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Chapter 42: Disguise

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“Wow. Did that really happen?” Ophelia asked.

Currently, Robin was sitting inside Class 1A. He had slept like a log the day he got back thanks to his body being tired from everything that happened the other day. Robin had visited the Hunter's Guild to report to Thomas what had occurred. Thomas had given him an apology as well as a generous bonus for his troubles.

Right now it was Monday, and everyone else but Osagi had returned from their missions. Today, they decided to eat lunch in the classroom, and other than Raven in the corner, it was completely empty. Robin had used this chance to tell the group about everything that happened in his mission.

“Yep.” Robin nodded.

“Apparently, even the police don't know who the Grimm Reaper is. According to them, the vigilante is known for murdering criminals, and then disappears into the night like some kind of supernatural being.”

“Mmm.” Adam nodded. “I'm glad there are people like that.”

“Glad?” Amy questioned with her furrowed eyebrows. “What about that is something to be glad about?”

“What isn't there to be glad about? The trash is finally getting cleaned up. With them gone, there's less problems to worry about.”

Amy tilted her head down, and she looked at him with upturned eyes.

“Are you being serious? They're people, Adam. They were alive. Breathing. Living.”

”And they had it coming.” Adam stated.

“Oh so just because they were criminals, they deserve to die? The Grimm Reaper could have just gotten the police to arrest them. If they were so powerful, knocking them out should've been a piece of cake. The criminals should have just did their time.”

The tension in the air was thick. In between the two, the air seemed to spark. Ophelia and Conner had worried looks on their faces as they stared back and forth between Adam and Amy. Meanwhile, Blake stared at Robin with a questioning look.

“And for what purpose?” Robin asked with a serious look.

*You think some time in jail will fix them?

Robin spent the last few days reviewing what had happened. The woman's words echoed in his mind, and he made a conclusion. As Robin Cunningham, he was toyed with by the woman he held feelings for. His past life ingrained into his mind the dark side of humanity. They lie, deceive, and mock.

Upon reflection, he had an epiphany: people don't change so easily. It was a part of their nature as person. Without true regret, they would not change how they think. Even Robin had to experience betrayal before he started to doubt others. These people were criminals who devoted their life to this line of work. To regret doing this meant rejecting everything they did so far with their life. How many of them would let go of their pride?

“Do you think spending time in jail will make them a better person? I don't think so.”

“That's what it's for. To let them reflect on their actions.” Amy retorted.

At that moment, they heard a scoff from the side. Raven was looking out the window while drinking her juice.

“What? Got something say, Raven?” Amy asked.

Raven turned to look at her in the eyes and said--

“You go on and on, talking about them as if they deserve to live in the open.”

“Of course!” Amy exclaimed. “They breathe and walk just the same as you and I. Why shouldn't they be punished fairly?”

“Because they're criminals.” Raven stated blandly.

“Criminals who kill and don't treat you as equals. That's why they don't deserve fair punishment.”

“But they're still living beings.” Amy started.

“Living beings that were criminals hiding in plain view.” Robin interjected.

“They walk into stores just like everyone else, eat with everyone else, and live like everyone else, but they were criminals. Beneath their facade, they make a living through hurting others for the sake of their own gain.”

“So you agree with Adam then, Robin?" This time Blake joined in.

"That murder is ok? That their lives are so insignificant?”

“No. They are the same as us.” he replied.

After living inside Vale for so long, he naturally understood. His own ears served as a tag – a tool – for identifying how he was different from the rest. He was well aware of the hatred humans held for him, and it only served to fuel his own hatred for humans. After all, even Robin also was racist towards other humans in the beginning.

But when he was raised in a faunus household, Robin experienced none of those things. He was loved, praised, and found friends he could truly trust. When they were younger, Robin frequently talked with Yang, who competed with him in the tournament. His roommate, Osagi, turned out to be a righteous person. Osagi's enthusiasm towards his weapon allowed him to converse with Robin, who had learned about all types of weaponry through books. Even Raven, who was a loner, conversed with Robin from time to time.

Thanks to them, Robin changed the way he thought about humans. Their relationships quenched his unjust hatred for humans, but he would be lying if he said he didn't have any stereotypes about them.

“As fellow people, we should cherish their lives like Amy said. However in certain cases, we must do like Adam says and clean up the trash.” Robin continued.

“They've done things they can't ever undo. There's no way some time in jail will be good enough punishment for the victims.”

Robin reiterated the Reaper's words from that day. He had decided she was correct in her statements, but Amy thought otherwise.

“I can't believe I'm hearing this.”

Amy was standing at this point and raised her hands in the air.

“You guys are basically supporting the Grimm Reaper. The vigilante is nothing more than a murderer trying to fulfill its ego. Their actions are no different from the criminals. If they really wanted to do something about it, that person could have joined the police and tracked them down together.”

This time it was Raven's turn to slam the desk in anger, and rose up to retort to Amy's accusation.

“Your so-called police can't even keep track of the criminals inside their own cells. If they were good at their job, these guys would not be able to walk in the daylight like they can now. They are bound by the same foolish laws and regulations meant to help them. The Grimm Reaper is someone who works for justice and does the police's jobs for them. Since the law can't stop them, she does.”

Raven grabbed her trash and tossed it away at the doorway. She then stomped out of the room which had become dead silent. Raven was always quiet and alone, so her outburst was a surprise to all of them.

= ...I never said the Grimm Reaper was a woman. =

Robin was no fool. After contemplating on the events that happened the other day, Robin noticed a detail he had missed before. The woman called the Grimm Reaper used the same weapon Raven had. In fact, Robin had purposefully chosen to have lunch in the classroom in order to check his suspicions about Raven by watching her reaction to the story.

She reacted about as much as he expected, but he didn't expect her to respond so enthusiastically to Amy. In reality, Amy's accusation cut deep into Raven's emotions, but Robin and the others could not know that. Robin was about to toss away his theory about Raven until she slipped up at the last moment. Robin scratched his cheek as he was filled with a sense of guilt for getting her so worked up.

“I'm gonna go apologize to Raven.” Robin said.

Although they didn't hang out much, Raven was one of his precious human friends. Thus he didn't want to leave any bad blood between them. Conner raised his palm in the hand.

“Stop! Aren't you forgetting something?”

The entire group looked at him.

“You took his inventory chips right? Share some with us!”

Robin chuckled. The tense mood immediately disappeared and was lightened by Conner's comment.

“Could you be any more greedy, Dinkleberg?” Adam asked.

“What? I have my priorities straight, unlike you.” Conner replied.

“No, I'm pretty sure you have them backwards.” Blake retorted.

“Sigh..Including the chip itself, I got 11. I'm taking four, two will be for Osagi. There's enough for at least one for each of you.”

“Alright, that makes 7 left over. There's 5 of us here, so who gets left out?” Ophelia asked.

“I think the answer is obvious. We must settle this just like we always do!!” Conner exclaimed.

As Robin walked out the door, the others could be seen rolling up their sleeves and activating their auras. Through his peripheral vision, he saw they were doing an intense rock-paper-scissors match. As their hands descended, they rapidly changed their choices while watching the others.

After walking around, Robin found Raven standing further down the hallway. She was resting her elbows on the windowsill while staring out into the courtyard.

“Hey.” Robin said as he walked up to her.

“...”

“I hope you don't hold anything against her. That's just how Amy is.”

“It's not just Amy, even your girlfriend is having doubts.”

“What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend.” Robin tilted his head in confusion.

Raven scoffed softly. A woman's intuition was never wrong. Even though it was evident in her eyes, she didn't say a word about it. Not her problem.

“Whatever. Point is, you're all being naive. Something like jail time isn't enough to make up for their crimes.”

The two of them didn't speak. Robin reflected on her words, but wished to change the subject.

“Hey, do you know how to hide your status?”

Raven arched an eyebrow at him.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because those criminals did and so did she. It seems like a useful skill, so I was wondering if you knew how to do it.”

Of course Robin knew she could, but kept that a secret. Raven had her reasons for hiding her identity, and he didn't want to call her out on it.

“..I do.”

“Then could you please teach me it?”

Robin looked at her with pleading eyes. His ears drooped on his head, giving the impression of a sad puppy.

“....Ok. First, open up your Identify skill. Does it show the conditions?”

“You mean the 30 feet requirement? Yeah it does.”

“No, there's more.”

IdentifyWith your aura activated, you can now use it to identify unknown objects and people. The small use of aura is insignificant, allowing it to cost no drop in aura count. There are certain conditions that are required for this skill to successfully work. Through your discoveries, you have confirmed some of these conditions.

-You must be within 30 feet of the target.

-Your own aura must not be disturbed by any outside forces.

-If the target is a person, you must be able to see their faces clearly. If you recognize the individual, this condition is automatically fulfilled.

-The target must not be influenced by a skill that hides their true identity.

“Whoa,” Robin said, “there are 3 more conditions.”

Identify was a rather basic skill, and Robin never really had trouble using it until recently. Thus, he didn't bother to check the details other than when he first activated his aura. However, he was confused since these conditions did not show themselves when he decided to check the skill recently after the incident.

“That's because you were involved in an event where you couldn't use Identify correctly. After experiencing these conditions not working multiple times, the skill details eventually changes and notifies you about the other conditions. Being able to understand all the conditions is a requirement before using any skill that hides your identity.”

“I see.. Wait. What about if you were born with an ability to hide your identity? What conditions show then?”

Robin was referring to Conner's semblance, Masquerade, which allowed Conner to change his name and appearance when people used Identify on him. Robin had at first assumed this was thanks to his ability, but now realized the discrepancy between the statements.

“Then they would have the conditions already revealed at a young age without experiencing it. Schools don't teach about it in order to help lessen the crime rate. Even I only know about it thanks to my teacher.” Raven explained.

“I see. That certainly makes sense. So the skill I'm trying to learn has to mess with these conditions?”

“That's correct. So long as they are not fulfilled, Identify cannot activate correctly. Depending on the skill activated, it's even possible to give yourself a fake name.”

The two of them began walking. Raven indicated that Robin was to wait outside while she went inside the girl dormitory. She returned with a suitcase, and led him to one of the training rooms.

“The skill I'm going to teach you is called Disguise. We'll practice hiding identities by using masks and makeup. You'll try to change the way you walk and talk as if you were an entirely different person. I will also practice with you. After successfully creating a new persona multiple times as well as recognizing the minor details I put into my own performance, you'll learn the skill.”

The two of them began their practice session. Raven would put on makeup and different clothes in order to change how she looked. She went from unsocial schoolgirl to drunk middle-aged woman. The change was perfect even in the way she walked.

Identify

Emily Rosehelm (Lvl 15)HP:244/244Aura:200/200

= So it can alter levels as well huh? = Robin thought as Raven traced her finger on his chest.

“Oh heeey cutie.” she said in a different voice.

“You mind heeelping me? *Hic. I can't seem to find mah way home. *Hic.”

The acting was well done. Her eyes were completely zoned out, her words slurred, and her body swayed back and forth. Robin felt a little uncomfortable with their closeness.

“Oi.” Raven said in her normal voice while slapping his cheek.

“Take this seriously or I'll stop helping you.”

“I'm trying.” Robin replied.

It was then Robin's turn to try to act like another person.

“No, no, it's completely wrong. You're too carefree in your movements."she criticized.

"Remember, you're a military officer. Stand square on your feet. Walk with a sense of purpose and authority.”

It was difficult, but Raven was clear in her instructions. Robin was taught the different kinds of human movement people did. He practiced imitating people. Since today was a free day, they had no exercises in the afternoon. They spent the next few hours practicing. Eventually, a window popped up in front of Robin.

You've learned the ability Disguise.

DisguiseThanks to your experiences and practice, you've learned how to hide information about yourself from others. Because you can only grasp this at the basic level, all you can do is hide your identity. When you activate this again after it's already active, it stops the skill.

Cost: 100 Aura.

“I finally learned it.” Robin informed Raven.

“Good. Took long enough. Unfortunately, you only have the basic level of understanding. Come get me when I'm in between missions, and we'll practice again. The easiest way you can level up this skill is to practice. Watch people. How they walk, talk, and react to others. After a while, you'll be able to change your name as well.”

At that moment, Blake burst through the door.

“Robin! There you are. Where have you been?”

She noticed Raven and scrunched her eyebrows.

“I was learning a skill from Raven. We were practicing just now. What's the matter?”

Blake shook her head and looked back at Robin. She motioned with her head out the door. Robin gathered his stuff and walked outside.

“Did you check your messages?” Blake asked.

“No, I was busy doing other stuff.”

“The White Fang called. We need to go to a meeting.”