Welcome back!
Someone asked for confirmation on this, so I'll go through it again.
When I write for this fic, I'm going to write out an entire arc worth of volumes, then stop to work on my other stories.
So you might get three or more chapters in a row depending on how much a certain storyline needs, and then I go absent for a bit to work on my other fanfics.
This is the last of the Far from Home volumes, so expect a bit of a delay before I pick up the next one.
Also, some of you are already debating pairings in the comments; if you're inclined, feel free to join in. I like seeing how people discuss these things cause I'm definitely still deciding.
Anyway, let's dive back in!
Beta Readers: Chris72637, Luxutor, MegaDumbo, and Tupjunk
...
The forest came all too quickly, the cloud covers replaced by a roof of lush green leaves.
He was falling at a breakneck pace, but Yuji hardly paid it any mind; this wasn't a threat.
Even without his cursed energy, the sorcerer had the body of a Grade One, putting him leaps and bounds above any normal human being.
Itadori reached out as he fell, his hands slamming onto a solid branch, tearing visible claw marks along the surface, as he used his momentum to swing off, kicking from tree to tree, until, with a thunderous leap, the boy landed, forming a visible crater along the ground.
He slowly stood, throwing his lax demeanor aside, scanning his surroundings for any sign of movement, yet finding none, but he could tell something had been here before.
It was in the air, floating black particles leading off into the distance. Yuji wasn't an expert on the creatures, but he figured the principle wasn't far off from his realm of expertise.
Cursed energy users left trails wherever they went; unless highly trained, they weren't hard to track. Grimm and Spirits were similar enough; the majority were thoughtless and ran on hunger, and only a minority of the latter were intelligent...but they were the deadliest. The King of Curses inside of him stood as the pinnacle of power in their world.
Yuji hardly needed to think about what Sukuna was capable of; he lived through it and came out stronger because of it. He wasn't the naive boy who started this journey anymore.
*SNAP
The sorcerer spun on his heels, right leg kicking back as he lashed out, cleaving through the wind as his heel slammed against a beowolf's skull as it leaped from the brush. The first strike had bore through solid bone. The aftershock splattered its head into mush.
The jujutsu user braced himself, raising his fists as more of the enraged beasts emerged around him, their gaping maws snarling at the mere thought of rushing him down.
Itadori took his circumstances in with the blink of an eye: close quarters, no wiggle room, just like old times, but this time, he didn't hesitate.
He charged, meeting one of the Grimm's pounces head-on. Yuji ran, reaching it in less than a second. His superhuman muscles clenched as he slammed a right hook into its outstretched claws, eviscerating the entire limb as the strike followed through, clocking the wolf in the face, the second blow sending it flying through a row of trees until nothing remained but a darkened mist.
Without looking, his left palm shot out to the side, simply slapping a wolf by its elbow as it lunged, the sudden force sending it flying into one of its own as the two tore into each other. The moment didn't last; with a raised foot, the boy's heel burst through their skulls in one fell swoop.
There wasn't any room for showboating; he was wasting time as it is...and there was one surefire way to get these things riled up.
The body, mind, and soul existed as one in the world. A sorcerer just needed to utilize it all as a cohesive whole.
His fists ignited in ethereal flame, the sudden burst of negative energy sending the Grimm into a frenzy as he beaconed toward them, "Come on."
*BOOM
A figure leaped from the wild, a familiar red soul flying overhead, landing behind Itadori as they stood back to back against the hordes, but she didn't seem bothered, "Hello again."
Yuji let himself relax just a bit, a smirk growing on his face, "You choose interesting fights to join in on-"
The Huntresses reached for her shield, slamming it across a wolf's maw with a booming thud, "Well...I owed you one for...talking to me."
The sorcerer raised a brow as he caught another by its jaw, ripping it in two with his bare hands, "Friends don't owe each other anything; them's the rules."
Her javelin morphed into a rifle as she closed a shot right between another's eyes as it came down from the trees above, its body crumbling nearby, "We haven't even made eye contact, and we're already friends? Is it really that easy?"
He dropped low, sweeping another by its legs as it stood upright before slamming a knee into its ribs, sending the Grimm sky high, "With me, it is. You're cool, so why shouldn't I want you on my team?"
She spun on her heels, the rifle shifting gears back into a javelin. She lined up the shot with a free hand before letting the blade fly, piercing through its chest and impaling the monster into a nearby tree, pulling the weapon back with a single command as the body fell. "Well, I can think of a few-"
"Down!"
The honed warrior dropped low without a word, raising her shield overhead as the sorcerer slammed a palm down, with her nearly buckling from the sheer force as his foot crashed into a charging Ursa, the blast sending it careening through a solid boulder, vanishing in a cloud of exploding dust.
The Huntress stared at the sight with wide eyes but pushed her thoughts aside as Yuji sprung into action, racing toward a distant snarl before the creature made itself seen, soon emerging from the brush, its tusks tearing through solid oak with ease.
Boarbatusks, vicious pig-like creatures donning the same black fur and bone-white armor as their Grimm counterparts, their shorter demeanor more than compensated with their ferocity and capacity for destruction, able to charge through most barricades as if they were made of paper.
The vessel met its charge head-on, catching the beast by its tusks as they fought for control, with the sorcerer winning out, defying the natural order with his mere existence, driving it back inch by inch.
She took the lead, calling out as she deflected a barrage of swipes and lunges with her shield, "Expose its stomach!"
He gave a silent nod, his push turning into a violent spin, taking the boar for a wild ride as the wind funneled around him, throwing it into the sky as she called out once more, "Switch!"
With a running jump, the teen leaped over the battlefield, catching a beowolf by its skull as it lunged for his partner as she readied herself, sword at the ready, ignoring the ominous crunch as the beast whirled across the forest before being obliterated by a tree.
The boarbatusk fell with a squeal; her eyes flashed as her upward strike rang true, bisecting the beast in two with a single blow, the forest falling silent soon after, allowing the warrior to take a calming breath, "...And that's that."
Yuji landed nearby, watching as she sheathed her weapons along her back with a hum of interest, "Looks like it...you're pretty good with that spear-gun thing of yours. Nice job!"
She smiled at his relentless excitement, "You're the one boxing with Grimm. I'd say that takes a little more talent."
He shrugged, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm just using what I know from the streets. You don't gotta be so modest. I'm saying you're cool; take the compliment!"
The invincible girl laughed, with a mock bow, "Fine-fine, I humbly accept your praise, my Fun King."
Yuji stiffened at that, with painful memories of a certain ginger's teeth sinking into his arm surfacing, but matched the girl's act with one of his own as he crossed his arms in pride, "As you should, I'll have you know I took this throne through blood, sweat, and tears!"
She rolled her eyes, keeping up the elegant act, "Oh? Pray tell, were the tears from the war or from Nora biting you?-"
"Oy-"
"I seem to recall you crying out for your royal advisor to come save you from your would-be assassin-"
He deflated, "...You try getting bit in the butt-"
*PFFT
"She did not!"
A haunted look overcame the sorcerer's face, "She tried...I had to sit on my pillow all night..."
The armored girl shook her head, trying not to laugh, "How do you even-...didn't you just meet them? How do you get so friendly with everyone?"
He lazily ran a hand along his head, "I dunno, I just find people I think are fun and go from there, not much to it, I guess."
Itadori hummed in thought, soon snapping a finger, "Like, with you, I thought it was kinda cool how worried you were about people you didn't know gettin' hurt...So I figured, 'Hey, she might be nice to be around.'"
The Huntress looked away, a little embarrassed, rubbing a hand along her arm, "It...it wasn't anything that impressive; I just wanted to do what's right, but besides I...I don't really know all that much about having fun like all of you."
He closed his eyes in thought, "Is that so?"
The redhead winced, figuring he was about to judge her in some way, shape, or form. Here comes the Invincible Girl, four-time winner of Mistral's regional tournament, but she can't even think of what constitutes as fu-
"Well, we got a lot of time ahead of us. We'll work on it, alright?"
She dumbly stared down at the guy for a moment but laughed, seeing his ever-present smile that gave off a comfortable familiarity to anyone who saw it, "Are things always this simple with you?"
He scratched his cheek, looking away, "I guess, better make things easy than hard, is what I say. You can't really control where you come from, but nothing's stopping you from changing things up, you know? If you're fine with me helping you and all..."
She beamed at him, "I'd like that," silently thinking she made the right choice after all.
Yuji met her energy, holding out a fist, his brown eyes finally meeting her green, "Glad to have you, Pyrrha!"
The redhead threw manners to the wind, just this once, pounding her gloved fist against his, "The feeling's mut-...I mean...same here, Yuji."
The moment ended with him nodding like a true scholar, "First things first, I'm gonna teach you how to talk street."
"Isn't that just...a lazy way of talking?"
"No..."
She stared at him.
"Maybe..."
"...yes."
She sweatdropped, wondering what she was getting into with this, as she followed her new partner off into the woods, but for some reason, the armored girl wasn't worried.
It was kind of exciting.
...
Minutes later
As the pair marched through the forest, Pyrrha took the lead but didn't know what to say, but decided to break the ice as her mother would say. "...Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot-"
Her rifle was in her hand in the blink of an eye, "Shoot what?!"
She turned to look at her partner, who just stared at her with a puzzled look on his face, "What are you doing?"
Her face burned red, "...Oh...more slang, haha...ha...eugh."
He just smiled indifferently at her, but it just made it that much worse.
A minute later, and with a lot of shameful looking anywhere but there, the fighter was ready to try again, "Sooooo, what do you think of the test so far?"
Yuji looked left, then right, confirming that they were indeed surrounded by a lot of trees...and rocks. "I figured Gramps had somethin' up his sleeve, but I didn't think it was gonna be so hands-on, ya know?"
She glanced at his fists from the corner of her eye, remembering they were engulfed in strange blue flames a few minutes ago, "I thought you were 'hands-on'? The Grimm seem to think so, at least."
He just gave a thumbs up, "True, but what I'm gettin' at is how...out there we are...when Gramps talked me into doin' this, I figured it was gonna be a lot of tests and stuff, not making us fight these things day one."
"I take it you don't like it?"
He waved her off, "Nah, I'm used to it at this point. I just thought your schools would be different from Jujutsu ones, what with aura and all that weird stuff, but they're real similar if you think about it."
The armored girl stopped in her tracks to his confusion, "You...don't use aura? But...weren't those flames your semblance?"
Yuji crossed his hands behind his head indifferently, "I told ya I was an exchange student. Back home, we don't even know what aura is. We're sorcerers, not Huntsmen...here, lemme show ya."
Walking beside the girl, the boy's dream of finally copying his Sensei was coming true, "Think of your body as a...as a gun, yeah, that works. Your ammo isn't that dust stuff you guys use; it's bad vibes. Sorcerers use those feelings to fight, like-"
He made a finger gun, pointing it at a nearby tree, a flicker of flame appearing at the tip, "Bang!"
*BOOM
A hole the size of a basketball blew through the tree and out the other side, with Pyrrha just staring with eyes the size of dinner plates, "That's cursed energy...I'd show you some cursed techniques, but I don't really have any that work on trees like that. They're...I guess our version of a semblance?... Are you getting this?... Pyrrha?"
She just stared at him, utterly perplexed.
It's not that she didn't believe him; she was the type that understood what she saw, and Yuji didn't seem like the kind of person to lie...or be angry...or sad...or have any bad feelings at all, and that was the problem. How was someone like...like HIM capable of using something like that!?
Do you ever look at someone and wonder, 'What is going on inside their head?'
The redhead's shoulders dropped in defeat, not wanting to know an answer to that question, but gripped a fist in determination, firing herself up, "Well...we've done well enough together, so we'll just have to train hard and...make it work!"
He flashed her a trademarked Itadori grin, patting her on the shoulder, "Now you're gettin' it! Go with the flow-jo, release your mojo!"
Inside, Pyrrha had a million questions, but somehow knew she'd only get what was quickly becoming a 'Yuji answer' if she bothered asking... but it didn't upset her.
Both students seemed more hands-on in how they did things. It just meant they'd get to spend more time together until she knew more about him. Pyrrha wasn't against that, not in the slightest.
Their walk resumed in silence, but she let a question slip through the cracks eventually, "So if we're so similar, what makes a Huntsman and a sorcerer any different?"
He deadpanned, wasting no time, "Sorcerers are mean-"
"I se-"
"And crazy-"
"What els-"
"And they hit you a lot for dropping their clothes when they made YOU go shopping with them."
"I sense a repressed grudge with that one."
"...Did I say they were crazy?"
"You did."
Yuji gave her a look of some kind of despair, "Well, they're crazy twice... If I had to pick the biggest difference, Huntresses are way nicer than lady sorcerers-"
He somehow hovered toward her so he could whisper, "They're all nutcases..."
She tried to laugh it off, "Oh, I'm sure they aren't that bad-"
Itadori saw flashbacks to the many women who tried to kill him in the course of a year; it was honestly more impressive he was even alive at this point...all thanks to brave souls like Todo, his brother in appreciating tall girls forever more, but back to the matter at hand.
"Every-"
"Single-"
"One."
Seriously, Kugisaki would have decked a girl like Pyrrha for being so pretty that it stopped her from getting a boyfriend by proximity...she was that crazy.
His demeanor shifted back to his usual idle excitement, "Otherwise, nah, not much difference; both are great to me!"
Pyrrha had to stop herself from blasting spittle at how fast his moods seemed to shift, even with the insanity he kept describing, "You're...certainly an optimist...I don't know how you manage that."
He raised a finger, "I just think the world has enough people who gripe and complain about everything; they just aren't focusing on the good things going for em' is all... Sure, sorcerers can be crazy, violent, selfish, downright cruel...uh, where was I going with this?"
"Something about what makes you so...you."
He nodded along, "Ohhh, right, right, sure, the sorcerers I know might have a lot of bad things going for them, but they're all my friends, and I know they'd have my back in a pinch; that's all I need to know to figure they're all good people...just...with a lot of quirks is all."
Yuji clapped his hands together, startling the warrior girl, "Right! Your turn!-"
"Eh?"
He didn't give her a chance to actually respond, "Well, you know a lot about me, but I wanna know about you too!-"
"Well...you know about the cereal-"
"Yeah, but I'm talking about you! I'm friends with a lawyer; I know there's the person you hear about, then the real person on trial!"
"...You were on trial?"
"I appealed to judgeman, so it's okay."
Was that even an answer?
Pyrrha stared down at her hand, figuring she might as well get it over with, "Well...I'm from Mistral, and went to Sanctum Academy...-" quickly muttering, "whereiwonfourchampionshiptournamentsinarow-"
"Oh...neat."
A second passed in relative silence, just the soft grass smushing beneath them as they walked.
"You're not...going to say anything about that?"
He rubbed his neck, looking away, "Eh, I was...kinda in the same boat in my old school. I kept breakin' records with running and whatnot, and coaches wouldn't take the hint and leave me alone about it, so...I know where you're coming from...it sucks-"
"That it does...but, it's nice to know someone...gets it."
"Life's better when you got people to talk about it with, partner...so, how's life in Misbal-"
She snorted at how unaware the guy was, "Mistral...and well, I'm from a port town called Argus, it's...nice when it isn't frozen over for part of the year, we're a bit famous for the stone walls around our city...or so I've heard."
She clicked her tongue in annoyance, "I really don't have all that much to say. I spend most of my time training and the other part of it studying. I'm...not as interesting as you want me to be."
Yuji just tapped her shoulder with a free hand, knocking her out of her thoughts, "Somethin' to work on, and maybe you can help me study...maybe"
She clasped her hands together behind her back, walking beside him, knowing just what she needed to do to help out her friend, speaking in a sing-song, "I'll hold you to iiiiit."
Why did Itadori feel like he had just made a massive mistake...like inviting a vampire into his house...but it was a tutor...what if it was a vampire tutor...that just sounded like a lot of blood tests-
He got excited, then slumped over, realizing Yang wasn't here to hear that.
...
Minutes later
Yuji emerged through the woods, skidding to a stop in a sudden clearing as the trees gave way, observing a broken down circular stone structure ahead, old and decrepit, looking a lot like one of those old Roman buildings he saw on TV when nothing good was on.
The bushes rattled as Pyrrha came running out, immediately holding her knees as she gasped for air, "You weren't...Oh God...You weren't kidding when you said you were fast."
Yuji glanced at her, not even breaking a sweat, "Option's still on the table, you know."
Her face scrunched up, "I won't let you carry me, end of story!"
"Why not?"
She turned even redder than her hair, "It's...it's embarrassing, okay! How would you feel if I asked if I could carry you around?"
His eyes sparkled, "Will you!?"
Her face fell, "No."
Yuji almost fell over, and there goes his dream of getting picked up by a tall girl... somewhere out there, he knew his spiritual brother was telling him to keep trying, to find a Jennifer Lawrence of his own...and some way...somehow, he would!
"Oh look, game pieces!"
He lept off the edge, sliding along the dirt before running off into the structure to gawk at them. Pyrrha's eye twitched as she watched him go, wondering how short his attention span was.
The difference was surreal; in one moment, Itadori was one of the most impressive fighters she'd ever met, and the moment danger was gone...poof, back to happy Yuji.
Catching her breath, the Huntress followed suit, catching up with the sorcerer as he bounced between the various pieces aligned on a pedestal, "Ohhh, isn't this that checkers thing Americans play?"
Pyrrha had no clue what an American was but didn't have another Yuji answer in her for now; she had enough questions as it was. "They're chess pieces. Have you ever played?"
"Nah, old folks back home don't like when we play Western stuff. It's shogi, or they hit ya! It's like chess but...harder...a lot harder-"
"To win?"
He lost all color, "To understand..."
Pyrrha raised a finger, "Well the rules of chess are actually quite easy to-"
The earth trembled as a pair of sunglasses reflected the gleaming sun, with a certain blonde bombshell looming nearby, "Oh, look, a chess-nut-"
Pyrrha's face sank immediately, "No...no more!"
A figure leaped overhead, landing between the partners, flicking her shades like the badass she was, "boasting on an open foyer!"
As the Invincible Girl died inside, Yuji reappeared beside the bombshell, hand already raised, "Nice one!"
Yang slapped his hand before even realizing it was him, "Oh! Hey, pink stuff!"
She looked between the two, lowering her glasses with a finger, "Sooo, red and pink, huh? Kinda fits, but not as cool as me and Blakey. We got a bumblebee thing going over here!"
"...It's just Blake."
Yuji's eyes widened, only then realizing that the girl with the bowtie was standing behind them the whole time, leaning against one of the pillars like some sorta ninja, "Ohhhh, it's you!"
For someone so pale, she wore a lot of black and white, with a matching vest adorned with fluttering tails and white shorts to boot, but the way her yellow eyes just stared at the sorcerer couldn't help but make him wonder if she was mad at him.
He looked at the ground for a second, "Sorry I uh...almost crushed you last night."
She just blankly stared at the marks along his face before looking away indifferently, "...It's fine."
Itadori wasn't one to be deterred, circling around her with a curious look on his face as she kept trying to look away, "You're mad...aren't you?"
"...I'm not mad-"
His face distorted, not believing a word the ice-cold girl said, "If you're mad, you gotta let me know why, so I can make it up to ya!"
Her bow twitched for some reason, "...Why does it matter to you?"
The sorcerer's response was blunt, "I can't be friends with Yang and not with you. That'd just make it weird!"
The blonde wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Guy's got a point, Blakey Wakey, and he ain't the type to take a hint, so you might as well just say it."
She mumbled something, "...is...trash-"
Yang's hum made the silent girl speak up, leveling the sorcerer with a glare, "Your taste in books is trash...I saw that awful comic you were reading with that ginger girl. There's no plot, just...just-"
Yuji glowed with excitement, "Awesome fights?"
She sighed in contempt, "There's more to books than just fights; there's so much development you need to read before you can even come close to-"
His face became chiseled, "Good thing I don't read...I look at the pictures and make up my own canon."
Yang just laughed as Pyrrha mumbled something about that not being a brag.
Blake's world shattered like glass, so much so that she angrily pushed past, muttering, "Now I hate you."
Yuji's act fell apart, but before he could try and make amends, he paused, listening...hearing nothing.
The entire forest had gone silent in a matter of moments, with even the birds refusing to make so much as a sound.
He walked out of the ruins without a word, looking around in all directions, and only then did he feel the ground trembling, "It's happening again."
Yuji's entire demeanor shifted, with every ounce of joy disappearing as he looked toward the girls, "We need to go, right now."
Yang leaned on one of the empty podiums, tilting her head a little bit, "What's with the mood change? Blake got you upset or somethin'?"
The sorcerer shook his head, "That's not it, just...listen-"
Blake was the first to respond, her bow twitching once again, hearing a distant crack off in the woods, "...Something's coming."
Yuji wasn't an idiot. He knew what was happening. Awake or not, the King of Curses inside of him was a ticking time bomb of cursed energy. His mere existence was driving the Grimm insane, like ringing a dinner bell, and something big woke up.
*CRASHHHHH
With a ferocious hiss, the beast broke through the forest, uprooting entire trees as it burst through the veil.
Yuji had seen them before on the night he woke up in this strange place, with white armor lining nearly every inch of their bodies, and with how weak he was, it was a miracle he killed the things at all...but it was different now, and while he wasn't even close to being at his best, the sorcerer could more than handle something like this.
The massive scorpion's tail loomed overhead as its pincers broke through solid rock, its gleaming red eyes glaring into him as it charged.
As Itadori waited for the Grimm to arrive, a hand clasped over his shoulder, he didn't look but could read the girl's soul by her mere presence as she tried to shake some sense into him, "You can't kill a deathstalker Yuji, let's grab our pieces and go!"
"No."
"What do you mean no!?"
Yang called out from behind the pair, "Cereal girl's right, dude, we don't have to fight this thing. Ozpin said just bring a piece back and call it a day; deathstalkers are WAYYYY above our paygrade."
The sorcerer just stared ahead, entirely focused on the fight to come, "How many pieces are left in the ruins?-"
He didn't let them respond, "More than just us, and if we leave now, whoever comes here next is gonna get torn apart trying to get their hands on one...I can sense more coming right now. It's only gonna get worse."
As cursed energy flared, Yuji didn't even spare them a glance, "If you wanna go, then go. I'm not leaving until everyone's out, end of story, deal with it!"
The ground shook as the hulking beast charged, pincers at the ready as the sorcerer's power flared, matching its rage his own, 'watch me, brother'.
Even Yuji would struggle to break through this thing's armor on his own. It was a walking tank, but he was different from your average cursed energy user, having been taught by more gifted people than he could hope to thank...but the black sparks don't choose who to bless.
It was more than precise. You had to be pitch-perfect to use them at all, a critical point landing to a millionth of a second of a blow, allowing its wielders to crack through any defense with a strength that far exceeded their own.
The ground exploded around him as he lunged, with the monster bearing down at him, but the moment in time burned away in front of him, becoming just a droplet of water in the endless flow of time, and the moment it landed amidst the void-
Space is distorted.
And the cursed energy flashes black.
"BLACK FLASH!"
*BOOOOOM
Black and red lightning erupted across the sorcerer, surging through the point of contact against the deathstalker's carapace. Its claws, mere inches away from his flesh, violently shook as foreign energy invaded, the limbs exploding off as electricity crackled along its flesh.
The onlookers watched in awe as the hulking creature stumbled back, its blood erupting from cracks along its armor, but Yuji wasn't done. He lept overhead, flipping over for an overhead kick as he shot downward at breakneck speeds, leaning aside as the beast's jagged tail missed him by a hair's breadth as he rocketed onto its back with a thunderous crash, "CONSECUTIVE BLACK FLASH!"
The deathstalker blew apart at the seams, its legs bursting outward as lightning danced along its tail, frying it from the inside as it cried out in agony, soon falling still as it slumped over with a violent thud.
As he landed, Yang was the first to slap herself awake, mouth agape as she watched the Grimm's remains dissipate before her eyes, "Holy shi-...What was that?!"
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "There's no time. More are on their way, so get out of here!"
Blake took a step forward, "Oh, and just leaving you here is a better option?"
Yang nodded in agreement, puffing her chest out in pride, "Mhm, I don't think a few lousy Grimm have all that much on u-"
To their surprise, Yuji shot them a glare, his brown eyes firm, a stark contrast to how he was acting a few minutes ago, "I don't know what you think this is, but it isn't a game, and if you're going to screw around then I want you gone."
"Hey! I'm just-"
He cut her off, "Back where I'm from, we don't have Huntsmen, and we don't have Grimm. We have Sorcerers and Spirits, and we even have schools just like this one, but there's something they never say. If you get lazy, if you make one mistake, or if you even forget one basic thing, you and the people around you will die."
Yuji's stare softened but remained determined, "I don't care if you wanna leave, but I'm staying until I know everyone's gotten out of this mess alive, there's time to screw around, and there's time to buckle up and make a choice."
A moment passed in silence until Pyrrha spoke up, "...He's right. There are so many students out here; who knows how desperate some are to join Beacon...I hate to say it, but some might take a risk they just can't handle."
Yang huffed in anger, wanting to refute the guy and say it wasn't that serious, but before she could, Blake wordlessly walked out from behind her, taking a place beside the sorcerer, leaving the blonde on her own.
A few seconds passed before she sighed, running a hand through her hair, marching up to take a stand on his other side, shooting him a glare, "...I'm kicking your ass for dissing me later."
He spared her a glance as the distant rumbling grew closer, "...Think you can handle it?"
She casually shrugged, swimming her arms as a warmup as she watched the deathstalker's remains dissipating, "You or the Grimm? Either way, you're both going down, Pinkie!"
Yuji laughed a little bit at her energy, "You can try, but you'll just end up on the ground."
She shot him a smirk, "Oh? Don't promise a girl a good time if you can't live up to it...I'm gettin' my match one way or another, so don't do somethin' stupid out there."
He didn't answer, only giving a wordless nod as the ground shook beneath them.
The hordes of Grimm numbered in the hundreds, beowolfs, ursa, and boarbatusks, coming in waves as they fought their way across the terrain toward the source of malevolence few could hope to describe.
It was chaos from the beginning, with Yuji picking up on his new allies' fighting styles within moments.
Yang was a close-ranged fighter like him, diving headfirst into the fray. It was honestly impressive watching the blonde throw hands with Ursa like he could. Still, unlike the vessel, her gauntlets were some kinda gun as well, blasting Grimm in the chest like miniature shotguns, but she also made a good defense out of them, deflecting clawed strikes with their metal-lined surface.
The bombshell would leap into a group of beowolfs, shooting herself into a violent spin with her gauntlets as an engine, turning into a whirling tornado of hands as she slugged each of the beasts into a paste.
But none of this stopped her from gloating and throwing taunts at the animals, ending with her getting blindsided more than once by some upstart Grimm, only getting angrier when one happened to catch a strand of her hair.
Blake fought differently, and if he couldn't see souls, Yuji would have sworn it was some kind of cursed technique, making clones of herself to keep the creatures off guard, only to appear from the shadows, her rectangular weapon shifting from a blade to a pistol at will, striking where they least expected.
The dark-themed girl would disappear in a flash of light, reappearing behind a perplexed boarbatusk as it tried to dig its way out of the ground after missing its blow. Her pistol silenced its thoughts with a single shot as she vanished once more.
Some of her look-alikes exploded, while others were solid copies. It was offputting, to say the least, and the sorcerer had more than one image of Mahito surface during the fight.
Pyrrha was easily their most well-rounded fighter, changing between distance and close quarters in the blink of an eye with hardly any delay. The way weapons could just switch on a dime was one of the coolest things Yuji had ever seen, and his partner did it to perfection.
Her sword cleaved the head off an ursa in one fell swoop, sending it careening upward as her blade shifted into a rifle, taking aim as she fired through the flying piece of flesh and into an oncoming beowolf as it lunged from above, its remains dropping with a thud as it dragged along the dry dirt.
Itadori wasn't the type to kick up a fuss, but the redhead might have been the best partner he could ask for, making up for the lack of diversity in his arsenal of tricks while keeping everyone in line. She was a natural-born leader, and he was down with it, completely losing her uncertain demeanor and becoming a hardened warrior when needed; he liked it.
Yuji was Yuji, not caring much for subtly. He was right in the middle of it, with dead Grimm flying in each and every direction, some shrouded in ethereal dark lightning, but most would either die in a single blow or the aftershock of his divergent fist, getting torn to shreds like they were made of paper.
A group of beowolfs managed to bite into him, making no headway to their confusion, and with the swing of his arm, they crashed straight into the ground, getting stomped out into oblivion, with him not being so much as scratched.
Sorcerers might not have an aura, but given enough time and practice, they could reinforce their bodies with cursed energy, increasing their durability to superhuman levels. Yuji had mountains of the stuff inside of him, and it was being put to good use.
The day he woke up, the student was hardly on his feet, let alone able to manipulate the energy inside of him in any meaningful way besides throwing a punch, and still wasn't even close to being at his best, but something like this was nothing, Itadori could do this all day.
A sudden roar drew the vessel's attention as a massive ursa came charging out of the wild. He growled right back at it, racing at speeds most humans couldn't even perceive, his fist cracking through the sound barrier as it-
"Hey-Hey-Hey!"
His eyes could only widen as a flash of orange hair bounced up from the Grimm's skull; he tried to stop himself but was too far in, "Nora?!-"
The beat exploded into bits, the sudden blast sending the girl flying into the sky as she giggled with glee, spinning in circles as a massive hammer shot over her head before crashing straight down, "WEEEEEEEEEE!"
*CRUNCH
A poor beowolf turned into a pancake beneath her strike as she landed on top of it, jumping for joy, "Again-again!"
"Pay attention, Nora-"
A spray of dust rounds rained down from above, flying behind the dancing ginger, impacting a charging boarbatusk in the skull as it dropped in an instant, digging a tunnel with its sliding body.
Yuji's eyes widened as a green blur landed beside him in a crouch, glancing up at him with a familiar indifference, "...Hey."
For a brief second, the vessel let himself smirk as the fighting continued around them, raising a hand high, "Yo!.. Sorry about the...exploding you thing-"
Lie stared at it for a second before dropping his shoulders, giving the sorcerer a highfive to his delight, looking as if it didn't even faze him, "...These things happen when you're around Nora for long enough."
"...is that right?"
"YABBA DABBA DOO WAHOOOOO!-"
Nearby, Nora raced toward the pair, spinning around like a hyperactive ballerina, shattering a crystal as lightning coated her form, and with an earth-shattering swing, an ursa cried like a puppy as it flew off, leaving nothing more than a twinkle in the sky as the girl struck a pose.
"Home run, baby!... Ah, I love golf-"
Something in Yuji knew this had nothing to do with golf.
"OO-OO-OO, snack buddy!"
Is she a monkey?
Nora was in front of him in the blink of an eye, "How come you didn't text me back? I really wanted you to text me back. Do you have any more cat pictures? I really, really, REALLY like cat pictures, but more important, WHERE'S MY HIGHFIVE?!-
The sorcerer was startled but soon started laughing at her energy, dropping a hand, "Down low?"
"Too slow!-"
*ZZZZZZT
The second she slapped his hand, the sorcerer yelped, getting the static shock of his life as his hair shot straight up with soot rising from his head.
Ren gently grabbed the girl's wrist to lower her hand, "...Nora, your semblance..."
Her mouth made an O in realization, "Oh yeah, oopsie! I get all kablooie when I get shocked...-"
She took a look at the frazzled guy, then hummed, "Ooooo, you look kinda cool like that!-"
In the blink of an eye, a scroll was in his face, snapping a picture before whirling around before his eyes could adjust, and-
My God...the hair, the dark lines around his eyes...he looked like the King of-
Nope, it's not happening.
Yuji shook his head like a wet dog, going back to his original look in a split second to her disappointment, "Awww, you gotta let me do your face sometime!"
Ren put a hand on his shoulder, his eyes speaking of a deep pain, "Don't trust her with makeup. She uses-"
"Ketchup is lipstick!"
He just stared at her, "No, Nora...ketchup is not lipstick...it isn't makeup in any universe."
Off in the distance, Yang dropped what she was doing, "Oh come on! Just...make-up already!"
Finger guns.
An ursa managed to sock her in the face for that one, sending her flying.
"Ooooo, game pieces!"
*ZOOM
Just like that, Nora was gone, with Lie following her soon after, leaving Yuji to his thoughts as he watched them go.
Okay...four pieces left; that just means they're missing two somewhere out there...but where could they-
"YANG!"
Yuji looked up, seeing a black dot falling from an even bigger black dot from way above. He squinted. Is that-?
"RUBY!"
Said girl was falling at blinding speeds, deadset on plummeting straight into the ruins below.
Yuji didn't know what Huntsmen and Huntresses were all that capable of, but that didn't matter. A single thought, an instinctive drive crossed his mind. He needed to help his friend!
The son of Kenjaku took off running, crushing biological limits in a split with cursed energy flowing through his limbs, the entire forest moving like a blur, crossing well over five hundred meters in a mere few seconds.
The ground burst as he launched off the cobblestone floor adorning the ruins, shooting way up into the sky, his leap calculated with the perfection only a honed athlete would know, hearing his friend's screams growing louder by the moment.
"EEEEEEEEEEE-OOF"
Ruby slammed onto his shoulder as he grinned up at her, "Yo, you alright?"
She was unresponsive, drooling as the wind had been knocked clean out of her...oops...but she recovered fast, "Yuji?... How did you-"
He cut her off, "Not now, where's your partner?"
The Huntress was taken aback at how blunt he was being but looked left, right, down, then..."Weiss! I told you to jump!"
In the distance, the sorcerer could faintly hear a voice coming from the giant dot, "You're not helpiiiing!"
He raised a brow, "Is that a bird?"
Ruby nodded, her brainpower growing twofold, "Yes, it's a big bird...and it's angry...an Angry Bird if you will-"
Itadori stared at it, deep in thought, "...I'm gonna shoot it-"
Ruby's eyes sparkled, having the same idea, "You mean it?!"
In the distance, a voice was faintly heard, "...Absolutely not!"
They were hovering in the air and weren't gonna go much higher, and Yuji was a pragmatist, "Well...we gotta get her down somehow."
"I can get down fine, just...wait!"
Ruby either didn't hear her or was too engrossed in wondering what kind of gun her friend was gonna use to get Weiss down, "Think you can hit that? The sun's so bright I can't tell Weiss from birdie!"
"...I dunno, let's see."
Weiss stared down from above, trembling, "He's...he's joking, right?"
Yuji wasn't joking...and he'd literally never done this on an enemy before, but if Gojo taught him anything, it was to just go with it.
Understanding cursed energy wasn't something you could just teach. That's too easy; every sorcerer had to acquire a fundamental comprehension on their own terms. He had the will and the skill, so what was stopping him from trying this?
A lot, actually, but Itadori didn't think about it...instead, the guy funneled an ungodly amount of energy into the tip of his finger.
Ruby's face fell as he made a finger gun, but she raised a brow as the sky above grew dark, watching with abject horror as the Nevermore fired a barrage of sharpened quills, "Look out!"
Yuji didn't panic, dodging between the projectiles, not even wincing as one struck true, dragging along his arm before impacting the ground below with a splatter of his blood following suit. This was nothing.
He lined up the shot with blue energy surging all around him as he fell, silently praying to his fallen Sensei to let him do this right.
"Bang."
The shot of concentrated energy fired, scorching through the atmosphere before ringing true, surging straight through the beast's outstretched wing as it flailed about in mid-air.
As the pair landed, Ruby hopped off, watching as the Nevermore went ballistic in the skies, and with a kick, her ally turned itty bitty dot in the sky and screamed as she fell.
The Huntress briefly panicked, wondering what she could do to help the girl. She was mean, but she didn't need to become an ice-cold puddle!
With all the indifference in the world, Itadori looked up, shuffling back and forth as the falling girl's shadow moved around, and with hardly a sound, she landed in his outstretched hands.
Weiss' chest was practically exploding, but with practiced effort, she steadied herself, realizing where she was. The snow queen glanced toward her would-be savior, from his unkempt pink hair to the layers of grime and soot coating his potato-like expression, it was that faunus from before!...but why was he staring up at the clouds like a dolt?
"Hey, Ruby-"
The scythe wielder zoned back in, "H-huh? Yeah?"
"That is an Angry Bird."
"Wha-"
*SQWAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The Grimm in question was currently dive-bombing toward them, its gleaming red eyes focused on the sorcerer as dark ooze flowed from its damaged wing.
Ruby's mouth hung open, looking around for some solution to a Grimm the size of her house, "Ohmygoshwhatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo!-"
Yuji glanced around, realizing his friends had already taken off down a beaten path of rock and stone through the ruins, then looked back toward Ruby, then at the big bird once more, the gears in his head whirling around.
Weiss meanwhile struggled to get out of his hold, "Hello?! Put me down!"
A split second passed as Itadori's features became marble, like the finest statues of old, "It's okay...I know what to do."
Ruby's freakout paused, "You do?... Are we gonna fight it-shootitmaybeevenhackandslashit!?-"
"Better."
The hooded girl's eyes gleamed for guidance, but her energy faltered as Yuji wordlessly picked Weiss up like a bag of potatoes, slumping her over his shoulder as she shouted in indignation.
"Wait, wha-"
She looked down, realizing he had done the same to her in the blink of an eye; she looked up, seeing his comically chiseled face once more as he spoke with absolute certainty in his voice, "...We run."
What?
*ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The ground exploded as the vessel took off like a bolt of lightning, racing through the ruins, with the two girls watching in horror as the nevermore crashed into the spot they stood on not a second ago.
Weiss flailed, trying to catch anything to get her off this wild ride, only squinting as she pulled back two of the game pieces. The heiress wanted to give a sigh of relief, knowing she wasn't going to fail a test, but paused, feeling something on her dress, looking down to see a splotch of red on its white surface...the size of a handprint-
Her thoughts proccessed...
Yuji bobbed and weaved between the shattered pillars and rocks adorning the ruins, hearing the pursuing Grimm rushing after them like a bat out of hell. This made things complicated.
He couldn't keep randomly firing cursed energy at the thing, he might have wanted to learn a Dodon ray at one point, but shooting raw energy was exhausting even for him; missing even a few shots in his current state was a disaster waiting to hap-
*CRACK
Weiss struggled in the sorcerer's hold, pushing herself back just enough to slap him over the head, "Look what you did, you imbecile!-"
"Huh?"
*CRACK
She slapped him at the speed of light, his face becoming puddy before the vengeful ice queen's might, "Do you know how expensive this dress was, and you had to...filthy it up with your mangy blood! How are you going to fix this?!-"
*CRACK
For a brief moment, Itadori swore one of those hits knocked his brain loose, seeing a distorted image of the King of Curses asleep on his throne of bones, chin resting on his hand, but it didn't last long; the next shocked him back into reality.
By the time he could see again, a rock was in their way, and so he leaped over it with no time to spare as he tried to dodge the girl's assault, "I get it, I get it! Can this wait, please!?"
Ruby pushed off his back, perching on his shoulder as she fired potshots with Crescent Rose, a flurry of fiery bolts cracking against the Nevermore's frame as the recoil did little to deter the charging sorcerer, doing little to no damage as he ran even faster, getting far ahead of the beast.
The Huntress soon glanced toward the vessel, silver eyes widening in concern, "Wait...you're hurt? Why didn't you say anything!?-"
Itadori casually shrugged, raising his arm with a giant slash running down through the muscle, and as the girls gagged, he spoke about it with no discernable interest, "It ain't that big of a deal; two negatives make a positive!"
Weiss glared, "That doesn't make any sense!-"
A sudden hissing drew her gaze as the Yuji's arm regrew in the blink of an eye, muscle, bone, skin, and in a moment, it was as good as new, with him giving a cheery thumbs up, "See, all better!"
Ruby's eyes became stars as Weiss decided she was done with today, having endured far too much stupidity from her partner and this faunus that seemed to defy every law of reality...what was her life at this point?
"Oh, hey, Yang!"
In no time at all, Yuji had caught up with the others, slowing to their all-out sprint, which looked like a slow jog to him, letting the girls drop to their feet, finally free of that angry snowgirl's wrath.
The blonde glanced to the side, "Ruby!-"
The scythe wielder tried to wave, "Hey Ya-EEEEEEE"
Her sister pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, possibly making squeaky toy noises as she tried to pull free, "Can't...breathe..."
As the siblings did their thing, Yuji looked around. The scenery change was something.
The forest was off in the distance, with the entire group of students standing on a series of stone platforms above an abyss; he lazily kicked a rock over, watching as it disappeared into the void.
It was deep, and Yuji had serious doubts his friends would survive making those leaps between the standing structures with that Angry Bird flying around, but it was a rock and a hard place; even now, the sorcerer could feel the ground trembling as the Grimm caught up, they had minutes at most.
He sighed, not knowing what to do to keep his friends alive, but a hand caught his shoulder. He turned to see Pyrrha looking down at him, a serious look crossing her face, "Something bothering you?"
Itadori shook his head, looking off toward the looming airborne Grimm, "It's nothing...just...if I could get my hands on that thing, I could kill it. I'm no good on the ground against something like that."
The redhead went quiet for a moment, but soon, her green eyes were on his once more, "...If you could...are you sure you can handle it?"
The sorcerer nodded without any hint of hesitation, "Yeah, I can."
She nodded, calling off to the side, "Nora, Ren!"
The bubbly ginger leaped across from a nearby platform, balancing on her hammer with one hand as she bounced back and forth, reeling herself in and out, "yo-yo...yo!"
Ren simply made the jump without any of the showmanship, speaking with the same deduction as always, "...You have a plan?"
The Invincible Girl nodded, "Something like that-" glancing toward Nora, "How much weight can you handle-"
She flexed a free arm, "How much ya need?"
Ren sighed, "What she means to say is, whatever you need, she can handle it."
Turning to the silent boy, Pyrrha spoke up, "Okay...this is going to be...oh, how do I put it?"
Yuji cut her off, "Somethin' stupid?"
"Yes...that...Lie, you and I are going to provide suppressive fire, but the real work is going to be for Nora and Yuji. It's either timed perfectly, or we fail. We'll have one shot at this; I need you to understand that before we go through with it."
Yuji and Nora spoke at the exact same time-
"I'm in."
"Me too!"
Ren took a moment, his face hard to read, but soon started checking his dust count, "Did you even need to ask?"
The armored girl laughed a bit, "No, I suppose not; company isn't quite my strongsuit-"
Itadori chimed in, giving his first lecture, "You coulda just said something like, 'Nah, I'm not a people person.'"
"...That would also work," she relented.
...
Moments of explanation later
*SQWAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Well, no time like the present.
As the Grimm circled overhead, the students opened fire, with Ruby and the others having spread out across the ruins, leaving the four on their own down the longest cohesive pathway left. A runway, some might call it.
Nora was stationed at the end, hammer at the ready, with Yuji standing down a way, Pyrrha's shield in hand on her orders, while the remaining two lined their sights, waiting for the perfect moment to strike as they held their fire.
Dust rounds bounced off the beast like nothing, and all the while, they could hear the horde of Grimm growing closer by the second. Pyrrha held firm, "Hold-"
She watched its flight, observing for any patterns, "Hooold."
It lined up, clear for take-off, "GO!"
Lie, and Pyrrha opened fire, his rapid shots and her precise aim drawing the Grimm's attention as it took off toward them. At the same time, Yuji hurled the Invincible Girl's shield like a frisbee, letting it fly free as he dropped into a runner's stance.
The stone walkway exploded as the sorcerer took off, reaching Nora in record time as Pyrrha used her semblance to direct the hurling piece of metal just above Nora's aim, taking random shots with her grenades as they blinded the beast, her weapon soon morphing into a hammer as her eyes gleamed in excitement.
The second the Yuji landed atop the hovering shield, she all but screamed, "HAHA, FORE!"
*BOOOOOOM
The force launched the boy across the skies, straight toward the raging Nevermore's open mouth, his fist contorting as his unseen arm morphed, nails growing longer as veins swam to the surface, with raging black lightning dancing along his entire body.
"BLACK FLASH!"
The Grimm's beak rattled on impact as his fist slammed into its cheek, the entire structure blasting apart into bits as he followed through, the pair crashing into the cliffside as the boy took off running, defying gravity as he ran the entity against solid rock.
His unlikely allies watched in disbelief, some already having experienced the sorcerer's unreal nature for themselves while others had just seen it for the first time. He was faster, stronger, and even more resilient than your average Huntsman by leaps and bounds.
In seconds, Itadori pushed through, his sharpened nails tearing a clean chunk out of the beast's flesh as a sudden aftershock of cursed energy sent it careening down into the abyss below, with him lunging after it.
While the others couldn't see much of what was going on in detail, the boy had proven himself a monster in more ways than one, able to annihilate most Grimm, the creatures that left the world trembling like they were nothing. With no aura or semblance to speak of, Itadori was in a world of his own.
Despite all these claims, Itadori was human at heart, always looking out for the wellbeing of others, putting his own concerns aside no matter his feelings; it didn't matter the time or place; it's just how he was...simple, yet with circumstances more complex than most could ever hope to unravel.
He was a lot of things, and while Yuji would never be the smartest person in things like academics, he excelled in a fight, knowing exactly what needed to be done to end things as fast as possible.
The vessel slammed onto the Grimm's back, grabbing it by its massive wings as it screeched, slamming into the walls again and again as he pulled with everything he had, sending them in a downward death spiral as flesh gave way.
As the teen tore the Nevermore's wings clean off, letting them drop, only then did he realize that he had forgotten to make an escape plan...Oh well, nothing was stopping him from slamming a hand into the wall and climbing his way out.
The walls were dropping at a rapid pace, with the surface world becoming a distant memory clouded in fog. He readied himself to make a blind leap of faith, but a voice pierced through the shroud.
"Yuji!"
Off in the distance, Pyrrha hurled her shield toward the sorcerer as it flew across the chasm in an arc, "Catch it; I won't let you fall!"
Itadori had no idea how Pyrrha's semblance worked, but the guy never questioned his friends, and he wasn't about to start now. Despite how outrageous this all seemed, with Grimm and Huntsmen, he wasn't about to question why he was doing this; having people he could work with made all the difference to his tired mind.
He jumped, sending a final blast of energy through the Nevermore, its body tearing apart into burning chunks as the teen reached out across the sky, catching the spinning metal disk with a hand as it flew upward to safer ground.
Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief, pulling him in, "I'm glad you're alri-"
"MAKE IT STOPPPPP!"
Yuji was still spinning at relativistic speeds to her horror, "Oh my gosh, sorry!"
The sorcerer landed on his feet, bouncing back and forth as the entire world turned upside down, unable to even tell what they were saying to him.
"Nooo, Sensei, I don't wanna eat anymore fingeeeeeerrrrrrrssss...I want...Teriyaki ramen bowlllllllll-"
He lost all control of his body, slumping over onto the ground, his eyes nothing more than spirals as Pyrrha stood there, completely mortified, "I'm so sorry!"
Nora poked him with the end of her hammer again and again like he was a dead body before looking at the Invincible Girl with pleading eyes, "...Can I have a turn?"
Pyrrha gafawed, "You...you...no! No, you can't!"
She huffed, grabbing the unconscious vessel with one hand, dragging him off by his hood, "Fine! Be like that; come on, candy buddy, we're getting out of here!"
The redhead looked at Yuji, who was currently foaming at the mouth, then at Ren, who seemed indifferent about the whole thing, "Are you going to stop her?"
He just looked at her with a blank expression, "...As long as it's not me."
Pyrrha sighed before running off after the energetic Valkyrie, set on getting her partner back before the Grimm got to them.
"STOP, HE'S NOT WELL NORA!"
"I don't know what five of those words mean!"
Ren deadpanned, watching them run off, "...One of them was Nora..."
The rumbling grew more violent, and with Ruby and the others defeating a death stalker in the distance, the silent boy let himself smile just a bit, "It'll all work out."
Mission Accomplished.
...
Later
"I told ya it's fine. No one got hurt, so what's the big deal?"
Yuji stood with his classmates in the same auditorium as before, waiting their turn to supposedly get their teams.
He had never actually grabbed one of the pieces, but thankfully, his partner was smart enough to take two with her...what the thing was called, he had no idea. Yuji wasn't a Westerner; sue him for not knowing chess.
"Well...I feel bad-"
Said partner had been down in the dumps since he woke up, and no matter how many times he said it, Pyrrha would not take the hint. He had dealt with way worse than getting dizzy; a concussion or two was the least of his concerns.
He waved her off, "There's nothin' to feel bad about. Things happen; I'm not mad at ya."
She sighed, looking away, "I know...it's just...I want to make it up to you somehow..."
At that moment, Nora jumped onto Yuji's back, "OOH OOH, you should do the spinny-spin to her!"
A lightbulb dinged in his head as he looked up at the girl, "Ohhhhh, Nora, you're a genius!"
The ginger puffed herself up, "I know, excellence like this is born once in a generation; now, do the spinny-spin."
Pyrrha raised a brow, "The...the what?"
She had little time to respond as Yuji picked her up by her arms like she weighed nothing, "What're you do-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!"
The sorcerer lazily tossed her in the air with a whirl, sending her on a death spiral as she became nothing more than a blur, then caught her as she fell back down, his chipper smile never leaving, "There, now we're even!"
Pyrrha was unresponsive, just staring blankly into the void, a haunted look on her pretty features, not moving so much as an inch, but Yuji didn't pay it any mind.
As Nora played the bongos on his head, Yuji watched the teams coming and going from the podium, getting their leaders, a name, and even a round of applause from the audience.
It was pretty cool. Sorcerer school was naturally sorta hush-hush and had a more serious vibe to it all, but Beacon had a whole party going on. Itadori couldn't help but be impressed; it wasn't bad at all.
He almost didn't know what to think; soon, he and Pyrrha would be roomies with two other people...a whole new team...
New team...
Huh...
There was a sinking feeling in the boy's chest as he stared off into nothing, his mind ablaze with images of his old friends, having lost so many to the madman trapped inside of him...would it be the same this time...could he really risk doing this to more people?
What if he couldn't control it? What if-
A finger poked his cheek from above, and he followed it, meeting Nora's stare as she leaned down from above, "You okay? Boooooooop..."
Itadori shook his head, slapping himself awake, giving the girl a smile, "Y...Yeah, I'm just...a little tired, is all."
Nora hummed, "Welllll, you did do all that cool lightning...going all KERCHOO-KERPLOW on the birdie. We'll do group naptime when we're back in our room, then go out for funsies!"
He raised a brow, "You think we're gonna end up on the same team?"
The girl gave him a nod, which just made him more curious, "Oh yeah? How do you figure?"
She shrugged, "I dunno, I just want you two on ma' team, so Ima keep saying it till it happens."
Itadori looked to Ren, who stood off to the side in silence as always, "It would be pretty cool; I like hangin' with you two."
The guy just stared at him for a while before looking off to the side, "...Same...but we'll still be friends even if we aren't together."
That earned a slap on the back from the sorcerer, almost knocking the guy off his feet, "That's the spirit!"
Yuji just smirked at his friend's awkward nod afterward; seriously, he was, like, the one person Itadori couldn't read. His soul was always the exact same no matter what.
A thin finger tapped him on the shoulder, drawing the teen's gaze; having to look down, his blank stare meeting a pair of angry blue eyes as Weiss glared at him.
"I expect you to cover the expenses for what you did to my dress!"
He tilted his head for a second before nodding, "Okay, my bad on that."
"You-"
Weiss started to say something but froze, not expecting his answer; instead, she just stormed off in a huff.
Nearby, Ruby saw the entire debacle, glumly walking up to the sorcerer afterward, "Sorry about her...she's...you know."
Yuji waved off her concerns, "Nah, it's fine. I'm just glad she's alright after that fall you guys took...how ya holding up?"
Despite her tiny size, Ruby puffed her cheeks, "You don't gotta worry about me so much; I drink milk!"
He laughed at that, ignoring Nora as she pulled on his face for neglecting her, "I'm only worried 'cause you're my friend, nothing else to it, ya goof."
"Awwww-"
Yang popped up beside the Huntress, pulling her hood over her head, "I told you he's a nice catch, Rube... but if you go fishin' again~."
"Please don't"
"Let minnow-"
Yang flipped her sunglasses, still wearing them inside.
Ruby went catatonic.
"Yuji Itadori-"
The boy zoned back in, realizing that the Headmaster had finally started calling their names, with Nora scrambling down his back at Ren's prodding, but the moment didn't last long.
"Nora Valkyrie," said girl immediately beamed, taking off after the vessel across the stage.
"Lie Ren...and Pyrrha Nikos," the former had to drag the latter across the floor as her eyes refused to stop spinning.
Ozpin opened his mouth to continue, but- "Hey, Gramps! That test sure was har-PLAHG!"
Yuji said six words before Goodwitch's riding crop slapped him on the back of the head, sending him face-first into the floor as whispers broke out around the audience.
Ozpin kept a smile as a few flashes turned into an endless array of pictures and murmurs in the crowd about what that was. This was going to be a headache, he knew it, but one to deal with later.
With only two members still conscious, the Director was forced to improvise, only looking at them while one remained on the ground while the other mumbled something about seeing stars.
"...Yes...for retrieving the white rook pieces, from henceforth, you'll be known as team PYRN or Prune if you'd like, led by Pyrrha Nikos."
The Invincible Girl only mumbled something about not wanting to win a fifth tournament.
Team PYRN started out their adventures with two of their members being publicly dragged off stage in varying forms of awareness.
...
The door closed with a click, leaving the new teammates to their own devices in a room just for them.
Yuji waved them in with as much energy as he could muster, "Welcome to the place! I've been here a few days already, but I'm really excited to live with you guys!"
Pyrrha was the first to respond, hands clasped together as she examined the undecorated space, "It should be interesting; I've...never roomed with anyone before, have any of you?"
Ren leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, "Me and Nora have been together a while, so we're used to it."
The hammer-wielding girl nodded in glee, "Mhm, can't live without ma bestie!... But don't worry, we'll all be bestie besties, I know it!"
Itadori nodded along, scratching his chin in thought, "Hmm, well, at my last school, we lived in the same building, but we all sorta had our own rooms...but man, were they smaller than this..."
He disregarded the culture shock, "But I'm sure we're gonna have a lotta fun, you guys; we can watch TV-"
Nora jumped in, "And have sleepovers!-"
Itadori bounced back, the two functioning on one brain cell, "And eat candy!"
"CANDY!-"
"And study!"
Pyrrha awkwardly paused as the two stared at her with no emotion in their gazes, "Did...Did I say something wrong?"
Yuji looked at Nora, and Nora looked at Yuji, then back at the redhead.
"...Yes."
The rest of the night was spent talking amongst themselves and exploring the new space they'd call their home for the foreseeable future. Each of them came from different backgrounds, and there was going to be a lot on their plates if they hoped to be a functioning team, but that wasn't a bad thing. It just meant they needed to work on it together.
If one thing was certain, the members of team PYRN were excited for the future, with some of the strongest and most chaotic people in their class year stuck under the same roof, all but guaranteeing the best and worst things to come.
Yuji had come a long way, struggling during his entire career as a sorcerer in life or death struggles, surviving where so many of his loved ones had died, but as he lay in his bed, glancing from left to right, seeing his friends smiling back at him as they swapped stories, his grin grew that much more.
He could try again.
...
Meanwhile
Ozpin sat in his office, typing away at his computer, having sent Glynda away to do her nightly rounds and make sure none of the students got lost on their way to their dorms.
These early semester nights were often torture, but it's part of being an educator, he supposed. Paperwork and forms needed filling, and sometimes he simply couldn't pawn it off on someone else...a tragedy, really.
He took an eager sip of cocoa, his eyes never once moving from his monitor as he glossed through the team register once more, his eyes landing on his surprise guest's name once more.
Yuji Itadori... a source of both intrigue and migraines for the Headmaster. The man had already seen more than enough articles to fill his scroll several times over on his 'mysterious family member.'
It was his fault for not nipping that habit when the boy first said it; his lack of motivation to do so had royally come back to bite him. It wasn't entirely the student's fault that no one bothered to actually correct him on it, but the damage was done.
His scroll dinged, a message coming up from his old friend, Ironwood, with him silently reading it in the confines of his office.
'I see you have a grandson now.'
Ozpin hummed, glancing around his office, wondering just how many bugs and informants the general had at his disposal. It was hardly shocking the man knew. If anything, the Director was surprised it hadn't happened sooner.
He thought on it for a moment. It would be an absolute nightmare to confront this with the press, censor countless articles, and likely stir up controversy in Vale. The last thing they needed were negative emotions, and it would also direct unwanted attention toward the boy who caused all of this...it would be better if-
...Well, there's an idea...and one that would give him more leeway in handling his affairs without unwanted eyes looking in.
His fingers danced along the screen, rapidly sending a reply.
'I suppose I do.'
Another ding.
'A Faunus?'
Ozpin briefly looked out the window, glancing toward the distant dorms as their lights flickered in the distance, a coy smirk growing on his features.
'I get around, James.'
...
And that's a wrap for this arc/batch of volumes!
I hope you're looking forward to Yuji's team life at Beacon, I can't wait to develop them to the best of my ability.
We recently decided to open up our discord for those inclined to join. I'll leave the invite code down here, but do me a solid and try not to ping me for fanfic updates; it won't make me work any faster.
With all that said and done, take it easy, and I'll see you all in the next one; peace!
Discord Code:
/zHXFNcPQNh