After completing Glynda's questionable work task, which was a rather interesting experience all things considered, Rio showered, changed back to his uniform, and made his way to the mess hall.
And entering the large room filled with dozens of rectangular tables, ones holding even more students, it didn't take Rio's gaze very long to fall on one particular table.
But instead of it just being the four people he knew, they were talking animatedly with another group of four at the same table.
A blonde boy, all smiles as he spoke. A red haired girl with a pony-tail nodding pleasantly at frequent intervals to what he was saying. Then across from them was a girl with orange hair literally bouncing up and down in her seat, waving her arms around exaggeratedly as she too moved her mouth, not that Rio couldn't hear a thing from this distance.
Lastly, there was a rather stoic looking boy, black haired, trying to calm her down, one Rio had almost mistaken for another girl due to the slightly feminine features and magenta streak running through their hair.
And, all in all, they looked to be all good friends.
"..."
Rio hesitated for a beat, but still decided to walk over.
Although, he wasn't sure whether he should have been surprised when it was Ruby who noticed him first, thus waving him down with a smile. With Yang following right after with her own grin, Rio closed the remaining distance with a faint smile.
"Look who it is. So? How did the flirting with Miss G go?" the blonde asked without missing a beat, palm against chin, eye brows wriggling.
All conversation at their table ceased.
Naturally, Yang's colorful remark managed to skillfully draw all eyes to him, which beyond Weiss and Blake, included the two boys and two girls he still didn't know.
Regardless, Rio could only mentally sigh at Yang's perpetually unique sense of humor. But just when he was about to smoothly deny the remark before any misunderstandings occurred...
He stopped himself.
"Yes, well... I did try to ask her out, but as expected, it was a flat out rejection, haha..." Rio said, scratching his cheek.
Yang blinked, before her mouth fell open.
No, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss, the other group too, very closely matched her, rendered not only speechless but various degrees of startled as well.
That was around the time when Rio's smile cramped.
"...As I thought, that was a bit too out of character for me. I'm sorry Yang, but I was just teasing you."
He got no immediate reaction.
"Yang?"
"Eh? I-I mean, no I knew that. Of course I knew. I was just surprised is all. Yeah. G-Good for you Rio. Not many people... uh, can get one over on me like that... hm."
Tripping over her words, Yang was a strange mix between flustered and bewildered as her eyes went every which way in a swirl.
"Well. That aside... are, uh, you guys going to introduce us?" A boy, the one with the blond hair, asked that whole sending a curious gaze Rio's way.
"Oh right, duh."
That seemed to prompt a change in atmosphere because Ruby took the chance to very dramatically leap to her feet and slam her hands on the table.
"This is Rio, the new transfer who's been rooming with us. Oh, and Rio, this is Team JNPR. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren. And before you ask, yeah, our teams are totally besties."
Weiss' immediate eye-roll did not remain unnoticed.
"I see," Rio said while resisting the urge to chuckle, before his gaze swept over the newly introduced four. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Yup, same here man," Jaune threw in with a lazy wave.
Beside him, Pyrrha nodded politely. "Yes. And we actually saw you yesterday, but, well, we couldn't exactly approach you..."
"You were surrounded by girls, haha!" Nora cut in between mouthfuls of food. "Absolutely swarmed! Right, Ren?"
The impassive boy simply nodded, either out of subdued interest, or much like a puppet who had long forgotten how to do much else.
Rio, however, could only chuckle awkwardly. "...Um, well, even I didn't expect my status as a new student to cause so much of a stir," he said after a very deliberate pause.
Jaune blinked at him.
Then.
"Uh, yeah... pretty sure that's part of it, but it's because of your face, dude," he pointed out, but with the expression and tone of someone who was wondering they even had to say it to begin with.
But, as it happened...
"Haha... um, what?"
Smile strained, Rio could only tilt his head.
Jaune blinked once more, no, several times even, before giving him the kind of look that suggested that Rio had not only grown a second head, but had then proudly asserted he hadn't.
"Wait, are you serious?" Jaune asked, incredulous.
No... why is there a need to look that shocked?
Rio genuinely wondered that.
Now, don't get him wrong.
Rio was not oblivious to what Jaune was talking about.
After all, he had already been told on several occasions by those close and those not that he wasn't bad in the looks department.
But...
Going from that, simple compliments between friends, to suddenly believing he was some unquestionably handsome person... wouldn't that be way too strange?
No, psychologically, confidence didn't even work that way.
Also, his face was just his face.
Even if others said it was pleasing, he still couldn't look at it in the mirror one day and suddenly see it in a different way.
It was like how people couldn't see their mothers as anything other than their mothers.
But, as if Rio's stretch of silence was the wrong answer, Jaune instead cast his disbelieving eyes elsewhere. "Yang, you're... embarrassment threshold isn't normal. Rate this guy's unfair face so I don't think I'm going crazy."
"...I don't like the way you said that, but fine."
Yang agreed way too quickly, slipping out her seat, but only so she could slink around Rio's shoulders and, to his confusion then surprise, forcibly guide him down in a seat, that is, in the space between a startled Weiss and Blake. "...Yang?" Rio asked with a bit of fluster.
"Relax. You needed to sit down first anyway, right? Plus, if I didn't force you, you probably would have sat at the end of the table like spaz."
Eh?
Shoulders very stiffly trying not to brush against those next to him, Rio blinked.
Because that was exactly what he had been about to do.
Still, the boy shook his head, refusing to get distracted. Instead, he focused on the obvious thing.
After all, this sudden closeness, and all at once, was a bit troublesome, and surely not just for him.
"Sorry for the discomfort... Blake, Weiss," Rio said, and with enough halting awkwardness that it wouldn't have been strange if it manifested into some strange creature. "But don't worry, I'll get up, so—"
Weiss audibly huffed. "Will you relax? You're acting like your committing a crime or something."
"...It's fine," Blake said, not even looking at him.
Hesitantly, Rio relaxed again. "...Well, alright."
Someone sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, old man. You hold doors open for women on your days off. We know. But enough of that, eyes on me, Mister," Yang suddenly cut in, exasperated.
Although he wanted to say something to that very questionable accusation, Rio, with some reluctance, eventually found Yang's glittering lilacs, which immediately began shamelessly appraising him, and with none of the embarrassment one would expect to find in such a dreadfully strange situation.
Well... this is fine, I suppose.
But, since the situation was awkward enough, Rio saw little point in maintaining his usual polite decorum, settling on the kind of expression he reserved, whether he knew it or not, for when he didn't so rigidly need keep up appearances. And, well, this would make it less awkward for Yang too.
So, impassive, Rio stared back.
"..."
That was why it was a little strange when the blonde girl's face stiffened in a way that was almost completely unnoticeable.
And, as more seconds passed...
"...Well, it's, uh... yeah. It's a good face, I think."
Those at the table blinked at the completely un-Yang-like reply.
Blake, who had been observing the oddly developing situation with only vague interest until then, even eyed the undeniably awkward Yang with a raised eyebrow.
But Jaune immediately slumped in his seat.
"...I got the reaction I wanted, and I'm the one who started all this, but why do I feel even more depressed now? Handsome guys really are not human..."
At that, Pyrrha looked like she wanted to say something, even opened her mouth too, but then flushed slightly and closed it.
Nora wasn't nearly so abashed, however.
"Don't worry, fearless leader, the Grimm will want to eat you regardless of whether or not you're handsome or not."
"W-What's up with that depressing response that screams that you've given up on me?!"
Smiles and snickers filled the table.
That is, it was an undoubtedly warm atmosphere.
But that was exactly why Rio felt so out of place.
Yes, he was by no means close friends with all these people... but that wasn't what he was referring to.
This world... it wasn't his.
And neither was this flicker of a happy moment in front of him.
That happiness existed elsewhere.
Had existed elsewhere.
Whether it was waking up in that new world as a seven-year-old orphan and getting caught up with various royal scandals.
Running away, allowing him to meet his adoptive fox-eared little sister Latifa and becoming friends with everyone at the spirit folk village, as well as meeting the relatives of his departed parents in the Yagumo region, where he affirmed his desire for revenge.
Those heavenly lights of the hero summoning that led him to Miharu, Aki, and Masato. Awakening his humanoid spirit, Aisha. Seeing Celia again, allowing him to save her from a marriage she otherwise wouldn't have been happy with.
Meeting Liselotte Cretia and her attendants, one-sidedly reuniting with the Princess Flora from his Academy days, almost killing the object of his revenge, attending a party where he was able to form a good relationship with several people, one of them being Miharu's school friend, Satsuki, that had been summoned along with her.
And there, where Satsuki had beaten it into him to be a little more selfish, making him reconsider how he tried to push Miharu and the others away from him.
Stumbling across Princess Christina; the seemingly cold older sister of Flora, and then helping her flee to Galarc at Celia's bequest, being awarded a mansion in Rodania for his efforts, and then… and then… right before Rio planned to leave for the Proxia Empire for information on that man, Lucius...
He ended up here...
In this place called Remnant.
Yes.
Another world... again.
"Rio? Something wrong? Ah, are you not going to eat anything?"
With a blink, Rio was snapped out of his thoughts.
Ruby was looking at him with an innocent, friendly expression.
Just as she always did.
Rio lightly took a breath to calm himself, then offered the girl a smile he meant more than he could say. "Thank you for reminding me, Ruby. I'll get right on that."
"O-Oh, well, uh, yeah, take your time."
Rio slipped out of his seat, however, right as he began to walk away...
"Hey Rio, you grabbing something? Can you bring me back some pancakes, pretty please!" Nora clasped her hand in prayer with an eager look in her eye.
"Feel free to refuse her," Ren said right after.
"Ren!?"
"I would love to bring you back some pancakes, Nora," Rio said, amusement bleeding through his tone.
"Yay! You're the best, ah— but Ren's still THE best. No offense."
Smiling faintly, Rio walked off.
When he approached the breakfast counter, however, he couldn't help but marvel at the selection.
It seemed like the choices were for all kinds of people, Japanese cuisine being no exception. Though, Rio had no idea what they called it over here.
He grabbed a dish with rice, miso soup, and some salmon, and even began to fill a plate full of pancakes.
It was perhaps five minutes into his endeavor did a voice come from behind him.
"U-Um, excuse me?"
He set the tray down and turned, and when he did, found a fidgeting girl having trouble even looking him in the eye.
But beyond all that...
Fox ears.
Those faunus features twitched above the girl's head at irregular intervals, and just the same, so was a bushy tail even now swiping left and right.
Rio's expression instantly relaxed, for a reason only known to him.
"Yes, is something the matter?"
"O-Oh, I um, just wanted to ask for your scroll number?"
Rio's relaxed state instantly fell off a building.
No, the girl's did too, actually.
"W-Wait, not like that! I, just, um... I was only..."
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing came out of her mouth, and as that became more and more apparent to the girl, her face started burning like it was on fire.
Of course, as the seconds passed, and with Rio's face matching her so religiously, it seemed like the dreadfully awkward atmosphere would only continue to remain.
But eventually...
"Ah, well... sure, I don't mind," Rio said, halfway to a smile.
"W-Wait? Really?"
Chuckling, Rio nodded his head.
"Yes, really."
While its not something I'm typically used to hearing... she still worked up the courage to come up to me.
That said, Rio tilted his head curiously.
"Ah, but you don't know me, right? Are you sure that—"
"Oh I know who you are, R-Rio. My friend's in a few of your classes. She told me about you," the girl said quickly, smiling.
But then that smile completely vanished once she got a look at Rio's silent surprise.
Her face instantly reddened once more.
"O-Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That probably makes me sound like a total weirdo. I, um, what I meant was—uhh, I always do this, every—"
"Ah, p-please relax, it's okay, really," Rio said in an attempt to put her at ease, although with a smile that was chipping in several places. Then he coughed, gesturing towards her with one hand. "But, well, you know my name. Is it okay if I know yours?"
Rio asked such a question, one he thought was completely normal.
Of course, that was until the girl said and did nothing for about five seconds, as if stuck in freeze-frame. But then, the girl blinked and came right back to life, where not only her body went rigid, but her face too, a face that all too quickly grew an even more pronounced shade of red than before.
"O-Oh! Y-Yes! M-My name is Lilith. Lilith Marron."
Chuckling once more, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Lilith," Rio said without delay.
"S-Same here."
"But you said you wanted my scroll number?" Rio reached into his pocket and grabbed the device, unaware that Lilith's tail began wagging even faster. "I'm sorry if this is strange, but would you mind doing it for me? I actually haven't had one of these for very long."
"Oh that's okay, I don't mind." The girl was already nodding her head.
Rio handed over the device, and while Lilith began eagerly thumbing through a few screens on the display, his mind couldn't help but retreat elsewhere, to his memories as Haruto; school days of him exchanging contact information with his classmates.
Not that he had truly ended up socializing with any one of them.
Making friends and dating?
Those felt like very, very, far off things.
After all, during that time, he was...
Rio imperceptibly shook his head, eyes drifting back to Lilith, the unbidden cheeriness on that expression of hers. The way her pensive lips had curved into a smile on a dime, and then perhaps the strangest part of it all...
Why in the world such a reaction seemed to have any tie to him...
Or...
No, Rio thought. It's probably only me who's strange, for not being able to so easily act the same...
Sifting through such thoughts, Rio released a beaten smile, but, that was when he noticed.
The abrupt movement.
Of course, by that point it was already too late.
"Whoa, guys, look. I caught it...!"
A black haired boy Rio didn't know suddenly came up right behind Lilith and closed his hand around her tail.
The effect was immediate.
Rio's scroll clattered loudly against the floor, surprise and discomfort all but forcing an abruptly gasping Lilith to lose her grip on it all at once.
Now, this could have been accident.
It could have been a joke bred from ignorance even.
But then the black haired boy started clenching and unclenching his fist around the girl's animal appendage, morbid curiosity lighting up his features.
"Wow, that's disgusting, it's actually moving even as I'm touching it like this," the boy said, looking over his shoulder at with a laugh.
He, of course, was talking to the three others, boys, standing a few paces away. But, them not echoing the laughter back wasn't a sign that they were uncomfortable with what they were seeing. No, not when they just stared at what their friend was doing with easy smiles criss-crossing each one of their faces.
As if they were relieved.
Relieved that they had just found an unexpected way to pass the time.
"U-Um, please stop," Lilith managed, voice strained, clearly wanting to wriggle out of the boy's grip but not so easily able to.
"Hm? What was that? I just heard a little woodland creature squeaking just now. Heh. Maybe trying using human speech next—... um, maybe, haha, try, uh, using—..................."
The black haired boy abruptly stopped talking.
No, surely he wanted to keep going, had been planning to, even.
Just.
The cold chill that suddenly drenched his body from head to toe made that slightly difficult, and the unpleasant sweat that had instantaneously began prickling at the back of his neck even more so.
Of course, that moment of pause was more than enough.
Rio didn't even need to grip the wrist particularly hard; that is, when he reached over and removed the boy's hold on Lilith's tail.
The boy's eyes marginally widened, either just now noticing him, or even at the action that had clearly just been done with little effort.
Nonetheless, anger came swift.
"W-... Who the—"
But then he stopped once more when he got a look at Rio's face. Yet this wasn't because of recognition or the like, nor did it really have anything to do with the eye-catching white hair. No, it was the amber orbs that stared at him not with anger, not with outrage, not with hostility. Just...
Cold apathy.
But then just like that it was gone.
"Oh, my mistake," Rio said, smiling politely. "It's just, for a moment there, you didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable this girl looked. I just couldn't help but be a little confused. I didn't mean to put my hands on you."
The black haired boy looked momentarily stunned.
Lilith even more so.
"...You still have your hands on me, bastard," the boy seethed just as quickly with gritted teeth, at the same time violently trying to wrestle his hand back but making very little progress doing so.
"Oh, that's right, how embarrassing of me."
Rio let go, looking disturbingly sheepish, the other boy instantly retreating a few steps backward, expression severe.
But, more importantly...
"Miss Lilith," Rio careened his head at the girl behind him. "I'm sorry if I overstepped just now. Should I have stayed out of it?"
Blinking, Lilith's soft chocolate orbs looked disbelieving for a second. Then, as if on its own, her mouth moved. "Ah, um, no... t-thank you for helping me..."
"No, truthfully, imagining her in your place made me a little irritated just now..."
"Huh?" The fox-eared, fox-tailed girl, someone who bore such an uncanny resemblance to his sister, tilted her head.
"Sorry, it's nothing."
Meanwhile, the black haired boy was watching all of this with a flabbergasted look on his face.
I'm... being ignored. I'm being ignored right now.
This white haired dude he didn't even know, likely some irrelevant first year, came out of nowhere and not only interrupted him, but put his hands on him as well. No, even now, having the gall to continue chatting up that filthy faunus like nothing had even happened, like he wasn't even here?
Oh... I get it.
He was being made fun of.
Him, a third year.
He was being made fun of all while this animal lover continued to...
The boy's teeth grit.
"Casually having a conversation, fucking flirting with that freak like I'm not even here, aren't you acting a little too cocky?!"
Just like that, and as if the shout gave him confidence he did not necessarily even need, the black-haired youth actually sent a fist flying towards the back of Rio's head.
Of course...
No, isn't this level of anger a bit much?
Inwardly sighing, Rio cleanly sidestepped the blow, right before, in a precise display of timing, pushing the man's bicep with just enough force to have him spinning in a complete one-eighty.
The effect was immediate.
Since the boy clearly hadn't expected the switch up in balance, and because he couldn't secure his footwork in time, he could do little else but stumble half-haphazardly into the hastily sprawled arms of his friends.
All noise in the mess hall now ceased.
Feeling the numerous eyes on them, Rio wanted to sigh once more, but because he didn't want the situation to get further out of hand, he calmly addressed the now pissed-looking black haired boy, even clearing his throat to go about deescalating.
Logic should work, right?
"I'm sorry for reacting just now, but... surely we don't need to fight, right? After all, regardless of whoever threw the first punch, we'll both end up getting in trouble if this continues. So—"
"A-Are you really still looking down on me?!"
With a scream, the black-haired boy was on him again, sending several more punches. With a frown, Rio began moving backward, left, right, and forward, dodging them all by a hair's breadth. However, even in this flurry of movement, what Rio really wanted to do was tilt his head.
Perhaps I got ahead of myself. He's way too emotional right now.
Well, nothing proved that more when chaste breaths turned into biting growls as the boy tried to even more seriously land a hit on Rio's body, but unequivocally failed to do so. Although, as Rio abruptly stepped into one of the strikes, batting it away, but just to backpedal in the direction the boy had just came from...
Should I... just let myself get hit to calm him down?
Such a thought came to him.
Then Rio's eyes marginally widened all of sudden as fist came screaming past his suddenly tilting head, but not just any fist, one with blueish white energy coalescing around the hands.
Perhaps...
This was aura?
Interesting, Rio mused, continuing to avoid them yes, but with curiosity that might have been out of place.
But, as the lethal amounts of aura unceremoniously continued to crashed into nothing but air on account of Rio's quick repositioning, and as even those subtle impacts started to become more and more audible to all those within earshot, Rio no longer thought allowing himself to get struck was a very good idea.
Still...
Huh. Aura can be used to not only augment defense, but physical ability as well. The similarities between our two worlds really is astounding...
"Wipe that calm look off your face bastard! Tch! And why the hell are you three just standing there! Help me pummel this arrogant prick!"
Huffing irritably at another missed punch, the boy suddenly called out to those three others, the ones that had been just as spectator-driven as everyone else in that cafeteria.
Of course, that quickly changed.
"R-Right, Clay!"
"Of course!"
"Try to hold him down…!"
Clay, the third year's name was; his three friends jumped in not even a second later, making it what should have been a very impossible four on one.
Lilith thought so at least, heart plummeting slightly, having been watching from the side for a while now, frozen stiff.
She even made to say something, cry out, anything.
Although?
"How the—?"
"Are you fucking serious...?!"
"How is he even—?! Fucking hit him! He's just one person!"
It was strangely synchronized; the way countless eyes all seemed to widen in ambiguous astonishment.
Because while punches flew through the air all focusing on one target, not one of them landed, the white haired boy either tilting his head, spinning away from, or even vaulting over arms just in time.
Two of them even managed to score an actually impressive maneuver, coming from both front and back. Rio didn't even look as he backpedaled, ducked under the unseen blow, then lightly pushed at the back now in front of him, watching as the fumbling fist had nowhere else to go but to crash into one of the unprotected stomachs of one of his own allies.
With a gasp, the friendly fire had one doubling over.
The other, either out of shock, or footwork, lost his balance and did the same.
Of course, at that moment.
"Haha, someone's not paying attention!" Clay's triumphant laugh came screaming from behind.
You aren't supposed to announce that...
Somewhat at a loss, Rio feinted left for second, then went right, ducked under the punch, but only he could quietly appear behind him, grab him by the back of his collar, and rotate his body like a pendulum.
Just in time for Clay to get tackled by the unsuspecting partner who had tried to back him up.
"Geh!"
"Gugah!?"
The two crashed to the ground in a heap.
The other duo, just having gotten back up and already trying to jump back in the melee, suddenly moved out of the way to prevent themselves from tripping over them.
In other words...
It was quite the strange and pitiful sight to witness for all those in the cafeteria who had been simply watching in reaction-less dazes and nothing more.
Lilith, too, had reached such a level, no longer looking quite so concerned, just... understandably confused.
"Y-... You...!"
Of course, this odd lull was suddenly broken by Clay, stumbling to his feet with the kind of strained expression that matched his ragged pants as well.
"Why, the hell, are you not properly even hitting back...!?"
Ah.
His words made everyone realize.
No, it was strange that most of them had taken this long to do so.
After all, that white haired boy's movements were all purely defensive and reflective, certainly enough to say he hadn't even landed a proper hit. Of course, not that his opponents could say they had either.
But, amidst all this was Rio, who had an expression that didn't seem right given the circumstances.
Awkwardly, his amber eyes slid to side.
"Ah, well... it's just you seemed to be genuinely angry at me. Striking back would have angered you further, but ending the fight too quickly would have also done the same... I, um, didn't really know what to do...?"
A beat passed where nothing was said.
Yes; after those words that had been spoken with such halting awkwardness, and more than Rio even had any right to feel given the present situation, there was not a single voice, not even a murmur.
It was to the point where various people could even be heard quietly shuffling in their seats.
A clatter from a dropped utensil might have even echoed.
And then.
Someone amidst the crowd snorted.
Of course, Rio couldn't think to check where it had come from, not when it was immediately masked by the almost animalistic growl that suddenly came from the very back of Clay's throat.
"Even now you're still doing it! YOU'RE STILL MOCKING ME!!! What right do you have to do that?! I'm you're senior!"
"Again, it really wasn't my intention to make fun of you. I just didn't know what correct course of actio—"
"I'LL TELL YOU! IT WAS TO JUST STAND THERE AND GET FUCKING PUMMELED!!!"
"Right, there was that way after all... haha?"
"STOP LOOKING LIKE I JUST TOLD YOU THE ANSWER TO SOME TEST PROBLEM YOU INSANE BASTARD!!!" With that, and with Clay biting on his teeth so hard they might break, the boy charged at Rio again like a frenzied animal, as if doing anything else would be a crime and nothing more.
And Rio, brows now furrowing in almost quizzical uncertainty, prepared for the next round of blows.
Or he would have.
"CEASE FIGHTING AT ONCE!"
A loud, sharp feminine voice came through the mess hall, stunning everyone completely still. And when the familiar clicking of heels followed, Rio didn't doubt the presence of the nervous sweat now pinching the back of his neck.
"What is going on here...!?"
As predicted, Glynda came in like a hurricane, leveling a glare at anyone who dared make eye contact with her, that is, until she saw those at the very center; Clay, his three teammates, and of course, the white haired boy now smiling awkwardly.
Her stare especially lingered on him.
"H-Hello again, professor," Rio greeted with a cough. "I... I imagine it hasn't been very long since we last—"
"It hasn't even been an hour yet," Glynda replied evenly.
"R-Right."
Sighing, the blonde's gaze left him, landing on the various bystanders instead, making Rio only now realize he had garnered the undivided attention of practically the entire cafeteria. Of course, that Team RWBY and JNPR was included in this, but were still un-apologetically staring while... snacking away... Rio didn't quite know how to feel about.
No, Nora and Jaune even caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up, one more energetic than the other...
Regardless, Glynda's authoritative voice cut into that post-haste.
"You. Tell me what happened."
And she did so by rounding one person.
"M-Me?"
Lilith pointed to herself, understandably flustered.
Now, it wasn't apparent whether she was chosen because the professor realized she was the root of the conflict, or if she just saw Lilith looking on anxiously like a perfect bystander, and simply based her decision off of that.
"Well, uh, I was just talking to R-Rio," Lilith stammered. "And then, um…"
Now, the girl made it as far as looking in Clay's direction before the words she had planned to say immediately died in her throat, the black haired boy giving her a glare that made it clear what would happen in the future if she said the wrong thing.
Lilith started quivering.
"We... were, um, talking, and... and..."
"Actually professor, in this instance, the fault lays with me," Rio suddenly interjected, causing all eyes to look his way, surprise and confusion flooding the room like a wave.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, that white haired boy had acted in clear self-defense the entire time, and even then, any time he did attack, they were minimal and halfhearted at best.
So the way Clay looked at him was also filled with no shortage of confusion, skepticism too.
"…And, how is that?" Glynda asked, raising a brow in suspicion.
Rio responded without missing a beat.
"I had been conversating with Miss Lilith here, and Mr. Clay came and greeted me. We got to talking about combat, in which I shamelessly asked him to show me one of his team's pincer attacks. I lost myself in the moment and things got rather heated," the boy explained, tone unnaturally casual, to the point where even those who practically watched the fight from start to finish, but with no context, started to idly wonder if that was the truth.
Still, even as many people began whispering all around them, not one person called Rio out.
Even Glynda didn't seem to fully believe it, yet she had no choice to accept his words as the truth of his own side.
"And?"
Glynda then turned to Clay.
"Is that what happened, Mr. Wreathe?"
The boy flinched, only to grit his teeth together.
If he replied with anything other than 'yes', that would mean he would have to explain why they had actually come to blows, or in Rio's case, why HIS team had been the only one to do so. Then the matter of the faunas girl would surely be brought up as well, and there was no way in this crowded room full of people that no one saw him grab her tail...
Clay's displeasure became even more apparent.
But since not even he was smart enough to come up with a lie that got him out of this situation while also simultaneously punishing only those two...
"…Yeah," Clay said through gritted teeth, clear humiliation present on his face. "That's what happened. That guy asked for pointers, and I… obliged."
"...I see," Glynda eventually said, expression unreadable. "Well, if that's the case, there is nothing to be done. However, I will warn you that the next time you want to spar, wait for your respective combat classes. Although I understand the want to ask an upperclassman in such a way, the rules exist for a reason. Please follow them next time. Do you understand?"
She glared at all present.
Lilith, Clay, and his team nodded quickly.
"Mr. Amakawa?"
Rio's head immediately lowered, and when his eyes followed, he fell into that same deep-rooted habit of his.
"Of course, professor. And sorry, for causing this kind of trouble when your duties are no doubt endless."
Rio didn't look up.
If he had, he would have seen the adult woman's momentarily surprised face.
Still, Glynda quickly composed herself.
"...It's the job of a professor to look after their students, so this is only natural. Now, breakfast is almost concluded, so I suggest you hurry if you haven't eaten. Good day."
And with that, Glynda briskly walked off, leaving the room in silence.
It didn't last.
"(Hey, uh... just now... wasn't that kinda...?)"
"(Yeah... I felt it too, b-but... there's no way, right?)"
"(But, like, have you ever seen Goodwitch look so... you know?)"
"(Well, now that you mention it...)"
Vague exhaustion assaulted Rio as he heard these strange whisperings, not sure if he even wanted to know what they were talking about.
"Hey, don't expect me to thank you for that or anything."
Rio blinked to find Clay glaring at him, arms crossed.
Of course, the white haired boy was quick to shake his head.
"Of course not. I merely saw an option that would benefit both of our interests and took it. You shouldn't feel gratitude for something I did for the sake of myself."
"Guh, always with that way of talking. Come on guys, let's just go."
Seemingly nauseated with his presence, Clay Wreath and his team stormed off as well.
Of course, as soon as Rio confirmed their departure, his first reaction came all at once, and it would have been strange if it hadn't.
A quiet sigh escaped him.
And, his tensed-up shoulders, too, had relaxed.
But, well, he was glad things had been resolved without issue.
It would have been annoying to face punishment for something as serious as getting in a fight with another student. And that being said, not knowing what the consequences would be if he got too violent, Rio had erred on the side of caution.
Still.
Really, how troublesome...
"R-Rio…?"
That said, when that timid voice broke him out of his thoughts, that polite smile was already back in place.
"Ah, yes, Miss Lilith?"
Lilith approached him, looking troubled.
She was frowning, but more than that, her eyes wouldn't meet his.
No, Rio could already make a guess as to why.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.
"Miss Lilith, I owe you an apology," Rio said immediately, voice low. "Because of me, punishment was not given to them despite what they did. I selfishly decided and excluded you from that choice. If you choose to hate me now, I completely understand..."
Or so Rio said with baffling sincerity.
Thus, in the silence that followed, all Lilith could do was stare at him for a time, completely mollified.
Only.
"Th-That's not it!" she suddenly yelled, and performing an action that left Rio rather surprised.
She reached out for his right hand and grabbed it with the both of hers.
"I wanted to say thank you...! Because you handled it like that, I don't think those boys will bother me in the future. You understood what would've happened if you harmed them, and you even helped me out when I was worried about what to say. Really, thank you so much. You seriously saved me...!"
Rio just stared at her.
No, clear surprise flickered all across features, features he usually kept so composed.
But his expression soon relaxed.
"I... see. Then if it really is as you said, you are very welcome Miss Lilith. I'm... glad I was able to help," Rio said, although with the kind of awkwardness that came from having to say words he wasn't used to saying.
However, something must have triggered in the white-haired boy, because he performed his next action almost instinctively. He reached out with his other hand, aiming for the top of Lilith's head to...
To do what?
The hand froze halfway.
No, Rio was the one who froze, expression blank.
Lilith blinked, confused.
"Haha?" Rio shakily brought the hand back down with a nervous laugh. "I'm... sorry. I... don't know why I just did that..."
No, he did.
But the reason why was even more embarrassing.
She's not my sister, Rio told himself, whilst also trying to look away from the girl's painfully curious eyes.
Then he had new worries as a fist suddenly slammed into his shoulder from the side, nearly causing him to stumble forward.
"Damn Rio, we look away for one second and not only do you get into a fight with one of the upper years, but you're picking up girls too?" Yang said, having approached from the crowd of onlookers with an easy grin, naturally not even caring for the fact that she had just slugged him with, as always, impressive strength.
Well, as expected of someone who fought with their fists.
In any case, Yang was, of course, followed by the rest of RWBY, JNPR not far behind.
And incidentally, seeing a group of eight people come to the middle of a crowd must have made the rest of the onlooking students feel restless, as they suddenly began to disperse, not before taking several more discreet glances at Rio, curiosity and muted astonishment aplenty.
Not that the white haired boy noticed any of this.
Regardless, Rio properly directed his attention to Yang, who as usual seemed more than capable of closing personal distance like it was nothing. At least, that fact, along with the girl's teasing comment, must have transferred to the now startled Lilith, who only just now realized she was still holding the boy's hand.
"Eep...!"
She immediately let go in a fluster, eyes finding the floor, ears flattening against her head right after.
Of course, it was a sight that was just nostalgic enough to tug at Rio's heartstrings, and in a surprisingly painful way too.
Still, the boy forced a smile, addressing Yang, her comment rather.
"Well, it was... unfortunate that little squabble escalated that much. Especially since it seemed to interrupt everyone's mealtime."
Yang blinked, before sighing.
"...You're the only one who would call a four on one a 'little squabble'. And I would call it humble bragging if I didn't already know how weird you are about these kinds of things."
Rio tilted his head a bit.
But Yang didn't elaborate, rounding on a still rather timid Lilith with a smile.
"So who's this? I'm pretty sure I've seen her around but..."
The blonde trailed off, and that's when Ruby and Weiss made to approach as well, but Blake held them back.
Was that out of consideration to the girl's ears?
Regardless, their mouths moved a bit, but then they eventually relented, content with just waiting patiently, same as Team JNPR.
Lilith stiffened up at the sudden question, but she somehow forced her mouth to move. "O-Oh, um, I'm Lilith. Hello."
"Sup. I'm Yang. Looks like you already know Rio. What happened anyway?"
"Oh, well, I, um..."
Lilith seemed to freeze as she realized pretty much everything about what just happened would be embarrassing to say, whether that be revealing that she had asked Rio for his contact information, or the events that occurred right after, most notably her tail being...
Rio spotted the hesitation easily enough.
"Miss Lilith needed help with something, and I assisted. That was all. Those boys were a separate matter," the white haired youth said, tone conversational, of course, immediately causing Lilith to look his way with visible surprise and then relief.
"Hm. Got it," Yang nodded.
And, the blonde did.
Well, it was just a guess, but she could assume easily enough that that team had started a problem because of the girl's faunus heritage, which caused the tiniest of frowns to crinkle at her face.
Still, it vanished just as quickly.
In fact, with a smile, she slung an arm around Lilith's shoulders, much to the girl's surprise.
"Anyway, good for you girl, taking the initiative. You have to get the good ones while their still free. Of course, I'm of the same mind."
Rio blinked.
What?
It was the most vague of confusing statements, one that the boy thought he wouldn't be the only one tilting his head at. That said, then he looked at Lilith's slightly widened eyes. No, the way they so very quickly turned to serious understanding instead, and all of a sudden, Rio felt like it was probably better he did not know.
But then it crumbled as Lilith cutely gasped.
"Th-That's right Rio, I almost forgot. Here!"
She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a scroll, however Rio soon recognized it wasn't her own.
"I'm so sorry for dropping it at that time!" Lilith apologized instantly, even going as far as to rigidly dip her head.
No, you only dropped it because you were in pain, Or so Rio wanted to say with a frown, but held himself back.
That wasn't what he was supposed to say in this situation, after all.
So, accepting the device from her hands, Rio smiled.
"Please don't trouble yourself about that, Miss Lilith. In fact, I should be thanking you for picking it up. And, um, for approaching me at all?" The boy scratched at his cheek, looking away slightly. "I may not look it, but I'm actually... not very good at making friends."
Honestly, Rio's tone was a bit too awkward for his states, but nothing could be done.
What he had just said was the truth, after all, as embarrassing as it was.
That said, he kind of expected Lilith, or even Yang, to suddenly laugh at him.
"We're friends... you said?"
But there was Lilith looking at him in bewildered surprise, eyes slightly wide, and when even Yang suddenly shook her head with a snort, Rio felt like it couldn't be helped with the way he stiffened up all at once, and with a shaky smile to boot.
That way to say, he instantly took it the wrong way.
"R-Right. Perhaps that was too forward after all? My bad, Miss Lilith. That was just my misunderstanding. You don't have to pay it any—"
"What are you talking about? I want to be friends with Rio though."
Strange smile still in place, Rio's words died in his throat.
Even so, Lilith continued to stare at him, smiling as well, but with a cute tilt to her head.
And Yang, who could only continue to watch this fumbling awkwardness from the side, could only sigh.