So if you read Wind Mage, you'll know that I mentioned this chapter having some important info. That would be addressing the concerns that this character is going to be an angsty, emo Sasuke rip-off. It's true that his personality is dark and that he dislikes people. Personally, I like those kind of characters, the ones who, without being outright violent and hateful, embody a darker aspect. In this case, what he desires is isolation as a form of protection. After all, nobody can hurt him if there's nobody around.
Now, that does NOT mean that I like Sasuke or what Kishimoto did with him. What happened there was a character acting so bat-shit insane and stupid that he couldn't see clear truths right in front of him. The curse of hatred, avenger, blah blah blah. I will never, swear on my life, write a Sasuke-esque character. That was a downward spiral that doesn't make much logical sense. You do one of three things with a dark character: You redeem them, you turn them into a villain, or you have them destroy themselves. No matter which you do, there has to be more than just angst and anger, though the true character may be hidden underneath the underneath. Kishimoto, I feel, tried to do all three. It isn't impossible, but Sasuke just wasn't given the depth of character for it. Even if he had been, it is a very hard thing to convincingly pull off.
So, that's my rant. I won't say exactly what I'm going to do with Akujin, but I won't be trying to pull off multiple objectives, as I am not building him in such a way in the first place. Now for reviews.
xbox432: Glad you're liking it so far, and happy that you gave this story a chance as well. His power is like Kimimaro's, though that's not where I pulled inspiration from originally. He'll have a much different fighting style, though.
garoorar: I understand your concern and hope the above rant eases your fears a bit. I do see what you're saying about the main character's mindset being a bit hard to relate to, and I'll write with that in mind. Not changing anything, but I'll maybe be getting the outsider perspective on him more often. As for his name, I address that in this chapter to a certain extent, though I do see your point. Remember that it is a phrase though, not a name given to him by parents or anything, so it would make sense to use an adjective rather than a noun form for the word "white," and I was aware of this when writing it.
Aside from that, they chapter is slightly lighter than the last one, and I'd like to know what everyone thinks.
Shiroi woke up covered in sweat. He turned on his Scroll to see it was five in the morning, much earlier that he had to be up. Well, whatever. He didn't have to report to the cliffs until ten, so he'd dedicate some time to training. Having spent quite some time outside of civilization had taught him just how important it was to keep his body in good shape. If you were unfit when animals or Grimm attacked you would be in serious danger. There was very little chance of survival if you couldn't defend yourself.
His routine began with a run of five kilometers. Well, somewhere around that much, since he didn't have any way of measuring the distance. Maybe there was a pedometer on his Scroll; he'd experiment with it later. For now he'd just run until he got as tired as he normally would.
After completing his cardio, he took a ten minute break to rehydrate and rest before resuming. When his break was over, he dropped to the ground and did a set of twenty push-ups, before doing the same in sit-ups. He alternated sets until he had done both exercises a total of one hundred times each. He took another rest, this time for five minutes, before finding a tree with sturdy enough limbs to do pull-ups on, of which he did fifty. The routine also included fifty squats, about twenty minutes of balance training, and thirty reps of each of a suite of basic moves on the trees, including various forms of punches and kicks, as well as elbow and knee strikes.
At the end of it all he was a bit winded. He was decently strong, but he was by no means superhuman. The fact that he gave himself very little recovery time was also to blame, but he had made this regime in such a way that no muscle would be excessively sore. It would do him absolutely no good if he was attacked right after his workout and he was too tired to fight back. Besides, this exercise wasn't meant to push him to his limits, it was just to keep him sharp.
Even after his workout and some time to recover, Shiroi still had well over three hours to kill before the initiation exam. He'd want to take a shower before that, though, and he was a fan of long showers. When you lived in the wild, you could take as long as you wanted. Especially since his showers during that period of life had doubled as training. The only way to shower was to either make a rig of some kind to transport the water, or to stand under a waterfall, and he didn't have the engineering knowledge for the former option.
So he gave himself just over half an hour for that. Still, he had nothing to do for quite some time. Well, he figured that breakfast and some exploration would be able to fill up the rest of the time. With those thoughts in mind, he decided that now would actually be a good time to get that shower in. After all, it was early enough that most people wouldn't be awake.
Blake and Ruby had both woken up early this particular morning. Blake was an early riser by nature, though that was just because cats had a habit of not sleeping for as long at one time, but rather took several naps each day. She tended to get the same amount of sleep as humans, but it wasn't apparent to others. She just slept when she didn't have anything better to do, and most people didn't notice when she dozed off.
Ruby, on the other hand, rarely got up this early. She was having a hard time staying asleep in a room with so many people; social awkwardness would do that to a girl. This was actually the third time she'd woken up, but now she had decided that she was going to stay up. After all, people would start waking up within the hour anyway.
The girls met up as they walked toward the showers and silently nodded their greetings. They entered the locker room, which attached at the back to the showers. Each grabbed a towel and a change of clothes before heading toward the door to the showering area. They were surprised to hear a valve closing, indicating that someone had finished. The door to the men's side opened as Shiroi stepped out, wearing absolutely nothing.
Both girls were frozen in place when they saw him. It was the natural reaction to seeing a young man walk not even ten feet away from you while both stark naked and uncaring about the former fact. Blake was stunned by the sheer balls that took, and also his looks. She had barely seen him on the roof, and now she was seeing MUCH more than she had ever imagined. He was well-muscled all over, though it was a lean build. He was the type who had a frame balancing speed and power, and looked damn good because of it. She had to admit that she allowed her gaze to linger just a bit too long on his crotch, and mentally reprimanded herself for it.
Unlike the older girl, Ruby had taken to blocking her vision with her hands. She did NOT want to see that first thing in the morning. Not that she didn't find him somewhat attractive, but she wasn't that kind of girl.
Shortly after they saw Shiroi enter, he went to a locker and pulled out a change of clothes. Blake, once he was finally decent, decided to approach him about it.
"What was that about?"
The boy just tilted his head, not seeming to understand what the issue was.
"You just walked out completely naked, and Ruby may be mentally scarred now," she elaborated.
"So?" he said in a perfectly innocent tone. He really had no idea that what he'd done was unusual.
"What would you have done if everyone had been here? You'd be labeled as a pervert."
Shiroi, for his part, seemed completely unfazed. "I'm called much worse all the time. If I still cared what humans and Faunus called me I wouldn't be alive today. On top of that, creatures of Grimm have no need of shame, since we're always naked. I wear clothing only to fit in and to protect my body, not because I have anything to hide."
Blake didn't know what to say to that. She didn't know what the deal was with him calling himself a Grimm, but the actual logic wasn't something she could argue against. Besides, she was a seventeen year-old girl who read the Ninjas of Love series on a regular basis. It wasn't like she had never been exposed to the male body before before. It was unexpected, sure, but didn't hurt anybody.
"Well, goodbye," said Shiroi when she stopped speaking. If these two were up, then the rest would likely funnel in soon as well. Besides, the dining hall was open and he was hungry.
Once he left, Blake went back over to Ruby to let the girl know that the boy was gone and that she could stop covering her eyes. The two made a silent promise not to bring this up again, at least not until the shock wore off.
Shiroi was a bit irritated to find the dining hall was already quite full. However, food was more important that his distaste for crowds, so he grabbed a large plate of pancakes and sat down at one of the more open tables. Just as he was about to dig in, he saw a hand swipe the plate out from in front of him. He jerked his head in the direction of the thief, and was surprised to see a short, ginger-haired girl. She was wearing a white top, with a heart cut out at the top of her chest, and a pink skirt. On her hands were fingerless pink gloves, and disconnected white sleeves covered her arms.
His astonishment only grew as the girl scarfed down the stack of pancakes within seconds. He was still incredibly annoyed, but that was impressive. Sitting next to her was a boy, taller than Shiroi himself, who noticed the red-eyed teen's mood and apologized.
"Sorry about Nora. She has an addiction to pancakes, and doesn't really think before acting."
"Maybe you should keep her on a leash, then," Shiroi replied. The boy he was speaking to was a fair bit taller than himself, with a scrawy build. Well, not scrawny, feminine was more like it. He did seem to have muscle, it was just hard to notice. The boy had bright pink eyes, and his black hair had a pink streak that matched them. He was wearing a green, Chinese-style shirt.
"We've tried that. And a chain. Neither of of them worked."
Nora took the ensuing moment of silence to release a loud and unladylike burp, which Shiroi saw as his signal to get something else to eat. He came back with a bowl of oat cereals with various pieces of fruit in it. He figured that as long as it wasn't pancakes he would be able to keep it, and he was right. Nora didn't make the slightest attempt to steal it, and so he just ate the rest of the meal while blocking out the girl's incessent chatter. Seriously, he disliked humans, but even he had to feel sorry for the other boy, whose name he heard to be Ren during Nora's monolouge.
That pity wasn't enough to bother helping the young man, however. So after finishing his meal, Shiroi walked out, content to spend the rest of the time until the initiation in solitude. He spotted Ruby and her sister talking animatedly on his way out, but the conversation died as he passed them. Ruby passed through a few shades of pink when she spotted him, and Yang gave him a wary look. At least it wasn't outright hostility, he thought to himself. Passing them, he left the room and went to the forest for some relaxation.
At ten exactly, Shiroi walked out of the woods and onto one of the large, square plates decorating the cliffside that overlooked the Emerald Forest. It was a beautiful stretch of land, covered by towing oaks and maples for a couple dozen square miles. Too bad it was also covered in Grimm.
Now that everyone was present, Ozpin began to explain the conditions of the test.
"Welcome, students. Today's initiation exam will determine whether you have the skills to become true Huntsmen and Huntresses. The setting for the test will be the Emerald Forest below."
Glynda, the tall and imposing vice-Headmistress of Beacon, intergected: "There have been rumors circulating about the placement of teams, so allow me to clear up any confusion. You will be assigned teammates. . . today, during the exam."
There were mixed reactions to that statement. Some, like Shiroi, didn't seem to care at all. Others, such as one Ruby Rose, were worried about the outcome. Either way, it didn't seem like they'd have much control over who they worked with.
Ozpin picked up where his assistant left off. "You will have these partners for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to find someone with whom you work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be you partner."
Shiroi lifted an eyebrow. It seemed like a very odd way of selecting teams, but he didn't see any additional problems coming from it. Yet, anyway.
"Additionally, we have a special case this year. We happen to have an extra student, making it impossible to create all of the teams with the normal number of four members. As such, one student has been selected to be part of a larger team. So, whoever locks eyes with Shiroi Akujin will have him as a partner, but will also have one additional partner for a total of three people."
Shit. It was already going to be draining on him to deal with the normal sized team, and now he's being forced to deal with an extra person. 'Oum,' Shiroi thought, 'do you have something against Grimm, despite us being your creations?'
"Once the pairs, and triple, have been formed, you are to head to the northern end of the forest. There you will find a temple, within which is a set of relics. Each group is to take one and return to the top of the cliff. I warn you all, however, that you will face opposition. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. . . or you will die. Are there any questions?"
Shiroi was the first to speak up. "You do mean anything at all, correct? Even if it is not Grimm that are hindering us?"
Ozpin narrowed his eyes at the problem child he'd taken in. "What are you insinuating, young man?"
The boy didn't back down in the slightest. "If my teammates slow me down or get in my way, are they included in that order?"
There was a tense staring contest between the two, and some of the less confident students paled at the idea of being partnered with the feral boy. Among them was Jaune Arc, a noodle of a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was just over six feet tall but lacked the muscle that would have made him intimidating, or at least respectable.
Ozpin was the one to break the silence. "You are free to abandon your comrades, though I wouldn't suggest it, but under no circumstances may you harm them. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Akujin?"
"Yes. By the way, why does everyone call me by only part of my name?"
That confused everybody, even those who were breathing a sigh of relief at knowing they wouldn't be attacked by their year-mate.
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby, who happened to be standing right next to him.
"What I mean is that I only have one name, Shiroi Akujin, and it's more of a title than an actual name. I have no family name like people do."
"That's kind of a mouthful, though, isn't it?" Ruby countered.
Shiroi just shrugged. He didn't accept the title because it was easy to say, and he really didn't care what he was called. He had just been curious as to why people didn't use the complete wording, because it was a phrase rather than disconnected words.
Ozpin, sensing that they were rather off topic, brought everyone back to reality. "Now, everyone, take your positions and prepare you landing strategies."
One by one students began to fly off the cliff, though Jaune was unaware of this fact. "Um, Ozpin sir, I have a question. This 'landing strategy' thing, are you going to be dropping us off?"
Ozpin gained an amused grin but quickly regained his calm facade. "No, you will be falling."
"Oh. Did you hand out parachutes before I got here, or. . ."
"No, you will be using your own strategy."
Jaune gulped as he noticed that most of the students had already been sent off, and within seconds he was the only one left.
'Oh no,' he thought as he flew into the air, screaming like a little girl.
Ozpin settled into a relaxed stance and took a sip of coffee, simply enjoying his work. He really did love to see them go shooting through the sky like that; it was very stress-relieving, and he'd had more than enough stress for one day already.
Well, this chapter had some light humor and awkwardness, and I hope it answered some things. May or may not change up the team dynamics, not sure yet. If you have a strong opinion either way, you know what to do. Review, and thank you all for reading.
