That Guy: Are you happy senpai noticed you?
Hybrid Genesis: I will tingle you in ways you didn't know you could tingle my sweet prince.
dpdj1: Of course my sweetest of Baby Cakes, I endeavor to please. :D
Extreme-UnDEAD: "I'd like to teach the world to fap, in perfect harmony."
Hope we all had a good consumerism day, because I get to go into work on Super-Consumerism day!
Start!
The sound of steel striking bone echoed in the store of Uzumaki Weaponry. Ruby blinked at the sight a beautiful redhead woman hitting her friend/teacher in the head with a flanged mace, well striking his Ursa in the head but still. She sported a brown leather apron with matching gloves on, she had the same fair skin as her son but instead of golden eyes she had dark lilac. Her long red hair tied back so it didn't get in the way.
"Good to see you too, mum." Menma greeted with a sigh, taking the mace out of her hands and pulling the hood of his pelt down, this time copping a fist to the forehead, "Yeuup, real good."
"MENMA!" Shouted a voice, Menma's eyes widened before he was kicked out of the stoor, door and all, Ruby blinked as a blur of black followed after her teachers form, Mrs. Uzumaki and herself ran outside to see a tall man with long black hair, spiked like it was going out of style and muscles abound clad in a black t-shirt and shorts combo wearing sandals, he had interesting eyes as they bore slit, vulpine pupils with bright golden coloured iris' and had a pair of fox-like ears propped atop his head.
Menma dragged himself up from the road, rubbing his bruised cheek that healed quickly, Menma stood up and pulled his skull back down, "Dad." He greeted getting a smirk in response.
"3 years of almost complete silence from you, do you know how deep you're in it boy?" Madara Uchiha the progeny of Tatsumi Uchiha and Kurama Otsutsuki, half-Faunus. It was a miracle Menma even existed as half-breeds were much like mules, a donkey/horse but where as a mule was completely infertile, a half-faunus just has an incredibly low sperm count.
Menma was actually born sterile as a consequence of his father's strong genes, something that he resented his parents for, why have a child if you rob them of the choice to continue the line? While he didn't have the ears, he did have a much more durable body, a slightly heightened sense of sight and a very strong sense of smell.
"So what, you're gonna discipline me like a little kid?" Menma asked with a chuckle, only to have to avoid taking a sandal to the head, "Alright so we're doing this now!" Bellowed the younger male, his form ensnared by bloody red flames, sclera matching colour as his hair seemed to lift from the currents of energy his body was exerting, shooting after his old man and spinning into a round house he had to use the momentum to avoid a counter punch to the knee, Madara grabbed his son by the arm but couldn't seem to move him, "Fun fact about semblances, they're hereditary in rare cases." A tide of red seemed to be pulled out of the very air and slammed down against Madara's body soaking the half-faunus with bloody water.
"Don't try to educate me, boy. I taught you all you know." Rebuked Madara, swiping at the air and combusting it, Menma seemingly melted away and appeared to his right, striking him in the ribs with a SPAAAARTAA! Kick.
"You taught me all I knew." Corrected the teen, only to lean away from an uppercut and heave as a palm strike hit his solar-plex, sending him back a few feet, his sneakers squeaking against the road. Passerby's all stayed to watch, but kept their distance.
Menma growled lowly as his old man tried to lay him out with a shoulder barge while he was still trying to regain his breath, but avoided it throwing his arm into his previous space and swiping the air, delivering a stream of rose-red flames towards his back, Madara hissed before slashing at the air with his hand and palm thrusting with the other, sending one chain of fire away only to throw another.
Menma picked up the water that he'd created and used it to douse the flames, Madara's face was hit with hot steam and forced him to squint, he heard a clink of metal and blinked only to suddenly feel blinding light and ringing. A sudden sense of vertigo was added onto the chain of nauseating sensations and Madara was laid out in front of his family store, on his back and covered in red water.
The quarter stared at the half, body oozing with his flame-like aura bubbles of red popping into more flames, like blood cells feeding oxygen. Menma slipped forward like a stream and broke through his father's ramshackle guard with a vicious headbutt, Madara's eyes snapped open from shock, the boy grabbed his shoulders and used the gathered momentum to flip over the older male and with all his might throw him directly into the bitchament, Madara's body bounced as it impacted, the furious hunter delivered a vicious axe kick directly to the older man's stomach making him gasp and gape from the powerful impact.
To avoid confusion later, Menma had his mother's Liquid Manipulation and his father's Creation of Flame. Liquid Manipulation worked with anything in a state of liquid, blood and water were by far the easiest and with blood one could force their opponent's body to become much heavier, thereby rendering them helpless. Water molecules were easy to pull from the air around him, though it took years of practice to achieve it.
Creation of Flame, as the name implied, allowed the user to create fire, though these were apparently 'Sacred Flames' as they look piteously cold for flames but burnt with such force that it could reduce and Ursa to dust in milliseconds and melt steel with minimal effort.
So when Menma and Madara threw fire at one another they were actually trying to melt the other one, to prove a point.
One wanted to prove that his child wasn't ready to make such rash decisions and still needed to be with his family.
Menma was trying to prove he could do whatever the fuck he pleased because he was a goddamn adult.
The cheeky flashbang was just to rub salt into the wound. Menma approached his downed father and picked him up, pulling the blood laced water off him, Ruby noticed he looked a good deal paler than usual. "I came here to say hello and buy some things, if this is how you treat the clientele I'll take my business elsewhere." Menma said breezily, though the Rose could spot how he had the slightest of sways to his stance, Kushina frowned but nodded, Madara being guided in by his wife, his vision still spotty.
Menma pulled his notebook out, grabbed a basket and began filling up, Ruby sidling up next to him awkwardly, "So... it was nice to meet your parents?"
"You sound quite unsure about that." Menma observed distantly, eyes locked onto his list, "That's quite usual though, my father's a strong guy but nothing like he used to be." The memories of when he and his father would go on missions together filling the back of his head, he frowned slightly. The mess that was his family situation would undoubtedly just get worse if he left it as is, but the question was whether it was worth the hassle.
Decisions for another time, or just in a few hours after he had something to eat and cleared his head of all this clutter. "I didn't plan on dragging you here to see that, I apologise."
"Hey don't worry, I get it. Crazy family stuff." Ruby waved him off, a little awkward in doing so but the sincerity was endearing.
"I'll not ask, if only to avoid the topic of the strange people we share blood with." Ruby gave a small sigh of relief, "I'll look for the Dust converters, you look for the toothless chains." The girl nodded and walked off in a different direction, Menma going towards the back of the store and looking at the various items therewithin.
"We thought you were dead you know." Kushina's voice sounded from just behind him, Menma frowned, "Every day we'd worry that our little boy was gone and that he was never coming back, but your father never gave up. He knew how strong you were, he knew you'd be fine. Why did you stop contacting us? Was it because-" Menma turned and looked over his shoulder, eyes dark as Batman's spandex.
"That is not the reason I left. It was one, but not nearly important enough to be the sole reason. I left because I wanted to be away from all of it, from the pair of you who insist on having more children when you already know what it means, so wrapped up in your own fucking web are you two lovestruck children that you can't see the sheer damage you cause, that is why I left mother, that is why I stopped bothering to contact you. This family means nothing because it dies when we do, end of story. So why bother stop crumbling ruin, now I'm going to buy this list of stuff and then you'll never hear from me again, because none of this matters!" All of his rant was delivered in a clipped, cold and low tone of voice.
"I suppose my son really did die out there." Kushina muttered, looking at him with half-lidded eyes.
"You never had a son, you had a mule." Menma snapped harshly as he strode to the counter.
Later, Diner.
Ruby noticed the tension in her friends shoulders, the way he held himself straighter than usual and kept conversation to a general minimum. They were awaiting a meal, bags laid against the wall between their feet as the sat opposite one another in a booth at the corner of the store, "I'm sorry again, Ruby. I didn't want to drag my family drama up today. I probably should have just gone to another store, save us both the trouble." Menma muttered, looking at the cold can in his hand as he awaited his food, not bothering to open the beverage until he could have it with food.
"Like I said, it's fine." Ruby assured, only to see the frown on his lips crease further.
"How are you so relaxed about this manner? Most people would be chomping at the bit to find out why I have such animosity to the idea of familial relations." Menma questioned with a quirked brow.
"Well it's not really any of my business, but if you want to talk about it I'm happy to listen." She offered bashfully, a small smile on her face in a bid to cheer up him, he stopped frowning so intently so that could constitute as a plus.
Menma paused for a moment as if weighing his options before shaking his head, pausing again only as the food arrived, steak chips and smothered in mushroom gravy for himself and for Ruby it was less of a substantial meal and more so a treat, cheesecake with strawberries just fucking everywhere.
Ruby liked strawberries.
Menma breathed in the delicious scent of his meal and salivated at the idea of hooking in, "Basically I was born sterile because my father is a half-faunus with exceptionally strong genes, I'm quite upset over the notion because I was essentially a wasted birth." Ruby's fork dropped from her hand as she looked at her friend tearing into his meal with gusto, in an oddly methodical manner, cut the stake, remove it from the fork grab two chips, put the stake back onto the end and roll it into the gravy.
Not what she needed to be thinking about!
"How can you say that about yourself!" She asked, distressed.
"Look I'm not gonna start cutting my wrists and writing poetry, but objectively I was a wasted birth. I can't reproduce so the best I can do is adopt some kid and pass on what I know. It's just like in the wild if one of the pups is born lame, the rest will leave it for the good of the pack. I wouldn't be so mad if they didn't keep popping out kids, I have three younger sisters that I'll never willingly associate with because they too will have been born sterile."
"Did you really want children?" Ruby asked quietly, Menma paused and looked at her.
"I would have liked the option." He answered, a dark undercurrent had a stranglehold on the conversation, thankfully it seemed her teacher had the presence of mind to notice, "Enough about that, I'd rather not dwell on it and I doubt you want to spoil a good meal with it. So we'll enjoy this and if you want we can go somewhere you like afterwards." Ruby smiled and nodded, returning to her deliciousness, she didn't know at what point this little outing had turned into her first date but the pink in her cheeks wouldn't go away.
Yang had always teased her about boys and the like, being a year or so younger than her peers didn't really help her confidence on that matter, and yet here was a smart, reasonable man just sweeping her off her feet with the poise and serenity of a monk. The age difference did occur to her for a moment but then it really didn't bother her so much at the moment, if this was a date than it meant he didn't see her as a little girl who needed to be coddled or as his pupil to be taught, she was his friend.
If it wasn't a date than it would be great practice. And a little bit crushing to be blown off like a leaf in the wind.
That and it's not like Huntsmen/Huntresses coupling together when they were young was a new thing, it was mostly common practice for people to end up with one of their teammates, and almost everyone who cared to knew about Ozpin and Glynda.
And they had 10 years between them instead of the 7 with present company, Ruby being 15 turning 16 near the end of the year and Menma being 22 turning 23 at some point in time.
"When's your birthday?" She asked suddenly, Menma's blinked from the gravy induced haze, it was really good, and had enough of cognitive function to form a sentence.
"Moon Pie." It didn't have to be the right 'scentence'.
"What?" Ruby blinked, that was kinda out of left field.
"Huh? Sorry I was really out of it for a moment."
Ruby giggled at the confused expression on his face, mixed with concern at the fact he'd zoned out so easily, "I was asking when your birthday is."
"Oh! May 20th." He answered, smiling slightly at his own foolishness, "Yours?"
"Moon Pie." Ruby answered with a toothy smile, mirth in her silver eyes.
"Funny." Even he had to crack a grin at that.
"October 27th." Menma nodded and pulled out his notebook under 'Important Things to Remember' he wrote the date and it's significance, Ruby was a little touched at how he wanted to make sure he remembered her birthday, but hid her rapidly darkening cheeks in food.
Menma's eyes flickered over to her cheeks a smile creased his lips but he didn't say anything, just finished his food in comfortable silence.
Vale; From Dust til Dawn
A familiar sight to Ruby, she entered the shop with a familiar old man, aged and grey with the top of his head bald and the remaining hair loose and thin, his eyes were almost perpetually narrowed, like his skin was just giving up and giving a not so subtle hint that it was time to jump off the planet.
Menma nodded to the man as he went to inspect Dust Crystal containers for the transport back to Beacon, "Well if it isn't the young miss who prevented that robbery, I really owe ya one little missy. That fellow was bad news, the police have been on an almost permanent stake out since, in case he tries again." Roman Torchwich was an incredibly high priority target, and if the look of the shelves were anything to go by it would seem the man had been draining the old shopkeeper's supplies from the source, Menma did not like the idea that a simple old man who was just trying to keep living was being targeted because he peddled Dust.
Then again this could just be one puzzle piece to a possibly larger plan. The barbarous hunter made a note in his pad before plucking a suitcase-like container from the shelf and taking it to the counter, seeing Ruby half-heartedly try to brush the praise off, it would seem she enjoyed the attention and recognition as much as anyone else. This would be good, a perspective on what kind of people she would be fighting for.
"If I may interrupt sir, I'd like to take this, two fire crystals and a lightning crystal." Menma interjected getting a nod and a cheerful smile from the old man as he placed two red and a one buzzing blue crystal into the case and rung the price up.
"It's good to see new faces, I don't think we've met young man, are you new to Vale?" The shopkeep asked, noticing the slight accent he seemed to have.
"I've spent the better part of half a decade in the woods, so technically yes." Answered the Hunter with a chuckle, getting a surprised look from the man, "Self-imposed training, nothing makes you better quicker than being in the thick of it." Menma nodded to himself as the man sweatdropped at the idea but shook it off.
"Either way, you're always welcome in my shop. Please come again." Menma slid his card into the machine and his account was billed grabbing the receipt he took the case and Ruby as he left, the smaller black/red head waving to the man as they left.
"Anywhere else you'd like to go?" Menma asked, only for the girl to gasp, slap her hands onto her cheeks and look up at him with stars in her eyes.
"I have a great idea!"
Vale; Sea Overlook
Two good things about walking almost everywhere. It built up an appetite, and two when you did finally sit on a transport it was like heaven. Menma and Ruby had traveled on foot most of the way around town after getting off the transport from Beacon, but going from one end of Vale to the other was a bit of a stretch. So after acquiring more goodies the duo were off to the best view in Vale.
The pair sat quietly, nibbling at fish 'n' chips, slices of lemon next to the fish, and watched the ocean, one good thing about Vale being on the coastline was views like this. The waves of blue striking that clifface, Menma was fine with heights but there always this diabolical little voice in his head saying 'Jump, you could probably make it.' Fuck that voice.
Him and cliffs didn't really mix well.
"This was a marvelous idea." Menma said, looking to the girl seated beside him with a smile, Ruby got all bashful and looked down, "Do I make you uncomfortable?" Her head snapped back up in a second, "That's a negative on that front Chief, assumption 2 is the correct one, she's smitten and it's fucking adorable."
"No! I've just... well I've never been out with a boy like this before." She admitted awkwardly, making a few random hand motions to go with it.
"I suppose this did turn from a trip to the store for weapon parts, to a date rather quickly didn't it?" Menma asked with an amused lilt to his voice, "I'll endeavor to make it end on a high note, my dear Rose." He swore, a grin growing further at her reddened face. "That was a shocking line, I'm glad it worked though, it would appear she appreciates theatrics, sweet dust that makes it much easier, I hate acting like a stiff."
Ruby made a bold move and sidled up next to him, leaning into his side, slightly. Menma took that and raised her an arm over the shoulder, "I'll hold you to it." Muttered the girl. "Oh my dust what am I doing!? Am I making a fool outta myself or is he actually okay with this? Maybe he's just being nice? Boys are confusing!"
They really aren't.
Beacon
Ruby had yet to relinquish his hand even as they stepped into the academy proper, she was all sunshine and sparkles at the prospect of the date, the idea of their relationship had been on the forefront of her mind, she had let slip one thing and began running incessantly, questioning him on what to do and not to, what was his biggest peeves and what he loved, Menma answered to the best of his abilities.
But by the end of it she resolved to not take it beyond a harmless date until she knew more about him, aside from their time spent pouring over the weapon and today, she'd spent very little personal time with him and she at least knew that you didn't start 'being with' someone you knew for such a short time.
Menma could, and did, appreciate the sentiment, but she still didn't let go of his hand, occasionally she would play with his fingers and giggle to herself, over the moon as she was with the prospect of being treated as more than just a little girl with a big scythe.
From their time together he spoke to her like an equal, he saw Ruby where other's saw someone else.
Nattering on about him would do her little good, she finally separated from his hand and bid him a good day, "I'll see you in class tomorrow!" Cheerful as a sun in the morning, she zipped off leaving the older hunter standing there on his own, he began walking to his room only to hear another whoosh.
"Wait I forgot to ask something!" Ruby quickly jumped in front of him and looked up at him with big silver eyes, "Don't people usually kiss after the first date?"
Menma chuckled, "Sometimes, it depends on each person I suppose. Why would you like to end on such a note?" He asked with comely eyes, Ruby's lips creased into a line as she blushed a 'hnggh!' noise leaving her, she quickly hopped and pecked his cheek.
"OKAYBYEIHADFUN!"
"And so with a face aflame, the chaste maiden left the dark hunter to his trek." Narrated Menma with a self-satisfied grin, the trip to his room was uneventful and tame, as he liked it. He unlocked the door, tossed his pelt onto his bed and laid out his new acquisitions on his desk, popping the blade on his sword in half he watched as the moist metal, thirsty for blood as it was, parted without a worry.
"Now then my dear, Helios, shall we?" He asked aloud, as though expecting the blade to answer but when none came he merely chuckled and pulled the various tools he'd need from a small box under his desk and began removing the blood vacuum.
"This will be my greatest creation yet, I imagine I could see a weaker design for quite a bit. Jaune would benefit from a chainsword, lovely as his weapon in he needs to compensate for his mild strength at the moment, sooner rather than later." There were many thing he could think of at the moment to assist a great few of his students, but Jaune always seemed to be at the forefront, he wanted the boy to succeed, thus why he pushed him that bit more.
For no other reason than he just wished a good life for him, a long life. He wished that for all his students now that he thought about it, being able to watch them grow was going to be a blessing, and no doubt quite the burden.
End.
So that's my next chapter, sorry about the delay, I've got people visiting so my time to write is limited moreso than usual. That and bloody christmas.
If you liked it, tell me. If you didn't, lemme know. If you thought it was totes kawaii-desu-chan-kun-sama-senpai-san then feel free to also tell me.
Raxychaz!