Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
Yang knew something was up the moment she'd woken up to frantic texts from her sister to share the practical exam results she'd gotten from Uncle Qrow. Once Ruby had taken a few minutes to look them over on her end and then still pleaded to talk in private with her sister, the blonde brawler found herself growing exceptionally concerned.
After they'd met up though, she'd admit she found herself a bit nonplussed.
"I'm telling you, Yang! I know what I heard," Ruby insisted, the two siblings standing side-by-side in a rising elevator. "I'm not making this up!"
"I don't think you are," Yang quickly assured her. As wild as her sister's report on Izuku and Katsuki late-night talk had been, she knew Ruby would never lie about what she'd thought she'd heard.
It was just… well…
"You do realize how ridiculous it all sounds though, right?" the blonde asked. "Gods, other dimensions full of superheroes, reincarnating souls, an immortal queen of the Grimm? It sounds like something out of a freaking isekai."
Ruby glanced away, her face contorted in annoyance and terror. Yet, as Yang tiredly noted, no doubt.
"You didn't see them, Yang. Didn't hear them," the younger girl frightfully said. "It was real to them."
"Or it just sounded like it was real to them because you weren't there for the whole thing and missed context that made it sound less insane," Yang countered.
"Urgh!" Ruby growled, whirling back on her sister. "Look, you have to admit, it makes some sort of sense."
"Again, an immortal Grimm queen?"
"Okay so maybe that part's a bit out there," Ruby conceded. "But Izuku's been obsessed with Katsuki since they first met for no reason—"
"I'm pretty sure that whole 'image of victory' speech he gave during the spar explained his reason, unexpectedly dumb and macho as it may be," Yang interjected. "And also, who knows, he might have said he didn't have a crush on him but he might have just been embarrassed—"
"It's not that one!" Ruby groaned, rabidly waving her arms about. "Look, Katsuki wanted nothing to do with Izuku before that spar. Izuku insisted we tell the truth about Jaune's transcripts but changed his mind as soon as Katsuki offered to fight him over it. They were both acting off during the fight and Katsuki started calling him 'Deku' and Izuku is apparently happy about it, and now they're completely different around each other, and why did Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch just happen to be there!?"
"Ruby, Ruby, Ruby," Yang shushed, gently calming her sister's flailing limbs. "It's Ozpin. He appears out of nowhere at random times. It's just one of those weird facts of life that have gone down in Beacon myth since before mom, dad, and Uncle Qrow's time."
Ruby took a deep breath to calm herself. "I know. I know. But Izuku was confident that Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch both knew about everything they were talking about and were helping them with it. And that would explain why he has a practical exam score even though he was special admission like me and why it's so average even though he can clearly keep up with Katsuki—"
"Stopping you right there. The rest of us already had a long debate about the practical exam stuff and we came up with logical, non-immortal Grimm Queen conspiracy including, explanations for it," Yang said, holding up her palm to prevent Ruby from descending back into rambling just as the elevator dinged for their floor. "Look, if Ozpin and Goodwitch are involved, they're probably not going to tell us any more about this than Izuku or Katsuki have if we go straight to them. But there might be other angles we can look into it from. Even if you insist on coming all the way out to the tower instead of just taking a short walk to the library terminals."
"Because the tower is so cool," Ruby excitedly hissed, the sisters walking out onto Beacon Tower's communication hub floor.
Sleek, bright, and filled with cubicles containing CCT connected viewscreens, Yang and Ruby were lucky to beat the morning rush of long-distance communicators. The chipper hologram lady at the front swiftly directed them to an open console, the few other patrons and guards far out of hearing range of the sisters as they typed in their first number.
"We're sorry. The number you are attempting to reach is outside CCT range," the pleasant mechanical voice replied after several long and low tones. "If you do not wish to place another call, please pick up your refund at the front desk of your kingdom's CCT tower."
"Ugh! That old man," Yang ruefully sighed. "Does he have to take all the missions to the middle of nowhere?"
"Of course he does! Uncle Qrow only takes the coolest, most death-defying missions, and they're all on the frontier," Ruby said with her usual adoring smile whenever their uncle's usual hunting whereabouts were brought up. Well, what little the sisters actually knew of them at least.
"Fair enough," Yang shrugged, already typing in a new number. They'd hoped to get lucky and catch their uncle, he was closer to Ozpin after all, but they hadn't expected him to be within the CCT towers' range.
Besides, they knew their second option would be happy to see them, a fact that was only confirmed when the emblem for Signal Academy flashed across the screen only to be replaced by a wide smiling blond man.
"Hey dad!" Ruby cheerily greeted.
"Ruby! Yang!" Taiyang replied with just as much bright joy. "This is a pleasant surprise. Was worried you girls had started thinking you were too cool for your old man now that you're off at Beacon."
Yang snorted. "Please, dad. We write you letters every week."
"We?" Ruby dryly challenged.
"Your sister's the only one I've been getting mail from, Yang," Tai teasingly smirked. "Something messing with your memory? Is it Barty assigning you so much homework you can barely sleep or is Peter giving you dementia with his 'thrilling' recollections? If you can't handle it, Zwei could use a new practice dummy."
"Ah, you jerk," Yang grinned, enjoying the friendly ribbing that only she and her father really understood. "Fine. If it means that much to you… I'll make sure Ruby writes about my week in her letters too."
Tai chuckled. "Much appreciated."
"Cause you're not the one who's gonna have to write it," Ruby sighed before springing into a mocking imitation of her sister. "Dear Dad, today I kicked four more people's butts because they looked at my hair the wrong way, but it was Team CDRL and they're all jerks, so I did good. But my partner still won't call me by my name! Oh, woe is me! He says my hair is poofy when it is clearly floofy!"
Yang and Taiyang both burst out laughing at Ruby's antics, their merriment genuine and pure the way only the youngest member of their family could draw out.
"Ha! For the record," Yang stated after a few moments, flicking up her glorious golden mane. "My hair is unmatched in both 'poof' and 'floof'."
"With all the time you spend on it in the morning? It better," Tai said. "But if you're worried about partner troubles, don't let it get to you too much. Sometimes it takes more than being shot off a cliff into a Grimm-infested forest and a few weeks of classes for two people to really click together. Hell, your uncle wouldn't stop calling me 'you blond bastard' until our first Vytal Festival."
"Wasn't that because you tricked him into wearing a skirt on your first day?" Yang smirked.
"Allegedly, I thought it was a kilt."
"Actually, dad," Ruby said, her sudden seriousness slicing through the family merriment like her scythe. "Speaking of partner troubles…"
Their father's face took on a more sheltering look at the sound of his daughter's legitimate distress. "Is everything alright, Ruby? Are you and the Schnee girl having trouble again?"
"No, no, things are fine with Weiss. Better than fine really, she's been a huge help getting me caught up on the stuff I missed when I skipped ahead," Ruby clarified. "I was actually talking about Izuku."
"Really?" Tai said. "I can't say I'm not surprised. From how you talked about him in your letters, you made him out to be a great guy. What did he do?"
"Eh, it's less about 'what he did' and more 'why he may have done it'," Yang explained. "Really emphasizing the may part."
Tai quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I follow."
"It's… a long story," Ruby admitted. "Short version… well, you know how I've been mentioning that he's really interested in Yang's partner Katsuki for some reason? Well, apparently, the reason is that they're both reincarnations of their souls that were originally born in another dimension where they're both superheroes."
Tai stared at his youngest for several long moments, as if waiting for the punchline. Upon receiving no further elaboration from Ruby, he looked to Yang for a cue to take.
Yang could only shrug haplessly.
"… okay," Tai slowly started, returning his gaze to Ruby. "I think I'm gonna need the long version."
"Alright," Ruby hesitantly gulped. "Buckle up. It really is a long story."
"Full of twists and turns," Yang joked, trying to bring some of the comfortable familial levity back to the quagmire conversation. "Starring heroes, huntsmen hopefuls, gods, and even the immortal Grimm Queen Salem! Muhahaha!"
Her exuberant bombast was such that even Ruby couldn't help but let out a gleeful snicker. "Okay, I already admitted it sounds a bit ridiculous—"
"Who told you about her?"
Those five words, spoken as serious as the grave, were like a bucket of ice water dumped over Yang's spine. The golden-haired huntress and her sister both took a step back as their father's warm and approachable demeanor instantly vanished. Replacing it on Taiyang's face, the face of an experienced huntsman who had taken down monsters both human and Grimm alike in his time, was a look of utter dread and panic.
"Was it Ozpin? Did Ozpin tell you?!" their father demanded, his voice growing hotter and louder with each word, a couple of guards even glancing towards the sisters' cubicle and wincing at the volume. "He promised me. He promised me that he wouldn't even think of bringing you two in until after graduation! That lying, manipulative son of—"
"Dad!" Ruby desperately shouted, her concerned voice managing to cut through his building fury. "Told us about who?"
"Salem? The… immortal queen of the Grimm?" Yang slowly said, her mind already struggling to process her father's outburst. "She's not… she's not real? Right?"
Taiyang's baby blue eyes, still so vulnerable and scared, ping-ponged between his daughters before falling into his hand with an exhausted sigh. "… immortal?"
"Uh, yeah, that's what we heard," Ruby said. "Dad… what's going on?"
"It's… it's complicated. And not something that should be discussed over an open channel, especially when it seems that I don't have the complete picture myself," their father replied, more dour and tired than Yang had seen him since his depression after Summer's death. "I'm going to ask the headmaster here for a few days off. Come into Vale and figure this out. Until I get there, you two stay away from Ozpin and your partners as much as possible. If anything, anything, happens that's out of the ordinary, go to Glynda."
"Professor Goodwitch?" Yang inquired for clarification, not knowing any other Glynda but unsure how going to her was any different than going to the headmaster. Which they apparently weren't supposed to do for some reason?
"You're her students. I trust her to put keeping you safe over whatever game Ozpin is playing," Tai ominously explained. He paused to just look at them, tears of fear welling in his eyes. "I love you both… so much."
"We… we love you too, dad," Ruby replied, shaky and off-balance.
Tai did his best to offer them a smile as he stood up on his end. "Stay safe. Take care of each other. I'll be there in a few days."
With that, the CCT screen went dark.
For several long moments, all either of the sisters could do was stare at the blank console, stunned, flummoxed, and much, much more frightened than they had been before.
"Yang?" Ruby shakily intoned. "What was that?"
"I have no idea," Yang confessed. "But it was not nothing."
Even as she'd listened to Ruby's insistence that she'd heard what she'd heard eavesdropping on Izuku and Katsuki, Yang had never once doubted that there was a reasonable, logical explanation for the insane story. But then their father had heard only one detail, the supposed craziest detail of all the crazy details, and went off like a fire dust rocket. She'd known dad and Uncle Qrow had different opinions about Ozpin, their father hadn't made a secret that he wasn't thrilled by the offer to enroll Ruby in Beacon early, but the level of beef he'd hinted at… it sounded like some Captain Vale conspiracy plotline or something, and that was a freaking comicbook.
But if it was true, if it and the immortal Grimm Queen Salem were real in some capacity, was Izuku and Katsuki being isekai-ed truly outside the realm of possibility?
"Okay, okay, it was not nothing," Ruby panickedly rambled. "But you know what it wasn't. Something. Dad didn't even know what it was or what exactly he was talking about. So how about we just wait until he shows up and until then do our best to avoid Izuku and—shoot!"
The silver-eyed girl grabbed Yang's shoulder and yanked her down below the walls of the cubicle. The blonde was about to ask what she was doing when Ruby pressed a finger to her lips for silence. Poking her head to the side, the older sister slowly inched her head around their wall. Her eyes widened when she saw why her sister was unheeding of the weirded-out looks the guards were giving her.
Because coming out of the elevator onto the floor were Izuku and Katsuki.
"What do we do?" Ruby worried. "Dad said to stay away from them, but they're our partners. We can't just avoid them until he gets here. Besides, they were very clearly the good guys based on what I overheard, so should we really be avoiding them, or is dad just overreacting?"
"I don't think it matters one way or the other," Yang counseled her, though she could admit her own heart had started hammering in her chest when she'd sighted the boys. "Look, I don't think we need to do anything special. We can just let things be status quo until dad shows up and we get more intel, or, I don't know, try to figure out some of this before he gets here?"
"How do we act normal when dad just freaked out from one tiny detail about it?" Ruby asked. "What happens if they figure out that we know?"
"Ruby, it's still Izuku and Katsuki. What's the worst they'll do?" Yang pointed out, her smile stretched thin as she tried to convince herself as well as her sister. "Besides, there's no guarantee that they even know that you overheard them."
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"What do we do about Ruby?" Izuku worriedly inquired to Katsuki as they strode towards their assigned CCT cubicle. "She overheard us."
"She might have overheard us," Katsuki countered, still a bit peeved that he hadn't noticed the rose petals in the hall himself first. Despite the fact that he'd had more than enough on his mind to distract him at the time. "Moon Eyes might have just been running to get a cookie fix from the cafeteria before bed. And even if she did overhear us, we don't know how much she knows."
"That doesn't answer the question," Izuku mused. "What do we do if she knows?"
"It's Moon Eyes. Of all the extras in Beacon, there's not anyone less likely to be working for this Salem bitch."
"That is a good point," Izuku sheepishly sighed. Even putting aside that Ruby was the niece of Ozpin's associate Qrow, the idea of his idealistic partner allying with a heartless villain like Salem was laughable. "She has enough on her plate already though. Learning to be a leader and a huntress, catching up on the material she's missed from skipping ahead. This is our problem. She shouldn't be burdened with it."
"We're going to," Katsuki growled. "That's why we're here, remember?"
It was. Ozpin had advised the two of them to take some time to rest after their battle, Katsuki in particular to adjust to the confluence of identities in his head. Izuku took it as a testament to how rocked the young wolf faunus was that he'd actually spent a few days doing just that. But whether Katsuki Bell or Katsuki Bakugo, he wouldn't allow himself to stay still for long and he'd soon recruited Izuku to head to Beacon Tower to contact Kirishima.
"That reminds me," Izuku said. "Why did we come all the way out here instead of just calling from the library terminals?"
"Because the tower's a hundred times cooler than some library, Deku," Kacchan gruffly replied as they arrived at their cubicle.
Glancing around at all the sleek and shining Atlesian tech filling the room, Izuku found himself agreeing with that sentiment. While he understood that the four CCT towers were on paper less effective than Earth's phone networks, he couldn't help but be awed that the people of Remnant had created such a similar system while being assailed by Grimm on all sides and lacking any of Earth's satellite technology. Beacon Tower, and he imagined the three others as well, were monuments to humanity's indomitability as much as they were invaluable utilities.
It was wicked cool.
Katsuki typed the contact number they needed into the console, but he paused before making the call. He sternly looked back at Izuku. "Deku, during this call, no matter what you see or what's said, don't mention the coward."
"The coward? Blake?" Izuku queried. "What does she have to do with this—"
"Just don't! Get it!" Kacchan ordered.
Izuku winced, but he quickly nodded to keep from touching whatever nerve that was. As soon as he did, Kacchan turned back to the console and made the call.
The viewscreen rang for a few moments before it lit up with video of a cat faunus woman with a well-kept black bob and a simple but elegant white and black dress. Her surprised visage soon melted to one of warm joy as her amber eyes found Bakugo.
"Katsuki!" she pleasantly greeted, her voice and face filled with the same subdued maternal affection Izuku had seen in his own mom whenever he'd come home from school. "What a pleasant surprise! How are you?"
Izuku blinked, taking a moment to take in the older cat faunus. Her facial structure, her hair color, combined with Kacchan's words before the call, it was impossible to see the other woman as anything but an older version of Blake. But wasn't that impossible? Admittedly he hadn't done much research on what happened when a human and a faunus reproduced (it didn't really seem like a subject of importance), but he expected that Blake wouldn't be purely physically human if a faunus woman this old was biologically related to her. She might not have cat ears, but she'd have something…
… cat ears… that if she had… would be right where her bow was… her bow that was constantly twitching… because of the semblance she hadn't fully mastered… that she'd used flawlessly in all her sparring matches without any signs of difficulty… Could it be that…
"I'm alright, ma'am."
Izuku's thought process was immediately cut off as his gaze whipped towards Kacchan, the blond boy's head tipped towards the cat faunus woman in supplication, a few beads of sweat dribbling down his forehead. What was that?! There wasn't even a hint of his usual bombastic irreverence! Not even All Might, Mr. Aizawa, or his own mother were immune to that! Izuku looked to the older lady with a new sense of awe. What secret ancient magic of Remnant's did she possess?
"Are you sure? You look a little piqued," she concernedly inquired. "Has something happened this past week? Your letters before then said that all was well—"
"It is!" Kacchan snapped, only to instantly flinch back, grabbing at his forehead as if trying to cushion a headache. "It is, Kali. Everything is… fine. Just needed to ask about something."
The woman, Kali, narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but she didn't press the issue. Instead, her gaze flickered over to Izuku, her warm smile returned in full. "And who is your friend here?"
"Oh, hello, ma'am," Izuku squeakily greeted, bowing as intensely he could before this impossible creature. "My name's Izuku Midoriya! It's nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too, young man," Kali kindly replied, though she did cock an eyebrow in confusion. "Izuku Midoriya? Katsuki, I don't recall, did you mention him in your letters—"
"He's Deku—Broccoli Hair," Kacchan explained. "He's Broccoli Hair."
"Ah, yes. I'm thrilled to see you've grown close enough to introduce us," Kali cheerily said. "From what you'd been writing the two of you had been having some… issues."
Izuku nervously chuckled. "There was some miscommunication at the beginning, but we worked through it."
"With no small amount of competition, I'm guessing," Kali fondly smiled. "Katsuki does have his own unique way of making friends. Thank you for sticking by him through it."
"Always," Izuku declared, his voice determined and certain. He'd come all this way to find and save his friends. Just because Kacchan had his memories back didn't mean he'd leave him vulnerable. "You don't need to worry, ma'am. I've got his back up here."
Kali blinked in surprise at his surety before smiling. Kacchan groaned, his forehead bunching up in annoyance.
"Thank you for that, Izuku," Kali said. "I admit, I was a bit worried when Katsuki left home on his own. He's always been a spirited young man and I wasn't sure how well Beacon would treat him. Admittedly though, I do have my own issues with my kittens… nevermind."
"No, no, it's perfectly alright, ma'am," Izuku assured her, the hero in him desiring to help this kind woman in whatever small way he could. "If there's something you want to talk about—"
"Shut it, Deku," Kacchan growled.
"Katsuki, what have we talked about regarding manners?" Kali disappointedly intoned, the wolf faunus twitching at the light reprimand.
"Sorry, ma'am," Katsuki mumbled.
"And?"
"Sorry, Deku."
"Oh… uh… no problem," Izuku responded, more and more convinced that Kali was some sort of witch to make Kacchan apologize to him. He knew magic was real, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.
"As for your inquiry, Izuku, I don't want to bore you with an old woman's regrets," Kali said, a forlorn expression on her face. "Let's just say I have bad experiences with my kittens leaving me under less-than-ideal circumstances."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Izuku empathetically replied.
"Thank you, young man," Kali said. "My daughter has been… lost for a long time—"
"Ma'am, this isn't just a social call," Katsuki suddenly interjected. "Where's Kirishim—Eijiro!... Where's Eijiro?"
Kali's expression soured, a concerned frown spreading over her face. "What's this about, Katsuki?"
"Just… want to check in with him," Katsuki said. "Deku offered to foot the bill for a call, so I took advantage of it."
"Did he?" Kali said, glancing at Izuku with a tad more suspicion. "How generous."
"Kacchan's told me so many amazing things about Eijiro," Izuku explained. "I wanted to meet his best friend myself! He said that he nearly beat him in the scholarship tournament to come to Beacon!"
That was the lie they'd agreed upon to get to the young faunus. Ozpin (who was actually footing the bill for a call all the way to Menagerie) had been quite insistent on keeping any information about who the various reincarnations were out of the conversation in case The Queen was listening in somehow. He'd suggested that they inform Kirishima that the headmaster had been so impressed by Kacchan's performance at Beacon that he'd decided to invite him to sit in on Beacon classes in preparation for joining on scholarship (once again, funded out of Ozpin's considerable pocket) at the start of the next semester. Any spies that Salem had would easily be able to confirm that Katsuki was one of the top students in the first year and that Kirishima was the runner-up at the scholarship tournament on Menagerie. According to the headmaster, recruiting promising candidates to his academy was hardly out-of-the-ordinary behavior for him, especially when it served as a gesture to hopefully improve human and faunus relations, nothing that their enemy would suspect of extraordinary machinations. Since The Queen hopefully wasn't aware that Ozpin even knew about her failed spell and the reincarnations it had summoned, they should be able to use the plan to get Kirishima safely to Vale where they could explain the reality of the situation to him in person.
Unfortunately, Kali's flagging expression signaled that the plan would not be so easily carried out.
"That is unfortunately not possible at the moment," she said. "Eijiro is not currently on the island."
Izuku's eyes widened in shock, Kacchan's head shooting up in confoundment.
"Not on the island?!" the wolf faunus shouted. "The hell does that mean?! Where would he go!? How would he even—"
"He spoke often with our rainbow acquaintance after you left," Kali cut in, giving Katsuki a significant look.
"Rainbow…" Katsuki froze, disbelief suddenly blanketing his face. "No. No, he is not that stupid—"
"He was restless after you left, felt stagnant. He was assured he'd be helping people."
"Ergh," Katsuki groaned, facepalming. "I'm gonna kill him."
"Wait, I'm confused," Izuku spoke up. "What happened to Eijiro? Is he alright?"
Kali's lips pursed. "It's… not something to be discussed over CCT. Katsuki, I'll send you a letter explaining everything—"
"Do you know where he is? Right now?" Katsuki growled. "I'm going find him and beat some goddamn sense into—"
"Katsuki!" Kali snapped, forceful yet no louder than any other word she'd spoken. Yet, it ripped the young wolf faunus from his fury, his red eyes zipping up at the older woman. "I will send you a letter explaining the situation. In the meantime, continue your studies. You have no way to find him, and he would never want you to get yourself in trouble on his account."
Katsuki opened his mouth as if to spout out something else, only to clench his jaw back tight and bow his head. "Understood, ma'am."
"Good. I know you're worried about him. I certainly am as well. But this could go very badly for all of us if you rush into it," Kali advised. She took a deep breath and lightened her expression, looking to Izuku. "Now then, Izuku, care to tell me the actual names of you and Katsuki's classmates? He's mentioned that your teams are close, but while his nicknames are vivid, the only member I know by name is Pyrrha."
Katsuki looked to the side and snorted. "Only one worth remembering when I sent the letters."
"Say no more, ma'am," Izuku chuckled, starting to count off on his fingers for each of his friends. "Let's see, my team is made up of myself, my partner Ruby, Weiss, and…" the green-haired boy paused as he suddenly caught Kacchan's insistent crimson eye, realizing what his next words would reveal. "… and… Velvet! Velvet Scarlatina! Don't know why I couldn't think of her name for a second there."
"No worries, it happens to all of us," Kali reassured him, not suspecting a thing, though her brow did furrow in thought. "Though, Weiss… Ice… ugh. Katsuki, please don't tell me you've been addressing Weiss Schnee as 'Ice Bitch'."
Pointedly, Katsuki did not open his mouth to tell her such.
"If it helps, I think Weiss has started to see it as a term of endearment," Izuku suggested, eager to move on. "Now, on Katsuki's team, there's Pyrrha as you know, her partner Jaune, and Katsuki's partner who's the sister of my partner Ruby, Yang."
"Did someone say my name?!"
"Oh, goddamn it," Katsuki muttered, Izuku hopping back as Yang sprang up out of nowhere and threw an arm around her partner.
"Hey, Sparky! Green Bean!" the blonde cheerily greeted, even more bright and sunny than usual. "How you doing?"
"Yang?!" Izuku squawked, his eyes whipping around to scan the communications for any other surprise guests, spotting Ruby frantically assuring some displeased guards that they did in fact know Izuku and Katsuki and weren't just sabotaging their call. Izuku, not wanting them to get in trouble, swiftly gave the guards a thumbs-up and waved his partner over.
Though, once the red-hooded girl was in their cubicle, he found he couldn't hide a subtle tremor in his body. The past few days, it had felt like Ruby had been avoiding him, sitting away from him in class and darting her gaze away whenever they were in the same place like during their study sessions with Weiss or their team meals. Such occurrences had only increased his suspicions that his partner had overheard crucial information the night Katsuki's memories had returned and probably believed he was insane… no, no, like Kacchan said, there was no guarantee she'd heard anything. She could have just been on one of her late-night cookie runs and passed through that hall, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He just had to play it cool. Keep it cool.
"Hey, Ruby. You weren't in the room when I woke up," he said. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Oh. You know…" Ruby squeaked, her tiny body trembling. "Yang doesn't send letters home. Gave dad an update call. The usual. The usuge."
… Yeah, she knew everything.
"Well, it's a pleasant surprise to meet you both. Katsuki's told me so much about you," Kali smiled, obvious to anything more happening than just kids being kids. "My name is Kali Belladonna, a caretaker of Katsuki's from the Bell House."
"The Bell House? So that's where you grew up, Sparky! Cool that you took your name from… there…" Yang's brow suddenly furrowed in thought, her words trailing off. Her eyes narrowed at Kali's visage on the viewscreen. "Belladonna… Hey, Ms. Kali, you kind of look like someone we know."
"Really?" Kali cheekily inquired. "No one unflattering I hope."
Izuku's face paled, Katsuki's eyebrows twitching. The wolf faunus's sparking palm slowly inched up next to his oblivious partner's well-groomed head.
"Nah! She's great. I mean, quiet, but great," Yang told Kali. "She's actually got the same last name as you, Ruby and Izuku's teammate—"
"Yang!" Ruby piped up, dashing over to her sister and yanking Katsuki's sparking palm away from her sister's head. "This is probably the first chance Katsuki and Kali have gotten to talk in months. Let's not make the conversation about us."
"Thank you for your consideration, Ruby. But I am eager to hear about you all. It warms my heart to hear Katsuki's made so many friends," Kali assured the young girl. The cat faunus's face scrunched in thought. "Though, which of your teammates share my name? Not you, Izuku, or Ms. Schnee from what I've heard and, according to Izuku, Velvet's last name is Scarlatina."
Ruby blinked. "Velvet? She's not—"
"Oh no, there's some bullshit interference fucking with the CCT!" Katsuki exclaimed, his hand darting forward and adjusting the frequency dial of the cubicle, static crackling over the viewscreen. "Sorry, ma'am! Call you back when I can! Say hi to the extras for me!"
"Kat—suki! Don't yo—dare—" Kali protested, her voice constantly interrupted by the static. "What—going on—what aren't—you telling—"
Katsuki hit the hang-up button, the wolf faunus biting his lip hard enough to draw a small drop of blood. However, as his body trembled with rage, he slowly turned on Yang and Ruby.
The silver-eyed girl squeaked in fear, Yang nervously pushing her sister behind her as her partner bore down on them. "Sparky, why did she look like an older version of Blake—"
"Do either of you have any idea what you nearly just did?" Katsuki growled, his voice low and venomous instead of thunderously bombastic. "No, of course you don't. Neither of you morons know how to do anything but butt in where no one wants you. Next time you feel like meddling with something you know nothing about? Don't."
It might have been the uncharacteristic low volume, or the lack of profanity riddling his words, or the barely restrained tremble in his body, but Yang actually flinched away from her partner's scathing retort, Ruby looking down in shame as Katsuki stomped off towards the elevator.
"Kacchan! Wait!" Izuku called. He made to follow the other boy but found he couldn't help but pause when he saw his partner close to tears. "Ruby, he's just… dealing a lot right now. He didn't mean all that."
Ruby's gaze flickered to him, her thin wet trails trickling down her cheeks. "Are you lying to me, Izuku?"
He opened his mouth to respond but found no words would come from his lips. He had a feeling she wasn't just referring to his assurances about Kacchan.
"Deku! Come on!" the wolf faunus barked from the opening elevator.
Izuku took one last sorrowful look at Ruby and Yang before darting off to join the other Earth-native in the elevator carriage.
When the doors closed and he and Kacchan, he found himself glaring reproachfully at his rival. "Interfering where you don't need to is the essence of being a hero."
"We don't need interference. Moon Eyes and Poofy Hair want an explanation, they can ask for one, not get in our way," Katsuki growled, swaying on his feet to the point that Izuku had to help him balance and lean against the wall. "We need to find the coward."
"Blake? Why?" Izuku queried. "And who is Kali to her?"
"Her mother," Kacchan replied, trying to take control of shallow breaths. "And she's our only lead on where the White Fang's bases in Vale are."
"The White Fang? The terrorists?"
"Terrorists, freedom fighters, losers, whatever you want to call them," Katsuki snarled. "Kirishima's joined them for some dumbass reason."
"What!?" Izuku exclaimed, his brain filling with panic.
One of his worst fears was that some of his classmates' changed circumstances would cause them to fall in with villainous groups! And to hear that it had happened to Kirishima, one of the kindest of them all, was a travesty! They had to find him before it was too late!
Although, that still left the question…
"Why would Blake be able to help us find White Fang bases?" he inquired.
Katsuki shrugged. "Because she's either a White Fang spy or a deserter."
…
"WHAT?!"
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA
"What were the major consequences of the Treaty of Fort Castle—Ruby!"
"Huh?" Ruby murmured, whipping her head up from where she'd been staring fearfully at the door to Team RIBW's dorm, incessantly tapping on her bed's covers as she watched, waited. A state of affairs which Weiss, the only other team member currently in the room, was understandably vexed with.
"We're already behind a study session thanks to that drama with Jaune's transcripts. If you want to get caught up on the material you missed, you have to pay attention," Weiss reminded her, the heiress striking an aggro, determined pose. "We have to study with everything we've got!"
"Right, right," Ruby muttered, despite the fact her gaze still lingered on the dorm door. "Did Izuku say if he was coming tonight?"
"He texted me that he was attending Professor Oobleck's quiz circle in the library," Weiss said with a shrug. "I question the wisdom of pitting himself against the second and third-years that usually dominate these events, but if he wants to test himself, who am I to judge?"
Quiz circle? That didn't sound completely outside the realm of Izuku's interests, he did love learning new things about Remnant. But was he telling the truth? Was he lying? Or was he telling what he thought was the truth but was actually a lie because he was crazy and had somehow made Katsuki crazy as well—
Eeeerrrgghhh! She wished she'd never told Yang or called her dad! Now, dad heavily implying that an immortal queen of the Grimm was real and that everything else she'd heard was actually plausible had stoked Yang into doing all she could to 'act normal' (for all the good that did at the CCT Tower) until he arrived and whipped Ruby's already panicking mind into a full-blown continuous meltdown. The last thing she'd ever wanted to do at Beacon was doubt her partner, but by this point, the question was less if Izuku was lying to her and more of how much had he lied to her. And whether he'd had a good reason for doing it.
"Ruby? Seriously, I know you're not big on history that isn't a who's-who of legendary huntsmen, but learning from the past is important," Weiss said, snapping her fingers to draw her leader's attention. "Now, Treaty of Fort Castle, go!"
The silver-eyed huntress sighed. "The humiliation of General Legune led to the remaining Mantle military old guard losing influence in Atlas to Headmistress Fria Arendelle and her new Specialist Program which created a minor cultural rift between Atlas and the other kingdoms to this day. The faunus gained the right to live outside Menagerie, which in turn led many councils to create discriminatory laws against them including the Atlas Military's segregation, which in turn… uh… which in turn…"
"Which in turn led to the founding of the White Fang by Ghira Belladonna and Sienna Khan," Weiss finished. "Not bad. You're getting much better at fleshing out the meaning of the consequences instead of just mindlessly listing them. But! There is always room for improvement! Don't forget to mention that the military's segregation was only repealed a mere ten years ago when General Ironwood became head of the military, and even then, only by his internal mandate rather than council vote—"
"Ghira Belladonna?" Ruby cut in, a name she'd heard countless times in history classes suddenly swinging back into focus. "The White Fang was founded by Ghira Belladonna."
"Its original peaceful incarnation, yes. Did you not know that?" Weiss inquired, a look of horror on her face. "Just how low have Vale's educational standards dropped?"
"What? I knew who Ghira Belladonna is, that's not… did he have a wife? Or a sister?" Ruby fervently asked. "Someone named Kali Belladonna?"
"Okay, her, I'm surprised you've heard of at all. Mrs. Belladonna doesn't receive near as much coverage in the history books as her husband or Sienna Khan," Weiss admitted. "However, if you ask me, that is a colossal oversight on their part. Kali Belladonna was a prominent activist long before she met her future husband and continues to do extensive humanitarian work since he became chieftain of Menagerie, including acting as the main patron to the Bell House, Kuo Kuona's, that's Menagerie's capital, main orphanage for refugee children."
"That's where Katsuki grew up," Ruby noted, Weiss's information fitting in with what she'd already learned from Beacon Tower. "How come you know so much about her?"
Weiss's spine suddenly shot straight up, nervously scratching her chin and huffing away. "Well, um, as a Schnee… um, well…"
Ruby chuckled. "Man, what'd you do? Give her the wrong salad fork at a dinner?"
"Don't be absurd! I would never be so barbaric!" Weiss gasped. "It's just… the White Fang has had a… poor history with my family since Sienna Khan turned them into a bunch of violent lunatics. After more than a few nights when my father came home from work… frustrated, my sister encouraged me to research the White Fang's history. Both to 'know thy enemy' and to understand how father's failure to support Ghira Belladonna's efforts was another stain he'd marred my family honor with. Then I realized it was recent political history and I just couldn't put the books down. You know how it is."
"Yeah, totally," Ruby sarcastically remarked.
Weiss pouted and crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. "Izuku would get it."
Ruby's face instantly fell. Because Weiss was right. Izuku would have enjoyed learning about Remnant's recent political history. But what her teammate didn't know was that Izuku would enjoy it because it was the history of an entirely new world to him. Heck, did his world even have faunus?
"Ruby?" Weiss asked, concern crossing the heiress's face. "Are you alright? You haven't had even a single cookie and yet your attention span is even more shot than usual."
"It's… it's complicated," Ruby admitted. "I found something out about Izuku and Katsuki that's… big. Not bad, I think, but big. And I don't know what to do about it."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Weiss gently asked. "I might be able to help."
Ruby shook her head. She'd told Yang about what she'd heard, and she'd freaked out and butted into Katsuki and Izuku's call, which had only gotten the wolf faunus angry with them. Her dad had only learned a few details and he was dropping everything to come chew out Professor Ozpin or something. He didn't even know Izuku and Katsuki. Weiss was their friend, she admired them, even with her continued puzzlement over Izuku's handling of Jaune's transcripts. Ruby couldn't risk changing the way the heiress looked at them over something the red-hooded girl didn't even fully understand.
But Weiss was right, she needed to talk to someone about this, figure out some course of action. But with her dad's warnings to stay away from her partner and her teachers, and any of her other friends knowing Izuku and Katsuki just as well as Weiss, what option did she have to seek for advice?
… except… someone who didn't know Izuku and Katsuki! An impartial opinion who had no stakes whatsoever in the messed-up, impossible situation!
And she knew exactly who fit the bill!
"To video games!" Ruby exclaimed, leaping to her feet with her energy returned.
"Video games?" Weiss repeated, a frown falling over her lips. "Oh no, you don't. This was just an elaborate ploy to get out of studying!"
"What? No, Weiss, I'm serious. I need to talk to a guy I play video games with."
"We are behind a study session! Your academic performance depends on our due diligence!"
"I can do that after! Missing one day isn't going to kill me!"
"That's what you think! And that's what Great Uncle Algernon Schnee thought when he skipped Safety Course Day at the mine he was managing."
"You have an uncle?"
"I had an uncle."
It took a while, but eventually Ruby was able to use her authority as team leader to get Weiss to back down. The Schnee Heiress threw up her hands in vexed exasperation and declared that she'd head down to the library to join Blake's reading or help Izuku prove their team's intellectual superiority in Dr. Oobleck's quiz circle.
Meanwhile, Ruby booted up Ultimate Ninja Master and set to work reaching out to a 'handy' man.
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Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!
