Disclaimer - RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth Productions.

Author's Note - Just a little background information about the Modern AU world this story takes place in. Faunus are generally accepted members of society. Just like many ethnic groups in our world, the Faunus had their Civil Rights Movement in the past. As a result Faunus in this Modern AU have the same rights and status as 'regular' humans. Though like any ethnic group, there are still instances of prejudice against the Faunus, but for the most part they are treated just like everyone else in their society =3

Hope you all enjoy~ =D

~Where The Cherry Blossoms Blow~

"Final boarding call for Flight 219 traveling from Tokyo International Airport to San Francisco International Airport, now departing from Gate 5. Final boarding call!"

An elegant, beautiful young woman with golden cat-like eyes, velvet-coloured cat ears, and a lovely tail that swished back and forth from the back of her kimono, rose gracefully from her seat by the plane boarding entrance and released a soft, shaky breath.

This was it.

It was time.

In just under 10 hours Blake Belladonna would go from being a Kyoto Japan resident to a Berkeley California resident, as she took her first steps to becoming a University of Berkeley foreign exchange student. She wasn't nervous...she wasn't scared...no, she was positively terrified. Living and going to school in Japan, most directly Kyoto Japan, was all she'd ever known. Her English, like most Japanese, was heavily accented; hers more so than others, with the fact that she spoke with a soft Kyoto-ben accent. But she wanted this. She'd wanted to go to America, and experience a foreign lifestyle since she was a little girl, and her parents had still been around to fully encourage that dream.

Now that she was eighteen and fully capable of making life decisions for herself, she'd decided to apply for enrollment into one of the top American colleges for Foreign Language students. She'd been easily accepted, and now she stood on the precipice of a life-changing journey.

Blake took in and released a deep, cleansing breath before she pushed herself forward to take that first step towards the start of her new life.

~o~o~o~

"James, be a dear and pick up my luggage over there, while Charles takes care of these over here," Weiss Schnee said, with all the authority of someone who was used to having her orders immediately followed. As the two porters hurried to do their employer's bidding, Weiss allowed her mist-blue eyes to idly wander around the nearly empty baggage claim area, of the San Francisco International Airport.

The private flight she'd taken from Dallas Texas to San Francisco had been comfortable and accommodating as usual, but she was still happy to be back on the ground. Her father, multimillion dollar tycoon and ultra rich oil baron, may enjoy jetting all over the world, but Weiss preferred to stay quite a bit closer to the ground.

Weiss continued her perusal of the general area, as she waited for her porters to return to her side with her luggage, when her eyes alighted upon a curious sight.

There was a young Faunus girl with a delicate mix of cat-like and Asian features, dressed in a beautiful cherry blossom-patterned kimono, kneeling down in obvious distress over an opened suitcase, with many of its contents spilled out around it.

Weiss felt a small frown begin to form on her lips, as she saw that since the baggage claim area was mostly empty, no one was helping the young woman with her spilled items.

Weiss let out a light puff of air, before she turned to one of the porters who'd arrived back at her side with her luggage.

"Charles, you come with me. James, you remain here and keep an eye on all my belongings," Weiss commanded, before she immediately began walking straight towards the kneeling Faunus. Once she was standing before the girl, the Faunus looked up with startled eyes that Weiss realized with a start of her own, were a beautiful golden-amber colour.

Weiss inexplicably found herself short of breath, as those startling amber eyes looked up at her from a face that was so beautifully-crafted, Weiss wondered in a distant part of her mind if the girl before her was even real, and not an elaborately-made porcelain doll.

However Weiss wasn't a Schnee for no reason, and she quickly regained her composure to look down at the Faunus girl, and ask in a haughty tone, "do you require assistance?"

The girl continued to stare quietly up at Weiss for just long enough for her to begin to wonder if she would need a translator. But then the young Faunus rose gracefully to her feet, and dipped her body down into a slight bow.

"Hai, arigato. I mean, yes thank you. I would greatly appreciate some help. My nimotsu...ah, that is to say, my luggage...unexpectedly popped open and many of my belongings tumbled out," the young Faunus girl said in a softly-accented voice.

Weiss quite honestly had to tell herself not to squeal in delight. She'd always had a bit of a 'thing' for accents, and this Faunus girl's own was one of the loveliest she'd ever heard.

Coughing lightly into her hand in an effort to cover up the light blush she could feel trying to break out, Weiss turned to the porter beside her and quickly snapped out instructions.

"Charles, please assist Miss..." here Weiss paused to look towards the Faunus girl, and lightly raised an eyebrow in question.

"Belladonna. My name is Blake Belladonna. It is my pleasure to meet you, Miss..." here Blake also trailed off softly with a light blush, as she waited to learn the name of the lovely young woman who had just come to her assistance.

"Schnee. Weiss Schnee. And it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Blake Belladonna," Weiss answered with a slight smirk, as she directed her porter's attention down towards Blake's opened luggage for him to begin repacking it.

"Thank you again, Miss Schnee for your help. This is my first time to this country, and it had already begun to seem like I was going to have a bit of a rough time. I need to get to the University of Berkeley campus soon to check in, and I was getting a bit flustered with all my belonging scattered about," the young Faunus said with a shy smile for Weiss.

"Oh none of this Miss Schnee nonsense, especially since it seems that you and I will be college-mates," Weiss said with a grin that barely contained her growing excitement.

This lovely, shy foreign exchange Faunus was going to be going to the same school as her! Weiss realized that she was experiencing unusual feelings of excitement and pleasure, at the thought of being able to become further acquainted with the young Faunus standing before her. But for once she decided to turn off her analytical way of thinking, and actually allow her emotions to take charge for a bit. After all, her parents had sent her off to one of the top universities in the country, not only to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Business. They'd also wanted her to go out, meet new people, have new experiences, and generally have a proper college 'education' before she was expected to go back, and begin the process to one day take over her father's company.

"Honto ni! Ah, gomen. I mean, really! You're also going to attend the University of Berkeley? I apologize. Sometimes my Japanese slips in when I mean to speak only English. I am working on it, but sometimes it happens when I least expect it," Blake said softly with a light blush, as she shot another shy smile Weiss's way.

Weiss couldn't help smiling back, as she nodded her head. "Yes, I'm actually headed to the campus now to check in. I have my own apartment off-campus I'll be living in, but as you most likely know all new students must check in on-campus for Orientation," Weiss replied as she snapped her fingers quickly once, causing James the porter to quickly approach with most of her luggage, while Charles quickly jumped to his feet with Blake's now-closed and fully re-packed suitcase. Charles then quickly hurried off to retrieve Weiss's remaining luggage, before quickly returning to his employer's side.

"Alright, my driver is waiting for me outside, to take me directly to the Berkeley campus. Blake, would you like to accompany me, since we're both headed in the same direction?" Weiss asked with a small grin.

Blake stood speechless for a few seconds with her mouth hanging slightly open, at the generous offer Weiss had just made her. Her initial experience of being in America had been stressful and hectic so far, and now here was this amazing young woman, who had appeared like the calm within a storm to help her.

Blake immediately lowered her body into a deep bow of gratitude, as she cried out, "hai! Domo arigato!" Not even caring or truly realizing that she'd once again reverted back to her native tongue. She was just so happy to have seemingly already made a new friend in this strange, new country.

Weiss allowed her grin to grow at Blake's show of gratitude, and it grew even further when she saw the Faunus traits of her new acquaintance quivering and flicking about in excitement. Blake's kitten-like ears were beyond adorable in Weiss's opinion, and her tail that was flicking back and forth in happiness, was very exotic. Many Faunus had either only the ears or the tail. It was very rare for them to have both, but somehow that made those Faunus that did have both seem even more special.

Weiss certainly thought so.

AN - Just had the idea for this lil story, and just had to write it out. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you thought of it~ =3

~Yuri