"Whoa..."
"...I must admit, this is some impressive work."
I just grunted at Blake and Weiss's words as I painted the last of the brush strokes full of the wood stain I just bought from Vale for this project specifically.
In essence, it isn't all that much hard work.
I just had to rearrange a few beams here and there, add in some reinforcements with a few pieces of wood, nails, and brackets, steps for climbing up and down,and boom, bunk beds.
"They should be dry in an hour at most. After that, they are all yours."
Ruby happily jumped onto my back while Yang gave a thumbs-up.
"Looks pretty good!"
"Thanks, Ignis!! Now we don't have to rely on the original plan!"
I just patted Ruby's head.
"It really wasn't much, Rubes. Especially compared to what I did back home. Remember the kitchen renovation?"
The girl immediately had an embarrassed expression.
She was 12-years-old when she made her first venture into the kitchen and chose cookies as her first recipe, typical of Ruby.
Needless to say, it was a complete disaster.
By the time Tai and I returned home, the kitchen was a charred mess with Ruby completely covered in soot head to toe. As for Yang, she was hanging out with her friends at that time, so she didn't know about any of this until much later.
It took Tai and I nearly a week to renovate the kitchen.
It could be said that in the past five years I've spent at the Xiao-Long/Rose house, I've taken part in a lot of renovation projects, the majority of which originate from one mishap or another from either Ruby or Yang, and on rare occasions, Qrow.
And even before that, back on Earth, I used to make a lot of stuff for Sam ever since she was a baby, starting from that DIY cradle that she used throughout her infancy all the way to that custom Barbie bed I made for her, the last gift I ever gave her before I woke up in this world.
'Is it a good thing that I can think about them and not feel as much of a mess as I used to before? A sign that I am finally starting to come to terms with it all?'
'Or is it a bad sign? That I am starting to lose my emotional attachment to them as well?'
'Too bad I can't go to a therapist with this kind of problem. While the very nature of a therapist is that of confidentiality, I cannot truly speak about things like this willy-nilly. Especially in a world like this, where someone might have some telepathic or brainwashing Semblance.'
I watched with amusement as Ruby claimed the top bunk along with Yang, while Weiss settled into the bunk below Ruby, and Blake settled into the one below Yang.
As for my bed, it is still in the same corner as before, not as cramped as it used to be since a lot of space was cleared up with the bunk bed setup.
After storing away all the woodworking stuff I got from Vale, I sat down at the desk and spoke up, catching the attention of the girls.
"Alright. From what we've seen today, we will have to have our own study sessions if we want to keep our grades up."
The girls grimaced at my words while Weiss and Blake nodded in agreement.
Port's class is a bust. That guy seems to love speaking more about his made-up stories than actually teaching. I checked with the senior years, and apparently, it doesn't get better. It just gets worse as the days go by. That means Grimm Studies has to be self-study.
The same goes for Professor Oobleck, but for a different reason entirely.
That man speaks as if he has access to the speed force or something. Either that, or he is high on sugar.
Either way, his lecture is far too fast for most people to follow. Even I have to kick my Semblance up a notch, barely under the threshold where its effects manifest in a physical manner, to keep up with his lecture. I can't imagine how much worse it is for the girls who don't have access to such a convenient Semblance as my own.
These two are going to be the biggest hurdles during our years at Beacon, that is for sure.
Ruby took out her little diary and started looking at the schedules.
"I am thinking, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we can tackle Grimm Studies since that subject has more content comparatively. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we can use for History."
"What about Saturday and Sunday? Why waste perfectly good days?"
Ruby rubbed her head nervously at Weiss's question.
"Well, I'm planning on using Saturdays to catch up with what I've missed in Signal, and Sundays are for relaxing."
Weiss looked like she wanted to say something before taking a deep breath and nodding.
"Fair. I agree to the plan."
....Huh? Did these two make up that quickly? It's only been a few hours since I gave her that talk, though?
'Not bad, Weiss Schnee. Not bad at all. You have my respect.'
'And credit where credit's due. This is the first time I've seen Ruby deciding to study of her own accord when either Tai or I had to force her to do her homework.'
I felt pride bloom in my chest at Ruby's proactiveness.
"What about you two? Any opinions?"
Yang just shrugged at my question while Blake shook her head, showing no objection.
"Alright then, I guess it's decided. That just leaves combat practice. Where do we cram that in?"
Weiss extended her hand to Ruby, who placed her diary in the heiress's hand.
She flipped through the schedules for a bit before speaking up.
"There are free periods every Wednesday right after Plant Studies in the afternoon. We can use them. Especially since that free period marks the end of classes for Wednesday, so we can practice combat and then come back to our room for Grimm Studies, then hit the bed."
I nodded at the suggestion.
"No objections, girls?"
"No issues on my end."
"Sure thing!"
"I don't mind either."
"Then it is decided."
With our schedule decided, we descended into some regular talk about random things.
But at the back of my mind, I couldn't help but feel like we've finally taken a step in the right direction.
'Perhaps, we really will get through this year without much of an incident. Especially if I can solve that ticking time bomb in the form of Blake's heritage.'
I felt a smile form on my face at those thoughts as Weiss and Ruby argued good-naturedly over something.
'Yes. This year really will be a good one.'