A/N: for something different I have decided that for this chapter, we will see things from Hayates point of view
A morning person, I am not… was the first thought of a sleepy Hayate Blacksteel as he rose from his bed. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he reached out his hand and grabbed the sheath that contained his sword, Jestream, his most treasured possession, reassuring himself that it was still there. It was something he did every morning, and if anyone on his team thought it odd, they didn't question it. As he went about his morning routine, Hayate allowed himself a few minutes of reflection. It had been a few weeks since the forming of team FHSI, and he'd found his teammates to be quite an interesting bunch. Falcon, his partner, was quite intriguing. He was quiet, alert, and was almost annoyingly observant. He seemed to be on edge, watching everything. If Hayate was less mature, he'd make a joke about Falcon checking out the ladies. He also seemed to pay way too much attention to his beret, adjusting it all the time. Everyone has a fashion sense Hayate thought in response to himself, justifying his partners hat choice. As Hayate went about his morning stretches in silence, paying little attention to the movements of his teammates around him, he thought about Iskandar, the big silent member of the team. Shortly after beginning to think about him, he stopped. Hayate didn't know a lot of him. During the last few weeks, he hadn't talked to him much and when he did, it was only necessary replies to Hayate, not social chitchat. Syrian was quite different from the rest, he would keep to himself quite a bit, but after a week he started interacting with the others. To Hayate's surprise, they actually shared a common interest, that being stargazing. Since Hayate had grown up on a small island off of the coast of Vale, he had a great view of the night sky and constellations there, and would often spend time stargazing after a hard day of training. He'd discovered that Syrian shared this interest after absentmindedly pointing out a star sign one night and having his teammate correct him on what it was. What started as a small disagreement turned into a conversation and kickstarted what could be considered their friendship.. So I have an overly jumpy yet dependable partner, a very lanky half-mute, and a fellow stargazer. What a combo. Even so, he couldn't complain too much. Despite half of their team not being very sociable, they were good in combat. Their teamwork was commendable, and Hayate couldn't really blame that. After all, he was a big believer in communicating through battle, and the whole team had met during a fight, so it was little wonder that they worked so well at this. As he finished, he noticed that Iskandar was just leaving the dorm and Syrian was close behind. Falcon looked in his direction and gestured towards the door, silently asking Hayate if he was ready to leave. The answering shrug seemed to satisfy the team leader and they left together. The two had managed to achieve a sort of "wordless communication system" between the team as well. It worked well in battle, giving them the element of surprise in team sparring, though it did remove some more social interactions. The partners walked in silence, Hayate being left to his thoughts. He cared about his team, he did, but he just wished that he felt a real connection to them.
X-X-X-X-X
Lunch was an interesting experience to say the least as it was almost every day. Morning classes had been relatively fine, so Hayate and his team entered the cafeteria in mildly good spirits. Despite his relative lack of social connections with his team, he got along well with the majority of both team RWBY and JNPR, and they were a fun lot to be around. Hayate watched in amusement as Ren tried and failed at stopping Nora from stuffing more pancakes into her mouth. Glancing around, he noticed Falcon aiming up two grapes, both in one hand, in line with an awaiting Yang and Ruby. With precision, he tossed the grapes and the sisters both immediately caught and ate them with their mouths, sharing a high five afterwards. Hayate chuckled at this. His amusement stopped when Falcon quickly tensed and glanced at him, though his partner relaxed when he saw that it was only Hayate watching him. The young Blacksteel frowned at this, he was hoping that, seeing as it had been a few weeks, Falcon would be a little more relaxed about him. "Hello everyone!" Hayate glanced over at the newcomer to the table, Pyrrha Nikos. His lips twitched upwards at her arrival. Over the time he'd known her, Hayate had grown pretty fond of the Mistralian champion. Her skill in battle was amazing, something that was already a plus one in his book, but her attitude was something else.
She is so nice, so down to earth, He thought to himself, reflecting on his new friend. She isn't an arrogant tournament chump. She was strong in more ways than one, and Hayate valued that greatly.
"Hey Pyrrha" emanated from the teams as they collectively greeted her. She took a seat next to Hayate, sitting between him and Jaune. Hayate's thoughts were mixed on that guy. He'd seen Jaune fight, and it was quite tragic. The kid was so far out of his league it wasn't funny. However, despite that, he was still fighting. He still tried, despite the fact he stood almost no chance. There was something admirable in that, and Hayate couldn't help but hold some respect for the kid. Everyone resumed doing what they were doing prior to her arrival, but Pyrrha then turned to Hayate.
"So, Hayate, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the arena for a sparring match later?" she asked. Hayate grinned, he'd been wanting to test his skills against her pretty much ever since he'd met her. He'd made it a mini-goal of his to spar with pretty much everybody, and while he'd already clashed with Falcon, Syrian and to a lesser extent Iskandar, he was keen to train against a world renowned fighter.
"Thought you'd never ask. Sounds good" he replied, making no secret of his excitement. However, his mood was quickly ruined by an unwelcome, yet necessary comment.
"You know you can't be sparring, you have homework to do," said Falcon. "And studying. We have a test coming up for Oobleck's class." The mention of a test made Jaune's eyes widen, which went unnoticed by all except Falcon, who placed a hand on his shoulder. Hayate groaned in irritation.
"Come on, I can still fit in a few rounds with Pyrrha and make it back in time to study for whatever it is I need to learn" he complained, only to see Falcons eyes narrow in mild annoyance. One thing that had become abundantly clear throughout their time together is that, despite their friendship and partnership, Falcon and himself were very different. Falcon was cautious at every moment, focused on his work and quiet, everything Hayate was not. The carefree nature of the Blacksteel had been a conversation point a few times now and he was rather sick of the lectures.
"Hayate, do you want to pass Ooblecks test or not?" Falcon asked again and Hayate rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Fine, fine. I'll revise. Buzzkill" he grumbled before turning to Pyrrha apologetically. "Sorry, looks like we'll have to postpone our match until later".
"It's alright. It's nice that Falcon looks out for you like that." Pyrrha replied as politely as ever, despite the brief flash of disappointment he'd seen on her face. Hayate appreciated how Falcon kept him a little more focused, he'd have likely failed three different tests if he didn't, but damn if it didn't get annoying from time to time. He knew that his partner was ultimately right, but it didn't make it fun to study.
I've had enough lecturing about that for a lifetime. He complained internally, thinking back to his days at his home. His mother was quite the focused type, trying to make Hayate dedicate his life to his studies, his training and to stamp out his easy going nature. Needless to say, it hadn't worked, largely thanks to his father, but it wasn't a fun memory. He absentmindedly rubbed his forearm as he thought about these memories, then moved his hand to his sword hilt, the familiar weight providing some comfort. "I promise to find time for it though," he added, finally replying to Pyrrha. She smiled and nodded, and that was that.
"Falcon!" Nora said loudly, causing the two to look over at them quickly. "Didn't your mother tell you it's not polite to wear hats at the table?" she teased.
"Didn't yours teach you not to eat with your mouth full?" Falcon retorted, going to adjust his beret. Hayate rolled his eyes.
"Give me a break" he muttered at their antics, though this did add more to his curiosity about Falcons hat. After all, he'd never seen Falcon without it, he seemed as attached to his beret as much as Hayate was to his sword. Sadly, team JNPR had to leave early for classes, so team FHSI and team RWBY just relaxed for the rest of their lunch break.
X-X-X-X-X
Sadly, the rest of their break wasn't peaceful. Just as he was about to take a bite of a cookie that he'd managed to hide from Ruby, Hayate heard sounds of pain coming from across the cafeteria. He glanced over, as did his team, and his mood soured. He saw a faunus girl currently getting her rabbit ears pulled by Beacons resident dickhead, Cardin Winchester. He was laughing as he tugged on the girls ears, taking clear pleasure in her discomfort. This wasn't the only terrible thing he'd done, Jaune was a target for his antics from the day the teams were formed, and quite frankly, Hayate was sick of all of it. He silently rose from his seat, drawing looks from everyone at the table.
"Hayate..." Falcon warned, probably beginning a speech about how acting recklessly wasn't a smart move and that they should act rationally, but Hayate's hearing conveniently stopped working at that point as he made his way over to Cardin, for better or worse. He casually walked up to the leader of team CRDL who had noticed Hayate's approach, released the girls ears and walked over to the approaching swordsman.
"Hey. You're being a dick" Hayate said matter-of-factly, keeping his stance, voice and expression very relaxed. Cardin snorted.
"You got a problem?" he asked, his tone dripping with swag and underlying annoyance. Hayate smirked.
"I do. It's standing right in front of me… and it's ugly" he snarked in response with a smirk as Cardin's gaze narrowed.
"You're just asking for a beating" he warned, cracking his knuckles. Despite Hayate's height at 6'1, Cardin was still a few inches taller and he was still more muscular. Team RWBY and the F,S, and I of FHSI watched in anticipation of what would happen, Falcon looking nervously apprehensive at his partners potential screw up. Cardin wasn't exactly weak.
"If I wanted to get beat up, I would've chosen someone capable" Hayate replied nonchalantly, shifting his right foot in front of his left, widening his stance almost unnoticeably, but leaving his hands down by his side. Cardin frowned even further and took a step closer to Hayate.
"Say sorry, or you'll be sorry." Cardin threatened simply. At this, Hayate's expression turned a little more serious.
"You apologise to the girl, and maybe I'll think about it." He replied in a far more focused tone, straightening his stance and moving a hand to the sheath of Jetstream on his belt, wrapping his hand around a mechanism attached to it. At Cardin's snort of arrogance, Hayate's grin returned to his face. He placed his finger on the trigger present on his sheath and squeezed it, shooting the sword out of the sheath like a bullet. Before Cardin could so much as blink, the hilt of the sword smashed into his chin, sending him flying into the air. As he fell to the ground, the sword lost its momentum, Hayate held out his hand and the sword gained a barely noticeable silver glow around it. Jetstream changed direction, flying back to Hayates hand and he caught it with ease. He chuckled at the shocked expressions on Cardins face, and the face of his team. He gave Jetstream a few casual twirls, then sheathed it with ease.
"You…" Cardin groaned before slumping again, shocked by the attack. His aura had protected him from most of the attack, but being launched about 15 feet in the air by being shot by a sword hilt directly in the chin would stun anybody.
"So, I'll be expecting that apology to the girl soon. Maybe throw in some chocolates and flowers" Hayate called out cheerfully as he walked back over to his table and sat down like nothing had ever happened. He noticed the stunned expressions on the faces of RWBY, Falcon and Syrian, and glanced up with curiosity. "What?"
"You just… He…Flying..." Ruby struggled to form words, making mimey actions representing him shooting his sword and Cardin going flying. He laughed at her motions, finding it pretty adorable. He took the sheath off his belt and placed it on the table, motioning to the sheath and the sword firing mechanism.
"I forgot to mention" he started, moving his hand over the trigger without pulling it. "It's also a gun".
I'd like to thank you, the reader, for reading and a good friend of mine for writing and editing a large part of this chapter. cheers