow? The guy who's always around that Pyrrha chick?"

"Yeah, he's a friend of mine, of sorts," Velvet responded, "Like, I don't know him too well, but he seems nice."

"I... I use to blackmail him into doing my work and... well, you get the idea," Cardin continued, "While at the Forever Falls, I was attacked by the Ursa. I was sure I was a goner. But then, at the last second, Jaune stepped in between the Ursa and me, blocking its attack. He killed the Ursa. He saved my life. It... It just got me thinking about things, you know."

"Okay, think I know what you're getting at," Velvet remarked, not understanding what he was trying to say, "And so, you've truly changed?"

"Well, I'm taking steps, made a list of people I've been a dick to," he said as he pulled out a piece of paper with a list of names, some of which have been crossed out, "It's hard, building up the nerve to say sorry. Most haven't accepted my apology though. To be honest, I don't blame them."

"Well, when you hurt people, most people aren't so forgiving," Velvet brought up, "But, I'm not most people. Apology accepted."

"Wait, really? Just like that?" he questioned her abnormal attitude, "Huh, you're a real easy going person Scarletina."

"Well, I actually thought you had come to pick on me for being gay," Velvet revealed her former worry.

"You're gay?" Cardin nearly shouted in surprise.

"Well, yeah," Velvet simply answered, "I mean, have you not seen me and Coco lately. It's not like it's something I'm trying to hide."

"Wait, Coco too? Really?," Cardin asked, tilting his head, "Besides, even before the Ursa thing, I wouldn't have picked on someone for that because..."

Cardin momentarily paused himself, took a quick look around to see if any ears were nearby. Coco once again ducked back just as he glanced her way. Once sure they were alone, he leaned in, holding his hand to the side of his mouth, and began again.

"Sky's gay." he revealed.

"Are you kidding? Wow, I had no idea," Velvet said in shock, "How'd you find out? I mean, I doubt he came out to you all."

"Nah, I found some... well, less than appropriate magazines of men under his bed. He was embarrassed to say the least," Cardin said with a light chuckle in his breath, "But um, don't tell anyone, he's still quite in the closet."

"No problem," Velvet assured, "I gotta go, but I'm really glad to hear you're trying to turn things around Cardin."

"Yeah, and again, sorry I was an ass," Cardin repeated, " I just-"

"It's fine, it's fine, " Velvet reassured, "Bye for now."

The two parted, and as Coco watched Cardin walk right pass her without a single notice, she sighed in relief knowing Velvet was fine. She looked back to her girl to see her continue down the hall to their dorm. Coco got out of her corner and quietly made her way up to and behind Velvet. Carefully, she reached her arms forward, and in a quick motion, wrapped them around the unsuspecting girl, purposely making a firm grasp on the poor faunus' petite breast.

"Guess who!" Coco shouted.

"Ah! Coco!" Velvet yelled in surprise, "Don't... do that."

"I saw that back there, and I gotta say," she said before leaning in to whisper into her lovers ear, "how you gave him that glare of evil, it was kinda hot. So, what do you say we go back to the dorm and lock the doors?"

"Coco, I just wanna take a shower and hit the bed," Velvet replied.

"Aww," the gunner said in disappointment as she release the rabbit girl from her grasp.

Velvet continued on her path, before turning back to the leader she had left standing in the hall.

"You coming?" she questioned.

"But you said-" Coco said confusingly before being cut off.

"I said I was taking a shower," Velvet repeated, "I didn't say you couldn't join me."

With that added, it took no time for Coco to catch on to her implications. She quickly ran forward, taking her girlfriends' hand and they made their way back to the dorm.