Chapter one: Grimm Feelings

It was a Friday, that day, when it started reaching out.

"Get out of my way, one-ear!" Yin was shoved out of the way suddenly and violently by another first year. He didn't see the face, but that never mattered. Beacon was, fo the most part, a nice place, but there were a few kids who went out of their way to make his day a little less sunny. They were spreading, slowly. He stumbled into his quarter-brother, Alan Rose, who held his ground with practiced footing. "Asshole!" He yelled at the kid.

Yin admired Alan's penchant for defiance; he threw his profanity around Beacon's halls like a fish hook, luring in anyone who dared call him out for it. Even though he looked the part: He wore a maroon hoodie, with the hood always on. His black gloves were very durable; that much Yin could figure out, with all the punching he did. He wasn't a bad kid, no, he just liked being unnecessarily harsh sometimes.

"You okay, bro?" Alan grinned, holding out a hand. "Yeah…." Yin sighed. Alan probably hates dealing with me like this. "...I'm fine." He finished, stepping away.

"You tell your moms yet?" Alan asked in that kind, yet warning voice. If you won't, I will. It said. Yin whipped his head up, desperate to distract his friend. He found his out when he saw the band-aid on his friend's forehead. "Alan...you got in a fight again—mmph!"

Suddenly, Alan's hand was up to Yin's mouth at his mother's semblance speed. The half faunus flinched suddenly. "Shut the hell up. That kid had it coming, you know." He said, the don't push it threat quietly making itself present. Yin was relaxed, though, because of Alan's short attention span.

Such was the life of Yin Belladonna-Long. The bullying sucked, yeah, but Alan was always there to help him up. Yin would help Alan keep in control, and that was how they survived their school years leading up to Beacon.

Yin touched his one faunus cat ear. Faunus still were oppressed, though not as much as they were before his mom, Blake, and Alan's mom, Weiss, had anything to say. The little prejudice left in the world, however, was amplified by the fact that he was born with one ear.

As long as Alan and he were together, though, life was a bit more bearable.

Alan hated everyone in this damn school. He hated anybody who even looked at his brother in a wrong way, and loved to threaten anyone's death who even muttered one ear. Ruby and Weiss, his moms, talked about how awesome Beacon would be. But so far, it's been nothing but hell.

Yin refused to tell his moms about the bullying, and Alan always threatened that if they say 'one ear' one more time, I'm telling, and there's nothing you can do. But evidently, he was a horrible friend, because he couldn't remember for some reason.

Today. He was telling aunts Blake and Yang. Today.

For sure.

Nothing would stop him.

He would remember.

"...You okay, Alan?" He was shaken suddenly from his thoughts when Yin spoke.

"...Yeah, I'm fine." Alan responded. "Let's just...I dunno...I just need to get home." He finished after a bit.

Team RWBY, having still been together even past the fall and rebuilding of Beacon, did most of their huntress work near the school. So when the teachers sent out the dorm registration letters, RWBY managed to work out a special situation where Yin and Alan would go home after school.

Huntresses where very protective moms, apparently.

Yin flicked his one ear. "...okay?" And together they walked into class.

Alan and Yin were known throughout Beacon as team YA(!) because they never actually joined a team. during the entrance exam, two students got very injured, and were unable to continue it, so they were forced to drop out. Alan and Yin were then left alone as the first 2 partner team ever in Beacon academy.

Alan didn't give a shit. Only Yin mattered, anyway. The rest of the damn school could go fuck itself.

The word school made him sigh, and he looked dully ahead. One long day, coming up. Yay.

Yin's ear flitted down as he walked into his house. His moms weren't around, so he walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a chocolate bar from the pantry, sat down, and began studying.

the properties of dust can be used to fuel weapons, build machines, and create grimm-sensing tools. Using purple dust crystals, what kind of travel can be obtained?

Contemplating a bit, Yin took his pen and wrote antigravity transport in the space below the question.

What type of dust is normally used for transport in the middle of a grimm battle?

Yin began writing white dust (wind) when the door opened in a loud "YANG!"

...oh, wait, nevermind. That was just his mom.

"How ya doin', kiddo?" Yin suddenly felt a big hand rub his blond locks. He smirked. "Oh, I'm doin' alright, mom." he said.

Alan's words suddenly echoed in his mind from earlier in the day. You tell your moms yet? And Yin's smirk fell. " Listen, Mom—"

"—Ruby, Weiss, and Alan are coming over tonight! Were having a barbecue outside, your mom's cooking' fish, never found out why she or you liked it, but maybe I'll change my mind...Oh yeah! Ruby's making cookies, it's gonna be great!" Yang exclaimed.

Yin tensed even more then. Oh crap. Friday barbeque. How'd I forget that after her constant cheering and reminding all the time? Alan may be have a short attention span, but he won't forget if he sees me and my moms together...oh crap.

The faunus took a big breath then. "Mom, listen, at school…"

"Hello, Yin and Yang, how was your day?" The door quietly opened as Yin's other mom, Blake, opened the front door and came into the house. Yang quickly turned around and raced towards her wife. "Teeeeeeerrible, kitty….you weren't with me!" Blake rolled her eyes, but tried to hide her blush, failing.

Yin watched with a defeated look; there was no way he could work up the courage to tell them now.

Yang suddenly cracked up. "Pfft! Yin and Yang-! Man, gets me every time…!" and she dissolved into a fit of giggles, collapsing in Blake's arms. The Faunus in the room rolled their eyes.

Some time after Yang-induced family hugs, the Rose family rang the doorbell. "I'll go and get it." Blake said, halfway after going to the door. Once she turned the knob, though, she was blasted away with explosion of rose petals. "YAAAAAAAAANG!" rang out as Ruby tackled her sister. "R-ruby! Y-yep, I love ya, kiddo." Yang patted her sister on the back.

"RUBY! Sorry about that." on the other side of the room, Weiss was helping up a rose-covered Blake, and glaring at her wife.

"O-oh! I'm sorry, Blake!" Ruby said, stumbling over her excited legs as she went to hug her teammate. Yang stood up, laughing quietly, and followed her sister to the rest of team RWBY.

Amongst all this chaos, though, was when Alan quietly walked over to where Yin stood, and together they watched the group hug with a weird mix of respect and standoffishness. This warmness that their moms had, they had really only heard of it in stories, but they also felt the same kinship between themselves. This comfortable silence lasted only a little bit, however, when Alan whipped his head around to Yin's, and spoke. "You tell them yet?"

The silence's comfortableness died like an Ursa against Crescent Rose. Yin gulped. "Um...uh…"

Meanwhile, Alan watched his brother with pity. The poor boy had to deal with all sorts of shit at school, but he still managed to but on a brave face. The only flaw he had was that he wouldn't fight back. Alan so badly wanted to help him, but Yin would never accept it. Alan wished he knew what his brother felt. He wished he could be in that position, if only to guide his too-nice brother to the path of most resistance.

Right as Weiss began talking about the coleslaw she made, Alan collapsed in pain. He felt as if he was being run over by a hoard of goliaths. The world seemed to slow down for him, and he couldn't hear the screams of His moms and aunts and the loud calls of "are you okay?" from his brother as his eyelids shut slowly, like a dark eclipse.

But before he fainted, he felt….excited.

A couple hours later, in a hospital waiting room, Yin walked around in nervous circles as he waited for his friend to wake up. Team RWBY watched him sadly, but Ruby and Weiss were almost as pale as he was. Questions ran through their heads like a flock of angry Nevermore. Why did this happen? Was he poisoned? Did he swallow some Dust? Does he have allergies? Was it a birth defect? Is it his semblance?

That last question lingered in their minds longer than the rest, and brought an illusion of comfort. Because if it was his semblance, then this was a normal thing. Unlike Yin, who's semblance allowed him to manipulate and improve technology, Alan never unlocked his semblance in time for the entrance exam, which, as far as Yin knew, was one of the reasons he hated school.

A doctor then entered the waiting room that they were in. He was holding a clipboard, and his expression was unreadable, making everyone more nervous. "Alan...Rose has woken up." He announced, making Weiss and Ruby whip their heads at him. "It...was difficult to find any birth related causes because of your adopting him, so we could not do a background check, but we could not find any negative traces left over from his fainting. We were left to assume it was a temporary effect of him unlocking his semblance."

Right as he said that, the mood in the room drastically improved. The Roses jumped from their chairs, and Ruby semblance'd over to hug him. The doctor, who used to have an expressionless face, suddenly had surprised eyes, and then a warm smile. Ruby started crying "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" and then literally crying hot tears all over him.

Weiss, who wore her business poker face the whole time, finally let down the mask. "C-can we see him?" She said through sudden waves of happy tears. The doctor pried himself free from Ruby's grasp and gasped out, "Y-yea, sure." And then all five of them ran to Alan's hospital room, bursting through the door.

When they burst through the door, Yin and Ruby tied for first place, they froze suddenly.

Alan was there, sucking what looked like a chocolate smoothie. "Oh. Hi Mom! Hiya Yin! Howzit?" He said in an insultingly flippant tone. The Rose couple seemed to freeze for a second, and then all hell broke loose.

"Alan Penny Rose! How long have you been up?" Weiss yelled. And then something magical happened. Yin saw Alan yield to the first person ever. He cowered in fear, quietly mentioning "3 hours…" to himself.

"THREE HOURS?!" This time Yin joined Weiss with yelling. "Why didn't come to get us?" He asked.

"Um." I asked the doctors to hunt down this chocolate smoothie first died on Alan's tongue as he looked at his glaring brother and mother. "I-uh, I...look, um...dunno?" He offered quietly. "The doctors...they—"

"And here we thought you died." Yin rolled his eyes and sighed. Ruby decided to interrupt them, then, and asked what the smoothie was like. "Oh! Delicious!" He grinned with relief. In a second, Ruby was over there, taking a sip. Yang finally walked over, laughing quietly as she watched the scene, and patted her sister's kid on the head. Blake came over to her son, and grinned to herself at the look of relief on his face.

Once the doctors finally let him out, Weiss and Ruby hugged him together right outside the doors. Alan let out a warm smile and hugged them back. "Sorry for making you guys worry." He said quietly. "But! I did finally unlock my semblance! That's...good, right?"

The Rose parents reacted in two ways. Ruby nodded excitedly. "Yeah! I wonder what else it can do! Besides...making you faint?" And Weiss muttered, however quietly, "I'm still mad about that smoothie…"

Blake, who had been watching quietly for a while, brought up something on her mind. "Alan, did you feel anything before you fainted?" And suddenly all eyes were on Alan.

Alan, suddenly on the spot, gulped. He looked at Yin, then at his one faunus ear. Should I do it? His brother needed a shove like this, and then maybe he would admit the bullying. He would never do it on his own, anyway. "I felt...something. I think it was...sadness? From somebody..." There we go, do it subtly.

Yin froze up. What's he doing? Blake, the logical mother, looked at her son. "You can sense emotions?" She asked Alan, not looking away. "I...think so." He said, pretending to sound unsure. "Yin, kiddo? Is everything alright?" Yang said almost in a whisper. Yes! This is going better than I thought! Alan mentally cheered. They're doing it for me!

Yin, meanwhile, looked like a cornered animal with his folded up ear. "Um...Can we talk about this later? Mom? Mom?" He looked down. Ruby and Weiss looked suddenly out of place and unsure. Should we ask him about this too? They thought simultaneously. Alan had had enough, however. It was way past due. "Yin, come on, tell 'em."

It suddenly clicked. This was all a setup, wasn't it? Yin glared at his brother, almost growling. Th-that little piece of crap. At some times, Alan toed the line. But now he crossed it. Why was it his business anyway that he was bullied? If he wanted, he could have made friends at Beacon. But no! He constantly had to pressure Yin into admitting his struggles at school when maybe he wasn't ready!

"Yin, bud, what's Alan talking about?" Yang asked again Shoot. Parents are still here. Yin took a deep breath. Dang you, Alan. "Some kids at school….don't like me…" He paused in the middle, wondering if he could change it to something else, however untruthful.

Not the case.

Suddenly, team RWBY was alert. "You mean, like...bullies?" Blake asked.

It was suddenly horribly and irreversibly silent. Yin thought of all those times when He was shoved, made fun of, or abused. He stayed silent through all of that, and Alan expressed his rage.

There we go.

Yin was doing it for Alan. He could live through the bullying like a silent protagonist, but it was clear that Alan could not. As long as Yin endured his own pain, Alan would not stop to eliminate it. If it weren't for Alan, school really would be hell.

Do it for Alan.

Yin took a deep breath. "Y-yeah…" And then suddenly his moms were at his side, asking all sorts of questions. "Who did it?" Yang asked, looking ready to punch somebody. "Is it because of your...ear?" Blake gulped, almost whispering. "Yes," came out of Yin's mouth before he could stop it, like he was talking to himself.

He realized what he said, though, when RWBY collectively gasped a second later. Looking around, all four members looked horrified. Not Alan, however. He looked stoic, like he was thinking about something terribly off-topic and out of place.

It's...not like I lied, anyway. Alan thought. I could feel something, but it felt more like...fear.

And...it felt good.

The next morning, Yin awoke to the smell of pancakes. Immediately he was out of bed, blonde hair frayed and wild. Pancakes! Yes! He thought, catching a whiff of peanut butter as well. Soon he was vibrating, running down the stairs faster than Alan would swear in class. He stopped short of the kitchen, seeing his mom, Blake, whistling while she flipped a pancake. She wore an apron with the words "kiss the cAT" written exactly like that, with the AT written sloppily in Yang's handwriting. Speaking of, Yang was sitting at the table, reading...the newspaper?

"Uhh...what's going on?" Yin asked, not making the connection. Last time they went out of their way to do something like this was when he scraped his knee. The time before, his favourite stuffed animal got a rip in it.

...Oh.

"Oh, hello, sweetie!" Blake said energetically. Yin looked at her weirdly as the pieces flung into place. Sweetie wasn't ever used before, and Blake was energetic in the morning. "Come have a seat!" She gestured, and Yin took cautious steps over to Yang, sliding into the seat—

"Good morning, kiddo!" Yang one-armed him, and he was suddenly squeezed into her side, "Enjoy your breakfast!" She grinned, and Yin wrestled free after a bit. "O-okay.."

After a few minutes of apprehensive eating, Blake finally asked the question on her mind. "Yin? Do you not trust us?"

Aaaaand there we go. Smiles gone, his moms looked at him with a mixture of sadness and concern. Yin's answer was full of peanut butter when he spoke. "N-no! I moo must—" He paused, letting the peanut butter sort itself out. "I do trust you guys, just I didn't want to tell because—"

"Because what?" Yang asked, eyes burning. Yin waited a bit before answering. "I didn't want...this too happen!"

"Us to know?" Blake asked, looking hurt.

Oh my god, let me finish. "No! I didn't want you to worry!" He said, raising his voice.

Yang was outraged. "BUT IT'S OUR JOB TO WORRY!" She stood up, semblance singing her clothes. Yin froze, thinking he crossed the line. "But…"

"Yang. Calm down." Blake's voice of authority shook her wife back to her senses. "Now, Yin, what were you going to say?" She addressed her son, and while she looked calm, her eyes were still just as mad as Yang's.

"I meant that...look, I don't view my bullying problem as a problem, because it doesn't bother me. Alan…" He paused then, thinking about the boy that had threw him into this whole dang thing. "He's always there to help me, and it would have been a problem if he weren't with me. He's always pressuring me to tell, but I thought that it would become a real problem if I did."

His parents were silent for a bit, stunned. Yang was the first to break the silence. "What's the worst they did to you?" She asked next. Yin flinched slightly, and she could already feel her fists clenching.

It was fifth year in 5th elementary school, and Alan was sick that day. Some boys asked him if he wanted to play with them, saying it was a game of 'pin the ears on the Faunus' and that he could help them draw the picture for it, since they were all humans, and needed a model. Yin was excited, since nobody's ever asked him to play with him before. But once they had started walking, they turned around and began poking him on the right side of his head very forcefully, where he had no ear. He crumpled to the ground, surprised, and then they started kicking him. "Sorry, we thought you were the picture." One boy said, not stopping his kicks. "You have an ear missing." The other boys laughed, and soon he was left there, bleeding and bruised. In the distance, he heard the boys trading different variations of 'Freak' and 'Faunus scum'. One they were away, he began crying.

He didn't say anything of this experience, not then, and not now. But Yang and Blake suddenly felt very, very angry. Not at him, but at whoever dared made their son feel like...this. Yin was shaking and shivering, and he was extremely pale. Yes. whoever did this would pay.

The Belladonna-Longs came in to hug their son, and he froze, before finally giving in, melting into the hug.

Once the hug was over and everybody was back to their seats at the table—Yin noted that it was very soft, unlike other hugs with his strong-armed mom, Blake spoke.

"What do you want us to do?"

The question came at him like a bullet, suddenly and painfully. He stopped himself before he could say nothing, and thought about it. The whole reason that he avoided telling them in the first place was so that they wouldn't have to do anything. But now that they did know…

"..I dunno," He said, finally, in a whisper. Yang finished chewing a piece of food before saying, "Well, we can't just do nothing." She said firmly. "I don't care if it doesn't bother you, we can't let this continue. Why didn't you say anything before?" She was suddenly angry again.

"Yang. We talked about this." Blake looked at her, staring her back into submissiveness. "Right. Yes." Yang said meekly, pushing around a lone piece of pancake around on her plate. Yin waited a bit before continuing. "I know, I just—"

"Do you want us to have your ear removed?" Blake asked fearfully. Yang looked at her, gaping.

A very quiet, but firm, "No." exited Yin's mouth on instinct. Blake felt a surge of pride for her son, but then remembered that the ear is what's causing him to be bullied. "Well, what are we gonna do?" Yang asked again.

"I don't know. Mom, can we just think about it throughout the day?" Yin asked meekly. Yang was about to protest, but a glare from Blake stopped her. "Y-yeah, whatever you want, kiddo." Yang relented.

Coincidentally, It was shopping day for team RWBY. Because of their moms, Yin and Alan could spend the weekends outside of school, and today they were hanging out of the Roses'. RWBY was spending the day at the local grocery store, and currently, they were in the bakery isle.

"How's Yin doing, Blake?" Weiss asked, concern on her features. Blake smiled at her friend. "He's talked about it this morning, but he doesn't know how to stop it. He wants to keep his ear, he's told us."

"Yeah, apparently, he didn't want us to worry or some shi—" Yang began, but Blake kicked her before she could finish. "Yang. We. Talked. About. This."

Weiss flipped her eyes between the two like a tennis match, deciding not to step in. Ruby put a foot in the ring, though. "What if you gave him a fake one?" She asked, like she was thinking out loud.

Blake and Yang froze, and stared at the team leader. "Hmm?" Ruby's sister asked.

"Well, I dunno, maybe...it would help?" Ruby said quietly, and reached out for some flour. "If the kids would see that he was normal, then—

"Our son is not normal, sis." Yang growled. "He's the most special thing on this planet."

"Right, right…" Ruby looked down, and Weiss and Blake glared at the blonde. "Go on, Ruby." Blake said, motioning.

It was like a switch was flipped.

"Oh! Well, last night, I was thinking...Blake, Yin's semblance is...like...computer stuff, right?"

"The manipulation and improvement of technology, yes." The cat faunus said, thinking of all those fizzed out computers they've gone through. Where is she going with this?

Ruby's eyes lit up. "Well, I was thinking, what if I made a mechanical ear that Yin could control to make like...any weapon? Oh, man…" Her eyes sparkled, making the rest of the team back away slowly. "It'd be sooo cool! He could make a gauntlet, a gun, maybe even some wings! A sword, a scythe...oh, man!" she was vibrating now, and Weiss stepped forward. "Ruby, maybe we should let Blake and Ya—"

"He can't just make technology appear out of thin air, you know." Blake said, totally serious.

"Well, I was thinking, what if I made tiny mini versions of different parts of things that he can grow into weapons! Like...seeds! Inside the ear! What do you think?"

"He can try it." Yang said, smiling now. "What do you say, Blake?" She asked.

"Why not?" Blake smiled back, and she felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Why not?!" Yin exclaimed when his moms brought the idea up after the shopping day was over. "What happens if when, say, I walk in to school with this ear on, and it gets even worse? What happens if it breaks because I can't co" He could deal with it now, but he was sure he might break later on.

"Yin, could you please try it? For one day?" Blake pleaded.

Yin sighed, knowing his mom wouldn't relent.

At school on monday, Alan was surprised to see a full set of ears on his brother's head. One was the same old faunus ear, and the other...looked very..silvery. "Good...morning, bro?" He asked, and Yin sighed. "Yeah, good morning."

"What's a...what's with...the um…"

"Oh, this? Your mom made an ear for me. Supposedly, I can use my semblance to use it as a weapon? I think. That's what she said."

Ohh...so that's why mom was so excited last night. Alan made a ooh sound internally. "Why don't you try it out—"

Just then, the same kid from Friday...Dylan, Alan remembered from earlier encounters, shoved himself into Alan. "Well well, if it ain't one ear. Did you put on a fake one so you could trick us? You know, it only makes you look more like a freak…"

Alan blinked as the bully shrunk away from the pair, looking like a cornered animal. What's going on? That question was answered when he looked at his brother.

Before him, Yin's right arm was transformed. Little metal cords snaked down from his new ear, twisting around the shoulder and arm and meeting into a very menacing knuckle bracer at his hand. Silver spikes protruded from his knuckles, and Yin's arm was wound instinctively for punching.

Suddenly, Alan was assaulted with a new feeling. Is that...fear? He licked his lips in anticipation. Way to go, bro. And he turned around in time to see the bully run away.

Yin stared at his palm as the gauntlet-thing retreated back into his ear. "I could get used to this." He grinned, and his...ears perked up.

It was Monday, however, when it decided it liked the outside.