Goodwitch gives Team CRDL an odd look the next day when we wander into the classroom talking among ourselves and smiling. She clearly expects us to be - what? Wrecks? Cringing? Subdued? Whatever. We know what we did and we know why, and we aren't going to feel bad about what happened, and we aren't going to let Cardin feel bad about what happened, either. What happened happened, and if we aren't here to improve then why the fuck are we here? I plan to make this point, complete with pointed examples (pardon the pun) if Arc and his friends start trying to get smart about it.

None of them comment, though. Nikos and Arc are too wrapped up in talking, in rebuilding their bond, maybe. I wonder if Arc notices the yearning in Nikos's eyes as she talks to him. I wonder if Nikos notices it. It seems new, to me, but I don't spend my entire time staring at Nikos. The odd moment, maybe, when I take a second to admire her. Not that I'm into her, but someone who's not an architect can admire a fine building.

Nora Valkyrie doesn't even seem to notice us. That's normal. She's too wrapped up in her own world to notice a lot. I like to imagine that world. Everything is moving so much faster than our world and it's all coloured pink. Lie Ren gives us a few hard looks, but he never thought much of us. Now he thinks we're cowards. So what? Before he thought we were thugs. I don't care what he thinks and I hope he knows it.

Team RWBY is even less subtle. Schnee openly sneers at us. Belladonna's lip curls every time she looks at us. Xiao Long rolls hereyes. Only Rose doesn't seem to have changed how she treats us. But again, she didn't like us in the first place.

Maybe CRDL should be nicer to our classmates.

None of them have brought it up, though. Maybe Arc knows what will happen if they do. There's a moment before class starts when he comes in and he meets Cardin's eye, and there's a measured look on both faces, and then they both look away. This makes me thing that maybe they've come to some sort of accommodation, or understanding. Arc doesn't deserve to be here. Cardin doesn't deserve to be able to push him around the way he was doing, especially after Arc saved him. The storm has passed; it's time to pick up the pieces now.

~o0o~

Goodwitch and our other professors keep a close eye on us over the next few days. I wonder how much they know. Do they know about Cardin's Semblance? Or do they think we just lost our nerve? I ask Sky and Dove and neither can provide any clues, although Dove does make a good point.

'Maybe they're just on the lookout for PES,' he suggests.

'Post-Engagement Stress?' I want to laugh at the idea, but something on Dove's face suggests this might be a sensitive topic. 'Maybe,' I allow. A thought strikes me. 'You don't think Cardin has it, do you?'

'Nah,' Sky says. 'I think he was just a bit shaken up. He doesn't have any of the signs. Depression, bad dreams, fugue states, mood swings…' Sky's voice trails off at the end and he gives me a searching look.

'He hasn't shown any of that, but it has only been a few days.' I shrug. 'Besides, it was barely an engagement.

''They're thinking of renaming it,' Sky says. 'Engagement is too specific, apparently, and it's not just limited to Hunters. Civilians and stuff get it too.'

I shrug at him. I'm not sure what he wants from me. 'Whatever, if they're looking for that, they're on their own.'

Cardin enters and looks at us. 'What's up?'

'Talking about Semblances,' Dove says. That guy's ability to tell a lie without blinking is kind of chilling. 'We were trying to work out how to work yours into a melee.'

We've found out that our tolerances are increasing. Or maybe Cardin is getting better at redirecting it; it's impossible to say. It affects us less if we're behind him, out of his line of sight. It affects us less if he's focusing on a specific target; for example, if he's trying to scare Dove, Sky and I won't be hit as badly. The level of concentration he needs for that is beyond what he's capable of in a fight, though, I think. The problem is, Cardin loses his head. He's a great technical fighter, but in battles he'll just get carried away or enraged. He doesn't have the same cold calculation someone like Schnee or Nikos has.

Dove and Sky revealed their Semblances a few days after the encounter with the Ursa. Dove can send out a wave of sound that acts like echolocation, bouncing off objects and telling him where they are. He can apparently use it concussively, too, but he hasn't shown us yet, because Sky's Semblance is super-senses. Eyesight, touch, scent, and of course, hearing. They're useful in things like lie- detection, tracking; even in combat, where he can note weaknesses invisible to the naked eye and act on them. But if Dove were to use his Semblance when Sky was using his, it's entirely possible Sky would be deafened. Since Sky has a bad habit of activating his Semblance without thinking to give himself an edge in combat…

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I have a feeling he also uses it to cheat at cards. But so far he's not admitting to anything.

They're probably waiting for me to reveal mine, but whatever. It wouldn't surprise me, in fact, if Dove chose his lie for that specific reason: because then they would have an excuse to push the matter.

I swing my legs off the bed. 'I'm going to check the mail.' I never get mail. That's such a dumb excuse. I wait for someone to call me on it.

'Ok,' Sky says instantly. 'Check for the rest of us, would you?'

'Sure, man.'

There's no mail for me. There's no mail for anyone in my team. It was a really dumb excuse, for Sky and for me. I don't get any mail because I have no family. Sky, Dove and Cardin rarely get mail because all their families live in Vale.

So, I wonder. What did Sky want me out of the room for?

It's tempting to go up to the roof and eavesdrop, but probably also a little petty and distrustful. Ok, there's no 'probably' about it. After all, maybe they were just giving me an excuse to get out of the room, to avoid discussing my Semblance. They know I don't want to. Sky covers for Dove's fuck-ups and tries to keep the peace as much as he can; maybe he was just trying to head off a fight.

Maybe.

I turn a corner and walk straight into Ozpin. 'Sorry,' I say. He's giving me a level look, his head tilted to the side, and for some reason it really pisses me off. Doesn't anything phase this guy?

'No matter,' he says. It sounds like he's not talking about the collision; he's talking about me.

Calm down, Russel. You're paranoid because of Sky. You've never even spoken to Ozpin, why should he have any opinion about you?

'Walk with me a few minutes, won't you, Russel?' Ozpin says suddenly.

I raise one eyebrow, not caring if he sees it. 'Sure.' He knows your name?

We set off. He walks slowly, and I match his pace, fuming inwardly. There is nothing I hate more than walking slowly. Ambling . It's the worst. The point of walking is to get places, not die of old age before you make your destination.

'How are you finding my school, Russel?' Ozpin asks abruptly. My school. Pretentious, pompous, entitled windbag.

'It's nice,' I say.

'Colder than Vacuo, I'm sure you've realised.'

Heh. Yeah. For the first time in my life, I was actually glad of my habit of wearing long sleeves when I came here. 'It's not so bad.'

'And how are you and your new team progressing?'

I was wrong. There is something I hate more than walking slowly, and that's probing questions. 'We're fine,' I say curtly.

'Oh?' Ozpin doesn't add anything. We walk in silence a little further. I gradually stop fuming.

The walkway opens out onto a balcony that overlooks the school. Ozpin wanders up to the edge, then turns to me. 'Do you know, I received a letter from your headmistress at Recluse after you graduated?' Ozpin asks pleasantly.

I tense. 'Oh?' I ask as insolently as I can, deliberately trying to mimic him. 'What'd she say?'

'She said that she was glad that you had proved yourself to the degree that you did. She was glad that I had recognised that by offering you a place at my academy. She also said that she wanted me to postpone that offer by a year.

'I bite my tongue so hard I taste blood. I don't say anything. I had honestly thought I could trust her. That was my first mistake. You can't trust adults. They say something is for your own good, when nine times out of ten it's for their own convenience. I had thought she was the tenth. I was wrong. This hurts more than it should.

'She said that if the events that occurred had transpired prior to graduation, she would have taken steps herself. As it was out of her hands, she wrote to me to inform me that she didn't feel that it would be safe to allow you to continue with your training.' He stares out over his school and his voice doesn't change even a bit as he goes on, 'She was concerned you would hurt yourself. Or allow yourself to be hurt.'

Why is he telling me this? 'What'd you say?' I demand quietly.

'I said that you had already accepted.'

'That's it?' I'm thrown. He said it in such a matter-of-fact tone. I can't read this guy.

'That was all there was to be said. You had accepted my offer. I could not reasonably refuse it to you, not when you had genuinely earned your place here.' He turns to look at me. 'I am beginning to have grave concerns that she was correct. Many students have passed through these halls. Few have carried the same type of burden for so long, in such silence, as you. I am concerned about how long you can continue to do so without breaking under its weight.'

I keep quiet. I'm not discussing my heartbreak with this man.

'If I may offer you some advice…' Ozpin gives me a look full of such sympathy that I want to punch him in the face just to make the pain he's recognising go away. 'Tell your teammates what happened, Russel. They should know why you have erected this barrier around you.

''Barrier?' I blurt. That's the last thing I expected to hear.

'Yes. Barrier. The wall of insolence, indifference and sarcasm you use to keep them away, to keep them from getting to know you so as to prevent them from realising how deeply you have been hurt.' His words are ringing in my ears like a bell. There's truth in them that can't be denied. He sees my face and gentles his voice. 'You have four years to spend here, Russel. Will you really spend them alone?'

'Yeah,' I say, turning to look away from him. 'Best way to get stuff done.'

'I won't try and make your choice for you, Russel,' he says, turning to leave. 'Nor can I help you if you will not allow me to, try though I may.'

'I don't need your help.' I don't try to lower my voice. I just wish it sounded half as convincing as his had a moment ago. He clearly agrees, because Ozpin gives me a sad, sceptical look and leaves to tend to his school and the other students, the ones who aren't broken into a million pieces inside.

I wait until he's gone, then I sink to the ground and bury my face in my hands.