Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Coco looked at herself critically in the changing room mirror, which she’d had to wait to use after two other preening wannabe huntresses with long eyelashes and sticky out skirts. Why did she look so young? Or maybe it was just her face, with its big brown eyes and anxious expression, which she quickly did her best to rearrange. Or her new haircut, which she thought she loved but still wasn’t sure about. Still. No looking anxious. So what if she didn’t know anyone? That was the beauty of it. A new start. A new chance to recreate Coco Adel.

There would be no more hiding. No more reading fashion magazines alone in some corner. No more sticking to the sidelines. Huntresses weren’t shy. Huntresses were cool.

Coco had to be cool. And the best start to being cool was looking cool.

Coco was still proud of the combat ensemble she’d put together, particularly the boots, but as she looked at herself she felt like it lacked a little something she couldn’t put her finger on.

Rummaging in her cases, she threw on a scarf she found and added some fingerless gloves before deciding they made it look as though she were expecting to be caught in a snowstorm. That was possibly too cool. She liked the scarf though. It had been a purchase from Atlas where she’d gone skiing with her mother. The skiing had been fun- until a pack of Grimm had decided to join in, anyway.

She rifled through her things. Luckily, her mother was interested in fashion herself and all too eager to hand over her credit card in the name of superior style. Coco was good at hunting out bargains- even so her clothing alone was worth hundreds of dollars. So why couldn’t she find what she needed?

There was a distant sound of a bell ringing and Coco realised she didn’t have much time left before making her decision. She seized a handful of material from her bag and found a beret, also from Atlas.

Coco tried it on and then blinked.

It would do.

XxX

The locker rooms were still busy as students dashed about looking for where they’d stashed their gear. Coco withdrew her gun and dark glasses as she scanned the room for Fox, a boy she’d noticed the previous day who had been staring at his locker like it was a great wonder of the universe. She couldn't see him anywhere, which was disappointing. She'd hoped that they might ride into the Emerald Forest together.

XxX

The previous day

“You OK there?” she’d asked Fox. She couldn't see his face but had noticed the way he was just standing in front of his locker, not moving. He hadn’t responded at first.

“Hello? You OK?” she said more loudly.

“...Are you talkin’ to me?” he said. It came out a little aggressive and Coco’s heart gave a little jump but she schooled her features to show no reaction.
“That’s right, bud,” she said.

“I would say ‘I can see that.’ But y’know…”

He turned to face her properly. His eyes were pure white. No pupils.

Apologising would have been patronising, she thought, and she didn’t do apologies anyway. Maybe she’d do the next best thing.

“I could help you. If you want,” she said.

He looked like he was going to tell her to get stuffed and Coco was sorry she asked. But then he said:

“Maybe if you could just teach me how to physically open it. It’s unlocked but I can’t feel how the latch is supposed to go. It’s a pain in the ass.”

“Got it,” said Coco. She decided the best thing to do was to pretend any awkwardness she felt about touching a total stranger didn’t exist and just get on with it. New, cool Coco reached out and took his hand by the wrist. She moved it so it was on the door. “You feel this part here?” she said, running his hand over the clicky switch thing that sprung the locker open. He nodded and she continued. “You just flick this part up and there you go.”

“Thanks. That was really nice of you,” said the boy.

“Any time,” said Coco.

Pause.

“Stick around and I might buy you a coffee to say thanks. Might.”

He had smiled then and it suited his face so well that Coco had been charmed enough to stick around (which took no small amount of charm). It wasn’t like she had anywhere else to be anyway.

XxX

The chopper ride was short and sweet. Professor Ozpin had informed them in a roundabout way that this trip out would decide their teams for the next two years. During orientation, Coco had kept to herself and tried to learn about as many people as possible. There was the Faunus rabbit girl who stood out because of her ears, but she looked so tiny that Coco concluded one sneeze from a Grimm would send her flying. Probably not someone she wanted on her team. Fox was on board too, but he’d been late and was sat at the very back. He likely had no idea she was there and she didn’t really want to call out to him and make a big fuss. She liked Fox (and that he’d tried to chat her up over coffee) but...she worried his visual handicap might make him a poor choice of teammate. If she was putting her life on the line, she felt it would be better to have teammates with the maximum number of senses.

...Even though she knew it made sense, she still felt like an ass. He’d passed the exams to get into Beacon, hadn’t he? Maybe she’d go for Fox after all...

She tried to quickly scope out the other new candidates she had to work with. There were nineteen to choose from. Some of them appeared to know each other already and there was a low hum of anticipatory chatter.

Coco, however, was seated next to a burly guy in green who didn’t attempt to chat. He looked like he could pick her up and throw her using only one arm. More importantly, he looked like he might be able to do the same to any Grimm that came sniffing around.

She chose her words carefully, all the while remembering the cool girl image she wanted to carefully cultivate.

“The name’s Coco,” she said, faux casually. As though they’d just bumped into each other on the street.

“...Yatsuhashi,” he said. But he didn’t give her anything else to work with. He didn’t even look at her. Coco angled her head so she could follow his gaze.

He was staring at the tiny Faunus girl with long rabbit ears a few seats down. She was sitting with her head bowed so her ears tipped forwards slightly. Everything about her posture was just screaming out that she didn’t want to be noticed. It was something Coco recognised...maybe even remembered, once upon a time.

“You know her?” she asked. Although she posed it as a question, it wasn’t really. It was pretty obvious.

“Yes,” said Yatsuhashi. He didn’t elaborate. Coco could feel herself getting frustrated. If he wanted to be all stoic, fine! What, he was too good to talk to her or something? Maybe it was time to try a different conversational tactic. A more provocative one.

“She doesn’t look like a huntress,” said Coco. She was hoping he’d flare up and she’d get a long drawn out resume of Faunus girl’s powers. Or at least her name.

“Neither do you,” said Yatsuhashi, not moving his gaze. “You look like a runway model.”

Coco paused for a beat. Out of anyone else’s mouth, it would have sounded flirty or admiring or envious. But Yatsuhashi just said it like it was a fact, which was even better. Hell, he could be on Team Coco just for that one simple remark!

The chopper had landed before she came up with a way to broach the subject.

XxX

The students were hushed and moved into position on the top of a very large cliff. The forest spread out before them, lush and green. Coco remembered her old video games- the characters always started off somewhere green and colourful and bright and simple. This was initiation alright. There were Grimm in the area, but it was well known that they weren’t all that tough. A round of her specially made bullets would soon put them in their place. Coco’s grip tightened on her chic little bag of firepower. Strange to think her life depended on the thing.

Ozpin blathered on about trials and tests and character building. Blah, blah, blah. The first person she made eye contact with would be her teammate. They would all need to come up with a landing strategy. Something about retrieving chess pieces.

She looked for Fox. He was seven heads down in the line. Yatsuhashi was right next to her. Which one should she go for…?

Before she could choose, she was flying. And then falling.

XxX

Coco would be the first to admit that her landing strategy wasn’t all it could be. Her weapon wasn’t the lightest and it immediately had her plunging to a messy end in the scratchy tree branches below. She hissed, had the bag transform into gun mode to slow her momentum and fired a couple of times to propel herself into a clearing, where she landed with a heavy thump. Her aura stopped her legs from shattering on impact from the ground. Coco caught her breath and waited for her heart rate to return to normal. She folded the gun away and stood all the way up. Miraculously, her beret was fluttering down from the sky to meet her and she caught it deftly and placed it on her head. Even more miraculously, her shades had stayed in place. Perhaps her strategy had been fine after all.

OK. Now what? She’d glimpsed a ruin while in the air that was probably her destination but...which way was that? As she peered up through the branches, she could see other members of her class falling and flying over her. She guessed they were being thrown towards the target, not away from it and headed in the same direction. She trod lightly, knowing that she’d probably have to face some Grimm sooner or later.

The walk was actually pretty nice. The sounds of the forest were soothing and the colours of the trees vivid and lively. There was a light thud somewhere in the distance- someone had landed. Coco paused. Should she head towards them?

In the opposite direction, she could hear water. She was fairly certain the ruins had been by a river. So the water should lead her right to her destination. She was bound to meet up with someone who had thought something similar at some point.

The walk towards the water began to get a little frustrating. Coco griped with thorns so sharp that they threatened to tear her clothes, which just wasn’t on. She was about to give up and try a different route when she heard the unmistakable call of a Creature of Grimm. It hadn’t come from far away. Then she heard an incredible crackling sound and another roar.

Someone was fighting. And even if they’d killed the Grimm in question, its cry had most likely begun to summon its buddies. Whoever had finished off the one would now face two or three or more. Coco headed towards the noise- not far now. Sure enough she heard more fighting, more roars. Then a human sounding scream.

“Enough,” said Coco through gritted teeth as yet another thorn snagged her right sleeve.

She got out her gun and shot herself a path through the dense thorns and shrubbery.

“H-hello?” someone called from a dark clearing up ahead. A girl’s voice. Coco’s new partner was a girl, then. “Is someone there?”

Coco put on her sexiest strut and strode into the clearing, gun hanging off her shoulder. She lowered her dark glasses to look her new partner in the eyes.

It was the little rabbit Faunus. And Coco didn’t mind a bit. Because at her feet were the remains of three Grimm, still gently fading away.

Chapter Text

“What’s your name?” said Coco, pushing the glasses back into place.

“V-Velvet…” she said.

Coco didn’t usually go all gooey over cuteness but this girl...Coco wanted to pinch her cheeks and pat her on the head. Strange how someone unafraid of Grimm seemed so frightened of people.

“Welcome to Team Coco,” she said. Then she held out her hand to shake, hoping it might make Velvet a bit less nervous. “I’m Coco. Obviously.”

Velvet shook her hand gingerly.

“We should move,” said Coco, “There’ll be more on the way.”

XxX

They continued to follow the river. The path was narrow and they had to move in single file to avoid the thick foliage. Coco did her best to find firm footholds in the sandy banks. The last thing she wanted was to tumble head first into the river. Who knew what lurked there? She certainly wasn’t in any hurry to find out.

Velvet followed behind her. While Coco couldn’t seem to avoid noisily crunching branches and kicking up stones, she moved completely silently. So silently that Coco had to keep glancing back to make sure she was still there.

I should try and make conversation thought Coco. Her conversational repertoire, however, was limited to guns and glamour. Although she could ask…

“Do you know Yatsuhashi from somewhere? He seemed to be keeping a pretty close eye on you earlier,” she said.

“Y-yes. I’ve known him most of my life,” said Velvet. “I was looking for him…”

“But you got me instead.”

“Maybe we could still look for him?” said Velvet.

“I guess I know where I’m not wanted,” said Coco. She laughed too loudly, hoping it might quell the sinking feeling she was getting. She obviously wasn’t the partner Velvet wanted, despite the Faunus being too polite to say so.

“Oh n-no, I didn’t mean-”

Coco turned and held her hand up, the universal sign for ‘stop’. Velvet stopped.

“Look, it’s cool with me if you want to pretend we never met. You can go and find Yatsuhashi and-”
Before Coco could finish, there was a sudden rush of water and she could hear heavy breathing. Something big and black had emerged from the water and it was heading straight for them.

Coco didn’t have to time to act, only time to react. She leapt in front of Velvet and used her bag as a shield as best she could. The force combined with her aura managed to stop the enormous jaw filled with razor sharp teeth closing upon them. The Grimm snapped its mouth closed and turned, its body creating a massive tidal wave that swept towards them. Coco felt Velvet’s hands grab her round the waist. For such a tiny girl, she seemed to have great strength. The two of them stayed stuck to the spot until the water receded.

The Grimm was a kind that Coco had never seen before. She did know, from old history books, that it resembled a sea-faring mammal called a killer whale.

“Get away from the water!” said Velvet, pulling her arm urgently. “It’s coming back.”

The two of them stumbled up from the river bank to the safety of the forest. Through the trees, Coco could still see the Grimm circling in the middle of the river.

“You saved me,” said Velvet. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” said Coco, catching her breath. She wanted to be cool but- for a moment there, she’d thought they were both goners.

“Let’s forget everyone and everything else and just keep going,” said Velvet. “We can’t be too far from the ruins.”

“Got it,” said Coco.

XxX

Thankfully, they soon saw the ruins. It seemed like they were the first there- they couldn’t see any of their classmates. However…

A wide stretch of river lay between them and their goal. They were on the wrong side. And worse was that in the river Coco could make out the dorsal fins of a whale Grimm. Whether it was the same one from earlier or a different one didn’t make much difference; it was still a problem.

As if to confirm their worries, the Grimm suddenly surged up from the water, its body vertical, so it could look directly at them with one menacing eye.

“It knows we’re here,” said Velvet. “I don’t think we can just jump or swim across.”

“Not unless we want to be lunch,” said Coco. “We’ve got no choice. Why should we find another way when our goal is right there? We want to be huntresses. So let’s hunt!”

Velvet hesitated. But then she nodded.

XxX

“Hey, Flipper!” said Coco. “I’m going to show you exactly what you’re dealing with.”

She strode towards the water, swinging her gun. She activated it and aimed it at the water. ‘Flipper’ leapt out of once again and looked her squarely in the eye. As it landed back in the water, Coco was already firing. A spray of bullets hit but she could only reach the bony white armour that extended across the Grimm’s back, even covering its dorsal fin. She needed to reach the vulnerable parts that were hidden beneath the water- but Flipper wasn’t in any hurry to leap out again. Instead, it was coming round to attack her, as before. But this time, Coco was prepared for both the lunge of jaws and the tidal wave that would follow. She deftly leapt out of reach and fired out another round. In retaliation, the Grimm dove beneath the water. Using its long tail flippers, Coco could see that it was stopping her bullets dead. They dropped into the water with a few pathetic splashes, useless chunks of metal.

She shot a glance towards where Velvet had been- but she was gone. Coco gritted her teeth. The plan had been for her to keep the Grimm busy while Velvet searched for an opening- but had she just turned tail and run instead? Coco fought back the panic and gently reminded herself that as long as she was on land, she would be fine.

(And more importantly, if she panicked it would only bring more Grimm.)

The whale began to spin, sending out a tornado of water that Coco couldn’t avoid. Her feet were taken out from under her and she fell ungracefully to the ground. She clutched her gun- perhaps there was something else she could try? Whales...whales...what did she know about whales?

A minute or two later and she was firing bullets into the water itself. The bullets wouldn’t harm the Grimm (more’s the pity) but they would confuse it. Whales use echolocation to find prey...but with so many bullets hitting the water, it would be hard for it to sort through the noise and find her, giving Coco the element of surprise.

There was suddenly a blinding glimmer and then Velvet was standing next to her, looking pleased. Coco looked back at the water and saw the shape of the Grimm illuminated in brilliant yellow light.

“That should-” Velvet began but then there was an unearthly cry and yet more water was being flung towards them. Velvet screamed and Coco could feel herself being swept away. Once again, she reached for her gun but it had gone and she was looking directly into the jaws of the Grimm...she squeezed her eyes shut and then there was a loud THUD!

When she opened her eyes she could see none other than Yatsuhashi standing atop the Grimm, his giant sword slicing through from the top of the Grimm’s head right down through its open jaw.

As Coco backed away, the Grimm writhed in pain. A sudden spray of bullets from the shore soon put it out of his misery. Coco turned to see Fox giving her a wry smile. He was holding her gun. Coco felt a brief burst of annoyance that someone else had used her weapon- but it gave way to relief when she saw Velvet standing next to Fox, unharmed.

“You’re welcome,” grunted Yatsuhashi from behind her.

“Thanks,” Coco managed.

She managed to find the bottom of the river her with feet and, as she was soaked through anyway, trudged her way to the other side where the ruins were. Yatsuhashi splashed along beside her companionably. She retrieved her beret from where it had been flung into some pondweed. When she looked up, Fox was standing in front of her.

“Looking for this?” he asked. And he handed back her gun.

“Thanks,” she said. “Glad you made it.”

“C-Coco!” Velvet said, coming up from behind him. “I really thought that would be enough dust! I’m s-sorry!”

“I thought you’d run for the hills,” Coco confessed. “And left me to face it alone. So- no need to apologise. I’m just glad you stayed.”

“Without us, you’d be Grimm chow,” said Yatsuhashi, casually. “I think you should buy us dinner, Coco. Don’t you, Fox?”

“Absolutely one hundred per cent,” he agreed.

Coco folded her arms. “I was supposed to distract it. Without me, it would have heard you guys coming a mile off. Especially you,” she said, nodding at Yatsuhashi. “However...I’ll buy dinner. On the condition you all agree you’re on Team Coco.”

The decision was unanimous.