Chapter Text
Takeru immediately felt a little off about the good Headmaster. He had that stare. The one someone who'd lived too long in a world that doesn't like letting people live had. He knew it a little too well. He was doing a much better job concealing it, though. Probably a fellow Veteran, then, though one with an obviously much longer history behind him.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, locking eyes with the Headmaster as the girls continued chatting behind him. They'd lowered the volume, but Takeru could still hear Ruby freaking out about the Shiranui's existence. He listened for a bit, but heard nothing that interesting coming from any of them. Simple gossip and what felt like the usual 'girl talk'... With weapons involved, thanks to miss Rose.
"You seem to be in thought. I hope you don't mind me interjecting, mister…?" The Headmaster spoke, raising a brow as Takeru snapped out of his momentary state of observation.
He blinked, then replied, "Shirogane… Shirogane Takeru. Second Lieutenant…" with as much calm as he could muster. "Sorry about that. A lot of stuff going on in my mind right now, Headmaster…" as he scratched his cheek. This was getting slightly awkward. He looked back at the four young women and immediately saw them stop talking. They all turned and waved, Ruby with a little awkwardness.
He smiled, then shook his head and turned back toward Ozpin. The Headmaster then said to him, "That's completely understandable, mister Shirogane," with an understanding tone, like a grandfather or father addressing his child. He continued, "Do you know where you are? Besides the obvious name-drop of 'Beacon' that I'm sure miss Rose and her team mentioned."
"... Not really, no," He answered, then mumbled, "It almost looks like Europe," to himself, "But that's kind of impossible. That continent's long gone," and noticed Ozpin's brow raised slightly. He continued, "No, I don't know where I am. I'd like to, though," as he leaned back in his seat. He felt the Fortified Suit shift slightly, too.
The Headmaster hummed, then replied, "You are currently in Beacon Academy, a Huntsman Academy in the Kingdom of Vale, one of the Four Great Kingdoms. Each has an Academy that trains the next generations of warriors fighting the Grimm, the monstrous creatures I'm sure you've encountered in your machine before team RWBY's arrival."
"... So you're an academy that trains kids how to fight," Takeru spoke with a lower tone, then mumbled to himself, "Why the hell does that feel familiar…?" and adjusted his suit's gauntlets. Drawing parallels between Beacon and Yokohama was not smart. One was a school, the other was… Well, technically also a school, but a military base above all else.
"I suppose it would fit with how you became the pilot of the machine outside," The man spoke, then gestured to the Shiranui on the landing pad, visible from here.
Takeru nodded, then said, "Yeah… Being taught how to fight was a major part of becoming a Surface Pilot," as he stared at Oz, "... You said Kingdoms. Like. Four of'em. What continent are we on, then if not Europe?"
"The Continent of Sanus…" Ozpin replied, narrowing his eyes, "... What planet do you think you are on, mister Shirogane?"
"... Earth…?" The young man replied awkwardly. He saw the concern grow on the Headmaster's face, then inquired, "Not Earth then? How…?" and he paused. He wasn't on Earth anymore. He wasn't home proper. Which honestly should've been a given considering the ancient structures looking nothing like anything he'd seen in history books and the fact there weren't BETA, but GRIMM. ANIMAL DEMONS.
Ozpin narrowed his eyes while the girls behind him let out various, but commensurate sounds of surprise upon learning the young man was basically an Alien. Which felt like a very common trope for this place for some reason or another. The Headmaster then said to the boy, "You're not on Earth, young man… You're on the planet of Remnant."
"... What…?" He blinked, staring at the man. He asked, "... Remnant? For real?"
"Yes," Ozpin chuckled, "I'm afraid so," as he tapped a strange digital pad on his glass desk. A holographic display appeared, showing the planet and its destroyed moon, including the continents themselves with the emblems of each Kingdom in their specific locations. Ozpin continued, "You are currently in Vale, as I mentioned."
"... So I'm on another planet where humanity is under attack by Demons and they teach teenagers, both male and female, to fight," The young man spoke, looking at the planet's hologram spin around its axis. The broken moon was probably the most interesting part of this strange little Isekai situation. He scratched his chin, visibly processing this stream of new info while Ozpin nodded.
"Very much so, yes," The man replied, then asked, "What about your world, then, Second Lieutenant? That Earth also hires young men like you for their military must mean something has gone wrong there, too," while Takeru thought of how to best explain the situation. He looked back at the girls, finding all four of them being surprisingly quiet. As if they were listening in, too.
He sighed and said, "Well… That's gonna be a long story. Thankfully, I have some visual data in my suit to help show you I'm not crazy," before checking the neck brace of the suit for a connection point or something. When he found what he was looking for, he slotted it into a connection port and activated the suit, starting with, "... To start with. Earth…"
The display of Remnant was changed out for the display of Earth, its moon still entirely whole. It… Looked oddly similar, but this wasn't the time for Takeru to wonder about this stuff. He heard the girls gasp, smiled, then continued, "To put it simply, we originally didn't have any major threats keeping us pinned. We were kind of in a Cold War with each-other."
Several parts of the wider continents were immediately divided by borders, with him saying, "And obviously, we had a lot more than a few countries… Several of them have no kings, but instead are lead by democratically elected leaders," and that highlighted several European countries, his homeland of Japan(though they still had an Emperor, technically), followed by, "And some were lead by forever-leaders and dictators," and that highlighted the Chinese, the Soviet Union and a few dozen others, "... To put it simply, the world was in a Cold War. Was… Then our own problems arrived."
A fisheye-like lens view showed a planet of sand and desert with jagged rocks jutting out from the ground. The data was in Basic, or English as Takeru had called it. Multiple images of the place scrolled, before finally settling on one image of a silhouetted, odd-looking rock formation. No, Ozpin immediately thought, not a rock formation. A creature.
"Photographs from the Viking-1 probe on Mars. A United States vessel exploring the fourth planet from our sun sent these images back moments before they lost contact with it. It was our first contact with the BETA, or Beings of Extra-Terrestrial Origin which are Adversary to the human race," The young man explained warily, "That was almost fifty years ago… More recent wars include the Lunar War in the '60s, when the BETA attacked our Moon Colony," as more footage played along, including the cratered surface of the moon and the troops that were fighting there.
"... Then the invasion of Earth, with the Original Hive's landing at Kashgar," Takeru sighed deeply, then said, "I'd get into a lot more detail, but I'm giving you guys the basics right now, so you get where I'm from and what I had to deal with… To continue, the Kashgar Hive kicked the asses of the Chinese and later the Soviets, who tried to solve the issue on their own. Melted both their nations from the inside out, made dozens more hives… They committed basically mass genocide in the decades they've pushed out toward us."
Footage showing combat against the Alien creatures continued to play, ranging from the early TSFs and infantry units engaging. The alien creatures were sickening, looking like amalgamations of various caricatures of human and animal species. It was a beautiful representation of how a nightmare would look if made manifest, including how they fought:Close quarters, bloody and brutal.
Yang had covered Ruby's eyes, but kept staring, while Takeru continued, "And like I said, we've been fighting these things for decades… When I arrived, my home country of Japan had been invaded by the damn things years prior and was 'saved' by the US Military in a sense. To understand, the US and Japan were 'allies', or more akin puppetmaster and puppet to some degree, even if the Empire retained all of our old traditions."
"I see…" Ozpin spoke, looking almost… Horrified? Takeru couldn't quite read the old man's facial expressions, but he could tell the man wasn't exactly too joyous about what he was seeing. Ozpin, however, gestured for the young man to continue. Morbid curiosity was probably part of it. Like watching a trainwreck.
The young man continued, "Thankfully, we got by. Then, I dropped into the picture, metaphorically speaking. I joined the UN Yokohama Base in Japan, trained with my friends, passed all trainings and exams and…" at first, both the girls and Ozpin saw him frown while his mind remembered the multiple operations they undertook. The 12/5 Incident, Operation 21st, Operation Ouka… All of them. Then, he smiled a smile that didn't reach his ears as footage of all Operations played, "... We got a couple of major victories against the BETA, with Operation Cherry Blossom winning Humanity at least a few more years after we destroyed the Kashgar Hive… I wouldn't say we won the war, but maybe…"
"What happened to your friends?" Ruby asked, though the way she said it told him she knew.
Takeru replied, "... We all gave our lives for the cause, to put it simply," then he mumbled, "Including poor Sumika… I hope she's okay wherever she is," before he disconnected the wire. He looked around, then shrugged and told them, "That's War. You girls are probably gonna face similar issues if the Grimm are anything like the BETA."
"... Yeah…" Yang mumbled, rubbing her shoulder, "We know."
"... Then I have a lot of respect for all four of you for signing on at your age, honestly," Takeru chuckled warmly, "A year or two ago you wouldn't have caught me dead in the military," then he turned to Ozpin, asking him, "Is there anything more you want to know, Headmaster? My TSF's specifications are top secret, before you start."
Ozpin raised a hand, then said, "That will be all for now, mister Shirogane… At least when it comes to questions about your background," and watched the boy raise a brow. He smiled and offered, "While I'm certain you'd like to return home to celebrate the beginning of your war's end, I'm afraid we don't know any way to do that… So, you may need a place to rest, recuperate and resupply."
Takeur narrowed his eyes, "... And you're about to give me an offer to stay at your school… Probably become a student so I have a cover story while you start thinking about how to explain," and he jabbed a thumb toward the Shiranui, "That…" before crossing his arms. When Ozpin's smile grew slightly, the young man mumbled to himself, "This feels hella Cliche, dude…" before sighing. The four girls behind him seemed excited by the prospect.
He sighed deeply, then smiled and said, "Hey. I'll take a warm bed and a place to rest… And I don't have much choice since I don't know your world," before looking back at the girls. He told them, "The Headmaster and you should probably keep this stuff secret, though. This whole thing's gonna either sound incredibly insane to everyone else, ooor it might get me targeted by the other Kingdoms. I'm not in the mood to deal with that right now."
"Our lips are sealed," Ruby assured him, smiling.
Beacon Dorms, later that day…
After signing a contract admitting him to Beacon, Takeru had gone downstairs in order to make sure nobody damaged his Shiranui and to retrieve supplies from it. He'd gotten his pistol, the survival kit and various other important items from within before letting it be taken to… Surprisingly enough, an underground Hangar that Beacon had in its vicinity.
Why? He didn't know. At this point, he wasn't sure if he could question even these weird encounters anymore. From the first time he dropped into the world that was under siege by the BETA to being revived apparently countless times across countless attempts as Causality Conductor and to Sumika being the 00 Unit of all people in his life, he'd learned to just take things as they came and plan accordingly.
At least the Shiranui would be out of sight while Takeru got his full bearings. He entered his new Dormitory, using his Scroll, what was basically a highly-advanced holographic cell phone, to open the door, then tossed his new uniform onto one of the beds in the room. These places were usually set up to house four students in a Team after initiation, like team RWBY.
He sighed, setting the rest of his stuff down onto the left-most bunk bed, then walked to the bathroom. He washed his face, looking at himself in the mirror, still clad in his Fortified Suit and wondering just what the hell had gone wrong to land him in this place. They were supposed to have won, right? The Superordinate was dead thanks to their sacrifices, the entire BETA command structure at least slowed or completely decimated… And Sumika was gone, meaning he was no longer Causality Conductor…
He wiped his face with a towel, feeling slightly more refreshed than he'd felt when he first entered this place. He looked at the room itself, a somewhat barren place where his only personal effects were his bag, gun and maybe the new Beacon uniform he'd just received. He checked the schedule for classes on his Scroll and saw a free period, what with Lunch being nearly here.
He started undoing the locks on the various pieces of the suit, taking it one item at a time and setting them aside in the dresser, donned the Student uniform and mumbled to himself, "Lightweight and actually comfortable. Reminds me a little of our ol' Hakuryou uniforms…" as he stretched his arms, shrugged his shoulders and moved his legs. He added, "And a lotta storage space… Good."
He hummed, looking at his service pistol. He picked it up, making sure it was on safe, then pulled the magazine out and racked the slide twice. He then slid the mag back in and put the gun into the end table beside his bed, sliding the drawer closed. He figured he might as well have some sorta self-defense means. He also picked up the bullpup rifle which he'd also retrieved, did the same motions with it(removing the mag, checking the chamber, et-cetera), before hiding it in the dresser, next to his Fortified Suit. He also removed the translator from the suit and set it up in his new uniform.
Everything else, he dispersed into the room, bathroom and the attached small kitchenette area, MREs included. His medical pack was now resting within reach inside another nearby drawer. He sighed deeply, stretched and yawned, then mumbled, "Gotta buy a toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple new towels… Jeez, man. Wonder how 'Vale' feels about Part-Time jobs…"
… He sighed, shaking his head and saying, "I'm on an alien planet filled with humans fighting demons… I guess Causality doesn't want me outta the game yet," as he patted down the creases of his uniform. He tugged on his collar, straightening it out while looking in the mirror, then he smiled, "... Buuut I'm back at school, so… Baby steps to going home, right?"
He whispered, "If only you guys showed up, too, though," as he gingerly pulled out a photo from his pack, depicting him and the gang. He paused, however, when he realized the picture was from Hakuryou. It was a Class Photo of them all. Him, Sumika, Meiya, Mikoto, Chizuru, Ayamine and Miki. They were all happy, obviously, with him and Sumika butting heads.
He set the photograph back into his pack and decided not to delve too much into why he had it with him. A chill shot up his spine as he heard a knock on the door, his hand immediately going toward the end table to grab his pistol. He shook his head, then mumbled, "... Civvie life, Takeru. Civvie life for now…" before yelling, "Yeah!?"
"Hey, Takeru!" Ruby's voice called out from behind the door, sounding jovial, "Lunch is up and then we got some classes! Ya wanna tag along with us for this one!?"
"... Sure!" He replied. Ah, childhood joy and whimsy. How he missed having at least a little bit of that. He walked to the door and propped it open, immediately watching Ruby nearly tumble over as she prepared to knock again. He caught her by the arm and lifted her to her feet, then said, "Jeez, Ruby. Watch yourself."
"Sorry," She replied with a smile, "Just figured we're basically the welcoming committee to Beacon and to the whole of Remnant for ya! So we gotta be punctual!"
"Indeed," Weiss replied, looking the young man over. She asked, "I thought your suit had the translator within it. I suppose it is portable?" before watching the young man reveal the device by turning. She shrugged and said, "Good… At least we get to keep talking… I must say, it's a sort of honor to know we're your first contact with alien life. And you, ours."
"And it's slightly scary since," Blake started, "You know, one would expect to see things like the BETA in space, bar their genocidal tendencies. To see human or humanoid aliens is…" then winced. She smiled, though, then added, "Still… It's pretty amazing that you're that foreign to our world, alien language needing a translator included…"
"Yeah," Takeru chuckled, "I guess it is. Though like I said, let's keep that on the down-low. Don't wanna get people staring at me funny…" because I had enough of that in previous runs at life, he thought to himself. The fact everyone was also speaking English here was a Godsend. He wasn't sure how he'd do with any alien-ish language.
Yang cleared her throat as, taking Takeru out of his momentary pause, then gestured with her right hand thumb down the hallway, "Soooo… Lunch? We're gonna have to get to classes."
"Right, right," Takeru nodded, "Lead the way."
The now-five person group walked down surprisingly beautifully-decorated hallways of the Dorm, took a trip down with the Elevator and out into the courtyard. They passed into the main court area, a roundabout made of pavement. Multiple benches spaced evenly apart surrounded a massive statue depicting a Huntress and Huntsman wearing hoods and carrying old, medieval-style weapons and standing over several Grimm.
A neat little memorial to the people who started the profession.
Takeru noticed Ruby looking at him with a broad smile. He asked, "I'm guessing you've been holding back from asking me about the Shiranui, eh?" to which the girl rapidly nodded. A kid in a candy store. Well, if 'candy' meant heavy weapons of mass destruction. Amused, he began explaining, "We call mechs like the Shiranui Tactical Surface Fighters, or TSFs. We're also called Surface Pilots because of that. They're incredibly agile and mobile and you can arm'em to really do anything."
"Even fight people, if the footage from the December 5 Incident was anything to go by," Weiss mumbled as she looked around, "Where is it?"
"It's hidden now. Tucked safely away," Takeru grinned, "Don't want some rowdy kid stealing it and taking it for a joyride… Even though it'd sorta be suicide without Piloting Data and a Fortified Suit," then he shrugged. As they entered the main mess hall, a cathedral-sized place that felt more like a hangar with arched windows. The place could feed hundreds, or maybe thousands of students.
And it was already feeding plenty of them. A lot of the seats were already occupied, with Takeru thinking to himself, Just like in the barracks mess, before a soft scent reached his nose. He froze as his eyes widened and he locked onto the buffet. He saw all of it. Fresh, warm food that looked like home.
"Holy shit…" He whispered. Before any of the girls could say anything, he dashed toward the buffet, grabbing the first tray he could find to fill it up. He started dashing across the line with a beaming smile and said, "It's as if God answered my prayers, man…! Pizza? Hotdogs?! SUSHI!? AND IT'S ALL REAL?! HELL YEAH!"
Team RWBY watched the man carrying the 'good, real' food over, a full plate of the stuff, before sitting down. Yang laughed and asked, "Jeez, man, you'd think you haven't eaten anything but slop for the last year," only to pause as she saw him looking up at her. After a second to process it, she realized and said, "Right… Military. Sorry, dude."
He gave a thumbs up and continued eating, while Weiss commented, "Team JNPR seems to be absent."
"Jaune's nursing a cold and the other three stayed behind to help him," Blake said as she sat down with her own tray of food, which was much more sensibly filled with normal food. She looked at the young man before them and said, "They're friends of ours who're also your neighbors… Make sure you wear some sort of earmuffs when sleeping. I don't wanna know what Ren and Nora are doing that's so loud."
Yang snorted, while Weiss rolled her eyes. The white-haired girl continued, "Do you think the Teachers will be okay with a new arrival?" as she looked at Ruby, who was downing several cookies. Weiss narrowed her eyes, staring at her team lead with a hint of disappointment. Ruby raised her hands defensively and spoke with her mouth full.
Blake snorted, then said, "Ruby, swallow your food."
As asked, little miss Rose swallowed the food, then answered quickly, "I think they're gonna be alright with it. I mean, they accepted new staff here, too, right? We wouldn't have new teachers if they weren't really cool, y'know?"
"Fair enough," Weiss sighed, pinching the bow of her nose. She looked at Takeru and said, "The new staff also has a rank, 'Sergeant'," which caused the man to pause and look at her. She was about to speak again, only to pause, mouth open. She whispered to herself, "Oh, Ye, Makers Above, please no," while staring past Takeru.
He raised a brow, swallowed his food, then asked, "What?" before a looming shadow appeared over him. He closed his eyes, going into a deadpan, then sighed deeply, before looking back and up. A burly-looking man with ginger-esque hair and deep blue eyes stared down at Takeru, a grin on his face. He said, "Well, well, well. Whadda we have here? This the new kid?"
"Cardin," Yang glared at the young man, "You really wanna do this?"
"Oh, yeah. It's just a standard Beacon greeting, though, Goldilocks. Don't worry," The man replied, still wearing that shit-eating grin. Takeru's shoulders slumped, not out of fear, but due to the realization of a simple truth:School life meant bullies were a thing again. And God dammit, he really wasn't looking forward to dealing with that again.
"So, buddy," The 'Bully', Cardin, spoke with feigned warmth as he set a hand on the young man's shoulder, "I figured you oughta know there's a small issue… You gotta pay a little fee to eat and I don't feel like you have," to which the young veteran simply went deadpan again, staring right at 'Cardin' like he was an idiot. Which he was.
Now, how to make it a teaching moment, Takeru thought.