"You're sure it'll work?"

"If the instructions you gave me were correct, then this should do the trick."

"Then we need to get to Ozpins office. Now."

"What's in his office?"

"It's the highest point in Beacon, if we release the cure there then all the infected should be cured."

The trio took the elevator, moving cautiously in case of another infected attack.

The elevator was slow-moving and the team had time to think.

"Hey, Yatsuhashi."

"Yeah Y/n?"

Y/n took a few seconds to think about how he was going to say this.

"How are you holding up, with your infected team and all."

Yatsuhashi was usually a stone wall when it came to emotion, he had a poker face most gamblers would dream of.

"It's not fair," Yatsuhashi muttered in response to Y/n's question.

"What was that budd-"

"I said it's not fair!" Yatsuhashi punched the wall of the elevator, causing a slight tremble in the machine.

"They got infected, everyone did, and I'm stuck here without them, I cared about them Y/n, especially-" The large man started crying in unrestrained grief.

"Especially Velvet."

Yatsuhashi rubbed the tears away from his eyes and put his face back on neutral mode, devoid of emotion.

"Its okay Yatsuhashi," Said Ruby as she embraced him in a hug, her hands unable to find each other on the other side of the student due to his size.

"Th... Thanks, Ruby." The giant of a man said as he embraced the affection so rarely shown to him.

Ruby stopped hugging him and went back to her side of the elevator, still smiling at Yatsuhashi.

The elevator suddenly screeched to a halt. The doors open to reveal the engineering floor.

"Uhh... what happened?"

Yatsuhashi pried the control panel off the wall and inspected the mechanical workings of the elevator.

"It looks like the fuse burst, I think it was sabotaged."

The trio looked outside the elevator to find the culprit but came up empty-handed.

"It's convenient were on the engineering floor, I can find the parts to repair the elevator."

"Almost too convenient." Y/n muttered to himself.

Yatsuhashi repaired the elevator while Ruby and Y/n scoured the floor for materials and tools.

"It was nice."

"What?"

"What you did back in the elevator with Yatsuhashi, it was nice."

"I was just being a caring friend."

Y/n sighed, how had such a nice and caring girl like Ruby fallen for him?

He didn't deserve her.

Ruby could almost sense what Y/n was thinking and gave him a quick smile of reassurance. This was the kind of smile that amplified innocence and goodness and everything right with the world, it was the kind of smile that could melt a man's heart, Y/n smiled back.

*Creeakk*

Y/n ears flinched, he turned around and looked into the shadows.

There was nothing.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, all this stress was wearing him out.

He jogged to catch up with Ruby who was ahead of him, looking for tools that Yatsuhashi had requested.

Y/n heard a slight giggle and spun around to again see nothing.

Now his ears were playing tricks on him.

He cleaned his ears of wax and continued looking for materials. He jumped at every scrape and bump he heard, on high alert for any infected that could be running around.

"Joiiiinnnn ussssss"

Y/n looked back again and saw nothin-

Boom

He flew across the room and landed in a pile of machinery, he rubbed his head. Yang and Blake walked towards him, Blake had obviously drawn his attention while Yang had snuck up on him and tried to knock him out.

Y/n stood up clutching his side, he lifted his shirt and saw a nasty gash that was spewing blood.

He had to fight two infected huntresses while tired and injured.

Shit.

He drew his pistol and started firing at Blake and Yang who dodged and ran at him, he teleported behind the two and started firing again, he repeated this strategy until both their Auras were severely depleted. He teleported between them and slashed at Blake with his sword while shooting Yang.

"Nice try, but we already know all your moves."

Yang grabbed Y/n's gun and threw it away, while he was distracted, Blake kneed him in the chest and hit the back of his head with her sword. Y/n sunk to his knees.

"What would Ruby think of you too?"

Y/n saw Blake and Yangs faces turned into a slight frown and they hesitated for a split second. All the time Y/n needed. He teleported back to his gun, picked it up, then teleported behind Blake and shot her in the back of the head, smashing her Aura and knocking her out of the fight.

Y/n teleported to a distance and watched Yang.

"You could join us, all the power you ever wanted in the palm of your hand."

"You think I want power?"

"Of course you do so that no can ever hurt you again, not me, not Ruby, not Raven and definitely not Tai."

Y/n hesitated, the power to never be hurt again, the power to stop the same thing that happened to him happening to someone else.

Y/n was torn.

He heard a slight rustle behind him, a few seconds later he saw a glimmer of pink behind Yang who hadn't noticed the disturbance.

Y/n smiled to himself.

"I'm sorry you know, I didn't ask to be the favourite and you deserved it more than me. I know you looked at him like a father, always starving for his approval. But the truth is you never needed his approval, you know why?"

"Who the hell are you talking too? did my punch knock your brains out?"

"Because you're better than me, you always were. You're good enough."

"Are you delusional? Who in the hell are you talkin-"

Yang sentence was cut short as an umbrella whacked her across the back of her head, knocking her out.

"Thank you."

Neo smiled and nodded.

The two of them ran to the nearest classroom and saw Ruby laying on the ground, just waking up from unconsciousness.

"Wh... What happened, who's she?"

Y/n walked to the construction table and found a heavy-duty stapler, he took a deep breath and pinched his cut skin, he screamed as he stapled the wound back together. He wiped the sweat of his brow and grimaced in pain.

"It dosen't matter, right now we need to get back to Yatsuhashi."

Neo gave Ruby a hand up and the trio raced back to the elevator

"Oh hey guys, what took you so long?"

Y/n let out a long sigh of relief, nothing had happened to Yatsuhashi.

"I finished fixing the elevator and I grabbed a gas dispenser from one of the classrooms, it should be useful in spreading the cure in a gaseous form."

"Great, we need to get going before more infected show-up and-"

Y/n was cut off as they heard an inhuman screech from behind them. The group turned around to see Qrow, Ironwood, Winter and Glynda stumbling towards them at the head of a veritable army of infected.

"How the hell did they all get here?"

"The stairs."

"Oh."

The adults looked to be in the late stages of infection and had a slow limping walk while looking almost indistinguishable from Grimm.

"Everyone get in the elevator now!" Ordered Y/n as the horde slowly approached.

Ruby raced inside while Neo and Yatsuhashi just stood there facing the horde.

"What are you doing?!"

Yatsuhashi handed Y/n the gas dispenser and looked him in the eye.

"I have faith you and Ruby can finish this mission. If I can buy you time then mine is a life well spent.

"But we need you!" Yelled Ruby.

"No, you don't, you can do this on your own, besides, I want to see my team again."

"Please Yatsu..." Ruby begged with tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry Ruby, be safe."

Y/n didn't need to ask Neo why she was staying, she just gave him a look. A look that encompassed everything he knew about her, all the anger, frustration and need to prove herself. As well as her selflessness. If her sacrifice meant that all of Remnant would be safe then she was willing to fight until her last breath.

Neo tipped her hat, Romans hat, at Y/n. A last goodbye.

"Now go and save the world."

Yatsuhashi slammed his fist down on the up button and watched the elevator doors close and the machine rocket to the top of Beacon.

"Good luck."

He turned around and drew his sword, Neo nodded at him, he smiled back.

This was it. He would go down fighting until the final molecule of oxygen had left his lungs. He looked through crowd of zombies and saw his former teammates stumbling among them.

He saw velvet slowly hobbling over. Yatsuhashi reminisced about her, her cute ears and her smile that could give the sun a run for its money in brightness. He smiled to himself.

"I'm coming home."

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