A/n

OK so I'll be honest I was not expecting to get such a well worded piece of advice, I thought that my story would just get passed over since It's just one of many.

So thank you to Korst for telling me about your concerns like that. I'll be staying away from spoiler territories so I can't really say anything about the "harem protagonist" uselessness or "shonen protagonist" power ups without doing so, same with the "underestimating the grim", but I can comment about what you were saying in regards to Ruby being "attractive" to an older MC as a five year old.

I wasn't trying to make the MC look like a pedo or anything like that, rather I was trying to state that Ruby was a 'cute kid' and was as such much more looked out for if she were to be approached by an adult like that. Not to say that all kids aren't protected in that way, but that, to be fair, there are just those kids that are 'more watched out for' and as such to be even more worried about being seen around without allegations being thrown at you, hence the line of "Being even seen around them". As for the reason that was included, was due to the reason that, the MC is me, 'pulled from a certain point in my life', at that point I was really conscious of anything that could result in me being charged with a crime and I would avoid any and all things even related to illegalities.

Once again thank you for the review and please if you see anything going forward I ask that you review the same way as before. I really appreciate it.

Now for the disclaimer

Tisrem does not own RWBY or any other works of fiction stated in this story, the only thing he owns are his OC and the plot of this fanfic

Please support the official release.

Date: 3-27-03 (two and a half weeks after Yew shows up)

Yew P.O.V

You know how main characters show a ton of potential and end up seemingly invincible because "plot armor"? Cause honestly I thought I was one of those during the run, and then I got slapped in the face with reality. What I did was apparently a one time thing, I haven't been able to really pull anything similar off since. I mean being able to run away is nothing new, anyone can do that, especially if they can stay calm. But I just can't seem to pull off the shield, I've been trying to do it for the past two weeks ever since it happened but nothing.

And that's not all, it also looks like I can't even avoid schooling for very long either. You know the saying of "the next generation is smarter, the previous generation is wiser"? Here it's literal, Ruby and Yang are freaking geniuses, I thought that I would be able to skip school if I show that I can do rudimentary calcs and have a good understanding of sciences but nope. Not only is being good at math a common skill, but also mandatory as opposed on Earth where it's preferred since it ties heavily into various careers to do with the sciences,

Then there's my understanding of science, everything in this world is different, from biology to chemistry. It's all different! So there goes my reliance on real world science helping me here.

Not much is different in the idea of the studies since at the core almost everything here is the same. But at the same time fundamental rules are different like the 'law of conservation of energy', just take a look at the energy source Remnant runs on, Dust completely forgoes that 'law' turning it into "disproven theory" and don't get me on 'conservation of mass' because that is yet again disproven by the very same stuff!

Don't get me wrong, it's fascinating to study this since it's just not possible on Earth and makes it so that Remnant doesn't have the same long term negative effects that fossil fuels cause. But this is a major setback on my "not going to school" plan. I was hoping my schooling from Earth would somehow let me skip at least middle school, but that seems like a no.

"Yew, you're lost in thought again." damn it.

"Sorry Ruby, what did I miss?" I don't think that habit is going anywhere.

"It's almost time to get ready for dinner, you missed your alarm." and that's another thing.

"Alright I'll go and start prepping everything. You go and tell the old man that it'll be ready by- actually what did you want to have today?" I seem to have taken over the kitchen by accident. Or at least when Tai is too busy to come home early enough to cook.

"How about lasagna?" Do we even have cheese?

"I'll see if I can, but just in case anything other than that?" Give me a sec, I'll explain while I cook.

"Nope, though Yang might want hamburgers." Right, Yang is obsessed with protein.

"I'll get right to it, tell the old man it'll be ready in a couple hours." As I say that I stand up from the dining room table and head over to the kitchen. But not before grabbing the step stool beforehand.

Now let's get back to thinking about my plans falling apart while I'm cooking shall we?

Now where was I? Oh yeah, needing to go to school. I'm going to have to go to Signal in a few years. The schooling structure here is made in correlation to the saying "the new generation is smarter" meaning that 'middle school' is in actuality the gate to adult life here.

"Where did Tai put the cheese? Oh." I said to myself while opening the fridge, we're out of cheese, curry hamburgers it is then.

High school, meaning Beacon, Atlas, and the other 'Huntsman' academies are in actuality colleges meaning extra education that isn't mandatory, hence why there are sixteen to seventeen year olds as opposed to eighteen or early twenties. You only go to those if you're 'specializing' which if you're not you're doing careers wrong.* They were structured so that 'missions' for beginning Huntsmen are literally teaching jobs or jobs protecting kids like Jaune did in the Atlas montage from volume eight.

"Why did Tai put the pots in the- nevermind, not going to question it." I was using the stepstool to grab the pots from the cabinet above the counter in the dining room, why is that even there? You would think that the cups, bowls, and plates would be there but those are in the kitchen.

The missions and schools are structured in this way because there's the belief that the 'current' generation can only be taught by the most recent grads from the academies, despite their lack of experience in teaching. I can see where this would go wrong, of course, but it seems to be working. At least for the 'middle schools'.

"Hey Ruby, can you set the table for me!" might as well get that done already since dinner won't take too long, hamburgers are quick to make as long as you have what you need already, and curry won't be too hard either. It'll just be a while, good thing I started at four.

"Sure Yew!" After she said that I started hearing the clinking of glass and silverware behind me while I was browning the burgers. Thank goodness Tai and I had these ready beforehand, I'll have to make some more for tomorrow's potluck for the Signal teachers though.

That reminds me, I haven't explained why I took over the kitchen. I didn't really take over the kitchen per se. But rather I'm in charge when Tai isn't home, Qrow can't cook for the life of him, and Ruby and Yang don't know how to yet. That left me and since unlike Ruby and Yang I don't go to primary school that leaves me with the chores while everyone is out either at work or school, so when Tai and Qrow noticed I could cook, seeing as I didn't burn the house down while everyone was gone. They had me take over when Tai was working over time.

"Now to get to the curry." Why did Tai put everything in the top cabinets, I mean come on! This is just getting ridiculous, it's not like he has a- oh wait, he did. He had a couple babies here so of course he put the sharp and dangerous stuff out of their reach. Probably left it there because he was too tired to do it.

Making curry is simple enough, so long as you have the right spices and materials, heck I could probably make a stew equivalent if we don't have 'em. This'll actually be pretty good, I can't say I'm even close to a good cook but still everything is coming out really nice.

"Forgot to get started on the ri- we don't have rice." It really irritates me that we don't have rice, I mean I can understand why we don't have any considering Mistral is on the other side of the world. That combined with the lack of an ecosystem that is capable of growing it nearby making rice really hard to buy. IT REALLY IRRITATES ME! I grew up on Earth in an area close to eastern Asia. I had access to rice really easily. You could find it in practically every store so I hate having things like curry and soups without rice as a side.

'I'll just sub in bread, hope we have some. If not I can head out and- right seven year old' and yet again reality slaps me in the face. I was practically self-sufficient before being brought here, I mean I wasn't living by myself just yet but I practically was already with my sisters moving out and my mom constantly at work. Being a kid again sucks, why couldn't I have come back as a pre-teen or something, at least then I could do a grocery run.

"Hey KId! Is the food ready yet?" Looks like Qrow is getting impatient. Taking a look at the clock mounted on the wall just above the stove, I noticed that it was almost six in the evening. Of course he's getting impatient, I've had dinner ready by five for the past week.

"Yeah! Just need to plate em' up." grabbing the bread from the cabinets, which annoys me cause I used to have it sitting out for easy access before and now it- right tangent, ignore that please. I walked over to the table to set the bread in the middle.

"Can you grab the food to help me set everything?" I really hate being short, I mean I need a step stool to cook for crying out loud!

"Sure, what did you make this time?"

"Curry and hamburgers."

"Weird combo, how are we gonna eat em? Put it in a sandwich or something?" Qrow looked like he was confused about it, and quite frankly I was just still annoyed about the no rice thing.

"Nah, fork and knife, cut 'em then dip the meat and bread into the curry." I'm pretty sure my eye was twitching right now, why did I have to have anime reactions in this world? "Kinda would have been better with rice instead of bread though."

"Right, keep forgetting you're from Mistral." yeah I told them I'm from Mistral, closest thing I could get to where I'm from on Earth.

"When is Tai getting home? Need to know if I have to set a plate aside for hi-oh hey tiring day?" I was going to finish my question before I noticed Tai at the door.

"Yeah." Tai looked bushed as expected given he's the headmaster* of Signal academy, and unlike most 'headmasters' on Earth he doesn't just do admin work he also has his own classes to teach "It was a really hectic day today, it was finally time to make everyone's weapons and the noise and damages were all so sigh*." I do NOT know how he does it. Seriously what the heck?

"Well dinners' ready so just head over to the table and I'll have it right there." This was the one thing I could do for my sisters and mom when they got home tired, keep the living room clean and cook when they're too tired to do the same. Only a given seeing as I was the youngest and the only one not working. "Can you do the dinner call? I need to get cleaned up."

"Why don't you just call the girls down when you head up?" Tai seriously doesn't realize how much Yang doesn't like me. Heck, even I could tell and I'm dense as a brick.

"I'll do it kid, go get cleaned up, you smell." Thank you for saving me the embarrassment, old man.

"Be down later." As I head up to my room to grab a change of clothes, I think back to the past couple of weeks. It hasn't been too bad, I mean it could be worse. Ruby seems to like the idea of me being her cousin and all, and Qrow seems to have lightened up too. Not lightened up like "Oh he looks like he's taking a load off." he seems happier, glad to see my decision to be adopted by him and not Tai was the right idea. Really wish I knew how to help him more though.

Entering my room I walk over to the new shelf that was added in not too long ago to house my clothes. Grabbing a new change I start over to the shower. I'll just leave the narration of the shower out and only talk about my thoughts, don't want anyone to get the wrong idea here.

Tai seems to have lightened up in the aforementioned "he's taken a load off" way. I'm guessing cooking for four mouths on top of being a teacher and headmaster all at the same time can wear on anyone. Since he took me in, the least I could do is help out with one of 'em.

The only person who hasn't seemed to have changed was Yang, but I kinda expected that. She's the stubborn type. She hasn't warmed up to the idea of me being around, and while at first I wasn't aware, she made it clear I wasn't welcome. Especially after Qrow considered me ready to start sparring.

Flashback: 3-24-03 (3 days ago)

Yew P.O.V

"Alright kid, you've gotten decent enough, so I'm gonna have you start learning how to fight." Wait, what?

"I thought you were just training me to learn how to use my aura, I'm not gonna be a huntsman after all." I am so confused, am I missing something?

"I was, and I still am." Again with the shrugging, what is with drunks and shrugging!? Is it just me? "You just gotta learn how to use it to strengthen your body."

"Why would I have to do that? Isn't that exactly what I'm training not to do?"

"Which is why I'm training you on how to do it. So you can avoid doing it subconsciously." Oh, that makes sense. Reverse engineering basically.

"I guess that makes sense, but how are you gonna teach me how to fight? I don't use any weapons, or at least none that are here." I pointed at the stand of training weapons set up in the corner, this turned out to be part of the reason Qrow keeps taking me and the girls here for training, it seems it's an outpost made for training Huntsmen prospects.

"That's why I'm having you spar with Yang, she uses her fists. Hopefully you could pick up a couple things from her." Damn it, there goes my excuse. Maybe he'll let it go if I tell him-

"I already know how to use my fists, I just don't like using them." Please take the excuse, I really don't like using my hands to fight. I'm a gamer not a fighter.

"All the more reason why you should, if you can fight already, then use aura with it." Double damn it.

"What's wrong, afraid of being beat by a girl?" Ah children's insults, no matter how smart you are they're always the same.

"Yes" and I am not afraid to admit it. "I'm not a good fighter, I only said that to try and get out of this."

"Then that means you're just a wimp." Don't let her get to you. She's just lashing out like the kid she is.

"Just do it Twiggy, Kinda want to get home early, it's taco night and I ain't missing it." He likes tacos?

"Fine, but only once, I don't feel like having my butt kicked multiple times in a row" Seriously, I've been working out with the girls for the past two weeks and they blow anything I do out of the water, it's not even a joke at this point.

"Just want to see if sparring will be what you need to use your shield again." he looked away when he said that. Thank you anime influence, you have made me slightly less dense for it.

'You just want to see me get my sh*t kicked in.' I'm not gonna give voice to that cause we both know it.

"Alright let's get started, do ya both have your gear on?" if by gear you mean the lacking headgear and the pitiful wraps then yes, we do. "The only rules are no hitting at the groin and once you either fall out of the ring or I say the match ends that's it."

Instead of saying anything I just nod, and so does Yang, looking eager to get this started.

It was a slaughter.

…

Is what I was expecting to say, cause honestly I'm surprised with myself. I was able to, in the beginning, keep up with Yang.

Her stance was pretty sloppy, it was full of holes left and right, literally. She had her fists too far apart leaving both her face and torso open. Her footing was solid, but also was leaning too far forward. She was excited to attack, and given the look on her face she was going to do it now.

Getting ready I got into my own stance, the one I learned a few years ago when I was taking boxing lessons. Both arms up, enough to cover your torso and lower jaw, leaving enough room to see your opponent, left foot forward, right foot back, with a slight tilt making my profile smaller. Thus making my guard cover more of my torso as opposed to just my upper chest and jaw. Course this leaves my gut exposed, but Yang doesn't use kicks so that should be fine.

She charged forward, going with a classic. A left jab into a right hook. They were both really telegraphed so I was able to dodge, just barely due to how fast she was moving. After that she kept coming, not bothering to put her arms up to defend, rookie mistake. I just kept playing keep away, and while she kept landing hits, they were either glancing or hitting my guard.

Eventually she got frustrated, and put everything into a right upper. Then I made the next mistake, I jumped. Jumped back a little mind you, but if I were fighting someone who actually paid attention to that that would have been it for me. Never jump in combat period. Luckily I wasn't fighting someone rational at the time, I was fighting a seven year old hot head.

As soon as I landed on my feet, Yang was still recovering from missing the upper. So I decided to go with the only attack I actually know how to execute properly. I turned my body to the side, chambered my right leg while making a counter balance using my left arm and lashed out, twisting it as it led out. I landed the hit but nothing happened. She didn't react at all.

Then she glowed yellow and I realized. 'Oh yeah, aura.'

Now it was her turn to take advantage of my having to recover from overcompensating. She launched another classic, and I was on the ground. Getting up, I turned to the old man.

"We're done now right?" Then on my a** again. Yang just sucker punched me!

"I didn't say stop yet kid." Oh come on old man!

Getting up, yet again, I put my hands into position, my hands in front of my eyes but not blocking my vision.

Noticing I was ready again Yang attacked, on the offensive yet again. I decided to stop being so passive, stop waiting and just take advantage of every opening. React on instinct. He said everything goes as long as we don't aim for the groin, Imma use that to its fullest.

Waiting until Yang misses another punch, instead of just moving to recover. I grabbed her right arm in the pit of my left as she was about to pull back. Then, using my other hand, I grabbed her by the collar and in the same motion moved her arm from my pit into my palm. I think you can see where this is going.

Twisting around so that Yang is on my back, and flicking my hips in the motion. She's off her feet. I pull her arm over my shoulder while she doesn't have control, and when she's all the way over, I punch with my hand at her collar to increase the force driving her down, my aura will take care of recoil. I hope.

To my absolute delight it did. I was successful in using my aura to make my body stronger, sadly it still didn't make the shield.* It seems that reinforcement is tied directly to reflex. Which is why Qrow was teaching me how to avoid it in the first place.

But to my dismay, Yang's aura also absorbed the impact. And what's worse was I saw some hairs flying. Yellow hairs.

'Please don't notice. Please don't notice.'

Her eyes turned red. She noticed.

Now I can say it was a slaughter, Yang instantly got up and started attacking again. This time no form to speak of, just constant punches. And they were coming so fast I couldn't see them. All I could do was keep my arms up and protect my head.

So of course she punched me in the gut.

I don't remember anything after that, kinda hard to when you pass out.

Date: 3-27-03( present time)

Yew P.O.V

I still haven't fully recovered from that, my aura makes it so that I can function just fine but that still doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like biatch! Maybe I should invest in protective gear in the future, just in case I still can't use my shield.

"Hey Yew, why are there only four places at the table?" Tai asked as I headed back to the kitchen to clean up the dishes left from cooking.

"I'm not feeling too hungry right now. So I'll be getting back to studying after I'm done in the kitchen." I know that Yang hates me, so I gotta keep from making too much trouble for them. That means keeping away from her as much as I can. "I still haven't caught up on my history, I was thinking I could use this as a chance to. Maybe even read some more about Dust."

"You know you can eat with us right?" Tai seems to be worried over this, I can understand why but I really can't be having any trouble for them. I've caused enough for them as is.

"Yeah but I really haven't been doing well in my academics when compared to even Ruby, and since I'm older I have to set an example for her right?" The same way my sisters did for me.

"If you say so, just remember you can still eat with us." Tai still looked worried. I really need to find a way to assuage him, can't be having that. I'm trying to avoid causing trouble, not make more out of something so small.

"I'll keep it in mind. Why don't you go and eat with everyone else, I'll take care of the dishes." I turned around, I can't exactly hide my mood from my face anymore given how expressions show here in Remnant. "And don't worry about the food for the potluck tomorrow, I'll take care of that too." I mean I did use it for dinner tonight.

"Alright, just make sure you don't overdo it." You're telling me not to overdo it when you worked for over twelve hours today, a lot of which is working with children and around children, only to come home to your own children. I hate children. I'm kidding of course, but still I cannot imagine the workload this guy goes through on a daily basis.

"Got it, go on and enjoy yourself." Just let me get this done already, I really wasn't lying when I said I had to catch up on history.

As Tai leaves I focus more on the dishes I'm doing, while letting my mind wander.

That sparring match against Yang was a bit of an eye opener. I'm weak, really weak. While I can use aura, I'm still not only in the body of a kid, but I'm also untrained and outgunned even if I trained for it. Especially since not only was this Yang as a kid,one who's so much weaker than canon. The canon Yang who was beaten by plenty of sub-maiden characters.

Finished with the dishes I move to start molding and shaping the burgers for the teacher potluck Tai has to do tomorrow. May as well marinate them prep the kitchen to be used in the morning too. I'm not gonna leave the food lying around of course, I'm just talking about the pans that Tai will be using in the morning.

Continuing my train of thought, I can't treat myself as if I was in a self indulgent fantasy, as much as this feels like one. I need to prepare. Not just train to get stronger, but also to get more firepower to bridge any gaps in skill. Ironwood in canon had the right idea of consolidating firepower, but went about it all wrong. I need to find the right way to do that.

Finishing up the last of the burgers, I cleaned my hands and headed up to my room. Time to do the one thing I can do, in this world and any other. Read, research, and maybe find ways to fix my current situation.

Pulling out the scroll that Tai and Qrow bought for me to use for any studies, I pulled up three tabs on the browser. One for history, and two for sciences. I can work on my mathematics using any online workbooks, but these I can only fix by reading. Until I hit that point where math is mandatory, I will read and research what I can.

It doesn't hurt that I actually find all this really fun to read about, what with how wildly different Remnant is compared to Earth. Might as well take advantage of this initial giddiness of mine and read as much as possible.

Let's start with the bulk of the work first, the way I was taught. Get to the big stuff first, and once that's done, move to clean up the little bits.

Time to study this new world's science.

I would say I want to start right away with engineering and compare it with what I know, albeit very little, of Earth's engineering, but that's like trying to ride a bike after learning how to move your limbs in the first place. Let's open up the small library already saved into the bookmarks of the browsers.

First let's start with Dust theory, the why, when and how.

Meaning it's time to dig into the greatest literary work of Remnant.

Dust for dummies!

A/n

-For the first * to be addressed, where Yew said "and if you're not you're doing careers wrong". I don't think that way anymore, I know that's not how the world works but at the point that Yew was pulled from I was an entitled little sh*t when it came to school and money since I never worked a day in my life for money until a little while ago.

-As for the next * where I said that Tai is the headmaster of Signal, I put him as the headmaster since Tai is a recognized Huntsman and is rather renowned, not to mention the change I made to missions new Huntsmen do once they acquire their licenses' making it so that Tai just being a teacher wouldn't make sense since those positions would be stocked with new Huntsmen.

-For the third *, what I meant by not using the shield but instead just making the MC's body stronger is that, I feel like aura is able to passively increase your natural strength and if used in certain ways does it actively more. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the shield is up already. Which is the justification I will be using for certain semblances being able to be used without the aura shield up. You still have aura to fuel it, you just don't have a shield anymore, same with the superhuman feats when you clearly see their shields break.

Now to address Yew and how he seems to be working himself too much and seeming like a supposed 'self-sacrificing' kid. I used to be this way, being told I was like that by all three of my sisters, my mother and a few friends all in tandem. I'm not that bad anymore, but I decided to try and take it to a higher extreme here, since Tai and the others 'in Yew's eyes' are doing a lot more for him than his loved ones on Earth, sharing no blood relations and as such no obligations and all that.

So he feels obligated to avoid causing too much trouble. I have a plan for this aspect of him so please, just bear with me here. I know this kind of character is kind of annoying since it's not realistic, but I like to think that since he's now a fictional character, certain parts of him are now exacerbated.

I'll be trying to keep this kind of attitude on the down low but going forward it's still going to be a major part of his character.

Yew was me taken out at a certain point in time, meaning that while he is a self insert he would no longer be me by this point, so please just know that everything he does I myself would probably do differently since I am both a non fictional person as well as have different experiences.