"Alright, so, during the Faunus Rights Revolution there was a battle between General Lagune and a... well, the Faunus fighters didn't have ranks so I suppose 'Specialist' Kaa. Lagune was trying to ambush Kaa's army in the middle of the night-"
"But because most Faunus, Kaa especially, have exceptional night vision they were able to see Lagune's army coming from quite far away. The General, not having taken this into account, was in the end surprised when he stumbled into their camp to find no Faunus and, instead, found his ambush turned on him."
"... Yeah that's actually exactly right Velvet. You really know your stuff, huh?"
"Yes, well... it isn't 'knowing' this stuff that's been the problem so far..."
Izuku nodded his head as he closed up the history book he'd been studying from with Velvet. As part of Coco having joined the Leadership Council, she had wanted them all to help with Velvet a bit, make sure she'd actually pass her classes so that she could move on up with the rest of her team. Admitted on missions and recognized for combat in spars though she was, Velvet had seemingly had a great deal of trouble in actually passing the classes required to move up fully to the next year. While Izuku'd been taking care to watch her performance in classes so far, he'd decided that the best way to make sure that Velvet would be fine going on ahead would be to sit down and do a bit of studying with her... or, more like tutoring her with review material.
Imagine Izuku's surprise when Velvet seemed to not only know her stuff but did so to some degrees that were even more familiar with the material than he was. It wasn't too much of a shock when he thought about it; she had taken these classes before, it was natural to assume that she'd be able to remember a good deal of what she'd been taught. However, there was slightly more than that; it seemed like she not only remembered the material, but readily understood it.
Then again, maybe that shouldn't have been a surprise either. Coco's chastisement, minor though it was, of Velvet wasn't that the rabbit Faunus girl was dumb, no she seemed to think she was quite bright...
"Right, I suppose your problems are more in the actual testing and answering part of this huh?" Izuku sheepishly scratched the back of his head, Velvet nodding somewhat as he looked down to the side. "Sorry about that, I guess I was just going through the motions."
"N-No need to apologize! It's fine; better to be sure right? I mean, if I know it so well then I... shouldn't really feel so pressured when in class, right?" Izuku saw Velvet frown as she glanced off to the side, Izuku nodding in understanding as he stroked his chin.
"Well... that's fine then. If you know the stuff then the hard work's mostly done. It seems like you're really good at studying and actually memorizing this stuff so... let's practice actually giving answers and stuff?" Izuku sounded uncertain at first but, as the idea simmered in his head, it caught fire, giving him a spark of an idea. "Yeah! That's it! I'll give you a mock test and put some kind of timer on it! That way you'd be under some kind of pressure and we can build up on it from there!" Izuku realized that his excitement over his epiphany seemed to have spooked Velvet a bit, the skittish young woman backing away slightly from his loud declaration. "Er, sorry, I just get kind of excited when I think a problem through..." She nodded and smiled slightly.
"Coco gets the same way. Whenever she's sitting around puzzling something out and finally thinks it through, she just seems to burst with a lot of energy." There was a fondness there that made him smile. These two had been partners for over a year now, so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that they seem close.
"Alright then, that sounds like a plan to me. I'll go ahead and start setting up a mock test based on the material! Feel free to study a bit while I do so." He saw Velvet nod as he immediately pulled out some notebook paper and begin scratching away, trying to think of a test that would end up looking like Oobleck's. As he focused in on the paper he failed to notice the smile on Velvet's face drop as she cast her eyes off to the side.
"... I haven't really thanked you properly for all this..." Izuku blinked slightly as he looked up to Velvet, the ear brushing a strand of hair behind one of her human ears as she sighed. "First you come out of the blue and try to help me with Cardin, without even knowing a thing about me... heck, you thought I was in your year. It must've come off as pretty pathetic that I was a second year being pushed around by first years..." Izuku frowned slightly; he did remember Coco's frustration with Velvet at the moment. She seemed frustrated and a little disappointed, though the degree to which that was aimed at both Velvet and herself couldn't quite be said. "Now you're here helping me with this. I know it was something Coco wanted you to do as part of her joining the Club... but I think just telling her about how I'm doing in class would've been enough to satisfy her... you didn't have to come and help me. But you have so... I really should thank you."
"Well... I mean, I couldn't just stand there and watch someone get picked on for something as inconsequential as having an extra pair of ears." Izuku saw Velvet seemed a bit surprised, though that surprise melted into a kindly smile.
"Izuku... I don't think a lot of people would agree with the idea that 'an extra pair of ears' are inconsequential..." He knew what she meant but could also see some degree of approval there too, emboldening him.
"Well, maybe so. I mean, I do think they're pretty cool. You're hearing must be great!" At that Velvet allowed a nod, the bashful young women's ears drooping a bit before going back up.
"It is... but still, even if that's the case, I don't understand why you'd get involved with someone who wasn't even protecting themselves... someone... kind of pathetic, to be honest." Izuku frowned as he shook his head, emerald eyes shimmering as he did so.
"Well I don't think you're pathetic Velvet. You're kind, in my view of it; you asked them politely to leave you along. Them continuing to mess with you was their failing, not yours. If they were just looking to deride someone for being different, then they're certainly not Hunters of your caliber." Izuku saw... a conflicted expression on Velvet's face. On the one hand she's nodding slightly, pleased by his description... but on the other hand, a frown began to form on his face as her ears drooped.
"... A Hunter of my caliber..." Izuku saw Velvet folded her hands up in her lap, her frown deepening. He expected her to say something more. To keep forging on ahead but... no, she stalled. She stopped. She didn't say anything and so an awkward silence began to fill the air. He decided to try to barge through the silence as he straightened up his own back.
"Don't put yourself down Velvet. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't do my best to help out, right?" That did seem to break through Velvet's malaise as she looked back up at him, her ears perking back up.
"Friends huh?" he heard her chuckle goodheartedly as she brushed a strand of hair behind her human ear. "It reminds me of Coco. Within a week of knowing me she was calling me her friend too... as aggravated as she could get back then." Izuku saw Velvet quirk her brow. "You're not so much like Coco though. I didn't take you for the type to make such fast friends... no offense, of course!"
Izuku nodded his head slowly. She wasn't wrong; as much as Izuku stuttered and muttered still, Beacon had been a big change of pace for him as far as having any kind of social life was concerned. Back in Mountain Glenn, he really didn't have much of anything when it came to social relations or friendships... he 'certainly' hadn't known or talked to as many girls as he had by now. Heck, he don't think his heart would've been able to handle it way back when. Still, the fact remained...
"If I'm being honest, this isn't the way it used to be for me. Having so many friends, being able to comfortably talk to people and even being somewhat intelligible... it really wasn't who I was before Beacon. Back when I lived in Mountain Glenn... I really didn't have any friends at all. What ones I did were short lived and then... well, we weren't friends for a long time. Still aren't, I guess. The truth goes even deeper than that; I used to be bullied a lot too, because I was really weak and powerless before I had my Aura unlocked. It... it wasn't a lot of fun." Izuku admitted as he reached up to rubbed at his arm, a slight frown on his face, and on Velvet's as well.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring memories like that up..." The rabbit Faunus apologized swiftly, though Izuku just shook his head.
"No, it's okay. Besides... I had an opportunity to change things around. When I came to Beacon, I took it as a chance to do things better. To take the risk, to meet new people and maybe even make some real friends. It was really scary and, if you can believe it, I muttered even more then than I do now... but I haven't been disappointed yet. Maybe I've just been lucky with all this, maybe I've just gotten the chance to get to know some really nice people... but if I hadn't stepped outside my comfort zone, I wouldn't have had that opportunity." Izuku looked up at Velvet and give her a sincere smile.
"Velvet, I really would like for us to be friends, if you'd like me to be your friend too." Velvet seemed surprised by that kind outreach of his and, though she did seem hesitant for a moment, she returned his smile with a slight nod of her own, her ears giving a slight wobble as she did so.
"Of course." It was a simple answer, but given with about as much boldness as he thought Velvet could muster. It caused Izuku to smile as he took a moment to turn back to the books so that he could get ready to prepare the practice test he had the idea for. There was a slight whisper he swore he heard but, glancing over at Velvet, it didn't seem like she'd said anything in order to catch his attention. In the end the both of them chatted somewhat amicably as they set up the practice exam; after all, he was not just here to make a new friend, he was here to help that friend pass her semester...
Though making a new friend certainly had been quite the welcome occurrence.
"Salutations my fellow Team Leaders! I hereby call this fifth meeting of the Beacon Leadership Council to order! I'll start with a simple roll call! Izuku Midoriya, Leader of Team MNVW?"
"I'm here Tenya."
"Very good! Ruby Rose, Leader of Team RSBR?"
"Here and ready to go!"
"Excellent! Coco Adel, Leader of Team CFVY?"
"Yo."
"Magnificent! And obviously I, Tenya Iida, Leader of Team TABY, am present and accounted for! This meeting may therefore come to order!" The four of them calmed down as they all settled into their seats and snacks, a little bit of munching to put some food in their stomachs before business really got rolling, which allowed for some casual conversation.
"So Deku, I heard that your team got up to some stuff recently and that's why dingus is our new Janitor for the next few weeks. Gotta say, nicely done if so." Izuku blushed slightly, a little embarrassed that word of his activities concerning the case with Cardin had already spread around the school. Before he could really interject or correct her, Ruby immediately leaned forward on the table and nodded fervently.
"It's totally true! Deku just decided to help out Katsuki without even having to be asked! According to Ren he was all detective like, with cool catch phrases and everything! 'One Truth Prevails'!" Izuku couldn't help but feel his face go red as the turn of phrase he used to conclude his case with Ozpin was brought up... especially when he saw the biggest, widest grin he'd ever seen in his life stretched across Coco's face as she turned to face him.
"'One Truth Prevails'? That's adorable!" Before he was even aware of it, Coco's had his cheek pinched between her fingers, tugging on it ever so slightly as she cooed. "Little guy was playing detective and came up with a little catch phrase! Nice and pithy too, nothing overly long or complicated. You've got yourself a mind for theatrics, eh Deku?" He supposed he did at that. He wondered where it came from if the answer weren't so obvious; all that time spent with Toshinori had given him a feel for adding a flare of the dramatic to his words or actions. The guy seemed to live by that course of action as a Huntsman, after all, and it really did seem to inspire people.
Or cause them to coo call you cute... which, considering that it was a girl and she was touching him, he couldn't really raise the gumption to feel defensive regarding manhood, especially with a face so thoroughly red.
"W-Well, I mean, I guess, I-I just wanted to say something that'd sound, y-you know, like, firm or definitive?" He mumbled out as Coco just gave a small 'aw'.
"A natural showman. You're going to love the Vytal Festival then." Before Coco could go on it seemed Tenya moved in to bail him out.
"Natural showman or not, Mr. Midoriya's actions were very much in line with the idea of a noble Huntsman. He saw that someone was being wronged and did his best to address it and, not only that, he succeeded. A crucial victory for him and his team and a relief for Team RSBR." Ruby nodded in firm agreement.
"Yeah, there were a lot of jerks who were just going along with the rumors and thinking Katsuki did it. I was really worried at first cause, you know, I want to be a cool hero that people look up to. I mean, I guess it wouldn't have hurt in the long run-"
"But getting stuck with that kind of rep can be really annoying here at Beacon. Trust me, you dodged a bullet." At that, Tenya raised an eyebrow at Coco as he crossed his arms.
"Miss Adel... was Team CFVY known as troublemakers in your first year?" There was a bit of an awkward chuckle that escaped Coco's lips as she nonchalantly looked anywhere but Tenya, her eyes eventually falling onto a clock on the wall as she let go of Izuku's cheek.
"Oh! Would you look at the time? We better get going on that official business before it gets too late!" Tenya, momentarily distracted, readily agreed and, hey, if it got her to stop pinching his cheek, then Izuku was fine moving onto official business as well.
"Sooo... what exactly 'does' a Leadership Club spend money on anyway?"
The question almost momentarily took Izuku out of his focus as he considered it, though a rubber bullet hitting just next to him put him right back in focus as he drew upon One For All in order to help speed up his movements. For another week, he'd ended up roping the rest of the Leadership Club into helping him train with his control of One For All and, again, it was proving to be exceptionally helpful. A little bit of odd advice here and there sprinkled in among the hailstorm of rubber bullets that were being fired almost constantly by Ruby and Coco, with Tenya zooming in every now and then to threaten him up close and personal when it appeared as though his focus faltered. It was heavy, heavy, 'heavy' training but it got a lot of results. He could feel himself pulling on One For All more and more easily, though that did eventually give way to exhaustion, the effort of drawing upon and maintaining One For All becoming a strain as time went on.
Still, same as before, he couldn't help but feel like the results just spoke for themselves.
"That's actually a pretty good question. How about we take five and talk that out Deku; you look like you're going to pass out any minute." Coco spoke up over the sound of her gun firing its rubber bullets, Izuku just nodded along as the spray of bullets came to a close and the glow of One For All faded. He took a deep, steadying breath as he approached his friends, Tenya quickly throwing a water bottle while Ruby and Coco put their own weapons away and grabbed some snacks.
"It is a good question. With other club activities across Beacon the answer is fairly consistently obvious between clubs. The Book Club wants to be able to buy all of its members new books, the various Sports Clubs that we have here at Beacon usually needs to replace old equipment or buy new workout clothes for its members, not to mention potential fees to rent out gyms and arrange skirmishes around Vale, the various Hobby Clubs usually have tools or paraphernalia they need to buy in order to get potential new members interested... there's usually some obvious expenditure attached to a club. The Leadership Club... well, we've been mostly flying by the seats of our pants, to be frank." Everyone nodded in agreement as Ruby inhaled one of the cookies Tenya provided.
"Yeah, I mean, it'd be nice if we could get some money for... something? But if it's not really anything to do with the club itself it'd be kinda... I dunno, wrong to just take money and then spend it on activities and stuff that barely fit with the Club." Ruby took a munch as Coco looked off to the side.
"Yeah, they're really not all that into clubs taking cash and running with it. It's why these rules are in place to begin with. It's also why stuff like the Fashion Club or the Game Club never really got off the ground or got funding in the first place; they were obviously just trying to score free product on Beacon's Lien." Tenya looked up, tilting his head to the side.
"I didn't know there was a Fashion Club here? I'm aware that the Game Club still meets up as a hobbyist sort of affair but I didn't see a Fashion Club anywhere." Coco coughed into her fist as she glanced off to the side, using her other hand to surreptitiously readjust her shades.
"That's cause there's no Fashion Club anymore... ANYWAY, moving on!" The three of them couldn't help but give Coco an odd look as she chuckled to herself, trying to wave off any further discussion about said 'Fashion Club'. "So, really, the things we're going to want to consider when we're mulling this over is making sure that the money is actually being used in a way that we can reasonably call it related to the Club's purpose and being sure that we aren't just asking for money for the sake of getting free stuff. In either case, I think Ozpin would be pretty quick to slap down anything we might try." Everyone else nodded in understanding as Izuku stroked his chin.
"Yeah. If we can't think of something that matches up with that, we'd probably be better off going the path of the Poetry or Game Club and just not asking for it. It'd be better than trying to force money out of the School for the reputation of the Club." Izuku said as everyone turned to focus on him.
"Well Mr. Midoriya, you are the Club's Treasurer for a reason. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?" Ruby and Coco nodded enthusiastically as Tenya put the question forward and he took a moment to bow his head in thought.
"Well, given all that, then I'm not entirely sure if the Leadership Club's ready to ask for funding from Ozpin yet." Izuku remarked as his hand remained on his chin, tapping a finger against it as he took some time to think. "The Leadership Club's not particularly wanting for material benefits; the focus of the club is very much focused on talking with your peers and your seniors. When we get more members that'll end up being a wide knowledge base to draw from, and all of it free since its coming straight from the minds of the various attendees." Izuku shrugged as he looked at the others. "Don't get me wrong, I think there's things that we could benefit from having; talks from experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses, books and guides on leadership and other small things like that... but given that there's only four of us here now, we probably really don't need to worry about money for stuff like that for now. So I say let's take our time and grow the club a little more before we concern ourselves too much with money."
Izuku smiled somewhat sheepishly at the other members of the club. "Of course, if you guys have any suggestions, I'm open to hearing them." He saw all them of them just nod as Coco leaned back in her chair.
"Nah, that sounds good to me Deku. We really shouldn't push for stuff we don't need at the moment, good way of getting the staff annoyed with our club. I'd say that's plenty smart enough of a conclusion to come down on." She gave him a small finger gun as she winked from behind her shades. "I can see why these two made you Treasurer then, Deku." Izuku blushed a bit at the praise and even more so when Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! I suppose we might've gotten a little bit ahead of ourselves but I'm glad we made you treasurer Deku! When any of us think of what we might need some money for, I think we can depend on you to handle it." With that, Tenya nodded in firm agreement as he began to whip his hands about in his signature, overly done gestures.
"Indeed! As President of the Beacon Leadership Club, I approve of the measure put forward by Head of The Treasury Izuku Midoriya. The Beacon Leadership Club shall table discussions about what funding we might ask from the school until our Club has had time to grow more and to consider possible uses for said money that would be fitting with the mission statement of this club!" Everyone nodded in agreement as Tenya readjusts his own glasses. "With that said, let us continue on with the rest of the day's agenda!" With that, the Beacon Leadership Club continued on with its 'official' duties, the four of them mostly hanging out, talking, sharing stories and ideas or updates and just, in generally, having a good time. Ruby asked Izuku if he could meet her at the firing range to go over a few things, and Izuku, as they were leaving, agreed to go along with her.
The club, even if it wouldn't be funded immediately, still stood out as a good thing in his mind.
"Alright then... so let's just wait... wait till you see the whites of its eyes..."
"... Ruby, it's a moving target, it doesn't have eyes at-"
"FIRE!"
Izuku practically jumped as his instincts kicked in, throwing a punch as hard as he could with Emerald Gust as he triggered the firing mechanism. He was, thus, treated to the sight of Emerald Gust's round firing off and flying toward the moving paper target in question, the bullets riddling it in various spots, some outside the bounds of the 'body' represented on the cut out and some within. At the range it was at he was just glad he hit it at all, as he wasn't quite so good at aiming Emerald Gust when a target was so far away... or at least, that's what his experience with doing so against opponents in spars told him.
"Yeah, you're not quite there with the aiming yet."
And also what Ruby told him. He sighed as he leaned his head back, giving a slight huff as the target slid out of view. It's no surprise that he hadn't really had time to brush up on his skills with the actual shotgun component of Emerald Gust. With all the things he had to train, with everything on his plate between his friends, his obligations as a leader and as the Successor to not just One For All but the name and title of Symbol of Peace and Hope, he just had so much going on, so many things that he had to do. Heck, his time with Ruby wasn't even actual training! She wasn't here at the gun range to practice with him; they both were here because Ruby's idea of a fun outing is taking Crimson Rose out to take a few shots at a range and, well, she wanted to see what Emerald Gust was capable of.
Needless to say, she thought nicely of the gun but didn't think so much of his own skill. It was fair and, hey, she was nice about it.
"Yeah, I've had so much on my plate that I've had to work on or get ready that practicing with my aiming has kind of fell to the back burner." Izuku sighed, a bit tired, as he cracked his knuckles. Ruby nodded understandingly as she cradled Crescent Rose.
"I know what you mean, Deku. I've been trying to pick up my training too and between that and handling everything that goes on with RSBR, you know how Kac...tsuki can be." Ruby coughed into her fist as her slight stumble as she straightened up. "I haven't really had time to just sit back and treat my girl to some time at the gun range. My poor baby Crescent Rose must think I've been ignoring her all this time." He still wasn't certain if Ruby's attachment to her Sniper Scythe was more endearing or creepy, the two emotions at play as he watched Ruby practically cradle the weapon like a baby or a puppy as she looked down at it. "So thanks for agreeing to come with me Deku. I would've felt pretty guilty if I was just here by myself treating Crescent Rose to a time rather than being with some of the others..." He just smiled and nodded at that; weird fascination with her own weapon aside, he was glad to be of some help to Ruby.
"Hey it's no problem. I was interested in getting your opinion on Emerald Gust myself. I know you thought it looked like your sister's weapon, so I was interested in seeing if that opinion changed after seeing it in action." Ruby nodded her head sagely as she brought her hand up to her chin, quirking her head to the side as she thought.
"Well, your thing with Emerald Gust doesn't go as smoothly together as Yang's thing with Ember Celica. Yang really never has to worry about breaking Ember or damaging her, even when she's got her Semblance pumping, so she's able to keep them on her and going strong throughout an entire fight. They're better melded together like that... part of the reason for that 'is' probably because Ember Celica is a bracer and not a gauntlet though." Ruby nodded her head as she looked at the metal covering his hands. "I didn't realize how big one design decision could be but seeing it in practice, it makes a lot of sense; Ember Celica doesn't take damage because it doesn't absorb the blows of Yang's punches. Her gloves do... which is probably why she's constantly having to replace them." Izuku nodded his head; having gone through a fight with Yang first hand and having tasted what a full-blown punch from her could feel like, it's not hard to imagine just how easily gloves might wear down on her.
"I probably make it even worse with my Semblance." Ruby grimaced as she nodded, shaking her head.
"Man... that reminds me of way back when at the Emerald Forest. Your gauntlet was just so broken... that was before you had it changed up, right? Took it from an actual gauntlet to the... slide-y thing?"
"Mei calls it quick-action armor plating." Izuku responded as Ruby nodded.
"Right, course." Ruby frowned slightly as she looked at Emerald Gust again. "You really didn't know what your Semblance was when you originally designed her. That's why you had to change it up... heck, you didn't even know you'd have a Semblance. At least Yang had an idea of what hers could do and how she'd fight when designing Ember Celica... it's probably why she went with bracers and not gauntlets in the first place..." Ruby smiled a bit as she seemed to remember some long passed memory and he couldn't help but smile himself. Eventually Ruby turned to look at him again, a wide grin on her face.
"I'm sorry if this is personal but I just gotta know; why did you decide to go with Emerald Gust?" Izuku blinked in confusion as Ruby pointed to Crescent Rose. "Yang went with her design because she knew she was going to be a brawler, between dad's training and her Semblance, and I went with Crescent Rose because Uncle Qrow and my mom used Scythes too... plus she's a big, beautiful gun..." Ruby cooed for a moment, the creepiness returning before she quirked an eyebrow at him. "You though... I mean... you thought you were Broken. Why go with a weapon that depended on you getting up close and personal like that?"
"Reliability, I guess. Using these weapons was a terrible choice back when I was... thought I was Broken but, well, it fit with who I wanted to be as a Huntsman. I wouldn't, and really couldn't, wear armor because the extra weight might prevent me from reaching someone in time, I couldn't be a sniper because there's no way I wouldn't compromise my position if I thought someone was in danger... even if it threatened a position, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from helping someone. Really... it does come down to that kind of selfish decision. Like Toshinori, I wanted to use my fists to defeat my enemies and save anyone that I possibly could. Sure there were better options I could've taken considering my condition but, well, you could say that about my entire choice of being a Huntsman in the first place. I was Broken and there were other things I could've done that probably would've been better…"
"In the end, I chose my weapon based on what I wanted to do and how I wanted to fight rather than what would've been the most practical for me." Izuku couldn't help the bit of red that came to his face as he sheepishly scratched at his cheek. "And the fact that it helped me look like Toshinori certainly didn't hurt..." Izuku admitted as Ruby just chuckled a bit.
"Man, you really are dedicated to this whole thing with Toshinori, huh?" Izuku laughed a little before nodding; guilty as charged. It wasn't exactly something he could deny... Heck, Ruby didn't even know how right she was. He idly wondered what her reaction, or Heck, anyone else's reaction would be to the revelation of One For All or the fact that he was, literally, succeeding Toshinori. They'd freak out sure but... well, it'd be amusing if they just would've thought it was 'typical' for him.
"Though, I can't say I blame you or that I'm not kind of guilty of the same thing myself." Izuku watched as Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and unfolded it, the young woman looking at the huge scythe. "Let's be frank, I'm not exactly the kind of person that's best suited to wielding a Sniper Scythe. Heck, I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have Aura I wouldn't even be able to swing the thing around. The recoil really hits me hard and, well, given my speed there's a lot of other weapons that might've been a bit more practical... but, well, I like big weapons that are also really powerful guns... and Crescent Rose is the most beautiful weapon in that category, yes she is..." Izuku watched as Ruby stared dreamily at her Sniper Scythe for a moment, before she shook her head.
"But... well, my Uncle also used a similar type of weapon... and I thought he was 'really cool' when he used it. And my mom... well, I want to be like her. As much as you want to be like Toshinori, I'd be willing to bet." Izuku smiled and nodded as Ruby ran her hand down the shaft of the scythe. "Using a weapon like Crescent Rose puts me one step closer to that... to being the sort of Huntress I want to be." Ruby gave a genuine smile as she turned her silver eyes on him. "So yeah; picking a weapon that's not exactly the absolute best you could be using for your strengths and weaknesses because of personal stuff? Can't exactly call you out for that, Deku."
"There's no harm in knowing what kind of Huntsmen or Huntress you wanna be, I think. Especially if that Hunter's a Hero. Plus, hey, it hasn't all turned out bad for you right?" Ruby pointed down to Emerald Gust. "I'd say you've pretty well grown into Emerald Gust as a weapon... hey, maybe even outgrown it if you've had to make modifications to it to fit your Semblance." An amused chuckle escaped both their lips; he certainly couldn't disagree with that logic... and it was reassuring to know that his growth as a Hunter was visible to his friends, even ones so recently made.
"Thanks Ruby."
"No problem Deku. Now, let's get back to shooting stuff! I'd like to get more shots in before we have to go back to doing Leader stuff!" Izuku nodded in agreement as the two of them lined up for the shooting range once again, the pair of them reloading their respective weapons.