A/N: Ah, time to just sit back, relax, and-

*ding*

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Chapter 37: Truths and Trials

With a final, nearly deafening crack that spilt through the air, Yang finished her fiery combo of haymakers and sent Mercury sprawling across the ground, her body visibly steaming from the intensity if her own semblance. She let out a long, winded breath, giving her vibrant red eyes a long blink before smiling and waving to the crowd, who cheered for the blonde and her victory, her pupils having returned to their natural shade of purple.

"In an astounding turn of events, Yang Xiao Long of Beacon Academy has won the match, and will be advancing to the next round!"

"WOOO! GO YANG!" Izuku yelled from where he sat, his good arm raised in a fist with an excited grin spread across his lips. She'd won! He'd been scared there for a minute, but she'd actually won! This was awesome-

And then, the headache came. He brought his hand down to his forehead, his eyes scrunched together in visible pain, collapsing back into his seat as he tried to lessen the pain.

When he managed to finally open his eyes again, though just barely, he found himself staring out at an odd yet familiar sight. There were hundreds of tiny, white orbs dotting and highlighting the dark scope of his vision. Standing in the middle of the arena were two figures that seemed familiar to him, to an extent. One was a golden, fiery figure that almost emanated the flames that flickered and snapped from her figure. The other wasn't quite as identifiable, a dark grey mist of a person, giving away nothing as to his intentions. And overlaid onto him was a familiar shade of green. It immediately told him that something was wrong, as the last time he'd seen it, Coco had been somehow tricked into letting her guard down, causing her and Yatsu to lose their match.

A voice rang out, murky, unidentifiable, almost like it had been muffled by a piece of cloth or a mask of some kind, and the green mist took the form of the dark grey figure and launched itself at the golden one. Before Izuku could say something, yet again, the pain came back, causing him to scrunch up his eyes once more and blind himself from what was happening.

When he opened them again, what he saw was both shocking and simultaneously confusing and terrifying. Mercury was now on the ground, clutching a seemingly broken leg or a potentially shattered kneecap, Yang looking confused, apologetic, and straight up scared, and at least a full platoon of AKs surrounding her.

What the hell had just happened? And why did he feel like something wasn't right?

(the next day, the dorm hall, Shoto's POV)

This is getting out of hand, Shoto thought as he observed the AKs currently stationed outside of Team RWBY's door. He could understand the reasoning behind it, Ironwood was in there, and Yang hadn't exactly been happy with what was essentially unofficial house arrest, but she didn't resist going with them, despite her own temper. So what the hell gives?

This is what was going through the half and half leader's head as he paced outside the room, the AKs never moving a single inch as he did so. Tenya leaned against the wall across from him, with his arms crossed and his eyes staring at the floor, a conflicted look taking precedence on his features. Bakugo looked pretty worried about something and had decided to blow off some steam by going down to Vale proper and hitting up a café he frequented for the past few weeks.

And Izuku? Ever since Yang had broken Mercury's leg, he'd hardly seen the green haired boy outside of the library after breakfast and the session with Peach, burying himself in some kind of research. He didn't manage to see what it was about, and it was kinda worrying him. Still, Izuku had asked him to make sure Yang was doing alright, and it was the least he could do for his partner.

At the end of this train of thought, Ironwood emerged from RWBY's dorm room with his hands behind his back and a reluctant sigh from his lips. Tenya then perked up, asking, "Is she alright? Has she calmed herself?"

"She's... well, she's doing the best she can, for right now. I can only hope that she gets better. I just gave her some pretty harsh news."

"And that was?" Shoto then asked.

"... due to the events surrounding the end of her match, as well as the boy's condition... it's been decided by vote that Yang Xiao Long be disqualified from the tournament. I'm sorry," Ironwood said with a slight incline to his head.

"But she wouldn't-"

"Shoto," Ironwood said sternly, with as much authority as you would expect from someone in his position. "I wasn't happy with this decision either. I know that she's a good student and likely only meant to defend herself. But the fact of the matter is that thousands of people saw what she did, intentionally or not. It doesn't matter if something else entirely happened, they've already drawn their own conclusions, and are still drawing their own conclusions. If we let her continue, it could cause a lot of negativity to spike. We didn't make this choice lightly. It's the best one we had available."

The silence that permeated the space afterwards was uncomfortable, but one thing was certain. This decision was final. It wasn't going to change. Ironwood, his expression still hardened, turned and walked out of the hallway, leaving a single AK unit outside of RWBY's dorm as a security measure. A few seconds later, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake emerged from the room, closing the door behind them, only giving Shoto a very brief glance at the distraught, and likely downtrodden, Yang.

"Is she doing okay?" Jaune asked from the entrance to JNPR's room, with Ren and Nora peering out nervously.

"She needs a bit of time, but I think she'll be okay," Ruby said, though it was clear that she wanted to do more than simply wait. "In the meantime, you guys should probably get ready for tonight. The tournament's still going, after all, and I'll be there to cheer you guys on!"

"As will I," Tenya said as he straightened himself, briefly taking the time to readjust the glasses on his face. "It will be good to focus on something more positive for a while."

"No offense guys, but I think I've had my fill of fighting for the year," Blake said. "Some quiet would probably do better for me."

"Ditto here," Weiss agreed. "Want to grab some coffee?"

"I prefer tea, but why not?"

"If I wasn't one of the finalists, I'd be tempted to join you two," Shoto said, his head lulling at the fact that he might have to fight still. He didn't really mind that much, but temperature would be a lot harder to handle without Jotunheim to assist him. "Oh well. Guess we'll just have to take a day on the town once the tournament's over."

"That sounds like a plan. Guys? What do you say?" Ruby asked her two present teammates, both of whom nodded in agreement. Nora then yelled from the room, "We should totally invite all the teams we fought against! Ya know, ABRN, TAKT, HHOT, BRNZ, FNKI, SSSN, CFVY, and the ones I can't remember!"

"Are you entirely sure we can organize that many people? And are we even sure that they'll stay for the long-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Tenya," Shoto reassured his teammate as he moved to follow RWB out of the dorm and towards the arena. It was time to focus. Get his game face on. Maybe call Momo before then, calm his nerves some.

The two middle members of Team RWBY then made their way out of the dorm with Ruby on their heels, briefly stopping by JNPR's door and saying, "Win one for Beacon, Pyrrha!"

With a brief moment of hesitation, and looking as though she'd been pulled from other thoughts, Pyrrha put a strained smile on her face as she turned to the doorway and answered her friend, "I'll do my best!"

Then, Ruby left, letting JNPR's door close behind her as she and Shoto headed their separate ways for the arena, the latter worrying about his partner all the while.

(meanwhile, Beacon Library, Izuku's POV)

For what seemed like the three hundredth time that day, Izuku was stumped. How hard was it to find some simple school records?! They were public, weren't they?! That was the case for Beacon and most of the other students who'd participated in the tournament, so why was this team so hard to find?!

For the past several hours, Izuku had been trying to scratch a rather curious itch that had been there since Yang's fight with Mercury had ended. The vision had hardly left his mind since then, and the uncertainty had kept him up for a while, though he still managed to get some semblance of sleep. He'd review the footage of the fight afterwards, and he noticed something off about Yang's punch. It wasn't entirely angled downward, as one would expect in a situation like this: it was angled diagonally. From the distance she was at, it definitely would've hit Mercury in the leg, but she made the punch as though he was much closer than he actually was, like she was countering an attack.

It also confused him that Emerald was the only one of Mercury's teammates to show up at the scene. Where the hell were Dabi and Cinder? They should've at least gone with him on the airship back to Mistral, but this was just... odd. Weren't they concerned about their teammate?

Too many things didn't add up right, and all of that combined with his doubts about Yang's match had sent him here, researching whatever he could find on Team CDEM to find some form of an answer.

If only I could actually find their Oumdamned files!

Izuku banged his head against the hardwood table in frustration, a discontented groan emerging from as he did so. This should've been easier than it was. The kingdoms required complete transparency with each other regarding their hunter statuses, for the Vytal Festival especially, and though Atlas had objected to this very strongly, they agreed.

Maybe I should've gone to the CCT for this. It'd be a lot easier to get info downloaded, at least. Izuku thought as he raised his head, dusting off the sleeves of his blazer as he did so. He mulled over what thoughts had piled up as he'd tried to do what research he could. Hell, birth and death records would be better than this.

Then, it clicked. That was it. The people on Team CDEM didn't come out of nowhere. Maybe he could find something through a cross-reference program that some of the more tech-savvy teachers at Beacon used to demonstrate the wide variety of fields that hunters sometimes had to delve into. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? Izuku had no idea and was practically hitting himself over the head because of it.

A few simple clicks, a few minutes of waiting, and a couple of pictures of CDEM that had been provided for the tournament, and he had what little he could find: two death records and two errors. Dabi and Emerald, according to the information that had been provided, apparently didn't officially exist. That in itself was both strange and concerning.

The death records were far worse offenders in this case. Mercury was one of them. Supposedly, about two years ago, Mercury Black had died in a fire in the upper mountains of central Mistral along with his father, a rather infamous assassin named Marus. However, the name Black was rather common in that area, as was usually the case with primary colors; and the bodies had been so charred that even dental records, what little existed, couldn't identify them, so authorities had assumed that the two had died that day. All someone had to do to fake the records was switch a few things around: birthdate, blood type, place of birth, and boom! Fake identity. Of course, if it were any other name than a primary color it'd be a lot more work, but convenience paid off for them, apparently.

Cinder's records, on the other hand, weren't actually hers. Well, the person in the records looked like a younger version of her, at least. Her hair had been cropped back, ending at around her jawline, and her features were softer, from what little there was on her. According to the records, her name was Ella Glass, an orphan who had been taken in by the Merry Men Mercenary Company, or M3C, at the ripe old age of fourteen. The records also said that she had supposedly died while going on a mission into particularly dangerous territory. No one had found any trace of her since then, and even though the leader of the M3C himself, Robin "Hood" Vulpes, had scouted the place where she'd last been sighted for almost two weeks, he too had found nothing.

Guess he knows where she is now, if he's watching the festival. Izuku thought as he compiled the information that he'd found and downloaded it onto his scroll. And now came the wait.

About three minutes in, the download process ever so painfully slow, Toshinori wandered through the library with a few books under his arm, his gangly frame ever iconic to the blazer-wearing inheritor. He suddenly felt the need to hide what he was downloading, since it was rather scrupulous, but he managed to reign himself in and realize that outright hiding this would probably make things worse.

Toshinori then noticed Izuku, walking over to his apprentice and saying, "Hey, Izuku. How've you been?"

"... not sure, really."

"Look, I know Yang getting outed like that was pretty harsh, but... well, sometimes that's just how things happen," Toshinori sat down as he continued. "I don't know what happened down there, but I do know that judgment can get pretty clouded when you're in the middle of a fight. It's happened to me, Aizawa, and most of the other teachers you've met here. Even Ironwood knows what it can be like. Better than most, actually. I'm not going to out Yang for doing what she saw as defending herself. It's good that she has instincts like that at all."

"I know. It's just... why would they do that to her? It's too cruel. She'd never do that. Not on purpose."

"People draw their own conclusions, and oftentimes they can twist the truth to fit their beliefs. No one likes to choose the whole truth over the legend, the myth. Some do, but they're a rare kind of person. Especially in this day and age. So, when it comes to reality, if you ever have a choice between the two, choose the truth. It'll probably piss you off at first, and you might not want to accept it, but it is the truth."

A comfortable silence fell between them after that. But something else was bothering Izuku at the moment. Granted, it wasn't quite as much of a big deal as what was happening with Yang but it concerned him nonetheless.

"Hey, All Might? When I was fighting Shoto, I think I might've seen something. It wasn't for that long, maybe half a second, but I think... I think Process might've activated, and I thought I saw two colors where Shoto was. I think they were melding. Ike paints getting mixed together to form a new color. Is that important?"

"Hmm... well, do you remember what I said in that one fairy tale I told to you and Pyrrha?"

Izuku nodded firmly.

"I mentioned before that there had been a new development for that stuff. Soul Fusion, or I guess the more accurate version would be 'Fused.' It's basically what happens when, in pregnancy, a pair of twins aren't fully conceived, and the result is basically a combination of everything those twins would've been individually. Looks, body type, stronger blood type, appearance. But the key aspect to that process is that they have both souls existing in tandem with their bodies. It isn't always the most stable, but it's possible to live with both souls if it doesn't destroy your own body in the process. So, the two are either constantly fighting with one another... or they can come to an equilibrium. You can imagine how unhealthy the former can be. You basically saved Shoto's long-term sanity. So good on you, Izuku."

A beep then sounded from the computer that Izuku had used, indicating that the download was now complete. The green haired inheritor then plucked the scroll from what was its perch and gave a quick goodbye and thanks to Toshinori, who gave a silent smile in return as he rushed off to RWBY's dorm room, where he hoped Yang still was.

(about twenty minutes later, Team RWBY's dorm, Yang's POV)

"So, if you ever want to track her down, be sure to give me a ring. Alright, Firecracker?" Qrow said as he finished his explanation to Yang. She was interested, sure, and she certainly wanted to give her mother a piece of her mind, but...

"Okay. But... I need to get myself together. I don't think I can go after her right now." Yang said, her head hung low.

"Okay. Offer stands, once you get your shit sorted out," Qrow said as he made for the door, only briefly stopping to say, "It's alright to fuck up sometimes, Firecracker. Doesn't matter how. Matters what you learn from failing, and getting back up to try again."

A turn of the doorknob, the creek of the hinges, and one soft click later, the red-eyed reaper was gone, like he'd never even been there. Like dust on the wind. It was solemn. Quiet. And not in a way that Yang was comfortable with. She didn't want to hurt anyone. He attacked her, so she attacked back.

… right?

A knock then came from the currently closed door. While she did acknowledge it, the blonde brawler made no move to answer the door. All she wanted to do right now was stew in her own thoughts.

"E-erm... Yang? Are you in there?"

… Izuku?

Yang immediately rose from her bed and made for the door, her boots audibly echoing across the floor as she walked. And yet, even as she reached for the handle, she hesitated. What if he judged her? What if he couldn't accept what had happened? She hadn't. Why should he?

She shook herself from those thoughts as quickly as she could. No. This is Greenie we're talking about. He wouldn't do that.

Yang then opened the door slowly, gazing into the hallway to find Izuku in the doorway with an eager look on his face. "Mind if I come in?" He asked as politely as he could. It looked as though he had something to show her. And it seemed important.

The blonde brawler quickly opened the door and ushered him inside, closing the door behind him with another click. They sat across from each other as yet another uncomfortable silence managed to find its way into the room once more. Izuku looked both nervous and doubtful of his situation. But Yang didn't fault him for that. She was feeling the exact same way, after all. How was she supposed to explain what happened?

As it turned out, she didn't have to.

"I know that you didn't mean to break his leg. You'd never do that under any circumstances," Izuku said, looking her dead in the eye as he did. "You said before that you'd help me when I needed it. Well, the same goes for you. If you need my help, I'll be there for you. And it's not just me either. Your team, JNPR, the rest of mine, we'll all be here for you."

Yang wanted to object. Say that she didn't deserve his help in the slightest. But all she could do was tear up. She didn't cry, forced herself not to. She couldn't cry now. So she wiped her eyes before they could fully form and fall, then smiling kindly at the green haired boy and said, "Thanks, Greenie. I needed that."

"Also," Izuku said as he dug into his pockets to produce his Scroll, flicking it open as he went through various files, "I think I might've found something on CDEM."

"Wait, seriously?!" Yang said as she scooted closer and peeked over his shoulder to get a closer look.

"Yeah. And if the information here is accurate, then... well, they shouldn't even exist."

(meanwhile, somewhere in Beacon, Tenya's POV)

That was rather fun. And it was good of Jaune to try and relieve Pyrrha's stress. She'll need full concentration for the battles ahead. The spectacled boy thought as he walked back to Beacon proper with Ren and Nora, the former with a large bucket of popcorn in his arms while the latter carried a rather large cone of cotton candy. They started to turn a corner, where the bubbly hammer wielder saw her two teammates sitting rather close to each other. Closer than one would consider friends, anyhow. Sensing that they weren't needed, she grabbed Ren by the collar, saying, "C'mon Ren, you've gotta win me another stuffed animal!" before dragging him away.

Tenya, however, stayed nearby, to turn away anyone else who might've been coming in the direction and potentially interrupt the couples alone time. He didn't eavesdrop on them, filtering their conversation out as white noise. It gave him some time to multitask, stewing with his thoughts as he watched for any potential onlookers.

It had been a long while since he'd really done anything of significance. Not that he didn't have some moments, but it seemed as though the other three were outpacing him at almost everything. If he named a single fight since the one against Stain, he hadn't really been doing as much as he could've. His teammates would say otherwise, he knew they would, but out of all four of them he was probably the weakest. Shoto was the son of Endeavor, and had two semblances to contend with, Izuku was a powerhouse of speed with intelligence that rivaled, and potentially exceeded, his own, and Bakugo was a one-man army with a semblance that could quite literally blow the skin off of any opponent he faced. Him? He was the fastest out of the four of them, as well as their long-range specialist. That was really it. He knew that compared to others at Beacon he'd still be considered one of the best fighters, but after that he was constantly being outpaced by most of his friends.

Still, he wasn't jealous of them. They'd all done a lot to improve from where they'd started at the beginning of the year. Especially Jaune and Izuku. Out of all of them, those two had certainly improved the most. He couldn't fall behind them any longer. He had to improve too. If the others were pushing themselves beyond their limits, then he had to do the same. He'd catch up to them. He had the tools in front of him, now all he had to do was figure out what to do with them.

"Stop!"

Tenya was immediately shaken from his thoughts at that scream, standing from his place against the wall and using his semblance to zip around the corner. What he saw was greatly confusing and even moreso concerning. Pyrrha was using her semblance, her arm stretched wide, to push Jaune away from her, visibly causing him to impact into one of the pillars behind him, though he had been shielded thanks in large part to the protective chest plate of Lancelot. But that too was not his cause for concern. Just what had happened between these two while he had been lost in thought?

The redheaded amazon then realized what she had just done, suddenly releasing the grip she held with her semblance and allowing Jaune to tumble to the ground, Lancelot's armor briefly flickering from the impact before fading. Pyrrha's gloved hands then pulled back to cover a guilty look and teary eyes, only saying "I'm sorry," before turning and rushing past Tenya, who, in his state of shock, made no move to stop her. Jaune cried out for her to stop, that he was confused.

"What did I say?" He muttered to himself. And Tenya didn't have an answer. Only he did.

(meanwhile, Amity Coliseum, Shoto's POV)

A rather uncomfortable tone was hanging over the arena as they readied for the next battle. Port and Oobleck were trying their best to ease the tension of the audience, and to an extent it was certainly working. Many among the faceless crowd were cheering at the prospect of the next battle coming around the bend. But for those who knew otherwise, like Shoto, they were distracting from what had happened not a day earlier. It wasn't a bad thing. Focusing on something like that so much could lead to a lot of complication, especially with so many people around, but...

Damnit. I can't be going through this now. I need to focus. Win one for Beacon. And for Yang. Honestly, she should be here right now, not me.

Shoto knew that these thoughts weren't going to help him in the slightest, but he couldn't help but think of them. He just needed to breathe. And sitting in the locker rooms, waiting anxiously for your name to potentially be called, and then maybe fighting in a tournament where the entire world was watching? Yeah, it didn't exactly help you keep very calm. But still, he took a deep, anxious breath...

And let it go.

"Nervous?"

Shoto then opened his eyes to find Dabi of Team CDEM standing next to him, his iconic half mask and hood still obscuring much of his face. It seemed as though he was on the way out from somewhere, maybe stopping in the grab something.

"You could say that," Shoto answered. "Wait, isn't your team supposed to be with Mercury?"

"Most of them are. To be entirely honest, I think the guy needed to be taken down a peg. People can make up as many stories as they want to, but he was a cocky prick with a superiority complex the size of Moutain Glenn."

"Seems like you have issues with him. That doesn't mean he deserved to get injured that badly, no matter the context."

"Trust me, if you knew him as well as I do, you'd agree with me when I say he deserved so much more," Dabi said as he closed his eyes, sighing the last sentence. "But I'm not here to argue semantics. Just wanted to get something before I spectate. Also... you fought well. Against Midoriya, I mean."

"So did he. If anything, I'm pretty sure he was fighting even harder than I was. If I could give him my spot, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

A silence fell over the two, neither knowing whether it was comfortable, grating, or a mixture of the two. And then, for the first time in the rare times that Shoto had ever had the chance to even see Dabi, the masked boy actually chuckled. It was very surprising, as he seemed to be the quiet type more than anything else, but it was also kind of disturbing. It was hollow. Like he'd been broken, and had been for a long time now.

But soon after that, the chuckle stopped, and Dabi looked Shoto straight in the eye as he said, "You truly are that foolish. Well, I can't blame you for being optimistic. But know this. The world is a cruel, uncaring place. Do well to remember that, Shoto Todoroki."

And with that final vague, ominous statement, Dabi turned his back to the half and half leader, who, after staring at the shrouded boy's back for a few seconds, confused, suddenly looked down to his hands, wondering what the implications of his words might've been. This thought was one that dominated his mind even as he made his way out to the arena, though for some reason he had a feeling that his name would not be called. And it felt... final.

A/N: And that's a cliffhanger! Hopefully! Maybe!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this so far. Here we are, on the cusp of Volume 3's ending episodes. It's all downhill from here, my readers, so strap in! Cause it's gonna be a bumpy rollercoaster ride of emotions! I mean, I just hope that I can write it that well. I'm not perfect after all! Though to be entirely honest it'd make writing these things a whole lot easier. *sigh* Such is life.

Next Chapter: August 19th

Seeya in the next one!