Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Heavy breathing. The sound of nothing but whirring wind, and shaking, crumbling earth around him. He stood in what could only be describe as absolute ruins, flaming remnants of what could barely be called a city around him. Yes, alone, one hero stood, tacky yellow jumpsuit tattered, ragged, cape torn and fluttering in the breeze, gloves all but gone…

His name was Saitama.

His usually dull eyes glowed with a determined orange glint, as he stared ahead at the thing that had caused this. The entity that called itself-

"You dare? You dare to continue to fight against me? Against GOD?"

A writhing mass of circular spots, dark storms which seemed to take physical shape into a vaguely humanoid form – one that towered far above the hero who stood below it. It seemed to reach even above the atmosphere, out into space beyond.

Despite the thing's boastful words, however, it was just as wounded as the hero. In places, it was cracked, the storms disturbed and misshapen, torn apart by pure force.

An immovable object meeting an unstoppable force. The strongest fist, capable of turning against god, against the being capable of resisting anything that dared to fight against it.

"I've got to. That's what a hero's supposed to do, right? 'God'."

He held his fist up, not even bothering to say anything more. Before, Saitama had been enjoying this fight...but soon enough, it became far too much to enjoy.

He'd watched everyone fall. Every hero. Every weapon or robot. It didn't even discriminate against monsters.

'At least that Blast guy managed to evacuate all the people.'

Honestly, Saitama had lost track after he became the last one to fight this thing. He had no idea how long their battle had been going on, but neither him nor the entity seemed to be definitely winning. In fact, both of their powers just continued to rise, more and more...it was a miracle that the planet was even intact.

A miracle afforded to them by the combined powers of Tatsumaki and Blast combined...a shield which managed to keep both him and this thing confined to the bounds of this planet. That was good. Saitama didn't have any confidence that he might not end up destroying the whole solar system, maybe even more if this fight got out of control.

'Maybe...I'm just gonna be locked in this fight for all eternity. But it's fine…'

He felt the rushing wind of an incoming giant fist flying at his body, not even bothering to look up.

"I'LL KEEP FIGHTING TILL YOU'RE OFF MY PLANET!"

Saitama yanked his fist back, immeasurable power growing behind him, and in his fist. Like reality itself was shattering and cracking about his palm...and he threw it forward.

Death.

The two strongest energies in the universe met, as the giant fist of God collided with Saitama's relatively small, yet power-infused fist. The two destructive energies crashed, with even space shattering around them like glass.

But.

Barely, and just barely, Saitama was beginning to edge out the being. The thing known as God. It took every amount of energy he could summon up from his body, draining even his infinite well of power to its' absolute limits. His teeth were grit, his body shaking, veins popping to the surface over his body...but he didn't give up.

He didn't stand down.

One Punch Man pushed forward, beginning to knock the colossal being down to its' knees.

"Damn you...DAMN YOU…! SAITAMA!"

Still, something like God wouldn't go down without a fight. Using the cracks in space they were making, Saitama could faintly see it trying to grasp onto them, as if trying to escape through the tears in reality. In any other situation, he would've just knocked them away easily, but this wasn't just 'any other situation'.

Even the invincible hero wasn't being pushed back here – it was all he could do to hang on to finish this thing off for good.

Would he have to give up on the clash? Start this battle that had become a curse to him all over again?

Just as he was thinking hopeless thoughts, a voice came through into his mind. One all too familiar, bratty and brash.

'Hey, Baldy! Still holding on like the cockroach you are?'

There was no response. A moment of silence ensued.

'Well...I can see you can't answer right now, anyways. But...after all this time, we've finally got a plan. To get rid of that ugly piece of shit for good. But…'

Even the confident psychic couldn't fully spit out her proposition all at once. Her voice stopped for a second, uncertain of what she was going to say...before she just spat it all out.

'You're gonna have to sacrifice yourself, Baldy. All the psychics, and Blast's friends...we're opening up a portal that's going to send that thing somewhere where its' powers are weakened. Between the boundary of realities. It'll get weak since it's got no universe's power to leech off, and it'll be vulnerable...that's where you come in.'

Saitama wasn't a tactical genius...but even with his strain, he understood what she was getting at. A sacrifice. Overwhelming power couldn't defeat this thing alone. Someone needed to finish it off for good, once it was weak.

"Alright. Got it."

'T-That's it?! You...you're not even gonna think about it, Baldy?!'

Before, he'd found it nothing but annoying...but now the hero couldn't help but chuckle a little at Tatsumaki's outrage.

"Nah. Uhh...tell Genos I said 'bye', though. Dude's probably not gonna take it good."

It was like he didn't even have a second thought in his head as he replied. No, instead, it just made him even stronger. Power surged through his body, power that even the being in front of him did not understand.

All the while he faced the universe's greatest threat with a nonchalant, lighthearted smile.

"This-what is this power?! This is...THIS IS POWER NOT EVEN I CONTROL!"

"I don't know about all this 'controlling power' stuff, but...isn't it obvious?"

Saitama's shoulder carried through, sending a shockwave of pure strength blasting through the storms, disrupting and reversing their flows even more. The titanic form of God shimmered and shuddered, like it was going to fall apart at its' core.

'Now.'

The hero spoke resolutely, his half-gloved fist tightening with the audible sound of his skin rubbing like hard leather.

'W-Who said that you were the one giving orders here?! You...you…! Ugh!'

Tatsumaki's bravado and threats were empty...no, instead her usual sass was replaced by...an emotion Saitama didn't understand, coming from her. Sorrow...loss.

He didn't really have time to think about it, though, as a gigantic fissure in space opened up behind God, perfectly made in the outline of the thing. It was filled with an array of indecipherable patterns and colors, shapes that seemed impossible, shades of visible light that didn't even exist in regular reality.

For an instant, Saitama thought about everything he'd done, all the people he'd met.

The first part of his life had been nothing special to talk about. No friends, no enemies, no dreams, no special talents...his life had changed when he chose to become a hero. Grueling training, until he achieved the strength he wanted...only for it to mean absolutely nothing.

Living an empty life, until people began to intrude in on it...Genos, King, Fubuki and her gang, Tatsumaki...hell, even guys like Boros, Garou, and Sonic.

Old man Bang, too...and that weird Flashy Flash guy. The monster-idol dude who had left behind his will to Saitama…

And his beloved convenience store...he'd probably never get another good deal from there again.

But that was fine.

He'd watched it all. Everyone got strong. They overcame all the weird crap they'd had going on in their past. And Saitama had long gotten his wish of having a truly thrilling fight...even if that dream was ruined again.

He was fine with this. The world didn't need him anymore. He didn't need himself anymore.

"See you guys."

Saitama took in a single breath, shadows covering his face as he lunged forward with a speed far beyond light, simply reaching his right fist forward in a punch. It easily collided with the disorientated monster-deity, sending it flying backwards into the portal...and Saitama followed suit.

As soon as the two fell into the hole in reality...it vanished, as if it were never there in the first place. There was silence, for the first time, on the ruined earth.

From that moment onward...Saitama disappeared from his world, never to be seen again. Even with his disappearance, however...it was an unquestionable fact. From then on and forever, he'd be considered the world's greatest hero. The one who saved not only their planet, but the entire universe.

But, outside of that reality, in the boundary between universes and realities, he and God's battle was far from finished.

"Y-You…! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! My...my POWer…!"

The entity let out a primordial roar, as it was flung through space, crumbling and coming apart at the seams. Yet, the hero behind him still seemed more than fine. In fact, he was more resolute than ever.

"Hey, God. You asked why you couldn't control this power, right? This power, that you can't even compare to what I'm usually throwing out?"

"SaItTamA!!"

"That's because...this isn't some big power from the universe, or some weird power from some sort of ritual...this isn't even from that weird limiter-busting stuff…"

He grinned, feeling his heartbeat race for one last time, as he faced the world's final threat.

"This is just the power...of a guy who's a hero for fun."

"yoU! YOU!"

"For the final time...Killer Move: Serious Series…"

He held back his fist, with a power that didn't even need to be explained. A power beyond what any God could fathom. His true power.

"Serious Punch."

And without even getting the chance to utter one last complaint or whimper, just like the monsters that he had infested the world with before..."God" was taken out by the hero, Saitama. Reduced to less than atomic dust left to forever float and be lost somewhere within the impossibility that existed between realities.

After saying that, Saitama was just left...existing in a place he didn't even understand.

Quiet, but unbearably loud. In a place filled with all sorts of impossibilities and spectacles and yet, alone…

It was weird. He kinda expected to be going back after the fight was done, even if he got himself ready to fight for all eternity, if he needed to.

Like...now that the battle was finished, it had finally, actually set in. Nobody...he was never going to see any of them again.

'If I knew it was gonna be like this...I would have bought way more clearance aisle food to eat last week.'

Of course...that wasn't his real final thoughts, no…

He just hoped all those troublemakers back home could actually take care of themselves. Well...old man Bang was probably sensible enough. And Genos had matured a lot more…

As he thought of them, he felt his vision beginning to slowly fade away, giving way to a crushing darkness in his vision.

From this point, Saitama had no idea what would happen to him, but…eh? He...didn't really care. Whatever happened next, whether it was just him dying, or going somewhere else...he decided he'd just have fun with it and live his own way.

Just like he always did.

As his vision faded, however...he saw one last thing. The faint, blinding shimmering of a golden speck of light.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh…"

The loud, repetitive sound of an alarm suddenly turned off, coming from an odd holographic device that sat on a nightstand beside a bed. A scroll. One belonging to a certain black-haired young man who was rousing from left to right in his bed.

"This is annoying…" He leaned back into the bed, closing his eyes as he let out a deep sigh. A hand covered his forehead, hiding his tired dark brown eyes from view. "That same dream again…"

Well...it was less like a dream, and more like a vision – a memory forcing its' way back to the front of his head.

"Alright...let's get started, then. Fully enjoying the weekend." Saitama, the ex-hero once known as One Punch Man forced his way out of bed, now looking like...his old younger self. No, even younger, around only 16 or 17.

Without a second thought, Saitama got up, and lazily began to go about his usual morning routine. It only took a good few minutes (minus the baths, which he always enjoyed to the fullest,) before he finally got to the kitchen.

He sat down at his table, still comfortably wearing his pajamas...before he heard a knock at his door. He stared blankly at the entrance of the small cabin that was basically his "house".

There was only one person in this small place that would've bothered waking him up.

"Hey! Saitama, get up, you've been sleeping in for way too long!"

He heard an all too familiar sunny voice from beyond the door...one that he was dreading to hear on his all-important weekend! Yes, no matter what, Saitama would not be leaving the house today. That was what he had decided.

"Go away, Jaune...I'm not leaving the house today."

"I brought food!"

The door instantly opened, with an eager Saitama standing next to it. "Why didn't you start with that?! You always make things so complicated dude, I swear."

"Haha...sorry, I knew you weren't gonna answer if I didn't offer something." The person at the door, a boy around Saitama's age with bright blue hair and blue eyes chuckled, handing some sort of wrapped-up sandwich over to Saitama, whose eyes were shining like he'd just found buried treasure.

Saitama happily took the sandwiches from the bag, closing the door behind him as he walked besides Jaune, who was now leading the way through the small town the both of them lived in. He ate happily, eyes closed, while Jaune just gave him an incredulous gaze.

'I can never understand how just getting any kind of food makes him happy...he's not starving or anything, right? He even hunts down deals like some sort of old man…'

"A-Anyways." The young Arc coughed into an open palm. "Um...I was actually wondering, Saitama...did you think about my, eh, plan?"

Saitama hummed, closing his eyes while enjoying the taste of the sandwiches. Even with his eyes closed, however, he perfectly avoided all obstacles and people in his way, as if he could see just fine.

"Yeah...I mean, if it works, then why not. It's not like there's anything better to do than just stick around town and beat up Grimm that come near here. And that definitely gets boring after a while. No...those guys are just straight-up annoying."

Saitama had experience dealing with a world that was slowly being overrun by endless monsters...but at least most monsters were just small fry that came in individual numbers. Grimm swarmed...they ranged in strength, and all had different abilities. But, to Saitama...they were just like flies. Or even worse, mosquitoes.

And he hated mosquitoes. They sucked.

Ignoring the stupid smirk on Saitama's face from his own internal joke, Jaune could just only sheepishly laugh.

"Honestly, that part is amazing about you, Saitama. Neither of us have ever been to any of those combat schools, and I'm the one with a fancy fighters' lineage, but you're already as strong as a full-blown huntsman. I've seen you take out whole hordes of Grimm like it's nothing! But still, nobody has any idea that it's you doing it...how come you never take any credit?"

"Credit, huh…?" Saitama thought about it, as he swallowed down a bite of his sandwich. It was true, in his old life, he would've probably wanted to take credit for his deeds – but, he'd already gotten that by the time he died. It wasn't like his fight against God was a secret, either. He was sure that everyone probably already knew about him – even if he wasn't there to see it.

"...It's too much of a pain. I just wanna be a huntsman because I know it's something I can do. It'll be a nice hobby to have on the side. And, well...don't they all get paid really good?!" Although Saitama didn't enjoy the prospect of having to fight these easy monsters forever, he still liked to punch. And punch he would. Besides...he wasn't truly at his past overpowered strength, where he could probably shattered planets.

The fact that he still had his hair...he had regressed a lot when he was reborn here. Following his old routine had brought him results, but a lot slower than it had before. He guessed it was probably thanks to the difference in worlds or something weird. He didn't know – he wasn't any kind of genius.

"Wish I could say something laid back like that." Jaune slumped over, looking clearly dejected. "I've got some strength, but that's it. Not nearly as much as you…"

"But, that's why you made that plan, right? For us to lie our way into that 'Huntsman Academy'...um...Bacon?"

"Beacon, Saitama." A sweatdrop could be seen on Jaune's forehead, as he looked around for anyone listening in before continuing. "That's right. If...if I could make my way into Beacon academy...I swear I can change. I can finally prove myself to my family, and everyone else. I won't just be clumsy Jaune, anymore. Or the one everyone needs to look after. I'll...be something. Someone worthy of the Arc name."

Saitama was silent.

'This guy...reminds me a little bit of Genos.'

He wondered if this was why he ended up hanging out with Jaune, even from his new childhood. Unlike Genos, however, Jaune seemed stubborn to reach the highest peak he could without any help. He hadn't asked Saitama for training or advice even once. Genos got frustrated at his weakness, sure, but he was willing to do anything to be successful – anything that wasn't totally evil, anyways.

And Genos' whole 'revenge for his village being massacred' thing seemed a lot more serious than Jaune's issues.

But still, Saitama could respect Jaune's strong-willed mindset, and it wasn't surprising, since Jaune always had some sort of weird inferiority thing going on...but at the same time...he wondered when Jaune would learn to rely on others?

Even as powerful as Saitama was at his peak...there was no possible way that he could save everyone. He couldn't even save himself, back when he had been losing his emotions.

'Maybe he'll learn it from Bacon.'

Saitama thought lazily, as the two walked along, chatting about things of no consequence, after briefly talking about their plan to lie their way into Beacon academy.

As they stopped in front of one of the nearby stores, with Jaune exiting, carrying a huge amount of groceries for his giant family, Saitama realized he had left something out.

"Oh, yeah. When do you plan for us to leave, again?"

"Tomorrow."

The sound of glass breaking could almost be heard as Saitama's eyes widened. He fell onto his knees, looking almost like he was ready to let out tears, despite his previously blank face.

"But...m-my...weekend…"

Jaune slowly backed away from Saitama, as he raised both his fists to the air.

"DAMN IIIIIIIT!"

A day later, Saitama found himself standing outside the old cabin he called his house for the past 16 years. They'd gone by in a real blur, probably just an uneventful as his old life used to be, but for a totally different reason than simple boredom.

He was silent for a while, staring at the place, thoughts and emotions indecipherable on that usual emotionless expression he wore. No...even then, he didn't feel as empty as he used to.

Maybe it was thanks to this new life he led, or the new body, or the new world...but he felt like he was getting closer to...himself. Before he had gained all his power.

And all it took was some kind of weird rebirth.

"...Hah."

He turned away from the simple home he would now be abandoning, the beautiful gray moonlight on his back as he walked deeper into town. Eventually, he found Jaune, leaning against a building. The young Arc's gaze was pointed down at the ground, lost in thought that only he could explain.

Still, Saitama figured he could take a pretty good guess...but he didn't want to. He would only get involved when he needed to – Jaune could only solve his inner issues when he was ready to.

Besides, he was a hero, not a therapist. He'd gladly take a therapist's salary, though…

"Ready to go?"

His voice startled Jaune, a smile immediately filling the young hunter-to-be's face as he looked up. He gave a small grin, trying to show a bit of bravado.

"You sure you should be asking me that? You're the one always forgetting things, Saitama." He reached to his side, holding up his sword, a memento of his family, and the foldable shield, which bore the Arc family crest. "For example, weapons? Even I managed to get my hands on these."

Saitama stared at the items with a blank gaze. "Too much effort. I'll stick with punching things."

"Just like you, Saitama…" Jaune chuckled, and the pair began to make their way to the town's airship port.

The security check was easy – weapons weren't exactly that rare, especially among two students aiming to get to one of the Four Schools. In fact, the weirder thing was to see a student without a weapon, something Saitama was pestered for by the agents, much to his annoyance.

He missed just being fast enough to run or jump anywhere in the world he wanted. Public (or private, since he technically guessed this was funded by the schools) transportation was always a mess.

"I just hope that this whole 'airship' experience isn't too intense...I've...never rode one before. Or anything close to it, actually." Jaune took a moment to look back and talk to Saitama, who seemed to almost be falling asleep standing up on the line to board the airship.

It was only the two of them getting on the airship to Beacon from their town, but regardless of what airship you were getting on, everyone had to wait on the same big line. This made it easy to control the directing of airships that left from small towns such as theirs.

"...Saitama."

Saitama jumped awake, looking around with wide eyes, before landing his gaze back on Jaune. "O-Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, what's the worse that could happen, right? Shouldn't be too bad."

Forget planes or airships, Saitama had jumped out of earth's atmosphere before, and flown around at near-lightspeed. There was no way he had to worry about a stable, hovering airship ride being 'intense'.

Although he had to admit, he was a little impressed by tech here. They had holograms, airships, magic dust...it was honestly pretty head-spinning when he learned about it all. It was like he was living in some sort of sci-fi manga.

Jaune sighed at that answer, but the nervousness that had been welling up in his chest was calmed a little bit by Saitama's nonchalant attitude.

'If he's that relaxed, maybe...maybe I could calm down a little bit, too. I'm not gonna be able to prove anything to anyone if I'm just a walking bundle of nerves, right?'

He held a hand over his chest, letting out a deep breath…

And before either of them knew it, they were being called onto the airship. Jaune entered first, and Saitama followed second, whistling as he got inside. It was like standing inside some sort of mini-room. There was even a hologram playing things from the local news station in the middle.

Still…

"No seats? What sort of ride is this…? I know we didn't pay to get on here, but this is even worse than economy class." Saitama grumbled, with Jaune just nervously chuckling, with the two finding a place to sit down against the wall together. Jaune was busy being tucked in on himself and nervously trying to focus, while Saitama was way more relaxed, scanning around the crowd to pick out some interesting looking people...while he picked his nose.

There were tons of other people around, but admittedly, he didn't know any of them. None really stood out to him, either. It was kinda like he was looking at silhouettes, to be honest.

"Well...guess I'll take a nap." He stretched his arms upwards, leaning his head back against the wall. "Wake me up when we get there, Jaune."

"H-Huh? Oh, uh...yeah."

With that, Saitama fell right back into sleep, mouth open wide and snoring as he had the most peaceful sleep Jaune had ever seen someone on their way to risk life and limb in a hunter academy have. The blonde's gaze lied on his childhood friend for a few extra seconds.

Honestly, he felt like he could learn a lot from Saitama.

His bravery, that laid-back attitude, and his strength…

Jaune, in a lot of ways, was jealous of Saitama. They'd grown up together, but Saitama was so...different from him. It was like...he got everything that Jaune wanted...he had the strength to probably become one of the most famous huntsmen in history if he wanted (with enough training).

But, Saitama didn't want any credit. He didn't even want to become a Huntsman that bad. He seemed to just want to live an easygoing life, and help people where he could...and it wasn't arrogance – he had this sort of...mysterious aura about him, that just...made it believable.

Believable that Saitama was the sort of person who could perfectly uphold his word.

The opposite of Jaune…the complete opposite…

"M-mnhghh...seaweed stock ramen…"

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that. Well, Saitama did say some weird things in his sleep. Maybe he'd be fine without getting all of his traits.

And as the two sat there, not knowing their future fates, their story truly begins.

The story of two huntsmen, one to become the strongest in known history, and the other to be a part of one of the most elite groups in all of Remnant, fated to save the world.

A story of loss, growth, desperation, and heroism.

This is the story of Remnant's Part-Time Hunter.

Chapter Text

"We still aren't there yet…?" Saitama yawned, covering his mouth with a hand as his eyes scanned the ship for what felt like the 500th time in an eternity. He was so bored…hopelessly bored. In fact, he could feel his legs starting to go to sleep under him - that would be annoying whenever he had to get up.

He was already asleep for what felt like most of the trip, so he didn't really feel like taking another nap, even if it would be nice to dream about some delicious food, or bargain sales. And while he found the big TV on the wall interesting at first, it got boring quickly. The only thing constantly playing on the screen was the news, and while Saitama used to watch the news a lot to know when he should go and do hero work - it wasn't that fulfilling anymore.

If he focused for a few seconds, he could hear a little what the newswoman, who he recognized as Lisa Lavender (Jaune had drooled over the attractive news anchor the moment they saw her on the screen, so he couldn't forget the name) was reporting about.

"Thank you for your report, Cyril. The citizens of Vale can only hope to one day be rid of the tyranny of the heinous criminal, Roman Torchwick. We return to report on yet another attack made by the notorious 'extremist faction' of the White Fang, disrupting the otherwise peaceful Faunus Civil Rights Protest this Saturday. The organization, previously having been reported as split, still seems to be going strong with…"

Saitama tuned the program out again, no longer interested. Well, Faunus were unique and interesting, at least. There were all types of Heroes in his old world, but he didn't remember any with animal parts. (Unless you counted Watchdog Man, who seemed basically fused to his dog suit. Saitama felt a strange kinship to that guy.)

Animal traits were usually reserved for 'mysterious beings' - monsters.

While he was still clueless about a lot of things in this world, even in the small backwater he and Jaune lived in, they'd heard of Faunus, and their tense relationships with Humans, but it was another thing seeing them, even if it was just on an airship's TV screen.

The whole conflict was honestly way out of his depth, but he could appreciate the rarity of meeting someone with animal ears. He decided he'd just enjoy it if he ever got the chance.

'Now that I think about it, they're kinda like anime animal-people…I bet King would lose his mind if he was here to see actual animal eared girls around.' Saitama shook his head, suppressing an amused chuckle.

…

Soon enough, though, the boredom began to settle on him again.

Having thought of Jaune earlier, Saitama would have gotten rid of some of it by idly chatting with his childhood friend like usual, but-

"M-Mff!" Jaune was holding his hands over his mouth and chest, green with nausea, busy with barely holding back what Saitama was sure was a good amount of vomit. It made him kinda grossed out thinking about it, but as long as Jaune didn't vomit on him, he was fine.

'But still, out of all the things, motion-sickness? The guy is like some kind of gag manga character…I feel a little sorry for him.'

Saitama patted Jaune's back comfortingly, unknowingly making Jaune's nausea worse for him thanks to his strength. The blonde just got up wordlessly and staggered away to…some part of the plane, escaping the well-meaning, but harmful back-pats of Saitama.

With Jaune gone, Saitama decided to take a second look at the passengers. At first, he hadn't seen anyone that interesting, but now that some time had passed, and some more people had gotten on, there should be at least one or two noteworthy people on the ship.

First was some mysterious-looking black-haired girl, who seemed like she'd walked out of a gothic clothing shop. Although, Saitama never had that much of a fashion sense - he was just wearing a tracksuit, like he always used to, back when he was training to become a hero.

Anyways, he could tell that the girl had some experience fighting, but the weirdest and most interesting thing about her was the black bow on her head. It was like Saitama could see it…moving. There was definitely something there - he didn't doubt his eyes.

Then there was some red-haired girl and her blonde…friend, who seemed to be excitedly talking to each other.

The blonde girl looked like some sort of cross between a biker and party-chick, wearing revealing clothing and not bothering to hide anything, but, by the gauntlets on her hand, and the fact that she was on this airship, Saitama could tell that no simple stereotype could possibly apply to her.

As for the red-haired girl beside her…if Saitama had to make a guess, she was probably the most promising out of all of the students on the ship, combat-wise. Not that it was saying much. She was like a little munchkin - she looked like she still had a year or two to go before getting into high school. It probably meant she was kind of some prodigy or got in through special circumstances.

He was looking forward to what she was going to do.

If he really had to call out something of note on her, it was those silver eyes…he felt some kind of weird energy coming from them.

Saitama felt just a bit more optimistic about the excitement he'd face in his new school year. If there were students like this, then he'd happily go up against all of them, whenever he could.

That was part of the reason why he'd come here, after all - what better place to get some good, thrilling fights, than a place literally made for it?

He looked down at his hands, balled tightly into fists, opening and closing them in regular intervals.

'And right now…I can actually enjoy my fights. I doubt this would've been as fun if I could just one-punch everything like I used to. Wonder how long it'll last, though…'

Saitama didn't have his full power, but he was sure that wasn't permanent. Every day he spent here, he could feel a bit of his strength returning, even if it wasn't nearly as quickly as he got it before. Not to mention, it took even more grueling training than it had before.

Discouragement was far from being on his mind, however. Instead, he enjoyed it - even the climb up was more fun than it had been before.

Once he got it all back, he'd be 'One Punch Man' again…and things would quickly get boring, again. He wanted to at least enjoy this second life some more before that happened.

…And enjoy having hair again for a little bit longer.

Before he could think about that anymore, the news screen changed to instead show another blonde, though if he had to describe this one, she seemed like some sort of…witch. She was even dressed like one - minus the pointy hat. She seemed a lot older and mature than most of the teens in the ship with him, though.

'Man, I'm used to seeing a ton of weird costumes, but I guess the people in this place just like dressing all stylish. Even the adults. Some of these outfits look like they take more effort to put on than I take to get out of my house…and look really expensive.'

As that useless thought flew through his head, the woman began to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?" The blonde asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"...Oh."

Saitama resisted the urge to snicker, as the woman continued on with what she was saying.

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible, yet fragile time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage, and minimum level of proficiency needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect this world - our world."

Her grand words sort of bored and intrigued Saitama at once. He knew that these schools were apparently special, but he didn't have any idea that the people here would be hailed as people 'protecting the world'.

It made him feel a little weird…he wondered if there was something deeper here beyond just turning kids into monster-war-machines. And how strong that g-...gl…glycer…that Witch woman was. She was his first look at a proper Huntsman (or Huntress, whatever), so he couldn't help but wonder how capable she was compared to his fellow students onboard.

There was a gentle humming and a whir as the ship assumedly landed, the gentle motion of the moving ship halting as they apparently landed. He heard a yelp from somewhere, noticing with a bit of amusement that Jaune had stumbled towards the entrance, some of his barely-held-back vomit getting over her shoes.

The two girls stomped out of the ship, with the blonde one looking especially pissed at her ruined footwear, the red-haired girl seeming to relieve some of that stress by giving Jaune a new nickname, 'Vomit Boy' their mood quickly changing to excitement as the red-haired one seemed to be happily wondering what her new life at Beacon would be like.

Saitama slowly got up from his spot against the wall, stretching his arms to the ceiling as he strolled his way to the front of this ship. He stopped by Jaune, who was busy emptying his stomach into the nearest trash can, finally stopping after a few minutes.

"Pretty good first impression, huh? I bet ladies love seeing a guy vomit in front of them." Saitama jokes, leaving Jaune to look back out at Saitama with an expression somewhere between sadness and disappointment.

"Don't even get me started…that blonde one was such a beauty, too…I feel like a piece of crap." He groaned, turning away from the trashcan and walking forward, arms dejectedly hanging at his side. Saitama felt a drop of sweat on his forehead, awkwardly patting his friend on the back.

"H-Hey, don't worry, man. There are other ships in the sea…is that how it goes?"

"Fish in the sea, Saitama." Jaune corrected, unable to stop the small smile that came to his face. "But thanks anyways. Can't get down about it the whole time, right? I'm sure there's some ladies that'll see the Arc charm-!"

"No, dude, I don't know about that…" Saitama said, with a deadpan expression, but Jaune's baseless overconfidence was already too far gone…he couldn't help but sigh. The dude recovered so fast, only to just say even more things that Saitama wasn't that sure about.

'Well…I guess that's just part of what makes Jaune, Jaune…'

– – –

"No, no, listen, Saitama - all I'm saying, is that I can turn that sort of bad reputation into a plus! Who doesn't like to see an improved man, huh?"

"One who watched that same 'improved man' vomit on her shoes."

"Heeeey!"

"Oh…hey, speaking of, isn't that one of them? The red haired one."

Walking along, Jaune and Saitama eventually came upon the sight of that red-haired girl, looking a bit dejected, down on her back as the girl with black hair, and some white-haired girl, who Jaune seemed to look at a little longingly, walked away. Saitama gave another look at the black-haired one's bow, before shaking his head and following behind Jaune, the two standing over the girl.

"Welcome to Beacon…" She murmured to herself, most of her enthusiasm disappearing into thin air. And Jaune stepped in without missing a beat, offering her his hand.

"Hey there, I'm Jaune!" The girl took his hand, getting up to her feet.

"I'm Ruby. Wait…aren't you the one who threw up on the ship?"

Jaune turned red from embarrassment, while Saitama just shrugged at his friend's misfortune. Ruby's pointed gaze then turned to him.

"And you're…?"

"Saitama. Just a guy who's trying to become a Huntsman for f-."

"D-Don't listen to this guy, more importantly, that whole 'vomiting' thing was a total accident, okay?! Totally unplanned! Out of my control!"

Jaune interrupted Saitama's introduction, leaving him a little annoyed, but sighing. He kinda got why Jaune did it - people seemed to get offended for some reason whenever he brought up his reason for being a Huntsman, but he couldn't help it. That, and he was trying to desperately get rid of the 'vomit boy' reputation bestowed on him.

"Oh yeah? Well…tell that to my sister's shoes!"

"H-Hey!"

"Just be grateful that she didn't force you to pay for cleaning them…imagine if they were designer or something…" Saitama shuddered…at the thought of having to spend large amounts of money. He still had the spirit of a saver. Why do you think he was wearing an exercising tracksuit to a prestigious fighting school?

The three walked together, Saitama a little quieter as he walked along with his hands in his pocket.

– – –

"A-All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a real and legitimate sickness! Way more common than a lot of people would say!"

Ruby just laughed at his expense, shaking her head.

"Vomit boy is just what came to mind, okay?"

Jaune looked puffed up, holding a finger out.

"Then what if I called you Crater Face?"

"O-Oh, hey! You saw that?! That explosion was just an accident!"

"I can vouch for Rupee on this one, I've caused way bigger accidents before…" Saitama remembered back to his exploits of accidentally destroying a huge portion of a city by causing a giant to fall on it...then there was the time those meteor fragments indiscriminately struck another entire city…and that time he destroyed the Hero Association's self-defense robots that cost millions to make…or was it billions?

He felt chills run up his spine just thinking about it. Imagine if he'd been forced to pay back the Association and all the people for all of that? Sometimes, it was good to avoid being labeled for something.

Though, Ruby didn't look any much happier at Saitama's defense, her hands on her hips.

"You're just as bad as Vomit Boy here, Saitama! It's Ruby, not Rupy!"

"O-Oh? Whoops, sorry about that." Saitama replied, with a nervous chuckle. He'd seriously already forgotten it just a few minutes after meeting the girl.

"You'll have to forgive him, Ruby. Saitama remembers food deals better than he remembers the names of things." Jaune laughed at his friend's expense, deciding to move on. "Well, anyways…if you've gotta call me something, then just use Jaune! Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and totally draws in the ladies! They love it!"

"Do they?"

Ruby's skepticism was immediate and harsh, and Saitama had to suppress a rare chuckle, turning his gaze to the side.

"H-Hey! Why are you laughing over there, Mr. 'Totally-Average-Guy?'"

Saitama looked back, waving him away. "Yeah, yeah. Call me all you want, at least I'm not 'Vomit Boy'."

"You…!"

Ruby watched the two bicker, finding their interaction a little less like people who had just met, and those who had been long-time friends for a good while. Well, it was obvious, Jaune seemed to know Saitama's name beforehand, and a fair bit about him. She wondered if they were half-siblings like her and Yang, but they definitely didn't seem that close.

Besides…while she was skeptical about Jaune's self-proclaimed popularity with 'the ladies', she had to agree with him. Saitama was probably the most average person she'd ever seen. He looked like your average teen, and he didn't have any visible weapons or even a distinct outfit - he just had a tracksuit on that made him look more like some sort of guy out for a jog on a weekend.

The girl knew she was no huntress yet, but if Jaune was a little questionable, then Saitama looked like he was even more out of place…and he barely looked like he was paying attention.

"Aaaanyways, what sort of weapons do you two have? I've got this cool scythe, here. It's called Crescent Rose." Ruby pulled out her Scythe, folded into its other, alternate form. "Iiiit's also a gun." She smirked, with Jaune looking at it with wide eyes.

"W-Well, I've got this sword." Jaune fumbled around for a bit, pulling out a simple-looking bastard sword. Ruby eyed it, sliding her Scythe back into place behind her dress.

"Looks cool. What's it do?" She was a weapon enthusiast, so she'd be committing a grave sin if she just assumed that Jaune's sword was nothing but a regular looking sword…but that hope was quickly shattered.

"It's just a sword. It cuts things. Pretty simple, I think." Saitama muttered, giving Ruby an incredulous look, like she'd asked the world's most ridiculous question.

"I-I can see that, Saitama…but is that really all it does, Jaune? Didn't you make it yourself? No cool features? No transformations? No dust?!" She questioned, getting closer to Jaune with every single word.

Jaune looked a bit embarrassed, backing up and holding his hand out. "G-Geez, I didn't know you were that excited about weapons! But, um, I guess I've got this foldable shield?" The blonde said unsurely, reaching down and taking the sheath that had been at his side, which quickly folded out into a full shield in his hands. He fumbled with it for a bit, before finally managing to catch it, chuckling nervously.

"It's just a hand-me-down from my family. My grandfather used it in the Great War." Jaune explained, slowly putting both weapons back down at his side, folding the shield and using it as a sheath for his sword.

"So, a family heirloom? It's not bad, nobody really seems to appreciate simple classics these days." Ruby didn't seem as excited anymore, but she wasn't disappointed. Weapons were extensions of people - Jaune's just showed how much he treasured his family's spirit.

"Hey, if it works, I'll use it. Simple works best, right Sai?" Jaune replied, with Saitama giving him a blank stare.

"Let's just hope that piece of old history doesn't eventually fall apart in your hand…" Saitama murmured, causing Jaune to turn red.

"H-Hey! Then, what about you, Sai? Why don't you tell Ruby here what sort of weapon you've got?" Jaune asked with a smirk, causing Ruby to look interested all over again.

Saitama stared back at the both of them, taking a deep breath. Ruby prepared herself, feeling an odd sense of anticipation as she wondered what Saitama was gonna pull out.

'He looks so simple and acts so simple…he must at least have some sort of amazing weapon that helps him fight!'

The excitable redhead held her breath as Saitama opened his mouth, looking at him expectantly as he held a fist in front of him-

"None."

…

"H-Huh?" Ruby asked, in a low voice.

"None, I said. I don't use weapons. They're kinda restrictive to me. Never thought about using one, honestly. My fists are all I need." Saitama said, looking down at his tightly held fist with an unreadable expression.

"O…Okay, Saitama. That's great and all, but don't you think you should really make a-"

Ruby was going to try and make a suggestion to her fellow student, only for Jaune to rest a hand on her shoulder and shake her head. "It's no use, Ruby. I've been with this guy since we were kids, and I haven't even convinced him to wear gauntlets on his hand before."

The huntress-to-be's arms lowered at her side, as she looked off into the distance, defeat clear in her silver eyes. She'd heard lots of things…but this was the first time she ever heard someone aspiring to be a Huntsman outright rejecting the idea of weapons entirely.

A shocking blow, especially for a weapons-obsessed girl like her.

'How can anyone fight without a weapon?! He hasn't even mentioned a semblance or anything…even YANG uses a weapon, and I bet she'd love to beat people up with her bare fists, if she could. Just who is this guy, really…?'

Ruby was simultaneously curious of and exasperated by Saitama. Maybe the fact that he was such a regular-seeming guy, despite being in a combat school made her curious. What did he fight like? She wanted to know.

"Still…it could be cool. Making a weapon someday, I mean. As long as it doesn't break." Saitama broke the silence, with Ruby near-instantly forgetting her depression. She turned to him with shining eyes.

"OH MY GOSH! You have to tell me if you do! That's, like…the greatest thing! I can give you lots of advice when it comes to making weapons! Most people are used to making their own weapons, but I can definitely give you some tips!"

"Oooh, can I get in on that too? Saitama and I haven't fiddled with weapons much, so it'll help to get someone more experienced." Jaune asked, with Ruby eagerly nodding.

"Sure! We can all work on our weapons together, sometime after our initiation!"

Saitama couldn't help but smile at the group. Before, he would've laughed at the thought of him going to school again, making friends, and actually enjoying it…but this was different. This felt…kind of nice.

It was nice to actually feel simple things like that again.

Then, Saitama realized something, eyes widening. "Wait…where are we going again?"

Ruby and Jaune both looked at him, then each other, speaking at the same time.

"I thought you knew?"

…

"Holy heck, we're gonna be late! Try to pull up a school map on your scroll or something, Sai! I can't find mine in my pocket!"

Saitama shrugged, looking down at his pockets. "...I left all my stuff in my luggage."

Ruby's shoulders lowered again. "I had a feeling that things were starting to go a little too well again…Beacon is ruthless."

Saitama looked at Ruby, a little surprised to see her putting blame on the school. "No, I think it's all on us this tim-"

"LET'S GO!"

Both Jaune and Ruby spoke over Saitama, dashing off in desperation to try and find some sort of map or person to guide them to where they were supposed to go. Saitama watched them for a second, sighing, before jogging to catch up with them.

– – –

The group of three arrived at the auditorium hall where students were asked to assign, Ruby and Jaune panting, while Saitama looked completely unbothered, not even breaking a sweat.

"Whew-...just…made it." Jaune wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, allowing a sigh of relief to escape his lips.

"That was cutting it a little too close." Ruby agreed, having recovered a lot faster than her newly made blonde friend.

"Oh…hey, Ruby. I think that blonde girl over there is calling you." Saitama, disconnected from both of their exhaustion, pointed out the blonde biker-chick in the crowd, who seemed to be waving at Ruby.

"Oh, that's my sister! I think she's calling me over. I-I'll see you guys after the ceremony, alright?" She disappeared into the crowd, with Saitama watching her go, and Jaune waving goodbye.

"Well…she was kinda quirky, huh?"

"Look who's talking."

"No, you look at who's talking!"

The two laughed at each other. Saitama couldn't even refute that - ever since getting his emotions back, it was a lot easier for him to see how some of his mannerisms were definitely a little weird. He still didn't care about how people saw him, though.

…Especially now that he had no bald head to hide.

"Kinda makes me wonder who else we're gonna get to meet next. It'd be nice if it's another nice girl like her."

Saitama nodded in silent agreement; his arms folded as he stared ahead at the front of the auditorium. He felt a pair of bright green eyes on the back of his neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable…there was some girl behind them dressed like a roman gladiator. Jaune didn't seem to notice, but Saitama easily did.

She was probably currently the strongest person in the room…he could tell just by feel. Well, strongest aside from him. Although he was sure he just appeared as a normal, average student to everyone there. In fact, she was looking more at Jaune…

Saitama tore his gaze away, having the feeling that he was sensing something developing that he wasn't supposed to get involved in. Instead, he looked at where Ruby was, seeing her interacting with that haughty White-haired girl, and the blonde one, who she seemed pretty close to.

He didn't know why, but he felt a little annoyed just seeing that White-haired girl talk. She was like Tatsumaki, minus the psychic powers. And Tatsumaki was insufferable, 90% of the time. Maybe instead of likening the girl, who'd he'd internally nicknamed as White to a sassy lost child, she was more like an annoying spoiled cat that tried to act like a lion.

He even saw Jaune look up for a second, like she'd mentioned his name. He decided not to tell Jaune that the mention of his name came from an insult. Instead, he decided to ask Jaune one more question that had been on his mind ever since they got off the ship.

"...Feeling better about being so far away from home?" Saitama asked, barely covering his mouth with his palm to suppress a yawn. Jaune was silent for a while, before eventually nodding, with a little bit of confidence.

"...Yeah. I feel like, maybe, I can actually start to do this."

Saitama just gave a pleased smile. That was good. The faster Jaune gained some self-confidence, the less Saitama would have to watch over him.

What neither of them knew, however, was that the fragile peace and small confidence they had been building up, would soon be shattered by the words they would hear next.

A man walked up onstage, with ruffled silver hair, dressed in a fancy suit and vest combination. Everyone there recognized him immediately, even Jaune - he was Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

Saitama, on the other hand, just like always, had no idea who this guy was. Still…the two locked eyes, immediately. Ozpin looked surprised, while Saitama seemed just as unaffected as usual.

But it was clear…they both recognized that the other was far from normal.

However, Ozpin kept his composure, adjusting the mic in front of himself for an extra second, before beginning to speak in a smooth, yet foreboding tone.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the people. But, I look amongst you, and all I see is waste. Wasted energy, wasted strength, knowledge, and potential, in need of purpose and direction."

The crowd began to stir quietly, and even Jaune, beside him, looked unsettled by the headmaster's words, yet Ozpin, paying them no mind, continued on.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, free you of your limits and your fears, but your time at this school will teach you that knowledge can take you only so far. Both against yourself…and against the Grimm you hope to protect people from. However, not even they can force you to change, even if they continue to change the world around you through their endless, hopeless destruction. The one who must take the first step…is you."

"What…was that?" Jaune watched the man as he walked off stage, hopelessness returning to his voice.

"I don't know…but that guy kinda gives me a weird feeling." Saitama muttered. He wasn't rattled, but that definitely wasn't the boring principle-at-school-assembly kinda speech he was expecting to hear a headmaster give.

Another person stepped up to the mic, the blonde witch-woman Saitama remembered seeing on the screen back in the airship.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins in full. Prepare yourselves. You are dismissed."

With that, the witch departed from the auditorium, leaving a confused student body behind. On the other hand, Saitama turned to the distressed Jaune, speaking like nothing from the past few minutes had even happened.

"So…wanna go grab our bags? I'm getting sleepy."

"Y-Yeah…sure, Saitama."

– – –

The two friends had now set up in a corner of the large ballroom, with tons of other students set out in sleeping bags near them. And…they were the only two in the entire room wearing comfy, funny-looking pajamas with cartoon designs on them.

Neither seemed to care about it that much, though.

"It feels like it's been a whole week just getting here…" Saitama groaned as he laid down on his sleeping bag, happy to finally lay down on something remotely soft. It wasn't a bed, but it was better than the hard airship wall he was taking a nap against for the past few hours.

Jaune, on the other hand, was leaning against the wall, arms folded and gaze looking off into the distance. He didn't even bother to respond to Saitama's lazy remarks like usual.

"...Oi. What's wrong, dude? Don't tell me you're gonna be brooding like this forever." Saitama slowly sat back up, blankly staring at Jaune.

"Y-Yeah, don't…don't worry about it! I'm already over it!" Jaune immediately replied to Saitama after being addressed directly, like some sort of switch was being flipped inside of his head. Saitama could tell it was a total sham - like watching a bad actor try to read their lines.

But Saitama wasn't a therapist, and he couldn't keep making up inspirational speeches to launch Jaune forward...plus he was sleepy. He'd leave it to tomorrow's Saitama…or maybe just pass the job on to someone else.

"...Okay, yeah. Just get some good rest, man. I hope they give us some good free food tomorrow…" Saitama waved him off, laying down again as he slid fully into his bedroll, zipping it up until his face was the only thing visible. He curled up, falling off to sleep so quickly that it made it obvious just who was the most easy-going person in the room, leaving Jaune behind, who was just a little more unsettled.

'Am I weird for feeling like this? No, no, Saitama is the weird one for sleeping like a baby after hearing that freaky speech. Who says that sort of thing during a welcome ceremony?'

Jaune was drawn out of his thoughts for a second to see Ruby and those other girls looking at him, giving a little wave to them. Again…poor Jaune had no idea what they were really saying about him. Ruby suddenly looked a little defensive as they looked away from him though, and he could only imagine why.

Still, that little moment of recognition from some girls didn't cheer him up like it usually would. But…he couldn't spend all night worrying. Tomorrow, a difficult initiation ceremony was coming, and he needed to be ready.

He would prove himself. He would show that he was worthy of standing alongside all these people here. Like Ruby…like Saitama.

'I'm not a waste. I'll show it to everyone…even that headmaster.' Jaune thought to himself as he laid down in his bedroll, drifting off to sleep, himself.

– – –

"Whew…" The sound of smoke exhaling echoed in an otherwise quiet, dark room. Flames from a lighter illuminated the face behind it - long, orange hair, and dark green eyes…the infamous visage of notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick. "Man, I swear, every day you go on a heist, you've got some wise guy - or wise girl, interrupting. How's a guy supposed to be making a living when every teen wants to be a hero?"

He complained with a sigh, and an exhale of smoke from an expensive cigar. Roman was irritated from his previous job - he'd spent a pretty penny to hire some of the goons from the Xiong family, all to get a simple heist from a simple dust shop ran by some frail old man - in and out, easy work.

But then that red blur showed up - Red, he'd taken to calling her. She handled the goons easily (Roman should've known they weren't trustworthy after hearing about Junior's place being trashed by some blonde bombshell), but of course, he was able to hold her off in one-on-one combat, and get away.

He was gonna just fly off in his brand spanking new stolen airship…but the fact that a huntress showed up out of nowhere sort of threw a wrench in that plan.

And she just had to have a semblance perfect for dragging his only method of escape away.

"...Thank Oum I've got you on my side, Neo. Those goons aren't even worth one of the saves you give me." Roman turned his gaze to his associate, who was sitting on a nearby crate, her legs folded while she enjoyed eating what looked like a piece of cheesecake.

She was a girl who truly was worthy of being called Neopolitan, her hair half-pink and brown, with some streaks of white, wearing frilly pink clothing that seemed to paint her as some sort of refined young lady. The girl smirked, happily receiving his praise, but not responding verbally.

"Still, you know me. That was just a temporary setback. In fact, I've been scheming up an idea that's gonna give us a bigger haul than anything we've ever done before. Forget hitting the local news, we'll become international standouts…and have more cash and power than we'd know what to do with."

He smirked, pulling the cigar from his lips. Neo rolled her eyes, but her smirk only widened as she put the plate aside, clearly interested in what her partner was saying. She took out a holographic device - her scroll, and typed into it with lightning-fast speed, holding it up for him to see.

'You can count me in, like always. What sort of plans have you got? Gonna drag the White Fang into it?'

Roman folded his arms, leaning back in his chair as he swiveled around to fully face Neo. "Those guys, huh? Well, grunts are grunts…but if you can manipulate 'em right, that 'Extremist Faction' of the White Fang can be more useful - and devoted - than any simple underlings."

As always, the criminal didn't even need to explain his thought process to Neo - she was indeed right, part of his plan was to manipulate the White Fang to get some much-needed useful manpower - more useful than the Xiong family goons, anyway.

Neo nodded in approval, and obvious understanding, but she wasn't quite done with her input yet. She slid her fingers along the scroll for a bit, before eventually finding and settling on something, turning it around for Roman to get a good look.

"...! Neo, you…you really know what it means to go big, huh? I almost forgot!" Roman snickered, holding his cigar aside out of pure surprise. He then shook his head. "...But no. We're just going to be focusing on doing our own thing - we don't need to get involved in something like that."

The picture was a simple one, to draw such a surprised reaction from the experienced criminal. It was a picture that had been disseminated among all underground networks across the world of Remnant - everyone that was high-up enough in the dark side of their world had seen it.

A simple wanted poster - not the type that the hunters or cops would put up, but the type that black market dealers like him, and countless other gang and infamous organization leaders would be familiar with.

'Wanted Dead or Alive - Preferred Alive. Reward to be discussed - no price is enough. Get done by any means necessary.'

The image was labeled with those ominous words…and the picture itself? It was one of a black-haired, plain-looking teenager…it was an image of Saitama.

Thing was, despite everyone seeing it…nobody made a move. Some were just disinterested, thinking it was some kid who'd crossed the wrong boss…or someone that turned tail on their gang, a little like he once did to the Spider. But people somewhat more insightful noticed that it wasn't that simple.

Investigating who disseminated the notice was impossible - it all just…appeared to every leader, at once. The reward seemed to be entirely open, and Roman knew enough to tell that anyone ballsy enough to do this probably had unusually big pockets…and weirdest of all, investigating the target themselves showed that he was just some average guy who lived in a small town off the map.

It didn't add up. And something about Roman's instincts was telling him it wasn't adding up for a reason he did not want to get involved with.

Neo hopped up off of the crate, strutting her way over to Roman as she held up her scroll for him to read an already typed message.

'You're right, it smells. But I've never seen you cower in the face of some hard odds. Feeling a little chicken?'

Roman waved off her teasing eyes and smug expression, turning back around and taking a large drag of his cigar, and exhaling the smoke. "Call me whatever you want, Neo. But I'm not touching that request, even with the edge of my cane! Reminds me of those guys that tried to contact us a while back."

Neo just folded her arms, leaning over Roman's shoulder as if she was trying to further annoy him, but he ignored it.

"Forget it, forget it. More importantly, we've gotta get on how we're gonna plan our heist. First is getting in contact with our future workforce…"

– – –

Chapter Text

Nothing ever remains the same. An immutable fact - a law of nature, one nothing is exempt to. Not even nature itself.

They were nothing but small fluctuations at first. Subtle changes that even the most dedicated of researchers and wise men would strain to notice.

However, the fact that something was happening would soon become impossible to deny.

As the generations passed, as more of time's grains of sand fell, the law of change was taking its due.

The world of Remnant was changing. Specifically, the threats that it faced were changing - the Grimm.

Grimm were never a negligible threat by any definition of the term. They wiped out entire cities, destroyed families, ended dreams, and created nightmares. Creatures formed from pure darkness and evil that sought to do nothing but ravage, bringing despair and misery.

Simply put, a force of nature, more chaotic and ruinous than the worst natural disaster that one could think up.

Yet, humanity was not entirely helpless in the face of these creatures. Huntsmen, Huntresses, warriors trained to an unimaginable caliber were easily able to dispatch them. Even mere apprentices and regular citizens could be trained to kill Grimm, given the right weapons and strategies.

That did not remain the same way for long. The Grimm, as if adapting to their new threats, began to change. First, the scientists who desired to study the Grimm noticed. Live samples had slightly sturdier skin…they did not fade away as easily…even the simplest beowulf became almost as difficult to keep captive as an Ursa.

Huntsmen and Huntresses noticed it next, in their unending fights against the many types of Grimm. Grimm with already existing abilities only had their powers further amplified. And ones without power seemed to gain them, almost supernaturally.

The creatures that haunted the nightmares of humanity grew even further, as if to better torment the species that they served to antagonize. Soon, it seemed like some were even growing capable of harnessing abilities from Dust…they were growing far too strong, and far too unpredictable for them to be taken lightly.

The world's many combat schools, along with the four Huntsman Academies grew stricter, much more brutal, and tougher on their students. Only the best were allowed to pass, and allowed into their academy. Even simple initiations became rituals where one would risk life and limb to begin their walk on the path of becoming Huntsmen.

At first, death was not uncommon, especially among third years that were, at that point, considered proper, full huntsmen, and they accordingly took on missions that only true Huntsmen and Huntresses did.

It was a dark period of Remnant's history, but after many years of sacrifice, struggle, and endless combat, some stability was eventually achieved. The scales, however, are not entirely balanced. No peace lasts forever, and one so fragile was like cracked glass, waiting for one little tap to shatter it.

Who will preserve this peace, if the attack comes from a place not even the Huntsmen would expect? From a place they'd believed to be completely safe, a place so well-defended that it had ironically become their blindspot?

They can continue to hide behind their walls, and slay as many of the never-ending creatures as they desire, but as long as darkness exists within shadows, hidden away within the hearts of mankind…the Grimm…my Grimm, wil never cease to fulfill their purpose.

Your heroes are mere sacrifices. And your time will soon be at hand.

– – –

"Holy crap! Thifh ish leaghfhes bttr thn 'ny old school fhood than I ushd to have. An' ish fhre?! You should've thold me thish short'f thing firsh, Jhne." Saitama's voice could be heard plain as day at the table he was sitting at. Well…not entirely clearly. It was muffled - heavily muffled…and the reason why was obvious to Jaune, who was sitting opposite him.

The black-haired student was stuffing his mouth…with a whole ton of the pancakes that the school provided as breakfast. It was such a ridiculous amount, that Saitama looked almost cartoonish with how much he'd managed to fit in.

"Remember, Sai, I can't understand you when you get all hooked up on food like that." Jaune replied nonchalantly, sticking small pieces of his own pancakes into his mouth with much less enthusiasm. He wasn't much more of a neater eater than Saitama, but anyone would seem neat compared to the food-inhaling tornado that Saitama had become.

But no, the reason why Saitama was eating wasn't because he was actually some sort of glutton, or because he was some food lover. It was simply because-

"Sorry dude-" He spoke a little more clearly, after gulping down some of the food. "You know I can never turn down a good deal. Especially not when it's plain free food with no strings attached."

"I swear…everyone here's either anxious over that speech last night, over how initiation is going to go, or if they should even be here at all…and you're the one person who's biggest and most important part of the morning is free food." Jaune gave his friend an incredulous look, only for Saitama to shrug.

"What can I say? There's no point worrying about all that useless stuff. I don't mind everyone else missing out, though. Just means more for me."

Jaune sighed, evidently used to this sort of behavior from his friend. "...And are you gonna explain why you're still wearing pajamas? It means you're going to have to change later, you know?"

"They're comfortable."

"Yeah, okay Saitama…" Jaune's shoulders slumped alongside his mood. He had to take his own advice and give up on rationalizing his friend's actions sometimes.

"Why are you saying "okay" like it's a bad thing?! If I got the chance to get out of my bed wearing my pajamas, I'd do it too!"

A lively voice interrupted the two's conversation - or perhaps more accurately, just forced itself into the conversation, as a girl sat down at the table, equally forcefully.

Both Saitama and Jaune turned to look at the new presence, and found…a girl smiling widely, holding a plate of food. She had bright orange hair, and wore equally bright pink and white clothing. If her voice wasn't loud enough, her wardrobe certainly was.

"Aaand you are…?" Jaune trailed off, finding himself put off by a girl for the first time, rather than hopelessly interested in her.

"Nora! Nora Valkyrie! And I came over here because I felt like I spotted a comrade!" She replied, with a little grin on her face. Jaune, confused, looked at Saitama…but jumped back in his seat upon seeing his friend. He had a frightening shadow over his features, like all the light in the room had gone out just around his face.

"Saitama…?"

Smack! The sound of a loud slap rang through the room, causing Jaune to fear just what Saitama had done with such a scary look on his face…only to see Saitama and Nora shaking hands like they were longtime friends.

"I can respect someone who can appreciate free food as much as I do."

"That's right, my comrade! I'd scarf these down all day!"

Jaune watched the entire exchange with a dumbfounded face. Now that he thought about it, Nora's plate…it was stacked to the brim with pancakes, just like Saitama's. Was that it? Was this the 'comraderie' that this girl seemed so excited over?

He brought a hand to his forehead, letting out another deep sigh, only for another person to sit down at the table. He turned his eyes, expecting another weird and energetic person…but it was just a pretty regular guy. Black hair, kind eyes, and a pretty fancy-looking green tailcoat.

"I can see you're someone who has to deal with a similar burden, huh? I'm Lie Ren. I'm guessing Nora already introduced herself in her own way." He said with an understanding expression, carrying a…much more reasonable level of food. Jaune couldn't help but smile - it seemed like he could get along with this person easier, even if he did have looks good enough to steal the girls that might come his way.

"Hey! It's a classic lesson that you should never waste food on the battlefield, Ren!" Practically sensing Ren's words, Nora shouted in false outrage, her mouth full of pancake. Saitama wordlessly nodded, already going along with the orange haired girl's antics.

"Jaune Arc. And the cheapskate over there is Saitama." Plainly ignoring them, Jaune introduced in kind, his unnecessary words now drawing an annoyed "Hey!" from Saitama, even if he couldn't actually deny it. Ren and Nora looked at each other curiously, then back at Jaune and Saitama.

"Juuuuuuust…Saitama? No fancy last or middle name or anything?" Nora asked curiously, with a finger on her lip.

"Yup. It's always been like that. Not that I think that sort of thing is that important, anyway." Saitama replied, Ren chuckling in kind.

"I suppose so. It is rather unique, but I can't say that I've never heard of someone foregoing a last name entirely, or simply being without one. It must be a bit of trouble when it comes to proper identification." Ren admitted, and Jaune laughed at the idea.

"You're right! But see, my family takes care of most of Saitama's government stuff, so he's signed down as a member of our family for those sorts of things. He doesn't like calling himself 'Saitama Arc', though." Jaune explained, after getting a forkful of pancakes.

"No wonder! It doesn't fit him, he's more like a…a….wait! Wouldn't it just sound cooler if he split his name into two?" Nora looked up with an innocent grin. "You knoooow…Sai Tama?"

Saitama choked on his food, looking away for a second with a deadpan expression on his face. He held back tears of laughter, visibly shaking in his seat.

"Was it really that funny, Sai…?" Jaune asked, only for Saitama to quickly clear his throat, going back to eating his pancakes like he hadn't even laughed. "And you're just gonna keep eating like nothing happened?! Jeez…"

"Leave him alone, it just means that he recognizes my comedic genius!" Nora said with a grin, only for Ren to sigh and shake his head.

"I just hope he doesn't start picking up that sense of humor you have, too…"

"Oh be quiet, Ren! You know you're a fan!" Nora said in a teasing tone, pointing a finger at him.

A few minutes passed, with the group happily chatting at the table. Jaune and Ren were able to more slowly enjoy their food while talking. Saitama and Nora, in contrast, scarfed down pancake after pancake, like they were having a competition at how fast they could run the school out of business by just eating pancakes alone.

Eventually, the chefs had to quite literally refuse the pair from getting any more, before they ran out that entire week's supply of food for breakfast.

"Aaaah…those pancakes were good. Not as good as Ren's, though." Nora laid back in her seat with satisfaction, happily patting her stomach. Saitama, next to her, nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, I didn't care what it tasted like, but as long as I can keep eating like this every morning…for free, I'm fine with whatever comes out of the kitchen."

"You know, you're lucky that they don't just charge you for the ingredients it must've cost to make all those extra pancakes! I feel sorry for those chefs working back there." Jaune shook his head, Ren now agreeing with this sentiment.

"While I'm happy that you enjoy my pancakes, Nora…but I'll have to ask that you not eat as much in the mornings. We can't exactly afford to run one of Remnant's combat schools out of business with your appetite."

"Uuuugh, fine, fine, Ren! But the missing portion of my pancake supply is gonna have to come from somewhere else…" She gave him a knowing look, one that made Ren gulp. He could feel the Lien disappearing out of his pocket.

Saitama just shook his head at this. He felt sorry for the guy, but he was definitely not stepping in to get involved.

"Anyways, shouldn't we get going? I think we're supposed to get our gear out of the lockers before initiation starts, and I have to admit that I kinda already forget where I put mine…" Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, with a sheepish chuckle. Ren and Saitama agreed, only for Nora to hold a hand up, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Hold on! There's one more thing that I wanna do before we just blast off!" She quickly turned around to look at Saitama, pointing a finger at him. "Sai! As a fellow comrade, I wanna see just what you're made of…so…!"

"Oh no…" Ren put a hand to his forehead, like he already knew what was coming.

"Arm wrestle with me! That's the truest form of strength-testing since ancient times!" Nora reached her hand out, open and ready for her challenger. Saitama considered it for a while, remaining quiet. Jaune watched with a knowing gaze, a lot less worried than Ren.

'Pff…Nora's gonna be disappointed, but Saitama won't accept it. I've never seen him try to show off that crazy strength of his even once, so there's no way he'll accept an arm wrestling match for no reason-'

"Ok. I've been wanting to test myself out anyway." Saitama replied basically instantly. The sound of glass shattering could be heard in a certain blonde swordsman's mind. Unable to see Jaune's jaw practically dropping to the ground, he held his arm out, grasping Nora's hand in his.

Nora stared at him, not feeling anything particular. His hand was just…normal. And his arm muscles seemed small enough to be hidden under the sleeves on the pajamas he was still wearing. She was a little disappointed, but she also knew enough that looks both could and couldn't reveal a person's real strength.

After all, she probably just looked like a quirky, energetic girl to other people, but she was definitely one of the physically strongest around…and Ren, well…he was basically just as strong as he looked. Not that it was ever a problem to her, of course.

"Alright, the first one whose arm goes all the way down, loses! Ren, you be the referee!" Nora practically demanded. Used to going along with those demands, Ren instantly gave in, but even as he agreed, he had a wary expression on his face.

"Okay. After the countdown, I'll say 'Ready', move my hand away, and you will begin." Ren explained, his hand resting on top of the two's joined hands. Both nodded, and after taking in a deep breath…he began to count down.

"Three."

Nora's muscles could be seen visibly tightening thanks to her short-sleeve shirt, a little smirk making its way onto her face. She looked into Saitama's face intensely, seeming to completely focus to the point where her carefree nature disappeared for just a second.

It was just a fun challenge, but for some reason, Nora felt like she'd have to put her all into it.

"Two."

Jaune's expression finally returned to normal, and he looked at Nora, giving her an almost…sympathetic look, one that went unnoticed by her, but not by Ren, though he was focusing on readying the match.

"One…"

Nora, and everyone at the table felt a sudden, odd pressure come over them. Ren especially, who seemed to sharply perceive a change in Saitama. It was like…his features changed.

His goofy, silly visage seemed to be replaced by something…something deeper…something darker. Every inch of his body tensed up, and muscles that weren't even visible before seemed like they just appeared -

"Ready!"

Nora threw all of her strength into her arm, but, even if it was just for a millisecond, Saitama did not budge.

No, he did, but even then, his arm only moved a centimeter or two at most. She could feel his arm muscles tense up, like he was ready to counterattack - she could tell that she wouldn't be able to hold on, or at the very least, put even more effort in than she was doing, then-

"Oooooh, come on, sis! They're free meal tickets! Don't you think you could use them to go and hang out with some friends at a restaurant or something? Maybe even a guy or two…?"

It was the blonde girl from earlier, who seemed to frequently talk to Ruby…who, in fact, she was currently talking to.

"Noooo, Yang! I already told you, I don't have any real…y-you know, friends like that! A-And, guys..…aw geez, you're embarrassing mesomuch, I'm leaving!"

A trail of red flower petals disappeared out the door, with the now named Yang quickly getting up and chasing after her with an apologetic expression.

"Oh come on, don't make such a fuss about it, sis, I was just saying-!"

Thud. While everyone was distracted by the incident (except for Nora), Saitama's hand had hit the table. Everyone's attention returned to the arm wrestling match, Jaune looking even more shocked than he had been before, Ren being…hard to read, and Nora was frowning with deep dissatisfaction.

"Ah."

Saitama seemed the most surprised out of everyone, looking sheepish as he saw his hand on the table.

"Well, that's that. Good fight, comrade! Now, I gotta go and find out about those meal tickets…"

With that, Saitama excused himself, practically disappearing from the table, a blur of wind heading for the door.

"It's always like this with that guy…alright, I gotta get going too, so I'll see the both of you around! I don't even know how late I'm gonna run if I don't start looking for my stuff right now!" Jaune held a hand up to the two, as he dashed off after Saitama.

"Awwww, wait! That was…" Nora held her hand out to the fading backs of the two, groaning as she found herself palming at nothing but thin air. "Definitely not a fair match…uuuugh, I don't feel satisfied by that at all! It feels like I just won by luck!" Nora groaned, with Ren looking unusually serious.

'Well, more serious than a guy like him usually looks,' Nora thought to herself.

He remained silent, despite her words and expression. She gave him a worried look, raising an eyebrow and waving her hand in front of his face. "Ummm, Ren? Anyone hooome?"

"Ah-." He snapped to attention, clearing his throat. Nora let out a relieved sigh, leaning back in her chair.

"Jeez, you had me worried there! What are you thinking so hard about over there? I was the one who got disappointed in the match, not you!"

"Sorry, Nora. I just…I got a bit lost in thought. It just feels as if he…truly didn't have the chance to show his true capabilities, did he? It was for just a moment, but I swear that I…felt something from him." Ren explained, his hand on his chin. Nora eagerly nodded at that explanation, holding up a finger.

"That's what I'm sayin'!"

"Well, regardless of the circumstances, we do have to get ready, the same as them. Let's go." Ren got up from the table, putting aside his disappointment. Nora grinned, doing much the same as she energetically bounded after him.

From the corner of the cafeteria, two eyes were affixed on the duo that had just left, filled with a cold rage.

"Damn eyesores. That pajama guy, especially. He was weak enough to lose to a girl like that, but still cocky enough to keep going to this school? Guess I'll have to teach him a thing or two, if he even survives initiation."

– – –

"W-Wait, I swear I put it in that locker! O-Or, wait, was it this other one? Is this even the right code? Ah jeez!"

Jaune was fumbling around in the locker room, moving from locker to locker while trying fruitlessly to find the one that he had actually put his things in. Saitama, meanwhile, stood off to the side, calmly putting on his tracksuit, zipping it up over a plain white t-shirt. Jaune stopped for a moment, looking at his friend in outrage.

"C-Come on, Sai, at least help me look here! The only thing you had to get out of your locker was your dang tracksuit!"

"No way. When you get like this, you start causing collateral damage. I'm not picking up any of your bad luck after having a good morning." Saitama murmured, voice right back to being monotone. He closed his own locker in time with Jaune's melancholic sigh.

"Oh, man."

The worst part was that Jaune couldn't even refute his friend's words. Even back home, he was known for being particularly clumsy, a trait that he hoped to hide from his fellow students, but one that seemed to just make itself too obvious to be hidden.

"Perhaps I could help? When it comes to equipment, I'm rather good at finding things." An unfamiliar feminine voice accompanied the footsteps of someone who approached the two. When they turned around to look, they found…

"Gladiator chick?" Saitama said without thinking, causing the girl to burst into laughter, and Jaune to turn red at Saitama's words, embarrassed thanks to his friend making such a thoughtless first impression.

"S-Saitama, you can't just assume someone is a gladiator just cause they dress like one!" Jaune corrected, only for Saitama to tilt his head in confusion, arms folded.

"So you're agreeing with me that she looks like one, then."

Jaune sighed, and the girl just kept laughing. On closer inspection, it was the girl that Saitama had noticed standing behind them during the headmaster's speech. The strong-looking one. She had bright red hair, and wore golden clothes that seriously reminded him of a Roman gladiator. She even had a spear and shield combo that looked like something a gladiator would have, too.

He didn't actually think Jaune would know what a 'gladiator' was, but his response made him think that this world had some version of them, even for someone as out of the loop as Jaune.

Well…he was technically out of the loop, too. And even worse than Jaune.

"U-Ugh, whatever. Well, um," Jaune quickly cleared his throat, trying to put on his best charming face and voice, before continuing. "It's always nice to meet a beautiful lady. If you could help me, that would be..more than, um…acceptable!"

Wiping a tear from her eyes, the girl replied with a smile, seeming a bit bashful herself, at Jaune's compliments. "Well, I am thankful for the flattery…what are your names?"

Saitama looked dumbfounded by the fact that Jaune's fake flattery had actually seemed to work, while Jaune himself was beaming, replying quickly. "The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc. And the guy here's-"

"Saitama. Just trying to become a huntsman for f-" Saitama paused, feeling Jaune's lava-hot gaze on him, and sighed, rephrasing his sentence. "...Reasons."

"It's nice to meet the both of you. My name is…" The girl seemed hesitant for a few seconds, as if she were considering her next words carefully, before giving in and speaking. "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Pyrrha, huh? A beautiful name for a beautiful lady, rolls off the tongue good…just like mine!" Jaune said with a little smirk, and Saitama just stared at him blankly.

"Don't you think it makes her sound even more like some old warrior thoug-"

"Don't you say it Saitama! Can't you see I've got a good thing going here?" Jaune shout-whispered to his friend, causing Saitama to just shrug and disinterestedly look away. Pyrrha stared at the interaction, first surprised…and then amused, laughing at the two's banter.

"I-I see…I could certainly tell that you two were unique from our first meeting. Yes, it's very nice formally meeting the both of you." Pyrrha said with a little smile, looking almost…relieved? It was like she was expecting something from them, but found herself happy that they hadn't done whatever she was thinking.

At least, this was what Jaune thought. Despite being clueless and clumsy in lots of other areas, he was usually pretty good at reading others' thoughts, except for when it came to their thoughts about him.

"Now Jaune, how about we begin looking for your equipment in earnest? Could you mention the details to me, no matter how small?"

"Oh, sure, Pyrrha! I think I took a picture of it on my scroll when I first got it, hold-"

"HOLD FOR JUST A SECOND!" A shrill voice screamed, accompanying the sound of heels clacking against the floor. It belonged to a girl in a white dress, arms folded and face fixed into the epitome of annoyance.

Saitama also recognized this girl, though it took him a lot longer to remember her than it did with Pyrrha. It was the girl who reminded him a little bit of Tatsumaki - the one who seemed to have some sort of issue with Ruby from before.

"So loud…what is it?" Saitama muttered, immediately annoyed by her presence, having had his fingers plugged in his ears to try and muffle a little of her screaming from before. He felt like she had gone and made him at least 10% more deaf than he already was.

"What is it? What is it? I believe you know exactly what it is, you…you, tracksuit-wearing simpleton!" The girl looked him up and down, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Saitama stared at her finger, then back up at her, then down at her finger, and back up at her again, and spoke,

"...That's the best you could come up with?"

"S-Shut it, you…teammate poachers! Trying to make such sneaky moves…I won't allow it to go unnoticed!" She replied directly after, obviously too embarrassed, and far too prideful to let such a retort go unspoken to.

'Definitely just like Tatsumaki.' Saitama thought to himself with a nod, a nod that annoyed Weiss for some reason she couldn't fully understand.

"Now, now, hold on for a second here, beautiful miss…?" Jaune stepped between the two groups, holding his hands out while trying to act as an intermediary.

"Schnee. Weiss Schnee. Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company? You're truly a lot more ignorant than I thought you were. And don't you dare try any of that flattery on me, scruffy boy." Weiss scoffed indignantly, looking away from the boy's hands. Jaune's confidence took a deep hit at Weiss' cold words, visibly stumbling on his feet, but he managed to keep his cool.

"R-Right, um…" Regaining his composure, he continued to speak. "I think you've got the wrong guys here. We were just asking Ms. Nikos here-"

"Just call me Pyrrha, please." She said with a little smile.

"-Pyrrha, here, to help me find some stuff that I lost. And I don't even know what you mean when you talk about teams!"

"Hmph, why am I not surprised? You seem like the sort of dol-" Weiss began to speak, only to eye Pyrrha, and quickly correct herself. "Unsuspecting young man, that wouldn't have any idea about such things. You see, at every major Huntsman Academy, students are assigned to work in teams. Teams of four, specifically, and I…came here to recruit Miss Nikos, to my team! The only place a person like her should join, naturally. It insults her value to even be anywhere near the two of you." She scoffed, looking the two up and down.

"Wait, seriously?! You have to be in teams? Man…" Totally ignoring Weiss' insults, Saitama seemed the least enthusiastic of the group about that prospect…though, Pyrrha herself also seemed to lose a bit of her cheer upon hearing Weiss' words.

However, it was not for the same reason as her tracksuit-wearing classmate.

"Still, why are you so desperate to get Pyrrha on your team? I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. Aren't we all pretty new here?" Jaune said, leaving Weiss to scoff again.

"As if! It's *obvious* that some of us here are simply cut from a different cloth than others. In fact, it's insulting to me that you would even insinuate us to be on the same level! In fact -"

"Ahhh, whatever. Just get to the point already." Saitama interrupted, obviously annoyed by Weiss' constant stream of insults. She shook with anger from being interrupted, but swallowed it back, clearing her throat.

"The girl you're calling pretty new is the four-times winner of the Mistral Regional Combat tournament!" She folded her arms, waiting for a reaction like her words alone would produce a response.

A memo that Saitama and Jaune clearly did not get, as they just stared at her with blank eyes.

"Y-You insufferable…she's even been a mascot on Pumpkin Pete's cereal before!" She yelled in frustration, and only then, her message seemed to finally get through.

"Holy crap, no wonder you looked familiar…you're her-"

Saitama looked at Jaune, and he nodded in agreement.

"Pumpkin Pete's cereal girl! Haha, oh my gosh, I can't believe it was you on the box, Pyrrha!" Jaune laughed it off, to which Pyrrha bashfully replied,

"It was pretty cool…I wouldn't condone eating the cereal itself, though. It's quite bad for your teeth."

"As long as the price is right, anything's a-okay by me. Oh - cavities would cause tons of money to fill up, though…" Saitama murmured, and Weiss, who had been left out of the loop, suddenly forced her way into the conversation with a frown on her face.

"Anyways, you two simpletons, now that you're aware of that fact, you should stay far away from Pyrrha. She only deserves the best, smartest, most capable people on her team. Don't you think that's right, Pyrrha?"

"Well, I was…actually hoping to just let the chips fall where they may-." Pyrrha admitted after a bit of thinking, but Jaune and Saitama had already both started to leave.

"If it's gonna be like that, see you around, Wise. Good luck with being a brat." Saitama waved a hand in parting, his words leaving

"You…! That's not how you even say my name!"

"Yeah…I'm gonna head off, too. I don't think I really belong on a team like that, haha…" Jaune was far less casual, seeming a lot more uncertain, when compared to Saitama. It was obvious that his confidence had been shot.

Pyrrha looked towards him with wide eyes, raising a hand out towards his back as if to say something, only to be stopped by Weiss folding her arms, standing in front of Pyrrha.

"Hmph, good riddance. Those two will probably voluntarily drop out after this initiation, anyways. Especially that one in the tracksuit. At least blondie there seems to actually be dressed up to fight as a proper huntsman."

Pyrrha could only let out a sigh.

'How I despise this reputation of mine…'

– – –

"Well then, students. I hope you've prepared yourselves in complete totality for your initiation. Hearts, minds, bodies, equipment, skills, knowledge…you'll require everything to come out of this in one piece."

In front of the line of students paced the headmaster, Ozpin, drinking carefully from his mug of coffee every few seconds, seemingly assessing the students while preparing his next words. Glynda spoke in his place.

"You've all heard rumors of the formation of teams, and you are likely wondering how they will be assessed. This year around, we simply decided to order teams according to the initiation. They have been sorted previously in ways such as survival tests, endurance fighting, and through simple choice…however, this time, things will be much more simple."

"Indeed." Ozpin cut in, stopping in front of Saitama, who was looking off at the distance while thinking about how much TV he was going to binge later. "You'll all be expected to head into the forest beyond this cliff - once in there, your task will be quite simple…find an area teeming with 'artifacts', take one, and bring them back. As for your teammates…they will be the first person you make eye contact with."

Saitama immediately snapped to life upon hearing this, face gaining a good amount of definition.

'Then…I just hafta avoid meeting some random weirdo and I can go at it solo for the whole 3 years? What the heck, this is way more of a bargain than I thought.'

Some students seemed relieved, like Jaune, who was happy that he wouldn't be left at the scraps of the team-picking barrel.

Some were disappointed, like Weiss, who was frustrated that she couldn't perfectly pick out her team like she wished.

"However, I will ask that you take this seriously. Incredibly so." Ozpin's tone suddenly changed once more, sending a chill through everyone (minus Saitama's) spines, his gaze becoming particularly intense. "The forest is teeming with Grimm. Instructors will not step in unless you are completely incapacitated. Making a beeline for artifacts, fighting as many Grimm as possible, using luring tactics to open a path for yourself, using stealth…it is up to your discretion how you wish to challenge this forest. However you do so, make sure it is done wisely. Or you will be the one to regret it."

There was silence among the crowd, until there was the sound of cloth rustling. A girl raised her hand - Ruby, who eagerly stood on her tip-toes.

"...Yes, Ruby Rose?" Glynda asked, Ruby's hand immediately shooting down as she was called on.

"Umm…you said that there are a lot of Grimm in this forest, right? Isn't it kind of weird that you can 'contain' them? And…isn't it really unsafe to have them so close to the school?"

Ruby's words resonated among more than a few of the students, some clamoring heard among the new attendees, before Ozpin cleared his throat, smiling as he directed his gaze towards her.

"A wonderful observation, Miss Rose." He turned away from the students, walking to the edge of the cliff, and looking over it. "However, your current focus should not be on how this test is being conducted, but how you will manage to properly finish it. All you need to know is that these Grimm are a very real threat to you, and if you wish to succeed at this school, you will properly deal with them."

His words left no room for argument with the rest of the students, though Ruby looked clearly dejected at being brushed off like that. And maybe a little bit suspicious…

But there wasn't any more time for suspicion.

"Now, if that will be all, off with you. I look forward to the unique 'landing strategies' you all manage to employ." Ozpin murmured, and one by one, students began being launched into the forest off of the metal pads that they were standing on top of.

"Um…what do you mean by landing strAAAAAAAAA-" Jaune couldn't even get the question out before he was sent flying, Saitama following after with a bit of a yawn.

The headmaster watched all of them go with a hard-to-read expression, Glynda looking much the same.

"You're a lot harsher with this batch than usual, aren't you?" She questioned, arms folded. Ozpin took a swig from his cup, only to realize that it was empty…then speaking with a more forlorn expression.

"I must be. If they're to be ready for the future that's quickly approaching us, that is…"

– – –

Meanwhile, flying through the air with his arms folded and body stuck in a bored sitting position, Saitama thought about what he was going to do.

'Well…I can see some weird temple place from here. I could probably just run over there and grab one of the things that old guy was talking about.'

He didn't even flinch as he broke through multiple trees, dust kicking up and brush parting as he roughly landed on the ground, still in a sitting position. His clothes were a little messed up, but he seemed mostly fine.

"Right, then we'll do that. Plus I gotta avoid all of those guys. No way I'm getting teamed up with some of these weird randos. If I'm gonna enjoy this second life stuff, I can't get held back like that."

With that, Saitama began sprinting at top speed through the forest, heading roughly in where he guessed the direction of the temple was.

Little did he know, he was headed in the completely wrong direction…

– – –

"Ha…" Jaune lowered his head, depression practically radiating from the blonde knight in waves. He was currently hanging from a tree, having been pinned in place by a spear - courtesy of Pyrrha.

No matter how he tried, he couldn't wiggle himself free without absolutely tearing apart his hoodie (which was, obviously, one of his favorites), and even if he did, the cold hard ground was the only thing waiting to embrace him.

'At least I'm not dead, I guess. Could've been worse, right?!'

The moment he thought that, a loud, harsh roar echoed through the forest. Scratch that, there were multiple. Before even thinking about what it meant, Jaune found himself shivering in place.

'What sort of divine comedy-level bad luck is this? Did I step over a black cat on my way outside the building? No, wait…that superstition only works the other way around, right? Or is it a black cat walking under a ladder…'

"Jaaaaaune~? Jaune?"

...

The moment he began to drift off into thought, Jaune was snapped back to attention by a familiar voice - his savior, twice now.

"P-Pyrrha? I'm right over here!"

He first replied enthusiastically, then…realizing how ridiculous he looked, blushed.

Eventually, she walked into sight, staring up at him from below. Pyrrha Nikos - the girl he had met by the weapon lockers. The girl in question sighed in relief after she spotted him, an apologetic look on her face

"I'm sorry for leaving you in such a precarious position. I was more focused on helping your initial landing. I'll get you down right now." The eye-catching redhead replied, softly chuckling at her mistake.

"Pshh, don't be. I was just…hanging around. -Oof!"

Pyrrha had rather nimbly jumped up, pulling her spear out of the tree's bark and leaving Jaune to fall down and hit the ground, hard.

"Ah, sorry! …again!"

Jaune groaned, slowly standing up from the crumpled-up heap he had fallen into on the ground.

"No…no problem. I guess I sorta deserved it for that joke, huh? I'll leave the bad puns to someone else."

Somewhere in the forest, a certain blonde sneezed, before burying her fist in the face of a Grimm.

"Don't feel bad. I thought it was quite funny, Jaune." Pyrrha said, jumping down to stand beside her partner with a heartwarming smile.

"Uh…yeah. Thanks, Pyrrha. We should probably get going to grab one of those artifacts, though. I'm getting the creeps from this place."

Jaune looked out into the forest. Though it was bright from the outside, the overwhelming canopy made and obstructing vegetation it seem dark and oppressive.

It was dangerous; like something in the darkness could lash out at the two of them anytime it wished. For an experienced fighter like Pyrrha, she was constantly on guard even while speaking, her eyes occasionally looking left to right, and her body tensing up momentarily before relaxing.

Pyrrha smirked while stowing away her weaponry, looking at Jaune with boundless confidence apparent in her eyes. "There's no need to be so worried for now, Jaune, but I agree. There's no use in wasting time. But, seeing as we're now going to be partners, maybe we should spend time learning a bit more about each other?"

Her voice sounded almost pleading to Jaune - he wondered, for a second, why Pyrrha seemed to treasure these simple interactions so much.

Although, he wasn't complaining. At least she wasn't completely unreadable like Saitama. Even after practically being raised together, Jaune couldn't always tell what was going on in his head.

It was like Saitama just had extreme difficulty with expressing himself and his emotions.

Putting that thought aside, the blonde Arc began to walk with Pyrrha through the forest. They chatted animatedly, but kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings, remembering the headmaster's words.

"There is one thing I'm curious about, Jaune." Pyrrha hummed, her eyes staring ahead, deep into the forest. "Saitama - you and him seem close, even though most of us should've met for the first time yesterday - or perhaps even today. Have you known each other before arriving at Beacon?"

"Oooh, yeah. Saitama and I are childhood friends. My family adopted him, actually."

Pyrrha rose an eye at that. "Now that I recall, you did say something along the lines of your family managing his identity. That only makes me even more curious…just how did you become acquainted with him?"

"It's a weird, long story…but I'll try to keep it short." Jaune looked up to the forest ceiling, thinking back on the first day he'd met Saitama.

"...the place where I used to live with my family was…pretty small. There was a forest nearby - one of the few that isn't completely infested with Grimm, yet. I used to go in to try and train myself."

"Oh? That's very diligent of you, Jaune."

"H-haha, it was nothing. But, yeah, so, one day, I walk into the forest, and…I hear this noise. It sounded like the sound of cloth ripping, and…laughter. So, I go to investigate, and…there's Saitama, way younger, in the middle of a huge pit of Ursa, completely pulverizing them with just a few punches."

Pyrrha paused in place, looking at Jaune with eyes wider than saucers. "You're…this is just another one of your jokes, isn't it, Jaune?"

She asked, disbelief lacing her voice. But in response, Jaune simply shook his head.

"That's not even the weirdest part. Somehow, he was wearing some sort of…skin-cape on his back. It looked like it was, somehow…made of Ursa fur."

"W-what?" The usually eloquent and graceful Pyrrha was left a stuttering mess by his words. "That's…that's simply not possible. Grimm products don't exist. They simply turn to dust once killed. Putting aside a child somehow fending off against a group of Ursa, there's simply no way he could've made a cape out of one."

Jaune just laughed at her disbelief. "It's a crazy story, but with Saitama, the impossible becomes possible. We found out later that the reason for no Grimm making it through the forest was because Saitama was living in there, killing all the Grimm on his own. Apparently he didn't even know a town was nearby."

"Oh, my…" Pyrrha trailed off, her voice unsure. "Then, what of his parents? Or any other sort of guardian? Where had he come from?"

Jaune chuckled at all of her question. "Yeeeeeah, we wanted all those answers, too. But we couldn't get any. Saitama said he had no idea about his past, and nobody was in the forest, dead or alive. It was like he just…showed up in our lives. I made thee suggestion that out family help him out, and ever since then, he's been a part of my life. Pretty crazy story, huh?"

"Indeed. Even now, I'm having trouble coming to terms with it all, myself. Saitama…is he truly that capable? Who is he, really?"

Jaune looked ahead of them, shrugging like he'd already heard it all. "Well, maybe you'll get a chance to see what I mean during this exa-oh, hey!" Jaune put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, stopping her in place. She looked over, following his gaze.

It was the entrance to a cave, dark and ominous, yet…promising.

"Don't you think some artifacts could be in there? Seems like the perfect hiding spot to me."

"Hmmm…well, I guess it's worth a shot, at least. I recommend we continue to stay vigilant, however." She warned after some thought, deploying her spear and shield, while Jaune did much the same (though he just took it out manually, the only cool thing being his shield's deployment.)

"Ah -!" Pyrrha stopped, suddenly speaking. "By the way, Jaune. I noticed earlier that you seemed to be damaged from the fall

Why were you not using your aura?"

…

"Aura? What's that?"

– – –

"Quite the story, Mr. Arc." Ozpin hummed, bringing a freshly filled mug of coffee to his lips. His focused eyes were set on the holographic screen of a scroll in front of him - one that gave access to a varying number of feeds from hidden cameras set up all around the forest.

He had been momentarily focused on the interaction between the two sword users, and there was a special twinkle in his eyes as he heard of Saitama's apparent origin.

"Tell me - what do you think of that tale, Glynda?" He turned around to the blonde teacher, who had been listening in as well. She rolled her eyes, seemingly scoffing at the mere question.

"It seems a little too obvious to me. A fable, cooked up by a boy who already seems unfit for this academy. If you ask me, it's either Mr. Arc's attempt at bragging, or a far-fetched tale. And, assuming he truly didn't know about Aura…he's implying that a mere child accomplished those feats without it? Ridiculous."

Glynda analyzed coldly, with Ozpin simply humming again in reply.

"I'm not quite convinced of it's authenticity in either direction. Whether that story is true or not,"

He paused, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"He has something within him. Something special. I believe that one day, he'll be a hunter that's of extreme use to us."

'When our gazes met just before my speech, I saw something in him. These eyes of mine have never failed me yet, in spotting talent. Never, in all the years I have been around. Naturally, that includes Mr. Arc as well, however...Glynda can only handle so many contrary opinions at once.'

"...while I do trust you, Ozpin, I don't think you're completely right on this one. There must be some mistake - some defect with the both of them that you're overlooking."

"Glynda. You know this school's standards for admission. You know my judgement. There's no reason to argue over this matter."

Glynda and Ozpin both stared each other deep into the eyes. There were no sparks, but an unsaid trust that passed between them. While Glynda wished to question him further, and further refute Saitama's legitimacy, she had no room to do so anymore.

"...if you truly believe so."

She seceded, instead turning her focus to her own scroll, both now looking at the overall view of all feeds.

They could see Saitama running across multiple cameras, and on his way, running into Grimm. He dispatched them with only a small amount of difficulty, and with no obvious apparent weapons or semblances. His eyes were focused, but his punches were careless and he had no apparent stance that made any sort of martial art noticeable. Pure violence and power - that was all he seemed to wield while he blitzed through the forest.

"I'll admit," Glynda started, looking up from her screen. "His power is impressive. So is his speed. Yet, still, he's unrefined. In that aspect, even Miss Xiao Long is better."

"Enough." Ozpin dismissed, waving a hand. His coffee was beginning to taste bitter, and cold. "We have more important matters to discuss. Monitoring can be left to the rest of the other teachers, and the hired support huntsmen. For the moment, at least."

Glynda simply nodded. She, too, agreed the conversation was fruitless, and seeing Ozpin's attitude, she understood the importance of whatever he seemed ready to discuss.

"The recent robberies…" He began, taking yet another sip. "I assume you've heard of them, correct?"

"Yes…though they were all far more fatal than any robberies that we've been experiencing in a very long time…all committed by three unknown perpetrators leaving the calling card of-"

"Ash. Indeed." Ozpin spoke, with a grave tone. "Now, I'd like to hear your thoughts on these robberies."

"Well, if I may…I believe whoever, or whatever is behind them is dangerous. They're associated with neither Roman, nor the Xiong family. Roman is surely a thorn in the side, yet he's nothing to worry about. He's less of a criminal, and more of a misguided showman with a penchant for theatrics. I can't see him committing murder unless he's pushed into it. The Xiong family is dangerous, but ultimately a group of petty criminals. 'Ash', however…they seem driven. They kill, steal, and destroy, all while heading towards some unknown, unspoken goal…nobody is even aware what the three members of Ash look like. Not to mention, what's suspicious is what they're stealing…"

"Splendid analysis, Glynda. Yes, what they are after…that may be the key to all of this. But a group willing to kill all, including innocent civilians, while stealing large amounts of dust? It's…worrying. At this rate, almost every dust merchant in Vale could end up targeted."

Ozpin sighed, his timeless gaze looking off into a far horizon that Glynda could only glimpse, but not see for herself.

"Both the council, and James himself have raised concerns over this…it's surely something to look into."

"James? Why am I not surprised…"

"Now, now, Glynda. We should be getting back to our own observation. I have the smallest feeling that things are soon going to get very interesting.'

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, while once again bringing up the feeds…

His mug was empty again.

– – –

"Whew…" Saitama exhaled harshly, pushing aside a stray tree branch as he finally walked into an opening. "I was lost for so long…who knew it was this hard to find your way around in a forest?"

'I miss being able to just jump to where I need to go…but then again, my hair…but then again, jumping…'

While Saitama momentarily lamented the loss of his full power (for nothing but the sake of convenience), he was soon drawn out by a shout.

"Heeeey~! Comrade! Pancake comrade!" A familiar voice called out to him. He lifted up his head, only to see.

"Who-oh? Nora, right?" He said, surprisingly getting her name right the first time.

Well, it was easy to, when he had already associated her name with his memory of getting totally free breakfast buffet food for the first time.

"Yeah! Guess you finally made it, huh? Thought you'd take foreveeeer! I knew you wouldn't drop out, though! I could already tell you were way too strong not to become a Huntsman after that arm wrestling match even if you were holding back!" She bounded in excitement, and Saitama looked around her.

Behind Nora, there was the ninja looking-guy, who Saitama remembered as ren. Then there was the blonde girl and the black haired-girl he remembered from the ship. Again, she was hiding her ears with that bow…but it didn't really bother him. He'd seen weirder monsters and even weirder heroes - there was no need to mention it.

"...uh…yeah." He responded simply, seemingly unsure of how to respond to Nora's overexcited nature.

"Good to see you again, Saitama. Though…" Ren was the next to speak up, having stood behind Nora for a bit. "You don't exactly seem to be in the best of shape.

"Oh? Uh, yeah. I ran into a bunch of those Grimm things on my way here. They were tougher than usual, though."

Saitama's clothing and body was absolutely shredded. All over he had cuts, bruises, and there even looked to be burns and the like.

Yet, Saitama himself just had his usual blank face, like there wasn't anything wrong.

"Tougher than usual?" A new, boisterous voice spoke out - the blonde one, he assumed. "Listen to this guy! You look like you barely survived walking out the other end of a meat grinder!" She walked over to the boy, looking him up and down (and not-so-discreetly checking out his abs). "Sheesh, who would've thought bedroll guy was so ripped, huh? Get it?" The girl stepped back, with a big grin on her face.

"Ohohoho, that's a good one!" Nora clapped in approval of the pun. Although she was the only one, the blonde still had a prideful smile.

"That wasn't very good." The black haired one said, with a sigh. A sigh that Yang only met with an even bigger grin.

"So you're saying that the pun is still accurate, Blake?"

"...shut up."

"Still, Yang makes a point. Did something happen to your Aura, Saitama? Perhaps you ran out? Or turned it off, somehow?"

'If he did it for a challenge, that'd be pretty dumb. Not that this guy looks too bright in the first place…although that stupid look does seem kinda familiar.' Blake thought, remaining far behind everyone else. She tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at Saitama.

"Aura…what the heck is that?" Saitama asked earnestly, while scratching the top of his head.

"-?!"

Blake jumped in surprise, and her shocked reaction was shared by most of the others.

"See? See?! I told you this guy was awesome!" Nora shouted, amongst the silence.

"Man, no wonder you're all banged up. You seriously came in with no Aura? I don't see a weapon on you either - you're a real piece of work for just making it out alive." Yang whistled, and Ren nodded in agreement.

"Indeed…and to give a brief explanation, Saitama, Aura is a bit like an energy that surrounds your body. It has many purposes, but it's most known for protecting one from taking damage." Ren explained, after clearing away his surprise and clearing his throat simultaneously.

Saitama scanned the other initiation test-takers for . They were pretty damaged, too, but they looked less so than him.

He sorta understood it now.

"Huh…sounds cool. I'm fine without it, though. I just hit things: it's what I'm used to."

Saitama shrugged, looking totally disinterested in the topic. Blake's face never recovered from her disbelief, Ren just let out a resigned sigh, and Yang and Nora looked on with different levels of amusement.

"Anyways, Saitama…I'm not sure why you don't seem to have a partner with you, but, you should go ahead and grab an artifact. There are only a limited amount left." Ren waved behind them, towards a set of pedestals that had what looked like chess pieces atop them.

"Oh, cool. Thanks." Saitama walked over, passing Blake (who was still paralyzed in bewilderment), picking up one of the three remaining pieces - a white King. "The Grimm were kinda tougher than usual, but this test was honestly pretty-"

"WAAAAAAAA-! Oof!" A loud shriek and a thud was heard, causing Saitama behind him at the source.

There was Jaune, lying face-first on the ground, dazed and confused.

"Jaune?" Saitama stepped forward to help his friend, but there was no time.

"Run!"

Three voices yelled out at the same time, putting everyone on immediate alert.

Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha all emerged from the treeline, running at full-speed like their lives depended on it.

Behind Pyrrha was a scorpion-like Grimm with a stinger that seemed to glow purple and hum with electrical energy. And following Weiss and Ruby from the skies was a giant birdlike creature, green energy surrounding it's' wings and discharging with each flap.

"A Deathstalker and a Nevermore? And they're elementals? You girls are really bringing us some awesome end-of-initiation presents." Yang grinned, chambering bullets into her gauntlets.

"But, it's disadvantageous to us to fight them all at once. In an encircled area like this, we'll only be sitting targets for their blasts."

"I see a really convenient cliff over theeeere~!" Nora sang, readying her hammer while staring down the Deathstalker, in particular.

"A-alright!" Jaune got up to his feet, seemingly regaining his senses. "Nora, Ren, you're on the Deathstalker with me and Pyrrha! Everyone else, do whatever!" He yelled in a panic, running over to the cliff.

Everyone nodded and began to move, while Saitama just watched with a blank face.

"H-huh…? I feel like I got left out…"

"Then Yang and Blake, you're with me!" Ruby yelled. Yang nodded enthusiastically, and Blake followed suit without a word.

"Don't forget about me, you dolt!" Weiss shouted in irritation, casting a white glyph beneath her and Ruby's feet that catapulted them towards a towards that stood up near the cliff.

The giant nevermore roared more like a beast than a bird, following the two with death in it's eyes.

Meanwhile, the Deathstalker descended upon Jaune and Pyrrha, who acted as the shields for their group while they retreated to a bridge below the cliff.

Saitama stood blankly, watching everything happen. "Okay…guess I'll just do what I usually do. Don't want to get left out after all." Saitama launched into the fight with a dash, a smile slowly making its way onto his face.

'Let's see what these elemental things are made of. If the Grimm in the forest were any indication, the guys in the forest back at the village won't even be comparable.'

But before Saitama could join in on either fight, he saw a more alarming sight that neither team seemed to notice: spider legs. It stopped him in place, as he looked toward the bridge that lied between both teams, deep into the abyss between the cliff. An innumerable amount of spider legs began emerging from the void below the bridge, crawling upward and onto the bridge.

There were hundreds - and each had that weird glowing energy around them. They were all 'elementals'.

Saitama stared at the veritable horde with wide eyes. That…would be a problem, even for him. He wasn't invincible like he used to be. And maybe…that was exactly why he rushed in at full speed, a blur past the side of Jaune, who was busy halting a hit from the Deathstalker's leg with his shield.

"S-Sai?!" For a moment, Jaune broke the flow of combat to look at his friend, watching him pass by in slow motion. Ruby, having already landed and started working on the Nevermore spared him a glance as well, but she immediately went back to focusing on her fight.

"Relax, man. You know I've got this." He said simply, before disappearing into the black crowd of stampeding Grimm.

"Did Saitama just-"

"Shut it, Ren, we've gotta focus on taking this thing down! Besides, the comrade I know can definitely handle it!" Nora shouted, smacking away the Deathstalker's stinger with her hammer. The moment her weapon made contact, it sent a huge electrical current through her weapon, but it didn't damage the girl or her aura.

She just grinned while the electricity surged through her, the electrical arcs sparking through her body only furthering her powerful appearance. "Thank you for the meal~!" With the sound of thunder striking, Nora smacked the creature aside, directly into a waiting Pyrrha.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, waiting for a few seconds, before tossing her spear towards the Deathstalker's armored back. At first, her spear only bounced off, but with a movement of her hand, it seemed to gain inhuman momentum, striking through the scorpion's armored plating at point-blank range. It buried deep into the creature's flesh, causing it to screech.

Yet, even while it was midair, even while it was reeling from Nora's charged hit and from being impaled in one end, the Deathstalker's stinger glowed, readying another blast of strong electricity. And this time - it would not make the mistake of hitting the one holding the hammer. It instead seemed to be aiming towards Pyrrha, focusing on killing the threat able to pierce past its' armored plating.

"Ren, covering fire! Nora, with me! You're going for the stinger for good!"

"Right."

"Aye-aye, commander!"

Ren took out his sickle-pistols, firing off bullets that exploded with green smoke on impact with the Deathstalker's tail. Each shot was not weak, but seemed to impact with a good amount of force, causing the scorpion Grimm's body to shake.

The glow disappeared from the Deathstalker's tail. It was far too damaged to charge another blast. Once it finally landed on its' feet, it couldn't move, overcome by damage and a lack of further actions against the well-oiled team.

In this short time, Nora had ran back, jumping off of Jaune's shield to launch herself far upwards. She flipped herself in the air, turning multiple times and gaining further and further momentum before slamming her hammer into the Deathstalker's stinger, breaking it off of the Grimm's tail.

While the separated stinger turned to dust, Nora landed with a satisfied sigh - but her relaxation was cut short as she saw two shadows closing in on both sides - the Scorpion's pincers.

"W-whoops?"

Exhausted and caught unaware, she could only hold up her hammer to defend, and hope her Aura could take care of the rest.

Yet, before it could clash with her, the sound of metal echoed through the area. Pyrrha and Jaune both had stepped in, blocking the Pincers with their respective shields.

"We've…got you, Nora!" Pyrrha.

"Get ready to attack again! Ren!" Jaune.

Nora nodded to Pyrrha and Jaune's words, moving away to reposition herself while Ren fired another volley of bullets into the scorpion's small red eyes, weakening the force it held on the pincers to give Jaune and Pyrrha time to get out.

Meanwhile, Ruby and her rag-tag team were barely handling the Nevermore, in a desperate struggle just like Jaune's group.

"Yang! Don't try to jump on it, it'll just blast you away with the wind! Just shoot! Or punch it midair!" Ruby yelled, standing atop one of the pillars while firing from a distance at the bird, her heavy-caliber dust-propelled sniper bullets only causing it to flinch.

"Alright, sis!" Yang jumped over the abyss below, propelling herself towards the giant birdlike beast regardless. It cawed, its' wings glowing green and blasting Yang with an extremely strong wind current.

But instead of fighting it, she rode it, blasting herself even faster with the recoil from her shotgun gauntlets. She was a blur - almost as fast as Ruby, when she used her semblance.

Seeing what she was doing, Ruby turned her eyes to Blake, who was shooting at the Nevermore's wings, and Weiss, who was on standby.

"Blake, Weiss!"

"Okay."

"Urgh! Don't order me around!"

Glyphs appeared midair in front of Yang, boosting her speed more and more each time she passed through. Blake, her eyes easily tracking Yang who seemed to be near to breaking the sound barrier, threw one of her swords - a black ribbon extending to wrap around Yang's waist.

With catlike agility, Blake ran around the nearby tower, expertly redirecting Yang while leaving her losing any of her speed. She catapulted the blonde forward, hopping her way back onto a nearby tower with an exhausted sigh. She could feel her arms throbbing.

Yang, meanwhile, had turned around, and was now flying right back at the Grimm that had seemingly sent her away. It was caught off-guard this time, another blast not ready.

"And I've got another surprise courtesy of all your friends…you...stupid…big…bird!" Yang yelled, roaring her fist back. Her eyes turned red, a fiery aura exploding from her.

Her unbelievable speed, her existing strength, and the power returning from all the pain and damage she'd taken from the initiation combined all at once…

And struck right into the Nevermore's side.

There was no time for it to react. It was immediately sent flying downward, something like an earthquake shaking through the chasm of the cliff.

"One last one!" Ruby, having turned into rose petals to fly through the air appeared right in front of the Nevermore's wings. Her weapon switched immediately from sniper to scythe, and she swung it forward with the momentum from her semblance.

The sharp, curved blade cleaved through the Grimm's wing like butter, separating it from the Nevermore and leaving the Grimm with only one wing. The Grimm roared in distress as it sailed towards the ground.

Ruby was going to smirk in victory and try to strike a cool midair pose, but something hit her mind first.

"Wait…isn't that direction…?" Ruby's eyes widened, as she realized only then the unbelievable sight below her -

A veritable fog of Grimm dust and glowing lights surrounded the center of the cracked, ruined bridge.

"What's going on down there?" Weiss questioned, having hopped though the air on one of her Glyphs to catch Ruby, floating in relative safety.

"Saitama…"

"H-huh?" Weiss asked, in sheer disbelief. "Repeat that."

"Saitama…is in there."

The four girls looked on, while Jaune and his group, who had just launched the Deathstalker with a powerful strike from Nora, once again, watched with awe. The Deathstalker's still-living form sailed towards the middle of the Grimm dust-storm, where Saitama worked to pulverize every Grimm that came his way like a living blender.

"Haha…hahahaha!"

Laughter sounded from the fog, a gust of wind emptying out the smog as a figure emerged…Saitama.

Everyone could now see him clearly. He didn't have a grown on his face, or hopelessness in his eyes…he was grinning.

His dull brown eyes held a sharp, almost orange glow, as he bounced from Grimm to Grimm.

Lost in a crowd of the spider-like creatures, he was like a blur of destruction. He weaved in and out of sharp legs, expertly dodged elemental blasts like he knew they were coming, and efficiently finished off every Grimm with nothing but a few ruthless punches.

If he was midair, he'd somehow twist his body to evade. If he needed to jump, he'd propel himself off of a Grimm. Every kick, punch, and dodge seemed purposeful to just move him faster - make his next hit stronger.

The kids were mesmerized…rather than watching a fellow student, they felt like they were watching a master huntsman.

"I never knew he was this capable…" Ren murmured in awe.

"I can see now that you really weren't exaggerating about him, Jaune." Pyrrha murmured. Even she was brought to a stop, despite her experience.

"Uhh…shouldn't we try to help him? Those other giant Grimm are still going his way and everything." Nora asked, after managing to pull her jaw up off of the ground.

Jaune just shook his head. "No need, Nora. I think Saitama's got this."

'This is it…' Saitama thought, as his fist impaled one of the Grimm through its' face. He threw its' still dissolving corpse to the side, using it as a throwing weapon that slammed into a group of Grimm. Some died from the force alone, and the rest blew themselves up with a misfired elemental blast. He wasn't keeping track on what sort of powers they had anymore. 'The best fight I've had since I came here…I finally feel like I can challenge myself!'

Saitama's body felt faint, but he didn't collapse. He was burnt, bruised, cut, shocked, and he even felt like he was hearing those weird clicking sounds in his body again.

But he didn't stop. His heart kept beating…he stayed in the fight, growing intoxicated on it. This was the best he'd felt in a long time. Objectively, these Grimm were weak compared to what he was used to fighting in his old life, but this wasn't that life. They were hurting him. He could die!

'I feel like…I can do it now.'

"Holy crap, I mean, bedroll boy over there is kicking some serious ass! But, uh, doesn't have two giant Grimm problems heading for him right now?" Yang asked, as Blake pulled her onto safety.

"That's the question, isn't it." Blake murmured, watching Saitama's ridiculous one–man fight with keen eyes.

"I can't believe it…I can't…I can't…that dolt?"

Weiss had lost her composure, repeating her words of disbelief over and over. Ruby, meanwhile, just watched.

"I don't know, but…I think we should get ready for something big. Something really big! Weiss, stop spacing out and get us onto solid ground!"

'Even if it's just for this one moment…'

Saitama landed with a sigh, closing his eyes. He ignored the endless amount of Grimm swarming in on him, and everything else around him felt like it was going silent.

He ignored the half-alive Nevermore about to fall onto him. The large Deathstalker ready to smash into him.

All he could feel and hear was the unfamiliarity of his beating heart.

"I guess I'll call this…Quarter-normal Moveset, Weak Series…" He pulled his fist back.

"Quarter-normal punch."

Saitama threw his fist forward.

And everything around him was decimated.

– – –

"While Mr. Arc is not here at this moment due to personal circumstances...Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, I hereby declare you team JNPR, led by: Jaune Arc!" Ozpin's voice boomed through the hall, as he spoke to Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren in front of him, standing at attention. Rather than smiling in excitement, the team all had uncertain looks on their faces.

The same couldn't be said for the next team that the headmaster moved onto, as it was just Ruby who seemed bothered.

"Lighten up, sis, that guy'll be fine. More importantly, I feel a big moment coming on for you!"

Ruby didn't hear both Ozpin or her sister...no, what was seared into her mind was the aftermind of Saitama's "normal move".

The test site had been completely decimated. From a single punch, there was no trace of Grimm - not the spiders, not the Nevermore, and not the Deathstalker. The bridge Saitama had been on, itself, was broken, and he would've fallen off...if it wasn't for a single glyph that Weiss casted under his body.

"Haha...thanks...Wise."

Those were his last, thoughtless words before Saitama passed out on the spot, his red blood passing straight through Weiss' pure-white glyphs.

The moment the test was confirmed over, they'd rushed the passed-out huntsman-in-training to the school's sick bay. Jaune, with the permission of the headmaster, skipped the team induction ceremony to look after his friend. Nobody there who had seen what happened could really blame him.

"...you are henceforth known as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

"Oooh, sis, I'm so proud of you!" Yang practically cooed, hanging off of Ruby with an almost motherly hug. Blake just rolled her eyes. Weiss, who would've probably protested this to hell and back (from what Ruby knew of the girl) didn't say anything, either. She just let out a venom-filled sigh that Ruby knew she'd have to somehow detox later.

"And, this year, we'll have quite the special case on Beacon's hands." Ozpin stepped away from team RWBY, looking at the screen behind him. "Saitama, the MVP of the initiation, will be given our first and only designation as a solo student. Rather than a team, Saitama will simply be referred to with as a student. Student - S. Despite his circumstances, I hope you can all treat him equally."

The students in the crowd murmured and shifted, many speaking in tones that indicated confusion, disagreement, and worry. A student that warranted breaking the rule of every Huntsman Academy across the four Kingdoms? This was no small matter, though the headmaster tried to make it seem as such.

"That's my comrade! He deserves to stick out after doing all of that." Nora grinned proudly, like she was the one receiving the achievement. Though she was trying, her bubbly attitude couldn't totally lift the veil on things. Everyone still mostly watched in silence.

"While I'm sorry for putting you in the spotlight, Mr. Saitama...I'm afraid you must be, if things are to go smoothly. Yes, I can already tell...this year will be...interesting."

Chapter Text

Barren.

That was the only way to describe the place. The wind lashed around the empty area, an artificially created wasteland full of nothing but dust, sand, and rocks. Not even rubble remained of the city that once stood in its place.

Not only had any and all infrastructure been turned to dust, but the land itself had been changed. Where there was once a sprawling city, only a desert remained. However, even amidst that devastation, there was still life.

Two men stood, looking at that infinitely distant horizon. The sight was a rare one, only so clear because of the lack of any familiar city buildings to obscure their view.

One was a young cyborg with blonde hair, the other a slightly older bald man with a tacky yellow suit and red cape. Not only were they the only signs of life for hundreds of miles, but they were also two of the few remaining heroes of this world: The S-Rank: Demon Cyborg, and the A-Rank: Caped Baldy.

However, to those who knew them, they just preferred to go by Genos and Saitama.

"Hey, Genos." The bald man took a few steps towards the horizon, holding a hand to shield his forehead from the scattering rays of sunlight.

"Yes, teacher?" Genos remained still, watching the horizon with an uncharacteristically empty gaze.

"This…the reason for this city disappearing, was caused by another one of those 'Apostle of God' guys, right?"

"Yes, teacher." The cyborg affirmed with a nod. Saitama sighed, finding himself a nearby rock to sit on. He brought a hand to his cheek, and suddenly, even that invincible man looked just a little tired.

"...I'm used to monsters having their one minute of fame, or going off on some way too long and boring tangent. But this is…this is just too much, you know?"

Genos nodded taking the moment to allow his cybernetically-enhanced golden eyes complete a scan for any signs of life. It only confirmed what was visually obvious. There was nothing, unless microorganisms were enough to consider life surviving. There were no insects, no plants, no monsters, and certainly no humans.

The city, of which a name was now useless for, had ceased to exist, all through one deadly attack. This was the power of the apostles of God - beings granted immense power just through establish contact with the mysterious entity known as God.

Genos felt a righteous fury raising within him, as he internalized the information from his scan. This was not your usual expected destruction experienced by those who lived in their monster-filled society. The immediate removal of an entire city from the face of the earth was not something he - or any others could just laugh off.

This sort of power reminded him of those memories of Garou from a time that would never be - the horrible future that Saitama prevented, only by doing something as ridiculous as traveling back in time. However, now, they were potentially dealing with tens of such monsters, each one stronger than any one S-Class hero.

However, even knowing their hopeless odds, the rage that swelled within him couldn't be suppressed. This sight was just too familiar for him to just file away as an unfortunate accident.

Just as he thought that, his anger was immediately crushed - quelled by another feeling that was all too familiar to him. No, it hadn't been quelled, but overpowered. He was overcome with emotions that weren't even his.

An oppressive, dark feeling, looming over the entire area, pressed down on him like a physical force. He slowly turned his eyes to Saitama, but immediately regretted it.

"This…is taking it too far."

Nowhere on Saitama's face was his usual blank expression. It was like a cesspool of darkness, unreadable yet terrifying all at once. Even with how many upgrades Genos had received by now, his lengthy battle experience, and the various opponents he had faced, Saitama's anger, even secondhand, was always something terrifying to behold. It felt like he was staring at the personification of death itself.

But because he knew the peaks of Saitama's anger well, he was able to understand him. This wasn't blind rage - but Saitama's heroic nature, often hidden, coming to light.

And what sort of hero could stay still?

This wasn't just property damage. Tens of thousands of people were killed in an instant, without a care for their lives.

Maybe some people Saitama had saved before.

Maybe people that had once been important to him.

The Apostles were undetectable, even with the assistance of Blast in uprooting them. The small group of elite beings were more troublesome than the Monster Association ever had been.

They were being stretched thin as heroes and as the powers of the Apostles were left to fester and grow, they only became more powerful and bold - leading to tragedies like the one that now surrounded them. Even with Saitama's power, his strength, alone, had become useless.

"...well. You can't really do anything about what's done, right? All we can do…is keep trying to help as much as we can."

Saitama turned around, heading in a random direction. His usual blank look had returned, and his voice held that same nonchalance befitting of someone with his bottomless strength. However, Genos noticed it. A slight edge to Saitama's voice.

"I suppose so, Saitama-sensei."

Genos walked behind Saitama, staring at his back wordlessly. A burst of wind kicked up dust, causing Saitama's white cape to flutter in the air. That cape seemed to cover the entirety of the wasteland in Genos' field of vision. Like Saitama's presence, itself, now hovered over the whole region.

"That Blast guy needs to hurry it up. If he and the rest of the heroes don't speed up getting rid of these 'Apostle' guys, I'm going to skip right past those brainwashed cultists and punch that 'God' guy in the face, myself."

Perhaps coming from anyone else, it would've just seemed like a farce. After all, not even Blast or Tatsumaki could currently handle an Apostle single handedly.

Genos smiled. Not even a hint of doubt lingered in his voice.

"It's a shame that you haven't been given permission to join the active battles, Saitama-sensei. Those who haven't yet recognized your strength in the Hero Association are truly…"

Saitama sighed, rolling his eyes. He waved off Genos' worries, blankly staring ahead.

"Honestly speaking, I just want to jump into the action…it's a pain to just wait until another one of these guys shows up to destroy another city…so I'm going to start taking the fight to them. Screw rules or waiting. A real hero doesn't care about any of that crap when it really matters."

Saitama wiped a bead of sweat from his face, while Genos pulled out a notepad and wrote down Saitama's words on a page.

"Wise words, as expected of Saitama-sensei!"

Saitama groaned in exasperation, his shoulders lowering. "Oi…are you really going to write notes at a time like this?"

"Of course. I must always be ready to note your words of wisdom!"

"You and this heat are going to seriously drive me crazy, man." Saitama sighed, taking one more look out towards the horizon.

The tense atmosphere around Saitama had seemingly dissipated into the heat.

"Alright…let's speed it up, Genos. I'm melting out here, maybe we can look for a cheap family restaurant or something to stay in for a while? It'd be nice to mooch off of some air conditioning."

Genos nodded, feeling a small amount of relief. He put his notepad away, and it was obvious that he had not actually written anything on the pages.

More than the heat, he was just happy to see Saitama return to his usual self, if just for this moment.

'Saitama-sensei…nobody else may believe it yet, but if there's anyone capable of stopping God, it has to be you. After all, you are…the world's greatest hero.'

Saitama ran off, his legs and form becoming a blur. Genos ran beside him, only due to the hero lowering his speed.

Unbeknownst to either of them, this would be one of the last conversations they would ever have.

Saitama opened his eyes. His vision was blurry for a few seconds, but as it came into focus, he found himself no less confused.

He realized he was staring up at the ceiling of…wherever he was. The ceiling was tiled, white, and surprisingly clean, almost sterile.

"...an unfamiliar ceiling."

He muttered a line he had read in a few of the manga he tended to flip through back home.

The teen sat up, gaining a much better look at his surroundings. It was then that he realized that the ceiling was not an exception to the rest of the room.

The floor mirrored the ceiling, and the walls looked pure white, as well. He tried to sit up more, but felt a nagging pain in his left arm. Saitama paused, glancing to his left. An IV had been inserted into his veins, dripping a clear fluid into his bloodstream.

He was laying on a white bed, and around him were several other machines, some that seemed to be reading his vitals, and others that were connected to the IV, having some kind of shimmering blue powder within it.

"So, a hospital, huh?" Saitama laid back in his bed, staring at the white wall without much thought. "Guess I pushed myself a little hard. Feels weird to actually pass out, though."

It was a little nostalgic - he really felt like he was back in his days of training to be a hero. The thought brought a smile, however small, to his face.

For a while, Saitama just sat there, kind of enjoying the silence and relaxation.

But that was just for a while. He was now awake, and admittedly, pretty bored, so he looked around for something. His eyes lit up as he found a nearby television remote. He picked it up, switching a television that was mounted on the wall in front of his bed.

As it turned on, a news report came on the television.

"...and so, the horrific murders by the criminal group known only as 'Ash', continue to plague our city. Citizens are concerned: between the various robberies of dust stores, the presence of Ash, and the growing crime underbelly…is Vale safe anymore? And…just how will we defend ourselves from the rising amount of Grimm brought on by these threats?"

Saitama switched the channel, picking a booger out of his nose. "Let's look for something less depressing."

He eventually settled on a television show that was reminiscent of an anime.

…

Ruby Rose brought a hand over her chest, taking time to calm her breathing while walking through the halls of Beacon's student infirmary. She was dressed in her school uniform, having made her way here between classes. In her free hand was a neatly wrapped bundle, which she held carefully, despite balancing it on her palm.

Ruby passed a few rooms with heavily injured students. Some were crying, loud enough to be heard even through the soundproof rooms. More were eerily quiet, connected to a seemingly infinite amount of machines that kept them alive.

Ruby never got drunk, unlike her sister, but she felt suddenly sober.

The students in those rooms weren't just random strangers to her. They were all vaguely familiar faces - students that she had seen around before and during initiation day. Students that had not made it past initiation.

Their bodies, minds, and spirits had been broken by the hellish initiation.

She wondered, for a second, if she could have faced that same fate if Saitama wasn't there.

Sure, she and Jaune's newly formed teams somehow managed against the respective Grimm they faced, but could they - could she fight against such ridiculous numbers the way Saitama did? Would she have jumped into that sort of horde without hesitation, like him?

'Calm down, Ruby! Stop freaking yourself out with stupid what if questions!'

The student slapped her face, trying her best to shoo away the bad thoughts. Still, she didn't stop looking at the rooms with injured students. Her eyes didn't turn from reality, even if it was incredibly painful.

'The first step.'

That was what Ozpin, the headmaster, had called it. Ruby, along with all of her other friends, had managed to take that first step. A step those other prospective students would never get to take again. The only thing she could do for these people, was to continue along the path to becoming a huntress, even if they couldn't.

That's right. She just had to continue following her dream…alongside…her team. Her partner…

For a moment, Ruby's expression darkened, but it quickly left her with a sigh. She bottled it up for later.

After a while, she stopped in front of a room, taking a deep breath. She reached forward and swung through the door, entering with a large smile on her face.

"Good morning, Saitama!" She cheerily exclaimed, looking at the awake student, only to see him…lazing around on the bed, watching TV silently. He turned his head towards her, blinking twice. "Umm…hey?" She added, a lot less confidently this time. His eyes widened in realization only after a few seconds of awkward silence. He snapped his fingers, nodding to himself.

"Oh. Hey, uh…Rudy, right?"

"It's Ruby, R U B Y! Seriously, did you forget my name that fast?" Ruby exploded with energy, teetering off into a sigh. She approached Saitama's bedside, while the teen turned his attention back towards the television, already giving more attention to the screen than their conversation.

"Sorry. I've never really been good with names. I mean, I just woke up and all, it's probably some kind of…patient thing." Saitama looked down at himself. He was covered in a hospital gown, one which seemed to all but practically confirm that, yes, he was in some sort of medical area. Ruby just sighed, shaking her head as she presented the package she had in her hands.

"Well, that doesn't matter too much, I guess…I really came here to bring…da dada da~! This!" She handed over something to Saitama. He held it in his hands, looking down at the item. It was some sort of fancy black suit with gold lining, along with a blue vest, white shirt, and a blue tie, all wrapped up in clear wrapping. Saitama stared down at the clothes, then up at Ruby, then down at the clothes again.

"Ah-!" Ruby seemed to catch the unsaid question, smiling. "Well, don't be too shocked - this is your official uniform as a student of Beacon academy! Something everyone our age aspires to wear…it's the official proof that you're now a huntsman-in-training…like me!"

Her excitement was shining through, even brighter than the smile on her face. But Saitama didn't seem to have much of a reaction.

"So…it's just a fancy-looking school uniform?" His voice was as blank as his eyes.

Ruby instantly deflated, holding a shaking finger up in objection. "W-Well…not just a school uniform…i-it's a uniform reserved for aspiring huntsmen…you know, the uniform of Remnant's most prestigious Huntsman Academy."

"So, a fancy school uniform."

"...yes. It's a school uniform." Ruby gave in with a dejected slump of her shoulders. Ignoring her dejection, Saitama took the clothes, setting them down on the bed beside him.

"Alright. Well, these look kinda stuffy, but it's the only thing I have to wear right now, anyways. Mind if I put it on real quick?" Saitama was already halfway through changing even as he spoke, having suddenly began to slid the hospital gown off of his upper body. There was really no embarrassment in his eyes, and he just turned his body away from Ruby after noticing she was just standing there.

His impossibly, surprisingly well-defined upper body, chiseled like it was made of stone…but it wasn't only that, but also the definition of his muscles. He wasn't all bulk, and definitely not all lean. He had a body perfectly made for combat - something similar to Pyrrha's build. That of a perfectly well-balanced huntsman.

How hard did someone have to work to get a body like that? Ruby had initially dismissed Saitama as an incredibly lucky prodigy, but that sort of body definitely wasn't based off of talent alone. Putting aside the disturbing fact that he was as skilled as he was without even knowing about Aura, as well…

'Who is Saitama, really? And…will he really listen to my request?'

"Uh…Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah! Alright, sure, I'll be waiting outside!" Ruby quickly replied, walking her way out of the room with a small blush on her face. She was more embarrassed being caught in her thoughts than anything ulterior. It was really just pure admiration.

Ruby and Saitama now walked through the halls of what was Beacon's main school building, having already left what Saitama had learned to be the campus' student clinic. He was both surprised and relieved at the revelation.

The entire building around them was incredibly high-tech. It even made the Hero Association's building, which was constructed all out that black metal and had tons of computers look like a caveman's building. Everywhere he looked there were high-tech fingerprint scanners, machines he couldn't hope to figure out, and materials that looked crazy strong.

Seeing all this, only one thought crossed his mind.

'Thank god I don't have to pay any crazy medical fees…if I had to pay, I don't know if I could afford staying somewhere this high-tech. Who knows if this school gives students insurance? Even if it did, I sure as heck didn't sign up for any.'

The Arc family was nice, but Saitama had even less money in this life than he did in his previous one. Their charity didn't exactly put money in his pocket…at least once he passed this school, he could start doing his usual thing: working as a hero for fun, and maybe a little bit of money on the side.

While walking, Saitama noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ruby was throwing occasional glances his way. Her eyes would shimmer, and fill with a sickening expectation. Saitama knew those eyes…he had seen them on Genos before being tricked into accepting him as a 'student'. Always one to be blunt, he spoke what was on his mind.

"Say, why did you come to get me anyways, Ruby? I figured Jaune would've been the one to do that. That guy's always trying to keep an extra eye and ear out for me. He's really like a second mom sometimes, that guy."

Ruby laughed, waving her arms out to the school building around them. "Well, Jaune is kind of busy right now…and you needed someone to hand you your uniform and show you around, right? I'm…not too eager to be around my team, so I didn't really have an issue checking on you every now and then in his stead! I wasn't the only one who visited you though, if that's what you mean. I just happened to get called when the machines detected you woke up."

"Cool. Well, thanks. If it wasn't for you, I was going to have to walk around in a hospital gown, since I was getting pretty bored of the TV. Not that I really minded, since it was kinda comfortable…it would've just been embarrassing." Ruby couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Saitama wandering around in a hospital gown, which Saitama took no offense to. "But, you know, now that I think about it, why would a school infirmary have that? A hospital gown I mean. And a bunch of private rooms, and a TV?"

Ruby seemed to shine with the opportunity to explain, and she raised a finger. "Well, you see, as one of only four official huntsman academies across the entirety of Remnant, Beacon Academy has a really advanced set of facilities and has the highest budget among them for students! Therefore, the student infirmary is more on the level of a private clinic rather than a-"

"So, it's just a fancy school."

"...yes. It's just a fancy school."

Having learned her lesson before with the uniform, Ruby just gave in to Saitama's utter disinterest towards the illustrious history, reputations, and facilities associated with the schools.

'I would've liked to explain it more to him, though…'

Ruby internally sighed. Was there nobody that would listen to her nerd out for just a little bit?

"Anyways, you really didn't have to come and get me yourself, you know. I'm thankful for the uniform, but you don't need to walk me around. Couldn't I just ask for a quick orientation? Even if I just grab a map and figure things out myself. I'm pretty good at just running around until I find things."

"Jaune said that if you ever said something like that, I should definitely double-triple-quadruple make sure to guide you."

"Tch. He really is a nosy guy." Saitama could practically see the shadow of Jaune behind Ruby repeating those words with a smug look on his face.

Ruby laughed again. She didn't know why, but around Saitama, it was just easy to laugh. He was like some sort of living gag, at least when he wasn't showing off his impressive physical abilities.

"Well, I mean…if you think about it, how exactly did you plan to even find the right person to ask for those things? If you just ran around, you probably would've never found the right class in time!"

"Well, you're right. Guess I should just be grateful for not having to worry about that sort of thing, miss living tour guide."

"I think I preferred 'Rudy' a little more."

The two walked through the school like that for a while, with Ruby occasionally introducing different classrooms, facilities, and general information to Saitama, that he was sure to not care about much in the future. Still, he enjoyed this. It was a simple sort of fun, even if a school tour wasn't exactly what he expected right after waking up from a fainting spell that lasted who-knows how long.

"So, Saitama…" Ruby twiddled her fingers together, looking bashful and shy for a few long seconds, to which Saitama just remained quiet.

'Here comes whatever she was holding back this whole time.'

"I-I have to ask…What. Was. Up. With that CRAZY fight you had?! I've never seen someone fight so fast and strong, except for maybe my sister when she gets fired up? But, like, still, she usually needs a lot of time to charge up to fight like that. And then, she can only do it for a few minutes. But you just jumped right in and were all like - Bang! Boom! Whachow! I mean - those things were elementals, you know! And a whole horde of them! You're so crazy strong-"

Ruby stopped mid-rant, blinking and returning to her senses. Of course, Saitama's wide-eyed stare at her helped to bring her back to reality too. She cleared her throat, looking away from him with a blush.

"Sorry…I tend to get really into analyzing combat, and stuff…"

Saitama just waved her off. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've had someone take such a weirdly deep look at the way I fight." He would've usually stopped her mid-rant anyways, but after that dream, well, Saitama was feeling just a little nostalgic.

"So…how the heck did you learn how to do all of that, anyways? The more I think about it, the more weird it gets. You and Jaune both don't come from any combat school we know, and neither of you knew what Aura was 'till the day of the test. But Jaune seemed to have a lot of potential, and you're…well…instant competition for the strongest student in the academy!"

Saitama thought for a long while on how to answer her, placing a hand on his chin. And eventually, the same answer he always gave to these sorts of questions came out.

"I don't know. I just move fast and punch things. There's nothing else to it."

"..."

His words left Ruby dumbfounded. To the point that the usually bright and cheery semi-chatterbox was left completely silent.

"Well…I guess I do have a lot of experience, too. Fighting people and monsters."

Those words gave Ruby true pause, and this time, not just out of surprise, but genuine concern.

'Every one of us at Beacon has fought monsters before. Heck, it's what we're here for. But, people…what has Saitama been through to have already fought people before?'

He really was an enigma to her mind. But, in a way, it only strengthened her resolve. She knew what she wanted to ask him, and she wouldn't hesitate anymore.

"Saitama. I, um…if you don't mind, do you think you could-"

"Ah, sorry to interrupt, but could I have a bit of your time, students?"

A polite but powerful voice interrupted the two. When they turned around to face the source, it was none other than the imposing white-haired man from the induction ceremony. Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon academy.

Ruby's words were lost in her throat. Seeing Ozpin, the man who had appointed her as the leader of team RWBY, and given her partnership with Weiss the go-ahead, left a sour taste in her mouth. There was no anger in her gaze, however. Instead, she struggled to meet Ozpin's gaze.

Shame.

"O-Of course not, Ozpin, sir…I was just helping Saitama to look around the campus, considering that we have a free period to begin the day…and everything."

The headmaster smiled warmly, nodding in Ruby's direction. However, the gesture seemed empty, a meaningless platitude extended to every student he crossed paths with.

"Very good, Miss Rose. As I would expect of one of this year's leaders - taking the initiative to assist a fellow student is something few would do. An excellent quality to have."

Ruby just chuckled awkwardly, the praise making her shrink in what looked like visible discomfort. "O-Oh, it isn't that big of a deal, sir. I just wanted to help Saitama out since he's been out for the past few days…"

Saitama's widened, this time almost larger than saucers. One could practically hear the sound of glass breaking in his head.

'Holy shit, I've been out for that long?! I haven't slept that long since I used to be in school! Well…other school…my last school? Previous school? Forget it, I just can't believe I got hurt that bad. Guess I'm really not as tough as I used to be.'

Ozpin nodded, turning his gaze in Saitama's direction. It was filled with readable emotion - if one were to look deeply enough. However, Saitama wasn't too interested in deciphering some old dude's emotions. He was never that kind of guy, anyways. He just got straight to the point.

"So, what do you want? Uh…sir."

Saitama only corrected himself because he felt Ruby's heated gaze on his neck. She seemed obsessed with huntsmen, and considering he was a headmaster of a place that trained future huntsmen, this Ozpin guy was probably a big deal.

That, and, said old dude was something like his principal now.

'...It's really setting in, being a student again. Shit, how much homework did I already miss? This is going to be such a pain…I have to do homework again?'

Back in his world, even children could become official heroes if they just showed enough overwhelming potential...not that he knew that until a few years of blindly doing unofficial hero work. Maybe he'd just skip the huntsman thing and go straight to running around and doing hero work? Then again, this world didn't seem to take kindly to random vigilantes…the last thing he wanted was to end up getting chased around by the police.

Besides, he owed it to Jaune. Giving this 'huntsman academy' thing a proper try, like he had promised. It was something new for him. He had already achieved his goal of becoming the strongest hero, had the most satisfying fight of his life, and went out protecting the whole world, possibly universe.

There was really nothing more for him to do, except enjoy this life the way he wanted to.

"U-Um! Actually, Mr. Ozpin...before you address Saitama, I had something I wanted to ask- you know, erm…involving…teams?" Ruby's entire mood seemed to lower at the mention of the word 'team', her voice quieter than before.

Ozpin gave her a sideways glance…and replied, in an apologetic tone. "I'm afraid not. All teams are final, Miss Rose. While there may be grounds for the modification of teams, they are mostly under…emergency situations. Such as the unfortunate students who were injured during Initiation."

Ruby looked down to the floor, her arms hanging helplessly at her side. Ozpin had pre-empted her question. Of course he had. The unique situation team RWBY had must have been all too well known by now.

"Okay. I'm…sorry for taking up your time, Headmaster."

"Don't apologize, Ruby. Most importantly, do not be discouraged. By the fact that you are the only one on your team that cared enough to approach me like this…I can already tell you that no mistake has been made."

Ozpin smiled, and this time it felt much more genuine. Understanding, like the warmth a parent gave. It gave Ruby pause, shooing away the dark atmosphere that surrounded her.

"Now then, Saitama? I do have something important to discuss with you, so I'll be borrowing you for a spell. I hope you don't mind?" As if knowing Saitama's response already, Ozpin turned away, walking into the distance while sipping from an only just noticeable cup of coffee.

Saitama nodded, following Ozpin as he walked off. He paused for a second though, turning around and giving Ruby an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"Well…cheer up. You've got this."

He tried his best to encourage her, but it didn't seem like his words did much. So he just quietly left, following after the headmaster. Ruby stood there, watching the two go with an uncertain look in her eyes.

Walking through the halls of Beacon, Ruby Rose had absolutely none of her trademark exuberance left in her body. She focused on anything else but her own thoughts. Her footsteps, pressing into the solid flooring of the hallway. Other huntsmen-in-training like her, walking through the halls, and…a happy team of four students, chatting amongst one another.

Nobody was there to distract her anymore. She was forced to remember. Just how horrible the past few days had been for her.

While Saitama slept, and Jaune got closer to his team, Ruby had been fighting tooth and nail with hers.

Ruby's Scroll played a quiet alarm - just loud enough for her to hear from her own bed. She took in a deep breath, gathering all of her courage. It was officially her first day, and even if she wasn't the outspoken type, she wanted to make a good impression on her teammates-to-be. Even her big sister, Yang, who she felt she could show a better side of herself to.

"You've got this, Ruby…just jump up, and wow them. Yeah…yeah, okay…" After verbally psyching herself up, Ruby jumped out of her bed, into the center of the simple dorm room.

"GOOD MORNING TEAM RWBY! Are we all ready for our first day at one of the prestigious huntsman academies?"

The only response to her words was a large yawn, namely coming from Yang. She turned over in her bed, her frazzled blonde hair blocking her head from sight.

"Weiss and Blake already left, Rubes. It's just us." She murmured. Her voice was half-dead, like she had just come back from an all-nighter out on the town. In fact, she definitely had. "And keep it down, alright? Big sis is still trying to get some beauty sleep before she tackles the day."

Ruby was left standing in the middle of the room, staring blankly at the two empty beds where Weiss and Blake had been sleeping only moments ago. She stared down at the ground, shaking her head.

"W…what a way to start the day…"

Her cheeks were a deeper hue of red than the dark red highlights of her hair. Little did she know, that would only be the beginning of her embarrassment.

In class…

Ruby stared blankly at the professor in front of them, twiddling with her fingers while barely registering the story he was going on and on with.

The professor was a fat man, or, well, a portly man, Professor Peter Port. Ruby had already forgotten his name, though. He taught Grimm Studies, and Ruby honestly found the subject agreeable. As a huntress-to-be, who wouldn't want to learn how to better slash and shoot some Grimm?

But the teacher himself was, well…even the most dedicated of students were struggling to stay awake. Especially when the Professor began to launch into a familiar tirade about yet another of his adventures as a young huntsman.

She turned to look at the silver-haired heiress besides her, the only superhuman in the room who managed to stay awake. Like always, she was primly and properly dressed, the uniform somehow looking fancier on her than anyone else. Ruby didn't get the whole 'fancy rich girl' thing, but she did respect Weiss a little for always putting her best foot forward, even in dress.

Speaking of that characteristic, Weiss was completely focused on the lesson, switching between her textbook, and the teacher's gaze, when necessary. She even wrote diligent, well-organized notes.

'Weiss really is a superhuman…'

Ruby, meanwhile, was fighting sleep just like everyone else. She was never good at handling lectures, and there was an immense feeling welling up inside of her to either goof off or try to pass out. Yang seemed to be in a similar position, but she already looked like she was daydreaming, barely focusing on the lesson a lost cause. Blake just looked bored, and…

'...no, wait…is she sleeping with her eyes open?! How?! How do you even do that?!'

That was it. The ridiculous sight drove Ruby to the edge. She needed to slack off somehow, or she'd lose her mind. Blake was hard to approach, and Ruby knew Yang was even more of a slacker than her (when it came to non-combat studies), so there was only Weiss left. The girl was cold, colder than ice, but Ruby knew she had to force chances to bond with her teammates when she could.

Especially Weiss, who she hadn't spoken to since initiation.

'Right. This is a test, a test…if I can't even joke around with my teammates in class, am I really even a leader?!'

"Um…Weiss, I forgot to bring my textbook, do you think I could-"

"Do not talk to me, you improperly prepared. barely-focused…" Weiss started with venom in her voice, only to take a deep breath, and focus again. "...no, forget it. It isn't even worth speaking to you. Just don't speak to me, and we'll be fine."

When Weiss turned away, deciding to ignore Ruby rather than to argue with her, it somehow hurt even more than the insult she was preparing for.

Then there was lunchtime…

Weiss hadn't even bothered showing up in the general cafeteria, and Ruby and Yang ended up taking a seat at Blake's table, mostly thanks to Ruby's earnest request.

"H-Hey!" Ruby's words weren't confident, but she was still as full of energy as ever while sitting down at the table. "Um, Blake, do you mind if me and Yang - my sister, sit here? We noticed there was, well, you know, a loooot of space, haha!"

Her words came out nervous, but she wasn't telling a poor excuse, at least. Blake was distanced far from the rest of the student body, eating by herself in what was essentially an empty corner of the cafeteria. She looked trapped the moment Ruby and Yang sat down - Ruby could tell, immediately, that Blake did not want to be here.

"Sup?' Yang added a lot more casually, sliding into the seat next to Ruby. "Remember us? We were making fun of barf boy back on our first night? I mean, do you remember those pajamas he had? Pumpkin Pete pajamas on a teenage boy! Ah, but the muscles on his friend were nice, even if his face looked a little too dumb for me."

Both Blake and Ruby choked on their food at this, with Blake being taken especially off-guard. A small smile seemed to tug at her lips for a second, but she shook her head.

"N…no. I'm sorry. I'm done eating. Feel free to take this table."

She quickly got up, taking her clearly only half-eaten food and moving out of the cafeteria. Yang and Ruby watched her go, with Yang letting out a sigh, and giving Ruby a deadpan look.

"Well…I tried my best, Rubes."

"You tried your best to do what?! Get us to choke on our food from how random that was?!"

Yang rolled her eyes, digging into her food with gusto. "Whaaaat? There isn't anything better than a good laugh to bring everyone together. Guess I should've figured that moody girl and the Weiss queen are immune to a good joke, though."

Ruby groaned, slumping forward on the table. Yang paused, turning to look at her sister, and giving her a kind smile.

"Hey, don't worry about those two sad sacks, sis. Even if our teammates are two sticks in the mud, I'll always be on your side."

The sincerity of Yang's words reached Ruby. Enough for her to sit up, and start eating again.

"...thanks. I really appreciate it."

"You know you never need to thank me, sis." Yang replied, with a playful punch against Ruby's shoulder.

It would've been fine if those two instances were solitary, but they weren't. Instances like those happened again, and again, and again, and again, until Ruby ended up giving up on trying to unify her team altogether.

Still, that choice wasn't easy. Ruby admired the ideals of huntresses and huntsmen. Despite some working solo, teamwork was undoubtedly a foundation of the entire job.

'But how can I ever live up to those ideals if I can't even get along with two of my teammates…?'

Could she even be a proper huntress if she couldn't lead her team to at least talk to each other?

Hearing Ozpin's words earlier only tightened the knot that began to form in her heart. He had tried reassuring her, but his words only had the opposite. All of that trust, and for what?

She was feeling less and less worthy of being a leader, let alone being at Beacon.

She wrapped her arms around her body, suddenly feeling cold even while walking through the warm school halls of her dreams.

"...mom…what would you have done?"

Saitama stared blankly at the white walls of the elevator in front of him, trying his best to stave off the pure boredom with his thoughts.

"So," Saitama spoke up, unable to hold it in anymore. "Where exactly is this elevator supposed to be taking us? You just sort of led me here without saying anything."

Ozpin remained staring ahead, both hands resting on a silver cane that pressed into the ground. "I do apologize for keeping you in the dark, Mister Saitama. But we are going to be discussing something that is a matter of grave importance." Noticing Saitama's pointed gaze, Ozpin would then add, "To answer your question: we are going to my office."

"Principal's office on my first day to school? Just when I thought this was going to be something exciting, too…" Saitama was clearly disappointed by the thought. It really was just like the old dude was there to clarify more about his stay in Beacon, just like he had said. For once, Saitama was actually hoping for an ulterior motive.

"Don't fret, Mr. Saitama. This isn't quite your usual meeting between principal and student, I assure you. You'll have your excitement yet."

Saitama rose an eyebrow at his words, but decided to keep quiet. He didn't really have much more to say, anyway. He just wanted to get this over with so he could go and sleep in class, or something.

The pair just stood there, staring at the wall of the elevator as nothing but a gentle hum filled the background. It just kept ascending, giving the feeling that whatever room they were headed to was infinitely high.

"...this is a pretty smooth elevator."

"Is that so."

After a few more long minutes of silence, the two finally arrived at their destination. The elevator doors opened, revealing a large and wide-open room that looked…surprisingly simple. It was a large circular room, that had nothing but see-through glass windows as the walls. There was just three pieces of furniture - a desk, and two chairs, one behind the desk and one in front of it.

Ozpin strode forward and positioned himself behind the desk, sitting with confidence and ease that showed he had done the same thing a countless number of times. While Saitama completely ignored the chair, instead choosing to walk over by one of the window-walls and stare outside.

They were at an insane height, just like Saitama had thought. He couldn't even say how many stories and feet there were from this office to the ground.

"Woah. We're seriously high up."

'I bet a fall this high wouldn't be good news for me, even though I've kinda gotten the hang of some of my strength. I'd probably become a pancake. Not good…'

Saitama couldn't help but shed a nervous sweatdrop, though the sound of a cleared throat brought him from his reverie. He turned around to see Ozpin sitting in his chair, green eyes staring at Saitama expectantly.

"Oh, right, yeah. Academy stuff. Guess I'll just…"

Saitama walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair in front of it, throwing his arm over the back of his chair and leaning against it, without a care.

"Well, it's good to see that you can easily make yourself comfortable, if nothing else. You'll need that seat for what we're to discuss." Ozpin chuckled at the student's carefree nature, while waving his hand in front of his face. A holographic panel seemingly manifested, which Ozpin's fingers deftly danced over.

"Ooooh. What's that?" Saitama asked out of curiosity. Though, the ever-present tinge of apathy in his voice made it hard to tell whether it was genuine or not, Ozpin answered regardless.

"The means of making sure that this discussion is not intruded upon, interrupted, or compromised. Let us call it insurance."

With those words, the windows of the room all turned black, leaving the entire place in darkness. A dim green light momentarily turned on, providing light to the rest of the room. The elevator's buttons seemed dimmed, and Saitama had a feeling that access to this floor had been restricted.

"So, this is some fancy security system stuff, huh?" For Saitama, it was a little nostalgic. The Hero Association always prized itself on defensive measures, or so he learned from Genos. Saitama himself never really saw all those measures as that strong.

'I still remember breaking those expensive as hell security robots…really glad I got off the hook with that one.'

Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. I've never been one for over-the-top security measures, but what is discussed here cannot be leaked by any means necessary. It is not only my responsibility as the Principal of this school, but also a…well, I suppose we may speak about that some other time, hmm?"

Saitama showed momentary interest by raising his eyebrows, but in the end, his desire to finish things won over.

"I really doubt you brought me here just to show off your cool security, old man. So what's the real deal here?"

Ozpin suppressed some laughter while shaking his head. "Yes…you're correct, I didn't bring you here just to show off. In fact, quite the opposite. I was hoping to put your impressive capabilities to task." Saitama remained silent, pushing Ozpin on to continue. "Saitama, are you aware of who I am?"

"Nope."

"S-Such a quick answer…" Even Ozpin couldn't help but react with slight dejection to Saitama's words. However, Saitama wasn't quite finished.

"I mean, I know you're the principal-headmaster-owner-whatever of this 'academy', but that's about it."

Coming back to his senses, Ozpin noddes, reaching a hand out as he began explaining. "That's correct, but not the entirety of the answer I was looking for. I am Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, and a member of Vale's ruling council." He swept his hands outwards, at the now darkened windows. "That means, of course, that I have a vested interest in protection: not only the protection of the students of my academy, but of the entirety of Vale at large."

Saitama sighed. He was already growing irritated with this explanation. It had long since passed 20 words, and unlike Ruby, it wasn't nearly as fun to listen to. However, he was able to let this one slide. Mostly due to the fact that he was tuning out the unimportant introduction part.

"For now, Saitama, you are both one of my students, and a temporary citizen of Vale. Not even a proper huntsman, you may be considered a helpful bystander at most, and an ordinary civilian at least. This fact doubles when considering that you're not even capable of using Aura, and, of course, currently have no Semblance."

Aura. Semblances.

There was those random words again. It honestly sounded like something from a shonen manga to Saitama, but apparently, it was really important here. He guessed it had to do with those magic-looking symbols the Ice girl made, or Ruby's weird thing where she turned into flower petals. Not that he cared much about it - he was still punching fine without any of that 'Aura' or 'Semblance'.

'It would be kinda cool to have some sort of extra superpower, though, wouldn't it? What if I could fly…for real?'

Ozpin stared at Saitama, the young man seemingly momentarily lost in thought. He was average-looking in every way. Even with the regal colors of Beacon Academy's uniform on him, it was hard to say that he looked any better than a passerby on the road.

But that was merely on the surface.

"However…with these eyes, I can judge something deeper within you, Saitama. Your full potential…is one that I cannot possibly fathom. A bottomless strength, that only seems to grow in size the longer I observe it."

'Is this old guy a stalker or something?'

Saitama resisted the urge to say that out loud, barely keeping it inside. He was really getting better at this sort of thing.

"It would not be untrue to say that this is the real reason I designated you as the only solo student. A rare existence, even in the long history of huntsman academies." Ozpin gave the teen a wry smile. "To be honest, I've had to come up with exactly what this role will entail, myself, while you recovered from your…interesting display during orientation. I-"

Saitama held up a hand, silencing Ozpin, who stared at the teen with widened eyes. "Is…something the matter, Mr. Saitama?"

"I was kind of just letting most of it go in one ear and out the other, but now I'm getting a little tired of it. I don't need all the long explanation. Just tell me what you want me to do in 20 words or less."

"..." Ozpin couldn't' help but allow an exasperated sweatdrop to fall down his face. Even so, he managed a laugh. "You truly are a special student, Saitama. Very well, then." He narrowed his eyes, thinking on his next sentence, before speaking.

"You will work anonymous missions, similar to mercenary work, all issued by me. You will also be paid, of course."

"That's all you had to say, Oz-sir. I'll gladly do it." Saitama's blank expression turned to one of absolute seriousness and confidence at the mere mention of being paid.

He was desperately looking for a way to get out of mooching on Jaune. He really wanted his own money. But more than anything…the offer just felt right.

"Hmm…are you certain, Saitama? Even the most talented of first years aren't allowed actual combat missions until the middle of their second year at Beacon. Moreover, considering your strength, your missions may be much worse. Filled with…well, they certainly will not be easy."

"What's the big deal? All I'm doing is some part-time hero, no, Huntsman work. Fighting a little, and then coming back. I don't get why I should be scared, I mean…I'm just going to punch whoever needs to get punched. Like I always do."

Saitama's casual confidence took Ozpin aback for a second. Yes, it was confidence. Not arrogance, or misplaced belief. Saitama was completely sure in his ability to win, no matter the opponent, and didn't seem to believe for a second that he could be swayed.

While the yawning teen in front of him would look like nothing much to anyone else, that sort of self-confidence, unwavering mental strength, and last but certainly not least, his overwhelming display of power…Saitama was already far beyond his peers.

"Just make sure to pay me on time, though. It's not like I need money to help people, but I'm kind of broke right now."

"..of course. You'll find I don't exactly enjoy having to break my promises."

Well, while the teen could use some polishing when it came to the finer parts of his attitude, that was all well and good for now. Strong student or not, Saitama was still a teen. Ozpin was never of the belief that these young huntsmen-to-be should have to be perfectionists, in the first place.

Proportional to his extraordinary strength, Saitama would find himself growing in an extraordinarily harsh environment, one that would turn him into a gem. Still, he would enjoy his student life like any other.

'He, and all the other young prospective guardians of this world will have to toss aside that youthful innocence soon enough. They should at least enjoy it while they can. Though Saitama's personality flaws don't exactly strike me as youthful indiscretion…'

"We can work out the finer details later. For now, I believe you should be getting to your first set of official classes, Saitama. They should be easy to find, considering the fact that you had quite the eager tour guide."

"Huh? Oh, yeah…"

Saitama remained in his chair even after Ozpin spoke, staring blankly at the wall behind him. Ozpin's gaze drilled into Saitama's, first showing confusion, then a grim understanding, and then acceptance.

"I'll take the lead once more."

"Phew, thanks, dude. I was seriously worried."

Saitama opened the door into a wide-open classroom. It felt less like a highschool classroom, and more like a college lecture hall, a part of his previous life he vaguely remembered before diving into the hell of job-hunting. The job-hunting that led him to become a hero in the first place.

'I guess this is an elite's school for you. Everything just looks like money.'

The teen couldn't help but grin. If that old man's deal came through, he would get a slice of that sweet, sweet pie…but, as he dwelled on that thought, there was a much more fundamental part of his extracurricular duties that interested him.

Mercenary work. Finding bad guys and beating them up, to keep both his fellow students, and this city safe…it was like he was heading into hero work once again. He couldn't help but smile to himself.

"COMRADE!"

A familiar shout echoed throughout the room, as Nora Valkyrie bounded over rows and rows of seats to make her way over to Saitama. Instinctually, he raised an open palm up, completing an immaculate, secret handshake that the both of them had made up right on the spot. The pink blur stepped back, a wide grin on her face.

"Pancake girl. Nice to see somebody I know in here, at least."

"Nora! It's Nora, comrade! It's good to finally see you among the living! I'm gonna be honest, I thought you were going to sleep foreeeeeee~ver." Nora led Saitama over to a set of seats, with team RWBY sitting in one row, and team JNPR in the next.

"Don't be silly, Nora. You know that's impossible." Ren waved her away, only for Nora to roll her eyes as she plopped back into her seat.

"Impossible? Impossible?! We watched Saitama solo a bunch of Elementals a few days ago, that's what's impossible! What the heck does 'impossible' even mean anymore?!"

"Nora doooooooooes sort of have a point, Ren." Ruby piped in, leaning down from her seat above. "Not like I was hoping for Saitama to sleep forever or something - but I bet there's a Grimm out there somewhere that could do it!"

"I mean…it definitely wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen before." Saitama added, after some thought. He had fought things like living car-people, boxing lightbulbs, and honest to god aliens before. Some weird sleepy-monster seemed pretty basic compared to that.

"That is…an absolutely terrifying thought, Ruby." Jaune shook his head, doing his best to shake away the chills on his body, as well. He quickly turned his attention to Saitama, his smile rising. "Well, I am glad you're alright, Sai. Not that I ever really doubted you wouldn't recover just fine."

"Yeah, with that bod, I bet you were just napping away a good few days! Didja really even get hurt, steel abs?" Yang snickered, with Ruby turning red in embarrassment from her sister's words.

"O-Oh, shut it, Yang! Saitama, please don't listen to her, she can just sort of be…u-ummmm…you know."

"Honest? Because I feel like that's the word you're looking for, little sis. I'm just saying it as it is, that Saitama guy is toned as hell!"

"Sis-!"

"Well…though I am offering my well-wishes last, I am also glad to see that you're fine, Saitama." Pyrrha spoke with a smile, having a much more calm aura around her.

Saitama couldn't help but smile. It wasn't something he'd usually do, but with his emotions here, he could say one thing - he loved this sight. Having friends around, sharing stupid jokes and looking out for one another…maybe he could have a group of friends as well-knit as the friends he had slowly made in his old life.

Nobody could replace them. But he was more than willing to make some new memories.

There were only two exceptions to this, two blatantly obvious examples. Blake, the black-haired girl, who was just silently reading a book, and Weiss, the ice-queen type that was pouring over a textbook related to the class. Blake felt withdrawn, but Weiss was letting off a completely unapproachable aura.

Considering that, Saitama decided to take a seat closer to Ruby, avoiding the other two "members" of team RWBY like the plague.

He talked a little more to the others, while preparing for the class.

"So, what the heck are we supposed to learn anyways? I've got no idea." Saitama folded his arms, staring blankly at the giant chalkboard.

"Wow, you really are clueless about anything involving huntsmen, huh?" Yang chuckled, kicking her feet up while leaning against the back of her seat.

"It's history. But not just any history…history taught by…geeeeugh, Oobleck." Nora explained while shuddering, wrapping her arms around herself. "He's awesome, but he also sucks."

"You only dislike him because he often catches you when you're trying to take naps, Nora." Ren corrected, and Nora slammed a fist on the table.

"You're darn right! That's precious sleep he's interrupting!" Nora fired back at Ren, who just sighed. Saitama leaned back in his seat, letting out a dissatisfied groan.

"What's more important is that I can't just sleep this class away. That's serious bad luck."

"Oh, it's fine. You just have to be sneaky about fooling around! I always make a few good jokes in Oobleck's class." Ruby admitted, a rare mischievous smile on her face. "Remnant's history is cool, but we're not really learning anything new…"

"Of course you would think that."

Weiss' voice came out almost silent, barely above a whisper. Only Saitama and Ruby caught it. Ruby froze up, her shoulders lowering a little, but as for Saitama, he stared right into Weiss eyes.

He remembered Ruby's pained expression talking to Ozpin. How she seemed to be weighed down by something invisible. Hearing Weiss' words, practically muttered, he understood almost everything immediately.

Still, he wasn't stupid. This was a bunch of drama. It wasn't his role to try to step in and play hero in people's social lives. But to be honest, Saitama didn't care about any of that. Thinking of Ruby's bright, smiling face, he just spoke his mind.

"Weiss…you're probably the kind of person that can't get any friends, huh?"

The room suddenly became so silent, that one could hear a pin drop. And then, Weiss opened her mouth to speak, fuming already.

"Okayclass! Idohopeyouallhavehadyourfilloftalkingfornow! WearenowgoingtocontinueourprimerintroductiontoRemnant'shistory!"

Oobleck's words blended together, as he dived into the lesson. Team RWBY and Team JNPR focused entirely on the lesson, trying their hardest to leave the awkward moment behind. Saitama decided he'd listen a little bit, too.

Meanwhile, Weiss Schnee sat still, silently fuming while she, for once, found herself not caring about the lesson.

'This…is all so wrong.'

Chapter Text

"I'm telling you, things are getting messed up, man. Everything is just falling apart around here!"

The muffled voice of a man echoed into the silent Vale night. His name was Billy Joe, currently standing guard in front of a large steel gate. Behind him was an imposing black building, windows covered in thick steel bars, security cameras pointing in every direction, and other guards on regular patrol around the premises.

More importantly was his fellow guard, Billy Bob, standing beside him. Both wore high-tech black carbon-fiber suits, with tinges of blue and white lighting inlaid within it. The telltale sign of Atlas-patented items.

Bob yawned, staring ahead and into the darkness of the streets. He looked completely uninterested in the conversation, even while he replied.

"Nah, it ain't all that surprising. I mean, it's the White Fang. Isn't their whole thing terrorism now?"

Joe threw an immediate glare at his coworker, his muffled voice straining through the mesh of the helmet around his head.

"But that still doesn't explain anything! When I was young, the Fang was just a bunch of peaceful protestors. Now? They're going around, killing people! I don't know what caused them to change, but it's just not right. Especially on top of what's going on with Torchwick and Ash."

Bob scoffed, rolling his eyes at Joe's words.

"'Not right', huh? I mean, I'm not tryin' to say anything by this, but don't you think it was kinda obvious that this would eventually happen? They were just tickin' time bombs, waiting to blow up. I don't know what lit the fuse, but I do know one thing: we should've stomped out their group a long time ago."

"And whose fault is it that they're even like that, huh? Think we're blameless for it?" Joe countered, focusing on the street in front of them again. "People like me and you, that just ignored them, or forced our biases on them…for…I don't know, years? Decades? Ever since the War, that's for sure."

"Another bunch of excuses. Everyone suffered from the war. Faunus, Humans, we all lost somebody. If they need excuses to be made for them, maybe they don't deserve that thoughtfulness in the first place. This is just them showing their true nature. Hell, they might as well be allies of Grimm, with all the unnecessary chaos they're causing."

A silent tension was left between the two guards, faces unreadable beneath the layers of armor they wore over their bodies. Eventually, Joe sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright…I'll leave it here for tonight. We're supposed to be focusing on guarding this Vault tonight, anyways. The bosses are worried we're going to be the next on Torchwick's list. Or worse, Ash's."

"Right. I'll take guard work any day over that uncomfortable talk. With these fancy new suits that came in with the recent shipments from Atlas, I'm feeling extra confident."

Bob was too happy to ditch the conversation, instead staring ahead into the darkness of the nighttime city and resuming his focused watch. Vale's streets were scarcely populated at night, leaving nothing but empty road in front of them. There wasn't anything to see, but being experienced guards, the two knew that anything could happen, especially considering recent events.

They lost themselves in the darkness, minds empty but eyes vigilant.

That was why the loud sound of alarms blaring in the building behind them immediately caught their focus. It wasn't just one alarm, however, but two, screaming over the once-silent air. The two recognized it immediately - the sound of both the 'Intruder' alarm, and the 'Vault Compromised' alarms, overlapping one another.

"You're kidding me." Bob groaned, exhaustion practically dripping off of him. "Did we jinx it earlier? Damn it, I should've just ignored what you were saying."

"Don't blame me for the alarms, Bob. We knew the risks when we signed up for this thing. Let's go and earn our Lien." Joe narrowed his eyes, turning towards the gate. As if on cue, the radio in his back pocket blared to life, the strained voice of one of the interior guards coming through.

' All units, a dust robbery is in progress! I repeat, a dust robbery in progress! Suspected to be known criminal Roman Torchwick and an unknown accomplice! All units head towards the center vault. Intruders have escaped initial combat, but are assumed to still be within the vault, or the building's immediate perimeter!'

The moment the message finished, Joe walked over to a nearby scanner, waving his ID card, which began to open the gate, it slid open, while the two guards began to walk in.

"At least we don't have to chase them down." Bob cracked his neck, while walking to the entrance. Joe sighed, shaking his head at the man's nonchalant attitude.

"You're seriously too lazy for a guard, you know that?"

"It's all about working smart these days, Joe. Not hard. Besides, what are the chances that they get past every other guard and alarm even if they were on their way out? Roman Torchwick's good, but not that good. Hell, we might put an end to his string of robberies tonight." Bob spoke with confidence, confidence that only made Joe glower in uncertainty.

"Sure hope you're right." Joe took one scan around the perimeter, keeping a vigilant eye out for any possible strangers around. However, all he saw were the empty streets.

"Sure am right. Just like I was about the White Fang, even if you don't want to admit it."

"Now is seriously not the time, Bob!"

The two guards disappeared into the vault's entrance, while the heavy-looking gate slowly came to a close behind them. It had almost fully locked, when in a split-second, a pair of shadows slid through, out onto the open streets.

They darted into a nearby alleyway at a breakneck pace, easily fading into the night, and far away from the building, leaving the sound of blaring alarms and alert guards behind. Laughter came from the two, mocking and cheerful at once.

"Talk about laughing my way from the bank! Those suckers still don't even know what hit 'em. All thanks to you, Neo."

A light momentarily shined on the pair, from a streetlight above, briefly illuminating their figures. It revealed Roman Torchwick, and his associate, Neo, who wore a similar piece of high-tech armor that the guards had been outfitted in.

They slowed down after a while, now crossing through open streets and alleyways.

Some looked at them, then quickly turned their gazes away. Anyone who was walking down the same road either immediately turned around, or made as much distance as they could between the two. Nobody bothered saying a word about the suspicious loads they were carrying, or the armor that Neo wore, only focused on staying the hell out of the way of the two criminals.

In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that those who had even noticed their presence would force themselves to 'forget' that such a thing had ever happened.

Now that they had some breathing room, Neo looked at Roman and gave him a sly smile, appreciative of his compliments. She then looked at the - relatively - small haul of dust they had, in the form of the duffel bags in their arms, then back to Roman, her gaze questioning.

"-huh? Ah…yeah, guess this isn't exactly our biggest haul, huh?" She nodded to Roman's question, while they slowed their pace, leisurely turning the next corner. "Well, this wasn't really our usual thing for a reason. Think of it more like…a test run. We aren't amateurs, but it doesn't hurt to make sure you can walk before you start running."

When Neo's questioning gaze persisted, Roman went on to explain more.

"See, I needed to make sure we still had it. You know, our skills, from back in the day. When there weren't any hired goons, called in favors, or outside help at all. When it was just me and you, making a name for ourselves. I mean, goons are great, don't get me wrong! Cheap, easy to control, expendable…but you can't trust them. Not really. You usually can't trust anyone, in this line of work."

He stopped in front of an inconspicuous-looking, run-down building, setting down one of the bags to quickly unlock the door, before picking it right back up and sliding in. Neo followed, after taking a quick look around them. The door clicked locked behind them, and glass quietly shattered and spread on the ground, as the camouflage Neo had put up to hide their entry faded away into dust.

The inside of the unassuming building was just as disappointing as the exterior. By all appearances, it was a small, dusty, and unclean apartment. There were signs of life, like discarded clothing everywhere, half-drunken alcohol bottles, and a few discarded take-out boxes. A messy apartment with a messy person living within.

At least, that was the image that it presented. A carefully crafted image, the first layer of deception - and for the two criminals - protection, of this hideout.

Roman and Neo stepped through the mess with practiced ease, ignoring all of it as they headed for the door to the bedroom. Roman stopped for a second, turning to look at Neo to make a point.

" Obviously, they're not like you, Neo. That's something I like - no, love about you. Competent help itself isn't hard to come by in our work, but someone I can trust my back to? Now that's a hell of a lot rarer. That's why I'm such a lucky little criminal!"

Neo smiled brightly, a sign Roman took to keep moving and talking.

"When it comes down to the toughest jobs, goons aren't going to help us. A few huntsmen, hell, a few of those brats from the huntsmen academies might even be enough to take our operations out. Remember that day I went to talk business to Junior about borrowing some of his goons? Yeah, the poor guy got his entire place trashed by some kid the same night! Sad, really. And when I was still focusing on grabbing Dust from small shops, some little red-hooded girl came in and busted up everything! Considering a huntress showed up, I was really almost screwed. Well…I do know my way out of a tight situation or two, so it wasn't that hard."

His words of sympathy were practically dripping sarcasm, and he focused more on their surroundings as they entered the bedroom. It was similarly messy and dusty, except for one specific part of the room. There was an obvious suspiciously well-kept wardrobe in the corner, pristine compared to the rest of the room.

The way it stood out was hopelessly alluring, like it was inviting anyone to come and investigate it, for how suspicious it was.

Roman opened it, and pressed a secret switch along the inside of the wood, opening the back of the wardrobe and revealing a 'secret' room. It had a table, one littered with plans, "important locations", and random notes, alongside a safe in the corner that seemed to obviously contain some large sum of Lien.

The second layer of defense and deception in the hideout. A 'secret room', meant to satisfy any curious do-gooders or otherwise in their little searches. They'd find lots of (insubstantial) cash, and a bunch of (fake) plans and hideout locations.

Like clockwork, Roman and Neo walked past all of that, and instead went for an inconspicuous, crappy rug on the floor. Roman kicked it aside, only to reveal…nothing. Just the plain floor underneath. Or, so it seemed.

"Neo, if you'd do the honors?"

With an over-exaggerated bow, Neo would tap the ground twice, with her feet, causing dust-sized shards of glass to spread along the entirety of the ground. They disappeared, revealing that the entire floor had been an illusion, hiding the real floor, which had a small wooden trapdoor within.

The last layer of protective deception. An illusion that covered the entire floor, only breakable with the knowledge that something had to be broken.

"Do I absolutely love seeing that happen. Neo, you're better than any of that fancy - trackable and hackable - tech out there. I mean, for having to steal from an Atlas shipment, that armor was really easy to get our hands on, huh?"

Neo snickered with what seemed like mischief, though nothing but empty huffs of air left her throat. Without any further ado, the two climbed down the hatch, and Neo renewed the illusion with the snap of her fingers while she disappeared down the ladder, leading into yet another separate room.

This one was far more neat than the others above, looking like a mix between a bedroom, and a well-organized office. There was a wardrobe with the shared clothing of Roman and Neo, a signboard which had the actually important places on it, and bits of information scattered everywhere, along with a large wooden table that had similar stuffed duffel bags to what they were carrying.

It was the true form of their usual hideouts, the entrances hidden by Neo's semblance, within a secret room, within the entire house, which all was just a front, to which their entry into was, again, hidden by Neo's semblance

It was a little expensive and time-consuming, but Roman and Neo had many such intricate hideouts everywhere through Vale. This sort of clever and thorough deception, alongside Neo's unique skills, were a part of the secret behind Roman Torchwick's success in continually evading authorities. That, and his intimidation of anyone who even dared to attempt reporting them.

"Home sweet home…is what I would say, if I actually gave a rat's behind about this place. Just another throwaway hideout, but it's our room for the night. Let's get the dust out and start counting. I'll finish what I was saying."

Neo nodded, the both of them setting out the contents of their bags onto the table in front of them. What spilled out of the bags wasn't dust, like one would expect - but pure dust crystals, the likes of which could only be found in high-end dust shops, and of course, dust vaults, both of which were incredibly well-guarded, high security building that barely anyone bothered to think about robbing.

"To cut past all the fluff…Ash is moving in. And they're moving in just a little too fast for my liking. It feels worse than my days running from the 'Spider'."

Roman's words made Neo pause. She slowly turned to look at him with a rare expression in her eyes - worry. Rather than moving to her scroll, her hands moved in what was unmistakably sign language, foregoing typing to instead more directly express her feelings.

He sighed, his gaze remaining on the crystals. He was skilled enough in recognizing it to tell what she was signing to him from the corners of his vision.

'Things are getting dangerous. Do we need to run?'

"No, no. Anything but that. Running, I mean. Sure, I'm not a guy who's exactly afraid to cut my losses and move on, but I don't think we're out of options, yet." Roman pointed at the bags of dust crystals. "That's why we did this heist first. Before-"

'Getting in contact with our 'future workforce'. Right?'

Neo mimicked his words said a few days ago, to which Roman smiled and nodded to.

"Well, you are a girl after my own heart, Neo. No wonder you'd understand, even without me saying." He placed both his hands on the table. "See, we worked a little too hard to rule this town to hand it over to some murderous amateurs. I'm not the type to fight monsters, but I'm sure as hell not gonna stand back and let them ruin me. Not again."

Roman's expression shifted to a much more serious grimace. Neo threw a worried glance his way, but the tension was short lived, as Roman stood up straight.

"So! Knowing we can't beat them together, all we can do is team up with someone else, right? And there's really only one other set of competent people left still operating in Vale. We can't hire goons, but…how about we take a page out of the huntsman's' books? Let's get a team together."

Neo frowned at the implication, but she didn't disagree with his idea. Instead, she just looked at the dust crystals for a second, and then signed something to Roman quickly. He laughed, shaking his head.

"Of course we're not giving all of it to them! Just because I'm trying to work with them doesn't mean we gotta share everything with them, right? Come on, Neo. I'm a scoundrel, not a sucker."

She smiled brightly, and turned her attention back to the dust crystals, the two of them counting their soon-to-be bargaining chips with a certain glee only they could share together.

Wind rushed through the wide-open auditorium, with the sound of metal clashing and bullets whistling through the air. The sounds of combat echoed inside of Beacon's auditorium, as Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos clashed in a fight that was far too intense for a mere practice battle.

Combat class was in session.

Weiss Schnee, sitting alone in a corner of the stands, was absolutely seething. Her eyes were cold, but a heat that came from sheer anger radiated from every pore of her body. Her proper demeanor was barely kept thanks to the endless hours of forced etiquette training she had endured.

She watched intently, as Ruby and Pyrrha traded blows like it was nothing.

Pyrrha never took a single hit. As always, she was practically invincible. Her movements weren't flashy or rigid, but precise and agile. She dodged Ruby's attacks by a hair's breadth, and then ruthlessly countered.

For example…currently, Ruby had jumped off the ground, propelling herself with a powerful shot from her scythe's barrel to close in on Pyrrha with extremely accelerated speed, turning into rose petals as she activated her Semblance. The sound of her gun reloading echoed through the arena, but Ruby was so fast that it couldn't be seen.

However, Pyrrha heard it.

Pyrrha switched her spear into its' rifle mode, waiting until the last moment to duck beneath the blur of petals Ruby had become, and then shooting at her with incredible accuracy.

However, that was where Ruby showed her creativity - a split second before being shot out of the wall, Ruby deactivated her Semblance midair, switching her Scythe into its' rifle mode and shooting at the ground.

The recoil allowed her to switch directions, with Ruby carrying her momentum and speed as she circled around Pyrrha, reloading her gun while she flew through the air in a circle, reaching Pyrrha's back. While flying through the air, she took the time to quickly reload again, readjusting her aim towards Pyrrha with a significant bit of difficulty, firing off a barely-accurate midair shot.

Pyrrha noted Ruby's' reloading again, and calmly, quickly turned to face the girl.

While Ruby needed creativity to keep up with Pyrrha, Pyrrha was far ahead of any moves Ruby could make.

She knew the sound of Ruby's sniper-rifle both after it had fired, and when it needed reloading. She was also aware of the fact that Ruby seemingly needed to reload after every shot, likely because she didn't have time to push a full magazine of ammunition into Crescent Rose.

Ruby was also mid-air, which left her highly vulnerable, without many possible moves.

In other words, now was the time to finish the duel.

Pyrrha blocked the shot with her shield, shrugging it off easily with her superior power. In that short moment, Ruby was left still in the air, reloading and with no way to reactivate her semblance or change her momentum with her weapon. The experienced warrior moved in with ruthless speed and efficiency. She threw her shield at Ruby after blocking the hit, with the shield bashing against Ruby's body with a loud, painful impact.

Pyrrha stood ready, having already poised herself to fire off a shot at Ruby to finish her off, but there was no need.

Ruby was sent flying, her body roughly skidding against the ground and her Aura crackling as all of her combined damage finally came to a head. She nearly smashed into the arena wall, but stopped just short of it.

Her Aura didn't break, but it did reach a critical threshold that made the teacher - Glynda, step in and end the duel, not mentioning the fact that Ruby was more than surely done for the fight.

"And that'll be the end of today's practice match. Miss Nikos wins the duel!"

The entire class cheered, the tense silence that had been filling the arena disappearing in an instant. Usually the students were much more vocal about these practice matches, but it was inevitable that such a huge matchup would have a much more focused audience.

"You almost got her, Ruby!" Jaune shouted from the stands, with a smile on his face.

"A battle well fought." Ren nodded respectfully, and Nora brightly added,

"A battle SUPER well fought!"

"That's my little sis!" Yang shouted proudly, more like a prideful mother than an encouraging big sister.

Ruby got up with a blush on her face, and a small smile. She was feeling woozy, but she managed to shake it off. Pyrhha, who had approached Ruby, smiled and reached a hand out to her, after picking up her fallen shield. Ruby gladly took it, steadying herself with her classmates' help.

"You did excellently, Ruby. It was a good duel."

"Well…I didn't manage to beat you, but…at least I did pretty good, right? At least I got to see that cool rifle-form of your spear!" Ruby chuckled. She wasn't able to be fully proud, but she took what praise she could get. It had been a long time since anyone congratulated her on doing a good job. When she looked up at the stands, even Blake, who was normally aloof and distant, was clapping a little bit. She wasn't smiling or cheering, but that sight was more than enough to make things feel just a little brighter.

However, when she looked at Weiss…it was almost like all of the happiness she accumulated just went away.

' Weiss…'

The heiress was sitting there, her arms folded and gaze narrowed onto Ruby, with an unreadable set of emotions behind it. Sure, there was anger, but Ruby couldn't tell what else Weiss was feeling behind those eyes.

'I don't understand anything about her. Not what she's feeling, why she became a huntress…nothing. What sort of partner…most importantly, leader, can't say any of that stuff? Maybe…maybe I lost because of that. Because I'm just, not good enough.''

"...y. …by? Ruby? Ruby Rose? Are you okay? Do you require a visit to the infirmary?"

A stern voice woke the girl from her troubling thoughts. Glynda was speaking to her with a worried gaze, and Ruby looked around, only just getting her bearings back after trailing off. Both Team JNPR and Yang were doing much the same.

Ruby shook her head, putting a smile on her face while she headed for the bleachers.

"N-no! Um, no ma'am. I was just a little distracted, thinking about the fight just now, haha. Pyrrha really got me good with her shield!"

Glynda sighed, shaking her head. "Well, if you say so, Miss Rose." The teacher walked into the center of the arena. With a wave of her riding crop, surrounded in a purplish glow, all of the damage to the auditorium's arena essentially disappeared, reverting the area to pristine condition.

The hologram which showed the two combatants' aura levels also changed, turning into what looked like a freshly-made recording of the battle.

"Now then class, I'm sure you all were properly paying attention to that battle, enough to answer some questions and do a proper analysis of each of your fellow students' tactics?"

The entire class groaned.

"This is the worst part of what would be an awesome class…" Nora groaned, collapsing in her seat. She immediately sat back up to attention after noticing Glynda's gaze on her, laughing nervously.

"Hmm…I almost wished she had called on you, Nora. I would have liked to hear your in-depth analysis. I'm sure you would have had much to comment on."

Nora poured, turning to Ren with false-teary eyes. "Ren, you traitor!"

While Glynda's gaze lingered on Nora for a while after her outburst, causing her to freeze a bit, she slowly turned to someone else…Saitama, who was also sitting in the stands. He wasn't far away from Weiss, and had just been watching the battle with a bored expression on his face, almost falling asleep, in fact.

"Saitama." The woman called on him, her brows twitching in what couldn't quite be called mild annoyance.

"Oh…huh? Did someone call my name?" Saitama yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes while he roused to wakefulness. This carefree comment made Glynda's whole body twitch with anger, her hands tightly grasping the handle of her riding crop.

"Yes. Yes, in fact, I did call your name, Saitama. Since you were paying such rapt attention…how about we begin by you giving us your very own play-by-play of the battle?" Glynda's barely restrained anger turned into a much more frightening smile, as she slapped the riding crop against her palm with purpose.

"...crap, I wasn't paying attention at all." Saitama muttered to himself, something which practically sealed his fate. Regardless, the video began to play, and Glynda began drilling him on questions about the fight. Questions which he obviously had no chance of answering.

"Sai, seriously? Of all the classes to start falling asleep in…" Jaune shook his head, his palm pressed against his temple in exasperation. That was his best friend there, but he was seriously the worst of the worst when it came to paying attention.

"And because of it, he's about to get a good old yapping session from Miss Goodwitch! I'm sure most boys here would kill for that." Yang joked, laughing off Saitama's impending doom. "He should've paid more attention to my little sis' important first duel if he didn't want trouble."

"Don't say that, Yang…although I am kind of peeved he wasn't paying any attention at all. With how strong he is, I bet his advice would've been helpful!" Ruby shook her head, absentmindedly paying attention to Saitama's punishment for a while. However, she couldn't help eventually turning her attention to Weiss, who looked red enough to the point that she may as well have been steaming and ready to explode.

' This half-brained dolt…not only does he speak rudely to me, he interrupts me by sitting next to me and blatantly sleeping, only then to not be able to answer a single question from the teacher?! How could a student like this become an exception to the long-held tradition of Huntsmen Academies? If I were allowed to work alone, I would be far more satisfied! Far more attentive, and far more aware of the position I'd hold!''

Weiss balled her hands into fists, only her aura stopping her from making herself bleed.

' A freakishly strong idiot, and an underqualified petulant child! Both of whom hold things they do not deserve.'

Were they just random students, riffraff she could ignore, it would mean nothing to her…at least, it wouldn't mean as much as it did, now. However, Ruby and Saitama's mere existences were spitting in her face. In the face of everything she had done. The years spent gaining approval as the official heiress, the hell she had put herself through to even get approval to go to Beacon, she had put so much on the line just to be here, only to have these two somehow placed above her?

She was Weiss Schnee, not only did she deserve more than this, but she had worked for more than this. On a fundamental level, she could not abide by the mere presence of Ruby and Saitama in her school life. Even worse that one of them was her teammate, her partner, her leader.

Hours, hours, and hours, of bloodstained, painstaking, miserable work to train herself and study. All of that was being mocked by the two students down there.

A team leadership position that should've been hers. A team with Pyrra that should have been hers. Praise from Pyrrha and the teacher that should have been hers. The ideal school life she imagined, finally away from her hellish home…that should've been hers.

"You have no choice but to be the best, Weiss. Any performances unbefitting of a heiress is a display of weakness. One more failure, and I will have to truly begin beating what you must do into you. Am I understood?"

"You miserable child…at the very least, try to become a little more useful to me, more than your mother was, after I married her."

"...you're probably the kind of person that can't get any friends, huh?"

Weiss slammed a hand down on her nearby table, an uncharacteristically angry and sudden reaction from the usually silent, stewing heiress. The entire class turned to look at her, Glynda included.

"Is something the matter, Ms. Schnee?" Glynda inquired, immediately putting aside Saitama's scolding. She moved to walk towards the girl, worry in her eyes, only for Weiss to look up with an already composed, perfected expression. There wasn't a trace of distress to be found in her serene, held-together face.

Her mask, her shield, was up once more.

"Yes, ma'am, I do apologize for the noise. My hand slipped and hit the desk with a bit more force than I was expecting. Actually, I was hoping to ask…could I possibly see you after class?"

It wasn't even a good lie. Everyone there could tell that something was bothering her. But Weiss' matter-of-fact voice, and her undisturbed expression sold it. Sold it to most people, that was.

"If you say so. We can speak after class has concluded for the day. As for you…" Glynda nodded, before throwing her glare back to Saitama, who seemed to have been completely undisturbed by everything so far, standing with his eyes holding a vacant expression. She sighed, shaking her head.. "...take your seat, Mister Saitama. We'll go over the recording as a class now."

The entire class, sans Ruby focused on the hologram projection that showed a replay of the demonstration duel between herself and Pyrrha. Her attention was instead on Weiss, who looked to be staring off into the distance with a blank expression. Ruby had no idea what it meant, or what her earlier slamming of the table meant, but she could just tell one thing, from the bottom of her stomach:

Something big was coming. Whatever had been going on between her and Weiss, it would come to a head, and a soon.

And deep down, somewhere, she really hoped…she really hoped it would end with her finally getting her partner.

Weiss continued to stare into the distance, her mind occupied with just one thought.

' Ruby Rose and Saitama…I'll get rid of the two of you in one fell swoop.'

It was lunchtime, and the students of Beacon academy were swarming the cafeteria in a huge mob. While there was a large volume of students, with the Academy not exactly hosting a huge amount of them, there was still space for everyone to choose where they wanted to sit.

Taking advantage of that, Team RWBY and Team JNPR sat together, eating lunch and chatting all the while.

"The first co-team lunch of RWBY and JNPR! Ren, this is so exciting, isn't it?" Nora bounced with cheerful energy, with Ren only chuckling nervously.

"Well Nora, I…" He paused for a moment, looking over at Ruby. The younger girl had absolutely no energy of her own, only playing around with her food, a bored expression on her face. He couldn't finish whatever was going to come to his lips, unable to play along with Nora's antics, this time.

Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha all affixed Ruby with worried gazes of their own, and even Nora's seemingly infinite energy was momentarily dampered.

Ruby played with her food for awhile, before realizing the silence that had surrounded their particular bubble, looking up and around at everyone else.

"...what?"

"What it is, is that you're obviously mega down, Ruby." Nora settled down into her seat. Brightness still filled her voice, but it was also surprisingly gentle, almost soothing. "Mega cliche' line, but do you need to talk about it? No, no, you do need to talk about it. How could you not?"

"Nora, let's be a little more sensitive, oka-"

"There's nothing to be sensitive about." Ruby sighed, resting her fork down on her plate. "I mean, look at this! Nora called it a co-team dinner, but this is just a team plus a half team dinner! This isn't team RWBY, just…team RY!"

She pointed over at an empty corner of the lunchroom, where Blake quietly ate. "Blake is eating over there, by herself, again! I don't know what's up with it, but she doesn't want to even interact with any of us! But, at least she bothers to sit down in here and eat. Weiss doesn't even show up to the cafeteria anymore, because she doesn't want to see us! The only time I see her is in class or when she's going to bed in our shared dorm room!"

Ruby leaned down, folding her arms against the table and leaning into them. She sighed, burying her face into her hands.

"...this sucks. I suck."

" We suck, sis! Don't leave me out of it!" Yang added, in an attempt to cheer Ruby up. She only elicited an unmotivated groan in response.

"...I guess not all teams just gel like ours, right? But the way your team is fighting is, wellllll…yeah, it's pretty messed up. Are you guys gonna be okay?" Jaune asked, looking between the two girls.

"Jaune's right. Of course, teamwork and friendship won't always come naturally…but it seems as if your team was made with the intent to bring the most volatile personalities together…" Pyrrha commented, to which Yang huffed to.

"Volatile? Me? The only thing that's volatile about me is this bod! Put 'er there, sister!" Yang reached a hand out, to which Nora reciprocated, with an eager grin.

"Yeah!"

"Is now really the time for that?" Ren asked with exasperation, looking between the two girls.

"But you know, speaking of outliers…where the heck is Saitama? I never saw him enter the cafeteria." Jaune admitted, scanning the room from left to right. He looked down to Ruby out of curiosity, but she just shook her head, clueless, her muffled voice mumbling a reply.

"Haven't seen him since combat class…"

"Speaking of, how was he when he woke up? After over expending himself against that many Grimm, well…I can't imagine he simply walked out unscathed, emotionally or physically." Ren commented, his words causing all of them to think back to the ridiculous sight that had been engraved into their memories by now.

A single huntsman in training, just like them, taking out Elemental Grimm, possibly above the hundreds in count, singlehandedly, and with no Aura.

"You'd be surprised…sure, I've seen Saitama get hurt fighting Grimm before, but I don't think I've ever really seen him take a bad hit." Jaune added, something which surprised nobody at the table.

"When I consider his prowess…it's no surprise that he'd escape with only light injuries. Despite using no weapon, nor having any noticeable martial stance, he fought purely off of the sharpest instincts I've seen…he was like a focused, wild animal."

"And hello?! He was laughing the whole time! I enjoy clobbering a good Grimm or two, but I don't think even I could laugh at a bunch of Elementals closing in on me at once."

Ruby lifted her head, a bit of brightness returning to her eyes at the conversation of Saitama's fantastical feats. It was enough to light a tiny spark within her.

"He's really amazing, isn't he? I don't think I've ever heard of any hunter or huntress being proficient enough to be allowed to work alone. It - I mean it goes against the whole concept of how huntsmen should usually fight!" She gushed, the topic being enough to revive her enthusiasm.

Everyone smiled, especially Yang, only for Ruby to add something that would confuse the entire group. "Actually, weird enough…when I was taking Saitama to his first class, Headmaster Ozpin called him to his office."

"What?! My comrade got in trouble with those from above so quickly?!" Nora exclaimed in mock horror, to which Ruby shook her head.

"No, no-I mean, I don't think he was in trouble per say…it looked more like Ozpin called him to his office to talk about something." Ruby clarified. Ren hummed, his pink eyes searching for an answer that couldn't be found.

"Were I to take a guess, it likely has something to do with his unique status. I'm sure even the headmaster, after making the decision himself, has to find some way to deal with such a never-before-seen precedent."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement with Ren, her expression becoming downcast after a bit of time to process the information.

"It's quite the responsibility to put on one student, though. I do hope that those expectations won't do more harm than good. Expectations can be…a burden, in many ways more than one." She spoke, sincerity, and most importantly, empathy flowing into her voice. Ruby looked down at the mention of 'expectations', and the table was silent for a moment.

Then Jaune spoke up.

"Weeell, I wouldn't worry about it. Saitama has never been the type of guy to crack under pressure. If anything, it takes a supernatural amount of crazy stuff to get him to be serious at all. I-I mean, it has to. I've never seen Saitama get serious, no matter what happens."

Yang snickered, leaning back in her chair. "As if his scolding from the 'teach wasn't enough to show us how completely un-serious he is about almost anything everything."

"Still, if back then was him not giving his all…I am somewhat curious to know what Saitama would fight like were he to give it his all. Maybe I could ask him for a duel, during combat class?" Pyrrha hummed, a sentiment that the rest of the table could nod in agreement to.

They were terrified of his strength and potential as a Huntsman, but at the same time, they all, too, wanted to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. It would be a waste not to fight someone who they could learn so much from.

Just then, Saitama entered the cafeteria, looking around with a clueless expression on his face. Jaune smiled, almost on instinct.

"Speak of the casual devil - looks like he just showed up for lunch!" Jaune raised his hand, going to wave over Saitama, only to be interrupted by the sound of a loud, pained voice. Even louder than the usual din of the cafeteria.

"Ow, ow! Stop that, it hurts!"

Over in another corner of a cafeteria, a brown-haired rabbit faunus was being harassed. Her ears were being pulled roughly, while an amused-looking brown-haired student looked on with an aggravated sneer.

"I don't know how Faunus like you are even allowed into Beacon. It's just like with that blank faced idiot from before, the school must've really lowered it's standards."

The obvious display of discrimination and bullying continued like that, with most just looking away from the sight. Ruby, Yang and JNPR looked on with hatred filled expressions, however, their bodies twitching with the urge to do something.

"I thought my day couldn't get any worse, but seeing something like that just proves me wrong." Ruby spoke, her hands on the table already pushing down like she was getting ready to stand up. Yang's hand, now on her back, gently guided her to sit back down.

"Hold on, sis. I don't know her that well, but considering that she's not in our year, isn't that girl our senior here? I doubt she'd let a guy like Cardin walk all over her without something in mind. I mean, sure, he's a pretty okay fighter, but I'm sure she could kick his butt in a flash if she really wanted to."

Pyrrha shook her head, her fists tightening below the table. "Pardon my strong words, but, does that really matter, Yang? Even if she's not moving to protect herself, for whatever reason, how could we call ourselves Huntresses if we just stand by and watch?"

"Yeah, we should just go over there and break his legs!" Nora cheered, with Ren sighing.

"No leg-breaking, Nora."

"Oooooh, come on…" She pouted, sinking back into her chair. Ruby, meanwhile, was much more conflicted than anyone else at the table. Perhaps her thoughts were similar to some of the others who hadn't stepped in.

They wanted to help, but was it really their place to? In an Elite Huntsman academy, wouldn't it be considered an insult to interfere with someone else's business without them asking for your help?

' I want to be a huntress…a hero…but not someone who just helps other people for my own benefit.'

Those were Ruby's genuine thoughts. Yet, there was a part of her that didn't care. The same part that made her body itch, that urged her to activate her semblance and tackle Cardin's stupid face right to the floor.

"Lighten up, sis." Yang's voice and hand on her back brought Ruby back to reality.

"R-Right. Thanks, Yang."

Yang had an obviously worried expression, hearing Ruby's noncommittal thanks. However, more importantly than that, Yang's eyes were scanning over the crowd. They landed on her target.

Blake, who had stealthily hid herself away in another part of The cafeteria was watching the display of bullying with shaking hands, and a rare fierce look in her eyes. The sight completely shocked Yang, considering Blake's seemingly indifferent attitude towards mostly everything.

' Guess I really don't understand her, huh?'

Similarly, just how Ruby had her eyes on Weiss, so was Yang watching Blake, when she got the chance. Still thinking about how to approach her aloof partner, even Yang, the socialite she was, found herself having trouble.

Still, it was small moments like these which enabled her to understand Blake just a little better. A small positive in this chaotic moment.

"Umm…guys? I don't want to alarm all of you, but…" Jaune roused the group's attention, pointing through the crowded cafeteria, at a certain black-haired student. Saitama. The blank-faced student was walking through the cafeteria, headed directly for…Cardin, who was still pushing around the Faunus, pulling her ears and jeering at her.

"Oh, my, god! I-Is this going to be the confrontation of the century? Is my comrade going to break his legs in my place?!" Nora looked on, her eyes shining with excitement. In fact, the entire cafeteria's eyes turned towards what was sure to be a nasty impending fight. Including Blake, who watched with still-boiling anger, anger that seemed to simmer, if only for a moment, when she saw Saitama's approach.

Cardin looked up at the sound of footsteps nearing him, all too audible now that the entire cafeteria had gone nearly silent. He paused and roughly pushed the Faunus to the side. She stumbled a little, but managed to keep her footing, tears remaining in her eyes from the pain.

"Great. Guess some animal sympathizer's finally shown up, huh?" Cardin turned to face the would-be 'hero', only to pause upon seeing who it was. He smiled then, a smile that was full of immense satisfaction, that of a predator finally finding his prey. "Well, well, well…if it isn't Mr. 'Solo Student'."

Saitama stood in front of Cardin, his brown eyes looking back and forth between Velvet, who was now holding onto her sore ears, and Cardin.

"I've been waiting for a chance to expose you for the fraud you are. And you're coming to me all on your own?! Sympathizing with Faunus on top of that? Haha, this is just too-"

Cardin was cut off as Saitama immediately walked past him. Saitama ignored Cardin, instead moving over to the Faunus, who he regarded with the slightest bit of concern in his eyes.

"Hey. Are you fine?"

The brown-haired girl looked up with wide eyes, surprised and still in pain. She slowly nodded, unsure of what exactly to say.

"Good. Guess there was no reason to be worried, then."

Saitama reached a hand out, probably to help steady her, but a hand from behind flew out, grabbing onto his wrist and holding his arm in place.

"Hey. I was talking to you, and you're prioritising the animal over me? I should beat the guts out of you, just for that, but i can tell you're barely worth it."

Cardin spoke from behind Saitama. For any looking at him, his anger was obvious. His hands were shaking with barely restrained anger, his muscles were tensed and his eyebrows furrowed.

However, Saitama didn't see any of that, because he nonchalantly shook Cardin off, and sighed.

"Both you and that Wise…you guys really need to get some hobbies, if you treat people like this for fun." Saitama sighed, turning around to face Cardin for the first time.

There was no righteous fury, or frightened anxiety…just like always, Saitama had nothing on his face.

"At least I can agree with you on one thing: it'd be a serious waste of time to punch you. I'd rather eat."

"You…!"

Cardin exploded in anger, and pulled his left arm back. A bright glow surrounded his entire body, before coalescing into his arm.

"Alright, tough guy…if you're so high and mighty, how about you deal with this?!"

Panicked voices filled the cafeteria, as students began to freak out, getting up from their seats and running for the exits. Some stayed behind to watch, and others seemed ready to jump into action, much like RWBY and JNPR. Meanwhile, Saitama just stood firm, blankly staring into his fist.

"Ok."

"T-that's…he's putting far too much aura into that punch!" Pyrrha exclaimed. She was the first to try and get up, feeling a sense of urgency. However, she was stopped in place. By Jaune's hand on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry so much, Pyrrha. Sai's got this." His nonchalant words gave Pyrrha pause for a moment, before she replied with clearly forced calmness.

"Jaune, you are relatively new to Aura, so you may not know this. When one channels their Aura into their body, it significantly enhances their physical abilities. And Cardin…as arrogant as he is, has an incredible amount of and control over his Aura. That sort of punch could take any of us out, and all Saitama is doing is…standing there!"

Pyrrha explained, her voice frantic as she looked between Jaune and the scene unfolding.

"Pyrrha's right, Jaune. I know Saitama's strong, but this sort of thing is too much for someone without Aura to handle. We have to stop this." Ruby also got up from her seat, with Yang following her.

"That guy needs a serious reality check if he thinks he can go this far with no consequences." Yang grinned, taking Ruby's standing as a sign for her to get moving.

"Oooh, leg-breaking is so back on the menu~!" Nora practically bounced out of her seat, only for Jaune to sigh and shake his head.

"Well…I'm really glad you guys are worried for him, but…I mean it, guys. Don't. You're not going to help Saitama, you're just going to end up putting yourselves in danger."

Everyone paused. Even Blake, who had still been sitting in the rear of the cafeteria stared on with absolute confusion at Jaune's words.

"... what? I'm just telling the truth. Look."

That moment of pause was enough for Cardin to throw his punch forward. It was slow, but devastating. His dark brown aura coated his fist, shining enough to blind anyone looking directly at it.

In that instant, Saitama lunged forward at an insane speed, his movements simple. Not efficient, like Pyrrha's, but just effortless. He slipped past Cardin's punch easily, raising his fist at the same time, into a devastating cross counter. Cardin's eyes widened, but he was too slow to react.

"N-no!"

He yelled, voice and face distorting in something like a childish fear and disbelief none of it enough to save him. With Saitama's fist only inches away from Cardin's face, Saitama…stopped, perfectly halting all of his momentum.

Air lightly whipped around Cardin's face, rushing past him and through the rest of the room.

"See?"

He stepped back, turning away from Cardin and walking over to Velvet.

"Not worth fighting at all."

Saitama's words rang out through the empty cafeteria, all too loud for Cardin, who was shaking with anger. Cardin grit his teeth, turning around and storming out of the cafeteria, punching a large dent into the wall on his way out.

Saitama turned his gaze down to the brown-haired girl, staring at her blankly, while the rabbit Faunus shrank back.

"What…exactly is it?"

"...where do I go to get food? I think all the lunch ladies ran away."

"..."

"..."

"...did I…say something wrong? Food. I'm hungry. Uh…you can speak the langauge, right?"

"You're really something, aint'cha?" Yang was the first to speak up, drawing Saitama's attention. He turned his head her way, and his eyes slightly widened upon seeing the group.

"Oh, hey…blonde girl. I didn't even notice you guys were over there."

Yang snickered, bounding out of her seat. "Didn't even remember my name to get it wrong, huh? I'm hurt." She feigned pain, while the others got up to follow her.

"Still, I can't believe it…to think you would risk it all on dodging and going for a counter, especially towards such a risky punch. Who knows what would have happened to Cardin if it went through…that was reckless." Pyrrha's words just made Nora laughed, as she bounced behind the group.

"Easy, he'd have broken his face instead of his legs! Even better!"

"I told you he had it handled, guys." Jaune waved off everyone's surprise, as he walked over to the Faunus, giving a little apologetic bow of his head. "But still, sorry. It's not so good that we all just sat there and let it happen."

"Y-Yeah…I was a little frozen, myself." Ruby admitted, standing next to Jaune. "I never thought we'd have something like that happen at Beacon. I'm really sorry that nobody moved to help you."

The Faunus shook her head, a gentle smile on her face. "Don't worry about it. I'm…used to dealing with those sorts. It's not quite worth it wasting the time doing anything to people like him."

Ren shook his head, placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder while he stepped forward. "Still, why? It seems counterproductive to allow yourself to be taken advantage of, when you seem to be quite capable."

The girl just chuckled, turning her attention to Saitama. "Well…he put it rather well. Cardin is…well, he's not worth the time or energy to fight."

"You can say that again. Although personally, if he did something like that to me, I'd prefer snapping him like a twig." Yang looked at the Faunus, then stared curiously at the corner where Blake had been sitting. The seat was now empty, a sight which caused Yang to hum. "Well, we better get going. Goodwitch is probably going to show up soon, and I don't want to deal with her nagging when she does. C'mon, Rubes."

"Back to class…" Ruby sighed, none of her usual energy following her out the door, alongside Yang.

"By the way, we never got your name?" Jaune asked Velvet, who walked along with team JNPR.

"Velvet Scarlatina. I'm…a second year, here at Beacon."

"A second year?! You could've definitely kicked his butt!" Nora exclaimed in outrage.

Soon, only Saitama was left behind in the cafeteria, and he looked from left to right at the empty surroundings.

"Uh…I…I still never got any food."

The only answer to his words was a piece of rubble falling down to the floor.

"Ozpin!"

The elevator into Ozpin's office opened, releasing a very annoyed and irritated-looking Glynda Goodwitch into the room. Ozpin turned around, having been leisurely enjoying a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Now, now…what has you in such a rush, Glynda?" Ozpin set down his cup of coffee on the table, raising his eyes to Glynda, who now stood in front of his desk with her arms crossed.

"What has me in such a rush, are the rumors among students of fighting within the school's cafeteria, reckless usage of Aura among students, damage to school property, and this!" With a wave of her riding crop, a piece of paper slammed onto the desk in front of Ozpin, the deep purple aura surrounding it evaporating into the air.

"Well, that is quite the host of problems, most unexpected." Ozpin picked up the paper, scanning its' neatly-written contents before placing it back down. "This, however…while I expected issues related to this, I did not quite expect something of this scale."

The paper was a handwritten note, requesting a demonstration duel during the next combat studies class. A 2 vs 1 fight, with Saitama and Ruby Rose vs one Weiss Schnee.

"...I could tell that team RWBY was having struggles with properly coming together, but I hadn't figured that it was to this extent."

Ozpin sighed, while Glynda flicked her riding crop upwards, bringing the paper into a waiting hand.

"That's quite the understatement. Rather than coming together, it only seems to me like they're actively pushing each other apart! While I'm not exactly sure of the reasoning behind Miss Schnee including Saitama within the duel, going as far as pushing a team member into a formal fight is something that's never happened." Glynda narrowed her eyes at the paper, while Ozpin took a leisurely sip of coffee. "If it comes down to this, perhaps we really should-"

"No." Ozpin interrupted, gentle but firm. This tone silenced Glynda immediately, while he continued. "To begin with, inter-team conflict is not unheard of. We should be thankful that it has not escalated to an unsanctioned brawl, but instead, a simple demonstration duel." He hummed, swirling the coffee in his cup around for a moment.

"We won't disband team RWBY. At least, not yet. We'll give them a chance, with this duel. It will be…an important turning point for them."

Glynda sighed, irritation on her face, yet none of it reached her voice. "If…if that's what you say, then I'll allow it. Still, there's one thing I won't step back on. It's unfair for this to be a two-on-one fight. All students at this school are highly capable - even the second and third years would be hard-pressed to fight two of their fellow students at once."

Ozpin nodded, speaking after yet another swig from his mug, which left it empty. "That, we are in agreement of. However, I do have an idea to remedy it. Who exactly did you say was involved in that incident in the cafeteria…?"

Whispers traveled up and down the hallway of Beacon, filling a nearly empty hallway. Students stood to the side, groups parting to allow one student through - the well-known brown-haired bully, Cardin Winchester. He walked with his hands in his pocket, an expression of pure fury on his face.

' Damn! To think I'd get embarrassed so bad, and by that same stupid-looking guy, too. What was that?! He didn't even fight me, that coward…'

His every footstep was heavy, and he moved forward without care for any of his fellow students. That was, until he noticed that one wasn't moving. A pair of feet stood in front of him, and with them, someone blocking this path.

He clicked his tongue, looking up at the person with barely restrained fury.

"Hey, you need to get out of my-"

He paused, seeing who it was that stood in front of him. It wasn't just any student, but a white-haired student known by the entire student body. Weiss Schnee, heir apparent to the Schnee Dust Company, who stood there with an indignant expression, and her arms folded.

"You were saying?" She asked, her voice filled with what sounded like sarcasm.

"I was saying," Cardin quickly recovered, scowling at the heiress, "That you need to get out of my way."

The two stared each other down, Weiss' ice-cold gaze meeting Cardin's heated glare. The hallway slowly emptied, sensing the tension that slowly rose in the atmosphere.

Then, as if she were waiting for the other students to leave, Weiss held up a piece of paper. Cardin was taken aback for a second, looking at Weiss with an incredulous gaze, before turning his eyes to the paper. Simply put, it was a formally written letter, signed by Weiss herself, Glynda Goodwitch, the combat class teacher, and Ozpin, the headmaster, noting out the details of a demonstration duel to be carried out in the next combat class - one that Cardin was compelled to take part in.

"What the-?! If you wanna show off to the teachers, miss 'Heiress', that's all good and fine, but why am I getting dragged into it?"

Weiss huffed, shaking her head at Cardin's indifference. "Like I would know that. I wasn't even aware of your name before this." Cardin shook with rage, but before he could open his mouth, Weiss interrupted. "-But. After hearing of recent events, I think you'll be interested in this opportunity."

Cardin was never the type to think first and then talk, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by the Heireiss' confidence. He took a deep breath, then finally spoke again.

"And just what makes you think that?"

Weiss smirked. "Well. I think that we both have a vested interested in the opponents we'll be fighting."

Cardin read the paper again, and his eyes widened. The opponents…Ruby Rose, a student he had no idea about - but more importantly, Saitama…

His rage disappeared in an instant. He was still wary, but the sight of Saitama's name on that paper was enough to even make him smile.

"Okay, Heiress. You've got me. I'm in on this stupid duel." Cardin snickered, a joke that only he would get playing across his mind.

' Not even worth fighting? Okay…let's see how you'll deal with it when you've got no choice but to fight me, coward.'

Cardin moved around Weiss, ready to leave, but she raised a delicate hand to his face, stopping him in his tracks. He looked down at her, slight annoyance in his eyes.

"And what is it this time? I already got the message, right? Now all that's left is to wait 'till the next combat class to thrash them."

Weiss sighed, an exasperated expression on her face. "It isn't that simple, you…" She hesitated for a second, before adding, "Cardin. As much as I'd wish to simply wait until the time comes, and handily beat both Ruby Rose, and the idiot, I'm loathe to admit that it won't be so simple."

She narrowed her eyes at the paper.

"She is a skilled combatant, if skilled at nothing else. And Saitama is even more of a brute than you - I'm not even sure of where his true strength lies. Taking them on individually will not work, especially if they deem it appropriate to work together. We'll need to come up with our own methods of defeating them. Especially…our own teamwork."

Weiss shuddered at the thought of teaming up with someone like Cardin, but she couldn't be choosy.

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?'

And surprisingly, after a small - incredibly small - moment of thought, Cardin agreed with a nod. "You're right. I don't want anything messing up my chance to pummel that dumb-looking guy. I'm 100% sure I can beat him, but if anything can mess it up, we need to get it out of the way."

He turned his gaze to Weiss. "But I'm not just gonna work with you for free. I don't need anyone holding me back. Not even you, Heiress. If you can't keep up, I'll just crush the both of them with my own strength." He grinned, cracking his knuckles together. Weiss merely rolled her eyes, turning around and walking away.

"It'll be a mercy once I'm rid of both you, and those annoyances. Now then, to the training grounds."

Cardin huffed, following behind her without complaint, regardless.

Weiss smirked, strutting with a confidence she hadn't held since the first day she arrived at Beacon.

' Ruby…it's certainly a shame, but I'll have to show everyone just how much more of a fit leader I am. I'm already far superior in everything else - but once I overshadow your combat prowess, you won't have anything left. Perhaps I'll even make you leave Beacon, yourself. Regardless…this will fix things, once and for all.'

Her confidence faltered, only for a moment. She thought back to the moment her 'team' had been united. The way they fought together, and the way Ruby so confidently led them to defeat a Nevermore. The way Saitama had finished off all those Grimm afterwards, in no small part to her help.

"...thanks, Wise."

Even if he always had irritatingly gotten her name wrong, it was some of the only genuine praise she had gotten in her entire life. Pure, unfiltered gratitude. Something rare in her life.

…

"What's wrong now?" Cardin asked from behind her, in annoyance. She had stopped moving, but his words seemed to get her moving again.

"Nothing, brawn-for-brains."

"Tch." Cardin clicked his tongue in annoyance, deciding that the heiress certainly wasn't worth worrying about, even for a second.

' This…this will fix everything.'

Weiss thought, while moving forward, as she always did. If this was going to mean anything, if she was going to correct just how wrong everything seemed to her, she…

She absolutely had to convince herself of that.