4 chapter 4

"So let me see if I got this right. You two went to a dust shop reading magazines."

a blonde woman started the brief summary of their night. She receives a nod, prompting her to move on.

"Brought it upon yourselves to stop a robbery happening at said store."

she scored another nod.

"Got dragged to a police station for questioning but in the end got recruited into Beacon."

the two beamed at the mention of the recruitment.

"Then you had Luffy become your pilot to bring the both of you home, only for him to run out of fuel over the sea. And then you, Rubes, had to swim the rest of the way carrying Luffy to shore; which explains why you had looked like you ran through a rainstorm without an umbrella. Did I miss anything?"

she finished with a raised eyebrow as she pieces together a summary of the events.

"Nope!"

the duo confirmed.

The blonde woman stands an inch taller than Luffy, sporting an attractive figure and pale complexion along with a mane of bright blonde hair that goes down to her waist and lilac eyes that can change to red the moment she gets angry. Her outfit includes a tan vest over a yellow low cut crop top with a black symbol of a burning heart on the left breast, a belt with a buckle over her black short shorts with a white asymmetrical back skirt, fingerless black gloves, and brown knee high leather boots covering orange socks of different lengths and a grey bandana wrapped around the left leg at the top of her boot. The only accessory on her is the orange infinite scarf on her neck . Her yellow bracelets on her wrist play as the disguise for her weapon, a pair of shot gauntlets called Ember Celica.

This is Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's half sister and Luffy's cousin-in-law, older than the both of them by two years.

The duo had recently gotten back home, which looked more like a cabin, and changed out of their soaked clothes from their impromptu swimming exercise.

Ruby went with her usual pajamas which included a tank top and pajama pants, while Luffy wore a plain black t-shirt with blue shorts. Yang, who was already there, decided to question their whereabouts since they were so late. Although, Qrow and Taiyang are also late as they needed to get groceries for dinner, so it was going to be a late night meal anyway.

Yang had a look of thought as she contemplated on how to react to the series of events. She finally concluded a few reactions and followed with the first and foremost.

"How could you put both of your lives in danger like that you idiot! You could've drowned!"

Yang yelled as she punched Luffy on the top of the head, giving him a lump. Luffy rubbed his sore head while apologizing with a carefree demeanor.

"Yang! It's not like he wanted to run out of aura. And besides, I was the one that thought of the idea of using his Sky Walk, so it's my fault."

Ruby said trying to reason with her sister and pin the blame on herself. The situation was beyond their control at that moment, so it was unfair to scold Luffy for it.

"No, I'm just not good at saving my aura. If I were better at it, I could use my semblance a little longer."

Luffy said pointing out his own faults.

Due to having multiple spirits inside of him, it granted him an enormous amount of aura. But his aura manipulation is so poor that he burns through it in about 10-15 minutes regardless of the high reserves. He didn't have any time to train in conserving aura which was one of his problems.

Since he learned Haki the first time around, it didn't take him as long to get it back. Through the eight years of training, he spent the first year reacquiring his Haki. During that time, he regained his devil fruit powers and learned of his semblance and spent one year for each of his seven bonds to gain what little experience he could from using them as well as readjust to having his devil fruit.

Just because you know the techniques from those bonds doesn't necessarily mean you have all the experience in using them.

"Look... we can play the blame game all we want, but what's important right now is that you're both okay. Sorry if I overreacted you guys."

Yang said with a downcast expression.

Being the eldest, you tend to get a little overbearing in the younger's well being. Yang threw out the sad face, and replaced it with a wide grin as she thinks about the more happy news.

"Aaaaah! My sister and cousin get to go to Beacon with me. This the going to be the best four years EVER! I'm so proud of you two!"

She said with uncontainable glee as she gives the pair one of her patented bear hugs, much to Ruby's discomfort. After Yang let them out of the possible deathtrap, Ruby was catching her breath and Luffy had an identical grin on his face.

"Meh, it wasn't anything special. We just did what we wanted."

Luffy said with a sense of humbleness. To him, it didn't matter if he stopped a robbery or saved an entire kingdom, he was just going by his own whims.

"Yeah, it's not anything to get worked up over."

Ruby said shyly adding onto the humble atmosphere that they have.

"But it is! You are going to be the bee's knees."

Yang said in a doting manner.

"I don't want to be the bee's knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees, that's all."

Ruby ranted, not wanting to be the center of attention.

"I don't really care if they like me or not, that's for them to decide. As long as I'm with my friends and family having fun adventures, then it's all good."

Luffy said, not having a care about his own popularity.

The two sisters looked at him with a sweatdrop at his stance on the matter.

'Yeah, the guy that doesn't care to be famous is the one that gets popular.'

They thought in unison. There was time in Signal Academy that Luffy had developed a fairly sized group of fans along with a few admirers, though he doesn't know it, nor would he mind it if he did.

"Man, I need to start hanging around you guys more often. You get to have all the action without me in it."

Yang said with a bit of jealousy. It's like where Luffy is, danger is right around the corner. And wanting to have some thrills in her life, Yang wants to be a part of the dangers along with him.

Ruby just rolls her eyes at the comment as the front door opened showing two grown men carrying some bags along with a small corgi named Zwei.

"Ah, hey uncle Taiyang, hey old man."

Luffy said being the first to notice who came in. Qrow grew a tickmark at the 'old man' remark.

Taiyang is a man with short blonde hair and lilac eyes like Yang with a tattoo on his right arm. His outfit consists of a brown vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off, brown cargo shorts with a belt in a darker shade, and black shoes. He didn't bother to bring his armor along with him.

As soon as they placed the bags on the table, Qrow walks up to Luffy and pinches his cheeks with Armament and pulls on them.

So far, other than Luffy, Qrow and Taiyang are the only other individuals that learned to use Haki. Although it's kinda weird having a little kid teach adults something, but they were glad they did very early since it took them five years to get both types.

"Who are you calling an old man, huh kid!"

Qrow growled at him while pulling his cheeks.

"Owowowow, stop that it hurts! I didn't teach you Haki just so you can do this."

Luffy whined, feeling the pain through the Armament pinches. The pulling didn't hurt because he's still rubber.

"Wow... didn't think Luffy was so cheeky , huh sis."

Yang said to Ruby adding a pun to the comment, to which the redhead groaned at.

Qrow finally lets go of the appendages, which Luffy rubs with a pout on his face, and smirks at him.

"So, I got contacted by Oz saying you and Ruby are going to Beacon. Nice going there you two."

Qrow said while patting Luffy on the back and then taking out his flask to take a swig out of it. Ozpin called him not too long ago and questioned him about Luffy's relation to him, among other things that Ozpin may as well know.

Yeah, that was a fun talk.

While Luffy was grinning at him, Ruby was giving him a curious look, wondering if he told Ozpin something that she tried to hide.

"Wait, did you tell him about Luffy's... past?"

Ruby asked, afraid that trouble is coming for revealing that secret.

"Yeah, I told him. We go way back, and I know I can trust him with knowing his little secret. He'll most likely not care about it, I'm surprised Luffy hasn't spilled the beans on his own. Though I should have told him that I adopted a kid earlier."

Qrow answered, reassuring his niece that Ozpin is worth telling He can understand Ruby trying to keep other people from knowing, regardless of any trust that exists.

"Well we should probably get to cooking, right Luffy?"

Taiyang spoke for the first time since arriving home.

"Yay! Meat!"

Luffy shouted with excitement as he finished petting Zwei and heads over to the kitchen with Taiyang. Everyone rolled their eyes at Luffy's food obsession.

"So... how did you get scouted in the first place?"

Taiyang said trying to start a conversation while the oven warms up. If he were to ask Luffy, he would get the abridged details of the entire night with no lies or secrets, since Luffy can't lie to save his life or hold a secret. He's sure that Ruby would tell him everything too, but she speaks so fast that it's hard to follow.

Luffy gave him his own kind of story as he mentioned all of the important bits, at least in his opinion. Taiyang was nodding his head as he listened to his story, until Luffy mentioned the 'falling into the water' bit, which he punched him in the head for his recklessness, even if it was Ruby's idea.

It would seem obvious as to where Yang got her overprotectiveness from.

Some of the nicknames like Girly Man, Mystery Lady, and Witch, he had to take a guess as to who he referring to. They got the ingredients out and got right into cooking their dinner, with Luffy activating his chef bond to gain an edge in cooking. It's not as divine as Sanji's, but it's still really good.

While the conversation was going on, Qrow, Yang, and Ruby with Zwei on her lap had their own private discussion in the living room.

"You know, with Luffy with us, that means we can continue training to unlock our Haki, Rubes."

Yang said with enthusiasm at the thought of learning to do the awesome things that Luffy can do. Ruby smiled at that, not putting much thought into that fact.

They both started training when Ruby and Luffy entered Signal, so it has been two whole years and they still don't have either type unlocked. They never thought it would be so difficult until they tried, because unlike Aura, you couldn't have someone else that has it unlock it for you.

"That's true... but I want to make sure you remember why you wanted to learn it at all."

Qrow said with a very serious tone, trying to remind them of their reasons.

The sisters looked down in deep thought, with their bangs covering their eyes.

'Of course we know why. It's for Luffy's sake.'

Yang thought with a sullen tone, Ruby having similar thoughts.

Ten years ago, Yang thought she found a lead to finding her biological mother, who left her shortly after she was born. Yang and Luffy were pulling a wagon with a sleeping Ruby in it, all bundled up as they were headed to their destination.

Yang wanted answers, but Luffy came along just to possibly meet his aunt.

When they got to their destination, which was a humble shack that showed no signs that anyone was there, Beowolves came and ambushed them. Luffy tried to fight them to protect his family, but to no avail as he was too weak to hurt the Grimm.

During all of the commotion and growling, Ruby stirred from her sleep, only to be petrified along with Yang as a Beowolf found its way in front of them. It cross slashed with its claws, but Luffy stepped in front of them to take the blow, causing a wail in pain as blood gushed out of the wound.Luffy stood his ground however, as something snapped in him from the near-death experience.

He mustered all his strength and shouted at the Beowolves to leave them alone, subconsciously using Conqueror's Haki.

And to the shock of the paralyzed sisters, the Grimm were rooted in place in what looks like... fear.

A few seconds later, Luffy's body gave out and collapsed on the ground, with the Grimm returning to their slow approach towards the trio to kill them.

Before they could do anything however, Qrow came in and quickly dispatched them and carried the bleeding boy in his arms towards the nearest hospital with a sobbing five year old Ruby and seven year old Yang tagging along.

To everyone's astonishment, the boy was going to survive the ordeal, even though he had a miniscule chance of survival with such critical wounds.

Some say it was sheer luck, but Qrow is taking a guess that it was purely Luffy's will to live, yet he doesn't know where it could have came from.

The specifics didn't matter to Ruby or Yang, they just know that Luffy didn't leave them.

On that day, Luffy regained his memories of his past life, and Ruby and Yang resolved themselves to become stronger. They want to be strong enough so they can protect themselves, so Luffy won't ever have to resort to such drastic actions.

Back in the present, Qrow can tell that they clearly remember their resolve all those years ago. He sighs heavily, earning the attention of the two as they stopped their trip through memory lane.

"And one more thing... try not to abuse Luffy for his semblance when you guys are at the academy."

He said in a weary tone. The sisters averted their gaze and looked sheepishly at the little known fact.

They don't mean to do it so much, it was just that Luffy had so many convenient skills to use that they took it for granted.

"Yeah, maybe we could pay him meat for his services."

Yang suggested, earning a deadpanned stare from Qrow and Ruby. She shrugged at her own suggestion, accepting defeat in the unspoken argument.

Ruby heard a 'ding' and widened her eyes at what that could mean and headed towards the kitchen, only to find what she was looking for in the form of fresh cookies coming out of the oven. Luffy laughed as he spotted Ruby, who was staring at the treats with a sparkle in her eyes, and placed the cookie tray on the counter top. Ruby sped over to her cousin and caught him in a hug.

"You're the best cousin ever! W-wait... I thought you didn't have to make any, we had a deal."

Ruby said with a curious sound in her voice. She didn't think that Luffy would still make cookies. Luffy just laughed again for her not getting it.

"You're right, I didn't have to. I wanted to, but you're going to share."

Luffy said to Ruby, giving a simple reason for making them anyway.

As long as she gets cookies out of it, everything is A-Okay.

Taiyang smiled at the show of family love as he prepared the dishes across two separate tables, one for just Luffy to hold a crazy amount of food and the second for the rest of them. Well, more so that Luffy doesn't get any ideas about taking food off of other plates. They all gathered at the kitchen to find out that dinner was balsamic steak with berry salad, though Luffy has the same thing except a ton of meat added on.

Everyone ate in content of the delicious meal before them, thankful that Sanji's culinary skills are still incredible despite the lack of mastery. Luffy finished his in about two minutes, so he was giving his attention to Zwei as they continued.

When they all finished, everyone was heading to their rooms to sleep except for two. Qrow walked up to Luffy as he wondered about something

"So kid, you're gonna bring the rest of your weapons with you or what?"

He knows that Luffy would be moving into a dorm at Beacon, so he can't leave his other weapons back in Patch. The boy looked at him with half-lidded eyes, as if saying that the answer is obvious.

"Well yeah, my crew won't be able to help me much without them. Why?"

Luffy wondered in childish curiosity at his adoptive father's question.

"Since there's some time left before you leave, we may as well help you with Aura manipulation, seeing as you get a little reliant on your crew."

Qrow pointed out, as there is still time, about a week exactly, and it would be the last time in a long while till they have a reunion so they may as well spend it on their common bonding exercise.

Though he won't admit it, Patch would become dull without Luffy's mischief. Luffy tilted his head in thought, debating on taking the last minute training. After he recalled how short lived his semblance is, Luffy nodded his head in agreement with a smile. Qrow smirked at this and raised his fist towards him, gesturing for a fist bump. The straw hat boy returns the fist bump with a toothy grin.

"I'm not going to be around when you leave, but as you would say, it won't be the last time seeing each other. Just be ready for what Beacon has to throw at you, 'kay kid."

Qrow said, knowing they'll meet again and having faith in Luffy. The straw hat boy returns the fist bump with a toothy grin.

"Yeah, when we meet again, I'll be a lot more stronger dad. And I won't let school beat me down, even if it is boring. I wouldn't be a free huntsman if that happened."

Luffy said with strong confidence. Luffy leaves to his room to turn in for the night, leaving Qrow in his thoughts.

'Heh, fifteen years and he's already in Beacon. I know those three ar e gonna go far in life, especially him. Kinda makes me wonder if that was why I adopted him.'

Qrow said, reminiscing when he made the decision to take Luffy in.

He didn't really know what possessed him to do such a thing, he never really thought about being a dad. But at this point, he does not ever regret it. Maybe it was seeing Summer give birth to Ruby or Raven with Yang. But when he saw a six month old Luffy after receiving word from doctors that he was orphaned, he just felt... something in the infant. He may not put much faith in fate, but it was like Luffy was meant for big things and he believes it was his job to see it through. He shakes out of his reverie and starts heading back to bed for the night, getting ready to give Luffy a hard time training.

***************************************

The week passed by in the blink of an eye for the trio. Now they are on an airship transporting students to Beacon Academy. The training did slight improvement to conserving aura, as it increased the time frame he has by about another five to ten minutes.

The three are in their normal attire, with the exception of Luffy who is carrying a large backpack that is holding the rest of his equipment along with a satchel holstered on the back waist next to Clima-Tact.

In one of his hands, he carries Soul Solid, a purple shikomizue (cane sword), though it doesn't have the hook like Brook's, with a blue glowing line down the handle indicating that it uses ice dust.

The family trio could hardly wait to reach their destination, if their big grins were anything to by. They were walking around until Luffy caught sight of a TV broadcasting news about riots from the White Fang, causing him to pout.

He has heard of them, but he doesn't like what they're doing.

"Geez, why are they idiots? They want people to be nice to them, but yet they are hurting them. That doesn't make any sense."

Luffy said offhandedly commenting on the terrorist groups actions.

It reminds him of the fishmen that claim to be a superior species compared to humans.

Unbeknownst of him, a young woman with long wavy black hair and a olive pale complexion overheard him as she casted a quick glance out of her book. She decided not to confront him in his opinion on the matter and just resumes reading.

Said woman stands an inch shorter than Luffy without her black bow and has cat-like amber eyes with purple eye shadow. She wears a black buttoned vest with coattails over a sleeveless white undershirt that exposes some midriff, a black collar scarf on her neck, black ribbons on her arms with a detached black sleeve and silver band on the left arm, a pair of white shorts with black stockings that fade to purple towards the black low-heel boots, and her emblem which appears to be a belladonna flower is found on the stockings in white.

After he finished watching, Luffy went over to his cousins to find a blonde boy in what looks like a squire outfit feeling sick.

The blonde boy is half a foot taller than Luffy with dark blue eyes and pale white complexion. He wears a black hoodie with reddish orange sleeves under a white chestplate and shoulder armor, blue pants, brown gloves exposing the fingertips and a small plate, two crisscrossing belts in different shades of brown, and black shoes.

"Ummm, are you okay? You look like you're about to puke."

Luffy said with worry for the blonde. Said blonde didn't respond as he really was about to vomit any minute. Luffy rummages through one of the side pouches on his backpack and fishes out a yellow marble and hands it to him.

He didn't know why he was sick, but any medicine was better than none at all. The boy takes the marble and tosses it in his mouth and swallows it with little difficulty, only to feel a little better after doing so.

"Phew, thanks man. I got motion sickness and forgot to bring my own pills. The name's Jaune Arc."

the boy, named Jaune, said in gratitude for the help.

"Shishishi, you got on this flying thing even though you get sick. What are you, an idiot. Oh, I'm Luffy."

Luffy said bluntly as he jabs at Jaune's intelligence. Jaune looked crestfallen at the insult, but doesn't argue against it.

"Well it was nice meeting you Jaune, see ya."

Luffy said as he continues to look for his cousins. He eventually caught up with them as they were looking out the window in awe. Luffy stands next to them wondering what they were looking at and see it for himself. What they see is the school that they are currently headed for

"Wow, it's so huge! Beacon is so awesome!"

Luffy said in childish excitement, not caring for the odd looks the passengers were giving him. The sisters nodded their heads in agreement to the breathtaking sight before them.

Beacon Academy may as well be a castle with its size, design, and the buildings dotting the campus.

"Beacon, I hope you're ready. Luffy is going to demolish your food storage, and we're going to start this year with a Yang. " Yang commented offhandedly, with Luffy laughing and Ruby groaning at the pun.

This was going to be their place of residence for four years, and the start of their path to achieve their dreams.