After a few hours Junior finishes the paperwork.
He rubs his left hand after putting his pen down. Some phantom pain was coming from his arm and it was rather annoying.
During the hours of near silence, Junior had gotten the remaining messages or calls from the upper family. He also got messages in general about those in the Xiong family from outside Vale who were or weren't returning to Vale. The ones that will be cutting it close are those in the White Fang, so he basically only had a few return. It would be suspicious and could create a potentially dangerous situation so it's best for only a few Whote Fang Xiong Family members to go to Vale.
There were some that were too undercover to come back as well, but that's a small percentage. He still didn't have too many people around Remnant as of yet. It was mostly just the upper family and those in the White Fang. Only a few others scattered here and there around the various corners of Remnant were considered to be a part of the Xiong Family.
Junior and Glynda still talked during the hours, but it wasn't anything of great importance. Just light conversation, nothing fancy.
Junior closes the vanilla folder and looks at Glynda. She is looking down at her scroll and marking whatever assignment she is currently grading. The light blond curls on the right side of her face hang down and her thin glasses rest slightly lower on her nose than normal. She truly is a very beautiful woman, and her tongue is sharper than her looks. Talking with someone who isn't afraid of him, which Glynda is the opposite, is a nice change of pace. "Sorry to make you do your work on your day off, just figured you would make a better use of your time doing it now"
"If I didn't do it here I would have done it when I got back to my room" Glynda flatly says before looking up from her scroll and spots the now closed vanilla folder. "Have you finished?"
"I have" Junior pushes the folder forward. "And do you only have a room back at Beacon? Do they have a teachers Dormitory?"
"There is a building for the various employees at Beacon. Of course I have a room" Glynda states like it's common sense.
"Hmmmm" Junior scratches his beard. "Is that a benefit? Or does some of your pay get taken back?"
"It comes with the job. If every teacher had to travel to and from Beacon every single day there is a class…" Glynda rubs her forehead. "… It gives me a headache just thinking about how many problems that would cause"
Junior shrugs. "Good point. But do you own a house? I can't imagine you spend all your time at Beacon. Being a Huntress you must have a home where you go to relax when you have some extra time off. Even if it's like a vacation home or whatever"
"Or whatever?" Glynda's headache doesn't go away, she gives the credit to Junior for this.
Junior simply nods with a neutral expression.
Glynda sits up and tucks some of her curled hair behind her ear. "Yes. I have a home" She sees Junior about to ask but cuts him off as she pushes her glasses back into place. "No. It's not in Vale"
A lopsided grin grows on Juniors face. "Look at you Glynda. You almost know me so well. I was curious about that, but it wasn't what I was going to ask"
"What were you going to ask then?" Glynda says in a slightly uncaring tone.
"I was just wondering how long you were going to stay. I enjoy our time together, but I'm afraid I have some business to get done later this evening" Junior gives a snarky smirk. "Perhaps we can do this again some other time? But without all the paperwork?"
"No" Glynda immediately responds and turns her scroll off. The holographic screen disappears and it goes into its compact form from its tablet form.
"You WANT to do paperwork?" Junior incredulously asks. "If that's what you want, I could hardly so no then"
Glynda rolls her eyes and stands up as she puts her scroll away. "The paperwork actually made this entire thing more tolerable" Glynda puts a hand on the vanilla folder and glares at Junior with her vibrant green eyes. "and I hate paperwork"
As Glynda puts her scroll away Junior watches closely as it shifts and becomes even smaller. A scroll can have various forms depending on what model you get. These days there are mainly two kinds. One is just a simple phone while the other can become a tablet or have the holographic screen extend from the side without actually turning the scroll into either of the other forms. The 2 different styles help keep the cost of owning a scroll down. Not everyone needs a tablet and side holographic screen. Of course you can modify yours to add or remove certain modifications to have it within your price range.
Back to the topic of where Glynda was hiding this thing. It would still be hard to fit in her extremely tight, form fitting, pencil skirt. Then he spots the scroll going inside a hip case that is likely clipped to her belt… or whatever is on her hip since the skirt is high waisted, meaning it goes up a bit past her hips…. Ok fine, the skirt practically goes up to her diaphragm, a bit under her bust. Basically the scroll goes into a scroll case, like a phone case, at her hip which is nearly behind her, making it be covered by her cape.
"Glynda" Junior grabs his wine glass in his right hand and points his index finger at her. "You are in for some bad news. I think Ozpin is gonna have some waiting for you. My bet is on a days worth" Implying that the headmaster has pushed today's work off for her to do the following day.
"It has not been a pleasure Junior" Glynda sarcastically says with emphasis on not. She grabs the vanilla folder.
"Was it really all that bad? Honestly, I think it was pretty ok all paperwork considered" Junior says and drinks from his glass and stands up as the glass becomes empty.
Glynda tucks the vanilla folder under her arm and begins walking towards the door with Junior following a few paces behind her. "I suppose it hasn't been all bad" She says as she puts her hand on the door handle.
There are a few bells ringing in Junior's head. And he knows he's about to walk into a trap, but he continues on without faltering. "Oh? And what exactly wasn't all bad"
"The part where you were quiet was actually quite nice" Glynda says and opens the door.
The door shuts behind Glynda, leaving Junior in the room with a sleeping Lavi. But he doesn't waste any time and opens the door and follows Glynda as she goes towards the stairs and then to the exit.
"I could say the same to you Glynda, however I like that sharp tongue and blunt way of speaking of yours since it's pretty amusing. And I could also say that you look better with a smile or a neutral expression, but I'd be lying if your pissed expression or frown weren't just as beautiful" Junior puts his hands on his hips as he walks behind Glynda.
Glynda stops walking and turns around with her arms crossed under her chest. "I thought you would quit it or take the hint. But it seems I was actually wrong, for once. So let me explain it to you Hei Junior Xiong. We aren't friends. We are barely even acquaintances. And you're a decade too young to be trying to court or flirt with me"
"Well that's good then" Junior moves his right hand through his hair and pushes it back. "Because that was just me teasing you a bit. And the compliments were genuine, not flattery. If I wanted to flirt with you I'd be a bit more aggressive. And concerning the age gap, I don't see the problem. We are both mature adults, there are bigger worries than age in a relationship between us"
Junior also doesn't really care if anyone is older than him. He's in a weird position in regards to age. Mainly because he's got two sets of memories in his head. Technically speaking, he should mentally be over 40 years old in total. But at the same time his body is 21. So it's like he's 21 but is also older than 21? He's lived through childhood and puberty twice. But his lives were very different from each other. And his last life wasn't all that much older than his current age.
Glynda turns around without a word and continues towards the stairs with her arms at her sides and the vanilla folder tucked under her arm still.
Junior simply walks Glynda out of the building. Once outside he motions for the men outside to head in to give them some privacy.
Glynda sees the 4 matching men in suits all head inside, leaving her and Junior basically alone on the street. Yes the street is vacant even in the middle of the day, they aren't exactly in the nicest part of Vale and there were bombings around the kingdom a few days ago. "Good bye, Junior" She flatly says and walks down the street.
Junior gives a simple wave. "Goodbye to you too Glynda. I'll see you around. After all, Remnant is small and Vale is even smaller"
Glynda doesn't respond and just continues walking.
As Junior watches Glynda leave his smile fades away. He considers this a decent development all things considered. He's got too many things he has to do to be in any type of relationship anyway. And he's still trying to get past seeing Derek get stabbed through the chest and dying.
As he goes back into the club he adjusts his tie and motions for the men to get back to their guard,bouncer, post.
Junior gets a notification on his scroll and it's the best news he's received all year. Rust just finished dropping off his last target. He sends a text to Rust telling him to come back and then puts his scroll away.
When Junior walks into the club he's greeted by a few Xiong members here and there. They're mostly the goons in the original that all look the same but with different facial hair. But there are a few women scattered in the mix. He looks up at Deadb3ar who is currently experimenting with some different tracks. Junior decides to tell everyone of Derek's passing later. He doesn't want to repeat himself too much.
There are still a few hours until the evening so there's time until Veronica, Anza, Frost, and Slate to arrive. A few others will be arriving tomorrow or the day after. Luckily transportation is relatively common between Kingdoms right now.
"You" Junior points at some random guy near the front entrance. Junior saw him in that same position hours ago when he talked with Veronica. "If any of the upper family arrive point them towards my office" Junior motions over his shoulder, with his thumb, towards his office overlooking the club.
The guy immediately stands up and nods his head. "Will do boss!"
Junior nods and then goes back towards the stairs leading to the second floor.
The second floor really isn't an actual floor per se. it's more of a walkway around the club. There are two doors accessible by this walkway. One leads to more rooms, similar to the first floor, but are smaller. They are for Xiong family members only and are like a place to stay for those that don't have anywhere else to return to. The upper family have rooms on the first floor that are bigger. But that's not to say they are all bedrooms, a few serve other purposes. Now back to the second and only other door, it's simply the door to Juniors office. The two doors are on opposite sides of the walkway so nobody can mistakenly wander over to Junior's club office. And nobody that isn't a Xiong family member is allowed on the walkway. Glynda is a special exception due to her being a huntress and nobody really being able to tell her to leave. A few men had some ice packs that are thoroughly melted next to them, meaning that Glynda found her own way to Junior's door.
As Junior opens the door to his office he wonders what he's going to do with Lavi. Once he's inside he looks over at the girl still underneath his suit jacket. Her red hair the only thing not under the jacket. It slowly rises and falls along with Lavi's breathing.
Junior goes over to his desk and picks up his glass of wine and finishes it. After putting it down he sits on the corner of the desk facing the couch and folds his arms over his chest. "You can stop pretending now Lavi"
The rising and falling of the jacket pauses for a second. Two hands appear at the collar of the jacket and pull it down to reveal two fiery orange eyes. "How did you know?"
"How did I know?" Junior repeats the question as he looks at Lavi's eyes that have turned into actual fox-like eyes with her pupils becoming vertical slits. It's like she was caught red handed. "I've known you for 2 years now Lavi. Most of the time you are asleep while I'm doing paperwork. I know your breathing pattern while you are actually asleep at this point"
Lavi's eyes widen. "Do I snore?!"
This isn't the first time Lavi has asked this question. When she thinks she's a bother she asks this often after she wakes up.
"No, you do not snore" Junior denies. The only reason he knows is because Lavi used to have nightmares. She still has some now but they are fewer and farther between. Her breathing changes when she has a nightmare so he finds himself paying attention to it subconsciously.
Lavi moves the jacket back over her eyes.
As he looks at Lavi he remembers that Derek mentioned something being beneath the desk in the actual office. "Lavi"
The pink haired Faunus peeks her eyes out from the suit jacket and looks at Junior who doesn't look very pleased. "Did I… sorry…"
"You didn't do anything" Junior rubs his face with his right hand. "But I have to go to my office. There's something my old man left even more hidden. The fucker didn't even include it in the floor plan…" He grumbles the last sentence. It could have really messed up his plans when he was renovating the entire building.
Lavi sits up and the jacket stays around her. "Ca-"
"You can't come with me" Junior stands up and walks over to Lavi and stands over her. "I need you here to inform the upper family if I'm not back. We should only be expecting Frost and Slate as new arrivals. Rust, Anza, and Veronica should also be returning tonight. I don't expect to be too long but in the unlikely case that I become tied up, you will be here. Just catch Frost, Slate, and Rust up to date. Use your own discretion in what you tell them"
Lavi slightly frowns and looks down at the floor.
As Junior walks to the door he doesn't look back at her. "Be prepared Lavi. I plan on having you train your semblance intensely. Contact Veronica and Anza, they should be returning the earliest"
This is mostly a test for Lavi. Junior has already done what he can for the girl. And he won't always be able to be there for her when she feels the slightest bit sad. He's given her important tasks before, but she hasn't had to make any tough decisions. He plans to restructure the family slightly. He won't have a right hand moving forward… not his actual hand, the metaphorical right hand. He doesn't need another Derek, technically Derek could have stepped down months ago and Junior would have been fine. But Derek wanted to keep helping Junior.
"Yes Sir…" Lavi says in a small voice.
The door closes behind Junior. Right now, Vale should be Spider free or close to it. He wonders what will happen in the future, surely this will cause some ripples across Remnant. Besides the bombings of course, that cause some decent waves. And the Xiong Family name should spread a bit due to their generous donations to the aid of Vale and its citizens.
On the way to his office Junior thinks about upcoming events. The Mistral Regional Tournament will be the first of many. He will be able to make a lot of money and some good connections. Then there is Weiss Schnee's concert and birthday ball or whatever Jacques Schnee calls it. Junior isn't particularly interested in the concert or the ball, but the attendees of both will be the big wigs of Atlas. There are also a few other events sprinkled around during this year, but the finer details are hazy to Junior. He doesn't sweat the slight memory loss, he's just happy to remember anything from the show to begin with. And considering he plans to spend most of this year training himself and the upper family it's not like things will derail too much so soon. And even if they do, he can only prepare for the future like he currently is anyway. It would just be a waste to not have certain events still happen.
The office still looks the same. Junior can see all the papers scattered across the desk from before he and Derek left. He stacks them in a pile along with the few books he had out and empties the desk drawers.
Not seeing anything unusual or that would trigger something he moves his chair across the room. Junior looks down at the floor and it's the exact same as it's been for the past years.
"I guess if it was this easy I would have noticed it sooner" Junior mumbles. He looks down at his right hand at the Xiong ring. "Surely it wouldn't be this…"
Junior puts his knuckles on the desk, which causes the rings on his fingers to press against the wood.
Nothing
Junior pushes his aura to the rings, specifically the Xiong ring.
Nothing
"Son of a bitch!" Junior clenches his fists and slams both fists against the table. If he didn't use his semblance to take the kinetic energy the table would be in splinters.
"Why am I even doing this?! This is ridiculous!" Junior shouts to himself. At least he is alone, but this makes him feel even more like an idiot.
While he calms down he sits down in his chair. He decides to look under the desk itself.
There isn't anything at first glance, and Junior almost missed it. There is a slight indent on the underside of the desk.
Junior moves his hand over it and there's a slight X mark in the center of the small indent.
Without a second thought Junior moves the Ciong family ring under the indent and presses it upwards.
*Click*
There is a sound from beneath the desk and Junior. The floor beneath the desk and where his chair usually sits begins to sink down.
Junior catches his chair before it falls and steps to the side as a staircase forms.
*Clunk!*
There is a mechanical sound as the stairs snap into place beneath the desk. A small light can be seen at the bottom of the stairs. After the first few steps the stairs begin to turn and form a spiral leading to a small room below.
"I swear… if there are anymore secrets I'm gonna complain to the Gods" Junior pushes his chair to the side and descends to the room below via the new stairs.
Due to Juniors weight, the steps creak under his every step. Him being nearly 7 feet tall and muscular means he isn't light. But he shouldn't be so heavy as to make the metal stairs complain as much as they are. A theory Junior quickly comes up with is that it's very old or that the old man built it poorly. Since it wasn't a part of the original floor plan it's likely. But Junior would get stabbed before he is convinced his old man actually did some physical labor on his own and willingly.
Once he get to the bottom of the stairs he sees the room in all its old and dusty glory. There isn't anything down here besides a desk and a bookshelf with a few old looking books.
Not wanting to deal with more books he makes his way over to the desk. It's a basic 4-legged wooden desk with only one long drawer. The chair is broken beneath the desk and in many pieces of old wood.
In the drawer of the desk is a book that looks significantly more modern that the few books on the bookshelves. And when Junior opens it he recognizes the handwriting instantly. It's a journal hand-written by his father.
After tossing the book on the desk Junior goes towards the old books.
"Looks like I've got more reading to do" Junior looks up at nothing. "I hope you Gods enjoy me reading, because I certainly don't at this point"
Luckily for Junior there isn't too many books. But they're old, or damaged enough to be considered old. And Junior is a bit surprised. There are a few topics he is surprised to see.
One being a study about Grimm and Aura. And a few being from Mt. Glenn.
Just to be safe, Junior looks under and around the desk. And he's pissed that he did. There was another book beneath the pile of wood that used to be a chair. And it's title made Junior want to shred it.
Hei's Women Log