It's ironic, truly ironic. When I read fanfics, I would always mentally complain about the authors not updating fast enough. Lel, here I am, updating A MONTH later. I could blame school or the fact that I had to rewrite this chapter twice, but honestly I blame my laziness. But enough of me, here's the next chapter!

I don't remember much after Ghras had falcon punched me in my balls, but I DID remember being in the auditorium.

At first it was darkness, but when I opened my eyes, I was presented with a clear blue sky. I noticed that I was lying on my back, and was resting on a nice hillside in the middle of no-where. I slowly got up to have a better look of my surroundings.

It was weird, to say the least I mean. All around me was just hills covered with a lush sheet of grass and the occasional flowers. There was a faint scent of morning dew in the air, which was carried by an ever so gentle breeze. The sky was empty, just a calm shade of blue; no clouds, just one big annoying sun.

"Where am I?" I thought out loud.

Wait...am I dead? Did Ghras punch me so hard that I just died on the spot?! What the Dust, I just got to Beacon and I didn't last a day!

"Is anyone out here!?" I yelled as I freaked out about being dead.

"Oh, so you're awake now?" asked an unknown voice from behind. I jerked my head around to see a surprise.

I saw a tall man leaning on an apple tree that appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed in a black business suit with a fedora on top of his head, black dress shoes, and a pair of black sunglasses rested on his mysterious face. He wasn't looking at me though; he had his head down, admiring a golden pocket watch in his right hand.

"W-who are y-you?" I asked, my socially awkwardness kicking in, "And w-where am I?" Even in the middle of nowhere I still can't socially interact with ONE person.

The man just chuckles at my question, and calmly places his watch back into his pocket.

"The name's Jack" said the man as he was now walking towards me, his voice sounding raspy and distorted. "And you, "Red", asked the wrong question. It's not where you are, but what time it is."

I flinched as Jack was telling me this, since I didn't even introduce myself.

"S-so what t-time is it then?"

"Time for you to wake up kid..."

Wait, what is he talking abou-

"FALCON KICK!"

As if a spark of lighting had struck me, I jerked awake. I was breathing heavily, contemplating the "dream" I just had. I looked around to make sure I was still in Beacon, and fortunately for me I was. I had to guess that I was in the school's infirmary, judging from the one of the many beds I was lying in. Besides me, the room was deserted, which I was relieved for. I noticed a clock on that was hanging on one of the walls and realized that I had been unconscious for at least three hours. And just like that, my internal clock alarm told me that I needed food.

I sighed as I got out of bed, since there was a high chance that I was going to meet someone in the hallway. It would feel extremely awkward just to walk by that person; Dust I didn't even know where the cafeteria was.

At this point, I regret being "friends" with Aero. The wolf faunus was an insane sociopath that had a jester's knife behind that open personality of his. After all, he was the one that convinced Ghras that I wanted to go out with her, which soon escalated into my testicles being punched with a force of a thousand suns.

I walked into the hallways expecting a lot of students interacting with each other, but to my surprise, there was only one person in the entire hall. Unfortunately, said person was busy yelling (but mostly shaking) at a vending machine.

"WHY AREN'T YOU PROVIDING ME WITH MY SODA YOU DUMB CONTRAPTION!?"

I really need to leave this place now. His yelling is going to attract attention, which would result in students and teachers arriving here, therefore causing me to get involved. Feigning ignorance, I slowly tip-toed my way to the other side of the hallway hoping that the angry person wouldn't notice me; too bad he did.

"Hey you over there! Person in the black hood, I could really use some help over here!" the person yelled towards me.

Why me? Why is it always me that gets involved in these situations? Why couldn't I have been treated like an outcast? They have it easy, no need for social interaction what so ever...

I sighed in defeat as I walked over to the person that called me over. He was probably a first year student just like me.

Said person was taller than me, at least 6'9. His deep-blue hair was spiked up at the front, and his green eyes had a "seaweed" feel to it, as if he just took a swim in the middle of the ocean. He wore a faded-white trench coat that had its sleeves forcibly removed and its buttons to hold it together from the middle were ripped out as well, revealing a torn-blue top underneath. Around his wrists were silver cuffs which I could only assume were just accessories. He had a pair of gray, baggy sweat pants on, which was held up by a mahogany rope that was wrapped around his waist. Though what seemed to catch my eye first about him was a distinct X-like scar on his forehead.

"S-so...um...w-what do you need help for?" I asked in a nervous voice.

"This machine over here won't give me my soda!" the blue-haired stranger yelled in annoyance. "I've been standing here for half an hour now!"

I looked over at the abused vending machine, and noticed a message on the display. "OUT OF ORDER"

It was then I realized that I was helping an idiot.

This guy's joking right? No way in all of Remant he could have missed that...

"Um...you see here...a-about this vending machine..." I started nervously.

"What about it?!"

"Um...i-it's... out of order..."

"...What?"

"It's broken right now, so you can't get your soda from this machine..." I finished.

As I answered him, the stranger's face transformed into a pale white as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

"N-no way..." he whimpered as he fell to his knees with his hands on the floor. "All I wanted was my sugary drink..."

Even if this was awkward to be part of, I felt bad for him, I really did. I noticed another vending machine right beside the broken one. I slowly walked over to it and purchased a soda can.

The blue haired stranger seemed to be in a depression because he didn't even notice me moving or buying a soda, Dust, I don't even think he heard the loud ka-lunk that the machine made when dispensing the drink.

I lightly tapped him on the shoulder, and when he saw me offer him the drink he so ever desired, his face brightened. Too bad I wasn't ready for what was going to happen next.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! You wouldn't believe the quench I had to endure!" he yelled as he gave me one of the most soul-crushing bear hugs I could have ever experienced.

"Here lies Red, the huntsman-in-training, he was strangled to death by a blue haired giant."

"Urk...c-can't...breath..." I managed.

He quickly let me down, and drank down his prize.

"Monty, you're a life saver man, and you got some really nice hair too, that blue really fits you!"

"Um..thanks?" I felt really uncomfortable now, I hated being talked about, especially when it was from a stranger.

"My name is Storme Bleu, it's great to be friends with you!" He smiled cheerfully.

"W-wait, I n-never asked to be frie-...actually never mind, my name is Red Eerf, n-nice to meet you too" I was hungry and exhausted; if giving the guy a soda automatically makes you his friend, I'll just go with it. I mean besides meeting Aero and Ghras, how bad could he be?

Suddenly my stomach growled, reminding me of my hunger.

"You hungry?" Storme asked. "Didn't you eat at the food court yet?"

"I was in the infirmary after the ceremony...I don't even want to explain how I got there..." this felt so awkward right now; I should have just stayed in the infirmary for the entire day.

"Well c'mon then, I'll take you there" Storme said with a smile, "it's the least I can do for helping me."

We both started walking in silence in the hallways and it felt like social hell. Seriously, it's like being trapped in a room with beowolf, but neither one of you are trying killing each other- just staring off, waiting for one of us to make the first move.

But as we were about to turn the corner, "Life" decided to screw me over again. You see, as we turned around the corner, I encountered a certain girl in a green scarf who had a height problem, Ghras. Her face immediately turning red, in which I can assume anger, again the moment she saw me.

"Red, you're up already?!" Gras asked in a surprised tone.

In response to fear, I fell onto my back and started to crawl away from her.

"Gh-Ghras?! Please, I've already endured enough abuse, don't send me back there!" I begged, completely forgetting my social predicament with Storme.

I thought I was going to die again but Storme suddenly stepped in between us, acting as my shield.

"Look, I don't know what exactly happen here, but if you plan on hurting my friend, you have to get through me first." Storme said in a serious tone.

"You got it all wrong, I'm his friend too!" Ghras countered. "And who in Monty's name are you?!"

Friend?! Ghras, you just sent me to the infirmary after one punch!

"It's Storme. Storme Bl-"

"Ya' know Ghras, friends don't warlock punch other friends in the balls" a familiar voice interrupted.

Walking around the corner, behind a very red Ghras, came the sociopath known as Aero. He was holding a brown cardboard bag that emitted a very pleasant aroma. However, when I looked over at his face I noticed that his left eye was bruised black.

"S-Shut up, I already know that Aero! That's why I was heading to infirmary to wait for him to wake up and apologize to him!" Ghras answered the wolf faunus.

"Oh sure Ghras, but didn't you tell me that you were just going to write an apology note and leave?"

"SHUT UP AREO!"

"A-apologize?" I asked as I slowly got up, my mind was all over the place by now.

"Um...y-yeah" Ghras answered nervously as she began to rub her fingers between her scarf, "Aero told me that it was his fault, b-but I felt horrible for ah, 'hurting' you". S-so again, I'm... sorry about the misunderstanding, Red."

"Um...apology accepted?" I answered. And just like that, the red in Ghras' face just went away.

"So uh..." started Storme as he put his hand behind his head feeling like he didn't belong in the moment, "I don't think I properly met you two...I'm Storme."

"...Just call me Ghras."

" Meh, any friend of Red is a friend of mine! I'm Aero, nice to meet ya'!"

"So Aero, how did you get that black eye? I mean you do know how to use aura right?" I asked out of curiosity. However, after saying it out loud, I felt extremely stupid for asking him that, which caused me to feel even more discomfort about myself.

Why did I ask him that?! Of course he knows what aura is, he's a huntsman! Only a scrawny loser would get into Beacon not knowing what aura was!

"Pfft, of course I know that I could heal myself with my Aura, Red," Aero answered, "it's just that Ghras 'insisted' that I keep this for the whole day to teach me a lesson about spreading misunderstandings."

At least Aero didn't get one-shot like I did.

"And I hope you learned it too, you dumb Wolf!" Ghras called back while looking over to him with an evil grin.

Storme looked confused and was about to ask about it when I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. It wasn't worth hearing the story of my pain.

As if to make me feel even more awkward, my stomach roared in hunger, again.

"Right, so here's the thing" Storme said, "Red hasn't eaten anything since the ceremony, so I was just about to guide him to the food court."

And hopefully leave me alone afterwards...

"You're welcome to come along if you want, seeing as you're friends with him too."

...Dammit Life, can't you see that I just want to be alone for awhile? I get that they're all my 'friends' now, but I have to get my alone time.

"Actually, we thought that Red was going to be out cold for at least another hour, so I went ahead and got him a box of pizza for him to enjoy!" Aero cheered. "Here you go buddy!" he said as he handed me the package that contained my meal.

We stood in awkward silence for five seconds, though to me it felt like an eternity. Thinking about it now, I'll probably look like a pig if I ate the whole thing alone, and I REALLY wanted this silence to end, so I did something that took all the willpower I could muster.

"S-s-so um g-guys, I was thinking that..." I managed in a shaky voice. Great Monty, this feels so awkward right now! "...we should eat it t-together? I m-mean, I can't eat this all by myself, and I t-think it would a-allow us to g-get to know each other b-better..." In the back of my mind, I desperately hoped that they didn't notice my legs shaking.

"..."

One second of silence. Dust, they're going to reject me! I could already picture their responses:

Aero: ... .

Ghras: I got better things to do than hang out with 'you'.

Storme: Um...my refrigerator is calling me, I gotta' ditch yo- I mean go somewhere far away from yo- I mean...I'll just go now.

" !"

"I got nothing better to do right now, and I still feel bad after knocking you out..."

"It would be a waste if you couldn't finish it and left it in a refrigerator, so c'mon I'll take you to the food court so we eat and bond with each other!"

...Never mind eating with me! REJECT ME! THIS WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA, CURSE YOU AWKWARD SILENCES!

"G-great..." I sighed as we walked to the food court, as well as Aero and Storme having a conversation about refrigerators and toasters.

(At the food court)

The food court was huge to say the least; the roof was elevated with the light shining from above. Two sides of the walls were lined with large windows that extended all the way to the roof. The setting sun's orange light gazed into the room, making the food court have a warm atmosphere. The multiple tables were extremely long and stretched to half the food court. It felt deserted; there were a couple of people sitting but it they were so scattered so you couldn't tell unless you actually checked to look (which I did, of course.)

It wasn't hard to find an empty table since I did wake up around sunset, but it was a surprise that Ghras, Storme, and especially Aero, all agreed and insisted that we should sit at an empty table. So we sat down, and began to enjoy our food.

It still felt awkward though, but not as bad as before. I mean at least everyone was busy eating their food.

Now all I have to do is finish this slice, tell them I'm feeling well, and go find an isolated area to relax.

"S-So you guys excited to meet your teams tomorrow?" Aero asked with bits of pizza spewing out from his mouth as he talked. I almost choked on my food the moment I heard that.

"Eww Aero, that's disgusting! Swallow before you talk!" Ghras yelled with her left arm covering face from Aero's onslaught of pre-chewed pizza.

I didn't care about Aero's lack of manners that much; I was more concerned about what he said earlier.

Teams?!

Storme seemed to ignore Aero's non-existent table manners and responded, "Totally man! I don't know anyone here, so I'm excited to meet-"

"...Teams, w-what do you mean by that?" I interrupted, my appetite long gone now.

"Well there's a rumor going around that says that we're going to be put in teams during the initiation..." Ghras answered in an annoyed tone, "Honestly, I think being part of a team is the dumbest idea ever! They'll just slow me down!" Her golden lock of gravity defying hair twitched as she said that.

"Ranting are we, Ghras?" Aero asked in his usual mischief tone as he took a bite from his pizza.

"I don't know what the headmaster of Beacon was thinking; having teams will just slow everyone down!"

"So you're telling me that if Aero, Red, or I were on your team, we would slow you down?" Storme questioned in his cheerful demeanor. "And you wouldn't enjoy our company?"

"W-wah?! No, t-that's not what I meant at all!" Ghras quickly answered back, a hint of embarrassment hiding behind her cheeks. "I m-mean, s-since w-we're friends a-and all-"

"Awww, is our little Ghras scared of meeting new people?" Aero joked in the same tone he used on me when he told asked about my "relationship" with Ghras.

"SHUT UP AERO!" she yelled furiously as she hurled a pizza slice at the wolf faunus. Though I expected the pizza slice to just collide with his face and just slide off; I realized that it was Ghras who threw it. With tremendous velocity, the pizza slice slammed into Aero's face, the sheer force causing him to fall back off his chair.

"Woah there Ghras, he was just concerned about your social skills is all!" Storme said in awe of what just happen to Aero.

"What?! You think just because I'm little girl that I'm naturally shy and have no self confidence about myself?! Is that it?!" Dear Monty, she's ignited again. "Let me tell you that I kil- "

"H-hey G-Ghras, c-can you calm d-down now? I-I mean, you don't want to repeat the past right?" I reasoned, hoping that this would calm the storm that is Ghras.

Ghras seemed to have listened to me since she suddenly took a deep breath and began in a quiet tone, "S-sorry about exploding again, I'm just...um...'anxious' about having to be in a team with strangers is all. H-hey Aero, are you okay?"

Said wolf faunus popped his head from under the table, with a certain pizza slice stuck on the front of his face.

"Never felt better," he answered as he forcibly peeled the pizza off of his face. It did sound strange, however, that his voice sounded slightly "higher pitched" for that moment.

We all began to chuckle as we saw his face, now covered in cheese and tomato sauce from the pizza. "What is there something on my face?" he asked sarcastically.

"You could say something like that" Storme answered as he handed him a napkin to clean his face. "Anyways, you shouldn't worry that much Ghras. Who knows, we might be able to pick who's on our team." Ghras' face seemed brightened as Storme explained this.

"I call team captain then!" Aero called with a big grin.

"Huh?!"

"What?!"

"..."

"Well if we COULD choose our team members then, I call dibs on being leader of our team!" the wolf faunus clarified.

"What do you mean 'our' team?" Ghras asked, "and who made you leader?!"

"I don't know how big the teams are, but you, Storme, Red, and I should totally be a team, with me as your awesome leader! Besides I called dibs."

"..." Ghras just gives Aero one of her death stares.

"...Okay, we'll discuss the leadership role when we actually get to the bridge..." Aero responded in defeat.

As the conversation of teams was being discussed around the table, I was having a mental breakdown of my future here at Beacon.

I don't think I would enjoy having to work together with a bunch of strangers, even if they were trained to kill the monsters known as Grimm. It would be way too awkward, for me and the team. I think my breakdown got so bad that two cows-one white, the other red- popped out of nowhere on my shoulders.

"There's no way in hell you're going to be part of any team. You're a loner remember?" said the red cow.

"But what about your new friends, they seem like a fun group to be around!" countered the white cow.

"Screw them! Last time I checked, THEY were the ones that wanted to be friends with Red over here! Not him, so c'mon kid let's ditch these losers"

"So what if they were the first ones to start the friendship? They're HIS friends now, and he needs to learn how to open up if he wants to be a true hero!"

"Fuck being a hero, it's about the thug life! Don't corrupt this kid's mentality with this friendship BS you're sayin' right now!"

"Well I never! That's it! I'm going to trap you in a hole!"

"You wanna' go scru-"

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU ARGUING ON MY SHOULDERS?!" I yelled out loud, my sanity at its brink. This caused the cows to disappear, but my sudden outburst caught the attention of the people sitting around me. And the awkwardness begins.

"Red are you ok?" Storme asked with concern. I took a look at my pizza, and quickly thought of an excuse.

"S-sorry, I t-think it's the pizza making me h-hallucinate..." I lied.

...That has got to be the WORST lie I have ever told, who in Monty's name is going to believe that garbage?!

"Well it makes sense; I did get this from the trash can after all..." Aero sheepishly added.

...I honestly hope you're joking Aero, I really am.

"AERO YOU'RE DISGUSTING!"

"N-no w-way..."

"..."

"In my defense, it looked and smelled perfectly fin-..." Aero quickly passed out and crashed onto the floor. I glanced over to Ghras and noticed the effects of trash pizza affecting her as well.

"I don't... feel so goo-..." Ghras collapsed face first onto the table. As she fell, my vision was beginning to get blurry and my limbs began to go limp; Dust, it's happening again. I turned to Storme to check on his condition, but to my surprise he looked perfectly fine.

"W-wah...S-Storme...w-why aren't y-you..." I couldn't find the words in my current state.

"Heh, I've eaten a lot worst in my past," Storme answered as he got up and brought an unconscious Ghras over his shoulder, "don't worry I'll bring all of you to the infirmary."

"T-tha..." I started, but that was all I could muster before the world before me faded into nothingness.

(UNKNOWN)

I "woke up" in the grassy plains again. The setting was the same: clear blue skies, annoyingly bright sun, and grass, grass everywhere.

"Well, look who came back" a familiar voice came from behind. I turned my head to see the magical appearing tree, and standing in the shade was the familiar man in his usual fedora.

"Jack?"

"Wow kid, I didn't think you'd actually remember me" he gave a sly smile as he said this. I couldn't see his entire face though; he hid it behind his shadow-like hat.

"T-there's no way this is a dream..." I concluded "I m-mean, YOU actually have a conscience!"

"Heh" laughed Jack in a low tone, "Don't you think that's enough baseless statements for today? Where are those questions you asked during our first encounter?"

I gave in to his desire to be questioned, so I asked, "W-who are you then?"

"I told you already kid, it's Jack." He pulled out his trademark pocket watch from his pocket with his other hand and began to stare at it.

"I-I mean, who are you, like who are you really?"

"Just Jack, kid." He sighed as he answered me in a bored expression.

I'm getting nowhere with this guy...

"Well maybe if you asked the right questions, this wouldn't have happened kid..." Jack said as if he read my mind. No wait, he DID read my mind!

"H-how d-did you do that?"

"Do what kid?"

"R-read my mind"

"..." The mysterious man in the fedora ignored me, so I decided to try another question.

"So, why are you here, and why is it just you and me in the middle of nowhere?" Jack grinned as I asked him that.

"Now THAT, is good question..." However, before he could answer me, a loud bell echoed throughout the hills.

"Looks like our time is up for now, kid..." he sighed, "just know one thing before we part ways..."

"W-what is it?" My curiosity was at its peak, I wanted- no I NEEDED to know what this mysterious person, Jack, had to tell me.

"From here on out, you're going to be in one huge misadventure. And in the end you're either going to become the hero you always dreamed of... or you're going to disappear into nothing..."

"W-wah-"

"FAAAAAAAAALCON KIIIIICCCKKKK!"

And then everything went black...again.

So that was a long chapter right? Sorry about that, I felt like I needed to get the initiation in Emerald forest right away.