Just curious about something - after looking at this story's stats, it seems that the number of completed reads, votes, comments, etc, is going down as the story goes on. 

Has this story decreased in quality since the beginning?

     "We did it! We did it! I can't believe we actually did it!" Ruby continuously cheered as she and the rest of her team walked out of the weapons locker room. 

"Aw come on, sis! We had that from the very beginning! They never stood a chance." Yang smirked, beating her fists together.

"Oh hush, Yang." Weiss started. "We may have won that battle, but that doesn't mean the next will be as easy." 

"Are you sure 'easy' is the word to use?" Blake inquired, raising a brow at the heiress. 

"Ah, it doesn't matter!" Ruby cut in. "For our first match, I think we did okay!"

"It wasn't bad, but it would be a stretch to say you didn't have things to work on," said a familiar voice. The four girls turned their heads to the right to the speaker who was currently leaning against the wall. Yang was the first to react, frustratedly without a doubt. She knew he might have shown up, but she never expected him to actually be there. Of course, before she could say anything-

"(Y/N)!" Ruby moved faster than her sister could register and was in front of him in the blink of an eye. "You came!" The red-head stood before the pilot with a giant smile. 

"Mhm." (Y/N) sighed. "In the flesh."

"Seriously? Why are you even here?" Yang asked in protest, moving toward the two before her. 

"Hang on, Yang." A pale hand gripped the blond's arm. This was the hand of the ever-defiant Weiss. "What exactly do we have to work on? I mean, far be it for me to protest your infinite wisdom, but I'm curious to know what kind of advice you could give us." 

(Y/N) shrugged. "If you insist." He pushed off the wall and started walking. "Talk and walk, girls, there are places to be." The members of team RWBY looked uneasily at each other before reluctantly following. "I'll start with Blake."

"Me?" The cat faunus asked from the back of the group. 

"Yes, you. You did fairly well against Reece. Your use of your clone was very clever in goading her into an opening. But when you hit her into the air and she came down wrong, she left herself completely exposed but you did nothing about it. Never give the enemy a second's rest. No matter how badly they're injured." Blake's eyes glazed partially as she began to ponder his words. 

"Yang! You're up next." (Y/N) declared, speaking again before she could. "Next time you get knocked onto the ice, don't look down at the ice. You gave that girl the perfect opening and, had it been in a real fight, you'd be dead."

"Well let's see you try it," Yang growled under her breath. 

"Ruby, number three." The pilot said. The shorter girl looked up at him in curiosity. "I saw your fight against bokken boy. Had he possessed any level of sense, he could have easily got the drop on you from behind. You would also be dead if this had been anything but a competitive competition. Secondly, when bokken boy jumped over your scythe swing, you sat there on one knee and yelled in frustration. I've seen you in actual fights. You have more than enough skill to have attacked him again. Your focus should always be on ki- neutralizing the enemy. Next time you get a chance to attack, take it." 

Saying Ruby wasn't slightly dejected would be a lie, but she took the words seriously.

"Well for your information, (Y/N), we can't all be ruthless and calculating in the middle of a fight!" Weiss protested. 

"And Weiss. Last and debatably least." The mercenary quipped

"Hey!" 

"The only thing I have to say to you is: don't scream so damned much. There might be some out there into the tactical orgasm, but I am definitely not one of them." The white-haired girl stopped completely at this, as did the rest of her team.

"I-what?! How dare you?! That wasn't even real advice!" Weiss hollered angrily. (Y/N) simply chuckled and kept walking. 

"Don't be so upset, Ice Queen. After all, I was invited."  

                                                                           * * *

"Is anyone else starving?" Ruby groaned, slumped over in sudden exhaustion. 

"I may have worked up an appetite," Blake responded, leaning back with her hands behind her head. The 'may' of her statement was quickly changed to 'definitely' when a monstrous rumble erupted from her stomach. The cat faunus's jaw dropped in embarrassment as her hands moved to her midsection.

"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here," Weiss said with an edge of sarcasm and a shrug. "Oh wait." 

It was true; the fairgrounds were indeed packed with concession stands and food tents and the like, along with little Vale or Vytal themed trinkets.  

"It's okay, Weiss." Ruby placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "I forget about the fairgrounds too."

"I was being facetious" Weiss retorted, almost offendedly. 

"Wha-ga! Well if you were hungry, why didn't you say so?!" Ruby yelled with a wave of her arms. (Y/N) stood behind them, watching what he assumed to be usual antics, given the personalities of Weiss and Ruby being on the same team. 

In all honesty, he was envious at times of their relationship. It was so carefree. So happy. But it was a feeling he swallowed - forced deep deep down to the dark(er) places of his mind where they would hopefully remain untouched. 

(Y/N) shook the thoughts away when he noticed Yang was leading the rest of the team away. Weiss suddenly slowed down when a buzzing emitted from her pocket. She took the scroll into her hand to reveal the caller ID 'Father'. With a scowl and a roll of her eyes, the heiress shoved the small device into her pocket. (Y/N) took note of this, but kept silent. 

"Hey!" The group of five stopped at the voice behind them, to reveal Emerald Sustrai holding Ruby's wallet. "Might be hard to eat without this!" Ruby's eyes widened as she frantically checked her pockets.

"No, no, no, no!" Emerald watched her for a moment before laughing happily and holding the small leather object out to her.

"Good to see ya, Ruby!"

"Oh! Thanks, Emerald!" Ruby jogged to her 'friend' and took the wallet back. "Guess I dropped it. Ugh. Girl pockets are the worst."

"What's up, Em?" Yang chimed in, coming up next to her sister.

"Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fight. You guys were awesome!" Emerald stated enthusiastically. This caused Ruby to become flustered and embarrassed, shown easily as she began to mutter under her breath what (Y/N) assumed to be a disfigured attempt at modesty. 

"I heard your team progressed to the next round too," Blake said, her and Weiss walking up to the others with the pilot taking up position behind her. 

"You know, I feel like we never see your other teammates." Weiss started with Yang adding on-

"How'd they do in the fight?" Em's face contorted as she pondered how to answer the question without revealing anything sensitive. "Really well." She answered, smiling confidently. 

"That's great! Uh - why don't we all go out and get some victory food together?" Ruby suggested. 

"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are . . ." She looked over her shoulder at her partner, Mercury, who was currently at a stand selling boots. ". . . All kind of introverted." Mercury brought a boot that was on display up to his nose and began sniffing it. 

Oh, I got a boot for you, you son of a bitch. But it's not going on your foot. (Y/N) thought to himself. 

"So yeah. Looks like Merc and I will be moving on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald asked. Ruby adopted an inquisitive expression as her hand found her chin.

"Well as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision-" Ruby started before Weiss corrected the attempt to take credit.

"We put it to a vote." She said, resettling into her place next to her leader.

"Yes-uh-but- I decided that we should put it to a vote!" Ruby sputtered.

"Smooth." (Y/N) said quietly, causing her to spin and pout at him before turning back to the conversation. 

"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake points at her teammates with an unsuspecting smile. A stark contrast to the expression behind the helmet. Something felt off about Emerald. Her and Mercury both just set off alarms that had been ingrained into his brain and it made him very uncomfortable.     

"I will happily represent team RWBY." Weiss curtsied and was quickly followed by Yang. 

"Yeah, we're gonna kick some but!" 

"Well if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya." Emerald chuckled. 

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" Yang challenged, her and Weiss smiling at an opponent they hoped to test themselves against.

"Oh! (Y/N)!" Emerald started, smiling happily. "I didn't see you there."

"You didn't? I'm taller than everyone else here." (Y/N) said, gesturing to the four other girls around them.

"Right. Well, you know me." The red-eyed girl smiled. 

"I really don't though . . ." He muttered under his breath. 

"So will be participating in the tournament too?" Emerald asked. (Y/N) raised an eyebrow under his helmet. 

"Uh - in case you haven't realized, I seem to be lacking a team. And an aura. And a crazily, unnecessarily, would-be-inefficient-in-any-other-worldly oversized weapon. Not that I couldn't wipe the floor with most of the teams here, but, well, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." He shrugged sarcastically.    

"I bet we could kick you into the ground!" Yang yelled, leaning into the blue glow of the pilot's visor. (Y/N) pretended to contemplate this for a moment. 

"If I recall, you already tried. And-" he leaned forward, sticking a finger in the blond's face- "you lost."

"You had the robot!" She argued.

"And you had eight people. And the support of the military and if it hadn't been for that EMP, I probably would've won that fight too."

"Well if you want, we can always even the score," Yang snarled.

"Geeze. It's a wonder you two don't get along. What with how similar you are to each other." Emerald interjected. Both heads - Yang's and (Y/N)'s - snapped to her instantly. 

"Do not. Compare me - to him!" - "to her!" They shouted in unison before turning back, pressing their foreheads together, and growling at each other almost comically.   

"All right. Ahem." Emerald cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go now. Probably catch some more fights or . . . something." She turned and began walking back to her teammate,  

"Probably for the best," Ruby said as they parted ways before turning to her sister and her sister's 'rival' and sighing. While Blake grabbed Yang's, she took (Y/N)'s hand and led them apart. "You two are gonna have to start getting along sooner or later." She warned. 

"Whatever." (Y/N) huffed. "Let's just go get food before I get any hangrier."

The group approached the modest food stand before they each took a seat. With RWBY taking up the front four seats, (Y/N) opted for one on the side, adjacent to Blake's.

"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please," Yang said. A bowl was quickly slid before her, and (Y/N) had to blink at least twice at the sheer size of it. 

"The hell?" He muttered. 

"Ooh . . ." Ruby leaned to Yang's bowl, cooing. "I'll take the same!" And another bowl of equal magnitude slid before the redhead. 

"Huh?!"  

"Hmm . . ." Weiss started, contemplating. "Do you have anything with a low salt?" Again, huge fucking bowl. 

"Wait! What in the actual-" he cut himself off when Black simply nodded to the oddly familiar man working this thing. The man nodded back and sped off into the kitchen through a nearby door, leaving (Y/N) to rapidly look between the cat faunus and where the employee had vanished. Within seconds. Seconds, the man zipped back out and slid a giant bowl of noodles and fish in front of her. 

"Nani?!"

The stand man then looked to him with an emotionless stare, waiting to be told what to make. "Uh . . . do you have anything . . . normal-sized?" (Y/N) asked. The man, for possibly the second time in his life, shook his head. (Y/N) sighed, admitting defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll just get what those two have." He pointed with his right pointer and middle fingers at Ruby and Yang. A giant bowl of noodles was quickly placed before him. Gloved hands picked the food off the tabletop and onto their owner's lap as (Y/N) palmed the mask release button on the side of his helmet, causing the front, facial part to release a set of locks and slide up, though only enough that his mouth sat exposed.   

The feature had the girls intrigued, but their focus was quickly stolen by the food. Weiss, being the ever so kind and generous person she is, produced a credit card with promise to pay with her own money.

"Aww, Weiss! What's the occasion?" Yang beamed. 

"Consider it 'thanks' for sending me to the doubles round." She responded, turning away in a smirk. The sound of something ripping through the air caught (Y/N)'s attention as Weiss's card, after being spun like a fucking ninja star, embedded itself into the wooden tabletop right next to the heiress herself. The sound of a throat clearing drew their attention to the same man that served them, angrily pointing at the cash register, and the flashing 'DECLINED' sign appearing on it. 

"What?! How can my card be declined?" Weiss shouted. (Y/N) watched Blake's face morph to terrified as she slowly reached for her bowl, the smile she wore growing ever bigger as the food grew ever closer. Until it didn't and the noodles were ripped away from her by the old man.

"No!" She hollered, dropping onto the table's surface, utterly deflated. 

"Maybe I could help?" The five of them looked up to see Pyrrha walking up to the table with the rest of her team behind her.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby cheered, throwing her arms into the air. 

"Aww, you don't have to." Yang tried to assure her before her rather eager partner interrupted with "but she could!"

"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha chuckled, leaning on her hip. Jaune's request to sit with them was quickly accepted, and they did just that.

"(Y/N)?" Jaune asked in disbelief as he sat down.

"What a pleasant surprise!" His partner added. 

"I wouldn't think it'd be pleasant or a surprise, considering you were facing me when you walked up! Why the hell is nobody noticing me today?"

"I-I don't know . . . I just didn't see you." Pyrrha rubbed the back of her neck in slight embarrassment. "But I'm glad you're here! You're the last person I'd expect to see with team RWBY, so that fact that you're trying to become friends with them really speaks volumes about your character!"

"Right. Yeah. Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Pyrrha." (Y/N) waved her praise off. "Why don't we just . . . figure out how I'm going to eat this without having a heart attack . . . "

                                                                        * * *      

I don't get it. I well and truly don't fucking understand. 

(Y/N) banged his fist against the wooden table he sat at, closing the front of his helmet with the other. "These people . . . are turning me into a cartoon character!" He said, defeated. Looking up slightly, (Y/N) saw the other eight had finished their entire bowl as well, though their reactions varied. Most of them sat happily (fucking outrageous, by the way), though Jaune and Weiss seemed to have similar reactions to him. 

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked the rest of his team.

"Of course!" Pyrrha began to answer when the stand worker flew up to the long table ad began collecting the empty bowls. "It will give us energy!" At a sudden roar, all heads snapped to Nora, who smiled wide and satisfied. 

"To a point." (Y/N) said drunkenly. "But I'm pretty sure eating to this extent does a lot more harm than good."

"If I barf I'm blaming you." Jaune collapsed on the table. 

"Ooh! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora burst. 

"Nora! That's disgusting." Ren scolded. "But if you do feel the urge . . . "

"Hey, Weiss already has the tactical orgasm. If Jaune uses the tactical vomit, I'd say we're another step closer to perfection." (Y/N) said weakly. He then pushed himself out of the seat and began to turn away. "Well as much fun as this little friendly activity has been, I need to get back to work."

"Going so soon? I thought you wanted to be our friend." Yang remarked with a touch of sarcasm.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Yang. I know you want me more than anything you've ever wanted before, but I think it's for the best. And don't worry, it's definitely you."   

"Oh please. The thought of us together makes me wanna throw up." She cringed. 

"That's fine." (Y/N) looked over his shoulder at her. "Just aim it at the enemy."