Sorry for general lack of responses this time, I'm posting this at 4:30 in the morning because I feel kinda shitty for taking so long to update anything. I've still got visitors and It's super awkward to write with an audience of any kind.
I still love yo faces and will return to regular postings swiftly.
Enjoy.
Survival 101; 2:00 PM
Menma arrived a bit earlier than he usually did, a hop in his step as the first tests of the chainsword had gone marvelously. The blade whirred like a proper source of destruction should, and the Dust seemed to affect the motor. Obviously the fire crystals would swathe it in flames, his semblance having something to do with this perhaps, the lightning crystal increased the speed in which the chain would spin, exponentially so.
He'd set Helios on his desk and once more propped his feet up and turned on his tablet, he watched One Punch Man in peace for a dozen or so minutes, until a hand found his shoulder, he removed the earbud and spun around on his chair to greet this person, he did not expect Blake Belladonna to be there.
She looked quite tired.
"Good morning, Ms. Belladonna, is there something I can do for you?" He asked lightly, she sat on his desk and sighed lengthily, now Menma was a little concerned, the reserved and quiet girl he'd observed wouldn't so brazenly sit on her teachers desk.
"I'm telling you this because I need to tell someone and I also am willing to take the risk of you informing the headmaster." Blake began, Menma set his tablet on the desk and gave her his full attention, "That person that contacted me, from the White Fang? They did so again, and informed me a hit has been placed on me, just like all defectors from the Fang."
"So what, you expect them to strike at you while you're in Beacon?" Menma asked with a risen brow, knitting his fingers together and narrowing his gaze.
"It's possible, given the current climate of Faunus/Human relations I expect they'd be bold enough, weather it could be done is another thing, but like I said I'm willing to tell you because you've done right by us so far." She smirked, it seemed to diminish with how tired she looked but it was still coloured with mischief, "That and Ruby seems quite taken with you, so I'll trust my Leader's judgment." She didn't expect him to frown at that, nor the hard stare that he leveled at her.
"I'd thank you not to bring such things up within my classroom, Ms. Belladonna. Coming to me with an issue like this is perfectly fine, but what I do outside of the classroom has no business being within it." Blake could respect that, did respect that, he seemed principled enough to keep his 'home' life out of his work life.
"I'll keep that in mind." Blake promised with a nod.
Menma's expression softened and neutralized, "Now, as with the White Fang hit, I can actually help with that. It's just a small matter of knowing when they'll strike... did your contact give you anything else?"
"Only that it'd be within the week." Ah, so an immediate problem. This was much better than he expected, if it was some distant incident than it would impact severely on Blake's health, lack of sleep, stress and anxiety would eventually ruin her body and she'd be unable to defend herself.
"Very well. If you so desire I can assist you when the time comes, or I can keep an eye on you at most times. If you feel vulnerable where you are, feel free to come to me at any time. My door is always open." Menma offered easily, whilst most would assume a man of his appearance and character would be seeking the tawdry benefits of such an arrangement, the survival of one of his students was possibly on the line and he was nothing if not dedicated to his tasks, and helping her survive was his job.
"I imagine that'd make any trust I've gained with my team diminish." Blake said with a frown.
"It's a matter of weather you desire them to see you dispatch a group of assassins, or if you want them naïve to your former life." Menma didn't know what she'd told her teammates but he assumed she kept the affiliation a secret as Ms. Schnee was quite the fucking racist.
"That is the question isn't it?" Blake mused lightly, shaking her head, ears bobbing as she did, "Thank you, Mr. Uzumaki... for listening."
"I spent most of my time ranting at trees so I'm glad you don't have to do that." He said, an amused lilt in his voice.
"At trees?" Questioned Blake.
"Well I wasn't going to go shouting out my grievances at Grimm, didn't need the distraction that comes with hot blood." Menma said with ease, leaning back into his chair, his whole body relaxing as his mind washed with memories, "I remember one time though, when I was so fired up that I tore a tree out of the ground and beat a Deathstalker with it... I set it on fire and impaled the creature to finally kill it."
"That... seems a little excessive." Admitted the faunus, her ears falling slightly in bewilderment.
"Oh it definitely was, but when you get a young man of 17 inflamed with his own rage, it's best to avoid the blast-zone... You know I didn't notice it until now but I've been making terrible fire puns." He grinned wolfishly and chuckled, at the slightly perplexed look on his students face he clicked his fingers together and ignited his hand in flames, understanding shon in her amber eyes and he flicked his wrist to cleanse them of the fires.
"That's atrocious." Blake muttered with a sigh, Menma laugh boisterously grinning like a fool. The mirth was contagious and forced a smile from the subdued girl, "So bad it's good?" She ventured.
"So bad it's good." Agreed the teacher. "I'll admit I'm surprised, Blake. If Ms. Xia Long's explosive behavior is anything to go by I'd have sworn I had become the bane of your existence, but here you are, confiding in me and sharing a few laughs, I'll admit the maturity you show is refreshing." Blake smiled at the slightly backhanded compliment and took it in stride.
"Thank you, I suppose."
"There's that blasé teenage behavior I was so desperately hoping for, good on you Blake. Now park your ass in your seat, class'll be starting soon." He ordered, Blake chuckled and slid of his desk, her teacher had put his game face back on and straightened out his things, lesson plan ready to go and sword set to the side, his bag on the floor under his desk. He stood up and left the room, bathroom break 10 minutes before class actually started, it was an idea that came to him after his first class when he figured out he couldn't just up and take a piss whenever he wanted.
Survival 101; 2:30 PM
Menma had returned to the classroom almost as quickly as he'd left, hands still moist from their washing. His fingers ignited as he closed the door with his foot, the kids blinked at the sudden entrance, Menma flicked his fingers and put out the flames, yawning into his palm, "Alright, welcome back everyone good to see you again." He greeted with a nod at the class, eyes dragging across. No absences, see they could learn.
He did roll call and dove into the topic of the day, "Now previously we covered the basics of living off the land and your kills." He began, assuming his usually position of leaning against his desk with his arms crossed, though today he pulled his pelt back and exposed his red/black hair to the class, apparently comfortable enough to do so.
He idly noticed the intense stare of Ms. Schnee, but didn't bother to call her out on it. "Today we'll be leaping from one topic to another, I can understand if some have reservations about this but it has come to my attention that you first years aren't taught to manipulate and/or hone the control of your aura by other teachers, so it's up to me to pick up the slack." They could all see the fact he was rather cross about this, out of all their teachers Mr. Uzumaki seemed to be the most passionate. Prof. Port was too busy being stuck in the past, and Ms. Goodwitch kept it to sparring most of the time, and had a very hands off approach to teaching.
It was an insult to the students and to their peers, him.
Menma bit his tongue, he'd just have to do their jobs. He'd chosen 'Survival' because of how broad it was, everything could come down to it. "Now, aura is the physical manifestation of our essence, there are many misconceptions about it so here are some facts. Aura cannot run out, it can only tire you. Counter to that though, the amount you can express at a time can be expanded, for example." His hand lit up once more, "This was my bodies first expression." His whole form was engulfed and his hair stood on end, "This is it after years of training. Practice is all it takes, guys. Practice and persistence." His aura lapsed and fizzled out as he pushed it all back in, a calming breath leaving his lips.
"Aura is flexible, most use it as a shield, but it can also be a weapon... depending on your inclination. Once more I can give you a personal example, as a young man I was a furious child, angry at everything. Anger + Power = Fire, apparently." A few chuckles emerged from his charges, a small smirk gracing his lips, "My point is that your aura is a tool, so never overlook its usefulness. Now a few simple exercises on calling your aura would be mediation, always a good one but given the setting it's a little useless. Another one is stress, physical stress is the best one. Now, who wants to be my example." The children gulped at his grin, eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments.
"No volunteers? Alright then. Jaune, get your ass down here." He ordered, slipping his skull/hood up and walking to one end of the room, Jaune made his way to the other, sword and shield in hand, Menma fetched his greatsword and in doing so made the boy gulp audibly, the protective shielding raised to keep the other children safe, Menma twisted a section of the hilt of his blade harshly and in doing so the edge broke apart, with a slow build up it began to whir ominously.
"Is that a chainsword!?" Screeched Jaune, only for his teacher to leap into the air and begin bringing the weapon down, he saw his life flash before his eyes for the briefest second before he dashed out of the way, seeing the blade sink into the floor, the teeth of the chain ripping the stone apart, Jaune was aghast.
"Are you trying to kill me!?" His blood was ice cold when he saw the look in his teacher's, nay his friend's, eyes.
The rev of the chainsword made his world clear, Jaune felt alive for the first time in his life. He barreled forward with his shield, sword ready to strike after it, Menma slid to the side and smacked the boy in the back with the flat of his blade, Jaune went ass up but somehow managed to land on his feet, Menma's eyes caught sight of deep green wisps around the boys body, flowing across his sword and shield.
"It's coming out... quicker than I thought, maybe his body is just so desperate to release it that it only took a small push?" Thought Menma, as his body became inflamed, eyes colouring red and the floor blackening with each step, he flashed forward with a vertical swing the teacher expected his student to dodge again, only for the teen to block it with his shield. Jaune's whole body was coated in a phantom suit of old Knight's armour, helmet and everything with a luxurious looking transparent cape. Jaune pushed his teacher back and struck at his side with his sword, Menma actually felt it.
"Good, now I can keep pushing him." Menma smiled and righted himself, cracking his neck and ejecting the lightning crystal, fishing into his pocket for a fire gem, Weiss's eyes widened, as did Ruby, the former due to the fact that she knew the sheer power of a Fire Dust Crystal, and the latter because she didn't think Menma would push their mutual friend this aggressively.
Slamming the dust gem into the core, the blade sealed up once more and the chain solidified once more, becoming a single edge. Fire danced across the giant red blade, Jaune seemed to be in a trance, standing in a defensive stance, shield forward and sword horizontal and ready to stab for the counter.
The pair met in vicious combat, Jaune in his trance barely expressed anything beyond a grunt whenever Menma broke his guard, until suddenly, with a strike to the chest, Menma managed to bring Jaune back to the surface, the boy fell onto the ground and seemed visibly shocked at the state he was in.
"Well done Jaune, very interesting semblance." It was very easy to tell this was not just his aura, his aura was a rich viridian green whereas the phantom armour was a shimmering gold. "If you would kindly turn it off and return to your seat we'll continue the lesson." Jaune tried to control a sensation he'd never had before and ever so slowly did the armour dissolve. Shakily Jaune retreated to his desk.
"I... I did it. I used my semblance... I'm not a fraud anymore, I belong here now. Thank you, Menma. Thank you so much." In hindsight he could see what his teacher was trying to do, scare him into activating his abilities.
Beacon Academy; Gym. 4:00 PM
The class had gone smoothly enough, the little combat display was to show ways aura could activate under different circumstances, whether willed to or not. He'd given the kids a few exercises to use later tonight before they slept to try and get a better grasp on their aura and by doing so, attune themselves with it better so to control it with greater ease.
He'd hauled Jaune, and by proxy his team, off to the gym and was currently not skipping leg day, once again on the leg press whilst team JNPR did the 100/100/100/20 exercise that he'd put Jaune on that first day. Lie Ren was the only one who seemed to have reservations about the sudden workout regime but Menma told him it was either suffer a bit of discomfort or die to a Grimm because he was too tired.
Whilst it didn't seem to motivate the boy per se, it did drive home to him that it was necessary.
"So... while we're all here, anything anyone wanna talk about?" Pyrrah asked, aloud, already onto her sit ups. Menma remained quiet and concentrated on his workout, after this he figured it'd be good to do some weights. "Nothing interesting happen at all?"
"Oh-oh! Me-me-me!" Chimed in Nora, raising her hand but insodoing fell on her side as she was on pushups still, her antics drew a small smirk from their teacher. "I did something super-fun recently."
"And what was that, Nora?" Menma immediately knew where this was going and was more than prepared with a counter. Pyrrah could talk shit if she so desired but as an autonomous creature with free will, he reserved the right to respect the choices of his students.
If one of those choices was offering up sex for a bit of harmless fun, he was more than happy to go along with it, as a pair of consenting participants.
"I had sex!" Jaune and Ren choked on the air in their throats and looked at the girl with shocked eyes, "With him! It was great, we had lots of fun." She pointed at Menma before resuming her pushups.
"WHAT?!" Exclaimed the boys.
"Harmless fun between friends, boys. Keep it up." Menma ordered, as he pushed out the final few presses he could, legs burning and muscles aching. Perhaps too much weight today? Probably too much weight today.
He turned to sit and his legs felt like jelly, but the endorphins in his system made him grin like a fool, "Far too much weight today." He knew better, but he felt like doing something silly for the sake of it. Who know's why.
"It's was great!" Once more Nora had a radiant grin on her face, her eyes found his and he smiled, almost causing her face to split with glee, apparently she was pleased that he was pleased.
"It was certainly something, I'll sat that." Menma admitted with a chuckle, only to see the inflamed cheeks of Jaune and Lie Ren almost illuminate the room, "Come now, boys. No need to be so bashful it's just your friends talking about a night well spent."
"It explains that limp." Muttered Pyrrah, shaking her head. "I thought the worst, I apologize."
Menma blinked, "Wait what did you think happened?" Pyrrah bowed her head in what he assumed was shame and daren't respond, "Now I'm just concerned, did you think so little of me that you won't even bring it up?"
"It's just that you're a teacher and Nora's a student, and she was kind of a mess when she came back so-" Menma cut Pyrrah off with a sharp look.
"So what you thought I took advantage of Nora? Did you think so little of myself that I would do that and of your teammate for willingly putting herself in a situation of such gravity? Dust preserve me, that's ridiculous, Pyrrah."
"That's messed up, Pyrrah." Nora said with a dark frown on her lips, the redhead amazon looked heavy with shame, Menma's legs ignited and he moved over to the bench he would be using for his weight lifting muttering to himself about the horrible things children could think of him.
"I'll spot ya!" Chimed the orangette as she hopped up and walked over to her sex-buddy, the boys cast a look at Pyrrah that was caught between concerned and insulted.
A few other people filed into the gym but other than that little gem, not much of note happened.
Menma's Room; 5:20 PM
The youthful teacher was fixing a few hiccups he'd found in the chainsword during its usage in a real combat trial, he'd found that every few seconds the blade would stall for just a millisecond or so, and thus he had to shore up the wiring on the dust core.
After the time he'd spent in the gym with Jaune and his team, as was becoming a trend, Menma was also graced with the sight of Team RWBY doing exercises. Once more, the image of attractive young women doing squats would forever be burnt into his mind, such was the majesty of it all.
Asses were great.
A knock at his door made him sigh, he already had everything out and set up. He really didn't want interruptions at this point, but it was better to have them before rather than during. Getting up from his chair he opened it up to reveal, the familiar hooded sight of Ruby, and the unexpected one of Weiss.
"Ruby, Ms. Schnee, is there something I can do for you both?" He asked, quite curious as to what situation was about to appear before him.
"Well I wanted to see what you were up to with your weapon, but Weiss wanted to come as well for some reason." Ruby explained, Weiss made a face as she kept staring at the older male critically.
"Well come on in, I don't mind the company." He offered, standing aside and holding the door, the girls entered and he let it shut as he sat in his chair. Ruby sitting on the foot of his bed whilst Weiss parked her ass into the other chair.
"Have we met before?" Began Weiss, Menma blinked and tugged on his hair, drawing her eyes.
"You were younger, as was I. I believe you were... eight or nine at the time. Our mothers are quite close I believe." Menma offered, Weiss' eyes widened as realization crossed her expression, "Yes, I'm that Menma Uzumaki."
"There are others?" Ruby asked, oblivious to Weiss' revelation.
"No, well possibly. But not in Vale, immigrant grandparents and all." Was all he offered, Ruby accepted it as it wasn't exactly critical knowledge so felt no need to push for more information at the present time.
"I have the vaguest recollection of you I think... your mother Kushina and your father Madara offered you up to my parents for an arranged marriage I believe?" Menma nodded and she continued, surprisingly calm about it, perhaps it was a mere cliff note in her life? That'd be more relieving than anything else, he'd met her once or twice through their mother's relationship but outside that there was no contact between them. "For some reason it was called off after a few shorts months, yes! Now I remember you tripped over the second step of the house and hit your head on the door because the stonemason made an error whilst measuring the steps!" Mirth almost oozed from the girl when she recalled it.
Menma did too, he'd stumbled enough for his forehead to collide with the doorknob just before it opened so the first sight his almost betrothed would have seen was him, on his back, on the ground with a cut forehead.
"Why did our mother's cut it off? Mother never told me so I assume something happened on your end." Deduced Weiss, with all the poise her upbringing afforded her.
"Well aside from our father's having more than a few disputes, what with how your father wanted mine's head mounted on a wall because he's a xenophobe, it was discovered shortly after the idea popped into our mother's heads that I was born sterile, I'm a mule. Quarter-faunus with a stronger genetic link to my father than my mother, and as a consequence the contract was voided before it could begin, so that the effort of us trying to produce a child wouldn't be wasted." Informed the Uzumaki, as was his right to do so. Weiss at least deserved to know why they stopped seeing one-another.
The girl blinked rapidly for a few moments before letting out a rather subdued "Oh." Followed by the obligatory, "I'm sorry for your situation."
"Not your fault, it's nice to have seen you after all these years, for whatever that's worth." The Schnee took it in stride and tilted her head slightly.
"And you, Menma." Ruby winced at the gloomy subject returning, she wasn't the best at comforting people, even if her friend was able to shoulder it himself she still felt the urge to help him in some way. Weiss stood up and patted down her skirt, "I'll leave you to it, would you be open to catching up properly soon? Over lunch perhaps?" Offered the young heiress, Menma smiled and nodded.
"I'd like that Weiss, thank you." The pale girl flushed slightly at those intense gold eyes and that gentle smile he wielded like fine weaponry before retreating hurriedly out the door. "Phew! That was too close. You almost blew it and tripped over your words, Weiss but you did it." The girl scampered off, victory etched onto her face.
"I find myself in such interesting situations of late." Muttered Menma with a small chuckle.
End
If you liked it, tell me. If you didn't, senpai will notice you. If you're a muffin that sexually identifies as an Apache helicopter, seek help.
Raxychaz!