Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also exceedingly exceedingly exceedingly rarely chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
(This is chunk 1 of 3 of the mass release for the remainder of this arc. I'm separating them by mini-beats of the arc itself. To clarify - we've got 2 more mass releases before the end of the arc. Hope these 5 chapters are satisfactory, they are important set-up and character beats for later.)
(Expect the 2nd release in a similar amount of time, 2-3 weeks)
-Story Start-
Beacon's ballroom.
Last time Alex found himself here was when his nemesis tried to unintentionally induce long-term brain damage, all the way back when they were in Initiation.
It was a vast and spacious building, and when you exclude the hundreds of makeshift beds, tables, and would-be initiates from back then, it was now glaringly...
Empty.
He strolled through the entrance with a large table balanced on each shoulder, steadying both with his hands; he could tell the place was being kept clean and tidy. No dusty or mold odor present.
Now, the unfortunate understanding that this spacious place was incredibly empty gave rise to an even further realization.
For the coming Beacon Dance, this place would need...
'A lotta work.' A clearly displeased thin line crossed his face as he stepped forward.
And while sure he could work far faster than any ordinary person. His primary issue wasn't that the tables and other stuff were heavy; he couldn't even feel a scrap of the weight of these giant tables. The issue was making sure they wouldn't fall and that he could pass through the entrance neatly.
So he had to do round trips.
He found his team, and JRNY scattered throughout the ballroom, either discussing something with one another or working on decorations.
"Good morning, grumpy!" A short, bubbly Ruby appeared before him, almost as if she had used her semblance. "Weiss'll tell you where to place these; she's our... 'Architect'." She scoffed lightly as she made air quotations with her hands, then pointed at the distant snow-haired princess, carefully scrutinizing the entire place with her icy glare.
Alex greeted his partner. "Mornin." Then turned around and headed towards the would-be 'Architect'.
As he did so, Ruby followed him by his side. "What took ya so long? I thought the wake-up call was enough?" She asked with light curiosity.
Alex replied with the truth. "I forgot where they keep the tables here."
"...You weren't listening yesterday, were you?"
"I was listening; I just forgot whether it was the building adjacent to the ballroom or inside the amphitheater."
Ruby's expression froze for a moment, asking lightly. "Did you grab those tables from the amphitheater?"
Hearing her pause behind him, he lightly turned his head around, keeping the tables stable. "No, I figured if the storage room was locked, I'm probably not supposed to force myself in."
She snorted. "You really can't think in the morning, can you?"
"Any earlier and I might've broken in." He admitted honestly, as they finally stopped before Weiss.
She appeared engrossed in an imaginary floor plan, tracing possible arrangements through the air with one finger swiping accurately across the air.
If he hadn't known any better, he might've thought she got a vermin of her own.
Ruby answered Alex's deadpan admission. "Pfft... I'm not covering for you if you did!"
At Ruby's voice and words, Weiss's trance was easily broken as she turned to glare at the only male of their team. "What did you do this time?"
"Nothing. Just tell me where to put these."
"Nothing... nothing? Or-" Weiss knew Alex wasn't the type to lie, but he was certainly the kind of guy who would understate just about anything.
Even if the sky were to fall and shatter like glass, he'd talk about it like the day's weather.
"Nothing, nothing. We were just joking around, right, Alex?" Ruby elbowed her partner.
"Sure. Weiss, where?" Alex answered curtly, regarding the 'Architect'.
Taking a good look at him, Weiss hummed aloud, lifting her head to estimate the size of the tables. "These large ones will be in the two corners of the building, for the Professors and Staff."
Alex paid no heed to Weiss's reasoning and followed the directive, nodding and moving towards the designated area, placing each table carefully as advised.
She followed suit. "No, just a little more to the left."
"MY left, not your left."
"Good, but I think it might be better just a little more to the left."
"Perfect!"
...
"...Perhaps a bit to the right."
Instead of retorting, Alex let go of the table adjustments and headed out towards the storage area adjacent to the building.
"Hey! We aren't done with these!"
"Adjust it yourself if an inch here or an inch there bothers you. There's more stuff that I gotta move here."
"...Dolt."
-----------------------------
All things considered, this wasn't half-bad.
Maybe even therapeutic.
He went back and forth from the adjacent storage building, carrying tables, chairs, and whatever else they needed that was available there. Taking as much as he could carry on hand and went back into the ballroom.
He put them down where Weiss told him to, and as long as he ignored her nagging as per usual, it went smoothly.
Slowly but surely, with the help of the others, in a matter of a few hours, this spacious and empty place began to take shape into something pleasant to the eye.
Though they were mostly done with the coarse, heavy stuff. The more delicate hand-work stuff and planning was something he was thankfully exempt from for obvious reasons.
Eventually, he had carried over everything they needed for the meantime, so he helped out with the less troubling stuff.
Like being a humanoid ladder, since they had the luxury of only getting two, two of which were already being used by Jaune and Pyrrha.
Certainly, they all could get to that height given they were Huntsmen trainees, but steady and delicate work was a different issue. Making a hole in the wall and hanging from it was a Nora-thing-inspired idea that died a horrible death.
"I've been thinking," Ruby mentioned as Alex lifted her by the waist as far as his arms could stretch.
Keeping his hold steady, whilst Ruby both spoke and carefully tied some of the readily available decorations he brought over from storage.
"Yeah?"
"And I'm saying this after thinking real long about this, so take this seriously! Weiss and Pyrrha weren't any good with this..."
"Okay, I hear you."
"I'm thinking I'm gonna try and grow my hair out for a while." She announced cheerily.
"...Are you still hung on that whole 'I'm the short-haired sister' thing?"
"...You make it sound petty."
"I think it is."
"Is not! It's been driving me crazy for ages!"
"Sure."
"...Blegh, all three of you said the same thing. I'm still doing it!" She announced as she gave a light slap to his hand, the sign to let her down.
As he did so, he was met with his shorter and pouting partner. "If it makes you feel better, why not?"
"See? Word for word, same advice..." She shook her head. "I'm looking for an opinion." She admitted after resigning herself to Alex's usual behavior.
"You just heard it."
"You know what I mean!"
No, he did not know what she meant.
In the end, how did his opinion matter exactly? Following that thought, he realized what she wanted.
Huffing, Alex rolled his eyes as he gave Ruby a slight lookover, considering it for a moment. "Are you fishing for compliments? Third time's the charm?"
"What? No! I'm just trying to think whether it's a good idea... is all. I can ask any other boy, you know!" Her expression was obvious even for him; that look that her hand was caught in the cookie jar told him everything he needed to know.
'Ah, she wanted a boy's perspective. She was at that age, after all.' Alex sagely nodded to himself.
So he gave his honest two cents, "Yeah, yeah, you'll look good with it. If you regret it later, you can just cut it to your current length." He waved his hand dismissively and headed towards their next spot, where Ruby needed to tie the decorations.
Noticing his distancing figure, she rushed to his side, smiling at him wickedly. "If you talk like that, I might as well just not do it."
"You're not threatening me, Lady." He shrugged.
Her eye twitched lightly as she retained her smile and spread her arms wide, waiting for him to lift her up again. "Now you're being mean on purpose."
"Yeah." He nodded shamelessly.
As he lifted her up once more, and they were surrounded by a comfortable quietude for but a moment, the only noise was their relatively distant teammates and the ruffling of Ruby's handiwork. "Say, did you give Weiss the idea to make some cookies?"
Alex blinked lightly.
"When'd she make cookies?"
"Well, not yet. But I maybe, accidentally, incidentally, caught her looking for cheap cookie recipes on her scroll?"
"Okay, sure... why am I the culprit of giving her that idea?" Confusion laced Alex's ordinarily stoic expression.
"Oh, well, I don't know... maybe you two were gone for a couple of hours simultaneously yesterday?"
"How do those things correlate? Why would I suggest cookie-"
He could see, even from below, the light dusting of Ruby's cheeks as she interrupted. "It's just, in a few days, you know... I have my birthday."
Alex blinked again.
"I see." Was his profound response.
He didn't know it was her birthday in a couple of days.
"Yup! Ruby Rose is a big girl now!" She proudly exclaimed, folding her arms with her head held high. "Anyway, I think it's pretty touching that Weiss of all people would go with handmade cookies as a gift... I really appreciate it." Her expression softened.
"She could've thought of it on her own."
"Aha! That's what you'd think! However! She's rich! She'd have bought the most expensive cookies from the most expensive bakery... so she needed a more grounded opinion, as in, you." She had the expression of a smug detective having exposed the wicked murderer.
"You sure are smart, Ruby," Alex admitted with his usual deadpan.
Maybe that was what it was, Weiss, preparing a birthday gift for Ruby that he totally remembered and knew about.
Or related to what happened to her yesterday.
Or both.
He wasn't quite in a thinking mood.
"Oh, stop it~" She waved him off, lightly as she slapped his hand to let her down again.
Alex smoothly changed the topic, focusing on the really important issues. "How much longer till we're done?"
Ruby blinked. "Ah. Yang and I agreed that we'll work till..." She paused for some reason, "lunch. Then we should be free for the rest of the day."
"Neat."
Ruby seemed to exceed Alex's enthusiasm at the mention of lunch; it was a strange, almost sinister grin forming on her lips.
Ordinarily, he'd suspect something to be amiss.
And do nothing about it.
This time?
He didn't think about it; he wasn't really in a thinking mood.
To Be Continued!