Chapter 3: Stop following me at work!

If I have to be honest, I hadn’t expected things to escalate to that very awkward and terribly itching point.

I had planned to spend some hours at work to avoid having to deal with the newfound bane of my simple life, the Cat Faunus that was Blake Belladonna having proved that she wasn’t certainly going to give up with her attempts of leeching off from my current lack of means to contact the authorities.

The black-haired girl had been incredibly sneaky in following silently and undetected me right to the fine establishment I used to spend my time working by, something that gave me even more confirmation that she was indeed a huntress-in-training.

I mean, it wasn’t difficult to see her weapon and proclivity to action to understand that she was one, but the actual idea that she gave chase without me knowing was enough to have me accept this fact a little more than before.

I wasn’t a huntsman, nor I did consider my senses to be above what many civilians had, but I had been given some ‘self-defense’ training by both my parents, my Aura was unlocked and I knew about my Semblance. My special ability was, of course, useless about most of my daily life, but it was good to know what it truly was.

The ‘Morning Sip’ bar was a blossoming activity that had been opened two years ago by the jovial man that was Marcus Cobalt as an attempt to broaden his chances of giving his life a proper improvement.

A family man with two children, both sons, approaching the late stage of teenagehood, he was very attentive to make sure his investment continued to produce enough green to keep up with the growing expenses and the need of preparing some money to leave to his children.

A man that was also playful and understanding with his workers and that was proven right as I started to work for him. The man should have by all means refused the Curriculum I had presented, my grades at Civilian School were mediocre at best and I knew that I was just an inch below the required grade for the job.

It had been desperation, it had been hopefulness, my mind wasn’t truly sure of which one had dominated prior to the hiring, but I was certain of one silly thing. I had been overjoyed to learn about the fact I had finally gotten my first job and, much to my glee, the burden it presented were easy to manage in every situation.

I was glad that I had been given the opportunity to have a stable income while living away from Mistral, the final cornerstone that made my independence from home ever so sweet to obtain after years of trying and failing to do so in the Kingdom I came from. Despite being compared to Vale, Mistral was still a struggling nation with what little good jobs were given to the children of those rich and powerful.

And sure, I could have called my parents to obtain some more money to further search for some more job opportunities, but I felt it would have been like borrowing from them without a proper date set and, knowing them, it would have never had one.

It was one of the reasons the man had decided to hire me for his new economic adventure, knowing the perils of leaving the familial home and the struggle of settling down alone and without proper directions.

He had been a farmer, a diligent hard-worker that ended up selling his property to move inside the capital of the Kingdom, away from the dangerous threat the Grimm posed to the people living outside the safe walls of the large settlements.

With a growing family on his back and with me giving a good show of genuine interest at making a good job if taken in, I was accepted in the fold of his establishment and made into something similar to an apprentice to the bearded man.

Time passed, several months going by as I had this job mastered and rendered permanent part of my daily life, and I was turned out to become quite professional at the simple duty of waiter at the bar.

Being the lone worker at the particularly humongous place, my job wasn’t actually the easiest out there as speedy reactions were a must for the sake of keeping the service quality the highest possible, but it had possibly the best pay compared to other similar activities.

With Marcus not exploiting his manpower and rewarded hard-work with the right money, making the interest to make some quality work during the various tasks subtly expected and needed, but not truly mandatory to force people to do so.

Truth be told, I appreciated that single line of sternness from him as a proper establishment did require some strong-handed action here and there and I found his capacity with planning the future improvements to be… refreshing and inspiring.

I had yet to meet the man’s wife, but if from his lovely comments regarding her, I sure expected to find a lady as kind as the owner was. She had to deal with the house’s duties, the woman being strong enough to perfectly balance the daily chores with the responsibility of being a mother of two young teen.

And knowing how hard it had been for mom to deal with me and my two other siblings, it sure was easy to understand and praise the lady for her efforts.

Of course, I wasn’t certainly as mature and responsible as back as a few years old. I could still remember the issues I would cause in these specific moments and…

I think I digressed again! Curses!

It’s been happening for a while now, my mind wandering far too many times away from the current problem, escaping from what looked to be a perfectly worrying issue to deal about in a normal situation. And this wasn’t even a normal situation.

Returning my attention back at my current situation I couldn’t help but appear quite distracted as I went through my usual tasks. Passing the plates with slices of the various available cakes, preparing steamy and warm coffee, and making sure that everyone was happy and satisfied with their services.

I was attentive enough to make sure to have all the clients I was helping around and taking orders from were content with my hard-work, but I still decided to keep a mindful watch over a certain trouble-causing girl that was now donning the female version of the uniform as she continued to go through the difficult pace of her temporary work without any breaks.

A long-sleeved white shirt with a little black tie, black pants that reached to a pair of dark brown shoes. There was also a black bow partially covering her cat ears.

Why was she hiding her Faunus’ features?

Marcus had been giddy to ‘introduce’ his new ‘part-timer’, saying that Blake’s interest in ‘repaying me for the kindness and the understanding way I had about her’ had conquered his attention and urged him to help her.

Of course, I knew it was because of the Cat Ears. Why would anyone hate them?

It had been a shocker when I left the locker room to find out that Blake had indeed decided to ‘pay back her debt’ by asking for a part-time work at the ‘Morning Sip’ and I was surprised to realize that she had decided to keep quiet over what had happened back to my house, either out of embarrassment or simply accepting the fact it wouldn’t have painted her in a good light to the kind owner of the bar.

Still, I found myself having to deal with the fact I had to keep a mindful eye over what she was doing as a responsibility I had as a senior worker at the establishment. Which was technically extra work for me to go through.

She was completely inexperienced, going quite slow and somewhat shaky with her interactions with the clients, nothing that truly ruined things but it was certainly getting some confused looks from some of the long-standing people that were keen to frequently visit the establishment at that hour.

No mistakes were made for the orders, something that put me at an eased stance regarding my worries of having to deal with an eventual fallout if even the smallest mistake was committed. I went through my own duties without any issue, yet I was given some curious questions from the group I had to serve.

I had imagined some intrigue at the newest ‘waitress’, yet I was surprised when the inquires were mostly directed at the bow she was wearing. Sure, there were people that were asking about her name and why she was here, the last one being replied with the fact the girl was desperately in need of money (which was true, but didn’t bring out any issue related to ‘why’ she needed it).

Soon my eyes caught something interesting happening to the Faunus as tips started to appear by her hands. Tips weren’t a major surprise, but those weren’t much common for me to receive… but the girl was easily gaining several hundreds of Liens from her rookie-ish and shy mannerism.

It was enough to put me in some irritated mood, but not enough to warrant a true reaction out of me, knowing full well that there was some kind of ‘affection’ Vale had for independent female workers.

Nothing specifically explained, but something that certainly had to do with the whole ‘young woman trying to make a future from little’ picture gaining the interest and the pity of those interested in the stories.

Hours passed and the only pause for the shift began. People weren’t around and the building was mostly empty at that point as Marcus had gone to check some documents back in his office and leaving me to face Blake in that thirty-minutes long break.

The Cat Faunus silently took a seat right beside mine as we patiently waited by one of the tables. I blinked, my lips sealed close as I decided that I didn’t have anything to say to her and thus I had no reason to begin any conversation.

I wasn’t angry, but I was tired and annoyed at her subtle action. I wasn’t completely influenced by the recent development of having her work here too, but I was still stomaching the very idea that Marcus had deemed it to be a good idea hiring her too.

Even though it was a student they were talking about. A fugitive one too.

“I’m sorry.”

The words happen to sound more like a bell ringing, my eyes glancing momentarily at the Cat Faunus. The young Belladonna had her stare directed at the table itself, unwilling to deign a stare back at me out of nervousness.

“I know that I did force this decision- and that maybe I could have just… waited there rather than do anything about it,” She admitted with a gulp, amber eyes glancing up at me for a moment, forced away as the girl found my blank stare a little too much to bear. “But I know for a thing that I can’t certainly ‘let go’ of what had happened.”

A sigh, then I stood up and started to walk towards the front door. The girl blinked in surprise at the sudden action and her lips parted.

“W-Where are you going?” She asked with a quiet tone.

I shrugged as I prepared to walk outside. “Going for a walk,” I curtly replied, eyes not bothering to glance at her in that moment. “Feel the need to think about stuff.”

I didn’t deign her further comments as I decided to wander a little in the medium-sized plaza where the bar faced to. People were mostly filling it with their happy appearances, children and young teens enjoying the early hours of the day and chatting all over the place.

It was a mess of noises that surprisingly didn’t annoy nor irritate those that were going all over the streets to reach for their workplaces. The square was a good reminder that sometime loud sounds did also help in the search for clarity and inspiration.

I wasn’t certainly going to debate to myself whenever or not Blake’s decision had been a good one, but I was keen to give some weight over the fact she had indeed accepted to work at the bar for the sake of ‘repaying me’, which was certainly something I had told her to ‘not consider, nor do’ back when she had offered.

A silly development, but one that further cemented a very irritation escalation after we were done with this shift. After this first day at work, I was quite sure that the Cat Faunus was planning to go back to my flat and use it as her temporary shelter until the storm she had created with her messy luck.

Which also meant that she was going to leech off from what I had around and force me to once again hide the catnip pot I had to protect the day before. Seriously, what is wrong with that girl?

Faunus followed some of their animalistic traits to a fair degree, but they never ‘strayed’ too much about those. There was a ‘human’ limit to their needs as to detach them from their animal counterparts.

Blake was seemingly lacking about most of those, appearing and acting more as a troublesome black cat than a normal young woman. Why, even the fact she literally hand-picked my house and ‘deemed’ it a good place to return after some yells was enough to point out her cat-like attitude.

I sighed as I took refuge in one of the benches set right by the side of the road, my legs feeling sore and needing some rest after the intense pacing of walking around the bar to provide the orders to the clients and… then I heard them.

“Do you think Blake is fine?” A young voice called out by the nearby alley, causing my eyes to widen up and turn at the origin of the question. I had to tilt a little to stare at the two girls talking to each other.

One had black-hair with red-tips, she was wearing what looked to be a red cape, a black long-sleeved dress that ended in a black skirt with red trim around and in the front. She was also wearing black stockings and black boots.

The other had white-silver hair and light-blue eyes. She was wearing a strapless dress with a gradation from white to pale blue at the hem that ended right by her thighs, layers of tulle under the skirt. A white bell-sleeved bolero was over the dress, a strangely familiar emblem painted on its back.

Were they the ‘angry’ teammates that Blake had described in her story? From what I could see in the youngest of the two, they hardly seemed to be that much furious about what the Faunus had done.

Maybe, just maybe, if I went to talk to them, I could have the girls ‘apologize to each other’ and get her out of my life and flat. Yes, that would certainly work and-

“She surely is, Ruby,” The pale-skinned girl snorted her eyes filtering some annoyance. “She still has to explain why she is still running if she is truly that much of a good person.”

I blinked at the harsh tone the girl had adopted, making me pause in my attempt to approach the two.

“I-It’s not that bad. Sun did say that-”

“If she truly means well, then she shouldn’t have run away after what happened at the docks,” The regal-looking lady scoffed, her stare hardening at the uneasy-looking brunette. “As much as we are aware about, she might as well have lied to Sun for the sake of covering the fact that she was part of the White Fang.”

There was a pause and then… red-cape spoke once again.

“There is sure an explanation,” Ruby pressed back with some nervousness. “Sun said that she ‘was’ part of the Fang and… she is no longer with them.”

The silver-haired lady huffed and shook her head. “Ruby, I think we can agree that she did run away rather than talk to us,” The girl said with an irritated tone. “I know the kind of Faunus she is and I’m sure that she will not be the one to speak to us.”

...What did she just say? ‘The kind of Faunus she is’?

I felt my stomach churning at what I just heard and I felt like this wasn’t certainly something to be ‘interested about’. If these girls were truly Blake’s teammates… then I think I will make sure of having not heard anything about that.

Actually, I wasn’t even aware of their current presence. Nope.

I sighed as I zoned out from the following words, feeling like I had heard more than enough to pass on some judgment on their manners and rejecting the chances of having some peaceful approach to happen anytime soon.

Blinking, I realized that it was about time for the break to come to an end and went back inside the bar without saying anything to what I had just heard.

My stare went for a brief moment at the Cat Faunus, Blake having started to use the broom to clean some dust trails by the corner of the large room and unaware of my return.

Another blink, I felt my lips twitching in a little scowl as I felt uncertain of what to do about what I just heard. I was still angry about what she had done at my poor flat and phone, but I did feel that I was also understanding some more about her reluctance to go back to her ‘friends’.

Marcus returned from his office and a few seconds later we were back to deal with the final two hours of the shift, people flocking at the now-reopen ‘Morning Sip’ and already asking for some snack and beverages.

But what was I supposed to do with the girl?

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The noises coming from the clients was enough to bring Blake’s mind back to the tasks at hand.

Working as waitress in this warm bar had been an idea blurted without any major thinking put behind and she had almost back-tracked from it as she had seen the man that was Marcus Cobalt, the owner of the ‘Morning Sip’, humming about this offer.

It had been spontaneous, her mind still reminding her guilty consciousness that she had to do something about the damage inflicted to the apartment she had for ‘good reasons’ infiltrated in the last two days.

The yells, the panicked actions committed for the sake of ‘survival’ and the sheer panic at having to avoid certain streets of Vale to not encounter any of her teammates was enough to prompt her mind out from her usual composure. There wasn’t much to recover from the two wacky days that saw her entangled to someone that, by all means, was as average as one could be nowadays.

Sid was angry, the black-haired girl didn’t require any loud vocal proof of such thing as his face told her more than enough about the young man’s current ill mood. She was certain that she was doing a somewhat decent job for her first day at ‘work’, but the constant staring the girl was subject to prior to the pause had been enough to put her in a somewhat tense guard around the object of her ‘damaging’.

The Faunus wasn’t technically afraid of him in an abusive or harmful manner, knowing full well that when he had the opportunity to truly hurt her, he had decided to still use words rather than physical pain to direct his point.

Said words growing crasser the more he would get angrier, but that was something that she could see herself do when an object under her possession was damaged or even destroyed by some stranger.

And that was the very thing that plunged her mind in that guilt, the fact that she could identify herself with the reaction she got back from her ‘bad actions’. While there was a ‘genuinely good’ context behind it all, Blake was aware that some of the escalation could have been easily avoided.

Prime example being the roof she had ‘opened’ twice, knowing from experience that reparation of a roof is more expensive than repairing a simple broken window. Her mind bringing up the very day her father had to pay some really high price to get the roof of their living room fixed after a fallen tree had crashed onto it.

Her lips clicked silently as the second part of the shift began with… some curious difference from the stare she was receiving. No more as intense as before and certainly not as continuous. At first she had been surprised by the interesting change, her mind quickly picking up a trick in the making as it did sound rather similar to the one that had happened back to the flat.

So the tension persisted for a full ten minutes before her confusion started to get a grip over her mind once more. There was no sign of planned trickery, nor any hint of foul play in the making and… that was giving her even more reasons to be paranoid around the young man.

While she knew that Sid wasn’t planning anything dangerous, the sudden lack of attention was duly-noted as something of an anomaly in the waiter’s attitude. Something to be concerned about until the shift ended.

In fact, time passed and nothing eventful happened at the establishment, the work-day ending with a calm tone that put even more uneasiness in Blake. Was he planning something for after the job? Maybe something about having her refused inside the flat?

The Cat Faunus was nervous, rather ready to make a run back at the comfy couch and warm living room instead of letting this possible trap spring on her face. It was frustrating… but she had to keep her composure right now.

Marcus smiled kindly as he handed her the surprisingly good pay-check for the five hours she spent there. The girl had thought that the wage was good enough to allow Sid to keep up with the flat’s rent, but that she would get this much of a good pay too?

She blinked in awe at the amount she received, quickly putting the gained money in her little wallet without thinking too much about it. She would return the proper money once they had reached the apartment.

If they happened to reach the apartment, if she wasn’t barred from entering inside and was ‘evicted’ by the young man. Her mind was a cacophony of nervousness, panic and unrest.

She wanted answers, she craved for them, and yet Blake was aware that she wouldn’t get any in that exact moment. There was silence as they both walked outside the ‘Morning Sip’ and proceeded to make the trip back to the flat.

The quiet calm was unnerving, enough to have her newly-freed cat ears twitch in irritation at that lack of clues for her future stay at the apartment. They continued to walk, the human hardly seeming to mind the fact she was walking beside him and that… lifted her hope just a little.

But Blake was restrained about showing this, her mind reminding her of the chances of this being a trap, an ambush to have her removed from his normal life. He was attached to the idea, rightfully so as he enjoyed the quiet and loved the lack of troubles she was keen to bring around wherever she went.

There was a sigh from him as his stare fell upon the nearby market shop. Was he thinking of buying some groceries? Should she offer now to pay with her newly-gained money?

Maybe not, she confirmed to her anxious brain, reminding that giving out her money so easily could have been seen as a sign of lack of interest and genuine concern regarding the issue she had to repay. So she waited for his next step before planning to do anything.

He didn’t say anything as he suddenly directed his steps away from the line of the street and right toward the little shop. There was just a small crowd of people, enough to bring some life to the normal-looking place.

Sid nodded at one of the cashiers, the young man there smiling and nodding back before giving a glance at her. He blushed, possibly because of her interesting appearance.

It was no secret that she had some beauty to herself thanks to training and careful eating. People in the White Fang had been prime people that had seen this and commented about it, mostly Adam and Ilia but their comments would always end one way or another about her…

Butt.

It was a strangely irritating topic as it had been brought up for an unfair amount of time by both close friends. Nothing that truly warranted a strong vocal response, but enough to put her in some instant nervousness around them.

And while she contemplated about this, the young man beside her went to pick a box containing several milk bags and settling it… in a nearby shopping cart. Amber eyes blinked in surprise as she noticed just now that Sid had picked one before entering inside.

It was something that reminded her that he had truly never minded about her appearance. Even the Faunus features had gotten any reaction out of him and that… left her quite pleased about it. It was nice from time to time to not be considered a good-looking thing to everyone sight and it did remind her of the time she wasn’t as developed as now.

Happier times, she grimaced inwardly before being yanked away from her thoughts by someone poking at her shoulder. She blinked and glanced at… Sid.

“Do you have to pick anything yourself?” He asked calmly, nothing there that reminded her of the enraged tone she had to deal with back at the flat. There wasn’t anything in his behavior that suggested at it.

And that was worrying Blake to no end.

“I-I think I will pass-”

He sighed. “There isn’t no need to give me all the money,” His admittance got her floored for a moment. “We can do installments. I think that you should keep some of it and… you can use it.”

There was a blink or two before the girl truly replied at that surreal instance.

“Is this a trick?” She snapped quietly. “Are you trying to perhaps have me pay with ‘your money’ so-”

“As if I would lower myself to that degree,” He said with a scoff, interrupting her and causing her eyes to widen up at the annoyance displayed by him. “I admit that I might have been a little harsher than the situation required, but I think you have to admit that the damage caused was all on you. I don’t need to exploit that, nor I wish to.”

Another pause, more surprise drowning her mind and then, she hummed.

“Do you m-mean it?” Blake stuttered much to her dismay. “Can I buy something without-”

“Go ahead.” He said with another heavy sigh and with that positive note, the Cat Faunus found her attention directed at the products displayed by the shop.

Some more time passed, her mind finally delving in the chance of getting some good food and proper hygiene products compared to the ones available in Beacon. While Yang’s shampoo was good to keep her hair shining, it did little to get them straight and easy-to-manage and Weiss’ own products were forbidden to even be glanced at by the girl’s high-standard.

Remembering the Schnee’s very passionate speech about her pricey products was enough to leave a bitter taste at what was supposed to be a simple shopping trip for her. What a difficult subject to face, she reckoned with a simple and blank sigh.

Finally, they went back to pay the bought products and soon they were back to the trip to the… flat. She was unsure how to define it now as the word ‘home’ hardly-fitted with how lacking their current situation was, but she was keen to say that whatever was planned for her stay there, it wouldn’t make her Sid’s roommate.

Yet she shrugged as the building came to sight and Blake followed the young man inside. Once they had entered the place, Sid gave clear indication of her current stay. There was some minor sternness but also tension in his tone, possibly because the young man was still unsure about what he was trying to accomplish by helping her.

His sudden change of heart still suspicious, but his lack of faux helpfulness giving her little to do about the strange behavior. So the Cat Faunus merely accepted it and was led to her newest ‘room’.

Formerly ‘Guest’ room (more of an unused section that was meant to be some children’s room), it was given to her to use until their ‘situation was cleared’, subtly implying that the full repay of the costs of her damage was going to end her temporary stay to this flat.

Something that somehow left her irritated, but also confused about such irritation. She tested the room provided, hand carefully pressing on the mattress of the bed and… Blake was sure of it.

The couch would do fine for her.