Professor Xing, the combat instructor of Shade stood in the center of the stage giving both opponents a single glance, "Tournament style rules" she began, "You will go until one of you is either knocked out of bounds or your aura enters the red, understood?"

Both Rena and Sin nodded their acknowledgement waiting for the tiger faunus to step back and give them the go ahead to begin.

They just met yesterday, Team RXDY happened upon them while searching for someone else and after agreeing to travel to Shade together they were ambushed by a Gloom Widow, a spider grimm deemed dangerous enough to be hunted to extinction. Even in an eight against one fight they barely survived save for Sin who managed to get through without a scratch something that intrigued Rena. Though his flirtatious personality angered her the one-eyed faunus was curious about him, his team had shown exceptional teamwork as well as individual skill, but even them and her own team even herself the oldest and most experienced of all of them sustained varying degrees of injuries, except Sin.

To top it off he claimed he had met Adam Taurus and not only fought him, but defeated him also without taking so much as a scratch, something Rena did not believe at first, but after escaping the Gloom Widow she began to wonder. "So why are you looking for Adam Taurus?" Sin asked her that night in Shade's gym as he leaned against a column watching her practice.

"Personal reasons" Rena told him.

Sin bobbed his head from one shoulder to the next, "I'd avoid him if I were you" he cautioned, "He's...not a friendly person."

"To you humans" Rena noted.

"Well" Sin continued, "Yeah, but still. Seriously though, why are you looking for him?"

"Personal reasons" Rena said again, "And since you seem incapable of understanding what that means, it means it's none of your business."

"I know" Sin admits, "I'm just curious and a little worried, in addition to being very unfriendly he's also dangerous...which you already know" he realizes seeing the way she tenses.

He unfolds his arms and steps away from the column, "You've fought him to haven't you?"

Rena looks at him, "Yeah I have and he's the reason I lost my eye" she questions herself why she told him that, something she was reluctant to even share with her own team, "Of course I left him in even worse shape."

"There's some hate to those words" Sin notes, "I guess the two of you had history before that?"

Rena nods once more, "Yeah, something I'd rather not talk about."

"Yeah I can understand that" Sin admits, "I've got parts of my past I don't like talking about as well, so does Brick, Rhia and Alena" he pauses to think if he should ask the question forming in his head, "You were part of the White Fang weren't you?"

Rena falls into a defensive stance, "Yeah, I was" she tells him wondering if he was going to start something.

"But you're not anymore" Sin concludes, "That have something to do with the fight between you?"

Rena glares at him, clearly not happy about him inquiring about her past and even more upset that he was right.

"I'm not that different" he tells her, remaining calm and non-threatening, "I come from a kinda similar background. A...legally questionable background, one day I realized what it was doing to me and I left and Brick and I fled here that was...about a year and a half ago now."

"So you're a runaway?" Rena asked, surprised to see the human admit it.

"Yeah" he nods finally breaking eye contact, "I knew if I stayed it was only a matter of time before I became just as bad as the rest of them so Brick and I both agreed to run, to get as far away as possible...I want something better for both of us, him and me."

Though she didn't like him Rena understood that notion, "So what about you and Adam Taurus?" she asked, "You said you fought him before."

Sin nods, remembering that day, "Yeah, for the record he started that fight" he mentions happy to see that he got a smirk out of the harsh faunus, "Brick and I were outside of Mistral limits doing some training when we ran into him."

Sin and Brick heard someone yelling, based on the choice of words it was clear it was another instance of a human attacking a faunus. When Sin and Brick cleared the trees to the trailway that would lead them back to the city they saw them, a pair of humans standing over an injured faunus.

Brick growls at the situation, one of very few things to get a reaction out of him, but Sin pats his arm, "I've got this" he says walking over to the pair of humans.

"What's going on here?" Sin calls out surprising the two humans and frightening the injured faunus, that's when Sin noticed he was bleeding from his nose and lips, "Did you two do this?"

"Yeah" one of them said, popping the collar of his torn jacket trying to look tough, "We chased after him after we saw him throw a rock through a shop window."

"Which shop?" Sin asked him.

"Does it matter?" the human asked him.

Sin nods, "It does."

"The tea shop in the east market" he told him.

Sin knew the place, "The one with the no faunus sign out front? Yeah I know that one. I would've burned it down."

The two humans and the injured faunus look at him as he continued, "It people like the owner of that place, people like you that are to blame for what's wrong in this world. People like you are the reason an extremist group like the White Fang exists, the world would be better off without you."

"So you're one of those faunus lovers" the other human said, "Well I'll make this clear, stay out of this or we'll do to you what we did to him, and we're not done with him yet."

"So you two did this to him?" Sin asked waiting for them to proudly admit to it, "All I needed to hear" he said before charging in defeating both of them with a single blow each.

"Worthless scum" he said spitting on them before holding his hand out to the faunus, "Can you stand?"

Still frightened the faunus hesitated to take the boy's hand, "I won't hurt you" Sin reassured him.

"No, you won't" a firm voice called out from the tree line. Sin and Brick both see a red haired man dressed in all black with a sword sheathed at his side step out of the tree line. Behind him others stepped out of the trees as well, each of them wearing a grimm mask, they were White Fang.

"Step away from him" the one in black demanded.

Sin straightened himself and turned to face him, "I'm not here to hurt him, I was saving him from these two worms" he gestures behind him at the still unconscious humans.

The masked faunus looks at the injured one who nods confirming what the human was saying, "Then that's the reason I'll be allowing you to walk away today."

"Allowing me?" Sin asked, "I don't know who you are, but I'd drop that tone. I just saved one of your people, show some gratitude."

The masked faunus grabbed the hilt of his sword, "That was my gratitude, just because you beat up a pair of thugs doesn't give you a permanent pass" he glanced over to Brick who had been silently observing, "Is he your servant?"

Sin's eyes narrowed his voice changing taking on a warning tone, "Do not lump me in with people like that. And unless you want a fight you better not call him that again. He's been my best friend for years and I will not allow anyone to refer to him as anything else."

"Friends" the red-haired faunus scoffed, "Humans and faunus can't be friends."

"Not with that attitude" Sin retorted, "It's surprisingly easy, you should try it."

"We did" the faunus replied drawing his sword, "And look where it got us. My patience is wearing thin, leave now, I will not tell you again."

Sin meets his gaze through his mask, "I don't respond well to threats."

The faunus shifted his feet solidifying his stance, ready to attack, "It wasn't a threat, it was a warning. You won't get another one."

Sin glared at him, but his friend spoke up, "Zin" he looked at his best friend, "You're right" he said relaxing his shoulders and turning to the bear faunus, "He's not worth it anyway."

He saw it from his peripheral, the faunus lunged for him, he was fast and his sword nearly sliced through him if not for his reflexes and his semblance.

Landing on his back foot he shifted his momentum springing forward with all of his weight and throwing a jab scoring a direct hit against the red-haired faunus' jaw making him stumble back.

"Consider this you're warning" Sin said to him, "Attack me again and I end you."

"So now you're threatening me" the faunus taunted.

"No I'm defending myself" Sin corrected, "And I'll tell you right now. If you try to fight me, you will lose and you won't lay a single hit on me."

Bringing himself out of his memories Sin looks at Rena, "How about I show you?" he asked her, "You and I can have a match in the amphitheatre tomorrow, I'll show you I wasn't lying."

Her curiosity getting the better of her Rena accepted, she had to see for herself what he was capable of. During their encounter with the Gloom Widow she was focused on avoiding its lethal attacks and making sure her and her team survived so she never saw what Sin did to escape the fight without a scratch where even her aura was drained during the fight. While she had met a lot of humans that held no ill will or discrimination towards the faunus this human was different than most she met. His flirting irritated her true, but he didn't seem to be a bad person however she had to see for herself how he fought, if he really beat Adam Taurus as well and without a scratch against an opponent that cost her an eye.

"Begin!" Professor Xing ordered allowing the match to start.

Rena moved first, sprinting toward her opponent and swinging her claymore Scarlet at a downward angle. She watched him stand there not moving as if daring her to strike him or determined to take the hit, but she wasn't going to go easy on him; she had to see what he could do. It was at the last possible second he moved side stepping her swing in the opposite direction getting around to her unprotected side and when she turned to defend he struck landing a heavy uppercut as he sprung up from his crouched stance and with a burst of his aura expelled he sent her into the air.

"Sorry about that heavy opener" Sin said as she got up noticing he made an early dent in her aura, "You alright?"

A slight against her pride maybe, but she was unharmed, "Yeah" she told him raising her claymore over her head and holding it parallel along her arm, "I'm fine" she continued running toward him again swinging her weapon in a wide arc and watching as he evaded once again at the last second.

She pressed her attack trying to push him into a corner before going to a more decisive blow only for him to dodge that as well and when he did he reversed their positioning. Getting behind her he punched at her back another burst of his aura causing her to stumble into the same corner she forced him into and leave her open, the confined space not giving her room to swing her large weapon. Taking advantage of his situation Sin went on the offensive unleashing a flurry of blows and combos ending his barrage with a jab hook cross combo each hit followed with a burst of his aura for extra damage before he backed away.

The one-eyed faunus stumbled and dropped to one knee stabbing her weapon into the floor to catch herself resting her free hand against her bent knee she caught her breath, he was good, extremely good.

"Really?" Sin exhaled with a hint of distress looking at the monitors that displayed their aura levels, Rena's was still far into the green while his was quickly draining. The continued use of his semblance and his offensive use of his aura were piling up, the one drawback to his combat style it drained him quickly.

"You are going to make me work for this one" he nodded as Rena stood up and readied herself again, "Alright, I regret this" Sin sighed taking the offensive once again.

From the stands their teammates watched, the spectating members of RXDY unsure if Rena was going easy on him or if Sin was really catching her off guard and besting her, either way they were still sure their leader would win. Likewise the members of RUST were confident that Sin would win as well.

"Impressive" Draco admitted, "But this isn't over."

Rhia, keeping her eyes on the match said, "No offense to any of you or Rena, but chances are she's going to lose. I know she's strong, but in a one on one fight Sin is unbeatable."

Alena begrudgingly agreed, "As much as I hate to admit it he is. Sin currently holds Shade's record for an undefeated streak for a first year, he's even defeated third year students though he keeps asking for a match with a fourth year."

"How many students attend Shade?" Xavier asked her.

"A little over five hundred" Alena replied, "Right now his record is 173 wins and 0 losses."

Rhia added, "And he's won every single match without so much as a scratch."

"No way" Yumi chuckled, "You guys are messing with us, that's not possible" her eyes moved to Brick who simply nodded in confirmation and the members of RXDY went quiet trying to comprehend how that was possible.

"It's got to be his semblance" Xavier said, "There's no other way, his semblance has to have something to do with it."

Rena was thinking the same as their match continued, they were approaching twenty minutes and their auras were well below the halfway mark, but she noticed Sin's was lower. Many of his attacks were enhanced by his aura, using aura as an offensive option was useful adding a lot of extra damage to an attack, but it also drained the user depending on how much they added. Considering Sin's rate of attack and the average force behind each burst she figured it would only be a few more minutes before he exhausted himself, she just had to outlast him.

Swinging her claymore again Rena forces Sin to back away before unleashing her semblance and stabbing her weapon into the floor. Flames intense beyond definition erupt around her forcing Sin to back away even more. He clearly put her into a corner if she brought out a gun like that, but he was also in a corner and he had to end it quickly.

"Not going to lie" Sin said to his opponent, "This is the second toughest match I've ever been in. I can't believe I'm being forced to use these" he said, revealing a pair of goggles from his pocket and strapping them to his head followed by a pair of earplugs he slides into his ears.

"But" Sin continued taking a pair of grappler gloves from his other pocket and slipping them on, "I don't think I can beat you without these."

"A pair of gloves?" Yumi wondered.

Xavier speculated, "They have to have something to do with those earplugs and goggles he put on."

Sin raised his fists in the common defensive stance for a boxer and moved in light ducks and weaves to each side in an attempt to fake out his opponent and then he struck. Seeing the first real swing Rena brought the flat of her claymore up to block, but once his punch made contact with her weapon his glove erupted in a disorienting sound stunning her and leaving her open to a follow up. The next swing came from his left arm, when the hook landed that glove released a blinding flash of light forcing her to cover her eyes on instinct. Still dazed from the disorienting sound from the right glove and now blinded by the light of the left she stumbled back trying to keep her arms up to defend herself, but with both her hearing and sight crippled she was left open.

"Rena!" Yumi cried seeing her leader helpless for the first time.

Draco looks at Rhia, "I'm guessing those goggles and earplugs protect him from his own weapon?"

Rhia nods, "Yeah, the goggles immediately adjust to any extreme changes in light and react appropriately to maintain perfect vision and the ear plugs block out any sound above a set decibel limit. We each have one just in case he ever has to use them in a fight when we're around."

Xavier asks, "So is that how he's gone undefeated for so long? Or is it his semblance?"

"He's only used his gloves in ten matches so far" Rhia answers, "This is the eleventh."

Xavier concludes, "So it is his semblance then."

Rhia nods, "He can perceive everything he sees in slow motion allowing him to react quicker."

Draco hums, "So that's why he claims to be unbeatable in one on one fights. Still, I wouldn't count Rena out, he's keeping it close, but his aura level is still lower than hers."

"Not for much longer" Alena noted seeing how quickly Sin was wearing Rena's down, keeping her blinded and disoriented allowing him to go all out while his semblance allowed him to dodge any wild swing she made.

Exhaustion starting to set in Sin began to slow landing one final punch in Rena's gut the last of his aura exploding on impact sending her across the stage and nearly out of bounds bringing her aura close to the red, but it held just past the mark while the buzzer rang and his was almost completely empty.

"I…I…" he panted seeing the monitors, "I don't lose."

"Sin!" Rhia called out to him as both teams rushed the stage to check on them, "How are you feeling?" she asked, smiling at him expecting him to make an excuse or joke about the outcome.

"I feel" he began before dropping to his knees, "Woozy" he finished before collapsing forward leaving Rhia to catch him.

With Rena declared the winner the two teams helped the opponents to the infirmary to be checked for injuries and get some rest, both Rena and Sin sleeping for a few hours before waking.

"You still didn't touch me" Sin said as he and his team gathered to see Rena and her team off.

"Yes" Rena said, "I defeated you without ever touching you, I'm just that good" she allowed herself to smile as he laughed.

"Oh I like you" he laughed.

Draco checked the time on his scroll, "Well we should be going. Take care and try to avoid underground caverns."

"Try" Rhia repeated, "We'll try, we may have to advise on an extermination assignment to go back and kill that thing."

"Just don't get yourselves killed" Xavier said.

Yumi looked at Sin, "You should get some more rest" she smiled seeing how tired he still was.

"If you're in my dreams" he began taking her hand and meeting her gaze, "Then I will sleep as peacefully as you are beautiful."

Her face becoming as red as the setting sun Yumi quickly turned around internally squealing as she quickly walked away to catch up with Xavier and Draco.

Sin chuckled before looking back to Rena, "Come back sometime I'd love to see you again, maybe we could get dinner next time."

"Don't push your luck" Rena said before turning her back and walking away concealing the small curve in her lips finding herself amused by his words.

Watching Rena and her team board their bullhead and leave, Sin nodded to himself, "They were cool" he said to his team who agreed.