As the three of them entered Beacon's Main Hall they found the stage largely empty and most of the students just sitting around and socializing. Despite some initial panic about having potentially missed Ozpin's speech, two of the three were greatly relieved when a nearby student wondered aloud when this whole deal was going to get started. After letting out a sigh of relief, Ruby's silver eyes looked around the room and, eventually, locked down on her sister.
"Oh! There's Yang! Well listen I gotta go give her a piece of my mind for just ditching us! It was nice meeting you Blake, Izuku!" With that Ruby practically disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared beside her sister, immediately yelling at her.
"Huh?" Izuku looked back at where Ruby had been standing, before returning his attention to the bickering siblings, "Maybe that's her semblance? Maybe it's teleportation or itgreatlyincreasesherspeed?Eitherwaythat'dbeprettypowerfulifshe-"
"You're doing the mumbling thing again." Izuku slapped his hands over his mouth.
"Sorry!" He said through his hands as he look over at where the voice originated, as Blake just raised an eyebrow at him.
"You really are just a nervous guy, aren't you?" She then shrugged. "Well, I've done my good deed for the day. I'm going to go find some place to read before Ozpin gets set up. Later, I guess."
Izuku watched Blake walk off, grateful she had not commented further on his little trip. He let out a sigh of relief as he glanced around the Main Hall. A nervous pit formed in his stomach as he saw so many people, who all wanted to attend Beacon just like him. In all likelihood, one of these people were going to be his partner, or his teammates. Given that...well, maybe he should reach out and socialize.
...
Or maybe he could just hide in a corner until Ozpin came out to give his speech, that was an option too.
'Okay, okay, calm down man,' he began to survey the crowd again, 'So your... acquaintances-well they walked off and left you alone. No big deal, right? You can salvage this. I mean, it's not like you're terrible at introducing yourself to people! You can totally handle meeting someone else!'
He paused in thought for a second.
'I hope.'
He swallowed the lump in his throat once more, before he took stock of his surroundings and the people there. After a moment, he arrived at the conclusion that, aside from Kacchan, he really don't know anyone here.
'I guess it was really true; me and Kacchan really were the only people coming here to Beacon from our school,' he was filled with a mix of relief and trepidation. On the one hand, no one besides him had any idea he was...had been Broken. But then...it also meant he didn't really know anyone here at all. Oh sure, they all thought him a fool, but at least he knew them. The thought of meeting nothing but new people put a weird, nervous energy in his gut.
And… he might screw it up. Ruby and Blake had thought he was a weirdo… okay he kind of was. If Yang hadn't stuck around, or Ruby hadn't explained what he had been looking for, he probably would have messed this all up.
'I can make a good impression on people,' he declared in his mind, before slinking back down once again, 'At least...I'm pretty sure I can,' he looked back out at the crowd, 'Well, third time's the charm I guess?"
As his green eyes scoped around he finally stopped when he noticed the white haired girl from outside, though she seemed to have finally put her luggage away. Now that he had a closer view of her... Gods, was he really going to try to introduce himself to another girl? Another very pretty girl at that?
...
'Well... I guess so if the fact that my feet are carrying me over toward her is any indication.'
'Okay Izuku, you can do this. Just... just don't throw up, don't start stuttering like crazy, don't try to sound creepy and don't... don't... don't think too much about this! You can do this! You can totally do this!' Izuku finally swallowed the lump in his throat as he was only two yards away from the young woman. While his demeanor still held a lot of nervous energy that was readily apparent, it no longer looked like he was about to die of a heart attack. As the girl with light blue eyes watched him approach, he could see her quirk her eyebrow. Finally she sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, a slight huff having followed the gesture.
"Yes, can I help you?" There was a certain guarded nature to her body language as she watched Izuku approach and, for a moment, Izuku had found himself wanting to buzz off. However, after having steeled himself, he just stood up as straight as he could and said-
"H-H... Hello. I'm... Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you!"
'There! A good, proper greeting! I barely even stuttered at all! Maybe I'm finally making progress at this whole socializing thing?' Izuku was practically shaking on the inside. Though he might've been a bit louder than he intended as, for a moment, the girl flinched back before she shook away her surprise.
"Er... Hello. Nice to meet you?" She seemed a bit perplexed and, for a moment, he's ready to panic again.
'Oh Gods, did I already mess up-'
"Like I asked, can I help you?" As she asked this he snapped himself out of his death spiral and blinked.
'Well... I don't want anything in particular. But I guess if i'm introducing myself...'
"Well... I guess it'd be nice to know who I'm meeting. That's... that's how this goes when you introduce yourself to a stranger, right?" He asked a bit nervously. For a moment he saw that the girl seemed genuinely surprised... but that quickly gave away to a rather amused laugh.
"Right. You don't know who I am. Sure. Now, can I help you?" She asked, a mix of annoyance and amusement in her voice, as if she'd simultaneously pleased and bothered that she saw through some kind of ruse.
As Izuku stood there and nervously fidgeted he saw her brow furrow. "You do know who I am... you have to. Otherwise, why are you here?"
Again, he just kind of stood there a bit nervously; the girl's rather forceful personality having pinned him down. As she looked him over, he saw her light blue eyes snap open a bit. "You. You actually don't know who I am?"
He just nodded head as she put her hands on her hips. "I'm Weiss Schnee?"
Izuku paused for a moment and brought his hand to his mouth as he thought.
'I really don't know who Weiss Schne...wait, Schnee...like the Schnee Dust Company. They're the biggest Dust producer on Remnant. They're pretty much the only reason the increased demand for more Dust by Huntsman has been met since Toshinori arrived,' He looked down at his case for Emerald Gust, 'I have some of their stuff on me right now,' he looked back at her, 'If she's a Schnee then she must at least be related to the company, right?'
"Well... no, I haven't heard of you. I'm sorry. I'm guessing you're part of the company though? Or related to the Schnee family?" Izuku had kept himself from laughing at seeing how absolutely 'stunned' the girl looked when he said that. It honestly was kind of funn-
"You... I... I'm the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company!" She said, almost sounding indignant, as she looked Izuku dead in the eye.
Oh...
Oh.
Oooooooh.
'That would make her...the heiress to one of the biggest, most valuable and powerful companies in all of Remnant,' he still hadn't fully processed it, 'And I just walked right on up, talked to her like it was nothing and then proceeded to say that I didn't even know who she was. Right to her face.
'Ohhhh...craaaaaap.'
"Oh! That's... that's pretty cool."
'Pretty cool!' Izuku's brain practically screamed at him from within his skull, 'You're standing in front of someone who's the next in line to inherit perhaps the largest corporation in all of Remnant, whose actions have consequences all over the world, and the only way you can think to describe it is "pretty cool." My word how are you so bad at this!?'
Izuku's own disbelief at his words was probably only matched by Weiss', who's just stared at him with pretty substantial amount of disbelief.
'Come on, you have to have more than that to say, right?' his brain attempted to restart itself.
"Uh... I didn't know that. I just thought that... it'd be pretty nice to say hi? That how people make friends... or at least, I'm pretty sure that's how."
"... Are you for real?" Weiss asked, her head tilted to the side as if trying to get a better look at him, as if more visual information might have helped her solve the mystery of why he bothered to walk up and… well, bother her.
"I think so? I mean... err... sorry. I'm not too good with people," he sighed, really not happy with how things had went, " I don't exactly do this a lot... but, well, we're all going to school here for now to be hunters right? So I just thought... that we should get along, right?"
As he spoke, he saw Weiss Schnee's gaze narrow slightly before she twisted her head around. He saw her lock her gaze on a few people who didn't take much notice and, as she turned back to look at him, he could just barely make out her chewing on the far side of her lip. Eventually Weiss sighed slightly as she waved her hand.
"No... no you're right. I'm sorry. I'm not used to being some place where there's people who genuinely don't know who I am. I'm not terribly good with complete strangers either, I suppose." Despite having said that, Izuku felt like she had significantly sold herself short. She's been pretty proper this entire time and he didn't think she'd stammered or stuttered at all, even when she's been caught off her guard. She put her hands on her hips again. "So you're really just here to introduce yourself then? Nothing else?"
He nodded vigorously in response, not quite trusting himself to not put his foot in his mouth. Light blue eyes pierced into his green and, after a moment, he saw her offer a restrained, but still polite, smile.
"Well... Izuku Midoriya?" She asked to confirm, and he nodded, "It is... a pleasure to meet you." She seemed to search for the right word for this encounter and just seemed to default to a more plain one but, honestly, he perfectly fine with this!
Before either Izuku or Weiss could continue that string of thought, the sound of a microphone turning on snapped both of their attentions forward to the stage. There, plain for everyone to see, was one Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. It was unmistakable; the cane, the silver head of hair, the glasses and just the general demeanor screamed everything he'd ever heard about the Headmaster of the most Prestigious Hunter Academy in all of Remnant. As he stared out across the hall, his eyes scanned the audience. After a moment, he began to speak.
"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, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." As he spoke he practically stopped in place, his gaze locked forward as he addressed the crowd. Despite that and despite knowing he's likely just commanding attention by looking so... imposing, Izuku couldn't help an odd feeling that overtook him.
He couldn't help but feel that those eyes of his remain locked on a few key students for several moments... and then they locked on to Izuku himself.
Izuku then just shook his head, and decided to write that off as just nerves; his mind playing tricks on him while the Headmaster gave what he thought of as a very intense and inspirational speech. Of course, Beacon Academy could impart him with a great deal of knowledge and even some new skills he'd never held before... but like with One For All, it wouldn't matter if it was given to him. He'd have to work hard to actually be worthy of it; whether the 'it' in this case is One For All or knowledge.
'Without my own hard work, nothing the teachers here or Toshinori gives or teaches me will matter!' he stared up at Ozpin, a small smile developing, 'And I will work hard! After all, I already know my purpose, my direction… I've known it for years now,' for an instant, he thought he almost saw Toshinori himself looking down on him, '-and I've already had to work three times harder than anyone to be worthy of it! Doing what Ozpin asks of me here... that's an easy ask as far as I'm concerned!'
'I'm going to be a Huntsman! A her-'
His internal ramblings are interrupted when he swore he saw a spark of genuine amusement in Ozpin's gaze, before he moved on from Izuku.
"The Initiation Exam will begin tomorrow. For tonight, you all will be sleeping in the Main Hall. You are dismissed." With that Ozpin just walked off the stage. Izuku heard some muttering from other students about how that seemed like an odd speech or how it ran pretty short. Some even murmured that Ozpin probably phoned it in because he's had to give it so often now.
"He's right though. If we want to have a right to be here, we have to work hard. And that starts tomorrow..." He mumbled to himself, a smile on his face. That speech was-
"Well said." He froze up, suddenly realizing he'd let himself float off into his own little world while Weiss was still basically right next to him. He jumped in a bit of surprise as he tried to recompose himself from what he has to imagine was a pretty dorky looking moment. He was surprised to find that Weiss seems to be looking him over with an approving look. "Well it looks like I put my luggage off to the side for nothing. If you'll excuse me Izuku, I need to go procure it." He just nodded dumbly as Weiss walked off and, after he took a moment to compose himself again, then walked off towards the lockers. The person you'd dropped off your original luggage with had said that you'd be able to find it there.
It had been pretty late when everyone had arrived at Beacon, he reasoned to himself as he looked out at the setting sun. While Ozpin's speech hadn't run long, it had been scheduled pretty late in the day to allow as many students to arrive in time as possible. Izuku had come in pretty late himself because he had had to get here from Mountain Glenn. As he popped open the locker and found his suitcase and bags there, he smiled as he started to delve into it for his sleepwear for tonight. As he did so, he heard a couple guys close their own rocket lockers shut, wide grins on their faces as they jump up and down in place.
"Dudes, I can't believe it, we're going to be sleeping with the girls in the Main Hall tonight!"
'... What?'
"Yeah I was surprised too. Figured that they'd at least put some stuff to keep both sides from seeing each other but man, they're just letting it be tonight. Kinda surprised for such a fancy pants place like this."
'What?!'
"Yeah dude! This is our opportunity to show off for the ladies~. Maybe if we impress 'em enough we might just be looking to get ourselves some girlfriends from this. Now, tell me honestly, this shirt make me look buff?"
"You know it man. Come on, let's get out there."
'... WHAT!?'
'Okay, deep breaths Izuku, there's no way that's true right? They wouldn't just shove a bunch of teenage boys and girls into the same room and just leave it like that right?' He practically tiptoed back over to the entrance to the Entrance Hall and... and he felt himself pale.
No, there it was. Two sides, one side with most of the guys and the other side with most of the girls.
He would have said most because he definitely spotted some crossover.
He quickly ran back into the locker room and started sweating bullets.
'Okay, chill, there wasn't any reason to worry right? I mean, I have lots of changes of workout clothes. Sure it might look a little weird to go to sleep in long-sleeved pants and a long-sleeved sweatshirt but that isn't too unusual!' he placed his hands on his face, 'I can just say I get cold at night if anyone asks. It's better than potentially embarrassing myself."
Izuku had been keeping an eye open throughout most of the day and he swore all the girls in this school were drop dead gorgeous...
And most of the guys looked a lot better than he did too.
No one would want to s-
'HOLD IT THERE YOU DAMN NERD!" At that instant, Toshinori's voice rang in his ear, 'Are you really going to back down this early?'
'But, but,' he spoke thought in response, 'theres alot of gi-'
'HA HA! Do Not Worry My Boy!' Toshinori cut him off with a great laugh, 'I've seen your body, molded into a facsimile of my own. You've seen how impressive these muscles are. So why not show off some! It's time to show your classmates what you're really made of!'
His face went completely red, he looked back out towards the hall, and then began to think.
Well... he supposed that there's always going to be the chance that he'll room with some girls if he managed to get on a team. After all, teams are expected to live with each other in the same dorm rooms and they aren't separated by sex. I-It would probably be prudent to try to get used to these kind of living arrangements beforehand, right? After all, he really didn't want to sleep in his workout clothes every single night for the rest of his stay here at Beacon.
'Right!' mind Toshinori confirmed.
In fact, for a brief moment, Izuku felt unusually bold and even considered something a bit more extreme... maybe that's Toshinori's influence shining through? Either way he immediately thought better of it and slipped on his shorts and a t-shirt. They didn't fully expose him, which was good, but... yeah, it's a lot easier to tell what he has got going in these rather than his old school's uniform.
Hell, for a moment he even looked in mirror and smiled to himself; he's got a long way to go before he's anything like Toshinori or on his level in any way... but, well, he's made progress. And he worked hard for it.
He should be proud of it.
'Absolutely correct Midoriya my Boy,' Mind Toshinori laughed one last time, his voice fading into the background, 'Now get out there, and show them what you're made of.'
He takes a deep breath, trying to prep himself. He's still clearly nervous about going through with his idea but... well, hey, he can't back out now.
Well he can but... but well, he shouldn't.
Jeez.
"I don't think dad would appreciate all the boys..."
"I know I do, rawr."
Izuku hadn't turned his head to face the sounds of Ruby's or Yang's voice as he heard them nearby. He'd psyched himself up to the point where he'd actually out here in just a t-shirt and shorts and he'd managed to pull through this little show without going absolutely red in the face from embarrassment... but it had taken a lot of focus.
He felt the eyes of a fair few girls on him, appreciating his past ten months worth of effort. A few giggles are in earshot as whispers rang out from the girl's side of the auditorium. He even knew that some of the guys on their side had nodded their heads in approval, a few "nice man's" being thrown his way as he walked by. Of course others just scoffed as they kept on trying to show themselves off for the girls. He's still being noticed, some girls even cooed at the odd mix of 'built hunter' and 'spooked little church mouse' he seemed to have pulled off.
Izuku thinks that's probably made him feel even more embarrassed than stepping out dressed like that in the first place.
Then again... that wasn't so bad. Or at least, it wasn't as uncomfortable as he had thought it would be while he had been panicked in the locker room, thinking he was about to get eaten by a horde of sharks and laughed off of campus... it could happen!
But...this was pretty good. He was far from the center of attention but... well, it had been an interesting experience. He'd NEVER have done something like this at his old school. He'd never have dressed up in a way that girls would be remotely interested in him... it's another way he'd changed over he's time with Toshinori, he supposed.
"Well hey there Izuku! Where were you hiding all that earlier!" Immediately his efforts to keep the red off his face fell through as Yang hollered over at him. That immediately caused him to jump a bit as he looked over in Yang and Ruby's direction, Ruby just hid her face in her pillow, embarrassed for and by her sister, while Yang was just laughed hysterically.
'Oh... oh they're dressed in sleepwear too. In fact, all the girls are.' His focus on keeping his gaze locked steady on ahead finally failed as he took notice of the fact that his earlier statement was right; pretty much every girl here at Beacon was gorgeous.
How was that even possible?!
He had gone back to looking on straight ahead, a few laughs and giggles came from the girls, and a few hardy guffaws from the guys, as he tried to maintain his composure. He realized that while it is getting late, the Main Hall had hardly hit 'lights out' yet. A lot of people were still up and about doing things. Some had been reading, others were talking and, yes, there were the aforementioned guys who were doing their best to try to attract a girl with all the grace of a barfly.
Not that some of them seemingly hadn't succeeded mind you, but still.
He wondered if he was up for trying to meet another person. The earlier meeting with Weiss really hadn't go too badly and Yang's friendly nature seemed to help ease him into a nice acquaintanceship with Ruby... who then did the same for him as it concerned Blake. Honestly, he had time and he wasn't 'too' tired, though bed had started to sound increasingly attractive.
On the one hand, he had not wanted to get surrounded by too many people. He was already uncomfortable as it is, no need to turn his already red face into a tomato. As he looked around for someone else to talk to, really wanting to try to continue building these connections so his time here at Beacon wouldn't be as unbearable as it was back in his old Combat School, he spotted a couple people who've broken off from everyone to be by themselves.
Blake seemed to be busy reading a book so he didn't want to bother her too much. There was this guy with Red and White hair who's sitting off by himself and, for a moment, he took a couple steps toward him. One look from him however shook Izuku a bit; he felt pretty intense. Not in an aggressive way but... he just seemed like he has a lot on his mind at the moment. Izuku laughed nervously before he backed off and looked for someone else to talk to.
He eventually spied the red haired girl from earlier in the day sitting off by herself. She's dressed in some pretty simple sleep attire, a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and she seemed to be trying to make herself a bit scarce. If someone noticed her she'd nod and smile but there seems to be some hesitancy toward it, almost as if she was nervous about something. Eventually she noticed his approach... and probably took notice of the rather scarce way he'd dressed. He watched her put on as polite an expression as she can, a smile even accompanying it, but even his meager skills at socializing could tell that she was increasingly uncomfortable the closer he got.
Still, that seemed to be how most of these situations were starting so... hey, who knows, maybe he could change that.
"Uh... hello! I'm Izuku Midoriya." He said bolstered by the fact that compared to walking about in his sleepwear, just going off and talking to someone was much easier in comparison.
'Huh she seems almost as uncomfortable as I feel right now, that's... kind of reassuring.'
"Oh, hello. It's, er, nice to meet you." She's spoke in a somewhat stilted manner as she watched him, her green eyes peeled for some expected action as he just stood there. He waits for her to give her name in turn but she seems hesitate. She arched an eyebrow, as if waiting for him to make the next move.
"Err... so, what's your name?"
"... Pardon?"
"You know, your name? It's part of how greetings go right? I can't just keep calling you 'the red haired girl' in my head... can I? No, probably not..." He awkwardly admitted all this as the girl just blinked at him, tilting her head to the side curiously.
"I'm... my name is Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you Pyrrha. I've just been introducing myself around because... well, we're all going to be students here right? Figured it'd be good if we could all get along." The line of reasoning flowed more freely from his mouth this time around than it had with Weiss, his experience over the day and the somewhat easier circumstances, compared to prancing around in ones sleepwear, making this a lot easier for him.
Pyrrha just blinked as she looked at him, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, you, you don't know who I am?"
'Oh Gods, did I mess up again?'
"Oh, oh no, should I? I'm sorry! I did this once before already with another student here! If I should, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean-"
"No, no, no, no! Nothing like that!" It's weird, despite how fervently she'd reacted to Izuku and how almost panicked she seemed by your reaction, he could almost swear that the corners of her lips had twisted up into a bit of a grin. "I-I mean... don't worry about it. It's nothing really all that important. So you were just introducing yourself? Well, Izuku Midoriya, it is very nice to meet you."
He smiled and nodded back. Honestly, she did seem very polite and now, for whatever reason, whatever discomfort she seemed to have felt had at least lessened a bit. Still, he wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't curious about what exactly it is he'd apparently missed about her. She seemed almost pleased that he didn't know about it, whatever it is, which seemed weirdly at odds with how Weiss reacted earlier today.
As Pyrrha tried to wave off the... he didn't know exactly but call it a 'thing' for now, Izuku pondered the possibility of trying to ask her about what she'd been talking about. As Izuku looked at her though, he could see that she was almost pleased that he didn't know. Maybe that was the source of her discomfort with him approaching her at first? Either way, Izuku thought about it and realized that it'd be rude to pry and, while he didn't know too much about her yet, Pyrrha had seemed like a nice person. There was no reason to go digging if she'd told him that it doesn't really matter, right?
"Okay, sure. If it isn't all that important then I won't be too bothered about it. That sound good?" He asked, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. The fact that Pyrrha looked positively ecstatic and gives him a firm nod told him that he probably made the right choice.
"Sounds very good. Thank you Izuku."She took a short pause before continuing. "Anyway It's rather admirable that you're going out of your way to speak to our fellow classmates. I can tell that it might not be... well..." Pyrrha scratched her cheek a bit as she thought of how best to phrase this, but he just chuckled and continued to scratch the back of his head.
"Not very good at it? Don't worry about it, I'm not. I didn't have a lot of interaction with people before I came here but... well, I figure if we all have an opportunity for a fresh start, might as well try to make it a good one, right?" Pyrrha nodded in agreement as a smile tugs at her lips.
"I agree... though that can be harder for some to achieve than others." She admitted as she looked around at the broader Main Hall and all the people in it. "So, have you given much thought to teams?" He tilted his head to the side. "You yourself said that you want to try to see if you can get along with the people here and, well, some of them may end up being your teammates by tomorrow. What are your... thoughts on the matter?" Pyrrha asked curiously as she tipped her head to the side. He brought a hand up to his mouth for a second as he took a careful second to consider this. 'I have met a lot of people today and, despite my own awkwardness, they all do seem very nice. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha... Kacchan.'
...
'Okay, maybe not Kacchan, but still, I do know him. And those are just the people I know so far; who knows what other kinds of cool people are here. Still, I can't exactly speculate based on folks you haven't met.'
He continued to paused for a moment as he took in Pyrrha's question. 'I thought it might've seemed a bit odd to be jumping the gun this far when I hadn't even been fully accepted into Beacon's program... but if Pyrrha's also given some thought to it, maybe it wasn't that odd?'
In which case...
"Hmmm, well, I mean, I guess I have..." As he said that he excused himself for a moment to go back to his locker. Upon returning he had a small stack of notebooks with him, various volumes of his Huntsman Analysis For The Future. Pyrrha blinked, clearly surprised by that as he cracked open one of the volumes. "Keep in mind that I've only really spoken with four people people here so far, besides you I mean, and one person I know from back home who doesn't like me... so I don't know a 'whole' lot of people. But that's fine; teams are four people total, and I don't really know any of you five well enough to say that I don't want you all on my team, so I'm basically fine with anyone I've met today." Pyrrha actually smiled a bit at that basic compliment, before he turned back to his books.
"That being said, there usually is an order for how partners and teams are put together in Hunter Academies. Usually there's a system of checks based upon a singular hunter's, or a pair of partner's, strengths and weaknesses that go into how teams are structured. Especially looking at the big Academies in Atlas and Mistral there's a general theme of creating teams that make up for each individual member's failings,takeforexampletherecentpartnerpairofShinjiNishiyaandYuTakeyama;YuhasaStrengthSemblancethatnotonlygreatlyincreasesherphysicalprowessbut,asasmallsideeffect,causesrowthinherbody,thismakeshergreatinclosequartersfightsandshedoeshaveweaponsonhandthatgiveherrange,butit'snotwhatshe'sgoodat,whileShinjiNishiyaontheotherhandismorerangefocused,evenusinghisSemblanceasameansofensnaringfoesawayfromhimorjustputtingsomeobstaclesinbetweenthemandhim,thetwotogethercoverfortheother'sweaknessesintheseregardsortoputallofthismoresimply,teamsarehighlystructuredinmostcases...whichiswhatmakesBeaconAcademyodd,yousee-"
"Izuku!"
He immediately went red in the face as he realized that he's been going off on one his usual muttering storms. He clasped his hands over his mouth and looked over to Pyrrha who, while looking a bit weirded out by his sudden dip into muttering Hell, had kept a small smile on her face.
"I appreciate all of this information, it sounds like you've given it a lot of thought but... maybe slow down a little bit?" She asked gently while he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yeah, okay, sorry." he did his best to shake off the embarrassment as he turned back to his volumes and resumed flipping through it. "Anyway, like I said, Beacon's odd in that case because you don't see a lot of that similar solid structure. People like to point to Toshinori and Enji but they're more the exception than the rule. Far more often teams turn out like Team STRQ when it comes to how their partner pairs and whole teams are structured. The team was generally made up of people who just got into close range and stayed there; Taiyang Xiao Long was a brawler, Raven Branwen was amazing with a blade and while a lot of people think that Qrow Branwen's weapon could be classified as a high-caliber sniper scythe, truth is that it Mecha-Shifted into a shotgun or a sword, so he was generally close range all the way down. Even Summer Rose wasn't particularly known for keeping her distance, instead being remembered for 'Slaying' High Class Grimm."
"You normally wouldn't want this; people who can attack Grimm from far off are usually capable of picking off high-priority or dangerous targets before they get close up, while people who can generally fight toe-to-toe can keep Grimm off of those members of their team and innocent civilians. Not to mention how this mix can help in dealing with various criminals and other rogue elements. Despite all this, Team STRQ graduated at the top of their class and were generally considered the top team of their year of any Hunter's Academy. This isn't even an isolated incident; Beacon's earned its reputation by churning out top Hunters and teams of them, but the Hunters it does it with are usually considered odd compared to how other Academies structure things. They keep it a secret as to how they organize teams so no one can say for certain 'why' this happens... but, I dunno... it almost seems like it's completely random." He finished as he leaned back a bit, Pyrrha having seemed really surprised by that.
"Really? Well I mean, that can't be right? Beacon Academy's at the top of the system, putting out the most well-known and influential hunters of these past generations. Surely they couldn't accomplish that if they put the teams together by random chance?" Pyrrha asked, almost as if trying to force that to be the answer, as he just bit his knuckle a bit.
"I know, I know... but considering all the teams I have written down here, it's the only thing that makes sense without allowing for some 'mystery phenomena'. Beacon would only know as much as the Combat Schools would tell them, so it's not like they have some special knowledge about the kids coming into their school. And considering what they'd know, you'd figure they'd follow the same track as the other Hunter Academies... it'd be what makes the most logical sense. The fact that they don't and that their teams tend to be so skewed one way or the other most times... I dunno. I want to think it's something deeper too but the simplest answer given what we know is that it's just random chance."
Pyrrha actually took a moment to consider that point of view and, though he wrote it off, he swore there was a bit of a spark in her eyes as she turned back to him. "Well... I suppose letting the dice fall where they may wouldn't be such a bad thing." He chuckled nervously as he shrugged.
"I dunno about that. For all I know, random chance would end up with me being on a team with Kacchan... and that's a recipe for dysfunction." he joked before the conversation moved on.
"My goodness... you do know a lot about this." He blushed slightly as Pyrrha said that, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"Ever since I was a little kid, I've always dreamed of becoming a Huntsman. You know, be the kind of hero who can inspire people and keep them safe. So I've... kind of... sort of... obsessively took notes whenever I could to try and help me keep up with my peers." The red haired young woman nodded as he spoke; despite his expectations, she looked more impressed by that than put off, which his previous classmates had been...
Then again, his previous classmates had known he was "Broken" at the time, so to them it was weird and a waste of time.
"So, given all of this, how would you yourself structure a team out of the people you know?"
Izuku frowned a bit as he looked back at his notes. 'I... I'm not too sure of that myself. It's not like I'm completely clueless, heck, I just rounded off a lot of stuff that made up teams generally, even given Beacon's oddities. But, well, putting that information to good use was another thing entirely.'
He put his hand to his chin as he continued to think. 'Ruby had a HCSS, a real one, and seemed to have a Speed-Boosting Semblance if her sudden run over to Yang was any indication.'
'Ruby did say that Yang actually used a set of weapons similar to mine and was a brawler as well. So I would pretty much fit in here too, considering that I had a similar weapon to her with a similar skill-set to use it.'
'Blake's Gambol Shroud had a lot of potential ranges and uses given its multiple forms and how she can use her ribbon along with it to extend its range.'
'Weiss... er, well, you didn't get an opportunity to ask her about what she was good at. Though considering her family, maybe it involved Dust?'
'Then here was Kacchan but... I don't really think that me and Kacchan being on the same team would be good. Not that Kacchan isn't amazing, he is! His Semblance makes him absolutely deadly at close range and he's built his weapon to build upon that advantage and cover a few weaknesses... but, well, given how Kacchan really doesn't seem to like me, I doubt a team with the two of us on it would be very... functional.'
'And finally Pyrrha...'
"Oh, Pyrrha, I really don't know what you do or what you're good at. If you wouldn't mind, maybe you could fill me in?" Pyrrha gave a small 'oh' as she nodded. As Pyrrha spoke Izuku learned that she's got a similarly varied weapon set to Blake; her weapons, Miló and Akoúo̱, were a bit of a marvel of having multiple uses at their disposal. They could go from being a sword and shield combo, to being a bolt-action rifle to being a spear that could also served as a javelin. It gave her multiple weapons with multiple ways of inflicting harm at various ranges. He'd thought the javelin form wouldn't see a lot of use seeing as how that'd involve throwing her main weapon away but Pyrrha assured him she could bring both it and her shield back if they were thrown. She doesn't speak as to how, which is fair; the two of them were not actually on a team, so given that no one knows how initiation was expected to work, it'd put her at a disadvantage to tell him anything much.
Still, that was a good bit of information. He really couldn't think of anything too sophisticated without giving it a lot of thought... but after doing so, he came up with-
'Well, first is Kacchan... he's strong, really strong,' he remembered all the terrifying blasts that he had observed from his old friend, 'Probably the single strongest huntsman I know...publically at least. Toshinori obviously still outclassed him, but...Kaachan is incredibly strong. WIth his Semblance that can convert chunks of his Aura into explosions, he was pretty much always guaranteed to be.'
'And the way he combines it with his weapon shows what how smart he is too,' he remembered the first day of class at Birch where Kaachan had shown them off, 'Creating a set of gauntlets that would allow him to focus his semblance into long-range bursts was, in addition to Toshinori, what inspired Emerald Gust. They even double as extremely strong gauntlets for him to swing around in melee range. Any team that has Kacchan in it would immediately benefit from the sort of firepower he brings…'
'But he just... Kacchan was a leader,' Izuku nodded to himself, he remembered the many boys who followed his old friend around, 'But... not necessarily a good one,' he thought back to Kaachan barking orders, and tossing his things at other people, 'He got people to follow him because he was the best, because he was strong. Even to his friends he could yell and be sour with. Back home that might've been fine because Kacchan was at the top... but this was Beacon,' he looked at Pyrrha, something itching at the back of his head, 'Everyone was at the top…,' he stopped himself, 'well, not me, but still. This was a school for the most gifted potential Huntsmen and Huntresses.'
'I'm not sure Kaachan can just act like he did before,' he thought about the way Kaachan had reacted to every group he'd ever been assigned to, 'Kacchan isn't terribly good at following other people's orders and doesn't much like people who pushed back against him,' he thought of a smouldering notebook, 'That I've kept trying to be a Huntsman for so long...irked him. Either as a leader or as a member of a team, Kacchan is going to be an extremely volatile element. No matter how strong he was, that is going to be an issue.'
Which left him with five...
"Ruby would be almost totally necessary for any team made up of the people I've met so far. Her Sniper Scythe just brings too much long-range utility to a fight. That she's apparently got some kind of Speed Boosting Semblance on top of that means she can dart in and out of a skirmish with a lot of ease. That she's here two years early pretty much guarantees that she knows how to use it which, in combat, would immediately give her a big edge. The fact that she's a sister to Yang, who I'd put in second, just means that they'd synergize well; knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses and getting along pretty well. Yang's a close up brawler with a weapon similar to mine, so I can fathom her effectiveness in close range combat. She'd be able to cover for the rest of the team."
"Weiss is also pretty nice... but I don't know too much about what she can do in a fight. Because she's a Schnee I can only assume it has something to do with Dust, which would make her great at mid-range; she could bring a lot of different effects to the field just by throwing around concentrated amounts of Dust and who knows what else she'd be good with. Then there's Blake: her weapon is insanely multi-purposed and can pretty much be used at a wide-variety of ranges. Ruby definitely beats her out at long range but Blake can pretty much dip in and out of every other category. She also seems like she's a good person, so she'd be easy to get along with too."
"Then there's you... honestly, aside from Ruby, you could fit just about anywhere in here for the same reason that Blake can. The multiple ways your weapon can be used means that at any range outside of Ruby's extremely long range you'd be effective. You'd just bring a lot of versatility to a lot of situations which no one can really complain about. As much as I'd like to include Kacchan... he just doesn't fit so well into a team. Not because he isn't amazing, he is, but... well, he's not a great team player, I think. That's... that's what I think at least." he sheepishly scratched at his cheek as Pyrrha nodded along. Before he finished he notices she seemed to be waiting for something and, as he concluded, watched as she tilted her head to the side.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You didn't include yourself anywhere in that little analysis." He blinked slightly as Pyrrha brought this up, his mind quickly going back over his own analysis. 'Huh... she was right. I didn't include myself anywhere in that.' Though, he grinned a bit sheepishly as he looked off a bit, the reason why sitting in his head.
"Well, you asked how I'd put a team together and... that's how I'd do it. I tried to put together the best team I could think of and... well, that really didn't include me, I think." He scratched at the back of his head as he said this, which left Pyrrha blinking in some surprise.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the same reason that I could be slotted in for anyone but Ruby could be used to put you in Yang's place, correct? If your weapon set is so similar." He conceded the point but felt the need to elaborate.
"I have a pretty good feeling that Yang's gonna be better and stronger than I am." She had the advantage after all; she's probably had an Aura for Gods knew how long. while he was still playing catch up. Sure, he worked three times harder in order to earn his place, but... it still didn't feel like he was there. He knew his wasn't the strongest or the fastest person here. Heck, for all he studied and knew about Huntsmen, he was fairly certain you weren't the smartest either. Plus, well, he was only here because Toshinori gave him a chance. He said that Izuku deserved One For All and that he earned it through his hard work and, hey, Toshinori was probably right... but that hadn't made One For All his.
And in his mind that didn't make his place at Beacon here his either. As far as he was concerned until tomorrow, he was here because Toshinori saw potential in him and gave him a chance. Until he passed Initiation, this wasn't his place yet. Once he had, well, then he'd have earned his spot here. he'd have made his chance here his own. Then he could work as hard as he could on making himself better and catching up.
Until then... well, it still felt like he hadn't quite belonged.
"If I was going to make a team, I'd want it to be the best it could be. That's the only way we'd be able to keep people safe is if we have the best people out there saving them and inspiring them. Out of the people I met today... well, I know I'm not the best. So it wouldn't be best served by having me on it." Before Pyrrha could answer his point, he heard a voice ring out over the crowd.
"Could we all turn down the lights and quiet down? Some of us are trying to sleep." he recognized it as Weiss' voice and, while it sounded a little annoyed, it doesn't sound angry. There seemed to be a general hum of consensus that followed and, soon afterward, Izuku pushed himself up off the floor.
"Well I think I need to go ahead and turn in. Nice talking to you Pyrrha." She looked at him for a few seconds, a bit of a scrunch to her nose as if she had been thinking, before she smiled.
"Nice speaking with you as well Izuku. Good evening."
With that, he turned in for the night.
A/N: One of the interesting things about writing Quests is that element of player interactivity. It can make things a bit more unpredictable and fun, with characters, if things are being played well, being played in surprising but still very much 'them' ways. Still, writing this influence into a Fanfic can be a bit tricky. However, one of my editors, Wind-Waker, came up with the nifty notion of expanding on a bit of a running gag I had early on in the Quest, the idea of Toshinori Yagi being the voice of Izuku's conscience, as a way of explaining some of the more out there decisions Izuku would make. Not necessarily out of character, I feel the players have been great about managing Izuku as an MC, but just some of the decisions that might seem a bit odd for the little guy. This faded over time as you don't want to run a joke into the ground and, here, will fade as Izuku settles more into the personality that the Quest posters were running with.
