In seventeen years since he was born, Shirou Emiya didn't believe he had been ever excited like during the last weeks. For other people, the reasons could be trivial, but it wasn't like that for the auburn-haired boy. After all, before that travel, he never left his town, Fuyuki, expect for the raids against the Grimm near the borders for his training under his old man's supervision and the local underground, who took him under its wing after the his old man's death.
To the eyes of the others it could have been very strange, but they'd have to take in account that ,in comparison of many of his peers, everything about his travel was a new experience for him: being aboard a ship to reach Vale, seeing the sea, the capital of the continent and understanding it was enormous if compared to his hometown, the level of technology, and seeing the world from above while he was aboard an airship
Everything was a continuous wonder for him.
And his excitement could just rise, when he saw it.
His new school, Beacon Academy.
At first, since he had learned he could attend that prestigious institution, Shirou wondered how much it would have been different from his old school at his hometown, but in that moment he understood he had been naive and that it would have been something of incredible.
Even from afar and from a high position, the school seemed majestic and its location, just before an impressive's cliff's edge, enhanced that first impression.
In fact, when he finally came down from the airship and he saw the wide avenue leading to what appeared to be the main building, Shirou could be just only still on the spot because of his amazement.
Before it was just a dream, now it was totally reality.
That place would have been his new home for the next four years and, in the end of them, he would have become a Huntsman.
A hero, just like his old man.
But once again, while the excitement was rising, the doubts, which had grippen him in the past, started to trouble him.
Because of his old man.
Kiritsugu Emiya wasn't just his adoptive father and the man who gave him a home and a family, but he was even his saviour, his hero and his inspiration. It wasn't strange that Shirou wanted to become a Huntsman like him, after all. So, he couldn't understand why Kiritsugu was so opposed to the idea, despite he taught him everything he knew about the job and evey time Shirou asked him about his reasons. When he was dying years ago, and finally he gave him the permission, the boy couldn't understand his reasons when he finally explained them to his son, after all this time.
"I wanted to be a hero of justice when i was young, so it's because of that i became a Huntsman, but...Shirou, becoming a Huntsman isn't like you think. Not at all. You can go out there, you can use your Aura and your Semblance to kill Grimm, you can think you became a hero, like i desired to be years ago...In the end you believe you've become a panacea against the evils of this world and instead, without noticing it, you've become a part of the problem"
"I...I don't understand..."
"Nevermind...I don't believe I have enough time now...Shirou, I can just pray you won't repeat my same mistakes."
That night, Kiritsugu Emiya died while he was sleeping, just some hours after that last conversation with his adoptive son. And still today, Shirou didn't have any idea about what his old man meant.
"What did you want to tell me, dad? Why was becoming a Huntsman like you wrong to your eyes?" Shirou thought, still dwelling about those words and not finding any answer.
But on the other hand, what did he know about Kiritsugu Emiya's life, before that fateful day when he saved him and adopted him after that? He knew only that he had been a Huntsman and he had been part of a team named OEEK( "Oak"), but beyond that his past was a blank page, if it was excluded he was a great jerk, according to Qrow Branwen, and frankly he didn't seem a dependable source to him(if the alcoholism was the ultimate of many adult Huntsmen, maybe Kiritsugu wasn't so wrong to opposing his becoming one of them...). Maybe something of terrible happened to him, and he became jaded because of that.
But now Shirou was there and ,while he was looking the building another time, he couldn't believe he did a wrong choice and so his resolution was restored.
"Maybe one day I will find what you wanted to tell me, but until the moment I swear I'll do my best, dad." Shirou thought, while he went toward the entrance: he had remained standing on the place, while he was lost in his train of thoughts.
But he took just a few steps, when from afar he saw and heard a certain scene.
A girl, wearing a white dress and with snow-color hair done in side-ponytailed style(a rich girl, judging from the fabric of her dress, the number of luggage, and the porters) was shouting about some incident against another one, a seemingly younger girl with short black hair and wearing a black and red dress, and this one seemed to want just to disappear.
"I'm really sorry, really sorry!"
"Ugh! You complete, dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"
"Well...I..."
"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know. So watch where you're going!"
"Hey, I said i was sorry, Princess!"
"Hmmph, sorry can't even cover a tenth of the damage you could have done. And then, where are your manners, when you talk with someone like me?"
"Now i think you're going too far, according to me." A cold voice interrupted them, prompting the two girls toward the source.
It had been Shirou: he watched from afar what was transpiring behind his eyes and he was unsure if he had to interfere or not, considering it wasn't his business and he didn't saw everything from the start. But now he felt he had to take action.
The snow-haired girl was outraged by this intrusion, and so she directed her rage against the red-haired boy:"Too far? Too far!? Do you have know what she did? Do you have any idea about the potential damage she could have done with her total lack of consideration?"
Shirou was fazed, because he noticed that, if that girl seemed cute to him from afar, she was beautiful more closely, and neither her short stature nor the scar one her left eye could affect such fact. But it was just for a moment, because Shirou regained himself quickly and he answered her : "No, I don't know it: I didn't see what happened. But i saw she apologized to you, and you ignored her, attacking her even more without any regard. Now, I don't know if she is too young or not to attend Beacon, but even if she is, it isn't a good reason for your behavior. In that case, should you not try to be more kind toward her, as a good education requires?"
The snow-haired girl seemed she couldn't believe what she just heard, because the amazement painted her face. But it was just for a moment, before the indignation took the place on her expression and pointed her finger against him threateningly.
"Do...Do you...do you have any idea who are you talking about, peasant?". It was almost like she was going to explode.
"No, should I?" Shirou replied her bluntly.
"I'm Weiss Schnee!" The girl answered him with an arrogant tone, almost like it was something everyone had to know naturally.
BUt sadly for her, Shirou wasn't everyone:"Ehm...it doesn't ring any bells." The name wasn't familiar to him.
This time the girl, now known as Weiss Schnee, worn a mask of total disbelief, as if she couldn't believe she wasn't recognized.
Then her face showed to him an expression of pure quiet rage, and she told him:"I will remember this affront, believe me" and then she went away.
But she didn't make even five steps, becasuse the red-haired boy called her:"Hey, wait a moment!"
Weiss turned on him with a smug expression, maybe expecting something like some excuses. But she was wrong, because the boy said her with a blank tone." You forgot this one" and he showed her a flask of red Dust( he collected it before, when he came across the scene).
Without saying any word, the snow-haired girl took it from his hand, and went away with bold steps.
A dejected Shirou sighed and thought:" Good start...", before he caught by a train...or something similar.
"Hello, i wish to thank you for your help! Are you going to attend Beacon, too...How silly of me, it's obvious you are, otherwise you wouldn't be here, I'm really sorry...So, where did you come from? I'm from Signal, like my sister... and she's not here. Who are you? What's your weapon? What..."
Shirou couldn't expect it: the girl dressed in red and black(and with particular silver eyes, now that he could see her more closely), was like a river in flood or an erupting volcano with all that enthusiasm. A sudden transformation, considering she seemed vulnerable against the verbal attack of the white-haired girl before, and Shirou was forced to stop her, otherwise he woudl have been overwhelmed by her.
"Oh easy, easy, otherwise you will explode." Shirou interrupted her with politeness.
The girl seemed to notice it, because she started to stutter:"Oh, I'm...I'm... really sorry. When...when I'm in these situations, I cannot help...to feel..."
Shirou decided to help her: "Start again, ok? I'm Shirou. Shirou Emiya, nice to meet you." He said her, extending his hand.
The silver-eyed girl took it and did a big smile to him:" Nice to meet you, too. I'm Ruby Rose."
"Ruby? This is some kind of familiar..." Shirou thought, but he couldn't remember where and when he heard about it, and it wasn't important in that moment. Soon, while they were walking around, he was entangled in a conversation with her, and soon ,with his great pleasure, he found out she was a very nice girl, although... too weapon-obsessed.
"So, did you stop a robbery in a shop of Vale and so, because of that, you've got admitted in Beacon two years early? Wow, that's amazing." Shirou said to her, when Ruby told him about the reason why she was admitted beforehand.
"I don't know: I don't think it was something great. I mean, I'm just a normal girl." Ruby lessened her actions.
But Shirou wasn't so conviced:"It's still a better way to be here than mine. And then...Did just a 'normal' girl happen to corner a criminal boss, known to be one of the most elusive wanted man even to policemen and veteran Huntsmen? Sorry if I say you, but I don't buy it.
Ruby was embarassed:" Well, it was just luck. Besides i had great help , thanks to this baby" and she drew a scythe, even bigger than her, from behind her cape.
Shirou was impressed:"That's a quite amazing weapon you have."
The younger girl was pleased by the statement, judging from the big grin on her face:"Yeah, don't you think too? Its name is Crescent Rose and it is..."
"A High- Caliber Sniper Scythe capable of switching between three modes: 'storage' for the transportation, 'rifle' for the long-range combat and 'scythe' for the mid-close combat and 1.5 seconds of time to swithing between them. You're selling yourself too short. After all, it requires some quite ability to wield something like that."
Ruby was flabbergasted, but she couldn't help to be like that: Shirou said everything about her weapon, before she could do the same thing:" How can you say all of this about my weapon? You never saw it before today, and besides I projected and forged it personally when I attended Signal Academy."
Her astonishment was justified, and Shirou found himself biting his tongue: he had spoken before he thought, and he had been instructed by his father to be more aware about to let know about his abilities. So, he answered her with an embarassed tone, trying to be elusive:"Well...let's say, I have a certain eye for the weapons." It wasn't really all of it, but it was technically true from a certain point of view, anyway.
But Ruby didn't seem confused or suspecting, because her face was beaming:"Wow, It's the best day of my life! Finally there is someone else can understand the beauty and the wonder of the weapons, especially of this baby here. And what you have, as your partner?" She asked him with an immense curiosity on her face and her tone.
A relieved Shirou was happy to oblige her:"Well, I have these ones" and he draw off a pair of matching black and white curved swords from his back
Ruby was taken by surprise, but she couldn't help it: she could see their intrinsic beauty and how well they were forged. But in the same time she was a little perplexed:" They're beautiful, i can see, but...just 'swords'?"
Shirou was a little offended:"While Kanshou and Bakuya couldn't seem to be a big deal, I can tell you I could never have weapons better than them. Besides, when there is need, they can be combined to become a bow. And so, I can cover a long-range combat, shooting modified-Dust arrows."
Ruby wasn't still convinced:" I can say this is impressive, but...no guns or similar?"
The Ruby's question was legitimate: after all, almost every Huntsmen's weapons were projected both as firearm and close-ranged arm. And Shirou chose to be true, about that point:" I don't like firearms, that's all."
"This is more understandable, but sadly a bow can't be accurate or powerful as much as a firearm...especially compared to Crescent Rose"
It wasn't a challenge and it had been said without any malice, but what Ruby said wasn't something Shirou could pass over, especially considering he forged his weapons personally. So he told her with a grin:" I'll let you know that a bow can be deadly as if not more than a gun or a rifle, if it is put in the right hands...and I'm the best for this.
Behind a such statement and understanding what he wanted to tell her, Ruby could just smile to him and say :"Oh, yeah? I'll take you up on that, when it will the moment."
Shirou nodded to her: a silent challenge was signed between the two Huntsmen-in training.
After that, the silver-eyed girl was caught by a thought:" Anyway, Shirou...Where are we going?
Shirou was caught by surprise:"I was just following you."
Both of them understood the reality: they were walking around without purpose, and they were at risk of missing the opening ceremony.
"It's not even my first day, and I found already myself in anxiety" Shirou thought, while he and Ruby ran like crazy in order to not be in late.
Like every thing happened to him since he was admitted to Beacon, sleeping around other people was a novelty for Shirou: after the opening ceremony, one the teachers who held the rite ,a blond female and bespectacled Huntress, had announced that all the new students would have spent the night in the ballroom and, the next day, they would have their initiation. But while his peers were already sleeping in their sleeping bags or making acquaintance among them, Shirou kept to himself in a corner of the big hall, because he thought there was always time for these things later during the year. Besides, like his own father always said, he wasn't supposed to skip his daily training in every circumstances, like the meditation before sleeping.
"Remember, Shirou, having a trained body is always an advantage, in the battle. But a trained and quiet mind wins more than half of the battles, even before of starting."
And so, even around many people, Shirou held a strict discipline and he tried to make order between his thoughts, closing his eyes. After all it was needed, because the day had been very eventful: his enthusiasm about being in Beacon, the heated discussion with the snow-haired girl, his new acquaintance with Ruby Rose and the subsequent race to be right on the schedule left their strain on the aspiring Huntsman.
But there had been two other facts on that day, and they hit him in a different way.
First of all, the Headmaster: it was a true enigma. Shirou, as many people, had heard about Ozpin, director of Beacon( even Kiritsugu had spoken about him, although Shirou didn't understand what his own father thought about that character). The auburn-haired boy knew Ozpin was one of most important institutions for many Huntsmen in all of Remnant since many decades, so he was flabbergasted when he saw him for the first time.
Ozpin didn't look like young, but he didn't seem even very old: he looked like a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair. Besides he wore an unzipped black suit, over a dark green buttoned vest and shaded glass spectacles, so he didn't seem very professional judging from his clothing.
The riddle about him became even more complicated, when Shirou heard his short speech during the opening ceremony.
"I'll...keep this brief" He announced, while he was adjusted his spectacles." You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But i look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."
"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Shirou didn't know what to think about that speech, because if on the one hand it should have encourage the students to take a broader approach to their new life, on the other the voice the Headmaster used to carry his words was kind of off and devoid of passion, almost like if he didn't quite believe about what he had said. And because of that, Ozpin was a heavy contradiction to his eyes.
Besides, Shirou felt unnerved by the other teacher who were accompanying Ozpin.
During the speech he noticed this Huntsman, a very tall man, about forty-years old, with slighly long brown hair and wearing a double-breasted black suit, didn't keep his gaze fixed on the same point, but his eyes seemed to wander and watch every students, one by one.
At some point, when his gaze laid on Shirou, the dual-wieder swordsman had the sensation that teacher had lingered on him a second more than the usual, and just only for a moment,it appeared to him that his face was distorted in a ugly grin.
Maybe it was nothing, but Shirou can't help to feel in this way.
And because of things like that, the meditation was the best panacea to put away the bad thoughts and organize the mind for tomorrow. And Shirou Emiya had reached such a level to ignore everything and everybody around him...
"HELLOOOO!"
Unless the interferences weren't directed on him, as in this case.
Shirou opened his eyes and saw that the person calling him was a beautiful girl with long blond hair to the waist, amethyst-colored eyes, and big...assets(as Shirou thought for lack of a better term), and she was coming at him, while she was waving him with a hand and was dragging with the other one a reluctant girl who the auburn-haired boy recognized immediately as Ruby.
"I believe you two may know each other." The blond girl said him, while she was referring to the silver-eyed girl.
Shirou repressed a sigh of irritation, and he turned on politely on Ruby(after all, she was dragged against her will):"Yeah, we met each other this morning. Is there something else I can do for you, Ruby?"
Ruby seemed a little sorry:"Nothing...I just said to my sister what happened today and..."
"And so i wanted to meet the knight in shining armor who saved that squirt of my little sister from the clutches of that evil ice witch. And I must say...You're not so bad, looking at you now" The blond girl intruded and turned on Shirou with a flirting voice and a big smile on his face.
Shirou was amazed by the fact she was Ruby's sister. There were little physical resemblance between each girls( even if it could mean nothing) and no characterial resemblance: comparing to the silver-eyed one ,the blond one carried herself carried herself with a certain confidence, besides...Shirou didn't have much experience with the opposite sex, but even he could feel her smile was...predatory and she seemed very...dangerous.
"I had done just what i think was right, that's all. I don't believe it was so much" He tried to lessen his actions.
But the blond girl wasn't deterred:"Good-looking, kind, and even modest? I must say: I like you even more...Handsome."
"Handsome?"Now Shirou was really starting to sweat, so he tried to be cool:" I don't think we know each other since long to call each other in this way."
As if this could stop her:"Well, let's fix that, handsome. Yang Xiao Long, nice to meet you. And I'm sure you'll be happy to...know me better."
"Yeah, sure..." Shirou thought:"Besides...Wait a minute... Yang? Ruby? Squirt?..." The aspiring Huntsman was caught by an thought, so he said to the blond girl with a deadpan voice:"We'll see it...Firecracker."
A bolt from the blue could have not be more deadly, because both the sisters were flabbergasted by what they just heard.
Especially Yang:"How do you know that name? Only our uncle uses it!"
"Aren't you Qrow Branwen's nieces? He told me about you two." Shirou said to them. It was true, because when Qrow Branwen had been guest in his home some weeks ago, sometimes he spoken about his two nieces...or rather, during the rare occasions he could say complete sentences.
Anyway, Ruby was excited with glowing eyes:" Do you know Uncle Qrow? How is he? Where was he? How do you know each other? What is his current mission? What..."
Once again Shirou was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of Ruby Rose, but Yang was used to her sister's antics, so she knew what do:" Quiet down, little sis, otherwise you will explode."
Ruby understood what she was doing and so she apologized to him:" Ah, yeah, yeah, sorry.., it's... We don't see our uncle since much time except some occasional calling by scroll, so I was thrilled to hear about him, so...How did you meet him, anyway?"
Shirou sighed, so he explained to them:"Well, my old man and Qrow were colleagues, when he was still an active Huntsman. I met him some weeks ago, when he had been guest in my home in Anima in order to resolve a certain matter." From a certain point of view, it was true, but Shirou wasn't going to elaborate what matter: he didn't want to say them he wanted a recommendation to Beacon to him(it could have been perceived negatively, considering many students came from combat schools).
Shirou continued with a deadpan voice:"Anyway, when you'll see him, tell him a quite steep laundry's bill awaits for him: I've never met someone else drinking like him."
Both the girls scratched the back of their heads, while they were making chuckling nervously: their uncle's...passion wasn't certainly a novelty for them.
Ruby took the floor: "Eheh...it's true uncle Qrow is a little...extravagant, we cannot deny it, but he's super strong and and he had always been an example for us."
"About that, i can believe it. Qrow Branwen is good example about how...not to be as adult." Shirou thought, but he chose to be silent with the sisters: it would have been rude and besides, despite what he thought, he didn't know nothing about their family and it wasn't his place making assumptions.
An unaware Ruby continued:"You know, my uncle, together with my father and the the heroes of the stories that my sister read to me when i was little, are my inspirations and so I decided to be a Huntress."
This time Shirou was more focused about what Ruby was saying: even Kiritsugu had been not quite a role model(although more than that drunkard), but he tried of his best, and his adoptive son would have lied if he had said to not have been inspired by him.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress, so much?" Shirou asked her with curiosity.
"Well, i want to be like them, someone who fights for what is right and who protects people who can't protect themselves."
It was strange for Shirou hearing something like that: it was his same dream, and what his own father wished, before he met him.
"Well, I can say...It's a good dream." Shirou said to her, and, hearing that, Ruby could just beam.
"Ahhhhh, my little sister finally found her soulmate. I'm so proud of you, Ruby" But the solemnity of that moment was broken by Yang, who took Ruby by her waist and she lifted her in air, while she made fun of her little sister
Naturally Ruby wasn't so compiancent.
"Cut it out!" And so, a slightly amused Shirou watched a total sisterly brawl and thought:"Wow that's...something"
"What in the world is going over there!? Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!?"
But naturally they were making too much fuss, and consequently someone would have been bothered by it and would have intervened in order to interrupt them, as
But, as Shirou thought, why did the upset girl with hair down and nightdress have to be Weiss Schnee?
And sadly Weiss became even more upset, when she realized who she was talking with...
"OH, NO! YOU AGAIN!". She cried, together with Ruby, when she saw her in her turn. For his part, Shirou was starting to feel the beginning of a headache about what he thought was going to happen behind his eyes. And he was right, because Ruby and the snow-haired girl started to quarrel with each other, quickly followed by Yang, who naturally took the side of her sister.
"I'm sorry, but it's late and tomorrow there will be a big challenge behind us. So please, can you let go every animosity among you, at least for tonight?" The red-haired boy asked them with a tired voice.
Maybe Ruby and Yang would have accepted it, but Weiss, when she saw who had just spoken, wasn't so accommodating:"Ah I should have guessed it: as if walking this disaster wasn't enough, you were there too. After all, it was missing a rude and ignorant one like you among this mess."
Despite he was tired, Shirou wanted to clarify something to her, at least. Weiss would have been his classmate for the next four years, and it wasn't wise to being in her bad side:" I just said what i think was right, but if i appeared rude to you, then I'm really sorry. It wasn't my intention and I didn't want to offend you. But about being ignorant, I have nor really clue about what you're saying. Could you explain it to me?"
Weiss seemed affected by what she just heard: maybe it had been the kind tone used by Shirou this time ( this morning, he used a hard one with her) with the apologies. But what was more important for her was another thing:" Was you...really honest today?
Shirou was confused:" About what?"
"Do You have really not idea who I am?
"I know your name is Weiss Schnee and nothing else. Why, is there something more?"
Weiss was really amazed, judging by the look on her face, but Ruby and Yang, who were listening all of it, were flabbergasted too. It had to be really serious, because the blond girl took the word with an unusual aware voice for her: "Ehm, Handsome... Ice Queen is the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers and exporters of Dust in all Remnant. Almost all the people use their products: even a child knows about it."
Hearing this, Shirou had to struggle against the impulse of hitting his head with his hand. Naturally he knew about the SDC: its foundation and its rise by the hand of Nicholas Schnee, following the Great War, were important subjects in every single history book. So he understood the snow-haired girl behind him would have become one of the most powerful people of the world in the future.
No wonder she called him ignorant, so Shirou tried to explain himself:"Ehm... I don't usually read or watch mundane news, so I didn't know nothing about you. Besides back in my home, I and all the other inhabitants of my hometown use only local Dust products, made and provided by a small company of a local family. Obviously I know about the SDC and its history, but besides that it doesn't affect my lifestyle so much, and so I don't know nothing else. So I'm really ignorant, as you said."
Maybe she was convinced to scoring a small victory against him with his admission, because Weiss resumed her arrogant behavior:" Naturally you're nothing more than a naive countryman. It was just logical you didn't know nothing..."
"But my point still remains."
"What?" Weiss didn't expect that new interruption by Shirou.
"The SDC and its history are important, not you. So why have you to behave in such bossy way?"
Weiss didn't say anything, but Shirou had not yet finished:"You're the heiress, but personally I don't think it's so much. After all, it's just a stroke of luck being born in certain families."
"It was Nicholas Schnee who founded the company, not you. Did you do something of important or big great permit such arrogance?"
"Besides I heard horrible things sometimes about the SDC. I don't know if they're true or not, but whatever the truth may be, personally I don't think it's something to be proud of"
Shirou was over, and he was really surprised about himself: usually he wasn't so passionate. But what surprised him and the two sisters was another thing...
Weiss Schnee was in silence and and her expression was undecipherable.
And after some seconds, she went away without say anything else.
Shirou was worried, because he feared he said too much. But Yang wasn't so worried, because she said with her usual jolly tone:"Wow, Handsome! I like you even more. You managed such a feat: you silenced Ice Queen!"
The aspiring Huntsman didn't share her excitement, and he said her with a bitter tone:" Yes, and now she hates me."
But Yang wasn't so easy to discourage:"Oh , give her some time. I'm sure you two will become great friend, or maybe...who knows."
"Yeah, sure." Shirou thought with sarcasm.