A/N: 200 REVIEWS! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS! THANK YOU ALL SO FREAKING MUCH! YOU'RE THE BEST!
Review Responses:
Questions: You got it! And thanks for the extra info, it's a real help with the writing process! I'm not going to be able to write it out at the moment, but it's definitely an interesting idea, and one I'll definitely come back to. Also, good luck with Med school!
Guest: Yes, there will be more references to RT shows in the future, and yes, they will get on her case about running away.
TheRandomReader: Okay, then the MTN name shall remain as it is. Sorry to any of the readers who thought that MNT was better.
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 30: Declaration of War
"… wait, you knew my dad?!" was Izuku's immediate, and rather understandable, reaction.
"Yeah. Knew him for years, ever since I first came to Beacon. He was one of my best friends, and we nearly ended up on the same team together too," Qrow answered with a smile that, for once, didn't seem to be sarcastic in the slightest.
"But that's a story for later. Anyway, I'm here to ask you a couple of things, just some stuff I need to make sure of," Qrow continued, unsure as to whether or not the boy would actually-
"Okay. What did you want to ask?" Izuku said with a curious tone.
"Wait... that's it?" The red-eyed reaper asked in confusion.
"Yeah. Why, is something wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just... I thought you'd be a bit more cautious," Qrow said honestly.
"Well, you're Ruby's uncle. She talks about you a lot, and I know for a fact she doesn't lie. Most of the time, anyway," Izuku responded as he sweatdropped, noting the only time that Ruby had tried to lie being where it'd been so obvious even someone like him could see through it.
"Oh. Well, alright then," the red eyed reaper said as he sat down across from Izuku. "Well, first off, how much do you know about him?"
"… nothing, really. He wasn't really a topic that mom liked to bring up," Izuku said with sadness in his voice. He really wanted to know something, anything about his dad.
"Well, shit, that sucks. I thought he'd have been brought up at least once or twice by now. Might've made this easier," Qrow sighed, briefly rubbing his forehead with the ball of his hand before continuing, "Okay, next question. Can you analyze a lot of things in really accurate detail? Ya know, environmental conditions, weapon stats, fighter profiles, that sort of thing."
"Most of the time, yeah. Why? Is that unusual?"
Kid, you have no Oum damned idea. Argh. Well, this is gonna make that whole explanation a lot harder. Oh well, we can deal with it later.
"I don't think so. I mean, your dad used to go into analyzation fits all the time, and now I'm pretty sure it's genetic."
"I have no idea whether or not you're joking."
"Neither do I," Qrow said with a blank face. "Okay, last question. Have you seen anything weird lately? Something really out of the ordinary?"
This caused Izuku's eyes to slightly widen in surprise, remembering what had happened just a few hours ago in the coliseum. Did Qrow know what had happened to him? Did something similar happen to his dad?
However, before Izuku could answer, Qrow just sighed and said, "Ya know what, nevermind that one. It's way too out there."
"Oh." The green haired boy replied with a depressed look in his eye. He'd hoped to tell Qrow what he'd seen, but that clearly wouldn't get him anywhere. At least, not right now.
The red eyed reaper saw this look and took a deep breath when he saw it. It was the same look that Hisashi would always get when he flirted meaninglessly, and the one that he got whenever he was having family problems. The look that said 'I want to say something but I shouldn't.'
Urgh. Dammit, now I feel bad. Okay, okay Qrow. You didn't come here to get your best friend's kid depressed. But how do I cheer him up? Hmm... maybe that one story... okay, not that one. Too lewd. Oh. Oh! Yeah, that'd definitely get his spirits up!
"Did you know that your dad kicked some major ass here?"
This got Izuku's attention, brightening his mood as evidenced by the fact that he was now listening with all the excitement of a child. Qrow smiled as he continued, "I wasn't in the same sparring class as Hisashi, and from what I heard he never volunteered to fight the other students all that much. Just wasn't something he liked to do, I guess. I only saw him fight in the ring twice and let me tell you: he dominated in there. Not because of his weapon, not because of his powers: it was that brain of his that made him such a freaking badass. He could let you make all the attacks you wanted to and find the best way to counter or nullify each and every one of them. There were a few times he processed stuff so freaking fast that it was almost like time stopped for a few seconds. For him, anyway. In layman's terms: if you didn't take him out in the first minute of a fight, you were basically screwed.
"Hisashi fought... I'd say the standard fare of about fifty or so spars a year. Out of his two hundred total fights, over the course four years, he only lost around forty. Not quite high enough for the leaderboard, but not nearly low enough to go unnoticed. I don't know how he managed to lose some of those, but I know that only three people were able to either outsmart or overpower him in a straight fight: my sister, my partner, and Shouta Aizawa. Other than them, no one even came close to beating him. As far as I'm aware, at least.
"And his strategies... oh, Oum help you if you were up against him in a strictly strategic situation. This school doesn't really focus on it, but Hisashi was the best damn strategist I have ever seen. He could seem like he was about to lose, and then out of nowhere- BAM! A flank from the side or environmental advantages that you didn't account for, and within the next few seconds you've already lost. As far as I can remember, no one had ever beaten him at any board game, card game, or even those old retro videogames... well, ever. He actually became so infamous for it he got the nickname 'Jade Dragon Strategist' on account of how smart and utterly terrifying he was. Heh. He was really cool, like that."
Izuku had listened to all of it with open ears and eagerness that would've rivaled a child's (which is saying something, if you know what some are like), and big, goofy grin was now stuck to his face: he'd finally learned about his dad! They were alike after all!
… but...
The blazer wearing inheritor's smile slowly dropped as the realization dawned on him. He then voiced the question that had surfaced in his mind, the one he feared the answer to the most. "Why didn't my mom tell me any of this? Or my grandparents? Or... or anyone? Why now?"
Qrow fell silent at that, not entirely sure how to answer it. When he finally answered the question, he was hesitant, as though he were walking on glass, "Well... erm... *Sigh*" he exhaled before he continued, "Look, I honestly don't know why they didn't tell you. You'll have to ask them yourself. But... if you want my best guess, they probably did it to protect you. Not in the traditional sense, but they tried to give you... well, as close to a normal life as you can get, being a hunter's family and all. Erm... basically, what I'm trying to say is... don't hold it against them."
Izuku's expression visibly softened into one of understanding as he nodded, and though he was still uncertain as to how he was going to ask about it, he was at least calmer than before, and that was a start, at the very least.
Qrow's gaze then shifted to Izuku's weapon sitting by the wall, the green hue glinting slightly in the slowly fading afternoon sunlight. He then stood and asked, "That's your weapon, right?"
"Hmm? Yeah. A friend made it for me. I still kinda owe her for it," Izuku answered with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck as he did so.
The red eyed reaper walked over to Tempest with a curious look, now, without a battle to preoccupy his immediate thought, clearly sensing some kind of living force within it, something he hadn't felt since... well, his sister made all those blades out of Dust for a reason. Then, with that thought, his eyes widened in realization.
Holy shit, his weapon's alive.
An official living weapon hadn't been made in literal centuries, and they'd been rarely used or even seen since the Great War, though the public knew next to nothing of them with the exception of fables and stories, passed down through the generations and becoming more skewed with each retelling. His sister's blades... well, that was definitely complicated, but there was a reason they called her Death Screech back when she was a huntress.
Yeah, he's definitely gonna need proper training on how to use this thing... well, since there's no one else here with a weapon like this...
"You wanna learn how to fight better with this?" Qrow asked.
This got Izuku's attention almost immediately, causing him to bolt onto his feet and ask, "Really?!"
"Yep. From what I saw in that fight a few days earlier, you've got a lot of potential and plenty of versatility to back it up. But you're relying on your weapon's sword form too much. I can teach you how to use all your forms in one style, and how to use your transformation steps in combat. Trust me, it can save your life in a pinch. It would take a while to get into the specifics, probably a few months if I'm being honest, but for right now I could show you some of the basics, at least. If you wanted to, I could even train you over the break. That doesn't mean you have to do it, it's just an offer. But, I think that it would really help you out. So, what do you-"
"Yes please!"
"… okay. Let's get started then," Qrow said with a surprised, though still happy, smirk on his face, pulling Harbinger from its resting place and extending the blade to its full length. "Grab you weapon. Let's see how far along you are."
"Yes sir!" Izuku said as he zipped across the arena to grab Tempest with an eagerness he hadn't felt since he trained with All Might the last month before Beacon. His entire form seemed to be oozing the excitement he felt, and Qrow had to admit that it was pretty contagious. He hadn't been this excited for anything since he'd trained Ruby, and if he was being honest with himself, he'd missed that feeling.
"Alright, from the top!"
(the next day, somewhere in Beacon, general POV)
Why does Greenie look so worn out? the blonde brawler wondered to herself as Teams RWBY, JNPR, and STIK sat at their usual spot in the dining hall, wearing their uniforms as time passed. The tournament had taken a day off in order to let the students properly rest for the next day, which was showing to be full of promising fights ahead.
Izuku was currently sitting next to Yang with his head face down on the table with Tempest leaning on the table edge next to him, and from what the blonde could see sitting across from him, she could definitely tell that he was exhausted as all hell. Tenya, Bakugo, Ruby, Blake and Weiss sat across from them in specific, though rather characteristic, positions, with the former two talking (and simultaneously arguing) as usual, while Ruby enjoyed a plate of cookies and the white-haired heiress filed her nails again, their amber eyed friend sitting between them and staying rather engrossed in her book all the while.
On their side sat Shoto, who was currently going over some form of notes, along with the entirety of JNPR chatting aimlessly about their next round and how they were going to win it. Well, really Jaune was lecturing Nora and Pyrrha on different strategies to use during the fight with a silent Ren next to them, holding his tea cup in an odd grip with his eyes closed, likely only half listening to the conversation since it didn't really concern him.
Yang glanced about the room, finding that some of the other teams, especially the ones from Vacuo and Atlas, were taking glances at them with mixtures of fear, cockiness, and possible hatred lining their eyes. Apparently, the group was much more popular than they thought they were. Whether or not that was a good thing had yet to be seen.
It then proved itself quite the opposite when people's whispers, which had been incredibly quiet before then, started coming into earshot with gradually increasing volume, and the others were beginning to notice it as well. Izuku had lifted his head from the table, regaining enough energy to take notice of the conversation happening around them. He didn't like what he heard, and neither did anyone else at the table.
"Anyone know why they're looking at us like that?" Jaune asked with caution.
"I hope it's not my fault. I can draw unwanted attention to myself sometimes," Pyrrha said as she scratched the back of her neck.
"I don't think it's you specifically," Tenya readjusted his glasses.
"They're trying to get any info they can on us. We're heavy hitters, we really should've expected this to happen at some point or another," Bakugo said as he stood, causing some of the other students to stand and walk to meet him.
"MOVE IT, YA DAMN EXTRAS!"
"BAKUGO! YOU CANNOT TREAT OUR POTENTIAL OPPONENTS IN SUCH A MANNER JUST BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW THEIR NAMES!" Tenya yelled after his partner with a characteristic set of directional hand waves.
"He has a point. You're drawing a lot of negative attention to us, Katsuki," Ren calmly stated without opening his eyes, though his arm were noticeably tenser than they were before. It should also be noted that out of the entirety of the group, Ren was one of the only people to not simply call him 'Bakugo.' At least, most of the time.
"LIKE I GIVE A DAMN!" Bakugo yelled back to the two.
"Huh. I thought that the infamous Beacon Trio were a bunch of hotshots, but you really take the cake in terms of ego," said a boy with tall, wavy violet hair as he made his way through the gathering crowd. He wore a gray suit jacket over a blank white t-shirt and black cargo pants, with a pair of dark grey tennis shoes completing the outfit. His eyes held a similar hue to his hair and were heavily bagged, his tired expression giving the impression of an incredibly tired personality.
He then continued, "Chill out, would ya? You're being a real ass. As for the rest of you, I'm not gonna pretend that you aren't strong opponents, but you're nothing I haven't already breezed past. You've got some amazing powers, I'll give you that much, but that won't get you very far in the real world. So let me be clear: this is a declaration of war. Do with it as you like, either way, if I see you in the ring, you're going down."
The violet haired boy then turned heel and walked away, leaving the members who were paying any sort of attention rather confused and somewhat skeptical.
.
..
…
"… so... that was a thing," Nora said in her usual, though somewhat subdued, bubbly tone without her normal smirk. She, and the others at the table, knew the gravity of what had just been said.
"A 'thing' indeed. Urgh. What does that fool think he's doing? Declaring war like that... I have a strange feeling that one of our duos are going to face him in the next round of the tournament," Weiss commented as she pinched the bridge of her nose, emphasizing her annoyance with the situation.
"You know him?" Blake looked up from her book to ask.
"No, I don't believe so. Do you know him, Izuku?" The white-haired heiress asked.
Izuku flipped through his notebook for several seconds for any reference to the boy who'd just confronted them, only to find no such information anywhere. "Weird. I can't find anything on him."
"That's... actually a first," Ruby said with a surprised tilt to her head.
"Then we'll just have to deal with it if we happen to fight him," Shoto said as he closed his own notes. "I'm gonna go get in some training before the day wraps up."
"Can I come with?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, sure," Shoto said without much enthusiasm in his voice, leading the way to the training hall without bothering to look back at his partner, though the green haired boy still followed him out. Bakugo then huffed in seeming frustration, muttering something about 'lucky bastards' before making his own way through the crowd, ensuring that the rest of the group would likely not see him for the rest of the day.
"This isn't boding well," Tenya said as he readjusted his glasses. "They've been like this for the past day. If they don't get their act together, they're going to lose focus."
"What are you talking about, Spectacles? They look fine to me. Well, Greenie was looking tired, but I think they're getting along alright," Yang said, though worry laced her voice.
"That's not what I'm getting at. And please stop calling me that. *Sigh* Look, I know it might seem fine, but Shoto... he's been quite distant lately. I don't know if it's because of family matters or something else entirely, but it's becoming a problem. If this keeps up, they might not be able to use any of Izuku's strategies properly, if at all."
"Should we-"
"I don't know. I... we'll just have to wait it out and help if we can. I hope we don't have to."
(a few hours later, near the training hall, general POV)
Man, that session was brutal. Shoto's gotten a lot more focused lately. Does it have something to do with his dad? Izuku wondered as he left the training hall, spotting the afternoon sun beginning to peak through the windows and bleed a simple yet luscious golden hue into the hallway.
I hope he gets better soon. Well, I'd better get over to Qrow, Izuku thought as he continued down the hall to his red eyed tutor.
"Ah ha ha! There you are, young Midoriya!" All Might said boisterously as he suddenly dashed into the hallway.
"All Might! Wait, what're you doing here?"
"Exactly the point! I need to borrow you for a quick minute, if you don't mind," he said with a hint of urgency.
"Erm... okay," Izuku said, quickly following All Might into a side room where he quickly deflated, sighing in relief as he did so, and told his pupil the unfortunate news.
"What?! Fifty minutes?!"
"Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't want to worry you with the tournament right around the corner. In hindsight, I probably should've told you regardless," Toshinori apologized. "The way I am now, I can barely even look like All Might for even an hour and a half. I'm sorry it took me this long to tell you."
"N-no, I understand why. It's just... you gave up that much of your time? For us?" The green haired boy asked in shock.
"Yeah. And I would've done it again if it meant protecting you all. So don't go feeling sorry for me, this is my own fault.
"And you keep going," Toshinori said as he placed a hand on his pupil's shoulder, continuing, "I know you can to do this. Walk tall, Izuku Midoriya. And the world will see that you are here."
"Um... I'm not following you," Izuku responded with yet another confused tilt to his head.
This, of course, nearly caused Toshinori to comically fall face first to the floor, though he managed to catch himself on the wall. "Dammit. I should've used a more obvious proverb."
"I-it's fine. But I really do have to get going," Izuku explained.
"Of course. Sorry for holding you up," Toshinori again apologized as he stepped out of Izuku's path, smiling as the boy walked past him, and thought, I certainly hope that Qrow's training doesn't kill him. It's not nearly as harsh as Torino's is, but it's nothing to scoff at either.
(the next day, the Vytal coliseum, Shoto's POV)
"Hey, Shoto!" Izuku yelled, finally receiving his partner's attention after the boy had spent the majority of their prep time, with the exception of holstering Jotunheim and Muspelheim to their respective sides, brooding in a corner with a rather conflicted look on his face.
"Oh, sorry. Are we up soon?" Shoto said in his normal, though somehow even more neutral, tone.
"Yeah. Hey, are you-"
"I'm fine. Let's just... let's get this fight over with already," Shoto responded with a hasty and slightly hostile edge in his voice, his eyes now showing that he was almost entirely focusing on the fight.
"O-okay," Izuku said as he fell into step with his partner, the silence only broken by the echo of their shoes accompanying the slow, achingly awkward walk to the arena. The green haired boy then spoke up, "Do you need me to go over what I've found out about our opponents?"
Shoto gave a noncommittal grunt in response, which Izuku acknowledged by flipping through his journal and explaining, "I couldn't find out much on that guy with the purple hair, but his name is Hitoshi Shinso. He apparently applied for Beacon and didn't make the cut, so he went to Vacuo instead. Other than that... well, I couldn't really find anything on him, and the footage of his team fight got corrupted for some reason."
"What about his partner?"
"Not a whole lot, but more than I could find on Hitoshi. His partner's name is named Hanta Sero. To be honest, I'm surprised these two get along as well as they do. They're total opposites in nearly every way-"
"I don't care about their dynamic."
"R-right. Erm, Hanta seems to use... wow, these weapons are actually pretty weird."
"How so?"
"Well, they seem to be some kind of rope or ribbon launchers he straps to his elbows and use to fight with a combination of Dust and mostly mummifies his enemies."
"… is that seriously what he uses to fight?"
"I'm just as confused as you are. Other than that, there isn't really anything on them."
It was at that incredibly inconvenient moment that Endeavor, in full costume, with his semblance seemingly subconsciously activated, making him look even more intimidating than his hulking frame already did. At a glance, the half and half leader could tell that his teammate was minorly awed, but still mostly terrified, by the man who walked in their path.
"Keep going. I'll meet up with you in a bit," Shoto whispered as low as he could.
"A-are you-"
"Don't worry about me. Just go."
Izuku hesitated, not knowing what effect a talk like this would have on his partner, especially before a fight as big as this one. But he eventually nodded in acceptance and slowly walked away from the pair with an incredibly nervous echo in his steps.
"…"
"… now Shoto, don't-"
"Fuck. Off," Shoto said with the iciest and hate filed glare he'd ever given anyone. "I don't need anything that you might have to say."
Endeavor's smug smirk never left his face, as if he were expecting this level of hatred. He simply stepped out of Shoto's way, allowing his son a few steps past before he said over his shoulder, "This is a rebellious phase. I know you'll grow out of it...
"… son."
Shoto grit his teeth with all the force that his reaction could muster, trying his damnedest to not give that bastard the satisfaction of even the slightest reaction. And yet, even as he walked away from the father he so despised, he couldn't think of anything to wipe away the scowl that had managed to spread across his face.
(about a minute earlier, Izuku's POV)
Izuku walked past the flame encased man with his partner staying behind to talk to the man, despite the green haired boy's suspicions that this would likely damage Shoto's mental state even further than it already seemed to be. Dammit all. Why couldn't he just help his friend?
"Hey!"
Izuku nearly jumped in surprise, managing to catch himself and turn to where the voice had come from. The owner of the voice was tall, about six-foot one, with neat blonde hair and a rather large but controlled frame. He wore a plain white training gi with a black belt across his waist and a hole cut out in the back for his rather large tail, accompanied by white training pants and black shoes with blue details.
"You're up against Hitoshi next round, right?" The boy asked.
"Erm... yeah, but... who are you?"
"Oh! Sorry. My name's Mashirao Ojiro. Look, I've got to say this fast, there isn't a lot of time," the now named Ojiro began to explain, "I'm not sure what this guy's semblance is, but whatever the hell he did, it's powerful. I wasn't even conscious until our match almost ended. It seemed like he brainwashed us. I'm not entirely sure how, but I do know that it only happened after I answered one of his questions. He seems pretty well versed in verbal combat, so I know it'll be really hard to not react, but please, whatever you do, don't answer even one of his questions, or you've already lost."
Okay, this is serious. Wait-
"You said until the match almost ended. Why is that?"
"I... well, I apparently ran into one of his teammates, and that snapped me out of it. It didn't stop us from losing, but it does prove that outside contact can break the hypnosis. Maybe. Sorry I can't tell you more."
"N-no, no, you've done more than enough. Thank you!" Izuku said, then realzing that the match would start in just a few minutes and promptly departing for the arena proper with an analytical look in his gaze as he hypothesized and calculated the best way to take down Hitoshi. Well, what he could come up with, anyway.
He stepped into the arena about thirty seconds before his partner did, almost immediately noticing the mixed expression of pain and anger on Shoto's face. Izuku was tempted to speak to him, maybe warn him about Hitoshi, but the half and half leader simply did not respond. Whatever Endeavor had said to Shoto, it had shaken him up badly.
"Stick to plan C," Shoto harshly whispered under his breath, leaving no room for argument on his part. They'd arranged a few plans the day prior as part of their training, the aforementioned 'plan C' being to take on one teammate each. This was probably going to end badly.
Hitoshi came from the opposite end of the arena with just as much applause accompanying his entrance as theirs, Hanta following close behind his battle partner. Hitoshi wore the same outfit as he did the previous day, with the addition of simple but sturdy, gunmetal colored gauntlets. Hanta, on the other hand, was a stark contrast to his teammate. He was shorter then his teammate, but still taller than Izuku, with black hair and a cheshire grin on his lips. He wore a full black body suit with white designs across his mid torso, and the sleeves were cut short, down to his mid-bicep specifically, and across his elbows were rather bulky launchers with really odd designs, almost looking like tape dispensers. The launchers themselves were a part of a pair of gauntlets that had been strapped to his forearms, they surprisingly didn't even cover his knuckles, which themselves were colored yellow/orange with soundwave designs running across them.
"Okay. Let's see what you're made of," Hitoshi said with his unusual yet characteristic smirk, a plan already forming inside his head. At least, from what Izuku could discern.
"Hey, no hard feelings. Let's have a good match," Hanta said to their opponents with a far cheerier tone than Hitoshi, his aforementioned cheshire grin never once leaving his face.
Shoto merely grunted in response. He wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. Izuku, on the other hand, met his combatant halfway, responding with a small, though rather nervous, smile, "Yeah. May the best team win!"
"Three!"
Shoto's hand shot down to his saber, preparing to draw Jotunheim at a moment's notice, while Hitoshi raised his hands into a defensive stance and held an icy glare with the half and half leader across from him. They were both in bad moods, apparently.
"Two!"
Izuku's hand gripped the handle of Tempest, the weapon itself humming in excitement while its user used his free hand to slip on his half mask, covering the lower half of his face almost entirely, while Hanta held his launchers behind him, ready to throw them forward at a moment's notice.
"One!"
"I've got Hitoshi. Can you take Hanta?" Izuku said with a plan formulated in his head. Well, it wasn't really much of one, but it was a plan nonetheless. Shoto knew this and, though reluctantly, acknowledged that if anyone could beat Hitoshi right now, it was Izuku.
"Just don't lose."
"Begin!"
A/N: And that's a wrap! Man, this chapter took a lot longer to write than I wanted it to. Oh well, I'm writing an awesome fight scene next chapter, which I'm hoping you guys will enjoy! I'm sorry if my writing seems a bit wonky. I've been dealing with writer's block for a bit now, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.
Okay, without further ado, the release date!
Next Chapter: May 20th
Seeya in the next one!