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Mm.

[ Family. That makes sense. Now he feels bad for feeling jealous for even a moment. Just as he had a place to come home to, so did she. ]

... What's she like? Weiss.

[ And here she is wondering why Yata even brought Blake up at all. This dork. ]

... She takes a lot of things seriously, and she's definitely not afraid to speak her mind. She can be fussy, too.

She sounds like a pain.

But she's our pain, so be nice if she ever shows up.

Yeah, yeah. You don't haveta tell me.

[ Gosh, Yang. Although a little annoyed that he has to be reminded, Yata starts eating again, scooping one of the last spoonfuls of rice into his mouth. ]

An all-girl team, huh...

[ she can just sense the arguments in the future... ]

Yeah-- well, there are all-guy teams, too, and Jaune's team is half-and-half. It really all just depends on who you ended up working well with.

So it ain't random? Who's Jaune?

[ YOUR BOYFRIEND?? No, he knows better than to tease her about that. ]

One of my schoolmates! He's the leader of one of the teams, even if he's... actually pretty awkward.

There's a story behind that, right?

[ Does he hit on Weiss? Vomit on airships? Take on the role of the resident buttmonkey? ]

Well, yeah. He tried to hit on Weiss once, and she shut him down in a matter of... what was it, four words?

[ Yata counts on his fingers as he tries to figure out what Weiss said. "Leave me alone."? Wait, that's three words. Anyway, what a guy. Jaune must be a super nerd. Not that Yata can say anything about it... ]

Who made him leader anyway?

The headmaster of Beacon. Once he decides, that's that. And I don't think he chose wrong.

[ His team seemed pretty close-knit. ]

[ Yata hums in thought. That's right, Mikoto never chose who'd take the helm of HOMRA...

But wait. ]

Then who's your team leader?

Ruby!

[ Are you surprised, Yata? ]

[ He nearly falls out of his seat. ]

SERIOUSLY!? [ But she's also so... so awkward. Not leader material. He can't say that in front of Yang, though. ] Uh, I mean...! Why?

Because she's Ruby! She knows how to keep her head in a crisis. And out of everyone, she's always known what she's wanted to do, and why.

[ He stops and thinks—for a second. ] You mean that's not you?

... I thought I knew. [ she smiles, vaguely, down at her plate. ] But someone questioned me on it, and now... I'm not so sure.

[ Yata's mildly surprised by her answer, but he won't let it go without some teasing. With a grin, he points at her with a spoon. ]

Heh... So you're a kid after all.

I think I'm still better off than you in a lot of ways, old-timer.

[ flat. ]

Hey!

[ But he only takes offense for so long before settling back into a neutral expression. So Yang worries about these sorts of things...]

Well, I'm me. They said I wouldn't get anywhere, but which one of us is actually making a difference, yeah? [ But that was in the past. ]

Back then, I hated everything, and I didn't know how to do it, but I wanted to change the world. Nowadays, I'm just glad there's HOMRA. [ He looks back down at his hands. ] HOMRA changed my world, so I wanna protect it. That's what I wanna do for the rest of my life. Nothing would make me happier, you know?

[ For a moment, his smile tightens and he glances up at her. ]

So, um... What about you? What makes you happy?

Thrill-seeking, honestly... [ but that reminds her too much of what she'd told Oobleck, and how he'd responded, as though he'd expected more from her. Some great, noble reason about defending humanity, maybe, but even the others had reasons they'd admitted to. As for hers... ]

That's the problem. That's what makes me happiest, but I'm pretty sure that's not the only reason why I fight. I mean, if it was, that'd make me pretty shallow.

Haha, yeah... Well, you still got a long way ahead of ya, so you'll find it soon. [ A pause. ] With Mikoto-san gone, I still dunno what to do myself, but at least I know what's important.

You could do what we do here? You know, run into criminals, beat 'em up...

We've always done that.

[ A wry smile as he looks at his plate. ]

But I gotta get the gang back together first.

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