Ciel has just fallen unconscious, and Ruby has no idea what she needs to do now. Ruby immediately dashes over to her friend's side, nudging Ciel lightly while calling out her name in hope that she gets up:

"Ciel! Ciel!"

Ruby's shouting is caught by Penny, interpreting her teammate's worries as a distress signal. The android's motionless body immediately jerks up, turns ninety degrees, and steps out of bed.

"Salutations! What seems to be-o my." Penny sees Ruby holding Ciel in her arms, trying to wake Ciel up but failing. Penny walks up to Ruby, ready to take over: "Ruby, can you wake up Weiss while I check up on Ciel?"

Ruby gets where Penny is coming from. It probably would be best if as many people from Scorpio are awake for this. Ruby lies Ciel down gently and walks back to her partner's bed, lightly nudging Weiss to wake up:

"Weiss… get up, we need you. Weiss!"

It doesn't have much of an effect, as Weiss simply rolls over in her sleep, mumbling about how she is "Not at all a know-it-all."

"Hah…" Well, Ruby tried it the nice way. Now it's time to bring out the heavy artillery. Ruby rummages through her backpack, searching for the one item that can help her in this situation: The destroyer of dreams, the herald of consciousness, the whistle… of doom!... doomy doom… better name still pending. Weiss, you've asked for this:

*Phhwwweeeettt!*

"Gah!" Weiss shoots up, as wide awake as her eyes are wide in shock. Realizing she's awake she turns to the source of that irritating noise, glaring daggers at her partner: "What in the world is wrong with you?"

Instead of defending herself Ruby points back towards the unconscious Ciel. "What's wrong with me is that there's something wrong with Ciel!"

"Oh." That quickly turns Weiss' anger into worry, getting out of bed as well. "What's wrong with her?"

"That's the problem: I don't know!" Ruby shouts out a bit too loud, her worry clear. Though perhaps it was just loud enough, as the unconscious member of Scorpio opens her eyes:

"Euh…" Ciel looks around a bit, seeing that she's lying on the ground with her head held aloft by her partner. The rest of her team also give worrying glances to her, which confuses her even more:

"Salutations, partner!" Penny's optimistic greeting pulls Ciel's attention, as the android proceeds to explain what happened: "You were unconscious for at least half a minute. Based on your symptoms I believe you have vasovagal syncope."

The rest of the team are shocked by Penny's news. Fancy-named diseases like those are usually quite bad. Especially wants to know what kind of disease she has under her wing: "Penny? What do I have?"

Penny looks confused at her partner. What was unclear about what she said? "Ah." Right, Penny did not think about the fact that her teammates don't have a supercomputer for a brain and don't share her medical knowledge. In that case, it's best to put it simply: "In layman's terms, you have the common faint."

"…"

Everyone stares in disbelief at Penny. All their worries were for nothing. Of the three humans it is Weiss who is the most annoyed at her robotic teammate, and openly voices her discontent for Penny's choice of words. Penny begins to explain that the common faint should not be confused with cardiac or situational fainting, but Weiss will have nothing of that. The leader of Scorpio instead gives orders for the rest of the team:

"Ruby, Penny; You two will go to class like normal. Ciel, you stay in bed and recover. I'll stick around to take care of Ciel."

"No, don't…" Ciel says somewhat weakly, disagreeing with that notion. "We have Economy, someone needs to take notes. Go to school, I can take care of myself."

Ciel's point makes sense, or at least the first part. She was taught to appoint the best person to each task, and it's clear that it's best for the team if Weiss goes to classes. However, there's no way in hell that Weiss will leave Ciel alone. In that case it's better if one of the other members of Scorpio stays behind, so that there's someone to keep track of both the Economy and the Metallurgy Studies. One person of the RP part of Scorpio stays to take care of Ciel, and the other will keep notes of Metallurgy Studies.

…

Yeah, that's as obvious a decision as can be. One of them can literally record the lessons of today but is lacking in social care, while the other is the cook and heart of the team but with a handwriting that even a supercomputer can't decipher. Ruby will stay at the dorm to take care of Ciel, while Penny and Weiss will go to school. Ciel isn't allowed to object to that one.

The rest of the early morning goes by quickly. After breakfast Weiss and Penny go to classes, while Ruby makes sure Ciel rests up. It's that last one that Ruby is having trouble with, as Ciel is trying to push herself even though she's supposed to take some rest.

"Ciel, please, just lie down and take a break. Stop pushing yourself!"

"I only fainted, Ruby." Ciel says with a hint of annoyance as she looks out the window. "It is twelve minutes past ten. You can go to class; the professor would forgive your tardiness in this circumstance. You don't need to allot these hours to me, I can take care of myself."

"Nuh-uh!" Ruby stubbornly replies, "You're sick, and as your semblance isn't some sort of healing factor you need someone to treat you!"

"Do you even know how to treat me?"

"Y-Yes! I do!" No. She doesn't. Yesterday she didn't even know what vasovagal syncope is. How would she now know how to take care of her? "I-In fact, I'm going to the kitchen to prepare something for your illness, so stay right there!"

Ruby grabs her scroll and dashes into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. She fumbles in a set of familiar numbers on it and hopes that the call connects. Luck seems to be on Ruby's side, as the other side picks up after a few beeps:

"With *yawn* Taiyang Xiao-Long, who am I speaking with?"

"Dad!"

"Ruby?" Taiyang says with happy surprise. "I'm glad to hear from you, but isn't it a bit early for you to call?" While it's twelve past ten in Atlas, the differences in time zones means that it's only barely past seven back home. Even so Ruby really didn't see another choice:

"HelpIhaveasickteammateandIdon'tknowwhattodopleasehelp!"

"Calm down, Ruby." The soothing voice of her father says from the other side of the scroll, "Panicking isn't going to help you. Just stay calm and explain what is going on."

Ruby takes a few deep breaths, before explaining it all: Ciel's fainting, how Ruby is now taking care of her teammate while the other two are at school, and that Ciel is stubbornly trying to do everything herself. "How do I get her to accept that I just want to help?"

"Then you're at the right address, Ruby. I had to take care of you and Yang. I know everything about taking care of stubborn girls."

"Hey!" Ruby indignantly shouts, "I'm not stubborn!"

Taiyang lets out a snort at hearing that: "Should we talk about your behavior when you were invited to Atlas academy, young lady? How you ignored everything I said about a fifteen-year-old being alone on a different continent she knows nothing about?"

"Eheheh… it worked out fine, right?" The rather flimsy excuse gets shut down with a single "Ruby…" from her father, as the young student admits that she may be kind of stubborn too.

"And there's nothing wrong with some stubbornness. It means you're willing to fight for what you believe in. Maybe you should think about why your friend is so stubborn about this and help with that. That would be a better cure than anything you can concoct."

That sounds like the solid wisdom of a parent. Ruby lets out a small smile at that lesson. "I guess I should do so."

"And besides, if you do want to help you can always just search for what she has online and see what the common treatment is."

"Ah." That makes sense. Why didn't Ruby think of that?

"But with that said, I believe that there's someone else who is exited to hear from you again:"

"Arf!"

"Zwei!" Ruby excitedly shouts, having not heart the gentle barks of her favorite doggy in a long time. "Have you been a good boy? Did dad make sure to remember to feed you every day?"

"Arf! Arf!" Zwei's exited barks tell Ruby that he's been a good boy who has not yet skipped a meal. Probably. It could also mean no. Or something else. Ruby doesn't exactly speak dog. But if his happy yaps are an indication then it's clear that he is having a good time back home.

Taiyang interrupts as he puts the scroll once more to his ear. "Now then, Ruby. While I would love to hear more from you, I think that you should go back to help your friend for now. How about you call me again tomorrow and I can hear all about your adventures in Atlas?"

"I think you're right, dad." Ruby should go back to Ciel right now. Dad can be handled later. "I'll call you tomorrow. Bye!"

"Good luck, Ruby!"

And with that Taiyang hangs up the phone. Now it's time for Ruby to follow his advice, starting with the latter part of finding out about Ciel's illness. It's a good thing that she is connected to a world-wide web of information, making the gathering of information a lot easier. A search engine should help her get the data she needs. Ruby opens the one she usually uses, typing in what she wants to search for: "let's see, 'veisoveigle sincopy', and go!"

…

"What do you mean, 'Did you mean vasovagal syncope'?" Yes, isn't it obvious that that's what Ruby meant?! Just give the results already, you overblown search engine!

After searching under the proper name Ruby opens the first page that comes up, some encyclopedic page from a healthcare clinic that gives a simple explanation of Ciel's sickness:

Let's see… vasovagal syncope is caused by a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, which results in a lack of blood to the brain. It is usually harmless and does not require specific treatment. Ah, that's at least some good news. The symptoms are pretty much correct, though "pale skin" is a bit hard to tell with Ciel. She has no other disorders, so no reason to call the doctor. As for what caused it… Ruby goes off each of the possibilities, determining if that could be the cause:

No, not possible, unlikely as Ruby doubts Ciel has been spending last night standing in one place… Heat exposure? In Atlas? Yeah, that one's the least possible of all! This one is also unlikely, as Ciel isn't sick like that. Well, there's one last thing on the list so could that be i-

"Oh."

As Ruby reads the last possibility her smile disappears completely. That last one is indeed possible. As much as Ruby hopes that it's something else, she recalls this quote from that scientist who helped build Penny's taste receptors: "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". And if it's true, then she needs to have a long talk with Ciel.

Ruby opens the door to the main room of the dorm, where Ciel is sitting behind her desk with the economy book in front of her. Ruby lets out a sigh, before walking up to her friend: "Ciel, we need to talk."

Ciel looks up from the homework, slightly annoyed. "Ruby, I said it before: I only fainted. Rest is not a necessary requirement."

"Yeah, I agree. I shouldn't stop you from doing something you want to do."

At those words Ciel shows a small smile. "Then you will-"

"But that's not why I want to talk." Ruby interrupts. "Yeah, there is no treatment for the fainting, but we still need to treat the cause."

Ruby places her scroll in front of her sick teammate, finger pointing at what she believes to be the cause. Ciel reads it, some confusion can be heard in her voice:

"Continuous emotional distress?"

"Yeah." Ruby says somberly. "Something's eating at you, enough to make you feel sick. Ciel, I don't want you to keep on going with all your distress. We're supposed to be teammates! If there's something wrong, you can tell me!"

Ciel hears Ruby's plea and ponders over it for a few moments. With such passionate and concerning words from her teammate there's only one thing she can say in defense of herself: "And your evidence is?"

"Eh?"

"Evidence. Your proof, your verification. Why are you sure it's emotional distress?"

"…because the other options don't sound very plausible?"

That isn't enough for Ciel, who stoically puts Ruby's concerns aside: "Your exclusion of certain causes is from hearsay, let alone the possibility that this list here incomplete. Don't you have more?"

"You also behaved really weird this week?"

"Circumstantial at best, irrelevant at worst. And further?"

"Argh!" Why are you this stubborn, Ciel?! If this is what dad had to deal with when he had to raise two kids the Ruby is going to apologize to him tomorrow. This is extremely bothersome to deal with!

Ciel takes Ruby's frustration as her victory. "Don't worry about me. The chance of you knowing the cause of my fainting is unlikely. Focus on your own studies."

Ruby doesn't have an answer to that. It's impossible to win this clash of wills if Ciel doesn't want to talk. "Fine. If you don't want to talk, then don't. I can't force you anyway."

Ciel nods at that, glad that Ruby sees it her way. She returns her focus to her studies, but gets interrupted once more by Ruby:

"But please! If there's something wrong, talk about it with someone. If not us, then someone else: Otto, one of the teachers, headmaster Ironwood. We all will worry about you if this keeps happening! Please…"

The plea doesn't have a direct effect, with Ciel still unwilling to talk. It looks like they won't talk about this soon. In that case Ruby will just do her own homework. She takes the desk next to Ciel, opening her Metallurgy book and reviewing the material.

Unbeknownst to Ruby her plea did have some effect on Ciel. The words spoken by the youngest member of Scorpio are eating at Ciel, unable to make peace with her own thoughts. Minutes pass as Ciel grows more and more uncomfortable. To leave this situation unresolved and keep her team in worry, the thought of it finally becomes too much for Ciel:

"…less…"

"Eh?" Ruby couldn't exactly understand Ciel's mumbling as she was absorbed in her study book. "Could you repeat that?"

"I feel useless." Ciel replies with some annoyance. These negative feelings aren't aimed at Ruby, but instead at herself. "The additional value I bring to Scorpio is non-existent."

"What are you talking about?" This is something Ruby disagrees with, as Ciel is amongst the better students "You're a really good student. Both in combat and non-combat studies you're probably amongst the top ten freshmen. That's amazing, you know!"

"That is true." Ciel has no reason to decline that. According to the win/loss ratio of the individual training matches she's sharing the ninth spot with Tidus of Carrot. As for the non-combat courses, while she doesn't know the exact details she's probably around place six or seven. Out of the 120 students, that puts her high above most of her peers. "But I believe I never claimed I am weak. My claim is of redundancy."

"And I say I don't get that." Ruby says, almost shouting as she fails to understand her friend. "I don't understand this problem of redundancy."

Ciel sighs once, before going more in-depth about her own perceived problem: "The redundancy lies in the fact that I am part of Scorpio. In any other team I would be a valuable addition. Compared to you three, I can't catch up. You three are so far removed from normalcy that it loses its humor."

"I dunno," Ruby says with a chuckle, "But I think I'm just a normal girl. And so are Weiss and Penny.". Ruby has no intention of standing out, or at least not more than necessary. Standing out only brings trouble, as far as Ruby knows.

"I disagree:" in Ciel's eyes the rest of her team are absurdities: "A team with a grades-skipping prodigy, the inheritor of perhaps the strongest known semblance in existence, and a literal top secret Atlesian project. Is that normal?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Not really, no. There is absolutely nothing normal about the rest of Scorpio. Ruby has always known that, even if she kept it hidden from herself.

"You three are amongst the top of the freshmen. Weiss' supportive abilities, Penny's sheer strength and power, and your speed and tactical acumen are all exemplary. I do not possess such qualities."

"And what about your, y'know, your *Whoosh!*, *Hiyaa!* and *Atatatata!*?" As Ruby says these kiais she tries to imitate some of Ciel's martial arts moves, admittingly failing disastrously. "I think it's pretty amazing how you fight without weapons."

"Ruby…"

"I mean, most people who fight bare-handed do that after trying out all different weapons. They're a bit behind on skill as a result."

"N-No, I-" Ciel stutters a bit, predicting what tangent Ruby goes on with and not liking where that ends.

"But you're so good at it! Isn't that proof that you are a true huntress?"

"No, I'm not!" Ciel shouts out, her stoic façade breaking. Angrily she looks at Ruby, though it's clear that any hatred is aimed at herself. "I'm no huntress! Factually, I was never meant to be a huntress!"

"What are you talking about?" Ruby doesn't get it. Never meant to be a huntress, what kind of dumb destiny does Ciel believe in? There's no such thing as destiny, and Ruby refuses to let her friend be so self-defeating.

Ciel can see that Ruby disagrees, so she explains what she meant more clearly: "I am the only official heir to the du Soleil business association. My father wants me to follow in his footsteps and one day become the leader of his company. From a young age I was groomed as such. I would attend a business school and obtain a seat amongst the board before taking over for my father. My only combat experience was to be some self-defense lessons."

Ruby winces upon hearing that, aghast at her own apparent lack of skill: "That's just self-defense?" Because if it is then Ruby needs to seriously up her own skills!

Ciel nods, though only agreeing partially. "Originally, yes. But I found joy in this respite to my economic lessons. I put in effort, and lessons became a hobby." Ciel recalls those days brightly, a small smile on her face as explains her happy past. "Father did not mind. So long as I obtained good grades at school, he did not care what other interests I pursued. Through hard work I became the star pupil of the Eight Extremity Fist Dojo. I would later combine it with the Chop-Hanging Fist of its sister dojo, which I also mastered." Ciel stares at her own clenched fist, recalling the praises from her teachers. "My teachers said that when someone unifies both styles gods and demons will be terrified, and heroes sigh as they're no match for it." Ciel lets out a sad chuckle at that proverb." I guess they forgot that it still falls prey to real huntsmen."

"Ciel, I don't care what you say, but you're no less a real huntress than any of us!"

"No, I'm not!" Ciel shouts angrily, her composure breaking more and more. "After Winter Schnee graduated as the valedictorian of Atlas Academy it became a trend amongst high-class Atlesians to send their children to a huntsmen academy as a form of self-exploration. My father wanted me to do the same after learning of my hand-to-hand skills. Don't you see, Ruby? I only joined this academy because my father ordered me to!"

…

It stays quiet for a few seconds. Neither side knows what to say. Ruby has heard of a few others in the same boat as Ciel. Students who were forced to attend, stuck at the bottom of the class because they don't want to put in any real effort. They're probably not going to advance to the next year, dropping out or quitting before the year ends. Why they aren't gone yet is still a mystery to Ruby, they're the true scum of the academy.

Wait a second, that's it! Ruby knows the perfect question to ask: "If you don't like it, then why don't you quit?"

"Eh?" Quitting? Ciel didn't even give it a thought. "Ruby, I'm ordered to-"

"Nope!" Ruby interrupts, not accepting that excuse. "I'm not asking what your father wants. I'm asking what you want. If you want to quit, then I'm sure that with Weiss' influence we can get you honorably discharged without any problems. I'm asking you, Ciel. What do you want?"

"I… I-I…" Ciel chokes on her own words, eyes becoming watery. The emotions that she repressed for so long are overwhelming her now. Ruby put a hand on her friend's shoulder, telling Ciel to let it all out. Upon hearing this the dam of emotions inside Ciel breaks:

"I want to stay!"

Ciel shouts these words out, the first tear streaking over her face. Yeah, Ruby knew it: Ciel is nothing like those lowlifes who don't really want to become huntsmen. These are Ciel's true feelings: "I want to stand together with Penny, with Weiss and with you! I want to win the upcoming Vytal Tournament, and the one in two years too! I want Scorpio to be the best team in Atlas' history!"

Ruby nods, agreeing with everything that Ciel wants. Excitedly she encourages her teammate, claiming that Ciel's right: "We're going to do all of that. We're going to be the best huntresses this world has ever seen!"

Ciel calms down a bit, her tears and frustration making with for sad disappointment. "The rest of Scorpio can fulfill that dream, but I cannot. I have not the talent, nor the potential, nor the years of experience to keep up. I cannot equalize the difference between us." Despairingly Ciel admits her feelings of inferiority, as well as her own lack of specialty: "I do not even add anything new to Scorpio's expertise."

Ruby protests against this claim: "I think you do bring something with your skill in unarmed combat. Nobody else on Scorpio can do that."

"My martial arts not an advantage." Ciel says without missing a beat, immediately shutting down Ruby's argument. "All it means is that I do not possess ranged capacities and am unable to block attacks without damaging my aura. Furthermore, your skill with the scythe equals my martial arts skills. My weapon mastery is of no extra value to Scorpio. As I said before, I am redundant."

"W-Well," Ruby says with some hesitation, not expecting to have her opinion countered through praise. "I'm sure there's something you're the best at, right?"

Ciel looks cynically at Ruby, the answer not clear enough: "Then what is that you're speaking of? What is my value? What do I add to this team?! Tell me!" The last words are shouted in despair, Ciel desperate to receive an answer to validate her own being.

Ruby wants to give some words that can sooth Ciel's worries, going over every quality of battle she can think of: Offense, Defense, Speed, Strength, Skill, Mobility, Endurance, Aura level, Semblance, Range, Accuracy, Trickery, Tactics, Stratagems… Ciel is the best at… Ciel is the best at… at…

"I don't know." Ruby admits, unable to come up with a good answer. If you look at any of the qualities Ruby thought of, someone else beats Ciel at it. And while Ciel is usually not the worst at something, she's rarely the best at something.

Ruby's answer fills Ciel with disappointment and despair. "I thought so…" Ciel replies with dejection. It was the answer she hoped she wouldn't get but expected anyways.

"But that doesn't mean that you have no value. You're a proper member of Scorpio, even if it's just as extra manpower."

Ciel is confused by Ruby's claim. How is she a proper member? "But I don't bring something special to the team. Someone like Robin with his strategic wit, Tidus with his solid defenses or Laura with her durability would."

"And that's okay." Ruby assures calmly. "You are serious about being a huntress, and you're trying your hardest to become the best you can be. That's enough for me. That's enough for Scorpio. So don't worry yourself sick about whether you deserve to be on this team or not. Just be you!"

"Ruby…"

"And hey, if you still want to discover some unique quality, you have more than three years to learn it. We're still in training, so we still have room to improve!"

Ciel nods, regaining her composure and managing her stoic appearance once more. "I suppose you are right." It's not the outcome Ciel hoped for. While it's good to hear that her team accepts her regardless of her lack of special value to the team, there's still the fact that she is lacking in merit. In that case the best option is to just keep on trying to find her way, without overtaxing her mind or body and thus causing her teammates to worry about her.

Ciel looks out of the window for a moment, before turning to her teammate with her hand on her economy book. "Ruby, shall we continue with our homework? We have spent seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds on my emotional problems. We need to make up for the lost time on our respective economic and metallurgic studies."

Ruby looks back at her studies books, gulping a bit. While she's glad that Ciel seems be normal again, Ruby hoped that they could celebrate with something more fun. With a whimper she turns back to her books, continuing with her studies.

The rest of the day is rather ordinary. Ciel's back to normal, or at least as normal as it gets. When the other two members of Scorpio return from the academy they get greeted by two healthy stay-at-homers, who quickly try to return the feeling around the dorm to normal. Ruby did not tell the rest of Scorpio about Ciel's worries, as requested by her friend. Ciel wants to find the answer to this problem by herself, making a concession to Ruby that she will seek help if she can't find the answer alone.

Now it is Saturday, and while that would normally mean free time Scorpio has decided to put in some extra combat training. Two of their members missed Thursday's combat training after all. Scorpio is standing inside one of the combat training halls of the academy as a result, which they reserved for about an hour. With the four of them inside Ruby explains what kind of training she planned to do for today:

"Now that we have this whole room to ourselves, I think that it's time to try something that we don't get to do during school hours: We have team against team and one against one during our lessons, but isn't there one more type of round during the Vytal festival?"

"Two on two." Ciel gets what Ruby is trying to say. Atlas has a significant lack of training in that regard. "So, as for teams… partners? Something else?"

"It will be fate!" Ruby's excited shout gets some explanation when she pulls a set of playing cards out of her pocket. She takes four cards from the fifty-two and shuffles them before holding them face down. "Same colors, same team! Simple as that. Now Penny, take your pick."

Penny takes one of the four, and Ruby gestures to her teammate to reveal what she drew. Penny obliges and shows an eight of diamonds. Ruby then turns to Weiss, who picks and reveals her own:

"Five of hearts."

"Oh, wow, same color." Ruby lets out a light chuckle and snatches the cards she dealt to Penny and Weiss out of their hands. "I guess we don't need to deal the last cards. I mean, heh, what are the chances?"

"They are exactly one in three." Penny answers innocently, getting a weird look from her teammates. It takes her a second or two for the android to realize what went wrong. "Oh. Was this one of those rhetorical questions?"

Weiss nods with a sigh. While she's aware that Penny's status makes some social aspects a tad more difficult, she wishes that Penny would improve a bit better in that regard.

The two teams split up, Weiss and Penny on one side and Ciel on the other side. Ruby is not in position, as she instead walks up to the data terminal. She leaves the playing cards next to it, before inputting the type of room she would like to fight with. When that is done the hard light rearranges itself, forming a biome with three different areas:

The center of the room is a flat platform, just like in the Vytal festival. The area on the SP side is also just floor, but it's uneven. Depressed tiles litter their part of the room like rivers with a few of them jutting up like geysers, but only slightly. None of these protrusions is more than a foot higher or lower than the standard floor. The CR side is a bit more complex: Large walls are made from the hard-light blocks, some of them covered with roofs, with holes between them to move through the area.

Ruby walks back to the team, smug with her own creation. "Sisters, behold my latest and greatest creation: New Amity Arena, complete with an Urban and Geyser area!"

The other three look around, more perplexed then understanding about Ruby's explanation. Penny tilts her head in confusion, not understanding Ruby's synonym at all: "This room has a zero percent match with the official Amity Arena biomes."

"No, hang on," Weiss says uncertainly, trying her best to compliment Ruby's work. "I mean, I suppose that looks a bit like a shed, right?" Sure, it doesn't have windows or doors, but at least it has walls. That's something, right?

"And those depressions could represent the waters in the geyser biome." Ciel points out, though she doesn't understand what those bumps are that Ruby made.

So much for Ruby's hard work, it seems. "Well excuse me for only having these large blocks to work with!" What did they expect when Ruby only has blocks with a volume of a cubed yard? That's obviously impossible! Who in their right mind would like to mine hard light dust and then craft large worlds out of these big cubes just for fun, let alone make something beautiful out of it? No, this is all Ruby could do.

With some sulking Ruby takes her spot besides Ciel. Said teammate sees that both teams are in position and offers to give the signal to start the match. "If no one objects, let us start this mat-

"Objection!" Weiss shouts as she gives Ciel the pointer finger. The rest of Scorpio give their team leader some funny looks, as Weiss realizes what she's doing. Quickly she composes herself and politely explains what she means: "Ahem, I mean to say that there's always a few moments before the match starts in which the biomes are chosen. I want to use that time to draw my weapon."

Okay? Admittingly it does makes kind of sense. It's not what Ruby expected, but she can agree with that. Crescent Rose gets unfolded while Floating Array gets pulled out of Penny's backpack. Weiss however does not draw Myrtenaster, instead holding out her hand in front of her as a large glyph comes out of it. It's much more intricate than the usual ones she summons, and Ruby has seen this one before. Weiss is performing a summoning!

A handle starts to protrude from the circular glyph, which Weiss grabs tightly with her left hand. Slowly she pulls on it, as the rest of the weapon becomes visible: A shimmering longsword as tall as Weiss herself is, though she seems to lift it without any effort. It glows softly as wisps of energy flow off it and dissipate, giving it an ethereal feeling.

Ruby is awed by her partner's awesome skill. Sure, she's seen it before in Argus, but this is the complete deal. Weapon summoning as a semblance is really, really cool for a weapons buff like her. Ooh, what else could Weiss summon? Perhaps a scythe like hers, or perhaps-

No, bad Ruby, focus! Ruby slaps herself on the cheeks, going over the rules of the match once more with her team: "So once more: You hit the walls, you're out. Your aura gets below twenty percent, you're out. Clear?"

Everyone nods, and with one motion of her scroll Ruby causes a screen to glow up on the wall to her right. On it are everyone's aura levels, each still at a hundred percent. With another press of her scroll the screen begins to count down from five.

Five… four… three… two… one…

Start!

A bell rings to signal the match's start, and immediately the CR part of Scorpio rushes for their enemies. Penny and Weiss own more than ninety percent of the ranged options of Scorpio, so there's no other option than a quick and decisive attack!

Penny steps forwards and swings her swords, six at each of them. Crescent Rose blocks those aimed at the red reaper while Ciel slides underneath those aimed at her. Ciel hasn't lost any speed from the slide and continues moving at Weiss as Ruby proceeds to duel Penny.

The summoned longsword is stabbed at Ciel, who dodges it with a sidestep. While normally a weapon of that size would massively weigh Weiss down, she wields it as swiftly as her own Myrtenaster. Literally, in fact, as the one-handed trusts of Weiss have the same motions as usual.

The stab gets followed by an upwards slice, which is immediately followed by Weiss swinging the blade downwards. From these three attacks alone Ciel is certain that her enemy has no experience with swords of this size. These moves are basic steps for fighting with a rapier like Myrtenaster, but there's an obvious problem when the sword is twice as long:

*thunk*

Weiss' sword wedges itself in the floor, having cut through the hard-light floor with little trouble. With a sword that size and that force you shouldn't make such sweeping cuts like Weiss did. Yeah, at this rate even someone from the bottom half of the freshmen would be able to beat Weiss. To make sure that Weiss can't make that mistake again Ciel decides to help her enemy out:

With her boot she stamps on the sword, sacrificing a small percentage of aura to wedge the blade even deeper in the floor. Weiss pulls as hard as she can but it unable to pull her own weapon out of the ground. Of course, that makes this the perfect moment to strike Weiss.

A windmill strike comes as Weiss from below, aiming to land a palm at the heiress' jugular. Refusing to let herself get hit this easily Weiss abandons her summoned weapon and jumps backwards, left hand on Myrtenaster's grip to draw her original weapon.

Now it's the time for Ciel to go on the offensive. She steps in and as Weiss draws her rapier Ciel grabs onto the left elbow that sticks out from the draw movement. With a sharp yank she forces Weiss to stumble a step forwards, which is enough for Ciel to land a palm strike to the face.

Weiss staggers a bit as her right hand reflexively goes to her head to protect herself, leaving her lower body wide open for Ciel to continues her string of attacks: A punch to the thigh makes the leader keel over, allowing the attack to be followed by a upwards flowing windmill strike to the throat that juggles Weiss a feet or two in the air. The attack string is finished with one final attack as Weiss reached the apex of her flight, a shoulder slam that sends Weiss flying backwards.

As Weiss flies backwards she makes several gestures with her hands, which Ciel recognizes as glyph-summoning techniques. As there's no glyph appearing within her line of sight, they must on the other side of her. Ciel looks back, and sees what Weiss is planning:

All glyphs are centered around the handle and blade of the summoned blade, which pries itself loose before flying like a buzz saw towards Ciel! If she didn't turn around then this would've been a powerful counterattack, but now she has a reply for it:

With as little movement as possible she dodges the blade, before giving it a new purpose: Placing one hand on the thick of the blade and another near the non-cutting edge she uses the circular motions of the blade against it, redirection the attack towards where Penny and Ruby are fighting. There Penny is forced to block this surprise attack, leaving her open enough to allow Ruby to get her first good hit in.

As Ciel takes a glance to observe her teammates in action she feels a sharp pain in her side. Unbeknownst to her Weiss has used her glyphs to dash back to the fight, getting a hit in much earlier than Ciel expected. Weiss jumps up in the air and slashes again, before thrusting Myrtenaster at Ciel's chest. All hits land successfully, sending Ciel flying backwards. Weiss isn't done, as a black glyph appears behind her from which she dives rapier-first towards her enemy.

Ciel lands roughly on the floor. She sees Weiss diving down, ready to strike her rapier straight through. Only a desperate lunge to the side helps Ciel avoid that attack. Weiss does not let up, as she continues to stab and slash in a flurry of combining attacks. Ciel manages to parry and dodge to avoid most of the damage but can't get any counters in. Weiss has the reach advantage, and any sort of careless approach will lead to Weiss getting free hits. At this rate all she can do is wait and hope that it's going better on the other side of the aren-

"Time Freeze!" Ruby shouts from afar, leaving both Weiss and Ciel temporary confused. Both are aware of Ruby's tendency to give combination attacks of their team special names, and Time Freeze is one of them. The problem is that is the one Ruby named is the move of Weiss and Ciel combined, who are enemies in this mock battle. Neither of them gets what they're supposed to do now.

Weiss turns towards her partner, questioning the use of that move: "Ruby, what do you m-hmph!"

There's no time to finish that sentence, as the leader of Scorpio finds her face filled by a pair of red and black boots. Its owner pulled a magnificent flying dropkick, hitting the heiress straight in the face. Okay, it's not exactly a flying dropkick. Ruby can't use martial arts, so this move falls more in the direction of "Sprint as fast as you towards the enemy and deal tons of impact damage feet first". It is very effective though, as team CR notes when looking at the scoreboard:

That attack did 50 percent of Weiss' starting aura. Ciel summarizes it the best:

"Ouch."

A small buzzer sounds to indicate that someone has been taken out of the fight. It's obvious who it is that lost, given who took that much damage: Weiss' aura is only at 17 percent, compared to Ciel's 76, Ruby's 71 and Penny's 94. Weiss notices the score as well, and though she dislikes the method with which she was eliminated she still steps out of combat. It would be too dangerous to stay anyways, with her aura this low and all.

Now that Weiss is gone the combat has changed. Instead of a two against two it has become a two against one. Yes, this should be possible to win!

Penny looks with surprise at the two opponents. She did not see the "Time Freeze" tactic coming either. Because of her surprise she accidentally let Ruby slip from her grasp, and as a result her teammate suffered for it. It is time to make up for that:

Floating Array glows green as all twelve blades spin around to deliver a full-powered blast. Ciel and Ruby see the attack and nod at each other, Scorpio's tactician shouting out their plan:

"Stopwatch!"

Ruby holsters her weapon and the duo run as a pair towards Penny, who fires the beam in a sweeping arc. Mere moments before the beam hits Ruby grabs her ally and activates her semblance, causing a blur of red and blue to barely graze the laser beam and streak towards the enemy.

Penny doesn't have the time to fire again, so she switches her Floating Array back to sword form to prepare for the attack. She makes half of her swords circle around her, with the rest floating behind her and primed to fire.

The blur of blue and red comes within combat distance, before splitting in two: The red blur shoots upwards, causing the blue blur to turn into a quickly approaching Ciel. The martial artist slides low to avoid the swords, coming in with a sweeping leg strike. Penny jumps back, shooting two of the primed swords at her partner. Ciel dodges them and continues the offensive, continuously performing low kicks to avoid the deadly blades circling around her opponent.

Said opponent keeps avoiding Ciel's blows, having little trouble with an opponent whose attacks are limited through the circling half of floating array. Penny keeps dodging but finds herself unpleasantly surprised when a bullet hits the top of her head, causing a nasty impact that causes a decent dip in her aura.

It shouldn't be forgotten that it was a red and blue blur that approached Penny. The blue part was already seen attacking from below, but the red part is now in hanging in the air above Penny, her Crescent Rose unfurled into its sniper from and aiming shots straight down. Furthermore, because of the rifle's immense recoil Ruby manages to keep herself hanging in the air, Preventing Penny from using her swords to attack the opponent above.

Forced to defend from these two-directional attacks of kicks and bullets Penny can't mount a perfect defense, some of these blows managing to get past her and draining some more of her aura. Penny accepts this as an acceptable loss. After all, she has already analyzed a significant problem with this tactic:

*click*

That sound was Ruby pulling the trigger of Crescent Rose once more, but the magazine's empty. With no bullets to fire there's also no recoil, causing Ruby to fall to the ground. Oh well, so much for plan stopwatch. Ruby falls at full speed towards Penny, hoping to deal some damage with a scythe swing.

Penny notices this as well and seizes the moment for a counter. She puts the six swords not circling around her back near her backpack, utilizing three of them to fire a laser straight at Ruby. While Ruby could normally dodge with a recoil blast, her lack of bullets means that all she can do is blocking the laser with her own weapon. The recoil of the laser is enough to sent Ruby back up, causing the reaper in red to nearly hit the ceiling of the room.

With Ruby temporarily out of the way Penny now has her full focus on her partner. The swords that have been circling around the young android change direction and come down sweeping at Ciel's legs one after the other.

The attack can be seen coming from a mile away, and Ciel jumps over it with a butterfly kick aimed at Penny's now unprotected torso. Her foot strikes against Penny's thorax, pushing her body a foot to the side as she takes a few percentile points of aura damage. While Ciel is glad that she finally landed a hit on her opponent, her eyes widen in surprise as she sees Penny's next move:

Behind where Penny stood are the remaining three swords she didn't attack or block with, in laser form and fully charged up. With Ciel hanging in the air and recovering from her kick she can't dodge. The laser fires, and Ciel can only reflexively put her arms in front of herself before being blasted to the other side of the battlefield.

As Penny is busy dealing with Ciel Ruby swings back in from above, Crescent Rose unfurled and spinning for maximum momentum. Penny redirects six of the swords to form a protective wing, catching the reaping blade and only budging slightly from the force. The remaining six swords fan upwards, forcing Ruby to jump backwards if she doesn't want to get hit.

Now with space between them Penny thrusts the swords one after the other, the last launching less than a second after the first.

Just a single of these stabs would be considered a powerful blow, but twelve in a row? Ruby can't help but being pushed back as Penny launches a deadly offense.

Penny steps in, continuously swinging her swords in a crescent-shaped formation. If Ruby wants to block or parry she needs to do that twelve times within a second, requiring a level of skill that even most of the teachers don't have. The only option is to stay defensive as she retreats backwards, hoping that Penny makes some sort of mistake.

Ruby stays on the back foot, twirling and maneuvering her scythe to parry a few of the blades before stepping backwards. The problem the Ruby is facing is Penny's lack of openings. When a normal huntsman swings a melee weapon there's always a bit of time between connecting strikes. If you're positioned well thanks to a proper dodge or parry, you have the opportunity for a counterattack. The problem with facing Penny is that all her blades come one after the other, and by the time she's swung her twelfth sword the first is back to swing again!

Ruby continues moving backwards, not expecting Penny to make a mistake. Well, there's a reason she's undefeated amongst the freshmen. The only time Penny lost is by ring-out, so perhaps Ruby can pull out some trick at the edge of the arena. She continues walking backwards through the "Geyser" area, but her plans come undone by her own creation:

Part of this area are the blocks that have been depressed or elevated compared to the ground, they're not high, but enough for Ruby to stumble over as her heel catches one of the elevations. Ruby stumbles backwards with an "Eep!", losing her balance completely.

To Ruby's surprise she didn't fall on her buttocks, as Penny grabbed her hand before she fell. "Hey, thanks for helping me Pen…" as Ruby says this Penny also grabs Ruby's other hand, keeping her tightly in place. "…ny? What are you-oh."

Oh indeed, as Ruby sees that Penny's swords have changed into its laser form and are starting to charge up. With Penny holding onto Ruby's arms there's not much that Ruby can do to prevent this. She can't swing her weapons, she can't run away, she can do nothing but watch as Penny aims Floating Array in their laser form at Ruby, each crackling with green energy.

"Do not worry, friend Ruby. I will make sure that this blast is non-lethal." As nice as the words sound, they fall a bit flat when four powerful laser beams are charging up in your face. Ruby has only one response to her inevitable demise:

"Ah, fudge."

The lasers discharge, melting Ruby's aura like it was butter. On the screen you can literally see Ruby's aura rapidly declining, only stopping once it has reached 5 percent. Another buzzer sounds, indicating the second person who must leave the battlefield. Penny drops her former enemy, who falls to the ground with a "Bleh", too dazed and exhausted to move. The battle has just been turned into a classic one on one.

Ciel has been thrown into one of the walls of the "Urban" section, and just now steps out of the rubble created by her crash. She has heard the buzzer as well and realizes how bad the situation has gotten. Ciel versus Penny is not even close to an even match-up. The pride and joy of the freshmen versus a second-rate like her; The outcome should be obvious.

What can Ciel do against this? What hope does she have? She isn't fighting just some talented person; she's fighting the culmination of Atlas brightest minds and strongest soldiers!

Ciel can't help but feel jealousy and some dislike towards her partner. While there's no denying that Penny is her valuable friend, Ciel hates the fact that Penny is everything she isn't. She is a literal creation of talent and potential. She wields power not obtained through experience and trials, instead everything was ready to use for her from the start. Ever since Penny's true nature was revealed to Scorpio Ciel scowled at the thought: What is the point of her hard work compared to Atlas perfect warrior?

…

No. That's not true. Ciel objectively knows that Penny isn't perfect. Perhaps in the future she will be unstoppable, but Ciel knows that right now her partner still has flaws: Her lack of combat experience, for example. Or how about her weakness to electricity, as Ruby found out during her first meeting with the Ace-Ops? Then there's Penny's body, which is heavy enough to make her less agile, limiting how quickly she can accelerate and decelerate. And if Penny has weaknesses, then that would mean-

Ah, of course. Ciel lets out a chuckle at her own realization. Her old opinion about her teammates all having incredible specialties she lacks is still true: Weiss outsmarts her, Ruby outmaneuvers her, and Penny outpowers her. There's no denying this fact, nor that with their talent and drive Ciel won't beat these three at this.

However! Ciel can outpower Weiss, outsmart Ruby, and outmaneuver Penny. While there is nothing Ciel is the best at of her team, when viewing it from a one-on-one situation then she's got options against all three of them. If that's the case, then she should use those skills to grasp the unlikely victory. Even if it only happens once in a thousand battles, all Ciel needs to do is lure out that one battle in which it happens!

Ciel jumps back, her mind switching gears. No longer is she thinking about what her own strengths are, that line of thought is useless. Instead she now focuses on Penny's weaknesses, and how to utilize them! She slips behind one of the walls, hiding in the urban area as if she's daring her partner to enter her chosen battlefield.

Penny looks at the urban area where her partner went missing, her eyes dilating and contracting twice. While being an android does give Penny a few extras when it comes to the five senses, her additional artificial night vision and thermal vision can't pick up Ciel biosignature either. In other words, she needs to find her partner the manual way.

Penny takes a few steps towards the urban area, before abruptly stopping. While what she just said is still true, there is one big problem with her previous idea: Walking into that area would allow Ciel to set an ambush and fight from up close, which would give Ciel a chance at victory that Penny doesn't want to take. No, just walking into the trap is a poor idea.

Floating Array turns to its laser form, four sets of three each charging to blast away the urban area until Ciel is forced to come out of hiding. Shot after shot is fired, causing the urban area to be slowly destroyed. Blocks of hard-light dust break, fly off or fall, depending on how far from the laser's impact they are. Penny keeps this up, and quickly half the urban area has collapsed into rubble. Penny fires her laser again, this time detecting a human signature behind the last wall she destroyed. In other words, target found!

Ciel realizes that she has been spotted as well but isn't too worried about it. It's not like Ciel was using the walls for cover. Instead she needed Penny to destroy the wall so some of the blocks would come free! Two of the loose blocks she grabs out of the air, while gazing at one already lying on the ground. She shoots the one on the ground at Penny as if it were a soccer ball, before throwing the two in her hands as she runs at her partner.

Meanwhile Penny has no trouble with these three makeshift projectiles. Turning Floating Array into its circular form she uses three slices to cut the blocks in half, each of the two halves harmlessly flying past Penny.

Of course, Ciel never meant to harm Penny with those blocks. They were simple distractions, keeping Penny busy so that she can get close! The distance between the two has been reduced to about six feet, meaning that with a single step Ciel is within striking distance.

That does not mean that Ciel is cleared to attack: While she still needs to make a step to attack, Penny is combat ready. Her twelve swords fly at Ciel from all directions: From the front, the left, the right, above. Twelve projectiles that all seek to strike true.

There's no way for Ciel to block or parry that. She has four limbs, while there are twelve projectiles aimed at her. Dodging is an option, but the only safe direction to dodge to is backwards, putting her even further away from Penny.

No, the only option is to charge through! Ciel parries the attacks from the front, making sure they can't land a hit to knock her back. The remaining eight swords all strike true, each damaging Ciel and taking about five percent of her aura each. However, this sacrifice of aura is well worth it, as it finally allows Ciel to get within striking range!

Ciel is now able to attack, and Penny's weaponry can't get between them in time to prevent an attack. There's no denying that Penny will take damage. In that case, the best protocol to follow is the same as Ciel just used: sacrifice some aura to deal a devastating blow. The twelve swords of Floating Array come flying from all around Ciel, ready to deliver retribution the moment the martial artist strikes.

Ciel notices the swords in the corner of her eyes and can estimate what Penny is planning. It is a good plan, but there is one weakness that Ciel observed: Penny got some strings that hold her down.

Instead of striking Penny Ciel reaches behind her partner, aiming to grabs the wires at the base of Floating Array's backpack. Six wires are held in each hand, gripped together in Ciel's fists. The swords that were once aimed at Ciel drop to the ground, as if their strings have been cut down. Actually… that's kind of what happened, as Ciel realized her plan worked:

Ciel is aware that her partner utilizes lightning dust to operate her weapon, as an overenthusiastic Ruby once explained to her. And since that means Penny's weapon is electricity-based, a simple physics class is enough to tell what would happen if you put the cables together: They short circuit.

Not only does this short circuiting mean that Penny can't use her weapon, the electricity also seeks to find a new path. As for what path it takes, there's the choice between a metal and a flesh body. It should be obvious that the former will take the brunt of the electricity. And considering the last time that Penny got electrified, this should be the most effective attack Ciel can use!

…

A second or two passes, but nothing happens. Ciel feels nothing, and neither does Penny. It's not what Ciel expected, not understanding why there's a lack of electricity surging through their bodies. Penny takes a second to understand her partner's confusion, but then does have an answer ready:

"I'm afraid that won't work, Ciel. Amongst the upgrades father and researcher Oxholm added three weeks ago is a proper grounding to prevent similar incidents."

In other words, Penny's immune to electricity now. Yeah, that completely screws over Ciel's plan.

No other choice then: With plan A failing, it's time to switch over to plan B. Plan A utilized Penny's lack of close-range options and the structure of her weapon. For plan B Ciel tries to utilize another weakness of Penny: She is an android. Ciel's usual approach of finding a weak spot through a logical approach won't work as a flesh mind cannot be more logical than a robotic one. In other words, she needs to utilize the opposite: Even if a thousand years pass, nothing will ever come close to mankind's sheer determination!

With reckless abandon Ciel headbutts her partner. Instead of a simple headbutt which gets its power from the movement between the cervical vertebrae, she moves her whole body like a whip to maximize the damage dealt to Penny. Forehead meets nose, as both fighters lose aura: Penny from getting headbutted, and Ciel from smacking her head against metal. It's a painful maneuver, but Ciel ignores it as she does it again and again.

Each hit damages Penny's aura more than it does Ciel's, which does not go unnoticed by android. In her datafiles she has thousands of combat protocols, but rather few of them do not involve her trusted weapon Floating Array. To be precise, the only techniques she can use now are those taught in Atlas Academy's martial arts class.

Penny grabs Ciel by the shoulder and collar, using her feet to unbalance Ciel so this battle can be settled with a hip throw. As Ciel is forced to keep holding onto the wires to prevent Penny from using Floating Array Ciel has no choice but get swept up by Penny.

Yet as Penny lifts her partner into the air Ciel can't help but let out a grin at seeing Penny do exactly what she expected. As someone who shared all those martial arts classes with Penny, there is no way that Ciel won't recognize any move used by her partner. Furthermore, while Ciel should not win a fight between the two of them, if it purely comes down to martial arts then there is no way Ciel will not come up superior!

As Ciel gets thrown to the ground she manages to twist her calves around Penny's neck. With a quick movement of her hips she manages to generate enough force to topple Penny as well, throwing the android flat on her back. Penny's hip throw was countered by Ciel's flying scissor legs takedown, and now it is Ciel who has the advantage:

Where Penny landed flat on her back Ciel managed to land on her behind, legs still twisted around her opponent's neck and hands grabbing the wires to Floating Array. While Penny won't take damage from strangulation Ciel now has the range for another attack: The basic punch. Fist after fist flies at Penny's face, each strike dropping bits of her aura. While Ciel's martial arts don't include simple punches like these, the martial arts classes taught her enough about the four basic punches of boxing. Straight punch after straight punch is launched, lacking any style or finesse but thrown with all the power Ciel can muster. It's the opposite of her usual logical style, but it's necessary against this opponent!

Penny recognizes the abysmal position she's in but can't give up here. Casually she stands up, her robotic strength completely negating the fact the Ciel still has her legs locked around the neck. Ciel is shocked by this sudden movement, opening her hands for a moment to keep herself seated around Penny's neck. Now with the cables free again Floating Array activates again, the swords all flung at the enemy seated on their owner's neck. Ciel doesn't notice the incoming blades, too busy and focused on her own strikes. Even now she keeps on landing punch after punch, making every point of aura she can remove from Penny count. If she's going down, she's going down doing as much as she can!

One punch later and Ciel gets bombarded with a dozen flying swords. They strike her with enough force to make Ciel fly off Penny. Yes, the match is over. Ciel knows it, simply because she felt her aura break from the last attack. After landing on her back several feet away from Penny she stays down, anger and frustration welling up inside her.

It was so close! She was this close to defeating the undefeated champion of Atlas! It is ridiculous how after all this effort and all her revelations she still didn't win!

The buzzer sounds for the third time, indicating that once more someone has been eliminated from the battle. Ciel already knows what time it is. With a grunt she sits up, ready to accept her fate and see the screen declare Penny and Weiss as the winners:

Winners: C. Soleil (SCRP) & R. Rose (SCRP)

Eh? Is Ciel reading that right? Why are they declared the winners? Ciel looks below the names, towards the aura levels of everyone. While not that interested in those of her own duo, zero and five percent respectively, it is Penny's level that sticks out:

Nineteen percent. Barely below the minimum, but enough to force someone out of combat. Ciel's last punch must've landed earlier than Penny's counterattack, meaning that Penny was the first to lose the match.

Yes… it fully dawns on Ciel: She won!

A hand gets extended to Ciel, which she accepts to help herself get back on her feet. Said hand came from Ruby, grinning as she declares the obvious: "We. Are. Victorious! Yeah! It's just like I told you, you're way better than you think you are. I knew you would be great to duo with!"

Yeah, it seems that Ruby is right. She shouldn't have doubted herself this much. After all, she did find her own strength-hang on, that's a rather weird way Ruby phrased that: "Knew?"

Ruby gulps, shiftily averting her eyes from Ciel. "Ehm, I mean, uh, after the team were decided of course! How could I know that before the match?"

Ciel lets out a small sigh at Ruby's nervous excuse. Scorpio's tactician, for all her smarts, is still a terrible liar. In fact, Ciel has an inkling about what Ruby is so nervous about.

With some unspoken words Ciel gets Penny to grasp Ruby's hand, preventing her from following Ciel to the room's data terminal. Yes, Ruby's plan begins to become clear to see: A method to ensure that they would be on the same side in this mock battle, so that Ciel would obtain the proper motivation to find her way. And best of all, it worked, as Ciel now knows of her value to the team.

Ciel picks up the four cards Ruby used to decide teams. As she flips all four cards she starts to smile softly, seeing exactly what she expected:

"Heh. Four reds."

"Ilia's in love with you?"

Yang and Vernal can't believe what their teammate is saying. Blake is now lying on her bed in confusion, unable to comprehend what she should do about this situation. What did just happen in those twenty minutes for this outcome to be realized? What kind of momentous development did they just miss?

Yang can think of one possibility: "Did Ilia confess to you? Because if she did…. Ugh." It just sounds wrong. Confessing to someone who's already taken is something you just don't do.

"N-No, she hasn't! It's, you see, I overheard her saying that to Jaune."

"She told Jaune?" That's strange too. Why would Ilia take Jaune on as a confidant? Jaune isn't the most trusted companion of Ilia, so why tell him of all people? There's only one reason Yang can think of that makes sense: "Are you sure she meant it? I mean, she could've just said that she's in love with you so Jaune would stop trying to pursue her." It is an uncommon but useful way to dissuade unwanted attractors without hurting their feelings, which Yang can attest to with her clubbing history.

Blake shakes her head, denying that possibility as well. "She meant it. I-no, I don't think she was faking anything."

The answer is still leaving many questions for the VY pair. Blake's story is full of holes, and Vernal is getting a headache from solving this story one question at a time. At this rate it will take them until tomorrow before it's clear what happened here. No, Vernal needs a different approach:

"Maybe you should start from the beginning, because this is going nowhere."

"That…" Blake says as she ponders the idea, "that would be best, yes." Blake gets up and sits with her back straight against the wall, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Yang and Vernal grab their desk chairs, taking seats as well to give this story their full attention. With everyone ready Blake begins to tell her story:

When Ilia dragged Jaune off towards who-knows-where Blake deemed it best to follow her friend. She knows from experience how Ilia has treated annoying humans, and Jaune's a nice enough guy who doesn't deserve to go through life toothless.

Blake finds the duo walking away, Ilia towards the library and Jaune behind her trying to get her attention. To make sure that nothing bad happens Blake follows them, keeping proper distance and staying out of sight so she won't be noticed. After a minute or two Ilia stops, having had enough. She turns around and slams her fist against the wall, looking a shocked Jaune straight in the eye.

"Jaune, this has to stop. This will stop."

"I'm sorry if I did something wrong," Jaune stammers out, "I just want to say that I like you and want to go on a date with y-hrmph?"

Before Jaune can continue Ilia stops him from speaking by putting her hand over his mouth. "None of that. No more tries, no more confessions, no more asking out." Ilia is done with this farce, so she gives her ultimate declaration: "You and me? It's not a thing. Not now, not ever. I hope that you can understand that but if I have to beat it in, I swear I will."

Ilia wants to settle this matter for good, which is something that Blake can understand. The last thing Blake would want is a spiteful and obsessed guy continuously causing problems for her because she refused to be his girlfriend. Jaune on the other hand doesn't take it as well, putting the blame on himself for everything:

"Sorry, Ilia. I shouldn't have done that. I understand why you would be done with someone as annoying as me." Dejectedly he walks away, apologizing once more for his stupid behavior. "I promise I won't do it again."

"N-No, that's not it." Ilia is uncomfortable with ending it on such a sour note. As much as she dislikes humans, Jaune is one of the very few that is genuinely nice to her and other faunus and, well, everyone. He is the last human who deserves to be in a depressive state because of Ilia's actions. "Look, Jaune. Not every girl is waiting for prince charming to swipe her off her feet. Some girls just have different tastes and interests, and you're not mine."

"Then who's that prince you're looking for?" Jaune asks sardonically, "The dark prince who acts rough to you, but deep inside he cares for you; The romantic prince who has scored dozens of women before, but finds out that he has a special connection to you; The cute prince who may act childish at times, but can be romantic when he wants to?"

Jaune seeks an answer, but Ilia only flashes a smirk at that question. "O Jaune, some girls don't seek a prince at all."

Jaune thinks about the meaning behind that answer for a second, before slapping himself on the forehead as he thinks he understands Ilia's response: "I just spend five days hitting on someone who is into girls, didn't I?"

"I…" That is some leap of logic that Jaune made. He's not wrong though, as Ilia admits: "Yes, yes you did."

From behind her corner Blake ponders about this newfound information about her best friend's sexuality. Blake doesn't really feel positive or negative about Ilia's orientation. She's mostly confused about it all, having never noticed it before. She's not the only one, as Jaune is just as unsure about what to say:

"Well, huh. I… I wasn't expecting you to be that, honestly."

Those words sound a little too unpleasant for Ilia to let it slide. While discrimination regarding sexual orientation is quite uncommon compared to the human-faunus racism, there are still a few people here and there who look down on same-sex love. And if Jaune is one of those, then Ilia sees no reason to not get angry at Jaune: "Do you have a problem with it?"

Jaune frantically defends himself, wanting to clear this misunderstanding: "Oh no, not at all! I mean, I've got two sisters who are just like you: Saphron has been living with her wife in Argus for the last few years, and Iris has gone through two girlfriends by now." At this moment Jaune is struck with an idea that is (in his eyes) genius: "Oh, Iris is single, only a year older and lives in Vale, so I could set up a date?"

"Heh." These bumbling yet honest and nice words sound a lot more like the Jaune he knows. "I appreciate the offer, but… there's someone else I have eyes for." As Ilia says that she looks away from Jaune, blushing slightly as her freckles turn pinkish.

"Oh, uhm, that's great for you! Is it someone I know?" Ilia doesn't answer, but her squeamish reaction is enough for Jaune to realize that's he's on the money. Jaune begins to think deeply, trying to find the answer to Ilia's love. Blake does the same as she realizes that Ilia's reclusiveness to whom she doesn't trust greatly limits the number of people Ilia can be in love with:

First there's the members of their team, Yang and Vernal. Then there are the girls of Juniper, Pyrrha and Nora, though Blake hopes it's not one of those two as they're head over heels for their partners. The only other people that Blake can imagine are Coco and Velvet from team Coffee. Therefore, going by Ilia's preferences…

…

Okay, is it bad if Blake doesn't know anything about her best friend's romantic interests? Heck, she just learned about Ilia's orientation. Blake feels a bit guilty over being such a bad friend.

"Ah, I see!" Jaune on the other hand does reach a conclusion based on his own experience: "That explains why you behaved just like Iris. Ilia, you're in love with Blake, aren't you?"

Wow, Blake would laugh at such a stupidity if it were not that incredibly stupid. Ilia in love with her? Impossible. Ilia is nothing more than her best friend, who understands and respects her relationship with Adam. No, there's no way that that can be tru-

"…Yes." Ilia silently mumbles out the truth, "But don't you dare tell anyone!"

Jaune probably had some reply, but Blake doesn't pay attention to it. She just learned that her best friend is in love with her. That is, that is… argh, there are no words to describe the discomfort and confusion that Blake is feeling right now. Her mind is swarming with conflicting emotions. Subconsciously she has fallen into her flight reflex, taking a few half-steps backwards to get as far away as possible from her two friends.

In her backwards retreat Blake doesn't notice the potted plant behind her, tripping over it as she topples the piece of decoration. A loud clattering noise fills the hallway, alerting Ilia and Jaune. That on its own would not be enough to prove that Blake was listening in, but her startled yelp from falling over certainly proves who has been listening in as Ilia calls Blake's name in worry.

Blake panics and does the thing she does best, running away back to her dorm.

"And then I got here." Blake finishes her story, leaving Yang and Vernal mulling over their thoughts.

What is there to say about this? It's not uncommon in huntsmen society for partners to become a couple. They are the person you spend the most time with here in the academy, and if there's a click then it might become something more. While Yang doesn't know if Ilia fell in love here at the academy or was already in love before she came here, there is still the fact that Blake is already taken. As much as Yang would like to support Ilia's love life, Ilia's heart hasn't chosen a good target.

Yang thinks and thinks, but only goes in circles around the answer. The dorm is missing the key component of this problem, so they can't go any further with creating a solution until Ilia has been obtained. Yang throws that idea into the group: "Anyway, I think we need to get Ilia back here. Whatever happened out there, we need to hear her side of the story as well."

"Yes." Blake says softly. "I want to hear her story too. She sounds worried."

It is a good point, but Vernal has a slight concern: "Oh, sure, let's hear her story. But I think you all are forgetting something: We have no idea where Ilia is!"

Yang can't deny that. With Ilia missing there is only one thing they can do, which Vibrant's leader sheepishly proposes: "So… search party?

Vernal doesn't see a better option, but still rolling her eyes for having to go through all this trouble again. She stands up and is ready to go after the missing teammate. Blake on the other hand stays seated, not in the mood to go searching.

This strikes Yang as odd. If anyone would be interested in Ilia's safety it would be her best friend and partner, Blake. But instead she just sits there, doing nothing. Sure, Blake is probably still trying to sort out her feelings from what she heard, but that doesn't make doing nothing okay.

"Blake, aren't you coming with us? I mean, Ilia is your partner after all, so shouldn't you care the most of us all?"

Blake quickly sets that misconception straight. It's not because Blake doesn't care about her best friend, but because it's simply futile: "Stealth is Ilia's specialty. We won't find her if she doesn't want us to."

Blake's nihilistic opinion strikes the wrong nerve in Yang, who disagrees with Blake on principle: "Then we just make her want to be found! Besides, she can't have gotten that far, right?"

Vernal snorts at that claim. "With her speed? Yeah, how about you try anywhere from here to Vale?"

That's unfortunately true, Ilia is one of the faster members of the team. Yang grabs the keys to Bumblebee alongside her scroll just in case Ilia is far away. "Let's just hope that Ilia didn't ditch her scroll." Who knew that the tracking app would come in handy this much? Perhaps they can catch up to Ilia and prevent her from doing anything stupid. Yang opens the door of their dorm, ready to search for-"Ilia?"

Standing in the hallway is Ilia, who was just about to open the door. She stammers out a "y-yes, thanks", before entering the room. The rest of Vibrant looks with surprise at their teammate, surprised to see Ilia here already.

"Well, that was easy." Vernal quips, falling backwards on her bed with her hands behind her head. "And here I was expecting we would need to stop you from fleeing on another chase through Vale."

Yang was kind of expecting, and hoping, for the same. While this resolution isn't as fun as a giant chase like back when they discovered Blake's identity as a faunus, it is a bit more time efficient. Yang can't be too disappointed.

Ilia is offended by Vernal's expectation: "Do I look like Blake to you?" She says sarcastically, before realizing what she just said about her partner. "Oh, uhm, no offense, Blake."

The cat faunus isn't really focused on that accusation. Instead she wants to get to the crux of the situation: "Ilia, what you said to Jaune… did you mean it?"

"I…" Ilia tries to find the words to perfectly explain this but is failing. Nothing she can say will make this situation right. The only thing that she can do is bluntly state the truth: "…yes."

"I see…" Blake doesn't have the words for this, her gaze downwards as she's unsure what to think. She was already shaken from what she heard, but this confirmation doesn't help.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to burden you with this, Blake." Ilia pleads to her partner, trying to apologize for Blake's shaken status. "But now that you know, we need to talk. I need to let my feelings out."

Blake sees her partner's worries, feeling bad because most of what happened here was through circumstance. "I-It's not your fault, Ilia! We can't change what happened. But you're right about one thing: We do need to talk."

This talk between the two faunus is clearly going to be something intimate. Yang can sense that as well, and she is not interested in intruding on something delicate like this. "So… should I grab Vernal and give you two some privacy?"

Ilia appreciates the offer, but declines. "No, you can stay. You two allowed us to listen in on your Branwen tribe spat. You deserve to know how this ends up as well." Blake agrees with her partner, seeing no reason to send the other half of Vibrant out of the room.

Yang nods, and with a shrug Vernal gets along with the plan as well. The latter sits up straight on her bed, while Yang grabs one of the chairs she and Vernal sat on while listening to Blake's story and puts it closer to Blake, while sitting down on the one she left standing.

It's clear to Ilia what Yang tries to do here. She sits down on the chair offered to her, looking her partner straight in the eye. Her freckles turn pink, preparing herself for confessing that which she had bottled up for years.

"Blake…"

Ilia takes a deep breath, and exhales. As she does so her skin completely turns white, while her hair, freckles and eyes turn a bright pink.

"Blake, I love you. Not just as a friend, though we are great friends. I love you, as simple as that. I long for you. I want you. You are everything I look for in another person. Whenever it was the three of us, Adam, you, and me, I was always jealous. Jealous of the way you looked at him. I wanted you to look at me that way."

"Ilia…"

"I planned to keep this to myself to the end. It broke my heart every time I spoke to you, but I did it because I want you to be happy. But now that you know, I will let it all out. Even if this hurts our friendship, even if we never speak again after today; Know that you have forever changed who I am, and you will always mean the world to me."

The dorm stays silent for a while, none of the members of vibrant talking. Yang and Vernal don't want to interrupt, Ilia is awaiting Blake's answer, and Blake is searching for the perfect words to gently let Ilia down but failing to find them. After a third of a minute Ilia has had enough of silence, and asks her partner to just say what's on her mind:

"Don't worry: The look on your face has already told me enough. I can handle the shoot-down."

Those are just the words Blake needs. After a deep sigh Blake gives her response to the confession: "Look, Ilia, you're a really good friend, and I've always admired your conviction to stand for what is right. But you know just as well as me that I'm dating Adam now."

"I know."

"And even if I would break up with him; Even when I'm completely done with guys, I still wouldn't suddenly be into girls."

"I know." Ilia says as her skin turns from loving pink to sorrowful green, her hair and eyes turning blue. "What I want is impossible. I've always known that. We can't always get what we want."

"Ilia…" Blake turns sad too, her empathy letting her feel the anguish of her best friend as well. Both are in a constant state of sadness, not helped by both having feelings of guilt upon seeing their partner's sad face.

Someone needs to stop this cycle of endless sadness, and who is better suited for that job than the little sun dragon herself. In a swift motion she walks up and swings her arm around Ilia, shocking the chameleon faunus. "Looks like you got rejected, Ilia, and now you're feeling broken up by it."

"Y-Yang, I…"

"Don't worry," Yang says without losing her trademark smile, "these things happen. There's plenty of chicks out there who would love to have you. We can go always go hunting in one of the upcoming weekends, but how about we go watch some bad Eddie Smurfy flick tonight? I'll bring chocolate and peanut butter!"

The attempt to cheer up Ilia couldn't be more obvious. It isn't ineffective though, as Ilia does appreciate the support. Her skin and hair turn back to its normal tan complexion, though her freckles are still colored tear blue. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Ilia can use some distraction right about now. Then again, not everything Yang offers is equally welcome: "But I don't think I'm going out to any of those clubs anytime soon. Even if I did, I don't think I should bring you three with me."

"Why not?" A brave team leader doesn't let those under her care take such a precarious journey alone. If she's gonna try to get herself a lover, then she is best off with a wingman. And besides, Yang is always up for some fun! "I think I can enjoy myself there too."

"Ehm, Yang?" Ilia's freckles turn back to normal; her sorrow is being replaced with confusion. "You are aware what kind of people visit those places?"

Yang doesn't need to say anything to convey her determination to visit. "Yep. So…" Yang says, drawing out the o's, "…I don't see the problem."

"It means that there's no straight guys for you to hit on, you dingus." Vernal says with annoyance. Seriously, even if Yang's isn't the most intellectually gifted, she should be able to understand what kind of people would visit a gay club, right?

"What?" Yang says, acting like she's offended by her partner's point. "Are you saying I'm not the type who can hit on girls?"

"Yes." Ilia says in almost deadpan, disbelieving what Yang said. The rest of the team looks at Yang with their own doubt. They've spent months around their leader, and from what they've seen she is as straight as an arrow. From the boy band posters to her lecherous ogling at the pretty boys, nothing indicates her to be anything other than a boy-loving girl.

Yang doesn't deny these accusing looks, shrugging as she explains it a bit more clearly: "Why can't I like both? Handsome guys, handsome girls; I guess it's as the saying goes, I'm the type that blasts up both trees." The rest of the team does get what Yang is saying, though Vernal winces at that terrible malapropism.

The rest of the team doesn't disbelieve their leader, though it still sounds strange. Especially Ilia is sceptic, having never seen Yang act like that towards the girls. She would like to know a bit more of Yang's story: "Why did you keep it hidden?"

"I didn't mean to keep it a secret, you know. It just never came up." Yang doesn't mind admitting her own orientation. It's not like Remnant cares much about same-sex couples other than their inability to create members of a new generation. If letting this tidbit of her life get known to her team is the price to pay for letting the faunus' thoughts wander away from the rejected confession, then it's a price Yang is willing to pay in a heartbeat. "And besides, it's not like I've only ogled the guys. I can appreciate your booty just as much as that of Fox, Blake."

At hearing that Blake's cheeks turn a few shades redder, bursting out a "Yang!" in embarrassment.

Blake's outburst doesn't unnerve Yang, who turns to the other team member interested in girls. She bends low to get face-to-face with Ilia, making sure that the chameleon gets a decent view of Yang's cleavage. The blonde waggles her eyebrows, giving her target a sultry look.

Ilia recognizes what her team leader is trying to do, but remains unimpressed: "Yeah, you are seriously not my type."

Yang lets out a small laugh at being rejected. To be fair, she wasn't seriously trying to hit on Ilia either. The chameleon faunus is more of a cute type of girl, someone Yang acts as a big sister to. Dating Ilia is as absurd for Yang as dating Ruby would be.

Then again, that's not to say that she can't milk this moment for all it's worth: "Come now," Yang says tauntingly, posing to make herself look even prettier. "what does Blake have that I don't? I mean, have you seen me? I'm me!"

"Discounting your personality and just looking at the body? Well…" That last word is spoken at a severely decreased decibel. Her freckles turn pink from embarrassment as she admits her own thoughts on Blake's appearance: "It's as you said: She does have a better ass than you."

"Eh, I suppose." Yang tries very hard to suppress her smile from that embarrassing revelation. Ilia is finally out of her sorrowful state, so it wouldn't do to laugh here. There's no need to make her feel like people are making fun of her decisions, causing Ilia sadness again. But just in case Yang does smile, let's up the fun in this situation: "But hey, who doesn't want some of that bellabooty?"

Blake lets out an anguished whimper as she buries her head in her hands, her face as red as a beetroot. Yang on the other hand is not done with her own question, turning to the last member of Vibrant who hasn't really joined the discussion thus far.

When Vernal realizes that the question is meant for her, she answers without thinking. "Eh, I'll pass." This is a no-brainer for Vernal, despite not being romantically interested in Blake to begin with. "She may capable, but she runs away too much."

"One. Time!" Blake almost hisses out. First the comments about her behind, and now this. Though Blake doesn't enjoy the taste of alcohol she might need a drink to forget this horrible evening. "Why do you keep bringing that up?!"

Vernal does have a reason to bring it up. After all, Blake's trademark specialty is why Vernal holds disdain for the faunus: "Back at the tribe those who ran away were essentially-" As Vernal says this she quickly holds her tongue. While she can hurl a hurtful accusation at Blake for running away, which would be an enjoyable tease, the harm it would do to the team outweighs her own pleasure. Her priorities haven't changed, with the team's interest going before her own. "-no, never mind."

With Vernal leaving it on such a somber note it's up to the leader to bring the humor back into the group: "But look on the bright side:" Yang says with her trademark shit-eating grin. "If she runs away again you do get a good view of her ass."

"I suppose that is true." While Vernal doesn't care about females like that at all, let alone their specific body parts, agreeing here does annoy Blake to no end. While an annoyed Blake isn't as enjoyable as an annoyed Yang, it's still great entertainment for Vibrant's gadfly. "Still, it's not enough for me."

Blake groans, her voice filled with annoyance. This horrible dialogue has gone on for long enough. "Can we please stop talking about this?"

"I agree." Ilia says with a small smile, "This is getting rather ass-inine, if you know what I mean." Ilia puts her hand in position for a low five and receives it from a grinning team leader. Now it is Vernal's turn to groan at that horrible pun:

"Oh no, they're multiplying."

Ilia lets out a laugh at Vernal's annoyance. Her freckles are as orange as an, well, orange, which is a good sign. If Yang's theory of colors and emotions is correct, then Ilia is genuinely happy right now. The worst possibility of breakups, a major depression for the rejected, seems to be averted for now. While Yang is certain that things between Vibrant will be awkward for a few weeks, time is the healer of all wounds. Eventually the team will be back to normal, that is certain.

Yang leaves the dorm, claiming to get the snacks for the movie ready. While it's true that Yang is going to gather the snacks, there's still one of the recent love problems that needs to be resolved:

It's true that everything within Vibrant is solved for the time being. However, there is still someone out there who might need Yang's help. Jaune did come to her for advice, after all, and it wouldn't do if Yang were not to help resolve these final parts of Jaune's love story. After a few minutes of searching Yang finds her fellow team leader in a desolate part of the academy, close to the library. He's sitting on a bench, head down in his hands as he is wallowing in self-pity:

"I'm an idiot."

Jaune has been mumbling out these three words multiple times in the last thirty minutes or so, unable to come to any other conclusion about himself. Yang does agree with that, at least partially. Then again, he's a bit too down about it:

"Eh, don't beat yourself up about it, Jaune. We all make mistakes."

"Oh." Realizing that he's not alone anymore he turns to his fellow team leader, his voice still filled with sorrow: "Hey, Yang."

Yang takes the spot next to him, casually leaning against the backrest and throwing her head back. "Heard that it didn't go well between you and Ilia."

"You can say that again." Jaune says with a misery-filled chuckle. "I've made five attempts to ask out a girl, only to find out that she isn't even into guys. I feel like such an idiot."

"To be fair, I didn't know that she was into girls either. Honestly, I don't think anyone knew but herself."

It's not a good argument for Jaune, as he continues to wallow in self-pity: "But that doesn't deny that I kept harassing someone who literally would never be romantically interested in me."

"Well, it could've been worse." All Yang gets from her fellow leader is a curiously raised eyebrow. Worse is a subjective matter, and Jaune doesn't see what could be worse than he did. Yang also has bit of trouble coming up with something, scratching the back of her head with a bit of embarrassment: "Ehm, you could've asked someone out who is already taken."

"Nah." Jaune shakes his head, explaining to his fellow team leader why he can't agree with that one: "If it was just someone who was already taken, I would get an angry glare from the boyfriend and I could leave, no harm done. But this… Yang, have you seen what kind of overdramatic displays I put on for Ilia?"

Yeah, that's right. Yang has seen all five confessions, and now she's trying to find some way to compliment them: "They were… unexpected?"

Yeah, such faint praise isn't helping at all. Jaune lets out a groan, his believe in his own failure enforced.

"U-Uhm," Yang backtracks, realizing that he answer did not sit well with Jaune. "I mean to say that you did some unexpected things. I mean, how did you get Cardinal to help you with your confession? Who expected that?"

"Actually, that was pretty simple." Jaune admits, forgetting about his sorrows for a moment. "I've been getting along decently with Cardinal in a not-bullying sort of way. Turns out to fighting angry blonde monsters in Forever Fall together is the perfect way to bond."

Oh, are we laying on the snark, Jaune? Yang lets out a snort, before setting the record straight: "I think you mean getting your ass kicked by an angry blond monster in forever fall. Right, Jaune?"

Jaune rolls his eyes at Yang's description but doesn't deny it. "What I mean to say is, we're not enemies anymore. And, well, we had overlapping goals: I wanted a musical confession, they wanted to see if they can work together as a band; It's like it was made for each other."

"And that's why we got that Vacuan sombrero dance and that rock music you loved so loud?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Jaune shouts out, a small moment of happiness as Yang seems to understand him. "Cardinal's new band 'Four Direction' was just what I needed at that moment. I just don't understand why they didn't want to wear any SMOOCH masks."

Nobody wants to wear those SMOOCH masks, Jaune. If you ever find someone who likes those masks, marry her as soon as possible. Then again, that's probably impossible.

"But yeah," Jaune continues. "If it wasn't for Cardinal I would've tried my dancing earlier."

"Maybe you should've done that." Yang says with a laugh. "I mean, you seriously danced well. Compared to you my nightclub dancing is pretty much terrible."

"Why thank you." Jaune says with a bit of smugness. "But when you've got seven sisters learning to dance comes naturally. Besides, we have Ren on our team. Juniper has its weekly dance training under him, and he was the one who helped me choreograph this dance."

"Dance training?" Yang says in slight surprise. Honestly, it would explain why there's always music coming from Juniper's dorm every Thursday evening. "Is that to improve your agility and flexibility for in combat?"

"Y-Yes, exactly!" And most definitely not so that they could show off some sick moves at any upcoming parties to show off how awesome and in sync their team is. Not that one, that's for sure! "A-Anyways, the point I'm making is that I tried too hard, and the girl I thought I would like doesn't want to go out with me. Simple as that."

"Oh please." Yang can't believe that. "You're going to let one defeat get to you? Are you forgetting what you already have?"

"Eh?" Jaune doesn't understand what Yang is talking about. He requires an explanation, which Yang is more than willing to provide:

"What, don't you realize all the help you've gotten? There's Ren, team Cardinal and heck, I guess that since professor Port probably helped you out with the confession of Tuesday, he also cares about you enough to help you. And there's the rest of Vibrant and Juniper who care for you too! Sure, you may have been a bit too extreme with your confessions, but it's not that bad. Rejections happen all the time, and you've got some good friends to help you through it. Cheer up and forget about dating Ilia, there's always going to be another chance!"

"I…" Jaune sighs, giving Yang a wry smile. "I suppose." He doesn't fully agree that his confessions weren't stupid, or whether he should try to date someone else, but at least Yang is right. There's no need to dwell in defeat, especially when his team needs their leader. "Thanks, Yang."

"You're welcome, Jaune. And look on the bright side, Ilia's not the only girl here in Beacon that fits your type." Yang exclaims with a grin. There's plenty of fish in the sea, and there's one fish just waiting to be caught by Jaune.

"Eh?" Jaune doesn't get it. There's another girl? What is Yang talking about? What kind of plot is she trying to get Jaune to walk into this time?

Yang notices Jaune's confusion, and with a sigh starts to drop some hints. "Come now, Jaune: Isn't there someone else you know with hair always in a ponytail? Perhaps someone you know well, even on the same team?"

"Yang," Jaune says in a deadpan voice, "I know you're trying to help me, and I appreciate it, really. However, I'm not into guys even if they put it in ponytails like Ren."

"Ungh…" Yang lets out a groan from sheer annoyance. He really is oblivious, isn't he? It seems like the only way for Jaune to take the hint is if he gets told the truth as straight as possible: "It's Pyrrha, Jaune. You know, your partner?"

"Oh." Jaune reacts in surprise. Yeah, that makes way more sense than the combination which he had dubbed 'Martial Arcs'. Surprise quickly make way for rejection, as Jaune refuses his fellow team leader's idea: "But no, it can't be Pyrrha! I cannot be the one to date her!"

"Why not?" Really, what about Pyrrha does Jaune dislike? She might be too tall for some guys, but she is his type. Yang sees nothing wrong with Jaune at least giving Pyrrha a try. He on the other hand vehemently disagrees:

"Yang, we're talking about Pyrrha Nikos! The Pyrrha Nikos! She doesn't get frostbite, she bites frost! She can kill two stones with one bird! She can strangle you with a cordless scroll!" It all sounds greatly exaggerated to Yang, but Jaune isn't finished with his praise. His tone becomes more serious, as he gives his biggest tribute to her: "And most importantly, she's my friend. The best friend I've ever had in my whole life."

"Jaune?" Yang would like to interrupt here, but Jaune continues explaining:

"Pyrrha is kind, polite, generous, friendly; She is the best person I've ever met. I don't think I've ever met someone who is as amazing as she is. She deserves that as well, to meet someone that Pyrrha can look up to as well."

"Hey, eh, Jaune…?" There is nothing wrong with Jaune's wishes. However, that is not what Yang cares about. There's something going on that might make Jaune want to shut up.

Jaune doesn't notice, and just continues talking: "Perhaps when I get better… When I get stronger, a worthy leader of Juniper; Then I might go for her. But that will take a long while, and I'm not going to sabotage her love life just to keep her single."

"Ugh, Jaune…" While Yang can understand where Jaune is coming from, but she would like if he paid a bit more attention to her, more specifically the finger that points to something behind him.

Jaune doesn't notice Yang's intent and is only slightly annoyed by the attempted interruption. In response he interrupts right back: "Yang, Pyrrha can do better, no, deserves better than me. I'm honestly grateful that she's willing to be my partner, and my friend… so I'm going to make sure that she ends up with someone she deserves. I'll make sure she gets her happy ever after before she can say-"

"Hello again!" Behind Jaune stands Pyrrha, giving the two team leaders a small wave. Her face as calm and serene as usual, a small smile adorning it.

Jaune looks behind him, frustrated that he's been interrupted for the umpteenth time: Slightly annoyed he calls Pyrrha out on this: "Not now, Pyrrha, we're busy talking about you. Now, as I said, Pyrrha is-wait, Pyrrha?" Realization dawns on Jaune, turning to his partner who is behind him. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Well," Pyrrha replies kindly as she recalls her memories, "I did once have to strangle someone with a cordless scroll." It was one of the weirder moments during her third Mistral regional tournament, when a pair of competitors tried to injure her backstage when she was unarmed. It's a good thing that her knocking out those two guys was ruled as self-defense, or else Pyrrha wouldn't have been able to win her third tournament.

Of course, if Pyrrha heard Jaune talking about that tidbit then she must've also heard about everything else that followed. All the praise Jaune heaped on Pyrrha, his wish to help Pyrrha, his heartfelt confession has been laid bare to the one person who should not have heard it. Of all the things that could've happened, this is the last thing Jaune wanted to happen!

"So… about what I said…" The embarrassment is visible on Jaune, who is red as a beet and shyly looking away from his partner. What can he say to make up what he just said? Stutters and futile grasps come from his mouth, but it's not helping to form a coherent excuse. No, without the ability to cover this up Jaune can only await some sort of rejection from Pyrrha.

Indeed, the legend of Mistral is unsure what exactly she should say: "Jaune, I… am flattered that you think of me like that, but, well…"

Neither of them knows what to say here, the hallway filling with an awkward silence. Yang almost rolls her eyes at how unprogressive this situation is: One girl who wants to hear the words of love, and a boy who is too dense to understand what he needs to do. If that's the case, then perhaps it's up to Vibrant's leader to bring Juniper its turnabout!

A pair of arms swings around the two partners, courtesy of Yang. Both Jaune and Pyrrha are shocked, getting a small chill from the sudden move. It may be discomforting for the duo, but that's nothing with what's at stake here. If there's something Yang learned from today, then it's that letting these pent-up romantic feelings fester is a bad idea. No, the Beacon love story that is plain to see for everyone but the lovers themselves needs to be brought into the light today!

"Now, now, Pyrrha, don't be so confused about this. Jaune is just offering to help you get a boyfriend."

"Eh?" This talk has turned into a rare encounter, as the two blondes are witness to the rare, no, mythically rare moment where Pyrrha is embarrassed. "N-No, I don't-I mean, I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."

Sorry Pyrrha, but that excuse doesn't hold water at all. "Oh please, everyone can see it." Well, not exactly everyone, just those close to Pyrrha like Ren, Nora and team Vibrant. It might as well be called everyone but Jaune. "You've got your eye for a certain special boy."

"No, I-"

"In fact, I have it on good authority that his latest attempt to date ended in a fiasco, and he's now single and ready to mingle."

"R-Really?" Pyrrha's bewilderment isn't helping her own claim. Why would someone uninterested in love be so interested in the love life of another? It's not like you're some gossip queen, Pyrrha!

But perhaps it might be good to share some gossip here. Yang takes her arm off the two members of Juniper, whispering the results of Jaune and Ilia's debacle in Pyrrha's ear. Some parts that Ilia needs to tell herself, like her orientation, are left out as it's better for the faunus to tell that to them when she feels like it. What remains, however, is enough to make Pyrrha's smile two sizes larger.

Yes, Pyrrha realizes her chance is here, but she still has doubts: "Would he really be interested?"

"Well, duh." Jaune says like it is obvious, not realizing the ladies are talking about him. "I don't think there's a bachelor in the world who would reject Pyrrha's advances."

"Well, you heard it from your partner," Yang adds to this surprisingly perfect argument from the fellow in yellow, not knowing what else to add here. "Just give it your best shot!"

"I… yes." Pyrrha can't hide the truth any longer, as there is someone she loves and she should confess to. "Maybe I should confess my feelings to him."

Jaune looks sad for a moment, before forcing himself to smile. Both girls catch it, which means that there is hope left for the redhead. "Oh, uhm, I'm so glad for you! Just tell me who it is Pyrrha, and I'll do whatever I can to help you no matter who they are!"

"Anyone? Pyrrha says with a rather foxy smile. Perhaps she realized that her chance of success is rising through the roof, allowing herself to feel more confident in herself.

"Anyone. Even if it's someone from Cardinal!" As Jaune says that a weird taste of disgust fills his mouth, looking sour at the idea. "Please don't tell me it's anybody from Cardinal."

"No Jaune," Pyrrha says with a chuckle, "It isn't someone from Cardinal."

"Then tell me, who is the lucky man who stole your heart?"

This is it. This is the moment! Yang looks with excitement at Pyrrha, staying quite to leave this act to the two partners from Juniper:

"Jaune, the lucky man who stole my heart… is you."

"Yu? You mean you like that grey-haired leader of one of that third-year team?" Jaune's logic is once more completely roundabout. He's unable to believe in the most common explanation for what Pyrrha is saying.

"No, I'm not talking about the leader of team Icy." Besides, half the school knows that the leader of YYCY is in a relation with one of the other Y's of his team. There's no reason to go after someone who's taken. "I'm talking about you, Jaune. Y-o-u."

To emphasize her words Pyrrha pokes Jaune's chest with each letter of you, making it clear where her attraction lies.

It an impossibility to believe for Jaune. He is just an ordinary dork, a dime in a dozen huntsman in training who isn't even that great at fighting. And now his partner, the legendary four-time champion of Mistral, claims to be in love with him? What is there to say to that? It's beyond Jaune's wildest dreams, except that this isn't a dream. With his mind in complete shock and disbelief, Jaune can only utter out a few words:

"…why… why me?"

"Oh Jaune…" Pyrrha says with a small smile. "It's because you're a nice person who is willing to help others. It's because despite your clumsiness I've never seen someone as determined to better themselves. It's because you even treat someone like me equally, despite my name."

"Your name?" Confusion fills Jaune's head. Sure, Pyrrha Nikos is synonymous to legendary combatant, but what does that have to do with this situation?

The confusion in his partner's eyes is enough for Pyrrha to explain further: "I've always been an elite, ever since I was little. I came out on top at everything I did, and people loved me for it. That was enough to make me happy. But, in time, a distance grew between me and them. By the time I realized it, there was nobody by my side anymore. Everyone assumes I'm too good for them, on a level they can't attain."

Jaune raises his hand to interrupt, wanting to disagree, but can't find the words to counter Pyrrha's feelings. Silently he lowers his hand, as Pyrrha continues explaining:

"Everyone except you, Jaune. At first, I thought that you were trying to take advantage of my name as well. But I quickly realized that you didn't even know who I was. Even so, you didn't hesitate to call me 'partner'. You truly wanted me to be your friend. Thanks to you I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I even got a partner out of it who is better than I could've ever imagined."

"Do you… do you really think that of me?"

Pyrrha lets out a sigh, slightly disappointed but mostly understand of Jaune's self-doubt. "Jaune, you see me as just me. Why can't I feel the same way towards you?"

It stays silent for a few moments. In this silence Jaune tries to comprehend everything that just happened. Those words that just flowed, that confession… they are Pyrrha's true feelings. Nothing is hidden behind her politeness or her friendliness. It is still unbelievable that someone would be this lyrical about such a meagre combatant like Jaune himself. But if that is what Pyrrha feels that it won't do for Jaune not to respond in kind:

Juniper's leader inhales deeply, then exhales deeply. He has heard Pyrrha's confessions, and now understands what he must do. Both for the sake of his family line and his pride as a man, there's only one thing Jaune can do before Pyrrha pull the same on him: "Pyrrha, I… I like you too. I put your happiness above my own. And if you believe you are happiest with me by your side, then I will be besides you for however long you want. Pyrrha, let me ask you this: do you want to go out with me, as boyfriend and girlfriend?"

The answer is obvious. With genuine joy this overpowers Pyrrha's natural calm nature she gives her response: "Jaune, I would love to!" As she says that she hugs Jaune, her emotions overwhelming as this is her dream come true.

Yang watches this all unfold from the sidelines. It's official: Jaune and Pyrrha are now a thing. To think that this obvious couple finally became official, it's like a million voices cry out in joy and are suddenly cheering. Where one possible couple withered today, another blossomed. In Yang's opinion today is going to end as a net positive.

Though today could be made better. This romantic scene is just missing one thing, and Yang is going to make sure it happens: "And I hereby declare you boyfriend and girlfriend." Yang says with a small grin, combining the happiness felt for the couple with that felt for her own plan: "You may kiss the bride."

Yang grins at her own joke, which Jaune feels is a bit inappropriate: "Yang, that's not funn-hmph?" before Jaune can finish his words two soft lips press against his own, courtesy of Pyrrha Nikos. He is surprised by his girlfriend's sudden action, but quickly presses just as tightly against hers. Satisfied with the situation Yang walks away. Beacon's newest couple deserves some time for themselves.

As she goes back to the dorm Yang can't help but think of today's events. It has been a tumultuous day for many: Some confessions got accepted, others rejected, and some relations will be a bit different for the upcoming time. But in the end, Yang is certain that it will mostly end up better than it was before. Now Yang just needs to obtain the snacks she promised to buy, and then all will be ready for tonight's cheesy movie night!

Well, this chapter ended up being twice as lengthy as I expected it would originally be. I guess that's why it took so long before it was finished. However, I think I need to explain a few things about shipping here in this story:

First, canon Remnant would probably be a lot more acceptant of LGBT+ people than our Earth. On Remnant there are no known gender roles and restrictions (As seen with the gender equality of the huntsmen), and it doesn't have any historic events that would make people anti-LGBT+. Even if you want to discriminate for some good old "us vs. them" mentality, you always have the faunus.

Flowing from my first to my second point: While Remnant is acceptant of LGBT+ people, most people aren't LGBT+, for obvious reasons. As for the main quartet, well, based on the canon sources (The Animation, The Session, After the Fall, Before the Dawn, Grimm Eclipse) and the "canon 'til it's not" sources (RWBY 2015, Official Manga Anthology, The Official Manga, DC Comics RWBY), they're all into boys. The only one who are possibly bi are Yang and Ruby, going by the "canon 'til it's not" sources.

For those of you who were hoping for Bumblebee, Catameleon and/or Whiterose, I'm sorry to say that neither combination really fits in this story. I hope you will still be able to enjoy this story despite that setback.

Now then, let's update our Archive before going to the questions:

-Increase the number of RWBY Chibi references from 21 to 23
-Iris Arc: Iris, Grecian goddess of the rainbow
-Eddie Smurfy: Eddie Murphy
-Team YYCY (Icy): The investigation team (Persona 4)

ssjSega: Is there a Remnant version of Blazblue and Persona 4?
The answer is Yes and No, respectively (With an additional caveat that the in-game expies for Iron Tager and Kokonoe Mercury are different people from Tiger Iron and Professor Katt-Grumm). To explain why, we need to look at heroes and protagonists. If it's a non-comedic action work, heroes will usually be better than normal humans. Even protagonists from mostly supernatural-free series are generally badass and in peak physical condition (Kazuma Kiryu, B.J. Blazkowicz, Nathan Drake). To be precise, you don't want to play as someone who is as bad or worse off than you. The same would be true for Remnant's inhabitants. UNIEL is realistic from the RWBYverse perspective (replace EXS and Manifestation with Aura and Semblance respectively and you can implement them in the RWBYverse) and Blazblue is supernatural even from Remnant's perspective. Persona however need to be completely revamped to include things like aura and semblances, as characters like Yu and Yosuke would not be considered proper heroes for a combat game. It's as if our Street Fighter would only have ordinary people without combat training as player characters. Also, Persona is heavily myth-based, and I doubt that Remnant has an equally diverse mythology to create enough personas for use in a game.

Firestar 001: Shouldn't team VYBA have a name that starts with the Y, as Yang's the team leader?
There's an in- and out-of-universe explanation for both:
-The In-universe explanation is that while first letter leaders are common, it's not a universal rule. This is seen in canon with the members of RWBY and JNPR being surprised by whom the team leader is despite the order of the names already being known.
-The Out-of-universe explanation is that I have no good team name for the VYBA quartet that starts with a Y, and honestly YVBA with a silent Y doesn't sound as good.

W8W: Isn't Adam based off Gaston as well as Adam?
As for Adam, I agree that he's a mix between the Beast, Gaston and the cursed Rose. In fact, I planned to have Ilia make a few references to Gaston in chapter 2-2, though I removed them because they didn't fit in well. However, according to official lore Adam's relation to Blake is that of "The Reverse Beast", who becomes a monster beyond Beauty's help and becoming a burden for her. Hence why I just called him a reverse beast in 2-4. But if we wanted more allusions of Adam as Gaston, you're free to sing along:

No one's slick as Adam,
Nor as quick as Adam,
No one's quite as incredibly thick as Adam.
For there's no man in Vale who got your back,
Isn't he perfect, madam?
You can ask any Fennec or Corsac,
And they'll tell you whose plans will make them all go "damn"-I mean, "darn"!

Who brings harm like Adam?
Slices arms like Adam?
Who got hit by a bike and disarmed like Adam?
As a bad boyfriend, yes, he's intimidating.
My, what a guy that Adam!