Trudging back to the 38 was less exhausting than I'd thought it was. The sun's weird ability to make me and Boone feel better held the entire trip, and made everything a little more bearable. Once we were past the 38's walls though, we both felt ready to collapse. Guess the sun really was the key to it.

I slept for about six hours, just long enough to get my bearings in a place that wasn't trying to kill me yet. Then I grabbed some food and got back to work. I let Boone stay behind, he'd willingly taken watch more than his fair share while we were stuck in the Vault. He deserved the opportunity to rest. I wouldn't have minded traveling alone for a bit, especially if I was going to keep throwing myself into the fire for the NCR. A little alone time was in order.

But as I was on my way out, Cass caught me and decided to 'make her escape from the gilded cage'. I didn't particularly mind the company, I'd just been planning to spend some time alone.

We took the monorail to McCarran and met up with Hsu. I gave him the run down on what happened. He wasn't thrilled about the news, but was more grateful I'd brought it to him than Hildern. Unleashing something like what'd happened in the Vault out into Vegas was something he could finally use as ammunition to remove him from the base. Hsu made sure I was reimbursed for my time, effort, and materials, before having me go chat with Lieutenant Boyd about her screwy manifests.

It should've been easy enough to handle, fetch some manifests from the quartermaster and bring them to her. If there was something screwy going on, it'd have been easy enough to spot.

Except it wasn't, of course. There was something screwy going on. But whatever the quartermaster, A Lieutenant Contreras, was doing behind the scenes was being kept just hush hush enough that we couldn't prove it. So Cass and I took it upon ourselves to play the role of the mole. I managed to convince Contreras we were just a pair of mercs looking for some less-than-legal pay. It took a little careful wording, but we got what we needed and he sent us on a short trip to the Gun Runners.

Which brought us to now.

"That guys a fucking snake if I've ever seen one." Cass said, arms stretching above her. "How the hell has no one gotten him for anything yet?"

We were on the path towards the Gun Runners, about half way, just under the overpass.

"Because he's careful." I said, agreeing "If he wasn't, Boyd wouldn't have needed someone to do the digging, she'd have strung him up already."

"She shouldn't even need us to do that, you saw the guy. He's shadier than half of New Reno."

"You know damn well looks mean little Cass. As longs as he's cooking the books right, he could look like a molerat and still keep the job."

"Doesn't mean it's not Brahmin shit."

"… No arguments there."

We walked in silence until we were past the overpass and I could see the gun runners in the distance. The NCR's sharecropper farms were off to our right and looking mighty brown. The farmers were tilling the dusty soil by hand, dust kicking up with each swing of the hoe. Even as water was released from a nearby sprinkler system, it looked like it was only making things worse. Poor bastards were working themselves to death for crops that weren't even edible. It helped me understand why Hildern was interested in Vault 22 at least. Cass joined me in my staring as we walked.

"… What you said about the Vault." Cass started "was it really as green as you said?"

"Green as the mountains around the ski lodge, and then some." I said "But I know for a fact thinking it could be used to help is a mistake now."

"Doesn't mean it wasn't worth a shot though." Cass said, almost sounding sad "I did a couple of the supply runs for them a while back. Even back then they had trouble making the quotas and having enough to feed themselves."

"Damn, now your just making me feel bad."

Cass gave a soft, sad chuckle "It's not easy work even without their issues. I remember my Mom coming home some nights so covered in mud and sweat she looked like she was made of the stuff."

"Your Ma was a sharecropper?" I asked "Thought you said she was a tribal?"

"She was both, they're not mutually exclusive." Cass answered "After my old man took off, she had to provide for us until I was old enough to go getting myself into trouble."

"I remember you saying that. 'Said she worked herself half to death, right?"

Cass didn't answer, she just looked down sadly at the ground. A silence filled the air for the longest time.

"… Cass?"

"-shit, sorry." She shook her head slightly "Got miles away for a second there."

"It's fine, just making sure you're still with me."

Cass just gave a small scoff and a sad smirk. "… How're you feeling?"

"Better now, and glad to be out of the Vault."

"Good… What about that other… thing you were talking about."

She motioned up to the sun.

"… It's still here." I said "I don't know what happened down there, if it was all the spores we were breathing in, or if it was eating all the plants, but it's still here."

"Are you ok?"

"Ok? I feel amazing." I stretched as we walked "I feel full of energy and most of my aches have faded. I have no better way to describe it."

"So, what, you're Solar Powered now?"

"… Actually, yeah, I guess that's a way to describe it."

Cass just rolled her eyes.

"At least we got something for our troubles. I'm just hoping it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass somehow."

"We?"

"Mm, Pretty sure it's we anyway. Boone's been pretty mum about it since we left the Vault. If I got it, I don't see why he wouldn't, but unless he says something I've got no idea."

Cass nodded, facing ahead of us. "… Did you really think his name was Randy?"

"…"

In response I tried walking a little faster, trying to put that conversation behind us.

"… You did, didn't you." Cass said, a smile clear in her voice.

"… maybe."

Cass laughed.

"S-shut up."

"Ha ha- no-o-o way- *heh*."

She picked up her pace and was back beside me easily. She had a wide, toothy smile on her face.

"Aw, c'mon, you've gotta admit it's pretty funny."

"Well I'm not laughing."

"… Actually-" She said, coming around front of and stopping me "What's my name?"

I stared at Cass blankly for a moment. She'd actually told me her name once before. But we were both completely blitzed at the time and in the midst of some other job. I was a bit hazy on her name as a result, and revealing you've forgotten a woman's name is… bad.

"… Jolene."

"… PFT- HA HA HA HA-"

It's even worse when you get it wrong.

Cass let out a loud, almost cackling laugh. I'd honestly expected her to get mad at me. Somehow, having her laugh at me felt worse.

I brushed past her, just wanting to get on with the job.

"Oh *heh* come on." She said, stifling chuckles "You have to admit, it's pretty bad-"

"Yeah, whatever." I answered brusquely, cutting her off

Cass stopped laughing and looked at me. She seemed a little annoyed, but it seemed to fade under a veneer of inexplicable warmth.

"Hey, it's no big deal Six. It's not like we all go around using our given names."

"Actually, You and Boone are the only ones who don't."

"…huh." Cass said after a minute "Guess we kinda are."

"Speaking from personal experience, having a name's kind of a big thing." I said "You guys all got one and I want to know them as much as I do you guys. It's more than I've got for myself at least, So doing you the courtesy feels right, y'know?"

"You could've asked if you were curious." Cass said

"… I was worried I'd look like a dumbass since you'd already given it to me."

"And you don't now?" Cass asked, smirking

I just rolled my eyes in response. A gesture she probably saw through the visor of my motorcycle helmet.

"… I know they called you 'whiskey rose' back west." I said "Am I close?"

Now it was Cass's turn to roll her eyes. "Pretty much, it's-"

…

The soft chiming of my pip-boy pulled me back to reality. My eyes slowly opened and showed the leaves of the tree overhead, the noon sun piercing through the gaps. I was in my own little slice of the grounds, leaning against the sturdy oak that stood off to one side. I assumed it was an oak anyway, I hadn't made much effort to find out. For all I knew it was any other species of sap spewing chlorophyll life form. Like a willow, or a maple. Maybe even a Bob, Raul had told me about them once, horrible tendency to grow into people. Supposedly he met a poor bastard like that once.

The summer heat had warmed the area around me, the smells of warm earth and blooming flowers filled the air. Despite the filters on my mask dulling them, they still came through strong and warm. There was a humidity to the area that made everything feel sticky, something familiar to one or two areas of the Mojave I'd visited. You wouldn't associate a desert with humidity, but it's a big player in how unbearable heat is.

I stayed leaning against the tree, not finding much of a good reason to get up that particular second. I'd been like that for the past two days. Not being able to find much of a good reason to do anything with particular urgency. I mean, I wanted to, but more I just couldn't find the energy to do it. Not to say I hadn't gotten anything done, mind you, but I'd practically slowed to a crawl. My attempts at stimpack recreation had gone through only two attempts. Instead of the possible five or more I could've gotten done with all the free time I had now. I'd had no ideas on how to track down Dala. My other experiments had held no appeal. Hell, I didn't even have it in me to read the comics I'd bought. Which was a shame, since Mr. Hale was proving to be quite the read.

But really, what are you supposed to do when you find out you have a soul?

Even worse, when you have a way of quantifying it?

All it did was start raising questions for me, like: 'How do I have a soul?'

'What is a soul?'

'Does everything have a soul?'

'Do my friends have them?'

'Did my enemies?'

'Does Cass?'

'If souls exist, is there an afterlife?'

'… is there a god? Worse still, a devil?'

I knew I was never going to get answers to any of those questions, so I'd spent more than a small amount of my time trying to put them back where they'd come from. Even if I got answers to them, I sure as hell didn't want them. Ignorance is bliss and right then I wanted that back.

But I knew that wasn't going to happen either.

So instead, I'd wasted two days trying to come to terms with what was going on, isolating myself in the process. Keeping busy would have been an acceptable distraction, but I couldn't focus long enough on anything to actually put it out of my head. So instead, I'd successfully transformed into a lazy teenage slug. Yay me.

At the least the summer warmth was good weather for being lazy in. Not cool by any stretch, but nowhere near the swelter of the Mojave.

After a few more minutes of sitting there. I finally found it in me to get up and go back to tending the gardens. If I didn't, the burgeoning Mutfruit would be strangled by the Broc flower vines that were slowly trying to grow on everything. Despite how useful the flowers were, I would rather they didn't try and choke out my fruit trees. Or any of the other plants I had in my little alcove of the grounds. The pruning shears I'd borrowed from the Botany club made that easy though. It was slow work, but easy enough to focus on. Plus I could harvest the blooms from the vines I cut early and keep my supply of them up.

I was halfway through the round alcove when I had my solitude impeded upon.

"… Can't you at least talk to him?" Someone asked, approaching my alcove

"Why should I?" A second voice answered "He started it."

I peeked my head from behind the shrubbery I was tending and watched as Yang and Ruby walked down the path leading to my little Alcove. It was a surprise to see them, but not very alarming. Weiss had found this place easy enough just by wandering around, no reason they couldn't stumble onto it as well. I stayed kneeling, just barely concealed by the shrubbery I was cutting and the edge of the center fountain.

Of course, if I was the 'he' they were referring to, there was just a slight foreboding.

"We're stuck on campus anyway Yang" Ruby said "We can't spend the next week ignoring him either."

"I'm not ignoring him." Yang said pointedly.

"… or avoiding him."

"… ugh, whatever. Can we just get what we came back here for and go?"

"Grab what and go?" I asked

Yang and Ruby jumped out of their skin and looked around wildly. Clearly not expecting that they weren't alone in the garden.

"… over here." I said again

They picked up on the sound of my voice and looked towards the edge of the fountain. As soon as their eyes settled on me I poked a hand out of the shrubs, giving a little wave.

Yang responded with a scowl that would've scared the pants off of a weaker man, like Benny.

"Tsk, I'm going back to the room." Yang said, turning with a huff.

"Yang, wait." Ruby said with a sad, feeble tone.

Yang wasn't having it though. She just kept walking until she was out of sight. When she was, Ruby turned back to me, looking frustrated and angry. Well, about as frustrated and angry as Ruby could be anyway. The girl had all the natural malice of a sheep-dog pup.

"… What?" I asked

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

"So you've told me." I said, rising up from the bushes and walking towards her. "What's up with Yang?"

Ruby focused on me in a steady glare. "You're seriously a jerk."

"… excuse me?"

"You're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!"

I felt myself recoil a little bit with the words thrown at me. I had no idea where this sudden outburst was coming from, but it hurt in a surprising way. Ruby wasn't the type of person who'd angrily shout at someone. I'd almost forgotten she could get angry.

After saying that, Ruby turned and began to walk away as well.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't as good at it as Yang, and I was a bit more determined to find out why. I set the sheers down and wasted no time in catching up to her.

"Hold up, Ruby, what did I do?"

She ignored me at first, face still set like an angry pup as she walked. But the more she walked, the more the anger melted. Instead, she was just looking upset.

"… look, Ruby, I get your mad at me for some reason, but I don't understand why."

"Then maybe you should go talk to Yang." Ruby pouted

"I would, but she doesn't seem to be in a talking mood either."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ruby stopped walking and shot me a pouting glare. Almost silently telling me to shut up.

"… I want to ask you something, Six." Ruby said, turning to square off to me. Granted, I towered over the tiny girl, but it was still a valiant attempt.

"… Sure, shoot."

"… We're friends, right?"

I couldn't help but tilt my head a little in confusion at the question. I felt it was something that would go without saying at this point.

"I suppose we are Ruby, why?"

"Because friends tell each other when something is wrong." Ruby answered "They trust each other, and don't keep secrets from each other… right?"

Again, I felt like Ruby was trying to stab me with words. I almost made the mistake of looking at her eyes. Which from just a cursory glance looked as though they had the puppy-like power to sway weaker beings to their whims.

It wasn't like I had secrets to keep, right?

"… Of course." I answered, avoiding Ruby's eyes. "You've got to be able to trust the people around you, right?"

Ruby continued to stare at me with the puppy eyes for a moment. Then she looked pensively to the ground, sighing.

"Yang's upset because you cut her hair."

"… Because I what?"

"Because you cut her hair." Ruby reiterated, almost sounding frustrated

"… That's… that's stu-"

"Six." Ruby cut me off "Yang takes pride in her hair. Kind of like how you keep that mask on your face."

"… oh… Well how was I supposed to know that? She got mad when I touched it during sparring. But she'd never made it clear it was important to her."

"Well it is." Ruby said

"… I see. Well, I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize to me." Ruby said, pointing her finger indignantly "Go apologize to Yang."

"… Are you sure that's a good-"

"Six."

"Ok, ok, I'll go." I raised my hands defensively "I just can't promise the dorms won't be burned to the ground."

I walked past Ruby and towards the dorms. As soon as Ruby was out of sight though, I slowed my pace a bit. Charging right after Yang wasn't the brightest idea. If I wanted to actually stand a chance at apologizing to her, letting her have a second to cool down before I started trying was a smart idea.

It also gave me an opportunity to think about something besides my soul issues.

The first: how was I going to patch things up with Yang?

The second: What was going on that I wasn't aware of?

The second seemed the more appealing, even given I was walking towards Yang. Both she and Ruby had come to my garden looking for something, and if it weren't for Yang's current displeasure with me they might've found it. The way Ruby had talked to me made it almost seem like she was upset about something else too. Talking about secrets had been a bit of a giveaway. But there was no sense in being paranoid quite yet. She'd also had plenty of reason to be upset with me regardless, and she could just as easily have been trying to bring herself to tell me what was wrong. Rather than, of course, brushing me off like Yang did.

I was going to have to keep that in mind too. Clearly something was bothering her and I didn't want to be the cause of it.

As for Yang, I wasn't quite sure how guilty I should feel about this. As far as I could tell, it was just hair. Nothing special about it. Maybe I'd gotten out of line during the spar, but I had no reason to feel bad about it. Aside from behaving like an irate jackass, anyway. Odds were, this conversation with Yang was going to be painful regardless of how it went down.

It only took me a few minutes to reach the dorms. Then an extra five minutes to let Yang settle

Then an extra five minutes to steel myself.

Then another to convince myself confronting an angry Yang wasn't that dangerous.

And one final set to actually knock on the door.

There was no response for a moment, so I waited patiently. After a little bit of that, I knocked again and was greeted with the sounds of shuffling on the other side of the door. A few seconds later, the knob rattled and the door pulled inward.

Yang opened the door about a third of the way, enough to peer out. Her hair down behind her, The previously flowing mane now sporting a uneven hack mark in the middle. Leaving it a few inches short than the strands next to it.

Yang glared at me from beyond the door.

"Hey." I said, trying to be as friendly as possible.

The door began to quickly shut and, on some stupid instinct, I jammed my foot between it and the frame. A sharp pain shot through my foot as the door came to a sudden stop.

"Go away, Six." Yang growled, still trying to push the door shut, even with my foot in the way.

"Look, Yang, I just want to talk." I ground out.

"Well I don't."

Yang continued by slamming the door on my foot again.

'ow.'

"Look, I know I acted like an ass during sparring, but could we just talk?"

She responded with another door slam.

'Ow'

"There's nothing to talk about." Yang said

"No Yang, I'm pretty sure-"

She slammed the door again.

'OW.'

"Yang." I growled, just about fed up with getting my foot crushed. "I'm just-"

The door crushed my foot a final time.

"That's it!"

The door went lax and I slammed into it full force. It burst inward without issue. Yang had sprung back towards the center of the room. Leaving several feet between her and me. A cold, dispassionate look on her face.

I stalked towards her, angry and frustrated. I just wanted to apologize and she'd just been acting like a child.

I loomed over her by an extra foot, glaring down at her through my mask. She just stared back up at me, doing her best to give back no emotion.

"… How does it feel having someone push your buttons?" She asked simply, calmly.

"… What?" I growled

"You wanted to apologize. How does it feel when someone just pushes your button instead?"

I processed what she was saying slowly. It wasn't until the smirk stretched across her face that I realized what she'd done.

"… Well played." I grunted, dropping the hostility. I backed up a little and looked away from her. Part out of embarrassment, and part out of shame.

"I'm still mad at you." Yang said seriously, losing the smirk "But if you want to apologize, I'm listening."

"I want to apologize." I answered "But I don't even know what I did wrong specifically. Aside from being a belligerent ass-hat I mean."

"…" Yang sighed and shook her head "You suck at apologies."

"Only when I don't know where to start." I answered "You deserve one. But I want to make sure I'm giving it to the right thing."

Yang looked at me for a second. Then gave a mirthless chuckle and pulled her hair over her shoulder and around front of her. She brushed her hair down the length of it, lingering at the missing chunk I'd removed. "You could start with this."

"… Is your hair really that important to you?"

"Of course not." Yang said, rolling her eyes "I just Shampoo, condition, and brush it for two hours because it's fun."

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you."

"Hmph." Yang smirked dryly

"Well, I'm sorry. If I'd known your hair was so important to you, I wouldn't have factored it into a simple sparring match plan."

'Would've saved it for something bigger'

"You planned on cutting it?"

"Obviously, I needed to make you do something stupid. The fastest way to do it was to make you angry."

Yang's smirk faded again, and she gave me a deadpan glare.

"Yea, yea, I know."

Yang stopped glaring at me and looked at her hair sadly. It was pretty long, honestly. Prior to my little decision to lop it off, it had reached down to her butt at the longest point. Now it jaggedly danced around the small of her back. Completely uneven and messy. If she took the amount of time she claimed she did, then it was no surprise it reached as far as it did. Hair like that was no small accomplishment all things considered.

"… You know what? Give me a minute." I said, turning back to the door

"Where're you going?" Yang asked, confused

"I need to get something, I'll be right back."

I traipsed back out of the room, politely closing the door behind me. It took me a few minutes to run to the locker room and back. Then a few more to grab the things I needed from my closet. I didn't bother knocking when I got back to Yang, she'd been kind enough to just leave the door unlocked.

When she saw what I had though, I bet she wished she had.

"No." Yang said flatly "There's no way I'm letting you near me with that again."

I held the straight razor openly in my right hand, blade closed and handle resting in my palm. I spun a comb through the fingers of my left hand.

"I'm not going to make it any worse than it already is Yang." I said "I've got some experience with this."

"That doesn't mean I trust you with it."

"Well, I don't have a lot of options open to me in terms of making this up to you, Yang."

"How does letting you near me with a razor make it up to me?" Yang asked skeptically

"Well, short of finding and gluing the hair back to your head, the only way to fix your 'do', would be to even everything out."

"… ok" Yang said considering "But why should I let you do it?"

"Because I need to make amends."

"That's not a reason."

"… fair. Then how about: 'Because how many people do you actually trust to touch your hair'?"

"Three." Yang answered "My dad, Ruby, and me."

"Alright…" I said, thinking "… Well, your dad's not here, I think. Ruby seems pre-occupied with something else. And you… probably can't get a good angle on that part of your head. So cutting it and having it look good isn't an option, given the three."

Yang fixed me with a soft glare, odds were, I'd hit the mark.

"I mean-" I continued "If it weren't the case, you would've taken care of it already. If you like your hair so much, you wouldn't willfully walk around with it looking like that… right?"

Yang just continued glaring at me. Even if I was right, she had no reason to admit it.

"… Alright." I sighed "How about this: If you don't like the job I do, you can make a suggestion for a compromise. How's that?"

Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Any suggestion… and that's if I don't like the job you do cutting my hair?"

"Yep."

"So, If I asked you to take your mask off, would you?"

"… possibly, of course if that's the case, then you'd also have to trust me with your hair. And I could definitely do some more damage to it before you could make a grab at my face."

Yang began glaring at me again.

"Let's not be assholes about this Yang. I want to make right, but I have my own limits."

"… Fine." Yang sighed "But if you make it any worse, I'm going to be pissed"

"I promise, I won't make it any worse than it already is."

Yang glared at me for a bit longer, then grabbed a chair and sat herself in front of a mirror set in a corner of the room. Normally I'd have put a sheet around her neck to help keep the hair off of her, but I didn't have one.

I wiped the comb off against my pant leg and moved to begin brushing Yang's hair. She stopped me before the teeth of the instrument touched her though. Reaching out and grabbing my arm.

"What now?" I asked

Yang just gave me a deadpan look and pointed to a pile of, what I assumed was anyway, hair care products. Among them being a brush of many spindly bristles.

"I'd like it if you didn't rip more of my hair out using that comb." Yang said flatly.

I didn't say anything in response. At least, giving a frustrated sigh doesn't count as saying anything. I slid the comb back into my pocket and retrieved the brush from the mountain of personal hygiene.

I started by brushing out Yang's hair, starting from the bottom most portions and brushing out, smoothing the hair and making sure there were no knots in it. I didn't expect any, considering Yang was so protective of her hair. But if I hit any while cutting they'd mess everything up. Once I was satisfied that I wasn't going to hit any, I got my razor ready. I looked at Yang in the mirror just to make sure she was okay with this. She looked pensive to say the least. Considering she was trusting me, the guy who 'ruined' her hair, to fix it; that wasn't unexpected.

"… If you don't like the job I'm doing-" I said, gently weaving a length of her hair into my fingers "- all you have to do is tell me to stop."

Yang glared at me for a moment, then rolled her eyes and looked away.

'alrighty then.'

I put the blade to her hair and begun carefully slicing away at it. With the first bite of the razor, I saw Yang recoil a little. Not enough to be troublesome, but to show she was tense about the whole thing. She remained that way as well. Every time I made a new cut she would shift uncomfortably.

I rolled with it for the first few minutes, but it became a problem after that. She was too tense to make the job easy. If I was going to stand a chance at actually 'fixing' the damage done, I was going to need her to be more cooperative than this. Fortunately, I know how to keep people busy most of the time.

"So tell me something, Yang" I said, moving onto another set of tresses "What's the deal with your hair?"

"…the deal?" She asked in confusion

"Yea, I mean you're pretty protective of the stuff. And in a position like this, where long and flow-y things can be a hazard, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It seems like kind of an unnecessary risk."

"This coming from you and that ridiculous coat."

"Hey, don't knock the duster until you've tried it."

"Hmph."

She gave a soft smirk, and looked to the floor. Or rather her gaze shifted to the floor, her head didn't move. So at least my plan was working.

"… Well, I like my hair long, for one." She said

"Mhmm." I grunted in acknowledgement

"It kinda just, makes me feel strong, y'know?"

"Can't say I do, kinda hard to have long hair under this thing." I tapped my helmet.

"Well, it does." She said, smiling softly "Kind of a challenge I guess. Like saying 'I can do what I want and you can't stop me.'."

"I guess I can see that. You've certainly got that going for you most of the time."

Yang gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah…" She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if remembering something "… I guess it's got to do with my step-mom too."

"Step-mom?" I asked "First time I'm hearing this."

"It's a long story." Yang said, smiling warmly "But I guess part of it reminds me of her. She always wore it kind-of long."

"This long?" I asked, curious

"Heh, no, only about her shoulders." Yang said "But she also told me a story once, about this unbeatable huntress that had hair like this. How it was the source of their strength. I guess I clung to the idea."

"No kidding." I said dryly, continuing my work unimpeded.

"She was pretty great, honestly" Yang said, still smiling

"The huntress or your step-mom?"

"Both." She answered, giving me a wry look "But Summer really was a good person, and an even better parent."

"Her name was Summer?" I asked

Yang just smirked in response.

"Right, dumb question."

Yang rolled her eyes. "She was a like a super hero, Summer rose: Super-mom. She was always looking out for me and Ruby when she wasn't hunting Grimm. Telling us stories, baking cookies, brushing my hair, tucking us in at bed… She was a great person."

I stopped cutting Yang's hair for a moment as a thought began occurring to me.

"She's Ruby's mom, isn't she."

Yang gave me a look that, playfully, said I was an idiot. But then nodded in agreement.

"Oh, that's why you two look so different. You've got different parents."

"Different moms" Yang corrected, slightly annoyed "Our dad's the same, a complete goof. I love him anyway though."

"… Then Summer is dead, huh?"

Yang looked at me in the mirror, curious.

"Ruby told me, back when we made that trip to Vale."

"When you two went on your date?" Yang teased

"You know that wasn't what it was, and yes."

"hm." Yang hummed. Her smile became tinged with sadness as her gaze drifted back to the floor "… She left on a mission when we were young. I was probably no more than five at the time."

"And she never came back, did she?"

Yang didn't answer. She didn't have to for me to get the picture.

Now Yang's fondness of her hair made sense. It wasn't just some challenge to everyone else. It was a link to her past. To someone important that she'd lost. Her anger was most likely drawn from anyone who would try to destroy their memory as it was anything else.

If anyone tried to throw mud at Cass, I'd flat out murder them.

At that correlation, I felt a pang form in my chest. One that wouldn't go away.

"… I'm sorry Yang."

Yang blinked and looked back up in the mirror at me.

"If I'd known how much your hair had meant to you, I wouldn't have used it, period."

Now it was my turn to look at the floor. As much out of shame as out of my own growing self-loathing. I've got few roots leading to my past, and knowing I cut someone else's did no wonders for me. If someone cut the ones I had to Cass…

'She's fine. She'll be fine.'

I felt Yang pat me on the arm shortly thereafter, having turned half-way around in the chair to do it.

"It was a long time ago, and you didn't know." She said, smiling warmly "It's ok."

"… No it's not." I answered, resuming my work "I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"You could always-"

"No."

Yang scoffed a little and began looking straight ahead into the mirror.

"Honestly, I think it sucks more for you." She said

"How so?"

"You've got these aura issues going on. That's gotta suck, supposedly not having one."

"… oh… that."

Yang quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Sooo… funny story."

I explained to Yang what happened at the medical office after the match. Explaining how apparently getting the tar kicked out of me on the regular had apparently damaged my aura to the point of seeming non-existent. How it had apparently recovered over the past few days.

And how it technically made me a giant hypocrite.

"… You're joking, right?" Yang asked

"I almost wish I was." I answered "If for no other reason than I hate being a hypocrite."

"So, after all that yelling, it turns out you have an aura."

"A weak one, but yep. Turns out somewhere in this hideous body of mine lives an itty-bitty soul. Yippee."

"… heh, ha ha-"

Yang started laughing, either at my incompetence or at my displeasure. I couldn't tell which.

"Yea, yea, laugh while you can." I grumble

"It's just- *heh*- You were so sure you were right *hah*"

"Yeah, well I wasn't, sue me."

Yang giggled for a little bit longer, then eventually suppressed it. Though she kept a smile on her face.

"… Did you really think you couldn't have an aura?" She asked

"Was pretty damn sure I couldn't anyway. Didn't have any evidence to the contrary, even with the rest of you having one."

"Why?"

"Because you kept saying it's from your soul. How the hell do you prove that's a thing?"

"I… actually don't know. We're just taught from a young age that aura and soul are linked. I've never really had it explained how we figured that out."

"And there's the problem, no one wanted to explain how we figured that out."

"… so did you just assume you didn't have a soul then?"

"I didn't assume anything, because then I would start raising questions I wanted no answers to."

Yang just rolled her eyes, surprisingly unconcerned about whether or not souls had any bearing on the afterlife.

"So, what, Aura isn't common where you're from?"

"The only people who believe souls give you superpowers have been stung in the brain by scorpions… repeatedly."

Yang gave me a look that said she probably wondered how serious I was being. If she only knew.

"What you said the other day-" Yang started "-about getting shot, stabbed, and all that. Were you being serious?"

"Hmph, you've seen my scars." I answered "You don't get things like that without earning them one stupid way or another."

I examined Yang's hair. I didn't have much left to fix now. Maybe another minute or two.

"If you don't mind, how did you… y'know, survive?" Yang asked

"Grit and determination." I answered smoothly "Also alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol. Helped numb the pain. Learned a bit about medicine too. Got good at basic First aid, then started reading whatever medical texts I could find."

"So you're doctor Six?" Yang asked, smirking

"Hardly." I scoffed "The Mojave doesn't have much in the way of accredited institutions. Most of the practicing ones only learned what they do through apprenticeships and old medical texts. Frankly, I'm probably more qualified than most 'doctors' you'd meet where I'm from."

"… Is that supposed to be scary or cool?"

"… Both, actually. A bit sad too."

Yang chuckled, part of me wanted to laugh too. Except I knew that there'd been times when what I'd known hadn't been enough. In every sense that could apply to.

"Bet you had lots of friends then." Yang said "Everybody wants to be friends with the doctor."

"Hmph." I chuckled mirthlessly "Sometimes more than others. Boone and Raul were always good at making sure they didn't get too banged up. But Lily and Veronica wouldn't stop throwing themselves at trouble. Probably doesn't help that they were more prone to duking it out with trouble than shooting it."

"… no kidding?"

"Yea, With Boone and Raul, They'd occasionally get roughed up. They'd get bit, or shot, or whatever else when they weren't paying attention. Lily and Veronica though, would get run through the ringer regularly. Veronica always got the worst of it too, she never really had much protecting her aside from her fists."

"Uh huh~"

"Lily always got through better though. It probably helps that she was a-"

I stopped when I finally realized what I was doing. I focused and noticed Yang was looking at me in the mirror, an inquisitive look on her face and a glimmer in her eye.

"Was a what~?" Yang asked, trying to get me to continue

"… A competent fighter." I finished, gruffer than I'd been

"Aww, don't be like that. You don't talk about your friends from back home."

"Yea, well, if you meet them then they can tell the stories. I'm just here to cut hair."

Yang lost the look on her face and rolled her eyes. I felt like she'd been trying to pump as much out of me as she could. That didn't seem right, normally snowflake was the one who'd try that. Then there was Ruby earlier, with her spear tipped remarks.

Seriously, what was going on?

I finished swiping at Yang's hair with the razor and dusted her off quickly with my hand. Then I closed my implement and stepped back a little.

"Alright, I'd say you're done. Though I recommend a shower at your earliest convenience. Cut hair itches terribly when left on skin."

Yang stood up from the chair and pulled her hair round front of her. A look of surprise on her face. She then moved it back and swayed a little, getting a better view of it as a whole.

"You fixed it." Yang said, soft surprise in her voice "It's almost like nothing happened."

"Well, I didn't 'fix it'" I said, placating "I more 'evened it out'. You can't exactly glue hair back on, so I just made it look like it did before… only, y'know, shorter by a few inches. Most people probably won't even notice the difference."

Yang gave me a dull look in the mirror and rolled her eyes. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, you know that?"

"So I've been told." I said "We square now?"

"… Almost" Yang said, still facing the mirror

"Almost?"

With a twist, Yang spun to face me, her right arm lashing out at me. I'd have dipped into a stance if it hadn't come up short of my face. Her hand was clenched into a fist, save for a sole finger she was stabbing at my face.

"Almost." Yang said sternly "We're 'even' now. We both have one win over the other."

I tried to back up and Yang just moved in closer, clearly intent on making herself seem intimidating.

"The next time we fight, we'll see which one of us is better." She said a ferocious, toothy grin on her face "Next time, it's winner take all!"

"… What are you, ten?"

Yang lost the grin and just shook her head playfully. "You'll never win with that attitude."

"… watch me." I said, glaring lightly back at her.

Yang smirked at me, and I returned it with one of my own. Then we both started laughing. I guess things had blown over enough now.

We stopped laughing about the time there was a knock on the door. It cracked open a smidge and a trio of heads poked in, each on top of the others. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake, eyed us from the doorway.

"Are you two finally done?" Weiss asked, grimacing

"Hmph, Yea, we're good." Yang said, still smiling "You can come in now."

The trio of head pulled back from the door way and the door opened fully, allowing them to walk into the room.

"How long have you three been waiting out there?" I asked

"Over half an hour" Blake said indifferently

"Really, I took that long?"

"I'd say it was worth it." Yang said, playing with her hair "At least I don't feel as off balance now."

"Whoa~" Ruby said, looking at her sister's head "It almost looks like it did before."

"… It's a little short." Weiss said begrudgingly

"Give it a few weeks." I answered "You won't be able to tell the difference."

"So you're a barber and a mailman?" Blake asked

"No, I'm whatever I need to be. I just so happen to be decent at a bunch of different things."

"Including being a barber?"

"Including shearing and barbery, yes."

"Ooh, ooh, do me!" Ruby said, moving to the chair in front of the mirror.

"Ruby, I just said I wasn't-"

"Please~" Ruby said, giving me the same puppy eyes she did earlier. Their innocence burning me like a bolt of fresh plasma. I could feel it eroding my will like stone in a sandstorm, chipping away at me until I was ready to crumble. I held out as long as I could.

"Ugh, fine." I groaned

It wasn't long enough.

With a smile, Ruby seated herself on the chair. I could feel everyone's eyes on me for some reason. Probably scrutinizing me to determine if they could weasel haircuts out of me too.

"So, what do you want done?" I asked

"Just a trim." Ruby said brightly

"… You sure? With this red and black thing your hair has going, I'd say you'd look pretty kick-ass with a Mohawk."

Ruby blanched a little bit "N-no, just a trim, please."

"… alrighty then."

I set to work on giving Ruby a trim. Quietly biting back the urge to give her a Mohawk anyway.