"Uh, Jaune?"
In between spoonfuls of her totally-not-sugary breakfast cereal, Ruby initially wasn't going to say anything. But as she continued to steal glances at the, quite frankly, pitiful sight of her fellow leader, she almost had to speak up.
After all, in the cafeteria, and at the table in which they all sat, Jaune was currently hunkered down, cheek pressed to wood, staring off into space with a dead look in his eyes.
No, he looked like he had just fought with an ursa.
And lost.
The further proof was the boy not even reacting to Ruby's words.
"...Okay, I'll bite, what's up with vomit boy?" Yang asked with a glance, now pausing her own meal, a surprisingly healthy assortment of carbs, proteins, fruits, and veggies.
That left Blake and Weiss, and whether it was out of a lack of interest or compassion, they both remained silent, seemingly content in continuing to eat their breakfast in peace.
But regardless; it was Nora who answered Yang, and with a grin.
"Oh, nothing much. Only that our leader had a big surprise waiting for him in our dorms a bit ago. And it was AWESOME. Heehee. Isn't that right, Jaune-Jaune?"
Without so much as a sound, the catatonic blond boy spasmed in his seat.
Team RWBY blinked.
Even Weiss raised a curious eyebrow.
"...Okay." Yang looked back at the widely smiling Nora, then to the awkwardly smiling Pyrrha, and finally, to the ever-unexpressive face of Ren.
"...Jaune's family is here," the raven haired boy explained, listlessly, and after chewing and swallowing a portion of a granola bar.
Jaune spasmed, again.
Ren continued like it didn't happen.
"People were introduced, pleasantries were exchanged, and, well..."
"Jaune was kidnapped, haha!" Nora interrupted happily.
Now, it was impressive, the way those listening didn't immediately react with shock at the girl's words. But that was only because they slid their eyes back to Ren, Pyrrha too, as if waiting for them to say Nora was over-exaggerating, as was her usual.
No such thing happened.
Ren kept chewing his granola bar.
With a cough, Pyrrha maintained that same awkward little smile. She did eventually speak to clarify things, though. That is, if what ended up coming out of her mouth even counted as such...
"...Yes, um, well, they did in fact take Jaune away for a... little chat."
Jaune whimpered as if struck.
Glances were exchanged.
"H-Haha, well, um... meeting with family is always a bit weird?" Ruby offered with an odd laugh, not sure how else to break the strange mood in the air. "Oh, but now that I think of it, Jaune did say he had seven sisters. Can't even imagine what that's—"
Just then.
A discordant scratching noise abruptly and without warning cut Ruby off.
All eyes blinked, that is, in the time it took for them to drift to the end of the table, where a white haired boy was and had been eating quietly.
Rio, his knife having scratched awkwardly along the bottom of his plate, was staring at both it and the cut of omelet he had missed, and with quite the strange look on his face.
Ruby just giggled.
"That was my reaction, too, Rio! I mean, seven sisters, can you even imagine?"
Eventually, blinking, Rio looked up from his food, and when he did, it came with a difficult little smile. "...C-Can't say that I can," he replied goodnaturedly, before returning to his meal. Only to then, several seconds later, cast the briefest of looks Jaune's way.
...To think they were his family, Rio thought, and with subdued stupefaction.
"...Yes, well, we were just as surprised," Pyrrha said after a beat, and she and the others once again found Jaune's defeated form, at first with wide-eyed looks of newly found understanding, then with an equal spread of amusement and pity.
"Yeah!"
And apparently, Nora still thought it was the funniest thing in the whole wide world, because she only continued to crow with laughter. "And with Momma and Papa Arc too, there were like, ten blondies right there in our hallway! Wasn't it the best, Renny?"
"They called us all pretty girls, Nora."
"Yep!"
"Including me."
"Heehee, yep!"
Most of the table laughed, even Weiss and Blake, not quite able to hide their smiles in time. ...Of course, that just left Jaune, still stuck in some kind of traumatized limbo where he continued to vacantly stare at literally nothing.
And then... Rio too, processing the knowledge that it was a state that he at least might be partially responsible for. He had very much led the boy's family straight to him after all...
Should he apologize?
No, I'll... just keep quiet.
"Rio?" Weiss, perhaps noticing something odd in his expression, raised an eyebrow. "What's that look for?"
"Ah, no," Rio replied with a calm smile, trying to keep his tone casual. "It's just... such a big family. I... was just thinking Jaune must have had quite the rough time of it growing up." Or so the white haired boy tossed out with what he hoped was a believable amount of curiosity.
That said—
"Y-Yes!"
No one could say they were prepared when Jaune's head suddenly shot up with a gasp, eyes bloodshot.
"I-It was! It was rough, Rio! D-Do you know what it's like to be introduced to your sister's hot friends, but only so they could make you wear dresses while they take pictures? And for them to then pass it to their friends?! Do you know what everyone at school called me after that, Rio?! Do you?!"
Rio blinked, and for the briefest of moments, his brows disappeared into his hairline in nothing short of stunned silence. Still, Rio eventually answered, but slowly. "...Well, given the theme of this conversation, I assume nothing goo—"
"They called me their 'wittle pwincess', Rio! I was their fifteen-year-old 'wittle pwincess'!"
Rio's mouth clicked shut.
The others...
Their reactions were a little bit different.
But that was only because Yang was trembling in her seat, trying and failing to hold back laughter. Nora, on the other hand, had been un-ashamedly letting off giggles for a while now, Ruby as well.
And interestingly enough, Pyrrha, Blake, Weiss, and even Ren looked dangerously close to joining in.
Why, the white haired heiress wasn't even looking Jaune's way, but she was now sipping some kind of fruity beverage with a noticeable smirk.
Rio finally found his words.
"Well, I'm, um, very sorry that happened, Jaune. I commend you for braving that... and then coming out so well adjusted?" After which, he mentally nodded, the reason clear.
Because he actually had no idea what he was saying.
Still, although not really one for physical contact, Rio patted the boy's shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. ...Even in spite of the clear guffaws now littering the background, courtesy of Yang and Nora.
Rio let out a small breath.
Yes.
Not even a full hour after what had transpired with Ruby and Yang's uncle, the day was already shaping up to be quite strange indeed.
...
...
...
In the space that allowed it, several thousands of people were screaming, roaring, and cheering, eyes moving about with feverish haste.
The mood was infectious.
And yet, with not quite the same zeal, a white haired boy sat in the Amity stands, head inclined, an inexplicable calm on that face of his.
Now, Rio was surrounded by students and civilians alike, and while that had caused quite the stir when he first arrived, thankfully, with a match starting, things had long since settled down. After all, the bulk of their attention converged on the fight currently happening below them.
Rio was the same.
The main reason being: in today's match, two people he was already familiar with were active participants.
As I thought. They are skilled...
With a flurry of movement, Mercury and Emerald exchanged fast blows, not with each other, but with an upperclassmen team Rio had only seen in passing. But even then, when it came to the gray and green haired teenagers, it was clear the difference between years posed no issue.
Still...
Rio tilted his head further.
I can't say I expected Mercury to be a kickboxer... he's even gone as far to weaponize the limbs with dust and ammunition. And Emerald... as expected, her movements are quick and agile, effectively making use of her gender's natural flexibility.
Yes.
Watching them like this, It was no wonder why they were chosen to be sent forward in the tournament.
They both absolutely excelled at close quarters combat.
But whereas Mercury fought aggressively, refusing to give his opponents room, it seemed Emerald opted for guerilla tactics when she could.
In other words.
They compliment each other well? Rio mused, face thoughtful, not taking his amber eyes off the fight.
"Um, is the seat next to you taken?"
But then he heard that.
Rio blinked in the time it took for him to crane his head to the right, and he was slightly surprised when this had him meeting the timid, almost pensive stare of someone he knew, twitching fox ears and all.
"Oh... not at all," Rio said absentmindedly. Of course, he remembered his manners an instant later, and he crafted what he hoped was a friendly smile on his face, gesturing to the seat next to him. "Please, sit. And... it's nice to see you again, Miss Lilith."
Chocolate eyes widened a fraction. "Y-You remembered my name?"
"Was I not supposed to?" Rio asked, his smile unintentionally falling a bit.
"A-Ah, no, that's not it. I just thought you wouldn't, is all..." Lilith Marron, the nice girl he had met in the cafeteria only days prior, shook her head with a stammer. She looked nervous.
Just like the last time...
Do I... make her uncomfortable? With a tilt to his head, Rio eyed the girl as she slipped into the seat beside him. But then this had him catching her tail animatedly swaying back and forth behind her and his mind briefly went blank.
"Surprise!"
Of course, that was when a new voice heralded a pair of hands suddenly landing on Lilith's shoulders from behind, and Rio was understandably startled out of his thoughts.
No, the same went for the faunus girl.
With a yelp, Lilith looked just as startled, not only going ramrod straight in her seat, but very nearly falling out of it.
But her surprise was brief.
"...Lexi?! Geez! Don't do that! Y-You scared me!" Lilith yelled, tone frayed and brow furrowing in distress.
"Heehee, sorry, sorry," came the animated but relaxed reply, and from a girl that had short blonde curly hair, a wide infectious smile, and set upon a mousy face. Not to mention her upturned yellowish brown eyes, currently dancing in what was unmistakably amusement.
And with what she was wearing: a baggy hoodie, short shorts, and sneakers, all of it painted a very tomboyish appearance.
"So," 'Lexi' drawled, still grinning, poking her head past her friend's shoulders from behind. "What's the deal? You went radio silent all a sudden. Had to track you down myself, see if you landed yourself into... some... Huh?" Blinking, the blonde stopped talking.
But that was only because the girl's brown, almost golden yellow eyes finally noticed the outlier. That is, the white haired boy sitting in the seat right beside her friend, smiling awkwardly. "...Hello," Rio finally greeted slowly. "I... assume you two are friends?"
'Lexi' didn't respond.
All she did was stare at him.
And when that apparently wasn't enough, she then switched her gaze to the nervous looking Lilith, then back to him, then back to Lilith. She did this again and again, for several long seconds, and long enough for it to be very awkward.
Except then she blinked once more, her mouth suddenly forming an 'o' shape, and last but not least, the gaze she suddenly rounded on Lilith with was nothing short of scandalous.
"Ohhhhh, I see. Liliiiiiiiiiiiiii~! You sneaky little fox—"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!, you're wrong! You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong! Whatever it is you're thinking, you're wrong!"
Lilith panicked.
Nothing proved that more than when she leapt from her seat, dragged the blonde girl several feet away, and although it quickly became inaudible, immediately launched the both of them into a no holds barred, dramatically intense whisper fight.
A whisper fight in which teasing looks were thrown about, nervous heads were rapidly shaken, and...
Huh.
The white haired boy in the background just kind of watched with a neutral expression, even if on the inside he was actually anything but.
Still...
Rio eventually relaxed.
No, it was closer to say he all but forced himself to, turning back in his seat, to the fight, content with the knowledge that whatever it was that they were discussing, as strange as that all had been... was first and foremost none of his business.
In any case.
Mercury and Emerald.
They appeared to have separated in the time Rio had been looking away, taking a different opponent each. Mercury, against a taller male surrounded by arena-made geysers, and Emerald, into a lush forest with a brown haired girl.
But, even with that said, the match didn't actually last much longer after that?
Three or so minutes passed, with the fight continuing like normal, but only until, through either luck or skill, Mercury and Emerald were both able to strike when their opponents were caught unaware, landing critical blows each.
This resulted in Emerald and Mercury's win, and a good portion of the crowd cheered, those from Haven Academy especially.
Perhaps it went without saying, but Mercury also looked pleased. And to a lesser degree, so did Emerald, the green haired girl currently going about spinning her interesting looking hybrid chain knives, returning them to their sheathes.
And, Rio watched as she did so, his stare now resembling curiosity.
Oh.
But he wasn't looking at her weapons.
No, his attention was on the now calm state of her magical essence.
That is, her aura.
Unlike before, it was no longer highlighting her silhouette to his sensitive eyes, and with an all too familiar, bright flame-like glow. A glow that, in her case, was a vibrant dark green.
Her semblance.
Emerald had used it near the end there.
It's a subtle one, whatever it is, Rio observed, and with an interest that was more absentminded than anything else.
Still... his stare lingered.
"Hi again~," a voice suddenly said, and it was heralded by footsteps.
...Right.
Rio glanced to the right, finding not Lilith, but instead a now familiar blonde, grinning at him with a chaste little wave. And with Lilith actually right next to her, looking between him and her blonde friend with a timid little smile...
Rio made sure to smile back. He... just hoped it didn't already look too drained.