A/N: These notes are becoming obsolete. Oh well. Enjoy the Chapter!

Edit: (11/14/18): Not really much to change here. Just rewording a few things and getting the formatting down correctly.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 8: Jaundice

The weeks that followed Izuku's fight with Bakugo were very talkative. At least, on his end. He'd been asked so many questions about his semblance that he thought his brain was going to implode from having to repeat his explanation over and over again. But, that was the bad part.

The good part was that 1: Bakugo had generally left Izuku alone, although he still glared at him with the same silent rage he had before their battle; but Izuku was a lot less scared of it now than he was before. 2: He'd actually managed to get a bit closer to his friends. Yang was more boisterous than ever with her puns, Shoto smiled just the slightest bit more, Ruby had been talking to him about weapon designs almost nonstop, and he and Jaune had discovered their mutual love for comic books.

Speaking of-

Jaune supported his form by putting his hands on his knees, panting as he did so. Across from him was the armored boy from Initiation, Cardin Winchester. He'd proven himself to be quite the bully these past few weeks. He'd mocked just about everyone behind their backs, tripped anyone who was vulnerable, and even sent Jaune across the school in a rocket-propelled locker. In short: a stereotype personified.

Cardin chuckled at Jaune's exhausted form, all too overconfident that he would win the fight. Jaune, seeing an opening, rushed him in a charge not too dissimilar to Izuku's when he fought Bakugo, and swung at the bully in a large, overhead arc. Cardin simply sidestepped him, and swung his mace at Jaune, causing him to lose his shield as he was flung across the arena.

Jaune seemed to only be minorly damaged by this hit, as he got back up not a second later and rushed at Cardin once more with a two-handed overhead swing, clashing with the handle of Cardin's mace. Cardin, being the stronger of the two, pushed back with relative ease, and said, "This is the part where you lose."

"Over my dead-" was all Jaune could get out in retort before Cardin kneed him in the gut, causing him to keel over in pain, dropping his sword in the process. Cardin stood above him, his mace ready to deliver a strike to bash his skull in when-

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The buzzer sounded. Goodwitch then walked past Cardin, saying, "That's enough, Mr. Winchester." before addressing the class. "As you can see here, Mr. Arc's Aura has gone into the red. Now I'm sure most of you remember this rule, but, in a tournament style duel, this would indicate that he is no longer fit for battle, and the official may end the match."

She turned to Arc and semi-whispered, "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is safe to attack and when you need to use a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to end up as Grimm bait, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself." Cardin mocked Goodwitch under his breath as he and Jaune left the arena, the latter slightly hunched over in shame.

"You may be wondering why I restated a rule you learned at the beginning of the year. Well, the Vytal festival is only four months away, and this year, Beacon shall be hosting the entire event. It won't be long before students from other kingdoms begin arriving in Vale, so be sure to keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament shall be representing all of Vale."

Everyone reacted to this in their own way. Yang began to shadow box with an invisible opponent; Weiss had an unusual grin on her face; Ruby began to giddily move about in her seat, slightly squealing as she did so; while Blake kept her ever-neutral expression the same. Tenya simply smiled, telling everyone to follow Goodwitch's instructions; Bakugo hardly even cared, muttering something about killing his way to the top; and Shoto held a neutral face that nearly mimicked Blake's, only the tiniest hint of disdain seeping through. Ren had the smallest of all smirks on his lips, while Nora tried to fire off grenades in celebration, only to be stopped by Ren when he lifted her grenade launcher higher than she could reach. Maybe this was why he was smirking? Only he could know.

And Pyrrha? She didn't even acknowledge Goodwitch's announcement, opting to look at her leader in concern. Izuku didn't really know what happened between that and lunch, since he'd done small talk with everyone for the most part, but he did keep a bit of an eye on Jaune. Speaking of lunch-

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora began as she regaled the group with another of her farfetched dream story's.

"It was day," Ren promptly corrected as he balanced a cup of tea on his palm.

"We were surrounded by Ursai..." she continued, Yang hanging off of her every word while Blake read a book, not even pretending to care. Izuku paid attention, though more so out of politeness than anything else, while Bakugo simply grumbled about kill counts.

"They were Beowolves," Ren again corrected as Tenya nodded in affirmation and Shoto went over his notes, and, like Blake, not even pretending to care.

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match... and Ren and I made a ton of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed before continuing, "She's been having this dream for nearly a month now."

Izuku then turned his attention to the other side of the table, where Jaune, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss were all sitting, the latter filing her nails while the other two looked at Jaune with concerned faces.

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked her leader. Jaune played with his food for a second before realizing that he was being addressed by her, turned and answered, "Y-yeah. Why?"

Ruby then piped in, "It's just that you seem a little... not okay."

It was at this point that Izuku decided to go to the other end of the table, leaving his team at the other end. "They're right, you know. You haven't been yourself for the past few days."

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously. Look." Jaune gave them a shaky thumbs up, clearly emphasizing the fact that he was indeed, as Ruby aptly put it, not okay.

Their attention was then drawn by a rather horrible laugh a few tables down from them. Cardin, along with the rest of his team, were laughing at a female Faunus with rather large bunny ears.

"Jaune, Cardin has been bullying you since the first day of school."

"W-who, Cardin Winchester?"

"Yes. He's bullying another student right behind you," Shoto pointed out in his usual monotone, not looking up from his notes.

"Nah. He just likes to mess around. Ya know, practical jokes!"

"He's a bully," Ruby, Izuku, and Shoto deadpanned simultaneously.

"Oh please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"Well, there was that one time in the hallway when he knocked your books out of your hands for no reason," Ruby deadpanned.

"I'm sure it was just an accident."

"Then the time when he got you stuck in the middle of a doorway with your own shield," Shoto monotoned, still not bothering to look up from his notes.

"That was my own clumsiness."

"And then the rocket locker," Izuku shivered as he remembered the incident he'd just mentioned.

"I didn't land far from the school."

"YOU LANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EMERALD FOREST!" The Ruby and Izuku yelled at him, Shoto opting to stay silent after he'd made his input.

"Jaune, you know you can just ask one of us if you ever need help with anything, okay?" Pyrrha told Jaune, the two not even the slightest bit phased that Ruby and Izuku had yelled at Jaune seconds earlier.

Nora then stood up, a strange light bulb appearing above her head. How was this possible? No one knew. "OH! We'll break his legs!"

Jaune stood up with his tray in his hands and tried to calm down his friends. "Guys, its fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone."

It was at this moment that Cardin decided to pull at one of the rabbit Faunus' ears for fun, as he said to his teammates, "Ha! I told you they were real!"

"What a freak!" One of his teammates jaded at the poor girl. She struggled to get out of his grip, but couldn't break free. Then, just as Izuku stood again and began to walk over to them, someone got over there first, and it wasn't the person he expected it to be.

"Hey..." Bakugo began, an extremely dangerous tone that Izuku had come to fear during his high school years present to even the densest of people in his voice. "Would you all shut the fuck up? It's annoying as hell."

"And just who do you think you are, talking to me like tha-" Cardin never finished his sentence, and even if he did, he likely would've had his face smashed in by the dire wolf that stood just a few inches in front of him. Said faunus suddenly slammed his fist into a nearby table with the assistance of his semblance, the force of the blast combined with his strike splitting it in clean in half with a silencing CRACK!

"Did I fucking stutter?"

Bakugo glared holes into Cardin for several seconds, the latter trying his best to not shrivel up in fear. Cardin eventually let go of the rabbit Faunus, who walked away from the table and out of the mess hall.

Bakugo then turned back to the others and said, "Do not read into that. The only reason I did that was cause the noise was pissing me off." He then stomped out of the mess hall, his mood not better than before.

"Well... that was... interesting," Pyrrha said hesitantly, not really knowing why Bakugo did what he just did.

"It seemed like he didn't even care about the girl he helped," Blake pointed out, a hint of malice contained in her voice.

(one week later, Bartholomew Oobleck's World History Class, 9:36 am)

Professor Oobleck, while he was a very good teacher, was also a rather eccentric one. He had many theories on Grimm, the origin of Dust, and even correctly predicted the fallout consequences of the Faunus War. Speaking of-

"Yes yes, prior to the Faunus Civil Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was actually quite adamant in centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He explained to the class while he drank small sips of coffee from the cup he held in his hand, somehow zipping about the classroom at speeds the only Ruby could match. He continued-

"While this may seem like ancient history for many of you, you must remember that on a grand scale, these are still relatively recent events. Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day." He took another sip from his cup. "Now! Has anyone in this room been subjugated or discriminated against for their Faunus heritage?"

Izuku saw two students raise their hands, one of them being the rabbit Faunus that he'd seen getting bullied earlier. Bakugo made no moves to raise his hands, either out of some sort of pride he couldn't shake off or the simple fact that he didn't bother to remember. Oobleck again continued, "Dreadful! Simply dreadful! Remember students, it exactly this type of ignorance that breeds violence." Another sip from his coffee cup. "I mean, just look at what happened to the White Fang! Before their new leader rose to power, they were a peaceful group with good intentions. But thanks to the increased ignorance of discriminatory humans, they have turned to more violent methods of influence." Yet another sip from his coffee cup.

"Now, can any of you young scholars tell me what many researchers, myself included, believe to be the two major turning points in the third year of the war."

Weiss immediately raised her hand, as did Tenya, both saying in sync, "The first was The Battle of Fort Castle, and-" before meeting the other's gaze and glaring at each other, sparks practically flying between them; the intensity coming from them was simply just that high.

They were brought out of their silent argument when Oobleck continued, "Precisely! Now, who can tell me the general advantage that the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces."

It was at this moment that Cardin decided to try and flick a paper football at the back of Jaune's head, which was quickly thwarted when Izuku, his danger sense from his time with Toshinori sharper than ever thanks to his combat classes, caught the item in midair. Cardin, annoyed that his embarrassment attempt had been thwarted so easily, was about to jump on Izuku when Oobleck said, "Mr. Winchester! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject."

Cardin, now unable to exact his revenge upon Izuku, leaned back in his seat, his feet upon the desk, and answered, "Well, I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier."

"You aren't the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha asked with hinted sarcasm.

"What, you got a problem?"

"No, I don't believe she does," Shoto interjected, annoyed at the entire situation. "And the answer is night vision. Several faunus subspecies are known to have it."

"The general made the mistake of trying to ambush the faunus on their sleep." Blake continued. "His army became outmatched and the general was captured. Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Cardin had been thoroughly enraged at that point, and rose out of his seat to give Blake a piece of his mind before-

"Mr. Winchester, please take your seat."

Cardin sat down in his seat with a huff, obviously angry at the fact that he'd been outsmarted by the three Brainiacs of the class. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

Jaune snapped awake, not entirely aware of what had just transpired. Even so, Oobleck continued. "Now! Moving on! Which event became even more popular than the previously mentioned Battle of Fort Castle, and changed the opinions on Faunuskind for hundreds of thousands of humans?"

Izuku, having studied this part of history thoroughly, raised his hand at a speed only Ruby would go at. "Yes, Mr. Midoriya?"

"The Vale Monument Speech, made by the current Symbol of Hope, All Might, barely six months after his debut."

"Correct! The speech he made that day, more commonly known today as We are all Equals, inspired many people, Faunus and humans alike, to further support the Faunus civil rights movement. Why, if he never made the speech, the Faunus War might've still been going on at this very second! Now, as for the speech itself..."

(Beacon Academy Hallways, 8:33 pm)

Izuku left the library with a satisfied look on his face. He'd just finished his research project for Professor Port an entire month before it was due. And he didn't just slap something together sloppily like some C- average jock either. Instead, the research was on the anatomy of Beowolves and why they were considered dangerous even though they were technically the weakest Grimm. I won't give you the specifics since that would take all day. Moving on!

Izuku was walking back to his dorm when a distraught looking Pyrrha crossed his path, not even looking at his as went into her own dorm room and slammed the door shut. The force of the blow was hard enough to leave cracks in the door frame.

What happened to make her that upset? Izuku wondered to himself before continuing to walk towards his dorm, stopping when he heard Bakugo and Tenya arguing... again. Deciding to play it safe, Izuku leaned against the wall, waiting for the argument to stop, when Jaune rounded the corner with an expression to the one that Pyrrha had previously worn. He didn't even stop to look at Izuku as he went to his dorm, the same one that Pyrrha had gone into.

And Jaune's looking even worse than Pyrrha. I hope they're okay.

Little did Izuku know what was soon to come.

A/N: Review to your heart's content! I love feedback and criticism (as long as it's constructive) so feel free to ask me whatever you want to know about this fic.

Our next profile is Bakugo!

2-Katsuki Bakugo

Age: 17

Race: Dire wolf Faunus

BDay: 04/20

Handedness: Right

Hair: Ash Blond and Spiky

Eyes: Red

Blood Type: A

Height: 5ft 10in/ 177.8cm

Gender: M

Semblance: Explosion, allows Bakugo to ignite the air around his hands with enough force to rival fire dust, though overuse will cause side effects since his joints and shoulders must deal with the force of the blasts.

Weapon: Mortar Shell, gloves and bracelets with red and black details, the bracelets having spikes that run up the length of his forearms. The bracelets function is to actually shoot dust at a mid to close range distance, which can give him some room to retreat.