Chapter 3

"Come on Naoto, they don't serve lunch all day." Yosuke complained. Naoto had gone into the closet to change into her uniform but had not come out.

"I'm not hungry." Naoto said through the door.

"You're going to have to come out sometime." Yu said. "I know you're embarrassed but I'm sure you'll be fine. We've got afternoon classes too. We can't miss them on our first day." There was no response.

"I'm coming in." Rise announced. She pushed through the door and it slammed shut behind her. "What are you worried about?" She asked, her voice carrying through into the room. "You look great. Let's go." There was a commotion and Naoto tried to talk her way out of it. Rise was eventually able to shove her out into the room.

Naoto's face was bright red. With one hand she tugged on her skirt as if that would make it longer. With the other she pulled her hat down over her face. "Why does it have to be so short?" She asked of no one in particular.

"Now that we've solved that, let's go eat." Rise said.

"Do we have to?" Naoto groaned. "It's bad enough that you guys have to see me dressed like this."

"There are only two other students who even know who you are." Yu assured her. "I don't think anyone will pay any attention to us."

"Hello there." Sho said as he walked into the warehouse. The three who had pulled the man out of the train the day before stared at him in shock. "Nice operation you've got here, criminal I assume. How'd you end up with so much dust? It must have been a steal." He laughed hysterically.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" The woman who appeared to be the leader asked. Flame shot from her eyes and hands. The other woman drew twin blades while the man took up a fighting stance.

"Calm down, I'm on your side." Sho said. "I saw what you did to your pal back in the city. You plan must have gone to shit for you to have to turn in one of your own. Still, it seems like you're the best crew in town and I'd like to lend my services."

"Why would we trust you?" The fiery woman asked.

"How about I break your buddy out of jail?" Sho offered. "Will that prove my loyalty?"

"Don't you think we'd do it ourselves if it was possible?" The green haired girl said. "It's a maximum security military facility. It would be suicide."

"Suicide huh?" The man said. "I'd encourage our guest to go for it then."

"You don't know who you're dealing with." Sho warned. The fiery woman, with the other two just behind her, stared at him threateningly. "I'll show you." With that he disappeared. Suddenly he was between the man and the green haired woman, his blades held out to their throats. "No prison could hold me or anyone I want out." The two pushed his blades away simultaneously. The woman punched at him while the man went for a kick. He disappeared again, leaving them to hit each other. This time he reappeared behind the fiery woman with the gun portion of his weapons pointed at her head. "I'm not above a hostile takeover but I'd prefer to work with you." He said.

"I think we can find a place for you." The fiery woman said casually, seemingly unconcerned by the guns pointed at her skull. "Free Roman if you can and then we'll talk."

YYRN got their food and went to look for a place in the dining hall where they could sit. It was an impressive place and the selection of food was amazing. It was crowded and a bit loud but that was to be expected.

"Hey!" Nora shouted from across the room, waving frantically at YYRN. "Sit here with us!" Sitting beside her, Ren sighed heavily.

"No one will pay attention to us huh?" Naoto said with a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"Well, it would be impolite to not join them." Yosuke said as he started walking over. Rise and Yu followed but Naoto hesitated. Her decision was made for her when Nora rushed over, grabbed her arm and began pulling her toward the table. It was all Naoto could do to just avoid dropping her tray. YYRN sat down next to Nora and her team.

"I'm so sorry." Ren said. "She's a little excitable."

"No problem." Yu said. "It's nice to see a friendly face."

"So these are the new students you met this morning?" The blond boy sitting with them asked. "I'm Jaune, leader of Team JNPR. This is Pyrrha, the fourth member of our team."

"Hello." Pyrrha said cheerfully with a polite wave.

Four girls sat across from Team JNPR, displaying varying degrees of amusement at the turn of events. "Sorry, I'm being impolite." Ren said. "This is Team RWBY." He introduced the girls. "Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang." He pointed to each in turn.

"We're Team YYRN." Yosuke said. "I'm Yosuke, this is our leader Yu, Rise and Naoto." Naoto looked like she would die of embarrassment. "She doesn't like skirts." Yosuke explained.

"You look fine." Ruby said, trying to make Naoto more at ease. It appeared to have the opposite effect.

"Better than fine if you ask me." Yang added suggestively. Blake elbowed her in the stomach.

"I hate everything." Naoto sighed.

"So, where are you guys from?" Ruby asked, changing the subject in hopes of giving Naoto a break. Again, it only seemed to make YYRN more agitated.

"It's complicated." Rise said. "I think it's best if we just leave it at not from around here."

"What are you from another planet or something?" Jaune laughed.

"Yes actually." Yu deadpanned. After a moment of silence RWBY and JNPR burst out laughing.

"I wonder…" Adachi thought aloud. He walked up to the TV. It was not a TV exactly, more of a holographic projection, but he was still curious. The news anchor went on and on about the previous day's Grimm attack and the measures being taken in response. It was all terribly boring to Adachi. He took one last look around to make sure he was alone. Then he went for it. He pressed his hand into the display. It flashed white as he sunk through up to the elbow. "I think I'm going to enjoy it here." He laughed.

Teams RWBY and JNPR offered to give YYRN a tour of Vale. Yu decided it would be a good idea to go along. Getting the lay of the land would help in their search for Sho and Adachi after all. It should be fun too. They walked through the city streets as their hosts pointed out interesting landmarks. Ruby seemed to have an obsession with weapon shops and Nora had to be dragged away from her favorite pancake place.

"I'm just happy to be out of that skirt." Naoto said as they walked along. Back in her normal clothes she looked a lot more comfortable. "I wish I could wear the men's uniform. It looks very classy."

"The tie sucks." Yosuke said. "Aside from that it's alright."

"I still don't understand why you don't like the girls' uniform." Rise said. "It looks so cute on you."

"Please stop." Naoto begged.

"I just need to stop in here for a minute." Blake announced as she walked toward a bookstore across the street.

"She's probably buying the new Ninjas of Love." Yang said once Blake was out of earshot.

"Ninjas of Love?" Yosuke said.

"It's smut." Weiss said. "Blake thinks we don't know about her reading it. From how hard she tries to hide it, I'd say she's embarrassed."

"Hey, wait here a moment, I need to get something." Yu said. He ducked into a store without further explanation. A few minutes later he emerged empty-handed.

"They didn't have what you were looking for?" Pyrrha asked.

"No, I'm just having it delivered to Beacon." Yu replied.

"What did you get?" Nora asked excitedly. "Is it a present? Who for?"

"It's just something I need to make the place feel a bit more like home." Yu answered. "You'll see when we get it." Nora looked disappointed for a moment but soon her attention was diverted by something else. Blake soon returned carrying a bag.

"What's in the bag?" Yang asked. "Anything good?"

"Just a book on the history of The War." Blake replied.

"That's so boring." Yang said. "I thought you got something more…stimulating." She said with a wink.

"Of-of course not." Blake said, flustered. "Why are we just standing here? Let's get going. We're wasting time."

Sho casually approached the prison, examining its exterior security. There were guard towers at regular intervals around the perimeter but nothing else in view. It was very dark, cloud cover blocking the moonlight. He silently approached one of the towers. This would be easy. He leapt up to the top, landing on the roof with a thud. He dropped down onto the observation deck and came face-to-face with a confused and terrified guard. Sho was prepared to slice him in two, but the guard stumbled backward, tripped and hit his head, knocking himself unconscious.

"Have a nice trip." Sho laughed. He grabbed the keycard off the guard's belt and jumped down into the prison yard. He teleported to the door that led to the cellblock. He swiped the guard's key over the keypad and the door lock clicked open. He opened the door to find himself in what appeared to be the main guard post.

A single guard sat before a bank of monitors. "Isn't it a little early for your break?" The guard asked without looking up. Sho walked up behind him. The guard turned around and yelped in fear as Sho grabbed him by the head, slamming his face into the monitors. The guard fell flat on his back. He was unconscious or dead, Sho did not really care.

In front of where the guard had been sitting was a series of buttons, one to unlock the door to the cellblock and one for each cell. The cells were helpfully labeled with their occupants' names. He looked down the list. R Torchwick was his man. He slapped the relevant buttons and went in to retrieve Torchwick.

"Now who are you?" Torchwick asked, leaning forward without leaving his cell.

"I'm here to break you out." Sho said. "Now let's get going already."

"If I leave this cell, and alarm will sound." Torchwick informed him. "Every guard in this place will be here in seconds."

"Then we'll have to be quick." Sho growled. He reached into the cell and grabbed Torchwick by the collar before roughly dragging him out. Sure enough, the silence was pierced by the high-pitched screech of the alarm. Torchwick rolled his eyes and took off running for the exit. On his way out he hit all the buttons on the console, releasing all the prisoners. That would keep the guards busy.

Once outside Torchwick raced across the yard. He reached the fence and began climbing. "Amateur." Sho said as he walked up behind him. He wrapped an arm around Torchwick's torso and leapt over the fence. Once they landed Sho dropped him. An airship swept down and hovered in front of them, Mercury and Emerald standing in the open door. "Get on, or do I have to carry you?" Sho said. Torchwick grunted in annoyance and hopped on, immediately followed by Sho. The airship flew low, taking advantage of the terrain to stay hidden as they slipped away into the night.

Ozpin wanted YYRN tested against the best, but Glynda was not about to throw them to the wolves. It was their first full day of classes and she was not going to put one in the ring against someone like Pyrrha. Someone with a bit less skill would have to do. "Our first match today will be Yu Narukami against Cardin Winchester." Glynda announced to the class. If the new guy could take down Cardin he was at least on par with most of the students. If he could not, well, there was little hope for him.

Glynda explained the rules to Yu as he prepared for the match. He was basically supposed to fight until told to stop. As long as no one forfeited, the match would end when one combatant's aura dipped dangerously low. Yu was confident but nervous. He had plenty of experience in combat, but the style was completely different. He could give a good slash with his sword but he was an amateur and knew it. Being able to wield his Persona's powers would be useful, but the new method would take some getting used to. It did not help that he was fighting alone. He was used to always having a team of complementary fighters. He had fought solo before but it was not his preference.

"Begin." Glynda commanded. The buzzer sounded and the match was underway. Yu stood with his hand on the handle of his blade, waiting for his opponent to make the first move. Cardin looked at him with a smug smile and drew his hammer. Cardin charged. Yu converted his weapon into its rifle form and squeezed off a burst. It mostly missed and the shots that found the mark seemed to have no effect. Yu tried to dodge as Cardin closed in but the hammer found his legs and upended him. Yu was a bit surprised to find himself on his back so suddenly but quickly regained his composure and rolled out of the way as Cardin brought his hammer down at him.

Yu needed to gain some distance. He hoped he had Izanagi-no-Okami's skillset but he had not been able to test it yet. He went for it anyway. Reaching his hand out at Cardin he unleashed a gust of wind. The wind smacked Cardin in the chest and knocked him back. Yu scrambled to his feet as Cardin stumbled and again the fighters faced each other. Cardin charged again. This time Yu converted his weapon to its blade form. He laid down a patch of ice in Cardin's path with a sweep of his hand. Cardin slipped, sliding onto his knees as he approached Yu. Yu slashed at Cardin with his blade but Cardin had the presence of mind to deflect the attack. Cardin countered with a swing of his hammer but Yu was able to jump back and out of range. Yu pointed his arm at Cardin and let loose a bolt of lightning. Cardin writhed and fell to the ground twitching. Yu approached with his blade but the buzzer sounded to end the fight. Yu sheathed his blade and stood aside as Cardin was attended to. He was dazed and in some pain but he would be alright. For his part Yu felt pretty good. He was not even particularly tired, just a bit winded.

Glynda was impressed even if she would not show it. Yu had dispatched Cardin with relative ease. Cardin was by no means an elite fighter, but he was skilled enough to defeat plenty of other students. If the other members of YYRN displayed similar skill, Glynda might be able to train them into proper Hunters.

"I thought you weren't coming." Torchwick said.

"We weren't." Emerald said. "This lunatic showed up and volunteered. We figured he would free you or get killed in the process."

"It was a win-win really." Mercury added.

"Keep talking." Sho growled. "See how much I take before I slit your throat."

"Man, I like this kid." Torchwick said, slapping Sho on the back. "You have no idea how much I'd love to see you do that, but unfortunately our boss is a bit attached to them. For now we just have to put up with them."

Team YYRN had a lot of catching up to do. They were months behind the other students and it would take hours of studying to get on track. Yu and Naoto seemed to have no trouble studying for hours at a time but Yosuke and Rise just did not have the attention span. Inside an hour both were asleep. They were awakened by a knock at the door. Yu opened the door to find a deliveryman there with a large box. "Delivery for Yu Narukami." The man said.

"That's me." Yu confirmed.

"Sign here." The deliveryman handed him a clipboard. Yu signed it while the man wheeled a large box into the room. Yu handed the clipboard back as the deliveryman left.

Yu started to close the door but before he could it was pushed open by Nora. Hot on her heels were the rest of JNPR and RWBY. "What'd you get?" Nora asked excitedly.

"You're all going to be very disappointed." Yu said as he ripped the box open. He reached inside and carefully pulled out what he would have called a TV. He hung it on a hook he had prepared earlier and plugged it in.

"I wasn't expecting that." Ruby admitted. "Students here usually don't have the time to do much other than study and train."

"I know, it just makes the place feel a bit more like home." Yu lied. He had it for a very specific reason. If Remnant had an equivalent of the Midnight Channel and the TV world, he wanted to be able to keep track of it. With this he would be able to watch for anyone appearing and have a convenient entrance. He looked at the remote control. It was not like the ones on Earth but the power button was obvious enough. He hit it and the holographic screen flickered on, displaying the news. He was not particularly interested but he needed a moment to figure out how to change the channel.

"Last night there was a daring prison break…" The news anchor started. "All of the prisoners were recaptured except Roman Torchwick, the man responsible for Vale's recent Grimm attack." Yu figured out how to change the channel but before he could Blake snatched the remote and turned up the volume. Team RWBY seemed very interested in the story and very concerned. "…the authorities have released this image of Torchwick and the accomplice that aided in his escape…"

A blurry image filled the screen. Torchwick was with Sho! It was hard to make out the details but the shocking red hair, the twin swords and the outfit were visible enough to figure out who it was. Now Team YYRN was just as interested and concerned. A picture of Torchwick's known associates flashed up next, but everyone was too stunned to pay attention.

"Do you know something about this?" Weiss asked, noticing Team YYRN's alarm.

"The guy with Torchwick, we know him." Yosuke said. "We came to Vale to find him."

"He's a dangerous criminal." Naoto said. "He tried to kill us and destroy our home town."

"We've been trying to stop Torchwick for some time now." Yang said. "He's up to something, but we haven't been able to figure out what. We thought it might be the Grimm attack, but now we don't know. If someone's breaking him out there must be more going on."

"Our enemies are working together." Rise sighed. "This can't be good."

"It's not so bad." Ruby assured them. "We'll just have to work together to stop them."