A/N: Usual disclaimer of not owning Toaru and RWBY. Special thanks to Furaiz for beta-reading and editing.

One of the most difficult things about this fic was combining the two worlds together, though RWBY-verse is clearly the dominant one. With the second arc looming over, hopefully, it'll turn out how I envisioned.


Glynda Goodwitch may not have the most attuned eye for talented up and coming huntsmen like Ozpin, but she prided herself in being able to dissect and analyze combat styles, tricks and tactics in one viewing. In a single duel, she could figure out the strategy behind each participant's mind and rarely was she proven wrong. Which lead to one anomaly that had plagued her for the past few weeks which took the form of Touma Kamijou.

Unlike any other huntsmen or student of huntsmen academies, Touma did not utilise aura at all which was considered to be one of the most essential tools any huntsman must have. However, his first mission report, though redacted in many areas, had stated that he defeated two huntsmen, one of which was with him unarmed. While Glynda didn't know the true scenario, the fact that he was capable of such a feat was hard to ignore. She had considered that he might've been lucky, but for him to defeat them in the same mission had her curious to what Touma could really do.

She heard a soft knock at her door as she typed away at her computer, without missing a beat, she called out, "Enter." The door swung open to reveal four students at the doorway and Goodwitch glanced at them before gesturing towards the chairs at the opposite side of her desk, "Team CFVY, please, take a seat and close the door behind you."

The first to enter, Coco Adel, had taken off her aviator sunglasses as she smoothly strutted to a chair and sat down, crossing her legs over and adjusted her black rose bracelet. She took off her black beret, flicking her head slightly and her brown hair that reached her neck swayed with it. Finally, her dark brown eyes settled on Goodwitch, holding nothing but respect.

Next was Velvet Scarlatina had her arms folded, her rabbit-like ears flicking slightly as she headed to another chair and took her seat. Unlike the other girl, she smiled slightly and murmured a quick greeting to Goodwitch. She shuffled her chair slightly closer to the other girl and then settled down, her hands resting on her knees.

The third, Fox Alistair entered with a slight wave at Goodwitch and simply stood behind the first girl. However, his bright white eyes seemed to stare off behind Goodwitch, but if anything he clasped his hands behind his back and stood still.

Finally, Yatsuhashi Daichi closed the door behind him as he followed his team in, easily towering the other four occupants in the room as he stood behind the second girl. He briefly nodded to Goodwitch with a greeting while adjusting his tie and school jacket that was clearly too small for the large boy.

"Professor Goodwitch, did you need something of us?" Coco asked, getting straight down to business.

"Yes, Ms Adel. However, what will be discussed here must not leave this room, understood?" Glynda asked. Coco raised an eyebrow and nodded, each of her team members following suit and Glynda grunted in approval, "I've asked you all to be here for a student that requires special attention, I'm sure you have heard of him. Touma Kamijou."

Coco was about to open her mouth only for the other girl to suddenly attempt to hide her giggle with her hand while the large boy shook his head as a small smile graced his face. Their leader rolled her eyes but that didn't stop her lips from twitching upwards, "Not the time Fox, and yes, we know of him."

Goodwitch resisted the urge to sigh as she suspected that Fox, the orange-haired boy probably made a joke through his semblance and his satisfied smile told it all. Deciding to ignore what happened in front of her, she continued, "Good, then I'll explain why he was not assigned a team and what we will do about it."

Just like that, each face of the CFVY team focussed on her, eagerness abundant in their eyes yet their lips were set in a thin line. There were many rumours as to why Touma was not assigned a team and it had even been nominated as one of the 'Seven Mysteries of Beacon', just like the mystery of what was inside Doctor Oobleck's thermos.

"... Mr Kamijou has a unique condition that has never been recorded before," Goodwitch stated and immediately she noticed every single student leaned slightly forward, "He has access to his semblance, but his aura has not been unlocked."

"Excuse me?" Coco asked as the rest of her team shifted in surprise from what she had told them, "You're saying that there is a student, here, training to become a huntsman… without an aura?"

"That's… crazy," Velvet whispered, when everyone first joined Beacon, it was expected that they had their aura unlocked as combat with Grimm was nigh suicide without it, and the boys behind them were also nodding, sharing the Faunus's simple statement.

"With all due respect, Professor, shouldn't he be expelled or at least unlock his aura? Isn't that the responsibility of the staff to-" Coco pressed on but Goodwitch held up her hand to silence the leader.

"I understand where you're coming from, but the headmaster had personally extended an invitation to him to attend at Beacon, even with the knowledge that his aura was not unlocked," Goodwitch answered and Coco frowned while Yatsuhashi and Velvet glanced at each other with similar faces. Team CFVY and many of the students were aware of their headmaster's somewhat eccentric behaviour, but personally inviting someone without access to their aura was sheer irresponsibility. Goodwitch sighed at what they were likely to be thinking about and she couldn't blame them, she continued, "However, he has not been able to unlock his aura, whether from a combat school or from us. The fact that his semblance is still operable is a major anomaly and among other reasons, the headmaster decided that he would not be assigned a team."

"... Professor?" Yatsuhashi held his hand, to which the blonde teacher nodded at, "What exactly is his semblance?"

"His semblance, as he calls it 'Imagine Breaker', allows him to eliminate Grimm, dust and aura by the touch of his right hand, it doesn't seem to turn off as well. It also seems to suppress or neutralise semblances without issue as well," Goodwitch elaborated and every single member of team CFVY stared at her except Fox who furrowed his eyebrows.

"Wait a minute… you're saying that this Touma kid can touch a Grimm with his right hand and," Coco said in disbelief as she snapped her fingers, "just like that?"

"Yes, we even have footage of his initiation and other 'feats', his semblance has proven to be effective in that regard," Goodwitch replied, nodding not only in agreement but also in understanding as she had a hard time believing it when she first heard about such capabilities.

Fox lowly whistled while Velvet gave a silent 'wow' at the possibilities of Imagine Breaker but Yatsuhashi suddenly recoiled from the orange-haired boy while the two female teammates held amused expressions as Coco mused, "Using the kid as catapult ammunition with Yatsuhashi huh?"

"Wait… Coco, Fox, you can't be serious?" Yatsuhashi asked with a raised eyebrow while Fox only shrugged in response but his own lips were curved upwards.

"You did that with Fox and Velvet, and it was pretty effective, but if you did that with the Touma kid, you could wipe a Grimm easily before they could react," Coco replied as if it were the most obvious answer and the largest member on their team sighed, slouching with a shake of his head.

Goodwitch cleared her throat and immediately CFVY stiffened and turned their attention to the blonde professor who glared at Fox for derailing the conversation, "Getting to the point at hand, Mr Kamijou is effectively in a modified curriculum and had his mission modules started earlier than his peers. Recently, his supervisors had reported that he had taken down two huntsmen, one of which he was injured and unarmed."

Coco raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Okay… that's pretty impressive, either he got very lucky or he is actually that good."

"Hmm, I'm interested in taking him on, he seems pretty talented," Yatsuhashi commented, nodding his head in anticipation.

"Yes, however, Mr Daichi, you and your team will be responsible for helping me train him," Goodwitch said.

"Woah Woah Woah! Hold on, I'm okay with training or sparring with him, but my… weapon isn't exactly aura-less friendly," Coco pointed out and everyone on the CFVY team tilted their head slightly away from their leader. They loved her like a sister, but sparring with her was so terrible that even she freely admits it.

"I assure you, Ms Adel, that Mr Kamijou will be equipped to handle against your weapon, even with live dust rounds. Ms Scarlatina, Mr Kamijou had also signed up for the Traps Elective and I'm hoping you could assist him to catch up in the course," Goodwitch said and Velvet nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but… Professor, I'm all for helping out the kid and all, but our schedules are pretty much packed as is," Coco said and tapped on her chin, "The first years don't have the same free time as us. Just trying to organise a training session is already going to have a lot of problems."

"I'm well aware of the logistics issues, Ms Adel which leads to you and your team's compensation for the task," the professor answered and team CFVY raised an eyebrow.

"So… Lien?" Coco asked while trying not to sound hopeful.

"Umm… meal coupons?" Velvet piped up.

"That would depend on you," Goodwitch said and Coco deflated slightly at the conditional opportunity for some spending on the newest threads out there, "As you mentioned, Ms Adel, there are logistics issues with the task I'm requesting your team to do. You will be awarded academic credits and the headmaster has granted Lien awards, provided that the results of your work with Mr Kamijou prove adequate."

"That makes sense, but…" Coco glanced at her teammates receiving a fervent nod, a shrug and silent tilt of the head from her teammates, "Guess we're in, Professor. So… when do we start?"

"That would depend on when Mr Kamijou's weapon is ready to be used," Goodwitch answered with a nod of approval, "His last mission had his weapon broken and he requires a new one which can take some time to build. I'll notify you when everything is ready."


"Clench."

Touma clenched his left half-exposed hand, no longer imprisoned in a cast, but instead a metallic frame that reminded him of his old Retterhand if all the plating and weaponry were removed.

"Unclench."

Touma released his hand as he felt a warmth breath tickle his hand, cooling it at the same time thanks to the clamminess underneath the gauntlet frame. However, he could not see the weapon in progress at all as Ruby's dark hair covered his vision, all he could tell was the gentle pressure pressing against his skin and the clinking emitting from the vicinity of his hand.

"Okay… Clench once more," Ruby commanded and Touma complied, a little unused to the focus Ruby emitted. Ever since they started, Ruby barely made any conversation, in fact, the only words that left her mouth were simple commands as she worked on his weapon. "Aaaaand done!"

Ruby straightened up and took off the headpiece she wore for the job and breathed a sigh of relief with a large smile, "That should be the frame done, all that's left is to add the weapons and a paint job and it's good to go!"

Touma looked down to see a thin metal skeleton caging his left hand and immediately he could tell that it looked way better than his previous weapon. It was far less bulky and it did cover just short of his elbow. Ruby was certainly talented, he had never expected that much finesse from someone as young as her, admittedly, but looking at Ruby smiling proudly as she cleaned up her tools had him smiling as well.

"So… what're the weapons you're planning to add?" Touma asked without trying to sound too curious. Ever since Ruby had declared her intentions to build him a new weapon, she was tight-lipped about the weapon, though he had managed to draw a few conclusions. Ever since he lent her the original blueprints for his Retterhand, he assumed it would a gauntlet type weapon which was the case and it would draw similarities but the gauntlet frame was significantly sleeker than when he constructed his weapon.

"Well… Weiss and I were talking about it," Ruby answered as she looked up to the ceiling, Touma raised an eyebrow, intrigued that the young noble would be having an input on his new weapon, not that he was against it. "There was this really cool non-lethal weapon that was developed a few months back, it's called the Concussive Assault Gun, or CAG for short. Anyways, how it works is it uses a miniature engine…"

Try as Touma could, he quickly found himself being barraged by a number of technical jargons as Ruby blabbered, pulling out a magazine to point at a number of pictures in regards to the weapons. While Touma would freely admit that this school is focussed on combating Grimm and other threats, the enthusiasm in Ruby's eyes was inflamed with passion and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the girl.

He had made limiting specifications such as a gauntlet only since he wasn't privy to weapon disciplines like Pyrrha or Weiss and he had made a preferences of 'no lethal and dust features', even then Ruby had managed to jabber on for at least ten minutes about all sorts of non-lethal alternatives in meticulous yet energetic style.

"So… that's the twelve features we can use for your new weapon! Though… we might not want to use too many otherwise it could affect you in combat. So I guess... Probably two at most?" Ruby asked more to herself than to Touma who was still taken aback from the tide of information that hit him.

"Uhh…" Touma didn't know what to say or how to answer, he had zoned out through Ruby's explanation and he couldn't find it in him to say that he had absolutely no idea what Ruby was talking about at all, especially since her bright silver eyes were sparkling towards him, anticipating for an answer. At the same time, he didn't want to just say 'first one' or anything like that, after all, this was going to be the weapon he would be using and he didn't want to end up something that he might not be able to work with.

"Well… what do you suggest?" Touma asked stiffly.

Ruby beamed and began flipping the magazine pages, "In my opinion, Touma, you must have this!" She pointed at what looked like a small silver box with a hole in it, "The CAG! It might not have the effective range of your old launcher, but this thing can run indefinitely without ammunition!" She babbled until she suddenly faltered and her grin became sheepish, "but uh… the recoil might be pretty hard to handle depending on how much power you plan to use."

Touma rubbed his chin, a weapon that's an alternative to his concussive launcher? He would certainly save a lot of Lien, it wasn't like he was going to use it to snipe at people anyways. Before he could reply, Ruby jumped up and flipped to another page, "Oh, and you have to get one of these!"

It didn't take long for the 'suggestions' to quickly devolve into a repeat of the whole thing and Touma once again, found himself being inundated with everything Ruby threw at him, her eyes sparkling innocently and excitedly as she jabbered on about shields, grappling guns and various other things Touma's ears had failed to pick up on.

As Ruby reached the conclusion of her presentation, she snapped the magazine shut and asked, "So? What do you think?"

Touma blankly stared at Ruby, her face held nothing but childlike excitement, even if it was smudged with a bit of oil here and there, "Umm… the Concussive gun thing and the shield?"

"Yes! Of course! I'll get em right away!" Ruby then quickly took off the gauntlet frame on Touma's hand and zoomed out of the workshop, rose petals floating gently to the ground where she last stood. Touma didn't even get the chance to react and stood by the bench, blinking before trailing his eyes to the door Ruby had passed through as it slowly shut itself.

However, there was one thing she had left behind, her small notebook laid open at the bench. He had noticed that the leader of RWBY had occasionally glanced at the book when she was working on the gauntlet, and while only momentary, Touma could see how detailed the illustrations were in the book. As he began to examine the book, his jaw dropped, this was far above his more crude designs from combat school. Equations, notes and various other tidbits looked like it was all written by a seasoned professional in their field. There were also a number of designs that caught Touma's eye, each one with a number of features that included things he couldn't even imagine.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and a single announcement of a familiar blonde rang through the workshop, "Watch out boys and girls! Cuz' I'm coming in with a … Yang?" the blonde girl scanned the room a couple of times and upon only seeing the sole occupant, she asked, "Uhh… where's Rubes?"

"She left a few minutes ago," Touma answered.

Yang sighed and shrugged before strutting towards Touma, "Oh well, was going to give my…" she wiggled her eyebrows as she nudged Touma, "my 'hands-on' expertise for your weapon."

Touma decided to turn his attention back to Ruby's notebook as he sheepishly reminisced said girl's word about giving into Yang's joke, even if he didn't intend to. Ever since he 'smiled' at Yang's joke, she had been a little more aggressive in jabbing those jokes in and while he didn't mind it too much, most of the time it was just so forced that he began to accept that no matter what happens, Yang was going to throw a joke in no matter what.

"... Okay, I'll admit that was bad," Yang conceded to Touma with a sheepish grin, "But I'm serious about the help. Though, with Rubes gone…"

"She's gone to get some parts, dunno when she'll be back," Touma replied with a shrug of his own.

"Eh, well, I happen to have something else to show you!" Yang declared and before Touma could express any worries, she gripped onto his left hand, her lilac eyes sparkling just like her sister's would, "You're gonna love it, trust me."

Yang dragged the boy away from the workshop and the two began their hurried pace throughout the campus. Touma couldn't even budge out of the grip, while it was true that Yang would lose a lot of strength if he touched her with the Imagine Breaker, the blonde girl was still remarkably strong. The two of them weaved through various students, in and out, some of them crying out in annoyance as Yang almost pushed them out of the way and Touma apologizing immediately after.

After an attempt to get out of the girl's grip and failing, Touma asked with a bit of resignation, "What're you trying to show me?"

Yang looked back with a mischievous grin and glint in her eye as they passed through the entrance of the dormitory, "Well, remember the time I asked to borrow your scroll for your room?" Touma nodded and Yang's grin grew wider, "Let's just say… I've done a little bit of… personalisation for you."

Touma's eyes widened at the cryptic message and as he speculated what the blonde girl had in store for him, he was staring down at the door to his room with Yang standing by, handing him his scroll back as she balanced at the balls of her feet. He glanced at Yang and the door multiple times only for her to lean in and ask, "C'mon, what're you waiting for?" If Touma had to be honest, he was a little afraid to see what lies beyond that door, he licked his lips and braced himself mentally as he opened the door.

His room was revealed to be drastically different from his admittedly bland setup. His bed still retained its position at the corner, but the rest of the room was filled with furniture he had never thought about having. There was a couch, a low coffee table and small glass cabinet, already filled with various objects. Finally, there were a number of beanbags littered around the table, one of which was occupied by Blake who waved before returning to her novel as she snuggled into the beanbag.

"Oh, yeah… she helped," Yang piped in.

"W-wait, what? Helped?" Touma asked, still in shock with what happened to his room.

"Yup! I sorta told her that I was gonna spice up your room and well… things happened and voila! The results!" She exclaimed as she waltzed in and flopped onto a beanbag next to Blake and asked, "So, whaddya think? I pretty much designed the whole thing, thanks to my *ahem* genius."

"As always, your humility is shining as bright as ever, Yang," Blake droned, but Yang's grin only grew wider at the remark.

"Of course it is, some say it the most attractive thing about me," Yang boasted and everyone else had to resist the urge to roll their eyes.

Touma opened his mouth to respond, he tried to put his thoughts into words, but as he scanned through the room and noticed Yang's proud smile, he sighed in resignation. It wasn't bad, if anything, it looked pretty nice as Yang definitely had an eye for design, but at the back of his mind, he could imagine a tiny Ruby warning him not to give her the satisfaction. He approached the two and decided to flop onto another beanbag and replied, "It's… great, Yang. Thanks for doing this."

"Hah! Told ya, he's a-okay with it, he even likes it!" Yang declared victoriously to Blake who only rolled her eyes in response."Besides, most of this stuff is from my home, so it's no biggie. For now, I officially declare Casa de Touma, the official hangout area for us and our friends!"

"Really? I'm sure Touma's Casa implies that Touma has a say in this matter," Blake answered with a shrug. While Touma would silently agree with tactile Faunus, he had a feeling that Yang would 'hear but not listen' and declare it as so anyways.

"Eh… he's cool with it, besides," Yang leaned towards Blake while Touma seemed more distracted with the large malleable chair, "I know you want to hang out here as much as you can."

To Blake's credit, she didn't seem to acknowledge her partner's teasing at all, though unbeknownst to everyone, her bow twitched at the remark. Touma replied casually, "She's welcome here, I don't mind it." Yang glanced at Touma who was simply staring at her with the most clueless face she's ever seen before she turned to her partner who was very interested in her book before looking at Touma once more. As if something flashed in her mind, she chuckled as she shook her head, earning Touma's raise of an eyebrow as he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh… no, just… realising that this might be way more interesting than I thought it would be," she answered cryptically as she leered at Blake who subtly shifted in her seat to face away from Yang, "Ah… by the way, Touma, you said you could cook right? I was wondering if..."


The last couple of days have been rough for Jaune and he knew that it was his fault for making it that bad. While he knew that it was on him to reconcile with Pyrrha, he simply had no idea how to do it. As he paced around in an empty classroom, he tried to play out the hypothetical scenarios of how he would do this.

"Hey Pyrrha, uhh… so rough day, huh? Let's go… Arghh!" Jaune shook his head and took a deep breath before he made another attempt at the invisible partner, "So, Pyrrha… You're looking a little lonely… what am I doing? That's just… ugh." Jaune palmed his forehead multiple times, whether he was berating himself, questioning himself or both, he wasn't sure. He knew that if he tried to make up with Pyrrha with that kind of approach, he would just embarrass them.

With a shake of a head, he stared straight at the wall and started the pretend conversation once again, "Hey Pyrrha, I was just thinking about that day, you know and… yep, nope, that's not working."

Before Jaune could reset himself for another attempt, he heard a voice pipe up into the room, "Uhh… Jaune.. What are you doing?"

Jaune jumped as his cheeks burned, his mind pleaded to whatever divine being that lived above the clouds to smite him where he stood as he robotically turned to see a pair of silver eyes poking between the door, "Uhh… preparing… for a play?" Ruby's face didn't even twitch as she opened the door further, revealing that she was carrying some sort of machine in her hands, he wasn't sure what exactly it could be, but if it could kill him right here and right now, he wouldn't mind.

"I don't believe you, sounded more like you were practicing to say something to Pyrrha...wait! Is it that thing about you not talking to Pyrrha because of something between you two?" Ruby asked as if she had a sudden epiphany, scampering into the classroom with widened eyes.

"How did you-"

"Nora told me," Ruby replied and Jaune sheepishly chuckled. It was pretty hard to hide anything from Ren and Nora, and in a sense, he felt a little guilty for subjecting them to what's going on between Pyrrha and himself, "Sooo… are you trying to talk with Pyrrha again?"

"No!" Jaune denied vehemently, almost startling his younger friend before he pulled back and said, "Yes? I… I don't know." Ruby's silver eyes bore into the slouched boy as he rubbed his hand down his face, "I was just going through a tough time and Pyrrha was just trying to help. I… I rejected her… more harshly than she deserved. Guess coming to Beacon was a bad idea after all. I'm not a fighter, not a leader… no potential to be a huntsman, and everyone else just seemed to do way better than I do."

Ruby tapped her chin as if she was figuring out the solution to all of Jaune's problems, her eyes pointing to the ceiling before she declared, "Then just do better."

Jaune slowly turned to Ruby who stared back with a small smile on her face, a simple statement to his problems had him blinking in shock, "What do you mean by, 'do better'?" he asked, unable to determine if he should be shocked or insulted.

Ruby shrugged and leaned on a nearby desk, "Well, everyone's gotta start somewhere, and Pyrrha, she definitely started way longer before you did. You might not be a fighter or a leader back then or when we first met…" Jaune flinched, now even more confused if the girl was trying to help him or not, "But, we were chosen as leaders, so you… me, we got our own team. So… we have to step up, we can't back down. If you think you aren't a leader, learn to be a leader. If you think you aren't a fighter, then learn to be a fighter."

Jaune bowed his head as his cheeks tinged pink, a little embarrassed that someone younger than him was basically bestowing 'words of wisdom' to him. He shook his head as he muttered sadly, "But… I… I told Pyrrha off and-"

"Then, apologize," Ruby interjected with a shrug before she suddenly perked up, "Oh I did see Pyrrha at the library! You can talk to her there! C'mon, I'll show you!" Ruby then bounded to the door before Jaune could rebuke at all, leaving him to sigh hopelessly at Ruby's proactive nature. He jogged after the girl, feeling a little apprehensive at just letting her go, the two of them quickly made into the library, with Ruby beckoning him over as they approached a bookshelf.

Sitting at a table a few metres away was Pyrrha, writing with a couple of books open before her. Suddenly, Jaune felt a hard push at his back and stumbled out into the open, yelping as his arms windmilled in attempt to keep his balance. As he recovered, he heard Pyrrha's voice chiming into his head, "Jaune?"

Her green eyes were wide with mild surprise and Jaune grinned sheepishly before he threw a glare at the perpetrator of his exposure who only held a thumbs up and a grin. He turned back and gulped as he realised he was now swimming in the deep end, "Uhm… can I sit here?" he asked, his voice an octave higher.

"...Of course, Jaune," Pyrrha answered awkwardly.

Jaune nodded and pulled out a chair and sat down, uneager to look at Pyrrha at all. His feet tapped the floor as he felt an invisible force crushing on him, demanding that he say something to Pyrrha or everything would fail.

"So, uhm…

"Jaune, I…"

The two of them paused as they realised they both spoke into each other the same time and quickly clamped their mouths. Jaune silently berated himself for talking over Pyrrha and unknown to him, Pyrrha was glaring at her book.

"S-sorry you go first," Jaune conceded with a shaky laugh, his eyes still wandering without even looking at Pyrrha.

"N-no, you go first," offered Pyrrha and Jaune sighed at the response as he reasoned to himself that he was just making her uncomfortable.

"...Nevermind, I'm just gonn- Ow!" Jaune rubbed his shoulder as a book fell behind him while at the corner of his eye, he saw Pyrrha suddenly standing up.

"Jaune, are you okay?" her voice hardened and her eyes glared over his shoulder, "Someone-"

"No! It's okay," Jaune replied, getting her to stare at him in shock of his response, but nonetheless, she sat down, her eyes glowing with concern. In pretense, he turned his neck as he rubbed his shoulder, but his eyes shot at the shadow of Ruby, the clear perpetrator of the thrown book. However, he suspected that his fellow leader sent him the message loud and clear.

Turning back to his partner, he heaved a sigh and gathered everything to his chest. With a mental chant to himself, he looked at Pyrrha and said, "Pyrrha I… I just wanted to say… I didn't mean to say those things and um… well…" Jaune scratched the back of his head as his mind attempted to search for the word to pull out, "I… I know you're just trying to help, I was just… I couldn't let people help me because I thought it was pathetic…" Jaune's eyes fell to the book, suddenly wanting to look at anything but Pyrrha, he just didn't want to know how she might react, but she hadn't said anything and he knew she hadn't even moved from her chair at the very least. Jaune, however, needed to fill that silent void between them, and his mind began to grind for any word to push out of his mouth.

"I… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm… I'm sorry, for everything. What I said to you, you didn't deserve it and I should've been better than that, I should've treated you better," Jaune looked up to see Pyrrha with a small smile and raised his eyebrows, "Pyrrha?"

"Jaune, I forgive you and… I'm… I'm sorry as well, I should've known that you were struggling in your own way, given you time to cope," Pyrrha replied sadly, but from the sounds of it, it felt like she had forgiven him earlier than that, but her latter part of the sentence had Jaune's stomach squirm in guilt.

Jaune shook his head and answered, "No! You didn't have anything to be sorry for! This is all my fault and-" Jaune found himself recoil when several nearby students hushed at his outburst. With a quick mutter of apology, he sheepishly turned to Pyrrha who was stifling a giggle poorly.

Realising what was happening, Pyrrha quickly said, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh but… I'm just glad we're talking again."

Jaune blinked and he felt his shoulder drops as if all the tension just released, his own lips stretching upwards as he murmured, "Yeah… Well, at least let me make it up to you, I owe you that much as a partner."

Pyrrha's eyes twinkled and Jaune let out a small stiff laugh as she said, "...There is something I'd like-"

"Anything," Jaune offered and Pyrrha's own cheeks tinged pink as she opened her mouth for her free ticket.


Motoharu Tsuchimikado had always viewed the upper city of Mistral as his home, but he very well knew that despite the extravagant buildings and flourishing lifestyle of its denizens, he and many others could argue that it was just as dangerous as the slums at the lower levels of the city. Luckily, there was a true safe area that was located in the very top of the mountainous city, Haven Academy.

As he made his way through the Quad dyed in pale orange light, there were barely any students around. Only a few were walking or lounging among the campus grounds compared to the usual semi-crowded appearance he was used to. Still, he was running late, after that message he received from Lionheart, it would seem that the poor headmaster was en route for a heart attack.

He made a quick beeline through the quiet Grand Hall into Lionheart's office, without even bothering to knock, he burst through the door open with a wide smile as he could and announced, "Heyo! Sorry, I'm late!"

Two occupiers, one male and one female jumped slightly at his entrance. The man ran his hand through his scraggly grey mane before rubbing it down his face, as his hand slowly made its way down, it revealed two dark brown eyes, slightly reddened from the lack of sleep and gaunt cheeks before slowly standing up from behind his desk. He adjusted his large brown coat and said tiredly, "Motoharu… Hahh… I'm glad you made it."

"Ahh… my bad Lion King, just had some errands that couldn't be ignored," Motoharu replied loftily as he waved his hand dismissively at them. He nodded to the girl and stood before the desk in a relaxed position, it wasn't like he was a soldier of Atlas or had to keep up appearances like Shade but then again, Leonardo Lionheart showed no signs of caring how he stood or presented himself.

"Motoharu… everyone else has been briefed already!" the female bit out, her green eyes surrounded by shadows and her lips dry and flaky. Her short and petite stature was covered in a white buttoned up shirt and a simple blue skirt.

"Yeah, I know, Index," Motoharu replied.

The girl puffed her cheeks out as her silvery-white hair bristled about, "It's Professor Prohibitorum! I may only be fourteen, but I'm an-"

"-esteemed professor of this institute and have been teaching with great results blah blah blah," Motoharu finished boredly while the younger girl growled, baring her teeth as her fists shook at her sides. Despite her rather hostile response, he knew she was only angry because he made fun of her well-earned title, "Look, time's wastin, so… Index, Lion King, what's up with the alarm?"

Index whipped her head away as she continued to pout while Motoharu just shrugged at her response. Granted that the girl was the Grimm Studies professor of Haven Academy, she was still a young girl and acted like one despite her genius intellect and eidetic memory. Despite that, she still commanded the respect (and fervent admiration) of her students, to Motoharu, she was more like a little sister or cousin of sorts rather than a colleague.

Leonardo Lionheart chuckled weakly as he sat back down with a soft thump and fished out a folder from under his desk, handing it over to Motoharu, who quickly flipped through the various documents inside. Reports, photos, maps and other miscellaneous parts filled the folder and as he delved deeper, his eyes widened behind his sunglasses, placing each document on the desk as if to make sense out of it. Photos of corpses and destruction and vague but unsettling reports usually meant one thing in this line of work.

"...This is…" he started as he picked out a photo to examine closer, it showed a man with several dark holes at his torso, the face frozen in fear as his cheeks were stained with tear marks and teeth painted in blackish red. With a click of his tongue, he moved onto the next photo, this time a child with the same expression, just a lack of the bloodstains on the teeth and the wounds on the torso. His face twitched, before setting down the photos as he briefly scanned the others, most of which seemed to be of the same content as the photos he examined.

"Grimm… specifically, the Covenant," Index stated with a frown, the room fell into silence as the only thing that the three heard was the soft ticking of a clock above them, "All evidence, their method of… killing and other tracks seem to point to it."

"The Covenant, huh? There hasn't been a case involving them in years," Motoharu murmured, "You sure it isn't bandits or whatever?"

"No… there is too much of a difference to their modus operandi," Lionheart said as he leaned forward with a sigh, "and... It is rare for them to wipe out a settlement directly."

"But it isn't impossible. As long as bandits conduct a raid against them, Grimm attacks usually follow after," Motoharu countered as he picked up another photo.

"That's true… but… look," Index stepped forward and fished out a report, handing it to Motoharu, "According to these, the differences of each person's time of death makes it difficult to believe a bandit group would do this, unless their method is… well... unusual."

Indeed, Index was right. The report detailed various things about each casualty, including the causes of death. What caught Motoharu's eye were a number of cases that declared that an abnormally high number of casualties suffered from cardiac arrest, regardless of where the settlement was or how advanced the local health clinics were. As Motoharu continued to examine the report, he muttered, "Yeah… I see… unless the bandits are using some sort of super drug, it'd be pretty hard to get people dying of a heart attack… even among children, huh?"

"Exactly… But… there are a few Grimm capable of inflicting those causes, and if you take into account the physical wounds and evidence gathered at the scenes…" Index started.

"Then… all that leaves is the Covenant… an Effigy and at least a few Sentinels," Motoharu finished and the young girl nodded in affirmation. Motoharu slapped down the documents he held onto the desk as he ran his hand through his hair, "Augh… you gotta be kidding me, a Covenant? There hasn't been a case for a decade and if I recall, the old guys had a tough time taking it out."

He was a huntsman first and foremost, one of their primary tasks was often to handle the Grimm, whether it was taking out a nest of them, protecting convoys or settlements from the Grimm or even investigating areas that might relate to the Grimm. However, Motoharu was also tasked with other areas of the job most huntsman, even in Mistral, wouldn't touch. The headmaster had to be desperate to pull him in for this kind of case.

"They are rare, yes, but they are rarely reported for a reason. We barely know anything about them except for William Orwell and Peter Port's account ten years ago," Index answered with a frown as she stepped forward as she pulled out a scroll and began tapping on it. After several seconds, her frown deepened as she continued fiddling with the scroll.

"Uhh… do you need help with-?" before Motoharu could even finish, a single defiant glare was shot from Index. It was no secret that the child professor was a genius, not only in Grimm Studies, but various other fields, however, technology eluded her which had often become an obstacle for her lectures.

"Ah-hah!" Index cried out victoriously as she held up her scroll before handing it to Motoharu who looked at the girl warily before turning his attention to the device. On it were several pictures, most of which were the usual black and white figures of the Grimm, but there were also a couple of pictures of humans and Faunus as well, each one detailed by Peter Port's account.

"... Yeah… figured… Okay, well, why not just stick Kaori onto them? She should be able to handle them," Motoharu asked, "Just find them, call her in and done. We can go home and enjoy curry with my little sister… or you with your daughters, Lion King."

"That will be a problem," Leonardo rebutted, his brow furrowed as he rubbed his eyes, "While Kaori is certainly our finest, she isn't the most subtle fighter. If, in the event that the Covenant reaches Mistral City…"

"Then it would do more harm than good, and maybe even backfire… Damn, those mental based Grimm are a pain in the ass, especially since these ones are pretty hard to kill," Motoharu muttered resigned, stepping back from the desk and slowly paced in a circle, "And you guys have no idea where it might be apart from where they might be headed?"

"No, however, should we encounter it outside the city or even in a settlement, then Kaori will be dispatched," Lionheart stated, his tone lighter as if he hoped that it would be the case.

"But, if the Covenant is too close to a settlement, she'd rather evacuate than engage and risk everyone around," Motoharu replied, shaking his head, "From what the map is saying, it's likely that it is heading for Mistral city, but we don't have enough to figure it out to be sure."

"Even then, the Covenant is hard to track and destroy. We don't even have enough data to map out how they travel, we only know what their capabilities are. Kaori, Stiyl and others can definitely defeat it if we give them the chance, but… if we want to do this without raising a panic…" Index said, her head tilted downwards.

"...Then we can't have the huntsmen kill it without turning Mistral city into a magnet for the Grimm. I suppose I can discuss this with the other members of the council and use it as a last resort… have Kaori and the others on standby," the headmaster finished.

"I'm sorry… I'm so useless at-" Index started only for Lionheart to wave it away.

"Nonsense, Index. You may not be a huntsman yourself, but your knowledge is quintessential to the safety of Mistral," Lionheart consoled gently with a small smile, Index's lips twitched upwards rigidly, but nodded nonetheless, "Motoharu, I'll have you on standby, but I want you to prepare in the event that the Covenant does reach the city. You are one of our best covert operatives."

"Oi, oi, I'm flattered and all that you think I can handle this, but taking on a Covenant… even with the whole division isn't gonna be feasible," Motoharu warned, "You do know that the Effigy of the Covenant is a bastard to take down without some serious firepower… right?"

The headmaster hung his head as he ran his hand through his rough, grey hair, "We don't have much of a choice. I'm well aware that dealing with the Effigy and other Grimm of the Covenant may be an issue for your division, but I intend to support you with any resource you need… even if it means you have to bend the rules a little."

"Headmaster!?" Index squeaked, shocked at the words that just left Lionheart's mouth.

"Yeah… if it does reach the city, might be a bit difficult to deal with," Motoharu murmured before he tilted his head, "But a blank cheque? You sure?

Leonardo turned away in his armchair, watching through the window, a blanket of orange skies, slowly turning into a dark blue hue, "Only if we can confirm that the Covenant as indeed reached the city. Then, I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to fund anything so long as the public isn't aware of it. I already have teams preparing to control the media should we need to initiate the protocols." He then turned back, his eyes laying on a small picture frame that sat on his desk, "Motoharu, you understand that like you, I would do anything to protect this city… my family. This is a small price to pay."

Motoharu folded his arms, his sunglasses glinting off the sunlight as he answered without a smile, "Yeah… I getcha."

"...Good, I have your division on standby, keep me updated on your progress," Lionheart ordered gently before turning back to the window behind him.

The blonde huntsman sighed, nodding to Index and headed to the door, waving his hand, "Yeah, yeah, I'll see ya guys later."

As he headed out, he flipped out his scroll and tapped on the device. After a few seconds of ringing, he heard the otherside pick up and he immediately greeted, "Hey, it's me."

"...Motoharu? Ah! How've you been? Like, I've totes missed you~," a female voice exclaimed in joy but Motoharu closed his eyes in slight annoyance, he was also convinced that the man was just as annoyed as he is. It wasn't that he hated or disliked the man, but rather, that he had a distinct way of operating that pretty much made him more or less the perfect infiltrator.

"It's good, it's good. So… a teenage girl this time?" Motoharu asked in slight amusement as he made his way down the Grand Hall before leaning against the wall near the entrance.

"Hey, like, I'm bombarded with homework all the time, I've got no time for fun you know~?," the man replied in an air of annoyance and Motoharu almost snorted in appearance, the man was probably in a pretty dangerous place to maintain that kind of cover.

"Alright, alright. Look, we have a serious problem, I need to pull you out of whatever job you're doing. This one takes priority," Motoharu said quietly as he peered outside the door, only to see the Quad almost deserted.

"Geeze~! I've only been in this school for like, three months, you know~ but I've made so many friends and all." Motoharu could tell that the man was pissed as each word seemed to be strained as it struggle to maintain that schoolgirl act.

"Yeah, my bad, but the big man upstairs says I got the say and I'm pulling you out. We got bigger fish to fry," Motoharu apologised callously with a shrug.

The man sighed on the other side of the call and said, "Fine~. I guess I can tell Daddy that we could go on a holiday or something, he should be at that 'nice place'. Oh! Gotta go, I'll see ya later~!"

Motoharu lowered his scroll, a rigid grin crept up on his face as he replayed the conversation in his head. It wasn't difficult to figure out what that man was saying, but at the same time, he knew that he was going to deal with a very annoyed team when he reaches their meet-up, "Well, a job's a job, right?"


A/N: Ahh Introducing new characters like a machine gun from each world, some more obvious than others and each one having a role in the story. Some of you may have huge favourites, hopefully I'll do them justice.