"So then Toshinori totally jumps in just before he gets to the part of the video where he says his catchphrase and it's just pure silence for a moment! Then the smoke clears and he and the video say, like, right at the same time 'I AM HERE'! IT WAS SO COOL!" Izuku gushed for a moment as Tsuyu Asui just nodded beside him, the two taking a couple bites of a couple snacks they'd bought while walking around the school.
"Yeah, Yang and the others had said it was really exciting too... though your enthusiasm probably makes it sound even 'more' exciting, I'd guess. Pretty much sounds like a pretty great evening too on top of it, like everyone had a lot of fun. Almost wish I was there to see it all, ribbit ribbit." Tsuyu's tongue whipped out to wrap around the last bite of a small candy bar she'd held in hand as she quickly swallowed it whole, causing Izuku to chuckle a little as he nodded. Seeing as how Tsuyu had gone off on a family trip over Color Week, that had left her pretty much out of the loop as it concerned everyone's activities during the festival. While Yang and the rest of her team had taken it upon themselves to fill Tsu in on a lot of what had happened, when he and Tsu had finally run into each other with another chance to talk, Izuku decided to take advantage of it and tell her more about the Hunter's Day Festival.
"Well I know we were really missing you. Oh! Did you get that frog doll that Nora won for you?" Izuku saw one of Tsuyu's rare grins stretch across her lips as he mentioned that, the frog Faunus just nodding as she looked back toward the dorm buildings.
"I did actually. It was really nice of Nora to do that for me... I wish I'd brought home a souvenir or something from home to give her something in return... hmmm, maybe I could make a run back out sometime during the Solstice Break? I'd hate to wait another entire year for next year's Color Week to get her something nice in exchange... heck, I'd be able to get something for everyone else too while I was at it... if I had the money, ribbit." Izuku chuckled as he momentarily put his own snack to the side, scratching at his cheek as he did so.
"Yeah, I hear you. Thankfully we all had money for the stuff around the Festival that actually cost to go to or participate in, though it was cheaper on account of, you know, Hunters." Tsuyu nodded at that as she looked forward.
"Yeah it really does sound fun, Izuku. Though I had a pretty good time heading back out to the bog myself, ribbit ribbit." Izuku smiled as Tsuyu mentioned that, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, your family vacation! I've been talking about the Festival for so long that I didn't ask how your trip went. Sorry, that was probably a little rude..." Tsuyu just shook her head side to side as she looked over at Izuku.
"Hey, think nothing of it. It's not like I haven't enjoyed hearing about how the Festival went." Izuku nodded and followed that up with a smile.
"So... how did it go? Did you see a lot of your family there? How many relatives showed up?" Tsuyu grinned ever so slightly at that as he asked, the frog girl curiously putting a finger to her mouth as she seemed to count in her head.
"Let's see... it's getting a little hard to count these days but from I think my best ballpark estimate would be something like... 80, 90 folks showed up?"
...
"Holy woah that's a lot of family." Izuku muttered slightly as Tsuyu just looked over with a slightly amused grin.
"You're telling me. A lot of them were tadpoles too so it got a little chaotic. Still, it was fun to have most of the family back together, ribbit ribbit!" The croaks at the end of Tsuyu's sentence were quite enthusiastic that time around while, admittedly, curiosity got the better of him.
"So...you call them tadpoles huh? Is that... I mean..." Tsuyu just shrugged, understanding what Izuku meant.
"Eh, it's not really a big deal so long as you don't say stuff like that like Cardin does... or if you use it as part of a bad pun like Yang does." He chuckled a bit as he looked over at Tsuyu.
"Oh man... how many frog puns?"
"Too many, ribbit ribbit. I think I've heard 'Frog in your throat' as a joke so many times that I can't count it on my fingers anymore. It's funny... usually this kind of treatment works but it's 'almost' like someone's been encouraging Yang on the side by letting her make her puns without consequence..." Izuku sweat a little bit as Tsuyu said that, her deadpan expression staring directly into his soul as he watched her tongue stick itself out of the corner of her mouth.
"Uhhh... m-maybe Yang's just stubborn is all? I mean, she's got a pretty strong will and she really likes her puns..." Izuku laughed nervously at that while Tsuyu just nodded slowly.
"Maybe..." The tone of her voice, even if it did mostly maintain its deadpan, left Izuku feeling like he was in danger.
"Uh, uh, so, you went out to the bog? I know you said you only go there for these reunions so you're bound to notice if things are different each year, right?" Izuku couldn't say for certain if that got her mind off of Yang getting along as it concerned her puns or not, but it did at least seem to get her tongue back in her mouth.
"Yeah I suppose. Really the biggest thing that's been changing has been the fact that people have stopped really leaving for Vale finally. I guess the current that took people out of the bogs and sent them to Vale has finally lessened now that everyone's feeling a bit safer, ribbit, ribbit. Some people have even started to move back... though a lot of them are weirdoes for having chosen the bog first and foremost, if you ask me."
'I bet,' Izuku'd always heard that people and Faunus lived in Vale's bogs a little ways into the interior of the Kingdom, but the way he'd heard it they were either backwater hicks that'd as soon shoot you as say hello and Faunus who were of the specific animal varieties to thrived in a place like that. While Tsuyu and her family having been frog's somewhat substantiated that, Izuku didn't want to go just off that. He had to admit, he was curious about what that... well, it was odd to call it that but given how long Tsu said her family had lived in the bog before moving to Vale, ancestral home of Tsu's and the Asui Family.
"Well... you've seen Mountain Glenn yourself so you have a bit of an idea of what it's like to live there. What about the Boglands? I've never been there so I don't even know what it's like. I'd be pretty interested in knowing." Izuku mentioned offhandedly, Tsu nodding in understanding as she brought a finger to her lips.
"I can get being curious about that. Do remember that my family and I have lived in Vale for pretty much my entire life, so I only know about the Boglands from what time I've spent there and from what mom and dad told me. Grandma Asui also has a few interesting stories but... well, I've always wondered if they're a bit farfetched." Tsu stuck out her tongue slightly in thought before turning back to Izuku. "So, no surprise, the Boglands are huge collections of a lot of peat bogs, yeah... but they're more generally the wetlands area way down in the South of Vale, bordering the mountains separating us from the Vacuoan Desert on their eastern side. Heck, that's why it's so wet down there from what I've red; most of the weather ends up catching on the mountains, leaving Vacuo's side dry and ours... wet, very, very, 'very' wet."
"Most of it is peat bogs but there's still your marshes, your fens and your swamps bordering around... you can mostly tell where you are judging by the number of trees that are around you; more trees there are, more likely it is you're in a swamp, ribbit ribbit." Izuku nodded, pulling out a little book and pen he kept on hand and keeping notes. "That's what makes it hard to describe it all; it's really just kind of a diverse place but generally there are a few things I can say about it; it's cold, it's wet and you generally wanted to be careful of where they were standing." Tsuyu put her hands to her side as they both continued to walk around. "The peat can be really deceptive in that regard. While it covers solid ground well enough a lot of it can float on top of the surfaces of lakes or water that gets built up over time... and there's a lot of water. I think my grandma said that it rains pretty much all year round with only a couple months of confidently dry weather to be counted on.
"So there's a lot of deep bodies of water hiding around because the area just doesn't drain out... and because of the peat, it can be hard to see it coming. So you take one wrong step and then suddenly you're dunked into several feet deep water. Way up in the mountains... and if you're close to a peat bog than anywhere that actually sustains trees, you're not likely to find wood for a fire. Even what wood you might find will probably end up wet..."
"... Sounds miserable."
"Miserable's a word I'd use to describe freezing, I guess, ribbit ribbit." Izuku shuddered a bit at the idea before Tsu went on. "There's some wooden paths that people built way back when the Boglands were more densely populated but most of them have either rotted away entirely or are in the process of being swallowed back up by the wetlands themselves. People who live there try to keep the most commonly used ones under constant repair but it's hard without the proper resources, so most people just get used to traversing the bog as it is. That means being careful about where you step... real careful. Don't bring anything you don't want to get ruined; the water's more acidic than the lakes and rivers up around this part of Vale because it doesn't drain well, the soil in the bogs themselves is kind of bad and a lot of dead stuff just kind of floats around in it, so your stuff's bound to just get kind of ruined if you stay in it. Also... bring a dry pair of shoes and socks if you're going to travel through a bog. You'll need them."
"A-Acidic?"
"Oh it's not like super violent, you can stick your hands in it and you'll be fine and even swim through it... just, you know, if you're going to drink any water from the bog boil out the bad stuff first. Or just bring bottled water that other people have boiled first." Tsuyu stuck her tongue out. "Thankfully it's supposed to get easier to traverse in winter... but only because it gets so cold that a lot of the water can freeze over in winter."
"... I can see why your family moved away." Izuku saw Tsuyu crack a smile at that.
"It isn't pleasant, yeah, but you can still live there. Lots of wildlife lives in the bogs, it's pretty diverse actually. Plus if you can move peat to soil that's actually worth something, the fact that it's a climb of decomposing plant matter makes it pretty good fertilizer. Plus Faunus who have traits that help them move through water pretty much love the fact that the terrain usually stays so wet; they can just move through the entire area and pick a lot of the plant life for themselves... though I wouldn't recommend the cuisine. Skunk cabbage stew isn't fantastic tasting."
'Yeah, I'd imagine not.'
"It can also be really pretty when you're not shivering cold." He looked a bit stunned as Tsuyu nodded her head. "I'm serious. The wetlands there... well, I'm not sure what it is with Vale and it's affinity for red plants, but the peat and other plants there grow in looking red or pink, like raspberries or cranberries. Plus with the mist and the mountains kind of sheltering the area makes it all look pretty... though only one of those things really helps with another problem." He quirked his eyebrow. "You see... the mountains keep out a lot of the Grimm species that are more common up here in this part of Vale, plus a lot of them would probably sink and drown in the bogs themselves given how careless they are. There aren't a lot of people living in a tight space there anymore so it's not like there's even a lot of prey for them... but... well, I did say that the wildlife in bogs is pretty diverse. That goes for plants, animals... and Grimm. In fact, the Grimm take after the abundant carnivorous plantlike in the bog; a lot of them are more plant than animal from what I've seen and heard."
"... Like?"
"Like... well, there's this sedentary Grimm that tend to live at the bottom of bogs. They're rooted into the very bottom of it and they have animal-ish heads that are rooted into the ground but their arms are more like vines and roots and weeds that spread up to the surface. Now, this is how the mist isn't helpful... it hides Grimm like this. You'll be walking along, minding your own business and then, next thing you know, this things limbs will wrap around your ankles and pull you down under the bog. Most Grimm try to kill you quick but... well, this particular vine... it just feeds off of your panic and desperation while you drown, holding you under the water as it does so. Apparently it can last for years off of the death of one person while they wait for some other soul to pass by their part of the bog."
"... That's horrifying." Izuku was pretty sure he'd gone pale white at that point.
"Yeah... I didn't want to lead with its name because it'd make what it does pretty obvious but, no surprise, locals call it the Drowning Vine. There's a lot of Grimm like that which take after carnivorous plants but you also have more typical kind that occasionally roam around." Tsuyu looked over at Izuku, a sheepish look on her face. "That combined with the wild stories Grandma Asui tells about these calls she's said can be heard out in the bog and you can imagine that wetland communities usually stay pretty close knit and keep an eye on each other to make sure nothing happens to anyone. During the reunion there was pretty much never a time where I didn't have some adult looking after me and my siblings."
"I bet!" Izuku answered; he knew that the forests around Mountain Glenn were really dangerous and that most people were pretty strictly forbidden from going out deep into them unless they were, or were accompanied by, Hunters, but that was just a fact of life that he got used to. To hear Tsuyu talk about the Boglands though, well, it all just sounded so alien to him.
"Yeah... I can kind of get why my mom and dad were really eager to have me look over my siblings or to make sure that someone was looking out for us while we were growing up. They lived there for a lot of their lives even while they were members of the old White Fang, so that's the kind of environment and family structure they'd have gotten used to. Honestly, I never paid it much thought myself; it was just the way I was raised. I never really understood why, but I just thought it was cause cities were dangerous... and they are but, well, you understand." Izuku nodded slightly as Tsuyu placed her hands behind her head.
"This time though... I dunno. I was actually a little annoyed with the attention I was getting, ribbit ribbit." Izuku aw Tsuyu blush slightly as she said that, being a bit surprised at that as she looked over at him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not ungrateful or anything. They're worried about everyone and they have a reason to be... but it wasn't just when we got back to the Boglands. It was even when I first got home. My mom and dad were glad to have me back and my siblings too... but the attention they gave... mmm, it was weird now."
"How do you mean?" Izuku ask, tilting his head to the side.
"Like I said, I understand my parent's over-protectiveness given what they grew up with and I didn't question it growing up... but being at Beacon, being away from them... it just kind of gave me my own life, if that makes sense. I decide where I go, what I'm doing and who accompanies me or not most days. Even with responsibilities I need to take, it's... small compared to how it was when I'd have to watch over my younger siblings growing up, being the oldest and what not. When I got to spend time with my family and during the family reunion though... a lot of that just kind of vanished. It's not that I disliked it but... I dunno, it took some getting used to after having been here at Beacon for weeks on end... just kind of being my own person."
"I guess the way Yang put it is right; here, I'm a lot more independent than I was back with my family and... I guess I kind of like that. I love my family and I was more than happy to help when needed but it really has been different being here at Beacon."
"I have to guess the same goes for you, right? I've heard from Nora that your mom is sweet but really protective. So I have to guess you're a bit more independent here than you were back at home"
"I guess so? I mean while I am arguably more independent now, that's because now I can actually afford to train longer then I used to be able to. For the most part, my mom let me do what I wanted to as she trusted me enough not to do something terribly stupid and to know my own personal limits, which I adhered to most of the time... a lot better back then compared to now." Admittedly, Izuku might be being a bit hard on himself here... or, too easy on his past self, depending on how he'd look at it. For all the pushing he was doing to go beyond his limits, he'd never pushed himself as hard or as far as he'd done when he was training under Toshinori. No three hours of sleep for several nights on end, no serious secret training that he was doing even after the official stuff... probably most importantly, he was passing out or falling face first into the dirt from exhaustion. Heck, Toshinori had to physically stop Izuku and change up his plans to make up for the damage he did. Something his mom didn't even know about.
'So... hey, at least that isn't happening anymore.'
"I mean, I can cook now and no it's not just pancakes or cakes-" Izuku watched as for a moment Tsu opened her mouth to speak up, only for her to close it immediately upon his retort, "-and I've always done my own chores and tidied up my own room since I became a teenager so if I had to say, I'd say I'm a bit more independent now I guess. Just maybe not to the same degree you are now."
Tsuyu nodded at all that as she looked forward, a slight slip of her frog tongue peaking past her lips. "I see and I think you're right, it does sound like you were given a bit more space than I was." Izuku nodded. "Again, not that I think it's a bad thing it's just... different. It feels really different to be in this place in my life now." He also nodded at that, thoroughly understanding that feeling.
"Well... do you feel prepared for it?" Tsuyu actually took a moment to think about that.
"... Yeah, I guess I do. A lot of stuff I learned helping to take care of my siblings or that I picked up from having my parents around has come in handy when it's come to helping my team and generally hanging out with them. Yang's got that going for her too... though admittedly Blake and Tenya are also pretty responsible themselves..." Tsuyu continued to think for a moment, before a slight smile came to her lips.
"Oh, remember something?"
"Not remember, just contextualizing. I guess I'm not as past the big sister mentality as I thought I was now that I think about what I spend some time doing." Izuku tilted his head to the side, curious, before Tsuyu dropped back to her usual, flat expression as she looks back over at Izuku. "I'm sure you had another question, right?"
Izuku nodded at that as he pointed to the little notes he was taking. "Well you know I'm always interested in updating my journals and it would make sense the bog would present challenges unknown to urban Huntsmen. Can you tell me about the Huntsmen and Huntresses around and what challenges they face? Information about the outskirts or Faunus Huntsmen tends to be a little sparse on the CCT Network." Tsu dropped her head for a moment, thinking on that before she looked back up to Izuku.
"Well sorry to say but, again, I didn't spend most of my time growing up there so I wouldn't know a lot myself... but I do know that there's a reason why information on outskirt Hunters usually tends to be sparse, especially when it comes to the wetlands." Izuku nodded at that, opening up a new page. "You see... most Hunters who stay out of the immediate reach of the major cities actually don't teach or bring up new Hunters through the Vytal System. They do so using the old ways, master to apprentices and the like."
...
'Oh!'
"Really? Why would they do that instead of sending them to a Hunter's Academy? They're pretty prestigious these days and they do a good job of teaching people." The Vytal system, as it was known, was supposed to be a way to help more easily coordinate the actions of Hunters with that of some of the more newly formed Governing Councils. Traditionally Hunters had just been allowed to roam without much regulation or direction from either the various Kingdoms; even the old Monochrome Empire had kept a loose grip on them. The only time cooperation or coordination become common was when a large Grimm horde was identified that presented an extreme threat. After Vytal, and with the establishment of the Academies, that was meant to help standardize Hunter training and to bring the various Kingdoms and their Hunters together in jolly cooperation.
"Simple; what have you learned either at Beacon or at Birch about the Boglands, Izuku?"
Izuku opened his mouth...
He paused.
And then he closed his mouth.
"Well, like I said, nothing." With that, Tsuyu nodded.
"Precisely. Now, Beacon'll probably fill you in somewhat on some stuff about traversing the bogs but, well, Beacon expects you to be able to travel and go lots of places as a Hunter. That's the world we live in these days. So highly specialized training isn't usually on the menu for the major academies unless you happen to apprentice under a Hunter or group of Hunters who do specialize in it, another holdover from the pre-Vytal settlement." Tsuyu brought a finger to her mouth as she stuck out her tongue. "So because the Academies don't really teach everything that you need to know, the best way to learn to be a Hunter in one of these areas is to learn 'from' a Hunter who's spent their entire life handling the Grimm and geography in a region. So... I really don't have anything for you myself Izuku because I don't fit that bill, ribbit ribbit. Sorry."
Izuku nodded; it made sense. It was pretty natural to assume that there were still Hunters who passed on their trade secrets and, heck, he'd already met two who were specializing under other teachers in the form of Mirio and Mei. It was just not something he commonly thought of.
"Well, don't be sorry. That's actually some pretty interesting information in and of itself. Thanks Tsu." Saying that caused a slight smile to popped up on Tsuyu's face as the Frog Faunus nodded.
"No problem Izuku, ribbit ribbit." With that the conversation died down from either such serious or such scary topics as the Boglands and what might live in there as Izuku and Tsuyu slowly passed the time just chatting away, discussing this and that about both of their vacations with each other, before Tsuyu bluntly ended the conversation, heading off to 'help the hopeless'. Which served to remind Izuku of his own responsibilities.
"Hu-hu-hu...oh-hu-why?"
Weiss was laying on the bench, her arms flopped downward. Tsuyu stared at the weight above the Schnee Heiress's head, and looked over to Ruby. In response, Ruby looked back at her.
"I-I-was I this bad when we started out?"
"Yes."
xXxXxXxXxXx
It had started only a few hours ago. It was a Thursday, and thus one of the days that they got out of class in the early afternoon. Professor Kayama had just finished up for the day, and almost everyone had already gone home. Tsuyu was one of the only people that was still in the room, looking through the last of the notes of the day. They were getting close to the end for the semester, and Tsuyu was starting to prepare for the finals that were already looming.
"Um...excuse me, Miss Tsuyu?"
Tsuyu looked over, and was relatively surprised to see Weiss Schnee fidgeting next to her.
It was odd, how little they had actually interacted with one another, considering how often their teams were around one another. Though, she supposed, with the...history that Weiss's family had with Faunus, she could understand the awkwardness.
"I was...hoping I might ask favor of you," the other girl coughed, "I have recently been observing the skills and physical feats of our group of," Weiss paused for a second, "Acquaintances. And, I have unfortunately found myself in terms of raw strength and endurance...lacking. I was hopeful that I might be able to-"
"Hold it," Tsuyu raised her hand, "You think you're a lot weaker than everyone else we hang out with, right?"
"Bu-wa-that-wa-"
"And because of that, you are hoping that I can try and help you get a good weight lifting schedule in, right?"
"Th-a-Yes, that does seem to be a neat summation of what I was asking for," she looked down, "I suppose I have only myself to blame. I've been following the guidelines that my sister laid out as she wanted. But, it seems that that workout schedule is...restrained in comparison to what everyone else is attempting."
"No kidding. Considering what monsters like Bakugo and Izuku are up to, I'm not surprised you've fallen behind," Tsuyu had been obsessing in her spare time making sure that Ruby kept up with her rivals. It had taken careful planning, but she had arranged the schedule in such a way to attain maximum muscle growth and increase her stamina the greatest amount she could truly hope for.
"They're not really monsters."
"Ribbit, they sure are," Tsuyu continued, "But we're huntsman. Our job is to slay monsters, so it kind of makes sense what they do," Tsuyu's finger rested on her chin, as she adopted her 'thinking' pose, as Ruby called it, "But I can also see why you wouldn't ask them for training. They'd probably overwhelm you with the first day."
"That-is more accurate than I wish it was."
Tsuyu kept thinking for a second, before simply nodding her head.
"Sure. Why not come with us before dinner tonight, and we'll try and gauge what you need to do to catch up."
xXxXxXxXxXx
The answer to that was "a lot." Weiss was further along than Ruby had been when they had started, but she had several drawbacks in comparison to Ruby that were going to make sessions...difficult. For one, Weiss was two years older than Ruby, and that meant she had developed further than the younger huntress. While it did give her a natural advantage, it also meant that she had less room to grow, and her potential would already have to be measured out in a way that Ruby would not.
"Here Weiss," Ruby handed the Schnee girl a cup of water, "Will help you get a hold of yourself."
"Tha-thank you." Weiss guzzled the water down. She had finished most of her reps, but it was clear she was going to have a great deal of growing pains. Still though...it was nice to have someone else around. Admittedly, Weiss had not been very talkative through her wheezing, but there was a new dynamic to the conversations that had not been there before. Still though...
'Something just doesn't feel right,' Tsuyu for all of her bluntness, and learned at least a little bit of tact over her life, at least dealing with one certain issue, 'A Faunus who is the daughter original White Fang member trying a Schnee Heir.'
She, on some level, knew she could not blame Weiss for all that had happened to Faunus kind over the centuries. That for her entire life, Weiss had only had the power to actually leave Atlas, rather than run any of the harsh measures that had given the SDC such a bad reputation. Still though...something just didn't feel right about it, no matter how much Tsuyu knew objectively it was wrong of her to think that way.
And well, they'd really never interacted that much. For all that the two had been in each other's orbits, well they'd never crossed paths really. At best, it could be said that they were friends of friends, with Weiss having a close relationship with Izuku and Shoto, and Tsuyu having a close relationship with Yang and Ruby. There had never been any animosity, which considering the history that always hung over their backgrounds was a minor miracle in its own way, but no-one could have ever called them close.
And part of that was the simple fact that Tsuyu was jealous of Weiss. She was glad she hadn't really brought it up, and whatever conversation that she and Weiss had had always avoided the topic of Tsuyu's personal opinions of Weiss. If not, she might have blurted it out, and that would have just made everything very...awkward.
The worst bit about the jealousy was that, if Tsuyu was being perfectly frank, it is that her jealousy was quite petty. Weiss comes into Beacon a star from the second she arrives. She's beautiful in a way that Tsuyu could never really hope to achieve, her face had always been something of a hurdle to overcome. Even worse, Weiss was rich. Weiss could afford far more clothes than Tsuyu would ever have, despite Tsuyu having to switch out clothes very often do to the wear and tear of the bogs. Weiss also had what she wanted a short time from her. She had heard about the cake butler from Nora one day, and remembered a couple of her own birthdays where weather had conspired with the bogs to make sure she didn't have a cake.
It just felt like Weiss had been given life on easy mode.
At least, it seemed that way to Tsuyu.
"Oh dear," Weiss had finally caught her breath, "that was...intense."
"You did come into the middle of another program with only a few hours notice, Ribbit. Kind of workin' on the fly here," Tsuyu internally winced, glad to be pulled back to reality.
"I understand that," Weiss probably wanted to say a few harsh things but...she was far better at tact that Tsuyu at her best could ever really hope to obtain, "I must thank you again for letting me take advantage of this opportunity."
"No problem," Ruby laughed. Ruby had been mildly giddy for a while. Weiss had not quite picked up on why, but Tsuyu had noticed it the first time the two had stood next to each other. Ruby had indeed gotten just a hair taller than the older huntress. Poor girl was a bit stunted, at least height wise, and she could just imagine the...issues Weiss probably had with people bringing it up.
"Still, it is very kind of you to take your time to assist me when...well we really haven't been that friendly with one another," Weiss sipped a bit more, "Especially when it's so close to the end of the semester."
"Well, it's not too big of a problem," Ruby stretched backward, trying to pop out the kinks that had developed from the workout, "I mean we already have all of our home work done. Heck, you wouldn't know it, but Bakugo is obsessed with getting his homework done. He made sure we were done with that presentation on Ursa Majors for tomorrow like two weeks ago."
"That does seem out of-wait," Weiss stopped, and then looked back at Ruby, "Wh-what are you talking about. That paper isn-that's not due till next week, right?"
"...No," Ruby almost seemed to step back, recognizing that it might be a dangerous road that they were going down.
"Bu-bu-"
"Yeah, Yang and I finished it up over last weekend," Tsuyu rubbed the back of her head, "She chose Beowolf of course. But yeah, we finished it up," she looked at Weiss, "How did you forget?"
"It's Port's class!" Weiss appeared to be about to tear out her own hair, "He doesn't announce homework until the end of class, and by that time, well I just don't know what's going on," she began to shake her head, "I-I-I've barely started," she stood up, "I'm going to have to pull an all nighter. I will have the scrolls open, books on Nevermore poetry and...and Nora. She should have remembered the due date too!"
"You were relying on Nora to remember the specific date for a major project to be due, ribbit? That isn't very smart at all."
"I was-come one," Weiss had already pulled out her scroll, and then smirked as she pressed a button, and brought the scroll up to her ear, "Nora, it's me. We-"
"We're sorry, the number you have dialed is current-"
"NORA!" Weiss nearly tossed her scroll at the ground, before sighing, and pulling it back, "She-must-be-at-her-job," she seethed through her teeth, "and probably turned off her scroll so she wouldn't be distracted."
"So...you going to go get her?"
"...No, I have to start working on this thing right now," she turned towards the window, and at the library tower, "I have approximately fifteen hours to get this done, and I can't waste a second of that time if I'm going to get a ten page-"
"Fifteen page, Ribbit."
"...FIFTEEN PAGE REPORT done," Weiss seethed, "But, I can't just do this on my own."
"...Well, why don't we help you?"
"That'd be cheating Ruby," Weiss groaned, "I can't just have you write-"
"Well, I know where most of the books on more obscure Grim stuff are in the library from all the time Bakugo made us stay late studying," Ruby offered, "And I can go get you some food so you can work through dinner. I can also see if Izuku would let you borrow his notes, and maybe go pick up some stuff to help you get through the night."
"Yeah," Weiss groaned, "I probably am going to need a lot of coffee," she massaged her temples, "That still leaves Nora though. She doesn't get back on Thursdays until after ten, that's over four hours from now."
"..." Tsuyu simply shook her head, "I'll go get her for you, make sure she gets back as soon as possible. Do you know where she is?"
"She's...she's...," Weiss began to twist her fingers around, before snapping them, and pointing at Tsuyu, "Off of Dale station in the Agricultural district. An old processing plant is being renovated, and Nora's been working on it the last week."
"I'll go get her, that's about a two hour full trip back and forth if I hurry. I'll bring her back before anything happens, and we should get back pretty soon."
"...Thank You Tsuyu," Weiss nodded at the frog girl, "This means a lot to me. Now if you'll excuse me," she rushed toward the entrance to the gym, "Library here I come!"
"Call me Tsu, Ribbit."
"Wait Weiss," Ruby was sprinting behind her, "You are forgetting your bag in the locker room. AND YOU STINK!"
"I what!?"
"Well," Tsuyu shook her head, "There goes my night."
She walked towards the shower. It'd only take a few minutes, but she at least wanted to be clean for the flight over. As she opened the door to the locker room, a dirty thought formed at the back of her mind. She knew it was the wrong sort of thought, that she would act like that for any of the group. But she couldn't help herself, and she felt a bit worried by the fact that the thought came at all.
'Once again,' she mused to herself, 'A Faunus's life is made harder by a careless Schnee.'
"Okay... Toshinori, I think I can do it this time. I think I've got it!"
"I'm glad to hear that young man... but don't just say that you think you can do it! Show me you can do it! Show me you've got what it takes!"
"Yessir!"
Toshinori, shrunk down into his skeletal form, cheered Izuku on as they both got pumped up towards the end of a round of training. They'd both been at it for hours now, Toshinori having spent most of that time in his shrunken form, while Izuku did his absolute best to learn the Patch Smash! Izuku took a deep, shaken breath as he kneeled down, pushing One For All throughout his body in order to activate Full Cowl and then, beyond that, pushing a greater amount of it into his legs, readying them for what would ordinarily feel like a 5% Smash. Izuku gave a quick shout as he dashed across the makeshift obstacle course, heading straight for a while. Izuku took a deep breath and jumped as high as he could, getting a good distance into the air... but it wouldn't be enough on its own.
Not without-
"PATCH SMAAAASH!" Izuku kicked the ground beneath him, as if trying to batter the very air itself as he sent a small, 5% shockwave out beneath him. As if he was kicking off the very air itself he did manage to propel himself up even higher than he could on his own, his eyes going wide with joy and excitement as he finally managed to pass over top of the wall. He gave a loud cheer as he felt that extra 5% leave his leg, leaving him flying through the air...
Leaving him flying through the air.
'Oh man, this is going to hurt!'
Before Izuku could hit the ground, however, a rush of air swept past him as Toshinori, in all his heroic glory, immediately appeared just underneath him, catching him before he plummeted face first into the concrete floor. Izuku heaved an exhausted sigh of relief as he was caught, Toshinori just giving a loud, boisterous laugh as he gave Izuku a thumbs up.
"Well done young man, well done!" Izuku couldn't help but grin at Toshinori's praise; between how proud he seemed at the exercise and how jubilant he was now... well, Izuku was practically glowing.
It was a good past few days, all told.
E/N: Once more a Schnee is only kept afloat by the unpaid labor of a Faunus in "Born on the Bayou" by Wind Waker.
-Shovern
Of all the relationships that could have been explored in the story...I was really surprised no one had really taken on the Tsuyu-Weiss dynamic before this point. The very nature of who they are, a prim and proper young socialite, and a blunt practical tomboy should be a very fun dynamic to explore. And that's without bringing in Weiss's family and Tsuyu being a Faunus. So, I decided to try and explore this relationship, while also moving forward Ruby in her quest to get stronger. This post is part of something larger, though that is a while off.
-Wind-Waker