Settling in (4)

"Thinking about you. Lovely dirty thoughts." – Unknown

Chapter 9: Settling in (4)

Getting out of that blasted wheelchair was the best thing after so much spent moving around with some annoying impediments. Kuo Kuana had some uneven sections of the road between my house and the bank, making it a tiring walk every time I had to go to work.

But this time? I was enjoying a silent, slightly wobbly walk to work and… Sienna was for some reason biting down some chuckles the moments I would turn to look at her. It was annoying at first, it was unnerving few instants after as she seemed to do this through the whole walk and… I suck at psychological warfare. At least this kind of it as I felt it was something so unpredictable of her that my mind found it difficult to elaborate something out of that smug appearance.

I reached the bank and bid a polite goodbye to the Tiger Faunus, the woman nodding as she started to go wherever she went after leaving me at work. It was something I had yet to ask to her but, knowing that she was working for Kuo Kuana's City Guard, I suspected she was going to the local barracks to get some rest and refreshment. I mean, I had never seen her going to the bathroom early in the morning and I strongly suspected it was a matter of trust.

Bed-stealing was fine, but the possibility of walking on her as she used the only bathroom was… a dreadful thought morally-speaking. She was after all extending some special trust my way, mostly because I had children on me and, if I have to be honest, I hardly think that her amusement is made out by the fact we were opening to each other.

It was a truce of two opposite minds: Mine sought the peaceful coexistence between people but also drifted away from dangerous elements; hers was centered around the idea of 'strong is good' and seemed to have a strong resentment towards humans even now.

I don't think asking about her background would be useful, actually I was sure that it would have distanced her instantly the moment those words left my mouth. If I was stretching my hand towards her, the woman was extending just a finger in return. Hopefully she wasn't flipping a bird but… everything can happen.

My paranoia, albeit very controlled nowadays, still kept a silent hold in certain situations. Like when I was cornered by the Dog Faunus I was 'fighting' for the praise of the clerk we shared as a boss.

His face gave a murderous look and I merely blinked as he made the threats I had expected. "Now that you are out of that damn chair, you will better watch out as I will not-"

"Look." I interrupted with a calm sigh. "I know that there is some ultimatum you have planned along the lines of wasting nights about it and, if I have to be honest with you, I am not in the mood to deal with those antics. Please keep a professional and civil tone in my regards as a fellow clerk."

He snarled and was about to retort this with some rant or threat but… he had forgotten an essential detail that made his spiel the most idiotic thing one could pull in a workplace like this one. While competitiveness was tacitly promoted, there were rules established by the Bank Director that 'forbid' the escalation of said challenges to this kind of situations or worse.

So when you try to threaten someone for this kind of silly predicaments right in front of the door that led to the Director's office, you know that your job is forfeit the moment said door opens loudly and the revered elder stares daggers at you.

"Otis, in my office now!" The Dog Faunus blinked in surprise, eyes going wide as he realized that… he had messed up big time. All in all I tried to keep myself to show my inner smug, knowing that I might get sanctioned even with the slight suspect that I had planned for this to happen.

And that was the case but… meh.

Reaching for the Master Clerk, I was relieved by the fact he seemed genuinely mortified by what had just happened and glad that he gave me a lesser amount of paperwork as an attempt to compensate me for what had happened.

Grabbing the files, I was starting to understand several important things of Menagerie's economic system. While limited to an 'antiquate' model compared to the modern standards of Macro-economics I knew about, there were elements that were 'beyond' simple Micro-economics.

Maybe I should explain myself a little there: Macro-economics started to be a thing when the Great Depression happened back in 1929 and… Micro-economics failed to perceive it. Quite a strange way to develop a new subject, but the disaster opened the eyes on the very important system that was until then left untouched. The State itself.

So while the papers were mostly centered around inner affairs, those within Menagerie, there were still some documents that led to some international transactions. Some of those transactions actually… sounding fishy now that I checked on those…

"Boss?" The Fox Faunus looked up from his newspaper and frowned at my voice.

"Yes, Mr. Bukharin?"

I stood up from my seat and took the papers to him, pointing right at the curious numbers I had found regarding a mysterious company that seemed to lack a place of origin and its current whereabouts.

It wasn't that much difficult to understand that some exploit was being pulled here, especially with the precise number of Lien that were deposited and then withdrawn from the bank… a single digit from reaching the maximum limit required for such transactions.

The Master Clerk's eyes widened a little as he picked the papers on his hand and started to double-check himself, his face paling more and more as he continued to realize how bad it was.

"This… this will have to be brought to the Director himself and-" He turned to glance at me. "John, please avoid talking about this until this matter is further investigated."

I nodded. "Understood, boss."

"Good..." He trailed off as he went right to the Director's office, leaving me to deal with the current workload alone and… bored. After finishing most of the job for today, I started to consider what I should do in case Raven managed to find out where I was now.

The woman was dangerous, unpredictable and very stabby if the previous interaction had to be taken into account. Hopefully she had yet to find a replacement for her blade, or maybe decided to face the nag of dealing with the 'weak team' he had left behind.

Speaking of Team STRQ… what should I seriously do with them?

Nothing?

That would be easy but… we both know that they are essential.

Ms. Rose was able to become a brighter huntress thanks to her mother's sacrifice-

Woah, you just didn't pull that!

I am just saying that time shouldn't be altered beyond some minor aspects as it would change the future.

...But what if I am changing the past to change the future willingly?

Then you would be a fool. You wouldn't be considering the consequences this level of alterations could led into.

Actually I do know that stuff could get crazy but, if I have to be honest, nothing would be worse than losing a well-trained team as STRQ. So… should we sent a letter to Summer Rose?

Mrs. Rose would hardly accept the word of a stranger that 'raves' about her possible death. There are so many flaws in whatever plans you are preparing and-

I know what I am doing.

… Then do what you want.

I blinked in surprise at the defeated tone but… there was some merits in his warning and…

I have a plan.

Taiyang Xiao Long finished correcting the last drafts of the recent test his class had gone through. While he was happy that most of them had reached a particularly high grade, as someone that wished to enjoy some time with his family the task was incredibly tiring and annoying on itself.

Still it was his job, he motivated as he took a moment to rest on his chair, eyes closing as he let few moments of silence pass. A knock by the door brought him out from a pleasant daydream of a picnic with Ruby and Yang giving chase to each other as he enjoyed a good talk with his new wife.

The headmaster's secretary, a young woman that was thankfully already married and away from ask him out… like the rest of his female colleagues, entered the room with a small white envelope in her hands.

"Mr. Xiao Long, there is a letter from you. It's from Menagerie."

The man blinked in surprise at the place, his mind failing to grasp anyone from the Faunus-led island that could have sent him something. Still he accepted that the young lady placed it on his desk, letting her go with a curt nod as he slowly approached the paper.

Opening the envelope, Taiyang started to scan the letter, his eyes widening in realization the more he read.

To the Xiao Long Household (Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose and Qrow Branwen),

Once more I apologize for the non-existent notice for this letter, but I wish to address some other information that I had managed to uncover through my stay in Menagerie, where I will remain undisturbed for personal reasons (that means no sudden visits, I beg of you to not bring attention on me and my family).

Differently from the first letter, the topic is no more about Raven Branwen. But it is about your current wife (please correct me if the title is wrong or has yet to be updated) and her peculiar… eyes. As of now I will advise you all to not take this up to Ozpin, as the Wizard would surely try to twist my words one way or another.

The Queen is always moving and she has human followers to obey her orders and whims. Maintain a close eye on Summer Rose, her eyes making her a dangerous obstacle for 'Her' plans. Have Qrow trail her during missions and… that's it.

I guess I will pack a possible future letter with more content, but as of now I am relegated to some good ol' paperwork and my brain is already fried enough to produce some quality stuff.

Expecting some reply,

John Bukharin

Taiyang re-read the letter more than once, trying to grasp fully what was being told there. While he had been suspecting that something was aloof with Ozpin, the fact this mysterious individual knew not only about the Beacon Headmaster's secret and the fact that Salem existed, gave the teacher further interest to concede some credibility to the mysterious individual sited on Menagerie.

His wording was also noteworthy. He didn't address any specific things Summer herself should do to avoid being tracked down, but interestingly enough brought in Qrow to keep watch over the woman. While he knew that the male Branwen had accepted with much difficulty that Summer decided to go for his close friend, the man was… trustworthy. He would keep a true guard over Summer and… avoid unpleasant accidents.

Still it was worth to consider that the very explicit request of not reaching out for this 'Bukharin' couldn't be accepted for the mere fact Raven was surely raising hell to find out where his aggressor and 'suitable companion' would be. He still shuddered at the memory of how things had unfolded back then, when Raven had voiced out her interest to have a 'serious spar' with him.

He had been particularly busy with some nasty paperwork back then and had been forced to refuse her demands, angering her and- Summer cheerfully replace him as the woman's sparring partner. The Branwen had appeared quite hesitant there but the Rose showed once more how convinced in her commitment was by sitting patiently in the middle of the arena, waiting for her partner to appear and fight.

Imagine passing near the arena to see how things were going and see a red-faced Raven Branwen trying to tackle down a panicking caped girl. Murder? There was any ill intention evident on the red-eyed beauty.

Only desire for- He jumped in action the moment the realization finished to sink in his brain, engaging in a brief skirmish with the sword-wielding woman and… winning. He had expected her to calm down that exact moment but…

He woke up few hours later, his clothes sparsely dropped on the floor just like Raven's. The Mistralian female straddling on his sweaty body as they both enjoyed the afterglow of the pleasant activities that made them… adults.

They married two months later, she gave birth to Yang seven months after the wedding and... she left them and went back to her tribe to rule them to… criminal activities.

While the proud woman had stated more than once that it was a law in the tribes, something that Qrow felt doubtful about when he heard about it, it was easy to understand what truly motivated this 'personal' rule of hers:

1) Her opponent beat her while keeping some respect for her;

2) She was impressed by his strength and capacity to win;

3) Tenacity and Determination to survive in bad situations;

4) She felt particularly 'intrigued' by her opponent;

And while there hadn't been a genuine fight between this 'Bukharin' and his former wife, Raven would quickly consider his survival an outstanding win. Especially since this individual lacked in terms of training.

Without wasting further time in rummaging through his thoughts, Taiyang made a call back home. Summer picking up as the Xiao Long explained her the letter and his own considerations. After few minutes of chatting on the matter, a small trip was planned in two days from now.

Raven Branwen was so close… and yet so far.

Tracking down the pesky young man that had managed to land a lucky shot on her was an easy task for someone of her capacity, but the place and the situation she had to deal with were not something her knowledge and experience could help much with. Menagerie was the only place she had never visited in her career as professional huntress and the tight security over the capital was surprisingly stronger than the one she had found in Atlas years ago.

Trying to keep a low profile while also keeping her sight on this 'John Bukharin' proved to be an interestingly difficult mission. Constantly monitored, stuck to the wheelchair and never going for places that would make it possible for her to take him away with one of her portals, the survivor was proving to be a good prey.

It was his overall attitude that made him difficult to predict. She would have expected him to appear scared, paranoid- and yet he looked… fine. There was no hint of fear in his features, at least not one she could associate with the brief exchange in the truck.

Her lower torso still stung at the powerful shotgun blast she had to tank in after landing the first, deadly blow. His words rung infuriatingly in her ears and the following crash on several trees didn't help in build up a proper inner image of this individual.

Hours passed again that day as she continued to monitor the Bank John had entered, his new work that, in her opinion, sounded incredibly dull and hardly-satisfying for someone with her mindset. Fighting doesn't mix well with paperwork, something that her foolish former husband had failed to understand in his first years at work as teacher in Signal Academy.

Stupid Taiyang and his stupid abs.

Anyway the opportunity happened right that day, the very day that the curious man had ditched his wheelchair and was walking calmly on his own. Trembling steps, his legs had yet to recover and he still showed a calm and composed face to this situation-

She had to drag down the mental smile that appeared at this intriguing development, a minor proof that he was somehow prideful on himself. A little pride was well-accepted in her opinion, especially when it failed to clash well with her own.

Following the classing routine, Bukharin left the bank and followed the Tiger Faunus, Sienna Khan, back to the small house he had claimed as his home. His children, having returned earlier from school, were quick to greet their surrogate father and… this very notion confused her.

Having let go of her family after realizing how dangerously attached to Ozpin her life would have been, Raven preferred her old tribe to that kind of predicament. To see someone willingly accept orphaned children as his own… brought some foul taste in her mouth.

Memories of how the previous leader had taken both her and her brother in the tribe as her children, how she had been the one to push them to seek training at Beacon Academy and then… decided to spar her for the control of the tribe.

The fight was surprisingly more difficult than she had imagined, the older female proving that experience can and will surpass any complex move one developed from theory and lone practicing. Yet she still won and… got a new responsibility. One that was simpler to rule as ruthlessly as her personality demanded.

After staring through the window as the usual dinner unfolded, her eyes widened the moment she saw the Faunus guard finally leave earlier than usual. Peeking at the retreating woman, Raven started to prepare her mind for the grand plan she had elaborated.

Once night fell on the capital of Menagerie, she entered through the open window that led to the living room in her avian form, her eyes darting between the closed doors as she remembered where the young man had gone last.

Flying quietly, she managed to pass through the small opening left by the semi-open door, her sight fixed on her prize. Sheets were covering his full form, even his face was hardly visible in that bundle and… she jumped in action.

Transforming back to human, she went to close the door as quietly as she could afford, tip-toeing back to the bed as she slowly moved away the cover from his face-

Only to be greeted by the familiar barrel of a very, very familiar shotgun.

His eyes were already open, he knew she was coming and… he had set up an ambush. And she had forgotten to bring a blade on her.

"Raven Branwen."

Even through facing insane odds and an unknown face, a small smile twitched on her face.

At least he knew who she was.