"It takes many steppingstones, you know, for a man to rise. None can do it unaided" ~ Joe Bonanno "Joe Bananas''
I continued on with business as usual after that night. I made my collections as usual and carried on like nothing had changed to.
But even after all of that O-Ushi was a little distant to me. She really was concerned that I had been pushing myself too hard and that it would lead me behind bars or into an early grave. I myself pondered if she was right.
I had been pushing myself in the business but I had only been doing it for the sake of my mission. Every job I did or lien I made for the Clan I felt like I was getting closer to my goal. At least that was what I was telling myself. Ever since O-Ushi had made me an associate a part of me wondered just how good I could be at this business, I might not ever be more than an associate for the Clan but I wondered just how big of an associate I could be. And the part of me that wanted to take this further and further had grown bigger and bigger at this farce went on.
And I was full of pride. I was proud of what I had built for myself, I was proud of my small illegal businesses, I was proud of running a small crew and pulling in big scores for the Clan, and I was proud to be a part of this neighborhood. I was even a little proud that I had handled the Clan's problems with the 24k Dragons and the Atlesians. Bloody as that had been I was at least happy that my actions had protected the neighborhood, that I had made a blow against the drugs and flesh trafficking in this city. Even though it was supposed to all be a sham I was proud of all I had done, and for the short time I had been here it was a lot.
Perhaps my ambitions did need to be kept in check. But more than that I thought long and hard about O-Ushi's words about being reckless. My little stunt had almost led me to the trunk of a car or the bottom of the harbor, if I was going to continue on I was going to have to be a lot more careful and plan my moves well.
The rest of the Clan took notice of my cut pinky finger. I would catch them looking at my left hand now and then but as the tradition demanded the offense I had committed was considered forgotten. If anyone knew about what I had done they never mentioned it and no one asked me about it. The twins were the only ones to even verbally acknowledge it and they just told me, "it's better to lose a knuckle early, you learn sooner for it," and we went about our date like normal.
The shortened finger was in it's own way a badge of honor to the clan and everyone in the neighborhood who was affiliated with it. Sure it told everyone that I had fucked up bigtime. But it also showed that I took responsibility and chose to pay the price. And the fact that I wasn't even Mistrali made me an anomaly in the Kuroi Kuma Clan.
Thankfully Cardin and the rest of my crew weren't too angry about me getting them caught by Roman. I made my apologies and I thanked them for keeping their mouths shut. I explained to them why I had put them all at risk by going behind Junior's back and to be safe I promised them all a raise just to help keep relations smooth. But I'm sure that my cut finger and the beating was enough for them, they didn't hold anything against me.
I started training with them as they had suggested. Getting my ass kicked hijacking that truck was a well needed wake up call so I started waking up earlier in the day just so I could train with one of them. Dove and Russel both helped me on my blade work, I practiced with everything from daggers to a long sword. Kaiu had a training room in his establishment and since I was with the Clan he didn't charge us to make use of it or his training weapons.
It was a good time to start training too since the grip of my left hand was off now because of my shortened digit, so spending an hour every day holding a blade helped me quickly adjust to my weakened grip.
It was slow progress but even a few days practicing was making my blade work improve. I had hoped that Beacon would have helped teach me the fundamentals better but it seemed that the fundamentals of swordsmanship were covered in normal combat school. By the end of the week I had at least gotten the hang of basic parrys and footwork. And I had begun training in hand to hand combat with Cardin. He wasn't exactly the most pleasant teacher but he wasn't using the lessons as an excuse to push me around like I had thought he would.
"Come on!" He urged me with his boxer's stance. "Hit me! Punch with your whole body!"
I swung a left hook at him which he blocked only for me to slip my right arm through his defense into an uppercut that clipped his chin. His aura protected him from the blow but he gave me a grin from the strike. "Good," Cardin praised me as before letting his gloved fist out for a jab right to my face. I brought my fists up and blocked his one two punch. "Good," he praised again.
It felt strange having Cardin of all people giving me praise.
"You got a natural instinct for this," Cardin told me as I lowered my fists and delivered a jab to his ribs. "You just need to start polishing this talent up."
My scroll buzzed to tell me that our session was ending and we lowered our fists to one another. I moved to the corner where Kaiu had a water cooler for us to get a drink, I was soaked with sweat. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" I asked him as I filled a little paper cup with clear cold water.
Cardin was stone faced as he filled his own little cup. "My dad taught me," Cardin explained neutrally. "It certainly came in handy."
For bullying. I thought to myself as I gulped down my water and moved to refill the cup. "Was he a huntsman?" I asked, trying to make small talk before we left so I could head back to my apartment for a shower.
"No," Cardin said flatly. "He uh… he wanted me to participate in prize fighting. He used to bet on me in underground fights."
"No shit?" I asked, it certainly hadn't been what I had expected. I hardly knew anything about Cardin but imagining him as anything other than a bully was difficult for me at the time. "Were you any good at it?"
Cardin shrugged. "It helped me pay my way into combat school and Beacon," he answered me.
I nodded and downed my second cup of water. My scroll buzzed and I saw that it was Junior calling me. I stared at it for a long moment, I hadn't seen or spoken with Junior since I had gifted him my severed pinky. I had no idea what he could possibly want to talk to me about.
"Hello?" I asked, taking the call.
"Hello Jaune… are you free tonight?" Junior asked me in his usual stoic and serious tone.
I relaxed a bit from his question. If Junior was mad he could have just ordered me to show up and I would have no choice. "Nothing I can't cancel," I told him, crushing the little paper cup in my hand and tossing it into the waste bin.
"I would like to talk to you, meet me at Teien Tea House, and dress well." He told me.
I had never been to or even heard of the Teien Tea House. "What is this about?" I asked him.
"I'll tell you about that later," Junior explained to me. "Just be there at eight and dress sharp."
"I'll be there," I promised him before hanging up and checking the time. It was almost five so I had enough time to get back to my apartment for a quick shower shave and change of clothes.
"What does Junior want?" Cardin asked me.
"Don't know, he wants to meet at some teahouse," I explained to him, already looking up directions to the place on my scroll.
"Not his club?" Cardin asked me.
"Nope," I said, pulling a wad of cash out and counting a few bills to give to him for taking the time out of his day to help me fight. I didn't want Cardin or anyone thinking that I expected a handout for any of this, I was making sure they were getting paid well for training me.
"Are you worried?" He asked, taking the money and pocketing it instead of counting it. "Your last meeting wasn't exactly on the best of terms."
I shrugged. "If he wanted me gone he could have already done it," I told him.
Cardin just shrugged and we stepped out giving Kaiu a wave as he readied to close up his shop. We walked to our separate cars and I turned to him. "Cardin… why did you tell Junior that the robbery was your idea?" I asked him, voicing something that had been nagging me. Cardin didn't owe me a damn thing and considering our history I couldn't get it out of my head.
"Why did you tell Junior the truth?" He said, answering my question with another question. He looked at my left hand staring at the little nub of my pinky. It still felt like I had a whole finger most of the time.
"I… that would have been a pretty shitty thing to do to you guys," I said to him feeling like that wasn't the best answer.
Cardin just shrugged and we went our separate ways. I suppose that was what counted as an answer to him.
I drove back to my apartment and showered and got ready for my meeting with Junior, dressing in one of my now many suits. I didn't know if Junior was planning on having anything to eat so I got myself a little snack before heading out.
I followed the directions of my scroll and arrived at this quaint little tea house downtown. It was a nice and upscale place. I stepped inside and was greeted by a friendly waitress dressed in a kimono, she bowed and asked if I had a reservation. When I mentioned Junior she only gave me a wide smile and led me back into a back room overlooking a lovely atrium with a Mistrali garden.
"Thank you for coming," Junior greeted me as the waitress closed the sliding shoji door behind me. "I'm glad you could meet with me tonight," Junior said, sitting at a traditional mistrali table where he sat on the floor with a tea kettle and a couple of mochi rolls.
I bowed to him and took my seat. "I'm honored to speak with you," I said as he poured me a steaming cup of green tea. "May I ask why you have asked me to come here tonight?"
Junior picked up his cup of tea and took a sip of the hot green brew. "I want to talk about your future," he looked to my left hand as I picked up my teacup. "And about this most recent incident with the dust."
I felt my heart skip a beat as I sipped on my hot tea. I tried not to choke. "I uh… I thought that was forgotten Shatei-Gashira," I told him.
"Mostly forgotten… but this most recent development has made me examine you and your future," he explained to me, setting his cup down. "Among other things."
I nodded, "very well… I will of course defer to your wisdom Shatei-Gashira."
Junior folded his hands upon the table and looked me square in the eye. "Jaune… Gentleman, you have served the Kuroi Kuma quite well in your short time here. You have fought for us, you have earned for us, and you have even killed for us. I owe you much for your service, and though your time here has been short I have prospered well from your service."
I bowed my head. "You honor me," I told him, truly feeling flattered from his praise.
"And I am honored to have you in my service," he told me with a bit of uncharacteristic warmth in his voice. "But I cannot help but feel that I am dishonoring you by keeping you in my service."
I paused and looked into my teacup. "What are you trying to say, sir?"
"Jaune… you do know that you can never be more than an associate here, you are not Mistrali." He explained to me, his voice heavy with disappointment.
"I know that." I told him under my breath. It honestly hurt me to admit it.
"And that is an injustice to you Mr. Arc," Junior told her in a firm but serious voice. "You are an ambitious young man, you've served me well and you have even formed and run a crew of your own. Associates don't usually do that. And when I saw you take responsibility for their actions, when I saw you sever your own finger I knew that you are far more than a simple lowly rank. And keeping you an associate would be a disservice, a poor way to reward you for all you have done for me."
"But that is all I can be," I said with a sad shrug. I knew that the rules and traditions of the Clan wouldn't just move for me. It was what held the Clan together, it was bigger than me or Junior.
"No," Junior said to me with a smirk. "I believe a Gentleman like yourself can be much more. But not here, not with the Kuroi Kuma Clan. And for this I have a proposal. I have decided to rethink the Clan's position on dust, I decided to go into a joint venture with Roman and I want you to head it."
My eyes widened as he dropped this suggestion on me. I couldn't believe my ears, I couldn't believe my luck. I felt like he was fucking with me for a minute. "Y-you're serious… you want me to steal dust!?"
Junior nodded. "You and only you," he said to me, "but it's more than that, you will be working directly with Roman and the Torchwick family as a recruit."
"A… recruit?" I asked him. I was a bit unsure on what that exactly meant.
Junior nodded and refilled my cup of tea. "Roman was impressed with your little truck robbery, and though you cannot be anything more than an associate for the Clan, you can become much more with your fellow Valeans. I think you could have a future with Roman and the rest of the Torchwick family."
I was stunned and dizzy. Leave the Clan? My mind was swirling from the proposal as I considered what Junior was suggesting to me. "W-what about O-Ushi?" I asked him wondering what my actual boss would think about sending me off to work for someone else.
"I have discussed it with her," he assured me, "your future has been something we have discussed before. And she agrees that this is best, as fond as she is of you she wants to see you grow."
"I… I see," I told him, picking my cup up once more. I was both nervous and excited at this proposal. Junior was doing this for me. He was putting my objective right in front of me and telling me to go get it. "So… when do I start?" I asked him, unable to think of any other questions.
Junior held up his palm to me. "Not so fast Mr. Arc, if you go ahead with this you will be representing more than just the Kuroi Kuma Clan to the Torchwick Crime Family, you will be a liaison of sorts between not just our Clan, but others. And as such this decision is not mine to make alone."
"Not yours?" I asked him, confused that Junior Xiong was telling me that this decision was out of his hands. "Then who's?"
The shoji door to our side slid open gently and I looked over to see a blonde plump woman looking at us with a fan in her hand. "That my fine Gent is my decision to make," she said, flashing me a friendly grin as she snapped the fan closed and stepped in.
"Jaune Arc, I would like you to meet Lil Miss Malachite, Oyabun of many clans and my only superior. Lil Miss, this is the young Gentleman I told you about." He said introducing the two of us.
I was already sitting so I prostrated myself on the floor to this homely looking woman. Her round pudgy face seemed kind and motherly, she didn't have the look of some crime lord I would have except for this intensity she seemed to have in her lavender eyes. "It is an honor and a pleasure to make your acquaintance Oyabun Malachite." I told her wondering about that last name of hers.
She gave me a small but respectable bow. "Well, you certainly can mind your manners, I can see why my little girls took such a shining to you." She motioned for me to get up and she sat herself with us as Junior passed her a tea cup.
"Your little girls?" I asked voicing my suspicions.
"Why Melanie and Miltia of course, they've told me a thing or two about you themselves. And I can see they were certainly being honest, young handsome and well mannered, I can see why they call you Gentleman." She said, giving me a very warm smile.
I blushed a little as I realized that indeed I was face to face with the mother of the Malachite twins. "Much of what I have learned has come from your daughters," I told her. "And etiquette has certainly been shaped by the Clan itself."
Lil Miss smiled at that. "Well I'm happy to see that they've been doing more than partying and kicking in faces here in this little city," she told me, taking up her freshly poured cup of tea.
"So you are Oyabun to many clans?" I asked her as I sipped on my tea trying to relax under her evaluation.
"Indeed I am Mr. Arc. Clans are like strings of silk, one alone is not enough to trap a fly, they are stronger and better when woven together. It is my job to help direct the spiders that weave these strands of silk." She explained to me.
I honestly had never known that the Clan was a part of a much larger criminal conspiracy. I had always tried to imagine Junior as his own boss with no superiors to direct or second guess his decisions. But it seemed that Junior was indeed one spider to the many this woman commanded.
"Let's get down to brass tacks Mr. Arc," Lil Miss said gently, setting her teacup down and snapping open her fan. "The thing about directing spiders is that it gives me the most valuable commodity of all, information. Mr. Torchwick you see wants to know many of the things I happen to know about the various dust shipments moving into and out of the city. And that is where you shall come in Gentleman, Junior here has decided that he wants me to let you be the middleman, to help coordinate the information I have to give him."
"And lend him muscle," Junior added, looking to Lil Miss. "He has a crew of his own and Roman has told me he could use all manpower he can get."
Lil Miss smiled. "Indeed, Mr. Arc if we are to proceed with this proposal then we need to make sure that someone is going to be acting well on the interests of both parties. And since you have served the Kuroi Kuma Clan well despite being Valean we think that person should be you."
I nodded pleased with her words and proposal. I was going to be right in the heart of the dust racket, right where Ozpin wanted me. It would mean a form of transfer from the Mistrali Clan to the Valean Mob but I would effectively be working between the two of them. It was perfect.
"So I have the job?" I asked her.
"Not quite yet," Lil Miss said with a smirk. "I have a few questions for you Jaunathan Arthur Arc, I have heard a lot about you and your activities in the last few days but I want to get to know you personally."
I felt a chill go down my spine when she used my full name. As far as I knew nobody in the Clan knew my full name. I opened my hands to her, "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know why a small town boy like yourself who faked his way into Beacon Academy decided to become a gangster when he got booted out," she said to me. "You must admit Jaune that you're cut from a different cloth than what we usually see in this business."
I took a sip of tea before answering her very carefully. "It wasn't exactly my plan to end up like this, I put everything I had into becoming a huntsman and when it didn't pan out I had little choice but to find something. I had enough lien to get myself the cheapest apartment I could find and looked for a nearby job that would take me. I walked through the door to O-Ushi's cab company and the rest is history."
"But why didn't you go home? Or go stay with your sister Saphron in Argus?" She asked revealing that she knew quite a bit about me and my family. Information was her trade and she naturally did her homework on me. It was safe to assume that there was little she didn't know about me.
"And admit I failed?" I asked her bitterly. "Admit to her that they were all right and that I wasn't cut out to follow my dream? How could I do that? How could I look them in the eyes and admit that they were right for never believing in me? So I stayed here because of pride, empty as I was of it it felt like the only damn thing I had left."
"But you wanted to be a hero, where has that dream gone Gentleman?" She pressed me.
I shrugged again. "I… I don't know," I admitted truthfully to her. "I don't know what being a hero even means anymore." I was getting flustered and I felt too many real emotions rising to the surface as I spoke to her. "But when I look around Little Mistral and see everything I've worked for, the businesses I've helped and protected, when I see the 24k Dragons at peace with the Clan again, I feel like I've done some kind of good here. Haven't I!?"
A satisfied smirk curled her lips as she stared at me. "My my aren't you passionate?" She mused, snapping her fan closed. "Mr. Arc I won't belittle you by pretending that whatever heroic dreams you had before are going to be fulfilled in this line of work. It's a messy and bitter business as I know you have come to learn. Wealth and power are messy things, it doesn't matter what business you're in."
I nodded to her. "I'm starting to understand that more and more." It was true, I hardly had any understanding on what power really was before I came here. But I was starting to understand what it was.
"But as unseemly as our business is Mr. Arc we have always tried to conduct it with principles. And from what Junior and others have told me about you I am convinced that you are a man of strong principles. Principles Mr. Arc is the cornerstone of honor, and without honor we are nothing more than common criminals, rabble." She said as Junior refilled her teacup. "You are not rabble Mr. Arc you are a Gentleman, whatever ideals you still cling to in this line of work is what defines you as such."
"I have felt like my principles have been dissolving every day here," I told her. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say when I was supposed to be convincing her that I was the man for this job but strangely enough this conversation was leaving me feeling raw and vulnerable.
Lil Miss giggled sweetly. "You are a young man Mr. Arc, you are becoming wise to the ways of the world and your childish idealism is maturing. I do not believe your principles to be fading, only changing with wisdom."
I felt strangely like my mother was talking to me. The ways she seemed to look right through me and lectured me felt oddly maternal in a strange way. But her words were also comforting in a strange way, there was a wisdom she spoke from that I couldn't help but appreciate.
"So where does this leave us?" I asked her, opening my hands on the table as the last few drops of the teapot were poured out into my cup. "You said you wanted to know me and from how you talk I think you got me pegged. So what do you think?"
Lil Miss gave me a sweet little smile. "You're a well liked person Mr. Arc, Junior is quite fond of you or else he wouldn't have proposed this to me," she said giving him a smile. Junior remained as stone faced as usual. "My daughters are fond of you as well and so does your boss O-Ushi, though she did have a number or critiques given your most recent actions. And speaking with you tonight Mr. Arc I have decided that I am rather fond of you as well. I think you're perfect for the job."
My heart practically soared from her words and a smile crept onto my face. Junior pressed on his scroll laying on the table and tapped on the screen as I basked in her praise and acknowledgement.
"You know Oyabun," I said only for her to raise one of her pudgy hands and stop me. "No one really wanted to believe in me when I first decided to become a huntsman, and no one really showed me much faith in Beacon either. But coming here and doing business with the Clan… I've never felt such support. Such confidence."
Lil Miss only smiled at that and gave a warming look to Junior who even seemed pleased by my words.
The door behind me opened and I turned to see none other but Roman Torchwick walking in with Neo in tow. Neo had a very amused look in her eyes as she glazed me over while her adoptive father strolled in with a proud little smirk and a cigar in his lips trailing smoke behind him.
"Don Torchwick!" I exclaimed, bowing to him in respect.
"Hello my good Gent," Torchwick greeted with a cocky grin, looking at me and then at Junior.
"He's all yours Roman," Junior said, signaling me to get up.
"It's as I told Junior here," Roman said tugging off one of his black leather gloves to show me his left hand with a large gold ring on his pinky. I stared at the old coat of arms, gold with a black shield with two dragons, surrounded by various glittering gemstones. "If you want to steal dust Gent then you should learn from and work for the best, me."
He raised his hand to me letting the big ring glitter in the light. I looked past Roman to Neo and she smiled at me, warm and alluring. As was the Valean custom I knelt down and kissed the ring upon his hand. "I am honored to work with you Don Torchwick," I told him, giving him the respect and reverence his position entitled him to.
He laughed and took his hand away, returning the glove to his hand before he shook my hand looking over my shoulder at Lil Miss Malachite. He tipped his hat to her. "Thank you for reconsidering this arrangement," he said to her.
"Just take care of him Roman," Lil Miss said. "He has a lot to learn, but he is loyal and clever, and certainly driven."
"A precious combination in this day and age," Roman laughed, putting his arm posessively around my shoulder. "I'll teach him plenty Oyabun Malachite, I am positive that this will be quite a profitable venture for all of us."
Roman released me and moved to sit down across from Lil Miss. "Who's starving?" He asked us all as I made to sit back down. To my surprise and my delight Neo sat down on my side of the table, close to Roman but right next to me. "Because I've been craving some kobe short ribs since I arrived."
Lil Miss nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I do think the rest of tonight's business can be settled over dinner. Jaune, Junior? Are you hungry?"
I nodded, "I could certainly eat."
She looked over to Neo, "How about you dear? I know you are a fan of their mochi ice cream."
Neo gave her a silent nod of approval.
"Hello Neo," I said, giving her a goofy grin.
She returned my smile and nodded a greeting to me.
We called in a waiter and gave our orders. I took Roman's advice and ordered their kobe short ribs curious about how they would taste while Neo ordered a sushi plate to share with Lil Miss. They took away the teapot and brought us some hot sake.
"So is there anyone else I should meet before starting this new job?" I asked after taking my first sip of sake. "Any subordinates of yours that I'll have to answer to?"
Roman chuckled at me. "Nah Gent you don't get it, you and me we're going to be working together. All my Capo's are running around town pulling in dust their way, I might be tossing a few jobs here and there your way, but we're going to be focusing on the big picture and the big scores." He looked at Lil Miss and raised his porcelain cup to her, "With Lil Miss's spider's filling us in on where the hottest Dust scores are of course. You're going to help coordinate our efforts, and plan a little, that little stunt with the truck was impressive, and it tells me I need some better guys working these jobs."
"That was honestly embarrassing, I wasn't expecting some of your wiseguys to have already hijacked that truck," I admitted wishing that I could claim that had gone smoothly.
"Surprises happen in this line of work, the important part is that you got the dust, I'm hoping you'll also bring that crew of yours in to help," He explained to me as we ate our dinner.
"They'll be happy too," I explained to him knowing full well that Cardin and the rest would be salivating when I told them that we would be getting into dust with the blessing of both the Clan and the Torchwick family. "But… What about my other rackets and investments? It was hard enough juggling them being a bagman, I was already delegating it to my crew."
"Delegate it more," Junior advised me. "They are still your rackets and your investments, but with this job I suggest you trust the rest of that to your crew. If you need more help with that then maybe talk to O-Ushi, she can help you out with keeping this organized."
I nodded as I stripped the meat from the bone with my steak knife and took a bite of the juicy meat. I could see why Roman liked them so much. "So will I begin tomorrow?" I asked him wondering just how I was going to explain all of this to Ozpin.
"Indeed you will," Roman told me, "in fact Lil Miss here already gave me a hot tip on an SDC shipment that should be coming in here tomorrow. I was thinking I'd let Neo and you grab it for me."
I looked over and Neo gave me a confident smirk.
"Can do," I said, returning her smile. I was certainly looking forward to working with Neo a lot more in the future.
"Great," Roman said as we continued eating our entrees.
The dinner conversation became pretty casual from there. Junior talked about how some of his nightclubs were while Lil Miss asked about some of her more favorite places she should visit while she was here in Vale. I turned my attention to Neo while they talked, putting my scroll on the table so she could text me.
"I uh… I guess we're going to be working together more often," I told her, feeling a little awkward with how much that actually excited me.
She typed on her scroll that had already been prepared on the table. I wondered idly if that really was her only means of communication. I wondered if she knew sign language, not that I knew how to read sign language.
Yeah we will. Excited?
"I am," I admitted giving her a smirk. "I feel like I'm taking one giant leap forward."
You're going to be in the Torchwick Family, there's nowhere for you to go but up. She told me encouragingly.
"Yeah… I never imagined that I'd find myself being split between two different families," I chuckled, I was still a little fuzzy on where this exactly left me and what it would mean exactly.
It's certainly unusual. Neo told me in a text. But unusual seems just like you.
"You barely know me," I told her with a chuckle. I couldn't exactly disagree with her.
Well I'll be getting pretty familiar with you. I'll tell you if my opinion changes. She told me with a teasing smirk.
I could blush bashfully. The waitress came and removed our plates before giving us our bowls of mochi ice cream. Neo picked up her spoon with evident enthusiasm.
"So Junior said that I was going to be a recruit in your family… what does that exactly mean?" I asked as I tried my first bite of the delicious frozen treat. There was no rank called recruit that I was aware of in the Clan.
She smiled after taking another spoonful of her dessert before her deft fingers began typing across the little screen.
It means you're a little more than a simple associate. It means we're considering welcoming you into the family as a made man.
I paused before taking another bite of my ice cream. I read the text and read it again to make sure that I had read it right. "I… you're thinking about making me?" I asked her, astonished with the very idea.
"Quite right," Roman told me, speaking up after apparently catching my question. I looked to him to find a smile on his face. "This has been a part of Junior's proposal to me, I agreed that given the nature of this arrangement and your remarkable service that I would consider welcoming you as an official member of my family."
I was stunned. Being made was a totally different ballpark. It was the big leagues, it was real power. I suddenly understood how Toshi felt when he knew he was being considered for a true position in the Clan. If I was made then I would get benefits and privileges of the Torchwick family, no one would even be able to raise a fist to me without serious consequences. I would be a soldier for Roman.
"So this isn't just about me handling a joint business venture," I said, realizing exactly what was on the line with this proposal. Ozpin was never going to believe this, this was huge.
"No it isn't," Junior agreed. "It's much more than that, your service to the Clan has earned you my good word Gentleman, and I gave that word to Roman."
"Indeed he did," Roman said. "This venture is your chance to earn your bones with me, and if you play your cards right then the family will open its books to you and welcome you as one of us, a soldier, a man of respect."
I was speechless. All eyes were on me and I had no idea what else to say. I was thrilled and scared and I could only wonder what dangers and challenges would lay ahead. I didn't have much choice but to set foot down onto this pathway, I was already falling down the rabbit hole. I reached into my pocket to touch that diamond ring I carried around as a lucky charm.
"I can't wait to start," I said with an eager grin. It was not a lie.