Author Notes: yeah, they're at the beginning of the chapter this time, listen if you haven't gotten past Solomon in Fate/Grand Order and don't know anything about what happens after, then warning, slight spoilers, go watch OtakuDaikun's FGO Lore Videos for a quick catch up.
The Arctic, another Universe
Somewhere in the Arctic is a large metal building. This building belongs to the Organization known as Chaldea. An Organization dedicated to the preservation of Humanity, they achieved this by going back in time to singularities and restoring them before they have any lasting effects on the world. It was funded by the UN and the Mage's Association. An association dedicated to studying the secrets of Magecraft, as well as keeping said magecraft a secret from the world at large. Here were two of three Master Candidates that had helped in saving humanity time and time again. Master's being the, well, Master to several Heroic Spirits, said spirits are legendary heroes or well known individuals from history lucky enough to get recorded in The Throne of Heroes. A metaphorical plane of existence created by the Counter Force, Alaya, Humanity's collective unconsciousness, that was created by Gaia, the planet itself. The were a few exceptions to the Throne of Heroes that existed in the form of a Counter Guardian, while all Heroic Spirits, or Servants, were Counter Guardians by default, there were a select few that were chosen by the Counter Force itself to be Heroic Spirits, despite not leaving any impact in History.
There were of course other Masters there but the only one of them to have regained consciousness was a man by the name of Kadoc Zemlupus. He was once a member of Chaldea's A-Team, a team consisting of seven other master candidates. This team was known as The Crypters. Kadoc was a silver haired and slim young boy despite the tired look on his face. He also wasn't the most adept at magecraft and as such, didn't get along well with talented mages. Despite this, he ended up on the A-Team. He, along with the other Crypters, had turned against Chaldea after being re-awakened by an Alien God, but after his defeat, Kadoc became an ally of Chaldea once more.
The other two masters that served in the Grand Order, the first battle against the 72-Demon God Pillars and Goetia to save humanity from complete incineration, were siblings by the names of Fujimaru Ritsuka and Fujimaru Gudako. Ritsuka was of an average build and fairly muscular for a boy his age and was of medium height. He had short unkempt black hair and blue eyes. His sister, Gudako, was just shorter than him by a few inches, was fairly muscular herself and has shoulder-length red hair tied in a side-ponytail on the left side with a yellow hair band and a cowlick, and light orange eyes.
On the right hands of the three masters were red markings called Command Seals or Spells. These command seals could be used to order a servant to do a variety of things, from instantly teleporting to their master's side to boosting their attributes. They could also force a servant to do things they normally wouldn't do, something that the three masters didn't particularly like, nor did any of the Servants in Chaldea, one hazel-eyed irish Lancer class servant especially.
The three masters were in Chaldea's mess hall along with the staff members and even a few servants, they were enjoying a nice lunch made by Heroic Spirit EMIYA, an Archer Class Servant, and Boudica, a Rider class Servant that was a Queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe during 60 to 61 AD. She led an uprising against invading Roman Forces.
"So, any idea when the others will wake up?" Kadoc asked the other two masters.
"No idea, Nightingale said they should awake sometime during the next few days since their condition is a lot more stable now…" Gudako responded.
While Chaldea was normally a rather happy place with the servants around, it hasn't been the same since the third Master that fought alongside Gudako and Ritsuka had died a year ago, his Saber Class Servant, Arthur Pendragon, had also gone off with him and shared the same fate, however, for some strange reason, they couldn't re-summon him.
Out of everyone in Chaldea however, The Saber Class Servant, Mordred, had been affected the most. Out of all his Servants, he and Mordred had the best relationship. One that she would never admit to as, being a servant, she would eventually fade away back into the Throne of Heroes. As it was revealed the day He died, Mordred and her Master had actually been a couple, much like another Master-Servant pair at Chaldea. But the day He died, he had kept himself together long enough to come back and had granted most of his servants a physical body again, though some, like EMIYA, declined, Mordred had tried to, saying that she'd see him in the throne, but he didn't listen and granted her one anyway, saying, "Live, live the life you never got to… for me and for yourself, Mordred…" After that, he faded away in golden motes of light, much like an actual servant does whenever they are killed or no longer have a master to support their existence. Mordred had changed after that, not even her father, technically mother if we're going to be specific, had seen anything like this. Mordred had shut herself off from everyone else and had nearly taken her own life. To say that Artoria, the female version and actual King of Knights, was shocked would be an understatement. Even Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes seemed concerned and had to restrain her using the Chains of Heaven. Despite being a human again, Mordred had kept all of her Servant abilities.
It had taken a while but Mordred had become stable again.
"I see, that's good." Kadoc said.
"Oi, Master!" a young voice called out to Gudako, this was the younger version of the King of Heroes, simply named - by himself mind you - Kid Gil. He had golden hair and red eyes, much like the two older versions of himself that existed in Chaldea. Unlike them however, he stayed a separate entity and was contracted to one of the Fujimaru siblings.
"Gil? What is it?" Gudako asked.
"Oh nothing, Da Vinci said she found something and said that you and the other two should go and see it, the other Knights of the Round are there too… well, except Mordred." He told her.
"Wait, why not Mordred?" Ritsuka asked. It was then that they heard a plate shatter and turned to EMIYA with a shocked expression on his face.
"Emiya?" Gudako asked, concern in her voice.
"I… Think I know why.. I felt HIM… using my Incantation no less…." The servant of the bow muttered to himself, "I assume Da Vinci wants myself and Lancer there?" He asked the child servant.
Kid Gil nodded and the five of them then made their way to Da Vinci's workshop. Upon arriving, they saw that all of the Knights of the Round table, Cú Chulainn and Gilgamesh. The Saber Class Servant, Miyamoto Musashi was also there.
"I'm glad you're all here.. I'm sure you lot felt it right?" Da Vinci, the rider class servant asked.
The current Knights of the Round Table that were there all nodded their heads, with Artoria being the only one who didn't, no longer sharing the same master as them, alongside EMIYA, Cú and Gilgamesh.
"Da Vinci, what's going on? Felt what?" Ritsuka asked.
"I'll explain in a moment but that's not all, here look at th-" Da Vinci was interrupted as Atalanta burst through the door alongside Achilles, "Ah.. I see you both felt it too then?"
"Yes, explain, now." Atalanta said in a serious tone.
"Hold on a moment because what you all felt wasn't all. Here." Da Vinci moved to the side, allowing them all to see a list with images of people's faces. It was a list of Chaldea's acquired Spirit Origins. A few of them had no images, indicating that that specific servant had not been summoned to Chaldea yet, or had not yet been encountered. What had all of their attention however, was the one of the Male King Arthur, it was faded.
"I don't understand, what are we supposed to be looking at, Rider?" Artoria asked.
"Arthur's spirit Origin flashed into color a few moments ago." She said, causing most of the knights to audibly gasp.
"And… that presence we felt… was it?" Gawain asked.
"Yes, that was your master."
"Indeed, out of everyone in Chaldea, only three other people knew my Reality Marble incantation off by heart. The first two being other versions of myself and the third being Master. I felt him use it." EMIYA explained.
"Wait… then does that mean he's not actually dead?" Atalanta asked.
"Possibly, my guess is that Arthur's still with him. I intend to lock onto the last known coordinates of his Spirit Origin's signal to find him, I'll then need a few of the master's servants to go and find the two of them." Da Vinci explained.
"What about us?" Ritsuka asked.
"I need you three to make sure Mordred doesn't find out about this… we don't need to give her any false hope. This is also why I didn't call for you, Atalanta and your younger self, Emiya." The Rider servant explained further.
"I see, then I shall not tell her… but what are the chances that she hasn't already felt his presence?" Atalanta asked.
"Most likely she'll think that it's just her missing him again. Under no circumstances is she to find out."
"And what about the team, how many servants are you going to send and how will Mordred not notice?" Achilles asked.
"Four Servants, and you needn't worry, that's where our other three Masters come in." Da Vinci told them.
"Us?" Kadoc asked.
"Yep, the three of you are going on a Rayshift somewhere else, thankfully we have discovered a singularity, it's nothing too big but it'll be a good excuse." She explained further.
"I see… so then, who's going?"
"I will." Musashi spoke up, "He may not have been my Master but I have experience in travelling to other worlds, so I should be going, besides, Mordred will get suspicious if we only send Servants that were contracted with him off." She elaborated.
"I'll go… Lancer, you?" EMIYA spoke.
"Yeah, count me in." The Irish Hero said, twirling his spear and resting it on his shoulder.
"I shall go as well!" Gawain said.
"Then we have our team. The rest of you know what to do and will most likely accompany Kadoc and the Fujimaru's into the singularity. Gilgamesh, do what you normally do… just don't tell Mordred." Da Vinci told him.
"I am no fool, if this is a secret that must be kept then I shall do so, though it is best I inform Enkidu just in case." The Golden King said.
"I see you're able to admit to some of your Weaknesses." EMIYA remarked with a smirk.
"Silence, Faker."
"Alright, it may take a while to get ready and find the exact coordinates so be prepared for me to call you, here take these." Da Vinci handed several small devices to Gawain, EMIYA Cú Chulainn and Musashi, "I'll call you on these when I've found the location so return here discreetly."
"Got it." Musashi said.
They all then left the room with Gudako and Atalanta looking rather uneasy.
"Hey, you two alright?" Ritsuka asked.
"It's just… is this really something we should hide from Mordred? I mean, wouldn't it be better if she knew?" Gudako asked.
"It is as Da Vinci had said, it is best we do not give her a false sense of hope, lest they return empty handed… Mordred may have been reserved for a while now and may have been getting better but it is approaching the anniversary of our Master's death. This is not something she needs." Lancelot explained to them.
"Yes, you are right.. I shall do my best to keep this a secret but regardless if they return with him or not I feel as though we should tell her after they return." Atalanta told him.
"I couldn't agree more…" Artoria said, "Since it is nearing the anniversary of his death, I suppose I should try even harder to be the parent I never was in life to Sir Mordred." She said with a hint of regret.
"Yeah, for now we have to prepare though, come on." Kadoc said as they all walked down the corridor.
Back in Remnant, evening in Tekkadan's dorm
"ACHOO!" Kazuki sneezed loudly, causing Ruby and Noel to Jump.
Noel, Ruby, Makoto, Jaune and Bang had all gone to the Tekkadan dorm to watch a movie Naoto had bought. It was apparently about the Six Heroes and Naoto could only cringe while watching it, especially when a scene that involved Hakumen came up, mostly because the actor and the costume were shit and because he remembered the fight he had with him.
"You good?" Naoto asked.
"Yeah, feels like someone's talking about me behind my back though." He explained.
"You're probably just cold." Kazuma said, pointing to the open window.
"Space is colder." Kazuki deadpanned, the others all just looked at him as if waiting for some sort of joke… only to realize he was serious.
"Wait you've been to SPACE?! What'sitlike?!" Ruby asked, excitedly.
"Boring, lots of well… empty space… view of the planet's nice though." He told her.
"Ummm, how did you not suffocate?" Jaune asked.
Kazuki responded to his question by projecting a full suit of armor on him. The armor was black and blue with a rapier mounted onto a rather wide sheath on it's right with another sheath on the left. It had a blue Double V-Fin on its head and had glowing purple eyes. It also had what could only be described as a skirt around the waist, with two pistols stored in the front skirts like gun holsters. It also had a large rifle mounted on the outside of the sheath the rapier was in. Kazuki then let the armor fade away.
"That looked so AWESOME! OH OH! Can you project Hakumen's armor?!" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Nope, sorry, no can do." He told her.
"Aww.. Why not?!"
"Cause I, one, don't like it," That was a lie, "and two, It's not something I can just wear all willy-nilly. That armor's dangerous, Hakumen's body IS the armor." He told her.
"Wait, what?" Jaune asked, Bang had paused the movie and had turned around to listen in.
"Whoever Hakumen is now, lost his body when he put the armor on, the stress the armor puts on the body is too much and as such, practically destroys the wearer's original body leaving only the spirit, thus making the armor the wearer's new body." Kazuki explained.
"I no longer want to wear that armor." Makoto said.
"I thought you didn't care much for Hakumen?" Noel said.
"I don't, I just wanted to see what Tsubaki's face would be like if I showed up wearing the armor of her childhood crush." Makoto joked.
"But, can't you alter it?" Kazuma asked.
"No"
"Lies," Naoto said.
"Yeah, I mean, didn't you say that your friend who used the mace was shorter than Ruby? That thing would be massive in his hands!" Jaune said.
"Jaune, Ruby uses a scythe that's nearly twice her height without hindering her combat ability at all." Kazuki said.
"Yeah, but Crescent Rose is a scythe that turns into a gun and has a thin but sharp blade, that mace is a massive blunt weapon that can't change its size" Naoto said.
"Who said it was blunt?" Kazuki asked, projecting the mace yet again, pushing a small button, four swords then fell from the mace end and onto the ground.
"Nevermind then, but still, that thing would be massive then!"
"You guys… I don't know how to tell you this but the mace is actual size.." He lied, the actual size was MUCH bigger.
"Holy crap…" Jaune said. The rest of the room stared in silence.
"Then did he use the swords often?" Kazuma asked.
"Nope, never, he actually gave the mace to me when he got another weapon and I discovered the function of the swords, his only reaction to that was hm, neat." Kazuki told them.
Ruby then went on to ask about what other weapons Mikazuki used, questions Kazuki was happy to answer.
?
Deep underground somewhere on Remnant is a sealed room unknown to many. Within it lies a single individual. He wears semi-heavy white armor and a muscular body suit with a large collar and the traditional hakama present, ballooning pants common in samurai. His long silver hair is tied at the mane. All armored sections feature fully-functional crimson eyes with slit pupils. These eyes are not as much of an intimidation as much as the mask he wears; a completely white, two horned helmet with no features or visor, appearing to have no face at all, a feature that paralyzes anybody in fear.
This is one of the Six Legendary Heroes, as well as their leader, that had saved Remnant from the Black Beast 50 years ago. Hakumen.
He was deep in thought about the event that had led him to these bizarre circumstances. The betrayal of Yuuki Terumi. When Yuuki Terumi betrayed the Six Heroes he had started by killing off Nine, The Great Sage, and Trinity Glassfille. Two of the twelve known magic users in all Remnant at the time of the Black Beast's reign of terror. The other nine being the other sages and Yuuki Terumi's vessel, and by extension himself, Kazuma Kval. There was of course another but he had died during the Beast's reign. As he was deep in thought, he smelt the scent of roses and stood up. Turning around he saw a young vampire girl with pale skin, long blond hair tied into two pigtails with black ribbons, and red eyes. She wears Gothic Lolita fashion with a frilly black gown and jacket, red ribbon bow tie, a red bat symbol design cross from the front to the back on her dress, another red cross on her shawl and bottom half, black pony heel boots with a red cross, and a red ribbon on her right ankle. Physically, looked around 12 years old, however, she gives off an aura of someone far older than what she looks. She is accompanied by a black cat named Nago and a short red bat called Gii. The girl was Rachel Alucard, a Vampire of great knowledge and power.
"Harlequin…" Hakumen said, turning back around, "I do not care for whatever games you have planned. Leave."
"Oh my, despite being trapped here for so many years you still do not seem to have developed any form of proper mannerism." Rachel Said in a mocking tone.
"You should be happy that the princess is even gracing you with her presence, you ruffian." Nago told Hakumen.
"Yeah! Turn around and bow!" Gii said.
"Now now you two. It has been a rather long time since he was last in contact with another person, we should be lenient on him." She said, maintaining her mocking tone.
"You know the reason for my presence here. Did you come to mock me to satisfy your own twisted curiosity?" Hakumen asked Rachel.
"No Mr. Hero I have come for another reason, though the fact that you said something as stupid as that shows that you haven't realized." She told him.
"And just what would that be, Harlequin? Has the Beast returned?" He asked, turning back around in a somewhat panicked and concerned tone.
"No, I'm afraid it is much more dire than that. Terumi has returned and begun to make his move." Rachel told him, shocking the White Void.
"What?! How was I unaware of this?! How could he have escaped without my notice without the seal of this room being destroyed?" He asked in a shocked tone.
"It would appear that someone else had placed another seal on this room that would have rendered the other useless, that seal must have also nullified your capabilities to the point where you would not notice the original seal being destroyed by the new one." Rachel explained, "This is still rather concerning as not many knew of this place's existence, not even Valkenhayn knew of it."
"If Terumi has escaped then it is all the more reason to leave this place. I should suppress my power so that he does not notice I am after him lest it cause problems in the long run." Hakumen told Rachel.
"Well it seems as though you do understand restraint, Mr. Hero, as well as the necessity for it. And one more thing." She told him.
"What is it?"
"We appear to have visitors from other worlds, with two of them being from worlds similar to our own." Rachel told him.
"Are they a threat?" Hakumen asked.
"No, at least they do not seem to be. The most interesting thing however, is that one of them bears a resemblance to Bloodedge and goes by the name of Naoto Kurogane and the other one is quite literally, Kazuma Kval." She explained.
"What?! Impossible, Kval's body was destroyed upon entering this place!" Hakumen said, surprise in his voice.
"Which is precisely why I said he comes from a world similar to our own, dare I say another timeline. It is possible that the Black Beast never existed and that there was never a need for Terumi. However, that brings up the question as to why he was created, as just like our own world's Kazuma, he seems to be an artificial human." Rachel explained further.
"Perhaps, he and his world's Terumi once shared a body and in his world, Terumi was destroyed or thrown into this void without Kval's body being destroyed." Hakumen guessed.
"Perhaps, though now I believe it is best if we get you out of here, Mr. Hero." Rachel told him before the scent of roses could be smelt again. It was then that she had teleported everyone out of the room.
A large forest in Mistral
After being teleported out, Hakumen found himself in a large forest, judging from the plant life around him, he guessed he was in Mistral. It was then he realized that Rachel had neglected to tell him about the third person from another world.
"I suppose I shall simply have to guess who it is.. .hmm.. I do not sense the power of the Beast, that means I can focus on finding Terumi and ending him." Hakumen said as he started to go off in the direction of Vale, "If he is there, then Terumi will most likely want to get rid of him first."
Beacon, the next Day, Oobleck's classroom
"Prior to the Faunas Revolutionary War, Humanity was quite persistent on centralizing the Faunas population on Menagerie. Though many knew the dangerous conditions that the island had on it, it did not matter to human kind which had escalated the conflict between Human and Faunas further. I know that many of you find the topic of History to be a boring one but it is important to know these things if we are to learn from our mistakes from the past." Oobleck said.
"You and my master would get along great." Ragna muttered to himself, dozing off, thankfully he was able to fall asleep with his eyes open.
"Now, even though the Faunas Revolutionary War was a long time ago, the consequences can still be seen to this day. How many of you have faced discrimination or mistreatment due to your faunas heritage?" Oobleck asked the class, with Velvet, who was in the class as an observer for Goodwitch, Makoto and Kazuki raising their hands.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful. It is such hate and ignorance that justifies the existence and actions of the White Fang. Now can any of you tell me what happened during the third year of the war?"
"Tch, senseless murder is hardly ever justifiable…" Kazuki muttered to himself, both insulting the White Fang as well as himself.
"Did you say something, Mr. Kazuki?" Oobleck asked, apparently able to over hear him.
"Yeah, I said senseless murder is hardly ever justifiable." He repeated, aloud this time.
"And I completely agree, but would you care to elaborate?" Oobleck asked.
"Yeah, I'm talking about how more often than not, an innocent human is killed for something as simple as not serving a faunas, the human might not have the product in stock and feel as though there is no need to elaborate further. A businessman might not hire a faunas for a job because either there's no need for extra workers or the faunas doesn't meet the requirements. And don't even get me started that damned Bull." Kazuki said, clear irritation in his voice.
"I assume you are referring to Adam Taurus, The Red Bull, Correct?"
"Yeah, he doesn't care what they've done, if you're human then he sees that as a good enough reason to kill you. I don't wanna think about how many children he's killed simply because they were human."
"And what would you do if you encountered him?" Oobleck asked, pushing up his glasses. All eyes were now on Kazuki.
"I'd kill him. It's the LEAST he deserves." Kazuki said, shocking most of the class that someone could talk about taking another's life so easily.
"And others of the white fang?"
"They can have a chance to turn themselves in, if they don't I'll knock them out and drag them in."
"I see, still I do not think that one should talk about taking the life of another so easily, Mr. Kazuki." Oobleck told him.
"And you're saying you wouldn't kill Taurus? It's obvious that if he's caught he'll be given the death sentence anyway, might as well just get it over and done with." Kazuki explained.
"I'm with him on that one." Ragna, now awake, said aloud, "Taking away someone's life just because they're different? That's just wrong, plain and simple. My master was a Faunas and he also shares a distaste for that Bull."
"I'm surprised a freak like you doesn't seem to have a problem killing other freaks." Cardin said in a mocking tone.
"Mr. Cardin that's enough out of you." Oobleck scolded.
"No no let him think like that, he'll get himself killed with that attitude anyway, not like anyone will miss him. I'll just beat him to a damn pulp everytime I catch him anyway." Ragna said, glaring at Cardin.
"Let's just get back to the lesson, Doc, before one of us says something we'll regret." Kazuki said.
"Very well. Now then, can anyone tell me what major battle happened during the third year of the war?" Oobleck asked, returning to teaching the class.
For a while no one answered, still processing what had happened with two of their classmates seemingly having no problem taking away the life of another. Blake could only look at Kazuki, suspicion in her eyes. Sure, his hair was dark but it wasn't BLACK. He also had bright blue eyes so surely it couldn't be him? Could it?
Eventually, Jin spoke up, "The Battle at Fort Castle." He said.
"That is correct, well done Mr. Kisaragi. Now can anyone tell me what advantage the Faunas had over General Lagune's forces during the war?" Oobleck asked the class before Cardin flicked a piece of paper at Jaune's head, causing him to raise his head.
"Mr. Arc, it is wonderful that you decided to contribute to the class. So can you tell me what the advantage was?" Oobleck asked.
"Um… the advantage… that the faunas had was...uh.." Jaune had said before seeing Pyrrha and Noel making motions with their eyes.
"Binoculars!" Jaune blurted out, only to get laughed at by Cardin and his team while other people in the class snickered.
"Very funny Mr. Arc but that is wrong. Mr. Winchester perhaps YOU would like to tell us the advantage?" Oobleck turned his attention to Cardin, missing the facepalms that Naoto and Ragna just made.
"I know for a fact that it's a lot easier to train an animal than an actual soldier. Look at Taokaka, she acts like an animal which is what faunas should be." Cardin said, a smirk adorning his lips.
Just as Bang had stood up to defend his teammate, a sword was suddenly implanted in Cardin's desk, going through it and just missing his crotch region. All eyes then turned to Kazuki with a bored look in his eyes, but in those eyes all Cardin and Blake saw was anger.
"Try to insult one of my friends again and I won't miss. This world hardly needs you to go off and procreate, not that you'd be able to with that attitude… Though I suppose you're partially right, look at me, I can kick your entire team's asses all by myself without a weapon of any kind, since I'm one myself, after all, it's easy to turn a beast into a weapon and I guess that's all I am right? I dumb little beast." Kazuki said aloud. Silencing the entire class, "My apologies, Doctor, I'll repair that desk after class, I'll even sterilize it too so none of his germs remain there. Oh, and the answer is night vision."
"Yes, that seems like a suitable punishment and that is the correct answer, but you, Mr. Arc and Mr. Winchester will still be seeing me after class, is that understood?" Oobleck told them. Getting a nod from the three as Cardin looked at Kazuki with anger in his own eyes.
After Class
"Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester, the two of you have been showing consistent problems in my class ever since the beginning, I don't know if it is simply a lack of interest but instead of seeing improvement I am seeing carelessness and arrogance. Beacon trains those who aspire to be Huntsmen and Huntresses and we only accept the best! Pages 51 to 91 and I want an essay on my desk by the next class by the two of you." Oobleck told the two boys.
"Wait, what about him?! He attacked me!" Cardin asked in anger, pointing to Kazuki who is currently fixing the desk he pierced.
"Unlike the two of you, he has shown no problems in my class and offers fair arguments to some statements made, such as the White Fang when they're brought up. He is also fixing the destroyed property and it is likely that this time he has simply lost his patience. I am no fool Mr. Winchester and I overhear his peers talk about how he holds himself back around you. You are lucky that he still was, for if he decided to let out all of his anger on you then it is likely that I wouldn't be able to stop him." Oobleck explained in a tone that invited no arguments.
Beacon Stairway
Jin had just finished studying in the library and was making his way to an accessible rooftop, knowing that not many people would be there to bother him. His plan was to simply go there and stare at the night sky, quite ironic considering his old fear of the moon. Though it would be pleasant as the moon was not out tonight.
As he was walking, Jin heard a pair of voices and decided to get closer. Once there, he recognized the voices as Pyyrha and Jaune, he could also hear Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, the other two members of team JNPR. He had intended to turn around and leave, not at all caring for whatever that team had going on. Before he went too far however, he heard something that caught his attention.
"I didn't earn my way into Beacon. I don't really belong here with everyone else." Jaune said in a worried tone.
"What are you talking about Jaune? Of course you belong here." Pyrrha said to him, trying to cheer him up.
"No, I don't. I didn't go to any combat school or pass any tests, heck I didn't even get in on any recommendations. I got my hands on some fake transcripts and used them to get into Beacon. Me being here is all a lie." Jaune confessed to his team.
"But why?" Pyrrha asked in a shocked tone and though Jin couldn't see it, Ren and Nora both had equally shocked looks on their faces.
"Because it's what I've always wanted. My Father, my Grandfather and his father were all warriors, my family considered them to be heroes.I wanted to be a hero too but I wasn't good enough." He explained further.
"Then let us help you," Pyrrha said to him
"I DON'T WANT TO BE HELPED! I'm tired of being seen as the weak one who always has to sit back while his friends go off and fight for their lives! I mean, look at me! I'm a nobody compared to everyone else here! I don't have any fancy Nox Nyctores like Noel. I wasn't recommended by my master like Ragna or Bang and Ozpin didn't discover me like Ruby, Naoto and Kazuki. Not to mention I'm not even seen as a skilled warrior like you or Kazuki. Compared to all of you I'm pathetic, and I know that you all don't see me as much but I still FEEL pathetic by comparison…" Jaune said, venting out his frustrations.
"Jaune I-"
"Just go and-OW!" Jaune is interrupted by a baseball bat falling on his head. He looks past his team to see Kazuki standing there, a disappointed look on his face.
"L-look, we know what you heard but please don't report him to-" "Shut it." Nora is interrupted by him as he walks right up to Jaune.
He sighs loudly, "Jaune, listen, the fact that you've gone on THIS long is proof enough of your determination, not only that but you've got a great eye for tactics, better than almost everyone here, top ten in fact. I've seen your team's scores in the simulator and those things get recorded. And remember what I said? About trying to do things by yourself? Just there, Nora was pleading for me to not tell Ozpin. I think that should be sign enough that your team does not give a shit." Kazuki told him, "Besides, Ozpin is a strange man, you wanna know something?" He whispers something to Jaune that causes him to walk back a little.
"You're joking? Right?" He asked.
"Nope, so Ozpin more than likely already knows you faked your transcripts, he's no fool." Kazuki said to him, "Though I gotta say, as your teacher I feel a little bit hurt by your words Jaune." He said in a sarcastic tone, holding his chest pretending to be in pain while giving a cheeky smirk.
"Oh so NOW you're fully committing to the whole teacher thing?" Ren asked, sarcasm laced in his voice.
"Maybe, by the way, you can come out now Jin." Kazuki said, causing Jaune and Jin to stiffen.
Jin walks into view, an unamused look on his face.
"I now see the full picture… it is best he turns himself in now, if he continues to stay then he will only be a danger to himself and his team." Jin said, no emotion in his voice.
"Then go and report him, Ozpin ain't gonna do anything unless he's confronted." Kazuki taunted.
"I may feel weak and helpless but I'm trying, even my family saw me as too weak to attend any combat schools but I've come this far. I'm not gonna give up!" Jaune said, puffing his chest out with newfound determination.
"Fine, have that way, but if something ever happens to your team due to your own inability, then you know who to blame." Jin told him walking off, "So even his family saw him as too weak… perhaps we are not as different as I thought." Jin thought to himself as he continued to walk to his dorm, remembering a time that has long since passed. A time before he was adopted by the Kisaragi family. A time when he and Ragna were still on good terms and when their sister, Saya, was still with them.