A/N: Yea...so I've been gone for quite a while. I really sincerely apologize to those of you who've stuck with my story. Things have been a little rough. I'm gonna try to get back on the ball with this. I've had creative block on top of everything else, so that hasn't helped. I think i'm finally figuring out what i'm gonna do with this story. Hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 3: Teammates

The Next day, Beacon Academy

Blake woke a lot earlier than the rest of her team, as usual. It was the only way to get a hot shower. She tip toed through the room towards the bathroom, very careful not to wake her teammates from their peaceful sleep. As she reached the bathroom door, she turned to look back at her team, making sure she didn't wake any of them. Yang was sprawled out across her bunk, with one leg hanging over the edge. Blake couldn't help but look on at the sleeping beauty. She blushed a little and smiled. Blake wasn't quite sure what it was she saw in Yang, other than her appearance, of course. She was loud and bubbly, everything that Blake wasn't. On the scale of personality, they were almost complete opposites. Blake didn't care, though. Her determination to reveal her feelings to Yang had started to give birth to confidence. I'll talk to her today. No excuses, Blake she thought. When everything checked out, she entered the bathroom quietly, And She then began her morning ritual.

Blake turned the shower on and let the warm water wash over her bare body. Despite not sleeping much the previous night, getting a hot shower was well worth waking up early for. It was like wiping the slate clean. Forgetting the troubles of yesterday and beginning anew. It was one of the few things that made Blake happy. It was comforting, and Blake really appreciated that. She could have stayed in there all day. However, Blake, being considerate of her teammates, decided that wasn't a good idea. She turned the shower off, and felt the cold air rush back in. She shivered as she stepped out of the shower towards the sink. She used her towel to wipe the fog off of the mirror, seeing her reflection. She was still naked and dripping wet. However, her mind had trailed off once she saw her reflection. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Her amber orbs, her dark hair, and, of course, her two small cat ears on top. Blake was proud of her faunus heritage, but that didn't mean that she was immune to the cruel insults and treatment that seemed to come with it. Blake had found her somewhat safe haven in Beacon. Other than Team CRDL, everyone seemed to accept the faunus. However, it still reminded Blake of her past, the discrimination and day-to-day torture that she had to deal with, And seeing a piece of her past come back in the form of Leito didn't help. But, on the other hand, she WAS happy to see him again. It still brought back a few good memories.

Blake snapped out of her deep thought. She didn't know how long she was out of it, but, judging that the fog had began to disappear from the mirror, quite a while. She began to walk over to the wall behind her to grab a towel when the door suddenly opened. Blake froze instantly and turned her head towards the door. Standing in the doorway was Yang, dressed in her normal sleepwear, which wasn't much at all. Her hair was a complete mess, and her eyes were shut. Yang had developed a unique skill of being able to move through their dorm room with out opening her eyes at all. For a girl who would party all night every night if she had her way, she really loved to sleep. Yang began shuffling her feet into the bathroom, completely unaware of Blake. Blake was still frozen where she stood.

"GAH! YANG, GET OUT!" Blake screamed. With this, the blonde's eyes jolted open, revealing the sight before her. Just as Blake had done before, Yang froze.

"Uh...uh..I-I-I..." The blonde was at a loss for words. She couldn't think of what to say. It was too early in the morning for her.

"GET OUT!" Blake shouted one more time as she pushed her partner out of the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her. Blake's face was colored a deep red. She stayed leaned against the door, as if the blonde was going to rush back in. Blake felt like she could pass out at any moment.

"B-Blake? You..okay?" She heard Yang ask on the other side. "I'm sooo sorry."

"Just...leave me be." Blake responded. What a wonderful start Blake thought.

2 hours later, Professor Ozpin's office

After that morning's incident, Blake and the rest of her team got ready and began making their way to Ozpin's office. There was an awkward tension between Blake and Yang, which Ruby and Weiss picked up on instantly. Yang had told them what had happened, as Blake's screams had woken the two up. Things like this had happened before, so Ruby and Weiss decided to pass it off as nothing. As they continued walking down the hallway, Ruby reached into the pouch on her belt, and pulled out a cookie. Ruby had began finding various hiding places for her beloved cookies, her pouch included. Weiss noticed the cookie immediately.

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss exclaimed, snatching the cookie away from the younger girl. "Absolutely not. I'm dealing with a high-strung Ruby THIS early in the morning!"

"Hey! gimme that back!" Ruby pouted.

"No" Weiss said firmly, giving Ruby a stern look.

Ruby crossed her arms and continued to pout. However, as Weiss began to toss the cookie into a nearby trash can, Ruby dashed forward, snatching the cookie out of the air. She then continued to dash down the hallway towards Ozpin's office. "RUBY" Weiss shouted angrily. Ruby simply looked back and stuck her tongue out at the heiress. As soon as she did, She ran into what felt like a brick wall. Ruby fell to the ground, losing grip of her beloved snack. She looked up to see what she had ran into, finding not a wall, but a man standing in front of her. She realized that the man was Leito.

"You okay there, red?" He asked, a small grin on his face. He'd obviously seen the previous scene unfold.

"Yeah, I-I'll be fine, sorry!" Ruby replied awkwardly. Leito reached out his hand to help the girl up, which she accepted. The rest of the team caught up with Ruby. Weiss began to scold Ruby, but stopped when she noticed Leito.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have initiation to attend?" Weiss asked.

"Well, i thought I did. Ozpin sent me a message last night requesting me here this morning. He wanted to see you girls as well." He replied. "By the way, I don't believe we've all been formally introduced. My name is Leito Reyes. I'm an old friend of Blake's." He said, turning his attention to Blake as he finished.

"Nice to meet ya!" Ruby said happily. "I'm Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY!" She said proudly, earning a roll of the eyes from Weiss.

"And I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister." Yang added in, with just as much energy as her sister.

"And I'm Wei-"

"Weiss Schnee." Leito said, cutting her off. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I've heard of you. It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." He finished, Looking around at the team. "Well, we best go and see what the Professor wants. Ladies first" He said as he opened the door for the four girls.

Professor Ozpin's office was not very large, considering he was the Headmaster of Beacon. It was very plainly decorated, with bookshelves lining either wall. Ozpin's desk was at the back of the room, weighed down with paperwork. Ozpin was seated behind his desk, studying a file and sipping his coffee, when he noticed the five students enter. He motioned for them to come closer, the five lining up in front of his desk.

"Leito Reyes" Ozpin began. "Age 17. Exceptional fighter and tactician. weapon of choice: a dust-powered katana. As you can see, I've been reading your files, and I must say, Mr. Reyes...I'm quite impressed."

"Thank you, Professor" Leito replied.

"You graduated Solitude at the top of your class. You've received near perfect scores all around."

"If I may, sir" Weiss butted in. "What does Leito's accomplishments have to do with us?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well, Ms. Schnee," He began. "Mr. Reyes is, as you can tell, an exceptional student, and a fearsome fighter. However, due to financial binds, i understand, Mr. Reyes started at Solitude Academy one year late. Mr. Reyes possesses knowledge and skill that far exceeds those of new students. Therefor, I am moving him up a year...and that's where your team comes in." He finished.

"U-us?" Ruby asked hesitantly. "What do you mean?"

"Since Mr. Reyes just arrived here at Beacon, he has no team. From what I understand," He began, shifting his gaze towards Leito."You and Ms. Belladonna know each other, yes?" Leito nodded. "Then I see no one else that you're more qualified to work with. From this day forward, Mr. Reyes will be a part of Team RWBY."

"WHAT?!" The girls said in unison.

"But...wait" Weiss began, confused. "A five-person team? Is that even allowed?"

"well I AM the headmaster so...yes." Ozpin replied, only adding to the girls' confusion.

"Uh..sir?" Leito began. "This isn't necessary. I should have to go through my initiation and my first year like they did. Why the special treatment?"

"Consider it a reward for your hard work." Ozpin replied. "Now I'm giving you all the rest of the day off to get better acquainted with your teammate. You're dismissed." As much as they wanted to argue with him about it, they knew it would do no good. What Ozpin says is final. The five students left the office and closed the door behind them. They stood there, digesting what they had been told. Yang was the first to break the silence.

"Well...THAT was a thing" She stated. The rest of her team seemed to ignore her comment.

"Well," Leito started. "Listen...I-I didn't know this was gonna happen. I...I just don't know what to say. I hope none of you are mad at me or anything...I didn't know-"

"Nope!" Ruby exclaimed, much to the surprise of Leito. "You're part of the team now, Leito. We can't be mad at you."

"Yeah but," Leito began confused. "Wouldn't putting in an extra guy throw everything off for you guys?"

"hmm...Nope!" Ruby exclaimed once more. "All this means is that we have one more person to help out! It's not like we can get rid of you anyway, so welcome to Team RWBY!" Weiss, Blake, and Yang, seeing their leader's acceptance of Leito, smiled as they agreed with her.

Leito smiled at the redhead's optimism and the acceptance of his new teammates. "Thank you Ruby. Thank you...all of you. I promise I won't let you down!" He stated.

"Come on, Leito," Ruby said, pulling Leito with her. "Let's get your things moved to the dorm. You're gonna love it! We even have bunk beds!"

Leito looked back at Blake for help as he was pulled down the hallway, but she simply shrugged and waved goodbye. Weiss soon followed suit, stating that she was going to make sure that the dorm room was still intact. This left Blake and Yang standing alone in the hallway. The two stood there silently for a while, thinking back to the incident in the bathroom earlier that morning. The whole thing left Blake a little sore towards Yang, for obvious reasons.

"Hey Blake," Yang started, breaking the silence. "since we have the day off, wanna go to Vale and hang out?" the blonde asked.

"No, Yang." Blake responded sternly. Blake started to walk back towards their dorm room, but Yang grabbed her arm before she was out of reach.

"Blake, listen. Can we...talk? Ya know, about this morning and all? Please?" The blonde pleaded, obviously desperate to get the faunus girl to talk to her somehow. Blake considered denying Yang again, but she started thinking a little more about it. I'm sure she just wants to apologize for it. There's no harm in that. Plus, this may be my best chance at talking to her about how I feel...

"Fine, Yang." Blake responded, a stern tone still evident in her voice. "We'll talk."

To Be Continued

A/N: FINALLY! I thought I'd never get this chapter done. It took a while, I know. Once again, I'm really sorry for the wait. I almost had to give this up just because I never had the time to do this, between writing scripts and animating and such. I'm happy that I'm starting to find more time for this, and hopefully I won't be going dark like that again. Follows and Favs are greatly appreciated. PM me if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them the best I can. Until next time!