Welcome Back Everyone!

I initially planned on making this chapter much longer, as I wanted to get through the rest of the Dance Arc, however seeing as the preamble ended up being this long already, I decided to split this bad boy up into two chapters. Next chapter should be the end of the Dance Arc if all goes according to plan.

I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.

I do not own the cover image.

Chapter 18: Burning the Candle

11:00 A.M., Beacon Academy Ballroom, One Day Before the Dance

Ruby idly drummed her fingers against the table as she heard the bustling of her fellow students around her. Yang, Weiss, Momo, and Mina were hard at work with their dance preparations, hanging up streamers and balloons, moving around speakers, placing chairs and tables. It was safe to say that the four First-Year girls were putting their everything into making sure their fellow Hunters-in-training had the best night they could. Unfortunately for Ruby, she failed to find the same drive or excitement as the rest of them, given the circumstances of her friends.

She was interrupted from her sulking by Weiss slamming down two pieces of fabric onto the table. "I need you to pick a tablecloth, Momo and I can't decide on one." She slid them closer to Ruby, however, upon inspection, the young teen saw only two white squares.

"Aren't they the same color, Weiss?"

"Ugh, the audacity of the uncultured! Forget it, I shouldn't have even asked!" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked away in frustration. Ruby sighed, going to place her head back down on the table, only to be jolted by the force of Yang setting down a massive speaker.

"Yang, I told you to wait for Ochaco to get here before you move those! We can't afford to damage them since they're Professor Yamada's personal ones!" Momo yelled out from the other side of the room.

"It'll be fine, Yaomomo! These babies are pretty durable. You got a dress picked out, Rubes?" She said as she walked over to her younger sister.

"Why would I? This stupid dance doesn't matter unless Blake and Tenya go."

"Relax little sister, they'll be there. Ya know, if you don't pick one out yourself, I'll just have to get one for you. I'll make it the most embarrassing one I can find!" Yang teased.

"I'd wear anything you gave me so long as I can wear my boots." Ruby said with a chuckle.

"Hey, what're you two doing?! We agreed on no doilies!" Mina yelled out from the balcony, pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss and Momo, currently in the process of decorating the tables.

"But you can't host a dance without doilies!" Momo protested.

"Precisely. If we can't have our doilies, you two don't get your fog machines!"

"How dare you two try and ultimatum us!" Mina scowled.

"Aw sweet, you guys are using fog machines!" The girls turned towards the entrance of the ballroom where Sun, Eijiro, and Katsuki walked in.

"Assuming that these two come to their senses, we will." Weiss huffed.

"Awesome! I knew you guys were gonna pull out all the stops!" Eijiro cheered.

"Don't really see how that changes anything." Katsuki grunted.

"You would if you understood the art of throwing a party. Why are you here anyway? I thought you didn't care about this thing." Yang questioned.

"Believe me, I don't. I just have nothing better to do today than to hang out with these two." Katsuki scoffed.

"Would you look at that? He didn't even call us extras! How kind of you~." Sun teased.

"I'll blow you and your shitty clones all the way back to Mistral, Stowaway!" Katsuki retorted, sparks flying from his palms.

"How's the setup going? You guys need a hand?" Eijiro asked.

"We're good for now. Ochaco's gonna come by and help us out with her Semblance once she's done with her workout. You better have picked out a good suit for tomorrow!" Mina said.

"All taken care of!" Eijiro confirmed with a thumbs up.

"You're getting an actual suit?! Dammit, here I thought you and I would just stroll in wearing these." Sun sulked, gesturing to his and Eijiro's Combat Outfits.

"That's what you're planning on?" Katsuki asked with a laugh.

"Hey now! I may be from Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. Not exactly a place for formalities."

"Really? I never would've guessed." Yang said, mirroring the lack of surprise from everyone else in the ballroom.

"So… how's Blake? Is she still all… well, you know…" Sun scratched at the back of his head.

"Unfortunately." Weiss stated. Sun nodded as he gently kicked his foot against the grund. He'd hoped that asking Blake out would help get her out of her paranoid state, but it proved entirely ineffective. He hadn't even seen her around in the days since then.

"What about Tenya?" Ruby asked.

"And where are the rest of your teammates, too?" Weiss asked, getting up her toes to see if anyone else was behind the three of them. "I was hoping to talk to Izuku at some point today." Those words caught Katsuki's attention, but he let them be.

"Four Eyes is probably somewhere on campus. We didn't bother texting him since he hasn't answered his Scroll in days. Pretty sure he hasn't changed his mind about the dance. Icy Hot went down into the city to pick up suits for the four of us. Deku's down there too, but he didn't say why, he just said he'd be there most of the day."

"So what, you guys have given up on getting Tenya to come?" Mina asked.

"Of course not. We have a scheduled team meeting tomorrow morning. Four Eyes hasn't missed any of those before, so he should show up then. Hopefully." Katsuki grunted.

"Ugh, why can't things be easy? I still haven't figured out a way to convince either of them to go." Ruby sulked.

"Don't worry guys. Blake and Tenya will be at the dance tomorrow." Yang said with confidence.

"You got a plan in mind, Blondie?" Katsuki asked.

"Indeed I do, Sparky! Indeed I do. I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure you'll already know if it was successful by then. Now if you'll excuse me, these big fellas aren't going to move themselves." Yang said as she walked over to grab another large speaker.

Katsuki, Sun, and Eijiro all said their goodbyes and headed back out into the main campus.

Weiss stood for a moment as the three of them walked away. Hopefully she would be able to find Izuku at some point later in the day.

Same Time, City of Vale, Gran Torin's Apartment

"So kid, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"W-Well it's about the mission us First Years are going on in a few days."

"Go!"

"I-I was wo- AGH! D-Do you think we could maybe take a break while I ask you this?"

"You should be able to think, speak, and fight at the same time, especially if you're a Team Leader." Izuku winced but nodded at the older man's words as he turned back around. The two of them were on the third floor of the apartment training Izuku's reflexes. Gran Torino had an automatic pitching machine throwing baseballs at different angles at Izuku, who was standing no more than ten feet away. On Gran Torino's signal, he would have to quickly turn around and dodge the projectile.

"I-I was hoping you would allow my team to shadow you for the mission."

"You want me to train your whole team for a week?" Gran Torino rubbed his chin while preparing the next ball. "Go." Izuku turned and dodged the ball heading right for his face.

"Yes sir! You've helped me improve so much in the past few months, so I figured you would be able to do the same for my team." Izuku said, hope in his eyes.

"Hmmm. I'll admit, I have been itching to go back on a mission after all the teaching I've been doing, but I'm not sure if it's in the cards."

"W-Wait, why not? You're good friends with Professor Ozpin and All Might, aren't you?"

"I am, but it's not that simple. You first years usually get assigned one of your teachers for your first mission. That's cause they want to make sure you have someone experienced showing you the ropes, and someone who can keep you kids safe. You have to be a well respected, high ranking Hunter with a good track record to get students to shadow you if you aren't a teacher. Seeing as I'm neither, I doubt I'd get permission, even if I am close with Oz."

"But if he trusts you enough to train me for months on end, surely Ozpin could find some way to get you the permission you need." Izuku responded.

"Well, it certainly wouldn't be the biggest occasion of bending the rules he's ever done. But even so, there are other reasons too. First off, you guys would only be following me around here in the city. You'd only get to experience low level crime at best, whereas out in the wild you'd get to face Grimm. Second, I'd rather keep the connecting between you and me as much of a secret as we can. I'd rather not have people asking questions about why you're training with some old no-name Hunter." Izuku reluctantly nodded. Keeping One For All secret was one of the top priorities All Might had given him. Even though he did kind of slip up when talking about it with Katsuki. "And lastly, I'll probably be busy with things for the next few weeks, so I won't have the time."

"Busy? With what?"

"Stuff you don't need to worry about at the moment. In fact, this'll probably be the last time you and I get to train for a while, which is why I told you to clear out your schedule for today."

"O-Oh." Izuku looked down at the floor, saddened. "OOF!" Only for a baseball to be launched directly into his gut. He fell down onto one knee, breathing heavily. "I-I t-think you forgot… t-to give me a w-warning."

"You were facing the machine so I figured I didn't need to." Gran Torino responded with a hearty laugh. Before he could say anything, he felt a buzzing in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his Scroll, looking at several group messages.

"10:30 A.M. from H: I'll be in Vale by Friday. Not sure how much I'll be able to find on my own, but I'll do my best."

"10:35 A.M. from O: I'll send you what details I can upon your arrival. And the rest of you?"

"10:40 A.M. from M: Once this mission is finished up I'll head to the city right away. Should be in time for the festival."

"10:48 A.M. from K: Likewise."

"10:51 A.M. from Q: Same with me. Looks like we'll have time for a little reunion before things get all serious."

"11:00 A.M. from B: I'm afraid I'll be missing out on that reunion. This mission is taking much longer than expected. I recommend planning any and all strategies around my absence. I apologize."

"11:05 from O: The timing on this is poor, so there's no need to apologize. I'll be sure to find someone to take your spot for the operation."

Gran Torino frowned. He didn't like the idea of having to replace someone so strong with an outsider, especially at a time like this. He quickly wrote a response.

"Get someone good. We might not get a second chance at this."

"11:06 from Q: Do we ever?"

"Tch. That damn crow." Sorahiko said with an annoyed smile. "As irritating as you are talented."

"W-What was that?" Izuku asked as he finally got up on both his feet.

"Nothing. Now turn back around. We've got at least fifteen more minutes of this before we get into sparring."

"I'm really in for it today, aren't I?" Izuku chuckled as he turned around.

"Finally catching on huh? Go!"

7:00 P.M., Beacon Academy Library

Blake typed away at one of the library's built in hard-light laptops. She scrolled through article after article, headline after headline, jotting down notes whenever something important caught her eye. It would've made her life soooo much easier if she could actually contact someone to help her with this. Unfortunately, she didn't want anyone from the White Fang figuring out that she'd run off the Beacon. Which left the massive workload to be handled by just her.

She closed one article and opened up another tab. She needed to check from as many different new sources as possible. She had to find whatever she could on the Fang killing its old members. Or on Torchwick for working with them. Or on the Grimm Legion for working with both the Fang and Torchwick. So many different things. So little time. It all combined to give her a splitting headache.

*GRMBL*

And, apparently, an empty stomach. She looked at the corner of the monitor to check the time. Damn, seven o'clock already? She'd lost track of time, badly. She had hoped to have gone through at least twice as much by this point. She hadn't eaten anything since early this morning. Even with her dedication, she did need some food to give her an extra push. She saved her work and stood up from the chair. Her legs wobbled slightly underneath her, exhaustion combined with having sat for so long kicked in all at once. She cursed under her breath before taking a few more steps, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

Something which she immediately did by running into someone. Whoever she'd just run into felt like a wall. She had to brace herself against the table so she didn't fall to the floor entirely. She should've known someone was coming, given the fact that she had an extra set of ears, but apparently she wasn't having a good day.

"M-Miss Belladonna?" Blake looked up at who she'd just ran into, only to find a tall, armor wearing man with a set of glasses.

"Tenya?" Blake responded in surprise.

"I-I'm sorry about running into you just now, I wasn't paying enough attention."

"No no, y-you're fine, it was my fault. What're you doing here anyway? I can barely remember the last time we talked." Tenya seemed to clam up at her question.

"W-Well, there was some... research I needed to do, and I figured it best to do it here. What about yourself?"

"I-I… also had some… research to do. Are you alright? You look, well, awful." Blake said bluntly. The bags under Tenya's eyes were plain enough to see, and his face looked quite pale. She couldn't exactly be sure, but the bits of red in her eyes made it appear as though he'd just finished crying.

"I-I-I can assure you that I'm just fine, M-Miss Belladonna. Are you sure you're ok as well? You look quite tired and well… I dare say it doesn't look like you've been eating properly."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I'm perfectly fine." Both of them stood there awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. They tried to desperately think up excuses for any question the other might have. Neither of them wanted someone else trying to preach to them about their goals.

"Well well well, if it isn't the exact two people I wanted to see!" Both of them almost jumped in surprise at the voice just next to them. They turned to see Yang Xiao Long standing there with her hands behind her back and a big grin on her face.

"Miss Xiao Long?! What're you doing here?" Tenya asked in surprise. Blake's ears twitched downwards beneath her bow, apprehensive about her partner's presence.

"Like I said, I was looking for you two. We should go get some food, since I'm guessing neither of you have had anything to eat today. In fact, I was so confident that I went ahead and made some food myself!" Yang brought her hands out front and unveiled a metal lunchbox.

"What's in there?" Blake asked.

"Two Tuna Fish Sandwiches for you and Beef Stew for Tenya." The combined growl from both of their stomachs was so loud, Yang was sure everyone in the library heard it. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, she would've laughed out loud.

"Fine. Just give me the sandwiches." Blake barely got through taking a single step towards Yang before the blonde brought the food back behind her.

"Nope! We're not eating here. I already have a different place picked out for us to eat!"

"And where would that be?" Tenya asked.

Half an hour later, Beacon Academy Classroom

It barely took any time between the three of them arriving in the empty classroom and Blake and Tenya scarfing down their respective meals. The fact that two normally mild mannered, well behaved individuals were eating like wild animals both amused and horrified Yang. They never should've allowed their teammates, their friends, to end up this bad to begin with. They should've helped out sooner. Hopefully this would be her chance to make amends.

Tenya wiped his mouth with a napkin Yang packed. "Thank you very much for the food, Miss Xiao Long. You mentioned there was something you wanted to discuss?"

"Indeed I did, Tenya." Yang said as she pushed herself up onto the front desk and sat cross legged. "I'll get straight to the point: The two of you are both on an unhealthy spiral that will end up with you both getting killed."

"Yang nothing you say is going to… wait, what do you mean 'both' of us?" Blake asked perplexed, changing her gaze from her partner to Tenya. "What have you been doing?"

"I don't mean to be rude but what I'm doing is none of your business, Miss Belladonna. Besides, according to Miss Xiao Long you already have enough on your plate."

"Don't you dare start with me too!"

"See, this is what I mean. You're both so tunnel visioned right now that you haven't even realized what the other is doing. If either of you had taken just one moment of your time and relaxed, you might have realized that one of your friends is on the track you are. Just change out the White Fang with Stain and you two might as well be the same person." Yang sighed.

"You're still after the White Fang?!"

"You're going after that serial killer?!"

Both teens looked at each other like they'd grown a second head. Yang couldn't help but admire the irony. Hopefully their anagnorisis wouldn't come too late.

"Look, I know what you're both gonna say. 'I have to do this. I don't have time to slow down. There's no other way.' I'm not here to tell either of you to stop what you're doing. All I want to do is tell you a story. After that, you're free to do whatever you like. That sound fair?" Yang questioned. Blake and Tenya looked at each other and contemplated the proposal. They both turned back and nodded. Yang responded in turn and took a deep breath. Telling this wouldn't be fun, but it was necessary.

"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Taiyang, our dad, taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions all over the world. Her name was Summer Rose, but she might as well have been named Super-Mom. Baking delicious cookies by day and slaying monsters by night. Under the name Silver Angel, she became one of the most accomplished Hunters in the history of the Hunter's Guild, and ranked Number Seven in the entire world. She loved us more than anything in the world. But then one day, a man dressed in black showed up to our house. She said she had to leave for a while, that it would be a pretty long mission. She and the man left… and neither of them came back." Yang looked down as she spoke, a melancholic look in her eye. Blake and Tenya's faces both changed from a look of confusion to sympathy as she continued.

"It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, seeing as she was around two. My dad just kind of... shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost, she was the second. The first… well, the first was my mom." It took both of them a moment to fully comprehend what Yang had just said. They both looked at each other with shock. "Ha! Yep, that's about the reaction I expected!" Yang chuckled as she observed their faces.

"S-So then… M-Miss Rose is…"

"My Half-Sister. Not that I ever let that change how I treated her. My dad wouldn't tell me everything, but I did learn her name: Raven Branwen. Team STRQ's fourth member. The only other thing I learned was that she left right after I was born. No one's seen her since.

"...Why did she leave?" Blake asked with trepidation.

Yang sighed. "That question. That Gods damned question. Why?" She sat up from the desk and walked over to the chalkboard. She picked up a piece of chalk and began to draw with it. "I couldn't even begin to think of an answer, but I was going to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her. I practically interrogated every stranger who stepped foot in our house. Then, one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother herself. I waited for our Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wouldn't stop. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care. I had made it. I was so excited, so happy. I would finally find what I was looking for, I might finally be able to meet the woman who gave birth to me. And then I saw them. Those burning red eyes… Beowolves. There we were: A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, our Uncle Qrow showed up just in time. He killed them and brought us back home. My Dad broke down crying when we got back. He was so worried about us our uncle thought he was gonna have a heart attack." Yang put the chalk down, her drawing of a clockwork eye, her uncle's emblem, finished. "My stubbornness should've killed both of us that night." Yang turned back towards them, openly wiping away the tiniest of tears as she did so.

"Yang… I get what you're saying, and I'm sorry that happened to you, but this is different." Blake said.

"I agree. We're Hunters-in-training fighting for the good of Remnant, not children looking for answers." Tenya said.

"Weren't you listening, I told you I wasn't trying to stop you!" Yang clenched her fists. "I sure as hell haven't! I still want those answers, I want to know she left me and my father, and I will get them one day, but I will never let that control me. All three of us will get what we're after, but what good will it do if we're all dead by the time we get there?"

"But people will be hurt!" Blake yelled.

"You want me to let the man who hurt my brother go?!"

"Gods, will you even listen to yourselves! What would you do if you found what you're after?! If Stain and Roman Torchwick both walked through those doors right now?! Fight them?! You two can't even walk without bumping into someone! You'd lose! End. Of. Story!" Yang's eyes were now a seething red, enough to stop both Blake and Tenya from saying another word. Yang walked over to the two of them and pulled them both into a hug, her eyes changing back to lilac with tears in her eyes.

"Please, just get some rest. Not just for you, but for the people who care about you." Yang released them both and silently walked out of the room, letting them both sit there.

Blake and Tenya both had a thousand-yard stare at the floor before looking at one another. They too silently left the room and went their separate ways, both with a lot to think about.

10:00 P.M., Beacon Academy, First Year Dorms

Izuku exited the elevator into the hallway with a yawn. He rubbed at his shoulder. "I may owe All Might an apology for saying he was overreacting to Gran Torino's training." He muttered to himself.

"There you are, you damn nerd." Izuku turned to see Katsuki and Shoto sitting down in the nearby commonspace. Izuku walked over to them as they both stood up. "We've been waiting here for hours. Do you have any idea how little Half and Half can hold a decent conversation?"

"You said you would be back around seven. What happened?" Shoto asked.

"S-Sorry about that, I ended up getting side tracked so I had to wait for the last airship to show up." Izuku said. The real reason was that Gran Torino wouldn't let him leave until he did all the exercises correctly, and that man could be quite the perfectionist when he wanted to be, which meant things ran late.

"Nice going, nerd. Guess the Ice Queen won't get to talk to you today after all."

"Yeah, sorry about… w-wait, Weiss wanted to talk to me? W-What about?"

"I dunno. Wasn't my business to ask." Katsuki said.

"Shouldn't we be more concerned about Tenya right now?" Shoto asked.

"O-Oh, right. Let's head back to the room. We don't wanna wake anyone up by talking out here." Izuku said. The three of them began their walk to the room. "Did you guys think of any good ideas while I was out?"

"We couldn't exactly reach an agreement on anything."

"That's cause you're way too passive, Icy-Hot."

"Trying to get him to stop by directly asking. I think the more forceful we go about this, the more likely he is to just shut himself in further." Shoto replied.

"I think that's a good point. Maybe if we try and frame the discussion around helping him deal with Stain rather than trying to get him to stop outright, we might be able to reach him." Izuku said.

"Idiots. If you wanna knock some sense into him I say we have him fight us all. Once he sees He can't win a fight against students whose abilities he already knows, he'll realize he has no chance against some like Stain." Katsuki countered.

"T-That doesn't really solve the issue of him obsessing over Stain though. It might just make him train to exhaustion daily until he thinks he's ready." Izuku said.

"It'll still keep him from getting killed. There's no way that psychopath will still be kicking it much longer anyway. The Council will have to send someone strong after him in the next few weeks. There's no way they'd let the Vytal Festival go down with a serial killer on the loose."

"Don't you think that's kind of leaving things to chance though?" Shoto asked. By this point they'd reached the room, with Izuku using his Scroll to unlock the door. However, he soon realized that the room was already unlocked. He slowly opened the door.

"It's still better than your plan, bast-"

"SHH!" Izuku hushed them in a whisper-yell. Katsuki's head whipped over to Izuku with a murderous look until he pointed into the room.

Inside, in the right corner of the room, was Tenya, peacefully sleeping.

The three of them silently walked in, each one confirming to themselves that their teammate was, in fact, in his bed.

"I think this is the earliest he's gone to sleep in months." Shoto whispered.

"And it's the first time he's done so in his own bed in weeks. He's even wearing his sleep-cap." Izuku responded with amazement.

"Looks like Blondie might've actually gotten through to him. Sure took him long enough." Despite his apathetic response, Katsuki couldn't help but smile to himself in relief. Shoto took his own sigh of relief at his partner's condition, while Izuku wiped away the tiniest of tears from his face.

"We should probably get some rest ourselves. Tomorrow will be a long day, plus we don't wanna wake Tenya up." Izuku whispered as he walked towards his dresser to get a change of clothes.

"I doubt we could even wake him if we tried." Katsuki chuckled. "Lucky you, Icy-Hot. Looks like your money on that suit won't go to waste."

"It was my father's money, so it wouldn't have been a waste anyway." Shoto responded.

"Tch, sounds about right." Katsuki said as he walked over and collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to change his clothes.

"Looks like things worked out for the best." Shoto said.

"Yeah, they did." Izuku responded.

Same Time, Team RWBY's Dorm

"What did you even say to her?" Ruby asked her sister from across the gap between bunk beds.

"I'll tell you two tomorrow. I'm way too tired to explain right now." Yang said as she pulled the covers over herself.

"But I'm not gonna be able to sleep cause I'll be too busy thinking of the answer!" Ruby complained.

"Then I guess you better focus on counting sheep little sister." Yang chuckled.

"Meanie." Ruby huffed.

"And just when I thought you were starting to act like an adult."

"Hey." Ruby whined, doing her best to chastise her partner without waking up her other teammate.

"Let's just get some rest." Weiss said as she laid her head down on her pillow. She was disappointed Izuku was nowhere to be seen all day, but knowing that her friend was coming to her senses helped make up for that.

Directly across from her was Blake, fast asleep with her copy of The Man with Two Souls helf to her chest, melancholic dreams filling her head, bringing the tiniest of smiles to her face.

A/N

That's a wrap on Chapter 18!

Chapter Commentary:

-The opening scene plays out pretty much the same, just take out Neptune and add in the MHA characters. I didn't really have any plans to change this already, as Burning the Candle is among the best written episodes in the show, even if it's part of an overall weaker arc. I'll let you guys speculate on what exactly Weiss wanted to talk to Izuku about.

-Now Izuku fully knows the pain that is Gran Torino's training regimen! I'm sure you guys are curious as to who all those people messaging each other were. You guys should have no trouble figuring out at least two of them, excluding Ozpin. As for the other three, I would be absolutely floored if any correctly figured out who they were before they even show up on screen. You'll get that answer in due time though, I assure you.

-I'm pretty happy with how Yang's conversation turned out, even though it too had few changes from canon, besides a little bit of laying the groundwork for what I have planned for Summer's Death. With everything between Blake and Tenya, the idea I was going for was: Two people with the same problem who can easily identify it in the other, but not in themselves. I think it turned out alright, and next chapter should give the propeller sendoff to it!

Reviews:

Earl John Diawatan (1)- I respect Bakugo x Kirishima over Kirishima x Mina, they're both solid ships in my opinion. I went with KiriMina over personal preference, and I already have another ship planned for Bakugo. You'll get your chance to see Deku get embarrassed in front of Weiss though, so don't you worry.

1jesus- Thanks!

Guest (1)- Cinder's speech wasn't fully a pep talk, it was more like "I'm gonna encourage you knowing full well you'll die cause that serves my interests."

Guest (2)- I was very surprised when I learned just how popular MHA was during quarantine. It's been pretty popular in the west for a while now, but it was crazy to see just how much so.

Guest (3)- It'll be a while before Izuku busts out any Air Force Attacks. Keep in mind he's only just now figured out Full Cowl.

Guest (4)- He may, he may not. You'll have to wait and see.

Guest (5)- That's a really succinct way of putting the parallels between them, and one I hadn't honestly thought of, so thanks!

Guest (6)- I have no real plans for it, but I'm sure that if Kakashi were in RWBY he too would be a big fan of it.

Guest (7)- Kendo and Monoma really are a great pair.

Pokemon5191- Roman's one of my favorite villains too, right up there with Watts and Tyrian. I think part of why I enjoy him so much comes from his final moments fighting Ruby alongside Neo, but I'm not gonna guarantee anything.

Earl John Diawatan (2)- That's not an interesting idea, but I'm afraid Winter won't be showing up ahead of schedule.

Earl John Diawatan (3)- I'm honestly not sure. I don't have any real plans to put him in this fic at the moment though.

Earl John Diawatan (4)- Thanks! I really enjoyed writing that fight, though in hindsight I may have written it a bit differently.

Earl John Diawatan (5)- I personally really enjoyed Uraraka's canon reason for being a hero, but I get where you're coming from with the idea of greed. I think that's a part of what Stain's purpose in MHA was. In MHA, the word "Hero" applies both to a profession, and to righteous individuals, and those two can overlap, but they don't have to. I am glad you enjoyed her motive in this fic though!

That's all for now! Next time, we finish the Dance Arc!