A/N: I pretty much wrote this chapter to clarify any of the concerns that you guys might have about Gale turning into Tempest. Also to set up a foreshadow an event for a future chapter. Thanks to all of you for the continued support, and enjoy!
Review Responses:
Glenn: Okay. I'm a bit biased towards Black Sun myself, but I can see why you'd like the ship. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.
I do not own the cover image
Chapter 21: Living Weapons and Living Situations
"Are you serious?"
"Entirely."
"But are you really su-"
"If I wasn't, we wouldn't even be having this discussion."
Izuku and Torino sat across from each other at the dining table, Tempest resting between them. There was a somber, slightly chilled morning air around them, and while the others were outside, donning their gym clothes, stretching their muscles and warming themselves up for the first of many daily workouts, the two currently sitting were discussing Izuku's weapon and just why it had changed so drastically. Well, Izuku was also wearing a set of workout clothes, as he'd planned to join the others before Torino pulled him aside. The outfit consisted of a simple white t-shirt with black shorts and black tennis shoes with nylon green soles. But I digress...
"How is it even possible to make a living weapon?" Izuku asked Torino, the boy wishing to ask so many more questions, though he held himself back so as to not overwhelm the old man and give his reason to smack him over the head with his cane. Seriously, he was way too good at using that thing.
"You tell me. These things were common back when the Grimm were first appearing and were practically wiping all of us off the map. Now they're so rare and powerful that selling one to the right person could probably buy you a mansion, maybe even a fiefdom." Torino said without a hint of sarcasm. He was entirely serious; these weapons were just that rare.
"But Mei said that making it was fairly simple. She just found the right Dust amounts to infuse into the weapon and she just... forged it." Izuku explained what he knew, which was to say, not very much.
"Wait, who made this for you?" Torino asked with a piqued interest.
"Mei Hatsume. Why?" Izuku tilted his head slightly in confusion.
Torino went into thought for several seconds before he stood from the table and said, "We're gonna have to pay that girl a visit. She's working with Maijima, right?"
"Yeah. They've been living together for a pretty long time." Izuku said as he too stood up, ready to follow through with whatever he had planned.
"Well, it's been awhile since I talked to him. He was a pretty good friend of Toshinori's too, and I haven't talked to him in a few years. Might as well see how well off he's been. Oh, and be sure to bring Tempest too." Torino walked towards the outside to begin instructing the others of what to do while the two were gone. Izuku, true to form, lifted Tempest from its resting place on the sturdy dining table, which had been expanded in order to accommodate for all the extra people that were staying with them now.
Time for some context! When everyone had gotten back from the exchange on the beach, they'd dragged themselves up to the rooms and crashed. Hard. Everybody was exhausted from the Breach, Izuku more so than any of them, proven by the fact that he couldn't even make it to any of the beds before he passed out. He'd briefly awoken later on to find that he'd been placed on a bed by someone; he didn't know who, but he was thankful that they moved him there. He would've been much more uncomfortable if they hadn't done that. Then he fell back asleep.
After they'd woken up, though they were still pretty groggy, they found that Torino had set up a fairly large table with a mountain of food on it. He'd proven himself to be a very good cook, even if he enjoyed microwaved sweets more than actual food, and everyone, and I do mean everyone, was so hungry that they ate until their stomachs were completely stuffed. They then proceeded to pass out about thirty minutes later.
Torino got everyone up fairly early, and assigned them to do the warmups they were doing right then, but had asked Izuku to stay behind so that they could discuss the situation with his weapon. And so, here he stood, staring at the weapon with hardly a clue as to what it even was anymore. Well, that was why they were going to visit Mei after all.
Izuku shook himself out of this daze and strapped Tempest's holster and the weapon itself onto his back, following Torino outside the apartment complex where he explained what they were going to do while they were away.
"I want all of you to complete five sets of twenty pushups, four sets of twenty sit-ups, and three sets of ten pull-ups. Then a half mile run. After that, take a rest for about fifteen minutes and do it over again. It should take you about an hour or two to get done." Torino explained, much to the dismay of the less physically inclined members of the present group. Specifically, Weiss.
"How are we supposed to do all of that within two hours?! That's impossible!" The aforementioned heiress exclaimed in disbelief.
Torino smirked evilly, as if he were expecting this. "I thought at least one of you would disagree with this. Just because I'm overly prepared, I've worked out a bit of a... system. For every time you object to the workout I've given you, you do another set of sit-ups. If this morning has been any consolation, you'll all have glistening abs in no time."
Ruby, Velvet, Fox, and Bakugo, the former two being just as nonphysically inclined as Weiss herself while one of the latter two was simply lazy and the last simply wanted less time devoted to strength training so that he could work more on fighting techniques; they all glared at her with an intense rage that wasn't matched by anyone else present. In fact, Yang looked a bit happier. Regardless, Weiss sweat dropped in fear and embarrassment, and almost tried to make a run for it before Torino shouted, "Well? What're ya waiting for?! Get movin'!"
The effect was almost instantaneous, every person present with the exceptions of Torino and Izuku getting down and doing pushups almost immediately. However, Izuku wasn't out of the loop either, as Torino explained, "Just cause we're going to Maijima's place doesn't mean you get to skip out on the workout. You're doing powerwalk there and back, ya hear me?"
"Got it!" Izuku said as they walked to Maijima's shop, the green haired boy doing the powerwalk all the way there.
(ten minutes later, Maijima's Gadgets and Guns)
"Heya, Izuku!" Mei cheerily greeted the two as they entered the surprisingly untouched shop. Izuku thought there would be at least a little damage, considering all the Grimm, but the outer frame hardly had a scratch on it, and the interior was better than it had ever looked. Maybe that was due to the lack of weapons donning the shelves. Mei herself was currently digging through one of the many toolboxes she and Maijima had scattered around the shop
"Hi Mei!" Izuku responded with the same cheery tone before Torino jabbed his cane on the floor in front of the green-haired boy and said, "Air Chair."
"Yes sir!" Izuku then pulled out a chair (neither Mei or Torino thought to ask from where) and immediately began to hold himself just half an inch above the seat, almost vibrating while he did do.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Mei asked with a confused and slightly terrified look on her face.
"Yeah, he'll be just fine. We came over here to clarify some things about Tempest, and since everyone back at the complex is doing a pretty hardcore workout right about now, well... I couldn't have him slacking off, now could I?"
"O-oh. Okay." Mei said in clarification, still scared of the tiny old man.
Wait, did he say- her thoughts were interrupted when she heard her mentor's voice echo from within the workshop. "Mei, what are you doing? It doesn't take that long to get a multi-wrench-" Maijima emerged from the workshop, immediately freezing when he saw Torino, of all people, standing in the doorway with Izuku hovering over a chair with questionable origins. Seriously, where the hell did that thing come from?
"Long time, no see, Maijima." A friendly grin came across Torino's lips as he recognized the oversized helmet of a former friend. If the helmet weren't covering his face, they would've seen Maijima grinning ear to ear; he was that happy.
"Same to you, old man." The masked tinkerer quipped back, causing Torino to chuckle. That was rare. Very, very rare.
Wait, I thought he hated that nickname. Izuku thought in confusion, still managing to maintain the air chair even with these new thoughts clouding his mind.
As if sensing the confusion, Torino turned and clarified for Izuku, "He was a part of Toshinori's team back when I taught at Beacon. They were the only ones who could get away with calling me that without getting detention. Or getting decimated in a sparring match. Or both."
"Torino, I am happy to see you, but why are you even here?" Maijima asked in a concerned tone.
"I was just about to get to that. Maijima, have you taught your apprentice about dust infusion?"
"Only the basics."
"Hmm... then it's as I thought." Torino turned to Izuku. "You can rest now."
Izuku slumped onto the chair before Torino continued, "Now, show us your weapon, kid." Izuku complied, taking Tempest off of his back and placed it across his lap, the blade shining in the morning sunlight, still as sharp as the day Mei had forged it. Speaking of-
"OH MY OUM, WHAT HAPPENED TO GALE?!" Mei yelled, Tempest humming in disapproval when Mei said its former name. Before she could process this fact, however, a chilling and rather terrifying voice emerged from her mentor's helmet.
"… Mei..."
She immediately froze in place, slowly but stiffly turning back to Maijima before she stuttered out, "Y-y-yeah?"
"Did you make that weapon with dust infusion?"
"Umm..." Mei nodded stiffly, not trusting her voice enough to give her adoptive father a proper answer.
"How much did you use?"
"… I balanced the dust out with the metal so that I could make it absorb kinetic energy." Mei hung her head low as she said this, fully expecting Maijima to be angry as an aggravated Alpha Beowolf, and rightly so. However, defying Mei's dark expectations, the exact opposite happened, as Maijima grasped the pink dreadlocked by the arms, lifted her up and cheerily explained, "Mei, you idiotic genius! You incredible, idiotic genius!"
Torino and Izuku looked at each other, the latter with far more confusion in his eyes than the former. Torino simply shrugged. He knew that Maijima had always been an excitable type when it came to weapon forging, but he expected the man to at least be a little mad.
"This could solve so many of our financial problems! Not only that, but we could finally move to Mistral like you always wanted to, and we'd live like weapon smith royalty!" Maijima said as he spun around with Mei still in his arms, the latter of whom had abandoned her previous nervous expression in exchange for a happier, more excited grin that now donned her lips, stretching from ear to ear and revealing her pearly white teeth.
"Wait, move to Mistral?" Torino asked in surprise, causing Maijima to stop mid spin and Mei to gain a look of recognition, turning her gaze back down to her mentor with a questioning look. He nodded to her before he put the dreadlock-wearing girl back on the ground and they explained Maijima's earlier comment to their guests.
"You see, I've wanted to go to Mistral for a while now. It's basically the trading capital of Remnant, and there are so many other masters and engineers we could work with. It's not like Vale is a bad kingdom or anything, there are plenty of good weapon smiths here. I just... going to Mistral has been my goal for a long time, and now that we've got the money together... well..."
Maijima finished for her. "We'll be leaving for Anima just before the Vytal Festival starts. We were going to tell you two, and Toshinori as well, but we just didn't really know how to bring it up. Sorry it took us this long."
Torino looked at the two with a stern gaze in his currently cold, yellow eyes before sighing at their predicament, his look turning warm once more before he said to the two, "Well, at least you told us at all. That has to count for something. Besides, that's not why we're here in the first place."
Mei and Maijima sighed in relief before the former of the two began to examine Tempest and the changes that had taken place. She twisted the pommel to switch it to scythe mode, and it did just that, the blade curving inwards before the handle extended. Unlike its previous iteration, however, it only had a single curve throughout the handle. Was Tempest accurate enough to change its own circuitry and frame? How the hell was that even possible?!
"Whooooooooooaaaa... so elegant..." Mei lightly ran her finger across the edge of the scythe, not even getting two inches before Tempest hummed causing her to accidentally cut her finger. She looked at the injured digit with fascination in her gaze, almost sighing out, "And razor sharp too... OH MY OUM THIS THING IS EVEN MORE AWESOME THAN BEFORE!" She suddenly shouted in pure excitement, clutching the weapon to her body like she was hugging the cutest puppy in all of existence. (A/N: aka Zwei)
It was at this moment the Maijima took the weapon from Mei's grasp before she could actually hurt herself with it and began to examine it himself. Being a professional with years more experience, he came to a more detailed conclusion than his bubbly apprentice. While she was indeed smart, and often too focused for her own good, she didn't quite yet have Maijima's natural knack for detecting small details. "Huh. It seems most of the circuitry's the same, just downscaled. The shift mechanism works a bit faster than before too." He then examined the actual blade. "The blade's a bit lighter as well. Hmm... hold on, let me try something." Maijima then shifted Tempest into its sword mode and placed it blade up on the countertop, asking Mei, "Could you grab some leaves for me?"
"Why would you need... wait, are we doing that test?!" Mei exclaimed with an even more excited look on her face and a rather... bestial gleam in her eye? And did her reticules just start glow?
"Yes, yes we are." Maijima nodded as he punctuated his answer, seemingly oblivious to the strange glow in his apprentice's eyes. Mei then sped out of the workshop to find the nearest tree and bring in a ton of leaves. Literally.
"Wait, what test are you trying to do? And why does it involve... leaves of all things?" Torino asked while Izuku attentively listened, his eyes asking Maijima the exact same question that Torino had just voiced.
"It's a rumor about these living weapons from the old days. I wanted to see if it was true or not." Maijima began to explain while Torino held a deadpan expression on his face. "When the first living weapons were made, there was said to be ways to determine whether or not certain weapons were bloodthirsty. Usually, the techniques for this would vary from smith to smith, but there were two swordsmiths who proved this particular method I wanted to try out. It involved Masamune and his apprentice Muramasa."
"You actually believe that old wives tale?" Torino asked.
"Hey, Tempest is proof that these things still exist, that should be reason enough to test the legend out. But back to the story; Muramasa wanted to challenge his master to prove that he was the better weaponsmith. Masamune accepted his apprentice's challenge, and they forged two opposing blades, the Ten Thousand Cold Nights from Muramasa and the Tender Hands from Masamune. When the two placed a pair of leaves on the blades of their swords, Muramasa's sword would not allow the leaves to even rest on its blade, disintegrating them as soon as they even touched the edge. However, the leaves on Masamune's sword simply stayed, as if they had somehow found a balancing point. The difference between the two was that Muramasa's blade was bloodthirsty, and could only be used for murder and chaos. Masamune's blade, however, would not harm anything without a purpose, and was fit to be used by holy warriors and emp-"
"You're getting off track, Maijima." Torino reminded him.
"Right, sorry. Anyway, the point of the story is this; living weapons, under the wrong influences, can be born as, or eventually become, bloodthirsty, and therefore regarded as cursed. This is just a precaution. Granted, this story may not even be true, but we may as well check anyway." Maijima said as Torino sighed and rubbed his forehead, ridding himself of a growing migraine before suddenly-
"I'M BAAAACK!" Mei cheerily yelled when she kicked open the door to the shop, nearly off of its hinges, dragging a literal tree behind her with a rope. How was she able to do that? No one knew. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was able to lift that gigantic rocket launcher/club the other day...
But that question was soon erased from Izuku's mind as Maijima slapped the forehead section of his massive helmet in frustration at his apprentice's antics, yelling to his pink dreadlock donning apprentice, "Dammit, Mei! I told you to get some leaves, not a whole tree!"
Mei awkwardly scratched the back of her head as she apologized with a sheepish look painted onto her features, almost dropping the tree before catching it and hauling it over to the garage to use for later projects. On the upside, they wouldn't have to buy wood for a long time.
The pink haired girl then came back with an armful of leaves and placed them on the countertop, next to where Tempest was currently propped up. Maijima took a leaf from the pile and held it over the edge with a tender, two finger hold. He was about to release his hold on the stem when he suddenly stopped, staring at the green thing for several seconds before he pulled back and held it towards Izuku, saying, "This is your weapon, kid. It's been with you the longest, so you've probably had the most influence on it."
"Wait, I don't understand. Shouldn't Mei be doing this? She is the one who made Tempest." Izuku said, confused as to why he was being asked help perform this trial.
"While that is true, weapons like these learn considerably more from the people that wield them and can change accordingly. Tempest is your weapon. Let's see how you've influenced it." Maijima said, still holding the same leaf towards Izuku.
After only a moment more of hesitation, Izuku grabbed the leaf and held it betwixt his fingers, dangling it an inch above Tempest's edge for a full second before he let it float downwards, falling onto Tempest's blade not half a second later and staying there, completely still.
Maijima, Mei, and Torino looked at what had just happened. It wasn't anything all that large or explosive, but it meant one thing. Living weapons could be imprinted on.
That was both an exciting yet terrifying fact.
But Maijima simply shook his head and let the thought drift to the back of his mind as Izuku retrieved Tempest from its resting spot on the countertop. "Is there anything else we can do for you?"
"Actually, yeah," Izuku said. "How're the repairs on Crocea Mors coming along?"
"Fairly well. It should be finished by the end of the week. Are you sure I can't just add a few mods? Maybe a rifle on the blade-"
"Mei, that's not for me to decide. You heard Jaune, he just wants it back exactly the way it was." Izuku said with finality in his voice, reminding Mei of the promise she'd made to the blonde knight before he'd left with the rest of Team JNPR for the frontier village they'd been assigned to.
"Okay." Mei relented with a bit of disappointment in her gaze.
Izuku, wanting to cheer her up a bit, said, "Well... that doesn't mean you can't improve what he's already got..."
That got the fire back into Mei's eyes very quickly, speeding off and into the workshop as she yelled, "I'll get to work right away!" Back to Izuku, various mechanical whirs and loud, metallic clangs emerging as she continued her work on the sword/shield combo.
"Are you sure the boy's gonna be alright without his weapons? It's fairly dangerous, where he's going." Maijima asked with a trace of concern in his tone.
"I know he'll be fine. He said that he and Lancelot had to work on their coordination anyways."
"C'mon, Izuku! Can't leave the others waiting forever!" Torino called to his trainee. Izuku then dashed over to him and they began to walk back to the apartment with Izuku now walking on his hands. Apparently, Torino didn't think that the power walk was hard enough for him.
(Vale Central Park, Yang's POV)
"So, when you gonna ask the guy out?"
Yang suddenly made a spit take with the water she'd been drinking in shock at Coco's bluntness, briefly coughing and regaining her breath before she attempted to retort at the brown colored girl's comment. Keyword: attempted.
"I... he... we just... it's complicated, alright?" was all that she managed to say to the brown colored second year, who smirked as she pulled her sunglasses a bit lower, revealing her eyes and brow creased into a 'really?' expression. Other than her signature accessory, Coco herself was wearing a slim, form hugging, chocolate colored tank top, black workout pants with a white stripe running down the left leg, and brown tennis shoes with black soles.
Yang had donned a different, though slightly similar outfit; a bright yellow sports bra with black lining that bared most of her lower stomach with her emblem emblazoned onto the left breast in black, black workout short shorts and yellow tennis shoes with black soles. She and Coco had finished the exercise that Torino had given them about ten minutes ago, and had made small talk on a bench they'd found in the Vale Central Park for the most part. And then the subject of Yang's relationship with Izuku came up about thirty seconds ago. You can imagine what happened from there.
Coco then continued. "Maybe, but I don't think it's really as complicated as you're making it out to be. I mean, you guys have known each other for... how long now?"
"About seven months or so."
"Seven months. I don't exactly see what the problem is with you telling him at this point." Coco stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"That's not it, dammit!" Yang exclaimed before she sighed and rubbed her forehead, further explaining, "Look, I... I like him. I like him a lot more than I do anyone else, with the exception of my sister. But I don't know if he even feels the same way. I want to tell him, but I don't want to ruin what we've already got."
Coco just looked at her with a flat expression before she removed her sunglasses and placed them to her right before she turned back to the blonde brawler and began a rather heartfelt speech. "Look, I get that these kinds of things are hard to deal with; believe me, I know all about it. I used to feel the same way you do now, way back when I started getting a crush on Fox."
"Wait, you two are-"
"Yep, we're dating. Been a thing for almost a year now. But that's not the point; what I'm trying to say is that if you keep on waiting, he might not wait up for you. It's okay to try and take things at your own pace, I get that, but if you take too long they could find someone else. It's why I worked up the courage to ask Fox to the Homecoming Dance last year."
"We have a Homecoming?"
"Yeah, I was surprised too. What surprised me more was that Fox actually said yes when I asked. Hmm... tell you what, set a date-"
"W-w-wait, what?!"
"No, not that kind of date, I mean decide the absolute day that you have to tell him about how you feel. It worked out for me and Fox, so it might work with you. How about... after the Vytal Festival ends, at the latest." Coco said as she hooked one of her arms over the back of the bench with a hint of a smirk on her face.
"But what if-"
"No 'what ifs.' That's only going to hinder you. As long as you at least ask him honestly and with your heart... well, at least no one can say that you didn't try." Coco finished as she put her sunglasses back on.
Yang stayed silent for several moments, staring straight towards a certain spot in the lake about a hundred feet across from them, sighing and relenting, "Okay."
"Hmm?"
"After the Vytal Festival. I'll tell him." Yang said with finality in her voice and determination in her eyes.
Coco smirked at this, putting her arm around the blonde's shoulder as she said, "There ya go! Now you just gotta stick to it!"
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm gonna help you out with confessing!"
"But-"
"No buts! To work!" Coco grabbed Yang by the arm and sped off towards the apartment building, just as Torino and Izuku were coming back from... wherever they went.
(6:26 pm, Maijima Gadgets and Guns, Bakugo's POV)
Bakugo pulled the hood of his parka off of his head, allowing his ears to finally stretch as he looked up at the sign for the weapon shop Izuku had briefly mentioned when he and Torino had gotten back. Apparently, somebody here had made Tempest for him, and the ashen blonde direwolf needed a decent replacement for his gauntlets after he... well, let's not mince words, he blew them to shreds.
He was really hoping that his mom wouldn't find out about that last part for at least a while.
Bakugo shrugged off his hesitation and entered into the shop, the fluorescent lights causing him to slightly squint before his gaze fell on a girl in a black tank top with goggles in her forehead that held her pink, chin-length dreadlocks from hanging in front of her face. She then glanced at him, greeting him with a cheery smile and infectious voice. "Welcome to Maijima Gadgets and Guns; how can I help you?"
"Is the person that made Tempest here?" Bakugo asked with a flat tone.
Mei cautiously answered the question, "You're looking at her. Why do you ask?"
Bakugo's eyes briefly widened in shock. "Huh. You must be a damn good weaponsmith. Especially considering your... relative experience."
"Was that a jab at my age?"
"Take it as you will."
Her cheeks puffed as her lips creased into an adorable frown, huffing, "Well, if that's all you're here for, then please leave ASAP."
"It's not." Bakugo pulled a rolled-up blueprint from his parka and rolled it onto the countertop, causing Mei to immediately gain interest. It was a simple design, but if the technical notes were anything to go by, it would be absolutely devastating to anyone on the wrong end of it.
"Interesting design. You have my attention." Mei said as she leaned back from the countertop with a hand on her chin in a thinker position. "You selling or requesting?"
"Requesting. When's the soonest you can finish this?" Bakugo pointed to his blueprint for emphasis.
"Hmm... about two days or so."
"How much do I owe you?" Bakugo asked as he pulled out his dark leather wallet.
"Just the blueprint and fifty lien down. I'll calculate the rest once I'm done."
Bakugo put the requested amount on the countertop and began to leave, but stopped when Mei asked, "Whose name should I put this under?"
The direwolf faunus turned and answered, "Katsuki Bakugo," before walking out of the shop once more, leaving a minorly confused Mei in his wake.
A/N: Aaaaand that's a wrap! Hey guys! I'm gonna be taking a bit of a break since it's the nondescript holiday season and all, so this'll the last chapter of the year. I'll be back relatively soon after that though!
Next Chapter: Jan 12th
Seeya in the next one!