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Chapter Text

Izuku was done

Done with seeing casualties litter the streets. Done with seeing lives ruined because of All For One. He was trying to prevent that, but nothing was working. And while he hunted down All For One and Shigaraki, everyone around him got hurt. All Might nearly died when his car was blown up. Lady Nagant exploded when Izuku got her to change her ways..

Luckily, before she was flown away by Hawks to get medical care, she was able to tell Izuku where All For One was hiding out. The Haibori Woods.

He, along with several other Pro Heroes made their way to the woods and stood outside a mansion that used to belong to the Creature Rejection Clan. A disgusting group of Quirkists who discriminated against those with Mutation Quirks. The group was killed a while ago by the League of Villains, but with the state Japan was in, discrimination quickly returned. So it was a good thing they were dead, otherwise he'd have to deal with a whole new group along with the ones already hurting innocent people.

"I'm going in alone," Izuku told the Heroes. His voice was scratchy and dull, as if he'd swallowed a bag of gravel then did an intense workout.

"Deku, don't be stupid!" Endeavor scolded him "We go in together, as a team!"

"No," Izuku replied, walking forward towards the house and away from the Heroes. "I'll scout out the building and tell you if I find anything. If the house has any booby traps, you could get hurt"

"Young man. Are you forgetting that we are Pro Heroes?" Best Jeanist questioned "We can handle ourselves just fine."

Izuku paused and turned his head to face the Heroes. His green eyes shone from behind the shadow the mask cast upon his eyes. "I will not have anyone get hurt because of me again." He told them with a tone that left no room for discussion before walking towards the mansion. 'Besides, All For One and Shigaraki still aren't capable of taking One for All from me'

Reaching the door, he pushed on it, but it remained shut. He jiggled the door and clicked on the door's handles, but it wouldn't budge. Izuku raised his leg and kicked the door open. A loud bang reverberated around the empty mansion as the doors flew off their hinges and onto the ground.

Carefully treading through the abandoned mansion, Izuku scrunched up his face as the smell of decayed blood and rotting corpses filled his nostrils. Even though the source of the smell wasn't in the same room as him, it was clear the League of Villains didn't clean up after their massacre.

Static filled Izuku's ears as a bright blue light shone behind him. He whipped his body around and clenched his fists, ready to fight All For One. But while All For One was there, his physical body wasn't. The deformed man's smug smile filled the Hologram he had laid out for Izuku. He slowly raised his hands and gave a boy a slow and sarcastic applause. "Did you enjoy your Q&A session with Nagant, Izuku Midoriya? Because if you're seeing this message, then that must've been what happened"

Rage filled Izuku's body as he looked at the man who had ruined so many lives. Killed so many innocent people. His teeth clenched together as he contemplated destroying the hologram just to avoid looking at the bastard's face.

"You see, I love predicting and reading people, and a boy like you could never abandon someone like her, yes?" His condescending tone spoke out.

Izuku gripped his fists as the rage increased tenfold. He had predicted Izuku's every move and worked against them. Like he was just a pawn on the world's biggest chess board. He was so focused on All For One, he didn't notice the quiet ticking coming from the hologram's projector.

"I didn't force her, you know. She acted on her own free will. But those poor souls who stumble on the road of life are labeled Villains." All For One told him "People go on and on about Quirks, preaching the merits of individuality, but ours is a regimented society under tight control. One where the wrong sort of individuality gets you ostracized. Purged." He paused, letting what he said sink into Izuku's mind before he started up again "Democracy? Socialism? Doesn't matter. There are no exceptions, because the root of all this predates the concept of human society altogether. It's the principle that governs all social organisms"

As much as Izuku wanted to deny it, but All For One was right. He knew first hand. When he was born he was given a horrible deck of cards by God. And he tried. He tried so hard to play the deck he was dealt, but no matter what, everyone kept looking down on him. Treating him as if he was nothing. Just a wooden puppet they could play with then throw away once they'd their fun.

"The path you've chosen is a thorny one. Every battle grinds away at your soul with no end in sight. Can you guess who was on my mind the entire time I was in jail? It was you." He sinisterly stated "But I don't want One for All anymore"

Izuku's body locked up. He had no clue what All For One was talking about, but from his tone. It wasn't anything good.

"You see. I've been thinking about it all wrong. I've always wanted to steal my little brother's Quirk, that way no one could oppose me when I rose to power. But I realized something. I'm the strongest creature on the planet. The only threat to me is you. A sixteen year old boy who doesn't even have full control over his Quirks. You believe you've unlocked the full potential of your Quirk, but that can't be further from the truth. You have merely scratched the surface of what One for All can do, but I guess you'll never get to experience that."

Izuku's brain went into overdrive and he abandoned his rage and replaced it with fear. His eyes darted around the room, looking for any threat, but found nothing.

That was until he heard the ticking

"I used to want to kill All Might, but now I'm no longer interested in that big oaf." All For One gave him a big grin and pointed at him the same way All Might pointed to him in Kamino

"Now it's your turn"

Danger Sense went off like a hurricane in Izuku's head. Quickly reacting, he activated One for All and set the percentage to 100%. His bones rattled and his body ached, but 100% also made his body near invulnerable to physical trauma. It was a price he was willing to pay. For added protection, he wrapped his body in Blackwhip like armor.

It took only a second for him to protect himself, and that was all he had, because immediately after an explosion engulfed the building and rose 10 stories high. Izuku muffled his screams of pain as the heat crawled up his body.

But unbeknownst to him, the projector bomb released a torrent of energy to explode to that magnitude. All For One had planned to make an explosion so big that Izuku wouldn't be able to escape it. At the same time, Izuku was releasing enormous amounts of energy to keep himself alive.

The energies began to mix together, combining their power. The air began to shake violently as the amount of energy being created could not be contained by space and time.

A strange sound filled Izuku's ears as his costume began to burn up. He didn't know what was happening, but he wasn't able to lower his shields to look. He began to feel a tug on his body, as if something was dragging him. Then before he knew it, he was falling.

The burning hot sensation was replaced by a cold feeling that sent shivers down Izuku's spine. Blackwhip and One for All deactivated immediately without Izuku's permission. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by multiple glowing lights, all moving past him as he fell through an endless void. Izuku looked up to see a giant green ball directly above him, getting further and further away with every passing second.

Izuku tried activating Float to fly back up, but he couldn't. And it wasn't just Float that wasn't working. None of his Quirks were working. They weren't responding when he tried calling upon them.

Fear overtook Izuku as he watched balls of light rise up while he fell, all of them out of his reach. He rolled his body around and saw he was coming close to a yellow ball of light. Just before he fell past it, he held his hand out to reach for it, but it moved away from him.

When he looked down, he saw a giant red ball come closer to him. Izuku tried to calculate where to reach for it, but stopped when he realized he was directly above it. With nothing he could do to prevent it, he braced his body and crashed into the red ball of light.

It was a quiet night in the city of Vale. Parents were tucking their children into bed. Working class citizens were unwinding with a drink between coworkers. It was peaceful

It was peaceful

Energy began to crackle above an alleyway, causing the air to smell like ozone. The air began to vibrate so heavily the whole city began to shake. Scream echoed throughout the city as many through an earthquake was occurring, but the tremors died down when a rift in space and time opened up above the alley. It spat out Izuku before closing shut, never to open again.

Izuku landed on his back and watched as the rift that sent him to God knows where closed, stranding him. He stared at the starry night's sky above him for a few moments, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Slowly, he got off his back and onto his feet. As he did, he noticed the iron on his boots were more cracked and bent, most likely due to the explosion. He took a good look at his gloves and found them to be nearly falling apart, looking more like claws than gloves.

'Dammit.' Izuku cursed himself mentally 'Hopefully it still works' He thought, before walking out of the alley and into an empty street. He looked around at the building around him and furrowed his brow "Where did All For One send me?" He muttered to himself.

He walked down the street, unsure of where he was going. Reaching into his pocket, he felt a rectangular bump. 'My phone!' He thought before pulling it out and attempting to power it on 'Please work. Please work. Please work' He begged. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw the phone power on. But something was wrong.

His phone normally located what region he was in and adjusted its time accordingly, but that wasn't happening. The time on his phone kept changing rapidly, not telling him which time zone he was in. He ignored that and opened up his navigation app, but it too was glitching out. Getting frustrated, Izuku went into his phonebook and rang Endeavor, hoping he could get Izuku home before All For One attacked Japan. But the second he clicked Endeavor's phone number, he was met with a robotic voice telling him the number was unreachable. He tried calling Hawks, then the Lurkers, then All Might, but nothing changed.

Izuku looked to the sky and let out a scream of frustration, but he lost his voice when he saw the moon in the sky. He dropped to his knees and took in deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves, but that wasn't going to happen. He tried to reason with himself, tell himself that what he was thinking was stupid, but it wasn't.

His deep breaths became shaky as he grabbed his mask with his gloved hands and let out a scream. One not of frustration, but of despair as he stared up towards the shattered moon.

Chapter Text

Izuku was confused.

He made his way through the city via traversing the rooftops. The streets below him were populated now, and he'd prefer it if they didn't scream and run from him. He'd had more than enough of that back in Japan. And now that his costume looked like someone had summoned a literal demon, he didn't think people would be willing to speak with him. Maybe if he took his mask off? No. Mask stays on. The people below him didn't need to know who he was.

Making a giant leap and landing on a rooftop with a slight stumble, Izuku rested against the railings and racked his brain on how the hell he ended up here. All he could remember was an explosion, him activating Full Cowling at 100% to protect his body, and then falling through the void, and finally ending up in a city that looked kinda like Britain. The only difference was that the moon wasn't shattered there, nor anywhere on Earth!

But Izuku had to focus and think about what could've happened to him. He was probably teleported somewhere. All for One must've used a Warp-type Quirk to send him to wherever he was. He racked his brain, trying to figure out where. Maybe All For One sent him through time. Time Travel Quirks weren't impossible after all. Besides, it was the only logical explanation he could think of.

'Could I be in the future?" Izuku thought, putting his hand to his respirator and starting to mumble "No. The surroundings look more old-timely. Could I be in the past then? I couldn't. The moon wasn't destroyed when I was born. And the history books would have talked about it. Then where did he send me? And why? He said he wanted me dead, so why did he use a Warp Quirk? Gah! Why is this so confusing?!" He shouted out into the night sky.

He took a few deep breaths before a familiar stabbing sensation shot through his head. His head whipped to the left so fast that he thought he broke his neck. On the other side of whatever city he was in, someone was causing havoc, with ill intentions. A danger towards innocent bystanders.

He moved his body, ready to activate Full Cowling and jump towards whatever was happening, but he froze. This wasn't his timeline. He should be focusing on getting home. Japan was in danger every second he wasn't there. He turned away from danger, but he couldn't find the strength in him to walk away.

"A boy like you could never abandon someone"

All For One's words rang out in his mind. His arrogant tone drowned out all the surrounding noise. Izuku clenched his fists tightly and clenched his teeth together. He took two deep breaths in, trying to calm himself down. But on the third breath, he realized something. All For One was right. He would never abandon someone in need.

Because that's what made someone a Hero

The streets were full of citizens. All enjoying a night out on the town. Whether it be drinking with colleagues or enjoying a quiet walk with their loved ones. But many began to disperse as a group of men walked down the street. At the front of the pack was a tall and lanky man with slanted, dark-green eyes with eyeliner and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs that covered his right eye. He walked in the front of the pack, adjusting his bowler hat when a gust of wind blew it slightly off centre. He quickly fixed it with his black gloves and tugged at his grey scarf tied around his neck. The cigar in the orange haired man's mouth extinguished. He paused and quickly relit the cigar without touching it. He continued on his path and looked down the street he was walking and smirked when he saw a dust store still open. From Dust till Dawn. The sign above the store read.

The man entered the shop with his henchmen and walked up to the counter. He looked at the elderly shopkeeper before taking his cigar out of his mouth and began waving it around. Ashes dropped onto the counter, annoying the shopkeeper. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" He asked the shopkeeper.

One of his henchmen pulled out a gun and aimed it at the shopkeeper, sending the elderly man into a panic. He quickly raised his hands in surrender "Please! Just take my Lien and leave!" He pleaded

The criminal shushed the man repeatedly "Calm down. We're not here for your money." He told the shopkeeper before turning to his goons "Grab the Dust"

The Henchmen wandered around the shop, taking all the Dust they could find as the boss waited. One henchman walked towards a tube containing Dust, but paused when he noticed a small, kid-sized, red cloaked cloaked figure, reading the latest weapon's magazine.

He unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the figure "Alright, kid. Hands where I can see 'em" He ordered, but the figure did not react to his words. "Hey! I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something?!" He shouted at her. His frustration only grew when the figure didn't react again. He walked towards the figure and tapped it on the shoulder. The figure turned around and lowered their hood, allowing the henchman to see it was a young girl with black hair with red tips and silver eyes. But what caught the Henchman's attention were the headphones covering her ears. He motioned for her to take them off, which she did.

"Yes?" The girl asked, unsure of what the man wanted with her.

"I said, put your hands in the air now!" The man ordered her

"Are you... Robbing me?" The girl questioned.

"Yes!" The henchman cried out, exasperated.

"Oh."

The boss waited for his henchman to finish when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of them go flying past him. He looked towards his henchmen and motioned for them to handle whatever was causing the disturbance. A henchman walked to where the knocked out henchman used to be and aimed his gun at something. That something quickly kicked the man through the shop's window and followed him out onto the street. She pulled something out of her pocket and the item began to unfold, eventually forming into a giant mechanical scythe. She pulled a few tricks with it before slamming it into the road, causing it to crack. A silver rose emblem jangled on her belt illuminated by the moonlight. The boss just stared at her before sighing "Okay" He quietly muttered to himself before turning to the rest of his henchmen "Get her."

The Henchmen began to run out of the store and charge the girl. The girl quickly dodged the first hit and spun around with her scythe before kicking one of the henchmen back through the broken window. She knocked one enemy behind her. The last henchman quickly tried shooting the girl, but she disappeared in a burst of rose petals to dodge the bullets before speeding towards him and knocking him into the air. The girl then used the scythe along with her momentum to swing her body around to the henchman before delivering a fierce kick that sent him flying towards the boss. She landed gracefully

She heard a groan from behind her and turned to see the henchman she knocked behind her get back up and charge at her "You damn brat!" The henchman behind her shouted running up to her. She prepared to intercept his attack, but in the blink of an eye, the man's torso was wrapped in some kind of black whip. The man looked at the whip, unsure of where it came from. The girl slowly tilted her head to the side to see that the strand ran up through the air and onto a building. Looking closely, she could faintly see a shadow standing on the edge, with the black whip running into his arms.

The man was quickly yanked up off the ground and into the sky, screaming all the while. The shadow jumped off and raised one of its legs. As soon as the henchman was pulled in front of it, it brought its leg down in a powerful kick, knocking him out. The thing landed on the ground with the unconscious thug still wrapped up in the whip. The whip disappeared and the man crumpled to the ground.

That was when everyone got a good look at the newcomer.

The figure wore a dark green full-body jumpsuit that was covered in scorch marks, blood and filth. Rusty and bent pieces of metal were wrapped around its arms, which were attached to dirty gloves that resembled claws more than anything. A dirty yellow cape was wrapped around its neck like a scarf. Kneepads that went from its calves to its thighs with yellow bolts fastened in them. Its shoes were covered in rusted metal, looking more like talons than boots. A metal respirator covered its mouth and nose. It was cracked and rusted, Ruby couldn't help but notice it looked like a broken smile. A mask covered its face with two long protrusions sticking out the back, looking like a pair of rabbit ears. Two green eyes with white centers shone out of the eyeholes ominously, staring at the boss. The girl judged from his height and stature, he was a boy, probably even around her age. But the fear she was feeling clouded her thoughts.

"You were worth every penny. You truly were." The criminal said to the unconscious henchman before looking back at the hooded girl and the costumed boy. "Well, this is not how I expected this night to go" He muttered to himself, unaffected by the boy's gaze. The same, however, could not be said for Ruby. All she wanted to do was stay away from the boy. Even though she'd trained in killing Grimm, it was easy because even though they were angry, it was unfocused. Looking into the boy's eyes, she could feel that his anger was sharpened to a point, and all he needed was someone to take it out on.

"Well, Red, Green, I think we can all say that it's been an eventful evening." The criminal said, taking out his cigar and throwing it to the ground before crushing it with his cane. Police sirens echoed in the distance, getting closer with every passing moment. "And as much as I'd love to stick around," He lifted his cane and pointed it at the girl. The bottom flipped open, revealing a hollow inside, but the cane now had a telescopic sight. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

The girl quickly aimed her scythe downwards, preparing to dodge the bullet, but she was caught off guard when she felt something collided with her side, sending her and whatever was on top of her onto the ground, narrowly avoiding the bullet.

The girl looked up to see the green eyes of the masked boy and all she froze in fear. The boy seemed to notice her fear and quickly backed off "Daijoubu desu ka?" He asked in some weird language she didn't understand. But his voice. It was so scratchy and out of tune. Just like what she'd imagine a true monster to sound like.

The girl opted to do what her dad had told her to do when she was younger and having nightmares. Just ignore the monsters, and they'll leave you alone. She looked away and saw the criminal climbing a ladder to the roof the boy was on before. She turned to the shopkeeper and asked "Do you mind if I go after him?" The shopkeeper gave her a nod, prompting her to chase after the runner.

The orange haired criminal made his way to the roof and ran across it, but halted when he came to the edge of the roof. He turned around to try and find another way down, instead he saw the girl on the roof. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the costumed boy quickly landed on the roof, hunched on the ground looking like some kind of demonic rabbit "Persistent" He muttered

A loud noise broke the silence permeating the air. A Bullhead rose behind the criminal. The boy and girl held their ground as the wind blew past them ferociously. A hatch opened on the side, allowing the boss to climb inside. He turned back towards the duo and smirked

"End of the line kids!" He yelled before throwing a red crystal at the pair. It landed in front of the girl and the criminal quickly raised his cane and fired at it. The boy quickly jumped in front of the girl and held his arms in front of his face to protect himself before the bullet hit the crystal, causing it to explode.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" He laughed with a wide smile on his face. But that joy quickly turned to confusion as he saw a purple glow on the roof. "Huh?"

A middle-aged woman with very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun stood in front of the two with a purple shield protecting them all, most likely coming from the riding crop she was holding out. As the ashes cleared from the explosion, the shield slowly faded away.

The girl looked at the woman in awe while the boy looked at her then the ship, confusion the only emotion in his eyes. The woman pushed up her thin ovular glasses. Suddenly, purple streaks quickly flew at the Bullhead and slammed into it, causing the ship to rock side to side. It slowly began losing altitude, prompting the man in the ship to run to the front.

The Bullhead slowly regained altitude, but dark clouds appeared over the ship. With a wave of the woman's riding crop, jagged purple hail began to rain down on the ship, impaling the Bullhead's exterior.

A woman cloaked in shadows stood in the hatch. Her arms and chest began to light up in a brilliant orange before a fireball was launched at the blonde. Said woman quickly raised her riding crop, ready to deflect the attack, but was beaten to the punch. A metallic groan came from behind her and she felt a rush of wind go by her eye and collide with the fireball, dissipating it. She turned around to see the boy with his arm held out and fingers curled, his gloves expanded.

The girl, not wanting to miss out on helping out the blonde woman, raised her scythe before it shifted into a gun. She shot bullets at the Bullhead, but the mysterious woman blocked all her shots before creating glyphs under all three of them. The Blonde quickly waved her riding crop, causing the boy and girl to telekinetically get shoved away before she rolled out of the glyph before it exploded into flames.

The Bullhead began to fly away, but it turned out one of them wasn't finished. The boy ran up, muttering something in a different language before holding his hand out towards the Bullhead. Large black tendrils shot out of his gloves and sped towards the ship. The tendrils latched onto the ship and wrapped around them, like a kraken devouring a large boat. The engines groaned loudly, whirring as the ship tried to pull out of the tendril's grasp, but the hold was too strong. However, the boy was beginning to get dragged to the edge of the roof, the ship pulling him across. The lightning around him sparked even more intensely and he slowed to a stop. But as he stopped, the ship began moving. Not away from them, but towards them. The boy was pulling the ship closer and closer towards them.

The woman in the ship held her open hand out to the boy and an orange circle appeared under the boy, but he did not move a muscle. He kept his hold on the ship and continued trying to pull it in. The girl knew that he was about to be incinerated. And even if he scared her, she shouldn't let him die. So in a burst of rose petals, she tackled him out of the way just as he did to her beforehand before the ground beneath him burst into bright orange flames. But in doing so, the boy lost focus, causing the tendrils to unhook themselves from the ship, allowing the ship to quickly fly away before the boy could regain his bearings.

The boy quickly got to his feet and ran towards the end of the roof, seemingly not happy with how the fight had turned out. But before he could jump off the roof to follow the ship, his body locked up and he fell to the ground. He wiggled around on the roof like a caterpillar, but he couldn't move any of his limbs "Chikushou!" The boy yelled out in frustration, trying to break out of his invisible bindings, but to no avail.

The girl turned her head to see the woman looking at the boy with a curious, but untrustworthy gaze. He also noticed how she looked focused and tense, as if she was trying to keep the boy under control. "You're a Huntress!" she squealed, running to the woman and looking at her with stars in her eyes, ignoring the struggling boy on the ground "Can I have an autograph?!"

Chapter Text

Izuku was watching them.

Everytime they moved, he tensed up, preparing to fight. Everytime their eyes darted to him, he tried to work out what emotion they were feeling towards him. And while the only emotions he could sense were fear from the girl, and hesitation from the woman. It didn't mean those emotions could change on a whim into something more malevolent. So it was best to be on guard until he could figure out where he was. He assumed he was still on Earth due to the blonde woman using a Quirk. But until he knew where he was or how he could get home.

Everyone was an enemy until proven otherwise

"I hope you realize that your actions will not be taken lightly. You two put yourselves and others in grave danger." The blonde scolded them.

Izuku stayed silent, deciding to watch the woman as she paced around the room. The girl, on the other hand, decided to do the exact opposite. "They started it" She childishly rebutted.

Izuku turned his head to look at her with a small glare, hoping she would understand that she needed to be quiet. Instead, the girl shuffled away from him. Was he really that scary? He hadn't gotten a proper look at how badly his costume had been damaged. All he knew were his boots looked like talons, and his hands like claws. He also knew that his Air Force gloves were somehow still working, albeit slightly damaged.

The girl's words proved to be the wrong thing to say, as the woman scoffed and continued on with scolding them. "Look, if it were up to me. You'd both be going home with a pat on the back…" The girl looked up, hope evident in her eyes while Izuku winced when she said home. "And a slap on the wrist." She finished before slamming her crop onto the table where their hands were. The girl withdrew her hands before the crop could hit her and yelped loudly. Izuku didn't move and the crop slammed onto his gloved hands. He hissed in slight pain, feeling the sting. "But there is someone who would like to meet the two of you"

Izuku looked up and watched as a very tall, middle-aged man walked in the door. He had tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes that gazed over them from behind some shaded glass spectacles. In his hands, he held a plate of cookies and a cup containing some kind of liquid, but judging from the smell, he assumed it was hot chocolate. The air around the man told Izuku all he needed to know. This was the man in charge.

"Ruby Rose" The man leaned in and stared at the girl, like he was studying her. "You have silver eyes," He mused. The girl, Ruby, raised an eyebrow, unsure of what was happening. A feeling Izuku could relate to. The man soon turned to look at him, giving him a once over, as if trying to pull him apart to find out what made him tick. Eventually, he backed off and pointed to a tablet the woman pulled out "So, where did the two of you learn to do this?"

A clip of Ruby fighting the goons with that giant scythe was shown. And while Izuku didn't trust her, he could admit it was extremely impressive. That fighting experience must've taken years to perfect. The woman then flicked the screen of the tablet, showing him using Blackwhip to latch onto that weird airship and… Wow. Now he understood why the girl seemed so scared of him. Jeez, he looked like a monster.

Izuku stayed silent. His mind flashing back to his time travel theory. If that was true, he would probably be in the future. The broken Moon would've been in his history class. And as for the buildings, he could be somewhere like England. The buildings there normally looked like this, right? And the people here were speaking English. But if he was in the future, All for One might be ruling over the world, so telling the man he came from UA was probably a death wish. So for now, he stayed silent and continued observing his surroundings

But it seemed Ruby didn't have anything to hide, so she answered the man "S-Signal Academy"

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" The man asked.

"Well, one teacher in particular" She sheepishly admitted

"I see…" The man said with a pensive face, going silent to think.

He placed down the plate of cookies in between the pair. Ruby looked up at the two adults before reaching for a cookie and taking a bite out of it. Immediately after swallowing the bite, she began shoving the cookies in her mouth at high speeds. Izuku watched on in mild horror at how fast she was devouring the baked goods. As if by fate, his stomach grumbled loudly, causing Ruby to stop and look at him. Her eyes displayed fear, but that didn't stop her from picking up a cookie and holding it out to him "D-Do you want one?" She asked.

Izuku stared at her. He felt touched by the small gesture, but he wasn't going to take the food. It was probably just the food he ate before fighting Lady Nagant digesting. "daijoubu desu" He answered. But the confused look on her face reminded him that he wasn't into Japan. Thankfully, when he was younger he learnt English so he could read and watch some Hero interviews from America and it looked like it paid off. "No, thank you," He said. His voice projecting a heavy accent. Right after saying that, the girl continued to devour the cookies.

"...It's just that I've only ever seen one other scythe wielder of the skill before. A dusty old crow" The man finished, looking up to the roof, deep in thought.

"Mmhmm! Thash muh unkul!" Ruby said with her mouth full of cookies. She swallowed the cookies and giggled "Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm like- Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!" She made multiple poses while slashing at imaginary enemies. While doing her karate poses, she accidentally hit Izuku's head "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" She hastily apologized.

"It's fine" Izuku reassured her

"So I've noticed" The man said, placing his cup of cocoa on the table. He looked at Ruby, seemingly more interested in her than him at the moment, which Izuku was thankful for. He didn't want to answer any more questions. He just wanted his questions to be answered. "And what is an adorable young girl doing at a school designed to train warriors?" He asked.

Okay, now they completely lost him. Warriors? Was he talking about Heroes? Is that how they were classified in this timeline?

"Well…" Ruby twiddled her thumbs sheepishly before exclaiming her answer "I want to be a Huntress!"

"You want to slay monsters?" The man asked

Izuku's breath hitched, but in doing so, he accidentally breathed in some of his saliva, causing him to cough violently. Ruby started slapping his back as if he was choking. Once the cough subsided, the girl began to explain why she wanted to kill monsters while Izuku tried to understand what the hell they were going on about.

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I want to help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought: Hey, I might as well make a career out of this! I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses' are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know?!" Ruby finished, smiling crazily while waiting for everyone's response.

"When you talk about Huntsmen and Huntresses do you mean Heroes and Heroines?" Izuku asked Ruby, his normally distant and serious tone replaced with a panicked tone.

Ruby looked at him with a face that told him all he needed to know, but she still spelt it out for him "No, I'm not talking about Heroes"

Izuku rested his face on his hand, trying to think of a rational explanation as to where he was, when he was, and what the hell was going on. The man gazed at him with a curious glance before focusing back onto Ruby "Do you know who I am?" He asked

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon." Ruby answered

"You want to come to my school?" He asked her rather abruptly

Ruby's eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself "More than anything!"

The Huntress in the back huffed, as if she didn't like the situation going on. Ozpin just sighed at his coworker before turning back to Ruby "Well, okay" He said. Ruby had the biggest smile she could muster and jumped up and down, celebrating. "But before we leave. I think we should address the elephant in the room"

Izuku felt everyone's eyes fall onto him, and while he was still slightly panicking due to the situation, he still held himself up confidently. Emotions were a weakness. And weaknesses could get him or others killed "Why are you all looking at me?"

"I have a few questions for you." Ozpin told him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Izuku immediately shut that down. He wasn't going to let the man steer the conversation like he did with the girl. He was taking charge.

"How about this? If you can answer my questions, then I'll answer yours. Does that sound fair?" Izuku told the man, leaving no room in his voice for argument.

The woman opened her mouth, ready to yell at him, but stopped when Ozpin held his hand up. She glared at the boy before shutting her mouth, allowing her boss to speak. "That seems reasonable. What would you like to know?"

"First of all. Where am I? What city is this?"

"We are in Vale" Ozpin answered

"Alright. Do you know about a man named All For One?" Izuku asked, hoping to see if All For One ruled over this timeline with an iron thumb.

Ozpin hummed and brought his hand up to his chin in thought "I have never heard of a man named All For One. I believe I would remember a name as strange as that"

Okay. What the heck? How does no one know about All For One? If he is in the future like he thinks, then All For One would be infamous. Izuku withdrew that thought and tried to ask another question, but his uneasiness was starting to show through his voice "Why aren't you scolding us for using our Quirks illegally?"

"Quirks?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow "Do you mean Semblances, young man?"

Izuku was about to lose his mind. He really was. Nothing was making sense. Next thing he imagined they'd tell him was that he was on another damn planet "Is this just a joke? Am I being pranked by someone?" He asked, looking around the room.

"Why would Professor Ozpin trick you?" Ruby asked innocently

"I don't know. I've never met him before in my life. So I don't trust him" Izuku told the girl.

"Why would you not trust him? He's a Headmaster-"

"Of a school I've never heard of," Izuku replied, a bit harsher than he had meant.

"How could you have not heard of Beacon?! It's like the best school on planet Remnant!" Ruby argued

"That doesn't-" Izuku cut himself off when what Ruby said sunk into his mind. Gears began grinding in his brain as he opened and closed his mouth from beneath his respirator "C-Could you repeat that for me please?"

"It's the best school on planet Remnant?" Ruby repeated

Izuku looked towards Ozpin, fear starting to crawl through his veins, making his body feel as cold as ice "Where is Planet Earth?"

He prayed he was wrong. He prayed that this was all wrong. That he was misunderstanding everything they were saying, He tried staying ignorant. But what Ozpin said next confirmed the fear Izuku wanted to ignore so desperately.

"Scientists have never discovered a Planet named Earth before"

Ruby was scared of Demon Boy.

She couldn't help it. He just looked so scary. Like a monster children would imagine living under their beds. She could just picture it in her mind. His dirty claw gloves grabbing the frame of the bed as his head rose from the end of the bed, looking directly at her. It sent shivers down her spine.

Not to mention he kept spouting weird stuff. Quirks. Pro Heroes. Some guy named All For One. Every second he was speaking, he was only convincing her that he wasn't right in the head. But when she told him the obvious truth that Beacon was the greatest school in Remnant, things began to change.

"-never discovered a Planet named Earth before"

Demon Boy froze in place, as still as a statue. His hands shook slightly on the desk. He shook his head from side to side rapidly, as if trying to deny something before he stopped "Oh God!" He whispered before stuffing his face into his hands. He slouched over in his chair. His back occasionally moved up and down rapidly. Ruby didn't understand what he was doing, until she heard choking sounds coming from the boy.

He was crying.

Ozpin leaned forward, clearly concerned about Demon Boy "Are you okay, young man?" When he got no answer, he motioned the Huntress to move over to the boy.

The Huntress walked forward cautiously, preparing to defend everyone if the boy decided to turn violent. Thankfully, he did not. She slowly reached for his mask and weird metal mouthpiece before removing them, giving all of them a good look at his face.

The first thing Ruby noticed about him was how tired he looked. Dark eyebags stuck out under a pair of dark green eyes with no light behind them. The closet thing she could call light in his eyes were his pupils. Instead of being black like everyone else's, his pupils were pure white. Tears ran down his face as he struggled to wipe them away faster than they could produce. Filth stained his face, almost covering the freckles resting on each cheek. Green curly hair that drooped down, almost covering his eyes. Combining all those physical attributes, he looked…

Broken.

"Oh my" Glynda gasped with her hand up to her mouth, clearly shocked with by how beaten down the boy looked

Ozpin's eyes widened in shock before quickly going back down as he composed himself. "What happened to you?" He asked, genuinely concerned with how the boy looked.

"I need to get back home" He whispered, his voice dull, but desperate.

"Home?" The Huntress questioned

"Earth. Japan. I need to go back. They're in danger. He's coming. He's going to kill them all if I can't get back. Please get me back. I need to get back." The boy pleaded. It made Ruby kinda sad to see someone like this.

"Calm down. Tell us what's wrong." Ozpin instructed the boy

The boy took in a shaky breath while looking at all of them, trying to decide whether or not to expose what happened to him. He sighed and stared at Ozpin "I'm from a different world. In my world there are Superheroes and Villains. I was being hunted by a Supervillain who couldn't be defeated by anyone else but me. I was trying to confront him when he sent me here. But I need to find a way home immediately. Every second I'm here, he could be attacking my world and trying to take over it. I need to get back. Otherwise innocent blood will be on my hands" He finished, gritting his teeth in anger. "Please. I need to get back"

Ozpin sat there, trying to process what the Demon Boy said. Ruby was doing the exact same thing. Everything the boy just said made absolutely no sense, but the tone in his voice. It was dead serious. And she could tell from the look in his eyes

He wasn't lying

"What's your name?" The silver haired man asked

"Izuku. Izuku Midoriya." He whispered quietly.

The woman typed into her Scroll in a hurry. Her eyes scanned over the screen before she looked up at Ozpin and nodded "I checked the Government database. He isn't registered in any Kingdoms."

Ozpin frowned and looked towards the green haired boy with a gaze she couldn't describe. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands "How old are you, young man?"

"Sixteen," Izuku replied. He was only a year older than herself, but he looked much more mature, like a war veteran.

"You claim to be from another world. One that you claim you need to return to." Ozpin began "You have no knowledge of our world, and have nowhere to stay. But I can change that" Izuku looked up at the man, confused at what was happening "I can offer you a place at my school. You can stay there until I find a way to bring you back to your world."

Izuku stared at the man, tears staining his cheeks as he continued to have a silent breakdown. "You promise to help me get back?"

Ozpin nodded "I will try my best." The boy gave him a small, broken smile. Ozpin then turned her Ruby "Now, Miss Rose. I assume you have a way home?" She nodded. She could just call Dad or Yang. She couldn't wait to tell them about what had happened. "Well, your sister would know where to meet up for transportation. Just follow her. I'll be seeing you at my school tomorrow for orientation." Ozpin smiled.

"Thank you so much again, Professor Ozpin. I won't be able to sleep tonight" She said, waving goodbye to them all before exiting the door. Before she left, she heard Ozpin speak to Izuku

"Now, let us find somewhere for you to stay tonight."

Gylnda Goodwitch did not understand Ozpin's decision.

"Why are you sending the boy to Beacon?" Glynda asked, walking out of the hotel with Ozpin after dropping Izuku off in a nearby hotel. "We don't even know if his story is true. We were given a very rushed story. He could easily be making it up"

"I don't believe he is faking it. We may not have all the details, but I believe he is telling the truth." Ozpin hummed and took a sip of his hot chocolate "Tell me, Glynda. What would've happened if we let the boy roam free in the streets?"

She had no clue what Ozpin was talking about, but then again, he did like to keep people guessing. "If we let him roam on the streets" She muttered to herself, trying to think before looking back to her boss "He could cause destruction? I don't know."

Ozpin smiled and decided to spell it out for her "I have no doubt our enemy has heard about the energy spike, nor do I doubt they know about young Izuku." Ozpin declared "If tonight was any indication, the boy is immensely powerful. If we keep him at Beacon, we can closely monitor him, train him, and…"

"Keep him from going over to the other side" Glynda finished with a sigh "Well, he won't be around for long anyway, right?" When she got no answer, she looked at Ozpin, who was staring off into the distance "You do have an idea on how to get him home, right?"

Ozpin did not confirm, nor deny the question. All he did was walk away.

Chapter Text

Izuku didn't sleep.

It wasn't that the bed was uncomfortable, quite the opposite actually. It wasn't that the air was too hot or too cold. It was the fact that he was alone. Completely alone. He could no longer contact anyone. He couldn't go check up on anyone. He couldn't get news about escaped prisoners.

He was completely in the dark, knowing nothing about what was happening in his old world, and what the hell this world was.

Izuku picked up the TV remote and switched it on. Soon he began channel surfing, trying to find something to tell him more information on the world, but seeing as it was so late, all news channels were infomercials. People promoting weapons, old antiques, and sex toys (Although Izuku was quick to skip that last one).

Izuku continued to channel surf as he let his mind wander to the emotions he was feeling. Fear. Anger. Sadness. He went through those emotions like a playlist on repeat. To be honest, It honestly felt like he was switching emotions faster than the channels on TV.

But the one emotion that stayed in his mind the entire time was loneliness. He missed his friends. He missed his mother. Sure he was fighting so they could live in peace once Izuku took down All For One. He could deal with the feeling of being alone for that reason. But now since he wasn't able to fight for them, he couldn't handle that feeling of no one around him who would care about him.

All he wanted was a hug from his friends, but they were out of his reach.

Izuku felt like he'd been forgotten about.

It was already noon, and yet no one had come to pick him up. Ozpin told him someone would pick him up and take him to the airship where the applicants were trying out. Izuku was confused by what he meant by airship, but decided to ignore it in the end. This world wasn't his, so naturally some things would be different.

A knock at the door snapped him from his thoughts. He turned his head to the door, but remained silent. He didn't know who was behind the door. Was it the staff, coming to collect payment for him staying the night? He hoped not, all he had were a few measly 500 yen coins, and even then, he didn't think for a second that this world would take his money. Danger Sense hadn't gone off either, so it wasn't a threat.

"Mr. Midoriya!" A familiar voice called out from the opposite side of the door.

Izuku let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding. Of course it would be Ozpin's transportation. "Come in!" He called out

The door opened and in walked the blonde woman from last night with the same stern glare. She took one look at his dirty, tired face and messy costume, before pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. "Have you done nothing since I brought you here?" She asked

"I've been trying to think about a way for me to get home" Izuku told her truthfully before jumping to the main thought on his mind "Has Ozpin found a way home for me yet?"

"It hasn't even been a day. Interdimensional travel isn't just invented in a snap" She coldly responded

"Then explain to me why I'm here!" Izuku snapped back.

The woman said nothing. Instead, she threw the bag onto the bed "Put these on," She ordered before throwing the suitcase on the bed "And put your costume in here," She then turned around and began walking out the room "And for God's sake, wash your face."

Izuku made his way to his bed and opened up the plastic bag. Inside it was a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt, and a green jacket. He quickly slipped into the clothing and noticed that it felt a little bit baggy. The woman probably got the size above what he was, but he wasn't going to complain. He kinda liked baggy clothing.

As he packed his suit into the case, he paused when he came to his shoes. There weren't any shoes in the plastic bag. And the only pair he owned looked more like bird talons than shoes. But the woman didn't give him any other clothes other than what he'd been given, so he just wore what he had.

He was about to call out to the woman when he paused. He unlocked his suitcase and looked at his Mid-Gauntlet Gloves. He tapped the left gauntlet, just noticing it was destroyed "Must've been in the fight with Lady Nagant" He muttered to himself. Thankfully the Air Force Gloves still worked, although when he used them in the fight with that criminal, they sounded off. They must've been slightly broken, but they still worked, and that's all he needed them to do.

His hand hovered over them as his mind worked. Sighing, he grabbed them and slid them on before curling his fingers. Once he was satisfied, he called out to the woman.

'Just in case'

Ruby couldn't breathe.

The reason she could not take in the beautiful element called air was because her half sister was smothering her half to death. "I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever" Her sister exclaimed, further crushing Ruby into the hug

"Yang, please stop," Ruby croaked out, trying to break free from the hug before she started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. If she was going to die, she'd rather be anywhere else than on a Bullhead towards Beacon.

Reluctantly, Yang released her hug, allowing her to take a deep breath in. "But I'm so proud of you"

"Really, sis. It was nothing" Ruby responded

Yang's lilac eyes widened at what she just said. It looked almost as if Ruby had just announced she was going to fix the moon "What do you mean?! It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon's gonna think you're the bee's knees!" She exclaimed excitedly, her long golden hair swaying with every movement.

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees" Ruby told her

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang asked

"Of course I'm excited. I just…" Ruby sighed, trying to figure out what she wanted to say "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything" She admitted.

Yang nodded her head "Yeah, okay. But you don't have to worry. People are probably going to be focused on that boy from another dimension. What did you call him again? Demon Boy?" She teased, causing Ruby to look down, embarrassed. "I wonder if he's on the Bullhead?" She wondered out loud, looking around. Ruby joined her, trying to find the boy.

Yang and Ruby's attention was soon stolen by the 2-D animated newscast on Vale News Network playing nearby. The anchors were talking about the robbery that took place the previous night. A mugshot of the orange haired man appeared on the screen "The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade the authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa." A man's voice said over the mugshot

The newscast changed to a woman with white hair that turned to a light purple to further down it went. A photo of animal-eared demonstrators holding signs saying 'WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!' followed by an image of the logo of a glowing red Wolf's head with three scratch marks. "Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Fanus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-"

The news feed suddenly cut off and was replaced with a Hologram of the Huntress she met last night. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" She announced with a formal, but authoritative tone

"Who's that?" Yang asked Ruby.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch," The Huntress told them. Ruby stifled a chuckle as her half-sister let out a 'oh' as she began to question whether or not the woman could hear them. "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world" Glynda finished her speech before the hologram disappeared.

"Oh wow!" Ruby whispered, running to the window of the ship and peering out of it "Look! You can see Signal from up here!" She told Yang. Other students made their way to the windows, each wanting to look upon the view. "I guess home isn't too far after all!"

"Beacon's our home now" Yang told her

Ruby continued to look out the window when someone groaned behind her. She turned around to see a blonde boy stumble by, clutching his stomach and running to the front of the ship, trying to hold himself back from vomiting

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everybody." Yang joked

"It was a nice moment while it lasted. I wonder who we're gonna meet! I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy. Oh gross! Yang, you have puke on your shoe!" She recoiled in disgust.

Yang looked down and immediately began kicking her foot away from her, trying to fling the vomit off "Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" She repeated.

"Get-Get away from me!" Ruby shouted, trying to dodge the puke flying through the air.

But since she was so focused on the vomit. She failed to notice a pair of green eyes watching her from the far corner of the ship

Izuku was watching them all.

Every move they made. Every word spoken to each other. He was there, hiding in the shadows. Waiting for Danger Sense to go off. Waiting for one of them to turn violent and try something. Did he know if something was going to happen? No. But until he got back home, he had to be wary of everyone.

"Maybe you should stop looking at all of them like they just killed a puppy" Nana's ghost said from beside him, her voice sounding so far away despite her being right next to him. "Just try to relax. Being stressed isn't going to do you any good"

"No. What if someone turns violent? I need to keep my guard up just in case" Izuku replied, noticing some people scooted away from him as if they heard him talking. He was ready to activate his Quirks and take them down the second they decided to reveal their true selves. But then Izuku realized that while he could see Nana and talk to her. No one else could. Still, that wasn't an excuse for him to lower his guard.

Hikage vestige soon joined them. "Danger Sense would've already informed you whether or not someone on this ship is a threat. And I believe the school would check for students with Intermittent explosive disorder or other disorders similar to that."

"Okay fine, but why are you so calm about this?!" Izuku whispered harshly at the two ghosts. "All For One could be destroying Japan right as we speak. And it's all because I fell into one of his traps!" He finished, ignoring the looks a few people were giving him.

"We aren't calm" En spoke up from behind him. Izuku turned his head to see the narrow eyes on the man looking at him with a troubled gaze "We don't like this anymore than you do. But we know getting angry about this won't solve anything. None of us possess the ability to hop through dimensions. We're stuck here. The only way we can get home is if that man comes up with a way to bring us there. The situation is completely out of our hands. All we can do is pray and wait." He finished

"And how do you know he hasn't attacked right now. Everyone could be dead!" Izuku asked in a sharp tone.

"All For One won't attack for a while. He'll want the Heroes to believe that since they lost their fighting chance against him, they've lost. I'd give it two weeks to a month before he decides to launch his final attack. And as too how do we know he hasn't attacked right now? Toshinori's spirit isn't here with us. If his vestige joins us. That's when we know All For One has won" Nana informed him with a serious tone.

"But we will pray that doesn't happen" Izuku turned to the new voice and saw Yoichi looking at him with a pitying gaze that made Izuku feel sick. It was the same look adults gave him when they found out he was Quirkless… Well, the nice adults at least. Izuku turned his head away from the new ghost, who merely sighed "I know you don't want to listen to us right now, Ninth. But please remember this. It is better to make trusted allies than dangerous enemies," Yoichi told him before they all faded away, leaving Izuku by his lonesome.

Izuku wanted to scream. He wanted to punch something so bad and let off stress. Ever since he came to this damn world he didn't know what to do, how to act, or if his friends were safe. He felt like he was Quirkless again. Like he had no control over any situation. He felt…

Hopeless

Sighing, Izuku leaned back against the wall and ignored the sound of the blonde boy up the front trying and failing to hold back his breakfast. Instead he looked out the window and took in the scenery of where he'd be staying until Ozpin could find him a way home.

But when he looked out the window his face softened. The sun rising from behind a fancy castle. Lush greenery coated surrounded it with dark green trees the same color as his hair and eyes. A moat surrounded the castle with water that shimmered like diamonds as the sun's rays reflected off it. Even though he wanted nothing more to leave this world, he couldn't deny it.

The view was breathtaking

The Bullhead landed outside Beacon's gates with a thunk. As the doors slid open. The blond boy was the first to leave, leaping towards the nearest trash can before emptying the contents of his stomach into it. Soon after, the rest of the potential students walked out, including Ruby and Yang, but they all ignored the boy in favor of walking through Beacon's gate with their heads held high. Ready to enter the prestigious college.

Everyone except for the last person to exit the Bullhead.

Izuku slowly exited the ship and looked around 'The view looked better from up in the air' He thought, looking towards the school. The sound of barfing caused him to turn and see the boy hunched over the trash can. 'Motion sickness?' He internally questioned as he walked over to the boy "Are you okay?" He asked

"Yeah. Just… just give me a moment" The boy wheezed out before another wave of barf exited his mouth.

Izuku grimaced and began patting his back offering his support. Just because he wasn't in his world didn't mean he could ignore someone in distress. Turning his head to the gate Izuku noticed all the students walking further away from them, but that didn't matter much to him. He could just catch up with them. The blond boy was more important right now.

After a couple of minutes, the vomiting noise stopped and the boy slowly turned his head to Izuku "Thanks." He weakly smiled. His dark blue eyes looked at him with nothing but gratitude.

"It's nothing" Izuku quickly brushed off the compliment, holding his gloved hand out for the boy to take.

The boy looked at the glove and recoiled slightly in disgust. Muck, grime and dried blood coated what he assumed used to be a white glove. He knew one thing for sure though, he wasn't going to touch those with a ten foot pole. "I'm good" He smiled before getting up. He stood taller than Izuku by a considerable amount, looking down at the green haired boy. "Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it" Jaune introduced himself with a sense of bravado, pointing his thumb to his chest.

Izuku didn't know how to respond to that statement. So he didn't. "Izuku Midoriya" He stated his name before turning away from Jaune and towards the gate, which he began to walk through.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!" Jaune yelled, running after Izuku before walking alongside him.

As Izuku walked, he couldn't help but notice Jaune walking proudly beside him. He slowed down a bit, and the blond beside slowed his pace. He sped up a bit and the boy sped up. Paranoia flooded his mind as situations of Jaune attacking him came into his mind. He began planning ways to defeat Jaune, but reminded himself of the talk he had with the vestiges "Why are you following me?" Izuku asked, throwing Jaune a cautionary side-glance.

Jaune shuffled nervously and offered Izuku a smile "Because you're the only friend I have here" Jaune admitted with a smile

'Since when?!' Izuku screamed in his head. Making connections would only make it painful for him to leave. He wasn't here to make friends. But before he could ask how the hell they were friends, a small stab pierced his head, and not even one second later, Izuku heard an explosion go off further down where many of the kids had congregated. A thought popped into his mind, and even though it probably wasn't true, Izuku wasn't going to wait and find out.

In the blink of an eye, Izuku was gone. Running towards the explosion with One for All active. "Holy crap he's fast" Jaune muttered to no one in particular before running towards the explosion.

'Today wasn't turning out like I hoped' Ruby thought as she laid on the ground, the sky spinning above her. Yang had caught sight of some of her old classmates who were trying out for Beacon and rushed to talk to them, going so fast that when she accidentally bumped into Ruby, she spun around and tripped over someone's luggage cart, sending cases flying everywhere.

Once the spinning subsided, a pale face came into view. Narrowed light blue eyes looked down at her with a fury "What are you doing?!" She shouted at her.

Ruby slowly sat up and looked at the girl. The first thing she noticed was the rapier attached to a white skirt. She wanted so desperately to ask what the weapon did, but the look in the girl's eyes told her it was probably best to not ask. "Sorry" She meekly apologized.

"Sorry?" The girl repeated in disbelief before shaking her head. Her icicle shaped tiara holding her white ponytail as it swayed with every movement "Do you have any idea the damage you could've caused?!" She scolded Ruby. Ruby stayed silent, instead grabbing one of the suitcases and handing it to the girl in a way of apologizing. The girl did not see that as an apology and snatched the case away from Ruby as fast as humanly possible "Give me that! This is Dust, mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry!"

Ruby watched as the girl opened the case, revealing vials of multi coloured dust. She then took out a fire dust and started shaking it in front of Ruby's face. However, the vial wasn't properly closed, causing small amounts of dust to fly out and hit Ruby's nose, which in turn caused her to sniffle. "What are you? Brain-dead? Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!" The girl continued her tirade, shaking the bottle even more intensely, causing more to hit Ruby's nose "Are you even listening to me?! Is any of this sinking in?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

With one last shake of the vial, the dust entered Ruby's nose, initiating the biggest sneeze she'd ever done. And it wasn't the biggest because of how loud it was. It was the biggest because when she sneezed, she ignited the fire dust in the air, causing a large explosion right between her and the white haired girl. The vial of dust flew out of the girls hand and landed near a girl, who looked at the label on the vial before frowning.

Once the explosion faded, Ruby could see the unbridled fury in the girl's face "Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby apologized profusely

"Ugh! You complete dolt! What are you even doing here?! Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?!" The girl chastised her.

"Well, I… I-" Ruby struggled to find the right words. This was the exact thing she was worried about, people judging her for her age. She wished for something to escape the conversation, and as if God himself heard her, her wish was granted

"KAACHAN!" A familiar voice cried out before a green blur skidded to a halt in front of them, kicking up a cloud of dust. Both girls covered their faces from the cloud, protecting their eyes. Once the cloud disappeared, Ruby saw Izuku standing there, green lightning surrounding his body, looking around wildly for something. The lightning faded when he couldn't find what he was looking for and he visibly deflated

"What do you think you're doing?! Don't run around with your semblance activated like that! You're going to hurt someone!" She yelled at the newcomer. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ruby attempting to slink away "I wasn't finished with you yet!" She said, causing Ruby to flinch "This isn't your regular combat school! It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so… Watch where you're going!"

Ruby was fed up with the girl's attitude. She'd already apologized. What more did she need to do? "Hey! I said I was sorry, princess!" She yelled

"It's heiress, actually" A new voice entered the fray. Everyone turned their head to see a black-haired girl staring at them all with her amber eyes, holding the vial of dust in one hand and a book in the other. While the girls were looking at the newcomer, Izuku was more focused on the giant black bow on her head, confused as to why it was so big. "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellent in the world."

Weiss looked smug. Ruby looked embarrassed. And Izuku?

'What the heck is Dust?'

"Finally. Some recognition" Weiss said

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners" The girl finished.

Weiss sputtered at the sudden 180 and looked towards Ruby to see her giggling, then towards Izuku, who looked at her with a confused gaze. "Wha- How dare you-the nerve of- UGH!" She walked up to the black haired girl and snatched the vial from her hand before storming off in a huff.

Ruby looked at the departing figure of Weiss before shouting out to her "I promise I'll make it up to you!" Sighing, she turned around to face the mysterious girl, only to find she was walking away as well, reading the book as she left.

She turned to Izuku, hoping he wasn't walking away like everyone else, but unlike them he stayed with her. Although he looked really confused. "It's great to see you again, Izuku!" She said with a smile

That was enough to snap Izuku out of his stupor. He looked at Ruby with a glare, causing her to shrink in on herself. But then he remembered he wasn't in Japan anymore. Their customs were foreign to these people. Ruby wasn't trying to be rude, she just didn't know. "It's nice to see you again too, Rose." He returned the greeting.

The pair heard someone huffing and turned to see Jaune standing there doubled over, trying to catch his breath "Too fast" He huffed before looking up at Ruby and holding his hand out "Hey. I'm Jaune"

Ruby struggled to contain her laughter and pointed at him "Aren't you the guy who threw up?" She giggled, causing Jaune to sigh in defeat and Izuku to facepalm.

Izuku wasn't sure where to go, and from the looks of it, neither did the other two.

The three of them wandered around, staying on the cobblestone path. Passing multiple trees and benches, they wandered aimlessly. All the while Ruby was teasing Jaune

"Look, all I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on" Jaune tried to defend himself.

Ruby laughed before calming down "I'm sorry" She giggled "Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." She confessed. Jaune sighed and looked to the ground embarrassed. "Don't take it personally. When I met Izuku, the first thing I thought was Demon Boy" Ruby chuckled.

Izuku kept his serious face on while Ruby said that, but on the inside it hurt. When she called him that, all he could think was civilians comparing him to a Nomu. But he reminded himself that it didn't matter how others viewed him here. He was merely a guest in another world. Eventually he'd return to his world, writing this journey off as nothing more than a small trip.

"Why do you call him Demon Boy? The only demonic part about him are probably his weird shoes" Jaune pointed to Izuku's Iron Soles.

'And that day can't come soon enough' Izuku thought, ignoring the harsh words spoken from the boy beside him

"You should see the costume he wore. Then you'd understand why I nicknamed him Demon Boy. It was the first thing that popped in my head, same with when I saw you vomiting. All I could think was Vomit Boy" Ruby explained

"Quit calling me Vomit Boy" Jaune whined "The names Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it" He proudly proclaimed

Ruby raised an eyebrow at his introduction and looked over to Izuku, who shrugged. She then looked back at Jaune "Do they?" She asked skeptically.

"They will!" Jaune exclaimed proudly before noticing the looks Ruby and Izuku were giving him "Well, I-I hope they will. My mum always said that… Nevermind" He muttered, embarrassed

There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the three of them, but Ruby broke that when she pulled out a box before it transformed into a large, crimson red, scythe. "Well, I got this thing"

"Whoa, is that a Scythe?" Jaune asked, stepping away in slight fear.

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle" Ruby declared proudly

"A what? Jaune questioned

"It's a gun," Izuku told the blonde. Ruby transformed the scythe into the sniper before cocking the gun and smiling crazily. He was honestly half expecting her to start shooting them with the same smile plastered on her face. Thankfully though, she didn't. But Izuku was still confused. "Do they just allow people to carry guns with them everywhere they go here?"

"In a perfect world. Yes" Ruby said in a dreamy voice, imagining a world where everyone could own a gun. She quickly shook her head and looked at Jaune "What do you have?"

Jaune unsheathed a rather plain looking sword "I've got this sword! And this shield too!" The sheathe extended, creating a shield that bore a symbol.

"Ooo! So what do they do?" Ruby asked.

She tapped the shield, causing it to grow larger before shrinking back down in a very rapid motion. Jaune began to fumble around, trying to catch the shield as it grew bigger than shrank in his hands. Once he finally got a grip he answered "The shield gets smaller. So when I get tired of carrying it, I can put it away" He laughed nervously

Izuku didn't want to speak up and get involved in the conversation, but his curiosity grew too large to contain "Does it weigh less when you shrink it?" He asked.

"I wish" Jaune muttered quietly before putting his weapons away

"What about you, Izuku, got any weapons?" She asked.

Izuku stared at Ruby like she grew a second head. "Ruby. I'm not from here." He said "Why would I have any weapons?" He frowned at her

"Oh, sorry. I forgot" Ruby looked down sadly.

Izuku took one look at Ruby's sad face before sighing. Even though he didn't want to make any friends here. He didn't want to make anyone upset either. He mentally cursed himself before speaking again "Well, I don't know if these count as weapons, but these gloves are able to fire compressed air," Izuku said, curling his middle finger and placing his thumb below it in a flicking gesture. The gloves clicked out with a small groan "Although they're a little bit broken. And my boots use kinetic energy to double the impact of my kicks"

Ruby's eyes shone in excitement as her mood completely flipped "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Have you thought about how you can incorporate Dust into the gloves? How do the gloves work? Can the boots break rock? Does your Semblance help you use them?"

Ruby went on and on with seemingly never ending questions about his equipment before Jaune interrupted her, much to Izuku's silent appreciation. "So, does anyone know where we're going?"

Izuku looked at Jaune "I was following you"

"And I was following Izuku" Ruby trailed off before everyone facepalmed

"Do you think there will be a recognizable landmark? Maybe a food court?" Jaune asked, looking around for anything to help guide them.

"I don't think so" Ruby responded with a nervous smile

Izuku could only sigh in exhaustion.

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn't stop thinking about what All for One said to him.

"You believe you've unlocked the full potential of your Quirk, but that can't be further from the truth. You have merely scratched the surface of what One for All can do"

The question was utterly ridiculous. He'd unlocked the past user's Quirks. Come into contact with said users and can do so at will. He's made ultimate moves of Quirks that shouldn't have ultimate moves. He's even found ways to push past One for All's limit from 100% to 120%. He knew nearly everything about One for All

So why was that question bothering him so much?

The auditorium was packed when the three of them arrived. Applicants crowded the room left, right and center. The pair didn't know what to do until someone yelled out to Ruby. "Ruby! I saved you a spot!" Yang shouted, waving frantically to catch her sister's attention.

Ruby's face brightened at the sight of her sister and quickly turned to Jaune and Izuku "Hey, I'll see you guys later." She said before running off towards Yang. Izuku shrugged and turned around, but stiffened up when he felt something grab his jacket's hood. He was about to launch into attack mode when he realized it was just Ruby "You're coming with me" Ruby smiled devilishly.

"Wait, what?" Was all Izuku said before he was dragged from his hood by Ruby, leaving Jaune all alone.

"Oh great. Where am I supposed to find a nice, quirky girl and a cool, loner boy to talk to" He sighed before walking away.

Yang watched in amusement as Ruby continued to drag a confused Izuku along the floor, gathering many stares from others as she continued her way over to Yang. "So, Rubes, who's this?" She asked.

"This is Izuku. I told you about him last night" Ruby responded, letting go of Izuku's hood, allowing him to stand up.

"Demon Boy?" Yang questioned.

Ruby giggled nervously as Izuku's head slowly turned towards her, and he did not look amused. A heavy sigh escaped his nose, but he did not say a word to her. Instead he turned back to face Yang "Izuku, Izuku Midoriya" He told her his name "And please don't call me Demon Boy ever again"

"Yang, Yang Xiao Long. Nice to meet ya, cutie" Yang grinned

A small blush crept onto his cheeks "Please don't call me that either" He requested as politely as he could be. "Apart from that. It's nice to meet you, Xiao Long" Izuku greeted her with a nod.

Yang cocked an eyebrow and leaned over to Ruby "Did he call you by your last name as well?" She asked

"Yeah. It felt nice. Like I was someone important" Ruby smiled proudly

Yang nodded before turning back to Izuku "So do people call each other by their last names in your dimension then?" She questioned

"Yeah. It's tradition- Wait… Who told you I was from another dimension?" Izuku asked. The only logical answer popped into his mind and he turned to face Ruby, who was trying to avoid eye contact. "How many people have you told about that?" Izuku asked.

"Just Yang and my Dad. I promise!" Ruby exclaimed, holding her hands up in front of her face."

"Well, people here mostly call each other by their first names. So you can just call me Yang," She said before walking up to Izuku and staring into his green eyes, their faces just inches apart "But I wouldn't mind if you called me your dream girl. Because you certainly look like my dream guy" She said with a sly tone. Izuku's face turned beet red at that comment as he tried to stammer out a response, but the only thing that came out of his mouth were incoherent mumbles.

Yang giggled 'He's gonna be fun to tease if he makes it in' She thought with a mental grin. She stepped away from the flustered Izuku and turned to Ruby "So, how's your day going?"

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded

"Yikes. Meltdown already?" Yang asked

"No! I literally exploded a hole in the front of the school. There was some fire, and I think some ice?" Ruby claimed

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked

"I wish! I tripped on some crummy girl's luggage, and she yelled at me. Then I exploded and she yelled again and I felt really, really bad and I just want her to stop yelling" Ruby ranted, not noticing who was standing behind her.

"And from the looks of it, she's about to yell at us again" Izuku muttered, finally released from the flustered state.

"You!" Weiss yelled from behind Ruby

Ruby screamed in fear and jumped up into Izuku's arms in fright. "Oh God! It's happening again

Izuku looked down at her and gently lowered her onto her feet as Weiss yelled at her again "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

"Oh my God. You actually exploded" Yang said.

"How did you not hear the explosion? I heard it from where that ship landed" Izuku questioned.

"It was an accident!" Ruby told Yang and Izuku before realizing they weren't the right people to say that too. She swiveled around to face Weiss "It was an accident" She repeated herself. Weiss said nothing, instead she fished around in her pocket before pulling out a pamphlet called; Dust for Dummies, and handed it to Ruby "What's this?" Ruby asked

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Dust Company highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field" Weiss told Ruby with such grace that Izuku was convinced she had practiced that little speech in front of the mirror.

Ruby stared at the girl, not quite understanding what was going on, causing Weiss to sigh is displeasure "You really want to start making things up to me" She asked Ruby

"Absolutely"

Weiss then handed Ruby the pamphlet "Read this and never speak to me again" She instructed

Yang then tried her best to inject herself into the conversation, hoping to make things easier for Ruby "Look, uh, it sounds like you guys got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

Ruby's face brightened at the idea Yang just gave her "Yeah! Great idea, sis" She handed the pamphlet to Izuku who took one look at the title before putting it in his pocket. Ruby then turned to Weiss and smiled as brightly as she could "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

Weiss flashed a very fake smile and started speaking in a higher pitch "Yeah! And we can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about boys. Like cute, exotic and mysterious here" She said, pointing at Izuku. A small blush arose on his face as he pulled his hood up over his head and looked away, embarrassed.

Ruby's smile widened as she fell for the act "Really!" She squealed

Weiss' face dropped into a frown as she stared at Ruby, dumbfounded "No."

The microphone on the stage was turned on, causing everyone to stop their conversations and look up towards the stage. Ozpin walked in from the side and stood tall looking over each and everyone of them "I'll… Keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you all, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose…" Ruby sat still as Ozpin's eyes gazed over her before looking to her left "In need of direction…" She looked to the left and saw Izuku staring at Ozpin through narrowed, confused eyes. The man stopped looking at the two of them and looked out amongst the sea of tryouts. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take that first step"

And with that, Ozpin walked off the stage, leaving everyone confused at the enthusiastic speech. The stunned silence was broken when Glynda walked onto the stage and spoke into the microphone "You will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation will begin. Be ready. You are dismissed" Once she left the stage, the potential students of Beacon continued their conversations from earlier.

"Did he seem kinda off to you guys?" Yang asked, looking at Ruby and Izuku

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby responded.

Izuku said nothing. All he did was give one last glance towards the stage before walking off to be by himself.

It wasn't long before nightfall had descended upon them. Many of the applicants had gone, or were getting ready to go to bed. But Izuku wasn't focused on sleeping at the moment. Instead he stared out the window. Due to the light pollution back home, it was kind of hard to see all the stars in the sky. But he could see every twinkling light in the sky. And too add to that, multiple fireflies filled the air, providing a warm glow in the darkest of nights

It was beautiful.

"There you are! I was looking everywhere for you!" A familiar voice called out to him. Izuku turned his head to see Jaune walking over to him wearing a blue onesie. It was an odd sight to see, but Izuku wasn't going to judge him for what Jaune wore. He was still wearing his gloves and boots. Which Jaune noticed "Why aren't you in your pajamas?" He asked

"Don't have any" Izuku answered placing his attention back onto the stars outside

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because…" Izuku trailed off before shaking his head. He didn't feel like staying up multiple hours and explaining his life story just to tell Jaune why he didn't have any pajamas "Nevermind."

"I have a spare onesie if you want something else to wear to bed?" Jaune offered, pointing towards his suitcase with his thumb.

"No thanks. I'm fine with what I'm wearing now" Izuku replied.

"Well, okay then. I'm gonna go to bed. Big day tomorrow." Jaune said before he walked back to his sleeping bag.

And so Izuku sat there, all alone. As he did, he needed to think about where he was going to sleep. The floor was mostly covered by students sleeping or their carry-on bags. But then a spot caught his eyes. No one was there, so he decided he'd claim it for himself

Hoping on the windowsill, he tucked his hands in his pockets. Feeling something weird in one of them, he grabbed and pulled out a piece of paper. Even though he couldn't see the cover, he knew it was the pamphlet Ruby handed him. "Forgot about this." Izuku muttered to himself. He squinted his eyes and brought the paper closer to his face, but due to the lack of lighting, he couldn't read anything.

Thinking for a moment, he tried to think of a way to cast some kind of illumination over the paper, but the only way he could do that was activating Full Cowling and having the lightning spark around him, which would probably annoy many of the tryouts trying to get a good sleep. He charged One for All into his left hand, but he wasn't expecting much. The lightning only appeared when he spread One for All around his body. It never-

…

Why was there lightning?

Izuku watched as the lighting from One for All danced around his hand. This wasn't normal. The lightning from Full Cowling only showed up when he spread the power throughout his body. But right now he was only channeling it into his left hand. So why was it showing up now?

"Hey Nana." Izuku whispered softly. He watched as Nana's transparent figure appeared next to him "Can you tell me a bit about the lightning?" He asked, holding up his left hand

Nana only frowned and shook her head "I have no idea, I'm sorry. The lightning is a completely different aspect of One for All. Only you and Toshi could produce something out of One for All that was unique to you two. None of us were able to bulk up or create lightning. Only you two could" Nana told him before vanishing.

Izuku sat there in silence, thinking about what Nana said. Maybe they could've done it but never got to try it, or maybe it's something All Might and he could do. But what did they possess that the other user's of One for All didn't.

Deciding it was a topic to think about later, he put his hand up to the pamphlet, but frowned when the lightning disappeared and reappeared quickly, giving him little time to read what was written. Izuku lifted his head up and looked around for some sort of light source, only to find one next to the black haired girl from earlier, who was reading a book. Standing up, he walked over and stood in front of her. She looked up towards him, but didn't say a thing.

"Can I sit here?" Izuku asked, pointing to the unoccupied spot on the other side of the candle "I want to read, but there isn't any light. I won't disturb you from whatever you're reading. I promise."

The girl looked him up and down, studying him before nodding "Sure". Izuku slowly sat down next to the candle before reading about what Dust was and what it could do. And so the two of them sat there in silence, reading their respective materials and not sparing each other a single glance.

Ruby adjusted the eye mask resting on her forehead as she wrote on a piece of paper. Just as she finished writing, Yang crashed next to her "It's like a big slumber party!" She exclaimed loudly, as if she was ready to party. Which was weird, seeing as everyone was starting to fall asleep.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though" Ruby commented

"I know I do." Yang purred, her eyes wandering over all the shirtless guys. A small frown came to her face when she saw Izuku sitting next to a candle still clothed. She noticed how baggy his clothes were and was curious what he had going on for him underneath all that clothing. Deciding to stop looking at the boys, she shifted her attention to Ruby. "What's that?" She asked

"Just a letter to my friends back at Signal. I promised to tell them about Beacon and how everything was going." Ruby answered, sliding the paper into an envelope.

"Oh that's so cute" Yang cooed, before she was shut up by a flying pillow courtesy of Ruby.

"Shut up!" She snapped back, embarrassed "I didn't get to bring my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here"

"Well, you have Jaune. He's… nice! And what about Izuku? There you go! Two friends! That's a two hundred percent increase!" Yang claimed

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. And I'm not sure if Izuku likes hanging out with me." Ruby deflated "Back to zero percent"

"There's no such thing as negative friends!" Yang reassured her "You've just made one friend, one enemy, and one… Izuku?" Ruby threw another pillow at her, which she dodged. Seeing how Ruby wasn't looking happier, Yang tried a different approach "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

Ruby exhaled deeply before looking around the room. Her eyes stopped wondering when she saw a lit candle on the other side of the room. Izuku was on one side, and the black haired girl on the other. "That girl…" She muttered, remembering her from earlier

"Hmm? You know her?" Yang asked

Ruby shook her head "Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything"

"Well now's your chance" Yang said before grabbing her by the scruff of her pajamas and dragging her across the floor to Izuku and the girl

"Wait! What are you doing!" Ruby exclaimed quickly in a panic. She squirmed around in a futile attempt to escape Yang's grasp, but her sister was too strong

"Don't worry. If you annoy the girl too much, you can talk to Izuku and ask him if he'll be your friend!" Yang said, brimming with energy. Izuku and the girl looked up to see them getting closer to their position. "Hellloooo!" Yang said in a singsong voice "I believe you three know each other?"

"Aren't you the girl that exploded?" She asked, looking at Ruby

"Uh, yeah!" Ruby answered "My name's Ruby, but you can just call me…" She tried to think of a cool nickname, but nothing came to mind "A-Actually, you can just call me Ruby"

"Uh huh" The girl muttered before going back to her book

Yang quickly grabbed Ruby and Izuku, much to his surprise, before hauling them out of hearing distance "What are you doing?!" She whispered sharply at Ruby

"I don't know!" Ruby whispered back before turning to Izuku "Izuku, help me out here!"

"I promised I wouldn't disturb her, and I like to keep my promises" Izuku replied before going back to his spot and finishing the last few lines of his pamphlet.

"He's no help at all!" Yang sighed, frustrated "Don't worry. Big sis has got you covered" She smiled confidently before walking back to the candlelit spot "So, what's your name?" She asked

"Blake" The girl sighed in annoyance

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister" Yang introduced herself "I like your bow!"

Blake forced a smile, getting annoyed with how much talking they were doing. It was a risk to her peacefulness when she let Izuku sit with her, but thankfully he didn't speak to her at all. Which she really appreciated. It felt nice reading with other people. Kinda like a book club, but no talking

"Thanks" She forced out

"It goes great with your… Pajamas?"

"Right" Blake drawled, not really invested in whatever the hell was happening right now. She looked over at Izuku to see him looking at her

'I am so sorry' Izuku tried to convey the words through his eyes. Thankfully, Blake understood what he was trying to say and gave him a small nod

"Nice night? Don't ya think?" Yang tried shooting her final shot

"Yes. It is lovely. Almost as lovely as this book" Blake told her, holding up the book she was reading. Yang and Ruby continued to stand there which annoyed Blake slightly "That I will continue to read" She tried getting her point across. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to understand, so she had to be direct with them "As soon as you leave!" She told them before going back to her book

Yang finally understood what Bale was talking about and sighed before turning to Ruby "This girl's a lost cause. Time for plan B. Hey Izuku-

"What's it about?" Ruby asked

"Huh?" Blake responded, looking up at the girl

"Your book. What's it about?" Ruby repeated her question.

"Well… i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body" Blake answered, not noticing that Izuku flinched from beside her.

"Oh yeah… That sounds really lovely" Yang tried injecting herself into the conversation as a backup in case Ruby said the wrong thing. But only made her seem more out of place

"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of Heroes and Monsters." Ruby told Blake, her mind drifting back to when she was younger "They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

"Why is that?" Blake asked, catching Ruby off guard "Hoping you'll have a happily ever after?"

Ruby fidgeted on the spot before looking Blake in the eye "Well I'm hoping that we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those Heroes in the book! Someone who fought for what is right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

Blake was ready to retort, but was silenced when a small sigh came from Izuku's lips. "Ruby," He softly said, "It's great that you want to help others. Really it is. But there's something you have to understand. In those books, the Heroes always win and come out on top with very little casualties. But the real world isn't like that. When you help someone, it can come with a cost" Subconsciously, his left hand moved and rubbed his right arm, where his scars were. "And even if you give it your all. Sometimes the Villain will win. And when that happens, you either give up, or continue trying to fight to keep the world safe. And when you choose that latter, it can destroy you. Both mentally and psychically." At this point tears were starting to pool in Izuku's eyes and began rolling down his cheeks silently "You begin to start suppressing your emotions in order to show no weakness. Because if the villain sees it, they will exploit it. You push everyone away so one day they can live in peace. And even though you try and try to keep people safe. To save them from others or themselves, you end up hurting them because you wouldn't give up. The world breaks you down. One tragedy after another until it becomes too much to handle and you end up becoming something you're ashamed of. Until you end up becoming a monster that everyone fears"

The girls all shared a look of concern. That was way too specific for what they were talking about. After a few seconds, Ruby walked forward, leaned down, and wiped away Izuku's tears with her hand "But the Heroes never give up. That's what makes them the good guys. Because even when everything is stacked against them, they always find a way to save everyone and win" She smiled at him

Izuku's eyes widened at what she said. Ruby began to wonder if she said the wrong thing, but that thought was squashed when he gave a small smile. And that was when Ruby realized something. This was the first time she'd ever seen Izuku smile. And she couldn't lie, it suited him much more than the cold and serious face he put on most of the time "Thank you, Rose" He thanked her

Out of nowhere, Yang suddenly hugged Ruby "I'm so proud of you, my baby sister!" She wailed loudly, comical tears falling from her eyes

"Cut it out!" Ruby yelled, struggling to get out of Yang's grip. The hug soon turned into a mini wrestling match between the pair. Which got a smile from Blake. "Well, Ruby, Yang. It's been a pleasure-"

"What in the world is going on here!" Weiss yelled, marching over to the group with a very angry look in her eyes "Don't you realize that some of us are trying to sleep?" He scolded loudly, causing a few of the applicants to wake up and give her the stink eye, which she ignored.

Her and Yang locked eyes before they both cried out in annoyance "Not you again!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

"Shh, guys. She's right, people are trying to sleep" Ruby whispered quietly

"Oh, so now you're on my side" Weiss asked, annoyed

"I was always on your side!" Ruby retorted

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice" Yang asked with a bite in her tone.

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss countered, pointing at Ruby.

The conversation ceased when Izuku stood up and turned to Weiss. He stared at her in the eyes, causing her to tense up, but then he handed her the pamphlet from earlier "Thanks for the pamphlet. It was very informative" Izuku thanked Weiss with a small bow as she watched in confusion

He then turned to Blake and bowed again "Thank you for the light"

"It's fine. If you make it in. We could have a few more reading sessions like this," She suggested. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, but she also liked having the company of someone else with her. And thankfully, Izuku didn't annoy her.

"I'll keep that in mind" He responded before turning to Ruby and giving her the biggest bow "Thank you for the talk, Rose. I really needed that. Have a good night, everyone" He said before walking back to the windowsill and jumping up on it before resting his eyes closed.

The group was left in silence, and Blake took this opportunity to blow out the light, coating the halls in shadows. And it wasn't much later before everyone, including Izuku, was asleep.

Chapter Text

Izuku was having his first proper sleep since he'd left UA.

When he left, he would only get small snaps in between fighting. And when he did try and get a proper sleep, Danger Sense would wake him right back up. So he eventually decided to just forgo sleep entirely. But now that he was floating in the realm of slumber, he was reminded of how good sleep felt.

Nothing could ruin this.

"WAKE UP LAZY BUTT!" A girl with ginger hair yelled out loud. She ignored the green haired boy who jumped in fright at the sound of her voice and fell off the windowsill he was sleeping on onto the ground below face first. Instead she focuses on the boy next to her. The boy groaned and slowly sat up, stretching his black hair. Once he lifted his hand from his hair, the magenta streak became visible for all to see. "It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" The girl sang with a passion as the boy beside her sighed.

The boy checked his teeth in the mirror, making sure they were all clean after he'd brushed them. Once he was sure, he put his toothbrush into a zip lock bag before walking out of the men's bathroom. But just because the bathroom was only meant for men, didn't mean a woman couldn't walk in. Since that's what his friend did as she followed him out.

"I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I'd thought we'd get kicked out or anything. I mean you're the perfect student and I'm… well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?!"

The boy looked around the ballroom as he tightened the straps on his sleeping bag. He turned his head to the left to see his friend brushing her hair as she continued talking "We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not 'together-together…'. Not that I'm saying that you're not handsome; You are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?"

The boy lowered his spoon into his bowl of cereal before slowly lifting it out. He watched as the flakes floated on the milk before gently putting the spoon into his mouth and eating the contents. His friend continued to talk as she devoured the pancakes in front of her as if she hadn't eaten in days. "Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together! Oh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school"

Finally, they were in the locker room, surrounded by multiple applicants. The boy grabbed some magazines and put them into his weapon, StormFlower. While he was loading ammunition into his weapon, The girl continued to babble on "I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal." She gasped in realization as a better idea came into her mind "A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a Sloth?" She asked

The boy holstered his guns into his sleeves before turning to the girl "Nora"

"Yes, Ren?" Nora replied

"I don't think Sloths make a lot of noise." He told her.

"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!" Nora exclaimed with a crazy grin on her face.

Ren sighed in amusement before shutting his locker "Come on Nora, let's go." He told her as he walked away. Nora quickly skipped after him not wanting to be left behind. As they walked, they passed Izuku who was heading towards his locker with Jaune. Izuku was, as he normally was, quiet.

It wasn't that Izuku didn't want to talk to the blond next to him. Well, he did want to keep to himself more, but when he did want to talk, he didn't know what to say. Same when he was speaking to Ruby or Yang. He knew nothing about their world and they didn't know anything about him. To him it felt like there was a giant crevice between them. One neither of them could cross. But unlike them, he was content to just stay on his side. But sometimes the crevice would close, allowing them to chat freely. But normally not for too long.

"Now" Jaune clapped his hands "Where is my locker?" He questioned, looking around the room.

Izuku moved his eyes to the left and looked at Jaune. "Your locker was right ne-"

"Hold on, Izuku. I marked it on a map!" Jaune announced, pulling a map out of his pocket. He began to examine the piece of paper before walking off in the opposite direction from Izuku. "My locker's over there" He announced

"Arc, wait!" Izuku called out, but the blond seemed too occupied with his map to even listen to him. Watching Jaune wander away, Izuku shrugged and walked away, letting the boy go on his wild goose chase. Instead he chose to wander around, eventually bumping into Ruby and Yang, who were watching Ren and Nora.

"Wonder what they're so worked up about?" Ruby pondered out loud, not noticing Izuku standing right behind her.

"Dunno. Hey Greenie" Yang smiled at Izuku

"Huh?" Was all that came out of Ruby's mouth before she turned around and saw Izuku. She let out a small scream in fright before quickly calming down "Don't do that again!" She yelled out.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you" Izuku apologized. His words sounded sincere, despite the dull tone in his voice.

"So, are you guys excited for today?" Yang asked, looking between the two. Ruby looked ecstatic, eager to go out and prove that she belongs in the school. Izuku looked like he wanted to go back to bed.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or 'Getting to know you' stuff. Today is the day I get to let my sweetheart do the talking!" Ruby said while stroking her scythe.

"Well, remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to go out and meet new people" Yang advised her sister.

Ruby pouted and looked at her sister with a grump look "You sound like dad!" She accused "First of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly; I don't need to grow up. I drink milk!" She told her sister

"What does drinking milk have to do with anything?" Izuku questioned the cloaked girl.

Ruby fidgeted under his gaze "It makes my bones stronger" She weakly argued, shrinking in on herself with every passing second.

Izuku shook his head "Put enough pressure on your bones and milk won't do anything to protect them. Trust me, I know." He said, looking at his gloved right hand and clenching it tightly. Even though he couldn't see the scars, he knew they were there. A permanent reminder of how weak he was.

"So, what are you guys going to do about teams?" Yang asked.

"Wait, teams?" Izuku questioned, looking up from his hand.

"Yeah. You know. The people you'll be partnered with for your time at Beacon?" Yang told him. Noticing his confused gaze she muttered "Oh right. You're not from here."

"I'm not staying at this school for however long it runs for. I'm going to go home soon. So there's no point in me joining a team if I'm going to leave soon" Izuku voiced his opinion.

Ruby shrugged, not really knowing the answer to her sister's question "I-um… I don't know. Since Izuku's not gonna want to work with me. I guess I'll just be on your team or something" She told Yang.

All of a sudden Yang became interested in her hair, bringing it up to her face and caressing it. Her eyes moved to the side to avoid Ruby's. "Maybe you should try being on someone else's team" She sheepishly suggested.

Ruby smiled at Yang, but behind that friendly smile did not match her eyes, which showed nothing but annoyance "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" She sweetly asked.

Yang immediately realized her position and tried to get out of this predicament without upsetting Ruby too much "What? No! Of course I do! I just thought… I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of your shell" She suggested, but her words gave the opposite effect than what she'd hoped for

A look of betrayal manifested on Ruby's face as she stared at Yang. "What the?! I don't need to break out of my shell! That's absolutely-"

"Ridiculous!" Jaune shouted out of nowhere. They all turned their heads to see him look at his map in both anger and confusion "This is where my locker's supposed to be. My map says so! Why did this have to happen today?" He asked himself in a slump.

Izuku sighed and turned back to the girls. At least with this he could avoid the sibling argument. "I need to grab my costume and get changed. I'll see you two later." He bid farewell to the girls before walking over to the blond boy "Arc!" He called out, catching the blond's attention. "Your locker was above mine" He told him

"Huh? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Jaune asked

Izuku just took a deep breath in before exhaling heavily. Pinching the bridge of his eyes, he walked over to Jaune and past Weiss, who was approaching a girl with red hair adorned in spartan armor. "So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to join? I'm sure everyone would want such a strong and capable individual such as yourself on their team!" She exclaimed

Pyrrha thought for a second before shrugging ever so slightly "I'm not sure yet. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may" She admitted

"Well… I was thinking we could be on a team together." She suggested in a kind tone

Pyrrha smiled "That sounds grand!"

"Great!" Weiss said before turning around. Her cheerful façade broke, revealing something much more sinister and unsettling 'This is perfect! The smartest girl paired with the strongest girl! Together we'll be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing will stop us!' She thought, unaware of the only thing that could stop her was fast approaching

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you" Jaune slid into the conversation with all the grace he could muster.

Weiss turned around to see Jaune standing in front of them, looking extremely confident in himself "Who are you?" She asked, confused at the sudden arrival of the blond haired boy.

Pyrrha took a different approach however turned to Jaune with a smile "Nice to meet you, Jaune." She smiled

"Nice to meet you too, Gorgeous" Jaune said with a smile, looking at Pyrrha before turning back to Weiss "So, I couldn't help but hear your talk and I was thinking you, me and that girl over there would make a great one. Wadda say?"

"Actually, I think the teams are made up of four people each' Pyrrha interjected

"Not to worry, hot stuff. I know the perfect person to fill in the last spot. Izuku!" Jaune called out, looking over to his left. The two girls followed his eyesight to see Izuku standing in front of his locker with his eyes clenched shut, as if he was wishing to be anywhere else but there.

Eventually, Izuku made his way over, clutching a briefcase with the number 18 painted onto its side. "Did you need something?" He asked Jaune with a tired tone

"I was curious if you wanted to join our team! With you, me, and these two girls, nothing will stop us" Jaune claimed

"These two girls." Izuku repeated, staring at Jaune in disbelief "Do you even know their names?"

"Precisely!" Weiss jumped in "Do you even know who you're speaking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel" Jaune said

Weiss' eye twitched at the nickname but pushed that aside for now "This is Pyrrha" She told the two boys, pointing at the redhead. Jaune nodded along as Pyrrha waved at the two boys "She graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" She claimed

"Never heard of it." Izuku and Jaune said simultaneously.

Weiss' jaw dropped in disbelief before she quickly recomposed herself "She's won the Mistral Region Tournament four years in a row!" She tried again, only this time with a much louder voice.

"The what?" Izuku and Jaune pondered

Weiss then began to fail her arms around "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She yelled at the two. That seemed to finally get Jaune to recognize her, but she still has no luck with Izuku

"That's you!" Jaune gasped as he remembered seeing her on those boxes of cereal "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha admitted sadly.

"What?" Izuku muttered, not understanding a word they were saying. In his mind, he could feel the ground between them start to pull away from each other, forming the crevice. Maybe this was God's way of telling him to just shut up and keep to himself.

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked rudely

"I… guess not. Sorry" Jaune apologized, looking downwards in embarrassment.

"Actually, Jaune, I think you'll make a great leader" Pyrrha encouraged the blond, causing him to brighten up

"D'oh, stop it" He chuckled.

"Seriously, stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Weiss claimed, but the words Pyrrha said had already sunken into Jaune's mind.

"Well, it looks like Pyrrha and Izuku are on Team Jaune" The blond claimed proudly. Izuku turned his head towards Jaune and quickly tried to deny that assumption, but Jaune wasn't listening. Instead the boy was getting closer and closer to the white haired girl "Spots are filling up quick! Maybe I can pull a few strings and find a place for you. What do ya say?"

Weiss, now leaning back due to the close proximity between her and Jaune, quickly called out for help "Alright! That's a little too close. Pyrrha, a little help please."

Pyrrha unsheathed her sword and watched as it transformed into a spear before throwing it at Jaune. She was aiming for his hood to pin him against the wall. She didn't want to do it, but she couldn't think of any other way to separate the two at that moment . But to everyone's surprise, Izuku moved in front of the spear and caught it by the blade. It sliced through the palm of his left glove before the laws of friction applied and the spear stopped moving. Izuku stared Pyrrha in the eyes and that was when she saw it.

She saw sparks of life within his normally dead eyes.

But he soon blinked, and the light went away. The spear landed on the ground with a metallic clang. Izuku clenched his left hand tightly before walking over to Jaune and grabbing him by the arm. Dragging him away from Weiss and to a nearby wall of lockers. "Stay here" He told the boy before walking back to the girls. "Never do that again!" He warned Pyrrha with a glare.

"I-I didn't mean to hurt him. I was aiming for his hood" Pyrrha tried to justify herself.

"And what if you missed?" Izuku asked, causing Pyrrha's body to tense up "What if your aim was off. Would you feel fine with that javelin piercing his shoulder? Or his head" The girl froze in horror as she imagined Jaune looking at her with the javelin sticking out of his forehead.

Izuku gave one last hard look at her before walking off and back to Jaune "And you're not innocent either. Don't invade other people's personal space unless they're okay with it." He scolded Jaune harshly before hearing a gasp from Pyrrha. Turning his head to face her, he saw her looking at the blade of her javelin before looking at him. Izuku just gave her a look that said 'Don't say anything about it'. Thankfully she understood and kept quiet, but that didn't stop her from throwing concerned glances at him every now and again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yang and Ruby approaching "Having some trouble there, lady killer?" Yang asked with a massive smirk

"I don't understand." Jaune muttered "My mom said all women look for confidence! Where did I go wrong?" He questioned himself.

Yang turned to Izuku and motioned to Jaune "So what'd he do?"

"I don't know the specifics, but I do know he called Schnee 'Snow Angel' and invaded her personal space." Izuku answered "And I don't think she enjoyed either of those things"

"Speaking of nicknames. Why does Ruby call you Demon Boy sometimes?" Yang asked, curious as to why her sister sometimes called the green haired boy that nickname. "She never explained why."

Izuku opened his mouth to answer but was cut off when the loudspeaker announced for them to meet at Beacon Cliff for the initiation. Izuku looked at his briefcase before looking back at them. "You'll see soon enough" He cryptically said before turning away from them and heading towards a changing room. Once inside he uncurled his left hand and watched with a dead gaze as drops of red fell onto the ground.

Jaune fidgeted uncomfortably as Ozpin stared at them all. The man did not say a word, he just stood there. Glynda stood next to him, a tablet in one hand. Finally, a small smile graced Ozpin's features "Ah, there he is" He said "We can begin now"

Everyone turned their heads to see who Ozpin was waiting for and immediately tensed up. Walking up the hill towards them was what they could only describe as a true monster. Everyone froze in fear as the figure closed in on them. But instead of attacking them like they thought it would do, it moved past them all and stood on the gray platform next to Jaune.

Sweat rolled down Jaune's forehead as he began shaking in fear, but then something caught his eye. Those gloves and those shoes. It couldn't be… "Izuku? Is that you?!" Jaune asked. Yang, Blake, Weiss and Pyrrha's eyes widened at what Jaune had said. And their shock only grew when the costumed boy nodded his head slowly "Dude, why do you look like you're about to kill all of us?!"

"Do I really look that scary?" Izuku quietly muttered to himself before speaking up, "It's the only thing I have aside from my clothes, and I don't want to ruin them." He explained.

Yang slowly leaned over to Ruby "So that's what you meant when you called him 'Demon Boy'." She whispered to her sister before shutting up when Ozpin cleared his throat, diverin everyone's attention from Izuku to him.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin told the applicants.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." Glynda spoke up, gaining everyone's attention since she was talking about the team situation "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates" She told everyone before adding "Today"

The students looked around, each having a different reaction to the news. Nora looked excited, looking back and forth between Ren and Glynda. Ruby looked confused, uttering out a small 'What?'. Jaune looked nervous, hoping he would be partnered up with someone strong and cool. And Izuku looked on with apathy, not caring about the teams.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well" Glynda explained. Ruby looked over to Izuku, who caught her gaze and shook his head no, prompting her to groan.

But nothing was preparing the students for the bombshell Ozpin was about to drop on them "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years"

"WHAT?!" Ruby screamed. It felt like her world had just shattered around her.

"I told you!" Nora pointed at Ren

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… Or you will die" Ozpin told them before further explaining the test "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard the item you chose, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" He finished

"Yeah, um sir?" Jaune raised his hand, hoping to ask a few questions about the exam, but was ignored by Ozpin.

"Good. Now take your positions" The man told everyone. The applicants soon got ready to begin the exam. Nora crouched low, like a lion ready to pounce on its prey and rip it to shreds. Ren calmly drew StormFlower and rested his fingers on the triggers. Yang raised her fists, ready to pummel anything that stood in her way. Ruby stood tall, trying to make herself seem older and more mature than she actually was. Jaune continued standing there, his hand raised the entire time. And finally Izuku, who was unsure what Ozpin meant by opposition.

"Um, sir? I have a question" Jaune said. At the start of the line, Weiss' platform sprung up sending her flying through the air into the forest. Izuku had to do a double take, unsure of what was happening. Jaune, however, completely missed it, as well as not seeing the other students get launched. "So this landing strategy. What is it? Are you dropping us off somewhere?" He asked

"No." Ozpin answered "You will be falling"

Jaune still wasn't noticing the other applicants getting launched. "Oh, uh, I see. So like, are you going to hand out parachutes for us?" He asked nervously

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy" Ozpin said as he watched Nora and Ren get launched into the Emerald Forest.

Izuku looked down the line and saw Yang staring at him. Once she knew he was looking, she gave him a flirtatious wink, causing a red hue to lightly dust his cheeks underneath his mask. She then put on a pair of aviator sunglasses before being launched with a cheerful scream. Izuku then looked over at Ruby, who offered him a smile before she too was launched.

"So what exactly is this landing stratagyYYYY!?" Jaune screamed as the platform underneath him launched him away, leaving only Izuku, Ozpin and Glynda.

Izuku waited patiently for his turn to be launched, but that did not happen. He turned towards Ozpin, who was looking at him with a comforting gaze "I would like you to think about these words before you go into the forest. You will be facing Grimm, monsters that have no soul. They live only to attack and kill. So if you feel hesitant to kill them, just imagine them as nothing more than flies." Ozpin informed him "Do not think of it as taking a life. Think of it as putting these creatures into an eternal slumber

Izuku didn't know how to process those words, but he wasn't given much time to. Ozpin gave him a small nod before the platform underneath him sprung up, launching him high into the air. However, this platform shot Izuku on an angle, sending him further left than the other participants.

Glynda noticed this and turned to Ozpin "Why are you sending Izuku further away from the others? It's going to be harder for him to find someone to team up with"

Ozpin turned to face Glynda "The boy is a wild card. We do not know how his mind works. Since arriving in Beacon, he's displayed multiple different emotions, as if he's trying to mask how he feels in order to protect himself. But one emotion has been present in nearly all of them. This test isn't just to see which students make it into our school. It's too see how close young Izuku is to falling into something he can't escape from." The sound of multiple Grimm screaming pierced their ears followed by Ozpin looking off in the direction of where Izuku was launched with an intrigued face, as he held a Tablet displaying all of the students, with one main camera following Ruby and one following Izuku. "Let us see how much negativity is stored inside that boy, shall we?"

Chapter Text

Izuku didn't know what he expected to find once he landed.

He remembered Ozpin and Ruby talking about killing monsters, but he'd never seen the creatures. All he knew about them was that there were schools out there to kill them. He thought it was barbaric. Killing a creature just because it caused harm? They could easily restrain them and make them docile.

But then again, he had no clue as to how these monsters acted. They could just live for destruction and death. And maybe… maybe putting them down was the only way to keep them safe.

But Izuku was a Hero. He was taught never to kill, only capture and restrain. So if push came to shove…

Would he be able to kill?

A black bird was gliding majestically through the air, enjoying the freedom of flight. It was high above the ground, so no Grimm could hurt it. It was completely safe.

That was until Ruby crashed into it as she plummeted to the ground below. "Birdie, no!" She cried out, watching it fall to the ground with a splat. Ruby realized that would be her unless she could stop her descent. She quickly pulled out Crescent Rose before turning it into her sniper. She fired a few shots, using the force of the blasts to slow her momentum before switching back to her scythe. She caught a branch with her blade before swinging herself down to the ground at a much more reasonable pace.

As Weiss flew through the air, she pulled out her rapier, Myrtenaster, before summoning a large white circle with a snowflake pattern before landing on it. She then immediately jumped off of it, heading to the forest below. Hoping to find Pyrrha or at least someone capable to be on her team.

Ren descended towards the ground at an alarming pace, but he was not fazed by his speed. He spun around mid-air before using the blades attached under the barrels of StormFlower to latch onto a tree. He spiraled around the trunk before landing on the ground. He dusted himself off before hearing a shout above him. He looked up to see Yang soar above him, cheering as she flew

Yang fired multiple shots using her gauntlets, laughing and cheering with each blast. She spun around, enjoying her time in the air. The smile never left her face, even when she crashed through multiple branches and tumbled to the ground. She quickly stood up, a giant smirk plastered on her face. "Nailed it" Yang said with a smirk before running off.

Pyrrha pulled out her shield and held it in front of her body, shielding herself as she crashed through multiple trees. Every time she smashed through a tree, it slowed her down. Once she was at an adequate speed, she landed on the ground with a combat roll. 

Once she got up, she saw Jaune falling out of the sky, screaming as he did. She held up her javelin, ready to throw, but hesitated slightly. Izuku words from earlier bouncing around her mind. But if she didn't throw the javelin, Jaune would die. She took a deep breath and carefully aimed for where Jaune was going to pass before throwing the spear with all her might.

After a second she heard a very audible thunk as her spear collided with the tree. What followed were seconds of silence that felt like years to Pyrrha. But finally, she heard someone call out to her.

"Thank you!"

Pyrrha let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding "I'm sorry!" She yelled back

Izuku found himself flying towards a large lake. He contemplated using Float to slow his descent, but soon decided against it. In a normal situation, he would use any power available to help him out. But this wasn't a normal situation. His powers were now valuable cards in his deck. He'd already played two of them, but he still had five left. He didn't want to show them off just yet. When the times came, he would. But he knew a way to land safely without using Float.

He channeled 20% of One for All and straightened his body so he was upright. Once he was close enough to the ground he began moving his legs in a running motion. He soon came into contact with the ground and began sprinting across it at high speeds. One for All's boost in durability negated any damage, but now he was going too fast to properly control himself. 

Spotting a tree in front of him, he continued running before he jumped and began running up the tree. Once he was at the top, he kicked off the trunk and did a backflip before landing on the ground in a crouched position. 

Danger Sense went off like a rocket. He quickly stood up and looked around. 'Two on my left… No, there's five, and more coming in on my right!' He thought, using the 4th's Quirk to pinpoint where everything was. But all he managed to figure out was there were too many enemies, coming in from every direction.

And they were coming in fast!

"Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang. Gotta find' Realizing that thinking wasn't going to help her, Ruby began to shout at the top of her lungs. Hoping her sister was close enough to hear her "Yang! Yang!" She waited and waited, but her sister did not respond 'Oh, this is bad. This is really bad. What if I can't find her? What if someone's already found her?' She internally panicked. 'Well. There's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny! But I don't think he'd be very good in a fight though. Oh! What about Blake?! So mysterious and calm… Though I probably wouldn't be able to hold a conversation with her. Ugh! And then Izuku. He's really strong, but he doesn't want to be on a team with anyone. Okay, who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake, Izuku and…" Ruby's thoughts died in her head as she locked eyes with someone who she would've liked to avoid.

Weiss quickly turned around and walked from whence she came, leaving Ruby all by herself "Hey! Where are you going?!" She called out, but Weiss didn't respond. Ruby huffed and quickly a nearby pebble with her foot "We're supposed to be teammates" She muttered to herself.

Weiss walked through the forest, hoping that she could switch partners. No way was she going to be partnered with that child. She'd rather anyone else. As she pushed branches and leaves out of her way, she heard a familiar voice from high above.

"Ugh! Come on. Come on. You stupid spear"

Weiss looked up to see Jaune fumbling with a javelin that had pinned him to the tree. He noticed her and stopped fidgeting, instead opting to smile and wave awkwardly. The white haired girl then turned on her heel and walked back to where Ruby was. She grabbed the girl by her hood and dragged her "By no means does this make us friends" She sharply told the girl.

"You came back!" Ruby shouted happily.

"Wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!" Jaune cried out to Weiss, but his pleas fell on deaf ears

"Um, Jaune?" Jaune looked down to see Pyrrha staring up at him "Do you… have any spots left on your team?" She asked innocently

Jaune snorted "Very funny" He said as the newly formed partners smiled at each other.

Elsewhere, Ruby and Weiss continued to wander through the forest. Hoping the direction they're going is the right way. Weiss was walking quickly whilst Ruby was struggling to keep up with her. "What's the hurry?" She asked

The girl in front of her turned her head to face her. A not so pleased expression on her face "I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow!" Weiss snapped at her before turning back to face forward "I swear, if we get bad grades because of your-" She suddenly stopped speaking when Ruby appeared right beside her "What the?!"

"I'm not slow!" Ruby retorted childishly

"When did…?"

"Weiss, just because I don't know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters! You're about to see a whole different side of me today! And after it's over, you're gonna be like 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool, and I want to be friends with her'." Ruby declared before disappearing a shower of rose petals, leaving Weiss all alone.

'Oh, it was her Semblance' Weiss thought, mentally facepalming. Suddenly she heard the bushes crackle around her "You may be fast, but you excel at wasting time!" Suddenly the rustling stopped, as if the sound of her voice froze whoever was inside the bushes. Weiss couldn't help but feel a chill crawl up her spine "Ruby?" She asked hesitantly.

A large, black wolf-like creature with a skull-like mask and red eyes emerged from the forest running directly at her. She pulled out her rapier and the revolver barrel above her hand spun. 'Wait for the first strike. Then counter' She planned. Her eyes narrowed as she prepared for the inevitable attack. 

But the Beowolf had other plans.

Instead of slashing it's claws at her, it leaped over her and continued running off the God knows where. Weiss just stood there, watching in confusion as the Grimm disappeared further into the forest. That wasn't normal. Grimm never did that! They'd only do that if… No, it wasn't possible. No kid here would be negative enough to draw a large crowd of Grimm. But what if there was?

But those thoughts had to be put on hold when she heard a branch snap behind her. She turned around to see a Beowolf in front of her and another one to her left. Both were staring at her, not interested in where the other Grimm were going. No, they were interested in just her.

"Ruby!" She shouted

Further in the forest, Yang wandered around the forest, hoping to find someone "Helloooo?" She called out, hoping someone was close enough to hear her "Is anyone out here? Hello?! I'm getting bored here!" She shouted angrily. The bushes rustled behind her, causing her to whip her body around to the noise. "Is someone there?" She asked, but no response. She moved closer to the bush "Ruby? Is that you?" Yang asked, peeking over the bush.

A growl emerged from the bush, followed by a large Grimm rising from the greenery. It looked like the Beowolf, only much bulkier. 'An Ursa' Yang thought, staring at the beast. It quickly launched at her, but Yang was faster, dodging the creature before activating her Ember Celica. She engaged in a staring contest with the grimm before another one ran out from behind her. Yang quickly jumped over the Ursa and its companion ran directly to her, but was stopped when it was hit with a fiery punch. The other Ursa charged her, a motion she mimicked. She threw several punches towards the Grimm and kicked it away from her. 

"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you? Or a green haired boy wearing a costume that looks like your mother?" Yang asked the monsters. They roared back at her, "You could just say 'No'." She muttered before One of the Ursa stood on its hind legs and started slashing at Yang. She quickly dodged the attacks, albeit barely. She jumped back and laughed at the two Grimm "Geez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a ba…"

Her words died in her mouth as she watched a single strand of her golden hair fall in front of her face and gently land on the ground "You" She closed her eyes. But when she opened them, they were blood red. "You monster!" She yelled out, venom laced in her voice.

She rocketed towards the Ursa and unleashed a deadly combo of fiery punches, each punch boosted by her Semblance. The Ursa flew through multiple trees and disappeared into the forest. Yang quickly turned to face the other Grimm "You want some, too!" She shouted. The Ursa then readied its attack, but was hit with something from behind. It fell onto the ground as Blake stood over it. The two girls looked at each other before Yang smiled, "I could've taken him."

Weiss' eyes glanced around at the two Grimm, analyzing their posture. She needed to prepare herself for when one would attack. It didn't look like they were going to run to whatever was attracting them, so she needed to plan out her attack 'Ok Weiss. Remember your training. Head up! Shoulders back! Right foot forward… Not that forward! Slow your breathing, wait for the time to strike, and… Now!'

Weiss dashed towards the Beowolf in front of her and raised her rapier, ready to strike. But before she could land her attack, Ruby appeared in front of her and hit the Beowolf with her scythe. Weiss quickly changed the direction of her attack, sending a line of fire out of her scythe and towards a tree, which caught on fire.

Ruby was so distracted by the fire, she didn't notice the other Beowolf rush her until it was too late. It hit her scythe, knocking it into her, and in turn, her into Weiss. "Hey, watch it!" She cried

Weiss couldn't believe what Ruby had just said "Excuse me!? You attacked out of turn! I could've killed you!"

Ruby just snorted at her words "You'll have to try much harder than that."

The two raised their weapons towards the Grimm, but Weiss noticed that the fire was starting to spread towards the other trees. Flaming branches were starting to fall from the sky, a well placed hit could seriously injure, or even kill them. This was not a good area to fight in. She grabbed Ruby's arm and began to run away "We have to go!"

Once they were far enough away from the burning trees, Ruby began to complain "What was that?! That should've been easy!" She claimed

"Well perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Weiss argued

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ruby asked, not exactly happy with what Weiss was insinuating.

Weiss just scoffed "I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!"

"Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight" Ruby said, sarcasm evident in her voice "I'm just fine on my own!" She told the white haired girl.

"Well, congratulations on being the youngest child to sneak into Beacon. Bravo" Weiss sneered back with just as much sarcasm. She then walked off, leaving Ruby by herself. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and sliced a tree with an angry shout. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before following Weiss

Not noticing the giant black feather that fell on the destroyed tree.

Jaune and Pyrrha walked through the forest, ducking under branches and jumping over logs. They walked in silence, but it was broken when the sound of gunfire rang out throughout the forest. Jaune whipped his head towards the sound. It was coming from where Weiss walked off to. He then turned to Pyrrha "Did you hear that?" He asked

Pyrrha nodded in confirmation "Gunfire" She stated "It seems our comrades have encountered the enemy" She told her partner. As they continued making their way through the lush forest, Pyrrha pushed a branch out of her way, only for it to swing back and hit Jaune in the face, sending him flying onto his back "Jaune! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized.

Jaune laughed it off, not wanting to worry her "I'm fine! It's just a scratch, see?" He pointed to his cheek, where a small amount of blood was rolling down. "See? It doesn't even hurt!"

Pyrrha nodded hesitantly, but something didn't make sense "Why didn't you activate your Aura?" She questioned.

"Huh?"

"Your Aura?" Pyrrha repeated 

"Gesundheit"

Okay, was her teammate just being silly to make her feel better? Or did he enroll in a combat school without knowing what Aura was? "Jaune, do you know what Aura is?" She asked

"Of course I do!" Jaune claimed confidently "Do you know what Aura is?"

'Yeah. He doesn't know what it is' Pyrrha thought. She smiled at him before delving into an explanation "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our heart." She explained. When she noticed Jaune still looked confused, she continued "Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?" 

"Uhh… yeah" Jaune nodded

"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals." 

"What about monsters?" Jaune asked

"No, the monsters we face lack a soul" Pyrrha explained "The creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the dark, and we are the light"

"Right!" Jaune nodded confidently "That's why we fight them!"

"It's not about why, it's about knowing, Understanding the dark and the light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."

"Ahhhh, so it's like a forcefield!" Jaune exclaimed

Pyrrha nodded with a smile, happy that she was able to help educate him on what Aura was "Yes, if you want to look at it that way. Now close your eyes."

Jaune wasn't sure why he needed to close his eyes, but did so anyway. There was no way Pyrrha would hurt him, they were teammates, and she seemed really nice!

Pyrrha closed her own eyes before focusing on her Aura. When she opened them, she saw her skin was glowing. She looked at Jaune and watched as a white light enveloped his body. 'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality' She thought, looking at her blond teammate 'Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death.' She placed her hand on Jaune's chest and watched as he flinched at her touch 'I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.'

Jaune opened his eyes to see Pyrrha hunched over. Worry filled his system as he fretted over her "Hey, are you alright? Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha held up her hand, hoping that would ease his concerns "I'm all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but that energy that protects you, is now your own" She told him. She watched as his scratch healed at an incredible speed "And it seems like you have a lot of it."

Ren stopped and looked around. Something was close by. Behind him, a large, black Grimm serpent rose from the grass and surrounded him with its body. Ren quickly adopted a fighting position as the snake coiled together in front of him before it's head lunged at him. Its mouth was open wide, displaying its sharp fangs.

Ren jumped out of the way, causing the Grimm to slam its head into the ground. It quickly recovered and hit Ren midair with its snout. He landed on the ground and wasted no time in firing StormFlower at the creature. The snake then snapped at him, but Ren was one step ahead. He kicked the Grimm's head and then quickly drove the blades of StormFlower into its head.

Ren had no time to relax, however, as he heard a hiss behind him. He turned around to see a white snake rise up. Looking at its body, he found it was connected to the Grimm he'd just killed. The other half of the Grimm lunged at him, but Ren dodged the attack. He leapt over the black half's head before sliding down on its body, shooting the white half.

The black half, now recovered from the hit, slammed its head into Ren, knocking his weapons out of his hands. The snake then unhinged its jaw before closing it around the boy.

Ren grabbed the front fangs, his hands covered in a pink light. With a yank, he ripped the fangs out of the snake's mouth. It flailed away for a second before going back to bite him. He spun to the side, avoiding the attack before jamming the fan deep in Grimm's eye. It screamed out in pain and Ren pushed it in deeper and deeper before jumping away. The black half of the snake's body rippled before expanding. It then blew up in a dark mess.

Ren, still holding the other fang, focused his attention to the white snake. He threw the fang high into the sky before dashing for his weapons. The snake, now enraged at the loss of its other half, launched its head down to where Ren was standing. Ren jumped up, narrowly avoiding the strike. He grabbed the fang that was now falling before  throwing it at the snake's head. He then shot the fang with StormFlower. Instead of breaking, the bullet only hit the fang, causing its speed to increase. It shot through the Grimm's head, cracking through the skull and lodging itself deep within its brain.

The creature fell over dead as Ren landed on top of it. He slid his weapons into his sleeves before hearing a strange noise. He looked up to see Nora staring at him upside down

"I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like" Ren told her. In response, Nora tapped her friend on the nose, causing a small smile to grace his face.

Izuku cupped his bloodied hand in the lake and watched as the blood was washed off. Once it was all gone, he put his glove back on and continued waiting. 

Izuku knew they were coming for him, but he didn't just want to jump into battle unprepared. He was about to face something he had never heard of before. He needed a game plan. 'Ok, 15% should be a good starting point. I'll increase or decrease depending on how strong they are. The only other Quirk I can use is Blackwhip, but I can pop out another one if I need to. Float might be good, or Smokescreen. It'd be better to keep Fa Jin and Gearshift under wraps for now.' He thought. 

He didn't really trust Ozpin, or anyone for that matter. His power was special, and he didn't know if these people could take it away. Their technology was far more advanced than his. So they could've found a way. It probably wasn't true. It might've just been his mind playing tricks on him, but until he knew he could trust them. His aces would remain in his sleeves.

'They're here' He thought as Danger Sense went off. He stood up and turned around to see 4 wolf-like creatures. Their bodies were inky black, with exposed white skulls. Red eyes with a glare that would put even Bakugou to shame. And all of them looked ready to pounce.

Now Izuku could see why they were referred to as monsters. But they didn't scare him. He'd dealt with much worse. Charging One for All at 15%, Izuku held up his fists to the creatures. They wanted a fight.

So a fight is what they'll get!

Chapter Text

Izuku dashed to one of the Beowolves and ensnared it with Blackwhip before slamming his fist into its stomach. Blackwhip prevented it from flying off, so Izuku could watch as it exhaled sharply before passing out from the pain.

He swiftly moved to the next Beowolf and roundhouse kicked it in the head. The creature was sent flying, but Izuku wrapped Blackwhip around its legs and slammed its body into the other two Beowolves, sending them all to the ground.

Danger Sense pinged, alerting him an incoming attack. He quickly stepped to the side and watched as another Beowolf dove right by him. He held up his hands and flicked his fingers, slamming blasts of air into the Grimm. It flew away and smashed into a tree. It tried to get back up, but Izuku shut that down with a solid kick to its head, knocking it out.

Danger Sense went crazy, prompting Izuku to turn his head and see a pack of Beowolves staring back at him. Under his cowl, Izuku glared at all of them. This was annoying, but it wasn't the end of the world. 15% of One for All was proving to be more than enough, so taking on a few more would take an extra minute or two.

A few Beowolves came running at him, but Izuku was prepared for this. He crawled on the ground before performing a handstand. The Beowolves tried to jump onto him, but he spun his body around, creating a small vortex. The Grimm tried to hold on, but the centrifugal force was too strong, sending them flying off him.

Two Beowolves ran towards him, but one of them lagged behind a bit. Izuku jumped over the closest Grimm and aimed his fingers towards the one at the back. He flicked his fingers and shot air at the Beowolf. The wind collided with its head and dazed it. Not wasting any time, Izuku lifted up his right leg and slammed it down on the creature's head, sending it into the ground. He quickly turned around and grabbed onto the Beowolf behind him with Blackwhip. He swung the Beowolf over his head like a giant hammer before slamming it into another Beowolf.

Finally the last three Beowolves came rushing towards him. Izuku ran towards one before leaping towards one and kicking off its head like a springboard. Spinning his body around, he clenched his fist and slammed it down into the ground when he landed. The resounding force sent the three Beowolves crashing into trees.

Izuku stood up and looked around at the aftermath of the battle... if he could even call it that. A few broken trees, and a lot of unconscious Grimm laying on the ground motionless.

He waited for any of them to pop up and try to attack again, but Danger Sense didn't go up, and the only movement made by them was the gentle rise and fall of their chests. Realizing they weren't a threat anymore, Izuku turned away from the Beowolves. They weren't going to bother him, and he didn't care what was going to happen to them.

All he wanted to do was grab the relic and end the examination

While everyone was continuing their exam, Ozpin and Glynda stood at the cliff, watching them all through their tablets. They were busy grading all the students, trying to work out which of the participants would join their school, and which would be turned away,

"The next pair has been formed, sir. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren." Glynda informed her boss, watching as Nora bounced around Ren with endless amounts of energy. "That poor boy" She sighed "I can't imagine those two getting along. Still, she's probably better off than Miss Nikos, And then there's Mr. Midoriya, who still hasn't found a partner."

Ozpin hummed as he continued to watch the tablet, focused on two people in particular.

"I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough, though. At their current pace, everyone, excluding Mr. Midoriya, will reach the temple in a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use for relics this year?" She asked Ozpin, but he did not respond "Professor Ozpin?"

Her words fell on deaf ears as Ozpin continued to watch the tablet. One of the cameras showed Ruby making her way through the forest with Weiss, and the other was fixated on Izuku, who was leaving the lake and heading deeper into the forest.

"It's definitely this way!" Weiss declared, walking to the right, but she soon paused and started walking to the left "I mean... This way! It's definitely this way!" She stopped once again and looked around before turning to Ruby "Alright. It's official. We've passed it"

"Why can't you just admit you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby questioned tiredly. They'd been walking around for ages and haven't made any progress whatsoever.

"Because I know exactly where we're going!" Weiss retorted. Ruby raised an eyebrow and motioned for Weiss to continue. Which she did "We're going... to" Her words began to fade as she looked uncertain, but she wasn't going to prove her partner right "The... Forest Temple" Ruby rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Oh stop it! You don't know where we are either!" She accused

"Well, at least I'm not not pretending like I know everything!" Ruby snapped back.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked. A dangerous edge present in her tone.

"It means you're a big stupid jerk, and I hate you!" Ruby exclaimed like a small child.

"Just keep moving" Weiss growled

Ruby was so fed up with how she was acting. So much so she began to mimic Weiss' voice, making it high pitched and snobbish. "Oh, just keep moving! Hurry up! Wah! Watch where you're going! She stopped mimicking her partner's voice and spoke to her normally "Why are you so bossy?!"

"I'm not bossy!" Weiss argued "Don't say things like that!"

"Stop treating me like a kid" Ruby yelled, fed up with how the white haired girl was treating her.

"Stop acting like a kid!" Weiss yelled back

"Well, stop acting like you're perfect!"

"I'm not perfect. Not yet" Weiss muttered, looking to the ground "But I'm still leagues better than you!" She snapped before walking off, leaving Ruby by herself.

The girl in question just lowered her head to the ground and kicked a nearby pebble "You don't even know me" She mumbled to herself before chasing after Weiss.

Yang and Blake stood outside a ruin. It was worn down. Moss growing in the cracks of the stone. It looks like one hit would send it crashing down. But inside this small ruined temple, were podiums. Each holding several gold and black pieces. Chess pieces to be exact

"Think this is it?" Yang asked her partner, looking at the pieces

Blake walked around and examined the pedestals "Nine pieces left" She pointed out "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Wait? Nine?" Yang questioned. Blake moved out of the way to reveal another chess piece to Yang. It was a different color from the rest of them, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who that piece was for "Huh. Didn't see that." She stated before moving toward the Black Knight "How about a cute little pony!" She said

Blake smirked and nodded "Sure"

Yang picked up the white knight and tucked it into her pocket "That wasn't so hard" She exclaimed cockily.

"Well it's not like this place is difficult to find" Blake agreed

"Well then. If you don't mind. I want to wait for Ruby to arrive, and Izuku"

Blake hummed before looking Yang dead in the eyes "I get why you would be concerned about Ruby. But you seem to be very interested in Izuku. Both you and your sister. Why is that?" She asked, curious as to why they were always looking at him with curious gazes

"Phft! Why wouldn't we be? He's from another-" Yang cut herself off. Was it alright to tell Blake about Izuku being from another world? Or was Izuku trying to keep it a secret. From what she knows, he hasn't told anyone else about it. But as she was thinking about that, another thought came into her mind. She knew nothing about the boy or where he's from. All Ruby told her was that he was from a world where superheroes and supervillains existed, and that was it. She knew nothing else about him.

"He's from another what?" Blake questioned, waiting for Yang to answer her question.

"I-I... Uhhhh." Yang struggled to answer. Thankfully a loud high pitched scream rang out around the forest, allowing Yang to slide the conversation away from Izuku "Some girl's in trouble! What should we do?" She asked. Blake said nothing. Instead she just looked up into the sky. "Blake? Did you hear me? What should we do?"

Blake continued to stay silent. However, she did raise her hand and point up into the sky. Yang followed her finger and saw what she was pointing at. It was her sister, falling out of the sky. A giant black bird with a white skull flying above them, Weiss hanging onto its claws.

Ruby quickly got into a landing position, but was suddenly hit by another flying object, sending them both into a tree.

A Couple Minutes Earlier

Jaune and Pyrrha stood outside a dark cave with crude drawings carved next to the entrance. "Think this is it?" Jaune asked Pyrrha, pointing into the cave. His partner just shrugged her shoulders. He quickly made a torch out of a nearby stick before they both wandered into the cave.

"I don't think this is it," Pyrrha commented, looking around at the walls.

"Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humor me for maybe, five more feet?" Jaune asked before tripping over a rock. He landed face first into a puddle alongside the torch, which went out as soon as the water covered it. Their only source of light was gone, leaving them in total darkness

"Do you feel that?" Pyrrha whispered to Jaune

"Soul-crushing regret?" Jaune answered back, still lying in the puddle

"No. It's... warm"

Jaune got out of the puddle and the pair continued on deeper into the cave. It was pitch black, they couldn't see a thing. But from the darkness, a glowing light emerged. Jaune's face lit up and he ran towards it "It's the relic!" He claimed. He went to reach for the glowing object, but it moved away from him. "Hey! Bad relic!" He hissed, trying to grab it again. It moved away, but this time Jaune jumped up and grabbed it. "Hah! Got... it?" Jaune's words died in his throat when he saw ten glowing red eyes staring at him from the darkness. He let out a high pitched scream.

Pyrrha saw whatever Jaune was holding onto was moving towards her, so she turned around and ran. She just exited the cave when she heard a crash behind her. She turned her head to see a scorpion-like creature with a black exoskeleton and white plates on its back, which were adorned with red markings. Jaune was still hanging onto its stinger. There was no doubt about it.

They'd just run into a Death Stalker.

Pyrrha quickly drew her weapons "Jaune! Whatever you do, don't let-" She stopped speaking when the Death Stalker flung Jaune off its tail, launching him far away "go..." She finished quietly. She looked the Grimm in the eyes before smiling nervously and running away as fast as she could.

Izuku wandered through the forest, his eyes darting all over the place. Danger Sense was increasing in intensity the further he wandered into the forest. He tried his best to ignore the sharp pains in his head and instead focused on the goal ahead of him.

He needed to get to the temple. The quicker he did that, the quicker he could pass this exam and get one step closer to getting back home. But then he realized something. He had no clue where the temple was. A small thought popped up in the back of his mind, but he quickly pushed it away.

But it seemed Nana had the same idea, as her ghost manifested next to him "Just use Float. It'll get you to whatever you need to grab quicker" Nana urged him. She'd hoped that after the fight he would just fly over, grab the relic and leave. Instead the boy remained steadfast in his belief that he should hide his powers away.

"No." Izuku responded immediately. Since there was no one around, he used his native tongue.

"Why are you so adamant in hiding your powers? Why do you think this is the right decision to make?"

Izuku opened his mouth to reply, but quickly stopped when the Second User, Kudo, appeared "Ninth is doing the right thing by hiding his powers" The man said, giving Nana an annoyed look

"Not you too!" Nana huffed

"We do not know these people or what they want. That man, Ozpin, might be working on a way to get Ninth home, but what if he, or others, see the power inside the boy? Ninth could be used for their own gain." The Second User claimed.

Nana shook her head. Kudo always thought the worst of others. She couldn't really blame him, he lived in a bad time when Quirk was starting to appear and the world was flipped upside down. But his opinions were certainly not helping Izuku. The boy kept pushing others away, and she was starting to get worried about what might happen if he doesn't get help soon. She needed backup here. "Shinomori! Help me out here!" She pleaded with the Fourth User

Hikage appeared and nodded his head "If they wanted to use you for their own gain in a malicious way, then Danger Sense would warn you about them." He told Izuku

'Thank you' Nana thought, happy that someone was helping her out here.

"But then again. If they used you because they thought it was the right thing to do, then Danger Sense wouldn't warn you. And their kindness could change to greed if they see what you are capable of"

'Oh, come on!' Nana thought. She tried to speak, but stopped when Hikage held up his hand, signaling he wasn't done.

"But the path you're walking on right now is a dark one. If pushed too far, you could get swallowed by the darkness. I would recommend you find people you can trust. People who you know will not betray you no matter what, and keep them close. So if you do fall into the murky abyss, you'll have hands to pull you back into the light. Like First said 'It is better to have trusted allies than dangerous enemies'."

And with that speech done, Hikage disappeared, retreating back into One for All. The Second User remained silent, contemplating Hikage's words before his vestige dissipated. Nana looked back to Izuku, and even though his face was covered by his respirator and cowl, she could tell he was thinking about what Hikage just said "Even if you think I'm being unfair, please remember that I and the others just want what's best for you"

She was about to leave when Izuku turned his head towards her. The green eyes hiding in the shadows of his cowl looked at her, and it pained her to see such an expression on a kid. "How?" He whispered quietly "How do I know if someone is trustworthy?"

Nana only gave him a sad smile "You won't. You just need to trust your heart" She said before her ghost vanished in the wind.

Izuku stood there for a few moments, his brain processing what was just said to him. His emotions were running wild and he was close to blowing up. 'Just stay calm. You know what you're doing!' He tried convincing himself, but he wasn't doing a very good job.

Shaking his head, tried to bottle his emotions up and ignore what Nana said. The relic was his top priority right now, he couldn't afford to be distracted by anything else. He crouched down and allowed One for All to flow through his body at 15%. He jumped high into the air and quickly looked around. He quickly spotted a small ruin in the distance. But above it was a giant bird-like monster. He could barely make it out as it was so far away from him.

He landed on the ground and began running towards the ruin. He didn't plan on fighting that giant monster. He hoped that once he got there, it would be gone, and if it wasn't, he would just have to wait until it did leave.

But he quickly skidded to a stop when Danger Sense stabbed his head. He looked in front of him to see other monsters walk in front of him. It was taller, had much more bone armor, and looked much angrier. And all that anger was directed towards him and him alone.

But what did Izuku do? He'd never seen this creature before. But it did look similar to the monsters he'd just fought.

...

This was the Alpha, wasn't it?

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked her confused partner, who was looking over to where Ruby and Jaune landed.

Yang opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when Nora came crashing through the trees, riding an Ursa with a smile on her face "YEE-HAW!" She yelled out. Blasts of pink energy slammed into the Ursa from behind, causing it to collapse, dead. Nora rolled of the creature and pouted "Awww, it's broken"

Ren caught up with the hyperactive girl and doubled over, trying to catch his breath "Nora, please don't ever do that again." He begged, but when he looked up, his friend and partner was already inside the ruins.

Nora held up a Black Rook and began singing "I'm the Queen of the castle~! I'm the Queen of the castle~!"

"Nora!"

"Coming Ren! Nora gleefully shouted before running back to her friend

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.

Yang opened her mouth to answer, but was again interrupted. This time by Pyrrha running out of the forest. A Death Stalker hot on her heels. She looked ahead and saw Jaune in the trees "Jaune!" She yelled out

"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled back

"Woah!"

"Ruby!" Jaune yelled to the girl right next to him, causing her to block her ears.

"Ruby?" Yang questioned

Ruby leapt off the branch she and Jaune were on and skillfully rolled onto the ground before running towards Yang "Yang!"

The two were about to hug, but before they did, Nora popped up between them "Nora!" She exclaimed. The two sisters stumbled backwards.

Yang was stressed out. So much was happening at once, and she wasn't getting any time to process it. Maybe now she could try and piece everything together.

"Did that girl just run here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked

That did it.

Yang's hair exploded into flames as her eyes turned blood red "I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!?" She shouted out in frustration.

Once two seconds passed, Ruby patted Yang's back, causing her eyes and hair to return to normal. Ruby pointed upwards. Everyone followed where she was pointing and saw Weiss still holding onto the Nevermore's claws "How could you leave me?!" The white haired girl yelled to her partner below.

"She's gonna fall" Blake predicted

Ruby looked at the girl and shook her head "She's not going to fall"

"She's falling," Ren commented, making Ruby's face turn pale.

Just before Weiss splattered onto the ground, Jaune jumped out of the tree he was in and caught her in his arms before they both landed on the ground. Jaune landed face first and Weiss landed on his back. "My hero" She said sarcastically while Jaune groaned about his back

While this was happening, Pyrrha was still being chased by the Death Stalker, but was able to jump onto its swinging pincers and use that to launch herself to the ground, but in doing so, the Grimm's focus shifted from just her to the whole group.

"Great!" Yang exclaimed sarcastically "Now all we need is Izuku and the gang will be complete! Izuku?! Want to come out and die with us?!"

"We won't die! Not if I can help it" Ruby told her sister before rushing at the Death Stalker screaming.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang screamed

Ruby fired a shot at the Grimm whilst running towards it. Ruby then swung Crescent Rose at the Death Stalker, but it simply shrugged off the blow and hit her away. She landed on the ground with a thud. The Nevermore above them launched spike-like feathers at her, one pinning her hood down, preventing her from moving.

"Ruby! Get outta there!" Yang cried out

"I'm trying!"

The scorpion-like Grimm moved closer and closer, as if to taunt the girl. It lined its stinger up for a killing blow.

"RUBY!" Yang screamed out.

A white blur ran past the group and encased the Grimm in ice. "You are so childish!" Weiss scolded, standing in front of Ruby "And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a little... Difficult" She muttered "But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer"

"I'm not trying to show off" Ruby whispered, downtrodden "I just want to prove to you I can do this"

Weiss gave Ruby a once over before nodding her head and turning away "You're fine"

Ruby let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding and clasped her hands together "Normal knees" She whispered to herself. Standing up, she came face to face with the still frozen Death Stalker as it struggled to escape. She let out a yelp before quickly moving away from it.

Yang rushed towards Ruby and enveloped her into a giant bear hug. "I'm so happy you're okay!"

"Uh... Hate to be the one to break this up, but that thing's circling back!" He shouted pointing to the Nevermore "What're we going to do?!"

"Look, there's no use in dilly-dallying, our objective is right in front of us!" Weiss told the blond, pointing to the 3 remaining relics.

Ruby and Yang quickly stood beside the group. "She's right!" Ruby nodded "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live." Jaune hummed with a smile "That's an idea I can get behind"

Ruby ran over and grabbed a Golden Knight, similar to the one Yang picked up. While Jaune picked out a Golden Rook like the one Nora picked up. The Death Stalker behind them continued to struggle, the ice cracking slowly.

"It's time we left" Ren stated

"Right!" Ruby nodded. She motioned for everyone to follow her and ran off "Let's go!"

Everyone ran with Ruby, except Yang and Blake. The latter looking at the former, who was watching Ruby with a warm smile "What is it?" Blake asked

"Nothing" Yang replied

The Alpha howled at him before charging the boy, hoping to land a fatal slash. It wasn't prepared for the boy to jump to the side with remarkable speed. He sent a punch to the creature, sending it flying through a bunch of trees. But unlike the rest of its pack, the Alpha got back up quickly before launching back into battle

'This one is tougher than the others' Izuku noticed, watching as the Alpha Beowolf got closer and closer. But he also noticed that his attack did do some damage to the creature. If he could just get a few well placed hits, the fight would be over.

Four strands of Blackwhip sprouted out of his back and pushed up against the ground, causing Izuku to rise into the air and dodge the attack. The Grimm turned around and watched as two tendrils lifted off the ground and shot towards it. It dived to the left, narrowly avoiding one of the tendrils before the second one landed directly onto it with such force it kicked up a dust cloud.

Izuku lowered himself down and waited. After a few seconds Danger Sense spiked. Izuku held his arms out to the side. Blackwhip shot out of his wrists and wrapped around two trees. He grabbed the strands of the energy tendrils, before crossing his arms. The Alpha emerged from the dust just as the trees were ripped out of the ground. They slammed into the monster with incredible force

It howled in pain before pushing the trees off of it and running towards Izuku, but this time with a noticeable limp. He ran towards the Grimm and jumped into the air, trying to aim a devastating kick. But the Alpha grabbed his leg and flung him towards a tree.

Izuku twisted his body around and positioned himself to hit the tree feet first. He adjusted his weight and landed on the tree without it breaking. Then he kicked off it and zoomed over to another tree before repeating the action. The Alpha looked around. It could barely tell where the boy was. He was flying around the trees so fast that the Grimm was only able to sometimes catch a glimpse of a green blur.

Izuku kept his momentum and increased upon it, going faster and faster until he reached his limit. Then he shot towards the Alpha and let loose a powerful kick.

A loud crack reverberated through the forest as the Alpha stumbled back, holding a claw up to its skull-like face. When it moved it's hand, Izuku could see his attack had left a giant crack, running from the top right of it's skull down to the bottom left of it's jaw. It was clearly dazed from the attack, and Izuku wasn't going to let the creature get its bearings.

He tried to punch it again, but the Alpha grabbed his hand. He tried using his other hand, but the Beowolf grabbed that one as well. The Alpha tried putting all of its remaining strength into overpowering the boy, but it began to feel fear as the boy's body would not budge. Slowly Izuku began moving forward pushing the Grimm back. It tried to dig its claws into the ground, but even that wasn't enough. The boy let out a yell before heaving the Grimm over his shoulder and slamming it onto the ground.

The Alpha, dazed and weak, tried to get up, but Izuku stood over the creature and pushed his foot against its chest. The creature wasn't staying down or giving up, as it tried to lift up its arms to claw at his legs. Blackwhip shot out of his arms and held the monster's arms down onto the ground.

Izuku thought about what he should do. The creature wasn't staying down, and the second stopped using Blackwhip, it would just try and attack him again.

Just imagine them as nothing more than flies.

Izuku flinched before he took a deep breath in through his nose. He raised his hand up into the air. His fist clenched tightly as One for All increased to 45%. He looked down at the creature, and behind its skull-like mask, he could see an emotion all too familiar.

Fear.

"They're just animals!"

His pupils began to move around quickly.

'They're just monsters!'

His breathing became erratic.

'But they're living beings!'

His fist started to shake.

'And if I take away their life, I'll be just like a...'

Taking one final breath, Izuku let out a guttural scream before sending his fist down...

Onto the ground besides the Alpha.

Before his fist impacted with the ground, he quickly turned One for All back down to 15%. Wind and dust was kicked up from the force of the impact and a few nearby trees were uprooted and sent flying away. The Beowolf looked at Izuku before kicking him off and jumping back. It looked him up and down before retreating. The boy was way too strong, and it felt the power increase in the boy's fist when he prepared for the final blow. He had been holding back on it.

He had been toying with it.

Izuku watched as the Alpha ran off. He didn't go after it, as he had no reason to. Danger Sense had turned off when it looked up at him in fear. Danger Sense hadn't gone off when it kicked him off of it. It was no longer trying to attack him, it was just trying to escape, and Izuku was fine with that.

He looked at his still clenched fist and uncurled it. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He knew there was a chance that he'd have to kill Shigaraki, but he didn't want to. A great Hero was one who saved others, not killed. But this fight only proved to him that, even if it was completely necessary, he wasn't capable of taking a life,

With a heavy heart, Izuku turned around and ran towards the temple, praying he didn't have another encounter.

He wasn't in the mood to deal with anything else.

The group ran through the Emerald Forest, trying to make it to the cliff. Jumping over fallen logs and ducking under branches, they saw the end of the forest. Running out of it, they found themselves staring at a giant ruin. It looked almost like a destroyed castle. Hearing the Nevermore catching up to them, they all hid behind some stone pillars. The Grimm flew over where they were hiding and rested atop one of the towers and let out a loud caw.

"Well, that's just great!" Yang said, sarcasm evident in her voice.

Jaune heard the faint sound of something crashing behind him. He turned around and squinted his eyes. They shot wide open when he realized the Death Stalker Weiss had frozen was running towards them, knocking trees down as it rammed through them. "Run!" He shouted.

The group ran out of their hiding spot, prompting the Nevermore to rise into the air. "Nora, distract it!" Ren commanded.

A grin arose on Nora's face and she began to run towards the Nevermore. The creature shot its feathers at the girl in response. She dodged the attack before pulling a grenade launcher off her back and firing a few shots. The shots exploded into pink energy.

While she was distracting the Nevermore, Ren and Blake charged the Grimm. They slashed at its shell, hoping to do some kind of damage, but the Grimm looked to be unaffected by their attacks. Pyrrha and Ren tried their luck at the Death Stalker, but failed as well. The large creature began to rush them.

Everyone quickly ran onto a nearby bridge, but they were so preoccupied with the Death Stalker, they failed to notice the Nevermore preparing an attack. It flew down and used its wings to destroy part of the bridge, separating the group. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were on one side and Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune were on the other.

The groups then turned their focus onto the Grimm's in front of them.

This would be the battle to decide it all.

Jaune could feel something rumble, and it definitely wasn't his stomach. He first noticed it when the bridge crumbled, a slight tremor on his side, but it wasn't anything too concerning. But as they continued to fight the Death Stalker, the rumbling ramped up in intensity. So when Jaune turned his head to see part of the bridge falling into the crevice below them, he panicked.

"We gotta move!" He yelled out

Everyone quickly understood why he shouted that and tried to make it past the Death Stalker, but it swung at Pyrrha, prompting her to raise her shield to deflect the attack. It tried again with its other claw, but Jaune quickly put himself between his partner and the claw. He expanded his shield and blocked the attack, allowing Pyrrha to slash its claws.

Ren quickly tried shooting the creature before dodging to the left as its stinger slammed down where he once stood. The bridge rumbled, it wouldn't be able to take much more of this. Ren tried shooting all over its body, hoping to locate a weak point. When one of his shots hit its tail, the Death Stalker roared in pain before it smacked Ren away, sending him flying into a wall behind it. He landed onto the ground, away from the bridge.

Jaune looked at where Ren had shot and noticed its stinger was damaged and barely hanging onto its body. "Pyrrha!" He shouted

"Done!" She yelled back. Chucking her shield at the creature, it severed the stinger before bouncing off its body and back towards her. The stinger fell onto the creature's head.

"Nora! Nail it!" He commanded.

Nora ran towards Pyrrha, who readied her shield "Head's up!" She shouted before jumping onto the shield. She jumped off it as Pyrrha pushed up, sending her high into the air. A feral grin arose on her face as she blasted herself downwards and slammed her hammer into the stinger, sending it deep into the Death Stalker's skull. The resounding force caused the bridge to crumble. She quickly boosted off the Death Stalker's corpse and the three began to run towards the land, the bridge crumbling behind them. They made it onto the land just before the bridge fully collapsed.

Jaune collapsed onto his back as Ren stumbled over to the group before passing out and falling down besides the blond.

"So, uhhhh, what are we going to do about that?" Ruby asked, pointing to the Nevermore in the sky.

"Simple. We hit it with everything we've got!" Yang exclaimed before firing shots from her gauntlet at the Nevermore. One by one, the girls began unloading their ammunition at the Nevermore, hoping to bring it down, but the Grimm just shrugged off their bullets. The monster crashed into the building they were standing on and it began to crumble. They quickly climbed and jumped upwards, not wanting to fall into the crevice below.

Soon, they reached the top, but the Nevermore kept tanking their shots. "Nothing's working!" Weiss screamed in frustration.

Ruby looked around and saw Blake had finally climbed up to the top whilst Yang continued to fire nonstop at the Nevermore. An idea popped into her mind. It was insane, but it would probably work. "I have an idea! Cover me!" She told Weiss before blasting herself off her platform.

The Nevermore swooped down and flew towards Yang, who was still trying to damage it. Once it got close enough, she jumped off her pillar. The Grimm opened its mouth and attempted to swallow the girl, but Yang grabbed its mouth and held it open whilst firing rounds into the Nevermore's throat. "I hope you're hungry!" Yang screamed.

Noticing the Nevermore was heading directly towards a cliffside, Yang jumped off and watched as the creature crashed into the cliff. It tried to fly back up, but Weiss froze its tail to the cliff before a snowflake-like glyph formed under her. She jumped away from the Nevermore.

Blake grabbed the ribbon on her Gambol Shroud before throwing the rest of her weapon to Yang. The ribbon extended and created a sling. Ruby jumped onto it and Weiss used her glyph to pull her back.

"Of course you'd come up with something like this" Weiss commented

"Do you think you can make this shot?" Ruby asked, ignoring the jab.

Weiss huffed "Can I?" She arrogantly said.

A few seconds passed before Ruby turned to her "Can-"

"Of course I can!"

Weiss released her glyph, sending Ruby rocketing towards the Nevermore. She fired a few shots out of her scythe, giving her a small speed boost. The scythe's blade caught Nevermore's neck, sending them flying into the cliff. Weiss used her glyphs on the cliff, preventing Ruby from falling off. The hooded girl ran up the cliff, ragging the Nevermore with her until she reached the top and yanked the scythe upwards with all her strength. The Nevermore screamed as the blade sliced through its neck before decapitating the creature.

Jaune watched the Nevermore's body fall from where he'd fought the Death Stalker "Wow" He breathed out

Yang walked up besides Weiss with Blake right behind her. They all looked up to the top of the cliff at Ruby, who was looking down at them. "Well! That was a thing" Yang smiled.

Thankfully, Izuku didn't encounter anything on his way to the temple. So when he arrived, he was feeling a little bit better.

Walking into the temple, he found thirteen podiums in a semicircle. He remembered there being a lot more applicants, so he guessed only a certain amount of people were allowed to enroll each year

'Just like UA' Izuku thought. He began looking around the podiums, trying to find one of the relics. Luckily, on the far right, there was one Relic left. He walked up to it before picking it up and examining it. It didn't seem like anything special, but he needed to bring something back, then so be it.

He'd bring back the Green Knight.

Ozpin watched Izuku run back towards the cliffside with a frown.

The boy was interesting. He had so much negativity inside of him. So much that until the pairs started meeting up, Many of the Grimm seemed attracted to him. But while he had so much negativity, he also had so much humanity. He didn't kill the Grimm even when he was in the perfect position to take its life.

He wasn't going to lie to himself. He was slightly disappointed that he was not able to kill the monster, but after thinking for a few moments, it made sense to him.

The boy was from a world with Heroes and Villains, and unless they killed the Villains in his world, it was only natural the boy wouldn't be capable of taking a life. The only reason the students were able to kill Grimm was because they'd grown up being taught it was ok to kill them.

But it seemed Glynda was less interested in the mentality of the boy, and more in the fact that he didn't have something the other students did. "Does the boy even have any Aura? He showed no signs of it." She asked

"I am unsure" Ozpin claimed "Any living being with a soul should be able to generate Aura. But it takes time to unlock it and practice to properly use it. Maybe Mr Midoriya has never been aware as to what Aura is or how to unlock it."

"So we'll have to train him on how to use Aura" Glynda muttered to herself, writing down a reminder of a small notepad she had tucked into her pocket. "So I assume Mr Midoriya will be enrolled into our school. But the question remains about the team situation. He found a partner."

"I already know what to do about that situation so do not worry" Ozpin reassured her before his voice turned deathly serious "However, something caught my attention when watching him. It has left me puzzled."

"What is it?" She asked. Ozpin said nothing. Instead he rewound the video of the tape, tuned it up to max volume, before passing it to her. She pressed play on the video before watching it play out

The boy walked through the forest slowly and carefully, seemingly assessing his situation. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until his voice spoke out. "īe" The boy said with a tone that left no room for argument. A few moments passed before the boy froze in place before turning his head to face the air "dō yatte? dareka ga shinrai dekiru ka dō ka o shiru ni wa dō sureba yoidesu ka?" A few more moments passed before the boy ran off.

Ozpin paused the video before turning to face Glynda, who looked incredibly disturbed. He voiced his question to the woman.

"Who was he talking to?"

Chapter Text

Ozpin waited by the cliffs patiently.

He had Glynda take them to the auditorium for the results. But he wasn't going to go with them. He wanted to speak to Izuku about a few things.

He caught a glimpse of a green blur running through the forest before it exited his vision as it ran towards the base of the cliff. After a few seconds, something jumped up and landed right beside him with a thud. Izuku stood up and looked around to see they were completely alone

"Where's everyone else?" He asked defensively.

"Gone. They've all left and are heading towards the auditorium for the final results. And I believe we should head back ourselves." Ozpin stated before turning around "Come. Walk with me"

Izuku followed the man as they walked back towards Beacon. He stayed on guard, watching the man out of the corner of his eyes. Ozpin noticed the subtle glances Izuku was sending his way, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he decided to ask a boy a few questions. "How did you find the exam? I saw you were able to defeat the Grimm in a matter of seconds."

"I don't know. It was easy, I guess?" He mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

"I did notice you didn't kill them. Even though you were in the perfect position to do so." Ozpin commented

"I don't kill." Izuku stated.

"Even though they do not have souls?" Ozpin curiously asked, wanting to probe the boy a bit more to find out how his mind worked. 

"Even if they don't have souls. They have lives. If I kill something living that does not have a soul, I'm still taking a life." Izuku reasoned "A Hero incapacitates and captures Villains. A Hero doesn't kill unless absolutely necessary, and I didn't see a reason to end their lives."

Ozpin hummed. The boy's reasoning was sound, but his mind was too fixated on the fact that his people didn't kill. If the boy was going to stay here for a while, he'd need to learn that killing Grimm wasn't an atrocious act. But the fact he wasn't willing to kill was also a good sign. The boy must have a high amount of empathy to feel the Grimm should be alive. So even though the boy might act cold, he still had a big heart.

But Ozpin also needed to know his mind was structurally sound. "Do you talk to yourself often?" Ozpin asked. "The camera's picked up your voice speaking out loud with no one in sight. Why was that?"

He carefully studied the boy's eyes, looking for any sort of reaction. His face was covered by his cowl and respirator. If it wasn't, he'd be able to see Izuku's teeth were clenched tightly in frustration 

'Crap!' Izuku thought. Ozpin had told them the staff would be watching, that's why he kept his respirator and cowl on. If by any chance the Vestiges would come and talk to him, he needed a way to speak to them without anyone seeing his mouth move. But he never accounted for microphones. How could he be so stupid!

He had to think of a way out of this that didn't paint him as completely insane. "I sometimes mutter and talk to myself" He slowly admitted, coming up with the words on the spot. If he hesitated, it would paint him as a liar. "It helps me concentrate. My classmates have told me it can look kinda creepy, so I understand if you think it's weird." He finished. He mentally prayed that the man would take the bait and leave him alone. And as if a higher deity heard his thoughts, the man nodded.

"That is understandable. I sometimes talk to myself to clear my mind." Ozpin agreed with what Izuku had just said. The costumed boy mentally sighed in relief, but unfortunately he couldn't see inside of Ozpin's head. Because if he could, he would learn that the man didn't fully believe him.

Ozpin knew Izuku was lying. Even though he had no clue what the boy said, he could translate his tone. He started off annoyed, arguing with something… No. He was arguing with someone. But then he became hesitant, as if he was unsure of what to do. 

Ozpin would've thought he was working with her if he hadn't kept a close eye on Izuku since he arrived. He never interacted with anyone outside of a few students, Glynda, and himself. So he could thankfully rule out that possibility. But that still left many potential theories. But as they approached Beacon, Ozpin tucked that thought away for later.

Ozpin put his left hand on the boy's shoulder and felt him tense up "It would be in your best interest to take off your mask." He advised randomly "First impressions are always the most important, and I'm sure you wouldn't want the other students to be scared of you during your stay." Izuku only hummed in acknowledgement before shrugging off the man's hands and quickly walking away, not entirely comfortable with how that conversation turned out.

Ozpin watched him leave with a frown. The boy didn't trust him, nor anyone else from what he'd seen so far. And in order to help the boy, he'd need to break down his walls. He knew that he wouldn't be able to help the boy. He wouldn't have enough time to help the Izuku, but maybe the students his age could.

And hopefully, they could also help him further his hidden power. 

Ozpin looked at his left hand with a small smile. When he rested his hand on the boy's shoulder he looked for it, and he didn't need to search far. It was gigantic, possibly eight or nine people's worth. But when he tried pulling that power out, he found that it was already unlocked. The only problem was that there was only a small amount of usable energy. If he had to guess, he'd say only five percent had been unlocked. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He just needed the boy to train and soon he should unlock the rest of his power. But Ozpin just needed to take one step at a time. This was already a big achievement, and possibly one of the most important ones. And the boy had already done it before coming into this world.

Izuku Midoriya had Aura

Izuku stood at the back of the auditorium, watching as Ozpin announced all the students who passed. There weren't many. Most of the students from the airship were not here, meaning they probably failed the exam. He guessed this ceremony wasn't to tell the students who passed, but more a ceremony to tell the students who they'd be teaming with.

After another team left, Ozpin spoke into the mic "Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark." a group of four boys proudly made their way up to the stage. A video of the boy's taking down a few Ursa's showed up on the giant screen behind them along with their photos. "From this day forward, you'll be known as Team CRDL. Led by Cardin Winchester." Everyone, minus Izuku, clapped and cheered as the boys made their way off the stage and blended back into the crowd.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie."

Izuku watched as the group walked to the stage. 'So Jaune did pass. Good for him,' Izuku thought, trying to ignore the happiness swelling inside of him.

A video of the group fighting and killing the Death Stalker played. Izuku visibly winced when he saw Nora slam the stinger deep into the scorpion-like creature's skull. "From this day forward, you'll be known as Team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc"

"Huh? L-Led by?" Jaune stuttered in shock.

"Congratulations, young man," Ozpin nodded to Jaune.

Pyrrha grinned and playfully bumped Jaune's shoulder. Jaune wasn't prepared for this and yelped and he was knocked onto his butt. The audience laughed and clapped as Jaune got up and the team walked back into the crowd

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." As the girls walked up to the stage, Izuku watched the fight play on the screen. He wouldn't admit it, but deep inside he was happy that Ruby, Blake and Yang passed. He again winced as he watched the Nevermore get decapitated. "From this day forward, you'll be known as Team RWBY. Led by Ruby Rose."

Weiss' expression turned into one of surprise as she turned towards Ruby, who looked shocked. Yang ran over and hugged her half-sister in joy. The group walked back into the crowd.

"And finally, Izuku Midoriya."

The audience waited for Ozpin to continue to list the other students, but were shocked when he didn't. The crowd began to part like the red sea as Izuku walked towards the stage. He'd taken Ozpin's advice and removed his cowl and respirator. The students looked a little bit scared at his outfit, but not as scared as they did when he showed up on the cliff. He walked up onto the stage and stood there, looking out at the students. He saw Ruby and Jaune looked at him with big smiles on their faces. Yang had a grin and Blake had a small smile.

A video of Izuku fighting all the Beowolves single handedly played. The crowd whispered to one another in awe. That many Beowolves would be a small problem for a team, but this boy managed to destroy them all with ease. "While you managed to obtain a relic, you did not find a partner" Ozpin announced. "But this is a favorable outcome. Since you're leaving soon, we won't have to rid a team of one of their members."

Hushed whispers arose out of the crowd. What did the Headmaster mean by leaving soon? Why would the boy even apply if he wasn't going to stay? Ozpin turned to Izuku and gestured to the mic "Would you like to tell them why? Or would you rather keep it to yourself?"

Izuku internally debated on what to do. He could say nothing, or he could come clean. He weighed the risks of both actions and found that they both didn't have many risks. If he said he was from this world, people would think he was stupid and mock him. If he did say he was from another world, they would probably bug him about what it was like in his world. But no matter what, he wouldn't stay for a long time, so whatever decision he made here wouldn't really matter in the long run. But he did see one positive in one of his options. If he said he wasn't from this world, then it would explain why he had no clue as to what anything from Remnant was.

And so, Izuku walked forward and took Ozpin's place "I am not from this world." He spoke into the microphone. A few laughs arose from the crowd as they thought the boy was joking, but the expression Izuku and Ozpin shared quickly shut them up. Silence filled the auditorium as everyone was trying to comprehend what was just said.

Ruby and Yang didn't react as they already knew. Weiss' eyes squinted at the boy, not fully believing what was being said. Blake turned her head back and forth between Izuku and Yang, remembering what the girl was going to blurt out before stopping herself. Jaune was one of the people who laughed, thinking this was a joke, but his eyes quickly widened when he took a look at Izuku and Ozpin's faces. Pyrrha's jaw dropped before she quickly closed her mouth. Ren looked confused. And Nora silently giggled still thinking this was a practical joke.

Ozpin motioned for the boy to continue and so he did, albeit with a sigh "I was thrown into this world by a man wanting to take over my world. I'm only staying here Professor Ozpin can find a way home for me" Izuku stepped away from the mic. That was all they really needed to know about him. Sure that short statement might make the students want to know more, but Izuku could just ignore them.

Ozpin stepped back towards the mic and addressed the shell shocked students "Classes will begin tomorrow. So I suggest you all go to sleep. The scroll we provided for you will inform you of where you and the rest of your team are staying. Make sure to get a good night's sleep. You'll need it." And with that, Ozpin walked off the stage, but as he did he motioned for Izuku to follow him.

Ozpin directed Izuku into a lone hallway. "You understand that the students will want to learn more about you, correct?" He asked Izuku

Izuku nodded his head "Maybe, but I won't have to tell them anything" He pointed out

"No. No you do not" Ozpin nodded "But I wanted to talk to you about a few things." Izuku straightened up, hoping that it would be about Ozpin's progress on getting him home. Unfortunately, it wasn't. "While you won't be in a team, we at Beacon like for our students to work together. So if a student is sick or unable to participate in missions, you'll take their place until they have recovered." Ozpin informed him. 

Izuku didn't like that. The more people he had to team up with just meant more trouble for him when he left. 

Ozpin noticed the sour look on the boy's face and quickly added "You won't be jumping between teams if that's what you are worried about. You are only staying with one team."

"What team?" Izuku asked

"There were gold and black chess pieces on the podiums, with the exception of your piece. You picked up the Green Knight, but another team picked up the Gold and Black Knight pieces. Whichever team obtained those pieces will be the one you will be assigned to." Ozpin explained. Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but Ozpin interrupted him "Before I forget, I would like to give this to you"

Izuku watched as Ozpin reached into his pocket and fished out something white. It was rectangular with curved corners and a yellow diamond in the middle. Izuku took the item from Ozpin and examined it "What is this?" He asked, forgetting about his previous question about who he was staying with.

"Press the diamond," Ozpin instructed him with a smile.

Izuku did as he was told, albeit hesitantly. His finger pressed the diamond with a click. The device split in two and expanded as a hologram appeared between the two grips. A loading circle appeared on the translucent panel that was soon replaced by a row of icons, but before that showed up, a line of text showed up.

Welcome Izuku Midoriya .

"Woah" Izuku breathed out, his voice sounded impressed and amazed instead of the usual cold and dull tone.

A small smile came to Ozpin's face as he noticed the change in Izuku's voice "That is a Scroll. It is a multipurpose device that can be used for a variety of things. Identification, Communication, and other things which you can figure out yourself. It's also a key, as you'll need it to unlock and enter your dorm. " He described the device.

'It's kinda like my phone, but much more advanced.' Izuku thought. He quickly schooled his expression and tried to swallow down all the questions he had about the device "Thank you" He whispered. He still didn't trust the man, but he wasn't going to be rude.

"That's quite all right, young man. You're a part of your school now, even if your stay is only temporary." Ozpin said. He looked out the window and saw the sun was setting, so he turned back to Izuku "I think it might be time for you to head to your dorm and get some rest. Your possessions are already there waiting for you."

"I don't know where my dorm is though." Izuku pointed out.

"There is a map on the Scroll. You should be able to find your dorm by following it. May I?" Ozpin asked. Izuku handed him the Scroll and he flipped it around. He brought up the map and handed it back to Izuku, who did not flip it around. He was about to point it out when Izuku thanked him and walked away, heading in the completely wrong direction.

Glynda walked by him and stood next to Ozpin "Was he holding his Scroll upside down?" She questioned.

"Yes. Yes he was" Ozpin confirmed her suspicions

"Should we tell him" 

"He should figure it out eventually"

Izuku wandered around the school holding his Scroll. None of this made sense. He probably should've been in the dormitories by now. But his surroundings didn't match with the map.

He felt something tap his shoulder lightly. His body locked up and he almost went to punch whatever touched him, but he quickly realized Danger Sense wasn't going off. Slowly, he turned around and came face to face with a girl. She looked completely normal. Long brown hair, brown eyes. But what caught Izuku's attention were the rabbit ears sticking out of her head.

"Sorry." She meekly apologized, noticing the harsh and serious look on his face "I couldn't help but notice you seemed lost."

Izuku focused on her ears for a few seconds before looking at her. This was a surprise, but not a giant one. He was used to seeing people with unique features. "I'm fine" He lied "I don't need any help"

"Ninth!" Izuku saw Nana appear beside the girl, her voice stern.

Izuku breathed heavily out of his nose before looking back at the girl "I don't know where I'm going. The map keeps leading me in the wrong direction." He claimed, showing the girl his Scroll.

When she began silently giggling, Izuku knew he'd done something stupid. And he was proven right when she pointed out what he was doing wrong. "You've been holding it upside down." She giggled

Izuku didn't say a word. He flipped the Scroll upside down and saw that his location now matched up with what was being shown. 'Wow. I can't do anything right, can I?' He mentally cursed himself. "Thank you" He mumbled.

"That's okay." She smiled. A ringtone rang out from her pocket. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Scroll that looked exactly like his "Oh, my team leader needs me. I need to go. It was nice meeting you!" She said before quickly running off, leaving Izuku alone in the middle of the hallway. He  looked at his scroll and turned around, beginning his small journey to find his dorm.

After around ten minutes of walking, he finally found his dorm. He turned the doorknob, but found it was locked. Looking to the side, he saw a small black square. Remembering what Ozpin told him, he held up his Scroll and heard a small beep. He tried the doorknob again and found that it was unlocked. 

He didn't open the door, instead he stayed outside pondering what was inside. Ozpin mentioned that he would be staying with a team, but the man never told him who he was staying with. He wasn't really excited to share a dorm with complete strangers, but he didn't really have other options. And so with a deep breath, Izuku opened the door.

Team RWBY stood around the fifth bed in their bedroom. They were confused. The dorms were supposed to only have four beds for four people. It was already a bit cramped. Four beds were placed in the corners of the room, with the fifth bed opposite the closet door, resting underneath the window.

"So, does anyone know why we have a spare bed?" Ruby questioned. She knew a lot about Beacon, but she didn't know everything. So this might be a mistake, or just a regular thing Becaon did.

"We shouldn't have five beds." Blake stated.

"Okay, then who does it belong to?" Weiss asked

The sound of their door opening prompted them to turn their heads. Izuku walked in and froze when he saw the four girls. They stared at each other in silence. After a few moments, Izuku walked backwards and slowly closed the door. That was enough for them to snap out of their stupor. 

"I think we found who the fifth bed belongs to," Yang joked with a mischievous smile.

"No! I refuse!" Weiss shouted before walking over to the door and yanking it open. She walked out into the hallway to see Izuku sitting beside the door, his head in his hands "How did you get into our room?!" she demanded.

"With my Scroll" Izuku muttered softly, not moving his head out of his hands to look up at her.

"Prove it!"

Izuku slowly got up and held his Scroll up to the door and Weiss heard the small beep. She doubted the Scrolls would be programmed to let anyone into someone else's dorm room, so Izuku was meant to be here. "Why are you here?" She asked, the bite in her voice no longer present, replaced instead by confusion

"Ozpin said I was a backup to whatever team grabbed the same piece as me." Izuku claimed

Weiss stared at him. That didn't make sense. He couldn't have grabbed the same piece as them. Ruby grabbed the Black Knight. The white one wasn't there because either Yang or Blake had grabbed it. But there was one more piece. A Green Knight… Oh you've got to be joking. "Stay here!" She ordered the boy before walking back into her dorms.

"So what's the deal?" Yang asked, now laying on her bed 

"He says he's now a backup to our team because he grabbed the same piece as us" Weiss relayed Izuku's words.

Blake nodded from her bed "Makes sense. There was a Green Knight piece, so he must've grabbed that" She said, flipping the page of the book she was reading.

"How are you all okay with this?!" Weiss exclaimed

"Well, we kinda knew this was a possibility." Yang shrugged "All the dorms are coed. So there was a high chance we'd be living with a boy." She explained.

"How about we vote?" Ruby suggested "All in favor of Izuku staying with us say Aye!"

"Aye!" Yang agreed with a smirk. Izuku was fun to tease, plus he wasn't bad looking either. So that was a double win in her book.

"Aye." Blake agreed. Izuku wasn't loud and obnoxious, plus she enjoyed his company, so she saw no reason for him to not stay with them.

"Aye!" Ruby nodded. Izuku was cool, and she wanted to learn more about him.

Weiss hesitated. She didn't want to share a room with a boy who wasn't even fully a part of their team. But she couldn't just evict the boy just because she was uncomfortable. Plus he wasn't going to be staying there for long. Not to mention if he tried something, it was four against one. So begrudgingly she agreed. "Aye."

A giant smile appeared on Ruby's face as she opened the door and dragged Izuku inside "Welcome to your new home Izuku!" She smiled. "You'll be staying with us!"

The girls watched as Izuku's cold and serious expression faded into a more embarrassed look. He kept his eyes glued to his feet, not wanting to look at any of the girls 'S-So" He stuttered "Y-Your all fine with me staying here?"

"Of course!" Ruby answered

Izuku nodded and changed his expression back into his regular one, although the blush still remained. He bowed to the girls "Thank you for having me" He said, trying and failing to ignore the fact he was living in the same room as four pretty girls.

"If I may, can you tell us what your world is like"

That was when Izuku's blush disappeared and his face turned into a grimace. His mind flashed through images of his classmates dead and he shook his head. They weren't dead. If they were, All Might's vestige would've fully formed in his mind. But those visions could become true since he wasn't back in his world. "I don't want to talk about it" He said with a cold tone. The quick change of attitude unnerved the girls. Izuku turned away from them and moved towards the walk-in closet to get change out of his costume and the clothes Glynda gave him 

"What's with him?" Weiss asked, looking at the door.

"From what he's told me, and that isn't much, his world isn't in a great state right now. It might hurt him to think about what's happening back in his world without him" Ruby suggested, although she wasn't sure she was right. He barely told them anything.

So when Izuku came back into the room, wearing more casual clothes. The girls said nothing as he got into his bed and shut his eyes. And after a few minutes, they did the exact same thing.

Ruby awoke to the sound of their bedroom door shutting. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes before looking over to the clock. Who was up at 2am? She slowly got out of her bed and looked around the room. All of her teammates were still asleep in their beds, so that left one person.

She slowly left the warmth of her bed and walked out to the hallway. She caught a glimpse of someone looking down to their scroll and following it. Slowly, she tiptoed after the figure cloaked in shadows. SHe followed him upwards until she came to a door. Taking a deep breath in, she opened it and immediately regretted it. The cold air blew against her face. She was on one of the balconies. And just up ahead was Izuku, leaning on the railing and looking up to the sky, lost in his own mind.

"Izuku?" She called out.

Izuku turned around at breakneck speeds with wide eyes, but he quickly relaxed when he saw Ruby and turned back towards the Moon "Hi, Rose" He greeted her

"What're you doing?" She asked, walking up and standing next to him.

"Couldn't sleep," He replied.

Ruby followed Izuku eyesight to the moon sand spoke up

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

Izuku accidentally inhaled some of his saliva out of shock before coughing violently. Ruby let out a small "eep!" before running over to Izuku and slapping him on the back. If it worked when they were being interrogated, it should work again. Once the coughing subsided, Izuku turned to face her, his face covered in a heavy blush "W-What did you just say?!" He asked, his voice a mixture of shock and panic

"I just said the moon is beautiful. Why?" Ruby questioned

Izuku had to remind himself that Ruby didn't know his language. So once he did that, his blush went away and he returned to his normal expression "Sorry. In my tongue it means something else" Izuku admitted

"What does it mean?" Ruby tilted her head

Izuku wasn't about to tell her that saying 'The moon is beautiful, isn't it' meant I love you in Japanese, so he shook his head "It's nothing important. Don't worry about it"

Ruby nodded her head and the two stood there in silence, staring at the moon. She really wanted to ask Izuku a question that'd been bothering her since they'd met, but she'd never found the right moment to ask him about it. So she mustered up all her courage and asked the question

"Are we friends, Izuku?" Ruby asked. Izuku turned and looked at her before looking back to the moon, not answering her question. She was hurt by his silence. "Is that a no? Am I too annoying? Do I bother you? If so I can stop!"

Izuku listened to all her words and clenched his teeth. Should he really open up to Ruby and tell her? She's been nothing but nice to him since they'd met. But how could Izuku know if she was truly trustworthy?

You just need to trust your heart.

Nana's words swam around in his mind, corrupting his thoughts and turning them into new ones. He looked Ruby up and down before sighing. He shouldn't be doing this, but he was going to anyway "It's not you. It's me." He admitted

Ruby was taken aback at that answer "Huh?"

"I don't want to make friends here because I'm not going to stay here forever. My world needs me and I'll have to leave Remnant. All the friends I could make here… I'll never see them again. And the more friends I make, the harder it will be for me to leave this world. So that's why I don't want to make friends. I don't want to leave and hurt their feelings and my own." Izuku finished, looking away in shame.

He wasn't sure what to expect Ruby to say or do after his confession, but he didn't expect her to hug him. He made a weird sound as the smaller girl hugged him tighter. "W-Why did you do that?" Izuku asked with a small blush after she pulled away

"You looked like you needed one" Ruby smiled back "I kinda got it. I had to leave my friends from Signal. I can write to them, but the letters take time to reach them, and we might grow apart. But even then, I can still remember the great times I spent with them and smile." She said "Even though you have to leave, you can always remember the fun times you had here with us."

Izuku stayed silent throughout her speech. What she was saying ran through his mind. It made sense. He'd met many great people who he had to leave behind. Melissa, Katsuma, Mahoro, Rody. Even though he can't talk to them as much as he wants, he can still remember the time they'd spent together and smile.

Ruby took his silence as a sign he was thinking and smiled sadly "I'll just go back to bed now. You should come back soon. First day of school tomorrow." She turned around to leave, but was stopped when Izuku called out to her.

Izuku didn't know what he was doing, and sure there was a part of him telling himself that he was doing the wrong thing, but there was another part, much smaller but louder, telling him to open himself up to others and accept their help. He wasn't going to change, he still needed to stay focused, but maybe one or two people helping him out wouldn't be so bad. So when Ruby looked back to him, he opened his mouth and spoke up

"You're a good friend, Ruby"

Ruby said nothing back. Instead opting to give him a sweet smile.

Chapter Text

Toshinori dug through the rubble, not caring about all the dust and dirt that was dirtying his clothing. He'd been called immediately after the explosion and rushed over to the scene. He immediately tried digging through the rubble, trying to find Izuku, but he had zero luck. "We need to keep digging!" He told Endeavour.

The rest of the Heroes had left, retreated to make a new plan of action, but Toshinori had seen the look on all their faces as they'd left. They were distraught.

"It's been two hours since the mansion exploded" Endeavor sighed "If Deku was alive, we would know" He tried to convince Toshinori to stop wasting his energy.

"He isn't dead! He's still alive!" Toshinori shouted

"HE'S DEAD!" Endeavor boomed, silencing Toshinori. The man took a deep breath and spoke again in a much quieter voice "Izuku Midoriya has died. There is nothing else to it. We've lost our strongest fighter, and now we have to face All for One and Shigaraki without him." He turned away and looked down at the ground "Without Midoriya, we've already lost this battle" He said before leaving.

Toshinori fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. His tears dropped to the ground as he sobbed. He knew Izuku was alive. His gut was telling him and he always trusted his gut. The only problem was he had no clue where the boy was.

"Young Midoriya, where are you?"

Weiss slowly awoke to the gentle chirping of some birds outside. The sun in her face, but not in an obnoxious way, instead it felt like it was gently waking her up. A small smile came to her face as she opened her eyes. But she wasn't prepared to see Ruby right in her face blowing a whistle. Weiss screamed and tumbled out of her bed and onto the floor.

From the other side of the room, Weiss watched as Izuku's eyes snapped open. He reached his hand up and multiple energy tendrils shot out from his hand and hooked into the ceiling. He took a few heavy breaths before he looked around. Noticing he was safe in his room, Blackwhip slowly went away as he calmed down.

"What in the world is wrong with you?!" Weiss yelled angrily. She was in the process of getting up already. She didn't need a dolt with a whistle to pierce her eardrums. And not to mention her moronic action caused their male roommate to almost destroy the dorm.

"Ahem" Ruby cleared her throat and looked around the room. Blake and Yang were already dressed in their uniforms. Weiss was still on the ground. And Izuku still looked shaken up, as if he'd just woken up from a nightmare. "Now that everyone's awake, we can finally begin our first order of business!" The younger girl proclaimed

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"Decorating!" Yang cheered. She held a cardboard box, which no doubt held multiple of the girl's personal belongings.

"What?!" Weiss shouted.

"I should've just slept outside" Izuku muttered as he slowly arose from his bed. He rubbed his eyes, which were still half shut and yawned loudly.

"We still have to unpack" Blake informed the white haired girl. She held up her suitcase which wasn't closed properly, causing the contents to spill onto the ground "And clean" She added.

Weiss groaned and stood up. Her face told everyone she wasn't excited about cleaning and decorating. And her face only further soured after Ruby blew the whistle obnoxiously in her face, causing her to fall over in shock.

"Alright! Weiss, Blake, Yang, their fearless leader Ruby and their backup Izuku, have begun their first mission!" She held her fist up in the air "Banzai!"

Blake and Yang followed Ruby and held their fists up in the air like she did "Banzai!"

Weiss just stared at them, dumbfounded before sighing. She was already up, and there were many boxes to unpack, so she might as well just go along with it. But if this was how she'd be woken up every morning, she was going to ask for a new room.

And so, the team got to work.

Yang put a poster of six guys in various posters labeled the 'ARCHIVE MEN' above her bed.

Weiss took out a beautiful painting of the Forever Fall Forest and adjusted it so it was perfectly straight. She smirked and nodded when she saw it met her standards.

Blake put away her collection of books. Since Izuku would be staying with them, she took note of a few books that they could read together like they did before. When she picked up a copy of 'Ninjas of Love' A heavy blush arose on her cheeks. She quickly looked around before hiding the book, not wanting anyone to find it.

Ruby positioned Crescent Rose at an exact angle so she could perfectly cut off a diagonal portion.

Izuku decided to go have a shower. He hadn't had one for a very long time and he smelled so bad he was amazed none of the girls pointed out the stench. So he grabbed his uniform which was inside the wardrobe and brought it into the bathroom where he stripped out of his clothes and savored the hot water running down his body.

Team RWBY quickly zoomed around the room and finished unpacking. Once they finished, they admired their handiwork, only to notice a problem. The five beds were all squashed in the middle of the room.

"This isn't going to work." Weiss stated

"It is a bit cramped." Blake agreed.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff" Yang suggested, sneaking a glance at Weiss, who had packed the most stuff.

"Or we could ditch the beds and replace them with bunk beds!" Ruby clapped her hands in excitement.

"That sounds extremely dangerous" Weiss pointed out

"And super awesome!" Yang grinned.

"It does seem efficient" Blake nodded

Weiss couldn't believe they were going to go along with this idea. "Well, we should put it to a vote." She said, hoping that one of them would see that this was a stupid idea.

"I think we just did" Ruby looked around at Blake and Yang

Luckily, Weiss still had an ace hidden up her sleeve "And what about Izuku. Even if he's only our backup, he's apart of this team, so he should get a vote" She'd hoped that would be enough to convince Ruby that this was a horrible idea, but Yang smirked from beside the girl

"Right now, it's one against three. Even if Izuku votes no, it'll still be two against three. Majority wins"

'Drat' Weiss thought with a scowl.

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Izuku continued to stand underneath the showerhead. He brought his hand up to inspect how injured it was, but he was shocked to find no scar, just a pink line where the cut previously was. 'What?!' He thought, examining his hand further. This didn't make sense, how did he heal? One for All didn't have a healing Quirk. He ran his right thumb over the pink line and squinted his eyes.

He needed to think.

Outside of the bathroom. Team RWBY stared at their beds. Weiss' bed was on the ground next to her art and luggage. Blake's bed was on the floor next to her books. Which were used to support Yang's bed, which rested on top of Blake's. And finally, Ruby's bed was hanging from ropes attached to the ceiling with a blanket over it, making it look like a tent.

But there was only one thing blocking them from a more spacious room.

"What are we going to do about Izuku's bed?" Ruby questioned.

"Well we can't have it on the ground. It takes up too much room." Weiss claimed

"So what if we hang it up like Ruby's bed?" Yang asked

"The legs could hit someone's head" Blake stated

"So we ditch the frame!" Yang shrugged before the girls froze. That actually wasn't that bad of an idea. They quickly got to disassembling the frame before grabbing some leftover ropes. They quickly hung Izuku's bed up near the ceiling. The girls smiled when they walked underneath it and didn't hit their heads

"Perfect!" Ruby grinned before it quickly faded. They might've thought this was a good idea, but what about Izuku? She'd just gained his friendship and didn't want to lose it so quick

Izuku had left the shower, his head hurting from all the thinking he did. No matter how hard he thought, he just couldn't figure out how he healed. So instead he decided to store those thoughts away for later, maybe Ruby could help explain what was happening.

Izuku grabbed his uniform before slipping into it. The uniform was the same size as the clothes Glynda had given him. 'So that's how they knew what would fit me' Izuku thought with a hum. He fiddled with his tie and tied it into his lopsided knot before tucking what he could underneath his blue vest. He did up the buttons on his suit before looking at himself in the mirror. He wasn't going to lie, the uniform looked nice.

He walked out of the bathroom and looked at the girls. Ruby was avoiding his eyesight for some reason, but Yang quickly gained his attention "You sure spent a lot of time in the shower. Were you thinking of me?" Yang asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Why would I be thinking of you?" Izuku asked, unsure of what she was talking about. A moment of silence was shared between them before Izuku's face exploded in a blush as he realized what she was talking about. He quickly shook his head "No, I was thinking about some other things" He hastily claimed. His mother had given him books when he was first going through puberty, so he knew exactly what Yang was talking about.

"If you say so" Yang laughed, relishing in the moment.

Izuku sighed and stopped paying attention to her laughter. His attention was instead shifted to the beds. "What did you guys do to the beds?" Izuku asked, squinting at the DIY bunk beds that looked incredibly dangerous. One bunk bed was being supported by nothing but books, and the other one was being held up by some rope attached to the holes he'd made in the ceiling earlier. Sure there was a lot more space now, but this was going to kill someone. But when he took another look around the room, he noticed something strange. "Where's my bed?"

Ruby nervously giggled, an action that greatly worried Izuku. She pointed upwards and Izuku followed and found a mattress being suspended by multiple ropes.

At first he wanted to be annoyed. They'd literally stolen his bed frame and hung his bed off the ceiling. But then he thought about it. Sleeping on just a mattress wasn't that bad. He'd slept on futons before and enjoyed them. The only difference between his futon and this mattress was that this mattress couldn't be folded in two. And the ropes were set up in a way that Izuku could enter the bed, but if he rolled over, he'd just bump against them. Besides, if he did fall, he probably wouldn't hurt himself too bad. At most it was a broken arm, but it was more likely he'd just bruise whatever part of his body he'd fall on.

Ruby waited for Izuku's reaction to what they did with his bed. She sighed in relif when he nodded his head in approval, although he still looked slightly hesitant. "Alllllright! With that settled, our second order of business is…" Ruby took a second to think before she snapped her fingers "Classes. We have a few classes together today. At 9 we need to be in-"

Ruby stopped talking when Weiss suddenly spoke up "What?! Did you say 9 o'clock?" Ruby nodded her head and Weiss' face went pale "It's 8:55, you dunce!" She yelled before running out the door.

"To class!" Ruby shouted before rushing after Weiss. Yang and Blake quickly followed after the smaller girl.

Izuku walked to the door and watched as across the hall, a door opened with team JNPR peeking out of it, each member on top of the other "Class?" Jaune questioned from the bottom before his eyes widened. He lost his balance, causing the others to fall on top of him "We're gonna be late!" He exclaimed before he and his team ran after Team RWBY.

Izuku stood there for a few seconds before pulling out his Scroll. Holding it in the right position, he opened up his timetable and found what class he was supposed to be in. He opened up the map and memorized the directions before putting the Scroll away and getting down into a start-up position. Green lightning enveloped his skin before four tendrils of Blackwhip shout out of his back and waved around gently.

Normally this would be breaking the law, but considering this world didn't have any laws against Quirks, he was technically in the clear. And while he didn't care if he was late for class, he wasn't going to let the others make a bad first impression by being late on their first day. God help them if their teacher is like Aizawa.

Izuku kicked off the ground and dashed in the direction of the others.

Jaune was pushing his body to the limit so he could make it to class, but he wasn't expecting a green blur to dash past them. Connected to the figure were a few black tendrils. Each tendril wrapped around two of the students before tightening to keep them in place. "Wha-" Was all Jaune could get out before his body was yanked by the tendrils.

Ozpin and Glynda watched from the courtyard as Izuku ran past them at incredible speeds. The tendrils coming out of his back were attached to Team RWBY and JNPR, who were all screaming (Or in Nora's case, laughing).

As they quickly disappeared, Glynda took off her glasses and wiped them, unsure of what she just witnessed, while Ozpin took a sip from his drink with a hidden smile.

Izuku watched as an elderly, mustached man walked around the front of the classroom. On the board behind him were multiple types of Grimm. While he had no clue what most of them were, he did recognize the Beowolf.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night!" The teacher, Peter Port, exclaimed spookily, hoping to scare the children "Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!" He laughed at his own bad joke.

Team RWBY and Izuku were sitting up the front, each displaying various stages of interest. Yang and Blake were sitting up straight and paying attention to everything Professor Port was saying. Weiss was taking notes. Izuku was reading about the Grimm on the board, and Ruby had her head propped in her hands as she took a small nap, but was awoken by the man's bad joke, which received no reaction from the other students.

"Uhhhh…" Port trailed off, not expecting this sort of reaction. He cleared his throat and continued on with the lecture. And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying; Vale, as well as the other Kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen, Huntresses" He shot a wink at Yang, who shifted and groaned uncomfortably at. Izuku shot a glare at the teacher and moved closer to the girl, as if to tell the teacher to back off, which he did. Yang smiled at the small action. "Ahem, Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"Ay-yep!" A student agreed, raising his fist to the sky in agreement. When he noticed everyone looking at him strangely, he sat back down silently.

"That is what you are training to become. But first; A story. A tale of a young, handsome man… Me! When I was a boy."

'I should've just skipped classes' Izuku sighed, resting his head on his desk.

Weiss noticed Ruby scribbling on a piece of paper and smiled as she thought the girl was taking her studies seriously.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter' he told me"

Weiss' smile dropped into a heavy frown when Ruby unveiled her work. It was a crudely drawn picture of Port. It was nothing more than a ball with stick limbs and a head with stink lines rising from its body. 'Professor Poop' was written underneath. Ruby blew a raspberry while Blake chuckled and Yang laughed.

"Ah-heh-hem!" Port coughed, waiting until everyone was paying attention to him "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to the village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" He exclaimed proudly.

The man bowed as Weiss got more and more frustrated with how Ruby was acting.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Ruby balanced an apple on her book using a pencil with only her finger while making a funny face.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Ruby had fallen asleep again.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise"

Ruby was not-so-subtly picking her nose.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port asked.

Weiss was incredibly close to blowing a gasket. She raised her hand "I do, sir!" She claimed through gritted teeth.

Yang kicked the back of Izuku's chair, which caused him to jerk up "Yes?!" He exclaimed, looking around the classroom before turning his head to see Yang give him a mischievous grin.

"Well then, Mr Midoriya, Ms Schnee. Let's find out" Port turned and gestured at the two shaking cages. Something big was inside them, but neither Weiss nor Izuku were concerned. "Step forward and face your opponent!" The man exclaimed excitedly.

The Boarbatusk waited in its cage. It could sense them. Creatures made by the God of Light. It snarled and banged against its cage, but then it felt something move up near the cage. It had blended in with the other negativity, but now that it was closer, it could sense it.

A source of overwhelming negativity.

This sent the Boarbatusk into a fury as it banged on the door violently, wanting to be let out. Wanting to rip the source to shreds. When it felt the lock on the cage door break, it rushed out, ready to kill whatever was producing all that negativity. But it soon stopped when it realized something odd. The source of the negativity’s Aura was different than the rest of the Humans and Faunus’. It took the shape of a Human, but it’s presence was unnatural. 

Whatever this creature was. It was not created by the God of Light.

Chapter Text

Izuku watched as the Boar-like creature stared at him for a few moments, as if to study him. This wasn't the first time one of those creatures looked at him like that. Before the Beowolves attack, they stared at him oddly as well. But like the Beowolves, this one soon snapped out of its daze and charged the boy.

Izuku knew that it was going to charge him. When he was reading the board, he saw that all the common attacks listed underneath each creature. Boarbatusk's normally used their tusks to fight, but they could also spin along their spines. But when they were attacking, it was hard for them to change their direction. All of those facts combined spelled out a very simple plan. Just don't stand in their way.

Izuku charged up One for All before hopping to the side. He wanted to see if 10% was capable of taking out this creature. 15% was enough to one shot the Beowolves and allowed him to easily defeat the Alpha. Judging by the creature's physicality it was probably closer to the Alpha in terms of power than the regular Beowolves.

The Boarbatusk quickly skidded along the ground, trying to stop so it could change its course. Izuku held out his hand and curled his finger, a high pitched groan came from his gloves as he flicked. A gust of wind slammed into the creature's side, sending it careening to the side.

"Go Izuku!" Ruby cheered from the side

"Go, go, go!" Blake and Yang copied Ruby.

But Izuku wasn't paying attention to them. Unless they were screaming for help, their words just went in one ear and out the other. He directed all his focus to the fight, and since he was well rested, he was able to focus more on the creature. So when it got up to face him and lowered its head, he knew exactly what was going to happen.

The creature dashed forwards and rolled along its spine, spinning towards Izuku at a dangerous speed. Izuku merely took a deep breath and closed his eyes, not moving a single muscle.

Team RWBY's smile slowly fell as the Grimm got closer and closer to Izuku, but still he didn't move. He could feel Danger Sense screaming at him, but still he waited. Within moments the Boarbatusk was seconds away from impact, ready to ram into the boy and stab him with one of its tusks.

"Izuku!" Ruby shouted out in fear.

'Now!'

Izuku's eyes shot open. He held out his hands and caught the Boarbatusk's horns. He slid back from the force, but quickly stopped with the Boarbatusk frozen in place . Its four red eyes stared at him wide eyed before he lifted up his leg and delivered a brutal kick to its snout. A loud crack echoed around the classroom as one of the creature's smaller tusks fell to the ground, broken off from the impact of the kick.

Izuku didn't wait and see how the creature would react. Instead he opted to continue slamming his foot into the creature's face, delivering blow after blow. Since he was holding onto the bigger tusks, the large creature wasn't able to get knocked back. The creature was durable. His kicks were doing significant damage, but unfortunately weren't getting the job done. So he just needed to keep going and wear the creature down.

The class was silent, watching as the boy continued to brutalize the creature. Kick after kick, each student winced as his foot made contact with the creature's snout. For some reason, the boy wasn't going for the kill, instead it looked like he wanted to cause as much suffering to the creature as possible before ending it's life.

It was horrifying.

After a few more kicks, Izuku let go of the tusks and sent one last kick. The Boarbatusk crashed into the wall and slowly looked up. The Grimm coughed up a tar-like substance before the strange substance dissipated into smoke. Its small left tusk was broken off, and its right one looked close to shattering. Its snout was caved in and the armor around its snout had multiple cracks.

It looked back to the boy and watched as he stood still awaiting the creature's next move. His soulless eyes watching its every move. His fists curled as though ready to deliver one final punch. This boy wasn't something created by the God of Light. This boy was something else. Something foreign. Something dangerous.

Something that would beat it within an inch of its life and then leave it to die a slow, painful death.

The Boarbatusk ran as fast as it could, but instead of rushing Izuku like everyone thought it would, it retreated back into its cage in fear. It noticed the doors were still open and it cowered at the back of the cage, hoping the boy wouldn't walk in and finish the job.

Izuku stared at the shaking Grimm. Danger Sense wasn't warning him about the creature, so Izuku saw no reason to continue the fight. But first he had to do something. He slowly began walking towards the cage. The Boarbatusk snarled in a feeble attempt to intimidate the boy, but that didn't work. He stood outside the cage staring at the creature, before reaching to the doors of the cage and shutting them, locking the beast inside.

He turned to face the Professor "Done" He replied before walking back to his chair, not bothering with the fearful gazes everyone was giving him.

He did what was necessary. He had a hypothesis, and so he needed to see the results.

Professor Port coughed "Thank you for that, uhhhh, interesting showing, Mr Midoriya." He nervously smiled at the boy before turning to Weiss. "Now, Ms Schnee! Let us see how you will fare against the Grimm!"

"Go, Weiss!" Yang shouted out

"Fight well" Blake said, waving a small flag saying 'RWBY'

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss scolded the girl as she lowered her rapier to glare.

"Oh, um… sorry" Ruby meekly apologized, looking away shyly.

Izuku furrowed his brows at Weiss. Why didn't she yell at Yang and Blake when they were encouraging her. Why did she just pick on Ruby?

Port swung his weapon down and broke the lock on the second cage. The second Boarbatusk immediately charged Weiss, not stopping and staring at her like the first one did with Izuku. Said boy narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl pull out her rapier and deflect the oncoming attack. She rolled to the side and readied herself for the next attack. The Grimm stood a few meters away, studying the girl.

'That's weird' Izuku thought, examining the Grimm. It looked like it was trying to figure out where to attack next. But what Izuku was confused about was the fact that this Grimm didn't look confused at her.

"Ha-Ha! Weren't expecting that, were you?" Port exclaimed

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby encouraged.

Weiss dashed towards the Boarbatusk and held out her weapon. But the Boarbatusk was faster. It quickly turned its head, sending the blade between its small and large tusk. It swung its head to the side, tossing Weiss, who was still holding onto the rapier, off the ground and shaking her around as she tried to reclaim Myrtenaster.

"Bold, new approach! But will it work out for you?" Port question from the side, watching the battle with glee.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby shouted

Weiss turned her head to glare at Ruby, an action Izuku caught. The Grimm turned its head one final time and ripped the rapier from her grip. The blade was flung away from its master, who was knocked back by the Boarbatusk's tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port questioned

Weiss quickly heard the creature approaching and looked up to see the Grimm charge again. She quickly rolled to the side just in time to avoid getting trampled.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Izuku staring at the Grimm with an extremely creepy stare. He looked tense, like he was ready to step in if the creature was about to land a devastating attack. She quickly rushed to her rapier and grabbed it before turning around the face the Grimm with a glare.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss yelled at Ruby with a tone so spiteful, it made everyone in the room flinch.

This didn't make sense to Izuku. Why did Weiss only snap at Ruby? Blake and Yang were yelling at her as well, and Ruby was only trying to help. Besides, what did she have to gain by yelling at her team's leader? That thought made him pause as his mind began to take all the pieces of the puzzle and click them together in perfect form. It made so much more sense now.

She was jealous.

Meanwhile, the Boarbatusk got angrier, feeling the girl's negativity increase drastically. It leapt into the air and landed on its spine, rolling along the ground ready to slam into the girl.

Weiss quickly summoned a Glyph and blocked the attack. It toppled back onto its back and she used this opportunity to drive Myrtenaster into the creature's stomach. It squealed loudly as the blade pierced the creature's skin and thrashed around. Weiss sunk the blade deeper into the Boarbatusk, it let out one final squeal before going silent, its body still.

Weiss let out a few pants, staring at the corpse before she was snapped out of her daze by Professor Port clapping "Bravo! Bravo! You two did very well today." He stated, looking at both Weiss and Izuku "It looks like we are in the presence of a true Huntsman and Huntress in training!" Weiss slowly got up and glared at a frowning Ruby. "But it appears that is all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assignment readings and stay vigilant! Class dismissed"

Weiss quickly headed towards the door and exited the classroom, passing Jaune who had just finished his class in the opposite room. He watched as the crabby girl left and saw Ruby ran after the girl. He turned to the door and watched as Izuku and the remaining girls of Team RWBY walked out the door. "Sheesh, what's with her?" He asked

Blake and Yang looked at each other and shrugged, not understanding why the girl was in such a mood. Izuku sighed and shook his head "It's something I'm going to need to deal with before she does something she'll regret" He muttered before turning to walk away, but he turned to face the others. "I'll see you later, Arc" He bid farewell to Jaune before turning to the other two girls "Xiao-Long, Belladonna" He nodded before walking after Ruby.

Ruby turned the corner to find Weiss stomping away. Her hands tightened into fists and her posture hunched. "Weiss!" Ruby called out.

"What?!" Weiss snarled, turning to face the girl with a glare.

Ruby was taken aback by the look she was getting, but continued onwards "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting so-"

"What's wrong with me?!" Weiss exclaimed, putting a hand on her chest. What was the girl expecting?! She had every right to be mad! She noticed Izuku stepping out from behind the corner and stare at her with his cold and dead eyes, but that wasn't going to stop her from ripping into her so-called 'Leader'. "What's wrong with you!? You're supposed to be a leader, yet all you've done is be a general nuisance!"

Ruby's eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open at the harsh words. "What did I do?" She questioned with indignation. She turned around to see Izuku standing there. He just stared at the scene with what looked to be indifference, like he was just a spectator, something he didn't care for.

"That's just it! You've done nothing to earn your position!" Weiss complained, sending Ruby's attention back to her "Back in the forest you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!" She accused her.

Ruby looked taken aback and confused at the situation. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. "W-Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team?" Ruby stammered.

The resulting glare was so cold, Ruby felt like her insides were being frozen. "Not a team led by you. I've studied and trained. And frankly, I deserve better." She spat before turning around, but not before dealing one last blow to Ruby's confidence "Ozpin made a mistake" She said before quickly walking away.

Ruby stood in the hallway, on the verge of tears. And it didn't help that Izuku walked by her, heading in the direction Weiss was walking in with a very menacing look. "Where are you going?" She weakly called out, but her friend didn't answer back.

"Hmmm. Now that didn't seem to go very well" A familiar voice spoke up from behind her. She slowly turned around to see Ozpin standing there, a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and his cane in the other.

"Is… Is she right?" She whispered "Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin only offered her a small smile "That remains to be seen" He hummed

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked

"It's only been a single day. Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet, and I will probably continue to make more mistakes. But appointing you team leader, I don't consider that to be one." Ozpin claimed. He gently shook his head side to side before continuing "Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?

Ruby thought about what he was saying and smiled.

Ozpin turned away but continued to talk. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you to take some time to think about how you will uphold it. And do not worry about Ms Schnee. I suspect Mr Midoriya will help her understand what she's trying to do is wrong."

Weiss rested her arms on the balcony, looking out to the sunset. A tiny smile came to her face as she admired the ways the light reflected off the lake. But the smile was quickly turned into a scowl as she heard footsteps walking onto the balcony. She was about to turn and yell at who she thought was Ruby, but the scowl soon became a more neutral face when Izuku came into her peripheral view.

"You walk pretty fast, Schnee." Izuku stated as he leaned against the railing next to Weiss, looking out to the horizon with a tired stare. She noticed his eye bags were starting to fade, but he still looked tired in her opinion.

The two of them remained silent, staring off into the distance. Soon a cold, gentle breeze blew by them, making Weiss shiver. Izuku saw this and unbuttoned his blazer and gently placed it atop Weiss' shoulders. "What's this for?" She muttered

The boy shrugged "You're cold, and I'm not" He stated, not bothering to turn and face her

Eventually, Weiss sighed. Not enjoying the tension in the air "What do you want, Izuku?" She asked

"I want a lot of things. I want to go home. I want to save my world. I want to see my mother again. But right now, I want to talk to you." He said. Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but Izuku held his hand up, still not turning to face her "I know you're jealous of Ruby because she's the leader. And from what I gathered in the hall, you believe you're the one who should lead. Is that right, or did I miss something?" He asked.

Weiss stared at him in shock before looking back to the scenery. She could believe she was about to open up to a boy she barely knows, but there wasn't really anyone else to vent to. Besides, out of everyone she knew in her dorm, he seemed like the most responsible. "It's just, I've trained. I've practiced. I've done so much Ruby hasn't. So yes, I believe I should've been the leader of Team RWBY." She told Izuku.

She waited for Izuku's reaction. Waited for him to agree with her and offer to go talk to Ozpin on her behalf, but his continual silence was starting to get on her nerves "Well? Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" Izuku asked "Do you want me to say that I agree with you?" He gently shook his head "Because no, I don't think you should've been the leader of Team RWBY"

Weiss blinked a few times before she started getting angry again "So what, you trust Ozpin's decision?"

"No. I don't trust Ozpin" Izuku admitted. Weiss smiled, but that was quickly wiped from her face as the boy continued talking "But I also don't trust Professor Port. I don't trust Ms Goodwitch, and I don't trust you either" Izuku coldly stated.

"Wha-?! Why don't you trust me?! We live in the same dorm room!" Weiss yelled

"Because I don't know you. I barely know anyone here. You're all strangers to me. I don't know if you can be trusted or not. The only person here I trust is probably Ruby." Izuku claimed. Weiss raised an eyebrow at the fact he called Ruby by her given name instead of her family name like he did with everyone else.

"Even so, why do you not believe I should be the leader of Team RWBY? Did you not see how exceptional I was on the battlefield just then?" Weiss proudly boasted

Izuku turned his head to face her and she looked deep into her eyes. It felt like he was staring deep into her soul, trying to pick her apart from the inside and find out what made her tick. "That's not what I saw. You were constantly making mistakes" He stated

"I could've done better if Ruby hadn't been distracting me!" Weiss argued.

"If Ruby was able to distract you with just that, how would you fare on a real battlefield?" Izuku asked with a cold tone. Weiss turned to face him and saw him glaring off into the distance with narrowed eyes "There will be enemies to fight, people to save, and you're going to have to choose what you're going to do. And trust me, the enemy isn't going to give you any time to think. If Ruby's chatter was enough to throw you off your game. Then maybe it would be best for you to just quit."

Weiss was completely enraged. Who did this boy think he was! "At least I wasn't brutalizing the Boarbatusk just for the sake of it!" She accused

"I wasn't brutalizing it," Izuku claimed softly.

Weiss scoffed "Then what were you doing? Playing with it? Because you looked incredibly interested every time you kicked it!" She noticed his body tensed up as he tried to control himself, but she just kept pushing "Well, answer me! If you weren't brutalizing the Grimm, what were you doing?!"

"I hurt it like that because I was scared!" Izuku snapped in a tone so cold it rivaled her own. He noticed that she flinched and took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. Once he felt more at ease, he continued "I'm not like you. Any of you. You've all grown up being taught that slaughtering these creatures was the best thing to do. But I was never taught the same lessons. When I grew up, I was taught that killing was the ultimate crime. An act that only villains did. Now I'm older and see that sometimes you have to kill to save people, but the lessons I believed for 15 years don't just vanish so easily." He explained, tightening his hand into a fist. Weiss stared at him, hanging off every word he was saying "I told myself that if I have to kill, it's because that's the only choice I have left. But the problem is that Grimm come in all different shapes and sizes, I don't know how much they can take before dying."

Weiss slowly nodded, her anger taking a backseat to her curiosity "So you weren't brutalizing it. You were…"

Izuku nodded "I was testing it. I need to establish a baseline for how much of my power I can use. And from what I've seen with the Beowolves and the Boarbatusk. 10% so far is how much power I need to dispatch all the Grimm I've encountered so far.

Weiss slowly nodded, understanding where he was coming from, but her blood ran cold and her face went pale when she processed the last sentence "E-Excuse me?" She stuttered "Did you say that what you did back in the classroom was only 10% of what you can do?"

Izuku froze, his mind racing back to what he'd just said before he mentally cursed himself. He didn't want to reveal how powerful he was, and he'd just let it slip because he was too careless. 'I'm so stupid!' He thought. But complaining about it wasn't going to do him any good. A thought popped into his mind and he gently nodded to himself. He didn't necessarily have to tell the whole truth. Technically he was using 10% of One for All.

"Yes" He said, not bothering to include anything else that might give more away. He quickly tried to shift the conversation away from how powerful he was and put it back on track "If it looked like I was brutalizing that creature just for fun. If the other kids will avoid me because they're scared of me. If it means I don't need to take a life I think doesn't need to be taken. Then I can accept that" He softly said before straightening up. He was getting off topic. "And speaking of accepting things, you're going to need to accept the fact that Ruby is the leader and you aren't."

Weiss' anger began to take over as she shook her head "No, she doesn't deserve to be Leader. She's too childish and immature."

"Ozpin probably isn't going to change the leaders. So what are you going to try and do?" Izuku questioned

"Then I'll just force her to mature"

And there it was. The reason Izuku was concerned, and his fears were now justified. He shook his head "That is the worst thing you could do. If you try to do that, you're going to make Ruby a worse leader than you think she is now." He warned her

"How will that make her a bad leader? She'll act less like a child and more like an adult!" Weiss claimed.

Izuku sighed and muttered something in another language before starting her in the eyes "Follow me" He ordered. Weiss followed after him and soon found themselves inside the dorms. He fumbled through his area in his wardrobe and pulled some weird device out of a drawer. He powered it on and flicked through it. She noted it looked similar to a scroll, but less advanced. He soon pulled up a photo and passed the phone to her without a word.

She took the device and examined it closely, and what she found shocked her. It was a picture of Izuku, but he looked completely different. Bright, shining eyes with black pupils. A cheerful smile as if he didn't have a worry in the world. Then she looked up from the phone and examined the boy. Dark bags underneath a pair of dull and lifeless eyes. A tired frown plastered onto his face. It was almost impossible for her to believe this was the same person

"What… What happened to you?" Weiss asked, the edge in her voice gone. Instead it had been replaced by genuine concern.

"What I'm trying to prevent you from doing to Ruby" Izuku answered, taking the phone back from her and putting it into his pocket. "My world was thrown upside down by a madman, and I'm the only one who has the power to stop him. It was up to me to find and defeat him. That, combined with multiple other things, forced me to mature faster than I was supposed to. And what you see in front of you is the result" He sighed and held his hand up to his face, as is to hide from Weiss

"I… I d-didn't-" Weiss stammered. She was speechless. All this information was dumped on her and she had no idea what to think or say. But one thing was certain. She now saw Izuku in a totally different light. He wasn't just some edgy boy who was just cold and rude for the sake of it. This was a boy who'd been beaten down by the world, and yet he still tries to carry on. Then she felt sick. If he hadn't intervened and she went through with her plan, Ruby might've ended up the exact same way

"You don't need to say anything to me." Izuku said, walking towards the door. "I'm already too far gone, but Ruby isn't. I know you try to put up a cold and rude front, but I can tell underneath all that is a girl who just wants to prove to the world she's strong. So please be strong and do the right thing. For Ruby's sake" He said before walking out the door, leaving Weiss all alone in the room to process his words.

Weiss walked into the dorm rooms late at night and looked around. Blake and Yang were asleep. There was a lump in the suspended mattress, so she assumed Izuku was in there, and there was a small light in Ruby's bed. Weiss lifted the blanket to see Ruby fast asleep, a pencil in her hands and multiple open books scattered around her. Weiss was amazed at the girl's determination. She cleared her throat and gently shook Ruby awake.

Ruby groaned and slowly opened her face. She looked at Weiss for a few moments before panicking "Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry!" She apologized.

She was about to continue her apology before Weiss covered the girl's mouth with her hand and put a finger to her lips. Ruby understood what Weiss was trying to say and nodded. She took her hand off the girl's mouth and looked at the empty coffee cup on the bed "How do you take your coffee?" She questioned quietly.

"I… I don't…"

"Answer the question!" Weiss snapped, but she made sure to be quiet while doing so.

"Uhh, cream and five sugars." Ruby replied.

Izuku's eyes snapped open from his bed as he heard Ruby's order. He hadn't yet fallen asleep since he wanted to see if Weiss had taken his advice. He wasn't expecting to hear Ruby say her coffee was essentially cocaine in a cup. How did the girl expect to get to sleep later on?

But Weiss didn't seem fazed by the order "Wait here" She whispered before ducking out of Ruby's view. A few minutes later she reappeared, holding a fresh cup of coffee for the girl.

Ruby looked flabbergasted at how kind the girl was being "Umm… Thanks"

Weiss smiled at the girl and closed her eyes, slightly frustrated. She wasn't used to apologizing, but then the image of Ruby looking broken and beaten like Izuku popped into her mind, and the was all the encouragement she needed "I'm sorry" She said, not looking Ruby in the eyes out of embarrassment "I said some things that were completely out of line and I let my feelings get the best of me. I just want you to know I'm going to be the best teammate you'll ever have"

For the umpteenth time that day, Ruby was shocked, but that shock soon developed into happiness. Even though Weiss never named him, she knew Izuku looked out for her and helped her out with mending her relationship with the white haired girl. "And I look forward to being the best leader you'll ever have" She smiled.

Weiss smiled back and looked over her work before pointing to one of her answers "That one's wrong by the way." She helped before popping back out of Ruby's vision "Hey Ruby" Ruby heard her softly call out

"Yeah?"

She peeked under her sheet to see Weiss smiling at her from the door "I always wanted bunk beds as a kid" She stated before softly closing the door

A bright smile came to Ruby's face as she took a sip from her cup and continued to study.

From his bed, a tiny smile came to Izuku's face as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, content with how everything turned out.

From outside the door, Weiss stood still. She was happy with how her apology went, but there was something else eating away inside of her. Izuku Midoriya. Now that she knew more about him, something kept nagging her. The fact that he claimed he was too far gone.

She thought it was utter rubbish. If he was too far gone, he wouldn't have confided his feelings to her. If he were too far gone, he wouldn't have tried to dissuade her from forcing Ruby to grow up.

Izuku Midoriya wasn't too far gone.

He'd helped stop her from doing something that would've ruined a life, so it was only fair she helped him realize he was still within reach.

Nana watched as Toshinori's vestige remained still.

She was scared. Scared of the thought that if Toshi appeared, what would happen to Izuku. The boy was already mentally damaged and if Toshi appeared she wouldn't know how he'd react.

She knew one thing though. It wouldn't be pretty.

Sighing, she turned to all the other vestiges, who were meditating or thinking like she was. She turned back to Toshinori, but that's when she noticed something strange. He looked completely stationary, but when she paid close attention, she could see him moving.

The only question she had was why was he moving so slow?

Chapter Text

Two days have passed, and Team RWBY had noticed Izuku was getting more and more frustrated. He started snapping at people who tried to talk to him, but then again, not many people did. At first they were curious about the boy from another world. So much so that he gained the nickname 'The Visitor'. But after word of what he'd done to the Boarbatusk spread around the school, he was looked at with fear and hesitation.

But it became clear to Team RWBY and JNPR that Izuku needed a break, but when Jaune told him that, Izuku just looked at him with an annoyed look. After that they stayed silent, not knowing how to reel Izuku back. Ruby a little bit after Jaune. Unlike the blonde, Izuku didn't glare at her or speak to her. Instead opting to ignore her and move away. After that little scene, most of the group didn't know how to approach the boy…

But one of the girls had an idea.

Izuku's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurred. He rubbed his eyes a few times before blinking a few times. He stared up towards the roof and let out a sigh.

Izuku thought back on what had happened so far. The timeline he had created here. He arrived late Sunday night. He took the Bullhead to Beacon on Monday. Entrance exam was on Tuesday. First day of class on Wednesday, and now it was Saturday morning. He'd been on Remnant for around five and a half days, and Ozpin hadn't come to him saying he could bring Izuku home.

He was starting to get scared. The vestiges had given him an estimate of two weeks before All for One would launch his final attack. He was fast approaching his final week, and starting to get incredibly stressed. He was beginning to get incredibly agitated when people annoyed him, or talked to him in general.

It also didn't help that a lot of the students were avoiding him because of his stunt on Wednesday, but he didn't care how they viewed him. They could call him bitter, they could call him twisted. Demon or monster, and he wouldn't correct them. Not that any of them have ever called him that, but it was only a matter of time.

He was different from them, and Izuku knew they were aware of that. People didn't like those who were different from them. He learnt that when he diagnosed Quirkless. Thankfully he'd been around people who accepted him, but a part of him was just waiting for them to turn on him. To decide they've had their fun and to stop treating him like a Human being.

But that wasn’t the only thing he was scared of. The longer he stayed on Remnant, the more attached to the world he’d become. He’d already befriended Ruby, but now whenever he thought of leaving, he felt sick. He knew he had to leave her behind, and he knew they’d talked about this, but he hated saying goodbye. He remembered what it felt like when he left Melissa, Katsuma, and Rody. He'd grown to care for them and it pained him greatly when he had to leave them. And with Ruby and some of the others, he knew he'd never see them again.

Izuku knew that he'd already voiced his concerns with Ruby and that she had eased them, but that was the problem. She only eased them. He was still scared of what would happen when had to go home. Scared that he'd have to say goodbye to people who cared about him and never get the chance to see them again.

Scared of what he might do when it was time for him to leave.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and turned over onto his side ready to start the day, which he expected would probably just be training at the school's gym until it closed. He was not expecting to see Yang's face just millimeters from his own "Morning handsome." She whispered with a sultry voice..

Izuku lurched back out of surprise, his back slamming into the ropes that held the mattress up, blocking him from falling out of his suspended bed. "What the-?! Xiao Long?!" Izuku exclaimed, holding onto the ropes with his still gloved hands. "What were you doing?"

"Waiting for you to wake up, duh" She said nonchalantly, waving her hand around "The other girls have already left to go do their own stuff." She informed him. Izuku looked around the room and found everyone was gone like Yang said. He also noticed a chair missing from one of the desks, which was probably being used as a stool for Yang.

"So why are you still here?" Izuku asked, looking at her with suspicion.

"Because I thought you need to have some time away from Beacon. So I'm taking you out for the day!" She proclaimed, grabbing his leg. Izuku yelped when she grabbed his legs and began to protest loudly. The day would be better spent training and preparing for the final battle against One for All and All for One, but Yang didn't care as she tried to pull him out of his bed.

"Let go, dammit!"

Yang walked with a smile, her head held high as she sauntered down the road. While behind her, Izuku walked slowly, looking down at the ground with a small frown. It took a while for her to convince the boy to follow her, but after bothering him for half an hour, he finally relented.

"Oh come on. Don't look like that. Today will be fun!" She said, turning to face him.

Izuku looked up at her with an untrusting gaze "Can I just go back and train?" He sighed, pleading at her with both his words and eyes "I shouldn't waste time like this. I need to prepare for when I return home"

"No." Yang cheerfully stated "You've been acting like a jerk the past two days, and it's kinda getting annoying. Everyone needs a day off, and today is yours"

Izuku relented and looked back to the ground "Fine" He muttered "But what are we even going to do? I don't know anything about what you people do for fun" He told her. They were from different cultures, and Izuku still didn't know much about this world.

Yang looked at Izuku and her eyes landed on his clothes, the same ones he wore whenever he wasn't in his school uniform. Including when he went to sleep. Her eyes soon traveled down to his gloves. She'd never seen him without them. Even when he slept, he was wearing those dirty things.

"Well, first off we could get you some new clothes" She suggested.

"I don't need new clothes." Izuku stated

"Dude. You only have three outfits: Your Beacon uniform, that creepy costume you have, and the clothes you're wearing now. Which also doubles as your pajamas." Yang told him. "We aren't going to leave until we find an outfit for you." Izuku stayed silent, which Yang took as acceptance. She grabbed his hand and raced into a nearby clothes store.

Once inside, she let go of Izuku's hand and looked at him "I'm gonna have a look around for myself, come back to me when you've found something" She told him before walking over to the leather jackets before he could say anything.

Was she being pushy? Probably. But after spending a while around Izuku, she found that the only way to get him to do something he didn't want to do was to push him into it and walk away before he could protest. And if he did protest, then annoying him non stop would work. This wasn't something she was going to do constantly, but it was a good last resort for when Izuku was acting up.

After a few minutes, Izuku came walking back, holding a plain white shirt and black pants. "If there's no way for me to convince you to not spend any money on me, then I'll get these." He said, handing her the clothes.

Yang took hold of them and had a look. They looked very ordinary. The texture wasn't the greatest, but it was wearable. She looked at the size of his shirt and then back at the boy with her eyebrow raised. Then she saw the price tag and a tiny laugh escaped her throat "Did you just wander around and look for the cheapest things?" Yang asked, holding the shirt

"Yes." Izuku admitted without shame.

The blunt delivery of that line made Yang laugh. Once she calmed down she walked around and picked out a better shirt with a light-gray hooded sweatshirt with dark gray arms. She thrust the clothes into Izuku's hands and watched as his eyes bulged at the cost. Which was strange considering it didn't cost as much. "I'm not worth spending this much money over!" He exclaimed

"Dude, it's barely any money. Relax" Yang informed him

That made Izuku slow down, looking over the price tag, he saw another symbol instead of the one he was used to "This isn't Yen?" He asked

"No, this is Lien" Yang told him

Using Izuku's confused state against him, she shoved him towards a changing room and pushed him inside before closing the door, allowing him to change. She waited for a while, but patience was never her strong suite. She tapped her foot on the ground multiple times and wondered if Izuku was still standing around confused.

"Are you almost done?!" She called out. It couldn't take this long for him to put on the clothes and come show her how he looked. She could hear a small mumble from Izuku but it was indiscernible. After another minute, she gave up "That's it!" She shouted before opening the door

"Wait! Don't come in!" Izuku yelled. His voice was clearer now that the door was open, but it was too late.

Yang saw Izuku was shirtless, the shirt and hoodie crumpled beside him, indicating he'd already tried them on. This was the first time she saw what he hid from the world underneath his clothing. He had an extremely toned build with a solid six pack to compliment it. She was shocked at how he kept his form hidden for so long, but then she remembered he only wore baggy clothing, which would've hidden his body. A smile came to her face as she stared at his muscular arms, but that smile soon faded when she saw his right hand and arm. His fingers were crooked with two ring-like scars covering his hand and wrist. She stared at them for a bit longer, her mind trying to imagine what could've caused the injury, before Izuku spoke up.

"Can you stop staring" Izuku requested emotionlessly "I don't like it"

That snapped Yang out of her stupor as she looked into Izuku's eyes and saw nothing staring back. "H-Hey, sorry. I didn't know you were still… Ya know" She stumbled over her words, slowly walking backwards until she was clear from the door. Once she was out, Izuku slammed the door shut, leaving her alone with her thoughts. And normally it would be filled with images of the boy's body, but all she could see were his scars and the look he gave her. Oh God, she was such an idiot.

After a minute Izuku walked out of the changing room, not meeting her eyesight, which only made her feel worse. She quickly paid for the clothes and left the store, following Izuku as he walked away "Hey. I just wanted to apo-"

"Don't." Izuku stopped her "You saw them and there's nothing I can do now. Just please pretend like you never saw them" He requested coldly, not bothering to turn around and look at her while he was speaking.

"Why do you hide them?" She asked, ignoring Izuku's request

Izuku felt his eyes twitch at her disobedience. He quickly tried to lie and get out of the situation "I don't want people to worry about me."

He hoped that Yang had bought the lie, but it appeared luck was not on his side that day. "That's bullshit! We have been worrying about you since you started acting even more cold and distant. And you know it." Yang pointed out, thrusting her finger into Izuku's back.

Izuku closed his eyes and thought hard. Yang was nice, if a bit wild. She teased him a lot and got in his personal space a lot, but it was just for fun. She was Ruby's sister and she'd never tried to hurt him. She was a good person.

Trust your heart.

He stopped, which prompted Yang to stop too. With a heavy sigh, he turned around to face the girl "I wear them because I don't trust anyone" He told her, watching her carefully. He'd already told Weiss this information, but not the full extent. "Everywhere I go, I feel like I'm being watched. I wear these gloves because they keep me on edge, they make me keep my guard up" He informed her. He studied her reaction. If it looked like the conversation was about to go south, then he'd stop.

Yang stared at him, her eyes scrunched up in confusion "Why don't you trust anyone? Has anyone tried to hurt you?" She asked, her voice taking on a more protective tone. If someone had hurt any of her friends, they would regret it.

Izuku watched as her eyes flashed red in anger and he was quick to deny the claim "No." He shook his head, calming Yang down "Back in my world, I was being hunted down by a lunatic"

"The Villain who wants to take over the world" Yang guessed, remembering what Izuku told the school.

Izuku nodded "But I was also hunting him down. And while I did, I had to deal with multiple Villains who were trying to kill me. Then All for One, the villain, sent an assassin after me. I only defeated her after using…" He trailed off, shaking his head. She didn't need to know about his other Quirks just yet. "Anyway, I was told to go to a mansion hidden in a forest where she thought All for One was hiding. But when I got there, I was tricked and blown up. During the explosion, he must've used some kind of Quirk that sent me into this world, then not too long afterwards, I met your sister." Izuku sat down on a bench. Yang took a seat beside him, listening to everything he was telling her. "Since I started hunting him down, I've been tricked, hurt and hunted by multiple people. And in this world, I don't know any of you. What you might do to me, or what you think of me."

Yang knew the boy might've been paranoid, but this was next level. Although it did explain why he was always so on edge around them. He was traumatized, plain and simple. "You don't trust us? Is that why you've been a jerk to everyone lately?" Yang questioned

Izuku hesitated before shaking his head "No." He stated. He stayed silent and saw Yang staring at him. He didn't want to continue, but she hadn't turned on him or showed any indication that she was going to use this information for her own benefit, so maybe Izuku could trust her. "I did it because I'm scared of leaving. When I leave, I'm going to need to accept that I'll never see anyone here again and if I ever want to see any of you again, I can't" He admitted

"So you're acting rude and ignoring us because?" Yang questioned, unsure of what Izuku was trying to say.

"I just think it'll be easier for me to leave if no one here likes me," Izuku stated.

Yang stared at him incredulously. That was a stupid idea, and if she told others that, they would agree with her. In a way, it made sense. It would be easy to leave a place if no one liked you, but Yang still thought it was stupid. "Why would you think that?"

"Because when I leave I'm scared of what I might do when I get to go home. I'm scared that a part of me will become attached to this world and the friends I might make here. Once they find a chance for me to go home, I'm scared that my emotions will make me want to stay here." He reasoned

Now Yang was starting to understand what he was talking about. So she grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She felt Izuku tense up from the sudden contact, but quickly he relaxed when he looked at her "You don't need to be scared of that. You'll know what to do when you have to leave. Besides, it could be a two way portal to get you home, so we could come visit you." She tried getting through to him. She wasn't the best at heart to hearts, but she was trying her best, and Izuku could see that. "You don't have to be afraid to make friends. You don't have to worry about getting betrayed. No one here wants to hurt you, and if they do, I've got your back. And so does the rest of the team. We care about you, so if you ever have any troubles, just come to us and we'll help you get through them, okay?"

Izuku slowly nodded. Trusting Yang seemed to be a good idea since he felt a lot calmer now than earlier today "Sorry for dumping all this on you" He apologized.

"Well I asked for it, and since you decided to trust me with this, the least I can do is buy you lunch" Yang offered

"You already bought me some clothes, you don't have to buy me lunch as well." Izuku tried to reason with her, but like himself, once the girl had her mind set on something, she wouldn't stop.

"I'm hungry as well, so it's a win-win. You get food and I get food." She claimed "Anyway, what do you feel like for lunch?"

Izuku thought for a moment. He hadn't had his favorite food in a long time, and he was starting to miss it. "Do you know anywhere that serves Katsudon?" Izuku asked

"What's Katsudon?"

Yang saw Izuku blink a couple of times, like he was trying to process her response "Rice, Tonkat-" He caught himself and shook his head. She wouldn't know what a Tonkatsu was "Deep fried pork cutlet covered with bread crumbs, egg, vegetables, condiments. Are you telling me you have nothing like that here?"

"Nope" Izuku tried to act like it didn't bother him, but Yang could see he was upset "But it sounds delicious. You'll have to make it for me sometime" She clapped her hands "We can make it a date!"

A small blush coated Izuku's cheeks as he shyly looked away "M-Maybe if I find the time I will" He told her. He heard a small giggle come from the blond before she began laughing "What's so funny?" He asked

"I just think it's cute. You act all cold and tough on the outside, but underneath all that, you're just a giant dork, aren't you?" Yang asked with a sly grin

Izuku didn't respond to that tease, but Yang could've sworn she saw a tiny, embarrassed smile appear on his face.

The rest of the day went by so quickly, Yang could barely believe they'd spent the whole afternoon just walking around the city. With a heavy sigh, she and Izuku headed back to Beacon. It wasn't long before they were walking through the gates, heading towards the main building. They passed a notice board where it had the schedules of every class posted up on it "Uh. I wish the weekend would last like six more days!" Yang groaned.

"Then there would be no school" Izuku remarked

"Exactly!" Yang exclaimed with a smile "But I guess school isn't all bad. I love combat class. Although I wonder when they're gonna teach us how to improve our Aura control"

Izuku's face turned into one of confusion as the word circled through his mind "What's Aura?" He questioned

Yang snorted, thinking Izuku was joking, but when she turned and saw his face her smile faded "Wait… You don't know anything about Aura. Are you for real?" She asked "Hasn't anyone mentioned it to you?"

"No." Izuku truthfully stated. He tried to search through his memories again, just in case he missed something, but he could remember any telling him about Aura. The only time he'd heard about it was in the Dust pamphlet. It said Aura was required to use Dust, but he had assumed that Aura was some kind of device. "What is Aura?"

Yang stared at him with a blank expression, as if she was buffering. "Uhhhh. It's like a forcefield made from your soul?" She weakly gave. Academics was never her strong suite. She didn't care about how Aura worked and what it did. She just used it and it worked, that's all she cared about. "I'm not the best person to ask, but try feeling it inside your body. You might already have unlocked it"

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn't know how he was supposed to activate something he didn't know anything about. Yang wasn't much help, so he had to rely on himself. He could feel One for All swimming around inside of his body, just waiting to be utilized. 'Maybe the Aura is somewhere inside the pool of power?' He guessed. He tried to draw that power out, but couldn't feel anything. He then tried to activate the stream of power without using One for All, but after noticing no change, he sighed. "This isn't working. I don't have any Aura" Izuku told the girl, ready to give up before he heard her gasp.

"What the hell?" Yang muttered "I didn't know that was your Aura."

Izuku shot his eyes open as fast as he could and looked down to his body. His jaw dropped as he saw something flicker across his body before disappearing, only to reappear immediately, but in a different spot. Soon it multiplied until it covered most of his body, disappearing and reappearing constantly.

This didn't make any sense. He always assumed this was One for All, but now that he knew he wasn't using One for All, it became clear what his Aura was.

The green lightning.

"Does Aura look like lightning?" Izuku asked, holding his arm up and watching as One for… As his Aura danced along his arm

"No. It doesn't" She told him. Her body was coated in a yellow light before fading away "Normally it just acts as a forcefield until you run out, then it sorta evaporates"

The gears in Izuku's brain began turning at the highest speeds they could go. What made him so different? Why did his Aura look like lightning when everyone else's just looked like a normal forcefield? He was about to ask Yang about it, but stopped. She said earlier she didn't know much about how Aura worked, so he'd be better off to ask Ruby. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to obtain the basic information from her though

"What else can Aura do?" Izuku asked, wanting to know everything he could about Aura. If he'd never been properly using it, then he might be able to train it while on Remnant or at least learn enough about it so when he went back to Earth, he could quickly teach the others, giving them a better chance at defeating All for One.

"Uhhh. Like I said, I'm not the person to ask." Yang claimed, unsure of what to tell the boy, but then she snapped her fingers as she remembered a fact "Oh! It can heal wounds. Not major ones, but it helps."

Izuku immediately thought back to the cut on his left hand. After a day it was nothing but a pink line, and later that night it was completely healed. "How fast can Aura heal a cut?" He hastily asked

"You need to have a strong Aura to heal a wound. And it all depends on how deep the cut is, how much you have, or if your Aura is healing any other part of your body. But I'd say a deep cut would be around a few minutes for someone who's trained their Aura enough"

'A few minutes?' Izuku thought, trying to come up with an answer as to why it took him a whole day for the wound to heal over. The first part made sense. He would be weaker since he's never trained the Aura. The second part was odd to him. He didn't know how much Aura he had. He didn't know a way to gauge how much he had. Did he have very little? Or did he have a lot?

But the third part was the one that confused him the most. If it only took a few minutes, at most for trained people, it should've taken maybe half a day for the cut to completely heal.. So he pressed for more information "What other things can Aura heal?"

Yang shrugged "Gashes, cuts, broken bones, and if it's pushed to its limits it could prevent a limb from becoming paralyzed" She guessed

Izuku felt his body go tense as his muscles clenched up. His eyes traveled down to his right arm. This explained it! Why the doctors told him his arm would stop working if he continued to break it, and he continued to break them with very little consequence. Why the Aura was so much slower to heal his cut. Most of the Aura he had unlocked was probably preventing his arm from dying!

"What's with that face? You look like you're staring at a God" Yang snickered.

"I think I am," He whispered absentmindedly, staring at Yang.

Yang felt her face turn hot as a blush enveloped her cheeks. "H-Hey! That's not fair. You can be saying that stuff to me! I'm supposed to be the one teasing you!" She whined.

Izuku seemingly snapped out of his dazed state and a blush coated his cheeks "Sorry" He hastily said, his face looking much more boyish and embarrassed than his normal look

Yang looked at him and a smile arose on her face, but this was not a cheeky smile or a flirtatious one. This was genuine. "You know, with the way you look and how you fight, you'd make a great Huntsman." She told him.

A small smile came to Izuku's face as his head lowered slightly, looking towards the ground "Thanks Yang"

Izuku sat at Ruby's desk, a notebook placed right in front of him. There was only room for four desks in the room, and Ruby had graciously offered to share her desk with Izuku. Speaking of the hooded girl, she along with her teammates were fast asleep in their beds.

His pen tapped against the page he'd just written in. It contained everything he had learnt about Aura along with theories and questions. Originally he didn't know how to document how Aura worked, but he found it was incredibly easy when he labeled it like a Quirk. After he did that, he zoomed through three pages. One containing information about Aura and its uses he knew so far, and another two pages for questions and theories. He'd have to ask one of the girls about some of his theories, but overall, he was content with what he knew so far.

He flipped to a blank page and stared at the wall in front of him. Yang's words replayed in his mind 'Me a Huntsman' Izuku thought as his hand began subconsciously scribbling on the page. It would never happen. Professor Port may've said he was a future Huntsman in training, and Yang might've said the same thing, but with luck, he'd leave very soon. So what's the point? He wouldn't stay around long enough to become a Huntsman. But their words stayed in his mind.

He imagined himself in a new costume, one more fitting for this world. A cool weapon, like Ruby had. One that could switch from melee to ranged in an instant. He wanted something Japanese, to honor his culture. He didn't want to scrap his whole costume though. He loved the Air Force Gloves and his were close to breaking. Maybe a small upgrade, like putting Dust into them. He'd read that from the pamphlet Weiss handed Ruby. He then thought about his eyes. When he ran with One for All at high enough speeds, his eyes watered with all the air rushing into them, so maybe a pair of goggles to protect his eyes when he went at high speeds. And maybe just a few more minor changes to better the suit.

Once he stopped thinking, he found his hand had stopped moving. He looked down to the piece of paper he was scribbling on and his eyes glazed over what he'd drawn. It was him, in the costume he'd just drawn. It had info on each piece of equipment written in detail.

He stared at the drawing, surprised at how much effort he subconsciously put into the drawing. But with a small frown, he shook his head. He wouldn't have enough time to get the outfit made. Not to mention he had no idea on how to wield a sword, and the closest thing to a gun he's used were his air blasts from One for All. 'It's just a pipe dream' Izuku thought, trying to rid his mind of those thoughts.

Izuku closed the notebook and tucked it underneath some textbooks inside the desk's drawer. He turned off the lamp and walked towards his bed. Blackwhip emerged from his back and pushed his body up towards his bed, where he climbed in between the ropes and pulled his blanket over his body. In the darkness, he saw his gloves still on his hands. He looked at them for a little bit before moving his left hand to hover over his right. Taking in a deep breath, he took off his right glove before doing the same thing with his left. He used Blackwhip to pick them up and put them onto the desk he shared with Ruby.

His body felt much lighter, like the gloves had been weighing him down. He'd almost forgotten what feeling relaxed felt like. So with a small smile, he gently closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Izuku felt weightless, yet his feet were planted firmly on the ground. There was no air to breathe, but he didn't feel like suffocating. He grew confused as to why he was brought into the vestige realm. He looked around at all the previous wielders of One for All, and his confusion only grew when he saw their expressions

Yoichi and Nana looked ecstatic. Kudo and Bruce looked grumpy as usual, but Izuku could see they seemed much more relaxed than usual. Hikage had his eyes closed with a small smile gracing his lips. Daigoro had a smirk on his face and Izuku couldn't see En's face due to his jacket, but his eyes had the look of joy.

"What's wrong?" Izuku asked, looking at Yoichi "Why did you bring me here?"

"We have some good news," Hikage claimed from his left. "It seems you have been gifted more time in this world"

Izuku blinked, trying to understand what the man meant "What do you mean more time? I thought I only had two weeks from arriving?" He probed for more information.

"And we still stand by that" Yoichi nodded "But we've found out something that gives us a massive advantage. It allows you to train and unlock more of One for All as well as that Aura power you have" He smiled

Izuku continued to look completely lost, so Nana cleared her throat to gain his attention and pointed to her left. "Look at Toshi's vestige closely and tell us what you notice" Nana instructed

Izuku walked over to Toshinori's vestige and stared at it. At first he didn't see anything different about it. He began to think that the vestiges were just messing with him, trying to make him calm down, but that was when he saw it. The vestige was completely still. "He isn't moving" He commented.

"He is moving." En claimed "But incredibly slowly" Izuku turned to face the man as he continued talking "Time works differently on this planet. The reason Eighth's vestige is moving so slowly is because he's obeying the law of time on Earth. We've spent the past two days counting and we've come to an agreement on how time works."

"One hour on Earth is a day here" Bruce said from his throne.

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked, not wanting to risk Earth's fate on a hunch.

"Trust me, we are sure. We had to all stand around and count for an entire day. It's a good thing there were multiple of us otherwise we would've lost count" Daigoro stated.

Izuku stared at Toshinori's vestige for a little while longer before turning to Nana "So how long do I have left on Remnant?" He asked with his dull voice, but the vestiges could detect a small amount of happiness in his tone.

Nana put her finger on her chin and looked upwards "This is just a rough estimate, but I'd say you have 330 days minimum before All for One attacks" She said, looking at Izuku "You don't have to worry about getting home for a long time. So please, stop stressing yourself out. It's not doing you, or anyone around you any good." She requested.

After a few moments Izuku nodded his head. Nana was right, he did have plenty of time before All for One would launch the final attack, but that didn't mean he could relax. Just because All for One's attack was on hold, all the escapees were still out there. Terrorizing innocent civilians and destroying Japan. Sure the Heroes could handle them, but there weren't many left after the last war. "Ok" He whispered "But I'm not going to forget about Earth. It still needs me, regardless of All for One." He said, staring Nana in the eyes with a fierce look

"The second I get the chance to get back to Earth, regardless of how many friends I make in this world. I'm taking it!"

Chapter Text

Inko always worried about her son. It was in her nature as a mother. Her son was the most important thing to her and she loved him to death. Everytime he got hurt, it would hurt her deep down inside. So when he decided to leave her and UA behind to protect them, she protested. She saw what was happening with the Heros around Japan, but he insisted he would return to her.

The first time she called him he still sounded hopeful and determined, but after that things took a turn for the worse. His voice got colder with every call until he sounded emotionless. It broke her heart hearing her baby boy sound like that.

Soon he stopped responding to her calls. She feared her son had died, but Toshinori had kept her calm. He told her that Izuku was just incredibly busy and didn't have the time to talk to her. She believed at the time, but she  started to grow suspicious when he started sounding worried.

She almost broke down when he told her that Izuku had almost been killed by an assassin, but the man insisted that her son wasn't hurt too badly and was perfectly fine.

That was over a day ago.

She'd tried calling the man watching over her son, but he wasn't picking up his phone, all her calls going to voicemail. She was starting to get worried.

She tried calling again, but was interrupted when someone knocked at her door. Toshinori had told her that UA was starting to house civilians who had lost their homes and for those who needed protection. She hadn't gone yet, a small part of her hoping Izuku would return home to her, even if it was only to say hello.

She walked over to the door and opened it, hoping to see Izuku, but instead she saw Toshinori looking at her with a sad gaze "All Might! Come in, please" She said, turning around and walking further into the apartment. Toshinori followed her into the living room, where she sat down "How has Izuku been? You haven't been answering any of my calls." 

Toshinori stayed silent and looked towards the ground. His fists clenched angrily and his body was tense. Inko sensed his unease and panic began to flood her mind "Where's Izuku?" She asked, fear starting to fill her veins.

Toshinori didn't answer, instead he kept his eyes glued to the floor. Inko's eyes widened and she shook her head "S-Stop messing around. T-This isn't f-funny" She demanded. When Toshinori didn't answer her eyes widened "You-You promised you'd watch over him with your life." Inko whispered, her mind starting to realize what was happening "You promised!" She said again louder. Her voice began to crack as tears began to slowly slide down her cheek. 

She could feel her Quirk respond to her feelings, but she paid no attention to that. Instead focusing on the retired Hero who didn't protect her son "Get out" She whispered.

Toshinori stepped forward, but paused when he saw various small objects around the room begin to violently shake. "Mrs. Midoriya. I can't express how sorry I am. This is all my fault-"

"GET OUT! Inko wailed. All the small objects in the room launched at Toshinori at incredibly high speeds. He stood there and took every hit with his eyes closed. When he felt the onslaught stop, he opened his eyes to find Inko on the ground in a fetal position, tucking her head into her chest. "Get out!" She sobbed quietly.

Toshinori wanted to tell her that he felt Izuku was still alive, but he didn't have any proof other than a gut feeling. "I'm sorry" He whispered before leaving the apartment.

Inko sat there crying her heart out. She didn't stop him when he wanted to go back to UA. She didn't stop him when he decided to leave her and his friends behind. She didn't do enough to keep him safe. Her baby boy was dead.

And it was all her fault

Weiss rolled over with a small groan. She didn't want to get out of bed. It was cold, but her bed was so warm and cozy. If it was a weekend, she would've slept in and enjoyed every moment of her sleep. Unfortunately, it was a Tuesday, meaning she had classes today. With a louder groan, she opened her eyes and saw a peculiar sight.

Izuku and Blake, sitting in front of each other, reading two completely different books in silence. She stared at them confused, when Izuku noticed her gaze "Good morning, Schnee" He greeted her, his tone still dull. 

Since the day Izuku spent with Yang, he'd become much calmer and less cold. Around them at least. He still was on guard around many other students, but when around them and even Team JNPR, he was much better. He still spoke with a dull and somewhat cold tone. It wasn't as prominent as when they first met, but it was still there. The other girls just accepted that as the way he spoke.

But Weiss still saw it as annoying. She kept trying to help Izuku like he helped her, but she was making very little progress. Thankfully, Yang seemed to have made an impact when she abducted the boy for the day. After that day, he stopped wearing those disgusting gloves around them. It was incredibly disturbing when they saw his scars, but when they inquired about them, he shut down and coldly told them to 'not worry about it'. They stopped asking about them after that, but sometimes she and the others couldn't help but stare at them and wonder how he got them. 

But aside from that, the other problem was the fact that he only took them off when he was around them. When they went to class, the cafeteria, or into the city, he wore them. It was frustrating and made Weiss want to pull out her hair, but she had to remind herself. Little progress was better than no progress.

Thankfully, she'd seen an improvement in Izuku's behavior. He wasn't acting cold and rude towards them, instead now just disinterested or confused. He chimed in a bit more when they were talking, and he started to relax around them more.

Sure it wasn't much, but it was a step in the right direction.

Through all the time spent around Izuku, she could confidently say he was a good friend. Sure he was somewhat cold and paranoid, but he was also incredibly quirky and some-what awkward, which she found kind of cute, along with his unique and exotic appearance. But she would die before admitting that to someone else. But sometimes his quirkiness rose to incredible heights, like right now.

"What are you two doing?" Weiss slurred, still trying to properly wake up. She pulled herself out of her bed and almost tripped over since her legs hadn't fully woken up yet.

"Belladonna asked us to continue our reading sessions together when we first met, and we both woke up early so we decided to do it now" Izuku claimed. Blake nodded in agreement, but didn't raise her head from her book

"You aren't even reading the same book," Weiss pointed out.

"She doesn't have two copies of her book" Izuku retorted, locking his lifeless eyes onto her.

Weiss opened her mouth to continue, but quickly shut it when she realized that she didn't have a counter to his rebuttal. She could only nod in bitter defeat. Ruby and Yang both slowly rose out of their beds as they woke up "I don't want to go to school today. Can we just skip classes just this once"

"Absolutely not!" Weiss snapped at the blonde "Our education is important. Everything we learn will be important for when we become Huntresses!" She scolded, despite thinking about staying in bed earlier.

"Whatever you say, Ice Queen" Yang smirked, ignoring the harsh glare Weiss sent her "So anyway, What class do we have first?" Yang yawned, stretching her arms out and inadvertently pushing her chest out. 

Izuku respectfully looked away, not wanting to stare at the girl's breasts "I think it was Combat with Professor Goodwitch" He said, closing his book and handing it back to Blake "Thanks for the book."

"No problem. Do you want to do this again sometime soon?" She asked. When he nodded his head, she couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face.

Combat class wasn't going great. Izuku was fine, but he started to notice Jaune wasn't doing too hot. The blonde was up against Cardin Winchester, an arrogant boy who Izuku wasn't a big fan of. Sure, he didn't like most of the people at Beacon, but something about Cardin just rubbed him the wrong way.

Cardin held his mace confidently, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. While Jaune was leaning on his sword, clearly struggling to stand. The orange haired boy laughed at his opponent's tiredness, which irritated Jaune. He gathered up his remaining strength before running forward and swinging his sword at Cardin. Said boy jumped out of the way and swung his mace. Jaune quickly held up his shield, but the force of the blow sent him flying backwards. His shield flew out of his hands, leaving him with just his sword.

Jaune got back up and immediately rushed at Cardin again and tried to land a hit, but his blade was blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked and Cardin forced himself up, towering over Jaune "This is the part where you lose" He smirked

Jaune brows furrowed as he tried pushing harder "Over my dead-!"

Cardin swung his knee up and slammed it into Jaune's stomach. Jaune gasped in pain and dropped his sword before falling to his knees in pain. He tried to catch his breath, but it was too late. Cardin stood over him, his mace raised up high. Jaune closed his eyes, preparing for the hit, but relief flew through his body as he heard the buzzer ring.

"Cardin! That's enough!" Glynda called out. Cardin reluctantly walked away and the woman took his place, fiddling with her tablet-sized Scroll. "Students, as you can see. Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and the official may call the match." She turned to Jaune and held up a smaller Scroll which displayed a blinking red light under his picture. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide whether to continue your assault, or move to more defensive moves. We wouldn't want you to get gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself" Izuku heard Cardin mutter to his teammates.

Glynda turned to the other students. Yang was punching the air in anticipation, Weiss was shaking her fist with an excited smile, Blake continued to look bored, Ruby was squealing softly as her body shook in excitement, Pyrrha was staring at Jaune with a sad frown, and Izuku sat still as he looked at Jaune with a furrowed brow.

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only three months away! It won't be long before students from other kingdoms begin arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" She announced before the bell rang. The students began to get out of their chairs and head towards the cafeteria for lunch.

Except a few.

Jaune continued to sit on the floor, his head lowered so no one could see the tears forming in his eyes. Pyrrha continued to look at Jaune with a sad frown. She wished she could've been more helpful, but she wasn't allowed to help her leader in that fight.

Izuku continued to look at Jaune with a suspicious gaze 'This doesn't make sense' He thought. Most of the students at Beacon were capable fighters, and whilst some weren't great at combat, they were leagues above Jaune. Something wasn't adding up. He leaned forward, his head tilted to the side. The cogs in his brain began turning, as he laid out the puzzle in his brain. Even though he didn't have all of the pieces, he had enough to figure it out.

Now all he had to do was figure out which pieces went where.

The mess hall was filled to the brim with students. All chatting away as they ate their food. At one table sat Team RWBY and JNPR. Nora was telling an unbelievable story to everyone with Ren chiming. Weiss was filing her nails and looking towards the door. Ruby was listening to Nora's story while occasionally looking towards the door. Jaune was staring blankly ahead whilst playing with his food. Pyrrha was pretending to pay attention to the story, but everyone could see she was more focused on Jaune. Blake was reading, but sometimes she looked up to the door, and Yang was eating her food, while listening to Nora's story, but like the other girls on her team, she looked towards the door every now and again.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night!" Nora told them all with wide and excited eyes.

"It was day" Ren corrected

"We were surrounded by Ursai!"

"They were Beowolves" 

"Dozens of them!" Nora screamed loudly, jumping up with a crazy smile

"Two of 'em" Ren informed them

"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished with a dramatic tone, holding her fist up in the sky.

"She's been having this recurring dream for a month now," Ren told them.

Everyone nodded. But Ruby looked towards the door and shook her head sadly "I don't think he's coming to lunch today" She sighed

"Don't tell me he's going to skip lunch again" Weiss groaned "That's the third time this week"

"And it's only Wednesday," Blake added, turning a page in her book, raising her eyes up from her book to the others.

"Okay. I'll head to the gym and drag him here" Yang said, getting up out of her seat, but she stopped when she saw a familiar face walk towards their table. "Nevermind" She said, sitting back down

Everyone turned their heads to see Izuku making his way towards them, carrying a bowl of rice and chicken. He sat down in between Ruby and Weiss "Where were you?! We've been waiting" Weiss snapped at him 

"I was busy" Izuku claimed, but he did not elaborate further.

The girls frowned when they saw he still wore his gloves. It was disgusting enough that he wore them whenever he went out, but the fact that he wore them while eating just didn't sit right with them

"Izuku, please," Blake pleaded. "Take your gloves off when you eat"

Izuku stared at her for a few seconds before looking around, he could see a few students staring at him before looking away when he looked at them. His skin crawled and he kept his hands on his gloves, not looking up to face any of the girls. 

They sighed in disappointment, but they couldn't pressure him. He was starting to trust them, and if they forced him to take off his gloves when he wasn't comfortable, they could lose the trust. Not to mention they were making good progress, and it would be annoying to lose that.

Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of pencils. The lead tips of them were cut off. He put both pencils in his right hand and, to their surprise, picked up some chicken and rice before putting it into his mouth

"What the heck are those?" Nora asked, staring at his pencils

"Chopsticks" Izuku replied after he swallowed his food "It's how we normally eat in the place I live in." He educated them before looking down at his makeshift chopsticks "The only problem is that I don't have a chopstick rest. So I'm probably going to need to throw these out after I finish." Izuku muttered to himself

"Why are you eating like that?" Ruby asked curiously.

Izuku shrugged his shoulders "I'm homesick. It's almost a month since I arrived here and I don't really have anything to remind me of home." He stated while expertly picking up a glob of rice.

While Team RWBY were talking with Izuku, Pyrrha looked over to her leader, who was staring at his plate "Jaune, are you okay" She asked concerned

Jaune snapped out of his state and looked around to see everyone was now looking at him "Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Why?" 

"It's just you seem a little… not okay" Ruby said

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look!" He gave a very unconvincing laugh and held up his thumb shakily. His attention, along with everyone else's, was drawn to Team CRDL, who were surrounding a brown haired girl with bunny ears

Izuku's eyes narrowed slightly at the scene. He recognized the girl. She was the one to help him figure out where to go when he was looking for his dorm.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha said

"Who? Cardin Winchester?" Jaune nervously laughed and shook his head "Nah. He just likes to mess around. Practical jokes, you know"

"He's a bully" Ruby stated

"Oh, please. Name one time he's bullied me!"

Jaune walked to class, carrying a large stack of books and paper. 'Homework sucks' He thought. He was unaware that Cardin was walking in his direction. When they passed, the taller boy bumped his arm into Jaune, causing him to drop all his books. As Cardin walked away, he held his arms out wide, as if to dare someone to challenge him

"Oh, come on!" Jaune groaned.

Jaune walked behind Cardin, holding onto his shield which was as small as he could make it. Once Cardin passed through the doorway, he turned around and tapped the shield, causing it to expand and get jammed in the doorway. Jaune walked into his shield, and then tried to pull the shield out with no luck.

"Oh, Come on!" Jaune muttered

Jaune watched as Professor Goodwitch showed them all their lockers in the locker room "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six digit code.

Hearing this, Cardin looked at Jaune with a devious smile. He quickly stepped in front of Jaune, surprising him. He then shoved the blond into the only open locker in the room. He slammed the door shut and pressed random buttons on the keypad. While Jaue pleaded to be let out.

"What?! No, wait, wait! You've got to let me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!" He pleaded desperately, but it was too late. The locker launched up into the sky and Cardin watched as it soared through the sky 

"Oh, come on!" Jaune yelled from within the locker

"I still don't understand why they put rocket propellers into the lockers." Izuku stated, shaking his head softly "It doesn't make sense"

"You don't have rocket propelled lockers in your world?" Blake questioned to Izuku, who shook his head

"At most we have lockers that slide out of the wall," Izuku replied, who nodded her head.

"Hey look at it this way. I didn't land that far from Beacon" Jaune tried to laugh it off, but his act wasn't very convincing.

"Jaune, if you ever need help, you can just ask us." Pyrrha tried to comfort him

"Or just tell one of the teachers. Professor Goodwitch would probably help you out" Izuku added, his attention split between Jaune and Cardin.

"Or we could break his legs" Nora exclaimed with a not-so-sane grin.

"Guys, really, it's fine!" Jaune told them "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone"

Izuku frowned. This was way too familiar. The way Jaune was defending Cardin, the constant 'I'm fine'. It felt like when people asked him about Bakugo back in Junior High. It didn't sit right with him.

"Ow! That hurts!" The bunny girl cried out as Cardin roughly pulled on her ears "Please stop!" The girl was close to tears, but the boy didn't stop. Instead he turned to his teammates and laughed at the girl's pain.

Izuku blinked and all of a sudden he was no longer at Beacon. He found himself looking at himself from Junior High. His back pressed against the wall as Katsuki stood over him with smoking palms. His classmates laughed at him while no one did anything to help him.

The flashback left as quickly as it came and Izuku was filled with anger. Why was no one helping her? Was everyone too scared to stand up for what was right? Or did no one care enough to get involved?

Izuku's chopsticks clacked onto the table and everyone turned to face him. A spark of life seemed to envelope him as Team RWBY and JNPR saw a shine appear in his normally dead eyes. "Excuse me for a moment" He muttered in an eerily calm tone.

"I told you it was real," He laughed. He quickly stopped when he felt someone grab his wrist 

"Please stop." Izuku asked calmly.

"Oh look boys, it's the alien!" Cardin laughed, looking down at Izuku. "What do you want?"

"I want you to let her go" Izuku told him

Cardin let go of the girl and she ran off, making Izuku's little mission a success. Unfortunately, he just turned all the attention onto himself. "What, you think you can just come up to me and act like her knight in shining armor" Cardin mocked. He stood up straight and looked down at Izuku. There was a large height difference between the two, but Izuku didn't seemed fazed at all

"I just wanted you to stop hurting her" Izuku replied in his normal dull voice

"You think you can tell me to stop hurting something? Weren't you the one who beat a Grimm within an inch of its life and left it alive?" Izuku flinched at that, which Cardin noticed "Are you going to do the same to me? Come on, show everyone that you're no more of a monster than the Grimm!." Cardin taunted with a smirk. He knew Izuku wouldn't hit him, he always acted uncomfortable when around other people and would always try to avoid talking to them. He was shy. A perfect target. But when the smaller boy let out a hoarse laugh, Cardin became confused "What's so funny?!" He demanded.

"Ever since I got here, I have been waiting for someone to call me that. I'm just surprised it hasn't happened earlier." Izuku admitted truthfully. Cardin felt the air shift as Izuku looked up at him, one of his eyes covered by his hair. "I don't care what you do to me. Soon I'll be back on my planet, and everyone I've met here will become nothing more than a memory. So in the end, you don't matter at all"

Cardin grabbed Izuku's collar with his left hand and lifted him up to his face. He raised his right hand and held it threateningly in his face "You better take that back, you bastard" He spat out in anger. He'd hoped that the smaller boy would back down and cower in his presence, but Izuku did no such thing.

"There are a lot of people here," Izuku commented, seemingly unfazed by the position he was in. "And if you try to hurt me everyone here will see it, and when the teachers ask, who will they believe? Four students, or nearly the whole student body?" Cardin looked around and saw a lot of people glare at him. He hesitated, prompting Izuku to continue "Or would you rather turn this into a self defense situation?" His green eyes lit up as his Aura coated his body in green lightning.

Cardin glared down at Izuku, who stared intensely into his eyes. With a huff, the bully pushed Izuku away and walked back to his table with his team, ignoring the looks everyone was giving him.

Izuku watched the bully leave before fixing his shirt. The lightning disappeared and his eyes returned to their dull and lifeless look. He looked around and saw everyone's eyes were now on him, all looking at him with a mix of amazement, curiosity, and fear.

He began to feel antsy. The looks everyone was giving him sent a shiver up his spine. He was about to leave, but then he saw the girl looking at him with a big smile. She mouthed the words 'Thank you' to him. A smile appeared on Izuku's face as he gave her a small nod. The attention didn't matter, the girl was safe and that was all that mattered.

He walked back to his table, his head held high. He ignored everyone's gaze and sat down before picking up his chopsticks and quickly finishing the rest of his lunch.

Ruby was the first to break the silence "That was amazing, you totally got him to stop picking on that poor girl" She praised him

"Atrocious, I can't stand people like him," Pyrrha said.

"It must be hard to be a Fanus" Yang commented

"Why did you all keep sitting down?" Izuku questioned. Everyone turned to face him as he put his pencil chopsticks down "Why did none of you step in?" He asked again, giving each and every one of them a look of disappointment "Aren't Huntsman and Huntresses supposed to help those in need?"

The group tried to counter, but found they had no answer. Izuku waited patiently, but when he saw they would not answer him he stood up and shook his head "I'm disappointed in all of you" Izuku said before getting up and leaving the mess hall.

Was he being harsh? Maybe. But they needed to learn that it wasn't alright to ignore someone in need of help. 

Even though he wasn't still in the best state of mind, he wasn't going to lie and say he didn't care about them. They treated him nicely and helped him understand some of their world's culture. So it would only be fair for Izuku to repay them. 

He wanted them all to be the best Huntsmen and Huntresses they could be, and for that to happen, they needed to understand their faults and work on them, and Izuku would help them while he was still on Remnant, and even if they didn't want his advice and help, he'd still give it to them anyway.

Because meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a Hero.

Chapter Text

When Izuku arrived at the next class, he found that the seats next to Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were occupied. Thankfully the chair beside Blake was free, so he took his seat there and waited for the Doctor to start the lesson. 

Doctor Oobleck apparently did not believe in the word slow. He zoomed around the classroom, talking so fast it was hard for most of the class to keep up with the tall man's words. The man's messy green hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Izuku had even heard rumors made by people who did not believe he was from another world that he was Oobleck's son. And as much as Izuku didn't like that rumor, he couldn't deny the uncanny resemblance between their hair.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War," Oobleck zoomed over to a map covered in papers at the front of the room behind his desk "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie" He pointed to an island in the south-east of the map with his stick. He as if he had a speed type Semblance, he glided over to his desk to take a big sip of his coffee before zooming back to where he was standing

Izuku wondered if the Doctor was drinking Ruby's type of coffee. He was clearly hyperactive. Maybe that was his Semblance, some kind of speed. Or it could be like Fat Gum's Quirk, where he ingests caffeine and it builds up in his body. Or it could be-.

While Izuku was trying to brainstorm what type of Semblance Oobleck had, the Doctor kept talking. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this very day!" Again, he moved over to his desk and sipped his beverage before dashing around the class "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated against because of your Faunus Heritage?" He asked the small group of Faunus in the room.

Izuku looked around and saw a few students raise their hands, the rabbit girl hesitantly raising her hand alongside them. He winced next to Blake. He knew what it felt like to be discriminated against. It was not a fun feeling, being looked at differently due to something you couldn't control. Being treated differently because you weren't the same as everyone else. It was a horrible feeling, and unfortunately, he felt that way in Beacon. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn't lie to himself. He was different from everyone else, and there were students who tried to steer clear of him because of that. 

"Dreadful!" Oobleck exclaimed "Simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He sipped his coffee whilst shaking his head "I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!"

Izuku could see Blake flinch beside him, confusing him slightly but he brushed it off. She might've been a victim to one of their attacks. He'd learned about the White Fang pretty quickly. A peaceful activist group turned into a terrorist organization led by the Faunus.

"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Oobleck quizzed the class. Weiss raised her hand and the Doctor called upon her 

"The battle at Fort Castle, professor!" Weiss answered confidently

"That's Dr. Oobleck! Ms. Schnee." He scolded the girl before nodding his head "And you are correct! Now, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Unseen by the Doctor, Cardin flicked a paper football at a drowsy Jaune's head, causing him to snap back into reality "Hey!" He exclaimed loudly, unintentionally drawing Oobleck's attention.

The Doctor zoomed over to Jaune's desk "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to the class!" He proudly stated "This is excellent! Excellent!" He repeated, causing Izuku to wonder if the caffeine was starting to affect the man in the head. "What is the answer?"

"Uhhhh… The answer. The advantage. That the Faunus…" Jaune stumbled over his words, unsure of the answer. But then he saw Pyrrha across the class who was trying to get his attention and motioned to her lips as she tried to give him the answer "Had over the other guy's stuff…" He saw Pyrrha cup her hands over her eyes and went for the most obvious answer "Binoculars!" 

That answer got a laugh out of most of the class, Cardin laughing harder than the rest. Pyrrha sighed and slapped her hand onto her face, Izuku looked confused at Jaune's answer, and Oobleck was not please

"Very funny, Mr. Arc." Oobleck admonished before turning his attention to Cardin "Mr. Winchester! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin proclaimed. 

That got him glares from all the Faunus present. Oobleck shook his head disapprovingly before noticing Izuku looked conflicted about something. He was interested in how the boy would react to Faunus since he never talked about anything like them in his world. Granted, he never did talk about his world, which was causing many to get suspicious of him and believe he was from this world. Yes, he'd heard the rumors and found them hilarious. "Mr. Midoriya, you look like you want to chime in on this topic" The Doctor said.

Izuku felt everyone's eyes turn to him. "Well, Winchester is kinda right. It can be easy to train an animal" As soon as that left his lips, he could feel the room shift. Blake looked at him with a look of betrayal for some reason, and the rabbit girl was shocked at his words, as were most of the students.

"Oh, is that so, Mr. Midoriya?" Oobleck questioned, his tone showcasing his disappointment.

"Yeah, but it's not just Faunus who are easy to train," Izuku continued. Oobleck's interest piqued as he leaned forward on his desk and waved his hand, silently asking Izuku to continue "Humans are just as trainable as animals"

"Rubbish!" Cardin exclaimed "Why are you saying that we're the same as animals?!"

"Well, Humans are animals as well, aren't they?" Izuku asked, half rhetorically and half genuinely. There was a chance Human's were classified as something completely different, so he wasn't going to risk it  "And isn't this school all about training you all to be Huntsmen and Huntresses? And with some of the Faunus I've seen them learn at the same pace as us. So why say that it's easier to train a Faunus than a Human?"

The room was quiet, everyone staring at Izuku, some in shock, some in curiosity, and a very minor amount were glaring at him for his claims. Blake was staring at him so intensely, it felt like she was trying to peer into his soul and see if he was lying "What are you trying to imply, Mr. Midoriya?" He asked. His tone didn't sound disappointed like it did before. Now he sounded kinda proud of the boy for some reason

"Faunus and Humans, what's the big difference? Just because they have animal parts doesn't make them more animalistic than us. In the end. We're all the same, regardless of how we look… We're just animals going around and living their lives"

For the second time that lesson, Izuku felt the room's mood shift. Now many of the Faunus looked at Izuku in shock and awe. The rabbit girl smiled brightly at him, but the biggest reaction for him personally was that Blake was smiling at him, and it wasn't the half-assed and small smiles she gave everyone. Izuku could feel the joy radiating out of her smile. Now he was really confused.

"Well said, Mr. Midoriya! Well said!" He praised the boy "Well, after that passionate, and completely true speech" He added, looking towards Cardin "Can anyone keep up my good mood and answer the question correctly?"

"Night Vision!" Pyrrha called out "Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark"

Cardin growled at the correct response, and Blake decided to rub salt in his wound by adding onto Pyrrha's answer "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." She turned around to face Cardin and added "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have remembered as such a failure"

Cardin stood up, clenching his hands into fists. Thankfully, Oobleck was having none of it. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat!" He scolded the boy. Jaune laughed at his tormentor's embarrassment, but that joy quickly died when Oobleck turned his attention towards him. It wasn't just Jaune the Doctor was focusing on as he also turned towards Izuku "You, Mr. Arc, and Mr. Midoriya can all see me after class for additional readings!" Jaune groaned and slumped over on his desk. Cardin growled and crossed his arms, clearly unhappy, and Izuku just looked around confused. "Now! Moving on!"

"You three have been struggling in my class since day one!" Oobleck started. He turned to Izuku and gave him a small nod, indicating he wasn't in any trouble "Now Mr. Midoriya I understand, but you two have no excuse." He honed in on Jaune and Cardin "Whether it be a lack of interest or just stubborn nature, but whatever it is. It stops now!" He scolded the two older boys "You've worked so hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. History is important gentlemen! If you can't learn from it, you're destined to repeat it. Mr. Arc and Mr. Winchester, pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class. Mr. Midoriya. I want you to read through the entire book! I will quiz you next class on the events that took place!"

Izuku looked slightly miffed by the request, but he calmed that tiny amount of anger when he realized it wouldn't take that long. He just wouldn't sleep that night, no big deal, and the Doctor was right. He still had a long time on Remnant, and Ozpin hadn't informed him of any updates on the plan to get him home, so learning more about this world would be a good idea. "Yes sir." He nodded

The other two boys agreed, although with much more hesitance "Good! Now! Run along" And with that, Oobleck dashed out of the classroom and past a waiting Pyrrha in a green and white blur. 

Izuku walked out  of the room first, trying to think of somewhere he could read without disturbing the girls. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Weiss lecturing him on his sleeping habits. He knew she meant well, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

Jaune walked out next, followed by Cardin who shoved him to the ground. He laughed and walked away, but not before roughly bumping shoulders with Izuku.

"You know, I really will break his legs" Pyrrha told the two boys as she pulled Jaune to his feet. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head and a smile appeared on her face "I have an idea! Here, come with me!" She grabbed a confused Jaune by the arm and dragged him down the hall, Izuku not too far behind them

A dejected Jaune followed Pyrrha onto one the many rooftops, with Izuku trailing right behind them. They had a clear view of the glowing green orbs in the central tower of Beacon. Pyrrha turned around to talk to Jaune, only to realize Izuku was there "Why are you here?" She asked politely

Izuku tilted his head slightly to the side and blinked "Was I not supposed to come?" he asked, pointing towards the door "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, you can stay," Pyrrha told him.

"Uhhh, listen Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time now, but I'm not that depressed" Jaune told the girl.

Pyrrha and Izuku turned to see Jaune looking over the edge and rushed to pull him away from the edge "No, that's not why I brought you up here!" She reassured Jaune "I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're not the strongest fighter, so I want to help you"

Jaune flinched, and that's when Izuku saw the look in his eyes. He seemed nervous and afraid. It was at that point the pieces of the puzzle began to click together, one by one.

"We can train up here where no one can bother us and Izuku can help" Pyrrha turned to the boy "If that's okay with you, of course" Izuku didn't respond, only standing there with his brow furrowed, as if lost in another world inside of his mind.

"You think I need help?" Jaune asked with a slightly bitter tone

Pyrrha was taken aback by his tone and quickly tried to backpedal "N-no! No, that's not what I meant" She tried to calm Jaune down

"But you just said it" Jaune pointed out

"Jaune, everyone needs a push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it into Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Pyrrha encouraged

Izuku watched as Jaune fidgeted uncomfortably and decided now was the time to step in "You're weaker than the other students, your fighting style isn't the greatest and you have trouble in class." Izuku spoke up finally, catching their attention. Jaune winced at what the smaller boy was saying. "Schnee has been teaching me all about this world in her spare time, and I learned from her that you need transcripts in order to apply to Beacon." Jaune's eyes flashed in rising anger, but Izuku didn't stop. If he wanted to help Jaune, the boy was going to need to confront this.. "I've been trying to figure out why you have trouble, and I think I know why. You cheated your way in, didn't yo-" Izuku felt a fist slam into his cheek, sending his head snapping to the side. The punch reeked of inexperience, but it did leave a sting.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed out of shock "What's he talking about?"

"I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" Jaune confessed "Izuku's right. I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied." He muttered quietly

"What!" Pyrrha's eyes widened "Why?"

"Because this was my dream!" Jaune yelled out, his voice starting to crack "To be the hero! A slayer of monsters! Like my family before me! I was just never good enough!" 

"Then let us help you" Pyrrha pleaded

But Jaune shook his head angrily, his emotions taking over his mind "I don't want your help, either of you! I'm sick of being the lovable idiot in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand if I can't do this alone, then what good am I?" Pyrrha tried reaching for his arm to console him, but he backed away from her touch "Just… Just leave me alone. Okay?" He requested

Pyrrha was clearly upset, but she slowly nodded her head "If that's what you think is best" She whispered before walking away, her footsteps getting softer and softer as she left the roof.

Jaune walked over to the railing, and lowered his head "Why are you still here, Izuku?" He asked

"Nikos is worried about you, don't push her away and ruin your friendship" Izuku said, walking over to Jaune's side and leaning on the railing with him

"Why are you so concerned?" Jaune asked

Izuku sighed and looked out towards the sky. "Back in my world, one of my classmates was having a tough time. He never used his full potential and was having trouble, but never came to anyone for help. Instead he pushed everyone away, like what you're doing now. No one else was doing anything, so I decided that I would be the one to help him out even if he didn't want me to." Izuku informed Jaune, remembering what Todoroki was like before their fight in the sport's festival

"What did you do?" Jaune questioned.

Izuku didn't respond straight away. Instead he reached for his gloves and took them off. Jaune's eyes widened at the scars on his hand "I broke my bones over and over to try and get him to see sense. Eventually I got through to him and he became one of my best friends." He curled his fist and stared at his scars "These scars are a reminder that no matter how much people will push me away, I'll always be there to lend a helping hand to whoever needs one" With a small exhale, Izuku stopped leaning on the railing and turned away from the sun

"What I'm trying to say is that I broke myself to help out a friend. Never assume I wouldn't do the same for you, Jaune"

Jaune's eyes widened as he turned to Izuku, who was walking towards the door. He opened the door, but paused to say one last thing. "One last piece of advice." Jaune watched as shadows enveloped half of Izuku's face "Trying to go solo is not as fun as people make it out to be. Trust me, I know" After giving that last piece of advice he left, leaving Jaune all alone.

Jaune stood there, shocked that Izuku called him by his first name, something he only called those he completely trusted according to Ruby and Yang. He took one shaky step forward "Wait, Izuku!" He called out. He ran towards the door, but stopped when he heard a mocking laughter behind him. He looked towards the source and saw Cardin standing there with a grin on his face "Cardin!"

"I couldn't help but overhear you three from my dorm room." He shrugged "So you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" Cardin smirked

It was at this point that all the blood drained from Jaune's face. If Cardin told anyone, he was finished. No more Beacon, no more friends. He'd be forever known as the boy who lied to get into a school. No Combat school would ever accept him. His life would be over "Please, Cardin, please! Don't tell anyone!" He begged.

Cardin chuckled, which only made Jaune's heart drop further "Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!"

"A friend?" Jaune repeated, confused

"Of course" Cardin said, walking over to Jaune and trapping the boy in a headlock "We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time" He released Jaune, who gasped for air "That being said, I really don't have time to do all those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He rubbed Jaune's head before walking over to the railing to climb back down to his room "Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me." He said before vanishing out of sight.

Jaune rubbed his neck, his eyes wide. Cardin knew, and it didn't take a genius to realize that if Jaune didn't do anything Cardin asked, the bully would go straight to Ozpin or Goodwitch and have him expelled. He wasn't just in a small bit of trouble.

He was in deep shit. 

Chapter Text

Team RWBY had always known Izuku was normally tense. From when they'd first met him to now he had gotten much better, but this was something new.

When they walked into class, they saw him sitting down at the front of the class. His eyes remained forward, slightly narrowed, and occasionally his right eye would twitch just ever so slightly. His fists were clenched and his posture was hunched over.

The girls looked at each other, confused. They'd gotten good at telling how Izuku was feeling just by looking at him, but they'd never seen him look like this. They moved closer to him in a group. Normally he'd look up at them and greet them, but he didn't even acknowledge their existence.

"Hey Izuku, what's up?" Yang asked, flopping into the chair next to him.

Izuku did not not turn to face her. He just continued staring forward. On closer inspection, Team RWBY could see his body was tense, as he was a robot and someone had wound his springs too tightly. His mouth opened, but he did not talk, instead he whispered only one sentence

"He wants to hurt me"

That sentence and the way he said it sent shivers down the girl's spines. They looked around the room, trying to find who he was talking about, but the search was quickly over when they saw Cardin staring at Izuku with a dark smile, as if plotting something

"What makes you say that, Izuku?" Weiss asked, making sure to watch Cardin's actions. She watched as he leaned back, his arms disappearing beneath his desk.

Izuku's eyes slightly widened, as if he had just realized what he said before shaking his head. He stayed silent, not opening his mouth. He slowly shook his head side to side, as if to tell them to not worry.

Of course, they didn't listen.

Blake watched as Cardin sat up straighter and closed his right eye. While anyone would've assumed he was winking, his eye remained closed for much longer than what would've been a normal wink. She nudged the other girls and subtly nodded to Cardin. They watched as he opened his eye, and then in the blink of an eye, he raised his arm and threw a plastic bottle filled to the brim with water at Izuku.

"Izuku!" Ruby tried to warn him.

Without even looking, Izuku leaned his head to the right, causing the water bottle to fly past his head and bounce heavily on the ground a few times before rolling harmlessly on the floor

"Who threw that bottle?!" Professor Port ordered.

Blake opened her mouth to answer, but Cardin was one step ahead of her "It was Izuku, professor!" He told the man

"Mr. Midoriya, I do not appreciate you interrupting the class." The man scolded the boy "Please do not pull another stunt like this again, or there will be consequences"

The girls were about to protest, but before they could he told them all to be silent as he started the lesson. Team RWBY sat down with a frown on their faces, clearly unhappy with how the professor handled the situation.

For some reason, Izuku didn't look fazed by the scolding, instead he only turned his head to look at Cardin, who gave him a cocky smile. Their friend looked back towards the professor and then down to his book "Don't make a scene" He silently told them "He wants me, not you. So please, don't try to provoke him" The girls followed what he said, albeit unhappily. And so the lesson dragged on, thankfully with no further disruptions.

Pyrrha stared out at the stars with a solemn look. Jaune wasn't back yet, and she wasn't sure when he'd return. She turned her head towards her teammates. Nora was jumping on the bed like a young child before bed, and Ren was cleaning StormFlower. The room still had its nice and energetic energy, but it didn't feel the same for her without Jaune. But whilst she was sad, she was also angry. He wasn't accepting her help and was stubbornly pushing her away and it was starting to drive her nuts.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked from her bed.

"He has become quite scarce since he's started fraternizing with Cardin" Ren pointed out.

And that was the other thing Pyrrha was angry with. She'd heard from Team RWBY that ever since Jaune started hanging out with Cardin, the bully was starting to focus more on Izuku. Getting him in trouble in class, and such. She'd seen what Izuku looks like when he's in the same room as the brute. He looked at Cardin like the bully was going to try and kill him or someone else. She could see Team RWBY were starting to get really upset at how paranoid the boy was becoming. He was starting to act like how he did when she first met him.

"That's weird." Nora commented, looking at the clock "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest" She said as she continued to jump up and down on her bed.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha told them, her tone snappy and angry.

Nora and Ren exchanged glances at how angry Pyrrha seemed lately "I guess so" Nora nodded.

Unbeknownst to any of them, their leader was right outside their dorm, his hand on the doorknob and watching through the crack he'd made. With a sigh, he silently closed his door and hung his head in shame.

"Hey Jaune!" A cheerful voice called out. He turned around to see Ruby in her pajamas. "Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?" She asked.

"Oh! Uh, nope!" June reached into his pocket and pulled out his Scroll and laughed a very fake laugh "Got it right here!" He chuckled

Ruby nodded and rocked back and forth with her hands behind her back "So! Where have you been?" She questioned.

Jaune stammered, trying to think of a lie, but his mind was drawing a total blank. With a sigh, he came clean "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash, Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and Izuku's now getting harassed instead of me. I think coming to this school was a bad idea" He rested his back on the door and slowly slid down to the floor "I'm a failure."

"Nope!" Ruby shook her head with a smile

"Nope?" Jaune questioned, confused

"Nope!" Ruby repeated "You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure" She told him

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He asked

"Nope!" Ruby once again said.

"You're not the easiest person to talk about this kind of stuff." Jaune dryly laughed

"Nope!" Ruby agreed "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid," Jaune groaned and lowered his head, clearly upset with what Ruby just said. "And you might've been a failure the first day we met! But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Why" Jaune asked, starting to get invested in what Ruby was saying.

"Because it's not about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us" Ruby put her hands on her hips and continued "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune, and I think that can be you." She walked over to her door and turned around "Have a good night, Jaune. Also, don't worry about Izuku. Team RWBY will handle it!" She said before going inside. Jaune could faintly hear Ruby scream 'Pillow Fight' followed by some trashing and Izuku trying to get everyone to go to bed.

A smile came to his face as a newfound energy began to surge through him. He pushed himself off the ground and turned around to face the door. He put his hand on the knob and was ready to turn it when his Scroll went off. He moved to the side of the door and checked it, finding a voice message from Cardin

"Hey! It's your buddy, Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, but I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps. And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"

Jaune closed his Scroll before the message could replay and sighed. He slowly wandered down the hallway and away from his room.

Glynda led Team RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and Izuku through the Forever Fall forest. The leaves were a beautiful blood red and the trunks were as gray as smoke. Everyone looked around, admiring the beauty of the forest as their professor spoke

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest" She told them.

She then stopped moving and everyone stopped. Jaune, who was struggling to carry a large case with six empty glass jars on top, accidentally bumped into Cardin. The taller boy scowled at the blond, who looked away and tried to whistle innocently.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" She told them.

Izuku began to walk away with his jar, heading off to find some red sap alone. Team RWBY followed Izuku, wanting to be near him just in case Cardin tried anything.

Jaune tried to sneak over to his team, but Cardin noticed and grabbed the back of his collar "Come on, buddy! Let's go!" He said cheerfully. Jaune miserably looked up to his team. Nora and Ren were walking into the forest, heading where Team RWBY was heading, and Pyrrha was staring at him sadly. He looked away from the girl and followed Team CRDL, much to the disappointment of Pyrrha as she sighed and turned around to follow her teammates.

Team CRDL were lazily resting as they awaited their lackey's return. Soon Jaune wandered back exhausted with six full jars. He set them down carefully before falling face-first into the ground. The team got up and walked over to the boy

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked with a laugh

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff" Jaune muttered as his nose was completely blocked.

"Great, great!" Cardin waved his hands, not caring about his victim's state. "So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of sap when there's only five of us?'" He said with a high pitched and whiney voice, pretending to be Jaune.

"That is one of the many questions I've asked myself today, yes" Jaune tiredly agreed.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out," Cardin told him before walking away with his teammates. With a groan, Jaune got up to follow them. They walked for a while until they arrived at their destination. A hilltop overlooking the other students. Team CRDL, plus Jaune who was squashed between Cardin and Russel, peaked their heads over the crest and watched as everyone collected their sap.

Jaune watched as Ren knelt down to collect some sap from a tree before passing a full jar to Nora who quickly ate it all. Ren turned his head around at the weird noises only to find an empty jar and an embarrassed Nora with red hands. Pyrrha laughed at the scene as she filled up her own jar. Team RWBY were collecting sap at a fast pace, but occasionally they stopped to watch Izuku, who was staring at the tree as he filled up his jar.

"C-Cardin, what's going on? Why are we here?" He asked, although deep down inside, he knew exactly what all of this was for.

"Payback" Cardin darkly stated as he pointed over to the lone figure collecting sap by himself

"Izuku?" Jaune breathed out. He saw Izuku flinch and grabbed his head before his eyes narrowed. "Wh-what're you-?"

"That little brat has been nothing but a pain in my side. Always trying to stand up to me and he even has the gall to try and defend those rabid animals and embarrass me in the process" Cardin explained as he pulled out a buzzing cardboard box with a large 'W' written on the sides "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're going to put him to work"

Russel grabbed Jaune, who couldn't even try and nervously laugh. "Now according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these things love sweets." With a sinister chuckle Cardin glared at Izuku, who still collected sap, but now with a dark look in his eyes. "The little hero always acts so tough. Well, let's see how tough he really is." He turned to turn to Jaune "And you're going to do it"

"Do what?" He tried to feign ignorance as he tried to think of a way out of this situation, but nothing was coming to mind.

"Hit him with the sap! Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." Cardin slammed the jar of sap into Jaune's chest before pulling him up to his feet before crouching back down to whisper with his teammates.

Jaune held it in his hand and looked at Izuku, but felt his hand start to shake. This was Izuku, his first friend he'd made at Beacon. The boy who never laughed at his mistakes, and always helped him out when he needed it.

But he froze when Izuku turned to face him.

They locked eyes for a few moments and Izuku could see the heads of Team CRDL all whispering to each other, not noticing the fact Izuku was looking right at them.

Izuku's cold eyes then looked at the sap and then at the box labeled with a W next to him. He looked at Jaune as if the boy had betrayed him, but then his eyes softened as if he realized something "They know?" He mouthed to Jaune.

Jaune slowly nodded his head, the jar shaking in his hand. Then Izuku did something that shocked him. He closed his eyes and stopped moving, making himself the perfect target. Jaune's eyes widened as he realized what Izuku was trying to do. His words from the other night came rushing back into his mind

"I broke myself to help out a friend. Never assume I wouldn't do the same for you, Jaune"

Jaune felt that energy from the previous night return to him. Izuku was willing to get himself hurt so Jaune wouldn't be in any trouble. What kind of friend would he be if he wouldn't do the same for Izuku?! With a steely gaze he turned around to face his bullies "No" He said.

Cardin blinked and then looked at Jaune with a snarl "What do you mean, no?" He asked threateningly.

"I said no!" Jaune yelled before throwing the jar at Cardin. It smashed upon impact and covered the boy's breastplate in sap. The other team leader just stared at his armor before chuckling darkly

"Oh, you've done it now."

Jaune humorously laughed to himself at the predicament he put himself in, but he knew that given the opportunity to go back in time, he would do it all over again. He raised his arms up in self defense. But Dove and Sky grabbed his shoulders and dragged him away from everyone.

Jaune was thrown to the ground in a heap. Groaning, he looked up to see a sap-covered Cardin loom over him. The taller boy picked him up with a grin then punched him back down to the ground. Jaune coughed up a small amount of bile from the force of the punch and dry heaved.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." Cardin told him before picking him up again while his teammates watched "I'm going to make sure they send you back to your mommy in teeny tiny pieces." He threatened.

Jaune grabbed the arm that was holding him, surprising Cardin "I don't care what you do to me," He looked up, his eyes burning with fury "But you are not messing with any of my friends!"

Cardin scoffed at Jaune "What? You think talking like that makes you tough?" He angrily asked "You think you're a big, strong man now?" He sneered.

Jaune only smiled in defiance, who only pissed Cardin off even more. He raised up his fist, ready to slam it into Jaune's face, but just as the hit connected, a bright light shone, blinding everyone around them. Cardin cried out in pain as he held his now bruised hand.

Jaune looked at his hands, which were glowing faintly. His body felt like it was as good as new, like he'd never been hit by anything in the first place. While he stared at his hands, Sky walked up behind him and kicked him in the back. He fell into his stomach and looked up to glare at an approaching Cardin.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are" He growled out, ready to deliver the beating of a lifetime.

But just as he finished, everyone heard a low growl emulate from the bushes. Team CRDL turned around to see a giant Ursa Major emerge from the greenery. Dozens of white spikes stuck out from its back, sharp enough that if anyone landed on them, they would be impaled. It slammed its massive paws into the ground, leaving tracks as it slowly walked closer and closer to them.

Everyone was frozen in fear of the giant creature. They wanted to run, but their bodies just wouldn't obey them. The Ursa leaped over to them and sniffed the air before focusing on the sap covering Cardin's chestplate. It stood on its hind legs and let out a mighty roar. This seemed to snap Russel, Sky, and Dove into action. But they didn't try to help their leader. Instead they ran away, screaming their heads off.

Cardin remained, his fight, flight or freeze response stuck on freeze. He watched as the Ursa raised its paw before slamming it into Cardin's side, sending him flying into a tree. The Grimm noticed Jaune and leaned in to sniff the boy. It could sense negativity inside the boy, but that didn't matter to it right now. It did not care about destroying anything harboring negativity. All it wanted was food, and this boy didn't have any.

Jaune watched as the Ursa wandered back over to Cardin, who collected his wits and pulled out his mace, only for the Grimm to swipe it out of his hands. It landed at Jaune's feet. Jaune looked down at it, conflicted on whether to fight or flee.

Izuku opened his eyes and looked back to the top of the hill, but Jaune was nowhere to be found. Danger Sense was still going haywire, so Cardin had to be somewhere nearby.

When he saw Jaune holding the sap, he felt betrayed, as if his assumption about this world was correct, but then he saw the look in Jaune's eyes. That's when he realized that Danger Sense wasn't going off in reaction to Jaune, it was reacting to the members of Team CRDL.

And if he was with Cardin, then something must've gone wrong. So he tried to silently ask Jaune if they knew about him faking his transcripts, and to his horror, the blond nodded his head. If that information got out, Jaune's life would be flushed down the toilet. So he stopped moving and closed his eyes, making himself the perfect target. If Jaune didn't throw the sap at him, it wouldn't end well for him.

But for some reason, he still hadn't felt the glass jar smash on him. So something must've gone wrong. And his guess was proven correct when Danger Sense stabbed his head much harder than before, and then a roar echoed throughout the forest. Everyone looked up, unsure if they were just hearing things

"Uh, did you guys hear anything?" Ruby asked

"Grimm" Izuku spoke up, his voice sounding more authoritative than dull. "Somewhere over there" He pointed towards the cliff.

Just as he did that, Team CRDL ran down the hill, without their leader. They were yelling and screaming like madmen. Russel turned his head around as he ran, as if something was chasing them "Ursa! Ursa!" He screamed before crashing into Yang, who didn't even flinch.

"What?! Where?" Yang interrogated, picking him up by his shirt.

"Back there! It's got Cardin!" He cried out, pointing in the direction they just ran.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped before running towards the hill. She quickly turned her head "Nora, Ren! You guys go get Professor Goodwitch!"

"Kuso!" Izuku cursed, not realizing he slipped back into his native tongue. He dashed after Pyrrha, leaving Team RWBY by themselves.

Ruby quickly took charge and turned to her teammates "Yang! You and Blake go with Nora and Ren. There might be more Grimm around! Weiss, come with me" The girls nodded and quickly sprung into action.

Cardin tried to run away from the giant beast, but it leaped over him and tried to claw him, but Cardin quickly dodged the attack. He quickly turned to run in another direction, but his feet knocked into each other, causing Cardin to lose his balance. He tried to get up while crawling away, but his legs felt like jelly.

Pyrrha, Izuku, Ruby and Weiss appeared on the sideline and watched as the Ursa leaned over Cardin, raising its paw before swiping down on the defenseless boy. But instead of slicing through the boy like butter, it clanged on Jaune's shield. The owner was pushing up against the shield, trying to overpower the creature while Cardin watched him.

Izuku held up his hand as his Aura started to flash around him. He curled his finger, but stopped when Pyrrha grabbed his arm "Wait!" She told him

"What?!" Izuku replied, but was shushed by the girl as she pointed towards the two boys.

Jaune took the shield from under Ursa's paw and quickly sliced at its stomach. It howled in pain and turned feral. It tried to crush the boy, but Jaune quickly rolled out of the way. The Grimm then tried to swipe at Jaune's feet, but its prey only jumped over the attack. But as Jaune was in the air, the Ursa swung a paw at him and knocked him far away.

But Jaune wasn't going to let that finish him off. Not even a second later, he was back on his feet and rushing the creature. The Ursa leaped over the boy and kicked him in the back while it was midair. Jaune was knocked forward and hit his head on a rock. His Aura protected him, but he was starting to worry how much he had left. He quickly tapped his scroll which was attached to the back of his shield and saw his Aura was in the red. That only made him angrier as he started to run at the Ursa again. The Ursa ran towards him as well, each preparing a strike.

Time started to move slow for both Pyrrha and Izuku as they saw Jaune had left himself open to the Ursa's attack. Izuku looked like he was about to run in, but Pyrrha quickly held up her hand, gathering a dark red energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa was about to strike, the glow lifted Jaune's shield up to block the swipe. Jaune was surprised at what just happened, but he didn't dwell on it for too long.

Using the surprise move, Jaune leaned back on the ground, pushed his shield up and using his free hand, swung his sword at the Ursa, decapitating it with one slice. The body wobbled around for a few moments before falling to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Uhhhh, what?" Ruby questioned, confused on how the shield moved by itself

"What the?" Izuku muttered, looking back and forth between Pyrrha and Jaune

"How did you…?" Weiss muttered to herself, trying to figure out what just happened.

Pyrrha smiled and gave a small shrug "Well, Ruby has her speed, You have your glyphs, and Izuku has his… superpower?" She questioned, unsure of what to classify what power Izuku had "My Semblance is polarity." She told them.

Izuku looked like he was hit with inspiration and started to mutter his native language about something she couldn't understand. Weiss nodded, understanding what Pyrrha was talking about, and Ruby…

"Whoa, you can control poles!" She gasped in amazement.

"Wha-?! No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism" Weiss scolded.

Ruby looked away, embarrassed "Magnets are cool, too" She whispered quietly.

"That's not entirely it, but you're on the right track" Izuku commented, breaking out of his mutter spree.

Pyrrha nodded with a smile and began to leave, which confused Weiss "Wait, where are you going?" She questioned.

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby agreed

"We could," Pyrrha agreed "Or perhaps we could keep this our little secret" She smiled with a wink before walking away again. Ruby, Weiss, and Izuku understood what she was trying to tell them. If Jaune realized his big crowning moment wasn't even his, he would feel horrible. So the three of them followed Pyrrha back to find professor Goodwitch.

A bruised and battered Jaune sheathed his sword before walking over to Cardin, who looked up at him. Jaune stood there a few moments before offering the boy his hand. Cardin smiled and took it before he was pulled to his feet.

"Holy crap, Jaune!" Cardin said, amazed.

But Jaune wasn't having any of it. He squeezed down on Cardin's hand and stared him in the eyes "Don't mess with my team, or my friends, ever again. Got it?"

Cardin flinched in fear, and that was all Jaune needed. He let go of Cardin's hand and turned around to walk away, his head held high.

'Never thought my uniform would feel this comfortable' Jaune thought as he stared at the green lights of Beacon. He was on the rooftop again, but this time he went to another one, not wanting to be near Cardin. The moon was especially bright tonight, casting a glow over the rooftop. Jaune took in a deep breath and exhaled, the feeling of pride still coursing through him, but he knew he'd need to swallow it up for what he was about to do.

The sound of the door creaking open made Jaune turn his head around. He saw Pyrrha and Izuku walked across the rooftop towards him "Thanks for coming" He nodded at them.

"No Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked "I thought you two were best buds?"

What she said hurt Jaune, but he sucked it up "Look, Pyrrha, Izuku, I'm sorry. I was a jerk!" He turned to Pyrrha "You were only trying to be nice," He then turned to Izuku "And you were only trying to help, and" He shook his head, not knowing what to say "I had all this macho stuff in my head-!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled, snapping her team leader out of his apologetic rant "It's okay. Your team really misses their leader you know"

They shared a smile before Jaune turned to face Izuku "Do you forgive me, Izuku?"

Izuku looked at him for a few second silently, which made Jaune's stomach drop, after what seemed like forever, he spoke "You tried to hurt me, but I don't blame you" That caught Jaune's attention as he stared at Izuku "You were being forced to and you couldn't fight back. Not to mention, you never even threw the jar in the first place." Izuku took a deep breath and smiled at Jaune. "You're my friend, Jaune, and just because you were forced to try and hurt me doesn't change that fact."

Jaune blinked a few times, tears starting to form in his eyes before he quickly brushed them away "Thanks, Izuku"

His two best friends smiled at him "You should come down! Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though. You can thank Nora for that. You can come as well if you want, Izuku. We don't mind having you!"

Izuku looked away, slightly embarrassed "Nah, I don't want to intrude"

"Nonsense, I'm sure no one will mind," Pyrrha reassured him.

They both turned around to leave, when Jaune called out to them "Wait!" Izuku and Pyrrha turned around to see Jaune looking sheepish. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but…" Jaune really didn't want to say it, but in order to get better, he needed to swallow his pride. "Would you two be willing to help me become a better fighter?"

Pyrrha turned away so a worried Jaune wouldn't see her satisfied smile. Izuku saw it though, and had to hold back a small chuckle. She turned back around and walked over to Jaune before pushing him over.

"Hey!" He yelped

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She offered her hand, which Jaune accepted.

"Also don't fight with your mouth open. If you do, the opponent has a higher chance of breaking your jaw." Izuku added walking over to Jaune "I think I should train as well, if you'll allow me to join"

Pyrrha and Jaune stared at Izuku, unsure of what he meant "What do you want to improve upon?" Pyrrha asked

"I think it's time I started training my Aura. I'll need it when I get back home." Izuku said "And I think we can kill two birds with one stone." His Aura activated around his arms as he held them up to his face. With a smile he faced Jaune "Now hit me"

Ruby groaned as she entered her dorm room. Professor Goodwitch had assigned them homework on what to do when ambushed by a Grimm. It wasn't fair that she had to study when it wasn't even her team that was hurt, but if it would help her be a better leader, then she was all for it.

Ruby opened her desk's draw and tried to search for one of her textbooks "There you are!" She smiled before pulling it out, but as she did, something caught her eye. He put the textbook down on the desk and reached into the desk. Grabbing a lone piece of paper, she pulled it up and looked over its contents.

A drawing of a Huntsman outfit, but not just any huntsman outfit. One designed for Izuku.

The homework was expelled from her mind as she looked over the drawing. It outlined what the suit was made from, the purpose of every piece of equipment, everything. Ruby stared dumbfounded at the piece of paper, it was so well detailed. How had she not found this earlier?

Ruby's brain began to turn faster than it had ever gone before, trying to figure out the cost and time it would take to create the suit and weapons. She wasn't rich, but if she got her teammates to chip in.

They could have this ready for him soon.

Chapter Text

Team RWBY all stared down at the drawing of Izuku's outfit. Weiss was impressed at how detailed it was. Blake admired the drawing for how the outfit looked, it was definitely an improvement over his weird and disturbing costume he wore when engaging students or Grimm in combat. Like Blake, Yang loved the costume, but unlike her teammate, she was going to miss being able to call him Demon boy. And Ruby was staring at the weapons excitedly, her mind racing with possibilities.

"Wow" Was all Weiss could mutter, staring at the drawing

"This is impressive" Blake agreed

"Wait, does anyone know where Izuku is right now?!" Ruby asked, her eyes darting to the door, praying that Izuku doesn't enter while they have the drawing out

"Izuku's at the gym, he won't be back for a while." Yang reassured her sister.

Ruby nodded her head before examining the drawing for the umpteenth time, and every time she looked at it she was impressed

It was well drawn and offered reasoning behind his choices. The gloves are basically the same as the ones he had now, but slightly upgraded to be able to use Dust. His boots were the same, except they didn't look like talons anymore. Instead looking like normal high tops coated in iron. The mechanics were impressive, a blowback motion to enhance the kicks and decrease the recoil.

The outfit was a whole different story. It no longer looked like some kind of monster. Heck, it no longer even looked like his costume. The respirator was still there, but that was probably the only thing apart from his gloves and boots he kept. It looked amazing. Ruby couldn't help but feel a small flutter in her chest every time she looked at the hooded cloak he added in. 'It looks like mine' She thought.

Overall, it was a major improvement, and could definitely be made in around a week, but before they started on it, they needed to talk.

"Okay, there are a few things that might need to be changed," Yang said, looking over the weapons.

"I know a few good changes to make." Ruby agreed "He needs a lethal weapon. He might be able to knock out Grimm easily, but that doesn't mean he won't come across something stronger"

Weiss bit her tongue as Blake shook her head "I thought Izuku didn't kill?" She questioned.

"He doesn't kill because he was taught it was wrong in his world" Weiss recalled her conversation with Izuku, not mentioning why Izuku wouldn't need a lethal weapon "He told me that if there was no other option, he would resort to ending a life"

Ruby nodded "Well if Izuku does decide that killing is the best option, he'll need something lethal just in case." Ruby added "But what weapon would be good for him?" She muttered under her breath "A sword, maybe?"

"A sword might not be good for Izuku. He has no training with one" Blake pointed out "And if he's leaving soon, then he won't get enough training to properly use one. Not to mention, it doesn't fit his fighting style."

The other girls nodded, understanding where Blake was coming from. A sword required training and took time to learn how to properly utilize one. But Yang didn't abandon the thought like the other girls did. Maybe there was a way to combine the two aspects. Make something that wouldn't be too hard for Izuku to learn. Something that would attach to his gloves and could be used to kill if necessary. Something like a…

Yang snapped her fingers with a grin "I have an idea of what could be used as a lethal weapon!" She announced to her teammates "It wouldn't stray too far from his fighting style. It might take some time for Izuku to learn, but it should be easier to learn."

"What is it?" Blake asked, curious as to what Yang was talking about

"I'll keep that a secret between Ruby and I for now" Yang smirked.

"Okay, you'll have to tell me later. Moving on, what Dust should we use?" Ruby questioned, looking at the gloves. Izuku made a good base, but it could still be improved. She couldn't really blame him, he was still trying to learn as much about the world as he could. He only created a single area for Dust, and even then it wasn't in the best place. Ruby could probably fit four slots of the gloves.

"Wind would just be a waste of a slot." Weiss claimed, happy to flaunt her knowledge on Dust "Izuku's already able to fire wind without the use of any Dust." She walked over to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper before sketching a rough idea of the contraption that would attach to Izuku's new gloves "We'd need to leave a slot open so Izuku can fire off air without any Dust in case he doesn't need to use Dust. So three slots would probably be sufficient."

"Alright Miss Know-It-All, calm down" Yang teased with a grin "So what Dust do you recommend for the gloves?"

"Fire, electricity and gravity." Weiss stated confidently.

Ruby thought long and hard before nodding in agreement. Those made sense considering the way Izuku fought with his gloves. Compressed air blasts combined with Dust could create devastating attacks, and the Dust Weiss recommended would fit best with his attacks.

"Okay!" Ruby smiled confidently "Now all we have to do is figure out how to build this all!"

Weiss blinked, trying to process what Ruby just said. She wasn't being serious… Was she? "Shouldn't we get a professional to make these? We're not professional blacksmiths!" Weiss argued

But Yang and Ruby shook their heads. "It would be a more thoughtful gift from us if we made it. He considers us friends, and we want to show him we think the same of him" Ruby smiled.

"Besides, at Signal, we had to create our own Weapons" Yang added, leaning on her half sister's shoulder "The gloves would be easy for me since I created my gauntlets, and Ruby knows the ins and outs of how weapons work. Not to mention she also created Crescent Rose"

Weiss looked over to Ruby in shock and a hint of awe. That scythe/sniper was incredibly well made, and the fact that Ruby built it all by herself was impressive.

"So now we need to figure out the outfit itself" Blake said "But it's weird how durable Izuku wants the clothing to be. It's understandable that he'd want protection, but why does the clothing need to handle hypersonic speeds?" She said, tapping on the part that specified the requirement. "In what scenario would he be going that fast?"

Weiss knew the answer. She knew that Izuku was holding back. If everything she'd seen was only 10% of his power, then there was a chance he could go past Mach 5, unless he was holding back even more power than he let on, but what were the chances of that? It'd been almost two months since she met Izuku, and he never once displayed another power other than those black tendrils and his superhuman strength, speed and durability.

But she wasn't about to tell the other girls that. She saw that he looked annoyed at himself for revealing that information when he let it slip. It was clear he didn't want other people to know that information, so Weiss wasn't about to go and tell everyone that fact. "No clue" She said before attempting to divert the topic elsewhere "But I sincerely hope we aren't going to be creating his outfit for him. While you two may have made your weapons, I doubt you made your outfits."

"Nah, this would probably be a job for a tailor. The only problem would be finding the funds to make the outfit." Yang told her before adding "And finding a tailor."

"I can easily pay for all the funds" Weiss stated, looking around at her friends "Money won't be an issue. And don't worry about the tailor either. I know the perfect one."

"Well, if Weiss is able to pay the tailor, then we've got that base covered" Ruby said with a smile and an appreciative nod to her friend. "So while Weiss goes to the tailor, Yang and I will make the gloves and boots"

"We'll need to make them in the room. So someone is going to need to distract Izuku for the day. Keep him out of the dorm" Yang said

"Why not make them in the workshop?" Blake asked

"Because if anyone on Team JNPR walks in and sees us making it, they'll probably tell Izuku, so it's best if we keep this between us. I don't want to spoil the surprise for him" Yang told them her reasoning. "Besides, there isn't a rule saying we can't bring equipment or supplies up to our room" She added with a devious smile

"Okay, I have a plan! Yang and I will make the weapons and gear together. Weiss, if you could visit your tailor and pick up the materials we need, that would be great. Blake, I'll have you keep Izuku distracted for the day. I want this to be a big surprise for him!" Ruby instructed her teammates, who all nodded in agreement. She put her hand out in front of her and looked at all her friends "Let's go make Izuku a cool costume! Go Team RWBY!

"Team RWBY!"

"So why are we in Vale again?" Izuku asked Blake, walking down the streets. The second he got back from the gym, he was dragged away from the dorm by Blake. Whenever he tried to ask her, she dodged his questions. So he kept trying.

"I just thought you needed a day out" She answered vaguely.

"I went out with Yang a while ago, Belladonna." He reminded the girl.

"That was a few weeks ago. You spend all of your free time in the dorm or the gym. It's not healthy" Blake pointed out.

Izuku couldn't really argue with that. He hadn't gone outside unless it was for class. "Okay, fine" He relented, but still not entirely happy that he wasn't back at Beacon. If he was going to stay on Remnant for longer, he would need more knowledge on how the world worked. He also knew that if he trained he'd be able to use more of One for All when he got back to Earth, which would increase the chances of the Heroes winning. "So where are we going first?"

"Ruby told me of a café nearby she used to love visiting" Blake answered "I was thinking we'd go there first. Then have a walk around after that" She told him.

Izuku nodded his head and the pair made their way to the café. Once they arrived, they took their seats and looked at the menu "It's always weird to look at the menus on Remnant" He admitted

"Why is that?" Blake asked, searching for a specific dish on the menu, but still listening to what Izuku was saying

"My cuisine is different back home. We eat different types of food than you all" Izuku replied.

Blake put her menu down and looked at Izuku "I know you don't like talking about it, but I was hoping that you could tell me a bit about your world. You mention it often, but never follow up on it."

Izuku wanted to open his mouth and deny that claim, but he had to stop when he realized Blake was just stating facts. He'd barely told anyone about Earth or what it was like, mostly because he didn't want to think about what was going on there whilst he was gone.

Izuku hesitated, unsure if he should tell her about Earth. But he quickly reasoned with himself in his mind. Blake and the other girls had taught him a few things about Remnant and it was unfair that Izuku wasn't doing the same thing. Not to mention Earth was still safe for the time being. He still had a little over 300 days left before the Vestiges guessed All for One would attack. And besides, he trusted Blake. So What's the worst that could happen?

"What do you want to know?" Izuku said quietly,

A smile came to Blake's face. "What's your planet called?

"Earth"

The second he spoke that word. A young woman with pink and brown hair with white streaks froze in her chair and turned her head to look at him. Unfortunately, Izuku didn't notice her. So he, nor Blake, noticed her. She quickly went back to drinking her milkshake, but kept her focus on the conversation.

"Earth" Blake hummed. It was a funny name, but that's probably because she'd never heard it before "And what's it like?"

A flash of pain appeared on Izuku's face before he shook his head. He took a small, shuddery breath before looking down at the table "Right now, it's horrible. Villains running wild. Heroes retiring, and the ones that don't are struggling to keep order in check. People running around and using their Quirks on those they find suspicious. I had to run around Japan non-stop with barely any sleep or food for months, trying to contain everything. I pushed my friends away in order to protect them. And sometimes it felt like I wasn't even doing anything, that everything I was doing wouldn't change a single thing. But I kept pushing on, because I wanted to see everyone smile freely, without having to look over their shoulders in fear."

The conversation Blake had with Izuku and Ruby back when they first met played in her mind. At the time, she thought he was remembering someone close to her, but this was so much worse. It explained why he was so untrusting and tired when she first met him. He arrived in their world in the middle of trying to restore peace in a broken world. He was constantly battling people who were trying to hurt others. If he knew what she used to be…

Blake shoved that thought away and instead focused on Izuku. In the span of a single conversation, he already looked so tired and beaten down, as if he was remembering how it felt

"What was Earth like before all that?" She asked, hoping to shift his focus to something a bit happier.

She watched as a small, nostalgic smile formed on his face and a shine appeared in his normally dull eyes. "It was amazing. It was a bit more advanced than your world in its buildings, but you have much more impressive technology. I went to a school like Beacon, meant to train us to become Heroes. And my friends were great. They all supported me and helped me in more ways than one. Their Quirks were also so cool. I remember trying to study them and figure out how they worked when I first saw everyone use their Quirks."

Blake nodded, happy to see Izuku much happier than he was before. She wanted to let him keep going, but her curiosity got the best of her "What are Quirks?" She questioned. He'd talked about them a few times before, but she still didn't know exactly what they were.

Izuku snapped out of his daze and the shine in his eyes left, much to Blake's disappointment "Quirks are like your Semblances, except most people normally gain them when they turn four." He said, leaving out the part where he was part of the small minority who didn't gain one at birth.

Blake was surprised to hear this. Normally Semblances were unlocked during certain moments of a person's life. So to hear there was a world where people unlocked it just by hitting a certain age was strange to her. "How did Quirks start appearing?" She asked, her curiosity only growing with every answer.

"No one really knows. Some people say that mice spread some kind of disease, others said it was just humanity evolving. There hasn't really been any proof on how Quirks were created, but only scientists try to figure out how Quirks spread throughout the world." Izuku shrugged, "I've tried to figure it out once, but I stopped when I realized that I would probably never find any answers. Instead I dedicated my focus to studying how Quirks work and what they could do." He informed the black haired girl.

"So, you're some kind of scientist?" Blake queried

Izuku shook his head "Not really. I just like to see new Quirks and how people could utilize them" He admitted looking down at the table, his eyes avoiding hers out of embarrassment. But because he wasn't looking at Blake, he failed to notice the young woman sitting behind her pull out her Scroll and snap a photo of his face before getting up and leaving the café.

"How similar are Quirks to Semblances?" Blake questioned

"From what I've seen and read, they're very similar. There are a few differences, but it's mostly the same concept. Although we have so many different types of Quirks that they have to be categorized into three different classes"

"Can you tell me about them?" Blake requested,

Izuku nodded his head and got himself into a more comfortable position "Okay, so the first type of Quirk is an emitter. They're also the most common type of Quirk. It basically allows someone to generate, control, or alter things around them. For example," Izuku held out his hand and a few tiny strands of Blackwhip emerged. "This is an emitter Quirk since I'm generating it" He explained before the tendrils shrunk back into his body.

Blake nodded, so Izuku continued "Transformation Quirks are the least common Quirks. They allow someone to temporarily alter their bodies. A close friend of mine is able to harden his body to the point where it's as sharp as a rock."

"Interesting" Blake hummed. "What's the final type of Quirk?"

"Mutant"

Blake's eyes widened in shock "Like looking different from someone else?" She asked

Izuku nodded "Yeah. It's like a transformation type Quirk, but instead of being temporary, it's permanent. It normally had something to do with the person's Quirk. One of my best friends has a Quirk called Frog. It basically gives abilities similar to that of a frog, but it also makes her appearance look similar to one as well."

Blake tried to picture someone with the appearance of a frog, but all she could think of was a human with a frog head. "What does she look like?"

Izuku wanted to draw a sketch of Tsuyu, but he couldn't find a pen. So he decided to try and describe it to Blake "Well, imagine a regular girl. Make her eyes oval shaped, and make her mouth wide that dips down a little bit in the middle" He gave a rough description of his friend

Blake did what he told her and the picture of her became much clearer in her mind. But she still wanted to know more, and tried asking a question, hoping it wouldn't reveal too much about her "If a Faunus went into your world, how badly would they be treated?" She asked

Izuku put his hand on his chin and hummed "Well, it wouldn't be that bad. People who look completely different are discriminated against the most, but if someone like the rabbit girl was to enter my world, the discrimination she would receive would be pretty low. Most bullies would make fun of her ears and that would probably be that" Izuku guessed. But he wasn't done just yet as he continued to talk "But everyone faces discrimination for their Quirks. Because no matter what you have, someone else is going to hate it."

Blake had to focus in order to prevent her jaw from dropping. Earth sounded so much better than Remnant in terms of how people judged appearance. "How many people have mutant Quirks?" She asked

"Quite a few. It's more common than people with transformation Quirks, but emitter Quirks are much more common." Izuku told her, "But that doesn't mean that everyone with emitter Quirks look normal. Most people I've met have something unique about them, even if they have an emitter Quirk. One of my classmates is able to speak to animals, but his head takes the form of a rock. It's mostly hereditary. It's why I'm considered plain in my world because compared to nearly everyone else, I don't stand out in any way."

Now Blake was really jealous. Jealous of how she was born into a world that pushed her kind away, spat at them, enslaved them, when there was another world out there that would've treated her much better. It wasn't really fair, but those were the cards God gave her. Sighing quietly, she decided to talk about something other than mutant Quirks "So what's your Quirk?" She asked

"Well, It's a combined Quirk," Izuku told her. He'd been preparing for this question for a while, and he was shocked that no one had asked him yet. Superpower, while it was a good cover in his world, it wouldn't be now that he had two completely different Quirks, but he came up with a good cover story. "My Quirk is called Stockpile. It allows me to store unneeded energy and converts it into raw power I can tap into whenever I want"

"So it's an emitter?" Blake tried to guess what type of Quirk it was based on what Izuku had told her.

Izuku nodded his head with a small smile "Yes, but it's also under a subclass. Accumulation. Stockpile requires me to stockpile energy which I can use when I need to use it."

"Okay, so what are those black tendrils you use when fighting?" Blake asked, not seeing how they matched with the Quirk he just described to her

"It's a mutation of my mother's Quirk" Izuku lied through his teeth "She's able to pull small objects to herself. That combined with my father's Quirk and it allowed me to produce physical tendrils made of my stored energy. I mostly use it to pull things towards me, wrap them up, or hook it into buildings so I can swing around. I called that half of the Quirk Blackwhip"

Blake was fascinated by everything Izuku just told her. Most people if they heard that would think it was a book or movie, but this was real. In another dimension, there was the world Izuku just described. But then she thought of something strange "Hey, Izuku. With Blackwhip, you're able to connect the tendril together, right?" She asked

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about what Blake had just told him. "Yes." He answered with hesitance, unsure of where Blake was taking the conversation

"If you can create multiple strands and piece them together, could you make objects out of those tendrils?" She questioned.

Izuku froze. Blake's words playing in his mind on loop, like a broken record. Could he create items with Blackwhip? There wasn't anything that said he couldn't. Sure he wouldn't be able to detach the items. It would take time to train, but if Blake was right, he could save so many more lives with this

"Thank you!" He whispered to Blake with a big smile "I never even thought about using Blackwhip like that. You're incredible!" He praised. A small blush arose on Blake's face as she looked away, not wanting anyone else to see her face. But that was when Izuku saw something strange occur.

That's when he saw her bow twitch.

Izuku blinked, unsure of what he just witnessed. He looked around, but everyone was too caught up in their own conversations to notice. He turned around to see Blake still looking away from him. Like with Jaune, the pieces of a puzzle were starting to click into place in his mind.

Blake flinched when they were talking about the White Fang. At first he thought it was just because they attacked her before, but then she smiled at him when he stood up for Faunus. Not to mention all the questions about Mutant Quirks. And sure he didn't know as much about Remnant than the others, but he was pretty sure bows don't twitch. Speaking of which, he'd never seen her take off her bow, even when she went to bed she wore that thing. So when he thought about it, it only made sense that she wore that to hide something. Something that could twitch and was triangular in shape.

Like a pair of animal ears.

Izuku wanted to ask her, but stopped himself at the last second. He'd seen how discriminated the Faunus were in this world. They were treated like dirt. It was clear to him that Blake was trying hard to hide it from everyone else so she wouldn't face the same fate as them. That was probably why she didn't step in to help that rabbit girl. She didn't want to attract any attention to herself. If he was to ask her, others might overhear their conversation.

It would be like outing a Quirkless kid in his world.

Blake noticed him staring at her "Izuku? What's wrong?" She asked, starting to get a little uncomfortable with how he was looking at her.

Izuku blinked and shook his head "Sorry, I got lost in my head for a second" He let out a convincing chuckle "I do that sometimes"

Blake nodded, accepting his answer before a waiter came over. She ordered grilled salmon, and he ordered a sandwich. After that, Izuku decided what to do about what he'd just discovered.

That splice of information he found would stay with him until Blake told them about what she was.

While Izuku was in the shower, Blake walked over to the other girls "So how did everything go? How long will it take before it's ready?" She asked

"My tailor said he should be able to get it ready in a couple of days" Weiss told them all. It was originally going to take a week since he had other orders, she'd paid a pretty hefty tip so he would make the outfit his priority. "What about the gloves and boots?"

"The boots are all done!" Ruby exclaimed happily. Surprisingly, the boots weren't too hard to figure out. The blowback mechanic was kinda similar to a gun, so it didn't take long for her to figure out "But the gloves might take a bit longer to make."

"Rubes and I came up with a way to improve the lethal weapon so it can use Dust, but it's going to take a few days to work out the kinks. But we should have it ready soon" Yang said happily.

The girls all stopped talking when they heard the shower turn off and went back to doing what they were doing before, but their minds stayed on the costume.

They couldn't wait to see how it looked on Izuku.

Chapter Text

Toshinori looked around at all the remaining Heroes in the room. The mood was tense, justifiable considering their biggest hope had just been killed. Izuku's death had just made their strike much harder to pull off.

"So what's the plan now?" Mt Lady asked everyone, unsure of where they'd go from there.

"We'll need to buy ourselves some time. Give us time to think of what we can do" Edgeshot told his teammate.

"We're already a step ahead of you all" Hawks stated, pulling out his phone "All Might contacted foreign Hero agencies around the world, hoping that we could get some heroes on our side. Immediately the number 1 Hero in America agreed to help. She's on her way"

"Stars and Stripes?" Kamui Woods questioned

"Yes" All Might answered "Without Young Deku here to help us, we're going to need someone who is capable of taking on All for One, and Stars and Stripes is the only other person here capable of doing so." He explained to them all

"And what if she doesn't win?" Endeavor asked, wanting to make sure they had a backup plan just in case.

"Then let's hope Stars and Stripes can hinder All for One long enough for us to come up with a another plan"

Izuku watched as banners were put up all around the city in preparation for the Vytal festival. Signs that welcomed the newcomers. Market stalls were placed along the road for people to see what was being made at Vale. He enjoyed wandering by the stalls, getting quick glimpses at things he'd never seen before. It reminded him of when he went to the I-Expo.

Team RWBY were excited, not just for the festival, but because Izuku's costume was in their dorm. They were going to present it to him later that day, and they could not wait to see the look on his face when they showed it to him.

Weiss looked around and a large smile came to her face "Oh the Vytal Festival! This is absolutely wonderful!" She saw, twirling around to look at everything she could.

"What is the Vytal Festival?" Izuku asked, unsure of what the purpose of the festival was.

Weiss stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned to face the boy "It's been like two months since you've arrived here. How do you not know what the Vytal Festival is?!" She exclaimed. "Isn't the book you're reading right now supposed to explain it?"

"I haven't gotten to that section yet, Schnee" Izuku countered, feeling uncomfortable with how Weiss was staring at him

The rest of team RWBY decided to keep quiet and avoid whatever Weiss was doing. All of them except Ruby. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." She claimed with an uneasy look "It's kinda creeping me out"

Weiss looked shocked at what Ruby just said. But instead of annoyance like Blake and Yang expected, they saw she was confused at how they weren't smiling like she was "How could you not smile?!" She questioned, completely astonished "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A Tournament" That part caught Izuku's attention "Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang sighed and shook her head "You really know how to take a good thing and make it boring" She commented

"No, I understand where Schnee is coming from." Izuku interjected "It reminds me of a school festival my school held a while ago. All the different courses coming together to make one big event. Besides, it'll be interesting to learn more about the cultures of this world." He told them all

"Thank you Izuku! At least someone gets it!" Weiss said, shooting Yang an annoyed look. Yang responded by sticking her tongue out at the girl immaturely.

They walked past a few stalls before passing by a stall displaying multiple fruits. Ruby visibly perked up when she laid her eyes on the stall and quickly ran over. Blake, Weiss and Izuku all shared a look of confusion while Yang just smiled and shook her head. They wandered over to the stall to see Ruby staring at a particular fruit. "You gonna buy the whole stall, Rubes?" Yang questioned with a smile

"If they can ship all the strawberries back to Beacon, yes!" Ruby exclaimed. She turned to the shopkeeper with a smile, only for it to disappear as the man running the stall shook his head. "Oh, okay" She said sadly before perking up again "In that case I'll take four punnets!"

While the shopkeeper grabbed the berries from the back, Izuku looked over all the fruits. They were exactly the same as the ones on Earth 'Maybe not everything is different here' He thought before he saw a round fruit. "A watermelon?" Izuku questioned, looking at the fruit. In Japan they were normally square, so seeing a round one was very unique. The girls watched as his eyes became as wide as saucers when he looked at the price tag "Why are they selling it so cheap!" He exclaimed

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked

"Watermelons are really expensive where I live. They're given as gifts most of the time" Izuku explained, still staring at the fruit and its price tag in shock.

"Jeez kid. I might have to set up shop wherever you live" The shopkeeper joked while handing Ruby her strawberries.

"Good luck with that" Yang whispered to Ruby, who stifled a giggle.

"Alright. We've gotten sidetracked. We need to go now!" Weiss said before quickly walking in the directions of the docks. Team RWBY followed, majority of them confused as to why Weiss wanted to go to the docks.

Izuku was about to follow them, but stopped when he felt a shiver crawl up his spine. He stared ahead for a few seconds, before turning around, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. He could've sworn someone was watching him, but he shook his head free of those thoughts before running after Team RWBY.

Not noticing a young woman slowly peek her head out from a corner, staring directly at Izuku.

The group soon arrived at the docks and looked around. They had no clue why Weiss wanted to visit the docks, and Yang voiced her confusion "Remind me again. Why are we spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" She asked.

Ruby breathed in through her nose before quickly plugging it and sticking her tongue out in disgust "Ew! It smells like fish!" She exclaimed

"I think it smells nice" Blake muttered, not seeing the look Izuku gave her.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine Kingdom!" Weiss informed them all.

None of her friends were believing her, though "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament" Blake translated Weiss' words.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss quickly rebutted with a glare, only proving Blake was right.

Yang let out a laugh as Ruby chuckled. Izuku wasn't fully paying attention to the conversation, still feeling like he was being watched. He quickly turned around, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone, but yet again, he found no one. Instead he saw two policemen standing in front of a shop with yellow tape covering the doors and a broken window. "What happened there?" He muttered, catching the other's attention.

They all wandered over to the policemen and Ruby piped up "What happened here?" She asked the men.

"Robbery" One of them told the group of students with a sigh, clearly tired. "Second dust shop this week. This place is turning into a jungle" He remarked, staring at the broken window with a scowl. He took another look at the group and noticed the weapons a few of them were carrying "Are you all Huntsman and Huntresses in training?" he asked them all

They all nodded and pulled out their Scroll when the man demanded I.D. The policeman took a look at it before nodding his head and backing off "You thinking of getting new gloves? Those look pretty worn out" He pointed out to Izuku, slightly sickened by whatever was coating the gloves. Whether it be dirt or dried blood, he didn't know.

"Maybe one day." Izuku replied with a small shrug "Although I don't know anyone here who could make it. Not to mention I can't afford it" He told the officer, not noticing the girls behind him trying to hide their smiles.

The policeman nodded his head before walking over to his partner who waved him over. "They've left all the money again." His partner claimed

This caught the group's attention. That was weird. Why would someone rob a shop and leave all the money? Unless they didn't care about that at all. "It doesn't make any sense" The first detective shook his head "Who needs that much dust?" He questioned

His partner only shrugged "I don't know, an army?" The second man guessed.

The first man paused in thought before turning to his partner "You thinking of the White Fang?" He asked

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough" The man responded before they both entered the building, leaving the group of students out the front.

They all stood there, conflicting thoughts running through their minds on who did it, but Izuku didn't care about that. He only cared about why they did it. He knew Dust was a powerful resource, and that too much in the wrong hands could spell disaster. So when he heard that this wasn't the first shop that had been raided of Dust only raised one question in his mind.

What were they planning?

Weiss scoffed and shook her head disapprovingly. "The White Fang." She repeated what the policeman said "What an awful bunch of degenerates!" She said with a pompous attitude.

Blake seemed to take offense to what Weiss just said "What's your problem?" She asked, a hint of hostility laced in her voice

"My problem?" Weiss repeated "I simply don't care for the criminally insane" She stated

"The White Fang is hardly a group of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake countered

"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss argued

Blake stumbled over her words, unsure of how to respond before settling on a very weak argument "So they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!" Blake finished

Izuku looked at the shop before feeling someone softly nudge his side. He turned his head to the side to see Ruby looking at him "Do you think it could be that Torchwick guy we ran into a couple months ago?" She asked the slightly taller boy.

"Was he trying to steal Dust when you first saw him?" Izuku questioned.

Ruby let out an "Oh" when she remembered Izuku only arrived late in the fight. He didn't see Roman stealing the dust when he showed up "Yeah, he was," Ruby nodded.

Izuku hummed and looked back at the shop "It's definitely possible" He thought out loud.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum" Weiss continued on with her tirade, much to Blake's growing anger "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal after all."

Now Izuku was starting to get uncomfortable. Weiss was starting to sound like a quirkist. Like the people he'd saved that fox lady from "Schnee, stop" He told the girl, wanting this conversation to end

"But-!"

"Enough" Izuku said again and Weiss stopped talking for now. He noticed that Blake seemed very happy, but something was nagging at the back of his mind. He knew Blake would be defensive of Faunus, but why would she be defending a terrorist organization?

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" A loud voice boomed out.

The group quickly ran over to the source of the yelling to help. Once they arrived, they saw a tanned boy with blonde hair running down the length of a boat. But what everyone focused on was the golden tail attached to his backside. He leapt to the edge of the boat and turned his head to face the two sailors who were pursuing him. "Thanks for the ride, guys!" He smiled cheekily before leaping onto the dock and running away, laughing all the while.

"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors yelled.

The boy jumped up onto a lamppost and used his tail to hang on while he peeled a banana he pulled out from his back pocket. "Hey!" The boy exclaimed, offended "A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" He proudly declared. He was about to take a bite of his banana when a pebble flew past his head.

The boy looked down to see a policeman angrily stare up at him "Hey! Get down from there this instant!" The office demanded before throwing another pebble.

The boy quickly devoured the fruit before dodging the pebble. In retaliation, the Faunus harmlessly threw the banana peel at the policeman's face. It landed with a splat and a growl was heard as the man slowly grabbed the peel and threw it expertly into a bin not too far from him.

The boy laughed in amusement before twirling around to crouch on the lamppost. He leapt off the structure before running away from the detective and right by the group.

Izuku was conflicted on whether to apprehend the boy or not. Danger Sense wasn't going off at all, meaning the boy meant no harm, but that didn't mean he should be out here causing chaos just for the fun of it.

Blake watched as his eyes looked into hers. Her eyes widened as she prayed that he didn't know what she was. But before she could stop it, her bow twitched. The boy noticed this and gave her a small wink before running off.

"Well, Weiss," Yang broke the silence between them all. "You wanted to see the competition, and there it goes." She said, watching the Faunus run away.

Weiss held up her finger, silently telling Yang to shut up "Quick! We have to observe him!" She declared before running after the boy.

Weiss, Ruby and Yang ran after the boy. Izuku was about to follow, but stopped when he noticed Blake was still frozen. "Hey, Belladonna?" He said. She quickly snapped out of it and looked at him "Are you ok?" He asked, concerned

"Y-Yeah" Blake confirmed quickly "Come on." She instructed him before running after the group. Izuku was about to run after her when he felt someone watching him again. He quickly turned around, hoping to catch whoever was watching him, but the only people he could see were a group of bystanders, talking about what had just transpired.

None of them were looking at him, but Izuku still couldn't shake the strange feeling. He wanted to walk over to the group and see if someone was in fact looking at him. But if he didn't go now, he might lose sight of the girls.

So with a frustrated sigh, Izuku ran off after Team RWBY. He quickly caught up to them due to his speed. He followed them as they turned a corner, but instead of finding the Faunus, Weiss bumped into someone and fell over on top of them as they both tripped over.

Weiss didn't look apologetic, or embarrassed that she knocked someone over, instead she was mad that she lost sight of the Monkey Faunus "No! He got away!" She complained

"Uh… Weiss?" Yang spoke up. When Weiss looked at Yang, she found her pointing to the person underneath her. Weiss looked down to see the girl smiling widely at her. She panicked and quickly got up and took a few steps back, creeped out.

"Sal-u-tations!" The girl waved with a large smile.

Izuku got a proper look at the girl when Weiss got off her. Her short, but curly orange hair was splayed out across the pavement, almost covering the pink bow on the back of her head. Her light green eyes looked over all of them from the floor. Her eyes stayed locked onto Izuku's for a few moments longer than the others. He felt like she was analyzing him. He also noticed the black and green collar covering her neck.

"Um, hi" Ruby nervously waved back

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked, concerned.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking!" The girl cheerfully said, still laying down on the ground.

"Do you want to get up?" Yang asked.

The girl paused for a few moments before nodding "Yes!" She leapt back up and did a flip before landing onto her feet. Her blouse and dress combo flew up while she did that, giving them all a look at her underwear. Izuku's face turned red and he quickly looked away while the other girls took a small step back. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Penny greeted them.

"Hi Penny! I'm Ruby" Ruby greeted the girl kindly.

Penny blinked and stared at Ruby for a few seconds before looking at the others. One by one, they all told her their names.

"I'm Weiss" The white haired girl said curtly

"Blake" The black haired girl gave a small nod

"Izuku" The green haired boy said with a dull tone with a touch of hesitance mixed in as his eyes kept facing the side, as if he wanted to turn around and look for something or someone.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" The blonde said before Blake elbowed her in the side "Ow! I'm Yang"

"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Penny repeated what she said earlier.

"You already said that," Weiss told the girl.

Penny froze for a few seconds before moving again "So I did!"

Weiss nodded slowly, kinda disturbed "Well, I'm sorry for running into you" She apologized before turning around walking away, wanting to get as far away from the strange girl as possible.

The others followed, but Ruby turned around to give one last wave to the girl "Take care, friend!" She said, not noticing Penny freeze in place again.

"Well, she was weird" Yang said one she thought they were out of earshot of the girl

"I'll say." Weiss agreed. "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" She muttered quietly

In the blink of an eye, Penny appeared in front of Weiss. "What did you call me?" She asked no one in particular. The white haired girl let out a cry of alarm and took a step back before looking at the girl and where they last saw her.

Yang look embarrassed, thinking the girl was talking about her "Oh, I'm really sorry, I didn't think you heard me" She apologized with her head hung low

"No. Not you" Penny told Yang before walking through the group and standing in front of Ruby. "You!"

Ruby looked startled, unsure of what she did wrong "Me? Uh, I-I don't know." She stumbled over her words, unsure on how she was supposed to respond.

"You called me a friend! Am I really your friend?" Penny questioned.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief, happy that she wasn't in trouble, but now how was she supposed to respond to this. She looked behind Penny to see her teammates motioning to deny the girl. She then looked to Izuku, who only shrugged, unsure of what to do. "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?" Ruby smiled at Penny.

Weiss, Yang and Blake fell over when Ruby accepted the girl's request. Izuku looked at them, concerned if they were okay. Penny looked overjoyed and let out a laugh "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She slowly turned to Izuku and gave him a once over before turning back to Ruby "I have found a boy. Do you think he's cute?"

Ruby opened her mouth to respond but found no words were coming out. Her cheeks felt hot as she thought about what Penny had just asked. Was Izuku cute? Well, when he wasn't wearing that creepy costume, Yes, Izuku was kinda cute, at least to her. But to admit that to everyone would be seriously embarrassing. Not to mention she didn't want Izuku to know that.

When the girl realized Ruby wasn't going to say anything, she turned to Izuku "Do you classify yourself as cute?" She asked in the same tone as when she asked Ruby

Izuku was slightly weirded out by how the girl was acting, but she didn't look like she was trying to cause any harm to anyone. Maybe she just didn't have much social experience, like Mei. "People call me plain," Izuku answered after a moment of silence, remembering how Ochako described him to Present Mic.

The girl stared at him for a few moments before nodding her head and turning back to Ruby. "We shall find a boy who is considered cute later" She announced.

"He is cute!" Ruby quickly blurted out without thinking. She didn't know why she did it, maybe it was because Penny didn't think Izuku was cute. But now after saying it, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Izuku blinked, trying to process what Ruby just said before a small blush appeared on his cheeks "T-Thank you, Ruby" He said, looking to the side.

Yang watched the scene play out with a small smile, but something wasn't right. Why was she feeling slightly jealous? It didn't make any sense. She didn't like Izuku like that. He was fun to tease and a good friend. That was it. Case closed.

Ruby snapped out of her stupor and leaned over to Weiss "Was this what it was like when you met me?" She asked the girl.

"No." Weiss disagreed, much to Ruby's happiness, only for that to fade when she added "She seems far more coordinated"

While Ruby looked at Weiss in betrayal, Yang decided to inject herself in the conversation "So, do you live around here?" She awkwardly asked, cringing to herself. She was starting to get flashbacks from when she tried to help Ruby make friends with Blake.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament" Penny answered

Weiss quickly turned to face the girl, hoping to find out more about her just in case they had to fight each other "You're fighting in the tournament?" She asked again, just wanting to be sure.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny saluted

Weiss had to stifle a snort "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part"

"Says the girl wearing a skirt" Blake commented with a bitter tone, still annoyed at her comments towards Faunus.

"Don't you fight in a regular skirt?" Izuku said at the exact same time as Blake. Without looking, Blake held out her fist to the green haired boy, who bumped it awkwardly.

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss retorted quickly. Ruby, who was wearing a skirt, agreed loudly, rushing over to Weiss' side. The Heiress held out her hand and Ruby gave her a low five with a smile on her face. Weiss' eyes then widened before she ran over to Penny and grabbed the girl by her shoulders "Did you see which way that monkey-tailed rapscallion went?" She interrogated

"The who?" Penny replied.

Weiss sighed in frustration before pulling a piece of paper. She placed it on the wall before drawing a quick and crude sketch of the Faunus before showing it to Penny "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

'Kaachan?' Izuku thought, staring at the drawing.

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake angrily asked walking over to Weiss, who looked over to the girl. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" She argued

"Oh, I'm sorry" She sarcastically apologized, letting go of Penny and motioning to their surroundings "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Would you like me to stop referring to this lamppost as a lamppost?" She sassed.

"Stop it!" Blake warned

But unfortunately, Blake did have the fear factor that Izuku did, so Weiss did not stop "Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!" She told her

"You ignorant little brat!" Blake growled

Weiss looked offended by what Blake told her, and when the girl walked away, she followed. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl" Blake insulted Weiss, who looked shocked at the accusation.

"What in the world makes you think that?"

"You're classifying him based on his status in the world. You're being extremely unfair." Izuku scolded the girl, appalled with how she was behaving. It was like people judging others for having villainous Quirks. She was discriminating against an entire race just because a terrorist organization was comprised of said race.

"Izuku, you've only been on Remnant for 2 months. Don't pretend like you know everything" Weiss snapped at the boy.

Izuku wanted to retort, but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. While Blake and Weiss were arguing. He pretended to listen in on the conversation before whipping around as fast as he could. He was expecting to find no one like the last couple times.

But this time was different.

Izuku caught a glimpse of someone ducking into an alleyway, and while that wasn't too concerning, what put him on edge was the fact that the figure was looking directly at him while doing it. So he wasn't going crazy. Someone was watching him! Danger Sense wasn't going off in his mind, so the figure wasn't trying to hurt him. But that didn't mean he felt any less on edge.

While Weiss and Blake were arguing with each other, Ruby noticed Izuku looked a little bit off and asked him about it "Izuku? You okay?"

He turned to the smaller girl then back towards where he saw the figure. There was a tiny chance he was just imagining things, but if he was being followed, then he'd just have to handle it himself. He didn't need to make Ruby or the others concerned for him.

"Everything's fine, don't worry"

Even after the group had made their way back to their dorms, the argument between Weiss and Blake did not stop. It was starting to get on Yang and Ruby's nerves. They'd hoped the argument would've stopped before they got to their room, but it did not.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss exclaimed

"That is the problem!" Blake countered with an angry tone

"Girls," Yang tried to inject herself into the argument "How about we just stop all of this. Besides, don't we have something to show-"

"Stay out of it, Yang!" Both of them yelled at the blonde. Yang's eye twitched in annoyance. This was supposed to be the moment they showed Izuku his new costume, and those two were completely ruining it.

Weiss quickly turned her attention back to Blake "You do realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake shouted back.

Izuku wanted to tell her that wasn't true, but with how things were going and how they yelled at Yang, it would probably be a bad idea. He didn't want to pull them apart just yet since the argument had remained semi-civil throughout their journey. For now he'd just watch and step in when things got too intense.

"Why do you think they hate Humanity so much?" Blake questioned Weiss before pointing at her with a scowl "It's because of people like Cardin, people like you! That force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

Weiss looked taken aback at the accusation "People like me?!" She questioned, shocked at the accusation.

"You're discriminatory!" Blake shouted

Rage bubbled up in Weiss' chest before she quickly retorted "I'm a victim!" She yelled angrily, staring into Blake's eyes "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" She asked quietly as she leered at Blake "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My Grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child. I've had to watch family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust, stolen. And every day, my Father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss finished by banging her hand of the bookshelf she was leaning against

Izuku, Ruby and Yang were shocked, and suddenly Weiss's hatred for the Faunus began to make sense. For Izuku, it didn't excuse her behavior towards the Faunus, but he could understand where the hatred was coming from. "Weiss, I-" Ruby tried to speak, but Weiss quickly shut that down.

"No!" She yelled at Ruby before turning back to Blake "You want to know why I despise the White Fang?" She asked again "It's because they're all a bunch of liars, thieves and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake shouted at the girl.

After that proclamation the room fell silent. Ruby and Yang stared at Blake in shock. Weiss backed up slowly towards the rest of the group. And Izuku's eyes widened, but only for a moment. He mentally kicked himself, angry that he didn't step in earlier, but he needed to shove that anger down for later. Because the floodgates had just opened, and he was going to be needed very soon.

Blake's eyes widened in horror as she realized what she'd just yelled. "I…I…" She stammered, trying to find the words, but when she looked into her teammates eyes, she found nothing but fear, and unease. She felt horrible, but what really broke her was that she didn't see any fear in Izuku's eyes. Instead she found nothing but concern. Not for the others, but for herself. She quickly turned around and bolted out of the room as fast as she could run, wanting to get away from everyone as fast as she could.

Ruby and Izuku ran over to the door "Blake! Wait, come back!" Ruby yelled while remaining at the doorway. Unlike Ruby, Izuku decided to exit the room and run after the black haired girl. Yang sat down on the bed, completely shocked with how the night had turned out. And Weiss looked down at the floor, unsure what to feel at the revelation.

Blake found herself standing out front of Beacon, looking up at the statue. It depicted an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping. She stared down at the Beowolf underneath the Heroes and focused on that.

She'd completely blown it. She came to Beacon to get away from the White Fang. To make up for what she did in the past. But all of that was gone now. They'd never let her back into the school. Her teammates must hate her now. She had nowhere to go. She was all alone

Or so she thought.

"You know," A voice rang out behind her. She turned around to see Izuku walk up to her with sympathetic eyes "You're pretty fast," He told her.

Izuku could see Blake was emotionally unstable at the moment, and he didn't blame her. So being nice and slow when talking to her was the best approach.

"I-Izuku" Blake choked out, trying to hold back her tears "D-Did you come to arrest me?" She whispered quietly

"Why would I do that?" He questioned softly, catching Blake off-guard before his voice got a bit more serious and his eyes darkened "Have you killed anybody?" She shook her head and the soft look came back in his eyes "Then why would I arrest you?"

"Because I used to be a member of the White Fang?" She answered miserably

"Used to be" Izuku repeated what she just said "That means you aren't a part of it anymore. And if you say it's because you're a Faunus. Remember what I said in Dr. Oobleck's class. I don't think there's any difference between Faunus and Humans. So when I found out you were a Faunus, I didn't see any reason to treat you differently" Izuku told her.

Blake's eyes widened in shock and her jaw trembled "Y-You knew?" She whispered. "How?"

"When you took me out for the day I saw your bow twitch. Then I just pieced together all of the puzzles and you being a Faunus was the only solution I could come up with." Izuku answered with a soft smile.

Blake looked down at the ground before slowly removing her bow with shaky hands, revealing her cat ears to the boy. "I thought it might've been a cat. You do like fish a lot." He said.

"Do you think Weiss is right? Do you think that the White Fang is a terrorist organization?" Blake asked

"I can understand where Schnee is coming from," Izuku answered. Blake looked shocked at what he just said, but before she could say anything Izuku continued "It's why the White Fang hate Humans. You've both ruined lives. Both of you are in the wrong, but refuse to admit it. It's just a never-ending cycle of hatred and pain" He finished.

Blake felt a surge of anger burn through her body, and before she could even think about what she was about to do, her mouth opened "Stop pretending like you know what it's like to be a Faunus! You have no clue what it's like to have people look at you and think what a waste of space!"

After she blurted that out, regret filled her body. Izuku was being nothing but nice to her. He didn't deserve that. She looked at her friend and saw his eyes were narrow.

Izuku held out his hand and Blackwhip shot out. Blake flinched, thinking he was going to hurt her. Instead, he pushed it into the concrete and dragged it along the pavement, creating a small, but visible line which he made into a pyramid with five layers. "You wanted to know more about my world, right?" He asked the girl. Without waiting for a response, Izuku pointed to the top layer of the pyramid.

"In my world there's a hierarchy. People try to deny it, but it's very obvious to anyone who looks." He began. He pointed to the first section at the top. "At the top are those with powerful Quirks, fit for Pro Heroes. These people get everything handed to them. They have higher chances of getting the jobs they want. If they're a bully in school, the teacher might ignore it depending on who the kid is bullying" With a sigh, Izuku used Blackwhip to tap the top section "This is the elite class"

Next he tapped the section below it "This is the common class. People with regular Quirks that aren't flashy or powerful. This is where the majority of the population rests. They don't get special privileges. They're treated fairly by the population since there isn't anything disturbing about them."

Then he tapped the next section "These are people with full-body mutation Quirks. It's when the mutation affects most of their body. Lots of people are hesitant about them. Normally, they would get a lower salary and are discriminated against by a lot of people"

After that, he tapped the second last layer "This is where the people with so-called 'Villainous Quirks' stay" He said, making quotation marks with an angry scowl "If you have a Quirk that people are scared of, you'll be classified as a Villain by a lot of people. The chances of getting a job are pretty much thrown out the window and you'll be pushed away by society. Eventually, it will get to the point that being a Villain is the only thing you can do to survive"

Then Izuku sighed heavily and stared down at the bottom layer with a look Blake couldn't decipher "Remember how I told you everyone had a power in my world. Well, that's not really true. A tiny percent of the population are called Quirkless. They don't possess any sort of power or ability. And in a world where your Quirk is what makes or breaks you, this is the worst card you could've been dealt. No one will care about you, your dreams mean nothing to others, and you'll be picked on relentlessly since you're different from everyone else. You'll be treated like a wooden figure. Just something for people to mess around with when they please and abuse with no consequences" He said with a heavy frown before shaking his head and taking in a deep breath.

Blake noticed the way he spoke about the Quirkless people was very similar to the way she spoke about Faunus, but she didn't understand why he was divulging this information to her. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Blake asked quietly, looking at Izuku from the sides of her eyes

"Where do you think I sit on this pyramid?" Izuku questioned. Without hesitating, Blake pointed to the top layer and Izuku nodded "Yeah, but I've only stayed in that section for around a year" He claimed, causing Blake to blink in confusion "For the first fifteen years of my life, I was down here" She watched in shock as Izuku tapped on the bottom layer.

The Quirkless layer.

"What?" She whispered, shocked at the revelation

"Believe it or not, I didn't develop my Quirk until I was 15 years old." He chuckled dryly, clearly uncomfortable with what he was spilling out, but he was fine with doing it. If it meant that Blake would understand he knew what it was like, then so be it. "Ever since my diagnosis. I was ignored by my peers, made fun of, bullied, and even told to go kill myself"

Blake's eyes shot wide open and her head turned to look at Izuku with a horrified expression. He didn't return the look, instead he kept looking up to the sky "Then I got my Quirk, and I met some of my first true friends, but years of bullying don't go away that easily" He admitted before turning to face her "I don't know exactly what you went through, since we led very different lives. You decided to stand up and fight for what you believe in, and I just closed my eyes and pretended that everything was okay, but I know enough to tell you I can understand how you feel"

Blake stared at Izuku. A boy who knew what she was going through. A Human who'd suffered like her. She didn't know what to do or say, and her emotions took over. For the first time in her life, she broke down in front of a Human "I just don't know what to do! I tried to do peaceful protests and that made no difference. Then I tried stealing supplies which were used to harm us, and that only made things worse. It feels like nothing I do makes any impact. I just want to live in a world where I'm not treated like dirt!" She confessed. She felt like she was about to start crying, but then Izuku said something that made her freeze.

"Then come to my world"

Blake felt her mind shut down for a second before rebooting. She looked at Izuku, eyes wide with shock. "W-W-What?" Blake stammered out, unsure if she heard him correctly

"You can come with me to my world. Like I said a couple of days ago, a Faunus wouldn't face as much discrimination as they do here. You could join my school if you wanted. You can't kill Villains like you do Grimm, but capturing and detaining Villains helps the world just the same. The culture is also a bit different, but I can teach you everything you need to know." He offered.

Blake was stunned. Part of her wanted to accept the deal, to go to a world where she wouldn't be judged, but she couldn't accept it "I don't want to leave my family behind" Blake whispered quietly. She'd left them behind when she stayed with the White Fang, but to go to a completely different world was too much.

"Then bring them," Izuku responded instantly, catching Blake off guard again. "I'm sure that my principal will be able to help you and your family. You won't have to live in fear of being treated like dirt. You'll be treated much better in my world. And I'm sure my classmates would love to meet you"

Blake stared at Izuku, completely silent. She could feel her eyes start to water as she replayed what he'd said to her. "Why?" Blake whispered, shakily "Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you treating me like a good person? I've robbed people, I've hurt people. I'm the type of person you fight in your world, so why are you helping me!" She cried out, collapsing onto her knees as tears started rolling down her cheeks. She looked to the ground, refusing to meet his eyes.

There was silence for a few moments before it was broken. "Blake" Izuku's voice rang out. His tone soft and kind. "Look at me, please" He requested.

Blake did as he requested and turned her head up to face him. Her breathing stopped as she stared at the item in Izuku's hand. Or to be more specific, attached to his hand. The moon rose over the statue, the moonlight shining over both of them, giving her a better look at what he was holding.

It was a rose made completely out of Blackwhip.

"It takes a lot of concentration to connect Blackwhip like this, not to mention I can only produce six tendrils right now. But with training, I can save so many lives with this ability," He told her. Blackwhip untangled and retreated back into Izuku's skin "And every life I save, will be because of you."

Izuku held his hand out towards Blake and she took it. He helped her to her feet before staring into her eyes "You asked why I wanted to help you. It's because when I look at you, I don't see a criminal. I don't see a Villain. I don't see a former member of a terrorist organization. I see a girl wronged by society. I see a girl trying to make up for her past in the best way possible. I see Blake Belladonna, one of my friends"

Blake stared at Izuku in silence for a few seconds. The boy started to get concerned before she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. Izuku froze for a second, unsure of what to do before wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back softly.

They stood like that for a few moments, enjoying each other's touch before Blake reluctantly pulled away. She looked into his green eyes. Eyes that shone no hatred towards her, no fear, only compassion and care. She felt her cheeks burn and her heart start to beat faster. Slowly, she started to lean towards Izuku. She didn't know what she was doing, but she didn't want to stop. Her face got closer and closer to his and her eyes closed, waiting for the contact.

But it never came

"I thought you might've been a Faunus" A familiar voice rang out.

Blake quickly pulled away from a confused Izuku and they both looked up into the trees to see the Monkey Faunus from earlier. Blake quickly tried to calm herself down from what she almost did while the boy jumped down from the trees.

"How long have you been watching us?" Izuku asked, hoping he just didn't give away information to a complete stranger, and to his dismay, he did.

"A while." The boy informed Izuku "I'd heard rumors of a boy from another dimension from my school. I was hoping to meet him, and it looks like I just did"

Izuku wanted to be annoyed at himself for spilling information he only wanted Blake to hear, but then he heard a bunch of voices get closer and closer and it wasn't the rest of Team RWBY

"Although we can talk about that later. Right now I think it's time we scram." The tanned boy said. Izuku and Blake looked at each other before nodding and the three ran off into the night.

Izuku and Blake stared at the one bed in the hotel room. They'd asked for a two bedroom hotel, but the receptionist had informed them that this was the only room available. So with no other choice, they took it. Blake opened her mouth to say something, but Izuku beat her to it. "You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the floor" He told her.

"Are you sure?" Blake questioned "You can have the bed instead. I'll be fine on the floor" She tried to reassure her friend, but he wasn't having any of it.

"The first night at Beacon I slept on a windowsill, and it was the best sleep I'd had in a long time" Izuku reminded her "Not to mention I've been able to go weeks without sleeping. One bad night's sleep isn't going to affect me in any way." He told her before hopping down on the floor.

Blake wanted to object, but if she knew anything about Izuku, it was that he was stubborn. So she nodded and slid into the bed, but not before throwing one of the two pillows down to Izuku "Here, I only need one pillow"

"Thanks" Izuku said before getting up and turning off the light. He crawled back onto the floor and rested his head on the soft pillow "Goodnight, Blake" Izuku said.

"Goodnight, Izuku" Blake whispered "Thanks for standing up for me" She added quietly

"No problem. Always happy to help out someone I care about" He said before going silent.

Blake laid in the bed, looking up towards the darkness. Her mind replayed all the shit that happened that day. From their outing, to her accidentally revealing she was a Faunus, to Izuku standing by her, and to her almost kissing him.

Her cheeks grew hot as she remembered that small event. What was she thinking? Pulling a stunt like that. 'It was just the heat of the moment' Blake thought to herself 'I didn't mean anything by it. It didn't mean anything…'

'Right?

Chapter Text

'Well this is awkward' Izuku thought as he took a sip of his water. Looking around the cafe, he could feel a warm and friendly aura surrounding the other tables. But their table was filled with awkward silence and shifty looks towards the monkey Faunus from both Blake and himself. "Why are we here?" He asked

"Finally, they speak! Nearly two days and you both have given me nothing but small talk and weird looks!" In response to his claim, Blake gave him a weird look "Yeah, like that" The Faunus nodded

"You didn't answer my question" Izuku said "Why are we here?" He repeated

"Well, I wanted to make some friends here in Vale, and you two were the first people I ran into who didn't want to arrest me" The boy shrugged "Name's Sun Wukong. My friends call me Sun"

"Blake" His friend introduced herself.

"Izuku" Izuku introduced himself, not wanting to be rude.

Silence filled the table yet again, but unlike last time, it was broken fairly quickly "So you want to know about us?" Blake question.

Sun nodded his head, but Izuku quickly interjected "Should we really trust him? Some random stranger you just met?" He asked with an uncertain look on his face "When he's not trying to talk to you, he's trying to ask me questions about my world"

"I'm curious. Sue me." Sun shrugged. "Wouldn't you want to find out more about a kid from another dimension?"

Izuku sighed and put his face in his hands while Blake shook her head. She wanted to get this off her chest for a long time. "Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang?" She asked.

Sun scoffed "Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them." He leaned back on his chair and shook his head "Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want" He reached over to his banana smoothie and grabbed it "Bunch of freaks, if you ask me" He finished, taking a sip of his drink

"I was once a member of the White Fang" Blake told him with a blank face

Sun choked on his drink and entered a coughing fit. He put his drink down and quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe his face. Once the coughing stopped, he stared at Blake with a shocked look "Wait! Hold on! Time out. You were a member of the White Fang?" He whispered, looking around the café to make sure no one heard them.

Blake nodded "That's right" She confirmed before taking a sip of her tea "I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could say I was born into it" She sighed and looked out the window with a faint smile "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang stood up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott." Blake let out a dry chuckle and shook her head "I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just being a youthful optimist." A grim look appeared on her face as she looked down at her tea. "Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect. We were being treated like equals out of fear." She took a deep breath to recollect herself and continued with her story "So, I left. I decided to no longer use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow" She wiggled her ears, letting her bow twitch.

Sun stared forward and let out a heavy breath, trying to comprehend all the information that was just dumped on him. But Blake wasn't worried about what he thought of her. She was worried about what Izuku thought. He didn't know much about what she did, so she feared what he would think of her now.

But her fears were put to rest when Izuku rested his hand on hers and squeezed tightly, letting her know he was here for her. Blake turned to face him and gave him a small smile 'His hand is warm' She noticed, enjoying the feeling of it on hers.

"So have you told your friends any of this?" Sun asked when he fully processed the information.

Blake fidgeted in her seat. The only person who really knew about it was Izuku. Her teammates only knew a tiny amount due to her outburst.

Izuku could see Blake was getting upset and uncomfortable, so he stood up and gained their attention. "We should probably go. It's getting crowded, and I don't like large groups of people" He lied.

Blake saw him give her an inconspicuous look and her sadness was replaced with relief "Sure. Let's go"

Sun looked slightly upset. He hadn't even finished his drink yet. But judging from the look in their eyes, they weren't going to stay. So he chugged his banana milkshake as fast as he could and stood up, not wanting to be left behind "Okay."

The trio left the store and began wandering the streets aimlessly. Sun, still curious about Izuku, decided to try asking him a few questions. "So, can you tell me more about your world? I just want to know-"

"I don't think so" Izuku cut the Faunus off. He was regretting telling people he was from another world. He should've just kept that to himself. "I have no clue who you are or what you want. So I'm sorry, but I don't really trust you with information about my world"

"Oh, come on. What about last night? I already heard about how your world judges people by their power" Sun pointed out.

"Then that's all you're going to know for now" Izuku countered "Until you prove yourself trustworthy, I'm not telling you about my world."

"Okay, okay" Sun held his hands up in surrender before putting them behind his head "So what's the plan?" He changed the subject.

Izuku and Blake shared a look. They had no clue what to do. Izuku started to try and think of a plan, while Blake spoke to Sun "I still don't believe the White Fang are behind these robberies." She stated, although Sun could detect a hint of uncertainty behind her voice "They've never needed this much Dust before"

"What if they did?" Sun asked. Blake turned to look at him with a frown "But if you think they're innocent, then we should head to the place the robbers would head next. If the White Fang don't show up, then we know they aren't to blame. Right?"

"The only problem is that I have no clue where the robbers will target next" Blake said

"It would have to be somewhere with a lot of Dust." Izuku pondered out loud "Like another store, or possibly something larger." He turned to the others "Is there anywhere that houses more dust than a shop? Like a factory or a warehouse?"

"A freighter" Sun told Izuku, catching his attention "When I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas" He informed the two Beacon students

"Are you sure?" Blake questioned, wanting to be sure he wasn't just messing with them or heard something wrong. When the boy nodded her head, she looked at Izuku, who gave her a small nod "So what time?

Sun's grin faltered "I have no clue" He confessed

Izuku let out a small sigh "Well. We might as well go there now." He said. The other two nodded and then started walking to their destination.

"Blake! Izuku" Ruby and Yang shouted out loud, hoping that one of the two would hear and find them. But the only response they got was weird looks from the civilians they passed. "Where are you guys!" They shouted out as loudly as they could, but nothing.

Panting, Ruby turned around to see Weiss not really doing anything "Weiss! You're not helping!" She complained

"Oh, okay" She nodded, turning away and cupping her hands over her mouth "Izuku! Where are you!" She shouted out. She turned back to her teammates only to find them glaring at her "What? I'm helping" She stated snarkily.

"Yeah, but you're only calling out Izuku's name. You're not fully helping" Ruby told her.

"Oh! You know who I think could help us in this situation?" Weiss asked with a fake smile "The Police!" She told the two sisters.

Ruby groaned. They'd talked about this already, but Weiss didn't seem to understand what would happen to Blake if they told the Police. They needed to hear Blake's side of the story first. "Weiss" She warned

"It was just an idea!" Weiss tried, and failed, to defend herself

"Yeah, a bad one" Ruby countered

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions" Yang tried to diffuse the rising tension brewing between the two girls.

"I think that when we hear it, you will all realize that I was right!" Weiss argued

"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!" A familiar voice spoke from right behind Weiss. The heiress turned around and found Penny was standing right in front of her. She let out a yell of surprise and took a few steps back.

"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed, not expecting to see the girl "Where did you come from?"

"Hey guys! What are you up to?" She asked cheerfully, completely ignoring Ruby's question.

Ruby faltered. Was it okay to say they were looking for their missing friends? She looked over to Yang with panicked eyes, trying to indicate she didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Yang understood her and nodded her head "We're looking for our friends, Blake and Izuku" Yang told the girl.

"Oh! You mean the Faunus Girl!" Penny said with a smile

Ruby, Weiss and Yang froze and turned to look at Penny with shocked faces. "Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asked the question they were all thinking.

Penny looked confused and motioned towards the top of her head "The cat ears?"

Yang let out a small laugh "What cat ears? She wears a… oooohhhh"

The realization left them stunned. An awkward silence filled the air, only broken when a tumbleweed blew past them in the wind.

"She does like Tuna a lot." Ruby whispered to herself.

"And Izuku… He is the plain-looking cute boy, correct?" She questioned, turning to Ruby for validation.

"Ummm" Ruby squirmed, her face red with embarrassment. She already called Izuku cute out loud and it was really embarrassing. It was definitely easier to say it out loud without the boy present, but why did she still feel weird confessing that to the others?

"That's the one!" Yang nodded "Although take out the plain-looking part" She added. Ruby turned to her sister in shock. How was Yang able to say that so easily? Weiss also looked at Yang with a small frown "What? You guys know it's true! Out of the two options, Izuku's definitely cuter than plain-looking" The blonde defended herself

"So where are they?" Penny asked

With a sigh, Ruby told her friend the bad news "We don't know." She admitted "They've been missing for nearly two days"

"That's terrible!" Penny gasped. She walked past Yang and Weiss and towards Ruby. Placing her hands on the girl's shoulders, she smiled "Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your friends!" She declared loudly.

Ruby continued to smile, but this time it was more forced than natural. She didn't really want Penny to tag along with them, but at the same time she didn't want to be mean and push her away "Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny. But we're okay! Really! Right, guys?" She leaned to the side and looked over Penny's shoulder, hoping to see her teammates agree with her. But instead she found no one.

Did they really leave her alone with Penny?

An awkward silence spread throughout the air. A gust of wind blew the same tumbleweed past them silently. "It's windy out here" Ruby commented, trying to break the awkward silence between them.

Penny turned around and saw that the other two girls had disappeared. "Oh, I wonder where they went?" Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but Penny spoke up again "They must've gone looking for Blake and Izuku. Splitting up is always a great option to cover more ground. We should team up and keep looking around" Penny stated before walking away.

Ruby watched as the strange girl walked away before quickly running after her. Even though Penny was kinda weird, Ruby wasn't going to be a jerk and leave her all alone to look for her friends. That would be unfair.

As the two walked together, Penny decided to engage Ruby in some idle conversation, wanting to learn more about the two runaways. "So Blake and Izuku are your friends?" She asked

Ruby sighed, not really in the mood to chat, but still went along with it "Yes, Penny" She nodded

"But you're mad at them?" Penny questioned

"Yes" Ruby nodded automatically before quickly shaking her head "Well, Yang and I aren't. Weiss is angry. But not at Izuku. I think she's more concerned about him." She told the orange haired girl.

"Is she friends with Blake?" Penny queried

Ruby shrugged "I don't know. That's kinda up in the air right now" She informed

Penny froze for a second before continuing to walk "But why?" She asked

Ruby sighed again. She was fine with giving away details, but telling Penny that Blake used to be a member of the White Fang could go poorly "Well, you see…" She struggled to find the words "Blake might not be who we thought she was" Ruby cryptically told her

Penny gasped in shock "Is she a man?"

'Huh?' Ruby thought, trying to process what Penny just asked "What, no. She's…" Ruby shook her head and let out a sigh. "I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off. The only person who probably knows is Izuku, and he's gone silent."

Penny nodded slowly before stopping. "I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things" She told what was probably her only friend.

Ruby looked down at the ground "Me too." She said sadly before the two continued walking.

Penny noticed Ruby seemed downtrodden. She didn't like seeing her friend like this, so she tried to take the girl's mind off Blake "What about Izuku? Is he your friend?" She questioned

Ruby was caught off guard, not expecting the girl to start talking about Izuku. She quickly nodded, but Penny could detect a hint of uncertainty inside the girl "Yes. He's the best boyfriend- Wait, no, I-I mean. He is the best friend I have that's a boy. Y-Yeah, that's it. That's all it is" Ruby finished, looking to the ground with a sad expression plastered on her face

"Is something wrong, Ruby" Penny asked, tilting her head to the side quizzically

"It's just…" Ruby sighed and shook her head "Izuku is one of my best friends. He tries to act all tough and cold, but whenever my teammates or I need help, he's always the first one to show up. He'll make you happy when you're feeling down. He'll always protect you, no matter the situation" She told Penny

"He sounds like a nice boy" Penny commented

"But then there are times where he puts himself in danger to help someone. He's barely ever happy. I've only seen him smile on certain occasions, and they aren't even big happy ones." Ruby continued with a small frown. She crossed her arms and looked down with a pained face "There are times when he doesn't tell us when he's in trouble. Yesterday he looked distracted and uneasy, and when I asked him he just lied and told me everything was fine. I don't like it" She admitted "I just feel like he's hiding a lot of stuff from me"

Penny froze for a couple of seconds before looking Ruby in the eyes. "I don't know much about Izuku, but to me it sounds like he wants to do things alone so he doesn't bother his friends. The best thing to do in this situation is sit down with him and tell him how you feel. Communication is crucial in a special relationship like you have with him"

Ruby nodded. It made sense. If she came to Izuku and confessed her worry, the boy would try to calm her down, but with enough pressing, she could get Izuku to admit what was troubling him.

Maybe the only way for Izuku to help himself was to help them.

Ruby's thoughts stopped when she processed the last bit of what Penny had told her "Wait, what do you mean by special relationship?" She questioned with an odd look on her face.

Penny froze before answering "You called him your boyfriend just then. We're talking about a couple who are experiencing trouble in their relationship, are we not?" She asked innocently

"W-What?!" Ruby exclaimed in shock. A blush coated her cheeks and she shook her head back and forth. "No! You got it all wrong! Izuku is just my best friend! That's it!" She quickly shut that idea down.

"Oh. I apologize. The way you talk about him and how you looked at him yesterday made me think you two were a couple" Penny apologized

Ruby sighed in relief. How Penny came to the conclusion of them dating was beyond her. Was it the way she talked about him? No, it couldn't be, all she did was tell Penny how she was concerned about him. But what about the way she looked at him? She didn't look at him any differently yesterday, did she? She just looked at him the same way she always did… Right? It all started to mix in her mind, meshing and blending together into the big question that she honestly didn't know how to answer.

Did she like Izuku like that?

Yang and Weiss exited a store. Yang turned around and waved at the person on the register "Thanks anyways!" She said happily. Once the door closed, the smile disappeared from her face and she sighed "This is hopeless" She stated. Looking over to her teammate, she found her staring forward, with a heavy frown on her face "You really don't care if we find her, do you?" She asked with a frown of her own.

"Don't be stupid; of course I do," Weiss snapped at the taller girl. "I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her. Not to mention what she might've said to Izuku." She frowned before looking to the ground "He has enough on his plate now. I don't want her adding to his list of problems" She whispered quietly before walking away.

Yang stood still and sighed before looking up towards the sky. She knew Izuku had a few issues, but it was starting to sound like Weiss knew something she didn't. 'I hope you're okay, Izuku.' She thought before walking after Weiss.

Blake laid on her stomach, watching the shipping yard for any sign of activity. Sun had gone to grab some snacks and Izuku had followed him, not trusting the boy to not steal any food. She took a deep breath and looked down with a frown. The optimist in her really hoped that Sun was wrong about this. But the realist inside of her knew she was just trying to be the youthful optimist she'd once been.

When she heard footsteps behind her, she panicked and turned around, only to see Sun and Izuku walking up to her. Sun, to no one's surprise, was holding a banana. Izuku was holding a piece of a watermelon and an apple. He sat down next to Blake and handed her the apple. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got you an apple." He admitted

Blake gave him a warm smile in return "Apples are great, thanks Izuku" She said before taking a large bite out of her apple "I take it you got a watermelon because they're so expensive where you're from?" She asked. Izuku nodded his head in agreement, and that was when Blake realized something "Wait, did you two have any money for this?"

"Yeah, but I stole it anyway." Sun smiled

Blake's eyes narrowed at Sun before she turned to face Izuku "You really let him steal stuff in front of you?" She asked in disbelief.

Izuku shook his head "No, I paid for it" He told her.

That perplexed Blake greatly. Izuku had no Lien, so how did he pay for the food? "Do you even have Lien?" She voiced her confusion.

Again, Izuku shook his head "No I don't" He said before turning to Sun "Hey, Sun! Catch!" He said, throwing something at the other boy.

The Faunus quickly caught it and examined it. His eyes widened when he saw it was his wallet. While he wanted to be annoyed at the green haired boy for taking his wallet, he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "Well played"

"So do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake asked dryly, staring at him with a disapproving gaze.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun tried to defend himself. He quickly realized the error he made when both Blake and Izuku shot him dirty looks "Okay, okay! Too soon, I get it!" He backed down.

Izuku shook his head and laid down next to Blake "So, has there been any sign of them yet?"

"Not ye-"

Just before Blake could finish her sentence, a loud whirring sound filled the air. The trio looked up to see a Bullhead shining a searchlight on the ground, trying to find a place to land. It soon descended in the middle of some cargo containers. A ramp extended out of the side and the door opened, allowing the passengers to disembark. A group of black hooded individuals walked out. They wore metal masks with fangs to hide their identity, and when one of them turned around, the three students saw a familiar emblem on their clothes.

"Oh no." Blake whispered.

"Is that them?" Sun whispered to Blake

"Yes, it's them," Blake confirmed Sun's question.

The group watched as one of the White Fang looked over towards the other members coming off the Bullhead "All right, grab the tow cables!" He ordered, motioning towards the cables with his rifle.

"You didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Izuku asked, noticing how sad Blake looked.

With a sigh, Blake shook her head "No" She told her friend "Deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right" She closed her eyes in despair, only for them to snap open when hearing a new voice.

"Hey! What's the holdup?!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Izuku whispered under his breath.

Roman Torchwick made his way out of the Bullhead and stared gesturing wildly "We're not the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?" He yelled at them all.

'This isn't right. This is wrong!' Blake thought, staring at the scene from the rooftop. The White Fang would've slaughtered him the second he called them animals. Instead they continued working as if the man hadn't just called them one of the most offensive slurs. "This isn't right" She relayed her thoughts to Izuku and Sun "The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that" She unsheathed Gambol Shroud and it morphed into a sword. She began walking to the edge, much to the confusion of her two companions.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Sun whispered

"Blake, stop!" Izuku tried to tell her, but she didn't listen.

Blake fell to the ground silently and hid behind a container. She peeked over the container to see Roman berate a White Fang soldier while holding a coil of rope. Silently, she stalked towards her prey

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman complained, annoyed at the organization. His mood only got worse when he felt a blade pressed against his throat "What the-?! Oh, for fu-"

"Nobody move!" Blake shouted to all the White Fang soldiers. The other Faunus quickly raised their guns and swords in response to this random girl taking Roman hostage

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady!" Roman held his hands up in mock surrender.

Blake watched as the White Fang slowly closed in on her, so taking in a deep breath, she used her free hand to remove her bow, showing everyone her Faunus ears. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?!" She shouted

The soldiers froze and looked at each other, unsure of what to do. If this was just a regular girl, they'd have no problem with wiping her out, but this was one of their own. A Faunus just like them.

Roman laughed and shook his head carefully, making sure to not cut his neck against the blade "Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?" He asked with a chuckle

"What are you talking about?" Blake growled, holding her weapon tighter.

"The White Fang and I are going on a joint business venture together!" Roman informed the girl

Blake pressed the blade harder onto the man's throat "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation!" She threatened

The sound of turbines spinning distracted Blake. She looked up in horror to see two Bullheads float above the ongoing heist "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation" Roman smiled before aiming his cane down and firing it at Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion.

Ruby and Penny's heads whipped around when she heard the explosion. Even in the night, she could see smoke rising from the docking bay just a few buildings away. "Oh no" Ruby whispered before running towards the explosion.

Blake quickly rolled out of the way and ducked behind some containers. Her head hurt and the world was spinning, but aside from that she felt fine.

Roman continued to fire missiles out of his cane, Melodic Cudgel, blowing up multiple containers in order to find the girl "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…" Roman taunted as he searched for the girl. Just before he found her, a banana peel landed on his face. He growled and tossed it aside. Looking up he saw Sun cheering at his successful hit.

The Faunus jumped down and landed in front of Roman with his fist raised, ready to fight "Leave her alone!" Sun commanded. The two Bullhead's doors opened and a bunch of White Fang members. They all jumped down and aimed their weapons at Sun.

The boy gulped and quickly ran behind a container before he was shot.

Roman shook his head "Can't I do my work in peace?" He quietly muttered to himself. When he heard something land down behind him, he sighed and turned around only to find a familiar masked boy crouching on one of the containers.

"Hello, Torchwick," Izuku said

Roman stared at the boy before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose "And just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse" He muttered before quickly firing a shot at the boy. Izuku leapt back, avoiding the bullet, but that gave Roman enough time to issue an order to the White Fang "Aim all your weapons on Green!" He shouted.

Danger Sense immediately kicked in and Izuku quickly ran around the battlefield, ducking and jumping over the hail of bullets. Thankfully they were just pistol and assault rifle bullets and not sniper bullets. Otherwise he would've had to increase to 45% and he didn't want to show off that amount of power just yet.

With all the goons shooting at Izuku that gave Sun the opportunity to take out multiple members who had guns, which in turn gave Izuku a bit more breathing room. Danger Sense quickly went off and Izuku dove behind a shipping container.

'How did he know?' Roman thought. He'd only started raising his gun before the boy turned around and jumped out of the way. Like he knew what Roman was about to do without even seeing him.

Blake quickly emerged from her hiding place and rushed towards Roman. "Blake! Don't be reckless!" Izuku shouted, but his words fell on deaf ears.

Blake ran at Roman before activating her Semblance. A bunch of clones appeared out of nowhere and began to slash at him with Gambol Shroud. Roman quickly backed away and began deflecting every blow at unbelievable speeds. Getting hit by any one of the clones could mean his end, so he stayed on alert. The real Blake dashed, hopped and slid around the criminal, trying to find a weak spot.

One of the clones managed to land a hit on Roman, slicing his arm. Roman grunted in pain, but didn't let that little mishap bother him. He couldn't afford to lose concentration. He continued to block hits before swinging his cane into the clones. The clones disappeared, leaving only the real Blake. Roman tried to punch the girl in the face, but his fist slammed into a newly created clone.

Blake rushed forward and swung her weapon at Roman, but he quickly blocked it. She pulled her weapon back to try and hit him again, but he quickly jabbed her in the side with his cane. Roman laughed as he landed a few more hits on Blake. He raised his cane to slam it against her head, but he felt something collide with his back and he was sent flying into a container.

Roman groaned and looked up to see Izuku had his fist held out 'What does that kid eat?' Roman thought, grasping his stomach in pain. He saw the boy make his way towards him slowly with his fists clenched. Looking up, he found a container hanging above the boy. A sinister smile came to his face as he raised his weapon and shot the supports, which caused the container to fall down. Izuku just braced himself and caught the container. He could feel his body strain under the weight before throwing it at one of the two bullheads. It knocked one of the engines off the ship before it lost control and crashed into the other one. The remaining White Fang soldiers inside quickly jumped out before it crashed into the ground and exploded. Roman just stared at Izuku dumbfounded, but then his and everyone's attention was diverted to a few newcomers.

"Hey!" Ruby's voice called out nearby. Izuku turned his head to see Ruby standing there with Crescent Rose out, ready to fight.

"I leave you alone for two days Izuku!" Weiss shouted at Izuku from the other side of the shipyard.

"Sorry we're late to the party!" Yang smiled next to Weiss

"Well, hello Red. Come to help out Green?" Roman sneered, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

From out of nowhere, Penny appeared on a roof near Ruby "Ruby, are these people your friends?" She asked, looking around at the destruction caused.

Ruby turned towards the girl, leaving herself wide open. "Penny, get back!" She warned her friend, not aware that she was the one in danger. Roman pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at the girl before raising his cane.

"RUBY!" Izuku shouted, dashing towards her. Ruby turned her head, confused at why Izuku was screaming her name. Then she felt something collide with her feet. Her eyes widened when she saw it was a Dust crystal. This one was twice the size as the one Roman threw at her the first time she'd encountered him.

Before she could even think, a loud bang filled her eardrums, quickly followed by someone shoving her away. The push was so powerful that she found herself basically gliding backwards. Her eyes widened when she saw Izuku had taken his place. He quickly covered his face with his arms as the bullet came into contact with the crystal. The Dust exploded and sent a shockwave blasting in every direction, only increasing the distance she flew backwards. Her back slammed against a shipping container as she watched the flames rise as if they were trying to reach the clouds. Even from where she was she could still feel the heat of her face.

Izuku's body flew out of the flames, the explosion sending him flying into the sky. Parts of his costume had flames licking the fabric and the parts that weren't completely destroyed were damaged. "IZUKU!" Team RWBY cried out, watching him fly through the sky.

But then something happened that none of them were expecting.

Instead of falling down to the ground. He remained floating in the sky. His body rotated so he was standing upright. A large gust of wind blew by, extinguishing the small flames. Izuku grabbed his mask and pulled it back, letting everyone get a good look at his face. He looked down at them from the skies with a terrifying look. It was then he realized he'd activated Float on instinct.

It'd been nearly two months since he'd used it. He'd missed the feeling of feeling weightless. But then he realized that everyone could see him. He had used a Quirk he'd tried to keep hidden. Well there was no use crying out that now. He'd shown off one of his hidden cards, and now he was going to play it

A smile came to his face as he floated above them all. His attention turned towards an approaching Bullhead as it aimed its guns at him. But before it could even fire a single bullet, Izuku flew towards it at high speeds.

He landed on the roof of the Bullhead and used Blackwhip to wrap around one of the engines. Izuku pulled hard and heard the sound of metal creaking combined with the control panel blaring from within the ship. Letting out a yell, he ripped the engine clean off. The airship started to spin towards the ground.

Without wasting a second, Izuku jumped off the ship and then used Blackwhip to hook onto the cockpit window. He quickly used the tendrils to pull himself to the glass, where he saw two White Fang members trying to regain control of the craft. Izuku punched the glass and it shattered into shards. Another two strands of Blackwhip shot inside and wrapped around the two White Fang members. He quickly jumped back out, taking the two criminals with him.

He landed on the ground gently, but slammed the two White Fang members into the ground hard, knocking them unconscious.

Ruby was so engrossed in the fight that she almost didn't notice Penny step onto the ledge to join in on the fight. "Penny, wait! Stop!" She tried to tell the strange girl.

But Penny just turned around to face Ruby with a smile "Don't worry, Ruby! I'm combat ready!" She told her friend.

Penny's backpack mechanically opened up, and from it came a single sword. It extended out of her bag before splitting into several smaller blades that hovered around her backpack. She leapt from the rooftop and sent two blades flying into two White Fang soldiers, knocking them out. When she landed on the ground, she flung another sword at another soldier. Not wasting any time, she quickly threw another weapon and impaled a soldier's hand to the wall. Ignoring his screams of agony, Penny rushed towards a group and rotated the swords at high speeds before letting them go. The blades crashed into the criminals as if they were bowling pins.

"Woah!" Sun whispered, watching everything unfold with wide eyes.

Penny looked up when she heard the sound of multiple ships approaching, and sure enough, there were three Bullheads hovering over her in a matter of seconds. The ships began to open fire, but two blades flew out of her backpack which pulled her to safety. Once safe, the blades rotated in a vertical circle. Energy started to form in the middle of it before forming into a beam which shot towards the Bullheads. The ships were completely destroyed the second the beam came in contact with them. The White Fang members fell out of the ships and fell down to the ground below.

Izuku quickly leapt up and used Blackwhip to wrap them all into one big cocoon before slamming it into the ground. When he unraveled the tendrils, he found all the members were knocked out.

"These kids just keep getting weirder and weirder" Roman whispered to himself before running into the Bullhead he came in on. It quickly powered up and started to fly away, but Izuku quickly used Blackwhip to hook around the ship 'Not this time, Green!' Roman thought before activating a feature he'd had installed in case something like this ever happened again.

The Bullhead hummed as electricity began sparking on the outside of the ship. The electricity ran through Blackwhip and connected with Izuku. He screamed as electricity coursed through his body and he deactivated Blackwhip, allowing Roman to fly away.

"Nandayo?" Izuku weakly whispered, still trying to regain his senses as Team RWBY ran over to him.

Izuku sat on a crate, watching as the police interviewed Weiss. The cops got here not too long after Roman escaped and arrested all the White Fang members. The others had been interviewed and sitting on the crates away from him. The reason for this was because he needed some space.

And also because he smelled like cooked Izuku.

After the explosion in the Haibori Woods, his costume was extremely damaged, but it could still be worn. But looking at it now, this was probably the last fight he'd have in this version of his Hero costume. The upper right sleeve was gone. The left arm was torn in multiple spots. The mid-gauntlets were still wrapped around his arm, but the metal was starting to peel back and bend out of place. And his respirator and hood. If they looked monstrous before, then they looked demonic now. Thankfully, the cape he wore around his neck hadn't taken much damage. The edges were singed on some parts, but that was about it. His lower half thankfully took very little damage. A few cuts here and there, but they stretched with every movement.

His gloves were horrible. Many of the fingers were ripped and shredded. But what made him upset was the fact that he was almost positive they were broken. To test it out, he held his hand towards the sky and flicked his fingers. A groan came from his gloves followed by a loud hiss as his gloves tried and failed to funnel the air from his flick.

Yep. It was broken.

While Izuku stared at his gloves in disappointment, Yang walked over and sat down next to him "You doing okay?" She asked, concerned for her friend

"Honestly? Not really" Izuku admitted with a heavy sigh. "I'm happy that we were able to stop the White Fang from stealing the Dust, but Torchwick still got away. And my costume is pretty much ruined now. I don't have anything to wear when I'm fighting."

Yang felt bad for Izuku. He seemed to really care for the costume, but she also couldn't help but feel happy since he had a brand new one waiting for him back at their dorm room. "Well who knows? You might get a new one soon" She nudged his shoulder. They'd give it to him soon, and if Weiss or Blake ruined it again, they would be sorry.

Izuku smiled and let out a small laugh. Yang felt her face heat up from what she was about to say. Normally she just teased him because it was fun, but this time it was going to be genuine. "You have a really cute laugh, Izuku."

Izuku looked in her eyes and saw she wasn't trying to tease him. A small blush came to his face from the compliment "And you have really nice… eyes?" He tried to complement her back

Yang laughed loudly. Even though he normally acted tough and strong, he was just an awkward kid "No problem, Izuku" Yang smiled

Izuku smiled back, but the smile disappeared when he saw Weiss walk back from the questioning, heading straight for Blake "Uh oh" He muttered, getting off the crate and heading towards the others, Yang following behind.

Weiss walked over towards the group with a frown on her face. Ruby quickly got in her way to try and defuse the situation before anything happened "Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute" Weiss just ignored the younger girl and stood in front of Blake.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-" Blake tried to plead her case to Weiss, but the girl was having none of it

"Stop!" She commanded, making Blake stop "Do you have any idea on how long we've been searching for you?" Weiss asked. As Blake went to answer the question, Weiss started speaking again "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in those twelve hours I've decided…" Ruby, Yang and Izuku watched on with worried looks, hoping that this didn't go like last time "I don't care"

Blake's eyes widened in surprise. She'd expected Weiss to say a lot of things, but never in her mind did she imagine this outcome "You don't care?" She repeated quietly, wanting to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss questioned

Blake immediately shook her head "No, I haven't been one since I was younger-"

"Ah bah bah bah!"" Weiss held up her finger to stop Blake from continuing "I don't want to hear it. All I want you to know is that the next time something this big happens, you'll come to your teammates and not…" She shot Sun an untrusting look "Someone else"

Blake looked around at her teammates, who all gave her a warm smile. She quickly wiped away a tear forming in her eye. "Of course," She whispered.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered, before pulling her teammates into a group hug. Izuku watched from the side as the Team reunited, but he wasn't expecting the girls to wave him over "Come on, Izuku. The hug isn't complete without you"

Izuku stood still for a few moments before a smile came to his face. He looked at his friends who were waiting for him. A shining light began to appear in his eyes as he walked over and was quickly pulled into the group hug.

From within the hug, Weiss poked her head out and looked at Sun "I'm still not sure how I feel about you" She said. Sun just let out an awkward laugh in response.

"Hey, where's Penny?" Ruby asked, noticing her friend was nowhere to be found.

"She must've left while we were talking," Izuku speculated. "Maybe she had to go home?" He pondered

"Speaking of that, I'm going to head out. Got to get back to my friends before my Scroll blows up. It was nice meeting you all and I'll see you all soon" Sun chuckled. He gave them a wave before running off. Blake and Izuku waved back.

Weiss watched the Faunus run off before noticing Izuku was looking at her "Yes?" She questioned, unsure of why he was looking at her.

Izuku just shrugged. "I was just thinking of how far you've come since the day I met you. You've really grown" He smiled "And I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you, Weiss"

Weiss' jaw dropped in shock before she quickly snapped it close. She gave him a small smile before she felt her face heat up slightly. She didn't know why, but him calling her by her first name made her chest feel weird.

"Hey, Izuku?" Ruby asked from the side, gaining his attention "Back when we were fighting Roman. How did you fly?" The rest of Team RWBY quickly looked over to Izuku, who was frozen in place.

"Yeah." Yang nodded. "I thought you only had strength power and those black whips you use."

Izuku's brain quickly went into overdrive, trying to find an excuse. "I never said they were the only two Quirks I had." He tried to lie, but the girls weren't having it.

"You told me that the you only had Stockpile and Blackwhip" Blake pointed out "You never said that you had a flying power"

Izuku stopped moving, his brain trying to find a way out of the hole he'd just buried himself in. When he realized there was no way out, he just decided to tell the truth "I didn't want people to know I had these powers. I didn't want to be taken advantage of when I first entered the world, and I didn't know how to showcase them without raising questions after a while. So I just decided to hide them" He confessed

The girls nodded. It made sense with how untrusting Izuku was when they first met him. But then Ruby asked a question "How many powers do you have?"

Izuku froze for a split second and looked at the girls. Was it worth telling them about his other Quirks? Would they keep it a secret or would they go telling other people. Would they try to use it against him?

'No, they wouldn't!' Izuku mentally scolded himself for thinking like that. They were his friends. He trusted them. But telling them out in the open was risky. Anyone could be listening in from the shadows "I'll tell you later, I promise." Izuku promised the girls. They looked upset, but nodded their heads. Izuku looked up to the moon before looking back at the girls "Let's go back to school. It's getting late." He said. The others nodded and the group made their way back to Beacon, all happy with how the night went.

Penny watched the group from within a nearby car. The tinted windows blocked her face from anyone who tried looking in the car. "You should know better than to go running around in a strange city" The driver scolded her.

"I know, sir" Penny replied before the car started driving away

Ozpin sat in his office alone. He held his Scroll up and watched as news played. He leaned forward, intrigued, when he saw Team RWBY and Izuku being interviewed. It looked like they stopped a possible attack that was being laid out by the White Fang.

While he watched the news, his Scroll buzzed. A message popped up from one of his most trusted allies. But what was said put him on edge

Qrow: QUEEN HAS PAWNS!

A brief flash of panic flash through Ozpin's eyes before he quickly shelved that emotion away. She was starting to make her move, and if they didn't act fast, their world would come crashing down. 'But all is not lost' Ozpin thought, looking down into his cup. He tilted his head upwards and his eyes settled back on the interview, but instead of focusing on what was being said, he was looking at two people in particular.

Roman placed his briefcase on his desk before collapsing in the seat with a sigh. Tonight was a shitshow. If it was just those two Faunus, he would've had little trouble. But then Green showed up and decided to ruin everything. The kid caught and threw a shipping container for God's sake! And then out of nowhere he started flying! That just raised the question on how many Semblances the kid had, and if he had anymore hiding up his sleeve?

And to make matters worse. Red and her friends decided to show up as well, and one of them took down multiple Bullheads with a single attack. He was lucky to get away. He almost didn't, but luckily he made sure to add a special feature due to the incident that happened when he first met those two kids. If he didn't, he'd be spending his time in a jail cell. But he'd be out when his partner heard what'd happened to him. Maybe if she was there, he would've won?

Who was he kidding? They would've gotten destroyed. But a little more backup would've been nice. But he wasn't at the hideout when he left. She'd informed him that she might be occupied for a while due to something coming up. It was confusing and annoying, but he'd never seen that look on her face before, so he allowed it. When he tried to probe for information, all she'd told him was there was this kid who might know something important.

'May God have mercy on that kid's soul' Roman thought, resting his head on the desk. He took a deep breath and gently shut his eyes, only for them to snap open when a familiar voice spoke up behind him.

"How very disappointing, Roman"

Roman swung his chair around to see the silhouette of three figures, their faces covered by the shadows. "I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." He commented.

The middle figure stepped out of the shadows. Her amber right eye shone brightly while her left was covered by her long black hair "We were expecting more from you" She shook her head, like a mother scolding a child

Roman let out a laugh before his face turned serious "Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang." He pointed accusingly at her "And besides, that kid in the costume was there. And he was way stronger than we originally thought, Cinder"

Cinder froze and her eyes narrowed slightly before chuckling darkly "You will continue to work with the White Fang." She ordered. Roman opened his mouth to protest, but Cinder beat him to the punch "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation"

Roman glared at the woman for a few seconds before shaking his head "What do you need?"

Cinder gave him a chilling smile "Tell me everything you noticed about that boy"

Team RWBY laid in their beds. It was hard to sleep. Their heads filled with thoughts on what had happened that night. Fighting Roman and the White Fang, stopping a heist, finding out that Izuku had more powers.

They focused more on Izuku. He was a mystery that they were starting to unravel, and the further they got, the more engrossed they became. But that wasn't what drew them to him. He was a great friend, and they could easily say that to anyone who asked about him. The way he always stood by them. The fact that put them above himself. The way he treated them. He was probably one of the kindest boys they'd met, despite how he normally acted.

They enjoyed spending time with him, but they also felt something when they spent time with him. It was a strange feeling, and each of them knew exactly what it was. A thought popped into their heads. It was an intrusive thought, but they didn't push it away immediately, instead allowing it to rest and grow in their minds.

Did they want to try and take their relationship further?

Izuku put his toothbrush away and looked at himself in the mirror. It had been a hectic couple of days. Scratch that, it's been a hectic couple of months. From arriving to a new world, to enrolling in a school to fight monsters, to dealing with criminals and terrorists. He didn't envision this happening at all.

A large part of him wished he was still on Earth, but another part of him also enjoyed his time here. He'd made quite a few friends, and it would hurt to leave them behind when he had to go back to Earth, but who knows. Blake might take him up on his offer and come to Earth with him.

He was about to turn and walk back to his hanging bed, but then he stopped and leaned forward to examine himself in the mirror.

He looked different from when he first arrived. He wasn't covered in grime. His eye bags were gone. And then he noticed the biggest difference. A spark of life appeared in his normally dull eyes. But unlike the previous times where it only occurred for a few seconds, this spark never faded.

He slowly raised his hands to his face before lowering them. This didn't mean he was fine staying in Remnant. He still had to get home. Not to mention deal with whoever was stalking him. But right now. At this moment in time…

He was happy.

Chapter Text

Weiss snuggled further into her bed, enjoying the nice warm feeling it provided her. She let out a large yawn and emerged from her bed. Sitting up and yawning, she heard Blake say something.

"Chokko matte"

"Chotto matte" Izuku's voice rang out before saying it again slower "It means wait a minute or hold on a second. It's informal, so you should only say it to close friends or family."

"Oh, okay" Blake accepted the criticism and tried again "Chotto matte, Midoriya-kun."

"What…?" Weiss trailed off, still trying to wake up.

"Ohayō, Schnee… uhhhh. Schnee-san?" Blake said, giving her a small nod in acknowledgement. She turned her head to see Izuku give a nod, letting her know she said that correctly.

Weiss looked around the room, unsure if she was just having a weird dream or not. Everything seemed to be in order, nothing was out of place. So she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes "Please speak English. Don't speak whatever made up nonsense you're spewing out" Weiss grumbled, trying to get out of her bed, but it was way too warm.

"That's Japanese. My language" Izuku said, slightly offended at what one of his best friends said.

Weiss' eyes widened and she immediately apologized, but then a thought crossed her mind "Why are you learning his language, Blake?" She asked, confused.

Izuku shot a glance towards his friend, who seemed to be frozen. The truth was that Blake wasn't sure what to do about Izuku's offer. On one hand she did want to go with him and take her family, but a small part of her knew that if she did, she would just be running away from her problems. Still, if she did decide to leave Remnant, she should probably know a little bit of Izuku's language.

"I just thought it would be interesting to know how Izuku normally talks in his world" Blake lied through her teeth.

Weiss gave a small nod, accepting her answer with little suspicion "So what are we doing today?" She asked.

Izuku looked at her before looking away. "Let's wait until Ruby and Yang wake up. I think I owe you all an explanation."

Team RWBY watched in amusement as Izuku rushed around the room, making sure no one was outside, double checking the window was closed, then going back to the door. It was slightly funny to watch him scramble around, but it also made them worry "I don't think anyone is listening, Izuku." Ruby tried to calm his frazzled nerves, but it didn't look like it worked.

"I can't be too certain." Izuku replied, going back to check for anywhere someone could listen "This is stuff I don't want people knowing. Anyone could be listening." He said frantically.

"Paranoia, paranoia. Everyone's comin' to get me~" Yang sang out teasingly, earning a tiny glare from Izuku.

"That's not funny, Yang." Izuku scolded her before going back to checking everything. Once he was absolutely certain no one was listening, he sat down in the middle of the room. Team RWBY sitting in front of him. "I'm not really sure where to start." He admitted.

"How about you start by telling us how many of those powers you have?" Weiss suggested.

"Yeah… yeah, I can do that." Izuku nodded his head. He wanted to tell them, but he found the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He was scared. Scared that they might go tell other people. No. They wouldn't do that. They were his friends. He trusted them.

And so taking in a deep breath, Izuku answered their question. "Seven." 

All the girls gawked at him, not expecting that many powers. They knew he had three, and expected that to be it, or another power he kept hidden. They didn't even think for a second that he would have seven.

"Stockpile is the first one. I've already told this to Blake, but it basically allows me to stockpile unneeded energy and that converts into raw power. Hence the name. I limit my power in percentages, since the more energy I produce, the more strain gets put on my body." He explained. The girls noticed him subconsciously rub his right hand. Where his scars were. "If I use too much energy, I break my limbs." He admitted, "Before coming here, I could use 30%. 45% if I push my body to the limit." He informed them all. Thinking on how much he trained, he estimated how much of One for All he could use now "I think I could probably use 40% as a baseline and push to 50% if needed" He guessed.

The girls nodded. But Yang was curious. "Hold on. So you output your power in percentages?" She asked. Izuku nodded and she continued "So how much power have you been outputting with us?"

"Maximum?" Yang nodded her head "I've been using 15% of Stockpile. I don't think I've gone over that." He told the girls.

The girls were filled with a mixture of things. Shock, amazement, and fear. The fact that he managed to throw an entire shipping container with only 15% of his power was incredibly impressive. But deep down they wondered what would happen if Izuku lost control. What would happen if he went to 100%?

No. They couldn't think like that. Izuku was their friend. A good person who looked out for others. Sure he acted tense and untrusting, but he never hurt innocent people. Not to mention he couldn't kill. He wouldn't go out of control.

Taking the silence as a hint to continue, Izuku explained his second Quirk. "My second Quirk is Blackwhip. You've already seen it before, so I don't think I need to show it. It allows me to produce the energy tendrils from any part of my body and control them however I want. The only problem with this Quirk is that it's controlled by emotions. If I lose control of my emotions, I lose control of Blackwhip." He told them before quickly adding "I've only lost control once, and that was when I first unlocked the Quirk. I can control it now"

"What was it like when you lost control?" Ruby asked

"Horrible" Izuku answered with a sigh "I was being pulled around by the Quirk. Smashing through buildings and pipes. It felt like my body was being torn apart." He shook his head, remembering how Blackwhip really worked "It sucks because the angrier I am, the stronger Blackwhip is."

"We can trust that you won't lose control of your anger, right?" Weiss asked. She trusted Izuku, but she also knew that people could blow up unexpectedly. And it was worse for the boy she admired since he could end up destroying everything around him.

"Yeah. I lost control of my anger before coming here, and I was able to manipulate Blackwhip to work in my favor. Unless it's something really horrific, I will be able to control Blackwhip" Izuku replied to her question.

"Good. Good" Weiss nodded her head "What about that flying power? The one you showed off last night?"

Out of nowhere, Izuku slowly floated up into the air. They all stared up at him with the same expression they held when he first showcased this Quirk. They still haven't grasped the idea of the new power. "Float. It's a simple Quirk. Allows me to float in midair and fly at high speeds." He did a small flip in the air before gently landing on the ground.

"The next Quirk I can't really show since it activates inside my body. It's called Danger Sense. I get a quick but sharp pain in my head whenever someone around me wants to hurt either other people or myself" Izuku tapped the side of his head.

Weiss nodded her head alongside the other girls, but then she suddenly remembered something "We've seen you use it before. I thought it was just luck when I saw it at first. When Cardin threw his water bottle at you, you dodged it even though you couldn't see it." Weiss stated. The girls hummed in agreement, the memory coming back to them.

"Danger Sense pinged, so I reacted. I don't need to be thinking for it to activate. It's a passive Quirk." Izuku nodded his head, letting Weiss know her assumption was right. 

With no reason, the girls watched as Izuku started to look around the room "Are you okay, Izuku?" Yang asked, unsure of what had gotten into him.

"Are there any smoke detectors in the room?" He pondered out loud.

"Right there." Blake pointed to the smoke detector up on the ceiling.

Izuku looked up and let out a small hum. He wasn't sure if Smokescreen would trigger the alarm, and he didn't really want to risk it. "Smokescreen is another Quirk of mine. I can produce purple smoke out of my body. I would showcase it, but I don't want people asking why we triggered the smoke alarm." He stated.

"What are the last two?" Ruby asked, wanting to know more about her cru… best friend! Her best friend.

"Fa Jin is one of the more powerful Quirks. I can build up kinetic energy and release it whenever I want." Izuku gave a brief summary. He didn't really know much about the Quirk. Or at least how the Quirk mixed with One for All. He'd only used it twice.

"How much energy do you output?" Blake questioned.

"I'm not really sure. I used 45% of Stockpile and Blackwhip alongside Fa Jin and I was able to move at around 100% without any drawbacks. I'd say I can increase my strength or speed around 40%." Izuku answered, but he knew that was a lie. He'd been storing up kinetic energy and unleashed most of it during the fight with Lady Nagant. Sure he'd been saving it up since he arrived, but he only had a limited amount and it took a while to get that kinetic energy back. Deciding not to think about that, he segwayed to the final Quirk

"Gearshift is the final Quirk. It's also the Quirk you'll probably never see me use. It allows me to basically change the speed of anything I touch. I put them into Gears, with Low Gear being the lowest and Top Gear being the highest." Izuku wasn't about to tell them that he'd never used the power, or that he didn't know what it feels like to use it. It was a last resort for a reason.

"Will you ever use those other powers?" Ruby asked, really wanting to see Izuku in action. 

To her disappointment, Izuku shook his head "Only if absolutely necessary. I don't trust other people to know about what I can do." He told them all. The only people he trusted with this information were Team RWBY, and maybe Jaune. He probably wasn't going to tell Jaune about his other powers since he never saw Izuku use Float or any of the other Quirks. And if he was being honest, he probably wouldn't have told the team about his powers if they never saw him use them.

"So in short: you have seven powers that make you incredibly strong, you could probably destroy all of us without trying, you've been holding back this entire time, and you haven't even unlocked your semblance yet" Yang clarified. Izuku nodded his head, agreeing with everything she said

"Is there anything else you aren't telling us?" Weiss interrogated him.

Izuku was caught at a crossroads. On one hand he didn't want to tell them about One for All or the vestiges. On the other hand they were his best friends here. He trusted them. So he decided to settle for a compromise "There are a few other things, but they're very personal. Maybe one day I'll tell you, but just not today."

The girls were disappointed, but they let it go. The fact they were able to get this much out of Izuku was a miracle in itself. "So that creepy costume you wore. Was that meant for aesthetics, or was it more to help control your Quirks?" Blake asked.

"The latter." Izuku answered, looking towards the closet where his broken and torn costume lay. "The boots allowed me to increase the strength of my kicks. The gloves help focus my air blasts, and those pieces wrapped around my limbs were used to protect my body in case I damaged it. Although seeing as I haven't had to go over 15%, I doubt I need them on Remnant." He finished. 

Ruby and Yang already knew what the boots and gloves were for, seeing as they designed the new equipment using his drawing as a reference. Thankfully Izuku wrote it in very high detail. Ruby did have a bit of trouble working on the boots, but she felt she was able to somewhat replicate the blowback mechanic. They weren't able to create the braces for his arm though.

"The costume was actually made by my mother." Izuku surprised them. "Well, kinda. She bought the jumpsuit and I worked my costume around it. I never changed that bit because that was my mother telling me how proud she was. And now it's completely ruined." The girls watched silently as Izuku closed his eyes and tried to hold back tears.

The costume clearly meant a lot to Izuku. To see this emotion come out of Izuku was also refreshing to see. Not because he was sad, but because unlike every other time they spoke to him, he was showing how he really felt. He was being honest with them.

"And now I'm going to have to wear my uniform when I go into battle." Izuku grimaced. He knew that fighting in his uniform would be restrictive, and not to mention the small side effect "And that's not going to work because the more power I use, the more force is produced. If I hit a high enough percentage, my clothes will start to tear apart." He explained the side effects.

All the girls blushed, the image of a naked Izuku rushing into their minds. Ruby forced the thought out as fast as she could. Same with Weiss. Blake thought about the image for a few moments before pushing it away. And Yang?

Well, Yang just saved that image for later.

"So it's going to be a bit hard trying to find a material that can handle a lot of energy" Izuku sighed and leaned back slightly "Not to mention a material that's able to support me going mach speeds. And I don't even have any money in this world. I'm just going to have to hope that my uniform can hold me over until I go home."

"Well, we have something for you that might fix that Issue." Ruby chimed in, wanting to cheer him up. "We were meant to show it to you before you and Blake ran off, but now's a good time.

"And this won't be interrupted, right you two?" Yang asked, slowly turning her head and staring at Blake and Weiss with an uncanny smile. Both the girls nodded their heads out of fear. Yang kept staring at them for a few seconds longer before looking at Izuku with a very genuine smile.

Izuku looked at them, confusion written all over his features "Huh?"

Ruby opened the closet and pulled out one of the drawers allocated to her. It contained a briefcase with the word 'To Izuku. From Team RWBY' written on the side. "Go into the bathroom then come out. We want to see how it looks on you." She smiled brightly at the boy.

Izuku took the briefcase and moved into the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he put the briefcase on the counter and clicked it open. Looking through it, he was shocked to find a shirt, pants, jacket and were those his boots and gloves?!

Moving quickly, Izuku got dressed into the new outfit they had given him. He faced away from the mirror as he did. After a few minutes, he adjusted his clothes and stepped out into the main room.

When Team RWBY saw him, a large smile broke onto everyone's face. It came out much better than they expected.

Izuku looked down at the new outfit and examined it closely.

He wore a simple dark crimson shirt. It may not have looked like much, but if he got hurt and bled, no one would see it unless they looked really hard. Covering that was a long sleeved, dark green jacket that went down to his thighs. A black utility belt wrapped around his waist. And some black trousers that were tight, but were loose enough so that he could comfortably move his legs into any position without much constriction.

He didn't have a cowl anymore to cover his face. Instead it had been replaced by a dark green hood with a v shape that went to the bridge of his nose when pulled up. It wasn't attached to a cloak like he drew, instead it was attached to his jacket, sewn together so well Izuku couldn't even tell if it was custom made for him or not.

The belt contained two pouches on his left. The right side had three small, pill shaped plastic containers. All containing different kinds of powered dust. Red, yellow, and black. Weiss had taught him the different types of Dust, so on his belt were fire, lightning, and gravity.

On his thigh was a knife holster which contained a combat knife. That would probably be for emergencies only, though there could be some uses for it. Such as cutting himself free of a trap. It was also hidden by the jacket, so it could be used as a surprise weapon.

His boots had been repaired, looking brand new. However he didn't have any more kneepads. "It still has the blowback mechanic." Ruby chimed in "I wasn't sure how to recreate it perfectly, so I just imagined it like the blowback of Crescent Rose."

Finally, Izuku looked at the gloves. They looked different from his Air Force Gloves. His left glove looked very similar, but the right glove was completely different. For one, there was what seemed to be metal surrounding the double band near his wrist. The top slot was empty, but there were three containers that held Dust located on each side and underneath his wrist. Testing something, Izuku pushed against it. It spun around like the barrel of a revolver, clicking to whichever capsule Izuku wanted. And finally there were small cyan spots on each of his fingertips.

This was the costume he designed that one night. Albeit with some changes. He didn't have the weapon he drew, but that was to be expected. He couldn't master a katana that could turn into a gun in a few months. Not to mention he was mostly a brawler. It would've been wanted on him. "How did you design this?" Izuku asked, already knowing the answer.

Ruby shuffled on her feet and sported a nervous smile "Well, remember the day when Jaune and Cardin were attacked by that Ursa Major?" She started. Izuku nodded his head and she continued "Well I was looking for a textbook for the assignment Professor Goodwitch gave us, and ended up finding the drawing you made."

That explained it. He didn't exactly hide it. Not to mention he put it inside Ruby's desk and forgot about it. He would've been an idiot to not realize Ruby would find the drawing soon. But he didn't expect them to build it for him.

"The tailor was able to make it from extremely powerful fabric. So you don't have to worry about the force from the stockpile tearing up your costume." Weiss stated.

"This is amazing" He muttered, clicking the revolver gloves to the fire Dust. However he was curious about his gloves. The design was different to what he drew and wrote, so he turned to Yang and Ruby "So how do they work?" He asked, holding up his hands.

"When you flick your fingers, we've noticed the band flicks outwards. So we put in some dust containers. When the band flicks, it will ready the containers to spray out Dust." Ruby cheerfully told him how it worked.

Yang then continued her half-sister's explanation "Then just before you flick your finger, it will spay out a small amount of Dust. The Dust then mixes in with the air blast. Then all you need to do is activate the Dust and boom." Yang snapped her fingers and gave him a smirk "You've got a fireball." Yang smirked.

"Or a ball of electricity." Ruby chimed in before also adding "Or a ball of gravity."

Izuku admired the gloves. They were amazing. Exactly what he wanted and more. Words couldn't even describe how grateful he was towards his two friends "These are incredible, you two" He praised Ruby and Yang. They both sported a small blush and smiled at him, glad that he liked the gloves.

"And there was also one other thing." Blake spoke up, gaining his attention.

Izuku watched as all the girls' faces turned slightly tense. Worried, he turned to Blake "What's wrong?" He asked, expecting something bad.

"We've seen you on the battlefield. You are powerful. There is no denying that" Weiss nodded at him.

"But you have one weakness."

Izuku blinked, confused about what they were talking about. He knew he wasn't invincible. That he could be killed if careless. But he didn't notice any noticeable weakness. Wanting to know so he could fix it he looked at the girls "What's the weakness?"

"Your inability to kill." Weiss answered bluntly.

Izuku sighed and shook his head. He'd already had this talk with Weiss, but apparently she hadn't told the others about it. That or something clicked in her mind.

"We know you don't like killing, but you might one day have to." Ruby told him, hoping he didn't get uncomfortable with this "So we gave you a weapon to help you."

"What's the weapon?" Izuku asked tiredly, not wanting to have this conversation.

"Activate the Dust in your Gloves. Right at the fingertips" Yang instructed him.

Izuku looked at his hand, but didn't know what to do. He'd never used Dust before. He tried flexing his fingers, but nothing happened.

Weiss shook her head at Yang and sighed. "Try channeling your Aura into it." She suggested.

Izuku nodded his head and focused on the Aura floating around inside his body. He frowned when he realized he'd never channeled his Aura into something before. Thinking quickly, he remembered how he channeled One for All into his finger on his first day of UA. Focusing on his Aura, he pretended it was One for All and channeled it into his hands. He could feel it mingle with the Dust in the gloves. Activating the cyan crystals on the fingertips, he watched as it took the form of small claws. They weren't giant. Maybe around six centimeters. Studying their shape, Izuku noticed that they looked very similar to a wolf's claws. "What is this?" He asked.

"This is Hard-Light Dust. The rarest type of Dust. Normally it would be impossible to find it, but since my family owns the Schnee Dust Company, it was no trouble at all." Weiss said before delving into an explanation "You'll never run out, so you can activate and deactivate the claws at will without limit."

Izuku stopped feeding his Aura into the gloves and the claws disappeared, retracting to those cyan dots on his fingertips.

"I made those just in case. Once you decide to start killing." Yang admitted. "I thought this might make it easier for you."

Izuku stared at the girls before standing up. They were worried that he got mad at their conversation and was about to pull a Blake, but he merely moved over to the desks and shook his head softly

"I know that one day, I will have to kill." Izuku said softly and without anger. Sitting down on one of the chairs, he rested his head on his new glove. "I've known that for a long time, and the amount of times that's popped up in my mind has only increased since joining this school." Sighing, he looked at them. The mask he normally wore cracked slightly, allowing them to see his raw emotions. "I just don't know if I can take it. I know you all see them as monsters with no souls. That's just not how I think. When I look at them, I see living creatures, just like me. The thought of ending a life, it scares me. It really does. Even if I'm fine with watching you all kill the Grimm, it doesn't mean I'm fine with doing it myself." Izuku looked out the window and scratched the back of his neck. "I come from a world where killing is normally frowned upon. Even Heroes get into big trouble for killing an opponent unless it was the only choice. So to switch to being okay with killing in an instant isn't going to happen."

The girls remained silent, listening to everything Izuku was saying. They had to admit that it made sense. It wasn't like Izuku would be okay with killing in an instant. It would've been unrealistic expectations if Izuku instantly started killing Grimm.

"But," Izuku spoke up again. "I know that I will have to kill someday. Maybe it will be tomorrow, or the next day, or even the day after that. I'm always thinking about that. Even if I don't want to do it, I will if there is no other choice." Holding up his gloves, he activated the claws again and stared at them. A gentle smile appeared on his face "But thank you. I might never use these to kill, but they are a part of this outfit. The Huntsman outfit you all took your time to make and your money to buy the materials. You all crafted this for me with your own time. Even though you didn't need to. So thank you."

The girls felt that same warm feeling from the previous night bubble in their chests. They tried to ignore it, but all they could focus on was Izuku's smile and the way his eyes shone appreciatively. But there was a small thought resting in their minds. Did his eyes always shine like that?

Shaking her head, Yang tried to take her mind off it by telling Izuku one last thing about his costume. "Actually, there is one last feature." She said to Izuku. "Flip up your hood for me."

Izuku looked around at the others, confused on why he had to do that. Internally shrugging, he pulled up his hood. He didn't feel any difference and his vision didn't change either

However, the girls saw something completely different. His face was completely covered in shadows, with his green eyes shining dangerously out of the darkness. "You managed to scare a Grimm, so I personally decided to give you a bit of a fear factor." Yang tried to suppress her laughter.

"Wait, what?" Izuku ran into the bathroom. It was silent for a few seconds before Izuku walked out, his hood off, and shaking his head. "Really?" He weakly questioned, causing all the girls to begin laughing. He watched and let out a small chuckle alongside them.

After calming down, Izuku looked down to the floor and took a deep breath in "Hey" He gained their attention. "Thank you for making this for me. It… It really means a lot to me. It will take some getting used to, but the fact that it's made by my friends really makes me happy. I know I don't say this much, but I want you all to know. Thank you for being my friend. I'm glad I met all of you" Izuku gave them all a smile.

After hearing what Izuku had to say, the feeling returned, but this time the effects felt like they had been amplified to unimaginable heights. They tried to ignore the warm feeling in their chests, but no matter how much they focused on something else, that feeling was all they could focus on. It was clear to them what was happening and they couldn't deny it even if they wanted to. For better or for worse…

They had a crush on Izuku Midoriya.

Chapter Text

A few days later, Izuku slowly woke up to the sound of the girls chattering and the sound of a zipper. He rolled over on his bed and peeked his head out. Looking down, he saw Ruby packing a suitcase. Confused, he looked around the room, to see that Weiss and Yang also had suitcases near them.

"What's going on?" Izuku mumbled, leaning even further out. It got to a point where he lost his balance and fell from the bed and onto the ground head first, scaring the girls. "Ow." He muttered from the ground.

"Are you okay?!" Weiss asked, staring down at Izuku.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Izuku groaned, slowly rising to his feet, rubbing his head and looking around. His vision was shaking slightly. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and focused back on the suitcases. "Why are you packing? What's going on?" He asked, now fully awake.

"Didn't you get the notification on your Scroll?" Yang asked.

"What notification?" Izuku questioned, unsure of what they were talking about.

Team RWBY looked around at each other, the realization of why Izuku didn't get the notification popping into their minds. "Uhhhh. It's for school break" Ruby explained shyly, not meeting his eyes "Yang and I promised our dad we would visit him when school break came."

"My father has requested my presence back home," Weiss said stiffly. "So I won't be here either."

"I'm going to be staying here at Beacon," Blake said.

Noticing that Izuku still looked confused, Ruby explained what was happening. "Yesterday we all got a notification on our Scrolls telling us that school break is coming soon. We needed to fill out a form saying that we would be going home."

"I didn't get a notification about that." Izuku muttered confused. It took him a few seconds to remember that he didn't have anyone to go home to in this world. His thoughts flashed to his mother, and how he hadn't seen her in so long. She must be worried sick about him.

Ruby noticed Izuku's face grow sad and a thought popped into her mind. An idea that she hoped would cheer him up. "Do you want to come home with us?" Ruby offered kindly. She knew that Izuku didn't really have anywhere else to go besides Beacon, so she thought letting him stay with her and Yang would make him feel better. That, and she wanted to spend more time with him, but the other girls, nor Izuku, needed to know about that.

Izuku shook his head no, making Ruby's smile drop slightly "Thanks, but Blake also isn't going home, so I don't want to leave her all alone here" He told Ruby. That was a half truth. On one hand he didn't want Blake to be all alone. But on the other hand he also had other things he needed to do. If he told the other girls, they would either worry about him, or try and talk him out of it.

Ruby, Yang and Weiss all felt a small pang of jealousy aimed towards Blake. The fact that she'd get to spend two weeks alone with Izuku didn't sit right with them. But they quickly acknowledged there wasn't really anything they could do. Besides, what was the chance Blake had a crush on Izuku or vice versa?

Ruby's Scroll pinged and she quickly glanced at it before her smile came back "Miss Goodwitch has agreed to it!" She exclaimed happily.

"Agreed to what?" Weiss asked.

"Yesterday, I asked Miss Goodwitch if we could book a training room for you to try out your new Huntsman outfit. And she just said yes." Ruby jumped up and headed towards the door. "Come on, let's go!"

"Do we even know which room has been reserved?" Weiss questioned, raising an eyebrow at her young leader. Ruby stammered over her answer before deflating.

"Well, Weiss, Ruby and I will go double check what training room we'll use. We'll text when we've gotten confirmation." Yang said before the three of them left, leaving Izuku and Blake by themselves.

Blake sat on her bed in silence, looking down at her hands which rested on her legs. Izuku moved over to her and asked the question that was on his mind. "Why aren't you going to go see your parents?" Izuku asked, sitting down next to Blake.

Blake sighed and lowered her head. "My parents also used to be a part of the White Fang." She confessed to her best friend. "You remember how I said we used to be a peaceful organization before switching to more violent methods?" Izuku nodded, recalling the conversation she had with him and Sun. "Well it was at that moment my parents quit the White Fang, not agreeing with the new methods. I got into an argument with them and said some horrible things." She shook her head softly, wishing she could go back in time and slap her younger self for being stupid. "After that I left and never saw them again."

"Why not try and go see them again? They might forgive you." Izuku suggested.

"I can't." Blake admitted, a small amount of fear in her eyes. "I said some really bad stuff. I'm scared that they'll just turn me away and tell me I'm no longer their daughter."

Izuku saw how anxious Blake was getting as she imagined multiple scenarios in her mind, none of them ending well for her. He gently placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. Blake looked up and saw him give her a comforting smile. "I think you should go and see them. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of your life thinking about what could have happened." He advised her. "But if you aren't ready to talk to them, then I won't push. It's your decision and only you can decide when you're ready to face them."

Blake smiled at Izuku and leaned in to give him a hug. She felt Izuku's body go stiff before he relaxed and returned the hug. "Thank you, Izuku." She smiled. Since Izuku couldn't see her face, he completely missed the small blush that adorned her cheeks.

She pulled away from the hug and their Scrolls rang out. Izuku checked his Scroll and saw that Ruby had messaged them saying they were allowed in a training room.

"Well, time to see how this gear works" Izuku said as they walked down to the lockers so Izuku could put on his Huntsman outfit and give it a test run.

Izuku double checked his Dust Force Gloves were properly attached before tapping his toes against the ground, making sure his boots were comfortable. He didn't know why, but they felt slightly off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the area around his toes felt weird, completely different than his normal ones. Although Izuku just chalked that up to him being used to wearing his broken clawed boots.

He turned around to face his best friends in this world "So what's first?" He asked. They knew more about his equipment seeing as they were the ones to design them.

"We'll start with the gloves." Ruby smiled nervously. She wanted to get the worst thing out of the way before they went onto the other pieces of equipment.

Izuku tensed his hands, channeling his Aura into the gloves. The claws popped out and Izuku wiggled his fingers. He could feel the extra weight that the claws brought to his gloves. It wasn't much, but it was definitely noticeable. "So what's this Dust again?" He queried.

"Like I said yesterday. The claws are made from Hard Light Dust." Weiss informed him before delving more in-depth. "The Dust is a combination of Fire, Lightning, Water and Wind Dust. They can't run out, so you'll always have those claws. And the claws are burning to the touch. So if you slice a Grimm with those claws…"

"It'll be like slicing a hot knife through butter." Blake claimed.

Izuku slightly fidgeted, uncomfortably with the conversation being presented. The claws disappeared and he decided to shift the topic to the gloves. Or more specifically, the Dust mechanic that had been added in. "So, remind me how the gloves work."

It wasn't hard for the girls to see what Izuku was trying to do, but they played along with it. "I'll answer those questions. I built the gloves after all." Yang bragged. She may not have been as weapon-savvy as Ruby, but the gloves weren't complicated at all. "So, they work just like your other gloves, but now you can switch those plain air shots with special shots. Flick to the fire Dust."

Izuku used his left hand and spun the mechanism on his glove. With a click, he rolled it to the fire Dust. It stayed stable, not moving unless he rotated it.

"Now, just aim at the training dummy and let her rip!" Yang said with a grin on her face, excited to see the gloves in action.

Izuku aimed his right hand at the dummy and used his left for stability, not knowing how bad the kickback was going to be. The second Izuku flicked his fingers, he activated the Fire Dust. Before the Dust combusted, it was mixed around and spread throughout the air in mere milliseconds. Then when the Dust blew up, it was evenly spread out, coating every section of the air blast.

Izuku watched as his air blast erupted into flames and flew towards the target. It exploded with a loud boom and the flames reached as high as the ceiling. Izuku watched as the flames slowly died out until he got a good look at what was left of the dummy. It was charred, smoking, and parts of it were still on fire.

Weiss quickly ran over with the fire extinguisher and sprayed the flames with the foam, extinguishing the flames. Once she was finished, she turned her head to look at Yang. "Just how much Dust did you put in those Gloves?!" She cried out, just as shocked as Izuku.

"Calm down, princess. That was amazing!" Yang said with a grin on her face, clearly taking pride in how big the explosion of flames was. She looked at Izuku with a large smile on her face "You have enough fire Dust for 5 shots. Then add in the Dust container on your belt and you have 10 fire shots." She explained to the confused boy.

"I think we'll save those Dust shots for when and if they're needed." Weiss suggested.

"Agreed." Izuku said, switching the revolving mechanic back to no Dust, much to Yang's displeasure. "Sorry Yang, but that was way too big. If I use something like that in a forest, I might start a fire. It's kinda overkill." He told the girl.

Yang sighed in response and slowly nodded her head, accepting Izuku's reasoning. She still didn't like that he wasn't going to use her favorite mechanic of the gloves. Although she hoped that he would use them more in the future.

"So the other two are Lightning and Gravity?" Izuku questioned, holding up his right arm and pointing to the two other capsules.

"Yeah. Lightning basically makes it into a lightning ball. Can be used to shock an enemy. I scaled back the amount that's sprayed out so you won't kill anyone or anything you hit. You have 10 shots with the Lightning Dust." Yang explained before delving into the last type of Dust he possessed. "Last is Gravity Dust." She trailed off, unsure of how to properly explain it. "It all depends on how you channel your Aura into it. You can have the things around the blast either be pulled towards it or pushed away from it. You have 3 shots with this."

Izuku blinks and looks down at his gloves, shocked. "So you're telling me this can drag everything towards it like a black hole."

"Hold on there, Greenie. It's not that powerful. You won't be creating a black hole or anything close to that. As long as it isn't strong enough to resist it, you can group up enemies in one location and then fire off an attack to take them all out at once." Yang finished her explanation of the gloves before quickly adding, "Also when you've finished with the capsules make sure to store them. You can get the Dust refilled and reuse them."

"My turn!" Ruby called out, knowing Yang was finished with her explanation. She'd been waiting for him to try out the new boots she made him. Although there was a small part of her that was worried.

In truth, she didn't know much about his original boots or how they worked. All she knew was they had a blowback mechanic from the notes on his drawing. The only blowback mechanism she knew about was from guns. So that's what she used. And dear God did she pray it was the correct mechanism.

Izuku nodded as Ruby brought out a new training dummy. "So these should work exactly like your old boots. But I just want you to double check they work like your old ones." She smiled, trying to mask her nervousness.

Izuku nodded and looked at the fresh dummy in front of him. He didn't want to destroy the dummy, so he decided not to use One for All.

Izuku ran towards the dummy before jumping up into the air and delivering a hard kick to the training dummy's head with his right foot. The toe soles sprang out, but barely delivered much of an impact. He raised his eye at that, wondering where the blowback mechanic was.

What came next only took a second, but it felt much longer to Izuku.

He felt a small shudder in his boots. Nothing more than a little shiver, but it was more than enough for alarm bells to start ringing inside his mind. His mind thought of the blowback mechanic Ruby mentioned and his eyes didn't even have enough time to widen before the extended toe soles snapped back into place with the force of Ruby's Crescent Rose. Izuku went flying across the room, spinning around like a helicopter's propeller due to the force being applied to his right foot, before crashing into the wall face first before falling in a heap on the ground.

"Izuku!" The girls cried out, running over to him.

Groaning, Izuku slowly sat up. He could feel something wet run down his nose. Confused, he brought his hand up to his nose and wiped it. Looking down, he found his fingers smeared with a crimson liquid. He stared at it, shocked. Just how powerful were these boots?

"Why isn't your Aura healing you?!" Ruby asked, moving around Izuku quickly while touching him, making sure he wasn't critically injured. Once she was sure he was ok, she slowly backed off, nervous and horrified that her gift to Izuku had hurt him.

"I don't have much Aura." Izuku lied. They didn't need to know about how much his Aura was preventing his right arm from dying. Soon the blood stopped dripping from his nose, but Izuku knew that was more natural healing rather than his Aura.

"What happened?" Yang asked, unsure of what the heck just occurred.

"What was that, Ruby?" Izuku questioned, his voice sounding confused instead of angry like she'd thought.

"I-It was the blowback mechanic." She admitted before coming clean. "I didn't know how your boots worked, and I didn't want to ask you because that might've spoiled the surprise. So I used the same mechanic that's in Crescent Rose." She stated, feeling horrible about herself.

Izuku's face softened, seeing how upset she was about this. "It's not your fault. I should have been more specific in my drawing." Izuku knew that he was never going to write down how the mechanism in his boots worked, but he didn't want Ruby feeling at fault. "The toe soles spring out to deliver the enhanced power to my kicks and lessen the strain on my legs. Then the soles would reconnect with the rest of my boots." He explained how his boots worked.

Ruby nodded, a small smile appearing on her face at his words "I promise to work on them when I get home." She promised.

Izuku nodded and gave the girl a small smile, "And I look forward to testing them out."

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Blake coughed. "How about we clean this up before Miss Goodwitch scolds us." Blake suggested. The group nodded before getting to work.

The next day, the group of friends stood outside of Beacon, surrounded by other students. It was time for everyone to go home for the holiday's. Izuku and Blake had come down to see their friends off.

"So we'll be gone for 2 weeks." Ruby said as the other students started boarding the Bullhead. She turned to Izuku "I promise I'll fix your boots the second I get home."

"You don't have to do that." Izuku firmly told her. "Enjoy some time at home. I can wait."

The final call was announced through the speakers. "Well, guess this it it. Group hug?" Yang said, holding her arms out to the side.

They all shared a hug before Ruby, Yang and Weiss stepped into the Bullhead. Izuku and Blake waved goodbye as the Bullhead ascended into the sky and flew away. They stood there for a few moments longer before Izuku turned around and began walking back to the dorms, Blake following close behind. However, because Blake was behind him, she didn't see the changes to Izuku's face.

His happy expression turned into a cold and determined one. Now that most of the girls were gone, he could focus on the next issue bothering him.

The girl who was stalking him.

Chapter Text

Blake was worried about Izuku.

He seemed distracted, eyes constantly darting toward the window. As if he was looking for something. And when he did look out the window, his eyes narrowed and focused. She'd seen him act in many different ways, and the closest she could remember was when Cardin was picking on him.

She tried asking what was wrong, but he kept saying he was fine. A phrase Blake was starting to hate. She would've called him out on it, but she didn't have any proof of Izuku doing anything strange to warrant her asking about it.

So when she woke up to see Izuku, fully dressed, about to leave the dorm, she knew she found her chance. She frowned when she saw the old boots, but it didn't take her long to realize that Ruby had his new ones, meaning he had to wear those, or nothing at all

"Izuku?" She groggily called out to the boy, making him flinch. He slowly turned to face him and the first thing Blake noticed was the look of annoyance on his face. It wasn't directed at her, but rather towards himself.

"Good morning, Blake," Izuku greeted the girl.

"Where are you going?" The Faunus questioned, rising up from her bed so that she was no longer laying down, but rather sitting up.

"The gym-"

"Don't lie to me, Izuku," Blake immediately cut Izuku off from his bullshit. "You normally go earlier in the morning, and you aren't wearing your gym clothes," She finished. Izuku stood there, his eyes closed, and took a deep breath out of his nose. He was about to speak again when Blake stopped him "Please. No more secrets," Blake begged.

Izuku wavered, unsure of what to say before sitting down next to Blake on her bed. "I'm being stalked by someone," He said with a troubled face. He faced her, but his eyes didn't meet hers.

Blake opened her mouth then closed it when she couldn't find the words. She sat, trying to speak until she eventually sputtered out a "What?!"

Izuku flinched at the volume of her voice before raising a hand, hoping that she would be silent and listen. "It started back when we all went to the city to look at the Vytal Festival,"

"That was a week ago! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Blake finally found her voice.

"I didn't want you to worry," Izuku retorted before sighing. "It's been going on for a while now. Whenever I go out, I can feel their eyes on me," He rubbed the back of his head. "So I'm going to go confront them,"

Blake shot out of bed and began walking towards the wardrobe, but Izuku grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

"I'm going with you," Blake responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No you aren't!" Izuku countered. "This could be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt because of me," Izuku knew he wouldn't be hurt since Danger Sense never once activated when his stalker was following him. However, if he added in a new factor, it could turn bloody very quickly.

Blake was about to speak when she stopped after looking into his eyes. They were reassured and calm, the exact opposite to what she was feeling. "I have a plan. I've been prepping it for a while now. It won't put me in any danger, and if it does, I can just run or fight," Izuku told her.

Blake was hesitant to let him go alone, but she knew he would be fine. But she was still hesitant to leave him alone with a stalker. Seeing that he almost convinced her, he finished his argument. "I'll be safe. I'll be back as soon as I can, and then we'll do whatever you want,"

"You promise?" Blake looked him in the eyes.

"I promise," Izuku said before walking over to the door and opening it. "I'll see you soon, Blake," He smiled before closing the door, leaving Blake all alone.

"Please be safe, Izuku,"

"So..." Yang trailed off, standing outside her house. She looked over to see Ruby fighting nervously before looking at the flower garden their father took care of. "You think he's seen the news?"

"I hope not," Ruby whispered. "We were shown in the security footage fighting,"

A security camera had recorded everything. From Roman arriving to Izuku, Blake and Sun fighting, and then of Ruby arriving and being pushed from the explosion. Which broke the camera. So thankfully it hadn't shown Izuku flying, but that was really the only positive she could think of. If their father saw the news broadcast, they would be in big trouble.

The sisters shared a look before Yang went to open the door. Before she could grab the door handle, the door swung open. A pair of tanned, muscular arms wrapped around the girls. The only thing they could make out was blue eyes and subdued blond hair before they were pulled into a massive hug. The man's stubble prickling their skin.

The girls smiled and hugged the man back. "Hi dad!" Ruby said, hugging the man back tightly.

Tai pulled back from the hug and smiled at the girls. "We've got a lot to talk about," He said. The girls froze, thinking he was talking about their fight, but their fears were put to rest when he added, "I want to hear everything about your time at Beacon,"

Tai turned around to walk into the house but he paused mid-step. "Oh yeah, before I forget," Tai turned around and looked at the girls, his smile still present on his face.

"You're both grounded,"

Weiss sat in her room, her suitcase not even unpacked. She honestly just couldn't find the energy to put all her stuff away. Maybe she would do that later, or have one of the many servants do it for her.

Weiss huffed and shook her head. That would be a stupid request. With only a few suitcases, she could easily unpack it all by herself. She didn't need to bother the servants over such a silly little thing.

A dry laugh came from her mouth as she realized that old Weiss wouldn't have just thought what she did. Her friends were really rubbing off on her, weren't they?

As her mind shifted to the thoughts of her friends, she looked out the window to the skies above. The second she arrived home, none of her family greeted her. Father was too busy to talk to her. Mother was drinking away her sorrows. Sister was too busy working at the military to visit, and Brother didn't interact with her unless he wanted something.

Looking around her pristine and fancy room made her feel sick. When Weiss thought of home, she imagined her messy dorm with Izuku and her teammates. Not a fancy house with her crumbling family.

A knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts. "Enter," She called out to the person on the other side of the door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," A familiar happy voice spoke up as the door opened. A large smile appeared on Weiss' face as a man with balding brown hair walked into the room. A smile underneath his large mustache.

"Klein!" Weiss smiled brightly.

"Hello, Miss Schnee," Klein greeted the young girl.

Weiss smiled at the man she'd call her first friend. The man who took care of her when her parents didn't want to. He always gave good advice, and she really needed some right now, "How much time do you have? I need to ask you about something,"

Klein pulled his pocket watch out of his coat before checking the time. "I have plenty of time. What is troubling you?"

Weiss looked down to the floor. She'd never had a crush before, so she honestly had no clue what to do or what to say. She also felt nervous about telling Klein, but she knew he could be trusted. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the man and decided to tell him the truth. "There's this boy I like..."

"The boy from another world?"

Weiss was caught off guard at how quick Klein guessed it. "Wha- Huh? How did you know?"

"I always believed an incredibly unique boy would catch your eye. And to my knowledge, he's the most unique in the world," Klein said. A thoughtful look dawned on his face when he remembered the newspapers talking about it. "Many still don't believe it, including your father. But I believe in Ozpin. If he says the boy is from another world, then he's from another world,"

"He is from another world." Weiss stated.

Klein nodded and gestured towards a seat in her room, asking permission to sit down. Weiss nodded and the butler pulled the chair out and sat across from her. "So, what about him attracts your interest?"

"Honestly, it's everything about him. He's incredibly caring and thoughtful. He's very smart and uses that in battle when deciding his next move. And unlike most of my teammates, he's also incredibly matur-"

The words died in Weiss' mouth when she remembered the chat they shared at the start of school. How his maturity was forced upon him what it did to him. "He isn't without faults though. He's stubborn, paranoid, and always bottles everything up because "I don't want you to worry about me". It's annoying, but I hope to help him break some of those habits," Weiss admitted.

Klein hummed in thought. "It sounds like this boy has some demons, but who doesn't. What's important is to let him know that you're there for him, whether he likes it or not," He finished.

Weiss was reminded about all the times he'd helped other people, even if they didn't want it. Like when he talked to her after battling the Boarbatusk.

She felt a sinking feeling in her gut when she recalled all the times he'd helped her, but she never really paid him back.

"I want to get him something. A gift to show that I'm grateful for having him in my life," Weiss decided on what she wanted to do. She knew it wouldn't pay back all the things he's done, but it was a start.

Klein smiled at that idea. "Does the boy like giant surprises? Or is he more the type to appreciate small, but thoughtful gifts?" He questioned the girl.

Weiss looked down to her hands and thought about Izuku. He was standoffish, but he cared more than anyone on the team. He was strict, but very patient when they made mistakes. Powerful, but not prideful.

Scarred, but not a lost cause.

He wasn't the type to want new jewelry or fancy things. Heck, he probably didn't care about what she'd give him as long as it came from her. But Weiss didn't just want to give him some random object. She wanted it to mean something. She wanted to get him something he would appreciate.

Her eyes lit up as she thought of something he talked about once. "I know the perfect gift!" Weiss said with a smile.

"Well then, tomorrow would you like me to accompany you to pick up this gift?" Klein questioned.

"I'd like that," Weiss smiled.

Izuku walked through the streets, a subtle frown on his face. He honestly just wanted this to be over and done with. Many people shot him weird glances. Most likely due to his shoes. Once he was done here, he could go back and enjoy spending time with Blake and hopefully convince her not to tell the other girls about the stalker.

Moving to a large open area, Izuku sat down next to a fountain and looked into the water. He could see some Lien resting at the bottom, which only reminded him he'd need to find a way to make money. Dust was a core part of his gloves. Even if he might not use them that much, he didn't want to run out. And the only way he could replenish the Dust was by buying it.

Putting that thought on hold, Izuku waited patiently. He felt himself being watched when he left Beacon's ground. It went away, and came back randomly. It was clear his stalker was losing him amongst the crowd. So all Izuku needed to do was stay still long enough for them to find him.

Feeling a set of eyes on his back, Izuku suppressed a smile. 'There you are,' Izuku thought. He waited a bit longer before getting up and moving away. Just as he suspected, the person began to follow him. Close enough so they wouldn't lose him, but far enough away that he wouldn't notice them.

Izuku continued walking forward before making a sharp left turn into an alleyway. He'd checked the map earlier to devise a plan. This alleyway cut straight through town, so it wouldn't be weird for him to go through it. However, there was a smaller alleyway right in the middle of it.

Making another turn, he found himself at the end of the smaller alleyway with only one way out. He continued walking until he stood in the middle before speaking up. "I know you're here," Izuku announced, turning around to face the entrance of the alleyway. "You've been following me for a while now."

He got no response, but he didn't care, he could faintly see part of their shadow on the ground. They weren't moving, but Izuku was able to see the hair of the shadow move around slightly due to the wind.

"I'm sure you saw me fight at the docks," Izuku began with a cold tone. "You know I'm fast enough to dodge bullets. And there is no one close to us. So I'm sure you know what's going to happen if you try running. So show yourself,"

He wanted to make it clear that the stalker hadn't backed him into a dead-end. He'd lured the stalker into an isolated area. So even if they tried to run, he would easily find them before they could find a crowd to hide in.

And his threat worked.

Someone stepped out from the corner and he finally got a look at the person stalking him.

It was a girl, looking to be in her early 20s. The first thing Izuku noticed was her hair. The left side of it was brown, the right side was pink with white streaks in it. Her heterochromatic eyes matched her hair perfectly. She wasn't tall in the slightest, and that was even with her heels on.

Izuku's face devolved into a small glare while her face stayed in a happy, yet curious expression.

"Who are you?"

"So," Tai clapped his hands with a smile while sitting on the couch with his two daughters sitting in front of him. Both of them had an unhappy look from being grounded. "How's Beacon going?"

Ruby was the first to speak. "It's going really well. Classes are hard, but fun. And I've made a lot of new friends," She told her father.

Tai let out a laugh. "Glad to hear you're having a great time there. What about your teammates? Are they nice?" He questioned, wanting to know all about their time at Beacon.

"Yeah," Yang said with a nod. "We have two other girls as our teammates. And a boy as a backup team member," She said, thinking of Izuku

Tai nodded along with what she was saying before pausing. "Wait, you have a backup member?" When he was at Beacon there was no such thing as backup team members. It was always a team of four. No more, no less. Maybe he'd research the matter later. "Was the boy at the fight you were in?" The girls nodded. "Which one would that be? The Monkey Faunus, or the green haired kid who pushed you away from the explosion?"

"The green haired boy," Ruby answered.

"Izuku Midoriya," Yang told her dad his name. "He's one of our best friends,"

"He's super kind and always willing to help us out," Ruby gushed. "He's super smart and always helps me out with my homework if I have any,"

"Not to mention he's probably the most powerful kid in our year," Yang added.

"Yeah. He has all these cool powers. He has..." Ruby trailed off before quickly speaking up again "Two! He has two powers. One of them is a stockpile ability and an ability to produce these cool tendrils from his body,"

"Ruby? What's wrong?" Tai asked, unsure what brought about this sudden change in attitude.

Ruby paused and shared a look with Yang. They shouldn't tell him. Even if Tai was their father, they promised Izuku they wouldn't tell anyone. "Sorry," She apologized to her father. "We promised him not to say anything about his powers,"

Tai nodded, but his face took a more serious look. One Ruby and Yang only saw when he was worried. "Before we continue, I need to know," He looked at both his daughters. "These secrets he has. Will they hurt either of you or anyone else around you?"

Ruby and Yang looked at each other in thought. They thought about what consequences would happen to them if they continued to hide Izuku's powers from everyone. But they couldn't really think of any off the top of their heads. Izuku has shown that if needed, he will showcase his new powers to protect people from harm. With that thought in mind, they both shook their heads.

Tai visibly relaxed. "Good," He whispered with a nod before his personality went right back to normal. "Well, he sounds like a great kid. I'd love to meet him one day," Tai says honestly. "Well, you know the rules. No leaving the house,"

"I need to go buy something though," Ruby stated. Tai raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she was so desperate to buy. Ruby opened up her suitcase and showed her father the two boots she made. "I made these for Izuku, but I made a big mistake and they hurt him instead of helping him. I promised to fix them for him," She said.

"Well, you're still grounded. You aren't allowed to leave unless it's an emergency," Tai stood his ground.

"This is an emergency!" Ruby almost yelled.

The father and daughter stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Tai sighed "How about this? You write me a list of materials, and I'll go grab them for you. Sound fair," Tai offered a compromise. Ruby immediately nodded. As long as she got the materials and tools for Izuku, she was happy.

"Alright. Write the list and I'll head off,"

"Why aren't you answering me?" Izuku interrogated the girl, who hadn't uttered a single word. She just kept staring at him with that damn smile. He watched her every move. So when he saw her reach into her pocket, he didn't hesitate to act.

One for All activated and in the blink of an eye, he dashed towards her. He pushed her against the wall, doing his best not to hurt her. Izuku held her arm up high. She was shocked, but still said nothing. He glanced at to see what she was holding in her pocket.

'What?' Izuku thought. In her hand was a small Scroll. On it was a notepad application. Thinking quickly, his gaze went back to the girl. "You don't talk?" He asked.

When the girl nodded, he released the girl. That did not mean he wasn't prepared to act if she did something else. The girl immediately started typing on the scroll. After a few seconds, she turned it around for him to read

'My name is Neopolitan.'

"Neopolitan," Izuku muttered to himself. Quickly looking back at the girl, he decided it was time to get to the bottom of this. "Why are you stalking me?"

'Earth.'

Izuku's eyes widened. How did she know what his planet was called? From memory he's only told Blake the name of his planet. "How do you know about Earth?" He voiced his thoughts.

'You were talking about it and your abilities to that girl with the bow.'

'Damn it,' Izuku thought. First Sun and now this? He really needed to keep his trap shut before he spilled out more information that could be used against him.

Neopolitan stared at him as he looked angry at himself. The shape of his eyes. His curly green hair. The diamond shaped freckles. And even the structure of his face. While they weren't identical, Izuku shared many physical traits of him . It couldn't just be a coincidence.

Izuku soon noticed Neopolitan was staring at him. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

'You just look like someone I used to know.'

"Someone you used to know?" Izuku asked, but Neopolitan was too busy writing in her Scroll to pay attention to him.

'I'm interested in you. I wanted to know more about you, but you were always around other people. I just assumed you didn't want random people to know about your planet, so I tried waiting until you were all alone.'

Izuku froze and looked around, the cogs in his head turning. That... made sense. Why he always felt the eyes on him, but she never interacted with him. If she approached with his friends, they might be hostile to her. And if she talked around other people, they might overhear and the situation would repeat itself over and over again.

"W-Well, thanks for waiting till we were in private," Izuku thanked the girl.

Neopolitan flashed him a smile before quickly reaching into his pocket and grabbing his Scroll. "Hey!" Izuku shouted. He was about to grab it back when he saw what she was doing. She soon gave it back to him before giving him a wink and a wave right before she ran off.

Izuku stood there, dumbfounded. Before he tried to comprehend what just happened, he glanced at his phone's contacts and shook his head.

Neopolitan

Izuku sighed and shook his head. He wasn't going to go after the girl. Danger Sense didn't trigger at any point during their interaction. It didn't even trigger when she was stalking him. She wasn't a threat.

She didn't give him much to go off of. She was interested in him? That made zero sense to Izuku. But then again, he did just talk about another world in her presence, so that made sense. It all made sense, but that's what confused him the most. Even if she had a solid explanation, something just didn't sit right with him. There was something different about her.

Izuku sat down and leaned against the wall while looking up at the sun. 'This world is weird,' He began to reflect on everything that had happened to him. From being sent to Remnant, to meeting Team RWBY. Having to navigate around this new world and figure it out. This was a strange situation, and he was beginning to have mixed feelings.

On one hand, his world was stuck without him, having to deal with All for One. Without him, they wouldn't stand a chance against the man.

On the other hand, he was beginning to enjoy this world. The crazy events and the people he'd met along the way. Barely anything went his way in this world, but oddly enough, he wasn't complaining. Hell, he was starting to enjoy the adventures he was being dragged along to.

But even though he was beginning to enjoy Remnant, he still had a duty to uphold. Earth was his top priority, no matter what. Izuku looked down at his fist before clenching it tightly.

'Just hang on, guys. I'll come back,'

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn't move.

He was stuck standing on the sidelines and All for One stood above Toshinori with a large smile on his face. Izuku tried to move, to do something to help his mentor, but he couldn't move. He wasn't even sure he had his body anymore. It felt like he was just a floating spirit, observing the scene in front of him.

"Shame your protégé wasn't here to witness it. Although I must admit it was new for me. Normally the student abandons the master to save themselves. This time, you left the next vessel of my brother's Quirk to die," All for One let out a raspy chuckle.

Toshinori growled and tried to fight the man, but it was hard when his entire body was burning and he couldn't move.

Noticing helicopters in the sky, All for One turned and looked at the man who had injured him greatly. "Why not give me one more smile, All Might. After all, this will be your last one to show to all the people that believed in you heroes" The man taunted.

Toshinori gritted his teeth and glared up towards his archenemy with nothing but pure spite and hatred in his eyes.

When All for One saw how angry All Might was, he simply smiled and raised his fist. "Well, I enjoyed our fight but alas, everything must come to an end. Every battle must have it's victor and its loser," His smile turned predatory as he looked down at the broken man

"And I am the victor"

Izuku's body lurched upwards out of his bed and slammed his head into the roof before his body flopped back onto the bed. His breathing was erratic and his mind in shambles. He squirmed around in his bed, trying to move his body, but he felt paralyzed.

"Ninth! Calm down!" En clamored from within his mind, trying to help the boy remain calm.

"A-All Might! All Might!" Was all that came out from Izuku's mouth, tears now rolling down his cheek.

"What's wrong with Toshinori?" Nana's vestige floated beside En.

"He died! UA was destroyed! All for One won!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Eighth is fine. He hasn't appeared. You just had a nightmare," Yoichi calmed Izuku down to the best of his abilities.

Izuku, still feeling scared, closed his eyes and tried to follow Yoichi's advice. The man was right. There was no change in OFA. He couldn't feel anything new in the Quirk. Truth be told, he didn't know if he would feel a change in the Quirk, but the man said Toshinori hadn't died, and he had no power to view back into his world, so many would consider it a dream. But Izuku didn't.

"No, it wasn't a dream," Izuku whispered to the vestiges as he stared up to the ceiling. "It's what's going to happen if I don't get home in time," Breathing a sigh of relief, he gently closed his eyes again until they burst open. "Blake!" He yelled out.

Nana was quick to reassure him. "Don't worry, we wouldn't be talking to you if she was around,"

Rolling over to confirm what Nana said was true, Izuku breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he found Blake wasn't in the room. She must've gotten up earlier and went to the library to read. 'Note to self, go spend time with her after calling Ruby and checking up on her,' He made a mental note before sliding through the opening of the ropes and hopping down to the ground.

He looked back up to the bed hanging from the ceiling and shook his head. He was honestly surprised he hadn't banged his head on the ceiling before. The most damage he had done to himself was when he fell onto the ground from his bed a week ago. It still surprised him that he'd been sleeping up there ever since he came to Beacon in November.

Blinking, Izuku froze in place. The month right now was February. Only a week until March. He'd been on Remnant for 4 months, nearly 5. His last day on Earth was in April. So if he added that up, that meant…

'Am I 17?!' Izuku thought, his eyes squinting as he tried to think of any way for it not to be true, but sadly for him it was. Biologically, he was now 17 years old, but technically, he was still 16 since it wasn't July yet on Remnant or back on Earth. 'So, do I say I'm 16 or 17 now?' He pondered to himself.

Izuku didn't care that he missed his Birthday, it was miniscule compared to everything he was going through at the moment. Besides, for most of his life, he only celebrated his birthday with his mother. He could go a year just by himself.

Pushing the thoughts about his age aside, he walked into the bathroom. Izuku passed the mirror and went straight for the shower, but paused when he noticed something. Walking backwards, he looked at himself in the large mirror. Since he had no pajamas, he elected to wear his regular clothes to bed, which he didn't consider to be much of a deal. He certainly wasn't going to sleep in his underwear around 4 girls.

Looking at his clothes, he noticed that his shirt was slightly raised from where it normally was. Squinting in confusion, he lifted up his shirt before lowering it. "Am I…" Frowning, he checked his shirt again and saw how it seemed smaller than normal.

He wouldn't have noticed it at first, but on further inspection, he realized that his initial suspicions were right. It wasn't by much, and he doubted anyone would notice at first glance, it'd probably been happening over the course of his stay, but he only noticed now. He questioned how it was happening, but then he remembered he was still 16, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

He was growing.

But that wasn't what Izuku focused on. His tiny increase in height served another purpose. It was yet another reminder that while he was on Remnant, he wasn't staying the same age as the people back on Earth. It was a reminder that when he got back to UA, things wouldn't be the same.

It was another reminder that he was getting older.

Izuku sat down on one of the chairs in the room and pulled out his Scroll. He'd been keeping in contact with the other girls since they left, as well as Jaune just for a check-in every now and again. He called Yang yesterday, but she said that Ruby was focused on his boots, so Izuku decided to call her today instead. He opened up his phone, but his thumb hovered over Ruby's number as he noticed a different contact at the bottom.

Neopolitan.

He frowned slightly as he remembered the girl. He hadn't texted her, and she hadn't texted him either. But Izuku knew it would just be a matter of time. The only question he had was how was he going to handle it. She wanted answers about his world, and he didn't really want to share. Not to mention it would be hard to explain if one of the girls, god forbid it be Blake, finds out she'd been texting him. He'd had to explain to Blake that the girl wasn't stalking him and it was just his paranoia messing around with him. After he'd gotten back, It'd taken some time, but Blake eventually laid off.

Did Izuku think it was bad that he was lying to his friend? Yes. But Neopolitan seemed different in a weird way, and he wanted to figure out why. He knew that the girls would be hostile towards her if they knew she had been stalking him, so right now he just needed to keep his mouth shut and try and figure this all out.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Izuku pressed on Ruby's name and waited. After a few rings, Ruby picked up. Her camera showed her bright smile as she saw Izuku. "Izuku! Hi!" She greeted him excitedly.

"Hi Ruby. How have you been?" Izuku asked, a smile appearing on his face at the sight of one of his best friends.

"I've been good. Still grounded, but that just gives me more time to work on your boots," Ruby gave a small shrug before her face lit up. "Oh! I've finished them, by the way. I hope they don't hurt you again. Speaking of which, did you hit your head?" Ruby asked, her head tilting slightly to the side.

"Just a nightmare, and it doesn't help that I'm so close to the roof," Izuku explained his injury to his friends.

"Ah, sorry for putting it so high up. We just needed space to walk underneath it," Ruby sheepishly apologized with an awkward laugh.

"It's not your fault.. If I'd never been brought here, you probably wouldn't have had to move the extra bed," Izuku casually stated.

"Yeah," Ruby quietly agreed, her eyes not meeting his.

Izuku wondered what he said wrong before switching topics. "So where's Yang,"

Ruby flinched at his question and her eyes looked away with a slightly nervous look on her face. "She's not here. She snuck out of the house again,"

Izuku nodded his head. Yang had told him about her trips out of the house. Izuku didn't really have much of a problem with it. It was just who Yang was, and he knew she was being safe and responsible…

Hopefully.

"Yang said that she wanted to talk tomorrow if I was free. Why didn't you tell her we were going to be talking?" Izuku questioned. Normally he texted either one of the sisters to let them know when he was going to call and they would tell the other.

Ruby pouted and twiddled her fingers together, "Because she didn't tell me you were gonna call yesterday," She defended her actions. "And because I just wanted to speak with you alone this time,"

Izuku's face took on a pensive look when Ruby explained why she didn't tell her half-sister. Did that mean Yang also didn't tell Ruby because she wanted time with him without anyone else. She just wanted a private chat. And Ruby didn't tell Yang because she also wanted to chat with him without anyone else around. Izuku pursed his lips in thought, trying to think of why they might be doing that. A few thoughts popped into his mind, but he was interrupted from his chain of thought when Ruby sighed.

"My friends at Signal haven't been responding to my letters lately," Ruby said, her face a bit downtrodden. "We've been losing touch ever since I came to Beacon. I try writing letters to them, but I don't hear anything back from them,"

Izuku hummed sadly, matching her mood. "Yeah. I miss my friends back on Earth." He tried to relate to the girl.

"Did you ever drift apart from your friends when you went to your Hero school?"

Izuku let out a tiny sigh and his eyes lowered with a troubled gaze "Middle School wasn't the best," Izuku confessed to Ruby. When he entered UA, he didn't keep in touch with his class from Aldera. Mostly because they didn't want to hang out with the "Quirkless Loser". He wondered how they were doing now. "Didn't really have any friends. I was a very quiet kid back then," Izuku let out a tiny chuckle, remembering how he used to act. Things changed drastically when he entered UA, and then again when he arrived at Beacon.

"You still kinda are," Ruby pointed out. "You don't talk too much to other people,"

"Well, that's because I don't have much interest in making more friends. The more people I meet, the more people I'll have to say goodbye to when I leave," Izuku truthfully told her. But if he was being honest, he was also content with the friend he had now. If he only had Team RWBY, he would've been content. They were his best friends while he was in this world.

Ruby nodded sadly, wincing when he talked about leaving, and wanted to ask him a question. "Izuku, will you still stay in touch with me when you go back to your world?" She asked.

Izuku wanted to assure her that they would, but he just couldn't. The way to take him back might only be one way. Or it can only be used once. There were too many variables that could prevent them from seeing each other again when Izuku returned to Earth. But that didn't mean Izuku would just take that lying down. He cared about his friends in this world, and he would try his best to find a way if all else failed. "I'll try my best to make sure I won't lose contact with you or any of the others,"

That answer seemed to be the right one as Ruby gave him a smile, but this one felt different. It wasn't her overly happy and excited smile she normally showed him. This one was softer, and held some emotion Izuku couldn't quite put his finger on. "I miss you, Izuku," Ruby smiled at the boy, a tiny dusting of red on her cheeks.

Izuku was taken aback. She'd said that she'd missed him before, but this one seemed to hold a certain feeling to it that warmed Izuku's body for a reason unknown to him. He couldn't stop the tiny blush rising onto his cheeks to match hers as he gave her a smile back. "I…I miss you too, Ruby,"

It was rare to find someone with strength that outclassed the masses.

She wasn't talking about the regular humans and Faunus. She was talking about the people who were sent to kill the creatures she controlled.

From what she first heard about the boy, Izuku Midoriya, he had two or three powers. One boosted his strength and speed. One that allowed him to create green lightning, which might be connected to his previous power. Further study would be needed. And a power that allowed him to create these black tendrils from his body and control them at will.

Her curiosity immediately peaked. Two or three Semblances were more than the regular person possessed, but then Cinder faced utter failure when the criminal she hired was intercepted by the boy. Normally, she would have been disappointed at the outcome, but she received news that only heightened her curiosity.

The boy had a new power. The ability to fly.

But that was not all. When Cinder pressed the criminal on what he knew about the boy, the man recounted how he started to raise his gun and the boy dived out of his sight. Like the boy knew what was about to happen.

That made her ponder. What sort of power could it be? A future sight was the first one she thought of before brushing it aside. He got hit with a shipping container and got blown up by a Dust Crystal. He would've foreseen these events in his mind and prevented them.

But then she wondered what if she wasn't too far off the mark. What if the boy could see, or sense, things around him. He dodged every bullet the terrorist organization threw at him. And while most of it could be attributed to agility, what if that wasn't the full story. Getting shot had a high potential to be fatal. Then she thought of the two times he did get hit, and it began to make more sense than her previous theory. The boy was strong enough to throw a shipping container, and took the Dust blast. Which meant that it wasn't dangerous enough to be considered a threat.

What if the boy had the power to sense things that could damage or kill him?

This boy wasn't.

He had three other powers alongside it. All of them have the ability to increase his agility. If used right, he could be untouchable. And she wasn't even talking about his strength. With power like that, he could easily take down most of her Grimm.

But that was just her assuming he wasn't hiding more powers. At first it was just two, then more powers began surfacing. There was a high chance he might be holding more cards up his sleeve. But she couldn't prove anything for now. She just needed to keep pushing him and see if he had any other abilities.

Right now the boy is enrolled in his school. Training to be a Huntsman and assisting her enemies while unknowingly fighting against her, but that was okay.

He believed himself to be in control of his fate. That may be so, but everything is subject to change.

Potential that outclasses most others, with multiple powers that seem to be stronger than regular Semblances. A sharp and tactical mind, and a willingness to protect his allies from harm.

The only issue was his mental state.

She'd been watching him through her crystal ball after Cinder reported a possible threat, and she was disappointed in what she saw. Incredible power, yet he kept it hidden from others and only powered up when the situation called for it. Untrusting, but he seemed close with a few people. A tortured soul that was getting healed faster than she would've liked.

But the thing that intrigued her the most was that he lacked the ability to kill a Grimm, let alone another a Human or Faunus. He'd been put in the perfect position many times, yet he instead showed mercy and held himself back. Perhaps it was to display power, showcasing his power over everyone. Maybe it was to see how strong his opponents were, a sadistic test on those he fought. Or it was the most likely answer.

Empathy.

If she wanted the boy on her side, she would need to turn him away from his clutches and bring him to her. However, his sanity wasn't weak enough for her to take advantage of him.

But that was not a problem. Everything had a breaking point. Nothing was indestructible. All you need to do is simply put enough pressure on it.

And then watch it break.