Chapter 13:
Kai had to fight off a sigh as Ruby fidgeted beside him.
The two of them were in a classic-looking interrogation room. It was a simple rectangle, with mostly blank walls except for a probably two-way mirror and one door. Their chairs were bolted to the floor, as was the table between them and the way out. Directly above them was a singular light, only enough to illuminate the chairs and desk for some reason, making the rest of the room look darker.
It was all probably meant to make potential criminals nervous and make it easier to get a confession out of them. Which Kai couldn't help but think was kinda over kill for him and Ruby. Not that he said that to the only other person in the room with them. No need to agitate the attractive blonde professor any further, nor get himself in any more trouble.
After the battle, Ruby and Kai had been firmly told by Professor Goodwitch to follow her in dealing with the aftermath of the failed robbery. After their statements were taken and they were lectured by the cops, they were told they'd be taken down to the station for further questioning.
Kai tried to get them out of it, citing what he could remember from his classes at Signal about how everything they did was technically okay. But he really should have known better than to try that with someone who definitely knew a lot more about the subject than he did.
After all, as a Professor at Beacon and Deputy Headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch probably had to deal with more than one unlicensed huntsman-in-training getting into trouble like this.
The result was that he had remedial reading to do before he even started at Beacon.
Because, apparently, while they'd been fine legally up until the point Roman started to flee, they'd fucked up when they actually chased him and prolonged the conflict. As huntsmen-in-training, they could move to prevent harm to themselves and others when it came to criminals. But they were not supposed to do anything beyond that, especially not anything that could prolong a battle in the city and put more civilians at risk.
So, technically, both Kai and Ruby could be charged for reckless endangerment or something like that.
Not that Kai really thought charges like that would stick. He was pretty sure that with their ages, the leeway given to huntsmen, and with the lack of any casualties, they would have been fine. But given the annoyance he could feel from Goodwitch, he didn't think arguing with her about that would help matters.
So, instead, he meekly accepted the punishment. Best not piss off one of the professors who would have power over him for the next four years, after all. Especially not the one he could probably learn the most from, given the fact that her semblance allowed her to use Telekinesis in a way similar to him.
Which was also why he didn't say anything when Goodwitch entered the interrogation room and started another lecture. This one was more directed towards Ruby once Goodwitch saw that Kai was cowed and sufficiently chastised—a look Kai had learned to put on to avoid extended lectures from adults, something he'd thought he'd stop using by now, since he was already technically an adult.
"They started it!" Ruby whined, interrupting part of Goodwitch's lecture.
Kai had to fight off a wince. Damn it, Ruby… Now was not the time to argue. She was just gonna get them both stuck here longer at this rate. And even if what she said was true, did she have to phrase it so childishly? That would just make Goodwitch all the stricter for 'their own good'.
Then again, he was probably being unfair. After all, Ruby was two years younger than him. Bits of childishness were to be expected. He would probably not have been better two years ago in her shoes.
"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…" Professor Goodwitch said, thankfully ignoring Ruby's words.
The younger girl perked up at that, looking hopeful. Kai fought not to roll his eyes, as he could see his future teacher was just setting Ruby up to have her hopes dashed. Apparently, the older lady was also a bit dramatic. Though he also noticed her turn of phrase. If it wasn't up to her, why was she the one here with them again?
"And a slap on the wrist!" Goodwitch announced, snapping her riding crop on the table.
Ruby flinched back with a yelp.
Kai, on the other hand, couldn't help but think of some stuff on the internet he'd seen that he really probably shouldn't be thinking about right now. Of leather-clad women—most not as attractive as the professor—using the same kind of crop. Damn… Don't think about it, Kai. She's a teacher… Even if she has an incredibly curvy body and is gorgeous…
"But… There's someone here that would like to meet you," Goodwitch said, a bit of exasperation in her voice. Noticing that, Kai managed to suppress the very inappropriate thoughts of his professor using that crop while dressed a lot differently. "Both of you."
Kai frowned as Professor Goodwitch turned and headed for the door. Then his eyes widened when he saw who she was letting in. It was a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair. He wore a black suit over a dark green vest and wore a pair of tinted glasses despite it being nighttime. He was carrying a mug as well as a plate of cookies for some reason.
But that was hardly as important as his identity.
Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon.
First meeting with the Deputy Headmistress and now the Headmaster. All before he even began at Beacon. Obviously, the meeting with Professor Goodwitch was more of a coincidence than anything else. But now the Headmaster was here as well. He couldn't help but feel like he was in a lot of trouble. Mainly because normally the only times you get into private meetings with principals and their equivalents were when you'd fucked up.
Had he underestimated the kind of trouble they were in?
He understood now that pursuing Roman after he started to run had been the wrong call— legally, anyway. But this felt excessive. There had to be something else going on, right? Kai was tempted to try to use his telepathy to figure out what, but held himself back. Roman had already proved that Aura could block that kind of thing. So there was no chance that it would work with either of the professors.
He would just have to wait and see just what kind of trouble they were in and deal with what may come.
Or at least, that's what Kai had been prepared for. Then the Headmaster actually started talking.
At first, Kai was a bit weirded out. The Headmaster was oddly focused on Ruby and started with a weird comment about her eye color. Were silver eyes that unusual? Sure, on Earth it would be, but Remnant had a lot more variation with eye and hair color.
Perhaps he should look it up? The show from his memories was called RWBY after all. And Ruby was the R in RWBY. So maybe the silver eyes were a main character thing. Something to denote a special heritage?
Before Kai could think too much about that, however, Ozpin continued on. Kai started to relax when Ozpin revealed he knew Ruby's uncle. He started to think that maybe all his worries really were for nothing and the only reason Ozpin was here was as a favour for a friend's niece.
But then came Ozpin's sudden offer.
He wanted Ruby to leave Signal and start the next school year at Beacon with Yang and Kai. At that point, Kai realized that he wasn't in trouble with Beacon or anything like that. And in fact, the unusualness of all this had nothing to do with him. Instead, it had to do with Ruby.
The likely main character of the show RWBY.
That should have been a relief. But instead, it just made him realize that a different kind of trouble was coming his way. The plot. To be more precise, it was the plot of the show RWBY that his other self barely knew anything about.
He'd wondered about the name since he recalled it from his memory dump. It sounded like a Huntsman team name, but he knew that Ruby and Yang were the 'R' and 'Y' from what little his other self had known of the show. That had always struck him as a bit odd, as the show seemed to take place at Beacon, yet Ruby and Yang shouldn't have been in the same year.
He'd assumed—after deciding not to think too hard about it, as he just had too little info to go on—that eventually something would happen and one or both of them would lose their original team members. However, unless his helping Ruby had butterflied things like crazy, it now seemed that wasn't the case.
Instead, Ruby was simply invited to Beacon early. Which meant that they could have formed this Team RWBY then, and what happened in the show would happen soon.
Kai still didn't know what that might involve, but he was pretty certain that it would mean no small amount of trouble. After all, an anime about teens going to a combat school was not going to have plots that lacked danger. And while it's possible his Remnant and the world in the show RWBY only appeared similar, he honestly doubted that he was that lucky.
Not when he'd been given powers and technology from a universe like 40k.
To be safe, Kai would have to be ready for all sorts of problems to crop up during the school year. Not something he was looking forward to. But he did his best to hide his reaction from Ruby and the professors. Best not to rain on Ruby's parade or look jealous that the talented younger girl was going to Beacon two years early.
After that, and while Kai kept his true emotions off his face, Ozpin praised both Kai and Ruby for stepping up against criminals in the city. Professor Goodwitch did not like the praise without admonishment, if the expression on her face was any indication. She was very much under the idea that they should have only defended themselves, and that's it.
But, thankfully, Ozpin had seniority, and she didn't speak up on the matter. That let Ruby and him finally get out of there soon after, without any more lectures or difficulties. Ruby left, obviously ecstatic, while Kai, on the other hand, had a lot to think about.
*************
Kai ended up sleeping and waking up late the day after the Dust robbery incident. It had already been late when he'd gotten to the store, and everything that had happened only made things worse. Thankfully, it was Summer, so he didn't have anything he needed to do immediately and could sleep in.
Also, when he was finally up, Mrs. Onyx was already down in her restaurant. That meant he didn't have to listen to any comments about lazy youths as he groggily made his way around the main areas of the apartment he shared with the older woman while he got cleaned up and had some food.
Once that was all taken care of, Kai went back to his room and took a moment to sit on his bed and just think. At first, his thoughts were about all that had happened yesterday. But soon they turned to his plans for the future, and more importantly, his plans for getting stronger.
Both the fight he'd seen between Goodwitch and that other Huntress, as well as the possibilities of what might happen at Beacon, were good reminders that he needed to keep getting stronger. That he was nowhere near the point where he should get complacent. The only question now was just how he should go about things.
He had three ways to get stronger. One was investing in more psyker powers from the System, especially by just investing more in Psyker talent to boost his raw power. Another option was just more dedicated training, so he got better at using all the powers he'd already acquired. And the final option was building some equipment that would make him stronger and more versatile.
None of these things he felt he should be skimping on. But it might make more sense to put more focus on some than others. After all, he had less than two months until Beacon started, and should use his time wisely.
After some thought, he decided that he'd get as many of the remaining easy missions done as soon as possible first and make his final investments. That would ensure that he could train with all the abilities he would be taking to Beacon. After that, he could focus more on straight-up training and technology. Of course, he should probably not let the stuff with Ms. Carmine wait too long either, just on the off chance she suddenly felt the urge to move her stash. Especially since he was pretty sure she kept some actual cash at that location as well.
Depending on how much, it might just be enough to fund his attempts to make use of his technology without having to wait for the profits from his patent. But that could be done at around the same time as him clearing his missions, as both would require him to take another trip to Vale.
Before that, however, he should probably figure out just how many more easy missions he had left. That way, he knew how many points he was likely to have to work with before Beacon. That would affect what he might do with his current and future points, after all.
Moving to his desk, Kai pulled out a sheet of paper to take notes. Then he called up his System with a thought and navigated to his missions page. However, when he saw some of his newly completed missions as well as new missions he had available, he froze.
Missions
Complete Missions(Rewards Available)
Battle some Baddies: Fight a named villain from RWBY. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP)First Time with a Maiden: Encounter your first Maiden… Kinda. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP)
Available Missions
Investigate the Thief: Roman Torchwick is up to something. Figure out what he needs all that Dust for. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP)Investigate the Maidens: Figure out what a Maiden is. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP)Kill 250 Grimm. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 58/250)Kill 250 Beowolves. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 48/250)Kill 25 Ursas. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 1/25)Kill 5 Ursa Majors. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 0/5)Kill 25 Boarbatusks. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 2/25)Kill 5 Unique Types of Grimm. (Rewards: 1 PP 1 TP) (Progress: 3/5)Up until now, his missions had been relatively simple. Just fucking up some Grimm and also fucking his girlfriend. Simple stuff he was already planning on doing. Now, however, things have gotten more complicated. Heck, the missions had titles and descriptions now. If he had any doubts before about the troubles coming, this dispelled them quite thoroughly.
Part of Kai felt exasperated by all these potential problems. But he supposed that it was better he was prewarned than left ignorant. Even if he was still hoping he had been wrong before, and Remnant really only resembled the show RWBY.
Fighting off a sigh, Kai accepted the points from his completed missions. Then he started to consider what—if anything—the new missions changed about his situation. Should he start investigating Roman now? Or could it wait until later, as whatever he has planned wasn't likely to happen before Beacon started.
Then again, that was an assumption on his part.
Whatever the orange hair thief had planned could happen before then… But at the same time, Kai also wasn't sure how he would even begin to investigate what Torchwick was doing. If the cops and actual Huntsman couldn't find him, what chance did Kai have?
Kai frowned and shook his head. Yeah, better to just keep the mission at the back of his mind. Maybe just try if an opportunity presented itself, but focusing on getting stronger was probably more important.
As for that other mission… Maidens… something about that sounded a bit familiar, but he wasn't sure what. But obviously, it was a group of young women, one that the woman in red was a part of. Well, maybe. That last part of the description of 'First Time with a Maiden' was a bit confusing. What exactly did it mean that he kinda encountered a Maiden? Was it because he never actually saw her face? Or was it something else?
Kai sighed as he had no way to know. Instead, he did the only thing he could do at the moment, and pulled out his Scroll to see if he could find anything online. After half an hour of looking, however, the mission still wasn't complete, nor was he sure what a Maiden might be. There was only one thing he found that might be relevant. It was an old yet still popular fairy tale about a wizard giving four girls named after seasons magical powers.
But if that was related to his mission, simply finding out about the fairy tale was not enough. The mission remained incomplete, and Kai had a feeling he would not be able to find the answer any time soon. Not without perhaps breaking into the mind of the woman in red. Or more likely, by sticking around Ruby and Yang since they were the main characters of RWBY…
Kai froze as a thought occurred to him. The word maiden can just refer to a young girl, right? And given her main character status, could it have something to do with Ruby? Like a secret power she might have? Maybe even one linked to her eyes? Why else would Ozpin be so interested in that?
Kai's eyes widened in realization for a moment, only to freeze up as he realized a problem with his idea. If Ruby were a Maiden, then he should have gotten the 'First Time with a Maiden' quest a lot sooner. So Ruby couldn't be a Maiden. Damn.
Kai sighed and shook his head. It seems that trying to figure it out right now was a bust. Best get back to his planning then. He only had so much time left after all. And he needed to make the most out of it while he could.
He just hoped that nothing else big would happen before he got to Beacon.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This is the fourth chapter I wrote for the big commission. Hope you all enjoyed.
Also, if you want to read one chapter ahead and support me, you can check out my Patreon.
And, as I mentioned, I do take commissions. So if you like my writing and would like your own story idea given life, check out my commission thread for details.
Chapter 14:
After deciding to leave his two new missions alone for now, Kai spent some time estimating just how many points he would likely have by the end of Summer. He also spent some time deciding on just how he would spend those points. While he didn't come down to a final decision yet, he did at least make a decision about what he would do with the psyker points he currently had.
Or at least, what he would do with them once he found himself a spot further away from people. He was pretty sure he would need some space to really test out the full extent of increasing his Psyker Potential. And he also wanted to be far away from anyone else in case anything went wrong.
So Kai left Signalport at around three in the afternoon to find somewhere private. He traveled North for a while, keeping to the road kept safe by local huntsmen. He didn't go too far, however, as he was supposed to meet up with Yang later in the day. She'd texted him while he'd been figuring things out, and wanted to hear about the robbery from him. Apparently, Ruby was being cagey with the details, and Yang wanted to know more.
Kai had been happy to agree. Both to assuage his girlfriend's worries about her sister, as well as to hopefully have some fun with Yang. Realizing the 'plot' might be beginning soon had been a bit stressful, and he could use some nice and completely unwholesome fun to unwind.
Kai ended up stopping at a random hill by the side of the road once he felt he was far enough away from people. He went down the far side of the hill, which would keep him out of sight of any travellers. Then he opened up his System and went to his Psyker Page.
Psyker Disciplines (5 PP Available)
InvestedMental Defense OOTheosophamy OOPsyker Potential OTelekenesis OOOBiomancy OODivination OTelepathy OOAvailablePyromancyFulminationDemonologyDominusObscurationUmbramancyGeokenisisTechnomancy…Click to ExpandKai hesitated for a moment, staring at the words 'Psyker Potential'. Part of him was still a bit hesitant about upgrading this. Even if Remnant's version of the Warp was far more benign than the one in 40k, he couldn't help but still worry about unknown dangers that might come with channeling more and more of the Warp. It was part of the reason why he hadn't spent any more points in Psyker Potential so far.
Yet, after the fight between Goodwitch and the Woman in Red, as well as his realizations about the potential dangers to come, he couldn't justify holding back anymore. He needed to be stronger, and upgrading this now and getting used to it sooner would be a good first step to that.
He would just have to push past his worries and do it.
And also continue to invest in Mental Defense. At the very least, he should probably keep the two in parity. Just in case.
Kai took a breath to center himself, then spent two points on Psyker Potential, bringing it up to two dots.
To his surprise, he felt the change immediately. He thought he would only notice once he started using his powers. But instead, the moment the points were invested, he felt his connection to the Warp change. It became stronger, and the Warp became more apparent. More real.
Kai grimaced at the feeling. But he focused on the mental technique he had from Mental Defense to keep his discomfort at bay. Then he did his best to shut himself off from the Warp.
It took a moment, but soon the constant feel of the fathomless dimension of souls was pushed to the back of his mind. It wasn't completely gone, and it was still more disconcerting than before. But it was manageable.
Kai sighed and shook his head. "Hopefully this was worth it…"
Not wanting to dwell on that any longer, Kai took a moment to look around for something to test on. He saw a couple of heavy-looking rocks half-buried in the ground near the edge of a small forest. Each was probably twice the weight of a man, at least.
Raising a hand, he opened up his connection to the Warp once more and willed three rocks to rise. They ripped out of the ground with much more ease than he could have before, sending dirt and smaller rocks flying. Then they hovered there at his command, not really taking much effort to hold aloft.
Kai couldn't help but grin at the sight. It was certainly an improvement. But that was just a small test. Time to really see what he could do with more power to use. He raised his hands and began hurling the rocks around.
He ended up spending at least an hour playing around with his Telekinesis. With much more power at his command, he made a rather large mess of things, leaving craters in the ground and broken trees all over the edge of the forest. He probably should have been less destructive, but he couldn't help but want to see just how much damage he could dish out now.
Still, it was fun and informative. He was a lot stronger now, even if his control suffered just a bit. But that was something he would be able to fix with time. Another time, that is, as it was getting time for him to go meet up with Yang.
Kai grinned at the thought before leaving the devastated landscape behind to head back to Signalport.
************************************
Several hours later, in a tent closer to town but still hidden away, Kai lay back contentedly on some blankets, naked, sweaty, and exhausted. Yang, equally naked, sweaty, and tired, cuddled up to him from the side. He put one arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, until she was resting her head on his shoulder.
Then he closed his eyes and tried to just relax.
It was a bit harder than it would seem, as despite his exhaustion and empty balls, the feel of her large, soft breasts against his side made his dick start to stir. He was half tempted to use his Biomancy to try and see if he could prepare himself for one last round. But in the end, he held back.
Kai was still a bit leery of doing too much to his own body with his power. Especially when it came to something as important as his privates. So instead, he did his best to ignore his desires and just focus on something else.
It worked for a while as he let his mind wander. Though soon he felt something shifting. Not physically, but instead in the mental realm.
Throughout their bit of fun, Kai had tried to keep his connection to the Warp closed off. But his newfound upgrade had made that harder, and more than once during their fun, Kai had felt Yang's excitement and lust radiating from her like a tangible force.
It had been an interesting experience at the time. But now he couldn't help but feel like it was a violation of her privacy. He wasn't reading her mind—even if he wanted to, her Aura would stop that—but her emotions were clear as day to him, despite her seeming relaxed against him.
So he tried harder to shut down his connection to the Warp and his ability to feel her emotions. Even if part of him was more than a little curious why she was suddenly feeling a bit apprehensive.
"So, do I need to worry about you spending so much time with my sister?" Yang asked after a while, breaking the silence.
Kai took a moment to process that. So that had been on her mind… At least it wasn't anything serious then. Just a tiny bit of insecurity for some reason. Nothing some joking around and a straight answer wouldn't fix.
Kai looked down at Yang and raised an eyebrow at her. "Should I be worried that you're thinking of your sister after we just finished fucking?"
Yang snorted in surprise, then rolled her eyes. It was cute. "Ew, you wish, perv. I may be a dirty girl, but not that dirty. Besides, we were talking about Rubes before you got all handsy and distracting."
Kai snorted at that and pulled her tighter against him. "Not like you were complaining."
"No, but since I know you're spent, let's get back on topic," Yang said, snuggling closer into his side. "Should I be worried?"
Kai snorted and shook his head. "No, Yang, you shouldn't be. I have no interest in your kid sister. She's cute and all, but she's got a long way to go before I see her as more than a kid. Two years is still a long time for people our age."
"So then why did you spend time with Ruby at the Workshop?" Yang asked, her voice not accusatory per se. But it wasn't quite playful either. Part of him wanted to tap into her emotions again to get a better read, but he refrained. "And why meet up with her in Vale? And apparently, you've promised to let her help you work on your sword? Normally, I'd think you were trying to get to me through her, but…"
"That would be rather backwards," Kai said, laughing as he moved his hand from her shoulder to one of her large breasts. He squeezed it, earning a soft moan from his blonde girlfriend. "I've already gotten in your pants."
"So then what's up?" Yang said before gasping a little as he kept playing with her. Damn it, his dick was spent, but it was hard not to get handsy with Yang's naked body.
"It was just a coincidence," Kai said, slowing his hand to not get things too steamy. He really was spent. "Ruby found me when I was working in the workshop the first time. Then she talked my ear off about weapons. And since I've gotten some inspiration to work on my sword some more before Beacon, I decided that I might as well take the help of an expert, since she offered. As for Vale, that was a coincidence too. Ruby recommended Dust-Til-Dawn—the store Roman tried to rob—and since I was in Vale, I decided to go take a look. You have nothing to worry about, babe."
"Well, alright," Yang said, seemingly accepting it as she snuggled further into his side, pushing her face into his chest. "But I'm watching you, mister. After all, Ruby and I share genes. So no doubt she's gonna be a stunner. And a pervy guy like you might not be able to resist. Especially not when we go to Beacon, and if Ruby is on our team."
Kai just laughed at her joking tone. "Whatever you want, Yang. Though on that topic, how are you feeling about that?"
"About what?"
"About Ruby going to Beacon this fall," Kai clarified.
"What's there to feel?" Yang said, her voice sounding nonchalant. But his control slipped just a bit, and he could feel apprehension from her. "I'm excited for my little sister, of course. It's awesome that she's coming to Beacon with us. I was gonna miss seeing her so often, and now I don't have to worry about that."
Kai clamped down on his connection with the Warp once more, so he wasn't reading her. Then he took a moment to debate whether he wanted to keep probing or let it go. In the end, he decided to broach the subject, since a good boyfriend should try to help with his girlfriend's worries, right?
"It's okay if you're a little worried or something," Kai said. "It's a big step for Ruby, and she's gonna be a bit behind everyone else. Not in combat, given what I've seen of her, but in other stuff. But she'll pull through. And if she needs help, she has you. And I can help too if you want."
Yang was quiet for a moment before she sighed. "I actually wasn't thinking about academics. But thanks for offering." Yang laughed a little. "I'm gonna hold you to that if Ruby comes running for help with homework. No takesies backsies."
Kai laughed as well. "No problem. I'm sure helping Ruby isn't gonna be that hard. Besides, aside from us, she'll also have a partner at Beacon that could help too."
"Yeah…" Yang said with a sigh. "But honestly, that's the bit I'm a little worried about. Ruby's never been super social—"
"Really?" Kai couldn't help but interrupt. "She seemed plenty social when she was talking my ear off in the workshop."
Yang snorted. "Okay, yes, she can be a chatterbox when it has to do with weapons, but when it comes to making friends… Well, she's had her challenges. But she was in a good place, and now she's gonna be leaving all her friends behind and going to Beacon with people two years older. I just… I just worry that it's gonna make her close herself off from others."
"Well, she'll still have you," Kai said, hugging Yang with one arm. "And me too. I'm sure we can help if she needs it there, too. Especially if we all end up on a team together… Though if that happens, we'll probably have to actually tell Ruby we're dating."
Neither Yang nor Kai had mentioned to either members of her family that they'd started dating. They'd both agreed that it would be easier if they brought it up once they'd gotten to Beacon. That way, they didn't have to worry about Yang's dad being protective and making it harder for them to get alone time for some sex. And also avoid any awkward meeting the parents moments for as long as possible.
"Uh, yeah," Yang said, a sigh on her lips. "That's gonna be a bit awkward if she ever catches us together at Beacon. But let's tell her after school starts. Ruby can't keep a secret to save her life, and if we tell her now, then my dad's gonna know soon after. Unless you're feeling up for getting the shovel talk from my dad so soon."
Kai winced and shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
Yang giggled at that and nuzzled into his chest. "Well, enough about my little sister. How about we talk about something else? Like maybe us having some fun in Vale? Kinda lame for you to head there without me doing who knows what."
Kai snorted at that. "I'm up for planning a date in Vale, but I was hardly doing anything all that fun without you. Just some boring meeting and doing some hunting on the continent."
"A meeting?"
"Yeah, with a patent lawyer," Kai said. "Got something that I think can make a decent amount of Lien, and I'm looking around for someone to help me work out all the paperwork and detail stuff."
"Since when were you an inventor?" Yang asked, looking up at Kai quizzically.
"What can I say, I'm the whole package, babe," Kai said jokingly. "Big muscles, big dick, big brain."
Yang snorted and then started giggling. "And also a big head to go with that big brain."
Kai laughed as well. "Anyway, when did you want to go? I have something else I need to do in the city tomorrow, but any day after that would be fine."
Kai didn't want to wait too long on getting Ms. Carmine's stash, so he planned to go after it tomorrow. Heck, he would have gone after it today if Yang hadn't wanted to meet up.
"Any day after that should be good for me," Yang said. "Let's go in the evening. We can head to a club or something, and you can take me dancing."
"Sure," Kai said. "As long as you don't mind going with someone who doesn't really know how to dance?"
"You can't dance?" Yang teased. "And here I thought you were the whole package."
"Guess I'm like 99% the whole package," Kai said, chuckling.
"Well, that's fine," Yang said. "At worst, just grab onto my hips and start grinding. That's what some of the horn dog guys in the club try to do, so you'll fit right in."
Kai snorted. "Not sure if you're just trying to get me in trouble, or you're apparently an exhibitionist too."
"Only one way to find out," Yang teased.
"Sure, how about at the end of the week then?" Kai said. He was hoping the stuff with Ms. Carmine would only take a day to handle. But he was prepared for it to take longer. Just in case.
"It's a date," Yang said contentedly before snuggling closer into him again.
Kai lay his head back and closed his eyes, happy to just lie there in comfortable silence for a while. Tomorrow, he would be heading back to Vale and possibly getting into some trouble. So best to rest now while he could.
Yet, even as he tried to relax, a random thought occurred to him. He had no idea where to start when looking into Roman, and because of that, had decided to put that on the back burner for now. But he didn't have to do this alone. And he might as well see if Yang had any ideas of how to find things out about the less-than-legal side of the world.
He doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Hey, Yang?" Kai asked.
"Yeah?" Yang asked, her voice just a bit sleepy.
"Random question… But if you needed some info about something less than legal, that you couldn't just find online, where would you go for that?"
Yang hummed in thought for a moment before she replied. "Well, there is this one place I heard some guys talking about at a club once. About a club called Junior's. Apparently, it's run by some crooks who sell info about stuff… Why?"
Huh, Kai had not expected that to work. It seemed it was a good thing to ask. "Nothing important really. Just a random thought I had about looking into that douche Torchwick."
"Oh, that makes sense," Yang said. "Well, if you do ever do that, let me know so I can join in on the fun. I have a score to settle with that asshole for attacking my baby sister."
"Will do," Kai said, relaxing again.
He would probably not delve into that any time soon. But at least now he had a place to start should the need arise. But that would be a later thing. For now, it was time to just forget about all that stuff.
*******************************
The next day, Kai left Patch bright and early on an airship. Originally, he did this because he was hoping to do some more Grimm hunting during the day before going after Ms. Carmine's stash at night. Since he was stealing something, it just made sense in his mind that it would be a nighttime thing.
However, after thinking more about it on the ride over, he realized that, given where it was, it might make more sense to grab it during the day. It was hidden in an apartment that doubled as a bolt hole after all. Situated in a part of town that was neither too nice nor too downtrodden, its greatest defense was its secrecy.
Given what he knew, it was possible for him to just slip in during the day—when Ms. Carmine would most likely be at her office—and just let himself in. He had the code to her security system after all, and his Telekinesis should let him bypass the mechanical lock. Going during the day would also likely mean fewer neighbours around, too.
So he changed his plans and decided to go get the stash first. However, that didn't mean he just made a beeline for the apartment. Given Ms. Carmine's connections and the fact that he didn't know everything the woman might be able to bring to bear to investigate the theft later, he didn't want to do this carelessly.
Which was why he decided to disguise himself. The first step in doing that was buying access to one of the secure lockers at the airship terminal. The ones specifically meant for huntsmen to store their weapons should the need arise. After all, while his sword was not that iconic, it was still enough to identify him if it was seen.
After that, Kai ended up visiting several stores, making sure to buy the different parts of his disguise at separate places. It may have been overkill, as he didn't think Vale was so overly surveilled that he would have to worry about such things, even if Ms. Carmine had connections with actual law enforcement. But he had the time, and his memories from Earth of spy thrillers and cop shows made him paranoid.
Once he had everything, he went into a public bathroom and changed into his costume, which consisted of a black wig, a second-hand light jacket that hid his physique, jeans, and a pair of sunglasses. Then he took things a step further, using his biomancy to try to alter the color of his skin.
He experimented with just a patch on his hand at first. Once he got it working, he did the rest of the visible parts of his body, making it a much darker tan. Part of him was tempted to go even further, changing his facial features as well, just in case. But in the end, he held back.
He didn't feel confident enough that he could put himself back to normal afterward at the moment. Maybe in the future, when he had more practice or invested more in Biomancy. But for now, being able to change his skin color would have to suffice.
After that, Kai finally started making his way to the apartment building that held his prize. Still being careful, he stopped at a coffee shop nearby first and bought a cup of steaming beam juice. With an excuse to loiter in hand, he grabbed a table by the window that would give him a view of his target. Then he tapped into the Warp and opened himself up to the minds of those around him.
He winced a bit as they felt more real and weighty than before. It took him a while to get used to it with all the minds around him. But since he was sitting down and had little distraction, he managed after some time. Once that was done, he directed his attention to his target.
His main focus was trying to find anyone with their Aura unlocked and defenses up. To his pleasant surprise, he didn't sense any minds like that nearby. After that, he tried skimming the thoughts of the various people inside to see if they were there to keep an eye on any of the apartments. Ms. Carmine's memories didn't indicate that she had something like that set up, but since he hadn't been as thorough in going through her mind as he would have liked, he wanted to be sure.
Thankfully, though, it seemed he was just being overly cautious. None of the people he sensed seemed like they would be a problem. So after finishing his drink, Kai left and finally headed in.
Despite all his prep and having his danger sense active, part of him still couldn't help but think he was gonna run into a surprise. Which was why he was quite tense as he telekinetically unlocked the door to Ms. Carmine's bolt hole. And even tenser when he put the code in to disarm the alarm system.
Yet the code worked, and the alarm was disabled. And the stash was still hidden in the false compartment built into the apartment's only bathroom toilet. A bit gross, but the waterproof bag with storage drives, along with some cold hard Lien—more than a million—was where it was meant to be, too.
Still, Kai didn't let his guard down when he found it. He quickly left, despite a part of him wanting to check out the rest of the apartment for more things. But he decided that anything else he might find wouldn't be worth a confrontation and just left. He still wasn't sure how he'd use the info in the stash, but whatever he did with it, he didn't want someone like Ms. Carmine linking this theft to him.
After leaving the apartment without issue, Kai ended up taking a hopefully confusing route to his next destination. It was only there, in a library pretty much on the other side of Vale from Ms. Carmine's apartment, that he finally relaxed.
Things had gone to plan, and there had been no surprises despite his worries. Now all that was left to do was actually go through the data in the storage devices and see just what he could use. Which is exactly what he did on a computer at the library for the next while.
There was quite a lot of data on the drive. More than he expected, though, and after some time, he realized it wasn't because Ms. Carmine had blackmailed a ridiculous amount of people. Instead, she just kept a lot of records. And it seemed that she was a bit of an information hoarder, keeping track of secrets and other things she might be able to take advantage of in the future.
Most of it wasn't anything he felt he could really use against her alone. However, as he was looking through the information, he found something that stood out to him. Something that made him pause. Not because it was the smoking gun he wanted, but because the information he found was about someone who caught his interest.
It wasn't the person themselves that Kai recognized, however. Instead, it was the way he dressed in a discreetly taken candid photo. Dark suit, red tie, fedora, and red sunglasses. Just like the goons that Roman had with him during the robbery. That was more than a little interesting. And despite having decided before to leave looking into Roman for later and focus on getting stronger, Kai couldn't help but be intrigued.
After all, he did say that he would wait until an opportunity presented itself. And what could this be but a possible opportunity. It couldn't hurt to look into it, right?
A/N: Just a reminder, Lien is more like Yen than like Dollars. So a million Lien is closer to 10,000 Dollars.
Also, thanks for reading! This is the fifth chapter I wrote for the big commission. Originally, this should mean the frequency of my updates would slow down a bit as the sixth chapter is already out on Patreon. But the original commissioner decided to commission another six chapters, so expect more chapters at a similar(or hopefully faster) rate in the coming weeks.
As usual, if you want to read one chapter ahead and support me, you can check out my Patreon.
And, as I mentioned, I do take commissions. So if you like my writing and would like your own story idea given life, check out my commission thread for details.
Chapter 15:
Kai ended up spending another long while looking through his stolen data. This time, he was focused on the suited goon dressed like the men who helped Torchwick. The man's name was Bjorn Clay, and he was apparently a gangster working under the Xiong family. The black suits, fedoras, red ties, and sunglasses were apparently standard for those guys.
He was also a massive piece of shit from what Kai could tell. According to the files, the bastard had a restraining order put against him by his ex-wife because he'd beat her. And the way Ms. Carmine had him under control with pictures of him violating that order by stalking the woman.
After a lot of digging into that, both through Ms. Carmine's files and what he could find online, a plan started to form. One that should help Kai investigate what Roman was up to, which would complete his mission, but more importantly, hopefully prepare him for whatever bullshit was likely stirring in the city. It would also help show Ms. Carmine that any threats he might use against her later were not bluffs. It might even earn him some extra cash as well, depending on how he played things.
There was some danger involved in what he wanted to do. But given his level of psyker strength now, and his original capabilities as a Huntsman, he was pretty sure he could handle it. Even if he was going to have to fight with a metaphorical hand tied behind his back if things went south.
After all, he couldn't bring his sword while disguised, or else he could be identified. He also couldn't really use his Telekinesis, as that was a rather iconic power. Professor Goodwitch might have the ability as well, but he doubted there were many others out there with Semblances like that. And it wasn't like anyone would ever confuse him with Goodwitch.
Still, even with all those restrictions, he didn't think he would be in much danger. If the mooks that helped Roman were any indication, most of the Xiong family would hardly be a challenge. And even if they had some stronger guys, he had other, less eye-catching powers he could use to give him an edge.
At the very least, he would be able to get away if the worst came to pass.
Of course, ideally, it would never come to that. Especially since Kai was gonna be smart about this and make sure to disincentivize any fights breaking out. Which was why he didn't head out straight away once he came up with his plan. Instead, he would wait until after dark, when there would be a lot of witnesses and bystanders around where he was going.
Kai ended up killing the rest of his day in the library, going through all the data he'd taken and trying to figure out just how he'd approach Ms. Carmine later. There really was too much stuff to go through, and he needed to go through it all in case he missed something big. He only left the library once to eat a late lunch and spent the rest of his time there.
It was a shame he wouldn't be able to go out hunting outside Vale today. But the prep to steal the stash, the attempt to lose any tails, and the research took more time than he thought. And it wasn't like he didn't have plenty of time to do more hunting later.
When it was nearing evening, still in his disguise, Kai finally left the library and headed to the industrial district of Vale. The sun had already set when he stepped off the last bus on his route. Following the map on his Scroll, he made his way around the more grungy part of the city until he found the place he was looking for.
It was an old brick building with arched windows and a pair of large sliding automatic doors leading inside. And right above the entrance was the name of the club, Junior's. The same club that Yang had mentioned hearing about as a place to buy information. She'd been right about that, according to Ms. Carmine's files on the Xiong Family. Though it was nice to have two sources to confirm this.
Kai didn't head into the club right away. Instead, he headed for a Mistralian restaurant nearby. It was a small place with cheap-looking tables and chairs. But it was clean enough, and there was an open seat for him to take at a solo table. Better yet, it was near the window and gave him a view of the club.
After sitting down, Kai ordered a small dinner for himself. He'd normally eat a lot more, but on the off chance things still devolved into a fight, he didn't want an overly full stomach. As he waited for his food to come, he looked to the club and opened himself to the Warp once more.
Instantly, he was assaulted by a variety of thoughts and emotions. It was even stronger than before, likely because of how many people were around here, as well as the heightened emotions of those in the club. But he was also getting more used to this kind of thing, so it didn't take him long to adapt. Still, he made a note to himself, to perhaps keep his telepathy on at least a trickle while out in the city, so he wouldn't constantly go from 0 to 100 like this.
His food came, and he started eating absentmindedly as most of his attention was directed to his Telepathy. He focused on the club, trying to narrow down his focus to only the minds inside there. It took some effort, and he ate a lot slower than he normally did as he tried, but he managed in the end. Then he started separating the minds one by one.
He didn't delve deep into the minds he was scanning. Instead, he just checked if he was able to read them fully. By doing so, his plan was to find out just how many fighters with Aura were in the club/gang headquarters. However, once he finished going through all the minds, he couldn't help but think something had gone wrong.
Out of the hundreds of people inside the club, he only found maybe four people who blocked out his Telepathy. Which didn't seem right at all. He'd thought the headquarters of the gang would have a lot more of their goons around. Sure, maybe most of them were out doing whatever it was that criminals did, but four still seemed too few for an entire club. At the very least, you'd think they'd have enough goons to be bouncers.
The only thing he could think of to explain what he was feeling was that most of the Xiong family didn't have their Auras unlocked. But that didn't seem right either. It wasn't uncommon for criminals to have their Aura unlocked, even if they were pretty shitty fighters compared to huntsmen or even huntsmen-in-training…
Wait, could that be it?
Kai's eyes widened as he realized something. He'd been assuming so far that just having one's Aura unlocked was enough to block his Telepathy? But it wasn't like Aura was a perfect, automatic defense straight off the bat. It only became that way through extensive training. Training that most crooks with Aura lacked or couldn't manage.
What if it were the same for blocking Telepathy? And possibly his other powers that affected someone directly. Like, those who've trained their Aura enough for it to reflexively protect against damage also automatically block his psyker powers. But only those with training like that, leaving those with Aura but inefficient training vulnerable.
If that was true…
Kai took another bite of stir-fried noodles to hide the smile on his face. If that was true, then his plan got a whole lot easier. Heck, he might not even need to go into the club… Well, probably not. Still would be better to go in if he wanted to possibly earn some Lien as well. But at the very least, now it would be a lot easier to figure out if he could do so safely. All it would take is a little more snooping through minds from afar.
Swallowing another bite of his food, Kai ordered a drink to prolong his stay at the restaurant as he got to work. He started delving deeper into minds, enough to identify if they were a member of the Xiong Family or not. This was not a fast process, as there were a lot of people in the club. However, after going through several dozen minds, Kai realized there was probably a way to make this go faster.
So on the next mind he was in, he didn't move on when he confirmed they weren't part of the Xiong Family. Instead, he focused more on their active thoughts and tried to tap into their senses. This wasn't easy, nor was it fast. But after some working around, trying not to do anything that might harm the random person he was reading, nor make himself look weird sitting in the restaurant, he managed it.
However, he realized soon after that he probably shouldn't have tapped into all of the person's senses. The feeling of being in the body of some woman dancing around in a nightclub was rather odd, to say the least. The loud base of the music thumping through her body and ears, the heat of the crowd around her, the sweat dripping down her exposed stomach and thighs, what shouts got through all the music, her own pulse beating in her chest, the sense of the occasional flailing limb moving nearby…
It was a lot to take in. Almost overwhelming if he didn't have mental techniques to fall back on to clear his mind. Even then, it took the rather gross feeling of some guy grinding up behind the woman—it was a guy she just met, he could tell from her memories—that broke Kai from his stupor and reminded him what he needed to do.
A silver lining to the fact that he now knew what it felt like to have a dick rubbing against his ass. Gross.
He fought off a shiver of disgust running through his own body, and instead did his best to narrow what he was tapping into further. Instead of all of the woman's senses, he focused on just seeing through her eyes. He managed after a moment, much to his relief. Then, using her vision, he looked for his next target.
It took a moment for him to find someone wearing the familiar black and red outfit of the Xiong Family. The flashing lights of the club didn't help, nor did how often the woman closed her eyes instead of looking around. In the end, though, he found one of them and tried to use that visual connection for him to refocus on the man standing at attention against one of the club's walls.
His idea worked, and he felt the man's mind. He dropped the connection with the drunk and horny woman, focusing instead on the Xiong Family gangster.
Kai let out a sigh of relief and took a sip of the ice lemon tea he'd been given. Then, wanting to get this over with, he delved deeper into the gangster's mind. Kai was still hardly an expert at this kind of thing, so it took him some time. But with the range his psyker talent gave him now, and all the time he needed, he managed to learn quite a bit.
Not everything he needed, but more than he knew before. And he only learned more when he started going into the minds of other Xiong Family goons, using the same trick to quickly find them in the club instead of going mind to mind.
At the same time, he confirmed that most of these guys did have their Aura unlocked—all the ones that were expected to get into fights did. And that did nothing to stop Kai's telepathy, as they were barely trained. Though he did notice that some of them manage to break his connection on occasion. But even with those, he just had to be more subtle or even just try again after the fact. It was only the ones who had their Aura properly trained that could keep him out.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the boss of the gang and the man to speak to about information, Junior, was one of those properly trained. Him and the pair of twin women who worked with him and were his closest lieutenants. And worse, the goons Kai could reach didn't have the information he needed.
It seemed that if he wanted more information, he would have to actually go inside and talk. Though at least now he was less worried about asking Junior about Roman. From what he could gather from the goons, the two did not have a close working relationship. Instead, Junior reluctantly allowed Roman to hire some of their men. Something that only strained their relationship further, after Roman let the men he hired get arrested by the police.
Of course, Junior would probably be a lot less willing to talk to Kai if he knew Kai had been involved with all that. But that was one of the reasons he was still wearing his disguise, even if the wig was more than a little itchy.
Having done all he could here, Kai waved the waitress down to get a bill. After thanking her and paying his bill, he got up and left the restaurant behind. All the while, he didn't fully cut off the Warp, leaving a sliver of a connection and his telepathy just barely active. Enough so that if he needed it, he wouldn't be overwhelmed by all the people and high levels of emotions.
He was met by the colder night air outside, which made him glad he had gone with a jacket to be part of his disguise. Then he made his way over to the club, ready to go in and talk to Junior.
However, before he could actually do that, he noticed something that made him pause. He stared for a second and then had to resist face-palming. Right… There was a line to the club. It had been much smaller earlier, but now it was much larger. He hadn't noticed despite his window seat because he'd been concentrating on his telepathy.
Sighing, Kai moved to the back of the line to wait his turn. And waited. And waited some more.
Eventually, thoroughly annoyed, Kai made it to the front of the line. At this point, he was half expecting the bouncer to be a douche and not let him in because he was a guy and there were too many in there or something. He was even ready with his Telepathy to try and bypass that, as he was not in the mood to try and come back at another time. Sure, he might not have the skill for something like that, but he was sure he would manage it somehow.
Thankfully, he didn't end up needing to do that and was allowed inside.
The first thing he noticed when he entered the club was the noise. The music was loud with a deep bass. Even just at the entrance, which was elevated above the rest of the club, he could feel it. The next was the dim lighting, broken up by the occasional flashing light to the beat of the music. After that was the warmth of the club, probably from the body heat of all the people jumping around and dancing. And then, finally, there were the people. There were a lot of them.
Kai had noted all of this as he'd been mind-reading, especially with that woman he tapped into the senses of first. But it was still something else to experience it all himself. He found himself bobbing his head up and down to the beat of the song as he stepped down the stairs that led to the main area of the club.
Part of him was a little overwhelmed by all this. But another part of him felt that it might be fun just letting loose here with Yang later. It was loud, sure, but also exciting. Especially since he could literally feel the swelling of all sorts of emotions around him.
Still, that could come later, and hopefully at a club not owned by criminals. Instead, he needed to focus, so he cleared his mind as best as he could and made his way through the throngs of swaying, bouncing, and energetic bodies.
It took some time, as he wasn't used to moving around in such crowds. He also had to keep his eyes out for the people with adequate Aura training he sensed before. He managed to peg three of them by the time he got to the bar, as the memories of the goons let him know what they looked like. But the fourth one eluded him and he had no idea what they looked like.
There were several bartenders at the bar, who apparently worked fast, as there wasn't really much of a crowd around the place. There were also stools for people to sit, but most people were just getting their drinks and moving to one of the tables near the dance floor.
Kai didn't bother with the bartenders and instead moved towards one of the few men who actually sat at the bar. Kai recognized him both from his research and what he got from the Xiong family goons. He was a tall man with short black hair and a full, well-kept beard. He was dressed similarly to many of the Xiong Family goons, except he didn't have the hat or outer jacket. Instead, he wore a vest over a dress shirt, which was probably more comfortable in the warm club.
"Junior," Kai said as he moved to stand next to the man while resting one elbow on the bar. He decided to just get straight down to business, as he was still a bit annoyed by the wait to get in. "Word on the street is you deal in details."
The man looked over to Kai with a raised eyebrow.
Kai had to fight off a grimace on his face. The wording sounded dumb, but he'd pulled the phrase out of some of the Xiong Family goons' heads. Apparently, it was a simple code phrase just to show that Kai wasn't some random street punk who heard a rumor. That didn't make it sound any less stupid, however.
"You're a bit younger than my usual clientele," Junior said flatly.
Kai fought off any reaction, though he felt a bit annoyed. What about him gave away his age? His face was partially covered by his novelty sunglasses, which thankfully weren't so dark that he couldn't wear them at night, and actually helped with the flashing lights of the club.
"And stronger too," Kai said, smirking as he leaned against the counter. "But enough about me. How about we get to some business?"
Junior stared him down for a moment before snorting. "Alright, kid, as long as you can pay. What do you want?"
A/N: Thanks for reading! This is the sixth chapter I wrote for the previous big commission. The first of the next six chapters(thanks again to the same anonymous commissioner who so graciously commissioned more) is already up on my Patreon.
And, as I mentioned, I do take commissions. So if you like my writing and would like your own story idea given life, check out my commission thread for details.