Leonardo Kuros sipped a glass of cranberry juice. While not exactly the most elegant drink at the party, it was legal for him to drink it, which was definitely a plus. He was at a fancy dinner party, celebrating a major deal his family's company just underwent with the Schnee Dust Company. He was performing his usual task: analyzing each and every member of the bourgeois as they all interacted, scoping out who were friends and who were foes. The Kuros family was major in the appliance industry, and with the biggest Dust corporation on their side, it was borderline unfair. His job was to see who among the aristocratic circle was getting antsy about it.

He looked into the window he was seated next to. He had to make sure nothing was out of place. His sharp, shallow face looked as unwelcoming as ever. Not much he could do about that. His jet black hair looked neat enough though. It was parted to the side, with the bang that he had dyed blue falling gently over his forehead. He greatly enjoyed seeing the twitches of surprise and shock on people's faces at his dyed hair. It was quite funny to him.

"Aah, Leo! There you are!" Ralph called out. "Have you met Mr. Lumos?"

Leo gazed at the man next to his older brother. He gave him his most diplomatic smile, and held out his hand. "Mr. Lumos, a great pleasure."

Mr. Lumos smiled back jovially. "The pleasure is mine, my boy! Quite nice to see such manners in the young generation."

Lumos had shown brief signs of anger and wariness before shaking hands with him. Lumos was proud and paranoid, which led to a distrust of those who were overly polite and successful, particularly if they were younger. Needed regular ego stroking.

"Well, to be honest, when we have the upstanding rigor and fortitude of your generation as a model, it is truly boggling that my generation can be anything but."

"Ohoho, look at you, boy! A silvertongue if I ever saw one! I'm sure that you say that to everyone."

Leo gave a light, playful smile. "Only those worth saying it to."

Lumos laughed and slapped his brother's arm. "Your little brother has got quite the tongue on him, Raphael! Is he your secret weapon?" he asked, still chuckling.

Raphael smiled. "While I wish that I could say I taught him everything he knows, I have to give him credit for most of it. And sadly, I'll be losing that keen insight of his soon enough. Leo will be entering Beacon Academy this fall."

And the trap snapped shut. He had buttered the old man up, and Ralph had agreed with him. Lumos' microexpressions were much gentler than before. "A Hunter, my dear boy? Well, that is certainly a noble duty if ever there was one." A face of disgust. Bad move on Ralph's part, Lumos wasn't a big fan of Hunters. "Why, my brother…"

"Mr. Lumos," Ralph interrupted. "Isn't that Winter Schnee over there?"

"Why, yes, I do believe it is! I should go over and greet the lady before I lose her in the crowd again!" Lumos declared. Leo could see that having to greet so many young people bothered him greatly. But even so, he troddled off. Leo watched him go with vague interest, watched him take every step before he actually took it.

Ralph guided him over to the bar and ordered himself a drink. "So, how's the Man of a Thousand Introductions doing?"

If Leo was in the mood to smile, he would have at that joke, but he merely responded with a "Fine."

"Great work on Lumos, by the way. That 'Only those worth saying it to' line was genius. How are the rest of our guests?"

"Reluctantly enjoying themselves. A lot of them don't like us, we're too young, and the fact that you're beginning to take on a leadership position probably doesn't help."

Ralph sipped his drink, processing the information. "Old bastards. Just jealous of Dad's success."

"Not jealous. I'd say, indignant," Leo corrected.

Ralph snorted. "Like they have the right to complain about anything."

"Indeed. I'd say they have almost as little right to complain about their troubles as we do," Leo retorted.

"Alright, fair enough. Just hate dealing with them. Though I suppose you hate it far more than I do."

Leo finished his juice, not bothering to confirm the obvious. He hated dealing with these people. All of them tolerated him at best, and he could quite literally see that. He had received Aura training at a young age so as to learn to protect himself, and he had mastered his Semblance along the way. His Semblance let him see with utmost clarity. Microexpressions, muscle twitches, with his Vision he could see it all. No matter what mask his associates decided to wear, he could guess their true emotions and movements at least as quickly as they themselves could.

"Well, I guess you'll have it all out of your hair once you head over to Beacon, huh? Really gonna miss you, you know."

Leo stared at the bottom of his glass, suddenly wishing there was more cranberry juice to drink, so he could distract himself by drinking it. He really wasn't going to miss his brother that much.

"Though, y'know Leo, I don't think you'll find what you're looking for as a Hunter either. People, all people, wear masks. It's just in our nature."

Leo stared out the window, at his reflection. "I can hope, I suppose. More importantly, I'm just tired. Tired of having to wear a mask of my own. Tired of having to act like these people matter to me. I'm tired of smiling at every single person that hates me. They all do. I see it in their faces. I want to be a Hunter so I can act on my own terms, so that I do not have to wear a mask."

Leo continued staring, letting his outburst hang in the air. After he felt a warm hand clasp his shoulder. "Thanks, Leo. I know we haven't exactly made it easy on you. I am sorry for that. I am really, really proud and happy to be your brother. You're such a strong guy."

Leo kept looking out the window. He really didn't want to risk looking at his brother's face in that moment.

Selena Lavendrake did her hair and make-up. Well, technically-speaking, she perfected it. Blonde, wavy hair that fell down to her neck, her bang covering a solid fifth of her face, the other four-fifths being occupied by flawless skin. She was wearing her Huntress attire, a lovely purple button-down shirt, the color of which matched her eyes perfectly. The cuffs were slightly ruffled, drawing attention to her hands. Coupled with her stylish belt that held her Dust containers, her dark purple, creased pants, and high heels, there was literally nothing wrong with her appearance. The only reason she was even pretending to bother with it was that it gave her an excuse to not be down at the party.

It wasn't that Selena disliked parties, all the glamour, the dresses and fine dining, she loved those things. She just disliked the people at parties. Especially when they were at her parties. Selena had found that people felt this annoyingly incessant urge to speak to her when they were at a party in her name, despite Selena in no way wishing to talk to them.

A soft meow from her window made her smile immediately. Her favorite thing in the world had just arrived at her room. She opened the windows and stepped out onto her balcony. Chewing on the catnip she had left out was a tabby cat she had seen several times before. She reached down and raised her hand to it. The tabby stared at her for a moment, and shoved his head into her hand. She happily scratched its ears. Cats were far better than people. They came around selectively, got what they wanted, then left. They didn't hang around unnecessarily, didn't demand much of anything. She would own one herself if her parents allowed pets.

A knock sounded from her door. Selena grimaced. Speak of the devil. "Coming!" she cried. She quickly flicked her hand, and a circle of runes under around the cat, and a similar circle on the fence on the ground below. Suddenly, the cement beneath the cat vanished, and it fell into the circle on the balcony and out of the circle in the fence. She sent her silent apologies to the cat. Incriminating evidence removed from her balcony, she got up and walked back into her room, closing the balcony door behind her. She opened her door to see her mother. "Yes, Mother?"

Mrs. Rowena Lavendrake huffed. "Goodness, Selena!" her mother remarked. "You've been gone so long! I know you care about your looks, dear, but still! You should go down and mingle! It's your big night! It's not everyday that every person you know sings your praises. You have to milk it for all its worth!"

Selena forced herself to smile. "Of course, Mother," she responded. "I just wanted to catch my breath. There are so many people down there after all."

Her mother chuckled. "I know you're excited, sweetheart, but you have to contain it for just a little while longer."

Selena forced herself to smile harder. "You're right, Mother. It's going to be a lot more exciting from here on out."

"Yes, it is," herm other replied, beaming. "Ohhh, I'm just so proud of you! I can picture it already, our little Selena, a world-famous Huntress! You're going to make our name mean something again, Selena!"

Selena felt like her cheeks might break. "Please, Mother, you're overestimating me."

"Oh, nonsense! When it comes to brains, looks, and power, a girl only needs two to be successful. You were blessed with all three, darling. You're going to go further than anyone else, I just know it!"

Considering I'm the "hope of the family". maybe you shouldn't be handing out advice on how to be successful, Selena thought bitterly. "Thank you, Mother."

"Of course, dear," her mother replied. "Now, come downstairs. You've got so many people who want to see you!"

Rowena turned around and began walking downstairs. Selena's smile slid off her face and she followed behind her mother. Once they entered the main hall, Selena put her smile back on at full force. She stared out at the sea of faces, wanting more than anything for it dry up. She stared out at the banner hanging across the the wall, "CONGRATULATIONS TO SELENA! TO AN EXCELLENT FOUR YEARS AT BEACON AND TO AN EVEN GREATER LIFE BEYOND!", wanting to burn it down. Selena really did hate parties. They were just constant reminders of everything that she never wanted.

Ouranos Arc struggled with the suitcase. The suitcase wasn't particularly confusing to anyone who wasn't him, but sadly, Ouranos never quite made it to that category. His distant cousin, Jaune, watched with a look of both mild amusement and pity, the look one would normally give to a child several years younger, not a teenager several years older. "Do you need some help, Ouran?" Jaune asked.

"Nah, I've almost figured it out. Still don't know why you guys don't just use bags. Bags are great," Ouran responded.

Jaune did not respond, out of respect for his childhood aphorisms, as he certainly had nothing nice to respond with. His cousin had arrived on their doorstep a month ago, with a wolf skin held together at the legs carrying all of his worldly belongings: a notebook, one change of clothes, a cloak, and half-eaten meat wrapped in paper. It was incredibly clear that he had never seen a comb, zipper, or deodorant -three things one usually has for travel- in his life. As Jaune watched him struggle with a suitcase full of more socially acceptable belongings, Jaune realized that Ouran still hadn't quite gotten used to kingdom life.

"Are you sure you're up to taking this test?" Jaune ventured. "I mean, you still haven't really gotten the hang of how we do things here, and you'll have to spend a year in boarding school, something you've never been to. Are you sure you can handle all that?"

"Relax, Jaune, I've got this. I've been taking notes on kingdom life all along, just check out my notebook," Ouran insisted, handing him a looseleaf notebook bound in twine, one of three items that survived the transition from the wolf bag to the suitcase. Jaune took the tome hesitantly, and opened up to the first page.

Ouran's List of Important Things About The Kingdom

#1: Kingdom maps are very confusing. Just a bunch of lines, no landmarks drawn, ask a Valite for help if ever in need of directions.

#2: Kingdoms have this thing called "traffic". Basically, the lower, darker ground is what they refer to as the street, which is weird, because it's for their cars which are like carriages but metal, faster, and horseless. What you have to walk on is called the sidewalk. If you don't follow this rule, the cars will run into you, and they are somehow fragile and break easy.

#3: Kingdom people get angry easy. Even though you have no idea why their car broke, and you explain that you have no idea about anything going on, and mean no harm, they still get angry at you. Don't argue back either, that makes it worse.

#4: It is bad to go barefoot. It doesn't even matter if you have paws, it is still polite to wear shoes when outside, but it is not polite to wear shoes in your own house. Apparently, this is to keep you from bringing outdoor germs into the indoors.

#5: Even though kingdom people are so picky about germs, they don't have outhouses. They poop and pee in the same room they clean themselves in. When asked, Auntie only laughed and said she didn't know either. Ask one of the Beacon people.

#6: There is no competition for food. Shoving family to the side and reaching across the table for more food is not okay. Neither is licking your plate clean. In the kingdom, food scraps can be wasted and go in the "sink", which is like a tiny waterfall.

#7: KINGDOMS HAVE STORES DEDICATED TO FOOD. ACTUAL WALLS OF FOOD. SO MUCH FOOD .

#8: You still cannot eat food until you've paid for it. It's like our scrapmetal system but they call it "lien" and there's a lot more lien than scrapmetal.

#9: Zoos are not grocery stores for fresh meat. You will be arrested for trying to kill animals in the kingdoms.

#10: Kingdom children are not taught how to hunt, kill, and cook animals, and will cry if you try to explain these things to them. They are not taught blacksmithing either. They are taught things like "Aljibra", which is like multiplication, but with the alphabet, but the alphabet is numbers too. It makes no sense, just stop paying attention if it comes up again.

#11: Riding in cars makes you vomit. Avoid if possible.

#12: Kingdoms have drinks with bubbles in them. Avoid them, they taste like pain. Also, kingdom "desserts" do not taste at all like Mom's desserts. They taste disgusting. Uncle says it is because the kingdom people eat much sweeter foods. Avoid sweet things.

#13: Kingdoms have things called "comic books". These books are tinier than regular books and they have pictures! X-Ray and Vav is the best one. It comes out every Saturday. Make sure to buy it.

#14: Kingdom people do not share baths. They do have one bath per family, but you cannot get in when someone else is in. Being naked in the room with another persn is considered intimate, even if you're just cleaning yourself.

#15: Kingdoms have magic rectangles called Scrolls. These magic boxes can measure your Aura, let you hear and see other people who aren't near you, let you write things, and even learn things on the Valean "daytah-banks". Super useful.

Jaune looked at the list morbidly. Each addition was a painful memory for at least one member of the Arc family. Poor Luna still hadn't gotten over #9. But one of them surprised him.

"You got hit by a car?" Jaune asked, shocked. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, day I got here," Ouran responded.

"But you were totally fine when you got here!"

"Well, duh," Ouran snorted. "I mean, I've trained to take blows from things tougher than that."

"Wow, really?" Jaune asked, amazed. "Your body's tougher than steel?! That's so cool! You're like a superhero!"

"Well, I mean, y'know, certainly not "X-Ray and Vav" cool, it's just Aura, after all."

Jaune looked at him in confusion. "What's Aura?"

Ouran froze up. He had just mentioned Aura. He wasn't supposed to do that. "It's uh, it's… what is it your parents say when they don't want to explain something to you?"

"I'll learn when I'm older?" Jaune supplied, not entirely liking where the conversation was going.

"Yeah, it's that," Ouran finished. "Excuse me, I have to… I have to use the outhouse."

Jaune watched as Ouran left the room. When he was older, huh? He stared at the issue of X-Ray and Vav that lay on Ouran's air mattress. He was just too young, he supposed. X-Ray, Vav, Ouran, they were all years older than him. He would get his chance, his time to be a hero someday. He couldn't wait. He imagined being like his cousin, unafraid of anything, even a completely new world; like his father, a man capable of providing for eight children; his grandfather, whose epic tales of heroics had kept him up at night with how cool they were. He would have his turn soon, definitely. He hoped.

Ouran sat on the toilet. His stomach felt a little queasy. He had just told a lie. A lie out of respect for his family's wishes, but a lie nonetheless. More and more, he was finding it difficult to keep this act up. It was weighing far too heavily on his conscience. He wondered, not for the first time, if he should just tell Jaune the truth. Since he was little, Jaune had never demonstrated any signs of Aura, which was extremely unusual for an Arc. One possible explanation was that Jaune's mind and body simply weren't at the level that could handle his own volume of Aura. Academies in Mistral had developed a technique to forcibly unlock a person's Aura, so, if that were the case, than his Aura could be properly unlocked. But until they had proof, they were keeping the concept of Aura a secret from Jaune, so that he wouldn't feel embarrassed of himself. So, for the duration of his visit, Ouran had to not let Jaune know about Aura. He didn't like it.

He had always been taught that to lie invited guilt and doubt, which could only lead to Grimm attacks. Furthermore, it led to a fear of consequences, which denied growth of character, something he couldn't afford if he were to achieve his dream. He supposed the first issue wasn't really a problem in the heavily-fortified kingdom, and the second issue, well, he decided that this one time, he would not tell Jaune the truth. Uncle Helos and Aunt Celes certainly knew much more than he did, and their decision, given the culture, might be the wiser one. He could forgo his personal scruples after all they had done for him.

He stood up and stared into the mirror above the sink. They really had done a lot for him. His long, scraggly blonde hair had been cut down really short to what the barber referred to as a "crew cut". He liked it. He had to deal with a lot less hair now. They had given him new clothes too. A sky-colored "T-shirt" with his emblem in a lighter blue on front. Pants they called "jeans", a little tighter than his old pair, but nothing he couldn't work with. His new sandals felt quite comfy. Obviously, they had become a little bit shredded at the toes, but there really wasn't much he could do about that. The only thing about his appearance that had carried over from the village were the old bracers on his arms, that had been protecting him for over a year now. His extended family had done so much for him, given him so much, that he owed them this one favor, regardless of his issues with it. He made his peace with that, and returned to Jaune's room.

30 minutes later, Ouran zipped his suitcase up. "Finally done!" he cheered. "Ready for the next three days!"

The reason he needed a suitcase to begin with was that he was traveling to a facility to apply to enter Beacon Academy. As someone who came from an outside village, he had to take a rigorous exam in order to prove his merit. He would spend three days at the testing site. The first day would be tests and essays, the second would be practical, physical exams, and on the third day, the important people would review his performance, find him satisfactory, and let him train to be a badass Hunter. Then he'd be one step closer to his dream. Easy.

He grinned to himself. No more lying, no more sitting around, he was soon going to be back in his element. He gleefully felt the weight of his prized possessions on his back. His twin blades, Dexia and Alistera, would be able to feel the wind rush by them once again. He was getting excited just thinking about it.

A fairly tired Jaune grinned weakly at his cousin's triumph. "Good. Hopefully the actual tests won't be quite so hard," he joked.

"Right?!" Ouran agreed. He tucked his suitcase under his arm and headed to the door. "Alright, Jaune, I'm heading out now. I'll see you in a few days. Say bye to your sisters for me."

"Do you have pencils? Eraser? Scroll?"

"All good."

"Remember that if you don't know stuff, make up for it with the physical, and keep your essay short and simple."

"Don't sweat what I don't know, and keep the essay as simple as possible, got it," Ouran repeated. He gave his cousin one last wave good-bye, and headed down the stairs.

His uncle was at the door. "Your aunt made you a breakfast," he said, handing Ouran a lunch box. "You'll have to eat in the car though, we want to get there early to be safe."

Ouran nodded, and they left the house. Ouran lifted his head to stare at the sky and feel the breeze. He smiled. It was 5:30 in the morning, his favorite time of day. He was always up at this time, but kingdom people slept in late. The morning sun had just peaked over the horizon, so the streetlights were off, and all that was about was dim stillness. The kingdom was a noisy place, and even the night was bright, but at this time of day, it was as light and as quiet as his village, and he loved it. He was glad that the first step of his legend began with this sky and this breeze.

His quiet moment of serenity was interrupted by the obnoxious beep of the car. The smile weakened slightly. He wasn't glad that the second step of his legend involved him being in a car. Breakfast would have to wait until they got there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I cannot believe you," Glynda Goodwitch fumed, pacing the office.

"Whether you believe or not does little to change the reality of the situation, I'm afraid," Ozpin replied, calmly sipping his coffee.

"Why did you just go ahead and admit that boy? The rest of the faculty is on the fence about him at best."

"As Headmaster, I feel it is my duty to admit students who are ready."

"Ready?! He failed the entire first day!"

"Not the entire day. His scores in the weaponry and Grimm portions were both commendable. And, as I said at the meeting, the boy is a member of the 3rd generation born in his village. If he had done better than he did, I would have suspected foul play."

Glynda wavered. "True… But his essays! He wrote less than any other applicant in the history of the Academy!"

"I gladly welcome some brevity during all of the ridiculous lard and fluff I have to read."

"Brevity?! On the last question, when we ask why they want to be Hunters, emphasizing the importance of the question, he wrote five words!"

"And frankly, those were the most interesting and heartfelt five words I've read all day," Ozpin responded. "Glynda, my opinion on this is final, the admissions have already been released, nothing can be done about it."

Glynda Goodwitch humphed and walked out of the office with an angry stride. Ozpin sipped his coffee and stared at the packet on his desk. It was Ouranos Arc's physical scores and written test. The first page showed his physical scores, ranking him as the top applicant of the second day. He leafed through the much less successful first day test. He turned to the last essay. Under the directions,"Why do you wish to become a Hunter? Please explain as clearly and fully as you can, as this will be a major consideration.", were a mere five words.

"I want to become legendary."

Reina Mahagan walked with a slouch. The day had been pretty rough in class. She was in her senior year at Signal Academy, which was awesome and cool and meant she was one step closer to becoming a Huntress, but the day had dealt her the cruel hand of combat class first thing in the morning, coupled by the even crueler hand of having her sparring opponent be the best in class, Gai Lee. She was pretty middle of the road, but her teacher had figured "fighting a superior opponent makes you stronger". Yeah, maybe. But it definitely also makes you feel really pathetic, too.

Of course, there was another reason she was apprehensive. Today was the day: her letter from Beacon arrived today. Her next 4 years of life, as well as her career, would be decided today. Who was she kidding? She was going to get rejected. She wasn't cut out to be a Huntress. Other kids had been training all their lives to be Hunters, but she had only been at it seriously for three years. She was just some random girl they probably wrote off at the beginning.

She trudged through her street until she arrived at her house. She glanced at the mailbox, and to her shock, saw a large, white envelope sticking out. She grabbed it and eagerly flipped it over. It was to her, from Beacon Academy. She hurried inside and took a picture of it. She sent the image to her parents, along with the text, 'Big envelope, good sign. Want me to wait for you guys?'

Barely a second later, her father responded with, 'If you don't open that envelope right now, I'm disowning you.'

Reina laughed at the text, and immediately went to opening the package. She tore the top off and pulled the letter out of the envelope, her heart jumping up to her throat. She stared at it. Three phrases popped into her mind: "Ms. Mahagan", "Congratulations on your admission" and "Happy to have you, Professor Ozpin, Head of Beacon Academy". She stared at it, disbelieving. She stared at it some more, drinking it in. Then she smiled. She jumped, squealed, and danced like it was nobody's business. She had gotten in! Her! Little ol' Reina had gotten into Vale's most prestigious Hunting academy! She had made her first steps to becoming a Huntress! Her mind filled with visions of the future, her, alongside her teammates, killing Grimm, protecting innocents. She was going to become a hero! How amazing was that?!

She sent a picture of the letter to her parents, promptly receiving the proper congratulatory responses. She beamed to herself. She was so excited for tomorrow, walking into school as a Beaconite, being the coolest kid in her class for once. Her life just got ten times more amazing.

She quickly hustled upstairs to do her homework. Now that she had gotten in, she had to make sure she stayed in. Couldn't let herself drop the ball and get her acceptance revoked. After she finished that, she heard her father roll into the driveway. She hustled down to the doorway to greet him, and was delighted to see her mother was with him.

"Picked her up on my way home," he explained amidst hugs. "We both wanted to get home as quick as possible to celebrate."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and happily started pushing her out the door. "Uh, Dad, where are we going?" Reina asked.

"The Four Corners," her father replied. "I made a reservation weeks ago. I was 100% sure that you would get in, champ."

"Mhmm, I'm 100% sure you said it would be a cheer-up dinner if she didn't get in," her mother responded, smiling,

"Honey, please. I am trying to win Father of the Year right now, and you are just tossing my chances down the drain."

Reina giggled at her parents. "Still, we don't have to go right now, do we? I'm not really dressed for something so fancy."

"You look fine, sweetie," her mother said.

"And more importantly, not even the Father of the Year is willing to be downtown during rush hour, so we have to go now."

So Reina was hustled into the car as her parents took the front seats, leaving her to her clothing dilemma. She really wasn't ready to go to such a fancy restaurant as the Four Corners. She was wearing her typical outfit. A pink hoodie, headphones, brown pleated skirt, shin-high socks and sneakers didn't exactly make a "high class" outfit. Not to mention her hair. Weren't you supposed to keep hair out of your face when you were eating? She did have most of it in a ponytail, but the giant bang that largely covered her left eye might be a problem. Or would it? Did rich people really bother to adjust their million-dollar hairdos when they ate?

"You're murmuring to yourself, sweetheart," her mother called back to her.

Reina blinked and closed her mouth. She really had to fix that, one of these days.

"So, battle plan," her father spoke up. "I'm thinking, our girl just made it into the biggest school this side of the world, and we are going to the one restaurant on Patch that serves meals from every kingdom, so we should splurge. I'm thinking one of everything, and we all just have a bit of each."

"Well, not one of everything," her mother responded. "But a mini-buffet does sound lovely. Reina, are you fine with that?"

"Sounds great!"

With their battle plan in mind, the Mahagans went to the best dinner they had ever had. The waiter was giving them some odd looks, particularly when they started ordering way more plates than there were people, but Reina did her best to ignore that. They were having a great time, laughing and eating together. She didn't want to let anything get in the way of that.

Oddly enough, it was after they had gotten home, and Reina was listening to music in her room, still soaking in her achievement, that something got in the way of her good time. she heard a knock on her door. She got up and opened it to see her dad. "Hi, sweetie, I know it's late, I was just wondering if we could talk."

The atmosphere abruptly changed. Rena started mentally panicking. That was not good. There were a myriad of directions this conversation could go, none of them good. Why did they have to have a "serious talk" now? Couldn't they have waited, or better yet, planned it for later? So she could mentally prepare herself for the bomb, whatever it was, that way?

"I know we've had this talk before…"

Wait, what?

"And while I don't want to rain on your parade, and possibly lose Father of the Year, your mother and I are very concerned with the dangers of Beacon Academy and your future occupation."

Oh, thank Dust. This was an old "serious talk". Crisis averted. "Dad, don't worry, I'll be fine!" Reina placated.

"Reina, you say that, but Hunters aren't known for growing old. It isn't all heroics and daring adventures out there, you know."

"It's not like it's super-safe here, either. There are muggings, White Fang attacks, car crashes, everywhere's dangerous. But that's why I'm going to Beacon, Dad! I'll be able to protect myself better than most people. I'll practically get a medal for my exemplary skill at not dying."

Her father gave a weak smile. "Just make sure you get some strong teammates to watch your back."

"You got it, Dad."

"And always remember to keep Elemek Storm's cartridges full."

"Of course, Dad."

"Because most Hunters report that the biggest cause of casualties is running out of ammo on the field."

"I know, Dad."

Her father abruptly pulled her into a hug. "Your mother and I are very proud of you. We love you very much."

Rena smiled and happily returned the hug. "Thanks, Dad. I love you guys too."

After a few seconds, her father broke away, and began to exit the room. "Night, champ."

"Good night, Dad."

Once her father left, Rena grabbed her weapons pouch. She unzipped it and pulled out every yo-yo. She unscrewed each one, making sure each Dust cartridge was full, and filling the ones that weren't. She didn't have to do this, as her current daily routine did not demand such vigilance, but it would be best to acquire the habit now. Like they always say, a careful Hunter is a breathing Hunter. She was barreling straight into a new world, and she was determined to hit the ground running. She wondered if her future teammates were in bed, feeling the same anxious determination as she was right now. Oh gosh, she really hoped they liked her. What if they didn't get along? What if they all hated her because she wasn't good enough? What if-

She heard a thump from the door. "No muttering, remember?"

Ah, that's right, No use worrying about it. She'd be fine. Probably.