Chapter 19

Quick A/N: I uploaded a few 'auxiliary' chapters, just so you'd know.

~ To hide what ??? loves ~

Narrator POV:

??? Is walking towards Glynda's room, to get back Crystal's stuff, but mostly for herself, because she doesn't want to continue looking at the white tails... It just doesn't fit her.

She comes up to the door and knocks twice, but she doesn't hear anybody coming from the inside, it seems nobody is home, well don't mind her then.

??? Winds her leg backward and kicks the door open, it flying off of the hinges without much trouble, so she steps inside the room, she looks at the door... It's not broken enough, so she kicks through it again, breaking it into several smaller pieces, she smiles in approval and continues with her task.

She gets all of Crystal's things, clothes, grooming equipment for the tails, school notes... Yeah, no. ??? Takes the notes to the kitchen and just burns them, now that's better.

As she leaves the kitchen, she feels Glynda outside the room, slowly walking towards the room on guard.

"No need to be so slow, Teacher, it's me... Crystal" ??? Says out loud for Glynda to hear.

Glynda comes inside the room, letting her crop down "I thought somebody broke in... So I was ready to fight them"

"That's because somebody did do it... It was me" ??? Answers the teacher without much care for her.

"Why are you here?"

"To collect our stuff"

Glynda looks at ??? for a moment "Our?"

"Oh, I mean, my stuff, oops what a slip of a tongue, am I right?" ??? Cheerily says.

"Right... You need help?"

"No, I already got everything"

"Mhm... Did you have to break the door?"

"No, but I gave you something to do, now you can do your thingy and fix it, it's quite convenient, you can fix whatever you want... Except... Never mind"

"I... Okay, fine, whatever" Glynda says and restores the door back in its place.

"See? Good as old... new... eh, whatever" ??? says shrugging.

"So... Is that all?" Glynda asks.

"Hmm... Now that you mention it, there is something else. I will take a bath real quick, you can do whatever it is, for 150 minutes or so, then I will leave"

"Sure..."

"Thanks, see ya"

??? Walks inside the bath, having taken all of the collected stuff inside with her. So she takes something that she specifically came here for, chemically designed instant dye for fur and hair, coated in dust. And spills it in the bath and starts pouring in the water.

She grins as she sees the water instantly turn her favorite color... That sweet, sweet, blood-red. And just like that, ??? gets out of her clothes and gets inside the bath, sighing relaxed, this is heaven. But seeing as she doesn't want to spend too much time inside Glynda's room, she just dips her whole body underwater, effectively turning her hair and tails from pure silver to crimson red.

She stays underwater for a few minutes so that it could really seep in, so there'd be no silver left and finally, after she feels it's right, ??? jumps out of the bath, lets the water drain out, while she uses a towel to dry her body along with her hair.

After everything is done, she looks at her naked reflection in the mirror, seeing her tails swinging back and forth, she can't help but smile, finally, she can look at them, just as they should be, murder weapons, Crystal may not have weapons of her own, because she doesn't use her tails for it... But ??? certainly doesn't need any form of blade or guns, her tails are all that she needs.

Oh, almost forgot something, she takes out a case from the bags, opens it and smiles, now with this it will be finally complete, she takes the round objects out of the case and puts the contact lens in her eyes, she blinks to get it in there perfectly and then looks up at the mirror again, seeing red eyes looking back at her.

??? puts back her clothes on and leaves the bathroom, making Glynda who was sitting in a chair, turn her head back to look, only for her eyes to widen at the sight.

"What happened?" The teacher asks.

"Oh? Nothing much, I just think there's a need for some slight change, don't you agree?"

"But... I don't see you doing something like this, you love your tails"

"Hmm... Well, I still do love them, but somewhat differently than before" ??? says mysteriously.

"Okay... Why red though?"

"Simple, it's to hide something very, very... valuable to me"

Glynda looks at ??? confused, prompting for ??? to continue talking "Oh, don't mind me, I am just speaking random words, I just thought it'd be a good color to choose from"

"Mhm" Glynda looks at the red tails, the red hair, and then at ???, feeling that something is very off about all of this, but she can't put her finger on it.

"Anyways, professor, I will be off now. Bye" ??? says and leaves the room, not waiting for Glynda to have the time to stop her.

??? Takes out the paper in her pocket, that Crystal received the other night and starts making her way to it, as she walks to her new destination, she hears and sees a lot of students talking about her new colored tails, oh how she wishes she could put them to work, so they could hide what they are meant to hide... But now isn't the time. She sighs sadly. So to not waste more time, she speeds up and a while later she has finally made it. Cinder's room.

??? Knocks on the door while saying "It's me" And she hears "Come in"

So ??? walks inside the room and sees Cinder sitting on a bed, looking outside the window "You finally showed up, Fox-" Cinder turns around as she talks, but as soon as she sees the red tails, she gets off the bed and kneels on one knee on the ground with her head down.

Emerald who was on the other side of the room, sees this and starts questioning her leader "Cinder, what are you doing?"

But Cinder doesn't answer "Cinder?" Emerald asks again.

"4.8/10, now don't worry your little green head about it, Cinder is just doing what she's supposed to, ain't that right, darling?" ??? Answers Emerald for Cinder.

??? Doesn't hear an answer and slightly frowns "Ain't that right?" She repeats herself.

"Yes," Cinder answers, not raising her head.

Emerald looks at her leader and then at the Faunus, she doesn't like what she sees, so she very slowly slinks her hands closer to her weapons, but she gets stopped by ???.

"I wouldn't recommend it, little girl, the moment your fingers touch those weapons, your 4.8 score will go down to 0 and... well... Let's just say that you wouldn't like what would come next" ??? says while still looking at the kneeling Cinder.

Emerald pauses after hearing that, but she doesn't relax whatsoever, in fact, she's even more cautious than before, she throws a look at Cinder, then at the Faunus, only to get startled at the murderous dark red eyes that finally looked at her, so with slow movements, she goes back to to a normal standing position. With that ??? stops looking at her and back at Cinder.

"Now... I am not the one that you expected, right, Darling?" ??? cooed excitedly.

"No... No, I wasn't expecting you, Grimmerin"

"Ah, you're hurting my non-existent feelings, how sad" Grimmerin fakely pouts for show.

Grimmerin walks closer to the kneeling Cinder and suddenly grabs her hair harshly and lifts her head, making Cinder's amber eyes connect with her own dark eyes.

"Now, punishment time, girlie, I hope you know for what"

Cinder doesn't answer defiantly, only for that defiance to disappear as she sees Grimmerin darkly chuckle "Darling, you know that I don't like repeating myself, so?"

"I know..."

"Good, stand up"

Cinder stands up and looks at Grimmerin, who moved her hair out of the way and slightly rotated her head to the side.

"Now, as hard as you can"

Cinder doesn't move at the command.

"Cinder, what did I just say?" Grimmerin snaps her eyes at Cinder, Cinder just nods giving up.

And not a moment later, Cinder's palm connects with Grimmerin's face, as strong as she could, instantly breaking some of Grimmerin's lip off, and making her nose bleed, with a purple mark showing as fast as the hit happened.

"Phew, nice hit, it's the strongest yet, I almost got thrown away if it weren't for me bracing for the impact, I do wonder though if it will be the last"

Emerald looks at what's happening in confusion, she thought that Cinder did something wrong and that this Faunus was the one punishing her, yet she just let herself get slapped? She doesn't understand anything, but she's happy that Cinder is okay.

"Can you do it now?" Cinder asks the Faunus.

"Ooh? Impatient, aren't we? But, unfortunately, that'd be a big no, you know me, darling, I like when people have their anxiety levels rising from not knowing when I will activate my semblance, the look in their eyes, the sweat they nervously let out, the insecurities... I love them oh, so, so much"

Emerald stops her cheering after she hears the Faunus mention her semblance, what is she going to do?

"Yes, I do... And I wish I didn't"

"Mhm, whatever you say, darling, but you're just like me, but I guess in your mind there's not enough space on Remnant for two sick individuals, hmm?"

"No... There's plenty of those... But you're... Different than all of them"

"Oh, thank you for the compliment, how kind of you"

Cinder doesn't say anything after that. But she does look at Grimmerin's face, seeing the blood dribble down her neck and on the ground, at least she has Aura to heal it for later.

"Now, tell me, why is it that you're getting punished?"

"For... hurting Crystal again"

"Ooh, correct, but I want details, to hear them straight out of your perfect face, that's about to get ruined, go ahead"

Cinder gulps "For, giving away her pet-name, for not protecting her from Mercury's subtlety towards her being a Faunus..."

"And? Go on, this is the best part"

"For... Not allowing her and actively stopping her from saying that we are girlfriends"

"Oh, there you go, I knew that you had it in you" Grimmerin, affectionately pats Cinder's cheek, but she quickly removes her hand and gets serious.

"Now, listen here, and listen good, one more... you get one more chance, hurt her again, not protect her from active racism like that, give away anything of what she gives you, be it, a small gift or a significant thing as a pet-name, and especially, lie once more about not being girlfriends and you know what will happen, do you understand?"

"I... Do"

"Oh, do you? Because I don't fucking think so, I am your superior in every way, you listen to me and so is Crystal, yet you dare to go above Crystal and dare order her outside of your bedtime? Just because she loves you, doesn't mean you can toy with her as you see fit, I will not only make you wish you were never born, I will also make it so that you wish you could die. I will skin you alive. Now, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"I do, Grimmerin, I do, is that what you want to hear? I can't help it if she just wants to ruin our plans by giving us away, how is that efficient? We have orders and not even you can go against them"

"Oh, that so? Because I remember it differently... Pretty sure it was Salem that proposed to Crystal, not the other way around. Oh and she's our wife, so our commanding power is equal, I have full authority to change a plan as I see fit, just because Crystal has never done it and probably never will... Doesn't matter that I won't"

Cinder looks at Grimmerin in silence, so Grimmerin continues.

"And, you dare to say that she wants to ruin the plans every time, that's your excuse? How can you not get one simple fact right? She'd choose you and Salem over anybody else, so even if she gave you away, she'd stay with you against anything that the world has to throw at her, be it Atlas, stray Grimm, Huntresses, or even the Faunus... She'd give up everything, except for her mom, yet you can't even give her one simple thing as calling her a girlfriend? Are you kidding me? How is that any fair? Look at me and be straight with me, right here, right now answer me this"

Grimmerin makes Cinder stare right at each other's eyes "Do you love Crystal, or not?" The two look at each other intensely and Cinder finally opens her mouth to answer.

"I do" Cinder answers with conviction.

There's a brief silence as Grimmerin searches for any sign of a lie, after so many victims she knows when somebody is lying... And she doesn't see any, so she sighs, at least she won't have to hurt Crystal herself by killing her girlfriend. So she finally breaks the silence.

"Yeah? Well, you're not so good at showing it, now are you?"

And just Grimmerin finishes those words, she activates her semblance and sees Cinder's face scrunch up in discomfort and she starts gritting her teeth, but she doesn't let out a single sound, she knows that screaming is just what Grimmerin wants to hear, so at least she won't give that to her, even as she feels all of the pain that she herself caused Grimmerin, but unlike her, she feels every bit of it.

Emerald sees Cinder's face get an injury out of nowhere, the same one that the Faunus had, she looks at the Faunus only to see her face back to normal and she finally gets it... This is one sick punishment... Both mentally and physically.

"Oh and if you felt like you could use Aura to heal... Well, you can't, For a whole day, when I come tomorrow to see and if I were to see the injury gone, there will be more. But be glad that it's only one day, Crystal is angry at me for hurting you this much already and she wants nothing happening to your beautiful face again, but if it's any consolation, at least she's finally happy with you, which is letting you off easy if you ask me" Grimmerin says after Cinder has got her bearings back and sees Cinder simple nod.

"Okay, you can relax now, I did everything that I came here for, let's sit down on the bed and talk about business" Grimmerin doesn't wait for an answer and sits down on what she assumes is Cinder's bed, seeing as she was sitting there before.

"Right" Cinder answers and does the same. Emerald finally relaxes seeing the normal mood returning, sits down on her own bed, and silently looks at the two. Cinder doesn't seem to be mad at the Faunus at all, which seems so unlike her, and the Faunus herself seems to be acting like nothing ever happened. She'll have to ask Cinder about all of this... She just hopes that she will answer, unlike so many other times, she's especially curious about this girlfriend's business.

"And here, ointment and bandages for your wound," Grimmerin says as she takes a medicine box out of her bag, but as soon as she's about to hand it over, she pauses in thought "Will you do it yourself? Or should I do it?"

"Hmm... You can do it, Grim" Cinder answers.

"Okay, well, I would warn you if it would hurt or not, but you know... Can't feel something like this"

"Mhm..."

Grimmerin gets everything ready, first cleans off the blood with a wet towel, then takes out a cotton pad, pours some medicine on it, and slowly goes to work on Cinder's face, Cinder not even hissing from the somewhat scorching pain, it's child's play to everything else she experienced, and yes, that includes Grimmerin's wrath.

"Grim" Cinder calls out her name.

"Hmm?" Grim answers as she continues cleaning the open wound.

"How did Crystal go into hiding this time?"

"Mhm... Too many things in a short period of time, like last time, but this time it's less serious... Well, it depends on who you ask, to some it may be worse than what happened last time, but not for Crystal, she views what happened before as the second worst thing to happen to her"

"Oh, yeah, that... That wasn't pretty, it's also the first time I and Salem met you, so that was an eye-opener to what we got ourselves into"

"Hehe, indeed, you screwed up by liking Crystal... And now? You ain't getting rid of me or Crystal unless Crystal would actually want that to happen, which I don't see ever occurring... You'd need to majorly fuck up for that to happen"

"Hmm..."

Grim finished with the medicine, puts it down, and takes the ointment for the purple and swelling palm mark on the face.

"Crystal couldn't really get any friends, that's the thing that hurts her the most, yes, there were the 'freaks', 'animal', etc, but those are old, yes they hurt, but barely at this point. But... The second biggest thing, not mentioning the thing with you, is that this school hosts a Schnee, which somebody like Crystal won't do anything against"

"Want me to do something about that?" Cinder asks.

"You know that I would do something myself... If Crystal allowed it, she just has to stick to her mom's words too strictly... It's quite bothersome sometimes"

"Is it the same line, children don't get to choose how they are born?"

"Yep, you nailed it," Grim says and finishes putting the last bit of ointment, so she puts it down and takes up the bandages, and starts to cover it up.

"It's the same she couldn't get friends, because of her mom, right?" Asks Cinder.

"Yes, but, unlike the 'born' thing, I actually agree with this teaching of our dear ol' mom"

"Mhm... You don't really talk about your opinions on such things"

"I know, right? But seeing Crystal actually trying to interact with so many students and people her age made me rethink some things... Mainly if I should try to find something else to do, other than... You know... Being all murderous and stuff"

"Maybe, but that's for you to decide"

"Indeed it is"

"So, what lesson do you agree with?"

"Oh, our mom explained it to Crystal quite majestically really, even I was entranced, she even acted it out, she can be quite a doofus sometimes, but the main point? Don't be fake when making friends, or meaningful relationships, for if you were fake when you met 'friends', you will need to keep being fake for the rest of your time while knowing them, since the moment you show your real self, those 'friends' will most likely abandon you because they never truly knew you. That's why even when some sex partners tried to advise Crystal about not being so... Weird, to try and appeal to others, that way people will like her more, she didn't listen, I mean, that's a good thing, why choose to believe some nude body that you can replace anytime, instead of your mom"

"Hmm... But is it worth getting depressed because of that?"

"To me? Absolutely, if people that you want to get along with, think you're something else than you're really not, then why bother even getting along with them in the first place? This way, if and when, Crystal actually meets friends that will stay with her, it will be for real, because they will know her true self, meaning that they are friends even with all the 'negative' bullshit that Crystal goes through, like being labeled one or another thing"

"I guess that's a good point, I can somewhat agree with that"

"Same" Grim does the last little bit of the bandages and breaks the knot "And done, you'll be good as new... Well the day after tomorrow, since Aura will heal it back to new, but for now? That's how you'll look"

"I would say thank you... But, I feel like it would counter itself out... Since..."

"Yeah, yeah, it was me that did it, so thanking me is redundant, I get it"

"I know that our moment is over... But is Crystal okay?"

"Frankly? No... But she did get a tad bit better than she got the information about you actually loving her... But for the sake of her... And yourself, I implore you to actually show it... Once a while, no need to go to her levels, but I think she'd be happy enough with not being lied for a 'friend', 'colleague', 'acquaintance' when she's actually your girlfriend"

Cinder sighs "I'll try... Since this?" She jokingly points to her face "Is not as comfortable as it looks"

"Ha, well said... Now"

As Grimmerin goes to open her mouth to start talking about plans, the door opens and in walks the gray man, carrying multiple things, hiding his head. He puts them down and looks around the room, spotting what he assumes is Crystal.

"Oh, if it isn't Foxie, came back to your owner, I see"

Grimmerin looks at the gray man and only smiles at him. She throws a look at Cinder, already seeing her mid-way through opening her mouth.

"Mercury, stop that, that's an order"

"What?" He asks back.

"It's an order for you to stop calling her 'Foxie' and she's not animal"

Mercury blinks at that in confusion "What happened to you? Em, are you hearing this? Cinder, defending a Faunus? And what happened to your face?" Emerald would agree with this notion, if it weren't for the fact that she saw everything that happened and also learned that those two are in a relationship... albeit it's one ridiculous relationship, sometimes insane, but somewhat sweet too.

Mercury not receiving an answer from anybody else clicks his tongue and looks at Grimmerin, then back at Cinder "Fine, but I called her 'Foxie' because you yourself told me to do so"

"I know, but that was poor judgment on my part"

"Fine, so what else do I call her, if not 'Foxie'?"

Grimmerin just sighs and stands up from the bed "It seems that business talk will have to wait because this one can't wrap his head around the order of not saying 'Foxie'... Well, how happy it makes me that he is so stupid"

"What did you just say!?" Mercury walks closer to the standing Grimmerin with anger in his eyes, Grimmerin only looking back at him with a leisure smile.

"Mercury don-" Cinder starts to say but gets cut off by Grimmerin.

"No, no, darling, leave this barely walking tin-can to me"

"Darling? Barely walking? Wait, no... Tin-can? You... You"

"Oh, wondering why I called you that? I mean I am sure you get half of it... the other half? Because I am about to easily crush you like one" And just like that Grimmerin suddenly grabs Mercury's gray hair in both of her hands and with half of her maximum force drives it down on her knee that's moving up to his face. Kneeing him straight in the nose. She doesn't hear a scream of pain as she wanted, so she lowers her knee down and sees Aura, she grins madly.

"Hehehe, this is great, let's see how much aura you worthless human have, let's see how many hits it can take, how much of a pounding it'd survive, why don't we?" Mercury is trying to get out of her hold, but he can't even remove one finger.

Grimmerin, does the same action again, a knee straight to the face with the same amount of force. Then another one, still no screams, how exciting! And one more, but with more power. And she finally feels the Aura shatter, so she frowns.

"Aaaw, how utterly weak, only 4 strikes? Unfortunate, I was having so much fun... I do wonder though... Just how many strikes until your head shatters like your precious aura, hmm, little man?" Grimmerin looks straight at Mercury's eyes that are finally showing fear, he goes for a kick with his leg to the side and stomach of Grimmerin, he thrashes and tries to get out of the hold, but nothing works. Grimmerin just takes all of it, getting injured in the process, she grins darkly, not only will she break him, but he will also help in doing it, how awesome is that?

And with that thought, Grimmerin winds up her knee and raises the gray man's head as high as she can, and just as she was about to drive this puny human straight through her knee, she gets interrupted.

"Grim, stop, you've had your fun" Grimmerin stops, while still holding the man's head in her hands, she turns her head around to look at Cinder, then back at the man who's so scared and tired that he can't even raise his arms anymore.

"Fine... Whatever, he's too weak to have enough fun anyways... But, he did touch me and you know how I don't like others touching me..."

"... Yes, go ahead, it's not like I can stop you again"

"Oh, I just got Crystal's... hmm... Our girlfriend's approval, well how about that, I should have a drink to celebrate... But where can I get such a thing... Oh wait, it's right here, in my arms"

Grimmerin activates her semblance and Mercury finally screams in pain and she smiles madly, this is just what she needed. Oh and there it is her sweet, sweet drink. She takes the man's limp hand, seeing blood going down and with one finger she slides over it, then puts it in her mouth.

"Mhm... 4/10, Had better, but definitely had worse" So she finally releases him fully and goes back to sit on the bed, leaving the man groaning on the ground, she throws one look at the green-haired girl, who's looking at her with hate and fear, but also... Curiosity? Huh, weird. But doesn't pay much more attention to her, beyond that, she hasn't done anything wrong to her or Crystal, yet, after all.

"Now then, shall we continue?" Grim says again, having enjoyed the slight interruption, albeit it was too short if she does say so herself.

~ End of Chapter 19 ~