"All… Four… Limbs…" Blake repeated, sounding stunned. Weiss didn't respond, and Yang rolled over again, back towards the discussion. Haruka's opening up a lot quicker than she opened up to Dad, Uncle Qrow, and I, but, then again, we got told about magic on day one, and she hasn't said a thing about that yet. And she did explain that she's not supposed to tell anyone who doesn't absolutely need to know, so she probably won't say a word about that…
Yang mentally shook off her thoughts and turned back to the conversation, just in time for Blake to round on her, the girl's voice accusing.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did." Yang casually confirmed, with a calmness she really didn't feel. "Haruka's lived with me the last few months, remember?" Blake glared at her, opening her mouth to say something, before apparently changing her mind, turning back to Haruka.
It was Weiss who spoke up next, however.
"How can you be so calm about that!?" She nearly shouted, her voice's volume only lowered just enough so as to not wake the teams in the neighboring rooms.
"About what, getting blown up? Or having over half of my body replaced by cybernetics?" Haruka asked.
"Both!" At that, the Knight shrugged again.
"I was unconscious before the blast registered, and I only awoke a few times afterwards, at least, before the surgeries were complete. I only woke up on the operating table once." She noted with the same casualness as if she were discussing the weather. What!? Now, THAT, you didn't tell me!
"You… Woke up… On the operating table." Blake sounded a mixture of disgusted and horrified. "Did the doctors not even care to sedate you!?"
Haruka's head snapped up, something approaching anger clear on her face.
"Of course Doctor Scaglietti did! He is the best in the field, it is not his fault I had an unusual and varying resistance to the sedatives! And he stopped immediately when he realized I had regained consciousness. Well, almost immediately, he finished replacing my spine first. Bad idea to leave that undone. And I asked him to finish." She explained, to the growing horror of her audience. "It was not that bad." She added defensively, as she noticed the expressions of the other three. "Uno gave me a local anesthetic so that it would not hurt too much."
"Uno?" Yang asked, trying to push aside her horror, to focus on something different, hopefully to distract herself. "You've mentioned her before, but you never told me who she is…"
"Uno is Doctor Scaglietti's eldest daughter. She looks like a younger, female copy of him." Haruka noted with amusement. "And she is just as intelligent and skilled, if less experienced, than he is. Of course, all of his daughters are quite intelligent, even if some of them don't exactly show it."
"Sounds like a story there." Weiss commented, none of her earlier emotions showing on her face. Mood swing, much?
Yang gave her a look, and Weiss explained.
"Emotional compartmentalization. A skill I had to learn young. Anyway, Haruka, you were saying?"
Haruka began to speak, but Blake interrupted before she could say anything.
"So, we're just… Going to let all that go? We're just going to ignore what you just told us!?"
Haruka gave her an annoyed look.
"Considering that I am the one it happened to, yes, we are. I would much prefer to talk about my siblings than about my injuries. Despite the fact that I do not honestly have any… I think the phrase is 'hang-ups', about my cybernetics. I am not exactly able to share the full details, as such information is classified. I have already skirted the boundaries of what I am allowed to say. For this I apologize, but I will not reveal classified information without orders to do so."
"So you are military." Blake observed. "Let me guess, Atlesian?" She queried, crossing her arms across her chest. Not even close, Blakey. Also, it took you long enough to figure that out.
"I am a field-commissioned officer, yes. But the military I belong to is classified. And besides, my rank is not the title I prefer." Came a flat response. Blake raised an eyebrow at the Knight, who responded with another look of annoyance.
"Was lässt dich glauben, dass ich verpflichtet bin, es dir zu sagen?" Haruka asked the black-haired girl a question in Belkan, sounding more than slightly annoyed. Something about obligations and telling things?
Everyone looked at their team's leader, who simply looked back, matching expressions of confusion with one of annoyance.
"Translation, please?" Yang requested. Or just teach me more of Belkan…
Haruka looked at her, then sighed, bringing up one had to rub at the side of her head.
"I said something sort of rude. But, my point was, why should I give out classified information?" The Knight stated, before she sighed again, rubbed at her head with both hands, and yawned. Almost as if on cue, the other three members of team RWBY yawned themselves.
"Sleep on things? Keep discussing in the morning?" Yang suggested, yawning again.
Blake looked at her like she was insane, but Weiss nodded her agreement. Like either of them's going to get any sleep after that.
"Just, one last thing." Haruka spoke up again. "Nothing leaves this room. Please."
"I agree." Weiss stated. "None of what any of us said should be spoken of at all outside ourselves or where we could be overheard."
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Yang added her support.
Blake sighed, and nodded her own agreement.
"Fine. But this discussion isn't over, just… Postponed."
***
"So, where to, first?" Yang asked the other members of team RWBY. The four of them stood on the street curb directly in front of the Vale-Beacon airdock, having just come from the academy. It was, after all, a weekend, and Yang had taken charge, declaring that since no one had an idea of what to do, they would all go into Vale, and from there, decide on how to pass the time. It was a miniature vacation, of a sort, as Yang had said.
And given how awkward the last week had been, they needed it, in Weiss's opinion.
While the topics of Haruka's military service and cybernetics hadn't actually been brought up again, Blake, at least, had been treading very carefully around the girl, while Weiss had a very hard time restraining her curiosity. Only Yang had been relatively unaffected by the disclosures, but she had also lived with Haruka for a few months, and had privately confirmed to Weiss that she knew significantly more. However, she wasn't telling any of what she knew either, citing that she would not betray Haruka's confidence. She could at least explain why Haruka is wearing an armored nun's habit, of all things, though.
"How about a restaurant?" Blake suggested, one hand on her stomach.
"I told you you were going to miss breakfast, and you didn't believe me." Yang teased.
"Shush." Blake responded, grinning lightly.
"What do you think?" Weiss asked their quiet leader, who shrugged in response.
"I do not have any preference on where we go. With one exception; I steadfastly refuse to enter any place solely picked by Yang. As a result of certain events I will not speak of." Haruka's tone became vaguely affronted during the final sentence.
"Oh, come on. That was once, and I thought you'd appreciate it!" The blonde brawler protested.
"Well, I did not." Came the flat response.
"I know, just… Please, let me live that down."
"It was last weekend. Maybe in a few more weeks." Haruka told her, as Weiss looked at Blake in confusion, who just shrugged at her. There's a story there…
"I think that's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?" Yang sighed. "Anyway, there's this noodle place that does really good Mistralian food down at the corner of forty-second and central. Transit station's less than a block away, sound like a plan?" She continued.
"I'm fine with that." Blake responded.
"Sounds like a plan." Weiss agreed.
Haruka didn't say anything, and when the other three looked over, she was gazing up at the sky with a blank expression, before her face split into a grin.
"Verbindung wiederhergestellt."
"Uh… Haruka?" Yang looked confused, mirroring the expression on Blake's face. Weiss didn't bother hiding her own expression of confusion and curiosity.
Haruka lowered her gaze, the grin still on her face. It wasn't any sort of feral expression, either, but a genuine smile. Why are you so happy all of a sudden?
"Do not worry about it. Now, was a plan decided on?" She asked.
"Uhh… We decided on a Mistralian noodle place off of forty-second and central." Yang told her, to which Haruka nodded, and set off in the direction of the nearest public transit station.
"Well, are you three coming along?" The team's leader called out over her shoulder.
The three in question looked at each other in silent confusion over the sudden mood swing, before Yang and Weiss shrugged and followed.
Weiss heard Blake sigh and mutter something she didn't quite catch, before the last member of Team NWBY followed.