I stared at the crushed wildflowers thrust toward my chest, blinking in stunned silence.
For a second, my brain completely froze. But as Ruby stood there trembling, waiting for an answer with her eyes clamped shut, all the puzzle pieces suddenly clicked into place.
The signs had been staring me right in the face the entire time.
Slowly, Ruby peeked open one silver eye. Seeing me quiet, her shoulders slumped, her cheeks burning as she pulled the flowers back toward her chest.
"I know it's probably ridiculous," she mumbled, looking down at the red leaves beneath our boots, her voice shrinking. "Yang always teases me about finding someone, but... honestly, the whole idea of having a boyfriend feels completely out of reach for me. I don't act like other girls. I don't care about makeup or fancy clothes. All I ever talk about is weapons."
Hearing the raw, self-conscious doubt in her voice made something soften in my chest.
I stepped forward and gently wrapped my arms around her in a brief, solid hug.
Ruby gasped, stiffening in surprise, but before she could overheat, I stepped back, letting my hands rest firmly on her shoulders to keep her grounded. I met her wide silver eyes with a calm, steady look.
"Don't ever think like that, Ruby," I said softly.
"You're an incredible person. You're brilliant, and you work harder than almost anyone here. Being passionate about what you love doesn't make you undesirable. It makes you an incredible person."
Ruby's breath hitched, her eyes turning glossy as a faint, hopeful glimmer lit up her expression.
I took a breath, preparing to gently address the reality of our age gap and where things stood. "Ruby... I—"
SPLAT.
A heavy, wet impact smacked directly against the center of my back.
Thick, freezing-cold syrup splattered violently across my coat and neck. The unmistakable, cloyingly sweet scent of crimson tree sap exploded into the air, soaking through the reinforced fabric.
I froze mid-sentence.
From the dense brush thirty yards away, a rustle of leaves and a muffled, cowardly snicker echoed through the trees before frantic footsteps scampered away.
Cardin.
Before I could even turn around, the forest went dead silent.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Heavy, earth-shaking footsteps vibrated through the soil. The sweet scent clinging to my clothes hung in the crimson clearing like a beacon, and the thick brush tore open with a violent crack of splintering wood.
Lumbering into the clearing was an absolute monster—an Ursa Major, easily three times the size of a standard Ursa. Bone-white armor spikes jutted from its shoulders and back, its glowing red eyes locking instantly onto the sap drenched across my shoulders. It reared back on its hind legs and unleashed a deafening, guttural roar that shook the red leaves from the canopy.
"Ursa Major!" Ruby yelled, instinctively reaching behind her back to unfold Crescent Rose into position. "Katsuya, get behind—"
"Stay back, Ruby."
My voice came out flat. Cold.
I didn't draw a knife. I reached over to my left forearm and popped the latch on my regulator bracer with a dull click.
Instantly, the chaotic, serpent-like power of Yuuki Terumi flooded my veins.
I reached up with both hands and firmly dragged them through my hair, slicking the vivid green strands straight back against my scalp.
I let out a long, irritated sigh, shaking my head.
"What a pain."
I reached into my mental inventory, focusing on the heavy, dormant artifact Scathach had forged for me. If there was ever a time to take the Black Susano'o armor for a spin, a secluded crimson clearing with a giant bear breathing down my neck was the ideal testing ground.
Equip.
A pulse of ancient, abyssal energy erupted from my core. The green aura swirling around me inverted, turning into a torrential vortex of pitch-black and sickly jade flames that incinerated the fallen leaves beneath my feet.
The divine shell materialized around my flesh with a series of sharp, interlocking metallic clangs. Black armored plates, jagged and demonic, clamped over my limbs and torso; long, flowing white hair burst from the demonic horned helm that sealed over my face, and twin trails of malevolent green fire flared from my visor. The sheer, suffocating gravity of the Susano'o Unit crushed the earth, cratering the dirt around me.
The Ursa Major, driven mad by the sap, didn't care about divine presence. It charged full throttle, all six tons of muscle and bone plating hurtling forward to crush me underfoot.
'Let's see what this armor is actually made of.'
I didn't dodge. I didn't draw a weapon. I simply planted my armored boots into the soil and held out a single, clawed black gauntlet.
BOOM!
The impact sounded like an artillery shell detonating against solid bedrock. Shockwaves ripped through the clearing, stripping scarlet leaves from the trees in a violent gust.
The Ursa Major came to a dead, shuddering halt. My feet hadn't budged an inch. The beast's massive, bone-spiked shoulder pressed against my palm, completely stopped by the casual rigidity of my armor.
"Weak," my voice echoed, distorted into a deep, guttural, god-like resonance that vibrated through the earth.
Before the monster could recoil, my gauntlet clamped down on its bone faceplate like an iron vice. I sank my hips, pivoted on my heel, and heaved. Using the Ursa's own charging momentum against it, I hoisted the gargantuan beast entirely off the ground, whipped it in a massive 180-degree vertical arc directly over my head, and hurled it violently into the earth behind me.
CRACK-THOOM!
The forest floor gave way beneath the impact, sending chunks of stone and dirt rocketing into the air. The Ursa wheezed, paralyzed and upside-down in the newly formed crater.
I didn't give it a chance to breathe.
I stepped up to the rim of the crater, raised my heavy, clawed boot, and brought it down like a hydraulic press.
CRUNCH.
One stomp caved in its chest. A second strike shattered its armored skull like porcelain. A third blow pulverized the remains into dark, dissolving ash before the monster could even let out a death rattle.
I stared down at the dissipating black smoke, flexing my clawed fingers with a quiet snort of disappointment. "That's it? What a letdown."
The surrounding woods suddenly erupted with a chorus of low, hungry snarls.
Drawn by the thick scent of the sap still clinging to the armor, glowing red eyes ignited in the shadows between the crimson trunks. Five... ten... fifteen Ursa's, crept into the clearing, their jaws dripping with saliva as they formed a predatory ring around me.
Beneath the demonic helm, a wild, wicked grin split my face.
"Now that's more like it!"
I dug my heels into the dirt and launched myself forward like a cannonball, a streak of black and green lightning detonating straight into the center of the pack. Claws tore through bone armor, dark energy severed limbs, and the screams of dying Grimm filled the scarlet canopy as I began tearing through the horde in a display of pure, stylish slaughter.
A few dozen yards away, completely untouched by the carnage, Ruby stood frozen behind her boulder.
She was still clutching the crushed bouquet of red and gold wildflowers to her chest.
Her face was burning an incandescent crimson, heat practically radiating from her cheeks to the very tip of her hood. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, completely deaf to the sounds of breaking bones and roaring monsters.
She didn't care about the terrifying transformation. She didn't care about the giant demon armor.
Her brain was entirely, utterly stuck on the sentence that had been cut off.
'Ruby... I—'
What was he going to say?! Was it a yes?! Was it a no?! Was it an 'I like you too'?!
The suspense was physically eating her alive.
Ruby stomped her combat boot against the dirt, huffing furiously as steam practically whistled from her ears. She dropped Crescent Rose to her side, cupped her free hand around her mouth, and yelled at the top of her lungs straight into the violent roar of the battlefield:
"KATSUYA! WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY?!"
"YES! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
My voice tore out from behind the horned helm in a booming roar that shook the red leaves from the canopy.
I grabbed an oncoming Ursa by its throat, hoisting the massive beast into the air before driving a fist clean through its ribcage with a sickening CRACK.
"AHAHAHA! DIE! SUFFER!"
I hurled the convulsing monster into two others, laughing like a complete madman as the black armor surged with chaotic power. I was stomping heads into paste, shredding bone plating with my bare claws, and turning the grove into an absolute abattoir.
Back behind the boulder, Ruby's brain completely short-circuited.
The thunderous "YES!" echoed across the crimson trees, bouncing directly between her ears. Her jaw dropped, and a thick plume of literal white steam violently erupted from the top of her hood. Her face wasn't just red; it was burning hot.
Too overwhelmed, too mortified, and too dizzy with sheer embarrassment to stay anywhere near the clearing, Ruby let out a high-pitched, strangled squeak.
FWOOSH.
A panicked cyclone of rose petals detonated behind the rock. She vanished instantly, shooting through the forest in a blur of pure, flustered flight.
A minute later, the roaring finally stopped.
I brought my heel down on the shattered skull of the final Ursa Major, grinding the bone into dissolving black ash. The clearing went dead silent, save for my heavy breathing and the faint hiss of fading energy.
I looked around the torn-up clearing, catching my breath.
"Wait... fifteen?" I muttered, genuinely puzzled. "Since when were there fifteen of these things out here? In the original timeline, wasn't it literally just the one big bastard Cardin pissed off?"
I paused, then gave a casual shrug. Between my presence and the flipped society, the timeline was already bent out of shape anyway.
Unequip.
With a sharp mental command, the jagged black plating broke apart in a burst of dark embers, sealing itself back into my inventory. The horned helm dissolved, leaving me standing in the quiet woods in my syrup-stained coat.
I stood there for a second, rubbing the back of my neck as the residual adrenaline ebbed away.
That armor Scathach sent me was ridiculous. But man, the mental pull was something else. While wearing it, i gained a sadistic violent streak h through me—I hadn't just wanted to put the Grimm down, I had wanted to hear their bones snap and rip them apart piece by piece.
I looked down at the silver band resting on my right finger.
Thank god Scathach's Anti-Madness Ring was actually working. Without it acting as a mental anchor, Terumi's malice probably would have hijacked the wheel entirely.
I took a breath, reached over to my left forearm, and clamped my regulator bracer back into place with a crisp click. I ran a hand through my bangs, dusted off my fedora, and began the leisurely stroll back toward the main clearing.
I took about ten steps through the crimson leaves before my boots abruptly locked up.
My jaw slackened in slow, mounting horror.
Wait a damn minute.
My mind replayed the last five minutes in agonizing, crystal-clear detail.
Ruby asking what I was going to say.
Me, completely blitzed on combat adrenaline and bloodlust, roaring "YES! AHAHAHAHAHA!" at the top of my lungs while tearing an Ursa's spine out.
I literally just agreed to be Ruby Rose's boyfriend.
I stopped dead in the middle of the trail, burying my face into my palm with a quiet, agonized groan. There was no walking that back. You don't scream an enthusiastic affirmative from inside a terrifying black war suit while laughing like a cartoon villain and then just say "my bad, misheard you."
I had basically signed the contract in blood, fire, and dead bears.
"Man... what a mess," I mumbled, dragging my hand down my face.
Pushing through the dense red brush, I finally stepped back into the central grove where the rest of the class had gathered their sap.
Most of the students were packing up their gear, chatting in small groups. Team RWBY was huddled near their station—though Ruby herself was currently sitting on an overturned log, her hood pulled down so far her entire face was completely hidden, radiating a dense cloud of nervous, fidgeting energy while Yang tried to pry her hands away from her knees.
Near my own tree, Team HRPN had already gathered their full jars.
Hearing my footsteps, Pyrrha turned around. She took in my slightly scuffed coat, lingering on the sticky crimson smear across my back, before stepping forward with a tilt of her head.
"Katsuya?" Pyrrha asked, looking at me with quiet concern. "Where did you run off to? We were starting to wonder if you got lost."
I casually tucked my hands into my pockets, keeping my expression perfectly polite and serene.
"Oh, you know," I replied smoothly. "I just went to talk to Ruby about something."