Another World Again

"Uwaa, I'm beat..."

Ruby all but collapsed onto her bed the second they got back to their room, earning many looks in response.

"Should someone who spent her match running into her opponent at Mach one, almost instantly knocking them out the of the ring, really be that be that tired?" Blake asked wryly, right before settling into her own bed, book already in hand like magic.

"Hey I fought, didn't I? I'm tired."

Weiss, off to the side, rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. 

Although, one of her brows suddenly rose.

"..."

"..."

Because speaking of not saying anything, a certain white haired boy and blonde girl had also shuffled into the room without so much as a word. No, even an hour prior, when they had exited Goodwitch's classes, not to head straight to their room, but to snag an early dinner at the mess hall...

Yes, both Yang and Rio had been suspiciously quiet.

And although both looked awkward about something, one of them was smiling slightly, the other, frowning. 

"So, what's with you two?" Blake asked nonchalantly, not even looking up from her book but showing she had noticed the outlier as well. No, actually, Ruby as well, she was already craning head to look Yang and Rio, but with silent curiosity. 

Perhaps she was unusually sharp when it came to her sister?

No matter. 

"Miss Yang and I... just had talk of sorts. Of course, I can't speak for her, but for me... well, it was enlightening to say the least..."

Rio, the one who had been giving that nervous, but slightly bemused little smile, was the first to answer, but not without making eye contact with the frowning blonde who pointedly still avoided his gaze.

No, why did her face look so cramped?

"Look, I said I was sorry for misunderstanding, okay..." the girl murmured, awkwardly inclining her head away from the boy, as if that would somehow curb the stale air that had clamped down on her ever since he burst out into chuckles in that hallway. 

"And I said there was nothing to apologize for," Rio replied, shaking his head with smile. "If anything, I should apologize for laughing. I really, really, didn't expect Miss Yang to say... well, all that." Somehow, his lips twitched further into a smile. 

"...Ugh."

"Haha..."

Meanwhile, Weiss, Blake, and Ruby all blinked. 

No, what was even happening right now?

"Um. While I'm still plenty confused at the secret conversation you guys apparently seemed to be having..."

Yes, regardless of that, shaking her head, Ruby was first to regain her wits.

"...Rio? There's something I wanted to ask for a while now."

The boy's gaze landed on her, curious.

"Oh, what is it, Miss Ruby?"

Ruby's face flinched the tiniest bit. "Uh, it's about, that, actually. I think we'd all appreciate it if you called us by our names. Ah, just our names. No need to add the 'miss' every time. It, uh..." The girl suddenly looked the tiniest bit embarrassed. "Well, it's as if you're purposely distancing yourself from us…"

Rio froze. 

He looked to the others, and like Ruby, they also looked just as tentative and uncertain. The ever turning pages of Blake's book, also, were seemingly put on pause. Finally, he looked to Yang, who had her arms crossed, but raised her brow once they met eyes, in perhaps a spark of challenge.

"...What? You already heard what I thought about it." Then her eyes slowly slid away from him, awkwardness and faint blush returning. "...Amongst other things."

Rio turned to face the rest of their awaiting gazes, and opened his mouth. Then he closed it, opened it, and closed it again. He wondered, if only to himself, was it really okay to say what he was about to say?

Finally, Rio slowly breathed out. 

"In all honestly... I hadn't thought it a good idea to get close to any of you. Nor did I think you would even want to. That's why referred to you all like that," Rio said, now his turn to awkwardly look away, gaze aimlessly drifting up towards the ceiling. "...Or at least, that's 90% of the reason anyway."

They all blinked. 

"...Well, okay, I suppose that makes sense," Weiss eventually agreed, only her brow suddenly furrowed. "But wait, what about the remaining ten percent?"

Rio stiffened. 

No, no, he was in this far, he might as well say it. 

"Er, that is..." The boy's glare at the ceiling deepened, and it was almost as pronounced at the faint dusting of red beginning to coat his cheeks. Then, after sighing, he closed his eyes and spoke. "...Don't laugh, but that kind of formal speech... it was... the only way I could talk to four girls and not trip over my words every five seconds..."

There it was. 

The truth. 

In his own world, Rio might make a play at being non-plussed, always catering to those around him, remaining the perfect gentlemen even in the most awkward of situations, ones that somehow fell his way one after another, not helped by his skewed, incredibly skewed, female to male friend group...

But, if you took away that formal mask of his for even a moment...

"T-That's how it is... sorry."

Clearly blushing, Rio didn't look at any of them.

The silence even began to turn painful. 

And then someone snorted. 

Yang, abruptly and without any warning, doubled over and started laughing. And no, it wasn't the quiet chuckles he had released perhaps a hour or so prior. In a horrendous display of homing karma, the blonde bust out into loud breathy guffaws.

That was already bad enough. 

Really, it was. 

And then Ruby started giggling. 

Weiss and Blake, too, suddenly hid their faces from him and began quietly trembling. And predictably, there were no tears in sight. 

"T-That was it? That was it this whole time?"

In this embarrassed fueled daze, Rio's amber orbs turned back to Yang. 

"Here I was thinking you were either some smooth operator, or some impossibly mature teenager, but you were freaking out on the inside that whole time, too? Haha. Right, I suppose, I'm the one laughing now, er, um, Mr. Rio. Hahahaha. That's what you were doing this whole time, right?! Hahahaha."

Rio's mouth fell open; his face now so red, but not necessarily because he planned on saying anything. 

Although, even so, words ended up tumbling out regardless.

"...Um, yes, but I'm fairly certain I asked you all not to laugh before I—"

Still chuckling, Yang leaned in to punch him in the shoulder. 

Again. 

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Adult. You're no longer fooling anyone. Can't you just be honest and say we make you nervous? Oh, is it because we're all beautiful? That's it, isn't it?" Yang crooned, voice so light with teasing that it was almost impossible to imagine that she had been so flighty and awkward before. 

Nonetheless, Rio coughed. 

"W-Well, objectively—" he tried to say.

"Heh. Whatever old man," Yang sniped with a chuckle.

No, even if I actually am secretly older than all you, saying it that way...

Rio dismissed it all with a chuckle of his own.

An exhausted one, rather. 

"Well, I'm glad my discomfort seems to be amusing ... Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Blake."

They paused at that, momentarily taken aback, before breaking right back into smiles, some subtle and some not.

That lighthearted mood persisted, right until it was decided it was very much time for bed. 

So with that, everyone took care of their nightly rituals and all laid themselves down to rest.

Of course, that didn't stop one more comment from slamming into him with no small amount of cheek.

"Feel free to join me if you get lonely, Mr. Rio," Yang said, no doubt grinning widely amidst the darkness.

Rio had no way of knowing who exactly sputtered in surprise, but he was sure it was more than one.

"I'd... really rather you not tease me like that, Yang," Rio breathed out, having slipped into his own bedding.

And with that, seconds turned into minutes, and minutes to hours, and soon, they all sequestered themselves into slumber. And with a mind, hazy, and filled with exhaustion of his own, Rio slowly began to drift off himself. 

In all honesty, he wasn't sure if being at this school was the right choice.

And the future, too, was doubly uncertain.

Still.

Little by little.

That's how he needed to take it. 

Then, surely, he could return to those waiting for him.

Rio wouldn't accept anything less.

The boy, finally, drifted off. 

Everyone was now asleep. 

At least, that should have been the case. 

"..."

'Hm. Sleep well Haruto…'

With no witnesses, a certain pink-haired spirit materialized into the room, smiling faintly as she cuddled up to Rio's sleeping form.

The next morning would be hectic to say the least.