I hate the fact that it took so long to get this chapter out. It should have gone out weeks ago. It's just all my betas disappeared and finding someone took a while. I had a couple people volunteer, but then couldn't get to it in time. Happened quite a bit, but finally had someone look it over. I wish it didn't take so long, as I wanted to get this chapter up. It was a lot of fun to write though. Thanks for being patient and I did see comments recently about people wanting to see an update. You know the drill by now. We start with the quick responses to the comments and then to the story.

GSetsuna: Maybe I'm watching you.

treyalexander63917: Touma can fight them off. It will be a little bit before she does anything.

shiroryuu012: We were making so many jokes in discord about that.

Onishin Tsukitenshi: There's a lot of uncertainty about how exactly her Semblance works. If it's like Academy City mental users, then no. If it's different, then Accelerator may have to adjust reflection.

BlueJack22: Do any of the guys even care?

Don Orbit: The burned down kitchen was purely for this moment.

megalof8: The world is not ready for that.

fernandamichelleraya: Naturally, some events will transpire, but eventually, there will be a large diversion from canon. We learned a lot recently about the Dragons and I'm excited to use them. Mercury is also so much fun to write when he's mocking people.

Koda Nine: He's used to cooking, but with minimal ingredients.

triscythe59: Sure. Let's add another girl for Touma. He's got three already, what's a fourth?

calderoneric758: Hah! You caught the reference. If another faction appeared, it would probably be one of each side to keep balance.

Angelfusion: Remember, he can't keep up his reflection forever in his weakened state. So when he's relaxed in school, he won't have all those reflections up.

Batthan the Dark Knight: Jealousy, rage, depression, maybe some rage?

Guest: Er…. Probably not. Due to the fact I'm not super familiar with Japanese food.

JCarrasco: I plan to.

Sagnik Deb: That's the joke with Touma. 5-star chef.

WriterAdam: Yep. Once Accelerator realizes someone's doing this, he'll filter out her power. She has one chance.

Optic FaZe: Accelerator has weakened a bit due to Dust healing and Semblances don't have to work the same way Academy City abilities do. Oh yeah. White Wing Accelerator could decimate everyone.

Stitches: Crossover event! I did not know that about the voice actor. Huh, learn something new every day. The contest isn't really important, but some fun antics go on. Winner was easily decided though. Hallucinations vs Illusions, is there a difference? Accelerator would know.

Inacio: Ruby would eat the least. The other two would be close.

ShinyKyu: A second or two can be all that is needed. Timing is everything. I have the scene planned out. Mikoto would have a hard time against the others. They are all a lot more attractive than her. Also, if she tried to shock Touma, the others would call her out on it.

SlothDGod: Heh. Some names are just obvious for Grimm. There was a RWBY fanfic with sloth grim. Jaune learned how to communicate with them to a degree and Nora was given a sloth Grimm she named Pancake. Your lore was kind of similar to that.

FabledLife: Yes, that's Ilia. Hallucinations would work on Touma unless he touched his head with his hand. Othinus doesn't eat for seven. He can say his catchphrase some more I guess? His luck has actually improved a bit since arriving here though.

Guest: Certain situations, illusions will work, like if his reflection is down.

Ahsoei: He doesn't know about it and if Semblances have different Vectors than abilities, his reflection won't stop it automatically until he recalculates.

Missingmoney: It can, but also depends how Emerald's semblance works.

Restraint: Under clothes/tight clothes. Plus they could keep the pants. Mostly ditched the masks and jacket. Some clothes were also worn under the uniform.

Sora with an S: Wyverns are not true dragons.

G119: I may or may not copy from wikis for descriptions of characters. Yeah, people don't really have foodgasms. Maybe Ruby and cookies. Well, Ilia now has a chance for Touma to add her to his harem… I mean save her. I did that to Healthcare and it worked. Thanks for the suggestion.

JeaSonDash: I mentioned this before, but if I do add them, it will be later on. There are tons of RWBY characters to use already.

Mr. X: 1) She did and then had the talk. Doesn't mean she told the others. 2) Sure. 3) Yes?

Windraider: Yeah, Wyverns are not true dragons. Well, only Jaune and Touma knew about that and Jaune would easily miss something like that. Touma was upset at her and is going to stop her at all costs.

A certain guest: Don't forget, he's weakened a little bit and can't have reflection up 100% of the time. It really depends how her ability works, which RWBY never fully explores. You're argument is well reason and explained, which I appreciate, but it would throw a wrench in my awesome plan. Now I have to think of something reasonable to counter a lot of that. Accelerator is going to dominate hacking once he decides to do that. The technology he's use to is way beyond Beacon. Atlas might be close.

Stitches: No idea. It would be up to the author.

UltraHydra: It's cool. I procrastinate too. Emerald is either going to succeed and regret it, or fail and regret it.

Cbustroyer: 1) Huh, interesting thought. It wouldn't be multi-skill, it would be like swapping skills. 2) I don't think any of them could compare to a saint. 3) I will have to think about that. 4) They differ on how they work and Emerald's Semblance might use different vectors Accelerator's reflection isn't set up to counter. 5) Again, depends on how magic works in RWBY.

Paradoxreader: Jaune has the most OP Semblance too. Living Aura battery.

KamijouTouma 007: I know who I'm adding if I add them. You'll have to wait and see.

Omega2357: I'm working on it.

KingAllen: Oh, no. Academy City is in an uproar.

ShadowingLight04: So dark…

Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or RWBY.

"Why are we doing this again?" Accelerator grumbled as the four boys stood in the kitchen unit at the end of the dorm hall.

"Because Yang tricked you." Jaune replied evenly.

A single glare made him hide behind Ren. Well, as much as he could being larger than the quiet boy.

"And Last Order wanted to eat your food too," Touma pointed out, looking over the food in the refrigerator. "I think they took all the refrigerated food in the cafeteria and split it up among the kitchens. There's so much here."

For a poor high school boy who was happy to see eggs on sale, this was an extravagant luxury he would never have the option to experience normally. Seeing the variety of fresh meat and vegetables made his stomach rumble. He was going to do his best not just to feed himself, but his friends too. It was like back home, just with better food. When he told them he was used to feeding seven, plus him, that wasn't a lie.

His roommate was a glutton.

"It was obvious Yang realized she could use the excuse of punishment to get free meals." Ren finally said what they were all thinking out loud.

"Eh, oh well." Touma shrugged. "I don't mind cooking for people. Blake and Neo helped us out, so they deserve something as thanks." There was also no way he would give Neo what she wanted as her first choice. "Any idea what you're going to make?"

"Yep, my specialty according to Nora." Ren replied.

"Pancakes?" Jaune asked.

"Pancakes."

"Pancakes aren't really a dinner though." Touma pointed out.

"You can tell Nora that if you want to."

Touma's blood ran cold at Ren's words.

"I-I'm good. My mistake." To change the subject, he looked at Jaune. "What are you making?"

"Thinking of making chicken, with a spicy BBQ sauce. Maybe add some fried rice."

"There's no rice maker." Accelerator noticed.

"Just have to do it the old fashion way." Jaune shrugged at his words, looking unconcerned. "Get some water boiling."

It wasn't that Accelerator only knew how to make rice in a rice cooker. He actually knew how to make a lot of things, especially when using a rice cooker. It was easy to make stuff in them besides rice. The only limitation was one's creativity. Learning to cook had been more of a necessity than anything else. Of the two guardians back home, one worked a lot as a teacher and member of Anti-Skill, the other was just a useless hikikomori. So it was either learn to cook or buy food at restaurants all the time. Taking Last Order and her sister anywhere was a pain so he learned to cook.

He was taught how to make just about anything in one.

"Brat doesn't eat well, so any shit I make has to have plenty of vegetables," Accelerator muttered, more to himself as he pulled out a chunk of beef. "Guess I can work around this."

The Japanese didn't eat a lot of beef, but it still existed and he had some ideas on what he could use it for.

"We just gotta make enough for everyone," Jaune reminded them. "Nora and Yang eat a lot… but they never gain any weight."

He added that last bit while turning around. It felt like a dark presence was listening when he said the first half of the sentence, but no one was there. Shrugging, he went back to work. It was easy to judge how much food to make, as he was used to cooking for a large family. He hadn't had to cook much, besides an occasional late-night snack, so he was going back to basics.

"There's enough food here to feed the entire dorm," Touma assured him. "I'm just trying to narrow it down. Neo just wants to eat sweets most of the time, but she can't eat only that. Not even sure what she likes besides them actually."

"Just make something you're good at," Ren suggested.

"I'm poor… I'm lucky to have eggs and some old vegetables back home."

"Well, then splurge!" Jaune suggested and then laughed. "Have some fun and cook something you've always wanted to eat. You're going to be doing this for a couple days at least, so you might as well try new stuff."

"I like that idea." Touma chuckled and rummaged around in the fridge "HAH!" He found something that stood out. "This should be good. Now I just need to find something to please Neo. Maybe I'll win the competition."

"Was there a prize?" Jaune asked.

"Nope." Ren answered.

"Because you all caved to blondie." Accelerator snapped. He pulled out a large knife and everyone backed up. Ignoring their reactions, the knife flashed in his hand as he started to cut up a couple carrots.

He was actually pretty good.

"Like you?"

Those words slipped out of the misfortunate boy's mouth and the next moment, the knife had flown from Accelerator's hand and embedded in the wall right above Touma's head.

"Oops, it slipped." Accelerator 'apologized' with a slight sneer.

"This is going to be great!" Yang laughed, as the girls set up a table and chairs in Team RWBY's room. There wasn't enough room in the kitchen area for everyone and they would just bother the other occupants of the wing. "Hope they hurry up, I'm starving."

"You know there's a chance their food might not be very good." Weiss pointed out.

"Then I can laugh at their attempts and show you all that the food I make is fine." Yang huffed. "If it is good, then I get to enjoy it. It's a win-win for me."

"I can't say much about Touma and Accelerator's skills as I haven't seen them cook yet," Pyrrha pointed out. "Jaune and Ren however are both good cooks and have made us meals on several occasions."

"Ren makes awesome pancakes and Jaune makes the best mac and cheese from scratch!" Nora added.

"From scratch?" Ruby asked interestedly. "Yang always just used boxes."

"I'm still surprised Accelerator can cook," Blake commented, turning a page of her book. "He mentioned he drinks canned coffee, so I didn't expect him to do all that extra work to actually make something."

"Accelerator can do anything he sets his mind to, MISAKA states as MISAKA is patiently waiting for lunch. He does a lot of the cooking back home, though MISAKA is worried he won't put much effort into it, MISAKA admits."

"I'm sure whatever he makes will be fine," Weiss assured her. "If it's not, we can make Yang eat it while the rest of us enjoy good cooking."

"Hey!" Yang protested as the others laughed.

Neo kicked up her feet on the table and grinned, pointing to the bathroom and then to her hair to Yang. Yang's eyes flashed red and she glared at the girl. Still, Neo never actually said she did it, so there was nothing any of them could do. Even if they KNEW she did it. Touma even admitted it was most likely her. Of course, she didn't show any remorse either. Neo was… Neo. There wasn't really a better way to describe her. At least she wasn't stabbing people while they slept.

Baby steps.

There was a knock on the door and Nora was the fastest one to rise and open it.

"Welcome to Chez RWBY!"

"Nora," Ren sighed. "We're the ones cooking. You should be telling that to people who are eating."

"Well you guys are going to eat too, right?" Nora asked, tilting her head before stepping back.

Ren, Jaune, Touma, and Accelerator came in, pushing a cart full of covered dishes. There was a large pot with bowls and a ladle, which must have been some form of soup. Next to it was another slightly wider pot with a large spoon. There was a larger oval plate and then a tall tower on the last one.

"About time guys," Yang laughed. "So? Who's up first?"

"I'll go," Jaune replied, setting the pot down and passing out plates. He removed the lid and the smell of chicken and spices filled the room. "I got some spicy BBQ chicken in some fried rice and vegetables."

"Smells delicious, Jaune." Pyrrha told him.

"Thanks," he replied with a smile. "It's something I made at home for a lot and my sisters liked it." As the girls began to pile some on everyone's plate, including the guys', Ren went next.

"Nora would be upset if I didn't make these." When he uncovered the tall dish, everyone stared.

"Pancakes?" The girls repeated.

"Pancakes!" Nora cheered, taking most of the tower onto her plate.

"We should have seen that coming." Weiss commented and looked over at Accelerator. He seemed rather reserved today and sort of just stood in the back, not wanting to draw attention to himself. When she caught his eye, he knew he had to present. He picked up the pot, set it down and without any real enthusiasm, took off the lid.

"Beef stew." The girls peeked into the pot and saw potatoes, carrots, peas and other vegetables with the meat. Accelerator's eyes turned towards Last Order as the others looked. "And no picking out the vegetables. You eat them with the meat."

"MISAKA wasn't going to! MISAKA lies as MISAKA avoids eye contact."

"I recommend not saying the last part of your sentences." Yang whispered as Ruby giggled.

"What did you make Touma?" Ruby asked excitedly, leaning forward in her chair.

"Found something nice that reminded me of home," Touma laughed and removed the cover. "Seared Tuna steaks over lettuce." There were dozens of slices of red fish with darkened skin neatly arranged.

"Okay, everyone can have a couple piec-… Blake!" Weiss admonished.

About half of the plate of tuna was already on the girl's plate.

"What?" Blake asked innocently. "I left you some."

Weiss and Yang facepalmed while Ruby and Pyrrha giggled.

Neo then swiped a couple pieces of the fish onto her plate and everyone had to scramble to make sure they got some. Then they grabbed the bowls to pass out Accelerator's stew. Nora was happy enough just eating Ren's food, but Ren made her eat some of Accelerator's stew so she could meet the bare minimum of nutritional value. Last Order was forced to do that too, but she didn't seem to mind too much.

She was having more fun talking and eating with everyone.

Actually, all of them were enjoying this.

Jaune felt like he was back home with his family. Ren and Nora were with friends and not sequestered as usual. Pyrrha was with people who didn't care about her fame. Yang and Ruby always enjoyed eating with friends. Weiss liked this better than the cafeteria because they didn't have to see or hear all the other teams, especially Cardin's. Blake was reminded of home too, back with her family sitting around and enjoying handmade food. Touma was just happy people were enjoying his food and they were doing something normal, rather than something life-threatening with the fate of the world at stake. Accelerator would never admit it, but having people talk to him normally was a welcome change of pace.

Neo was just happy for the free tasty food she didn't have to prepare.

All the food was finished and everyone was satisfied. Even the big eaters like Nora and Yang. The talking still continued a bit until the question was finally asked.

"Who won? MISAKA asks curiously."

There was a silence as most of the girls had forgotten and none of the guys really cared.

"Give us a moment, ladies?" Yang asked.

Not that any of them had a choice, because Yang dragged Ruby and Blake after her. Pyrrha, Nora, Weiss, Last Order, and even Neo followed her to the far side of the room. They began to discuss the food in hushed whispers. The room wasn't huge, so the boys caught several words and some disapproval huffs, but not enough to know who was going to win.

"Okay," Yang whispered. "We discussed it. Now, the votes?"

"Touma won." Blake replied.

"It's fish, Blake." Yang reprimanded, "Quit being biased."

"I'm not, it was just delicious. And I'm very selective about fish."

"Bull." Weiss countered.

"Jaune's was the best I think," Pyrrha said.

"You sure you're not voting for him because of something else?" Yang's eyes twinkled in amusement and Neo was silently laughing.

"N-No." Pyrrha muttered, blushing.

"I thought they were all good." Ruby admitted.

"Yeah, they surprised me." Yang agreed with her sister.

"Ren's pancakes were the best." Nora stated firmly.

"Okay," Yang didn't even bother arguing with her. "So we got one each for Touma, Jaune, and Ren."

"MISAKA likes Accelerator's dish! MISAKA votes."

"Okay, one all," Yang said. "That leaves Ruby, Ice Queen, shorty…" Neo glared at her. "…and me, left to make a decision. Sorry, sis. You have to choose one. Just be honest."

"I don't want to make any of them mad." Ruby muttered.

"We won't tell them who voted which way." Weiss assured her. "Though I doubt any of them will care. There wasn't a prize involved."

"I kind of liked Jaune's dish the most," Ruby admitted. "Accelerator's stew had too many vegetables for my liking and I'm not a big fan of fish." She suddenly looked over at Blake, who shrugged.

"I actually liked Accelerator's stew a lot," Weiss finally said. "But the way Touma prepared his fish was more in line with my tastes. Though, I'm leaning toward Accelerator, for the fact that he made sure his food was healthy."

"Yay! MISAKA cheers quietly as MISAKA high fives Weiss.

Neo made some hand gestures to indicate she was next.

"Yeah, you don't count," Yang told her. "You're going to vote for Touma regardless of what he served."

Neo shook her head, but no one believed her.

"She should still get a vote." Pyrrha spoke up for her and Neo grinned at her.

"Tsk, fine." Yang rolled her eyes. "Go ahead."

Neo held up her tablet and just like everyone thought, it was Touma.

"So three-way tie," Yang said. "Okay. Guess I'll tell them the winner since I'm last."

The girls all stood up and looked at the guys. Accelerator seemed bored and the other three were just chatting among themselves while waiting. Yang coughed and they all looked at her.

"Okay, ladies," Yang told them. "I'm sure you're all dying to hear who won."

"Nope." Accelerator's curt reply came immediately.

"I guess?" Jaune replied while Ren shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to me really." Touma agreed with the others.

"DYING to hear who won!" Yang repeated with more force. She could hear Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha stifling their amusement. "Okay, first place goes to Jaune with his chicken dish and it was a tie between Accelerator and Touma for second."

"I demand a recount!" Nora angrily cried out. "The voting was rigged! Ren should have won!"

"You were part of the vote," Pyrrha reminded her. "And Jaune won for our team."

"Oh… right!" Her attitude did an immediate 180 and she hugged her team leader.

"Gah! Nora… Can't breathe!"

"If you kill him Nora, who's going to help me bring in dessert?" Touma asked.

"You guys made dessert too?" Ruby asked incredulously as Nora let go of Jaune.

"Yeah… give us a few minutes… to finish it up." Jaune panted.

Touma, Jaune and Ren left the room together to finish up, but Accelerator stayed behind. The girls all looked at him and he finally was forced to answer.

"Wasn't my idea. Pain in the ass." Ruby flinched at his cursing.

"So you're lazy?" Yang needled.

"No more than you." Accelerator refuted.

"He's got you there." Weiss agreed with a smirk. "I've seen the mess you leave in the bathroom."

"Pssh, you always take his side." Yang huffed.

"Naturally, I'm always right." Accelerator declared with a smirk of his own.

"Yep! MISAKA agrees as MISAKA giggles."

"Yang is definitely not right most of the time." Ruby nodded sagely. "Dad has to yell at her a lot."

"I'm going to go with the majority." Blake stated with a look of amusement.

"Traitors!" Yang cried out pointing. "All of you!" Pyrrha and Nora were laughing at the scene.

The next moment, the dorm room door was pushed open. Ren opened it for Jaune, who was carrying in a cake. Behind him, Touma was carrying two other dishes. Jaune set the cake down on the table and began cutting it.

"They didn't have chocolate cake mix," he apologized to Ruby. "We had to use vanilla."

"Vanilla cake is still good, Jaune." Ruby assured him.

"Weiss Cream there prefers vanilla anyways." Yang laughed.

"Wait? How did you know that? I never mentioned what cake I preferred." Blues eyes studied the blonde.

"You just seem like a vanilla cake person." Pyrrha answered instead.

"And she has a cake butler." Blake commented.

"So we should've worn suits then, my lady?" Touma asked and everyone burst out laughing while Weiss flushed and glared at him. Jaune was chuckling under his breath as he passed out pieces of cake to everyone. Ruby took one, but it was obvious she wasn't as excited as if it was chocolate. This was something Touma noticed too and caught her eye. "Hey, Ruby. Since we can't have your favorite cake, how about this?"

He set down a plate of cookies in front of her.

One would think he set down a plate of money with how wide her eyes went. She stared at them in shock.

"They're strawberry and chocolate chip," Touma continued. "You mentioned those were your favorite and the kitchen had the ingredie-… oomph!"

He stumbled back as Ruby bolted up and wrapped her arms around him in a stranglehold of a hug that Nora would be proud of.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ruby kept repeating over and over.

"Looks like someone finally claimed the house husband title." Yang commented amusedly. She smirked at Neo, who was gritting her teeth.

"Be nice, Yang." Pyrrha whispered.

"Er… are you going to keep hugging me or eat them?" Touma asked uncertainly, his ears burning.

"Eep!" Ruby instantly let him go and sat back down hiding under her cloak as she calmed down her beating heart.

"Good thing you gave her options," Weiss commented, also highly amused while leaning on her elbow. "She's not good at making her own choices in situations like these."

"Neither are you." Blake needled. "You tend to move to insults."

"The best default answer." Accelerator agreed.

Everyone stared at him.

"Did… he make a joke?" Yang asked incredulously, trying to process this.

"Hmm, seems like he did." Ren commented mildly.

"Are you okay? MISAKA asks worriedly as MISAKA knows Accelerator doesn't like to joke."

All conversation immediately turned to the topic of Accelerator actually cracking a joke. Votes were taken and the majority of them agreed he must have been sick. Of course, that pissed him off and after a couple rounds of insults, he was back to his normal pissy self. Ruby suddenly remembered the cookies as she looked for a distraction from his cussing and took a bite.

The world seemed to stop for her.

Pure fruity goodness mixed with the rich milk chocolate exploded in her mouth. Fireworks went off in her eyes as the flavor overwhelmed her. They were probably the best cookies she had ever tasted and she had eaten more than a few cookies in her lifetime. This blew away any cookies Yang made when she was younger. How could someone make such a perfect treat? Was Touma's world full of delicacies like this? Would he make more for her?

"Marry me!" Ruby blurted out to Touma

He froze.

Everyone else froze.

Ruby's mind finally processed what she just said and her face started turning a deep shade of red.

"Wow, Ruby!" Yang was having a difficult time suppressing her laughter. "You skipped a few steps there."

Neo however took it more seriously and made a slashing motion across her neck. Ruby squeaked something and hid under her hood.

"Be nice, Neo." Touma sighed. "Here. Forget what she said." He passed over a tall glass and Neo looked at it. It was a milkshake.

More specifically, a Neapolitan milkshake with all three flavors clearly separated.

She stared at him in shock.

"Just… try not to cause trouble." Touma added.

She grabbed the milkshake and immediately began to drink it, sighing happily between sips

"Again, how do you find time to do all this?" Weiss asked.

"Practice?" The boy answered simply and shrugged.

"Did he mention that to you?" Pyrrha whispered to Jaune.

"He said if he kept her happy, it would help prevent her from pulling any pranks on anyone else." Jaune whispered.

"Well, he managed to win over Blake with fish, Ruby with cookies, and Neo with a milkshake," Yang pointed out, still snickering. "Who's next? Me?"

"No, I thought Accelerator had a claim on you?" The instant those words left the spiky-haired boy's mouth, he slammed a hand over it. His smart mouth was about to get him into trouble, as Accelerator, who had mostly been ignoring the mindless chatter, spun around and looked murderous.

Yang took it in stride.

"HA! Knew it!" A grin was plastered on her face. "All those insults to me were just your way of saying you liked me. Sorry though string bean, I like some meat on my guys. They got to keep up with ALL this." She flexed to prove a point, her muscles a prominent feature.

"Who would want any of that?" Accelerator gagged. "Stupidity levels are rising, I'm out." He opened the door and prepared to leave.

"Wait! MISAKA cries out." It was too late and Accelerator was gone. As much as he was willing to do SOME stuff with them, if things became too idiotic for him, he just bailed.

"It's okay, Last Order," Nora assured her. "He just needs to realize he misses us. You notice how he always comes around and hangs out with us? He totally likes us."

"Maybe…" Ren humored her.

"You might be right, MISAKA admits hesitantly. Accelerator has been more talkative around you all."

"Well, how would you like to see me beat my weight lifting record?" Nora asked Last Order. "You could even spot me."

"That would be awesome! MISAKA answers eagerly, as MISAKA hops up and down."

"No spotting," Ren's voice was stern. "She can watch though, but I'll spot."

"Don't worry, Ren!" Nora gave him a tight hug. "No one can replace you as my number one spotter!" She completely missed the point that Last Order wouldn't be able to lift hundreds of pounds of weights like Nora or other students could. "Let's go!"

She and Last Order rushed out of the room and Ren slowly stood up.

"Thanks for having us over." He told the others, heading out after them.

"I should go and finish cleaning up," Touma said. "Before we get yelled at for making a mess." Neo looked up from her half-finished milkshake and gestured to him. "You told me already, Neo. I remember." She smiled as he left.

"What was that about?" Ruby asked, looking at Neo. Neo of course didn't say anything, but pointed to Pyrrha.

"Neo and I are going shopping today," Pyrrha told them. "She needs a dress for the dance and I need a new one too."

The remaining girls and Jaune stared at her for a moment.

"Neo can't leave the school!" Weiss was the first one to respond. "That was part of her restrictions."

There was a thud as Neo's tablet was set down on the table. The look on the multicolored girl's face could not have been any smugger as Weiss picked up the device and read the email on it. Her blue eyes slowly grew wider as she went through Ozpin's permission.

"She's given special permission for today if she wears a tracking bracelet…" As Weiss told the others, Neo put her leg up on the table to show the bracelet on her ankle. "…and she has to be escorted by someone who knows of her situation." Neo's finger was pointing at Pyrrha. "How did she get Ozpin…?" Neo stuck a finger in her mouth and pulled the corner of her shirt down over her shoulder. "Gross!" Weiss gagged at the implications.

"Whatever she told him was obviously a lie!" Yang spat out, glaring at the girl. "He's too soft. How many times has he overlooked all of our antics that Goodwitch would have expelled us for?"

"Yang!" Ruby couldn't believe her ears. "It sounds like you want him to punish us!"

"She's saying that the stuff we did should have gotten us expelled, but Neo has done a lot worse." Blake explained, her eyes narrowing at Neo.

"I did promise her," Pyrrha spoke up softly and looked at Jaune. "Are you okay with me taking her into Vale?"

"Er, well…" The poor boy was put under the spotlight as Team RWBY, his partner, and Neo all stared at him. He coughed and tried to think of how to respond without someone hitting him. Neo and Yang were the ones he feared most. "If you promised her Pyrrha, you should keep it. You know how I feel about keeping promises."

Pyrrha smiled at him and slowly nodded her head.

"I'll let you know when we're back so you can tell me what you wanted to earlier." Pyrrha promised.

"Watch her closely." Blake advised.

"Well, if anyone can stop Neo from going out of control, it's P-money." Yang conceded.

"Ozpin is obviously using this as a test for her." Weiss finally admitted, now that she thought about it.

Neo looked incredulously at them and raised her hands. They were treating her like she wasn't there. And a criminal. She wasn't a criminal anymore. She was an ex-criminal.

As far as they were supposed to know.

"Touma wanted to give you a second chance," Ruby told Neo. "So I'm going to believe in you too. Just… don't let his trust go to waste." Rather than a sarcastic or smug look, Neo's expression was somewhat unreadable. She just tilted her head and stared at Ruby, while sipping the last of her milkshake.

"I'm going to head out and help Touma clean up," Jaune told them. "Not fair he has to do it all."

"Bye, Jaune!" Ruby waved to him. "Thanks for the great food too!"

The moment he was out gone and the door slammed behind him, Yang leaned forward.

"Spill it!" She told Pyrrha. "Why does he want to talk to you?"

"I don't know," Pyrrha admitted. "Remember when Mercury said he had something to tell me this morning? Jaune confirmed he did. I would have gone with him now, but I had already made my promise with Neo." She gestured to the multicolored girl. "He said it could wait a bit."

"Maybe he's going to confess his love for you?" Yang tease and Pyrrha flushed.

"I still think you should just tell him," Weiss sighed.

"I… can't." Pyrrha shook her head. "If he doesn't feel the same way back, our entire team dynamic could be ruined."

"I doubt that," Ruby replied. "Jaune might be a little embarrassed, but he's the kind of guy who will still want to be friends with you. It wouldn't last more than a couple of days at most. Could always just go fight some Grimm and he'll forget all about it."

"Because he would be running away screaming?" Weiss chuckled.

"He can hold his own against Grimm now," Pyrrha interjected. "Remember the Breach and Mt. Glenn?"

"It was a joke." Weiss told her quickly, noticing her glare.

Blake remained silent about this entire thing. On the trip back to Beacon, she heard a little more about what exactly Jaune was going to talk to her about. Per Pyrrha's request, Blake never told Jaune that Pyrrha had a crush on him. There was a part of her that really wanted to as they were almost identical to a couple in one of her books and she could have taken the place of the matchmaker. However, it was Jaune's male friends that pushed him into talking to her. So Jaune was going to confront Pyrrha about her feelings or possibly confess. At the very least, he was going to ask her to the dance.

Neo was silent too, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to tease Pyrrha.

On the table, miniature figures of Jaune and Pyrrha appeared, courtesy of the resident illusionist girl. The movement attracted everyone's attention. Pyrrha had on a red dress and Jaune was wearing a tux. The girls could only stare as the mini Jaune knelt down on one knee and present a box to mini Pyrrha. The real Pyrrha meanwhile could have had steam erupting from her ears and no one would have been surprised. Ruby had her hands over her mouth while Weiss and Yang just stared.

Blake was rather enjoying the show, not that she would say so. The last thing Neo needed was an inflated ego.

Then a bed appeared and mini Jaune dragged mini Pyrrha to it.

"AHH!"

Pyrrha's cry snapped them all out of it as she slammed her hand on the table, shattering the illusions. There had never been a time she could remember where she had been more embarrassed. Neo was across the table laughing while the other girls were glaring at her for taking it that far. They should have known, as the former criminal didn't know restraint. She always drew the line and then stepped across it.

"That was uncalled for." Weiss reprimanded Neo.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "That's something that happens after marriage."

"Yes, several years after marriage," Yang added and Blake rolled her eyes. She turned to Pyrrha. "P-money, I don't fancy being in your shoes. This is what you're going to have to deal with during the entire trip."

"I'm sure she behaves in public." Pyrrha assured Yang, though she didn't look that convinced. Her words were more for herself than the others.

Neo just sat there and looked innocent.

Accelerator was in his room, pulling out the last few Dust crystals he had stashed in a drawer. He was going to need to ask Weiss for more until the contract with Atlas went through. That was something he didn't want to do unless there were other people around. When they talked alone and she confessed she liked him, he had to push her away. The last thing he needed was to get too attached to anyone here. Looking back, he should have handled it better and he kept kicking himself for overreacting like he did.

That wasn't like him.

"This place is getting to me," He had a headache, but staying inside was just going to make it worse. "When did I become so fucking soft?"

He distracted himself by counting the few remaining crystals he had. There weren't many and all of them were types of Dust that he had used before. It looked like it was time to combine them since he had an understanding of each of their attributes. Ever since Pyrrha used that weird combination of dust on him in that spar, he was interested in seeing if he could duplicate that effect. Ice that could magnetize anything it coated, even living tissue, was something worth looking into.

There was a knock on the partially open dorm room door and then a creak as it slowly opened.

When Accelerator saw who it was, he wasn't sure whether to scowl or not.

"Accelerator?" Weiss asked, not sounding nervous, but at least a little hesitant.

"Yes?" The albino boy knew exactly what she wanted, but there was that slight chance she might have learned her lesson.

"I figured you were probably out of Dust," Weiss told him, straightening up and her familiar haughty tone slowly returning. She held out a small box. "It's not the best quality, but you'll have to make due since my father only gives me so much to work with. I have to use most of it for my weapon and training."

Accelerator bit the corner of his lip, thinking. The Dust was tempting, but he was sure she was up to something. His eyes scanned her expression, looking for clues, and she pretty much copied him as she observed the boy in turn. There really was no reason to refuse and he walked up to her and accepted the box.

"Thanks." The single word was only muttered, but Weiss acknowledged it with a nod of her head.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"We need to talk."

There it is.

Accelerator did not want to talk. The topic of the conversation was obvious and completely pointless. He had said too much and now it made her curious. This is why he cussed people out and then ignored them. Much less hassle.

Weiss on the other hand believed the conversation, while obviously uncomfortable, was important.

"What you said to me back then, I know you remember so don't play dumb, I want to know the context behind why you said that." A lesser person would have cowered under Accelerator's expression. Weiss was not going to be intimidated though. Everything she knew about him showed he wouldn't attack her. "Glare at me all you want, but I want to know."

"No, you don't."

The silence lengthened as Weiss stood in front of the door, refusing to budge. If Accelerator really wanted to make her move, he could do it easily. Yet he didn't.

"Do you think I'm going to judge you?" Weiss asked. "You're not a bad person, even with how much you swear. If you made a mistake, I can understand that. We've all made mistakes."

"Not like mine." His voice was dry and barely above a whisper. "Listen, princess. I'm going to tell you this once. I'm not going to tell you the shit I did. That's none of your business. We are business partners at best, not friends. I'm not going to make attachments here and then lose them when we go home. So shut up and mind your own business."

Weiss felt like she had been slapped.

The shock allowed Accelerator to walk past her with the box of Dust. It took a moment for her to gather her composure and turned around to shout after him.

"I'll make you tell me eventually!"

Accelerator didn't dignify that with a response.

"Thanks for helping us with the dishes, Ruby," Jaune said. "It really made things go by quickly."

"You guys made a huge mess!" Ruby exclaimed. "Almost as bad as Yang does when she cooks, but at least you gave us delicious food instead of a burnt mess."

"Beats my roommate back home," Touma sighed. "She added lemon-scented dish detergent because it smelled nice to food once."

Jaune and Ruby shuddered thinking about how that would taste.

"I'm going to go and read the newest issue of X-ray and Vav," Jaune told them. "I need to see what's going to happen after the cliffhanger from last issue."

"Don't you need to train?" Touma asked. "Fighting those training drones?"

"Eh, hehe?" Jaune scratched the back of his head. "That could wait the ten minutes or so for me to finish."

"That's the same face Yang makes when dad told her to do her chores when she wanted to beat a boss in our video games!" Ruby declared. "Three hours later, she's still doing it."

"Alright, fine!" Jaune huffed. "I'll go do a round with the training drones." He marched off with his arms crossed and grumbling while Ruby giggled.

"You all have to do a lot of training, don't you?" Touma noticed. "I suppose when you have to fight monsters on a near-daily basis, you kind of have to."

"Jaune's a little behind us, so he's working hard to catch up." Ruby replied. "He's a great team leader and working to overcome his weaknesses."

"I was actually thinking of trying out those armguards you made me," Touma commented offhandedly. "As soon as I figure out how to not get hit in the face by rubber bullets."

"Really?!" Ruby's eyes were sparkling as she turned to him. "They are super awesome, aren't they?! We should totally train together!"

"Easy there!" Touma raised his hands defensively. "The kind of training you guys do isn't something I can do, remember? No Aura." Ruby looked downtrodden and he felt bad. "I guess the next time you go face Grimm in the Emerald Forest I can come and watch. Not like they will approach me, but they seem to be attracted to me, so you'll have targets."

"That sounds great!" Ruby high fived him. "You'll get to see how perfect Crescent Rose is… speaking of… did you name them yet?"

"I've been thinking, but nothing fits it yet." Touma lied. He actually completely forgot to think of a name with everything going on. "You went through all that trouble for me. I don't want to just choose just any old name."

"I totally understand that. It took me ages to come up with Crescent Rose." Ruby admitted.

"Hey, Ruby?" Touma really needed to tell her something he talked about with Jaune earlier. Now was probably the best time, as they were alone and the others were busy.

"Yeah?" She looked up at him curiously, noticing the change of tone.

"Remember when you asked me if I was going to the dance with someone?" Touma said cautiously.

Ruby's face flushed as the memory. Not only had she stuttered when she asked him that, the moment Touma told her that he was going with Neo, she ran off.

"Y-Yeah? W-what about it?"

"I… er…" The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "…Wanted to apologize. Looking back, I think it sounded like I blew you off when we talked."

Whatever Ruby expected, it wasn't that.

"I didn't think that!" Ruby nearly shouted before she was able to calm herself down and continue. "I… was just curious and then I… forgot I had something to do."

"You're not a very good liar, Ruby."

"Fine!" Ruby's face was crimson and she couldn't meet his eyes. "I-I was planning to ask you." He sighed and that caused her to look up. It was his turn to not be able to look at her. "If you didn't want to go, I would have understood. I'm not really into those kinds of things. Kind of socially awkward."

"It's not that, Ruby," Touma assured her. "Neo just asked me first and I promised her. If you had asked me before her, I would have gone with you. Guaranteed."

"Really?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "We probably wouldn't have done much except sit in the corner and talk. I'm not good at parties and get nervous around others I don't know."

"Eh?" Touma shrugged his shoulders at this. "I'm not much of a dancer, but I assume Neo's going to make me dance. If you want Ruby, I'll save a dance for you."

The warmth in Ruby's face from earlier began to glow red hot.

"I-I-I'm not really a dancer." Ruby finally got out after stuttering for a bit.

"I'm not either," Touma assured her. "Neo's going to find that out the hard way. I didn't tell her." He stepped on the ground hard and then pretended to have had his toe stepped on.

A snort escaped Ruby and she slapped a hand over her mouth. When she felt like she could speak calmly, she removed it.

"Okay, we can be bad together." She giggled.

"Let me know when there's a song you like. Doesn't have to be anything crazy, just friends having fun."

"Friends… yeah."

Ruby suddenly understood the pain and uncertainty Pyrrha had been going through with Jaune. Part of her wanted to confess to Touma right here, but another part stopped her. She was afraid of what his response would be. It wasn't like she thought he would insult her. If he did turn her down, it would be as gentle as possible. Her worry was more of what would happen to their friendship if that happened. Would they still be able to hang out? Have fun like they used to?

She didn't want that to end.

"I think I… would like that dance," Ruby admitted at last. "Just be prepared for Yang to tease us about it."

"Pssh, her teasing is nothing compared to Neo or my friends back home." Touma replied with a wave of his hand and a short laugh. Ruby couldn't help following his example and laughed too.

"So when do you want to go and fight some Grimm?" Ruby asked, changing the topic to something less embarrassing.

"I have a short meeting with Ozpin," Touma explained. "He's keeping me up to date on the situation with the Gate. If you want to go out ahead of me, I'll catch up with you. We can track each other on Scrolls if we're nearby, right? I'm pretty sure Professor Goodwitch said we could."

"We can, but I have to give permission," Ruby confirmed. "Here, hold out your Scroll." They held them together as Ruby pressed a button. Both beeped indicating she succeeded. "There you go."

"Cool, this will make it easy. I promise not to abuse it."

"It's only accurate to around fifty feet." Ruby giggled. "So if you tried to use it in school, it would still be a significant area to cover."

"Right, still thanks."

"I'm going to check if Weiss wants to come," Ruby said suddenly. "Maybe she can show you some of her cool Dust moves." Being alone with Touma was tempting, but when going into the forest, they were supposed to have their partner with them for safety reasons. Not that most students cared for that rule. Ruby just didn't trust herself not to shove her foot in her mouth.

"That would actually be kind of cool," Touma admitted. "I see her use it in class, but it's not like she explains it there."

"Oh, if you ask her to explain herself, expect to be forced to listen for an hour." A shudder ran through the young girl's body. "I made that mistake once."

"Hey, Blake."

Blake ignored her partner and turned a page in her book.

"Hey, Blake!" Yang said a little more forcefully.

Ignoring Yang was a talent Blake developed, preferring to read her book.

"Blake, quit masturbating to your smut books and listen!"

Sighing to herself and knowing things would just get out of hand if she continued to play deaf, Blake closed her book and turned to face her.

"Yes, Yang? Did you need something?"

"We are going out to Vale." Yang told her.

"Okay, have fun." Blake turned back to her book, but before she could open the cover again, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You misunderstand, Blake." Blake looked up to see Yang grinning down at her. "When I said we, I meant you and me."

It took a moment for this to sink in.

"…Why?"

"You know the dance is coming up, right?" Yang waited until Blake nodded before continuing. "We need to get some new dresses."

"Don't you have that white one?" Blake asked confused. "Besides, you're on the party planning committee and have to work the dance, right?"

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to look good."

Blake rolled her eyes.

"What's this have to do with me?" She questioned at last.

"I've seen the only dress you have in the closet," Yang continued, shaking her head in shame. "That purple dress with the mesh covering your shoulders? The only redeeming quality was that slit on the side to show off your sexy legs. You need something eye-catching."

That caught Blake completely off guard.

"…Why? I wasn't even planning to go."

Yang rolled her eyes.

"That's the problem!" She jabbed a finger in Blake's face. "No partner of mine is missing the biggest dance of the year. You find someone and go with them, have fun, and look god damn sexy while doing it." Blake's amber eyes stared at her without blinking. "Oh… I get it. It's because the person you want to ask is going already, huh?"

Blake didn't dignify that with a response, so Yang kept talking.

"Well, Neo's going to get the best dress possible. She was actually really smart in tricking Pyrrha to help her. Think of all the high-end stores only people like her or Weiss could get in. Neo can get any dress she wants. Who knows? Maybe after the dance, she'll take that poor boy trapped with her and seal the deal…"

The black bow on the raven-haired girl twitched.

"…Once that happens, they are stuck together. Touma seems like the kind of guy never to cheat on someone once he's in a relationship…"

"Sounds to me you just want to spy on Pyrrha and Neo." Blake interrupted before she grew even more annoyed.

"Pleeease," Yang snorted. "I doubt I could get into the stores Neo forces them to visit without a couple thousand Lien deposit. Both of them are super wealthy."

"One of them just earned her money illegally."

"Sounds like someone's interested." Yang elbowed Blake. "You don't have to buy anything, but at least come and look. I need someone I can trust to at least offer an opinion on some dresses I want to try on."

"Like you wear dresses outside this event." Blake huffed, but she placed her book carefully on the shelf. "Fine, but we are not spying on Neo and Pyrrha."

"What if we run into them accidentally?"

"Then we leave without arguing."

"But…"

"Unless you promise that, I'm not going."

"Tsk… fine. I promise."

"Good." Blake smirked as she stood up and followed Yang out of the room.

"The things I do to spend time with you, kitty cat." Yang muttered.

"I do appreciate the effort." Came the amused reply. "It might be easier if you didn't give me those stupid nicknames."

"But they suit you so well, Blakey."

"Hey, Weiss!" Ruby cried out. "You doing anything?"

"Not… at this moment I guess." Weiss admitted. "Why?"

"Want to come fight Grimm with me in the Emerald Forest?!"

"Not really."

Weiss was still a little upset with her earlier conversation with Accelerator. She wanted to stay back and plan out her exact plan of attack.

"Coooooome on!" Ruby begged. "It will be fun and Touma's planning to join us after his meeting with Ozpin."

"Then why do you want me to come?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. This seems like a time Ruby would want to show off to that boy alone.

"Cause it will be fun," Ruby answered immediately. "Plus you and Touma don't really hang out. He was also interested in seeing some of your cool Dust skills in action."

"Well… I guess if he's interested…"

Ruby grinned as Weiss began to falter. One thing Weiss liked to do was show off to others. In this circumstance, her skill was real. Dust was tough to use and most students only used it in bullets. Weiss had multiple types of dust in her rapier and could use them all effectively. Combined with her glyphs, she could do all sorts of cool effects. Black glyphs were Ruby's favorite, the ones combined with Gravity Dust.

"We can go and warm up a bit," Ruby pushed. "Touma and I shared trackers so he can find us."

"You want him to wander around in the forest alone?" Weiss stared at her in surprise. "Without a weapon?"

"He has a weapon!" Ruby stated proudly, puffing out her chest.

"Oh, right." Weiss remembered. "Those handguards. They aren't really a weapon."

"They're made for him!"

"Since he fights barehanded, I guess so." Weiss conceded.

"Grimm also won't attack him because of his hand," Ruby added. "But they get attracted to him if he wanders nearby, so he might draw some Grimm to us. Saves us time looking."

"If we stay too long, the Grimm will just leave because of that power too. Remember Mt. Glenn?"

"But he has to be there for ages," Ruby dismissed and then paused. "Actually, I did hear from some other students that they had to go further into the forest to find Grimm. Touma's been at Beacon for a while, so the Grimm won't approach."

"That just means we use the training rooms more often with the drones," Weiss replied with a shrug. "Some of the higher levels are only possible with team combat."

"Unless you're Pyrrha?" Ruby giggled.

"Unless you're Pyrrha." Weiss agreed.

Not only was that girl a champion fighter, but her Semblance of Polarity let her fight those metal drones with impunity.

"Touma's not really suited to fight those training drones though," Ruby mumbled. "Since he can't access his Aura."

"No, no he can't." Weiss nodded slowly. "He's suited to face Grimm, not people."

An idea suddenly came to her.

She roughly knew where Accelerator was training, as he had mentioned a location with an open field he preferred to experiment at. Right now, he was a little annoyed at how pushy she had been, as she refused to just drop the subject of what he let slip. As much as she hated to admit it, that was one of her weaknesses. She would push her way into things if she felt she wanted or deserved to know. Still, Accelerator was the one to tell her about being a murderer. That information never left her mind and she needed more information.

So if Ruby wanted to go into the Emerald Forest to train, they could just happen to stumble into Accelerator.

It was the perfect plan and she had to resist rubbing her hands together.

"Okay," Weiss agreed. "I actually have some Dust I wanted to try against live targets." She went to her desk and grabbed a small box. Picking up one of the vials from within, she put the rest away.

"What's it do?" Ruby asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's a combination of Lightning and Ice dust," Weiss answered proudly. "One of my own inventions. Not only will it freeze my target in place, but it will electrocute them. I notice some Grimm are able to keep fighting while being electrocuted, so I wanted to remove that weakness."

"Cool! Do you think you can make those into Dust bullets for me?"

"Maybe, I'm still perfecting the composition for maximum effectiveness."

The two of them left, talking about the Dust and how they could use it against Grimm. Well, Weiss did, Ruby listened or at least tried to without dozing off at some of the technical jargon. Before they headed into the Emerald Forest outside of Beacon, they had to stop at their lockers to gather their weapons. While they could use the rocket lockers to bring their gear to them when they were outside, it was only supposed to be used for emergencies. Once they had gathered their things, Ruby heard a familiar voice.

"Saaaal-uuuu-taaaations!"

Then she was tackled by a truck.

The world spun around her as she laid on the ground. Once her sight returned, she was staring into the sparkling green eyes of Penny.

"Penny?" Ruby groaned. "What have I said about tackling like that?"

"I was just very excited to see you, Ruby." Penny replied, getting off and Ruby stood up, stretching out her back.

"It's good to see you too," Ruby assured her. "What are you up to?"

"I was going to engage in my mandatory daily training exercises," Penny replied. "I have to keep a tight schedule."

"Ah, well Weiss and I are heading to do some training in the Emerald Forest… would you like to come?"

Weiss shook her head back and forth in a slight panic upon hearing that from behind Penny.

"Really?" Penny tilted her head.

"Sure!" Ruby replied. "The more the merrier. You're our friend and you might enjoy changing up your training a little."

"I'm supposed to be in the training hall for an hour," Penny recalled.

"Come on," Ruby nudged her and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I promise it will be fun."

"Then I shall follow your lead, but I must return in an hour," Penny replied. "Will that be enough time?"

"Yeah, we might stay out a little longer depending on what happens, but you can head back then without us feeling abandoned." Ruby assured her.

"Sensational!" Penny gripped her in a bone-breaking hug again. "I promise I shall not abandon you." She turned to Weiss. "Or you friend Weiss!"

"Greeeat." Weiss muttered.

At first, she was a little annoyed about Penny coming along. That girl was just plain weird. Then she considered the fact Penny would distract Ruby once they found Accelerator, leaving Weiss to talk to him alone. Having the ginger coming along might actually be a blessing. Penny gathered her swords, strapped them to her back, and followed the two of them, smiling the entire time.

Accelerator was annoyed as he changed into outdoor clothes in the locker room. Why couldn't Weiss just leave him alone? He already let too much slip and she wouldn't give up. No matter how he treated her, she kept coming back. That persistence was incredibly annoying.

"I'll make you tell me eventually!"

Those words echoed in his mind more than they should have. He wasn't going to tell her, no matter how much she pressured him. It was something personal that should never have escaped his throat. It was probably all those stupid hormones the quack that pretended to be a doctor in this school told him about. There was no way Tsune could be a real medical professional. Healing him had probably been an accident. As he closed his locker, one worry did creep into this mind.

What if Snow Angel asks Last Order or the damn hero about it?

There was a good chance Weiss wouldn't ask the brat about what happened. If she believed him that he was a murderer, there was no way she would question a little girl about it. From what he observed of her, she cared too much for the girl. A rare trait involving the brat. People back home would want to take her the second they knew who she was and what she was in charge of.

The hero was the damn wild card that worried him.

Touma knew enough about the experiment that he could say something unnecessary. That would lead to even more questions and then more headaches as Weiss would double on her efforts to learn what happened. The hero didn't have a full understanding and would probably say something stupid, even if he didn't mean too.

The loud bang of the locker door echoed throughout the locker room as he slammed it shut, admittedly harder than he intended.

He would worry about that later. Right now he could distract himself with his next level of Dust experimentation. After a couple days of practicing with different types, he had a fundamental understanding of how they operated and the vectors involved. Now he wanted to try combining different combinations. The ice Dust the Spartan girl used on him that magnetized everything it touched interested him. It was time to see if he could do that.

If it distracted him from the hurt look Weiss wore on her face when he told her off, all the better.

It wasn't that he had feelings for her. She was just his supply of Dust until the contract with Ironwood went through. Then they wouldn't have any reason to hang out. Last Order could entertain her and then all he would have to deal with would be the sad goodbye as the brat bawled her eyes out. Nothing would come of it. That's what he kept telling himself anyways.

Why was it so hard to just forget the princess?

"Blah," Accelerator spat out. "I just need to distract myself instead of fretting over something stupid."

He made his way out of the locker room and left Beacon to make his way to the Emerald Forest.

Little did he know he was being followed by a certain green-haired girl.

Okay, Emerald thought to herself. Cinder entrusted you with this important mission. Accelerator has the power to reflect anything that comes in contact with him, but I know I can use my hallucinations on him. I shouldn't try anything until he tires himself out. Exhausted people make mistakes easier and that guy is smart. Cinder told me not to take chances.

Emerald's goal was simple. To see if the little girl that always followed him around was his weakness. How would he react to something bad happening to her? That was today's objective. With her ability, she wouldn't be caught and it's not like anyone would believe him if he mentioned it. All that she would have to do later is to make sure she didn't use her powers on him for a bit so he wouldn't associate it with someone. The only other caveat was the cameras positioned around the forest, but for someone of her skill level, they were merely an afterthought.

She might be able to pass it off as his mind playing tricks on him.

Cinder was going to be so proud of her.

Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter. All mistakes are SilverFang88's fault.

HC: Yeah. Totally. All his fault. Yep. 100% SF's fault.

DB: It always is. You might get fed this week.