Edit: Just a little update to straighten out the formatting. Carry on, folks.

Chapter 8: Bitter Pills

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

-George Orwell

It was approximately 6 A.M. When Mukuro woke up, her soldier instincts practically screaming at her to wake up. With no choice but to awaken, her soft yawning stirred Junko up, who grumpily hugged Mukuro and dragged her down, using her as a body pillow. The rustling of the sheets woke up light sleeper Sayaka, who watched the two interact with both anger and amusement...Yeah, she was still angry about the whole despair thing.

So now the three girls of Task Force Elpis were awake three hours before class, and Junko was especially grumpy for waking up at such an early hour. None of them has anything to do, and much stuff to unpack. But, to them, the act of cuddling with their respective love interests was...well, tempting, to say the least.

Which led to their current status.

"Piss off, American Idol wannabe. I'm gonna cuddle with him," Mukuro hissed, swiping at Sayaka, who was trying to push her away from Makoto, the two fighting over who would get to...well, no way to sugarcoat it. They were fighting over who would use him as a body pillow.

"Screw you, Despair Sister. I called dibs," Sayaka whispered angrily, not wanting to make Makoto up. The two quietly bickered as they each tried to cling to the Ultimate Hope.

"Just one of you take one of his sides. And be quiet, I'm trying to enjoy my hug time," Junko whisper-shouted, clinging onto Kin like a body pillow. The two paused in this, then quickly complied, wriggling under Makoto's blanket eagerly, "Gods, they have it bad for him..."

"Yeah, they really do~," a small voice crooned in her ear, and she froze, paling, "Seems familiar to me, you know?~"

"H-How long have you been-"

"Oh, just long enough to hear them arguing. Faunus enhanced hearing and all that. So, mind telling me what you're doing in my bed, or do you wanna stay like this?"

"I, I, wait what." Junko stammered, before mentally pausing. Kin shrugged.

"I'm not going to say no to cuddling with a model, you know~"

And so Junko spent quite a bit of time embarrassed and cuddling with a very, very smug Kin. She didn't know how to feel about that. She also tried to blatantly ignore the amused looks Sayaka and Mukuro were giving her as they hugged Makoto on either side.

This was all part of her plan, she told herself, this was part of the plan and she wasn't lying to herself. No matter what her brain told her.

That was the one thing she kept telling herself as she went back to sleep

It was 8 o' clock when Makoto finally woke up, to see a strangely happy Sayaka and Mukuro decorating their parts of the room, Mukuro with posters for rock bands and her old dog tags, while Sayaka put up posters of local idol groups and a few of her merchandise items, which fans had actually made to sell for her. He had actually been planning to decorate as well, but as he moved to do so, he paused at the sight of Junko Enoshima in Kin's bed, cuddling with Kin in her sleep, and smiling.

God, that was so weird to see.

Yawning, he waved at the girls, and quickly headed into the bathroom to freshen up, brushing his teeth and washing his face before coming out. Optimistic about today, he quickly unpacked his stuff and began decorating his room with motivational posters, a few lucky charms, and his old green hoodie, which he kept with him. For sentimental reasons.

When the trio finished, they all stared at the slightly snoring fashionista, curled up to an equally asleep Kin, and looked at each other.

"Should we..." Sayaka trailed off, just gesturing at the sleeping duo, and Makoto shook his head.

"I really don't want to risk it. Please don't."

Everyone was officially awake by 7:30, and spent some time decorating their part of the room, before getting ready for the day. They headed down to the cafeteria (though for some reason Kin looked wary of something when they arrived), and all grabbed various foodstuffs from the counters that the chefs had prepared for them, sitting at a nearby window table as students started to file in. Soon, Ishumaru, Mondo, Chihiro, and Hagakure came in as well, grabbing food and sitting next to them.

"Naegi-san! It is good to see you awake at this early a time," Ishimaru borderline shouted, exuberant, "I suppose you are also ready for our first day at Beacon?"

"Of course, Ishimaru-san. But please, not so loud. I don't think the students actually like that." Ishimaru paused and looked around, where a small group of red-eyed students were giving him angry, pained looks, Kin included, and immediately quieted down, "I see. My apologies, then."

One by one, students began to trickle into the cafeteria, tired and still half-asleep as they all grabbed food. Soon, the rest of Class 78 trudged in, and Kin, tired as he was, beamed at the sight of them walking towards the table with various breakfasts. While the more athletic people, and the ones who paid attention to their appearance, grabbed healthy things like fruit salad and light breakfasts, the others focused on heavier, more protein-filled or fattening food, like bacon, chicken and waffles, and omelettes filled with cheese and meat.

"Those are the rest of your classmates, Junko?" He asked, still a bit drowsy as he nursed his cup of warm coffee, tired eyes gazing at them blearily while he ate one of his beloved waffles with chocolate syrup.

"Yep yep. I've been wanting to introduce you to them for a while now, but I've never really had the time to." Junko replied, popping a bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth and chewing contemplatively, "I mean, we're all going to run into each other sooner or later, might as well get to know each other now, and all that jazz."

"Nice. So, what do we have first period?" The Koi Faunus, asked, glancing at Junko as the two ate, unaware of how in shock everyone around them seemed to be at the sight of Junko fucking Enoshima acting so normal around Kin.

"Hmmmmm...Apparently, we have this Grimm Studies thing with...Professor Portly?"

"Professor Port, Enoshima-san." Ishimaru proclaimed, at a more reasonable tone, "I will not have you mess up a teacher's name." The fashionista just rolled her eyes, before nodding.

"Port, huh? Yeesh. I heard rumors about how he could put you to sleep by telling one of his boring stories," Kin grumbled, oblivious to the stunned expressions around him, "I'm legitimately terrified of what he can do."

"A-Ah, no need to worry about it, man," Mondo, who had sat down a good foot away, but was still close enough to listen, said, "I'm sure he's fine at teaching. He's gotta be pretty good at what he does if he teaches here."

"It's actually pretty odd,"Asahina piped up, "I heard some of the fourth years yesterday talking about how good he was, but the second years keep saying he's a horrible teacher. As in, all of them. It's kinda weird." There were only shrugs around the table as everyone contemplated Asahina's words.

"Well, only way to find out what he's like is to go to his classes," Leon mumbled around a mouthful of cantaloupe, "And we should hurry, too. Classes start in an hour, and we all need to change into our uniforms and find the class."

"We can take our time, guys. What's the worst that can happen?" Leon answered, shrugging as he ate.

"That, Leon. That is how it could get worse." Junko grumbled as she flopped into a seat in Port's classroom. The aforementioned baseball star only groaned from the seat directly below hers, too tired and drowsy to argue.

After Leon had basically screamed at fate to screw them over, the cafeteria doors had banged open, and Asahina and Junko had paled at the sight of Nora walking in, and spotting Kin, the Koi Faunus doing the same with the hammer wielder.

Amongst the growing chatter of the students, there was an underlying pregnant silence as the two rivals(?) simply watched each other. Then Kin slowly, deliberately ate a bite of his waffle, looking Nora in the eyes, and swallowing.

Almost immediately, Nora lunged at Kin, only to be held back at Ren as she screamed bloody murder, while Kin just watched with a smug grin, eating his waffles as everyone else, bar Junko, Aoi, and Sakura wondered why the ginger-haired girl was screaming angrily at them. There was a few flashes of sudden electricity from who knew where, before Nora broke out of Ren's grip and charged at Kin, who immediately set down his fork, tensing up. As Nora spear tackled Kin, the two rolling around clawing and legitimately hissing at each other, Ren rushed over, his two team mates not far behind. In the meantime, Mondo had tried to pry the two apart, Ishimaru helping as he named the various punishments that would occur from this.

"I am so sorry about this," Ren apologized to them as he arrived, "Nora is...not fond, of people who like waffles more than pancakes."

"THEY'RE HERETICS, REN! HERETICS!" Nora yelled from the ground, before yelping as Kin yanked her hair.

"You're the heretic, bitch!"

Ignoring the ongoing argument as 'Ren's' teammates tried to join in, the black-haired boy sighed, "Like I said, I'm very sorry."

"No need to worry about it. Makoto Naegi," Makoto answered, holding out his hand, which Ren shook.

"Lie Ren. We saw the announcements about the Task Forces yesterday. It's...pretty amazing seeing you and your friends. You've made Beacon history." Makoto nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"I-It's really not much. We just did what any Hunter would do. Saving people and fighting the Grimm is what we'll do one day, you know?" He tried, Ren's smile growing just a tiny bit.

"Exactly. Doing such in the face of such a foe...I can see that you will go far." The shrieks behind them grew, and Ren winced, "Excuse me. I should go help them separate the two."

After the two had been separated, though they sent the rest of breakfast glaring at each other, each quickly finished eating and headed back to their own rooms, dressing in the outfits and heading towards what they thought was Port's class. Except they had ended up in Oobleck's class, who had pointed out that Port was on the other side of the building and they had ten minutes to get there. They made it in time, but most of them were too exhausted to really pay attention, bar Ishimaru. Leon, ironically, was one of the more tired ones. They had thought that Port's class would be educational at the very least.

Instead, the fat man had launched into an obscurely long story not related to the class, which nearly put them all to sleep. Even Ishimaru, perfectionist prefect that he was, was struggling to keep his eyes open. Port was just that boring

As she struggled to stay awake, her analytic mind caught something odd in the teacher's story, however, and she immediately opened her notebook and began jotting it down. As time went on, she found more and more underlying lessons hidden from the naked eye, which she quickly wrote, eagerly absorbing the revealed knowledge like a sponge. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that both Kin and Mukuro had spotted the hidden tidbits of info as well as well. Huh. It was kinda surprising, considering her dumb sister. She tried not to act out in front of Kin, though, abruptly blushing as she tried to ignore what he had done with her this morning.

'It'sonlybecauseI'mamodelhewouldn'tpassitupwhywouldheafterallImjustthatbeautifulahahahaha' Her thoughts were just following a single line at this point, but she shook her head and continued copying. Noting that the three were the only ones taking notes, she had to wonder if this was part of Port's teaching curriculum.

"In conclusion, a true Hunter must be honorable!" Junko rolled her eyes at this, a small growl behind her, "A true Hunter must be dependable!" There was the insistent tapping of a pencil from the same person who growled, "A true Hunter must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do, sir!" The cause of all the noise behind her, cried. A girl with white hair and snow-white skin stromed down the stairs, fury in her eyes. Next to her, Byakuya made a 'tsk'.

"Weiss Schnee...to go down there and fight while angered, she will surely make mistakes because of this." Junko perked up, intrigued at what he said as she watched the girl leave the room to change into her combat uniform, quickly coming back with her rapier as well.

"Wait, you know that white-haired brat?"

"If I do, why would I tell you more? All you need to know is that she and I are familiar with each other." Junko began to smile, before Byakuya cut her thoughts off, "Don't even think about spreading rumors, Enoshima."

"Phooey." The two were interrupted as Port cut the lock off of a large cage and opened the door. A Boarbatusk burst from the cage, snorting and squealing angrily as it glared at Weiss, pawing at the ground as it readied to charge at the heiress.

'A Boarbatusk in the classroom?! What is this lunatic doing?!' Byakuya whisper-shouted, his eyes wide as he watched Weiss and the Grimm circle each other. The Boarbatusk seemed...oddly subdued, focusing on Weiss, which was strange. It was almost as if it was intelligent or being ordered to act as such.

'Don't worry. I have a feeling there's more to the old fart than boring stories and reckless lessons. He's a teacher here for a reason. Besides, I learned a few things from his story, you know.' Junko replied, thumbing her notebook, 'As so did two others, not naming names~'

The conversation was interrupted when the Grimm charged, a voice, Ruby's, if Junko remembered correctly, cheering on her teammate, who's eyes narrowed in what was possibly rage.

Oh? How interesting. She made a mental note for later.

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered behind Junko, as the fight drew on, Weiss taking an unorthodox stance as she jammed the rapier's blade into the Boarbatusk's skull. As Ruby cheered again, Weiss turning to glare, the Boarbatusk whipped it's head to the right, tearing the rapier out of Weiss' grip and ramming into her, sending her flying back into the desk, the rapier a few feet away from her.

"Weiss! Go for it's belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss yelled back, Junko blinking in surprise. Hm. She was definitely furious, and seemed to be targeting Ruby exclusively. Anger at not being the leader of the team? Perhaps an underlying superiority complex of sorts? She'd have to take note of this.

Weiss slid for the rapier as the Boarbatusk leapt into the air, gaining centrifugal force as it spun and repeated the process before it leaped at Weiss. In turn, the heiress activated some sort of cyan glyph, trapping the Grimm while she grabbed the rapier and stabbed upwards into the Grimm's stomach.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" There was a loud scoff, and Port paused, looking at a scandalized looking Mukuro.

"I could have done better. The amount of time taken could have exposed her allies and bystanders to preventable risk from enemies," The soldier droned, looking uncharacteristically emotional as she said so. It seemed even Mukuro had things that set her off, huh?

"Oh? Very well, then! It's quite fortunate I captured two Grimm rather than one today!" Port replied, laughing jovially as he unveiled a second, larger cage, "Very well, then! Let us see if you can handle thi-um. Miss Ikasuba, what are you doing?"

Mukuro, in face, was slipping into a combat stance, the sign of a knife strapped to her thigh visible, "I'm getting prepared. Ready when you are."

"W-Would you not like to change into your combat uniform?"

"No need. This is fine for me."

Shrugging, Port chopped off the lock, and a juvenile Ursa burst out of the cage, roaring, "Let us see if you can handle thi-oh. Oh my."

While Port was speaking, Mukuro had immediately darted forwards and, in a single smooth movement, unsheathed the knife and slashed the Ursa's throat wide open, the bear Grimm quickly falling over and dissipating into black particles. She brushed her skirt of some dust and sheathed her knife as almost everyone in the classroom gawked at the sight. Port was speechless, his jaw wide open and visibly twitching.

"See? That was far better." Mukuro simply, stretching. The bell rang, just then, and she walked up to her seat, grabbing her bag and leaving the room, the rest of the Task Forces following her, as if unimpressed. In fact Junko immediately began talking with Mukuro as they left, Mondo whistling idly as he walked.

The next class for Port found them still frozen, Professor Port still gaping at where the Ursa used to stand. The rumors spread like wildfire afterwards.

Munakata stared at the screen, his coffe nearly spilled on his lap. Next to him, Juzo hummed contemplatively.

"So that's why we could never catch her." He grumbled, "Stupid super soldier bitch."

"...Big Sis Mukuro is pretty cool." Masaru hummed, practically vibrating in his seat.

"In-Indeed." Nagisa agreed, partially terrified of such a person, even though she was basically Big Sis Junko's bodyguard. Yeesh.

"...hear about her..."

"...heard she manged to..."

"Yeah, and the Ursa just..."

"But seriously, how the hell..."

Whispers followed Task Force Elpis as they walked, primarily about Mukuro as they headed for the cafeteria. The soldier, in turn, just ignored the whispers, though Makoto and Sayaka were glancing around a bit. Junko and Kin just kept chatting, ignoring what Junko called 'the boring opinions of the masses'.

"Yeah, Mondo's got this tough exterior on the outside, but he's really just a big softy. You should see him whenever he's around Chihiro, or his dog. Spends so much time just doting on both of them, I swear." Junko made a gagging noise, "But there are times when it just gets a bit too sweet for me."

"Honestly, same here. I have a friend in my hometown, he's tough-looking, like a delinquent and stuff, but he spends so much time doting on his pet puppy. He's super protective, too. Saw one kid trying to hit the puppy, he went apeshit, sent the kid to the hospital." Junko winced.

"Ooh. Yeesh. There are just some things you don't do." Makoto and Sayaka paused to roll their eyes at her words, as they opened the cafeteria doors, the conversations inside grinding to a halt as everyone stared at them.

"...Oh my god, it's really her." The five heard someone mumble as they all headed for the lunch counter, grabbing their meals. Kin and Junko had grabbed light and healthy meals, taking salads and rice bowls with fried tofu and eggs, though Kin had taken a slice of a blood orange galette as well. Makoto had gone for a few slices of beef brisket on top of a rice bed, with a glass of milk, as part of both Sakura and Mukuro's designed diet to help him grow more bone density and muscles for combat, apparently. Sayaka had grabbed a light, balanced meal with rice, salmon teriyaki, tofu, and a fruit salad and some milk (though Kin would give the salmon a disgusted look), and Mukuro took a surprisingly traditional Japanese meal of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled beef slices, and pickled radishes.

"I still can't believe Beacon's chefs are this experienced. I mean, did you see the beef brisket they had in the kitchen?" Kin chirped as he sat with his meal, the rest of the Task Force taking similar seats as they tried to ignored the whispers and glances at them, "And that galette...I'm definitely going back for more~"

"Save some for me, at least. I want to try it later. But in all honesty, I didn't think they would have menus set up for us to look at. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was a buffet."

Teruteru furiously took notes as he watched the television, noting the various food spread out before the task force, giggling menacingly to himself.

"Shaddup, Teruteru, We're trying to watch them here." Fuyuhiko growled, though he had to wipe his mouth at the sight of the food on the television. A few feet away from him, Mikan was menacingly growling as she repeatedly stabbed a picture of that golden-haired girl Junko-sama had become close to. Kin Sakana, right?

"Kill. Kill hussy. Kiiiiiiiiiill." Mikan ground out, and Fuyuhiko shivered. Well, Mikan probably would be both helpful and a liability if they ever fought her. Ignoring the nurse's fury, the yakuza heir went back to watching the TV.

"But anyways, as much as you were right, Nee-san, you didn't have to show off like that." Junko drawled, eating a spoonful of rice and egg, while Mukuro blushed at the sudden attention, but remained defiant.

"I stand by what I said. That girl wasted far too much time rolling around and trying to look flashy when she should have been aiming for the eyes. It's obvious." Mukuro retorted, sipping her soup, "Honestly, if she wanted to to put on a show, she should have joined a circus or an actor's troupe." She just continued eating her meal, as if she hadn't viciously torn into a multi-millionaire who could sue her ten thousand times over.

"...Wow. Being inefficient in fights is a real sore spot for you, isn't it?" Junko said. In truth, she had long known of this, but never actually had the chance to use it. Nowadays, however, maybe she could use the inefficient way the students fought to her advantage.

Before Mukuro could answer, however, there was an indignant shriek of 'HOW DARE YOU?!' as Weiss Schnee stormed over, her team trailing behind her, and Kin hid a low gasp of 'oh my gooood.'

Mukuro watched impassively as the Dust heiress stomped towards them, a cold apathy in her eyes while Weiss's held nothing but rage, as she replied, "I stand by what I say, Schnee. If you wanted to play around like a clown, you should have joined the circus, not a Hunting Academy." Weiss' face reddened in rage as she prepared to yell at Mukuro, but an oddly-familiar big-chested blonde stepped in front of Weiss, "Hey, hey, chill, Weiss Cream. No need to get so mad about what she said Just calm down and-"

She looked over. Her eyes met Kin's.

Her hair immediately went ablaze and she gritted out a furious "Yooooooou..." , her hands curling into fists while her irises turned a terrifying blood red.

Kin's eyes only twinkled with a sort-of sadistic mischief as he purred, "Me.~"

The blonde bombshell nearly lunged across the table at the smugfish, were it not for Ruby putting a hand on her shoulder, making her pause.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, her eyes filled with worry as Yang paled, "What do you mean? How do you know him?"

"I, er, well..." Yang faltered in her rage, clearly trying to think of a good excuse as her eyes flickered between lilac and red, before she sighed, "It's a long story..."

"Those two got me out of that cave in the first place," a somewhat familiar voice, though far more energetic and stronger than when they had heard it, came from behind RWBY, and Ruby and Yang perked up as a white-cloaked figure walked up to them, a warm smile on her face, "They were the ones who saved me."

And just like that, their expressions changed. Ruby's became a mixture of amazed shock and endless joy, while Yang's became a contradictory mix of fury and relief. Ruby raced around the table (holy shit, how'd she get there so fast?) and hugged the two of them, jumping in joy while Yang twitched in place, torn between thanking them or beating them to a bloody pulp. It was really amazing how quickly the human mind could change, Junko idly thought, her right eye twitching at the feeling of being hugged, thought she didn't really try to stop Ruby from doing so.

"W-Well, we didn't do it alone," Kin chuckled, blushing from the attention on him. He wriggled his arms out from Ruby's insanely tight grip, and nervously scratched the back of his head, "We had a lot of help, and a LOT of luck on our side."

"Nonsense. A lot of people..." She hesitated a bit, before continuing, "A lot of people were killed by that Grimm, even top-tier Hunters. You kids taking it down, it says a lot about your fighting capabilities." Then, she turned to Yang, her motherly aura (since when did she start emitting that?!) changing to something far more sinister as she smiled at Yang, "So, Yang, how do you know Kin?"

"Oh, uh, I, well, you see, I GOTTA GO!" She yelped, sprinting away with Summer hot on her heels, yelling for her stepdaughter to 'get back here!'

"Well. That was a thing, I guess." Kin tried, finishing his lunch and moving on to the orange galette. He hummed appreciatively, "This is good. Junko, you've gotta try this."

"Hm? Hey, lemme get some." She plucked the galette slice off of his plate, took a bite like it was a slice of pizza, and hummed as she put it back on the plate, "Mmmm~ This is delicious. I gotta get more later." Kin just sat there, blushing as he began to eat the parts of the galette Junko had bitten into.

"Er, Kin? Are...you sure you should-"

"Mom always told me not to waste food..." Kin reasoned, though he would refuse to meet Makoto's look as he ate. Junko, meanwhile, calmly ate her lunch as she internally screamed at herself, while Makoto and Sayaka just tried to ignore what had just happened.

Though Sayaka couldn't help but lean over and whisper to Makoto "Does this count as an indirect kiss?"

Makoto could only manage a tired "Oy vey..."

"That arrogant, stupid, pathetic upstart," Weiss grumbled, dressed in a pale blue nightie as she got ready for bed. Besides her, her team leader, as much as it still felt kind of bad to think of Ruby like that (No, she stopped herself from feeling disgust. She had promised herself to be better, after all. For Ruby, and for the team.), was lounging on the bed, studying for an upcoming test, a mug of hot and creamy coffe besides her. Weiss was trying to study with Ruby as well, but her mind still kept her furious at the black-haired girl who had first slit the neck of an Ursa, an URSA, like it was nothing, before loudly insulting her and most of the Hunter population in one fell swoop during lunch.

Suffice to say, she was...angry, to say the least. And anger led to distraction.

"I cannot believe the nerve of that girl, saying such a thing. Hunters do not leap around like acrobats in a circus." She growled, strangling the air as Ruby gave her a worried look.

"Weiss? It's OK, there's no need to worry about what that girl said." Ruby tried to reason, in the hopes that Weiss would calm down. With Yang furious at Kin (now that she thought about it, Yang did seem angry during the ceremony when Task Force Elpis went on stage), Ruby was trying to calm Weiss down while Blake helped Yang. Though even she was a bit mad at what Mukuro had said.

"It's not that, Ruby! I spent so much effort trying to get into Beacon, fought tooth and nail to become a Huntress-in-Training, and she just insults it like it's nothing! It's a little harsh to me, at least." Weiss retorted, her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Hey, I get it too, Weiss. What she said made me angry too, but being angry about it won't help. We should go out there and prove her wrong, you know?" Ruby grinned and put her fists on her hips, striking what could have been a kid's version of a pose, though she somehow made it look good, "Team RWBY will change her mind, show her that we aren't running around acting like a circus troupe!" Weiss couldn't help but smile at her leader's enthusiasm, before she paused.

"Speaking of Task Force Elpis, how does your sister know of that girl Kin?" Ruby paused, looking confused for a few seconds.

"You know, she never did tell me..."

"...Well, we can always pester her until she tells us." Ruby grinned at this, nodding eagerly, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"I have the best weapon to use against her." She positively purred, bouncing on her bed a little.

"You didn't have to be so harsh to that girl, you know." Makoto lightly said as he checked Mukuro over for wounds, the soldier lightly scoffing a bit as she let Makoto check her, lightly blushing all the while. The combat class had led to a confrontation between Mukuro and the girl from before, Weiss Schnee. While Mukuro hadn't been hit, leaving Weiss to suffer a near-humiliating defeat, she had been nearly hit a few times, and Makoto had insisted on checking to see if she was hurt. Mukuro wasn't sure if Makoto was a mother hen, orthat protective of his teammates (even Junko, for some reason), but she wasn't complaining.

Though she couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Sayaka sulking in the corner while claring at her, Kin awkwardly patting her on the back and trying to comfort the idol.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have been so harsh on her," Mukuro answered, "But back on Earth, I lost a good amount of comrades on the battlefield because they spent time fooling around, or trying out new tricks. Ambushes and stupid decisions led to their deaths, and I'm going to basically be a soldier against a supernatural enemy this time." She looked to her side, before contiuing in a soft voice, "I don't want to lose my allies anymore."

Makoto sighed and swiftly hugged Mukuro to comfort her, not noticing how Sayaka stiffened, and Mukuro blushed immensely, her eyes twitching, "Don't worry, Mukuro. We can help them. I have a feeling things are going to change around here." Mukuro smiled softly as Makoto pulled away, and hurried over to check over Sayaka for any injuries, fretting over her as Junko walked over to Mukuro.

"...So, did you like the hug?" She hugged as she watched Makoto look over a blushing Sayala and grinning a bit.

"I loved it-wait, Nee-chan, what do you mean?" Mukuro frantically changed the topic, speaking a bit.

"Oh, nothing, nothing..."

A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.

I fucking hate college apps.

Anyways, yay, finished, finally. Pain. Suffering. Owie.

Anyways, you might have noticed, you probably did, who are we kidding, but there are less reactions from the People on Earth here. This chapter was to focus primarily on how Class 78 was settling in, so I cut back on the reactions to focus more on that.

As you might have also noticed, I've been following Task Force Elpis exlusively for a while. This will change. Starting next chapter, I will begin to follow all Task Forces, and teams RWBY and JNPR throughout the story. I might also add some new members to the Class 78 families, from those from the dead Student Council, murder victims, and more. In fact, one of them has already joined the group. Can you guess who?

Anyways, now Mukuro and Kin have rivals, in the forms of Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao-Long! With the additions of Summer having returned, and the new Field Survival class, how will this affect Team RWBY? Will there be more rivalries? (Yes. Yes there will.)

Before the chapter ends, here's a little omake to celebrate Valentine's Day:

Omake: Shot Through the Heart

It was Valentine's Day in Beacon. Cards were being exchanged left and right, bouqets and serenades delivered from one to another, sweet nothings and honeyed promises proclaimed between lovers and couples. Yes, love was in the air.

Junko Enoshima fucking hated it.

Valentine's Day was boring. It was filled with careful planning and hasty pickup lines, and all this stupid fretting over what to wear, and where to go, and yadda yadda yadda. For fuck's sake, just strip and bang. Wasn't like their relationship would last anyways, bar a select few.

Further down the hallway, she spotted Nee-san and American Idol fighting over who would give Makoto a Valentine. Meanwhile, Chihiro was squished between a hug sandwich consisting of him, Mondo and Ishimaru. Color her impressed, the three were in a poly relationship. Surprisingly, she was rooting for that relationship to last, if only so she could break it up herself.

Let's see...Otaku Doughboy hugging another of his body pillows, Fake Bitch gambling away a chance to kiss her (holy cow, that was a long line), Balls-for-Brains flirting with almost every damn girl in sight. It was just depressing sight after depressing sight after depressing sight.

Gods, she could feel the hormones just swarming the air.

As she walked down the hallway, roaming the building (classes were canceled after some freak accident with Dust, coffee grounds, and the entire Beacon facility. The last time Junko saw them, they smelled like dark roast coffee and perfume,)) she felt a tap on her shoulder, and nearly scoffed in disgust. Great. She hadn't even made it to the cafeteria yet, and already, someone was going to try their luck at being their Valentine. She turned around, and opened her mouth...

….Which remained open at the sight of Kin Sakana grinning cheekily as he held out a bag of chocolates and a heart-shaped card towards her. She idly noted that the chocolates had an odd gun shape to them, the bag saying the lyrics of Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name'.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Junko~" He said, handing her the gifts and skipping off. Junko just watched him go, a strangled scream in her throat. Once he was out of sight, her voice slowly building into an "eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE-"

"EEEEEEEEEEE." Kin squeaked, a loud gasp from his chest as he walked away, and a deep blush on his face, "Oh my Gods, I actually did it." He turned towards his supporter, nodidng at him happily, "Thanks, man."

Makoto Naegi just grinned and offered a fistbump, which Kin happily accepted, "No problem, Kin. Noooo problem."

Shot through the heart, and you're to blame,

you give love, a bad name.

And that's the actual end of the chapter! Polls are still open, vote now and vote quickly!

No questions to answer, but if you have any, either put them in the reviews, or just PM me!

And with that, this is Gold Magikarp signing off! Happy Valentine's Day, guys!