When Rio finally returned to Beacon, it was just as the sky was beginning to darken.
The dinner hour saw the school's outside pavilion mostly empty, with only the occasional group of students seemingly still active and milling about.
One such group was next to a fountain, sitting on its edge, laughing and talking like, well, teenagers, Rio supposed. Of course, that changed when they saw him, and instantly quieted.
Rather, just one of them had, a heavy set boy with reddish orange hair, and the rest just seemed to follow his example.
Unsure what else to do, Rio simply dipped his head respectfully.
That said, he was surprised when they returned the gesture.
Rio tried for a smile as he passed them.
Fame sure was a flighty and unpredictable thing.
Nothing made that more obvious than a group of boys he didn't even know showing him courtesy.
And even though Rio had been reasonably certain most of the males in the school intensely disliked him...
What does it say about me that I find it weird when my peers aren't treating me with hostility?
Truly, his time around nobles had conditioned him in strange ways.
What with being orphaned, forced to become an indirect criminal in a kingdom's slums, coming across a kidnapped princess, accused of kidnapping said princess, summarily tortured in the hopes he would confess to the kidnapping, vouched for by the princess only hours later, and finally, given tuition to attend a noble school where everyone openly despised him.
And all this happened before Rio even turned ten.
Actually, now that he thought of it?
Wasn't his luck just atrociously bad?
Finally in the school proper, and with a wry smile on his face, Rio headed for the dorm building first.
He tried to, anyway.
"Surprise atta—hwawawahhh?!"
Through reflex and little else, Rio stepped out of the way of the human-shaped blur of rose petals quite easily.
That said, clearly not expecting it, the cutesy voice immediately yelped their surprise, silver eyes widening in panic as their momentum bled out the only way it could; jettisoning right past him and down the way he came.
Now, saying Ruby bounced along the paved walkway like a soccer ball... wasn't totally accurate, but since the movements were sporadic enough to appear that way, it was close enough.
But then the girl landed in an unceremonious groan-filled heap, and it finally gave the boy pause.
Enough pause to understand what had just happened, anyway.
"B-But my surprise attack..."
No, it really wasn't a surprise attack when you announce it coming like that, Rio instantly wanted to retort.
He didn't.
Instead, he just approached the fallen girl with an offered hand, just with the kind of awkward smile a father would wear after just witnessing their child fall flat on their face.
At least, that was what Ruby briefly imagined, right up until the moment it became clear it was not Tai staring back at her, but Rio, a white haired boy who was barely even a few years older than her.
"U-Um, thanks," Ruby said, taking the hand with a bit of a nervous laugh, and the tiniest of red scrawling her cheeks. "Oh, and sorry, for, uh, you know."
"I'm not bothered, so don't worry," Rio assured.
On a side note, as the boy hoisted her up to full height, Ruby had quite the strange look on her face when she realized somewhat obviously that the boy was taller than her, that is, tall enough that she quickly became eye level with his chest and little else.
But then Rio let go of her hand, taking a few polite steps back, and the thoughts vanished.
"Well, I won't deny being a little confused though?" he said, awkward smile returning. "I wasn't exactly expecting to get ambushed on my way back."
Ruby looked away. "Oh, that's... well, I, uh, kinda just saw you and acted without thinking. ...ah, b-but it's definitely your fault, Rio!" she then blurted out.
"Eh?"
Amber eyes widened.
No, they widened because the girl in the gothic lolita dress got closer all of a sudden.
Not that Ruby even noticed.
"Why didn't you tell us you were so strong?!"
"I wouldn't exactly say I'm stro—"
"Yeah, yeah. Strong people aren't actually supposed to say they're strong. Duh. I DO read hero stories, Rio," Ruby explained in a knowing tone with her chest puffed up, as if that somehow explained everything.
Rio stared at her.
Smiling, Ruby stared back, tilting to her head a bit.
Then with a shake of his head, "...I-Is it just you, Ruby?" Rio asked with a beaten smile, desperately trying to change the subject. "Where are the others, if you don't mind me asking?"
The girl blinked. "Oh, they should be in the cafeteria. I was actually just heading there before I saw you."
"I see. Then should we go meet them?"
"Ah right, Yang's probably wondering where I am."
Thankfully, that was all it took for them to set off towards the cafeteria, with Rio only making one speedy stop along the way, his dorm room, to deposit his sword and wyvern coat.
As for the walk to the meal building, it was silent.
Rio was fine with that.
His companion on the other hand...
Strangely, Ruby kept sending him furtive glances, face twisting like she wanted to say something but stopped just shy of doing so each time.
"Is there something wrong, Ruby?" Rio eventually asked.
The girl's shoulders twitched ever so slightly.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing really. I was thinking, we never really talked about it, but, you know, since the tournament officially starts tomorrow, and we might be fighting. My team, I mean. Y-You'll obviously be competing later. Duh. B-But anyway, if you don't have anything else to do, could you, um, maybe..."
Rio wanted to smile.
If not at what the girl was clearly trying to ask, then at the fact she was trying this hard to ask it, and to someone like him of all people.
But he didn't, not wanting to make her feel self-conscious.
However.
"A-Actually?" Ruby suddenly said, and with a awkward smile. "I just realized it really isn't anything important. Just forget it, heehee. Anyway, I-I wonder what I should have for dinner, haha."
"...I suppose that is a good question," Rio replied neutrally, although he was really just observing the girl as all these changes happened over her face.
Then he sighed inwardly, facing forward once again, but only to wait approximately five seconds.
"Oh, that's right," Rio suddenly said with a smile, and in tandem with a remembering tone. "Speaking of the tournament, I can't wait to watch your match tomorrow. I haven't actually seen what you girls look like fighting as a team, after all."
Ruby stopped walking.
Rio did so as well, all while trying to keep a straight face.
He technically succeeded, but only up until the point his shoulder was punched.
"...That was mean," the smaller girl pouted.
"...It was," Rio agreed with a slight incline to his head, smile apologetic. "Sorry."
Uncharacteristic of her, she even huffed, making a show of turning away from him.
Not that she was actually angry.
It was just the only way Ruby could hide her smile.
...
...
...
The good news, was that they successfully made it to the cafeteria.
The bad news, was that they successfully made it to the cafeteria.
'Wow. Everyone turned to stare at you, Haruto,' Aisha commented idly.
Quite.
Because in a chain of events that should have been widely expected, a meal building full of students, ones that had largely comprised Amity's stands hours prior, immediately noticed the arrival of the white-haired male who had been competing, and thus began looking fixedly in his direction.
That said, Rio's smile was brittle as he turned to his companion. "Um, Ruby, perhaps you should—..."
There was no one there.
The boy had been about to tell her to go on ahead, sparing her the troublesome stares, however that turned out to be completely unnecessary, since the girl was already in the midst of scampering to a familiar table in a far corner.
Now, if he focused, he could make out each face of Team RWBY and JNPR, but currently, he was far more impressed by the speed in which he had been abandoned.
It seemed Ruby, just like his own sister, shared being deathly allergic to the gazes of strangers.
"...Rio."
And it was while he was musing over such things in tired amusement, that a rather unexpected voice called his name.
Ah, it actually wasn't so unexpected, but perhaps that was only from the perspective that he didn't think he would be talking with this person again so soon.
But with that uncanny mint green hair and crimson eyes, Emerald was indeed standing there with her arms crossed.
She wasn't really meeting his eyes though.
"Um, Cinder wants you to sit with us."
"...Is that so?" Rio replied after a beat, with not only a slightly furrowed brow, but a tilt to his head too.
Now, this distant response had only been meant to hide his confusion, but Emerald seemed to have taken it a different way, because, quite unlike her, she immediately started tripping over her words.
"Uh, if you would like, I mean," she clarified, trying for politeness.
Then, she tossed a glance behind her.
Rio followed her gaze to where a familiar gray-haired boy and black-haired girl were sitting.
Interestingly though, there was another, one he hadn't seen yet.
She had black hair like Cinder; however, it was separated into twin tails.
But unlike Cinder who was looking at him with a beatific smile, and even Mercury with his two-finger salute, the other girl completely ignored him in favor of her food.
"Well, I don't particularly mind..." Rio eventually said. "As long as you don't either, of course."
The look Emerald gave him was incredibly flat.
"...Are you serious?"
Not saying anything, Rio just smiled helplessly.
"Gods you are strange."
Rio couldn't entirely hide his chuckle. "I'm... sorry you feel that way... and, well, for the other thing too."
"...other thing?"
"Well, that it's as I thought, hearing Miss Emerald's honest feelings is surprisingly more refreshing?"
Really.
Considering what type of company Rio was at times forced to entertain back in his own world, Emerald couldn't possibly know how much he preferred that kind of thing, not candied words hidden behind thin smiles, but honesty, whether blunt or not.
"Guh..."
The girl's shoulders jumped as she hurriedly spun around, her chocolate-colored skin darkening considerably just before she did. Now walking to the table, she tossed the words over her shoulder, barely above a murmur.
"Y-You have my permission already, so just move your ass."
Rio followed after her, smiling slightly.
Cinder ended up being the first to greet him.
"Hello once again, Rio. This wasn't a bother, was it?"
"Not as much as you might think," he said kindly.
"Hmph." Emerald made a noise while walking to her seat, which Rio weathered with a smile. It caused a few looks, Cinder's overt one especially, but it seemed to die down as the white haired boy sat down.
As it happened, this was next to Mercury, which wasn't so much a purposeful decision rather than an instinctual one.
After all, with Cinder across from him, as well as the girl he didn't know, and when Emerald finally sat down as well, it was the two males facing the three females.
Also, Rio was the only one without food.
Cinder noticed. "You should be eating as well. Emerald, get him—"
"Ah, actually." Rio quickly raised a hand, effectively stopping Emerald who was already in the midst of standing up. "I'm not all that hungry. So don't trouble yourself, please." Or, so he whimsically decided to lie, pleased when it got the wanted action of sitting the girl back down, if only after some noticeable hesitation on her part.
He hardly felt comfortable treating a girl like some meal courier, after all.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
Again, she looked at Cinder for permission... Rio noted.
"Ah, yes. Ever the gentleman," Cinder said, smiling. "Well, that means we can get right to it then. Although I hope you don't mind if we finish our meal?"
Rio shook his head. "Of course not."
By the way, Mercury was busying himself with a plate of hamburger and fries, Emerald went back to twirling some pasta around her fork, and Cinder seemed halfway through a cut of steak.
Beacon was, as ever, a premiere school.
Although?
It made the very conspicuous bowl of ice cream their last teammate was working on quite strange.
The twin-tailed girl noticed his stare, and he met her green eyes above the spoon closed around her mouth. Only, Rio's eyes suddenly widened a fraction, noticing something. But then the boy blinked and just like that the surprise on his face was gone.
Regardless, he gave her an acknowledging smile.
If a little hesitant.
After all, she wasn't even really glaring at him, but it actually did feel like she was telling him to steal the dessert from her, but just so long as he was prepared for the consequences.
"Oh, right. That would be Mint, our fourth teammate," Cinder suddenly explained, looking between the two of them. "Don't mind her too much. She's just... very unique."
Mercury snorted. "Yeah, and that's not even including the whole 'mute' thing."
"I see."
Mute?
Even throughout all his travels, Rio couldn't say he had ever met someone with such an affliction.
Or course, not that it mattered, since it really wasn't any of his business.
Although, even though he said that...
A bit of hesitance came with it, but Rio pushed past it, making eye contact with the girl, once again trying for a polite smile.
—Am I overstepping by doing this?
Mint looked at him, blinking several times.
The others more or less did the same.
Well, it was because he had signed it.
Rio was prepared to feel very awkward, more so than he already was. After all, even beyond the possibility that the girl didn't know sign language, it was entirely possible that a way of speaking involving hand signals didn't even exist at all in this world.
He certainly hadn't seen any proof of it in his previous world's Kingdoms.
Well, not that he had even gone about looking for it.
So just as his smile began to strain...
Mint mimed a sigh, before signing something back.
—Why on Remnant do you know a dead language...
The blunt way he took had Rio's smile twitching.
Dead, huh?
That could make a strange amount of sense.
If aura protected a sizable chunk of the population from things like, say, physical throat injuries, why would people decide to learn up on a related side effect, like muteness? If he was a civilian, it would make sense, but as a someone in a school for huntsmen, Mint's question had merit.
There were probably very few who bothered with such a thing.
Rio answered her with a slight smile.
—It was just a skill I whimsically took on at one point. That's all.
Or he meant to sign something like that.
He wasn't sure he finished on account of Mercury getting up in his face all of a sudden, slinging an arm around his shoulders, and with eyes practically shining. "Wait, what happened? That's that weird hand language, right? What did you say? Were you hitting on her?"
"C-Come again?"
"Because learning something like that just to pick up mute chicks is, like, some next level game. Hey, you'll teach me some phrases to use, right?"
Mercury's worrying amount of energy had Rio leaning farther and farther away, but that wasn't nearly as bad as the laser-like stares from both Emerald and Cinder, not caring in the slightest that he was caught in the crossfire.
Alternatively, Mint just started shoveling ice cream into her mouth anew, eyeing Rio with new curiosity.
"...I don't mind teaching you a few things," Rio finally decided to say. Then there was a pause as his eyes briefly darted to Mint and then back to Mercury. "...Polite things," he clarified.
Someone chuckled.
Everyone paused before summarily looking at Emerald, who after realizing what she did, all too quickly blushed, stiffly going back to her pasta.
"Ah, well, I'm still surprised you know something so remote," Cinder said with an alluring smile. Then she looked at Mint. "And even more that, that this one actually responded to you. She treats everyone else like they don't exist. Heh. Lucky you, Mint. You finally have someone to talk to. Ah, does this mean you're going to spend all your time with Rio instead of us? I would be sad."
Mint stared at her for a good five seconds.
Then she signed something at Rio with a smile.
The boy's own smile very noticeably cramped.
"What did she say?" Cinder immediately asked, no, demanded, a quite obvious frown tugging her lips downward.
Not with quite so much emotion, Emerald and Mercury had the same question painted across their faces.
—Hey, tell this cocky dumb bitch she's ugly and I want to stomp her face in.
Rio coughed a few times, "She made a, uh, colorful remark about me not being her type," he lied with a tired smile.
Did she really think he would repeat the other thing?
Thankfully, as far as Cinder was concerned, it seemed believable enough to pass inspection... which unfortunately told Rio quite a bit about Mint's personality.
Speaking of, contrary to his expectations, the mute girl didn't look dissatisfied in the slightest with his untruth.
In fact, she was now looking at him with a mischievous little smile, and it looked so similar to someone else he knew that he unconsciously shivered.
Which Mint saw, smile widening even further.
Really, the parallels were frightening.
Charlotte, that is, Princess Charlotte of the Galarc Kingdom, with her demure personality hiding a bit of a sadistic streak, was quite frankly the last individual who needed imitating.
Meanwhile, Mercury had been staring long and hard at Rio.
"...I know you're confident dude, but I really wouldn't recommend it."
"...I'm sorry?"
"And even if you somehow managed to, impossibly, bag one of them, you're either getting crazy, crazier, or craziest. It's just not worth it. You get what I'm saying right?"
"...Vaguely, but the reason why you are feeling the need to tell me this is the part I'm finding unclear."
"I actually feel the same. Mercury, haven't you been a little too honest lately? And why don't you tell me who is being labeled 'craziest' in that head of yours?"
Cinder's laugh was angelic.
On the surface.
And even though the woman wasn't looking at Mercury in any particular way, that didn't seem to stop him from stiffening and paling a very worrying white. Emerald didn't exercise quite so much self-control, full on glaring. That just left Mint to unblinkingly drag her pinky-finger across her neck.
The team dynamic here was quite strange...
Rio tried to tell himself that even when Mercury spasmed in his seat.
"Um. Was there anything in particular you four wanted to discuss?"
The question came from his lips with a bit of forced cheeriness, not only because he felt the need to lend Mercury a helping hand, but also because he very much wanted to bring things to a conclusion.
Frankly, Rio's social meter had been running on fumes for the last few hours or so.
"It would be an issue if I wasted too much of your time, so..."
"Ah, of course. Let's get to that."
Thankfully, that seemed to drag at Cinder's attention, and she began speaking to Rio as if nothing had even happened.
Although, Mercury didn't seem to be any safer in the clutches of Emerald and Mint.
At that moment, a sudden but small metallic sound came from underneath the table, along with Mercury's abrupt breath.
Rio's brain briefly stalled.
Did one of them just... wait, then why did it sound...
"Rio, I've been curious ever since I saw your fight earlier. What huntsmen Academy did you attend?"
Rio blinked back to Cinder, before shaking his head. "Ah... I didn't attend one. From a young age, I've been traveling from place to place, learning what I can."
"Interesting, so you're self-taught?"
Rio smiled and shrugged. "I have had a few individuals who taught me various things, but it was never through very official means. It's a bit awkward to admit, but I've been surviving like a hermit most of my life."
"Wait, you're telling me you're some homeless pretty boy?"
Rio turned to Mercury with a chuckle. "Hopefully not those exact words, but, well, sure."
"Hm. Do you mind if I ask why you left home at all?"
At Cinder's question, he didn't immediately respond, and the smile on his face became the slightest bit smaller.
But his silence only lasted for a moment.
"...A monster passed through our village one day. It took away some people important to me. I left to track it down."
Rio said that, and with that same barely present smile on his face.
"Did... Did you kill it...?" someone eventually asked.
Rio looked at Emerald.
She had quite a complex look on her for some reason, although he really couldn't tell what she was thinking, only that she looked uncharacteristically bothered.
Still, Rio shook his head.
"No, I was too weak back then. It got away."
"...Oh."
Bothered?
No, Emerald wasn't bothered.
Or she wasn't only bothered.
Rather, she was just forced to reevaluate something Rio had told her in what she thought was complete lightheartedness. In what she thought was him simply bantering with her.
—"Both my parents very much had black hair, Miss Emerald."
Had.
Ugh...
Had he wanted her to pick up on that cue?
Or had she just dredged up bad memories by thoughtlessly mentioning her own mother?
Not knowing which it was, only that she felt like a proper bitch now, Emerald just continued to feel a squirming sensation in her gut.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Rio, and... for making you remember something like that," Cinder said in a low, bordering on hesitant, tone.
"...No, I think it should be like that," Rio said, tone low.
Cinder's brow knitted in confusion.
"Ah, it's nothing," he said, wiping the serious expression away with a smile.
The thoughts, however, stayed.
It should be like that, he repeated to himself.
Remembering that day, it was his responsibility.
It couldn't exactly be left to anyone else after all, nor did he want it to be.
He needed to remember since he was the only one who could.
Until the day came where he could finally track that monster down and kill him.
"Well, let me apologize again for being so forward, Rio. You can go now, if you want. Why, I'm sure there are a great many others who have been bothered by your absence." Cinder smiled coyly at him.
Rio forced a smile back. "I have a hard time believing that, but I'll take my leave. ...Um. Actually. Before that. I did have a question for you Miss Cinder, if you don't mind. It's actually been on my mind for a while." He had been about to stand up, but recalling something stopped him.
"Phrasing it like that just makes me nervous." Still, the black-haired woman gestured him to continue.
"Right. It's about your name, actually. Do you by chance go by another?"
Cinder's smile froze.
"Pardon?"
Rio didn't notice, continuing to smile faintly.
"It's just... there's a story where I'm from. About a girl raised by her stepmother and stepsisters. They treated her lovingly and with care. But it was only made to look that way. They did awful things to her when no one was looking. I was wondering if you were familiar with it? Or if your parents read you—"
The change was immediate.
Cinder abruptly stood.
Teeth chattering slightly, pupils dilated, heart racing a mile a bit, Cinder looked at Rio with shock.
Her carefully constructed mask of seductive maturity, and even the strength she had coursing through her veins—in that moment, withered away to nothingness.
She actually looked well and truly frightened.
"...Miss Cinder?" Confused, Rio stood up from his seat as well.
Cinder immediately reacted.
However... she did so by running.
Fleeing and saying nothing else, she just rushed out of the cafeteria, completely ignoring the startled voices of Mercury and Emerald, and even the widened eyed interest of Mint.
But Cinder's reason for doing so couldn't have been more obvious, nor was it even particularly strange.
After all, she just needed to get away.
Otherwise, she would have burned everyone in that room to ashes.
Regardless...
Rio watched her go, at a loss.
Her eyes... in that moment, I could have sworn they were flickering with...
In any case, he was puzzled.
Very puzzled.
After all, a simple curiosity caused by this world's naming sense, but one different from the obvious color theme, had him asking Cinder about her name.
Of course, she wasn't the only one.
Ozpin, Blake Belladonna, Glynda Goodwitch...
Strangely, but perhaps no less unexpected, no one seemed to realize their names also matched quite a few of Earth's fairy tales.
And, Cinder too.
He had described what he thought was a simple folktale from Earth—the story of Cinderella.
But she acted as if...
Rio's brows furrowed.
"Dude, what the hell did you say to her?" Mercury looked at Rio with an expression that very much still said he was a little freaked out.
Rio breathed through his nose, frowning. "I'm actually wondering the same." He looked to Mercury, and then to the equally shocked looks of Emerald and Mint, although less for the latter girl's case. "I don't imagine tracking her down and apologizing will go over well, will it?"
The silence made it clear what the answer was to that.
Mint still signed something though.
"Right..." Rio sighed.
"She'll kill you?" Mercury guessed the translation, still in a bit of a daze.
"A bit more violent and descriptive, but more or less."
Mint just smiled.
That said, Rio actually didn't stay for very long after that.
Of course, even after walking away, his thoughts still lingered on everything that just happened, even if his outward expression was calm.
Technically, whatever hypothetical past Cinder wanted to keep under lock and key, it wasn't any of his business. If anything, he was just confused.
Confused about Cinder, yes.
But just the same, confused about her team.
After all...
Why was Mint, just like him, not using her true appearance?