Team STIK (Strike)

by Aragon365

One born without the power to make a difference. Another gifted with an incredibly powerful dual semblance. One who wishes to live up to his elder brother. And a faunus whose anger makes him almost as brutal as the Grimm. At Beacon Academy, these four unlikely souls would meet, and forever change the face of Remnant. These are their exploits. (Discontinued)

23. Izuku vs Bakugo: Rematch

A/N: Does anyone else have a bunch of Hamilton songs stuck in their heads? I do, for some odd reason. And I also really want to play D&D. Like, I really, really want to play D&D right now. Oh well, enough of me rambling and crap. LET'S FIGHT! Enjoy the Chapter!

Review Responses:

dandyrr0403: Oh, you have no idea how bad he can get. I'd tell you how All Might healed Maijima, but that would be major spoilers. And yeah, the guy's been through hell and come back fighting. That takes a lot. I'll be sure to keep being awesome right along with you! Thank you for the support! Enjoy!

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 23: Izuku vs Bakugo: Rematch

"My Oum, it's fucking beautiful!" Torino gushed at the sight of the completed fighting ring. It was only about half the size of the sparring ring at Beacon, and practically made from all the plating Bakugo, Fox and Velvet had to bolt in the other day. Still, it would serve its purpose, and currently, that purpose was to pit certain pairs against each other. But the teams certainly didn't know that. Yet. Moving on...

"We get it old man-" Bakugo was whacked on the crown of his head almost immediately after he uttered this, Torino saying something along the lines of 'shut up' or 'don't call me old man' before the aforementioned direwolf faunus continued, somehow unphased by the blow to his head, "-you like the place. Care to explain what we're all doing down here now?"

Torino's smile grew ever still. "Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna have you all fight each other to gauge your combat abilities."

"Wouldn't that be pointless though? I thought you had access to our sparring records or something." Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I do. However, while that is an option, it's not as relevant now as it may have been then. I prefer to make my own assessments with more valid data. That and this method is just way more fun!" Torino's smile never left his face the entire time, something that sent a chill up the spine of every trainee present, though Bakugo simply wrote it off as a slight chill.

"Now then, onto the combat pairs. I've already chosen them for you, so don't complain if you're up against someone you don't want to fight. You fight who you fight and that's the end of it." Torino then named off the matches in reverse order.

"6: Fox vs Weiss; 5: Velvet vs Shoto; 4: Yang vs Tenya; 3: Ruby vs Yatsuhashi; 2: Coco vs Blake. And, for our first round:

"Izuku vs Bakugo."

There was a sudden, eerie silence that fell upon the room as the monochrome colored huntsman finished that sentence. Things between the two teammates had been relatively tense since the Breach incident, it was why they'd practically been avoiding each other like the plague. The others had noticed this but thought that their interference would likely cause more harm than good. It was practically a barrel of gunpowder waiting to go off, and Torino had just lit the fuse.

The two soon to be combatants looked at each other properly for the first time in days. Underneath their respective feral and nervous expressions, their eyes held a different emotion entirely. They were excited. They wanted to fight each other, both for almost the same exact reason. Each held the bar that the other wished to surpass.

Silently, the two stood and walked to the opposing exits of the basement to retrieve their respective weapons, leaving the rest to simply stare before Yang and Shoto hurried after Izuku, Tenya doing the same for Bakugo.

(Team STIK's temporary room, Izuku's POV)

The green haired boy spun Tempest in a wide infinity arc, testing the balance before stopping and quickly switching it to scythe mode. The transformation was smooth; none of the gears or wiring were jammed. Satisfied, he turned Tempest back into its bastard sword form and snapped it to his back, briefly dusting off his blazer and his pants before he began to inspect his boots, which he had yet to give a name to.

As he was doing this, a knock came from the door to his room. While it was a gentle tattoo, the pace in which it had been made was an urgent one. "Come in," he said. Shoto, with a small push, opened the door with Yang on his heels. Izuku slightly blushed when the latter entered, but shook himself out of the daze and refocused on the task at hand. Confident with the checkup of his boots, he placed them back on his feet and began testing the mechanism as Shoto talked.

"Izuku, are you really going through with this? I don't know what went on between you and Bakugo, but this is might not be the best way to resolve it."

"I know. But this might be the only way." Izuku raised his head as he spoke, simultaneously beginning to test the other boot.

Yang then piped in, "Shoto has a point, Greenie. I still remember what happened the last time you two fought each other, and I... we don't want to see you like that again."

Izuku, hearing their concerns, set his foot down on the floor before giving the two a kind smile, saying, "I appreciate the concern, guys. Really, I do. But... I can't run away from this. I don't want to run away from this. Not anymore."

Yang then glanced down at Izuku's hands, noticing them visibly tremble. Knowing a thing or two about battle nerves via her dad, she brought his hands up and between her own, saying, "This might hurt a bit," before clapping her palms over his shaking hands.

"Ow." Izuku rubbed his hands, though the pain was only a minor annoyance. What he noticed almost immediately was that he'd stopped shaking. He looked at the blonde brawler, who gave him an encouraging smile before she said, "If we can't stop this fight from happening, we may as well support you. Can't hold Tempest with an uneven grip now, can you?" A grin slowly broke out over her face.

"Thanks!" Izuku responded before blushing, looking down at his boots as he did so. Then, as he looked down at them, he raised his head once more and asked, "Hey, do either of you have a name for my boots? I've been trying to think of one for a while now and I haven't come up with anything."

"Cirrus and Stratus!" Shoto yelled before he realized his volume, clearing his throat before continuing, "I think the names would be appropriate, what with the ones you've already given to your main weapon. They've all been wind and weather-related, correct?"

"Cirrus and Stratus..." Izuku and Yang synched as they tested out the name, how it sounded, with similar thinker hand positions just beneath their chins. "They're perfect!"

Shoto smiled at the revelation. At least all those hours of name storming wouldn't go to waste. Now to just settle on some names for team attacks, and they'd be set. Of course, they'd have to practice them first, but that could wait till later.

Izuku then stood up and walked to the door, reassuring them, "I'll be careful, don't worry. Besides, I... well, I don't feel scared at the thought of facing Bakugo. In fact..."

Izuku looked back to them with a large grin plastered across his lips, saying, "...I've never felt more excited in my life!"

(the main lobby, Bakugo's POV)

Bakugo stared intensely at the briefcase in front of him, the emblazoned family symbol practically daring him to open it. Ignoring the feeling of unworthiness seated in the back of his mind, he flicked open the locks and opened the case revealing his new weapons.

The design was a bit similar to Ember Celica, proceeding into a triangular shape about three quarters along, stopping about where they were supposed to reach his elbows, but its functions were much different than Yang's weapons. They were a pair of gauntlets, with red studded knuckles in the front. They were built to cover the entirety of his forearms, the black colored metal glinting slightly in the mid-morning light with the red tint lining out the mechanisms the would shift for different purposes. Silently, he slipped them on, fitting snugly onto his arms before he gave them both test jabs. He might actually have to thank Mei for her work now... but that didn't mean he had to like what'd been done to his parka so that they could fit! He really liked the long sleeves it used to have.

His thoughts were interrupted when Tenya, quiet though he was, walked into the room and sat across from the ashen blonde with a stern look on his face. Bakugo sighed heavily, asking, "What do you want, Four Eyes?"

A few seconds of silence passed before he answered. "I'm not going to ask you to not fight Izuku. It's pointless; it's not in your nature to back down form a challenge. But I do have only one request-"

"Lemme guess, don't kill Deku?" Tenya flinched slightly from Bakugo's prediction, though he did not deny the claim. The direwolf sighed, saying, "I'm not that stupid. This is a spar. But I'm not gonna hold back."

"But-"

"Look, I don't mean any offense to you, Four Eyes, but if any of you guys could actually look past our facial expressions, you'd know that Deku wasn't scared. And that I'm not as pissed as I thought I would be. I'm fucking excited as hell, and you can damn well bet that Deku is too." Bakugo checked his gauntlets, sifting through everything to make sure it worked like he needed to. Perfect to a T.

"I honestly don't know who's gonna win this fight, Four Eyes." He punched his right fist into his left palm, grinning ferally as he did so, "But the only thing I really need to know is that I won't go down easy!"

(five minutes later, the fighting ring, general POV)

Torino sighed with impatience as he waited for the combatants to enter the ring. If he shifted his gaze, he would've seen varying expressions from the people still present; varying from extreme nervousness to barely contained excitement, though the latter was adorned by most of Team CFVY while the former was more common among the rest.

Then, a knock came from the door. That's odd. They weren't expecting anyone to show up. Tenya, ever the studious one, was also aware of this, and, after excusing himself from his conversation from Bakugo, walked to the door and opened it, revealing two very unexpected guests. A grey gunmetal haired boy, whose name he recalled was Mercury, and a mint haired, dark-skinned young woman by the name of Emerald. From what he and Izuku had previously gathered, they were both a part of Team CDEM and were both very formidable fighters. Their leader and other teammate, Cinder and Dabi, were both shrouded in mystery, and neither was currently with them. But we're getting off track...

"Can I help you?" Tenya asked the two, Emerald taking the lead as she introduced herself, "Hi. I'm Emerald. The idiot behind me is Mercury."

"Hey!" Mercury said in exaggerated offense.

"Well, it's true," Emerald said with a smirk. "Anyway, we heard that a couple of teams were staying in this building. You with them?"

"Yes, why do you-"

It was at that moment Yang shouted back to the spectacled boy as she and Shoto walked after Izuku, "C'mon, Spectacles! The match is gonna start soon!"

"I'll be right there! And please stop calling me that!" Tenya replied before he turned back and said, "Do you need anything specific?"

"Err... are we interrupting something?" Mercury asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"Not at all. In fact, you're welcome to watch, if you'd like." Tenya stepped out of the doorway, his arm making an inviting gesture towards the inside of the building.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman." Emerald said with a wink, causing the spectacled boy to blush ever so slightly as she stepped inside, continuing, "We'd be delighted."

Mercury, at a loss for words, sighed heavily before he walked after his teammate, muttering, "I hate you so much," just under his breath.

"I know," Emerald said with a smirk still plastered on her face.

As they proceeded towards the basement, Mercury then asked, "Well, just what are we getting invited to, anyway?"

"Must be entertaining if this guy invited us inside," Emerald responded as she shrugged, not really sure herself.

Tenya simply looked back at them and held out his hand, saying, "I'll have to take your Scrolls before we proceed inside. I may have invited you in here, but I'd rather not give you something to go over for strategy. You might be eventual opponents, after all."

Emerald mentally winced at that, though not in shame. Fortunately for her, she managed to maintain her false smile as she said, "Polite and smart. Heh. I wish I'd met you sooner." She handed over her Scroll, and Mercury, though he was very reluctant about it, did the same.

"Thank you. I promise to return these when we're done." Tenya thanked them with a slight bow before they then proceeded to the basement proper.

Torino looked over at Tenya and eyed the new guests as they entered. The spectacled boy walked over to the monochrome colored huntsman, explaining, "They were at the front door and I did not wish to be rude and leave them outside with no explanation. I believe it was the polite thing to do."

"Polite and stupid. They're on an enemy team. Don't ever do that again." Torino minorly berated him before asking, "Did you at least get their Scrolls?"

"Yes, in order to ensure they wouldn't be able to glean any tactical advantages from the matches. Though I did promise to return them once the two left." Tenya said as he briefly showed him the Scrolls before pocketing them once more.

"Well, that's something at least." As he finished this thought, Bakugo came down the opposing staircase to the basement Izuku had taken, the latter of whom was now standing calmly in the leftmost end of the fighting ring, his arms crossed and eyes closed in a preemptive meditative state. His opponent hardly tried to hid his footsteps, causing the green haired boy to open his eyes as the ashen blonde direwolf entered the ring. They both wore similar, determined expressions, though Bakugo's was far more feral than Izuku's. And so, here they stood, their hardest fight now only seconds away from starting.

(A/N: Jet Set Run/You Say Run V.2 OST from My Hero Academia)

Slowly, with intense, daring gazes exchanged between them, the two combatants drew their weapons, Izuku holding Tempest forward in both hands while Bakugo held his normal stance, the long, curved, back pointing red blades on the outsides of his arms now unsheathed, ending at his elbows. Tension filled the air between them before finally-

"Begin!"

They sped towards each other like bullets, clashing in the center of the ring with the loud CLANG! of steel meeting steel, visibly causing a circular ripple to speed through the air. They stayed still only a moment before they began to exchange rapid attacks, Bakugo with flurries of jabs and punches while Izuku made several calculated slashes to counter them.

The surprisingly evenly matched standoff continued for several seconds before Izuku found an opportunity to properly strike, raising Tempest above his head in what was to be a downward, cleaving slash. Bakugo barely managed to raise his arms in time to block the attack, an even louder CLANG! erupting from this clash than the last. Izuku pressed his weight into the clash, slowly pushing Bakugo further backward, further down. With Full Cowl now activated, it wouldn't stay a clash for much longer.

Then, a lopsided, fang-baring smirk came onto his face as two gun barrels emerged from the top of his gauntlets. The outermost, larger barrels fired off explosions larger than almost any the ashen blonde could otherwise make naturally, creating enough momentum for him to sweep his arms outwards, steel edges screaming as they dragged against each other, causing Izuku to be launched several meters back before he skidded to a halt, holding Tempest in his dominant hand with a tight grip as he stared down the smoke cloud Bakugo's larger explosion had created.

The direwolf blew himself upwards, his hands craned like claws before he pointed them backward and launched himself straight for Izuku, his right hand cocked back in preparation for a hook strike. Izuku knew this was one of his favorite moves, and dodged accordingly, with a spinning slash attack prepared to hit his opponent square in the back as Tempest began to glow with the power of the explosion Bakugo had caused.

What he did not anticipate was for Bakugo to fire the innermost barrel on his left gauntlet, causing a spray of bullets to erupt from his arm and forcing Izuku to back away with all haste. The continuous onslaught of bullets followed him as he ran around the ring, gaining speed as Bakugo yelled "DIE!" every half second. Once he gained enough speed, Izuku suddenly stopped and jumped towards Bakugo with his leg outstretched to deliver an air cracking kick to Bakugo's head, finding its mark in the ashen blonde's jaw and sending him straight into the shiny steel wall, leaving a rather large imprint of Bakugo's body for all to see.

This, of course, only enraged Bakugo even further. Or, at least, it seemed to. As the direwolf faunus pulled himself out of the imprint, his grin grew wider and more feral. This was it. Izuku was starting to cut loose.

Izuku too realized this and smiled. If this was what a fair fight felt like, then he was enjoying it all too much. And he didn't care.

But Bakugo did not stay idle, dashing at Izuku before they once again began the game of cat and mouse, with the ashen blonde swiping wildly with his blades, aiming to hit Izuku even if the boy was continuously dodging the attacks. The green haired inheritor then managed to land on one of Bakugo's hands and deliver a brutal sweeping low kick to the left side of his head. However, the ashen blonde instead used the added momentum to his advantage and, with the help of an explosion and a shot from his right blast gun, brutally elbowed Izuku straight into the wall, kicking up and appropriately large dust cloud.

"Hah... hah..." Bakugo huffed and panted as he rubbed his right hand gingerly. That explosion had put a lot of strain on it, and-

BLAM!BLAM!

-and Izuku was giving him no time to think, shooting off from the wall with Tempest shifted into scythe mode, the prepared strike aimed right at the ashen blonde's torso. Though he was able to dodge the majority of the blow, the tip still managed to nick his parka, and if he'd stayed in front of this particular attack when it had hit, he would've been blown to the other end of the room along with the wind slice Izuku had added to the strike.

And something was different about the way he was moving, Bakugo noticed this as he began narrowly dodging Izuku's attacks; and I do mean narrowly. It wasn't just that he was moving faster, or that he was better with Tempest's scythe mode than sword mode; the blows seemed stronger, more calculated, and held far more intent behind them.

Izuku too knew this, because he'd decided to finally take Torino's advice to heart, and start getting stronger, to push himself further. He'd accessed it. His body was handling 8% of One for All's full power. Was it a great power increase? No, it wasn't. Not even close. But...

But it's enough to keep up!

Bakugo's feral grin somehow grew ever wider as he began to meet Izuku's wide, lightning-fast slashes with his own blades. Small though they were, he still countered the strikes made towards his body, still narrowly dodging the blows he couldn't catch.

Izuku then buried Tempest's scythe blade halfway into the ground, using the handle to lift himself from the ground, spin and double spring kick right into Bakugo's torso, sending him flying into the same wall as he had before, making the imprint from earlier even larger.

"… Okay, Deku..." Bakugo emerged from enlarger imprint with barely hidden excitement lacing his gaze, the fangs of his growing somehow growing even larger as he continued "You wanna go all out? Fine by me..."

"Just don't expect me to hold back!" He then launched himself into the air, blowing himself around the ring at a rapid pace, gaining momentum for what would likely be a very flashy, devastating attack.

Izuku fully grinned at this, pulling Tempest free of the floor, bringing the blade behind him, holding it at a sideways angle while he charged the weapon with his Aura, causing it to glow a bright, vibrant neon green. No one, not even Izuku, noticed this, but the barest hints of crystal began to cover the edge of the scythe blade and where his hands grasped the curved pole.

Bakugo, now with more than enough momentum, launched himself once more at the green haired boy standing in the center with his right hand outstretched, leaving a large smoke trail behind him as his hand glowed a bright, blinding auburn. Izuku rushed forwards to meet it, swinging his scythe with more strength then he'd ever had access to, both yelling out names of their respective attacks.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

"CYCLONE GROVE!"

The clash of power kicked up the wind and brought the dust up with it, blinding most of the people in the stands even before the smoke cloud rose and covered the ring. Yang dashed to the edge, her hands barely stopping her body from tumbling over, her amethyst eyes filled with worry. Shoto, Tenya, Jaune, Velvet, and Ruby soon joined her, with similar expressions painted on their features.

For several, painfully long seconds, silence encompassed and deafened the room. No one moved. No one cheered. They watched and waited for the smoke to pass. When it did...

The two combatants laid across from each other on their backs, Izuku's grip on Tempest loose and Bakugo's fists finally unclenched. They were both panting, exhausted, and grinning like idiots. They didn't know who'd fallen first, and neither of them cared. They'd fought their hardest, and neither had come out on top. Not yet.

(A/N: End Song)

"This match is a draw," Torino announced to the watching teams, prompting Yang and Shoto to hop over the railing and dash towards Izuku, while Velvet and Tenya did the same for Bakugo. While they were both still conscious, they were very sore, and their Aura's had been shattered. Add in the fact that they'd both used very advanced attacks that they hadn't tried out before, and they probably wouldn't be standing for the next ten minutes, at least.

They were brought back up to the stands and sat by their respective friends; or in Bakugo's case, people he could tolerate; but not before they exchanged a brief, almost nonexistent glance. Gone was the fear that laid dotting Izuku's gaze, as well as the hostility that had ghosted over Bakugo's. Now, they both held the same, though varied, versions of the same two emotions. Both held determination to surpass each other from before, and now, each held some form of respect for the other. They weren't friends. Not yet. Not even close. But they were teammates. Rivals. Enemies no longer. And that, for the moment, was enough.

"You gonna be okay, Greenie?" Yang asked with concern in her eyes, and Shoto, while he did not voice it, silently asked the same thing.

"Yeah. I think I'll be fine in a few minutes. Sorry for the trouble." the green haired boy in question said with a sheepish smile on his face, awkwardly scratching the back of his head while he did so.

"No trouble at all. Just warn us whenever you use an attack like that again, okay?" Shoto asked.

"Sure thing!" Izuku said as he continued to converse with the two of them, he and Yang occasionally blushing whenever they held each other's gaze for too long.

Meanwhile, Bakugo was having a conversation between his two helpers, though it was more or less a lecture being delivered by Tenya while Velvet tried to diffuse the situation. Keyword: try.

"-idiotic, almost uncontrollable, borderline dead-brained-"

"I get it, okay? But-"

"-and it's exactly what we need for the Vytal Festival!"

.

..

…

"What?" Bakugo and Velvet synched, both equally confused by Tenya's reaction to his and Izuku's display.

"That was an incredible technique! Easily a tide turner if we ever get in a bad spot! How did you learn it? It looked almost as powerful as the other one you used during the Breach!"

"Wait, I'm missing some context here." Velvet said, now completely lost.

"Long story short: I used a technique that used up what was left of my Aura and wrecked my last weapons. It was a last resort kind of thing. It was worth killing that brain-faced bastard, though."

"Ooookay... well, that aside, are you going to be alright?" Velvet said with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'll be fine." Bakugo said with finality, a few seconds passing before he muttered under his breath, "Thanks."

This caused Velvet to smile and respond, "You're very welcome!" before she snapped a picture of Bakugo...'s new weapons.

Up near the back, Emerald and Mercury conversed with hushed voices and nervous tones; not something often coming from either of them.

"Well, what could you make of them?" Emerald asked her partner, since he had more time to deal with martial arts training than she did, despite their constant bickering over it.

"Nothing. It was a mix of instinct and technique the whole time. I couldn't spot any weak points in what they were using, and that was when I could actually see them attacking. I'm sure there are some, but I couldn't see any. And they were moving way faster than a lot of pro hunters could. Plus, those finishing attacks... well, let's just say I'm not sticking around if they try to use one of those on me. Jeez, I knew from our spar that jade-for-brains was tough, but this... this is something else," Mercury said, for once, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. This was one of the few times Emerald saw him be serious. And it honestly scared her.

Still, they couldn't stay like that forever, especially since the next match was about to begin. And so, both eager and nervous, they watched, and even though they would not remember everything, they'd at least remember how terrifying their opponents could be.

(one hour later, Weiss' POV)

"Draw!" Torino shouted, the last match of the day finally over and done with. Fox and Weiss were holding their respective blades to each other's throats, though they quickly backed away once they realized both of their Auras had been shattered. Most of the rest had gone upstairs, leaving Torino, Emerald and Mercury, along with Tenya down there with them, though they too quickly filed out after giving their congratulations.

Neither really noticing, the white-haired heiress bowed politely to her opponent, saying, "You are a most worthy fighter, Mr. Alistair," she lifted herself from the bow, "though I must ask, how were you able to see my attacks? Forgive me for being blunt, but your teammates said you were... well, blind. No offense."

"None taken. And it's mostly got to do with my semblance."

"And that would be..."

"Nice try, but no, I ain't telling you," Fox said with a smirk on his face.

"Damnit!" Weiss said before she caught herself, covering her mouth before she muttered an apology.

"Relax, would you? I'm used to people swearing by now. You should hear Coco when she's angry."

"… what-"

"WOULD YOU KINDLY TELL ME HOW, IN THE SEVEN OUMDAMMED HELLS, YOU MANAGED TO FUCK UP SOMETHING SO SIMPLE?!"

.

..

…

"… see what I mean?"

"Yes, she does appear to have quite the mouth." Weiss relented.

"Yeah, but she only uses that kind of language when someone hits on me, or-"

"DAMMIT, I DID NOT FUCKING ASK FOR THESE KINDS OF SUNGLASSES, YOU DUMBASS! AVIATORS! IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING HARD TO REMEMBER!"

"Yup, someone messed up one of her orders again." Fox sighed before he began to walk upstairs with Weiss on his heels, the latter eager to know what all the commotion was about. And she was not going to settle for 'it's better if you don't know' as an answer!

… well, not unless she had to.

As they emerged upstairs, they saw Coco with a cardboard box filled with sunglasses of varying models, with her Scroll held directly in front of her, prepared to yell again before sighed and said, "Fine, fine. But I'm going to get my money's worth one way or another. Good day, sir!" She hung up, placed her Scroll on the couch, put her hands on her face and sighed. "Dammit. I really wanted those pairs too."

"Relax, Coco. They're just sunglasses." Fox said as he hopped over the couch, landing right next to her before he continued, "It's not the end of the world. Besides, I thought you wanted variety."

"… they were supposed to be for the rest of the team, ya know? As a celebration present for the Vytal Festival and all." Coco hung her head in self-loathing.

"Don't worry about it so much. Besides..." Fox pulled out a black bandana from one of his pockets and wrapped it around his eyes, continuing, "… I think this look suits me better, don't you?"

Coco raised her head, looking at Fox for a few silent seconds before she chuckled, saying, "I'd be lying if I said it didn't look cool."

"Thank you." Fox said with a smile, twitching his head towards Weiss as he said, "Sorry to boot you out like this, but-"

"Leaving. Leaving. Already gone." Weiss said as she repeatedly waved her arms horizontally, doing the best she could to hide the blush on her face as she proceeded upstairs before the two... well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.

(a few hours later, Team STIK's temporary room, general POV)

"C'mon Izuku, you can do it!"

"Keep going, Midoriya!"

"Crush him, Yang!"

"Show him Team RWBY gives no mercy!"

"… what are we doing again?" Bakugo and Blake synched, clearly not interested in just what was going on. Though the latter had one of her guilty pleasure books out to emphasize it.

"I think they're playing some kind of... video game? I don't know, I've never really into this stuff the way Mercury is." Emerald answered, equally as disinterested. She didn't even know why they were still there, but apparently, at the word 'video game,' Mercury wouldn't budge and insisted that he play. Really, not an inch.

Izuku and Yang were currently sitting on the floor in front of the recently repaired, old-school TV Bakugo and Fox had found while they were fixing the basement. They currently had their Scrolls hooked up to it, and while it wasn't the best TV, it certainly worked well enough for video games, evidently proved by the fact that Yang was now kicking Izuku's avatar all across the screen-

"KO! Chivalrous Reaper! Wins!"

"Dang it!" Yang yelled, snapping her head towards her green haired opponent, saying, "Rematch!"

"C'mon Yang, we've been playing for the last twenty minutes. Shouldn't someone else have a go at it?"

"Yes, please?" Mercury asked with the cutest does eyes he could muster. Unfortunately, Yang had had plenty of years to build up resistance with Ruby, firmly saying, "No way. Not until I finally-"

"Oh, c'mon. You two can have a rematch later." Velvet protested. "Pleeeeeeease?"

.

..

…

"… okay, fine." Yang relented, handing her controller over to Velvet, who beamed along with Mercury when Izuku gave him his controller. They then chose their characters and began beating the digital crap out of each other.

"Well, at least I know where you learned that badass move you used in the ring," Yang said as they watched Mercury and Velvet play along with the others, the two being surprisingly evenly matched. "I wonder which moves I should use. They seem like they'd be useful."

"Hmm... I think you'd be able to imitate Long and Jeong Jeong's move sets to some degree, maybe mix them up. I mean, Ember Celica is ideal for hand to hand combat, so you wouldn't need to adjust your weaponsandwhatwiththefactthatLawitergratesalotofheavypunchesandJeongJeongusesfireitactuallymightbeidealforyouto-"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, Greenie." Yang said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, breaking his mumbling before she continued, "Let's just go over your notes."

"Oh, sure!" Izuku blushed before he stood up and walked over to his backpack and began to dig through it, eventually bringing out two notebooks, one of which she'd seen him writing in during the fights earlier. Where he'd pulled it out from, she did not know. Though she did note that he zipped upstairs while they were on break.

"Okay, let's see..." The pages of Izuku's journal flipped at an almost hyper-speed pace for a full second before he stopped, the page he landed on showing the combat style and moves for Long, a hand to hand fighter with much the same style of fighting as Yang, with the exception that he used kicks more.

As the two talked fighting styles, Shoto and Blake noticed their partners banter despite the fact that a rather loud battle between Mercury and Velvet was just concluding, with the latter as the overly enthusiastic winner.

"Are you sure they aren't a couple yet?" The raven-haired faunus asked the half and half leader with a touch of disbelief in her voice.

"Positive," Shoto answered with a slight smirk on his face, his gaze hinted with longing for his own lover.

"How?"

"If they were, I don't think we'd be in the same room as them for at least the next hour."

"… really?"

"Well, I don't think they'd go that far right away, but yeah, they'd probably be making out for hours on end."

"… okay, I guess you do have a point." Blake relented as the two turned their attention back to the next round of the game, which an angry Bakugo and a much calmer Yatsuhashi were now playing, though the former was more or less mashing the buttons randomly while the latter was trying to figure out what part of the controller did what.

Meanwhile, Izuku and Yang were currently finishing up their conversation, now with several moves to test out and notes to go over. That and the notes Izuku had taken on everyone.

"Where do you find the time to take all of these?" Yang asked with a disbelieving look in her eyes, to which Izuku responded, "W-well, you'd be surprised how much free time Goodwitch gave to me and Bakugo after that fight at the start of the year. I think she was afraid we'd break the stadium again."

Yang laughed, placing her arm around his shoulder as she said, "You've got a point there," causing Izuku to laugh as well. Neither noticed that the other was blushing

A loud knock came from the door to the room, almost immediately followed by, "Get your butts down here. Dinner's ready."

As Torino finished his sentence, the digital bout between Yatsu and Bakugo had just finished, with the latter yelling his victory at the top of his lungs while the former simply stood with a calm air about him, thanking Bakugo for the game before he headed downstairs, the others slowly filing out after him.

As they emerged from the upstairs, they saw the long, wood table with several chairs lining the edges, two of which had been added for Emerald and Mercury. The table itself was filled with food of all kinds, a plate seated in front of every chair, blank and ready to be filled with whichever foods they desired. Standing near the table was Torino, outfitted with a rather large, almost cartoonish chef's hat and dwarf sized apron to match with a devilish grin on his face. The reason for this smile was revealed to be Coco and Fox, who were now standing as far from Torino as they could without him noticing, though they still looked a little a bit disheveled from... whatever the hell it was they were doing earlier.

With a grand sweeping gesture with Shinboku in its contrasted form towards the table, Torino gave a full tooth grin to the descending trainees before saying, "Dig in everybody!"

And dig in they most certainly did. Every seat and plate was filled within a matter of thirty seconds, possibly less, and chatter flew about the room like rain in a downpour. There were many a subject being discussed, and Izuku wasn't entirely sure he caught everything that was discussed. But he didn't feel the need to worry. He felt happy. Like he had no worries at all. And so, they laughed, they ate, they had fun simply talking and joking with one another. And they continued for at least four hours, their joy never fading for even a fraction of a second.

A/N: And it's done! Finally! Also, holy crap! Over 40,000 views and 200 followers! This is awesome! I'm running out of ways to show my gratitude to you guys for all the support, so I'll just keep on keeping on and continue writing for you guys! Thank you all so much for everything!

Shout out to these two particular stories: The Witcher: Of Fire & Roses by Vospader21, and Beacon's Greatest Huntsmen by WolfFaunas3. They're both incredible stories by awesome writers that I think could use some more attention, so if it wouldn't be too much trouble, go ahead and check them out. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Oh! I almost forgot: here are the match results (sorry I couldn't write them out):

1: Izuku vs Bakugo: Draw

2: Coco vs Blake: Coco Wins

3: Ruby vs Yatsuhashi: Yatsuhashi Wins

4: Yang vs Tenya: Yang Wins

5: Velvet vs Shoto: Shoto Wins

6: Fox vs Weiss: Draw

And before you're wondering, Cirrus and Stratus are different types of clouds, and I thought they sounded catchy and fit Izuku's naming pattern. And now, the updated profiles. Yes, you read correctly, profiles.

1-Izuku Midoriya

Age: 18

Race: Human

BDay: 07/15

Handedness: Right

Hair: Green and Messy

Eyes: Dark Green

Blood Type: O

Height: 5ft 8.5in / 174.27cm

Gender: M

Semblance: One for All, a power passed down willingly from person to person. This was given to Izuku by All Might, the most powerful huntsman to ever live. He cannot use it to its full potential, however, as even trying will force him to break his own limbs. He has a way to bypass this, a technique called Full Cowl, which, ironically enough, is the name he uses as a cover. Full Cowl can allow Izuku to safely tap into 5% of One for All's full power.

Weapons: Tempest, a bastard sword/scythe with the same basic design, Vacuean Runes, and color as its previous form, Gale, allowing Izuku to focus more on his greatest strengths: speed and on-the-fly analyzation tactics. He's finding it easier to use the wind dust in this form, though the power output can be lower than Gale's at times. Still, it is a deadly weapon when put into the right hands, specifically his.

Cirrus and Stratus, a pair of shotgun boots made for him as a gift by Mei. Basic, but deadly.

Fighting Style: Mixed Swordsmanship, Advanced Scythesmanship, Taekwondo

Range: Close-Mid

2- Katsuki Bakugo

Age: 18

Race: Direwolf 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: Smoke and Shrapnel, a pair of gauntlets that, while they share a similar design with Ember Celica, serve a very different purpose. In addition to having bulky knuckles in the front, they also have long, curved, back pointing red blades attached to the outsides of the arms. From the top can emerge two gun barrels. The outermost barrels, short and wide, can create an explosion larger than anything he was able to make before with Mortar Shell. In addition to this, the inner barrels, longer and narrower, is able to fire bullets like a machine gun, for those all-important 'just in case' moments.

Fighting Style: Muay Thai

Range: Close-Mid

Next Chapter: Feb. 9th

Seeya in the next one!