Chapter 17

The couple found a tree with an adequate canopy to provide shade as the sun moved over the next few hours, and settled down to began filling in Neo's calendar. The course schedule wasn't particularly heavy as the emphasis was on practical exercises. Mondays and Wednesdays were Professor (Doctor) Oobleck's History lessons. Tuesday and Thursday were Professor Port's Grimm Ecology followed by Goodwitch's Combat Tactics. Fridays and, occasionally, Saturdays were fieldtrip days. Plus, the students were expected to make use of the light schedule to participate in more sparring, individualized studies, and 'activities' – a broad catch-all for additional training necessary to become effective Huntsmen and Huntresses. Some students, like Weiss, participated in strategic management training, while Ruby honed her art as an armorer. As they went through the schedule, it looked as though they would be off this coming weekend, but the following would have an overnight trip to Forever Fall.

Once the schedule for the semester was entered into her calendar, Neo enthusiastically grabbed her Grimm Ecology text and held it up to Weiss. Weiss sensed her excitement but thought it was best to let her down gently before she actually had to sit through one of Professor Port's rambling lectures.

"Umm, Neo… You should know that you'll learn a lot more from the text than from Professor Port. He's a retired Huntsman with a lot, I mean a lot of stories that, well, don't always follow a linear path towards his point. And, to be honest, I only scribble so many notes to stay awake to not miss the rare bit of useful information buried in those stories."

Neo's face fell. Grimm Ecology seemed like it was going to be a fascinating area of study, but Weiss shattered that illusion.

"Hey! I have an idea. Why don't we form a study group? We can do our own research and meet in the evenings on Sunday to share what we learned about our assigned Grimm."

As brilliant as the idea seemed to Neo, she was somewhat skeptical that her other classmates would take well to more coursework and such optional homework. Weiss would. She was that kind of studious girl. But she didn't think Ruby and Yang would, not from what she knew of them so far. Blake and Pyrrha might, and Ren seems like he could be interested, but the others would probably be out. Well, that would be five of us. That could work as a starting point, I guess.

Sensing Neo's mental calculations, Weiss chirruped, "Besides, even if no one else wants to join us and it ends up as just you and I, I think we'd make excellent study-buddies!"

What a little dork! Just look at that grin. Someday, I'm going to have to make Snow Angel here tell me what, exactly, made her fall for me and turn into this raging little dork as opposed to the uptight Schnee Heiress she must have been before coming to Beacon.

Neo pounced the girl, kissed her neck, and pulled her to the ground as they rolled and tussled for superiority in their play-fight. Much to her disadvantage, Weiss was not a particularly strong or scrappy girl. The Schnee sisters never engaged in these types of battles the way Ruby and Yang must have. Neo knew she would win as soon as Weiss tried, ineffectually, to roll her off. However, she was of the mindset that this would be far more enjoyable if they were more evenly matched. She occasionally let Weiss roll her over and have a small taste of what hand-to-hand combat victories would be like.

"Grruh! Stop letting me win!"

With a wicked smirk, Neo grabbed Weiss's left shoulder and pinned the girl's right leg with her left. Yanking down on the shoulder and thrusting her right hip upward, she effortlessly tossed the slightly larger heiress and knocked the wind out of her as she landed atop Weiss. She scrambled up the girl's body, sat on her chest, pinned her wrists together with one hand, leaned forward to kiss her and began mercilessly tickling Weiss's side with her free hand.

Weiss screamed out laughing. "You monster! You and Yang with your cheating ways. Taking advantage of mine and Ruby's small, delicate, little frames with your cursed tickles." Goaded by her grievances, Neo redoubled her efforts. The size difference was only a couple inches, but Neo was by far the stronger of the two. It really wasn't fair. But it was certainly fun. The small, wriggling figure under her was rapidly losing her breath. Snorting and laughing under the playful assault. She couldn't keep torturing her like this. Releasing Weiss's wrists, she sat up, crossed her arms, and looked sternly at the girl.

"Okay, I surrender!" Still laughing and trying to regain her composure. "I surrender, you vile fiend!"

Neo popped up and offered Weiss her hand. The girl took it and, still complaining about Neo's unfair, cheating tactics, was not about to drop the issue simply because their little skirmish was over. Neo rolled her eyes as she started to gather her stuff and piling up Weiss's materials for her.

"And to think… I trusted you! And what do you? Use your feminine wiles to beguile and disarm me. Use Yang-approved torture methods!"

Neo shook her head at the heiress's constant stream of complaints as she jammed Weiss's books into the girl's midsection and handed them off to her. Catching Weiss off guard, the impact caused her to hunch forward as her breath caught. Neo leaned it and gave her a peck on the forehead and gently pat her cheek a couple of times before walking away.

"And another thing, Neopolitian…"

Dork. And she's still going…