"Good to be back," A fourteen year old Guts said as he stared at the building in front of him.
"Yep. One more year and I get an aura." Yang said in excitement. Both were once again standing side by side as they gazed at the academy. Over the course of the year, both had grown taller. If you measured carefully, you would see that Yang was actually slightly taller than Guts, something the blonde huntress-to-be mentioned very frequently. Of course, Guts still dominated her in terms of physicality. It wasn't even a contest really. Both walked into the building and made their way to their first class, which happened to be weapon mechanics with Qrow. While they wouldn't be making their weapons until next year, it helped to have a good understanding of mechanics beforehand.
"Alright, I'm gonna preface this by saying that you should treat your weapon with respect. It's what you're going to rely on when you're out fighting Grimm. I should also tell you that the more weapon forms a weapon has, the more complicated it is to build. Unless you're a mechanical genius, I suggest sticking to one or two forms." Qrow said. Guts already knew that his would be simple. To him, simple was better. Who needs three or four weapon forms when you have one reliable form that gets the job done? Qrow passed out textbooks to the class.
"Don't lose these. They're the only ones you'll get for the whole year." Qrow said as he brought up pictures of various mechanisms on the board. Guts and Yang paid full attention. Partly because this is the kind of stuff they were interested in, but mostly because they wouldn't dare goof off with Qrow as their teacher, Guts especially.
Guts walked into a class he didn't have with Yang. Because of his status as a prodigy, Guts was taking more advanced classes this year, which meant he wasn't spending as much time with Yang. This was a combat class for advanced fifth year students. The administration wouldn't put Guts in a higher class. As he took his seat, Guts could hear some students whispering about him. He had developed quite a reputation the previous year.
"Ah, I see that I have the school's resident prodigy in my class," the Professor good naturedly said. "I should warn you, compared to the fodder you fought last year, these students are just as advanced as you. Expect to be challenged." The Professor said, Guts' response was a simple nod. The teacher chuckled and turned to address the rest of the class.
"My name is Professor Bowie. This is a combat class. There isn't much more to say." Bowie said, garnering a few laughs from the students. "You are all considered advanced by the academy, as such I expect high performance from all of you. I'm sure you are all familiar with the way we find out who is better than who?" The teacher asked. The whole class nodded. They were aware of the classroom wide tournaments that were held in combat class. Guts had dominated his last year. "Well, at the end of the year we will be holding a school-wide tournament with the other advanced classes. Only the top four from this class will be able to participate." Bowie paused as he let his students digest what he had just said. "Don't worry if you don't make the top four this time around. We'll be doing our class tournament every month or so, so you can always become top four then. Those who maintain their top four position the longest get to participate." Bowie finished. Wonder who I'll be fighting at the end of the year. Guts thought, already sure of his participation.
The first half of the class was spent watching other students fight. Being an advanced class, these students were much better than the ones Guts fought last year. He gazed at the board and smiled when he saw that it was his turn. He made his way to the arena, where he was greeted by his opponent. Right away, Guts could tell that this girl was some sort of cat faunus. He also saw that she was a couple inches taller than him, but Guts was used to that. Her hair was a dark brown in color and she had a tanned skin tone. She was wearing a light brown shirt with loose sleeves that went down past her hands. On her legs she had tight athletic shorts along with loose sandals.
"You a cat faunus?" Guts asked the sixteen year old girl.
"Leopard faunus actually," the girl said as one of her ears turned a little, revealing leopard spots.
"hmm. I've never met one before. Name's Guts." He said as he stuck out his arm. The girl giggled in amusement.
"I know. You're kind of famous. My name's Serena." She said as she shook Guts' hand. Seeing that the combatants were ready to begin, Bowie started the timer. Guts and Serena immediately jumped away from each other. Guts' eyes fell on the clawed gauntlets that fell out of her sleeves and positioned themselves on her hands. Guts chuckled at the irony. Since he still didn't have a weapon, Guts took a boxing stance and hopped from one foot to the other.
Both fighters spent the first few seconds just staring at each other, trying to find an obvious weakness in the other's form. Serena rushed at Guts, clawed gauntlet raised. Guts took a step back as the claws slashed at thin air. Guts did a quick jab. Serena raised her left hand and blocked it with her gauntlet. She then brought her knee up and smashed it into Guts stomach. To her surprise, Guts smiled and grabbed her leg.
"Gonna have to do better than that." Guts said as he swung Serena over his shoulder. She landed on the floor with a small thump. Serena responded by kicking her leg out and tripping Guts. She got on top of him and swung her claws downwards, intent on striking his face. Guts turned his head at the last second, Serena's claws gouging holes in the floor where his head was.
Guts quickly made a fist and swung it into Serena's side. The leopard girl gritted her teeth, but stayed on top of Guts. She made a fist of her own and laid a right hook on Guts face.
"Better," Guts said with a growl. Serena brought her clawed fist down again only to have Guts catch it in his hand. She tried to pull away, but Guts wouldn't let go. He brought his knee up under her stomach and kicked her off of him. Both quickly stood back up and charged at each other. Guts scowled in frustration as Serena dodged and blocked every punch he threw at her. Seeing that Guts had lost focus for a second, Serena slipped inside his defense and delivered a barrage of clawed strikes to his midsection.
Guts caught her last strike and refused to let go. Unable to move, Serena was forced to dodge to the best of her ability as Guts sent a barrage of one handed punches at her. She winced every time one connected. He really can throw a punch. Guts finished his attack by slamming his foot into her shin. Serena did her best to keep from falling. Guts quickly backed off to have a moment to think.
She's faster than I expected. I'll have to up the ante if I want to compete with her. In truth, Guts had become accustomed to holding back his strength and speed as he was almost always massively superior to his opponent in that regard. Now though, he would have to take this fight a little more seriously. Seeing that Serena had regained her footing, Guts charged at her again.
Serena was not ready for Guts' increased speed and strength. She desperately tried to put up a defense only to have Guts rip through anything she could muster. He leapt over her and drove his knee into the back of Serena's head. The leopard faunus was sent face first into the arena floor. Guts took a couple steps forward, unsure if he had overdone it.
Serena suddenly sprang up and pointed her hands at Guts. The claws detached and were sent speeding at Guts, cables being connected to the back of the claws. The cables wrapped around Guts' arm. Before he could react, Guts found himself being pulled forward. Serena swung her other hand and delivered a big right to Guts' face.
Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, Guts let loose a little more of his strength. He gripped the cables on his arm and flipped them over his head, throwing Serena over in the process. Serena got back up, panting slightly. Guts on the other hand didn't even look winded. That wasn't very surprising. Everyone knew that Guts had an unreal amount of stamina for a fourteen year old.
Having had enough, Guts dashed at Serena, intent on ending the fight right then and there. When he tried to punch her, he was surprised to see his fist go straight through her. He looked around only to have Serena's knee slam into the back of his head. Guts stumbled forward. He looked behind himself only to see five Serena's circling him!
"The Hell is this?" Guts asked as he stared at his opponents.
"My semblance. I can create mirages of myself." One of the Serena's said. Guts charged at that Serena only to have his attack go through the copy. He sighed in frustration as he felt the real Serena slash at his back. By the time he turned around, the real Serena had hid among her mirages. He tried a couple more times, only to be met with the same result. Suddenly, a thought came to Guts. Wanting to test it out, Guts rushed a random Serena and attacked it. It turned out to be a mirage and Guts felt the real Serena punch the back of his neck. Guts smiled as he stumbled forward. Guts attacked another mirage. He quickly turned around and grabbed the clawed punch the real Serena had tried to hit him with. Guts smiled at her in triumph. Serena gulped when she realized that she was trapped.
"You really should change up your attack pattern," Guts said. He cocked back a punch and delivered a haymaker to her face. Serena was sent flying out of bounds and hit the floor with a small thud.
"Ow," Serena whispered as she laid on the floor. Guts came over and offered her a hand up. Guts pulled her up with little effort.
"Good job. I haven't been challenged like that since I fought a professor," Guts said with a kind smile.
"Oh please, you were holding back the entire time." Serena said as she dryly chuckled. Guts remained silent.
"Was it that obvious?" Guts honestly asked.
"To everyone else? Probably not. To me? Kind of. No matter what I did, you just kept getting stronger and faster to compensate." Serena said with a sigh. "Not to mention you don't even have a semblance." Serena complained
Guts scratches the back of his neck. Serena laughed a little.
"Anyways, good job Guts. You certainly deserved that victory." Serena said as she patted the shorter boy on the back. Guts didn't bother mentioning that she hadn't retracted her clawed gauntlets. It didn't hurt that much anyway.
Later Guts walked out of his last class of the day. He made his way down to the courtyard and found Yang waiting at her usual spot for him.
"Hey Guts, ready to go?" Yang asked as she started down the road. Guts nodded and walked beside her. They didn't get far before someone stopped them.
"Hi Guts," a voice from behind them said. Both Guts and Yang turned around and saw a girl their age had been the one to talk. She had black hair that was dyed purple near the end. Her hair was long enough to cover the bottom of her neck. She was wearing a dark blue, long sleeve shirt with a purple vest over it. On her legs were black leggings with blue jean shorts over them. She was wearing high heeled boots on her legs.
"oh, Violet," Guts said. Yang looked at him in confusion.
"You know her?" Yang asked.
"She's in our math and history class Yang." Guts responded.
"I sit a couple rows behind you guys," Violet said. "I was actually kinda hoping to talk to you in private." Violet said while sparing a glance at Yang. Guts stared at her in confusion.
"Why?" He asked.
"It's kind of personal," Violet said, a small blush forming on her features. Yang regarded her fellow classmate with a suspicious stare.
"Okay. Go on ahead Yang. I'll catch up." Guts said as he motioned for Yang to go without him. Yang lingered for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to do. Finally, she started walking away.
"Don't take too long." Was all the blonde girl said. She continued walking for a few minutes, unsure of how to take the situation. She heard steps behind her and turned around to find Guts jogging in her direction. Yang slowed down a little, though it was unnecessary. Guts could have caught up no matter what.
"So, what'd she want?" Yang asked.
"I don't really know." Guts replied, confusion written all over his face."First she said that she thought I was really nice, then she said that she thought I was cute. What does she mean by 'cute?" Guts asked. "I know Ruby can be cute when she makes that puppy dog face of hers. I don't see how I could fit in that. " Guts asked. Yang meanwhile, had adopted a displeased look on her face. Hearing that Violet had called Guts cute really bugged her for some reason.
"Anyways, then she asked me what my relationship to you was." Guts said. "I told her we were friends and she seemed to relax for some reason. She invited me to come have lunch with her and her group of friends tomorrow." Guts finished. Yang tried to make sense of what she was feeling. Why is this bugging me so much? Am I afraid that he'll make new friends and stop being mine? Yang thought in an attempt to rationalize her thoughts. Yeah, that's probably what it is.
"Are you going to sit with them?" Yang asked.
"No." was Guts' simple reply
"Why?" Yang asked in surprise. She was positive that Guts would have said yes.
"Because she said you couldn't come too." Guts replied with a shrug of his shoulders. All of Yang's displeasure dissipated almost instantly. As if Guts would ever stop being my friend. Yang thought with a smile. She pushed any thoughts she had on Violet out of her head. The route home Guts and Yang were taking led them past City Hall. They saw a huge gathering of people focused in the center of the City Hall's courtyard.
"Oh yeah, there's a faunus protest going on today," Guts said while sparing a glance at the protestors.
"I didn't hear anything about this," Yang remarked.
"That's because you don't know any faunus." Guts pointed out. Yang gave an irritated noise, though she knew that Guts hadn't meant it as an insult. "Looks like it's the White Fang," Guts said as he saw the White Fang insignia on multiple banners. "Wanna check it out?" Guts asked his friend.
"Eh, why not? Come on," Yang said as she made her way to the protesting area. She had never been to a protest before, so all the people shouting and picket signs in the air was a little overwhelming. Guts, being used to such noise from his time as a mercenary, took the lead as they made their way to the center.
"So what do you think?" Guts half screamed so that Yang could hear him.
"It's a little loud," Yang responded. Guts laughed in agreement and went back to observing the protestors. Guts had a soft spot for faunus. He could relate to their struggle. Guts looked up the street and paused. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a group of men make their way down one of the sidewalks. Guts knew the look of men that wanted to cause trouble. He also knew just how violent this could potentially get. He had to get Yang out of there.
"Yang, we have to leave now." Guts said as he tugged on Yang's arm.
"But we just got here," Yang complained as she dug her feet into the ground. Guts didn't respond, opting to force her to move. He tried speeding up when he heard commotion coming in the opposite direction.
"Faunus piece of shit!" One of the men yelled. His friends followed suit and hurled their own insults at the protestors.
"Don't you have any animals you need to fuck right now!?" Another person yelled. Being a peaceful organization, the White Fang protestors did their best to ignore the racist group of people. The other group did not take too kindly to this.
"Hey! I'm talking to you savages! Don't ignore me!" Another man said as he threw his empty alcohol bottle at the group. The glass bottle shattered on the head of an unsuspecting protesters. The response was immediate.
"The Hell is your problem!?" A fox faunus yelled.
"Someone call the police!" Another yelled as he cradled the bleeding faunus' head in his lap.
"What'd we ever do to you!?" A younger faunus yelled. The other group laughed in response.
"You abominations exist! That's reason enough!" A group member in the back yelled. Guts stopped in his tracks. That insult had hit dangerously close to home for him. He turned and glared at the group. Feeling brave, the speaker copied his friend's actions and threw his bottle of alcohol at the crowd. While they were able to avoid having the bottle hit one of their own, the faunus were still hurt when the shattered glass cut some of them up. Guts grinded his teeth together when he saw the hurt faunus cry out. Yang looked at Guts with concern. She never saw Guts this angry, upset or frustrated sure but never angry.
The second bottle seemed to have caused a chain reaction, as more members of the violent group started hurling whatever they could get their hands on at the protestors. The faunus did their best to avoid the objects that were being thrown at them. Even then, multiple protestors still found themselves victim to the hurled objects.
"Why aren't they fighting back!?" Yang asked in anger. She couldn't understand why they were just letting this happen.
"They're trying to prove a point, Yang. If they give in and retaliate, then they're just as bad as the bastards in the other group." Guts growled as he opted to walk away trying not to amp up his "gift", as they continue a voice cried out making them freeze.
"Guts!? Yang!?" A voice to their right asked. Both kids turned and saw Casca running towards them. She had come from the faunus' protesters . "You kids need to leave! It's getting dange-" Casca didn't get to finish as she was hit in the head with a thrown brick. Yang gasped and ran to Casca collapsed form. Guts on the other hand turned and scanned the group of racists.
"You see that!? I nailed the bitch right on her head!" Someone gloated to his friends. Guts focused his glare on the speaker.
"Stay here Yang. I'll be right back." Guts said, as he made his way forward, ignoring Yang's calls.
"Guts come back!" Yang yelled, but to no avail. Guts continued his determined pace. Yang took off her hoodie and pressed it over Casca's head wound. She desperately looked for any sign of an ambulance.
"Someone has to have called the hospital by now," Yang said as she tried to stem the bleeding on Casca's head. Guts, meanwhile, had made it to the front of the protest group.
"Kid, get back here!" A faunus adult yelled as he saw Guts continue walking.
"Don't do anything rash! Prove that faunus aren't the monsters people make us out to be." An older White Fang representative said.
"I'm not a faunus." Guts pointed out. "Besides, these bastards hurt someone dear to me, so now they must pay," Guts said, ignoring any further attempts to convince him to stay. By the time he had covered half the distance between both groups, the aggressive group had noticed his arrival.
"The Hell is this kid?" One remarked.
"Listen Junior, leave before you hurt yourself." Another said. Guts glared at the group as he came to a stop a few meters from the group.
" You bastards seem tough nailing someone's head out of the blue, so how about you come at me? " Guts said. This caused an uproar of laughter from the aggressors.
"What're you gonna do? Kill us?" One mocked.
"Doesn't sound like such a bad idea right now," Guts remarked. He knew very well that he could kill every one of them without too much trouble. The question was whether he should.
"Why the hell are you defending these devil spawn!?" One, presumably the leader, yelled. Guts finally snapped .
"YOU BASTARDS DON'T DECIDE WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND WHO DOESN'T!!!" Guts bellowed as loud as he could. The entire area seemed to go quiet at that moment.
"You people are what's wrong with the world." Guts said as his anger finally got to him as he could feel the back of his neck stinging . "I won't allow you to hurt anyone else." Guts said as he began walking forward. Yang, meanwhile, was on the verge of a breakdown. Here she was pressing a blood soaked hoodie to the head of her best friend's mother figure while said best friend was about to fight a group of adults.
"Guts don't!" Yang yelled in desperation. The blonde girl looked around for any way to diffuse the situation.
"That guy behind you is first," Guts said, now only a few feet away from his opponents. "He's the one who hurt Casca." Guts stated. The other guy laughed in arrogance. He was a full grown man, and this was just some fourteen year old. He could thrash the kid.
"Fine tough guy. Your funeral." The aggressor said as he made his way to the front of the group. As he does he sees Guts gritting his teeth and then an idea spawn in his head.
"Huh now I get it. Now I know why you're all riled up" he sneered, as Guts raised a brow on what he's going on about. "You're a faunus aren't you huh, no wonder. The way your acting i bet you a mangy dog-"
Guts didn't even wait for him to walk the full distance between him and the group. A sickening crack echoed throughout the vicinity. In the blink of an eye, Guts had the other man on the concrete, the man's head bleeding from his nose which was caved in and his front upper teeth missing . Yang brought her hand over her mouth in shock and regarded Guts with an all new feeling: fear. She had never seen Guts attack another human being with such brutality. Sure, she had seen him fight a couple of classmates, but she knew that they were just practicing and would be okay in the end. This was different though. Yang honestly couldn't tell if Guts had just killed a human being. The human group stared at him in shock. Guts lowered his slightly bloody (the blood not being his) fist and turned to the rest of the group.
"He's not dead if that's what you're wondering." Guts said as he took a menacing step forward. The human group, having just witnessed Guts' abilities, faltered. They turned and ran. Guts made no move to follow them, as he could see police cars coming in the same direction that the violent humans were running in. They would be arrested soon enough. Right now, though, Guts had other things to do. He slung the unconscious man over his shoulder and dragged him down to where Casca laid.
"How is she?" Guts asked as he dropped the man on the floor.
"I managed to stop the bleeding. She needs medical attention though." Yang said as she spared a glance at Guts' fist. She cringed a little when she saw the dried blood on it. She looked back up at Guts with thinly veiled fear. Guts noticed the way Yang was hesitating around him and instantly felt ashamed about the way he had acted. He had let his emotions get the better of him. Yang was scared of him now.
"Yang.. I'm sorry... I..." Guts said as he took a step forward. Yang flinched slightly which caused Guts to stop in his tracks.
"We'll talk about this later, Guts." Was all that Yang said. Guts slowly nodded his head. He picked up the unconscious man and half carried, half dragged him to the nearest police car. Guts absentmindedly noticed that the paramedics had arrived.
"Hey, this is one of the people who attacked the protesters," Guts said to the nearest cop. The cop looked bewildered for a second, not used to seeing a fourteen year old drag an adult body around, but quickly hid it behind a mask of professionalism.
"What happened to his head?" The officer asked as he saw the dried blood on the man's head.
"I did that to him. He threw a brick at my...mom." Guts said, pausing as he pondered what to call Casca. Really, Casca had been the closest thing Guts had ever had to a mother. The only other person who he held in the same regard was Shizu, so Guts didn't see a problem with calling her mom.
"We'll take him into custody." The officer said as he motioned for two other cops to take the man away. The officer paused as he thought of how to put the next part.
"Listen kid, I'm going to have to take you into custody for questioning. I doubt you'll be charged, but this is protocol." The officer said with an apologetic smile. Guts shrugged in response. Honestly, he was half expecting to be arrested on the spot. This was a better situation.
"Can I tell my friend that I have to go with you?" Guts asked.
"Sure, as long as I can come. Can't let you out of my sight now." The officer replied. Guts nodded and walked down to where the paramedics had established an impromptu first aid camp. He looked around for Casca, as he knew that Yang would be with her. He finally found Yang standing next to a now awake Casca. She had a few bandages wrapped around her head. She turned around and smiled in relief.
"Guts! I'm so glad that you're okay!" Sally said as she ran and gave Guts a hug. Yang walked up as well, though stopped when she saw the police officer. She had a moment of panic for her friend. As casca and guts pull away, Guts realized something.
"Wait Casca what were you doing here with the protesters?" he asked looking at her, Casca adopted a solemn expression she closed her eyes and reached for Guts hand. She led his hand to her head, Guts confused but allowing her to do so. As his hand is on her head she goes deeper into her hair and Guts then feels out her scalp. Guts did not know what he was supposed to do, as he finally felt a strange sensation on his fingers. It feels like rigid skin formed in a line he figures that it was a scar, however Casca moved his hand to the other side of her head and he feels another scar.
Guts' eyes widen upon realizing the scars are vertical to each other and are above her head feeling roughly the same length. His heart sank when the thought of what happened played out in his head. "Casca...are you a f-faunus?"
She opens her eyes slightly watery "yes... i'm a caracal faunus" upon hearing this Guts then strengthened his composure. "How did you ...?" he said not able to finish
"....when i was little i was in the SDC work force helping my mother, until one day i was caught and taken away as well as my mother..." she paused as she wipe away some tears and recompose herself
"(sigh) they took me away to "report" to the higher ups but I knew better. A man took me to his office and looked at me for a while and said that i'll probably look better without my faunus ears and proceeded to take out a knife and approach me" Guts clenches fist hard, unbeknownst him blood started to drip from it
"He proceeded to do so. After that I cried in pain and so he tried to shut me up by .... forcing himself on me... I tried to fight him off but he was strong. I was about to accept my fate until I saw a white hawk outside of the window... I could've sworn that it was looking at me. I realized it was a sign, so with all my strength I kicked him off and made him stubble back and hit his head. I looked around the room for something to fight with, and there it was: the knife he used on me is now the knife i use on him, without giving much thought I ran to him and stabbed him..." she once again paused but she had a neutral expression, Guts figured that she might of felt indifferent to his death. "After he died I looked back at the window to see the hawk gone. I didn't have a chance to collect my thought when the door was knocking in a panic i went through the window and ran away didn't think twice to look back"
".....and your mother what happened to her?" Guts asked
"...Years later I was a huntress in training and went on my own to find her...she died soon after I left...i never wanted to hide the fact that i'm a faunus but its not something i can easily talk about" She finally broke down feeling ashamed that she never told Guts or anyone about her faunus heritage. Guts looked at her disheartening that she experienced this, their upbringings are similar where they made choices that change their life. He stood there unsure of what to say so she wouldn't feel bad, so he did the only thing he could think of, he gave her a hug. Casca flinches slightly surprised by this action, Guts never shows much affection let alone hugging someone.
"You shouldn't feel ashamed, I'm sorry you went through that. But I think the fact that you refuse to let that affect you in the long run is more important than letting people know of your pain. Even when you told me that you're a faunus that doesn't change my-everyone's outlook on you" Guts said embracing the hug harder, he hopes that he is not out of line in doing this. For casca she was to envelop in the hug. Despite guts not showing affection he gives off a feeling of safety and warmth, but as well as security. She could feel reassurance by Guts words as she pullin for the hug. As they hug casca looks up to see the officer behind guts, who Yang and casca give space to them as to not invade there discussion
"Guts, why is there a police officer with you?" Casca said. Pulling away and looking at Guts
"I have to go with him, Casca. I... hurt the guy who threw that brick at you." Guts stated as he looked down in shame. Casca stared at him, not knowing what to say.
"Are you arresting Guts?" Yang asked as she twiddled her fingers nervously.
"Don't worry little lady. He most likely won't be charged with anything. We just need to bring him in for questioning." The officer respectfully said. Yang calmed down somewhat.
"When can I pick him up?" Casca asked.
"Shouldn't take more than a couple hours. You know, paperwork and all that." The officer said as he chuckled at his own joke.
"You're going to have to explain to your dad what happened without me, Yang. I'm Sorry." Guts said with a shaky smile. He turned and walked away without bothering to wait for a response from Yang. The officer tipped his hat and followed Guts to his patrol car. Yang looked on as her friend entered the back of the car. She definitely needed to talk to Guts when all this blew over.
"Casaca, I need to go home and talk to my dad." Yang said.
"Go ahead Yang. I'll be fine here." Casca said as she smiled at Yang. The younger girl nodded, left casca, and started her walk home.
Later in the patch police department.
"... and then the rest of his friends ran away." Guts said to the officer in front of him. The officer nodded while he wrote on a notepad, though it was not necessary. The whole conversation had been recorded.
"Alright kid, wait here for a few minutes." The older man said as he got up and exited the room. Guts sat patiently, not having much else to do.
"So what do you think?" The officer asked his colleague.
"I think we have to arrest him." The police chief said.
"Normally, we would let the kid go with nothing but a slap on the wrist, but we just found out the kid has aura." The chief grimly said. Aura gave regular people super human abilities. It would be very easy for an aura user to abuse their powers, so laws were put in place to minimize this. One such law is that people with aura can't attack normal people unless it's self defense. The punishment was much more severe if the hunter was the aggressor. What Guts did was not self defense, that much was clear.
"What would his punishment be?" the interrogator asked.
"He would be taken to a specially made facility to house criminals with aura. I don't like the thought of sending the kid there." The chief said, though he knew that if it got to that point, he would have to send Guts there.
"Hey chief, got a call for you on line two." A cop shouted from across the room. The chief walked to the nearest phone and answered whoever was calling him. What followed was about a minute of conversation.
"Alright, I understand." The chief said as he hung up. "Let the kid go." The chief said as he walked back to his original position.
"What?" The other cop dumbly asked.
"Let the kid go. Someone is coming to pick him up." The chief repeated. Upon seeing the confused face of his colleague, the chief elaborated.
"All potential charges against the kid have been dropped. I don't know how, but this kid must know some very influential people." The chief said with a shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't too bothered that he had to let Guts go. It was either that or potentially going to prison. Once again, it went against the chief's moral compass to send a child to jail over something like this. The other cop nodded as he went back into the room.
"Good news kid, you're free to go. You can wait over there, someone will be here to pick you up in a couple of minutes." The cop said while he gestured to the waiting area. Though he was a little confused, Guts walked out and sat on a chair in the waiting area. Qrow walked in a minute later, and he did not look happy.
"I already called Casca, Guts. You're coming with me." Qrow said as he walked out, Guts in tow. The fourteen year old followed the older hunter for a few minutes. They entered a small restaurant and sat down at a table. Guts looked around in confusion.
He was expecting to be grilled out by Qrow.
"Qrow, why are we here?" Guts asked.
"Getting something to eat. I'm hungry." Qrow said as he looked through a menu. "You gonna order anything kid?" Qrow asked as he looked at Guts.
"I thought you were gonna..." Guts began
"...Punish you or something like that?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"yes." Guts said. Qrow smiled in amusement.
"Kid, I don't blame you for what you did. Yeah, because you had aura, it was a stupid and reckless move, but look at who you're talking to." Qrow said as he gestured to himself. "I'm the king of recklessness. I did unlock your aura after all. I don't know how Taiyang and Casca will react, but you're okay in my book. Just be a little more careful with who you choose to fight. I won't always be there to pull strings and get you out of jail." Qrow said. "You gonna order anything?" Qrow asked once again. Guts nodded as he picked up his menu.
Halfway through their food, Qrow spoke up again.
"Be honest with me kid. Have you ever killed anyone?" Qrow asked as he stared at the fourteen year old in front of him. Guts stared down at his meat, unsure of how to answer that.
"Back when I was a mercenary, the only thing that I killed was the Grimms in missions, but during my kidnapping and the fall of the band I had to kill, do i regret it, no. do i think about...no" Guts said as he thought back on those kills he did . He also thinks about his vision and how he also killed people in them, and wonders if that is why he's acclimated. Qrow nodded, not very surprised.
"Were you going to kill the guy you punched?" Qrow asked.
"... food getting cold, we should hurry and get back home." Guts said bluntly, getting back to his meal. Sure, he had been somewhat desensitized to death from the falling out, but he still knew when to kill and when not to kill. Qrow grunted in response. Seeing that he was done talking, Guts went back to finishing up his meat.
__________________________________________________________________________
Taiyang sat on the couch, deep in thought. He was still trying to process what Yang had told him concerning Guts and the protest. No, he didn't blame Guts for taking Yang to a protest. It was being led by the White Fang, a peaceful organization. How could Guts have known that it would turn violent?
What Taiyang was thinking about was how to handle the part where Casca had gotten hurt and Guts went berserk. Anyone who didn't know Guts might consider him a menace because of this. The thought almost made Taiyang laugh. If there was one thing Taiyang knew, it was that Guts was not a menace. Yes, what Guts had done was reckless and a little excessive, but he had a good reason to be angry.
Someone chose to knock on the door at that moment. Qrow and Guts walked in a few seconds later. Guts was looking at the floor in apprehension.
"Hey Tai, where are the girls?" Qrow asked.
"They're in the backyard." Taiyang said as he looked down at Guts. Said boy decided that he might as well get this over with.
"Listen, Tai what I did was..." Guts began, but stopped when he saw Taiyang raise his hand.
"It's fine Guts. I don't have anything against you, though I would appreciate it if you were a little more careful in the future." Taiyang said as he smiled down at Guts. "You really should be apologizing to Yang about this." Taiyang said as he stepped to the side and gestured for Guts to go out back. Guts thanked the adult and made his way outside. Qrow looked at his former teammate in amusement.
"I thought you would have been harder on the kid." Qrow remarked. Taiyang shrugged in response.
"Guts isn't a bad kid. Besides, why would I blame him for wanting to protect someone he cares about?" Taiyang said as he watched Guts exit the back door. Said boy found Yang and Ruby climbing a nearby tree. He walked up to the tree and stopped a few feet away. The girls noticed him and stopped where they were, which was near the top of the tree.
"Hi Guts," Ruby said as she promptly jumped out of the tree. Guts' instincts kicked in and he ran under Ruby and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Why'd you jump?" Guts asked the youngest member of team GRY. Ruby giggled in response.
"Cause I knew you'd catch me." Ruby said as Guts put her on the ground. "Hey Yang! Jump down, it's really fun!" Ruby said to her older sister. Guts looked uncomfortably up at Yang, remembering why he had come here in the first place.
"Ruby, it's okay if she doesn't want to..." Guts began, thinking that Yang would rather climb down on account of how she reacted at the protest.
"Heads up!" Yang called from above, cutting Guts off. He looked up in surprise as Yang jumped out of the tree. As with Ruby, Guts caught her before she could hit the ground. Guts looked down at Yang with confusion and unease. Seeing his confused face, Yang quickly cut off anything he was going to say.
"Ruby, could you go get Zwei?" Yang asked as Guts let her go. Ruby nodded and went back into the house.
"I'm sorry about what happened there." Guts said once Ruby was out of earshot.
"It's fine Guts. Just... promise me that you'll never go berserk like that again?" Yang asked her friend. By berserk she meant when Guts wouldn't listen to reason and focused on seriously hurting someone.
"Yeah, I promise," Guts said as he gave Yang a grin. Before she could realize what she was doing, Yang found herself hugging Guts. Guts seemed just as surprised as her judging by the look on his face. Now, hugging was not the primary way Yang showed affection towards Guts. She had done it before, that much was true, but that had been under much more emotional situations, like when he was hospitalized and nearly died. For day to day interaction, however, Yang usually just wrapped an arm around Guts' neck or gave him a punch in his arm, that kind of stuff. Therefore, it was fairly reasonable for Guts to be surprised by Yang's display of affection. The Fourteen year old male, having gotten over his initial shock, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and patted her back with the other.
"I found Zwei!" Ruby yelled from across the backyard, corgi in hand. Yang instantly separated from Guts, a small shade of red being visible on her cheeks. Yang didn't know why she was blushing, however.
"Great, let's play team GRYZ." Yang said as she covertly wiped the small blush off her face. Guts grinned as he made his way to where Ruby was waiting, happy that he still had his two best friends at the end of the day.
"Maybe things will finally go back to normal," Guts muttered to himself, even though the whole ordeal had taken place on the same day.
__________________________________________________________________________
A month goes by, and Guts smirks in victory. He had retained his number one spot for the second month in a row. He helped his opponent up, who had also won the number two spot last month.
"Dammit. I really thought I had you this time," his opponent, Gaston, said. Guts had to admit that this teenager really was a good opponent. His fists still hurt from punching the teenager's shield so many times. Guts stared at the leaderboards, and smiled in pride when he saw his name at the number one position. Gaston had the number two position, while the number three position was held by some girl named Topaz. This month, Serena had made it to the number four position, which Guts found amusing. Compared to the others, she was clearly ahead of most of them. It was just bad luck that she had to fight Guts in the first round last month.
"Well class, the school day is about to end, so you may have the rest of class to yourself." Professor Bowie said from his desk, already sending Qrow Guts' battle clips. Guts stretched a little before making his way to where Serena and a couple more faunus were sitting. They were the group of people he associated with in class the most.
"You're number one again, how surprising." Serena dryly told Guts, garnering a small grunt from the black eyed boy.
"Beat me next time we fight and things might be different." Guts said. "You did great in your fight Esther. You almost had that other guy." Guts told the girl faunus standing to Serena's right, a pair of dog ears visible on her head.
"Oh please, I'll never make the top four at this rate." The dog faunus said with a dry chuckle.
"You did better than me at least," the male faunus to Serena's left said. If you were to look behind him, you would see a mouse tail attached to the small of his back.
"You did better than Kai over here," Serena said while pointing to the mouse faunus. Any further talk was cut short when the final bell of the day rang. Guts quickly bid his classmates goodbye and went to the courtyard, where Yang would be waiting for him. As he walked down the hall, a few students steer clear from him. The whole protest ordeal had darkened Guts' reputation somewhat. He walked out of the main building and found Yang waiting for him. Wordlessly, the pair of students made their way to Yang's home.
Unfortunately, fate had different plans.
"Hey is that smoke?" Yang asked as she pointed at a trail of black smoke going up into the air.
"Seems like it." Guts said. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he realized where the smoke was coming from.
"Shit," Guts muttered. He took off his jacket and gave it to Yang. "Hold on to this will ya?" Guts asked. Yang grabbed the Jacket.
"Guts what's going on?" Yang asked in confusion.
"Follow me and you'll see." Guts said before bolting down a different street. Within seconds, Yang was left staring at Guts shrinking form. Yang put the Jacket and jogged in the direction Guts had gone in.
"This Jacket is actually really comfortable." Yang said to herself. Guts, meanwhile, was sprinting as fast as he could, worry etched all over his face. He turned the corner and found that his worst fears were confirmed.
The orphanage was on fire.
There was a line of police officers keeping the public away while firefighters battled the flames. Guts tried getting to the building, but was blocked by a police officer.
"Can't go any farther kid, too dangerous." The officer said as he crossed his arms. Guts was about to argue with the officer, but then he heard a scream coming from inside the orphanage. Not caring who it was that was trapped inside the burning building, Guts shoved the officer aside and ran into the orphanage.
"Is anyone in here!?" Guts yelled above the roar of the fire.
"Over here!" He heard someone yell from one of the side rooms. He quickly dashed through the flames, not paying attention as his shirt was burnt. He was too focused to remember to use his aura. He broke through the burning door separating him from the room. He entered and found two kids a few years younger than him cowering in the corner.
"It's alright, I'm gonna get you outta here." Guts said in what he hoped was a caring voice. The kids seemed to buy it as they quickly ran to him. Guts carried one in each arm as he ran out of the room. He quickly made his way to the exit and left the children outside. He absentmindedly noticed that Yang was behind the yellow police tape, wearing his jacket .
"Do you know if anyone else is in there?" Guts asked the children.
"Casca went upstairs to check if any kids are still there." One of the kids said. Guts immediately went back inside, ignoring the protests of the cop he had shoved a couple minutes beforehand. Once again Guts was inside the burning building. This time he went up the stairs to the second floor. He ran down the hallway, but tripped when the whole building suddenly lurched to one side.
"This whole things gonna fall down soon," Guts said to himself as he got back up. "Casca!?" Guts yelled into the burning hallway.
"Guts!?" Was the reply he heard from one of the bedrooms. The black eyed boy shoulder charged the door, splitting it in two. He looked inside and saw casca holding another child.
"We gotta get out of here!" Guts yelled as he motioned for them to exit. Casca and the child went into the hallway and followed Guts as he led them down the stairs. They were about to exit the building when a sharp crack was heard above them. The trio looked up and froze when they saw that one of the support beams had cracked and was falling on them. Casca clutched the child and closed her eyes, expecting to have been crushed by the wooden beam. When nothing happened, Casca opened her eyes and saw that Guts was carrying the beam on his shoulders. Judging by his bent knees and the strained look on his face, the beam was much heavier than originally thought.
"Get...Out..." Guts growled as the wooden floor beneath him started cracking around him. He was visibly straining to hold up the huge wooden beam. The beam had to have been at least half a ton in weight. Casca wanted to argue, but she had another child to worry about. She picked up the kid and ran out the door. She was about to turn back to go for Guts when the building gave a low groan. The fire had finally succeeded in ruining the building's structural integrity as it came crashing down.
She was about to cry out for Guts when she saw movement in the still burning wreckage. An entire side of the roof was pushed aside as Guts climbed out of the hole he had created. He coughed a couple times, having gotten some ash in his lungs, before walking through the fire to where Casca was. She quickly hugged Guts, relieved that he was okay.
"Did you forget that I have an aura?" Guts asked. He looked back at the burning remains of the wreckage.
"Casca, what's gonna happen now?" Guts asked as he watched the authorities put out the rest of the fire. His home was gone.
"I don't really know Guts." Casca honestly answered. "You and the other kids will probably be moved to some other orphanage."
"What?" Both Guts and Casca heard behind them. They turned around and saw Yang ducking under the police tape and running to their position. "Guts is leaving?" Yang frantically asked. The idea of Guts leaving her and Ruby did not sit well with the young girl.
"I kind of have to Yang." Guts glumly said. Patch Orphanage was the only orphanage in Patch. If Guts went to another, then he would be in a completely different city.
"Can't he just live with me?" Yang asked.
"It's not that simple Yang. Until he's adopted, he's under the government's protection." Casca answered. Just then, Ruby showed up along with her father and uncle.
"Are you okay? We saw the smoke and came straight here." Tai said as he stared at Guts and Casca.
"Yeah. Guts rushed into the building and got us out of there." Casca said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Qrow muttered to himself.
"Are you okay Guts?" Ruby asked as she checked the shirtless boy for any injuries.
"My shirt got burnt off and the building fell on me, but other than that I can't complain." Guts said as he grinned at Ruby. He stared back at the smoldering remains of his home. "Oh, wait, yes I can complain. My home is gone, and I'll probably have to move to another city or something." Guts said. Ruby froze for a few seconds, contemplating what Guts had just told her. What followed was Ruby having another small breakdown.
"So Guts and the other kids will be moved to some other city?" Tai asked Casca. In the background Ruby could be seen clinging on to Guts' arm, refusing to let go.
"Probably. There isn't any other orphanage here in Patch. That's kinda why this one was called 'Patch Orphanage.'" Casca said. Tai looked somewhat saddened while Qrow was looking down in heavy thinking.
"What if I adopt the kid?" Qrow suddenly asked, garnering a stupefied silence from the other two adults.
"...Are you serious?" Tai asked his former team mate.
"Yeah." Qrow answered. The blonde haired man's shoulders started trembling, followed by the rest of his body. The former hunter couldn't hold it in anymore. He broke out into intense laughter. He laughed so hard that his sides hurt and he was literally rolling on the floor. The trio of children stopped what they were doing, which was prying Ruby off of Guts' arm as she was starting to cut off blood flow, to stare at Tai.
"Someone must have told a very good joke." Guts said.
"Either that or Uncle Qrow said something ridiculous, like that he's gonna quit drinking or something like that." Yang said as she stared at the rolling form of her father. Qrow himself did not look very amused by Taiyang's reaction.
"What the Hell is so funny?" Qrow asked, his left eye twitching in annoyance. Tai stopped laughing so he could answer Qrow's question.
"You... being... a parent." Taiyang said between gasps. He hadn't laughed so hard in a long time, so he was somewhat out of breath. "No offense Qrow, but you're not exactly the father type." Tai said once he had stopped gasping.
"Oh please. The kid isn't a baby anymore. He can take care of himself just fine." Qrow pointed out. "So anyways, what if I adopt him?" Qrow asked Casca.
"Then Guts will go live with you." Casca answered.
"Are you seriously planning on adopting Guts?" Casca asked.
"Why is this so hard for you people to believe?"
Qrow asked as he took a long swig from his flask out of sheer annoyance. Casca waited as Qrow drank his flask dry. Oh the irony, Casca silently thought. "Yes, I want to adopt him. Where's the paperwork?" Qrow asked once he had drained the flask's contents.
"It was in there," Casca gestured to the charred remains of the building, "but I could probably get the paperwork over at city hall." Casca answered.
"Here, I'll drive you." Taiyang said as he motioned for Casca to follow him to his car. Qrow watched them get into his bright yellow automobile.
"I still don't get why he wanted the car painted yellow." Qrow muttered to himself. He looked back at the trio of children. Ruby had finally let go of Guts and they were now exploring the wreckage of the orphanage. Having decided to tell the children, Qrow walked over to where they were digging through the rubble.
"What are you kids doing?" Qrow asked.
"Checking if my sword survived the fire." Guts answered while still focused on moving wreckage aside. Ruby and Yang nodded as they worked alongside Guts.
"Found it." Yang said as she cleared a couple planks aside. She tries to pick up the sword but guts came over and picked it up himself and looked it over for any damages. "It's a little dirty, but other than that it's in good shape." Yang said as she observed the sword and gave him a thumbs up. He stood up and swung it a few times to make sure it was in good condition. He nodded in satisfaction as he turned to face Qrow.
"Where'd Taiyang and Casca go?" Guts asked.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you kids about. You don't have to worry about Guts moving somewhere else." Qrow said. He could see that he now had their full attention. "We managed to find Guts a new guardian."
"Who?" Guts asked.
"Me." Qrow said. The trio gave him a blank look.
"... What?" All three said at the same time.
"I'm adopting you Guts." Qrow said while growing a little impatient. Ruby and Yang started shaking like their father before breaking down in laughter. Guts, on the other hand, had a confused look on his face.
"Why?" The boy asked.
"'Why' what?" Qrow asked.
"Why are you doing this for me? You don't owe me anything." Guts said. Sure, he and Qrow got along just fine, but not to the point where Guts would believe Qrow would adopt him just like that.
"That's where you're wrong, kid." Qrow paused as he gave the laughing pair of girls an annoyed look. "Can we discuss this away from them?" Qrow asked while he gestured to the laughing forms of Yang and Ruby. Guts nodded and they made their way to a spot a few meters away.
"Where was I?" Qrow said to himself as he tried to find his train of thought. "Oh yeah. Kid, I owe you a lot more than you think." He gave Yang and Ruby, who were still in the final stages of their laughter, a fond look. "I may not act like it, but those two girls are the best thing I have in life. I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to them. You saved their lives twice Guts. Each time you got hurt in the process, but you didn't care. Yang and Ruby are lucky to know a guy like you, kid." Qrow paused when he saw Yang and Ruby start to play around with a piece of rebar like a staff.
"There's one reason to adopt you. There isn't any other way to put this, but the girls think the world of you Guts, especially Ruby. You know she's actually starting to think of you as an older brother?" Qrow said with a smile. Guts spared a glance at the silver eyed girl.
"Actually sounds kind of nice." Guts admitted as he smiled at the idea. He really did enjoy being an older brother.
"Thanks to you, Ruby's been breaking out of that shell of hers. She's making friends in school and is more outgoing. With you around as her anchor, Yang has cut back on that thrill seeker attitude of hers. The point is, they've gotten to the point where they imagine life with you in it by default. No matter what they think the future holds, you're in it in some way, shape, or form. There aren't a lot of people they think of that way." Qrow paused as he considered what he was going to say next. Meanwhile, Guts was staring at Qrow in amazement. He was used to a Qrow that loved screwing with people, being drunk, and giving affection a wide berth. To hear him sound so sincere and caring was a major deviation from the norm.
"That's another reason to adopt you. I guess that my final reason is that you've grown on me kid. I want you to stick around for a few more years." Qrow said while rubbing the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable. Guts looked anywhere except at Qrow. He didn't really know what to say to that.
"Well... when you put it like that, I guess you adopting me isn't such a bad idea." Guts said. "Just don't expect me to take your last name or call you dad or anything like that." Guts said with a grin. Qrow chuckled, glad that the sentimental moment was over.
"I'd prefer it if you stuck to Qrow anyways. Calling me dad makes me feel weird and old." Qrow said with a light chuckle. The two males made their way back over to where Ruby and Yang were playing with the rebar. Ruby was chopping at the air with it while Yang was nursing a bruise on her forearm.
"How'd you get the bruise?" Guts asked the moment he saw it.
"I tried twirling the rebar." Was Yang's sheepish reply. To pass the time, Qrow showed the girls the proper way you should twirl a staff. Ruby was surprisingly good at it, only taking a couple tries before she did it successfully. Qrow noticed this and made a mental note to remember it. Tai's car pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later.
"I've got the papers Qrow." Casca said as she got out of the car. Tai followed soon after. Qrow and company walked up to the car where Casca was laying out the papers that needed to be signed on the hood.
"Where do I sign?" Qrow asked as Casca gave him a pen.
"Sign here... here... initials here... phone number here... full name here... and initials here." Casca said as she pointed out where Qrow had to sign. "Alright, now I just need Guts to sign here and you'll be his official guardian." Casca said as she took the pen away from Qrow and gave it to Guts. The black eyed boy regarded the document for a few seconds before signing his full name on it.
"Congratulations, you're now father and son." Casca said as she got a little teary eyed. Seeing Guts get adopted had been something she had been waiting for for a long time. Guts looked up at Qrow with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Father?" Guts asked as innocently as he could. Behind him he could hear Tai and his daughters doing their best to hold down their laughter.
"Stop it." Qrow said as he gave Guts a small glare. "Anyways, you gonna need any help moving your luggage?" Qrow asked.
Guts gave him the blankest stare ever. Of all time.
"What?" Qrow asked upon seeing Guts' expression. He responded by pointing to the wreckage of the orphanage.
"Oh yeah, my bad." Qrow said as he cleared his throat. Of course all of Guts stuff had been burnt to a crisp.
"Real smooth Qrow, real smooth." Tai said from behind Guts.
"I'll have to take you shopping then," Qrow said as he tried to salvage the situation. "Wanna go now?" Qrow asked.
"What about Casca?" Guts asked as he stared at his surrogate mother.
"What are you going to do?" Tai asked in curiosity. "We have a few spare rooms if you want to stay." Tai offered.
"Thanks, but I have to go stay with the other orphans. Wherever they go, I go." Casca said.
"Does this mean...?" Guts asked in realization.
"Yes Guts. I'll be leaving Patch soon." Casca said with a sad smile. "I'll come by to see you before I leave." Casca said as she gave Guts a hug.
"Do you need me to drive you?" Tai asked.
"No, it's okay. We'll be staying right down the street for the time being." Casca said. "I have to go. I'll be sure to say goodbye before I leave." With a final wave goodbye, Casca turned and walked to the building currently housing all the orphans. The small family was left alone to think of what to do next.
"So we're gonna go shopping?" Qrow asked.
"I'm not wearing a shirt, Qrow. Pretty sure most places won't let me in." Guts pointed out. Yang grew slightly uncomfortable when Guts mentioned he was still shirtless. It wasn't that she found a shirtless Guts attractive, though she had to admit that he had a surprising amount of muscle definition for a fourteen year old, but that she could see the scars that covered his chest. Looking at it reminded her of the mistake she made.
"Oh, here you jacket, Guts." Yang offered. She gave him his jacket where he promptly put it on and zip it up, she went into the back seat of her father's car and pulled out a 'Penpal' Jacket and put it on herself.
"Everyone get in. We'll make this our first official family outing." Tai said with a smile. They got into Tai's car, the adults in front and children in back and drove to the nearest mall. They got out and went to the clothing store where Yang and Ruby got their clothes. What followed was a shopping montage where Guts was pretty much forced to try on different clothes. The term "forced" because Guts was perfectly happy with his jeans and sleeveless shirts/shirts, while everyone else had other ideas. Ruby made him try on cloaks and hoods, Yang had him wear slightly tighter clothing than he was used to, Tai had him put on a variety of dress shirts, and even Qrow had him put on a couple of trench coats and vests. When they finally exited the clothing store, Guts had clothes ranging from a black trench coat to a bright red hood.
"Anything else you want?" Qrow asked. "There's a video game store over there." Qrow said as he pointed to a nearby store. Guts gave the store a bored look. He wasn't all that into video games. He liked playing them with Yang and Ruby, but he didn't actively try to get new games. He looked around and grinned when he saw a smithing store.
"Follow me," Guts said as he made his way inside the store. He immediately went for the cuirass armor where he could mix and match pieces of armor. He got a black chest plate with plated pauldrons and a belt with attachment with a codpiece and plated side skirt with straps wrapped around the legs. He also got a left arm brace withwhite wrappings for his other hand and a custom scabbard for his great sword as well as a pair of leather boots. Guts also took the liberty to get a whetstone and other basic maintenance needs for his armor and sword.
A/N: NO CAPE OR HELMET
"Why do you want all this boring stuff?" Yang asked as she looked at Guts' gear.
"It's useful stuff Yang." Guts said as he gathered his items into his arms. Qrow grinned when he realized that this was the kind of stuff Guts deemed interesting and important. He had been a Mercenary after all. It was his job to have the best gear so he could conduct his jobs.
"Isn't it a little big though?" Ruby asked, as she watched Guts fit through the armor and noticed he settled with the one one size bigger. "It's so that i wont get a new set when i grow bigger" Guts explains as he plans to customize the armor over time however he knows very little of smithing, so that's a snag.
"Got everything you need, kid?" Qrow asked. Guts nodded as he made his way to the cashier. Qrow quickly paid for it all and the family made their way outside to where Tai's car was parked. They quickly made their way home as it was almost time for the kids to go to sleep. Guts was shown to his new room. Because it was getting late, Guts just left his stuff on the floor and went to sleep. He would organize everything tomorrow.
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"GASP!!" Guts woke up in sweat and dread drawing breath in and out rapidly. He looks in his surrounding area seeing he's in his room. He felt an intense pain in the back of his neck, while he tries to soothe the pain he thinks on the images he saw and wonders what the hell was that and why did it scared him so much.
__________________________________________________________________________LATER THAT NIGHT
"I've really gone above and beyond the call of duty here, Ozpin." Qrow said into his scroll.
"Qrow, I-," Ozpin began.
"I'm not done talking yet. I think we can both agree that I've done a good job working for you Ozpin. We may have our differences and minor disagreements, but I've always gotten the job done. For you to force me to adopt the kid like that, after everything I've done for you, is a huge dick move. I don't appreciate this Ozpin." Qrow growled into his scroll.
"...Are you done?" Came Ozpin's bored reply.
"Yes."
"Okay, first of all, I never forced you to do anything Qrow. I wasn't even aware that you had adopted the boy until about five minutes ago. Second of all, 'minor disagreements?' Qrow, it takes all of Glynda's self control not to slap you everytime she sees you. My conversations with you leave me so drained that I go through a gallon of coffee right after. Finally, we both know that you wanted to adopt the boy, but you don't want to admit that, so you're using me as a scapegoat to justify your actions." Ozpin said in a collected, yet obviously annoyed, voice. Qrow was quiet for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond.
"... Well anyways I adopted the kid. I'll send you this week's fight clips tomorrow." Qrow said as he hung up on Ozpin. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes.
"I hate it when he's right..." Qrow grumbled before laying down and going to sleep.
__________________________________________________________________________
ONE WEEK LATER
" You're going to Vale?" Taiyang asked. Casca nodded her head.
"I came to say goodbye." Casca said as she said her goodbyes to Qrow, Taiyang, and the two sisters. She gave a sad smile when she finally got to Guts.
"I'll see you soon Guts, okay?" Casca said as she gave Guts a hug. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes when she felt Guts quietly sobbing into her shoulders. At that moment, she forgot about the fourteen year old boy with amazing abilities. All she saw was a small, scrappy black eyed boy planning to leave in the dead of night.
"Come visit me when you go to Beacon, deal?" Casca said as she let go of Guts. Guts wiped his eyes with his arm and gave Casca a small smile.
"Deal." Guts said. With one final goodbye, Casca exited the house and left Patch soon after.
A/N: AS I WAS WRITING THIS I HAD A IDEA IF I SHOULD HAVE MADE GUTS IN TO A WOLF FAUNUS WHAT DO YOU THINK
ALSO WHAT ARE YOU A FAN OF BERSERK OR RWBY? WHAT DREW YOU IN?