Well, little later than I wanted to get this out but here it is.

garoorar: The action will resume shortly, so stay tuned! There's just not a whole lot that goes on fighting-wise at this point in the story.

Naruto Uchiha 999: Sorry about the spoiler! Should have put a second disclaimer down there, now that you bring it up. I will not be doing a chapter fully exploring Yagami's past, but it will be revealed piece by piece throughout. If you want to know more about it but don't have the time to watch/read, look up his article on the Kaze no Stigma wiki (Just search his name, should be one of the first results). As for the nightmares, you'll see. All I can say is it won't be pretty.

Enjoy!

"Professor Yagami!" The man in question groaned, not enjoying the noisy atmosphere of the dining hall in general but especially disliking the yelling of one Yang Xiao Long. Normally he didn't mind interacting with the sunny-haired Huntress-in-training, but he'd had another long night of drinking at Junior's. He hadn't given himself another hangover, thank goodness for that, but he was still quite tired and just wanted to get food into his stomach. Instead, he was called over to a table at which all the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR were sitting.

"What do you want?" He asked with unveiled irritation.

"Well, we were all thinking about going into Vale for the day and wanted to know whether you'd join us."

"Why would I want to spend my free time with you brats?"

Yang sent him a dull look, gesturing toward the teachers all eating breakfast together at the other side of the hall. "Do you really want to hang around Beacon all day like them, just doing paperwork? C'mon, Blake said you two always went out shopping and stuff on your days off, and I know you like to hang at Junior's." The Faunus eyed her partners, plural, expectantly. She was obviously hoping that Kazuma would join them.

'Don't remind me,' was Kazuma's first response, but he thought better about voicing it. It'd been a few weeks since classes started, and Blake had only been more and more persistent about his lack of sleep and the generous amount of alcohol he'd been putting into his body. Yang noticed as well, but seemed content to let the man handle himself. "If I wanted to go into Vale on my day off, I'd just do it myself."

"But where's the fun in that?" Ruby brought up, not understanding why Kazuma would prefer to go alone. After all, friends made everything better, didn't they?

"Please, Professor, join us. Wouldn't it be good for you to get out and relax for the day?" Pyrrha this time, one of the other thorns in his side. She was a very honorable person, and had made it her mission to 'help' him, meaning she wanted to figure out how to make him stop drinking so much and coming to class half-dead.

By now everyone from the two teams was staring at him sans Ren and Weiss. The former simply had no opinion on the matter, whereas Weiss held no fondness for Kazuma in the first place. Besides Weiss, however, they'd all gained some form of respect or affection for the sarcastic mercenary. His words of encouragement to Ruby, his concern over Yang's path, and the time he'd spent with Blake had created solid bonds with all three.

As for Team JNPR, all four members had great respect for his strength. For Jaune, Kazuma was a sort of goal to reach. He was especially hard on Jaune, but the few occasions in class where he praised the young Huntsman made the sleepless nights spent studying Dust application worth the trouble. In Ren's eyes, Kazuma was a fellow martial artist and a teacher, one who could fight with greater skill and could be learned from. Nora just enjoyed the amount of destruction the mage could cause, simple as that.

Pyrrha's views were slightly more complex than those of her teammates. On one hand, Kazuma was a great warrior, one who made her title as the "Untouchable Girl" completely null and void. His overwhelming power appealed to her on many levels, as did the way he treated her like any other student. Many of her professors at Sanctum had lauded her as a genius, separating her from the other students, and the same mentality seemed to be taking hold here, if to a much lesser degree. There was a reason only Pyrrha was chosen for one v. many bouts in sparring classes. Kazuma, however, never singled her out during class or held her up like some kind of shining example. Maybe he viewed her as weak for losing to him, but even if that were the case she wouldn't mind. It just meant that she had a reason to grow stronger.

The other side of her was confused and worried. Kazuma was extremely young for a professor, being only in his early twenties, but seemed to carry himself similarly to many older Huntsmen she'd observed. He'd no doubt seen death, and she had the suspicion that he may have taken lives himself in the past. On top of that, something seemed to be disturbing him. The signs of sleep deprivation were obvious, as were the hangovers he nursed at the beginning of many classes. Pyrrha wasn't a psychologist, but she didn't need to be to come to the conclusion that something was bothering him. Helping others was part of her code, she believed it be her destiny, so she couldn't just ignore a person suffering right in front of her.

Kazuma himself had sat down and begun eating, mulling over their students' offer. He didn't really have anything else to do all day, but at the same time he would be dragged around town by a bunch of teenagers. Even if they were considered adults in this society, there was still an age gap of at least five years between them. Beyond that, it would be noisy and hectic with eight other people.

Of course, he had wanted to get to know more about his students. Blake and the sisters he knew to one extent or another, but the rest were enigmas. Ozpin had been true to his word about granting access to the student files, but they only told him about Semblances, fighting styles, and test results.

He looked over toward the group again to find that Ruby had moved right next to him. She was giving him a pleading look that just oozed cuteness. He forced himself to look back down at his plate, determined not to let his mind be made up by something like that. Despite his resistance, he couldn't resist glancing over again. . .

"Damn it, I had it easy just dealing with Ren."

"Hmm?" Blake hummed, sensitive ears barely catching Kazuma's muttered curse. They were currently walking down an avenue in downtown Vale, along with the other seven students. They were passing shops of every variety and the occasional club, though those weren't open yet seeing as it was only one in the afternoon.

"Does Ruby pout every time she wants something?" he asked the group as a whole, bringing out a cry of protest from the youngest member of the group.

"Pretty much," Yang answered, "why?"

"She reminds me so much of my brother. Could probably make even the best con artists give in if he cried."

"Yep, sounds like Ruby." The younger sibling didn't know whether her sister and Kazuma were complimenting her or insulting her at the moment, she really had no clue. The others were chuckling over the casual conversation, trying to imagine a male version of Ruby making loan sharks feel bad about taking money from him.

A few more minutes of walking brought them outside a store named Tukson's Book Trade, a store which Blake and Kazuma immediately noticed. It was one of Blake's favorite shops, with a large selection of uncommon books, and one of only a few places in Vale that sold the Ninjas of Love series. Kazuma looked at the black-haired girl, sighing when he noticed the look in her eyes.

"Guys, we're heading over there for a few. I'll track you all down after." Blake and he began walking toward the storefront, followed a few seconds later by Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss. There wasn't always much to do during their free time at Beacon, so each thought a little reading material would do wonders for relieving boredom, though each of them also had a very different idea of what to buy. Weiss was looking for a dramatic novel, Pyrrha thought a good mystery would be good, while Jaune wanted to pick up the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav.

Upon entering, they group heard a slow tune being hummed from the back of the store. Kazuma rang the bell, receiving a "I'll be right with you" while the owner of the store finished up whatever he was doing. The others busied themselves looking through the new releases on display, with the exception of Blake who stayed as well.

The man who walked out was broad-chested, with neatly trimmed black hair and thick sideburns. Blake and Kazuma knew him to be Tukson, owner of the shop and some kind of feline Faunus, though they had never figured out what type. Maybe a jaguar, or even a puma. Yeah, a puma seemed to fit, at least it did when Kazuma thought about it.

"Blake, Kazuma. Good to see you. I thought maybe you two moved away," the shopkeeper greeted.

"Kinda did," the other man replied, "but just to the top of the cliffs."

Tukson furrowed his brow, not quite sure what to think about the comment. "What, you mean Beacon Academy? Come to think of it, you did want to become a Huntress, right Blake? I guess that means you go in."

The girl nodded. "And the fool here is teaching, if you can believe it." Kazuma just shrugged, letting the playful insult slide.

"Interesting. Anyway, what can I do for you two?" He looked over to see the other three browsing the shop, paying no attention to the counter. "Friends of yours?"

The younger Faunus nodded. "Do you have the latest editions of my usual series?"

Tukson thought for a moment before speaking. "If I remember correctly, you were on the fourth book last time you came, right?" Another nod. "I have five and six. Would you like the," he spared another glance at the others, all of whom had finished their searches and were deciding what to buy, "discreet covers?"

Kazuma snickered at the red tint his companion's face took. "Please. Also, if you have a copy of Singularity?" The puma Faunus - it was decided in Kazuma's mind - took out two black books from under the counter, neither of which had any titles, just designs in red and numbers toward the bottoms of the spines, along with the name of the author.

"Should have a few in the drama section." Blake walked over and quickly pulled out a copy of the final book, then returned to the counter to pay for it all. During the checkout, Tuskson's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. The others had gathered around the counter as well, also ready to buy.

"Blake, when did you start wearing the bow?"

"About the time I entered Beacon, why?" The cat replied to her fellow feline Faunus.

"No reason in particular, it just doesn't look natural to me."

Kazuma threw up his hands in mock exasperation. "That's what I'm always telling her!"

"Kazuma, we talked about this!" Blake hissed. "You said you would respect my decision."

"I never said that, Neko-chan. Besides, I'm not forcing you to do anything, am I? I'm just agreeing with the man."

"Umm. . . I-I'm not sure what's going on here." The two former partners turned to look at the speaker, who happened to be one Jaune Arc. Remembering that there were three people in the room who weren't privy to her secret, the Faunus stormed out of the door, wanting to get away from the situation as quickly as possible. "So, uh, what was that about?"

"It seemed like more than just a comment on Blake's fashion sense," the Schnee heiress commented. "What are you two hiding from us?"

"Nothing, really," Kazuma answered with an annoyed expression. He sighed before waving the group ahead to pay. "Just forget about it, and don't say anything to the others. She'll just get even more upset. It's something stupid, I promise, but it means a lot to her that it stays between us."

Tukson was almost as confused as the students, not understanding why Blake had suddenly started hiding her heritage. He supported Blake's reasoning wholeheartedly, of course, wanting to put his own past behind him and lead a life in which he wasn't discriminated against. He hadn't known that displaying her ears had been forced upon her by Kazuma, and was trying to figure out just why he'd made such a demand in the first place. He knew he's already caused enough damage, however unintentional, so his main objective at the moment was to bring things to a quick and clean resolution, at least for now.

Everyone payed for their books and walked out, Kazuma having snagged a copy of an atlas for future reference. He'd seen plenty of maps of Remnant during his time in this world, but figured he'd be travelling a lot more now that he was technically a Huntsman. Blake was standing not far away from the store and walked back to join them. Despite her frustration and annoyance, it wasn't as if Kazuma or Tukson had blurted out her secret. She'd also heard the remainder of the conversation from just outside of the store, so she knew that Kazuma had done what damage control he could with Weiss asking about it.

"I saw that the others went into the diner over there a few minutes ago," Kazuma brought up. "We should probably join them for lunch." All four of the student's voiced their consent via their stomachs, the girls having enough decency to look abashed whereas Jaune just covered his gut with a hand and groaned.

As they walked into the diner, someone else slipped out of the door. It was a girl Kazuma recognized, with mint green hair and deeply tanned skin. He felt a slight pressure in his back pocket as she passed, so miniscule that he wouldn't have felt it if he weren't focusing on the pickpocket already. He immediately checked, but to his surprise his wallet was still there, alongside a folded up note. He looked down the street and caught sight of her. She winked as her figure disappeared into an alley.

"Kazuma! What are you waiting for?" He looked back into the diner to see Ruby waving at him while simultaneously stuffing her face with some kind of desert. All he could discern from the entrance was that it had a lot of chocolate in it. He smiled and decided that he would deal with the thief's little notice after a good meal.

I know you guys might be getting a little tired of setup, but bear with me just a little longer. The next chapter will have some action, promise. Then come the events of Jaundice and Forever Fall, which should be good. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review, whatever they may be.