A/N: Part five of five!

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FALL SEMESTER OF YEAR 2 BEACON ACADEMY (VOLUME 1 OF RWBY CANON; YEAR 1 FOR TEAM RWBY)

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It was a rare, quiet afternoon in team HRLD's dorm room, which Holly and Lumi took full advantage of. The taller girl had missed a few days last week due to being sick and was taking the time to catch up on notes while Lumi lounged on her bed, Scroll in hand. Diane and Regis were elsewhere, either glitter bombing random students or breaking hearts, respectively.

The silence was comfortable between the two saner members of team HRLD, and as Lumi let her thoughts wander she remembered that Beacon was holding a dance for the Vytal Festival.

"What are you wearing to the dance?" She asked as she scrolled down the page of fabrics. Chiffon, tulle, satin, sateen, jacquard… Oh, that was a nice shade of blue...

"What dance?" Holly raised her head from the small nest of books and notes to look at her teammate.

"For the Vytal Festival," she responded off-handedly.

"We're having a dance for that?" she frowned. "I don't remember hearing about it… Did they announce it in class last week when I was sick?"

"No, but I know I heard about a dance from somewhere," she opened up a new tab and went to the school's homepage. A quick search revealed nothing about a dance, though there was plenty about the fact that Beacon was hosting the 40th Vytal Festival and associated tournament.

"Do you remember where you heard it, maybe?" Holly copied over another line of notes.

"I think from Oobleck?" she got up and grabbed her history binder. Her memory was a little fuzzy on details, but his green hair stuck out in her mind for some reason. "I'll go to his office hours and ask." Her syllabus was the first thing she saw when she opened it, and luckily for her, his office hours started in fifteen-ish minutes.

"Well, do you know any of the older students?" she offered and highlighted a few key phrases. "They might know if that's what usually happens. It would save you the trip."

"Maybe, but the last time Beacon hosted the festival was like, 8 years ago or something," she slipped on a pair of shoes. "I'll be back in a minute- make sure Reg doesn't try to take my notes."

"Okay," she waved bye then buried her nose back into her pile.

It was a nice day out, so Lumi walked to the history professor's office instead of using her Semblance. She saw team RWBY on the way there, and almost stopped to say hi but noticed the obvious tension in the group and decided to side-step the whole mess. It took a while for new teams to settle, but half of their team was related so she didn't think they'd take as long to find their groove.

Prof- DOCTOR Oobleck was happy to see her standing outside his office when he arrived, and ushered her in. He offered her a cup of coffee, but she knew very well that he probably didn't have any clean mugs at this time of day and there was no way she was going to wash one when she'd only be around for five minutes.

"No thank you, Doctor Oobleck," she sat down across from him.

"Doct- Ah, yes well, more for me," he said and topped off his mug. "Now, what is it that I can help you with, Lumi?"

"I remember hearing that there was going to be a dance for the Vytal Festival, but I wasn't sure if I actually heard that or I'm just misremembering something else. Would you happen to know?"

"We are having a dance but it's next semester," he confirmed with a nod. "Professor Ozpin has a meeting scheduled to discuss that on Friday, in fact!" He took a sip. "Now, was there anything else?"

"Well, that was the only school related question I had. But now that I'm here…" she trailed off with a conspiratory gleam in her eye.

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Yes?"

"Would you like a loaf of honey bread? I baked a little too much when I went home and now my freezer is overflowing." She admitted and tucked a too-long bang behind her ear. "Or maybe some banana nut muffins? I know they're your favorite."

He laughed and the motion made his chair spin in place. "That would be lovely! Though I must remind you that this won't earn you any extra credit."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she responded with a small smile. "I'll bring them by your office hours tomorrow then?"

"Very well," he waved her off. "Have a nice day, Lumi and don't forget that the Mountain Glenn Expansion packet is due tomorrow!"

She nodded and walked back to her dorm. It was nice to be on good terms with her history professor, even if History wasn't her best subject. Diane was sitting on her bed when Lumi got back, rambling about a spar she had with Jules from team JELY wherein she "totally kicked ass."

Lumi waited for a lull in the conversation to fill Holly in on what she'd found out. The deer Faunus was excited to hear about the dance, mostly because it was a school event and therefore it was way less likely to end in the police being called- unlike some of the other parties they'd been to.

Diane laughed boisterously and promised that Jules' party (yes, the same Jules she'd just sparred against) wouldn't end up like the last one they went to.

Holly and Lumi shared a look of mutual misery and silently promised the other that they'd book it at the first sign of trouble.

-[-]-

Four o' clock on a Friday found Qrow tucked into the crook of his heavily worn couch surrounded by a small mountain of take-out while a marathon of house renovation shows blared from the only sometimes glitchy TV. Ever since the clusterfuck of a situation over the summer, Oz had been running him ragged with missions and they had diddly squat to show for it aside from a more complete picture of what Amber had been doing before she hit the road. They still didn't know why the now-comatose Fall Maiden had been attacked (aside from the obvious) or who the attackers had been, or why she'd been singled out (or even if she was).

His head lolled back onto the faded leather back as he sighed and his Scroll chimed to let him know he had two- three new messages. He sat up and rifled through the messy coffee table to find it. The screen lit up at his touch and his notifications told him that he had six missed calls and fourteen emails on top of the three- four- new texts. A quick peek at the call log revealed that he hadn't missed anyone important, though the texts were from his favorite former student, surprisingly.

Lumi: heyyy branwen quick q if ur free
L: how close would u say u & the headmaster are?
L: b/c i rhink im trouble?
L: *think

Weird. Had Oz somehow found out about the time they'd broken into his office, stolen his spare outfit, and hemmed it half an inch too short? Although, why he'd want to talk to Lumi about that when weeks had passed was anyone's guess.

Qrow: ur team blow up smth they werent supposed to?
L: no not this time
L: im the only one who got called in for a "meeting" ;-;
Q: sux
Q: ill ask

He hit the mute button for the TV and pulled up Oz's number. It rang, but went to voicemail so either Oz was busy or didn't have his Scroll on him, which was the more likely option. Despite being around when both the CCT network and Scrolls were invented, Glynda was the more technologically competent out of the two of them and Oz often forgot to carry his Scroll with him or take it off silent.

Q: no answer- when do u head to the chopping block?
L: :( in 20 mins
Q: sry chickadee
L: if i die pls take custody of Kuro- hell never survive on his own
L: also; i love you so like take care of urself or w/e I guess,,,

He snorted at the messages but felt a kernel of warmth at the admission of love. Even when she was being flippant and mocking, Lumi was pretty blunt about where her affection laid.

Q: dramatic brat
L: mm that's p rich coming from u
L: which one of us tried to set a printer on fire?
L: oh, yeah, it was u

Yeah, fuzzy feelings of friendship or not, he was going to knock her flat on her ass the next time they sparred. Or better yet, throw her over his shoulder so she couldn't use her Semblance to flit away and find a pool to toss her in.

L: well, gtg
L: wish me luck (haha)

He fingered the frayed string bracelet on his left wrist and returned his attention to his take-out and TV shows. Sometime later, as the couple on-screen argued about which type of tile to use for their shower, his Scroll buzzed with another burst of messages from Lumi.

L: i think im being extorted?

… What in the hell?

L: sooooo got in trouble for going into teachers lounge
L: forgot that i wasnt supposed to be able to get in thre
L: headdmaster wants honey bread roll things & in return i wont get detente
L: *detention

Oh, well that made sense. He could personally attest that those little bread things she made were good to mindlessly snack on; and knowing Oz, he could see why the other man would trade in her detention for the chance to get more.

Q: dont tell him i told u but oz has a giant sweet tooth- make of that wht u will
L: noted
L: and hey, im not dead so if ur free this weekend do u want to meet up for coffee?
L: haven't seen you in forever, so my treat *heart*

He cracked a grin at the words on screen and reconsidered his plan to dunk her in the nearest body of water. (He was still going to do it of course, but at least he thought about not doing it once so that had to count for something right?)

-[-]-

Lumi pocketed her buzzing Scroll and scanned the shelves for Sweet Sours- from Vacuo. Never mind that Vale had its own version, which tasted much better in her opinion, but her siblings were adamant about getting the imported version so here she was, at seven thirty on a Saturday night, halfway across town, buying it for them.

Oh, the things she did for love. She strolled into line and dug through her small purse for her wallet, which had somehow drifted to the bottom despite the fact that there was basically no room in the bag. She shoved the layer of receipts, empty tube of lip balm and half full water bottle aside and wrapped her fingers around the worn leather as the cashier rung up the vaguely familiar girl in front of her.

"Your total is 3,462 lien," the cashier said and the dark haired girl in front hesitated.

"I thought the sandwiches were on sale?"

"They were," Kelly said and adjusted his name tag. "But that sale ended yesterday."

Her shoulders slumped. "Can I put the chips back?"

"Sure," he tapped a few buttons and the new total blinked onto screen.

"Uh, drinks too," she murmured and passed over money when the newest total appeared.

Lumi glanced at the retreating figure as she put her small haul onto the counter. When she turned, she caught sight of her face and recognized the other girl as Yang's partner, Blake. Her hand drifted over her pocket where her Scroll rested. Hadn't Ruby texted her yesterday to keep an eye out for the quiet girl? Something about a disagreement that Weiss and Blake got into?

"1,207 lien," Kelly announced, breaking her from her thoughts.

"I'll take what she didn't," she said after a moment. He shrugged and rang up the rest.

Whatever was going on with team RWBY, it didn't look like Blake was returning to their dorm for the second night in a row. She handed over the lien, tucked the candy in her purse and worried the strap between her fingers. Where would she sleep tonight if she didn't even have enough money to get cheap, convenience store food?

Lumi took the change and hurried after Blake. She hadn't gotten very far- just to a bench within sight of the store despite the dark. She was sitting with a blond boy Lumi didn't recognize, but she figured he was another Beacon student from the armor on his arms.

"Blake," she called when she was near enough to talk comfortably- too close for the other girl to run away. She knew the look of someone who wanted to bolt well enough, and it didn't take a genius to notice the way Blake twitched and glanced between her and the open street.

"I noticed that you didn't have enough," she said in a purposefully casual tone, like buying food for her friends' teammate that she'd barely said three words to was a normal thing to do. "Here."

"I can't pay you back," her tone was wary but she stared at the proffered food with barely disguised hunger.

"No need," she shrugged. "I heard you and team RWBY were having some trouble, but that doesn't mean you should go hungry." She plopped the bag into the un-named blond's waiting hands.

"Wow, Blake, you've got some nice friends," he commented and his monkey tail swung around in a casual wave. "I'm Sun, by the way."

"Did my team send you to check up on me?" she cut off Lumi's response and shot a glare at her friend for rifling through the snacks.

How interesting that she called them "my team" and not "my friends". Well, even when fighting each other, a team was a team. She felt curiosity bubble in her chest but pushed the feeling down. The dark-haired first year didn't look like she was going to stick around for much longer, charity or no charity. Still, she couldn't help but to meddle a little and (hopefully) get them talking.

"They didn't send me, but they are looking for you; stay safe."

Without waiting for a response, she shadow-stepped back to her neighborhood and used the walk to think. She didn't know much about Ruby and Yang's teammate, but the way she held herself and the way she was looking for ways to run struck a chord. If she didn't have Ash and Nocte to worry about, would she have run too?

She shook her head to clear it of that train of thought. It was difficult to say and dwelling on it wouldn't do her any good. Besides, it was a nice night out and she didn't usually get many of those to herself between running errands for others, going to parties or clubs with her friends, and missions. The stars were just barely peeking out from the night sky and the moon was half-full as a warm breeze rushed by.

She soaked in the atmosphere and walked up the front steps to her house, at peace with the world- then was immediately accosted by a dusty Nocte who demanded that she clean the attic because all the boxes up there were her things and it was impossible to find anything in that "mess". Of course, the younger girl did this in between a wheezy cough and no less than four sneezes, but A for effort and all that.

She hummed and slid two packs of Sweet Sours into Nocte's hands, then shadow-stepped to her room and toed off her shoes. It looked like another busy night- she might as well get started.

A/N: And that's a wrap! Thank you all for reading, favoriting and reviewing- every notification in my inbox put a smile on my face :)

Like I said, this story's events aren't quite canon to the (proper) sequel of Cobwebs and Crows, but a good bit of background info will come from here so don't be too surprised if certain situations/characters/ideas pop back up later! If anyone is interested, I also have ~4 chapters of an alternate version of CC where Lumi is Qrow's teaching assistant and not just a student in detention so drop a review to let me know if you'd be interested in seeing that. Otherwise I'll just focus on cleaning up my BNHA fanfic and posting that.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

-NotWeird