Chapter 20: Enemy Number One Today, Rivals Tomorrow

A/N: 12.2K words. I am quite done.

I think this concludes the more interesting parts of the Vytal Festival tournament stuff.

Also, 1,010 REVIEWS! WE'VE GOT A COMMA IN A NUMBER! THANK YOU ALL!

Few things to get out:

I am considering adding Glynda because, oh my god, it's asked every single chapter. And I answer the same way every single time: No. Now it's: Okay, maybe. Maaaaaaybe. Still edging on no.

If you're wondering why Naruto is acting like a hormonal teen with no idea about sex and relationships, it's because he is literally a virgin hormonal teen with none of that experience. His memories do not show sex, the relationship, or the buildup to the relationship/marriage at all. He only sees the result, which is the family, the kids, etc. And the feelings that come with it. He knows what love feels like, and he sees how he teaches his kids in other lives.

Going to take a little longer for the next chapter because of the three day weekend and I'm gone. Expect Summer focused.

That's all! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter START

"Before we begin the first fight, let's do a quick rundown of the tournament format!"

"For the people that came and chose to not read. Or forgot. Or drank too much, cheers to that!"

"Yes, any of those. Now, a rundown in sixty seconds, done by yours truly!"

The color casters droned, niched into the shadowy reaches of her mind. Raven already read the released article, and she had gotten a rundown from multiple professors, despite her never asking for it. They had come up to her, wished her luck, and then went, "Just in case you need to know…" and it was history from there. She really didn't need to hear it again.

It was pretty simple for a tournament. Students from the same Academy could not fight each other in the first round. Also, the first round had every single battle within the same grade. After that, however, it was all up to chance. Five rounds to determine the winner, with three fights on the first day and two on the second. A twenty minute time limit for each fight so it didn't drag on too long. If it reached that point, then it would go down to the judge panel. There would be a thirty minute break in between each completed round for day one, and an hour for day two.

"Now that we all understand the rules and setup for the fights, let the fights begin!"

Raven adjusted in her seat, waiting patiently as she could in the waiting room with thirty-one other students sitting all around. It felt more like a locker room than anything, with a capacity of a bit over a thousand in this one. Students could toss their equipment into any of the lockers in the breaks between fights and pick it up just as quickly before their battles. Raven could see the use of this during the main event. It's just that during the pre-event tournament, thirty-two people did not fill the room at all. It felt empty, like a ghost town with few inhabitants.

Glynda leaned against the wall beside the large screen. "Thoughts on your opponent?" She always knew how to talk to her. Didn't ask how she felt or any of that nonsense. Straight to the point, cutting to the meat of the issue rather than deal with the fully outer layer.

It was just the two of them. Summer had gone off to warm up, since she was taking the first fight of the tournament. A battle against a first year Mistralian student.

"I think I'll be fine. Atlas student, male. I don't know his Semblance, but tall. Seems aggressive from the short clips I could find." Glynda hardly moved, but Raven could read the tell of her expecting more. "I'm going to rush him before he can do anything. If I'm even more aggressive than he is and also faster, then maybe I'll end the fight quickly and save my Aura for the second fight."

Glynda remained stoic, but even let out a barely perceptible nod.

"If that's what you think is solid, then go for it."

That was as much of a positive she'd receive.

Soon, the crowd outside cheered as Summer and her opponent from Mistral took to the stage. Mikael Topas. He had a stocky build, nearly as wide as he was tall but filled with muscles that wrapped around more muscles.

"I can only presume that every day is gym day for Mr. Topas," Glynda said. Raven snorted.

A countdown starting from ten ran -

"Nine!"

The whole world chanted with it, shaking Amity.

"Eight! Seven!"

Summer's demeanor shifted, becoming the person that Raven knew on the spars. The team leader of team STRQ, not the blundering, awkward, sugar loving girl that she had first met.

"Six!"

She fell into a stance and held her scythe low to the ground, legs tensing and releasing as the fight drew imminent.

"Five! Four! Three!"

The boy across from her never moved, holding his hammer at a resting position, perfectly vertical standing against the ground and held in his right hand. A lax, chill expression stayed on his face, like an undisturbed lake.

"Two!"

Summer dropped lower.

"One!"

Her eyes narrowed, and her body held a hue of white Aura before dissipating, suffusing throughout her muscles and body.

"Begin!"

A horn announced the beginning of the fight…and its end.

No one else would ever make the mistake of letting a weapon be at resting position at the start of a fight, especially against Summer Rose, leader of team STRQ for the rest of the tournament.

The boy didn't even have a chance. The same moment that the horn went off, Summer had already swung her scythe across the entire front of his body diagonally, cut through his side with the momentum, and then slashed again at his back while dashing to his other side.

Thirty percent of his Aura was gone in the first second.

It was at this point that the Mistralian first year student finally lost his languid look and his hammer lifted off the ground to defend himself. That was the second issue Raven noticed. A hammer is heavy. She didn't care who was carrying it and what argument they made; if Summer Rose is in your personal space, you are most definitely not going to be able to do anything about it with a hammer.

Another forty percent of his Aura disappeared by the time he swung at her. It clanged, and his Semblance activated. The force was shot at Summer with the exact impetus that she had exerted against him, but it had missed her entirely. When he fired the counter Semblance from his hand, Summer was long gone from his sight lines, already twirling her scythe above her head as she roped around his stocky body.

The hammer transformed into a gigantic shield and he hunkered down. Raven noticed that he could see Summer, despite how quickly she was moving, but he couldn't move or react to her movements in an offensive manner. He tried using his Semblance again to no avail, and then attempted staggering Summer with a forceful block. For a moment, the shortest of times, it seemed to have worked. Summer's footing slipped, and his Semblance was about to activate.

And then Summer pushed forward, her shoes regaining grip with the ground, and pushed through the block, disappearing once again. At the last second, a barrier appeared around the Mistal student. Summer smashed into it from behind and then jumped high into the air before she crashed down, swinging her scythe wildly as she dove. It looked as if a half dome of veritable steel appeared before her, smashing into Topas and then landing gracefully with her weapon and arm extended out and body low.

His Aura, sparkling and shining blue, cracked and fizzled out right as Summer stood from her crouch directly in front of the opponent and pointed her scythe directly at him.

Three seconds.

With Summer's Aura still at ninety-eight percent.

"Concede." The usually chipper voice was now ice, dished out like a command.

"...Wh-...I - "

"Concede," Summer repeated with the exact same intonation. The startled opponent froze, and then nodded, the barest of dips.

"...I concede."

"I was certainly not expecting that," Viero spoke slowly, digesting what he had just seen. "I'm not sure if I'd be able to console that kid if I was his teacher. Thank the Brothers that it's not my responsibility."

Naruto gave the man a pat on the shoulder, empathy coming off in waves. It was unfortunate, however, that he didn't inform Viero that Summer could go faster than what she had shown.

'Don't worry, Viero. Soon, you'll have the unenviable position as well.' Naruto felt the man on the other side stiffen. 'You too, Shade professor. I'll be taking that half year salary from your hands tomorrow…or Glynda will kill me.'

The crowd exploded in an uproar, and the commentators were just as flabbergasted, if not exhilarated.

"Whaaaat! I can't believe my eyes!" one of the live casters choked out, disbelief coloring his tone. "Is it over? It's only been three seconds!"

"That's a first year student. Not even a first year Huntress! Everyone on Remnant, that is Summer Rose, the first seed of Beacon students!" The second caster shouted, almost jumping in his suit.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone with so much talent in all my years of casting tournaments. I had high hopes for Topas, considering his results in the Mistralian tournaments, but that was before knowing that someone like Summer Rose existed! I can only imagine how the second second of Beacon, who is also her teammate, Raven Branwen will fare. I'm excited to see, and I hope you are, too, Remnant!" The final live caster said, facing the camera with a charismatic grin.

Raven frowned. "I don't mind the expectations, but…"

Glynda laughed. "They're just doing their job. The casters are retired Huntsman with colorful personalities. They know how to get a crowd going, and since most viewers - and most people - aren't trained at all, they have to cater to their audience."

"I guess."

"Besides," Glynda turned to her. "I thought you liked it when attention was on you so you can showcase your strength."

At that moment, Summer walked through the doors, with a grand, shining smile. The waiting room, which had been stuck in a limbo of stupefied silence, somehow got quieter as she walked in. For once, her teammate didn't seem to wilt under the gaze of the others and walked over to where the pair sat, grin never wavering.

"Hey! Did you see that? Did I represent Team STRQ and Beacon or what?" Raven was certain Summer was on a battle high equivalent to when she ate the entire dessert section a month back. They had banned her from taking more than ten options since then.

Raven tossed her fist out, and Summer cheerfully bumped it. "Yeah. Just wait 'till I surpass your performance."

In a very un-Summer manner, her leader rose to her taunting words and grinned harder.

"I'd like to see you try," she challenged.

Oh, how Raven the next seven fights would go in the blink of an eye.

At least she watched Glynda literally toss out the opponent because he wore armor - classic Atlas - and Keith captured his opponent with his Semblance and forced them to surrender.

Kuuma had ruthlessly defeated her opponent, showing the same predatory and unreal flexibility every student had seen in the spar two days before. It was one of the longer fights, but only lasted seven minutes. An extra minute was added for her to pummel him to the ground.

And then after another two fights, it was her turn.

There was a rush that made her giddy as she finally, finally got her turn. Raven had walked out with a 'good luck!' from Summer, a pat on her shoulder from Glynda, and a silent nod from Keith. And now, entering the stage, she was blanketed by the entirety of Amity Arena once more.

"And now enters Raven Branwen. I gotta say, I honestly find her attitude quite refreshing. She doesn't care for the media at all."

"That's great, Thomas, but we're literally commentators."

"Exactly, Mike! She doesn't care about us, so we can say whatever we want. For example, the video that popped up and took the online space by storm, using '#Vytal'."

"Ah, yes. It was a twenty second clip? My daughter won't stop talking about it."

"And she shouldn't! If she wins this fight, then we'll get to see the battle between her and Kuuma! You can't tell me you aren't looking forward to it, Jax."

"I am, I am. But like you said, she needs to win this one. I'm still curious if she'll put on a performance equal to the caliber Summer Rose showcased."

"Right you are. So let's talk about her opponent as well, Alberon Chalice. In my opinion - "

Summer giggled. "Seems like Raven's pretty famous."

"That's kind of what happens when you state expletives at paparazzi as your only response, get another viral video the same week that could be read as a personal grudge between two competitive representatives, and then walk onto the stage in the opening ceremony with middle fingers high." Glynda sighed with friendly amusement. "Well, I wouldn't expect any less from her."

Summer's smile was radiant. "Me either!"

There was so much noise. How did they all fight with everyone screaming into their ears? The fight hadn't begun, and Raven could only imagine how much worse the cacophony of sounds would become once the battle broke into action.

Alberon Chalice was twitching, tensing muscles in preparation to dash to her. She knew it; in every single clip, he took the fight to his opponent. Even in team battles, he was the spearhead for his team, forging a path forward and creating space so that the others could grab ideal positions to support him.

Tall and lithe, it made sense that his choice of weapon was a longsword that only extended his already absurd reach. And he was a first year, which meant that he would only increase the most annoying part of fighting against him as time went on. Every inch was one more that she had to consider or concede if she was dodging. Even clashing and meeting his longsword with her nodachi would require a focus on spacial awareness that she wasn't used to using, considering his unusual height for a first year.

After all, she didn't have to fight any first years at Beacon that were seven feet tall. Because there weren't any.

Now that she saw him in person, he really was a human tower. When he had walked past her, she was barely at the top of his chest.

"Ten!"

The roar in her ear reminded her to pull Omen out of its sheath. The roiling in her mind was converted to spiteful annoyance she'd utilize as energy. Omen, her trusted friend, came out black and beautiful, shining in her right hand. She lifted it.

"Nine! Eight! Seven!"

Raven slid into her stance, bending both knees and Omen low at the hip, pointing to the ground and behind her.

"Six! Five!"

Chalice stood nearly forty meters away, sliding into a similar stance. Their intentions were made clear to the other when they met eyes, locking on with an understanding gaze once surprise wore off his face. Perhaps he didn't expect her to match his energy.

"Four! Three! Two!"

Just as Summer had, Raven allowed her Aura to come free from her soul, then felt it invigorate her bones, her muscles, her everything.

"One!"

Her calves itched. The balls of her feet strained and pinched. She took one, deep breath and held it.

"Begin!"

Metal clashed, scraping against the other in the middle of the arena, closer to Alberon's starting position. Raven pressed forward and was surprised when his longsword gave way, leaning back and retreating. She stumbled forward a step. Looking up with her sword already in position to defend, she was again at a loss for words when -

'Did he get staggered?'

Alberon had taken two steps back and his arms were shaking, biceps fully contracted. He righted himself and swung at her with an obvious, slow swing. She parried it easily, and let her eyebrows raise when the offending weapon practically disappeared from sight to the right.

Her body instinctively took this chance to cut across the length of his body three times. Without letting up, she stepped closer, utilizing the height and range disadvantage now to her advantage. She was too close for him to use his full extension, and every time he moved, his elbows would be too bent. His movements too choppy.

He tried. He really tried to fight against her, and it was clear that he was used to this kind of disadvantage given how efficient he was at defending himself. But Raven was nothing if not relentless, never giving him the opportunity to step away. Whenever he tried, she'd chase after him, practically biting at his ankles like a rabid dog.

There was also a very marked difference in sword skills and familiarity with their weapons. Raven, she damn near grew up with a blade. It has been by her bed since she was a child. Her blade was a part of her life since she could conceive thoughts. Alberon, who must have started at the normal age of eight or nine with weapons training, and lightly at that, was simply outmatched and outclassed. Offense was his usual road to success in a fight, and she was stuffing that chance.

With another parry to a weak blow due to their close proximity, Raven cut down vertically from his right shoulder to his left hip. His Aura flared, sparked, simmered, and then disappeared in a wisp.

He wasn't a Shade student, so Raven raised her sword at his naked neck. "Concede."

Alberon raised both of his hands in the universal sign of surrender. The proverbial white flag. "I concede."

She smirked, lowered Omen into her sheath, and walked away. All to the crowd's screams and the casters' conversation.

"Now that fight was far less explosive than Summer Rose's. However, what it lacked in eruptive action, it made up for in surgical precision and technical prowess."

"I don't know, Thomas. She was clearly more skilled with her sword than Thomas was, and she turned the range disadvantage to her advantage admirably. However, I'm just not as impressed. Don't get me wrong, she's still incredible, but I don't see anything that makes me think of her as a generational talent the way I thought of Summer."

"I agree with you, Mike. She's certainly still talented and has worked hard on her training. Every movement she made was committed and instinctual, as if pressed into her body hundreds and hundreds of times. But none of it felt inspired or unique. All of her attacks were conventional, and I worry what she'd do once she fights against older students who are far more familiar with controlling their Aura with their bodies."

"That's also a fair argument, Jax. It's not normal for first years to have such control over their Aura, and her command over it plus her weapon mastery has her a step over the rest of the competition in her year. And I see what you're saying, but I think we have two very special students from Beacon."

"We'll see, Mike. I think her next fight with Kuuma will really show whether or not she's worth the hype. Personally, I think Summer is still the only one in the tournament that's far beyond my expectations from the first and second years. Whether or not it remains this way, we'll just have to see in the second round."

"I agree with you, Jax. We'll just have to wait and see. We'll be letting our analyst desk take over the commentary to analyze the fights in the first round while the tournament goes onto a thirty minute break! You have plenty of food to choose from! Vendors from Atlas - "

The thirty minute break went by in a flash when Raven rewatched the fights on the screen. The post-fight analysis from the commentators were actually well-structured and grounded, which made sense considering their history. She just didn't expect them to be this procedural about the whole thing, literally drawing diagrams and explaining what they thought the fighters were thinking in the heat of the moment.

A few fights were skimmed over completely, but that gave them more time to cover the others. Summer's was one they practically skipped when it came up. An analyst said, "Everything diffed. Not much else to add," and the two nodded, and the slideshow went to the next fight. Pretty much the same scenario when it got to Glynda. A different analyst asked how the Atlesian student forgot their opponent literally uses Telekinesis and wore armor into the fight.

"Fourth year. Come on. That's bone-headed, and you were the second seed for Atlas."

"But would you really want to fight against her without armor?"

"I wouldn't, but it's a friendly exhibition match. I don't mind taking a few fights and walking away if that means I actually get to participate."

"Fair."

"Let's hope her next opponent is listening to us and discards her armor for the next fight."

Eventually, it got to Kuuma's fight, and Raven leaned forward in her chair.

"Kuuma Velt is aggression to a fault. She practically ignores defense and tries to get inside the opponent's space, never letting up. She hardly gets hit due to her flexibility, and she's strong."

"Right here. Viewers, her opponent is not a slouch, but she is the one that broke the deadlock and knocked his weapon to the side. I think this was when the battle went from slightly in her favor to practically over."

"Exactly. She took advantage and with that inch, she took the entire mile and then some. It's impressive on her end, but it's also something to point out for Maximus Brightstone to fix for the next year. Unfortunately, he won't be able to participate in the next Vytal Festival as he will be a graduated Huntsman, but he should be a much stronger, and capable, warrior in the end."

As for Keith Cold?

"Man was cold."

"No chill."

"Literally froze his opponent."

"Next?"

"Yeah."

"No problems with that."

"Awesome. To the next fight!"

Eventually, they reached hers.

"So before we actually start working with this, can we just point out that Alberon had a nickname as 'The Lanky Giant' at his school? Personally, I think that's hilarious." Cue laughter from the other two.

"Alright, let's see. First of all, I think we all knew what kind of fight it was going to be the moment the clock started ticking down. Look at that, they're both ready to rush the other. See! They meet a bit off the middle due to Raven's edge in speed, and then she deals out the first strike. At that point, I thought it was basically over."

"Right. Usually first strike in these kinds of fast-paced battles dictates the matches. I think all of us remember the days of sparring and knowing how much it affects your mental if you lose the first advantage."

"Oh yeah, hundred percent."

"Just like how much Aura she took from Alberon."

"Hey, nice one."

"Getting back on track. I want to focus on her style of fighting. It looks very instinctual, like she follows what her body tells her. Now usually, I would say this works with people up to a point, but her instincts seem to guide her in ways I would move in her situation as well. I really can't find a fault in her split-second decision making. From this fight, I think she's rather high level for understanding the flow of a fight and knowing how to dictate the pace when wanting to push the advantage."

"So smart and instinctual while having decent base stats?"

"Better than decent. She knocked away the long sword like it was a twig. Either she was strong and intelligent before she came to Beacon, or that kid professor has quite the talent at teaching. He's also taught Summer, Glynda, and Keith. They're all going to the second round with over 90% Aura."

"That statistic is quite amazing, considering it's the first time Beacon will have all four competing after the first round."

"...This is the first time this exhibition tournament has been held."

"...I know."

Raven looked away when the three older analysts broke into uncontrollable laughter and went to rest her eyes for a minute.

Summer's second fight against a second year from Shade was done in thirty seconds. This one got the memo that letting her do her thing was not the best idea, so she backed up and created space before the fight began.

She failed to realize that Summer was not going as fast as she could in the first fight. To her credit, Summer did have to take some more time prodding through the defenses, but ultimately found a chink in the armor and then make an entire canyon out of it.

The live casters lost their minds, as did the crowd. Summer had returned with another triumphant grin and gave Raven a fist bump.

Glynda's fight was a reminder to all her opponents that armor or no, she would use her Semblance and make it look absurdly overpowered. What were you supposed to do when she used Dust and took control of the elements like they were hers to command?

Lose. The first year from Mistral never had a chance.

Keith's fight was boring. He shot icicles at his opponent and never moved from his spot. It went to twenty minutes and the judges deemed him the winner since he was still at over eighty-percent Aura, dipping only because of his Semblance, whereas the second year from Shade was at twenty-four percent due to tanking quite a few hits.

And then finally, it was Raven's fight against Kuuma in the second round.

It seemed that everyone knew that this was the fight to look for, if only for the feud that the two had against the other. The crowd was on their feet when Raven and Kuuma were standing in the arena.

Kuuma Velt was just across from her, only a couple of meters away. A smile, so grotesque polite that it may as well have been enhanced with splotches of blood, slipped on her face as she gripped the handles of her dual blades, the curved edge glinting favorably in the sun.

The seconds, which had slowly ticked on throughout the day, all led to this moment. From morning, to her first battle, all to this. And in a fight where the winner and loser could be determined within that split second, the twenty minute time limit was an eternity that would never be reached. Not when Raven knew she was facing an absolute monster of a combatant of close combat.

Raven's vision cleared, and the crowd was gone. The world kept closing in until all she saw was the ground, the edge of the arena, and her. Kuuma, the smiling girl.

Soon, the rush of wind, the cheers and the announcers, all of it disappeared. Everything had become like that of a wisp, becoming smog in a far away dream where she forgot all except what mattered. The blood rushed in her ears, and pumped forcefully through her beating heart. Even that began to ebb away, and all that was left was her breath, shaky from exhilaration and intense adrenaline.

"Like I said earlier during the introduction ceremony," Kuuma's voice came clearly, a roar in this empty world, "you will fall by my hands."

A small breath in. A long, slow breath out.

'There is no option here to lose. Therefore - '

"I will win!" Raven whispered. Kuuma's bloody grin widened.

"Ten!"

The countdown started, but Raven had tuned all of it out. The crowd, effervescent, went unheeded. There was only her and Kuuma now.

The blare of a horn announced the start of the fight.

Faster than most Hunstmen could dream of, Kuuma struck, closing the gap between them within a single leap. It would've been too much for her…if it was before her tenure at Beacon. Also, her teammate was literally Summer Rose, one of the fastest up and coming Huntresses. This was fast, and Raven could more than handle that.

Kuuma's blades went straight for the neck where they could catch in a lock and wear down Raven's Aura quickly and painfully. Raven burst into motion, barely a blur slower, and slammed Omen upwards against the two blades, forcing them high into the air. The metals sang a falsetto in the clash, and Raven's arms stung from the impact. Ignoring the tingling that almost made her loosen her grip on the hilt of her nodachi, Raven pushed forward and shouldered Kuuma squarely in the chest, pushing her back closer to the center of the ring.

In that small blink of a moment, Raven pivoted her back foot and blitzed forward, using the advantage of forcing a reset against Kuuma's balance. She could fight just as aggressively as Kuuma, never giving her opponent rest. Raven swung her sword in a diagonal arc, barely missing when her opponent twisted her body to the left, blade scraping the razor thin edge between air and Kuuma's back that faced horizontal to her.

'Damn.'

Strands of clipped black hair floated down weightlessly. Raven ducked under one of the sickles that threatened to cut her neck again, already weaving around another swing that came from overhead that would bifurcate a normal person. The sound whistled in her ears, a high pitched whine and air was cut through so harshly with the sharp edge.

Raven bounded back, creating some space. Kuuma oddly didn't follow, slowly standing up and holding both of her sickles with the curved edge resting on each of her shoulders. That same nauseating smile rested easily on her lips, her head tilted in false curiosity.

She was enjoying this and wanted to milk it.

"Aw, you were doing so well, too!" A smirk. "For a baby, that is. You look angry, it's so adorable."

A bead of sweat tracked a river's path down Raven's face. It had only been four, maybe five seconds, and she already knew that there would be no opportunity to test defenses. And unlike the other opponent who looked strong, Kuuma's toned muscles were dense if Raven's arms shaking were any indication. Each of those deflects and dodges had required everything and more out of her. Twenty minutes in this fight was impossible.

And that was before considering that Kuuma had yet to show her Semblance.

Raven narrowed her eyes resolutely. "If you think I'm cute when I'm upset…"

She disappeared, reappearing a foot away from Kuuma, halfway complete through a horizontal cut. Kuuma's eyes widened with glee as she deflected the attack with inhuman reactions, barely even shifting feet from the force of the strike. Raven glared, baring her teeth.

"...I'm about to look fucking adorable."

"Haha!"

Summer clenched her fists in her lap, watching the fight from the waiting room. She stared unblinkingly into the large visual display in one of the corners, the official broadcast keeping up in real time. The crowd roared, and the sound, barely muffled, reached where she sat.

"Now this is a battle! Raven's actually keeping up with Kuuma quite well!" One of the casters exclaimed. Thomas? "Neither have used their Semblances yet, keeping it to close quarters with their weapons and - wow! What a move by Kuuma Velt!"

"Raven had to have felt that one. A misstep from her part, failing to read the feint. That single hit took nearly fifteen percent of her Aura," Jax pointed out calmly.

Summer held down the whimper that was rising in her throat. The broadcast zoomed in as the fight took a lull, panning between the two contestants. Raven's eyes were heated, full of concentration and anger. The type Summer knew that the best way for Raven to get it out was to hit something. Unfortunately, the only target was a snaky, flexible Kuuma that just refused to get hit by anything.

"It's interesting. Kuuma is letting Raven create space on purpose?" Mike asked.

"She's elongating the fight. Basking in battle. Kuuma's smiling like a child on Christmas. Look at Raven."

Raven's glower right now could cow the worst of the gang members in Vale. Kuuma's visage only brightened, eyes narrowing in torturous amusement.

A chair scraped to Summer's side, and Glynda sat down. They watched the screen together in silence, as did the rest of the room. Every person's eyes were glued to a screen, carefully analyzing the fight as it progressed.

Raven's eyes glinted on the screen, and the fight resumed when she became a streak to the camera. Zigzagging in a blur, Raven swung from left to right with her entire body weight, forcing Kuuma to fight her directly or give up space. Summer doubted that she'd be able to dodge in place if she was the one fighting right now.

The sickles cracked loudly against Raven's sword. It was clear that Kuuma wanted to stop her offense, but Raven pushed forward, copying Summer and swinging through the defense and continuing with her motion in one…not so graceful sweep. Just forcefully pushing past to prevent getting caught and punished.

"Do you think she can win?" Summer asked. She glanced at the bar on the top of the screen.

Aura Levels

Raven Branwen: 81%.

Kuuma Velt: 99%.
Glynda remained silent. When Raven was finally stopped in her tracks, she kicked low, lifting one of Kuuma's legs and rupturing her balance. She managed to get two swipes on Kuuma, her Aura flickering a bright, grassy green, before getting forced back via a punch in the face.

Raven Branwen: 79%

Kuuma Velt: 94%

Summer pumped her fists silently with a little exhale from her nose to cheer for her teammate behind the scenes. Those were her first two good hits. Shallow, but still clean.

"Let's just watch and cheer for her," Glynda finally said.

It didn't answer her burning question, but Summer obliged. And her heart leapt to her throat at each narrow escape or block Raven completed.

"Come on, Raven…"

Raven remembered a time when she was younger, watching a video of two veteran Huntsmen sparring. Only about four years ago, she saw two elite fighters that were caught on screen only when they clashed. Otherwise, there were only pockets of colors blitzing around the screen. It was the first time she'd seen something so overwhelming, as if she was a part of a different world.

She wondered if the civilians watching this fight felt the same as she did back then.

The two were locked in battle near the center of the arena, clashing with their weapons in streaks of glinting metal. Instinct and intense mental focus took over as she let her body's natural flow take over. Kuuma was pushing her, forcing her to demand more of her muscles. To be faster, and to strike harder. When she dodged, it had been a scant few centimeters, whereas she'd normally get a comfortable foot against most first years at Beacon. When she deflected, her arm would strain and strain, pressing back until she broke the deadlock and pushed Kuuma away, only for the sickles to come back with a vengeance.

And then it was back to the cycle, with her dodging, deflecting, parrying, countering, and striking. She felt her Aura dipping with every nick that scrape that managed to get through her defenses, but she was also getting some retaliatory hits in. Her blood was a torrent of flowing fire, heating up underneath her dermis. Sweat pricked through her skin, pooling on her forehead and dribbling down her skin as her body flew through powerful motions like water and stone.

Raven was honestly having the time of her life.

She leaned back, dodging the edge of the sickle where her head had been just a breath ago. She's getting real sick of those swipes to her head; her hair was getting a free cut and all the ducking and dodging was tiring her out. Her hands planted on the ground, and she lifted her legs hard. The crack of foot connecting against chin echoed sublimely in this silent world, enrapturing her.

In an incredible show of body control, Raven spun on her hands, narrowly dodging the low kick and blocking the next one with Omen's flat end. She flew back and righted herself midair, skidding on the ground nearly twenty meters away from Kuuma.

Her heart sang and her blood bended to its will as it rushed like a waterfall that was connected to hundreds of melting icebergs.

This time, Raven was the one to close the distance, sprinting as soon as her feet stopped sliding against the ground. She slashed at an opening, a hole in the defense of Kuuma Velt, only for it to be dodged and a kick sent her way, directly at her chin.

She ducked and weaved through another punch, then spun quickly and sliced at Kuuma's midsection. Carrying through the block - don't get staggered! - that she expected, Raven hopped and used the momentum to perform a blindingly fast spinning kick in the air at the side of Kuuma's head.

Kuuma blocked it, to Raven's considerable consternation. But she didn't get any time to think any more of it as she swung Omen to deflect the pair of sickles coming from underneath her. The two blades were grasped tightly in one hand and homing in on her left side. She barely halted it, and her body's instincts took over, using the force to push away from the ground even further and launching herself towards the sky.

Raven reached the apex and began to descend in an arc. Kuuma's waited, twirling her sickles comfortably. A lick of the lips, desperately waiting for her to return to earth. Getting blown airborne and falling in a predictable way was a surefire method to get punished. Naruto taught her that much.

But he also taught her -

"You should always be unpredictable when you're about to get caught in a trap. Don't just take it."

Raven dropped into a straight split. Her neck thanked her for it, as only a heartbeat ago, it occupied the space the twin blades cut through. Again. Rebounding off the ground, Raven lifted her left hand, gripping one of Kuuma's wrists that was still in the middle of its arc, and then she swung at the same side.

A sick, satisfied grin took over Raven's face when huge sparks of green flashed in front of her red eyes.

Kuuma, to her credit, didn't make a sound. The hand tugged away with enough force that it would've knocked Raven off her feet, so she let go of the limb and raised Omen to its neutral stance.

Finally, she landed a solid blow on this dodging bitch of a girl who just had to have one of the fastest reaction times Raven's ever had the pleasure of doing combat against. And by the Brothers and all that was good in Remnant was she the most annoying person to fight, bar Summer and professor Naruto.

"Ooh, that wasn't bad. Let's up the ante, shall we?"

And then as if Raven hadn't been barely dodging with everything she had and blocking with all of her strength, Kuuma became both stronger and faster, forcing Raven to tap into a well of potential she didn't even know she had.

Weaving out of a strike with a spin, she struck quickly with an upward slash, catching Kuuma with the unexpected counter on her left side. A cut through Raven's open torso immediately after made her fold over a little. Another sickle slicing through her clavicle for her hesitation woke her up and got her back into the fight.

She pushed harder, ignorant of the sweat that dribbled off her chin and the muscles that begged for oxygen as she focused on her technique. Giving up her flow and technical focus was tantamount to giving up the entire match. Everything but the person in front of her was unimportant. Her heart beat increasing, her Aura dropping lower, and her breathing becoming ragged with every chance to take the slightest break. Nor her arms shivering from clashing with Kuuma, who was definitely stronger. Nor her legs starting to feel like a gelatinous mess that was left out in the sun to bake and spill into liquid, because Kuuma was faster.

She was fighting her, and she would find a way. A wide grin was released when Omen got a particularly deep cut across Kuuma's stomach.

Kuuma jumped back. For the first time since the fight began, Kuuma was the one to create space between the two. Raven almost preened at this knowledge, if not for the fact that she was in the middle of the hardest fight she'd ever been in, and the other person would just not let her rest.

Raven's smile slipped off like candle wax. Something was changing. Her instincts, which had been guiding her like lights in the dark sky, suddenly fell deathly silent.

"Ha…ahaha. You know, I really wasn't planning on using my Semblance until you brought yours out," the prideful voice snapped, the veneer of overly sweet calm finally cracking. "But I think that you don't have a combat oriented Semblance, or you would've brought it out by now."

Kuuma was no longer smiling. The girl's eyes glowed, and her skin shimmered with Aura for a moment.

"Or I could be looking down on you still," Raven bit back. Kuuma's eyes narrowed, slighted but not the slightest distracted mentally focused on her task. To win.

"Your funeral." Somehow, Raven felt that those words should be taken literally. Suddenly, a sickle was at her ribs. Omen was in position to deflect instantly, but the expected clang of metal against metal never came.

'What?'

Raven's Aura shuddered, defending her from bodily harm as the sickle scraped against the opposite side of her rib. She winced, but held her stance and refocused, calming her breath and watching carefully for the next attack.

'From above.'

Raven raised Omen to deflect the two sickles that were coming for her shoulders, but again, it never came. She flinched and jumped away when two Aura draining slices cut from the bottom of her leg to the top of her thighs.

There had to be a way to reassess. From the left, but struck on the right. From above, but a pair below?

'Opposite?'

This time, when the sickles swung for her left hip, Raven swung Omen to the right. Her Aura sparked maroon and pain blossomed on the left side of her body.

'What the fuck? Is it not the opposite, then?'

Raven instinctively blocked the blades that came for her left shoulder, but lost balance when no counterforce presented itself. She fell forward for a heartbeat, and then a stab in her right shoulder pushed her back.

'Fuck! The timing is weird. Sometimes it's instant, and other times it's delayed or sped up. This is completely fucking with my muscle memory!'

A blade that sliced at her head, making her thankful for the Aura she had left.

'This time, it's the opposite!'

A stab on her left leg.

'Same side.'

Another stab on her left leg.

'Same…'

A dizzying punch in the head.

And the pattern continued. On and on. And Raven's Aura continued to drop as instinctual panic began to rise.

Kuuma was stronger, faster, more experienced, and now she was using her Semblance and completely screwing over her instinctual fighting style.

She had no idea how to win.

"No, Raven! Why are you blocking and dodging the wrong way! Is that the girl's Semblance?" Summer cried as quietly as she could. But she was shaking, watching her teammate's Aura levels slip lower and lower as she kept putting her sword on the opposite side of where the blade was coming. Sometimes, she'd defend correctly, but this somehow seemed to vex Raven even more. "Glynda, what's going on?"

Glynda readjusted her glasses. "Directional warping. Kuuma can mess with a person's perception of where she is attacking from. This includes the angle, speed, and even the strength of the attack. She could be readying up a slice, but Raven might see that it's already at parrying distance."

Summer sharply gasped. "That's insane! How'd you even beat that?"

"I'm a long range fighter. I knocked her out of the Arena the moment I felt her Semblance starting to mess with me near the ledge. She was quite upset. And it's not as if she's changing where she's attacking from; it's just the timing and the area she's attacking is disorienting between feints and reality to the victim of her Semblance."

Glynda sighed. Kuuma hadn't expected her Telekinesis to be that strong, so Glynda capitalized on grabbing the girl's armor and casually flinging her out of the arena. The lighter clothes and lack of armor must be to make up for that error from two years back.

She didn't have the heart to tell Summer that Kuuma was probably one of the worst matchups Raven could've had. All Shade students were tenacious to a fault, and this impacted their physical endurance and capabilities to the max. Atlas was strict on its students and followed guidelines to reach an expected bar for categories of strength in order to fit like puzzle pieces into Semblance oriented graduates were usually more flexible and capable of on the fly adaptability, while still matching most graduates from the other schools in strength and technique. Mistral was actually heavily combat oriented for human combat due to the cultural phenomenon of tournaments. As such, they usually performed extremely well in the singles and doubles bracket of the Vytal Festival, but didn't usually have much success in the team aspect.

Shade was similar, but they fought to survive. Vicious, but they had to be. They were pushed to the brink, every day. The void called death whispered every time they'd walk out to the sands on missions, even if they were as easy as patrol. Shade, by far, had the highest death percentages of all the Huntsmen graduates. So their professors trained the students ceaselessly, if only to have another life to continue on. To prevent the worst.

Kuuma Velt was…the extreme of all of the Shade students. She was the most tenacious. The most willing to walk the fine line between life and death. And the one that craved strength the most.

The eyes on the girl when she had been knocked out of the ring. Glynda remembered it like yesterday. The haunted look, like Kuuma saw a ghost in Glynda as she stared up from outside of the arena.

Kuuma was prideful, as were all Shade students, but she would not allow herself to lose again.

"Can Raven do anything?" Summer whispered, meekly. Glynda sighed, watching as Raven was struck yet again by another sickle to her chest and ribs. Her Aura took a huge hit, bringing her down into the deep reds. Seventeen percent Aura left against Kuuma's sixty-four. It wasn't even a fight at this point.

"And this is the part where being an instinct fighter actually works against her," Jax, the caster, hummed. "Unless Raven has a trick up her sleeve or a Semblance to even the odds, this looks dire."

Glynda agreed. "I don't know. She just isn't fast enough."

"That looks painful," Viero commented, stating the obvious. Naruto could see the impact of each of those hits, and the way Raven would try to regain control of herself only to fall to yet another illusion of some kind.

"I must say, I am impressed that your first year even gave so much as a fight. If only she actually had a combat Semblance," the Vacuan professor said, smirking as he watched the fight with anticipation. Naruto knew what the man was thinking. Raven's Aura was in the red, and soon, Kuuma would throw her blades away and would use her fists.

Disgusting.

"That is a rather interesting Semblance though," Naruto allowed. "A really strong one, I'd say."

The Vacuan let out a long, annoyed breath. "Why do I sense the 'but' in that sentence?"

Naruto grinned. "Because there are a few weaknesses I can think of. Only a few, but I'd be able to utilize it immediately."

"And they are?"

The blond professor turned to the Vacuan, a smug smirk on his lips. "That would be telling, wouldn't it. Let's just enjoy the show and see if my little student figures it out."

"...Truly naive."

"If you don't see it, I think pride is the bigger problem."

"..."

"..."

Raven nearly retched out her breakfast when a fist dug itself into her stomach, lifting her off her feet a few inches. She didn't close her eyes from the pain - she'd trained herself to get rid of that instinctual reaction - and grabbed the wrist before flipping Omen in her hand so that it pointed downwards, then stabbed straight at the arm.

Once again, Raven welcomed the rare sight of Kuuma's green Aura flaring with a fluorescent gleam. Omen hadn't pierced through the Aura, but she knew it had to hurt like a bitch. Piercing usually hurts far more than slashes against Aura. Kuuma even let out a strangled cry of pain this time as her sword did its best to cut through, but it felt like using a small knife to pierce through a boulder.

"Enough!" Kuuma leaned into Raven and grabbed her collar with her other arm, and then yanked. Their foreheads collided, and Raven saw stars.

The arena burst to life as she heard the crowd for the first time since the battle began. They were all cheering. There were hints of 'ouch' and 'ooo' from the headbutt she had just suffered, but the general consensus was great approval.

Raven staggered, suddenly feeling too much. The pain, the low Aura, the loss of visibility as the floor was up and the concrete came off as splotchy and pockets of pure, empty white. And the sound. Too much sound.

One hand gripped at her shirt and another tightly grasped her neck before lifting her off the ground . Raven could barely see, but she could still feel. She would fight back until she couldn't.

She grabbed onto one of the wrists and swung Omen. Her nodachi was smacked out of her grip, followed with a punch to her elbow on her sword arm. She heard Omen clatter to the ground louder than anything else.

'Fuck. I'm probably around fifteen percent now?' Raven had a general gauge for these things. Naruto pushed her body to its limits in every single spar that she asked for.

A punch to the face reminded her why she shouldn't start thinking about other things in the middle of a fight. Then again, maybe she was already slipping. She must have some damage to her mental facilities at the moment from the amount of times she'd been hit -

Another punch to her stomach, digging all the way up. This time, Raven yacked, but only bile and spit came out.

"Come on, fight back." A kick to her dangling legs. That was another percent of Aura. Kuuma had been lighter on that one.

"You're not really going to just sit here right?" Another punch. Raven angrily tried to elbow the hand that held her up. She was kneed in the crotch for her retaliation. Don't let anyone ever tell you that it didn't hurt as a girl. Knees to any part of the body hurt. And that had fucking hurt.

"Alright, well. I guess I'll be taking your cute little professor from you." And damn, Raven could barely open her eyes through the agony and swelling in her left eye, but she would bet all the Lien from her scholarship that Kuuma was swimming in glee with that mad, mad, maddening smile. "Any last words for the crowd before I give them a warm display of the Shade special? From yours truly, of course."

Raven choked. Were there mics even in the arena to hear her? What was she thinking, of course there were. This was Atlesian tech. They'd have fucking mics everywhere.

She slowly raised her right arm. It felt naked without Omen in her hand. So…empty.

The crowd silenced itself to listen to her words, and Raven could hear her labored breathing through the speakers of the arena. Painstakingly, inch by inch, her arm climbed above her shoulder, then head, and kept rising.

"Oh no, you're not giving up, are you?" Kuuma giggled. But she didn't stop Raven, as if waiting. If anything, Raven felt herself get lifted higher, and the stranglehold on her neck tightened. Her breaths came in as rasps, and her lungs began to burn. The blood vessels under her dermis were running on overdrive, begging her to just breathe.

"A-...Aur…"

"Hmm?" Raven felt her body shift. Kuuma must have leaned closer. "What's that? Your Aura's low? Well, of course I know that. I'm the one that made you this way! Haha, you're hilarious!"

A portion of the crowd joined in her cackles. Probably Shade students and Vacuans. Maybe other people that had the same strength driven mentality as well. Hell, maybe even the broadcasters and proctors that didn't try to do anything to stop this. Fucking Vacuan culture and fucking Vytal Festival.

"Come on, Raven Bratwist. It's funny! Laugh with me. Ha. Haha! Hahahahaha!" And now she was actually just laughing, head tilted back and eyes not on her.

'Now!' her addled brain screamed. 'It's now or never!'

Her right hand suddenly glowed with red Aura, shining brightest at the tips of her fingers. It wasn't a sword, but she remembered something her professor told her early in the semester.

'Your weapon is an extension of yourself.'

If that was the case, then who's to say that this wasn't possible. She wouldn't get pummeled in the face and chest without fucking trying, at least. She was Raven Branwen, and a Branwen did not give up.

"...Aura Slash," she said clearly with the last of her breath, as her vision grew cloudy and white and her mind lost consciousness, her right arm dropping like a guillotine.

Raven couldn't see, but when she was let go - and promptly collapsed like a sack of especially heavy potatoes - she knew it worked.

'Breathe!'

Raven swallowed air, heaving while completely flat against the ground. Splayed out, her hair like a curtain, she badly wanted to get up. But her body was demanding oxygen first, and she had to oblige to prevent herself from passing out. And everything was back, if not disorienting.

The screech of pain that came immediately afterwards was probably the most melodic, beautiful thing she had ever heard. The resounding pair of wobbling metal that could only be her sickles was a duet she didn't even know she needed.

"What the fuck did you do!"

Raven pushed her chin off the arena floor and forced her right eye open. Kuuma's body was shimmering, but it was uneven. The Aura surrounding her body kept flickering, spasming wildly and intermittently until, as if all the nodes switched off, it sputtered out.

A long, shallow gouge nearly twenty meters long ran in a straight light between her and Kuuma, and even beyond. It stopped near the edge of the other side of the arena, gradually losing depth the further away it was. But close, where the Aura technique had been most concentrated, the ground suffered a cut around half a meter at the largest.

She pushed aside the feeling of surprise and pride that had started to swell in her chest. She hadn't expected it to work, but she also hoped that it would. To see the results of her gamble, it was enough for now.

Because Kuuma was getting up, already on one knee.

"Huh. Out of Aura, huh? You're right. It's hilarious. Ha…Concede…haha."

Kuuma ran at her with a guttural roar.

"Yeah, I hoped you'd do that."

It wasn't the same speed Kuuma had shown in the beginning of the fight. Not even close. It felt like she was crawling to her, covering the distance by the centimeters. Every movement, a small freeze frame meant to be captured on the Scroll and analyzed for inefficiencies. Each second stretched to a minute, and those minutes stretched to hours.

Without Aura, Kuuma may as well have been walking to Raven. With no pesky Semblance bothering her senses, Raven trusted her ears more than her single open eye that screwed up her depth perception. She blasted a shoulder into Kuuma, toppling the two into the ground. She only had five percent Aura left, but you know what they say.

Some Aura always fucking triumphs over no Aura.

It took barely any effort at all for her to get on top of Kuuma, straddling the wildly thrashing girl that tried everything to get her off. She bit on her, and Raven felt her Aura drip a bit lower in her reserves.

'Damn, she bites hard.' It almost made her laugh. Somehow, that was way funnier than it should've been.

"But you know what is funny? You know what'd really make me laugh, 'no one gives a fuck who you are'?" Screaming and more last gasp jerking to do anything. It was tiring to keep the girl pinned down; it was taking practically everything. All of this rocking was giving Raven a headache. From the exertion of the fight and straining her body every second beyond what she had thought herself capable of for minutes to the point she was heaving for every breath, till when Kuuma had been semi-strangling her in the air, this was her first actual chance to rest. But she couldn't; she absolutely would not give Kuuma a chance to get up.

Raven punched down, relishing the pause in the screams until it started again.

"Haha…"

She punched again, her other fist hitting a shoulder. Once again, the cries from under abated, then returned with a fury. Raven felt something tickle her stomach.

"Oh, was that a punch? How cute. Let me show you how to punch a stomach."

She lifted Kuuma up from her neck, staring her directly in the eyes when Kuuma punched her in the forehead. Raven's grin widened when her Aura sparked red in between the two. Then she punched at Kuuma's sternum.

"Guh…kuh…." Kuuma choked, and spit came out of her mouth reactively.

"Come on, hit me again!" Raven coaxed. Kuuma forced a breath in.

"Fuck you!" And she punched Raven on the left side of her face, right next to her closed, swelling eye.

Raven drove her fist deep into the right upper rib. The crack echoed so, so beautifully throughout the dead silent arena.

"Haha…Hahahaha!"

Kuuma raised her arms, punching Raven's face, neck, shoulder, whatever she could. Her Aura came up, flickering and shining at each strike, lowering to dangerously low values. Probably one or two percent left? For someone without Aura activated, Kuuma hit fucking hard. Raven could feel the pain of each strike. But this pain meant that she was here, and she was living in every single moment of this fight that had devolved into a slugfest on the ground.

Raven punched Kuuma in the temple, knocking the back of it against the stone surface. The arms dropped, and Raven let hers down as well.

She sat there for a second, waiting. Kuuma wasn't moving, but Raven could feel the rise and fall of the girl's breath. Steady, slow, so slow. Like a wave on low tide, it was barely discernible, but it was there nonetheless.

"Seriously…you Shade people are crazy for not stopping this fight yet," Raven muttered, a manic grin on her face. Her blood was singing again. She slapped Kuuma where she assumed her face was, hitting her cheeks slightly harder than she needed to wake her up. Kuuma did not. "Well…I suppose it's time to do a repeat for you."

Raven twisted, looking around slowly. Then she saw it to her left. Only about five meters away.

"Alright, upsy daisy, little lady. Hahahaha." Raven pushed herself up, wobbling to her feet. The light headedness almost made her tip over and crash to the ground. She bent down, left hand on her knee to stabilize her as she grabbed onto Kuuma's shirt - nope, that would rip - and immediately went to hold the girl's waist.

Convinced Kuuma wouldn't fall, because Raven wasn't sure if she had enough strength in her body to go for another round of picking up the unconscious girl, Raven began to walk. Thirty seconds later, she grunted and dropped the baggage next to her with a thud.

"Fuck you, Kuuma. I won, so that means back the fuck off the professor." She paused, then giggled. By the brothers, what the hell was going on in her head. "I forgot, you won't remember because you're knocked out! Well, whatever. See you in the infirmary!"

And Raven kicked Kuuma off the edge of the arena into the sand. A satisfying thump as Kuuma landed on the softer ground.

Horns echoed in the noiseless arena, blaring discordantly. Raven winced.

"...A-ah, we have a winner. Raven Branwen, first year from Beacon Academy!" one of the casters announced, starting off unsure but regaining his professional voice on a dime.

"Congratulations, Raven! Come on, Amity Arena! Wasn't that fight just absolutely spectacular?!"

…

…

One clap. One fucking clap.

Raven raised both hands in the air, middle fingers locked and loaded. She looked up and immediately regretted it. The sun was too bright, and the sky was way too close. Those clouds were spinning a bit too quickly.

Didn't matter. More importantly -

"Oh, fuck you lot. Were you not entertained?! Sourpusses," she yelled as she walked in what she assumed was the direction of the waiting room.

"To your left," a different announcer guided. Sounded like Jack. Wait, wrong name. Jox. Juck. Jackbox. Jacks? "Your other left. Someone go help her."

"...You're the fucking best!" someone suddenly shouted from the stands.

Raven turned to where she assumed the viewer was and shouted, "That's right I fucking am!"

And then all pandemonium broke loose as the crowd erupted. Raven swore her eardrums popped six times within that second.

"Raven! Branwen!"

"Please step on me!"

"That was an incredible fight!"

"Raven's the best!"

"You've got so much guts! And punched and got punched in the guts so much! It was beautiful!"

'Wait, what was that third one? Something about stepping? Probably said something about Kuuma being a stepping stone? Heh, that's right.'

Two hands pressed softly into her shoulder, anchoring her.

"Come on, let's go." It was a soft, yet determined voice. Raven barely made it out through the cheers.

"Summer?" she guessed.

"Yeah. I know you'd rather walk on your own, so let's go and I'll guide you."

"...Cool."

Raven hardly remembered what happened after, but she was told that Summer did lead her the whole way out, even as she began to stumble and trip over her own feet with each step. But not once did she ask for Summer to help, and she eventually made it through the doors, where Glynda had immediately thrown Raven over her shoulder and walked her over to the infirmary.

And the whole marathon to the double doors, the crowd had given her a standing ovation.

That's just what she heard when she came to. She'd have to see the replays when it got posted online.

"Wow, such young spirit! It's so grand to see budding Huntresses like her with so much heart and fight!" Viero said emphatically, fist shaking in the air. "Well done to her, and congrats to you, Naruto! Still, that technique at the end…"

Naruto made a sound of acknowledgement, mostly distracted. This was pretty much how he anticipated the fight to go. Like he had said, Kuuma was too prideful. And for some reason, Shade seemed to want to show the world how brutal they were in fights. So combine the two together…and you probably gave Raven one huge chance standing right in front of her. Literally. Point blank Aura Slash.

The only reason why Naruto had even allowed it was because, like he said, he completely anticipated Kuuma to overpower Raven at some point. But he also assumed that Kuuma's pride, as well as her little spat with Raven together with Shade's unkind post-fight tradition, would give Raven a chance. Probably the only chance for a win. Kuuma was simply too strong, and her Semblance was a strong counter to every Huntsman and Huntress except the lucky few who had long range or an incredible counter somehow.

Also, Kuuma was a third year student with enough Aura to defend herself. Naruto would not have allowed Raven to use her Aura technique on anyone under that year; tanking a full shot of an Aura Slash could go directly through an entire reserve of Aura depending on circumstances. Distance, range, sharpness, etc. There'd be missing limbs, a severely injured person, or potentially dead individual on Raven's hands if they didn't have the Aura to defend themselves.

Point blank? Yeah, Kuuma was done. A talented third year at sixty percent capacity reserves would get wiped out. Kuuma got hit by the brunt of the whole slash, with the rest of it going under and above her to create the long, miniature canyon that etched itself onto the tournament floor.

So he was proud of Raven. Despite the little…extra at the end when she started getting delirious. That, he could've done without seeing. Ever. But he was so proud of her for beating the strongest student in Shade, even if it was due to a mistake and miscalculation where pride was not factored in.

It still hurt him to watch Raven walk out of the arena, injured and beaten like so. If she didn't manage to use the Aura Slash, then she wouldn't be walking out with Summer. She'd be getting hit -

'No. I would've broken the glass and stopped the fight.'

Either way, he watched Summer walk with Raven through the entire walkway, a nauseating feeling twisting uncomfortably in his center. It always felt like this when he saw any of his students get hurt.

"Well, you must be proud,'' the Vacuan said through clenched teeth. "You were right. Pride would be Kuuma's downfall, and your student found the opening she needed to turn everything around. Clearly, Kuuma did not train enough. The fight should never have been so close in the first place. Not against a first year."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I can't tell if you're complimenting me and Raven or being a sore loser. Because right now, it kinda sounds like both." And isn't pride something that the professors should fix if it can cause a loss? Naruto was ninety-percent sure that the combat instructor for Kuuma would get summoned by the Shade headmaster after this at some point.

"Agreed. I also can't tell," Viero said unhelpfully. "And nobody likes a sore loser, Th…Think Man." The Mistralian professor almost said the man's name but cut himself off abruptly at the sharp, immediately glare pointed at him. "Right, right. My bad, let the kid win his bet."

The poisonous visage held. Eventually, it loosened until constipated anger was left and directed at Naruto. "It's a compliment. Take it."

Rather backhanded, but alright.

"...Vacuans have a hard time with communicating, huh."

"Not really. It's just him," Viero corrected with a laugh. A few other professors in the room muttered their assent quietly. "By the way, talking about communication. What was that your student said about 'fucking off the professor?' Do the two know each other?"

Naruto turned over to his left and gave the older man a bland, unhelpful stare. "I'm going to go see my student in the infirmary. I'm sure you can figure out how to read the news."

"Hey kiddo, we're a whole generation apart. Technology is hard."

"I'm not dignifying that with a comment since Scrolls are older than you are. See ya later."

Of all the things he expected to see when he reached the infirmary, it was most definitely not Raven and Kuuma chatting amicably with bandages and gauze strapped all over. They were in neighboring beds, dressed down in plain white hospital gowns.

"Oh, hey there. Here to see your student?" Kuuma asked, noticing him first. Raven turned to look over. Her left eye was almost taped shut with a long strip of gauze and ice compress around it. Not that the gauze really detracted from her vision; the swelling did that job just fine on its own.

"Yeah. You two are cordial with each other now?"

"Eh? She's not bad when you get over the fact she's an annoyance. Like a fly," Kuuma said with a shrug.

"You're a bitch," came the flat response.

"Sure. But so are you."

"A strong bitch, though," Raven smirked.

"We are not having this conversation again. I literally let my guard down and - "

"Sounds like excuses to me. Only losers make excuses."

"I will literally cut you."

"And now you're stealing lines. How uncool."

"I'm gonna interject here before you two get the main anesthesiologist involved. You're supposed to be recovering, not getting half a step away from fighting," Naruto chided, nonplussed. He crossed his arms and tilted his head. The two girls turned to him, fake smiles dialed up to eleven.

"We're not fighting. It's just friendly banter," Kuuma said.

"Yeah," Raven agreed, nodding sagely. "It's girl stuff, professor. We can call each other bitches all we want and talk shit, but we don't really mean it."

"Yeah, professor." Kuuma turned her focus to Raven. "And also I see what you mean. Even in his tracksuit, his 'no nonsense' attitude is kinda ho - "

Alarm flashed across his student's sallow face, color rushing in. "Kuuma! What did I say about that?"

Kuuma spun her head unconvincingly. "Oh, I don't know. You kinda hit my head so hard, me no kinda remember. Me dumb. Brain go hurty and something something about professor Naruto - "

"I will finish what I started in the arena."

The Shade student laughed at the weak threat and waved. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I know when I'm not wanted. I'm gonna go get some water. Be back in a few."

The two watched her walk out, leaving them in the corner of the room by their lonesome. Naruto approached and sat on the stool beside Raven's bed.

"Seriously. How?" How are you talking so casually?

This time, Raven shrugged. "I mean, she's strong. She was excited that she lost to an ability she'd never seen before, so it just got us talking. Turns out we both kinda have ideals around strength and hit it off after. Even swapped Scroll numbers. I'm still pissed that I beat her only because she did actually drop her guard."

Naruto choked. Is this how people felt when he'd just talk to enemies and make friends out of them?

'I mean, that kinda makes sense, though?' He waived the thought for another time's perusal. He only had a few minutes before Glynda's fight.

"Well, look at you making friends outside of national borders. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Yeah, me too."

The two shared a small laugh at that. It felt natural. It was nice; Raven was talking to him comfortably again. If she didn't want to, she'd surely give him the silent treatment even if he'd visited her.

Naruto pressed both hands on the stool and leaned forward, smiling. "Anyway, I just came down for two reasons."

"Were they to see me and talk to me?"

Naruto blinked. "...Wow, you must've hit your head hard if you got jokes coming out like that."

"As soon as I recover, we can spar and I'll see how many Aura Slashes you can dodge."

"...Okay. I don't know how much you'll remember this conversation then, but that's why I'm going to start off by saying that you're out of the competition. There's no way you're fighting in the next round."

Raven's half smile disappeared like it had been slapped off her face. "Yeah, I figured."

Naruto felt like he kicked a puppy. "I have a feeling that if I didn't come down and explicitly tell you, you'd try and compete anyway."

"...No…"

He shrugged. "Sure, I believe you," he said in a way that said 'yeah, I definitely do not believe you'. "That's the first reason."

Raven looked down at her hands that were laying on top of the thin sheet that covered her legs and lower stomach. "And the second?" she asked, dejection in her voice.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling.

He thought and then thought some more. There was a lot that he wanted to say, with so many different ways of saying it. The whole time walking, he considered what words to use.

In the end, he tossed aside all of them. This was Raven.

He gave her a soft, happy smile and said, "Good job. I'm really proud of you."

Because he knew that Raven was kicking herself in the back for losing the majority of the fight. He knew that she would take it upon herself to train until she surpassed who she was today. It wasn't a question; it was simply a fact of Raven Branwen. So he didn't need to say anything else. She would come to him when she wanted tips on how the fight should've gone, and he was willing to wait.

But he needed her to know that before she did all of that to improve herself, there was someone proud of her for what she did today. Tomorrow could wait.

Naruto stood and stepped away. Raven had to recover and he doubted she'd want him as company the whole time. Plus, she and Kuuma looked like they were getting along, and he had somewhere to be.

"Alright, I've said my piece. See ya."
"..."

Raven had to wipe her tears away when Kuuma returned a minute later. She wouldn't let anybody see her like this.

"Your boy toy gone?"

"Professor. Not boy toy. I don't even know what that means. He's more like a teen...thing." A pause. "Just professor."

"Riiiiight. Sheesh, I thought you still had a working right eye. Turns out you're blind anyway," Kuuma chuckled, then winced as she placed a fist on her upper right stomach. "Fuck, you really had to break my rib."

"I mean, you kind of asked for it when I told you to concede and didn't."

Kuuma gave her a normal, unimpressed stare. "Brat, I was on the ground, hitting you without Aura."

Raven thought about it, then shrugged. "You hit hard enough without it."

"That's right I fucking do," Kuuma crowed.

"Still lost though."

"Yeah, fuck you too, brat," was the amused response. A long sigh. "Damn…and I really wanted a rematch against Glynda. Guess I'll have to just win the third years teams bracket to get to the round robin for all years. Fucking annoying."

"Can't do anything about that for now." Both girls sighed, dejected. "Want to watch the fights on my Scroll?"

Kuuma perked up. "Now you're speaking my language."

After the last fight for the first day, Qrow and Taiyang were very lost on how to tackle Raven and Kuuma, chatting like they were old friends, when they arrived.

"Come on. Don't you guys punch things out all the time and then become best friends after?" Summer spoke some words of great wisdom, a minute hop in her step. She was excited to make it to the semifinals.

"Sometimes?" Taiyang asked more than answered. "But Raven…"

"Oh, makes sense. My sis is more dude than girl for sure." A pillow smashed into Qrow's face. "See. Case in point."

"...I don't want a pillow to the face, so I will neither confirm nor deny." Apparently, that was the wrong answer when another pillow, courtesy of Kuuma arming Raven with hers, crashed against his face as well with an Aura enhanced throw.

Summer shook her head, looking between Raven and Kuuma in favor of ignoring the groans from behind her as Qrow helped Taiyang get on his feet. "Well, I'm glad you two are friends now."

"We're not friends."

"Oh, I fucking hate her."

"...Okay," Summer said slowly, now just as confused as the two boys.

Chapter End.

A/N: Most likely a Summer-centric chapter next. Some Glynda, maybe? Will have to think about it and see what happens.

As per usual, thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. If you have any ideas, criticisms, etc etc, let me know in a review!

I might chill on doing Review Responses. If it's like "Cool chapter!" or "Nice, update soon please", I probably will skip from now on. 50+ is a bit much. Took over an hour and a half...

But in celebration of over 1,000, here's all of them!

Review Responses:

Kiyoponical: Another fast one, too! Appreciate it, friend.

Vincent Dark-fire: Don't know.

Monster King: TY TY

Cyber dragonarmy: Thank you for reading! Last fast update though for a while.

ObeRun: Haha glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, Raven and Qrow are both woefully behind on social norms.

Riba Nyabom: I had to! I was getting so tired when it reached 10k. And this one's even LONGER. I do hope it was worth the wait, though.

Whitehawk666: Goosebumps! Woah…thanks so much. I hope it was worth reading this one.

David Ezequiel: Haha, I hope you get to read this at a good time again! Surprise! Yeah, I think your guess is pretty accurate now that Raven's out. But Kuuma is really strong. She'd probably beat Summer if she were serious, in my head.

AsBsCs: Hype delivered again, I hope!

Dragi07: …I don't know. Next week? I'm gone for the three day weekend.

Surya25addanki: Haha, yeah she and Qrow are monkeys at social cues. Vytal Festival pre-tournament part 1 done!

TheSlySage: woah, how are you listening to it? Also, hope your interview went well! That's a bit of a long commute, but I still hope you got the offer.

I think that suggestion for the flashback to HR and stuff is actually really good! I'll probably use it in a later chapter. Great, great idea! Thanks!

Edited: How are you reading the next chapter THIS QUICKLY AND LEAVING A REVIEW?! You'll probably miss this because it's edited in, though.

Datan-shi. okami: That is a crap ton of reading. I'm so glad that you came from the Genshin story, but I'm so surprised how quickly you caught up. Also, thank you. Job hunting is the hardest part of the job…

O'ConnorsGambit: Glad to write more. Character interactions are probably my favorite part of writing.

HelloEver22: Haha glad that you're reading. Glynda is a maybe? I'll need to think about it. But Glynda definitely requires more love. And plenty of people are asking for her as well.

Caussiao: You got it, friend!

Chicalloreda: Thank you! Here's to another good one, hopefully!

Bayne55555: I'm hoping the build up was worth it for this chapter and the quality was up to snuff!

Samuel Santillan: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Guest: If you can get a RWBY character to read/review this, that'd be awesome. I don't think I can, though…

The Faceless Wordsmith: I honestly love Summer and need to get to her more. Probably will have a few with her later, since she's still in the competition along with Glynda and Keith.

Hirameki Kitsune: I love character interactions, and I'm glad you enjoyed them, too. World building is also really fun, but a bit hard since there isn't much material to work with on Shade and Vacuo. Lol, more than just relationships. They gave them the talk.

Bad-luck-charm27: It happened! 1010! And I hope you enjoyed the first part of the tourney!

HammerSteel: Thank you for reading! And you helped me reach the goal of 1k! WOOOO! I hope the cliffhanger was worth it for this chapter!

Salazar1537: Raven and Qrow are just lacking in some social cues and basic human anatomy knowledge. But they aren't missing when it comes to not giving a fuck.

YeTianshi: The world building was kinda fun to make, and I'm glad you thought it made sense. Vacuo is a dog eat dog kind of place, and they're resourceful to a dangerous degree.

Underestimation probably won't be happening as much now though. Especially since they'll be known after this event.

Raven/Naruto ship is going pretty well, but that's going to have to wait at least until after the tournament is over. Might be a minute or two…

JJjulian: Yeah Raven is kind of a dumb dumb in that regard. Also, I'll think about that. Not sure how I'll add it, but I can certainly try!

Bigguy45: All Aura. Everything replaced.

Juvia Locksar: It happened! The fight between the two!

ShiUchiha54: She won! It may have been due to an error on Kuuma's side but…WE TAKE THOSE!

VastoLorrde: He hasn't seen the relationship side in any of his memories. So when you said he isn't a virgin that doesn't know anything, he really is a virgin that doesn't know anything. His memories don't show that kind of stuff.

Chrome Cheetah: Craving served?

PanzerJ: Yeah, don't make bets against this guy. Ever. Also, glad you can read the whole thing! Long chapters are…hard.

Brachiosaurus: Ty ty!

Mahouka9: Glad you're enjoying the story still! Falling in love slowly, maybe? Who knows.

Kreceir: I love task failed successfully moments. She did it well enough. It seems like a lot of people want Glynda in this grouping, so I'll be thinking about it. She's by far the most request addition.

Tr1vium: Payoff from poor phrasing, haha! Also, hope this chapter's fight was worth the wait! Unfortunately, no Raven vs. Glynda. But you know what that most likely means…Summer time!

Chimmichangaa: It's quite lit.

R-king93: Ty ty!

Nogi: They're pretty amusing together. I think romance will happen soon, though. At least, it'll start going in that direction.

Nebula56: Ty ty!

Obliviandragon: Yeah, betting against Naruto is a fat L.

and Wet: You're welcome! I'm going to take a break though. Too much writing in such a short time. Going to spend some time reading.

StayBlessed: Nice name! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

Boxwhisker: Woah, one of the most interesting! Thank you! Also, world building is hard. RWBY really didn't not delve that much into some of the Kingdoms.

SolSparda369: She's confident, but uh…Kuuma's kinda strong. Sorry, haha.

Arrexu: I'll think about the Glynda stuff. And yeah, I wrote a Naruto/Genshin story! Really easy-going and no high stakes there.

CrimsonRiot01: Oh yeah, Raven did not realize how bad her phrasing was. Another chapter for you!

DragonPikelz: The kids are kind of on fire! But unfortunately, Raven's out.

MogtheGnome: That's unfortunate. I can try to explain my thought process? My focus was to show specifically, the headmaster of Shade who's lost a lot of people. That he's similar to Naruto, in a way, except he's lost way more students and friends. It's why he asks about a person that didn't come to the meeting and was relieved to hear that his friend was off doing small-time teaching. As for absurdity, meh. It's a story. Shit happens, and I guess this one was a bit too much for your taste. Unfortunate, again. Your criticism doesn't really give me a way to fix it, so I can't really do anything about it.

DD-Returns101: STRQ is such an interesting concept to me, and I'm glad you enjoy the dynamics of the characters. As for Salem…kind of? Maybe? I had some stuff in mind, but I think it'll have to be a wait and see moment.

Guest: She has an ax! It's not a scythe! It's okay, I'm okay with this…this story is not at all canon. But yeah, that's pretty sick she uses a battle ax.

Stonepotrice: haha, bingereading this entire story is kinda wild. It's loooong. Also yeah, it's a bit of a running gag. I think I need to find a way for him to really showcase his abilities. As for his techniques...read and find out!