Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Izumi Pov .
"-and I guess that's it," Taylor said with a shrug as she finished telling us what she'd spoken with Nezu about. Though I'd already heard half of it while peeking through the door. The four of us were now in my room as we talked.
"First Draw Sword, and now the PRT, your luck is shit," Azula said dryly.
"You don't have to tell me." Taylor complained. "Why did you give me Shusui?" Taylor complained in my direction, I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Do you want to trade it for one of the others?" I asked mockingly.
"Of course not! She's mine! " Taylor said instantly protectively. I laughed lightly.
"It was the best sword you'd ever be suited to. It helps with the raw destructive power you lack. Don't complain," I said playfully. I wasn't the least bit sorry about giving her Shusui; she'd put it to better use than I could. My Full strength was dozens, if not hundreds, of times greater than Taylor's.
"I'll complain if I want. Now I have to talk to the PRT." Taylor grunted angrily.
"Forget about that! What are you planning to do with your spider silk web? Why didn't you agree at the time?! " Ruby asked incredulously. Taylor squirmed uncomfortably.
"I had a lot to think about! And the number was too big to be true! " Taylor said with a grimace.
"You should," Azula said directly. Taylor looked at her. "Look, you've already made your decision about the PRT, the chances of you working with them, or at least the Brockton Bay branch, are slim to none. So, it's not IF everything goes to hell with the PRT, but WHEN everything goes to hell, you will be in trouble."
"The PRT pays your UA tuition and gives you a monthly stipend. If anything happens during your time at UA, they'll likely cut everything off immediately. So you need a safety net. The more zeros it has, the better," Azula said bluntly. Taylor made a face.
"Yeah… I guess so," Taylor sighed. "I have some money saved up from working with Mom at the bakeries, but it would be nice to have some extra cash," Taylor agreed.
"So?! How are you going to do it?! You have to design the building, right?!" Ruby asked excitedly. Taylor blinked in confusion.
"I... I have no idea." Taylor said, confused, I snorted.
"Just tell Nezu you accepted the offer, and let him handle most things. If you show him how you weave the cloth he'll surely devise a way to implement it. Try things out until you find a comfortable way to work. You can afford to remodel buildings easily with the help of Cementoss." I said simply, Taylor thought about it and nodded.
"I guess I'll just have to collect all the black widow spiders I can," Taylor said simply, and I hummed softly.
"Didn't you say you wanted Darwin's bark spiders? I'm sure if anyone can get you some, it's Nezu." I pointed out. Taylor's eyes lit up with excitement.
"What are those spiders for?" Azula asked, interested.
"Darwin's bark spider silk is the strongest known! They are one of the species that build the largest webs in the world! They are built over rivers and can reach more than 25 meters wide! They are much more resistant, tenacious and absorb more energy than any other silk! The quality of the fabric would be much higher!" Taylor said excitedly.
"The only problem is that they're illegal to take out of Madagascar without official permits," I said playfully. Taylor pouted.
"Exactly, but if Principal Nezu can get me some of both sexes so they can breed…" Taylor's eyes became almost dreamy as they went out of focus. I nearly thought she was going to drool. I snorted, which woke her from her trance.
"Nezu can probably get it easily." I said bluntly. If the bastard could build a flying fortress in UA during the final war with AFO, then he could get some spiders. "In fact, I could make more," I said playfully. "I'm sure there are spider-type monsters that can create stronger silk." I pointed out, which made Taylor start drooling once more.
The three of us laughed at her, causing Taylor to wake up from her daydream once again. She blushed slightly before looking at me.
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. We haven't forgotten the most important thing. We still have to talk about your 'visions,'" Taylor said, pointing at me, I grimaced.
"Do we have to do it?" I asked childishly.
"Yes," they all said at the same time. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked simply.
"Since when could you see them?" "Did you see anything about us?" "What did you see about me?!" "What was the craziest thing you saw?!" "Did you see some- "
" Okay, now!" I stopped the three of them from continuing to ask one question after another. "Okay, I'll explain everything, and if you have any questions, you can ask them afterward. Do you understand? " I looked at the three of them, who nodded immediately. I sighed. "Well, really, there isn't much to say that you haven't already heard from what I told All Might."
"Observation Haki is really rare. You can do many things with it, see the other person's soul, detect presence, gauge the opponent's strength, detect emotions, detect intentions, and finally, farsightedness. Sometimes… it just manifests in different ways depending on the person."
"For me? It's simply seeing flashes, images, memories, or visions about a person when I first meet them. It doesn't always happen; in fact, most people don't generate any reaction. I suppose there's... something that triggers it, but I have no idea. It just happens."
"And honestly, like I said, I tend to ignore it. A lot of what I see doesn't make sense or is just a memory or vision without context. Nothing that's relevant or that can only be understood in retrospect, so I don't worry about it unless it's something important."
I lied completely. I didn't like lying to them, but it was better this way. Telling them about being an otherworldly being and that they were part of a series or something like that wouldn't gain anything. In fact, it would probably be counterproductive in every way. So it was better that this secret didn't get out. Especially since most of the canon was already so shattered that it wasn't worth considering.
"You... did you use something you saw to get close to us?" Taylor asked, frowning. I wrinkled my nose.
"If you're saying that I somehow knew everything about your personality and found the best way to seduce you, then no," I said dryly. Taylor blushed a little. I rolled my eyes. "Like I said, I don't know what triggers these visions, but I had them with you, and you're not the only ones. All the girls in our class triggered them. What I saw of you all simply caught my attention, and I wanted to get closer to you and get to know you. Everything that happened next? It wasn't planned at all. I promise you," I said softly, sincerely.
I could see a slight tension dissipate from the three of them.
"So… what did you see about me?!" Ruby asked, now excited once we got past the serious part.
"Do you really want to know?" I asked playfully. The three of them nodded immediately.
"That would be interesting," Azula said with a smile. She wrinkled her nose.
"I mean, if you're sure." I shrugged and looked at Azula. "I didn't see much of you, unfortunately. The highlight I saw was your fight with Zuko." Azula's eyes widened slightly.
"Did you see that?" Azula asked incredulously. I nodded.
"Yeah, it was in some sort of courtyard surrounded by buildings. You seemed evenly matched with your firepower. You tried to use lightning on a girl, and Zuko got in the way. Then you fought the girl with a water quirk. You ended up losing as she froze you and then chained you up." I summarized the fight. Azula's eyes widened.
"That... was exactly what happened," Azula said, surprised. After all, Azula had told us that she had fought Zuko, but she had never been detailed about the fight.
"Is it true?!" Ruby squealed excitedly. Azula composed herself and snorted.
"I feel I must apologize for you seeing that... unseemly performance on my part," Azula said with a grimace. I looked at her in surprise. I certainly thought she would be angry at me seeing that part. "The next time I fight that water peasant, I will defeat her easily," Azula said arrogantly. Ah, I see. She no longer saw Katara as a threat.
"My turn! My turn! " Ruby said excitedly. I rolled my eyes.
"Yours is weirder, and things that didn't happen. I saw you at Beacon." I said simply.
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, confused, I shrugged.
"Like I said, it doesn't always make sense. I also saw you with a second quirk besides your speed; your eyes glowed brightly, and you could petrify Grimm." I added simply. Ruby's eyes widened.
"Mom's silver eyes?!" Ruby squealed, my eyebrows rising slightly.
"Oh? Is that Summer's Quirk? " I asked, genuinely curious. I'd met Summer a couple of times, but we'd never talked about her fighting style and definitely not her Quirk. Even when Ruby told us about her fight with the Grimm/Nomu hybrid, Ruby's description was completely filled with sound effects, so I didn't get much information.
Thinking back quickly, Ruby had made some effect on Summer's eyes like a Swoosh! And Flash! ... I guess that's what she meant. Ruby nodded quickly.
"Yes! Mom can do that! She can petrify any monster that spawns inside any dungeon!" Ruby said quickly. "Are you sure you didn't mistake me for Mom? People say we look a lot alike," she added immediately. I shrugged.
"Not really, it was you. There's no way I could mistake you. Besides, you were wearing your red cloak, so it definitely wasn't Summer." I said with a shrug. "Like I said, it doesn't always make sense." I dismissed the whole situation.
"I mean, is it possible to have two quirks? Todoroki has it," Taylor pointed out uncertainly.
"Isn't it just a fusion of both quirks? It counts as one." I countered.
"The same thing might have happened with Ruby's quirks. She can ask her mother for instructions on how to use it and test it out. The worst that can happen is that it doesn't work, but if it does… she'll have another potent weapon against the monsters." Azula pointed out. I looked at Ruby, who had a thoughtful look.
"I mean… I have her silver eyes…" Ruby said weakly.
"Don't you have a brother on Summer's side?" Taylor asked, Ruby nodded.
"Yes, Soul, but he has red eyes like Uncle Qrow," Ruby said quickly. I wrinkled my nose. I still found Ruby's whole familial relationship really weird. Not weird in a bad way, but weird in an unexpected way. I certainly couldn't say anything about their relationships when I practically had a harem.
What I could complain about was that damned Soul Evans was Ruby's brother. That was at least twenty times weirder than Team STRQ all hanging out together. That's practically headcanon in RWBY fics.
"I guess... I guess I could try. I'll try calling Mom later," Ruby said finally. I nodded and didn't argue. Like Azula said, I had nothing to lose by trying.
"I guess it's my turn," Taylor said, almost sounding eager. I smirked.
"Surely you want to know? Yours was even more unexpected," I said amusedly. Ruby seemed to snap out of her thoughts and looked at me excitedly, almost forgetting about her silver eyes.
"I'm ready, tell me." Taylor said seriously. I smiled widely.
"I saw you as a villain," I said simply, Taylor froze in place.
"No!" Ruby gasped in disbelief.
"Well, well, well." Azula said with a smile.
"Oh yeah, and not just a villain of the week. I saw her conquer all of Brockton Bay, just with her bugs." I said, causing a huge surprise.
"A city, Taylor? Color me surprised. I didn't know you had it in you," Azula said with a matching wide smile. Taylor finally regained her composure.
"It wasn't me!" Taylor said, almost horrified.
"I mean, I can see that. You can be really scary," Ruby said excitedly. Taylor looked at her with a betrayed expression. Ruby just laughed lightly.
" Warlord Skitter." I said menacingly. Ruby flinched so hard it was obvious it was fake.
"I just hear that name, and I shudder," Ruby said, frightened, before smiling widely and looking at me. "Do it again." Oh, she had completely understood. I love her. I smiled widely.
"Warlord Ski -"
"Enough!" Taylor exclaimed, blushing. Ruby and I looked at her with matching smiles. "It's not funny!" Taylor added.
"I mean, if you really were called Skitter while you were a villain, I'd say so," Azula said amusedly. The three of them turned to me, Taylor looking at me pleadingly.
"Oh yeah, Skitter's also a villain in my visions. Funny how you actually chose that as a heroine name." I said mercilessly. Ruby cheered while Taylor moaned loudly. Azula and I laughed at her misfortune. I was surprised that none of the three tried to deny or argue about the visions. "What I did see was, I didn't get to see how it all happened, but I know she managed it in only three months." I added.
That stopped the three girls in their tracks, Ruby and Azula stared at Taylor in disbelief while Taylor stared at me with her mouth open.
"Three months?! She conquered a city in three months?! " Ruby squealed in disbelief.
" Yeah," I chirped. I certainly wasn't telling them it was a huge series of coincidences and unfortunate events, one after another, or that there were practically a few S-rank genocides and catastrophes. But out of context, it was certainly fun.
"Okay, that sounds silly now!" Taylor tried to reply. I just laughed.
"Don't believe me," I said playfully.
"So you talked to her because you saw her villain phase?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Something like that?" I said distractedly. "Remember the first thing I asked you after you introduced yourself?" I asked Taylor. Taylor frowned and tried to remember for a few seconds before her eyes widened slightly.
"Oh... you were trying to leave until you heard my name... you asked me why an American was in Japan," Taylor said, surprised. I smiled at her.
"Exactly, everything I saw happened in Brockton Bay. You know that I'm curious, so I really wanted to know what was happening. I wanted to know if my visions were completely wrong once again or not. When you said you were leaving for UA almost a year early, well, my curiosity exploded." I said simply with a shrug. "Everything else that happened between us? It just happened. I love you. I love all three of you, and my visions have nothing to do with it."
"I love you too Izumi." Taylor said with a smile.
"Me too! I love you Izumi! But I want to know! You were also interested in me because I was super strong?! " Ruby asked excitedly. I burst out laughing.
"You were adorable," I said honestly. Ruby froze and blushed with her whole body.
"Not me!" Ruby squealed. I cleared my throat.
"'I'm Ruby Rose, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, guys love it! '" I mimicked Ruby's pickup line. Ruby shuddered violently. This time, it was authentic. "'Izumi, could you help me? I think something's wrong with my eyes… I can't stop looking at you!" Ruby shook even harder. "'I hope you know first aid because you take my breath away!" I continued mercilessly. "'Do you know how much pandas weigh? Enough to break the ice! '" Ruby's whole body was bright red. "And my favorite, 'Your beauty must be the square root of -1 because it's what every woman imagines.'"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! ENOUGH ALREADY!! " Ruby screamed, beat red while covering her ears. The three of us burst out laughing.
"Oh, goddess! I forgot about that!" Taylor squealed between giggles.
"Angi, did that really happen?!" Azula asked between laughs, I nodded, and she started laughing again.
"Enough! It's not funny! I was panicking! " Ruby said, embarrassed. "And you can't laugh at me again, Izumi! You already did it the first time! " Ruby complained as she threw a pillow at me. I kept laughing.
" Right! Then I flirted back with you, and you fainted! " I added. Ruby lost it and launched herself at me, making me laugh more.
"You said you'd never mention it!" Ruby said, flushed and embarrassed, as she tried to silence me. Azula and Taylor's laughter continued around us. After a few minutes, we finally calmed down. "You're an idiot," Ruby said, much calmer, as she continued to sit on top of me. I just chuckled.
" And while we're at it," I finally looked at Azula. "I saw your fire bending against your brother, though, I didn't know who you were fighting at the time. I just saw that you had a strong fire quirk and I was curious if my breathing style could help enhance a quirk." I said with a shrug. Azula nodded.
"I don't care." Azula said and looked at me, seeming to be mentally fighting with herself.
"You don't have to say it, Zula. I love you. And that won't change just because you say it right now," I said softly. Azula grimaced and looked away. I could see her jaw was locked and rigid, and I smiled almost sadistically. "But... don't think I won't do whatever it takes to tear those words out of your mouth," I said hoarsely in her direction. Azula blushed, but didn't answer.
"If not, we'll never have sex again," Taylor said tersely. "Some of us are human. Izumi. My pussy may not be as sore as it was when we woke up in the morning, but I'm still tender right now." She added with a grimace. I snorted.
"Party pooper." I complained with a pout. The three of them rolled their eyes before smiling slightly. "Okay, let's watch a movie or something, unless there's something else to talk about?" I asked in their direction. The three of them exchanged a glance before shaking their heads simultaneously. Then they smiled.
"I'll go get some popcorn!"
"I'll pick a movie! Today's my turn! "
"I'll prepare everything."
The three of them moved instantly. I smiled broadly. Yes, everything was fine. Everything was perfect.