Hello again everyone...

So I've finally decided on a (rather dull) name for the new member of Team SWRD. And the story's first signs of discrimination. Yeah...

Enjoy

Classes finally started up again.

I stared blankly at the front of the class as Prof. Oobleck continued talking about the regions around Remnant. I caught "mountains" then "forest" and "river" as I found myself dozing off. Blinking it out of me, I jumped in surprise as the bell rang. Oobleck stopped mid-sentence, almost like how Prof. Port would stop, but then quickly assigned our homework. The class groaned as they slowly stood up, filing out of the room.

Slowly standing up, I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to turn and face Sierra, who was motioning over to where Team SWRD was seated. I looked over, seeing Wind talking with Rusty and Dagger rather intensely. I looked back at our team leader, who motioned towards them. I looked behind me, seeing Lima stand up, followed by Hotel, who was sitting in the desk in front of me. I followed suit as we made our way over to the other side of the class.

Sierra took a seat on Wind's desk, catching his attention as she asked, "So…we have a problem, leader?"

Wind, not one to hesitate, replied, "Well, we're just discussing who's gonna be our new leader."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he continued, "Now that Saber's gone…well…."

"Don't like the pressure?"

Wind seemingly flinched in surprise as Sierra stood back up, caressing his jaw as she dropped her tone and said, "No no…it's okay…I understand."

I swallowed my spit at the almost seductive tone. I could sense Lima growing adjitated behind me as Sierra let a chuckle out, then broke out laughing. I blinked in confusion as she said, "No no no, I understand, really!"

Just then, I could hear electricity crackle behind me as Echo suddenly appeared next to me and said, "…Sierra…."

She turned around as he said, "No flirting with anyone that's not me, please."

Chuckling, she leaned up, kissing him, catching him off-guard as she said, "Don't worry; you're the only one who deserves my charm."

"…Ahem…," I coughed out, catching their attention as I said, "Anyway, what's up?"

"Supposedly," Wind continued, "We're getting our new teammate today."

"Today?"

I blinked in surprise as he continued, "Yeah…so we're discussing whether he should take up leadership role, or if I should stay leader."

"Then I don't understand why you'd be wanting out of it," I heard Hotel say in the background. I was about to turn and ask until Dagger said, "So that we give the guy some time to develop."

Suddenly, my communicator started going off, causing me to flinch in surprise. Pulling it out, I immediately answered to my red-haired girlfriend.

"'sup Rubes?"

"Delta, I kinda…need your help…."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I'm in a bit of a…well…situation."

I frowned a bit and said, "…What'd you do this ti-."

"Hey red, get your ass over here!"

"Huh!? Oh shi—gotta go! Sorry!"

"Rubes? Ruby!"

Her connection died off, causing me to shove my communicator back into my pocket. I made to sprint out of the room, hearing Sierra calling after me as I stormed down the hall, dodging crowd after crowd as I ran outside of the building. Suddenly, a cloud of roses flew past me and into the building as a couple guys, much bigger than me, stopped right in front of me. I blinked, feeling Ruby gripping my shoulders as they spat and asked, "…You with her, pipsqueak?"

…pipsqueak…?

Okay, I might be shorter than your average guy, but I wasn't about to stand for that.

"Is there a problem…?"

Unless someone like Hotel appears.

Hotel walked up from behind me with Yang, who seemed rather surprised. The two bigger guys suddenly flinched, stepping back a bit as Yang grinned. I could hear Ember Celica activating as she asked, "…so…which one of you assholes are first?"

The two continued backing off as Yang took a step forward, only for a voice to say, "Please don't mind those two…the little red head just did something rude to them."

I looked at a blonde guy walking up to us, probably a little taller than myself as he continued, "A simple apology would've sufficed, Red."

"But I did apologize," Ruby said quietly behind me. I looked at her momentarily as the blonde continued walking towards us. I then looked at him, taking a look at his weapon, which, strangely, looked a lot like Yang's Ember Celica. Except the main thing was that there was only one bracelet and he carried a separate sword on his other hand. A most curious setup. But anyway, he then turned to the two behind him and said, "Hey, you two. Beat it."

"Yessir," they both replied to him, quickly running away. Probably from Yang. Oh well, can't do anything about that.

Clearing my throat, I turned my attention back to the blade wielder and said, "Ahem…Alright…please let me apologize for Ruby's recklessness."

The student turned to face me and said, "No problems. Forgiven."

"You don't look familiar," I heard Sierra's voice say from behind me, "Are you a new student?"

"I guess if that's what we're called around here," he replied, "Name's Sword Alters."

Sword? Unique name nowadays…then again, our names are all unique nowadays….

"Sword huh…nice ring to it," Yang said, walking up to inspect him. She was still taller than him, give or take as he glanced up at her, then at me. I raised an eyebrow as he motioned behind me, reminding me that Ruby was still hiding behind me. I turned around, seeing her with her hood over her head, covering up her blush of embarrassment.

Oh my god…you're so cute, Rubes!

I grabbed her by the shoulders, moving her to my front side and said, "Name's Delta. This here's Ruby."

Ruby nervously brought her hand up, waving as she whimpered, "Hi…!"

Sword raised his eyebrow in curiosity, looking back up at me, meeting my glare flinching a bit in fear. The silent exchange between us was obvious as I mentally began stabbing his chest a thousand times over. Sierra laughed as she walked up behind me, resting her arm on Ruby's shoulder and said, "Sorry boy, but this girl's already taken."

Ruby looked at Sierra, blinking, then turned around to face me. I changed my look to a smile, revealing the fact that I was about ready to take his head off. Yang and Hotel began cracking up as Sword nervously scratched his head, suddenly freezing, blinking in curiosity. I cocked my head to the side in confusion, suddenly hearing Dagger's voice behind me as she said, "Hey, I heard commotion…out here…so…."

I looked back at her, seeing her seemingly mesmerized. I then looked back at Sword, who was equally so. I changed glances between the two as he suddenly speed walked past me and said, "M-my name's Sword! I'm a new transfer student, and new member of Team SWRD…!"

…Oh…he's the new team member….

Dagger seemed to slowly process the information, as well as his sudden approach to her as Wind's voice called out, "Yo, Dagger! You find them?"

Lima's ears perked as she peeked around the door frame, quickly running over to me as her eyes landed on me. I blinked as she rubbed her cheek against me, then went over to Ruby, doing the same. I smiled, wondering if she had made it a habit to rub her scent all over us.

Must be to locate us quicker….

I then turned back to where Sword was still standing like a nervous wreck in front of an equally nervous Dagger. Only difference was that Wind was standing between the two, wondering what was going on. I half-heartedly laughed out loud as Wind finally said, "Okay, enough with this 'love at first sight' bullshit, who're you?"

"O-oh, umm," Sword replied, clearing his throat and regaining his composure, "I'm Sword Alters…I was assigned to Team SWRD, and am a new, mid-term transfer."

Wind's eyes seemingly glowed as he suddenly got on his knees, bowing up and down.

"My savior! My savior!"

He suddenly wrapped himself around Sword's legs catching the poor guy off-guard as he said, "THANK YOU FOR RESCUING ME FROM LEADER DUTIES!"

"Now now, Mr. Vice," Ozpin suddenly said, appearing from behind me, "Just because he's your new teammate doesn't mean it doesn't relieve you of your duties as acting leader."

We all laughed as Wind groaned, suddenly getting kicked half-way across the campus.

Lima stared after him, running up to Sword, taking an experimental sniff from him. However, I kept my eyes on Sword as his eyes quickly turned from eyes of nervousness to eyes of hostility. I raised an eyebrow as Lima backed away a bit, blinking several times with her ears perking up in curiosity. Suddenly, Sword took a swing at her, catching all of us off-guard. I almost made a move, sensing Sierra zap from one place to another as she caught his fist.

"Whoa," she said, "Easy there, cowboy…."

Sword stared at her, quickly blinking the hostility out of his eyes as Ozpin approached the two and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"She's a…no…no, nothing's wrong…," Sword replied, shaking his head as he entered the building with Ozpin.

I looked at Ruby, who blinked back at me as we approached Lima, who appeared to be terrified. She shook in fear as I touched her shoulder, causing her to flinch violently. I widened my eyes in surprise as her golden eyes connected with mine. Her breathing was heavy Wind groaned his way back to where we were. Suddenly, she took off in his direction, half tackling him, causing him to let out a groan of pain.

"L-Lima? What's gotten into…you…?"

Even though she was a little ways away, I could still hear the audible sniffling that she was emitting from his shirt. I gripped Ruby a bit tighter, turning back to Sierra, who nodded. I then turned back to Ruby, who was looking at me worriedly. I pulled her in a bit and said, "I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this guy when he's around Lima."

Ruby looked at Lima worriedly, then leaned up to me and said, "I'll help as much as I can as well."

I smiled at her and said, "Geez, Rubes…you're too helpful."

"Ruby."

We both turned around to see Sierra walking up to us with Yang and Hotel close behind.

"Watch out for him when you have Blake around as well," Sierra said to her. Ruby nodded as we all walked over to Lima, attempting to cheer her up.

So...anyone up for a WindXLima lemon anytime soon?