#(AND I THINK GRASPING AT EACH OTHER A LOT AAAAND I WANNA SAY SOMETHING ELSE RE NATSUKI {'ROBIN'} TRYING TO '''LEAVE''' BUT)

[koushirouizumi]

M E: (OK PLS I NEED TO KNOW DID SYO D I E IN THI) S Y O: (*Talks at night with Natsuki under stars*) SYO: (*CRIES IT OUT WITH NATSUKI*) SYO: (*HAS TO STOP NATSUKI FROM LEAVING I THINK???*) S Y O: (*CRIES IT OUT WITH NATSUKI MORE*) SYO...: {The truth IS}--- M E: (I KNEW IT) SYO: (I Was D e a d Before) ME: (JUST GIVE SYO AN ARC ALREADY)

[stormyweaver]

Okay so... *ahem* I feel like so far, my lil’ fics I’ve posted have had a decent balance of snz + story, which I personally like to read when I browse through stories in general. But uh... if you’re looking for balance/canon stuff/awesome wordiness, this ain’t it lol. This is pure indulgence that I drummed up one night and swore I would never show anyone. Then I decided ‘Eh, maybe someone else might get a kick out of it’ so! Without further stalling, here’s some pre-season 1 Wa/lking D/ead featuring Rick and Shane during their police academy days. 

"C'mon man, quit fightin' it!" "Shade, I swear to God I'm gonna... g-gonna..." "Gonna sneeze again? Hell, blind man could'a told ya' that," While a grinning Shane leaned against the end of the bed, Rick reclined off the side, hands shakily hovering over his nose. He'd had a cold for the past three days, and it finally made a head the day BEFORE their fucking latest physical test was scheduled. He could deal with the fatigue, aches and general malaise - he’d pushed through worse - but did he really have to sneeze every other minute?! "Ugh, n'do, I'mb-- hih!" Rheumy eyes glazed over, close to slamming shut as his nose twitched, tingles running rampant along the lining of his sinuses. He could fight it, he could, he just had to concentrate... "Swear to God, man, you look like you're about to cum," That- that did it. "hhiiIh-- ihhTSCHH! Hih'TXSHH! iiHHSHH! ih'SHH! 'TSHH!" The fit landed into his cupped palms point blank, each one spilling out until his body figured itself satisfied. Groaning, Rick grimaced at the mess left behind on his palms, leaning over to pluck a tissue from the box on his nightstand. "I'b blamig' you for that," Meanwhile, Shane merely side-eyed his friend, a light smirk on his lips."Told ya'. Bless you, anyway, like - times five? Shit, never could keep count with you," Teasing Rick had to be his favorite pastime, even vying for first with boning the hot chick from the local bar on the weekends. He was just too easy to get under the skin of, especially with how pathetically miserably he appeared. Though, Shane couldn't deny that, this particular jabbing session had an underlying purpose. After spending the last couple of days with a walking germ incubator, he'd already begun to feel a sore throat coming on day two. Now, there was a distinct heaviness lining his lungs, a sluggish lag creeping into his bones, and damn if he didn't wanna claw his own sinuses out. But like hell would he ever let Rick onto that fact. No willingly giving ammunition for being harped on, it simply wasn't allowed between them. The sound of Rick gently blowing his nose caught Shane's attention, another chuckle passing through his lips. "Can't imagine how you're breathin' through all that gunk, man," Going back to his book, Shane flinched as he felt something soft, papery and distinctly damp land atop his hand. Gagging, he quickly flicked the used tissue to the side, "Oh, fuckin' sick, asshole!" Turning around to reach up, he grappled for Rick's flannel to pull him onto the floor, but the other wasn't going without a fight. "Take's one to know one!" he shot back, shifting so he was on his belly and pushing himself back off the edge and out of Shane's grasp. Even the slight tousle had Rick coughing into his fist, but Shane didn't back down. Closing his book, he crawled atop the bed, taking the momentarily preoccupied Rick and pinning him down -- wrists in hand, knees locking his legs into place. Grunting in defiance, Rick shot daggers at his friend, not enough to really show anything besides a large irritation, though. "Dick," Shane merely shrugged, leaning in a bit to sing-song, "Take's one to know one~" with a snicker. Rick could only roll his eyes, sniffling heavily as he-- Oh, shit. He was gonna sneeze again. Though it would have been the ultimate revenge, the merciful part of Rick really didn't want to stack up the odds of his friend catching this. After all, Shane fit the mold when it came to who was a bigger asshole between them. Couldn’t go ruining that dynamic. "Shane, lem'be up," he insisted, shifting his hips between Shane's fucking thunder thighs as he wrinkled his nose tight. "Uh-uh, not 'til you say you're sorry 'bout tossing your snot rag at me..." His tongue prodded the inside of his cheek, "...aaaand you admit that I'm better at puttin' together a Remington. 'Cause you know it's the truth," Snorting, though Rick couldn't identify if it was indignant or reflexive, he began to squirm in earnest, shaking his head. "I-I'm serious, man, lebbe up, I gotta..." Rick felt his lungs begin to spasm, breath catching on the last word. Still clueless, Shane rose a brow at his friend, "What’s more important than tellin’ me I’m right? Nice try, but, nah. Jus' say it an' I'll let ya' go, brother," A sudden huff exited Rick's lungs, and this time his eyes rolled up in preparation of the sneezes just itching to barrel out of him. Shit, he had to move--! "S-Shane, I... I gotta... hiihhh!..." Oh, screw it, he wasn't gonna go through this again. Maybe it was time for a little bit of payback for all that teasing. It seemed by the time Shane had put two and two together, brows raising just as Rick tilted his head back, flared nostrils exposed and damp. "hh'ITSHH'uh! ih'TSHHH'uh! hih'ISHHU!" Whether it was shock or slowed reflexes, Shane got hit smack in the face with the first one, raising an arm to shield himself from the next pair. He groaned in tandem with Rick, who allowed his head to fall back with a thick snuffle. "Ugh, damb that felt good," and a mildly satisfied smirk. Wait, his hand was free-- YES! Ignoring his streaming nose with another sniffle, Rick took Shane's momentary stunned state and flipped him onto his back, reversing their position in under two seconds. "You fuckin'--!" Shane started, attempting to break free from Rick's grasp, but even with a cold the man still knew how to pin someone down. Nostrils flared, Shane sighed and glanced off to the side, swearing again before peering up at Rick with a grimace. "Seriously couldn'ta warned me before ya' sprayed all that shit on my face?" A scoff flew past Rick's lips. "I tried! You wouldn't listen, stubborn ass," Sighing, he glanced down between them before giving Shane an exasperated look. "What, you wanna get me back?" Well... maybe it was kinda too far. Definitely gross. Shane had asked for it, but, Rick honestly hated seeing that hurt puppy dog look on the others face. Damn struck sympathy chords. "... Alright here, you can punch me in the arm, alright? That make ya' feel any better?" Before he could get an answer, Shane had been silently fighting an internal battle of his own. While Rick tried and failed miserably to stave off his fittish sneezes, Shane had actually been doing a fair job of ignoring the tingling within his own crooked nose. But with all the rough and tumbling, and surprise from being sprayed in the face, tingling had morphed into an all out itch. His expression was already going slack, eyes lidded as his lips parted to suck in air so as to fuel the inevitable sneeze. Rick, knowing that expression all too well by now, groaned and tilted his head to the side. "Jus' make it quick, man," Shane managed to gasp out a chuckle, bunching his nose up and down as the tickle worked his sinuses. "T-tryin', man," Fuck, he had to sneeze so bad, why wasn't it coming out?! He sniffed, heavily, feeling his chest expand beneath Rick -- and then nothing. Groaning, he squirmed a bit under Rick, his left leg beginning to job from the anxiousness of waiting. "Fuck, man, i-ihhh... i-it won't come out!" He gasped in disbelief, feeling ridiculous as his expression twisted all from a stupid tickle in his nose. Oh. Oh, geez. Rick glanced back to Shane in a mixture of awkwardness and pity - he knew how much a stuck sneeze sucked ass. And as much as his friend deserved at least a part of this, he wasn't a complete jerk. "Alright, alright hold on," Letting go of his wrists, Rick leaned over and yanked another tissue from the box, trying to ignore how... weird it felt, having Shane kinda writhing underneath him. "Tried this the other night, an'... look, it's weird okay?" He sighed, fingers twisting the tissue until it reached a fine point, "But it works so, jus' shut up and lemme help ya'," Shane wasn't about to say no - he'd wanted to sneeze in the first place, now this was just getting ridiculous. "I-I'd try snortin' p-pepper at tthis point," But, he reckoned a tissue would be a lot less painful. He tried not to tense up as his friend brought the implement to his nostrils, but he couldn't help seizing up once it slid past the rim. "huuhh--uhhh-uuUUH--" Still, nothing but build up, and he let out an audible groan. Rick tried not to wince at his friend's obvious discomfort, biting down hard as he attempted to wiggle the tool deeper into his nose. "Jus' try and relax, s'what I had to do. Uh... t-think of somethin' that makes ya' sneeze. Like that one girls perfume, last month, remember? Shit, thought you'd just about sneeze out the entire club that night, firin' one after the other. Think'a that, okay?" Oh God, that... Shane could recall with almost perfect clarity that night, not too long ago. Whatever cheap, heady scent the girl had on, it did NOT agree with his sinuses. Shane had little problem sneezing then, barely able to get a word in-between, and Rick all but led him out into the night air. But, it stuck with him, all over his clothes, his hair... so tickly... and he'd been so.... so fucking sneezy... "Hhhhoooh God, R-rick...! T-t-think it--  think it's wuhh-huh! w-workin'..." Shane's head had tilted back as far as it could go, and this gave Rick better access to really work at his nose. He wiggled the tissue,  giving twists as he slid it in and out of his friends nostril. Just seeing the way his expression was falling almost made Rick's own nose twinge in sympathy. "Uhhh-UHHH---!" He'd hit the spot. Rick assaulted the area as best he could, hand clenched onto Shane's shoulder as he encouraged him. "Jus' ooone more..." With that, he flicked the spear, twisting it twice before sliding it out, slowly, from Shane's nose. And that seemed to do it. "huuhh--hHHUUUH---HHH! HH! HHHUURRRUUSHHHOOO!" Shane finally released, so powerful a sneeze that he rose and bumped his forehead against Rick's with the force of it. "Ghh--!" Rick staggered backwards, falling back onto the bed with a hiss as his fingers rose to massage his temple. "Shit," he chuckled, cracking an eye open to glance at Shane, "Damn, when I said fire, I didn't mean liter-- Oh..." Anyone could tell by the hazy desperation on Shane's expression that he wasn't yet finished. Hitching softly, he brushed the knuckle of his index finger against the tip of his nose, a shudder running down his spine before he sneezed again, openly. "hhHUURUSHHHH'UHHh! hHHAHHH'KSHHH AAHHH'SHHH'huh!'hue... Ohhh, fugck," Shane moaned, ignoring the ache in his head in favor of massaging the sides of his nose. It still felt like he could sneeze his brains out, but a little less insistent than before. He sniffled, yes, full on sniffled, feeling tears trickle from his eyes and sighed. "... So, uh... think ya' mighta' got m'be sick," he mumbled stuffily, sniffling again and scrubbing at the side of his nose with a finger.

Rick could only huff out a congested sigh of his own, gazing at his friend with a small, apologetic smile as he passed him the box of Kleenex. “Misery loves company,”

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 18)

Note: To jadetea who wanted team AWRD to become team AWKWARD, this is the chapter that begins that particular arc.

Weiss carefully opened the door to team AWRD’s room, and peered in with a big smile on her face. “Guess who’s baaaaaaoooohhhhhhh, shit! I am so sorry!” she whispered, now looking mortified as she tried to close the door.

Sucy put her hand on it and peered in herself. “Why, what’s going on...?” Her one visible eye widened, before her mouth split into a fanged grin. “Oh...” she whispered as she pulled out her scroll.

Weiss gasped. “Sucy!” she hissed as she swatted Sucy’s hand down.

“What?” Sucy snapped as she glared at Weiss. “I’m just taking advantage of this opportunity for some future leverage.”

“You mean blackmail?!”

“Well, if you want to get blunt about it...”

The two of them continued to argue in ever louder whispers, Diana stirred awake, blinked and tried to sit up, but found Akko still sleeping on top of her. She grumbled under her breath and didn’t think much of it, until she noticed Weiss and Sucy in the doorway, and the two of them noticed her back.

The room was suddenly intensely, awkwardly silent.

“… This isn’t what it looks like!” Diana cried, face beginning to burn red.

“Really?” Sucy asked. “Because it seems like it’s exactly what it looks like.”

“Sucy!” Weiss snapped, before she turned to Diana with an apologetic face. “Diana, we’ll just be going now, I am so sorry--”

“Wait, Weiss, please--!” Diana cried as she tried to get up again, found Akko too heavy and her arms still wrapped tight around her body beside. “Akko!” she hissed frantically. “Wake up!”

Akko grumbled. “Mrrrmm, I don’t wanna...” she muttered, hugging Diana tighter and pushing her back down, smiling as she nestled her head into her chest once more.

“Akko!”

“We’re just going to be going now!” Weiss said as she tried to shut the door.

“Like hell we are!” Sucy said as she put her foot to it, tried to squeeze her scroll in through the crack.

“Sucy!” Weiss cried as she began to wrestle with her.

“Just one photo!” Sucy cried. “We can call it ‘thanks’ for getting you out of the hospital!”

“Absolutely not!”

Ruby grumbled and groaned as she sat up from her futon, her eyes and her hair a mess. “Guys, what’s going on…?” she muttered, before she scanned her surroundings, saw Weiss and Sucy still fighting in the doorway, Diana looking absolutely mortified as Akko slept on her chest with a peaceful smile on her face.

“Oh.”

“No! Not ‘Oh.’!” Diana cried, still trapped in Akko’s grasp. “We were just hugging and happened to fall asleep on top of each other!”

“’Hugging,’ you say?” Sucy said as she put her shoulder to the door, finally managed to slip her scroll in.

Diana gasped, before her whole face turned red. “Shut that off and delete whatever images you’ve taken, right this instant!” she screeched.

“Yeah, Sucy, that’s totally not cool...” Ruby grumbled as she got up and made for the door. “Anyway, we’ll just be waiting outside, call us when it’s safe to go back in, and thanks for being quiet about it!” she chirped as she grabbed the door, effortlessly wrenched it from both Sucy and Weiss’ hands, before she stepped out, and shut it before either of them could stop her.

Diana looked at the door, before she groaned, and let her head fall back and hit her pillow once more. “Akko…?” she muttered.

Akko scowled and blearily opened her eyes; they shot wide awake as she finally realized whose chest she was sleeping on, and she let go of Diana and scrambled backw shortly after. “Oh my gosh! Diana! I am SO sorry!” she said as she kneeled before her, then bowed till her head hit the floor.

Diana sighed as she sat up. “I would say ‘apology accepted’ but it seems that the damage has already been long done… you know what, Akko, can you just explain to me how the HELL you managed to stay asleep through all that and not realize something was wrong?!”

“Ah...” Akko sat back up and sheepishly looked to the side, “mornings were always pretty shouty and sweary and noisy at Weiss’ house, where I spent all my summers since a decade ago, and uh… I kinda thought you were Winter back there.”

Diana nodded. “Okay, the former, I can understand, but what in the world would make you think I was her…?”

“… Normally, I’d answer that right away, but I’m kind of afraid you’d slap me if I did.”

“What sort of answer would make you afraid that I’d slap you if you told me?”

“The kind that’d make me tell you I’m afraid you’d slap me if I told you.”

Diana groaned, before she held up her hands. “Akko, if I promise I won’t slap you, will you tell me? I’m just curious, is all.”

“You promise…?”

“Yes, Akko, I promise.”

“Okay! So... I thought you were Winter because your boobs felt like hers.”

Smack!

“OW! Diana, you promised you wouldn’t slap me...!”

“That was BEFORE those words came out of your mouth!”

“But it’s the truth!”

“And there was a better way to tell it than that!”

“Well what was it?!”

“I don’t know, maybe you could have just said it felt like you were snuggling up to her, or anything else without mentioning breasts?!”

“But that’s how I know it’s Winter…! Aside from the fact that she doesn’t smell like alcohol and despair, because then that’s Aunt Snowie!”

Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, while that argument between Akko and Diana was going on…

“No!” Sucy cried as Ruby held her down, her legs flailing as her arms were pinned to her sides.

“Aaaand deleted!” Weiss said as she held Sucy’s scroll. “Ruby, you can let her go now.”

“Got it!”

Sucy lunged at Weiss, she dodged and tossed her scroll her way. Sucy frantically checked her photo/video files, then shot Weiss a death glare. “Is this any way to thank a girl for getting you out of the hospital early…?” she growled.

Weiss was unaffected. “Sucy, I’m thankful for all your help, both saving me a possible death or worse complications back at Initiation and getting me out of the hospital today, but I have a line when it comes to things I’ll excuse, and stepping on the rights of others—especially that of my teammates, who I will have to deal with on a regular basis for the next four years—is beyond that line!”

“What the hell are you girls all arguing about so early…?” Blake muttered as she stepped out of team BLJC’s dorm, just next door. “Are you trying to wake up the whole floor?”

“I am very sorry for disturbing you, Blake, and anyone else for that matter,” Weiss said as she bowed. “It just so happened that my attempt to surprise my teammates with my getting out of the hospital early went rather… awry.” She bent back up and glared at Sucy. “Coincidentally because of the same person that I was thanking just an hour earlier...”

Blake cast a surly look at Sucy, then back at Weiss. “Why am I not surprised…? Look, whatever it is that happened, could you guys just work out a system so it doesn’t happen again?”

“I was already planning on that, Blake, don’t worry,” Weiss said, smiling.

“Thanks,” Blake said, before she stepped back into her room.

She turned back to Sucy, who was still glaring at her. “I could have seriously used that for greater purposes, you know...” Sucy muttered.

“So said many of the scientists who now live forever infamous in the history books,” Weiss countered.

“And so also said many of the former criminals now forever hailed as heroes, many of them from this very academy...” Sucy said. She groaned, and shook her head. “You know what? Just call me if there’s any side effects, I’m heading back to my dorm...”

“I will, and thanks again for getting me out of the hospital!” Weiss called after her, before she shook her head and perched herself on the wall beside their door.

“What’d she do to get you out, anyway?” Ruby asked.

“She gave me another one of her concoctions, thankfully without the help of a funnel and with me conscious this time...” Weiss explained. “But anyway, I uh...” she cast an uneasy look at their room door. “I missed a LOT since we left my grandpa’s office last night, haven’t I?”

“Mmhmm!” Ruby hummed. “Want me to fill you in?”

“Please do, but without any of the… sordid details you may have overheard last night.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Ruby said. “I was already asleep when they probably did the doo-diddly-dangeroo. Anyway, Akko and I went back to our room and unpacked our stuff, but we didn’t want to decorate, not until you and Diana got back, so we decided to go try and figure out how to get Akko to talk to the Shiny Rod.”

“And how did that work out?”

“Terrible!” Ruby said, before recounting her and Akko’s experiments, complete with the incredibly lengthy explanation she gave Diana last night. “It was all really confusing, and hard to make sense of then, and still is now, even though I’ve had time to think sleep it over, which really bugs me.”

“Still though: it’s rather impressive you managed to suss all of that out within two days of owning it, and that’s without any scientific equipment!” Weiss said. “You must be a real savant, huh?”

Ruby blushed. “Oh, I don’t think it’s that cool seeing as it’s mostly just theories and hypotheses than any sort of hard data; and nah, I’m not really that smart, unless it happens to involve weapons. I mean, I’m also really good at math, mechanical engineering, and applied physics, but that’s because weapons run on them!”

“Well whatever you say, I’m still impressed, Ruby.” Weiss said.

Ruby smiled at Weiss. “Thanks, Weiss—that means a lot.”

“Y-You’re welcome!” Weiss squeaked, her own cheeks burning much brighter red. “A-Anyway, what happened after that?” she said as she suddenly took an interest in the decorations on the walls.

“Then, Shiny Chariot came up in conversation, and it turns out she’s a real sore point for Diana.”

“Oh no...” Weiss said, frowning.

“Yeah, things got really intense between them,” Ruby muttered. “I was afraid I’d have to step in and figure out who to haul away before things got violent, but then Diana mentioned Shiny Chariot’s disappearing a decade ago, Akko started crying, and Diana left the room.

“Pretty sure she hit a sore spot there, and she knew it.”

Weiss winced. “And I assure you, that’s one hell of an understatement… what happened to Akko afterward?”

“She started crying, tried to ask the Shiny Rod what happened to Chariot, but it just gave us the silent treatment. We hugged, ate some pickled plums, and talked till she felt better, then we got back to trying to communicate with the Shiny Rod, but it just kinda… stopped talking altogether.

“It’s all totally a theory here, but… I can’t help but think whatever happened is a sore spot for the Shiny Rod, too.”

The two of them stopped as their room door opened, Akko peered out with a glowing, hand-shaped welt on one side of her face. “Ruby…? Weiss…? Diana’s calmed down now, and she wants to talk to the both of you and set the record straight,” she said as she pulled the door the rest of the way open.

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other, before they shrugged, and slipped back into their room.

Diana finished putting the last of her clothes in their closet, before she shut her suitcase, shoved it into a crevice where Ruby’s and Akko’s own empty luggage was stored. She stood up, turned around, and beckoned them all to join her as she sat down in the center of their room.

The four of them soon formed a circle, Weiss and Akko sitting next to each other, Ruby acting as a buffer between them and Diana.

Diana took a deep breath, and let it go slowly. “Okay… first of all, welcome back, Weiss.”

“Thank you.” Weiss said.

“Second of all: whatever it is you and Ruby think happened last night, based on what you saw earlier, I assure you, it’s all a horrible, terrible misunderstanding. Please, if for nothing else than good will as my new teammates, believe me when I say that Akko and I just hugged last night, and because it was incredibly late and we were both up all night doing things—separate from each other, I was at the library, she was here all night!—we just happened to fall asleep on top of each other.”

Ruby nodded. “Okay, Diana, if you say so!”

Diana groaned. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

Ruby shrugged. “Sorry, it’s just that I caught my older sister Yang so many times before, and she’s basically used the same excuse each time, it’s just really hard to believe anyone any more, even if you are telling the truth.”

“Fair point...” Diana grumbled. “Akko, some assistance, please?”

“She’s telling the truth, guys,” Akko said. “We were just hugging because Diana apologized for uh, something she said last night, and we talked things out, and I was so happy things went so well that I wanted to hug Diana. You believe me, don’t you, Weiss?”

Weiss nodded. “I do, but why were you snuggling with Diana like that…?”

Akko blushed. “… I thought she was Winter.”

Weiss’ eyes briefly traveled to Diana’s chest, before returning to Akko. “Ah. I see why you’d make that mistake.”

Diana scowled and blushed. “So! Ruby, Weiss, are we all clear that absolutely nothing sexual happened between myself and Akko last night...?”

“Yes,” Weiss said. “If Akko says it, I believe her.”

“Eh, still kinda have my doubts, but okay!” Ruby replied. “I guess this is one of those times where it really was just hugging...”

Diana still looked miffed, but nodded anyway. “Thank you, the both of you… look, before any other future incidents like this, let me be clear to all of you right now that I enrolled in Haven for many reasons, but trying to find a romantic partner is not one of them.

“The complications of inter-team relationships aside, I plan to exclusively focus on my studies, my duties as a future huntress, and my own personal goals before I even think of plunging into something as time consuming, and potentially life-altering as a romance, be it serious or casual.

“In short, I’m not going to be dating any of you, or anyone else from any team for that matter. Are we clear?”

Everyone else nodded.

“Good. Anyone else want to clear the air regarding our opinions on romance or romantic interest about each other, while we’re on the subject?” Diana asked.

Weiss raised her hand. “Just wanted to say I’m in the same boat as Diana, for similar reasons.”

“Any reactions?” Diana asked.

“Nope!” Ruby replied.

“I already knew,” Akko said.

“So anything else you two would like to add…?”

Both shook their heads.

“Then I declare this meeting adjourned,” Diana said as she got up. “Now come on, let’s go get ready for class; we’ve already been excused from the first day for exceptional reasons, it’d be insulting to our professors to be late, or worse, absent today.”

“Aww, but can’t we decorate first?” Ruby asked. “I also really wanted to coordinate with you guys before I set up my desk! Whole lotta stuff I wanted to put on it!”

“I also haven’t unpacked yet,” Weiss added.

“And I haven’t been able to put up my Shiny Chariot poster!” Akko finished. “On the wall opposite the closet, so Diana doesn’t need to see it every morning!” she said, shooting her a proud look and a finger gun.

Diana sighed, and shook her head. “Fine, but I need assurances from all of you that we’ll not be skipping the bath house to make it to class on time.”

Weiss shuddered. “Definitely not! I’ve been looking forward to being able to bathe myself without the help of a nurse or a sponge...”

“I’ll help Weiss get her stuff unpacked!” Akko cried as she stood up.

“And I’ll go measure how much space we have to work with and how much I might need for my desk!” Ruby chimed in.

“And I suppose I’ll just go help Ruby with our floor plan,” Diana finished.

The four huntresses quickly got to work, Akko and Weiss unpacking the latter’s luggage, now without the ones filled with dust and ammo. Akko hummed as she started putting Weiss’ neatly folded up clothes into the remaining shelves, Weiss carefully looked over her shoulder, made sure Diana was busy helping Ruby measure the square footage of their walls with a tape, before she opened the suitcase she had left at the premium deposit box two days ago.

She sighed as she noticed all the contents were exactly as she’d packed them before she left for Haven, even the label of her prescription bottle turned at the exact angle she remembered. She grabbed it first and stuffed it deep into one of her drawers, before she started packing her underwear in after it.

“You going to tell them…?” Akko whispered.

“Soon, Akko, soon...” Weiss whispered back. “I promise, I won’t keep it a secret from them—I know better now.”

Akko nodded, before they went back to unpacking the rest of Weiss’ belongings, joined Ruby and Diana in decorating their new room, and were off to the bathhouses with their new uniforms in hand, joining the dozens of other teams making their daily trek there.

The sun was high in the sky, the clouds a bright cotton white, and morning breeze cool and fresh as they stepped outside; Weiss couldn’t smile, and think it was going to be a great start to her first official day as a huntress-in-training at Haven Academy.

And in hindsight, she really shouldn’t have been so surprised that things went so downhill, so hard, later that evening.