When Weiss had said she would teach him how to dance and other bits of high society interactions, like actually talking with women appropriately, he admitted to having certain images flashing through his head. Ballroom dancing, fancy-talk, and generally just close contact with a girl. He was embarrassed by those thoughts but, well, he wasn't going to lie and say that there wasn't a certain appeal in them.
"Your footwork needs a lot of work Izuku. Outside of running, you just don't have it. Keep up the steps, come on now, one-two-three, one-two-three."
It turned out there was less embarrassment but more exercise. For the hour after he and Weiss finished up his tutoring, Weiss had been drilling him on proper footwork when it came to dancing. Drill being the operative term; those felt more like the sorts of quick footwork drills he'd do with either Toshinori or back in his combat school, to help with his agility. With Weiss, however, the operative goal wasn't to be able to move as fast as he could without missing a step, but to actually move in a coordinated manner that wouldn't leave him flat-footed in the future, either with himself or with another dance partner.
He was not proud to admit it, though with the intensity Weiss was putting him through his paces perhaps he could be a little easy on himself, but it did actually make him break a sweat.
"What, you didn't think it was an easy thing to learn to dance, did you? Dance takes dedications and weeks and weeks and weeks of exercise and preparation and that's just to be passable! In high society there's rules of engagement during balls, whole dance routines that you are expected to memorize as part of showing your cultured upbringing and, most importantly, proper hand placements so as to not appear uncouth. Dance is not just flopping your body around with rhythm. It is an art, a flow of motions that must take up every-ounce-of-your-focus you are losing rhythm!" He yelped a bit as he picked back up to the rhythm Weiss had been setting for his footwork.
On the plus side, that really helped with his footwork outside of dancing as well. And Weiss was a very receptive student to his teaching earlier. Still he really did need to give every ounce of his focus to it, both to honor her own effort and to improve himself. Three times harder than anyone else, after all.
"BEACON... SMAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
A roar of wind and sound exploded from the end of Izuku's fist as he threw his punch, nearly being knocked flat on his ass by the kickback of his use of One For All. He cried out in pain as his left arm cradled his right, the intense pain surging through his body was immediately apparent as he looked down at the broken limb. Even without a target being struck, the kickback from One For All was still enough to shatter damn near every bone in his right arm. He took deep, labored breaths as he walked over to a nearby bench and had a seat. It would be a while before he could get up to take another swing with One For All, but Glynda and Ozpin allowed him to rent out that particular staff training room for quite a while. He didn't want to risk breaking both of his arms at once... though it did occur to him that he could switch up what arm he was healing and that, in all honesty, healing up one arm almost totally before Smashing with the other, breaking it, and then finishing up his other arm before letting the newly broken one heal would be a more efficient use of his time in there...
Efficient but not painless.
Training One For All 'hurt'.
It 'hurt' so bad.
But he needed to do it. One For All wasn't his yet, the pain was proof enough of that fact. He needed to master it, he needed to be able to use it to its fullest potential. He was going to be the next Symbol of Peace one day... and that meant he had to live up to Toshinori's example. The first part of that was mastering his Semblance, mastering One For All.
He winced, having lost track of time from having been so lost in his thoughts, as he felt the bones in his arm begin to pop back into place, reforming under the guidance of his Aura. He was getting exhausted doing that, Aura being spent not on protecting him but healing... but it was all part of the process.
It'd be worth it. One day, when he mastered One For All, it'd be worth it.
For now, he just had to suffer through it.
'Though I'm definitely not looking forward to telling my team about this... especially after last time.'
Izuku dragged his beaten and battered form into his dorm room where his teammates stared at him in shock. His clothes were ruffled and torn. There were scratches all over his body, and his arm was bent in a direction that it definitely shouldn't have been in.
"Izuku!" His teammates shouted as they rushed over to him.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Pyrrha was the first to ask questions.
"Your arm is broken!" Weiss shouted out.
"Did you use your semblance again?" Pyrrha asked in a worried tone.
"Again!? How many times do we have to tell you not to use it so willy nilly!" Weiss stated, outraged. "This is the second time this week!"
"Yeah, fearless leader. How could you leave me out of all the fun!?" Exclaimed Nora.
"Ah, uh, but I-"
"No buts! You are going to lie down and let us fix that arm of yours" Weiss demanded.
"Yes! Ow!" Izuku responded while trying to salute with his broken arm.
"Ah, I get I'll get the kit" Pyrrha said and walked into the bathroom to fetch said kit.
Both Weiss and Nora helped him to his bed. Well, Nora rattled on about all the cool things that Izuku did without her instead. It was not his fault that Toshinori had some insane training techniques.
"Honestly, You're going to lose that arm one day" Weiss' chastised him.
"It's not that bad, I-"
"No, it is that bad. Aura can't heal all wounds. And I refuse to be in a team with a disabled leader so you are going to lie down, shut up, and let us treat you!"
Izuku flinched, went to open his mouth, flinched again when Weiss gave him a cold stare and finally gave up. He could never argue with Weiss when she got like that.
Pyrrha came back from the bathroom with what looked like a first aid kit but with the words 'Izuku's done something stupid kit' written on it. She set it down and pulled up his sleeve as gently as possible so as to not cause him any pain.
"It's not as bad as last time so you should be okay" Pyrrha said as she analysed the damage.
"Okay? Okay!? How is this okay!? There shouldn't even be a last time!" Weiss exploded. "And there definitely won't be a next time, right Izuku?"
"Y-Yes!" Izuku shouted in full fear of the womanly rage in front of him.
"Good. Now stay still while we fix this mess"
Izuku cried inside. Not because he broke his arm or that Weiss told him off…
But that he never got to explain that he fell down the stairs.
Izuku grumbled a bit, having finally recovered from the most recent bout of training with One For All. He had managed to avoid the worst of the scolding when it had turned out that only Pyrrha had been in the room, and of his team, she had been the most accepting of his training habits. It was likely due to that that Izuku had had enough time to recover alone, before he finally was confronted with a major problem.
Izuku looked over at his at his tattered workout clothes, and groaned. The shirt could barely be described as scraps any more, with the piece having been utterly torn apart by the use of One For All. His shorts weren't much better, and all that left Izuku with conundrum.
He really needed to fix those clothes, it was his only real workout outfit, yet he couldn't keep getting someone to repair them all the time. He was already budgeting his money with the costs of dust and equipment as it is. Spending more lien to repair his clothes whenever he used One for All, while not the most costly thing, was starting to add up.
That's when the idea came to him. Why didn't he repair the clothes himself? It'll save him money and he'll learn a useful skill in the process. Besides, it couldn't be that hard, right?
He went to leave the dorm room when Pyrrha stopped him and asked where he was going. Luckily, It turned out that Pyrrha used needles to practice fine control of her semblance and she was willing to let him borrow them. Now all he needed was some Yarn.
He stepped out of his dorm room and caught sight of Blake. He and Blake hadn't talked much. Then again, Blake did not talk much period. But he decided that wouldn't stop him from going up and saying hello. They were friends after all. Or at least, he thought they are.
"Hi Blake" Izuku greeted.
"Oh, hey" Blake curtly responded. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Blake spoke up.
"So, I'm going to the library so…"
"Oh! That's fine! Ah, before you go. You don't happen to have any balls of yarn, do you?" Izuku asked. He figured that since Pyrrha ended up having something he needed and was willing to lend it to him then there was the opportunity of it happening again.
Blake's eyes widened in shock before narrowing. Izuku wasn't sure why she had such a reaction. He had only asked for some yarn.
"No… Why would you think I would have some?" Blake wearily asked with a sharp tone. Izuku was not sure how but he knew that he has offended her somehow.
"Ah, I-I just wondering if you had any I could borrow so I wouldn't have to go all the way to Vale to get some. Sorry if I offended you!" Izuku panicked.
"N-no! Why would I be offended by that!? It's not like I'm a cat faunus or anything" A flustered Blake blurted out.
"I'm really sorry! Wait, cat faunus?" Izuku tilted his head to the side in confusion. It was quite an odd thing to bring up after all.
"Gotta go, bye!" Blake ran away, leaving a shadow clone behind before her sentence even finished.
Blake was not happy. She was not remotely close to the emotion called happiness at the moment. Out of all the thing that could have done, she somehow arrived at deciding to do the single most stupid thing possible.
'I revealed I am a Faunus,' she tightened her hand, 'to a classmate…' She didn't even know how it happened. She just panicked over suddenly being apologized to and it just... slipped. Granted, she hadn't specifically state she was a faunus but there was no way Izuku couldn't put two and two together.
Blake slumped in her seat and sighed.
'Why did ask me if she had any balls of yarn?' a spark of fear shooting up her spine, 'Could it be that he knew all along?'
She thought for a second, before shaking her head, 'No, with the way he acted, he was genuinely panicking over the fact that she took offence to his question.'
Blake put that to the side for the moment. She had something much more important to think about, 'What would I do now?'
The answer was obvious, 'Make him be quiet about it.'
Then came the follow up, 'How?'
'Maybe asking him would work?'
Blake could only chuckle at the naivety of that thought. 'If something could be achieved simply through assking then we would have equality by now. No, I need something to make sure Izuku keeps his mouth shut.'
Then it clicked. She knew of a way to make sure he didn't talk. It was quite simple really. All she had to do was give him a reason not to talk. Make it so that revealing her secret would be detrimental to him. While she didn't have anyway to give him said reason, she was sure that her stealth skills were enough to learn a secret or two.
"Salutations my fellow Team Leaders! I hereby call this first meeting of the Beacon Academy Leadership Council on Tactics, Training, Leading and Team Cohesion to order! I'll start with a simple role call! Izuku Midoriya, Leader of Team MNVW?"
"... Uh... here?"
"Very good! Ruby Rose, Leader of Team RSBR?"
"Present!"
"Excellent! And obviously I, Tenya Iida, Leader of Team TABY, am present and accounted for! This meeting may therefore come to order!"
... Well, at least Tenya was enthusiastic. And Izuku really couldn't fault him for the amount of preparation he'd put into the meeting. He'd managed to convince one of the teachers to use their classroom as part of a 'Club' Meeting for the evening, had gathered up a plate of varying snacks, most notably a rather large plate of cookies that Ruby seemed to monopolize, and even managed to find an honest to goodness round table for them all to sit around. As it was just the three at the moment, they were all a bit scrunched up at the top of the table, sitting with enough space to leave them all comfortable but close enough to be able to talk rather plainly with each other.
Still...
"Tenya, you can see the both of us right here. Did you really need to do a role call?" He munched on a potato chip as he said that, Tenya stiffening slightly as he turned to him.
"Of course Izuku, we are the leaders of our respective teams. It is of the utmost duty that we take all of our responsibilities with the utmost seriousness, sincerity and integrity. We have an example to live up to now, after all!" he nodded as Tenya enthusiastically waved his hands around. He saw the taller man's point, of course. Heck, he even agreed with it. Still, to someone as socially awkward as Izuku, Tenya's enthusiasm felt like a little much.
"Well then!" Tenya exclaimed while Izuku just shook his head, and Ruby stuck another cookie in her mouth, "LET'S GET STARTED!"
"Well I'm not going to lie Miss Rose, that does sound like an issue."
The meeting had actually gone rather smoothly so far. The three of them started off by exchanging their experiences for the past week (or almost week) as leaders to see what worked, what didn't and what the three thought were good philosophies. He talked to the others about the difficulty with Weiss on his first day, but that also then allowed him to work around to discussing how things worked out generally because he just tried his best to show that he was going to work hard at it and he respected his team. Or, as Tenya put it, he showed "strong resolve in respecting his team members and earning their respect in turn!" He didn't know if he had actually earned their respect, he still felt like he was a ways off from deserving it, but it did sound like Tenya was on the right track.
For Tenya, his discussion was more in balancing out the various personalities of his team. While he and Blake, in his own words, "got along quite well by being serious, hard working and diligent." Blake's more quiet and subdued nature didn't exactly play off well against Tenya's enthusiasm, he thought. Then there was Yang, a wild card in their Team to be sure, who was pretty much so different from most everyone else. Not that it was a bad thing; Yang's energy, enthusiasm and sheer, in Tenya's word, joyous energy brought a certain amount of 'spark' to the group. Still, her propensity for teasing and bad jokes did make her a handful at times. Though Tsuyu helped with the bad jokes aspect, it didn't exactly make it completely easy as she would still try her hardest to make her puns. Then there was Tsuyu, who was almost like Blake in the not often speaking regard. However, when she did speak, she spoke far more plainly than Blake and it seemed like she was more into interacting with the team.
For Tenya, the challenge and opportunity was working with all aspects of the team to make it a fully functioning unit while also managing to respect what made each of his subordinates unique. Izuku certainly related to that; while Pyrrha was a great partner, Weiss and Nora couldn't be more different as people and Nora's energy was just... well, wow, he could barely keep up with her sometimes. But he enjoyed it; it brought something new to living here at Beacon that he enjoyed. And he wasn't gonna lie, seeing what Nora could pour that energy toward was a source of fun in and of itself.
All of which then brought it down to Ruby who actually greatly sympathized with both of their challenges... mostly because she had both problems wrapped up in Bakugou. The Explosion user had a very... strong personality. He also had his own idea on how he should act as part of the team and how he should respond to Ruby's orders as a leader. Now, Ren and Shoto were great in Ruby's own words, they were following her orders or making suggestions when they thought they could add something, which she definitely welcomed, and they were pretty great. Quiet and sometimes hard to talk to, but great. Bakugou however was just an explosive element that she had a hard time working with, no matter what she tried. Even Ren's pancakes didn't seem to make a dent!
"It's like I've said before Ruby, Kacchan's the kind of guy who respects strength."
"I know, I know... but I would've thought passing Initiation would've shown that I was strong!" Ruby whined a bit as she ate another cookie, and Tenya tapped his chin as he nodded.
"True, but I do think that this is a bit more significant than whether or not you're a strong Huntress in your own right. You're two years his junior and it's clear that Bakugou thinks highly of himself. Even if he might recognize that you belong here, he might not recognize you as his superior or someone he would bend for when it came to orders." Izuku nodded in agreement as Ruby looked up at the both of them.
"Ruby, just like you got here early for a reason, Ozpin picked you to be a leader for a reason. He picked all of us for one reason or another. If you just keep being you then... I think Kacchan will at least... maybe not violently kick you away whenever you give an order." Tenya and Ruby sweated a bit as he said that, Ruby's eyes threatening to tear up.
"You don't make it sound so good."
...
"Well it is Kacchan..." He admitted with a slightly weak chuckle, Ruby just groaning as she placed her face into the plate of cookies. At first Tenya patted her on the shoulder reassuringly... before noticing that Ruby was mostly doing that just to hoover up the remaining cookies.
"MISS ROSE, THIS PLATE WAS MEANT FOR ALL OF US, YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
"CAN'T YOU SEE I'M DEPRESSED TENYA, LET ME DROWN MYSELF IN BAKED BREAD SPRINKLED WITH CHOCOLATE!"
'You know, this meeting turned out rather well... I think.'
"Owari Meisai will be one of the participants for the next round. Is there anyone who has not fought in the previous class or today that would volunteer?"
"... Uh... I guess I will Professor Goodwitch!"
"... Very well. Mr. Midoriya shall fight Mr. Meisai. Both of you report to your lockers to retrieve your gear and return here."
He was cheered on by his team, or in Weiss's case was wished good luck very calmly, as he took a deep breath. He looked across the stands to see he opponent... sleeping. He was sound asleep. The rest of his team turned to look at him, one of them slapping him upside the head slightly to wake him up. At first all that did was upset the parrot that the guy had perched on his shoulder but, soon enough, he did snap awake, blinking his eyes blearily as the rest of his team informed him about what was going down. He yawned a bit as he nodded, his parrot perching off of his shoulder and onto his seat as he got up to leave alongside Izuku. The guy... didn't look terribly strong. In fact, he looked pretty physically meek if he had to guess. His Aura would enhance his strength, speed and durability sure enough, but he definitely didn't look like a fighter to Izuku. Still, he couldn't underestimate his opponent just from what they looked like; He knew that lesson better than most.
As the two went down to the lockers, Izuku slipped on Emerald Gust's various pieces, smiling to himself as he tested out Mei's upgrade one last time. Smooth as silk the metal layer slipped on over his hands along with the mechanism for Emerald Gust's shotgun. he loaded up on his Gravity Dust Rounds as well, sliding two changes of the ammo into your back pocket as he cocked the shotgun. When the fight begins, it would be ready. Turning the safety back off, he looked over his shoulder to see Owari messing with his own locker, pulling out three softball sized orbs, or at least what he could tell from that distance as orbs, and shoved them into his pockets. He heard the mechashift of a weapon from his locker as he additionally pulled out a spear and nodded at it. Reaching back into his pocket as he lazily let his spear lean against his shoulder, he pulled out one of the little spheres.
With a content smile and a bit of five-o-clock shadow, Owari turned to Izuku and offered a short nod before walking off. Returning it, he followed him out to the arena.
As they walked up to Glynda so that she could check over both their gear, ensuring that they haven't carried anything into the arena that wouldn't pass muster, she gave them both a nod. As Owari moved to his position, he felt Glynda grab him by the shoulder. His emerald eyes turned to meet hers and she seemed... pensive.
"Mr. Midoriya... I hope that I don't have to tell you that you shouldn't be using your... Semblance in this fight, correct?" He tensed up a bit and nodded fervently. It hadn't even crossed his mind to use One For All against another student. With a nod she let go of his shoulder and allowed him to move into his position. When they were both settled Glynda gave both of them a look before syncing their Scrolls with the monitor up top, showing their Aura levels.
"Alright then. Owari Meisai versus Izuku Midoriya. Begin!"
Izuku tensed up; both of them were well within striking distance of each other if one of them were to run up on the other. Izuku was expecting Owari to come at him with that spear of his, maybe even using its length in order to poke him out a bit. Instead... he actually ran back, getting as much distance between the two of them as he could. His spear in one hand and the black orb in the other.
While Izuku felt he needed to be cautious of whatever it was Owari had in his hands, he couldn't just let him get away from him without giving him a little something to worry about. Cocking the shotguns of Emerald Gust he reared a fist back and, taking careful aim, punched out. A spray of pellets immediately soared through the air and, while they by and large scattered, one did seem to be on the right track towards hitting him. However, his target hasn't taken his eyes off of him even while trying to gain his distance and, in a show of movement pretty surprising to Izuku, he ducked to the side to dodge out of the way of the one pellet. As he did that izuku just grouns his teeth together as he began moving toward him, feeling the mechanisms in Emerald Gust turn as they place another round into his shotgun's chamber.
Owari's eyes remained on Izuku as he squeezed down on the black orb and, to Izuku's surprise, tossed it at the ground just a ways in front of him. He skidded to a stop before it hit and, while it was a small bit of distance from gim, that distance was rather quickly made moot as the orb exploded. He covered his face, fearing some kind of trick, but then looked back a moment later when the was no feel of fragmentation striking him. His eyes went a bit wide in surprise when he saw that in the floor in front of him, a rather large area was now littered in caltrops. Small little spikes, twisted so that no matter how they landed a spike was always facing up, had covered the floor in a 3 yard by 3 yard space in front of him. he looked back over to Owari as he heard his weapon Mechashift once more, that time going from his spear into a bolt-action rifle, something he'd seen before with Pyrrha.
Having had no idea what he might be planning with those, whether there was an additional trick up his sleeve with that gadget or not, he went cautious and fired off his shotgun again before moving around the trap. His aim was even more true that time than the last but it seemed all for not; A jump to the side and Owari dodged several pellets of Izuku's shot while he tried to work his way closer.
The next moment was a bit of a blur in his memory. He watched as Owari leveled his rifle, the eye he'd used to look down the iron sight... practically bulging out of his head as he took aim at Izuku. He took a slight breath, his entire body going steady.
And then Midoriya's world was one of pain.
He choked as the bullets pierced his Aura and then tore straight on through his body, punching right through his right shoulder and exiting just out of his back. Immediately he felt both his body and his Aura going to work, the former resisting the bullet as best it could to keep it from just tearing him up inside while his Aura immediately went to work patching him up after the bullet had made its pass. There was blood, because of course there was, but it was in a quick spurt as the bullet just carved a path straight through him. The holes were soon enough patched up and he knew that his Aura was getting to work on fixing the internal damage...
But the damage had been done.
"Izuku Midoriya's Aura has been unwillingly pierced. Owari Meisai wins now drop your weapons." Izuku saw his opponent flinch a bit before his eye closed, sinking back toward his skull as he just stood up fully. He shifted his weapon back into its spear and then let it lazily hang off his shoulder as he approached you. Izuku grinded his teeth together through the pain as he reached a hand up to put pressure on his shoulder as both Glynda and Owari made their approach. Glynda looked between the two of them for a moment and sighed, turning her attention to Owari. "Mr. Meisai, while I appreciate that this is how you will be conducting yourself in the field, and your marks in the shooting range haven't gone unnoticed, this is a combat class. Learning how to deal with your opponents close up here will help you should the situation come to a brawl in the field."
"I understand Professor, but if my opponents never reach me because of my team or my traps-"
"You'd be surprised how quickly established plans can go wrong in the field Mr. Meisai. Do not fail to broaden your skill set simply because you have a plan that will work sometimes. Failure is always an option even for the best laid out designs. In the future, I want you to 'try' to fight your opponents." Owari just nodded his head slightly before she turns to Midoriya. "Mr. Midoriya, your thoughtful approach to combat has been noted in both Initiation and here. You didn't know what your opponent is capable of and you didn't rush to meet him due to this lack of knowledge. However, in this scenario you erred on the side of caution, allowing your opponent to gain the space he desired as signaled by the beginning of the fight."
"But professor, you don't exactly sound like you disapproved of me not rushing in." Glynda sighed as she re-adjusted her glasses.
"Because I don't. You were dealt a poor hand Mr. Midoriya; you didn't know what your opponent had up their sleeves and yet you couldn't allow them to get the distance they wanted. You would've had to make a poor move based in ignorance either way... but that is how the business of being a Hunter works. The only way you'll be able to find out which times to take risks and which times it is better to remain cautious is through experience and better judgement... or to pray that you have information on your opponent before the battle. Do you understand Mr. Midoriya?"
Izuku just nodded dumbly as he winced, feeling his Aura go to work. Glynda sighed again as she tapped on her Scroll. "There's only one more fight left. Stay and watch it if you please Mr. Midoriya but I'd ask you go to Professor Peach's office after this to be checked out. Understood?" He nodded quickly as did Glynda. "Very well then, you both are dismissed. Now then... Ruby Rose will be our next fighter. Is there anyone who would volunteer to go against her?" The arena went a bit quiet as he walked off, still cradling his right shoulder to keep pressure on. Just as he and Owari were about to exit, he heard it.
"Yeah, I'll take the runt on." Before anyone else could volunteer, barely a moment after Glynda made the call for volunteers... he heard it.
Bakugou had just put himself up to fight Ruby.
"Ruby, you know you didn't have to accept right. There is the option to turn down these fights and, well, it's unusual for Teammates to spare against one and other in combat class... much less your partner! I'm sure Glynda wouldn't think much of it if you passed."
"I know, I know but... it's like you said Izuku, Kac-... Bakugo respects strength. If I just flaked out on my first combat class spar, and against him no less? Might as well kiss making Team RSBR work out goodbye. I've got to at least fight him... and hey, I can at least try to win." He nodded as Ruby gives him a quick, and very nervous, thumbs up. "Wish me luck."
As Izuku sat back down with his friends, his team worried for a moment or two about the shoulder wound which, he assured them, was closing up nicely, everyone's attention soon turned to the fight. Ruby and Bakugou showed up on the arena floor in their respective normal outfits with weapons at the ready. Bakugou with his grenade gauntlets and Ruby with Crescent Rose. Izuku swallow nervously as he looked at that, knowing that the fight was gonna be rough...
"Just a word to the wise Izuku, if your bully-friend down there upsets one little hair on my sister's head, I'm going to pulverize him."
"Yang no, this is a spar."
"Yang yes, that guy's a jerk."
Tenya just sighed at his failed attempt to corral his subordinate, and Izuku couldn't help but nod with both of them.
'While Yang probably knows there is nothing she can do to Kacchan if he does beat Ruby in that spar, I can see why Yang would be upset. Kaachan isn't exactly an easy person to get on with and it was clear he is at least somewhat upsetting to Ruby. If he does just kick her around then it's going to be natural for Yang's frustration with the guy to boil over,' Ren and Shoto just watched the argument carefully, the pair exchanging a look for a second... before nodding.
"You're all jumping to conclusions too soon. I'd say Ruby stands a solid chance here." Ren remarked quietly as he looked back down at the arena, Shoto nodding in agreement.
"Indeed. Even Bakugo will probably recognize that he doesn't have this fight wrapped up... which might end up reneging on Ruby's advantage." Shoto remarked afterward as everyone just stared at the partner pair.
"You... you two didn't even say anything..." Blake remarked, almost numbly, as Ren and Shoto just raised their eyebrows at her.
"Psssh, of course they said something Blake! They said loads! You just don't get it cause you haven't spent as much time together with Ren as I have... and by that I don't mean together-together." Everyone nodded at Nora's explanation, deeming it as the only one that made sense, before Glynda's voice rose up from the arena.
"Alright. Ruby Rose and Katsuki Bakugou are ready. Let the spar commence!"
All of them knew Ruby was faster than Bakugou. Her Semblance practically guaranteed it. However, what was also clear was that Ruby also knew she was faster than Kacchan... and yet she stood there and didn't go in for him. She readied Crescent Rose and waited for Kacchan to come to her. Probably wise as it would be inevitable that her opponent would close the gap between the two of them. Like clockwork, that was exactly what Bakugou did, sprinting forth, one of his hands drawn back for an Explosive Impact as he jumped a bit at the last second. However, something was off; from years spent around Kacchan, Izuku knew what it looked like with Bakugou was getting ready for one of his bigger explosions. That... that was not one of those times. It seemed Ruby had also managed to pick up on that in the short time knowing Bakugou as, rather than duck out of the way in any extreme manner which would throw her off, she just parried Bakugou hand away. A few minor explosions went off but they were nothing major. Nothing compared to what Bakugou could pull off if he put Aura into it.
Bakugou ground his teeth together at having been seen through so spectacularly as Ruby Rose hefted up Crescent Rose for a swing. However as she did so Katsuki brought his other hand up to block the hit, a small amount of minor explosions trailing up his arm as he did so. It was in a quick flash as Ruby cried out, Bakugou gripping her hand at the same time one minor explosion ripped from his palm. Ruby dropped Crescent Rose to the ground on reflex as her opponent let her go, the silver eyed warrior gasping as she quickly moved to pick her weapon back up.
"DIE!" Bakugou's all-too familiar battle cry was heard as he reared his left hand back, explosions trailing up it and into the gauntlet as he prepared an attack on Ruby. For a moment, Ruby got ready to dodge away from that hit before something caught her ears. It caught Izuku's eyes as well but, Ruby being momentarily distracted, it took the sound for her to take a look. Bakugou's actual attack was coming from his right as a much, 'much' larger explosions trailed up his arm. He had been using his left hand to try to feint her. Ruby quickly ducked back and away as an Explosive Impact roared out of his right hand, Ruby quickly moving away from Bakugou as the attack gave away. Ruby took a few solid breaths as she twirled Crescent Rose around a few times, obviously having the weapon at the ready for when Bakugou came in close again...
But Bakugou didn't. The red eyed teen just glared at Ruby for a moment before his right hand sunk into the grenade part of his gauntlet. He reared his arm back as he did that and, soon enough, a bright orange and red light began to emanate from the opening of the gauntlet.
'Oh no.' He was... he was going big for this next one.
Even from his spot in the arena he saw that Ruby's eyes go wide as she quickly shifted Crescent Rose around, going from Scythe to Sniper Rifle in the blink of an eye. She brought the rifle up so that she could just barely get sights on Bakugou before she fired her rifle. Bakugou's eyes went wide, likely not having seen that coming, but grinding his teeth regardless. Even as he tried to dodge instead Ruby's bullet hit him dead on in the chest, causing Bakugou to grunt and scream slightly as the slug just pounded him dead center. After a moment of digging his heels in he roared and his Aura absorbed the full force of the bullet, Bakugou laughing slightly as he gave a slightly maniacal grin.
"LET'S SEE YOU DODGE THIS ONE RUNT! DIE!" With that, Bakugou reared his right hand back and, in one fluid motion, swung his entire arm around as if he were throwing something right at Ruby. The glow from his gauntlet disappeared and, for a moment, it seems like nothing happened.
And then Izuku had to shield his eyes from the explosion. As if drawn from a particular point of impact a plume of fire and smoke erupted from the ground in front of Ruby and exploded right in her face. Ruby had ducked out of the way slightly, but only managed a small amount of distance between herself and the core impact of the explosion before it roared up on her. Izuku heard Yang cry out as she placed her hands over her mouth, Bakugou just laughing as he looked at the fire.
"DIDN'T DODGE THAT ONE DID YOU RUNT? HOW'D YOU LIKE THAT ONE?"
"MY BUTT'S ON FIRE!"
Ruby quickly jumped out of the slowly dying flames and smoke of Bakugou's explosion, a roaring flame covering her almost entirely as she hopped around. Ruby hollered and shouted a few times as she quickly wrapped herself up in her cloak and dropped to the floor, Izuku and the others watching as Ruby quickly stopped, dropped and rolled until the fire was out. Once it was she quickly hopped off the ground and rolled out of her cloak, taking deep, gasping breaths as, despite her Aura absorbing the real damage, a few scorch marks were left on her body. Ruby took a good look over herself as she tried to make sure she was still not on fire, a relieved sigh escaping her mouth, and Izuku's, as he saw she put herself out.
"DIIIIIIIE!"
Welp, it wasn't over yet. Ruby's silver eyes snapped open as Kacchan was immediately on top of her again, arm reared back for a blow. Ruby brought Crescent Rose up... only to realize it was still in its sniper form. With a quick 'eep!' Ruby ducked out of the way of Bakugou's hit, barely getting away in time to avoid the more contained explosion of Bakugou's Explosive Impact. Midoriya saw Ruby's silver eyes were wide as she 'immediately' backed off and away from Bakugou, moving even outside of his own range before mechashifting Crescent Rose back into its scythe form. Now nine yards away, Ruby gave herself a moment to take a breather. Surely Bakugou wouldn't be able to-
"DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Indeed. Bakugou took a running start and, before anyone had a moment to realize what he was doing, he was soaring through the air in a long jump, one of his fists reared back for a punch. With a quick roll Ruby dodged out of the way of Bakugou's attack... and everyone all noticed it. A big explosion didn't boom forth from Bakugou's hand. He was holding back his energy. A glance up at the screen above the arena gives the answer why; both he and Ruby were nearly spent. While Ruby hadn't spent a lot of energy, Bakugou's explosion took a lot out of her Aura to protect her. Katsuki, meanwhile, had spent so much energy attacking and tanking Crescent Rose's attack. Bakugou must have know he was reaching his limits... he was trying to get a low cost hit in to put an end to this fight without exhausting his Aura.
The next several seconds of the fight were just more of that. Izuku watched as Ruby used her superior speed to dip out of Bakugou's range, always taking advantage of the fact that Bakugou would just throw himself at her again in order to try to make an attack. It was a game of the two of them exchanging blows and very nearly falling to each other's hits multiple times, their Auras being the only thing to save them as they drew upon them to move out of the way. Finally, after barely dodging an attack by Bakugou, Ruby ducked back and away, readying Crescent Rose for another swing...
Only to be met with tired laughter from her opponent.
"So is this really how this fight's gonna end there runt? You drag me along and I keep dodging your fancy toy there and we just wait for the other person to screw up... or worse, wait till we just exhaust our Auras dodging." Bakugou gave a wild grin to match his wide-eyed look as he shook his head, withdrawing his hand into his Gauntlet. "That isn't my style." Everyone looked up to the screen to see Bakugou's Aura dip even lower. Everyone knew that he was on his last legs and they knew that even if that won't put him into the red, one bad hit could land him right in there. He was putting himself in a very dangerous position...
And Ruby seemed to realize that. There was a moment of hesitation on her face as she tried to decide what to do. Izuku could imagine what she was thinking; a shot from Crescent Rose might just end with Bakugou getting pierced like he did. Meanwhile if she went in to attack Kacchan and he managed to dodge... then she was right in front of him, her face practically to that explosion.
She's trapped between not wanting to hurt her partner and wanting to win.
Ruby took a deep breath as she swung Crescent Rose around. She was going to try to take the chance.
"That's what I like to see. NOW DIE!" Without hesitation Bakugou swung his hand, again nothing seeming to come out of it. This time Ruby seemed far more ready, already in the air before the explosion went off... unfortunately for her, it still didn't end up being enough that time. The explosion roared forth, catching Ruby near dead-center, and once more Ruby was ablaze. Izuku heard her shriek as she quickly tried to put herself out, to no avail that time. The flames stayed on her, licking at her Aura which began to flicker dangerously. Bakugou immediately moved in, jumping with his fist reared back for a punch. Ruby, looking up and noticing this, quickly ducked back and away, just barely avoiding Kacchan's hit. While Deku's bully-friend grinded his teeth together, Ruby again wrapped herself up in her cloak, rolled on the ground, and came out of the cloak with the fire snuffed out and Crescent Rose still at the ready.
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" Bakugou roared as he ran forward, both hands pulled back. There was a glint in Ruby's silver eyes as she took a shuddering breath. She ducked back and away from Bakugous hit... but not as much as she normally would. Instead she stayed only just outside his reach, causing Kacchan to grasp out for her as she prepared her swing. It was only when Bakugou realizes that he's been baited that his eyes went up to meet Ruby's.
With one powerful swing, Ruby sent Crescent Rose's blade into Bakugou's side, his Aura absorbing the entirety of the blow... but Izuku heard the ringing of the bell, as did everyone else.
"Ruby Rose has dropped Katsuki Bakugo into the red. Ruby Rose wins."
It was slow watching the two of them slowly stand up. Without Bakugou's screams or Ruby's shouts of being on fire or frustration, it was a bit harder to hear as Glynda brought them both around to give them private advice on their battle. Far from looking annoyed, Glynda looked rather impressed with both sides... a sentiment that seemed to by and large be shared by the audience. Except for a few...
"Man, not only does that Bakugo guy go around picking on frail little girls, he gets beat by them too! What a chump. After seeing this fight, I'm sure I can take him!" There was a boisterous voice not too far behind Izuku's group, Yang immediately turning on the voice, a team of all guys, and shaking her fist at them.
"What are you losers talking about?! Were you watching the same fight? My baby sis did awesome and she's definitely 'not' frail! If you keep talking crap like that I'll come up there and stuff my fist down your throat!" The team immediately quieted up as Yang said that, before the blonde brawler grinned and turned back around to see Kacchan and Ruby leaving the arena. "Holy cow. Hoooly cow. That was a pretty good fight." Izuku saw a flicker of a smile on Tsuyu's face, one that was quickly squashed, as she turned her otherwise monotone expression towards Yang.
"So that mean you're not going to beat Katsuki up for setting Ruby on fire?"
"... Eh... I'll save it for when he gets called up for a spar. I'll volunteer and kick his butt." Yang said with a laugh as she leaned back.
"Hmmm... you would be able to go toe-to-toe with Bakugou, Yang, but do mark how close it was for Ruby... and she had a tactical advantage in speed over Bakugou. You would be the face of his explosions the entire time... and he doesn't look like he's the sort to hold back under any circumstance." Tenya spoke with soft hand motions, Yang just snorting derisively at his assertions... but, notably, she didn't talk back or entirely ignore them either. Soon enough Ruby and bakugou returned to Izuku's part of the arena. Bakugou going a long way off from the rest of them all, sitting by himself as he brooded. Ruby, for her part, just sat down with them all, a slightly thoughtful expression on her face. Before anyone could ask, Ruby spoke up.
"So... I went ahead and tried to ask Katsuki what his weapons' names were again..." Everyone perked up an eyebrow as she said that, Lie Ren and Shoto especially, as they all turned their full attentions to Ruby. "... King Explosion Murder and Lord Explosion Murder."
...
"What the heck kind of names are those?"
E/N: This chapter has two Outtakes! One after another. First of is "Another Broken arm" by thebebb, followed by "A Yarn of Trouble" also by thebebb. That last one gave us a bit of trouble trying to fit it in somewhere but eventually I had the idea to do what you saw above. Then I had the even better idea to tell Wind to do it.
-Shovern
The great problem with so many of these outtakes is that they all take place in the, "about right now", of when the main story is being told. And the initial rush of snippits and outtakes that came about just when people found out they could were allowed to write about this story meant that so many of these outtakes take place about the first few days of the semester. We ultimately just went with connecting the "Yarn" Snippet to the section right above it, to at least make it seem to flow better.
This is obviously a good way to bring Blake into Izuku's story though, especially if they are not already teammates. Blake's antisocial tendencies would normally make connecting with her difficult, but her following around Izuku to try and keep her secret safe...well at least that seems to be in character.
-Wind-Waker