Another World Again

"My name is Rio Amakawa. Its a pleasure to be standing in the same room with so many aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses. Honestly, I'm not that competent a fighter... but, I still hope to learn a lot from you all."

Rio, head dipped ever so slightly, introduced himself in such a way, speaking in the kind of slow, measured cadence he reserved only when he was in the presence of temperamental nobles. 

Of course, that was unlikely to be case, but...

Well, it was hard to shake off old habits. 

Although...?

"Woah..."

"Okay, he's actually handsome…"

"L-Like a prince..."

"And that white hair... he's gotta be a Schnee, right?"

Inwardly sighing, Rio did his best to smile through the whispers and mutterings that were breaking out left and right. Of course, left unsaid was the few dozens eyes collapsing on him from every corner of the room.

Still, there was nothing to be done about it.

After all, despite his best efforts to fly under the radar during the first class of the day, the Grimm Studies professor had adamantly not allowed that to happen, calling him up to the front of the room almost immediately. 

"Aha!"

Clapping, Professor Port's boisterous voice laughed grandly.

"A splendidly polite introduction, young man. It seems Ozpin wasn't jesting when he said you had manners."

"It is merely a deeply-ingrained habit of mine sir." Rio said simply, looking at the expanse of students giving him a variety of looks.

Many of the female students were giving him furtive glances, speaking in hushed tones, all done with the kind of restless behavior Rio couldn't quite place the reason for. Then there was the boys, looking at him with barely hidden contempt.

Well at least that hasn't changed.

Rio let out an imperceptible breath. 

He then looked to those he knew. 

Blake and Weiss were looking at the noisy surroundings with looks of exasperation and dismay, while Ruby met his gaze with a thumbs up. Also, hardly unnoticeable, was Yang's teasing smile. 

After that, nothing of real note happened in the classes that followed, only similar introductions, and oddly, similar reactions. 

Although, as it turned out, Rio was the only one who seemed to be paying the most attention in said classes.

Not that he planned to do otherwise. 

Whether it could be called diligence or not, passing up on a free opportunity to gain more knowledge about the world he was in would have been quite foolish.

Basically, Rio already managed to understand quite a few things through context alone: the skewed roles faunas and humans seemed to play in society, the application of dust in modern technology, and then, combined with what he had been told by Ozpin, how children were taught in combat schools from an early age with the intentions of becoming this world's alternative to knights.

Huntsmen.

Beacon Academy was one such school.

However, it wasn't only criminal injustice Huntsmen were needed for.

It seemed this place too had a variety of monster—the Grimm.

It wasn't too much of a surprise, but it seemed they were a huge threat in this world.

From what Rio gathered, they were mindless killing machines bathed in darkness, governed not by intelligence but by instinct. He was especially interested to find out that they were drawn by negativity.

On another note, it was no wonder Team RWBY reacted the way that they did to Rio on their first meeting, considering the forest he came from was supposed to be chalk full of the things. He was surprised he didn't run into a single one, not only that, but was perfectly safe despite being unconscious for an unknown amount of time...

But Rio could worry about those things later.

For now...

"Miss Xiao-Long, if you don't mind, would you be so inclined to test out our new student's combat ability for us?" Glynda asked taciturnly, to which a majority of the surrounding students immediately broke out into whispers. 

It seemed the last class of the day was of a more practical nature. 

As expected of school training others to fight.

"Oh hell yeah! Come on Rio! I'll show you mine if you show me yours~!" Yang said unabashed, sending an excited grin Rio's way as she practically jumped out of her seat.

"Haha..."

While idly thinking the girl seemed far too eager for this, Rio just gave a shaky laugh, making his way down to the arena. 

It wasn't like he could flat out refuse.

Not without a valid reason, anyway.

Soon, they stood meters apart.

Though, gazing at the ornate fighting ring, Rio himself was busy appreciating how different it was from the practice fields of his childhood academy. 

Definitely more advanced...

That said, when Glynda suddenly started to explain the rules, Rio's attention naturally gravitated towards the monitors off to one side of the room. On the screen, there were two bars. One of them, a long strip of blue, had Yang's name above it.

This is most likely...

Aura.

Despite it only being Rio's first day, the word had already been passed around quite a lot. 

Professor Port certainly hadn't skipped out on any detail, describing the various ways he had used it to singlehandedly save entire villages from Grimm, and with the oddest of weapons, too..

Anyway.

Aura was something all living things had, humans manifesting it at a young age. And it was a type of life essence not so different from the sorcery or spirit arts from his world, being used for strengthening the body and healing injuries.

But.

Rio's eyes couldn't help but widened a fraction. 

It was because, his own bar was also shown full of blue.

"..."

The boy glanced at Glynda.

Nothing. 

The woman didn't look distressed in the slightest.

I don't know how they're measuring it, but... are my spirit arts being recognized as aura…?

Rio decided to test something.

Feigning a cough, he chanted a simple art.

The Strengthening Art immediately activated, making his body less susceptible to attacks. 

But, once again, Glynda didn't seem to notice anything wrong. Moreover, the bar didn't change in any way.

Rio's brows furrowed. 

It seemed... he had some things to investigate.

"When either of your auras reach the red, the fight is over," Glynda announced, looking between the two of them.

Yes.

Right now, Rio had to focus on the task in front of him.

"Rioooooo! Feel free to beat my sister uppppp!"

Rio initially smiled wryly as Ruby's shout came without pause, but then that rest of her words filtered through and he couldn't help but be a little taken aback. 

Sisters?

This was the first he was hearing of it.

Rio looked at Yang, who was giving Ruby an unimpressed look.

With that unruly blonde hair and gleaming lilac eyes, the family resemblance was very slim. Though, that still left the option of being half-related. Or, pehraps, it was just like how Latifa was to him, something like a soul sibling.

"Yeah, I'll remember that next time you want cookies," Yang grumbled, but paused for a beat when glancing at him. "...What's got you so happy?"

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just remembering something pleasant."

"Right, well I won't be holding back, so you better prepare that pretty face of yours for a beating," Yang taunted, as she slammed her fists together, her bright yellow gauntlets clinking together.

They were, of course, allowed weapons during this mock battle.

Yang had her augmented gauntlets, which she apparently deigned to name Ember Celica.

Rio, on the other hand...

That same small smile appearing on his face, and without any fanfare whatsoever, the white haired boy methodically slid his own weapon out its sheathe, right before slipping into the most basic of stances.

No flashy displays.

No over-complicated gestures. 

One could even say it looked remarkably ordinary.

"..."

And yet, Yang found herself briefly hesitating at the calm, almost impassive look staring at her from across the small arena.

"You may begin!"

But it vanished with Glynda's shout.

Throwing all caution to the wayside, Yang flung herself into the melee.

…

…

…

Not even a few minutes into the fight, and Yang was already irritated. 

The reason was obvious.

"Come on Rio, I know, ugh, you're holding back!"

Between trading blows, Yang could only huff at the boy who was not only lightly dodging her blows like they were nothing, but just making only the barest attempt at counterattacking as well.

What was more, she had already worked up a substantial sweat.

Rio, on the other hand, had the gall to put on a quizzical smile on his face, not looking winded in the slightest.

"Is that how it looks? I'm fairly certain its Miss Yang that is just too formidable."

"Liar… as if I would believe... something like that," Yang said between pants, backing off for brief respite.

Still, Rio observed that her fiery determination still seemed to remain.

Although, it was a bit strange when her already striking lilac eyes began flicker in color. They turned red. Her hair, too, also began to change. Violent, crackling flames promptly encompassed the original yellow, turning it into a very vibrant orange.

Perhaps... her semblance?

"Don't you get angry Rio? Fight me as if your angry…!"

Yang proposed something like this as Rio evaded another one of the girl's right hooks, which he noticed came at him slightly faster now.

"Like I'm angry? How do you mean?"

Yang's brows seemed to furrow at that, even amidst her unrelenting assault. Meanwhile, she managed to finally sneak a gauntlet clad fist into Rio's guard. However, the boy simply batted it away, not with the flat of his blade, but with the hefty hilt of the cross-guard. 

Yang audibly clicked her tongue at the miss. Still, she continued. "Don't you... don't you hate anyone?" she asked between breaths, before snorting. "Actually, nevermind, it's you, so probably—"

"Yes."

Yang, trying to reposition around the boy, was caught so flatfooted by the instantaneous reply that she nearly tripped over her own feet. No, it wasn't just about the speed in which it came. It was how he said it. It was delivered with the kind monotonous drawl that was completely devoid of emotion.

"I-... I see," the blonde said after a while, now on opposite sides of the arena from when they started. "Well, picture me as that person. Fight me like that."

Yang suggested such a thing, almost conversationally.

But that was why she didn't notice the way Rio's grip suddenly tightened around his sword. "Imagine Miss Yang... as that person?" he uttered, tone so soft, so subtle, it might as well have been a whisper. 

And also just as subtle...

Something invisible began to shake.

It was something he tried desperately to stifle down through his memories of Haruto, that law-abiding college student who had lived in a peaceful Japan. 

And, when Rio's eyes suddenly glossed over, a darker, more sinister shade clashing with his usual vibrant amber, it wasn't something he immediately noticed.

Not when those now harrowingly cold orbs only seemed to focus on one thing and one thing only.

Red... eyes?

This person had... red eyes?

—"YoU'rE SmIlInG…!? YoU'rE AcTuAlLy SmIlInG EvEn As I'm MuRdErInG YoU, YoU BiTcH!? AmAzInG—! HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!"

Smirking, Yang nodded her head, satisfied. 

"Yeah, that's right. Imagine me as the person you hate mo—"

The change was immediate.

Time seemed to freeze as a paralyzing wave suddenly drenched the girl from head to toe.

Yes; that was the best way to describe it, being submerged by a wave of water. Ice cold water. And when you least expect it, too.

That way, you don't just experience the pain of your nerves, skin, and everything else freezing over, but you have to endure the terror as well. The raw, incredibly cruel terror that wouldn't have landed quite so fiercely had you known it would be on its way. 

That was the kind of feeling currently pressed down on Yang from all sides, an unpleasant sweat pricking at her neck, where every fiber of her being was not only screaming at her not to move, but contrarily, that she also couldn't, that she shouldn't, that she shouldn't even try. 

Such a feeling...

It was a sensation Yang couldn't say she knew. 

Ah... no. 

The truth was, she did know it.

That blonde girl had experienced it, if only once in her life. 

It was when her and Ruby had gotten stranded in the woods in Patch, surrounded by Grimm when they were children, unable to do little more than helplessly cry as those bared canines wanting to devour them got closer and closer.

But this time, there was no Grimm.

No, there was only the boy across from her.

Rio's amber orbs, normally warm and serene, now looked cold and unfeeling. And the change was so jarring that Yang felt like she couldn't be blamed for the way her heart started being dramatically off tempo.

And since even continuing to lock eyes sent an icy shiver down her already tingling spine, the blonde stiffened unnaturally, wanting take a step back, yet her legs didn't even try to do what she told them. 

Yang felt like puny rose petal; unable to do little more than allow itself to be scattered by a fierce wind. 

Because that's just how nature worked. 

The larger force always consumed the smaller one.

"R-..." Yang's mouth was suddenly very, very dry. "Rio...?"

In reality, the white haired boy hadn't moved in the slightest, nor had he shifted his blade in any particular way, but at the moment, and in the harrowing silence that followed, Yang genuinely felt like he was one second, no, one step away from punching the tip of that steel straight through her, regardless of consequences, even regardless of aura. 

But then.

A sigh.

"...I forfeit."

Huh?

Yang blinked in dazed incomprehension.

Because, the oppressive darkness completely disappeared. It evaporated into nothingness, like it had never even been there at all. 

No, more than that...

Just now...

"I don't think I can win against Miss Yang as I am now, Miss Gl... Goodwitch. Please, allow me to forfeit."

Now facing away from her, Rio said such a thing while bowing his head bowed towards the professor, the length of his white bangs hiding his eyes from view. Even then, as he patiently waited for a response, it was clear the boy was looking at nothing else but the ground below him.

"..."

And all the while, Yang just stared at him, brain still whirring in lingering tension, and then no shortage of confusion behind that. 

What... was that?

Had that... really came from Rio?

Such a thought passed amidst the skeptical but still furrowing of Yang's brows.

Of course, if she looked closer, she would have noticed. 

She would have noticed how Rio, even with his head still bowed, was all but murdering the grip of his sword, holding it so tight that it was a miracle no one heard the violent strain.

"..."

For the first few seconds, Glynda didn't say anything.

She just stood there, staring at Rio with an indescribable expression on her face, perhaps even a beat longer than was necessary. But, eventually, "...Very well. If you say you want to forfeit, you forfeit. Just don't make it a habit, Mr. Amawaka."

"Yes," the boy replied dully.

He still didn't look up. 

"Now then. Miss Xiao-Long."

"H-Huh? Y-Yes?"

When Glynda suddenly turned to Yang, she was hardly in the state where she could have been expected to reply instantly. Still, when she eventually found the teacher's frown, Yang couldn't say she was prepared for the green eyes across from her to be twisted in... concern?

"...You are shaking, Yang," the woman said softly, so soft, quiet too, that only those in the ring could hear. 

At first, Yang didn't understand what that meant. Then, with painstaking slowness, she looked down, and she couldn't tell if the sound that suddenly left her with an incredulous chuckle, or a short breathy gasp of disbelief. 

Her gauntlet clad arms; they were shaking

It was subtle, but obvious with how light energetically bounced off the glossy surfaces.

Her knees were next to betray her, wobbling with visible strain, not to the point where she was seconds away from being rendered immobile like some frightened damsel, but just that numb-like feeling one got when one of your limbs fell asleep.

Still, Yang snapped out of it a second later, laughing slightly. "O-Oh, this? No, I'm fine. Rio just gave me more of a workout than I expected. Haha. Yeah, I'll, uh, go get changed." Yang turned for the arena outskirts, an easy smile on her face.

The plan had been to put one foot in front of the other, and then make her way out the door. Then she could worry about the fact that her heart was still beating out her chest. Then she could worry about that her legs still felt like jelly, and that even a chancing blow would be enough to knock her over.

If only she got that far.

Yang didn't even get two steps in before her knees buckled.

And yet just shy of falling, a hand suddenly lightly curling around her bicep fixed her balance just in time. 

"...Actually, on second thought, Miss Goodwitch, it turns out I'm not feeling too well. May I ask that Miss Yang show me where the infirmary is?" Rio asked, smiling somewhat awkwardly, meeting the professor's gaze. 

Yang stilled.

There was the white haired boy, not meeting her eyes, but still almost imperceptibly supporting her weight with his own. 

"..."

Glynda paused.

Then, with a roll of her eyes, she waved a hand.

"Yes, both of you are dismissed. However. I better not hear about you either of you loitering."

"Of course, professor," Rio replied, before turning towards her. And yet. Still. He didn't fully meet her eyes. "Miss Yang, this is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but my balance is a bit shaky at the moment. Can I ask that you continue supporting my weight? At least until we get to the infirmary..."

Yang blinked, right before her eyes widened.

Then, her cheeks flushed slightly. 

"O-Oh, um, yeah. No problem."

They made for that door like that, Yang feeling an odd mix of embarrassment, relief, and confusion, that is, continuing to let the boy use her arm to 'keep his balance'. She tried tossing a few glances at the profile from the side, but Rio didn't react to them, face neutral.

No, not neutral, Yang observed.

He... almost looked—

"Mr. Amakawa, one more thing."

Glynda's voice stopped them, just shy of leaving.

Their footsteps naturally paused. 

"It's good that you snapped out of it yourself, however you should learn to control those particular impulses, in class at the very least."

Yang looked between the two of them in confusion, the boy she was certain was now avoiding staring directly at anyone, and then Glynda who's face was unreadable, but was looking at them, no, at Rio, with intent. 

Still...

"...Yes, it is as you say. It won't happen again."

And then, out the door they went.