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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.

Will that be hard to do?

I dunno.

[ Now that he thinks about it, HOMRA is like home to him, but he never considered how the others felt about it. It all seemed like they didn't care that day they disbanded. After Mikoto died, did they really have no other reason to stay? ]

Totsuka-san says a goal's enough to unite everyone. I just gotta find it.

...Haha, jeez! I'm boring you with this talk, ain't I? Sorry.

...

[ She's just going to reach out and rest a hand on his head, shaking her own. ]

Nah. I'll be rooting for you, Yata.

[ Yata pouts as his cheeks turn red. ]

... Don't pat me...

[ He'd push her hand away, but some physical contact is better than none. ]

It's a pat of moral support! Endure it.

More like a pat from my mom after she gives me lunch money... I'm older than you, you know!

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