Chapter 5

Integration and First Class

"All right, team BISN!" Berde shouted sternly, "Today, we shall spend the early hours unpacking and organizing our stuff in our dorms!"

He pointed at himself.

"I've got some AutoCAD experience, so I'll organize where we place the furniture," he said before pointing at Indie and Sameko.

"Indie, since you're a man of refined tastes, I want you to help me plan the decorations," Berde said.

He saluted.

"Aye aye, Captain!"

He pointed at Sameko and Naraka.

"We have shelves needing to be filled with books, can you please organize our books?" he pointed at a stack of books, consisting of all the books the whole team had.

"D-did you rummage through all of our stuff?!" Naraka exclaimed.

"Er... no, Sameko did," Berde said, "but since Berde and I are busy doing room decoration, can you guys organize the books and objects."

They both shrugged and said: "Whatever."

"... or, you can put up your posters and such if you want."


A few minutes later

"Okay, turns out all the stuff we have might not fit in one place," Indigo said as he looked at the computer, "We need to make a bunk-"

Berde was already carrying a log. Indigo twitched from the sudden appearance of that object.

"H-how?!"

Berde chuckled, remembering the time Sameko chopped down the tree.

"Secret."

Naraka and Sameko were already done organizing books and were putting up posters from their homes. Naraka put up a poster of Vacuo's favourite idol group, Amu's. Sameko put up a picture of a shark mermaid that she personally drew back home.

Indigo and Berde were modifying the beds, turning them into bunk beds.

After a while, their room was finished. The bunk beds looked like they were freshly bought from a store, while everything else was organized. Berde's and Indigo's bunks were on the left of the window, while Sameko's and Naraka's are on the right. Berde's bed had a teddy bear and a few comic books, while Indigo had a picture of a few girls as well as two pillows; one for Azure. Naraka's bed was simple, though, she had a tiger pillow. Sameko's bed had a giant shark plushy around her size. Everything seemed organized in Berde's opinion. He looked at the time.

"Okay, only an hour left," Berde said, "At least none of us had to spend time sewing something like say drapes."

"All right, I say we each have household roles," Sameko suggested.

Indie put his hand up.

"I'm the chef," he said, "I actually cooked a lot in my free time, so I'm a good chef."

Naraka raised her brow.

"How are you so certain your hobby made you a good chef?" she said.

Indie shuffled through his bag and put out many food health certificates that approve that his cooking levels were superb.

"Atlas's best, everyone," Berde said while whimsically wiggling his hands.

Sameko wrote on her notepad, noting that Indigo would be the chef.

"Who'd do the cleaning?" she asked the team. Berde shook his head.

"Not me. I'm pretty bad with delicate things," he said, "but I CAN be the carrier."

"Carrier?" Naraka said, "Elaborate."

"Whenever people are on a date, or coming from the grocery store, shit gets heavy. I'm pretty strong you know."

"Can't argue with that," Naraka said with a smirk, "I guess, I'll handle cleaning. I have an OCD with untidy things anyway. BUT don't expect me to clean everything."

"And I'll handle the job of Inventory Observer. I'll make the list of our inventory and organizing what we need," she shut her notebook and front flipped down her bed.

Berde looked at the clock. 5 minutes has past.

"Alright, we might have time for breakfast," Berde said, "Sameko, list our preferred breakfasts. I prefer beef with an omelet rice."

She sighed and put up her notebook and wrote it down.

"I'd have oatmeal or some bagels."

"I'd prefer some rice and some soup... though, I don't eat much breakfast," Naraka said.

Indigo grabbed the list and rushed straight into the kitchen. After 10 minutes, he was done. They all ate rapidly as time wasn't on their side. As they finished, Berde took out his scroll and saw the schedule.

"Okay, guys, according to our schedule, we have Grimm Studies with Professor Port at 9am," he said, "We've gotta get there quick!"

Sameko hopped on Berde's back and they all zipped out of the door. Naraka took the lead due to her incredible speed. Indigo was last, though he couldn't have if Sameko wasn't on Berde's shoulders.

As they ran through the gardens outside, Ozpin and Glynda saw the students rushing. Naraka left a trail of fire in her wake while Berde carried Sameko on her shoulders and ran 1/5 times as fast as a bear. Indigo was trying to catch his breath and seemed to have a slower pace. Glynda looked at her clock and smiled.

"10 minutes early..."


Peter Port's class a few minutes later

While Professor Port was talking about his tale, Indigo struggled to keep himself awake, using his arm to keep himself up. Naraka looked intently at the teacher and started to write notes. She took a quick glance at Indie and flicked his head to keep him awake. Sameko was writing notes, though, she was overdoing it a bit by writing on two papers at the same time. Berde had a big smile on his face while listening to Peter fighting the Beowulf. Sameko looked at Berde and wondered how he ironically stayed awake from his whole story. She noticed JNPR's leader sleeping, CRDL lounging, seemingly not caring, and RWBY's leader... Ruby, drawing a crude caricature of Professor Port... or in her case, Professor Poop.

"blah blah blah... and that's how I brought the Beowulf in captivity."

He took a bow, and Berde was the only one who stood up from his seat and applauded.

"BRAVO!" he exclaimed.

Naraka and Sameko facepalmed from his impulsive applause, while Indigo was too groggy to even care. The other students looked at him with weird looks. Berde ignored them and sat back as Professor Port told him the moral of his story.

"The moral of the story?"

Berde inched his head closer.

"A true Huntsman must be honourable."

Berde smiled, remembering the times he saved homeless people through his solo life of crime.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable."

His smile shifted into a mid-level frown, remembering a time in Signal.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise."

Despite that, he nodded sternly, wondering how he could excel in the last three. He thinks his strategic thinking is good, but not the best. He's not the best in education; his grades were "average" in Signal. As for wisdom, he wondered if experience counted. He lived nearly 10 years of purely fighting and saving people. He saw a cage right beside Peter Port.

"Who among you do you believe to be the true embodiment of these traits?"

Berde smiled, wanting to fight whoever was in there, until a certain heiress put up her hand first.

"I do!"

The whole class watched as Weiss fought the Boarbatusk with her team leader cheering her on and giving her orders. She told her to stab the belly, earning her the reply of: "Stop telling me what to do!"

Berde's eyes widened, realizing that's what he'd been doing. He tried to take his job as a leader more seriously by actually telling his team what to do. He wondered if he ordered around too much, and sometimes wondered if he was actually doing the right thing. He looked at his teammates, who were too focused on watching the match. He looked at the heiress again and wondered what was wrong with her.

As she stabbed the Grimm, Port congratulated him and announced the class was over. Berde groaned, wanting to fight the Boarbatusk. He went to Professor Port.

"Hey, Professor," he said, "Will there be another Grimm fight next class?"

He did his signature "ho ho!" laugh.

"You should wait and see," he said, "Did you want to fight that Grimm?"

Berde bashed his fist into his palm.

"HECK YEAH! I need some battle to complete my day!" he said with an eerie grin, "And it's always fun to kill Grimm."

"Did you become a Huntsman to sate a primal pleasure, Mister Bazahka?" he asked. Berde calmed down.

"... No. As a hero, I shouldn't put my pleasures first in a mission. Sure, I'll enjoy it, but it's more of a second whammy, if you catch my drift," Berde said.

Peter laughed and put his palm on his shoulder.

"I'll see if I can capture another Grimm for you to fight," he said, "But make sure to take turns with the rest of the class."

Berde nodded.

"I know, I know."


History Class

Berde was unusually silent. Despite him being silent, he had actually tried writing everything Oobleck said in Sameko's pace. He seemed to have a hard time managing to grasp their concepts, slowing down his note taking. Sameko looked at him with worry, wondering why he's doing something like this.

In Berde's mind, he felt like he needed to show he's prepared for anything, and that he should be as smart and cool as Indie and Sameko. Of course, he had problems, but like his previous life, he had no problems with being in problems, yet this problem was too much of a problem for him to handle. He was easily distracted by other students, who were doing various things. There's Cardin, who was tossing paper triangles at Jaune, angering him. There was Ruby, who was sleeping, which made him sigh. Then there's Russel, who was flicking Velvet's ears. He twitched, wanting no distractions that halted him from Oobleck's lecture.

Naraka looked at Berde, then to Indigo.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, "Why is he allowing himself to get distracted?"

Indigo shook his head.

"... I think he might have a... mental problem."


Battle class

"STOP!"

Berde finished kicking away Ren. Despite Ren being faster, Berde's durability and adaptability to fights made him win the match. As the fight went on, Berde's pent up stress manifested into a brutish fighting style that surprised the gunner. He shook his head and approached Ren, helping him get up. Ren smiled as he was helped up by Berde.

"Sorry about that, Ren," Berde apologized, "Don't mind my taunt that match, but, you're really good."

Ren smiled.

"No hard feelings, right?"

"No hard feelings."

Of course, Berde hates making enemies. He likes making rivals though, but not enemies. Ren seemed like a very forgiving person; not one to house grudges over small things like Cardin.

Berde and Ren exited the battle grounds.

"Who wants to spar next?"

"I do!" Sameko put her hand up, "I want to fight Nora Valkyrie!"

She went up to Berde and whispered in his ear.

"You fought Nora before Ren," she said, "How does she fight?"

Berde shook his head and left Sameko.

"Figure it out yourself."

Sameko was appalled by his rudeness. Indie looked at his leader with a concerned look.

"Dude, what's wrong with you? You just... denied helping your partner," Indie said, disappointed in him.

"I don't want to tell her what to do," Berde said, "I don't want to be an armchair leader."

"B-but-"

"Can you shut up?" Berde said, "I need to power study back at the dorm."


Back in the Dorm

Berde was on the desk, trying to tackle all his readings and homework at once. Berde was full of stress and anger due to him having to shoulder the responsibility of a leader. The rest of the team came in and saw Berde, whose face was stuck in his paper. Nara stomped toward him and raised his head.

"You need to stop being so damn aloof!" Naraka angrily said.

"Aloof? I'm trying to know everything. I have to become a better version of you guys to have a reason to follow me!"

"Well it's not working, dumbass!" Naraka said, "You're just being arrogant. We need a leader, not someone better than us!"

Berde stood up, angry.

"Then how can I be a suitable leader if I'm not a prime example of what you guys should be doing?!" he roared, "I can't order you guys all the time, and I don't want it to become habit."

"We can't really follow a leader who doesn't give out orders, Berde..." Indigo calmly said as he approached his leader.

"I don't want to tell you guys to do everything. I've been doing that ever since initiation, plus, I need to be smarter, and stronger so that you guys have a reason to follow me," he shouted back, "I need to be as smart as Sameko to know what you guys want."

Indigo shook his head and maintained his cool.

"Dude, you can snap my back like a twig...and when it comes to battles, you're far more knowledgeable than all of us."

Berde's anger cooled down, realizing that his friend was proving valid points. Berde knelt to the ground and looked down, anger replaced by sadness.

"... Indigo, what's your thesis on this? What's your guys' thesis on me being a leader?"

"If I'm leader, we probably won't train at all... And if Sharky is leader, she'll probably make us study and stuff...And if it's Ms. Hotstuff, she'll probably kill me."

Sameko approached the sad leader and put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's only day one, and you're doing alright so far," Sameko comforted her leader.

"I hate to admit it but no matter how dumb and socially bad you are, your good points stand out a lot," Naraka confessed, "You care for your team, you look out for us, you're actually good at planning, and your vigor inspired us to follow you."

Naraka looked away and grinned.

"I may not like you, but I don't hate how you handle your responsibilities as a leader."

"Plus, we're a team, Berde," Indigo said, "A team is like a whole body. A brain can't punch, so it needs an arm, but that arm can't punch without the brain. You may not be the brain, Berde, but you are the backbone of our team."

Berde sighed while letting out tears of joy, touched by his team's genuine concern. He sniffled and tried to wipe them, only to be wiped by Sameko's hand. He hugged Sameko and cried into her shoulder. Indigo hugged his friend, and so did Naraka albeit reluctantly.

"Berde, we're a team, if we have a problem, we're all in it together," Sameko said.


Outside the Dorm. Night Time.

Berde was in his pajamas, on the rooftop while watching the night sky. After that intervention, his mind felt a bit more eased, but he felt that the night breeze would full ease his mind. He heard footsteps behind him. He looked back and saw Blue, who had a neutral look.

"Hey, Blue," Berde greeted him jovially.

"Berde..." he said sadly.

He sat beside his friend and looked into the sky.

"My team is pretty damn chaotic," Blue said, "I overheard your conversation."

Berde didn't look.

"What about it?"

"... Am I doing good as a leader?" he asked.

He looked at Blue.

"Can you tell me about your day today?"

Blue did. He told him about the time Nadeshiko became unruly in class. He also saw Subasa draw sketches of Indigo; creepy ones. Draco was the only one he had no problem with.

"Chaotic, huh."

"What am I gonna do?" Blue asked nervously, "Those two are uncontrollable."

Berde gave it a thought.

"Perhaps, maybe you should just accept them as they are. As long as your team genuinely loves and cares for you, try showing it to them. Maybe they might be more considerate on how you want them to be in class."

Blue pondered, trying to see the logic in it.

"Well, you might be right. Thanks for the help, Berde," Blue said.

"I think you'd make an excellent leader, Blue," Berde said with a smile, "I don't know how, but you've gotta believe in yourself."


BNDS's room

Blue was studying on the desk. Though he was usually smart, he had a hard time memorizing a certain answer. Subasa came to him from behind and looked at his paper. She noticed that he was having a hard time, and some of his groans from not getting an answer right might have been from what she and Nade did today.

"Do you need help?" she asked.

Blue nodded.

"Well, you see..."

Throughout the night, Subasa showed and instructed him on how to do certain equations and answers. Blue slowly started to understand it, and felt his bond with Subasa grow further. Before they went to bed, he asked Subasa: "Do you think I'm a good leader?"

Subasa smiled warmly and pet his blue head.

"Yeah. You're good, but I think you'd be a better leader in the future. It's just day one. We're not gonna be Huntsmen or Huntresses in a day."

"Yeah, I think so too," Nade said from her bed.

Blue blushed and nodded.

"Thanks, guys," he said, "Though, guys, can you be a bit more respectable in class? It makes me feel like my team has poor synergy."

"Psshh, who cares what people think?" Nade said, "If you see me doing all that crap in class, don't take it as a sign of disrespect to you. You're our leader, and you already earned my respect."

Nadeshiko then sighed.

"Though... if you're so worried about that, maaaaaaybe I'll tone myself down," she said, "Also, I'm sorry in case that worried you."

"It's okay, Nadeshiko, I'm glad..." Blue said, "Good night, team."

He snapped his fingers as the lights flickered off.


Author's Note

Blue is 16 years old, so, he has a bit of an uncertainty of how to lead his team. Blue graduated early due to being an outstanding student as well as his link to the Krohda and Wyrmtongue families; famous families known for their outstanding Huntsmen. Berde is actually 18 years old; he could have entered Beacon a year earlier, but a fallout that's part of another story caused him to not be able to.

Most of the main cast are 17 years old (Subasa, Nadeshiko, Draco (actually born earlier than Blue, but in the same year), Naraka, and Indigo). Sameko entered early due to her outstanding achievements in her previous academy; she's 16.

Once again, most of the next few chapters involve SoL (Slice of Life) and drama until they are assigned a mission. Also, judging from Ren making pancakes in the actual series, I think there ARE kitchens in the dorms.

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