Ch. 16 Coworker Appears and Friends

In combat class the first thing they had to do was turn their reports in. Then Glynda talked for a bit. After that it was time for the spars to begin.

Ruby was excited to see the weapons and to fight. When it was her turn she ended up toying with her opponent. Alabast was sure that she didn't mean to. She wanted to see the various forms of her opponents weapons so she ended up dodging and hitting her opponent lightly to prolong the fight. When she finally saw the extent of the weapon she quickly ended the fight by beating her opponent with the back of the scythes blade. The guy had no chance.

Ruby got back to her seat next to Alabast and Weiss and started talking about how cool the weapon was and how it could be improved.

Yang went and she beat her opponent in record time. She fought some big tough guy that offered to take it easy on her since she was a girl. She didn't really appreciate that. She rushed him and he didn't get to swing his spear at all. She got up close and pummeled him. She punched him so much so fast that some other students saw multiple fists punching the guy at the same time. It may have also been his comment about her hair as well. He said she should cut her hair or something.

Glynda had to make Yang float away from him since his aura was almost broken. Yang was scolded about losing her temper and that she should keep it under control. Yang is normally better about it, but she's been agitated about something the entire morning.

Yang goes back to her seat with slumped shoulders. Blake says a few words of comfort to help Yang. At least Yang got it out of her system.

Cardin went up against a deer Faunus. Before the fight began he smirked at Alabast. The fight was cruel and very one sided. Cardin is a bully, but one has to admit that he is strong. He had good form, but the way he fought was just to hurt his opponent the most without ending the fight early. And Alabast could barely hear his racist comments to his opponent. Alabast saw Cardin's lips moving and he saw the face of the Faunus the words were directed at.

Initially the deer Faunus was angry. But after the first clash his tune quickly changed. He showed fear. He was outmatched in experience, strength, speed and skill. He at one point towards the end tried to give up but Cardin hit him before he could get the words out.

Alabast wasn't angry. It's not like the deer Faunus would have any serious damage because of his aura. But it ticked him off that after the fight he looked at Alabast and his team. Alabast could deal with it if he only targeted him, but if he tried something funny with his team. That's a very different story. And the look was an ugly one at that. Cardin was afraid of Pyrrha, but that didn't seem to stop him. And Alabast defeating Cardin previously only made Cardin more cruel and vengeful it seems.

Ren, Nora and Blake easily won their fights. After Noras fight she kept talking with Ren to see if he saw her win.

Weiss was the last fight of the class. Her opponent was a multi-tailed fox Faunus. She had 3 fox tails behind her that moved differently from each other. Her hair went to her hips behind her. Both her hair and tails were dark purple in color. She wore a black kimono with light purple hydrangea patterns on it. She was holding a smaller katana with a pistol at the hilt while the barrel extends a few inches into the blade. It was black while the engravings and edge of the blade were a dark purple like her hair. She had a body type similar to Yang. Her skin was pale and her eyes were a light purple.

Alabast didn't think much of her until he saw her weapon. He looked over to Blake to see if she also recognized her. Blake hadn't noticed her apparently. Alabast didn't think they had met before anyway. Alabast had done a few secret missions with this lady in the past. Her name was Ayaka Mika. And she had been a pain in his side since he met her. Had she been sent here for Alabast or Blake? Alabast couldn't be sure but he knew that she brought trouble wherever she went.

She stood across from Weiss who was wielding Myrtenaster.

"If it isn't the Schnee heiress. I'm glad we get to fight so soon. I've got to give you my thanks" Ayaka softly said.

"Thanks for what?" Weiss hadn't ever met this lady before.

"For putting my mother and father into the Schnee dust mines and killing them" She said in a very low and quiet tone.

Ayaka charged at Weiss and started making slashes towards Weiss. She wouldn't give Weiss the space.

Weiss had been distracted by what she heard and was barely able to react in time. She wouldn't win in a sword fight between a rapier and a katana unless she could get some room. She used some glyphs to speed up her movement and set a few traps for her opponent to step into. But all of a sudden when Ayakas purple aura appeared she got light headed.

She saw Ayakas katana blade go towards her face when suddenly a black blade crashed into the stage between them. The blade had black mist coming off of it.

"Alabast Noir! Others are not to interrupt!" Glynda was quite mad about Alabasts interference.

Alabast was standing with his aura around him. He had an angry look on his face. "Ayaka!"

On the stage Ayaka had to jump back in order to avoid the blade that crashed into the stage. She turned to face Alabast in the stands. Weiss was on the ground holding herself in a sitting position with one hand while the other was on her head to try and stop the world from spinning.

"If it isn't Alabast Noir! Did you miss me? Because I've missed you, you left without even saying good bye" Ayaka was smiling and talked in a tone that seemed to be hurt.

"Alabast! You need to explain why you interfered. You can catch up after the duel!" Glynda was not going to sit on the sidelines while her class was interrupted.

"Ms. Goodwitch. The fight is already over. Weiss has already lost" Alabast says while he narrows his eyes at Ayaka who he knows activated her semblance.

Weiss could he distorted voices talking but was having a hard time hearing. She was seeing double now as well.

"Oh, your still no fun" Ayaka complained.

"Cancel your semblance now Ayaka. Before I make you" Alabast didn't threaten, he promised. His tone was cold and angry.

"Fine. I win anyway" Ayakas aura fades away.

Weiss still feels dizzy and sees double but feels a bit better. Alabast walks down the isle towards the stage and Glynda.

"Her semblance let's her make various scents and fragrances. Some can be poisonous depending or have other effects. Weiss lost as soon as she breathed it in" Alabast stood next to Glynda facing Ayaka who was smiling still. Her tails moving elegantly behind her.

"You do remember" Ayaka sheathed her katana to her horizontal sheath just above her hips.

Glynda looks at Weiss who does appear to be affected by something. She didn't even see anything. So the semblance is invisible and takes affect once inhaled into the lungs. She would need to be more careful in the future. It also seems to bypass aura and impacts the body internally. Very dangerous indeed.

Alabast looks at Weiss and sees that she got it bad. It will wear off in a while. He jumps to the stage and lands in front of Weiss.

"You always did look good in a uniform" Ayaka sees Alabasts muscles beneath his uniform. "Having fun playing student?" She whispers.

Alabast still has his aura active and is very tempted to cover her mouth. He crouched down and puts a hand on Weiss's shoulder and she tries to look at him. "Alabast?" She sounded very disoriented

"It's me Weiss. Did you hear what happened to you?" Alabast could tell that Weiss isn't doing so hot.

"Huh?" Weiss still couldn't hear very well.

Ruby soon appeared next to Alabast. "Weiss! Are you ok?"

"She's fine Ruby. Or she will be soon. The effects will go away. I'll take her back to our seats so she can rest. She wasn't exposed for long, luckily"

Ruby had a worried luck on her face as she saw Weiss in her current state. Alabast went to the side of Weiss and picked her up in a Princess carry. Weiss held onto Alabast tightly. She felt like she was falling and put her arms around Alabast's neck. "It's ok. I've got you" He stands up and give Ayaka a side glance. "Let's get back Ruby" Alabast makes the blade of darkness disappear while Ayaka walks back to the side room to change.

Him and Ruby get back to their seats. Ruby swaps seats with Weiss for now so she can sit next to Alabast.

"Cmon Weiss, you need to sit up to make it go away faster. You need to stay awake" Alabast makes her sit up and she ends up leaning on his shoulder. He puts his tail around Weiss and lets his tail rest in her lap. She pets his tail and closes her eyes. "Whatever". If Weiss falls asleep it just means that she will feel sick when she wakes up.

Glynda continues the class since the fights are over.

"How do you know her?" Pyrrha whispers.

"Old coworker. She's crazy" Alabast says while patting Weiss's head.

Everyone kept quiet after that and waited until class wrapped up. They had another assignment but it was easier than the last.

Weiss wasn't asleep it turns out as she kept running her fingers through his tail fur and his hair. She tried to look under his hair that covered his face but he just moved her hand away. She kept trying so he eventually just held her hand down with his. She didn't complain like he expected her to. She appeared to be getting better, but almost seemed drunk. She was out of it and wasn't acting herself.

Ruby was watching them and was worried about her friend and teammate. Nora was sneakily taking photos to tortu…..show Weiss later.

Once everyone was leaving the classroom Alabast took Weiss back into the Princess carry and was about to leave with RWBY and ANVL.

"You're gonna leave without planning on catching up first? Truly as cold as ever" Ayaka appears behind the group.

Everyone turns around and looks at Ayaka in the student uniform.

"Fine. When and where?" Alabast says flatly.

"You can't be serious, are you?" Yang looks at Alabast to see if he really plans to meet up with this chick.

"Great! How about this weekend? Here's an idea, why don't you take my scroll number?!" Ayaka walks up to Alabast and takes out a small slip of folded paper. As she gets up to him she puts it deep in his pants pocket. "Cant have you losing it now can we?" She sends a wink up to Alabast still with her hand in his pocket.

Yang forces her hand out of his pocket and tosses it to the side. "Get away from him" She flatly says to the purple haired lady.

"Why? Are you his girlfriend? He always preferred to be alone and turned me down whenever I offered" She crosses her arms beneath her breasts and looks at Yang.

"We aren't together. And by what you say that means you can't take the hint that he doesn't like you. Just leave us all alone. It's bad enough you could have seriously hurt Weiss" Yang was getting mad again, this girl really makes her alarms go off.

"Yang" Alabast calls out. "Thank you. Now let's get going" Alabast waits for Yang to walk away before also turning around to leave.

"I'll see you this weekend Al!" She waves him off.

"Al?" Ruby wonders out loud.

"She calls me something else every time she thinks of something. Most aren't original" Alabast says remembering some of her random or descriptive names for him. She also has a bit of a dirty way of speaking around him. He's surprised she didn't try anything. He only dealt with her on a few missions, but every second he had to spend with her was like minutes.

"So I wasn't the first person to give you a nickname?" Ruby asked. Alabast looked at her and saw she was a bit down.

"You were the first that I gave permission to Little Red" Alabast then looks over to Blake. She was staring daggers at him. Alabast figures that she realized that Ayaka was from the White Fang.

Blake heard that Ayaka was a 'former coworker' of Alabast's. She also remembered about a woman that had a very strong semblance that was in the secret side of things after her father stepped down. She understood this woman was very dangerous and apparently knew Alabast. She was curious why she was here. It was not for her, since she went straight for Alabast. This couldn't be the friend that was in Vale or else they wouldn't have acted like they just met each other after a long while unless they were really good actors.

"Are you going to meet her?" Blake questioned.

"Why? Do you care if I do?"

"Yeah, kinda" Blake said quietly.

"Very much so!" Yang loudly exclaimed as she turned around to face Alabast.

"I'm stronger than her. She can't harm me"

"That's not the point here!" Yang continues.

"Yang! Calm down. Alabast can handle himself. He can meet who he wants" Ruby tries to calm her sister down.

"Calm down?! Some girl shows up and attacks Weiss, almost seriously injuring her, and then asks Alabast out on a date! I'm surprised I'm the only one not ok with it!"

"We aren't all ok with it Yang. But there's nothing we can do. Alabast already said he rejected her in the past. He also doesn't appear very fond of her whatsoever" Pyrrha speaks up.

"I don't plan on dating…." Everyone looks at Alabast who is still holding Weiss. "Her, at least. I'm just going to see what she wants this weekend. If anything she's just asking for attention. She only wants to get a rise out of you. And she knows how to do it very well"

"Fine, but I'm still not okay with this" Yang turns around.

"How did neither of you two not notice eachother? It's already been a week since school started. Did you not see her at initiation?" Blake looks into Alabast's eye as if to try and read his mind.

"I didn't really pay attention to the teams besides ours honestly"

"It's best we just move on for now. This isn't getting us anywhere" Pyrrha tries to change the subject since there honestly isn't anything else they can figure out at the moment. She did hear that Alabast was coming around to the idea of dating. She will bring that up later in their group chat.

"Let's get going then" Yang says before leading the way.

Ren and Nora look at eachother and communicate with their eyes. They know that they will eventually figure out what actually is going on.

Weiss looks at Alabast's face as he carries her. She then moved her hand to his face and moved it under his hair.

"Hey!" Alabast whispers and moving his head away.

"I just want another look" Weiss quietly says back.

She keeps her hand on his face and feels the scars on his cheek. Then she moves her hand up and feels the scars near his eye. Weiss is enjoying the feeling of Alabast carrying her now. She also enjoys his face. She understands why he would hide it since there are so many scars around the left eye and forehead. But they don't bother her. If anything they intrigue her, maybe because she has her own scar and she can relate a little to Alabast.

"Just don't poke my eye" Alabast isn't mad or happy about this. But he can't really stop her unless he wants to either drop her or bite her. So he will just let her do what she wants if she only wants to feel and see his scars.

Nora takes a picture of this. She's really proud of this photo. It's like the knight carrying a Princess or something. Alabast's face is still covered by his hair but Weiss has her hand beneath the hair and is looking intently at his face while he looks down at hers. Weiss has her other arm around his neck for support.

They get back to the dorm rooms and Weiss already took her hand away when they got into the building. Ruby opened their room and let Alabast set her down on her bed.

"The poison is no longer affecting her I think. It's just the after affects now so she can get some rest. Keep an eye on her until the night" Alabast makes sure to tell the rest of team RWBY.

"Thank you Ashy. Truly thank you. This could have ended way worse" Ruby bows her head to Alabast.

Standing up, Alabast messes with Ruby's hair whil she is looking at the floor. "I would have done the same for any of you. You guys are my friends after all". Saying this, Alabast left the room and joined his own team in their room.

Ruby watched as Alabast left and then looked over to Weiss who was now sleeping peacefully.

"Was that the first time he called us his friends?" Ruby asked the others and herself.