I. Osmond:

Meet Blake Belladonna, the Tuna Lover

This world we live in isn't a fairy tale. People are ignorant to that fact-or maybe not; they just accept it and don't care.

Have you ever wondered why people come and go from you like the wind? Most importantly, have you seen them doing it? Perhaps not, or perhaps you have. I've seen it by myself.

Trust me, it hurts.

The moment you realized those buttkissers came only because they needed something; it hurts. Or when they left-I don't know why, but probably because they've got what they wanted from you. That hurts too. Lastly, what hurts the most, is when the people you love turned their back on you or simply vanished out of your life.

Which is ironic, considering how most of our parents only tell us the beautiful fairy tales; where the world is perfect and the hero beats the baddies. Why? Is it to raise our hope in blindness, only to get crushed in the most painful way, someday? Or maybe, is it because they want to hide everything from their children?

What a laughable pointless noble act. Isn't it better to disclose everything this world offers to us?

There are so many things we need to know as the basic knowledge; the racism, the corruption, the violence, the injustice, and the never-ending dark creatures of Grimm.

Whatever they do, it is only to delay the worst. And we children have to figure it out on our own. Some of us are lucky; they grew up first and learn the shocking truth along the way. While some aren't the most fortunate souls. They are unprepared, and they knew nothing, simply unable to take action other than being crushed by the world's cruelty.

I was one of these unlucky kids. Wait, no, I still am, even up at this point.

Would you believe that? Would you believe my words?

If so, then that's good. My life story can probably tell you everything you need to prepare yourself for the world-

Ouch!

Oh, I'm sorry you have to hear that. That was Yang pinching my ear. She said that I'm exaggerating too much in this prolog and probably scaring you away. My bad. I didn't mean to, but it's hard to ignore the truth sometimes. Sigh. Alright, I will be the one narrating this entire story. Don't worry, she will mind her own business-

I didn't say anything, Yang! Why are you even in my room?!

Wonderful, I can't even get peace while doing my job. My very first job that doesn't include playing tag with ugly monsters while dodging their claw and teeth and slay them. Isn't that a dream job? I mean, writing harmlessly over a desk is so much fun, I'll tell you that. But there's this-

Okay, I'll shut my mouth, Yang. Now, where was I? Oh, right, I was getting in the part where I shove you out of my room and slam the door in your face! Now, get out!

Sheesh, what's with her? I thought she know writing is a very delicate process that's hard already without an endless interruption. Ugh, I think I'm going bald from tearing my hair. Funny, I almost forgot my script. Okay, ahem, hold on...

Ah, this is it. Buckle up and brace yourself for a very epic(and full of fails) adventure with some angstiness, epic romance, and even more epic comedy along with some unexplainable hijinks-they truly can't be explained, for real. I'm not even sorry.

I don't even know why did I do this, except for the Lien that he promised. Sounds better than taking another mission from Beacon, although I wouldn't mind.

Just like most stories, I think I should start with the happy drama first. Aren't everyone loves the 'and-they-live-happily-ever-after' part? Oh, crude, I got that wrong. That one should be in the ending. Hmm, let me think, what should I start this amazing story with? Argh, hold on, someone knocked on the door-probably Yang. She would slam her fist repeatedly on the door like there'll no tomorrow until I open it. Yeah, that is definitely Yang's doing.

Oh, one last word: this written recording came from the future of this story, so far away from what you're going to read. See that 'Three years ago.' thingy? In reality, that's at least six years ago from today before I learned what vlogging is and eventually got addicted to it.

Still, I love the old times, since there were fewer problems to deal with back then.

~-x-~

Three years ago, in Vale.

"Go... morn... cl...s!"

Faint yelling slowly tugged my wandering soul back into my soundly sleeping body. However, it would never wake me up, unless if someone-

SLAM!

Yup. Unless that particular someone did that.

I jerked up from my previously extra-cozy position with bleary eyes and yelled, "I'm awake!" followed by the snickers from everyone.

The culprit was Professor Zant, as expected. Well, I wouldn't say he's a culprit since he was just doing what he had to. However, he's always like that. There was no detention for being caught slumbering during his classes, but he'd wake you in the most heart-shocking and undignified way, like slamming his palm on your desk to startle you.

Unfortunately, I was so used to that, so I never quit my bad habit of sleeping-I know, I was terrible. However, allow me to explain; I wasn't any lazy pupil whom never had any spirit to study even one word. No, I was always prepared for the next day in my previous life, because I studied every night before school. To be precise; every single darn night.

It was an expected demeanor from me, though, as an heir-clarification, the heir next after my brother- from a stinking rich family that owned Burlywoods Inc., the leading innovator of weaponry and engineering headquartered in Atlas. You could say our company was sort of a rival to the Schnee Dust Company's engineering branch.

If there was anything I used to be proud of aside from the ingenuity gifted to me(come on, don't puke at that, Yang!), that'd be it. I'm sure you got questions; don't worry, they'll be answered. You see, this is the part where my life takes a turn for the better and the worse-both at once.

Believe me, you wouldn't believe waking up with a probability of drool hanging off the corner of your mouth with heavy eyelids(wait, seriously, did I look this dumb? That didn't sound like me at the slightest) only to stare to an angel descended from the heaven. Am I exaggerating? Now, I'll admit I do, but with good reasons.

See, back then, I was a normal teenage boy with puberty issues. I was going climb up to the stage of young adult(cue more gross sounds coming from Yang), so excuse me for being 'normal'. I see a cute girl, I study her-but not in a perverted way. No, that's so far below me(shut up, Yang, or I'll make you). But darn, my thought was like;

Wow, she is totally cute.

I stared at the jet-haired girl who was standing stiffly beside our Professor. She nervously played with the sleeve of her gray school uniform, apparently wanting to be anywhere but in this classroom. It wasn't like I could blame her. I was certain it had something to do with leering stares and boo's that are thrown from my fellow classmates toward her.

Ignoring her 'heritage' whisperings among the students here, I decided to study her features more. She had golden amber eyes that appeared cute to me sans the nervous expression, especially with how her irises looked like molten discs of gold. (I know, it was weird to picture it that way, but I don't know. There's something with her eyes that time, so please excuse me!)

Ahem.

They were so captivating that I almost failed to notice the tiny cat ears standing proudly on top of her head-the source of my fellow classmate's gossips. She's a Faunus. But I didn't mind. Heck, those ears looked awesome and cute. Despite what most people said about Faunus are the lesser beings, I think whatever could talk like humans, act like humans, and look like humans are cool enough to me.

However, in this Vale's Elementary School, you can't expect a lot of tolerance for the Faunus. Mainly it was because most kids who attended here came from rich and snobby families who thought they're better than everyone. Didn't say I wasn't one of them, though(if only a little!). But, hey, at least I have a good tolerance for Faunus. That one wasn't a lie, I swear.

"Alright, we got a new transfer student here. Now, Miss Belladonna, if you would please?" He motioned for her to introduce herself.

Said girl shuffled awkwardly her feet, before waving her hand. "Hi, I'm Blake."

Not a lot of enthusiastic replies came for her except the countable-by-fingers Faunus pupils. Some humans simply ignored her, pretending she didn't exist there. They're not the worse, though. Others boo'ed:

"Pffft, a cat Faunus."

"Here kitty, kitty!"

"Did you lose your ball of yarn? Haha!"

Chaos ensues, forcing our teacher-sorry, professor- to slam his palm to set order. He glared a warning, but despite that, couldn't seem to control us. Still, most of the troublemakers finally settled down. The gray-haired professor tilted his glasses and gave a tired sigh, before resuming his cheery attitude, "Alright, everyone, who wants to share their seat with Miss Belladonna here?"

No hands came up. Meanies; I thought. Reluctantly, I was about to raise my hand just for the sake of doing a good deed of the day, but Professor Zant beat me to the punch. He pointed a finger at me. "Mr. Burlywood, I see you have an empty seat beside you. What do you say?"

You could say all of my courage evaporated that instant.

"I-um... fine?" I said. It was more like a question to myself but unfortunately, the man didn't seem to catch my meaning.

"Very good!" he exclaimed, before motioning for Blake to sit beside me.

Now, I was the type that's awkward whenever it comes to girls. No, most girls would run to me-please, don't be jealous- except for a tiny, itty, bitty problem. They saw Osmond Burlywood; son of the owner of the (in)famous company, not just Os, the scrawny genius boy. It irked me every single time. Now, let's see if this girl was one of them...

Fortunately, I was wrong back then.

Said cat girl sat beside me, her hands fiddling distractedly while she's trying not to steal a glance at me. Finally, I took the initiation by offering her my hand.

I straightened up and said with pride, "I'm Osmond Burlywood."

Alright, reaction time.

What surprised me, though, that she didn't even acknowledge my last name. It seems to pass away through her ears. In turn, she shook my hand professionally and said only one word, "Blake."

Everyone who heard my last name would be like, "Wow, you're the heir to that company? Cool!" or something like that. But this girl, she shocked me. I blinked disbelieving at her lack of reaction, expecting at least a; 'Hmmm... that's cool'. Perhaps she didn't know?

"Uhh?" I shuffled awkwardly, still not believing she just let it go.

She only glanced at me with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. "What?"

"Nothing... uh, ain't you the silent type? I mean, most people's reactions at my last name usually are shocked."

She glared at me. "We both walk alike, eat alike, and live alike. There's no difference between us except our race. So, does it matter if you're a rich kid coming from an infamous company with a questionable partnership history that treats the Faunus like animals?"

Say what, again? I made a choked sound in the back of my throat, flabbergasted at her reply. Okay, that was the first time someone dared to say that. Her words nailed me right in the guts. But what surprised me more, was that I didn't feel angry or annoyed at her ignorance back then. She saw me as just a normal human, like her-well, technically.

"Heh, nice observation. I honestly didn't expect it," I said, a little flustered as I scratched my head in a vain attempt to do some damage control.

"Alright, you two, enough dilly-dallying. Are you going to participate in this class or not?" Professor Zant readied his ruler, which is the most sacred and most intimidating weapon of his to control the chaos in this classroom. Even Blake shrunk at his words.

"Fine, teach," I grumbled at the best teacher in this school. Rephrase, the best of the worst.

English hadn't been one of my favorite classes, despite I didn't hate it in the actual sense. Heck, hate or not, I must learn everything taught to me anyways due to the 'rules'. But still, with my work was done last night, I decided to feint reading a standing book while hiding behind it to doze off. With my position being in the middle-back zone, I know I'd evade his radar. It's not that he could protest even if he sees me. I always got 90+ in most subjects.

Don't ask why, but I simply was a scholar.

I flicked my eyes open lazily towards Blake, consciously knowing her eyes are trained on me. The look on her face was something like disgust and disbelief. Wow, what? Maybe she thought I only managed to get into this school because I paid everything. She quickly snapped her gaze away while I smirked. Her cheeks turned pink after realizing I was spying on her, too. Perhaps, I should clarify myself before drawing a worse image of myself. But hey, since when I cared? It wasn't like I'm trying to impress her or something...

Okay, maybe I'm trying to because all these years, those who tried to get closer to me was because of my shining status. Who knows, perhaps I could make it happen with this 'everyone-is-just-the-same-no-matter-if-they're-rich-or-not' cute philosopher. Darn it, Os. You just met her today.

So I decided to doze off again, ignoring her bemused looks. Beauty sleep was a priority.

~-x-~

RIIING!

It took me a while before I yawned and opened my eyes. I tell you, school's desk was always the nicest place to sleep on. Guaranteed. Even with the scratched off paint and noticeable 'arts' made of correction pen covering them.

Stretching my stiff back, I'd noticed most of the students was dispersing out of the class, mostly to eat lunch. I turned my head left and tried to speak to the new student beside me, "So, Blake, want to go to the-" I blinked and looked around, finally noticing her absence. "...cafeteria?"

Said person was already walking out, not even inviting me or much less throwing a glance back. The short-haired girl walked alone, preferring to go unnoticed-maybe she hoped to blend with the wall. What an introvert. I sighed, then decided to leave on my own. Perhaps snoring away during a class wasn't the brightest thing to do if you wanted to impress a girl. Heh, if only she knew, if only.

I grabbed my book and went to the cafeteria. Good food after a good nap. Don't take after me in this because I was terrible in a cool way, or cool in a terrible way. Well, whatever floats your boat.

I wandered along in the hallways, noting the idle conversation that sprouted up here and there between the students.

Vale's Elementary School was just another common school for those aged between thirteen and eighteen. It served a purpose for civilians, a.k.a non-Huntsmen. Honest, I could ask for a better school, like the one in the upper-class district. It was what my brother's first opted me in, but I declined because I wanted to be a 'normal' kid. That is, as normal as someone who went to school in a thousand lien limousine complete with a fancy clothed driver(yes, I was rich back then, Yang).

Yeah, definitely a very normal kid.

Don't blame me. My brother Josh could be very persistent. Like the older brother, like the younger brother, they said. Despite that, he didn't allow me to attend the 'lower-class' schools, mainly because it'd give our company a bad image. Even with me being here actually already passed the red zone.

I strolled lazily in the east corridor, the one that leads to the cafeteria, with the book in my left hand. My 'friends' casually greeted me along the way, though they seemed more focused on talking about the newcomer who passed before them. Really, I wish they could stop. I mean, what's wrong with the Faunus? After all, that girl shared quite the same idea with me, albeit being blunter.

Blake stood out from the crowd, mainly because she kept her head down and low, and no one even came up to talk with her. I wonder where was she going-not like I wanted to be a stalker, but this school was pretty much unforgiving for the faintest of heart. For example-

The cat girl stopped-more precisely, forced to a halt. I instantly found the problem. Oh boy, this wasn't going to be pretty. Four kids ganged up on her; their expression told me what's going to happen. It's not a new thing that every school has bullies and these four were some of them. They're the Bullies, capital 'B'. Why? Because they pick on the weak kids who can't fight back, and mostly those kids were Faunus because they received the least support whenever they got bullied.

I walked hastily toward them, following the small voice that was yelling inside my head. Max, the leader of the gang, laughed something followed with his goons. Meanwhile, Blake was trying to put on a stoic mask, but irritation was clearly shown in her amber eyes. She clutched her books tightly to her chest, and her small knuckles turned white in anger.

Should I do something?

I've tolerated(wait, was that still racist?) the Faunus, but sometimes there are things I couldn't do to help them. Dust, I couldn't even help myself when I first got bullied by Max and the Co. It was an old, embarrassing memory, including the fact that he dunked my head to the toilet. Definitely sad. Although Max had stopped bullying me due to the power of my last name, I still felt helpless when he did it to others.

However, the voice kept yelling persistently. I didn't know why, but I was going to regret this. Did I say regret? Well, the start of my beautiful life's downfall had been at this point. Thanks to my mind that told me to befriend a cute and dangerous girl. Cringy.

I sauntered in the most faux cheerful way ever into their midst. "Hey, guys! What's up?" I waved my hand and grinned, stealing the brats attention away from the cat Faunus.

"Oh, hi Ossy," Max greeted me disinterestedly using my nickname.

It was embarrassing and I had no idea who told him that, yet I usually ignored it most of the times during these years. Even then, I wouldn't mind it except for the fact that he said that in front of a girl-even more, a potential girlfriend. Darn it, Max, why do you have to taint my near-perfect image?

"Oh, we're just telling her the basic rules here," said one of his goons, a burly(heh, that's an unintentional pun. Give me a high-five, Yang) bald guy named Jack.

"Gee, I see. Well, actually I am here to catch up with my girlfriend. Now, may I?"

I wanted to clamp my mouth shut and just vanish into thin air the moment those words flew from my lips. If there was one thing I hated about myself, was that I had a 'think-before-talk' issue. My words did quite an effect-I think-, judging from the glare that Blake sent toward me. Way to go, Os!

We barely knew each other. Then I slept through the class in a very uncool like manner, and now this? That must be a new level of insufferable for her. I didn't even know if she had a boyfriend or not. What if she already has one or worse, what if she doesn't like boys? Wait, I'm getting distracted here.

"You?" Max pointed incredulously at me, then at Blake. "Her?"

"Kind of. She's from-uh..." I threw a pleading look at the Faunus to help me out in this one. "Ah, Blake, I forgot what's the place named again?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose; a migraine probably had already formed in her head. After an exasperated sigh, she gave me a smile, which was creepy. Despite the bright smile, her eyes were boring towards my soul, promising things that'd happen after we get out from this. She giggled a bit and said, "Oh Ossy, you're such a dummy sometimes. It's called Menagerie."

Wait, wasn't that like, a few hundred miles from here? I thought. Bad question. Still, I chuckled nervously, "Ahaha, it's pretty hard to remember it."

Another of Max's friend inquired, "Dude, your girlfriend's from Menagerie? That's like the country of losers. Why'd you date one?" He got a jab in the ribs from his leader, "Ow!"

"Well, I guess the rules should bend a bit, then. See ya later, Ossy." Max stepped back, before turning to walk to the other way.

Another of his goons asked, "That's it? We're not going to dunk her?" only to receive another jab.

I waved at them, trying to ignore the corrosive glaring laser that was shooting out from the eyes of the angry girl beside me. Why me?

"Can you explain why must you use the term 'girlfriend'?" she growled.

Drat, she could look pretty intimidating when she did, despite the prominent blush on her cheeks. Looks like I escaped from a tiger's maw straight into shark's sharp teeth. I love my life.

"Hehe, uh... well, it's the only thing that came up in my mind that moment," I admitted nervously.

Blake's ears-the feline ones- twitched in annoyance as her eyes narrowed. Probably, she was trying hard to hold back from beating me to a pulp. After a few moments, she turned her back to me and took brusque steps, apparently already had enough of my stupidity.

"H-hey, wait!" I hastily scrambled after her.

"What?" she asked flatly as I slowed down to even her footsteps.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the cafeteria with me for lunch. You know, I can show things around for you and stuff," I invited.

"Was that an attempt to a date? I think I already said no," she deadpanned and left me standing there, gawking.

"I-uh..." I raised a hand to call her back, but my voice failed. With a sigh, I decided to go alone. "I hadn't even thought about that," I whispered to no one in particular.

Sighing defeatedly, I dragged step after step to my destination. Turns out, that day was the one where I ran out of luck. I found no empty chairs; all of them were occupied with students-including the transfers. Heck, since when did their number explode like this?

After taking my servings, I carried my tray of sandwich and wandered among the chatters of students, in a futile attempt to find a place to sit down. I guess I have to go outsi-

I paused mid-step, my foot was hovering in the air when I noticed her. Her feline cat ears really stood out from the crowd, and now she wasn't even in a crowd. The cat Faunus was leaning against the wall with her one of her legs outstretched while reading a book leisurely. Her sandwich was safely sitting beside her.

Might as well try to make it up with her.

With slow steps, I strolled towards her. However, a group of girls-the loudest girls in the school- suddenly passed by, and one of them 'accidentally' stepped on her food. Despite not tilting her head, amber eyes went up with a glare. She said something to the offending girl, however, I could only make the last part as I got closer, "...on my food."

"Oops, sorry, I thought you are a kitten!" the annoying girl apologized while mocking the poor cat Faunus at the same time.

The rest of her friends giggled at the joke, although I didn't think it was funny. Seriously, they needed to learn more manners. After that, they just left, still trash-talking about the Faunus. I could tell from the way Blake clutched her book tightly, she was pissed beyond... uh, very-very pissed.

Not sure if I should go to her or not.

However, my feet betrayed me and before I knew it, I already sat beside her while avoiding the stomped food. Noticing another person coming at her, she snapped her book shut and glared me at me, before asking, "What? Are you going to mock me, too?!"

I backed up a bit from her sudden outburst. Oum, save me.

"No! I mean, I, uh, actually want to," I started. Come on, Os. Think fast! Look for a way to escape! If what Josh said was true, I was pretty good at changing topic. And he's probably right. I pointed at her book, and asked, "I just want to ask, what's the book about?"

It's stupid, but it's not stupid if it works.

"Huh?" She arched an eyebrow, apparently caught off guard with my unexpected question.

"Your book, what's it about? You do seem to enjoy it so much."

"It's about the story of a werewolf, looking for the truth about his past," she finally answered, her eyes loosened their glare a bit.

"Cool, I also like reading books. Not so much into novels, but I do love comics," I told her, grinning at the last part.

"You don't have the cut, though," she said flatly, after sizing me up.

I put a hand on my chest in mock surprise, "I'm hurt. I may not look that much, but I'm actually well educated, you know."

"As educated as someone who sprouted words without thinking?" she quipped.

"It was well planned," I defended, "Let me tell you one thing, Blake. Those bullies won't stop unless you got a big last name to back you up. And most Faunus here suffered the most. I shouldn't have said that, but it's the truth. Just a heads up, even though I'd like to apologize for the lack of further thinking in my position, ya know."

"It's..." She shrugged. "...fine, I guess. It's already happened."

A low grumble whined from her stomach. She looked at her pathetically stampeded sandwich, before pushing it away with a wistful sigh. Kindly, I decided to offer one of mine, as a gesture of friendship. "Want some?"

"No," Blake rejected almost instantly and went back to her book.

"It's a tuna sandwich," I added hopefully, then offered the platter closer to her.

Her amber eyes flicked wildly, obviously tempted by the prospect. Knowing I found a weak point, I gave her my famous pleading smile and held the platter closer. She looked like having an internal battle before her pro-tuna-sandwich side won(Yay, my first victory!).

Gratefully, she accepted. "Umm, thanks?"

"No problem."

She put down the book on her lap and began inhaling the snack. Her ears drooped closer to her head as she took a tentative bite. Was it my imagination, or did she really savor the taste?

While she was eating, I tried to start a small talk. "So, you're from Menagerie, huh?"

"Mmhm." She nodded, chewing her sandwich absentmindedly.

"That's cool. I heard the place is a homeland for the Faunus."

She stopped mid-way in a bite and then asked me in a dangerously suspicious tone, "What makes you think that?"

"I heard and read history stuff," I answered honestly.

Blake frowned, apparently not satisfied with my answer. Meanwhile, I already paled, afraid of the prospect offending her. Suddenly, her shoulders slumped. She stared at me with the expression of acceptance and annoyance, before stating, "Well, obviously you need to work more with your history or try learning from other resources. Menagerie wasn't the homeland of the Faunus. It's humans who gave us the whole continent as a gift."

Why does she look upset with that idea, though?

"Isn't that cool?" I asked, still not getting it.

"Would you and your species like to be relocated somewhere, like pets?"

I winced. So, that's why. "I see. Well, it's not the brightest idea ever, I suppose. Sorry about that."

"You're telling me," she grumbled and took another bite.

Did I tell you how cute she look when she ate? Wait, that didn't sound right. With my focus split in three, it's hard to get another topic that won't get on her nerves. Seriously, I didn't know girls were this sensitive. Perhaps that's because the ones I used to meet didn't let out their thoughts, simply just hoping to use my status.

"Do you really like tuna that much? Was it because you're a cat Faunus?" I asked suddenly.

"Yes," she answered shortly.

"Wow, remind me to stock tuna sandwiches for you then," I teased her.

Unfortunately, she didn't look amused at the joke, for she glared at me. She had stopped eating, too, which gave me creeps. Maybe, too early? This was the biggest mistake I've ever met when talking to a girl, and I'm going to face the worst terror in my life because of it. An angry, female, cat Faunus. I whimpered inwardly at the prospect.

But alas, it turned things were a lot simpler than my fear.

"Can you please, just let me eat this?" she said, after a few blood-chilling seconds.

Oh, so that was it. Yeah, I was dumb.

~-x-~

"Soaring Ninja Wins! Total Annihilation!"

The console announced after I succeeded wrecking my opponent: the AI. I stretched my stiff limbs while yawning widely on the comfy couch. Well, what's not to do after an eventful day? Besides, my days in Atlas wouldn't allow me this luxury. All my Father would allow was only thirty minutes of fun, after studying for ten hours. Go figure.

So, being in Vale, away from him-it was almost like in heaven. I wasn't dramatizing things, but that's the truth. I mean, my brother wouldn't mind me doing whatever I want, as long as they're acceptable and that I could keep the balance up between having fun and studying. Which, fortunately, I could manage so far.

Suddenly, I found a hand ruffled my hair rather gently, followed by a familiar voice, "Sup lil' bro."

Speak of the devil and it appears.

"Not much," I answered, flashing a small smile towards Josh, "What about you?"

The older version of myself(What? It's true, you know. Josh was a lot like me in appearance) let out a long exhausted sigh while unbuttoning his dark blue suit. He loosened the yellow tie around his neck, and finally answered, "Business this, business that. Sometimes, I really want to chug those annoying buttkissers out of the window."

I chuckled at his blunt words. "That'd get you in a trouble of murder attempt, Josh."

"Oh, please, it'd be worth it!" he exclaimed uncaringly and went to his room to change.

Well, that's my brother for you. He had a weird sense of humor, but you'd never guess it when he put on his 'business' mask, which technically was on most occasions. The only time he showed this other side of his personality was only between us, being close brothers. Other times, he could be stoic and devoid of any expression. It's almost creepy.

In my family, Josh was the most obedient, smart, and mature between me and my almost-like-a-twin sister. The mature part was because him being the oldest of us, separated by eight years gap. Obedient, because neither one between me and my sister showed the interest to become next heir after him. Luckily for my sis, she was able to dodge it by throwing the responsibility to me, using my gender as a male for the excuse. Yeah, she's a cunning one. I wish I'd thought of that earlier.

Now, you might be wondering, why the heck wouldn't I want to be an heir, let alone to a famous company nevertheless? Let me tell you, then. I never liked complicated things, such as ruling a company behind the desk, being a boss and yadda-yadda. No, I liked the simplicity. If I was given a choice to escape from this exhausting life and start a new simpler one-like being a farmer for example; I'd do it this instant(shut up Yang, I can enjoy any life as long as there are games). It's just that hectic.

Unfortunately, I couldn't. So I was stuck here with 'heir-next-in-line' tagged on the back of my head. Like I had any choice but to accept. Sometimes, I wished I could be like Josh. I wished I could be perfect like him, who's a star in our family. Him, who had perfect grades and attitude, someone dependable and trustable. He's awesome, like a better version of me, or maybe I'm simply a failed copy of him. However, most of the times I wished I was never born into this family.

That's putting it mildly because, for all I know, I was Osmond Burlywood. I was my brother's shadow, obscured by his fame and our great family's name. I was nothing more than just a scrawny brat, who got lucky having a rich family looking out after him.

I shook the bitter thoughts out of my head. I couldn't blame Josh, though, because after all, he's the only one that understood and supported me-well, mostly. He knew Father and I didn't get along pretty well, mainly because I kept rebelling. That was why he agreed to let me come with him to Vale during the expansion of our company, despite Father's outrage. He calmly reasoned; a good change of season might do me some good, rather than being locked in the freezing snow-covered land of Atlas. It's one of the reasons I followed him; the other reason was the fact that I desperately wanted to get away from our father.

Life was pretty exhausting when you need to live up your father's ultra-high expectation. In case you're wondering, how high was his expectation? Well, it's a perfect big one-hundred as a score, not being rebellious and looking for troubles, held yourself with much dignity you can muster. He wouldn't accept ninety-nine or less. And to be honest, it's depressing. I just wished, he could-

"Boo! Someone's deep in thought, huh?" Josh clasped both of my shoulders from behind, surprising the wits out of me.

"What the-" I exclaimed in shock, "Drat, Josh! Stop scaring the heck out of me!"

"Aw, come on. Where's the fun if I don't do that?" he argued.

"It's really fun not to see you doing your 'older brother' antics," I grumbled, bringing my hands up in a manner to make airy quote the 'older brother' part.

"Meh, you need to work on your definition of fun," he retorted, "Also, don't even try to talk your way out of here, lil' bro. I know you have something troubling you."

Did I mention that since he's the big brother, he knew everything?

I pouted. "And just what made you think of that?"

"You went through a phase," he stated simply, much to my confusion.

"What phase?"

"'Osmond-deep-in-thought-and-being-emo' phase," Josh teased. He knew how to get under my skin. And I hated it when he did that(even though, now I miss it so much).

"Josh!" I whined and threw the pillow at him, which he blocked with ease. "I'm not an emo!"

"Sure thing!" he cheekily replied, stating the obvious. The dark-haired young man flipped through the couch and sat beside me, grabbing his scroll.

"Sometimes, I don't know how we are even related," I muttered.

"In a good thing or bad thing?" he asked rhetorically while activating the 'game controller' mode on his scroll.

I decided not to answer and settled for a low blow instead. "You're impossible, Josh."

"I'm-possible," he retorted with a pun, grinning all the while.

I rolled my eyes. Blake's previous statement kept nagging in my mind. Perhaps I could ask Josh about this. What's the harm in that? I mean, nothing bad could happen, right? After all, it's just a question. However, I was never been so wrong in my whole life.

"Pop-quiz!" I said suddenly, "Why is Menagerie a sore topic for the Faunus?"

The grin vanished as Josh simply raised his eyebrow, while his movements were paused. He glanced curiously at me. "Why is that?"

I shrugged in reply. "Just wondering."

"Did you stumble across a Faunus?" He held up his hand for a dramatical pause, and concluded, "Oh ho ho! A Faunus girl?" He winked at the last part.

I tried to control my quickly burning face, which surely would have turned into a living tomato. I guess I did tell you he knew everything, and that's the downside of having an older brother like him. My, how could I forget my own advice? Oh well, the bread is burned.

"I knew it!" Josh yelled happily, like he just won a lottery, especially with how he put the emphasis on 'knew'.

Right, Josh, I know you knew everything, so please stop boasting about it. I pleaded in my mind.

"My little brother Ossy has grown up! Oh just you wait, this is the start of your love life milestone. First, it started with a Faunus girl... oh, imagine the possibilities-" he started rattling things out, which I quickly droned away.

It's known that Josh rarely rambled about unimportant things since he preferred short, solid talk straight to the point rather than a long, vague one. However, once he did-for fun-, it'll take a few minutes speech of rapid sentences that's probably faster than me eating my favorite candy. And yeah, I'm telling you the horrible truth. Unfortunately, I was probably too late to do some sort of last-ditch attempt.

"And just what makes you think I stumble over a Faunus girl when I only ask about Menagerie?"

Well, that was one obviously pathetic try. Josh simply chuckled at that, which escalated into a full-blown laughter. He clutched his sides, tightly rolling from side to side on the fortunately pretty wide couch, missing me by a foot. He sure really liked dramatizing things up, I'll tell you that. Meanwhile, I pouted and crossed both of my arms in front of my chest; not amused at all.

"You..." he gasped, still laughing, "...are totally clueless!"

I took the right opportunity of him pausing to punch his left shoulder, hard. It earned me a satisfying yelp of pain, "Ouch!"

"Shut up, Josh," I said, glaring daggers at him.

Said person quickly fixed his position to sit properly, while still nursing his shoulder below the thin fabric of his khaki t-shirt. Heh, served him right.

"Okay, fine. Is she cute, though?"

"Well..." I started describing a particular cat Faunus, "She has golden eyes, and jet black hair, with cat ears on top of her head. You know what? They looked soooooo fluffy!"

Josh just stared, his drooping eyes told me he was faking to look disinterested at my description. They still held a hint of amusement there, which couldn't lie.

"Admit it, you like her," he said dryly. "I've been studying you for years, and from how you dreamily said those, the answer is obvious; you do like her, a lot."

I looked away in embarrassment, before nodding. I guess that explained why I've been having this butterfly in the stomach feeling ever since I went home from school. Was I that obvious?

"Well, let me tell you something, my little brother," Josh said in a serious business tone, forcing me to keep my gaze trained on his brooding face. Then, he flicked over his scroll to enter the multiplayer mode and continued after another dramatic pause, "That, is what I called a crush. Seems you're of age to experience it, so congratulations on that. Anyways, best of seven?"

~-x-~

AN: Not a lot of changes here except for grammar fixes and an improved prolog. Can't say it has improved enough, though. *shrugs*

I've gone inactive for months(after Slaves of Hope last update in October) due to many reasons and troubles. One of the includes the lack of motivation. I've got time; little time, but enough for writing stuff. However, it's just you know, you can't write anything when you're not in the 'mood'. Or maybe that's just my excuse cuz I prefer gaming more than writing after these... stressful things.

I can't promise a fast update, even though I plan to update daily for the first four chapters(cuz they're not rewritten). Other than that, A&C has received a major buff and fixes in its logical mistakes. I'm still considering to use either my OC's true semblance or the ol' good Time Lord. Ideas, anyone? I'd really appreciate feedback, especially since I'm trying to improve my first person 'past tense' point of view style. Any tips are welcome(as long as they are useful).

Well, that's that. I've got some writings to do, now.

~ Karvost (Kronosmond)