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Chapter 52: Feelings (Part 2)

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Conner looked at the wall with a grin, imagining the situation on the girl's side. Meanwhile, Robin is desperately trying to ignore the fact Blake probably heard everything he said earlier. There was a different crisis in front of him at the moment. Adam and Osagi eagerly watched the situation unfold. Conner fired the first shot.

“You might as well give up.” Conner said mischievously. “She belongs to Robin.”

“What!”

Robin immediately caught onto Conner's motive and glared at him disapprovingly. Unfortunately, it was too late.

“Wait really?” Sun sank into depression. “Darn, she was really pretty too. Sigh...but I don't wanna steal your girl, man. Shoot.”

The three boys looked disappointed at his reaction. If he doesn't fight for it, it's not interesting.

“Ah, she not really my girlfriend.” Robin corrected reflexively.

Upon seeing Sun's depression, Robin felt the need to clarify their relationship. The boys smiled knowingly while Robin realized his mistake. This was exactly what they wanted. If they were stranded on an island, then Robin did the equivalent of shooting his own radio.

“Oh?” Sun immediately cheered up. “So there's hope for me then?”

“...Well. Yeah.. but..”

“Great! I'll ask her out the next time I see her!”

“What? Why? You only just met her today, right?” Robin said flabbergasted.

“Yeah, so what's the problem?”

“I mean, you might hate her personality. I mean, she could be antisocial, a bookworm, moody. You don't know.”

“Well then I'll find out when we go out.”

“...”

Robin's mouth hung in the open. Faced with Sun's straightforward nature, he was at a loss of what to do. On a side note, this was the first time in a long while Conner or Adam saw Robin flustered to this extent. Usually, he was calm, confident, and collected, not even when gunfire broke out among protesters could shake Robin, yet the appearance of this faunus did exactly that. They were enjoying this immensely.

= If I say nothing, Blake might go out with this guy. But if I do say something, that would mean I would have to admit to Blake (face-to-face) about my feelings. Either way, I'm probably going to regret this. Forget the White Fang, this is the bigger crisis here! =

Of course, Blake would not say yes to Sun. Why would she after hearing Robin confess his feelings? But for young Robin, who was in the presence of a love rival for the first time, he forgot about this detail and was concentrated on the fact that he might not get Blake. Images of Sun and Blake going out to the movies, shopping together, kissing each other flashed through his mind until Sun suddenly got up.

= SCREW THIS! =

“Ah, man that's a relief. Hey, you guys think we'll run into her here? I'm gonna wander a bit and see if I can find--”

“You can't do that.” Robin said, suddenly standing up as well.

“?? Why not?”

“Cause she's mine.”

“You.. literally just said she wasn't your girlfriend.”

“I know what I said. And I'm saying she's mine.”

Sun was no fool. It didn't take him long to register what exactly Robin was trying to convey.

“..I see. So you like her too. But you're not her boyfriend, right?”

“No.”

Sun stepped closer to Robin until their faces were inches away.

“Then you can't stop me.”

Conner and Osagi started to slap each other on the arm. It was finally happening.

“I would gladly step down if your were her boyfriend, but you're not. You two aren't together, so you two are not an item. In other words, it's fair game.”

Sun's stance was already that of a gentleman. Normally, even if she had a girlfriend, there was no reason for Sun to not try to obtain her, yet he insists he would give up the moment they got together. Wouldn't it be rude to tell him to step down now?

= Even if I can't tell him to step down, that doesn't mean I should either. =

Robin's heart swelled with jealousy at the thought that someone else would get Blake. He normally only got heated up for fights, but this was the first time for love.

“Fine.” Robin said. “We compete for Blake then. Fair and square. Whoever she chooses, becomes the boyfriend. The loser doesn't complain. Agreed?”

Sun nodded. “Agreed.”

The two boys stared at one another. With the air between them seeming to spark, Conner suddenly jumped in between the two and patted each of them on the shoulder.

“Nice, nice! What a lovely situation this turned out to be! Making friends, making enemies, making frenemies. Ah, such is youth.”

With Conner's comment seeming to resemble that of an old man, the atmosphere between Robin and Sun was dispersed, leaving them awkwardly standing far too close to one another.

= Lovely situation my ass! This is your fault in the first place! =

Seeking revenge, Robin turned the tables on Conner.

“Speaking of which, we haven't seem to talk about you yet.” Robin said.

“...Eh?”

= Gotcha. =

If someone had to describe Robin's face right now, it would be that of the devil. Adam also did not miss this opportunity to return the favor of all of Conner's pranks he had to suffer through all these years.

“Yeah, that's right.” Adam continued. “Who's your girl?”

“Naaah. You guys are being silly. I prank girls. I don't love them.”

“Nope. “I can read your expressions like the way you read a book, and that is the face of a man who's lying.””

Conner frown after hearing his own words being used against him. Sun sank back into the bath next to Neptune. It was their turn to watch eagerly.

“...Ophelia.” Conner murmured as softly as possible. This wasn't something he wanted the girls to hear.

Adam, Robin, and Osagi all simultaneously threw their heads back.

= Ophelia? The same girl that has been hurting him for the sake of raising points in Sadism? How is it possible? I mean, she's always hitting him and trying to get in his way when he talks to Amy, but I guess they have been talking to each other a lot recently. Still I don't..oh my god she's a tsundere. =

Robin slapped his forehead when he realized just what kind of relationship those two had.

= Wait a second. Didn't Conner also confidently say Ophelia would join us again after leaving the White Fang? I think at one point Ophelia also hated when Amy grabbed Conner's hand when they first met too! My god, the signs were all there! =

“...Are you sure you don't have a hidden stat for Masochism?” Osagi asked.

“Of course not!” Conner protested.

The boys unanimously doubted that.

“Sorry, who exactly is -AOSIEFM”

Conner put his hand over Neptune's mouth. Placing a finger over his lips, Conner then pointed at the wall. The boys followed his finger and gazed at the wall. At the top of the wall was a small slit, capable of sliding so that people on both sides could communicate with each other. The slit was slightly open, and the other side was dead silent.

Conner jumped out of the bath, walked up the walls, shut the slit that he purposefully left open until now, and then somersaulted off the wall and back in his original position. The boys all applauded Conner's display. Obviously, it wasn't just Robin who had trained himself this past year. Based just on his movements, you would not be able to tell that Conner was actually a lazy, easygoing prankster.

“Ophelia is a girl that Robin, Adam, and I have known since childhood.”

Conner's tone was very serious, and his voice was quiet. He obviously didn't want the other party to hear him speak.

“She's a overly serious person that is the daughter of a doctor and is Blake's best friend. Sometimes she can be a bit annoying at times, but she's actually a really caring person that blames herself more than anyone. Not only that, she doesn't judge people by rumors and only trusts what she herself sees. Ophelia is a wonderful girl, and I really, really like her.”

Conner's eyes showed no signs of joking or mockery. Without a doubt these were his true feelings.

“Ophelia huh. She sounds like a nice girl.” Neptune said. “You mind if you and I also compete over her?”

= Didn't you like Raven? That was fast recovery...=

“Oh sure,” Conner said smile with something that could not be described as a smile.

“But you better make sure you're ready to be hit with a poop bomb that will make you smell for the next three months.”

“Haha. What are you talking about?” Neptune laughed nervously. “There's no way something like that-”

“Oh it exists alright.” The one who spoke was Adam.

“The effect is guaranteed.”

Adam shivered as he recalled the time he pissed off Conner. No matter how big Adam's ego was, he learned that day why one should never make a prankster angry.

“I was just joking man I won't touch her please don't do that to me.”

Just like that Neptune's attitude did a complete 180 as the apology streamed out of his mouth so quickly even Conner was shocked at the change.

“..as long as you understand.”

“Now I'm sure we've been in here long enough.” Osagi said getting up. “Lets get out of here.”

“Stooooop!” Conner suddenly bursts out and started to pant heavily.

“You fools. We come to a hot spring bath, and you don't even consider doing this at least once?!”

= Oh here we go. =

Robin stood up and started to dry himself up with the towel. The other boys didn't catch on to what Conner was planning.

“What are you talking about?” Sun questioned.

“I'm talking about peeping of course!”

= I knew it. =

“Not interested. I already got someone I like dude.” Sun said. Conner wasn't convinced.

“Oh? And what if I said Blake was on the other side?”

“Eh?”

Conner wrapped one of his arm over Sun's shoulder and pointed them at the slit.

“Just imagine that elegant figure. Her sleek skin glistening in the water. Her body naked in all it's glory. Those huge, round boobs floating in the water.”

Conner leaned closer to Sun's ears.

“They're D- cups.”

Both Sun and Robin sucked in their breathe.

= No! I can't be fooled! This is gonna end the same way every other time has ended: we all get caught and Ophelia pokes Conner's eyes out. =

Although Robin said that to himself, he did not leave. He merely stood at the side spectating. Osagi who was beginning to leave was stopped by Conner's next words.

“Raven could be there too you know.”

“...”

“How silly.” Adam scoffed.

“I'm leaving.”

“You're not going to see any of those foreign beauties, Adam?”

At the mention of foreign beauties, Neptune was roped in as well.

= Oh. So it wasn't Raven or Ophelia, but just pretty girls in general. Wow. =

“Nah,” Adam replied. “I'm good.”

“Ok then.” Conner shrugged his shoulders. “I guess after today you'll be the only one who hasn't seen a girl naked.”

Adam froze midstep.

= Aaaaaand we lost Adam. =

“I mean, Robin has already seen Blake's body, so he's beaten you already.”

Sun glared at Robin. He was not pleased with this new information.

“I didn't see her naked, she was wearing a towel!”

Sun's expression just got worse.

“Potato, potahto. So, what are you gonna do, Adam?”

Even if he asked, the answer was already obvious. How could the prideful Adam let himself be the last to experience this? Nope, they were all staying no matter what they had said previouly. In the end, they couldn't ignore the call of this devil's voice.

“Give me a boost.” Conner demanded.

“Yes, sir!” Osagi comply and propped Conner's feet on his shoulders. Like this, Conner's face just reached the height of the slit.

“Onward men! To the Promised Lands! Ooh rah!”

“““Ooh rah!”””

Just when Conner was about to open it, the slit opened it by itself. Two fingers jabbed Conner right in the eye sockets.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Conner recoiled backwards and lost his balance. Thanks to this, both Conner and Osagi lost their footing, and they landed back into the hot spring.

“We can hear you!”

With those words said, Ophelia shut the slit and jumped off of Amy's shoulders. Conner resurfaced and screamed back at her.

“You bitch! Do you realize what would have happened if I hadn't used Enhance?! I would be blind right now!”

= So you were expecting to fail! =

Robin shook his head and headed to the locker room. After looking at the clock, he yelled a reminder for the rest of the boys.

“We should get going soon or we'll be late.”

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Kalte Schnee was currently sitting in a cafe of a five star hotel. Why was he here enjoying tea when he should be contacting his insider to “adjust” the grouping of the combatants for the sake of his daughter's victory? The reason was simple. This young lady in front of him forced him to stopped halfway to his location. Now what could possibly be so important that this person could stop him? The answer lied in the documents on the table.

“Who are you?” Kalte asked.

“I'm honored. The famous Kalte Schnee is asking for my name.” she said.

“Although, I'm sure you already know it since you've tampered with the competition through various means. Bribing officials, bringing personal equipment, and -ooh my favorite- altering your daughter's teammates.”

“I know who you are, Diane Geotal. I meant who are you to be able to come across these documents?”

Kalte pointed his finger at the table.

“Oh which one? The one where you illegally imported Dust? Or maybe hiring someone to steal the rights to land that was in the way of your expansion of power?”

Kalte scowled at her. Who was this 18 year old? Where did she come from? What did she want? Kalte voiced these questions to her, receiving this response.

“I want control. I like to keep things in check. When things don't go the way I want it to, I get mad, and you don't want me to get mad now would you?”

Kalte felt like he was getting a headache. He was getting blackmailed, by a child nevertheless. If this got out, what would happen to his company? To make matters worse, Diane kept speaking in circles.

“Just tell me what you want.”

“Hm. Impatient. Especially right after I said I liked to be in control. Well, no matter. Rumor has it you've struck a deal with the military in Atlas. Creating some new kind of weapon, correct? I want access to those models. In return, I give you back these extra records of your.. not so honest work.”

Kalte was shocked. This was decided just yesterday over a private phone line. How does a mere student know this? He originally thought she wanted money, but Kalte suddenly realized this was something bigger. And the bigger it was, the bigger the headache. He decided he wanted this to end as soon as possible.

“Fine. However, in return I want copies of everything you have right here given to me.”

“Sure, sure. We have plenty more. You've honestly made this easier by involving yourself with shady people, so I appreciate it.”

The head of the Schnee Dust Company was certainly learning to regret his actions. The line “you reap what you sow” never felt clearer to him, but in reality, the true effect this deal won't show it's effect until two years later. Just as Diane was leaving, she twirled in spot and looked back at Kalte with a smile.

“By the way, you wanted to alter the Inter-School competition right? Hmm I can't let you have control, so I'll just do it in your stead. Consider it a thanks for doing it so willingly.

What about this was willingly, Kalte wanted to retort. He had long since noticed the gun pointed at him from afar. The one holding the gun was Gaea Bronzewing, Myriad's own Student Council Treasurer. Diane tapped Gaea on the shoulder and signaled for them to leave.

“..Did we get what we wanted?” Gaea asked.

“Oh yes. I'm sure the Madam will be very pleased.”

Diane pulled out her Scroll. On it was a new message coming from an acquaintance of hers. Diane typed out a reply and sent it.

RipperHow did the deal go?HEven better than expected.HHow's the new toy?RipperWorks like a charm.HGood. Because you'll be able to use it real soon.

"Speaking of which. That man ignored me after I told him I wanted to be in control. How should I mess with him?" Diane asked.

"How about you mess with his daughter?" Gaea proposed.

"A fine decision! Lets see..Oh spoiled little Weiss hates faunus no doubt right? Lets group her with Robin! That should be interesting to see. No doubt she'll endlessly complain to her father afterwards. Oh but it's no good if I'm not there to see it. Let see..."